"How is she?" muttered Caius as he finished sorting out a bowl of hot water to clean Gee's wounds.
"As best she'll be, she's asleep. I can't do this," Gee said as he threw himself down into a high backed chair. His scruffy black hair stuck to his face from rain and sweat, a black eye beginning to show through the blood from a huge cut on his forehead.
"Can't do what?" Caius questioned throwing a soaked cloth at Gee to clean up.
"Keep being Tom Sawyer," he replied flinching as he pushed the cloth on the cut, his hair now stuck around his forehead. Caius remained silent for a few moments before Romina entered with spare bandages.
"Gee, Angoria's woken up and she wants you," she muttered putting the bandages down next to the bowl of water. Gee peered up at Caius to see if he was glaring at him for his previous remark before almost reluctantly getting up to see Angoria.
"Why?" Caius asked as Gee reached the doorway.
"Because of me continuing with my families past, Angoria now has no mother. If I continue she'll have no-one," he explained with his back to Romina, his head slightly cocked to look at Caius. Gee sighed before leaving to see Angoria. Once he was out of earshot, Caius slammed a fist on the table.
"He can't give up, he can't. Who the hell, will take over to solve the problem at last, he can't make Angoria do it. She's too young," Caius said with a slight growl. Romina walked over to him and rubbed his arm to comfort him. He looked around at her and groaned before pulling her into him for a hug.
Gee paused outside Angoria's door to take a deep breath hoping she wouldn't ask about her mother. He dropped the cloth on the floor before opening the door. Angoria was sat on her bed wrapped in her blanket, hugging her pillow tightly. Seeing her like that, with fear in her eyes, confirmed Gee's thoughts of giving up being Tom Sawyer.
"Hey, why'd you wake up? Can't you sleep?" he asked as he wandered over to her bed as she moved over for him to sit down. She shook her head silently as he put his arm around her.
"Where's mummy?" she asked. Gee stared at the floor as he tightened his hug on Angoria. When Gee didn't answer, she moved closer to him and tried to hug him tightly back. Gee stayed staring at the floor as Caius stood in the doorway. As he looked up at Caius, he pulled a face to not cry. How would he tell Angoria that her mother would never kiss her goodnight again? Given how she was clinging to Gee so tightly, Caius figured that she knew something wasn't right.
"Angoria, you may not understand this but tonight, your mum unfortunately died in an accident. Now you need to be strong for you and your dad, can you do that?" Caius explained slowly as he knelt down at the side of Angoria's bed. She nodded slowly before kissing her dad on the cheek. Gee smiled briefly and patted Caius gruffly on the shoulder. He knew that he should have said himself but the pain of knowing he'd never wake up next to her again just stopped him.
"Angoria, I'll be here for the funeral but I'll have to go away for a bit after, to deal with a few things your mother wanted sorted. I'll always be here for you though I promise." Gee muttered looking at Caius, tilting his head when he said about still being there. Caius pulled an inquisitive look before Gee continued.
"Now, I want you to be strong and a big girl and hold the fort for me. Look after everyone and more importantly yourself," he explained. She looked up at him and gave a small smile.
"Tom," she muttered looking between Gee and Caius. They looked from one another with confused expressions. Angoria looked at Gee again.
"Tom," she said once more, pointing at herself.
"You...you want...to be called Tom?" Gee questioned. She smiled again and nodded. Gee quickly looked at Caius who nodded almost serenely as Romina stood in the doorway. Gee looked back at her and hugged her tightly again. He settled her down and waited for her to go back to sleep before leaving.
"Do you think it's because I called her Tom earlier that she now wants to be called it?" he asked a he wandered downstairs with Romina and Caius.
"Maybe it's because she has an amazing and caring father. I'll see you two tomorrow, training first thing. Nothing stops around here unfortunately. Night, get some sleep okay?" muttered Romina, pointing at Gee before going into her room, one of the spares at the bottom of the stairs. Once her door was closed, Caius looked at Gee with a smile.
"Lets sort out how you can still be here, I have a good idea," muttered Caius.
Two days after the funeral, Caius put his idea into action and Gee went from being Tom Sawyer to the old family friend, Gee Poison.
"Tom didn't hear anyone call you Gee so you can easily keep your name. Bright red hair, why not given you always wanted it when you were younger," explained Caius as he flipped a mirror around for Gee to see the new him.
"Now it's my turn with fashion. As Tom you always wore all black but to be different you need colour so, this t-shirt, these jeans, whatever shoes you wish and I would say, this biker jacket would go good together," Romina chimed throwing a load of clothes at him. Gee groaned as he slipped of to change.
"So what do you think?" questioned Gee a few moments later. Caius nodded and gave a quick, thumbs up.
"I wouldn't recognise you if I hadn't just sat and seen the change. You ready?" Romina asked. Gee sighed and nodded.
Later that day, Gee Poison met Tom for the first time. After a few months of her dad not being around, Tom began acting older, sorting out things for herself. As much as he liked seeing her grow up, after two years Tom had forced the night her mother died out of her head. Six months later she'd forgotten her birth name.
Another year past and by the time she was nine years old, she'd forgotten about her dad and had done a year and a halves training with Caius and Gee when he returned from his own training in Transylvania.