I'll teach you everything I know (I promise, I'll do better)

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/36064225.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: Gen
Fandom: Into the Night (TV 2020)
Character: Dominik Oblonskaya, Zara Oblonskaya, Ayaz Kobanbay, Laura Djalo,
Ines Mélanie Ricci, Horst Baudin, Théa Bisset
Additional Tags: Pre-Season/Series 02
Language: English
Series: Part 3 of Into The Night Universe
Stats: Published: 2021-12-30 Words: 2,067 Chapters: 1/1

I'll teach you everything I know (I promise, I'll do better)

by chaos_magic

Summary

Dominik realises that family isn't always blood, it's who you choose.

And it's time to choose 'dad'.

Notes

Title is from the song 'Light' by Sleeping At Last.

See the end of the work for more notes

Lots of big words. Big, boring words.

That's all that Dominik heard anyway. He sighed as he swang his legs back and forth underneath
the table. The ambassadors spoke in such confusing words, and didn't even try to include him in
their conversation. He watched begrudgingly as they talked and talked and talked over their
breakfast. Théa had earlier kindly asked him a few simple questions about his day so far, but it was
nothing that the young boy found very entertaining.

He sighed again, and jabbed the last hotdog on his plate with his fork. At least the food was
interesting. He quickly finished eating and walked off to find some better company.

When Zara had become ill with a slight cold, Laura assured her that it was nothing to worry about.
Despite this, she was adamant that her son must be kept away from her, just to be on the safe side.
It was a sort-of quarantine arrangement, and as much as the mother hurt to be away from her son,
his health was a top priority- the last thing his struggling lungs needed was an infection. Besides,
she knew that he would be in the safe hands of Ayaz.

Dominik loved Ayaz.

Only, the man was currently busy doing maintenance work with some of the soldiers, so Dominik
was being cared for collectively by those left eating breakfast.

"Were the ambassadors boring you?" Laura smiled warmly as the young boy clambered into the
seat next to her. He nodded, holding his chin in his hands as he leaned onto the table. The action
made his helmet fall over his eyes, which caused the woman to chuckle.

"I was just talking to Ines about what her job used to be."

He looked up at the young women sitting opposite him with interest. Sylvie had said that Ines
worked on the internet, and he wondered if that meant she was a gamer. He used to love playing
video games, but he was never allowed to stay on the computer too long. That annoyed him.

Because now there's no video games at all.

"My mum wanted me to be a doctor or a teacher," Ines scoffed. "She wanted me to have a sensible
job, whatever that means."

Dominik's eyes lit up. He had always wanted to be a doctor, because it meant he would be able to
fix himself and all the other poorly children like him. He hoped his mum would be proud of him
for wanting to have, what Ines called, a 'sensible job'.

"What about your father?" Laura questioned.

"Oh Dad was the opposite, he encouraged me to DJ in the first place." The younger women smiled,
despite the slight sadness creeping into her voice.

"He sounded like a great man." Laura responded, with an equal tone of sadness, but perhaps not for
the same reason. She stared at her hands that lay limp beside her plate, not knowing what more to
say. They sat in a melancholy silence for a few minutes. Dominik found it awkward, but he knew
that it always happened when the adults talked about their families. They all got sad.

"Tell us about your family Dominik," the older women finally said, breaking the uncomfortable
pause with a forced smile. "Apart from your mother of course, we know all about her."

He had to think hard for a moment. Family had always been just him and mum, and they were a
great team. They didn't need anyone else when they had eachother. When the other children at
school bragged about their dads, cousins, siblings, aunties, uncles, grandparents... it only used to
hurt a little bit. Although, the more he thought about it, the lonlier he felt. He had never had to
think about it this hard before.

"I never really ever knowed any of them."

He bowed his head pitifully.

"Oh, that's okay Dominik." Laura said quickly, placing a comforting hand on the child's back.

"And like... we can be your family." Ines chirped up. She looked at Laura, who nodded
encouragingly.

"That's right."
"I can be your big sister, or big cousin, whatever you prefer." The younger women rambled.

"And I can be your favourite auntie." Laura grinned.

Ines snorted.

"Why are you his favourite?"

Dominik giggled, and after a long discussion, was able to finally admit to the women that "Auntie
Laura is my favourite because she looks after us when we're poorly, but Auntie Sylvie is pretty
cool too."

After the plates were cleared and the conversations had moved on, Dominik was still stuck in a
daydream, happily thinking about his new family. He'd never had aunties and uncles in his life
before, let alone a cousin; and although there were no longer other children to brag to, he knew that
his family would of been the coolest of them all. One of his uncles could fly planes, and one of his
aunties could fly helicopters. No one in his class had said that before.

But something that the other children in his class had talked about were their fathers.

And Dominik didn't have one of those.

Yet.

"Who will be my dad?" He questioned suddenly, which caused the two women, who were
previously engaged in their own quiet conversation, to jump. They looked at each other briefly
before turning back to face the boy.

"Dominik.. that's up to you to decide." Laura said, placing her hands gently on the child's shoulders.
He furrowed his brow. "Why don't you ask around and see who's up for the job?"

He thought for a moment, before nodding enthusiastically and racing out the cafeteria. He knew his
mum hated when he ran, but he didn't care; running was fun. Besides, he wanted to get to his
favourite place as quickly as possible.

The laboratory.

He swang open the door.

"Mr Horst, can you be my dad?"

The man, who was studying a tray of what seemed to be fungal growths on his desk, looked up,
startled. He faced the child standing before him with a puzzled expression.

"Sorry, what was that?"

Dominik sighed impatiently. He always tried to be well-behaved, but sometimes it was tricky.

