Ch. 2

"Contest of wills?" Violet tilted her head, her slender shoulders poised in a formal standing pose. Her blonde hair, like sunkissed wheat, framed her slim face, and Hodgins had to admit, she really had grown into a beautiful young woman. It made his heart swell with pride to see just how far Violet had come in the two years she'd been with him at his postal service. That's why Dietfried's words felt like a hot iron in his chest. He grimaced with pain at recalling that tasteless accusation. Violet tentatively held out a hand to his arm. "President, are you sick? You look unwell?"

Hodgins' eyes flashed. He didn't want her to worry about him. She had to look forward to seeing Gilbert. While Hodgins was moved she was able to focus on something other than Gilbert even if for a minute, Hodgins certainly didn't want her to be stressed thinking about his own health instead! "Ah, I just don't have very good sea legs," he said, chuckling weakly, and he patted her arm gently. There was no reason for the gentle gesture. Her arms were made of metal, and clinked when his fingers brushed against the fabric of her sleeve. But, he couldn't stop himself from the instinct to be gentle-steel arms or not, she deserved to be treated like a human being should be.

Hodgins shut the door, still smiling at Violet. Dietfried eyed the door as it closed. His expression was smoothed over like the blank page in a book.

Hodgins gazed at Violet. She drew her arms back to herself, and had them formally in front of herself, clasped, like she was about to take a bow. "Please go lie down," she said, and it would honestly sound bossy and cute if Hodgins didn't already know that this was simply Violet's way of showing concern. In fact, hearing such emotion still brought tears to Hodgin's eyes from time to time. Dammit, he felt like he was a father about to give his only daughter away to some mysterious suitor-and he knew he had to shake that way of thinking. Violet may have been like a pseudo-daughter to him, but he knew that if Gilbert was alive… They deserved to find each other after all this time.

His heart clenched. What if he was wrong? What if he and Dietfried had been wrong? His voice shook a little, but he patted her head. "I'll be okay. Why don't you go back to your room?"

"I'm here to see Commander Bougainvillea," she said formally, her tone serious and leaving no room for doubt.

Hodgins felt his heart freeze. He looked at her, worried. He couldn't help it. The thought of her alone with that man-especially after the conversation they both had just ended behind closed doors about her? It made him uneasy. He bit his lower lip. "Ah, I see," he said, managing a listless smile, "I'll accompany-"

"-there is no need," Violet's quiet yet firm voice made Hodgins' own fade out effortlessly.

Hodgins' expression couldn't even begin to mask the concern he felt. Violet looked at him, and she did so, unblinkingly, direct as she always had been. He admired that about her. He found that although he was charismatic and outgoing, making eye contact was actually something extremely difficult to do when one felt uneasy. Yet, if she felt uneasy, this girl masked it well, like everything else. Hodgins felt his chest clench.

Did he love Violet?

Yeah. Probably. But it was like the love of a father who had adopted a child who had no one else to turn to. He had originally seen Violet as just someone Gilbert took under his wing, but in time of practically raising her himself these past few years, it would have been impossible to not form some sort of meaningful connection, right? While Hodgins had no romantic interest in Violet then-or now- he had grown accustomed to being like a guardian to her. Maybe Dietfried did have a point.

"Why did you want to meet with me? President Hodgins?" Dietfried smirked, gazing at the serious red-haired man sitting on the couch of his Naval Office.

Hodgins just gazed back at him, serious and formal. He knew Dietfried was the kind of person to rub people the wrong way, and he was no exception. He'd heard about this guy from Gilbert and it was only for Gilbert's sake that he didn't punch him in his smarmy slender jawline. The only similarity these two brothers shared were the eyes-and even those were different. Gilbert had bright eyes that shone like an Emerald. Dietfried had eyes that looked like moss that grew underwater-unreachable and clouded.

How could someone who looked as attractive as Dietfried be such an ass? It was honestly a crime, Hodgins couldn't help but think, irritated. Averting his gaze so he wouldn't be staring at Dietfried's Indigo long hair that framed his face and braided down his shoulder, Hodgins finally spoke.

