Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Sir, we’re approaching the abandoned toppat base, ‘sure you don’t want some backup?”
The pilot asked, keeping his eyes focused on the building in the distance.

The newly appointed General, stood up from the bench he was sitting on and opened the helicopter’s door, looking out through the harsh snow, in the distance he could faintly make out the building. It was easy to tell it was abandoned even from a far off distance.

From the large weeds wrapping along the outer wall, to the missing part of the roof on a corner of the building. It was long since abandoned after the government discovered it years ago, no one should still be living there.

Which is why Galeforce found it so odd when they discovered a signal was being transmitted to the base’s location.

An SOS signal to be exact.

Even if it was a false alarm or even a trap, Galeforce went, as if there was a part of him that felt as though he needed to check it out.

“I should be fine, if we’re lucky it’s just a false alarm.”
Galeforce said tiredly as the helicopter landed right in front of the worn down building.

As he stepped out of the helicopter he was met with a smack of bitter cold wind, with an irritated huff he pulled the jacket he was wearing closer to him as he walked inside.

Whoever sent that signal must be a polar bear or something if they could stand this cold for so long.

The base was just cold when Galeforce entered, though at least there wasn’t any wind blasting in his face. Looking down the ruined hallways and destroyed rooms of the base he couldn’t seem to find where the signal could possibly be.

Until he entered the base’s rather large garage, he found planes and vehicles that were worn and broken beyond repair. Just outside the garage was a small cargo plane. It didn’t look like it belonged to the clan, and unlike the rest of the vehicles it didn’t look as worn down as the rest. But something caught Galeforce’s eye, the shattered windshield and the bullet holes running along the side of the plane.

A knot formed in his stomach as Galeforce approached the copter, suddenly feeling as though he was being watched.

He opened the door to see blood on the floor of the plane with a man laying against one of the cargo boxes. Dried blood covered the lower half of his torso, a pair of broken glasses next to him. Galeforce’s stomach dropped as he entered the plane and checked the body. No pulse.

“Fuck…” Galeforce muttered, thinking he’d been too late. He turned his head to the side, this time he noticed a woman’s body, slumped against the pilot’s chair, her hands clutched onto the controls, her chestnut hair over her face. Covering the blood on her forehead from where she had been shot. Galeforce examined her as well. Also dead.

Shit.

Galeforce sighed in defeat, due to the cold they would have no way of knowing how long they’ve been dead for. But judging by the state of the plane it must’ve been fairly recent.

He then noticed the wedding bands on both of their hands and felt a pang of guilt. If only they had gotten word of the signal sooner…

Just as he exited the aircraft, he pulled out his walkie talkie to report back to base. Then he noticed something move out of the corner of his eye.

Something’s here.

He kept his hand on his gun as he headed where he saw the movement, the minute he turned the corner he froze.
In his defense Galeforce was expecting to be face to face with the ruthless individual who killed the two, or possibly a toppat member.

He definitely wasn’t expecting to see a small child covered in cuts and dirt huddled into the corner of the room, staring at the older man with the most fearful face he’s ever seen a child make in his life.

There was an awkward silence between the two, both sides having no clue what to say to the other.

Galeforce took a slow step forward and paused again as the boy tried shrinking further into the corner.
“Hey, it’s alright… I’m not going to hurt you” He said as softly as he could, raising his hands up to show he wasn’t going to hurt him.

The boy stopped trying to move further into the corner and blinked for a moment, he was still shivering but he didn’t look as afraid anymore, just on guard.

Galeforce took a few more slow steps before he was able to kneel down infront of the kid. He was able to get a proper look at the kid, he had a few bad cuts, one being a deep gash running along the side of his leg. It looked as though the kid tried to bandage it himself; the worn bandages cling loosely to his leg.

Taking off the bomber jacket he had on him, Galeforce wrapped it around the child.
“Sorry, I don’t have anything warmer but this should help a bit…” the boy merely stared at the oversized coat, tears pricking up in his eyes from the sudden warmth as he touched the fluffy part of the coat. With that settled, as carefully as he could, Galeforce scooped up the boy, who didn’t seem to mind it, as he buried his face into the crook of the general's neck.

He looked around the room, before walking out back to the garage, intentionally keeping the child’s view away from the plane.

“Was there anyone else with you?” Galeforce asked, the boy didn’t seem to respond, he just clung onto the jacket tighter. He’ll take that as a no then. But just in case he double checked all the rooms on his way out.

He flinched a bit as he stepped outside, forgetting about the cold wind. He hugged the child closer as he quickly made his way back onto the helicopter.

“Hey! Did you find anything about the transmiss- oh…” the pilot asked, cutting himself off when he saw the child bundled up in the oversized coat. He had a puzzled expression, Galeforce simply sat back down on the bench as he turned to the confused pilot.

“The transmission came from a cargo plane… both pilots were shot…”

“And the kid?”

“Found him near it, no bullet wounds as far as I can tell, but he has a few deep cuts. I’ll handle getting him to the medical tent myself…”

The pilot nodded as he turned to start up the helicopter again, the moment the helicopter made the loud startup noise the child screamed. It was the loudest he heard the kid so Galeforce was caught off guard as the kid covered his ears, the pilot quickly turning off the engine and turning around. Galeforce was panicking, he had no idea what to do, was the noise too sudden? Or did it remind him of his parents being shot?”

“L..loud..” was all the child could muster, burying his face into Galeforce’s chest.

“Ah, he’s probably sensitive to how loud the sounds are...give me a second” the pilot said, going to the co-pilot seat and grabbing the spare headphones from the chair. He walked back and handed them to the general.

“I turned ‘em off, but they are pretty good at canceling out noise.”

Taking the headphones gratefully he took a moment to let the kid calm down before he placed the headphones on the child’s head, making sure they covered his ears.

The child at least didn’t react as badly to the noise now, he still clung to Galeforce for a majority of the flight. He didn’t mind, he just kept the child close. Not wanting him to be in any more pain then he’s already gone through.

“What’s your name kiddo?” Galeforce asked, keeping his gaze out the window, the kid moved a bit before answering softly
“C...Charles..” his voice sounded so broken, Galeforce nodded slightly
“Well Charles, we’re almost to the base, once you’re patched up I hope you don’t mind if I ask some questions…” the boy nodded before his face disappeared into the fuzziness of the coat.

