Pride Before Fall

who: Alec and Ethan
where: Around Town/Nighthawks
when: Early morning

Sleep was impossible for Ethan. After sulking his way through the streets for most of the evening, that pressure had settled firmly between his shoulders, immovable, heavy. He’d laid there for hours next to the dozing Corey and Snow--the latter lightly snoring--but when it became clear that nothing was going to happen when he closed his eyes, he dug out his pack of cigarettes, grabbed the lantern, and headed back up to the streets.

He didn’t go far, settling down outside of the library steps, rubbing at his bare arms against the early morning chill, hurriedly lighting the first of the last of his rolled cigarettes, smoking one to warm up first, and then a second to brood with.

If Alec’s doctor knew he was attempting his daily ten mile run, he was quite certain that he’d either be tied to the bed or committed to the hospital until the professionals deemed his leg fit for activity. But Alec was never very good with following doctors’ orders so it was in the coolness of that morning that he was half-jogging down the block after making his circuit around Fontaine.

The night before had been fairly calm after him and Marian left the gallery. They sat on the back stoop of Nighthawk’s with an apple pie and bowl of vanilla ice cream just being quiet. Marian hadn’t cried like Alec had worried about and they just spent the evening contemplating the deliciousness of apple pie.

Once he reached the library, his thigh felt like it was on fire and he was no longer jogging but bravely limping the last few yards to sit down on the steps of the Alexandrian Library, for the moment ignoring the large teen sitting nearby and stretched his sore leg out in front of him. Unlike Ethan, the cool air didn’t bother him in his own sleeveless grey shirt, defined arms goosepimpled under the United States Army crest on his left arm. The thick, ropey scars from his injury peeked out from the end of his shorts and he tried not to groan as the muscle stiffened up.

Ethan had been watching the man run up the sidewalk, if only because he was the only interesting thing to look at at this hour. He’d looked away again, figuring that the man would just limp past him, but then he was on the steps near him. This close, Ethan could see the rather gnarly looking scar on the man’s leg and he winced. His own scar wasn’t as bad as that, and while he’d gotten other fairly nasty scars simply by virtue of being an overgrown kid who tended to get himself into trouble, he’d never felt anything that looked as bad as that. How the man was jogging at this hour in this chill, he had no idea.

He flicked the butt of his cigarette into the street, digging into his pocket to grab another. “That looks like it was a bad idea,” he said, cigarette between his lips, hands cupped around the end of it to protect his match’s flame.

Alec glanced over with a half-surprised chuckled and nodded. “Yeah, I’m hearing the ‘I told you so’s right about now,” he said. It was true. He could hear everyone yelling at him if he thought about it hard enough. He looked away and tried to stretch out his leg. “But I’m sick of them trying to order bed rest. Fuck ‘em.” It was all very casual, but it was also clear that Alec was pretty frustrated and it was rare that he allowed himself to sound frustrated. He looked back at the teen with a slightly raised eyebrow. “What are you doing up so early?” He didn’t say ‘shouldn’t you be home?’ or ‘You shouldn’t be smoking’. He figured ‘homeless’ and ‘fuck authority’ upon further inspection, especially if that scar on his face was any indication. He was a big kid, there was no doubt about that, but there was a thinness that didn’t quite belong with the broadness of his shoulders and the size of his hands. Yep. Homeless.

“Doesn’t look like it worked out so well for you though,” Ethan said with a light smirk, though it was without malice. He was thinking a bit about Corey, how he was incessantly telling her to take it easy, and how this was likely her when she wasn’t looking. Nursing her side because she was pushing herself too hard, no matter how often he told her to be more careful. He shook his head, shaking his match and flicking it out into the street as well, exhaling smoke. “Can’t sleep.”

“Mmm, I know how that is,” Alec said. Nightmares for the most part. Creaks in the house. He was certain he’d slept better on the cold ground in France than he did in a comfortable bed here.

“What about you?” Ethan asked, taking his time with his cigarette now, since he had company and he was running out. “Do you always go running before the sun comes up even when people tell you not to?”

“Every day for the past twenty-odd years, rain or shine.” Give or take. Unless he was in combat then, of course, he wasn’t able to. “Ten miles if the weather permits. Five miles in the winter.” As if either length was just mere feet. “No better way than to center yourself and just get out of your own head for awhile without people bothering you or thinking about things that you’d rather not think. Just the sound of your heartbeat. Focus on the breathing. Ground beneath your feet.”

Ethan snorted a bit, his eyebrows raising. He was saying ten miles like it was nothing. Ethan was pretty sure that he couldn’t run one mile without doubling over gasping. Smoking like he did certainly wasn’t helping, and neither was malnutrition. “If you say so.” But he was taking in what the man had said, looking at him with some curiosity. Focusing on nothing but the sounds of his own body, putting thoughts that he didn’t want out of his mind. And he certainly had enough thoughts just like that.

Alec just smirked a bit. “The way you’re sucking that thing down, I bet you couldn’t go one,” Alec pointed out. “Kid like you? You should be able to run circles around me. You know, I’ve heard they put rat poison in those things. All that smoke and tar you’re sucking in? Should go work on putting out those fires. Just as bad.” He nodded in the direction the smoke scent was coming from, the soft glow across the river. Whoever was lighting places up was getting dangerous.

