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Chapter Text

The droning sound of his alarm clock was what roused Anders from his drunken slumber. He had lost count of the number of drinks at the Bergerbar the night before but he knew that it was a lot and the pounding in his head proved exactly how much he had to drink. It wasn’t enough to black out, thankfully, but it was enough to give him the hangover from hell. At least he learned two things last night: having ice down the front of your trousers was not a pleasant feeling and that his Bragi powers could be used on more than one person at a time.

That was going to be fun indeed.

As he sat up in his bed he felt the world began to spin. Okay, perhaps he was more drunk than hung over. It took him a minute when he stood up to keep his balance before he stumbled into the rest of his flat. The curtains were closed and the lights were low and yet still the amount of light in his place was making his migraine worse. It was a wonder he still drank as heavily as he did when he knew the effects of the morning after. Why couldn’t his God power include the ability to not be hung over?

When he opened his fridge he had to look away. When the fuck did his fridge get so bright? And smell awful? Anders chanced a glance in the fridge and realized he had almost nothing edible in his fridge. Perfect, he was hung over and hungry and had nothing to help cure either ailments. It seemed he was going to have to get something on the way to the office.

First things first, he needed a shower. The moment the warm water hit his skin instantly he felt more relaxed. How he wished he could stand there all day and let the water run over him but, alas, he  knew he had to step out the moment his phone began to ring. He let it ring out as he stepped out of the shower, drying himself off with the fluffy white towel. His phone began to ring again as he got dressed and once again he let it go. It wasn’t until it rang a third time did he finally answer it. “Morning, Dawn,” he muttered, squeezing the bridge of his nose with his forefinger and thumb.

“Where the HELL are you?”

“Do you think you could not yell? I’ve got a splitting headache and haven’t had my morning coffee yet.”

“Are you hung over?”

“Quite possibly. What is it that you want?”

“We have a potential client on their way in this morning and I need you here so that I can go over the details before we sit down with them but I can’t do that if YOU’RE NOT HERE!”

“Relax, Dawnsie, I’ll be there. Give me half an hour.”

“You don’t have half an hour!”

“Nonsense, Dawn, I have all the time in the world. If they get there before I do then keep them busy. Get them tea or something.”

“Anders…”

“Goodbye, Dawn.”

Anders quickly hung up before Dawn could argue anymore. It was too early and his head was in too much pain for him to try and argue with her. He let his phone hit the counter before rubbing his hand down his face. Just as he rested his elbows on the table he heard a knock on his door. His eyes shot up to the door, looking at it in confusion. Who the fuck was knocking on his door at this time?

He shrugged his shoulders and chose to ignore it. As he put on his shoes he heard whoever it was knock again. “Who the fuck?” he muttered as he stood up, walking towards the door.

The first person that came to mind was Dawn. Perhaps she was not happy with his answer and had been on her way to come grab him. “Look, Dawn, I told you I will be there in half…”

But when he wrenched the door open and saw who was standing at it, his voice faltered as he finished, “…an hour. Who are you?”

In front of him stood a young boy nor more than eight years old. His hair was a dirty blonde and his eyes a light shade of blue. He wore a red and blue shirt under a brown zip up hoodie and a pair of jeans and on his back was a black backpack. “Are you Anders Johnson?” he asked in a timid voice.

“Who wants to know?”

The boy held out an envelope to him. “I was told to give this to you.”

As soon as Anders took the envelope the boy walked in, dropping his backback by the aquarium and going to sit on the couch. “Oi, what are you doing?” Anders asked.

But the boy didn’t answer as he turned on the TV. How the hell did he know how to work his TV? Anders couldn’t even figure that out when he bought the damn thing. Then again he was drunk when he got it. Instead of asking the boy any more questions he opened the envelope, his eyes darting across the page. When he was done reading it he looked to the boy and back at the page. “The fuck?”

The note was short and was not signed. All it said was:

This is Danny Maybell and he is your son.

TBC…

Chapter Text

Anders wasn’t sure how many times he looked from the note to the kid. This couldn’t have been happening. There was no way he could be the father of some kid. Sure he had slept with a lot of women but he was sure that if he was the father of a child he would have known by now. Eventually he found his words as he came to stand between the kid and the TV. “Who gave you this?”

“A man.” The shyness in the boy’s tone was very evident as he watched his feet kick.

Anders sighed. “Did this man have a name?”

The boy, Danny, nodded his head. Anders stood with his hands on his hips, waiting for him to finish the answer. When he realized he wasn’t going to say Anders asked, “And that name would be?”

“I don’t know,” Danny shrugged as he tried to look around Anders to see the TV. With a groan Anders turned around and turned off the TV, earning a sad groan from Danny before he sat on his coffee table so he was eye to eye. “Listen, kid…”

“Danny.”

“Whatever. I don’t know who dropped you off here or what they told you but whatever it was, it was a big misunderstanding.”

“No it isn’t.”

Anders furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “What do you mean it isn’t?”

“The man said he knew who my dad was and said he would take me to be with him.”

Fucking hell. How gullible were kids? Anders couldn’t remember a time he was so damn gullible. “Look, I’m not your dad.”

“Yes you are.”

