Imagine Book 2

Fortunate Family- Violet Baudelaire (Series of Unfortunate Events)

Male Y/N

The news reached Y/N on a particularly gloomy Tuesday morning. He had been tinkering with his latest project - a self-adjusting wrench that could sense the size of any bolt - when his phone rang. The conversation he overheard between two acquaintances on the other end of the line made his blood run cold: the Baudelaire children were being sent to live with Count Olaf.

Y/N had never met his nieces and nephew, but he knew enough about Count Olaf to understand this was a terrible mistake. His brother, their father, had spoken of Olaf with disdain during their many late-night conversations over brandy and engineering journals. "A theatrical man with theatrical ambitions," he'd said, "and not the good kind."

Setting down his prototype with trembling hands, Y/N grabbed his coat. His modest home's workshop, filled with half-finished inventions and mechanical curiosities, would have to wait. The children needed him, even if they didn't know it yet.

The drive to Count Olaf's residence was tense. Y/N's knuckles whitened against the steering wheel as he rehearsed what he would say. He hadn't been there for the children after their parents' death - he'd been in South America, working on a hydroelectric dam project, unreachable for weeks. But he was here now.

Count Olaf's house loomed before him, a decrepit tower of architectural bad decisions. Y/N straightened his tie, checked his reflection in the rearview mirror, and stepped out into the misty morning air. The door knocker - a heavy brass thing shaped like a leering face - seemed to mock him as he announced his presence.

The door creaked open to reveal Count Olaf himself, tall and imposing with that single eyebrow that seemed to contain all the menace in the world. "Yes?" he drawled, clearly annoyed at the interruption.

"I'm Y/N Baudelaire," he stated firmly, watching Olaf's expression shift from annoyance to calculated interest. "I'm here about my nieces and nephew."

"Ah, the orphans," Olaf said with a theatrical wave of his hand. "They're mine now, legally speaking. Their fortune- I mean, their care has been entrusted to me."

Behind Olaf, Y/N caught a glimpse of movement - three children, huddled together at the top of a staircase. The eldest, a girl with long dark hair, was watching the exchange intently. That must be Violet, he thought, remembering his brother's proud letters about his inventive daughter.

"I'm their closest living relative," Y/N declared, pulling out documentation he'd hastily gathered. "I'm an engineer, financially stable, with a proper home. I've come to take custody of them."

What followed was an hour of heated discussion, thinly veiled threats, and legal document examination. Count Olaf's resistance was fierce - he had his eyes set on the Baudelaire fortune - but Y/N had come prepared. When the children were finally consulted, their choice was immediate and unanimous. They would go with their uncle.

As they gathered their few belongings, Y/N noticed Violet lingering by a window, staring at something in her hands. It was a ribbon - the one she used to tie back her hair when thinking about inventions, he would later learn.

The drive home was quiet but not uncomfortable. Klaus, the middle child, had his nose buried in a book he'd brought. Little Sunny dozed in a makeshift car seat Y/N had quickly engineered from spare parts in his trunk. And Violet... Violet kept stealing glances at the various mechanical modifications Y/N had made to his car.

"Did you design that automatic gear shift?" she finally asked, breaking the silence.

Y/N smiled, pleased she'd noticed. "I did. The standard one was inefficient. This version reads engine temperature and road conditions to optimize shifting points."