Chapter Text
1:18 PM
When DB woke up, the apartment was still silent in a way she hadn’t expected. She anticipated Mac and Dennis would be rather loud in the morning, screaming about apples and gym routines and whatever else their apartment conveyed. Biking, she guessed. Stretching her arms to the sky, a soft yawn filled the room with an echo as DB stood up, ready to go back out to the streets, or go scrounge for breakfast scraps in that coffee shop dumpster that was always full. The only downside of that place was the blonde lady who loved to scream at her. She kinda looked homeless too, though. Hah.
Her shoes sat by the door, poisoning whatever varnish was still clinging to the hardwood with how dirty they were. But what caught DB’s eye was the sticky note placed right in front of her nose at the door.
“Gone to bar early. Be back late. Charlie says come visit – Mac.”
The handwriting was far too neat and dainty to be Mac’s. But DB really had no idea what any of the gang wrote like. She slid the note between her fingers, scuffing the graphite as she shoved it in her jean pocket.
No one had ever written DB a note before. Not that she had noticed, at least. Truth be told, her foster parents probably wrote her one or two before, asking her to defrost the chicken before she left for school or help her siblings tie their shoes or something, but someone in the house had swept them away, or purposely crumbled them, or thought it was for them, or something else. She didn’t really like thinking about it anyways. And Cricket certainly never did. She wasn’t exactly sure he was capable of it even if he ever found a pen and a notepad.
So, DB’s feet were planted on the outside of Mac and Dennis’ apartment door, rubbing the note between her thumb and her pointer, thinking. She hadn’t exactly planned to come back, but no one had ever asked her to go somewhere simply because they wanted her there. Her mind was moving so fast she felt like her eyes were blurring, and she was getting dizzy. She quickly realized, however, that she only felt that way because someone just pushed into her and tipped her onto the floor. That’s probably better than thinking so hard you get a headache.
Making up her mind, she slipped back into the apartment with a huff, grabbed an ancient looking rectangular thingy labeled “WALKMAN” and plugged the headphones in her ears. The second time she shut the door, she slammed it. She was still pissed at that guy who knocked her over and didn’t even look at her or say sorry. The hallways aren’t that crowded, you stupid idiot savage.
If you ignore that one time she stole bread from a market and totally thought the owner was about to start chasing her, or the time that soggy white dog that looked half decayed actually did start chasing her, this was probably the fastest DB had ever walked. She had never heard the song playing before, and it wasn’t very good either. I mean, good for you if you care that much that anonymous boys were back in a mysterious town, but DB really didn’t. Maybe just a little bit better than listening to Cricket bang on trash can lids and call them drums, but playing band was actually a lot of fun when you got to be included. She kicked a rock across her path over and over, the way she used to scratch it across the pavement to add a grating air guitar to his percussion.
The door to Paddy’s was whipped open with a huff, walls vibrating with the force of the slam. Everyone in the bar - which included only one patron so far - turned with a glare at the noise. Setting down their beers mid-sip, the gang raised their hands in triumph as they recognized the face walking through the doorway.
“Doe! You made it!” Charlie sprinted to wrap DB in a sort of side-hug, trying to avoid wiping the dirt on his gloves off on her. Not that she would notice, but it was nice to keep her clean as long as possible. Dee did go through all that work, after all. Plus, better for business, Frank had told him during nightcrawlers last night.
“Hey, kid, you came back!” Dee peeled Charlie off of her, awkwardly restraining herself from offering a beer like she does for most everyone else who comes in. Her lanky limbs fumbled around, but, for once, none of the gang seemed to noticed and take the opportunity to call her Big Bird.
“Hi, Jane.” Dennis stood back behind the bar, an amicable smile scuffing the corners of his face. He certainly didn’t look as excited as Charlie and Dee to see her, but that was just because he didn’t have any attachment to the girl, not because he was trying to stifle it. Nope. He didn’t care about her, and he doesn’t feel the least bit embarrassed of his paternal instincts for her because, well, they simply didn’t exist. If they did, he would feel his heart get all warm and the corners of his mouth crease into a big grin when she gave a shy smile and wave back to him. And that totally did not happen.
“Hey, Pal, you gonna serve me or are you too busy reconnecting with your daughter?” The singular customer in the bar broke Dennis from his thoughts, sassing him for a beer.
“She not my- whatever.” Dennis grumbled under his breath as he grabbed the drink and sent the man on his way back to a booth in the corner of the bar. Following the man with his eyes, his gaze was interrupted by Mac, staring back at him suspiciously. Dennis shot back a look – “what?”- and a small wiggle of the eyebrows from Mac said, “you’re attached, aren’t you?”.
