FAKE Ficlet: Family Unknown
Title: Family Unknown
Fandom: FAKE
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Dee, Ryo, Bikky.
Rating: PG
Setting: After Vol. 7.
Summary: Having been abandoned as a baby, and knowing nothing of where he came from, Dee envies Ryo’s ability to trace his family tree.
Word Count: 500
Written For: Prompt 520: Lineage at slashthedrabble.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.
“You’re lucky,” Dee said, flopping down beside Ryo on the sofa after helping with the dishes. “You know who you are.”
“And you don’t?” For a moment Ryo wondered whether Dee’s recent bout of amnesia following a head injury was still affecting him; he’d only been out of the hospital a week and was staying at Ryo’s place while he recovered, but if he didn’t know who he was…
“No, I mean you know where you come from, half-Japanese, half Scottish American; you can trace your family tree. So can the House Ape, up to a point.”
“Oh, this is about Bikky’s school project.” Not having any living family left to quiz about grandparents, and knowing he didn’t have aunts, uncles, or cousins, Bikky had decided to investigate his foster father’s family tree, figuring that would result in something with a few more branches than his own, which wouldn’t have been very impressive.
“I guess.” Dee smiled wryly. “Sometimes I can go whole months never thinkin’ about who my family might’ve been. Other times, the whole thing gets stuck in my head and I can’t stop wonderin’. It’s pretty obvious my birth mother didn’t want me; why else would she dump her baby in an alley with the trash? But still… Was it because she was too young to take care of me? Did she not know she was pregnant and panic when she gave birth? Or maybe it was ‘cause my father was someone she shouldn’t have been involved with, migrant worker, family servant, the bad boy at school…” Dee trailed off with a shrug. “I’m just never gonna know.”
“I’m sorry; I never really thought about how difficult it must be for you. I suppose I just figured that Mother and Jess were your family growing up.”
“They were, and Mother still is, but she’s never been able to answer any of my questions. Neither could Jess; the only evidence the police had to work with was a filthy sheet found in the alley that might’ve had somethin’ to do with me or might’ve been someone else’s trash. Jess told me they never managed to get anything usable from if because it was contaminated by the contents of the bin it was found in. They hospital took a blood sample from me, ran it against all the DNA they had on file, but didn’t look like either of my parents were in the system.”
“Have you checked recently? More DNA samples are collected every year…”
“Yeah, I’m still an unsolved case.” Dee smiled faintly. “Jess kept it open while he was alive, and I took over when I joined the force. Every year I run a fresh blood sample through CODIS, but so far nothin’. I’m pretty much resigned to never findin’ out about any relatives I might have, but it doesn’t stop me wonderin’ what I’m missin’ out on.”
Ryo took Dee’s hand, squeezing it. “Trust me, your mom’s the one who’s missing out, never knowing you.”
The End
Fandom: FAKE
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Dee, Ryo, Bikky.
Rating: PG
Setting: After Vol. 7.
Summary: Having been abandoned as a baby, and knowing nothing of where he came from, Dee envies Ryo’s ability to trace his family tree.
Word Count: 500
Written For: Prompt 520: Lineage at slashthedrabble.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.
“You’re lucky,” Dee said, flopping down beside Ryo on the sofa after helping with the dishes. “You know who you are.”
“And you don’t?” For a moment Ryo wondered whether Dee’s recent bout of amnesia following a head injury was still affecting him; he’d only been out of the hospital a week and was staying at Ryo’s place while he recovered, but if he didn’t know who he was…
“No, I mean you know where you come from, half-Japanese, half Scottish American; you can trace your family tree. So can the House Ape, up to a point.”
“Oh, this is about Bikky’s school project.” Not having any living family left to quiz about grandparents, and knowing he didn’t have aunts, uncles, or cousins, Bikky had decided to investigate his foster father’s family tree, figuring that would result in something with a few more branches than his own, which wouldn’t have been very impressive.
“I guess.” Dee smiled wryly. “Sometimes I can go whole months never thinkin’ about who my family might’ve been. Other times, the whole thing gets stuck in my head and I can’t stop wonderin’. It’s pretty obvious my birth mother didn’t want me; why else would she dump her baby in an alley with the trash? But still… Was it because she was too young to take care of me? Did she not know she was pregnant and panic when she gave birth? Or maybe it was ‘cause my father was someone she shouldn’t have been involved with, migrant worker, family servant, the bad boy at school…” Dee trailed off with a shrug. “I’m just never gonna know.”
“I’m sorry; I never really thought about how difficult it must be for you. I suppose I just figured that Mother and Jess were your family growing up.”
“They were, and Mother still is, but she’s never been able to answer any of my questions. Neither could Jess; the only evidence the police had to work with was a filthy sheet found in the alley that might’ve had somethin’ to do with me or might’ve been someone else’s trash. Jess told me they never managed to get anything usable from if because it was contaminated by the contents of the bin it was found in. They hospital took a blood sample from me, ran it against all the DNA they had on file, but didn’t look like either of my parents were in the system.”
“Have you checked recently? More DNA samples are collected every year…”
“Yeah, I’m still an unsolved case.” Dee smiled faintly. “Jess kept it open while he was alive, and I took over when I joined the force. Every year I run a fresh blood sample through CODIS, but so far nothin’. I’m pretty much resigned to never findin’ out about any relatives I might have, but it doesn’t stop me wonderin’ what I’m missin’ out on.”
Ryo took Dee’s hand, squeezing it. “Trust me, your mom’s the one who’s missing out, never knowing you.”
The End