The One Where Shade Calls Her Mom

CW: Parental emotional neglect and abuse

TL;DR - Hana calls her mom, Anna Kerrigan, to check in after the S4 finale stuff. Her mom is rude about it, and Hana feels bad because of the way she's talked to. She ends up lying about her future plans just to get the call done with, and it's over when her mom has to do more stuff at work.

7:30 PM, June 8th, 2020
Hana sat on the edge of her bed, staring at her phone. The screen showed a contact, 'Mom' with the call button just staring right back at her. With a loud 'Aggghhhhh' she fell backwards onto the bed to instead stare at the ceiling.
Sledge said it was a good idea. Somewhere in her head, Hana still cared, still wanted her mom to care. If she did, wouldn't they have talked in the last few months? At all? It took her two weeks to even realize Hana had moved out, and then it was just 'Oh great stay safe, guess I can cancel the cable now.'
"Like I ever actually watched cable. Psh" Hana says to herself, turning on to her side. Her face rested in its usual scowl, with a hint of something more in the blues of her eyes. She stared at the floor, still unable to work up the courage to just push 'Call.' It would be easier if she knew her mom didn't care. It would be easier if she totally cared, heck, she'd probably have gotten a call in the middle of her fight with Cheeser. That was her nickname to make fun of former chief O'Reily, since he'd had the magical idea to wear a Rubicon suit styled like Caesar.
It was not knowing that kept her from doing it. Not knowing if she cared, not knowing why she'd barely been around her whole life, not knowing anyone else in her family. It sucked. She sighed again and turned onto her back. Lifting the phone up once more, she gritted her teeth and pressed the button, then brought it to her head.
It rang a few times, almost to voicemail, before the line picked up. Hana sat up in the bed, blinking a bunch, not sure why she was surprised her mom answered.
"Ugh, yeah what?" Other voices and sounds were in the background. An office? Was she still at work? Seriously? She'd waited this long so she wouldn't be there.
"H-hey, it's me" Hana said, biting her lip out of nervous habit.
"Huh?" A few moments passed. Each one hurt. "Oh! Hana. Why are you calling me at work?"
Hana gave a sigh. "I thought you'd be done by now. It's seven thirty"
"I know it's seven thirty. People are gone by now so I get more done this late. I told you that before."
"...right. Uh, sorry. I just...a bunch of stuff went down Saturday all over the city, our team had a ton of stuff to handle and I just...wanted to make sure you were okay"
A muffled sound came through, like she'd covered her part of the phone to talk to someone else. "Yeah I know stuff happened, why do you think I'm so busy? There's hundreds of insurance claims coming in every hour and we have to handle them. You heroes have to be so destructive, you know how difficult it makes stuff for us? Ugh. Anyway, yeah, I'm alive. Sounds like you are too. That's good."
Hana blinked a few times. "Yeah...yeah I'm alive, mom. You know we haven't talked since February, right?"
"No, no, it hasn't been that long, that's ridiculous. Don't lie like that and try to make me feel bad"
Hana gripped the side of the bed. Her frame bent as her hand went into a fist, her strength folding the metal like paper. "Yeah. Sorry mom. Uh, I'm glad you're okay"
"Yeah, I'm okay" The call was silent for a while apart from the background noise of the office and her mother's typing. Hana didn't know what to say. What was she supposed to say? After a minute or so Anna spoke up again. "That woman that took you, Sludge or whatever, she treating you good?"
"Yeah mom. *Sledge* is great" Hana responded pretty curtly, her patience starting to wear with the whole conversation.
"Good. Surprised some super weirdo swinging a hammer is able to do much of anything apart from beat stuff up, but no cops have been coming around anymore so I guess you're not still up to that criminal shit. Must be doing something right"
"Uh huh. No more criminal shit. Yup. She...she's more than someone that beats stuff up, mom. She-"
"Oh yeah I bet. Must be nice to just swing a hammer and leave the crap for the rest of us to deal with. You're done with Big High this year, right? You pick a college yet or not planning on getting a real job?"
Hana puts a hand up to her face to rub her eyes. "Yeah. I applied to Halcyon Community College. It's cheaper to start there then go to a bigger one"
"What, you can't go to a real school? All the stuff and work I do for you and you gotta go there?"
"Mom I..." Hana takes a deep breath, then moves the phone back to her cheek. "It's my grades" She lies. The whole thing was a lie, but might as well keep digging.
"Damn it Hana, of course it's your grades. You better not screw up in the next couple years or you're not going to be able to go to real school. You get the birthday card I sent you, right? Use that money for books or whatever"
Hana blinks a few times. "Yeah, I got it. Thanks, mom" Another lie.
"Look Hana another adjuster needs me to look over some things before they hop on a meeting with our overseas office, I need to go" Anna says, the sound of shuffling papers and chatting in the background getting louder.
"Okay. Bye mom"
"That's it?"
"...Love you"
"I love you too, Hana. You're my everything, you know that?"
"Y-yeah, of course"
"Okay talk soon kisses" She hangs up.
Hana sets her phone down on the bed and rests her head in her hands. "Yeah. Your everything. Sure"