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He hears about the Delta, the child soldiers and the boat and how everything went to shit. Rumors abound, they always will, and it’s not like communication is super efficient in the apocalypse. But every new detail of the story that Javi picks up on solidifies more and more the feeling in his gut that the Ericson kids’ mysterious leader is Clementine, the small boy at her side Alvin, Jr. He thinks he’s jumping to conclusions, seeing things where he wants to see them, but…
“It’s her,” Gabe says with conviction. The wispy mustache he’s been trying to grow sticks out dark against his upper lip - he’s proud it’s as thick as it is, even if it’s mainly peach fuzz still. “I know it’s her, Javi. It’s her and it’s AJ, and we have to go and see them.”
“It’ll be a dangerous trip,” Javi reminds him, but they both know that neither of them give two shits about that.
They leave Richmond on a cold, drizzly morning that feels silent and misty as the grave. Conrad, Eleanor, and Lingard see them off at the front gates - the rest of the council stepping up while Javi’s gone. David says goodbye, too. He’s grayer at the temples and lined in his forehead ever since they lost Kate, but when he hugs his son, Gabe hugs him right back.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come with us?” Javi asks him.
David smiles, sort of sadly, like he always does these days. He shakes his head. “Clementine’s never been my biggest fan,” he reminds them. “And I’m not exactly hers, either. Just…Just make sure that AJ is ok. That’s all I really want to hear.”
Javi nods. He hugs him. “No one loves that kid more than she does,” he consoles, and David nods back, resting his chin against Javi’s shoulder.
It takes them a day or two to make it, driving discreetly on the backroads and watching out for muertos or - usually worse - other people. Javi knows Ericson was once a school for little delinquents; he’s not sure if he’d classify Clem as a “troubled kid” necessarily, but he looks at Gabe and remembers that every kid is troubled these days.
Gabe raises his eyes to the wrought-iron gates and swallows, hard. It’s been years since he saw Clem last, and he hopes he doesn’t act like a total idiot in front of her.
They both sort of ignore the body of Abel, propped against the tree. They step up to the gates and Javi goes, “Hey in there!”
A mop of ginger hair appears from over the lip of one of the watchtowers. “Who are you?” Willy demands, his bow primed and ready in his hands. “What do you want here?”
Javi raises his palms, calmly. “We’re not looking for any trouble,” he says. “We’ve heard about this place. All about you guys, and how you took out the Delta. We’re pretty sure you’ve got a friend of ours with you that we haven’t seen in…a long time.”
“Bullshit,” Willy calls, sniffing slightly. “You don’t know anyone, you just want our stuff. No adults allowed.”
“I’m 17,” says Gabe. He rubs self-consciously at his upper lip. “If we could just - “
“I don’t care,” Willy interrupts, knuckles whitening on the grasp of the bow. “You’re strangers, and we don’t mess around with strangers. You’d better leave, or I’ll shoot you both full of arrows.”
“We have no weapons,” says Javi, raising his eyebrows at this menace of a 14-year-old boy. “We’re not being aggressive. You’d kill us, just like that? Defenseless?”
Willy’s eyes narrow. “You don’t know - “
“What’s going on?” A new head pops up, dark and full of curls and -
Javi’s never seen the kid in his life before, but somehow, he just knows. “AJ?”
The young boy frowns. “How do you know my name?” he asks, sizing both Garcías up carefully, hand ready to stray for his gun and aim for the head if he needs it. “I don’t know who you are.”
Javi smiles - God, what a relief. “We’re friends of Clementine’s. Please. If you could just send her out here, she’ll tell you.”
AJ’s face is carved from hard stone. “Who are you,” he demands.
“I’m Gabe. This is my Uncle Javi.” Gabe scratches at his forearm, a bit awkwardly. “My dad…He had you for a while, when you were a baby.”
AJ says nothing. Have they blown it completely? All this travel, and for what? Javi desperately wonders what he can say to convince him they’re not a threat...
Gabe is simply terrified at the thought that the reason they haven’t seen Clementine yet is because she…isn’t around anymore.
But then AJ asks, hesitantly, “Your dad is…David?”
Gabe nods, enthusiastic. “Yeah. Yeah, David, that’s him. Is Clem in there? Is she ok?”
“I’ll be right back,” AJ says. He pats Willy on the shoulder. “I think you can put the bow down. They’re not going to hurt us.”
Willy complies, but he isn’t in any way happy about it. New people can never be trusted, even if they know Clementine. Lilly knew Clementine, and Lilly killed Mitch. If Mitch were still here, he wouldn’t like these new guys, either, Willy’s sure of it.
The gates creak open. “Ok, you can come in,” AJ says, and turns back without waiting for them to follow.
