A/N: So, this is my response to a challenge posted by NoelAnderson. the challenge is as follows:
After the Twin Cities fight, when Ricky came with his men to get his money from Charlie, what if Ricky already knew Charlie had a kid, and that Max was his kid? He came prepared to take Max from Charlie, knowing that after all the fights they preformed in, Max was worth a lot of money. As Ricky and one of his men beat up Charlie, the other one goes for Max and forcefully carries him away while Charlie tries to get away from Ricky to save him, but he doesn't succeed.
Ricky leaves Charlie half dead on the street and takes off with Max. How will Charlie get him back?
Enjoy~
It took Charlie four hours to find the strength to move.
They took Max. That Texas pig had known he was Charlie's kid. He thought he was worth a lot of money.
At least to Charlie. But they took all of their hard earned money as well.
What was he going to tell Debra and Marvin when they returned from Italy? What was he going to tell Bailey?
Most importantly, what would she tell him?
"Don't let him go so easily. He wouldn't give up on you. Well, he might, but he loves you, Charlie. Don't give up on that. Find him."
That's what he should do. Not give up.
Charlie groaned, stumbling into the back of the WRB building. No one seemed to notice him, or the fact he left with a child and came back alone. All of the scheduled fights were over; everyone not involved with the robots had left.
Charlie limped into Atom's room, glad to see the robot was where he had left him. The swine couldn't get into the restricted part of the WRB to take Atom, so he took the next best thing.
He wasn't keeping him. But how was he going to get his son back?
Charlie pulled up a rolling stool in front of the still bot. He looked towards Atom, getting up stiffly and moving to his back. He unplugged the robot, powering him up and setting him on Shadow Mode.
Atom powered up with a audible whir of fans and motors coming online. His blue eyes locked onto Charlie, who was once again sitting on the stool. Atom moved his arm so that it was gripping his shoulder, mimicking Charlie.
"I know you cant understand me. Hell, I don't even know why I'm doing this. You are a robot. A fancy machine. There's nothing inside you but parts and programs." Charlie said, letting go of his arm. He shifted slightly, watching as Atom moved with him. It never ceased to amaze him how humanlike the behaviors were. But then again, he was watching Charlie do these things in front of him. Atom sat, quiet and patient.
"But the kid believes in you. Max believes in you. So I need to believe too. " Charlie said, leaning back on the stool and looking Atom straight in the eyes as Atom shifted closer.
"He took my son. He took your trainer. Your….friend." He said, wincing when he heard that out loud. He looked towards the door, which was wide open to see if anyone was walking past. Nothing stirred. He stood up, , turning back to Atom as Atom did the same, his head cocked slightly to the side as if to say' what are you getting at?'
"I'm going to need help getting him back." He said, and his eyes widened in shock as Atom nodded, just slightly, and one of his eyes dimmed then brightened again. If Charlie had blinked he would have missed it.
"You know, if Max was here, he would say something along the lines of ' I knew it' but I'm just going to let that one slide." Charlie said, and he shook his head, laughing when Atom mimicked him.
"First, we are going to need help." Charlie said, and he reached for his phone. He tapped on Bailey's number, waiting anxiously as I rang multiple times. Bailey finally picked up.
"Ello?" She said her voice thick with sleep. Charlie smiled briefly, thinking of her in bed with a t-shirt and sleep pants.
"Hey Bailey. It's Charlie/" He said, watching Atom 'talk' on his imaginary phone. He smiled again, hissing as his split lip ripped open again. He was reaching for a random rag to blot at the blood when Bailey spoke.
"What did you do this time?" she asked her voice full of anger. Charlie sighed, sitting on the stool again. Atom proceeded to almost sit and crush one of the very expensive tools lying on the table.
"I got mugged, Bailey. They took my money….and Max." Charlie said, bracing for a verbal beating.
It never came. There was quiet breathing over the phone for a few minutes. Charlie waited.
"Who is they, Charles." She said her voice quiet and full of menace. Charlie flinched; he was only called Charles when he was in trouble.
"Ricky. Jumped us in the parking lot, him and two of his goons. They knew Max was my kid, Bailey. I tried to save him I really did. I beat his two goons back for a few seconds but it's been so long." he said, his voice thick with emotion. Again there was silence.
"What for Charlie?" Why did he jump you? You didn't owe him money now did you?" she asked. Charlie looked at Atom, trying to think of the best way to put it.
"Yes. But I had the money. And he rigged my fight anyways." Charlie said, preparing for a verbal assault.
Again there was silence.
"Well there's not much I can do from here." Charlie sighed, his eyes closing as he leaned back slightly.
"Stay in New York, Bailey. I'll take care of this. I got him into this; I can get him out of it." Charlie said.
"Forget that. I'm coming to you. Stay there. Pick me up at the airport in the morning. I'll call you when I land." She said. Charlie sighed, running a hand over his face.
"Why?" he asked, watching Atom as he mimicked Charlie moving slowly from side to side.
"I'm protecting what's mine." She said, and she hung up. Charlie lowered his phone, Atom doing the same.
"Looks like we are picking up an important guest tomorrow, Atom. " He said, and he walked towards him, reaching for the remote.
He held the remote in his hand, looking down at it as he wiped at his eye. There must have been something in it.
"Time to go to sleep." He said. He then put Atom on remote, walking him out to his truck. He didn't have anything left in that room anyways. He wasn't going to stay to see if the Zeus challenge would be taken up. He set Atom up in the charging station, powering him down again as he buckled everything up for travel.
Max woke up in a moving van. He looked around, noting the two goons on either side of me. One of them was wiping away blood from a cut on their chin, and the other had a nasty swollen eye. Max smirked, knowing his dad did that.
"You are going to be in so much trouble." He said, breaking the silence. Ricky laughed from the driver's seat, looking in the rear view mirror to see Max glaring right back.
"Look boys, its sleeping beauty!" he said, his Texas drawl thick on his words. Max rolled his eyes, looking at the two goons. Goon number one, named Pirate because of his eye, and goon number name of Polly, looked out of the window, disinterested in the child between them.
"Where are you taking me?" he asked, struggling against the seatbelt. His hands were tied behind his back, making things more difficult.
"Somewhere closer to home, boy." Ricky said, and Max looked out the driver's window at the darkness, trying to find out what that meant.
"Why did you kidnap me?" he asked, and Ricky laughed, again looking in the rear view mirror at the struggling kid.
"Kidnap's a strong word. Why don't we use borrow?" Ricky said, and he laughed again, driving faster into the night. Max fell silent, aware that this conversation was getting nowhere fast.
'I hope my dad will get me.'