Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Anders couldn't believe his luck. It was Monday afternoon and he was stuck in the school nurse's office with an ice pack on his bruised arm. He'd just finished talking to the school counselor about how the damage to his arm happened. Then he had to explain how he was left in charge of his younger brothers and why he didn't know where either his parents or his older brother were.

He slunk even lower in the chair as a woman in a suit and an officer came over to talk to the principal & nurse. When they started glancing his way, he could feel the dread in his stomach start to rumble. Did he do something wrong again? Mike and his parents were going to be mad at him for getting the police involved in whatever he had done.

"Anders, I'd like to introduce you to Mrs. Halstone from Children’s Services. She wants to talk to you about your parents and older brother.”

The blond just stared at Mr. Fundin, not fully understanding. His brother was off at school, his mom was visiting a relative, and his dad was out on the boat again. “Why does she want to know about them?”

“May I see your arm?” Mrs. Halstone asked. She watched as the boy nervously removed the ice pack and held it out to her. It was obvious from the shape of the bruise that an adult had held onto his arm tight enough to cause it. “Anders, who did this to you?”

Quickly pulling his arm away from her, he tried to come up with some reason for the bruising. It wasn’t until he saw the looks on their faces, he knew he couldn’t talk his way out of this one. His dad was going to beat him for not hiding it better but was going to just have to tell them truth.

“I apparently wasn’t listening so my dad got mad at me and punished me.”

Everyone froze when the principal put his hand on Anders shoulder and the boy tried to curl up in a tight ball. The pain filled whimper that came from the blond’s lips almost broke their hearts as bad as the tears that escaped from his eyes. Mr. Fundin handed him a handkerchief as he knelt down before his student.

“Anders, we need to see what other damage that was done. Could you please remove your shirts?” The hesitation and the pain the boy’s eyes tore his heart out even more. “The sooner we see what was done, the sooner we can stop the pain.”

Anders pulled the green flannel off before pulling off the black tee. He’d worn the flannel only because it was Mike’s old shirt but it should’ve hid the bruising. Who'd have thought that old eagle eyed Fundin would've replaced his sick English teacher. That man didn’t miss anything. He trembled as he listened to the adults in the room arrange for him to be taken to the hospital. It didn’t faze him when the social worker took the pictures of his bruises. What did touch him was his principal’s vow to do everything in his power to keep him and his brothers safe.

Ty nor Axl could understand why Anders was in the hospital or why everyone wanted to know what adult was left in charge. Ty told them that when the adults were gone that Anders was in charge. Both the boys refused to answer any more questions till they were with Anders. The moment they got into their brother’s room, Axl made a bee line for the bed and climbed up to snuggle.

“Are you sick again,” Ty inquired. When all his big brother just shook his head and pointed to his back. The raven haired boy peeked around and saw a back full of bruises. “What did you do?”

“Dad slammed me against the basement wall a couple of times.”

“You must’ve done something really bad to have him do that to you.” He never understood why Anders was always getting their parents mad.

“I was just putting groceries away for mom. Don’t know why that made him mad.” He’d spent the afternoon talking about the events of Saturday. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that it wasn’t his fault.

“No fight! We have to snuggle to make Anders okay!” Axl pointed out from where he snuggled next to the blond. Ty smiled as he moved next to the two of them, all on their side and snuggled in.

Mike smiled as he walked into Anders' hospital room with Mrs. Halstone and found three young boys curled up on a twin bed. They looked so angelic. When he glanced back at the woman he saw from just the look in her eyes that he was going to have a fight to get his brothers into his custody. She’d been waiting at his parents' house for someone to get home, waiting to give someone a piece of her mind.

"I won't be able to take them home, will I?"

The social worker just shook her head. "We can't allow them back into that environment until we finish our investigation. I would be willing to consider any suggestions on where you want the younger two to be placed. We need to put Anders into the system though to keep him safe. Any visitation with them can be arranged through me and must be supervised."

Mike smiled as the only words that came to his mind to describe her was ‘Mamma Bear’. He silently took the chair next to the bed and touched Anders hand. When the blond’s eyes opened, he only smiled. “Hey, how you feeling?”

“Like I’ve been hit by a brick wall a few times.” Anders only wanted to cry suddenly. He knew that this time not even Mike could fix what their dad had done to the family, even if big brother was supposed to make things better.

Chapter Text

Mike truly loved his dad. Of either of his parents he was the one he was closest to. The tears and cries from his younger brothers as they were separated made him hate the man. It had taken three hours for Axl to cry himself to sleep. Then Ty and he talked about what was going on and why they couldn’t be with Anders.

Deep down he hated leaving Ty and Axl with Val and her family while he and Rob went searching for his dad. As he entered the house, he found Ty’s cricket bat sitting next to the door. Picking up the cricket bat, he knew the next time he saw his father, he'd use it on him.

Mike sat down at the dining room table and stared at the door to the basement where the police tape had blocked anyone from going down. He didn’t know what disturbed him the most. The fact that it was there or what they’d found. Minute traces of blood one of the cops had said. His own father had made his little brother bleed and now Anders was going to be heading to a new home…a new family.

The house felt eerily quiet without the havoc that three boys could cause. Walking through the halls, Mike could almost see Anders running down the stairs to catch the bus. Looking in the living room, he could imagine Axl sitting in front of the TV watching cartoons and playing with his trucks. Heading to the small desk, he smiled at the children’s book about polar bears that Ty got for his birthday. His brother had a weird obsession with the animal.

Mike stalked toward the stairs to escape the memories of his brothers when, surely a demon from hell decided to mess with his life, all with a simple phone call. “Mom, we’ve got a small problem,” he stated as he answered her call. This was not a conversation he wanted to have with her. He was so mad at both his parents. Her for leaving and not taking the boys with her and his dad for harming his brother.

“What did Anders do now?”

“Wasn’t Anders doing this time, but more of what dad did to Anders.” Sitting on the stairs, it irked him a little that she’d automatically put blame on the blond. “Dad slammed him against the basement wall a few times. He’s in the hospital now, dad’s shot through, and Children’s Services has opened a case. Mom, they’ve taken my brothers away from us!”

The quietness was almost deafening to his ears and was only broken by his own soft sob. It started to sink in that his brothers may never live together as a family again cause of their dad.

“Mikkel, take a deep breath,” Elizabet ordered her eldest son. “First thing is first, how bad was Anders hurt?”

“From what the doctor told me the worst of it is a hairline fracture on at least 2 ribs and a cracked shoulder blade. There is also a lot of bruising on his back and arm. They want to run more tests in the morning because they say he’s underweight.” He tried to control his own temper as his brain started plotting how to get his brothers back. “I was able to get them to at least place Ty and Axl with Val’s parents. The social worker agreed because Val’s dad was a cop that she’d worked with on some child endangerment cases.”

The half hour talk with his mother did nothing to calm his nerves down. Hanging up, he grabbed the cricket bat and headed outside. He would owe Ty a new one.

The moment Axl stirred, Ty was wide awake. Axl wasn’t easy to get up on a good day but even harder after being upset. He watched as the five year old blinked his sleepy eyes open. His baby brown eyes gazed hopefully at his older brother.

“Can we see Anders today?”

“I just woke up, but Mike said it would depend on how he’s feeling today.”

Axl nodded, but deep down he couldn’t understand why his brother couldn’t just rest here with them. When he was sick it was mainly Anders who snuggled with him and read the best stories. Why was everyone stopping him from doing it back? He’d be good and not play rough around his brother. Maybe he could read a story to him instead?

“Axl, you need to know why we can’t be with Anders,” Ty stated as he took Axl’s hand. It was time for him to play the big brother now. “You know that dad got mad and hurt him, right?”

Axl nodded as he knew his brother was in pain. Dad was always getting mad at the blond, even when he did nothing wrong. Sitting up, the younger brother just curled into Ty. “He gonna be okay, right?”

“I can hope so,” Ty said with as much confidence that he could muster. He was scared of their brother not being okay. “The thing is, they want to keep Anders safe, so we won’t be living with him for a while. Mike said they’ll arrange for us to see him lots and Mr. Fundin said we’ll be able to eat lunch with him every day at school.”

“You’ll even be able to see him this afternoon.”

The two boys on the bed glanced over at the new voice from the doorway. They ran to their eldest brother and cousin who were both standing there. Each man picked up one of the boys and smiled.

“What do you two say to making some cards and drawings for Anders? Help him feel better,” the bald man asked them. They each carried the boys to the kitchen where Val’s mom had set up not only breakfast, but crafting supplies for them to make the cards.

“Why can’t we see Anders before then?”

Mike only smiled at him as he put him on the chair. He quietly explained that the doctors needed to talk to Anders and run some tests on him this morning. After that he’d be meeting the family that would be watching him while they looked for Dad. It was going to take some time to come to terms that there was a slim chance that they’d never live with Anders again cause of what happened. That was one thing none of them wanted to dwell on it too much.

Anders sat in his hospital bed wanting nothing more than to go home. He was thankful that Mr. Fundin had dropped off a copy of the Hobbit for him to fend off the boredom. This was the one book he loved rereading especially after the day he already had. Today had been a day of being poked and prodded like a guinea pig and was feeling like an overly used pincushion. Why couldn’t they just let him go home? Surely his dad wouldn’t do something this stupid again.

“Anders,” the voice from the doorway interrupted his daydreaming of going on a quest to reclaim a homeland. “There are some people here to meet you.”

“Do I have to?” He kind of liked Mrs. Halstone, but why couldn’t she leave him alone? “I mean, seriously, I just want to go home to my family”

The white haired woman only smiled her kindly smile. “I wish we could do that, but even with the slightest chance of your father doing this to you again, we can’t allow it.”

He knew that everyone kept telling him that he couldn’t go back to their farm house until Johan and they finished their investigation. Didn’t mean he had to like it. Someone needed to protect Ty and Axl from their parents. While his mom never hit any of the kids, she could be cruel in other ways. It was his responsibility to protect them. When he looked up a moment later, he stared at the young couple with a sleeping little girl in their arms. Never in his life had he seen a family with such vibrant red hair.

“Anders, I would like you to meet the Jacobson family.”

Anders only smiled at them and tried to dig himself further into the bed. It hadn’t felt real until now. He’d held onto hope that he was going to be placed with his brothers. Glancing towards the window, he hoped to avoid talking to anyone. At least not yet.

“Hello Anders,” the woman stated as she sat on the edge of his bed. “My name is Thea Jacobson and this is my husband Seamus. I know this isn’t an easy situation, but hopefully we can make it better.”

She watched the blond’s hands play with the blanket as he continued to stare out the window. Wordlessly she asked the social worker for a private moment. The instant the door closed, Thea picked up the book that Anders had been reading.

“Have you read Lord of the Rings yet?” When he shook his head, she placed the book down to take his hand. “I’ll get you a copy.”

Anders only blinked at her before their attention was caught to a soft whimper. “Who is that?”

Seamus smiled as the little girl in his arms started to wake up. “Her name is Summer and while you live with us, she will be your little sister. We want you to feel like you are a part of the family, if you’ll have us.”

“We’ll try it, but the truth is I want to go home to my brothers.”

“It’s the most that we can ask for,” the redheaded man stated as Summer squirmed out of his arms and went to cuddle Anders. “While it can’t happen now, maybe one day you can go back.”

Everyone smiled as he just wrapped an arm around her and let her snuggle where she was. Maybe with her he could be a better big brother, one who didn’t keep getting his parents mad. “Hey Summer, I’m Anders. Think you would mind having me as a brother for a while?”

Summer smiled as she cuddled closer to him. “I likey you!”

Chapter Text

It amazed him how well Anders adjusted to the current situation. He didn't know how the blond did it as he could barely keep up with his grandson’s current schedule. On a good day he was spending time with his new family, visiting with his brothers, working on his school work, and attending counseling sessions. Olaf could swear that the blond was downright happy about the situation. Watching the boys play in the sand, he knew if he ever saw his son again he would kill him.

“Let’s grab the boys,” Mike said as he walked up with the large cooler that was stowed in his pickup. “They’re probably as starving as we are.”

Olaf went to nudge the boys over to the picnic table and found it weird to think it’d been eight month since Anders was in the hospital. He prayed that this was going to be the last supervised visit ever. They’d be meeting with Mrs. Halstone the next day to hear the outcome of the investigation. The bald man hoped his grandson would be returned home so they could be together again.

“Okay, who’s ready for my famous pasta salad?” Olaf asked as Mike handed him a bowl with the weird looking pasta concoction in it.

“Where exactly is that stuff famous? It kind of looks lethal!” Anders stared at the stuff in the bowl and prayed Mike packed other things to eat. “What exactly is in that anyway?”

“Well, let’s see. I think there are artichokes, anchovies, tofu, olives, hot sauce, mayo, horseradish, and boiled eggs. Why?”

Mike laughed at the looks on the faces of his brothers. Axl’s face was all screwed up as he tried to figure out if was edible. Ty’s head went down on his arms as he tried to stop laughing at the bald man. It was Anders reaction that was the most priceless, his face was a mix of ready to be sick and surprise.

“I beg you, don’t you dare serve that to my foster parents! I don’t think Summer would forgive you if you tried to get back by killing her parents.”

"Is there even any pasta in that thing?" Axl ask innocently.

"You know, I think I might have forgot it!"

Mike chuckled as Olaf actually looked at the concoction and scratched his head. Somehow, it came as no surprise to him that his cousin forgot the pasta. The remainder of the day was full of laughter and merriment.

Anders sat nervously between Seamus and Mike while Thea and Elizabet sat on either side of them. Today was the day they were going to find out if he would go back to his birth family or with the Jacobsons. Thea and Seamus talked with him the previous night about the various outcomes for today. The one option they left him to think about was the possibility that if the courts decided he should stay with them that they would want to adopt him. They wanted him to be part of their family. It scared him to have to make that choice. He'd come to love both families.

He was pulled from his thoughts as the door opened to let in Mrs. Halstone and a judge. The grim look on the judge's face made the blond grab the hands of both men on either side of him. Watching the two adults take their seats, the young boy tried not to think of a life without the other family in it. As they opened the file, everyone in the room prepared for the worse.

"We have good news and bad," the judge looked at them with a small smile on his ruddy face. "Good news is that there will be no more supervised visits. You will be able to arrange visits without Children's Services getting involved."

The judge leaned forward and folded his hands on the desk. "Our main concern, above all else, is the safety of these three boys. With their father still at large, among other factors, we don't feel it appropriate for them to be placed back with their mother. So, it is the court’s decision that they will be remaining with their current foster parents.

Elizabet felt her world drop out from under her. Her boys were being taken from her and there was little she could do about it. The unshed tears were starting to burn at the back of the eyes as she tried to stay strong for her boys. She now regretted not showing him enough love. It broke her heart even more when the boy in question leaned into another man for comfort as the other woman held his hand.

