Chapter Text
Six has been a runner for quite some time.
It's been 4 months.
4 months since he kidnapped Claire.
4 months of hiding, moving around the United States while capturing any more evidence, trying to take Carmichael down again, like how Four tried to do before Six killed him.
He wished…
He wished he could see his brothers again after 18 years since he had seen them, maybe after he got Claire a proper family that could look after her for her heart conditions, or maybe, if he could, he wanted to adopt her as his own.
What about Claire’s pacemaker? Well, Six never visits a hospital twice, because each visit, the CIA picks up which hospital they are in as quickly as he and Claire get away again.
Meanwhile, Carmichael can’t stop glaring at Suzanne for not killing Six on the spot, just because Six is too good at his job and he, as Carmichael air-quoted, is the best asset CIA ever had than MI6’s best.
One day, while on the run, Six didn’t expect to come across one of his triplet brothers in Pittsburgh, out of all places. He just saw him get into an accident, get thrown out of the car, and skid across the road. Out of instinct, Six is about to run and check on him, but Claire grabs him and points at the sidewalk; there are a lot of people with cameras around the crash.
“Cut! You can get up now, Colt,” A woman with bold DIRECTOR on her vest said.
Six perked up at the name. “Colt?”
Claire looks at him. “You know who that is?”
Six didn’t reply to her as Colt sat up on the road and gave the group of people a thumbs up before he got on his feet and walked to the woman.
“He looks like you,” Claire added, Six still not replying. He can’t help but to only stare and smile.
Colt is talking with that woman, and from lip-reading him, Six can make it out that the woman is called Jody and both of them look close.
He felt a tug on his sleeve and looked down at Claire, and finally snapped out of his thoughts. “Who’s that?” she asked.
Six glanced up at Colt before he grabbed Claire’s hand and started moving again.
Dan was in the middle of coordinating the scene, just in case Jody wanna get another take of the crash, when he saw what he thought was Colt. "Yo, Colt! Where you going?!"
"I'm right here."
Dan sharply turns to see that Colt is with Jody, who also looks startled.
Dan glanced back at the running 'Colt', then turned back to Colt. "I thought… I thought that was you."
Dan pointed down the sidewalk, still looking confused.
"I swear I just saw you heading that way."
Colt frowned and followed his line of sight.
The man was already half a block away, a little girl beside him. Both had their backs turned now, weaving through pedestrians with practiced ease.
"...That's not me," Colt muttered.
Jody folded her arms. "A look-alike?"
Dan scratched the back of his neck.
"I mean... from behind, it was freaky. Same height. Same build. Even the way he walks."
Colt narrowed his eyes.
Now that he focused, he noticed it too.
The stranger's posture.
Relaxed.
Balanced.
Like someone who expected trouble from every direction.
Not an actor.
Someone who'd spent years surviving.
The little girl looked over her shoulder for only a second.
Just long enough for Colt to catch sight of her worried expression before she faced forward again.
The man never looked back.
"Forget it," Jody said, clapping her hands once. "We've still got daylight. Places, everyone!"
Most of the crew returned to their stations.
Dan hesitated.
"Dude... you sure you've never met that guy?"
Colt kept watching until the stranger disappeared into the crowd.
"...No."
At least...
He didn't think so.
Something about seeing him had left a strange feeling in his chest.
Like a memory buried too deep to reach.
A few streets away, Six finally slowed his pace.
Claire looked up at him.
"You've been quiet."
"I know."
"Was that really someone you know?"
Six remained silent for several moments.
Finally, he answered.
"...My brother."
Claire stopped walking.
"You have a brother?"
"...Two."
Her eyes widened.
"You never told me."
"I haven't seen either of them in eighteen years."
Claire looked back toward where they'd come from.
"He really looked like you."
Six smiled faintly.
"We're triplets."
Claire blinked twice.
"Triplets?"
He gave a small nod.
"For a second..." Six admitted, "...I forgot I was being hunted."
He almost walked straight into the open.
Almost walked right up to Colt.
Just to make sure he was real.
Instead, he'd done what he always did.
He kept moving.
Because stopping—even for family—could get people killed.
Soon enough, he got himself a motel and paid cash for a room, using the cash that he stole from pickpocketing around clubs or drunk bastards in alleys, which he collected a lot.
"You gonna tell me?" Claire asked, relaxed on a bed in a room with unusually good air conditioning.
"Tell you what?" Six replied as he emptied hot water into two cups of instant noodles. He set them aside to cook before washing an apple under the sink.
