Chapter content warnings: dementia

Don't forget that you can find me on tumblr: we - are - all - of - legend - now and that my ao3 account is wearealloflegendnow (even though I haven't posted there yet)!

~TLL~

Jake let himself into the apartment over Gramps' shop, following the sound of Fu's voice to the kitchen. Even though it was nearly ten in the morning – late by Gramps' usual standards – Fu was still trying to convince Gramps to eat breakfast.

"He's being stubborn this morning," Fu said. "I'll make this trip as quick as I can."

Even though Jake wanted him to, even though Jake hated being left alone with what the strongest man he knew had become, Jake knew how hard it was on Fu. He was Gramps' primary caregiver now, even though Susan was over as much as she could be. Jake knew that if he were in Fu's shoes, he would need the break.

"No, don't worry about that. I brought some stuff to do. You can take your time."

"Medication list and timing is on the inside of the cupboard where his medications are –"

"I know, Fu. Gramps and I will be perfectly fine. Won't we, Gramps?"

The old man startled, knocking about the oatmeal that Fu had been trying to get him to eat. He stared suspiciously at Jake.

"Gramps," Jake said again, "do you know who I am?"

"Of course," he said irritably but Jake didn't believe it. Gramps was still Gramps and he'd resent the question.

"Lao Shi," Fu said, "I'm going out for a while. Jake's going to stay with you like we talked about."

"Go, go," Lao Shi said. "You do a lot of worrying."

Fu did but Jake thought he was justified. He watched Fu make his way out the door and then he sat down at the table next to his grandfather. Gramps was frowning down at his spilt oatmeal and pointedly not looking at Jake.

"Gramps, you have to eat that otherwise Fu's going to get mad at me."

Gramps shoved the bowl to the floor, the oats coating the tiles and the cupboards. Jake sighed.

"You need to eat something, Gramps. What do you want, toast? Applesauce? Fu has a lot of food here for you."

While Gramps grumbled to himself, Jake started cleaning the oatmeal.

"This isn't a good start to the day, you know," Jake said. "But, I'm starting to get why you were the way you were when I was fifteen."

"My grandson's fifteen," Lao Shi said.

Even though it was becoming the norm instead of the exception, Jake's heart still fell a little bit. Of course, Gramps didn't know who he was today. It kept happening but it was never easier. He swallowed the lump in his throat.

"Tell me about your grandson," Jake said.

"He's a pain," Gramps said. "But Fu Dog always tells me that I am a pain too."

"People you love are always a pain."

"He will be great," Gramps said, "when he grows up."

Jake focused on cleaning the floor, unsure of what embarrassing display of emotion was going to come pouring out of him if he looked at his grandfather now. Gramps would never know if he became great or not and Jake really doubted that he could be, not without Gramps to support him the whole way.

"Do you want –"

Jake had been intended to ask Gramps if he wanted more food but he was cut off by the flare of Gramps transforming.

"I am needed."

"Oh, no, you're not. Gramps!"

So, it was going to be that kind of a day.

(-.-)

Jake rested his hand against the small of Lily's back as she paused in front of the coffee shop door.

"You don't have to go in, you know? If you don't want to."

"I have to, Jake," Lily said. "I won't feel peaceful if I don't."

Jake followed her in and they found the retired detective in the back corner, exactly where her e-mail said she would be. Theresa Dempsey-Montrose was now a grandmotherly looking figure, with brown hair she was allowing to go grey and her fingers decorated with rings.

She stood up when he and Lily walked in, her eyes raking over Lily.

"Oh, look at you," she murmured. "Last time I saw you, you were so small."

"Hi, Detective Montrose. I'm Lily Dawson and this is my boyfriend, Jake Long. I needed some moral support."

"Nice to meet you, Jake, and you can both call me Theresa."

Theresa had a strong grip when she shook Jake's hand and then she gestured the two of them into the chairs across from her.

"What would you like? Coffee? Hot chocolate?" Theresa asked. "My treat and, hon, I promise, it's easier to talk about when you have a warm drink to wrap your hands around."

They thanked her and ordered. The moment that their mugs were set on the table, however, Lily pulled out her notebook and the things that she had gathered about the case. Theresa picked up one of the photographs that Lily had, one of the two twins together.

"Why do you think you never found her?"

