Work Text:
Raleigh was a pretty average kid, with the exception of his carefully crafted looks of course, he held his own and kept his head down most of the time. He was no child genius like Chuck, but he got decent grades in school and had just made Honor Roll. No Raleigh Becket wasn’t stupid…yet how he had gotten himself into his current situation, after weeks of diligent avoidance of being alone with Herc Hansen, was a bit concerning.
He blamed the thunder. As school had let out the heavens had decided to open with the Apocalypse and now it was severely storming outside. Raleigh didn’t do storms- at all. So when he saw Chuck’s Dad’s large black SUV pull up in the dismissal line, he had bolted for it. Chuck had been right behind him…or so he thought, but as he dove into the back seat, soaked through from just a few seconds of exposure to the makeup ruining moisture, he realized that was not the case at all.
Herc looked up at his passenger in the rearview mirror as he slammed the door. “Where’s Charlie?”
“I dunno…he was right behind me…” Raleigh answered, flicking water out of his aquamarine died hair and trying to not smudge his mascara. “I guess he got distracted….”
“He has the attention span of a gerbil…” Herc sighed and flicked the wipers up another speed. It was raining bullets. They were under all sorts of weather advisories and he would prefer to get home before it got any worse. This was not an ideal time for one of Charlie’s rabbit chases. He peered through the sheets of rain at the running squealing kids, but so far none where his. Ugh come on Charlie…he drummed his fingers on the steering wheel in time with the rain. He glanced back at Raleigh.
Raleigh was fidgeting anxiously. A small whine of distress escaped him as the sky brightened for a heartbeat with lightening. “You okay back there?” Herc asked, mildly amused.
Raleigh gave him a heart breaking look in the mirror, and jumped when the rumble of distant thunder echoed outside. This kid was a disaster sometimes…all times. What Charlie saw in this gangly bundle of incongruities was beyond him…….
Oh. Well….this was interesting. For the first time since Chuck had announced their budding little romance as ‘official’ well over two weeks ago, this was the first time he had been alone with Raleigh. The little shit was careful, and too clever by half, but he had just slipped up big time. Oh ho little boy….it was time to come to Jesus.
Raleigh was seriously getting uncomfortable; between his impending death by tornado and Herc’s not at all comforting presence he was starting to panic. Where the fuck was Charlie?! He pressed against the glass trying to spot his friend in the crowd huddled under the awning awaiting their rescues.
Herc toyed with the idea of locking the little brat in. His finger hovered over the button, and the temptation was great. But that might be too intimidating; at least right off the bat. He wasn’t going to abandon the option though- if things went south. Instead he settled for a less unsettling intro. “So Raleigh….”
The blood froze in Raleigh’s veins, and his heart stopped beating entirely. Oh fuck! This was it…Oh god this is how he was going to die! He knew what was coming, Chuck had warned him weeks ago. Herc was going to kill him…or something along those lines. When Charlie had been explaining it to him it had been kinda hard to concentrate- there had been a fair amount of tongue kissing and groping going on…..
God damn it! Now he was red in the face, and sweating. Herc noticed both of these things right away. Excellent, the fear was palpable. “So Raleigh, Charlie was telling me you two are going steady…”
Going steady…what the fuck did that mean? Raleigh gave him a puzzled look.
“Dating.” Herc rolled his eyes.
“Yes sir,” Raleigh answered respectfully. It would be in his best interest to be as humble and respectful as possible in order to survive this.
“You know that’s a pretty serious commitment, even at your age,” He was winging this. No real plan here…just parenting another kid. Great. Lucky him.
“Yes sir,” this one was a little shaky due to a large bolt of lightning that arched across the horizon.
Herc killed the engine, he was not going to waste any more gas, and watched as Raleigh’s eyes got huge. That was intimidating? This kid watched too many movies. Whatever. “You sure you’re ready for all that commitment? You know, no flirting with other people, talking to other people, looking at other people…”
Yeah, yeah; it was Raleigh’s turn to roll his eyes. As if there was anyone other than Chuck, as if there would ever be. He didn’t see what the big deal was, he loved Charlie, and that made him momentarily bold. “Yeah I know that! I love Charlie…”
“Oh really?” Herc couldn’t stop the laugh. Shit. Raleigh’s face darkened with genuine anger. That came out wrong. God damn it, he hadn’t meant to be mean. There was a dangerous glint in those blue mascara smudged eyes. Oops.
