#mod adrien

(i didn’t know if this was about the rooftop scene w father or blowing the institute to smithereens so i did the latter hope thats ok)

It was the first mushroom cloud they’d seen in 200 years, and yet something about being the cause of this one made it a lot worse.

Sole stood on the balcony of the tower watching their handiwork wash over the wasteland below them, and while they should have felt satisfaction, happiness from their victory, something in them was empty.  Their son, their real son, was gone.  By their own hand.

Their companion walked up beside them, placing a comforting hand on their shoulder.  He knew what they were going through, and he did his best to help.

“It’s really over, isn’t it?”

--

H: “Yeah...it is.”  Hancock wasn’t sure what else to say; he couldn’t imagine what Sole was feeling right now, but he wasn’t going to just stand there and watch their world fall apart.  “Hey, look at me.”  He maneuvered around them so he was facing them, placing a hand on their cheek to make them meet his eyes.

“You’re a hero, sunshine.  You just took down the biggest bad the Commonwealth’s ever seen.”

“Hancock,” they started, but he wasn’t going to let them get their “but” in.

“I know it hurts.  God, I know it hurts, but you went through hell to get here.  You won.  That’s a lot more than any of those Institute lackeys get to say right now.”

“And I did that.  I--”

“Yeah, you did.  You managed to topple the Institute, fix the Commonwealth, and, probably most impressive, somehow love my crazy ass and still came out the other side.  They caused this, all you did was respond.  They were making slaves, love.  They treated people like things.  And you shut it down.  You haven’t lost everything, especially not since I’m standin’ right here.  Alright?”

P: “Are you okay?”  It was his first instinct; he could see the look on their face, and he remembered having a similar one after Quincy.  It wasn’t his place to compare the two, but he could at least empathize.

“I don’t know, Preston.  We won, but...”  He wanted to let them finish.  Let them vent.  But they just stood there, staring at the hole where CIT used to be, and he could see the gears in their head turning as they tried to gather their thoughts.  He waited, and he listened.

“I just wanted to find my son.  That was all I ever wanted.  Now look at me.  I just set off a nuke in the middle of CIT.”  They turned to look at him, visibly upset, and all he could think to do was pull them in.  They held each other for a time, Preston not knowing what to say to comfort them any more than this.  Words weren’t his strong suit, but he could do this.

They parted after a small forever, and Preston finally found his voice.

“You’ve done a lot for a lot of people.  You’ve pretty much single-handedly turned the Commonwealth around.  This doesn’t make you a monster.  Whoever that was down there, he wasn’t your son.  You did nothing wrong here today.”

--

They stared at him for a while, processing his advice.

“I hate it when you’re right, you know.”

They smiled at each other, pressed their foreheads together (as best they could, with the hat) before giving chaste kisses between them.