#i wrote this one after episode 10 I think. before pete's power was revealed so i just gave martin the power pete has in the novel

[tinybibmpreg]

next cross-posted pit babe fic. this time my first from my Mama Way AU where Way is Martin's other biological parent. also mpreg Way

inspired by people commenting 'is this what charlie is up to while faking his death' under his actor's tiktok of himself jet skiing. + combined with my thought of 'what if Way went to stay where Pete sent Martin in my au lmao' = 'what if charlie and way encountered each other'

i'm on ao3 @ Bubbaknowlton

I Thought You Died

“Way, do you have a swimsuit?”

Way startled as the voice of one of two older people he was staying with suddenly cut through the silence of his bedroom, his body jolting and a hand instinctively going to his belly. He bit back a curse and looked over at the doorway. The beta woman had her hand up in a fist against the doorway, so he’d somehow missed her knocking even though he hadn’t been asleep. Not a great sign, indicating just how lost in his thoughts he’d been. She waited for him to sit up, swinging his legs off the side of his bed, before she repeated her question.

For a moment he just stared at her, completely confused as to why she would be asking him that. The house didn’t have a pool. “Uh, no,” he finally managed to reply. He’d only packed a small bag of his clothes to bring along before Pete had gotten him out of the country and hadn’t grabbed any swimwear. Going swimming hadn’t been on his mind at all when he was worried about being found by his foster father. He hadn’t even known where Pete was bringing him at the time, and felt rather lucky that the climate was similar enough to what he was used to, that he hadn’t brought clothes that would be too cold or warm.

His more form-fitting clothing was getting too tight for him now as his belly grew, so Way doubted his old swim shorts back at his condo would even be comfortable anymore. He really needed to get new clothes, he thought, but dreaded the idea of going out to buy some.

She smiled and brought her other hand from behind her back, where she was holding a small shopping bag. She set it on the desk by the door, where a previous bag had been left after he'd asked for a few essentials but hadn't been willing to leave the house to get them on his own. If he couldn't bring himself to leave for new clothes, there was no way he was going out for something small like toothpaste. “Now you do. Get changed and see if this fits. You need a distraction from that awful accident your teammate was in. Ever since you saw that on the TV the other night you’ve been holed up in your room. It’s a nice day today- taking Martin to the beach will cheer you up.”

Way held back his urge to correct her upon hearing her call Charlie his teammate. But that would possibly open up a conversation he didn’t want to have, as he didn’t feel like explaining that it bothered him more that Babe would be grieving over Charlie, not that he himself was particularly grieved about the young Alpha. Sympathy and worry for Babe and anxiety about knowing that the accident was surely Tony’s doing and that it very well could have been him that their foster father had turned on next if he hadn’t been whisked away was what had kept him in his room.

“Taking Martin to the beach?” he echoed instead. “Are you going as well?”

To his surprise, she shook her head. “I’m going out to get what my husband needs to cook dinner. You boys need to go have fun. It’s not good for you to be so depressed, not in your state. You need some sun and quality time with your pup. For you and the baby.”

“But-”

“It’ll be fine, Way. Martin is a good boy. You don’t need to worry, the two of you will have fun.”

Since going to stay with Pete’s ‘family,’ he hadn’t really spent any time alone with his pup. Pete’s adoptive aunt and uncle didn’t seem too thrilled to have Way there, and he didn’t blame them. He’d left Pete and Martin as quickly as he could after the pup had been born three years earlier, and now he was here only because he’d taken Pete up on an offer to get away from Tony’s reach until some kind of plan currently in the works was done that would take the man and his trafficking empire down. Way doubted the minor breakdown he’d had when he’d found out he was pregnant a few weeks after being dropped off had done him any favors toward winning them over. As a result of all that, they’d been content to leave him to himself and continue being the ones solely responsible for Martin’s care.

Until now.

Pete’s aunt closed the door to let him change, and Way had no choice but to get up and grab the bag. In it was a dark blue swim shirt and black lined shorts, which appeared to be his size. Briefly, he wondered how she’d known his size, then figured she must have checked his clothes while doing laundry. The swim shorts had a little omega symbol stitched onto the brand logo, so they were somehow maternity wear.

