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Life with them wasn’t what he expected.
His entire life has been torture, loneliness and cold dark sleep deprivation. Honestly, he didn’t know what to expect. His father— the man who half his DNA is from, is an assassin. One of the most dangerous men in the whole world. And yet, he looked so human when he saw his face. He seemed so utterly shocked and vulnerable when he brought his hand to his cheek and caressed it.
That touch was probably the softest way anybody has ever laid a hand on him.
And now… they were going home? As a family?
Home…
Respawn, rested his head against the car window, smushing his cheek against the glass as he gazed outside silently. Up and down, his leg bounced with impatient energy. His finger twitched and shook. Fighting, he needs it. It’s ingrained into his mind, into his blood. If he doesn’t strike something soon—
“Stop that,” His Father said from the driver’s seat. “You’re distracting.”
The boy blinked and looked to the side. Rose, his sister, was staring at him in a detached way. She was silently agreeing with their dad.
“Sorry,” Respawn muttered.
He bit the inside of his cheek and the pain tingled throughout his mouth. Perhaps, if he bit harder he would draw blood but that would draw the attention of Dad and he would probably get annoyed. Same with Rose. She doesn’t like him that much, but that’s honestly fine because he doesn’t like her either.
Rose was strong, that’s for sure, and she definitely has attention and admiration from their father… Respawn wants that. Well— really, as self-pitying and annoying as it sounds, he wants it all. He wants more gentle touches, he wants respect and recognition, he wants meals everyday and normal clothes to wear. He wants a life. In his gut, he was aching for a life.
“So… who will be there?” He asked.
“Probably just Wintergreen,” Rose spoke before Dad could even respond. “Good old Daddy keeps fucking everything else up but him.”
Respawn raised an eyebrow. He’s heard the name before, but not any of the details of said man. A brother, perhaps? A friend? “Who is Wintergreen?”
“A friend,” Dad said curtly.
Do world infamous assassins even need friends? The way he replied was a tad bit suspicious too, so quick and passing. If this man was the only one who ‘stuck around’ wouldn’t Dad be more respectful talking about him?
Rose sighed and thumped her head against the car seat. “Can we get some music in here?”
“I’m not letting you play Evanescence in the car—”
“I— I’m not going to play that!”
“Yes, yes you will.”
What is Evanescence?
The house they arrived at was a place in New Jersey. It looked like all the other homes on the street, so Respawn wasn’t exactly sure why they were coming here. If Dad is so special, shouldn’t he get a special home? Unless… was he planning on hiding in plain sight?
Dad and Rose hauled their luggage, but all Respawn had was his suit and weapons (which he shoved in one of Dad’s bags) so he walked in empty handed.
“Wintergreen!” Rose beamed as soon as they entered the home, dropping down her duffle bag without care and searching around for this mystery man.
Dad was calmer, even taking the time to methodically hang up his coat on a rack before turning his gaze towards the kitchen, where Rose headed. Respawn didn’t really have anything with him at all so he looked up at his father, who stared back blankly and then pressed a gentle hand to his back.
The feeling of his touch made him want to screech and tear him apart. His shoulders rose with tension and his veins lit on fire with concern, but his father did nothing but look down at him.
…It was a good touch. But even then he still felt rabid.
Bitterly with shaky hands, he hung his head down and bore holes into the floor with his oppressive gaze.
“C’mon,” Dad spoke up quietly.
Gently biting his tongue, he allowed himself to be guided throughout the house. There was warm yellow lighting from the lamps and the fireplace, a nice cushy couch in front of the tv along with a picture hanging on the wall of a brown haired man accompanying a blonde one, beneath that was a framed picture of a young girl with stark white hair.
Was this really Dad’s house? He didn’t expect it to be so cozy…
With raised awareness and suspicion, he took a step into the kitchen, where Dad’s gentle hand on him released.
The kitchen was nice and clean, there wasn’t anything cooking at the moment but it appeared cozy. More occasional pictures littered the walls, as well as expensive kitchen gadgets. Respawn has had properly cooked meals, they even stopped by something called a Denny’s on the way here (which served very good breakfast food, even though Rose complained about the quality of it) but when he was with…
Well. When he stayed where he was “born” sometimes he had to eat rats. Sometimes he had to pick bugs off the walls with bloody nails and chew their tough shells.
It seems like he won’t be getting that here.
A white haired man with a handlebar mustache was happily holding Rose in his arms, murmuring softly as Rose clutched onto his clothes and buried her face in his neck. He was in a simple green sweater, leaned up against the kitchen counter where a bottle of whiskey sat. Respawn took a single step forward, as quiet as he thought he could be, but the man’s head lifted anyway, hearing his small movement.
The man looked at him with narrowed eyes, confusion and concern clearly making it’s way on his face before his gaze shifted to Dad, where the man sighed and let go of Rose with a quirked eyebrow and a frown.
