Chapter Text
Day one
Christopher was thirteen now, officially no longer a kid.
He could feed himself, stick up for himself, look out for himself, knew what he did and did not like and was capable of forming his own opinions.
He'd thought turning thirteen would be a changing point, would be the moment that his dads would loosen up a little, see him as a man capable of making his own decisions from that point onwards. Especially considering the fact that they had Bridie, an actual baby, to dote all of their time and energy to.
Oh how wrong he was.
Each time he tried to move towards the independence he was certain should be granted to him now that he was officially longer a kid, his Dad was quick to jump in and set more and more ground rules for every little thing, killing the mood at any given opportunity, and it was exhausting.
No, he could not go on his phone after 9pm. Lights out at 10, 11 on weekends. He couldn't eat dinner in his room. Location needed to be on at all times if he was out alone with friends. Homework before video games, and only games rated 12 were allowed. No sleepovers at houses of people his dads hadn't met.
It was embarrassing, no one else's Dad was so strict, and to make matters worse Buck- who had previously been the go to pushover when Dad was being crazy- had also gotten more tough since adopting him, like it being official was the push he needed to stop playing friend.
It sucked, he couldn't believe he'd ever been excited about having two dads. When he raised his voice at either of them, the other would always jump in to correct it. They'd team up on him, two verses one, and Bridie was too young to take his side like siblings were supposed to.
All in all, he'd been unreasonably snappy over his dads' unwanted efforts to protect him, as months passed by with little compromise on their parts. And it was that which led him to finally getting a little leeway, in the form of being allowed to spend afternoons by himself when both of his dads were working.
It was such a small silly thing, didn't make a whole lot of sense considering Maddie would pick up Bridie from daycare at three, then had to wait to get him from home until the evening when his dads were doing overnights, but he loved it.
Loved getting on the school bus and walking home alone, getting the house all to himself for the afternoon, when there were no dads breathing down his neck telling him what to do and no little sister pulling for his constant attention.
He could just lay around and play whatever games he wanted, eating all the food Buck cooked for him in his bed and being as loud as he cared to until Maddie (or sometimes Pepa, if Maddie was also working) came to get him, because he still wasn't allowed to be home alone overnight.
Still, it was something. And Chris was very much excited about the afternoon he had planned when school let out for the day and he made his way over to his bus.
He said goodbye to his friends as they went their separate ways, and reached for the strap of his backpack to swing it to his front so as to get his phone and headphones out, just to stumble to a stop when he heard his name called out.
"Christopher, there you are!"
He turned, pausing at the side of the road where he was about to join the line for his bus, and felt a deep sense of unease and confusion fill him when he saw his Grandma, stood just a few meters away, smiling excitedly.
He hadn't seen his Grandma in person since before his dads' wedding. Hadn't spoken to her much at all, since she'd disapproved of Buck, and his Dad had consequently pulled away from her. Over the last two years, he had only really spoken to his grandparents on birthdays and Christmases, answering their messages if only to be polite as he was also annoyed with them for hurting his dads so much (even if he didn't really know what had happened at that dinner to drive such a wedge between them).
So, out of all the people who could have been waiting for him by his bus, she was definitely a surprise.
Chris stepped towards her, wary of the other students around him as he didn't want the woman to embarrass him by making a scene, and she quickly met him half way to pull him in to a tight hug.
"What're you doing here?" He asked, stiff and not returning the embrace as concern rose in his chest. Something must be going on, for her to be here in LA unannounced.
"I'll explain in the car, you have to come with me," Grandma said, as she then quickly took to pulling him towards the adjacent parking lot by a hand on his arm. Chris confusedly went along with her, not having a reason not to as more and more questions about what the hell was going on arose.
"Why, is Dad okay?" He asked, feeling sick at the mere thought. That was the only probable explanation he could think of as to why she'd be here, unless she and Dad had made up, but he hadn't mentioned even talking to her again.
