In the morning Hana awoke in her bed, groaning quietly as she sat up. She rubbed her eyes before opening them, looking to her side where a shirtless Lucio lay completely out cold. She didn't mind that he slept half-naked, but his snoring did certainly make it hard for her to get to sleep. While her dad would probably ground her if he saw that Lucio had been sleeping next to her, it's not like they'd done anything. She just didn't want him sleeping on the couch or on the floor, and her bed was more than big enough for two people.
Reaching over, she gently shook her friend's shoulder to rouse him from his slumber. The dark-skinned teen grumbled and shifted before reaching up to rub his face.
"Morning already...? Man..." Sitting up, Lucio stretched his arms above his head and yawned big. "Guess I should get up before your dad pops his head in and gets any crazy ideas, huh?" He joked, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed then standing up.
Hana scoffed. "Even if we were in a relationship, it shouldn't matter to him if we sleep together or not. He's such a helicopter parent sometimes."
Lucio wound up simply sitting on the floor beside the bed, grabbing the pillow he'd slept on and holding it to his chest. "Man, I'm still tired. We stayed up way too late doing your livestream last night."
Hana nodded her head, recalling the three-hour stream of playing a few games with Lucio. The viewers had loved it, and many of them thought the two were dating, but they were just good friends.
Lucio reached for his phone on the bedside table, humming to himself. "I swear, I'm about to fall back asleep... I'm so dead."
"Then sleep. Not like we have to get up to do anything." Hana shrugged her shoulders.
"But what about your parents?"
Another shrug. "They're harmless. Mom's probably too hungover to care, and dad's probably still asleep for now. I can't hear him in the kitchen, and I can't hear the living room TV."
Lucio clambered back up onto the bed, throwing the covers back over himself and tucking the pillow under his head. "Wake me up if you need me or if your dad's got a gun."
Hana smiled, patting the top of her friend's head before getting up and walking out of the room. She walked down the stairs as quietly as she could. Everything in the house was still dim, the sun just barely peeking over the horizon at this point. However, the teenage girl could make out the shape of a woman on the couch, undoubtably her mother. Poor woman hadn't even been able to make it to the bedroom before she'd passed out.
Slipping quietly into the kitchen, Hana rummaged around trying to find something to eat. The only thing they had was cereal, and the noise would undoubtedly wake her slumbering mother. The teenager sighed, shrugging her shoulders. At least it would get the hungover woman to move up to bed rather than remain on the couch.
Pouring herself a bowl of a fruity cereal, it only took a few moments for Hana to hear a groan from the living room and a thud of what was probably a knee hitting the coffee table.
"Scheiße..."
A slouching blonde woman peered intot he dim kitchen, bags under her eyes and makeup smudged.
"Hana, what on earth are you doing up so early...?" Angela droned.
"Getting breakfast." Hana motioned to the bowl of cereal on the counter as she retrieved the milk from the fridge. "Lucio is still sleeping."
Angela rubbed a temple with one hand, an epiphanic and confused expression on her face. "Lucio is here? Damn, how much did I drink last night? You'd swear I wasn't Swiss with how lightweight I can be..."
Hana giggled quietly. "If this is how bad you are, I can't imagine how drunk Satya got."
Angela stared blankly into space, then rubbed her eyes and shook her head. "I don't remember anything that happened last night. I'm going to go lay back down upstairs..."
"Sleep well, mom. Don't forget to drink some water." Hana reminded, though she found it strange to be telling a doctor what to do concerning her health. Sometimes Angela could go into these wonderfully detailed medical talks and her daughter actually learned from them, though it was very minor things. How to help nausea, what to do about a cut, things like that.
It got Hana thinking about her future, as she sat and ate her cereal at the kitchen table, alone. She knew that video gaming was a great passion of hers, but she knew she needed other experiences. She'd always be a gamer and probably make her living off of it, but she wanted to be able to relate to those who watched her play. And to do that, she'd need to broaden her horizons and search for something many people had a connection to.
There was so much out there for her to choose from. She still had two years until she graduated, but her 17th birthday was coming up soon. It'd be great if she had a bit of money to spend, but even better if she could prove to her parents how mature she was to have a job while still in high school. No doubt it'd be tough, but she wasn't one to be lazy.
Hana was thinking so much, she didn't even notice her father enter the kitchen until he began rummaging through one of the cabinets for a bottle of medicine. Painkillers, probably for Angela.
"Mom wake you up?" The daughter asked, looking to the gruff man. Jack nodded his head, scratching at the stubble on his neck as he read the label on the bottle he was holding. After squinting to read it, he held it out to Hana.
