SWD: Chapter 7
Content Warning: The abuse mentioned in Chapter 5 is explained here again.
Meanwhile, back at the Peach Creek Police Department, we could see Phoenix and Miles sitting around in Detective Wells' back office, which was a personal resting area for him on long nights. They were both looking over the autopsy file for Rita Bishop until they heard the door open beside them, the head detective rushed inside to see them.
"Sorry to bother you two, but we just got a call from Aiden and Wendy a moment ago," Detective Wells began to say as he turned to where they were in the room, "I need to drive back to the kid's neighborhood, but I would like you both to come with me."
Both Phoenix and Miles made confused faces, "Huh? Why? What's going on?" Phoenix asked.
"I'll give you more details on the drive there, but someone came to visit the neighborhood to find his daughter that stowed away in his car and didn't know," Mr. Wells replied, "As it turns out, they're a part of the mafia that hired Vergil and Rita, and they asked if we could talk with them in private; that includes you two."
Miles narrowed his eyes, "In private? That sounds oddly suspicious."
"I thought that as well, but Aiden and Wendy confirmed that he's not there to cause trouble. I trust their intuition on this," Mr. Wells said before looking down at the cell phone in his hand to check the time.
"Well, I suppose that's one way to get a lead," Miles said before turning to Phoenix, "Let's get this over with."
A few minutes later, back at Zoey's house, we could see all the teens hanging out around the living room. Felix had a pair of wireless headphones over his head, listening to some music on his iPhone that his parents bought him.
He had recently received this phone as an early Christmas present because of the sales that happened during Black Friday. His parents felt he was old enough (and responsible enough) to handle having one. Thankfully, Felix used it to listen to music and not much else except for watching a music video or two. He had a ton of music on his phone, both from music streaming services and internally storing them. Felix was listening to a playlist of songs from the '00s on shuffle, with one of the songs ending as the other was coming up.
He then felt a small poke on his shoulder. Felix jumped a little and paused the playlist before turning to Camilla, who was standing next to where he was sitting, "What'cha doin'?" she asked.
"Oh, I-I was listening to some music," Felix replied, gesturing to his iPhone and the song that he had it paused on.
"Ooo, that's neat!" awed Camilla before sitting down next to him, much to his surprise, "Can I listen?"
Felix started to become nervous; no one his age had any real interest in the music he listened to. He was not fussy about his taste and was open to every genre of music, but a lot of the kids in his class usually just stuck with whatever was popular or current. He honestly did not care that the other kids had different tastes, but it did get annoying after a while when they always shunned him whenever he listened to something different.
"S-S-Sure you can!" Felix said with a nervous smile. He turned off Bluetooth on his headphones and pressed play on the song he was going to listen to earlier.
The song that started playing was called, 'When I'm Gone' by 3 Doors Down. The song started off a little melancholy before getting to the main part, where it sounded more like alternative rock, which was a popular genre of music back in the '00s.
Felix glanced over at Camilla as the song continued to play, he could see that her eyes were closed, slowing rocking back and forth on the couch to the song. Rocking back and forth was also something Felix did a lot, even when he was not listening to music, 'Nice to know someone else does it too,' he thought, 'Doesn't make me feel left out.'
Meanwhile, we could see Serena sitting next to Ed with some of his comic books. She turned her attention to where Marie was sitting, seeing that Marie had gotten up from where she was sitting after setting her cell phone down and leaving the screen on. Serena looked around in a nervous manner, quickly getting up to walk over to where Marie left her phone. Serena grabbed Marie's phone, quickly going to her contacts to look up the phone number of one of Marie's sisters. It did not take long to find the number, thankfully. Serena quickly looked at the contact information to remember the phone number. Serena then placed the phone down where Marie had set it aside, hoping that no one would see her peeking at the phone. There were plenty of people around the living room, but everyone seemed preoccupied with other things to notice that Marie and Serena had walked away.
A few minutes later, all the kids and teens in the living room were told to stay put; it seemed like Camilla's other dad had finally arrived. Of course, the adults in this situation (Aiden, Wendy, Kenneth, Tina, and Robert) met with the blue-haired man outside first.
Robert approached his partner as Lucian stepped out of his car, "Luci…"
"Don't say it, I already know, Robbie," Lucian irritably growled as he made a deep sigh with a small facepalm. He focused on two of the four adults standing behind Robert, "Those FBI agents are here too…?"
Robert nodded, "Yeah, everyone's agreed to help us…"
Lucian could only look at Robert before softening the glare he had, "Good, I've been wanting to get back at that bastard for everything he's done. Though I didn't think it would happen like this."
The rest of the adults walked over to the men; Aiden and Wendy noticed the appearance of the blue-haired man… They could see that he looked a lot like Marie, much to their surprise.
