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As Babe clung to his dying friend, begging him not to leave them, he tried saying everything he could that his panicked mind could come up with that might give Way the determination and willpower to survive the multiple gunshot wounds he’d taken. He sobbed and cradled him closer. “You can’t go,” he pleaded. “What about your pup? I know you didn’t want to leave him. It’s safe now, you can be with him.”
Grief broke through the old commands Way had put on his two oldest friends after he’d left his pup behind. Jeff supported Alan as he lost his strength to stay upright on his own, reminded of it all as Babe tried to convince Way to hold on. He exchanged a look with his brother, but Charlie hadn’t been aware of that either. Neither of the brothers nor Way’s former pack mates noticed Pete staggering on his feet.
“I- I’m sorry I couldn’t see Martin again…”
“Stay with me so you can, Way! Way!”
-
Alan had intended to take charge of funeral preparations for Way after his body was released into his custody, but Pete had sent him a message saying that he would cover everything. He’d briefly been confused as to why Pete would do that, but supposed he didn’t know much of what Way had been doing after leaving the team. Somehow he’d joined forces with Pete and ended up at the manor the day of the auction, and they’d both wound up being Enigmas from the Chen Foundation house, so perhaps they’d gotten close.
Secretly relieved he wouldn’t have to go through funeral preparations for one of his younger pack brothers by himself, as he had no intention of making the others go through that while they were grieving and didn’t feel right bothering Jeff especially after his confession that he’d known from a vision that Way would die, Alan had quickly agreed. He hadn’t even known where to start, really.
Everything was much nicer than he would have managed, Alan thought as they pulled up to the cemetery, which was far more beautiful than the one for Charlie’s fake funeral, where Alan figured he would have ended up burying Way if Pete hadn’t stepped in. He parked his jeep and sighed. None of them moved to get out of the car except for Kim, who quickly froze when he realized North and Sonic weren’t even unbuckling. Alan squeezed the steering wheel, mentally preparing for the funeral, and Jeff rearranged the two bouquets he was holding to one arm and put a hand on his shoulder.
Alan turned to his boyfriend, who was looking at him with worried eyes. He nodded a bit to let him know that he would be alright, then glanced at the rearview mirror. Kim was looking between all of them, waiting for one of them to make a move before he opened the car door his hand was on. North was dabbing a little face cream on Sonic’s cheek, the two of them having been fussing over each other the entire morning to distract themselves. Then Sonic had gotten quiet during the drive, so North just fussed over him even more.
He would have to be the first one out of the car, Alan realized. Though his limbs felt heavy as lead, he unbuckled and took his flowers from Jeff.
“Do you have the directions to where it is…?”
“Uh, yeah.” Jeff fished the piece of paper Alan had scrawled the directions on the day before out of his pocket. He glanced at it and then looked around at where they’d parked. “It’s that way.” He gestured with his chin.
“Alright. You guys have your flowers?” he asked, even though he could see they all did. North and Sonic snapped out of their fussing to nod and they all got out of the car. Following the directions on the paper, they eventually caught sight of Pete standing near a grave.
At first, Alan didn’t think it was the Enigma, since he was holding what looked like a small child, but as they got closer it was actually him. And it really was a little kid Pete had in one arm, a pup dozing off against his shoulder that couldn’t have been more than three or four years old, little more than a toddler. He wondered if the man had taken in one of the orphans from the now dismantled Chen Foundation, but then the boy woke up as Pete greeted them and lifted his head, revealing that he looked too much like Pete to be anything but his biological child.
Maybe Pete just happened to have a son. None of them knew much about him, certainly not about his private life. He’d been away from Tony for years, so he’d had plenty of time to become a father. Alan wasn’t sure why exactly Pete had brought the boy along to the funeral, but it wasn’t his place to ask. Perhaps he couldn’t find a sitter for the child in time. Or maybe he usually brought the child everywhere with him when he wasn’t busy helping a racing team topple a human trafficking ring.
None of them decided to comment on the kid, though North waved to him with a soft, “Hey, kiddo,” that was returned by a small wave before the pup shyly turned his head away.
Alan quietly thanked Pete for taking care of everything as they waited for Babe and Charlie to arrive. “It’s, um, really beautiful.” He kept things brief, not wanting to get too choked up before things had even started.
“I wanted it to be nice for him.”
