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Someone unfamiliar turning up at the apartment was something that Gavin was still a little jumpy about, but since the night where Nines had taken him out to the nightclub and helped him truly experience something outside the walls of their home, he was getting a little better. Things were starting to become easier, even if bad days and moments still struck Gavin out of the blue.
He went rigid when the vibration came through his phone that someone was at the door, but there was another right with it, of an incoming text message. Gavin’s eyes widened when he spied the sender and a quick look at the camera outside confirmed that the timing was by no means accidental.
Are you going to let me in, baby brother?
Breathing hard, Gavin pulled open the door to see Elijah standing there, body locked in forced composure that crumbled as soon as their eyes met. Eli? he mouthed, stunned at seeing his older brother on his doorstep, even if Elijah had done a good job of disguising himself - wearing his glasses, stubble growing and with his long hair in a very loose ponytail. It was just like how he remembered his brother from when they were teenagers, so unlike the persona he’d adopted since coming back into the limelight following the revolution…
Gavin was shocked that Elijah had risked being recognised in coming to see him.
“I’m so sorry it took me this long to come, Gavin, I…” Realising that they were still in a public space, Elijah’s eyes flitted to beyond the door. “May I come in?”
Twigging that he’d left Elijah in the hallway, Gavin stepped aside and closed the door after his brother as soon as the older man was inside. Barely two seconds had gone by when Gavin found himself wrapped in a tight embrace, and he could feel Elijah trembling slightly. This wasn’t anything like he’d expected from his normally so composed brother.
Elijah pulled back and made sure Gavin was looking at him as he spoke again. “I only got back into the country yesterday, Chloe didn’t tell me about your accident until after we’d landed. When she said that you’d been left deaf...I didn’t know how I would find you,” he admitted, eyes falling to the floor. Gavin looked at Elijah in surprise, he’d known that his older brother had said he was going to be gone for months as he negotiated with other countries over the allowed entry and potential risks to adding an android population. So how did-
How did she find out? I never told her, he signed back.
Brief embarrassment flitted across Elijah’s face. “I set up a program years ago to alert me for anything involving your name which appeared online. The news article that ran three days after it happened flagged on the system, but once Chloe realised that you were unharmed save for the loss of your hearing, she decided not to tell me until we were somewhere more private than another country.
“As angry as I was with her yesterday, I know now that she was right to do so. There was no way I could have flown out subtly without someone making the connection that I’d left for an important reason, and, well...You know how the media makes a point of hounding me if it gets wind of a potential story. It would have exposed everything.”
It was true. Back when he’d first applied to the police academy, Gavin had asked Elijah to make sure that all official records confirming that they were related should be buried, to ensure that no-one save those they trusted would ever know they were brothers. Not out of shame or jealousy, or any other negative emotion...Gavin had just wanted to forge his own life beyond being known as Elijah Kamski’s younger half-brother. Plus, their family business was their own, Gavin resented that the media would have turned his life upside down if it had ever learned the truth.
What it had robbed him of was more time with Elijah, the two of them could only meet on very rare occasions, even if they spoke frequently - though that often became via instant messaging while Elijah was away on business. It had been over two years since the pair had seen each other face-to-face until the revolution. They’d now met twice since, once to introduce Nines to Gavin and the other time when Elijah found out that the pair were now together.
Gavin missed it, he’d always been fiercely close with Elijah despite their unusual parentage.
People had always assumed when he was growing up that the reason Gavin didn’t look like his dad was because his mother had slept with another man. They weren’t to know that both his and Elijah’s parents had been close friends for years: that when Elijah’s parents had found out their friends couldn’t conceive because Gavin’s father was infertile, they’d offered to help them have a child. Having a little family of six between them was their cherished secret, and the two half-brothers had grown up together as best friends before finally being told the truth when they were ten.
It had only made them closer, and they’d been adamant about doing everything together until Elijah’s success with androids began to take over their lives. That theft of Elijah from Gavin’s life had been what gave birth to his very misguided hatred towards androids, only growing worse as it soon became apparent that the androids his brother had given life to might someday rob him of his own livelihood. He’d never blamed Elijah, but he did blame his creations and the system which had decided to use them for convenience’s sake.
Gavin often wished for the carefree days of when they were kids, the simpler times. Especially now, on the days where he was lonely and spent time lost in his memories.
As he sighed, he gave Elijah a bitter smile. She was right in what she did, don’t be mad at her. I’m just glad you’re here now, Gavin told him, to which Elijah’s eyes filled with tears.
