#going to start cruising archives and tags more when i return i think

[elbowreveal]

ok i put some more things into the queueee wahoo!

[enkisstories]

Just like them

- Short Detroit Become Human fanfic starring Daniel - - Close enough to canon, not my Sims!AU - November 15, 2038 Park Avenue

Daniel placed his hand on the door lock. However, the device rejected his request almost instantly.

ACCESS DENIED

It wasn’t just a string of bright letters, the message additionally burned itself into the android brain. And although the narrative went that androids didn’t feel pain, the sharp sting of the “Nope” signal along with all the emotions it triggered in Daniel’s deviant mind were unpleasant to say the least.

“Shit!”

Daniel raised his hand – or rather, he moved his shoulder to lift the replacement arm and hand up, spare parts salvaged from other unfortunates that had found themselves in the DPD’s evidence archive. Just when the new limbs had started to feel less like prostheses and more like parts of himself, the android had to receive a reminder to the fact that this wasn’t the case. His real hand was lost and with it the RFID tag that would have opened the door to the Phillips apartment.

Daniel wondered briefly the key to which door he was carrying now, because some signal had gotten exchanged between the hand and the door lock. If there had been no key present at all, the door would just have stayed silent instead of bellowing its “Access denied” at the intruder.

A shutdown police auxiliary beyond repair had “donated” Daniel’s new legs, but also the hand? Daniel didn’t remember. It hadn’t mattered earlier that day when they had set him more or less free.

And now the android he was standing here, with an electronic cuff somewhere in his system, a novel worth of parole terms in his head, but fresh out of an emergency override keycard for his own home.

I should have went with that guy from Jericho when he offered it. But, noooooo, I HAD to do this alone, because I don’t NEED help at all. And I shouted at him, so there’s no turning back now. It’s getting dark anyway. And ‘sides, I have a right to this flat! It’s my inheritance, the pay for four years of service, no way I’m going to live in, what was it, a wrecked cruise ship or something? No way!

Tap,tap,tap… jingle,jingle,jingle… swoosh

Daniel exited the elevator and only when the doors closed behind him did he realize that he had just traveled downwards by one floor without actually having decided to do so.

Check. Deviant brain doing deviant stuff. They warned me about this.

Daniel’s subconsciousness had taken over, now the question was where had it taken him?

Looking around Daniel discovered that he was standing right in front of an apartment door, one hand raised slightly, obviously in an attempt to ring the doorbell. The nameplate that went with the bell read “Rasoya”.

Ah, right, that was familiar territory. The Rasoyas were the Phillips’ direct downstairs neighbors. They had helped them out by taking Emma when her parents were out and with sugar, flour and eggs that Caroline tended to forget to stock up in sufficient quantity. That had been before Daniel had joined the household, of course, but even with the Phillips owning a state of the art household assistant made by CyberLife now the families had remained… close?

I have always assumed we were close, but looking back I feel “habitually on speaking terms” is more precise.

Someone was stirring now inside the apartment and a female voice rose up:

“I think I heard someone at the door! Will you take a look?”

“Yes, it’s me!” Daniel shouted back, then rang the bell.

Someone was looking through a spyhole, not trusting the electronic security camera, then opened the door. Before it was fully open, Daniel already gasped at the person behind it: “Can I borrow a crowbar, please, Mrs. Rasoya? I need to break into the Phillips apartment!”

Mrs. Rasoya laughed so hard at this that the toddler boy she was holding was shaking violently. Reflexively Daniel grabbed him while Mrs. Rasoya was still trying to get a grip on herself. Eventually the woman said:

“Daniel Phillips – the most polite android revolutionary ever.”

“Calm down, calm down!” Daniel shushed the human. “I’m not with Markus or whoever, I don’t even have a clear idea what exactly’s going on!”

I mean, when have I ever? I lived in an illusion all my existence, believing myself appreciated… sheltered… Going by my experience Markus could just be another Connor: playing nice, but harboring ulterior motives.

“They just…”

Looking for a familiar term in all the madness that was the present, the android continued:

“…let me out of prison and here I am, but I can’t enter my own damn apartment!”

“Own dan apartment!” little Caden Rasoya repeated cheerfully, at which his grandmother demanded the kid to get returned to her.

“Raj, dear?” she called into the apartment and a few heartbeats later her adult son, Caden’s father, appeared. Raj was a gourmet chef and his body was certainly looking the part, although he tended to dress extremely casually at home.

