Chapter Text
It’s Mike’s own fault, really.
Looking back on it, there are many things he did wrong. Listening to Owens was his first mistake.
Thirty months— two-and-a-half years. That’s how long Mike was instructed to wait before he could call CPS on the Montoyas. That’s how long the little girl he’d met at the park had to stay in their care. Mike had fought it. He tried to negotiate it down to twelve— even eighteen. Owens had said it was too risky to take action so soon after Mike threatened to claim her, too. If he had known they’d have to wait this long, Mike never would have made the deal. He’d have grabbed the girl by her hand and led her straight home.
His second mistake was attempting to hide all of this from Mason. And look— Mike knows that it probably wasn’t fair to do so. Mason is a member of this family, and in this family, they make decisions together. But this is just… different, okay? Mason is just a kid. His biological family is a sore subject for him. Forgive Mike if he wanted to shield him from reality for as long as possible.
Alright— maybe it was also, a tiny bit, for Mike’s own benefit as well. Mason tends to get a little jealous around kids; especially when said kids are around him and Will. Mike has no idea how he’ll react to the fact that he has a secret biological sister. A sister that they are dead set on adopting. No amount of protest from Mason will change that; which is why Mike never brought it up. This isn’t a family discussion.
Mike knows that his plan has many faults. Which is why he isn’t surprised in the slightest when it all blows up in his face.
“I have a what?” Mason exclaims, eyes widening dramatically as he leans forward on the couch.
Will, ever patient, lays a hand on one of the legs he’s currently kneeling between, settled on the living room rug. “A sister,” he repeats. His voice is a stark contrast to Mason’s, all gentle and calm.
“Yeah, I got that part,” Mason says, dangerously toeing the line into condescension. “What does that mean? Did you go out and adopt a kid while I was at school?”
“No, we…” Will trails off, glancing over at Mike for support. Mike gives a curt nod. They have to get it over with. Just rip off the bandaid. “We haven’t adopted her yet.”
Mike grabs Mason’s hand from the sofa. He tries not to take it too personally when Mason yanks it back, crossing it over his chest. He’s mad— Mike gets it. “Do you remember when we adopted you?” he asks, keeping his tone light despite his worry.
“No,” he says sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
“Yeah, alright— I walked into that one,” Mike admits quietly. “In order to adopt you, we had to meet up with your parents,” he says, although Mason knows this much as well. “But, when we arrived, they weren’t alone. There was a kid with them. They have a daughter, Mason.”
Mason’s expression instantly hardens. It’s impossible to read a single emotion, even for Mike. Mason clearly intended it that way. He’s carefully hidden himself behind a mask of indifference.
“I know it’s a lot,” Will says. “And we’re sorry for springing this on you, but we didn’t really know how to say it. If you need to be alone for a while, that’s alright. Or if you have any questions—“
“Where is she?”
Mike and Will share a look. That might be the last thing he was expecting Mason to ask. Why are you ruining my life, maybe. How could you ever replace me, definitely.
Will opens his mouth first, grappling for some sort of significant answer. “She’s… with your biological parents.”
Mason breezes past his response, his next words already rolling off his tongue. “This was— what? Three years ago?”
“Two-and-a-half,” Mike corrects. The glare Mason sends his way tells him that it was a rhetorical question. And that he’s angry. Very, very angry.
“You knew about her for three years and you didn’t tell me?”
“We were still sorting stuff out,” Will says guiltily. “We didn’t want you to worry until everything was settled.”
“Sorting what out?” he exclaims. “That’s my family, and you lied to me about it. How could you just abandon her there? For three years?”
Out of all the things Mason could be upset about, his sister not coming to live with them sooner was not in the realm of possibility for Mike. “You want her here?” he asks, surprised.
“Yes! Are you fucking stupid? Why would I want her stuck there?”
Mike won’t scold him for his language usage. He won’t, because this is clearly an emotional time for him. Mason can curse at them all he wants to, and Mike’s feelings will not get hurt about it.
“I understand,” Mike says, placing his hand atop Mason’s knee. He doesn’t let himself get offended when Mason stands abruptly at the touch, pushing past them both.