And around the corner of the next hedge, propped up on a pair of crutches and beaming brighter than Javi’s ever seen her is -
“ Clem! ” Gabe can’t stop himself from dashing straight for her, even if AJ looks alarmed and Violet, clinging to Clementine’s wrist, goes reaching for her cleaver.
She doesn’t have to use it; Clem opens her arms wide and pulls him straight into a tight hug.
“You’re so tall,” she says, amber eyes twinkling with tears. They never used to twinkle like that, not unless she was reminiscing about AJ or Lee; the look suits her. “I - I can’t believe that it’s really you. And your hair is so long now!” She smirks. “Though I see you’re still wearing the same ratty old beanie.”
“Shut up,” says Gabe thickly, eyes red, and then he looks down at the ground and he gasps, loud, because -
“Holy shit,” exclaims Javi. “Your leg!”
Clem rolls her eyes. “It’s good to see you too, Javier. ”
Javi laughs, sort of crazed, and embraces her in a bear hug. “Sorry. I just…It’s been so long, and - what happened? When did it happen?”
“It’s kind of a long story,” Clementine says, and Violet snorts. That’s an understatement.
“I saved her,” AJ proudly proclaims.
“Yeah.” Clem smiles. “Yeah, he did.” She fixes her stance, shifting onto the makeshift prosthetic that Willy screwed together for her. “Come on, let’s sit. We can catch up.”
At the picnic table, Violet mutters to Clem, “I’ll be right back.” New people, she’s never been comfortable with them at first, even when the new person in question was once Clementine. Clem nods, brushes her fingers against the denim sleeve of Violet’s jacket. “Check in on L,” she says, and Violet nods and presses a kiss to Clem’s cheekbone before shuffling towards the school.
Gabe blinks, surprised. “Is she…like, your girlfriend?”
“Yeah.” Clem grins like an idiot, but maybe it’s all right to be an idiot when you’re in love. “Yeah, she is.”
“Oh,” says Gabe. “Neat.”
And he’s happy to learn that he one hundred percent means it.
Clem tells them about the ranch, Lilly and the Delta and Marlon and Minnie and James. She tells them about the bomb, Mitch’s Masterpiece, and - she tells them about the bite, what exactly went down in the old barn.
Javi and Gabe tell her about Richmond. How things are holding up, new policies they’ve implemented, the fact that Jesus still swings by every now and then to visit and warm Javi’s bed for a few nights. “You got a girlfriend?” Clem asks Gabe, halfway joking, and Gabe shrugs and says, grinning, “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
And Clem just laughs. She turns to Javi. “Do you still play ball? I’d ask you to teach me, only my balance is super fucked.”
“Swear,” says AJ.
Clementine smiles. “But maybe you could give AJ some pointers. Kid’s got crazy aim - I bet he’d make a sharp little pitcher.”
“Hey, I’d love to,” Javi says. “I’m sure we could rustle up a baseball or something like one from somewhere around here…”
“What’s a pitcher?” AJ asks. “Like those big jugs we drink water out of?”
“It means you get to throw the ball,” says Violet, returning to the table with Louis in tow. “It’s…fun. I used to pitch when I played softball.”
Javi, because he’s just got to get to know the person Clementine is dating, smiles at her. “That’s badass. Softball’s a great game.”
She blinks at him, surprised. “Yeah,” she says slowly. “It was.” She thrusts a hand, awkward and stiff, in front of herself. “I’m Violet. Sorry I didn’t introduce myself before.”
“Javi.” He shakes the hand - it’s cold and a little clammy, but who is he to mind? “This is my nephew, Gabe.”
Gabe nods at Violet, wordlessly. Violet hesitates for a moment - nods back at him.
Louis starts frantically tapping at her shoulder. “What’s up?” she asks him, eyes immediately jumping to read at his slender musician’s fingers. “Everything good, Lou?”
He points at Javi. JG, he signs excitedly, gesturing to his former hero animatedly. JG, he was famous.
“Yep,” Clementine confirms. “Javi here was a celebrity before all this shit happened.”
I’m Gabe, Gabe signs. What’s your name?
Louis’s eyes brighten. Louis, he signs back excitedly. Nice to meet you, Gabe.
Surprised, Clem asks, “You know sign language?”
Javi laughs. “He and Mari would have secret conversations in the backseat of the van all the time. It used to drive me and Kate crazy. ”
And, like always when those two names are mentioned, the tension in the air turns a little sadder.
“He can still hear you,” AJ pipes up, matter-of-factly. “Lilly didn’t cut off his ears. Only his tongue.”
“ AJ ,” Clem hisses, but Louis shrugs.
What? It’s the truth.
