Chapter Text
“He said that?”
Tim and Sasha were sitting on the couch, Jon having been put to bed after wolfing down five of the dinosaur chicken nuggets. It was rather early in the evening but Jon hadn’t napped today and he would likely sleep through the night. He practically passed out in Tim’s arms as soon as he was dressed for bed.
And now they had to talk.
“He looked so sad, Tim,” Sasha said, leaning her head on his shoulder. “You should have seen his face. Have we been going about this all wrong?”
Tim slung an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. “We’re all adjusting, we’re bound to make some mistakes. But he’s pulling away, and we’ve got to make sure he knows we support him no matter what.”
“I think it’s sort of my fault,” Sasha said, her voice going small. She remembered the moment Jon told her he got the promotion, looking so scared but also a bit proud. He always wanted to prove himself, not only in the field but to Tim and Sasha. But she knew her face blanched as soon as he told her, and watching his face fall in turn was heartbreaking. Still, she didn’t expect it. Didn’t expect the old woman to disappear, and didn’t expect to be passed over for the job. “I can tell he feels guilty and I don’t think I did a good enough job of letting him know it was okay.”
“You can’t blame yourself,” Tim replied firmly. “No one expected it, least of all us. I’m a bit worried about what’s going to happen with Elias, though. If he finds out about Jon…”
“I don’t know how long we can hide it.” Sasha shook her head. “He’s been so stressed lately, and you know how that makes him slip into headspace.” She sighed, running a hand through her hair. “I know I said I’d leave if I didn't get promoted, but I don’t think I could do that to him, y’ know?”
“He would understand, I think. If you explained it. He knows how hard you’ve tried to advance. You deserve more than being an assistant.” Tim was always encouraging her, that’s what she loved about him.
“Thirty-three year old assistant. It’s not very flattering.” She gave a weak laugh. “Maybe once he finds his footing. But right now he needs me. Needs us. I can’t do that to him.”
“We’ll talk to him tomorrow or Monday, once he’s out of headspace,” Tim decided. He was right, they needed to have a discussion. “Meanwhile, I think you should have some time with our baby. I’ll go to the gym, run some errands. Sound like a plan?”
Sasha nodded- she liked the idea of getting some one on one time with him. It had been too long. “Yeah, let’s-”
She was interrupted by a small whine coming from the doorway. Jon was standing there, rubbing at his eyes tiredly. “Lonely,” he whispered, sounding on the verge of tears. “P’ease come.” He made grabby hands and Tim was already on his way, scooping him up and snuggling him close to his chest.
It looked like they would have an early night too.
Jon was still little in the morning. Sasha had expected this, and didn’t mind it one bit.
Tim managed to get him to eat an entire bowl of oatmeal, which was quite the feat. He’d left a few minutes ago with a kiss to both of their cheeks and a promise to be back soon. He always cut his time out of the house short when Jon stayed over. It was only natural.
Jon was currently bundled up in a blanket on the sofa, watching cartoons while Sasha snuck away to grab the stuffie she’d bought him yesterday. It was a rather large bunny with floppy ears, something she was sure he didn’t have (and he had a lot- if Tim saw something cute, he immediately bought it- no impulse control, that man).
“You were a very good boy this morning,” Sasha cooed, drawing Jon away from his cartoons. “And you know what good boys get?” She brought the rabbit out from behind her back, smiling at Jon’s yelp of delight. “Presents!” She plopped down on the couch as Jon grabbed it out of her hand, squishing it to his chest with a pleased smile. She couldn’t help but ruffle his hair. God, he was so cute.
“Ta, Mama!” Jon’s way of saying thanks when he was overwhelmed. He was also shaking- more like vibrating, really. It was stim Jon tried to control when he was big and didn’t want to be seen as ‘less than professional,’ but it was nice to see him so unabashedly happy.
“You’re welcome, sweetheart!” She pulled him close, kissing the top of his head. “You think of a name for him, yet?” Sometimes it took awhile for him to come up with one, other times it was almost instantaneous. This time, it was the latter.
“Sir Flop,” he stated with a solemn nod, giving the animal another squeeze. “‘Cause his ears.”
