Chapter Text
July 4th, 2017
“So, how does the story of the wolf brothers end?” Daniel Diaz asks his brother, staring over a horde of police cars at the U.S. side of the Mexican border.
Sean ponders this question for a while. They’ve both been on a massive journey up to this point- should they just give up? The whole thing is taking a massive toll on his mind.
If they give up, Daniel will be safe. But, how can they do that after all this time? All the shit they’ve been through, everything they’ve sacrificed, will have all been pointless. He thinks through everything they’ve done, how much stronger he’s become, how much stronger his brother has become. Sean knows that Daniel could kill them all in just a short flash, if he had to, but how can he make his brother do that?
Daniel’s already been through so much at just ten years old. It wouldn’t be fair to force him to go through more. Plus, how were they going to live in Mexico? Daniel doesn’t know much Spanish. And Puerto Lobos, well, there are a million different things that could have happened to it by now. It might not even be there anymore.
It’s just not who they are. They didn’t kill Lisbeth when she took advantage of Daniel. They let her go. They didn’t take advantage of the vigilantes being powerless in that cell. Sean could’ve asked Daniel to separate their necks from their bodies. But he didn’t. He walked right past them and moved on.
Even the police officers who came for them earlier were dispatched non-lethally. The only person the brothers killed was Officer Matthews, and that, that was an accident. One that Sean wishes he could go back and change, but he knows he can’t. His father is dead, and Sean and Daniel are both sitting in front of a fucking border station, considering the possibility of murdering dozens of police.
Sean knows Daniel could do it. Daniel knows he could do it. But they can’t. What would Esteban say?
So after a long thought, Sean decides, “I think their story ends right here,” he says as his voice cracks.
“Here?” Daniel asks, wiping his eyes. “But-but I could,” Daniel looks directly into Sean’s eyes, as if to say, ”I’m scared, big brother. Please make me feel better,” and then his face grows wearier, as he continues, “I get it. It’s not who we are.”
“Exactly,” Sean starts, trying to be strong for his little brother. “We’re not criminals. We’re just kids. And we still have time to choose what life we want to live. You’re my brother, and I love you.”
“I- I love you too, Sean,” Daniel says as he wraps his arms around Sean, treasuring every moment that he still has with his brother.
Daniel wraps his arms around Sean. “It’s gonna be alright,” Sean tells him, wishing he believed that himself. “Promise.”
“You promise?” Daniel asks. “For real, this time?” Daniel says as he holds Sean even closer.
Sean lowers himself down to look at his brother face to face, “I do,” He says. “We’re doing the right thing. Just, try and remember what I taught you. I mean, only the good shit,” Sean almost starts to laugh, but all that comes out is a cracked sob.
“I will,” Daniel says. “I swear,” Daniel’s arms are wrapped tightly around Sean, as he cries into him.
The brothers look at each other for one last time, taking in everything they can and making the most of the little time they have, and as they exit the car, with their hands up, police start to surround them.
“On your knees! I SAID ON YOUR KNEES, NOW!” One of the officers shouts, and they drop. They feel the sharp, scraggy rocks on the road dig into their knees. As the officers continue to close in, they lie down on the ground, with their hands behind their backs.
They look at each other, knowing they won’t see each other as free men again for a very long time. As the brothers are still treasuring each moment they have, the police lock Sean’s hands in tight handcuffs, and lift him up to his feet.
Agent Flores approaches him. “I’m sorry about all this,” She says, as she puts her hand on Sean’s shoulder. “We’re gonna look after your brother. That’s my word,” She says as Sean thinks, It better be. All he gives a shit about now is whether Daniel will be taken care of, whether he will be loved. He deserves to be loved.
A squad car drives up, and Sean feels a slow breeze of the car driving through, along with the smell of gasoline.“Okay, he’s ready,” Agent Flores says.
Daniel gets up. “Sean, no!” Agent Flores holds him back. “SEAN! COME BACK!” Daniel starts bawling, and writhes in Flores' arms. He just wants one more minute. One more hug. One more ”enano, I love you.”
“Daniel!” Sean yells back at him. “You’re not a little wolf anymore! Never forget who you are! Never!” And as Sean looks back, he realizes just how much his brother has grown. His maturity is showcased extensively under the burning, bright spotlight of the Arizona sun.
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“Ah-h-hh-h,” Daniel cries as he watches Sean be taken away. Sean said he wasn’t a little wolf anymore, and he knows that’s true, but he wishes it wasn’t. He wants to be a little wolf. To have everyone treat him like a puppy who needs to be protected, to get tucked in with hugs and kisses every night, and most of all, he wants to be that “little shit” again. That kid without a worry in the world. That kid who convinced his dad to leave the house just so Sean had to babysit him, and he got to spend more time with his brother. That kid who barged into Sean’s room sometimes just to give him a hug, despite how many of his friends he was on a video call with. That kid who still had a dad. That kid who still had a brother. A free one, anyway.
