Greetings. Wheew...working overtime tonight. Anyways, another chapter with father and son bonding. Not as sad as some previous chapters, but thought provoking in some areas. I ended up putting more diologe in here to strengthen character to character interactions. We rarly have seen anything that protrays Locke and Archimedes together as "they" reflect on their past. I also ended up bring more to light about Lopper. I promise, the next book, I will have that cute, adorable lop that I wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley during the DAY!

Other than that:

Disclamer: I observe the rights of the orginal creators and their characters.

Enjoy.

Hidden Honors

by: Mauser

A hard grunt filtered up to Locke's ears, snapping his trance from the breathtaking view that he was consumed in, and rolled his collective thoughts back to the forefront of his psyche. Taking a swig from a canteen and a bit from an energy bar that was an added bonus from the meal kit he had devoured just moments ago, he stole another glimpse at the rolling mountain landscape before adjusting his stare at Archimedes' back. They were perched high on a flat mountain shelf, Locke sitting cross legged, waiting for his son to defeat his next challenge. But with another hard grunt, Locke could only sigh.

"You know you didn't have to take the 'rise from grace' thing literally, Locke," muttered Archimedes, standing at the edge of the plateau and looking down at the two hundred foot drop.

Locke chuckled then asked after a moment; "Where is he?"

The Fire Ant stood his ground with his arms crossed, shaking his Aussie hat with his head. "Not even half way up, mate. The lad is really starting to struggle."

"So I hear," Locke exaggerated. "Is he still free climbing?"

A curt shake of the head. "Yep', bare hands and all. Should we tell him..."

"...Not yet. If he can free-climb it, let him. All the more power to him." Locke smiled for a brief second before his concern tainted it. "Just make sure your ready in case he falls. I don't know if he can glide."

"Another test when he reaches the top?"

Locke nodded albeit Archy couldn't see it. "Life is nothing but a test. That was something you taught me."

Archy let a smile fill his face. "I remember...I also remember a lad who was hard headed at times."

"And he still is, old friend," Locke said with a cocked head and a smirk. "Maybe I need a guiding Fire Ant back on my shoulder instead of my boys."

Archy still held his smile, but inward he was frowning at himself. "I think we all do at times..."

"EEHHHA!"

The elder Guardian took in a disappointed sigh from the last grunt and briefly closed his eyes with it. Standing up, he took careful steps to the edge of the cliff and peered straight down to the bottom. Aleutian was hanging over a thin ledge with his hands while balancing the balls of his feet on another that was smaller in length. "HOW YOU DOING, ALEUTIAN?"

His concentration broke when his father voice boomed down to him. When he attempted to glance up, his footing shifted on the loose rocky step just enough to let his feet slip off. He tried to prepare himself to rebound, but the bolts on his shoes added a little more weight than what he was anticipating. The strength of his right gloved hand wasn't enough -it slipped down the side while his left still clamping on, bearing his whole body weight plus his backpack and jacket.

"Locke...?" festered Archimedes.

"Just wait, old friend. Give him a chance to regain his footing."

Aleutian knew what a pendulum felt like at that dangling moment. He swung his right arm out and took a grabbing swipe for the ledge. He missed! Fear bolted deep into his heart when he felt his fingers start to slide away over the sandy shelf. Shooting his eyes down to the ground, the sight of the long drop to the boulder ridden ground shot courage back his skull. He thought about gliding down, but the past residual pain from his three healed ribs anchored in his mind, killing the idea before it was born.

With a heavy growl towards the ground, Aleutian kicked at the edge of the face and swung his body to the right, reaching desperately with a long gasp of air at the shallow ledge. When his fingers firmly clamped down on it, he quickly sighed out a harsh grunt. Shaking away the lingering panic, the young Guardian searched the jagged formation in front of him, placed his feet down on a sturdy ledge, and shoot his aching hand over to another stubby ridge off to his right.

Locke smiled broadly as Aleutian continued his ascend. "He wants it Archy...he wants it bad. His constitution for victory is still within him...and it's strong."

The hot dry air seemed uplifting even as the wind began to dissipate. A feeling of joy and triumph embalmed their bodies, revealing smiles on their faces.

