Chapter 6: Discoveries 2
Summary:
Variations of the same humanoid figure are everywhere, dressed in a sort of armor with strange lumps or accessories, different in each model. What's most significant for Brig are the colors: there's a lot of black and gray, but all the models have elements of metallic blue, either lighter or darker, thanks to silver accents.
He looks at his father, who's clearly connecting the dots between Dunia's bloody drawings and this workshop. He looks at Mrs. McKinnon, his most innocent face in place.
"Did you do this?"
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Part 6 of: The Lies We Told Each Other
Fandoms: Top Gun (Movies), Thunderheart (1992), Suits (US TV 2011)
Relationships: Brigham "Harvard" Lennox/Jake "Hangman" Seresin, Sarah Kazansky/Tom "Iceman" Kazansky/Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, Rick "Hollywood" Neven/Leonard "Wolfman" Wolfe
Characters: Brigham "Harvard" Lennox, Jake "Hangman" Seresin, Sarah Kazansky, Tom "Iceman" Kazansky, Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, Leonard "Wolfman" Wolfe, Rick "Hollywood" Neven, Ray Levoi, Harvey Specter, Mike Ross, Original Adult Character(s), Original Child Character(s)
Additional Tags: Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Trans Male Character, Asexual Character, Transphobia, Polyamory, Phone Sex, Adoption
INDEX: https://palabraspulsares.blogspot.com/p/i-have-right-to-this-lies-we-told-each.html
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Wednesday, April 1, 2020
They ring the bell and wait.
"Who is it?" a female voice asks over the intercom.
"It's me, Mrs. McKinnon Zack's mom," Dunia announces in a squeaky, cheerful voice.
"Dun Dun...? Oh... I'm coming."
Shortly after, they can hear hurried footsteps that stop on the other side of the door.
"Is it really you?" a high-pitched, childlike voice asks.
Dunia jumps a little.
"Yes, it's really me."
Leonard and Brig exchange a somewhat guilty look.
"My mom won't let me open the door," Zack complains, "but she's coming."
Indeed, an African American woman with short hair, broad shoulders, and a round face has just opened the door. Upon seeing the two men, her expression changes from pleasant surprise to distrust.
"Good afternoon, I'm Kate McKinnon. How can I help you?"
"Good afternoon. I'm Brigham Lennox, and this is Leonard Wolfe. We're Dunia's uncles."
The woman looks down at Dunia, who hasn't entered the house yet, only because Brig is holding her hand.
"Do you have permission this time?" she asks directly.
Dunia nods very seriously.
"That's very good. You shouldn't go out without letting your family know, remember?"
"I remember," the girl assures her, but her eyes go to Zack.
Seeing the anxious, but not frightened, expression convinces her that the men are not an immediate danger.
"Then you may come in," he says and steps aside.
As soon as she's free, Dunia runs to hug her friend, a dark-skinned boy with very short hair.
"You came!"
"Yes, thanks to Shazam, who told my uncle, who is my new dad, to bring me to say goodbye."
"Say goodbye?"
"My mom and dad got really mad at me and didn't want me to be their daughter anymore. So now my uncle is my new dad."
Zack and his mother turn their eyes toward the two men, dismayed.
"Dunia will come live with me in San Diego, California," corroborates Brig.
"But…"
"It's okay, Zack," Dunia interrupts. "I... I want to see the ocean. You told me it was beautiful."
The boy looks blankly at his friend and then at his mother. There's a clear plea in his eyes.
Kate McKinnon's lips are pursed, her expression cautious. She studies the two men again, intrigued by the girl's hasty explanation. She knew the Lennox were conservative, but getting rid of a daughter just because she sneaked into a friend's house? It can't be just that, can it? But whether those reasons make sense to her or not, there's nothing she can do. The worst part is that the girl already seems resigned to her fate.
She sighs.
"Can Zack call and write to San Diego?"
Seeing Brigham Lennox's face light up, she thinks that perhaps all is not lost.