"Will I be able to do anything to eventually get my sons back?"

The judge went over her options to appeal the court’s decision, but informed her that her chances were slim to none on getting them back. He also informed Mike and the Jacobsons what their options were in the matter. It almost made Elizabet's stomach burn with anger that the Jacobsons were ready to adopt her son and take him away from his brothers. She was going to find a way to get her boys back.

The meeting in the judge’s office took close to three hours the way Olaf figured it. During that time, he managed to not only wear Ty and Axl out, but get them to actually take a nap without complaining. The moment the judge’s chamber opened, Olaf watched the grim faces of his daughter-in-law and grandson come out alone. As they walked closer to them, he nudged the two sleeping boys awake.

Mike took his brothers’ hands in his as he knelt down before him. “I’m so sorry about this.”

“Where’s Anders?” Ty asked as he looked around. When his mother sat next to him and wrapped her arms around him, he knew the judge gave them worst possibility ruling.

Elizabet pulled both her sons close to her side as she hugged them. “The court decided that you boys will be staying where you are at. We’re going to do everything in our power to get you back. I need to warn you both that there is the chance that Anders will be remaining with the Jacobsons permanently. They want to adopt him.”

At the sound of the door reopening, the small group watched as Anders came out with his foster parents. Axl saw the tears on his brother’s face as he squirmed away from the hug. Running to him, he latched onto the blond and just held.

“I’ll always love you, no matter what.”

Anders just smiled as he returned the hug. “I’ll always love you to. Don’t you dare forget that.”

Chapter Text

Thea stood in the doorway of her foster son’s bedroom, watching him sleep. They found out the results of the investigation held by Children’s Services almost a month prior. Since then, they helplessly watched him sink further into depression. Doctor River warned them that no matter what the outcome was this could happen. Now, they just needed to pull him out of it and bring the happy boy that was trapped inside back.

She kept him home from school since he was up all night with another set of crying fits. After making two mugs of warm Chamomile in the wee hours of morning, Seamus and Anders stayed up to watch some classic vampire movies. He never made it through the first one as he was sound asleep within the first thirty minutes of Dracula. When it was time to get the two kids up, neither parent could work the nerve to do it. Tucking him in, she calmly picked up the phone to call Olaf to watch him while she got things ready for his upcoming birthday celebration.

While she waited, she not only managed to get Summer up, but got her outside to play. The moment he arrived, she knew it was a mistake as Olaf was as high as a kite. She sent her daughter inside the second he smiled at her. It was definitely past time to have a little chat with him.

"I thought I was going to have you watch your grandson while I go shopping for his birthday dinner. Now I'm not so sure if that is a good decision."

"I'm sure Anders will be fine with me for a while." He ambled up the walk as her words just drifted over his head. "If he's still asleep, I'll just sit by his bedside."

"Tell me, Baldr, on a scale of one to ten, exactly how high are you at the moment?"

Olaf stopped and stared at the beautiful red haired woman as what she said finally sank into his addled brain. "Damn it. You're Eir, aren't you?"

Thea nodded once to him in ascent, though the smirk on her face was enough to let him know that she now held the upper hand. She was the goddess of healing, and woe on anyone who dared hurt someone in her charge. “How high are you?”

“At the moment,” he stated as he calculated how the one joint he smoked earlier was affecting him now. “I would say close to one and working my way to zero rather quickly.”

After a moment of studying him, she smiled and nodded towards the house. “You will need a lot of coffee and it so happens that I just finished making a pot of it.”

Filling and handing him the cup of hot coffee, they walked upstairs where the blond slept. Thea smiled as she saw her daughter curled up next to the young boy. Pulling the blanket back over her children she knew that no matter what happened, she would always consider Anders her son.

Anders sat on the ugly green couch in Doctor River’s office as he watched the shrink make some notes. It always amazed him how she tried to keep her unruly curly blond hair tied back in a messy bun. She was an attractive woman, of that there was no getting around, but it put him off a little at how brisk she was with some her questioning. Even if she was helping more than anyone else in his life ever did.

“Tell me Anders, what has you so upset?” Her voice was almost like a purr to him, putting him at ease.

"Everyone seems to want me to be the one who chooses where I want to be. How can someone decide between two families that he loves?" None of it was fair in his eyes. No one should have to make that kind of decision.

"Well, let's talk about it. What do you consider family?"

"People who love you without question. Maybe even someone who will praise you and not treat you like you're a waste of space."

“Is there anyone who treats you like you are a waste of space now?”

Anders thought about it for a few minutes, trying to come up with the right words. “My parents did, but mom seems to be open to getting to know me a little better. Mike treats me more like he tolerates me. I think Ty and Axl do love me, but more cause I’m their big brother.”

River watched him for a moment as he played with an invisible speck of lint on his pants. “Do the Jacobsons treat you like this?”

Anders chuckled to himself as this was perhaps the easiest question anyone ever asked him. Though they never said it, their actions spoke louder than any words they could ever say did. “They love me, I know it. Thea worries over me when I get in one of my moods and knows exactly what I need to pull me out of it. Seamus will just listen to me if I need another guy to talk to. It’s kind of nice. I don’t know what it is about Summer, but I just want to protect her. Don’t get me wrong, I would bend over backwards to protect Axl and Ty. Summer reminds me of a fragile flower that needs protection till she’s ready to bloom.”

“What do you think would be the best thing about staying with either family?” River asked as she tapped the end of her pen lightly on the pad in her lap. For a boy about to turn 14 years old, he seemed to hold a wisdom well beyond time itself. She loved having these discussions with him, but would love to see him be the carefree child trapped inside.

“I think being in a family that loves me would be the biggest reason for the Jacobsons.” He hesitated a moment as he thought about what the best thing about staying with his family would be. Would it be the same since they were living with Val’s parents? Would they be able to love him like the Jacobson family was able to? He knew he didn’t like Val and she wasn’t too fond of him either. She viewed him as a tag along and nothing more than a pain in the neck. “Being there to protect and help raise my little brothers would be the biggest reason to go back to my family.”

“Anders, do you think your responsibility is to protect and raise them? Shouldn’t you be able to be a child and have fun once in a while?” She watched him closely as he went back to playing with the invisible lint. After their time together in the past nine months, she come to learn that it was his way of avoiding a topic that he wasn’t quite ready to face. “Maybe that is something you need to think about between now and our next visit. There has been a lot weight placed on your young shoulders. Maybe it’s time to let someone else take that weight for you and you just go enjoy life?”

Anders nodded as he got up to head out of the office. There was a lot to ponder over the next few days, but maybe she was right. Maybe he should go with the choice of being able to be a kid again and not have to carry the burden of helping raise two younger brothers. Was that so wrong to not want to be a parent? Could he find that kind of thing with his brothers?

Chapter Text

Elizabet watched as Seamus talked to his wife and pulled items several files out of his briefcase. The man was more organized than anyone she ever knew. Olaf told her how Anders foster parents were both gods and their respective powers. He’d returned with a black eye after the confrontation with Seamus and learning that he was Forseti. Apparently there was some bad blood between the two that neither wanted to talk about. Maybe Anders would be better with their family instead of his own. She could tell what a person needed to heal and he could tell if someone lied to him.

She watched as Anders played with the little ginger girl. Never in his now 14 years could his mother remember him laughing like that. After today there would be at least one change, if not two for her boys. If the judge gave adoption rights to the Jacobson family, she would tell them that she approved. There was no doubt in her mind that he would, given that Forseti never lost a law battle. Her research on Seamus proved that he never lost a case and could afford to be exceedingly picky about who he chose as a client.

The moment the judge came in, she sat between her two boys, clutching their hands in hers. Her heart sank a little more as she watched her second eldest wrap his hand around his foster mother’s hand. It was time to let her sons go and move on. They deserved better than she would ever be able to give him. She listened as the judge gave his final decision on the fate of the three young boys. She lost them all. Walking over to Anders new mother, she gave the other woman a sad little grin. “Take care of my son.”

“I will,” Thea answered with a soft smile on her face. She knew the mother wanted nothing more than to leave everything behind. It was what she needed. “I will do my best to make sure he is happy and safe.”

The warm expression on the auburn woman’s face was so reassuring. In her heart, Elizabet knew that Anders would not come to any harm from her or her family. She also knew that she would keep him safe from her husband. “Take him away from here, please. Somewhere that his father can’t get to him.”

Confusion clouded Thea’s eyes at the statement, though it cleared as Elizabet spoke of her fears. The mother was afraid that Johan would seek out Anders and hurt him worse than before once he found that the children were gone. She made Thea promise to make the break from the rest of the Johnsons a clean one. To the very depth of her being, Elizabet knew it was the only way to keep her blond son safe.

Thea looked at the sleeping form of the newest Jacobson. His birth mother’s words played over and over in her head over the last few days. She wondered what exactly the woman knew. Could his father really be that dangerous? Would he come and hurt her son? After tucking him in, she headed to the living room to curl up next to her darling husband.

“Is it weird that a few days after Elizabet told us to make a clean break from the rest of his family, that you get a job offer for a firm in England?”    

Seamus just put the book he was reading down and squeezed his wife’s knee. “Anders and Summer are both excited to spend a few years abroad. If that means keeping him safe, who are we to question it?”

She would be the first to admit that the job was an amazing opportunity and the kids would gain so much from the move. Snuggling closer to her husband, she sighed as the doorbell started ringing insistently. “Who could be visiting us this late at night?”

Watching her husband head to the door, she headed for the stairs, grabbing the phone on the way. Ready to call the police if need be, she knew that no one was going to harm her children. She watched as the door opened and the fury blossomed in her chest.

“Where is my son?”

“He’s not your son anymore.” Seamus growled at the man. He did his best not to smile as he heard the creek of the stairs and his wife’s voice on the phone. “You lost any right to him when you slammed him into your basement wall. The court made us his legal parents now and you need to leave. The cops will be here soon.”

Thea listened to her husband and Mr. Johnson arguing about who had the legal right to Anders. Glancing up the stairs, she stared as her son stood there with his fists clenched. It appeared as if he was fighting an internal battle before he headed to Summer’s room. She followed him into the room and joined him on Summer’s bed. With the little girl huddled against her big brother, Thea couldn’t help but to notice how they both were slightly trembling.

“Why is he doing this to me?” Anders looked scared, not only for himself, but for his new family.

“I don’t know, but as soon as he is gone, we’ll be packing and heading to the airport. You can write your family with the new address as soon as we get to England. We have to get you as far away from him as possible.”

Anders stood in the airport as he waited for them to call their plane. It would be the second time in his life on a plane, but the first time it would be more than a few hours. As he looked around, he swore this would be the last time he would come to New Zealand until they caught his father. There was no way he wanted to be anywhere near the abusive bastard.

The minute they called for families to board, he took Summer’s hand to lead her onto the plane. “Ready to begin a new adventure?”

“Yes,” she whispered in awe. She followed her brother, eager to start this new adventure with him.  In her heart, she knew she would follow him anywhere.

Chapter Text

Thirteen months ago to the day, the Jacobsons took Anders and ran. Thirteen months ago, Mike thought as he sat on the couch holding his mom’s picture, mom told me that our dad went after Anders again. A little over thirteen months ago was the last time I saw or talked to my little brother.

He missed him. There was no other word for the hole in his heart. Thea and Seamus fled to keep him safe. It didn’t stop the pain he felt. They promised to send word once they arrived safely. That never happened.

Just hours earlier, Olaf informed him that he was the human vessel of the Norse God Ullr. That wasn’t as bad as being told that the bald man was in fact his grandfather. He made himself a promise right there on the spot. Now that he was the god of the hunt, he was going to find his brother.

The newly christened god also just found out his mother was killed in a car accident. From what they could tell, she swerved off the road to miss something and went down into a ditch. Her body was found at the base of young tree. The void in his life grew day by day. Thankfully, his brothers would be moving in with him at the end of the week. He would raise them the best he could, and greatly appreciated that Rob and Val lived next door.

He watched his eldest son’s house closely. Watched as Mikkel and his friend moved in a twin bed for one of his brothers. They should all be at home with their parents, not living with some stranger. Mikkel should have a chance at a life instead of taking care of two young boys.

It was all Anders fault for his sons being without their mother. His wife would still be alive if the blond hadn’t messed things up. How dare he talk about what happened in the privacy of their own home! Some things are meant to be private and he opened his mouth and blabbed.

While he waited, Johan took the time to see how many letters the little bastard sent. There were twenty eight already, and he would continue to stop any more from arriving. One day, he would take his revenge on his son, but before he ended him for all the pain he caused, he would burn these letter in front of him.

It was a pity that his other sons would also have to suffer for the sins of the blond. There were times that he wondered if he was even his son. Who knew what his late wife did while he was out on the boat. He wouldn’t put cheating on him past her.

Anders was a ball of mixed emotion. Part of him missed Norsewood and his family. The other part of him was enjoying life in Bristol. The friends he made here got him into trying new things. Back in New Zealand, he would never have dared to try rugby, yet not only did he try, he ended up making the school’s team.

He knew Mike and the others would love that bit of news in the next letter, but he was starting to wonder if it was even worth it. Thirteen months passed since they ran from New Zealand and in that time he sent out twenty eight letters to them. During those thirteen months, he received none in return.

Laying back on the bed, he sighed and grabbed his rugby ball. His mind wondered to what his brothers were doing right now. Looking at the time, he suspected they were probably sleeping.

“Want to talk about it?”

“Just thinking,” he stated as he sat up on the bed. “Should I tell my brothers about making the team or not?”

"I'm not sure why you wouldn't. They're still your brothers." Seamus smiled as he took the ball out of his son's hands. He knew it was hard for him to not be in contact with them, but there were circumstances beyond any ones control.

Anders just looked at him before shaking his head. The man always knew when someone was lying, yet at the same time he could definitely be the most optimistic person in the world. "If they still are my brothers, why haven't they written me back?"

"Maybe your father is making a nuisance of himself down there and they don't want him getting the letters?"

"Dad, do you honestly believe that?"

Seamus nodded as he flipped the ball in the air a few times. While he wanted to keep his son's hopes up, his doubt lingered on if their mother wanted Anders to have anything to do with them. She was the one who told Thea to give the blond a clean break. It broke his and his wife’s hearts to see him so upset about missing his brothers.

Anders snatched the ball away from his dad as it flipped in the air. Thea was with Summer at her art class, so it was just the boys at home. "What do you say we have lunch and see if Mickey and his dad want to join us for a quick game of rugby in the park?"

"You're on," Seamus chuckled as he got up. Mickey befriended Anders the first day in Bristol and was the main reason Anders was now so good at rugby. "Dads versus sons and when you two lose, you have to take out the trash for the next month."

