Daddy
Summary: Brunch is enjoyed, drinks are served, someone calls Gio a daddy, Ariana is not amused. And Gold receives punishment for a crime he and Silver committed in their teen years.
This is gonna be a series, it's gonna go on ao3 at some point idk, everyone is an adult of legal drinking age on Pasio, whatever that is, lol
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“You’ve gotta do it, Silver” Archer said, nervously peeking behind the curtain toward the loud, drunken mess outside.
“No. No way in hell am I going out there,” Silver crossed his arms over his chest, he didn’t have a death wish.
“Somebody has to go out there!” Petrel cried, throwing his arms up in the air. It was chaos, pandemonium, it was brunch.
“I’ll do it.” Giovanni stood up from the couch, despite his words, he looked anything but sure.
“Boss, no!” Archer begged, “If you go out there, they’ll eat you alive.”
In a rare show of emotion, Silver grabbed his father’s sleeve, shaking his head, “Dad-” Giovanni gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.
“I love you Silver,” With a deep breath, Giovanni steeled himself, he gave his son a final nod as he opened the door, stepping out into the madness that had taken over his pool area.
Thirty pairs of eyes turned to look at the mafia boss, never had he been more afraid, yet he still put on a charming smile, opening his arms wide,
“I hope everyone is having a great time!”
He was met with a chorus of cheering, he looked around for his son-in-law, the young man was vomiting over the railing onto the beach below his infinity pool. Silver was in for a time later.
“I came to see if you all were interested in some different food?” He gestured toward the untouched buffet table.
“No but you can get us some more champagne!” Came a shout from a voice he didn’t recognize, though it may have been one of the Galarian gym leaders,
“Well you have-” Giovanni started, there was no way they were getting more alcohol.
“NO! BRING TEQUILA!” He knew that voice, Lorelei, despite her nerdy demeanor she was a wild party girl when she drank, back when he was still a gym leader, he’d been to enough holiday parties to know to not bring out the tequila.
“Oh! Tequila, yes let’s do it!” Nessa cried from the flamigo pool floatie she was lounging on, he actually knew her fairly well, both of them worked out at the same gym in Pasio at the same very early hour. They exchanged workout tips,
“Blah! No, get us some gin!” Olena said stumbling over to lean heavily on Lady Diantha,
“Only you like gin, you Galarian tramp!” Giovanni didn’t recognize that voice even a bit, luckily Olena didn’t seem to hear it.
“I’ll send out some gin and tequila, how does that sound?” Giovanni asked, bluffing heavily. There were cheers as he quickly returned inside.
“Boss?” Archer asked in a weak voice, Giovanni just shook his head, he looked at one of the waiting servants,
“Please empty my tequila and gin into decanters, then fill up the bottles with water.”
“Yes Mr. Giovanni,” the young man said before disappearing into the other room,
Silver barked out a laugh, “Depending on how old those bottles are, they’re pretty much all water anyway,”
Giovanni and Archer turned to the redhead, lifting their eyebrows in an identical fashion, Silver shrugged,
“What? Ethan and I used to sneak in and steal your booze,”
Giovanni rubbed the bridge of his nose, Silver was too old to ground now, but he’d be on drunken brunch duty next month.
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“Oh my arceus, he is such a daddy!” Olivia squealed drinking what she thought was a tequila heavy margarita, luckily she and the rest of the brunch attendees were too drunk to realize Giovanni’s double cross.
“Yessss, seriously, you’re so lucky that you got to tap that, Ariana!” Serena sighed, leaning heavily onto a very passed out Jasmine’s shoulders.
“Excuse me?!” The rocket executive’s face morphed from peacefully drunk to absolutely disgusted, “I would never! That’s disgusting!” She stood up, enraged, her watered down drink spilling all over the table, no one was sober enough to care.
Ethan developed a case of the giggles as he watched and listened to the scene unfold.
“But aren’t you Silver’s mom, and Giovanni is his dad?” Dawn asked, tilting her head, Ethan spit out the sip he had just taken.
“NO!” Ariana shouted, she slammed her drink down on the table, storming off to where Wallace was braiding Cynthia’s hair, plopping down and glaring at the rest of the guests,
Between laughs Ethan explained, “Ari is Gio’s cousin, not Silv’s mom.”
Varying degrees of shock passed the faces around the pool, Crys and Lyra already knew, as did most of the Kanto guests.