“No I’m not.”

“Yes you are."

“No, I’m…” but Anders stopped to rub a hand down his face. After groaning inwardly, he said, “I’m not your dad, kid. This guy who said he supposedly knew your dad lied.”

“No he didn’t. He doesn’t lie. He’s my friend. He made a promise and he never breaks his promises.”

“Oh really? He’s your friend and yet you don’t know his name.”

“He never told me his name. He just said to call him my friend.”

“Well, your friend lied.”

“No he didn’t! He never lies!”

“Have you ever met your dad, Danny?”

Danny shook his head. “Then how do you know he wasn’t lying about me being your dad?”

“Because.”

Anders was getting really tired of this game. He just wanted to get this kid out of his flat. “Well, I’m sorry to break it to you, David…”

“Danny.”

“Whatever. I don’t have any kids so I can’t possibly be your dad.”

“Did you know about me?”

Anders looked at Danny quizzically. “What?”

“Did Mom tell you about me?”

“Uh….no, why?”

“Then how do you know you can’t possibly be my dad?”

Anders let his head drop as, releasing a large amount of air as he ran his fingers through his hair. Leave it to an eight year old to try and argue him. Apparently this wasn’t going anywhere. It was time to pull out Bragi. After taking a deep breath he looked into Danny’s eyes and let Bragi flow through his words. “Danny, I’m sure you really want to meet your dad but you are just now realizing that this isn’t the place and you really want to go home to be with your mom so why don’t I find you a way home and you don’t come around here again?”

At first he thought it worked but when Danny crossed his arms and leant back in the sofa, he replied, “I don’t want to go home. I want to stay here.”

Anders couldn’t believe it. Sure he had never tried his powers out on kids but he was sure that if Bragi could persuade a group of people then surely Bragi would work on a kid! Anders glanced at his watch. He didn’t have time to deal with this kid. He had to get to work. “Okay, you want to believe this, fine, you can believe it until I have time to argue with you. I need to get to work and there is no way in Hell are you staying here. Don’t you have school or something?”

Danny shook his head. “Summer!”

Of course, how could he forget? Anders didn’t want to leave this kid alone in his flat, Mike was renovating his bar and he really didn’t want to tell Mike or any of his brothers about this mess. Stacey was busy with her business and would probably tell Olaf who would then tell everyone and Ingrid…well, he wasn’t sure he would trust leaving himself alone with her. It seemed there weren’t many options and the only one that was available was not his first choice. With another groan, he said, “Alright, grab your bag. Let’s go.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m going to work and since you won’t go to whatever place you came from and I am not leaving you here by yourself then you are just going to have to come to work with me. Now come on.”

He gently grabbed Danny’s arm and guided him towards the door, grabbing his jacket, keys and the kid’s backpack as he went. As he approached his car Danny immediately ran to the front passenger seat. “Whoa, whoa, what do you think you are doing?”

“I’m going to ride in the front!”

“No, you are not.”

“Why?”

“Because.”

“Because why?”

“Because!” Anders looked around, getting really annoyed with this kid’s incessant questions. The last time he had to hear this he was a teenager trying to deal with Ty and Axl while Mike was off doing whatever the fuck he was doing. “Because I said so now get into the back seat.”

“But…”

“Get!”

Danny let his lower lip pout as he got into the back seat. As soon as he was in and continued to pout Anders looked around. “Unbelievable,” he muttered as he got into the driver’s seat.

TBC…

Chapter Text

Dawn never felt more stressed in her entire life than she was at that moment in time. Ever since Anders’ trip to Norway for reasons that were still unclear to her, JPR had been struggling to stay afloat. Honestly Dawn was surprised that Anders had kept them afloat for as long as he had. But today they had a serious possible client and today of all days, Anders was running late. Of all days to choose to be late, he had to choose today.

As time continued to tick by her anxiety continued to grow. Who would be the first to come walking through that door? She prayed it would be Anders and that their potential clients were running late so she could brief him. And hopefully he came in sober.

When she heard the door opened she spun quickly, releasing a sigh of relief when she saw Anders. “There you are. Where the hell have you been?”

It was then that she noticed the young boy that was holding onto Anders’ one free hand. “Uh…Anders, who is this?”

“Long story,” he replied before turning to the child. “You, go sit over in the corner and amuse yourself.”

“How?”

“I’m sure there is something in your bag.”

Before Anders could turn to walk away the boy grabbed his sleeve. “I’m hungry.”

With a groan he knelt in front of the boy and asked, “Why didn’t you say something when we were at the coffee shop?”

“Because they didn’t have what I wanted.”

“And that is?”

“Pancakes.”

Dawn wasn’t sure if she should be laughing or confused by the boy. After all she had no idea why this child was even here. After running his hand through his hair, Anders said, “Alright, you go sit over in that corner and then Dawn here will go get you something after she briefs me on important stuff.”

“But…"

“Go!”

The boy sighed as he sulked to the corner. Once he was gone Dawn followed Anders to his desk, asking, “Who is the kid?”

“A story that I’m sure you don’t want to know.”

Dawn stopped, watching Anders as he rounded behind his desk and began to remove his jacket. “You didn’t kidnap him, did you?”