If this was a surprise visit, he couldn't imagine it going well. Dad had been really upset with them, so much so that they weren't invited to the wedding. "Does he know you're here?"
She didn't answer, just rushed him over to the car that his Abuelo was sitting in, the man offering him a wave that he hesitantly returned as they approached.
Grandma opened the back door, and practically shoved him inside before making a grab for his backpack. "Here, let me take that for you."
Chris was too confused by it all to even consider asking why.
"You didn't answer, is Dad okay?" He repeated, feeling weirder and weirder as each second passed by with no explanation.
Abuelo was quick to start the car and get moving, as soon as Grandma was sitting in the front.
It was only then that the woman properly acknowledged him, turning around in her seat to look at him.
"No, Chris, he's not okay. Your father is very sick."
Sick?! Had something happened at work?
Why the hell did she seem so nonchalant about it, he must be okay then, right?
"So we have to take you home until he gets better," Abuelo concluded.
"What's wrong with him, is he gonna be okay?" His voice cracked at the end, a mixture of nerves and puberty getting the best of his tone. His nails dug in to his palms, as he repeatedly clenched his hands out of the rising anxiety over the situation, thoughts racing. "What about Buck? And Bridie?"
Was Buck sick too? Or was he just taking care of Dad? Were they going to pick up Bridie from daycare, or was Maddie? Why hadn't Maddie gotten him too if something was wrong with his dads?
"Don't worry about them," Grandma dismissed, facing the front again.
What? Of course he was worrying about them. It was his sister and his other dad, why wouldn't they tell him what was going on? Were they okay?
As Chris stared at the woman in confusion, feeling more and more nauseous by the second, he felt his heart stutter in his chest when he realised that they weren't heading in the direction of his home, or the hospital, but to the freeway.
Which he could only think to mean one thing.
"Wait, you're taking me home, as in to El Paso?"
That couldn't be right, why would that be happening?
"Yes, mijo, it's for the best," Grandma said with a nod, not sounding at all sorry about it.
Wrong, wrong, wrong.
Where was his Dad? He wouldn't be sending him to El Paso, not without an explanation or a goodbye.
Chris reflexively reached for his pocket only to find it empty, realisation soon dawning on him that his phone was still in his bag with Grandma.
"No," he shook his head. "I don't want to go there, and I want- I need to talk to my Dad and Buck, can you pass me my phone?"
No answer.
Grandma and Abuelo only briefly glanced at each other, a silent communication between the two.
"Pass me my phone please," he tried again, holding out his hand to the woman expectantly.
Again, he went ignored.
They were turning on to the freeway.
"You're scaring me, can we stop? I'm not going to El Paso, if Dad is sick then Buck is supposed to take care of me."
Why would he be going with them?! And why weren't they giving him his phone? Dad and Buck couldn't know about this, there was no way.
"It's okay, Christopher. Just trust we're doing what's best for you."
He grabbed at the door handle, just to find it locked. He pushed and pulled at it anyway before lurching forwards to the front seats to try and make a grab for his bag.
"Stop that," Grandma snapped, pushing him back with a hand on his chest as he continued to try and reach for it.
"No, let me out or give me my phone! Do my dads know I'm with you?"
The silence was painful.
Had they really just straight up kidnapped him?! His own grandparents, had seen that their son was hurt and used it as a chance to take him? Why?
There was no way this was happening, he needed to talk to Dad or Buck, they'd put things in to perspective. Because he didn't understand, this was all so sudden.
"You only have one father, Christopher, and he is sick. You're coming with us, because we can look after you properly."
That infuriated him, because who were they to tell him that? They weren't even a part of his life anymore, they knew nothing.
"No, Buck is my dad too, he adopted me, I stay with him if Dad's hurt. And if Buck can't have me, then I go to Maddie, not you."
Why had he gotten into the car?! He should have asked his dads first what was going on, but he'd never considered that he couldn't trust them. They were his grandparents.
And now they were taking him away, just like that? They couldn't! He didn't want to! This was... this was kidnapping.