"I can't read the damn thing, I'm too sleepy. Eyes are blurry. Is this the ibuprofin?" He asked. Hana nodded after glancing at the label. The print was small, since it was a generic brand, and as much as Jack would never admit it, he was getting old and his eyes weren't as good as they used to be.
"Yeah, you've got the right one. You sure you don't need to go to the optometrist? You've been having a lot of trouble reading small text lately." Hana remarked before eating a spoonful of her cereal.
Jack went quieter than usual and for a moment, Hana feared she'd pissed him off, but the man let out a resigned sigh and poured out two pills from the bottle.
"Yeah, maybe you're right... I'll talk to your mother about it. She probably knows a good optometrist to go to." He grumbled, setting the pills back in the cabinet. He then went about getting a glass of water, before going over to Hana. He leaned down and kissed his daughter's cheek.
"Love you, Hana."
It was one of those strange moments where Hana's dad showed a bit of warmheartedness, but with it came a sort of vulnerability that he preferred not to show. Hana always guessed it had to do with his sense of pride.
"Love you too, dad. Go get some more sleep." She urged, smiling sweetly at the older man, who simply nodded and went on his way, returning upstairs.
With her cereal finished, Hana got up and set the bowl in the dishwasher, before heading back upstairs to her room. Lucio was out cold already. A little bit of noise likely wouldn't wake him, so she sat at her desk and booted up her computer, browsing Youtube and Facebook to kill time.
-
"Hey Reyes, wake up and get dressed."
A cop ordered from outside Gabriel's cell, making the hispanic man sit up from his bed with a groan. Gabe swung his legs over the side of his bed and looked to the door where the guard stood.
"Your lawyer is here. Said he couldn't wait until later to speak with you. Sounds like good news if you ask me. Come on." The man opened up the cell door, pulling out a pair of handcuffs. It wasn't that Gabriel was considered dangerous anymore, it was more that they followed strict protocol in this prison. He hadn't had any bad behavior for the ten years he'd been here.
Gabe tossed on his orange jumpsuit then walked over to the door, holding out his wrists. Once he was cuffed with the familiar metal around his arms, he was escorted down the cell block to the telephone visitation area. Brought over to one of the booths, there sat his massive lawyer on the other side of the glass, a New Zealander named Mako Rutledge.
Funny thing about Mako; he used to be a criminal himself. Even served some time in jail, but avoided felony charges. He'd taken the experience and flipped it completely around to become a lawyer himself.
The same couldn't be said for Mako's partner in crime, Jamison Fawkes who was still in prison to this day on a domestic terrorism charge.
Picking up the phone, Gabriel looked through the glass at the other man, who grunted into the receiver.
"Hey." Mako rumbled in a deep baritone voice.
"Not like you to show up so early." Gabriel commented, recalling how his lawyer tended to prefer visiting in the midday or later.
"I know. But I have news for you. Got it yesterday but didn't have time to tell you." Mako moved the hand that had been sitting on his gut to the back of his head, adjusting the ponytail that held back his silver hair.
Gabriel could feel his heart pounding in his chest. "Well? What is it?"
"Two things. One, I've found someone who is willing to take you in."
"Who?"
"Do you remember your niece Sombra?"
Gabriel nodded his head. "Yeah, she was only a teenager when I got locked up. She agreed to come get me when I get out?"
Mako nodded his large head. "Yeah. She contacted me herself. Lives alone, has room for one more person. You alright with that?"
"Of course I am, Mako." Gabriel rested an arm on the table between them and leaned forward. "So what's the second part?"
"You're getting out of here early on parole. I talked with the judge, and the guards have reported that you've had good behavior for the entirety of your sentence."
Gabriel's jaw dropped in shock, and he reached to cover his mouth, accidentally smacking the receiver of the phone, causing Mako to flinch from the sound assaulting his ear.
"Sorry about that, but, you're not kidding? How early? I've only got three months left."
Mako smirked. "Two weeks. You're getting out in two weeks, Gabriel."
Now came the tears. It felt like a damn dream come true. Sure, he'd had to serve nearly the entire ten year sentence, but to have two and a half months cut off of the sentence? Shit, they may as well have told him he won the lottery.
"Thank you so much, Mako. Thank you. I'm in your debt." Gabriel grinned at the man, unable to contain his happiness. Mako simply smiled and grunted.
"I actually have Sombra here to talk to you. Surprise." He said before setting the phone down and hoisting himself out of his seat, practically making the ground quake as he walked. The young woman in question now took Mako's place in the chair, smiling at her uncle as she took the phone and held it to her ear. Her outfit was... purple. Very purple. Her clothes, the ends of the hair on half of her head, the shaved designs on the other side, even her nails were purple.
