Work Text:
The midday sun filtered through half-closed blinds in Charlie and Babe’s apartment, casting lines of light across the rumpled bed where Charlie still lay unconscious.
Babe sat beside him, unmoving, his hand tightly wrapped around Charlie’s limp fingers. His thumb stroked over the back of Charlie’s knuckles, over the veins, over every line he’d memorized like scripture. Charlie’s breathing was soft but steady, and for now—that was enough to keep Babe still. Grounded. Waiting.
Until the front door creaked.
Pete stood there.
Silent.
But his face told everything.
Babe slowly turned, not letting go of Charlie’s hand. “What?” he asked, voice hoarse.
Pete hesitated. “It’s Alan.”
Babe’s heart skipped.
“What about him?” he whispered, dread already coiling in his chest.
Pete stepped forward, lowering his voice. “Kim told me. He saw a mark behind Alan’s ear. Looked like a surgical port. It was the same as shown in the Willy Report"
“So, he went to Tony,” Babe repeated.
Pete nodded. “But Alan told us he has gone to Doctor suggested by his Friend.”
“He lied,” Babe said instantly, standing up so fast the chair fell back.
Pete caught his wrist gently. “Babe, listen—”
But Babe was already moving. “Where is he?”
“At the garage. Everyone’s there. He’s acting… off.”
~~~
At Garage.
The tension was so thick even North stopped pretending to be relaxed. Sonic leaned on the counter, arms crossed, glaring at Alan from across the room. Jeff stood beside the workbench, watching Alan with unreadable eyes. Kenta was tinkering with something, but his hands weren’t steady.
Alan paced. He kept touching the back of his neck.
He didn’t know they were watching.
Until the door slammed open so violently it shook the wall.
“UNCLE!”
Babe’s scream tore through the garage like a gunshot. Everyone jolted. Babe stormed in, fists clenched, eyes blazing—and before Alan could react, Babe grabbed him by the collar and shoved him back against the wall.
“YOU LIED TO US!”
Alan froze.
Jeff stepped forward instinctively, but Sonic pulled him back with a hand on his chest.
Babe’s hands were shaking, but his grip didn’t loosen. “Why?” he yelled. “WHY, UNCLE?!”
Alan swallowed, eyes darting, trapped not just by Babe’s fury—but by his own guilt.
“I—”
“Don’t lie again!” Babe’s voice cracked. “You didn’t go to Doctor. You went to Tony! You let him cut you open like one of his science projects!”
“I didn’t have a choice—”
“You had us! You had Jeff! You were going to marry him, and you still—” Babe’s voice broke, and he shoved Alan again. “You still chose him?”
Alan looked like he wanted to disappear. “It wasn’t like that.”
“Then what was it like?!” Babe shouted. “Because from where I’m standing, you sold Charlie’s blood to the man who wants him dead!”
The words landed like a slap.
Jeff flinched.
Alan flinched harder.
“I didn’t want to hurt Charlie,” Alan said quickly, eyes flicking to the others. “I—I didn’t know they’d install the chip. I thought… I thought it would just be an enhancement.”
Babe blinked. “An enhancement.”
Alan took a step back. “You don’t understand. My nerve damage was getting worse. I wouldn’t have been able to do anything again for at least six months. But Tony—he offered me a new body. A chance to keep going. No surgery. No recovery. Just… better. Stronger. All I had to do was give him Charlie’s blood. And he promised he’d let us go.”
“You thought that was worth it?!” Babe screamed, tears welling up in his eyes. “You really thought Charlie’s life was a fair price for you to keep racing?!”
Alan closed his eyes. “I didn’t think it would hurt him—”
“HE’S IN A COMA!” Babe cried. “And you did that. You. Not Tony. You.”
Alan’s voice rose in panic. “He wasn’t supposed to pass out! I didn’t know he’d—”
Babe hit his chest—not to hurt, but to stop him, shut him up. “You proposed to Jeff. You swore to protect this team. You looked me in the eye and told me I was like your own nephew. And all that meant nothing the second you got scared of being left behind?”
Alan’s face cracked. “I was afraid.”