DB watched, dumbfounded, as Mac and Dennis continued their silent conversation, communicating exclusively through glares and squints.
“Don’t worry, this is normal.” Charlie placed a hand on DB’s shoulder, gesturing to the two men with, ironically, his eyes. She shrugged his hand off, smiling and sauntering off to the basement. “Oh- Doe, we don’t need to bash any rats today.” He gave a small, forced frown as she slowly backed away from the door. From his corner, the patron gave a weird look to the two of them.
“WHAT?! YOU WANT A RAT FREE BAR. THAT MEANS SOMEONE’S GOTTA BASH ‘EM!” DB shrieked over to the man, a sudden vigor in her veins. Charlie was taken aback at the scream, but nonetheless happy she got the man off their asses. She was totally right, rat bashing might be fun, but it is one damn underappreciated job. While Dee and Dennis shared a shocked look at the display, Mac suppressed his urge to give her a great big high five for showing that guy what was up. But he didn’t have to suppress it for long, as the girl confidently marched over to the rest of the gang and stuck out her short arm high. She stumbled a little against the weight of Mac’s slap, but her smile never faltered, in fact, it only grew at the celebration.
The rest of the night went something like that, someone staggering in for a drink, asking about a little girl being there, getting yelled at, and leaving after a beer or two. The gang stood around, loitering by the bar and laughing and laughing until they couldn’t remember the last time they did this. And maybe all that good spiriting brought more business to the bar, but every time someone new came they got a little too freaked out by the rowdy girl chatting with the bartenders and left after a short while.
Each time this happened, the gang awkwardly looked amongst themselves and glanced over at DB, but she never took the hint.
“Hey, kid… you noticed how many people keep leaving like we got a roundabout door or something?” Dee forced out a laugh as she slit the underlying tension in the room. DB turned to her with a look of absolute confusion and innocence at the suggestion, to the point one could be convinced she was purposefully forcing puppy dog eyes.
As hard as it was for the gang to do, it was worse for business to let her stay.
7:36 PM
DB planted herself behind Paddy’s after pacing around the block as long as her legs allowed. Next to her, the dumpster sat, buzzing with flies and probably harboring a few rodents. Hello, old friend. The bar inside didn’t sound very loud from the outside, hushed conversations and bottles clanging, but most of the dialogue she could hear came from Frank and Charlie.
“Hey...” Never mind. A voice crawled out from around the corner of the bar and echoed in the empty alleyway. Well. Mostly empty, but who’s counting DB? Rounding the bend, she recognized the speaker as Mac.
“What are you doing out here?” DB asked him, a little more hostile than intended.
“It’s actually not too busy in there right now, so I figured they didn’t need a bodyguard.”
“You’re the bodyguard?” DB stifled a giggle at the idea.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I just didn’t think I place like this required a bodyguard; I guess. But…” she trailed off, shrugging.
“But what?” Mac questioned, immaturely laughing at the phrase.
“But I guess if any one of you would be a bodyguard, it’d be you” she said nonchalantly, watching as Mac plopped down next to her on the filthy gravel. The two of them sat together like that for a moment, subdued silence that felt peaceful in the midst of a loud city and louder bar- though only because its owners were some of the most crazed people in Philadelphia. Mac swept his gaze over to the top of her head, words forming in his rather thoughtless brain.
“… You wanna steal Dennis’ car?” Mac threw the flimsy idea out into the silence. He turned his head to the side, waiting for a response like a confused dog.
“What?” DB shot him an incredulous look at the suggestion.
“Not steal it, really, just borrow it. He’s gonna be in there for like, at least a few more hours, and driving out somewhere is way more better than just sitting around like a couple of jabronis.” Mac huffed out a chuckle before continuing. “Plus, I don’t have a car, so it’s not like we can drive mine.”
“You talk funny.” Mac’s eyebrows furrowed, jaw clenching at the sudden insult, but his anger softened as the girl looked up at him, an innocent smile concealing a childish giggle. “But yeah. That is better.” She turned her head back to her knees, chewing at the skin on her nails as she thought it over.
“Where do you wanna go?”
“I don’t know.”
“Under the bridge?”
“What? Ew, no. Homeless people swarm there.” DB looked back at him, deadpan. The irony, however, was lost on Mac despite her efforts to shove it in his face. “Oh, you know what?”
“What?”
