Hamish took the steps three at a time and banged on the back door to the little apartment he'd been told Honey used as an adjunct office.  It was late at night and he was soaking wet, but adrenaline coursed through his veins, keeping his heavy eyelids wide open.  After a few more open hand slaps on the flimsy wooden door he shrugged and kicked the door down.  He didn't have time for games, enough of it had been wasted already and he needed to get back on course when it came to the business he ran with his little brother.  

The door splintered easily after a few sharp kicks and he pushed past the debris, into the office.  It was dark and he began to doubt his plan.  It was a weeknight and Honey was unlikely to be out around town.  He groped for a light and shinned himself on a desk chair.  

"Shit!" he cried as he reached to grab his leg.  After a few quiet gasps he let go and found a lamp and turned it on, the soft yellow light filling the office.  Other than a heavy pine desk and the chair he had just stumbled into there was nothing.  Hamish looked around in confusion and turned to leave before he noticed a dusty envelope on the floor.  Honey's neat script adorned the front. It was addressed to him.  Hamish hastily tore into the paper and slid out several pieces of creamy paper, a key and a sheaf of crisp bills. 

"Hamish, I'm writing this letter in the hopes that God preserved you and somehow, some way, you find your way back home.  After you were stabbed things in DT got hot and with no body to bury and no leads I decided I needed a new start.  I can only hope you come upon this letter and come back to me.  Enclosed is a key to the house in case you need a place to stay.  I also left you enough cash for you to procure a new suit and to get a train ticket cross country.  I've been given and exciting new start in Las Vegas and God willing, you will be with me soon." 

It was signed with Honey's legal name and included an embossed business card with Honey's new address.  With a sigh Hamish tucked the letter in his pocket and decided to patch up the door and sleep in the office that night. 

The next morning Ham walked into town and got a new suit, a good breakfast and a copy of the morning news.  He made his way to the train station and bought a ticket and sipped coffee at the station's cafe while he read.  After a several hour wait he boarded the westbound train with nothing but his ticket and the change in his pocket. 

Honey had been inconsolable the first few days after his brothers disappearance, barely functioning through business talks and the sham of a funeral he’d been forced to attend. After a week or so and a bracing talk of things to come, he had broken free of the cloud that had encompassed him. He clung to the slightest hope that Ham had survived and even as he had been offered a change in pace in Las Vegas, he wrote the note with the hope that his brother would read it and follow him. As he was packing up, his friend Taylor came to visit him, offering one last chance to stay in Detroit. He was grateful for the offer though he felt he was needed across the states to be closer to Los Angeles where business was booming. Handing the keys of the tea shop to Taylor, he patted his friend on the shoulder for the last time. 
 

“I’m so proud of what we’ve built here in Detroit. I know you’re going to make it big here in the city. Don’t forget to look me up if you ever come to Vegas. I hear there’s a lot of potential out there for expansion.” 
 

After he said his goodbyes to the motor city and packed up his belongings and cat, he drove out of town, putting Michigan and the pain of losing his only family in America behind him. Sure he still had to look for Cherry, but she didn’t even know he existed. It took an exhausting week to drive cross country to Nevada. The main thoroughfare of the city was just getting started in its reputation for being a hot bed for gambling and the type of business that he was involved in. 
 

Within a month he had a new home, a decent size office, and the beginnings of a new cafe so he could continue to peddle his tea and newly expanded coffee lines. Busy as he was, he kept holding on to the hope that the next patron who walked into his shop would be his lanky, sarcastic, loud mouthed brother.

The train ride west was long and exhausting, especially since Hamish had held some money back for food and hadn't sprung for a sleeper car.  By the time he arrived in Nevada he was absolutely wrecked.  He took the last dregs of the change in his pocket and hailed a cab, finally arriving at the address Honey had left him in the letter.  All he wanted to do was sleep forever but he smoothed the deepest wrinkled out of his slacks and walked down the block.  What if Honey wasn't here either?  He coughed and rubbed his eyes, squinting in the early morning sun to read the sign on the cafe. 