“What? No. Why on Earth would I want to kidnap a kid? No I’m quite content with not taking care of children.”

“So then why is he here?”

Anders sighed as he put his hands on his hips. “He is under the impression that I am his…well, his…dad.”

At first Dawn looked at him in confusion, letting the words sink in. When it finally made sense to her, she asked, “You, a dad?”

“Now, that point hasn’t been proven and I’m very sure this is some horrible practical joke.”

“Well it wouldn’t surprise me if it was true. You have slept with a lot of women in Auckland.

“Yes but I do tend to keep it sheathed. But enough about him and tell me about this meeting that is going to happen.”

But instead of filling him in on the details, Dawn’s attention was more focused on the little boy who was sitting in the corner, rummaging through his backpack for something to do. Anders noticed where her attention was and said, “He’ll be fine. I’m more worried about this meeting that I know absolutely nothing about.”

Dawn turned back to Anders and slid the folder sitting on his desk across the surface towards Anders. “I did this up for you while I was waiting.”

Once the folder was in front of Anders she turned away and began to walk towards the boy. Anders first looked down at the folder and then to Dawn. “Wait, where are you going?” he asked, jumping around his desk to catch her.

“I’m going to take him out to get breakfast while you do your meeting.”

“But what if I need you?”

“You’re a grown boy, Anders, I’m sure you can figure out how to make this work.”

Anders stood flabbergasted and watched as Dawn knelt down in front of the kid. “Hi there, my name’s Dawn. What’s your name?” she asked with a friendly tone.

“Danny.”

“Well, Danny, how about you and me leave Anders to his work and we can go find some pancakes? I know a really good place that’s just around the block.”

“Can I have chocolate chip pancakes with whip cream on top?”

“You can have whatever you like. Come on, then.”

Dawn held out her hand and helped Danny to his feet, keeping his hand in hers as he led him out of the office. As the door slammed closed behind them Anders stood frozen to the spot. In just a matter of hours the world was going bonkers around him and he had no idea what was going on. “What the fuck?” he asked aloud as he continued to stare at the door that Dawn and Danny had disappeared through.

TBC…

Chapter Text

The small café had always been one of Dawn’s favorites in Auckland. It was just so helpful that it was a block away from work. Every morning that Anders was late, which was almost every morning, she would pop over to the café and get her favorite breakfast: a coffee and a sausage, cheese and tomato omelet. After they had set their orders and the waitress had disappeared to the kitchen Danny averted his eyes to the hot chocolate sitting in front of him, his legs swinging and bouncing against the booth. “Thank you, Miss Dawn, for breakfast.”

“You are very welcome, Danny.”

Dawn smiled as she took a sip of her coffee. As she sat down her mug of coffee she saw Danny’s blue eyes looking at Dawn in a certain way that reminded her very much of Anders. “Can I ask you a question, Miss Dawn?”

“Yes you can.”                                                                                            

“Do you think Anders is my dad?”

Dawn nearly chocked on her coffee. She was not expecting that question to be coming out of his mouth. Sure, she had wanted to try and see if she could find any clues that could point to whether he was related to Anders but she was not expecting to ask it so bluntly, or rather, to be asked it. She rubbed her hands uncomfortably, unsure of how to answer the question. “Well, Danny, I think it might be too early to tell.”

That answer didn’t seem to satisfy Danny’s curiosity. Quick to change the subject, Dawn asked, “So do you live here in Aukland then?”

Danny shook his head. “Mum and me live in Hamilton.”

“Hamilton? How in the world did you get here, then?” Dawn asked, astounded that a young boy could travel such a long way.

“My friend helped me. He’s really nice.”

“Won’t your mother notice that you are missing?”

Danny shook his head. “She’s away for a few weeks. She won’t be home for a while.”

“Did she leave you at home alone?”

Danny shook his head. “Mum hired a babysitter but I told her that my friend Kevin invited me to go to Waikiki Beach.”

Dawn looked him in an impressed and slightly amused manner. It sounded like something Anders would pull to get out of work. “Why did you lie to your babysitter?”

“So I could come here and find my Dad.”

“And how did you know he was here in Auckland?”

“My friend told me.”

“You’re friend?” Danny nodded as he finished his hot chocolate. After licking the remaining liquid off his lips, he replied, “He’s really nice. He told me where my dad was and then said he had to go away because of important things.”

“He just ….left you?” Dawn felt a slight pain in her heart as their food was placed in front of them. This poor boy had run away from home to find his brother and was brought to a city so far away from his home by a mystery friend who dumped him on a doorstep. If this boy was or wasn’t Anders’ child there was no way she could let Anders turn him away. Not if she had anything to say about it. “Can I ask you a question, Miss Dawn?”

“Of course, Danny. What is it?”

“Can I have another hot chocolate?”

Dawn smiled and replied with a nod, “Of course you can.”

The meeting had gone over well, which Anders was actually quite thankful for. He was surprised he didn’t have to use his Bragi powers much but that wasn’t what he was slightly relieved about. No, he was relieved to know his powers still worked. So then why hadn’t they worked on the kid? It didn’t matter because finally they had a client that was willing to pay plenty of money for their services and now it was time to come up with a promotional piece for whatever it was the company was trying to sell. It was a damn good thing that Dawn had made notes in that file because without it he would have been completely lost. He made a mental note to remind himself to have Dawn buy herself something nice, but not too nice. Perhaps a cup of coffee or something.

