Chapter 7: Family Matters

Smoke was wafting from the kitchen into Gabriel's room, filling the air with the savory smell of bacon, making his stomach ache from hunger. While the hunger roused him from his sleep, the black cloud atop the sheets around him dissipated, though a small tendril of black smoke still made its way up off of his body occasionally as he got up. He had a headache, not that he wasn't always in pain, but a hangover on top of the usual was extra aggravating and would have kept him in bed. The smell filling the room as he registered that someone was in fact actually cooking and he was not dreaming made him decide to get dressed to go investigate.

Out in the kitchen, Gabriel found Val at his usual spot in front of the stove grilling an egg with a disgustingly cheerful attitude. Val looked up at him and gave a small smile, which Gabriel returned with a groan.

"How are you not hungover?" Gabriel asked, and stepped around the other to see what he was making.

"Sprite has that effect on me I guess, are you hungry? I made extra for you guys." Val pointed at a plate next to the stove with burgers and some other breakfast food, including the bacon that had been filling the house with the aroma that woke Gabriel. Immediately the groggy man grabbed a plate out of the cabinet and started to pile food onto it without a word before he took his place next to Widow at the dining table, who seemed to have just sat down herself.

Val's voice chimed, "Hey," from behind the two veteran agents, which they chose to ignore, entranced by their food instead. Sombra came into view still wearing her pajamas and sat herself down next to Reaper at the head of the table, without a plate. She was uncharacteristically quiet, only giving a nod to the other two before leaning on the table holding her head.

Gabriel noticed quickly something was wrong with his hacker friend, but chose to quietly observe, not wanting to disturb her. He was also hungover and maybe enjoying the silence. Val came up from behind her and quietly placed a plate in front of her, as well as a glass of juice and a couple of tablets of painkiller before walking away. She gave him a side eye, before taking the painkillers anyways. When Val returned to the table with his own plate, Sombra finally decided to speak.

"Thanks V, you didn't have to make me food though."

"I was already cooking, I didn't want to be rude," Val said as he sat down.

"Then how come you made him food." Sombra pointed at Reaper. "He's always rude."

"I don't want to hear him bitching about his hangover," Val cheekily replied.

"See, why do you do that? You always have to have an ulterior motive to everything you do, it's like you're hiding something." Sombra drummed her nails against the table, and tilted her head, waiting for an answer.

"Here we go," Reaper mumbled to himself, as he continued eating. Widow raised an eyebrow at him and then looked at the other two at the table.

"I can't just do something to be nice?" Val asked, a little concerned.

Sombra leaned on the table as she spoke. "Primo, we kill people for a living. No one is just nice around here."

"What is your issue?" Val frowned at her.

"I just want to know what your issues are. You don't tell us about yourself, right guys?" Sombra leaned over and looked at Gabriel.

"I told you, leave me out of this," Gabriel growled, cutting her off.

Sombra sat back up and said, "I like to get to know all of my friends, and you and I, mi compadre, have known each other for a while. How am I expected to put my life in your hands while we go on missions together, if I don't know anything about you? So, I had to do a little research."

"You did not." Val's body sank as he looked down at her, his body tensing.

"Can you please explain why you're a ghost before you joined Talon? No one by your name and birthdate, or even close to it, exists anywhere in the world. You don't exist. You must've done something pretty bad to want to erase your existence. I mean, come on, it's not like you're working for the church, I think we all have a right to know."

Widow looked up from her plate and hissed, "Sombra."

Val took a deep breath, clenching his fist currently resting next to his plate.

"You don't have to answer that," Reaper said, looking up at Val from his food he was currently very slowly piling into his mouth.

Val crossed his arms and stayed quiet for another moment.

"She's been bugging me for two days about field work, I can't imagine how she'll act about this," Val said, leaning on the table with his forehead in his hand. "Valentino Villalba doesn't exist because that's not my real name," He said.

Widow and Gabriel looked at each other, wondering why he bothered answering her invasive questions. Gabriel rolled his eyes before going back to eating. If Val wanted to put himself through her interrogation so be it.

"People use fake names here all the time, they still exist before Talon. Your records are scrubbed clean," Sombra replied.

Val glared over at her and breathed heavily before he continued to speak. "Except I do exist, you're just looking under the wrong name. Look up Katrina Alemán, missing, there's a ton of articles. Go ahead, you all have a right to know."

