Henry was pretty sick of the cold, thank you very much. They stopped at general stores, inns, and bathrooms sometimes for the sole purpose of trying to regain feeling in their fingers. There was a point where Henry received a text asking where they were, which now allowed them to stay in one place–this place being a small shop.
Henry's phone rang. He answered it in the bathroom. "Hello!"
"Henry? Where are you?" Dad Reginald's voice came out of the receiver.
"Uh… inside one of the shops. Where are you?"
"Just outside. Howie should be there to pick you up."
"Oh! Great! Meet you there, then! Thanks, Dad!"
"Of course, Henry. Be safe. Please."
"I will."
Click.
Henry put away his phone and met Ellie by a shelf of drinks. "Ellie bean! Dad says Howie's right outside. Come on, we shouldn't keep him waiting."
Henry walked with Ellie outside. Ellie stayed by his side, never following but neither did she lead. At the edge of town, near the cliff overlooking the churning ocean, they could see the massive red airship hovering far above the waves. A black top hat was painted across the upper hull, "Toppat" written in neat, slightly fanciful, maroon letters with a black outline across the hat and spilling over onto the red metal of the airship. Its windows gleamed in the light and giant propellors growled.
Ellie's eyes went wide. "That's the Toppat base?"
"The air division, yep."
"And you live there?"
"Mhm!"
Ellie smirked and shook her head. "And I thought you lived in New York."
"I live anywhere Dad Reginald knows we need to go."
A red pod escaped from the ship and flew to the cliff. The door opened and Howie leaned out. "Hey, Henry! Ellie!"
Henry immediately broke into a brisk jog. "Howie! It's great to see you again!"
Howie leaned back inside, allowing Henry and Ellie entrance. He shut the door and pressed a few buttons. "It's been hectic, Ah'll say that. The Wall. Yer gonna give us a heart attack some day, li'l buddy." He turned to Ellie as the pod took off. "An' it's nice to meet ya again! Ah didn't know the wall took in non-criminals. At least, that's what Henry told me you were."
Ellie chuckled. "It seems they do." She hesitated. "Well… I did steal that car from the Wall. They probably weren't happy about that. That was only after they tossed my bike off a cliff, so I'm perfectly justified."
Howie snickered. "Course ya are. Hey, don't look at me like that! Ah'm the last person ta judge ya for stealin' a car. Ah don't as much steal, though, as do the footwork when it comes ta meetin' people. Henry's the thief."
Henry grinned. "One of the best pickpockets in the Clan and luckiest."
"One of the best?" Ellie echoed.
"Eh, Eduardo Gioncarlo joined and he's a wizard at it," Henry explained. "He could take everything you've ever thought of having on you just by smiling at you. Won't teach me, though. Maybe he's actually a wizard."
Howie nodded. "Yeah, he sought out the Toppat Clan. Not often people do that. Usually, it's the other way around." He raised an eyebrow at Henry. "Usually a suggestion made by an elite."
"I'm getting there," Henry countered.
The pod stopped moving and the door opened.
Howie said, "Chief said he wanted you both to report to the Bridge once ya came back."
"Fair," Henry conceded. He waved his hand and all three of them began their journey from one of the storage spaces near the middle of the ship to the Bridge.
Henry immediately found his parents in the middle of the Bridge, Reginald messing with the controls. Thomas, Oldmin, and Sven were at their stations. Sven was gathering papers like a squirrel readying for winter and stuffing them into an already overstuffed clipboard.
Dad Right perked up upon them entering. Dad Right never failed to account for a newcomer, whether he knew them or not. It was almost weird, though certainly cool. Nothing could break Dad Right's stride and he couldn't be defeated, that was that. He was as tough as he was reliable, like the airship! Dad Reginald finished typing and got up to meet them. "Henry! Hello Howie, Ellie. You're back. How are you? What happened?"
Henry ducked out of Dad Reginald's grasp when he tried to take Henry and look over him. "I'm fine. More than fine! I got captured by the Wall, but I found Ellie and we escaped together. She's a total badass."
Ellie smirked and drew herself up. "Well, someone needed to help you, Papa Hen."
Henry shot her a look, though he could get rid of the grin on his face. He turned back to Dad Reginald. "Anyway, we started a riot and freed everyone! Now, I don't know how many people were recaptured or killed in the chaos, but Ellie and I managed to make it out. I spotted Cool Joe escaping with a few other prisoners, so we should probably keep an eye out for him and any other Toppats who were captured."
