Toaneo07 Ver2.0 -Thank you for your short but sweet review!
gizmo16x -I'm glad you enjoyed that chapter. To answer your question, I wanted to create a name for her in which both CT and Connie would be appropriate nicknames. The way I used the names, I had all the characters referred to using their full names when they were younger, but, when they were older and more bold, they started referring to each other using nicknames. I hope that clarifies that for you.
glittering wolf -Thank you for the amazing compliment! I hope this chapter is still up to par with my past chapters.
I do not own Red vs Blue. (If I did, I would be definitely be voicing a character!) RvB belongs to RoosterTeeth.
The funeral was unexpected. Of course York's death was the chief element in the un-expectation. He was only twenty-five. There should never be funerals for twenty-five-year-olds. However, something else David found that was unexpected were the people in attendance, or, rather, those who were absent from the somber crowd.
David seemed to be the only other Church –the only member of his immediate family- to attend the funeral. It seemed wrong that he was the closest relative at the viewing. His brother was three years older than him -with three other siblings spanning the gap between them.
Some of them he knew he wouldn't make an appearance. David, himself, hadn't seen select members of his family since…
No one knew where Texas was, but he wasn't exactly sentimental about her. It was shortly after she arrived into the family that they were separated and shipped out to foster homes.
But he still, even though it seemed a little dark, hoped that because it was a funeral, he would be reunited with his siblings again to share in mourning and catch up on their lives. He missed them.
He kept listening for North and South's silly bickering amongst the white noise conversations in the room. He even imagined he heard Reggie's fake British accent waft over from a circle of people in black as he tried out the latest (and corniest) knock knock joke on them. David took a double-take as his mind was fooling him into thinking CT was leaning up against the doorframe, brooding in the shadows of deep thought. He could picture Caroline's incredibly forced neutral expression, as he knew she would try to be the strong example for everyone. He missed them so much.
North would still call on occasion and tell Wash about how work was going and how big his son was getting. A few times North forced South to talk to David when she happened to stop by during a phone call.
"Hey, Sal! Come over here and talk to Wash!"
"Why would I want to talk to that punk loser?" She said, but really that mean that she missed him.
Wash sighed as he welcomed a warm memory for a change.
He had to force himself to stop looking toward the door every time someone walked in because he could only take so much of this hope crushing.
He pulled himself up from the folding chair that he had taken refuge in in the corner of the room, and, for the millionth time, he drug his feet over to the casket.
The top was opened and the pale, upper half of his oldest brother lay exposed as dead as a log. He was dressed in his uniform. All the patches and strange medals and markers decorated the fabric that wrapped the dead man. David didn't know what they meant, but, in his civilian opinion, York didn't need any medals to prove that he was a hero. There were several other men with military cuts and fatigues in the room that could probably explain it to him, but he didn't want to make them go through that. Everyone in attendance was already broken as it was. He would ask them later.
Everyone loved York. At least, that's what everyone kept telling David. He believed them too. Who couldn't? Even in stone cold death, he could almost see a smirk dictating his lips. His wedding ring remained proudly on his ring finger even though it didn't mean anything more than its weight in sentimentality even when he was alive. His wife died in a car crash two years into their marriage. He, stubbornly loyal as York was, refused to take the ring off. When they came to get York's body after he was killed, rigor mortis had already stiffened and brittled his hands. They couldn't remove the ring unless they wanted to break his fingers. That seemed such a York-thing it wasn't even funny.
David's heart wrenched as he smartly walked away from his dead brother's casket before he started to lose himself. (He could see his old psychiatrist nodding with approval.) He was sort of forced into the position of the one that everyone came to express their griefs -being the closest family member. He couldn't cry because then everyone would start to as well.
Another person walked up to David. He was dressed in a suit and gave David a firm handshake. He expressed his sympathy as per everyone else, but he stayed when normally everyone would have left to move on to the viewing.
"Yes?" David prompted him, as the man seemed unsure of how to word what he wanted to say.
"David Church, right?"
"Yeah. I was York's brother."
"Yes, um, I was Mr. Yoric's lawyer. Seeing as he died unexpectedly and rather young, he had not created a proper Will or mention of whom he wanted to take care of his son. So it was recommended…"
"Wait as second. York had a kid?"
"Yes, with his wife before she died. Were you…not close?"
"We were close when we were young. I guess we…grew apart over the years."
The lawyer gave him a confusing looks.
"You were saying?" David turned his face to stone. A look he'd practiced over the years and years of probing by psychiatrists. He could probably lie to Mother Teresa.