Sombra pulled up her holographic display and did a search. Just as Val said, it seemed like endless articles popped up, about an actress that disappeared one night years ago without a trace, at 18 years old, the same age as Val was at the time. Sombra lost color in her face as she looked at the screen, then slowly over to Val.

Sombra cleared her throat. "This girl doesn't even look like you, her eyes aren't even the same color." Sombra's eyes were quickly scanning back and forth over the titles, before she rapidly typed out another search, looking for more information.

"You can thank Moira for that. I'm a foot taller now too. Any other questions? You want to see my top surgery scars? Reyes has seen them," Val said, nodding his head over to Gabriel. Sombra looked over at Gabriel and raised her eyebrows, which he simply shrugged at since none of this was her business. She went back to aggressively tapping on her screen before she spoke again.

"It says missing at 18, you joined at 19."

"I ran away at 18 and started working before I ran into Akande. He paid me for some info, and I practically begged him to take me with him because I didn't have anywhere else to go. That's why I didn't want to go on the field, part of me being here is I don't get a say where they put me. It took a long time for me to be able to negotiate getting off the field before you three fucked that up for me."

Sombra scrolled on her screen a few more times and swallowed, looking back and forth between it and Val, before finally swiping it away and the screen disappearing. She sat back in her chair and crossed her arms.

"Why didn't you just say that, you know I hate secrets? You had a house, money, a family, why would you even want to leave? Mommy and Papi didn't buy you a car for your birthday or something?" Sombra asked defensively.

The plates on the table clattered as Val slammed his hands down. "That," He said. Gabriel leaned forward towards Val, but Widow grabbed the older man's forearm, stopping him from intervening. Val pushed his chair away from the table quickly. "That's why I didn't say anything. I knew you were gonna say some stupid shit like that." Val got up and stormed out of the room, Widow and Reaper tracking him with their eyes until he was out of view.

Widow glared at Sombra from across the table, then looked over at Val's half eaten plate and sighed. "He hasn't slept all night, now he doesn't get to eat. You're lucky he didn't break something this time after bringing up his parents."

"What are you talking about? Did he tell you about this?" Sombra asked.

"A bit, I simply gave him time, instead of prying like you. Let me take his plate." Widow stood up and picked up Val's plate before walking away.

Gabriel stared over at the empty seat across from him, then gave Sombra a side eye. "If he tries to kick your ass I'm not saving you next time."

"How was I supposed to know?" Sombra asked, and Gabriel rubbed his eyes, almost hearing his son's whiny teenaged voice from long ago asking the same question.

"You weren't. And if you're half as smart as you say, you'll go apologize," Gabriel said, knowing the little demon sitting next to him would only cause more chaos in their team if she didn't.

Sombra furrowed her brow at him. "You were helping me, why don't you apologize?"

"Fine. We can both apologize then," Gabriel replied flatly trying to end this conversation.

"Why are you suddenly so invested in my friendships?"

"I know how Val feels right now, you didn't exactly ask my permission before getting into my personal business. You're good at keeping secrets, but you aren't good at making friends, and those are hard to come by in this business."

"What do you know about friends?"

"I don't have friends," He said flatly. "I have people I hate and people I tolerate. Probably because I fucked all my friendships up like you are right now."

"Who is it that you tolerate then viejo?"

"Your nosy ass." Reaper looked over at her as she pressed her mouth into a line and turned away. "Lacroix, she's known me the longest."

"What about Val, is that why you want me to apologize?" Sombra said, turning her head but not really making eye contact.

"Still debating. Flattery doesn't work on me."

"Burritos do apparently." She said grouchily.

"Unlike you, I know to shut my trap when I'm handed a free meal, which means," Gabriel put on his best dad voice, which he hadn't tried to do in a long time, "Later we are going to his room to apologize. Understand, young lady?" Sombra smiled a little, but kept her body turned away, and he continued. "That's what I thought. Don't let it happen again." He pointed at her firmly, before continuing to eat his food, which made Sombra giggle a little.

"I didn't know you had a funny bone left in your body viejo." Sombra said, finally turning back towards him and starting on her plate of food.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He said in his normal flat tone. "I'm dead serious. In fact, this is a grave matter. I don't find your funny bone joke very humerus." She looked over at him with an annoyed smile before the two of them continued to eat their food.