"Should I tell him how simple it is?" quipped Archimedes.

Locke gave a hard affirming nod. "Yea! Show him the ropes with our tools."

Archy gave a two finger salute with both of his right arms and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. The moment he appeared over Aleutian's right shoulder, he still kept his proud smile even as Aleutian faced his strain at him.

"I'm kinda busy to have a talk, Archimedes!" he forced out as he pulled himself up and knifed for a small crevasse that barley fit his flat fingers. He resembled a leopard that was stalking its quarry on the face of the mountain, his limbs stretched aimlessly across the sheers.

"My place now is here on your shoulder...like it was with your father's and your brother's," Archy smiled.

Aleutian held his tedious position on the rocks as he beamed a puzzled glance towards Archy. "You mentored my father?"

"Aye...and I was suppose to mentor you when your reached your ninth season.

A sudden drop silenced all thoughts as Aleutian's left shoe lost traction against the rocky step. He scrambled his hands for a safer hold but his search came up short. He was stuck with no where to move, feeling the tingle of his endurance letting go.

Archimedes held onto Aleutian's locks as he took a glance down at the bottom; grinning all the while. "Your ready for your second lesson with me?"

"What second...there wasn't even a first!" returned Aleutian with a curt grunt.

"Yes there was..." the Fire Ant gingerly replied, albeit the situation wasn't. "You just never saw it that way."

Aleutian searched Archy's eyes for what he was getting at. "What was the lesson?" he finally breathed out.

"The meaning of duty, lad," Archy returned with a joyous smile. "You never knew how proud I was with you when you took that lesson and applied it to that girl who was orphaned..."

"It was a promise I made to her, Archy!"

"...and promises become our duties, young Guardian. Your written promise to your brother was and still is your duty. Your promise to her to return home is your duty. And your people is to your duty...promise them safety and your duty has become defined."

His aching muscles numbed with Archy's words. He was right...dead right. Aleutian felt so abstract from the past and his indifference with his father that he never clued into Archimedes plea to come home as a lesson in duty. A lesson in devotion. Or did it just wind up that way?

"Our decisions effects our destiny."

"She's right, lad," Archy murmured followed by a somber pause. "Your mom's lesson and mine has lead you to your destiny...back home to us."

Aleutian took his sight off Archy with a muffled frown and stared back up towards his new goal in life. "Even with what I've done?"

"Even with what you've done, lad. Think of it as...as your acts coming full circle. You just need to connect the ring."

Pressing himself against the jagged formations that he depended on as steps, Aleutian nodded his head with lowered eyes. "Is it all forgiven then?"

"It always has with me," Archy thoughtfully replied, "in fact...I was wondering if all is forgiven with me." Archy paused as he tried to collect himself. It was becoming hard for him. "I've always felt guilty of...letting you use your powers..."

"...DON'T GO THERE!" Aleutian bluntly seethed out. "You know how long it took to get that image out of my head...let alone the other nightmares I witnessed."

Archy wanted to step back in defense but the long drop he might experience stopped him. "Don't let it haunt you. Your families' rage has never brought pleasure to the likes of them. So don't let it haunt..."

"...But my powers weren't suppose to be used that way!"

"How do you know, Aleutian!?" festered the Fire Ant. "You had no Mobian idea how to use them, or even how or why you should use them. It was a fit of rage that expressed your feelings to them...and if I was in your boots at the time, I would've done the same."

Aleutian shook his head, trying to hold his weaking limbs together at that instant. "Don't give me sympathy about it."

"...okay then; how about this: when we get to the top, ask your father about your brother getting killed!"

"I know about that. Julie-Su told me..."

"But not the whole thing, lad."

Aleutian said nothing as he saw the sincerity in Archy's eyes. Taking in a long winded breath, he found the needed will to continue on, forgoing all pain he felt in his joints. He still felt sore from the previous day's fight –more so now thanks to his muscles building on the strained tissue-- but something told him to forget it and keep going. Possibly the long drop down looked less enticing than the top.

However determined he was, his limbs said otherwise when he stopped again, only ascending his matched height from his efforts.

