Chapter Text
Elena remembers asking them why they came to this country.
"To find you," Papi would usually say, no matter how many times Elena would roll her eyes in response. Finally, when she's a big older, she gets some more information out of him.
"Your Teti wanted to take me around the world," Papi replies one evening as she helps him wash the dogs in the yard.
"Why?" she asks, scrubbing behind Thanatos's ears.
Papi shrugs.
"He just wanted to," he answers. "He wanted to see everything with me."
"But then why stay here?" she asks and if Papi is annoyed with her constant questioning, he does not say it.
"We decided to stay here once we found you," Papi replies and flicks some water at her from the plastic tub they hauled outside. She giggles. "You made us fall in love with this country."
Elena considers this and watches Papi carefully pour water down Nova's head and back. She yips at the bubbles in the tub. Papi is always very gentle. If she concentrates, Elena can recall the sensation of being carried on his shoulders, her tiny fingers gripping his dark hair as he walked through the plaza and up and down the hills of the forest. She can still feel his strong hands curled around her little ankles as he carried her and Elena suddenly misses that but she's far too big for such nonsense now.
"How come we never travel anywhere now?" she asks suddenly, blinking herself awake from her memories.
"What do you mean?" Papi frowns as he dries off Nova. "We go on trips."
"Nowhere far," she points out. "Or different."
"You're still young," Papi says and before she can reply, So?, he continues, "A lot of places are dangerous."
"But we can go someplace not dangerous and besides, you and Teti would be with me."
Papi gets a grim look on his face as he struggles to get Carmen into the tub, her tail all but slapping him in the face.
"I know but Teti and I won't always be here to protect you."
"Yeah, but—"
"Maybe someday, Elena. Right now, this is our home."
"I'm not talking about moving, I'm talking about visiting! A vacation! You can take me to America and show me where you grew up, where you and Teti met."
Papi suddenly gets very quiet and the grim look on his face is cloudy. Elena isn't sure what she said to upset him but she knows she did.
"Take Thanatos and Nova inside," he says quietly. "They're dry."
"But—"
"And get ready for bed. You have school tomorrow."
"I'm not tired."
"Elena, now."
With a dramatic sigh, Elena leads both Thanatos and Nova into the house. Both nose at her hands, seemingly aware that she is pouting. She scratches their heads and Teti appears in the hallway.
"All done?" he asks.
"Almost. Carmen still needs her bath."
"So do you. Go on, upstairs."
Elena nods solemnly and trudges upstairs. Later, after Teti has tucked her in and kissed her goodnight, Papi appears in the doorway. Teti and Papi share one of their quiet looks before Teti leaves the two of them alone. Elena stares at her Papi as he crosses the threshold and sits beside her on the bed.
"I'm sorry," he sighs. "I shouldn't have barked at you like that."
"It's okay."
"I don't want you to think you can't ask questions. It's just—" Papi trails off and seems to struggle with his words. His eyes go distant and Elena bites her lip. She hates it when he disappears inside his head. "I have some bad memories from living in America and I don't like thinking about them. It's not your fault."
Elena nods.
"I would like to take you around the world," Papi sighs and suddenly looks terribly sad. "It's just hard right now."
"Why?"
"Because your Teti and I want to keep you safe and we can't guarantee that if we go traveling."
"But—"
"Maybe when you're older. I promise."
"How old?"
"I'm not sure," Papi sighs. "But I promise, Elena, we'll go somewhere."
Elena nods and smiles reassuringly at her Papi. He quirks a smile at her and leans down to kiss her gently on her forehead.
"I love you," he whispers.
"Love you, too."
She falls asleep quickly and dreams of other lands.
Not long after that Elena learns about her missing sister and she thinks she understands why Papi is reluctant to discuss America. It is, after all, where his first daughter died.
It makes sense that he would be even more protective of Elena, she thinks. Losing a child must be the worst thing in the whole world and though she resents his overprotective nature, she knows he is doing it out of love and quite possibly, guilt.
Papi never talks about Abigail but one day, her curiosity gets the better of her. So she turns to Teti, whom she knows would never lie to her.
He and Elena are chopping vegetables one Saturday afternoon. Papi has taken the dogs out for a walk to the river. She glances over at her Teti and his calm, peaceful face and regrets momentarily shattering it but he always seems to recover quickly.
"Teti."
"Yes, Elena?"
"What happened to Abigail?"
Teti does not even hesitate in his chopping. He seems totally at ease, as if she had inquired about the weather.
"She died."
"I know but how? Was she sick?"
"No," Teti replies, and scoops a handful of chopped peppers into a bowl. "She was killed."
Elena stops in her chopping to stare at her Papi, wide-eyed and horrified. She had never imagined this.
"What? How?"
"Her father killed her," he sighs, "a long time ago."
"I don't understand. Her real father?"
Teti hesitates for the shortest of moments before nodding.
"Why?" Elena breathes. "Why would he do that?"
