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Chapter Text

July 28, 2015 - LaGrange, New York

A hot, dry wind ruffled the crunchy grass in the graveyard. She pulled the sun hat farther down her face to shade her eyes, hugging her knees as she sat on the sunbaked earth. She reached out and traced the carved words and numbers on the gravestone: Amelia Grant Hackett, born 6/10/1971, died 7/28/1999

"Beloved mother, mate, and friend," Lily Gagnon whispered softly. "I miss you, Mel." She closed her eyes and pressed her face into her knees, rocking slowly. Sixteen years and it still felt like it had happened yesterday. Or maybe three weeks ago. On the last full moon. 

She could hear the footsteps crunching in the grass and on the gravel. She knew them too well to mistake them for anyone else. He put one hand on her shoulder, squeezed gently. "Can I sit?" Travis Hackett asked in a low voice.

"Please."

Slowly, he sat down beside her facing the opposite way, his back to Mel's grave and his hip against hers. "Knew I'd find you here."

"Nice to know I'm still reliable."

Travis leaned back slightly to grin at her, squinting in the brilliant sunlight. "Or predictable."

Lily hooded her eyes with a smirk and swatted gently at his face. "Dick."

"You know you..." Travis trailed off and looked away instead of finishing the playful thought.

"I do, you know," she whispered. Travis looked back, eyebrows raised. "Love you."

He closed his eyes and nodded slowly. "I know. I love you, too. Never stopped." He shifted and put one arm around her waist, pulling her closer as she leaned to put her head on his shoulder. Lily hugged his arm. "Do you think things would have been different? If... if it hadn't happened?"

"Probably not," Lily whispered. "She's still your mother."

Travis let out a soft, ironic huff that rocked his body slightly, not quite a laugh. "Lily, look at me." She lifted her head and met his eyes. "I love you," he whispered. "I always have. And I always will." She smiled slightly and met his lips when he leaned forward to kiss her. 

The police radio clipped to his shoulder squawked briefly and Travis sighed. He reached up to press the button and said, "Yeah?"

"Need you," Bobby's voice replied. "Dad's got ducks."

Travis pinched his eyes closed, clenched his jaw slightly. He started to open his mouth to speak, but Lily touched his face and drew his attention back. "Go," she whispered. "It's okay. They need you." Pain flashed in Travis's eyes as he searched her gaze. "It's okay," she repeated.

"Remember," he whispered and kissed her again. "I always will."

"I know," she smiled back. As he stood up, she held onto his hand, lingering until he stepped away.

"Copy," he said into his radio, already walking away. "On my way."

Chapter Text

August 8th, 1989 - LaGrange, New York

A paper flyer slammed against the window beside Lily Gagnon's head and she jumped. She glared as the flyer slid down slowly to reveal Chris Hackett's grinning face. "Tonight!" he yelled at her through the glass. "C'mon, it'll be fun!" 

With a sigh, Lily pulled up the window and gave him a long glare. "I have to work tonight, Chris. So does Travis."

"They've been here since July," he said with a pleading tone in his voice and Lily tried not to smile. Dating Chris's older brother for the last two years had landed her in a de facto older sister relationship. It was quite the new experience from her usual little sister position with her own brother, Jason. "You promised we'd go."

"Travis promised," Lily replied. "I'm just the wheels."

"This weekend, then," Chris said. He pulled the flyer down off the window and slid it across to her. "Please, Lily. Mel's got Friday off. We'll make it a whole thing. Dinner and a show!"

"Dinner and a freak show," Lily said skeptically and Chris nodded enthusiastically. "Why does this surprise me?" she sighed, raising her palms to the sky. "Okay. I'll talk to Travis and see what we can figure out. I think he's scheduled night shift all week, though."

Chris darted through the window to kiss her cheek and Lily sighed and shoved him back out. "You're a saint," he grinned at her.

"I know." Lily waved her hands. "Shoo! Before I get in trouble!" She rolled her eyes as he darted off down the street, narrowly avoiding getting hit by a car. "I don't know how that boy is still breathing." She pulled down the window again and returned to the stack of filing she had been working on. She knew she was lucky to have an office with a window at the newspaper. It was something of a mixed blessing, given her relationship with the outside. 

The flyer Chris had been waving at her fluttered down from the windowsill and Lily reached to retrieve it. "Harum-Scarum," it read and advertised a myriad adventure of ghastly delights, very much something the older Hackett boys would enjoy. Really, it was something Lily would enjoy, too. She happened to share Travis's love of horror movies and Chris's fascination with the macabre. She had been just as excited as Chris to see the show a month ago, but that had been before she'd landed the job at the paper. Now, she spent most of her time filing and archiving and running errands for the reporters, leaving her utterly exhausted by the end of the day and ready to curl up with a bag of Cheetos and a late-night movie. 

Thankfully, she tended to spend those late-night movies snuggled up next to Travis.  His official mailing address was still his parents' house near Hackett Quarry, but he spent far more time with her. He spent three or four nights a week in her apartment. The only exceptions were nights he was scheduled to work night-shift with the sheriff. Hank Howell, the currently elected sheriff of North Kill had hired Travis as an assistant almost a year ago and deputized him three weeks ago. He had been hinting at a promotion for most of six months and Lily knew Travis had his eyes on that prize above everything else. 

As excited as she was for Travis to achieve that particular dream, she worried about him. She never had managed to wrap her head around his reasons for wanting to pursue policework, but she supported him anyway. Lily knew how to handle a gun but it still bothered her to see the service pistol hanging in its holster beside the door. It dangled there like a reminder of the potential risk Travis was running just by being employed. She really did not want to attend another funeral this year.

Lily shook her head to throw off the dismal thoughts and refocused herself on the filing. She only had another three hours before she could pack up and head home. She could bring up Chris's hopes for a double-date when Travis came home in the morning.

"Home," she said to herself and smiled. Home was where Travis was. She'd known that the first time she'd kissed him. His kisses said the same: she was home. Neither of them could imagine a better place to be than together.

Chris lingered near the door while his girlfriend finished locking up the McDonalds. Mel had gotten a job flipping burgers the summer after their junior year and in 16 months had moved up to assistant manager. He was proud of her in general and more than delighted to help her eat the discounted food her perks included. When she finished, she stood on her toes to kiss him. "All done."

"Lily's going to try to talk Travis into going this weekend," he told her, kissing her back. They fell into step crossing the parking lot toward his battered pick-up. 

"If Lily brings it up, he'll say yes," Mel said. "Haven't heard him tell her 'no' yet."

"Yeah, that just happens when we're not around," chuckled Chris. 

"I suppose if he didn't tell her 'no' once in a while, they'd have kids by now."

Chris snorted. "Lily's on birth control, no doubt about it. There's no way she'd risk it." He paused as Mel climbed into the passenger seat. "Why are neither of us questioning whether or not they're having sex?"

"Because neither of them has imploded in the last two years," Mel replied cheerfully and pulled her door shut. "There was no way they weren't going to go there once there wasn't a risk of jail time."

"Good point." Chris started the truck and pulled out onto the main road. "I guess it does make sense, since they're practically living together."

"Does he ever come home?"

Chris shook his head. "Not that I've seen. If he does, he sleeps on the couch or in the tree house."

"How long since he's talked to your dad?"

"Not sure." Chris gave her a wry smile. "I talked to him last week which is better than when he was in school."

Mel grinned and leaned her head against the side of the open window. "I'm glad I got to go with you to his graduation. That was fun."

"I'm glad you could, too. Were you fast enough with the camera to catch them?"

"Yeah, I think I got two."

Chris laughed. "I thought Ma was going to blast off into space. She was so pissed that was the first time she heard about Lily."

Mel laughed with him, but they both sobered quickly. "I wish it had stayed funny," Mel sighed. "She's really shooting herself in the foot."

"I know." Chris signaled and turned into Mel's driveway. "But she's always going to find some reason to be mad at Travis. That's just how she is."

Mel slid out of the truck, then walked around to the driver's side, stood on her toes and kissed him. "Maybe Travis will grow a spine and stand up to her."

Chris let out a long sigh, resting his arm on the window edge and his chin on the back of his arm. "Maybe. Wish he didn't have to."

"Me, too." Mel leaned up to kiss him again. "Love you. See you tomorrow?"

"You're going in at three, right?"

"Yup."

"I'll be here. Love you, too." Chris watched as Mel flitted up the driveway, waved to him once more and then vanished inside her parents' house. All of them had taken to referring to the houses they had grown up in as their parents' houses. None of them were home anymore. 

He knew Travis hated calling the Hackett house home. That hatred had been there for a long time, but it had only grown since his graduation and Constance's open denigration of Lily. Their relationship had evaporated in a puff of acidic smoke the moment Lily had rushed down the stands to kiss the newly graduated Travis. They had agreed not to take their courtship public until after they were both graduated but apparently Constance hadn't appreciated being kept out of the loop for so long. Words like "slut" and "shame" and "eternal suffering" had been thrown around, most of them aimed directly at Lily as excuses for why she wasn't good enough for Constance's oldest son. 

It bothered him, but there was more to it than just being the last to know. Constance had known who Lily was, known her brother and her mother's names. When Chris had asked her why, she had clammed up and forbade Jedediah to discuss it. It was something about Lily and her family personally that got under Constance's skin. Chris hated not knowing why.

Chris's truck bounced roughly over the boundary between the main road and the Hacketts' privately maintained driveway. It needed another layer of gravel. He didn't relish the idea of doing it with only Bobby for help. Jedediah had hurt his back a few months ago and Bobby tended to wander off rather than finishing what he started. Chris sighed as he pulled into the space behind the house. He wanted Travis's help. He wanted his brother's easy camaraderie, the dry humor he brought to everything, his focused ability to complete a job efficiently. 

Jedediah was sitting in the porch swing as Chris climbed the front steps. "How's Mel?" his father asked. 

"She's good." Chris stopped on the top step and leaned on the railing. He regarded his father for a few moments, then asked, "Why does Ma hate Lily so much?"

Jedediah gave him a sidelong look. "You know your mother doesn't want me talking about that, son."

Chris watched his face, backlit as it was by the lights from within the house. "You don't always do what Ma says, either," he said quietly. Jedediah laughed silently and leaned back in the swing, arms crossed over his chest. "Can you at least tell me why she doesn't want us to know?"

Jedediah took a long breath in, then let it out, his lips pressed together in a tight line. Chris recognized it as the same look Travis got when he was frustrated. Finally, he said, "Your mother believes certain people get what's coming to them. She just wants to make sure you boys aren't in the line of fire when it happens."

Chris stared at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means I can't rightly tell you more, now, can I?" Jedediah smiled at the annoyance in Chris's face. "I know it's not what you wanted, son, but I really can't say more. Just trust that your mother loves you and wants what's best."

Chris sighed and dragged himself back toward the front door. "If you say so."

Chapter Text

August 9th, 1989 - LaGrange, New York

Travis pulled the patrol car into a parallel space in front of Lily's apartment building, cut off the engine and let himself sit for a few minutes. He listened to the car's steady ticking as the engine cooled. He had been up all night, patrolling the far northern region of North Kill, a few miles away. It was still something of a novelty to be given an overnight solo patrol and that novelty was enough to keep him buzzing and awake. Now, though, at the end of his shift, all he wanted to do was fall asleep.

He jerked, realizing in a blur that he actually had dozed off behind the wheel, then shook himself and crawled out of the car. Lily's apartment window on the second floor was dimly lit, probably from the side lamp she usually left on for him. Travis smiled to himself, a warm sensation spreading in his chest. He was home.

Halfway up the stairs, Travis had the creeping sensation that he was being watched. He glanced up the stairs, then back down, but he appeared to be entirely alone. It seemed unlikely that someone else would be tromping around the apartment complex at two in the morning. The sensation didn't dissipate, though, and he continued on toward Lily's floor warily. 

At her apartment, he took out his key and fitted it carefully into the lock, still keeping an eye on either end of the hallway. Still, no one moved and he shrugged to himself as he shouldered the stubborn door open. A cold rill of air ran up his spine and he spun, gripping the doorframe as he tried to catch sight of the intruder. 

The hallway stood empty.

Travis let out a frustrated sigh and closed the door. Ever since he had started spending most nights at Lily's, these odd occurrences had followed them both. It made him think of the strange, ghostly woman who had shown herself in the trees outside the tree house in Septimus Lake. The fierce possessiveness in that woman's hollow eyes continued to bother him, even two years later. He hadn't seen the ghost since.

A soft sigh reached him and Travis checked over his shoulder. Lily curled on the couch, her eyes closed and her short, strawberry hair tangled into a rat's nest. Since she'd started wearing it shorter, it never seemed to obey any kind of directions, especially if she slept on it. Travis smiled at her. He worked his shoes off beside the door and hung his pistol on the coat pegs on the wall. Shrugging out of his uniform shirt, he sat down on the end of the couch near her feet, put one hand on her calf. "You should be in bed," he murmured.

"Wanted you there," she mumbled back. Lily stretched her legs across his lap and rolled onto her back to smile sleepily at him. "Besides, they were showing the Mummy movies." She gestured at the television, which was silently babbling infomercials about stain removers. "'Were' being the operative word."

Travis smiled. He found that it was hard to be anything except pleased when he found her waiting for him like this. If he had found his brother or his father waiting, he would have been annoyed, even worried. But Lily was different. "C'mere." He pulled on her arm and she willingly let him drag her into his lap, her arms draped around his shoulders and her forehead resting against his. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too," she whispered. "Whole eight hours that it's been since I saw you."

"Eternity," chuckled Travis. He ran the backs of his fingers down her cheek, rested his palm against her neck and stroked her face with his thumb. "How was work?"

"Boring," Lily murmured. "Lots of filing, lots of coffee." She paused and tilted her head thoughtfully. "Lots of your brother, too, actually."

Travis raised his eyebrows. "Which one?"

"Chris. Bobby's still not speaking to me."