"Not only did you free yourself with the help of Ellie, but you managed to cause the first widespread riot at the Wall in almost seventy years." Reginald's words were more a statement than a question.
Henry nodded with a proud hum. "Not only that, but they can't touch us. They're in Canada. We're American. So, them jailing us without the US's permission could mean that we could sink them in major trouble. I could ask Charles, and he's close to Captain Galeforce."
Chief Reginald threw a glance at Dad Right, who nodded. "We were worried for you, Henry. But it seems I misjudged you. We will need to keep a look out for any escaped Toppats." He turned to where Sven gathered up the last of the papers. "Svensson!"
Sven looked up and approached him. "Yes, chief?"
"You are meeting with Burt, yes?"
"Yeah. I am."
"Tell him to spread the word to our ground and sea bases, especially those near Canada or any off-shore ports, that we may be accepting some formerly captured Clan members."
"Uh, sure, Chief." With that, Sven ran off.
Chief Reginald turned back to the trio. "We did a background check. Ellie, whatever you told Henry was indeed the truth. Knowing your past and your recent aid to Henry, and thus the Clan, we decided to extend an offer to you. We would like to recruit you in return for your loyalty and word to work for the Clan."
Ellie's smirk widened and she glanced at Henry. "You know, that sounds pretty cool. Yeah. Sign me up!"
Dad Right stated, "Come with me." With that, he walked out of the Bridge, Ellie following with a slight shrug.
Dad Reginald turned to Henry and Howie. "Howie, you may follow and aid Ellie."
"Yes, Chief!"
Henry watched him leave. Dad Reginald went on, "Henry, I need you to join me in a meeting."
Henry perked up, quick to follow his father. "Er, what meeting?"
"We have some plans for the future of the Clan. I believe your input would be valuable."
Henry… didn't reply. Henry never went with Dad Reginald to meetings. He once joined Dad Reginald and Dad Right in a meeting with Mr. Rose when he was twelve, though that was more of a formal dinner than anything else. At least, that Henry remembered. So, this couldn't be something like… but, it was a meeting about the future of the Clan? The entire Clan?
PDHenry sat at his computer, headphones over his ears, metal fingers tapping the table. God it was so weird having no feeling in his limb but enough sense to use it appropriately.
He was the only one on Discord. Charles was still at work. Ellie hadn't been online in a few days. Technically, Henry hadn't been, either. Was she okay? Had she made it out of there? Henry didn't see Ellie leave, but again, if she went with him, she would have gotten hurt or killed. After all, Henry nearly died.
Ping!
Henry perked up. The rose icon was lit up.
Excited, Henry went to her chat.
"Hey, dude! Are you okay?"
Henry blinked. "Eh, yeah. I mean, now I am. Why? What about you?"
"Oh, I'm fine. Charles was just freaking out in the chat."
"How'd you get away?" Henry couldn't help but ask.
"Do what now?"
"Get away. From the Wall. How'd you do it?"
…
Finally, Ellie said, "How did you know I was locked in the Wall?"
"I saw you. I knocked down the guard, Grigori, and ran down the hall. You didn't follow me, so I thought you were going to go the opposite direction or something?"
…
…
…
"You weren't there"
"Yeah, I was right next to you! In the suit?"
"That was YOU?"
"Yeah!"
"The hell, man? You jjst fucking left me?"
Henry sucked in his breath. "No! No, I didn't! I swear I thought you were going to follow me or go down the opposite hall or something. I knocked out Grigori!"
"Well, I did bust myself out. What happened to you, anyway? You got away from them, obv"
"Well, it's a funny story."
Ping!
The helicopter icon was lit up.
Henry moved to the group chat.
"Henry? Ellie? You back yet?"
Henry replied, "Yeah"
"Finally! I was so worried! ;-; Where were you, Henry?"
"The Wall," said Henry.
"wut o.o"
"Yeah, so, Henry, how'd you get out/"
Henry stretched his arms. "Weeeeeeeeell, it's a long story. I bust ed through them, stole a truck, and then fell off a cliff. I pulled the warden, Dmitri, off the cliff and I was able to use a parachute. Didn't last long and I fell into the ocean."
…
"._."
"Holy shit"
"How'd you bust out, Ellie?"
