Archive of Our Own

Right Hand Man was on high alert as a siren blared throughout the whole airship. A red alert, code for an intruder. It was tripped in the cargo bay.

As Right skid around the corner with a dozen other toppats in tow, he spotted the one figure in the room not clad in a felt top hat, and he drew his gun.

"Oi! Stop righ' there!"

The figure looked up, their hands passively raised in surrender with a similarly deadpan expression.

Right's eyebrows flew up in recognition, "'e-'enry...?"

Henry gave a single nod, "Relax, I'm not here to fight. Is your leader here? Reginald? Can I talk to him?"

Right's eyes narrowed in an icy glare as he reached for his walkie-talkie, "Reg, I found th' intruder. It's 'enry, 'enry Stickmin. 'e's askin' t' talk t' yew."

There was a long silence on the other end. The device was clearly on and connected, but Reginald wasn't responding. Finally, he replied;

"I'm on my way, Right. Stay where you are."

While they waited, Henry tried to put their hands in their pockets, but Right pointed his gun at them again.

"Don' do that! Keep ya hands where Ah can see 'um!"

Henry rose their hands again, audibly gulping.

Once Reginald appeared, his buckled boots clacking on the floor of the cargo bay, he waved his hand.

"At ease, everyone!" he approached Henry slowly, Right fidgeting as he got closer to the ex-thief, "Henry. This is quite a shocker. Why are you here?"

Henry took a shaking breath, their arms trembling a little bit in the air, "I swear, I'm not looking for a fight."

"Then why are you here?" Reginald grabbed the collar of Henry's hoodie, making him flinch, "You are not welcome here, covert op. Is this another ploy? Is your pilot friend right outside?"

Henry shook their head, and Reginald let go.

"Then why?" Reginald sternly crossed his arms, "Explain."

Henry roughly cleared their throat, "Uhh...okay, listen. The government doesn't know I'm here, and neither does Charles. I'm...I'm here because I'm desperate. I need your help."

Reginald snorted as he tried to hold back a laugh, "Wh-what!? No, surely, you must be joking! You don't need our help! You're the one who took us down in the first place! You have the entire government at your disposal! What could you possibly need our help with!?"

Henry's eyes filled with tears, and all at once, Reginald regretted laughing.

"I'm...sorry, Henry. It's just absurd! You freed us too, remember?" Reginald said, more somber this time, "Just answer my question."

Henry sniffed, their face burning bright red as they brought both hands down to furiously wipe their tears away.

"Well..." Henry coughed into their sleeve, "...it's a long story."

"I TOLD YOU WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THAT!"

Henry flinched just outside the general's office. Apparently, when he said it was urgent, he'd really meant it. Charles too froze in shock before yanking the door open, but Henry held back. The screaming voice was Ellie's, he knew, but he didn't like yelling regardless.

"THEY TOOK HIM! DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT, OLD MAN!? IF HE'S BEEN ABDUCTED, HE MIGHT ALREADY BE DEAD! SEARCH THE ENTIRE COUNTRY! I DON'T WANT ANYONE TO REST UNTIL HE'S FOUND!"

General Galeforce glared at her as he replied as calmly as he could manage, "Look, I've already issued a search and rescue order to every base I'm in contact with. That's really all I can do. If that's not enough, then find someone else."

As Ellie went on screaming, tears in her eyes, Henry sidled up to Jacob, who was frantically biting his nails. They gave him a shrug in her direction, and he angrily forced his fingers out of his mouth.

"Our youngest brother's been kidnapped."

Charles squeezed his headset on tighter, "Kidnapped? Hold on, who's your brother?"

Jacob sighed, rubbing his forehead. Henry got the impression that he was exhausted.

"He's not like me or Ellie." Jacob explained, "He's a civilian. Not only that, but he has a severe disability. He can't handle himself in a high-stress situation! That's why Ellie is...well, like this. She's not actually angry, just terrified. I am too. What possible reason could someone have to abduct an autistic teenager? He's probably in shutdown mode right now, and that hurts more than anything else."

Charles bit his lip a little too hard. Henry understood. He'd had his own struggles with shutdowns before, and Henry themself wasn't clueless on that front either. They understood how scary it could be.

Henry decided they'd had enough of the yelling, but before they could intervene, the office phone suddenly rang.

Galeforce swiftly answered, "Any news on Lincoln Rose?"

The voice on the other end was indiscernible, but once whoever it was delivered their message, Galeforce's face paled.

"I...I see." he took a deep breath, "I'm sure we could work something out."

As soon as he hung up, Ellie leaned over his desk, "Well!? What is it!? Is it news!?"

"Yes." he replied, "But ya aren't gonna like it. I certainly don't."

"Tell me! I'll give them anything! Money!? Fame!? What is it!?"

Galeforce made eye contact with Henry, and Henry's heart dropped.

He knew just before he heard the words, "They want Henry."

Ellie's eyes went wide. She glanced over at Henry, who knew their palms were beginning to sweat. It took a few more seconds for the news to really sink in.

"No...no, I..." Ellie glanced between everyone in the room, "I-I-I didn't mean...isn't there anything else?"

Galeforce shook his head, "We'll need to find where they are so we can get Lincoln back ourselves. I've already got everyone on it except Henry and Charles. They're gonna stay here and help us come up with a plan."

Henry's phone dinged, and they pulled it out to check the new notification. It was from an unknown number, and all it said was;

"We have the hostage. You know what to do, Henry."

Henry's skin crawled.

"Henry?"

Henry hastily put their phone away, "Yeah?"

Charles was gazing at him in concern, "We're not giving you up to them. We'll find another way. I promise."

Henry's stomach lurched in discomfort. They were already connecting the dots in their head. Petrov found a helpless target and used it to lure them in. Henry squeezed their head between both hands.

This is your fault.

"Henry." Charles kissed his forehead, "Henry, listen to me, okay? This isn't your fault. We'll figure something out, okay? Everything will be okay."

But it didn't feel like it. Henry felt sick. They tuned out of the conversation as their mind began to race.

"I don't want to get Charles or Ellie involved." Henry explained, hands still in the air, "But I can't do it myself, so I figured I'd turn to someone else."

"But...but, I don't understand!" Reginald twirled a strand of hair around one finger, "You can do so much more than us! Why can't you do it yourself?"

Henry's knees trembled as they choked out, "Because I'm scared of him!"

Reginald's expression flooded with compassion.

"I'm scared of Petrov, okay?" Henry swallowed as their lip quivered, "He used to lash me with a whip every time I tried to escape. I had to watch myself lose weight as he barely fed me, and it made me feel like a monster. I spent every day in that complex wondering where I went wrong. I got used to being treated like a person only to be treated like a criminal all over again, and it hurt so much!"

They hid their face behind both arms, furiously wiping their tears off on their sleeves while still trying to hold their arms up. Eventually though, they felt a gentle touch on their shoulders.

"Put your arms down, Henry."

They did, resisting the urge to fiddle with their sleeves or put their hands in their pockets.

Reginald scrutinized them with an unreadable expression, rubbing his lips together as he thought.

"Righty!"

Right was by his side in an instant.

"Pat him down."

Henry jumped backwards when the hulking giant reached for them, "Wait wait! Please, leave me alone! I'm not carrying anything, I swear!"

"'t's jus' protocol, 'enry." Right held his hands open to show they were empty, "I'll make it quick. Promise."

Henry stiffened, bringing both arms in towards their body before squeezing their eyes shut. They braced themself as they widened their stance and brought both arms straight out on either side of them.

They cracked one eye open as Right swiftly pat them down, his hands just grazing over all their pockets and over both sleeves, then he took out a handheld metal detector to sweep it over their body on both sides.

Right sheathed the metal detector, stepping back to Reg's side, "Clear."

"Very well. We'll help you." Reg gave Henry a nod, "Where is the complex?"

Henry sighed in relief, "It's in Russia, north of the Bering Strait. It looks like empty Siberian wilderness on maps, but there should be a patch of ocean where the complex is built into the cliffside."

"I know where that is!" Reg took his phone out to scrutinize his map, "I'll take over steering and engage our third engine! We should be there in about fourteen hours, so sit tight, make yourself comfortable, and maybe telephone your pilot friend? I'd hate for him to crash into us again thinking we kidnapped you."

