Work Text:
Babe found it endearing originally, Charlie’s stubborn desire to protect him at all costs. At first, it was just strange, but it made Babe feel soft somehow. Protected in a way he’d never experienced. Charlie declaring that he’d fight Kim in his place, excited to prove that he was capable of being Babe’s knight in shining armor just like in fairy tales. Then he’d appeared out of nowhere to stand in the way, taking blow after blow beaten with tire irons.
Babe had watched in abject horror as the solid metal beams struck Charlie again and again — he’d heard Charlie’s wrist snap. Heard the bone crack, a wet thick chunk. It was a sickeningly upsetting sound to hear, one that haunted Babe's dreams even following Charlie’s “fatal” accident. However, Charlie had practically blown off that injury. Following Babe to the racetrack and celebrating with everyone else. Only going to the hospital after Alan demanded it, a thing Babe was eternally grateful for even if he’d been such an asshole filled with jealousy at the time.
That incident also made Babe feel protected and safe, but those comfortable feelings were tarnished by Charlie’s injuries and easy smile. The casual attitude he had towards being beaten.
Then there was Way and the gunman at Tony’s, both times Charlie’s life was in danger and both times he acted like it was nothing of importance. Casually offering his life even then just so Babe could have his abilities returned as if it was nothing.
Of course, Babe had noticed the pain and fear in Charlie’s eyes the first time he’d offered to kill himself. That pain wasn’t because of the implications of the offer, that pain was the thought of Babe turning him away. That fear wasn’t because of the pain he might feel or for the idea of dying, that fear was because he worried Babe wouldn’t forgive him.
The car accident was the turning point in all of this, for Babe anyway. The car had been tampered with — albeit fixed by Jeff moments later. Someone had come into their “home” intending to hurt Charlie. Charlie had known and said nothing.
“It wasn’t going to stop, Babe… Tony had decided I was worth something and… I was putting everyone in danger. I didn't want to hurt you... or leave you. But if my death meant your safety then it was worth it...”
The crash had almost killed him, Jeff had explained it all to Babe soon after, “He almost died before getting to the hospital… the broken ribs and the drugs… I know it’s hard to accept, and you have the right to tell him to leave, but he really believed it was the only way to keep you safe,” Jeff had sounded heartbroken in a completely unique way. It wasn’t directed towards Babe or the event, or even the prospect of his brother being sent away. The bitter sadness surrounded Charlie in an entirely different way. A painful recognition or maybe a desperate need for a solution.
He hated the idea that Charlie could have died and he’d not known. Ridiculous though that was, as Babe had already been mourning him, but the prospect of finding out later that he could have had more time with Charlie — even just a few minutes — was soul-crushing.
Babe had tried to forget the unpleasant feelings that came with watching Charlie attempt to protect him, and as the weeks passed following Tony’s downfall Babe had falsely assumed Charlie would be less protective and more willing to be protected. Because the one thing Babe knew with absolute certainty after everything, was that nothing was ever going to happen to Charlie again.
The problem was Charlie didn’t just do it for Babe, most of the extreme situations were for Babe, but he’d also pulled Jeff to safety when someone tried to hit on him — taking a punch squarely in the jaw — when both Babe and Alan were present, and Jeff was in no real danger. He’d immediately covered North and Sonic when the two were being ridiculed by a drunkard, which would have resulted in a knife to the abdomen if Charlie wasn’t fully capable of defending himself. He had even pushed Alan out of the way when a tire broke free of its chain in the garage, dislocating his own shoulder in the process.
Charlie was a caregiver, Babe knew that — he loved that. It was so innately Charlie, his lovable, adorable, sweet bubbly, boyfriend. But he just took it too far. He’d already been hurt, so frequently, with such an uncomfortable level of indifference.
“It’s not a big deal, Babe,” Charlie whined pouting, “it doesn’t even hurt, I promise,”
Babe didn’t want to doubt that, but Charlie never complained about something hurting unless it was necessary. He hadn’t even brought up that his leg wasn’t fully healed when they’d reunited until Jeff scolded him hours later, “Just let me take care of it, please,” he knew it was unfair, purposefully sounding upset to get Charlie to behave, but Babe didn’t want a fight right now.