"Oh. Of course. Anyway, Yoric brought Deltan, his son, to live with him on the military base. As I was saying, because he had no Will, it is up to court to decide who will be the Deltan's caretaker…"
"No offense, sir, but I'm a senior college. There's no way I can take care of a kid even if he is my…"
"I wasn't finished, David. We know that the ideal guardian for him is not a twenty-two-year-old. We were simply asking if you, being the only Church family member we can get a hold of, would take him for a week or two until the courts decide Deltan's official future."
"So…babysitting?" David forced himself to refrain from asking why they couldn't reach any of his eight siblings or…no, he didn't care if they couldn't get a hold of his dad. He'd never want that man to be around York's kid, or any other kid. Not to mention York's ghost would probably haunt him to no end.
"If you'd like to think of it that way, yes. Do you have sufficient means?"
"You mean money and stuff? Yeah. I have a campus job, but I'm off because it's my Christmas break."
"Very good. Will you take him?"
Wash sighed. He really didn't have a good alibi to say no.
"I guess." David said slowly, hoping he wasn't making a mistake. He didn't exactly have much experience dealing with children.
"Very good. He's right over there if you'd like to meet him. You can leave whenever you feel it necessary, although, I would recommend sooner rather than later. The child is…Well, who am I to say anything? I'm a lawyer, not a psychologist. Right then, I will be contacting you soon, Mr. Church."
"I'd prefer just David, sir."
"Of course. Thank you again." With another clearly experienced handshake, the man in the suit left promptly.
Concerns rose in David's mind as he walked over to the opposite side of the room, where the lawyer said his nephew would be. What was that guy alluding to? Was there something wrong with the kid?
The child was about four years old or so. He was facing away in a folding chair, staring out the window where one could see the ocean and sky meet in their contrasting blue hues. This kid, from the back of his head at least, seemed to be the one that the lawyer was referring to.
The kid saw David approach in the reflection of the window. He stood up and turned around to face him. Wash almost had to take a step back. The kid was York's without a doubt. He had the same hair color, a light brunette, with ears that he hadn't quite grown into. They reminded him of York when he was little. The only key difference was his bright green eyes that matched the dark shades of fabric he wore. It seemed like his eyelids were the only things preventing the bright green from overflowing and spilling out at his feet.
"Hello. How may I be of assistance?" He said, with politeness that seemed just as rehearsed as the question.
David was taken a little aback at how formal the tiny kid was being but composed himself.
"What's your name?"
"I am Deltan Church, son of Corporal Yoric Church. My father was killed in combat."
"Hello, Deltan. I'm your uncle. Yoric was my brother. You're going to come stay with me for a little while until they figure out who you're going to be living with permanently."
"Are you... Wash?"
"That's me." He chuckled, choking up a bit at the fact his brother still called him by that stupid nickname. For some reason he found he actually kinda missed being called Wash.
"Then I trust you. Where do you live?"
"Not that far from here. We can leave whenever you're ready."
"I see no reason to delay."
With that, Deltan headed for the door. David was a little dumbstruck. This was the kid's dad's funeral. Surely he would want to see him buried? Although, if he wanted to leave, he wasn't going to force him.
Honestly, he felt sorry for the little guy. He knew exactly what it felt like to have the courts dictate your life, to be rolled around like dice in the palm of the government's hand.
David headed for the door himself, catching up to Deltan easily. Out in the parking lot, David led Deltan to the rundown beater that was his car only by sheer definition. He was in college. Give him a break.
He opened the door for the green-eyed boy and made sure his seatbelt was secured around him even though he was pretty confident with the beyond-his-years vibe Deltan gave off, he wouldn't have been surprised if he knew how to drive.
Closing the door and opening the driver's door, David was about to get in when he noticed someone else in the parking lot getting in his own car. He and Wash made eye contact for a brief second as David could have sworn that behind that obnoxious mustache was his brother, Reginald. The eye contact broke quickly as the other man swiftly got in his car and sped out of the lot.
"What the heck?" David said softly before pushing the thought from his head and getting in the car.
David flopped inside, but hesitated at turning the key as he thought over his next plan of action. He didn't have any toys or games for the kid to play with. His apartment was cramped, and who knew if the kid would be allergic to his cats! Frankly, he didn't know how to take care of a kid, but he did know that he would be a pretty boring uncle to hang around.
Then he got a great idea. Whipping out his cell phone, he dialed up North's number. He had a kid of his own. Sure, his kid was younger than Deltan, but at least he'd have another friend to play with. North didn't pick up, but Wash figured he wouldn't mind if he popped over. North was, like, the definition of hospitality.
"Hey, did your dad ever tell you about any of his other brothers?" He asked, as he started up the rickety bucket of rust with a cough.
"He informed me that he had several siblings. Most are younger than him. One of his sisters, my aunt, came to visit him before he was killed."