"Yes, sir." Henry replied.

"Right, stay with him. Keep him in the cargo bay, and if he escapes, send out another red alert. Everyone else, back to your duties!"

Reginald left, and Henry headed off to sit on one of the crates. Right joined them after some time, the rest of the toppats filing out unless they still had business in the cargo bay.

Henry smirked, "When did he start calling you 'Righty'?"

Right chuckled, "Oh, a long time ago. Ah believe we were still both teenagers at the time, forgin' our own path in life, tryna find a way t' get by, an' then tryna join th' clan. We worked so well together that 'e began t' call me his roit 'and man, an' it stuck."

"That's fucking adorable." Henry casually crossed their ankles, "Charles calls me Hen. It'd be annoying if it were anyone else, but Charles is just so genuine. I feel those dumb butterflies in my stomach when I hear him call me Hen. I can't really explain it."

"Ah know the feelin'." Right replied with an edge of humor, "'f anyone but Reg called me 'Roity', Ah'd have their fockin' kneecaps."

Henry huffed out a laugh through their nose as they shifted on the crate, "I'm glad things are still going well."

Their face fell, and Right gently touched their shoulder.

"'s Petrov really so scary t' th' likesa yew?"

Henry leaned forward to rest their head in their hands, "He's beyond terrifying. He's clearly used to dealing with criminals much worse than me, and no matter what I did, I only barely managed to escape. His stupid complex is surrounded by bear traps that are impossible to see under the snow, but he and his goons apparently just have the path fucking memorized because they never hit one no matter how haphazardly they move!"

Right's gaze hardened, and Henry flinched back from the intensity of his glare.

"Yer sayin' there're traps mos' people wouldn't see?"

Henry nodded, deflating in relief, "Oh, yeah, I shoulda mentioned that sooner, huh?"

"Yea. Ya shoulda." Right tipped his hat in understanding, "Anythin' else we should know 'bout th' complex? We'll need t' be as cautious as possible."

Henry bit hard into their lower lip, "Gosh, I'm sorry, Right Hand Man. I can't remember much from being stuck in there. It's too painful to try to recall. All I remember now is the cold and the hunger and the pain-!"

Their voice was stolen from them as the tears filled their eyes, and when they reached up to wipe the tears away, Right caught sight of a braided friendship bracelet beneath their sleeve, colored in vibrant shades of yellow that stood out from the color of their hoodie.

"Hey." Right said gently, "'s alright. Don' worry 'bout it."

Henry let out a rushed sigh. They opened their mouth, but no sound came out, and they hit their knees with both fists in frustration.

Very quickly, they signed, "Do you know sign?"

Right's stare was blank at first, but then he responded, "Ah know some. Not enough t' speak it mind you, but Ah know th' alphabet fer th' mos' part."

Henry sighed in relief, finger spelling, "Selective mute."

"I see. Uh, Ah mean it though, 'enry. 'f ya don't recall nothin', then ya don' gotta answer."

"No, this is important." Henry signed with a huff through stiff lungs, "Petrov has a lot of traps, and you guys will need every advantage you can get."

"Ah know, but it's alright 'f ya can't recall."

Henry's mouth moved, but their voice wouldn't work, so all that escaped them was a harsh wheeze.

After a frustrated few huffs of breath, Henry's hands lifted again, "Okay. Thank you."

"It's fine. We toppats're built like steel, yunno."

"Just..." Henry's eyes darted around as they thought, "...just be careful in the snow. It's full of traps."

"I'll let everyone else know." Right grabbed the walkie-talkie from his belt, "Everyone, we're due t' land in fourteen hours. Watch for traps in the snow, they're almost impossible t' see."

While Right addressed his crew, Henry decided now was as good a time as any to call Charles and tell him that they were fine. After all, if they said nothing, Charles would eventually put the pieces together anyway, and telling him now that they'd be gone for awhile was better than letting him worry for the over 28 hours that they'd inevitably be gone.

They turned their phone on, only to see that they had an unread text from Ellie that they'd missed.

"Hey! Stop that!"

"Make me, loser!"

Henry fought back against Ellie's attempts to restrain them, laughing as she successfully grabbed their wrists to pin them to the grass behind them.

"Haha! Gotcha!"

Henry scoffed, "I let you win."

"Uh huh. Sure you did." Ellie let them go to roll over and lay beside them, "You know I have the strength to bench press people twice as strong as you."

"Two times zero is still zero, Ells."

"Oo. Took a nosedive for that one, huh?"

"Admit it; You think I'm hilarious."

"You keep telling yourself that, hun."

Henry's smile fell as they locked eyes.

"Oh." Ellie swallowed, "Sorry. I didn't mean to call you hun. It just slipped out."

"Hey, don't worry about it." they looked towards the sky, reaching out to the side to hold her hand, "I...kinda like it, coming from you."

Ellie's eyes were on them, but they didn't look at her.

"For real?"

They nodded, eyes slipping closed, "For real."

Ellie gave their hand a squeeze, and they smiled as they heard her laugh.

Her head thumped back against the grassy hill, "You know...if anyone else told me they had let me win, even as a joke, I would be livid."

"Hm?" Henry glanced over at her, "Really?"

She nodded, "Yeah. Somehow, when you tease me like that...it doesn't have the same bite. I know you're not trying to insult me."

"Of course not. You do enough insulting for the both of us."

"Oh, shut up!" she lightly shoved them, and they laughed, "But seriously, Hen. Thanks. For being such a good friend."

Henry beamed, their chest growing warm, "You're welcome. And thank you too, for being a good friend."

"No problem."

Henry's mind began to wander. Their history with Ellie, how they met, how they parted ways, and eventually, how they came to be the best of friends. Ellie was an ex-convict like them, forced into thievery to survive and breaking out of prison whenever she could. Because of this, Henry felt that they had a connection with her that they didn't have with Charles, who had never been an outlaw a day in his goody-two-shoes life.

The clouds rolled by overhead as they thought. They knew that alternate timelines were a thing by now, and they often had dreams about Ellie that stopped making sense by the time they woke up. Some of them were really tame, cute little dates to the circus and the amusement park, lying outside to cuddle in a pile of blankets and look up at the stars...one in particular included Ellie holding her ice cream out to them so they could have a lick of it. That dream always made them feel all fluttery inside. However, there were other dreams they had that were a bit more...explicit than that. Red lipstick smeared across their face, hands all over each other, giggles in a dark room followed by playful bites to their ear...

They opened their eyes when Ellie moved, and suddenly she was inches from their face, hovering above them on her elbows.

"Hey, Min..."

Henry felt their face heat up.

"Uhh..." they felt their Adam's apple bob as they swallowed, "Y-yeah?"

Ellie had really long, dark eyelashes, and her hair caught on them as the setting sun cast a bright haze over her red irises.

She brushed her hair back when it caught in her shiny lip gloss, "Do you ever think about what would have happened if we had managed to escape the Wall together?"

Henry couldn't help their mind running off in wild directions. Charles had told them in passing that he tended towards polyamory, and they recognized this feeling in their stomach that made them feel both nervous and elated; Lighter than air.

Ellie quickly sat up, facing away, "Sorry. Didn't mean to get all up in your space. I just recently talked to Sam, and they said they didn't mind if I was with someone else sometimes, but I've never been interested in anyone else. Well, all except one, if you catch my drift..."

Henry rolled onto their side, covering their mouth with both hands as their entire face flushed hot.

"Ah, sorry, sorry. Forget I said anything. Hey, Hen, c'mon, let's head back before your helicopter boy freaks out."

Henry scrambled to their feet to follow her, but she'd put the thought in their mind, and they couldn't get it out, and they weren't necessarily opposed to the idea, but it felt too awkward to bring it up again, and yet the thought in their head was so appealing-!

Wait, what am I thinking!? She's your best friend, and that's how it feels! Get over yourself!

The memory flashed in Henry's mind as they read Ellie's text;

"Hen, I can't find you on base. Tell me where you are right now, because you'd better not be where I think you fucking are."

