Tuesday Night, by Harper Kingsley – Chapter Eight [Kanon, superhero, Sunfire/Teen Steel, mm]

Title: Tuesday Night
Author: Harper Kingsley
Setting: Kanon-verse
Genre: superhero, mm

CHAPTER EIGHT

Awkward emotional breakdown, check. Tony felt embarrassed even thinking about it, but Seth hadn’t said a word. There was no big push for him to talk about his feelings or to even explain why the thought of trusting Henry to strangers was driving him neurotic. Tony appreciated it; he was not ready to talk.

He was happy to spend the next week pretending that everything was normal and acting like he hadn’t had a big breakdown in the kitchen. He wanted things to go back to status quo, which was made difficult by the baby depending on him, but he was willing to repress and deny until the whole incident was forgotten.

He was sitting on the living room couch with Henry on his lap, watching Seth get ready to leave. It was weird to think that it was going to be just him and Henry for a while, but that was the way things worked for an active superhero.

The Teen Demis had a policy of two weeks on and two weeks off. There was the occasional stretch of vacation time depending on circumstances.

Seth pulled on his jacket and slung his overnight bag over his shoulder. “Well, I’m outta here for two weeks. Think you can handle things alone?”

“Please,” Tony waved his hand, “I’m a superhero. Changing diapers and baby food are no sweat.”

Seth laughed. “What about when he had that awful green poop? You were losing your mind.”

“Dude, that was just wrong. I still can’t believe that came out of this little guy. I thought he was really sick.”

Seth rolled his eyes and stepped close to brush his fingers against Henry’s head. “Be a good little man for Daddy. No weird alien poops please.” He leaned forward to press a kiss against Henry’s forehead. Tony couldn’t help catching a whiff of his cologne and the slight trace of his shampoo when he got close.

Seth pulled away reluctantly. “It’s hard to say goodbye to this little guy.”

Tony cleared his throat. “Yeah,” he said gruffly, not sure what he was feeling.

“Well, gotta go,” Seth said. “See you guys in a couple of days.”

Tony said “Bye” as he watched Seth leave, the door clicking shut behind him.

He’d never realized how hard it was to be the one left behind, but Sunfire was on call and Teen Steel was off duty.

“This sucks,” Tony said.

He looked down at Henry, who was wearing a fuzzy Blue Ice onesie with an attached hood that looked like Blue Ice’s mask. “You wanna get out of here for a while?” he asked. Henry laughed and tried to grab his nose. “I’m taking that as a yes. Let’s go for a walk.”

There was a baby carriage folded up in the hall closet, but Tony went for the carrier that attached Henry to his chest, his legs free to dangle and kick energetically. The kid seemed to really love being able to look around and see everything during their walks together.

Tony fumbled Henry into his tiny jacket, snapping the front buttons before loading him into the baby carrier. He stuck two diapers and the small pouch of wipes into the carrier pocket along with a juice bottle and they were ready to go. He didn’t figure they’d be gone too long.

“Come on, buddy. Let’s go visit the world.”

Henry laughed and wriggled excitedly. He was a cheery baby.

Tony made sure he had his wallet and keys, then used the elevator to get down to the lobby. Music played from the overhead speakers, some cheesy bit of pop that he thought he should recognize.

“You know, Henry, I don’t think Daddy is very cool,” he said. Then he had a moment of feeling weird at how easy it was to call himself “Daddy.”

Henry had wriggled his way into Tony’s life. It was getting hard to imagine a life without him in it. Tony didn’t think he would ever choose to go back. Henry belonged with him.

“I think I’ve fallen in love with you, in a non-creepy ‘I want to be your dad forever’ way.” He didn’t know what was going to happen when Solar came back for Henry, but he didn’t think it was going to be nice. For her.

“Come on. Let’s go for a walk.”

*
As a four month old baby there wasn’t much Henry could do yet. Still, Tony couldn’t help admiring the massive playground located four blocks from The Archon. Once Henry was big enough to play, he was going to love the brightly painted slides, swings, and seesaws. There was even a spider-cage jungle gym.

Tony walked around the park, taking in all the kids. There was no graffiti and he saw a maintenance worker picking up the few pieces of trash with a metal stick. The grass was bright green, the picnic tables were clean of bird poop, and in all he felt like Henry was going to love the place once he was mobile. It was better than anywhere Tony had played as a kid.

He continued on their walk, checking out the shopping areas and restaurants, making mental notes of the places he thought Seth might like. There was even a large baby boutique whose window he peeked through without going in.

Today was reconnaissance only, though he was tempted by some of the baby formal wear. The thought of Henry in a baby tuxedo was almost too much for him.

