LLB: Convincing Father
Jul. 20th, 2019 01:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thehuns_daughter posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
immortalstoriesPart One
Part Two
Part Three
PART FOUR
OOC: All characters are mine, except the following: Sigurd ("Vikings" property of Michael Hirst and the History Channel) and Diana Prince ("Wonder Woman" property of the DCEU and Warner Bros).
”Not to worry you, but our Dad’s here.”
Danika’s words reverberated through his mind and he could almost feel his blood turning to ice. Liam tried and mostly failed to suppress the shiver that crawled up his spine. “Great.” It sounded like it was anything but. All he could think of were the stories his mom had told him about Grayson for as long as he could remember. Many children were afraid of the bogeyman, for Liam that bogeyman was Grayson and very real indeed.
“It’ll be okay. We know how to handle him, right Dani?” Danny put his arm around his little brother’s shoulder and smiled encouragement at him.
“I know how to deal with him.” She corrected him. “The last thing we want is for you and he to get into one of your epic battles.” She went on to give a brief explanation for Liam. “Talk about a battle of wills between Danny and Dad. Okay, so this is what we’ll do.”
***
Aside from the security man who opened the door for him, the hall was empty. The same man pointed to one of the doors that led from the hallway. Acknowledging with a curt nod, Hsu marched straight over, flung open the door and continued in.
Van was the only one who jumped to his feet. Ben straightened. Sigurd who was already standing by the buffet to pour himself some water just turned around. The only one who didn’t show any reaction was Diana. Her dark hair was neatly tied into a ponytail, in much the same style as Danika often wore hers. No longer her alter ego, she had changed into a fitted black t-shirt, cropped black leather jacket and black jeans. She remained seated, gracefully reclined, in the corner of the large sectional sofa and merely looked up.
Hsu swept his gaze over the room, not bothering to hide his annoyance. “Where are they?”
There was a pause, no longer than a couple of heartbeats, but no one jumped in to answer until Van, who, at the end of the day was employed by Hsu, had to speak up. “Upstairs, sir.”
“And this Campbell charlatan?” Hsu demanded.
“Upstairs, with them.”
“He’s no charlatan.” Diana swung her long legs off the couch and sat forward.
He glared at her. “And you know this for sure how?” For some reason Diana always irritated him, and he couldn’t pin down why. It could be that she had shown not the slightest bit of attraction towards him while he had, more than once, fantasized about her wrapping those long, shapely legs around him. It could also be that she never seemed to be intimidated by him unlike the others. Even Sigurd, who came from a powerful and ancient family of warriors himself showed him the proper respect. However, he recognized she cared deeply for Danika and had been good for his daughter since they had met a few years ago.
“The DNA test….” Sigurd offered.
“An off the shelf kit is hardly proof.”
Diana just smiled, ignoring Hsu’s arguments. “And a lie detector test.” She was one of the very few who would stand up to him. She was a demi god with the strength and skill to crush him into the ground before he even thought about defending himself. Of course, he knew nothing about that, and she was glad that the twins had kept her secret. And she was angry with him for lying to Dani and her brother about their mother’s fate. That was unforgivable. But Dani had assured her she would deal with him.
Hsu snorted. “Even less accurate.”
“Not this one.” She wouldn’t tell him about the Lasso of Truth but it was more than enough to prove Liam was indeed the twins’ half-brother. “You have to accept the consequences that your children know you’ve lied to them all these years about their mother.” Her pleasant smile widened as he looked to Ben and Sigurd and saw nothing but their disappointment. “I cannot guess what made you do that, Hsu, and I don’t know if you can ever make this right.”
“Perhaps accepting Liam will go some way to make up for it?” Ben shrugged.
Ben was the one who always tried to find a way for Daniel and Hsu to compromise during their fights. He always looked for the middle ground to smooth over things. He was doing it now, except that he was firmly on their side. They all were, even Van he suspected, though he would never say so. He turned sharply, not deigning to answer and intending on heading upstairs when the door opened and in stepped his children. It wasn’t lost on him that how they stood, they shielded the young red-headed man behind them.
With their protective stance and knowing that three of the four behind him were against him as well, Hsu knew he was outnumbered. He looked at his daughter as she was the driving force in this whole matter. “I told you to come straight to de Revel.”
“Yes, you did, but I changed my mind.” Danika stood calmly but she had her father’s eyes and they gazed back at him with the same stubbornness. “I thought that it’d be better to have this meeting on my turf.”
“And you feel the same, Daniel? You didn’t seem so sure on the phone.” It was almost impossible to drive a wedge between the twins, but Daniel had expressed his doubts earlier. Hsu could see Campbell hiding behind them, but he didn’t bother to even try to meet his eyes yet.
Dan nodded. “Yes Dad, I wasn’t totally convinced when we spoke but I am now, and with the way you’ve lied to us, we could hardly guarantee Liam’s safety if we came to the Chateau.”