"Excellent idea." The man takes out his cell phone and hands it to her. "We'll just have to coordinate the calls carefully, the time difference and all." She enters her number, hands it back to him, and he starts typing. "I'm sending you the mailing address right now," he explains.
Sure enough, her phone vibrates with a new text message notification.
"Thank you," she says, a little mellower. She turns to the kids. "So, Dun Dun, what do you want to do?"
"May I go see him again?" the girl asks, longing. One hand is intertwined with Zack's fingers, the other balled into a fist.
Oh! Of course. Why would they ask for anything else?
"Sure, Dun Dun," she says, but she can't stop some frustration from seeping into her voice. "But no running or touching, okay?"
Zack and Dun Dun nod very seriously and then run into the house. Kate looks at the two men; their confused expressions tell her they have no idea what's going on. Are they really Dun Dun's uncles? Leonard seems very old to be the brother of any of the parents. Although the Lennox are Mormon, the combination of extended families and marriages between older men and younger women produces results that contradict her common sense. Well, she'd better take advantage of her little time to find out everything she can. After all, her priority is Zack.
Kate closes the door.
"Follow me," she says with a gesture and walks in the same direction as the children went.
Brig and his father follow her, eager to know what Dunia is so interested in. They pass through a couple of doors until they reach a large room. The excited voices of Zack and his daughter can be heard from the hallway. Kate McKinnon signals with her hand that they can enter and...
Brig blinks a couple of times, amazed. Is the room the studio or workshop of a sculptor? There are mannequins, some half-finished, posters, a table in the back with fabric samples and other materials, a computer with two high-definition monitors to the right, and a small photo studio with a camera on a tripod, lights, and a white backdrop to the left. Variations of the same humanoid figure are everywhere, dressed in a sort of armor with strange lumps or accessories, different in each model. What's most significant for Brig are the colors: there's a lot of black and gray, but all the models have elements of metallic blue, either lighter or darker, thanks to silver accents.
He looks at his father, who's clearly connecting the dots between Dunia's bloody drawings and this workshop. He looks at Mrs. McKinnon, his most innocent face in place.
"Did you do this?"
Kate smiles at him, shaking her head.
"I'm an orthopedist, Mr. Lennox. I work at the University of Utah Hospital. This is my husband's studio. Malik works for Rodeo FX, a digital visual effects company. When they offered me the job here, I was a little worried, but it turns out he can work remotely. He does have meetings at the most bizarre hours, though. The company has offices in Quebec, Toronto, Paris, and Los Angeles."
"Ah," Leonard says. She correctly interprets the noise and explains what they see.
Malik is developing the Blue Beetle armor for a DC Comics film. The digital models are developed by capturing data from static physical models, hence the mannequins and material samples.
Brig nods thoughtfully. Yes, the color is the same as Dunia's drawings, but none of these images have a drop of blood.
"I suppose it's very entertaining for your son," he says, attempting to fill the silence.
Kids like superheroes, right? Well, kids and Fanboy, of course.
"Oh! You've got no idea." They both recognize the slightly exasperated tone that comes with a somewhat annoying trait in someone you love. "Ever since Malik started with the Blue Beetle thing, I can't understand what they're talking about half the time. STAR Labs this, Batman that."
"And the other half?" Leonard asks.
She notices that he gives one of the models a perhaps too-intense look. In that model, the beetle is just a hump the size of a woman's purse on the back of its host.
"Oddly enough, the other half of the time they're both asking me questions. That character has an alien thing attached to his spine that activates when they're in danger." She points to the model that caught both men's attention. "There's quite a bit of pain there, from what they've told me."
Brig grimaces in surprise, Mrs. McKinnon nods.
"Absolutely crazy, right? Since my husband is working on developing the suit for that film, he's peppering me with questions about the interaction between the alien beetle and its host body. Where the pain would be reflected, if there would be a lot of blood, all to make it more realistic." She snorts mockingly. "As if such a thing was possible. On the bright side, Zack has learned a lot about the musculoskeletal system. He no longer believes it's solid on the inside."
