Chapter Text
“Midnight,” Twilight greeted, forcing himself not to cringe at the one Agent of WISE he least wanted to meet at HQ, much less on a job.
“Twilight,” the older agent nodded in greeting.
“Where’s Wheeler?” he responded gruffly, now desperately hoping to finish things quickly. Midnight stepped aside and gestured to the bed. Wheeler’s body lay there, his head wrapped in a towel and plastic bag.
“Apologies for my tardiness,” Midnight explained, picking up the briefcase at the centre of this fiasco, “If I’d been quicker perhaps this entire mess would’ve been avoided,”
“...It’s in the past now,” Twilight said through gritted teeth, “Where do we go from here?”
“Wheeler’s presence in Ostania has already been noted, it’s best we dispose of the body and sow some confusion before they realize he’s disappeared,” Twilight nodded, watching as Midnight donned a disguise that made him look identical to the SSS Lieutenant Yuri was partnered with, and felt his ulcer spike in pain.
First Yor’s dissatisfaction, then Yuri’s interruption, and now his father’s presence. He wanted this day to be over.
---
In the end, the mission was accomplished, the day was saved, WISE’s secrets are preserved, and Twilight was left with the unenviable task of driving his father back to HQ. He’s not sure what’s worse, the awkward silence that reigns over the car for most of the ride, or when his father decides to break it.
“How is your family?”
“Why would you care?”
“I want to keep tabs on you, so I read the reports you send back. Though I suspect there’s more to it. I doubt family life is as dry as the reports make it out to be,” the barest trace of humour entered his soft spoken voice, and Twilight decided to instead raise a lingering concern of his.
“Did you have a hand in assigning me to STRIX?” he asked, keeping his eyes on the road
He still caught his father’s reflection shaking its head, “No. As per your wishes, I’ve recused myself from getting involved in your assignments,”
“Then why…” he demanded with a low, slow growl, “...Are you asking about my family?”
There was a pause. “Because I still want to look out for you.”
Twilight scoffed, “Really? Now?”
“I wanted to come back after Luwen. I did come back after Kielsburg. I looked for you after you ran off to join the army, I even rejoined Military Intelligence to-,”
“I know, we’ve been through this before,” Twilight cut him off harshly, then sighed, “If you simply must know…” he wanted to lie, say everything was fine and leave it at that. But as it always happened with his father, the truth came tumbling out, whether he wanted it to or not, “...My cover wife is, dissatisfied with our arrangement,”
“How so?” his father asked.
Twilight didn’t answer, so Midnight decided to press.
“Sexually?”
“Gaah!” Twilight sputtered, nearly driving off the road as his father's guess, as always, found a chink in his armour and knocked his wits out from under him. “No!” he shouted, frantically regaining control of the car, “ Not sexually! We haven’t even…kissed,” he finished softly, ears burning as he remembered Yor’s drunken actions the previous night, “She just…says I’m spending too much time at work,”
Midnight hummed as they came to a stop in the road, “Your wife, she has black hair and red eyes, correct?”
Twilight side-eyed him “...Correct?”
“And looks like that SSS agent we outwitted earlier?”
“...Yes,” Twilight answered slowly, “They’re siblings. Why are you asking?”
Midnight pointed out the window, “Because that’s her right there,”
Loid’s head whipped around and yep, that was Yor, on the steps of their apartment building, Anya in her arms and waving at them.
He’d…driven them home, instead of driving to WISE.
Fuck, today had been a bad day.
He plastered a smile over his shock, cranking down the window as Yor crossed the street to greet them.
“Hi Papa! I saw a lion at the zoo today!”
“Hello Loid,” Yor greeted him, his name a song on her tongue. “It’s nice running into each other,”
“It is,” Loid agreed, silently cursing his luck. Of all the times to trip up, it had to be with his father in the car.
“Who's your friend?” she asked, and Twilight opened his mouth to write Twilight off as a visiting doctor he was driving to his hotel.
But Anya beat him to the punch.
“Grandpa!” she shrieked.
…Fuck. How did she know!?
Yor blinked, taking in their similar features, “Oh! Your father? Why didn’t you tell me!?”
“It’s on extremely short notice,” his father explained with a nervous laugh, “He didn’t get the chance to tell you,”
“Oh!” Yor said cheerily, “Are you a doctor too?”
“Yes I am,” Midnight nodded, “I run a private practice out west. I came to Berlint to consult with an old colleague. Once again, very short notice, neither of us knew we’d run into each other. But where are my manors, I'm Dr. Roy Forger,” he smiled, tipping his cap in greeting.
“Yor Forger, nee Briar,” Yor nodded.
“And I’m Anya!” his daughter announced.
Midnight chuckled, “Yes, I know. He’s told me about you both,”
“O-oh, he has?” Yor stammered, suddenly flushing, “He hasn’t really talked about you much,”
Loid took the opportunity to jump into the conversation, “We’re…estranged,” he admitted
“Oh…that’s a shame,” Yor said awkwardly, shuffling her feet.
“Well,” ‘Roy Forger’ interjected before things could become too awkward, “It is late, and I am old, so perhaps my son should drive me to my hotel and then return to his family,”
“We should,” Loid agreed, only for Yor’s hand to rest upon his shoulder.
“Loid I- I wanted to apologize for what I said earlier. I don’t really have a gripe with you, my co-workers just got under my skin last night,”
“Oh,” he responded dumbly, “You aren’t dissatisfied with our marriage?”
“No, Loid,” Yor smiled, a thousand gigawatt grin that seemed to illuminate the night, “I’m happy here, with you and Anya,”
“That’s good,” he answered, desperately ignoring how his heart fluttered.
“Papa and Mama are flirting!”
“I-I should get Anya to bed,”
“Same with my father,” he squeaked as Yor’s hand flinched away like she’d been touching a hot iron. She stepped back towards the apartment, and Loid drove away, ignoring how his ears burned.
---
“I’m glad you worked things out,” his father said as they reached the drop off point.
“It’s not that simple,” Twilight insisted, “Especially since your presence is undoubtedly going to raise difficult questions,”
“I’m sorry,” Midnight bowed his head. “Your wife and daughter are nice,”
“Thank you,” Twilight grumbled, knowing that said wife and daughter would want to meet him.
He’d already blurred the line between Loid Forger, Twilight, and [REDACTED] so much for Strix, and bringing in his father, who already blurred that line, would only make things more difficult.
“How did she even know you were my father?” he grumbled, inviting a chuckle from the older man.
“She’s certainly as perceptive as the reports say,”
“That she is,” Twilight admitted with a sigh, turning back to his father as he stepped out.
“How long are you staying in Berlint,”
“Just a few weeks, long enough for the SSS’ attention to die down. I’ll stay out of your way,”
The offer was tempting, “We’ll go over a suitable cover story tomorrow. Then you can…meet my family,”
His father didn’t turn to face him, but he tipped his hat nonetheless. “If you’re okay with that. Thank you,”
And then he was gone, leaving Twilight to wonder if he’d made a mistake.