"He does do what his mama says," Travis sighed. "What did Chris want?"

"Food and weirdness," Lily said with a mock sigh and Travis laughed. 

"So the usual."

"Pretty much." She tucked her face against his neck with a long sigh. "You smell like cop."

"Handy, since I am." Travis worked his fingers up the back of her neck and combed out the tangle of her hair. "Food and weirdness?"

"Right." Lily smothered a yawn and continued, "The freak show is leaving soon, apparently. He proposed a double-date this weekend. I reminded him that we're both working and he did the puppy-dog eyes."

"I hate those."

"Me, too. He's so cute and so pathetic."

"He picked it up at eight. Just wait until you do something that makes him actually whine. He's pitch-perfect." 

"Anyway, I told him I'd bring it up. So here I am, bringing it up."

Travis chuckled. "He's got you wrapped around his finger, doesn't he?"

Lily snorted. "I don't think so. But then, I've never had a little brother before."

"Yeah," Travis said and shifted so she was straddling his lap. "Definitely got you pegged. He knows he can get you to talk me into just about anything, so he goes to you first."

"Just about anything, huh?" Lily whispered with a sly grin. "I think that margin is pretty slim..."

"Pretty," he agreed softly and tilted his head to kiss her. 

Two years had not taken the edge off of kissing her. She still filled his senses, washed over him in a wave of pleasure and vibrating energy. No matter how tired he felt, he was always awake enough to kiss her. Travis let out a long, slow exhale, holding Lily close with one hand on her back and the other behind her head. Kissing her brought him home just as much as walking through her door or seeing her smile. 

After a few moderately heated moments, she broke away to grin sheepishly. "Come to bed," she whispered. "As hot as you are, I'm sure you'd rather get a shower and pass out."

"I am tired," he admitted softly, "but it's much easier to fall asleep if... that's not an issue." He arched his back a little and grinned when she closed her eyes with a soft sound in her throat. "Unless you're too tired, of course."

"You're evil," Lily mumbled against his neck. "I have to work in four hours."

"Not my fault you're working day shift."

"Dick."

"It is, yes."

Lily glared at him, amused. "I love you," she whispered and kissed him again.

"I love you, too," he whispered back. He gave her a little bounce, which made her whine again, then let her go. "I'll go shower. If you're still awake when I'm done, we'll see what we can get sorted before morning." 

"Otherwise, I'll wake you up before I leave," Lily replied with a sly grin.

"I'll look forward to it," he grinned back. She started for the bedroom and he leaned forward to smack her butt with the back of his hand. She squeaked and glared at him over her shoulder, then stuck out her tongue. "Promises," he teased. Once she was gone, he rubbed his hands over his face and sighed, glaring at his lap. "Writing checks I can't cash, are we?" he muttered and got up to head for the shower.

"Go take your break!" Mel pointed savagely at the back door to the McDonald's staff area and Doug looked at her with a mutinous lift to his chin. He was only two years younger than she was, which didn't help the power struggle. "Now, Doug."

"Bitch," he muttered as he stomped past her. 

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that," she snapped after him. With a frustrated sigh, she stepped up to the cash register to take his place. The couple who had been ordering from him looked at her in relief. "I'm sorry about that," she said to them. "He's still new. What can I get for you?"

Once the couple had ordered and moved down the line, Mel found herself staring into the very intensely brown eyes of a man about Travis's age who she could have sworn she knew. She blinked a few times before recovering. "Uh... can I... how can I help you?"

"Double cheeseburger meal, no salt on the fries please." The man's voice was familiar, too, though much lower than her brain said it should be.

It took her almost a full five minutes of packing his meal before Mel could put her finger on the connection. "You're Jason Gagnon, aren't you?"

The man blushed a rather spectacular shade of red as he accepted the bag of food. "Yeah. How'd you know?"

"I'm a friend of Lily's."

Jason looked surprised, then smiled more naturally. "She's got friends? Good. Tell her I said hi."

Mel tilted her head. "Why not tell her yourself?"

His face flushed again. "I'm not staying around long." He glanced at his watch, then collected his food. "Thanks."

Mel watched as Lily's older brother shuffled his way through the lunch crowd and moved to the soda fountain. The resemblance to his sister was uncanny. She made a mental note to tell Lily about the interaction later, then settled back into waiting on customers.

When things died down again around 2:30, Mel made her way back to the telephone and dialed the number for the newspaper. It rang twice, then Lily's familiar voice picked up: "LaGrange Gazette, Lily speaking."

"It's me," Mel said quickly. "Your brother was here."

Silence answered her at first and then Lily all but whispered, "Jason?"

"I'm assuming you've only got the one brother, right?"

Lily's voice was startled as she answered, "I mean, yes, but... he hasn't been home since he finished school. He's not at his old phone number and Peggy and I don't know where to find him. He was there? Today?"

"During the lunch rush or I would have called you earlier," said Mel. "What's up?"

"I wish I knew," Lily sighed. 

Mel chewed on her lip for a minute, then said, "Have you thought about asking Travis to check for him? If he's missing, there might be a record."

"No," Lily replied, "he's busy enough as it is without worrying about this, too. Besides, he's usually patrolling and never sees the office." She paused a beat. "And don't you worry about it, either, Mel. He'll come home when he's ready, I'm sure."

"If you say so," Mel whispered. "Look, Lil, if you ever want to talk, you know you can talk to me, right?"

Lily's voice was warm as she answered, "I know. Thank you. It means a lot. I've got to go. See you Friday night?"

"For the show? Did you get Travis to agree?"

"Not quite yet," Lily said with a grin in her tone. "We might have to start without him, but I think he'll be there eventually."

"I hope so. It'd be fun to be all together for a change."

"No kidding." A male voice in the background called for Lily and she said quickly, "Coming! Gotta go. Talk to you soon!" 

Mel smiled as she hung up the phone. Harum Scarum had been the talk of the larger LaGrangeville area all summer. Kids from North Kill to Poughkeepsie had been coming out to see the performers, both disfigured and just fantastical. The older woman who ran the show had enchanted the imaginations of the entire county; some said she was a witch, others thought she was a psychic with her tarot cards' uncanny accuracy. And the star attraction continued to be the dog-faced boy, hideous and savage. 

Mel wondered if savage was the right word. She didn't believe in magic anymore than most people did, so the stories that the boy was a werewolf didn't linger in her mind. She wondered more if he was being mistreated, caged and beaten until he was mindless with fear. The idea made her sad and she hated to contribute to the cruelty, but the excitement of those who had already gone to see Harum Scarum infected her just as much as it had Chris and Lily. 

And maybe if he was in a bad place, they could do something about it. Bringing Travis to the show might spur him to contact social services. Maybe they could change things for the better.

Chapter Text

August 11, 1989 - North Kill, New York

Lily parked her VW Beetle in the line of cars outside the roped off carnival area. She could see Chris's pick-up truck from where she was and Mel standing in the bed, craning her neck, probably watching for Travis's patrol car. He had missed out on dinner at A&W, much to Lily's disappointment, but he had promised to meet them at the carnival for the show. Lily climbed out of her car and hopped into the air, waving her arms to get Mel's attention.

"LILY HO!" shouted Mel, pointing at her.

"I AM NOT!" Lily yelled back, laughing. Chris was helping Mel down from the truck as Lily approached and she hugged her friends. "There was probably a more efficient way to do this rather than having us all drive ourselves."

"Probably," Chris agreed, "but this way, none of us have to double-back to A&W. When was Travis off?"

"He was talking about getting here by 8 if he can get away at all." Lily glanced at her watch and tried to fight the disappointment in her stomach; it was 8:14. "I guess we should probably go in without him."

"He'll make it," Mel said and hugged her. 

Behind them, a car door slammed and Travis came tumbling out of the backseat of a patrol car. He was still wearing his uniform pants and shoes but had managed to change into a t-shirt. Lily ran to meet him and they collided with a kiss that made Chris and Mel hoot and cheer. "I made it," he gasped against Lily's shoulder when they broke the kiss. "I'm sorry I'm late. I tried but there was a deer."

"I'm just happy to see you," Lily whispered back against his neck. "You missed dinner."

"Save me some fries?"

"Sorry, they were mushy by the time we left."

Travis nodded, still breathless from his backseat Superman routine. They walked over to join Chris and Mel, then waited in line for tickets into the carnival. 

Inside the roped boundaries of the carnival grounds, tents with swinging electric lanterns were the only lighting. Lily could hear the growling of a generator not far away, probably the source of the electricity. There were a few barkers outside of tents, but mostly it was surprisingly open, allowing visitors to wander in and out of the tents as they wished. Only the special attractions like the dog-faced boy and the tarot reader herself had barkers guarding the entrances for an additional fee. They roamed the sawdust and straw-strewn grounds, watching a massively burly man lifting rocks and tree stumps without breaking a sweat, a woman dancing near the center of the clearing who would have been classically beautiful if not for the long, braided beard that hung from her chin, a girl who looked about eight years old bending herself into unnerving, unnatural shapes. 

"Come and see our own pocket Houdini!" shouted a barker, startling Lily. She jumped with a small squeak and Travis grinned, pulling her into a hug. The barker winked at them and bowed over his arm, gesturing to his tent. "A quarter more for a death-defying show you won't forget."

"I'm all for defying death," Travis said cheerfully and handed over a dollar. They shoved themselves into the small tent, which appeared to only allow four visitors at a time. At the center of the tent stood several strange-looking boxes and a long table full of manacles and locks. 

They waited nervously until a short man with a snubbed nose stepped from the shadows and bowed to them. He didn't speak, but showed them one set of manacles, waving his hand to invite them to examine them. He flipped the irons around his wrists and locked them, then handed the keys to Lily before standing back. He turned away from them for barely a moment, then turned back, his hands free of the locks and the manacles still closed. They clapped and he bowed. 

"Disjointed thumb," whispered Travis. "You can see the friction marks on his wrists."

"Shh," hissed Lily. "Analyze later. Enjoy now."

"Yes, ma'am."

Four more escapes followed, each more elaborate than the last and Travis kept his mouth shut. Then, another man in a black robe with a hood over his face stepped out. He put a step stool beside one of the boxes and the short man climbed it. He slipped inside the box, demonstrated all the openings and that they could see his body through the little windows. Then, he waved a hand to his assistant, who closed the box and all the windows, then closed several padlocks onto the door he had closed. He spun the box on a rotating platform twice, then held it still and knocked on the wooden side. Someone knocked back. The man in the robe stood back and bowed like he was waiting. There was an unnerving silence in the tent, punctuated only occasionally by soft grunts and mumbles from the box. One by one, the locks fell off the top door and when they were gone, the door popped open and the little man's arms and head reappeared. He bowed to their applause.

"He's good," murmured Chris. Travis just made a thoughtful sound.

The tent flap opened abruptly and the barker leaned in. "Shut it down, Billy. Sorry, folks, we've got a problem."

"Problem?" Travis asked immediately.

"Dogboy's having a fit. He's not safe. We'll refund your admission but you've all gotta leave. Right now. Get in your cars."

"Should we call an ambulance?" asked Mel. Her eyes were worried in the dim light, but the barker shook his head.

"No doctor's gonna be able to help what's wrong with that boy."

A sharp snarl echoed through the carnival and someone screamed. The barker swore under his breath, then shoved his way into the tent. "Get down under the table," he ordered them. "Billy, back in the box. John--"

The man in the hood was already pulling out what looked like a heavy revolver. "I'm set," he said. 

Lily could see Travis's face set in determination. "I don't think so," he said quickly. "Nobody's shooting anyone, especially not a child."

The barker stared at him. "Says who?"

"Sherriff's department. If you'll forgive me, I'm off duty and my badge is in the car."

Slowly, the barker shook his head. "Unless you've got your pistol with you, Sherriff, you're not likely to do much good here. That kid won't bow to no badge."

"I'm not letting anyone shoot a child!" Travis reiterated. He strode toward the tent flap, using every inch of his height to loom over the barker. "You'll find another way to subdue him."

Another scream from the clearing followed and the barker turned away to look. He pulled a pistol from his belt and Travis growled, grabbed his wrist and disarmed him before he could turn back to look. "Brother, you're crazy," the barker gasped, then sprinted out of the tent and toward a trailer which was making up one side of the clearing. 

Travis turned back to the others. "Stay here," he ordered. "I'll find out what's going on."

"Travis," Lily gasped. "You're not--"

"I'll be fine. Just wait here."

He was gone before she could say more and Lily slammed her fist against the table in frustration. "God damn but that man doesn't listen." Mel grabbed her and dragged her under the table beside Chris and Lily made a disgusted sound. "I am not staying here just because he tells me to," she hissed at Mel. 

"You can't help," Mel insisted. "Lily--"

Lily was already on her feet and to the tent door when a gunshot had them all flattened to the sawdust. Someone out in the clearing yelped and they could all hear the crazed scrambling of feet on straw and dirt, men growling at each other and giving orders, none of which seemed to be followed. Finally, the noise subsided and Lily looked out. 

Travis stood on the edge of the clearing, still holding the barker's pistol loosely in his hand. His expression was stricken and Lily crept out until he could see her. He looked up, then dropped the pistol quickly into the straw. He hugged her tightly and Lily clung to him. "They shot him," he whispered. "I didn't think they would. I mean... like he wasn't even human."

Lily peeked over her shoulder and saw a tangle of men all piled on top of something. It took them a few moments to sort themselves out, but eventually they separated enough for her to see the body they had been restraining. Just as he came into view, the boy snarled and tried to jump up. He fell down with a pained cry like a kicked beagle that ripped at her heart; someone had clearly shot him in the leg and his blood spattered the straw of the clearing. Lily heard a gasping sob and glanced back to see that Chris and Mel had come out to investigate, too. Mel had her hands over her face and Chris held her, his own eyes haunted.

"This is just sick," whispered Travis helplessly. One of the men around the boy grabbed him by a metal collar and dragged him out of sight. "Nobody deserves to be treated like that." 

