AN: I went through and made some minor edits to previous chapters. I've decided to complete this story as part 1. There will be a part 2, eventually, one day. No promise when part 2 will be put up, but I did and do have plans for it.

Acceptance

"Har..."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's get this over with. Ask away, Elena. Don't be surprised if you don't like what you hear."

"First question. Why did these two people have to track you around the globe? She obviously still loves you. Why go so far away from your sister and never talk to her?"

Flynn scoffed. "Don't be shy."

"I can answer that one," Evelyn interrupted before the snark could really get started. "Since my brother is clearly depressed and deflecting with unkind words and behavior."

"Ugh. Stop saying things like that. Obviously. Clearly. It's obnoxious!"

Evelyn's stern tone reset the deviating conversation. "Our parents were drug addicts. Like any drug addict, they cared more about where their next fix was coming from than anything else. This included their own kids. We were neglected. My father would hurt my brother whenever he got angry or frustrated. While I became self-driven as a result, Harry turned to the streets and petty crime. My parents essentially abandoned us before they ever died, and I abandoned him. I didn't mean to. I just never gave it much thought until it was too late and he was gone."

"Do you know why Dad picked me?"

The expected clinical answer began to emerge from her lips. "Often abusers will select who they deem to be the weaker child, a perceived favorite, or-"

"No," Flynn interjected. "Dad hit me because he saw himself in me. And he hated who he'd become."

Her voice came soft, apologetic. "Oh Harry, I'm sorry. I didn't know. I spent most of my life pushing myself to become grounded, successful, better than our parents. I refused to be anything like them, tried to forget that life altogether, focused on school, career, me. I left you behind. I left my own brother alone. Harry, I am so, so sorry."

"Yeah, sure."

"I was in a library studying when Mom died. God, Harry..."

Flynn sounded amused, a hint of laughter in his tone. "Our childhood was miserable. You steered clear and avoided the damage. I thought I had to take it. So I did. And now, my life consists of chasing down every temporary joy. That's how I live. It's an alright life."

"You felt you deserved it?" asked Elena.

"No. I knew it wasn't normal to come to school with bruises, but I knew it was up to me to get through it. I became about me because I was the one who took care of myself as a kid. I made sure I didn't starve to death."

Evelyn sounded surprised all of a sudden. "Har, your scar. You had a little scar right there by your mouth..."

"Oh. Yeah. Gone," came the reply. "Long story."

"We can talk about that story later," Elena said. "This is my time for questions, Dr. Flynn."

"Of course. Sorry."

"Why did you stop talking to Nate? You were friends. Then you seemed to disappear for years. Nate said you would meet up at least once a year for a while, and then nothing. He doesn't know why. So why?"

Discomfort was evident while Flynn gave his answer. "I was told to stay away. Victor Sullivan told me to. So I stayed away from the one guy who seemed to get me."

"But you found him again."

"About three years after that, yeah. I had to do this job and he was the only one I could think of who could get through the museum security."

"You already knew things about the job, things you pretended not to know."

"I knew exactly what I was looking for."

"I had to do this job," Evelyn clarified. "That's what you said."

"So?"

Elena seemed to pick up on what the other woman was curious about. "For money? Were you in debt?"

"I'm always in debt."

"Is this why you had to do the job with Lazarevic?"

Silence. Nate pressed his ear against the wall, like that would help.

"Harry?"

"There's someone who thinks I owe them, yes."

"Okay... Let's talk about someone else. Tell me about Victor Sullivan."

"Nothing to say, sweetheart."

"He doesn't like you."

"Don't sugarcoat it, doll."

Elena breathed in slow, releasing the air just as slowly. "You don't seem to harbor much fondness for him either. What's the deal?"

They weren't kidding. The walls were thin.

"Fine. You want reasons? I don't like Sullivan because he doesn't like me," Flynn informed. "I don't like him because he's a hypocrite who holds something against me for living the same way he does. I don't like him for giving Drake someone to look after him like a father's supposed to. And I don't like him for being right."

Joe spoke. "I... We had... I tried-I thought... I don't know what I thought."

"You do," said Flynn. "You were. I mean, you still are. Well, if you don't want anything to do with me anymore, I'd understand."

"Harry, I never wanted you to go. Of course I care. I'll help you any way I can."

"So you think I'm messed up too. You think-"

"We're getting off track," Elena claimed.

Evelyn disagreed. "I think we should hear him out."

"He's only going to get angry," said Elena. "Joe cares about Flynn, Flynn cares about him. Got it. The boys can get over themselves elsewhere. For now, I want to know why you think Joe would have nothing to do with you."

"For leaving."

"And?"

"And what?"

"Come on," she persisted.

"Because I'm not a good person. I was never a good person. How can anyone want someone like me around?"

"Nate did."

"Huh?"