Anders shook his head as he grabbed the phone to see if his friend was even available. There was no way he was going to lose and be stuck on trash duty for the next month.       

It was a somber affair. Mike’s hands were wrapped around one of each of his brothers’ hands. The only people at the funeral besides them were Olaf, Val, Rob, and Val’s parents. Watching his mother’s coffin lowered into the ground put a finality to the awful events of the last two years.

As they walked away from the graveside, Mike was thankful that Val’s parents bought the small farm to retire on. They told him that they expected them there for holidays as they became honorary grandparents to the small family.

Wishing them the best and to call when they arrived back in Auckland, they left the small cemetery. The plan was to drive at least three hours before stopping for dinner. Hopefully, Axl would fall asleep after dinner as a six hour car trip would not be good for any of them if he didn’t. They were only an hour away from Norsewood when Axl spoke his first words since the service.

“Does Anders know mom’s gone?”

Chapter Text

He didn’t like hospitals anymore. The pain he felt from his leg didn’t help matters much. Blasted, why did he have to get tackled by that huge guy after he made the final point of the game? His right leg broke cleanly in two places. While the doctor cleared him, the headache from the concussion made him never want sleep again. Now if they just let him go home. He doubted they would since his parents and sister were on a plane heading back from New Zealand.

“So, you’re the escapee patient?”

“The what?” Anders questioned glancing over to the doorway. His doctor caught him at least three times trying to leave the hospital. Doctor Cranston threatened to get him a baby sitter, even if he didn’t think she would. The last man he would’ve expected her to send stood leaning against the door frame.

“The escapee patient,” Mitchell said, sauntering into the room and plopping down into the chair next to the bed. “Your doctor asked me to keep an eye on you until your parents can come and pick you up. Pretty much, I’m doing this as a favor for her and your mother.”

“So, basically you’re here to baby sit me and make sure I stay in bed?” He couldn’t blame anyone for worrying since his mom worked at the hospital in the physical therapy department. Most of the people here liked her. She introduced him to Mitchell six months ago when the brunet started at the hospital. From that moment, every time he fantasized, Mitchell teased him in ways he could never get from anyone else. There was no way this man would find out about the crush he had on him. “If you have better things to do, I won’t try to leave again. Promise!”

“You can cut the attitude. I’m here only ‘cause I want to be. Now, why don’t you tell me about the game that caused these injuries?”

He watched the blond in the bed talk enthusiastically about the game and his winning move. This family’s secrets intrigued him and he vowed to find them all out. The two fell into a comfortable conversation that lasted until the boy dozed off. Mitchell stayed by his side till his family showed up a few hours later.

Mike pulled the food out of the grocery bags. Handing the bread to Rob, he tried hard to keep his mind off how long it’d been since he last saw Anders. He would be turning seventeen in less than two weeks. No word from his brother in almost three years. Everywhere in the small house there were reminders of the second oldest. They would not let Axl forget his brother. Ty and Mike both agreed to it and placed a ton of pictures around the house.

Rob pulled a birthday card out of the bag in front of him and held it up to Mike. “Hard to believe it’s been a year already since you bought the last one. How many missed birthdays does this make? Three?”

Mike nodded, fighting back the tears as he realized that another of his brother's birthday would pass. It pissed him off that this would be the third one he missed, especially since he knew nothing new about Anders. He could be dating with no older brother to give him advice or tease him. Could Anders be feeling happy and safe where he lived? Or did he feel alone and frightened? The more he thought about it, the more pissed off Mike became.

“Are you going to tell me to stop trying to find my brother too?” Mike snapped. Part of him was fed up with people telling him stop trying to find the blond. Slamming the bag of salad on the counter, he growled as it popped open. “Don’t you dare tell me to give up on my Anders!”

“I’m not going to do that,” Rob stated taking the bag from his friend’s hand and putting the salad back into it. “Maybe you just need to step back and think of new ways to find him. Do you know if they have any family in New Zealand?”

Leaning his head into his hands, he mumbled a negative about the Jacobson family. Rob suggested that they spend the weekend looking up information on the family. Maybe one of them could give Mike their address. He motioned his friend to Ty and Axl’s room while he took care of the groceries and dinner.

The moment the eldest stepped in, the tears threatened to fall again as Ty spun another tale of their brother to the eight year old Axl. He listened to the story of how Anders brought home his first goldfish. Coming over, Mike told Axl about the time when Anders refused to leave his side while he had the flu. The small family spent the next hour talking about what a great brother the blond was.

Chapter Text

Seth watched the blond seated at the café table finishing his lunch while reading a textbook. This child was the one to blame for Herrick’s golden boy becoming distracted. Perhaps he should kill the boy now to save Herrick the trouble later. Either that or make him a vampire so he could keep him away from Mitchell forever.  He watched as his prey paid his bill, grabbed his books, and headed his way.

The snatch would be an easy one, he thought while watching his target. Mortals always left themselves open to attack. He tracked the movements of the blond. Funny how much arrogance there could be in someone so young’s stride. Moments later, with the boy’s back pressed up against the alley wall, Seth let his fingers run down his victim’s throat tracing his Carotid artery. He couldn’t help the smirk that appeared on his face when the blond tried to push away. “Oh, I don’t think you’re going anywhere sweetheart. You see, there are those of us who would love to see the fall of John Mitchell. Pity you are the key to his downfall.”

He found the fear in the younger man’s eyes intoxicating; the feeling grew when the vampire’s eyes turned pitch black. “Maybe I should have some fun with you first. You smell so fresh, so pure,” he chuckled the moment he nuzzled his victim’s neck. “So delicious. Maybe I will turn you instead of killing you. You would like that, wouldn’t you? Becoming mine forever.”

“Seth! Just what the fuck do you think you are doing?” The Irish voice at the end of the alley sounded pissed beyond words. Mitchell stalked closer to the pair; his own eyes black showing how ready to kill he was. In the matter of a few seconds, the younger vampire felt himself slammed into the brick wall of the coffee shop. He felt gratitude swell in his chest when the much older vampire stopped to whisper in his ear. “Anders is mine, understand? If you ever touch him again, I will rip you apart limb by limb, then I’ll feed you to a werewolf on a full moon. Do I make myself clear?”

“Crystal,” Seth whimpered before the brunet threw him out of the alley.

Mitchell knelt next to the trembling form of his friend. Two years ago, he set out to find out what was drawing him to Anders and his family. Now he found it hard to not fall head over heels in love with the blond. “You okay?”

“What the fuck are you?” Mitchell felt his heart ripped apart from the look of fear in Anders’ eyes.

“First things first, we need to get you calmed down. I have no intention of harming you, never have, never will. You can trust me.”

The nineteen year old huddled near the dumpster trying to calm himself with help of the brunet. Their friendship had withstood the test of time and distance, with the younger leaving for a while to attend Oxford for his degree in education. Even just that hour or two of chatting each night helped to strengthen that bond. In the two years of knowing each other, Mitchell never caused him any pain unless you counted the broken heart from unrequited love. “Alright, I’ve calmed down. Now, will you please tell me who that was, what he wanted from me, and what you two are?”

Mitchell helped him to his feet and motioned him to walk with him. They made their way towards the Jacobson’s home while the vampire took the time to answer the blond’s questions.

“So, I started hanging out with you ‘cause I felt there was something more to you and your family and I needed to know what it was. Yet, the more I was with you…,” Mitchell started as they reached the front door of the tall town house. The words he wanted seemed out of his grasp. He tried again. “Well, let’s just say I started to realize that you were someone I liked being with…someone special. Someone I might want to get to know better.”

Anders hoped beyond hope that Mitchell meant it. It only took a moment for him to decide to take a chance that only the broken hearted could. Leaning in, he surprised the vampire by pressing a soft kiss on his lips. After a few moments, it was the blond’s turn to be surprised when Mitchell returned the kiss.

“Hey! Get a room you two!”

Anders chuckled as he looked across the street before flipping his friend Mickey off. “Maybe we should take this to my room," Anders whispered while Mitchell's mouth worked its way down the column of his neck.

The two moved up the stairs and into the Anders’ room before the vampire started pulling the shirt out of the blond's jeans. Something about the man he couldn't get enough of, he thought while guiding him to the bed, tearing off and tossing the shirt to one side.

“Not sure if now is the right time to tell you, but that I’ve never…,” Anders whispered while his hands moved down his vampire’s body. “…been with anyone like this.” True, he knew the basics of what to do by watching porn and having an over active college roommate. Just the hands on part he never experienced seemed a little elusive.

“Don’t worry about a thing. Just make sure you keep talking to me.” Mitchell knew that he would make sure that his lover’s first time would be the best ever. His mouth moved down the smaller body, planting soft kisses along the almost flawless skin. Nipping at a nipple, he chuckled to himself when Anders’ back arched off the bed. The moan that escaped his young lover's mouth sent chills down his spine.

Something about this young man made him feel more human than anyone ever. He admitted to being a vampire when confronted with it, but Anders still chose to be with him. He smiled up at his new lover while undoing the blond’s pants.

“I’m going to make you feel so good.” The smile on his face grew wicked the moment he pulled the young man’s jeans and underwear off his body. “You’re going to forget how to talk by the time I’m done with you.”

Anders moaned and closed his eyes while the vampire stroked his cock. Mitchell couldn’t help but smirk with the way his lover bit his lip. He felt himself grow harder from the deep moan that fell from parted lips when he ran his tongue over the other’s cock. Leaning over, the brunet took his lover into his mouth.

“MOM!" Anders squeaked in surprise when he heard a noise from the doorway.

"Please put some clothes on! I want to see you," she said pointing at Mitchell, "downstairs in ten minutes." Her voice left no room for arguments, even from a vampire old enough to be her grandfather.

Anders curled up, burying his head into his pillow. His whole body turned completely red with embarrassment. He smiled when his lover curled up behind him. “You better go talk to mom. She’s not one who likes to be kept waiting. I’ll get dressed and wait here.”

After leaving his lover curled up in bed, he headed down to the kitchen where Thea waited for him. It still amazed him how this woman could go from the sweetest person in the world to a fiery warrior in a matter of a second. He knew protective mothers were the most dangerous creatures in the world.

"I swear," she stated the moment Mitchell walked into the room. "If I see so much as one fang mark on my son's body from you, I will stake you through the heart after my husband beats the crap out of you!"

She smiled at the confused look on his face and poured them each a cup of coffee. “I know you’re a vampire, and I trust you with my son’s life.”

“Why would you do that and how do you know the truth about me?” Taking the coffee from her, he watched as she moved to the small table and relocated the small terrier puppy onto the floor. When she patted the bench, he had no choice but to join her.

“Not once in the over two years you’ve known us and been Anders’ friend, have you tried to kill him or drink from him. There is also the fact that you two need each other.” He watched her sip her coffee with the knowing smile that always drove him mad. That smile when someone knew truths they shouldn’t and were smug about it. “I am human reincarnation of the Norse goddess Eir. It’s my job to know who and what most supernatural creatures are. As for Anders, he will find out which god he is on his twenty-first birthday. What I want to know is will you keep my son safe?”

“You have nothing to worry about. I’m not interested in his powers or blood, but in him. Is that all you wanted to say?”

“I know my son is gay and I know that you need each other. You both probably feel drawn to the other for some strange reason. That being said, I ask you don’t hurt him. His start in life has not been the easiest, and I think he’s earned this bit of happiness.”

Mitchell simply took her hand in his. There really were no words to explain that he wouldn’t let anything happen to her son and they’d take things day by day. Right at this moment, the only thing he wanted was to curl up with Anders.

“Go on, but please no sex in this house! I still have an impressionable ten-year-old daughter who looks up to her big brother. If you want to make out, just make sure to shut and lock the door.”

Chapter Text

“I’m just getting worried about him,” Summer declared into her brother’s phone. Anders was going to skin her alive when he saw his next phone bill, but it was worth it to talk to Mitchell about him. “We’ve looked everywhere for his brothers and found no trace of them. He’s getting all moody again.”

Sitting in the stairway of her aunt’s Auckland home, she listened to Mitchell while he tried to assure her that Anders would be fine. They’d been there for two weeks already and still no sign of his brothers. When they arrived in Norsewood, it was to find that his mother died in a car accident and Mr. Fundin passed away six months prior of pancreatic cancer. When he looked for Rob or Val’s family, they either moved or passed away. The relator who was selling the little farm refused to send Val a message from him with his new mailing address.

“If you’re so worried about him, give him his phone back and let me cheer him up a little.”

“Only if you promise to make him happy again!” Summer hated seeing her big brother hurting in any way. Her earliest memory was of him lying in a hospital bed and asking if she’d mind having him as her brother. From that day forward, she was hooked on him. He was her protector, her role model, her best friend, but most importantly, he was family. “I won’t have you upsetting him like you did when you said you couldn’t come with us.”

She heard Mitchell chuckled into the phone. “I promise this will more than make up for it. If it doesn’t, then I’ll pay for the call instead of him making you pay for it. Just give him his phone.”

“ANDERS,” the young girl yelled as she ran down the stairs. “Your boyfriend wants to talk to you!”

The blond stared at his sister while taking his phone away. Looking at the call duration, he just sighed in aggravation. When he asked about who called whom, he got the truth from her. “You are a cheeky little brat who will be paying for the call.”

“Hey Mitchell, what’s up?”

“What’s this I hear about you being all moody and sulky?”

“I don’t deserve to be happy right now,” Anders spat out over the phone. He knew his boyfriend meant well, but the last two weeks were nothing short of a living hell for him. “Not sure if Summer told you, but my mother is dead! Someone cut the breaks on her car about a year after I left. I can’t help but feel that my dad had a hand in it and I’m the reason why!”

“You don’t mean that, Anders.” Mitchell could hear the tears in his lover’s voice. Now he wished he accepted their invitation. “The accident wasn’t your fault. Whoever did it was completely crazy. Now, Seamus has my gift to you that should cheer you up. There is one catch to it though. The gift is a question and I need you to give me an answer to it as soon as possible.”

Anders watched his dad put the small box wrapped in red paper on the table. Before carefully unwrapping the package, he placed his vampire on speakerphone. Once he opened the box, he stared at the key in the box before reading the small card under it.

Make me the happiest being on the planet and move in with me.

“Mitchell, are you sure about this?” There was only one term remaining until he finished his degree and prayed he could get a job at one of the schools in Bristol. He listening to his lover tell him it was past time for them to take things to the next level and he would move Anders stuff out of his folks place. “Yes.”

