Pieces of the People we Love [Charlie]

In all honesty, Charlie had half expected to never hear back from Jamison, it had been a weird, random thing to email someone about...'hey, this sounds weird but I think we're related, and you didn't know I existed because I've been a freezer for the past 60 years...'...it was probably not an email he'd have answered either. Yet the guy had, and they'd talked back and forth a little bit, then agreed to actually meet and see if this was for real, or if one or both of them were just crazy people.

Charlie had hung around the city long enough to know some good places around and had picked one out that wasn't in a shady part of town, but was out of the main elaborate and overpriced city core either. He was running a few minutes late, and hoped Jamison hadn't showed up too early and was sitting there getting annoyed with having to wait, but Charlie's easy pace didn't give away that he was running behind as he whistled a tune, hands stuck into his pockets as he wandered over.

There was only one guy sitting outside in the heat of the afternoon, and if he tilted his head and squinted slightly, he was pretty sure he could see his brother in the guy...of course, he wouldn't look exactly like Charlie's family...his brother had had a kid, who had a kid who...was there one more kid first, or this guy next? Well, something like that.

"Hey." He grinned as he approached the table. "You Jamison?"

He didn't exactly know what to expect from this guy, his memories of even his closest relatives were lost with most of whatever came before the big kaboom, so he really had no frame of reference as to how many greats this guy had before the 'Uncle', up until now he was sure he was the last Fawkes of his bloodline left, there was a part of him that was excited to find out that maybe that wasn't true, he wasn't always the most sentimental type, but it was nice to have family that would maybe actually talk to him. Mako didn't always make the best company for the chatty and energetic Australian.

He glanced up when he spotted the man approaching, returning his grin with his own toothy smile, "Ha! G'day there, mate!" He nodded, "yeh, so yew must be Charlie, then?" He looked him over up and down with a look what was a bit surprised, "y'know I know yeh said yew were iced but I still pictured yeh older...Yew can't be any older'n me!" He seemed amused by that, by the idea that his however many greats uncle was the same age, but he was a bit pleased for this, "yew kin jus' call me Jamie though, everyone an' their dog does!" He snickered, holding out a hand to shake his, "so shit...Wot year'd yew say yew was from?" He was a little bit wonderstruck by the fact that this guy came from pre-fucked Australia, "yew musta' seen everythin' before it got all buggered up!" He tilted his head, "where were yeh from, originally?"

Charlie took a step back, spreading his arms out as though letting Jamie inspect him for a moment. "I'm 26 in October..." he laughed. "Or I guess....86? I look fuckin' good for my age, huh?"

He shook the offered hand. "Cool, Jamie it is than." He agreed before stepping forward to take a seat, settling in and stretching back a bit comfortably, feeling his back pop a couple times and letting out a contented sigh as it did.

"Yeah, the put me in a box in 2008...saw a lotta shit before it got all...I guess like it is now? I mean, still a thousand fuckin' things down there that would'a loved to eat your fuckin' face...but there was a lotta good stuff too." He smiled a little fondly at the memory. "Came from Melbourne...that's where you came from before the bullshit?" He asked, curious if teh family had stayed there or moved on.

He laughed rather enthusiastically at that, nodding as he eyed him, "Yeh! Lookin' fuckin' ripe fer 86, mate! Yew look younger'n me an' yer fucking old as shit!" He squeezed his hand when he took his and grinned, "nice t'know I ain't th'only one'a my fam'ly left though, it really is...Thought mosta' yeh bought th'farm when it all went down." He smirked and snickered, "but I s'pose ain't nothin' ever been able t'kill us off completely!" He seemed incredibly amused by this, not really seeing the tragedy in the whole situation.

He whistled though when he gave the date, "Jesus Jumpin Christ, you really did see it way back when." He smirked, resting his chin in his hand, "yeh, doubt th'continent was any less uninviting and deadly, still though...Musta' been one hell of a diff'rent place...Yew been there since...Well wot happened?" At the question, he tilted his head, "My memory's a bit fucked, but nah, we lived out in th'brush..." He ran a hand through his hair, "weren't that far from where t'explosion happened. Think I was...Around seven?" He nodded, "sounds about right..." He gave the man a half smile and laugh, "sorry, I'm kinda all that's left I think..."

His expression turned a little more serious as Jamie talked about what was left out there now. Charlie shook his head a little. "I haven't been back, no...I haven't been back that long, outta the freezer I mean. And I kinda got warned off'a going back, I mean, fuck, it's not like I'll never go...I mean...part'a me wants to know, right? But...not yet." It was a sense of morbid curiosity that made him want to see what was left, stand on the ground and look at it with his own eyes. But the thought also left him uneasy, and it wasn't something he was overly eager to go do either.

