He Ain't Heavy - Mick/Leonard - returned AU

[bringstheheat]

".. so what are you telling me?"

Nate's voice is bright with excitement, the same earnest delight when he's uncovered another unknown facet of history. "You asked me to look into Lincoln, so I did. I started with the bigger stuff, you know, arrested for the murder of the Vice President's brother, later exonerated--"

"I know all that. I got that from Gideon. You said you had something new?"

"Just wait, hang on." There's a shuffling of papers before he pulls out the right information. "Here. Lincoln was adopted by Aldo Burrows when he was young. The adoption happened in Keystone." A pause. Nothing? Okay. "Mick, Lincoln was adopted when his family burned to death in a fire. The old Rory farm."

"What're you saying?"

"Mick. The reason Lincoln looked so much like you, like identical, is because he was your brother. Aldo Burrows adopted him out of Keystone right after the fire killed your family. Not everyone died in the fire."

Brother.
All these years and Mick never even knew.

As he stumbles out of the library, intent on a drink or ten, he doesn't notice if anyone might have been standing nearby.

He had a brother.
His brother had looked out for Leonard and then went off and died for him without even knowing how they were tied together.

Jesusfuck.

Comments

[mypriority]

"Lincoln was adopted."

"in Keystone."

"He was your brother."

"Not everyone died in the fire."

Mick may not have put it together so quickly, but Leonard felt the impact of it with the first mention of adoption. That's what had him stopping outside the library, listening to the conversation going on inside. The rest of it was just brick after brick to the gut of information. So, he isn't surprised by the way Mick fumbles his way out of the library, barely managing his footing-- it's a lot, and it's heavy, and Leonard has no idea what to do with it himself.

He stands, rooted to the spot, staring at Mick. He doesn't even know what to say, so his mouth takes over and works of its own accord instead. "Let's go get a drink." It was the easiest place to start.