Raleigh bristled and was going to say something stupid, but luckily Herc cut him off. “You know of course that there’s more to ‘love’ then sex….which you are absolutely not going to be having with my son…” He turned around in the seat so they could talk face to face. So he could witness the death in the boy’s soul.
Which there was; in rewarding abundance. Raleigh instinctively cowered back against the warm, sticky leather of the seat he wished would swallow him whole. Herc’s blue eyes, which he had never really noticed were the color of a cold winter day, bored into him with so many unspoken threats. Any sass Raleigh had been planning died in his chest and left only a little inaudible squeak of terror to perish similarly on his lips.
“You feel me son?” his tone dripped menace.
Raleigh nodded, going red and white in turn and looking for all the world like a treed raccoon. Excellent. “I’m so serious Raleigh…I swear to god…”
The head nodding became more vigorous. “Yes sir…I promise…we’ll be good….” Dear sweet Jesus this had to stop. He would say anything to get out of this, do anything. Raleigh was seriously considering jumping back out into the raging hurricane and taking his chances with Thor’s wrath. It could not be any worse than Herc Hansen’s.
Herc continued to skewer him with the Terrifying Dad look. Raleigh continued to melt into the vehicle’s interior. This was going very well, Herc thought. He was about to bring the kill shot to bear on his terrified victim when it finally decided to find its voice.
“I…I love Charlie too much to disrespect him…or you like that,” Raleigh stammered. Oh my god! What the fuck was happening!? Shut up brain, shut the fuck up! Words continued to pour out of him, without his consent. It was weird to be talking and have no idea what you were saying. “He’s my best friend…and the only good thing in my whole shitty, messed up life…” Raleigh’s voice wavered in a very embarrassing way and he felt the unique burn of tears mixing with ruined kohl.
It was Herc’s turn to feel the color drain out of him. What was happening here? Oh god…there were tears. Why the fuck where there always tears!? He knew vaguely that Raleigh’s home life wasn’t the greatest; Chuck had hinted at it and the kid practically lived at their house, but to hear him say it out loud was strangely heart breaking. Ugh. He was getting soft in his old age. It was time to end this before the tears started in earnest and he had to be Tender Caring Dad instead of Holy Warpath Dad.
“I’m glad to hear that, I really am. I think we may yet get along Raleigh.” He flashed one of his rare, disarming smiles. It was honestly more unnerving to the boy then the death glower of seconds before. Raleigh gave him a forced half smile that shattered when a large, close thunder clap rattled the car.
“But you listen here little boy…” Herc’s voice dropped to its most menacing growl. “That is my son…and if you hurt him…physically or otherwise, or break his perfect little heart I will snap your little chicken bones like matchsticks…and I’ll put you where they will never find you.” Herc meant every single word. And he would do it too, so help him god.
Raleigh stopped breathing, and he might have peed himself. He wasn’t sure. He was sure that this was the most scared he had ever been in his life…hands down. The rumor was that Herc Hanson was so sort of former Black Ops guy, and right now Raleigh didn’t doubt it…in fact he was a hundred percent sure it was truth. He swallowed so hard it felt like his heart got stuck half way down. He might puke.
He was done, but Raleigh didn’t need to know that so Herc continued to skewer him with an unrelenting intensity that clearly implied some sort of reply was required, or the bone breaking might start now….Raleigh’s head was bobbing up and down like some sort of glitching windup toy. God that had been too much fun, and super effective. Kid was dying before his eyes. Awesome.
Raleigh was spared any further torment and having to pull his speech box out of the pit of his stomach by arrival of a soaking wet savior. The door to the car ripped open and with a squeal of some sort of excitement Charlie flung himself out of the elements and into Raleigh’s lap.
“Oh my god!! So much rain!” He flailed around on a still trembling Raleigh. He thought nothing of it, as he knew his darling Raleigh didn’t do well in storms.
“What the fuck took so long?” Herc snapped, starting the car back up and finally able to head home. The weather was not improving.
“Coach stopped me…” Chuck babbled on, unaware that neither of his companions were listening to him. He did notice that Raleigh was clinging to him like a shield against the storm, and he liked it.
Herc watched the boys in the mirror, as they snuggled and preened each other affectionately. Charlie was so happy and oblivious; he had no idea the shit storm he had created with his dawdling. Raleigh on the other hand, made the mistake of meeting his gaze in the reflection, and all Herc had to do was raise one eyebrow to send the poor little sucker back into fits.
Message received loud and clear. Perfect. Raleigh Becket wouldn’t be a problem for some time…and if and when he decided to over step the boundaries, well Herc would enjoy reminding him of his place again.