Henry swallowed. Well, they should probably get this over with, right? If she was so worried about them, then they'd better not make her sweat.

"Hen." That nickname only felt nice coming from Charles, right? So, why did they let Ellie call them Hen too? Sure, she was their best friend. That's the reason they figured they liked it. They weren't exactly sure what they were feeling for Ellie, but surely it didn't actually go beyond friendship, right?

After the incident on the hill, Henry had tried to (casually) ask Charles for clarification when the two of them were alone, without Ellie.

They'd said something like, "Hey, Charles...hypothetically, if I somehow did end up with another partner, would you be okay with that?"

Charles had shot them a sly smile that basically confirmed what he was thinking. Apparently, Charles was not only okay with it, but the idea made him ecstatic. He'd said that the more reasons Henry had to be happy, the better, and he introduced Henry to a new word, "Compersion;" That happy feeling you get when someone else is happy with another person, even if it doesn't involve you. He said it can be thought of as the positive alternative to jealousy.

"But if I say I'm okay with you going off with someone else, then you need to be okay with me doing the same thing." Charles had told them, "It's only fair, right? If that's something you don't think you can handle, you need to tell me. Don't wallow in it. We can talk it over."

Earlier in Henry's relationship with Charles, non-monogamy had seemed utterly absurd. The thought of Charles having another partner that wasn't them made their insides grind like they were full of rusty cogs, but overtime, as they began to feel more stable in their relationship and less self-conscious, they started to realize that that gut reaction had only come from their cult upbringing, which always told them that you can only ever have one. They didn't want to be possessive over Charles, it wasn't fair to him, so they'd started trying to figure out how to feel compersion. Turns out, the feeling came really naturally to them after they started fostering it in themself. They liked when Charles was happy, after all. Why did they have to be the source of that happiness all the time? Charles already had so many friends and family members Henry could never keep track of. Why was it different if it was another romantic interest?

Realizing their mind had really wandered, Henry buckled down and dialed Ellie's number. It only rang once before she picked up.

"Hen, where the fuck are you!?" she immediately began to shout, "We still can't find Lincoln, and now you've up and disappeared!? I know you better than this! If you're anywhere but at the grocery store or gas station or something, I'm going to find you and drag you back here myself!"

"Hey, Ells, listen up, okay?" they glanced over their shoulder at Right Hand Man, who had just put away his walkie talkie, "I've just gone out for a bit, okay? I'm stressed, and I don't need you adding to it."

"Can you tell me where you are right now?"

"I'm on the interstate."

"Liar!"

"Why would you think I'm lying? Can't you hear the interference?"

"If you were on the interstate, then why isn't there more noise!? You can't hitchhike in someone's backseat!"

"I'm not hitchhiking."

Ellie didn't reply to that.

Henry sighed, "Look, I'm sorry, okay? I should have told you I was leaving first, but I was too restless. I'll be back in a couple days, hopefully. Good luck finding Lincoln."

After a long moment of intense silence, Ellie replied, "Fine. Thanks, Hen."

Then she hung up. Henry looked forlornly into the face of their phone for awhile, just thinking for too long, before pocketing it and looking away.

Right leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, "She didn't sound too happy wit' yew."

Henry huffed, "No. She hates it when I lie, and she's probably still onto me despite what I said, but hopefully by the time she figures everything out, I'll already be on my way home." he stood up to pace, "There's not really much I can do at this point. I may be a good liar, but Ellie is almost supernaturally good at detecting lies. For all I know, she's on her way right now, but let's hope we at least have enough time to get in and out without her interfering."

Right crossed his arms, "I still think goin' out t' this place wit'out your government friends is a disaster waitin' t' 'appen. Yer not gonna call your 'elicopter friend?"

Henry shook their head, "I don't feel like facing both of them, and Ellie's likely to tell Charles as soon as possible. He probably already knows by now."

"And if they do show up?"

Henry glanced over at Right, who just patiently folded his hands in his lap.

"Ya gotta prepare fer th' worst, 'enry."

Henry stared intently at the floor, resuming their brisk pace, "Let's hope it doesn't come to that, but if it does, I'll make sure you guys don't get caught in the crossfire. I can handle Ellie being upset with me for lying. I'm not willing to risk the safety of her little brother."

Right watched them for awhile before his gaze dropped, and he didn't argue again.

Henry stared at their reflection in the polished metal of a door at the back of the cargo bay. Their shape was barely discernible, and yet what little they could see felt like too much.

Why had they decided to wear their hoodie today? Usually when they felt more dysphoria over being mistaken for male, they wore this really nice soft overshirt that clung to their waist and made their hips more obvious, rather than the hoodie, which made their shoulders stand out more. They remembered when they were wearing their overshirt at the grocery store with Charles and an old lady approached them and said;

"Excuse me, ma'am, do you know where the eggs are?"

Henry whirled to face her, confused by the feelings they'd just been assaulted with.

Charles had stepped in for them when they froze, "Oh, they're back that way! They moved a coupla weeks ago."

"Oh thank you, young man! You two look lovely together, by the way!"

After the woman had left, Henry shook themself from their reverie and excitedly said, "Did you hear that!? She called me ma'am!"

"Yeah! I heard!" Charles wrapped an arm around them, "And we do look lovely together, huh?"

"Honestly, I'm not mad about passing as a straight couple in public. Maybe it'll get us less stares."

Obviously, the illusion would be broken as soon as they spoke, because their voice was far too deep to reasonably pass as a female voice, but that was okay. They didn't have much voice dysphoria, and they usually didn't speak to strangers anyway. In fact, that incident had prompted them to start wearing summer dresses and comfy ballerina flats to the stickmart to see if more people thought they were female. It did get them more compliments, and women were more friendly, which was nice.

Though...it also got a couple more creepy guys asking for their number (in a grocery store???) but it was fucking hilarious to suddenly speak up in their soft deep voice to say, "Sorry, but I'm not gay." The reactions were priceless! It probably helped their confidence to know that they could beat up most creeps with fake abs the way Ellie could bench press Charles, so no matter what they said, they weren't in any danger of physical harm, even if Charles wasn't with them (who was the strongest pilot on base).

Oh. They smacked their forehead. Duh. Dysphoria! They peeled their hoodie off and replaced it with the overshirt. Hammerspace. Stick figure logic. You know how it is. It fit like a glove, settling around their body like a warm hug. They were still anxious about the mission, but at least one source of their anxiety had been quelled.

They thought about Ellie again. They were definitely not in tune with all of their feelings, and she was proof of that.

Henry could feel their anxiety rising the closer they got to the complex. They tried to keep their nails out of their mouth, wiping their sweaty palms on their pants as they hopped up and down, rubbing their arms and running around in circles when they got too restless. They tried to practice positions to calm themself, but it only made them sad now. And overly tired.

They needed to save their energy for the mission, but they tried again, seeking something to focus their excess energy on, instead of the panicked thoughts of Petrov and his mistreatment.

First position, heels together, toes apart. The cargo bay was getting colder, and Henry didn't like the feeling it gave them, knowing they were close.

Second position, widen your stance. Don't think about the complex. Don't think about Petrov. Just focus.

Third position, fitted together, heel to inside arch. Don't think.

Fourth position, front leg forward. The lashings in the cold. No. Don't think about it.

Fifth position, back together, toe to heel. It's okay. In and out. Breathe in. Breathe out.

You'll be in and out, and Petrov will be none the wiser. He won't know what hit him.

Don't think.

Henry sighed.

First position...

"'enry?"

Henry glanced up at Right. They hadn't noticed the ship slowing down.

Right waved him over, "We're 'ere."

Henry followed him across the hallway, positions still running through their head. It was a bit of a trek, but eventually, they arrived in the cockpit, where Reginald was steering through the harsh blizzard.

Henry's stomach flipped when they saw the complex, just visible through the snow.

Reg pulled back on the wheel to slow them down, "This is it. We're here. Now, we cannot take any unnecessary risks. We will create a diversion for as long as possible, but you cannot rely on our help. We have to protect our own first and foremost. Do you understand?"

Henry didn't reply, too transfixed on the complex.

"Henry?"

He jolted, giving a jerky nod.