"Can't you do something?" Chris and Mel had joined them and Chris's face was streaked with tears. "Travis--"

"I can't." Travis shook his head quickly and swallowed hard. "This is outside my area. I can report it but it's not like I can arrest anyone." He gestured to the trailer which was already being quickly packed up. "They'll be gone by tomorrow morning at this rate."

"And then what?" demanded Mel, her voice broken from crying. "You report them and they just slip away into the night? This is child abuse, child endangerment. You've got to do something!"

"They could have killed him," added Chris. "You thought they did."

"I-I..."

"You did. I could see it in your face."

Travis looked ashamed, turned his face away. "What the hell am I supposed to do, Chris? I'm just limited service. I can call someone else to come out but I can't do this on my own."

"We need you folks to leave," called one of the workers. "We've got this under control."

"Like hell!" shouted Chris. "That is not control!" He stabbed his finger toward the tent where they had dragged the boy. "That is abuse!" Before Travis could grab his arm, Chris had crossed the center of the clearing and shoved one of the men. "How the hell can you treat a child like that!?"

"He's not a child!" the man yelled back and shoved Chris away. "He's every bit the monster he looks! He's dangerous!"

Mel grabbed Lily's arm and pulled her back while Travis went toward them, trying to get Chris back under control. "Lily," she hissed. "Listen. I've got an idea. If Travis won't help, we've gotta do something ourselves."

Lily looked at her in horror. "What?"

"While they're distracted," she continued, "we can get back around to the tent. Maybe we can get him out of there, let him go!"

"Mel!"

"I can't leave him here!" Mel gasped. "That poor kid! It's inhuman!"

"This is a bad idea," whispered Lily. "Mel, we should get out of here. They're all too worked up for this. You are, too. You're not thinking straight!"

Mel stared at her in despair for a moment, then she rushed into the shadows. Lily called after her, but she was gone. "Fuck," Lily muttered to herself. She craned her neck and saw that Travis had gotten more deeply entangled in the fight with the carnival workers and Chris was still enraged. "If he can't call, I will." She ducked down into the brush and scrambled toward the parking lot. 

When she found Travis's patrol car, Lily checked the door and chuckled weakly to herself; the front passenger door was unlocked. She crawled inside and turned on the radio. "Mayday," she said into the receiver quickly. "There's a problem out at the carnival! Harum Scarum, outside of North Kill. They're in Hackett's Wood."

There was a crackle in response, then a woman's voice said, "Who is this?"

Swallowing hard, she said, "I'm Lily Gagnon, Travis Hackett's girlfriend. I'm using his radio. There's a child out here being abused and he tried to stop them. Please, can you send more cars?"

The woman paused, then said, "He let you use his radio?"

"He doesn't know I'm calling. Please, hurry?"

"I'll send the sheriff right out. Honey, stay out of it if you can and try to get Hackett back on the line, would you?"

Lily nodded uselessly, then said, "I will. I'm sorry. I don't want him in trouble because I called."

"Just get him back."

"Yes, ma'am." Lily put down the radio and crawled back out of the car. Just as she had reached the edge of the clearing, something detonated into a column of fire. "Shit!" Near the back of the trailer, flames were rapidly spreading along the straw and sawdust of the clearing. Lily shouted, "Travis! Fire!"

The shout of "fire!" drove workers and guests alike out of the clearing, screaming and coughing. Lily could hear the roar of the flames, then shouting of men in the circle of tents, a scream like an injured animal. She tripped as she tried to find her way to shelter again. Feet pounded around her and she curled into a ball. A siren began to wail, coming closer and then there were more people. Someone crouched next to her, hands guiding her up and away. The fire had spread like lightning and all the tents were on fire. People were inside some of them, screaming. For a split second, she was sure one of them was Travis.

And then his hand was on the side of her face. "Lily," he gasped. "Lily, look at me. Are you okay?"

Lily made a small sound in her throat and threw her arms around his neck, clinging to him. "I thought--"

He hushed her, then looked up in surprise. "Wait, sir! No!"

Another detonation rolled over them and Travis flattened Lily into the dust between the cars, hugging her close. More people were screaming. "C'mon," Travis said. "I'm getting you out."

"Mel?" she gasped. "Chris?"

Travis shook his head. "You first. I'll go back for them."

His words seemed to shake sense back into her and Lily stared at him. "If you think I'm letting you go back in once you're out, you've got another think coming."

"But--"

"No."

Sirens around them suddenly shifted from just police to adding the wail of a fire engine. Travis looked up and hugged Lily as the crazy lights around them flashed. "We'll find them," he whispered. "They'll get out and we'll find them." And he buried his face in Lily's shoulder, holding her and whispering a prayer she couldn't quite hear.

Chapter Text

August 11, 1989 - North Kill, New York

Travis kept his head down until things started to calm down. The fire had been halted before it reached the parking lot, though a few cars had gotten baked. Lily cried most of the time he held her, but he couldn't bring himself to let her go. Finally, he heard someone call his name and he looked back. "Jared."

"Have you seen Hank?" Jared asked him. He was the sheriff's younger brother and looked like he had just come through the bloody side of a war. When Travis shook his head, Jared closed his eyes in pain. "Shit."

"I mean, I saw him going in... but that had to have been an hour ago or more."

Jared swallowed, then seemed to straighten. "Gid's holding down the fort until we find him. How are you holding up?" Only then did Jared seem to notice the girl Travis had in his arms. "Oh, excuse me, miss. I didn't see you."

"My girlfriend, Lily," Travis said quietly. He stood up and helped Lily to her feet. Jared attempted to tip a hat he wasn't wearing, looked briefly baffled and just smiled instead. "My brother and his girlfriend were here, too. I lost track of them."

"We're grouping all the survivors down by the highway turn off," Jared said, pointing. "If anyone's found them, they'll be there. I need to find Hank."

"Be careful," Travis said and Jared nodded. 

"Thanks."

Travis glanced at Lily. Her face was paler than usual and she seemed distant, distracted. "Lil? You okay?" She looked at him and nodded but it felt like she wasn't actually seeing him. "C'mon, we'll get down to where everyone else is." Travis kept one arm around her shoulder and she followed his lead in silence. About halfway to the bright lights of several ambulances in a circle, Lily wobbled, made an odd sound and dropped down to her knees. "Lily?" She coughed, spat into the grass, wiped her mouth on her wrist, all without looking toward his voice. "Lily, can you hear me?"

She still didn't answer and Travis tried to take a deep breath, desperate to hang onto the little panicked creature that was running circles inside his brain. He slipped one arm behind her shoulders, then the other behind her knees and scooped her against his chest. "It's okay," he murmured in her ear, hoping she could hear him. "We'll get you some help. I'm right here." 

At the edge of the emergency clearing, several paramedics rushed him and Travis had to back up a step. "Hold on, hold on!" he cried, still hugging her. The noise and lights stunned him just long enough that someone had taken Lily from his arms before he could protest further and another paramedic was shining a light in his eyes, talking at him rather than to him. "Wait a minute. Lily?" The man checking his eyes said something else and Travis fought down irrational anger before focusing on his words. 

"Are you hurt?"

"I'm not hurt," he finally managed to spit. "I inhaled a little smoke but it wasn't bad. She's not responding normally," he added, gesturing toward Lily. "She's my girlfriend. It's like she can't hear me."

"She's probably in shock," the paramedic said in a reassuring tone. "Don't worry, I'm sure she'll be fine in a few minutes. Everyone's a little shocky right now." He gently pushed Travis down onto a bench and checked his eyes, nose and throat quickly, then checked his pulse. "I think you're fine."

"My brother and his girlfriend were here," Travis said. "Do you know if they got back here?"

"There's a guy making a list over there," the paramedic said, pointing. "He'll know."

Travis nodded his thanks, then craned his neck to track where the other men had taken Lily. When he spotted her, he tried to make his way over, only to find himself blocked by several other emergency personnel as they rushed from one side of the clearing to another.  Frustrated, he turned toward the man his paramedic had indicated and worked around the crowd until he could find a queue. 

"Name?" the man asked him when he got to the head of the line.

"I'm Travis Hackett, two tees," he said and watched the man write his name down. "My girlfriend is Lily Gagnon." When the man looked up, he spelled her name. "Have Chris Hackett or Mel Grant come through here? I lost them in the..." he waved a hand generally back along the path to the carnival where people were still staggering out of the brush, dazed.

"Mel Grant? There's an Amelia Grant."

"That's her."

The man nodded. "She came through."

"But not Chris?" Travis could feel his heart clutching at his throat. Had he protected his girlfriend at the loss of his brother?

"Chris..." the man was scanning over the list, then said, "Ah, there he is. Yeah, Chris Hackett. One of the ambulances took him. He was injured and needed the hospital."

"Did Mel go with him?"

"I think so."

Travis nodded his thanks and began the slow, wandering way back toward where Lily was still being checked out. She looked more lucid now, wrapped in a blanket and clutching a bottle of Gatorade. When she saw him, she bolted up from the edge of the ambulance and threw herself into his arms. Travis huffed with her impact, losing his breath for more reasons than just her body hitting his. He buried his face in her hair, ignoring the smell of smoke and sawdust in favor of the tinge of her conditioner he could still detect. 

"Travis," she whispered.

"Right here."

"Mel?"

"Chris was hurt. They took him to the hospital and I think she went with him." He stroked his thumb along her jaw, coming away with a smudge of soot. "How are you? Are you okay?"

"Better," she said with a nod. "You?"

Travis just nodded and hugged her. As the paramedics walked closer again, he asked, "Can we go? Do we need to stay?"

"You can go," the paramedic said. "I don't think we need anything else from you and the cops haven't said anything about keeping people here."

"Thanks." To Lily, Travis whispered, "They probably should be holding everyone here to get statements."

"Do you want to stay?"

Travis shook his head. "I need to see if Chris is okay."

"I can follow you to the hospital." Lily wobbled when she said it and Travis looked at her skeptically. "I'm fine," she insisted. "I can drive."

"We'll come back for Betsy," he said and pulled her close again. "Besides, you never let me drive." Lily laughed weakly and Travis smiled, happy to hear the sound. 

"Where do you think they are?" Lily asked as they walked back to the carnival's parking lot. 

"Probably Vassar," Travis sighed. It was a half-hour drive from the edges of Hackett's Wood. 

When he reached to unlock the passenger door of the patrol car, Lily said, "It's unlocked."

Travis blinked and tried the handle, feeling embarrassed when it opened easily. "How did you know?"

"I used your radio to call for help." Lily's voice had gotten very small and she wouldn't look him in the eye. "I was scared."

"That's how they got here so fast." Travis sighed and kissed the top of her head. "It's okay. I might get in trouble for not securing the car but I'm glad you called. It could have been a lot worse."

Lily let herself zone out while Travis drove to Poughkeepsie. More than anything, she wanted to sleep but knew she was too keyed up for that. When they arrived at the hospital, there were still a lot of cars buzzing around and ambulances come and going. Clearly, Chris hadn't been the only one injured.

"I wonder where we go to find him," Travis said softly. They watched the imposing building for a few seconds, teeming with people.

"If the emergency room is packed, we might be better off seeing if they have an after-hours patient assistance desk," Lily offered. "I'd hate to give them more grief in the ER." Travis nodded and they walked across to the entrance of the ER. There were a lot of people inside, but the line to the triage nurse was clear. 

Before they could go inside, Lily spotted Mel standing on the curb. She grabbed Travis's arm and lifted her chin toward their friend. "If she smoked, I'd say she was getting a smoke break." 

Mel looked up and saw them just as the door opened again and Chris walked out, looking surprisingly unharmed. Travis exhaled hard when he saw his brother. His stride lengthened and he hugged Chris hard, rocking him back on his heels. "God, I was worried about you."

"Yeah, me, too," Chris chuckled, hugging him back. "It's weird, though. It's like it wasn't as bad as it looked." When Travis let him go, he stood back and gestured to himself; he was wearing a nondescript scrub shirt. "They cut my shirt off. I liked that shirt, too."

"It was a goner anyway," muttered Mel. There was something haunted in her eyes and Lily hugged her, worried. Mel tugged Lily's head down to her shoulder, then whispered, "He was bleeding, Lily. Everywhere. I've never seen so much blood. And then it just... stopped. When they checked him at the hospital, he wasn't even scratched." There was fear in her eyes when Lily jerked back in surprise. 

"What happened? Did someone stab him?"

Mel shook her head. "He got away from them into the tent with me. He picked the lock on the boy's cage. When the lock was off, that kid just... exploded out of the cage. He attacked Chris. With his nails and his teeth. He really was like an animal. It was horrible." Mel shuddered and Lily hugged her tighter again. "I thought he was going to rip his throat out and then the second generator went up and he just vanished." With a shaking breath, Mel struggled against tears. "The paramedics had to hold him down. He was screaming. I never want to hear him make that sound again."

Lily sighed and put her hand on the back of Mel's neck, tugging her friend's face to her shoulder. "It's okay," she whispered. "Everything's okay now." She looked over to where Travis and Chris were talking earnestly, their heads close together. She couldn't imagine hearing Travis scream or what it would do to her to know he was in that kind of pain. She suspected someone would have to die for causing it.

As if he felt her gaze, Travis looked over at them. The worry in his face made him look older, a shadow of the future passing over his features before he relaxed again. He met her eyes and smiled slightly, encouraging. She smiled back and rocked with Mel, who had started to weep softly, the kind of exhausted, terrified sobbing of someone nearly out of energy for crying. "We should try to get everyone home," she said.

Mel's head snapped up and she turned immediately to cling to Chris. "I don't want to go anywhere without you." Lily smiled in sympathy, glanced and Travis and saw the same fear in his eyes. None of them wanted to let the others out of their sight.

"Let's go to the tree house," said Travis. "Mel can call her folks from there and we can stop by the parking lot for Chris's truck and Betsy. It's warm enough that we won't need sleeping bags." 

