Chapter Text
Calliope McTeer had spent two long years in juvenile detention. She was expecting another eight years to follow. To have stone walls separating her from the ocean she craved every day she was there.
It was raining, droplets catching on the glass just beyond the bars in her window. Time moved so slowly on days like this. The rain seemed to pause even, catching in the air and sparkling in the silver light just coming from behind the clouds.
“McTeer!”
Cal blinked, and the rain crashed down. She shook her head and turned to the door, eying the guard.
“Classification testing day.”
Cal sighed. She’d been dreading this day. The moment she turned sixteen (which had been celebrated with a battered card from her brother and silence from her mother, par for the course) she knew the day was coming up. The other girls were watching her like a hawk. Waiting. She’d gotten a reputation quickly enough, for being a girl you didn’t mess with. She learned to fight, and fight dirty, if that’s what it took.
If she classed Domme, she’d be back here with the others in gen pop. She wasn’t sure what happened to subs, but the neutrals and the switches tended to come back too. Cal’d been a bit too wrapped up in her own misery to care about anyone else.
Abandoned by her mother, father missing and presumed dead--yeah, that was a lot for a teenager.
Well, and the whole arson and manslaughter thing.
And her mother having talked her into committing the arson and manslaughter. And...it was a lot.
She stood up, slipped on her shoes and waited for the guard to open the door and beckon her out. Cal walked out of the cell, following the directions to the Dynamic Services office. Cal’s palms always sweat when she got near it. She knew what she’d class as. At least, she was pretty sure. And it was only going to make things harder.
And she didn't want harder. She wanted to be intimidating. She wanted to just get through the next eight years without any real trouble. She wanted--more than anything--to go home.
The guard didn’t follow her into the office. It was a safe space, supposedly. Filled with soft furniture and painted a soothing color. Not much like the oatmeal walls of the rest of the facility. The Dynamic Affairs rep was a no nonsense woman called Ms. O’Leary, a Domme. She wasn’t mean or anything, but she definitely didn’t have time for shenanigans of any kind.
“Miss McTeer, please take a seat.”
Cal eyed the plush chair being pointed at and sat. It was the most comfortable thing she’d sat on in ages.
“Let’s begin.”
Cal sighed and let the inevitable descend upon her.
***
Auggie McTeer had taken over his father’s business almost the day after he died. And he’d been working to change it since. He didn’t like working with Tidelanders anymore than he had to, and something about Adrielle Cuthbert raised his hackles. Drug smuggling had been lucrative for his family, but he wanted something better. Better for his sister.
It was still smuggling, but selling the pearls and shipwreck relics the Tidelanders passed to him weighed a lot less on his shoulders than drugs. It was even more lucrative in some ways. There were buyers out there for those pieces that wouldn’t touch drugs.
A better class of buyers in many ways, and a bit less dangerous. His boys didn’t care what they were selling, so long as they could pay their rent.
They’d picked up a shipment the night previous, and Auggie had fallen asleep on the living room couch almost the moment he’d gotten back in, in the wee hours of the morning. But the high pitched ringing of his phone had him falling onto the floor with a half awake groan, scrambling for his phone and swearing under his breath.
“McTeer,” he answered gruffly.
“This is the Queensland Dynamic Affairs department, calling on behalf of Calliope McTeer.”
Auggie blinked, rubbing sleep gunk from his eyes and trying to wake up. “Is she okay?”
“She’s fine. It’s department policy to inform the registered guardian of all submissives when they class while incarcerated.”
“Cal classed as submissive.” He blinked again. He couldn’t imagine his little firecracker sister submitting to anyone. Then again, he knew a lot of pretty firey subs.
“That’s correct, and per guidelines, we’ll be inspecting your residence within the next week to ensure it is a safe environment prior to her release.”
“You’re releasing her?” Auggie felt like he was in a cave, for all the echoing he was doing.
“That’s correct. All cases of submissives are reviewed upon classification and investigators uncovered a mistake in the autopsy. Your sister was mostly certainly guilty of arson, but not manslaughter. The DAD therefore petitioned on her behalf. So long as your home and guardianship are deemed suitable, we’ll be releasing her into your care within the month.”
Auggie blinked and would later remember saying something affirmative before hanging up. He stared at the far wall for a long moment.
“Mum is going to flip.”
***
Auggie called in reinforcements to get the house ready before the inspectors visit. Cal’s room had been kept up near the same as it was when she was dragged out of the house two years ago. He always remembered that day. How scared she was. How much she screamed.