"Good." Reg engaged the autopilot before standing from the chair, "We will do our best to aid you, but you must be prepared for us to leave you behind if there is nothing we can do to save you."

Henry forced out a choked breath of air, "I'll do my best."

"Good." Reginald nodded towards Right, who nodded in turn, "Now...what's the plan?"

Henry carried out their plan with soberness and resolve. They were unusually calculating, fearing that if they broke from their focus they would begin to panic. More moves flashed in their mind. They partially focused on them so they wouldn't have to focus so much on the panic, careful to keep a firm grasp of the mission.

First position, arms together, second position, arms apart...

Right watched with them until the explosion went off, and Reginald sprinted off into the distance with a stolen crate under his arm. A familiar alarm blared throughout the complex, and guards flooded out to face the toppats with guns drawn as Reginald made his apparent getaway on the airship in the distance.

"Now!" Henry ran, and Right followed close behind.

The complex was still teeming with guards, but with the distraction set, Henry managed to slip by undetected. For such a huge figure, Right was surprisingly silent on his feet. He no doubt had to be stealthy to help lead a clan of thieves, but still. Henry was impressed.

They needed to reach the security room to figure out where they were keeping Lincoln, so Henry led the way. They remembered that room from when they escaped with Ellie, and with the distraction in place, they were able to get inside with relative ease.

"Okay. Looks like he's in holding." Henry pointed at one of the flickering monitors, "See? That guy in black with red hair."

"I see." Right skimmed through a paper with "L. Rose" written at the top under prisoner records, "I know how to get us there. Follow me."

The holding cells were extraordinarily empty. The familiarity was creeping into Henry's bones like ink through snow. Everything in them was begging them to run. They associated these hallways with lots of guards, all on high alert, but somehow, the dead silence was even worse. The sparse hallways were tense, the ringing in Henry's ears the perfect backdrop to the moment when the doors would all burst open, and guns would be drawn.

Breathe in. Breathe out. First position, second position, third position...

"Here." Right banged on the door, "Fuck. It's locked."

"I got it." Henry scrutinized the scanner, meant for a keycard, "We need to cut the power to the door, and it'll unlock automatically. Can you see where the door connects to the walls around it?"

"I think. Back up."

Right pulled something from his pocket; A small device that he swept over each edge of the door, then he unsheathed a knife and dug it into the wall above the door, slicing clean through several wires. The door light turned off, and he sheathed the knife to grab the door along the bottom and lifted it up. It got stuck that way, wires sparking along the cut in the wall.

Henry glanced between him and the wires, "Uhhh...?"

Right yanked on the wrist of his gray glove, "Rubber gloves."

"Riiight..." Henry shook their head as they stepped inside the room. Not how they would have done it, but whatever gets the job done, they supposed.

There was nothing in the room but a metal table, a metal chair, and Lincoln, curled up in the chair, seemingly not even realizing he wasn't alone.

Henry knelt beside the chair to look up into his face, but Lincoln's eyes were completely hidden behind long red bangs, "Hey."

Lincoln didn't respond.

"My name is Henry." they said softly, "My friends call me Min, and I'm using they/them pronouns today. I'm a friend of your brother and sister, Jacob and Ellie."

Lincoln glanced over at them, but didn't meet their eye.

"It's okay. Ellie told me you're nonverbal." Henry took out their phone and opened up the notepad app, "Here. You like to type, right?"

Lincoln snatched the phone from them and began typing at lightning speeds. It actually made Henry jump with how sudden it was.

Lincoln brandished the phone when he was done, "Can you get me out of here?"

"Yeah. Sorry, I know you don't know me. We can..."

They trailed off when Lincoln started typing again.

"I don't trust you. Tell me something only Ellie would know."

Henry thought about it.

"Oi! We can't sit 'ere all day!" Right said in a harsh whisper, "Reg can't hold 'em forever! We gotta move!"

"I know! Just gimme a second..." Henry pursed their lips, gaze wandering over the imperfections in the metal floor.

What did they know about Ellie that nobody else would guess about her?

After maybe a minute of contemplation, they said soft enough that Right wouldn't hear, "Ellie was a miscarriage baby."

Lincoln stiffened with the slightest gasp.

"Probably only Sam and I know that who aren't in her family." they continued, "She wasn't supposed to live. She was declared dead before birth, but miraculously, she started breathing once out of the womb. She was born nearly two months premature, with a weak heart and underdeveloped lungs, and she had suffered a major brain bleed by the time she was admitted to the NICU. Nobody thought she was going to live, and even when she did, doctors predicted that she would be weak for the rest of her life."

Lincoln glanced up at Right, who was impatiently checking the corridors for oncoming traffic. So far, all was calm.

"Not only did she recover, but she went on to become a major investigator for the FBI, and then went on to become a convict before being pardoned, like me." Henry smiled brightly, "Now, she's one of the toughest soldiers I know."

Lincoln nodded, then went on to type, "Okay, I trust you. Can you carry me? I'm not very strong or fast."

"Sure thing." Henry helped him stand from the chair, "Right! We're going!"

"Finally!" Right took Lincoln from him, "I'll carry 'im. Let's go!"

The halls were still quiet. Henry could feel the chill of the Russian tundra in their bones, and no amount of rubbing their arms could alleviate that chill.

"Okay, Reg should be out at the lookout." Right used his arm to shield Lincoln from the wind, "If we don' run into any trouble we should be there in record time!"

As soon as they were outside, Henry noticed the patterns in the snow. It looked like the toppats were using massive snow blowers to reveal the bear traps, and then throwing heavy sandbags on them to disable them. Clever. Complex soldiers were quickly losing the upper hand as toppats cleared the way with strength in numbers.

Right yelled into his walkie talkie, "Retreat! Get back to the airship!"

Henry scoured the area as they traced a path all the way back through the snow, not bothering to look and see if there was actually any pattern to the bear trap placement. They were almost there when they were suddenly surrounded by guards, all pointing guns at their head.

Right, still carrying the smaller man, was booted out of the circle.

"Don't shoot!" Petrov appeared from between the guards, hand in the air, "Let the boy go. I'll deal with the toppat another time."

Henry glared at Petrov before hissing after Right, "You heard him! Go!"

Right nodded before running away, Lincoln clinging to him like a lifeline.

Henry closed their eyes to collect himself, breathing in and out slowly before turning to face Petrov, "What do you want, you snake?"

"Please. Zere is no need for insults." Petrov said in his smooth Russian accent, "I must say, Henry...I did not expect you to arrive so swiftly. I thought your fear would at least delay you by a few days. You have a good heart, for a criminal."

Henry glowered, "Let me go, Petrov. I'm not afraid to fight my way out of here, even if it costs me my life."

"Oh, I know." Petrov stepped aside for one of his guards, "Believe me; I know. Zat is why ze hostage was not the only part of my plan."

The guard kicked someone down onto their knees, a huge sack over their head and shoulders.

The guard yanked it off, and Henry's heart plummeted.

It was Ellie.

"You!" tears stung in her eyes as she screamed at them, "I KNEW YOU LIED, YOU PIECE OF SHIT! I FUCKING KNEW YOU WOULD BE HERE! WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU!? ARE YOU TRYING TO GET YOURSELF KILLED!?"

They could feel themself shivering uncontrollably. They were unbelievably cold, inside and out.

Ellie had her hands tightly bound behind her back, a rope around her neck that was tight around her throat, the end of which was in one of the bigger guard's hands, and she was without her leather jacket, only wearing the strappy red bralette underneath so Henry could see all her tattoos; Two red roses across her collarbones, with leaves leading into thorns across her shoulders and a bit down her arms, leading into even more roses across her upper back. She also had roses across each shoulder, framed by the thorns.

Petrov unhooked a coiled cable from his belt.

"No!" Henry took a step, and every gun pointed right at them again.

"What? Did you really think it would be zat simple?" Petrov lifted the whip over his head, "All criminals must be punished!"

The crack of the whip reverberated through the air like a gunshot, slamming into Henry's eardrums hard enough to steal the air from their lungs. Ellie gasped and fell forward, tears falling to land in the snow. A long red mark appeared across her back, specks of blood rising to the surface of her skin. The straps of her bralette had even been damaged. Whatever the fuck that whip was made of, it could tear right through cloth.