"The other day…" he was of course referring to a discovery he made and wanted to confirm his suspicion about a letter that had been at CH postal office, undeliverable to the address intended. That letter had some formal handwriting that had looked identical to Gilbert's. It was the only reason that Hodgins bothered to contact Dietfried. He was loath to admit it, but he needed this man's connections in the military to see how best to proceed with this matter. And, despite everything, Dietfried was Gilbert's older brother. Hodgins didn't like the guy, but he felt he had a right to at least know if his brother was still alive. Even if an ass like him didn't deserve such thoughtfulness on Hodgins' part. Hodgins wouldn't be petty about something this serious. But he could still be moody about having to share a room with this guy.

Dietfried cut into his rambling train of thought, "Is it about that doll who works at your place?" he asked formally and a bit rudely. Hodgins disliked how Dietfried kept dancing around Violet's name. It was like he was asking for Hodgins to punch him. "Did she say something?" Dietfried continued, unperturbed by Hodgins inner and outer body language.

"No," Hodgins said, hoping to deflect the conversation back to the actual matter of Gilbert. It wasn't like Violet would have visited this dangerous man without telling him first.

"Don't worry," Dietfried continued, leaning back in his chair, his expression unreadable, " She left after she visited the boat. She said that you'd be worried about her."

Hodgins felt his heart drop out of his chest and roll somewhere under the couch he was sitting on. He felt himself quietly inhale sharply through his lungs.

Hodgins was stressed.

So Violet had chosen to go see Dietfried on the Bougainvillea family boat after all without telling him first. The previous night she had stated she would tell him. While Benedict, with his loud mouth as usual had reassured her it wasn't mandatory, it did bring a small sense of relief and comfort to Hodgins' naturally anxious sense of concern for Violet's well-being.

And yet.

She had in the end, listened to Benedict. He wasn't a great role model to begin with but he wasn't a bad one either. He was just, well, Hodgins didn't know how to describe his quirky subordinate and friend. But was Violet not telling him something important like this trip to the boat a sign of teenage rebellion? Or, no, that didn't fit Violet. Violet was far from rebellious. She had her moments of having an occasional emotional outburst which was considerably healthy for someone with her past, but Hodgins couldn't help but feel a little depressed. Did she not trust him, even after all this time together?

He wasn't going to cry in front of that bastard, Dietfried Bougainvillea though. "She said she'd tell me before she went," Hodgins finally managed. He didn't look at Dietfried.

But Dietfried decided to put in his two cents anyways. "You're not her guardian." His sharp calculative tone made Hodgins simmer with anger. "You have no right to control her," Dietfried continued.

That was the last straw.

A wild look in his stormy pale blue eyes, Hodgins rose from his seat like a man rising from his grave with a vendetta. How dare this cocky bastard lecture him about how to handle Violet! This bastard who used her as a tool and threw her away to be abused after! This hypocrite who denied Violet love, care, anything a normal child should have received-instead turning her into a weapon merely to lick his own battle scars! If anyone had no right to control her-

It was Dietfried.

He grabbed that effeminate cocky man by his collar and yanked him to eye level. Dietfried honestly didn't try to defend himself. "You bastard!" Hodgins snarled, "How dare you say that!"

The guard in the shadows began to reach for his gun but Dietfried kept his gaze locked onto Hoddgins' own passionately angry one for a few moments longer. God, when was the last time he'd been this close to anyone? Dietfried knew what a hypocritical bastard he was sounding like right now. But to be honest, he had been trying to get Hodgins to realize that it wasn't his place to worry so much anymore about what Violet did.

The words had come out wrong though. But Dietfried didn't see a reason to take them back. He raised his hand to the guard, a silent gesture to have him lower his weapon. The guard did so, apprehensive and still on edge. Dietfried just gazed back at Hodgins' piercing blue eyes. One could get lost in them, he concluded off-handedly. "I'm sorry," he said, and he meant it.