“They’re doing construction on the fence for the Strawberry Mansion Bridge, but they stop after 6, so we could probably get real close to the water if we go there now!” Mac turned to DB, an excited smile growing on his face. DB shrugged in return, clinging onto Mac as the two stood in tandem.
7:55 PM
Parking the car decently far away, so as to be inconspicuous, Mac and DB scampered over the gravel and onto the entrance of the bridge, giggling as they hid amongst the trees.
“Are we even allowed to be here?” DB asked, squinting at the bright caution tape covering the driveway. DO NOT ENTER was repeated over, and over, and over again across the tape, but the bridge itself looked intact.
“No, but those rules are just here for pansies who are too scared to fall.” Mac pointed to the side of the bridge, where a large section of barrier was missing. Underneath, trucks filled with all kinds of construction supplies were parked, abandoned for the night. DB’s eyes stayed locked on the flowing river under the bridge as Mac, hand interlocked with hers, dragged her below the caution tape, though she didn’t have to duck very far down.
“Wait!” DB’s words brushed through her wide smile as she ran, feet subtly cracking the old gravel of the bridge. “Seriously, this is dangerous!” She protested half-heartedly, not making any effort to feign real fear and contain her excitement.
“C’mon, don’t tell me a kid who lives with Cricket is afraid of a little danger. Besides, what’s the worst that can happen?” DB nearly slammed into Mac as he suddenly stopped, staring forward at a section of the bridge barrier “Hey, look!”
“It’s just a river.” Outstretched beyond the bridge, a violent stream of muddy water licked the rocky edges of the shore. It wasn’t very notable, maybe dirtier then most rivers, but that wasn’t something particularly interesting for someone who lives in squalor.
‘No, the barrier, DB. It’s gone.” DB made a little ohh in realization. While most of the barrier acted as a giant wall blocking the bridge from the river, one section was completely empty, the road ending in a swift drop off. Mac led DB towards the end of the road, carefully sitting on the edge and motioning DB to follow him.
“Don’t call me DB.” She posed, barely above her breath, as she stood above him.
“Why not?”
“…Actually, I don’t really know.” She shrugged, sitting down next to him. “I think it kinda bugged me when you guys all called me that, but I guess it’s not that bad of a name. You were the one who named me back then, right?”
“Yeah, we were gonna make you an actor. Or- actress, I guess. But you were t- “
“Too white, yeah, I heard the run down. I think nowadays I’ve got the opposite problem.” DB held up her arm, looking at the faint whispers of washed-off dirt.
“Not since Dee cleaned you off.” Mac scoffed, tussling the top of DB’s hair. She fell against him, resting her head on the back of his arm
“You guys seriously do that like, every day?” DB mumbled.
“What, take a shower?” She nodded. “I mean, yeah. I don’t think anyone cleans that much dirt off of them every day, though.”
DB gave a satisfied hum, staring off into the night. It wasn’t quite pitch black yet, the shadows of sun still dusting the sky with orange and pink, but the stars were peaking down at them already. Not many stars - it was a city after all - but enough that she could just barely make out a constellation if she stretched her imagination.
In the silence, her eyes felt heavy. She was never sleepy, something else always took priority- mostly hunger. Her gaze drooped down to the water below her, far, far down. A soft draft brushed against her legs, and the air smelt like the sea. Or at least markets where they sold things from there. DB hadn’t been to the beach before.
“You know the last time I came here?” Mac interrupted.
“Was it on your commute to work?” DB asked, monotone
“What? When did I- The apartment is way closer to Paddy’s than here.” Mac looked down at the girl incredulously, wondering where the hell she came up with that.
“Yeah, but when you lived in the suburbs or whatever. With Dennis.”
“Ohhh, right. I never actually went to work, then. I just did housework and stuff.” DB turned back up to face Mac, giving a soft nod though her eyebrows danced in confusion. “We had a dog.” Mac continued, earning an “aw” out of the girl. “He died, though.” She stared blankly back at him, wide eyes swirling with sadness, confusion, and secondhand trauma.
“Why’d he die?” She questioned, voice breathy in confusion.
“Can I get back to my story?” Mac parried, annoyed. DB shrugged back at him, face still in shock. “Right, so the last time I came here was Mac Day.”
“What?”
“Y’know, Mac Day. The day where I’m in control of everything? Everyone in the gang has one. Oh, you should’ve seen Charlie Day last year, he total- “
“Is there a DB Day?”
