A/N: I always love hearing your thoughts and encouragement as well as ideas, so please don't forget to review!
"Logan?! I wasn't aware of you planning to visit Donnie today." King said kindly, yet in a no-nonsense tone. He didn't let his curiosity over who the unfamiliar boy was shine through the face he had put on. Although Logan was with him, he had his doubts, especially at the gaze that locked with his as he studied him.
"It was kind of last minute." King nodded at the explanation, giving him an appreciative smile. "Donnie had no idea until we showed up."
"Who are you?" Chris asked, a hint of authority slipping into his voice, clearly not up to beating around the bush.
"Sean Connor" The boy answered simply. Chris did a good job at keeping the surprise off his face but King had no trouble seeing it. The famous Sean Connor they had wanted to meet for months was suddenly standing in King's garden. Dressed in simple grey jeans and a dark blue shirt that made his reddish-brown hair look even more red and the freckles to stand out on his face.
"Nice to meet you Sean."
"Nice to meet you too, sir."
"I'm sorry King, I know I'm probably on some kind of restriction…"
"It's fine son. You had no idea." King soothed him, happy to see Chris stepping up behind Donnie to envelope him in a hug from behind, causing Donnie to relax instantly. "Why don't we take this inside?"
"Hey!" Sean reacted to Logan bumping into him rather forcefully.
"Quit it Seanie or I'm telling Dylan."
"I thought I told you to stop calling me Seanie!"
"You did, and I'm telling you he's a good man. You can trust them Sean."
"So you've said."
"You just have to find out on your own, don't you?!"
"When it comes to my best friend: yes."
-Principals and mentors-
"Sean, would you mind if we spoke alone for a moment?" King suddenly asked. He had during the last twenty minutes heard about Logan's plan and how he'd gotten Sean here, but Sean himself had barely said a word. He could feel the teenager study him more than once and with the conversation between Logan and Sean still fresh on his mind, he wanted to step in before anything escalated. Whatever it was.
"Sure." Sean followed him upstairs and into Donnie's new room where King motioned for him to take a seat on the bed.
"I've heard a lot about you. Enough so that I feel I have reason to believe this isn't how you normally act."
"How come?!"
"First of all Donnie has described you as level headed and kind but stubborn. From what I've come to understand you are the one that has kept the two of you out of trouble mot of the time. Still here you are and the challenge in your eyes is clear so you have my full attention Sean: what do you want from me?"
"To not hurt my best friend."
"What?!" King was taken aback by the answer and made no effort to hide it. "Hurt him?!"
"You heard me. You aren't the only one who has heard stories. Admittedly he didn't want to tell me at first, but I know you spank him."
"A spanking is not a beating Sean, not in my world." When the teenager still didn't look convinced he continued: "You've met James and Katherine countless times, right?!"
"Yes."
"Do you think they care about Donnie?"
"Of course they do! They are amazing parents"
"Then why in the world would they let Donnie stay here if I hurt him?!"
"I…I don't know."
"I know you are looking out for your best friend Sean, but things aren't always what they seem and when they aren't you have to be prepared to let your case rest. Trust their love in Donnie. It will take time for you and me to get to know each other and trust one another but give me a fair chance and I promise I'll do the same for you. Deal?"
"Yes sir." That got King smiling.
"I had a feeling you hid good manners under that rough exterior."
"My parents made sure I was raised right. Would you mind answering a question Mr. Pride?"
"Of course not, son."
"Why here? Why did you take me here of all places?"
"I wanted you to see with your own eyes that I care about him. This is Donnie's room at my place."
"Really?!" Sean looked around wide eyed, trying to take it all in. He was sure that Donnie had mentioned it sometime during their conversations, but he couldn't have imagined it being this nice.
"Would you mind if I asked something else?"
"Not at all."
"Why are you doing this for him?"
"He's like a son to me." The statement was delivered with so much certainty that Sean broke out in a big smile.
"Good. I needed to be sure. For Donnie's sake."
"I appreciate your concern. Are you okay with me now?"
"Yes sir."
-Principals and mentors-
The grownups had after an hour decided to let the boys go back outside into the garden, even though neither Chris nor Sean really seemed to trust each other yet. The earlier tension between King and Sean had disappeared completely, which had Donnie wondering what really had transpired upstairs. He knew better than to ask as long as Chris and King were in the room, but now that he had his friend all to himself, he couldn't resist:
"What happened with King?"
"We came to an understanding." Donnie rolled his eyes at that. It was such a typical Sean answer. Not that his friend didn't know how to have fun and be a kid, but he could be really grown up too when he wanted to. And stubborn. Really stubborn.
"Come on Seanie, we all know he must have said something." Sean gave Logan a half-hearted punch to the arm.
"We talked."
"I'm this close to calling Dylan." Logan threatened, holding up his finger about an inch apart.
"No need, I'm here." The voice of Dylan Connor suddenly rang out. "Your Da called me, saying you disappeared somewhere. From what I understood of the thick Scottish accent he uses when he is mad, he thought I was with you. For one reason or another he couldn't quite believe that you had kidnapped my idiot brother to go visit a mutual friend. All the while not telling our guardians a thing either. So, to sum it up I had to come looking for the two of you to bring home to two sets of pissed of people deciding your fate.
