Work Text:
Agatha strutted home with a smile on her face. It was friday, she was going to have a family night with her dads… life was good. Her black hair bounced lightly as she stepped, nearing the red house. She took the key to the door from her pocket and unlocked it.
“Daddy!” she shouted into the house as soon as she closed the door behind her. Her backpack easily slid off her back and landed on the floor. While taking off her shoes, she waited for a response. But the house remained silent.
“He must be… listening to music,” she said for herself, walking up the stairs to check on her daddy. The white door to her daddy’s office was closed, there was no sound coming from the other side. Maybe… he was just thinking at the moment.
“Daddy! Are you still worki-” she cut herself off when she opened the door and realised that she was still talking to herself. Her daddy was nowhere to be seen. His office chair was empty and on the desk was his computer. His notes and pens were left in a rather messy state. He never left his things like that…
“Daddy!” she called again, just to make sure. The house remained silent. She felt the fear grow in her like a hole as her expression fell. If he wasn’t in his office… Where else could he be?
Agatha spent the next twenty minutes looking through the entire house. She started upstairs, her dads bedroom, the upstairs bathroom, her room and every closet just to be sure. Who knows? Maybe he crawled back in. Then she went downstairs, looking through the downstairs bathroom, the guest bedroom, the kitchen, the living room and every other closet and storage space. While she was searching, she felt the fear grow like a puddle until it had consumed her entire being. Where could he have gone? When she had gone through the whole house and the backyard, she went through it again, frantically searching for a note or anything that could tell her where he was and that everything was okay. But there was no note. When she finished her second round, she felt the tears burn behind her eyes. Why would he leave and not tell anyone? The door was locked when she arrived… had he gone out? But he should’ve returned by now. He always made sure to return before she came home.
She was pulled back to the moment when a light wetness made its way down her cheek. Her legs were shaky as she put her shoes back on and went outside of the house once more. She needed to get help. She didn’t bother locking the door behind her, but she did manage to close it before she started to run. Her breathing was heavy and hitched in her throat the more she ran. Her feet hit the concrete ground as her cheeks stained with tears. She knew people were looking at her funny. One doesn’t see a 9 year old running down the road with tears in her eyes every day. She was sure that some people would want to stop her and try to comfort her… but she didn’t want them. She wanted her dads.
By the time she reached the police station, her breathing was heavy and her cheeks wet and salty from tears. The woman at the reception stood up as soon as she saw Agatha, her expression worried.
“What happened?” she asked, coming around the desk to crouch down next to Agatha. After a few seconds of catching her breath, Agatha sucked in air and with a loud wail cried:
“I want my dad!” The receptionist looked around for a moment before carefully placing a hand on her back.
“Who is your dad? What happened?” But Agatha only shook her head, not wanting to answer. She didn’t want to talk to this lady at all. Because she wasn’t any of her dads.
Agatha leaned her head back and let out another cry, her body rigid and tense. Tears flowed down her cheeks quicker now that she wasn’t busy running. Two pairs of heavy footsteps were approaching, and then one pair abruptly stopped.
“Agatha?” a voice asked and Agatha’s head snapped towards it. Her eyes widened as she forgot to cry for a moment. A few metres away from her stood her dad in full blue uniform, a black belt around his hip with his gun, baton, handcuffs and all his other equipment.
“Dad…” Agatha said, her voice breathless as she quickly ran to her dad. He crouched down immediately, opening his arms for her with worried eyes. As soon as Agatha was securely in his arms, he straightened up and hugged her close to his chest.
“Agatha… Agatha, darling… What are you doing here?”
Agatha gasped for air, her hands gripping tightly at his uniform as she cried into his shoulder.
“William… is that your kid?” his partner asked slowly, taking a small step towards them. Her dad glared up at him, holding Agatha tighter to him.
“Shut up, Harryson. Not the time,” he muttered, his tone warning before he turned his attention back to the girl in his arms. The receptionist hesitated for a moment before nodding slowly. The girl had found her dad at least, which meant that she could go back to doing her job. Her dad moved his hands securely around her small body, holding her safely with one arm while running his hand down her head and over her back.
“Agatha, I’m here. Everything’s okay,” he mused, his voice soft as he pressed a kiss to her temple. “What’s wrong?” Agatha sniffled against his uniform, wiping her tears on the blue fabric before moving back slightly to look at him.
“I… I couldn’t find daddy…” she said with a broken voice, sniffling again. “I came home… and he was nowhere. Just gone. No note either.” William’s brow furrowed gradually the more she talked. Where could his husband have gone without leaving a note?
“Do you want me to call him, see where he’s gone?” Agatha nodded with a small whine, burying her face back into his shoulder.
“I want to stay with you,” she mumbled, her voice muffled as she took fistfulls of his uniform in her strong hands.
“Yes, of course you’ll stay with me,” he hurried to say, kissing her temple again. “I promise, I won’t let go of you unless you tell me to.”
As Agatha bruised her face further into his shoulder, her dad looked up at his partner.
“I have to deal with this,” he said, his tone apologetic even though he didn’t feel sorry. Harryson nodded slowly, taking a few more steps back to carry on with… something while William took care of Agatha. There was no struggle when William began walking. Agatha clung to him like a baby koala clung to its mother and didn’t say anything when he carried her into the breakroom. They got a few looks from the other officers, but no one said anything. He stopped in front of a sofa and gently bounced Agatha in his arms once.
