People and Places Unknown

Harper sat on the edge of the kitchen counter kicking his legs back and forth while he waited for the kettle to boil so that he could have some of the tea Orion had brought him. "I didn't hallucinate him, Ry. I've had enough hallucinations to know that he wasn’t one."

"All hallucinations are different." Orion had been pretending to look for a mug for a full minute now, despite the fact that there were several right in front of him in the cabinet he was looking through.

"Are you trying to keep this on the down low because he's young? I mean, he looked a bit under eighteen. I was out risking my life when I was fourteen, though, so I'm hardly going to pass judgement about that."

Orion sighed. "Drop it, Harper."

"He was cute. You should introduce me." Though the boy had been cute enough from the slightly blurred glimpse Harper had got of him, Harper was mostly interested in Orion's reaction. Orion was not, typically, homophobic.

Orion abandoned his feigned search for mugs and rounded on Harper, his eyes narrowed into a glare. "You know, I would expect you to be more grateful considering I saved your life. I did exactly what I needed to, nothing more and nothing less. Don't make me regret it."

Harper leant away from Orion, startled by his response. Anger was not a common emotion for Orion, especially not directed at his own team. Typically Orion was calm, patient, and almost fatherly towards Harper. Someone else had definitely been in that room yesterday afternoon. Someone Orion cared about a great deal.

Harper nodded stiffly as the kettle beeped. Orion turned back to the cabinet and, this time, found a mug instantly. They were both silent as Orion added the ground tea leaves to the bottom of the mug and poured boiling water on top of them. He stirred the tea into the water and then handed the mug to Harper. "You don't strain it. You can add sugar if you like, but not milk."

"Thanks," Harper murmured.

Orion nodded curtly and headed for the kitchen door.

"I won't tell anyone," Harper said. "About what I saw. Or didn't see."

Orion paused in the doorway, and then turned back around to face Harper. "Tell Arlyn I went home. I'm taking the rest of the day off."

"Sure, no problem. See you tomorrow?"

Orion forced a smile. "Yes. Tomorrow. Drink your tea and then go back to bed."

After Orion had left the room, Harper took a sip of his tea and grimaced. Sugar it was.

#

It was just past nine in the morning and, as they often did, the team was watching Wake Up Call, a strong contender for the most obnoxious talk show in existence. None of them gained the slightest bit of pleasure from the experience, but they needed to keep up with what was going on with the more extreme side of the political spectrum. Especially since the nutjob corner seemed to be gaining more control recently.

Spooks padded along the back of the sofa, jumped down onto Harper's lap and, with a yawn, stretched out. Harper stroked a hand down the soft fur of Spooks’ back, a motion that soothed both of them.

“We’ve made some great progress with things like vampire control lately,” said the show’s host, Susan Garner.

Arlyn, his muscular arms folded firmly across his chest as he watched the show from his favourite armchair, scoffed. “Progress. Right.”

Spooks rolled onto his back under the guise of seeking belly rubs, but Harper knew he just wanted to see Harper’s face. Getting a concerned look from a cat, were or not, was enough to make Harper roll his eyes. He didn’t miss the flick of Orion’s eyes in his direction, either.

It annoyed him how every single time vampires came up someone was always there to show their concern. Whether the job required violence or diplomacy, someone — almost invariably Spooks or Orion — would be there to ask him if he was okay, if he wanted to sit this one out. He much preferred Arlyn’s attitude, a simple expectation that Harper would do his job or seek help if he needed it.

Kate didn’t give him that bullshit, either. Perhaps, being his older cousin and the one who had brought him into all this, she should have been the one most concerned about looking out for his emotional wellbeing. Harper was glad she wasn’t. They couldn’t have worked together as closely as they did if she’d treated him like a vulnerable kid.

Kate twisted around restlessly on the sofa next to Harper, inadvertently kicking him in the ribs. If she could have avoided this morning ritual and gotten a summary from someone later, she would have, but Arlyn had been getting more and more grumpy about her minimal interest in politics lately. As humans, these issues were less likely to directly affect Kate and Harper, but that wasn’t why politics bored her. She would simply rather be taking action and let someone else deal with all the particulars.

When Harper’s attention returned to the TV show, he found the topic had changed.

"We have a lot of young wizards under our care and that's great, but we're seeing more and more that that isn't enough," said Alan Medina, a man who liked to have the title 'Doctor' affixed to the front of his name but who didn't have a doctorate. "They turn eighteen, they leave government facilities, and then they're free to be exposed to all kinds of corruption from older wizards."

Susan Garner was nodding sympathetically. "What do you suggest, Doctor?"

"Well, two things. I think you and I would agree that the safety of our communities, our families, is more important than the freedoms of a few. Those who are willing and able to make themselves useful in government jobs should definitely be permitted to do so under controlled conditions. For those who can't, or won't, well, what need do they have to be using magic at all? If they're not helping their communities with their magic, they're only endangering them."

Susan Garner nodded more emphatically. "Absolutely, Doctor. This is something we've talked about a lot lately, how we can ensure the safety of normal everyday citizens with all these supernatural threats around us. How would you advise we go about implementing greater controls?"

