Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Coming back to Earth hadn’t been the easiest thing, for any of them really. Lovelace had gone off on a bit of a trip, with money she had somehow acquired. They were all technically dead according to legal records (thank you for that Cutter) which made it extremely hard for any of them to have a place to live when they first landed, but they had managed. Minkowski had gone to see her husband and luckily she had hidden some money away from the advanced paycheck that Goddard had given her when she was hired. She had convinced her husband, after a bit of coaxing and proving that she wasn't a ghost or a hallucination, to let everyone stay in the house for a few days, until she could get them identities. It was a bit of a ride but they managed, and had actually found a nice house to rent that was just a subway ride from downtown.

Minkowski hadn't intended to move in with everyone else at first, them being Doug, Hera and Lovelace, if she ever came back. Her plans had changed rather quickly though. Her husband, after grieving for as long as he had, was starting to develop feelings for his secretary, the woman who had answered the phone when Minkowski had called from the Hephaestus. Every time he looked at her, it was a mixture of guilt and betrayal and sadness, and Minkowski knew she couldn't do this to him. The way he spoke about the secretary, he seemed… happy, and that was all Renée wanted.

Her husband hadn't wanted to let her go though. He spouted something about how he wanted to go back to the way things were, how he could let the secretary go, but there was pain in those words as well. Renée knew, she could read him like a book, which was ultimately why she decided to leave. She had left her new address for her… well not her husband anymore, and he had her new phone number. They wouldn't be entirely disconnected but she didn't want to stand in the way of his happiness. So off she went, knocking on Doug and Hera’s door softly late one evening.

“What.. Commander? What are you doing here with all those bags?” Hera’s voice came through the speaker in the doorway.

“Nice to see you too Hera,” Minkowski responded, her voice soft and genuine but also exhausted, as though she had been on her feet for the days straight with no sleep.

From inside the house, she heard Hera calling to Doug over the PA system, shortly before there was a shuffle at the door and the click of a latch being unhooked.

“Renée, it's nice to see you. Is everything... okay?” Doug was hesitant with his words. Everything was most definitely not okay but Minkowski needed someone to take care of who wouldn't look at her with such sad eyes.

“Yes Doug, everything's fine. Do you mind if I stay here with you for a bit?” The last question was subconsciously directed to both him and Hera, which was of course why Hera felt it appropriate to respond to Minkowski before the words were even fully out of her mouth.

“Of course it is Commander,” her electronic voice responded eagerly. Her voice wasn't as clear and crisp as it had been on the Hephaestus, but there was only so much they could do when it came to a pre-installed home-speaker-and-security system.

Doug picked up the larger of Minkowski’s bags, reminding her of just how different Doug and Eiffel were. Eiffel would have razzed her and made her carry her own bags inside, even if it took her half an hour. Doug just helped without saying a word, and he even offered a dazzling smile while he did it. No matter how different the two people were, their eyes never changed, and somehow that comforted her. The same blue-green eyes shone out from under curly brown bangs that definitely needed a trim, maybe along with the rest of his mop that he called hair.

She felt safe, comfortable, and for a moment she almost forgot the events of earlier that day.

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And just like that, everything began falling into place with their little makeshift family. Minkowski did most of the cooking, Hera had a Roomba that she controlled to clean the floors, and Doug cleaned the rest of the house.

He happened to be very good at doing laundry, and even running the dishwasher, that is after the first time he had accidentally put regular dish soap in in place of the detergent. Minkowski had gone out to do a bit of shopping and she had come back to a floor that was covered with bubbles, Hera laughing and giving not so helpful suggestions to Doug, who was trying to mop up to mess before Minkowski came home. He had apologized profusely, his face bright red with embarrassment when she walked in the door. Minkowski couldn’t hold it against him; he had just been trying to help. Hera had shut off the dishwasher already, so no terrible damage was done, but Doug insisted on washing the dishes by had that night and refused to get near the dishwasher for the next few days, until Mikowski forced him to learn how to use it properly.

