I'll Be The One

Chapter 10:

=Normal POV=
[Tuesday, 11/20/2018-4:10 pm]
[Archipelago; Arc Isle]
[Dreki Apartments; A1]

Hunter raced across the street after his last class of the day, Advanced Graphics, which ended at 4 pm. Hunter quickly got inside the apartment, stumbling a bit as he did so.

"Woah, Hunt…Where's the fire?" Tallon laughed as Hunter realized that Flynn had their friends over.

"No fire," Hunter replied calmly. "Rushing to get home and changed. I gotta get to Meade Hall by 4:30 pm," he hurried into his room, closing the door. Hunter got out five minutes later wearing tan dress pants and shoes, then a red, button-down shirt that was tucked in. Hunter slipped on his jacket, which was the same color as his pants.

"Why are you going there?" Flynn asked finally.

"They are announcing who is the next president. See ya later!" Hunter was out the door as he called that to them. Hunter got into his car and bolted, within legal limits, to Meade Hall for the announcement.

"I think that's a public event," Drew stated, reaching for the remote and changing the channel to one of the major news ones.

"You're right. I can see Salvatore and the people who were running against him," Avery nodded.

"I believe it was Donovan Bludvist and Giovanni Grisley," Elijah pointed out.

"Yeah, I can see all three of them on the stage. Gregory is there on Salvatore's side; Hunter must also be going to show support for his father," Madison informed. It wasn't more than fifteen minutes later when Hunter snuck in and stood with Gregory. Hunter was wearing his father's same colors in suit choice and had a pin on the left side that read; Haddock for President. Salvatore looked relieved, and happier to see his son had arrived.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the United Islands of the Archipelago; thank you for joining us on this fine Tuesday, November the 20th. It has been yet again another journey to get where we are today, and we apologize for the late announcement; a few things came up that needed to be addressed. So, without wasting much more time; I say we give you what you all want," the man standing at the podium.

"You know what I just noticed…" Seth pointed out.

"What's that?" Harper inquired.

"I get Gregory as Salvatore's best friend and Hunter as his son…But where's his wife? Hunter's mother?" Seth wondered.

"You're right…" Trevor agreed.

"I don't see her," Roxanne said softly.

"You know something else?" Avery looked at them as they gave a questioning look. "Hunter looked upset when he had mentioned there was a death in the family when we hung out two weeks ago,"

"You don't think that…It had been his mother, do you?" Harper blinked.

"I don't want to assume such a thing, but it's possible," Tallon said. "Now let's hush so we can watch," he looked back at the screen as the rest did the same.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my pleasure and privilege to announce your president for the next four years…" there was a long pause as the envelope was opened. The friends saw that Salvatore held Hunter's hand, and Hunter also held Gregory's. "Salvatore Haddock, for this third term!" the crowd erupted into applause as Salvatore smiled proudly, shaking hands with Donovan and Giovanni before connecting hands with Gregory and hugging Hunter tightly.

"Well, Hunter should be in a good mood when he gets home," TJ laughed a bit.

. . .

[7:30 pm]

Hunter attended the celebration party, but the swearing-in wouldn't be until January, and there were two months until that still. The party tonight was a little something to congratulate the newly elected president, but in this case; it was the re-elected president for his third time in office. The friends were still hanging out at the apartment when the door opened, and Hunter walked in smiling wide. Right behind him were Salvatore and Gregory.

"Welcome back," Flynn greeted Hunter.

"Thanks," Hunter replied.

"Congratulations, Mr. President on becoming president again," Tallon said respectfully.

"Thank you," Salvatore stated.

"Yes, congratulations," Madison smiled as Seth and Avery nodded.

"Best president we've ever had," Harper added in.

"I appreciate that; I do my best for everyone," Salvatore responded.

"For those of us from Berk; he was an amazing mayor too," Flynn reminded.

"Ah, true that," Roxanne nodded in agreement with her twin brother, TJ.

"Now, why'd you bring us here, Hunter? I thought we were going to celebrate at the house?" Gregory inquired. "We've taken a shot the last two times your dad got elected,"

"Wasn't Hunter only fourteen the first time?" Avery asked.

"I meant Sal and me," Gregory chuckled. "Hunter didn't take his first shot until the second time,"

"Wasn't he eighteen?" TJ pointed out.

