Chapter Text
He wasn’t sure why he’d agreed to it. Holly had been curious about her uncles, Holland couldn’t even remember their names before this. They were fuzzy in his memories at best, like he’d have been able to remember their names.
Holland exhaled slowly, smoke blowing out of his nose.
“Sooo… Do you remember your mom and dad? The ones who had you?” Holly tilted her head, resting it on his shoulder. He glanced down at her, humming in distant thought.
“I remember my mom. A little.” Short, to the point.
Holland didn’t like talking about his family, at least his biological one, what he could remember wasn’t pleasant. He’d also seen the case files a handful of times when he needed information about himself.
The picture it painted was not one he wanted to expose Holly to.
He and his baby girl sat in front of a cafe’s window, feet facing the street. It was chillier in San Francisco than Holland would’ve thought, but nothing his business casual attire couldn’t handle. A bright, slightly faded blue blazer with an indigo tie, and navy blue pants. Didn’t really match… All the way, but he was dressed.
“Do you remember what she was like?”
“She was nice. I don’t think she was from America, she had a funky name. At least, her parents might not have been from America.”
His adoptive family was great to him. ‘Reach for the stars!’ they would say. Significantly better than a trip to the hospital for simply disagreeing with someone.
Holland and Holly had been sitting here for at least 15 minutes. One of his brothers lived in the area, but didn’t have a great way to meet up… So, it was decided over shitty texting that they’d come to San Francisco instead of somewhere in the middle.
Plus, another one was flying in.
“...Welp, I don’t think this guy is showing up.”
“We can wait a little longer!”
“Holly,” Holland sighed slowly. He only had one pack after he was finished with this cigarette. Still so curious about the blood family she had, that’s why he was doing this. Right? Just for Holly.
That’s why he took that stupid DNA test. Thing costed a pretty penny just to tell him who came from the same woman as him. Three brothers, one deceased. He hadn’t felt… Much when he saw that. Holland didn’t really know the guy, but it did suck.
He hadn’t told Holly. Or the twins.
Oh, yeah. That’s right, the two remaining ones were twins. So, he got in the works on contacting them, very brief and no details about himself were given, then set up some little get together. He also hadn’t mentioned Holly.
He was really bad at this kinda thing.
“Okay. 10 more minutes. If someone doesn’t show up, we’re going somewhere fancy to eat. You can pick!” Holland glanced around, there were several joints that looked great right now. Burgers sounded nice right now…
Just as he was thinking about how nice a greasy burger would be, some… Guy bolted right past them. A creamy jacket with some pattern in the front, maybe orange? He slid up to the door, before he froze up. His glasses were just on the tip of his nose, looking over the frames to see in through the door.
Holland felt a spike of coolness hit his stomach.
This guy looked just like him.
Of course, that wasn’t possible. There were some differences, but…
“Sir?” Holly cleared her throat, standing up. Holland did a double take, what was she doing? The man glanced at the two of them, before doing his own double take.
“Holly–”
“Hi! Are you looking for your brother?”
“Yes, i…” He trailed off, eyes lingering on Holly, then darting to Holland. He turned more to face them, taking a few steps closer.
Holland could get a better look at the guy’s outfit. A creamy knit… Sweater jacket? Was it a cardigan? It was probably a cardigan. It had foxes on the front, mirrored. His hair was a bit longer, messy and wild but not in a dirty way. More like he just hadn’t had the time to run a brush through it.
Did his shirt have an atom on it? Was that a joke under it?
“Holland…?”
“Wild stab here, are you Ryland?” Holland felt a certain something slither down his spine. This felt like a bad idea, but what more could he do? He was here. Ryland was here. Holly was–
“You are my uncle!”
“UNCLE?”
Ryland was caught off guard.
“Hm… Yesh. Yea. I forgot to mention you, Holly.” Holland laughed, before nodding slowly. Ryland looked between Holly and Holland again, before he hummed softly. The young girl scoffed, crossing her arms and glaring at her father.
“You have a child? That's, whoa!”
Ryland was doing the math for a few seconds, before nodding slowly. Holland quirked a brow.
“I wasn’t. I wasn’t expecting that. Uhm… Hi, I’m Ryland Grace.” He offered a hand, using his other to push his glasses back up his nose.