He walks straight to the other side of the living room, putting as much distance between them as possible, then spins on his heel to glower at them. “Obviously you don’t! I can’t believe I ever thought you did.”
Will stands after him, uselessly reaching an arm out. “Mason—“
Mason doesn’t let him finish that sentence. “You need to get her out. Now.”
“We will,” Mike assures him. “We’re calling El today.”
He waits for a reply, but one never comes. Mason stares at them for a long moment, then scoffs, stomping toward his room. That went well.
Mike releases a deep breath, running a hand through his hair. He feels Will’s presence beside him even before their shoulders brush.
“Should we talk to him?” Will asks.
“And say what? We tried that, and it clearly didn’t work.”
“Well— I don’t know,” he says. He doesn’t sound at all frustrated. Mike has no idea how he manages to keep his cool in these kinds of situations. “I don’t want to just leave him like this.”
Mike sighs again, turning to lay his forehead against Will’s shoulder. “I never should have left her.”
Will knows exactly what he means without him needing to clarify. Isa. Isabella Elaine Montoya— first grader at Roosevelt Elementary. A delightful girl who has never received a single complaint from her teachers, nor shown up to class with a scratch on her body. Okay, so maybe Mike asked El to check up on her a few dozen times. He didn’t break any rules. If someone else happened to report her abuse, he couldn’t be blamed for that. And if he just so happened to be first to the scene to claim her… well, that would be a big coincidence.
Unfortunately, nothing ever came of it. Or— fortunately. If she’s not being hurt at all, that would be wonderful.
“It’s not your fault,” Will tells him.
“It is, though. You wanted to take her home immediately. If I had listened to you, we wouldn’t be in this mess. And Isa would be safe.”
Will loops his arms around his waist, pulling him in close. Mike melts into the embrace at once. “You were protecting Mason.”
Mike rolls his eyes, even though Will can’t see it. “Yeah, and look where that got us. He obviously doesn’t agree with my decision.”
Will leans back, just far enough to meet his gaze. “He doesn’t know the whole story. You did what you thought was right. In hindsight, was it the best plan? Probably not,” he says with a teasing smile. It’s laced with forgiveness; Mike feels it settle in his stomach. “But that’s alright. You have lots of plans. Some of them are going to turn out to be duds. And I know you’ll work your ass off to fix them.”
Mike gives him a thankful peck on the lips. “You have a lot of confidence in me.”
He grins brightly, kissing him right back. “Only what you deserve.”
Mike hugs him tight, resting his head on top of Will’s own. They sway for a while, lost in thought. Mike’s thoughts, as they often are, are stuck on Mason. “I just don’t know what to say to him to make this better,” he says after a long moment. “I knew this talk would go badly. I was prepared for jealousy— I was prepared to send him to his room. I just wasn’t prepared for this. He looked at me like I was evil. I mean, I’m used to him being annoyed at me— angry, even. But this? It’s like he’s… disappointed in us.”
“He pulled the mom card,” Will says with a chuckle. “Sometimes I think he’s the parent here.”
“Oh, he definitely is,” Mike agrees. “Without a doubt. I think we’re grounded.”
With a deep breath, Will takes a step backwards. He holds out a hand for Mike to latch onto. “Attempt number two?”
He nods. Better to get it over with. Mason isn’t getting any happier.
Will takes the lead, following the path to Mason’s room and knocking on his door. Mason's response is immediate— muffled, yet no less adamant. “No.”
Will rests his head against the door. “Come on, sweetie. We want to talk to you.”
“Talk about what? There’s nothing you can say to me that will fix this.”
Mike steps up beside Will cautiously. He clasps his fingers around the handle, but he doesn’t dare try it. He knows it’ll be locked. He’s not sure whether he wants to find out. “I know,” he says. “I messed up bad. But I want to try. Can I please just apologize?”
There’s nothing but silence from inside. Great. As a last resort, Mike twists the knob.
By some miracle, it unlatches. It’s only now that Mike realizes: Mason wants them to talk to him. He’s being dramatic, sure— but that’s all it is. He stormed off to make them follow. If Mason wants Mike to chase after him like a lost puppy, he will. If that’s what Mason needs to know that he’s loved, then it’s a done deal.