The two remained in silence for the rest of the flight. Once they arrived on base Galeforce stepped out, thanking the pilot before heading towards the medical tent. It wasn’t surprising that everyone looked intimidating to the small child, so Charles kept his head down to avoid eye contact. Entering the tent the doctor who was working walked over to examine the boy’s injuries, Galeforce explained he needed to leave for a short moment to report back what was found at the base. The Doctor nodded and reached out to take Charles, the kid had a pretty tight grip on Galeforce’s jacket and refused to budge.

Galeforce’s eyes furrowed a bit, as he noticed the boy looking at him, his eyes full of nervousness.
“I have to go for only a few minutes, I’ll be right back” Apparently that was a poor choice of words on Galeforce’s part because Charles began to cry, burying his face into his uniform.

“Don’t go…” Charles silently pleaded,

Galeforce let out a sigh, honestly he should’ve expected this, the boy did just lose his parents. He’ll worry about reporting what happened later.

He looked to the doctor “Would it be alright if I stayed?” The doctor smiled and nodded “of course, it’ll probably be a lot easier if you did, since he seems to be comfortable enough around you.”

After a lot of convincing and promising not to leave Charles was able to let go of Galeforce long enough for the doctor to properly bandage his wounds. Thankfully nothing was infected, but the doctor tells Galeforce to come back again in a few weeks to make sure. The doctor left the tent for a short bit leaving Galeforce alone with Charles, who latched onto the general’s arm the minute the doctor finished, muttering something under his breath.

“Sorry Kiddo, I didn’t catch that…”

“A..are they really gone? my Momma and Papa?” the kid asked innocently, looking up at Galeforce with eyes that held nothing but defeat. He already knew the answer. How could he not?

Galeforce inhaled and looked away awkwardly and gently wrapped an arm around the child.
“I’m sorry Son, that must have been a hellish event to witness...” Charles nodded solemnly before leaning against the taller man, he felt nauseous, but was far too tired to let out anymore tears as he closed his eyes in a feeble attempt to hide from the world around him.

At this moment a head poked through the curtains of the medical tent, Galeforce looked up tiredly as he noticed the face of his friend.

“Ah...there you are Dmitri…” Galeforce said waving him over, The other giving no greeting other than a soft ‘hm’ as he sat on the bed across from the two.

“So zis is the boy?” Dmitri curtly asked, already having been filled in by the pilot after he failed to meet galeforce at the barracks. The tired general nodded, gently pulling the child onto his lap. To which Charles curled up in a way of trying to make himself appear smaller.

The two older men sat in silence for a short bit, Dmitri furrowing his brows before looking up to Galeforce “So what are you planning to do now?” Galeforce looked to him quizzingly

“What?”

“Well you know you can’t keep him right? No offense but I don’t think you could even take care of yourself.”

Galeforce hummed in a silent agreement, ever since he joined the military he knew he had a difficult time caring for himself, but he thought he’s gotten better at it so maybe…?

No. This kid deserved so much better, he’s gone through so much and Galeforce doesn’t know the first thing about being a parent. Let alone a good parent. Sure the kid’s attached to him now. But he doesn’t think he is what the child needs… right?

So why did his heart feel so heavy?

“Well if he still has family left it’s most likely we’d be sending him with them…” Galeforce responded, if he’d noticed the boy’s grip tighten he didn’t mention it.

-

It had already fallen late into the night when Galeforce woke up, not realizing he’d passed out in the medical tent until he felt someone tugging on his jacket. It was Charles, who seemed to have been given a different jacket that looked eerily similar to Dmitri’s, Galeforce would have to ask about that later. The boy only pointed nervously at the entrance to the tent. Two older men stood there, Galeforce sighed “Hello Gentlemen, I apologize for-”

“We don’t need an apology General, we’ve already been filled in” one of the men said as they took a seat on the same bed Dmitri had been sitting at hours earlier. Rubbing his eye’s Galeforce sat up now realizing the child didn’t seem to have moved an inch since his talk with Dmitri. Not wanting to deal with arguing with the clingy child he let him stay there as he focused on the two infront of him.

“We took the liberty of going back and collecting the bodies, The couple worked with some Cargo company, transporting supplies to anyone who paid for them.” The man continued as Galeforce shifted uncomfortably, Shouldn’t they not be talking about this in front of the kid? He kept his mouth shut however as the man continued.

“We did a bit of digging and we figured out Apparently his folks were estranged from their family, so most turned us away or have passed away a long time ago. Kid’s got no one.” Now it didn’t take much to break his heart, but hearing how the child who’s now shivering in his arms was
completely alone now made his heart crumble a bit.

He knew the feeling of having no one at his side, being alone in your little corner of the world with no one to turn to. This was different, This kid had no choice, the only two constants in his life being stripped away so suddenly.

A small part of Galeforce wants to keep this kid safe, make sure he’s aware that he’s not alone. Galeforce barely scraped by during that low point of his life, but this Child was so much younger, he couldn’t- no- he absolutely refused to think about how this kid would get by on his own.

But what could he do? Knowing his current line of work there’s no way they’d let him keep the kid. Even then he doesn’t know a thing about child care. Dmitri was right about him barely taking care of himself.

A gentle poke on his cheek pulled him out of his spiralling thoughts, looking down at the Kid’s Honeycomb colored eyes, that looked too exhausted to belong to a kid this small.

“So that’s why we’ll be leaving him in your care until further notice.”

Wait.

W H A T ?

Chapter Text

A year and a half has gone by since Charles has been thrown into this new life, and so far he’s been…enjoying it? 

His other dad, Galeforce, was a really strange guy in Charles’s humble opinion. Always scrambling around at home, muttering things about documents and weird guys in top hats, boring work stuff really.

Though there’s something about him that makes Charles feel…Safe, Even so, It’s not the same as before, he still misses his Ma and Pa gravely, even thinking about it makes him spiral to the point where everything around him is overwhelming. 

When that happens Galeforce always seemed at a loss for how to deal with it, to the point where once, when Charles couldn’t calm himself down no matter how closely Galeforce held him or how many breathing exercises they go through, Galeforce just started singing Fanfare out of nowhere, It caught the boy so off guard that he started laughing at the bizarre song choice. 