How their mother just watched, and said nothing.
He’d inherited the house and the boat, Cal got half, and he’d held it in trust for her. Their mother had left Orphelin Bay, for the best really. If she didn’t want Cal, he’d take over. She was family. His only family left, really.
The house was cleaner than it had been in weeks, the front steps repaired and he’d gotten all of the guns stashed at Colton’s house. The inspection was nerve wracking, but the DAD rep eventually made a sniff in satisfaction and passed him.
He thought he’d have a heart attack.
“All right, Mr. McTeer, you can pick up your sister from the Gold Coast holding center on Friday.”
Three days. Three days and he could bring her home. “Fantastic.”
“We’ll be following up at the two week mark, and then again in two months, six months, there’s a whole schedule here.”
Auggie accepted the paperwork. “Thank you.”
“Good day then.”
Auggie nodded, watching the man leave before turning to Colton, who’d come for support. “She’s coming home.”
“Yeah, and you’re going to have your hands full.” Colton shook his head. “She’s gonna have to go back to school.”
“I know.”
“And you’ve never been a guardian before.”
“I know.” Auggie raked a hand through his curls. “I know. But--she’s my sister.”
“And we’ll all be here for you.” Colton clapped him on the shoulder.
“Thanks.”
Auggie was going to need all the help he could get.
***
Cal stared out the window at the ocean. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen it. It was a memory fuzzed out by death and anger.
Everything had happened so quickly. The second investigation. Being a sub. Getting released into Auggie’s care. Today, today she was finally going home. She wasn’t sure what to expect. She wasn’t sure what Auggie was going to expect from her. How their dynamic would change.
Things between them were already different. How much more different would it get?
And she was angry. So angry. Someone had framed her for manslaughter, what else was she supposed to feel?
At least, for the first time in years, she wasn’t wearing a prison uniform. The jeans and t-shirt weren’t hers, she didn’t fit into her old clothes, she’d grown too much. At least there was food in the waiting room, she appreciated that.
She fussed with the bracelet she’d been given. A plain bit of stainless steel that had a pressure mechanism and her name engraved on the surface with a small s next to it. She spun it around her wrist with a sigh.
Knock knock.
Cal looked up and toward the door, now open, where Auggie was standing, a smile on his face.
“Auggie!” She leapt out of her chair and rushed forward, wrapping her arms around him.
Auggie returned the hug, lifting her off her feet with a soft grunt of exertion. “You got big, bug.”
“I missed you,” Cal whispered into his chest.
“I missed you too.” He kissed the top of her head, smoothing her curls. “You ready to go home?”
“Hell. Yes.”
Auggie grinned.
“Hey, Cal.” Colton waved from the hallway.
“Colton.” She took a step back from Auggie and waved back. “You got taller.”
“Thanks.”
“All right, Mr. McTeer,” The DAD rep who was also in the hallway nodded. “You can take Calliope home. We’ll see you in two weeks.”
“Got it. Thanks again. Come on Cal, I suspect we need to go shopping on the way home. Unless you want to be wearing my hand-me downs.” He gave her a measured look. “Three, four inches?”
“Five,” she replied with more than a touch of sass.
“Wow.” He put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “Let’s go.”
Cal could only smile. Finally, finally, she was going home.
And then, she was going to find out who framed her. Find out why her mum hated her and get revenge.
Sweet, sweet revenge.
***
“Wow, the house looks great.” Cal looked around, setting a few shopping bags on the couch. “Doing well for yourself?”
“Pretty well,” Auggie replied. “I got your room cleaned up a bit, all your things are still in there. Figure you can go through it as you like.”
“Thanks.”
“And I got food,” Colton added. “Because your brother doesn’t eat at home, ever.”
“Thanks, Colton.” Cal smiled. “Anything will be better than prison food.”
“I bet.” Colton set down his own haul of shopping bags. “If you want to shower or whatever, I’ll get some food made.”
“Yes,” Cal exclaimed. She’d missed showering without someone monitoring her.
“And then we should go through all the rules,” Auggie said, slightly tentative. “From the paperwork and, you know, house rules and stuff.”
Cal bit her lip before nodding. “Yeah, sure.” She grabbed a couple bags. “Towels still in the same place?”
“Sure are.”
“Great.” She bounded up the stairs, leaving Colton and Auggie alone amongst a sea of shopping bags.