“That’s a very good name,” Sasha agreed. Jon’s habit of assigning every plushie a title amused her to no end. “Now, what do you want to do today? We can go for a walk, or read some books, maybe do a puzzle-”
“Puzzle!” Jon screeched, breaking the sound barrier. Sasha hid her wince as she got up from the couch, going over to the overflowing toy chest they now kept in the living room. She picked out a map of Europe- Jon loved the strange contours of the countries, and enjoyed shouting the mispronounced names of each one. His reading skills tended to vary when he was in headspace- sometimes they were very good, other times not so much. They settled onto the ground as Sasha poured out the wooden pieces, Jon setting the plushie by his side.
“Germy!” he stated as he picked up the Germany piece and promptly put it in his mouth. She could see his teeth sink a bit into the wood- God, he was so bitey these days.
“No biting, baby!” she scolded, prying the piece from his mouth. It’s not like he was teething or anything- he wasn’t physically a child. She should’ve expected this, though; he was always returning pens or pencils with little bite marks that no one wanted to use. She remembered Martin’s dumbfounded face when he handed him an almost decimated pen back as if nothing were wrong. Her and Tim had to stifle their laughter.
“Is this some sort of prank?” he asked, holding the pen away from him with two fingers as if it were nuclear waste. “I don’t want this.”
So needless to say, the wooden piece now had the tell-tale chew marks of a tetchy Jon. “If you’re going to chew, do it with something soft,” she said, reaching for a rubbery giraffe they kept on the end table for such purposes. He readily accepted it as Sasha wiped off the slobbery puzzle piece, putting it to the side. “Now, what’s next?”
Jon had the puzzle pretty much memorized, but he still delighted in putting it together. “OO-K!” he shouted on picking up the piece marked “United Kingdom.” France became ‘ants’ and Spain ‘spayed,’ which Sasha didn’t have the heart to correct him on (it also made her laugh). Jon’s perfectionism shone through even when he was little- every puzzle piece had to be directly and precisely placed after he waved it around excitedly. Once they were finished, he insisted on sending a picture to Tim, who responded within seconds with a blurry video of him sweating at the gym screaming ‘Good job!’ Jon watched it five times.
“Book!” he announced, staring at Sasha expectantly. She waited with a raised eyebrow; she’d taught him better than this. He relented. “P’ease.”
“That’s better.” She walked over to the bedroom, where a stack of books from the library lay. They never bought books for him, not anymore- he’d read them once and be done with it. The quirk resulted in several trips to the library for any book that might catch his attention. He would truly read anything.
Except for one thing: spiders. If a book had a spider, even minutely featured, he would spiral deeply into panic. Sasha could never forget the first time it happened- his eyes went wide, his breathing quickened and he immediately burst into tears and loud sobs, ceasing only when he exhausted himself into sleep. It was terrifying, and made the both of them feel terribly guilty. So now she vetted each one to make sure there wasn’t even a mention of one.
Today’s book was a kid’s guide to astronomy. Jon loved fact books, loved to memorize and repeat them back for praise, which they readily gave. He made Sasha linger on each page and repeat the lines, which he’d whisper to himself. When Jon was big he would do something very similar, reading aloud under his breath in such a nice voice that Tim suggested he should do story time at the library. He did not take kindly to that, not at all.
It took them an hour to get through the book until Jon was satisfied, looking at every page for almost ten minutes. “Walk now,” he said, pushing the book away. “P’ease.” Sasha looked at the time.
“I think we should have lunch first,” she said, standing up and offering a hand that Jon refused. “C’mon, baby, you were so good at breakfast!”
“Full!” Jon argued, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes. “Too many oats!”
Sasha sighed. “If you want to go for a walk, you gotta eat, bud.” She adopted Tim’s stern tones and nickname- he was always good with getting Jon to eat, even if the food wasn’t the healthiest. “You need your energy. How about a granola bar?”
Jon pouted, but Sasha didn’t relent. She was immune to his puppy dog eyes when it came to food. “Kay,” he sighed, as if she were asking for a very difficult task. “I eat.”
Half a granola bar later and they were off on one of Jon’s favorite routes through a more historic neighborhood. He liked to pause in front of every plaque, read out the year, and squint at the words below it. Often Sasha would have to read it aloud for him, and he would nod like a scholar critiquing someone’s art. And then there were the facts.