"That sounds like a great idea," Chris sighed, hugging Mel. "It'd be nice to get some peace and quiet tonight."

Chapter Text

August 12, 1989 - Septimus Lake, North Kill, New York

Something about the moonlight, not quite full but still swollen with promise, kept distracting Chris. Twice during the drive from the former carnival site to the lake, Mel had to poke him to keep him from driving off the side of the road. He blamed the exhaustion and it was an easy excuse, given that it was almost two in the morning now. But he knew he was lying to her. 

It was the moon.

He parked the truck beside Travis's patrol car and Lily's crotchety old VW, got out and listened while Mel and Lily talked, listened while Travis talked, didn't take any of it in. The moon hung low over the lake, gazing down on its own twin and Chris couldn't take his eyes off it.

Absently, he scratched his chest, following the remembered lines of fire where the terrified boy had clawed him. His shoulder ached from the bite, even if the bite and the scratches were gone without so much as a scar. He still remembered seeing his own blood coursing down his chest, covering his hands, spattered across Mel's face and the terrified look in her eyes.

He could still remember the taste of his own blood on his tongue. 

"Hey," Travis said quietly and put his hand on Chris's shoulder, shaking him a little. "You okay?"

"Just tired," Chris replied automatically. He still watched the moon. 

"You wanna paddle or ride?"

Chris blinked and refocused on Travis, briefly confused. "What?"

"Paddle," Travis repeated, holding out a canoe paddle toward him, "or ride?" Just beyond him, Chris could see that Lily was waiting in one of the canoes with a paddle of her own while Mel still waited on the dock, twisting her fingers together and watching them.

Paddle. In the water.

Chris stared at the surface of the lake and felt his stomach lurch. It's just the lake, he told himself. The same lake I've been swimming in since I was little. But somehow, it wasn't. The lake seemed to twist and writhe in spite of its placid façade. Demons lived under that water suddenly, monsters from another world only contained by the unbroken reflection of the moon. 

The moon.

"Chris!" Travis repeated and shook him again. "What the hell, man?" His eyes were worried when Chris met his gaze. "Are you sure you're alright?"

Irritation rippled under his skin and Chris glared at him, grabbed the paddle. "I'm fine. Just tired, that's all." He shouldered Travis out of the way, stalked to the empty canoe and shoved it into the water. Fear gripped him again and he had to fight an instinct to run into the woods, caught the edge of the gunwale and maneuvered the canoe close enough to the dock that he could step in without falling in. He looked up at Mel, still standing nervously on the dock. "Coming?"

Mel flinched from him. Seeing her sudden bolt of fear broke through his foul mood and Chris shook his head to clear it. "Sorry. Man, I must really be tired." He held one hand up to her. "Let's go," he said in a gentler tone. She seemed to relax and her hand felt good in his as she accepted his help into the canoe. 

Next to them, the water bobbed and rippled again as Travis joined Lily in their canoe. Chris gritted his teeth, drowning in a sudden rush of terror. All he could think of was the motion capsizing their canoe, tipping them into the jaws of those monsters he could see lurking just below the surface. He saw them tearing into Mel, ripping her apart before turning on him. He gripped the side of the canoe, white-knuckled until the water calmed down again.

Travis was watching him as he calmed himself down, his eyes too knowing and Chris looked away. He pushed his paddle into the water and started across the lake, his teeth clenched tight and his head pounding. Every motion of the water threatened to pitch him into the icy water and he struggled more than once to keep his balance until Mel finally reached and took the paddle from him. "It's okay," she whispered. "Get down in the bottom. It doesn't rock as much."

Rage blinded him for a second and Chris glowered at her. "I know how a damn canoe works, Mel." When she flinched, it was like someone had popped a swelling balloon in his chest. "Maybe I could use a break, though," he whispered, apologetic. They carefully switched positions so he was sitting in the bottom of the canoe and she could paddle from the back.

No longer in control of the boat's movement, Chris found himself finally able to relax. He sighed and slumped in the canoe, let his head fall into Mel's lap as she rowed. She stopped to stroke his hair and he smiled up at her, already feeling better. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I don't know what's wrong with me."

"You're just tired," she reassured him. "We all are. Don't worry." She continued to paddle all the way to the landing on the island, then jumped out and pulled the canoe up onto the beach. Travis pulled up the other, then came to help Mel before offering a hand to Chris. Gratefully, Chris accepted it.

"I've never seen you scared of water," Travis murmured as the girls went ahead of them toward the tree house. 

"I think I'm just dizzy." Chris rubbed at his temple, trying to banish the throbbing headache. "Off balance."

Travis watched him in silence for a few more steps, then sighed and put his arm around Chris's shoulders. "Love you, little brother."

As the moon vanished behind the trees, Chris felt some tension easing out of his shoulders and he leaned back against Travis. "Love you, too." They climbed up into the main floor of the tree house after Lily and Mel. Mel was already on the phone with her parents, explaining she was safe and that she was staying with the Hacketts overnight. Lily pulled the blankets and sleeping bags out, shaking them and arranging them into pallets. 

"No," said Mel suddenly. She grabbed the blankets from Lily and fluffed everything into a single wide pile with the pillows. "Nest," she said with a stubborn set to her jaw. "You, here." She yanked Lily into the center of the nest so her friend yelped and giggled. "You, here." She seized Chris's wrist and pulled him down to her other side. "You, over there," she said to Travis, indicating Lily's far side. Once they were all arranged to her liking, she let out a long, exhausted sigh and collapsed into Chris's lap. "Okay. I'm good now."

Lily chuckled and shook her head as Travis fell back onto a pillow with a long sigh. Chris watched them curl up together like they had been living in each other's space forever and felt a growling pang in his chest. He wanted to grab Lily and throw her, the little slut. How dare she be that close to his brother? HIS brother.

Mel's hand touched his shoulder and Chris jerked away from her, startled. Her eyes were worried again. The worry was the only thing that stopped a snarl in his throat. "Lie down," she whispered and gently pushed his chest. "Please, Chris. Just... lie down and try to get some rest. You're scaring me."

"I'm fine," he grumbled but obeyed, letting her push him all the way down to the floor. She snuggled up against him and he sighed, feeling the anger draining out of him again. He hugged her close and stared at the familiar ceiling of the tree house. 

When both girls' breathing had evened out into the occasional soft snore, Chris heard Travis roll over. "You awake?" he whispered.

"Yeah," Travis replied. "Can't sleep."

"This was cutting it close," Chris murmured. 

"Too close," agreed Travis. "Way too close." Lily made a soft, snuffling noise and they waited until she had settled back in with her face against Travis's chest. "You sure you're okay?"

Chris thought about it. He reached with his free hand to brush Mel's hair out of her eyes, watched her face in the muted moonlight. A surge of love for her washed over him and he closed his eyes, hugging her gently. "No," he whispered against her hair. "I'm not sure."

"Talk to me."

"It's like something's... living in my skin," Chris whispered helplessly. "I don't know what's wrong, Travis. I keep getting so angry for no reason at all. I keep wanting to lash out, hit someone." He paused and shivered a little. "Bite someone." Travis didn't answer and Chris kept going: "It was like I'd never seen water before and it terrified me. Like I'd never seen the moon before and it's all I can see now." He stopped and they listened to the lapping of the water outside. "I'm scared," he finally whispered.

"Me, too," whispered Travis. "Whatever happens, though, you've got family. Family's always first."

Chris laughed quietly but nodded. "Thanks, Travis."

"You'll always have me, little brother. No matter what." 

Chris choked on a sob and hugged Mel tighter. "I sure hope so."

August 16, 1989 - Septimus Lake, North Kill, New York

Travis loaded case of bottled water into the canoe, then added the bags of groceries. He glanced at his brother's truck, still sitting exactly where he had parked it four days ago. No matter what, he would always have his brother's back, no matter how bizarre his behavior. 

And Chris's behavior was getting increasingly bizarre. Travis slapped the dock three times in the usual signal and watched his brother's shadow moving behind the window. He hadn't been home since the night Travis and the girls had been there. He had called Lily's the next day after they left and begged Travis to bring him water and groceries. "I'm too scared to get in the boat." 

Travis guided the canoe across the lake, watching the tree house. He could see signs that Chris had been working on the building, adding shutters to the upper room from the planks they had left over from a previous project. It looked like he had dug a new hole for the outhouse and was in the process of moving the little wooden building. 

By the time Travis had finished crossing, Chris was pacing beneath the treehouse, talking to himself and gesturing emphatically. Travis dragged the canoe up the bank and unloaded the case of water first. "Chris," he called and his brother stopped pacing like a deer hearing a twig snap. He hoisted the water over his head. "Water."

Chris stared at him like he didn't recognize him, then bolted up the ladder and into the tree house. Travis stared after him in dismay. He walked to the space under the tree house and peered up at Chris's face looking back down at him. When he didn't make any move to come down again, Travis pulled one of the bottles out of the case and showed it to him. "Just water. You asked me to bring water and food."

Chris's eyes were wild as he stared first at Travis, then at the bottle. After a few moments of muttering, he seemed to recognize his brother and finally climbed back down the ladder. He turned to face Travis and Travis was struck with deep horror at the pain in his brother's face. "I'm hungry," Chris whispered, his voice a hoarse rasp. "You shouldn't be here, Travis. It's not safe." He twitched and jumped like someone had yelled in his ear. "I'm not safe."

"You're my brother," Travis replied flatly and caught Chris's hand long enough to shove the bottle of water into it. "Drink something. I'll open a can of chili." He left Chris staring at the bottle like he didn't know how to unscrew the cap and stalked back down to the canoe for the groceries. He swung two paper bags onto the shore, then reached for the rest when Chris finally arrived at his side to pick up the bags. 

"Thank you," Chris said in a small voice.

"Of course." They carted the bags of groceries up into the tree house, then Travis handed up the case of water to Chris while he leaned down for it. Once they settled and Chris was eating Hormel chili out of the can with a spoon, Travis sighed and actually took a moment to look around. The nest Mel had insisted on arranging was still the primary feature, clearly slept in since that night. Chris himself looked like he needed a shave and a shower. "When did you eat last?"

"A&W," mumbled Chris quietly.

"On Friday!?" Travis demanded in alarm. "Chris, what the hell is going on? You can't just stay out here. You need to go home."

"Not yet," Chris replied. He stayed focused on the can of chili, refused to look Travis in the eye. "Tonight, tomorrow night. Then I'll go home."

"How does that make any kind of sense?"

Chris finally looked up at him and Travis rocked back, shocked. Chris's normally brown eyes glinted yellow-gold in the dim light. "Moon's full tonight," Chris said. "Tomorrow night to make sure I'm safe. Then I'll go home."

Travis stared at him. "What are you telling me right now?"

"I think the kid at the carnival was a werewolf." Chris made it sound like the simplest answer in the world. "He bit me. That's why I healed so fast, why I keep freaking out about the moon." He took another bite of chili, then grumbled and sighed. "Why I'm so hungry all the time."

"You're hungry because you haven't eaten all weekend," Travis said and jumped when Chris threw the half-empty can across the room.

"I'm hungry because everything looks like meat!" shouted Chris. "Everything, Travis! Including you!" He collapsed and covered his head with his arms, rocking. "I'm scared to call Mel. I miss her but I'm so scared, Travis. I don't want to hurt her. I don't want to hurt anyone but I'm so... damn... hungry." His voice broke and he started to sob.

 Travis scooted across the floor to hug his brother. "I know you won't hurt me," he whispered. "You're my brother. You're family and family's always first. You know I'll never hurt you for the same reason. Family."

Chris sniffed. "You shot me in the butt with an arrow when I was seven."

"It was rubber-tipped."

"It still hurt!"

Travis chuckled quietly. "You're such a dick."

"You shot me!" protested Chris, but he was laughing, too. "Thank you," he whispered after a moment. 

"I'll do whatever it takes to keep you safe," Travis promised. 

"Even lie to Ma?"

"Especially lie to Ma." 

Chris smiled weakly. He went to find the spoon, blew on it and stuck it back into the chili can. 

"You should probably wash that," Travis observed.

"I really don't think dirt on my spoon is going to be what kills me."

Travis smiled, then sobered. "You sound like you've had some time to plan." Chris nodded without looking up from his chili. "And?"

"I'm going to lock myself upstairs," Chris said quietly and pointed to the ceiling with the spoon. "I boarded up the windows and reinforced the trap door. I don't think I'll be able to get out without help."

"And you expected to do this alone...how?"

Chris glared at his brother. "Maybe I didn't think it all through yet. I don't even know if this is going to happen let alone what it's going to look like." He stirred the chili in the can and took another bite. "You're actually taking the werewolf thing pretty well."

"Your eyes are gold," Travis said softly and Chris jerked, surprised. "It's a new look for you. I figured anything that was big enough to change your eye color was probably pretty out there. Unless you just need to eat a shit-ton of oranges."

"That's scurvy," Chris chuckled, "not jaundice."

"Whatever." Travis leaned forward and rested his forearms on his knees. "Do you want me to stay? I can let you out in the morning."

"No," said Chris quickly. "It's not safe, Travis. I seriously don't know if the trap door will be enough to keep me in. I could hurt you." He looked away, back into the depths of his chili can. "I could bite you." Travis started to protest, but Chris shook his head. "No. I'm really sure about this one. Go home, come back in the morning and let me out. I'll call you when it's safe."

Travis sigh. "I really don't like leaving you alone, Chris." Chris turned his head away, staring out the window and let out a long sigh. 

He coughed. Once, twice. His eyes found Travis in panic. "Go, now. While there's time."

"Chris--"

"I mean it, Travis! Go!" Before he had a chance to say anything more, Chris vanished up the ladder to the upper room. The trap door slammed shut and Travis could hear something heavy moving across it. "Bolt it!" Chris shouted.

Travis hesitated. "But--"

"Just do it!" A strange quality had come into Chris's voice, a deep, reverberating growl that distorted his words. He started to cough again, somewhere between wheezing and barking. Travis could hear scrambling on the wood floor. The cough changed to a snarling growl and then a wild roar as something splattered against the trap door.