…
"I phoned my mom. :P" Ellie quickly went back, "I mean, shit, I knocked out a couple of guards, stole their keys to open my cuffs, and snagged a small boat. "
"lol" Henry rolled his eyes. "Well, glad to see you're ok"
Charles said, "Yeah, Ellie and I met at the base. ^^ She didn't tell me you were there! We'd have totally resced you!"
"I didn't know he was there!"
"I was in disguise," said Henry. "Or you guys have just never seen my uniform."
":o! Yeah, you never come over dressed in a suit and tie or anything."
"Maybe because I only dress up for work?"
"Tru."
Elie asked, "Wait. How did you fall into the ocean and survive? Are you sick?"
"No, not sick," Henry admitted. "I got hurt." Hah. "I'm alive, though."
"D: Henry, are you okay? Omg where are you? We can visit. We can do that, right? What happened? Did you get frostbite or something?"
Henry looked at his mechanical arm. "I mean probably? I'm homebound for like a month. Dad doesn't want me leaving or doing anything."
Charles typed, "Oh man. Can't we visit you at your place?"
"That's not a good idea."
"Why not?" Ellie asked.
"Just not a good idea. Please." Henry gritted his teeth. "Look, I'll visit you guys later, okay? Just drop it. I'll tell you when I can leave the house. Can we talk about something else?"
"Sure, man. :( Sorry to hear you're not doing well."
"I'm fine."
Ellie chipped in, "So, Charles, how are you doing?"
Henry shut his laptop hardly feeling any better. Ellie was alive and free, and that was great. But God he hated telling them no. What he would do to be able to go and meet them. That wasn't a possibility, not right now. Dad Reginald was probably right. He didn't want to take two months to heal, so take it easy. Uuuugh, taking it easy meant he'd need to stay in one place. Staying in one place: not fun.
He set his headphones down and got up. Well, may as well visit Dave, right? If Howie or Cool Katie had been staking out the Brig, and Henry didn't show up by now, he doubted they'd still be there. Or maybe they knew him best and would still be there.
Eh, he could go by vent. Or catwalk.
Henry walked along the catwalk above the Brig and then the engine room, where there was a platform someone could occupy. No one was there. Still, Henry did a quiet sweep of the place just to make sure. Once he was satisfied in his knowledge that he was alone, Henry climbed down and walked into the Brig. Dave was laying in his bed, his arms crossed behind his head, staring up at the ceiling.
Henry gave the plastic window a little knock. "Hey?"
Dave perked up and raised his head. "Oh, Henry! Hey!" He got to his feet and approached the door. "I haven't seen you for a while. What happened?"
"Oh, nothing much. I met a few people in Alaska, got captured by the Wall, broke out and almost died, the usual." Henry shrugged with a flippant wave of his hand.
Dave's eyes went round as moons. "What?"
Henry rolled up the sleeve of his shirt to show off his metal shoulder and arm. "Yep."
Dave gaped at the new development but said nothing.
"So, you want to go back to my room?"
"U-uh, sure."
Henry pulled out his copied key and opened the door. It was a short order getting back to Henry's room. After all, it's not like they hadn't walked to his room before.
Henry flopped down on his bed. "I got some extra clothes for you in the bathroom if you want to take a shower or something. Otherwise, just whatever you want, man."
"Heh. Thanks."
Henry stuck out his tongue and got up as the shower started running. He winced as the wounds on his back burned a little. Maybe he shouldn't be getting up and down too much.
Henry bristled upon hearing someone knock on the door. Without thinking, Henry darted into the bathroom and shut the door as quietly as he could. "Shh!" Henry hissed, not looking back.
A pair of footsteps walked into the room. "…Henry?"
Henry shut his eyes. Well, of every voice he could've heard on this ship, Howie's wasn't the worst. "What the hell, man?" Henry complained, glaring at the door.
"Li'l buddy, get out of there," Howie stated, his voice flat.
"Howie, I–"
"Ah know you're not the one taking a shower." There was a pause. "But if ya are, Ah'm gonna be pissed."
Henry rested his head against the door and shut his eyes. "Dude, in a few minutes."
"Dave's cell is empty."
Henry's blood went cold.
"An' if ya want me ta leave yer room, that's fine. Ah'll go straight ta yer parents. Ah ain't afraid ta do that."
Henry let out a breath through his teeth. God dammit, Henry. What have you gotten yourself into this time? Henry left the bathroom. The shower had stopped by now. Howie stood in the middle of the room, his arms crossed, and eyes narrowed. Henry flinched.