Anders stood in the clearing, completely unsure of what was going on. His parents insisted on taking him for a hike in the nearby woods as Summer and their aunt got ready for his birthday celebration. Thea set up a picnic as they discussed the possibility of hiring someone to look for his brothers, since they were having shitty luck at the task. As they ate the meal, the discussion moved to exactly what he planned on doing once he finished his degree. His parents were glad he would be attempting to take over for his old English teacher when he retired.

“I think this is the perfect time for us to start the ceremony,” Thea muttered to her husband. Turning to her son, she took his hands in hers before beaming her radiant smile at him. “There is something important I need to tell you about both of our families. It’s part of the reason we asked you to take this hike with us. I just wish your brother and cousin were here for it.”

“Have you ever wondered how I never lost a case or your mother here seems to know what people need the most?” Seamus moved over with the sword in his hands. He passed the simple double-edged blade to Anders. “Our families are the human reincarnations of the Norse gods.”

Chuckling seemed like the only valid response to his dad’s words. He listened to his mom explain who she and his father were, who his birth mother was, and how his brothers and Summer would all be going through the ceremony when they turned twenty-one. It was when she got to which god Olaf was and that the bald man was in fact his grandfather that he stopped and stared. “Olaf is actually my grandfather and not my cousin?”

“He gets ‘reborn’ every day, which is why he looks so young. Your parents probably thought it easier to tell you he’s your cousin rather than explain how your grandfather looks younger than your dad does. Before you ask, yes my sister is also a goddess. Karen is Gefjun, the goddess of fertility and plough, which explains her unnaturally green thumb.”

He could actually see their reasoning behind why the people in his life were the way they were. A small pang ripped through his chest at not knowing whom his brother received. Maybe he could get a god who was good at tracking so he could find his brothers.

Heeding his parents, he took his place in the center of the meadow. It worried him how quickly the blue sky was turning black. Slipping his shirt off, he hoped the ceremony wouldn’t take long as the skies opened up and the rain started to pour down. At his father’s urging, he lifted the sword up high while still not believing any of what was going on. A moment later, his entire world went blank.

“ANDERS!” Thea made it to her son’s side just moments after Seamus started checking for a pulse. “Come on son, please wake up!”

“Eir,” the voice from her son’s body murmured softly. It took the goddess by surprise, as it was more melodic than her son’s normal tone. Even those few times she heard him recite poetry for school, it never sounded like this. Her heart broke a little at the pain present in the melody. “You look as beautiful as you did in Asgard.”

“How did I know he would get you, Bragi? Are you able to tell me what went wrong with the ceremony?”

“Two bolts of lightning hit at the same time and I took the majority of the blow to save him.” The pain was becoming more and more prevalent in his voice. “I will have to rest to recover from the injuries acquired by the storm. He will not remember what happened here nor can you tell him of me or his powers. Not until the moment that I am healed. When that happens, he will start to remember. Do you agree?”

Thea nodded as her husband slipped Anders shirt back on him and wrapped him in the blanket. A moment later, the god lost consciousness and the parents took their son to the hospital.

Anders awoke very confused and in pain. The last thing he remembered was a storm brewing as he and his parents were on a picnic. Looking around the room, he smiled at the all too familiar sight of his mom sitting in a hospital chair, fast asleep, and his sister curled up next to him in his hospital bed. The only person missing was his dad. He played with Summer’s hair as she started to wake up. When she stared up at him, he motioned her to be quiet.

“What happened?” he whispered to his sister while she sat up next to him.

“You don’t remember getting hit by lightning?”

Anders shook his head as he lifted up his bandaged arm. It was itching like crazy already. He listened as Summer explained what their parents told her and their aunt. They were clearing up from the picnic, and the next thing they knew he was unconscious on the ground. Apparently, his father’s quick thinking and driving got them to the hospital in less than thirty minutes.

“Hey kiddo,” his father’s gentle voice sounded from the doorway. Anders always loved how he looked almost like a big red bear, but was as gentle as a lamb when it came to both his own children and those he helped defend. “How’re you feeling?”

“Good, I guess. How long will I be here for?”           

“We’ll be out in time for us to catch our plane. We’re all packed and just needed you to wake up from your beauty sleep. You lucked out with how bad the injury is. Looks like it entered and came right out of you. There is a bump on your head, but it isn’t that bad and can be checked out once we get home.”

Anders nodded slightly before pulling his sister in to snuggle. Soon, they’d be heading towards the last few days of vacation and then home. Not even a bump on the head and a burn on his arm could change how happy his life was at that moment.

Mike was starting to hate his life. Every time they attempted to find Anders, they wound up facing a dead end. Now that Anders was twenty-one, maybe the time had come to give up on ever seeing him again. Putting the last screw in the cabinet, he gave one last pull to see if he could find his brother. It surprised him when he felt a response, one that told him that his brother was close by.

Looking up, he saw a young blond man standing across the hall looking at his watch. Using his powers once more, a small gasp of happiness escaped his lips. It was Anders standing there. He was in New Zealand again and right in front of his eyes.

The man he saw was so different from the boy that left seven years earlier. He was a few inches taller and more built than Mike remembered. There was a glow to him the moment he smiled at a young girl with auburn hair. He just hoped that his brother’s life was as happy as he appeared.

The carpenter cursed under his breath as the pair started to walk away and a group of tourists came between them. He kept using his powers to keep track of the second eldest Johnson. A single tear fell down his face when Anders passed the security checkpoint. There was no way the guards would let him through without a boarding pass. All he could do was watch as his brother vanished while walking towards his gate.

Chapter Text

Mike couldn’t believe his luck. The first week of class and he was already being called in about something Axl did. His mind wondered as he walked down the empty hall to the classroom. What kind of trouble could he be in from his English teacher this early in the year?

The room he entered was empty of people with only his youngest brother’s stuff sitting on a nearby desk showing that he was in fact in the right room. Curiosity got the better of him as he walked to the desk and an open notebook. The words on the page that made his heart sink. Did Axl really think that Anders being taken away was Mr. Fundin’s fault and not that of their father?

“That’s why I called you in today,” the voice from the doorway surprised the raven-haired man. It was so familiar to him yet so different than he last heard it. He couldn’t believe his eyes as he turned and there he was after all these years.

“Anders? Is that really you?”

“Hello Mikkel. Been awhile, hasn’t it?”

Mike grabbed the man and held on for dear life. His brother was home. They found Anders again and there was no way they were going to let him go again. Nothing else mattered in that moment.

Mike took stock in every detail that he could, trying to commit everything to memory. His blond hair darken a little over the years, and his skin was a little paler than he last saw him five years earlier. Taking a step back, he could see that there was a very athletic build to the teacher. The glasses resting on the top of his head added to his scholarly demeanor.

“Twelve years is more than awhile. Then again, I saw you five years ago at the airport, but couldn’t quite get your attention. Keep kicking myself for not trying harder or yelling your name louder.”

Anders could hardly believe what he was hearing. Five years ago, Mike was so close to him and they’d missed each other? How was that even possible? He could feel his anger towards this man and his family starting to rise again as he was pulled back in to a hug.

“Mike? Why are you hugging my teacher? More to the point, why does he look ready to slug you?” The voice from the doorway made both men take a step back while Mike took control of the situation and pulled the young man towards him.

“Axl, do you remember Ty, Olaf, and I telling you about our brother Anders?” At the young man’s nod, Mike took a deep breath. “This is Anders…your brother.”

Axl stared at his teacher with full disbelief in his eyes. The man who was inspiring him to let out his rage in a manner that none of the counselors ever even considered. The man who told his students that all he expected from them was their best. That good writing was not about following a certain set of rules, but came from somewhere deep within their hearts and souls. He couldn’t believe that same man was the brother everyone kept telling stories to him about. When he stepped in to hug him, he stopped the moment he noticed how the blond tensed up.

“We need to get on with why I called you here, Mike. What exactly did you tell Axl about my adoption?”

“Not this, that’s for sure. Axl, you do remember that you three were taken away ‘cause dad hurt Anders, right?” When the young man nodded, Mike continued with the story. “If anything, I think the only thing Mr. Fundin can be credited for is probably saving Anders as well as you guys from dad’s rage.”

Anders leaned against his desk before stepping in with parts of the story that neither of them probably knew. “The night my adoption was finalized, and the reason we ran to England, dad showed up at the Jacobson’s house and started to threaten both them and me. Thea called her sister here in Auckland and arranged to have our stuff shipped to us and we caught the first plane out of here. It scares me on what he would’ve done to me if he’d gotten his hands on me.”

His brothers watched him for a moment as that piece of news sank into their heads. They all wondered why they ran that night and didn’t tell anyone, only partially knowing that it would have had something to do with their dad.

“Maybe this is something we should discuss as a family on a whole. Maybe meet up for dinner sometime, both families?”

“That may not be the best idea right now.” He wasn’t ready for being a family with them again. There was too much at stake, too much to relieve. He knew that the possibility of another breakdown like the one he had two years ago when he decided to stop looking for them would break him. It was one more trip to the hospital he could live without and one that almost cost him his job. No way was he going to repeat that. “I’m sorry, but now isn’t a good time to do this for me.”

“Anders, please. We all need answer to what’s happened. Getting everyone together might be the only way to do it.”

“You don’t think I know that Mike? I’ve been in counseling for over twelve years ‘cause of this whole situation.” His fist slammed on his desk, making his brothers jump. “The thing is…I’m not sure I can handle it right now. Can you just give me time to actually come to terms with you being back in my life?” No way was he going to tell him that he needed that time to decide if he even wanted them back in his life. Maybe he could be transferred to another school or have Axl moved to another class.

Mike worried when he noticed Anders’ body shaking. Picking a sticky note off the desk, he wrote his phone number and address down. “When you’re ready, please call me. We’ve all missed you. Ty nearly slugged me when I told him I saw you in the airport and didn’t bring you home.”

The blond couldn’t help but chuckle at the mental image of sweet little Ty trying to hit Mike. It was the most ridiculous thing in the world. “Get Axl some counseling. I can give you the name of my shrink here in Auckland; just get someone to help him.”

Anders listened to his older brother’s acknowledgement and promise to do just that as he sat down. A few moments later as the teacher heard the door close, he laid his head down on the desk and let the tears flow.

Even sleeping, his mother was a rare beauty. Thankful that his aunt understood he needed to talk to her sister, she picked Summer up from therapy. He promised to be home before long, as his sister now tended to panic when he was out of her sight for long. The guilt that she was the one who found him when he accidently took too many pain pills after drinking the vodka ate away at his gut. Her quick thinking on calling an ambulance and then her mom was the one thing that saved his life that day.

Now he couldn’t take anything without someone questioning him about it. Mitchell started researching alternative methods of battling the migraines Anders was plagued with since his twenty-first birthday. When the school found out about the accidental overdose, he almost lost his job. He pleaded that is was an unexpected addiction to a prescribed medicine for migraines. The school accepted this and then made him take a drug test at least once a month for two years. As it was, anytime he held a glass of alcohol, his hand shook and there was no way for him to finish it.

“I’m not sure what to do mom. I know I should be happy that I’ve found them and that they want to be part of my life, but I don’t think I can let go of them never having responded to my letters.” Taking a deep breath, he squeezed her hand slightly. “Truth be told, I’m scared of another breakdown. There is no way that I want to go back to the pain killer addiction or the alcohol issues I had two years ago.”

“Maybe you should tell them about it.” Her voice was soft, though when he looked her eyes remained closed. “Would be the best start to dealing with them.”

“Can you imagine me telling them that and then going into the whole “my boyfriend is a vampire” thing?” The couple decided to tell his family the truth about what exactly Mitchell was when Herrick started making waves about turning Anders. Mitchell even went as far as making sure that Summer knew how to defend herself enough to get away. The shock was on Anders when his parents stated that they already knew the truth.

Opening her eyes and staring at her son, her laughter filled the room. “Maybe you should wait on telling them that for the time being. You’re getting another headache, aren’t you?”

Anders nodded a little. Apparently, everyone was now able to tell the signs of one of his headaches. Taking a deep breath, he squeezed her hand a little tighter. “Don’t worry, it’s just at the background but I’ll go home soon and get some rest. Did I tell you that Axl blames Mr. Fundin for our separation?”

“Another reason to start being with them again. This will straighten everything out. I am sure of it. Now, go home and get some sleep please.” After kissing her good bye and leaving, she made a mental note to get Karen to arrange Mitchell’s passage to New Zealand as soon as she possibly could.

Olaf never got nervous. The man was in his eighties and nervousness was something he last had when his grandsons were born and then taken away. He should be overly excited at the prospect of them being together again. Mike called him the night of his conference with Axl’s teacher and explained that Anders was not only back in New Zealand, but was in fact their little brother’s teacher. Two days later, he received another call stating that Anders invited them all over for dinner at the end of the week.

Knocking on the door, he wondered which of the gods Anders got. In his heart, he knew it was probably Bragi as he was always able to use his words to his best advantage. The woman who answered astounded him. She was almost an exact duplicate of Anders adoptive mother, except her hair was more of a dark mahogany.

“You must be Olaf, correct?” He could only nod as she introduced herself as Karen, Thea’s little sister. “Please come in. Anders is actually sleeping currently and should hopefully be up soon.”

“Why would he be sleeping at this time of the day?”

“There is a lot I need to explain and warn you about before you see him.” Leading him to the back patio, she sat down on the small wicker sofa sitting under the window. “First thing is that Anders doesn’t remember him being Bragi. There was a slight incident the night of his ceremony and lightning struck both of them. Bragi took the majority of the hit to save my nephew.”

“I take it that Bragi was injured worse than Anders?” He’d heard of this happening only once in the gods’ time on earth. If the god’s injury is worse than the host’s is, the human forgot they were the reincarnation until the god fully recovered. They also got bad headaches, getting more frequent as the god was nearing recovery. Something in them wanted to remember them.

The two talked quietly for the next hour about what had been going on in the last twelve years. From his forgetting that he was Bragi, to the search for his family, and his breakdown that lead to an addiction to a prescribed painkiller and alcohol. He would have to warn Mikkel and Ty about this so they didn’t inadvertently ask about Bragi.

The moment he started absently playing with her hair, a little squeak sounded from the doorway. Olaf couldn’t help but stare dumbfounded at the young woman standing there. “This can’t be the same little girl I saw twelve years ago. Summer, right?”

Summer only nodded before asking where her brother was. She bolted from the patio as soon as her aunt told her about his migraine.

“She worries about him since she found him the night of his overdose.”

“Understandable. I would be too if I were in her situation.” When he turned back towards her, there were more questions forming in his head that he should keep for his grandson. “What happened after she found him?”