Ethan shrugged at Alec, inhaling deeply on his cigarette, the cherry bright and glowing. “Some people run,” he said, lungs full. “Some people smoke.” Exhaling. He didn’t really remember how he’d gotten into the habit, but now sometimes he stole cigarettes before he stole food for himself. He didn’t feel as hungry when he was smoking, like he did now--had he eaten that day? He couldn’t really remember. Doubtful. He looked out over at the glow, frowning. He was suddenly gripped with an immediate, utterly irrational fear that Dodge had torched the apartment--but there’s no way he would have put the boys in that kind of danger. It looked like it was coming from that same area, but there was no way it was the same building. Still, he hoped the boys were alright.

It was Alec’s turn to shrug. Not his lungs that were burning up. It wasn’t to say he’d never smoked, but it was a habit that he didn’t indulge in often. “And some people eat. You hungry? I was thinking breakfast since my jog is out of the question. My treat. I’m sure you’ve blown all your money on those things.” It was a very casual and nonchalant, as if the two of them had been friends who were contemplating what to do next. Which wasn’t very far from the sudden sense of kinship he felt with this teenager. There was just something there, a look in his eyes and the way he spoke that struck something familiar in Alec.

Ethan regarded the man for a moment, conflicted. On the one hand, he was a hungry teenage boy, and a free meal wasn’t something that he was all that inclined to turn down. On the other... he hated the idea of owing anybody anything, especially strangers he met at odd hours of the morning. “I don’t even know you,” he said, hesitance and wanting warring for control of his face.

“That’s right. Sorry, I’ve been told that I have terrible manners sometimes.” Bracing himself, Alec stood and came a bit closer so he could put more of his weight on his good leg and extended a hand. “Alec Ravenwood.” It was a name that was tossed around with power, Alec knew this, but he just never considered himself someone with ‘power’. He was just Alec, a military grunt who was lucky to be alive and have a job for him when he came home.

Ethan had started to hold his hand out when he heard the man’s name, then suddenly froze. “Ravenwood?” he echoed. He pulled his hand away, wiping it off on his pants before shaking Alec’s hand. “Ravenwood Ravenwood? Steel mill Ravenwood? Ridiculously wealthy Ravenwood? Huh.” He withdrew his hand once the shake was over, looking at Alec with some surprise. So this guy he’d just been talking to, rubbing at his sore leg and going on a jog in the middle of the morning was a millionaire?

“Well, there’s that,” Alec acquiesced and shoved his hands in his pockets, squinting a bit in thought. “I usually go by Alec. I feel more comfortable with that. Or you could call me ‘Captain’, that’s my rank.” He was very aware that if his life hadn’t changed all those years ago, if he didn’t go into the academy, he would be smarmy and grinning and waiting for this teenager to fall at his feet. But he was a humble man. He knew what he had but that didn’t mean that he was any better than someone. It was kind of complicated when he thought about it this early though. “And you?”

Ethan cringed a bit, though he followed it closely by a crooked grin. “I’ll just say Alec,” he said. He carefully ground out the cherry of his cigarette, then tucked it back into the pack to relight later. He started to introduce himself, but stopped himself. He wasn’t Roach anymore, although the name had been on the tip of his tongue. He pushed the pack into his pocket, standing up. “I’m Ethan,” he said. It was the first time he’d introduced himself as such in years. “Ethan Grey.”

“Grey, huh? Any relation to the boxer?” Alec asked curiously.” Grey Bear Grey?”

Ethan blinked, stunned. His dad had died fairly young, but he’d been a huge hit in the boxing world before the Syndicate came in and ripped all of that apart. A brief, blinding light--he didn’t expect most people to know him. So to be presented with that knowledge so suddenly was something of a shock. “Yeah,” he said, swallowing hard and looking away for a moment. “He was my dad.”

Way to go, Ravenwood. Alec suppressed his own wince and felt like a tool. “I was a big fan of his. I’m sorry about his passing,” he said apologetically because what did you say to that? With that confirmation though, Alec’s interest in Ethan was definitely bigger. “So, Nighthawks? Order whatever you want off the menu.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry too.” Ethan stuck his hands in his pockets, hunching a bit. Despite the scar and the malnourishment that made his face thinner than it should, he looked a lot like his father. Elijah “Grey Bear” Grey had been a giant, bigger than Ethan’s six-feet-four-inches and definitely several pounds heavier with muscle. “Alright,” he said, agreeing finally. Now with his past heavier on his mind than ever, the last thing he really wanted to do was be alone.

Even hunched in on himself, Ethan was a good few inches taller than him. And now there was a definite ‘brooding face’ on the kid. Alec knew how that felt. “Good, then let’s go.” He clapped Ethan on the shoulder and limped down the steps, assuming that Ethan would follow him. His mind was already turning. He’d heard about the deaths of the popular boxer and his wife not long after he came home, which meant that Ethan either had gone into the orphanage or immediately hit the streets. Either way, it was clear that Ethan was homeless and had been for awhile.

Ethan winced a bit when Alec clapped his shoulder (pretty sure someone had punched or hit him with something there during the fight) but he didn’t make a big deal of it, walking alongside Alec. He knew where Nighthawks was, thought he hadn’t eaten there since his parents were alive. “I can’t pay you or anything,” he said, since he still didn’t like the idea of that hanging debt, even if it was just breakfast. “But if you need anything done... although I guess you already have people for all of that stuff.”