"He didn't want to let her go."
"But—"
"Elena," Teti begins and puts down his knife, turning his dark eyes to her, "people often do things that may seem insane to others when they love someone."
"He couldn't have loved her if he killed her!"
"People kill for a great many reasons."
"But—"
"You remember that Papi used to be a police officer, correct?"
Elena nods.
"Don't you think he had to kill to protect or save people he loved?"
Elena stared down at the cutting board, filled with chopped up onions and peppers and eggplant. Her eyes suddenly fill with tears. She had long known that her sweet, sad Papi had been a police officer but the idea that he had seen or even performed violence never occurred to her. It seemed impossible to even consider.
"No wonder he doesn't want to go back to America," she mumbles.
"Did he say that?" Teti asks, cocking his head to the side.
"No, but he got upset when I mentioned visiting there."
Teti nods and goes back to his chopping.
"Your Papi went through many unpleasant things there," he says, "which is why he is so happy here with you and the dogs. He wants to keep you safe. And so do I."
"But something bad can happen to me here," she points out.
"True but we will everything we can to prevent that."
They both fall silent as they hear the happy barking of approaching dogs.
It's the middle of the night. Elena wakes up from a nightmare that she abruptly can't recall and when she blinks several times to clear her mind, she realizes the nightmare has not ended yet.
She throws back the covers and opens her door. The light downstairs is on and she can hear tense voices. Papi and Teti are awake and something bad is happening.
She swallows and walks down the stairs, her back straight. She's thirteen now. She can handle anything.
Teti is at the kitchen table, his tablet gripped in his hands and staring at it with such intensity, it rather looks as if he is trying to set it on fire with his mind. Papi is pacing around the kitchen, talking aloud to himself. The air is thick with tension and roiling fear.
"What's going on?" Elena asks.
Papi turns to her and he looks pale and suddenly old.
"Elena," he says, breathless, "we need you to pack."
"Pack?" she repeats dumbly.
"Yes, not a lot. Essentials only."
"Why? What are you talking about?"
Papi opens his mouth but Teti clears his throat.
"Will," he says firmly, "you mustn't get her excited."
Papi runs a shaking hand through his cropped hair and Elena notices that it's gone even grayer than she remembers from this morning. Is that possible?
"What's going on?" she demands again, taking a step towards her fathers.
Teti taps at his tablet and puts it down. He gazes up at her calmly, his lips thin and his eyes steady.
"Do you remember when I explained about Abigail?" he asks.
Elena feels suddenly scared as she nods.
"Her father killed her," she repeats quietly. A shudder goes through Papi.
"Yes," Teti sighs, "and your Papi killed him."
Elena jerks her head to stare at her Papi, her kind, sad-eyed Papi who taught her how to play guitar and takes her swimming practically everyday; who adopts strays and lets them sleep in bed with Elena and occasionally him and Teti, though he knows Teti hates it. This man killed another? Impossible.
"No," she breathes, "that didn't happen."
"It did," Teti continues and Papi covers his face with shaking hands. "And because of that and many other things, we had to leave America."
"No," she repeats. "Stop it."
"Someone who knows about us," Teti continues and Elena wishes he would just shut up, "is looking for us. They are most likely en route now."
"Us? What do you mean looking for us."
"For your Papi and I."
"What do you have to do with it?"
"I helped your father," Teti says simply and Elena feels uncontrollable waves of nausea roll over her. "Because of this, we could be extradited back to the United States."
"No no no no no," Elena chants. "This is ridiculous. You're being ridiculous."
"Elena," Papi says and suddenly he's in front of her, gripping her arms in his gentle hands, "I know this is scary and confusing but we need to leave."
"You're crazy!" she shrieks. "You're not killers!"
"We've killed before," Papi admits and he brings a hand to the side of her face, "to keep our family safe. We failed Abigail. That is why we can't fail you."
"No no no no no no."
"If we leave soon, we can be safe again. I promise."
"What have you done?" Elena moans. She feels weak and dizzy.
"We protected one another," Teti says simply. "And now we are protecting you."
"But Abigail died a long time ago," she gasps. "Why would anyone come after you now?"
"I don't know," Papi says quickly. "But we can't risk staying here."
Teti suddenly appears over Papi's shoulder with a cup of steaming tea in his hand.
"Sit down, Elena," he says gently. "Take steady breaths and count with me."
Papi leads her to a chair at the table and she follows Teti's instructions mechanically. Soon, her heart rate steadies.
"Drink," he says and places the tea in front of her, "and do not worry. You are safe with us."
Elena nods and sips the tea, grateful for the familiar, comforting taste. Teti and Papi sit at the table with her and try to explain but her head is still spinning. She clenches her eyes shut and drinks the tea, focusing only on that. Everything keeps spinning.
It's spinning and spinning until suddenly, it stops.
Elena looks down at the dregs at the bottom of her cup of tea and takes one more deep breath until everything goes black.