Henry could only stare in horror.

Petrov whipped her again, and this time, Ellie cried out in pain. Her lips were turning blue in the cold as the back of her bralette was reduced to threads.

"STOP!" Henry sobbed, "STOP IT! DON'T HURT HER!"

Petrov whipped her one more time so the bralette slipped down her shoulders, only held together by a few threads, her entire back exposed to the harsh, icy wind, bloody enough to drip down into the snow around her.

"You know what it is we require, Henry." Petrov lifted his opposite hand, "Surrender."

"Henry, don't!"

Henry looked between Petrov and Ellie. All traces of anger were gone, replaced with pure terror.

Henry searched their pockets, but they already knew what they would choose.

A few tears slid down as they closed their eyes again, "Untie her, and give her something warm to wear. I...I surrender."

"NO!"

"Very nice!" Petrov grinned as he sheathed the whip, "Put your hands behind your back."

They did, and they winced as the guards bound their wrists together.

"Henry!" Ellie struggled as Petrov cut through her bindings and put a big fur parka around her shoulders, "We've been over this! You can't stay here!"

Henry sighed, "I know, Ells, but I'm not taking any chances. And Petrov, she better get out of here alive. If she dies before she can get to safety, I'm taking you out with me, and that's a promise."

"Yes yes, no need to worry about zat." Petrov shoved Ellie so she was almost knocked off her feet, "Get out of here, convict. I'll deal with you later."

"Fuck you." Ellie gave him the finger, "I hope you rot in hell for the rest of eternity."

Petrov just waved her off, and Henry uneasily watched her retreat.

Please just go. they tried to project into her mind, Don't worry about me. I can get outta here again. I want you to be safe. Don't stay here.

She did it once. She could get away again.

Ellie lifted something from her belt as Petrov was leading them away, and they only realized what she was actually doing with that something when the sudden sound of helicopter blades filled their ears.

"Какого хрена-!?"

Ellie delivered a roundhouse kick to one of the guards, followed by a punch to the stomach, and then a head-butt right into someone's nose. Charles' helicopter fell right out of the sky, delivering a myriad of shots to the guards around the fray until the numbers thinned enough to get them out.

Ellie easily cut Henry out of their binds, "Come on! Run!"

Henry didn't need to be told twice. She took their hand, and they ran for their lives. The airship was quickly collecting toppats as they retreated, the cargo bay wide-open, flying almost low enough to scrape the piles of snow and ice across the clifftop.

"Come on! They've stopped retreating!" Reginald called from the cargo bay as the airship lifted higher and higher into the sky, "Henry! We can't stay!"

"Go on! We'll catch up!"

Charles' helicopter was hit in the chaos, so he quickly steered towards the airship to park in the cargo bay, fearing he would easily crash otherwise.

Reginald looked over his shoulder as the helicopter sailed overhead, then back down at Henry and Ellie.

No! Reginald-!

Reginald jumped down and sprinted to them through the snow, lifting a gun over his head, "DUCK!"

Henry and Ellie threw themselves to the ground, and Reginald emptied his gun on the reinforcements who would have taken them out.

Reginald helped them up, "Come on! We have to go, now!"

"What the hell are you doing!?" Henry got up to keep running, "Come on!"

"I wasn't about to abandon you!" Reginald bit back, "Now go! The airship is retreating as we speak!"

He was right. It was rising too fast.

Henry leapt for the cargo bay, and they just caught the edge, hoisting themself up and then turning to help Ellie up after him.

Reginald jumped too, but he fell just short, his fingertips brushing against Henry's.

He fell back down into the snow.

"Fuck-!" Henry gasped as Reginald helplessly looked up at them, over the edge of the icy cliff, and then at the oncoming reinforcements.

Henry tried to think fast. They looked around the room until they found a retractable rope ladder. They threw it out, grabbing on to the end of it, and it unraveled until it was all the way out, billowing in the wind generated by the massive turbines.

If Reginald jumped now, he might just make it.

Henry planted their foot on the lowest rung of the ladder, "REGINALD!"

Reginald looked at them.

Henry extended their arm, "GRAB MY HAND!"

Reginald glanced back at the reinforcements and made the very quick decision that he would rather face the freezing ocean than the complex guards, so he turned and jumped as high as he could, reaching his right arm out as far as it could go-!

Henry caught his forearm, and as Reginald fell, Henry's foot slipped off the ladder, and they heard a sickening crack through Reginald's body as Henry's arm became the only thing anchoring them both to the ship.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"

Henry winced as Reginald screamed.

"Ahh-! H-Henry, I'm slipping-!"

"Reach out with your other arm! Don't let go!" Henry tightened their grip even harder, if that was possible, "We're going up! Come on!"

Reginald reached out to grab the ladder as Henry swung their foot back up onto the lowest rung, "Ellie!"

"I got it!"

She started rolling the ladder back up with the hand crank, and ever so slowly, they were pulled back up.

With another toppat's help, Henry gingerly pulled Reginald up and laid him on his back, "Prop his feet up! He could go into shock!"

They looked back just as the cargo bay door was closing up. Petrov was shouting as he threw his gun down into the snow, fists tight at his sides.

"HAHAHAHA!" Henry flipped him off with both hands, "EAT SHIT, LOSER!"

The door closed, and they were on their way home.

Reginald whimpered on the floor of the cargo bay as toppats surrounded them, as well as a few government operatives.

Henry knelt down beside him, "Reginald, your shoulder is dislocated. I need to pop it back into place."

They felt sickened by the angle of Reginald's arm through the jacket. They carefully stripped it off, then unbuttoned the first few buttons of his dress shirt until they could get a good grip on his upper arm, sitting on Reginald's torso so he was immobilized.

"Okay. Fair warning;" Henry gripped Reginald's upper arm in one hand, and his shoulder in the other, "This is going to hurt. A lot."

"Just do it!" Reginald squeezed his eyes shut, turning away, "Don't hesitate!"

Henry nodded, "Okay." they braced their legs against the ground at Reginald's sides, "Three, two, one-!"

They forced Reginald's arm back into its socket.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Reginald's scream reverberated through Henry's skull as they made sure the arm was back in its proper place. They registered gasps and cringing faces from the other toppats as they did so, feeling around muscle and fat to make sure everything was in order.

They'd scarcely lifted their hands from the injury when they felt rough hands grabbing them around the collar of their shirt, and suddenly they were being choked, lifted high above the ground. Their hands went up to tug at their collar as they struggled to breathe-!

"What the fuck d' ya think yer doin'!?"

"Righty, stop! He was helping me!"

Henry glanced down into Right's face, eyes gleaming from beneath the shadow of his hat. They were too frozen in fear to move, vision turning fuzzy at the edges from lack of oxygen.

Right dropped them, and they fell back against the wall, coughing and gasping.

Henry saw him kneel by Reginald's side, focusing on breathing now that he could.

"Henry saved me, love." Reginald touched Right's cheek with his uninjured left arm, "He caught me, and my shoulder became dislocated. He had to pop it back into place."

Right looked over his exposed shoulder, cringing at the ugly bruising that had appeared around the site of the injury. Reginald winced when he touched it.

Right looked back up at Henry, "Sorry. I thought..."

"I know. It's fine." Henry coughed again, throat sore, "Hesitate for like a second next time, would you?"

Right deadpanned at him before turning back to his husband, "We'll haveta get this casted. Can ya move?"

"I would really rather not." Reginald replied softly.

"We'll cast it 'ere, then." Right waved down a few of the toppats, "Go on, then! You 'eard me!"

Henry glanced to the side when they saw Ellie, still wearing Petrov's Russian fur coat.

They straightened up to meet her glare, "Ellie-!"

"Ah tuh tuh! I don't wanna hear it." Ellie snapped, "I'm not in the mood for excuses. I just want to hear what goes through your fucking head when you decide to run off on your own and rely on the FUCKING TOPPATS OVER YOUR OWN FRIENDS AND FAMILY! WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU!? I KNEW YOU WERE LYING THE SECOND I HEARD IT, AND I WAS SO FUCKING MAD! DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED I WAS NOT KNOWING WHERE YOU WERE BUT KNOWING EXACTLY WHERE YOU WERE GOING!?"