Aiden and Wendy had only ever seen Marie once or twice in the past along with her two sisters; they could tell they all had different dads based on their hair colors. From what they could remember, everyone in the neighborhood did not care much for these three girls. When they asked Double D if they knew the sisters, their son's body immediately froze up in terror at their last name; his reaction honestly worried them at the time but they did not pressure him into telling him why he was so afraid.
When they came back home from their undercover job in London (and after the major incident that led them to save the twins from their real parents), they learned that their son had been hospitalized for a short time while they were away. That was when they learned that Marie helped save Double D by being a blood donor when he needed it the most since their blood type was the same. Since then, Marie has been with their son as a part of his group of friends, becoming very close to Matthew.
Outside of those few interactions, before they left for London (and even now), they knew very little about Marie or her background. They would rather not try to be so nosy about who their kids were friends with, but now… they could not help but wonder.
"You must be Lucian?" Kenneth asked the blue-haired man.
Lucian nodded before glancing toward Zoey's house, "I assume those kids are waiting inside?"
"Yes," Wendy replied before making a small glare, "I know we agreed to meet up and talk things out, but if we see you two make any suspicious moves…"
"You don't need to worry, Mrs. Johnson. I just want my real family to be safe from that monster," Lucian said.
The six adults began to walk back inside the house, but not before Lucian turned to Robert, "Robbie, is that girl here…?" He quietly asked his partner.
Robert nodded, "Yes, both Camilla and the other girl are inside… I also learned her name is Marie, just so you know."
Lucian stayed silent as the adults finally walked through the door, looking at all the teens in the living room.
"Daddy Luci!" cheered Camilla's voice as she ran over to her two fathers, hugging the blue-haired man, "I'm sorry that I was being sneaky! D-Don't tell Granddaddy! I-I—" she started to sob before being interrupted by a hug back from her dad, "It's alright, Lil' Cammy."
Once Camilla let him out of her hug, Lucian locked his eyes on the group of kids, seeing that Marie was there. Everyone immediately noticed the elephant in the room as they looked back and forth between Marie and Lucian. Marie could only stand there in complete shock.
"Wh…"
Lucian was hesitant until Camilla began to pull him by his jacket sleeve, "Daddy Luci! I made so many new friends today!" Camilla cheered as she dragged him over to the group, "They're so cool!"
"I-I can see that!" Lucian replied with a small chuckle, trying to hide his nervousness. He bent down to Camilla's level for a moment, "Sweetie, do you mind following Robbie for a moment? I need to talk with everyone about something very important… Understand?"
Camilla stared at her dad with a tilt of her head; she could sense the nervousness in his voice, "Okay…"
Lucian patted Camilla on the head before she and Robert walked upstairs, leaving him to face everyone in the room. All eyes were on Lucian now…
"As you heard from my partner, my name is Lucian Martel, though I took Robbie's last name when we married. The two of us wanted to try and live a normal life away from… well, the 'family' that my father controls," Lucian began to say as he scratched the back of his neck in nervousness, "I'm sorry about the trouble that my father caused for you all…"
There was a heavy pause between everyone before Marie angrily walked over to Lucian, her right hand curled into a fist in anger, "Who ARE you?! Where did you even – W-Why would… UGH!" she closed her eyes and clutched her hands to her head in frustration.
A million thoughts were going through Marie's mind as she tried to yell at the man, but it sounded more like confused and frustrated blabbering. Marie then felt Lucian's hands land on her shoulders, surprising her.
"Robbie told me your name is Marie, is that right?" Lucian said before making a sad frown, "I know you have a lot of questions, but it's… umm, an awkward thing for me to talk about. I can tell you about it along with Robbie upstairs, okay?"
Marie was silent as she stared at Lucian and followed him upstairs, much to Matthew's worry.
"… Uh, Matthew? Did you know who that guy was?" Serena asked her brother when she noticed his worried face.
Matthew shook his head, "No, I've never seen him before. But it's gotta be her dad."
"Yeah, that was pretty freaking obvious!" Eddy interjected, folding his arms across his chest to think about something, "Never really thought about it, but if that's really Marie's dad, I guess he's also Lee and May's dad too?"
Zoey hummed a little, "I don't think so. Marie already told us she and her sisters all have separate dads."
Double D was silent at this turn of events along with Jennifer as Ed scratched his head in confusion. Felix began to feel nervous about how everyone was acting, trying to process the awkward encounter.
Once Marie and Lucian walked upstairs, they went to the master bedroom to talk with Robert and Camilla, closing the door behind them. Lucian took a deep breath to try and calm his nerves, everyone could see he was shaking as he placed his hand on his chest.
"Sorry, I don't mean to be this jumpy," Lucian began to say before turning to Robert, "I need to tell her the truth. Do you mind covering Camilla's ears when I get to 'that point'? She doesn't need to hear what I need to say."
Robert nodded his head while Camilla made a frown.
