a picture-perfect memory

she doesn’t know what to do with this information, seeing her father smile fondly at the mention of her mother, and she kind of understands the parent trap slightly more. mostly because of the finding your long lost twin part, but she also feels like her father must be different now, since president sutton let him onto her campus. and he’s talking about irene like they’ve spoken since both becoming mentors, but she doubts they’ve gotten any closer thanks to gallagher. and tilly has no clue why she would want them to, it doesn’t affect her and she never experienced her family as one happy, complete domestic unit. tilly isn’t savvy enough to know what he’s talking about but she nods slowly as if she does, and at least he’s not…doing what she was afraid he was doing. “why did you join in the first place?” normally she’d preface the question with not to pry or sorry if this is too personal, but they both agree that she’s earned some answers, to a lot of hard questions. “and did you think…were you planning to lie about it to her forever? or did you think she’d understand?” did you think she loved you more than she hated your choices?

now  that  he’s  face  to  face  with  miles,  maddox  isn’t  even  sure  of  WHAT  to  say.  he’s  not  even  sure  of  what  to  do  with  his  body,  and  that’s  a  first  in  and  of  it’s  own  right.  he’d  never  imagined  meeting  his  BIRTH  FATHER  of  all  people  here,  at  school.  “you  could  say  that.”  a  shrug,  because,  well.  “i  wanna  know  about  -  the  brotherhood.”

there is no etiquette for a situation like this, because even if adopted children meet their birth parents all the time, it’s never in this way. it’s never at your college because your parents are both “mentors” and it’s never while standing awkwardly in their office while knowing that the man responsible for half of your genetic makeup was, or maybe even is, part of a terrorist organization that wishes places like gallagher would cease to exist. she can’t help but wonder, if her birth parents had raised her, if she would be off at a normal school right now. her mother didn’t want her at gallagher, and being in the brotherhood pretty much guarantees her father wouldn’t have wanted it, either. it seems like they might have been on the same page and only disagreed about the methodology. she hates that she feels momentarily touched, flattered, that he’d mentioned wanting to meet her, and maddox. “she seems…maternal, for a woman who didn’t raise any children.” tilly says it kindly, like a compliment, and not a slight about how she’d given the twins up for adoption. “actually, no. or, i guess, there are too many. and most of them are insignificant. but you’re not…still, you don’t…what is your job, exactly?” there’s no tactful way to ask if he’s still involved in the brotherhood or currently considers himself to be more assassin than spy.

Her last night at Gallagher felt like something more out of a movie than reality and as she watched the party go on around her, Cora wished that she could enjoy it, and the glass of champagne sitting in her hand, more. Though the flames of the dire had long died and the members of the Brotherhood had been arrested, she was still vigilant, still ready to whip out the knife she kept hidden in a moments notice if needed. The threat may have been gone but that didn’t mean that she was going to spend this party acting like a fool. “They should consider themselves lucky,” she mused out loud to no one in particular. “The parties we had in my day were never this extravagant.” 

@gallagherstart​

It feels weird, having a big fancy party just days after the fire, but he’d come to expect little else from Gallagher Academy. In a way it almost felt fitting. An extravagant, expensive victory lap that Miles couldn’t help but hope wasn’t premature. “I’ve been to parties hosted by rich bigwigs that weren’t this fancy.” He replied, taking a sip of his drink. Definitely nothing like this while he’d been at Blackthorne, that’s for sure. “Someone around here sure knows how to throw a party, that’s for sure. Actually managed to get some of these kids to clean up nice.”

like  with  some  other  twins,  maddox  lets  tilly  take  the  lead.  something  about  finding  comfort  in  their  older  sibling  doing  something  first  and  all  that.  but  he’s  here  now,  and  he’s  never  been  one  to  back  down  from  things,  no  matter  how  hard  they  are  to  get  through.  meeting  his  birth  father?  exceptionally  so.  “yeah,”  and  he  shuffles  into  the  room,  hands  not  leaving  his  hoodie  pockets.  “how  much  time  you  got?”

it surprises her, in a way it shouldn’t, that he seems just as clueless about how to proceed as she is. having children you’ve never met seems even more difficult than never meeting your birth father, since she has a father. and she can’t help but keep her eyes trained on miles, trying to discern whether any of his features are mirrored on her own face, but it’s impossible to tell if they share a nose or ears or anything else. she steps a little closer, though sitting down across from him still seems like…too much. and not enough. he’s a stranger, technically, and an assassin, retired? but that’s the thing, she really doesn’t know a thing about him. tilly almost says thank you by reflex. “did you–were you ever…” he knows what she’s trying to say, doesn’t he? did he ever plan on seeking her and maddox out? was she wrong to find him instead? “um…irene doesn’t want me to be here right now, i’m fairly certain. and i have a general idea of why, but…i assume if i didn’t see you now, i never would and i’d rather regret making a poor decision than inaction. so, er, hello.”