In a way that incident reminded Charles that Galeforce is just as lost to these new changes as he was. Charles is glad that the older man decided to officially adopt him after living together for a year, even calling him by his nickname Charlie. The boy was comfortable with referring to the general as his second father, As the boy vaguely remembers his Pa explaining how some kids have 2 dads, he’s taken to calling Galeforce “Pops” and just enjoys being around him alongside Uncle Dmitri. 

Speaking of Dmitri…

“-RETURN MY JACKET ‘ZIS INSTANT YOU LITTLE-”

He should probably keep running.

.

.

.

“POPS HELP!”

The older man in question looked up from his paperwork just in time to see his son stumble in, wearing a very familiar coat, Sporting a mischievous grin on his face as he makes the quick decision to hide under the General’s desk. 

Galeforce couldn’t help but let out an amused sigh, leaning down to get a better look at his kid.

“Charlie… What did you do-”

“ Y O U ”

The General’s head snapped up to be greeted by an exasperated Dmitri, who was hunched over at the entrance hands on his knees as if he ran morning, noon, and night drills at once. Lifting his hand to point a tired, accusatory finger at Galeforce. It took little effort for the man to school his amused expression before addressing the worn-out man in front of him.

“Good morning Dmitri, did you have a nice run?” Galeforce asked expression breaking for only a moment when hearing soft cackling emerging from underneath his desk. 

Oh if looks could kill, Hubert Galefore would be a dead man. 

After the initial hilarity of the morning’s events wore off, Galeforce sent Charles off to go mess with Rupert for a bit. It was quite a surprise when Charlie ended up bonding with the workaholic since Rupert wasn’t much for conversation wanting to keep to himself, That didn’t last long once Charles was allowed to follow Galeforce to work. 

Next thing he knew Rupert was one of Charlie’s favorites to pester, Well besides Dmitri.

“By ze way, we have received a location of ze secret association ze Toppat clan has been receiving information from” Dmitri Idly mentions, snapping Galeforce out of his thoughts and returning his gaze to the papers in front of him.

“Apparently it’s a sort of Cult, it revolved around the idea of being able to turn back time, and… there’s a lot of stuff about the multiverse… Multiple timelines? What would the Toppat clan be doing with a group like this?”  Galeforce muttered confusedly to himself.

The Toppat clan has made allies in the past but most of the time they allied with fellow treasure thieves, and other criminal groups, it’s unusual for them to be involved with Cults, especially one such as this… What is this new leader up to?

“No one is sure, zere are rumors being spread about ze new leader is romantically involved with someone associated, but zey want you zere immediately” 

Now that got the general’s attention, he’s normally not called for these things, most of the time it goes smoothly enough to where he’s not needed there to supervise. Looking at the list a lot of the people that are currently stationed there are more than capable of handling it, there shouldn’t be a reason he needs to be there.

Unless there’s something they weren’t expecting to see.

.

.

.

The Helicopter ride was, for the most part, uneventful.

The pilot-one of the newer trainees- wasn’t much of a speaker, which Galeforce didn’t mind all that much if he wasn’t trying to keep his mind off what could be so important that he’d be called over last minute. Dmitri sat across from him reading through the folder once again, memorizing what exactly they’ll be seeing once they get there. 

The location is pretty closed off, hidden in a more rural area to seem less conspicuous. A lot of the locals around them were farmers so thankfully they weren’t close enough to see what these people were up to.

Some of the things they’ve done were… disturbing, to say the least. 

One look at half the things they’ve done would make anyone nauseous to their stomach. Even if the General had no expressed reaction, Hubert felt ill when he finished reading through.

The pilot suddenly announced they’d arrived, The general looked out at a Small hill overlooking what appears to be an innocent-looking ranch. Had it not been for the numerous Military officials surrounding the premises.

The duo walked towards the sight, Stopping when they heard the call from a distance, Donned in a captain's Uniform, stood a tall woman with her hair put in a tight bun. Galeforce recognized her immediately as Victoria Grit, Galeforce was the one who promoted her to captain after all.

“General! Glad to see you could make it!” Victoria greeted, as she made her way toward the two men. 

Galeforce gave a firm nod in greeting, Noticing the poorly disguised calm demeanor on the captain’s face, he decided to hold off the small talk for now.

“Pleasure to see you as well Captain, What’s the issue?”

Victoria’s friendly facade drops instantly into a look of seriousness, and if the general squinted a little he could notice just a small hint of stress behind her gaze. Victoria tucked a loose hair behind her ears as she gestured for the general to follow. Galeforce turned to Dmitri and he doesn’t know what expression he gave the other, it seemed to convey the message that he’ll wait for him outside.

As the Captain and General made their way towards what could be assumed to be the main house, with its worn walls with what used to be gentle yellow paint crumbling off of it. Unlike the other others, a large rusted steel gate surrounded the perimeter of the house with the windows covered with haphazardly place wooden boards or with torn curtains shrouding the outside world from view. 

“For the most part we’ve been successful in recovering all evidence of the cult's wrongdoings, Their leader is in custody, Stolen information has been sent back to base, and Kidnapped Victims are recovering in the medical tents to be sent off to the hospital… We’ve been finishing up investigating the other rooms in the main building as of now.”

The General nodded along as they entered the building, he stumbled a little when he tripped over a covered-up decaying patch of wood on the floor. 

“I see… it’s good to know it’s going well.” Galeforce said, giving the Captain a look of confusion,  ‘if it’s going so well why was he called?’ Questions died in his throat as they stopped in front of a single door.

The door was Sectioned off a good distance away from the other rooms. A notable detail was the destroyed wooden boards on the floor, The lack of decay suggests that this door was being boarded up right before Victoria’s squad showed up and tore it down.

Peeking inside the room, The bareness of room gave the General a grim feeling of Nostalgia. He entered the room slowly, looking around, and winced at what he saw.

The room was dimly lit with boarded-up windows, and the floors were covered in dust but small footprints could be made out walking around to different parts of the room, A broken crib was set up in the corner, and the safety bars look to have long since been broken off, and a small stool was set in the middle of the room.