Marie had an angry expression this whole time, "Are you really related to me?! I want answers! NOW!"
Lucian rubbed the back his neck once more, trying to avoid eye contact, "I can't say for sure yet, but I think so. Robbie confronted me with questions when he came back with his report…" he paused as he looked at Marie, "I'm sorry, I-I didn't know you existed until now."
He looked back at Robert, gesturing for him to cover Camilla's ears, which he did so quickly.
"You… You didn't KNOW?!" Marie questioned with anger before stepping closer to him, stopping herself from punching the man in the face, "HOW? HOW DID YOU NOT KNOW I EXISTED?!"
"Because I was a victim of a one-night stand with your mother; something I never asked for."
Marie widened her eyes in pure shock.
"Men can easily be taken advantage of sexually, just like everyone else," Lucian continued to say before closing his eyes, "Yes, we were both drunk from a party that night, but I was sober enough to tell her I wasn't interested in having sex… But that did not stop her, even when I kept shouting at her to stop… I never reported this to the police, and it wasn't because of shame. It's because of my family's reputation… I just wanted to forget."
Marie began to back away a little at the revelation, looking at the man in front of her. She suddenly started to remember all the moments in the past when her sisters were constantly chasing after the three Eds to try and gain their affection. Double D never wanted any of that from her, always telling her to stop… It made her feel awful to remember those moments.
Honestly, after all the awful things she did to Double D and his two friends, Marie was grateful that she had a second chance to be friends with everyone, even if it was not romantically with who she wanted.
Marie gripped her shirt to clutch her chest and heart, "I… I always had a feeling that how it happened. My mom would tell me a different name every time I asked who my real dad was," she lowered her head and closed her eyes, "But I thought it was the other way around for so long, and now I know the truth! S-She didn't even know your name!"
Marie felt Lucian's hand on her shoulder once again, trying to help her feel better. She could tell Lucian had kept this trauma to himself for a very long time.
Lucian looked at Robert, signaling him to stop covering Camilla's ears. Robert did as he was told as he and Camilla walked over to Marie and Lucian, "Umm, why is everyone so sad and angry?" Camilla asked in a scared tone, "I don't like it…"
"Don't worry about it, sweetie," Robert said as he patted her on the head, "Everyone's calmed down now."
Camilla looked up at her dad, "Really?"
Robert nodded.
Lucian turned to Marie, who still had her head lowered, "Listen, Marie. I don't want you or your other friends to get involved in this mess with my father and his awful family," he gripped her shoulder tighter, "But once the dust settles, I do want to try and connect with you and your friends… And maybe try and talk with your mother, if I can stomach it."
Marie widened her eyes, looking at the blue-haired man in front of her, "Y-You don't have to talk with her if you don't want to!" Marie replied.
Marie could feel Lucian pat her on the head, as he and Robert do with Camilla, "I'll be alright."
Lucian turned to Camilla and Robert, "Camilla, have you met and talked with Marie at all?"
Camilla nodded, "A little."
Lucian and Robert glanced at each other, "Well, you'll be seeing her a lot more from now on. We're going to be moving into the house across the street, so try to get to know Marie and her friends, okay?"
Camilla widened her eyes in surprise before making a big smile, "O-Okay, I will!"
"That's my girl," Robert chuckled as he took Camilla by her hand, "Come on, let's go back downstairs."
Marie and Lucian followed close behind them, "I think we should keep this a secret from Camilla for now. Robbie and I will sit down and talk with her about it once everything's over," Lucian said, "I won't let them hurt anyone here."
Marie nodded her head, "Gotcha."
Meanwhile, back at Martel HQ in Sunflower Shoal, we could see Mr. Martel walking to his office before receiving a ping on his cell phone. He took his cell phone out of his pocket to see what the text message was. It was from Trevor Carson, his right-hand man.
"We were just informed that Lucian and Robert have run away with Camilla. Call me so we can deal with this."
Mr. Martel narrowed his eyes, forming a frown on his face. He began to call Carson as soon as he read the message, "Carson…"
"I know, you don't need to tell me. We'll go find them and bring them back home."
"Good, I have a feeling I know where they ran off to," Martel said as he continued to walk to his office, "I'm certain those two are still sour at me for injecting Mr. Swanson's daughter with the wind serum that was left behind…"
"Ah, you're saying they went to talk with the victims of Vergil and Rita?"
"Yes," Martel replied before making a small growl, "Always so defiant, that damn son of mine…"
"Do you wish for me to retrieve them tonight?"
"… No, not yet," Martel said, smirking as he did, "I have a grand idea on how to punish that fool, along with taking back what was made for us, for the Chaos Union. I need you to contact a few places for me…"
Author's Note (November 17th, 2024): Wha... Where the heck have I been?! God, everything is so bad lately that I haven't been able to concentrate at all on writing; or even playing games on my massive backlog. Sigh...