The heat of anger ran through Hsu, and he knew it was mostly because his long standing lie had been found out. That bitch! He’d warned her what would happen if she ever tried to come into his children’s lives. He had his reasons and he wasn’t going to justify himself to anyone, not even them. Nor did he want anyone else listening to and undoubtedly contributing their own opinions into what he viewed as a private matter. He pushed down his anger, knowing he had little room to negotiate. “Very well, we’ll talk here, as you both prefer that. But this is a family matter, so your lovers will have to leave.” The twins looked at each other, but before either could answer, Hsu added. “If you need back up for your case, then it’s not a strong position. You know that.”
“It’s you who has the case to answer to…” Daniel muttered under his breath.
“It’s okay, Ben? Diana?” Sigurd would stay if Danika insisted, but Hsu was right no matter how close they all were, this was for the Hsus to work out. Ben nodded but Diana gave no indication but to look at Dani. “We’ll just hang out across the hall.” If you need us. he didn’t have to add.
Dani looked at him, then at Diana. If she expressed any doubt to dealing with her father alone, Diana would stay. “Yeah, we’ll be fine. It’s best if this is just us. We’ll shout if we need you.” They all said quick goodbyes as Hsu waited, taking a long look at Campbell. Unremarkable looking man really, and he didn’t take after the woman he claimed was his mother. A fact that could condemn him as a fake or it might work to his advantage.
As the others left, Danny nodded at Van. “If Ben and the others couldn’t stay, Van should really go as well.”
“No, de Merwe stays. A good witness to what’s said, and he will work on verifying whatever he tells me.” For the first time, he looked directly at Liam. The boy looked terrified. Good. “Sit down. I have a lot of questions.”
“So do we, Dad.” Danika never called her father that to his face, and it was a clear and deliberate lack of respect. Putting a steadying hand on Liam’s shoulder, she guided him over to the sectional and they took a seat with Danny on the other side. Van stood out of the way, but where he could hear everything and also set up his tablet and comm with the communication centre at de Revel for when he needed to contact them.
Hsu poured himself a scotch -- he was probably going to need it -- and seated himself across from them in a soft and comfortable armchair. It was not his first choice of a seat for such a conversation. “So, how are you so certain that this person, who comes out of nowhere can possibly be your brother?”
Danny looked at his sister. “Kind of odd that he takes that angle and doesn’t deny that he lied to us about our mother.”
Any retort died on Hsu’s lips as Dani spoke before he could. “Yes, that’s where we need to start. After all, if Justine Myers died when we were born, then everything else that Liam’s told us would be false. But if she didn’t die, it makes everything he’s said possible. So, Dad, did Justine die when you told us?”
There was a long pause, so much so that Van looked up from his tablet. Hsu gazed at the patterns of light through the crystal and how it reflected on his scotch. Those were the darkest days of his long life. Why couldn’t the past stay firmly where it belonged? Why had this brat chosen to insert himself into their lives? He wanted to continue the lie, and if there was any way he could, he would. But he couldn’t see a way. A proper DNA test could prove that this boy was hers as easily as it might not. He hated that woman to a level that he hated few. She was a reminder, as if he needed any, of how he had to kill Danika, take her Quickening, the woman’s hysterics just making an impossible choice even harder. That second chance, to go back in time with that Time Lord did not make him any more sympathetic to her. “No, she didn’t die,” he admitted. “She’d been careless, let herself be caught by Horton. I believed that bastard had killed Daniel and you were all I had left, Danika. I never felt anything for that woman. I had been tricked into having sex with her, and frankly she wasn’t up to the task of being a mother to anyone, let alone you.” His gaze was fixed on his daughter. She had to understand that he had told her this to protect her. “I paid her to go away, to never try and contact either of us. She was free to live her own life as long as she kept her end of our deal, and she did.” Until now.
“And you never thought to tell us the truth, not even once we were adults?” If anything Daniel sounded unsurprised. Just like Hsu to force his will onto others.
Hsu was still looking at Danika. It was her reaction he was looking for. Her he wanted to believe him. But he answered Daniel’s question, not that his gaze moved. “If you want me to say this was some huge conspiracy and cover up on my behalf, you’d be disappointed. To be honest, after a few years, I forgot all about her, and it never crossed my mind to tell you.”
“Did Gran know? Aunt Faelyn? Who else knew?” Danika frowned at him.
“No.” Hsu shook his head. “Your grandmother was back at the North Star compound when it all happened. It was only when I returned there with you, I told her what happened to Daniel and that she was dead. Faelyn was in France, busy with her family, and I saw no need to involve her. Only MacDonald, Johnson, and Xiao knew.” He caught her slight roll of her eyes, of course they knew. “While I went hunting Horton, MacDonald and Johnson set her up with a new identity, a choice of place to live, and with access to enough money to keep her set up for at least a few lifetimes.” He shifted his attention to Liam who was sitting quietly. “Unless she’s already blown through it all, which is quite an achievement. Der Merwe, have Garnon send copies of the contract she signed, and the transfers to her account.” He drained his scotch and addressed Liam for the first time. “So, with that nest egg, together with the fact that I know you’re a professional footballer, it can’t be money you want. So, Maverick Campbell right? Has she got you to make contact with Danika and Daniel to get around the conditions of our agreement.