Henry set a hand to the back of his neck. "Look, Howie, I know how it looks. But, I can explain."
"Ah don't know what's worse," Howie puffed. "The fact ya went ahead and freed that pris'ner, or ya didn't check the ventilation system. Don't be surprised, the vents are yer favorite haunt. Katie jus' showed me the best places to wait."
Henry turned a shameful shade of red. "I told you, Howie. It's not right."
"It ain't," Howie agreed. "Ah know ya know what side yer on. But dammit, Henry, of everything ya could take a likin' ta doin'!"
Henry stood up straight. "Well, I already told you that I don't care. He's a person, Howie."
"Yeah, he's a person. He's also a cop. Night guard. Whatever." Howie turned his gaze to the bathroom door. Before he could walk to it, Henry held out his metal arm to bar the way.
"Howie," Henry stated. "Come on, he's not hurting anyone. I'm not hurting anyone. I haven't told him any Toppat secrets. Nothing I haven't told my other friends."
Howie growled and set a hand to his head. "Henry, as yer friend, Ah gotta tell ya that this is a horrible idea. Ah already told ya why it was."
"I heard you. You're only looking out for me, I know. But I can look after myself."
Howie lowered his hand to look him in the eyes. "…Ah understand. Jus'… be careful, Henry. Yer my little cousin. It'd hurt like hell to lose ya."
The younger cyborg let out a quiet sigh. "Thanks, Howie."
Howie gave him a faint, pained smile. It faded rather quickly. "…Good night, li'l buddy."
"Good night, Howie."
With that, Howie left, throwing him one last wave. Henry waved back.
Once the door closed, Dave crept out of the bathroom. "Hey, Henry. I'm sorry if I got you in trouble. You're risking a lot for me."
"Huh? Oh, don't be. Howie's looking out for me. He'd never rat us out." Henry hummed, turning to him. "So, what's on for tonight?"
IROHenry was a little tired to consider going to the gym. So, instead, Charles convinced him to meet some buddies on base. Henry recognized a few freckled faces.
"Henry!" Konrad Bukowski greeted.
"We heard you broke out of prison!" Calvin chipped in.
Henry shrugged with a half-smothered smirk. "I guess my legends are starting to get around."
"But no more new ones," Charles pointed out with a stern look. Henry held his hands up before himself. Charles lost the look, favoring a smile, and turned to the other few people with them–a brunette lady who held herself tall and a man as tall as Henry with short black hair. Henry was immediately given a weird look by the new guy. "Henry, this is Liam–" Charles nodded his head to the man. "–and June. Liam and June, this is Henry."
June brightened. "Ah. So, you're Henry!"
Liam puffed, smirking. "We thought you were made up for a while."
June tsked and elbowed him. "Shut up! We did not! You, maybe. But Charles would never make up a friend."
"Having a criminal as a friend, maybe."
Henry eyed him, not losing his smile. When Charles had started to look a little indignant, Henry put a hand to his heart. "I prefer the term 'master thief'… 'Reformed master thief.' What are you called, dearest American?"
"I am a veteran helicopter pilot," Liam boasted. Out of his line of direct sight, Calvin and Konrad fake-gagged and June shot them a foul look.
Thank God Henry had years to perfect his ability to keep a straight face.
Charles said, "Liam's pretty good with a helicopter. We sometimes work together in bigger raids."
Henry grinned. "Really? That's great! You know, Charles has always been a flier, even before the technical stuff." He rested his elbow on Charles' shoulder.
"Well, I mean, I did have to go through aviation school and that was kind of hard," Charles admitted.
"Charles, 'grounded' wasn't even in your parents' vocabulary. For way more than one reason."
"Well, yeah," Charles bleated.
"He told you guys about the time he managed to save two kids who suddenly developed a severe fear of heights from a tree at the same time, didn't he?"
June gasped. "No! He didn't! When was that?"
Henry smirked. "Years ago. Back on my twelfth birthday. Guy climbed up a four-story-tall tree and retrieved Ellie and I both, individually, without so much as a whimper. I wasn't scared straight of course, so he rescued us a few other times in high school. Like that time you crashed a toy helicopter into a tree."
Charles chuckled, an uneven noise accompanied by a brighter shade of red on his face. "And you got attacked by squirrels and magpies."
"Or I stole a helicopter and he landed it back when we were sixteen."
