DC Headcanon's 6: Sparkle Sparkle!

Lost Parts of History

abuse mention tw

Kentucky sat on the back porch, sucking in some smoke and blowing it out into the wind. Virignia and West Virginia didn't know what was going on with his brother; in the morning he had set out with the best of intentions somewhere he didn't even tell Georgia where he was off too. But he returned a few hours later, and had been sitting on the porch ever since miserably staring out at the backyard, already going through two cigarettes and working on his third.

Virginia pushed West forward to talk to him first, but West glared at his older brother making him sigh and step out onto the back porch. Kentucky didn't acknowledge his presence, just kept puffing away looking at the swaying trees.

"Hey Ken, how are ya?" Virginia asked. Kentucky stayed silent just blowing his smoke out. Virginia sighed and sat down next to his brother, letting him smoke a little bit more before hearing him speak.

"I met some family today." Kentucky whispered.

"Oh." Virginia gasped, the weight of Kentucky's words hitting him. Not just any family, his biological family. He looked behind him at West peeking his head out and Virginia gestured for him to join them, waiting for Kentucky to speak again.

"My...great-great niece is...." Kentucky sighed. "She's a new...clerk worker at the governor's office. I ran into her today, and knew right away she's my brother's great-great granddaughter."

"What's she like?" West asked and Kentucky snorted.

"We talked for a bit, didn't know who I was, not that I didn't expect that." Kentucky muttered, tossing the butt of his cigarette off. Virginia swallowed hard, that was a bad sign. Kentucky wasn't saying something, however, something was hanging in the air and while Virginia wasn't going to press his brother, he needed to know.

"Was she...."

"Heard her go into one of the offices, talkin' 'bout moving up the ladder just like her hero Majorie Taylor Green did." Kentucky muttered. Virginia and West each let out a held breath. That just sealed it.

"Ken..."

"It's nice to know even my family right now would've hated me, even in this century." Kentucky muttered, reaching into his back pocket for another cigarette.

"No, no more." Virginia ordered grabbing his brother's arm. "Smoking yourself to death won't fix anything."

"We can't die." Kentucky pointed out.

"He's got a point, Ginia." West added. Virginia rolled his eyes.

"Ken, I don't think your entire family would've hated you...."

"Really? You don't think that?" Kentucky asked. "My youngest sister was one when I was kicked out, you don't think they didn't brainwash her into hating her homosexual older brother?"

"What I think Ginia is saying." West announced cutting in. "Is that, generations later you might have one or two family members who wouldn't hate you." Silence fell among the three as Kentucky sighed and looked back up at the blue sky.

"I still wish I could've....punched my dad...." Kentucky muttered.

"We all wish we could've punched our dads, I think Georgia's the only one of us with a good relationship with their dad." Virginia pointed out.

"No, no Florida had a pretty good one with his." Kentucky added. He sighed and stood up, not making it any further then he had and instead leaned against one of the poles of the porch.

"Dad was just....so angry. I can still sometimes...."

"Ken, you don't have to talk about it." West said quickly going over to Kentucky's side.

"No I do. I do." Kentucky muttered, shaking his head. "I can still sometimes repeat the Bible verses he used to beat me over the head with. I can still smell the stench of the...." The southern state paused, making Virginia jump up.

"Ken stop it, you don't have to keep going." Virginia ordered.

"Please tell me I didn't turn out like him." Kentucky begged, hugging himself tight. Instantly Virginia engulfed him in his arms, letting him settle against his shoulder. He couldn't even imagine what it was like with the states who technically didn't have home countries or were colonies once before. Born to families expecting a normal child but when the child stopped aging, or couldn't get injured. He never asked Kentucky how his parents found out he was a state, and he dared never ask, but he assumed his kicking out had less to do with him being gay and more about him being immortal.

"You didn't Ken, you didn't." Virginia whispered. "You were never like him."

"I inherited his taste for alcohol...."

"And so what? You conquered that. You're now clean and sober for several decades. That's something he could never claim!" Virginia pointed out.

"Well for one thing he's dead." West mumbled, holding his hand up in defense when Virginia glared at him.

"You know what I mean." Virginia said, rolling his eyes, making Kentucky pick his head back up. "You're not your father. You conquered your need for alcohol, you're a wonderful husband, you're a great father. You're nothing like that man. You hear me?" Kentucky sighed and nodded, wiping his tears.

"I have a better family here." Kentucky whispered.

"And we haven't killed each other yet." West announced making Kentucky finally laugh.

"Give it time, we have decades to go." Kentucky said, making Virginia laugh. He engulfed his brother in another hug, joined by West, the Virginia Family Company silently enjoying each other's comfort. Finally Kentucky broke the hug, smiling at his brothers.

"I'm glad I'm stuck you pains in my ass." Kentucky said with a smile.

"And you always will be." Virginia announced nudging his brother.

"Unless more of us separate from you." West added, which was the final straw as Virginia playfully wrestled West to the ground. Kentucky laughed as his brothers fought, if not for his bad knee he would've joined them.

Their past didn't matter as long as they had each other.