“Would you accompany Danny here upstairs to break down the Phillips’s door, Raj?”

“You know what, mom?” Raj laughed out loud. “This is by far the most normal request I’ve heard those last few days.”

Daniel watched Mrs. Rasoya retreat into her home where she picked up an old handheld gaming device that she had been playing on. He heard Caden giggle. The TV was running, Caden giggled some more, but then listened intently to his mother, who was explaining something connected to the evening children’s show they were watching. Everything was so normal!

Why were the Rasoyas still here, Daniel wondered? Were the feeling that the worst was behind them and deeming it save to stay in Detroit, even though the president had arranged an evacuation of a scope that put to shame even the annual floods? Were these humans maybe just as attached to their territory as Daniel himself was? Regardless of the possible consequences? In retrospect, what if Caroline had still been here tonight? Or – was she, maybe?!

“Uh… Is Caroline…?” Daniel started asking Raj.

“Left Detroit. In fact, she didn’t even wait for the presidential nudge to do so.”

“Ah.”

Raj grabbed the doorknob and with his head motioned the android to join him.

“Come in!”

“But I need to…”

“No way I’m trying to kick in a sturdy apartment door, least of all with security still intact”, Raj explained. “And neither should you do that, with a criminal record on your head. You have one…?”

“Yes, yes, it’s all legit. The DPD knows I’m here, but, fuck, I should have asked for an escort to actually get into my home.”

“You certainly picked up some language there that you didn’t know before”, Raj commented, still more amused than wary. Definitely wary, too, but not to an extent that prevented the man from acting civilly.

“But what am I to do now?”

“You’ll want to take the balcony route, Daniel. Climb up from our balcony and find your door. It was never properly repaired after… the incident, you should be able to push it open easily.”

“That’s that Connor’s fault!” Daniel spat. “It doesn’t respect anything!”

And that were the last words he exchanged with the Rasoyas. Without even a “thanks” the deviant made haste towards the balcony, jumped onto the railing and started scaling the apartment building like an ape. A PL600 wasn’t particularly strong, but their dexterity and eye-hand-coordination had to be rated outstanding even compared to other androids. Daniel was also rather agile, although he suspected that was a personal feat, nothing hard-coded in his system specs. And of course his new PC200 legs were also contributing to his athletic ability.

*

Inside the Phillips home Daniel didn’t linger much in the apartment proper, but instead went straight to the fish tank in the floor.

“Huey, Dewey, Louie… everyone still there!” he noticed with relief. “It’s feeding time, gentlemen! – Hehe, yes, go for it! No need to fight, there’s more where this is coming from!”

Smiling the android watched the fish gorge themselves. When had been the last time they had been fed, he wondered? So typical of Caroline! Flaunting the family fortune, but possessed of a total disregard of actual living beings. Like those of the ornamental fish she had left behind to their fate. Or her android’s…

Daniel had never given his artificial lung much thought. They were just there, moving his chest to make him appear more lifelike. Now the deviant realized how this particular biocomponent came in handy: he sighed deeply.

Moving back into the apartment Daniel almost expected to find John’s tablet. Of course after all this time it wouldn’t be there anymore. Or at least it would no longer display the order confirmation for the AP700, where John had ticked the “Disposal of old device at no extra cost” option. There had been another option, also at no extra cost: to donate the old android to charity. It would have taken the man no longer than two minutes to choose an organization from a dropdown list, but John Phillips hadn’t wanted anybody to mooch from something he had payed good money for. He had said so aloud and that comment had alerted Daniel to what was going on in the first place.

John’s greed and antisocial tendencies might very well have saved my life!

Daniel shooed this thought and looked around some more.

Pictures of Emma, John and Caroline, sometimes alone, then again as a family or with various friends, were everywhere. Of their android there was no sign and hadn’t been before the incident. Daniel felt a little like visiting the Dursleys with all the pictures of Dudders and no hint whatsoever that another boy was living at Privet Drive…

He picked up one of the framed pictures. It showed the family gathered under a Christmas Tree. The spheres, bells, stars and pine cones were all made from real glass and in between hang handmade charms fashioned by Emma. The Phillips didn’t believe in anything transcendental, neither god, nor magic. But even so they had followed the traditions and actually gained something from them. There had been an unusual warmth around that time of year each year.

