Fanfic- Of Sisters and Daughters 1/2: Of Sisters
Title- Of Sisters and Daughters, part 1: Of Sisters
Fandom- Catch Me If You Can
Ship- Carl/Frank
Rating-PG
Genre- slash, established relationship, family, domestic
Warnings- unbetaed content
Wordcount: 3300 total
Disclaimer- I do not own Catch Me If You Can the movie, book, or play; furthermore, this is in no way related to the real person Frank Abagnale Jr.
Chapter Summary- Frank thinks about his half-sister whom he saw one Christmas, whose name he doesn't even know.
Overall Summary- Frank thinks about families, both his own and Carl's.
A/N- I'm not really happy with how this turned out, but I don't think I ever will be, so I'm just going to post it.
A tiny paper ball flew through the air to land in an empty coffee mug strategically placed on the edge of a book case. Frank tore another strip of paper from the blank sheet in front of him and rolled it between his fingers. When it had obtained a vaguely spherical shape, he lined it up and carefully tossed it into the mug across the room.
Work at the FBI had been slow lately. They had closed a case a few weeks before, and were now at a loss as to what to do next. Until another scam was discovered, Carl had explained to him, they didn’t have much to do. They would have to wait for something to be reported; it wasn’t their job to look through bank records.
Not that Frank was complaining, of course. In the last week of the previous case, he’d flown or driven to a total of five states, not counting D.C., where he lived and worked. He was glad for some down time, although it had begun to get boring.
Frank slumped back in his chair, heaving a sigh as he used his foot to spin in an idle circle. The muffled ring of a telephone caught his attention, and he sat up. The noise had come through the half-open window between his office and the adjacent one, belonging to Agent Carl Hanratty. Carl was the agent who had pursued and arrested Frank back when he’d been a forger himself, and also the one who had pushed for Frank’s release into FBI custody to be a consultant. The window had, presumably, been intended for Carl’s use to monitor Frank, but their relationship had changed after Frank’s release, and now the couple used the window to talk and flirt in private, out of the sight and hearing of the other agents.
Frank rolled his chair closer to the window, meaning to listen to the conversation. He hoped that they had another case. “This is Hanratty… Anna,” he heard Carl say, his tone somewhat surprised. Frank’s eyes widened with interest and shock. Anna, he’d heard from the other agents, was the name of Carl’s ex-wife, the mother of their daughter Grace whom he had heard so much about.
Frank pushed the chair against the wall beside the window, so he could listen in without being seen. He had been in a relationship with Carl for over a year now, and this was, to his knowledge, the first time Anna had called Carl at the office, or even at all. Normally it was Carl who would call once a week, more to talk with Grace than Anna. They lived in Chicago with Anna’s new husband, so it was difficult for Carl to see his daughter in person.
“On business?” Carl asked, and Frank could not hear the reply. “I see. Where in Spain? … For how long? … Alright. Can you put Grace on the phone? There was a pause as Anna handed the pone over, then he heard Carl speak again.
“Hey, Gracie.”
Frank leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes. Carl’s voice always became so gentle when he spoke with his daughter. Sometimes it was also like that when he spoke to Frank, when they were alone together. It was very comforting.
“How’ve you been,” Carl asked her. He was silent as she answered, and then presumably asked the same. “Oh, pretty good. Not much going on around here lately. I’ll be able to spend a lot of time with you and your brother, show you around D.C.”
Frank’s eyes snapped open. Brother? That was news to him. Carl had never mentioned having a son. But then, Frank realized, it probably wasn’t his son. Anna was remarried after all, and her new husband had probably wanted children of his own. Of course Grace would have younger siblings. The family moved on. The family always moved on, even if its members were all separated.
With a familiar pang of loneliness, Frank thought of his own family. After his parents’ divorce, his mother had gotten remarried. She now had a little daughter, whom Frank had seen once through the window of their house on Christmas Eve. That little girl was Frank’s sister, and he didn’t even know her name.
“I’m sure we’ll be able to find enough room for both of you,” Carl was saying. “I’ve moved into a bigger apartment, now that Frank’s living with me. You and Daniel may have to share a bed, but no one will be sleeping on the floor.”
Wait, Frank thought. What did Carl mean, room for both of them? Frank was momentarily confused, before the different fragments of the conversation clicked into place like puzzle pieces. Anna and her husband were going to Spain on business, leaving Grace, and the little brother Frank had never heard of, Daniel, to stay with Carl.
Frank heard the phone click back into the cradle through the window, and moved his chair back to his desk. He had heard so much about Grace from Carl, and overheard many conversations between the two, but he had never spoken to the girl himself. Grace had been fifteen when Frank had first gotten out of prison and been released into Carl’s custody. That had been a year ago, so she must be sixteen now.
Frank leaned his head back and sighed heavily. He remembered how Carl had told him the night he arrested Frank that his daughter was four. Carl had missed so many things in her life, since she and Anna moved away. It must have felt as though she were four only yesterday.