"My partner at the time, rest his soul, believed that because there was more than one person involved and that getting your sister out of his hospital room was done so efficiently that she was kidnapped for the use of human trafficking or something along those lines." Theresa put the photo down, as if she couldn't bear to look at the girl while talking about the darker things that could have happened to her.

"Did you believe it?" Jake asked. "You said your partner believed it."

"You can't see it in any of these pictures but your sister had a very big, distinctive birthmark that wrapped around her right wrist and palm. Very obvious. If they were human traffickers, why take the baby that's more noticeable? Or why not take both, since they were already in the room? I had a lot of questions about it."

"So, you think she's alive?" Lily asked and the hope in her voice was so painful that Jake gripped his thigh under the table.

What if Fu was right? What if Jake looking into this was the wrong decision and letting Lily take her own course was the right one? He could always decide later but if he knew the truth and didn't tell her, what kind of relationship was that? On the other hand, his mother had kept a massive secret from his father for a long time and they were perfectly happy.

"My gut at the time told me that your sister was taken because someone had lost a baby, one who looked like you, and she just so happened to be closer to the door instead of you. I thought there was a chance that she was taken and raised by someone else. For all we knew, she was still within reach but we never found her. We put up road blocks, checked cars, went over records of women who had recently given birth, and even looked at recent adoptions. Nothing ever came up." Theresa sighed. "I really thought that something would. I never had reason to but cop's intuition."

"I want to find her," Lily said. "I need to know everything so that I can try."

"Hon," Theresa said, "don't lose yourself down this rabbit hole. It can be very easy to do –"

"I can't just accept that people can disappear like that," Lily said. "Not that easily. Tell me what happened, please."

She was more forceful than Jake had ever heard her. Theresa gave them one more word of warning and then Jake sat there for hours, making sure that the coffee in all of their cups stayed fresh and trying not to get overwhelmed by how Theresa could get through every moment of the investigation. It was as if it was all still new in her mind, from the moment that she got the call, to the moment that she was reassigned from Baby Dawson. Jake wondered if that would end up happening to Lily and he reached out and took her hand because he didn't want her to get lost. She was too sweet to get lost in this mystery.

Lily was crying into her coffee by the end of it.

"It could have been me," she mused.

"You're blessed that it wasn't," Theresa said. "Are there any other questions that you have, honey?"

"No, you were thorough. Thank you."

They said their goodbyes and Lily looped her arm through Jake's.

"Can we walk home? I need thinking time."

"Whatever you need," Jake said. "I know that was a lot to hear."

"Yeah." Lily fluffed at her cap of hair, like she always did when there was a lot on her mind. "I thought I would find a good starting place when I talked to Detective Montrose but I don't know."

"It's a lot for you to take on," Jake said. "No one is going to blame you if it's something you can't do."

"I'll blame me."

Lily squeezed Jake's hand as they walked through the streets. They commented on different things as they walked and Jake was struck by how different her New York was. Lily never noticed the clusters of faeries that went flying by or the graffiti that was clearly from a group of adolescent leprechauns. He thought about sharing his world with her but his tongue was stayed once again. If she didn't understand, then he could lose her.

Lily unlocked the door to her family's house and Jake held the door open for her.

"Mom! I'm home! Jake's here!"

"Your father just got home too! Hello, Jake!"

"Hey, Melinda! Hey, Carl!"

"Hello, Jake!"

Jake loved the Dawson house. It was homey, but in a different way than his own. His own house was the usual clutter of knick-knacks and throw pillows. The Dawsons were both intellectuals. Lily's father, Carl, was a historian while her mother, Melinda, was a linguist. Their house was always full of replicas of strange artifacts, thick heavy books whose old spines made Jake think of Fu's collection of magic objects. Being in the Dawson house actually made Jake feel like he wanted to learn something.

"Need help with dinner, Mom?"

"Yes!"

Jake kissed Lily. "I'll be right in to help."

He headed up the stairs and into the one bathroom. Lily's hairbrush was sitting on the counter where it always was and Jake pulled his school bag over his shoulder and fished out the large plastic bag, sliding the brush and all of its bright yellow hair inside. Then, he buried it all the way to the bottom. Though he could think of no reason why he would have to open it, he didn't want to take any chances. He'd done enough weird things.