"Doesn't take a genius to know the two of you were good friends once. For him to get as angry and determined to get to you and beat you to the treasure... You don't act like that to someone who means nothing. And I know Nate enough to know it isn't pure hate."

"Yeah, well, it's one-sided."

Elena actually laughed. "I don't believe you."

There was anger in his tone. "I don't have to take this."

"You do if you want us to let you go and not turn you over to the first authority we come across."

"You wouldn't. Dear old sis would never let you."

"Dear old sis", sounded disgusted. "If you don't tell the truth, if you can't be helped, rehabilitation might be best."

When Flynn responded, he seemed equally disgusted. "Never show weakness, never trust fully. I should have known better than to talk to you about anything. You wouldn't help me then, and you won't help me now."

"Calm down, Harry," Joe ordered.

"I'm usually relaxed, even when I'm afraid or angry," he told them. "You know, shake it off or risk losing my mind. But some situations are unbearable."

"You're not talking about now," said Joe, knowingly.

Nate could practically hear the shrug from beyond the wall.

"I attract more predators than usual."

"Harry," Evelyn confessed. "The mercenaries dug up a lot of past thefts you likely committed. Some people who were hurt or even killed, with you as the suspect. There were some old cases they uncovered where you were the victim. Several of these cases were..."

"I don't want to talk about that."

"It's not a secret to these people, right?" she pointed out. "Elena and the others know you were physically and sexually abused by the soldiers and Navarro. You almost died. They know your previous employer also physically abused you and made threats."

"Shut up!" Flynn yelled. "These people don't need to know every single shit thing that happened to this asshole."

"Harry-"

"I can't even count how many times I've been raped anymore. I used to keep count. But you know, that was back when I thought it might matter. Some of the ones who did it were my own fucking friends! I don't know why I thought it'd ever matter. Can't remember why I thought it'd ever change. It doesn't matter how strong I am, how fast I can run, how hard I can hit. If someone has power over you... It's like once you get raped, you got a fuckin' sign on your forehead saying, 'Hey, fuck me. Not like I can report it, being a criminal and all.' And people have done it before and nobody's gonna give a damn about some asshole thief."

Strangely, he followed his breaking speech with a genuine laugh. "I talk too much. I want to stop hurting from the memories I can't bury in my mind. I want to die, but I'm too afraid to do it alone. And I don't want to die. I'm a coward."

Evelyn choked out her next words. "I'm so sorry... Maybe if I would have been there for you..."

"I don't need your goddamn pity!"

"It's okay to hate the ones who hurt you like that," Elena told him. "But you don't have to feel alone. I know you feel very alone. You don't have to be."

"Nobody stays with me for long," Flynn confessed. "What did I do to deserve so much suffering? I must have done something to have so many people use me. My price to pay for no one caring about me, for leaving the one person who did. I get to be alone."

"You might feel bad or guilty, Harry," Joe said. "That's okay. Most of us feel that way at some point. We feel responsible for our actions, and we are. We are also allowed to forgive ourselves. Some things we have to do. Some things in the moment, we feel what we are doing is okay. Two decades gone by and I know now I still know you, kid. You still only kill for protection."

An awful quiet fell in the room next door. Nate straightened away from the wall and shifted his eyes over to Sully. As though the silence was too unbearable, Flynn's cracking voice filled the void.

"The only consistency in my life, has been me, and that people will take advantage of me if I let them."

"What do you hate about Nathan?" Elena inquired. She sounded like she might have been crying.

There was a long moment of quiet before the answer came, spoken soft. "I hate that he's a better man than me."

"Oh."

Nathan could tell she hadn't meant for the surprised sound to escape. He frowned at Sullivan, who was looking away from him, arms folding across his chest.

Flynn continued his answer. "I hate that his love for history can border on obsessive."

"Border on?"

Nate couldn't stop his eyes rolling in his skull. He loved history and the hunt for discovery. So sue him.

"Elena, shh," Evelyn scolded in a loud whisper.

"I hate how self-righteous he is and I hate how his inability to truly trust someone rivals my own. I hate how he reminds me of me. I hate that he liked me. I hate him."

Evelyn asked, "What do you like about him?"

"Aw shit. For all the above."

"You have to remember compassion for yourself, Harry," his sister pressed.

"Evie-"

"Listen. Please. You're ashamed of your fears but nearly every single person on this planet has the very same fears. Nobody caring, sexual assault, dying alone... Guess what, Harry, you're normal. Well, normal as anybody really is. We all spend our lives learning how to get by."

"I've spent my whole life learning how to survive. Anytime I can find something to enjoy I'm gonna do it. Any opportunity to get a better place in life, I'm there. There's nothing else out there when it's just you."

"You're going to want to resist this, but please, repeat after me. Indulge me, if nothing else."

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change."

"I'm not sure I believe-"

"Har, please."

A sigh. "God grant me the-uh..."

"Serenity to accept the things I cannot change."

"Serenity to accept the things I cannot change," he murmured.