“You don’t owe me anything,” Alec said matter-of-factly. He knew how things went. No deed went without owing someone something or being called upon. “I know there are people out there that you have to be careful of, it’s the way of the city but I don’t work that way. The people who work for me don’t work that way. It’s that sort of mentality that is part of the reason the city is in the shape it is. Because there are those few people out there that take advantage of that. So no one ever helps each other because they’re too afraid. And it’s a never ending cycle.” Alec was very firm and adamant about that. He hated the unfairness that gripped Eidolon City. People were prevented from having the tools to help them survive. It’s why he ran the business the way he did. If he could make some kind of change to at least that one group of people, then that meant less people who were out there trying to manipulate. “I will always be honest with you. You never should have to think that I’m running some scam on you. That I’m going to track you down months or years from now and say that you owe me.” He was very honest with Ethan, and straightforward. Alec had a feeling that Ethan would appreciate it. There was a slight authoritativeness to his voice, but it wasn’t condescending. It was what his friends called his ‘Sarge’ voice. The one that laid out the plans in a way that made you feel like an equal. It wasn’t lecturing at all. That was another thing that Alec had a feeling on. That this guy didn’t need someone telling him what to do or how to think.

Ethan walked alongside Alec with some surprise. What he was saying was downright revolutionary for the world that he lived in. Nothing here came without strings, and the only things that did were the things that you stole. Even with Patrick and Dodge, there had been certain expectations there, certain stipulations. Payment for taking him in. Nothing came entirely free. “But there is a catch...?” Ethan ventured, looking at Alec expectantly.

“Do you want a catch?” Alec countered. He knew that his ‘ideas’ were unusual and he’d gone through that with Marian already. He’d gone through it with a lot of people and he figured he had a good handle of how things should go when he went into this. “We could come up with one, I guess. I buy you breakfast and you have to order anything and as much as you want.”

“That’s not a catch,” Ethan said, smirking a bit, turning towards Alec with a dubious eyebrow raised high. “That’s just saying it differently. You can’t just be buying my breakfast out of the goodness of your heart. You must want something, right? I just can’t figure out what.” Unless... Ethan cringed a bit, looking at Alec, his thoughts clear on his face.

Alec knew that look and he just raised his eyebrows. “What, you wanna go steady? Do you want me to hold your hand or something? I went out with a girl like that in high school. I just wanted to go get a milkshake and then suddenly I had to be her boyfriend. Don’t swing that way, buddy. You can open your own damn door.”

Ethan laughed, relieved, though there was still a bit of tension in his shoulders at the thought. The man who killed his family, Patrick... he’d already been prepared to bolt and it took a moment for him to relax completely again. “I’m fine with that,” he said, grinning crookedly. “But there’s still gotta be a catch.”

He knew what kind of people were out there. Alec had come across quite a few personally and had shot a few between the eyes. That sort of stand was a bit more complicated when you lived in the city. “Well then you’re going to have to come up with one because I’m at a loss.”

“Hm.” Ethan studied Alec for a moment, then looked away. Then that was just going to have to be it, then. When he figured out a way to pay Alec back for breakfast, then he’d so. Maybe it wouldn’t be today, but he’d do it eventually. There was no way he was going to leave a debt like this--a debt to a millionaire--hanging. “It’s not like you’d be a tough man to find.”

“If you really feel that you need to,” Alec said. They’d arrived at the diner and Alec opened the door and hobbled in first -- just like he said -- but he kept it from shutting until Ethan got a hold of it. He nodded good morning to one of the waitresses and led the way to his usual booth in the corner and slid into his seat. Perfect view of all entrances. “Order whatever you want. No stipulations.”

Ethan was okay with the door not being held for him. He stepped into the diner, though it felt a little odd to be in a diner like this, the fluorescent lights a little blinding, the whole place so clean and orderly. He felt more than ever like he didn’t belong here, standing there unwashed and wearing shabby clothes. He was suddenly very aware of the dirt under his fingernails and whether or not his hair was matted. He still slid into the booth across from Alec, looking down at the menu. “Kind of a generous guy, huh?”

Alec maneuvered his aching leg around so he could rest his foot up on the bench that Ethan was sitting on. It still hurt and still felt stiff and he wasn’t particularly look forward to sitting at his desk all day. “Just who I am,” he said honestly. “I was thinking breakfast so why eat alone? You look like you could use it.” It was honest, they both knew it so why evade that issue? “How long have you been on the streets?”

It was honest and Ethan could use it. He still couldn’t recall the last time he’d eaten, and considering how infrequent it was you’d think it would be easier to remember. When Alec asked how long he’d been on the streets (which he hadn’t really, he’d lived at the apartment and now he was living with Corey, but he was still a street kid) he looked somewhat sheepish. “Since I was thirteen,” he said, then frowned slightly as he tried to remember how long ago that had been. “That was... four... five years ago, I think?” He paused, his hand resting on his open menu. “Then I’ll be eighteen soon.”

“On your own?” Alec asked. He knew that some of the homeless kids banded together. A group of boys who operated a few blocks away from here he’d heard of, a group of girls not too far away too. “Shoplifting? Pickpocketing?” he tilted his head a little and smirked just slightly. “Or were you the one that stood by and glared at people until they gave you what they had?” He didn’t say it like it was a terrible thing. Ethan did what he had to do to survive.

“No, not on my own,” Ethan said, thought he did look a bit bewildered that Alec knew so much about what you had to do when you lived on the streets. “At least, not ‘til recently. I can do both, but pickpocketing doesn’t work too well, most people get suspicious right away ‘cause... well. It’s not like I blend in.” He shrugged, as though it wasn’t something that pained him. “In the group, I didn’t do anything mostly. I was just the muscle. The enforcer. The messenger even, I guess.”