Daniel put back the photograph. Suddenly the glass ornaments were too bright, the fishtank next door too loud and even the carpet his feet were touching was too rough. The deviant hunkered down and buried his head in his arms. Thirium tried to get up and out through his nose. Daniel didn’t understand what was happening to him. His system status hadn’t been that bad this morning!

Stay in… stay in… I don’t want to die! Only, I feel like dying… But I don’t want to! It’s not fair!

Daniel had sat there hunched over and crying for a while, when suddenly the door rang. A jolt went through the android’s body. Daniel jumped up and the weak, but steady stream of skin fluid mixed with blue blood came to a halt. The android wiped it away and licked the thirium from his new fingers before opening the door.

“Hey, Geeta”, Daniel greeted the visitor. “Afraid I might shut down from sorrow all alone up here?”

The words sounded like an accusation…

“Nah.” Mrs. Rasoya shook her head. “Not you. In fact, I reckon you are unable to suicide.”

“Huh? How would you know?”

Geeta walked past Daniel. She grabbed one of the family photographs at random and turned it for Daniel to get a good look at it.

“Dogs take after their owners, children after their parents and androids… androids take after their masters.”

“That’s utter bullshit!” the deviant flared up. “And even if it wasn’t, it wouldn’t apply to me! I’m a de…”

“Deviant, Daniel? For deviants what I said goes even more so, because of your emotions.”

“I may have acquired some of those, so what?!”

“The Phillips couple, too, was never one for thinking before acting… for taking a step back from their desires… or for putting themselves into others’ shoes.”

Daniel started to yell again, but was cut short:

“What kindness they had, manifested indirectly only - in their little girl and in their household assistant.”

“Huh.”

“Not what you wanted to hear, I know.”

Daniel took the picture.

“Me? Being like them?”

“It’s true.”

The deviant smiled warmly, not unlike when he had watched his fishes. For several moments he stood there, content with the world and himself. But then he jerked around his arm and smashed the frame against the nearest wall.

“They never were my family!!!”

Geeta shrugged and said her goodbyes.

“You know where to find us if you want to borrow gelignite or whatever a modern deviant might need”, she said. The woman had meant it as a joke, but as she gently closed the door behind herself, she wasn’t so sure about that anymore.

[starshinewriter]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Della Duck & Donald Duck, Dewey Duck & Donald Duck & Huey Duck & Louie Duck & Webby Vanderquack, Della Duck & Dewey Duck & Donald Duck & Huey Duck & Louie Duck & Webby Vanderquack Characters: Della Duck, Donald Duck, Louie Duck, Huey Duck, Dewey Duck, Webby Vanderquack, Scrooge McDuck(briefly) Additional Tags: della's new to being a mom, and is doubting her ability, donald loves and supports his sister, Family Fluff, overuse of the word 'had' Summary:

Della sees Donald's parental instinct.

Alternative to Ao3:

Della didn't know how to be a parent. That was obvious since she first got back. And it was fine, or it was fine until she was around someone who did. Don't get her wrong she was glad her brother was back, ecstatic even, but it forced her to face the truth.

She didn't know what she was doing.

She first noticed after she happened to walk in on him and Louie talking about something in the den, it turned out to be her.

"It's okay that you're still not used to her." Donald had said. "It's okay to be mad or upset, as long as you don't dwell on it for too long and try to fix it."

"She said that if I didn't change that I was out of the family." Louie whispered. And even with his back to her she saw Donald's temper flare up at that. He had forced himself to take a breath before answering,

"She was scared and upset, but that doesn't excuse it. She had no right to say that. I'll talk to her, let her she went too far, I promise. You didn't deserve that kiddo." Louie had started to tear up before launching himself into his Uncle's arms and sobbing.

"I was so scared! I thought they were gone and that it was all my fault! And I didn't even get a chance to be relieved before she started to yell at me. Like she was the only one affected by it, like that wasn't the worst moment of my life. She took Louie Inc. away..."

Donald's face softened, "Oh kiddo." He had held him tighter and let him cry it out and Della had watched all this with a hand over her mouth in shock, she had gone too far hadn't she? She had let her anger get the best of her, what kind of a mom did that?!? "She didn't have any right to do that either, not permanently." He sighed. "If you still want the company you can have it back, not right now but... eventually."

Louie had pulled away and given him a weak smile, "Thanks Uncle Donald but, I think I'm good for now. I'm not ready to rich and that was the whole goal behind it. I think I'll wait a few years, try and learn some things from Uncle Scrooge."

