Chapter Text

Chapter 1



I killed so you wouldn't have to





Fareeha's fingers drummed on the steering wheel as the radio blasted an old rock song. In between two head-bobbing which threatened to make the sunglasses over her head fall her gaze landed on the middle school's large glass doors, from which only a couple of kids had exited the building already. The bell had yet to ring, she knew, because even when she listened to the music as loud as she did she could still hear it. Only a few cars were parked in front of the school, as most students by now would take the bus to go home. But Fareeha thought it was stupid for her daughter to take the bus when she could come pick her up herself.



As the bell finally rang loudly enough to be heard a block away, Fareeha lowered the volume then shut the radio completely. She took the keys off the contact and walked out of the car. Once she was on the sidewalk, she leaned against her car and crossed her arms. An army of excited kids exited the building as the door flew open. She knew it always took Alya a few minutes to leave the building, usually because she was talking with the teacher, asking him extra questions. She was thorough like her mother when it came to working, maybe sometimes a bit too much.



Indeed, as the flow of students subsided, Alya pushed the door open, smiling and talking with her friends. She wasn't a tall kid for her age, but neither had Fareeha been. As Ana always said, Fareeha somehow managed to clone herself with her daughter. Their only noticeable difference and one of the few things she had inherited from Angela was her striking blue eyes. Alya's short black hair was tugged in a small ponytail for her P. E. class. She looked over to the street and Fareeha waved at her with a bright smile. She waved back but was quickly absorbed once again in her conversation with her friends. After a few more exchanges, all of the other girls went to the bus stop, while she headed toward her mother. Fareeha pushed herself off the car and almost instantly a heavy backpack fell in her arms. She weighed it with a huff, pretending that it was bothersome and almost hard to carry for her, while Alya opened the backseat door.



"What have you hidden in there? A body?"



"Only my schoolbooks. And Amanda handed me a few mangas."



Fareeha placed the bag in the trunk and went to her own seat. Once she was settled, she threw the sunglasses on the headboard and turned to look at her daughter. She seemed to be deep in her thoughts, and Fareeha couldn't help but notice how adorable she looked, as she made the same face as Angela's "reflexion face".



"So, ready for the weekend?"



Her question finally took the girl out of her thoughts. She seemed confused, and Fareeha reminded her:



"Grand-pa's coming over, remember?"



"Oh, you think he'll bring me that big dream-catcher I showed him?"



Fareeha shrugged.



"Maybe."



Fareeha turned back and turned the ignition on. The car trembled alive. Once her seatbelt was on, she maneuvered out of her spot and rolled away from the building. The radio had begun playing Fareeha's favorite classic rock songs, which Alya was so used to by now she didn't care anymore. She was deep in her thoughts again, which Fareeha found both normal, and intriguing. Like both of her mothers, Alya was a thinker. She took the time to plan everything and she usually thought very hard about things she shouldn't worry about. But she usually had more to say about school when Fareeha came to pick her up, without the need of being prompt.



"So, how was school?"



"Hum? Oh, it was okay. We had pizza had lunch. We played volleyball today, oh, and you remember that moved you showed me, about sliding on your knees to pick up the ball? I did it, like, five times, and we won!"



Fareeha smiled. It didn't take much for Alya to start talking, usually.



As Fareeha continued to listen to her daughter retelling her her day, she spotted the sign of their favorite smoothie bar.



"Did you know Ninja Fruit had a drive-in?" she asked.



Almost instantly Alya's gaze, unfocused on the road up until now, flew to the right, and the growing sign of her favorite smoothie bar.



"They have a drive?! Can we stop, please?"



Fareeha smiled.



"Well, it's fruits, so I guess your mommy won't be too mad."



"Why do you always have to tell her everything?"



"Because I don't keep secrets from the love of my life." Fareeha declared as she turned into the drive-in line.



"It's not a secret, it's just us going to drink smoothies."



After ordering and picking up their drinks, Fareeha made her way toward their house. She'd placed her own smoothie in the cup-holder, intending to wait until they were home safely to drink. Alya, however, was already drinking away, orange pulp plugging her straw. After she sucked up hard to clear the plastic tube, she stopped drinking altogether, once again pondering whether to ask the question she'd been holding for a while or stay quiet. When her mother stopped at a red light, she finally said:



"Have you ever killed someone?"