"Chris!?" Travis started up the ladder and had his hands on the door to push up when he felt something rock the panel with a loud thump. Snarling continued on the far side of the door and Travis waited, his heart pounding in his ears. He felt something wet and pulled his hand back to find blood smeared on his palm. It smelled terrible, rank and feral. Chris panted hard against the wood and Travis could feel his hot breath. 

For the first time, he was truly afraid.

Slowly, he backed down the ladder. He found the exit to the main room and climbed down until his feet were on solid ground again. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the square of wooden trap door that had eaten his brother. After a few more minutes, he backed up until he could see the upper level. The window shutters looked solid, sturdy. He hoped they would be enough.

Chapter Text

August 16, 1989 - LaGrange, New York

Lily came home from work to find Travis lying shirtless on the couch, one hand behind his head and the other resting on his chest. His hair was still wet from a shower. He stared fixedly at the ceiling and didn't seem to hear the door open. He didn't react when she dropped her keys on the table beside the door and kicked her shoes off. It wasn't until she inserted her face between him and the ceiling that he finally blinked and focused on her. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," he replied quietly. 

"How's Chris?"

Travis's jaw jumped as he clenched his teeth. He rolled away from her and onto his side without answering. 

"That bad?" Lily murmured and snuggled up behind him on the couch, looping one arm around his waist and tucking herself into a mismatched "big spoon." His whole body trembled for a moment, then he rolled over suddenly and dragged her into his arms, buried his face in her shoulder. "Travis?"

"Don't ask me," he whispered. "I can't talk about it right now."

Lily pressed herself closer. He wasn't crying but she could hear the fragileness in his voice, like he could break at any moment. Whatever had happened to Chris was bad. She tucked her nose against his neck with a soft sigh. "I'm here," she whispered.

"Thank you."

They laid together like that until Lily started to doze off. She hadn't intended to do so, but it had been a long day and there were few places she felt safer than in Travis's arms on the couch. Travis's voice woke her up again and she started, guilty. 

"Do you believe in werewolves?"

Lily held very still, pondering the question. She leaned back just enough so she could see Travis's face. "No."

"Neither did I." His smile was strained. "I'm still not sure what I believe. I just know that Chris locked himself in the tree house and wants me to let him out again tomorrow. He said he'll call."

Lily stared at him. "I don't understand."

"Tonight's a full moon. He's scared he's going to hurt someone."

"That explains why Mel hasn't heard from him." Lily sighed and snuggled closer. "She's really worried."

"I'm really worried," agreed Travis. "I'm also scared shitless, Lil. Something happened to him. Something scared him bad enough that he thinks he's a danger. I'd say it was just in his head, but..." He trailed off and shivered. "You should have heard him, Lily. I mean, I'm glad you weren't there. I wish I hadn't been. He stopped being Chris. And the smell..."

Lily frowned and reached up to touch his cheek. "Travis, what happened? I'm really confused."

Travis sighed and pulled himself into a sitting position on the couch. Lily started to sit in his lap, but he shook his head. "Not right now." He sighed and rubbed his hand over his face. "I brought him water and food, like he asked. He said the kid at the carnival bit him."

Lily shook her head. "That doesn't make any sense, though. There wasn't a scratch on him."

Travis smiled thinly. "He says he healed." When she worked her hands around his, he stroked his thumb across her knuckles. "His eyes were gold, Lily. Not brown like normal. Almost yellow." His eyes found hers and the worry stood out on his face in creases that hadn't been there before. "Like an animal. When he locked himself in, I... heard him. Change. I could smell him change. It was... like a wounded dog. Wet fur and blood."

"You're telling me you believe your brother's a werewolf?"

Travis let out a weak, shaky laugh. "Yeah. I guess I am." He met her eyes again. "I've never been so scared in my life. Never."

Lily squeezed his hand and settled with her head against his shoulder. She didn't doubt him. She wanted to, but if there was anyone who would see through a prank or a trick, it was Travis. He was also a terrible liar; whatever had happened with Chris scared him to his core. "What do you want to do?" she finally asked softly.

"When he calls tomorrow, I'll go let him out," Travis said. "He said he wanted to stay tomorrow night, too, just in case."

"In case of what?"

"In case the full moon lasts more than one night, I guess. He just said he wanted to make sure he was 'safe.'"

Lily thought about that for a moment. "I've heard the full moon lasts for three days, but the calendars that show them only show one. I don't know how any of that really works."

"I don't either," sighed Travis. "I guess we'll be getting a crash course in it."

"What are we going to do?"

Travis looked down at her and brought one hand up to stroke her cheek. "I love you," he whispered. "I love that you say 'we' when you ask that." Lily smiled up at him. "I don't want to get you involved, but I know you, too. You won't let me keep you out, will you?"

"Not a chance."

"Then... I guess we'll have to make a plan. When Chris wakes up tomorrow, will you come with me to let him out?"

"I'll call in. Family emergency."

Travis chuckled. "That's what I was planning on saying, too. It's true, anyway."

"We should tell Mel."

"I..." Travis trailed off and sighed. "I feel like it's not my place to tell her. Chris should do that if he wants her to know."

Lily shook her head emphatically. "No, she needs to know. She's been worried sick about him since the weekend. He hasn't called, hasn't picked her up for work. Just nothing, no warning." Travis squirmed and she poked him in the side. "She deserves to know, Travis. She loves him."

"He's just protecting her," he insisted. "Hell, he was upset I was there."

Lily sighed. "I think we should at least tell her we know where he is. I'd feel better about all of this if she came with us tomorrow but I understand if you think it's a bad idea."

"I didn't say it was a bad idea," Travis protested quietly. "I just think it's not my place. Whatever's going on is between them." He went quiet for a while. "I guess if I was the one who'd locked myself in the tree house, I wouldn't want to tell you. I wouldn't want you there. I'd want to know you were safe, somewhere far away from me."

Lily put her palm on his cheek and turned his face toward hers. "And I would want to be there," she whispered. "I would want to be there for the same reasons you want to be there for Chris now. I love you. You're my family." She smiled and added, "And family's always first."

Travis smiled at her and leaned in to kiss her. "Damn you bringing that back on me," he whispered. He sighed and nodded. "Okay. When Chris calls tomorrow, I'll tell him we're bringing Mel with us. It'll give him time to call her while we drive over to pick her up. She's family and she deserves to know what's going on and from him."

"Thank you." Lily kissed him back. "And Travis?" 

"Yeah?"

"Promise me you'll tell me if something happens to you."

Travis chuckled and leaned his forehead against hers. "Baby, I put you down as my emergency contact two years ago. You'll be the first to know."

The phone started ringing at six in the morning. Mel heard her father groan in annoyance in the bedroom down the hall and flung herself at the phone extension by her bed. "I got it!" she called down to them.

"Six AM, Mel!" he hollered back.

"Sorry!" To the phone she said quickly, "Hello?"

"Mel."

All her worry poured out of her in an instant and Mel started to cry. "Chris. You're okay. Where have you been?" 

"I'm sorry it took me so long." His voice sounded rough, like he had been yelling for hours. "I just wanted to make sure you were safe." When she continued to sniffle, he sighed and added, "Please, don't cry. I'm not worth getting worked up over, Mel."

"What?!"

Before she could get out another word, he talked over her: "Travis and Lily are coming to pick you up. Just come with them. I'll explain everything when you get here, okay? I'm so sorry, Mel." He paused and covered the phone while he started to cough. 

"What's wrong?" Mel asked. "Please, Chris, just tell me what's going on."

"I will," he promised, his voice raspy. "I can't do it over the phone but I will. Just go with Travis when he gets there."

"I will." Mel chewed her lip, then whispered desperately, "Chris, I'm scared."

"Good." Chris sighed over the phone. "Sorry. I don't mean to make it worse but I can't tell you not to be scared, either. I'm scared." 

Mel swallowed hard. "I love you."

"I love you, too. I'll see you when you get here."

Mel reluctantly hung up the phone. His voice rang in her ears, the exhausted, worn sound of it and the clear background of morning birdsong. Wherever he was, he was outside. She rushed through dressing and walked down the stairs to flop into a lawn chair in front of the house. She tried not to worry but she felt like worrying about Chris for the last week had worn a new groove in her brain and she wasn't getting out of it easily.

She heard Betsy before she saw the crotchety old VW driving up the road. Mel looked up to watch as Lily drove up her street and parked at the end of the driveway. Travis was sitting in the passenger seat and got out when he spotted Mel. "He called?"

"Yeah." Mel walked down the driveway to look into her boyfriend's brother's face. "Is he okay?"

"How much did he tell you?"

"Not much. Just that he'd tell me more when we got there."

"Coward," Lily muttered from inside the car.

Mel could feel tears starting to threaten again, along with a fluttering terror in her chest. "What's going on, Travis? Please tell me."

The look he gave her made him look so much like Chris that she couldn't hold back anymore. She started to cry and Travis pulled her quickly into a tight hug. "I don't have words for it," he whispered against the top of her head. "I'm not sure Chris does, either. But I promise, we'll get through this together. I'm not leaving him and I'm not leaving you. Okay?"

"Neither of us are going anywhere," Lily added. She had gotten out of the car and joined Travis in hugging Mel, encircling her with support. When Mel tried to look at her, Lily grinned and brushed tears from Mel's cheeks. "You're stuck with us."

"Small favors," whispered Mel and she let them pack her into the car.

August 16, 1989 - Lake Septimus, North Kill, New York

Three solid slaps on the dock jerked Chris out of a doze. He rubbed his hands over his face with a groan, then went to the window that faced the lake. A single canoe was crossing the mirror-smooth surface, Travis's familiar shape paddling in the back while Lily sat in the front. He could see Mel tucked in between them in the bottom of the canoe. Even from here, her face was pale and drawn. 

Because of me. Chris closed his eyes again and let his forehead rest against the windowsill. His stomach growled audibly. He had already eaten two cans of chili this morning, plus half the loaf of bread made into peanut butter sandwiches. Empty water bottles rolled aimlessly across the floor. 

Chris felt disgusting. His skin was slimed with mostly dried blood so it creeped and itched. His clothing had shredded during the transformation, but he had suspected that would happen and had stashed an extra pair of jeans. His hair stuck to his scalp. He had used one of the bottles of water to wash his hands and face, at least, but short of jumping in the lake, there was no other way to get himself clean.

He heard the dragging of the canoe on the shore and tried to find something to say to Mel. 

Mel came up the ladder at a scramble and threw herself at him before he even had a chance to speak. Chris hugged her hard, listened while she sobbed her fears at him. He let his eyes drift over her shoulder to where Lily and Travis were coming into the tree house. Travis met his eyes and he tried to look away, found that he couldn't. 

"You did change," Travis said quietly and Mel's stream of terrified babbling ceased. 

"Yeah," Chris agreed. He looked down into Mel's horrified face, saw her registering the blood that still coated his chest and arms, the smears of blood on the walls and floor. 

"You're hurt--"

"No. I'm not." Chris put his hands on her shoulders and stood back from her slightly. "Mel, I know this doesn't make sense. I think the kid who bit me was a werewolf. All I know for sure right now is that there was a lot of pain and I knew--" he paused to look at Travis. "I knew you had to leave right away. When I woke up, I was covered in blood. There are scratches all over the walls upstairs like... like claws." He held up his own hand and flexed his fingertips, demonstrating the breadth of his palm. "This big." Mel was backing away from him, her hands over her mouth and her eyes like saucers. Despair tugged at his chest and Chris nodded. "It's okay," he told her softly. "You should be scared."

"Did the shutters hold?" Travis asked and Chris smiled. 

"Ever the practical one."

Travis shrugged with a wry smile. "Did they?"

"Still tight," Chris said with a nod. "I want to put a better lock on the trap door, though. Weighing it down from inside isn't enough."

"What the hell is going on?!" screamed Mel and she burst into tears.

Lily sighed and pulled her into a hug. "I'll take her outside," she said softly. "Let you guys talk out the particulars."

"No!" Mel shoved hard and Lily staggered into one of the chairs, surprised. "Don't patronize me, Lily! I want straight answers. I need to understand this!" She stormed over to Chris and glared up into his face. "Why are you covered in blood?"

"I'm a werewolf." Chris shrugged. There was no better way to phrase it. 

"Did you kill something?"

"Not that I'm aware of."

Mel glared at him. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Chris swallowed, uncomfortable. "It means I can't remember. I've got nothing between the time Travis locked me in and when I woke up this morning. It's just a big black hole. I started in clothes and clean--"

"--well, that's arguable," put in Travis.

"Okay, un-showered but also unbloodied," said Chris. "I woke up covered in blood and naked." His stomach growled again and he sighed in annoyance. "And starving."

"Did you eat?"

"Two cans of chili and enough peanut butter and jelly to feed an army."

Travis kicked one of the empty water bottles. "I assume you're not thirsty."

"Not really." Chris shrugged. "It was dawn when I woke up. I don't know if I changed back at sunrise or moonset. I'm not sure it really matters."

"Do you think you'll change again tonight?"

"No." 

Travis raised his eyebrows in surprise. "So sure?"

Chris nodded. "I could feel it coming yesterday. It was like this itch in the back of my brain that just kept getting worse and worse until I finally changed. It's gone now."

"Maybe it won't come back?" whispered Mel.

Chris studied her, feeling a heaviness in his chest. I should let her go, he thought. She deserves more than this. "No," he sighed. "I'm pretty sure this is just... how I am now." He swallowed hard against a lump in his throat. "I don't blame you if you want out, Mel. This is... a lot. I know."

Mel slowly crossed the room, put her hands on either side of his face and kissed him, pulling him down so she could reach. "I'm with you," she said. "I'm scared but I'm here. I'm not going anywhere."

"Family first," added Lily. She slipped her hand into Travis's and he nodded. 