With a sudden panic, he began to bang on the windows and call out for help, praying for someone to notice him, but they were all driving too fast, their attentions on the road not the car next to them.
"Christopher!" Grandma chided.
"Let me out! Both of you fuck off and leave me alone, I'm not going with either of you!"
"Hey!" Abuelo, who had been pretty much silent and nonplussed thus far, quickly grew angry at that. "Do not use that language with us."
Chris hated how much he sounded like Dad, when he chided him for his tone. He didn't get to tell him off like Dad, he didn't get to pretend like him swearing was the only unacceptable behaviour happening here.
"Shut up! You're fucking kidnapping me."
"That's it!" Again, Grandma twisted around in her seat and extended her arm out. Chris moved to bat the approaching hand away, just for his arm to be grabbed and the woman delivered a firm smack to the side of his face with her other hand.
Heat radiated through his cheek, a stinging sensation spreading across his skin as she quickly pulled away again, leaving him to place his hand against the side of his face with a dumbstruck expression.
He'd... he'd never been hit before. He never thought that Grandma would hit him, someone he loved, but then again he never thought she'd do any of this at all.
"I'm sorry I had to do that, Christopher, but you need to stop this behaviour!" She said in an exasperated tone, as though he were just a toddler throwing a tantrum. "You're coming home with us, where you belong. It's not kidnapping if we're your family!"
Chris forcefully blinked back the blurriness in his eyes to peer at the back of his Abuelo's head, waiting for him to say something. Waiting for him to tell her that she shouldn't have hit him, because they didn't hit. Neither of them had ever done that before, they'd never even so much as yelled at him until just now.
So, he thought Abuelo would be as in shock as he was. But no defence came, both behaving as though nothing had even happened. And with that, he felt a deep seed of loathing towards both of them grow in his chest, as he wondered how they could do this to him. He'd thought they loved him, they were his grandparents, but they didn't care that they were hurting him.
Stunned in to silence, he curled up a little in the backseat, still cradling his stinging cheek, and tried to fight back the nausea that creeped through him as his thoughts began to race.
He hoped his dads knew where he was, that they'd come and get him soon, because all he wanted now was to be coddled between the two of them like he always pushed against. To be sat on the couch, squished in the middle of them with Bridie curled up on his lap. To feel that undeniable safety that just being in their presence brought.
He felt so stupid, for ever wanting anything else.
~~~~~
His Grandma got in to the back of the car with him after he screamed for help at a Mcdonalds drive through, four hours in to the drive.
It earned him the threat of another slap, followed by Chris breaking down in to tears for the first time since he'd been taken. His chest felt tight, breathing felt hard, and his heart was pounding so fast he could hear it echoing in his ears as he hoped that the drive-through worker would take notice of his cries.
He was going to be sick, he was certain.
After quickly driving away, Abuelo pulled up on a deserted road twenty minutes away from the McDonalds, and Chris sobbed as his door remained locked and Grandma quickly climbed in to the seat next to him, the car soon starting up again, leaving him stuck with her. Stuck with the woman who'd hurt him.
Though she was behaving much more kindly again, speaking sickeningly sweetly like she used to.
She tried to pull him in to a hug, and Chris squirmed away, pressing himself as far against the cardoor as he could. He didn't want to be anywhere near her.
At his physical recoil from her approaching hands, she appeared sad. Just to then promptly ignore his reaction and practically force him to her chest, holding him there and stroking his hair. After futile attempts to get away, Chris let go and cried out all of his worries in to her, exhausted from all of the struggling and fear.
He recalled when he was little and got in to trouble with Mom, crying in to these very same arms, never having thought that she'd be the one to hurt him. Grandma was always on his side, always there to sooth him when his parents were being crazy, or at least he'd thought so.
Maybe he wasn't as smart as he thought he was.
They drove all night, only stopping in secluded places after the McDonalds incident, to pee and stretch their legs.