It took Liam a couple of attempts before he could speak. The twins held each of his hands and both gave him a reassuring squeeze. This was what he dreaded, and yet. “My-my mother’s dead, Mr. Grayson.” He forgot that Danika had mentioned the name Hsu currently used, and even that she had said his real name. There was a pause that lasted no more than a fraction of a second, and even then Liam rushed to fill it. “And...it’s...I go by Liam not Maverick.” It was then he realized he had just corrected the bogeyman and slammed his mouth shut.
He hadn’t said much, but Hsu found there was much to digest in what he had. “She’s dead. How convenient. So she died and then you decide to drag up the past and contact my children.” Grayson was a name he hadn’t gone by for a long time, since before Daniel had returned home, although he supposed it made sense for Justine not to have known that. The boy surely should have done his homework though. No, he was just fixed on finding the twins. “Your name is Maverick Campbell, correct? Why would I call you anything else?”
Liam felt his cheeks burn and hoped that it wasn’t too noticeable, but given his complexion and red hair it probably was very. “Err...legally it is, but I hate it so I go by my middle name name, Mr. Grayson. Liam, after my dad.” His heart pounded in his throat. “Mom died ten years ago, by an Immortal she had no hope against. She had a history of mental illness, depression, anxiety, and paranoia. She was terrified that either the Watchers or...or you would find her and kill her.” He looked at Dani and then Dan. “I think she’d be aghast that she’d been forgotten about, and that it’d be years later before you found out.”
Names were important to him, but even Hsu had to admit that Maverick was an ill-fitting one. So Justine Meyers had been dead ten years. Perhaps he should have been more interested in keeping tabs on her and so this child of hers? He quickly did the math in his head. Campbell was ten years younger than his own children. A time that had been of relative peace for them after dismantling the Watchers. He should have kept track. “And who exactly was your father in all of this?” Perhaps he was behind tracking Danika down for his own reasons.
“No one really. Just an ordinary man. He’s Scottish, and he was spending time in the US when he met Mom. They had me and were briefly married, but her mental issues got too much and he went back to Scotland. I grew up shuttled between the two of them, and there was a long, nasty custody battle, mostly because of Mom. At times, she thought Dad was working for you or a Watcher, even both.” Hsu raised a brow at that thought, and even the twins made incredulous sounds. “Anyway, once she died, I went to live with Dad and his wife and their kids. Twins as well, two girls.”
“And what’s your father’s full name? Where exactly does he live?” Van interjected, adding when he saw panic on the boy’s face. “Just to corroborate what you’re telling us.”
“William Campbell, but everyone calls him Will. He lives just outside of Paisley near Glasgow, and he owns a tour bus company.” With a reassuring nod from Dani, he furnished the exact address.
“So what made you look for my children now? How much did Justine tell you about them?”
“Why now? Mostly because I could. When Mom was alive she always wondered what Danika was like, what she might be doing. Stuff like that, but she was so scared of you that looking for her was out of the question. After, well I got busy settling in with Dad’s family and I made Celtic’s youth team, then turned pro. I thought about looking a few times, but I had so little to go on, and the whole being related to Immortals is kind of tough to explain to someone I could have hired. Then I found that magazine article.” He paused as Van handed a copy to Hsu. “I couldn’t be sure it was Dani. In fact, I knew it was a pretty long shot, but it was something. And I was going to be playing in Switzerland, so I thought why not check it out?
Hsu looked over the article, although Van had earlier sent him a digital copy. “So you went looking for Danika and not Daniel?”
Liam looked surprised. The answer was obvious to him. “Because I never knew Danny was alive. Mom always told me how those Watchers had ripped him from her and killed him.” He looked at his brother. “Sorry, but until I saw you doing that trapeze stuff, I thought you were dead.”
“I’m happy to have corrected you.” Dan managed a laugh, but it didn’t last long as it brought up another uncomfortable fact. For his father at least. “Well, it was thought I was dead for several years. But Dad learned that I was alive and he found me.” He looked at Hsu. “But for some reason you didn’t find it necessary to contact her and let her know? You know how hard that time was for me. Perhaps it would have gone a lot smoother with my mother in the picture?”
Hsu stopped himself from shrugging. Even if he felt the urge, such casual dismissiveness would only inflame matters. “No, I didn’t find it necessary. As I said, I wanted nothing more to do with her, and as unbalanced as she was then, together with what Campbell has told us about her mental state, I doubt she would have made any of our lives smoother. Besides, you’ve had your grandmother and Faelyn be there for you whenever you’ve needed a maternal influence.”
“It would have been nice to have the choice.” Danika replied as one of Hsu’s men quietly entered the room and whispered something in Van’s ear. He got up and relayed the message just as quietly to Hsu, who nodded as Dani continued. “It would have been nice to know she was alive, to meet our own mother even just once and make up our own minds whether we wanted her in our lives.”