"So are you ready for your next lesson?" asked Archimedes, driving his frightened voice lower in his vocal cords.

Aleutian inhaled a quip gasp: "Now! Y'know how far down it is from here--and now you want to give me a lesson!?"

"It's eighty-seven feet and four inches from the ground!" Archy answered squarely.

"Yea, over twice the height of no turning back from the afterlife! So, do yea' mind if I keep going up in silence?"

Archy somehow balanced himself over Aleutian's shifting body, crossing his arms and throwing a mirthful look across his face. "You see your hands?"

He tried not to dart his eyes at them, however, his brain just had to look anyways. "See? I feel em!"

Archy brought his voice down to a dead monotone: "Those spikes at the end of your knuckles aren't merely weapons, lad."

He squinted in confusion. "Huh?"

"...how's your strength?" Archy asked somberly.

"Well..." Aleutian started with a half gapping smile, "I knocked that Shadow back a few times, not to mention my brother. I guess I still have some..."

"...Good! Punch the mountain."

Aleutian gazed at Archy as if he was from another world. "I may be ticked off at it, but that's insane!"

"Okay...then you're really be going off the deep end when your endurance has had enough."

"VERY FUNNY, ARCHEE!" Aleutian barked with ferocity.

"Hey, I'm just stating the truth." A long pause. "And the air is better up there," Archimedes said with disarming voice, gesturing towards the roof of the mountain with a right arm.

Turning his eyes forward at the tawny colored rocks in front of him, Aleutian gently brought his right arm down and squeezed a hard fist by his temple. With the twin curved spikes fully exposed from his day old gloves, he smashed his hand into the mantel. Orphaned pebbles sprinkled down to the ground as Aleutian began to tug at his anchored fist. It didn't budge.

"Pull straight out to release yourself," instructed the even voice on his shoulder. "And don't release your fist or you'll slip out of your gloves."

Aleutian nodded in confirmations as he slugged the rock face with his left. Lifting himself up, he quickly gained his footing that propelled him higher. Then, doing as Archy instructed he released his right hand and punched the rock face a little higher. Lift; then another punch.

Thirty feet later and even with the help of his newly discovered claws, fatigue started to wear down on him. Looking down past the dangling sleeves of his jacket, he forced a smile over his burning arms and legs. Accomplishment had never felt this euphoric to him for many lonely years. Glancing smartly back up to the top, he could see his father awaiting his arrival.

"I'm coming!" he whispered to himself.

"I know..." returned Locke even though Aleutian wouldn't hear him. "Just one step at a time for me. That's all I ask of you, Aleutian."

Images invaded Locke's mind as a hard grunt from Aleutian seemed to trigger them. Nothing could prepare him for what his thoughts projected.

He could see Aleutian, standing with Emi-La like the photo that Lopper thrusted to him, happy. There was a strange resemblance of him and Lara-Le in the portrait, but that wasn't what he was focused on. Instead, Aleutian fighting; killing machines, Mobians, and quite possibly Overlanders alike. Then he envisioned images that possibly weren't far removed from past realities; his son receiving his scars. How he got them Locke couldn't fathom the real story, but his hypophysis that ran through his mind like a motion picture spelled it out. Knives, plasma bolts, shrapnel; that was all he could guess. Squeezing for happier thoughts, Emi-La suddenly came to mind. There, Locke smiled. Somehow he imagined his son meeting her, courting her, making love to her. Yes, the though was bawd in every sense of the word for a parent to think it, but a wondering mind found such forbidden treasures and had to see them for what they were.

And at the moment, he felt unconditional pride for Aleutian. He honestly didn't know the whole story of his runaway son, but seeing him now, mood swings or not, scars and all, Locke knew he had been through character changing ordeals. He looked at it as one might look at a soldier returning home from battle, his uniform decorated with medals that only told where the he'd been, but not what he had done. Aleutian had that much aura about him just by looking at his scars; a testament that he had seen and experienced horrors that Locke could only imagine in the deepest parts of his psyche.

His son, his baby boy had that aura around him that demanded respect even with all of his current faults. And Locke did...even as his father.