“Jesus,” remarks Javi in despair. “You’re all still so young…none of you should have had to go through any of this.”
“Well, we did anyway,” Violet mutters under her breath, and Javi grimaces.
Marlon would have liked you, Louis says, gesturing to Javi. You were one of his favorite players.
Gabe translates for him, and Javi barks out a laugh. “Yeah, I guess if he likes gambling fuck-ups. Screw-ups, I mean,” he amends as AJ opens his mouth.
Marlon never cared about that. He thought you were the shit.
Javi smiles. “Good to know I still was to somebody.”
Come on, Gabe, Louis says then, smiling wide. I’ll show you my wicked piano skills.
Gabe doesn’t look to Javi for permission before he goes; nor does Javi expect him to.
A small whine sounds from somewhere near Javi’s feet. “Hey!” he exclaims, seeing the large pitbull watching him expectantly. He reaches out to scratch her between her ears - God, he can’t remember the last time he saw a pitbull. No one in Richmond keeps one.
“That’s Rosie,” Clem explains. “She’s a sweetheart. I guess she’s warming up to you quicker than she did with me.”
“I’ve always been a pretty big dog person,” Javi tells her, letting Rosie lick at his palm. “Man’s best friend, right?”
“Or woman’s,” says Violet.
“So, you really know these guys, Clementine?”
Ruby sits down at the table, Omar and Aasim in tow. Willy stays behind - someone’s got to keep on watch, and Willy still doesn’t trust these Garcías any further than he can throw them. Even if the tall guy with the beard seems like a total badass.
“They helped me out at a time when I really needed it,” Clem says, smiling. “I can 100% say that I wouldn’t be alive without Gabe and Javi.”
“Right, like you haven’t saved our lives more times than we can count,” Javi counters. He smiles at Ruby - fortunately, he comes off as friendly and not a complete creep. “And I’m sure she’s saved yours, too.”
“Definitely.” Aasim’s fingers tangle between Ruby’s, laid out together on the old wooden table-top. “We’d be screwed without Clem.”
“And without AJ,” says Omar as he socks the kid good-naturedly on the shoulder; AJ beams with pride.
“You know, I never liked you while you were playing in the League,” Ruby tells him, no bullshitting. “Marlon and I would argue about it all the time. ”
Javi shrugs. “Fair enough. I didn’t exactly keep a great name for myself. Besides, none of that shit matters. Not anymore.”
“Swear,” AJ points out. “You all like to swear a whole fucking lot.”
Javi laughs aloud. “ Hey, ” Clem admonishes, but there’s no real heat behind the words. Ruby reaches over, flicks AJ lightly between the eyes. “ Be nice, ” she warns, smiling down at him.
Aasim departs to find Gabe and Louis in the music room. Louis is tapping out something vaguely Elton John-shaped on the keys when he gets there. Gabe watches, his head bobbing to the beat, a soft smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
Louis stops playing, points out Aasim and signs his name for Gabe. Gabe nods at him. “I’m Gabe. I was just telling Louis how great it is that you guys have a way to play music. If there was a piano at Richmond, people would be all over that thing, I bet. Do you play?” he asks Aasim, curious.
“No way,” Aasim snorts. “Sorry. I just don’t have a single musical bone in my body.”
Louis rolls his eyes, grinning, before starting to twiddle out another slightly off-key ditty on the ivories.
“So then what do you do?” Gabe asks him, interested.
“I read.” Aasim shrugs. “The stuff I can get my hands on, that is. I keep a journal, too. Just about everything that goes on here at Ericson, like a log book, kinda.”
“Why?” asks Gabe. He’s genuinely intrigued.
“Someone’s got to remember us, when we’re gone,” Aasim answers.
Gabe is silent for a moment. “I used to really like the Artemis Fowl series,” he says, and Aasim beams.
When Gabe exits the building, headed to dinner with Louis and Aasim, the first thing that happens is that a giant boulder of a dog slams into him and starts licking all over his face.
“Rosie!” AJ says. “Down! Bad dog!”
Gabe only laughs, and goes to scritch her under her chin. Javi smiles - God, they gotta get some sort of pet back at Richmond for the two of them. His nephew seems like he would benefit from having another friend around - and hey, probably so would Javi.
Kate would have liked Rosie too, he thinks. She was always a dog person.
Gabe thinks, Dad would love this fucking dog.
“You can stay here tonight,” Clem tells the two of them. “I’d say you can stay as long as you like, but I know you’ve got your own people. And a couple extra mouths to feed wouldn’t exactly make things easier for us.”
Javi nods. “Speaking of food…what’s for eating?”
“Usually Omar makes some kind of soup or stew, ‘cause it’s easiest,” AJ reports knowledgeably.