She could always get through to him on some level, even if he still believed he had made the correct decision all those years ago. But only he knew of the extra pain she had thrown on his grief in the previous timeline. He could never forgive her for that, and it had only been the fact that she had birthed his beloved children that stayed his hand from killing her. “She gave up all rights to you, in return I set her up for life.”
“Paid her off, more like.” Daniel said.
“However, she agreed. And like any regular adoption, she had no legal right to contact you, and it was my decision whether to tell you or not. I thought it best not to. Van has..-”
Danika interrupted him. “You thought it was best to just tell us she was already dead.”
He looked at her, his gaze level. “Yes, I did.” The twins looked at each other. They were never going to get an apology, and as much as it hurt to hear, they knew their father was telling them the truth as he saw it. “As I was about to say, Van has just informed me that that Doctor Boucher has arrived to carry out the DNA test.” Doctor Boucher was a physician from Toulouse contracted by Hsu to treat ailments and injuries that his men incurred.
“Sir.” Liam found his voice again. “What will happen after?”
“After?” Hsu was surprised by the question. It should be obvious. “If the DNA proves that you are not related to my children, then you will be escorted from the premises and sent packing. You will not have any further contact with them.” Before he met the boy, he would have said Liam would face a much more permanent dismissal, but he admitted he seemed to believe it, even if he was mistaken.
“And if the DNA proves he is our brother?” Danika asked.
Perhaps it wasn’t as obvious as he thought. He really didn’t know what he would do yet. “If he is, then he will undergo the same rigorous vetting that any of my men go through, that your lovers have gone through.” Danika bit back a small smile. Not as rigorous as he thought in Diana’s case. “If he passes all that, then I will see.” All that would buy him some time to decide what to do.
The Doctor came in and in a few moments took blood and cheek swabs from both Daniel and Danika, labelling each sample carefully. He then took the same from Liam . He then set up his equipment at the same table that Van was working from. “Monsieur Harrison, this will take a while to get back the full results. You may continue your business until it is ready.”
“No, I’ll stay here and wait. So will Campbell. Danika, Daniel you may rejoin your lovers and assure them that I haven’t eaten this boy as a snack.” His attempt at dark humour fell flat, and after a quick glance at each other, Danika nodded.
“I’ll let them know how everything’s going, and I’ll be right back.”
After Danika left the room, it was quiet. Hsu and Van were head-to-head with Van doing most of the talking and Hsu mostly nodding. Daniel and Liam sat on the sectional, just waiting. After several minutes, Hsu stepped away from Van and looked at the younger man. “Van der Merwe’s preliminary investigations have corroborated your story, at least as far as you believe it. But it is only preliminary at this time in that we’ve confirmed that William Campbell is your father and lives where you told us. Once these results come through, and if they are positive, my men will look deeper. So, if there’s anything else you can think of that might affect my family, you should tell me now.”
Liam shook his head. For a second, he wondered if he should mention his mom’s friend,, Athenea, but she had warned him about getting involved with Hsu, so he just said. “I don’t think there is. I mean, I’m happy to go into more detail about Mom and when things happened, as best as I remember them. And do all the checks you want to. If you prove that I’m a liar or mistaken, I’ll happily disappear out of all your lives, but, Mr Grayson, if everything checks out, I’d like to get to know my half-siblings.” Dan nodded, very much supporting him.
The boy was saying all the right things, and unlike his alleged mother, appeared to be quite well-balanced and reasonable, but it was odd that in all his research as he hunted Danika that he should still address him by a name he hadn’t used in nearly thirty years. “One thing puzzles me, if you spent all this time looking for Danika, then why do you insist on calling me Grayson, a name I haven’t used since Danika was small?”
“It’s how Mom knew you. That or Haag. I was just focused on looking for Danika that it really didn’t occur to me to look for, er, you. Or that you would have a different name, and I didn’t come across one , so I figured you weren’t closely involved anymore.”
Hsu wasn’t convinced. “As you’ve learned, I’m still very much involved, and still I will do anything to protect both of them from any danger as I have done with the Watchers and others. And I’ll continue to do.” The threat was not subtle. “You should know that I haven’t used either Haag or Grayson since Danika was very young. Daniel and I both go by the same name, Daniel Harrison, and Danika has a slightly different one….”
It looked as if Daniel was about to say something, but he wasn’t beaten to it as his sister walked back in, catching the last words their father said, interrupting him casually, as if it were nothing. “I already told him, just as I told him our real names, including yours. I wouldn’t want to keep any secrets.” She matched his glare.
Not for the first time, Hsu wished she hadn’t inherited quite so much of his determination. “You should not have done that, not until I get the DNA results and then only if they prove his claim. You know it’s for security.”
“When the DNA test proves his claim…” Danika began.
“IF”
Danika just shifted her gaze to Liam, offering him a reassuring smile. “When it comes back and proves you’re our brother, we’ll tell you everything about us.” And at that, she could almost hear her father grinding his teeth to keep silent. Let him stew.