CLOSED STARTER !

there’s  only  a  few  weeks  left  until  he  probably  never  sees  miles  again  -  which  causes  more  anxiety  in  his  chest  than  he  likes  to  think  -  and  in  true  big  sister  fashion,  tilly  met  him  first.  so  it’s  maddox’s  turn,  and  truthfully,  it’s  a  bit  more  heart  rate  inducing  than  he  thought.  there’s  a  knock  at  miles’  office  door,  hands  in  his  hoodie  pocket  as  he  waits  for  the  door  to  open  and  —-  “hi.” / @mhensleys​

Was running into an alumni better or worse? That was a question that she hadn’t really thought of until this very moment. At least it wasn’t a professor, and at least he seemed like he was on the younger side - well, younger compared to some of the ancient alumni. “Ah, um, good morning.” She winced, realizing that the dread and embarrassment was clear in her voice. Couldn’t she have just ignored him? “Yeah, you know how finals season is. Lots of late nights, early mornings, only a little bit of sleep… I won’t keep you though, you looked like you were off to somewhere?”  @mhensleys​

jack wonders if miles blames irene for anything at all. if he was in miles’ shoes, which is unfortunately something he’d pictured more than once in the past, he’s not sure if he could be as forgiving. their kids had all grown up now, and they’d missed every second of it. “ yeah… why have you left it so long? ” he’s not judging miles in any way, just trying to understand why that wouldn’t have been at the top of his list. but miles has always been a better man than jack, so he knows he has his reasons. “ maybe, i dunno, you could do it with irene. ” might be easier for miles, and more settling for her. “ yeah. ” he nods, except jack definitely did do some snooping and found nothing. “ classic irene, huh? ”

difficult conversations aren’t exactly jack’s forte. scrap that. make that conversations in general. but he’s had his fair share of them, both before and at gallagher, no thanks to the email and he expects, as long as they stay in their profession and find new people to love, they’ll be plenty more to come. “ don’t think she trusts anyone besides laura. ” which is ironic, considering laura is the reason they’re all here. jack certainly doesn’t see it as a coincidence. “ there’s no harm in a conversation. she’ll get that, if not now then eventually. ” although, eventually always proved to be a little too late. on the subject of irene, jack can’t help but ask, “ you know she was alive all this time? ”

jack shares miles’ sentiment, expressed by a small grunt and a nod, which might speak volumes on the kind of men they’ve become. from jumping into the biggest and most dangerous jobs that were offered to them to a more tranquil life, supporting students and helping them find their footing. this might exactly have been what toby wanted for him all this time, which jack finally starts to understand. “ just … talk to them. ” he never said he was one for good advice! then recalls his conversation with and how hesitant she was about miles being involved. “ you spoken to irene about it? ” 

she had been blindsided by her birth mother’s sudden appearance in her life and she wants meeting her birth father to be on her own terms, although it seems like something most people would advise against. he’s leaving soon, anyways, so if she doesn’t want anything to do with him afterwards, that’s an easy solution. tilly has known his name for months now, but when she sees it on his office door, she thinks back to reading the email for the first time and there was a lot her mother seemed unwilling to share. maybe her father will be repentant enough that he’ll answer more of her question. it takes a minute of standing there and willing herself to knock before she does it, pausing longer than necessary before opening the door. picturing him hasn’t been something she’s done in a long time, since she was a kid, so she isn’t sure what she’s expected but being faced with the reality when all she’s ever known is her imagination renders her speechless. / @mhensleys​

jack glances over towards a group of students to see if he’d buy it. normal college kids doesn’t seem too far of a stretch when they’re laughing merrily, soaking up the sun, but jack can’t forget the looks on their faces when the alumni had first been introduced. “ yeah, almost, ” he replies, hoping his gun remains in his holster for the rest of the day. he wonders how both himself and miles would’ve ended up if they’d went to gallagher’s instead of blackthorne. maybe miles would still have his family, and jack wouldn’t have had to bury his daughter. “ well, it’s not the worst job in the world, ” jack adds, and there’s something peaceful in knowing he’s doing something good. “ maybe it is for you. kids, ex-wife… ” 

Sitting ducks they were while remaining inside of Gallagher. Waiting for something to happen, waiting for another attack or whatever. But all that waiting caused everyone to go crazy, they needed a break and a way out. “I know that it’s weird for me and I’m not even a student. I’m expecting for everyone to be on high alert, forgetting that normal people exist.” It felt so long ago that she was in her own city, mingling and pretending to be normal. That she wasn’t living a separate and different life than this one. “Hopefully from this they’ll get to do the same. You know, have a chance to be like other people their age. Go shopping with friends, take pictures, live.” There was a pause as a smile grew on her face. “And we should do the same. I know that we have to watch over everyone but let’s also live. Let’s go get drinks or a burger or something.”

“I hope. They’ve more than earned it.” The students had been through more in the past few months than most of the civilians walking around town would probably go through in their lifetimes. They deserved a few days off their guard, though Miles knew very few of them would let their guards down. “I could be persuaded to take a lunch break.” A lopsided smile crossed his face and he paused, looking on both sides of the street at the nearby options before nodding towards one up the street. One of those trendy looking places with a large picture window making up most of the storefront. “Wanna multitask?”