Chapter Text
He did not expect the landing to be so rough and... wet.
He thought, maybe, that the craft would land smoothly on the beach, or on one of the small islands surrounding his home country, but no... Instead, he crashed into the water far off the shore of Cuba, undetected due to the small escape pod's cloaking mechanisms.
That was probably the most terrifying part of the fairly short journey home; barely making it out of the craft before it sank into the depths. It was dusk, and he began worrying that maybe this had been a waste of time... he was going to die here, in the ocean, without anyone ever knowing where he was... until, of course, he spotted a Coast Guard ship not too far off. They heard his calls and sped over to get him.
It was easier than he thought, making something up to tell the Coast Guard. He said he'd been paddle-boarding, and a riptide had pulled him out after he'd lost his board. Believable enough, it wasn't the first time it had happened... well, maybe the "fully clothed" part was odd, but not way too out of the ordinary.
They draped a shock blanket over his shoulders, even though he knew he wasn't "in shock". They steered them into shore, and Lance assured them that he was fine, and that his home wasn't too far away, and that "Si, si, estoy bien, muchas gracias."
It only took a little while to figure out where he was. He remembered this hotel, the Playa Caleta, only a ten minute drive from Playa Veradero... and from there...
A lump formed in Lance's throat as he stood on the street, his clothes damp, his hair sticky with salt.
Never mind the crash.... facing his family was going to be the most terrifying part of the journey.
Nevertheless, he walked down the road a bit, pondering what to do. He could walk, yes, it would take a lot longer, but he didn't have any money for a cab...
After five minutes of trudging along the cracked pavement, Lance sighed. He was too tired for this. The trip back had taken it out of him, and the treading-water he'd done had used up almost every bit of energy that had remained.
Giving up, Lance walked to the first designating hitchhiking spot he found, then waited. Just in case, he stuck out his thumb. He wondered how stupid he looked, but he wanted to get home too bad to take any chances.
Luck was on his side that evening, it seemed. A local cop was driving by, and- due to the rule that government vehicles had to stop for hitchhikers if there was space- pulled over with a smile and a friendly wave that Lance realized he had desperately needed. At least the young looking cop didn't recognize him as the young boy who had disappeared from the Garrison so many years before. He got into the passenger's seat and thanked the cop, telling him his address and telling him that his family couldn't pick him up.
Lance must have nodded off against the car door, because before he knew it, his shoulder was being gently shaken.
"Hemos llegado." The cop said kindly. Lance blinked a couple times, then thanked him before getting out of the car. At the sight of his old house, he tripped and almost fell onto the sandy asphalt of the driveway. He assured the officer that he was fine, and thanked him again before the man backed out of the drive and disappeared down the road.
Lance stood -frozen- in the driveway, looking up at the house. His hands trembled. He could see a few lights on, one of them being the dining room lights. Shadows flickered across the dark ground outside. Obviously, none of the inhabitants had noticed the car pulling into the drive, and if it was anything like Lance remembered, it was because the room at dinner was always loud and busy with voices and laughter.
Lance's eyes teared up, and a sob ripped it's way out of his throat. He crumpled to his knees, holding a hand to his mouth.
Was his family even still here?! Was this just a new family? If it was his family, did they remember him? It had been so long, surely they had moved on... or, maybe they thought he was dead... he might as well have been, he literally disappeared off the face of the earth!
He sat there a moment, fighting back the tears, and rubbed furiously at his eyes. He took a deep breath and pushed himself to his feet. There was no use sitting around on the rocky driveway, waiting for something to happen.
He forced his tired, shaking legs to move, and he walked up to the front door. He fussed with his clothing, trying to make it a little more presentable... as if that even mattered.
He stood there for a full two minutes, then steeled himself and looked at the mailbox next to the house number, ready to see the family name... ready to see if it really was his family.
His eyes flooded with tears again, and he gave a watery laugh out of shock and relief.