It was calming, then, to walk into the kitchen where Melinda was pan-frying steaks and Carl was mashing potatoes.

"Come help me with the salad veggies, Jake?"

Jake took his spot beside Lily and he wondered if she was thinking of the same thing that he was: the twin and the missing piece. He wondered what it would be like if that baby girl was here. He wondered who she was, now, if she was even still alive. With the hairbrush in his bag, he should know by tonight.

He wondered if he should feel guilty and that was the thing that he thought most about when they all sat down for dinner.

"How was school today?"

"I am going to miss Mr. Raines," Lily said. "He's the best teacher I've ever had. He wants me to pursue biology more."

"And Lily told him to stuff it that she was going to art school," Jake said, eliciting chuckles from Carl and Melinda, who always seemed to appreciate the fact that he was more outspoken than Lily was.

"I told him that it wasn't where my heart was," Lily corrected.

"I suppose that is Lily's way of telling someone to stuff it," Melinda mused and they all laughed again.

Jake made his exit after they had shortbread cookies for a dessert. He cited his homework and that his mother would kill him if he didn't even try when it came to schoolwork. He kissed Lily goodbye where her parents weren't watching and then he called Spud once he was out on the sidewalk.

"Hey, yeah, I'm heading toward Gramps' with the hairbrush."

"Gonna do it tonight?"

"Yeah. I –"

"I'll get Trix. We'll meet you over there."

"See you."

Jake was glad that his friends were going to be there. For as long as he could remember, the three of them had been a unit, particularly when it came to all things magic. Even though the twin wasn't his mystery and his family burden, he felt it. Lily was his girlfriend and for over a year now, her pain had been his, and he was afraid of doing this alone. Afraid of it being the wrong thing, too, when he was the American Dragon and he was just supposed to be doing the right thing.

Trixie and Spud beat him to Gramps'. Fu was seated in front of the bubbling cauldron that was making the room way too hot.

"All we need is the DNA and I need all of you to concentrate on the twin, okay, no thoughts of Lily at all," Fu instructed.

"This is a picture of the twin," Jake said, pulling out his phone. "Lily had it."

He put the photo near the cauldron and then he pulled the hairbrush out of his bag.

"Just drop the whole thing in," Fu said.

Jake did and then Spud began to recite ancient words. Jake joined hands with Trixie and Spud; they had no idea whether or not it actually helped but it always seemed like the thing to do during rituals. Jake stared at the picture of the twin and poured everything he had into wondering who she was now.

"Look!" Spud gasped.

There, in the steam, a picture was forming. And it was not of a long-forgotten grave like Jake had been secretly fearing. It was a girl, a seventeen-year-old girl. Lily's twin, who had hair longer than Lily's but the same big blue eyes.

"Can we see where she is, Fu?" Jake asked.

There were tall buildings in the background as she walked down a street but saying that she was in a city didn't help him at all.

"No, we get what we get. It's a miracle that we can see her at all."

"And that she's alive!" Spud exclaimed. "Look at that! That's crazy."

"That's a New York cab behind her," Trixie blurted. "Look!"

Jake leant closer to the image, fearful that anything he did would cause it to vanish. He analyzed the sky scrapers behind her, the cars that he could see in the background, and the one that he was looking at definitely had a New York taxi logo on the side. Not only was Lily's twin alive but she was here!

"What's that on her sweater?" Jake asked. "Is she wearing a school uniform?"

The front of her winter coat was open, which had given Jake the peek at the emblem on the chest of her navy cardigan. She was wearing a plaid skirt, which, he knew from Haley, could just be a fashion statement but she looked too put together.

"Well, that's a field hockey stick she's got in her hand," Trixie said.

"Okay, field hockey, but what's on her uniform? Is that a uniform?" Jake asked.

The image began to waver.

"Fu, what's going on?"

"The magic doesn't last forever, kid. You know that."

Jake did but he'd never been so frustrated by it.

"We've got a school uniform and a field hockey stick," Spud said. "You should start with the more expensive private schools. It looked fancy."

Jake closed his eyes, trying to memorize the brief glimpse he'd gotten of the small emblem.

"Yeah, a fancy private school in New York," Trixie said. "We'll only be looking for the next five years! How many students is that?"

"It's the only thing we have," Jake said. "And, we know exactly what she looks like!"

