Chapter Text
Flying through the sky towards Washington, Nolan increased his speed as much as he could without causing wind damage problems for the people and structures below him. He wasn't late yet, but it was going to be a close thing.
Dropping out of the clouds, he landed carefully on the ground in front of the side entrance to the GDA's main headquarters.
A quick trip down in the elevators to the main sub-floor later, and Nolan let himself into Cecil's main office, poured himself a whiskey, and settled down in a chair to wait.
Cecil wasn't far behind him, pouring a drink of his own on the way to his desk. "Sorry I'm late - we had a bit of a situation in Seattle, but it's handled now."
"Oh? Anything exciting?"
Cecil took a sip of his drink and shook his head. "Just another nutcase with weapons he shouldn't have been able to access. I've got someone looking into how he managed it, but at least he's no longer a problem - our new star asset took care of him in no time."
"Star asset, huh? Do I know them?" Nolan asked, a little curious as to who or what could possibly have have made someone like Cecil actually sound impressed. "Sorry, I haven't been paying attention to much of anything lately - too busy running around helping everyone get settled in. The last few months have been a bit of a blur."
"Completely understandable," Cecil nodded. "How IS everything going on that front, by the way? I've seen the reports, but wanted to get your take on it as well."
"It's actually going really well," Nolan had to admit. "Everyone's settled into their new homes now. Most of them are still pretty much keeping to themselves, but all of them have made at least some progress towards getting out and exploring the world around them. I do think they're struggling a little with the idea of not having an actual mission at the moment, beyond 'live your life', but that's not really a surprise, given everything."
"Any problems?"
Nolan shook his head. "Not yet. Not that I've seen, at least. Everyone's been on their best behavior so far. They've been following the rules, not getting into too much trouble... They've been asking their human guides about things they're unsure of, which is great to see. I've been checking in with most of them every few days, on a schedule, and I think their integration is going about as well as we could have hoped for at this stage. The only one I haven't seen much of is Conquest - he always seems to be off doing something with his girlfriend. I really only see him at the monthly group check-ins. He's doing okay from what I can tell though.
Cecil's lip quirked to one side in amusement. "He certainly is. You asked before, about our new star asset? It's him."
Nolan tilted his head in confusion. "I'm sorry? I don't..."
"Our star asset. It's Conquest."
Sitting back in his chair in shock, Nolan managed to choke out a response. "Really? Wow. He's already started working for the GDA? I haven't even STARTED talking about career options with the others yet. How did that happen?"
"Apparently he wanted to contribute to his new homeworld," Cecil shrugged. "He asked his girlfriend Sarah about how he could start doing that, and she came to me. We started him off with small, easy jobs at first but, given how strong he is, it seemed like a waste not to use him where we could."
"No, of course. That makes total sense." Nolan shook his head in amazement. "So...that's going well, then? It must be, if he's already your star agent?"
Cecil nodded. "Incredibly well. We gave him an overview of what we needed from him, and he's been doing nothing but delivering. So far he has a 100% mission completion rate, with no fatalities or serious injuries recorded at any point. I don't expect that to continue forever, given the nature of some of the work we do here, but it's impressive as hell that he's managed it at all, much less for a couple of months straight."
"Not only that," Cecil continued. "He's also been charming the pants off of almost everyone he meets. GDA staff, other heroes, members of the public... They're calling him 'Hawaiian Shirt Guy'. In fact, as Donald informs me, he already has a fairly sizeable fan club."
Nolan blinked. "I'm sorry...hawaiian shirt? A fan club? We're...still talking about Conquest, right? Big guy, white hair, one arm? Recent transplant from Viltrum?"
"That's the one." Cecil gave him a wry grin. "Hidden depths, apparently."
"Yeah, apparently..."
Nolan took a few moments to sip his drink and process all of that. What the actual hell, he thought, shaking his head. Still, par for the course these days, he guessed. He'd ended up learning some really weird shit while sitting in Cecil's office over the last year, and this was basically just more of the same. Which reminded him...
"Oh, hey, Cecil. While I'm here - I keep forgetting, but I've been meaning to check up on how things have been going out in space. Is the Coalition managing okay?"