"Guys…" Hunter looked at them. "It was one shot; half in fact, and nothing more. Don't worry…My mom chewed their asses out for it too," he chuckled. "And yes, Uncle Greg; we're gonna take the shot. I'm just getting something I got my hands on for us to do it with,"

"What did you get?" Salvatore inquired. Hunter went to his room and returned a moment later holding something that was still wrapped. Hunter handed it to his father as Salvatore opened it, his eyes widened. "Where did you get this?"

"I have my connections," Hunter grinned.

"Hunter…This went out of production when your father and I were twenty-one," Gregory reminded. Hunter took the bottle and grabbed three shot glasses out of the cupboard. "Seriously…Where in the name of Odin did you find that?"

"I'll tell you after," Hunter informed as he twisted the cap off and poured three shots and handed one to his uncle and father.

"Wonder if it still tastes the same…" Salvatore looked at Gregory.

"One way to find out," Gregory said as the three tapped their glasses.

"To another four years," Hunter said.

"To another four years…" Gregory and Salvatore said. "Bottoms up," the three males took their drink.

"By Thor!" Gregory exclaimed.

"It's the same as it was thirty years ago!" Salvatore added in, both looking at Hunter. "Hunter, where did you find this!?"

"I didn't find it; I had it custom made," Hunter laughed a little. "I know someone who works in homemade brews, and after some research; he found the original recipe. I had this started after you were elected for your second term, Dad; it's been sitting all this time. I was saving it for a special occasion, such you being re-elected and I'm actually of age to drink," Hunter explained.

"Hah! I can't believe you found someone to make this! It's was extremely popular in our day," Gregory grabbed Hunter, giving him a noogie.

"I've got a bottle for both of you in my closet," Hunter informed.

"I can't believe you found someone to brew Viking Mead!" Salvatore smiled.

"What is it?" Seth inquired.

"It's ridiculously strong alcohol that can be used for shots or an on the rocks type drink, stuff that the Vikings drank way back in in the day," Hunter explained.

"I wouldn't say that quite covers what this is, son," Salvatore chucked. "This was the game-changer for us,"

"He's right, lad. This was the drink that determined if you were a lightweight or not. This was the one that put hair on your chest and made you a man," Gregory laughed some.

"Wow," the friends blinked. Hunter went to his room and returned after, giving Gregory and Salvatore their bottle of the drink.

"So, son…How have things been?" Salvatore smiled.

"Good, I guess. Just doing school and hanging with friends more since I don't work right now," Hunter replied.

"Is Cassandra enjoying her time with you?" Gregory chuckled. Hunter's smile fell, and he sighed.

"What's wrong?" Salvatore looked at his son.

"We're not together anymore," Hunter informed.

"Again? Did she put you on another break or break up?" Gregory asked.

Hunter shook his head. "No…I left her this time,"

"What happened?" Salvatore inquired.

"Happened almost a month ago now; the day I quit my job…I came home, and she was on the couch, locking lips with one of my friends. She tried to blame Tallon, saying he came onto her, but I knew better. We fought, I told her I was done and it was over, for good. I had Bryant and Andrew remove her when she refused to leave," Hunter said in the shortest version he could muster up.

"Hunter…Why didn't you tell me?" Salvatore wondered.

"You were busy the campaign; it happened on the 4th…Two days before the election," Hunter shrugged.

"Oh, son…" Salvatore sighed. "I being mayor, or even the president doesn't stop me from being your father. And no matter what else is going on; you can always come to me for anything, and you will always come first in my life," he reminded kissing Hunter's forehead. "I love you,"

"I love you too," Hunter smiled some.

"And if he is ever too busy; you got me," Gregory chuckled, ruffling Hunter's hair. "We can go a few rounds at the range or sparring," he added.

"Oh, a chance to kick my Godfather's ass? Always down for that," Hunter stated.

"Boy, you wish you could beat me," Gabriel scoffed.

"What are you talking about? I have beaten you…Several times," Hunter remarked. "And before you say it; I've beaten you sober and drunk," Gregory put his finger down, glaring at his Godson. Salvatore gave a hearty laugh, putting his arms over their shoulders.

"Oh, I've missed this," Salvatore said. "We need to get together again, just the three of us," he suggested.

"I'm fine with this," Gregory nodded.