Hodgins' expression looked momentarily taken aback. However Dietfried powered on through with the rest of his statement. "I was wrong," and he was wrong. He knew he had been wrong. Maybe he'd been wrong about Violet this whole time. But the past was in the past. The wrongs had been done. He knew from how Hodgins gazed at him with such hatred and loathing, that the only monster that Hodgins saw had always somehow been him.

Hodgins let Dietfried go, just staring at him, his anger simmering down if not mixed with the new bubbling feeling of confusion in his chest. Dietfried looked down, avoiding Hodgins' gaze. "This is the only way I know how to talk," he admitted.

With that, though still a bit angry, Hodgins understood that perhaps Cattleya had been correct. No, of course his dark haired, energetic beautiful #1 doll at the agency had been correct. She had always been a very smart young woman, and she had stated as much that Violet and Dietfried needed each other to heal. It was better to not keep them apart in this sense. While Hodgins disagreed, he couldn't help but see that Dietfried inviting Violet to their family boat had been him trying to understand her in his own way.

If he had truly meant her harm, Hodgins knew that Dietfried would have done something before now. Forcing himself to remind himself that the real matter at hand wasn't Violet-or their differing opinions on her- but Gilbert, he pushed down those resentful feelings towards Dietfried to be civil once more. "I didn't come here today to talk about Violet," he confessed.

He pulled out the letter he and Benedict had discovered the other day in the mail room, and placed it on the Naval Commander's desk. It took only a moment before Dietfried inhaled sharply. His eyes dilated with genuine surprise, as he gazed at the letter. There was no mistaking that awkward left-handed scrawl-clearly done by someone who was originally right handed. "Isn't this?" He couldn't finish that sentence. The possibility was so tangible that it was making him feel light-headed and yet like a heavy weight was crushing his lungs at the same time.

"Can you look into it?" Hodgins inquired, softly. He wanted to give Dietfried a moment. Dietfried remained silent.

Finally, he took the letter, and Hodgins noted how his hand was trembling. Without a word, he bowed formally, before excusing himself to give Dietfried some time to process the bombshell that Hodgins had just left on his desk.

Hodgins tried to keep his breathing calm. He didn't want to control Violet. He never meant to be an overbearing figure. But he was worried about her. Worried about leaving her alone with Dietfried-of all people- especially. He also noted that Dietfried had alcohol in his system and that made him more wary of how he'd treat Violet. He was volatile and unpredictable, like an unhinged mistress honestly.

Hodgins cringed mentally, trying to imagine Dietfried in a dress with gaudy makeup throwing a tantrum- and the visual was honestly both alarming and hilarious. "I see," he said finally to Violet, his insides felt like they were twisting like eels in a tank.

"President," Violet continued, gazing at him with her unblinking gaze.

"Yes?" Hodgins replied, distractedly.

"Please let go of my arm as I cannot enter the room in this current hold you have me in," she replied, direct and polite.

Hodgins felt his face warm from embarrassment. He hadn't realized he'd grabbed a hold of her sleeve! He quickly let go. "Ah, right, yes, sorry, my bad, of course!" all of these ramblings came tumbling out of his mouth like alphabet building blocks for toddlers. The way he was babbling, he may as well have been mistaken for articulating like one.

Violet stared at him.

Hodgins instinctively stepped aside to be a gentleman, before he realized he was possibly letting her go into a moody indigo-maned lion's den. His mind raced to try to find some excuse to redirect Violet to maybe rethink about having a private conversation with the unstable older Bougainvillea but for some inexplicable reason, Hodgins found his tongue felt oddly glued to the roof of his mouth.

Violet put her hand of gloved steel on the door handle. "Please excuse me," she said politely, not commenting on Hodgins' current flip book of emotions written on his face. It wasn't that Violet didn't note Hodgins' many expressions, but she didn't know how to react to a man with so many expressive emotions at once. In a way, she understood his concern for her and yet she was puzzled by it, even now.