“I know what we say doesn’t leave the pool, but feel free to spread that around,” Ethan said with a laugh, he looked down at his drink. He could feel himself sobering up. He had a bad feeling about the alcohol content in the liquor bottles as soon as they were brought out, he (and Silver) had already enjoyed the effects, and these drinks were probably almost entirely water.
Payback’s a bitch, ain’t it?
“Auntie? You still conscious?” Kiawe’s voice called from the gate,
“Cyn, Wallace, let’s go,” Lance appeared behind the younger man, apparently sent to retrieve Wallace for Steven,
One by one the various partners, rivals, lovers, and coworkers came to pick up the drunken brunch crowd. Ariana was escorted to the executive’s villa by Petrel, who had chosen the shortest straw, she complained loudly and bitterly that after all of these years people still think she’s Giovanni’s lover. He just nodded along, silently crying.
Ethan leaned back on the pool chair, everyone was gone, grunts would be cleaning up the mess soon, he could lay out a bit longer, his head was already killing him, the problem with day drinking was the day hangovers that followed much too quickly.
“Feeling like shit?” Ethan tentatively opened an eye, Silver stood above him, a smirk playing on his lips. Ethan didn’t respond, only laid his arm over his eyes to block out the sun and Silver’s smug look.
“Did your dad serve us the…” he trailed off at Silver’s grimace, confirming that they had been found out, years later.
“Shit.”
“Yeah.”
“He mad?”
“I have to babysit your next brunch”
Ethan let out a laugh despite himself, only for Silver to grab his chair and dump him in the water. At least Silver stuck around to make sure his husband didn’t drown.
Another successful brunch.
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Part One / Part Two (You are Here) / Part Three
A03
Hopper had undersold Harrington's condition.
Wayne hadn't expected anything pretty, but the face that turned to them as they walked through the door almost had him freezing in place.
Black eye, bruised chin, split lip.
More and more bruises, some faded and some very new, trailing down the kids neck.
The rest was hidden by his preppy little polo shirt, but Wayne didn't doubt that there were more.
Harrington tried to stand when they entered the room and the way he moved--entirely unbalanced, clearly in a lot of pain--made Wayne think the only thing the kid really needed was a hospital.
Because Steve Harrington hadn't just been beaten.
He'd been tortured--and very recently strangled.
(Abruptly, Wayne realized that Hopper had implied the boy had been in the mall fire--just as much as he implied the mall fire was anything but.
He also hadn't stated how Harrington had escaped the Suites trying to break into his house.)
"Sit down." Hopper commanded, and Wayne expected Harrington to do anything but listen.
Say something cocky, or act the part of a demanding little shit maybe, despite the condition he was in.
Instead the kid just sighed in relief and dropped like a stone, right back into the chair.
Hopper came around his desk, talking all the while. "Steve, this is Wayne. Wayne, Steve."
"Hello Sir." Steve croaked politely. His voice was wrecked, no doubt from the necklace of finger shaped bruises around his neck.
"You're going to stay with him for a while, and you're gonna pay him for the privilege." Hopper informed him, as he began digging around his desk. "Money, chores, whatever Wayne wants."
Wayne held his gaze as Steve turned to appraise him.
Would Harrington pitch a fit?
Would he look at Wayne's work clothes, streaked with dirt and sweat, with the name of the warehouse embroidered in the corner and crinkle up his nose, just like his daddy did?
Hopper didn't lie, but a part of Wayne wanted to see just how different this Harrington was. If the respectful demeanor was an act done for Hopper.
Or perhaps, Hopper had mentioned Steve's father for a reason, instead of his mother. Did he adopt her ice-like approach to life?
Micro managing and long-held grudges were Stella Harrington’s game, and she excelled at it.
Steve however, did nothing of the sort, instead settling with the situation in a way that reminded Wayne far too strongly of the men and women who'd come home from war.
"Okay." The kid said simply, after a long moment of consideration. He turned back to Hopper. "But we need to tell the rest of the Par--"
Here he cut a look back to Wayne, correcting himself. "the kids. I don't want them showing up at my house trying to find me and freaking out."
"They wouldn't--" Jim paused, fingers freezing from the rummaging they'd been doing. "they absolutely would, goddammit." He muttered darkly.