"Me too, maybe Saturday or Sunday when I don't have school. Well, aside from Saturday morning," Hunter informed. "Wait…Is this going to be a repeat of my birthday last year because I hated both of you the next morning,"

"You were fine! Nothing happened!" Gregory waved it off with his hand.

"Riiight…" Hunter rolled his eyes. "That's why I hit the floor? And woke up naked, then spent the rest of day camping out in the bathroom?"

"Yeah, you were fine," Salvatore nodded. "Oh, come on, son…At least you won't get raped this time because you're single," Salvatore shrugged.

"SO I DID GET RAPED BY HER!?" Hunter yelled.

"SAL! We agreed never to tell him about his twenty-first!" Gregory groaned.

"Oops," Salvatore stated.

"Oh, my Gods! I'm NEVER drinking with you two again!" Hunter glared. "You'll kill me…"

"Stop being so dramatic; you were okay. Your father and I wouldn't have let anything happen to you," Gregory sighed.

"You let me now ex-girlfriend rape me while I was blackout drunk!" Hunter argued.

"It was hilarious too; you kept saying to stop because you had a girlfriend…" Gregory snickered.

"I hate both of you…" Hunter huffed.

"Don't be that way, son. We're just having fun," Salvatore patted his shoulder. "Need some laughs now and then,"

"Glad you laugh at my misery…" Hunter mumbled.

"You weren't miserable that night," Gregory chuckled.

"You're just jealous that I got laid and you didn't," Hunter scoffed.

"You were raped," Gregory grinned.

"Shut up!" Hunter glared.

"We're teasing, Hunter…Lighten up," Salvatore smiled. "We're gonna head out anyway,"

"Alright. I assume the swearing in is still in January?" Hunter inquired.

"I'll let you know the official date and time when I do, son. But yes; it will probably be early January," Salvatore nodded.

"No problem," Hunter nodded.

"And thanks for this," Gregory held up the bottle.

"You're welcome," Hunter replied.

"Well, let's be off, Greg. I'm sure Hunter wants to hang with his friends, or do homework. I forget what you said in the car," Salvatore mentioned.

"Bit of both. Your car here?" Hunter asked.

"Yeah, just pulled around," Salvatore nodded to him. "I love you, son,"

"Love you too," Hunter replied, hugging both of them.

Salvatore headed out as Gregory hugged Hunter around the shoulders with one arm. "For the record…Cassandra never raped you the night of your twenty-first. You threw up on yourself in an attempt to make the bathroom; Cassandra tried to put you in your sleep pants, but you knocked out on the bed, so she covered you up and left you that way. We joke about it because you can't remember that night. You were fine, kiddo, right up to you blacking out and then we called it a night,"

"You're such a pain in my ass," Hunter muttered as Salvatore and Gregory chuckled, then left, and Hunter closed the door.

"Well, at least you know for sure now that nothing happened last year except you hitting the floor, throwing up, and then camping out your hangover in the bathroom," Tallon chuckled.

"Zip it…" Hunter stated.

"So you have homework to do?" Avery asked.

"Not much of it; I can do it while I hang," Hunter shrugged as he went to the bedroom, grabbing his laptop and returned t sit beside Tallon on the couch. Hunter opened the laptop, typing in his password and pulling up the rest of the work he needed to do for his class tomorrow morning at 9 am. "Do you wanna give the Viking Mead a shot? It's honestly not that bad; tastes like beer, but sweet…Honey flavored," he inquired while starting to type.

"I suppose one around the room to try it wouldn't be awful," Tallon shrugged. Hunter went to get up, but Tallon had him stay down. "Relax a little; I'll get the cups,"

"Thanks," Hunter smiled. Tallon nodded to him, getting up to fetch the cups for everyone to try the drink Hunter had custom made that went out of production thirty years ago. Tallon returned with the cups for everyone as Hunter handled pouring his friends each the amount of one shot, including one for himself.

"To friends," Tallon said.

"To friends," the rest replied as Hunter smiled, glad to be part of this group of friends. Tallon turned his cup to tap Hunter's.

"To friends…" Hunter tapped Tallon's cup as everyone took the shot. The girls were not fond of it, but it wasn't awful. Hunter didn't mind at all, neither did Tallon, Drew, and Elijah. Something strange happened, though. When Hunter's eyes met Tallon's, something sparked. Hunter shook it off as nothing more than happy to have friends, but the wonder of why he felt such a thing didn't fade and neither did the feeling.