Lily's twin went to private school and played field hockey. Jake wondered what would happen when she met Lily – public school going, art room hiding, refused to run so much as for the bus Lily. But, the twin was alive and she and Lily were going to meet! Jake thought of the joy on her face, on Carl's and Melinda's faces. Jake suddenly itched to start searching and he thought this was as close as he would ever get to feeling the drive that Lily had felt for years.

"I gotta get home. I told Mom I'd go right after Lily's. She's going to think I'm in a fight or something."

He also didn't want Trixie and Spud to offer to help, as he knew they were going to. It was such a personal thing to Lily and Jake felt like he should be the one to do it. Lily had never had a knock down fight with Trixie or Spud but they had never been friends either. They had nothing in common and Trixie made no secret of the fact that she thought Lily was dull. He knew how Lily would feel if he had to tell her that Trixie had made the discovery.

No, he would do it himself.

He made his exit and made it home before ten o'clock. As he expected, his mother was waiting for him. Even though he was nearly eighteen years old and would be graduating high school in a matter of months, he felt as though his mother was keeping a closer eye on him recently than she had when he was younger. He had a theory that it was because of Gramps and the fact that she knew that he was out there on his own now.

"I thought you were coming right home after Lily's."

"Fu called. There was some trouble and I had to work," Jake said breezily. "Not that it was any trouble for me, you know, villains aren't as intimidating when I'm no longer fourteen. But, hey, it means I'm really behind on my homework and four years of being yelled at by Rotwood means that I'm actually getting sick of it and don't want to do it again."

Susan narrowed her eyes at him and followed him up the stairs. "You want to do your homework? Are you okay? What's going on?"

Before Jake could avoid her hand, Susan was feeling his forehead. He knew that he always ran a little warm but clearly he wasn't warm enough to cause concern because his mother pulled her hand away.

"Mom, I'm going to be in my room, doing research, okay? No trouble."

"No trouble," Susan repeated, sternly, as if it would keep Jake from finding trouble. Or trouble from finding him, as if more often felt. "Right. My kids are so good at that."

Susan turned toward Haley's room and Jake seized the opportunity to slide into his own and shut the door behind him. He picked his laptop off his desk and settled onto his bed with no intention of doing homework. He looked up a list of private schools in New York and realized immediately that he was probably not going to be able to get this done tonight. Or the next night, even. He pushed through the feeling, thinking of Lily, thinking of the reason that he had looked for the twin in the first place.

And then he started looking. He looked for the schools alphabetically and then hunted down the girl's field hockey team. Several times, it crossed his mind that the twin might not be on the school's team but just play in a separate league but it was the only thing that he had. He didn't want to have to go through every single female student that the schools had and, unless he figured out how to hack into the school's databases, there was no good way for him to. At least they took pictures of their athletics teams and put them online.

St. Catherine School for Girls.

It sounded so old-fashioned that Jake almost expected to see nuns in the pictures. But there were no nuns. It was a small, exclusive school, where they wore uniforms of navy. He moved to their athletics section and noticed immediately that the girl's hockey team – whose photo showed up first – were wearing uniforms very close to the one that twin had been wearing. He scrolled quickly, hoping that St. Catherine's had a field hockey team.

Then, there it was! The field hockey team!

Jake clicked on the picture and it filled his screen. He found her immediately, standing in the back, with her long blonde hair pulled into a ponytail. His gaze dropped to the list of names. Third in the back row was … Rose Hunter.

Jake's stomach dropped and then soared.

Rose Hunter!

He was staring at Lily's twin and he couldn't believe that he had done it. Of course, he couldn't have even begun with Fu and magic, but he was the one who had stayed up late, unable to let it go. He looked at her and even though she had Lily's face and was definitely the woman that Jake had seen in the vision earlier, he still took her name and looked her up on Facebook. If he was going to tell Lily about her, he had to be a hundred percent sure.

She was easy to find on Facebook, although her account was locked up. He could see where she went to school, her profile picture of her in a homecoming dress on the arm of a redheaded boy, and he could see that she had two family members listed: Nicholas Dawson and Kyle Dawson. They were both brothers. Jake clicked on the profile picture and zoomed in on her arm. There it was: the birth mark that Detective Dempsey had described.

Jake was doubtless.

Rose Hunter was Lily's twin.