Galeforce looked at Victoria in confusion, Despite the poor conditions of the room, he couldn’t clock in his head as to why he was there. 

Until he heard small shuffling emerging from the old closet next to the crib. 

His head snapped to the closet, almost missing the Captain’s words as she talks in an unfamiliar tone of gentle whispering.

“The boys accidentally spooked him, we only know he looks to be around six… Good luck ” Was all she said before leaving the man alone in a room.

The General stood there numbly in the room, So this is why he was called… The raid must’ve scared the poor thing into hiding, more questions came to the front of the general’s mind.

‘Why is there a child alone here?’

‘Why does this room look as though they lived here?’

‘Have they been eating?’

‘The crib looks so broken like they’ve outgrown it’

‘Why was the door boarded up?’

A quiet whimper could be heard from the closet, Galeforce looked for a second longer before numbly sitting in front of the closet. Making sure to sit far enough away to not scare the child even further but close enough that they could still see what he was doing through the little peepholes on the damaged doors.

Galeforce looked down at his intertwined hands, avoiding looking at the closet to not appear intimidating. Not sure what to do he started talking.

“Are you injured?”

The silence that followed was the only reply.

“Do you…have a name?”

No response.

“Do you want to hear a story?” 

Okay, where the hell did that come from?

In Hubert’s defense the question came out before he could think, using stories as a distraction was a tactic he used for himself as a child, and it also seemed to work for Charlie when he had nightmares. But he wasn’t sure at all if it would work in this kind of scenario, this isn’t some nightmare or parental argument he’s distracting the child from…

The door silently creaked open a little, Galeforce tensed a little at the sudden sound but didn’t dare look up in fear of it closing again.

“Well it’s more of a weird theory I heard from someone else, but regardless, Apparently a Tunisian diamond was discovered recently, it was a baffling find for many researchers and Miltary escort officials alike, not just due to its size but also the fact that there aren’t any diamond mines in Tunisia, or so I’ve been told. So No one was sure where it came from, But someone came up with this wild theory about how it’s part of a trio with the Noreweign emerald and Romanian Ruby due to the three having a similar size and…”

In all honesty, Galeforce had no idea where he was going with this, but as he was talking he slipped a glance at the closet door only to see a small boy peeking out at him. Bright eyes looked on at the rambling man with a look of cautious interest. 

“I’m not sure if I can believe a tale like that, but Charlie seems to find it interesting.” Galeforce finished off, realizing that during his rambling he ended up making eye contact with the younger.

The two paused for a moment, The boy unsure of what to do, and the general giving him a patient look. Then the door opened up a little more and the boy retreated slightly into his closet before asking.

“ ‘re ‘ou here t-to… to” The boy stuttered out, From what Galeforce said it seemed he was struggling a little, voice weak and raspy as though he never had the opportunity to use his voice.

Galeforce thought for a moment, it was a small chance but it could lead to the child being more comfortable with talking. 

With a few swift hand gestures, ones that are ingrained into his memory from years of having to learn ASL to communicate with fellow soldiers-- he signed a question.

‘Can you sign?’

That got the kids' attention, and in a quick motion, the door opened just a bit more. Allowing Galeforce to see his bandaged hands move to sign.

‘Yes! But I have not been able to use it much’

Ah. So he does know, though Galeforce makes a mental note to dust off some of his old ASL books when they return. If the kid hasn’t gotten to use it much he probably would appreciate the refresher.

‘That’s quite impressive, sign language is very hard to learn, especially for someone who’s…’ 

Galeforce paused for a moment, attempting to let the boy feel more at ease if he had control over the conversation. 

‘Six!’

‘I see, very impressive!’ 

The boy seemed very happy with small praise, giving the general a slight smile, scooting a bit closer out of the closet, with the boy in full view The general took mental notes of the few haphazardly bandaged injuries on his legs and arms, the oversized shirt as well as a very prominent scar just over the boy's nose.

‘What’s your name?’

Now it was the general’s turn to be surprised, he looked surprised for a moment before letting out a hearty chuckle. The child appeared tense as if he expected the older man to get angry over asking for something as simple as his name.

‘My name is Hubert’

‘The people outside said a different name?’

‘Galeforce is my last name, the people outside call me it because they work with me’

The General signed, eyes furrowing in concern at the surprised look on the boy’s face.

‘ I didn’t know other people were allowed to have last names. I’m just called Henry ’

‘Well it’s nice to meet you, Henry’

The child, Henry, smiled a bit wider at that, the expression falls quickly before he realizes something. He hesitates for a moment before signing.

‘ So…are you here to kill me?’

Hubert had to do a double take as the boy gestured the question, repeating it once more when seeing the bewildered look on the man’s face before continuing. 

‘Mother said that you were here to… ‘Get me’? And that I’ll be taken away forever because I was a bad kid…’

Galeforce merely blinked, no wonder the kid was terrified, he must’ve thought when the others entered the room, that they were there for him...

‘No, I’m not here to hurt you, we’re here because some bad things have happened here’

Henry seemed to ease up a little at that, though he seemed confused when Galeforce mentioned ‘bad things. Now that the boy knows why he’s there The general decides to ask a question of his own.

‘Henry…’ 

The general signed, To give the boy time to fully look at him when he asked the question.

‘ Do you know why the doors were boarded up?’

The boy froze at that, Slowly turning his head to the planks of wood that lay discarded on the ground, before looking down at his lap, tiny fists clutching at the hem of his shirt as he nodded slowly.

‘Alright… You don’t have to answer now but-’

‘Mother said I was cursed.’ 

Henry Interrupted, gesturing the words so quickly that the older just barely caught it. The Man paused at that, ‘ Cursed? What does that mean?’ Henry was looking back down at his lap as if he was afraid of the general’s reaction. While still fixating on his lap Henry continued to explain.

