Hair of Another Colour
Title: Hair of Another Colour
Characters: Axel Walker, Len Snart, Evan McCulloch, Barry Allen
Word count: 1642
Summary: Axel decides to run away. Takes place in my 'Ramblings of Another West'verse, after 'Accents from Another Country'.
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Axel knows his father isn't his father before he's ever told. Everyone on his father's side of the family has dark hair, while Axel's is a bright blond, unlike his siblings'. He hears an offhand comment about there having to be blond on both sides for it to pass down, but it takes him a year or two before he actually puts it together.
When Axel asks his mom about his real dad, she waves a hand and mentions that she could hardly be expected to remember that.
When Axel's nine he sees them using people's DNA to trace their real parents on TV. He heads to the nearest hospital with a bag full of belongings the next day and asks them to find his dad. The woman at the reception desk tells him is very expensive and he offers her his savings. All twenty dollars of it.
She shakes her head and tells him that's not enough.
Axel's debating what to do next, when one of the doctors starts talking to him. Apparently the receptionist paged one of the paediatricians - kid doctors, the doctor explains when Axel looks blank. Axel does his best to remember the word.
Axel tells the doctor what he wants to do. The doctor is apologetic and tells Axel that it's expensive. Axel says the receptionist already told him that. The doctor adds that it takes time and energy away from people who are trying to make medicine better.
The doctor offers to give Axel a check-up, so he doesn't feel like he came all this way for nothing. Axel agrees and gets his eyes, ears, throat, and pulse tested. The doctor proclaims him 'fit as a fiddle' and gives Axel a sweet before sending him home.
Axel crosses the hospital off his mental list and goes to the police department instead.
Just inside the doors Axel bumps into a man, who drops the files he was holding. Axel helps pick them up - they might be nicer to him if he's helpful - and carries some to the man's lab desk for him.
The man introduces himself as Barry Allen. Axel only gives his first name.
Barry has a lot of funny looking lab equipment and a computer that is running some analysis program. Barry smiles when Axel shows interest and starts explaining what it all does. Axel listens for a while, then starts asking his own questions. Barry seems thrilled and lets Axel steer the conversation onto paternity testing.
Axel asks if Barry could find out who his dad is. Barry says it only works if they've already got the persons DNA on file. Axel asks if he could try anyway. Barry 'hem's and 'haw's but eventually gives in.
Later Barry will admit to having a soft spot for adopted kids who are unable to find their parents, since his wife's an orphan.
Barry sets up the test. He takes some of Axel's blood and promises him an icecream while he lets it run. It's not like TV, things take a while to come to the result.
Barry looks at the clock and groans. He explains he was meant to meet his wife for lunch half an hour ago. He offers Axel the chance to tag along and have something to eat. Axel, who hasn't had anything to eat bar that sweet from the doctor's, nods eagerly.
Barry's wife is called Iris and is pretty. She smiles when Axel tells her so and calls him handsome. She waves off Barry's apologies, saying that she'd only just got here herself, knowing what Barry is like.
Axel gets spaghetti and does his best not to splatter it everywhere. Iris still ends up wiping his face off afterwards.
They say goodbye to Iris after lunch and head back to the lab, Axel eating the promised icecream on the way.
The test isn't finished when they get back, so Barry lets Axel hang around, as long as he phones his parents to tell them where he is. Axel scowls, but agrees and ends up speaking to one of his sisters over the phone. She promises to tell mom he's run away, if it comes up.
Axel spends the next few hours running messages for people. Some of them ask if he's Barry's nephew. Axel supposes it's the hair. He does wonder if Barry might be his dad, but he really doesn't seem the sort, if Axel's honest with himself.
When the results finally arrive Barry groans. Axel asks if he's found him and Barry nods. Barry had said that if they did find Axel's dad in the system then it wouldn't be a good thing. Axel asks for the address, so he can visit, but Barry offers to bring him here.