It was humiliating, peeing while his Abuelo watched guard of him, like he would run at any moment. Like he could. As soon as he finished, the man pulled him back to the car, meanwhile Grandma took his backpack in to the wood line surrounding them, and came back without it. Having discarded it in the middle of nowhere.
The sight if her re-emerging terrified him, as he realised that this was all thought out.
Needless to say, Chris didn't sleep. Just stared, numbly, out of the car window, as he was taken further and further away from home, wondering what was really happening with his dads, and if they knew where he was.
He didn't think they did. He couldn't imagine them ever sending him off alone to El Paso, no matter the circumstances. So why were they doing this? Was Dad really sick, and his Grandma and Abuelo had taken it upon themselves to pick him up? They had to understand that he had other family, closer to home, to look after him though, right?
Had his parents even noticed he was gone? They both had work until tomorrow morning, and Bridie was with Maddie, what if she forgot she was supposed to get him too?
He was so stupid, pushing to stay alone for the afternoon in a silly bid for independence. If he hadn't, none of this would have happened. Maddie would have picked him up from school, with his sister and cousin in tow, and they would have gone to her house and spent the afternoon having childish fun. He'd be asleep on her couch right now, Bridie in Jee's old cot next to him, and he'd have woken up to the two toddlers climbing all over him. They'd have had breakfast, safe, content, while they waited for Chimney and his dads to finish work.
Instead, he was scared, and hurt, and exhausted. He hadn't eaten since lunch, and he didn't know when he'd see his sister or dads again.
He was so stupid.
They arrived in Texas at three in the morning. At four, they were driving through El Paso, but no where that was familiar to him. They left the city to much more secluded areas, soon after.
Open fields, dirt roads as far as the eye could see. No street lights and fewer and fewer buildings to light up the night sky.
Chris' stomach churned in panic, disconcerted by the lack of familiarity and people around to help.
"Where are we?" He whispered, as they finally approached a lone rundown ranch at the top of a hill, passing beneath the barbed wire fence and pulling to a stop.
"Your Tìo Luis' home, you'll be staying with him for a little while until things calm down," Grandma said, her arm still wrapped around his shoulder and rubbing circles into his skin with her thumb.
Chris felt a cold rush overtake him, his lungs ceasing to expand.
He didn't know Tìo Luis all that well, he was perhaps the one family member that his Dad had always openly disliked, and from what memories he did have of the older man it was for good reason.
Chris remembered when he was little, still living with Mom while his Dad must've been deployed, and feeling gross even before he could fully understand the situation when the man smacked his Mom's butt each time she walked past. Barking orders at her, making her wait on him hand and foot at family gatherings. Remembered seeing his Mom cry in the kitchen when she thought no one was watching, and trying to avoid the man's path at all costs.
He remembered the man laughing at him over something, the noise cruel and grating. Chris thinks he must've fallen over because his hands had been bloody, and Luis had poked at his chest, sneering down at him. He could visibly recall his Dad still in his military uniform stepping in between them and shoving the older man over in to a wall. His real life superhero. And that was perhaps the last time he'd ever seen him, because Dad refused to go to any gatherings he was attending, and eventually the rest of the family stopped inviting him in favour of them.
Chris couldn't grasp how someone so nasty had been raised by his Abuelita. But then, so had Abuelo, who was currently kidnapping him.
Maybe he wasn't very good at judging characters. Was Pepa crazy too? Or, no, she wasn't. Because Dad had cut out Luis, and his grandparents, but not her. He hated to admit it, but his Dad was clearly right about some things.
Abuelo pulled the car to a stop and pressed the horn, the loud sudden noise in the otherwise silence of the night disturbing a few livestock, and the ranch's front door soon pulled open.
Luis hadn’t aged nearly as well as Abuelo. Chris didn't like to judge people based on their appearances, but the sagging skin and heavily wrinkled face eezed off the twisted nature he knew was inside, leaving him feeling deeply unsettled.