Doug had gotten a job. It was nothing too difficult, just a stock person at a grocery store nearby, but it got him out of the house and it meant he got to bring home any vegetables that needed to be sold. The grocery store was a small, privately owned one, and they didn’t question the fact that Doug had no prior work experience; they took him under their wing as if he were family, and for that everyone was grateful.

Hera kept watch over the house when no one was home, but this wasn’t often. Doug only worked part time, and for the most part he was gone in the afternoons. Minkowski worked morning shifts and weekends, but she didn’t go out of her way for her job. Spending time with the others was the most important thing. When Hera was alone, she would play music over the speakers or watch the tv. She had gotten into daytime television and also felt the need to update Doug and Minkowski on what had happened that day when they all sat down for dinner.

Minkowski worked at a shooting range, giving lessons to those who wanted to learn how to shoot properly. She had had to fake some paperwork to get that position, but it hadn’t been too difficult to prove herself considering her background in the Air Force. She enjoyed it as much as she could, but mainly she taught those that came to her proper handling and engrained into them that they were never to turn the force onto another person. She had caused enough death to last her ten lifetimes.

Dinner was always eaten together and was a time to talk and share about the day. It was freeing to have people to talk to who understood. Doug, on his way home from space, had listened to all the logs he had recorded, as well as some things Hera had in the archives of her computers. He knew what had happened up there, and sometimes, he would have flashes of things he thought he remembered, but they would be gone just as quickly as they had come.

Similarly, there were moments when Doug would remind Minkowski so much of Eiffel that she would slip up and misname him. The first time it happened, Doug had been taking forever in the shower, something he did regularly on the Hephaestus, and Mikowski had banged on the door yelling out, “Eiffel, you have thirty seconds to get your ass out of that bathroom or else!” Time seemed to freeze in that moment, only the sound of the shower could be heard throughout the house, before the water was shut off and Doug made his way out of the bathroom.

Minkowski couldn’t look him in the eye, and simply went about getting ready for work. When she came out to eat breakfast, Doug was smiling and burning some eggs on the stove. Upon noticing her, he pulled her into a hug, not long, but just enough for her to understand he wasn’t upset; and he wasn’t. He was happy. He wanted so badly to be the person that they knew, but that wasn’t possible, but Renee being comfortable enough to refer to him the way she used to made him hopeful.

After dinner, they would sit down and watch tv together, usually whatever happened to be on the movie network, but every time Star Wars was on, they had an unspoken agreement that they would watch it. No one complained.

At first when they would watch tv, Doug would sit as far as he could on the couch from Renee as still as possible, worrying that he would do something wrong, something his past self would do. Slowly though, he inched closer to her, until one night when they were watching Empire Strikes Back, Doug started to nod off, and his head fell on Renee’s shoulder. Minkowski wasn’t too shocked when this happened, but she figured he couldn’t be comfortable. With some minor adjusting, and some grumbling from Doug’s part, his head ended up in her lap, his legs up on the couch in a half curled up position, while Renee ran her fingers through his hair.

From that night forward, this was the position that they would end up in every night. Some nights when Doug was fast asleep, Renee wouldn’t wake him to get him to move to his bed. She would cover him with a blanket and place a kiss on his forehead, wishing him the sweetest dreams, because he deserved them.

Chapter Text

Days turned into weeks, then weeks into months and before long, they had been back for over half a year. Mikowski had moved in within a month of them hitting solid ground, making her original request to stay for “a bit” more like moving in permanently. She hardly seemed to notice, and wasn’t about to bring it up when she did. Being with them had let her shove everything to the deepest recesses of her mind.

Doug noticed, but he also didn’t say a word. He had felt lost for so long after coming back, but Renee had been helping him with that. He wouldn’t say anything to her but he liked having someone around who knew who he had been but didn’t try to make him what he wasn’t. Hera was wonderful, but she couldn’t stroke his hair while they watched TV and whisper to him when he woke from a night terror, hardly able to remember anything about himself or what had scared him so damn much.