"No need to be so dramatic Dylan" Sean muttered. "I told them I was heading out with Logan."
"Yeah, but you forgot to tell them where, and you also forgot your backpack, so naturally they got worried." Sean's face softened at that.
"Thanks for bringing it Dyl, I didn't even realize it. You know I haven't seen Donnie for months so I guess I was a little too excited earlier."
"It's fine, now why was Logi-Bear about to call me?!"
"It's not what you think. King just spoke to me alone and I am refusing to tell them what happened." Dylan snorted.
"You've so lost your touch Logan."
"Not my fault he doesn't listen to me anymore; you must have corrupted him."
"Oh, I have, have I now?!" Spotting movement inside the house he continued: "Call me when you want a ride Dyl and don't leave your backpack anywhere, okay?"
"I won't."
"I have to leave. Logi, are you coming with me? Your Dad really didn't sound too happy earlier."
"I guess. Do you want to meet King? I have to say goodbye to him and Chris before leaving."
"No thank you, I'm going to wait in the car."
"Suit yourself."
"Are you sure they said I could stay?"
"Don't worry, I explained the situation. They weren't too happy about you forgetting your backpack so you are going to hear about that when you get home, but all in all they aren't that angry."
"I have to check with King if I may stay for a few hours: he hasn't really said anything."
"If you don't come out with Logi I'll assume you can stay." Sean hesitated a short moment before ignoring the presence of his best friend and hugging his older brother tightly.
"Thank you Dyl, you are the best."
"I'll remind you of that the next time you have candy, little brother. Now scram!" Dylan watched in fondness his brother spurting into the house closely followed by Donnie. Then he jumped over the fence into the neighbouring yard, deeming it too unsafe to use King's yard to get to his car. He didn't have anything against King per se, but he wasn't up to meeting the man again, just yet. To hear that his little brother's best friend had been taken in under King's wing had been shocking to say the least, especially since he himself had history with said man. Not wanting that to intrude with his little brother's impression of the man, Sean so far didn't not a thing. He could easily see that his brother had been confused by his refusal to meet with King and would no doubt hear about his sudden lack of worrying later, but for now, this was what was best in the teenager's mind.
-Principals and mentors-
King silently watched the two teenage boys wrestle on Donnie's queen-sized bed. At first it looked like Donnie was winning, until Sean suddenly decided he had played enough and gave Donnie a small push that made him tumble to the floor.
"Sorry, sir." Sean apologized when he spotted King. "We didn't mean to make so much noise, we'll settle down immediately.
"It's okay, son. You barely made any noise at all, and factoring in that I love hearing Donovan here, laugh: it's more than okay. While we are at it: Sean, I prefer you being respectful over your first mood, but you don't have to sir me unless you are in trouble, which you aren't at the moment."
"Thank you, King."
"No need to thank me." King smiled. "I hate to interrupt your fun, but lunch is ready and I was wondering if you'd like to come with us to the office? There are a few things I can't take care of here and I thought about asking Chris to bring them over, but as far as I know you've never seen HQ."
"You have to see it Sean!" Donnie exclaimed enthusiastically.
"I would be happy to, King."
"Good. We're leaving as soon as we've eaten."
The boys and King didn't take long eating. Sean offered to do the dishes, but King told him to leave the few pots and pans be. Chris met them at the headquarters.
"If you are going to stick around, I might have to give you a nickname. Problem is I already have Trouble and Trouble Junior, so any ideas?" Donnie smiled appreciatively at his big brother, knowing for a fact that Sean had been worried about Chris rejecting him even after Donnie had reassured him his older brother just needed some time.
"I'd like to, it's not up to me though." Sean responded bitterly.
"Seanie is out of the question, from what I've gathered." King supplied, choosing to steer the conversation away from what seemed like a sensitive topic.
"And you seem to be too calm and level-headed to be called anything with Trouble. What does your parents call you?"
"They don't-they died when I was 9."
"I'm sorry kiddo."
"It's fine. It's been 5 years." Seeing the unasked question in Chris's eyes he continued: "We had no one who could take care of us, so we were put in the foster system. Dylan fought like hell to not get us separated and they listened. We've stayed with the same foster parents for a couple of years now."
"I take it Dylan is your older brother?"
"Yes sir. He is the best in the world. At least in my world. When he turns 18 he'll get custody of me, although our foster parents think he should focus on school."
"What do you guys want to do?"
"No idea, I've never been here before."
"A tour it is then." Chris said and started showing Sean around. Once they were out of earshot Donnie turned towards King:
"Thank you for letting him stay."
"You were already punished and your chores can wait. I know how much you've missed him."
"Still. You didn't have to, but you did."
"I'd like to get to know him as well as his family."
"I have met his foster parents a few times and they are nice so you don't have to worry."
"You are getting too observant Bud."
"Can't help it when I spend my days with you guys, Nate, Mam and Dad."
"You might have a point there." King smiled.
A/N: I'm in love with my three new characters and can't wait to write more stories of the adventures they all will get up to sooner or later. AJ from Bullied-the Other Side will also make an appearance sooner or later in either this story or a new one. And just wait until Tony meets the whole gang, who knows what will happen then?! Hope you liked it and as always any reviews are welcomed as a writing boost.