“She’s going to hate having rules,” Colton guessed. “I mean, she just got out of prison, she’s gonna want to raise a little hell.”
“I talked to one of the councilors about it,” Auggie said. He had a card and a number to call whenever he needed to. If he needed to. He was hoping to figure it all out on his own. He even bought some books. “I just have to set boundaries and enforce those boundaries. She’ll settle down...eventually.”
Colton snorted. “Good luck with that.”
“Thanks,” Auggie muttered.
Meanwhile, Cal was eying her only slightly changed room. She tossed bags on the bed and dragged out new underwear, a sports bra, shirt and sweats, before grabbing a towel and heading for the shower.
The water made her feel more like herself. She wanted to head to the beach as soon as she could, or just head to the jetty behind the house and dip her toes in the water. She washed the scent of industrial soap off her, reveling in the peachy scent of the soap she’d found in the shower. Given how new it was, she suspected Auggie had bought with her in mind.
Clean, hair damp, she padded downstairs to find Colton in the kitchen and Auggie at the kitchen table with paperwork all around him.
“Feeling better?” Auggie asked.
“Nice to not smell like hospital soap.”
“I bet.” He nodded at the chair next to him.
Cal bit her lip and sat down, kicking her feet a bit.
“So...you classed as submissive.”
“You didn’t.” Cal noted Auggie’s necklace, a long black leather strand holding a silver tag stamped with a stylized D.
“Turned out for the best though, seeing how it means you got to come home.”
“Yeah.” She nodded. “I’m happy to be home.”
Auggie smiled. “I’m happy you’re home too.”
Cal took a deep breath. “So...what are the rules?”
“Pretty basic stuff here.” He gestured at the papers. “I have to set a curfew and you aren’t allowed to drink or smoke. No breaking the law. That sort of thing.”
“Oh.”
“Curfew will be eleven on weekends, and ten on school nights.” He pushed a piece of paper toward her. “I filled it all in here, so we’ll put it on the fridge.” The counselor had suggested posting the rules to make transitioning easier for Cal. Auggie would take all of the suggestions he could get. “You’ve got some time before the new term, and we’ll take it slow. Okay?”
“Okay.” Cal frowned. “You know...school isn’t just going to be easy. Everyone. Everyone is going to say things. You know they will.”
“We’ll handle it,” Auggie put a hand on hers. “I won’t let anyone hurt my sister.”
Cal’s stomach fluttered a little. She wasn’t used to this. It was strange how quickly you could forget how it felt to have someone comfort you.
“Other rules,” Auggie went on. “You aren’t allowed to buy gasoline, or have matches or lighters in your room until you turn eighteen. Which means you can’t drive until you turn eighteen.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Sorry, Cal. Part of the release agreement.”
She sighed. “So I have to what, walk around?”
“You’re bike is still in the garage,” Auggie said. “And I’ll take you whenever I can.” Auggie had a feeling this was going to be an issue at some point. “And you can’t drive the boats.”
Cal rolled her eyes. “Fine.”
“You aren’t allowed to leave the bay without me or another adult guardian. That’s up for review in six months, if you’re settling well, they might relax it. It’s a bit like parole.”
“Figures they still want to put strings on me.”
“I know, it sucks, but it sucks less than you being in prison, right?”
“Yeah.” Cal nodded. “It’s better than prison.”
“Just keep that in mind, okay? I don’t have a lot of rules for the house. You know there’s a gun in the house, I don’t want you anywhere near it. I know Dad taught you to shoot, but that’s a no go from me, clear?”
“Clear.”
“Good. One other thing, you steer well clear of the Devil’s Tail.”
Cal frowned. “Why would I even want to go there?” It was well known as the Bay’s worst bar.
“Mum bought it.”
She sucked in a sharp breath, fists clenching. “Oh.”
“I’m just warning you, I know you’re pissed at her. You have good reason. But stay away, okay?”
Cal chewed on her lip, staring at the table.
“Calliope.”
She startled slightly. “Okay.”
“Dinner,” Colton said. “Hope everyone likes fish.”
“It’s gonna be okay,” Auggie promised. “You’ll see Cal.”
Yeah. Everything would be okay.
Once she figured out who framed her. And maybe burned down her mum’s new bar. Or something. Something that wouldn’t land her back in prison.
Or if it could, she had to make sure she didn’t get caught this time.
Auggie or no, she wasn’t going to let this go.