Henry just hung their head in shame. If Ellie was going for humiliation, it was working. It was bad enough to be yelled at by their best friend, now she was yelling at them in front of an entire crowd of mixed thieves and military friends.

They could feel their face heating up in embarrassment. Why oh why did their blushing have to be so obvious!? They knew their entire face was beet-red right now. They were mortified.

Ellie stopped in the middle of a sentence, looking them up and down. They tried to meet her eye and not look away out of sheer embarrassment.

She put her hands on her hips, "You don't regret a thing, do you?"

Their grievances had all been laid out on the table for a whole crowd of people, but they still managed to harden their expression, though they were still blushing.

"No."

A wave of chatter started across the crowd, bewildered voices between astonishment and amusement. Henry closed their eyes, feeling lost and vulnerable, but they weren't lying. They didn't regret what they did, and they knew they'd do it again in a heartbeat.

"Is that how much I'm worth to you?"

Henry's eyes flew open. That wasn't Ellie's voice. Charles emerged from the crowd, face tearstained, eyes red from crying.

Henry took a shaky inhale, "I-I didn't want you to get hurt..."

"And what about you!? Did you not care that Ellie and I were worried sick over you!? If you had been recaptured, I don't know if we could ever get you back!"

Henry's heart hurt, but they didn't back down, "I can't lie to Ellie, so I won't bother now. I can't risk your life."

"FUCK YOU!" Charles grabbed them by the front of their overshirt, "Stop being so fucking flippant with your own life! Stop refusing to trust your own friends! Stop making me feel like a fucking child who can't even make his own decisions! Why can't you just talk to me!?"

Charles' forehead fell against Henry's chest, fists still buried in their shirt, and he sobbed against them. Henry just held still, closing their eyes again, overwhelmed with guilt.

When Charles' cries died down, Henry said, "I'd rather you hate me than risk your life for me."

"Stop it! Shut up! You can't keep doing this to me!" Charles shook them, burying his face in the fabric of Henry's overshirt, "Just stop..."

When Charles lifted his head, Henry's heart gave another hearty pang. Charles scrubbed the tear tracks off his face with his sleeve, trying to collect himself and utterly failing.

"Don't be too hard on them."

Henry turned to the voice of Reginald, still on the floor as Right slowly casted his shoulder.

"It's only natural to default to doing everything alone if you're used to being unable to rely on anyone." Reginald went on, an incredible tenderness in his voice that was perfectly suited to a charismatic leader, "And remember, Henry was an independent thief for a long time. Not only are they used to doing everything alone, but now they have something to lose. Their mind is likely magnetized to that fact. Why, I remember when Righty and I first met, even after we began to trust each other, we still kept trying to do everything alone because the prospect of losing a friend felt worse than going solo."

Right nodded in confirmation, and Charles sighed, tugging on his bangs.

"Well I'm still fucking livid." Ellie replied, "I understand not trusting yourself to keep loved ones safe, but that doesn't make it acceptable! They didn't leave us out of this; We ended up here anyway! Just without a coordinated plan! And now I'm not just hurt from the whip and resurfaced trauma, I'm also hurt because this idiot lied to me and went off into danger alone!"

Henry clamped their teeth together as Ellie began to cry. Their trust in their instincts was beginning to falter.

"Henry..." Charles grabbed them like he could shake the stupid out of them, "You seriously need to stop playing martyr every time someone makes demands of you, and you need to stop running off by yourself. It makes it harder to trust you! How would you feel if I was the ex-con and I ran off to get captured by Petrov all by myself!? You would be just as livid!"

Henry tried and failed to swallow the lump in their throat. Okay, now that it was put in terms like that, they could definitely see the problem.

"I..." Henry swallowed again, "I-I..."

They couldn't get the words out. They were stuck.

Reginald looked out over the crowd of toppats before waving his hand at them, "Hey! What are you all still doing here!? Return to your duties at once!"

The toppats all quickly dispersed, leaving a much smaller group behind, most of which were carrying out tasks in the cargo bay and were no longer looking in their direction.

Ellie shook her head before barreling into Henry and hugging them tight around their waist.

She was just the right height to bury her face in their neck, making their breath hitch.

"I love you, Min." she reached up to hold the back of their head, gentle fingers running through their hair, "I love you, I love you, I love you..."

Henry's heart bloomed with a swarm of butterflies. It was familiar, but still unlike anything they'd ever felt before.

They returned the hug, and Ellie sighed, giving them a firm squeeze.

"I love you too, Ellie."

Charles huffed, putting an arm around Henry's back, "You aren't alone anymore, Hen. You can lean on us. We're stronger when we're together, yeah?"

Henry looked up at him. They took a breath, then let it out without saying anything.

Charles gave their shoulder a squeeze, "Don't you trust me?"

"Of course I trust you." Henry nuzzled into the top of Ellie's head, "I trust you and Ellie with all my heart...but I don't trust myself."

Lincoln typed furiously before holding Henry's phone up and pointing at it. Henry forgot he still had their phone.

"Not cool, dude."

Charles flicked Henry's forehead, "That's why you rely on us, idiot! You don't have to trust yourself!"

Henry rubbed their forehead where they'd been flicked, "Um...ow."

"Erm, Henry, if I may..." Reginald stood with Right's help, "I understand where you're coming from, but if you refuse to trust your loved ones enough to keep themselves safe...eventually, you're going to lose them in a different way."

Henry felt their throat burning as they held back more tears.

Reginald cast his gaze across the floor, "Trust does not come easy after years on the run. I know that from first-hand experience. But, if you keep acting like a loner, people will start to treat you like one. You have to think carefully about this going forward. Would you accept this behavior from them? Would you be able to trust them if they pulled this on you multiple times?"

"Okay, no, I wouldn't." Henry pushed Ellie away, "But I don't know how to stop. It's just what I know."

"That's not true at all!" Charles offered a sad smile, "We make the best team! Me, you, and Ellie! We've done countless missions together by now, and you still try to solo this one? Why!?"

Henry didn't reply. They knew why, but it's not like they could explain.

Charles put his hands on each of Henry's shoulders, "Henry, I want to ask you something, and I need you to answer honestly, okay?"

Henry forced themself to meet his eye, "Okay."

Charles' hands moved up to hold Henry's face, something really sad in his eyes that Henry couldn't quite place.

He asked really softly, "Why did you call me when you were imprisoned at The Wall?"

Henry glanced over at Ellie, who dramatically cut across her throat with one finger. Her bullshit detector was kicked into maximum overdrive.

Henry honestly didn't know why they called Charles that day. They had technically given up. They had tried to escape twice before, once with Ellie, where she had managed to get away but their leg had gotten stuck in a bear trap, (Those were now their ugliest scars. Ugh.) and another time where they ended up in a toppled truck over the Russian cliffside and was forced to surrender (for reasons that Henry wasn't going to get into because NO FUCKING THANK YOU).

Truthfully, they didn't even know why they had bothered trying. After six weeks in solitary confinement, they were completely broken. They were ready to resign themself to living in this prison for the rest of their natural life. Clearly, taking the initiative hadn't done them any favors, (what with the breaking out immediately with an ally and then charge-tackling Grigori as soon as they were transferred from the med bay to a holding cell) so they were just like, fuck it. Who cares, right?

Until they were actually in their permanent cell and realized...they had an option.

The universe had given them a way to tunnel through the floor of their cell to the room underneath it, and suddenly, they had a phone. Not just any phone, but a cell phone.

There was only one person they could think to call. One person they knew would answer.

The last time they tried to call for help, nobody came.

Charles had answered on the second ring.

Finally, after that extra long pause where they tried to gather their thoughts, they replied just as soft;

"Because I wanted you to help me."

It was a pretty straightforward answer, and that is what was in Henry's head as they dialed the number they knew by heart.

"I called you because I had a phone and I wanted to see you." Henry held Charles' hands on their face, "I wanted to believe I wouldn't have to be alone anymore. I was ready to hear that phone go on ringing before being sent to voicemail...but, somehow, I didn't want it to be true. I knew you would pick up, because you were different."