‘She said that what I do is evil, even if it makes things better for the moment it messes up something else, that’s why she throws me in here cause I can’t escape, I don’t mean to do it on purpose I promise!’

 ~~~

Henry kept repeating ‘I promise’ and ‘I didn’t mean to’ as he crumbled into raspy sobs, Hubert, unsure what to do slowly moved closer, Suddenly The boy started wheezing, clutching his chest as he started letting out a series of terrible coughs, as though he couldn’t breathe.

Panicked Hubert, moved towards the boy worriedly. He knows asthma attacks enough to recognize the signs. 

 He didn’t want to overwhelm him and make it worse by touching him, so the General sat in front of the boy and held out both of his hands. Which the smaller Immediately gripped onto, Hubert said as calmly as he could manage. 

“Henry, listen carefully, I want to follow what I do alright? Can you do that?”

Henry looked at him for a moment as he tried to breathe and shakily nodded. From there the General pursed his lips and breathed in heavily through his nose, then breathed out as if he were whistling. Henry fumbled a bit the first time but managed to follow along decently, thankfully it seems the attack wasn’t severe but it still might be hard for him to breathe.

“You’re doing good, keep doing that okay? Now…I can carry you outside so you can get the proper help you need, is that okay?”

~~~

Henry hesitated, looking at the General with a twinge of fear showing in his expression, only to be met with what Hubert hopes to be a patient expression. Henry looks down and squeezes the older hands before nodding.

Carefully the General stood up, Henry following suit still clutching onto both of his hands as they carefully made their way outside. Normally the General would have offered to pick up the boy but in this case, he didn’t want to risk the boy feeling trapped. 

So Instead the general carefully placed a hand on Henry’s back to keep him steady as he guided him past the long eerie halls, past the officers that avoided gazing at the odd pair, past the busted-down door, and past the array of military vehicles and straight for the medical tent.

Since the attack wasn’t severe the trip was fairly quick, Galeforce even felt a sense of deja vu as the doctor explained his injuries and Asthma in detail, handing Hubert the folder with papers he’d need to get the boy officially diagnosed. 

Henry was a lot calmer than Charlie was though, to where the general was able to leave for a short bit to talk with Victoria about the whereabouts of the boy's mother.

Unfortunately for him, Victoria was currently locking up what looked to be the leader of this cult when he approached. The Woman wore a long blue dress with, her hair in a mangled braid that had a silver chain weaved into it, with white-gloved hands now covered in the dirt and locked in handcuffs as she spouted insults to the captain as she was led to the vehicle.

Galeforce and her made eye contact, Icy blue eyes with flecks of gold surrounding the pupil pierced right into man's gray gaze. 

When the woman realized who she was looking at her face morphed into an expression of pure unbridled rage when her eyes landed on the folder that held the name of her son.

“You… DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU’LL BE DEALING WITH?”

The General looked on shocked but didn’t answer, he continued to stare at the woman’s eyes as she continued to yell.

“Let me tell you something here general, That boy in there is far from normal, he may seem innocent to you and everyone in this DAMN place, but I know, I’ve seen it.”

She steps towards him as the Captain and one other guard try nudging her into the van, She ignores them as they continue to push her into the van. As she struggled she points at him past the two with an enraged but haunted look in her gaze.

“Hear me, General, that boy wILL BE ALL OF OUR UNDOINGS, JUST. WATCH.”

That was the last thing he heard from the woman as she was shoved into the back of the prison van.

 Her eyes… were the same as Henry’s

The General turned around back to the tent, Thoughts of possibly finding the boy’s mother thrown to the side.

Hubert walks away to be greeted by Dmitri, with a now calmer Henry dangling off his arm. The General looks at him in utter confusion as Dmitri just holds up his other hand as though to stop the general from asking questions.

“Helicopter is here to take us back, what are we doing with…Zis?” Dmitri asked holding up his arm and lifting the six-year-old slightly off the ground. I guess whatever happened while he was gone made Henry warm up to Dmitri a bit.

The older man sighed and kneeled to Henry’s level as the boy looked at him curiously Galeforce lifted his hand and signed.

‘Henry… Your mother is…going to be away for a while’

Henry’s expression falters a bit, and a hint of guilt shows on his face as he slowly gestures.

‘Is…is it my fault? Am I going away with her?’

‘No, what she did was her choice, as for where you’re going…how do you feel about coming with us?’

The boy blinked for a moment, before looking up at Dmitri, who gives him a confused look at the duo’s conversation, Before looking back at the general and signing.

‘Is he coming too? He promised to teach me how to pick locks.’

The General pauses before letting out a hearty laugh much to his partner’s confusion, Even henry lets out a small laugh at what can only be described as the grumpiest expression the boy has seen. When the two settle down a bit Hubert smiles at the boy as he signs.

‘ Did he now? Yes he’s coming along as well’

Henry beamed before grabbing onto the General’s hand before nodding, the three then head towards the helicopter. Dmitri talks with Galeforce about teaching the two Russian sign languages, to which Henry ignores in favor of looking around, distracted by the scenery of the area as the sun has just started to set.

As the helicopter takes off back home, the atmosphere changed from the anxious silence of when they arrived to a more comfortable quiet as Galeforce watches as the boy pokes around in random cargo boxes.

The realization hits that he has two children now, and that thought is terrifying since he’s unsure how Charlie or Henry is going to handle this sudden change. 

Though as he watches Henry attempt to communicate with Dmitri through a scuffed game of charades, he can at the very least say without a doubt in his mind that they would get along well.

He just needs to mentally prepare himself for the amount of mischief the two will cause if Dmitri follows up on that promise to teach him how to pick locks.

Chapter Text

‘5 minutes left until school’s out…’

Rupert let out a long sigh before putting his phone back into his pocket as he leaned against a nearby streetlight alongside tired parents who are also waiting to pick up their kids.

Honestly, he doesn’t even know how he got stuck picking up Galeforce’s gremlins, well besides hearing something about an internal investigation on some of the troops. At least that’s all Rupert could pick up from the man before he was dragged off by the collar of his shirt by Petrov. 

‘So now I’ll be stuck with two kids for the next few hours…shouldn’t be too bad so long as I can distract them with Lovebug’ Rupert thought, 

Ever since he recently picked up the hairless cat from Dave’s abandoned apartment, Charles and Henry adored her. There have been multiple occasions where the two would ask to come over to see her, and ever since Henry figured out how to lockpick doors (Where did he even learn that?) there have been a few times where he’d stumble upon the youngest giving one too many cat treats.