“So were we!” Babe wailed. “Do you think I didn’t feel helpless when Charlie collapsed? Do you think
Sonic didn’t wake up screaming every night when Dean went missing? We were all afraid!”
“But I was alone!” Alan shouted back, voice raw. “You all had each other. I had no one. No future. I didn’t want to disappear.”
Babe’s voice trembled. “So you chose to disappear us instead?”
Silence.
Alan looked down.
“I was greedy,” he whispered. “I wanted my life. I didn't wanted to become a Burden. And I thought… if I gave Tony what he wanted, we could all walk away. I thought I could control it.Tony even said he will give back Dean and Kenta”
“You thought wrong,” Babe said, and the first tear finally slipped down his cheek.
“I didn’t want to lose Dean,” Alan said brokenly Looking at Jeff
Jeff hadn’t spoken once.
He hadn’t moved.
Not until now.
He walked forward, slowly, like the air was made of glass.
He stopped just in front of Alan.
And pulled off the silver ring from his finger.
Alan froze.
“Jeff…”
Jeff looked at him, his voice ice-cold. “I loved you.”
Alan’s mouth trembled. “I still love you—”
Jeff shook his head. “You loved yourself more.”
Then, in one small, shattering moment, Jeff let the ring fall from his hand.
It hit the concrete with a sharp metallic clang—and the silence that followed was unbearable.
Alan didn’t move.
No one did.
Except Babe, who was now fully crying, his hands still clenched but limp at his sides.
“You were like my Father,” Babe whispered.
“The one who taught me how to brake before a turn. The one who kissed my forehead before every race. The one who held me after Charlie’s crash and told me everything would be okay.”
He took a step back.
“But you broke us.”
Alan’s chest heaved. “I never wanted this.”
Babe’s shoulders sagged as he whispered, “Neither did we.”
And then he turned around and walked out of the garage.
The others slowly followed.
Jeff stood the longest.
Then turned his back.
And Alan was alone.
~~~
Later.
Babe returned to Charlie’s side.
Charlie’s hand was still warm in his, still unmoving.
“I’m sorry,” Babe whispered. “I didn’t protect you either.”
He leaned down and pressed his lips to Charlie’s forehead.
“I swear I won’t let anyone hurt you again. Even if it’s someone I used to love.”
~~~~
The night was thick with humidity and silence.
Alan stood outside Tony’s compound, the air suffocating around him, sweat clinging to his skin. His hands trembled—not from fear of what he was about to do, but from the guilt that had gnawed through his insides, bone-deep and merciless.
He hadn’t slept.
Not since Babe screamed at him.
Not since Jeff let the ring fall to the floor and walked away without looking back.
Alan had gone home to an empty apartment and sat on the floor for hours, staring at the hollow in his hand where the ring used to be. He hadn’t cried then. He hadn’t even breathed properly. Just… existed. Cracked. Splintered. Alone.
But now—now he was here.
And he was done.
He marched into Tony’s lab without asking. Without knocking. Without fear.
Tony was at the central table, arms folded, casually watching a technician calibrate some digital readouts.
He didn’t even glance up. “Alan,” he said coolly. “Back so soon? I trust the Charlie extraction went well.”
Alan’s hands clenched into fists at his sides.
“No,” he said, voice flat. “I’m done.”
Tony looked up now, one eyebrow raised. “Pardon?”
“I’m not doing this anymore,” Alan snapped, stepping forward. “I’m done playing your monster. You lied to me. You didn’t give me a second chance—you turned me into a puppet. A bomb.”
Tony tilted his head. “You always knew the price.”
“I didn’t know it would cost me everything,” Alan hissed. “I lost Jeff. I lost my family. They’ll never look at me the same again.”
Tony shrugged. “They wouldn’t have anyway. Weak people don’t like seeing what desperation does to someone.”
“You told me this would help us!” Alan shouted. “You said Dean would be returned. You said no one would get hurt. But Charlie’s unconscious, Babe can’t stop crying, and I can’t even look in a mirror!”
Tony’s smile sharpened like a blade. “Regret doesn’t change facts.”
“I said I’m DONE!”