It turns out Barry knows Axel's dad well enough to have his number in his phone.
Axel runs messages again while Barry calls and after while they're waiting. He can't stand still.
Finally, Axel heads back to Barry after taking a file to the other end of the building, and there's a man and a boy waiting. The boy's a couple of years older than Axel and has brown hair. So does the man. Axel's heart sinks, there must be a mistake.
Barry waves Axel over. The boy looks on with undisguised curiosity. He doesn't wait for the go-ahead from the man or Barry and offers Axel his hand and name. Evan McCulloch. Axel takes it and gives back his first name only. Evan looks sympathetic and says Axel can use his surname if he hasn't got one, since their dad's is worse. That earns him a cuff over the head by the man, but Evan's smiling, so it can't have been that hard.
The man tells Axel to pay no attention to Evan and introduces himself as Len. He crouches down to Axel's level and asks who his mom is. Axel gives her name, but Len can't recall her.
Axel decides to speak up about the mistake, since if his dad or half-brother don't have blond hair, where does his come from?
Evan quickly jumps in to say that Aunty Lisa has blonde hair. Len nods when Axel looks over for confirmation. Evan's still talking about how he's only seen Aunty Lisa at Christmas, since she's travelling the world on ice-skates. It's all in an accent that gets thicker the more excited Evan gets until Len has to remind Evan that not everyone's as used to Scottish as him and Barry are.
Evan asks when Axel's moving in and the adults look worried at that. Barry asks carefully about the bag Axel has with him, and Axel confirms that it's got his stuff in because he's run away and he's not going back. Barry pinches the bridge of his nose and Len swears silently at the ceiling, but Evan doesn't seem bothered and just asks if Axel's got any games with him.
They set up a game of cards while the adults talk things over quietly in a corner. It's more like arguing, but Evan says they argue about everything, it's just how they communicate.
They're on a score of two-all when another worker leads in Axel's mom and two of his sisters. His mom's got a scary look on her face, like when Axel's baby brother ate her best necklace, or when one of his sisters spent an afternoon cutting up everyone's clothes.
Axel's mom starts shouting at him. Barry and Len move to intercede, but Evan's closer. He steps in front of Axel and shouts right back, using all sorts of weird Scottish words. Axel's mom isn't impressed until Evan calls Axel his brother.
She laughs in his face and tells Evan that he doesn't know what he's talking about in a condescending tone. Evan insults her and for a moment it looks like she might hit him for that.
Then Len steps in front of Evan and tells her to stop shouting at his sons. Barry backs it up with test results when Axel's mom spits out that she doesn't believe him.
Evan's holding Axel's hand tightly and Axel's enjoying the stability too much to point out how sissy it is. Len and Barry are forming a nice barrier between the kids and the shouting.
Axel's not quite sure when it happened, one minute they're all arguing about negligence and child welfare, the next Axel's mom's storming out, shouting that Axel's not worth this much trouble.
Evan squeezes his hand and it goes a surprising way to fixing the cold that's building up in Axel's body.
Len and Barry are talking again. They come to the conclusion that Len will look after Axel until this whole mess is sorted. Axel hopes that it will never be sorted, because he doesn't want to go home again.
Evan tells Axel all sorts of stories about Scotland during the evening and when they're supposed to be sleeping. They ended up in the same bed, since there wasn't a spare one and Len wouldn't let him sleep on the couch. That's a decision Len appears to be regretting since they haven't gone to sleep yet.
Evan tells Axel that it doesn't matter if he has to go back, because now they're brothers and as the big brother Evan has to look after the younger one. Evan seems awfully delighted at having a brother. Apparently some friends of Len's that Evan stays with sometimes are having a baby, but Evan laments that babies aren't all that fun until they've grown up a bit.
Either way, Axel agrees that Evan will always be his brother.
Len comes in to tell them to go to sleep for the fifth time and they finally do.
Axel dreams of chasing haggises the other way around the hilltops and of staying here forever.
