Chapter Text
The countryside of Westalis is peaceful. Beautiful scenery across the countryside, with forest and mountains covering the landscape.
It’s the perfect place for a retired agent such as Twilight.
A home settled a bit aways from a small town, where little would know exist unless they’ve already visited. No one except a select few is aware he resides in what most city folk would consider ‘the middle of nowhere.'
It’s a quiet life. One where he spends his days doing house chores, reading, and a multitude of other things to keep his mind distracted.
A drink here and there as well, if nothing works to dull the pain.
So, when he gets a call from his former superior asking him to take on a mission, he’s both surprised and confused.
“I know what you’re going to say, but you’re needed, Twilight. This mission—”
Her words are cut off by Twilight sighing heavily.
“I’m retired, Sylvia. On your orders, by the way. I’m done with missions and the like. Besides, it’s not like I can work the same as before.”
He leans back against the kitchen counter in his home, holding a cup of coffee while cradling the phone receiver to his ear. The day is still young, and Twilight is dressed in a casual shirt and pants. He certainly didn’t feel like an agent, hearing Sylvia’s request.
She lets out a short sigh on the other end. He can almost see her placing a hand to the side of her head as if she were experiencing a headache.
“You’re the only one I trust, Twilight. And what I’m asking of you isn’t what you think it is. You won’t be doing any heavy lifting like you used to.”
The former agent frowns. “And what exactly are you asking of me?”
“A young girl that we recently rescued from an illegal lab. I need you to look after her while we track down the rest of her captors.”
Twilight would’ve been able to hear rest of what Sylvia had informed, if it wasn’t for the fact that he’d instantly spat out the coffee he had just sipped. She wanted him to do what? He chokes a bit on what little liquid managed to go down, causing some to spill and stain his shirt. If not for what he just heard, he’d be more concerned with the semi-hot coffee going everywhere.
“Sorry I— Did I hear you right? You want me to take care of a child?”
Sylvia had to be joking. Him? An unemployed, retired bachelor living alone? Ridiculous. Not to mention other problems, of which he began to list after clearing his throat of coffee and placing the cup on the counter.
“You do realize that you’d be sending the kid to a place that’s near devoid of any people, right? That can’t be good for her. There’s barely anything here that’ll be beneficial for a child. And from what I remember of my agent days, I wasn’t a babysitter.”
“True, but still. Just, look after her, alright? She’s been through so much, and from what we know her captors want to take her back too. Besides, you became a spy so children could live in peace in the first place, right?”
Twilight grimaces, biting his lip at that reminder as he feels an uncomfortable weight upon his chest. She wasn’t wrong. Not really.
He heaves out a sigh, groaning in the process as he curses internally. His old handler certainly knew how to persuade him.
“Fine. Fine, I’ll take the kid. You win,” he says, massaging his bridge of his nose to lessen the oncoming headache. If this is what WISE, or rather Sylvia, needed him for, then so be it.
“Thank you,” she says. There’s a clear sign of relief in her voice. “She’ll be dropped off sometime in the evening tomorrow, then. And don’t worry about any expenses for her, either. I’ll make sure WISE takes care of that, as you’re technically taking on a mission now. Good night, Twilight.”
The phone clicks, ending the call and leaving Twilight to think about what he just agreed to.
Another sigh leaves him. This time, he rubs his temples as he realizes that he’ll need to clean out the guest room he was using for storage.
The first of many changes he’ll have to deal with.
Later on, after Twilight fixes up the dusty, unused guest room, he can’t help but feel guilty.
It was by no means a perfect room for someone to stay in, no less a child. It was barren, with barely any furniture save for a bedframe and a desk with no chair sitting beside it. He had left some boxes in the corner, things that he planned to remove later.
Well, the couch in the living room would have to do for now. At the very least, the kid wouldn’t be without a place to sleep. All other necessities, such as clothing and toiletries, would be dealt with later on a short trip to the nearby town. For now, he planned on sharing some extras he has in the bathroom.
Sharing... It brings up a strange feeling in Twilight when he thinks on it, sitting down on the couch as he waits for the appointed visit.
There’ll be another soul living here very soon. It made the former agent feel weird. Uncomfortable, even. Though it wasn’t like he’d never lived with someone else, to have a child under his wing is certainly something outside of his experience.
For starters, he never understood children. Sure, they’re just children, but still.
They’ve always been illogical, unpredictable, and difficult to understand. Compared to disarming a bomb, taking care of a kid is a different kind of challenege.
Twilight sighs. Once again, he curses his former handler for roping him into this. Of all people, why him? He still couldn’t understand her reasoning despite what she said the day before.
You became a spy so children could live in peace in the first place, right?
The words repeat themselves in his head, and he lightly scoffs. What child would want a former soldier of war as their caretaker? It’s not like he’s the best parental figure around. If anything, Sylvia would be a better candidate from what Twilight remembers of her own past.
A knock at the door, however, stops him from ruminating on the subject further.
Knock. Knock.
Twilight’s head turns toward the door. By all means, the person on the porch must be from WISE. But the former agent waits a few moments more.
Another knock, followed by three quick raps against the wood.