“We got one moon,” he said, gesturing to the sky dramatically. “Jupiter got many.”
“Wow, that’s crazy!” Sasha nodded with wide eyes, adopting an astonished look. He nodded back, very proud that he’d managed to shock her. Never mind that they just read this about an hour ago.
They continued like this for another thirty minutes before Jon tired of it, lagging behind Sasha as they walked. “Time for someone to have a nap, I think.” It was a testament to his exhaustion that he actually gave in, leaning into her side.
And not thirty minutes later he was snoozing in bed when Tim arrived back home, gym bag and a few other grocery bags in tow. He tiptoed in quietly as Sasha had warned him in advance that Jon was already asleep with a cute selfie of the two of them in bed. She’d snuck out to do some reading in the living room.
“And how was your day?” Tim whispered, kissing her on the cheek on his way to the kitchen. “Looks like you two had quite the adventure.”
“And we didn’t need to get muddy to do it,” Sasha teased, shutting her book. “He was in a very good mood. Hopefully he’s amenable to talking before work tomorrow. I don’t think I’ve seen him in headspace for this long in a while.”
“Not surprising though, given the stress he’s under,” Tim said, spreading himself out on the couch and putting his feet in Sasha’s lap. They turned on the telly to watch some ridiculous crime drama Tim’s been binging while Sasha points out every flaw. It’s one of their favorite pastimes. They get about an episode and a half in when they’re interrupted.
“H-Hi.” That was a big Jon voice, meek though it was.
He stood in the doorway, clothes rumpled and hair a mess. His hands were fidgeting; he always got nervous when he left headspace, as if waiting for someone to yell at him. Sasha hated that he felt that way.
“Hey there, sleepyhead,” Tim said with a wave. He avoided using ‘bud’ just as Sasha avoided using ‘baby’ when he was big. As much as they wanted to, it would push him towards headspace again and Jon didn’t like it when they did that, understandably. ‘Welcome back to the land of the living!” Jon gave a weak chuckle, looking out at the floor where the toys still lay in disarray, his cheeks flushing.
“None of that, now,” Sasha said; he needed to feel less embarrassed about the little side of him. She gestured to the couch. “Come watch this shit show with us. I need someone on my side with this nonsense.”
Tim gasped, faking offense. “Hey!”
Jon made his way over, settling in between the two with tense shoulders. He gradually acclimated to the arrangement, leaning into Tim’s side as the show went on and adding his own sarcastic commentary. Sasha loved his biting wit, it never failed to make her laugh. Once the episode ended, Tim shut off the TV, nudging Jon who looked nervous at the sudden attention.
“You okay to talk?” Jon fidgeted anxiously, but nodded, his eyes going down to his lap. “I think there’s been some miscommunication here, on both ends. We need to know-”
“I’m sorry!” Jon burst out, his eyes closing tightly as his hands made fists in his lap. “I-I meant to spent the weekend alone, I didn’t want to bother you-”
“Jon,” Sasha interrupted, rubbing his arm with her hand. “We always want you around. You never bother us, big or small. What’s gotten into that head of yours?”
“I-I,” he let out a breath, trying to get his emotions under control. “I don’t know. It’s- it’s very weird, and now I’m your boss and I shouldn’t be, and I don’t know what to do-”
“And that’s why we’re here to help,” Tim insisted, drawing Jon close with a strong arm. “I know things haven’t been the best, we’ve got a lot to adjust to. But we don’t blame you for the situation, at all. We want you around, and we want to support you.” He smiled, nudging Jon again. “We love you!”
Jon looked up from his lap, giving them both a tentative look. “A-Are you sure?” The tone made Sasha’s heart break all over again.
“Never been more sure of anything in my life,” Sasha replied solemnly, running her fingers through his hair in a soothing gesture. “Love you when you’re big, and love you when you’re small. Honestly, this? You and Tim? I’ve never been happier.” Jon looked at her with bright, shining eyes full of emotion and suddenly she found herself with a lapful of Archivist, hugging her tightly around her middle. She shared a look with Tim, who was smiling fondly at the man in her lap.
She pressed a kiss to the top of his head. Things would get better, they would eventually adjust. And if it took a few more hugs and kisses? Well, she wouldn’t complain.