Chapter Text
“...Understood, I apologize again for the trouble“
Hubert let out a tired sigh as he placed the phone into his pocket. Rubbing his eyes as he buried his face into his hands.
He wasn’t expecting today to be this exhausting.
It was just supposed to be a quiet trip to the museum to get the kids outside the base for at least a bit. What he didn’t realize was how much can go wrong just by looking away for a second.
All he could remember was hearing Ellie yelling then a sudden crash, then seeing the very important looking diamond with a very large crack running along the side. With his youngest child standing right next to it with some broken but very familiar earmuffs in his hands.
Thinking about it now Galeforce felt horrible for scolding Henry so harshly after they were kicked out, but he knew as a parent he needed to teach the kids right from wrong, even if he had little clue on how to do so.
To be honest he didn’t have any good example to go off on. His own parents were very strict, they never let him off easy on anything, and were very keen on “physical” punishments.
He flinched a little at the memory, there was no way he’d forgive himself if he let those kids experience that same kind of pain under his care.
Galeforce shook the unwanted memories out of his mind. checking his watch as he stood up and headed towards the living room.
‘I should probably check on him…’
He muttered to himself as he poked his head into the living room.
Charles and Ellie were laying on the couch, watching TV looking as though they were both about to fall asleep. Galeforce looked around for a second, no sign of Henry.
‘He’s probably still in their room…’
He walked down the narrow hallway of their small house to the messily decorated door, covered in an assortment of stickers with a sign with the words “triple threat base” “no adults allowed!” Messily scribbled onto it. Galeforce chuckled a little at the sign before slowly opening the door peeking inside.
“Henry? Are you still up?”
Nothing.
Galeforce opened the door fully, taking note of the clearly empty beds. He glanced around the room
Empty.
“Henry?? I know you’re probably still upset but come out” Galeforce said, trying to ignore the knot in his stomach that was beginning to form.
Check under the bed?
Nothing.
Okay maybe he just went to the bathroom?
Not there either.
Galeforce paced around the whole house a few times, after looking around for a while he gently woke up Ellie and Charles asking if they knew where their brother was. The duo shrugged saying they haven’t seen him since they got home and looked to each other worriedly.
Galeforce went back to the trio’s room trying his best not to fall into a full blown panic attack.
It was then Galeforce noticed the window.
It was wide open.
“Shit.”
Galeforce rushed outside and opened the small garage door. Everything seem to be in order at first glance, the car was still there, Ellie’s bike, Charlie’s roller skates, Henr-
Henry’s scooter was gone.
“Shit. Shit. shit.”
Galeforce headed back inside as he fumbled with getting his coat on. His mind racing, trying to rationalize the situation in a feeble attempt to stay calm.
“Okay, okay. Let’s not jump to conclusions. I'm sure he’s fine, he’s using his scooter so he couldn’t have gotten too far”
“he’s probably somewhere on the base. He didn’t take his coat so he’s probably freezing, I’ll also have to ask Ms. Gritt if she could watch Charles and Ellie,”
With that thought, he immediately took his phone out of his pocket as he finished fumbling to tie his boot laces. Sending a quick message to Victoria asking her to watch the two and giving a quick explanation of the situation. Lucky for him that she was his neighbor and not asleep since he got a reply almost immediately. He felt relieved for a second before switching back to the abyss of parental panic.
Feeling a timid tug on his coat brought him back to reality as he met with the worried copper eyes of Charles, Ellie standing close behind her face showing the same amount of worry as Charles.
“Dad...are you okay?” Charles asked
Galeforce’s gaze softened a bit as he knelt down to their level.
“I’m fine…but I have to go for bit-“
“Is it about Henry?” Ellie asked bluntly, Galeforce sighed and said “yes, you two will have to stay with ms. Gritt until I get back okay?”
“What? No! We wanna help look!”
“Ellie, please it’s too dark out for you and Charlie to be outside”
“But you’ll be there!”
“I’ll be looking also, I won’t be able to keep track of you two.”
“We can’t just sit here!”
Ellie said stubbornly, stamping her foot slightly to emphasize her point. Charles nodded with the same look of determination.
Galeforce sighed “I know, but I can’t run the risk of losing you two while looking for Henry. I’ll keep you updated with your pager but please stay here, no sneaking off okay?”