“It’s easiest,” Omar echoes as he approaches the picnic table, arms laden with plates of dinner. “But it can get pretty boring after a while, don’t you think?” He sets the platters down, and grins. “I know it’s not much. Would have worked a lot better if we had actual corn husks instead of just leaves - I’m still working on finding a good alternative. But it’s just the way my abuelita used to make them.”
Javi can’t help - his eyes overflow with tears. “Dude,” he croaks, grabbing one of the fish tamales, unwrapping it, and groaning aloud as he takes the first bite off his fork. “ Dude. The last time I had a tamale was - man, I don’t even know!”
“I do,” says Gabe, grinning sentimentally as he takes his own food and passes the plate along to Louis. “They were the last thing abuelo made before he - “
“Oh.” The guilt, even years and years on, at not being present for his father’s death still eats away at him. “I didn’t realize.” Reverberating around his ears, Javi can hear the horrible crack of his bat splitting open his father’s skull.
He’s soon snapped out of this, though, when he realizes that Willy is perched across the table from him and staring, very intently, into his soul.
“Can I…help you?” asks Javi awkwardly.
For a moment, Willy says nothing. Then he decides, very loudly, “You’re cool, Javi. You are hereby cleared of your status as a threat to Texas II and its people.”
“Willy, they’ve been cleared for hours, now,” Ruby says, exasperatedly.
“Not by me!”
Javi smiles, choosing not to question the whole 'Texas II' thing. “Hey, no worries. Glad to know I get the seal of approval from the big man in charge.”
Willy beams, puffs out his chest.
“What about me?” Gabe asks him. “Do I pass inspection, sir?”
Willy narrows his eyes. Zeroes in. Scans the guy up and down, up and down. “…All clear,” he eventually decides. “Though the beanie makes you look like a total dork.”
“ Willy, ” Clementine chides. “Don't be rude.”
“You didn’t let me finish. ” Willy shakes his head. “You’re a total dork, but …” He looks at Gabe decisively. “Mitch woulda liked you.”
“Who’s Mitch?” Gabe asks once Willy’s scurried off to the battlements again. “What did he mean by all that?”
“Trust me,” says Omar. He grins. “That’s the highest praise anyone can receive from that kid. Looks like we found Willy’s new favorite.”
“Then he really must not be so bad, if Willy thinks he’s cool.” At Gabe’s hesitant expression, Violet flushes. “That was supposed to be a joke. Haha.”
“Oh.” Gabe flashes her the thumbs up. “Good one, Vi.”
Violet’s lips twitch into a small, quiet smile. “… Thanks, Gabe.”
Then someone tugs at Javi’s shirt sleeve. “Can I…ask you something?” AJ says, his voice so low, it's nearly a whisper.
Javi leans down to better reach his level. “What’s up, buddy?” he questions, slightly concerned. “Do you need Clem for something?"
“If I needed Clem, I’d be talking to her,” AJ says bluntly, and Javi shrugs. “No, it’s just…Your brother. David. I wanted to ask you, not Gabe, because…David is his dad. He might see him different because of that.” AJ blinks, his big brown eyes so, so serious. “Clem says that David took me from her. But…she also says he watched over me while she was gone.” He swallows, shuffling his feet in the dirt below. “I know he did bad things. But…do you think he’s a bad person?”
“No,” Javi is able to tell him with complete honesty. “My brother’s been through a lot. He’s lost a lot, and he doesn’t always think before he acts.” He smiles, soft. “Whatever he may have done in the past, he’s much, much better now. And I know he’ll be so grateful to know that you’re doing all right.”
AJ nods, solemn. “Ok. Thank you. That’s helpful.”
“Hey,” Javi says. “No problem at all.”
“All right all right all right,” announces Aasim loudly as Louis starts to shuffle a deck of cards back and forth between his nimble fingers. “Who’s up for a game of War?”
Gabe grins. He sits down next to Clementine, Violet on her other side. “Count me in for sure.”
AJ pouts. “War is only for the older kids. Usually when they play it, I go off and draw.” He fixes Javi with a scrutinizing stare. “Do you know how to draw?”
“Stick figures.” Something nudges against his knee. “Hiya there, Rosie-girl. What’d you find?”
The pitbull snuffles, pleased with herself. Into Javi’s open palm, she drops a faded, dirt-stained ball.
Javi grins. “We could draw,” he says. He pulls his bat from its usual spot against his back. “Or…I could teach you how to play baseball.”
AJ’s face lights up like the Christmas trees he’s never once seen in his life. “Let’s do that,” he exclaims. “Clem, we’re playing baseball!”
And together, in the twilight shade of the former Ericson Academy, that’s exactly what they do.