Illegal races often went south, this time it had just been worse than simply dodging the police. No one had anticipated one of Winner’s flunkies to come brandishing a gun, nor for the idiot to threaten the X-Hunters with it.
“It’s just a graze…” Charlie tried to be reassuring, “he was going to shoot someone…”
“He did shoot someone,” the bullet had grazed Charlie’s neck and chin, terrifyingly close to a fatal shot, but the gun had been aimed at Babe — who was intentionally blocking Jeff. Had Charlie not intervened, both would have likely been seriously injured.
Thankfully, neither spot was actively bleeding anymore though both were an awful shade of pink and looked uncomfortable. Babe kept his hands from shaking as he slowly bandaged them using the first aid kit Alan had brought him. They’d escaped to North and Sonic’s condo, which had been the closest after Charlie refused the hospital. Babe had wanted to argue, but there was a level of genuine anxiety that radiated off of Charlie at the suggestion of a hospital vision that turned his stomach. Alan had followed with Jeff, and unsurprisingly, kept a stocked kit in his car.
“I’m sorry if I scared you,” the apology sounded tightly wrapped with guilt and the slightest hint of fear, “I didn’t think, Babe, I just saw the gun and acted… I couldn’t let you get hurt…”
“I know,” he placed a kiss on the edge of Charlie’s chin, just beside the cleaned wound before bandaging it carefully, “but I also know, that I hate to see you hurt. Yeah?” There it was, the flash of surprise followed by absolute affection, Charlie never fully believed those words, “I don’t want to lose you again, alright?”
Charlie nodded, not quite pouting, “I really am alright, it really —“
“Don’t say it didn’t hurt,”
“But I,” he fumbled, taken aback, “I — I mean, it’s not that bad. I can ignore it,”
“Don’t ignore it,” he hadn’t meant to sound so forceful, but Charlie’s pain deserved to be felt, “if you hurt say something,”
“O — okay,”
He wouldn’t, Babe knew that. Charlie would do the same thing the next time it happened. Just like he’d still jump in the way to protect someone without thinking of his personal safety.
Charlie brushed off everyone’s concern once they reentered the main room, smiling brightly, just glad that Babe and Jeff were unharmed.
Babe wasn’t the only one upset by it, he could see the concern linger in Sonic’s smile, how Alan frowned just slightly, and how Jeff outright glared at his brother. However, no one argued with him, and the night continued much like normal.
*~~*
Several days later, Babe was faced with watching Charlie get behind the wheel of a car — something he’d been trying to discourage the younger man from doing solely because it made him extremely anxious. However, this time Babe was going to use the time wisely and try not to dwell on Charlie’s crash or any of the things that could possibly go wrong. The car had been checked, Alan was watching, and Charlie was not breakable.
“Jeff? Can I speak to you for a minute?” Babe had doubled back to the garage hoping to catch the young mechanic alone. They had spoken a few times without Charlie’s presence – twice had been led by Jeff, demanding to know Babe’s intentions, and emphasizing Charlie’s importance.
To his credit, Jeff looked neither surprised nor annoyed at Babe’s intrusion. He simply shut off the car he had been working on and moved his laptop to a safer spot near the workbench, “About Charlie?”
“I, uh, did you?”
“See? No, but what else would you want to talk to me about Babe?”
The lightness to Jeff’s comeback proved to Babe that there had been great progress in bringing him fully into the X-Hunter’s family. If anyone could do that it would be Alan, “I just,” he started as they sat in the waiting area – it was quieter, though he could still clearly hear North vloging around the corner. Babe wasn’t even exactly sure what he was doing, bringing Jeff into this. “You see it, don’t you? How he puts himself in danger for everyone. At first, I thought it was nice,” he admitted feeling a flash of embarrassment rise in his chest. Babe was not one to shy away from his emotions but admitting to something like this felt almost too intimate, “but now I worry he’ll take things too far,” he wasn’t sure how else to say it. At his core, Babe worried that Charlie would die for him — or Jeff or Alan — that he would sacrifice himself without even a thought. He’d nearly done that already and despite how emphatically Babe had tried to explain to him, Charlie never fully grasped how much Babe had grieved.