For a split second, silence.
Then Tony’s smile vanished. He reached into his pocket and pressed something on a small silver remote.
Alan didn’t even have time to scream.
His body convulsed, collapsing to the floor as the implanted chip behind his ear lit up—white-hot lightning exploding through his spine, his nerves, his brain. Pain surged like an electric storm, every muscle tightening in agony. His jaw locked. His vision went white.
He felt himself jerk violently, helpless. His chest arched off the floor as his lungs fought for air.
And then, finally, Tony clicked the button again.
The pain stopped.
Alan gasped, broken, twitching on the floor. His arms gave out beneath him. He coughed once, tasting blood. His ears rang.
Tony crouched down beside him.
“I like you, Alan,” he said softly. “But don’t confuse affection for freedom. You belong to me now. And if you disobey me again—next time, I won’t stop the shock.”
Alan didn’t speak.
Couldn’t.
Tony stood, brushing off his hands.
“Be grateful. I made you better. Stronger. No more nerve damage, right?” He laughed. “It’s only fair that your loyalty becomes just as unbreakable.”
Alan’s body finally stopped shaking.
But inside, something had collapsed.
---
Hours later.
The garage was empty when Alan returned.
Silent. Still. Dark.
Everyone had gone home.
He walked in slowly, limping slightly, still feeling the phantom echoes of pain in his limbs. His breaths were shallow. His face pale. He looked around, hoping—stupidly hoping—that maybe someone had forgotten their jacket. That maybe Jeff had come back to get something. That someone might still be there.
But no.
Only the machines. The tools. The oil-stained floor and the hum of old lights overhead.
And the silence.
That damned silence.
He dropped to his knees near the far wall, letting out a shuddering breath. He didn’t know why he had come back. Maybe some part of him still believed that if he could just… explain, they’d understand. Maybe Jeff would understand.
He doubted it.
But still… he had to find it.
The ring.
The silver ring Jeff had worn every day since Alan proposed. The one that hit the floor with a sound that had echoed in Alan’s head ever since.
He crawled forward on the cold concrete floor, every scrape of his palms sending a jolt through his sore muscles. His eyes searched frantically through bolts and shadows.
“Please,” he whispered, as if the ring could hear him. “Please be here…”
And then he saw it.
Tucked under the corner of the tool cabinet. Gleaming faintly under the flickering light.
He reached for it with trembling fingers and curled his hand around it like it was the last piece of his soul.
He didn’t even make it back to his feet.
He just stayed there.
Kneeling.
Clutching the ring like a lifeline.
And then, slowly—inevitably—he broke.
The first sob ripped out of him so violently it echoed through the garage.
“I didn’t mean to…” he choked out. “I didn’t mean to lose you.”
His forehead dropped to the floor, knuckles white around the ring, his body shaking with each breath.
“I just wanted to stay. I wanted to keep racing. I wanted to be enough for you, Jeff. For all of you…”
Tears soaked the concrete beneath his face.
“I thought… if I bought us time… if I made the deal, we could fix everything later. I thought I’d be the villain you could forgive.”
He sobbed again, harder this time.
“I didn’t know I’d lose you.”
He pressed the ring to his lips.
“I love you,” he whispered through broken breaths. “I love you so much. And I ruined it. I ruined us.”
There was no answer.
Only the sound of the fan overhead.
The hum of machines.
The unbearable echo of emptiness.
Alan curled in tighter, cradling the ring like it was a person, like it could fill the hole inside his chest.
He stayed like that for a long, long time.
Crying.
Alone.
---
Later that night.
North stood on the rooftop of the building across the street, arms folded, watching the garage through binoculars. Sonic stood beside him, silent, jaw tight.
They’d followed Alan.
Watched him fall apart.
Neither of them spoke.
Then Sonic muttered, “He’s still one of us.”
North said nothing.
“But damn it,” Sonic whispered, voice rough, “I don’t know how we forgive this.”
North finally answered.
“I don’t think he’s looking for forgiveness anymore.”
“I thought I was saving everyone… but all I did was lose myself— and the only person who ever saw who I really was.”
Shall I write second part?