As he began to type away on his computer his phone began to ring. When he looked at the caller ID, he inwardly groaned. It was Mike. What did his over-controlling brother want? At first he let it go to voicemail, and the time after that but on the third ring he realized he wasn’t going to escape his brother’s needs so he answered, “Hello, you have reached Anders Johnson, I can’t come to the phone right now because I’m too busy with work and really don’t want to listen to a lecture from one Mikkel Johnson so please feel free to hang up after the tone.”

“Cute, Anders. We need your help with something.”

“Nope, sorry, can’t do it. I’m swamped.”

“You really don’t have a choice.”

“Actually I believe I do. Bye.”

Very quickly he hung up the phone just as Dawn came walking in with Danny right behind her. “Ah, there you are, Dawn. You are a life-saver, and I mean it. Because of your brilliant work we now have a client.”

Just as Anders rounded his desk to tell her what he was going to need Dawn approached him and said in a low voice, “We need to talk.”

Anders looked at her slightly afraid. “Why do I have a feeling I’m not going to like what you have to say?”

“It’s about Danny.”

“Ah, that would be why. Please don’t tell me you believe this nonsense?”

“Honestly I can’t tell you if I do or don’t but what I do know is that we can’t just send him away.”

“And why’s that?”

“He’s all alone. His mother is at a conference for her job in Los Angeles and he lives in Hamilton. A friend of his got him here and then left him. If we just send him off then he has nowhere to go.”

“So, what, are you telling me that you are going to keep the kid in your apartment with your cat?”

“First off, I don’t have a cat, and second, he is supposedly your son and he was left in your charge so, in theory, he should be staying with you.”

Anders nearly choked on the air he was breathing. “What, are you joking? No, I’m not going to babysit some kid that I don’t even know.”

“Why not?”

“Because he’s not my kid!”

“Do you know this for sure?”

“Yes.” Anders soon found himself on the receiving end of one of Dawn’s death glares. “Okay, no I don’t know for sure but I have a pretty good feeling that he isn’t.”

“Well,” Dawn began, crossing her arms across her chest, “there is one way to tell for sure.”

When Anders saw her glare turn into a smirk, he turned his gaze to Danny who was sitting in the corner drawing something on a piece of paper. “I’m not going to like this, am I?”

“Doesn’t matter, does it? Come on, then.”

Anders reluctantly followed Dawn as she walked over to Danny and took his hand, leading the boys out of the office door.

TBC…

Chapter Text

Anders hated hospitals. Always had and always will. It probably had something to do with the fact he was in and out of them when he was a kid because he got sick or because he “fell down the stairs” of his one story home…a lot. Either way, he had vowed to avoid them at all costs and he KNEW that Dawn knew that so when Dawn led him and Danny through the front doors, he wasn’t slow in vocalizing his distaste. “I hate hospitals,” he muttered, looking around as if he was afraid he would catch the plague.

“You wanted proof that Danny isn’t yours so I am providing that for you,” Dawn replied without even looking at him. She kept her hand firmly on Danny’s so she wouldn’t lose him in the crowd. Occasionally Danny turned to look at Anders and when he saw the young boy’s face, Anders could tell that Danny wasn’t a big fan of hospitals either. Finally Dawn found the front desk and stalked up to it quickly. “Excuse me, I would like to order these two a paternity test,” she informed the receptionist.

“Are you the mother?”

“What? No, no I’m a friend.”

At this point Dawn ushered Danny forward and pulled Anders to the desk. The receptionist took a quick look at them and asked, “Are these the two subjects then?”

Before Anders could use Bragi to talk his way out of the situation, Dawn replied, “Yes they are and don’t listen to whatever he has to say because he will use any excuse to try and get out of getting stabbed with a needle.”

“Needles? What do you mean needles?” Anders asked rather quickly, casting a worried glance at Dawn.

Dawn just smiled and pushed him towards the exam room that the receptionist had informed they would be going. On many occasions Anders tried to open his mouth to talk Dawn out of this but every time he tried he quickly cut her off. Eventually she sat him and Danny down in the waiting room while she went to find a cup of tea. Anders sat in the chair with his arms crossed, attempting to close himself off from the rest of the room and make himself as small as humanly possible. Danny soot next to him, his little feet swinging seeing as how they couldn’t reach the floor. The two sat in silence, Danny looking around in worry and awe as Anders tried to think of a way out of being in the hospital. He really hoped that Michelle was not at work today and wouldn’t see him here. Oh how he didn’t want to explain this to her. Surely if she saw him she would tell Mike and then Mike would call a thing and everyone would know and everything would turn to shit.

So lost in his own brewing he nearly jumped out of his seat when Danny gently tapped him on the arm. “Fuck, don’t do that!” he cursed as he attempted to slow down his racing heart.

“Sorry.”

After taking a deep breath, Anders settled back in his chair. A few moments later Danny tapped him on the arm again. This time he didn’t jump with fright Instead he turned to Danny and asked, “What?”

