Summary: Another obscure prequel to Torilei's fics "Three Words" and "The Forgotten Heir". Most of this was written from recent personal experience, and it's all purely for fun. Rating for mild language. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anybody - they belong to Disney and to Tori.

Author's Note: Well, needless to say, the inspiration for this fic came along a couple of weeks ago when I got to experience firsthand what's described here below. Then I had this idea, probably while I was "on drugs", and I just couldn't get it out of my head. I'm honestly quite pleased with the way it all turned out, since it started as nothing more than a random, goofy idea. Once again, I'd like to thank Tori for not only providing the characters and setting for this fic, but also for all her very helpful ideas along the way! Since I'm not surprising her with this one, I was able to ask for her input beforehand, lol. Please reference in particular Chapter 8 of her NT story "The Forgotten Heir". Enjoy, everyone!

Hey Chipmunk!

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
Nick Baron's hand groped along the familiar contours of his blaring alarm clock until he finally found the "off" button. Once the noise had been deadened, he rolled over in bed and groaned miserably, burying his face in his pillow. He was on holiday from school, there weren't supposed to be any alarm clocks in his life right now. Why the devil had he agreed to such an early appointment?

Nevertheless, he climbed out of bed with a haggard sigh and proceeded to throw on some clothes, making sure the shirt he chose was short-sleeved. They had said something about that, hadn't they?

He was still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes when he emerged from his room and wandered into the kitchen. It was habit, really, seeing as the kitchen wouldn't be of much use to him on this particular morning. Surprisingly enough, Shaw was already awake, as well, and appeared to have just finished eating breakfast. Nick rarely saw his brother's best friend any time before nine in the morning, except on very special occasions.

"Bit early for you, isn't it?" he prodded experimentally.
The other man shrugged noncommittally. "I guess."
Nick nodded slowly, but didn't pursue the matter. Shaw was easily the scariest person he'd ever known in his entire life and the single last human being he would ever want to meet in a dark alley. And yet here they had lived together with minimal conflict for over a year, when the only thing they'd ever had in common was their third roommate, Ian Howe.

Nick's relationship with Shaw was...unique, to say the least. For instance, it had been Shaw, not Ian, who had found Nick in their apartment one dark and lonely night a few days after his mother's funeral - the night he had finally broken down and cried bitterly on the sofa. Shaw hadn't done much when he'd walked in, just dropped a box of tissues in his lap unceremoniously.

About time, the older man had stated grimly, then ruffled his hair with a hand Nick was certain had been blood-stained on more than one occasion before leaving him alone once more. And as far as Nick knew, his step-brother had never found out about that night.

Nick still infinitely preferred Ian's company, of course, and Shaw no doubt did, as well; but they could normally tolerate each other's presence quite nicely. Shaw typically had more one-on-one time with Ian, such as when the two friends would lock themselves in a room and whisper together for hours on end, or the many nights when they would sneak away together in the late hours. And Nick couldn't help but notice that they were always dressed in black prior to such outings.

He had a pretty good idea of what his two roommates did for a living, and he had made it a firm point not to get involved. Which was no problem, as they had also made it a firm point not to let him get involved. But in all honesty, he didn't care where they went or what they did during those late nights, as long as they came back home in the morning.

Nick frowned then, struck suddenly by the uncommon stillness hanging over the rest of their apartment.
"Isn't Ian up yet?" he inquired of his companion, fully prepared to march into his elder's bedroom and give him a none-too-friendly awakening, but also aware of how uncharacteristic it was for Ian to oversleep. Perhaps he wasn't feeling well?

Shaw's response was hardly one of concern. "He's been up since four this morning."
"Really?" Nick raised his eyebrows. Even for Ian, that was abnormally early. "How come?"
"He got a call from one of our...associates in Paris. Something urgent came up last night, and they needed him down there as quickly as possible."

It took a minute for the horrible reality of that statement to sink in, and when it did, Nick's eyes went wide. "Ian's in France?"

Shaw glanced down at his watch. "Well, maybe not quite yet; but give him another hour or so, and he'll be there."

"You are joking, right? Please tell me you're joking?" Nick tried to instill some humor in his voice but failed miserably, and it ended up sounding more like the shameless pleading it truly was. Shaw's broad grinning at him did little to improve his outlook.

"But wait, then what about...Oh no," he stammered, fearing the worst, but Shaw's grin only widened to the point where it was almost cruel.

"Oh yes," the older man chuckled. "Ian told me all about it, so don't you worry your pretty American head about a thing. You'll be in good hands, Kiddo."