“No, not yet- let me get back to what I was saying, though.” Mac waved his hand in front of DB’s face, silencing her. “So, I went here, right?” He continued, half-heartedly. “And I was with my cousin- His names Mac, too. Or was, I guess.” Mac’s face scrunched as he bumbled through the story.
“He… died?”
“Yeah. That day, actually.” He answered, not even attempting to look at all upset about the fact.
“I’m… uh, sorry about that. I think.” DB folded in on herself awkwardly, trying to read Mac’s face.
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Huh? Oh, I just thought it was interesting. He jumped off this bridge.”
“That’s how he died?” She nearly shrieked, hovering over the edge to look at the racing waters below. “Like, that jump could for sure kill someone?”
“No- that was after the karate tournament. I was planning on jumping off, but he kinda stole my thunder.” Mac continued rambling, ignoring the incredulous expression painted on DB’s face. “Jumping off bridges, Karate… I sound pretty cool, huh? You think I’m cool, right DB?”
“Yeah,” she replied, nose scrunched like he had asked if the sky was blue. “You.. don’t seem all that broken up about your cousin dying, you know.” Her gaze fell down to her feet, watching them sway above the salty night air.
“I guess it was just a long time ago, yeah?” Mac threw his head back to look at the ghosts of stars, half interested in the conversation. “Like, if you died, I’d be pretty sad, b- “
“You would?” DB cut in, a little too fast to be casual.
“Well- yeah, I mean, I don’t really want you to die? Why’re you acting so weird about it?” Mac scoffed, humorless. DB broke the awkward eye contact and swallowed hard.
“No, I don’t- I just,” pausing for a beat, she continued on. “I’m not being weird about, I just asked.” She murmured. “I was being rhetorical.”
“What does that mean?”
“Rhetorical?” Mac nodded. “…I dunno.” DB let out the ghost of a laugh with her confession, a teasing shoulder knocking her. The corners of her mouth perked up as she held in a giggle, but she could only stop herself for so long until the two of them erupted in laughter.
“Dennis always uses fancy words like that,” Mac chocked through laughs “but honestly, I think he’s making some of them up”
“I don’t know, there’s a lotta words out there. I used to know like, so many.” DB chewed at the edges of her nails as she talked, and Mac looked over expectantly, brow quirked. “Y’know, I was at school and I learned like 100 words every day, but once I left I kinda just… forgot them all.” She rambled on and on, bouncing her leg with contained boredom. “Not like my ‘parents’ helped me study, huh?” She curled her fingers around and air quoted “parents”
“Why’d you leave, then?”
“I mean, I never really meant to drop out, I just wanted to run away from home, and you cant exactly go to school when you’re homeless. At least I don’t think so. But it doesn’t really matter, anyways, I didn’t have much of a future. Like, yeah, I got good grades on all my tests, and I liked my assignments, but I never had time to do them. Too many chores, I guess. I remember my history teacher,” she started, a soft smile caressing her face. “He said I could’ve gotten a scholarship to any school I wanted if I only tried, but… he said it like I wasn’t already trying my hardest.”
“You- “
“Is it wrong to hate my foster parents for that? It is, right? Jeez, I’m horrible, aren’t I?” she rambled, though she phrased it more as a statement than a question.
“You were smart?”
“I guess, yeah, people used to say that to me all the time when I was little. ‘Jane the brain!” she snorted a laugh. “Just kidding. No one called me that. It would’ve been cool if they did though, right?”
“No- I meant like, you could’ve been some fancy big wig making money out there, but instead you’re just some homeless girl who walked into a bar.” Mac spoke, though, more to himself than to her. “Wait, your parents named you Jane? That’s way less cool than DB.”
“Well, they didn’t really ‘name’ me, per se, that was just what they were told my name was. Jane Doe, technically.”
“Your name is literally Jane Doe?”
“Legally.”
“Something was seriously wrong with your parents, dude. And with you.”
DB whipped his arm with an offended gasp. “Okay, you’re one to talk. Plus, I’m not that weird, Jane Doe is like… a pretty normal name.”
“For dead people maybe, but seriously, you’re saying these jerks didn’t even give you a name and ruined your brain? Like you’d be way more better at math without them?”
“More better at grammar too,” she teased, though the humor was lost on Mac. “I almost went to one of those fancy charter schools, or smart person schools, or… whatever it was, but we didn’t really have the time for that, I guess.”