Chris smiled sadly at them. "Thanks, guys. I... just... thanks."

Chapter Text

September 7th, 1989 - Hackett House, North Kill, New York

"Dad's talking about opening up Grampa's camp again."

Travis jerked his head away from the innards of the push mower he had been repairing. "What?" 

Bobby was hanging upside-down from the branch of a tree in the front yard of their parents' house, swinging lazily back and forth. "The quarry camp, you know. Grampa's camp. He's been talkin' at dinner about wanting to make some extra money since the scrap yard's not doin' that great."

"Why the camp?"

Bobby shrugged. "He said something about wanting to help kids or something. I dunno."

Travis tried to hide his concern by rubbing a rag over his face. He was covered in oil and sweat and more than tired of fighting with the mower; it was older than Bobby. Slowly, he leaned back on his elbows in the grass. "So, something like a summer camp?"

"Yeah, like Grampa had."

"How far do you think he's gonna run it?"

"At least as far as the lake." Jedediah let the screen door close behind him as he stumped his way across the porch, then lowered himself slowly onto the front step. "What's summer camp without swimming?"

Travis stared at his father in confusion. "What brought this on?" he asked carefully, trying to keep the edge of panic out of his voice. The last thing they needed was a bunch of teenagers running around the lake while Chris was locked up in the tree house once a month.

"Talking with Mel," Jedediah said with a thoughtful smile. "She went to summer camp, y'know."

"I know," Travis replied. He had been present during the dinner when Mel had regaled the family with her summer camp stories from middle school. It was the same dinner when Chris and Mel had announced their engagement.

"I was just thinking it would be nice to have some family memories like that." Jedediah's smile didn't fade, though Travis could feel panicked sweat trickling down his back. "Teaching kids to shoot a bow or a rifle. Swimming. Campfire songs."

Bitterness tickled at the edge of his mind and Travis tried to look away from it. "Planning a little early for those grandkids, are you?"

Jedediah stiffened. "What's wrong with planning for the future?"

"Nothing," Travis said quickly, holding up one hand in surrender. "I'm looking forward to it."

"In a pig's eye." Constance stood in the doorway, still inside the screen door as she glared down at Travis. "If you were so looking forward to our having grandchildren, you would have married a decent girl by now."

"Now, Mama," murmured Jedediah.

"Lily is a decent girl," Travis hissed through gritted teeth. "The only reason I haven't married her is because you threatened to kill yourself if I did."

"And I'll be dead before I see that slut's name in my family Bible!"

"She's not a slut!" Travis was on his feet before he could think about it, striding toward the porch with his hands in fists. "I love her, Ma and I have for years. You know that. I'm never going to stop loving her so you'd better just get used to it!"

"Don't you raise your voice at me!" screamed Constance while Jedediah stood up to stop Travis before he could get up the steps. "Her mother was a slut and she's no different! I won't have my family dirtied by association with that kind of trash!"

"Constance," Jedediah said. "Enough."

Travis stood in stunned silence at the foot of the steps, his father's hand planted firmly in the center of his chest to halt his advance. "What kind of trash?" he asked in a half-whisper. "What the hell do you have against her family, Ma?"

Constance sneered at him. "As if you don't know. As if you don't know what killed her mother. It'll kill her, too and if you're not careful, you'll be next." 

"Her mother died from pneumonia!" Travis protested. 

The lurid light in his mother's eyes made his stomach turn. "Is that what she told you? Funny kind of pneumonia that only spreads between crack whores and fa--"

"Constance!" Jedediah gave his son a firm glare. "You should go, son."

"No, I want to know," Travis said. "What's she talking about, Dad?"

Jedediah looked between his wife and his son, then shook his head. "You should go." He gave Travis a little shove that made him step back, then turned quickly and whisked Constance back into the house. 

Helpless, Travis stood on the lawn and stared after them. "I don't understand," he whispered.

"Mama says Lily's mama stuck herself full of needles," Bobby announced from the tree and Travis spun around to face his youngest brother, horrified, "an' that's why she died. She bled out and all her blood was poison. She said the poison'll get you if you knock Lily up an' she'll erase you from the family tree. Scratch you right out."

"Ma's a liar," Travis said in a weak voice. "She doesn't know what she's talking about. Lily's mom got sick and died. She wasn't poison and neither is Lily. Ma just doesn't like her."

"She said Lily's faggot brother's just as bad, all bleedin' poison."

"Don't you say that!" Travis took a few quick steps toward the tree and shook a finger at Bobby. "Never use that word, you hear me?" Surprised, Bobby dropped down from the tree. When Travis took another step toward him, Bobby fled into the house with a wordless, wailing cry. "What the hell is going on?" Travis muttered to himself. 

September 7th, 1989 - LaGrange, New York

Several mailer envelopes were stuffed into the post box when Lily opened it. Rolled up and folded in half, they clearly had been manhandled by the postal service long before they ever made it to her box. With a long sigh, she pulled them out and tucked most of them under her arm as she headed for the stairs, then pulled one of them out and worked open the flap. 

Roger, her boss at the paper had moved her up from filing to research and institutional correspondence, sticking her with typing up the reporters' requests for information from various libraries and universities around the state. While she was sending them out anyway, she had slipped a few of her own into the mix, primarily on the subject of American folklore and werewolves. 

This particular mailer was heavy with copier paper, easily 50 pages' worth of German folk lore and how it had been transmitted to the New World by German immigrants. Skimming over the pages, Lily felt a lift in her chest, like maybe they might actually be getting somewhere with puzzling out what exactly had happened to Chris.

As she came into the apartment, she paused to listen to Travis's hissing breath from the other room as he counted to himself. Push-ups, probably, or sit-ups. Lily put the opened mail on the counter and began opening the other mailers, most of which were disappointingly vague. "Spaghetti?" she called to Travis.

"One twenty-eight-- yes, please!-- one twenty-nine, one thirty..."

Lily smiled and started a pot of water boiling. She had almost given up on the mailers when something caught her eye, a block of text in a language she didn't immediately recognize. She flipped back to it and read the notes the researcher had hand-scribbled in the margin: "1575 treatise on beasts and demonic activity in central Germany, Thuringian region. Notes on wolves becoming human or humans becoming bestial during full moon rituals. Full trans available." 

"Yes, please," she murmured to herself as she dropped the dried spaghetti into the boiling water and flipped to the next page. "Maybe we're finally getting somewhere."

"Good news?" Travis asked. He was still puffing a little from his workout, bare-chested but for a towel over his shoulders and Lily grinned at him. He paused, looked down at himself, then back up at her. "What?"

"You look good without a shirt," she replied and grabbed the towel to pull him into a kiss. 

"It's not like it's new," he mumbled against her lips, then wrapped his arms around her to return her kiss.

"Still looks good." Lily stood on her toes to kiss the end of his nose and let him go. "And yes, it's good news." She waved the copied pages at him with a bright smile. "One of my leads has some old stuff from Germany about werewolves. I think I might be able to get him to photocopy the relevant parts."

"'Only by full moon light'..."

Lily looked up as Travis scanned the page. "I didn't know you spoke German."

"I don't." Travis turned the page around and tapped another note she had missed. "But I read English just fine."

"Meanie." Lily rolled up the rest of the pages and bopped him over the head, then let him take them while she checked the spaghetti. "Maybe it's all just mythology and stories to scare kids out of the woods but maybe there's a grain of truth in there somewhere."

"It's a start." Travis put the pages down with the others on the counter, then leaned to kiss her shoulder. "Good work. I'm going to shower and then I'm going to eat every carb I can get my teeth into. I'm starving."

Lily smiled to herself as he vanished into the bathroom. It would take him longer to shower than it would take for the spaghetti to finish cooking, so she opened a package of ground beef and started it browning in another pan. She heard him singing something that was drowned by the background hiss of the water combined with the hissing of the cooking meat. She added the tomato sauce to the pan as the hamburger finished cooking, just as she heard the water shut off and Travis began his post-shower monologue. 

The discussion with his mirror self seemed to take longer than usual tonight and Lily wondered if something was bothering him. He came out of the bathroom wearing sweat pants branded with the Pace University logo and a t-shirt emblazoned with an ad for an industrial paint company that looked older than either of them. "Nice shirt."

"Second-hand,"  he replied as he sat down. She carried the pot of spaghetti over and he reached to dish the squirmy noodles onto their plates. "Smells great."

"Thank you." Lily started to sit, then popped back up again. "Water? Milk, pop, beer?"

"Water's fine," Travis chuckled. "Sit down, I can get it." He stood to retrieve a glass of water from the tap as Lily reluctantly sat back down. From the kitchen, Travis asked, "Hey, Lil?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you a question?" Lily giggled and Travis stuck his head back in to point at her. "I mean another question. You know what I mean."

Lily sobered at the expression on his face. Something was definitely bothering him. "Of course. What is it?"

Travis sighed and set a glass of water in front of her, then sat down at his plate with his own. "I know you don't like to talk about it. That's why I asked... but..." He paused to slowly twirl some spaghetti around his fork, his eyes on the noodles. "Do you know who your dad is?"

Lily stiffened. Two years together and they had never dug very deep into that aspect of her history. It was true that she didn't like talking about it. Too many complicated emotions and situations involved. "Yes," she replied softly. "Why?"

"Who was he?"

"Why does it matter?"

Travis sighed and put his fork down, spaghetti still wound around the tines. "It doesn't matter. I just... Ma said something today that's been bothering me." Lily snorted quietly and he nodded. "I know, she says a lot of things when you're involved but this one... kind of stuck with me." He looked up at her and his dark eyes were almost pleading. "Please, Lily. Just trust me with this. I want to know." The implied 'need to know' hung between them and Lily swallowed hard. 

"Jason and I have the same father, if that's what you're asking."

"It's not, though I'm glad you told me."

Lily tapped her fingers beside her plate, then forced them into stillness again. "He's... no one important. Just a guy, a good friend of Mom's. She told him she wanted to get pregnant and he agreed to help. That's all."

"So they weren't involved?"

Lily tightened her jaw and gave him a stubborn look. "You know they weren't." Travis's eyes were still pleading. It made him look like Chris and Lily looked away with a sigh. "His name is Daniel Grant."

Travis sat in heavy silence, considering her statement, turning it over in his head. She could see when the connection sparked in his mind. "Mel's dad."

Lily nodded slowly. "Mel's my half-sister. She doesn't know. Her mom doesn't, either. He signed away any kind of rights as father when Jason and I were born. There was no real point in telling them and it would only hurt his wife. Mom made sure Jason and I knew before she died. I grew up not knowing."

Travis was quiet for a few more moments, then said, "Is that why my mother thinks yours was a--"

"A whore?" Lily snapped at him and Travis winced. "Why she thinks I'm a whore? Probably. Don't know how she found out but there's always rumors in a town this small."

"Did she really die of pneumonia?"

Lily almost spat at him in disgust. "What the hell, Travis? I thought you trusted me! Are you saying you don't believe me about my mother?"

Travis sighed and ducked his head, leaning his elbows heavily on the table. "Lily, I'm sorry. You know I am. And you know my mother. When she get's going, it's hard to tell what's real and what's not anymore." He looked up at her and immediately flinched back from the rage in her face. 

"My mother," growled Lily, "died of pneumonia. In a healthier person, it wouldn't have killed her, but she was immuno-compromised. She had AIDS, Travis. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

With his head down, Travis slowly shook his head, stunned. "I... I didn't know. I don't know what I wanted."

"Blood transfusion," Lily spat, "after a car accident. When I was three. She was diagnosed when I was in middle school and things went downhill pretty fast after that. We were just lucky that she hadn't already passed it to Peggy when we found out." When Travis didn't respond, she added, "Yes, Peggy is as much my mother as Jessica Gagnon was. I have two mothers and I always have. Is this a problem?"

"Lily--"

"I'm sure that's the real reason your mother hates me. I'm the bastard daughter of a fucking lesbian, rolling in a den of sin since birth. Hell, I was born of adultery. My existence could ruin a marriage, destroy a happy family." Lily shoved back from the table and stood up, unable to stay seated anymore. "My mother got what was coming to her, died of the same disease that's killing all the gays, right?"

Travis stood up and came around the table, reaching for her. "Lily, stop. Please." Lily backed away from him a step, too angry to be comforted and he stopped, let his hands drop to his sides. "I love you," he whispered. "Nothing is going to change that, okay? I just... wanted to understand."

"Was it worth it?" she snapped and Travis looked away, hurt. Without looking at him, Lily stormed through the room and into the bedroom, slamming the door behind her. A few seconds later, she opened it again and pitched a blanket and a pillow out. "Good night, Travis," she hissed and closed the door again.

Travis lay on the couch. He had folded the blanket and tucked it under the pillow behind his head. It was too warm for a blanket anyway, though he appreciated that Lily had given him one. Even if it had been in spite.

In the darkness, he could hear the soft ticking of the clock on the bookshelf, the faint creaks of the old apartment building settling. Somewhere, someone was fighting with a lot more volume and passion than they had. The neighbor downstairs from them was watching TV again with the volume too loud.

And Lily was crying.

The sound stabbed him in the chest. Each time he thought she might have stopped, she would sniffle and he could hear her muffled sobs start up again. He knew he'd gone too far, had stabbed deep into scars that had only barely healed. Scars about her mother's death. Scars from high school, of the teasing she had gotten for so many years. The recent wound of her missing brother still bleeding. 

Lily hiccupped and Travis closed his eyes tightly. He wanted to go to her, hug her and never let go. She was hurting and it was his fault. He knew she'd just throw him out again, maybe out of the apartment altogether. When her sobs started to fade into just sniffles, Travis gave in and stood up, went to the door and gently knocked on it. "Lily?"

"Go away," she rasped, her voice hoarse from sobbing. 

He put his forehead against the doorframe and closed his eyes. "I can't. And I can't sleep. Please, Lily. Open the door." He knew it wasn't locked but he wasn't about to invade her space, especially not right now.