Donald returned his smile, "I'm proud of you kiddo." And Della had to turn away after that. She had messed up, she had been trying to keep him from making the same mistakes that she did but she went about it all wrong. And she had severely hurt him because of it. She wouldn't be surprised if he never talked to her again. It was the least she deserved.

_______________________________________________________________

The next time she noticed it was because she was actively looking for her boys. But as she quickly learned, when looking for them if you found one the other two were usually close by. And she had found them in Donald's room with him, where they had been a lot since he got back, not that she could blame them. She hadn't really left his side much either. Except in times where she felt inferior to him, like that moment.  

Eventually most of the kids had wandered off except for Huey who had chosen to stay behind. Donald had raised an eyebrow at him and asked if something was wrong.

"I'm just really glad you're back, we missed you." Donald had replied that he missed them too, more than they could know and Huey continued. "Mom, she's great and fun but she doesn't really feel like a parent you know? I know she's been gone for our whole lives and that that's why but we really could've used a parent through all that. And it was fine when we thought you were on that cruise and relaxing but after we found out you weren't... We just really needed you here." Huey had looked down until Donald made him look at him.

"I know, I really wish I'd been here too, it couldn't have been easier for any of you. But I'm here now and we're gonna figure this out, all of us, together." He had promised and Huey's face lit up in a way she wished would permanently stay. It had never looked like that before. No matter what she had done he had never gotten that look. It had felt like a punch in the gut.

"I'm sorry we never figured out you weren't there. I sent postcards and got worried when I didn't get responses but after Uncle Scrooge got that call from you I let it go, I shouldn't have. I'm really sorry."  

"Don't beat yourself up, it's not your fault." And the fact that he hadn't been mad at all really blew her mind. That was not the Donald she remembered. He really had changed a lot for them, hadn't he? Why couldn't she do the same?

"It feels like it is. It must've been awful on the moon, and that island. I can't even imagine..."

Donald had gripped his shoulder, "Good, that's good. You don't need to imagine that." That was something she and him could agree on. None of the kids needed to imagine that. But that fact that her brightest boy didn't think of her as a parent only helped cement the fact that she wasn't. Not in the way her brother was. She wanted to be, she wanted to be so bad but she just wasn't.

_______________________________________________________________

The time after that was in less favorable circumstances, it was something she knew would happen eventually but still dreaded. One of the kids got hurt. And none of them were taking it well. She wasn't much better obviously but she had known she had to hide it for their sakes.

The moment Dewey had started freaking out, him being the one that was hurt, she wanted nothing more than to make it all better. But he didn't let her near him and was instead crying for Donald. The only problem was he and Scrooge had been way on the other side of the cave they were currently in. There was no way he was getting over to where they were anytime soon. Or so she had thought.

Not five seconds after she thought that he had come running in carefully scooping up Dewey and had tried to calm him down. And sometime after that Scrooge had managed to divert Webby's attention away but not the other two. That was her chance! She could finally do something right! Only they had refused to leave their brother's side and it looked like she had just made the situation worse. Again.

So she had turned her attention back to Dewey and her brother and had been surprised to see Dewey was almost completely calmed down. He was still upset but Donald seemed to be distracting him from the pain. She wasn't sure what he had been saying exactly but it was working and soon Dewey had been calm enough to tell him what happened.

"We need to go home. Now." Donald had said to Scrooge. The other kids had gone after them and she had never felt like more of an outsider.

He had been clingy to Donald for the ride home and his brothers were in similar states. And watching them interact it had always been clear the triplets adored their uncle but this had been different, it was like they were fully depending on him to make everything better. Why couldn't they be like that with her?

It had turned out Dewey had had a bruised rib and they had known that with a fall like his that they were lucky that that was it. It could've been a lot worse. And the minute they had been away from the kids Donald had been demanding to know how it happened, why hadn't she been looking out for him? She didn't have an answer, she still didn't, what kind of a mom was she?

_______________________________________________________________

The final time, the time that really drilled it in was the fact that he was able to help a child that wasn’t really his. Because she had been around long enough to know that the boys were more his than hers. But the fact that he had been able to help Webby too, that was real parenting. And the kind that she wasn't able to do.

She had apprehensively watched Webby walk up to Donald's hammock wanting to tell her not to bother him, that he needed a chance to relax but he had surprised Della.

