“I’ll leave you to it, Dani.” Sigurd had been quiet all through this. This was something the twins, and their new-found brother needed some time to talk over and find out about each other. “But if you need help dealing with your father, I’ll be right with you.” He grinned. “I’ll even let Lagertha know, and she can knock some sense into him.” Dani laughed, and he kissed her goodbye. “Catch up with you after I’ve hit the slopes for a while.”
Dan gave the Viking a bro-hug and a quiet word of thanks. He was still annoyed that Van was going above his head, but Dani was right. If Hsu found out that Van had not bothered to tell him, he would probably lose his job, at the very least. He shifted into Sigurd’s chair, making things less formal, and looked his brother over. “I still can’t believe this.” He gazed down at Justine’s photo. Perhaps because he had missed so many of his formative years with any parent, and his relationship with Hsu had always been rocky, he felt more of a connection with the mother he’d never known than Danika had, who had grown in a safe, secure environment. Or maybe it was because he resembled her a little more than Dani did. “Go on, tell me about her. Even if you’ve already told Dani.”
LIam took his phone back, and glanced with a sigh at his mother. Even after all this time, he still had very mixed feelings about her. “She was messed up. I don’t know if it was the Watchers, or your dad that did that, but she suffered from mental illness. When she and my dad split up, he moved back to Scotland and I spent a lot of my childhood flying across the Atlantic. Dad had custody of me for a while, but she got better, and I went back and lived with her. It wasn’t all bad. When she was well, she was a great mom, lot’s of fun, and she always put me first. When she wasn’t...I think her paranoia was the worst. She was terrified that your father would come after us. That my dad was working for him, spying on her. She constantly told me about both of you. Her pregnancy, and the short time she got to spend with Danika anyway.”
***
“Yeah, Van, what is it? A problem with the football star?” Theo was out at Val d’Isere with Hsu. The had got off to a later than planned start, and they were just getting their gear all together to head up the mountain.
“KInd of. Not in the way any of us thought, though.” Van knew he was doing what he had to, and he kept telling himself that Campbell didn’t matter, but now it came to telling the boss, he didn’t want to ruin this connection the twins had found with their mother. “Can I speak to the boss? It’s something he needs to know.” Andy’s name for Hsu had carried down through Theo and the rest of Hsu’s senior men.
There was a few moments of silence while -- Van guessed -- Theo was talking with Hsu, and then Hsu came on the line. “Yes.”
Van took a deep breath, and might have said a quick prayer, but who for he couldn’t really say. “Sir, Danika and I questioned Liam Campbell all last night, and it turns out that he’s....well, he’s....” This was harder than he thought, and he’d known this wasn’t going to be easy.
“Spit it out.” It wasn’t like any of his men, Van in particular, to stumble over words.
“Sir, it turns out that Campbell is Justine Meyers’ son, and that makes him Danika and Daniel’s half-brother. We’ve already done a basic DNA test here, and it’s 99% a match.” He said no more and just waited for the explosion on the other end.
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Date: 2018-03-18 12:18 am (UTC)Dan gave the Viking a bro-hug and a quiet word of thanks. He was still annoyed that Van was going above his head, but Dani was right. If Hsu found out that Van had not bothered to tell him, he would probably lose his job, at the very least. He shifted into Sigurd’s chair, making things less formal, and looked his brother over. “I still can’t believe this.” He gazed down at Justine’s photo. Perhaps because he had missed so many of his formative years with any parent, and his relationship with Hsu had always been rocky, he felt more of a connection with the mother he’d never known than Danika had, who had grown in a safe, secure environment. Or maybe it was because he resembled her a little more than Dani did. “Go on, tell me about her. Even if you’ve already told Dani.”
LIam took his phone back, and glanced with a sigh at his mother. Even after all this time, he still had very mixed feelings about her. “She was messed up. I don’t know if it was the Watchers, or your dad that did that, but she suffered from mental illness. When she and my dad split up, he moved back to Scotland and I spent a lot of my childhood flying across the Atlantic. Dad had custody of me for a while, but she got better, and I went back and lived with her. It wasn’t all bad. When she was well, she was a great mom, lot’s of fun, and she always put me first. When she wasn’t...I think her paranoia was the worst. She was terrified that your father would come after us. That my dad was working for him, spying on her. She constantly told me about both of you. Her pregnancy, and the short time she got to spend with Danika anyway.”
***
“Yeah, Van, what is it? A problem with the football star?” Theo was out at Val d’Isere with Hsu. The had got off to a later than planned start, and they were just getting their gear all together to head up the mountain.
“KInd of. Not in the way any of us thought, though.” Van knew he was doing what he had to, and he kept telling himself that Campbell didn’t matter, but now it came to telling the boss, he didn’t want to ruin this connection the twins had found with their mother. “Can I speak to the boss? It’s something he needs to know.” Andy’s name for Hsu had carried down through Theo and the rest of Hsu’s senior men.
There was a few moments of silence while -- Van guessed -- Theo was talking with Hsu, and then Hsu came on the line. “Yes.”
Van took a deep breath, and might have said a quick prayer, but who for he couldn’t really say. “Sir, Danika and I questioned Liam Campbell all last night, and it turns out that he’s....well, he’s....” This was harder than he thought, and he’d known this wasn’t going to be easy.
“Spit it out.” It wasn’t like any of his men, Van in particular, to stumble over words.
“Sir, it turns out that Campbell is Justine Meyers’ son, and that makes him Danika and Daniel’s half-brother. We’ve already done a basic DNA test here, and it’s 99% a match.” He said no more and just waited for the explosion on the other end.