"Right now? Well, let's see. I died and came back to life, I think I'm doing whatever I want at the moment. And right now, I want a drink and some answers."

Desmond wasn't exactly comfortable with the idea of leaving his newfound younger brother home alone while he and his father went to get drinks (and possibly get drunk). He wasn't exactly comforted by his father telling him that Duncan was used to staying home alone, either.

Still leaving your kids by themselves. Some things never change.

They hadn't talked during the drive into town, instead choosing to sit in silence, the tense atmosphere growing more and more uncomfortable until Desmond wanted to scream all the questions that were buzzing in his head.

He had a brother. A little brother, who hated him for some reason, and who, upon discovering who he was, decided he wanted nothing to do with him. What the hell had Bill been saying about him all these years? And why was he home alone in the first place? Why wasn't Mom with him? He knew his father had said they were temporarily separated to throw off the Templars hunting them, but he assumed she'd be home with her son…

God, what else wasn't his father telling him?

He'd thought, after Rome, after reconciling with his father, that things between them would be different. Better, somehow. But they weren't. They hadn't changed at all.

When they finally got to the bar (the drive was only 20 minutes, but it felt so much longer), Desmond could not order a drink fast enough. He couldn't be completely sober to deal with this.

Any other time, he'd be happy to be in a bar. He loved watching how other bartenders worked, mentally comparing techniques, how they mixed drinks, trying to figure out how he measured up. There was still a part of him that wanted to go back to that life, someday…but there was still Juno to deal with, and the Templars, and right now, his father.

They managed to get a booth, and for a few minutes, neither of them said anything, Desmond opting to nurse his drink than start the conversation. But it became clear that William was unwilling—or unable—to start talking about the things he hadn't told Desmond. So, Desmond sighed, put his beer aside (for now), and took the plunge. "So…Duncan, huh. I gotta admit, out of all the things I was expecting to find when I got back, a little brother wasn't one of them."

William didn't look at him as he nodded. "He's nine now. He'll be turning ten in about eight months."

Desmond went quiet, thinking about that for a minute. He'd ran away at sixteen, in 2003…Duncan was nine…he did he math in his head. Duncan was born sometime in late 2003, after he'd run away…

Oh. Oh.

He shot his father a dirty look. "Wow. Wow, Dad. I knew you could be a real asshole, but this? This is something else."

William raised an eyebrow. "Explain how having another son makes me an asshole?"

"I seem to remember Mom not wanting anymore kids, and Duncan just happens to be nine? The same number of years its been since I ran away? Heh. Happy to be rid of me, I guess."

Duncan wasn't just his little brother. Oh, no, that would've been too nice, too normal. No, Duncan was the replacement child, the Plan B that was hastily made after Desmond turned out to be a failure in his father's eyes, after he ran away. Christ, this was rich.

He wanted to laugh, to scream, to cry, to just punch his father straight in the jaw. How could he have been so naïve as to think that maybe things could be different between them, when William went and did things like this?

William raised an eyebrow, staring at Desmond before sighing, sounding frustrated. "Always assuming the worst of me, aren't you, Desmond. Yes, your mother didn't want to have any other children after you. Duncan was technically an accident, and she was about a month pregnant with him when you ran away. Your leaving hurt her, very badly. She chose to keep Duncan because of that, not because I needed a 'replacement son'."

"Oh, so now this is about me? You're the one who had another kid and didn't fucking tell me about him!"

"You were gone for ten years, I would think you didn't care."

"Oh, go to hell. I cared enough to risk my life to save all of your ungrateful asses, what makes you think I wouldn't care to know that I had a fucking brother?" He was trying very hard not to scream, because making a scene was the last thing they needed. He took a few deep breathes, moving to have a sip of his beer. He needed to calm down, keep a low profile…he could rip into his father later, in private, if necessary.

His father looked at him, eyes cold. "Considering how you abandoned this family and broke your mother's heart? Yes, I do think you wouldn't care about having a younger brother. You wouldn't have cared if he'd been born before you ran away, I'm sure."

Oh. So that was what this was about.

Desmond closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. Christ, one beer wasn't going to be enough to get him through this. "I thought we were past this, Dad. Christ, I thought we weren't going to do this anymore…"

William sighed, and Desmond noticed for the first time how old his father really looked. He knew that his dad always claimed to be under a great deal of stress, but he'd always looked like he had it all under control. It was really the first time he looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Bill just moved to have some more beer. "I thought we were too. But I guess that it'll take more than the end of the world to fix our relationship."