“I’ve been around,” Alec said, noticing the look on Ethan’s face. “Should see what’s going on in Europe right now.” He shook his head a little sadly and was about to continue when the waitress came over to get their orders. “I’d like coffee, please. And the Banana Supreme pancakes with a side of bacon.” He looked at Ethan. “You ready or do you still need some time?”

There was a war going on, wasn’t there? It was strange... his world was so limited that it was sometimes hard to remember that there was a world beyond Eidolon City, where all kinds of important things were happening. Things like people dying, or getting nasty looking scars on their legs that kept them from jogging in the morning. “I’ll get pancakes too,” Ethan said, after a moment of stumbling. When was the last time he’d ordered food like this. “Chocolate chip. With bacon.” He looked at Alec, wondering if he’d really meant what he said about ordering whatever he wanted. “And... two scrambled eggs, with cheese.” He handed the menu over to the waitress, glancing over at Alec one more time--really testing him at this point. “And a chocolate milkshake.” Maybe his generosity wouldn’t go as far as he’d said?

Alec said nothing but he handed over his menu with a smile and the waitress bustled away. He had said Ethan could get what he wanted after all. “Did you go to school before that?” Alec asked, genuinely interested in what Ethan had been up to. What he was capable of, assessing his skills. And, more importantly, he sounded it. Genuine or not, there was a definite interest in Alec’s voice that encouraged Ethan to tell him more.

Hm. He’d been considering ordering a basket of fries as well, but decided against it since they didn’t seem to go well with breakfast. That, and he had agreed to pay Alec back in some way for all of this. “I was in an orphanage... after.” He picked up a napkin, idly pulling off shreds of it. “There was no way I was going to get adopted,” he said, shrugging broad shoulders. “I left after a couple of years.”

“It is very difficult to adopt children after they reach a certain age,” Alec said. Of course, Ethan was a bigger kid, he had the scar. He was someone who wouldn’t have a chance, but he reminded Ethan that there were other kids out there too that faced disadvantages simply because of their age. “It’s a tough thing, especially because you’re a good guy. Polite. People don’t always try take the time to see that. They just want something they can try mold into the way they want it to be. The younger the better. And they send kids back when they don’t fit. Of course, not everyone is like that, but many people view adoptable children like merchandise you can take back as long as you have the receipt.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen that too.” Ethan said, frowning. He could remember this one kid, Arthur. Artie, they called him. He put on a good face, cute kid, and when they did big visits people tended to be charmed by him. For some reason, he kept coming back to the orphanage. There was something about him that people just didn’t want. He wasn’t soft enough for them to mold, or too broken. And it wore Artie down until... people just stopped adopting him at all. Whatever happened to the kid, Ethan didn’t know. He hoped they got out, one way or another. “It doesn’t matter to me. I never wanted another family anyway...” He trailed off, looking down at the time, the words hanging in the air. I just wanted my own family back.

Alec was able to pick up on the unspoken statement and he didn’t say anything for a minute, giving Ethan time to get his own thoughts sorted. In that time, their drinks came. His coffee, Ethan’s milkshake and he took a sip of his coffee before starting to pour in the sugar. “We make do where we can, in the situations we’re in. When my parents sent me to military school, I was pretty lonely but then I started making friends and they became my family. My brothers. Closer than my brothers here. You’re able to find people that you’re able to bond with. It doesn’t make your blood family any less important to you.”

“It’s not the same,” Ethan said immediately, tugging his milkshake closer to him. “Not when they get taken from you.” He had his own little family now, with Maddy and Corey and December now too... maybe Roy, as well. Less so Dodge, now, but that didn’t mean Ethan didn’t care about what happened to him. But his parents’ deaths... that wasn’t something he wanted to get into right now. “You went to military school?”

Alec didn’t press and went right along with the subject change. It wasn’t his business. “My oldest brother died when I was fifteen. He was supposed to take on the family business. My second brother already had a job, so my third brother had to face the music. Before then, my parents let me run rampant but with all that, I needed to be ‘taught how to behave’, so they sent me off and I went to the Academy after I graduated there, entered the service, went to war, got blown up, discharged, and here I am.” As if thousands of people did the exact same thing every day. Alec didn’t think himself part of unusual circumstances. It’s just how his life turned out and he was pretty happy with it for the most part. He took another sip of his coffee and started adding the cream after deciding he’d put in enough sugar.

Ethan had taken a long sip of his milkshake, but was distracted from the splendor that he hadn’t had in years when Alec mentioned that he’d been in the service. He had said he had a rank earlier, and there was the tattoo on his arm, but it wasn’t until now that Ethan had fully put two and two together. “You were really in the war?” he asked. Ethan had thought his life was difficult, but being in the war was something entirely different.

“Yes, sir,” he said proudly. He was proud of it. “About three years that I fought. Primarily France but we were venturing west with the machine to liberate concentration camps when the accident happened and I got shipped home. That was about four years now. “Lucky to have my life and my leg and I try not take a single day for granted.” He’d lost two men in that explosion. Two brothers. Four others were injured because of his mistake but he worked very hard on not dwelling on that. “I loved the service, but I can’t say I’m also not grateful to have a desk job after all the excitement.”