As Agent Flores leads him into a police car, Daniel looks down at his feet the whole way, bawling.
Soundtrack: I Won’t Ever Be Happy Again by Bright Eyes
Sean and Daniel both have long car rides ahead, yet their purposes are totally opposite. Sean’s driving into confinement, into a cage, a loss of freedom. Daniel’s driving into a normal life, to be a normal kid, to be happy again. But how can he be happy without Sean?
The driver takes Daniel’s car onto a different road then Sean’s, and Daniel stares out the back window, watching his brother get further and further away. The next time Daniel sees Sean, if he sees him again, will be, well, who knows what it will be? Supervised? Most likely. Short? Probably. Sean will be a husk of himself. And so will he.
The driver of Daniel’s car tells him he will be taken to his grandparents, and Agent Flores sits with him in the back seat, trying to make conversation. But he won’t talk. Daniel doesn’t care if he lost his voice. Who gives a shit? It’s not worth talking anyway. After a while, Flores just gives up.
A quick thought pulses through Daniel’s head. He could escape the car with his powers. Maybe he could rescue Sean. But his mind quickly dismisses this, Daniel knowing that it’s not who they are. And just remembering that conversation he had with Sean only a few minutes ago is enough to make him sob.
“A-hh-hhh-h,” Agent Flores tries to comfort him, but Daniel yells at her through tears. Why would he accept that from the woman who stole his brother’s freedom? But then again, she wasn’t the one who forced them on the run, that was Officer Matthews. Or, actually, it was Brett, right? Or . . . fuck, Daniel thinks. It was me. I spilled that blood on him. I started it.
Upon realizing this, Daniel can’t control his emotions. Which emotions, he isn’t sure. Sadness, anger, disgust, regret, every single possible negative feeling flows through him. He screams, startling Agent Flores, and pounds on the window of the squad car until Flores restrains him.
In that moment, he feels all the injustice of his life, that was bottled up for so long, start flooding out. He wants to use his power. He wants to crunch Flores neck into dust, and blow this fucking car into a million motherfucking pieces, but his mind nearly immediately dismisses this thought, making Daniel disgusted by himself. It’s not who we are, Daniel thinks, and starts bawling once again in the middle of that thought, as if a switch is hit every time he thinks of Sean.
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Sean thinks over his decision to give up. Did he make the right choice? He knows he did. He saved his brother. Saved him from danger, from police, from a life he didn’t want. And he would do it again, over and over, if he had to.
The driver of Sean’s car briefs him on all the procedures and what’s going to happen to him. He will be taken to a county jail(not the one he and Daniel destroyed), to await trial, and once his trial is over he will be taken to a juvenile detention facility until he is eighteen. The driver asks if he has any questions. He asks only one, “When will I get to see Daniel again?”
The response, a solemn, “I don’t know.”
Sean stares at the world around him, trying to take it all in. He wants to draw, but the constantly moving scenery doesn’t allow for that. He just stares, knowing this is likely his last view of the world as a free man, at least for a long time. Or maybe that was when he stared out at the border, before he decided to give up. Either way, it doesn’t matter to him. All that matters is that Daniel is safe. That he can be a normal kid again. Or at least as normal as possible with a dead dad, a mom and brother in jail, and having been through . . . all that.
Sean thinks back to the heist. The heist that Finn went behind his back to do. The heist where Daniel ended up with a fucking gun shot wound, all because Sean had to play the hero, and have Daniel use his power. He shouldn’t have. Finn was dumb, and although he didn’t deserve to die, Sean would much rather let him, if it meant Daniel would be unharmed. Who knows, maybe he would’ve kept his eye too.
Maybe Sean’s selflessness wasn’t such a good thing. No, Fuck that, it was. At least most of the time. And he knows for sure that this time it was. This time was fucking worth it. Sean doesn’t even care what happens to him in prison. At least Daniel’s safe.
Both brothers stare at the sky, thinking of one another. Sean is no longer tearing up, trying to look stronger to the officer in the squad car. Daniel is bawling. He keeps thinking of Sean, thinking of prison and how long his sentence might be. He doesn’t want to live without his brother. How can the wolf brothers be separated? It isn’t fair.
And the cars drive in different directions, Sean’s off through California, and Daniel’s up through Utah.
Who knows the next time the wolf brothers will meet . . .