This was a bad idea. You'd felt that way about inviting Kyle to the wedding in the first place, but now he was in town and insisting he see you.
"I think you should talk to him. See what he has to say, and decide if you really want him there." Your partner insists softly, wrapping their arms around your waist. "You don't have to, but you know your mom is going to keep bothering you over it. Which option sounds worse?"
This was probably worse as you sat down at the table across from Kyle for the first time in years. The silence is awkward, settling thickly over the table like the foam on top of your iced coffee. "How long has it been?" You break the tension, glancing at the scar on Kyle's cheek.
"About five years." Kyle clears his throat quietly and sits up a little straighter in his seat. "You look nice, twig." Your stomach lurches a little at the nickname, something he'd called you since you were little and kept napping on logs in the yard.
"You're like a little twig!"
"You look alright." His lips quirk slightly in a smile, shaking his head fondly at you. "Why are you here? What do you want?" You prod, but the uncertain anger was starting to dissipate.
"I want to be at the wedding. And I want to be in your life again, if you'll have me. I have a boyfriend... well, I plan on making him my fiancé soon." You raise an eyebrow.
"You gonna propose at my wedding?"
"I'm not that big of an asshole!" You give him an incredulous look, getting a glare from him in return. "Look, I wouldn't do that. I mean it."
"I'm just fucking with you." You assure, giving him half a smile as you take a few sips of coffee. "The elephant in the room is asking for attention. Are we going to address it?" Kyle takes a deep breath, watching the cream curl around inside of his tea, slowly blending into one color.
"I'm really sorry that I left you without saying anything. I'm sorry that I never wrote you letters, or called, or texted, or fucking anything..." Kyle takes a in a shuddering breath, finally meeting your eyes. "I'm sorry for blaming you for mom getting hurt. I'm so fucking sorry. It wasn't your fault -" His voice cracks, head lowering so he can swipe the tears out of his eyes.
You chew the inside of your cheek, uncomfortable with his tears and relieved when he quickly pulls himself together. "You were just driving the car, and I needed someone to be mad at."
"Could've been mad at the drunk driver." You point out immediately, clearing your throat to avoid a lump taking root there. "She's doing good now."
"She looks like it, walking faster than me sometimes. You?" He nods down towards you prosthetic leg.
"Good and bad days." You finish your coffee, the ice rattleing around at the bottom of the cup as you set it down. "I appreciate your apology." Kyle resists the urge to ask if you forgive him because he already knows you don't. "Does your soon to be fiancé want to come to the wedding?"
"You want us to come?" You sigh heavily, glaring at him slightly. "Okay, yes, he wants to come."
"I'll mail you a save the date." You don't wait for him to respond, standing up and carrying your cup to the dish return. You need to leave before you regret your decision, letting Kyle stew in his seat with ice cold tea.
The corridors of Hogwarts at that hour felt like something half-asleep.
Not quiet—never quiet—but softened. Muted. The torches burned low and gold, shadows stretching long and thin across stone walls that had seen too many secrets to ever truly rest. The suits of armour stood like silent witnesses, their metal catching flickers of firelight as if they were breathing with the castle itself.
And through it—
Chaos.
James Potter was leading it, of course.
“This,” he whispered, ducking dramatically behind a pillar despite the fact that he was very much visible, “is going to be brilliant.”
“It’s going to get us murdered,” Remus Lupin muttered, already exhausted by the mere concept of whatever James was planning.
Peter Pettigrew hovered nervously behind them, glancing down the corridor. “What if he sees us? What if he hexes us? What if—”
“He won’t,” Sirius Black cut in, low and sharp, eyes alight with something restless. “He never does. That’s the problem.”
And that was the truth of it.
Regulus Black was… untouchable.
Not in the dramatic, legend-making way James liked to imagine himself—but in something quieter. Worse. Regulus slipped through things. Through attention. Through plans. Through pranks. He moved like water around obstacles, like shadow between torchlight.
They had never once managed to get him.
Which, obviously, made this a personal insult.
“So,” James said, pulling out his wand and grinning like he was about to start a war, “today we fix that.”
Mary Macdonald leaned against the wall, arms crossed. “Remind me again what this spell does?”
James beamed. “Forces the victim to sing their true thoughts and feelings.”
Marlene McKinnon barked a laugh. “Oh, that is vile.”
Lily Evans narrowed her eyes. “You are not using that on anyone who might—”
Regulus Black, walking like he owned the silence around him.
