[en!fic] Michiko & Hatchin – Michiko & Hatchin – PG | Bargaining chip

[malurette]

Title: Bargaining chip
Author: malurette
Fandom: Michiko & Hatchin
Characters/Pairing: Michiko(/Hiroshi), Hana
Rating: PG / K+
Disclaimer:

Prompt: "blackmail" for ladiesbingo
Word count:

***
To Michiko Malandro, little Hana Morenos is--at first at least--a means to an end: to get back at Hiroshi Morenos, or rather get him back.
Hana is a bargaining chip.
Imagine that, come swooping in, proclaiming
See! I brought you your daughter back, take me back also to prove you’re grateful!
or,
I brought back your daughter that you abandoned
that you didn’t know you had
(that you didn’t exactly want in the first place)
take me back or you’ll never see her again!
(you never bothered to get her yourself, why would you even want her back. He does, he has to.)
I brought your daughter back, take me back or everyone’ll know you’re a bad father!!
(you’ve never been a father in the first place.)

She squishes those thoughts. It’s not like she should need blackmail in the first place. Or at all.
Hiroshi is a nice guy. Hiroshi doesn’t need blackmail, he’ll take them both back happily.
(but what if he doesn’t, what if he needs a bit of prompting? He didn’t come back for either of them after all. Well he was injured. He was on the run. He couldn’t have broken her out of prison. He should have broken Hana out of that awful place. And didn’t.)

That poor thing always’ been a piece of property anyway.
The babe tattooed so soon after birth and her own parent is responsible for that.
Irresponsible as it is, Michiko claims it’s an act of love: that is what done to claim her as part of the family, to include her in the clan. To get such a distinctive mark was to insure that she wouldn’t get accidentally switched with another child, or, were she to get accidentally lost it would allow to identify her easily.
And it worked!!
Michiko can waltz by and pick her up without mistake. What other child would bear such a decoration?
(but it’s rather like marking cattle and what about the pain hundreds of needles piercing her young skin inflicted?)

Hana is a burden Michiko has to drag her along. She has keep her safe, keep her fed, keep her warm. And as half-assed as her efforts may be it will always be better than being abused as she was by that sick preacher and his awful family--not that he set the bar very high.
A child is a person you have to wholly take care of.

Hatchin is a whole person, young and small but capable and full of emotions.

Hatchin is a wonderful person and she deserves better than her previous foster home, but also better than a deadbeat father and a no good mother.

Hatchin means more and more to Michiko. She’ll save her no matter what.
She deserves a beautiful future.
She can’t keep dragging her along while fleeing from the law. Michiko would love to keep her alongside on an endless road trip and see her grow up. But she knows she can’t, and she promised she would reunite her with Hiroshi.

Hatchin made her a better person.

Someday, when it’s time, whenever she’s able to, she’ll find her again.

Hatchin is the person she looks forward to to get through her sentence.

Hatchin could maybe be a new weakness Michiko’s old associates could use her to blackmail her--how the tables have turned--but she knows it won’t happen: no matter what she won’t let it happen!

Comments

[flo_nelja]

Oooh j'avais raté cette fic, j'aime beaucoup ! J'aime commetn tu indiques les conflits intérieurs de Michiko, ses sentimùents mêlés sur Hiroshi - mais pas sur Hana.

[malurette]

Merci ! honnêtement j'ai eu l'impression d'y aller un peu à l'aveuglette et de tricher avec l'interprétation du prompt, mais c'était un chouette défi à relever.