“Do you want to sit down while I call daddy?” he asked softly. Agatha shook her head against him, not bothering to look up.
“No, I want to stay with you.”
William nodded in response, shifting her light body slightly so it would be easier to keep her balanced as he reached into his pocket for his phone and turned it on. He clicked into contacts and Ylfa was the first that came up with a few heart emojis next to the name. A warm smile spread across his face as he looked at the emojis. Agatha had wanted to “style” the contact name when she was about 7 years old and had consequently just chosen a few hearts that she thought looked cool at the time. He clicked the call button and brought the phone to his ear, taking a few steps back so he was standing more against the wall as he talked. Agatha continued to hold onto him, but the gentle shaking of her body had stopped as she calmed down and stopped crying. She could hear the beeps that came from the phone for a few moments before her daddy picked up the phone.
“Hey, love. What’s up?” he asked and Agatha relaxed, his low voice immediately soothing her. He was alive and well somewhere. He was safe.
“Ylfa,” William started, his voice still carrying a hint of concern. “Where are you right now?”
“I’m at my mothers house. I didn’t think it would take more than fifteen minutes, but she gets lonely sometimes, you know?” As Ylfa spoke, William breathed out. He had only been visiting his mother. Fair, he thought. The lady was starting to get old and needed more and more help. Good thing her son worked from home and had time to spare helping her.
“I was actually just about to drive home. Is everything okay over there?” William hesitated for a moment, glancing at Agatha as she remained pressed against his chest with her face in his shoulder.
“Not really,” he said with a slow sigh. “Agatha was worried that you were out and didn’t leave a note for her. She’s here at the station with me-”
He braley got time to finish his sentence before Ylfa spoke up again.
“Shit!” There was some movement on the other end of the line, a mumbled goodbye to his mother and then a car door slamming shut. “I’m on my way.” William couldn’t help but let out a quiet scoff. Of course he would react like that. William loved his husband a lot… but he could be a little lost in his thoughts sometimes. Of course he would forget that Agatha was supposed to come home from school at some point. William turned his head to look at Agatha.
“Do you want to say anything to daddy before I hang up?” he asked and Agatha slowly looked up. She blinked for a few times before nodding, holding out both of her hands for the phone, confident that her dad would keep her body balanced.
“Hi, daddy,” she said, her voice a bit gravely from her earlier crying.
“Hæ, baby,” Ylfa replied. “I am so sorry…” Agatha listened, nodding though she knew he couldn’t see her. She was about to say that she forgave him, but held back. She wanted to do that in person. When she didn’t reply immediately, Ylfa continued speaking.
“I promise, I will never disappear like that again.” Agatha listened to Ylfa’s icelandic accent growing thick in his worry and she let out a quiet giggle.
“You sound funny, daddy…” she whispered, her voice careful and weak, but Ylfa didn’t care. At least she was talking to him. He let out a soft scoff, pretending to be offended. The next time he spoke, he made sure to accentuate his accent even further, making it almost impossible to understand what he was saying.
Agatha laughed quietly, holding the phone closer to her ear as she listened to the incomprehensible chatter. Her eyes found Williams, seeing his amused expression and meeting it with a smile. After a few moments, Ylfa couldn’t carry on and broke the character and accent in favour of a quiet chuckle.
“I’ll be there in a minute, Agatha.” She nodded again, reassured by the calmness in his deep voice.
“Okay… I’ll wait for you with dad.” A soft exhale escaped Ylfa, his hand loosening on the steering wheel.
“Only if he has time,” he said. “We don’t want to keep your dad from working.”
“That’s no problem with me,” William cut in, moving his head closer to the phone to make sure Ylfa heard him. “I can take care of her for a few minutes.” Ylfa hesitated again but both Agatha and William knew he was smiling.
“As long as you don’t get in trouble for it…”
“No no,” William reassured him. “It’s all good.”
“Fine.” Ylfa sighed. “I’ll see you in a few minutes.”
“Okay. Bye daddy!” Agatha said, her smile now wider as she brought the phone away from her ear and pressed the “end call” button. William held his hand out and Agatha gave him his phone back. He turned it off and put it back to his pocket before putting his hand on her back again.
“Feeling better now, Aggie?” he asked, pressing his forehead to hers with a smile. Agatha nodded, reaching behind him to grab fistfulls of his uniform once more.
“A bit…” she answered. “I still want a big hug once he gets here though.” William laughed, moving his hand from her back to her head, pushing a few strands of hair away from her face.
“Trust me,” he said with a smile. “Daddy would hold you ‘till the end of time if you let him.”
A few minutes later, Agatha and William were waiting for Ylfa by the entrance. Agatha was standing next to him, holding his hand with a small, expectant smile. And before they knew it, Ylfa had practically stormed in through the door. His red hair was tousled and messy and the vest he wore over his shirt had been left open. He looked… exactly like himself. So trademark him that Agatha would almost feel offended if he looked different. Ylfa rushed forward, picking Agatha up in his arms and holding her close.
“Oh… Elskan minn…” he mumbled into her hair. “I am so sorry.” Agatha smiled, breathing in the familiar scent of her daddy as she wrapped her arms around him in return. Soon she felt William behind her, hugging both of them with his long arms and effectively squeezing her stuck between her two parents.
“I forgive you, daddy,” she said, her voice soft and muffled against Ylfa’s shirt. He looked up, meeting William’s eyes with a soft smile.
“Thank you,” he whispered, both to Agatha and William as Agatha pressed herself closer to his chest.