A while later, Val laid back in his bed, staring at the ceiling, his music playing loudly. A discordant synth piano blocked out his thoughts while the lyrics sang,

"Ideas forming out of thin air

These indulgences none can compare

So many flavors that one would abhor

Even though I've had enough

I still demand

Give me more

I need a whole personality

Something inordinately sweet

Order anything you'd like

Nothing's changing my mind

I don't care how unhealthy it is

'Cause there isn't anything I'd rather be."

A loud knock on his door brought Val out of his trance, and he pulled out one of his headphones and sat up straight in his bed. Reaper's voice came from the other side of the door.

"V, can you open the door?" Val got up and opened his door, finding Reaper standing behind a very sheepish Sombra. "She has something to say to you."

"I'm sorry about earlier. To be fair, Gabe was helping and he didn't try to stop me until—ay, ay, ay." Reaper had grabbed the back of her neck making her stop in the middle of her sentence.

"Cabrona, I also told you not to rope me into your conspiracy theory." He hissed into her ear, before letting her go.

"Right. I shouldn't have been such a chismosa. I didn't know it was going to upset you like that, I'm really sorry." Sombra continued, looking down at the ground.

"Right. Is that why Reyes is making you apologize?" Val raised an eyebrow, a little skeptical.

"No, I did help her before I told her to leave me out of it. She had a point for about 5 minutes, sorry," Reaper said, with his arms crossed, before elbowing Sombra in the back.

"I did ask him for help but he told me to stop. And I'm not really good at apologizing, or making friends in the first place, at least not keeping them. So, it helps to have him here," She said, looking up at Val while she was wringing her hands like a little kid. Val squinted at her for a second before pulling her into his chest for a hug.

"Ugh, you're like an abandoned puppy. You're my Annie, my Matilda, who's gonna take care of you? Reyes? He can't even feed himself, you'll starve!" He said, petting her head as she wriggled in his grip.

"Wey, I took care of myself for 20 years, I don't need you or your orphan jokes!" Sombra pulled on his bicep, which was wrapped firmly around her head.

"Shh, it's ok to cry, you don't have to be strong anymore." He shushed her as he hugged her with both arms now, and swayed back and forth. Sombra started whining as he lifted her in the air and swung her back and forth more and more dramatically.

"Gabe, help me! He's gonna crush me to death!" She yelled.

"Good, then maybe you'll stop yelling," Reyes said in his usual flat tone. Val laughed and gave her a last squeeze, making her squeak before putting her down.

"Ow, I don't think I ever got crushed like that when I was in Los Muertos," Sombra said as she stretched. Reaper put a hand on her shoulder and leaned down next to her ear.

"That's because he loves you, like an idiot. You can use him, compa," Reaper said quietly into her ear, and Val chuckled as he assumed Reaper didn't think he could hear his little half insult.

"Yeah, I'm kinda stupid, you can use me," Val said, crossing his arms smirking. Sombra covered her mouth as she giggled and Reaper blinked at him expressionless. "Speaking of stuff you can use, I thought you might want some old clothes that don't fit me." Val picked up a tub off of the floor, and waved for Sombra to follow him. She looked over to Reaper, who shrugged back at her, before the two followed.

Val sat down on the floor of the living room and began to unpack the contents of his box next to him. Sombra stood over Val's shoulder as Reaper sat down on the couch, the two curiously perusing over the items he was unpacking. A lot of old DVDs and Blu-Ray box sets started to cover the floor as he dug through his belongings.

"What is all this stuff, your DVD collection?" Sombra leaned down and picked up one of the box sets.

"Be careful, those are signed, it's stuff from the show I was on when I was younger," Val said, as he pulled out a stack of photos and set them next to his leg. "Here, do you want these clothes?" Val held up a shirt that was quite a few sizes too small for him, while Reaper leaned down and picked up the photos off of the floor, starting to flip through them.

"Que linda, they're so tiny. Where did these come from?" Sombra held up the shirt against her body.

Val continued to look down while he said, "They're my old clothes, they don't fit me anymore." He continued to pull out a few more articles of clothing.

"Oh, I see. Why did you hang onto all this?"

"It was all I had when I started," Val said, and looked over at Reaper flipping through the photos. "You're gonna get fingerprints all over those the way you're holding them!" He said frustrated, and got up to take the photos, before sitting down next to the older man so he wouldn't ruin his pictures.