"I'll tell the kids. The only thing I want you doing right now is laying low. I need to get a hold of Owens, but it's gonna take time to do that, and more time to fix this, so as of right now, Harrington? You're on vacation." He pointed sternly, as if Steve might argue.
The kid looked too tired and messed up to bother trying.
"I mean it. You're out of the country, where is anybody's guess. No one's seen you and no one better be seeing you, got it?" His voice held firm, and Wayne had to blink because the tone here wasn't one of a police chief warning a teenager--but of a father talking to his son.
He knew, because his own voice did that now. Took on a worried tone that masqueraded as something more like annoyance and seriousness.
"Yes, Sir." Harrington said, remaining weirdly compliant. "Consider me gone."
A hand came up to briefly press above one eye, and Wayne wondered if the kid had been looked over, or if they had just crammed him into Hopper's office without offering so much as a tissue box.
How many painkillers did they have back at the house? Wayne usually kept a good bottle around, but Steve was going to need more than that…
He found himself once again cataloging Steve's wounds, this time comparing them to the medicine cabinet he had at home.
"I expect you to be a damn good house guest, you hear me?" Hopper continued, trying to cut a menacing figure. He finally found what he was looking for; pulling out a large, padded envelope.
He handed it over to Harrington, who took it without looking, shoving it into the duffle bag he'd had sitting at his feet.
There was a smudge of red on the handle of said bag, that matched perfectly up to a shittily done wrap on Steve's right hand.
Wayne mentally added 'buy more bandages' to his list.
Steve nodded at Hopper again. "Yes, Sir."
Jim’s eyes narrowed. "Quite that, you know I hate that."
The briefest glimmer of mischief crossed Harrington's face. "Sorry, Sir. Won't happen again, Sir."
'Ahh.' Wayne thought. 'So there's a teenager in there after all.'
Jim rolled his eyes. "Get out of my office."
"Thanks Hop." Harrington said, finally dropping that odd obedience, a hint of a smile on his battered face.
He stood, and Wayne had to stop himself from offering an arm out as Steve reached for his bag and limped towards him.
He paused right before he left Hopper's office, hand on the doorframe.
"You'll check up on Robin too, right?" He asked, and for the first time his tone took on something more alive--and filled with worry. "And Dustin? Erica?"
"Dustin and his mom are finally taking me up on my suggestion to see their family in Florida for a while, and the Sinclairs are taking a sabbatical from Hawkins. I'm working on the Buckley's." Hopper drummed his fingers on the desk. "So far, no one else besides you and El have been targeted, and we're going to keep it that way."
Steve let out a breath, and while Wayne could tell the worry hadn't left him, he could almost physically see Steve force himself to put it away.
Another act that was far beyond the kid's years.
A different officer popped up as they walked down the hall towards the exit, waving his hand madly. "Harrington! Chief says you forgot this!" He barked.
(Or tried to anyway. Callahan wasn’t the most aggressive of officers and frankly, never would be.)
A slim sports bag was held in his hands, and Steve nearly tripped over his own feet when he tried to turn and claim it.
"I'll get it." Wayne said, knowing his tone sounded gruff.
No use for it. He could either sound gruff or sound sad, and Wayne knew better than to start off the relationship with yet another hurt young man by acting sad.
Pity wasn't gonna win him any favors here.
He took the bag, slinging it over his shoulder, uncaring of the wince on Harrington's face until something sharp poked at his shoulder.
Several somethings, in fact.
"What the hell do you got in this thing?" He asked once they hit the parking lot, voice low as he escorted Steve to his truck.
"Just a baseball bat, sir." Steve said, in the exact same tone Eddie used every time he thought he was bein’ slick.
Considering the thing in the bag could have passed for a baseball bat if not for the sharp pokey bits, it wasn’t a bad attempt. Steve just hadn’t accounted for the fact that Wayne lived with Eddie.
An unfair advantage, really.
‘Least there can’t be any baby racoons in the damn bag.’ Wayne thought idly.
Went on to gently put the bat in the backseat, watching as the kid struggled to lift himself into the truck.
"You can drop that, I take too being called Sir about as well as Hop does." He said, keeping his tone nice and calm, hoping to ease into calling Steve out on his lie.
Fussed with a few dials on the stereo, giving Steve an excuse to take his time before starting the engine and taking the long way home.
Wayne wanted to talk a little-- without the chance of Ed’s interrupting.