The man's dark eyes pinned on the car as he approached, each step closer increasing the discomfort growing in Chris' gut, making his heart pound faster and faster and his skin itch with his presence.
Abuelo got out of the car, and Grandma reached for the door by Chris, her hold on him tightening.
"I don't want to," he shook his head, looking at his Grandma imploringly. She didn't listen, and pushed his door open. "No, I'd rather stay with you."
He at least knew Grandma, and loved her despite recent changes. While she was terrifying him right now, she didn't scare him nearly as much as the idea of staying with Luis- a practical stranger- in the middle of nowhere did.
Grandma smiled happily at that, looking almost manic as she did, and petted his hair with one hand whilst using the other to keep a firm grip of his arm.
He hated it, but forced himself to keep still and not pull away in the hopes of getting through to her.
"Don't worry, sweetheart, we'll come back to take you home soon. This is just for a little while," she said, before forcefully pushing him out of the car, keeping close behind him.
"Why are you doing this?" Chris gasped out, feet unsteady beneath him from the lack of stability the sudden movements caused, unfortunately leaving him with no choice but to grab onto her hand to keep himself from falling over.
"Because we love you," Grandma replied, standing next to him once they were out and closing the door, before making him circle the car towards the two men with an arm wrapped around his shoulder.
"Mierda, realmente lo hiciste. Pensé que estabas bromeando," (Shit, you really did it. I thought you were joking) Luis said, eying Chris up in an intruige that he really didn't like.
Chris tensed at the use of Spanish. While he could understand the language, speak it to a certain extent, his extended family had a habit of talking way too fast for him to make much sense of it, and the thought of them talking about him in a language he wasn't as confident in put him on edge already.
"No podíamos quedarnos de brazos cruzados y ver cómo esos dos homosexuales arruinaban a nuestro hijo." (We couldn't just stand by and watch those two homosexuals ruin our boy).
Chris' eyes bared in to his Abuelo, having picked up on the word homosexuals and cluing in from the tone that it wasn't meant nicely.
He assumed they were talking about his dads, and didn't like that one bit. He wanted to jump in to their defence, but didn't understand the context properly to do so. That, and a lump had formed in his throat, making speaking feel impossible.
"¿Alguien lo sabe?" (Does anyone know?)
"No, solo tú." (No, only you)
Chris inhaled a shaky breath, at the confirmation that he'd been taken here in secret, and stumbled back a step just to be stopped by Grandma.
Took in his surroundings, the endlessly open space, the lack of other people. If he was left here, how did he get away?!
Dad and Buck always did their best to assure him that he could do anything he put his mind to, and for the most part they were right, of he tried hard enough he could, but Chris wasn't stupid.
He couldn't outrun them. There was nowhere to hide, and his surroundings were unfamiliar. They were a forty minute drive out from the city, that'd be hours on foot. Luis was wellbuilt, after spending a life of working hard labour, and while Chris had built strength from all the hours spent swimming and surfing, his muscles were still undeniably weaker than that of the average able-bodied teen, never mind a fully grown man.
So he couldn't run, or hide, or look for someone to help, or fight head on.
What did he do?!
"¿Y por qué lo trajiste aquí?" (And why have you brought him here?)
"I need a favour," Abuelo stepped closer to his brother, glancing at Chris before returning his gaze to Luis. "Mirarán al nuestro, solo manténganlo aquí hasta que las cosas se calmen." (They'll look at ours, just keep him here until things calm down)
Oh.
They... no.
Now Chris knew for certain that he needed to stay with his Abuelo and Grandma more than ever, because they were right.
If he'd been- if he'd been kidnapped, or was just declared missing, they always checked family first, right? While what they were doing was... unbelievable, his Abuelo and Grandma were the obvious first choices to check on.
Who would think of Tìo Luis? Someone they hadn't had a relationship with in years, someone he knew his Abuelo didn't even really like, the family outcast. Nobody would look for him here.