"I guess so…"

They fell back into an uncomfortable silence, neither sure what to say next now that their continuing issues were out in the open. His father was right, though: The end of the world hadn't fixed their problems, and it was going to take more than rescues and hugs to make them okay. They'd have to work on it.

He just wasn't sure if his father was going to be able to meet him halfway.

"…Dad, look… for what it's worth, I am sorry. Not for running away, but for how I left things. I never meant to hurt Mom…speaking of which, where is she? She still out on a mission or something?"

His father shook his head. "She's gone, Desmond."

Desmond frowned. Gone? What did he mean, gone? His father had said she was off on a mission, she wasn't…she couldn't…

His father wouldn't lie about his mother being alive…would he?

Bill must've realized that Desmond was starting to assume the worst, and he shook his head. "She's not dead, Desmond. She left. She…when we thought you were dead, she didn't take the news well…we fought, and she left."

"…oh. Dad, I…"

"No, it's fine. I've tried to get in touch with her, but I haven't had any luck yet. When Beth doesn't want to be found, well…" William sighed again, rubbing his eyes. "She'll make contact eventually, if only for Duncan's sake."

Desmond nodded, feeling rather numb. His mother was alive, but she wasn't around, and he didn't know when he'd see her again…she still thought that he was dead, she might never know he was alive, and he just wanted to see her, after 10 years…

He was surprised that his mom didn't take Duncan with her when she left. She may not have always been the greatest mom in the world (standing up to Bill hadn't been one of her strong points, but clearly that had changed), but she had genuinely loved Desmond…she must have loved Duncan too.

Whatever she and Bill had fought about, it must've been really awful, to make her just up and leave without taking her son with her.

Maybe that had something to do with why Duncan seemed to dislike him so much. But he had a feeling his father wouldn't give him a straight answer. If he wanted to know why Duncan had turned on him so quickly, he'd have to go straight to the source.

But it was getting late, and Desmond didn't think he could handle any more Miles family drama tonight.

Both men settled into silence once more, drinking their beers, lost in thought. It was William who broke the silence this time, finishing off his beer and looking up at Desmond. "Shaun and Rebecca have set up their equipment on the Farm, and we've been working on monitoring Juno from there."

Oh, right. Juno. The world was still at risk from a crazy vengeful space wizard with a deep seeded hatred in all things human. Between not dying, the unexpected little brother, and the continuing issues with his father, Desmond had almost forgotten that she was still a problem. He groaned, shaking his head and moving to stand up. "Dad, can…can we not talk about Juno tonight? It's…well, it's been a long couple of weeks."

Bill nodded, moving to get out of the booth. "We can worry about her tomorrow. I thought you just might like to know that Shaun and Rebecca are staying nearby, if you want to go see them."

"...yeah, I think I'd like that."

Shaun and Rebecca were set up in one of the houses next door to William's, according to his father, and they'd been there since Bill got back to the Farm. They'd mostly been doing what they'd done back in the Temple, with Shaun providing intel and support for teams in the field while Rebecca monitored Templar activity through the Internet, hacking away as she did so, while subtly trying not to have enough tension in the room to actually make Desmond uncomfortable.

His father didn't mention their extra duties keeping an eye on Juno's movements, and Desmond was grateful for that. He wasn't up to dealing with space wizards tonight.

The drive back to the Farm was much like the one to the bar: silent and uncomfortable. At least now, though, there were no more secrets between Desmond and William. At least, none that Desmond was aware of, anyway. He wouldn't put it past his father to have more skeletons in his closet that would come back to haunt them all, somehow.

He shook his head, trying to clear the bad thoughts out. He had to try to think better of his father if they ever wanted to work to mend the rifts in their relationship. His father glanced over at him, raising an eyebrow at Desmond. "You okay there, son?"

"Yeah, fine…just thinking, that's all. Hey, are Shaun and Becca going to even be awake by the time we get back? I mean, it's sort of late…"

"They'll be up. Or Rebecca will be, at least."

Desmond nodded quietly as they drove up to a house not too far from his childhood home, noting that the lights were still on. Whoever was inside was definitely awake. "Is this the place?"

"This is the place. We have a setup in the back of our house as well, but they prefer to work here…well, Shaun prefers working here, at least."

Desmond had a strange feeling that Shaun had probably run afoul of Duncan somehow. The kid seemed to be the type to hold grudges, and probably found some way to make Shaun miserable whenever he was by the house. At least he had that in common with his brother, anyway.

As they got out of the car and headed up to the house, Desmond suddenly felt very nervous. He hadn't had a chance to say a proper goodbye to Shaun or Rebecca before the end…he had no idea how they'd react to seeing him alive and relatively well. If his father's own reaction was anything to go by, though, it would probably go poorly.