“I just wish I’d been here when it first happened, I would have enjoyed making the man that did this to you disappear.”
Gavin snorted darkly. Hank and Connor already beat you to that one. It still felt slightly strange to mix mouthing names silently with signing, but Gavin knew Elijah could keep up. His brother was a genius and had been the one to teach Gavin ASL all those years ago when Gavin had stated his interest in learning it.
“Hmmm, my respect for those two keeps growing. It’s good to know that you have so many friends looking out for you,” Elijah told him with a smile. His attention then turned down to the cat meowing adamantly at his feet, and he picked her up with an impressed smile. “Well, hello to you too, Midget. Have you been taking good care of my brother?” he asked her.
Are you kidding? She’s like an extra shadow now, she’s never far. She’s… Gavin’s eyes misted as he pressed his hand into the cat’s fur, to which Midget gave him a loving lick. They have kept me going.
Elijah understood perfectly who ‘they’ meant. It was at times like this that he was so grateful Connor had told him about finding Nines unfinished in the remains of CyberLife, sabotaged so that their greatest creation could never come alive. Restoring that android and introducing him to Gavin was one of Elijah’s best ever decisions. “While I may have come here to see you and Midget, Gavin, I actually wondered if I could borrow you for the day?”
Gavin’s eyes widened. You want to go somewhere?
“I do, and I know exactly where. I promise to tell Nines where we are so he can join us later. Come with me?”
He nodded enthusiastically. Spending time with his older brother sounded great.
There were lots of things about Elijah that he’d made sure the public would never learn about. One was his somewhat complicated family history. He didn’t want anyone to go diving into that and causing his loved ones distress, since they would no doubt be hounded. Another was that so many of his professional decisions were based around his personal life.
He’d built androids originally to make sure that his family was comfortable enough to live without fear of money or well-being ever again. Once the company began to spiral out of his control, he’d left it to spend his time on things that he wanted to. Learning new languages, enjoying the company of his deviant and non-deviant Chloes, challenging his intellect, spending time with his parents, pseudo-parents and brother…
Of course Gavin was the one person that hadn’t wanted to take the ‘simple’ option when Elijah had offered him everything. Gavin had always been independent - Elijah was convinced that it had developed to compete with his intellect, Gavin was adamant that he could keep up under his own speed - and nothing changed as they got older. He’d been quietly disappointed since Gavin’s job as a first responder was inherently dangerous, but the offer had always been there. Anything Gavin ever wanted, Elijah would give it to him. He only needed to ask.
Elijah hated that, for once, he couldn’t give Gavin his wish. It was something currently beyond him, and the guilt burned something wretched. One of his few comforts in his frenetic world was that he could do anything and everything for his family. Having that snatched away because of something so cruel to strike his brother and best friend was something he was still coming to terms with.
But he was determined to do something to bring a spark back to Gavin. Seeing him so subdued and withdrawn was heartbreaking, unlike the fiery and stubborn man he’d always known Gavin to be. True, it was still early days, but he wanted his brother back.
Maybe this could do the trick.
Gavin’s eyes widened when he realised where they were headed, and Elijah gave him a small smile as he let the autonomous car take them on to their destination. “I know we haven’t been to the cabin in years, but this felt like a good time. Would you object to Chloe walking across to join us?”
No, it would be good to see her, Gavin signed back. How much does she know?
“You’ll have to ask her that one yourself, I am afraid. I’m unsure, I must admit I didn’t think to ask once she said that you were now deaf and had been for over two months…” Elijah sighed from the driver’s seat. “I’ll have to apologise to her, I behaved appallingly.”
A small snort came from the passenger seat. She knows both of us, and knows we’re a pair of assholes. She’s not one to hold a grudge, and she’s aware that you’ll have been shocked by the news.
“Perhaps, but an apology is still a priority. Maybe I can persuade her to find our father’s strawberry gateau recipe and make one for us?”
You’re going all out on memory lane today. The small smile on Gavin’s face confirmed that he was appreciative of it, however.
Just before they reached the start of the drive for Elijah’s mansion, the car pulled to a halt so that Elijah could jump out to pull away some shrubbery which concealed another road leading off to another side of the lake. Gavin watched him and shook his head fondly, finding the effort his brother put into concealing their childhood hideaway warming. He even choked back a laugh when Elijah got back into the car with a twig stuck in his hair, and made no effort to point it out.
Gavin tried to subtly take a photo of it, and thought he’d got away with it until Elijah smirked and plucked the branch out with a wink. The bastard had known all along it was there.