Nick squeezed his eyes shut and groaned. Already this morning was shaping up to be a nightmare, and he hadn't even gotten to the worst part! Inexplicably thirsty all of a sudden, he strode over to the refrigerator and grabbed a carton of milk, but Shaw intervened.

"Hey! Don't even think about it. You're not supposed to eat or drink anything, remember?"
Nick grudgingly returned the milk and rolled his eyes once his back was turned. Shaw was turning out to be as bad as Ian after all.

"You and Ian already went shopping, right?"
The teen nodded. "Yeah, a couple of days ago. We got plenty of stuff."
"Good, cause I'm not running to the grocery store for ya." Shaw checked his watch again. "We should get going. Ian said they wanted you there a few minutes early to fill out paperwork or something like that."

Nick was getting desperate. "But do you really have to come?"
For a long moment, Shaw froze, keys in hand, and regarded his young roommate as though he'd lost his marbles. "Uh, yeah. Why else do you think I'm up at this ungodly hour in the morning? And why'd you schedule such an early appointment in the first place?"

Nick sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair, a habit he'd picked up from his step-brother long ago. "You know, I was just wondering the same thing."

The ride there was rather solemn, with Shaw driving and Nick staring vacantly out the window. The older man finally stole a glance over at his passenger.

"You nervous?"
Nick offered a weak shrug in response. "Maybe a little, I guess."
Shaw reached over and gave his shoulder a friendly pat. "Don't worry. Everyone is before going under the knife."
The blonde teen rolled his eyes. How was it Shaw could make something that should have been encouraging still sound obnoxious?

"I'm getting my wisdom teeth out, Shaw," he retorted. "I don't think that quite passes as 'going under the knife'."
"They're knocking you out though, right?"
He nodded. "Yeah."
"Well, there you go - might as well be major surgery. So what's wrong, Kiddo, don't you want me there?"
That tone was half-serious, half-teasing, and Nick decided to respond in kind with a simple, "No."
The other grinned, unfazed. "Why not?"
"Cause you're gonna laugh at me, aren't you?"
Shaw considered that a moment, then conceded. "Probably, yeah. But if you really look that pitiful when you get out, I'll bet Ian would have laughed, too."

Even Nick couldn't resist chuckling at that, but the nervous laugh turned into a nervous gulp as Shaw turned into the parking lot. They were here.

Coming to after the procedure was certainly not a memory Nick would cherish. He didn't even remember falling asleep. Gradually, he became aware of voices somewhere off to his right, one of which sounded strangely familiar. Was that Shaw? Not that it mattered, seeing as he didn't even have the strength yet to turn his head and look. It was all he could do to keep his heavy eyelids open for more than a few seconds at a time. But in the end, he needn't have bothered.

"Morning, Chipmunk!"
Yep, that was definitely Shaw. Even in his semi-conscious state, Nick could tell by the teasing humor in that voice and by the hand that playfully ruffled his blonde hair. He might have expected the jarring action to hurt him, although Shaw had been notably gentler than normal; but as he grew more and more awake, the realization also dawned that his entire face was numb from the nose down. He thought there may be a slight tingling sensation returning to his lips, but it was difficult to be sure just yet.

Shaw finished speaking with the doctor and saw to getting Nick's prescription filled before turning back to his charge.
"Ready to head out, Chipmunk?"
Not yet feeling brave enough to speak, Nick only nodded miserably in reply. He moved to get up out of the chair, and his sluggish legs each felt like they weighed a ton.

Shaw regarded him skeptically. "You sure you can walk? Cause I'm not carrying you."
Even so, the older man reached down and helped pull Nick to his feet, then supported him with an arm around his waist while guiding him slowly out to the car.

On the ride home, Shaw took every opportunity to point out all the squirrels they saw along the way, remarking with forced casualness, "Hey, Chipmunk, isn't that a distant relative of yours?"

Nick knew he couldn't fight it, so he didn't try - just suffered through the ridicule while keeping a mental tally of how many times he would have to get back at Shaw for this. He'd probably forget, though, seeing as he was still far from coherent. It was so hard to stay awake; he felt like there were iron curtains coming down over his eyes...

"Hey! No falling asleep 'til we get home," Shaw broke in, the disturbance jostling the youth awake. "Remember what I said about carrying you, Kiddo? Although you do look bloody pathetic, I suppose." He leaned closer. "Does the chipmunk want a smoothie?"

Nick managed a pitiable "Mm hmm."
"Good. Lucky for you, I'm in a generous mood today. But no straws, remember, or you'll make yourself even more miserable. And then I'd just have to laugh at you again."

