Henry… was happy that Ellie got along with Dave. Ellie and Dave had so much more in common than Henry did with either of them. Ellie had so many stories of her time as a mercenary, laying down the law whenever necessary and chasing down bad guys. Dave's life hadn't been nearly as exciting, but he did sometimes go out on a police chase to catch criminals. Most of his time was spent at the Red Mesa Penitentiary, but he was occasionally called out when extra help was needed.
Henry's only experience with the law was being punished by it. It shouldn't bother him, Henry knew, but for some reason he did get… well, he pushed down the negative feelings he had. Ellie and Dave had proven to be quick friends, but Henry had been their friend longer than either knew the other. Henry was exhausted, getting about six and a half hours of sleep a night. Ellie didn't have as many responsibilities as Henry, so she offered to help Dave, giving him nights where he could sleep for longer.
In the Toppat Clan, Ellie didn't skip a beat. Her extraordinary skills honed through her years as a mercenary, ability to adapt, and fierce nature earned her promotions. She was a quick and successful thief. Her favorite part of the heists was the getaway–stealing a vehicle and racing around to the crew, getting away quick as lightning. Henry ran on way more than a few missions with her, earning them quite the reputation as a team. Though the Clan's luck was down–jewels being randomly transported and more security appearing out of thin air–they managed. Henry half-wished they could work with Charles. Just like when they were younger, the Triple Threat. But that was an unrealistic dream, was it not?
Ellie had been in the Toppat's ranks for a few weeks before she was qualified for leadership in smaller heists and support in larger ones that Henry could lead.
"Henry, we need to talk."
Henry stopped, lowering the clipboard he was holding. Numbers and words scrawled across the paper, and he still held the pen as he rechecked his math. Ellie stood before him, and he started upon seeing a solemn look much heavier than he'd ever seen her wear. "Yeah, Ellie? What's wrong?"
She tipped her head and ran her finger over a few of the petals on the flower in her hat. "Look, I… I really need to talk to you. Alone."
Henry looked around. They were already mostly alone, though a few people were farther into the Warehouse. "I think this is as quiet as you can really get on this ship, but sure. Ah, I've got a big thing with Howie in just a few minutes."
"Can it wait?" Ellie asked.
Well… probably not. Henry and Howie had been planning on this mission for a while. Howie was a distraction–something he'd never done before–while Henry snuck in and cleaned the place out. Howie had been excited for a while, having never been on a heist before. It helped there was a place where Howie would be working with horses. The man he was to distract was a stablemaster and the horses he had would be the perfect topic of conversation to keep him away from the building where they kept some really nice shiny objects.
Still, Ellie was his friend, and her tone had an odd amount of seriousness he had never heard before. There was a few minutes before he needed to meet with Howie, but every second of those minutes had to be used in last minute preparations. The mission he was taking with Howie wasn't going to be that long, after all–a few hours to get into position, clean out what needed to be taken, and then leave.
Henry had a choice.
He could ask Howie to push off their heist for another day and follow Ellie (*Is There LOVE in Your Heart?) or ask her to wait for the few hours it would take for him to come back (My Kingdom For a Ship).
PDHenry saw the last of his bandages, and none too soon.
"Henry." Dad Reginald greeted him as he left the medical ward for the last time for at least a month. "How are you feeling?"
"Great!" Henry puffed, grinning and squaring his shoulders. He could move! Finally! He could move without feeling the adhesive of the bandages pulling at his skin or the burn of his skin threatening to tear. He could use everything he had without fear of ripping something. He could work! Do stuff! Not be so damn bored!
"Good to hear," Dad Reginald hummed. "Now, you have been transitioning well back to your old tasks. But you remember the rocket plan?"
Henry nodded.
"Good. Well, we are going through with it. In a few months, we should have all of our ducks in a row. Henry…" His voice trailed off. Quite suddenly, Reginald's eyes narrowed, and he stared at something far past Henry. He shut his eyes with a short sigh. "Henry, I–we have decided that it would be best for you to work with defense. Stay on the ground and make sure all of our forces and treasure is on the rocket before it takes off. If we are attacked, I need you there fighting. We decided your talents would be better utilized on the ground rather than inside, where you would have been stationed previously. Is this understood?"
Henry desperately struggled to put down a grin as an overwhelming feeling of excitement swelled in his chest. "Yes, Dad! I won't let you down!" The thick of things! Ha! Dad Reginald couldn't put him on shipment duty, now.