"Well of course we already have mandatory registration and tracking of wizard movement, which is a good start. We know where those willing to abide by our laws are. With the aid of the young wizards in our facilities and those adults we have incarcerated, we've come up with a drug which, when administered, can suppress magical abilities."

"Oh, excellent, admit to using children in your drug trials on national TV," Arlyn said over the top of the host's response. "That's lovely."

"Absolutely, Susan," Alan Medina said in response to whatever the host had said. "So we can have these simple laws. Help the community through government jobs, accept a shot of this magic suppressing medication once a month or, if you're not the law abiding type, say goodbye to your freedom."

Orion had stayed silent throughout, a sure sign that he wasn't just annoyed — he was worried. Harper glanced over at him and saw his mouth set in a firm line, his fingernails digging into the fake leather of the armchair. Orion always seemed to be able to tell the difference between extremist nonsense and genuine threats. Lately, the bridge between the two had been shrinking.

As soon as the closing credits began to scroll down the screen over the top of the smiling host and her guest, Orion stood, his posture stiff. "Harper, can we speak in your room for a minute, please?"

It wasn't so much a question as a politely worded command. Harper nodded and prodded Spooks off his lap. His mind ticked over as he followed Orion out of the room.

It was clear that the show had bothered Orion, but why was it Harper he wanted to talk to? Surely Arlyn or Spooks, closer to his own age, would be more natural choices. They were who Orion normally went to when he needed to have a serious conversation about something. Kate was really the only one who would be a less likely choice, and only then because neither politics nor empathy were her strong points.

Harper's frown deepened when, as soon as they were in his bedroom with the door shut, he felt the brush of magic over his skin as Orion threw up a spell against eavesdroppers. Whatever he was about to say was truly for Harper's ears only.

Harper's room wasn't really big enough to pace across so, after a few moments of anxious movement, Orion sat on the bed. The tension in the room had put Harper on high alert and he would have prefered to stay standing, but being above Orion made him uncomfortable. Hesitantly, he sat down next to Orion.

"His name's Daniel," Orion said, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Who-"

"My son. The boy you saw. You were right, he was very real."

The brief, blurred glimpse of the boy — Daniel — bubbled up in Harper's mind. Short black hair, maybe a couple of years younger than Harper. "This seems like the kind of thing you might have mentioned at some point."

"He's a wizard," Orion said, his voice still quiet but gaining strength. "Very good for his age. I couldn't have saved you without him. But, Harper, a wizard — sixteen years old, still underage. If that information had gotten out..."

"He would have been taken away, I know. But it's us. You really think any of us would report you?"

"Of course not," Orion said, his voice firm. "Not willingly, but there's always a chance of one of you being taken in, and you never know with some of these interrogation methods. He's my son. It wasn't a risk I could take."

"But you're telling me now because..."

"Because, as you may have noticed, there could be threats to me. I'm a registered wizard, they know where I live. If something happens to me, if I get taken away... I want to make sure Daniel has someone he can call, someone who will know who he is. You're the natural choice — human, with no criminal record like Kate, so you're less likely to ever be interrogated. You've already seen him, and he would likely be most comfortable around you as you're of similar ages. If he needs you, can you promise me you will be there for him in whatever capacity he requires?"

"Of course."

A fragile smile quirked the edges of Orion's lips and he nodded. "Of course."

"He doesn't look much like you."

Orion reached up and ran his fingers over his own blond hair where it curled around his ear, the most obvious difference between the two. "His mother was a quarter Korean. Or is, probably. I haven't seen her since Daniel was six, but I have no reason to believe she isn't alive."

"She left him?"

"Well, when he turned out to be a wizard... it complicates things. I'll be honest, I didn't want her to have him at all. She's human, so the chances of him turning out to have magic were only at twenty five percent, but if it had been up to me I wouldn't have risked it with the current political climate being as it is. But it was her body, her decision, so she had him.

"We cut ties, left my name off his birth certificate, and I didn't hear from them again until Daniel was six. He'd been tested before entering school and though the results hadn't come back yet, his mother knew. I don't know how, really. I didn't see any signs of magic from him for another few years. Mother's intuition perhaps, or maybe she was just afraid and happened to be right. She decided against staying hidden away in my apartment with Daniel, for which I can't say I blame her, and left."

"And your kid, Daniel, he's just been up there, hidden away, since he was six? For ten years?" Harper asked.

Orion made a face and glanced away. "It's not ideal, I know. I worry sometimes that I haven't done what's best for him, but at least he's safe."

"Sorry I said he was cute. I just wanted to see your reaction, try to figure out what you were hiding."

The smile Orion gave Harper reached his eyes. "I knew that, and I reacted anyway. Ridiculous, really. He's sixteen. He doesn't need me to be offended on his behalf by the slightest hint of sexuality being waved in his direction. It can be easy to forget that he's not a child anymore when I've kept him so sheltered."

"I think that's how all parents feel. Probably. I don't know, I don't have kids."

Orion thumped a hand on Harper's back, a display of physical affection that was unusual for him. "This is going to sound awful, and I really do admire and respect you, but I don't want him to grow up to be like you. You've triumph over your challenges to become an amazing young man, but Daniel... I'd prefer he not find his greatness in pain."

"That won't happen. If it comes down to it I swear, the gun will be in my hand."

Orion sighed. "I just hope that won't have to be literal."