. . .

[Friday, 11/23/2018-7:00 pm]
[Odin's Dragon's Hideout]

"I'm here, sorry…" Hunter informed the group as he strolled into the central area.

"You haven't missed much, so don't worry about it," Tallon smiled. "What took ya? Out of sheer curiosity?"

"My ex…" Hunter mumbled, plopping down in a chair at the table.

"Not leaving you alone?" Trevor asked.

"No; she keeps calling and texting me," Hunter sighed.

"And showing up to the apartment," Flynn mentioned. "I don't let her in, but she has managed to get to our door once because someone leaving let her in,"

"Yeesh…" Drew cringed. "Well…If you want something to take your mind off of it, maybe you can help us,"

"Depends on what it is you need help with?" Hunter asked.

"Computer stuff. We're having issues with encrypted files, firewalls, security check points and overall operating system…" Avery informed.

"Flynn has been trying, but we haven't gotten far," Seth added in.

"I get operating system…But the others, why do you need to get past all that. As cops; you should have clearance," Hunter stated.

"We have access to anything legal, well within the clearance of our operative…But this stuff is to find out information on some discs and drives we got our hands on to take down another gang. We've been at it all week, and nothing to show for it," Elijah enlightened.

"So we're talking cracking codes and hacking?" Hunter inquired.

"Basically," Tallon nodded. "It's okay if you can't,"

"Oh, I never said I couldn't. I'm merely wondering why you didn't word it that way in the beginning. I understood the tech-talk, but I kind'a do computer things all the time, so you can say it normally," Hunter chuckled. "Sure, I'll help. Where's your mainframe that you're doing all this work on?"

"We're just using a laptop," Flynn slid it towards him. Hunter picked it up and inspected it before laughing.

"Gods…Do they still make and use these models…It's so old…" Hunter shook his head. "Yeah…Your operating system is way out-dated; it can't handle the required output needed for high-level hacking," Hunter set the computer down. "This thing still runs Windows XP…That was built and released in 2001, we're almost in 2019, guys; this software is twenty-years old and no where capable of executing the stuff you need it to,"

"That's all they gave us…" Drew informed.

"I hope the whole force doesn't still use this…What's the best word here…Ancient ass technology," Hunter said.

"No, they have more modern stuff…" Tallon assured.

"Well, if you want to be able to do this mission as an undercover gang; then you need to be on the same level as the others; I can tell you that much right now," Hunter informed calmly.

"This is all we got," Trevor said.

"Nah," Hunter shrugged as he grabbed his bag and pulled out his laptop before setting it on the table. "You got me," he finally said. "Where's the stuff you recovered?" Flynn grabbed it and handed it over. Hunter glanced around. "You using that TV for anything?"

"No," Tallon said. Hunter got up, moving towards it and setting it on a table against the wall, then plugging it in. Hunter grabbed and HDMI cord from his bag, which the others thought was weird for him to just carry around, but they wouldn't knock it. Hunter connected the laptop to the TV and powered it on. Once everything loaded up, Hunter got to work. The others weren't sure what to do; Hunter appeared to have it under control, so they sat down and watched. Once they started talking more; Hunter ended up putting in his headphones.

"You think we're distracting him?" Avery whispered.

"This stuff probably isn't easy," Flynn shrugged. After half an hour; Hunter pressed the Enter key on his keyboard before pulling out his headphones and sitting back.

"Done," Hunter informed. The others saw the screen, everything loaded without a problem.

"That's insane…" Harper blinked.

"Look at all this…It's so much information we can use to make more headway in this!" Drew stated.

"Glad I could help," Hunter smiled.

"Did we bother you with our talking?" Madison wondered.

"Hm? Oh, no. Not at all. I just work better with music," Hunter informed.

"We appreciate the hell out of this Hunter…I knew having you as our friend and part of the team would be amazing," Tallon smiled. Hunter nodded.

"Anytime," Hunter replied, feeling the strange feeling strike up again when his eyes met Tallon's. Hunter needed to figure this out, but it was probably nothing. The new feelings of having friends who liked having him around knowing he was the president's son was a big deal for him because it meant they liked him for him. It was different for Hunter, but he liked it. Hunter was glad they liked being around him and that he could help them out. Now, Hunter just needed to figure out this weird feeling about Tallon he had because it felt all too familiar to something he felt long ago.