The house they lived in was small, but there were two decently sized bedrooms that had each come furnished with queen size beds. When Minkowski moved in, she had taken the master bedroom, with an en suite bath and bay window. She had asked Doug why he hadn’t taken that one, but she was just met with a shrug and a half smile.

It was one of those days shortly following the half year mark that Doug had come home with something small and shivering in his arms. He looked frantic as he yelled out for Renee. Doug was too busy trying to warm the shivering blob in his arms to follow up with his yelling, so Hera had taken it upon herself to call Minkowski out from the basement, the panic in Eiffel’s voice concerning her.

“What happened Doug?” Minkowski called as she came up the stairs from the basement. He was huddled over the blob now, talking softly to it until he hear her voice.

“Renee, oh my god. Someone. They just. And I couldn’t just leave it there!”

“Eiffel you’re not making any sense.”

She walked toward him, seeing a lump of blankets on the reclining chair, a small grey leg sticking out where she could see it. The closer she got, the easier it was to make out the face of a small dog, shaking like a leaf with its eyes closed.

Doug was having a meltdown as he hopelessly tried to fix the blankets, water dripping from his mop of hair that was getting to be due for a trim. Renee only then noticed the puddle that was starting on the floor. She shook her head, pulling him up to his feet.

“Alright you can fill me in on the story later. First, go run a warm bath. Take the puppy with you and warm up, both of you.” She said it like an order as she shuffled them towards the bathroom.

“He’s a cute one,” Hera said, the virtual smile coming through her words.

“The puppy? All puppies are cute Hera,” Minkowski responded, though she couldn’t help but agree.

“No, I meant officer Eiffel. He’s so concerned. It’s cute.”

“I… guess? Could you order dinner for us? And keep an eye on Doug. I’m going to go out and grab some dog food before the stores close.”

“Are we keeping it?”

“For now, we can’t let it starve. I’ll be back in no more than a half hour, if he asks.”

“Understood Commander.”

Hera ordered from their favourite pizza place since the order was saved in her system already. It always made them happy when they ordered from there. One time, Doug had even tried to describe the smell of pizza to her, not that she would understand what he was referring to. It had made her circuits buzz with the closest feeling of happiness that she could feel.

“Officer Eiffel, where did you find the puppy?”

“Hera! I’m in the bathroom, it feels like you’re watching me when you do that. We’ve had this conversation.”

“I’m sorry, I was just curious. Besides, you know there are no cameras in the bathrooms.”

“Not the point,” he sounded calmer and Hera couldn’t pick up his teeth clattering together while he talked, which she took as a sign that he was warming up. “Someone left him by a dumpster near work, taped into a box that was soaked right through. I heard him whining so I went over to look and I panicked and brought him home. He was so cold.”

“You were having a panic attack,” she said, just stating a fact, but she was still trying to process.

“Yes, that’s why I’m glad you and Renee were here.”

Hera “hmmm”ed over the speakers. If she had a body, she would have nodded.

“Commander Minkowski will be back soon. She went to get some food for him, and I ordered pizza which should be here in twenty-three minutes.”

Hera was also glad that the commander had been home. The last time Eiffel had a panic attack, she hadn’t known what to do to help.

But that was in the past. Now, it seemed that they may just have a new addition to the family.

Chapter Text

Life went back to normal, or as normal as it could get with a new puppy around. They had at least settled on some semblance of a routine. Renee would wake up extra early and take the pup out for a walk before the rest of the house started to stir for the day. Then Doug would be up about a half hour after Renee left for work, often roused by the little furball whining because he couldn’t jump up onto the bed with him. Doug would feed him, bringing home the dented cans of food that he got at a discounted rate because of his job, and play with him a little before it was time for him to head off to work in the afternoon. Hera had convinced the two of them to buy some robotic toys so she could play with him while the two of them were away, though that amounted to throwing treats out for him to catch, and might be the reason why he was getting chubby.

