Content Warning for violence

“Heya, kid. Got a minute?”

“Um, sure.” Raf finished shrugging on his jacket. “I was just on my way out. Wanna walk with me?”

Christina nodded and fell into step beside him as they headed toward the exit. Given her usual lively demeanor, she seemed uncharacteristically quiet. When she was still silent after a few moments, Raf tentatively prompted her. “So, what did you want to talk about?”

She twisted her lips in thought, as if uncertain of how to broach the subject. “You know all that stuff about Dante isn’t true, right?” she finally ventured. “From earlier, I mean. The kids like to speculate, but as far as I know, no one actually knows the real story.”

“No worries, I didn’t take it seriously,” Raf assured her. “I know it’s just gossip.”

“You’re wondering about it, though, aren’t you? What happened to him, I mean?”

Raf tilted his head back, considering. “If I’m honest, yeah; but it’s not just about that. Every time I think I have a good fix on him, he surprises me all over again. He’s so calm and controlled most of the time, but then I see these occasional flashes of anger or sadness and I feel like I’m talking to a completely different person. He obviously cares so much about the Center, and he’s so good at managing people, but...I don’t know. It just feels like there’s a lot more to him than that.” 

“He can be a difficult person to understand,” Christina offered, pushing open the front door as she and Raf walked out of the Center and into the cold night air.

“Yeah, Miguel said the same thing. But the thing is, I really want to understand him. I can’t help it. I just want to know more about him. Not only what happened to him in the past, but what he likes and dislikes, how he feels about things, I want to know all of it.” He stopped and turned to Christina. “Does that make any sense?”

“It almost sounds like you have a crush on him.” Christina’s smile was teasing, but her eyes were serious.

“What, no, that’s not what I meant!” Raf threw up his hands in protest. “I just meant that I, um, I think he’s interesting.”

“Mmhmm,” Christina nodded knowingly and seated herself on the stairs. Raf hesitated a moment, then sat down next to her.

“Is it a bad thing?” he ventured after a moment. “Wanting to know more about him?”

“I don’t think so,” she said. “Dante’s pretty private, but I worry about him sometimes. He doesn’t seem to have much of a life outside the Center, and he can’t really talk to anyone here because almost everyone is technically one of his patients. He and Thomas are pretty tight, but Thomas has been out on leave for months, and I kind of get the sense that Dante has been trying not to bother him.”

She looked down at her hands. “I guess what I’m saying is that I think Dante could really use a friend right now.” She glanced at Raf out of the corner of her eye. “Maybe you could be that for him?”

“Friends, huh?” Raf leaned back on his hands and looked up at the night sky, considering the idea. “That sounds nice,” he finally said. “I’m not sure that Dante would consider me as friend material, though. I don’t think he likes me very much.”

“Then you haven’t been paying attention, kid.”

Raf looked over at her in surprise, but she just smiled back at him, and gave him a friendly nudge in the shoulder. They sat for another moment in companionable silence, until Raf noticed that Christina was starting to shiver.

“Are you cold?” he asked her.

“A bit. It's a little chilly to be out without a jacket.”

“Why don’t you head back inside then? I should be going home anyway. I’ll see you in the morning, yeah?” He stood and stretched, then offered a hand to pull her up. “Anyway, thanks for the pep talk. I really appreciate--”

“Christina.” A low, cold voice cut into their conversation. 

Christina and Raf both whipped their heads around to take in the newcomer. Christina’s eyes widened.

“Robert,” she breathed. “What are you doing here?”

A tall dark-haired man stood not fifteen feet away from them. The air around him reeked of alcohol. He flashed them a toothy smile, but the iciness in his blue eyes made it look more menacing than friendly. He took a step toward them, and Christina visibly tensed.

“So you’re here after all,” he said in a pleasant voice, his words only slightly slurred. “I can’t believe it took me this long to track you down. I looked all over for you. It honestly never occurred to me that you’d stoop so low as to hide out in a place like... this.” He waved a hand dismissively toward the building.

“What the hell do you want?” Raf cut in, stepping in front of Christina and fixing the other man with a hard glare.

Robert sneered at him. “Since when do Alpha brats hang out at Omega shelters?” he said mockingly. “Couldn’t find anything better to do with yourself after school? Or,” his voice turned low and dangerous, “are you here trying to hit on my mate?” He took another step closer to them. Raf growled a warning, spreading his arms protectively in front of Christina.

“Back off, kid,” Robert snarled. “This is a private matter. You don’t have the right to interfere.”

“And you don’t have the right to be here,” Christina spoke up from over Raf’s shoulder. Her voice was firm, but Raf thought he heard the slightest of quavers in it. “I’m not going anywhere. Leave now, before I call the police.”

The man laughed incredulously. “Seriously, Christina? I thought you were smarter than that. You of all people should know how this works. If you call the cops, all they’ll do is help me drag you home.”

“Christina,” Raf said urgently, keeping his voice low. “Go inside and get Dante. Hurry. I’ll cover you.” The man took another step forward. “Go, now!” he shouted.

Christina darted toward the door and Raf simultaneously took two quick steps and launched himself at Robert, tackling him to the ground. 

He struggled to pin the man down and restrain him, but Robert managed to grab his shoulders and viciously kneed Raf in the stomach. Raf gasped in surprise and pain as the other man shoved him off and scrambled up to chase after Christina. Thinking quickly, Raf threw out his foot and managed to sweep Robert’s leg out from under him, sending him crashing back to the ground.

The altercation quickly turned into an undignified brawl as the two Alphas tussled on the pavement, each trying to gain the upper hand. Raf knew he had the advantage in terms of raw strength and speed. However, the older man clearly knew his way around a fight, and even his inebriated state did not seem to diminish his ability to dish out pain. His blows were precise and calculated to inflict maximum damage, and as Raf absorbed each successive hit, he slowly began to realize that this was not a fight he could win. 

Soon he was panting heavily, and every muscle in his was body aching, his ribs screaming in pain. The iron taste of blood was in his mouth. How long had it been since Christina had run inside? It felt like hours, but it couldn’t have been more than a couple of minutes. He darted a swift glance toward the front door. Unfortunately, this turned out to be a mistake, as his opponent took advantage of his momentary distraction to elbow him in the face. Stunned, Raf slumped to the ground. 

Robert, who was also breathing heavily, slowly pulled himself upright and looked down angrily at Raf before spitefully giving him another swift kick to the ribs. Satisfied with his victory, he began to stagger toward the entrance. 

Raf looked after him helplessly, trying and failing to force his exhausted body to move.

Look at you, his father’s voice echoed mockingly in his head as he watched Robert stumble up the steps. You couldn’t even protect one Omega. How pathetic. Raf hung his head in shame, his eyes stinging with tears.

“Raf?” 

He gasped as he felt a warm hand exerting gentle pressure on his shoulder. He looked up in surprise to find Dante somehow in front of him, crouched down and examining him for injuries. Where the hell did he come from? Raf opened his mouth, but Dante shushed him. 

“It’s okay, Raf,” he whispered. “You did very well. Just sit tight, okay? I’ll take it from here.”