Part Two
Part Three
PART FOUR
OOC: All characters are mine, except the following: Sigurd ("Vikings" property of Michael Hirst and the History Channel) and Diana Prince ("Wonder Woman" property of the DCEU and Warner Bros).
”Not to worry you, but our Dad’s here.”
Danika’s words reverberated through his mind and he could almost feel his blood turning to ice. Liam tried and mostly failed to suppress the shiver that crawled up his spine. “Great.” It sounded like it was anything but. All he could think of were the stories his mom had told him about Grayson for as long as he could remember. Many children were afraid of the bogeyman, for Liam that bogeyman was Grayson and very real indeed.
“It’ll be okay. We know how to handle him, right Dani?” Danny put his arm around his little brother’s shoulder and smiled encouragement at him.
“I know how to deal with him.” She corrected him. “The last thing we want is for you and he to get into one of your epic battles.” She went on to give a brief explanation for Liam. “Talk about a battle of wills between Danny and Dad. Okay, so this is what we’ll do.”
***
Aside from the security man who opened the door for him, the hall was empty. The same man pointed to one of the doors that led from the hallway. Acknowledging with a curt nod, Hsu marched straight over, flung open the door and continued in.
Van was the only one who jumped to his feet. Ben straightened. Sigurd who was already standing by the buffet to pour himself some water just turned around. The only one who didn’t show any reaction was Diana. Her dark hair was neatly tied into a ponytail, in much the same style as Danika often wore hers. No longer her alter ego, she had changed into a fitted black t-shirt, cropped black leather jacket and black jeans. She remained seated, gracefully reclined, in the corner of the large sectional sofa and merely looked up.
Hsu swept his gaze over the room, not bothering to hide his annoyance. “Where are they?”
There was a pause, no longer than a couple of heartbeats, but no one jumped in to answer until Van, who, at the end of the day was employed by Hsu, had to speak up. “Upstairs, sir.”
“And this Campbell charlatan?” Hsu demanded.
“Upstairs, with them.”
“He’s no charlatan.” Diana swung her long legs off the couch and sat forward.
He glared at her. “And you know this for sure how?” For some reason Diana always irritated him, and he couldn’t pin down why. It could be that she had shown not the slightest bit of attraction towards him while he had, more than once, fantasized about her wrapping those long, shapely legs around him. It could also be that she never seemed to be intimidated by him unlike the others. Even Sigurd, who came from a powerful and ancient family of warriors himself showed him the proper respect. However, he recognized she cared deeply for Danika and had been good for his daughter since they had met a few years ago.
“The DNA test….” Sigurd offered.
“An off the shelf kit is hardly proof.”
Diana just smiled, ignoring Hsu’s arguments. “And a lie detector test.” She was one of the very few who would stand up to him. She was a demi god with the strength and skill to crush him into the ground before he even thought about defending himself. Of course, he knew nothing about that, and she was glad that the twins had kept her secret. And she was angry with him for lying to Dani and her brother about their mother’s fate. That was unforgivable. But Dani had assured her she would deal with him.
Hsu snorted. “Even less accurate.”
“Not this one.” She wouldn’t tell him about the Lasso of Truth but it was more than enough to prove Liam was indeed the twins’ half-brother. “You have to accept the consequences that your children know you’ve lied to them all these years about their mother.” Her pleasant smile widened as he looked to Ben and Sigurd and saw nothing but their disappointment. “I cannot guess what made you do that, Hsu, and I don’t know if you can ever make this right.”
“Perhaps accepting Liam will go some way to make up for it?” Ben shrugged.
Ben was the one who always tried to find a way for Daniel and Hsu to compromise during their fights. He always looked for the middle ground to smooth over things. He was doing it now, except that he was firmly on their side. They all were, even Van he suspected, though he would never say so. He turned sharply, not deigning to answer and intending on heading upstairs when the door opened and in stepped his children. It wasn’t lost on him that how they stood, they shielded the young red-headed man behind them.
With their protective stance and knowing that three of the four behind him were against him as well, Hsu knew he was outnumbered. He looked at his daughter as she was the driving force in this whole matter. “I told you to come straight to de Revel.”
“Yes, you did, but I changed my mind.” Danika stood calmly but she had her father’s eyes and they gazed back at him with the same stubbornness. “I thought that it’d be better to have this meeting on my turf.”
“And you feel the same, Daniel? You didn’t seem so sure on the phone.” It was almost impossible to drive a wedge between the twins, but Daniel had expressed his doubts earlier. Hsu could see Campbell hiding behind them, but he didn’t bother to even try to meet his eyes yet.
Dan nodded. “Yes Dad, I wasn’t totally convinced when we spoke but I am now, and with the way you’ve lied to us, we could hardly guarantee Liam’s safety if we came to the Chateau.”