“I have to go to the bathroom.”

“Then go to the bathroom, why are you telling me?”

“I don’t know where it is.”

“And you think I do? Ask one of the nurses.”

Anders turned to look away but Danny grabbed his sleeve and yanked. Before Anders could say anything he saw Danny’s eyes looking at him in a pleading way as he said, “I don’t want to go alone.”

Anders sighed. Why in the world did this have to happen to him? He wanted to say to grow up and stop being a baby but there was something about the puppy dog eyes Danny was giving him that made him feel sorry for him. After he sighed, he replied, “Fuck…fine, let’s go.”

Anders quickly stood up and began to walk away with Danny following right behind him. As he tried to find his way to the bathroom (because he had no idea where it was either) he felt Danny grab his hand. In shock he looked down and saw Danny beaming as he trotted alongside Anders. What was wrong with this kid? If Anders was Danny’s age he wouldn’t want to be anywhere near Anders. But then again, this kid barely knew him. Instead of telling him to let go he decided to let him be and eventually, after much weaving around they finally stumbled upon it. When he led Danny inside he didn’t see a familiar brunette catch sight of Anders leading a little boy into the lavatory.

As Danny went to do his business Anders rinsed his face off with water. The cool feeling of the water on his skin was refreshing. So lost in his bliss he was nearly scared shitless again when Danny pulled on his jacket. “Fuck! What did I say about doing that?!”

“Sorry, I just wanted to let you know I was done.”

“Yes, I can see that. Come on, then.”

As they exited the bathroom, Danny asked, “What is fuck?”

Anders wasn’t sure what shocked him more, the question or hearing such a foul word come out of such a young boy’s mouth. “What?”

“You keep saying that word so I was wondering what ‘fuck’ means?”

Anders could feel the eyes of disapproving faces landing on him as he quickly knelt in front of Danny and explained, “It’s a word that you shouldn’t say.”

“But you say it.”

“Yes but I’m much older than you so I’m allowed to say it.”

“Why?”

“Because.”

“Because why?”

“Because I said so, that’s why now let’s go get this stupid test done.”

When they arrived back at the waiting room the doctor was ready for them and led them into the lab. When the doctor went to draw his blood, Anders’ face paled. Oh how he hated needles. He flinched and turned away when he saw the needle go in and winced when he felt it prick his skin. Thankfully the test was over quickly and after bandaging it up Anders was free to go outside with Dawn and Danny. Once they left the lab the doctor came out and said, “Aright, we got everything we need, we will contact you in a week to let you know the results.”

“A week?” Anders asked in disbelief.

“Yes. Do you have any questions for me?”

Anders wanted to ask why it would take so fucking long but Dawn beat him to the punch. “No, we are fine. Thank you, Doctor.”

Before Anders could protest anymore Dawn dragged him from the building with Danny in tow. Just as they were leaving the doctor was approached by a female with dark hair pulled back in a loose ponytail. “What were they doing here?” she asked.

“Oh, just another paternity test. Bloody fools can’t seem to keep it in their pants, can they?”

Michelle gleamed as she looked back at the door that Anders had disappeared through. “No they can’t.”

TBC…

Chapter Text

“A week! Can you believe it? A fucking week! What the hell am I supposed to do for a fucking week?” Anders complained as the three of them walked through the door to the office. Instead of answering him, however, Dawn completely ignored him and logged onto her computer. “Here you go, Danny, you can play around on this while I go have a work with Anders.”

Danny nodded with a smile as he jumped into her seat and began to amuse himself. As Dawn left him she found Anders standing in front of his desk with his hands on his hips. “What’s the matter?” Dawn asked.

“Did you leave this here?” he asked, pointing to it.

Dawn peered over his shoulder and saw a briefcase sitting on it. “No, is it yours?”

“Do you think I would be asking if you left it here if it was mine?”

Dawn rolled her eyes as she said, “Have you tried opening it?”

“No, why would I do that?”

“Because it is on your desk. I’m sure if you open it then you will find out what it is.”

Anders looked at in deep through before turning to Dawn and pointing at it. “Open it.”

“What, no. It’s on your desk.”

“Dawn, as your boss I am ordering you to open it.”

“What are you scared of, Anders?”

“Snakes in my flat, dying alone, unexplained briefcases. Just please.”

With a sigh Dawn reached the desk and clicked open the briefcase. When they opened it up both of them stood in shock and wonder. “Whoa,” Anders muttered.

Before them in the briefcase was a gigantic pile of cash. On top of it all was a note that Anders picked up. On it read in neat handwriting, First installment. If you want the rest, meet me at 39 Garrett Terrace at 1100. “First installment of what?”

“Hopefully, many more.”

“From who, for what?” Dawn asked, crossing her arms and watching Anders with worry.

“Dawn, does it matter? It’s a briefcase full of money.”

“Anyone that does business with a briefcase full of money,  we don't want their business.”

“I do,” Anders said as he pulled out his phone to look up the location on his GPS. Dawn looked from Danny to Anders. “You can't meet them.”

“Sure I can.”

“What if it's a trap?”

Anders began to laugh. “Ah, now you're trying to use my natural tendency towards caution.”