Charles' eyes widened, his mouth hovering open like he was stuck for a response.

"Remember how I said no one came for me the first time I got out of jail?"

Charles' mouth shut, and he nodded.

Henry turned to kiss Charles' hand, "I could never rely on anyone until I met you." he blinked as tears gathered in his eyes, "I can't stomach the thought of losing that."

Charles sighed in exasperation, "Henry..."

He didn't go on as Henry collected themself, retracting his hands and crossing both arms as his gaze wandered, lost in thought. Henry could only guess what he was thinking. "You can't rely on me, because you're scared of never being able to rely on me anymore!?" was Henry's guess.

"Henry?"

Not Ellie or Charles. Henry scanned the crowd until his eyes landed on familiar blue-green eyes framed by short white hair like his own.

He just barely squeaked out, "Sarah...?"

"Henry..." she ran to him, "Henry! Henry!"

"Sarah!" Henry met her halfway in a huge hug, "Oh my god! You're alive! And you're okay!"

"I didn't think I'd ever see you again!" Sarah's arms shook as she gave them a squeeze, then pulled back and craned her neck up to look at them, "Oh my gosh, you're so tall! You look amazing! I can't believe how much you've grown up!"

"You too! You cut your hair!"

"Do you like it? I love how wispy it is!" Sarah took her hat off to fluff up her downy faux hawk.

"I love your piercings, too!"

"Thank you!" she turned her head to show off the chains of stars and hearts that hung from multiple lobe piercings, "Aren't they cute!?"

"I can't believe you were in the clan all this time!" Henry took her cheek, which had a beauty mark just under her eye, "I'm so happy to see you! You look so different, but still the same..."

"Uhh, Hen?" Charles gestured vaguely to her, "Who is...?"

"Oh! Charles! Ellie!" Henry pushed Sarah forward, and she waved, "This is Sarah! My cousin!"

"Your cousin!?" Charles looked her up and down, "Oh. I do see the resemblance. Is this the cousin you always hung out with who ran away!?"

"Yes! And..." Henry trailed off, looking back at her in bewilderment, "You ran away to join the toppats, didn't you?"

Sarah nodded gravely, "I wish I could have taken you with me, but you were too young. You know what your mother might have done if I had managed to take you."

"I really think it wouldn't have mattered." Henry replied darkly.

"If I could go back and do it again, I would have taken you with me anyway." Sarah fondly ruffled Henry's hair, "I'm so sorry I left you with her."

"Why did you go so soon? I didn't even get to talk to you about it, and then you were just gone!"

"I had to, Henry. I had a massive crisis of faith when I realized I was a lesbian. I couldn't stay."

Henry didn't reply.

"Oh! Speaking of which!" Sarah ushered another toppat over, "This is my girlfriend! Hat Girl!"

Hat Girl flashed a peace sign, "Sup."

"Um. Hi." Henry said uncertainly, "Oh! Sarah, this is my boyfriend, Charles!"

"It's nice to meet you!" Charles saluted before shaking her hand, "Henry's told me good things about you!"

"That's good! Wow, you picked a cute one, Henry!"

Charles blushed, "Aw, shucks! Thanks!"

Henry continued, "Yep! And this is Ellie! She's my..."

They stopped. They thought about it. They remembered the way the snowflakes clung to her eyelashes while they were out there, melting as the tears fell, blood pooling across her back as she shivered. They remembered the fire in her eyes as she screamed at them, just as she had screamed at Galeforce back in his office; Not angry, but terrified. She cared about them. She loved them.

They hesitated for probably too long before he settled on, "My best friend."

Reginald shared a glance with Right.

"Nice to meet you!" Ellie replied, "I guess having a conniving streak runs in the family!"

"You were a thief too, Henry?" Sarah said.

"Yeah. You know, it's fine that you didn't take me when you ran away, because if I had joined the toppat clan all the way back in the day, I never would have met my government boy!"

Henry took Charles' hand, making him blush again, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.

"Oh, by the way, Reginald?"

Reginald stood up straighter, "Yes?"

"Can I take Ellie to the med bay? She's injured."

"No I'm not! I'm fine!"

"Ellie, you were lashed to threads." Henry roughly grabbed her arm, "I'll patch you up myself if it makes you feel better, but I'm not letting those wounds get infected."

"Of course you can take her to the med bay! Is that even a question!?" Reginald waved another toppat down, the blond in a blue suit that Henry thought was named Sven, "I'll have my third in command escort you! You can go into one of the rooms alone though, if need be!"

"Thank you, Reginald." Henry tugged on Ellie's wrist, "Come on, Ellie. Sarah, we should catch up soon! It's a long ride back, after all!"

"I'd love to! See you then!"

"Hang on, Henry?" Charles put his arm out to halt them, "Promise you won't go on any more self-imposed impromptu missions?"

Henry took Charles' cheek to give him a soft kiss on the lips, "Yeah. Promise."

"Cross your heart?"

"Cross my heart." Henry crossed their finger over their chest, and then brought their hand up, palm-forward.

Charles hugged them, then kissed their cheek, then their ear, "I still have a lot to say, but that can wait until after Ellie is patched up. I hope you don't mind if I get to know your cousin here until then."

"Sure, go ahead, so long as neither of you dig up anything you can use as blackmail against me."

Sarah gasped in mock offense, "I would never! You know me!"

"The Sarah I know woulda never joined the toppats!" Henry stuck their tongue out at her before retreating with Ellie, hearing Sarah's laughter behind them as they followed Sven and left the cargo bay behind.

"Come on, Hen. Quit fussing! I'm fine!"

"You aren't." Henry shut the door to the med room, Sven lingering just outside of it, "I saw those wounds, Ellie. They were bleeding everywhere."

Ellie growled stubbornly, "It doesn't feel that bad..."

"That's 'cause your tolerance for pain is borderline self-sabotage!" Henry rummaged through the cabinets for a med kit, "Let me patch it up, Ells. I'm not taking no for an answer."

Ellie plopped to the ground cross-legged, "Fine. Make it quick."

Henry brought one of the med kits to her, placing it on the ground before taking Petrov's coat off of her. The blood had already begun to form scabs along each gash, so Henry was careful with the antiseptic as they poured it into a soft cloth and then dabbed it across her back. She winced, but otherwise didn't react.

When they were done cleaning the wounds, they carefully applied a large square of gauze, pressing medical tape to the edges across her shoulders, sides, and across the middle of her back, right where the waistband of her pants started.

Ellie shivered as they worked, and they tried not to stare at the back of her head, right where the blunt edge of her bob cut met the back of her neck. They were always stunned by the absolute vibrant color of Ellie's red hair. More than once, they'd had to hold themself back from playing with it multiple times. They could see where her hair grew out in thick strands from the back of her neck, just catching sight of a soft sideburn as she tucked her hair behind her ear.

I can't believe how beautiful she is.

They tried to ignore the fluttery feelings that came along with that thought.

Ellie suddenly spoke up, "Hey, Henry?"

Henry continued to patch her up with practiced ease, "Mhm?"

"What you said back there, about calling Charles for help..." she rubbed her arms, "Why were you okay relying on Charles back then, but not now?"

Henry cut the tape to size with big medical scissors, "Because I felt like I could handle it this time. Well, okay, that's not it, it's because I felt like I had more options this time. When I had no other ideas, broken down but miraculously with a phone in my hand? What would you have done?"

Ellie hummed as Henry finished pressing the tape down.

"Okay, I'm done." Henry pat her shoulder, "I really hope I did it right."

Ellie tried to turn around, and what was left of her bralette slipped all the way off.

"Oh, hey, you can borrow my overshirt." Henry ignored how hot their face felt against the inside of the overshirt as they separated it from the white undershirt they wore underneath.

"C'mon, Henry. I went to the beach shirtless for the first fifteen years of my life."

"Then wear it for me." Henry looked away as they offered the overshirt to her, "I'll trip and fall on every surface if I'm not looking where I'm going."

They cursed themself on the inside. Really!? We're doing this today!? Why did you say that!? Idiot!