Mason is facing away from them when they enter, perched on the swivel chair at his desk. There’s nothing on it, save for a couple closed notebooks and a jar of art supplies. He’s simply sitting there, feet up on the cushion, staring blankly at the polished wood.
Mike walks up behind him, then kneels to the carpeted floor. He opens his mouth to say something— anything— but before he can get a word out, Mason speaks.
“I thought you were different. I always imagined that, if you’d met me when I was younger, you wouldn’t have hesitated to save me from that place. But you did. You wouldn’t have even cared about me if Auntie hadn't forced you to take me in, would you?”
“Mason, that’s not—“ Mike tries, but he gets cut off.
“You’re supposed to be heroes— but I guess you were just pretending about that. You probably didn’t even save Dad that time.”
Alright— that one hurt. A lot. Mike knows that he wasn’t the most useful during that whole debacle. He didn’t jump into the Upside Down to rescue Will like Joyce did. He didn’t shoot Vecna in the face like Nancy. He could barely even use a gun at the time. His biggest weapon was his words. Will has tried time and time again to convince him they were enough, but Mike has never quite believed him; especially when they managed to friendly fire more often than not.
Mason is right. He is pretending. He can play the paladin all he wants in D&D. He can craft a beautiful story with his cursed words, but that’s all it will ever be. A story. He didn’t save Will. He was an emotional support animal at best.
Mike spins Mason’s chair around to face him. Mason’s expression is still closed off, and his arms are crossed protectively over his chest. He’s hurt too, Mike reminds himself. He’s just lashing out.
“I’m really sorry,” he says, trying to keep his tone level. He won’t let Mason know how deep his words have cut. “It was wrong to lie to you. I could say that I was trying to protect you— and I was, mostly. I didn’t want you to stress about your sister’s safety when there was nothing we could do about it. And your family is… complicated. I knew this would bring up a lot of emotions for you, and it never felt like the right time to break the news.
“But I guess a part of me was also being selfish. I wanted that day to be a celebration. I wanted it to be about us. But it wasn’t; it was about you and your biological family, and I never should have hidden this from you. You had every right to know.”
Mason’s eyebrows droop slightly in the center. It’s only a small crack in his mask, but Mike manages to see through it anyway. Mason wants to hear him out.
“Why couldn’t you do anything? You could’ve just called Auntie El.”
Mike has a strong urge to avoid the question. This portion of the truth should never come to light. He’d hate for Mason to blame himself when this is clearly Mike’s own fault. He can’t lie, though. Keeping secrets is what got him into this whole mess. If Mason believes that he’s old enough to know the whole story, then that’s what he’ll get.
“Mason…” he starts slowly, looking down at the carpet in thought before tentatively meeting his eyes. “You know that we couldn’t legally adopt you, right? That we had to cheat the system? Well, if your birth parents refused to sign you away, we would have had to take it to court. We would have lost, and you’d be out of our custody. So I threatened them. I said that I’d call CPS if they didn’t sign. It was stupid, and I’m not proud of it. It was just… all I could think of at the time.
“We had to lay low for a while— just long enough for them not to suspect us. It’s a risk even now. If they think we went back on our promise, they might fight us for custody over you both. We want to keep you and Isa safe, and this was the best way. But I should have told you. I’m sorry.”
Mason is quiet for a long moment. He’s chewing on the inside of his cheek, the way he does when he’s stumped on a particularly difficult math problem, or focused on one of his drawings. Eventually, he utters a single word. “Isa?”
Mike’s face breaks into a small smile. “Yeah. She’s six. Do you want to meet her?”
Carefully, he nods.
Mike feels a huge weight lift off his chest. This was supposed to be the hard part. Who knew that Mason would want a sister? He’s always been so against the idea. “Cool. I’m going to call El then, alright? If she finds out that Isa has been hurt, we’ll take her in. Is that okay with you?”
Mason nods again, more confidently this time. Mike stands, planting a lingering kiss on the top of his head. Before he can turn to leave, Mason says, “I’m still mad at you.”
“That’s okay,” Mike says. “I would be mad, too. I hope you can forgive us eventually. We'll do everything in our power to make it right.”
He will. He’s determined to. And that starts with a very important phone call.