“Wow,” Ethan murmured, looking at Alec with some amazement. He was just a street bully, a kid that was bigger than most that could throw his weight around if he wanted to. He hurt people often, and it rarely ever bothered him, but the streets of Eidolon City wasn’t a battlefield in France or a concentration camp. He was tough for the city, but that didn’t necessarily mean he was tough elsewhere. “I don’t know if I could do that.”

“I didn’t think I could either,” Alec said honestly. “Not until my feet were hitting the soil of another country. I was terrified the entire time. I had my brothers looking at me to guide them. Make sure they could get back home safe to their families. I had a Sarge who told me once that you don’t know what kind of person you are until your faced with the horrors of humanity. On any level. War, theft, murder. All those years you have behind you, what kind of person they’ve made you. Who you are. You can’t do that when you’re a child, you’re incomplete.” It wasn’t pointed. Alec said it as explanation but he said it because he knew Ethan had some anger there, under the surface. “You don’t have the experience under your belt to be able to know what to do. And some people, they don’t face that trial of finding out who they are until they’re old and dying. Some face it maybe your age. Some mine. Everyone’s paths are different but everyone eventually finds out the kind of person they’ll be.”

“... still trying to figure that out,” Ethan said after a few quiet moments. It was hard to get much closer to the horrors of humanity than he had. He’d laid in the blood of those horrors, stared into the face of it for hours. And yet it still felt odd to call himself by his given name, he still didn’t know what he wanted to do with himself, what kind of person he wanted to be. For years he’d lived under Dodge’s arm, and now that he’d shaken it off, he had nothing. No direction. No skills beyond knowing how to cause as much damage as possible with his fists.

Alec was quiet again, studying Ethan over the rim of his mug. Almost eighteen years old, Ethan was an aimless, wandering teenager with nothing. He was a good kid, Alec could tell that. Polite, well spoken, with a sharp mind. Their food came, Ethan’s on an assortment of plates and Alec’s on a single -- just the way he liked it. “You want to figure it out?” Alec finally asked and shoved some bacon in his mouth.

Ethan was distracted from Alec studying him by the food that arrived suddenly. It had been years since he’d seen this much food laid out for him, all his, ready to eat. His chocolate chip pancakes had even come with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, melting slightly on top. His stomach growled noisily, and he looked around sheepishly for a moment, sure that the entire diner could have heard it. He had devoured half of his pancakes by the time Alec spoke. “I have to,” he said, wiping off a smudge of chocolate on his chin with the back of his hand. “I have to find my own way. Everybody that has their own place says I can stay with them but... I can’t just do that. I can’t just be a street kid forever.” Pretty soon he wouldn’t be just a kid anymore. He’d just be plain homeless.

“There’s necessity, yes. That’s a good reason, but do you want to. Do you want to become something more than what you are now?” It did sound like it, but Alec wanted to hear him say it and he thought that Ethan could benefit from hearing himself say it too. And he could help him. He just needed to make sure that the kid knew what he wanted. Or at least, knew the direction he wanted to go in.

Ethan looked at Alec for a moment, trying to take it exactly what he was he was asking for. He had a pretty good feeling that it wasn’t as simple as the obvious yes, but that there would be some deeper meaning in giving an answer. Did he want to figure out who he was, who he could be? He had been half of a person ever since he’d lost his family, and he’d tried to use other people to feel the void they’d left, to give himself a drive, a purpose. But on his own, he didn’t have one. He had nothing. “Yeah,” he said, after several minutes of quiet. “Yes. I do.”

Alec nodded slowly and worked through his pancakes as he contemplated, thinking of the pros and cons and what would be done. What were things he had to do. “I’ve got plenty of space. If you want, you can move in with me for however long you want. I wont’ make you go to school, but if you want, I can give you a job at the mill. And with a roof over your head and food on your plate, those are less things for you to worry about and, if you’ll let me help, we can work on finding out who you are.” It was, people would say, a risky and completely out of the blue offer. He was opening the door of his home to a stranger. Some teenage street boy. But that teenage street boy didn’t have anyone else. He had no leg to stand on in this world, no way to get out of the hole that he was in -- a homeless kid -- and if Alec did anything, it was give people a fighting chance and that was what he was doing here. Giving Ethan Grey a fighting chance. “You don’t have to decide now, you don’t have to decide tomorrow, but the offer is on the table. You want to stop worrying about basic survival needs, you let me know. No catch. I’m not going to enslave you or do terrible things to you. You look like you can use some help and I am more than equipped to give you some.”

Ethan had inhaled the other half of his pancakes, the rest of his bacon and most of the eggs by the time Alec spoke again. He ate so infrequently that he’d already felt full by the bacon, but he didn’t know when he would eat again and everything tasted so goddamn amazing. But when Alec suggested he move in with him--the millionaire--his fork slipped out of his hand, clattering against the plate noisily. “You want me to... live with you?” He blinked hard, frowned at Alec. “Buying me breakfast is one thing, but... I don’t know you. I just met you.”

“Which is why I said you don’t have to decide this minute,” Alec pointed out and continued eating his pancakes like nothing was wrong. “But the way I see it, you want to change, but you don’t have the means to do so. You’re homeless, and your best offers would be becoming some mob errand boy that would lead you into a life that I can guarantee you that you do not want, because anyone you have out there that you care about will be used as collateral, and the only thing laying at the end of that path is your death and destruction. I, on the other hand, have a whole house to myself so there’s plenty of room. I can get you a job at my company and you can work your way up or stay where you are. I can give you connections that you can use to become a better person, schooling, whatever you want to do. It’s stable. You don’t have to worry about when your next meal will be, where you’ll sleep, or if you’re putting someone out. You can, for once in a very long time, stop worrying about that. And, if you so choose, you may be able to see that you have the tools to help your friend or friends.”