“This is about the gun from the other day?” Jeff pursed his lips together, calculating. Both he and Charlie analyzed people eerily well, he was just more brazen about it.
“Not just that. I just want to understand why. Tony’s out of the picture now. There’s no reason for him to be so obsessed with —” he rolled his eyes along with his shoulders, maybe this was a mistake, “I love him, I don’t want him hurt,”
“I know… look, I think you should talk to him –”
“I’ve tried,” Babe practically growled in frustration, “But your brother will find any way to avoid talking about himself and I am sure you know that,”
Sonic squealed somewhere in the distance just as Jeff started speaking again, quiet yet powerful, “I don’t know exactly when it started. If Tony made him that way, or if it was before, but as long as I’ve known him – that’s just been Charlie,”
*~**~*
Jeff hated the window room. It was always cold and felt more like a prison cell than a ballroom in a mansion, yet it was always the room Tony had him in. He supposed it was better than the room he’d been held in before his powers emerged, the small windowless room with nothing but a bed. It had been cold in that room too. Cold and dark.
“Jeff,”
He couldn’t help but stiffen. His powers had started showing themselves three months ago, and since then every time Tony made an appearance Jeff’s day got worse.
“I have a very special gift for you today,” Tony smiled with false warmth, “Come along Charlie,” the boy that shuffled in beside Tony couldn’t be much older than Jeff, skinny – unhealthily so – with glasses and overgrown hair, “This is Charlie, Jeff, he’s thirteen – this is Jeff, he’s eleven. You see Jeff, Charlie doesn’t seem to have powers. At least not yet, so I thought he might be a good playmate for you. So, you don’t feel so lonely,”
“I’m not lonely,” Jeff lied. He had been lonely since they’d brought him here, but with his ability, loneliness was better than the alternative. He could feel Charlie’s eyes on him, but it wasn’t intimidating – it felt concerned as though he could see through the lie with ease, “I don’t need a playmate…”
“Oh yes, I know that,” Tony sounded bored, grabbing Charlie by the elbow he forced him farther into the room, “You two can spend some time together each day – Charlie has training every afternoon, so someone will come collect him before then. Play nice boys — remember this is a privilege,”
Charlie was nice. He never once asked about Jeff’s powers or tried to touch him. He’d figure out things they could do and games they could play that ensured Jeff’s visions were never triggered. Charlie was the first kid Jeff had met here who wasn’t mean to him or afraid of him. Charlie would sneak cookies in for him, bring crayons and paper, a deck of cards. He was kind of like a big brother, always making Jeff laugh despite everything.
“How did you know?” Jeff asked. He wasn’t suspicious of Charlie anymore, but the boy had brought him a bottle of pain pills with no explanation. Medicine was strictly forbidden, Tony felt it interfered with his visions, and they could get in a lot of trouble — Charlie could. Tony’s wouldn’t touch Jeff…
“You said you always have headaches after bad days,” Charlie had said it so offhandedly that Jeff wondered just how many times Charlie pretended not to pay attention to things — Tony made it sound like Charlie was dumb and worthless, he’d said as much in front of Jeff. However, Jeff's headaches were only mentioned in passing.
“You’ll get in trouble,” the protest was there, but he still allowed a couple of pills to fall into his hand without fighting, “you’ll get hurt again,”
Smiling brightly, Charlie shook his head, “I’ll get hurt anyway. Don’t worry about it. You’re my brother after all,”
Brother?
