though lars might not have been aware, there were several mahers running around. in fact, it was a fairly well-known name in rustboro. the three maher boys, boruta and his twin brothers CIAN MAHER and caden maher , had done well in sports during school, and had gone on to do great things. caden had become a successful doctor. bo and cian had been making their names in the league. 

they were not unknowns, at least in their own city, which made it all the more shocking for the public to learn the dark history that no one had been aware of.

bo would be exactly where his boss sought to find him. he looked up from the work at his desk, utterly solemn. nothing changed in his expression, but his heart sunk.

he’d been waiting for this, only wondering how long it would take to happen.

”sir.”

Laurence Anderson

☉

what’s the matter? what kind of question was that?

bo peered up at him skeptically. he supposed if lars really didn’t know what had happened, there was no point in dragging out the inevitable. he would find out, sooner than later.

but it was in the quietness of his greeting, in the way he took a seat for the conversation ahead. he knew.

”i guess i figure you might be here to fire me.”

and that was hardly the worst of it.

Laurence Anderson

☉

the question was a big surprise. how could he not be fired? exactly what deal had CIAN MAHER struck with the league, anyways? if only they’d known exactly what he’d done. then, surely, it’d be over for him.

then, bo realized perhaps lars hadn’t heard the whole story, the bit about the whole family being in rocket. the relief fell right back out of his chest. what now? wait until he found out?

he opted to rip off the bandaid.

”you listen to the whole thing? my whole family was in. me included.” he paused, eyes dropping to his desk. ”i left three years ago, before i joined the rangers. i’ve done everything since then to make up for it, but… can only run from the past for so long, right?”

Laurence Anderson

☉

bo had known of one or two ex-rocket rangers, but they had all been under his rank. he hadn’t known about Sénon Game ’s past. now, the man who had put faith in him would know of his own. he dreaded any judgment, and all the feelings of an imposter. had he lied, for not telling the whole truth? for taking trust that was undeserved?

even though he’d known of a former-rocket presence, he had not expected the head ranger to also be aware of it—and much less to be related to someone also involved.

who was it? what was the relation?

”you do?” the surprise in his voice was evident, a small break in his moroseness.

Laurence Anderson

☉

he shook his head. ”no, i don’t talk to any of them anymore.” and that lie was so easy, it came out of his mouth before he could even think about it. maybe it was a maher thing.

he didn’t know who father bill was, though. that much was true.

”yeah.” pretty much all bo did at home was watch the news and the battle channels. If nothing else, he was up to date on the going-ons.

”did he do it?”

Laurence Anderson

☉

”yeah, that’s a good question.” where had the money come from? bo was no detective, but he assumed that piggy bank had been empty for a long while.

now that lars mentioned it, he did remember the brief time during which bill anderson had filled the council seat. he had never thought anything of it, and known close to nothing about the man—until now.

it was not surprising that this could happen in hoenn. all bo had to do was turn a mirror on himself. he thought of the smiles, though rare, he’d had at that bar in sootopolis, drinking beer with a family friend.

the reflection he wished to shatter like glass merely rippled under his efforts, the deceptive face of a bottomless pool he could never hope to empty.

”so… how’d you find out? or is it still just, y’know, suspicions?”

Laurence Anderson

☉

seedy-looking.

”ah.”

he twiddled his thumbs briefly, looking around his desk as though for the next proper thing to say. truthfully, he wanted to stand and walk out. to go home, and perhaps go to sleep finally, for a very long, long time, and deal with this next month—or never.

but it was happening. karma was here. this wasn’t judgment, lars claimed, but wasn’t it? had to be. he would always be a criminal. there was no escaping the past.

”i’m sorry to hear about your family, lars. i hope you get answers soon.” but really, if he knew anything, it was that some answers didn’t do anyone any good.

Laurence Anderson

☉