Violet turned the door handle but Hodgins put a hand on the door, above her head from beside her. Violet blinked, bewildered. She looked up at the red-head, as he grit his teeth. Immediately she knew that there was something serious going on. For a moment, her mind flashed to if it had to do with her Major. Her normally smooth features twisted. "Is…there something wrong?" She asked, her voice trembling slightly.

"The Naval Commander is tired," Hodgins found himself lying, and despite his best efforts to not control the narrative for Violet, he just couldn't handle the thought of her alone in the same room as that damn smart-mouthed Naval Commander Bougainvillea. Especially not when he was clearly drunk and held an unsound mind at the moment.

Violet gazed at Hodgins. Finally, she just lowered her head in a respectful manner. "I understand. I will talk to him when he is ready for company," she said, before turning around and walking away.

Hodgins didn't know if it was relief or guilt that flooded into himself at that moment. But, it was probably a mixture of both. Hodgins turned, and walked away from the door after a moment. The desire to care about Violet was not one that would ever go away, that much Hodgins knew from the bottom of his heart.

A day passed.

The seas were calm.

The journey was going without a hitch.

Hodgins stood outside, listening to the sound of the waves slapping against the boat as it moved through calm waters. The sky was blue with light grey clouds. It looked like it could be a storm. Hodgins hoped not. They were almost to their destination and he'd rather not jinx anything. Hodgins let out a breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding.

He had mixed feelings about this trip. He himself didn't know what to feel. His best friend had been missing for so long, long enough to be presumed legally dead, by military standards, and yet— Benedict had given Hodgins the key unironically that brought the matter Of Gilbert's status back to life. Whether they were chasing a genuine lead or the ghost of one, didn't matter.

Hodgin's eyes flickered.

His heart felt pain, anxiety, but also a small sliver of hope.

Gilbert had been like a brother to him. Maybe that's why Deitfried couldn't stand him, Hodgins thought to himself, offhandedly. Ah, that would make sense. Could it be that Dietfried was just jealous? That bemusingly terrible idea popped into Claudia's mind like one of Benedict's terrible plots to pick up girls at a bar.

Hodgins sighed heavily.

Honestly, that older Bougainvillea could be such a pain in the —

"Hey, I'm talking to you," the moody devil himself spoke, making Hodgins flinch from surprise.

He looked at the other man who seemingly materialized next to him. Hodgins' soul nearly jumped out of his body comically from the sudden shock.

"You must have been lost in your thoughts, I called your name but you completely ignored me," Dietfried sighed, a hand in his pants pocket, just gazing at Hodgins.

"Oh. Sorry, I guess I was," Hodgins said, averting his eyes. He still felt the strained politeness between the both of them even now. Since their previous fight, he'd made it a point to mostly ignore Dietfried. Maybe it was petty and childish, but Hodgins really didn't like the guy.

"So, I talked with that auto memory doll just now," Dietfried said with a sigh, rustling in his jacket for something. Finding a pack of cigarettes, he began to light one. Hodgins was surprisingly quiet. Dietfried wondered how long that would last—especially when it came to the girl.

"She has a name," was the tense reply.

Dietfried paused.

"That means nothing to me," he replied coolly, flicking his lighter now. Probably not smart to handle an open flame right near someone quick to throw punches, but Dietfried was used to playing with fire in dangerous situations. Stoking flames was what he was good at, after all.

"…Why are you like this?" Hodgins' voice wavered. He was frustrated.

Dietfried shrugged. "I have no reason to subscribe to something I don't believe, personally," he stated, taking a puff now. He blew out the smoke, watching it float in front of himself.

Hodgins grit his teeth.

He turned to walk away. It wasn't like whatever Violet talked about with Dietfried was his business. Actually, had Dietfried come here to point that out? Make some other obtuse statement as to why he should no longer feel obligated to care about Violet? What an incorrigible bastard.

"She mentioned you," Dietfried said quietly.