"I'm tired, Travis," she whispered. "I don't want to talk anymore."

"Then don't talk. I won't even talk. Just let me in. Please?" She remained silent and Travis pinched his eyes tighter, feeling the rising cloud of his own tears in his chest and stinging his eyes. "I love you," he whispered. "I hurt you and I'm sorry."

"I'll forgive you in the morning," she replied, barely audible. "I can't right now."

Travis choked on a sob. "Alright," he managed to say. "I deserve that, I know." He swallowed hard, trying to fight his emotions back down to a less suffocating level. "I love you," he said again. "I'll keep saying it as long as it's true and it will always be true."

Long silence answered him until Travis thought he might break down entirely. Finally, Lily's voice whispered back to him: "I love you, too, Travis. Now go away."

Chapter Text

September 15, 1989 - Septimus Lake, North Kill, New York

Travis kept his strokes slow and steady as he paddled the canoe across the lake to the tree house. Chris was curled into a ball at his feet, a hoodie pulled up over his head and his whole body shaking. His brother had started to sweat a few hours ago, soaking through his t-shirt in only a few minutes and his brown eyes rapidly turned to glinting gold. In the front of the canoe was a cooler full of food, mostly pre-cooked hamburger and sausages. Mel had spent most of the previous weekend cooking so they knew Chris would have enough to keep him going until morning. 

An ache in his chest reminded Travis of the missing piece of this puzzle. Lily had been avoiding him all week since their fight. When he did catch her gaze, she looked through him. She left things she wanted him to see in places she knew he would find it, but she didn't speak to him. He had slept on the couch all week without complaint, but he craved her touch, almost desperate to just hold her hand. The Hackett men were more physically affectionate than most and going completely without felt like a hollow place in his chest kept getting deeper. 

At his feet, Chris jerked sharply and whimpered. "Are we there yet?" he rasped. 

"Almost." Travis glanced at his watch. "It's only two o'clock."

"It hurts," whispered Chris. He shivered sharply and then curled up tighter. "I'm so hungry."

"Hang in there, little brother," Travis murmured and reached down to rub Chris's shoulder. "Almost there." He resumed paddling as Chris settled down again. At the shore of the island, he hopped out and dragged the canoe up onto dry land. "We're here."

Chris unfolded from the bottom of the boat and looked up at Travis, his pupils wide and the irises yellow-gold. In the bright sunlight of afternoon, he blinked rapidly and pulled the hood of his sweatshirt up higher over his face. "I feel like I can't see anything," he whispered.

"You probably see better in twilight," Travis sighed and gave his brother his arm to hang on to. They walked up to the base of the tree house and Chris climbed up the ladder to vanish inside. Travis returned to the canoe to retrieve the cooler. When he came back, Chris had shed the sweatshirt and his t-shirt, sitting against the wall with his bare back pressed into the drywall. "You okay?"

"Starving," Chris replied without opening his eyes. Travis opened the cooler and handed him one of the cooked hamburger patties Mel had cooked, then just stared as his brother devoured it. "More."

"You've gotta pace yourself," Travis said warily. "This needs to last all night."

"It won't."

Travis took a deep breath and sighed it out again. "It's ten pounds of ground beef, Chris."

Chris's eyes flashed open and Travis had to keep himself from bolting back down the ladder. The hunger in his brother's face was unmistakable. "It's. Not. Enough." His lips peeled back from his teeth in a feral snarl, then he shook his head hard and gasped, doubled over himself and panting. "It's happening faster this time," he panted. "Help me get the windows locked."

Without another word, Travis scaled the last ladder and helped Chris batten down the shutters on the windows, locking them all and then kicking them solidly to test their strength. He tried not to look at the dark stains on the floor left from the previous month's transformation or the long, hand-sized claw marks which scarred the walls.

When everything was secure, Travis went back down to get the cooler and heaved it up to Chris. "Lock the door," Chris said. 

"Chris..."

"Just do it, Travis. I don't like it any more than you do, but I don't want to risk hurting anyone."

Travis swallowed hard, then nodded. "I'm staying this time."

Chris stared at him miserably. "Don't. If I hurt you..."

Travis pulled his service pistol from the back of his jeans and showed his brother, trying to not shake when he did it. "If you break the lock, I'll stop you. I won't let you hurt anyone, Chris. Okay?"

"A gun barely slowed the kid down at Harum Scarum."

"But it did slow him down, at first." Travis swallowed his fear and added, "It won't kill you. If I do it right, I might be able to knock you out. It'll let me get you into restraints or back up the ladder." Chris shook his head and started to argue, but doubled over again with a groan. "There's no time," Travis growled at him. "Look, I'm staying and you can't make me leave. Just deal with it, little brother."

Slowly, Chris looked back up at him, then nodded. "Don't get yourself killed," he whispered.

Travis smiled thinly. "I'm not planning on it." Chris moved the trap door to let it fall. Travis bolted it with the two steel bolts they had installed since last month, then padlocked the hasp. "Not tonight anyway," he sighed to himself. He settled in one of the chairs at the little dinette set, placed the pistol in front of him--fully loaded and safety off--and opened a bottle of beer. 

It was going to be a long night.

The phone in the tree house rang around 8pm, jerking Travis out of a light doze. He had listened while Chris had transformed around 3pm, throwing himself violently around the upper room until he knocked over the cooler and discovered the rest of the hamburgers. It had satiated the monster his brother had become for a while, at least, and Chris had been quietly grumbling to himself upstairs ever since.

Travis stared at the phone, then picked it up cautiously. "Hello?"

"He's changed?" It was a woman's voice, though Travis had a split second where he wasn't sure if it was Mel or Lily. He hadn't noticed before how similar they sounded on the phone. 

"Yeah, around three."

"Is he okay?" Definitely Mel.

"He's fine, but he already ate everything. I don't know if I can open the door again to restock him, even if I had more down here." Travis swallowed and tilted his head, listening as Chris shook himself and started to pace the floor. "How are you doing?"

"Lily's here," Mel said in a soft voice. "I'm okay."

A desperate storm of emotion made Travis sit down hard in the dinette table chair again. He wanted to ask for her, to beg Mel to put her on the phone just so he could hear her voice. Instead, he let out a shaky, wordless sigh.

"She loves you," Mel whispered. "You know that, right?"

"Not so sure of it right now," he answered in a similarly low tone. 

"She does." Mel paused, then continued, "Do you want me to bring you anything?"

Travis laughed weakly. "Yeah. Lily."

Mel didn't answer for a long time, then said carefully, "I will, you know. If you're serious."

"You can bring a horse to water but you can't make her kiss me."

Mel chuckled. "Don't let her hear you say that."

"That's why I said it to you." Travis sighed and leaned his head back, studying the stretch of the coiled phone cord. "Do you think she'll talk to me if you give her the phone?"

"You know Lily. It's hard to judge." Mel was quiet for a few moments, then asked, "Do you want to try?"

His heart ached to say "yes." Every minute he spent without healing this rift felt like a stab in the kidney. "At least ask her if she wants to talk to me," he whispered, trying not to sound as broken as he felt.

"Just a second." 

Travis listened while Mel put the phone down and called to Lily. He listened helplessly, straining in spite of himself to hear her voice, even if she was still mad. 

Finally, the phone crackled as someone picked it up. "Promise me you won't apologize again."

Travis almost melted off the chair in relief. "I promise."

"Because I am fucking sick and tired of hearing you say 'I'm sorry,' Travis. I don't think you realize how often you say it." She sounded as tired as Mel.

"I guess not." Travis held very still and just listened to her breathe. 

"Do you need anything?" Lily murmured, sounding more like herself than he had heard in a long time.

"Just you," he replied. Lily laughed quietly and he pushed on, "No, I'm serious, Lily. This whole thing made me realize that I've got to get off my ass and marry you. I'm worthless without you." He hadn't planned to say it but it came tumbling out of him anyway. 

Lily was quiet. So quiet that Travis started to wonder if she had hung up or dropped the phone or died of shock. Finally, she said, "Just like that, huh?" Her voice was shaking when she spoke, but he couldn't judge her emotions from it. 

Travis waited, not sure what to do. Finally, he sighed and nodded to himself. In for a penny. "Yes," he said quietly. "I love you. I didn't want to ask you this way. I wanted to do something special but... well, my brother's a werewolf."

"And my mother's a lesbian," Lily answered but there was a note of teasing in her voice. "Both of them." Travis waited again until she took a breath and said, "Are you sure you want to ask me this, Travis? I mean, your mother--"

"To hell with my mother," Travis said. A reckless, wild vibration seemed to rip up his spine and he found himself grinning. "I'm asking you to marry me, not her."

"She's still part of the package," Lily murmured. "Let me think about it, okay? I don't want to answer on the phone anyway."

The impractical joy that had been shaking his brain turned to a cold wash of terror. Travis swallowed carefully and said, "Alright."

"Do you want us to bring you anything?" she asked again.

Travis forced his mind away from the hanging, dangling question of their future and tried to focus on the immediate. "Honestly, if you can get a cheap coffee pot, filters and coffee, it's stupid that we don't have one up here. Especially if we're going to keep using this place."

"Coffee, check. Anything else?"

"Do you still have those German things the guy from the New York Library sent you?"

"I can stop at the apartment and get them."

Travis nodded to himself. "If I'm not going to be sleeping anyway, might as well do some reading."

"Got it." Lily paused, then said in a voice that melted his heart, "I love you, Travis."

He choked on tears; it felt so good to hear her say it. "I love you, too."

"See you soon."

When she hung up, Travis put down the phone, put his head down on the table, hugged his knees and let himself cry.

Hungry. Hungry. No more meat in the box. Still smelled like meat. He checked again, tipping the box over and sniffing all around it. Nothing. No more meat. 

There was meat nearby. He could smell it. Still warm. Could hear the heartbeat. Drool dripped on the floor. 

The door didn't move. He scratched at it with his claws. His claws stuck in the rough wood, snagged on the edge around the hole. Metal clanked on the other side and he growled. He balled up his fists and thumped against the door. 

Engine. There was an engine running. It came closer, then sputtered out. He rushed to the window and tried to shove it open. The boards over the window didn't move. He could hear more metal clanking and snarled. The meat below was leaving, moving away. He roared and hammered his fists against the window boards. They shook with his force but held.

Water moved, slopped. Three sharp slaps of wood-on-wood and something in his mind cleared just enough to recognize the signal. Travis... He pressed himself close to the window, his head against the wood. He listened, breathed in the wisps of air that came through the cracks. Familiar meat smells... 

Travis... Mel... Lily...

Meat smells came back and the clarity vanished with them. He clawed at the edges of the windows, trying to work his way between them, to split the boards enough that he could break through. Nothing budged and he snarled again. 

But voices... there were voices below him. He rushed back to the door in the floor, flopped down with his head on the rough wood. He listened. No meaning came to him but the voices were familiar. The more he listened, the more familiar they became and the more comforting. He closed his eyes and just listened, letting their voices calm the ravenous hunger. 

Something wet was on his face. He shook his head, pawed at his face, confused. As the hunger receded, a different ache rose, the ache to be with pack. He paced the floor, shaking with need. More water on his face and he pawed it away. He dropped to his haunches and howled his frustration at the ceiling. The howl soothed the ache but didn't relieve it. Only pack could relieve it. He needed his pack.

Below him, the meat huddled and talked, the stench of fear reaching him and whetting the hunger again. He pushed his face down against the door away, sniffing. The hunger conflicted with the pack-ache. Confused, he shook his head and huffed at the wood. He clawed at it again and whined. They all went silent in the room below him and he whined again, scratched at the wood. 

One of the females spoke. She spoke toward the ceiling, toward his door. To him. She was talking to him. The voice was familiar, the smell familiar in spite of the meat tang. Mel... 

Memory broke through the feral fog and he whined again. His Mel. His girl. His pack. He saw her talking, laughing, driving his truck, kissing him. 

"Meh... meh. Meh."

Her voice broke and he could smell salty water, grief and fear. 

Frustration ripped another howl out of him and he listened to his girl crying below, helpless to reach her.

Lily pulled Mel into a hug as her friend sobbed. They could still hear Chris's pacing feet, the occasional rough, almost barked "meh, meh" sounds he made. It was close enough to Amelia's name that none of them could ignore his awareness. The howl was chilling, full of such pain and loneliness that Travis was almost up the ladder before Lily could pull him back. 

"If we let him out and something happens, he'll never forgive us. He'll never forgive himself," she insisted and the mutinous expression on Travis's face melted. 

"I can't do this," he whispered, broken. "Lily, I can't leave him up there."

Lily came close to him, put her hands on either side of his face and gently held him so he would look at her. "Maybe that's why he didn't want you to stay." Wordlessly, Travis started to cry and Lily hugged him. He shook with emotion, his face buried in her shoulder and his arms wrapped around her. She pushed her nose against the side of his face, then kissed his cheek. "It's okay," she whispered. "We're right here." 

Holding Travis as he cried, something slowly coalesced in her heart and Lily found herself starting to shake with tears of her own. She loved him. More than she had ever loved anyone. She couldn't look away from the tearing grief that loomed if she decided to push him away. So she pressed her lips against his ear and whispered, "Yes."

Chapter Text

September 16, 1989 - Septimus Lake, North Kill, New York

He awoke naked and covered in blood. His mouth tasted like vomit and rotten meat. 

Chris shook his head, rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. The barest hint of morning light crept between the boards of the window shutters, so he estimated it was probably around 9am. He sighed. This was how the rest of his life was going to be. Once a month, naked and bloody.

When he inhaled again, he jerked into a sitting position, sniffing the air eagerly. "Coffee," he sighed and went for the stash of wash water. He cleaned up as much as he could, dressed again and knocked on the trap door. "Travis?"

Below, someone climbed the ladder and unlocked the padlocks, then threw the bolts and pushed on the door. Chris grabbed the edge to pull it open and was surprised to see Mel's face as she beamed at him. Before he could let go of the trapdoor, she rocketed into his arms and kissed him. "Good morning," she whispered.