He mentally braced himself for the worst as his father knocked on the door.

It was Rebecca who opened the door, and the first thing Desmond noticed was how tired she looked. He knew that, right before the end, they'd all been under stress, but it looked like she hadn't slept in ages. She didn't notice him at first, focusing on William, raising an eyebrow and giving him a tired smile. "Hey, Bill. You're here late…what's up?"

His father nodded over his shoulder to Desmond, who gave her a sheepish smile, unsure of what to say. Rebecca's eyes widened as she stared at him in shock before gasping. "Oh my God…"

He didn't have any warning when she let out a strangled cry of happiness, throwing herself at Desmond and pulling him into a tight hug, practically knocking him over as she did so. He laughed slightly, hugging her back as best as he could before she pulled away as quickly as she'd embraced him, punching him in the arm.

"Oww! Hey, what was that for?"

"That was for scaring the shit out of us, you idiot! We all thought you were dead!"

"I thought I was too!"

"How did you survive?"

"Clay decided to hitch a ride with me out of the Animus, I guess…he did something at the last second. Saved my life."

Rebecca blinked, laughing wetly and moving to rub her eyes. "Good old Clay…holy shit, I can't believe you're alive! Get in here, Shaun is going to throw a fit when he sees you!" Without any warning, Rebecca grabbed him by the arm, practically yanking him into the house, his father chuckling as he followed them inside.

Well, this was going better than he'd expected. Now all he had to do was hope that Shaun didn't murder him on sight.

Rebecca and Shaun's equipment was set up in their living room, and Desmond was reminded of their work stations in Monterrigioni, how they somehow managed to be both contained and sprawling, organized and a complete mess. Shaun wasn't at his station, and given that all his equipment appeared to be turned off, Desmond had to assume he'd gone to bed for the evening. Which was why he couldn't help but wince, feeling guilty that Shaun was probably going to get woken up because of him. Rebecca didn't seem to share his concerns, as she went over to the stairs, shouting for Shaun to 'get his ass downstairs, Bill was here'.

Desmond could hear Shaun's grumbling before the man came downstairs, looking like he'd just woken up (which was probably true), and he suddenly felt very nervous. He and Shaun had become rather close in the months leading up to the end of the world, and, just like it had been with his father, he wasn't sure what to say. At least when it came to talking to Rebecca, it had been easy…

Shaun didn't notice Desmond at first, choosing instead to grumble at William. "For God's sake, Bill, do you have any idea what time it is? Some people are trying to sleep…I know it's a foreign concept to you but still, whatever it is, can't it wait until morning?"

Bill just shook his head, stepping aside, and Shaun's eyes widened as he looked at Desmond. Desmond just gave him a small smile, waving awkwardly at Shaun for a second. "…hi, Shaun."

Shaun just stared at him for a moment, before a look of anger washed over him as he approached Desmond. "Oh. Oh, you complete and utter bastard."

Ah, there it was. The famous Hastings temper. Desmond braced himself to be punched in the arm (or more likely, square in the jaw), and was completely taken by surprise when Shaun pulled him into a bone crushingly tight hug. "You complete prick, don't you ever do anything so stupid like that again! We thought you were dead, you bastard!"

Desmond laughed, hugging Shaun back. "I'll try not to make a habit of it…are you crying, Shaun?"

"I am not! You're just filthy and I have dirt in my eye, when was the last time you bathed properly?"

Rebecca just laughed in the background. "You want us to leave you two alone?"

Shaun pulled back, wiping his eyes and shooting Rebecca a look. "Oh, come off it, I bet you cried too when you saw him."

"Nope, I just punched him in the arm."

"…Really."

"Yep!"

Desmond laughed as the two of them fell into conversation, moving to plop down on their couch while his father just stood by the door, chuckling and shaking his head.

Tomorrow, it would be back to business as usual. They'd catch Desmond up on what he'd missed, and they'd put him to work on the hunt for Juno. They'd let him know what, if anything, she'd done so far, what the Templars had been up to…

Tomorrow, he and his father would start to try and fix the many problems they still had between then. Tomorrow, Desmond would try to talk to Duncan again. Try to make the kid smile the way he had before he figured out who Desmond was.

But that was all for tomorrow. Tonight, Desmond was alive, and he was back with his friends and his father. As Rebecca went to go and grab drinks, Desmond thought to himself, it had been so long since they'd celebrated anything…

He should enjoy it while he can. They all should.

Because the real work had yet to begin.