The groggy teen moaned in his misery and let his aching head slump back against the headrest of the seat. This was going to be a long day.

Once home, Nick collapsed on the couch with every intention of staying there for the next two or three days. The walk inside from the car had been utterly exhausting, and with the feeling returning to his jaw in full force, he wanted nothing more than to fall asleep and escape it.

"Hold on, Chipmunk," Shaw cautioned him, "don't be going to sleep just yet. You need to take some of these painkillers first, otherwise it'll hurt like hell when you wake up. And they gave you Vicodin, so don't worry - you'll be sleeping like a baby soon enough."

Nick held out an unsteady hand from where he lay sprawled out on the couch, not even bothering to sit up.
"Sorry, but you're not supposed to take it on an empty stomach. I'll get you a spoon so you can eat that smoothie. And what, did they sew your mouth shut or something while you were in there? Come on, Chipmunk, I hate keeping myself company - say something already."

"My face hurts," Nick mumbled through his tingling lips.
"Of course it does," a laughing Shaw retorted. "They were just hammering away at your mouth for over an hour. What'd you expect? They said your bottom teeth put up an especially good fight."

"Well, it does hurt."
"Should I take some pictures then, so you can show Ian when he gets home and always remember looking like a chipmunk?"
"Please don't, Shaw."
"All right, fine, but that doesn't mean you're safe once you fall asleep. Now here you go, eat this." Shaw pulled him up by the arm so he was in a sitting position before handing him the spoon and smoothie. "Better take the gauze out first."

Nick frowned, did as he was instructed, and grimaced. He hadn't even realized the disgusting stuff was in his mouth. Eating the smoothie proved to be more difficult than he would have ever imagined. His bottom lip was still mostly numb, so it was quite the experience trying to use a spoon. He ended up making quite a mess of everything, and naturally, Shaw laughed hysterically.

"When's Ian coming home?" Nick begged to know when he had finally finished, and his caretaker's response was somewhat less than reassuring.

"Not nearly soon enough for either of us, I'm afraid."

"You're right, Shaw. He looks like a bloody chipmunk."
From where he was sleeping soundly on the couch, Nick somehow managed to pry his eyes open. "You're home," he croaked, grinning up at his step-brother despite the wracking pain it sent through his jaw. He could recall very few times in his young life that he'd ever been happier to see someone.

Ian stood over him, returning the smile. "Hey, little brother. Sorry I had to leave so suddenly last night; I know it was bad timing. But hopefully Shaw's been taking good care of you while I was gone?"

Shaw chuckled. "Oh, don't worry. I've been 'taking care' of the little chipmunk just fine."
Ian had to bite down on his lip to keep from laughing and looked at Shaw. "We should probably lay off the whole 'chipmunk' thing, don't you think? He looks like he's about ready to jump up and tear our heads off - like the killer bunny in Monty Python."

Shaw did laugh aloud at that but advised, "Nah, go ahead and tease him all you want. What's he gonna do? They've got him on Vicodin, so he's gonna be pretty much helpless for a few days."

Seeing that it was now dark outside, Nick squinted his eyes and searched in vain for a clock within view. "What time is it?"

"Time for new gauze and antibiotics," Shaw announced proudly, setting the objects in question down on the TV tray by his charge's head. "And now that Ian's back, it's also time for me to get out of this house and enjoy myself a while. See you two in the morning."

And with one last ruffle of Nick's hair, he was gone.
Ian shook his head, amused, and sat down on the couch by his brother's feet.
"I wonder if I said anything weird while I was coming around back there," Nick wondered suddenly. "I should've asked Shaw before he left, but I didn't think of it earlier."

"He said you asked for your mom when you were waking up," Ian told him quietly, "but that was all."
The teen flushed a little, then remarked, "She probably would've been glad just to know that I lived long enough to get my wisdom teeth taken out."

"I don't think she'd have been surprised at all. She should have known we would take good care of you."
"Well, at least that you would, anyway."
"It wasn't really that bad, was it?"
Nick snorted softly. "Depends on if you're talking about me or him. I was miserable, but I think Shaw actually enjoyed watching me be miserable."

"That wouldn't surprise me," his elder concurred, chuckling.
"Ian?"
"Yeah, Nick?"
"I guess having Shaw around was better than being by myself, but...please don't be out of the country the next time I need you, okay?"

Ian Howe chuckled. "Don't worry, little brother, I'm not going anywhere for the next couple of days. Now go back to sleep - Chipmunk."

Author's End Note: See, now wasn't that sweet? And there you have yet another random story idea from Halo. I hope you all enjoyed it, and that poor Nick's misery made you smile! Ttyl!