The heat of anger ran through Hsu, and he knew it was mostly because his long standing lie had been found out. That bitch! He’d warned her what would happen if she ever tried to come into his children’s lives. He had his reasons and he wasn’t going to justify himself to anyone, not even them. Nor did he want anyone else listening to and undoubtedly contributing their own opinions into what he viewed as a private matter. He pushed down his anger, knowing he had little room to negotiate. “Very well, we’ll talk here, as you both prefer that. But this is a family matter, so your lovers will have to leave.” The twins looked at each other, but before either could answer, Hsu added. “If you need back up for your case, then it’s not a strong position. You know that.”
“It’s you who has the case to answer to…” Daniel muttered under his breath.
“It’s okay, Ben? Diana?” Sigurd would stay if Danika insisted, but Hsu was right no matter how close they all were, this was for the Hsus to work out. Ben nodded but Diana gave no indication but to look at Dani. “We’ll just hang out across the hall.” If you need us. he didn’t have to add.
Dani looked at him, then at Diana. If she expressed any doubt to dealing with her father alone, Diana would stay. “Yeah, we’ll be fine. It’s best if this is just us. We’ll shout if we need you.” They all said quick goodbyes as Hsu waited, taking a long look at Campbell. Unremarkable looking man really, and he didn’t take after the woman he claimed was his mother. A fact that could condemn him as a fake or it might work to his advantage.
As the others left, Danny nodded at Van. “If Ben and the others couldn’t stay, Van should really go as well.”
“No, de Merwe stays. A good witness to what’s said, and he will work on verifying whatever he tells me.” For the first time, he looked directly at Liam. The boy looked terrified. Good. “Sit down. I have a lot of questions.”
“So do we, Dad.” Danika never called her father that to his face, and it was a clear and deliberate lack of respect. Putting a steadying hand on Liam’s shoulder, she guided him over to the sectional and they took a seat with Danny on the other side. Van stood out of the way, but where he could hear everything and also set up his tablet and comm with the communication centre at de Revel for when he needed to contact them.
Hsu poured himself a scotch -- he was probably going to need it -- and seated himself across from them in a soft and comfortable armchair. It was not his first choice of a seat for such a conversation. “So, how are you so certain that this person, who comes out of nowhere can possibly be your brother?”
Danny looked at his sister. “Kind of odd that he takes that angle and doesn’t deny that he lied to us about our mother.”
Any retort died on Hsu’s lips as Dani spoke before he could. “Yes, that’s where we need to start. After all, if Justine Myers died when we were born, then everything else that Liam’s told us would be false. But if she didn’t die, it makes everything he’s said possible. So, Dad, did Justine die when you told us?”
There was a long pause, so much so that Van looked up from his tablet. Hsu gazed at the patterns of light through the crystal and how it reflected on his scotch. Those were the darkest days of his long life. Why couldn’t the past stay firmly where it belonged? Why had this brat chosen to insert himself into their lives? He wanted to continue the lie, and if there was any way he could, he would. But he couldn’t see a way. A proper DNA test could prove that this boy was hers as easily as it might not. He hated that woman to a level that he hated few. She was a reminder, as if he needed any, of how he had to kill Danika, take her Quickening, the woman’s hysterics just making an impossible choice even harder. That second chance, to go back in time with that Time Lord did not make him any more sympathetic to her. “No, she didn’t die,” he admitted. “She’d been careless, let herself be caught by Horton. I believed that bastard had killed Daniel and you were all I had left, Danika. I never felt anything for that woman. I had been tricked into having sex with her, and frankly she wasn’t up to the task of being a mother to anyone, let alone you.” His gaze was fixed on his daughter. She had to understand that he had told her this to protect her. “I paid her to go away, to never try and contact either of us. She was free to live her own life as long as she kept her end of our deal, and she did.” Until now.
“And you never thought to tell us the truth, not even once we were adults?” If anything Daniel sounded unsurprised. Just like Hsu to force his will onto others.
Hsu was still looking at Danika. It was her reaction he was looking for. Her he wanted to believe him. But he answered Daniel’s question, not that his gaze moved. “If you want me to say this was some huge conspiracy and cover up on my behalf, you’d be disappointed. To be honest, after a few years, I forgot all about her, and it never crossed my mind to tell you.”
“Did Gran know? Aunt Faelyn? Who else knew?” Danika frowned at him.
“No.” Hsu shook his head. “Your grandmother was back at the North Star compound when it all happened. It was only when I returned there with you, I told her what happened to Daniel and that she was dead. Faelyn was in France, busy with her family, and I saw no need to involve her. Only MacDonald, Johnson, and Xiao knew.” He caught her slight roll of her eyes, of course they knew. “While I went hunting Horton, MacDonald and Johnson set her up with a new identity, a choice of place to live, and with access to enough money to keep her set up for at least a few lifetimes.” He shifted his attention to Liam who was sitting quietly. “Unless she’s already blown through it all, which is quite an achievement. Der Merwe, have Garnon send copies of the contract she signed, and the transfers to her account.” He drained his scotch and addressed Liam for the first time. “So, with that nest egg, together with the fact that I know you’re a professional footballer, it can’t be money you want. So, Maverick Campbell right? Has she got you to make contact with Danika and Daniel to get around the conditions of our agreement.