“Cowardice,” Dawn corrected.

“Against me, are you? It's not going to work, Dawn.”

“What if this is bait to lure you?”

“Then consider me lured.” Anders turned to walk away with Dawn hot on his heels. Before he could leave Dawn stepped between him and the door and said, “What about Danny?”

“What about him?”

“You can’t just leave him here.”

“Why not? You’re here, you can keep an eye of him.”

“And what if this is a trap, Anders? What if something happens to you? What happens then?”

“Look, Dawn, he is not my responsibility.”

“And what if he is?”

“Well we won’t know for a week now, will we? So until then I don’t care. Take him home to play with your cat but for now I can’t be bothered. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have an important date with a rich client.”

Before Dawn could protest anymore or even remind him that she didn’t have a cat, Anders was out the door. He was such an insufferable oaf. Why in the world was she still working for him? With a sigh Dawn turned and found Danny’s eyes looking at her sadly. “He doesn’t like me, does he?”

“Oh, it’s not that, sweetie. He’s just…”

Dawn stopped, not sure how to explain it to him. How in the world did she explain to Danny that Anders was an dick who avoided any sort of responsibilities with a twenty foot pole? Instead, she said, “He’s just not sure how to deal with it all.”

“Do you think he would like a present?”

“It’s possible, but…”

“I know!” Danny was instantly off of her chair and running towards his backpack by the door. All Dawn could do was smile as she watched him rummage through it. “What are you doing, Danny?”

Out of the backpack he pulled paper, glue, scissors and markers. Instead of answer Dawn Danny ran over to the big table and laid out all of his supplies. Once they were completely laid out he turned to Dawn and asked, “Do you want to help?”

Dawn smiled. “Of course. What are we making?”

“You’ll see!”

Soon the table was littered with scraps of paper and at some point Danny and Dawn had made a game of marker wars and their exposed arms were covered in various colors. They must have been working for a few hours because by the time they were done and were inspecting their artwork when the door opened and Anders came in with something scrunched up in his hands. “Glad to see it wasn’t a trap,” Dawn greeted, watching him walk to his desk.

“It might as well have been one,” he sighed, falling into his desk chair and looking at the slightly disturbing puppet he was now carrying. “What is that?” Dawn asked.

“I have no idea,” he replied as he began to mess with it.

When Dawn turned around she saw Danny asking her silently to come help him with some final preparations. As she did so she could overhear Anders talking on the phone with someone. From the sounds of it, it sounded like Mike. All the while he was messing with his puppet. By the time he was done with the phone, Danny was finished and was ready to show Anders his finished project. With Dawn leading the way they walked over to Anders who was grabbing his keys. “I’m going to be out of the office the rest of the day. If anyone stops by, which I doubt, have them make an appointment.”

“Where are you going?”

“Away from here because I’m sure Mike is going to come by and try and get me to come with him on some stupid mission. So if you don’t mind I am going to try and get one step ahead of him.”

“And what about Danny?”

“What about him?”

“He’s got something for you.”

Before Anders could ask what Dawn took a step to the side to show Danny clutching something close to his chest. “I made something for you.”

Anders shot his glance between Dawn and Danny, trying to figure out what was going on. Dawn was just standing there with a smile on her face while Danny held out what he was holding. It was a piece of paper cut out into the shape of an aquarium. The paper was colored blue with a little castle and pebbles drawn on. Glued to the paper were three fish. Now these weren’t little goldfish that most kids made because they were easy. These were the fish that were in Anders’ apartment. Anders was in complete shock and awe, not just by the artistic skill of the kid, but by the fact he had made him something. The last time Anders had received any sort of handmade thing it was from Axl on Anders’ 18^th birthday and Axl had made a card because he had completely forgotten about his brother’s birthday. “You made this for me?”

Danny nodded. “I saw your fish and I thought you might like a picture of them when you’re at work.”

Dawn could see the small glisten of affection Anders rarely ever showed. The last time she had seen it, it was when she-who-must-not-be-named was around. Anders looked from the gift in his hands to Danny. “Do you like fish?”

Danny nodded his head with a smile. After casting a sideways glance at Dawn, Anders replied, “You want to feed my fish?”

Danny nodded even more fervently. “Well, Danny, there is no time to waste then, is there?”

Anders took Danny’s hand and whisked him out of the office. As their backs disappeared out the door, Dawn looked on affectionately. First the first time in forever, Dawn had witnessed the humane side of Anders Johnson.

TBC…

Chapter Text

When Anders had arrived back at his flat with Danny the boy was instantly enthralled by the aquarium. Anders had explained what each fish was to him and showed him how to feed the fish. Danny took to it like fish to water (no pun intended) and for the past half hour he was sitting in front of the aquarium talking to fish. Just talking. Anders stood in his kitchen, drinking some vodka and just watching with an amused grin on his face. Instantly Anders was reminded of himself when he was Danny’s age. Whenever he heard his mom and dad arguing he would sit in front of his fish tank and talk with his fish just like Danny. It was soothing to him then and was probably the reason why he still cared deeply for his fish. Fish couldn’t hurt you. They couldn’t say mean things about you. They just listened.

