Back into the Fold
Eliot hasn’t been home in years, not since leaving the military. He couldn’t face Adam. Not that Adam would have turned him away, but Eliot couldn’t bear his calm acceptance in the face of the things he’s done. Then he’d gone and made it even worse by joining Moreau. Now he’s free and clear and nothing’s changed.
Nothing, that is, until he opens his hotel room door one day and Adam is lounging in the chair in the corner of the room. Adam looks the same as the day they met. Adam looks almost the same age as him.
“Adam,” Eliot greets, shifting his stance to get ready for a threat though he knows the threat Adam provides isn’t physical. Adam’s far too good at manipulation to rely on physical threats.
“Eliot,” Adam says, not moving from his seat.
“Something I can do for you?” Eliot asks, moving cautiously into the room. He still keeps the bed between them.
“Tony’s graduating from the academy next week and Ben and Alec’s birthday’s next month,” Adam says.
“I know,” Eliot says.
Adam might be keeping track of him, but he’s been keeping track of them, too. He might have cut himself out of their lives, but that didn’t mean they weren’t still family. There’s a faint smile on his face, though, at the idea that Tony’s graduating from the academy. He’s always been the black sheep of the family, inclined as he was to going into law enforcement.
“Alright then,” Adam says easily, standing up. Eliot holds his ground even though all he wants to do is put space between them.
On his way out, Adam pats Eliot on the shoulder but Eliot doesn’t respond. When the door closes, Eliot spends a long moment staring at nothing. Finally, he sits on the edge of the bed, head hanging, and wonders how difficult it will be to book a flight under his alias and if the twins are still interested in chemistry, or at least the explosive side of it.