Claire gave him a look.
"About your brothers."
Six was quiet.
He picked up the second apple, drying both with a motel hand towel.
"You've never mentioned them before," she asked as she went to sit on the floor, close to the heated cup.
"I never told you anything about myself, kid."
Claire snorted and leaned against the leg of the bed. "Yeah, I know. Being a Sierra and all that, but you already put that down and want to take that guy down. Why not just tell me?"
Six let out a quiet breath through his nose.
Claire had a point.
Not that he'd admit it.
He set one apple beside her before taking the lid off the instant noodles just enough to let the steam escape.
"You eat first."
"I'm not changing the subject."
"I know."
She folded her arms.
"So?"
Six leaned against the motel counter, staring at the faded painting on the opposite wall rather than at Claire.
"...We were separated when we were fifteen."
Claire's expression softened.
"You and your brothers?"
He nodded once.
"Separated reasonably."
She frowned. "Reasonably? You guys being forced to be separated?"
He nodded once.
"Because I killed my dad, because he was doing the… unthinkable on Ryland for rebelling."
Claire went still.
The room seemed to quiet around them, the air conditioner humming too loud in the silence.
"...You killed your dad?" she repeated, more careful this time, like saying it louder might make it real.
Six didn't look at her.
"Yes."
Claire stared at him, then at the noodles, then back at him.
"And he deserved it?"
Six's jaw tightened.
"He was hurting people."
That was all he said at first.
Then, after a beat:
"Hurting us too."
Claire looked down at her hands.
She was quiet for a long moment before she asked, softer now, "And your brothers?"
Six's eyes drifted to the window, where the blinds were shut tight against the dark outside.
"They were taken away after that."
"Taken away by who?"
He gave a dry, humourless exhale. "Foster family. I got the news after 3 weeks behind bars, and then I didn't get any updates after that. When your uncle came in to recruit me into the Sierra program, he wipe myself off the face of the Earth."
Claire's eyes widened at that. "Then how are your brothers gonna find you? They can't find you because you don't exist in the system anymore."
"It's better they don't find me. For now at least."
"But why?"
"So my criminal record wouldn't be connected to them, even though it's not their record."
Claire went quiet after that.
The explanation made sense in a cold, terrifying way.
Six kept his eyes on the counter, on the cheap motel wallpaper, on anything except the way her face had changed while she was thinking it through.
"So," she said slowly, "you disappeared so they could stay safe."
Six gave a small shrug that was meant to look casual and failed.
"In theory."
Claire leaned forward, elbows on her knees. "And in practice?"
He didn't answer right away.
In practice, it meant no records. No trail. No school forms. No shared names. No way for anyone to tie a kid to a fugitive who had already killed a man and was now tied to the CIA.
It meant that if someone came looking, they would come looking for him alone.
"It means," Six said at last, voice low, "that if they ever got dragged into this, it would be because of me."
Claire frowned. "But you were a kid."
He finally looked at her.
His expression had gone flat again, that hard, careful mask that always seemed to settle over him whenever the conversation edged too close to something personal.
"They are not a kid now," Six said quietly, but with enough force to make the point land. "And I would rather they have their own title than be related to a killer, even though I'm the good guy."
Claire blinked at him.
Six kept going before she could interrupt.
"Killer is still a killer. And now my dad is not the only body I have under my belt, and you clearly know that."
That part hung in the room.
Not dramatic. Not proud.
Just true.
He turned away from Claire and reached into his bag, pulling out two bottles of water before sitting down on the floor beside her. For a second he just stared at the bottle in his hand, then set one beside her cup of noodles.
"Plus," he added, voice lower now, "if your uncle didn't wipe it, Carmichael will hunt them down so he could get me to surrender and hand you back to them."
Claire's face twisted. "He would do that?"
Six gave her a look that said more than words ever could.
"Enjoy your dinner."
He picked up his own cup, blew on it once, then started to eat.
Claire watched him for a moment before picking up the water bottle.
"So that's it?" she asked. "You just keep running forever?"
Six swallowed first.
"Until I don't have to."
"That's not an answer."
"It is for me."
Claire huffed, then lowered her gaze to her noodles. She was quiet for a little while after that, but Six could tell she wasn't done thinking. She never was once she got started.
Then, softer, she said, "You really think your brothers don't deserve to know you?"
Six paused with the cup halfway to his mouth.
He didn't answer right away.
Because the honest answer was messier than either of them wanted.
He did want them to know him.