The smile shifted, falling and morphing into guilt, “I’m sorry I didn’t mean… we don’t have to… I’m not —“
“I don’t have any brothers,” Jeff didn’t like Charlie looking so upset — he was supposed to be bright, “I’m not sure how to be a brother,”
“I don’t know how to either. I don’t think I have any,”
Sucking on a hard candy Charlie brought for him, Jeff sat quietly for several minutes. If anyone was worthy of being his brother, it was Charlie, “Okay, we’ll be brothers then,”
“Alright,” Tony had arrived at four in the afternoon, just as he had done each day for the last four weeks to collect Charlie, “We are going to try something different this afternoon. I’d like you to start practicing seeing into the future, Jeff – I want you to take Charlie’s hand and tell everyone what you see,”
Fear spiked deep inside Jeff at the thought. Visions hurt and they lingered, they felt like an intrusion, “But –”
“It’s alright,” Charlie smiled softly turning fully away from Tony, mouthing, ‘lie,’ as he reached out his hand. Everything about his demeanor had changed, he’d become like a wall, solid and stone, unbreakable.
The vision flooded into Jeff like high tide as soon as he took the outstretched hand, he saw Charlie nearly sobbing, bruised, and beaten on the floor of Tony’s study. His shirt was off, and his back was marred with bright red welts. He looked horrible and in such pain that Jeff had to fight not to tremble.
“Well, Jeff – what did you see? What will Charlie’s afternoon entail?”
Remembering Charlie’s suggestion, and forcing his face to remain neutral, Jeff lied, “He was in the library reading.”
The look of sheer disappointment on Tony’s face brought fear into Jeff’s heart but Charlie smiled brightly; proudly, “Sounds like I’ll have a good afternoon – see you tomorrow, Jeff. Sleep well,”
Charlie arrived the next day and said nothing of the previous day’s events acting as though nothing was wrong — but Jeff could tell. He could see the tight posture and how flecks of pain danced through Charlie’s face, “You don’t have to worry about it, Jeff,”
“But I sa –”
“You saw me at the library – which was not what actually happened,” Charlie looked up, making his eyes look twice as large somehow, “maybe your gift just is really inconsistent?”
“But I – what I see happens,” Jeff hadn’t meant to sound frantic, but he needed Charlie to take him seriously.
“Jeff,” he was careful, placing his hands onto Jeff’s shoulders but avoiding all contact with the skin, “Your visions are inconsistent, maybe they’ll get worse, and you’ll be able to leave this place. They are probably going to kick me out too,” He made it sound cheery, but there was strange sadness to his words, “If you’re useless like me, Daddy doesn’t want to keep you,”
“You aren’t useless!”
Charlie smiled warmly, pleased, “Look – I brought a book for us to read this time.”
This continued and each time Jeff looked into Charlie’s future it got worse and worse.
“Charlie,” they’d known each other for almost six months, when Jeff first tried to fix things, “I think I should tell the truth — say what I really see,”
“No — don’t let them know how good you are,”
“But —“
“It’s not worth it, Jeff,” Charlie cut him off desperately, “If they know, you won’t be safe,”
“You aren’t safe!”
“That doesn’t matter,”
“It matters to me!” Jeff had been living in Tony’s house since he was eight. He barely remembered his parents or a time before he lived under Tony’s roof — and he often refused to be emotional. Crying was pointless. It clogged his nose, burned his eyes, made his head feel heavy, and it offered nothing. But he couldn’t hold back, he couldn’t take seeing Charlie hurt again and knowing it was real.
“Hey,”
It was the first hug Jeff had received in years. He could feel Charlie’s bony body holding him tightly, the raised marks left from yesterday’s lashing, but mostly the heat. It was soothing.
“Listen, I’ve got a plan. They’re going to give up on me soon, I’m a complete waste for them,” he didn’t allow Jeff to argue, “When they do — you’ll walk out of here.”
“What?”