Another few minutes later saw the car come a final stop outside a log cabin, a couple of miles down the shoreline of the coast from where Elijah had built his home. It was hidden away from anyone who looked from the mansion, but still part of the land he owned so that no-one could touch it. Free from all the technology and modernisation of their daily lives, it felt very much like a step back in time. Gavin beamed as he got out of the car, his brother exactly the same. “Come on, Gavin, let’s see whether we’ve got any unwanted tenants,” Elijah told him.
If there’s another raccoon, you can chase it out this time. I’m not getting bitten again.
Elijah sighed dramatically. “Fine, so long as you agree to take care of any spiders.”
Oh how the world would laugh if they knew that Elijah Kamski ran screaming from even tiny spiders, Gavin teased while ending with flipping off his brother.
“Brat,” Elijah snickered as he led them inside. There were no raccoons, but there was a rather large spider web over one of the windows, complete with giant tree spider.
The embarrassment of Elijah’s screech at finding it was well worth heaving Gavin double over in raucous laughter. It was such a welcome sound when his brother made barely any now.
Once they’d cleared the cabin out of invading wildlife, Elijah got the old-fashioned generator going outside as Gavin cleared away a lot of the dust covering the furniture. He ripped away all the plastic sheets on the sofas and blew away the thick layer covering the coffee table in the living room, smiling as he found a deck of cards left exactly as it had been the last time they were here…
He paused when he realised that would have been seven years ago. Had time really gone so fast?
Elijah came back inside and took time to study what Gavin had found. He smiled ruefully at remembering the reason they’d had to so abruptly leave everything - his grandfather had very suddenly fallen ill. Life had just never really given either of them a break since then, and they’d only been at the cabin for three hours before they’d had to abandon it all.
It was good to get the chance to make new memories now.
Stepping up to press a hand to his brother’s shoulder, Elijah waited until Gavin was facing him before speaking. “Why don’t you dig around and see if the old PlayStation is still working? I’ll get in touch with Chloe and see if she’s willing to come down.”
Gavin did find their old PlayStation 6 (the last decent one they’d agreed, even if another 4 had come out since) and set about plugging it into the television while Elijah was on the phone to Chloe. By the time she came down an hour later with all the ingredients for Elijah’s request, she’d found them playing shoving each other on the sofa as they played a racing game.
She smiled while sending a still to Nines with a small message.
Take your time in getting here, Nines. Gavin is in good hands.
It was only another four minutes before she sent another, Elijah scowling at Gavin as the younger one flipped him off with both hands and a smug grin on his face. Elijah might be a genius and a world-revered icon, but that didn’t mean it stopped him from being trounced by his younger sibling at a video game. Chloe’s smile grew at Nines’ response.
I’ve not seen him like that since the incident. I wondered if it would ever come back.
Sometimes it helps to forget the world and focus on the simpler things; Elijah and Gavin are not your typical siblings. Will you be joining us for dinner?
Actually, I’ll be there a lot sooner, but I want to surprise Gavin.
You don’t have to rush if you’re busy.
I know, but I want to see him this relaxed and happy in reality, rather than just a picture. I’ve missed him like this.
It was only another half an hour when Nines knocked on the door, greeting Chloe with a nod before his eyes widened, hearing loud laughter that he’d wondered if he would ever have the joy of listening to again. She just gave him a knowing smile and guided Nines to the kitchen, allowing him to watch Gavin roar in laughter at Elijah failing miserably at their next choice of game, a fighting one this time. “How am I worse at this now than I was twelve years ago?” he sighed in aggravation, only just realising that there was another person in the cabin now.
Because I’m always going to trounce your ass at games, Eli. One of the facts of life, Gavin taunted back, laughing when Elijah took a leaf out of his book and stuck a middle finger up at him. Wow, you must be grumpy if you’re swearing.
Elijah didn’t say anything about Nines’ presence, spying that the RK900 was simply overjoyed to see Gavin so content in the mirror above the television. He wondered how long it would take Gavin to notice.
As it was, it took another hour, by which point they’d moved on from video games to card games. Chloe had since finished making the gateau and it was chilling in the fridge, while she’d started preparing some hot food. Gavin’s nose quickly picked up the notes of curry and he put his hand down, ready to go over and pester Chloe about which one she was making when he abruptly froze on the spot, only now realising that Nines had been there.
Nines’ smile was so tender and loving that Gavin melted when the android brought him in for a hug in greeting. “Hello, Gavin. You’ve had a good day,” Nines told him softly as they pulled apart, leaving a brief kiss on his cheek.