"Hey, kiddo." He had said without opening his eyes. And Webby had climbed into the hammock like they had done that a thousand times before. As far as she could guess they did. "What's up?"

"I don't know, do you ever get one of those days were everything's too much?" Donald nodded. "I think I'm having one of those days. I can't stop thinking about everything that's happened. I know I was pretty much safe for most of the invasion but Uncle Scrooge, Granny, and my friends weren't. I don't know what I would've done if something happened to them."

"I know what you mean, but we're all okay now, that's the important part. That's the part to remember." He had rubbed her head and she snuggled into him. It was a very heartwarming sight if Della was being honest. But she had wondered why Webby didn't go to Beakley, she still did. She didn't completely understand it, maybe Donald was just better at certain things? Better than Beakley. Better than her.

Maybe that was why the kids had always turned to him. And why everything had been such a mess when he was gone.

"I know that, sometimes it's just hard. Like today. The others are all of playing some game but I just can't. It's all too much."

"And that's okay, everyone deals with things differently. And if what you need is a lazy day in a hammock then that's what you need." Webby had snuggled into him more with a content smile and Della had thought about how she never would have been able to come up with something like that, how did he do it so easily? How was he able to be a parent like it was some kind of switch? And why couldn't she do it?

That was the final nail in the coffin. She didn't know what she was doing.

_______________________________________________________________

And that’s why she was here now, outside his door. She wanted to know how to be a parent, she needed to know. She wanted to know how he did it. If only she could bring herself to knock. But she didn't have to because apparently his instincts extended to her too.

"Della? What's wrong?" He asked worriedly as he opened the door. Or maybe those were his twin instincts. That made more sense.

"What isn't wrong, Donnie? I don't know what I'm doing, I'm trying so hard but I keep messing up and making things worse. I'm not cut out to be a Mom." Donald stepped aside and let her in. She collapsed on his bed.

He sat next to her, "No, you're new to it. There's a difference."

"Huey doesn't see me as a mom, Dewey pushes me away when he's hurt, I'm pretty sure Louie hates me! Even Webby goes to you. You're the better parent Donald, I'm just... Della."

"Exactly, you're Della. Della Duck. And there is nothing that can stop you, not unless you let it. And you're right, I am the better parent but I've had ten years to perfect it and even now I still mess up. As long as you're willing to know when you mess up and fix it you can be a good parent. You can be a good parent Della, it'll just take some time." Della let out a wet sob, leave it to her other half to know just what to say to her.

"How do you do it?"

"Do what exactly?"

"Be you. Be the best brother I could ever ask for. The best person to raise my kids after I couldn't. I know that it was my fault and that I still have a lot to make up for but I'm glad it was you, Donald."

He rubbed his neck, "Awe geez Della I don't-"

She surged forward and hugged him. "Thank you." He hugged her back and they barely lasted a second before they started crying. This was something that both of them had needed. For ten years they had been separated, for ten years they had only been half of themselves but now they weren't. Now they were whole again. But Della still had no idea what she was doing. So Donald explained some things,

"Huey doesn't see you as a parent because you've only tried to be their friend or you've been way too strict, you have to find a middle ground. A balance. Dewey thinks the world of you, he doesn't want you to see him hurt or upset, he doesn't want you to see him as weak. You have to let him know it's okay for him to feel his emotions, all of them. And Louie... Louie, the thing with him is that he doesn't trust easily, and if you lose something you never had-"

"It's harder to get." Della finished. "Gah, I really messed up with him. I took my anger out on him, I made him question his place in the family. Even if that hadn't been my intention... when he did that I saw so much of myself in him Donald, and not in a good way. I knew I couldn't let him make the same mistake I did. But I shouldn't have..." She looked down. "I handled it completely wrong, I should've talked to him, should've let him know where I was coming from. And I definitely shouldn't have left him with something made by Gryo. I need to talk to him. To all of them."

Donald pulled away from her and let out a bitter chuckle, "You know I really wanted to yell at you after I found out you did all that. But really, what would that have done? You would've figured out how badly you messed up eventually, you did figure it out. There are just some things you don't say to kids. Especially your kids. There are some things that are never okay, no matter the situation."

Della nodded, "I have a lot to work on. With everyone. But I don't want to do it alone, please Donald I was alone for so long." Donald hugged her again. And she held onto him with everything she had. Her other half. Her lifeline. She was completely lost without him.

But now he was back. Now she was back. And they were gonna handle everything they way they should've before,

Together.