So Oolong and Thanks for All the Fish Cafe and Coffee House

Hamish took a deep breath and opened the door to the glorious smell of coffee brewing.  Before he could even look for Honey he heard the jingle jangle of tiny silver bells as Oolong, the cat he had saved, ran up to him and mewed.  He must be home. 

Oolong had been restless all day long, peering out of the window and meowing as though he could sense someone that wasn’t there. Currently, he was busy having a battle wits with his little sister and the two of them were tussling in the back room. Honey had enough and came out to separate the two of them when the older cat bolted gin for the door. This time there was a patron for Oolong to greet and Honey turned to look at the gaunt figure that had stooped to pet the cat.

“Ham? Hamish?! You...you got my letter!”

He was screaming at this point, not caring that he had knocked over a half a bag of Ceylon tea. He embraced his brother, swinging him around as tears streamed down his face. 

Hamish hugged his brother tight, wincing a little at the strength of the embrace.  He barked out a laugh as Honey set him down.

"Since when did you become the big brother?"  He bent to scoop up Oolong and noticed a new cat wind around Honey's legs.  "And a new cat to boot?  I thought you said you dinnae like cats?"  He winked and fussed over Oolong, finally putting the purring puss down on the rich tile floor.  "And when did ye start going by your proper name?"  He gestured up at the menu board where in gilt letters it read "Robert McCrannon, proprietor."   

"It looks like a lot changed, and I don't even feel like I've been gone that long."  But he had been gone a long time and he knew it.  Over a year had passed since his near fatal stabbing in Detroit and he had been looking for himself long before he had gone looking for his little brother.  He gestured to the bar and nodded.  "Will ye get me a cuppa and we'll talk?" 

Honey ducked his head at the mention of his proper name and reached for the card. With Ham gone, almost nobody continued to call him by his nickname. And perhaps it was getting a little embarrassing that he, a grown man, was getting called a name that was often considered an affectionate name between lovers. 

"Just felt it was time for a change after...you disappeared."

He had paused, considering the fact that he too had his own brush with death. Not long after his move to Las Vegas, the world of crime had been shaken by a multi-level systematic takedown of almost everyone at the top. He had spent almost six months in isolation, growing out a beard and his hair, and returning to his regular name as a way to rebrand himself. Once he'd felt it safe, he'd started up again independently and eventually bringing his business back better than ever. As he poured a cup of tea for Hamish, he glanced at the letter that had arrived from Detroit just that morning. Taylor was inviting him back to Michigan and he was sorely tempted to accept. 

"I'm glad to see you, I really am. You have no idea how lonely I've been. The cats have been great company but they can't hold a candle to a real person." 

He took a sip of his tea and closed his eyes, trying to hold back the stupid tears that kept tingling his nose and eyes. 

Hamish quickly took Robert in his arms and gave him a good hard slap on the back.  He knew Robert didn't like tearing up in public, so he gave him something else to think about.  After a rousing round of pats that left his hand stinging he pushed back and grinned.  

"I was so soused all of the time I never really got a nice big cup of your custom tea!  Come on and get us a pot.  Also, I noticed you said cats, plural?  When did you get another kitty?"  

Robert had glared through his tears, a brother gesture to show he annoyed at the man handling, but he went back to the kitchen and pottered around, finally coming out with a brown betty and two mugs.  Hamish warmed his hands on the rounded sides of the traditional English tea pot and reluctantly let Robert pour them two cups of tea.  

"This teapot might be the only good thing ta come out of England." Hamish said as he blew on his tea, Robert nodded and poured milk into Hamish's mug. 

"It looks like I might be headed back to Detroit.  If you don't have anywhere else to go, do ya wan'ta come?"  Hamish thought for a few minutes, letting the silence settle around the two like steam.  Finally he spoke. 

"You're my only family Robert, and where you are, I am.  If Detroit is where we need to be, then let's go!"