Work Text:
When Sigma entered the diner, the first thing he noticed was the smell of alcohol in the air, followed by the generic country music on the radio, and only after that, Junpei's beckoning from one of the cubicles.
The detective was eating a slice of cherry pie, with a cup of coffee and a newspaper on the table as well.
Sigma sat down on the black sofa across from Junpei. "I heard you guys in Japan like Twin Peaks, but this is kinda… Excessive."
Junpei looked back up at Sigma, gulping down a mouthful of his pie, looking confused. "What?"
Sigma was a bit surprised. "Twin Peaks, the TV show. You know, special agent Dale Cooper? Always orders cherry pie and a cup of coffee?"
Junpei stared at Sigma, halfway between confused and annoyed. "Dude, I don't watch TV. Akane's already made me binge crappy teen dramas in our language, you think I have time for American shows?"
"… Oh."
"Not everyone's old as fuck on the inside, Siggy."
"Please don't call me that… Well, speaking of, this is what you wanted to talk about, right? The future?"
Junpei finished his slice of pie, and wiped his mouth before responding. "Yeah. About this… AB Project thing or whatever. You mentioned that I was in it, that you met me when I was nearly 70."
"Yes. What did you want to know, exactly?"
Junpei stared down at his coffee, focusing on the swirling pattern on its surface. "I've been having… Weird dreams, ever since the Decision Game's been officially over."
"Dreams? What kind?"
"I look at myself in a mirror, but I see an old guy. But I know it's me, somehow. And then, I see some kid with a weird hat, who calls me grandpa. Then, there's some rabbit running around. And then I see an old man with long hair and a weird monocle, telling me something about… Fuckin' bugs."
"Termites."
"Yeah, th-" Junpei silently stared at Sigma for a few seconds. "So that shit did happen?"
"The old man with the monocle is me. As in, the me who becomes Zero the Third. In another history."
Junpei's eyes narrowed. "You aren't related to Akane, right?"
"No. Why?"
"Because I'm starting to think Zero's a family tradition."
"Hey, I didn't know about Delta when I took on the Zero name."
Junpei wordlessly sipped from his coffee, his eyes still on Sigma. He then slowly put down his cup, and waited for a few more seconds before speaking up again. "You gonna order anything?"
Stunned for a short second, Sigma turned his head towards the bar, hand raised. "Uh, coffee, please."
Junpei and Sigma sat there in silence, staring at each other, for an agonizingly long 60 seconds, before a waitress delivered the cup.
"Back to the point…" Junpei took another sip. "Future me has a grand kid?"
"Well… He's not related to you, if that's what you're asking. You adopted him."
Sigma told Junpei the story he'd heard from Tenmyouji and Quark as well as he could recall. He had most of the details still burned in his memory even nearly 50 years on, and he made sure to warn Junpei about the fuzzier parts he was unsure of. The gist of it, that an old Tenmyouji had found Quark abandoned in a ruined city and raised him alone, was hard to forget.
Junpei, elbow on the table, placed his right palm against his forehead. "Do you think… I'll ever meet this kid?"
Sigma looked down at his coffee. "I don't know. Maybe you will, maybe you won't, maybe… Maybe he won't even be born in this history."
Putting his hand down on the table, Junpei looked out the window. "Right. With how much history's changed, and with no idea who his parents even are… Hell, maybe his parents aren't even born either. This happened when I was old as fuck, right?"
Sigma looked back up. "You were pushing 60 when you found him, I think."
There was a long pause, before Junpei turned back to look directly at Sigma. His gaze wasn't the confrontational kind he'd had from the Decision Game to now, but a more melancholic one. "Hey, Klim… What's it like, being a dad?"
Sigma, sheepishly, took a sip of coffee before answering. "You, uh… You could use a better example than me."
"I mean… Yeah, Delta didn't turn out all right, but Phi's fine."
"I wasn't there for either of them past a month. And when it comes to kids I actually raised…"
"Wait, you had other kids?"
"… Kind of. You, uh, sort of met one of them, in the AB Game timeline. Kyle, my clone. There was also Luna, a GAULEM replica of Diana. I considered both of them like my kids, but… Well, I wasn't going to win any Father of the Year awards."
Junpei's melancholic gaze had turned to a stunned expression. "Hey, Sigma?"
"Yes?"
"Can you go back to the whole Clone and Golem Replica thing? You kinda glossed over some major goddamn things."
"We have cloning in this history right now, Tenmyouji. Delta's already made clones of his adoptive brother."
"What?!"
"And GAULEMs are an advanced type of humanoid robot. Think Sean, but more advanced. And, uh, without the helmet."
There was another long pause.
"You made a robot copy of Diana…?"
"… Kyle wanted a mom, so, uh…"
Junpei snickered. "Your son tells you he wants a mom and your first reflex is to remake your ex?"
"Hey, living on the moon alone for around 30 years didn't do my brain any favors."
"… Fuck you mean, living on the moon?! What the hell happened in that goddamn timeline?!"
"A lot, Tenmyouji! A lot of things happened!"
"Well can you start expl-" Interrupting the conversation, Junpei's phone rang. He reached into his pocket, and his eyes widened. "That's Akane, I gotta take this."
He quickly got up from his seat, and exited the diner. Through the window, Sigma could see that Junpei didn't go very far, leaning against the exterior wall while he took his call.
Sigma used the minute or two he had to himself to finish his coffee in peace.
Very quickly, Junpei came back in, practically slamming a ten dollar bill down on the table. "We might be onto something, gotta bounce, keep the change."
Before Sigma could protest, Junpei had left. Looking down at the table, he sighed. "A tenner barely covers the pie…"