It took Liam a couple of attempts before he could speak. The twins held each of his hands and both gave him a reassuring squeeze. This was what he dreaded, and yet. “My-my mother’s dead, Mr. Grayson.” He forgot that Danika had mentioned the name Hsu currently used, and even that she had said his real name. There was a pause that lasted no more than a fraction of a second, and even then Liam rushed to fill it. “And...it’s...I go by Liam not Maverick.” It was then he realized he had just corrected the bogeyman and slammed his mouth shut.
He hadn’t said much, but Hsu found there was much to digest in what he had. “She’s dead. How convenient. So she died and then you decide to drag up the past and contact my children.” Grayson was a name he hadn’t gone by for a long time, since before Daniel had returned home, although he supposed it made sense for Justine not to have known that. The boy surely should have done his homework though. No, he was just fixed on finding the twins. “Your name is Maverick Campbell, correct? Why would I call you anything else?”
Liam felt his cheeks burn and hoped that it wasn’t too noticeable, but given his complexion and red hair it probably was very. “Err...legally it is, but I hate it so I go by my middle name name, Mr. Grayson. Liam, after my dad.” His heart pounded in his throat. “Mom died ten years ago, by an Immortal she had no hope against. She had a history of mental illness, depression, anxiety, and paranoia. She was terrified that either the Watchers or...or you would find her and kill her.” He looked at Dani and then Dan. “I think she’d be aghast that she’d been forgotten about, and that it’d be years later before you found out.”
Names were important to him, but even Hsu had to admit that Maverick was an ill-fitting one. So Justine Meyers had been dead ten years. Perhaps he should have been more interested in keeping tabs on her and so this child of hers? He quickly did the math in his head. Campbell was ten years younger than his own children. A time that had been of relative peace for them after dismantling the Watchers. He should have kept track. “And who exactly was your father in all of this?” Perhaps he was behind tracking Danika down for his own reasons.
“No one really. Just an ordinary man. He’s Scottish, and he was spending time in the US when he met Mom. They had me and were briefly married, but her mental issues got too much and he went back to Scotland. I grew up shuttled between the two of them, and there was a long, nasty custody battle, mostly because of Mom. At times, she thought Dad was working for you or a Watcher, even both.” Hsu raised a brow at that thought, and even the twins made incredulous sounds. “Anyway, once she died, I went to live with Dad and his wife and their kids. Twins as well, two girls.”
“And what’s your father’s full name? Where exactly does he live?” Van interjected, adding when he saw panic on the boy’s face. “Just to corroborate what you’re telling us.”
“William Campbell, but everyone calls him Will. He lives just outside of Paisley near Glasgow, and he owns a tour bus company.” With a reassuring nod from Dani, he furnished the exact address.
“So what made you look for my children now? How much did Justine tell you about them?”
“Why now? Mostly because I could. When Mom was alive she always wondered what Danika was like, what she might be doing. Stuff like that, but she was so scared of you that looking for her was out of the question. After, well I got busy settling in with Dad’s family and I made Celtic’s youth team, then turned pro. I thought about looking a few times, but I had so little to go on, and the whole being related to Immortals is kind of tough to explain to someone I could have hired. Then I found that magazine article.” He paused as Van handed a copy to Hsu. “I couldn’t be sure it was Dani. In fact, I knew it was a pretty long shot, but it was something. And I was going to be playing in Switzerland, so I thought why not check it out?
Hsu looked over the article, although Van had earlier sent him a digital copy. “So you went looking for Danika and not Daniel?”
Liam looked surprised. The answer was obvious to him. “Because I never knew Danny was alive. Mom always told me how those Watchers had ripped him from her and killed him.” He looked at his brother. “Sorry, but until I saw you doing that trapeze stuff, I thought you were dead.”
“I’m happy to have corrected you.” Dan managed a laugh, but it didn’t last long as it brought up another uncomfortable fact. For his father at least. “Well, it was thought I was dead for several years. But Dad learned that I was alive and he found me.” He looked at Hsu. “But for some reason you didn’t find it necessary to contact her and let her know? You know how hard that time was for me. Perhaps it would have gone a lot smoother with my mother in the picture?”
Hsu stopped himself from shrugging. Even if he felt the urge, such casual dismissiveness would only inflame matters. “No, I didn’t find it necessary. As I said, I wanted nothing more to do with her, and as unbalanced as she was then, together with what Campbell has told us about her mental state, I doubt she would have made any of our lives smoother. Besides, you’ve had your grandmother and Faelyn be there for you whenever you’ve needed a maternal influence.”
“It would have been nice to have the choice.” Danika replied as one of Hsu’s men quietly entered the room and whispered something in Van’s ear. He got up and relayed the message just as quietly to Hsu, who nodded as Dani continued. “It would have been nice to know she was alive, to meet our own mother even just once and make up our own minds whether we wanted her in our lives.”