"You will still be managing the shipments," Dad Reginald put in sternly. "You are an important person, Henry, but you are that way for a reason and that reason includes–creates– responsibilities."
"I-I understand," Henry stated immediately. "I do."
A weary smile found its way back on the man's lips. "Good. I'm happy to see you well, Henry. Now, we have quite a lot to do in the meantime. I understand you're busy this morning, but do you have time to stop by the Bay on the new shipment?"
"Yes, Dad. I have time, definitely. O-oh! Uh, actually, I have a question."
Dad Reginald raised an eyebrow. "You do? What is it?"
"Yes." Henry's heart stuttered and started to speed up. "So, when we leave, are we leaving this ship behind forever?"
"That is the plan, yes," Dad Reginald answered. "We will have no use for it, and the cost of upkeep will become too much of a burden."
Henry nodded. "And… I looked over the new plans a few times over. Everyone from the airship is going?"
"Yes." Dad Reginald's eyebrows knitted together. "What are you hinting about, Henry?"
"We've had that prisoner for a long time," Henry said. "The, uh, cop or something. I… I don't know what we do with prisoners? I mean, I helped Afanasiy escape, but I don't think that's what's going to happen here. I-I mean, I know that's not going to happen here, I'm not eleven. What will happen to him?"
Dad Reginald shook his head. "Eh, he does not take up too many resources here at the ship, but he will start to eat into attention we will need to be directed elsewhere. So, he will not stay a prisoner."
Henry refused to feel the hopeful flare in his heart. "So… what?"
"Why are you so concerned about him?"
Henry shifted his feet. "I just… I know that cop is different from Afanasiy, but I can't help but feel that… you know… I ruined whatever plans we had for him. Afanasiy. But I also didn't know what plans we had for him, you know?"
"You are correct, those two are very different. We would have kept Afanasiy for a while longer. Until he proved completely useless at finding out information on our captive Clan members, we would have kept him. Once he proved useless, we would have killed him." Dad Reginald gave him a shrug and a flippant wave of his hand. "That security guard has some use, I suppose. Nothing he has told us was previously unknown, but he has been compliant."
Now Henry allowed himself to feel that little squirm of hope. Confusion rushed to meet him. "Wait, you were trying to get information from Afanasiy? I visited him pretty often, though. He never told me."
"I'm surprised by that," Dad Reginald admitted. "But you were not always with him. You must have found a way to learn when we interrogated him. In hindsight, your comfort and presence must have been keeping his sanity and courage bolstered enough to keep his mouth shut. No matter; we learned more from his actions than we ever could have through his words. Now, I am terribly busy. Good morning, Henry."
"Good morning, Dad. Have a nice day!" Henry smiled and gave him a small wave as he left. After getting one in return, Henry headed for the Bay. There was still another hour until eleven, when most of the morning shipments were done being loaded or unloaded and required a second count. Still, Henry was technically on his last "slow" day, so he did have some time. That and he just needed to check up on Sherman and his rescue mission. They were doing one last jail break for a while, and Sure-Shot Sherman was leading it.
Dad Reginald didn't want to take Dave to space as a prisoner.
So, this could mean one of two things. The first was that Dad Reginald wanted him killed before take-off. The second was that Dad Reginald… wanted him gone before take-off. Dead was one way of being gone. Release didn't seem like something Dad Reginald was on-board with doing to a prisoner they had for months, but ransom was just not realistic. Dave was still just a nightguard, a cop who'd been fired from his job for negligence. Too much heat for too little gain, especially this close to launch.
Maybe… maybe Henry could find some way to convince Dad Reginald to let Dave go? The man was a "nobody" as far as they were concerned, after all. He was compliant, and Henry knew very well he was a quiet and polite man, so there couldn't be a case against aggression. He didn't know anything about the Clan, so it's not like he was a danger. Simple killing was a brute's job, and Dave wasn't worth anything for a ransom. Besides, it was far too late for that. Months too late, to be exact. So long as Dad Reginald didn't already have a solid plan in his head, convincing him of the right choice should be easy!