“Well, yeah. I know. I contacted you first. Holland March.” Holland smirked faintly, shaking Ryland’s hand. His handshake wasn’t as firm as he’d thought it’d be. He also broke the handshake off a bit early. His eyes lingered on that odd, faded text tattoo on his hand.
Oh, that.
“And you are?”
“...Holly.”
“Holly, baby, please don’t pout,”
“You didn’t tell him about me! That’s the one thing I asked you to do!” Holly raised her voice slightly, not even looking at Holland. A person or two glanced over at them, Jesus. Already grabbing unwanted attention and eyes they didn’t need on them.
“Okay okay, my bad, please don’t draw attention to yourself here.”
Ryland couldn’t help the look he gave Holland. He cleared his throat, before turning more to Holly.
“It’s nice to meet you, Holly! You can just call me Ryland, you don’t have to call me uncle or anything.”
“Uh, hi, Uncle Ryland,” Holly’s voice lightened, and she gave him a sweet smile. Ryland couldn’t hide his grin.
With a little small talk, Holland’s pestering, and Ryland's reminder to get rid of that cigarette, they went inside.
It was warmer, and brighter inside.
There were plants in a few corners of the cafe, and cat themed posters. And Cat themed pillows. And a cat themed rug. It was Holland’s turn to give a weird look. This was quite the place! But as long as there was good coffee, he didn’t really care.
Holly walked up to a booth, taking a seat. instinctively, Holland took the seat next to her. Ryland, of course, sat across from them.
“Is this place good?”
“I think it’s good, they have nice cookies and good tea.”
Holly grabbed a menu, sliding it over to her father who perked up at it. He grabbed it, and started looking through it without saying anything.
“So what do you do?” She asked, resting her elbow on the table to lean her cheek against her palm. The oldest at the table blinked rapidly, noting exactly… How Holly and Ryland interacted. It was interesting.
“I’m a middle school science teacher!”
“I see, okay! Is that why you’re wearing that?”
“Oh, no. This is just… My casual wear.”
Holly couldn’t suppress a giggle, but covered her mouth and looked away. It was an interesting thing to wear! She couldn’t help it. Ryland chuckled, before tilting his head to the side slightly.
“How old are you, Holly?”
“I’m 13, but I’ll be turning 14 soon!”
“Ohh, that’s cool! Uh…” Ryland hesitated, before shifting his gaze to his baby brother. He tapped on the Menu, before pushing it down just slightly. Holland hummed, looking up at him. He glanced at Holly, then Ryland again.
“How are you guys? I hope the trip over wasn’t horrible.”
Small talk.
“It was fine. We should be good, if we can get some food real soon…” Holland trailed off, looking back over the menu for a few seconds. Holly elbowed her father, right in a tender spot, before looking back to her new uncle and smiling.
She’d gotten him right where a nasty bruise was, from his latest job.
Holland let out a noise, dropping the menu and quickly rubbing his arm.
“FUck! Holly, why–”
“UH!” Ryland pointed at his brother, cutting him off. He looked at Holly, then Holland.
“Langauge?”
“....hmmmmnnffff.”
“Oh, he talks like that a lot, I’m used to it!”
Ryland, to say the least, was not impressed. He dropped his hand, eyes narrowed. Cursing in front of a child wasn’t the worst thing, but it was preferable that people didn't.
“Did you have to hit right there?” Holland whined, shouldering his blazer off to peek at the bruise. It was still ugly in color, splotches of purple with yellow and green hues surrounding it. He frowned, before pulling his neat blazer back over his arm.
Ryland saw a little bit of it. Something flashed over his face for a moment, concern mixed with… Maybe fear? It was hard to tell.
“Are you okay?”
“Mh’ fine. Job business….”
“Job… Business? Uh, what is it you do? You didn’t say anything over the phone, so–”
“PI. I’m a PI.” His voice shifted to a whisper, before he went back over the menu. Holland was in the mood for some coffee, maybe even a donut. Ryland’s eyes widened just slightly, he was wordless for a couple seconds.
“A bad one.”
“H–” “—A really bad one!—” “–ey. Okay.”