Hera wasn’t about to admit it to the others, but she loved having him running around. Sometimes she would project her voice from other rooms to get him riled up. It reminded her of the station, where she was never alone. She hadn’t realized she had missed that until he had come into their lives.

“Doug! Come and get your dog!” Renee called, her voice reflecting her annoyance at the little past, who had taken one of her shoes and decided it would make a great chew toy, never mind the fact that the shoe was nearly twice as big as him.

Doug came barreling down the hallway from the back of the house with a faux-angry look on his face.

“What have I told you about eating shoes mister?” He said, in a tone that was clearly adoring but scornful. The pup just looked up at Doug with large eyes and whimpered.

“Is Renee not giving you enough attention?” He stage-whispered, which earned him a scowl and a robotic giggle.

“Have you still refused to name him?” Renee said, knowing that there was nothing she could do but find somewhere else to put her shoes.

“I can’t find anything that fits honestly. Nothing feels… right.” He said with a sigh, removing the shoe from the dogs teeth and picking him up.

“What about Spot? Or Buddy?” Hera supplied. She had been looking up dog names on the internet. She needed something to call the puppy when the other two were away. She had actually tried a few, but he had just tilted his head to the side in a confused sort of way.

“No, those feel overdone. There are three people at the store who have dogs with those names.”

“Doug, you really do need to pick something. Are there any names you’ve been looking at? Maybe something you just like the sound of?” Renee tried to be helpful, but Doug had clammed up. His entire body language had changed to closed off and protective of the bundle in his arms, who was unsuccessfully trying to squirm his way out. “What is it?”

Renee knew him better than anyone. Honestly, there was a name he had been considering for the dog. He had even started using it in the privacy of his room late at night when the others were powered off or asleep.

“Doug.” Her tone was inquisitive and had yet to reach Captain-status, but he didn’t like it when she got that way with him; it reminded him just a little too much of the past memories he no longer had.

“I don’t think you’ll like it. I should look for something else.”

“I’m sure we’ll love it Eiffel. Come on!” Hera’s voice was cheery, but he wasn’t sure it would stay that way if he told them.

Without his memories, he wasn’t sure how they were going to react. He hated not remembering. He hated the glaring black voids in his mind where everything belonged. If he reached out, it was like he could make out a faint outline of where everything was but he couldn’t make anything out. It was like a hazy dream that you could just barely remember, and then it was gone again, just as soon as you try to take hold.

He took a seat at the breakfast nook, depositing the puppy on the floor to roam around again. If they didn’t like it, he could just change it. What did it matter? Apart from the fact that the name felt right. He just wished he could remember what it was that was so important about the previous bearer of this name.

“If you don’t love it, just tell me. It doesn’t matter,” he said out loud this time, trying to convince himself more than tell them. “I think the name that fits him is Maxwell. I don’t know why, but sometimes things come floating back and that name was one of those things.”

The whirring of the fridge felt thunderous in the silence that followed. Hera didn’t say a word and Renee was trying to school her features into something neutral. Maxwell felt the tension in the room too, dropping to the floor with his muzzle on his paws, his eyes watching the rest of them.

Hera was the one to break the silence. “I like it.” Her tone didn’t sound so convinced.

“Hera…” Minkowski trailed off, leaving the unspoken question floating there.

“It’s okay, Commander. I really do like it.” Her voice sounded more sure this time. Doug was lost, but smiling, thankful that he hadn’t screwed up their relationship, at least not entirely.

“Let’s have lunch and then Hera and I can tell you the story about his namesake. Does that sound alright to you?” Renee posed the question to Doug, who nodded, always eager to hear about the time on the ship from someone other than “himself,” though it was Hera’s choice in the end, and she knew that.

“I’ll start preheating the oven. There’s a lasagna in the freezer.” Hera informed them, and just like that, all the tension dissipated and they fell into their routine, with the added event of sharing Alana Maxwell’s story.