He wanted to know them too.
Wanted to know whether they laughed the same way. Whether they ate too fast, talked over each other, fought stupidly, got stubborn when they were tired. Wanted to know whether they had kept his face in their heads the way he had kept theirs in his.
But wanting something and allowing it were two very different things.
"...I think," he said finally, "they deserve a life that doesn't get ruined because of me."
Claire looked down, then shook her head a little.
"That sounds like something someone says when they already decided they don't get to be happy."
Six stared at her.
For a kid, she could be annoyingly sharp.
He took another bite of noodles to give himself a second.
"I didn't say I wasn't happy."
Claire gave him a deadpan look. "You live in motels and eat instant noodles."
"That doesn't mean I can't be happy."
"It means you need better hobbies."
Despite himself, Six gave the smallest huff of amusement.
Claire caught it and pointed at him with her chopsticks. "There. See? That's a real reaction."
He shook his head, but there was something lighter around his mouth now.
Outside, a car passed by with headlights sweeping briefly across the thin curtains. The light moved on just as quickly, leaving the room dim again.
Claire took another bite, then said, "For the record, if your brothers are anything like you, they're probably impossible too."
Six glanced at her. "That's not comforting."
"It wasn't supposed to be."
That almost made him smile again.
Almost.
He looked down at his food, but his mind had already drifted back to that street in Pittsburgh. To Colt's face. To the way the recognition had hit him like a punch to the chest.
For one stupid second, he'd nearly gone to him.
Not because he thought it would fix anything.
Just because after eighteen years, seeing one of them had made the rest of the world blur around the edges.
Claire noticed his silence again.
"You're thinking about him."
Six didn't deny it.
"Yeah."
"Do you want to go back?"
His fingers tightened slightly around the cup.
"...No."
It was the wrong answer and the right one at the same time.
Claire didn't press further. She just sat there and ate, letting the silence settle around them in a way that was less tense than before.
Then, after a while, she said, "When this is over, you should find them."
Continuing from your lead:
Six looked at her.
"That's the plan."
He said it simply, then went back to eating his noodles.
Claire watched him for a second, almost expecting him to elaborate, but he didn't.
Of course he didn't.
So she finally picked up her own cup and started digging in as well.
For a while, the motel room was quiet.
Just two people eating cheap instant noodles on the floor, pretending their lives weren't complicated beyond belief.
Then Claire looked over at him.
"You said Ryland."
Six paused slightly. "Yeah."
"Is that who you saw today?"
He looked at her. "No."
Claire tilted her head. "Then who was that?"
Six lowered his cup slightly.
"That was Colt."
The name sat there between them.
Claire studied his face, catching the subtle change.
Not fear.
Not anger.
Something else.
Something closer to relief.
"So Ryland is one brother, and Colt is the other?"
Continuing from your lead:
Six nodded. "Yeah." He popped a slice of apple into his mouth before continuing to finish his cup of noodles.
Claire sighed. "Can't you like... be a bit more open with me?"
"No."
The answer came so quickly that she stared at him.
"Come on! Just tell me."
Six ignored her.
For about five seconds.
Then he heard the way she kept shifting beside him, clearly preparing to keep asking until he gave in.
He groaned and put his cup down. "You're not gonna stop anyway."
Claire immediately smiled a little.
She knew she won.
Six pointed at her slightly. "Don't look so proud."
"I'm not."
"You are."
"I am."
He shook his head.
Then he finally gave in. "So... I'm the oldest. Colt is second, and Ryland is youngest."
He picked his cup back up. "That's it."
Claire stared at him.
That was all?
After everything?
She crossed her arms and pouted, clearly not satisfied. "That's barely anything."
Six continued eating. "It's enough."
"No, it's not."
"It is."
"You just gave me a birth order."
"Correct."
"That's not telling me about them."
Six looked at her. "You asked about my brothers."
"I asked about your brothers because I wanted to know about your brothers."
"And I told you."
Claire narrowed her eyes. "You are impossible."
"I've been told."
She leaned back against the bed. "So what? Colt is just... the middle brother?"
"Yes."
"And Ryland is the youngest."
"Yes."
"And you're the grumpy oldest one who thinks he has to protect everyone."
Six stopped for half a second.
Claire noticed. "Aha."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"You totally did the oldest brother thing."
"How do you even know? You're an only child," Six said, pointing his plastic fork at her.
"Internet exist."
"It's not always true."
"But some of them are, right?"
Six groaned. "Not. Always."