"Long time no see, uncle." Sombra had an accent, caused by her upbringing in Mexico. "Weird that I hardly know you but you're my only uncle."
"You've grown up." Gabe remarked, wiping the tears from his face. "It's good to see you, Sombra."
"Mom was wondering how her big brother Gabe was doing in America, so I checked up on things myself, since I live an hour away from here. Lucky you, huh? But yeah, I talked to your beefcake lawyer about you last month. I was ready to wait another three months but he called me earlier and told me he'd managed to get your sentence reduced. Good stuff, huh?"
Gabriel nodded. "He's a good hombre. What made you move to the US anyways? You lived in Mexico with my sister last I knew."
"I saved up money, immigrated, now I've got a job and I go to college. Still not a citizen, but that won't happen for a while. It was between moving here or getting sucked into Los Muertos. I didn't want to wind up some chola on the streets." She scoffed. "Don't get me wrong, some of those people were my amigos down south, but I've got bigger ambitions."
"What're you studying in college?" Gabe asked, raising a brow. "And where do you work?"
"I work in a tech shop in the town your buddy Morrison lives in. I mostly do repairs. Computers, cameras, stuff like that. I'm studying Computer Security and Cryptography, as well as Programming. It all kind of goes hand in hand."
Gabriel blinked a bit. "So did you move this close to the prison because of me? There must've been other reasons."
Sombra shrugged her shoulders. "You're my only family here in the states. Even if I had to wait to have you around, it would be worth it. You may be a felon, but you seem like a good guy to me. Just made a big mistake."
The inmate felt moved by his niece's sincerity. "You're right. I'm not a bad person, I just made bad choices. Thank you for having some faith in me, Sombra."
"Oh, and a word from mama. She'd kill me if I didn't tell you to go to church when you get out. You know how she is." Sombra laughed lightly. Gabriel recalled his sister's devout Catholicism and smiled.
"Yeah, I think that'd be a good thing for me to do, if nothing else." The man chuckled and leaned back in his chair. "If you talk to her anytime soon, tell her I said hola, alright?"
"Si, sure thing, Gabe. You don't mind if I call you Gabe, right?" Sombra smirked. While Gabriel wasn't fond of the shortened form of his name, he'd never been able to avoid it, so he shrugged his shoulders.
"Call me what you like, it doesn't matter much to me. I'm just happy to be getting out so much sooner."
Sombra glanced at the purple watch on her wrist and sighed. "Well, uncle, I have to get going to work. Looks like Mako already left." She said, glancing over her shoulder. "I'll talk to you soon, alright?"
"Okay, Sombra. Talk to you soon." With that, the two hung the phones back on the wall. Gabe stood up and walked back over to the cop, who smiled at him.
"Good news?" He asked. Gabriel nodded.
"Very much so. Getting out in two weeks on parole instead of three months, plus my niece is letting me live with her while I get back on my feet." He explained as they walked back through the corridors.
"That's good. Just stay out of trouble, alright? You seem pretty good at it." The cop nudged Gabriel arm as they walked and Gabriel grinned.
"You won't ever be seeing me around here again come two weeks from today. I can promise you that."
-
As the day went on, Jack found himself outside, tucked under the hood of his truck, tightening some bolts here and there, adjusting some hoses, and checking fluids. It hadn't been running as smooth as usual, and he knew he could fix it himself, if he could just see the measurement notches on the motor oil tank... The lines just seemed to blur into the container.
He hadn't actually talked to Angela about seeing an optometrist like he said he would. He'd simply given his wife the painkillers she'd requested, lay down for a few more hours, then came out to tinker.
Jack knew he'd been in need of glasses for a while, but damn it, he just didn't want to accept the fact that he was getting old. He hadn't been an expert marksman in his military days just to decay into some geezer with glasses. Next thing to go would be his back and he'd wind up like Reinhardt, hardly able to bend over to tie his own shoes.
Sighing heavily, Jack tossed a wrench back into the toolbox on the ground, probably a little harder than need be, the loud clang seeming to echo off of the walls of the quiet suburban houses.
The sound reminded him of gunfire, the sound he was so used to. Or at least, he used to be. There was a lot less gunfire in a nice place like this. He felt like he'd lived such a cushy life since he'd gotten out of the service. The only thing that had happened to make things uncomfortable had been the assault, and that was ten years ago. He'd seen war at its worst, and now that he was facing the hardship of aging, it felt so damn petty to be upset about it.