He nodded, not sure of what else to say. Thankfully, he didn’t have to, as the pup started squirming, making an upset little sound.
“What is it, little one?”
“Wanna go down, Papa.”
“Alright. Here you go.” Pete put the pup down. He took a moment to straighten the boy’s little black sweater vest and the collar of his matching button-up before taking his hand.
With Pete’s attention now on his son, Alan could excuse himself. “Thanks again. Babe and Charlie should be here soon,” he said before stepping away and doing his best to look like he wasn’t rushing back to his boyfriend’s side. Jeff didn’t say anything about his slightly speedy return, merely brushing their shoulders together in a grounding manner that Alan really appreciated.
Charlie and Babe arrived a few minutes later. Babe looked mildly confused seeing Pete with a child, but the pup wasn’t doing anything other than silently holding his father’s hand and partially hiding behind him, so he didn’t get annoyed. Alan was vaguely aware that Babe wasn’t a huge fan of children, so he was glad that things were going well and Pete’s son seemed to be a quiet, well-behaved kid. Charlie smiled a bit too brightly for the setting at the boy and waved to him, but this time the child seemed overwhelmed by the addition of two more to the group of strangers and tucked his face against his father’s leg.
Not getting greeted in return, Charlie pouted, obviously disappointed to be rejected by a child.
Everyone spread out a bit in preparation to leave their flowers on Way’s grave. Pete stepped forward first, murmuring quietly to his son. The boy pulled away from his leg, and he gently tugged his hand so they could walk up to the grave.
“Huh? Martin?” Babe mumbled, brows pinched together and expression haunted as Alan glanced over at him. He had no idea why Babe had suddenly said the name of Way’s pup. A name they’d only heard when Way was dying.
Alan had no idea where the child currently was, much to his regret. He’d have liked to make sure the pup was alright, to check in from time to time as a favor to Way, so he could tell him if the child was growing up well and provide anything if the child was wanting. But Way had kept everything such a secret, and he couldn’t figure out who Way had left the child with after he was born. Alan knew Babe would have even less of an idea than he did, as Way had confided, though hardly at all, in him more than his best friend.
So he couldn’t stop the sharp intake of breath that caught the others’ attention when Pete knelt next to the grave and said to his son, “Martin, put the flowers down with Papa for Mama, okay?”
Jeff quietly asked if he was okay as Alan whipped his head to Babe, who was staring at the boy with wide eyes and pure shock. Alan couldn’t bring himself to respond and didn’t take notice of Kim’s mild confusion and North and Sonic trying to silently demand an explanation from him via their surprised expressions as he looked back at Pete and his child.
Way’s child.
The one neither he nor Babe had even thought of again until Way’s death had broken his power over Babe, which in turn had broken the mental block he’d forced upon Alan as well.
Martin helped his father place the bouquet of lilies down at the corner of the tombstone. The pup looked relatively indifferent to the process, patting the bouquet to make sure it stayed put before turning back to his father. Seeing that Pete looked upset, Martin frowned in concern and put his hands on his father’s chest. “Papa’s sad.”
“I’ll be alright, little one. Papa’s just sad that Mama is gone.”
Martin glanced at the tombstone. His face scrunched up a bit, but only in confusion. Alan doubted the boy really understood what that meant. He couldn’t imagine having to explain to such a young child what death was, that he’d never get to see one of his parents again, even if Way had never gone back to see the pup after he was born. Just the thought of it made him feel like he’d been punched in the stomach.
Martin reached up to pat Pete on the head, petting his hair in the same kind of soothing way that someone would do to a child his age. “Mama left,” the little pup said seriously, sounding like he was echoing something he’d been told before. “It’s okay. Martin is with Papa.”
Pete hugged his son, lifting him up into his arms. He looked both desperate and grateful. For a moment he nuzzled the boy, breathing in his scent. Then he lifted his head and adjusted his hold on Martin so he could rub circles on his cheek with his thumb. “Mama is sorry he didn’t get to see you again, little one.”
Martin grabbed his father’s hand. “It’s okay,” the pup said, accepting an apology he didn’t understand at all.
“Papa is going to talk to Mama for a little bit, alright?”
“Okay.”
Pete set Martin on his feet, but kept the pup right against him. “Way… I’ve brought our pup back to the country so he can be with me again. My mentor and his wife took good care of him while everything was going on the past year. He’s been growing up so well. I’m so proud of him.”
