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It was a hard business, saving the world.
Actually, the saving the world bit was the easy part, relatively speaking. Afterwards, it was months of media, paperwork, and ignoring the grief building in his chest.
It has hard enough to lose his best friend. But losing his son, too? That was unbearable. So Hercules Hansen did what he always did. He put his head down and shouldered through everything because he was the new Marshall. He had to be strong. He had to put on the brave face. He had to—
He lost his son. His beautiful, loud, unruly son.
It was late and his paperwork was all filed but he didn’t want to go to his room just yet. The Shatterdome has mostly been emptied out of people with just a few staff members remaining. People had family, friends, lives to go back to. Herc rubbed his chin, wincing at the stubble there. His uniform was rumpled, except for his jacket that lay on a chair. His eyes swept over yet another press release for Mako and Raleigh until they started to burn. He squeezed them tight, rubbing away the tiredness. But it lingered on him like a bad cold. He growled in frustration, throwing the packet on his desk and rested his head in his hands. Unbidden, a few tears leaked out. He wished he hadn’t sent Max to stay with Tendo for the night. He was still embarrassed to cry in front of the mutt.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and someone stuck their head in. “Herc? Are you decent?”
He straightened up, rubbing his eyes. “Becket. Aren’t you supposed to be in….” He glanced over his desk, trying to find the schedule.
Raleigh chuckled. “Los Angeles. And that was five days ago. Mako and I just got back.” The man stepped into his office, giving him a scrutinizing look. “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine. Just sick of all this.” He gestured to his desk. “Never thought I’d be back behind a desk.” To make a show of it, he turned back to his computer.
“Marshall.” Raleigh’s voice was quiet. “Tendo sent me because he’s worried. Have you slept at all? When was the last time you ate?”
Herc stared at him, annoyance rising higher. That cheeky little- “None of that is your concern. Don’t forget, I’m your superior officer, Becket,” he snapped.
If Raleigh looked bothered by his temper, he didn’t show it. In fact, he sat down on the chair in front of his desk. A bottle of the expensive whisky Herc liked was slid across from him.
“I’ll make you a deal, Marshall Hansen,” said Raleigh. “You come back to my hotel and let me give you some proper food and you can have this.” Seeing the hesitation on Herc’s face, he wheedled, “Come on, I was put up in a nice place. And if you say no, I’ll send Mako in after you. And she won’t be nearly as nice as me.”
“Alright. You drive a hard bargain, but I’ll go.”
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The hotel was more luxurious than anything Herc had seen in years, possibly ever. He would have thought a place like this would have been heavily affected by the war. He shared this thought with Raleigh who suddenly looked very bleak.
“Yeah, apparently people want to see the devastation up close and personal. Tourism has been steadily going up in coastal cities like this.” He produced a key and slid it in to the door and added, “Anything that was left standing is being booked solid. Locals are happy that some of the economy is being rejuvenated. Hell, I even heard of suvivors being tour guides and telling their story for money.”
Herc snorted in disgust. “I thought Geiszler was bad, with his tattoos.”
Raleigh opened the door and stepped inside. The lights automatically came on. The room was huge, with windows overlooking Hong Kong. Raleigh took off his sweater and threw it on the couch. The t-shirt he had underneath still looked too big on him.
“You didn’t answer my question, you know. When did you sleep? And ate? And a power bar at your desk doesn’t count.”
Herc wanted to argue but he was just so tired. “I had a sandwich this morning, mother hen. And I…don’t really sleep much these days.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Too much work,” he finished lamely.
Raleigh nodded and said, “I’ll order room service and you go run a bath. No offense, but I think you need one.” Raleigh moved to the phone but stopped when he saw Herc wasn’t moving.
“Why are you doing this, Becket?”
Raleigh sighed. “Because you look like you need a break. Every time we’re back in Hong Kong, you are cooped up in your office, running the show, and dealing with assholes who have no idea what it was like. You deserve to relax, Herc. Even for a night. I know you’re missing Chuck.” Herc bristled at the name, but didn’t respond. “I know you feel like you shouldn’t stop working or even be happy because you’re betraying his memory, but you’re not. Chuck may have been an ass,” Herc hiccupped-laughed at that. “But he wouldn’t want you torturing yourself over his death.”
Herc hoarsely said, “How do you know?”
Raleigh stepped forward cautiously as if he was afraid Herc was going to bolt. Seeing no reaction, he kept stepping until he was in front of the other man. “Because I felt the same
way when Yancy died. And Mako felt the same when Stacker died.” He gently gripped Herc’s shoulder. “You’re not alone in this. Don’t shut yourself away from us.”