His numbing trance was whisked away as Aleutian's glove slapped the top of the plateau. Giving no thought to it, Locke leaned down and tried to give the last leg of the journey assistance. He was surprised when Aleutian swiped his hand away.

"Let me finish, dad," he grunted over his efforts.

Locke backed off smartly and held his hands flat to his sides. He saw that Archy wasn't anywhere to be found for some reason, or another. He shrugged the mystery off.

Sucking in a hard breath for courage and mustering the last of his endurance, Aleutian powered his legs up as he fisted his protruding knuckles on his right hand and slammed them onto the smooth shelf. With a flex of his biceps, he dragged himself across the bare rocks. And there he slumped his entire body on the warm surface, panting deeply as he fought off the cramps from his tired muscles.

"Winded?" Locke observed with a hollow show of disappointment.

Aleutian heard the flex in his father's voice and suddenly found the will to stand to address it. He swayed as he climbed to his feet. "That wasn't a cake walk, pop. I've never free-climbed before."

"Still, you shouldn't be out of breath from that," Locke frowned as he work feverishly hard to hide his smile. "Your brother tackled mountains far taller than this!"

Aleutian flexed his brows down as he stood straight, bracing himself before he stated the obvious. He was going to wish he hadn't:

"That's because your science proje..."

Locke reached across the one foot and three-quarter inch void and connected his right hand across Aleutian's scared face. The younger Guardian fell to the ground at the speed it took one to blink.

His mind swirled as he laid spread across the ground, only finding his conscious yelling at him to get with it and focus up. He did...and the sight of his father engulfed his wide blue eyes.

"I won't hesitate to beat that thing that's inside of you to a pulp!" Locke pointed his twin index fingers of his triple digit gloved right hand at Aleutian's birthright. "Don't you EVER degrade me, your brother, or your honor like that again! Not even in the presence of the air! Consider this a warning, pup!"

Aleutian's eyes fought to keep the burning stare but his old self told him to back down. When Locke saw his son cower, he let his anger dissolve and reached out with his right hand and waited for Aleutian to clasp it. A long moment passed before his son nodded his head and anchored his palm into his father's. With a quick jerk, he was back on his feet.

"Now, can you still glide? That was something I enjoyed seeing you do," Locke said with a hint of a mirth. The grimace he received shot disappointment to his heart in a split second.

"Last time I tried, I hurt myself pretty bad," Aleutian admitted with lowered eyes, rubbing his lower left rib cage as if it still hurt.

"Don't let it scare you from trying again..."

"...It's not that." Aleutian tugged on his half severed lock on the left side of his head. "I've lost my balance because of this."

Locke glided closer to Aleutian and placed his hand across his bare chest, feeling his formally shattered ribs with a caressing motion. "I'm sorry, Aleutian. I really am for you."

"Don't be. It's old wounds that I've learned to deal with."

Shaking his head, Locke didn't believe his observations. "Then why are they still haunting you, my son?"

"Lets check your balance," he said after a moments thought, "see if it lies there before we make judgements that aren't true. You ever seen an old airplane before?"

This produced a surprised look from Aleutian. "Seen? I've flown 'em, dad. That heap of junk in my basement is what's left of my ship!"

"What!?"

"Yea...I leased-the-farm thanks to some smooth flying bots and ended up losing my Corsair and breaking three of my ribs."

"Leased-the-farm?" Locke inquired at the meaning of the phrase.

Aleutian found the nervous itch that he had to scratch atop his forehead. "Yea, I only leased the place cause I didn't get killed to buy it."

Locke rolled his eyes over a half smirk. "Okay, make like an airplane, learn forward and balance on one leg."

Stretching his arms out like wings, Aleutian did as he was asked. For a moment he swayed in the breeze as he fought to stay level.

"Do you remember this?" Locke asked as he toured around his son.

"Yea, oddly enough I think this is where we left off."

Locke stopped deadpan before he managed to move again. "You still remember that?"

Aleutian breathed in deeply as he kept his balance over his burning limbs. "Among other things. Like, how you and I used to spare. The only other Mobian to ever wipe me like you is Lopper."

"Mmm Hmm. Okay, other leg." Nothing abnormal produced aside the jerkiness of Aleutian correcting his stance. "Wiped you, huh? How so?"