The offer sounded... fantastic. A place to stay, guaranteed meals, a job. And it wasn’t like it would be shoddy anything--Alec was wealthier than Ethan could likely imagine and he was offering him a place in his home. Not an apartment across town in a bad neighborhood, but a room in his own house. And besides that, the freedom to do what he wanted, working, schooling if he wanted to. He could have stayed in the orphanage until he was thirty and never gotten an offer like this. “But... why? Why are you helping some guy you just met? You’re risking a lot and it’s not like you’re gaining anything by putting me up. You don’t know anything about me.” There had to be a catch. There had to be. This was just too good to be true. Things like this didn’t happen to him.

“You’d have to quit smoking, for one,” Alec said bluntly. “And if you do smoke, you have to do it outside, but I’d prefer you to start quitting. You’re going to have to start the morning jog thing -- trust me, it’ll be good for you -- and you’d have to keep your room clean. You’d have to stay out of trouble.” He shoved some pancakes into his mouth and chewed for awhile so Ethan could absorb that. “And no, I don’t know anything about you, but that doesn’t mean you don’t deserve a chance.”

Ethan sat there, stunned. There were stipulations, but they weren’t really restrictive, they weren’t dealbreakers. It wasn’t as though Alec was taking him as long as he scrubbed all of the floors in his house with a toothbrush. They were rules for his own good--quitting smoking, jogging, cleaning his room. The smoking thing would be tough but there were certainly worse things Alec could ask him to do. “You haven’t answered why, though,” Ethan said, looking down at the spread of mostly empty plates in front of him. “Just because you can, just because I want to change it... those aren’t reasons.”

“Because I want to give you a chance and I have the means to do so,” Alec said. “I think the hand you’ve been dealt sucks and if I can give you the means to get a better hand, I’ll do so. You need a place to stay, I could benefit from more human interaction. Seems like a win-win situation to me.” He gestured vaguely with his fork before stabbing into his pancakes again. “And my housekeeper could use someone to cook a feast for and ply with brownies and cookies and someone to dote on.”

Ethan was quiet, looking down at his empty plate, lone, melted chocolate chips smeared across the plate. Alec had given him reasons, but it was still “just because he could and just because Ethan needed it.” It didn’t seem fair. Any kid could have been sitting on the library steps instead of him and would be getting this same offer. Why did it have to be Ethan? And how could he move into some millionaire’s house when his friends--Corey, Dodge, the boys, Maddy--would still be stuck on the streets? He was supposed to be making his own way, not getting a second chance, nicely packaged and presented on a silver platter. It didn’t seem right. “... can I order something else?” he asked, looking up at Alec through a fall of shaggy, dark hair. “For my friend. I don’t think she’s eaten today either...”

“Go ahead and order whatever you want,” Alec reminded him. Him mentioning a friend -- a girl even -- gave Alec pause. That definitely seemed to be where the boy’s dilemma lay and he could understand that. “You’d stay rent free,” he said carefully. “So whatever money you make... it’s yours to decide what to do with. Save it, spend it... give it away.” He took a sip of coffee and looked at Ethan seriously. “This is an offer you can cash in whenever you want.” He looked out the window for a moment, seriously thinking.

“I can give you a selfish reason. God told me to be a better person. To make up for my past mistakes. Mine went off on a backroad in this little village in France. I was the one who deactivated it. Thought I did anyway. Killed two of my guys and had shrapnel buried in my leg. And I’m laying there in the hospital thinking that I don’t deserve to be there. I fucked up the wires. It’s my fault that two of my brothers are dead. But yet I’m still here and they’re not. And I pray every day to make the right choices and do the right thing. And if I can make someone’s life better, I’m going to do that. Because God has given me enough signs that I know it’s what I should do.” Setting down his mug, Alec pushed his plate away and folded his arms across the table. “I’m not some bible thumping holy roller. I’m just this guy who happens to have the tools to make your life easier. And I ask myself ‘Why did I deserve to be saved’? What made me so special that I, the one who was practically on top of that damn mine, got to live when the other two didn’t? I don’t know, but I’m trying to find out. And right now, the answer is right here, at this table. I lived so I could give you this opportunity to do something.”

Ethan ordered another stack of pancakes and bacon for Corey, staying in his seat across from Alec to wait for it. And then he was talking again and Ethan was listening, frowning slightly. It sounded so familiar, the same questions he had asked himself again and again since his parents’ death. Why them? Why not him too? He was sure that the murderer had only left him alive for his own sadistic pleasure, so he wasn’t spared. It wasn’t god or fate, it was just some sick bastard who Ethan had every intention of finding and killing some day. But he’d been hurt too--why hadn’t he died on that floor with his mother and father? If it had been by the grace of some higher power that he was still living and breathing today (and homeless and a glorified bully) then what the hell kind of good was he meant for? What could he possibly do? “I’m not that important,” Ethan said, after a few long moments of quiet. “You didn’t survive war and nearly getting blown up so you could help some street kid sleep in a bed. Trust me--I’m not what you were meant for.”