"¿Y qué gano con esto? No me sirve de nada, míralo." (And what do I gain from this? It's of no use to me, look at it) Luis sent Chris a startlingly pointed look, his face pulled in to a sneer. "His father could at least shovel the horse shit, this spaz can barely stand."
Chris recoiled away as though he'd been physically struck again. He'd only heard that word once, whispered between parents at one of his classmate's birthday party when he was ten. It had left him feeling uncomfortable all day, to the point that he'd asked his Dad what it meant as soon as he picked him up. That had quickly led to Dad insisting he tell him where he'd heard it with a dark expression, and the next time he saw his classmate's parent at the school pickup line, they had a black eye and were staying very much away from him.
Chris looked to Abuelo, hoping for that same protection, and felt his eyes burn and face heat up in humiliation when the man just gave him a pitiful smile.
"It's only for a short time," he said, as if that was at all reassuring, before turning back to his brother. "Sé amable con él, él es un niño débil." (Be gentle with him, he's a weak boy)
Grandma nudged him forwards, closer to the two men, as Abuelo went to the car to get his crutches and infuriatingly gave them to Luis.
"No," he clawed at his great uncle's hand when it wrapped around his arm and pulled him away from his grandparents. "Please, Grandma, please. I- I want to stay with you," he peered over his shoulders, doing his best to pull the widened teary eyes that always got him his way as a kid, but he supposed being thirteen was a cut off point for that as well.
Why was she doing this to him?! Grandma was always so kind, and affectionate, so was Abuelo, how could they do this?! Couldn't they see they were scaring him? Hurting him?
"Shh," the woman soothed, stepping forward to cradle his face in her hands and wiping away the tears that escaped with her thumbs.
Despite everything, Chris leaned in to the touch, just for a moment out of desperation for her comfort, before jerking away upon noticing the pleased look on her face about what he was saying.
"No! I hate you. Don't leave me here! Please, just take me home."
He wanted his Dad. Dad always protected him. And Buck, Buck always saved him. They'd fix this. He needed them, he needed them so badly. Just yesterday he'd been insisting otherwise, that he was old enough to take care of himself, but now...
Now, he'd give anything to have them here with him and never leave their side.
His grandparents did not relent. They looked mildly pained to see him so upset, his Abuelo almost appearing guilty, but they moved back towards their car and opened the doors to get in anyway. To get in and leave him there. Luis' hand hurt, from how roughly he was gripping on to him.
"If- if I can't go home, can I stay at Abuelita's instead? Please. Or- or Sophia or Adrianna's?"
Hope rose in his chest, as Abuelo paused in his movements to turn and look at him. Hope that he'd be taken to someone else, someone that he felt safe with and who'd probably call his Dad for him, but of course his grandparents weren't stupid.
"You know you can't," the man sighed, before getting in to the driver's seat, and closing the door. Chris flinched at the noise, at being locked out.
Luis laughed when he began to properly sob at that, twisting him around with the grip on his arm. "You look like your mother," he sneered, pinching his cheeks with his pointed fingers, and Chris' nose wrinkled at the heavy scent of cigarettes on his breath. "Like a girl."
"You be good, niño, we'll be back for you soon," Abuelo promised, the window rolled down ever so slightly to talk to him.
"We love you," Grandma added, smiling like nothing was wrong. Like they weren't leaving him with this- this- horrible person.
Chris glared at her as hard as he could through the tears steadily rolling down his face, feeling more infuriated now than he was scared. "I hate you."
He'd never heard his voice hold such venom before, and felt a sick sort of satisfaction when Helena looked visibly stricken by the words. He'd never wanted to hurt someone before, either.
"You feel that way now, but you'll see soon that this is for the best," she said eventually, swallowing, before rolling the window up.
Soon, the car was driving down the dirt road. And despite it all, Chris moved to follow it, just to be roughly jerked back by Luis. He was held there, to watch as they disappeared from sight, panic seizing him, before that hand let go to instead grab a fistful of his hair, using it to drag him towards the house.