Brig looks at the kids, who move from one mannequin to another, pointing out details with their fingers. Yes, they definitely came to the right place.
"Have Zack and Dunia been friends for a long time?"
"We moved here last fall." She lowers her voice, looking at them sadly. "Zack noticed she was alone during class-break that no one approached her to play. He told me, astonished, that he didn't know who Batman, Superman, or Blue Beetle were. Meeting a girl from a conservative Mormon family has been very"—it takes her a while to find a word that isn't potentially offensive—"illuminating about other lifestyles." She looks at them straight in the eye, earnest. "Are you really taking her away? When the police showed up last night looking for her, I didn't think they'd take such radical measures."
"Oh! No, that's not why," the younger, Brig, quickly clarifies. "I suspect this has been in the works for several months, although I wasn't given much time to prepare myself either." She recognizes the note of frustration in his voice. "I arrived in Salt Lake City on Monday."
Kate wants to swear but holds it back. One of the most bizarre moments of her introductory training at the hospital was the unit "Adoption in Utah." Very few people are in their right mind twenty-four hours after giving birth, yet that's the minimum waiting time to sign relinquishment papers. What's worse is that the relinquishment of parental rights is not revocable, not even if it's proven they were signed under false pretenses. Of course, this isn't the case. The Lennox are far from innocent, penniless parents. Kate knows Dunia has four brothers and sisters at Rowland Hall; just thinking about the tuition gives her psychosomatic pains.
"And what do you do, Mr. Lennox?"
"I'm a Navy aviator," he replies with evident pride, "just like my adoptive father," and gestures toward the older man.
"Leonard Wolfe, retired Navy lieutenant commander."
Suddenly, she realizes why the man seemed familiar.
"Oh my God! You're the author of "Fly with Me"!" She immediately pulls out her phone. "Please, don't leave! If my husband finds out you were here and he didn't see you, he'll ask for a divorce." She pleads while quickly dialing. "Come down right now... Of course, it's important! Come down with the book... What book is it going to be? The one you love the most!"
Almost immediately, they hear hurried footsteps, and a tall, dark-skinned man with dreadlocks and small scars on both cheeks rushes into the workshop. He's carrying a well-thumbed edition of Leonard's novel. He addresses his wife, ignoring the men at her side.
"What's going on Kate?"
She smiles, tender and amused, and moves her chin in the direction of the visitors.
"It just so happens that Leonard Wolfe is Dun Dun's grandfather, dear."
Malik McKinnon's face is hard to describe, but he's definitely feeling a mix of disbelief and absolute happiness.
"Mr. Wolfe, I mean, Commander Wolfe, I..." he stammers. "Your book means so much to me. You changed my life, sir."
Leonard clears his throat, somewhat uncomfortable. Brig can barely contain his laughter.
Leonard gives him his best angry dad look.
"Not a word." He offers his hand to Malik. "I'm glad you liked the novel, Mr. McKinnon. Would you like me to sign your book?"
The man blinks as if he's having trouble processing what he just heard.
"Yes, yes, of course," Kate replies, taking the copy from her husband's fingers and handing it to Leonard along with a pen.
Malik seems to come back to reality when the book is returned to him.
"So you are Dun Dun's grandfather?"
Leonard and Brig exchange a worried look. They've called Dunia Dun Dun several times, and that, coupled with Ray's advice, sets off very specific alarm bells for both of them. But Leonard doesn't let that concern show in his response.
"Adoptive grandfather, yes. From what I understand, Zack is very important to Dun Dun. We're not coming back to Utah, but your wife already has my son's phone number and the address of the house in San Diego."
"We'll do everything we can to help them keep in touch," Brig assures them.
Now, it's Malik who gives Kate a questioning look. She raises her eyebrows, silently saying, "I'll tell you later," which he accepts.