Hodgins paused, heel already turned, in the act of walking away. He felt his heart thud in his chest. Despite his brain telling him it wasn't his business, his heart clenched, selfishly hanging onto the words that spilled from the raven-haired man's lips.

Dietfried, taking Hodgins no longer scurrying off quickly as a sign to keep talking, continued. "She just wanted to make sure…that you would be alright, if she did choose to leave the postal company."

"What?" Hodgin's eyes flashed with alarm. He hadn't actually considered Violet would leave the postal service. Sure, he wanted more than anything for her to be reunited with Gilbert. And, he'd understand if she left to be with him, but the reality of that didn't sink in until Dietfried brought it up casually—like discussion of the weather.

There was no such thing as small talk when it came to someone like Dietfried. He was truly like a beast, going for the throat of any matter.

"Don't look so surprised," Dietfried continued, holding his cigarette between his fingers now, hugging himself, and tilting his head to look at Hodgins now. His expression was one of contemplative coldness. "You didn't think she'd really stay with you forever, did you?"

He was picking a fight.

That's all Hodgins could think. "No, I knew she'd leave…if she really did find him," Hodgins' eyes flickered, looking away. He felt bitter. He didn't need this person pouring salt on his emotions. The sea held enough salt as it was.

"And yet, you look like you're the one being abandoned," Dietfried sighed, shaking his head, and waving the hand holding the cigarette, lazily. "Look at it this way. She's one less attachment you'll have to stress over."

Hodgins wondered inwardly if he'd get arrested for throwing the insensitive Naval Captain Bastard overboard. Probably. But would it be worth it?

Possibly.

Man, he really cared about Violet— being willing to commit a post-war crime in her honor.

Hodgins didn't know how to get this thick headed big brother of Gilbert's to understand that he wasn't only helping Violet out of a sense of duty to Gilbert. "You know, I don't only care about her in your brother's place," he said, tone serious.

Dietfried took another hit of his cigarette, and turned his head. "If I indicated I thought otherwise you'd just throw me overboard," Dietfried said, deadpan.

Hodgins honestly wondered if Dietfried wanted him to throw the other socially inept party overboard. "Probably," Hodgins found himself admitting, honestly.

Dietfried let out a sudden tiny chuckle. It wasn't a friendly sound. "You are rather honest," he thought out loud.

Hodgins pouted.

"Yeah, I am, which is why I meant it when I said I don't only care about Violet's well-being because it's a 'duty' imparted to me at his wish," Hodgins reiterated, glaring at Dietfried. He knew Dietfried was trying to rile him up—-it was working— but he couldn't stand Dietfried running this assumption about Hodgins' feelings for Violet like he had been doing.

"If it wasn't for Gil," Dietfried said slowly, lowering the cigarette from his mouth, tapping it twice so the ashes fell into the sea. "…could you honestly say you would even give two shits about that doll?"

Hodgins huffed. "It doesn't matter how Violet came to me. All that matters is, she did, even if it wasn't through him…I would still care! To care about another person—there doesn't have to be an existing underlying reason!" He fiercely stated.

"She told me the same thing, funnily enough," Dietfried said quietly. "She apparently knew some details about our fight the other night and wanted to confirm the nature of your relationship herself."

Hodgins felt a small elation bloom inside himself along with embarrassment. "She did?" He didn't mean to sound surprised, but he was honestly a bit touched. Violet rarely expressed her feelings about Hodgins' treatment of her to him directly. She was so reserved that honestly sometimes Hodgins worried he just came off as an irritation.

"She said you're the one who found her that small piece of Gilbert back when she first awoke…and had nothing," Dietfried continued.

"She told you about how I got her broach back?" Hodgins couldn't help but be a little surprised. That story wasn't one she went around sharing with just anyone. Cattleya knew Hodgins had spent his entire month's allowance on procuring it for her, but that was about it. Hodgins hadn't exactly made a big deal of it himself at the time. Why would he? It was a small gesture meant only for Violet. That had been nearly two years ago.