"They are. We've received a few updates from Thaedus - the last one arrived a couple of days ago. I'll have some copies sent through to you."
Cecil thought for a moment. "In summary...there's still a lot of work that needs doing but, on balance, things are going well. They've more-or-less finished setting up their permanent base on Viltrum, and have already started using it as the central distribution point for their aid efforts. The number of formerly colonized planets needing help is...large, so they're working their way through the list as quickly as they can. At least food and water don't appear to be an immediate concern for any of them. Say what you want about Thragg, but he knew how to keep his warehouses stocked."
Nolan nodded. "That's a relief. I wasn't sure how it was going to go with so many affected planets - and it's not like I can offer to help. The last thing they'd ever want is more viltrumites showing up."
"You're not wrong there," Cecil agreed. "Allen sends his regards, by the way, and wants to thank you again for not actually needing him to fight while you were on Viltrum."
"Hah, no problem. Please let him know that giving us a ride back to Earth was more than enough - it can't have been easy being in a ship full of viltrumites, much less having to feed them and do their laundry and so on. It made everything so much easier, having all of that taken care of."
Cecil nodded. "I'll pass it on."
"Hey Debbie," Nolan called out as he entered his house later that day. "You will NOT believe what I just found out."
"Oh? What's that, dear?"
"Have you heard of someone called 'Hawaiian Shirt Guy'?"
"Oh, I love him! We were talking about him down at the bookclub today. He actually saved Martha from my pilates class from a crazed gunman a few weeks ago. She said he was such a gentleman. Do you know him through your superhero contacts? We should try to have him over for dinner at some point. Do you know if he has a wife or girlfriend?"
"Why, yes, he does have a girlfriend, and apparently I can call him over any time I want to - he's Conquest."
"Conquest? The...viltrumite 'Conquest' that you've talked about? The oldest one?"
"That's him."
"Huh."
"Yep." Nolan shrugged.
"I guess it makes sense," Debbie mused. "He's got super strength and flight, like you and Mark do... But wait, I thought you weren't going to have them start thinking about working until next year? Hawaiian Shirt Guy's been active for months."
"Yeah, he did that all on his own - his girlfriend works for Cecil, so they just organized it between themselves. I think it's great he's settling in so well. I just...I guess I never know what he's thinking. He somehow always manages to surprise me."
Nolan shook his head, bemused. "Gonna try to catch up with him tomorrow - see what else he's been up to. It could literally be anything at this point. Running a cult, selling paintings on the beach..."
"Okay, well make sure to pass on the dinner invite when you do. You know when we're free."
"Yes, dear," Nolan said, agreeably.
The next day, while sitting down having breakfast, Nolan called out to Mark as he ran down the stairs.
"Morning son! Did you want something to eat?"
"Morning! Nah, I'm fine. Oh, maybe some toast would be good - thanks Dad! Mark raced over and took the toast right out of his father's hand before he could eat it, shoving it into his own mouth as he headed to the front door."
"You're welcome," Nolan said drily. "Where are you off to in such a hurry?"
"Training with the guys - don't wanna be late."
"The guys?"
"Yeah, a bunch of us are meeting up with Conquest again so he can show us some more tricks and spar with us. He's been really great - shows us how to handle different types of situations and stuff, and everyone gets to practice fighting against a much stronger enemy. It's been really useful already."
Nolan blinked. "Right... And he wears a hawaiian shirt while he does this?"
"Yeah, of course. That's why they call him 'Hawaiian Shirt Guy' - he never wears anything else. Well, other than shorts and sandals. It's like his key aesthetic. Anyway, gotta go - see you at dinner!"
"Wait, Mark. How long is your training session going to be for?"
"It finishes at lunchtime!" Mark's voice trailed away into the distance as he took off into the sky, door slamming behind him.
Nolan calmly started making himself another slice of toast.
"Thinking of going to visit Conquest after lunch?" Debbie asked, in a mildly curious tone.
"That's the plan. I'll see if I can catch him," Nolan confirmed.
"Sounds fun. Have a good time - I'm off to work now." Debbie kissed him and headed out.
"Yeah, fun," Nolan mumbled to himself.
He was only going to go and talk to one of his subjects.
Why did he feel like he was suddenly in over his head?