Suddenly the doorbell rang. It didn’t take a genius to figure out who it was. Danny looked to the door and asked, “Who is that?”

“Nobody important,” Anders replied, taking another drink.

The door buzzed again. “Aren’t you going to answer it?”

“Nope.”

Mike wanted Anders to help out with something and, quite frankly, Anders couldn’t be bothered. He knew it was only a matter of time before Mike found him. He really hated having Ullr for a brother. The door buzzed a third time and it was then that Danny got up from his seat and pressed the unlock button. “What the hell are you doing?” Anders asked, running to the door and pulling Danny away.

“I just wanted to help.”

“Yeah, a fat lot of good your ‘help’ is doing right now.” There was then a knock on his flat door. “Anders, open up, I know you’re in there,” came Mike’s voice.

Anders turned to Danny and hissed, “Go and hide.”

“Why? Who is it?”

“Look, do you want to stay here or do you want me to take you back to wherever you came from?”

“Here.”

“Then go hide.” Mike continued to knock as Anders ushered Danny into his room. “Go away, Mike!” he called.

“Not going to happen.”

“Of course, you bloody prick.”

“What’s a prick?” Danny asked.

Anders groaned as he pushed Danny into the closet. “I’ll tell you later. Don’t move and don’t say a word.”

Quickly he pushed the doors closed and ran to his front door. Before answering it he smoothed out his shirt and ran his fingers through his hair. Once he took a deep breath, he answered the door and turned away to allow Mike in. “What do I owe this unwanted visit?”

“We need you.”

“Oh, and why’s that?” Anders asked, turning in his kitchen and picking up his glass of vodka for a drink.

“The God-Hunters are back.”

Anders nearly choked on his drink. “You’re kidding me? They flew all the way from Norway?”

“Nope, turns out that they’ve been in Auckland the whole time and we need you to use your Bragi powers to persuade them we don’t exist.”

“All that time the finger was pointed at me for being the dumb ass that led them there and now we’re like, what, over the bridge and 10 K away?”

“Seems so.”

Anders let a smug grin fall on his face. “I think I am owed a huge apology.”

“Too bad. Get a move on.”

“You can do this without me.”

“No we can’t.”

Anders rubbed his hand down his face. There were at least three reasons why he didn’t want to help out Mike. One was hiding in his closet in his bedroom. The other was he really didn’t want to but the most important reason was because he had enough dealings with the God Hunters as is. “Get Loki to do his thing on them,” he suggested, not caring about the mortal ears in his bedroom that were probably listening.

“That idea has been rejected.”

“Oh what, by you?”

“By all of us. Now get your butt outside and in the car because we need you.”

“Get your girlfriend to do that thing where they’ll fuck each other senseless. That’ll keep them occupied.”

Mike tilted his head and, with a smug grin, asked, “You scared, Anders?”

“No! Hey, you weren’t the one at the top of their hit list.”

“News flash, bro, you still are. And if someone has to be sacrificed along the way,” Mike began, making a fake sighing noise, “I can live with that.”

Anders knew he wasn’t going to be able to get himself out of this but he couldn’t just very well leave Danny here by himself. Why the fuck did he care so much? Perhaps he could pretend to go and then come back without leaving Danny alone too long. “Okay, fine, I’ll take my car and I’ll meet you there.”

“Ha, nice try. You’re riding with us.”

Anders let out a frustrated growl as he tilted his head back. Before he began walking out the door he said, “Let me have a piss.”

Mike couldn’t argue as Anders walked into his bathroom. Once inside he locked the door and pulled out his phone to text Dawn. Perhaps Dawn could come watch the kid for a while. Rather quickly he texted, I’ve been kidnapped by my brothers. Come to my apartment and watch kid until I get back. “Anders, what is taking so long?”

“Jesus, Mike, can’t a guy get some privacy?” Anders called back before flushing his toilet and leaving the bathroom. Mike held out his hand to show Anders the way and soon they were on their way to battle, leaving poor Danny all alone in the closet.

When Anders walked outside he was rather unhappy to see that it wasn’t just Mike but Michelle, Stacey, Ingrid and Olaf and somehow they had all crammed into Olaf’s car. Anders saw the way Michelle was looking at him. It was almost as if she was up to no good. “What are you looking at?”

“Have something to share with us, Anders?”

Anders gave her a confused look. “Unless you are referring to the fantasy I had about twin blondes last night, then no.”

Michelle just continued to smile as she got into the front seat of the car. After an unamusing comment from Ingrid about being like a fellowship on a quest, they were off.

Dawn had been busy typing away on her computer when Anders’ somewhat creepy brother came in dressed as a cycle courier with a package. “Hey Dawn,” he greeted with a silly grin on his face.

“Hi. Do you need me to sign something?”

“Ah, yes, here you are,” he said, placing the package on her desk and handing her the electronic signature tablet. Just before she could sign it her phone buzzed, indicating a text from her boss. “Sorry, just one second.”

Quickly she read the texted and sighed. “Is everything alright?” Ty asked.

“Yes, just Anders needs me to go take care of something at his flat. It’s not like I have some important paperwork to deal with regarding our new client.”

“Well, why don’t I do it?”

“Oh, it’s fine, Ty. It’s nothing too important.”