Álvarez
Sure, it was a common surname, but what were the chances?
Lance swallowed against the tears and the new lump in his throat, and raised his fist. He hesitated, then slammed his eyes shut.
He knocked.
Nothing.
He sighed, then raised his hand again. Of course, that had been way too quiet, they wouldn't have been able to hear that over the sounds of the dinner.
He knocked again, louder this time, making sure it was loud enough to hear.
He dropped his hand and waited, keeping his eyes shut. He didn't want to see any faces yet, he couldn't do it, he couldn't-
"¡Por favor! ¿Podrías callarte durante dos segundos? Tenemos un-"
Lance sucked in a breath at the familiar voice, and silence hung over him like a heavy, suffocating blanket... he swore, he felt like he was back in space, surrounded by the silent, endless vacuum.
"....Lance?"
The world went absolutely still. The silence spread to the house, where the sounds from dinner hushed immediately. Lance could hear the waves not far off.
A tear slipped down his cheek, but he didn't open his eyes yet.
"....Hola, Mama." He whispered, his voice cracking pitifully. He took in a deep breath and opened his eyes, taking in the person in front of him.
Just the same as he remembered. Short, strong, weathered, pale-tan skin, wavy black hair pulled back into a messy bun to keep it out of the way when she cooked. Her blue eyes were wide and disbelieving, with just a small shine to indicate that there were any tears.
Lance's lips curled a little into the smallest smile he could ever make, and he laughed softly.
"Estoy en casa...?" He tried, attempting to put a little of his old humor into his voice.
The rest of the evening faded into a blur after his mother's arms wrapped around his thin waist and pulled him close.
The laughter, the crying, the smiles and questions, Lance could barely remember any of it, but it ultimately didn't matter.
It was early that morning when his mother finally ushered the others to bed, seeing that Lance was tired and obviously overwhelmed by the loud, energetic group, but Lance didn't mind. Honestly, he could have fallen asleep anywhere, but his mother brought him upstairs to his old room, which she had left untouched. The thought brought tears to Lance's eyes, but they were quickly wiped away when his mother scolded him lightheartedly, telling him that there would be too much crying to come to be wasting the tears then.
That was where Lance was now, laying on his bed, his tongue still remembering the taste of the first earth food he'd had in years, his head a little foggy with the few celebratory glasses of wine his father had shared with him, and his lips tilted in a small, contented smile.
His heart felt better than it had in ages. The pit in his stomach was filled, the weight from his lungs lifted.
But, laying in bed, surrounded by the dark and the quiet...
He felt like...
Something was still missing.
Lance frowned into the blackness, trying to think of what it was, before giving up and shrugging.
Whatever it was, it could wait...
Because now, nothing else mattered, except that he...
He was home.
He was home.
One last tear dripped from the tip of his nose, and he smiled at his old- no, his room.
Él estaba en casa.
Sí, sí, estoy bien, muchas gracias- Yes, yes I'm fine, thanks so much
Hemos llegado- We're here (We've arrived)
"¡Por favor! ¿Podrías callarte durante dos segundos? Tenemos un- Please! Could you shut up for two seconds? We have a-(guest)
Hola, Mama- Hello, mom
Estoy en casa- I'm home
Él era hogar/Él estaba en casa- He was home
Hey, look at that, another chapter!
So, I'll be updating this somewhat regularly, but I can't promise anything... school year starts tomorrow (fuck) and yeah.
Anyways, hope you're enjoying reading this as much as I'm enjoying writing it!
<3
(P.S. I'm in no way fluent in Spanish, I'm ashamed to say I'm using Google Translate and my tiny amount of info retained from middle school... along with my "side-attempts" at learning the language... so, if there are any Spanish speakers who are disgusted with my translations (10/10 would not be surprised OR offended), please, tell me a better translation, and I will fix it right away, haha! Thanks!)
(EDIT- Thank you to nekolion for helping me with translations and such! :D