Reunion, PG, Empire Records/CSI NY Title Reunion Characters Joe, Mac, AJ Rating PG Prompt #36 Meeting the Family (50 Episodes) Summary Joe has some surprise visitors. UniverseHuminal
Joe was just getting ready for bed when he heard a knock at the door. Not the door to the club, which he'd locked an hour earlier when they had closed, but the door to his private residence. He cautiously peered through the spy hole, wondering who could be there at such an early hour, and nearly fainted when he saw Mac standing there. He hadn't spoken to his brother in years and Mac didn't even live in the city, choosing instead to make his home on the savannah to the west. But there he was, large as life, and looking like hell. He kept glancing over his shoulder nervously, like he was watching for anyone following him and Joe growled softly.
Typical, no word for years and then when he's in trouble he turns up and expects Joe to let him in, never mind that huminals were still only tolerated by the humans in the city and any hint of trouble could get the club closed down and his license taken away. He was about to open the door and give him a piece of his mind when something else caught his eye. A gust of wind caught Mac's cloak for a second and lifted it, revealing a young hawk of some kind, clinging to him and shivering in the cold night air. His wings were wrapped around him for warmth and Joe was struck by the way the light glinted off his golden eyes.
Pulling the door open he gestured to Mac. “Get inside before you both freeze to death.” Once they were both inside he shut the door and locked it again. “Who's hunting you?” he snarled.
“Hello, Mac,” his brother drawled. “How are you? It's been a while. Not big on small talk are you, little brother?”
Joe growled back at him. “Hello is over rated. I don't care how you are and we both know how long it's been. Now tell me who you're running from. I don't need your trouble here.”
A soft whimper made him look down and he saw the hawk pressed against Mac, looking up at him out of large frightened eyes. Joe softened and knelt down in front of him.
“Hey, kid, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you. Why don't we go and see what we can find that's still warm for you to eat?” He looked up again. “You look like you've missed a few meals yourself, Mac.”
“We had to travel light,” Mac said. “AJ was rescued from a slave caravan and they were tracking us nearly all the way here. We only lost them once we got inside the city walls. I was hoping you would be able to find him somewhere safe to stay. You're the only person in the city I trust with him.”
Joe shivered at the mention of slavers, no longer seeing the hallway of his home, but instead a dirty alleyway, ten years earlier. Joe, Mac, and Madison, their sister, had spent a lot of their childhood playing in the streets of the city. Their parents had moved into the city from the plains and the children had had almost free rein as long as they were back in time for meals. Prejudice against huminals was even stronger back then and they both had to work long hours to make ends meet so they trusted Mac to look after Joe and Maddie.
One day they'd been playing hide and seek together when Maddie had let out a terrified yelp. Joe immediately tried to run towards her and help her but Mac pounced on him and held him down, putting a hand over his muzzle to keep him quiet. They watched from behind a haphazard stack of crates as four slavers stuffed her into a cage on the back of a truck and drove off. Joe had struggled to get free and try to help her but Mac had been bigger and stronger and wouldn't let him up.
Eventually Joe sank his teeth into Mac's hand and wriggled free but it was too late and the truck had gone. From that day he'd barely spoken to Mac and their previous close friendship had dissolved into almost nothing.
“Since when do you care about slavers?” he snarled, looking up at Mac from where he was crouched in front of the hawk. “You don't want to get involved, remember?”
“Joe, please...” Mac said softly, flinching at the harsh words. “I was trying to protect you. You were just a cub and I wasn't much more. We couldn't have helped her.”
“We could have tried,” Joe insisted, knowing deep down that Mac spoke the truth. He just didn't want to admit it. He wanted to blame someone for Maddie's disappearance and since he'd never found out who had taken her, Mac was the only one that he could blame.
Before things could deteriorate into yet another drawn out fight, Joe was knocked to the floor by a furious ball of feathers. He grabbed the young hawk carefully, trying to avoid the tiny fists that were pummelling.
“Don't be mean to him,” the boy shouted. “He rescued me from the bad men.”
Joe gently tried to peel the tearful hawk off of him. “Hey, kid, enough. Calm down.”
Golden eyes glared up at Joe. “He attacked the bad men and made them go away. Then his friends unlocked all the cages and let us out. They gave us food and clothing and he looked after me. You can't be mean to him.”
Joe held the young boy at length, looking up at his brother with the eyes of an adult for the first time instead of those of a distraught cub, grieving the loss of his sister. “You're with the resistance?” he asked in shock. “Why didn't you tell me?”
“When could I have told you?” Mac asked sadly. “When did we last talk, let alone talk face to face?”
Joe looked down at the floor again. “I'm sorry,” he said quietly, only the fact that Mac's hearing was that of a jackal letting him hear Joe's words. “I was wrong to blame you. Can we talk now? Really talk?” He looked at the young hawk. “After we get this little one something to eat and find him somewhere to sleep?”