Ellie crossed her arms and huffed “Fine… but you have to page me when you find him…promise?”
Gale nodded, ruffling the Red head’s hair “I promise.”
“Now. Can I count on you to hold down the fort ‘til I get back?” Galeforce asked, standing backup.
“Mhm!” Ellie nodded as she grabbed Charles’s hand and gave Galeforce a tired salute. Charles didn’t react; he just looked outside the window concerned.
Galeforce gently patted the boy's head and attempted to give a reassuring smile before heading out. Passing Ms. Grit as she stepped off her motor bike, apologizing again for the last minute message, before she waved him off simply saying “just go find the lil punk before he freezes” before heading inside the house.
Galeforce let out an anxious sigh before getting into his car. Driving off towards the main area of the base.
His suspicions of Henry being there were proven correct the moment he noticed the scooter leaning against a pole.
From there Galeforce just tore through tent after tent, even checking in the building areas that were locked, Henry loved sneaking through vents so it was a possibility. But after almost an hour of searching, he couldn’t still couldn’t find Henry.
“Oh god, what if he’s hurt…” Galeforce thought as he walked aimlessly throughout the base for the 3rd time.
His fear started to affect him full force as he was alone with his anxious thoughts.
“What if he was taken? He could be lost somewhere, he’s probably really scared right now if he’s been by himself for this long.. . I promised Henry I’d keep him safe.”
“I promised him, and now he could be dead for all I know.”
While Galeforce paced around the area, his worry clouded the logical side of his brain. He didn’t notice a figure stumbling towards him until he felt a hand on his shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts.
“H-heyy ‘hat you bo s sss?.” Konrad said, his voice clearly slurred.
Galeforce blinked at him for a second, before recomposing himself as best he could
“Konrad what are you doing here? I heard that Rupert was taking your shift tonight?” He asked, deciding not to bother asking if he was drunk. But from the younger soldiers swaying, he was slightly concerned about him falling.
“Ugh, ye-*hic* yeah, he tol-told me ya’d be here.” Konrad mumbled, holding his stomach for a moment before continuing “he w-wanted me to tell yo-you to-“
“Tell me what?”
“T-to.. ah fuck”
Before Galeforce could realize Konrad turned away and dry heaved. Galeforce sighed he doesn’t have time to deal with this. Though that doesn’t stop him from gently guiding the sick man to the medical tent.
After some throwing up and some water to sober him up, Galeforce leaned against the tent entrance.
“Alright, now what were you trying to tell me earlier?”
“W-what?”
“You said Rupert wanted me to do something?” Galeforce inquired, looking around outside impatiently, trying to see if he can spot a pastel blue sweater anywhere.
Konrad took another drink from the water cup before wiping his mouth and saying
“o-oh yeah… uhhmm what was it..” he stuttered out, rubbing his head with his free hand before snapping his fingers in recollection.
“Oh yeah! He said something about Calling… him? I think? I can’t remember the full thing...something about Henr-”
That’s all he needs to know.
He’s heading back to his car, relieved at the thought that Henry’s most likely with rupert right now. Safe.
‘He’s fine, he’s fine, he’s fine, he’s not dead, he’s NOT dead.’ was all Galeforce could think as he dialed his number as he started driving towards the apartment complex.
“ ‘ello?”
“Rupert,
please
tell me he’s still there.”
Galeforce asked, if Rupert heard the slight shakiness in his voice, he didn’t comment on it, to which Galeforce was thankful for.
“ ‘enry? Yeah don’t worry ‘bout it boss he’s still here, fell asleep a bit ago” Galeforce sighed in relief as he pulled into the parking lot. He could hear Rupert getting up and heading down from the other end before Galeforce hung up and waited at the front door.
Normally he’d have a key to access the military building but forgot it in his haste, so he was thankful he didn’t have to ask. Galeforce was just a bundle of nerves at this point whether it was from the adrenaline of running around or from the panic of his missing youngest even he doesn’t know.
When Rupert came out they both shook hands in greeting and headed up to the room.
“Hey boss...about what happened-”
“I’m guessing he told you?”
“Hm. Yeah...I’ve calmed him down for the most part, and I know it’s not much of my business but you may want to talk with him when you head home…” Rupert said as he opened the door and let the older man inside.