Ellie snorted before bursting into laughter, and Henry's face was on fire.

"Damn, hun. Right outta the gate? Alright, alright, you win."

"Don't fucking repeat what I just said to anyone."

"Oh, baby, if you think I'm passing up the opportunity to embarrass you later, you are sorely mistaken." Ellie pulled the overshirt over her head and pat it down over her front, "Here. You can keep this as collateral."

She held out her ruined bloody bralette, dangling it like a prize in front of them.

They looked away again, face still burning, but now with eyes that stung.

"Huh?" Ellie's arm lowered, "Have I upset you? Sorry, I thought we were doing the whole back-and-forth, you know? Did I take it too far?"

"Ellie, I don't want this!" Henry hissed as they swatted the bralette away, "Why would I want a reminder of how I failed to protect my best friend!?"

Ellie dropped the bralette to the floor, "Henry..."

"I can still hear Petrov's fucking whip in my head!" Henry snapped at her, "I can still see the blood all over you and hear you crying and screaming at me, and it's all rolling around in my head and I can't get it out-!"

"Henry, Henry hush." Ellie took their hands as they sobbed, "It's okay. Hey, look at me. Min. Look at me."

Henry looked at her.

"It's okay." Ellie stroked their cheek, "It's okay. I'm sorry. I didn't think about how that would look to you. I just thought. Yunno. It's like some shitty archetype to win a bra as a prize."

Henry sighed, "Yeah, I know. I got that. It was kind of a logical followup to what I said. If I wasn't so wound up, I probably would've thought it was funny. I just..."

Ellie brought a finger up to trace their ear, "Too soon?"

They closed their eyes and nodded.

"I'll keep that in mind." Ellie stashed the bralette in her pants pocket instead, "Hey, for how angry I've gotten at you over this...I really should thank you for saving Lincoln. I'm impressed at how calm he was just now in such an unfamiliar place. You must have gained his trust really fast."

"Yeah? He asked me to tell him something only you would know, so I told him about...you know...how you were born."

"Yup, that'll do it. Still, I thought seeing you put Reginald's arm back in place would drive him to a meltdown, but he managed to hold it together. Then again, maybe he's just tired. I have no doubt Petrov probably caused a few of those himself...fuck, I should murder him for that alone..."

"Not now." Henry gently soothed her, "Not now. We'll deal with that another time."

Ellie let her breath out in a long sigh, "So...how do I look? You think blue is my color?"

Henry's mouth quirked in a small smile. Henry's overshirt had a wide neckline, so on Ellie, it fell over one shoulder since her shoulders were more narrow than theirs.

"Hmm. Actually, with your hair, it makes you look like a cartoon character. It's cute."

"Honey. Sweetie." She tapped their mouth with one finger, "I'm not cute."

"Yeah you are."

"No, I'm not."

"You just called me 'honey' and 'sweetie', and you expect me to never think of you as an absolute cutie pie?"

"You know what? You're right. Blue is a cute color. That's why it looks so good on you."

"Oh yeah? Then you can't argue. Cuties wear blue."

"Your eyes are literally so fucking blue, my eyes look blue in their reflection!"

Henry stopped, staring into her eyes, which were so red they shone like rubies under her bangs.

They realized they were too close, and they pulled back.

"Wait." Ellie grabbed the front of their shirt, "Come back."

They did.

"Lemme ask you something, Hen..." she pulled them so close, their noses nearly touched, "Why did you hesitate for so long when you were introducing me to Sarah?"

Henry swallowed. Shit.

Their voice dropped to a near whisper, "Promise you won't judge me?"

Ellie smiled so her eyes sparkled, and all at once, they realized she already knew.

They huffed, matching her smile for a moment, "Because I don't really...know what we are. I didn't want to call you my girlfriend, but best friend doesn't seem quite right either. I don't feel the same way about you that I do about Charles, and that confuses me, but it still feels really good, like butterflies in my stomach and fire in my chest. Thinking of you makes my world feel brighter. I really like you, Ellie. I like you a whole lot."

They weren't sure how coherent that was, and they were pretty sure that was nowhere near the best confession of all time, but Ellie smiled at them like she'd just won the lottery.

"Henry..." Ellie said in this really gleeful voice that made Henry's knees feel like jelly, "Did you know that 'romantic' and 'platonic' are not the only two types of relationships...?"

Henry hesitated, "Uhhh...'friends with benefits' is another, right?"

Wow. Real smooth, Henry.

"Well, yes, but let's ignore sex for a minute." Ellie wrapped an arm around their neck, "So...your feelings for me don't feel like friendship, but they also don't feel romantic?"

"They do, kind of. They feel like both, but like, also neither...? It's like...there are different bits of feelings that feel like feelings I do know, but not all of those bits are present. Um, does that make sense...?"

"Yes! It does!" Ellie gripped their shirt, "I get feelings like that all the time!"

Henry smiled really wide, and Ellie laughed, prompting them to laugh too.

They carefully hugged her, wary of the bandages across her back, "So...what does that mean for us? Are we like...not 'just friends' anymore?"

"No, we can still be friends." Ellie pulled back, still smiling, "We can just be friends who cuddle and kiss."

Cuddle and kiss. Literally two of Henry's favorite activities of all time, and they'd just unlocked them with their gorgeous best friend!?

"Be honest with me, hun..." Ellie knelt up on her knees to look down at them, cradling their head and shoulders in her arms, "Did you get the idea from that day in the field?"

Henry's breath caught in their throat as Ellie's hair fell around their face, tickling their cheeks and chin. She was hovering above them now, the shape of her chest and arms obvious through the thin material of the soft overshirt. Henry's overshirt.

They nodded.

"Hmmm..." her thick eyelashes fluttered, "I'm glad I brought it up, then."

Henry bit their lip.

"Oh my gosh. Is this...?" Ellie pushed the collar of Henry's shirt aside to run her thumb along the strap of the little bralette Henry was wearing underneath.

"Uhh, yeah. Enby, remember?"

"Oh my goodness!" Ellie fingered the lace along the edges, "It's all silky and lacy-! Henry, you are the cutest fucking person ever!"

Henry flushed hot again as she cooed over them.

"You are so fucking cute, I can't even believe how cute you are..." Ellie nuzzled into their temple, "I might just take your bralette as my own prize..."

They took a shaking gasp as they covered their chest with both arms. They suddenly remembered their thought earlier that day, about how they and Charles could pass as a straight couple in public. Could Ellie and I pass as lesbians? Somehow, that thought felt even more incredible.

They would have retaliated against her tease, but they just really wanted to kiss her, and she was already right there, so...

They reached up, took her head to guide her where they wanted her to be, and she swiftly relented as they kissed her lips.

Finally, they no longer had to hold back. They ran their fingers through her hair to grab fistfuls of it as she hopped up to sit in their lap, nuzzling into one of her fuzzy sideburns before meeting her lips again. They tasted like cherry lip gloss, and they were so plump and soft and Henry couldn't get enough of it. They left one hand in her hair as they felt along her back with the other, sneaking it beneath their overshirt to rub her side, gently stroking along the edge of the bandage until it landed on her hip.

"Mph-!" Henry broke off with a gasp, "W-wow..."

Ellie kissed their ear, running her hand up their back with a long inhale, "Wow is right. You kiss with a lot of passion."

"Uhh..." Henry shrugged, "I like kissing."

"I can tell." Ellie smiled at them warmly as she twirled a lock of their hair in her fingers, "Hey, my lip gloss looks good on you."

Henry rubbed their lips together, feeling the jellylike glittery mass between them, "You really think so?"

"Yeah. No tease this time. It makes you look...hm, not 'girly', but...more traditionally feminine, I should say."

Henry's heart soared, "I love that vibe!"

"I know. It looks really good on you. I mean that."

"I'm trying to build my reputation on base as everyone's favorite gender non-conforming demiboy. You think I can pull it off?"

"Without a doubt!"

"We should probably get back out so Sven doesn't have to wait outside all day..."

"One more kiss?"

Henry relented, head swimming in an ocean of feelings.

"I love you...Ellie Rose..." they murmured against her soft lips, "I love you...so much..."

And for just that moment, she was all that mattered.