"Son,” He started off. “I was born in the morning, but not this morning. I'm hoping to make the next few weeks as easy as I can for both of us, and I can't do that if you're starting off with a lie."
Steve blinked, turning to face him in a matter that was too fast for his injuries. He didn't bother hiding the hurt it caused him, but his voice stayed even as he spoke.
"What do you mean Si--Wayne."
"Nice catch.” Wayne said. “We’ll get you there yet.”
It was a trick he'd learned with Eddie--little tidbits of praise went a long way when it came to gaining trust.
Especially with kids who hadn't ever been given much.
Harrington seemed smart to it, or perhaps was just hesitant to speak in general because he remained quiet, not offering up any info. No further lies, but nothing towards the truth, neither.
Which was fine. Wayne didn’t think a little pushing would hurt.
"That bat of yours was digging into my shoulder like a bee swarm." Wayne continued, when it became clear Steve wasn't talking. "I'm more a fan of football than baseball, but last I checked they hadn't changed the design of a bat."
"What teams?" Steve asked, perking up a touch. "Of football. Which ones are yours?"
Wayne could ignore it of course, or demand Steve give him an answer to the question he asked.
He did neither. "I’m liking the Colts since they got moved here. You?"
"Green Bay Packers, though I like the Colts too--that trade in 84’ was crazy." Steve said. After a second he proved that answering instead of pushing was the right move because he added; "What did Hopper tell you? About…" He trailed off, making a gesture Wayne didn't bother trying to interpret.
"He said some things. I've guessed a few others." Wayne admitted. Cut a little look out of the corner of his eye as he came to a stop sign. "I know the feds are real interested in you after Starcourt."
Steve took that in, hands tightening on the handle.
"It really is a baseball bat." He said, a little fast and with the tiniest hint of that challenge Wayne had been looking for. "It just also has nails hammered into one end."
Wayne took that in with one nice, slow blink.
"A bat with nails in it." He said, and it made a hell of a lot of sense compared to the sensation he'd felt carrying the case. "You use it against anyone?"
"Some of the feds." Steve admitted, and even with his eyes on the road Wayne could tell he was being stared at.
Judged.
Not in the way one expected a rich kid to judge, but in the way Eddie had, those first few months he'd lived here. The times when he'd push, just a little, to see what Wayne's reaction would be.
Eddie hadn't done it in a damn long time, but Wayne recognized the behavior nonetheless.
"Anybody else?" He asked.
"Nobody human." Steve replied.
"Alright." Wayne said, and made a mental note to drop all questions related to that.
He didn't need to know, definitely didn't want to know, and had a feeling if he did know he'd find himself being watched by the same spooks after Steve.
"I've got a few deck boxes that lock on my porch. Think you'd be agreeable to leaving the bat in one?"
Steve paused, hand clenching tighter around the strap of his duffel bag. "If you gave me a key so I could get it in an emergency, I'd be happy to."
He tried to sound calm, even a little charming in that sort of upper-class businessman sort of way, but the fear bled through.
The kid wasn't happy separating from the bat, and given it sounded like it might have saved his life recently, Wayne understood the hesitation.
With an internal apology to Eddie, he promptly threw his nephew under the proverbial bus. "I've got my nephew at home and he'd be far too interested in it, is all. Blades and weapons and such tend to attract him, and I don't need to be rushing anyone to the ER."
All of which were very true facts (one Wayne learned the time he'd allowed Eddie to bring a sword home, only for him to nearly cut his own nose off winging the thing around) but he figured it might make Steve more amenable to separating from it.
Sure enough, some of the tenseness bled out of Steve's shoulders. "Yeah that's fair."
The truck hit a few potholes as they finally turned into the trailer park, and the kid hissed, a quiet sound.
Judging by the uncomfortable wince, and hands clenched into his jeans something painwise was giving him trouble.
"When was the last time you took a pain pill?" Wayne asked, doing his best to weave around the other holes that dotted the gravel roads.
Steve blinked. "Uh…"
"You take any today son?"
Steve his head.
"Didn't have time to grab it." He said, offering a sad look to his pack.
Course he hadn't.
"Let's get you inside then and get you some." Wayne said with a sigh. Thankfully Eddie's van wasn't here--Wayne was fairly certain he had band practice today but knowing him it could be a million other things.
Just meant he had to acclimate Steve as fast as he could, to try and get the poor guy settled before Ed’s came in.
He just hoped life and lady luck would work with him, for once.
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