“I do have a gift, Jeff. I think I can hide us for a while once we’re out of here,” he pulled back gauging Jeff’s reaction, “all you have to do is walk out the front door, once I tell you too. Okay? I’ll get us out of here and I’ll make sure we’re safe,”
*~~*~~*
“And he did,” Jeff sighed sadly, “about a year later, Tony was kicking him out — deemed him completely useless just like Charlie said — technically, Tony had planned to kill him, but Charlie was a couple of steps ahead. He should have just left. Bringing me with him put such a toll on his mind initially… hiding us both…”
“He,” Babe wasn’t sure what to say exactly, though he was fairly certain Charlie didn’t have that ability anymore, “did that one go away when he…”
Jeff looked up for the first time since he’d started talking. He was clearly upset, troubled, “No. He lost that power after Tony found us the first time… Charlie had managed to get us into school — so we could attend college. The guy wasn’t supposed to hurt me. Tony sent him to ‘collect’ me,”
Babe could hear engines approaching and knew Charlie was likely arriving, “and Charlie?”
“Charlie was ‘worthless’ remember,” Jeff practically spat the word out distastefully, “the guy was supposed to kill him and collect me.”
“And he did,” Babe already knew the answer, he could feel it.
Pursing his lips together uncontrollably, Jeff let out a long breath, “Not exactly. He nearly killed me, Charlie got in the way…” his eyes darkened, “his heart really did stop that time… so the few powers he’d collected disappeared… but that’s the thing, Babe… Charlie believes he’s beneath everyone else. He did the first time he told me to lie when he protected me… every time he’s protected you… if everyone else is more important than him, why wouldn’t he put himself in the way?”
“That’s not true,” Babe felt fury build inside his chest, “he’s worth more than anything! He’s — he can’t believe that…”
“Where is everyone?” Alan shouted from around the corner as someone killed an engine, “Does anyone work here?” he added sarcastically.
“I’ve been working on promotion stuff this whole time, right Sonic?” Sonic didn’t respond and North argued back, “That’s not fair you also took a break —“
“Charlie is going to be looking for you, Babe,”
“I want him to stop,”
“Stop what?” Jeff couldn’t help but scoff, “caring? That won’t happen —“
“Dying. Willingly dying…”
“Babe that’s—“
“What are you two gossiping about?” Charlie appeared cocking his head to the side and pouting, “Should I be worried? Conspiring against me? Whatever Jeff told you is a lie — I never once ate ice cream straight out of the container and then put the empty one back into the freezer that was Jeff,”
“Hey, you don’t get to throw me under the bus,” Jeff smoothly latched onto the escape route Charlie had given him, even though it was unnecessary, “I was just telling Babe that you don’t wash your socks —“
“Hey —“ he spun back around pouting in full force, “you know that’s not true, Babe. Jeff is just being a menace…”
Charlie had claimed Jeff within days of meeting, no wonder they acted like they’d been raised together. Babe mused, smiling softly, “Ice cream, huh?”
“It’s not his favorite, but it’s up there. When I first started earning money, I tried to keep some in the freezer for him,” he laughed lightly, still half-dressed in his racer garb, “He never liked admitting when he’d eaten all ‘cause I’d go and ‘waste’ money on more,”
Circling his arms around Charlie was second nature, as was leaning in and basking in the heat and scent, “What’s your favorite?”
“Favorite what?” He’d stopped halfway in to kiss Babe’s cheek.
“Dessert?”
“Oh,” he placed three kisses, one on each cheek and then on Babe’s nose before continuing, “I’ve never really thought about it. Jeff’s is almost anything chocolate, which is fine but a bit rich for me,”
Babe’s was also chocolate, though he liked it on the bitter end with coffee, “What all have you tried?”
Charlie’s head tilted again, adorably puppy-like, “I really haven’t tried much. But we should stop by the bakery on the way home — it’s Thursday, so they will have made your favorite dark chocolate cake this morning,”
Much later that evening, with three dozen cake samples stored away for later, Babe was playing around with his cars when he smelled the pungent iron of fresh blood, “Charlie?”
“Yeah?” He’d been cleaning up the kitchen after dinner.
“Are you alright?” Babe was already standing.
“Huh? Yeah? Why?”
The bright crimson was still pooling in Charlie’s palm when Babe rounded the corner, “What happened?” He grabbed a wad of paper towels, shoving them onto the bleeding wound, “you said you were fine!”