A familiar empty feeling settle into Frank’s chest, the kind he always got when he thought about family. His had fallen apart when he was no much older than Grace must be now. Maybe he’d even been younger than she was now. His family had fallen apart, and while his mother had moved on, Frank and his father had been stuck trying to recreate the past. It had failed, as it must, and ended in Frank’s arrest and his father’s death. Now that part of his life was well and truly gone, and he could see just how unhealthy it had been to cling to something that was has ceased to exist. Now he was with Carl, moving forward with his life, and he was happier than he had been in the longest time.
All the same, thinking about his family never failed to erase that happiness. He wondered if that was how Carl felt when he thought about Grace, if the person whom he loved the most also made him the most sad. Grace had grown up without him. The little girl he’d raised had disappeared, and in her place was a teenager he didn’t know.
And it was happening again, with Frank and his little sister. His mother had been the one to have an affair, the one who tore their family apart. But Frank couldn’t hold that against his mother’s daughter. He wanted to know her, wanted to be able to see her grow up. He wanted to know the woman she would be in just a few short years.
She was his sister. And he didn’t even know her name.
He had to fix that.
* * *
A week later, Frank stood just outside the fence surrounding a New York schoolyard. One of the teachers looked over at him and he smiled and waved, for all the world the concerned older brother stopping by the see how his sister’s day was going. The teacher smiled and nodded to him, seeing no threat.
Most of the children were ignoring him, but one little girl perched on the jungle gym was eyeing him suspiciously, as though trying to remember where she knew him from. It had been years, and she’d grown quite a bit, but Frank could still pick out distinctive features. After all, she had his mother’s nose, the same one he saw every day in the mirror. He grinned at her and crooked his finger, and she leapt down and ran over.
“I’m Frank,” he said softly. “What’s your name?”
“Amy Barns,” she replied in a sweet voice that melted his heart.
“Hi, Amy,” Frank whispered in an amazed tone. He watched as she blinked huge blue eyes at him, knowing he was staring but too amazed to care.
“You look familiar.”
“Yeah, yeah, I saw you one Christmas a couple years ago.” Frank smiled at the memory. Although that night had been a low point in his life, it had also been a pivotal event that put him on the course towards his current life, which was something he wouldn’t trade for the world. “You were playing a harmonica.”
“My mommy gave it to me for Christmas!” Amy said gleefully. “I keep it in my dresser. It’s my most favoritest instrument!”
The two began talking eagerly, the type of conversation that can only be held with a child. The topic changed without warning, touching on everything under the sun. For the most part Frank simply smiled and nodded, dropping the occasional comment. He was content simply to listen to everything she had to say, this miraculous little girl who shared his blood.
After the conversation had been going on for quite a while, Frank’s rapt concentration on the girl’s words was broken by the sound of footsteps approaching behind him. He didn’t bother to look over. One of the women in the schoolyard called out to Amy, and the little girl waved to him and ran off. The footsteps stopped just behind him. “I paid for the ticket myself, Carl,” Frank said cheerfully.
“I know,” the owner of the footsteps replied casually. Frank knew that Carl’s eyes must be following his, fixed on the little girl now playing on the jungle gym.
“Her name is Amy Barns,” Frank answered the unasked question. “She’s eight years old, she loves reading, and her favorite color is gold.”
“Hm. Why is it that the teachers don’t mind you, the convicted criminal, talking to her, but when I, the FBI agent, come over, they get suspicious?”
Frank laughed but didn’t answer. He could tell from the tone of Carl’s voice that he was joking, and probably smiling now while Frank laughed. He sighed and looked up at the older man, a serene smile on his face. He had been planning this trip to New York for a week, scraping together every penny of his meager salary to pay for an honest plane ticket. Now that he had met Amy, now that he knew her name, it seemed like everything was the way it should be.
Carl laid a hand on Frank’s shoulder in a comforting and familiar gesture. For a moment the two of them stood in silence, watching Amy play with the other school children. Then a bell rang, and the kids began to line up to go inside.
“Why now, Frank?” Carl asked softly. “Why go looking for her now?”
“Heard you on the phone with Anna and Grace,” Frank replied. “You never told me Grace had a brother.”
“I’ve only met Daniel a couple times. I don’t talk to him on the phone like I do Grace. But they are brother and sister, the same way you and Amy are.” Frank linked his arm with Carl’s and leaned against the older man’s shoulder. He was glad that Carl approved of him having a relationship with his sister. Carl understood how messed up Frank’s family had been, probably because his own was in a similar state, and Frank wouldn’t have blamed him for saying Frank would be better off having nothing to do with his mother’s daughter. But, Frank figured, it was probably a lot like Carl’s relationship with Grace. Carl couldn’t blame Frank for wanting to know the little girl.
“Grace and Daniel will be in D.C. on Sunday,” Carl said. “So we’ll have to fly back soon. They’ll be here until next Wednesday. Maybe after that we can visit Amy again.”
“Okay,” Frank answered, and allowed Carl to lead him away from the now empty school yard.
Part 2: Of Daughters