Henry was asleep on the bean bag with Lovebug curled around his head. Her head shot up when Galeforce kneeled in front of them and gave her head a small pat, The cat let out a yawn as she jumped off the beanbag and strutted away.
Feeling the weight off the bean bag shift Henry woke up. Sitting up and rubbing his eyes he felt a hand gently rest on his head.
“Hey Kiddo…” Galeforce said, which made Henry’s head snap to face the tired but relieved face of his dad.
Henry hugged his back pack close in response, silently moving off the beanbag and leaned against Galeforce’s shoulder. The general sighed in relief as he hugged the kid and picked him up.
“Please never scare me like that again…” Galeforce whispered to the boy as he stood up, after thanking Rupert and heading outside the two stayed outside the apartment building for a bit.
Henry’s face was still buried in his shoulder when he finally spoke “I’m sorry…” Galeforce set down Henry on the sidewalk, keeping a gentle hold onto the smaller ones shoulders as he kneeled down
“I’m just glad you’re safe...but what were you thinking just running off like that without telling me? You could’ve gotten hurt Henry” Galeforce said, having a soft sternness in his voice.
Henry looked down at the ground as if it were the most interesting to look at in that moment.
“I-I thought you guys still hated me.. I- I thought that you were going to send me back with her, s-so I made it easier b-by leaving... ” Henry muttered softly,
feeling tears build up in his eyes once again at the mere mention of going back to that old house. Back into the arms of the woman who saw him as nothing but a curse because his little ‘power’ with time.
Galeforce’s eyebrows shot up a bit in surprise, he felt his heart break a little as he kid cried in front of him. He felt a pang of guilt hit him, this was too familiar to him as he remembered his own parents, the harsh voices after making a mistake, the lashes. The pain was a lot to think about.
Henry though was so much younger and has experienced so much pain from his mot- no... that witch, to the point where he can’t even talk about his experience to anyone not even his newly adopted family. So hearing Henry think that Galeforce would even think about sending him back to that house made the normally strong general’s blood run cold. He squeezed the boy’s shoulders, not hard enough to hurt him but enough to where it got Henry to look at him.
“Henry you listen to me right now. Yes what you did today was bad and I was angry about it, but I could never hate you. And NEVER in a million years would I even think of sending you away, especially back there… no matter what you do Henry...you’ll always still be my son and I could never hate you…”
Galeforce stated as seriously as he could, refusing to break eye contact with Henry, who merely responded by wrapping his arms around Galeforce’s neck sobbing out gibberish that was hard to understand. Galeforce simply just held his son. His son. And let him cry it out. Standing up once again and headed towards his car.
Galeforce gave Henry one last hug before saying “I know I may still be rusty when it comes to this parent business, I’ve never had the best example to go off of… but that doesn’t excuse the fact even if you understood what you did today was wrong that I may have been a bit too harsh on you today… and I’m sorry”
Henry nodded, before asking “am I still in trouble?”
Galeforce smiled slightly, hearing the slight joking in the child’s voice through the tears “ Yes. You’re still in trouble, especially after this. But we can talk about that tomorrow alright?”
Henry nodded letting go from the hug and climbing into the car along as the older unlocked it.
Normally Galeforce wouldn’t let Henry sit upfront, but tonight he’d make an exception since they were both tired and honestly he was too afraid to let Henry out of his sight. The drive back was for the most part silent, save for Henry’s occasional sniffle that died down once the car pulled back into the driveway of their small house.
The two didn’t even make it to the front door before it flew open and two blurs ran outside, tackling Henry to the ground. Galeforce let out an airy chuckle as he realized the two blurs were the two youngest who were simulationaly crying and scolding their youngest brother as he held onto the two tearfully laughing. Ms. Grit patted Galeforce on the back signalling she was gonna head out for the night as she stepped around the trio and left.
Galeforce kneeled down next to the three joining the group hug momentarily, relieved seeing all three of his kids. Before herding them back inside as the three grew very tired.
After making sure all three of them were asleep Galeforce closed the door and fell onto the couch in exhaustion. He was thinking of staying up longer to finish some more work, but he just felt drained both physically and emotionally.
They're safe. They’re safe.
Was the last thing Galeforce thought before finally falling into a dreamless sleep.
Whatever he has to do can simply wait until tomorrow, right now his kids are safe and at home and he’s ready to just rest.