…hmm… but if Dad Reginald knew Henry was incredibly bias, that might edge Dad Reginald on toward a more rash decision that could end in someone getting hurt. Henry didn't want anyone to get hurt, not Dave and certainly not the Clan. Maybe Henry should get some input first. Maybe get some advice from Ellie! She was a brilliant woman! Or, well, he could talk to Howie. Howie was great with deals that benefitted all parties involved–even difficult deals. He sometimes dealt in ransoms, though ransoms rarely held people, if ever. Howie was a Toppat longer than Ellie, longer than Henry, even. So, he should know a better way of resolving all of this! Though, Howie was also not shy of letting Henry know his stance on how the prisoner should be treated. Henry was liable to get told that it "was the way of things" and not to mess around with it lest Henry get targeted for being suspicious. Ellie would understand, having knowledge of the Clan and the outside world as well as Henry.
Henry might have time to go to both in case one blows him off, but he had a feeling if he went to Howie first the man might try to convince him to leave Dave be or, worse, could get scared Henry would try something stupid and Howie would tell Dad Reginald himself. Ellie would do no such thing, of course, but she would also probably not let Henry go until the dust settled, which might take a while. He had a few minutes between meeting with Sherman and the Bay, so he really only had time to talk to one person now.
Henry had a choice.
He could go to Howie and recruit his help (Wasn't Me, I Was in Electric), or he could gain Ellie's help (And the Underground Will Go Empty).
IROFor the first time in months, Henry wasn't visiting Charles' apartment on base–either base as he'd moved recently–nor near the hospital in Nevada where Ellie was staying over at her parents' place until she was healthy enough to continue working. They were still in Nevada, but in a small, nice hotel room near the Arizona border.
Henry strolled up to one of the doors and gave it a light knock. His suit and hat were no longer on him. Instead, he wore a dark gray, thin hoodie over a light shirt, jeans, and sneakers.
A short moment later, the door opened. Ellie poked her head out the door and grinned. "Henry~! Finally, we thought you'd gone and vanished into the wind again!" She opened the door wider with a flourish.
"I wouldn't leave you," Henry puffed, accepting her invitation inside. "In fact, I was more worried you wouldn't be able to make it."
Ellie shut the door behind him. "Oh? You think I'd abandon you?"
"No, I thought you'd hurt yourself and then the medical staff would lock you in patient jail or something."
Ellie considered this. "You… have a point. Well, look! Not hurt!" She threw her arms up in a showy manner and winced. She set a hand on her side but quickly let go. "Hnng… well, I mean, I'm not chasing down any criminals at the moment."
"Hey!" Charles peered out of the living room. He grinned upon seeing Henry. "It's great to see you again, Henny!"
"Henry," he corrected.
Ellie's eyes grew wide and he could see the stars in them. "Henny. Oh my God that's way more adorable than Papa Hen."
"Ellie, no! Charles!" Henry's complaint went unheard as Ellie chanted the new nickname and Charles, having gone bashful upon realizing he'd spoken aloud, tentatively joined in. Henry walked into the living room with an overly loud, dramatic groan. "Charles, this is your fault!"
Charles laughed. "Oops?"
Henry plopped down on the couch and took out his deck of cards. "Okay, okay! Enough of that!"
Ellie snickered. "Charles, you're a genius."
The ace pilot cleared his throat, still having yet to find a way to put down the reddish tinge in his face. "S-sorry! Heh! Uh, so, uh, are you guys hungry? I mean, I made hamburger bombs if you guys are hungry."
"And I brought along my own sacrifices, too," Ellie announced, nudging Charles. "But maaaaaybe they aren't quite as nice as our dearest cook."
"I mean, they're an experimental recipe, so they might not be great," the pilot bleated.
Henry got up. "Well, time to check this out. You aren't blowing us up with these are you?"
Charles shook his head. "Definitely not. I didn't use any actual explosives in them."
"Then why the 'bomb' part?"
"I wanted to call them Hamburger Buns, but the title, uh, got lost in translation," Charles explained as he led them to the kitchen. He pulled a cake box off the counter and set it on the table. Within were three large biscuit-esc creations; smooth and shiny and golden brown, in an upside-down dumpling shape. "Basically, I had a hamburger, took away the buns, and then wrapped it in a biscuit. So, I cooked the meat and condiments together, wrapped it up with some cheese in a biscuit, and then popped it in the oven. It's my own biscuit, which is why it's bigger, and I egg-washed it."
Henry picked up one of them. The bottom was flat, with a curled pattern as if it had been twisted shut and then cooked. "Huh. Where'd you find this?"