"Really? Well, did he ever mention Northrop? He and Sal were twins."
"I believe you are referring to the ones he addressed as North and South."
"Yeah. Them. We're gonna go visit North right now. He has a son, your cousin, named Thetaus. We just call him Theta. He's a little bit younger than you, but I bet you'll have fun hanging out. I'd bet your Uncle North would love to meet you too. How about it?"
"I have no objection."
"…Alrighty then."
The ride there was awkward to say the least. Deltan never spoke unless spoken to or he had a comment about David's driving. David had been told once that he was the most cautious driver ever. Of all time. But, he was on pins and needles with Deltan in the car. It wasn't just because Deltan didn't have a booster seat. The kid seemed to know more about cars than he did. When David casually mentioned that the breaks were a bit squeaky, Deltan proceeded to not only give an encyclopedia of possible causes but also estimates as to how much the combine repair totals would cost him. What did York feed this kid?!
In a painful hour, they arrived at their destination. However, the street that his brother lived on was blocked by police cars and a crowd of gawkers. David's stomach dropped when he saw the house that was the center of the attention was his brother's.
"What's going on here, officer?"
"There was a shooting and a possible kidnapping."
"W-what?! That's my brother's house!" David explained, voice shaking.
"I'm sorry, sir. We're doing all we can. If you would just…"
"Outta the way, Frank! Stop talking and get back to work!" Came the rather familiar voice of an angry female police officer, blinding red and blue flashes outlining her form in the evening light.
"South?"
"Hey, Wash. I was just on my way to my apartment. This is…kinda hard to take in. Would you…would you mind giving me a ride?"
His sister was clearly distraught. He'd never seen her like this before. She looked like she was going to melt.
"Sure, sis. I've got Deltan in the back. He's York's kid. York was killed last week in combat. I'm watching him until the courts figure out what to do with him."
"Poor kid." She said, as she climbed in the passenger's seat.
They arrived at South's apartment fifteen minutes later. Deltan had fallen asleep so David carried him inside. South dug out a spare blanket and positioned a throw pillow on the couch for David to lay the sleeping kid on while they moved into the kitchen.
They stood in silence for a few minutes. He desperately wanted to know what happened to his brother, but South looked in no condition to talk right then. David was standing stiffly against the side of her refrigerator. He didn't really know how to comfort her either. Yes, North was his brother too, but he could never say that North was his twin. He couldn't imagine what was going through South's mind.
"So that's York's kid, hu? Funny. He never told any of us about him. I never even knew he got married."
"Me neither. Although, you and North were the only ones I kept in contact with. The kid seems nice enough. Crazy smart. Like, future-Einstein smart."
"Great for him." She deadpanned.
"Although, I don't think it's really sunk in for him though. He seems…almost indifferent. I don't know. Maybe because he lived on a military base, he's become, sort of, I don't know, used to it, or…"
"Just shut up, Wash."
David did just that, letting the somber cloud fester above their heads as night wrapped the outside in darkness that was nothing compared to the deeds that had been committed the past hours.
So, if you noticed, I changed the proposed ages for this age group. I had to make them older because I wanted Delta to be at least three or four as well as have York married for two years before that. With the way I originally had it, that would have placed York at, like, seventeen when he got married. You can see the obvious flaw in my math there. I also wanted Wash to be old enough where he wasn't on his own, but he was old enough to have his own place so he didn't have to go back to the Director's house (which would have created plot issues). Anyway, so I just made everyone a few years older, and everything worked out. York still would have got married rather young, but I can picture York as the type to fall in love young.
Sorry if Delta is a little OOC. I wanted to keep him still obviously Delta but also keep him a kid. I figured having him being rather emotionless and smart while still falling asleep after a long car ride was a good way to balance it. (Yay for Delta being York's cute kid!)
I know that South and Wash are probably more OOC than Delta even, but it was hard to keep Wash stoic and cold to South over North dying when, in this AU, Wash and North are brothers too. Instead, I tried to make it so he was just not really helpful.
I'm thinking about adding in a few BONUS CHAPTERS here and there that will be much lighter in mood to kind of break up the depressing/sadness that all my chapters seem to be. It'll be of the Church kids, but when they are all really young. (Like, Ages 1-6 or something.) It'll be of when an OC or possibly someone from the actual series or something comes and babysits them while the Director is out for the day. It'll be mostly all fluff and humor and cuteness. Let me know what you guys think of that idea. You can throw in your vote for who you want to be the babysitter. I can even do a different babysitter every chapter. It's totally fine if you would rather me just stick to the main storyline and keep the story uninterrupted too. Just let me know what you think!
Once again, thank you soooooo much for the wonderful reviews!
Merry Christmas!
Looking forward to it.