That explained why the child was being so quiet and wasn’t all that upset about seeing his father cry. Martin had only been living with Pete for a short time, possibly even only a few days.
“I’m going to raise our son well, and protect him,” Pete promised.
He stood up and brought Martin back to the group. North went to say something, but Sonic nudged him, so he stayed quiet. After each of them had taken their turning placing flowers, the whole group stepped back to let Babe have a moment at the grave. This time, Alan nudged North to keep quiet, whispering that Babe could still hear them so he needed to wait. Kim wandered away to go wait by the car, having no real interest in Pete’s son as he didn’t know him or Way personally.
Once Babe had finished up and Charlie helped him compose himself, the couple came over.
“This is Way’s kid? Why haven’t you told us before?” Babe asked, upset. “Where the hell were you after Way gave his pup to you?! You know how miserable he was after he did that?!”
“It was Way’s choice to do that. We decided that would be safest for Martin.”
Sonic blinked back tears. “This is really Way’s kid…? Our nephew? He had a baby with you? Are you gonna let us see him sometimes, or-” Sonic paused for a second, then got even more worked up. “He’s our nephew! We deserve to be in his life, you know, so you better let-”
Alan stepped in front of them. “Hey, calm down. Don’t scare the kid.” He knew he probably didn’t look calm at all either, also emotional about suddenly being faced with the nephew he’d never gotten to meet. But he wasn’t going to let them freak out a child no matter how freaked out he himself felt.
When he looked back at Martin, the pup indeed looked a bit scared, obviously overwhelmed by the upset group crowding he and his father. Pete rubbed the boy’s back soothingly, assuring him, “It’s alright, little one. This is your mama’s family. Your family.”
“You’ll let us be his family?” Alan asked, voice choked up.
“Of course. I know I may not be close to you all, but I hope you’ll accept Martin as one of your own. I want him to have a loving family.” Pete kissed the top of the pup’s head. Martin looked back over at the others, no longer anxious.
Babe stepped around Alan, hands shaking as he reached out for Martin, asking the pup, “Can I hold you?”
Martin reached for him, so Pete passed the boy over. Babe looked unexpectedly enamored by his little nephew, staring right at him and adjusting him so they were both comfortable. Sonic held out his hand, and Martin grabbed it. Sonic made a little whimpering sound, trying not to cry at getting to meet his close friend’s son.
Seeing that the two were too emotional to speak, Alan rubbed the pup’s head and told him, “Hey, noo-” Babe and Sonic gave him a bit of a look. “Cub. I’m your uncle, Alan. This is Babe and Sonic. They’re your uncles too. Babe was your mom’s best friend, and Sonic too. And he was like my little brother.”
Martin reached to pat Alan’s cheek, similar to the way he’d patted his father’s head.
“You’re a sweet kid, huh? You can come to my house whenever you want. You and your dad.”
Babe finished scrutinizing the pup. “He doesn’t really look like Way,” he observed.
“He looks like Way when he smiles,” Pete replied.
“Aww, like when his eyes would scrunch up and his cheeks got all round?” Sonic asked, smiling softly at the memory.
Pete nodded, looking fond. “Exactly.”
“I’m gonna be the first to see that before all these other uncles, kid,” Babe told Martin, a bit of shine in his eyes at the thought of getting to see Way’s smile on his pup’s face.
“Huh? How would it be you? It’ll be me,” Alan said, squinting at Babe. The other Alpha gave him a mild glare. “Uncle Alan will make you smile before Uncle Babe, kid,” Alan insisted to the boy.
The pup just blinked and looked between them.
“Don’t call me that,” Babe told Alan. “It’s Phi Babe, kid. Phi. Not Uncle. Phi.”
“Phi,” Martin echoed.
They took turns getting to hold the boy, though Babe was very reluctant to let the pup go. North teased that it was odd, because they all thought Babe hated kids.
“He’s not some brat. He’s my nephew,” Babe argued.
Once Martin started to look tired, Pete took his son back. Martin tucked his head against his father’s shoulder, yawning. He closed his eyes and Pete patted his back.
“Once he’s all settled in at home, I’ll bring him to the garage for a visit.”
“We’ll be really looking forward to that,” Alan said. “Thank you.”