There we go, he internally says. Though he had retired, Twilight still remembers all the secret codes WISE uses. He walks up to the door, opening it. The face he sees is one he never expected to see.
Nightfall salutes him. “I’m here to drop off the girl, Agent Twilight.”
He blinks. Another surprise to add to the list. He knew a WISE agent was coming to drop off the kid, but he certainly didn’t expect his old mentee to be the one.
“You don’t have to call me ‘Agent,’ Nightfall. Though I suppose you’re not in the wrong right now,” he says, feeling somewhat uncomfortable at the title. “It’s nice to see you regardless. Where’s the kid?”
She turns her head to the left, and he follows suit. Next to the rocking chair on the porch stood a small, young girl.
Her hair a soft pink, two odd cone shaped accents dot her head. The child also wears a simple black dress, with loafer style shoes. In her hands she clutches a colorful plush that Twilight can’t quite pin down what kind of animal it is from where he stood. She waits there, simply playing with the chair and watching it go back and forth in place. Whenever it slowed down, she would press on the edge of the seat and watch it move once again.
It’s a little odd, but Twilight doesn’t think too much about it. Children do children things, after all.
Nightfall hands him a bag, holding it up to him. “Some clothes for her. And a toothbrush. Like Handler said, WISE will take care of any expenses for the girl.”
He takes it, briefly looking inside. “Is that it? I would assume a young kid would have more.”
The young woman shakes her head. “The only things we found her with are the white hospital gown that she wore and that toy she holds. In the bag is what Handler mangaged to get together in the little free time we have right now.”
There’s a small chill that eeks its way up Twilight’s spine. For a moment, he had forgotten that he wasn’t simply playing the part of a babysitter. He's meant to protect her, as well.
“Is there anything important I should know?” he asks.
Nightfall shakes her head. “All we know is that she was a test subject. For what, we don’t know. If it wasn’t for the fact that her captors destroyed or took the files on her with them during their escape, we’d have more info. Handler and the rest of WISE have more or less assumed that they wanted to make young children like her into weapons, however. We’re still trying to work out the details. If we find anything important we’ll send word.”
Twilight frowns, disappointed but not entirely surprised at the lack of information. Still, a test subject… his heart aches a little at that. The young girl looked like any other, but she had experienced things that should never been experienced by child.
He hopes WISE will catch the rest of her abusers soon. They deserve to be caught for such things.
“Alright. Her name?”
“Anya.”
Twilight says it under his breath. An easy enough name.
Fiona nods. “I’ll leave then, Agent Twilight. At some point Handler will call to check on you, but please contact either of us should anything come up.”
She salutes him, and he waves farewell to his former mentee. He stays on the porch, watching as she gets back into the WISE issued Trabant car and drives away. Twilight takes a few moments to watch the dust settle behind the vehicle, then turns toward the young child now in care. She’s looking at him now with an expression that he can’t quite place. Whether she was curious, nervous, or something in-between, he couldn’t quite tell.
Still, the way she stares at him feels like she was expecting something. Twilight scratches the back of head, suddenly realizing how completely unprepared he is for this situation. Somewhat awkwardly, he stands off the side of the door for her.
“Your name is Anya, right? You can come in, you know. You’ll be living here for a while,” he says, gesturing to the inside. The girl, Anya, stares at him a couple seconds more before walking up next to him. She peers inside his abode, taking in the sights for a moment, then enters.
Even after Twilight has closed the door behind him she’s still looking around. Her eyes, curious emerald green, look up and down, left and right. While she does this, Twilight attempts to ask her some questions to try and figure out what he would be dealing with from now on.
“Did Nightfall— I mean, the lady before tell you anything? About why you're here?”
Anya shakes her head. “The nice hat lady told me I’ll be staying with a spy,” she exaplains, a certain sparkle in her eyes as she looks back toward him. She didn't quite answer his question, but oh well.
“Is that so….”
There are a three things that Twilight could think about now from what Anya appears to know.
One, that “hat lady” is almost certainly Handler, a nickname he’d have to tease her about later. Two, that this child wasn’t told too much other than the fact that she would be staying with him. And lastly, that Anya has a… rosy view of what spies are. Probably due to some cartoons she watched before coming here, he thinks.
“Is there a secret room?” she asks, looking even more excited now for some reason.
The sudden question makes him frown a little.
Well, there kind of is, but I can’t tell her about it. It’s too dangerous.
“No,” he says firmly, crossing his arms. “This house is normal. Not like… whatever you’ve seen on television.”
He doesn’t mention the additional unseen security system. Anya is a child, and there’s no need to tell her anything she doesn’t need to know.
His lie apparently didn’t seem to work however. She simply accepted what he said with a smile and an “Oh.” Normally, he would expect someone as young as her to be disappointed. But Anya… is different.
The former agent’s mind starts to go into overdrive, thinking of what could have possibly produced such a lukewarm reaction. God, has not working as a spy for so long made his ability to lie this bad? Or was this child that perceptive? Or maybe she simply didn’t care that much about spies in the first place? Was he wrong to think that she had gotten the wrong idea about spies?
Twilight isn’t sure, but there is one thing he’s absolutely certain of:
He absolutely cannot fathom the way children think.