A light smile protruded across his muzzle. "One day at a time," he answered with a dead monotone. "Y'know, I thought I was a fighter, even after I left home. But after a month with him; nah...I was an amateur at best."

"How do you think I'll stand up to him?" Locke asked after giving his son a once more over.

Aleutian swallowed, wondering how his dad was going to take his thoughts. "He'll give you a run for your money once you find him. But you have to find him."

"Believe it or not, I actually found that out yesterday morning. I've never seen anyone not spill their drink as they did a take down."

Aleutian shook his head. "Lopper is filled with surprises. You agree Archy?"

A whiff of smoke erupted on the ground beside the two. When it cleared, Archimedes' face was loathing from his repressed thoughts. "About to be stepped on by a five year old wasn't my idea of an introduction."

"Well, next time knock before you pop in. His kids are about as deadly as him."

"Kids? How many does he have?" Locke asked with great interest.

"Thirteen! Six boys and seven girls; eight if you count his wife, Alea."

Locke gapped at first but suppressed his stunned thoughts. "Is she dangerous as well?" Locke inquired evenly.

"Only if you count kindness as a weapon."

Locke chuckled for a moment before he moved on. "Alright, now lean over backwards and stick your left foot out and close..."

Locke didn't have long to wait as Aleutian followed his request. When he did, he fell flat on his backpack.

"You okay?" Locke asked as he quickly rushed over to Aleutian's side.

"I'm fine. I've taken worse before."

With a curt nod and a helping hand up off the ground, Locke balanced his son and instructed him to do the same position. Again, Aleutian fell flat on his back without a notion from his body as to why he couldn't keep his balance.

"What the hell?" the young frustrated Guardian asked. "I used to be able to do this on the Plunger in bad squalls."

Locke took note at the comment with great expatiations. It was the second time Aleutian reflected about his past without so much of grimace painted across his muzzle. "I don't know...try it again, but this time keep your eyes open."

Nodding his head as he stood once again, Aleutian took his backpack and jacket off and leaned back with his left raised in front of him.

He felt his balance start to fail and he seemingly couldn't do anything about it. This time, Locke grabbed him before he plummeted to the ground for the third time. They exchanged puzzled glances at each other before Locke asked something that he fear what the answer might be:

"Anything loud go off by your right ear?" He had never seen a face morph into utter horror like a change in the wind.

"Why you ask?"

"Why so defensive son?" he asked in the air. "Archy?"

"It's best he tells you," Archy admitted, finding a rock a few feet back to sit on as he watched father and son bond.

"Your semicircular canal seems to be damaged. It's the part of your ear that helps maintain your balance without seeing."

Aleutian held long silence. "So this is why I can't keep control of myself while I glide? It isn't my lock?"

Locke festered a smile as he lifted one of Aleutian's locks to see down his ear. "Nope. This is bad news, but, it isn't irreparable. It's along the lines of getting the bends like a Mobian who needs a breathing apparatus to dive deep down in the ocean. If they come up to fast with out releasing the nitrogen from the blood stream in increments, they might get it. You probably haven't noticed it because you haven't been this high up or tried to glide back down towards the ground."

Aleutian gave a single nod at the assessment. "I understand that the bends is a terrible way to die."

"I've heard and seen worse than that, Aleutian. And I gather you might have as well." Locke waited for an reaction from his statement, but Aleutian looked on in silence. "So what caused this?"

There, he noticed he touched a nerve; something painful he noticed and he wondered if by accident he'd gone too far.

Aleutian's expression lingered with depression as he search for a question that he wanted to change the subject with. Even so, a concussion blast bellowed in the deepest portions of his mind, making him flinch as if it went off beside him. "You have no idea of the horrors I've seen. If it wasn't for me, all of Mobius would have suffered beyond the measure of pain."

"Really...ever wonder what you brother was doing during that time?"

"Yea, sitting at home and guarding it..." he lied.

"...wrong, Aleutian." Locke waited till he grabbed Aleutian's full attention with a quick tilt of his son's head before he continued.

"Your brother can be a little bit of a hot head..."

Please review...all I ask.