Herc leaned forward and pressed his forward to Raleigh’s shoulder. Something cracked in his heart and the tears he had been fighting for so long welled up. He gripped Raleigh, trying to stop the man from pulling away. But Raleigh wasn’t going anywhere. He held Herc, cupping the back of his head while he cried, gently running his fingers over the buzz cut. The two men stayed like that until Herc stepped back. He rubbed his cheeks and cleared his throat. “Sorry. That was…sorry.”
Raleigh shook his head and closed the space between them again. “Don’t be. It’s alright.” His voice was quiet and Herc got the notion he was being soothed, like a dog or a spooked horse. He didn’t find that totally disagreeable. Raleigh murmured, “Seriously though, you should use the tub. That thing is bigger than some bedrooms.” And with that, the younger man walked to the bathroom.
Raleigh wasn’t kidding. The thing was huge, but had some blankets and pillows in there. Raleigh went slightly red and pulled them out. He muttered, “Bed’s too soft, you know? Can’t really sleep in it.” And Herc did know. A lifetime of military quarters had made him wince at anything softer than a board. The bed in the other room looked pristine and feather-filled. Raleigh must have tossed and turned for hours on that thing.
Herc fiddled with the taps, getting the temperature just right. He started to unbutton his shirt but turned back when he noticed Raleigh was staring at him hopefully. Oh. “Becket, I should warn you. I usually undress when I bathe.”
Now it was Raleigh’s turn to be embarrassed. He sputtered and looked at the floor. “I..I know. I just…I was hoping…” He looked up through his eyelashes and if Herc wasn’t so tired, that would have done something to his libido. “I wanted to help. If you want, of course.”
Herc continued to unbutton his shirt. The offer was tempting. When he and the Beckets had run together in Manilla, he knew the younger Raleigh was flirting with him and it was only the glares from Yancy that had stopped him from reciprocating. Well, a lot had changed since then. He shrugged out of his shirt and let his pants and underwear fall. Raleigh didn’t blush, thankfully, but his eyes did widen when he took in Herc’s body.
Herc sunk into the water, sighing when the heat soaked into his muscles. His head lulled back and he was saved from a painful bump by Raleigh cradling his head. The other man had pulled off his shirt and was perched up on the edge of the tub. Raleigh gently guided Herc’s head to comfortable relax on the rim before grabbing shampoo and conditioner.
Soon, Raleigh was washing his hair, gently massaging his head and scalp to ease the tension. Herc just closed his eyes and let the younger man do whatever he wanted, only moving when Raleigh told him to. His touches were soft, leaving his skin tingling. One by one, Herc’s muscles unwound and he relaxed into the warm water. It had been a long time since he had been able to use a bathtub. Showers were common while being a ranger. This was a luxury no one could afford.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Raleigh stood and fetched his shirt. “Hang on, that’s probably room service. I got us dumplings and peking duck. If that’s okay?” The younger man ducked his head.
Herc stretched and groaned softly. “Raleigh, you could feed me rocks with salt and I would eat it.”
The younger man laughed and went to answer the door. Herc got up and found a fluffy towel to dry himself off. He pulled his pants back on, not bothering with his shirt. Back in the main room, Raleigh was setting up the dishes with steaming food that had Herc’s mouth watering.
The dinner was quiet but comfortable. Herc didn’t feel like talking and Raleigh seemed to understand that. The food was delicious and Herc privately was thankful that there were no more rations. He watched as Raleigh cleaned his plate before pushing it away. At least he was eating full meals. He pushed his plate away as well and leaned back in his chair. The exhaustion of the last few days had caught up with him.
Raleigh had seemed to pick up on that and he smiled before saying, “Come on, Marshall. Time for bed.” Herc stood and stripped out of his pants again before collapsing on the feather-soft bed. Raleigh was right, it was too soft. But he was so tired that it would have to do. The other man turned to leave but Herc gripped his wrist.
“Stay,” Herc said softly. “Come on.”
Raleigh slipped his shirt and pants off, leaving behind a pair of boxers. He slid into bed and stayed a respectable distance away until Herc wrapped an arm around him and pulled him close. The two of them got comfortable and were drifting off to sleep when Herc said, “Raleigh?”
The other man stirred. “Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
Raleigh didn’t respond but Herc could feel his smile like warm sunshine on his soul.