“He was in the hospital for two weeks; most of that time was getting him clean and into a rehabilitation program. When the school found out what was going on, they started an inquiry that could have cost him his job. Thankfully, he talked his way into a deal. A minimum of twice a month he would subject himself to a drug test to prove that he was no longer taking the medications and he would go through random Breathalyzer tests to make sure he wasn’t drinking during school hours. That went on for two years and shortly after they stopped; he quit and moved here after his family was in a bad accident. Summer’s injuries were the less severe. They scheduled Seamus for release tomorrow while Thea will probably be there another two or so weeks. She’s scheduled for another one or two more surgeries before they send her home.”

“I need to call Mike or Ty real quick. Give them the head’s up about not mentioning the whole “we’re a family of Norse gods” thing. Before I do, may I be so bold as to guess which goddess you are?” At her nod of approval, he walked over to the row of sunflowers by the deck railing. “From the abundance of flowers and vegetables in this garden, you are Gefjun, am I right?”

“Goddess of fertility and plough who has the greenest thumb on the planet. Very good, Baldr. I’ll leave you to your phone call while I check on how Anders is doing.”

The minute she left, he called his eldest grandson. His reaction to Anders not remembering was about what he expected. Mike wasn’t happy about it one bit.

Chapter Text

Anders felt more nervous now than he did the day he opened his acceptance letter to Oxford. Downstairs, his family waited to see him in the first time in twelve years. Every step down the stairs brought him one inch closer to the family that abandoned him twelve years prior. He wasn’t even sure he wanted to be doing this. There would be questions that needed answering, and he would need the determination to find out why they never wrote him back.

The first face he saw when his feet hit the bottom of the staircase was Ty’s, smiling at the sight of his brother. Ever-wonderful Ty who demanded answers during his hospital stays. The same Ty who refused to respond to any more questions until they took him to see his brother. Anders’ body took over, without thinking, as he launched himself into Ty’s arms, and just held on. Of all his brothers, he missed this one the most over the years. The one brother he used to be able to talk to about anything.

“Please tell me that I’m not dreaming and that you really are here,” Anders whispered.

“I’m here. Trust me on that and that I’m not letting you go again.” Ty held him for all he was worth. Nothing short of a natural disaster could separate these two brothers again. “Why didn’t you ever write to tell us where you were?”

That question made Anders take a step back and his sister growl softly. The brothers watched as the blond stepped over and took her hand, quieting down her disapproval. “I wrote you guys twice a month from the time I left till I turned twenty-one and none of them were ever returned. You seriously expect me to believe that you never got any of them?”

Everyone stared at him with blank expressions on their faces. Feeling his sister’s hand squeeze gave him the strength not to break down again because of the Johnson family. “I mailed you guys over a hundred and sixty eight letters in the course of seven years. I’d understand if maybe one or two of them got lost in the mail, but all of them? Sorry, that’s something I’m not buying.”

Anders sent Karen a look of thanks by breaking the tension with the announcement that dinner was ready. This would have to be something they talked about later. Tonight, they’d get to know each other again. As they walked out onto the back patio, he questioned the small smirk on his aunt’s face.

Johan stretched as he headed towards the ramp to disembark from his current shipboard job when the communication officer stopped him. From the name on the telegram, one of his associates keeping track of his three sons had news.

Plague back in Auckland. Found and made contact with rest of family. Time to move on ridding them of the plague ASAP. Sam.

“Damn it,” he muttered under his breath. Anders was back in New Zealand and somehow found his brothers again. After he went to all the trouble to stop that from happening, he still managed to find them. Someone was going to pay for this, but first he needed to deal with Elizabet’s wayward son once and for all.

Heading towards the nearest travel agent, he booked the first flight he could get back to Auckland. Anders would pay for his betrayal, for the death of his wife, and for Children Services taking his sons away. All of it was that little brats fault for and he would pay for it with his life.

Anders watched his family talked as they ate. He listened to stories of how Ty wanted to start his own business while working on ice sculptures on the side. Felt pride when Mike talked about how he worked to buy the construction company he worked for when the owner retired. Chuckled as Axl talked about his best friend and their adventures around Auckland. He fiddled with his fork when Olaf declared that he spent the last twelve years helping Mike look for Anders and surfing. All of the things he missed because they never wrote back and now claim to never have gotten the letters.

When the time came for him to start on what he’d been up to while they were separated, he could feel the nerves twist up inside. It took a simple smile from his adoring little sister to settle them down. “I started playing rugby at school and became captain of the team, went to college to become a teacher, and been in a loving relationship with the love of my life for the past seven years.”

“He’s also being modest! My brother graduated at the top of his class and got accepted to Oxford University, which he also graduated at the top of his class there too!”

The blond just shook his head as his family stared at him. Their questions came fast and he tried to answer them all before his head started aching again. Both his aunt and sister went inside, but only his sister returned with a cool damp cloth. It was Summer who explained to them about the headaches he’s been getting since his twenty-first birthday when lightning hit him.

“Isn’t there something you can take for it?”

“Me taking painkillers isn’t exactly a good thing,” Anders admitted as he leaned back and put the cloth on his forehead. “Two years ago, I sort of gave up on seeing you guys again. Every private investigator my family hired came back with a dead end. I couldn’t take another one saying the same thing and broke down. During that time, I became addicted to the pills prescribed to me.”

Summer took his hand, squeezing it as she looked at the others. Her brother wanted them to know what happened, so she told her side of the story. “Three months after he told our parents to stop looking for you there was a day that was worse than the others. I was staying with Anders and his lover one week. When I came home from my art class, I found him convulsing on the floor in the bathroom. He apparently overdosed on his prescription.”

“Didn’t help that he’d drank a glass or two of vodka before taking the pills,” a new voice stated from the doorway. The voice came with a lilting Irish accent and a smiling man who leaned against the doorframe. It only took the brother and sister two seconds to run into the man’s arms. Summer just hugged the lanky man around the waist while Anders’ lost himself in a most passionate kiss with the man.

“What are you doing here? You weren’t supposed to get here for another month!” Anders questioned as he pulled away from his lover.

“You remember George, right?” At Anders’ nod, Mitchell continued. “Well, something happened between him and Herrick that made it possible for me to leave a lot earlier. So when your aunt called me the other day and said that she was worried about your headaches getting worse, I jumped on the first plane I could and here I am.”

Anders smiled a thank you to his aunt while Mitchell nuzzled his ear.

“Herrick is dead thanks to George. We’re free,” he whispered so only the unknowing god could hear. “Finally we’re free to just be us.”

“Do you need to feed tonight,” Anders whispered back as he turned to nuzzle the vampire’s ear. The shake of his head was all he had time for before someone behind them cleared their throat.

“Um, mind making some introductions,” Ty questioned after the snuggling went on for close to three minutes.

The blush on Anders cheeks when he pulled away had the brunet pulling him in close. “I guess I should. This is John Mitchell, my boyfriend that I started telling you about earlier.”

Axl’s eyes looked almost ready to pop out of his head, while the rest of his birth family looked on mildly shocked. “You’re gay?”

Anders nodded slightly, but at Axl’s comment that the girls in his class would be disappointed to hear that, he started to panic. “Axl, you can’t tell anyone about this. While the school knows that I’m gay, I don’t really want my students to know. Please promise me you won’t tell.”

“I won’t, but it might be hard to keep it from Zeb. He’s over at our house a lot and if you two are there, then I won’t be able to hide it. If I can get him to swear not to tell, can I at least tell him?” When Anders nodded his agreement, Axl relaxed slightly. While usually being the most unobservant of the family, even he could still see the pain in his brother’s eyes. It worried him that his brother was in so much pain.

“So,” Ty spoke up, trying to keep things short. The pain in his big brother’s expression bothered him. “What brought you back to New Zealand?”

“My family was visiting here when a drunk driver hit their car.” Anders quietly answered as he started to sit back down; only Mitchell beat him to his seat and pulled his lover on to his lap. “When I talked to the doctors in charge of their cases, it looked like it was going to be a long recovery for some of them. I didn’t want to be far from them so Mitchell arranged for the job at the school through Karen, promised he’d move down here as soon as he could get some stuff cleared up, and I just got on the first plane I could back here.”

He wanted to laugh now that he looked back. It really had been that easy to pack up his life in England and head back to New Zealand. He only had few possessions that needed to brought down with him and his dad called in a favor from one of his partners to have all the family’s stuff moved back here. Most of the furniture they owned went to Mitchell’s friend George for his new apartment after his stuff went up in flames. While he felt the most at home in Bristol, in the last few minutes he realized that no matter where Mitchell went, that would be home for him. It felt nice to think that they were each other’s home now.

“Maybe we should call an end to the festivities for the night. You two look like you need some time alone to be reunited and maybe a good night sleep to deal with your headache.” It seemed that Mike never stopped being the voice of reason in the Johnson family. Anders agreed, but only if they got together sometime during the next week.

He stared at his lover standing in front of the bathroom mirror. The bottle in his hand pissed the vampire off. Anders assured him repeatedly that he was off the painkillers and wouldn’t go back. Now, there he stood holding a pill bottle in his hand and staring at it as if it held the answers to life, the universe, and everything.

“Damn it, Anders! You promised me you were done with this shit!” In any other situation, he would have laughed at the sight of his boyfriend jumping from where he was stand and the bottle going flying through the air. Catching it single-handed, his eyes never leaving Anders, he strode into the bathroom. “How dare you betray everyone’s trust by doing this shit behind our backs? We trusted you to keep your damn promise not to start taking painkillers again! I am so glad I got here earlier than expected, ‘cause I would hate to have gotten here in a month and found you dead or worse yet, back in the fucking hospital ‘cause you are addicted to this shit!”

Anders just pinched his nose as Mitchell backed him into the corner. He needed to stay calm to get through this and not slug the vampire in the face. “Are you done with the lecture?”

Normally, when Mitchell backed him into a wall and growled it turned Anders on. Now it just pissed him off. He could tell that he pissed him off even more by not feeling ashamed when his lover caught him. “You have no right to pass judgment on me without full knowledge of what I was doing.” The constant second-guessing was finally taking its toll on the teacher

“I don’t owe you an explanation, but look at the bottle; you’ll see that I never broke my promise.” Pushing the vampire out of the way, he stalked towards the door only stopping long enough to see the brunet stare at the bottle of Riboflavin. “That’s the new treatment my doctor put me on to help with my migraines. Vitamin B2 is supposed to be a more ‘natural’ cure for migraines. Next time, ask before you fly off the handle. Better yet, next time just trust me.”

Mitchell sank down on the edge of the tub and stared at the bottle. He knew that Anders was right; he should have trusted him not to start abusing painkillers. Getting up, he wondered the house a little to think on what he’d done, what exactly he said. He headed back upstairs to their room and found the love of his life curled up in the middle of their bed.

“You’re right,” he whispered into the darkened room. “I should have more trust in you. The thing is you are the first person I’ve cared for this much since Herrick turned me and I don’t want to lose you.”

His lover didn’t move or acknowledge him as he moved towards the bed. It broke his heart as he sat down next to him and the blond moved away from him. “I’m scared of losing you, Anders. If I do, someone is going to have to stake me. There is no way I can go on without you. You are my life.”

Mitchell knew that as soon as Anders simply wished him a good night, there would be no more discussion on this subject until he was ready. He sadly curled up on the other side of the bed and listened as the love of his long life fought to get some sleep.

Chapter Text

He knew it would be a risk coming down here when his father was working in the little shop at the back of the basement. The only problem was that his mother told him to stock the groceries in the pantry while she headed out to see an ill family member. If he didn’t get this done, his mom would punish him. If he got caught, his dad would probably beat him. He wasn’t sure which was worse. Creeping down the stairs, he prayed he could keep it quiet enough and work fast enough that no one found him. Putting the cans on the shelf, he focused on being as quiet as a mouse. He didn’t hear his dad coming into the room until the hand clamped on his wrist.

“What the fuck are you doing down here? You know you aren’t supposed to be down here while I am!”

“Mom told me to put the groceries away,” he whimpered. Never in his eleven years of life could he remember his father being this mad. His world went fuzzy a minute later as he felt the brick of the basement wall connect with this back and his father’s hand wrapped around his throat.

“Stupid little bastard!” Those words rang through Anders’ ears as he felt his back connecting with the wall repeatedly.

It was over faster than he thought possible. Lying in the middle of the basement floor, gasping for breath, his father kicked him a few times before leaving him there for the night. Crawling towards the stairs, he sat there until he heard his father leave the house and his car start. Hopefully he could make it up the stairs and into bed before the man’s return.

“Anders! Wake up babe!”

The blond’s body was trembling viciously as his eyes stared blankly at the ceiling. It took a few minutes of soothing from his vampire lover for him to calm enough to glance in his direction. Mitchell’s heart broke at the fear in Anders’ eyes. “Dream of your father again?”

At the small nod, Mitchell just pulled him into his arms. No matter how upset Anders was earlier, he needed the brunet now. Whispering to him that he’s safe and most assuredly, he’s protected. The two just sat there for what seemed like forever.

“First time in a long time that I dreamt about what he did to me back then.” Anders’ voice was just a murmur, but he was talking about it and that was what mattered the most. “Maybe seeing my brothers again wasn’t such a good idea.”

“Don’t say that,” Mitchell said into his ear. “This might help you work on getting over it. Ever think of that?”

He just blinked at his boyfriend in confusion. “What makes you think that?”

“Well, you could work with them and a counselor on what your father did, that kind of thing. I know I’m not making any sense.” Mitchell played with the blond hair, coaxing the man closer to him. “Why don’t we talk about the dream?”

“Um…let’s not, but you can entertain me with how Herrick died.”

“Stop trying to change the subject,” the vampire growled. Every time he had a nightmare about his father, he closed off and wouldn’t talk about it. Sure, he wrote about it in a journal, but it was driving the brunet completely batty! “How the hell do you expect to get better if you never talk about it?”

That made Anders pull away. They had fights before, but they were always over little stupid things, like Anders annoying habit of drinking directly out of the milk container in the morning. Never in the nine years he’s known the man had he seen him blow up like this. “What do you want me to say? My dad slammed me against a wall repeatedly and then kicked me in the ribs, which I didn’t really remember him doing ‘till just now. You know what? Saying it doesn’t change anything! I hate the man for doing this to not only me, but also being the reason I spent fifteen years with a different family. Fifteen years my brothers lived with a different family! Twelve years that I’ve fucking missed because of that asshole! Twelve years thinking that they didn’t want me! Is that what you want me to say? Is it?”

“Yes, that is exactly what I wanted you to say.” He wiped the tears away from the intoxicating blue eyes. Pulling him closer, he held on as the tears fell down Anders’ face. “Anything else you want to get off your chest about your family situation?”

“What happened to all those letters? Do they seriously expect me to believe that they all got lost between Bristol and Norsewood?”

That point did worry Mitchell. How could almost two hundred letters go missing over seven years? There was no time to answer it as he felt his lover’s body relax into him. Looking down at the now sleeping blond, he tucked them both in. They’d have plenty of time to talk about it in the morning.