Now that he thought about it, he honestly didn’t mind the company. Sure the two were a bit much at times, and there have been multiple occasions where he’s questioned why the two enjoyed being around him. But at this point, he’s grown used to the two’s presence, ever since Dave’s disappearance and Johnny’s passing he didn’t really have many people to talk to. Ever since he agreed to this babysitting side job from his boss he’s ending up talking with more people, like Victoria, granted they first met through having to find Charlie after he stowed away on a helicopter but-

“Uhm Excuse me si-”

“RUPERT? YOU THERE??” 

Rupert looked down to find a familiar figure tugging on his arm trying to get him to move, along with two other figures standing to the side watching him trying to move him. How long had he been standing here again?

“What Charlie?” 

Rupert asked, moving his arm out of the kid's reach only to ruffle his hair in turn, looking up at the unfamiliar woman who was standing there with Henry and a girl, Someone from their class maybe?

“Can Ellie come with us also?” 

“Ellie?”

“My Daughter Eliza, Galeforce mentioned you’d be watching her along with the boys this afternoon?” The woman said, Now that Rupert takes a look at the two Rupert noticed the similarly bright red hair on both the woman and her kid. The woman seemed a little off, like she would rather be somewhere else at the moment. 

“Uh…”

“Good, Galeforce will fetch her with the boys and I’ll pick Eliza up from him when I’m done with some business I need to take care of… Any problems with her just call the General” She said slightly nudging the redhead, who looked ready to strangle something, towards Rupert and the boys before heading off with a small offhanded goodbye.

Three kids…So now he’s watching three of them…great.

“Alright, so about Eliz-”

“Ellie.”

Rupert looked down at Charlie as if he herded the other two as they started walking a bit further ahead toward the direction of the base’s Apartment complex. 

“What?”

“Ellie doesn’t like that name, she said it’s too formal” 

Rupert looked towards the two ahead of them, Henry excitedly signing something, probably about the cat, while Ellie seems more apprehensive, Silently watching and observing. Though Rupert only now noticed she was looking behind at them like she was waiting for something...

“Oh okay, So about Ellie, does the boss ACTUALLY know she’s here? ‘Cause he didn’t mention anything about you three hanging out today…”

“Well… Not really, but he’s used to Ellie showing up randomly all the time!” 

Charlie said, messing with his shirt sleeves, Since it’s starting to be a bit too warm out for him to wear his favorite jacket. 

“Hey! I don’t show up that often!” 

Eliz- Ellie Shouted indignantly, turning around and bonking Charles on the head as though he revealed some secret. Henry simply observes as he now joins walking right next to Rupert. Charles holds his head where he was hit, the smile on his face as he started laughing at his embarrassed friend being the indication he wasn’t actually in any pain.

If Rupert noticed the slight nod from Ellie as though he passed some test, he didn’t comment on it as they made it to their destination. 

.

.

.

“Alright that concludes our meeting for today, you are all dismissed…”

Galeforce let out a sigh of relief after leaving the base, they’ve been given a pretty good lead to follow through on for the Toppat’s spy, and while it’s been confirmed no one in the Generals section is under no suspicion he’d figure he’d lend a hand to help with the interrogations at least.

Thankfully all he has to worry about now is picking up the boys and just spending the rest of the evening writing up his remaining reports. It’ll probably be just a quiet evening since the two spent most of the afternoon with Rupert so they’re probably tired by this point.

Right?

“-THEN ELLIE HIT HIM WITH THE HOCKEY STICK AND-”

“HEY, I DIDN’T DO THAT, MR. G HE’S MAKING SHIT UP!”

‘Language!’

“Henry you also swear, I don’t want to hear it from you-”

Nevermind. 

As of late Ellie has been the newest constant in the Galeforce household, He’s actually known of Ellie before he met Charles and Henry, Mostly due to the fact her father serves on the force. He and Hubert used to be in the same division before Galeforce was promoted to General. While not particularly close, he’s heard of him having a daughter from other Soldiers in passing conversation.

The only time he’s ever gotten to truly know Ellie was when Charlie and Henry brought her over one day from school, since then he’s learned quite a bit about the spirited redhead. Which includes her…rocky relationship with her folks. 

While he still feels like he’s not as experienced when it comes to parenting. It’s just there was always something about how Ellie’s Mom would talk about her always seemed… distant. The times when she’d pick up her daughter either in the late hours of the night or until the very next day from what was supposed to be only one-hour-long study sessions, to the way she’d constantly talk about the kid like Ellie wasn’t next to her. Alongside his colleague, her father, let it all happen, evening brushing off concerns from both him and the soldiers they knew saying “She just takes what her Ma says too personally. She’ll get over it one of these days”

Galeforce isn’t normally one to pry into personal matters but… the very least he could do is make sure the kid has a safe place to go to.

“Hey Mr. G?”

“Hm?”

“You’re making that weird frown again, Ma said you can get wrinkles from that you know.”

Even if the kid is too blunt for her own good.

After making it back to the house with no incident, The troublesome trio made their way to Henry and Charlie’s room to study. Meanwhile, Galeforce sat on the couch in their small living room and pulled out his laptop. But not before sending a short text to Ellie’s mother. He’s used to not getting a response from her most of the time, but he still likes to send on to be polite at least. 

[ H. Galeforce ] sent 16:00

‘Ellie is at my house, Call if you need me to drop her off.’

“Y’know she’s not going to answer right?”

“Christ! You can’t keep sneaking up on people like that.”

“Watch me, old man.”

Ellie states, holding no actual malice behind her words, leaning against the couch trying to get a look at the laptop screen. 

“What’cha looking at?”

“Toppat clan article”

“What’s the scoop?”

“Romanian Ruby, stolen during Museum transport”

“Cool. where’s my DS Charger?”

“Homework?”

“Finished at Rupert’s” 

“Good. it’s in the drawer behind you.”

“Thanks, Mr. G!” 

After fishing through the drawer and finding her prize, Galeforce watched as Ellie ran back up the stairs before returning to his research.

Turning back towards the article, Galeforce's eyes narrowed in contemplation. In this most recent heist, there were government soldiers secretly placed to protect the Ruby. It was a secret very few knew of only recently becoming public knowledge after the devastating carnage that Terrence and his crew left behind.