He'd seen dead children on the side of a road, abandoned with no hope for burial. He'd seen soldiers with legs blown off, he'd seen civilians with bullets through their skulls. And this? Losing his perfect eyesight was what was bothering him the most now?
It just didn't feel right.
Glancing over his shoulder as he heard the front door to the house open, he watched as Angela emerged, hardly looking hungover. She was wearing a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, with her hair pulled back as usual. She just looked a little tired, but otherwise there was no evidence she'd even been drinking the prior night.
"Is there something you want to talk about?" She asked, walking out onto the driveway barefooted.
Jack sighed. "Were you watching me?"
"Just out the living room window. You seemed angry all of the sudden so I wanted to see if there was something on your mind." Angela leaned against the bumper of the truck, crossing her arms loosely over her chest.
Jack looked down, hands on his hips, shaking his head slightly. "My eyes are going bad, Angela. I can't read small words or even see the notches on the motor oil tank... Small details just blur into each other. Never imagined the day I'd start to feel as old as I am."
Angela smiled, tilting her head, eyes focused on her husband. "We have a sixteen year old daughter, Jack. We're getting old. Not just you, but me too."
Jack chuckled, smiling at her. "You hardly look a day over thirty, Angie."
"Oh you." Angela waved her hand in dismissal of the compliment. "We've been married so long and you still flirt like we've just met. You've hardly changed a bit."
"That's comforting to know, but I do like to think I've grown to be a good husband to you." Jack leaned against the bumper as well, wrapping an arm around his wife's shoulders. "I don't think I really took it seriously in the beginning."
"You took it serious enough to adopt a child, Jack. I think you've done amazing as a husband, and a father. You're doubting yourself too much lately." Angela rested her head against Jack's shoulder. "I'll see about scheduling an appointment with an optometrist for you sometime soon, alright? We could get you contacts, if you're worried about looking dorky."
"Dorky? Me?" Jack raised a brow. "I just don't fancy looking old."
"I suppose it depends on the style of glasses... Not like you have to get some old-timer magnifying glasses." She giggled. "Those would look very silly on you. You just need something to help you read the small stuff. Something simple, easy to wear."
"Yeah... I guess I'll just have to talk to the doc about it. Benefits of glasses versus contacts, all that jazz." Jack reached up to run a hand through his gray hair. "What do you say we go out to dinner tonight, just you and me?"
"What will Hana do?" Angela asked.
"I don't know, see if Satya will let Lucio over again or something. We could order a pizza for them. I just want to spend decent time with you. It feels like you never have a day off."
Angela smiled warmly. "Sounds good. Liucio went home not that long ago, hopefully he'll want to hang out with Hana more. He's a nice kid."
Jack nodded his head in agreement. "Do you think... well, that they'll start dating?"
"Dating?" The blonde woman seemed a little surprised by the question. "Well, that's up to them. Hana is sixteen, going on seventeen soon. I wouldn't be surprised if she started dabbling in relationships... and with how close her and Lucio are, I wouldn't be surprised if they started with each other. I think it'd be okay. Lucio is a good kid. Eccentric and colorful, but those things can sometimes be good. Satya and I had quite the conversation last night about her son... of course, I can only remember half of it."
Jack laughed, then kissed his beloved's cheek. "You haven't changed a bit since we met either. As lightweight as always."
Angela moved to stand in front of her husband. "You would know, wouldn't you?" She placed a hand on his cheek, smiling up at him. "Always buying me expensive wine for holidays."
"Well, it's one thing I know you won't return to the store if I buy you it." Jack grinned. "You can't say no to a good cabernet."
"And you can't say no to any beer Reinhardt tosses your way." She retorted, poking a finger at his chest. "Did you enjoy the time you spent with him?"
Jack nodded. "Yeah, funny story. We were watching football and drinking beer, then we got to talking about Ana and wound up going out searching for her. We got worried. Went over to Fareeha's. Got into an argument with her, then Ana popped up out of nowhere and shut us all up like she usually does."
"And was this drunk or...?"
"Completely sober." The grizzled man chuckled. "You know how I get when I'm drunk."
"Right, you pass out on the lawn with no pants on."
Jack rolled his eyes. "That was one time."
"And the drunkest I'd ever seen you. Two cases of beer down and you lose it." She laughed. "Don't look so grumpy, you know I pass out wherever I get comfortable when I'm drunk. I usualy wind up on furniture though."
"I guess grass is a bed if you're drunk enough." The husband wrapped his arms around Angela's waist, smiling handsomely. "I've got to finish this up, then maybe we could watch some TV together until later when we go to dinner."
"Sounds like a plan to me, Jack."