Chapter Text
Ryland Grace sat on a lab chair typing into his computer the information he had just encountered in the labs, the man was in his mid 20s and working towards a PhD. The lab had no more than four other people working on their own different research projects and among them he was just another name. Ryland Grace. Ryland. Grace. Grace…
The room was silent, it was almost painful, all he could hear was the sound of him typing his paper, another student walking around, and the sound of lab equipment working that had long become white noise for him. It was then that the almost mundane silence was broken, Ryland's phone rang, it was an unknown number but it only felt right for him to pick it up, he was not quite sure why.
The man was faced with snark looks from the others in the lab and excused himself to take the call outside.
"Hello," Ryland picked up the phone "This is Ryland Grace, who is this?"
The line was silent.
He could not believe he left the goddamn lab and his work for this.
"Hey Uncle Rylie!" A voice came through the line, it was scared, but it was there.
"Thalia?! Is this you?! Are you okay?" Ryland was suddenly so glad he had picked up the phone.
"Uhum" She hummed, seemingly holding back whatever she had to say.
"Thalia! kiddo, I need to know if you're okay?" Grace's whole being was the overtaken with worry.
Thalia was the oldest kid of his sister, Beryl. Ryland wasn't particularly close with most of his family, he was close with Colt, his twin, and that was it. Beryl hadn't come out of the childhood trauma a good person, she was egotistical, to say the least; probably because she had always been father's favourite.
All he heard was a muffled sob and his heart skipped a beat. He really wish he could just free the poor girl from this vicious cycle.
"Jason—" she sniffled.
Holy shit! What the hell?! What had happened?! Grace was trying with all his will not to show the panic in his voice, he did not need to frighten his niece more than she already was.
"What happened with Jason? Kiddo" Jason was just two and Thalia wasn't much older, she was 9.
"He…" there was a long silence where she would try to speak and then fail to and then try again until she spoke one earth shattering coherent sentence. "He's missing."
Oh God. Ryland leaned against the wall trying to keep himself steady, he had to be brave for Thalia, if he couldn't be it for himself he had to for her.
"What do u mean Tilly?"
"I went to the park with mum and Jason, cause she was in a good mood you know?" the girl seemed to have calmed down almost if being taken seriously eased her panic.
Ryland hummed an agreement to the phone indicating for her to continue.
"It was all good, until I left for maybe 10 minutes, and I made a huge mistake, I left mum alone with Jason!"
Fear was already piling up in Ryland's mind, almost reminiscent of his childhood, of the nights his father would come home drunk, or the nights he was sober but still as angry as he could be about something; sometimes it was because Ryland talked too much, sometimes because Colt had got into some kind of fight, sometimes because Ryland got a good grade, or because one of the twins somehow outshone Beryl.
"I came back and mum was mad, she just grabbed my arm and started to leave without a word," she stayed quiet for a bit, a time in which Grace hoped was just her thinking about what to say. "I asked her where Jason was and she wouldn't answer me, until she said he went in the lake and drowned. But we weren't even close to the lake!" The girl let out another sniffle and began to cry again.
"Tilly, I'm going to fix this," Ryland took a deep breath, he would do anything he could to help Thalia Grace.
"Ryland," she seemed too wise for a nine year old. "You can't fix what happened."
"Thalia, I can prevent it from happening to you," he remembers clearly how abuse makes you mature quickly. "I can get you out, to somewhere safe, if you want."
"I do" the girl lets out in what's barely a whisper.
"Tilly," Ryland says almost like a promise to help her. "Do you think you are safe there for the next bit? I'm going to follow the steps to get you out safe, ok?"
"I think so, yeah" she says again, not above a whisper.
From the other line Ryland hears violent knocks on the door that make him flinch. Thalia hangs up the phone.
Grace can't do much but hope she'll be okay while he tries his best to help her.
Thalia Grace was Ryland's niece, they shared blood, they shared a last name, there was one thing Ryland really wished they didn't share: trauma.
Not even that wish of his was granted.
Ryland remembers his experience with foster care, it was far from pleasant, he would never wish that upon anyone, especially not Thalia. He knew that maybe she could get lucky, and not have that terrible of an experience but he knew for a fact that it was not that easy and he was not going to try his luck again.
The man walked back to the lab and even if he tried to go back to work, he knew he would not focus on his work for the life of him, which was the his sign that seeing Tilly safe was his only goal. Science has been his source of comfort through all his life, he loved it more than anything. It was there for him during his childhood, and it was there for him as a teenager who struggled to make genuine friendships, and it was there for him now as he tried his best to make a career out of his passion, some may say that he loves science way too much, enough for it to get in the way of his relationships, he wishes it didn't have to be a choice. But that day he chose Thalia over science.
Ryland packed his things and left the lab without a word. He though as he walked home to his minuscule studio apartment: how is he ever going to get custody of the girl he's only ever seen a few times when her mum was sick of having children and just dropped her off with him?
Grace found a seat on the bus home, his mind wouldn't stay quiet even if he tried. All he could think about was Thalia, even if he tried thinking about anyone else, anything else, he couldn't. The man sat by the window anxiously waited for his two stops to go by in order to get home, he looked down to his hands that shook reflecting the state of his mind. He just had to get home. He just had to get home. He repeated to himself until he actually got to his stop.
At some point he had picked up his phone and sent Marissa a message, he wasn't sure she would see it, but it simply said "hey! help."
If anyone looked at Ryland's relationship with Marissa their first thought would be to assume that they were dating, and if not that their friendship had benefits. Which could not be further from the truth, him and Marissa were friends, close friends, but nothing more.
Over the past few years of their friendship they became almost like siblings, they were there for each other through the death of Marissa's mum, Ryland's first years away from abuse, both were there for each other through impossible tests, and difficult moments. She knew how to help Grace calm down from his panic attacks and meltdowns, which rarely happened now, but his diagnosis for c-ptsd, asd and severe anxiety were there for a reason. When he first met Marissa he would apologise profusely if he ever even cried with her near by, he would call any of his expressions of negative emotions tantrums back then, Marissa was his rock for getting out of that hole.
He was eternally grateful for her.
He got out of the bus to be met with a gust of crisp autumn air, as he made his way from the bus stop to his building he tried to focus on the wind and on the distinct smell that fall brought. He finally stopped by an old, short, brick building.
The key to his door, even if old, turned smoothly with a satisfying click that Ryland used to ground himself. He rushed through the door, immediately closing in and kicking off his shoes, he ran towards his bed splatting himself on it as he finally let himself let out all the anger, sadness, anxiety, fear, and guilt flow out of his eyes.