This led to a whole investigation about there possibly being a mole within the ranks.

The more Galeforce thought about it, the more tired he felt, he’s helped with this investigation for days and it seems to have not gotten anywhere until today. Even then he’s still in the dark about much of it due to it but the thought of it still concerns him greatly.

With the lead, they said they finally narrowed it down to someone, but they couldn’t be sure until they confront them tonight. 

The hours passed by relatively peacefully much to Galefore’s surprise. After the kids finished up their game upstairs they ended up joining the general in the living room to watch a movie and currently, he spots all three of them have fallen asleep peacefully. Hubert smiled at the sight before he looked over at his phone and sighed noticing how late it was, another Impromptu sleepover it is then. 

The temptation to try to call Ellie’s mother pops into his mind again, but remembers the angry lecturing about being “a nosy bastard” and how it moves back to her targeting her yelling towards Ellie for “causing trouble that they don’t want her to stay any longer” after that same lecture happened not once, but multiple separate attempts was enough to where he just put his phone back on the armrest next to him. He considers himself lucky that Charles and Henry weren’t in earshot of those lectures as far as he knew. 

The older brunette and the younger redhead never brought it up, but Ellie seemed a bit more relaxed around him when he gave up trying to call her mother. 

The buzz of the phone next to him made the general jump slightly before quickly grabbing the phone and after making sure the vibration didn’t wake up any of the kids, made his way outside before looking down at his phone. The caller ID was one he recognized as one of the people in charge of the investigation so he picked it up. 

“Captain Canterbury?”

“Hey General, Sorry to bother you this late but…we got our confirmation on the culprit.”

“That’s good news. I take it they’re in custody now?”

“No.”
That made the General pause, his eyes narrowed down as he sat down on the door front steps. After collecting some of the questions in his mind, he returns back to focusing on the call.

“What do you mean ‘no’?”

“They…. escaped a few hours ago” 

“...WHAT-”

“we’ve only noticed it after one of the guards came back to find the previous guard was knocked out cold. We checked the security footage and…we didn’t account for his wife be a toppat spy as well”

“We didn’t think to tell you cause, the kid is under mild suspicion to…”

“Kid? What do you-”

“The culprits were Lieutenant Rose and his wife.”

.  .  .

Galeforce froze, sure there have been times when he questioned the kind of people Ellie’s parents were…but there was no way. They wouldn’t stoop down to that level, right? Even if they did what about Ellie? Are they coming back for her? What the hell is he going to do if they actually DO come to pick her up? Regardless of how Ellie feels about her family, it’d still be traumatizing for him to arrest them both in front of the kids…

The fact that because of this Ellie is now put under suspicion too, while he understands the caution, he can’t believe even for a second that Ellie knew about any of this. Even if she did Hubert doesn’t think he’d be able to blame her for anything her parents have done. The kid may be tough but even he recognizes the look of someone who’s afraid of going against their parents. 

After taking a second Galeforce put the phone back up to his ear, trying his best to control his volume but only managing a harsh whisper.

“Canterbury, if this is some fucking joke I’ll-”

 “I can assure you sir it is not.”

“We had some people observing your house in hopes of catching one of them at least when they came to pick up Eliza but-”

“Ellie.”

“- to pick up Ellie but it seems they just… left the area completely.”

Galeforce sighed bringing his hand up to his face, pinching the edge of his nose as he hears out the rest of the report. Apparently, they found nothing at the residence, and after some investigating they found out through Rupert about Ellie’s mom and what happened earlier that afternoon when picking up the kids. How they thought with Ellie still being on base that they’d come back for her at least but… 

It’s kind of disappointing how he isn’t shocked about this news, there’s only a quiet anger rising in his system. 

“Captain. Thank you for the report. If that is all I need to make another call.”

“Of course sir.”

The call ended with a soft click, and immediately Galeforce was quickly dialing another number and in the moment put the phone on speaker with low enough volume. He didn’t want their voice anywhere near him right now but…

. . .

.   .    .

We’re sorry the number you’re trying to reach is no longer in service…

‘Son of a bitch-’

“Mr. G?”

Galeforce paled as he turned slightly to face Ellie, from the way she was rubbing her eye it was most likely she only just woke up. 

“Were you trying to call my mom? Is she coming to pick me up?”

Galeforce turns back down to the unanswered call on his phone, how is he supposed to tell her this… Silently Galeforce patted the empty spot next to him on the steps, thankfully Ellie didn’t question it like she normally would and took a seat next to him. 

“It’s fine if she didn’t answer, she’s probably out with her friends again”

“Ellie…have you… have you ever seen what your mother’s friends look like?”

The ten-year-old thinks on it for a second before shrugging her shoulders, guess that could work out by ruling out the kid’s involvement, not that she needed to prove her innocence in the first place…

“Kid I don’t know how to put this but it’s probably better you hear it from me first before anything else.”

“Your folks…they aren't coming back.” 

Galeforce intertwined his hands together while looking down at the ground as he explained the situation the best he could. Ellie listened intently to every word, her expression unreadable. 

“I-...there’s nothing I can say to rectify this but…I’m sorry kid.”

“I want to go home.”

Galeforce looked over at the kid with a grim expression, Ellie was also looking down at her own shaking hands. He couldn’t see her face but from the way she spoke, she was trying to keep it together.

“Kid-”

“Take me home. I want to see it myself.”

The older didn’t say anything else, he grabbed his keys from his pocket and started walking towards his car. The redhead followed behind him subtly rubbing her eyes as she climbed into the front passenger seat.

The car drive was quiet except for the occasional GPS instructions being given from his phone. When they arrived the first thing they noticed out of the ordinary was the remnants of an investigation scene. Yellow tape lying around the property, the door seemingly busted open, and the carnage of an investigation left inside of the house. 

The ten-year-old ignored it as she walked over the shattered remains of the door and into the house the general following behind from a distance. As Ellie walked up to her room Galeforce stayed behind as he looked around the house itself. Other than the few knocked-over furniture pieces it looked like any regular military house. While looking around he started noticing the photos on the wall. There were plenty of different landscapes some with a young-looking couple that looked to be Ellie’s parents, some including them with other people… there didn’t seem to be anything really linking Ellie to this house.