"Who is in this one?" Reaper asked, pointing at the photo on top. It was a photo of a young Val at around nine years old sitting with a young man at a table, the background behind them fairly dark, people walking around behind them, paying them no mind. Sombra came and sat down next to Val, leaning over trying to see the photo he was looking at.

"Oh," The younger flipped the photo over, reading the cursive handwriting on the back that said, "studying hard!" and then he flipped it back before he decided to speak. "That was me and one of the private instructors my parents hired to help me with school while I was doing acting gigs. Yeah, he was really nice, he gave me a necklace for as a gift that said 'to thine own self be true' that I've always hung onto because he could tell I was struggling a lot with fitting in. I'm glad I have this picture because my parents fired him right after that, they said his gift was inappropriate," Val said, and stared at the smiling man in the photo for a few seconds. He quickly swapped the photo, and swallowed.

"Hey, tell me about the DVDs." Sombra said as she leaned her head on Val's arm.

"Oh, yeah. I would ask the cast and crew to sign my copies of the DVD's when we finished on a project. I was always really sad and sentimental when we wrapped filming, so I always asked everyone to sign whatever I could get my hands on. This is mostly just what would fit in my tote when I left." He flipped through the pictures, and Reaper sat back, Val practically feeling the anger steaming off the older man without even looking at him. When he looked over, Val found Reaper leaning against the arm of the couch with his hand supporting him.

"I noticed something," Reaper said in a curt voice. "You don't have any pictures of your parents, do you?"

"Mmm, no," Val said with a small frown and shook his head. "We didn't have a good relationship, that's why I left. They thought I was a wild child. I haven't spoken to them since."

"What did you even do? You're pretty high strung now for a wild child," Sombra asked.

"Uh. I don't know. I never really left their sight long enough to do anything." Val continued to stare down at the photos.

"You didn't do anything?" Reaper squinted at Val, who looked over at him, before looking back down at the photos timidly.

"Hey, I mean it's Hollywood. I was running the streets at that age, it's ok." Sombra said quickly after.

"I can't really remember. I just remember my parents were always pissed at me." Val stared at the photos in his hands, trying to focus. "Like one time my mom ignored me and wouldn't talk to me for three months. I think that time it was because I gave her attitude about taking out the trash, which I don't even know why she ignored me 'cause I still took out the trash, I just forgot and gave her attitude about it," He said, and swallowed the lump in his throat.

Reaper stood up and yelled, "Are you fucking joking?" Then angrily, the older man marched across the room, using his shoe to shove the items on the floor out of the way. Val sat frozen and stared at a particular DVD case on the floor, listening to the heavy footsteps of the man behind him.

"Hey man, what's your problem?" Sombra spoke up as Reaper angrily paced back and forth along the back of the couch behind them. Val's eyes remained locked on the DVD case, his chest starting to pound and his mind going foggy.

"My problem is him! Giving, attitude over the trash—just say your fucking parents were psychos V! Wild child, over fucking trash—I had my son fighting with kids at school and I never fucking ignored him for three months that pisses-"

"Gabe!" Sombra raised her voice at the older man currently on his rant. "Stop, go be mad in your room or something. V, you ok? You're shaking." She held Val's hand, as his vision blurred, tears welling up in his eyes, though he couldn't even bring himself to speak or move to wipe them away, and only sat frozen. The footsteps behind him slowed to a stop, and he jumped a little after the couch covers shifted behind him from Gabriel putting his weight on the couch.

"I need to go-" Val said quickly, turning to try and leave the room.

"Hey, hey, it's ok!" Sombra gripped his hand, trying to keep him on the sofa, which only managed to keep him in the living room, as Val pulled his arm away and crossed his arms over his chest. "Val?" She said. He stopped in the middle of the living room and turned around, keeping the other two in his peripheral vision as he stared down at a DVD on the floor and breathed heavily.

"Val," Reaper said firmly. "Val, can you hear me right now?" Val processed for a second before gently nodding, still not lifting his head. "Okay. I need you to breathe slower. Can you do that?" He shook his head slightly at the gruff tone of the other's voice, trembling slightly. Reaper grunted in response and Val squeezed his eyes shut.