Holland glanced at Holly, before moving the Menu to bap her forehead and cover her face.
“Don’t listen to her.”
“I.. Alright.”
There was a silence that settled over the table, Ryland wouldn’t say it was comfortable, but… It wasn’t unwelcome.
“So, uh, what do you do?”
“I–” “He said he was a teacher!” Holly cut into Ryland's sentence, before going quiet again. Holland hummed with a slow nod of his head.
“Teacher? That's… cool. What about the PHD?”
“Well, Wait. The what.”
Ryland tilted his head slightly, eyes narrowing. Holland nodded slowly, sliding his tongue along his teeth. How has he not been caught abusing the power that came with his job?
“I uh…” He trailed off, before leaning across the table.
“I read a little bit about you. I had to figure out if you were a…”
His eyes shifted from Ryland to Holly.
“Good guy.” It was vague as hell, but Ryland seemed to understand in a few seconds. He nodded slowly, before patting the table in a hard to place rhythm. So, is that what Holly had meant by bad?
“Well, It was just, it’s a part of my life that doesn’t matter right now. It’s not why we’re here,” He was doing everything in his power to NOT answer the question. Holland could only stare, no wonder he was a middle school teacher.
“Just—Okay. Do you know when Colt and Courtland are getting here? Or… Is Court even out? Jeez, I haven’t stopped to think about that yet, is he?”
He sounded so hopeful.
“Courtland. Yeah, uh…”
A sinking feeling settled in Holland’s stomach. He thought it would be easier, it never really mattered when he needed to break the news before. That was part of his job. This wasn’t any different, right?
He took in a breath, before shoving a hand in his pocket and fiddling with his last pack.
“Courtland’s dead.”
There was no immediate response. At least, verbally, there was no immediate response.
Ryland sat still, hands resting on the table. His mouth opened, but closed rather quickly as he had nothing to say. Holly pushed the Menu away, before looking between the adults seated with her. Courtland wasn’t a name she recognized, like, at all.
“Who’s that?”
“I had three brothers, sweetie.”
“Oh.”
This silence was less welcoming. Ryland seemed devastated. Maybe he remembered Court, he would’ve been… What, maybe 6 years old when everything went down? Sounded about right.
“How… When did that happen?” His voice was softer than it had been, and his eyes got watery. He did remember Courtland.
“Some prison fight I think. There wasn’t any… Real descriptions for what happened. It was sketchy as fuck. I think he was maybe 23?” Holland’s eyes didn’t stay on Ryland’s. It was suddenly a little too hard to do that.
Ryland didn’t even bother to correct his language. Courtland had died without ever getting a thank you for what he did. He was only a teenager when it happened, and now? His life had been cut short, apparently. A long while ago, too.
“Do you know where he’s…?”
“Burried? Uh, I don’t– There wasn’t anything about a burial.” Holland wasn’t sure how someone could look as broken as Ryland did at this moment. He took off his glasses, rubbing his eyes quietly. Holly frowned, glancing between her father and uncle, before leaning into her old man.
It was a nice gesture, but… Holland wasn’t sad. He wasn’t sure what he felt, actually. He’d thought he didn’t care, or that it was just shitty. But he didn’t feel… There was probably a word for this in Healy’s fun little word things.
“...Awh jeez, okay. Okay.” Ryland sounded all sniffly and nasally, his eyes were still watery, but he seemed ready to move past this. Or, probably stop talking about it. Probably that.
“Hmm, what about, uh, what about Colt?”
“Oh, he’s… Flying in from some fancy European country or something.”
“Oh?”
“He’ll be here in a few hours.”
“Where’s he flying in from??”
“I don’t. I don’t know?” Holland shrugged, earning a snort from Holly. He didn’t bother looking, but Ryland had a similar reaction. He too, tried to hold back a laugh. Suppose his horrible memory was something to lighten the mood. What a blessing…
“I mean, I can check. I can check, Jesus Christ," He muttered, pulling out his phone from his pocket. The screen was cracked all over, hardly looked usable. But, it seemed to be just fine. Holland glanced over the messages, squinting.
“Be- Ble- … Belar…rus?”
“Belarus.” Holly gave her father a slight look.
“Thank you.” He returned it, a slight furrow of his brow present.