Liam gave him a flat look. "Now you're lying. How the hell do you manage that at sixteen?"
"Simple. You combine a news broadcast with a firm warning against flying a helicopter, add in a bit of being told how impossible it was, and a sprinkle of a dare, and you got the perfect storm. You know, I flew in a lot of copters, but flying one is way different."
Not too different from the airship, but different enough to make it difficult.
Charles rubbed the back of his neck, taking a breath as the heat started to fade from his face. "W-well, I couldn't let you hurt yourself, and I learned a lot from my parents."
"And he's a humble dude."
June chuckled at this. "Charles is a nice guy."
Liam interjected with a little cheer, "Like a puppy." June nodded.
Calvin nodded. "Totally."
Konrad chipped in, "Yeah, he's great!"
Henry snorted and then caught how much worse Charles looked. "Him? Charles is a friendliest guy I know, but he packs a punch when he wants to."
June raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
Konrad and Calvin looked at each other. "Dude, we knew you for a while before high school and then in camp."
Calvin said on his own, "He doesn't have a mean bone in his body!"
Liam shrugged. "I mean, he is on special missions only. Carting people and sometimes scouting."
Henry waved his hand with a pfft. "Damn, how long have you been around Charles? The badass pilot I know could mow a challenge." And cook really good hamburgers. But that wasn't relevant. "He–"
Henry's phone went off. He stepped back and answered it. "Ahhh, hello?"
"Henry?" Howie's voice came from the receiver. "Uh, Ah know you're with Charles, but Ah got a jo–"
"Cousin, I'm a bit busy. I think Katie has our papers."
"Wut."
"Katie. She collected the bills."
"…oh, right. Ah'll ask. Talk to you later."
"Bye!" Henry put away his phone. "Uuuh, hey, Charles, I've gotta go. Howie needs my help. He forgot where he put the rent papers, and I think Katie might be out, so I should probably get on that. I should probably be going back to work, anyway."
Charles blinked. "Oh. Uh, okay. Do you need a ride home?"
"Nah, I got it. Thanks, though!"
He just heard June ask as he left, "Where does he work?"
Charles answered, "He's in tech support."
Henry, cursing Howie every step of the way, nearly made it to town before calling again. "Howie?"
"Hey, Henry! Ah'm terribly sorry if Ah interrupted somethin'."
"Nah, it's… it's fine, I guess." Henry could meet up with Charles later. Talk about the puppy thing, too. What was with that? "So, what happened?"
"Harold came by, asked about ya. Do you have anything planned tonight?"
Henry shut his eyes. Dammit. "No, not really. I was just with Charles."
Sooooo Henry wasn't all that excited to be going back to the airship. There was the whole Wall thing to talk about and then being all but ransomed by the government. Whacking Harold upside the head and stealing paperwork. He went to go meet with Howie by the cafeteria, as it was almost time for dinner, when he saw Harold down the hall. Henry backtracked. Unfortunately, there was no other straightforward way to get to the cafeteria. He needed to meet Harold and apologize for whacking him upside the head with a stick.
Henry slipped into a vent.
It wasn't long before Henry was inside the cafeteria, strolling over to where Howie sat. Howie looked up upon noticing his approach. "Henry! Where've ya been, buddy?"
"The Wall, back here, a government camp somewhere in the Midwest. The usual," Henry answered with a nonchalant shrug.
"No."
"Yep."
Howie shook his head. "You're the craziest man Ah know, Henry. What happened? Ya gotta tell me the details."
Henry held up his hands. "Okay, okay! Now, where to start…? Well, remember that job in Alaska?"
After dinner, Dad Reginald met Henry by one of the exits. "Henry, I need you to join me in a meeting tomorrow afternoon."
Henry perked up. "Er, what meeting?"
"We have some plans for the future of the Clan. I believe your input would be valuable."
Henry nodded. Henry never went with Dad Reginald to meetings. He once joined Dad Reginald and Dad Right in a meeting with Mr. Rose when he was twelve, though that was more of a formal dinner than anything else. At least, that Henry remembered. So, this couldn't be something like… but, it was a meeting about the future of the Clan? The entire Clan?
"Good. Now, this meeting is very important." He fixed Henry with a very serious stare. "It concerns the future of the Clan–not just us, not even just the Air Division, but future generations of Toppats. So, be prepared appropriately. Understood? You will be representing yourself as well as us."
"Yes, Dad. Of course."
"See you then, Henry."