“I am fine, it’s just a little cut,”
The ‘little cut’ was into the muscle and nearly five centimeters long from what Babe could tell through the constant flow of blood, “You’ll probably need stitches!”
“It’s not that bad, barely even hurts. It’s fine,”
“It’s not fine…” pulling the paper away, he could see the clean edges, “Hold this,” once he was sure Charlie had it secured, Babe went to the bathroom and grabbed a couple of hand towels.
“Babe —“
The paper towel was saturated, and the smell of blood was starting to make Babe’s hair stand on end, especially knowing it was Charlie’s, “here,” he quickly replaced it with a thick black towel and tied it as tight as he could, “come on, let’s go,”
“But… Babe, you’re racing tomorrow — early. And it’s late, why —“
“I’m taking you to the hospital. I’m not having you bleed out in the kitchen,”
“But the race,”
The whole thing was far too reminiscent of when the bikers broke Charlie’s wrist, even his distressed objections, “I do not care about the damn race,” he said directly, “I care about you,”
Hesitating, Charlie allowed himself to be led towards the door, “It’s not life threatening… it’s just a cut? It doesn’t —“
“You matter.” Babe opened the passenger door without another word.
Going to the hospital had been the right decision. Charlie ended up with six stitches and a pain prescription despite his complaints. The entire time the nurse cleaned and examined the wound, she praised Charlie on his pain tolerance. Surprised at how little he responded. For Babe, it was another thorn in his heart.
He knew he had a selfish streak; it came from being the Pit Babe. Before Charlie, the only people deserving of his empathy had been Alan and Way — the latter only proved to him how dangerous it was to place trust in another. However, he didn’t want to be selfish when it came to Charlie, even if the younger man often catered to him. He wanted Charlie to be selfish, to ask when he wants something, to say when he needs something, to know that he’s important.
“I’m sorry I caused all this trouble,” they’d pulled back into the driveway just after midnight, “and the kitchen is still a mess — I’ll —“
“You’ll go upstairs and get ready for bed — I’ll finish with the kitchen and join you,” he could see the argument right on the edge of Charlie’s tongue, “you have to keep that hand dry for a while. And I know it hurts,”
“It’s not that bad…”
“Humor me,”
Charlie was sitting on the edge of the bed, head bobbing with sleep when Babe walked upstairs. His hand was tightly wrapped to ensure it didn’t bleed anymore. He was holding it close to his body, like an injured animal, trying to ease the pain, “why haven’t you laid down?”
His head snapped back up and the slightest grimace appeared for a second, “I was waiting for you – why should I be sleeping if you weren’t able to,” Charlie tried to pout, but it ended up looking more pitiful than cute, “I wanted to help you sleep,”
“Charlie,” the smile couldn’t be stopped, and Babe wasn’t sure he wanted to prevent it. Charlie made him happy, “Do I make you happy?”
His eyes rounded comically behind the lenses, “Why are you asking?”
“Do I make you happy?” Babe sat beside him, pulling Charlie in flush so that his head fit perfectly into the space between Charlie’s neck and shoulder, “I want to make you happy,”
“You do – you make me happier than I have ever been,”
Babe hummed softly.
“Is this because of whatever you and Jeff were talking about? I know that he’s been a little… protective, since everything that’s happened,” Charlie chose his words carefully. ‘Protective’ might be synonymous with ‘terrifying’ at the current moment, Babe knew, Jeff had cornered Charlie on a few occasions to make sure his brother knew exactly what was on the younger’s mind, “But whatever he said, he’s lying,”
“I want you to be happy because you’re worth the world to me,” Babe continued softly. He still had to prove it, to force the knowledge onto Charlie, to make sure that it was truly believed and understood. But saying it was the first step, “You know that, don’t you?”
“What did Jeff say?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Babe pulled back slowly and placed a kiss right in the center of Charlie’s forehead, “Let me help you sleep tonight – and then tomorrow, let me prove how much you mean to me,”
Confused, Charlie agreed but still countered, “You don’t have to prove anything to me, Babe.”
“No, but I want to,”