“Slade! Jesus, where have you been?” The man had an accent. Respawn wasn’t really taught a lot of things so he didn’t know what to place it as.
“Wintergreen,” Dad greeted him. Oh. So that was Wintergreen. Makes sense. “I… have a new son.”
Son! He called him son!
Respawn resisted the urge to grin at the giddy feeling, shoving his hands in his pockets and feeling the nice, soft fabric. He loved it, inside he was so glad that Dad bought him new clothes. As much as fighting scratches the itch in his bones, it made him feel more normal. Almost as if he could pretend he wasn’t poured out of a test tube and instead born like a real person.
Wintergreen’s eyes widened a bit and his gaze shifted repeatedly from Dad to Respawn. His mouth pressed in a thin line, almost as if he really didn’t like the idea.
“New son? With whom?”
Respawn almost shrunk inside his own skin with dread. He wants to be normal to at least one person, maybe Dad will lie to him for him? Please?
“It’s a long story, but—” Dad cut himself off as he stepped forward to take the bottle of whiskey and press a hand against Wintergreen’s shoulder. The other man offered no annoyance or surprise, he must’ve been familiar with the gesture. “I’m sure you have the time, right, Billy?”
“Well,” Respawn spoke up nervously. “I—”
“He’s a test tube baby,” Rose offered up casually. “Slade and Talia al Ghul’s DNA. A little clone hybrid.”
Shame creeped up on him like a million bugs crawling into his skin. He ducked his head down to stare at the floor, already snarling at the fact that a chance of being perceived as normal was ripped away from him. Wintergreen let out a murmur of surprise and Respawn’s heart sunk down further, mind already swimming with bloody imagery.
His hand twitched with reflex, and suddenly he was snatching the dagger he holstered in his belt. The leather handle was familiar against the palm of his hand, the smooth bumps being in the same position as they have been hundreds of times before. With a flick of his wrist the knife was flung out towards his sister, his anger shining at the point of his blade in a message—
It was snatched midair.
“No.” Father spoke simply. The dagger was in his grasp, as if it was a children’s toy instead of a deadly weapon.
Rose was unfazed, now that Respawn actually processes what he tried to do, he realizes that she most likely saw it happen in her precognitive flashes. She was leaned up coolly against the wall, arms crossed as if this interaction was the most normal thing in the world.
As his heart pounded in his ears, he stared to the side. Wintergreen wasn't flabbergasted by him, instead his glare was pointed towards Dad of all things. He watched shakily as Wintergreen sighed and directed his gaze towards him, where it became softer.
“It was lovely to meet you, lad,” the mustached man flickered his eyes to Rose. “Dear, why don’t you show your brother to a room?”
Rose laughed in disbelief before muttering, “brother…” and hopped off the wall. Respawn tensed as she approached, stiffening straight as a cutting board.
“C’mon, kiddo,” she patted his shoulder before walking away.
Dad relaxed his stance in front of him, quirking his eyebrow in a silent question as he hung onto the dagger. ‘Are you going to try to kill Rose with this if I give it back?’
The boy glared back, itching to climb his arm and snatch it from him. Dad shrugged and handed the dagger over to Wintergreen, who took it away from him and sheathed it in his own belt. The man was definitely not just a civilian, then.
He clenched his jaw and swung around, stomping away to follow Rose.
What even was all of this anyway? Some sort of humiliation ritual? Why did Dad take her side? He sighed in deep frustration as he turned the corner, aching to snatch his dagger out of Wintergreen’s belt. His sister was found near the doorway of the kitchen, peering into the room.
Rose was leaning against the edge of it, angling her body so her ear was strained towards the opening without being seen. Respawn shook with rage as he watched her,
“You—!” He started, practically seething.
“Shh,” Rose hushed him with a smirk, her eyes glued to the kitchen still. “I want to listen to what they’re talking about. They never tell me shit, so sometimes I have to get creative to stay in the loop.”
The boy frowned and laid his back against the opposite wall, begrudgingly complying with Rose. Admittedly, he was curious too. Rose had probably lived with them for ages, she must know the environment better, and in a foreign environment, a guide of some sort is always worth while. So, he angled his head to the opening, watching as silently as he was trained to do.
Dad was standing in front of Wintergreen, pressed against him rather closely. It was a little confusing, Dad was one of the best assassins in the world, and he preformed so with such lethality that any one of his touches could be a death blow. So why was Wintergreen letting him so close?
“A random child with white hair coming into our lives is not an unfamiliar experience,” Wintergreen remarked. “Though I didn’t expect it would be in… this sort of way.”
His father leaned in close, brushing his lips against the other man’s ear. To the side, Rose faked vomiting for some reason.
“What? Thought I cheated on you?” Dad playfully nipped Wintergreen’s ear.