They both sat in heavy silence. DB stared down at her feet, a growing frown encasing her face from those horribly dirty shoes. Her laces were nearly defective, her socks protruding out of the sides and splintering the shoe open in many places. No one at her school had worn shoes like this, no, they were always pristine if not a little worn in. They were almost pompous, the way they screamed class compared to whatever was on her feet now. Hell, even DB’s own shoes back then – Jane’s shoes- looked lavish relative to these. Sitting there, her tear ducts nearly wettened, she thought it funny how something so small and insignificant made her feel so lesser.
Mac cleared this throat awkwardly.
“You know, DB, I never knew you back then, but…” He started, and DB’s eyes fluttered up to him as she fidgeted with her hands. “But I think you’re probably a lot cooler like this.” She turned her head back down, hiding a coy smile with her ragged hair but unmistakably letting out a giggle. “Seriously!” Mac pushed, “I mean, before – sure, you probably knew some math, or whatever, but so what? I’ve seen the type of parkour Cricket can do, that’s way more impressive. Living on the streets is a testament to what a badass you are.”
“You wanna know something?” DB replied, a smirk planted across her face.
Mac raised an eyebrow back at her.
“I’m way better at parkour than he is.” With a confident shrug of her shoulders, she had thoroughly impressed the man beside her. Her shook her excitedly, grabbing the sides of her arms and flailing her around to the sound of a mad laughing fit.
“I knew it! You should totally be in a Project Badass video!” He raved, sounding like he was in a funhouse through DB’s shaken ears. Suddenly, he stopped her and looked her in the eyes, a serious expression painted on. “You know what Project Badass is, right?”
DB looked to the side uncomfortably before nodding, expressionless. Sitting in awkward silence, Mac shot her a look, evidently wondering her opinion on the whole Project Badass thing.
“You know what time it is, right?”
Mac looked down at his watch, hurriedly. It had cracks, and dirt in those cracks, and probably cracks in the dirt, too, but you could still make out a short black hand pointing an arrow to the nine on the clock. Dennis might not have noticed them slipping away for a few minutes, but the whole gang would surely be a little concerned if Mac hadn’t returned in over an hour.
“Shit.” Mac cursed under his breath. Looking back up at DB, she giggled at the panic painted on his face. With a huff, one of both annoyance and unwitting fondness, Mac grabbed the girl by the arm and trenched the two of them across the bridge and through the barrage of trees in a frenzy.
With two fingers crossed over the wheel, Mac drove as fast as the old Range Rover would go. DB stared out the window, buildings blurred as she moved her hand like a wave next to the open air. Evidently Mac’s good luck charm worked; as far as they could tell, police never even looked twice at olive car far above the speed limit zooming through the streets of south Philly.
When Mac, as quietly as someone like him could, slid open the door to Paddy’s, he was met with a mostly empty pub. From behind the bar, Dennis cleared his throat. He stood in front of the gang, arms crossed firmly, and an expression that didn’t look much softer.
“Damn it, DB. I knew you should’ve opened the door.” Mac’s voice was a scratchy whisper as he turned his face to the girl, eyes still locked on the gang.
“It’s not like I would’ve been any quieter!” She retorted, words barely comprehensible over the rasp in her murmuring voice. The pair stood with guilt dripping down the back of their necks, practically melting from Dennis’ glare. With a deadpan voice, Dennis broke the silence.
“You stole my car?”
“I wouldn’t say steal, Dennis, see-” Mac interjected, speaking as fast as his mouth could allow him.
“It was my idea.” DB shoved her hands behind her back, big eyes staring up at the gang as her lips creased in a most innocent frown; She was pulling out the puppy dog face.
Dennis opened his mouth for a moment before pressing his lips together, unable to conjure up the anger he had when the two had first walked in. He hesitated, squinting at them before turning back over to the gang. Charlie bounced on his toes before looking back up at Dennis, lighting up with excitement as he saw the man turn towards the group. Dee shot her eyebrows up and shrugged at her brother, lips pursed. Mac and DB couldn’t really tell what Frank was doing, the bar too tall to reveal him.
“Mac, would you mind coming over here for a minute?” Dennis urged, head turning back to the other man ever so subtly. Obediently, he moved towards the interior of the bar, placing a hand on DB’s shoulder to keep her staying put.
DB twiddled her feet awkwardly as the gang talked amongst themselves, throwing looks her way every so often – not to actually engage her in their conversation, but just to remind themselves of her presence. She tried with all the might in her body to eavesdrop effectively, but her ears were far too damaged from years of the unadulterated noise of a city to make anything out. With a final swish of their beers, the gang smiled at each other, and Dennis gave a decisive nod as they turned to face the girl.
“You’re In.”