"Gabe, you're upsetting him, let me just-"

"Don't, I don't want him to hit you if he gets violent. I'll…. I'll handle it. I'm calm." Reaper let out a long sigh. "Val, I'm not mad at you, I just want you to breathe for me." Reaper waited a moment, and as Val heard the other's heavy footsteps make their way around the couch, he opened his eyes again. The older man came closer, Val took a step back and curled in on himself, trying to keep his composure, as the older man blocked his way to his room.

"Okay, okay I'll stay here. Okay Val, can you hear me now? Can you look at me for a second?" Reaper tried his questioning again, and Val continued to stare at a particular DVD case on the ground, then gave a quick glance up to the older man, who had his cloth face mask pulled down now. "Okay, good. I need you to breathe now, in your nose, out your mouth." Val attempted to, though his breathing tended to stutter through it. "Good, good. Keep doing that. You keep looking down, can you tell me what you're looking at?" Val looked up at him through his brows and frowned. "Can you point at it?" He pointed at the DVD case he had been staring at the entire time. "Oh, the DVD. Right. Can you tell me what color it is?"

"Yellow," Val said quietly, then looked back down to the floor.

"Good. How many shirts are on the floor?"

Val took a few seconds to process the question as he breathed.

He counted. "Three." He lowered his arms, but kept his eyes to the ground.

"Right. What is your name?"

"Valentino Villalba." Val finally lifted his eyes, still with his head lowered, a little scared and ashamed, finding Reaper tentatively reaching out towards him.

"Good. Good. Do you know where you are?"

"Yeah, we're in the Talon housing." Val averted the other's gaze, now more out of embarrassment as his mind cleared of the fog.

"Right. Can you tell me how many tiles are on the floor?"

Val blinked. "Uh, I don't know 100? I'm not counting that shit." He looked over at the other confused, coming back to all of his senses fully now.

"I don't know, either honestly. You back with us V?" Reaper asked, and he placed a hand on Val's arm.

Val gave a small smile in return and nodded.

"Yeah. I'm sorry I freaked out. I appreciate the help," Val said, as Reaper patted him firmly on the arm now knowing he was alright.

"Don't mention it. Really. Neither of you saw this. Understand?" Reaper turned to Sombra and pointed at her as he pulled his mask back up. Sombra crossed a finger over her mouth and held up two fingers together as a promise. "Now I have to go kick some puppies or something to restore balance to the universe. Clean this up before I'm back."

Reaper fled the scene out of the front door, leaving Val and Sombra to their own devices. The two of them began packing Val's items, back into his plastic tote.

"I think you're growing on him." Sombra said, folding the clothes Val had pull out.

"No way, I think that's the most embarrassing thing I've ever done. I should go throw myself into the ocean right now, so he never has to see my face again," Val said, sighed, and tossed DVD cases in

"What are you talking about? He likes you! Who would make him his favorite burritos?" Sombra defended, as she stacked the clothes.

"Yeah he likes me? Should I go leave chocolate and love notes and his locker? Be fucking for real." Val looked over at her, irritated.

"Not like that! I've never seen him act like that before. He's always angry, and when he isn't it's like he's checked out. All I do is get on his nerves, and he and the spider, they just argue like an old married couple and drink." Val picked up another DVD case, sighing.

"Sure, I feel really special, having to have a stranger calm me down from a panic attack."

"He's not a stranger! You've been a stranger! Compa, put down the chingadera, come sit down." Sombra patted the sofa next to her, propping her head up with her arm against the back of the sofa. Val went and sat next to her, facing her in the same position. "Let me tell you some chisme."

"Are you about to get me in trouble?" Val asked.

"No, It's not real chisme I promise, I'm not going to tell you anything he hasn't told you. You heard him earlier talking about his son right? And how you don't like to talk about your familia? He doesn't either. He pretends he doesn't care about anything, but he refuses to talk about his family, or he gets like that. He understands."

"And I made him upset. How is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"No, pendejo." She slapped his arm. "He won't talk about his family in front of just anyone. Widow knew him before Talon, she met his family, and he still barely talks about it with her. He feels comfortable around you, he was asking you questions about your photos. Don't be embarrassed."

Val sat and thought for a few minutes.

"So that must be why he puts up with you, you remind him of an annoying little kid," Val smiled, and Sombra slapped him on the arm again, having little effect on him while he laughed at her.