"Now, we really have to go. We want to leave early tomorrow for Nevada."
"Of course," Mrs. McKinnon agrees. She turns toward the interior of the workshop and raises her voice. "Zack, Dun Dun! Time to go."
They shuffle back, hands clasped, eyes lowered. It's evident that Dun Dun's willingness to accept fate is faltering. Brig crouches down to her eye level and looks her in the eye.
"Have you said farewell?"
Dun Dun presses her lips together and nods, but her chin trembles.
"I was really scared when I left my first family, too, you know?"
"Did you used to sneak too? I just wanted to see the models! I didn't know Mom would send me away!"
Brig feels the McKinnon tense and sees Zack's little hand tighten almost convulsively around the white wrist. So, this is what his parents felt, he understands. Well, luckily, he's familiar with the part about lying to protect other people's feelings.
"No, Dun Dun, it's not like that." He sees her gray eyes widen in surprise at the use of the name. "Sometimes we're born different from our brothers and sisters. Grandpa Leonard, you, and I were all born different. That's okay; it's not a bad thing to be different. But sometimes different people can't stay with their first family. We need to find our real family, the one that loves us just the way we are. Do you understand?"
"But what if I behave and learn to be just like my sisters forever?"
Brig's heart breaks again. He puts a hand on her shoulder.
"It's not going to work, honey. You can't live a lie your whole life. Lying is wrong, right?"
"Right," Dun Dun admits, his voice dull.
"You already know who you are here," he touches his chest, "and here," he touches his temple. "So, you deserve a family you can tell who you really are. That's why I came for you. I want to be your father, and I love that you're different, like me, like your Grandpa Leonard."
Dun Dun gives him a wet, almost agonized look but nods and lets go of his friend's hand to take Brig's.
"Wait!" Zack is pulling something out of his neck. "Here!" He presses a woven leather cord with a blue pendant against Dun Dun's chest. "Take it!"
Dun Dun's gray eyes widen. He tries to pull the hand from his chest, to move away.
"I can't. You can't give me this."
"Zack," Malik cuts in, trying to be reasonable, "are you sure?"
The boy gives his father a sad but determined look.
"You said the scarab would protect me and take me to the right person. I found the right person. Now it's Dun Dun who's going to a new place where he doesn't know anyone. He needs protection."
"But then you won't have any protection!" Dun Dun shouts at him. "You can't stay unprotected now that I'm gone."
"Stop!" Malik interrupts. You both need protection. I'll be right back." He runs into his workshop and returns with a box so small it fits in the palm of his hand. "Here you go, your very own blue beetle."
Dun Dun and Zack look at the case where the pendant rests with its braided leather cord with reverence.
"Right! Blue beetles are part of the Reach army."
Malik lets out a short laugh.
"Correct, Zack."
He looks at Brig for permission, who nods without hesitation. He's an aviator, and he knows how important amulets can be. Malik carefully opens the box and unwinds the cord. He passes the pendant to his son, who quickly places it around Dun Dun's neck.
"Brand new. Just for you," he says, hugging him tightly.
When they part, Dun Dun extends his hand to Brig with a determined expression.
"Let's go to California, Dad."
Dun Dun falls asleep on the way back to the hotel.
After tucking him in, Brig sits on his bed and composes a brief text message to his boyfriend, "Congratulations, it's a boy." He deletes it almost immediately. No, he can't do this over text. He needs to give Dun Dun time, earn his trust, and convince him it's safe to be honest. He also needs to talk to Jake face to face because this is going to shake up the whole family. So, he just writes, "Enjoy your night." He hopes Javier will keep his promise to drag Jake back to the Hard Deck. Instead, the message to Sarah is easy because it's concrete: "Room theme: DC's Blue Beetle."
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INDEX: https://palabraspulsares.blogspot.com/p/i-have-right-to-this-lies-we-told-each.html
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