“ DAMMIT!! ”

From hearing the shout and the loud crash following suit, the older quickly made his way upstairs. Looking around he noticed a light emerging from a room at the end of the hall. As he made his way to the door he noticed the room had a small sign made from a piece of paper ‘Ellie’s Room STAY OUT!!’ written in what looked to be differently colored highlighters. He gave himself a second before knocking on the door softly. After a minute of not getting a response, he opens the door quietly.

The room was nice… though it seemed a little off to the older since it didn’t look anything like a kid's room. Just a simple bed frame and pictures in old frames hung up on the wall, with white walls and a wooden floor emphasizing how empty the room was. If anything it looked more like a guest room than the room of someone who lives here. 

It seemed the only sign that a kid was living here is the sign, and the kid herself sitting against the wall on the other side of the room. with her head down and her knees pulled up to her chest. Clutching a piece of paper in a tight grip that her knuckles were white. Galeforce didn’t say anything as he made his way over to her. He sat next to her minding his distance.

Neither of them mentioned the broken desk or the desk-shaped indent on the wall. At the moment the two will just consider it was from the investigation despite the fact nothing else could have made the crash sound, and that it looked more like it was some kind of force that threw that desk. 

But that’s not important right now.

“What did I do wrong?” 

The tone that Ellie held as she brokenly whispered in the silent room made the general wince in sympathy. She held out the paper to him, hesitantly he took the paper and looked at it. It was a postcard, he saw on the photo it was Ellie’s Mother and her father looking glamorously smug at the camera in their toppat attire, looking at the date it seems like it was around the same time He and Liutentient were stationed in the same group. If that didn't make him angry what was written on the card made the general’s blood boil .

‘Dear Hubert,

Guess this is goodbye old friend, Can’t say it’s been fun.

 I guess the one thing I’m sorry for is having you take care of Eliza.

Or you could just leave her somewhere-

Galeforce didn’t even bother looking at the rest, he knew who it was from. What the hell were they thinking?! And the fact that the postcard was addressed to him and not their own

daughter just seemed to rub salt in the wound. Even in the end they still find some way to have the last word in.

Letting out a sigh, Hubert silently let out a quiet curse as Ellie carefully watched his expression as he looked at the postcard one more time before laying it down on the ground. He then reached into his jacket pocket and took out a small pack of gum.

He took out a piece and after unwrapping ate the gum. He’d given up smoking a while after adopting Charlie but needing something to take the edge off ended up always having a pack of gum in his pocket. Hearing the crinkling of the wrapper Ellie looked up slightly to see a piece of gum also being handed to her. Still not saying anything she took it gratefully and chewed on it quietly. 

“This… None of it is your fault.”

“Then why?”

“I’ll be honest… I’m not sure.”

“. . .”

“Do they know about…” 

He silently gestures towards the mangled desk, Ellie shook her head no as she continued to chew on the gum.

“Am I in trouble?”

“No. not really.”

“Hmph! Bet you all think I’m in on it too huh?”

  While Galeforce never told Ellie about the government's suspicion of her, he knew that the girl was pretty smart. So it’s not that surprising to him that she pieced together that bit of information so quickly based on what he told her. He leaned his head against the wall and stuffed his hands into the pockets of the old leather jacket.

“Even so. They were the ones who committed the crime. Not you”

“But they’re my parents! Or- were I guess?”

“You. are not responsible for their actions”

“And when they don’t believe me?”

“Then I’ll be there to back you up.”

Galeforce watched patiently as Ellie started to rub her eyes more aggressively as tears finally started to show running down her face. He watched as the kid retreated into a little shell. Normally the kid was loud and very vocal when it came to anger. Right now though, she made herself painfully small as she asked.

“You…okay with letting me stay?”

“So long as you’re okay with it. You’ve been friends with the boys for a long while now… I wouldn’t be surprised if Charlie and Henry already consider you family at this point”

The General responded with a slight laugh, Ellie hearing that let out a faint smile at the thought of Charles and Henry considering her as family. As quickly as the smile appeared it disappeared instantly when she glanced over at the general before saying. 

“I’m not calling you dad I hope you know.”

“I don’t expect you to.”

The General simply says as he begins to stand up, Ellie following suit, She walks towards a small bag as she packs a few things to bring back. They’ll come back for the rest tomorrow.

The last thing she grabs is a black hockey stick with red tape wrapped around the end. Holding it over her shoulder she walks back towards Galeforce who’s waiting outside of the room.

He holds his hand out to her, While she doesn’t grab it she holds onto his sleeve instead. 

A fragile show of trust, Galeforce just gives a small smile before leading them out of the house and to the car. The car ride back was as silent as it was on the way there but with a different feeling hanging over them. When they make it back to the house they open the door to find that the two boys are still soundly asleep on the couch. 

Ellie sat on the couch as Galeforce carried the two to their room, when coming back down the stairs he gestured for Ellie to follow. Not having a bed for her yet, The older set up a sleeping cot in the same room. Before leaving Ellie tugged on his sleeve gently and whispered.

“Are you going to tell them?” 

“It’s up to you, but if you want I could explain it to them if you’d like?”

“...”

“You don’t have to tell them right now, just get some sleep alright”

“Okay… night Mr. G”

Ellie whispered as she got under the covers of the cot and turned away from the door. Before closing the door fully Hubert could have sworn he heard a quiet whisper of ‘thank you..’ just as the door clicked close.

After quietly making his way back downstairs Galeforce thought over the events of today as he cleaned up the small mess the kids left in the living room. There’s a lot he’s going to need to do for tomorrow from figuring out room arrangements, filling out the paperwork, for both the report of the spy’s escape and Ellie’s legal papers for guardianship. There’s also the matter of Ellie not trusting him that much, but that’s something that comes with time, so he’s not going to push it, they’ve got time. 

Surprisingly Galeforce isn’t as worried as he would’ve been 2 years ago…  hell If his younger self from the starting years on the force saw him now? He’d probably get an earful about how soft he’s gotten, but now? He could really care less. Galeforce laid back on the couch too tired to make it to his own room. 

He’s not sure what’s going to happen tomorrow, but the anxious weight feels a little more lighter knowing that this time he’s prepared for what may be coming next.