"I found ideas online. One of them talked about stuffed dumplings and I knew you liked hamburgers, so I just thought to combine them," Charles admitted. "Ellie got us some drinks."
"Did I!" Ellie brought out a bag with individual lemonade and juice, water, a 2-liter of orange soda, orange sherbet and a bottle of alcohol. Henry didn't see the brand from behind the ice cream and plastic bag. "My mom makes these amazing orange smoothies. I finally wore her down, like, a week ago and she taught me. You can control how much you put it in, so none of us will be driving, but you can straight up drink soda if you want."
Charles brought a few reusable cups and plates from the counter. "Cool! I don't think I've had those before."
Charles brushed his shoulder against Henry's as the movie continued. A drowsiness started to creep up on Henry. Man, he'd had a long day. A nap might be nice.
Henry jolted awake as Ellie got up from beside him. With a "Be right back!" she was gone, walking to the bathroom on the other side of the small space. Henry gave her a little wave. Okay, no sleeping. Maybe after the movie or something. He was a little tired of being the first to pass out.
"Hey, Henry?" Charles asked, his voice low.
"Hmm?"
"I, uh… I'm glad you're here," said Charles. "You know, it's really nice to have you back. Legally."
Henry smiled a little at that. "Aw, well, it's nice to see you again, too."
"We haven't, uh, talked as much. Lately."
Henry raised an eyebrow. "Well… I guess? I mean, we talk on Discord almost every night. Why?"
The pilot chuckled. "Oh, yeah. You're right."
"You okay, man?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Definitely." There was a crack in his voice, and he cleared his throat. "Just… you know… been… crazy, lately. You know?"
"Heh, yeah. Lots of things happening at once." Like that rocket plan. Wonder if the government will catch onto that.
"You know, General Galeforce got a promotion. I, uh, well, he's letting me test out some, uh, prototypes," Charles went on. "It's… yeah, it's great."
"Military prototype aircraft?" Henry prompted. Hope it isn't about spacecraft. Why would it be? There aren't any military bases in orbit or on the moon. "Nice!"
"Yeah, it's great!"
"What kind?"
"Uh, I'm not supposed to say," Charles admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "I, uh… probably wasn't supposed to, uh, tell you about there being prototypes, y'know? Heh."
Henry raised a hand. "Alright. Won't tell a soul."
"Th-thanks, man."
…
The pilot cleared his throat. "So. Uh, Henry. I wanted to, um, talk to you. Er, ask you something. We're, uh, already talking."
"Uhhhh, sure? You feeling okay?"
Charles nodded. "Yeah, definitely." A slight pause met his words. Henry didn't say anything, so Charles continued. "Yeah, so. You know we've known each other for pretty much forever. We're best friends and I feel like, you know, we know each other."
Guilt wiggled deep in his chest. No, Charles. You don't.
Charles went on, a pinkish hue warming his features, his pretty green eyes focused elsewhere. "And, I got really worried when you just disappeared. B-but you came back! So, it's okay! I don't think you're a bad person because of it. Uh, but I'm really happy you helped us out in the airship and now, you know, the General kinda respects you, you know? We get to be friends out in public again."
Heh. Charles really liked to ramble when he was nervous.
"B-but, anyway, that's not the point." Charles cleared his throat, still looking anywhere but Henry. "I wanted to ask you something. I said that already. Sorry. Um, okay." Charles took a deep breath and turned to Henry. "I really like you, Henry. Like, a lot. More than, y'know, I like Ellie or my other friends here."
Oh. Oh.
"And, that's what I wanted to talk to you about," Charles managed to say, even though Henry could see his courage start to break. "I really, you know, like you. We've spent so much time together and I feel like, especially lately, that I really like you. I was wondering if, you know, if you felt the same?"
Ooooooooookay. Of everything Henry could have imagined Charles saying, that was not one of them. Where, where had that come from? Charles being–well, Charles was his best friend, and at least he thought that's what they were. That's how Charles felt. He'd never imagined–
But Charles felt that, knowing only what Henry allowed him to know. He was an ace pilot, steeply loyal to the military. Henry was an average Joe working at tech support with a knack for trouble. That wasn't true. Charles' opinion of him would definitely change if he knew just what Henry was.
Charles started to say something but stopped himself. Oh, Henry should answer him.
Henry had a choice.
He will admit to everything (Protagonists and Heroes) or he'll say he's just not the same. (Ohana Means Family)