Mac smiled slowly, some of the tension easing from around his eyes. “I'd like that, Joe. I've missed you.”
Joe flushed slightly, glad his fur would cover it. Even though it had been five years since he'd lived with anyone, he still missed being part of a pack. His parents were dead, Maddie was gone, and he'd driven Mac away. He knew Mac had a whole new life now out on the savannah, a new life he knew nothing about, but he still wanted him back, if not physically, then at least emotionally.
Not saying anything else, he ushered Mac and the young hawk into the kitchen, heating some soup up for both of them and cutting generous chunks of fresh bread as well. The two of them tucked in eagerly, confirming Joe's suspicion that they'd missed too many meals recently.
As the hawk concentrated on his food, Mac and Joe talked softly. AJ, the hawk, was seven years old. When Mac and his friends had released all the slaves from the caravan they had attacked, most of them had planned to find new lives out in the country somewhere, but AJ had been all alone. No one could find out what had happened to his family so Mac took responsibility for him; but Mac's life was too unstable for a small child, so he'd come to the city where one more child wouldn't be noticed and to the only person he really trusted with AJ's safety.
Joe was touched that after everything that had happened between them, Mac had had no doubts that he would help the child and not blame him for the things that Mac had done. Joe watched him carefully. It had only been five years since Joe had seen him last but he looked much older than he had then; his new life was obviously taking its toll on him. He thought back on the harsh words he'd thrown at him in the years after Maddie's disappearance. It had hurt so much to lose his littermate, but it had hurt just as much to lose Mac, even though they didn't share the same blood. Adopted or not, Mac had been his big brother and right now his loss hurt even more than Maddie's because Joe was having to acknowledge that he was to blame for the end of their closeness. As a child it had made sense to blame Mac, but as an adult he had stubbornly clung to that belief even when it should have been obvious how unfair he was being.
He looked up when he realised AJ was no longer moving and shared a smile with Mac at the sight before them. The exhausted young hawk had fallen asleep at the table, his spoon still clutched in his hand. Mac carefully took the spoon away from him and Joe picked him up gently. Between them they got him into the spare bedroom and undressed him without waking him up. They had some trouble finding him something to sleep in but Joe sacrificed one of his old tunics and they cut holes in the back of it for AJ's wings.
Sneaking out of the room so as not to disturb the exhausted hawk, Joe left the door open so they would hear him if he woke up and didn't know where he was. They went back into the main living area and just looked at each other for a moment.
Joe curled up in one corner of the couch and gestured for Mac to join him. Instead of relaxing like Joe, Mac sat stiffly at the opposite end of the couch, watching him warily. Joe hurt for him and for the pain he had inflicted on his brother over the years.
“Can we talk, Mac?” he asked. “I want to try and patch things up. I'm sorry it took me so many years to realise what an ass I was being. You know how stubborn I am.” He looked Mac in the eye. “I'm sorry for how I treated you. Losing Maddie wasn't your fault. You did the right thing by stopping me; I should never have taken it out on you.”
“It hurt,” Mac said softly. “I know she wasn't my littermate but she was my sister no matter whether we shared parents or not. I lost her and then I lost you too. I was trying to keep you safe. Watching her being taken and not trying to stop it was the hardest thing I've ever done and then you blamed me for it.” He looked down. “I loved her as much as you did, Joe.”
Joe flinched. Mac hadn't deserved to be treated that way. “I'm so sorry, Mac. Can you forgive me?” he asked. “I want you back. I want to try and fix our friendship if you'll let me.”
Mac hesitated and then smiled at him and Joe realised Mac had just been waiting for him to grow up enough to offer him a chance. They both moved at the same time, grabbing each other in a tight hug. Joe wriggled around so he was leaning back against Mac's chest and closed his eyes, revelling in the feeling of having his brother close to him again.
They talked until the sun was coming up; about the past, but also about their present and their futures. Mac told Joe everything about his group of resistance fighters and Joe told Mac about the club and how the business was really taking off. By morning they were well on the way to repairing their friendship and they were already making plans for Mac to visit again and for Joe to come out and see his home on the savannah some time later in the year.
Mac stayed for another week and a half, reconnecting with Joe and rebuilding the bond that had been broken when Maddie had been taken. By the time he was ready to leave, AJ was comfortable with Joe and not too anxious at the idea of Mac going home without him. Mac swore he'd be back soon to see him and Joe in the near future. The original idea of Joe finding a new home with someone else for the young hawk had been discarded by the second day. He had wormed his way into Joe's heart and there was no way Joe was going to let him go to some stranger. Instead they were making plans to redecorate his room and find a tutor for him. In the space of only a few days, Joe had gone from being a slightly lonely, single wolf to reuniting with what was left of his pack and starting a new one. He hugged AJ close and they both watched from the roof, waving, as Mac disappeared into the crowds and headed home, but this time Joe was sure he'd be back.