Characters: Axel Walker, Len Snart, Evan McCulloch, Barry Allen
Word count: 1642
Summary: Axel decides to run away. Takes place in my 'Ramblings of Another West'verse, after 'Accents from Another Country'.
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Axel knows his father isn't his father before he's ever told. Everyone on his father's side of the family has dark hair, while Axel's is a bright blond, unlike his siblings'. He hears an offhand comment about there having to be blond on both sides for it to pass down, but it takes him a year or two before he actually puts it together.
When Axel asks his mom about his real dad, she waves a hand and mentions that she could hardly be expected to remember that.
When Axel's nine he sees them using people's DNA to trace their real parents on TV. He heads to the nearest hospital with a bag full of belongings the next day and asks them to find his dad. The woman at the reception desk tells him is very expensive and he offers her his savings. All twenty dollars of it.
She shakes her head and tells him that's not enough.
Axel's debating what to do next, when one of the doctors starts talking to him. Apparently the receptionist paged one of the paediatricians - kid doctors, the doctor explains when Axel looks blank. Axel does his best to remember the word.
Axel tells the doctor what he wants to do. The doctor is apologetic and tells Axel that it's expensive. Axel says the receptionist already told him that. The doctor adds that it takes time and energy away from people who are trying to make medicine better.
The doctor offers to give Axel a check-up, so he doesn't feel like he came all this way for nothing. Axel agrees and gets his eyes, ears, throat, and pulse tested. The doctor proclaims him 'fit as a fiddle' and gives Axel a sweet before sending him home.
Axel crosses the hospital off his mental list and goes to the police department instead.
Just inside the doors Axel bumps into a man, who drops the files he was holding. Axel helps pick them up - they might be nicer to him if he's helpful - and carries some to the man's lab desk for him.
The man introduces himself as Barry Allen. Axel only gives his first name.
Barry has a lot of funny looking lab equipment and a computer that is running some analysis program. Barry smiles when Axel shows interest and starts explaining what it all does. Axel listens for a while, then starts asking his own questions. Barry seems thrilled and lets Axel steer the conversation onto paternity testing.
Axel asks if Barry could find out who his dad is. Barry says it only works if they've already got the persons DNA on file. Axel asks if he could try anyway. Barry 'hem's and 'haw's but eventually gives in.
Later Barry will admit to having a soft spot for adopted kids who are unable to find their parents, since his wife's an orphan.
Barry sets up the test. He takes some of Axel's blood and promises him an icecream while he lets it run. It's not like TV, things take a while to come to the result.
Barry looks at the clock and groans. He explains he was meant to meet his wife for lunch half an hour ago. He offers Axel the chance to tag along and have something to eat. Axel, who hasn't had anything to eat bar that sweet from the doctor's, nods eagerly.
Barry's wife is called Iris and is pretty. She smiles when Axel tells her so and calls him handsome. She waves off Barry's apologies, saying that she'd only just got here herself, knowing what Barry is like.
Axel gets spaghetti and does his best not to splatter it everywhere. Iris still ends up wiping his face off afterwards.
They say goodbye to Iris after lunch and head back to the lab, Axel eating the promised icecream on the way.
The test isn't finished when they get back, so Barry lets Axel hang around, as long as he phones his parents to tell them where he is. Axel scowls, but agrees and ends up speaking to one of his sisters over the phone. She promises to tell mom he's run away, if it comes up.
Axel spends the next few hours running messages for people. Some of them ask if he's Barry's nephew. Axel supposes it's the hair. He does wonder if Barry might be his dad, but he really doesn't seem the sort, if Axel's honest with himself.
When the results finally arrive Barry groans. Axel asks if he's found him and Barry nods. Barry had said that if they did find Axel's dad in the system then it wouldn't be a good thing. Axel asks for the address, so he can visit, but Barry offers to bring him here.
It turns out Barry knows Axel's dad well enough to have his number in his phone.