Why didn’t you say you were here? Gavin asked him, more curious than anything.
“Because you needed a day with your brother. I get the pleasure of your company every day, this is an unfortunate rarity for the two of you. Simply getting to watch you so comfortable is enough for me.”
Gavin shook his head with a slight eye roll. How do you manage to be so sappy and it just makes me love you more? Nines winked at him before allowing Gavin to go over and converse with Chloe.
This was a perfect atmosphere for Gavin, he could communicate with everyone here however he wanted. Elijah, Chloe and Nines all knew sign, they could all lip read (though Nines still refused to read silent words save names) and they all knew him . It was the most normal he’d felt since his world went eternally silent.
Nines left him to it and came to sit next to Elijah, the older brother watching Gavin animatedly sign to Chloe as they got speaking about the curry she was making. Unlike everyone else, Chloe signed back to Gavin because it gave him more practice and she helped him correct some of his inaccuracies. He still didn’t sign to that many people and preferred to use the tablet if he could with anyone save Nines, so he was a little rusty even now. It was entertaining seeing Chloe tease Gavin and wind him up to make his gestures even more wild.
“Thank you, Nines.” The RK900 turned away from watching the pair in the kitchen to focus on Elijah. “When Chloe told me that Gavin had gone deaf, I was terrified for how I would find my brother. As much as he is loud and brash, he’s actually a very quiet soul inside. I couldn’t help but fear that this would shatter him and leave behind only a shell of who he was. Imagine my joy today in seeing that Gavin is still himself, even if the bright sparks of his personality are a little dulled.”
“You don’t have to thank me, Elijah,” Nines told him sincerely. “I held the same fears, but Gavin has surprised all of us, even himself I think. He’s still nowhere ready to face the world on his own just yet, but he’s finding his place in it again.”
“Still, if either of your ever need anything, please do not hesitate to contact me. I know Gavin will never ask me, even now, he still has that stubborn streak, but you might be a little more sensible.”
Nines chuckled and was about to dismiss the suggestion with gratitude, but then something hit him. “Actually, there might be something that you can help myself, Connor and Hank with.” Elijah turned to him interest, safe in the knowledge that Gavin couldn’t overhear them. There was no sense in getting his hopes up if their plan couldn’t come to fruition - not that Elijah was going to stop until every avenue had been pursued in making it come to pass.
Dinner was comfortable, even if the conversation was a little slower as they made sure Gavin could keep up, and it was nightfall before they were all preparing to head away. Nines was standing by the car with a gentle smile as he watched the two brothers bid farewell for now.
“Gavin, I promise you, I won’t stop searching for a way to give you back your hearing. I refuse to believe that of all the things for there to be that I cannot solve, it would be how to gift you this one sense back.”
Surprised and touched by the gesture, Gavin shook his head at his brother. Aren’t you busy enough already? he signed slowly.
“I’d put it all on the back burner to make this work for you. The one thing you’ve ever asked me for was to give you the space to live your life as you saw fit, and this is something that is robbing you of that. I want to make sure you get your wish.”
Gavin bit his lip before signing his response. I don’t need to hear everything again. Even if you just gave me a way to hear Nines again for a second, it would be enough. I miss that more than anything in the world.
Elijah gave him an understanding smile. “Then I’ll find a way to make it happen.”
You’re not a god, Eli, despite your best efforts.
“Hah! Watch me let this win,” he smirked in response. “Stay in contact, all right? I want to make sure you’re alright.”
Turning back to look at the selfless android waiting for him by the car, Gavin gave Nines a smile before spinning back to his brother. I’ve got Nines. He’ll make sure I’m all good.
“Gavin...we need to do this again. This escape, I think we both need it from time to time.”
You mean you miss having someone knock that ego of yours down a few pegs.
Elijah sighed while running his hand down his face. “Not where I was going with that, but it’ll do.”
The two of them shared a last smile and hug before Gavin walked away to meet Nines, the android leaning down to give him a welcoming kiss. “Did you enjoy your day, my love?” he asked while rubbing his hand down Gavin’s arm.
Yeah, it was great. How about you?
“It was brightened the second I heard your laughter. I want to hear it more often.”
Gavin blushed before hugging him to hide the slowly spreading red on his cheeks. He had the feeling his family were going to make a point of eliciting it more now that they knew he could laugh.
And in all honesty, Gavin was looking forward to it. Maybe there would be more good days than bad soon.