She could always get through to him on some level, even if he still believed he had made the correct decision all those years ago. But only he knew of the extra pain she had thrown on his grief in the previous timeline. He could never forgive her for that, and it had only been the fact that she had birthed his beloved children that stayed his hand from killing her. “She gave up all rights to you, in return I set her up for life.”
“Paid her off, more like.” Daniel said.
“However, she agreed. And like any regular adoption, she had no legal right to contact you, and it was my decision whether to tell you or not. I thought it best not to. Van has..-”
Danika interrupted him. “You thought it was best to just tell us she was already dead.”
He looked at her, his gaze level. “Yes, I did.” The twins looked at each other. They were never going to get an apology, and as much as it hurt to hear, they knew their father was telling them the truth as he saw it. “As I was about to say, Van has just informed me that that Doctor Boucher has arrived to carry out the DNA test.” Doctor Boucher was a physician from Toulouse contracted by Hsu to treat ailments and injuries that his men incurred.
“Sir.” Liam found his voice again. “What will happen after?”
“After?” Hsu was surprised by the question. It should be obvious. “If the DNA proves that you are not related to my children, then you will be escorted from the premises and sent packing. You will not have any further contact with them.” Before he met the boy, he would have said Liam would face a much more permanent dismissal, but he admitted he seemed to believe it, even if he was mistaken.
“And if the DNA proves he is our brother?” Danika asked.
Perhaps it wasn’t as obvious as he thought. He really didn’t know what he would do yet. “If he is, then he will undergo the same rigorous vetting that any of my men go through, that your lovers have gone through.” Danika bit back a small smile. Not as rigorous as he thought in Diana’s case. “If he passes all that, then I will see.” All that would buy him some time to decide what to do.
The Doctor came in and in a few moments took blood and cheek swabs from both Daniel and Danika, labelling each sample carefully. He then took the same from Liam . He then set up his equipment at the same table that Van was working from. “Monsieur Harrison, this will take a while to get back the full results. You may continue your business until it is ready.”
“No, I’ll stay here and wait. So will Campbell. Danika, Daniel you may rejoin your lovers and assure them that I haven’t eaten this boy as a snack.” His attempt at dark humour fell flat, and after a quick glance at each other, Danika nodded.
“I’ll let them know how everything’s going, and I’ll be right back.”
After Danika left the room, it was quiet. Hsu and Van were head-to-head with Van doing most of the talking and Hsu mostly nodding. Daniel and Liam sat on the sectional, just waiting. After several minutes, Hsu stepped away from Van and looked at the younger man. “Van der Merwe’s preliminary investigations have corroborated your story, at least as far as you believe it. But it is only preliminary at this time in that we’ve confirmed that William Campbell is your father and lives where you told us. Once these results come through, and if they are positive, my men will look deeper. So, if there’s anything else you can think of that might affect my family, you should tell me now.”
Liam shook his head. For a second, he wondered if he should mention his mom’s friend,, Athenea, but she had warned him about getting involved with Hsu, so he just said. “I don’t think there is. I mean, I’m happy to go into more detail about Mom and when things happened, as best as I remember them. And do all the checks you want to. If you prove that I’m a liar or mistaken, I’ll happily disappear out of all your lives, but, Mr Grayson, if everything checks out, I’d like to get to know my half-siblings.” Dan nodded, very much supporting him.
The boy was saying all the right things, and unlike his alleged mother, appeared to be quite well-balanced and reasonable, but it was odd that in all his research as he hunted Danika that he should still address him by a name he hadn’t used in nearly thirty years. “One thing puzzles me, if you spent all this time looking for Danika, then why do you insist on calling me Grayson, a name I haven’t used since Danika was small?”
“It’s how Mom knew you. That or Haag. I was just focused on looking for Danika that it really didn’t occur to me to look for, er, you. Or that you would have a different name, and I didn’t come across one , so I figured you weren’t closely involved anymore.”
Hsu wasn’t convinced. “As you’ve learned, I’m still very much involved, and still I will do anything to protect both of them from any danger as I have done with the Watchers and others. And I’ll continue to do.” The threat was not subtle. “You should know that I haven’t used either Haag or Grayson since Danika was very young. Daniel and I both go by the same name, Daniel Harrison, and Danika has a slightly different one….”
It looked as if Daniel was about to say something, but he wasn’t beaten to it as his sister walked back in, catching the last words their father said, interrupting him casually, as if it were nothing. “I already told him, just as I told him our real names, including yours. I wouldn’t want to keep any secrets.” She matched his glare.
Not for the first time, Hsu wished she hadn’t inherited quite so much of his determination. “You should not have done that, not until I get the DNA results and then only if they prove his claim. You know it’s for security.”
“When the DNA test proves his claim…” Danika began.
“IF”
Danika just shifted her gaze to Liam, offering him a reassuring smile. “When it comes back and proves you’re our brother, we’ll tell you everything about us.” And at that, she could almost hear her father grinding his teeth to keep silent. Let him stew.