Johan looked around the little basement room of the house he found outside Auckland. This would be Anders’ room until he died. That bastard would not ruin his boys’ lives again. The soundproofed room would prevent anyone from hearing his calls for help. There were shackles with a long chain attached to each one as well as a hook from the ceiling for punishment times. His guest would be able to reach the toilet and make less cleanup for him.

Just a few more things were needed to finish off the room then he could start watching for the perfect opportunity to grab the blond. The world would be better off without the boy. This would be a favor he was doing everyone and Anders brought it all upon himself. Turning off the light on his way out, he planned for the next day when he would find out where he worked and start surveillance.

Anders woke to find breakfast sitting on the nightstand and his boyfriend in a nearby chair reading. After all the crap that happened the night before, maybe it was only right that they spend the morning talking about what happened. Sitting up, the smell of the bacon and eggs hit his nose. Damn it, he thought, Karen made my favorite breakfast.

“Mitchell?”

Looking up from the book, Anders felt his heart start to beat faster. Those beautiful brown eyes always took a few moments to focus after reading. All he wanted to in that instance was to curl up in the vampire’s lap and nibble at his neck. Shaking his head, he brought his thoughts back to the present. They needed to talk about what happened and soon, but maybe a conversation breaker first.

“You know, you never did tell me exactly how Herrick died,” he commented as he grabbed a slice of bacon to nibble on instead. “I want all the details on that before we talk about anything else.”

“You remember me telling you that George killed Herrick, right?” At Anders nod, Mitchell put the book down and sighed. “This isn’t how I wanted to tell you this, but Herrick tried to kill me after you left Bristol. George and Annie’s quick thinking saved me, but Herrick wasn’t going to let up. While I was recovering, George told Herrick that I wanted to meet him in the hospital basement. Well, when I found out, I went there and found George and Herrick going at it. George turned into his wolf self and ripped Herrick apart.”

“Wow, what a way to go. There are two things that I need to have cleared up. Who’s Annie and how exactly did Herrick try to kill you?”

“Apparently George inherited a ghost with the house he’s renting. She was engaged to the guy who owns the house and he killed her. Thankfully, we got him to confess and turn himself in. Kinda let him know it was the only safe place on Earth for him. As for Herrick trying to kill me, well he staked me but missed my heart by a mile. George and Annie got me to the hospital in time and saved my life. Well, them and Josie.”

“What happened with Josie?” Anders remembered Mitchell talking about her. The two were in love in the sixties but parted to keep her safe. A part of him feared that Mitchell would do the same to him.

“The only way to fully recover was to drink someone’s blood. She asked me to take her blood and her life before the cancer did. One of those, ‘going out without the pain’ things. I hate myself for agreeing with the plan, though.”

That explained why he blew up the previous night. Losing one love is hard, but facing losing another within such a small time frame would prove almost too much. He slid off the bed and moved to kneel before his vampire. One hand squeezed Mitchell’s while the other cupped his face. “I’m so sorry. For both your loss and scaring you last night.”

“Can we not have a repeat on either for a long time?” Moving his own hand to the one that cupped his cheek, Mitchell placed tiny little kisses on the palm before moving down his arm. “Now, sometime today you are going to sit down with all of us and explain this new treatment plan.”

Anders nodded before pulling the brunet back to the bed. “That can wait till after dad’s home. Right now, I want your mouth on me.”

Chapter Text

That night after Summer, Anders, and Axl got home from school, both families would be heading to get Thea from the hospital. With her leg in a cast, it would be impossible to go her upstairs, so Mitchell and Mike spent the morning finishing moving the rest of furniture out of Karen’s home office and moving in the bed and dresser for Anders and Summer’s parents into the empty room. Once they finished, Mitchell motioned him out to the patio for a well-deserved beer. In the two past weeks, the pair had become fast friends while hanging out with Anders. Mitchell still wasn’t used to having so many friends.

“Is this where you start to interrogate me about my intentions towards your brother?” Mitchell chuckled as accepted the beer from Mike. Leaning against the railing of Karen’s back patio, chuckling at the slight nod he received, he sipped the drink. “It’s cool that you care enough about him even after all this time.”

“He’ll always be my brother, no matter what separates us. I think I’ll always be over protective of those three. It’ll be my job until I’m dead and buried.”

Mitchell only nodded at that statement. He dealt with his boyfriend’s overprotective little sister; it only figured his older brother would be the same way. Finishing the bitter drink, he moved back to the table to sit. “I’ll answer anything within reason, but you have to answer some questions for me. Agreed?”

Leaning back in his seat, Mike readily agreed. The only thing was that the first question came out of right field for him. How did this man know they were gods when his brother didn’t even know? Did Thea and Seamus break rule number one and tell a mortal about them being gods?

“Before you freak out, there was a good reason Thea told me, and can we please leave it at that?" Mitchell couldn’t help laughing at the way Mike’s eyes bugged out at being asked that one question. He still remembered the day she called him on being a vampire and then admitted the family’s secret. It’d been the same day that she caught him about to give her son a blowjob.

“Do you have to make it sound like a prize from a cereal box?” At the vampire’s apology and attempt to restate the question, Mike took pity on him.  “I’m Ullr, god of the hunt, which means that I can pretty much win at any game and locate anyone within a certain range.”

Mitchell leaned forward, leaning his arms on the table. Toying with the bottle sitting in front of him, he tried to come up with the words to explain what he wanted from this man. “I need a favor from you then. Anders is still worried about your father coming after him.”

“Want me to keep track of Anders and see if I can locate our dad?” It only took a moment for him to figure out what his brother’s partner wanted. He’d spent most of his adult life tracking down Anders, and now that he was back, there would be no way he was letting him go again.

Mitchell nodded a little, relaxing only when Mike agreed to keep both his eye and power on Anders. The two men enjoyed spending the remaining time waiting for Anders, Axl, and Summer to arrive back from school getting to know each other better.

Johan wept as he watched the blond joked with his youngest son and a petit girl. He didn’t want to do this to them, but knew that a moments pain would lead to more happiness than they ever knew. The room was completely set up for his guest, all he needed to complete it would be a recording of all the things he thought of his would-be son. There was no way he could be his. His sons were perfect and this being was the spawn of Hell.

Picking up the camera, he took a few shots to study that evening. While he wanted to grab him as soon as possible, he needed to plan and learn everything he could about the man. His plan would be fail proof. After two weeks with him, he would make Elizabet’s son take his own life. He would be begging for escape from the pain he inflicted on everyone else.

Satisfied that his mother was tucked safely in bed downstairs, Anders stared at his partner from their bed. Soon, they would start looking for a place of their own nearby, but this would have to do. He couldn’t help the smile as the shirt his lover wore was tossed into a pile near the bathroom door.

 “Mmmm…I really love watching you undress, you know that?”

He chuckled when Mitchell hurriedly rid himself of the rest of his clothes and climbed on top of him. Anders loved how dark and dangerous his lover’s eyes got when he was turned on. Licking his lips, his head fell back at the feel of those delicious lips on his neck and nibbling a trail down to his chest.

“Mitchell,” he moaned moments before his sister’s scream ripped through the house. Normally the sight of his boyfriend now lying on the floor would’ve been funny, but right now, his sister was more important. Grabbing pajama pants, he hurriedly threw them on inside out while running to her room.

He made it to her bed first and just wrapped his arms around her. The two rocked back and forth, as he spoke calming words into her ear. Her dreams were always about their parents not making it out of the accident alive. He knew she felt responsible for them giving up their lives in Bristol to come take care of her. No mattered how much he tried to tell her that it was his choice and nothing would have changed his mind, the blame was still there. He would always tell her that they took care of him when he needed them the most, now it was his pleasure to take care of them in their hour of need.

“They’re fine and downstairs sleeping. Want me to stay with you till you fall back to sleep?” He hoped that since they were back home, her nightmares would start to become less frequent. At her nod, he curled into her and glanced to Mitchell standing in the doorway, now dressed in a pair of sweat pants. From the look on his lovers face, he knew that a place of their own would be on an indefinite hold.

Chapter Text

Mitchell stared out of the window, knowing something had happened to Anders. He knew in his heart that he should’ve gone to meet him even if it was his day off. The man was never three hours late without calling. Every time he attempted to call him, it went straight to voicemail.

“I’m going to go see Mike,” he told Thea and was suddenly happy for Summer having gone camping with her friends. “Maybe he can find your wayward son?”

“Maybe with our luck, he stopped by there and lost track of time?”

“If that’s the case, then I’m going to drag him home by his ears and lay into him for worrying us so much!” They both doubted that he was there and Anders driving with the amount of headaches he’d been getting was starting to worry him more and more. What if there’d been an accident and he was in the hospital?

After living in Auckland for a little over two months now, he navigated the streets to Mike’s house without much thought at all. The Johnson boys spent as much time as possible together trying to get to know each other again. It amazed him how well they seemed to fit into each other’s lives again and accepted both him and the Jacobsons into their family. Pulling into the driveway, he was thankful for the fact that Mike was sitting on the porch, but his heart sank when he didn’t spot Anders’ car.

“Mike, we have a problem,” he stated as he stepped out of the car he borrowed from Karen. “I need you to find Anders.”

He hurt all over and couldn’t understand why his bed felt like cold concrete. Blinking his eyes open, memories of what transpired earlier in the day started coming back to him. The last thing he remembered was the car tires squealing. His world went blank at the second of impact, except for one image…his father behind the wheel.

Grabbing his chest as the pain surged through him with every breath; he leaned against the wall for support. Closing his eyes to try to fight off the excruciating pain, he heard a soft voice whispered through the room. His eyes flew open, and searched for the source.

“Whose there?” He demanded to the dark room. The hushed voice only replied with an insult, telling him what a failure he was and how his families were better off without him. “Damn it! Show yourself!”

“Everything that’s ever gone wrong in their lives is your fault,” the voice hissed. Trying to get up to find where the declarations were originating from, he quickly realized that his leg was broken. Cursing as he collapsed, he knew he wouldn’t last long before passing out again. Somehow, he needed to find a way out of here.

“I see the prodigal son finally woke up,” this voice was slightly different from the other one. Anders’ gaze snapped to the now slightly blurry vision of his birth father. “I’m so sorry that things turned out this way, but it is for the best. You understand, don’t you?”

Anders felt his whole body trembling while the figure stepped closer until it knelt before him. “I don’t understand. Why are you doing this to me?”

A rough hand grazed his cheek making him want to throw up. Nothing made sense anymore. First, his father kidnaps him. Now he was hearing someone expressing how much of a waste he was. Worst of all, the intense pain in his leg made it impossible to really think clearly. That damned hand moved down his tender arm and came to rest just above his throbbing knee. Hissing through the pain, he barely heard the bastard start to talk.

“I have to do this to save everyone from your evil. By the time this is all over, everyone will be so much happier because you’ll be gone.”

“Bastard,” he muttered and spit in the man’s face. The wish that Johan wasn’t his father became the last thought in his head before his world faded into darkness.

When Mike wasn’t able to locate his brother using Ullr, the pair started panicking. The first place to check was the car park where Anders normally parked. If the blond were still at work, it would be the best place to start, especially if he was sitting behind the wheel after a headache hit. The red and blue flashing lights were the last thing they expected to find when they got to the lot.

Mitchell watched for a minute as Mike went over to Anders’ car to speak to the officer after he parked the car to join the god. He prayed that what his gut was telling him was wrong, but the fact that Ullr couldn’t find his lover and Anders wasn’t answering his phone there was no way around the fact.

“My name is Captain Reynolds. Do either of you know either of these men?” Looking at the picture, Mitchell felt his heart drop when Mike answered that it was his brother and father. “It appears that your father hit your brother and then drove off with him in his backseat. We’re currently checking the hospitals, but seeing that the footage was from four hours ago, I doubt we’ll find him there. Do you have any idea why your father would do this?”

“Dad’s got a history of abusing my brother when we were younger. Hell,” Mike swore, running his hand through his raven hair. He was visibly trying not to shake, but failing miserably. “I have no idea why he would do this after being separated from him for over twelve years!”

Walking away from the pair as they went into Anders and Johan’s life story, the vampire fought the tears threatening to spill. When Reynolds’ associate came over to talk to him, it took everything in him not to bite her head off. It wasn’t Detective Washburne’s fault and quickly apologized. The two talked for a while, answered questions about both Anders and what would be going on with the investigation. When the captain and Mike finished talking, she gave Mitchell two cards. One was her card for updates on the investigation and the other was for a trauma counselor.

The two headed off, Mike promised to tell the Johnson side of the family. This left Mitchell to pick up Summer and tell the Jacobsons the news. Mitchell couldn’t imagine a worse fate than telling Summer that her big brother was kidnapped.

Chapter Text

Mike impatiently rang the doorbell, waiting for someone to answer. After close to a week of tracking and searching for both Anders and their father, he finally got a hit and found an address. He only prayed that it was the correct place and they’d find Anders relatively unhurt. About to ring the doorbell again, he only stopped when the one person he needed to see opened the front door.

“I think I found him!” Watching his brother’s partner’s eyes bulge out was a nice payback for his taking the god by surprise with his ‘which one are you’ question. “We have to go now to make sure I’m right before we call the police.”

“Let me get my shoes and if Anders is…” He wouldn’t finish that sentence. Anders would be all right and would soon be home where he belonged. Grabbing his shoes, he followed Mike to the car after telling Seamus and Thea that he was going out, and listened to him tell about finding a place that he thought his dad took Anders. “Were you able to track your dad after he went into the house?”

Mike shook his head as he drove quickly through the streets of Auckland. Right before they passed the city’s limit, he pulled up on a small grey home with a familiar car in front of it. “That’s the car from the photos of Anders kidnapping. As far as I can tell, my dad’s not in the house at the moment, so we need to get enough proof to take to Captain Reynolds.”

“Exactly how are we going to do that?” The smile that crossed his lips as Mike pulled out a camera. “You take pictures; I’m going around back to see if I can find Anders.”

Mitchell went around the house, peeking through all the windows, his breath wanted to hitch when he got to the basement window on the side of the house. Inside the room, a man laid curled up on the floor and chained to a column. He quickly snapped a picture on the phone Anders got him earlier that month then pulled himself away, running back to the front of the house only to have Mike pull him into the truck.

“Dad’s heading down the street,” he growled as he dragged them out of sight. “Did you find anything?”

“Anders is in there and it doesn’t look good. We have to get those photos to the police now!” Mitchell wasn’t about to risk his lover in that room any longer. “Let’s get out of here!”