“Who says you’re not important? You? People are notorious for thinking they’re not worth something. I think you are. You’re a good kid. You present yourself in a good way. Trust me. I’ve met a bunch of people who aren’t good and I can spot ‘em a mile away,” Alec started in and his tone was firm. Not lecturing. Not ‘I’m better than you’. Just matter of fact sharing knowledge. “Houdini was homeless. Charlie Chaplin grew up on the streets before the system got him. And I’m not going to abandon your friends. If they’re ever sick or need help, you let me know and we’ll take care of it. Hell, if you really want, you can invite some to come stay, but if they say no, you shouldn’t feel bad about wanting to yourself.” He lifted his chin a little bit and his look hardened slightly, not in a threatening way, no. This was man to man. “You can’t tell me what I’m meant for, Ethan Grey. I see someone across from me who I think is capable of doing great things. Maybe not great like world peace or powerful political figure or King of the World. I see someone who cares about his people, who has a heart, who doesn’t deserve what’s been handed to him. And I’m pretty sure if anyone of your friends are worth their salt? They see it too. I’m not saying that you have to cut ties, cut connections, and forget about your past. That’s not how you grow. That’s not how you find out who you are.”

Ethan thought about it all for a while, sitting quietly across from Alec. That he could ask his friends to come along was... different. Corey he knew would refuse, since she valued what she had in the tunnels, her role, her people. And Maddy might, but she had her place in the theater. But how could he ask her and not ask Roy or Dodge or even December? Alec had made the offer to him, not to adopt all of the street kids in the city. “You said I could work for you, at the mill,” Ethan said, looking up at Alec again. “Could I just do that?”

“If you want, sure,” Alec nodded. “They’re not mutually exclusive. But the offer to stay at my place is always on the table, and you can take it if you and when you feel ready too.” Alec had extended the offer to Ethan’s friends because he knew it was a safe bet that all of them jumping to the chance would be quite slim. So he wasn’t worried. “But just because your friends might not want to, shouldn’t mean that you shouldn’t take the offer. Remember that. It’s hard, I know. You want to share what you have, but you also can’t make people do what they may not feel comfortable with.” He shrugged and picked up his coffee. “Ask me anything you want to know if you want. I’ll answer you honestly.”

“When can I start?” He knew that Alec was saying, but still... getting a job and working to get his own place just... sounded more fair to him. The job was a big enough favor already, considering how likely it would have been for him to get something on his own, but living in a house? For free? It just pulled him so far out of level of poverty he and his friends were living in that it seemed grossly unfair when it was just a matter of chance. He could have been anybody, and he certainly knew enough people that needed a chance like this more than he did.

“When do you want to start?” he asked, putting the choice in Ethan’s hands. Giving him that decision to make.

Ethan looked at Alec in surprise. That was... different. He’d never worked an honest day in his life, besides doing chores around the house for allowance when his parents were alive. But having a real boss, a real time card to clock in with? How long were steel mills open, anyway? “Tomorrow?” Ethan suggested hesitantly, raising an eyebrow. It wasn’t like he had anything to do today, but the sun was coming up now and he hadn’t slept, and working in a mill when he was tired didn’t seem like a good idea.

“If you want. I’ll have you start working in one of the mini mills. We’ve got two main mills -- Those are the big ones you see along the river, and two smaller ones. Our biggest one is doing commissions for the war effort, I won’t have you start out there. Our mini-mills do building materials. Steel rebars, frames, everything you need to make a building. Place to learn the basics. Seven A.M., you’ll go in and meet with Roarke, he’s the shift supervisor and he’ll let you know what to do. He’s a good guy, I think you’ll like him.” Roarke was a one-eyed monster of a man who knew how to handle people. He was a gruff son of a bitch, but he’d be good for this.

Ethan nodded, making sure he was catching every word. Seven in the morning, smaller mill, Roarke... it suddenly struck Ethan that he had no way of knowing when it was exactly seven in the morning. Most people had alarm clocks, but street kids didn’t really have much of a necessity for them, and if they did need to get up at certain times, it was activated by pure biology. It was small things like that that got him in the end, the tiny things that he could take for granted if he’d lived a normal life. “Got it,” Ethan said, glancing up at the waitress who brought him the to-go container for Corey’s breakfast. “I can do that.” He could work for what he needed, even if it took him a while to get what Alec was offering him for free.

The idea that Ethan might not have an alarm clock was something that Alec had already considered and he reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet that was attached to him by a chain. Kept pickpockets out of his pockets. “Here’s my card,” he said first,and grabbed a stub of pencil out of his wallet and wrote down the mill office number. “Mill number is on the back in case something happens. Either Bonnie or LuLu will answer. My office number is on there and let me...” He wrote down his home number and address on the back of the card as well. “Home number and address on the back. Here’s some money to buy yourself an alarm clock.” The cash that Alec slid across the table was more than enough to cover more than one alarm clock. “Think of it as a business expense.”

Ethan was loathe to take the money, and not just because it would be admitting that he didn’t have an alarm clock. But he did take it, the paper feeling odd in his hands--and so much of it. He didn’t know how much alarm clocks cost, but surely not as much as this? “I’ll pay you back,” Ethan said, sliding the card and cash into his pocket (after making sure there weren’t any holes in them). “After I start working. I’ll pay you back. For breakfast too.”

Alec shrugged. “If you really want to. I think your money could be better well spent, like taking your girlfriend out to the boardwalk or buying food or a new pair of shoes.” Another shrug and Alec went back to his pancakes. Again, it was just said conversationally, no expectations whatsoever. He’d given Ethan the tools to do what the kid thought was right. It was out of his hands now.