"Come with me, boy."
Chris' legs gave in on him on the few steps, unable to keep up with the fast pulling, and he cried out in pain at the sharp tug it caused in his scalp, but the hand did not relent. In fact, it only got harsher, forcing him up to his feet with a drag of his hair.
Chris barely had the chance to take in his surroundings when he got inside. It was the picture definition of an old western ranch, with wooden panelling, mounted animal heads hung on the walls, a rifle leant against a leather couch, and two Texan heeler dogs sat at attention, staring at him warily.
Chris didn't get the chance to think, to speak, to plot his escape. He was dragged through the house, the dogs soon taking to following their owner's footsteps, towards a hatch disguising a stairwell going down.
Down to a basement. Holy shit, was he seriously being kidnapped and thrown in to a basement?
Panic seized him, nausea creeping up his throat. Luis moved to stand behind him, pressed close to his chest with one hand still holding his hair, to walk him down in to the dark space below.
Just two steps down, his panic turned in to adrenaline and he began to fight despite any realistic expectations.
He clawed at the hand holding his hair, bit at the arm still carrying his crutches, squirmed and blindly kicked his legs out, threw his head back against the chest, pushed and pulled, blinded by fear.
It was, of course, futile.
With an angry shout, Luis swung him up in to his arms, throwing him over his shoulder, and proceeded down the stairs as Chris kicked and screamed like a petulant toddler, punching at his back.
On the last few steps, Luis flung him off, throwing him to the floor with a hard bang, sending pain radiating through his body and the back of his head.
A light was turned on, and Chris moved to crawl away, wailing as his ankle was grabbed and he was dragged across the floor.
Soon, Chris was airborne again, as he was tossed on to a rickety couch.
Luis was out of breath from the exertion, and Chris allowed himself a moment of pride to flicker through him, until he was snapped out of all thoughts by a blinding shot of pain smashing across the side of his face, as Luis punched him in a fit of rage.
The air left his lungs, and his hand came up to his cheek, as he blinked in shock, vision blurry. Until today, he'd never been hit before. And now he'd been hit twice in a matter of hours.
Chris' first instinct was to cry, but instead he just froze up in silence for several moments as Luis caught his breath again.
That allowed him time to observe himself. His body ached, his face was hot and throbbing, and his head was pounding, but did it hurt worse than an 80 foot wave crashing in to him and sending his eight year old body smashing through rubble? No. Did it hurt worse than when his muscles were playing him up, to the point every involuntary movement his body made sent a shooting pain through his limbs? No. Did it hurt worse than his Mom dying, Dad getting shot, and Buck being in a coma? Also no.
So he would not give Luis the satisfaction of seeing him curl up and cry from a single punch.
Chris clenched his teeth, fighting against the wobbling of his lip and blinking back tears, to instead fix the man with a cold expression. "My dads are going to kill you," he said, in full confidence of the fact, feeling himself calm a little at the acknowledgement. There was no way his Dad wouldn't find out about this, and when he did... well, Chris would be scared for Luis.
Luis just scoffed. "Your dad's just as much of a little bitch as you are."
Chris fought back from snorting. Not true at all. Dad was the bravest man he knew. He fought in wars, earned a silver star, was shot three times, risked his life every day on the job, and what did Luis do? Herd animals.
"Poor little Edmundo, would curl up and cry like the faggot he is right here on this same couch when mommy and daddy had enough of him," Chris' chest ached at the idea of that, and he spared a glance around the room as if that'd tell him whether that was really true. "He ain't doin' shit to me, boy, so get comfortable, we've got a long day ahead."
Chris watched, silently and shakily, when Luis turned to leave, turning off the light as he did, still carrying his crutches.
Knowing, with full certainty, that his great uncle was wrong.
His dads would find him. Dad would kill him, while Buck got him out of here.
They'd find him. They had to be looking already, were probably on their way with Athena.
Right?