Lying on the floor, he listened to that blasted voice repeating the same thing repeatedly. He watched that moonrise for a sixth time from the one small window in his prison. The bastard would soon be coming to start on the newest round of torture. He wondered what it would be this time. No, he wouldn’t let his mind dwell on that. His family would be first on his mind again tonight. Memories of them helped get him through the last few nights…but there would always be that voice of doubt questioning if they ever truly wanted him.

The squeaking door hinges brought Anders head up to look at the bastard. He trembled from the sight of the knife in the man’s hand. Pulling himself into a tighter ball, he learned how to handle the pain from his leg if it meant protecting the more vital areas of his body.

It didn’t faze him when the knife lightly glided along his back until the sounds of his captor started crying that this wasn’t what he wanted to do. He didn’t care what the monster wanted to do; he just wanted it to stop. He wondered if anyone would ever find him and get him out of this place. Would they even want to find him?

“Just give up Anders. The pain will be all over if you just give up and die. Everyone would be better off if you died. Your brothers’ were so much better off when you weren’t around. They were happier.”

Maybe his father was right, maybe everyone was better off without him. Maybe it was time to just give in and pass on. There would be no more pain for him. His families would get over his death and not have to be disappointed in him anymore. No more worrying about him relapsing into his pain killer addiction. Summer wouldn’t have to be paranoid of walking in and finding him convulsing from an over dose.

“You win,” he whispered as he lifted his head. Tears were streaming down his face. For those he loved, he would do this. They would be happier. “I…give up.”

“Right after sunrise, I will come back to put you out of your misery. Enjoy your last night on earth.” Anders watched him leave the room, listened to his happy chuckle. This was the right thing for him to do.

Moments after the bastard left, the room went blissfully quiet. Time seemed to fly by as he watched the moon moving across the sky. Reaching over to the shelving unit nearby, he tried to use it to get him sitting up. The injuries he suffered over the last week made it next to impossible and he slipped back down. On the way, he managed to not only knock over small box, its contents spilling onto the floor, but also hit his head on the shelf. Groaning, his eyes tried to focus on the letters that fell from the box. The letters he wrote to his brothers and cousin that they never received.

“I have to get out of here now,” he whispered, determination coming back to him. “I will get out of here and get those letters to them.”

Inside his head a voice, long kept quiet from injury, spoke for the first time in five years. “We will do this together, my brave warrior. I will help you fight.”

Chapter Text

“You need to stay awake,” Bragi whispered in Anders’ mind. There was no way in hell he would let his host give up when the help they needed finally arrived. “Be strong, my little one. I will give you the strength to get you out of here. Just let me take over until the doctors can heal you.”

The god watched as the cops dragged Johan out of the basement and tried to find a way to release his host from the shackles. Bragi knew that he was already providing his host with just enough strength just to survive. If he didn’t get Anders out of there soon, he would die from his wounds. The god's prayer for the ambulance to come needed to happen soon. While he was at it, a prayer for his host to stop getting into trouble couldn't hurt either.

Minutes dragged on for them. Minutes in which he felt the life starting to ebb away from Anders’ body. He tried not to panic as he pushed a little more life force to keep him going. Deep in the pit of his stomach, he feared it all was in vain and they were too late.

“How?” The only word Anders could manage to utter to the officer using the bolt cutters to get him out came out as a gasp.

“We got an anonymous package with some pictures of this house and you through the window.” The moment he removed the cuffs, the cop rubbed his wrists to get the blood flowing again. “My name is Captain Malcolm Reynolds. The paramedics are on their way down and you’ll be going to the hospital. I’m going to your families to tell them we found you. Is there anything you want me to tell them?”

“The letters…promise me they’ll go to Mikkel Johnson.” He watched the cop agree to it moments before the paramedics started treating him. Maybe there is hope for me yet, he thought seconds before passing out.

Mitchell stared from the doorway at the small man lying in the bed. Bruises, bandages, and two casts covered his body. It broke his heart to see Anders injured like this and in obvious pain. He listened patiently as Anders’ doctor explained that because of his addiction and the severity of the injuries, they would be inducing a coma. It would allow him to recover from the fact that five ribs, both his left arm and leg were broken as well as a dislocated knee, in what they hoped was a painless sleep. Panic set in when told that the blond might would be lucky to survive the night in his condition. Walking towards the bed, he carefully took the non-casted hand in his. Looking into the dull blue eyes, he realized how much he missed the mischievous twinkle that normally graced them.

“Hey handsome,” he whispered while rubbing the back of the hand. “I feel like I should make the obligatory comment of how you’ve looked better or asking how you feel, but I think I’m going to refrain.”

“Probably for the best.” Mitchell felt his heart break even more at the raspy tone of the voice. “I needed to tell you something important. I want you to make the decisions on my medical treatment till I wake up. I promise you that I will wake up as soon as possible.”

“Anders, you sure about this? Wouldn’t one of your brothers or your parents be a better choice?”

Shaking his head, he knew that Mitchell would make the best decisions for him. “That bastard did more than just the physical hurt. I…I find myself having a hard time trusting anyone because of him. It’s different with you. I know in my heart I can trust you.” He hissed in pain. “Please…do this for me?”

Mitchell agreed before the doctor came back to start the procedure. After signing the papers that allowed him to make medical decisions, he talked to Captain Reynolds. The pale man seemed to almost vanish when he listened to what they’d found in the initial investigation and that Johan requested a lawyer. It felt like an honor when the officer handed him a box and told him to give them to Anders’ brothers. Opening it, the vampire smiled at the letters his lover wrote. He quietly made his way back to the waiting room, stopping at a restroom to lose everything he had eaten the night before. Still, the letters would be a good thing, second only to having Anders back with him. Even if the worst came about, at least the blond would know he was safe from his father.

Mitchell stared at the two families in the waiting room. Those people who loved Anders the most and had accepted him into their fold. He now stood on the edge of telling them everything Anders told him or keeping some of it secret. They were going through so much at the moment and he wasn’t sure if they needed to know all the details. Then again, they had the right to know.

Walking into the waiting room, he wanted to laugh a little at how those who were able to rushed him. Moving over, he sat next to Thea and took her hand.

“To be honest, his injuries are pretty bad. Bad enough that they’re in there right now inducing a coma. After that, none of us will be able to see him until morning so they can constantly monitor him through the night.” Fighting the tears, he looked at Seamus to make sure he would keep the promise they made all those years ago. If anything happened and Anders died, Seamus would end Mitchell’s existence within twenty-four hours of the funeral.

“Captain Reynolds did tell me some of what happened though. Apparently, Johan hit him with a car and took him back to where he imprisoned him. From there he not only beat him but...” Mitchell tried to come up with the words. Wrapping his arm around Summer when she curled into him, he knew there would be only one that fit. “He tortured him.”

“Tortured? Did he say how?”

“All he said was that Johan played mind games with your brother. We’ll just have to wait for him to wake up to tell us more, or for the police to finish their investigation.” Mitchell said in response to Mike’s question. There was nothing else to do until his lover woke up.

“Captain Reynolds asked me to give you this though.” Mitchell told the Johnsons as he lifted the lid of the box. “Now we know what happened to the letters he sent you guys.”

The brothers stared in disbelief that their own father managed this on his own. Too many questions formed in their head than anyone had answers to. Part of them were afraid of what they’d find in some of those envelops. Scared to find a brother who hated them for never responding.

Chapter Text

She watched the two men in the hospital room from the doorway. Her brother laid there still unconscious after eight days while his lover sat nearby, absently fiddling with some kind of box. Wrapping her arms around the stuffed giraffe that Anders gave her so long ago, she couldn’t help wincing when it farted. Damn him for giving her a farting giraffe!

“You know,” Mitchell said without even looking up. “The longer you stand there, the less time you’re going to have with Anders before you have to go to school.”

“They know I’m going to be late. Mom has her physical therapy and then I need to see my shrink. What’s that in your hand?” Moving over to the bed, she sat on the edge and tucked the giraffe into the crook of her brother’s arm. Smiling when Mitchell placed the small jeweler’s box in her hand, she gave a small gasp when she saw the wedding band inside. Her finger grazed the smoothness of the simple silver ring with its Koa wood inlay before she flung herself into the vampire’s arms.

“I planned on giving this to him tonight when we celebrated his birthday. Now all want is for him to just wake up.” He muttered, just barely managing to avoid her hair as it flew towards his mouth. He wrapped his arms around her and, letting out the breathe he didn’t realize he was holding, finally let the tears flow. Deep down, he knew Anders would wake up soon, especially since they removed the breathing tube during the night. Wasn’t that a good sign for recovery?

Axl stared at the two photographs he started carrying around after his brother vanished a little over two weeks ago. One was the last photo taken of the brothers before the Jacobsons vanished while the other was the first picture taken after their return.

Sitting on the steps outside of the school, he waited with his best friend for Mike to pick him up. There was no way he would be up for conversations, so he pulled one of the letters out of his backpack. Realizing how much of a security blanket they were turning into, he read about a trip to Paris the Jacobsons took.

“You going to see Anders tonight?” Zeb’s voice pulled him away from the images in his mind. His brother had an uncanny way of painting vivid pictures with his words.

Nodding slightly, he folded the letter back up and pushed the letter into his bag. By now, the entire school knew that he and Anders were brothers and everyday someone different would come up to him and ask how their English teacher was doing. Their concern, though, was genuine as Anders influenced many of the students in the first months of school. He and Summer started talking about asking for a spot on the school’s website to post daily updates on their teacher’s status.

“Summer said they apparently took out the breathing tube last night. With any hope, he’ll wake up soon.”

Zeb didn’t want to dash his friend’s hopes, but having a mom who worked as a nurse at Auckland General, he knew the longer their teacher stayed unconscious, the slimmer the chances were of him waking up. Since they found out that their English teacher was in fact his best friend’s brother, he’d never seen him happier. There was no way he would rain on his parade.

“Mike’s here,” Axl commented. “I’ll call you tonight and let you know what happens. Who knows? Maybe he’ll wake up in time for us to celebrate his birthday today?”

“I hope so man, I really hope so.”

Axl sat in the chair holding his comatose brother’s hand while the beeping from the machines echoed in his ears. The sun shone through the large window onto Anders’ face where the bruises were slowly starting to fade from a pure black to a deep purple. He smiled at the stuffed giraffe now tucked under his blanket. Looking around, he noticed the flowers and knew that some were from the teachers and students at school. The sunflower and gerbera daisy bouquet was obviously from Summer though.

His brothers sat in the two other chairs in the room talking about what happened during their day. He listened as Ty talked about finding an apartment that included a large freezer so that he could start making ice sculptures. Mike talked about an issue one of his customers was having with the work another contractor did on their house. Both then started talking about plans they were making to help Anders out once the hospital released him, but they just needed him to wake up.

Dread started forming in the pit of his stomach as the nurse came in to check his vitals and left hurriedly only to come back with a doctor. He watched as the doctor checked the blond over carefully. When he took the undamaged hand in his own, he got shock of his life.

“He just squeezed my hand!” Axl exclaimed. Looking over at his brothers and the smiles on their faces, he knew that Anders would wake soon.

“Axl,” Mike whispered while motioning to the top of the bed.

Turning his head, he looked into a pair of sleepy blue eyes. The same blue eyes that he feared never seeing again. Those wonderful blue eyes that were now looking around the room confusingly. Grinning, Axl watched and listened to Mike tell their brother everything that happened since they found them.

Chapter Text

Bored out of his mind, Anders sat staring out the window of his hospital room. Now that Mitchell was working, even if it was in the same hospital, it left him on his own for most of the day. Normally he wouldn’t have minded it, but with nothing to do it got old rather quickly. Television never really interested him and the school refused to let him do anything work related. He ran out of reading material in the middle of the previous night when his insomnia kicked back in. Right now, he would even welcome visitors, no matter how much he really didn’t want them.

The doctors talked about releasing him soon, yet he wasn’t looking forward to the out of hospital care he was in for. He remembered the unbearable pain the first two weeks after waking up and made Mitchell promise to keep both Summer and Axl away till it was more manageable. Even now, he knew he wouldn’t be able to walk on his own for another month or so and would be stuck at home on bed rest having to be carted around like a baby.

Then there was the small matter of the fuzziness just creeping onto his eyes. The doctor did state that there was some nerve damage to his optical nerves but it shouldn’t get any worse. Fear set into him upon being told that there was a small chance that he could eventually go blind because of what his father did. He was a reader and would be lost without his books. Until then, he would enjoy his books and hoped someone would bring him a new one to read before his lost his mind

“Hey Squirt! I heard some good news on my way in here about you.”

Anders winced at the nickname he wished Mike would forget. Glancing over, he noticed his duffle bag hanging from Mike’s shoulder and Ty and Olaf standing right behind him. Pulling the blanket back up to his shoulder, he went back to staring out the window. It didn’t even faze him when one of the three Johnson men sighed.

“I wouldn’t get too comfortable like that.” Ty stated sitting down and taking the hand with the cast on it in his own. He sat down between his older brother and the window, praying to get him to acknowledge them. He tried to give the injured man his space, just being there for him when he was ready to talk, but this was starting to get beyond annoying. “We’re taking you home as soon as the doctor comes in to check you out. Do you want to go home?”

“Yes.” It was the most they’d gotten out of him since he woke up. Every time they visited, he seemed to withdrawal more and more into himself. From what his parents said, the only people he talked to was Mitchell and his shrink.

“I know you’d rather have Mitchell here to bring you home,” Ty commented as he brushed one a curled lock off Anders' forehead.  There was a knot of guilt at having forgotten how curly his brother’s hair could get if left to grow out.  “Would you mind if it we took you home?  If you want Mitchell, I can call him and get him here.”

“You are fine.”  A soft whisper was all he could muster for his little brother.  Mitchell was his safety and he needed to try to bring others into his comfort zone.  It wasn’t any of their faults that their dad did this to him.  “Where’s Axl?”

He listened to Mike tell him how he managed to get the two youngest siblings to help Mitchell in the final preparations of the apartment. Then Ty pulled out a small stack of envelopes from the duffle. Shivering at the sudden cold in the room, Anders wrapped the blankets tighter around his shoulders as he looked at them.

“Where did you get those?”

“Mitchell gave them to us. Said you never stopped writing us, even after you stopped looking.” Mike commented, taking the chair on the other side of the bed while Olaf stood at the end. Anders’ couldn’t help but notice the slight guilty look in the bald man’s eyes, remembering when his mother told him this man was actually his grandfather. “Do you remember what happened on your twenty-first?”

“Bragi,” he whispered, never taking his eyes off Olaf. The remorse he saw in his grandfather’s eyes deepened at the thought of him remembering that he raised the monster that did this to him. He would never blame this man for the things his son did. It was obvious that the man was deranged. Here was the man who would take them to the ocean when their parents started fighting.