Ethan’s flush was immediate, and he looked more than annoyed with himself for letting it show up on his face. It was okay with December, but Alec was another man. “I don’t have a girlfriend,” he said, feeling a bit like he ought to explain his reaction. “I owe you. I’m gonna pay you back. I can’t pay you back for the job, but I’ll pay you back for the food. And the cash you gave me.”

“Like I said, if you really want to. Alright then take out your friend whose a girl. Get her a big stuffed animal. Girls like that sort of thing.” He winced a bit and scratched the back of his head. “Until you forget some important date, then they light them on fire and curse your name.” Yep, Alec’s track record with girls was... not the best. “The money is for whatever you want to do so if you want to pay me back, that’s fine. The only thing I’m going to ask is that you show up to work on time and work hard and don’t slack off. Because then we’re making product, that we sell, so you’re making the mill money. So by working, you’d be paying me back.”

Ethan winced too, looking at Alec with a quirked eyebrow. That didn’t sound... pleasant. He wasn’t entirely sure if he should be taking advice on girls from Alec, then. Not that Ethan really needed any advice... his situation there was pretty hopeless, he knew, no matter who was giving him advice. “But the mill didn’t buy me breakfast. You did.”

“My money comes from the mill,” he pointed back.

“I’m still paying you back,” Ethan said, arms crossed over his chest.

Alec just looked at him calmly and crossed his own arms across his chest. While Ethan was still bigger than him, the kid was malnourished and not in the best physical condition. Alec was, and when he crossed his arms over his chest, his biceps bulged a bit, making that tattoos more prominent, the scars more visible. It wasn’t threatening though. A simple return look of the alpha male challenge that Ethan had started.

That threw Ethan for a bit of a loop. It wasn’t that often that Ethan had to pause wonder if he could take someone. Not that he was planning on fighting Alec over the issue of repayment, but most of the people he went up against were just as malnourished as he was. The fact that he was bigger than most was an enormous advantage. But bum leg or not, Alec had been in the war and was still fit--Ethan knew enough that Alec could probably wipe the floor with him if he really wanted to. Ethan’s eyes flicked back up to Alec’s face, but he left his arms crossed. He was paying Alec back no matter how big his arms were or how many scars or tattoos he had.

Even though it wasn’t your normal show of ‘prowess’, Alec was satisfied that Ethan didn’t back down. There was fight in that kid, he just needed to get it into his head that he was worth something. He watched Ethan assess the situation and go back to looking him in the eyes and Alec calmly returned his look. Which then took on a bit of a staring contest sort of feel. Alec wasn’t complaining. He wanted to see where this would go.

Ethan was getting the feeling that this was taking on a different meaning than just him being determined to pay Alec back for what he’d given him--a job, breakfast, a chance. But whatever the meaning, he kept his arms crossed, his eyes on Alec’s face. Whatever it was now, he didn’t want to lose. It felt a bit like looking into the eyes of a dog--which one of them would turn away first?

“What if I don’t accept the money you pay me back with?” Alec asked and still kept his eyes locked with Ethan’s. He didn’t move except to speak.

“You gave me your address,” Ethan said, keeping his arms crossed as well. “I’ll just leave it in your mailbox.” His nose itched a bit, but he didn’t want to uncross his arms, not just yet.

“I can just put the money back in your paycheck.”

“Then I’ll just take it out and put it aside until you take it,” Ethan said, after a moment of thinking it over. “It’s money I owe you. I’m not going to use what’s not mine.”

There was his plan B. Decent, especially for being thought up of on the spot like that. “But I said that you don’t have to pay me back, and since I refuse to accept the money, it’s yours. I have no ownership over it. Don’t you think there could be better uses for the money than just sitting there, being wasted?” What could Ethan come up with? There was a slight note of challenge there, but it seemed more curious. Alec was very much interested in what Ethan had to say.

Ethan frowned, his arms tightening slightly. “You can’t browbeat me into accepting charity,” he said, his forehead wrinkling slightly as his brows furrowed--there were lines there already. “Just because I’m a street kid doesn’t mean I can’t pay back my debts--I try not to get them but I pay them back when I do. It’s only wasted money because you won’t take it.”

“I wasn’t browbeating, I was just asking if you had any other plans when presented with a different scenario. Thinking on your feet. And I didn’t say that you can’t pay back your debts. I was just asking a question. Maybe I will take the money, but what if I don’t? What are things you could do with that money? What would you want to do with that money. Besides pay me back.”

“There will be other money,” Ethan said, his frown not leaving his face. “I’ll make my own after I pay you back, and then I’ll do what I want with that.” He uncrossed his arms now, but only to dig into his pocket and unfold the cash that Alec had given him, sliding it back across the table. He’d find some other way to wake up at seven.

Alec slid it back towards him. “That’s an advance on your first paycheck so you can buy yourself an alarm clock and food for yourself until the rest of your paycheck comes in. That’s not charity.” Stubborn, this one. It was kind of funny actually.

Ethan let Alec slide the cash back towards him, but he didn’t pick it up. “Then that’s two paychecks I’d give you. I’d rather hold onto at least one.” He picked up the container of pancakes, sliding out of the booth until he was standing. “Thanks for breakfast, and the job. I’m paying you back for it, but thanks.”

“Suit yourself,” Alec said. He didn’t touch the money either but the gears in his head were already turning. “Hope your friend likes the pancakes.”