"Indeed," Dietfried said, inhaling some smoke into his mouth. Like his words, it was a feeling of momentary transparency. "She said it had been stolen—most likely when she'd been unconscious, and you were the one who found it again."

Hodgins smiled for the first time. "Yeah," he said, gazing at Dietfried. "I remember the pains I went through to find it for her. Actually, I wouldn't have been able to if she hadn't given such a vivid description of it…" he let out a small breezy laugh.

Dietfried eyed him. "…"

Hodgins remembered it clearly.

Because, she, a person with little emotional depth at the time, had stated it was the color of her Major's eyes.

Hodgins gazed out at the rushing waves. "She said it reminded her of the color of his eyes…"

"If I hadn't been the one to personally help her get that broach back, I wouldn't have acknowledged the level of significance," Dietfried agreed.

Hodgins blinked. Dietfried had once done something nice for her? When he'd heard the story about the train and the bomb from Benedict and Cattleya they hadn't mentioned that part. Probably because this was something that had only transpired between Violet and Dietfried at the time.

Hodgins was comically both at a loss for words and also incredibly inclined to pry for more details being a bit nosy by nature. He didn't want to ruin the moment but was Dietfried actually being civil? Agreeable? Borderline socially tolerable?

"Your silence is more alarming than you running your thoughts from your mind to your mouth," Dietfried curtly replied.

Ah, nope. Moment was gone, Hodgins sighed inwardly. "…"

"…"

The men both fell into an awkward silence.

"What else…did she say?" Hodgins couldn't help but ask finally. The suspense was killing him.

Dietfried was tempted to keep the details from him because seeing the other man's emotional rollercoaster of expressions was entertaining on a certain level. However, he merely shrugged. "She just said that you were not the kind of person to do something for the sake of receiving something in return. You were a selfless person that she looked up to…and…" Dietfried closed his eyes.

He recalled her expression, angry and passionate.

"The Major trusted this person because he was his invaluable, irreplaceable friend."

There was a momentary silence.

"I see," Hodgins' voice was calm and unshakable.

Dietfried glanced at him. Dietfried's expression twisted, seeing Hodgins' face. He was a bit startled, to say the least. After all, what should one do when seeing a grown man cry?

Hodgins had a few tears roll down his face but he didn't stop them. They continued, unbidden, as he just looked out over the vast expanse of the ocean they were on. Hodgins lower lip quivered. He didn't know what to say actually. Violet rarely spoke about how she felt about him, after all. But to know she held such a deep respect for him and even stood up to Dietfried because of it? Why did Hodgins think she needed protection even after all this time? Without him realizing it, she'd truly grown into her own mind.

His own wish for her had come true.

Violet was no longer incapable of forming her own thoughts, opinions, or taking action not predetermined for her. She was her own person. Perhaps she'd been like this for a while now but Hodgins just couldn't bring himself to admit it. Perhaps he had been a bit overbearing. Maybe he did hover too close.

Maybe he was the only one who had been hanging on too tight after all.

But the thought of having to let her go?

Hodgins didn't think he would ever be ready.

But thanks to what Dietfried had just revealed, Hodgins found instead that he was actually more than prepared to finally let Violet leave the nest—whenever that time would be.

"You didn't have to tell me any of this…but you did so…I'm grateful…thank —-!?"

A puff of smoke was blown into Hodgins' face just then.

His eyes bugged comically and he coughed, pulling back from the other man.

"Cough! Cough!" He wheezed, inhaling some smoke and he backed up, hand over his nose and mouth, eyes watering, bewildered for a different reason.

"Grown men shouldn't cry," Dietfried haughtily replied, and he turned away, departing from Hodgins.

Hodgins breathed out, still trying to clear his lungs. Honestly, why did that guy have to go and ruin any nice moment?

"I really can't stand that guy," Hodgins whined to no one. Why did his bad personality only seem to come out around Hodgins? Hodgins really didn't know what he'd done to deserve that treatment.