"I said, can you be my dad?"

Horst blinked, his eyes seemed suddenly wider, and he shuffled awkwardly in his seat. Dominik
noticed how his hands fiddled with the button on his shirt as he opened his mouth hesitantly to
speak.

"Well, you see Dominik, that's not how mums and dads work... biologically speaking."
The boy let out a verbal groan of frustration and threw his head back. He hated being
misunderstood.

"I'm not dumb you know."

The man pinched the bridge of his nose and stared sheepishly at the floor.

"Right... yes. Sorry"

They remained in silence for a minute before Horst cleared his throat.

"It's time for me to get to work, how about you draw a picture? I found some more crayons..."

Dominik wasn't listening. His eyes had drifted to the dusty clock on the wall; it looked like a very
old clock, but it still worked. He already knew it was time for everyone to work because it was 9
o'clock.

Mr Ayaz had taught him how to tell the time not long ago.

Mr Ayaz.

Ayaz.

He gasped. Dominik couldn't believe he hadn't thought of him first.

Ayaz, the man who made him a new oxygen tube when the old one broke... Ayaz, the man who
carried him all the way to the bunker... Ayaz, the man who looks after his mum and makes sure
she's happy too...

It had to be him.

Horst had noticed the boy's shocked expression, but before he could question it the child was
already sprinting down the corridor. He sighed and returned his field of vision to the fungus
samples on the desk.

Science was easier to understand than children.

Meanwhile, Dominik was scrambling to the room where Ayaz had told him earlier that he was
departing to. Apparently, the soldiers were lifting storage shelfs in the hall, so needed a strong man
like Mr Ayaz to assist. Dominik hoped that if he did lots of PE in the gym, that he'd become big
and strong too- all his life he'd been described as 'weak' by doctors and medical professionals, and
he wanted that to change.

When he finally arrived at his desired destination, he stood determinedly in the doorway. He was
slightly out of breath from the journey, but looked eager nevertheless. From peering around, he
could see almost twenty soldiers all crammed in the small room, shifting heavy pieces of furniture
around the space.

"Mr Ayaz I need you!" He called out over the noisy movement of the men.

"What's the kid doing here?" A blonde soldier questioned, smirking at a peer from behind a shelf.

"No idea. Do we tell him to fuck off?"

They started to laugh, but the soldiers' jeering was cut short when a tall man broke through the
commotion.
"Mr Ayaz!"

Dominik ran towards the man in question with a grin on his face; a face that Ayaz was more than
happy to see. The company of just the soldiers alone was draining him, and their inappropriate
jokes and gestures made him feel sick to his stomach.

"Hello Dominik, what are you doing here? You know your mother doesn't like you wandering off
alone." Despite his lecturing tone, he looked down at the boy fondly.

"Mr Ayaz, I need to ask you something important."

Dominik tugged on the man's sleeve in earnest.

Ayaz furrowed his brow, but respected Dominik's seriousness.

"That's okay Dominik, but let's step outside first."

The pair made their way out the room, away from the spiteful minds and rude mouths of the
soldiers. Ayaz crouched down to meet the boy's eye-level, a gesture he hoped would soothe the
child.

"What is it you want to ask?"

Dominik cleared his throat.

"Mr Ayaz, will you be my dad?"

It was as if the floor gave way. Ayaz felt the air get knocked out of him from the question alone,
and a mass of heat rising in his chest.

"You... want me to be your dad?"

The young boy nodded eagerly; his eyes wide with admiration. Ayaz swallowed loudly, and
thought for a moment.

"Dominik, I'm truly honoured. But I'm not sure your mother would approve of such a thing."

There was a pause.

Ayaz had said no, but rather than look defeated, Dominik remained brave. With now an almost
pleading look on his face, he placed a small hand on the man's arm.

"It's okay. You did a bad thing Mr Ayaz-"

"Right."

He bowed his head shamefully.

"But me and mum forgive you."

Ayaz looked up quickly, the guilt in his eyes immediately shifting to gratitude.

"Thank you."

"My real dad did bad things too, but we don't forgive him. He said I should of died."

The boy blinked sadly, whilst Ayaz balled his fists and grit his teeth. Zara had told him such stories
 about her previous relationship, and he could not fathom how a man was able to display such
cruelty to a poor, sick boy and his struggling mother. It was nothing short of pure evil.

"But you always save the day when something goes bad. My mum says you're our hero."

Ayaz' anger dissolved at the word 'hero', and it suddenly felt as if light was radiating from his
chest.

"Does she now?"

Dominik nodded and smiled brightly, the sheer innocence on the boy's face causing the light inside
Ayaz' chest to explode.

"Then I suppose.. yes Dominik. I will be your dad, you strong boy."

Dominik gasped with elation and immediately wrapped his arms around the man, his face plastered
with a wide smile that looked like it'd never go away. Ayaz responded hesitantly at first, still in
shock from their agreement, before tightening the embrace. He felt warm tears trickle down his
face.

He wasn't aware that he was crying before, but he didn't have room to care. The gift of fatherhood
was already filling in the emptiness he had felt within his heart, and all he could focus on was
cherishing the little life that had given him this honour.

"I'll teach you everything I know."

He sniffed, before pulling away and meeting the young boy's joyful eyes.

"And I'll never let anything happen to you."

End Notes

Hope you enjoyed. <3

I'm aware that this is a very small fandom so if anyone is reading this, then hello!

How are you feeling about the spin-off that's been announced 'Into The Deep'?
And what are your thoughts on season 3? Will it be renewed by Netflix? (fingers crossed)!

Please drop by the archive and comment to let the author know if you enjoyed their work!