Part of him listened as Mike explained who they were and what powers they received. When he spoke about Ty being the god of all things cold, he couldn’t stop himself from looking at him. “Is that why it’s so cold in here?”

“Sorry about that. I tend to not realize that I’m doing it when I get emotional.”

“Because of me?” He watched his little brother squirm in his seat. “None of this is your guy’s fault. Johan did a number on me that I need to work out on my own. He is the only one to blame for the things done to me. I…I just…I need time to work this out for myself.”

“We’re here for you if you need us.” The blond watched as his grandfather walked towards the bed. “Is it alright if I hug you?”

“Five broken and still not healed ribs, probably not the best idea to hug me right now.”

Chapter Text

Anders watched as his family bustled around the condo Mitchell discovered while he was stuck in the hospital. Thinking back on the last 24 hours, he felt he could take a bit of pride in what he achieved. Not only did he manage to not have a breakdown of epic proportions, but also met his new neighbor, Dawn and put up with his brother making googly eyes at her. Now he watched everyone from his place on the new couch his mother obviously picked out. Thea had insisted that they celebrate his birthday now that he was home with a traditional Jacobson dinner. The only thing still bugging him was the tarp-covered wall that Mitchell promised would be explained to him later that night.

Snuggling into the squishy couch, trying to doze off for a bit, he wondered what god and goddess his two youngest siblings would become.  Summer was a ray of sunshine, always there with a smile and a bright eagerness to get others to grin.  Axl, on the other hand, seemed to have inherited their parents’ temper and could be a little clueless sometimes.  Well, we’ll know in a few years, he thought as he fiddled with the book in his lap, dozing off to the sound of everyone working. 

Mitchell watched his lover fall asleep on the couch, the book in his lap now forgotten.  Moving over, he fixed the blanket over Anders’ lap before heading back into their little kitchen.  He couldn’t help the smile that crept onto his face when he reached in his pocket to toy with the box tucked neatly away.  They were now free to live their lives the way they saw fit.  Mike, Thea, and Seamus all gave him permission to ask the blond.  Now he just needed the perfect time.

He watched Ty decorate the cake as Thea and Summer fixed a simple rice and chicken dish.  Moving to set the table, he tried to keep as quiet as possible.  In the back of his mind, he played with the idea of eating in the living room to keep everyone comfortable.  He chuckled softly thinking that before Anders, he never would've had to play host.  Now he stood there worried that eating in the living room wouldn't be possible.

Working with Mike and Axl for the next thirty minutes, the three managed to get everything ready without waking the healing man.  Sitting next to Anders, he leaned in to blow right on the top edge of his ear.  He laughed as he watched his boyfriend squirmed in his sleep.  Propping himself against the back of the couch, he blew again on the same spot.  This time he watched as the blonde’s head and shoulder tried to come together.

“Nooo,” Anders softly whined as he put his hand over his ear.  “Why do you have to do that?”

“Sorry handsome, but dinner is served.”  Mitchell leaned over and took the two plates Seamus brought over.  “Come on, let’s get some food in you.”

“Not hungry, just wanna sleep.” 

Mitchell snickered as he watched the other man try to bury himself deeper in the couch to get away from being awake.  This was normal most of the time when he woke up, especially from a simple nap, and he would go back to sleep if allowed.  Bringing his mouth a breath away from Anders’ ear, he whispered that if he woke up now, it would be worth it later that night.

“No,” he grumbled, leaning his head onto Mitchell’s shoulder.  “Sleepy.”

Mitchell chuckled to himself, realizing that the anti-depressants prescribed to Anders were making him tired.  He knew the perfect thing to wake his dozy boyfriend up.  If anything would wake him up it would be the smell of his mom’s cooking.  Lifting up one of the plates that Seamus brought over to him, he held it under his lover’s nose.

“You play dirty.”

He couldn’t help the snicker that escaped while everyone ate.  The shaking in his hands and the fact that he kept trying to curl into a tight ball still worried Mitchell.  There were too many people in the room for the blonde’s liking.  The hospital limited the number of visitors to three or four people at a time.  Now, with eight other people in their small apartment, he was counting down the minutes until he needed to kick them out.

When Anders’ eyes started to droop, Mitchell knew it was time to start wrapping things up.  Glancing around the room, he noticed everyone finishing up while Karen and Summer started collecting the plates.  From the worried look on the younger woman, he knew she silently agreed to move things along.  Leaning into the blond to ask if he was done, the question never got the chance to leave his lips as Anders simply stated he was full. 

Mitchell prompted Thea to get the rest of the night done with as quickly as possible so he could get his lover to bed.  She got the injured man to agree to open the gifts they got him for if they moved it along as fast as possible so he could get back to sleep.

His stomach was starting to tie into knots with the amount of people in the room with them, but Anders kept reminding himself that he was safe with them.  He opened each gift as people handed them to him.  From his oldest brother, he received a gorgeous handmade cane to help while his leg recovered.  From his aunt, grandfather, and parents, he received some of the books he’d been eyeing for a while.  Ever practical, Ty gave him a stunning leather-bound journal with a simple Celtic knot embossed in the cover. 

“Summer and I, with a lot of help from everyone here, got you a little something to help you out.”  Axl stated as he walked over to where the tarp was hanging on the wall.  Mitchell stood on the other end, ready to help bring the blue monstrosity down.  Summer took that moment to curl up on the couch next to Anders with his arm wrapped around her. 

“When the shrink said that you were suffering from PTSD, we did a lot of research to see if there was something we could do to help.  Found out that what’s behind the tarp is a great way of calming your nerves when you get anxious.  Everyone helped out in some way, so this is technically from everyone, not just Summer and me.”               

Anders only stared when they removed the tarp from its place on the wall, revealing a beautifully placed fish tank in a small cubby.  He barely heard his sister explaining what everyone did for the gift as he tried to stop the knots in his stomach from starting back up.  The anxiety that started building earlier that evening started creeping back fast in the last few moments until he felt like all he wanted to do was to run away.  While he knew it was a gift in the best intentions, knowing that cared enough about him to do something like this, didn’t help stop the anxiety of his family knowing what happened to him.  Looking at Mitchell, he pleaded for him to get him out of the room.  It shouldn’t have surprised him that everyone in the room was worried when the tears started falling and Mitchell rushed to hold him.

“Too much.”  The whisper was barely audible to the brunet, but the pain and nervousness were clear as rain. 

He curled into his boyfriend when he felt himself lifted up and carried out of the room.  The moment they made it onto the bed, the dam of tears burst open.  Everything was hitting him too fast for him to process.  All he wanted was time way from the world.  Time alone to think, to sleep, to heal, and maybe to decide if staying was worth it.  The two sat in relative silence with Anders’ sobbing the only sound in the room.  When the tears subsided and his body relaxed, he stared at the wall.

“Could you ask the others to leave?” The question left his lips as Mitchell helped to get him comfortable on the bed.  “I don’t think I can handle any more socializing tonight.”

While the vampire saw his family out, the teacher tried to hear their conversation as he fought back the tears.  He listened to the muffled goodbyes, with some shouted ones mixed in from the two youngest, from everyone before his lover returned to their room.  His long slender body leaned almost seductively against the doorframe.  In the back of his mind he wondered if the man knew how dangerous his body could be to people’s libido.

“Have you told them about Johan yet?”

Shaking his head as he watched Mitchell move over to sit next to him on their bed, Anders curled as best as he could into his lover.  Someone tried to break his tormentor out of jail, and no matter how much it scared him, he needed to keep on living his life.  He couldn’t rely on others to keep him safe and protected.  He did that once and the man still got to him.

“When the time is right, I’ll tell them about that and the issue with my eyes.”  Mitchell had been on his case for over two weeks about that.  There wasn’t any need to worry about it right now.  “Can we not talk about the bad stuff?”

Mitchell sniggered as he brought Anders in closer to him.  Maybe with how closely they snuggled together, it was the perfect time to ask him.  He grabbed a tissue from the nightstand to wipe off a few tears from the blonde’s face before pulling out the box.

“You know, I haven’t given you my gift yet, right?”  He couldn’t stop the smile as Anders simply nodded and stared, a little confused at him.  “You know you are the most important person in my life, right?” 

“I think you more than proved that during the last month or so.  What’s up?”

“The day your mom introduced us, she knew that we needed each other.” He murmured, nuzzling into his lover’s ear.  “Since we’ve been together, you’ve made me such a better person.  You made me feel human again.  While I still have to drink blood, you made me drink less and not kill.”

It was taking everything in his power to not back out of this, but feeling Anders relaxing into him there was no way he would.  “When you are able to wear this, I want the world to know that you are mine, and I am yours.  I want them to know that we love each other more than anyone else.”

Popping the box open, he stared into the injured man’s eyes.  “I guess what I’m asking is…um…will you marry me?”

He watched as a hand touched the smoothness of the Koa wood inlay trapped inside a simple silver ring.  “Yes, I will be your husband.”

Chapter Text

The shower spray hit squarely on his back as he stood there.  Even after eight months of recovery, his muscles still tended to freeze up.  What was even worse, were the random panic attacks and muscle spasms in his leg.  Doctor Greyhame now suspected that he’d never have a time when he wouldn’t need the cane his brother made him.  At least his vision wasn’t getting any worse.

Closing his eyes, he thought back on the last six months at work.  The first month was easily the worst, since the whole school heard what he’d been through and how his students made sure to do nothing that would trigger one of his anxiety attacks.  The school insisted that he have another teacher in the classroom with him until he could prove he could make it through a week of work without some medical issue popping up.  Slowly he worked his way back into being in crowds, but still tried to avoid his families as much as possible.

Now that school was out, it was a big week for both the Johnson and Jacobson families.  A few days before, his youngest brother and sister finished their schooling.  Soon they would soon be off to university with Summer going for an art degree, while Axl would be following in Mike’s footsteps to become a carpenter.  The day prior, they all celebrated Christmas together. 

He leaned his head against the shower wall, a small smile touching his lip, knowing that today was the day he and Mitchell would legally become family.  He didn’t even want to think about the call from Captain Reynolds about Johan.  Escaped or not, today was his wedding day and nothing would ruin it.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he never noticed Mitchell coming into the shower.  A soft moan escaped his lips when a lean body molded itself against his.  He bit his lip hard as his fiancé’s lubed fingers worked him open up.  His head fell back on his lover’s shoulder while his other arm pulled the blond to him.  The lips on his neck did little to distract him from the pain growing in his leg.  Anders’ gasps filled the stall as those magical fingers pulled out of him and were replaced by a cock, slowly sliding in and out.

“Fuck!  Mitchell, my leg!  Bench, please!”

“Of course, my love.”  He knew that Anders’ leg was reaching its breaking point after he forgot his cane the day before.  Pulling out, he laid Anders down on the bench; his lover’s back resting on the warm wet tiles with legs spread wide, he leaned over him before sliding back into him.  While one hand stroked the cock between the two, the other massaged his lover’s left leg to prevent a spasm.

“You are so beautiful when you are under me like this.”  Leaning in and nibbling on his fiancé’s neck as his hips rolled into the blond’s body.  The feel of fingers clawing at his back as the man he’d be marrying in just a few hours tried to thrust back into him.

“FUCK!”

“You are so fucking beautiful.”  He whispered as he ran his hand over smooth pale skin.  His thumb brushed over a few scars before leaning down and kissing them, trying his best to drive away the nightmares of almost the last nine months.  Even with the therapy, it would be a long time before he could move on from that week.  He moved his lips over Anders’ shoulder, keeping his thrusts sweet and gentle, not believing his luck on how his life turned out.  “My beautiful pale Norse god.  You are all mine until the end of time.”

“My gorgeous vampire.  FUCK!  I’m so fucking close!  OH GOD!  RIGHT THERE!”  The god growled arching his back and his hands went for the vampire’s hair.

Mitchell winced at the strength of Anders’ fingers as they pulled his hair.  He knew that the squirming body under him wanted it fast and hard.  Keeping his thrusts angled just right, he moved faster as his hand kept stroking the hard cock between them.  He loved the way the smaller man writhed when he was this close.  Just a few more strokes and the blond bit off a scream as his release covered his chest and after a few more thrusts Mitchell was pouring himself into Anders. 

“Oh yes!”

Keeping his arms straight, Mitchell fell over and avoided landing on the small man under him.  “Let’s get cleaned up before your mom gets here.”

“What do you mean my mom is coming over?”

“Kinda why I came in here.” Mitchell blurted out, embarrassed that his soon-to-be husband’s perfect ass sidetracked him from his original intention.  “I sort of got distracted.  She should be here any minute.”

“Fuck!  We have to hurry!  That woman does not like to be kept waiting.”

Mitchell stood there watching the other man attempt, and fail repeatedly, to stand on his left leg before giving up.  Noticing the pleading look on the other’s face, he started cleaning them both up before picking his lover up and moving him into the bedroom after getting them both wrapped up towels.  Laying Anders out on the bed, they started working on his physical therapy to get his leg working enough that he could at least stand for the ceremony.

“Is there something I can do to help?”  Thea’s voice questioned from the doorway.  She really needed to remember to knock, but since the door was already open, she came right in.  Walking in on her son and his lover almost naked was something no mother should see.      

Taking a drag from his cigarette, the middle-aged man watched the couple exchanging vows from the safety of the passenger seat of the car.  The last few days were a blur between his escape, the injuries from the escape, the memory loss, and now watching the two people who had the answers he needed to figure out who he was, getting married. 

“Still not sure I understand why we can’t approach them.”

“Seeing that neither one of them is going to tell you what you want to know, nor do they trust you in any way, shape, or form.  Just follow our orders to observe them, learn everything we can about them, and when the time comes, then you can approach them.  Not one moment before.  Do you understand?”

He stared at the driver, Kemp he said his name was, before nodding.  Glancing back, he watched as the two men kissed passionately.  Something drew his hatred mainly towards the blond, though he couldn’t stand either one.  That one man was responsible for taking something from him and he would pay dearly for it.  If only he could remember what that thing was.

Anders beamed with pride as his husband danced with his maternal grandmother.  On the other side of the field, his youngest brother attempted to flirt with Summer.  Pity he was failing big time.  Glancing around, he watched Olaf, Mike, and Ty talk to the rest of the Jacobson clan.  He sat there, a married man, watching both of his families gathered together and enjoying themselves.

Sipping his beer, his mind wandered back to the ceremony that just finished.  He mainly thought back to the vows they just made.  Closing his eyes, he let his mind linger over the simple words they exchanged, that told of promises to work through every obstacle they faced together.  Time passed as thoughts of the future danced in his brain.

“Let’s go home.” Mitchell whispered softly into his husband’s ear.  “I want you naked, begging for me, and I want it now.”

“As you wish.” Anders smiled before they said their good byes.