"Good morning," he chuckled. "What are you doing here?"

"Travis needed a Lily so I delivered him an arrangement."

"Is there more than one of her?"

"Only in Travis's dreams."

Travis's voice drifted up from below them: "I can barely handle one. I do not need a dozen." Lily's voice reached him and Travis laughed, an easy sound that surprised him. 

"They made up."

"More than that," grinned Mel. "We could do a double wedding."

Chris choked. "What!?" He kissed Mel quickly and then stuck his head through the open trap door. "What the hell, man!?"

"It wasn't planned," Travis told him, almost defensively. Lily handed him a mug of coffee, then held another up to Chris. When he accepted the mug, Lily turned back to Travis and settled in his lap, her head on his shoulder. Travis wrapped his arms around her and hugged her close. "I wasn't trying to steal anyone's thunder."

"Just someone's sister," Lily added and he snorted at her.

"Well, whatever is stolen or not, I'm glad to see you guys together again," Chris said. He worked his way down the ladder one-handed, trying not to spill the coffee and Mel followed him. 

"Me, too," murmured Travis. 

"Do you remember anything?" Mel asked him and Chris blinked.

"No, why?" They all exchanged a solemn look that made him squirm. "What?"

"You were... more engaging than you were the first time," Travis offered carefully. "You reacted when Mel talked to you."

"Reacted like how?"

"You said my name," Mel said in a small voice.

"He barked something that sort of sounded like your name," Lily corrected her. "It was enough that it freaked us all out, though."

Chris paused and sipped the coffee, trying to push his thoughts into the dark, foggy place that was his memory of the night before. He could remember crossing the lake with Travis, latching the windows. It started to get confusing after that and then there was nothing. "I really don't remember anything," he said softly.

Travis made a thoughtful sound. "So even if you do recognize us when you're changed, you still don't remember it. We can't count on that awareness, then." He turned his head to push his nose into Lily's hair for a moment, his expression pained. "It was hard to listen to you, Chris," he admitted softly. "You sounded..."

"Lonely," supplied Lily.

A pang of longing shot through him and Chris winced, rubbing his chest. "Maybe I do remember that," he whispered. Mel hugged him tightly from behind. "But that's really all." He put his hand over where Mel's wrists crossed on his chest, stroking her fingers. "So, tell me all about what's going on!"

Travis and Lily exchanged an amused look. "Well," Travis said with a shrug, "my brother, you see, is a werewolf." Chris glared and threw a towel at them while Lily giggled. "No!" Travis protested, "It's relevant, I swear!" He shushed Lily, who only giggled more. "Mel called to check on us and I talked her into putting Lily on the phone. The more I talked to her, the more I realized how absolutely miserable my life is without her, so I asked her to fix that."

"On the phone?" 

"It wasn't the prettiest proposal," Lily said with a grin, "but it worked." 

"She didn't say yes until she was here and we were all listening to you upstairs," Travis added more seriously. "I think it's a family thing."

Lily snorted at him, turned his chin toward her face and kissed him. "You said I'm not marrying your mother which is true. But in reality, I'm marrying the Hackett baggage and that includes a mother-in-law who hates my guts and a brother-in-law who's a werewolf." She shrugged and looked back at Chris. "I've lived through worse."

"So, we're all in this thing together," Travis said. 

"Family first," agreed Mel.

Chris could feel a trembling in his chest and took a long, slow breath to keep from crying. "Thanks, guys. I'd be lying if I said I thought it was a good idea, but I'm glad I'm not doing this alone."

"The real problem is: where are we going to do this once Dad gets the camp up and running."

Cold sweat ran down Chris's back and he turned to stare at Travis. "What?"

"You didn't hear? Bobby was bubbling about it the other day." Travis took another drink of his coffee from around Lily but he didn't make eye contact. "Dad confirmed. He wants to start the summer camp up again. Something about making family memories with the next generation."

"Oh, shit," Mel breathed. "Is this because--"

"I think so."

"Oh, shit."

Panic rattled in Chris's head and he stopped long enough to take a deep breath. "So, what do we do? The camp always included the lake. Is he going to want the tree house, too?"

Travis shrugged slowly. "I'm willing to fight him on that. It's more ours than it was ever his. We've put in the hours to make it what it is." He glanced toward the door to the second story. "And we kind of need it."

They all lapsed into tense silence until Chris said, "I wonder if he would accept me as a partner. If I'm directly involved in how the camp works, it would be easier to direct where he builds."

"The same could be said of me," Travis pointed out. "Only I'm not limited by the moon."

"You are limited by your job," Chris shot back.

Lily cleared her throat. "Do you think he'd accept me? I've always gotten along with your dad better than your mom. I could help work in the office. I've got accounting background."

"What about the paper?" asked Chris.

"I can go freelance if Roger's willing to let me write copy. I could easily do both."

"Ma will blow a gasket," Chris muttered.

"She's going to do that anyway," Travis said. "Maybe we can find some other place for your full moons."

"I guess we're going to have to." Chris ran his hands back through his blood-sticky hair and made a disgusted noise in his throat. "I am disgusting. Can I use the shower at your place?"

"Of course," said Lily. Something about the way she said it made him stop and study her face. She smiled at him and Chris slowly smiled back.

"Thanks, sis."

September 16, 1989 - LaGrange, New York

The entire trip back to Lily's apartment, Mel's words about a double wedding bounced around the inside of her head. Mel was driving Chris's truck while he dozed in the passenger seat and Travis was following in his patrol car. Lily missed him.

She had missed him so deeply. Even being in the same apartment, they had been divided and that fact had hurt her almost as much as his questioning of her story. It was a legitimate question but not one she ever liked having to face squarely. For her, her parents were always Jessica Gagnon and Peggy McLean. The genetic data that came from her father was only that: data. 

Lily signaled the turn into her apartment parking lot and glanced in her rearview mirror to watch Mel and Travis following her. She could only barely see Travis's face at this distance. When she parked and climbed out of the aging VW, Travis parked beside her and she waited near his door. He got out and leaned on the open car door, smiling at her with that done-with-life expression he got when he'd been awake all night. But it was still a smile. She reached to place her palms on his cheeks, then pulled him down to her and kissed him over the door. "I love you," she whispered.

Travis sidestepped the door and closed it, then pulled her close and kissed her back. "I love you, too," he murmured. 

"Do you seriously think we can get married?" The question squeaked out of her before she could take it back and Lily closed her eyes so she didn't have to see the hurt in his face. 

"Well... yeah." Travis leaned his forehead against hers, his breath warm on her skin. "Nothing's going to keep us apart for long. Not again." 

Lily bit her lip and tucked her chin to avoid his kiss. "I wish I could believe that. There's just so much riding on this. If Mel's mom finds out--"

"Stop," Travis whispered. He ran one thumb along her jaw and tilted her head back so she would look at him. "We'll figure it out. My mom, Mel's family, all of it. We're supposed to be together." He paused and Lily felt his fingers twitch, almost a tremble. "Please tell me you feel that, too."

Lily smiled at him and kissed him. "I knew that the minute I realized it was you I was hugging at a football game," she whispered back. "Never saw you before in my life and all of a sudden, I knew I was never going to not see you." Travis hugged her tightly and they stood in the parking lot, clinging to each other.

"Hey!" Chris shouted from the sidewalk. They both jerked and looked at him. "I smell like wet dog. Can we do something about this please?" He waved his arms dramatically toward the building and Lily started to giggle. 

They climbed the stairs together and Lily let them in. "Bathroom," she said, pointing. "There are towels in the closet. Help yourself to soap and shampoo if you want."

"Thanks." 

"Stay out of the medicine cabinet!" Travis shouted after him. When Lily gave him a questioning raised eyebrow, he shrugged, looking uncomfortable. "He's nosey."

"You just don't want to share the Old Spice," Mel snickered and Travis flushed. 

"Well, I'm going to go lie down for a minute," he sighed, shaking his head. "I seriously need to close my eyes for a few months."

"I'll wake you at New Years," grinned Lily. 

"Only if you promise to kiss me at midnight," he replied and pulled her close to kiss her before he vanished into the bedroom. She and Mel could both hear the bed springs squeaking as he threw himself down on the mattress with an audible sigh. 

Mel flopped onto the couch with a long sigh of her own, her head back against the throw pillows. "I'm glad you're back together," she murmured. "It feels like we're missing a wheel without you."

Lily smiled. She sat on the other end of the couch and pulled Mel's feet into her lap. "I'm glad, too. I'm not good at staying mad and his sad eyes are worse than a puppy on those animal cruelty commercials." Mel laughed. Lily listened to her friend's familiar laughter, then realized with a little twitch how much that laugh sounded like Jason's. She closed her eyes and winced against the pain in her heart. She loved Mel easily as much as she loved her full blood-brother. She wished she could tell her.

"What is it?" Mel's foot wiggled between Lily's hip and the arm of the couch. "Lil?"

"Just missing my brother," Lily lied with a small smile. When Mel gave her an odd look, she waved her hand, dismissing the thought. "Oh, meant to ask you. Have you guys picked a date?"

The change in subject easily set Mel off on a tangent of her own and Lily just smiled, listening and nodded when her input was required. It wasn't until Mel's words organized themselves into a confusing sentence that Lily finally focused: "And you'll be there, of course."

"Wait, what?"

"You," Mel repeated. "You don't think I'm asking someone else to be my maid of honor, do you?"

Lily's stomach did a barrel roll. "Oh, Mel. Don't do that. There's got to be someone else."

"Lillian Gagnon," Mel huffed as she sat up.

"My name's not Lillian."

"You are like a sister to me," Mel continued as if she hadn't heard, "and I don't have any actual sisters. I've got some cousins but most of them are boys and I don't really like the girls much. The girls from cheer are mostly bitches if they're even talking to me anymore." She poked Lily in the arm. "I want you up there with me," she said more softly. "Just like I know Chris wants Travis up there next to him. You guys are part of this. We want you there."

...like a sister...

Lily bit her lip hard to keep from crying. "Fine," she whispered. "But if Constance starts hating you, too, it's not my fault."

"I'm not worried about that," Mel said, hugging her. "I just want you." She pushed her nose into Lily's ear and Lily squeaked, ticklish. "She can suck a lemon. If I'm getting married, all I need is you and Travis and Chris. And a priest. Or something."

"Just not in that order," giggled Lily.

"Right."

Chapter Text

December 31, 1989 - LaGrange, New York

Travis felt Lily's elbow dig into his ribs and he snorted slightly, waking up the rest of the way. "Wha?"

"You're going to miss the ball drop."

"I wasn't asleep." He stretched his arms over his head with a grunt, then wrapped around her again. They had spent most of the evening snuggled up on the couch, watching TV and reading during commercials. 

"Because you always snore when you're awake," Lily teased him. 

"I only started snoring after you deviated my septum," he shot back and stuck out his tongue. 

"Not my fault your alarm scared me."

"You punched me in the face!"

"It was an accident! And it wasn't a punch. More of a flat-handed smack."

"Still almost broke my nose."

"I did not break your nose."

"I said almost."

The television announcer had started the ten second count-down, so they quieted to watch, both grinning as they snuggled closer. As Times Square exploded into celebrations, Travis leaned forward and whispered in Lily's ear, "Happy New Year."

"Welcome to the 90s," she replied, leaning her head back on his shoulder. She closed her eyes when he ran his hand across her forehead, sweeping her hair off her face. 

"When do you want to get married?"

Lily exhaled sharply without opening her eyes. "Can we elope?"

"I mean, I don't mind." Travis chuckled and kissed her hair. "It would probably be safer than trying to put my family and Peggy in the same room."

Lily laughed. "She'd kill them all."

"Except Chris."

"Except Chris. She likes Chris."

"Everyone likes Chris."

"Shame he's a werewolf."

Travis let out a soundless laugh that rocked his shoulders slightly. "Right." They watched the party in New York City for a few more seconds before he murmured, "Ever thought about where you want to live?"

"Not really." She tilted her head back so she could see him upside-down. "I guess I assumed wherever you'd be. Which I guess I always assumed would be here."

"It doesn't have to be. We could go anywhere. Boston, Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles."

Lily watched his face and Travis knew she was reading his heart as much as he was reading hers. "We can't leave Chris and Mel," she said softly. "Mel's a trooper but she won't be able to handle his changes on her own." He sighed and closed his eyes, felt Lily's fingertips trace his eyebrow and down his cheek. "Family's always first," she whispered.

"I hate that you're right," he murmured. "I hate that phrase sometimes. I hate that it ties me here, to these people I don't even like a lot of the time." With a long sigh, he nosed into her palm. "But I love that you're here with me. I love that my family doesn't...hasn't driven you away."

"And give Constance the satisfaction of being right?" Lily grinned and Travis let himself smile. "Not a chance." She turned in his lap and kissed him slowly. "Besides. I love you."

"Mmm. Lucky me."

Epilogue

November 2, 2015 - LaGrange, New York

"Did you finish?"

"Of course."

An envelope changed hands, then a small box. "You're sure?"

"You think I'd give you bad info?"

"No. But..."

"Trust me, brother." One hand clasped another and black eyes met brown. "Dance with her for me, will you?"

Travis swallowed and studied Lily's familiar eyes in a more masculine face. "You could come and dance with her yourself."

Jason gave the sheriff a slow, sad smile. "I would if I could. Truly, I would. But that's just not in the cards for me." He clapped a hand on Travis's shoulder and gave him a little shake. "Take care of her."

"If she'll let me," Travis smiled and Jason laughed.

"That's true enough." He paused and gave Travis a long, thoughtful look. "Why now? After all these years?"

Travis's smile was quick and painful. "Every day I've spent without her has brought me one step closer to putting a bullet in my brain. I'm done dying inside. I'm ready to live."

"Then live well." 

"Or die trying," chuckled Travis. "Thanks, Jason."

"I'll be seeing you."