Axel runs messages again while Barry calls and after while they're waiting. He can't stand still.
Finally, Axel heads back to Barry after taking a file to the other end of the building, and there's a man and a boy waiting. The boy's a couple of years older than Axel and has brown hair. So does the man. Axel's heart sinks, there must be a mistake.
Barry waves Axel over. The boy looks on with undisguised curiosity. He doesn't wait for the go-ahead from the man or Barry and offers Axel his hand and name. Evan McCulloch. Axel takes it and gives back his first name only. Evan looks sympathetic and says Axel can use his surname if he hasn't got one, since their dad's is worse. That earns him a cuff over the head by the man, but Evan's smiling, so it can't have been that hard.
The man tells Axel to pay no attention to Evan and introduces himself as Len. He crouches down to Axel's level and asks who his mom is. Axel gives her name, but Len can't recall her.
Axel decides to speak up about the mistake, since if his dad or half-brother don't have blond hair, where does his come from?
Evan quickly jumps in to say that Aunty Lisa has blonde hair. Len nods when Axel looks over for confirmation. Evan's still talking about how he's only seen Aunty Lisa at Christmas, since she's travelling the world on ice-skates. It's all in an accent that gets thicker the more excited Evan gets until Len has to remind Evan that not everyone's as used to Scottish as him and Barry are.
Evan asks when Axel's moving in and the adults look worried at that. Barry asks carefully about the bag Axel has with him, and Axel confirms that it's got his stuff in because he's run away and he's not going back. Barry pinches the bridge of his nose and Len swears silently at the ceiling, but Evan doesn't seem bothered and just asks if Axel's got any games with him.
They set up a game of cards while the adults talk things over quietly in a corner. It's more like arguing, but Evan says they argue about everything, it's just how they communicate.
They're on a score of two-all when another worker leads in Axel's mom and two of his sisters. His mom's got a scary look on her face, like when Axel's baby brother ate her best necklace, or when one of his sisters spent an afternoon cutting up everyone's clothes.
Axel's mom starts shouting at him. Barry and Len move to intercede, but Evan's closer. He steps in front of Axel and shouts right back, using all sorts of weird Scottish words. Axel's mom isn't impressed until Evan calls Axel his brother.
She laughs in his face and tells Evan that he doesn't know what he's talking about in a condescending tone. Evan insults her and for a moment it looks like she might hit him for that.
Then Len steps in front of Evan and tells her to stop shouting at his sons. Barry backs it up with test results when Axel's mom spits out that she doesn't believe him.
Evan's holding Axel's hand tightly and Axel's enjoying the stability too much to point out how sissy it is. Len and Barry are forming a nice barrier between the kids and the shouting.
Axel's not quite sure when it happened, one minute they're all arguing about negligence and child welfare, the next Axel's mom's storming out, shouting that Axel's not worth this much trouble.
Evan squeezes his hand and it goes a surprising way to fixing the cold that's building up in Axel's body.
Len and Barry are talking again. They come to the conclusion that Len will look after Axel until this whole mess is sorted. Axel hopes that it will never be sorted, because he doesn't want to go home again.
Evan tells Axel all sorts of stories about Scotland during the evening and when they're supposed to be sleeping. They ended up in the same bed, since there wasn't a spare one and Len wouldn't let him sleep on the couch. That's a decision Len appears to be regretting since they haven't gone to sleep yet.
Evan tells Axel that it doesn't matter if he has to go back, because now they're brothers and as the big brother Evan has to look after the younger one. Evan seems awfully delighted at having a brother. Apparently some friends of Len's that Evan stays with sometimes are having a baby, but Evan laments that babies aren't all that fun until they've grown up a bit.
Either way, Axel agrees that Evan will always be his brother.
Len comes in to tell them to go to sleep for the fifth time and they finally do.
Axel dreams of chasing haggises the other way around the hilltops and of staying here forever.