Finally he turned around and started home. They’d already had one diaper change and one mini-bottle of watery apple juice. Henry was about ready for some pureed sweet potato and formula, and there was a microwave pizza calling Tony’s name.

He was busy talking to Henry, who had slept for a while but was now wide awake, when he heard someone call his name. Turning, he was surprised to see Evan Lee, Ashley’s father. Also known as the Flame Burst.

It looked like Evan had come out of the Mexican restaurant, a takeaway box in his hand. He looked older than Tony remembered, more tired. He hadn’t taken the death of his daughter well and had taken a leave of absence from the League of Superheroes. Though from what Tony had heard, the LOA hadn’t been his idea. Overwatch had voiced concern over the Flame Burst’s brutal treatment of criminals. In the last two years he had become a superhero that all criminals feared, and not just the big offenders.

“Evan, hey.” Tony smiled. “How are you?”

“Good, good, I’m good,” Evan said. “I’ve gotten back into the yoga, and the meditation has helped clear my mind.”

He kept glancing at Henry, though he was too polite to inquire. Tony stroked Henry’s head. “Oh, this is Henry. My son.”

Evan was surprised. “A baby? Wow. I would not have expected something like this. Wow. Little Tony with a baby. So… have you gotten married? What’s going on with you?”

Tony shook his head. “Not married and not with anyone. I just… one night of unclear thinking and bam, his name is Henry. It wasn’t anything I expected, but I wouldn’t trade him, you know? I was wallowing for a long time there and I think Henry has anchored me. He’s this little life depending on me.”

“Yeah, I know how that is,” Evan said. His eyes went distant and sad, lost in the memories of long ago.

Henry made a snuffling noise and wriggled against Tony. “Oh, hey look, this guy is wanting to be fed,” Tony said.

Evan waved his free hand. “Oh no, I understand. You’ve gotta get him home.”

“Well, you still have my number right?” Tony asked. “I’m on parental leave right now, so if you want to get together or anything my schedule is free at the moment. We can have lunch or you could come over.”

“Still living at the Lair?” Evan asked.

“Naw,” Tony said, “I had to get a real place because of the baby. I’ve got an apartment at The Archon.”

Evan blinked. “You’re at The Archon? Me too.” At Tony’s surprise, Evan shrugged. “I had to sell the house–too many memories–and The Archon is pretty much the best place for someone like me.”

“Huh. What a coincidence. Are you going home now? You could walk with us,” Tony offered.

“Unfortunately I have an appointment,” Evan sounded genuinely regretful. “I just stopped off to pick up some of these amazing chocolate donut things.” He hefted the takeaway box. “It’s a little bribery.”

“That’s too bad,” Tony said. “But look, call me and we can get together.”

“Sure. Is tomorrow good?”

“It’s great. I’ve been worried I was going to lose my mind or something. I’m not used to so much free time.”

Evan chuckled. “Yeah, I hear you.” He glanced at his watch. “Look, I’ve gotta go if I don’t want to be late. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Sure. See you later, Evan.”

“You too.”

Tony watched him go, then turned to continue his walk home.

He hadn’t seen Evan in months and it made him feel guilty. Because not only had Evan been Ashley’s dad, he’d also been a kind of mentor. He’d offered advice and friendship when Tony had needed it most. In fact, Tony had met Evan first, back when he’d been a skinny nothing of a kid slinking his way to a training center with dreams of someday being something more than a nothing.

The Flame Burst was a legend. He’d worked his way up from being a member of the teen supergroup the Young Bloods to being a member of the League of Superheroes. He was the deadly flame guy that most supervillains feared meeting, one of the world’s strongest pyrokinetics.

And he’d been Ashley’s dad, who wore sweater vests and drove an electric car. He signed petitions and really cared about the environment and eating GMO-free organic foods. He made lame jokes and loved to barbecue in non-ironic way.

It was obvious at a glance that Evan had not handled Ashley’s death well. It made Tony wish he had kept in touch rather than walling that whole part of his life off. It had just felt like anything to do with Ashley was too much for him to handle. The wounds had been too raw.

But now Tony promised himself and the ghost of Ashley that he wouldn’t leave Evan to sink into his grief alone. He would do what he could to help Evan, because Evan was a hero, and this time he needed to be saved.

Henry squirmed in the carrier and made his mewling “I’m hungry” almost-cry.

“Settle down,” Tony said. “We’re almost home and there’s plenty of nummies for you to eat.”

He hurried his footsteps, not wanting Henry to really start crying. For a baby, Henry had some strong lungs when he chose to use them.

/CHAPTER