"So...just you and me left, huh? Hopefully we don't end up fuckin' hatin' each other." He laughed. "That'd be fuckin' awkward."

He laughed, but inside he hoped that wouldn't happen, it would be nice to have family, even in this sort of weird way and he hoped they could at least be semi-friends when it was all said and done.

"So...what's it you do?" He asked. "you just happened to live 'round here or you travel or...basically what I mean, I guess tell me somethin' about you." He encouraged.

He looked up at him with a sort of grave expression, "I'll take yeh." He leaned his cheek into his hand with a thoughtful expression, "y'need t'see it...Or I think yeh do..." He looked up at him, "but it ain't good t'go alone if yeh don't know wot yer in for." He pursed his lips and looked him over, "men'll kill ye fer a scrap'a food out there now. It ain't home no more." There was a moment of silence from him before he cleared his throat, "so y'know...Yew get the bug t'go, I'll go with yeh." He left the topic at that, not wanting to drag the conversation even further down that hole.

He smirked again at his words and waved a hand, "Nah, yew seem too chill t'hate!" He laughed, "dunno if ye'll feel th'same about me after yeh spend enough time with me though." He wiggled the fingers on his metal hand with a grin, "hey least we match though, right? Both a bit patched together. S'fitting!"

At the question of his career, he became a bit shifty, clearing his throat, "weeell...Demolitions?" He coughed, "I blow shit up...Like...Big booms." He ran a hand through his hair, "look back through enough newspapers an' I'm sure ye'll see my ugly mug." He leaned in a little closer, "I'm of th'criminal sort. Wanted in just about every place a man kin be wanted." He snickered, "but yew didn't'ear that from me." He looked over at him curiously, "wot d'yew do?"

Sam's expression grew serious as Jamie talked about home. He could tell it was a difficult topic for him, for obvious reasons and he found himself oddly touched by the offer, something shared, something he needed to understand, a thing that connected them. He didn't answer, it was obvious Jamie didn't want to dwell on the topic, but he gave an acknowledging nod, deep and held low for a moment, someday...he would take him up on that offer. He would go, and see it, and understand. And work to see to it that nothing like it ever happened again, so no one else had to have their home utterly taken from them in such a horrific manner.

He let his attention go to his hand instead, surprisingly he found himself much more eager to talk about that, considering the previous topic. "Yeah...so this is a fuckin' thing." He agreed with a growing half-grin. "They're like...hey, we're gonna put a fuckin' robot hand on you...and I'm like, that's a fuckin' thing? Sure, I wanted to be a robot when I was what...five? But...that's a fuckin' thing now? Weird." He held up the hand, flexing the fingers. "Takes some getting used to..."


Charlie sat back and listened as Jamie explained what he did. "...huh." So he had family...who was an international criminal. Well, that's a thing. "Huh." he said again, still letting this sink in. "Right now don't do a whole lot. Learnin' how the whole fuckin' world works again, so that's taking up most of my time." He grimaced a little. "Used to do a whole lot of high tech robotics shit. Hope maybe I can get back into at least some of it someday...if I can find someone who'll hire me and let me explain away a 60 year employment gap..."

Jamie couldn't help a well meaning bout of laughter, nodding his agreement, "Yeh! It's a right fuckin' mess gettin' used to it!" He stuck his tongue out at him with a cheeky sory of look, "least yers is all fancy'n shit!" He looked over his own arm, "built mine outta scrap metal and shitty leftover omnic parts!" He turned to show him his leg, "this'n too, yew tend t'lose some bits and pieces when yew work with th'kinda shit I do!" He found himself enjoying Charlie's company, he seemed to have a sense of humor that could mesh with his own pretty well.

He looked interested when he began to detail what he was doing now, and what he'd been doing before being frozen, whistling, "no kiddin'?! So yer like real fuckin' smart! Cool shit, mate!" He grinned, "guess we're both in th'business of buildin' shit then, eh?" He grinned, looking at him with an eager smile, "I build explosives! All kinds! Rigged up this big ass old tire into a rollin' explosion machine!" He giggled with a childish glee that was sort of unhinged but no less enthusiastic, "Ah mate I'm glad yew contacted me." He said this with more sincerity, looking up at him, "I'm glad I got some family that'll actually talk t'me..."