Wintergreen gave him an unimpressed look before slyly smirking, running his hands down Dad’s back and resting it above his ass. “I wouldn’t have been surprised. It seems I’m the cheater this time around, though. Just had a fine lady over last night.”
“Ouch,” Dad said sarcastically.
Respawn blinked, then titled his head in confusion. Are they… lovers?
“What?” Rose asked from beside him. “Didn’t expect Slade to be gay?”
“Gay?” Respawn repeated turning around to face her. The word was completely foreign to him. “What does that mean?”
His sister looked at him silently for a moment, studying him as if he said the wrong thing before bursting out with boisterous laughter, clutching her stomach as if it hurt. The teen’s face flushed immediately at the laughing, staring at her as she continued to squeal.
“Oh, good god—” she giggled. “You— you actually don’t know, do you?”
Embarrassed, he clenched his hands into his fists. No. No he didn’t know. “So what?! You’re not better than me just because you were raised!”
Her snickering stopped and she balked, “What? When did I say that?!”
“You never did, but that’s what you think, isn’t it?! I just wanted one person to think of me as normal and you took that away!” He shrieked. His face was red with his anger and his stomach churned with shame.
Rose scoffed. “Are you seriously mad I told Wintergreen? He would’ve known in two seconds anyway!” She retorted while shoving herself off the wall and sneering down at him.
“Fuck you, you—”
“What did I say about taking him to his room?”
Respawn shot his head to the side, peering up at the mustached man, utterly baffled that someone managed to sneak up on him. He gawked at his amused expression, and hopelessly looked to Dad for some backup. Dad stood behind Wintergreen impassively, hand pressed against the other man’s back as if he needed to be in contact with him at all times.
For a moment, Respawn let his anger simmer down. The words finally made a spark of connection in his mind. A room. He would have a room.
He blinked with a hitched breath at sudden realization. “Wait, I’m going to have a room?” The boy asked quietly.
“Did you expect to sleep in a dog house?” Wintergreen asked in an amused tone. “I’m not that cruel.”
“You are to me,” Dad remarked quietly behind him.
Rose sighed with a smile and a roll of her eyes. “C’mon then. Let’s stop the screaming, I guess. But do know, if you throw a knife at me again I’ll pull an Adeline and shoot your eye out.”
“Who is Adeline…?”
Was this another thing he should know? A well known cultural meaning? Fuck! Why did she always have to be pulling those out? It makes him feel so stupid!
“She’s my oh so wonderful ex wife,” Dad replied dryly. “Unfortunately you will most likely end up meeting her.”
“Unfortunately? I quite enjoy Adeline’s company,” the mustached man huffed with a smile.
“I don’t,” Rose’s face soured.
Respawn blinked owlishly at the conversation. Their dynamic was so smooth despite the earlier dispute, as if things like this have happened a million times to them. Will he get to be like that with them one day? Will he be able to bicker and brush it off without the urge to fight and kill afterwards?
Even now, with the promising company, the home, the idea of a room and other family members he hasn’t even met yet, Respawn still felt that rage swim gently in his blood. It’s what he was bred for, the only reason he was still alive. When he looks in the mirror and sees his marred skin, he envisions a world where that never came to be.
His bedroom was… something out of a fairytale.
It was so “simple,” no decorations or much color at all, but it was perfect. There were currents on the windows, shielding him away from sunlight if he wished, there was a closet and a bed and—
His eyes were stinging. In the middle of this mostly empty room, he felt a tear drip down his cheek. The boy shuddered and wiped it away as quickly as possible, not even sure what to do or where to go. Does he lie in his bed? Does he open the closet? Does he open the windows?
Mildly overwhelmed, he dug the fingernail of his thumb into his index finger. Pain briefly lighted his nerves, but it was familiar. It was almost comforting.
Footsteps. Behind him. His shoulders rose and he tensed, but he did not swing around. He was… getting comfortable.
“I didn’t get a normal childhood either, y’know,” Rose murmured from the doorway behind him. “None of us did. Not Slade, not Wintergreen, not Joey or his mom… we’ve all been fucked over. Even though you… your’s might’ve been to the extreme.”
Respawn swallowed hard and couldn’t peel his eyes off the plush bed.
“What does gay mean?” He asked softly, the conversation and his confusion weighing down on his chest.
“Uh… it’s when two guys love each other.”
“Is that… not normal?”
“I— uh… well. I guess not? I mean it is, but it’s not like— y’know, the norm,” his sister coughed awkwardly.
“Oh,” he let out.
Finally, he turned his head, eyes still watery at it all. Rose had a reserved expression on her face, and her hands were shoved into the pockets of her jeans. His sister must’ve noticed his tears because her mouth opened up ever so slightly, eyes narrowing in silent regret.
“Don’t— don’t cry man, I—”
Respawn shook his head, brought his hand to smooth over the soft expanse of his hoodie “I love it,” he responded hoarsely.