Barty Crouch Jr. was at his side, talking animatedly, hands moving as he spoke. Evan Rosier lounged slightly behind them, posture loose but eyes sharp, always watching. Pandora Rosier drifted like something half in another world, humming under her breath, while Dorcas Meadowes walked beside Regulus, steady and grounded, her presence cutting through the rest of them like something real.
They were laughing.
Not loudly. Not carelessly.
But enough.
Enough to make something twist, sharp and ugly, in Sirius’s chest.
James leaned in, whispering, “Perfect.”
Wands raised.
Grins sharp.
Timing aligned—
“Now—”
The spell shot forward—
—and missed.
“Shit—”
It hit the suit of armour beside Regulus with a metallic crack that rang down the corridor.
Regulus yelped, jumping back as the armour shuddered violently—
—and then the spell rebounded.
It ricocheted.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
“MOVE—”
Students screamed, ducking as the spell bounced wildly down the hall, slamming into walls, ceilings, suits of armour—
Pandora laughed, high and delighted. “Oh, that’s interesting—”
“GET DOWN—” Dorcas shouted, dragging her with her.
Barty swore, grabbing Regulus’s arm and pulling him back just as the spell shot past his shoulder—
—and then—
It hit.
Sirius Black froze.
Completely still.
The corridor seemed to inhale.
His body went rigid, eyes going distant—blank—like someone had pulled him out of himself entirely—
“Sirius?” Remus said, alarm sharp in his voice.
And then Sirius moved.
Slowly.
His expression softened—something unfamiliar, something raw and open and unprotected—
—and he started to sing.
Not loudly.
Not theatrically.
But with a quiet, aching kind of truth that made the air feel heavy.
“Schoolbag in hand, he leaves home in the early morning,” he said softly, voice steady but fragile in a way no one had ever heard before, “waving goodbye with an absent-minded smile.”
Silence fell like a blade.
Regulus stilled.
“I watch him go with a surge of that well-known sadness,” Sirius continued, gaze locked on him now, unwavering, “and I have to sit down for a while.”
James’s grin vanished.
Completely.
Remus looked like he’d been hit.
Lily’s hand came up to her mouth.
“The feeling that I’m losing him forever,” Sirius said, and his voice wavered just slightly, just enough to break something open in the room, “and without really entering his world.”
Regulus didn’t move.
Didn’t breathe.
“I’m glad whenever I can share his laughter,” Sirius said, softer now, something almost like a smile flickering through the sadness, “that funny little boy.”
Barty’s grip on Regulus tightened.
Evan went very, very still.
Pandora tilted her head, watching like she was witnessing something sacred.
“Slipping through my fingers all the time,” Sirius said, and now there was something desperate in it, something reaching, “I try to capture every minute.”
His voice cracked.
Just a little.
“The feeling in it,” he continued, quieter, “slipping through my fingers all the time.”
Regulus’s eyes burned.
“Do I really see what’s in his mind?” Sirius asked, almost to himself, almost like a confession dragged out of him, “each time I think I’m close to knowing—”
He swallowed.
“He keeps on growing,” he said, barely above a whisper now, “slipping through my fingers all the time.”
“Merlin,” Fabian breathed.
“No one—” Gideon started, then stopped.
“Sleep in our eyes, him and me at the breakfast table,” Sirius went on, gaze distant now, like he wasn’t in the corridor anymore, “barely awake, I let precious time go by.”
Regulus’s jaw clenched.
“Then when he’s gone, there’s that odd melancholy feeling,” Sirius said, and now there was guilt in it—thick, suffocating, “and a sense of guilt I can’t deny.”
“Fuck,” Marlene whispered.
“What happened to the wonderful adventures,” Sirius continued, voice tightening, “the places I had planned for us to go?”
Regulus’s hands curled into fists.
“Well, some of that we did, but most we didn’t,” Sirius said, and there it was—that quiet devastation, “and why, I just don’t know.”
Lily’s eyes were glassy.
Remus looked like he couldn’t breathe.
“Slipping through my fingers all the time,” Sirius said again, softer now, like he was trying to hold onto something already gone, “I try to capture every minute.”
James stared at him.
Like he didn’t recognise him.
“The feeling in it,” Sirius murmured, “slipping through my fingers all the time.”
Regulus’s vision blurred.
“Do I really see what’s in his mind?” Sirius asked again, voice trembling now, “each time I think I’m close to knowing—”
He looked at him.
Really looked.
“He keeps on growing,” Sirius said, barely holding it together now, “slipping through my fingers all the time.”