“No, it’s fine. I don’t have any more packages to deliver and I’m sure you have more important things than to feed his fish.”

“I can handle it…”

But before Dawn could protest anymore Ty had his tablet in hand was already out the door. Dawn just sat dumbfounded, looking between her phone and the door, unsure of what had just transpired. All she knew was that Anders would probably not be pleased that someone else would know about little Danny Maybell.

TBC…

Chapter Text

It wasn’t until Ty got to Anders’ flat did he realize he had absolutely no idea as to what it was he was supposed to be taking care of for Dawn. At first he thought it was Anders just wanting her to feed his fish but, by the looks of it, Anders had already done it. He decided he was going to call Dawn and find out. As he began to ring Dawn he thought he heard something shuffling in Anders’ room but chose to ignore it. Probably hearing things. Dawn didn’t pick up so he decided he would try Anders. He too didn’t answer so T was left standing in Anders’ flat to do something he had no idea he was doing.

With a sigh he decided he was going to help himself to the food in Anders’ fridge. Big mistake. The moment he opened the fridge the smell of old food hit him and instantly he shut it, grimacing as he tried to hold back the vomit. “Jesus, Anders, how you manage to live like this surprises me,” he grimaced as he quickly closed the fridge door.

Just as he did he heard a loud thud come from Anders’ bedroom. The sudden sound made him jump out of his skin. Part of him wanted to run out the door but the other part was curious as to what would make that sound. He remembered watching the old scary movies where the person went to investigate the creepy sound and would end up with their throats ripped out and no matter how many times he made fun of those idiots for doing that, he found himself becoming one of them.

Hesitantly he crept towards the bedroom, asking loudly, “Hello?”

When he opened the door he saw the room was empty but the closet door was slightly open. Ty waited and then the door shuddered as if something was tapping it. With wide eyes he stalked into the bedroom and quickly thrust the door opened.

When his eyes landed on what was in Anders closet he froze. It was a young boy who was shocked by the sudden appearance of a stranger. Very quickly he huddled into the corner of the closet, trying to hide himself. What the hell was a kid doing in Anders’ closet? The boy’s blue eyes looked up to Ty and asked, “Who are you?”

Ty was at a loss for words. What in the world was going on? His phone began to go off and without taking his eyes off the kid, he answered, “Ty Johnson.”

“Hey, Ty, I saw you rang. What do you need?”

“Right, uh, could you come to Anders’ flat.”

“Why? Is everything alright?”

“Yes…I think…unless you count a kid hiding in Anders’ closet alright.”

“Is Danny alright?”

“Danny? You know him?”

He heard Dawn sigh on the other end. “I’ll be there in a few and explain everything. Just…make sure he is alright, will yeah?”

“Ta.” Ty hung up the phone and just watched Danny. Danny had uncurled from his ball and asked, “Do you know Anders?”

“Yeah, he’s my brother. How do you know him?”

“He’s my dad.”

Ty’s eyes widened in complete shock. “What?”

As everyone was busy congratulating Stacey for her hard work Anders had snuck out and began to dial Dawn to come pick him up and take him back to his flat. What a complete waste of time. Sure he had used his powers and they had worked but still they really didn’t need him. Anders was sure they could have come up with an alternative that didn’t include him. As his fingers danced on the touch screen he heard the familiar clicking of Michele’s heels as she came up behind him. “You know, I saw something rather amusing earlier.”

“Was it your reflection? I wasn’t going to say anything but now that you brought it up…”

“Shut up, Anders.”

Anders smiled and continued walking. “No, I was going to say I saw three people at the hospital earlier for a paternity test.”

Anders stopped dead in his tracks, not wanting to turn around. He could hear the slower clicking of Michele as she came to the front so she could see his reaction. “If I didn’t know any better, Anders, I would have thought it was you.”

“I’m sure it wasn’t.”

“Oh it was definitely you.”

Anders sighed, running his hand down his face. “I’m assuming you told Mike.”

“Not yet.”

“And why is that?”

“Because now I know something that you don’t want Mike knowing about and I have a feeling that is going to come in handy.”

“Ahh, so you’re going to try and blackmail me, then. Stacey tried that already back when I slept with Gaia and it really didn’t work.”

“But I’m not a handmaiden.”

“No, you’re the goddess of fucking. Listen here, Michele, you can go in and tell them. See what I care. But you won’t because you’ve already revealed your hand. You need this information to get yourself ahead. Your framing Axl by putting a bag of coke in his car was a better evil plan than this. Leave the plots to the gods, Michele. Stick to what you’re good at.”

Anders brushed past Michele and continued to dial Dawn on his phone. As he left Michele stood and watched him with her arms crossed. “Prick,” she muttered.

Mike had left the chapel and saw Michele standing in the path. “What are you doing out here? Where’s Anders?”

“He left.”

Mike saw the annoyed look in Michele’s face. “You look troubled.”

“Troubled, no. I’ve got a little annoyance.”

“You want to talk about it?”

With a sigh, she looked at Mike and smiled, “Maybe later.”

Mike knew that look. Michele was scheming something and that slightly frightened him. Hell hath no fury than Michele scorned.

TBC…