“He’s flying in from Belarus? Huh. Does he live there?”
“No, it was like… an acting gig I think. He’s a stuntman.”
“He’s an actor??? Whoa…”
Conversation after that was easier than it had been outside. It felt warmer, but that might’ve been because it was actually warmer inside. Ryland asked about life, what kind of family he’d ended up with, all these big loaded questions that somehow felt light coming from him.
Of course, there were questions directed at Holly, too.
And of course, Holland tried to reciprocate, asking about simpler things.
“How has your week been?”
“Watch anything cool lately?”
Somewhere in the middle of it all, they’d ordered some bullshit. Coffee, tea and juice. Ryland got a little sandwich deal, and Holly got a cookie. Holland had lost his appetite with the… Court thing.
“Are you guys planning on renting a hotel?”
“I mean, prob….” Holland’s mind drifted to the last time he was in a hotel.
“Preferably not.”
“You talked about renting one on the way here?” Holly interjected, tilting her head as she munched on her cookie.
“Plans change, sweetheart.”
“Is it ‘cuz one of your last jobs, huh?”
“...Eat your cookie.”
Ryland just stared for a second or two, before he leaned back against the soft booth they were sitting at.
“You could stay at my apartment if you need, but it’s not… Too spacious.”
Holland thought about it. How much did teachers really make again? He knew it wasn’t much, so that offer was quite generous right there.
“I mean, If you’re offering,” He made some weird hand gesture, before letting his hands rest against the table. Ryland grinned slightly, before nodding.
He didn’t mind, at all. Having people over sounded nice, and it was a change in pace for once. The last time he’d had anyone over at his apartment was when… Stratt tried convincing him to join the project again. It seemed she could settle for modest people.
That was only a couple months ago.
“I am in fact offering! I have an extra room in my apartment, but it’s not–” Ryland made a gesture with his hands, waving his arms out just slightly. Holland nodded, as if he hadn’t just stated his home wasn’t the biggest. Probably a teacher thing?
They both really liked making hand gestures. Maybe it was a genetic thing…
Holly pushed her pretty lavender glass forward, just hardly any juice at the bottom of the cup. He crossed her arms, leaning back into the firm pillow of their booth. She hummed softly, mind drifting off for a moment or two.
“What are we doing after this?” She asked, sitting up a little straighter. She was being quite fidgety today, Holland had noticed. Was she nervous about meeting Ryland?
“Well, since you guys are staying over, I should probably show you where I live, uh?” Ryland looked down at his sandwich, quickly grabbing it and taking a large bite. He'd have to hurry it up, since Holland wasn't eating and Holly was finished with her cookie.
"Yeah, sounds like a plan."
Holland stared at Ryland. Holly glanced between them.
They spent the next 3 minutes in silence, as Ryland quickly ate his sandwich. They earned an odd look from an older woman in a thin jacket, but hey. At least they weren't making a scene.
Before he even finished swallowing down the last bit of his food, Ryland got up to pay. Something about how he didn't ask about splitting the payment tickled Holland.
When he got back, he offered a kind smile, standing at the end of the table.
"Thank you, Uncle Ryland!" Holly beamed, before pushing her arm into her father's. It was probably time to go, based off of how Ryland wasn't sitting back down.
"No problem! I uhh... I don't live super far from here."
Holland stood up and Holly and his older brother conversed, breathing in slowly.
"Well that's nice. Walking distance, and all that. Let's go," He made a gesture with his hand to follow, shocker.
Outside, Holland hadn't braced himself for the cool weather. He huffed, before making a B line to his beloved 1968 Oldsmobile Toronado, quickly getting in the front seat. Holly, got in the passenger.
"Uhh, hey whoa. There's only two seats."
"Oh. Holly, get in the middle, Ryland needs a seat.
"What? No, no, hold on. That's not—" Ryland stared at the seats, then looked at Holland. It wasn't the safest thing, he knew that. But... How else would they get to Ryland's place without waiting on him?
"Would you... Rather sit in the middle?"
Ryland thought about it. Holly would still be buckled up, that's preferable. He nodded slowly, before sighing. This sucked, they're probably gonna get pulled over for this.
God, he was regretting everything already.