No one moved.
No one spoke.
“Sometimes,” Sirius said, and his voice dropped into something unbearably soft, “I wish that I could freeze the picture and save it from the funny tricks of time.”
Regulus’s breath hitched.
“Slipping through my fingers,” Sirius whispered, “slipping through my fingers all the time.”
The corridor felt too small.
Too full.
Too heavy with everything no one had ever said.
And then—
“Schoolbag in hand, he leaves home in the early morning,” Sirius finished, voice hollow now, “waving goodbye with an absent-minded smile.”
Silence.
Absolute.
Deafening.
Then—
“What the fuck was that?” Barty snapped, voice sharp and furious, but something underneath it—something unsettled—leaked through.
“James,” Lily said, dangerously calm, “what did you do?”
“I—” James started, then stopped, completely thrown. “I didn’t— I mean I did but I didn’t mean—”
“Obviously,” Marlene said, staring at Sirius like he was a different person entirely.
“Pads…” Remus said quietly.
Sirius didn’t move.
Didn’t speak.
Like the spell had wrung him out and left nothing behind.
And then—
Regulus moved.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
His eyes were bright—too bright—and his voice, when it came, was quiet and shaking with something sharp and dangerous.
“You don’t get to say that.”
The words cut.
Clean.
Final.
Everyone flinched.
Sirius blinked, like he was coming back into himself, like he’d just realised what had happened—what he’d said—
“Reg—”
“No,” Regulus snapped, stepping back, shaking his head. “No, you don’t get to— to stand there and— and sing like that fixes anything.”
“You left,” Regulus said, and there it was—raw, unfiltered, furious. “You left me there. You left me with them. You don’t get to act like I was slipping away when you’re the one who let go.”
The words hit harder than any spell.
James looked like he’d been punched.
Peter shrank back.
Alice reached for Frank’s hand.
Pandora’s smile faded, something softer taking its place.
Dorcas stepped closer to Regulus, steady and silent.
Evan’s expression darkened, sharp and protective.
Barty looked like he might actually start a fight.
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Pitt (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Frank Langdon & Trinity Santos
Characters: Frank Langdon, Trinity Santos, Trinity Santos' Mother, Frank Langdon's Father, Frank Langdon's Family, Original Langdon Family Characters (The Pitt), Original Santos Family Characters (The Pitt), Michael "Robby" Robinavitch, Dana Evans
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Canon Rewrite, Siblings, Protective Siblings, Frank Langdon and Trinity Santos are Siblings, Trinity Santos Needs a Hug, Frank Langdon Needs a Hug, Protective Frank Langdon, Hurt Frank Langdon, Hurt Trinity Santos, Trinity Santos Needs Therapy, Frank Langdon Needs Therapy, Past Child Abuse, Past Domestic Violence, Past Sexual Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Implied/Referenced Sexual Abuse, Growing Up Together, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst and Feels, Comfort/Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Baggage, Unresolved Emotional Tension, Mental Health Issues, Family Issues, Daddy Issues, Abandonment Issues, Reconciliation, Trinity Santos Has Allergies
Summary:
Frank Langdon has a little sister. A little sister that means the world to him. He will protect her at all costs. No matter what.
Trinity Santos had an older brother. He was her favorite person in the whole, wide world. She loved him more than anything.
Why do siblings cause the most pain without even trying?
Nobody talks about how difficult it is to be the youngest sibling in a family where you're the only one with a large age gap between yourself and the rest of your estranged siblings. I feel so left behind in so many ways.
Now some ground rules for the competition itself and nominations:
Only Fictional Characters Allowed!
Only submit a character set once! Please no cheating, We will do our best to include as many as I can
That being said we're still going to limit it to 2-3 sets from one source
As well as the finalists and semi-finalists cannot compete again, so sorry to ed, al, shadow, maria, jason todd, dick grayson, chara, asriel, and the ro'meave brothers, but they can't get in this year
Tragic Siblings are pretty self explanatory but its any tragic, estranged, or the like siblings!
HARD RULE ONE: no harrassment, being vitrilolic, so hateful or anything of the like or you will be blocked. We had a situation last year with a certain fandom and we DO NOT want any repeats of it. It genuinely killed both of our interests in the source and we aren't letting that situation happen again
HARD RULE TWO: Shipping any of the siblings involved in this is an instant block as well, this applies all around the board for all kinds of siblings!
Nominations will stay open until the March 19th
Enter your nominations for Second Tragic Sibling Showdown!