"The courage to change the things I can."

He repeated the words.

"And the wisdom to know the difference."

He repeated her exact words again obediently, but didn't say them with any certainty.

"You can't heal our parents, can't change how they failed us. But you can forgive them."

"I forgave mom a long time ago. I won't forgive him."

"It's time. It's been nearly three decades. How long are you going to let a dead man haunt you? You can choose a life for yourself that isn't hindered by what already happened in your past. But to do that you have to let go of the past. Accept it's over and done."

Quiet, and then, "I live my life on my terms. When someone hurts me, I move on."

"Physically. Mentally, you are pushing it down. You're pretending you haven't been harmed, pretending you are okay and don't need anyone when it is a lie."

"Night to day. I prefer night cause it's easier to hide myself at night." A heavy sigh as he gave in to what she was saying. "I can't change what they did. I can change what I do after."

"That's right. Your entire life is what you do with your circumstances."

"Right. You don't forget, you just move on. A woman very dear to me once, she told me that. I've been trying to forget because it hurts to remember. If I think on what those men did to me for too long, if I spend too much time seeing in my head, Dad killing Mom, how afraid she was..for me... I want to go."

"Harry, no," Evelyn pleaded.

"No. I mean I want to be alone. I have to-just-" He stopped stumbling through his words in favor of a new thought. "How can you forgive him? How can you forgive anyone who has done someone else irreparable harm?"

"Because I know what it feels like to hurt someone like that. It's what I did to you. If I continue to blame myself, I would never be able to forgive myself. And forgiveness is something everyone needs."

"Yeah. You make it sound easy. I've told you more than enough personal crap about me. I need some air. Some air that's not here."

Rapid footsteps and a door opened and closed. Nathan turned toward the door to their own room and hesitated only a moment before heading for the door to leave. He heard someone following behind him but didn't bother to look and see whom. Slinking into the dark hallway, he kept mostly behind a wall as he once again found himself listening in on other people talking.

"The will is everything," Ilija said to Flynn, the two of them standing among the furniture in the lobby. "You are a determined spirit. Hold on to that when it feels right."

Nate looked on in mild bewilderment when the man gave his bit of wisdom and then strolled off to go outside. He realized the other soldiers weren't anywhere in the lobby anymore. He saw who had come out of the room with him when she walked over to the couch. Flynn had taken a seat on it once the mercenary left.

Sitting beside him, she held out her hand to shake.

"Mila."

"Huh?" he uttered, not noticing her presence until she'd spoken. "Oh. I remember. What do you want?"

"Your name would be nice."

"You know all about me already. I saw the binder your people put together."

"It is customary to exchange names. What do you prefer to be called?"

"Flynn."

"Understood. I want you to have this, Flynn."

Nathan peered around the wall to see better. She was giving him a necklace.

"Is this gold? You can't give this to me."

She pushed it back to him, closing his fingers around it as she did.

"No one should be without hope. This is a charm believed to protect the wearer. It's a moon. There are many a tale which say the moon watches over us. Let it remind you there is always hope."

"I can't accept such a gift. We're strangers. This is too nice."

"Yes. It is a very nice gift. And I am giving it to you."

Relenting, he let the hand clasping the necklace fall onto his lap. "Then I guess, thank you."

"You're welcome. It was very brave what you did, talking from your heart. I must confess, I was listening."

"Oh great. Well, what's yet another person knowing my business. Nothing new these days."

"Mm... We will forever keep the people we love inside ourselves," Mila told him. "Your mother is here."

Nate watched her raise her hand to place against Flynn's chest, where the heart resided. "Your mother, your sister, Joe, and I think maybe that man."

Confused, he asked, "Who?"

"Mr. Drake."

"Huh?" Nate let out of his mouth before he even knew it was coming.

Flynn spun around, spotting where he stood partially hidden by the wall. The rest of him was plain to see. Frozen a second too long, Nathan twitched and thought to move. He tried to slink the rest of the way behind the wall, until everyone else somehow decided now was the time to exit their respective rooms. Stuck where he was, he just stood exposed, unsure where he could go.

"No," Flynn quickly said, turning back to Mila. "No way. You're mistaken."

"Definitely!" Nathan chimed in.

The mercenary put her hand on his forearm. "Why him? Mr. Drake. It was only after he spoke to you that you agreed to do something you didn't want to do. Why him?"

Isidora leaned over Nate's shoulder, scrutinizing the pair on the couch. "What is it? Making new friends?"

"Shhh," Evelyn whispered. "He's talking nicely to a stranger. We're making progress."

"Yeah," Nate added. "Not a snark in sight."

"I can hear you!" Flynn called out, avoiding a turn to look at any of them probably from embarrassment or annoyance.

"I will give you a room key. You can get away from prying eyes. At least for a while," Mila shared and squeezed his arm gently. "Remember hope, and remember it is our responsibility to tell the truth to our friends."