The car stalled, and Fareeha almost struggled to restart it.



"What... why would..."



Before Fareeha could find her words, someone honked behind her.



"It's green, mom."



It took a few more seconds for Fareeha to understand what was going on, but she finally drove off and turned left on their street. Alya waited silently, wondering if she'd offended her mom, if she'd been out of bound. She knew there were a few things she should never ask in her family. A big part of her mommy's work was a forbidden topic, and so was her mom's past job. But she'd seen some pictures, and her grandparents had shown her some too. She'd seen her moms in their fighting costumes, and their medals were hidden away in a drawer in their bedroom.



"This isn't really a conversation to have here..."



Alya was surprised to hear her mother's calm voice.



"Why?" Fareeha then asked as she parked her car in front of their garage.



Alya drummed nervously her fingers on the plastic cup as she answered:



"In History, we talked about the first Omnic Crisis, how the soldiers killed omnics like they weren't... people..."



Alya's voice weakened as she talked. Finally, Fareeha sighed and opened her door. Alya didn't dare to move. She heard the trunk being opened, then closed loudly. Finally, her door was opened, and Fareeha looked down at her, her expression blank and unreadable.



"Come on. A car's not a good place to talk about those things."





Alya patiently waited on the couch for her mother to come back. Fareeha had gone up, probably to fetch something. The girl was still holding her smoothie, nervously drinking from the straw from time to time, her fingers playing on the wet cup with much anticipation. Suddenly she heard her mother yelling, and from the sound of it, she was on the phone with her other mother.



"What am I suppose to do?! No, I can't... I can't do this without you! I won't... We can't just..."



Alya pursed her lips as the conversation unfolded. She was sure now that she'd made a mistake, and she shouldn't have asked. She should have continued to doubt, until she would have stumbled upon some kind of evidence, something which would have told her the truth.



"Alright... I'll wait, just..."



Fareeha lowered once again her voice, and Alya could no longer guess what they were talking about. She sucked on her straw and the gurgles of liquid passing loudly through the plastic tube accompanied Fareeha has she walked down the stairs. She sighed longly and sat lightly on the coffee table in front of her daughter.



"I'm sorry kiddo, but you'll have to wait for mommy to be home. She wants to be there to 'make sure I don't scar you.'"



Alya huffed and crossed her arms.



"Seriously! I can take it!"



"Well, your mommy doesn't think so, and I agree. There are things you don't need to know. Not now."



"What? But what happened to not keeping secrets from the love of your life?!"



Fareeha sighed once again.



"I'm sorry, but, your mom's afraid... and so am I..."



Alya stood up suddenly and crashed loudly her plastic cup on the table next to her mother.



"Afraid of what?!"



Fareeha looked up at her with fear in her eyes, which shocked Alya. She'd never seen her mother afraid, or sad, only strong and determined, and usually smiling. She was almost tempted to run without even waiting for an answer, but Fareeha gave her one:



"Afraid of what you would think of us once you'll know..."



She didn't need to say more. Alya, slacked-jaw, blinked in surprise. It suddenly hit her that maybe her moms had done terrible things, things they regretted, or maybe they didn't. She didn't need to know the answer to her question, because she already knew it.



Without wasting another second, she threw herself into her mother's arms, holding her as tightly as she could. Instantly, Fareeha began to cry. She hadn't realized she was about to until tears were rolling down her cheeks. Once the initial shock was passed, she hugged her daughter back, almost smothering her in a bear hug.



"I'm sorry," Alya whispered.



"Of what?" Fareeha sobbed.



"You're right... I don't need to know..."



They hugged for a good five minutes before Fareeha finally felt that she could let go of her daughter. Her eyes were still teary but she didn't care. She passed her hand through her daughter's hair, pushing a lock behind her ear.



"I promise, one day I'll tell you."



Alya only nodded.





When Angela came back, half an hour later, quite bothered that she had to leave the hospital early to prevent her wife from taking all of their skeletons out of their closet, she found Fareeha and Alya hugging on the couch, two empty plastic cups on the coffee table in front of them. As soon as she noticed her, Alya jumped to her feet and rushed to hug her like she hadn't done since she was five. Angela was surprised at first, but like Fareeha she returned the hug almost automatically.



"What... what is going on?" she asked.



"Crisis averted." Fareeha declared simply with a smile.