They fit perfectly, to his surprise. The swim shorts had a stretchy portion on top he could pull up over his belly, keeping them in place, and the shirt wasn’t oversized but still managed to do a decent job of hiding his baby bump. It was almost impressive, especially as he considered how much bigger he was at this point than he had been when he was expecting Martin. But, he supposed, that made sense. He’d been incredibly stressed during his first pregnancy, terrified of being found out and hiding it for as long as possible to keep racing and training. He’d hardly showed until much later, and even then he hadn’t gotten too big. Now that he was spending all his time at his (sort of) in-law’s home with much lower stress, forbidden from smoking and drinking or doing anything strenuous, of course he’d started showing much earlier.

The fact that Pete’s uncle had taken up cooking as a primary hobby in his retirement after Pete had become the next CEO of the Beyond Group company also did Way’s figure no favors. The man refused to let him skimp on any meals.

He grabbed a loose button-up to pull on over the shirt so he’d have pockets for his previously unused keys and wallet, then exited the bedroom in search of Martin and Pete’s aunt. He found them waiting by the front door, Martin already dressed in swim trunks and a hat. He had a little castle-shaped bucket with beach toys, topped with a bright blue and orange Nerf gun that Way didn’t recognize from Martin’s collection of them. As soon as the boy saw him, he beamed and loudly told his father’s aunt, “Auntie, Mama has blue like me!”

Sure enough, his shirt was the exact shade of blue of Martin’s shorts. It was sort of sweet to be matching. The pup hadn’t inherited any of his looks, practically a carbon copy of Pete, so it was surprisingly nice to have something in common, even if it was only their clothes.

“That’s right, little one. You both look very cute. Are you ready to go to the beach with your mama?”

Martin nodded eagerly. “Yes!”

“Good boy. Remember to hold hands while you’re walking, alright? Be a good boy for your mama, now.”

“I will, Auntie!” Martin promised, reaching up for Way’s hand as soon as he was close enough. His little hand was slightly sticky with sunscreen.

After being told how to get to the beach and having two towels handed to Way, the two of them were shooed out of the house. Martin hummed happily, swinging his little bucket as they walked. Way was grateful that Martin was an easy child to talk to. He was quiet and polite, bright for his age, a good distraction from Way’s dread at how he had left the safety and privacy of the house.

It only took a few minutes to get to the beach. Martin tugged on his arm as soon as they hit the sand, getting excited. “Mama, I wanna swim!”

There weren’t very many people around, which was nice. Way could see a few people out on the water on jet skis, and someone kiteboarding. So he let Martin’s hand go, asked for his shoes, and told him, “Go ahead. I’ll set down our towels and your toys.” The pup handed him his sandals and the little bucket, taking just the Nerf gun from it, and then ran towards the water. Instantly, Way wondered if that was alright for him to have done. Was Martin old enough to handle swimming by himself for a minute without an adult right with him? He was only three. With that thought, he just set the folded towels down with the bucket and quickly pulled off his button-up, dropping it half on top of the towels before hurrying after Martin.

Thankfully, the pup had gotten distracted by something before he could get too far and was only just past where the water was lapping at the shore, crouched down with his Nerf gun under the water. Way caught up to him.

“Mama, fill the gun?” Martin frowned at his toy before holding it up to Way.

So that was why he hadn’t seen this particular one before, even though Martin had shown him every foam dart one he had within the first week they’d been reunited. “Oh, it’s a water gun.” After a brief inspection of the toy, he found a capsule on it could be unscrewed. He stepped a bit deeper into the water, keeping an eye on his pup to make sure they didn’t go too far for the small boy. Martin was amazed as he knelt down to submerge the capsule and screwed it back on, then cheered as he got the filled toy handed to him. The boy immediately aimed it at Way and fired a stream of water at his chest.

“Ah. Alright, then-!” Way smirked, cupping a handful of water in his hands to send at Martin, who laughed and reached to splash at him as well. After they’d both gotten soaked, Way wrapped his arms around Martin and let himself fall back, careful not to let either of them go under.

Martin shrieked, “Mama!” Then he burst into a fit of laughter as the two of them almost submerged, squirming to escape so he could aim at him with his water gun again.

Splashing around in the ocean with his pup was cheering him up, and Way soon found himself laughing and smiling so much that his cheeks ached. By the time Martin wanted to get out of the water and play with his toys in the sand, Way had pushed all thoughts of anxiety to the back of his mind. He just smiled and let himself be dragged back to their belongings by his pup.

He spread out one of the towels so he could sit as Martin dumped his bucket over. Way leaned back, propping himself up with one arm while his other hand rested on his belly. The pup settled on digging a sizable hole with a plastic shovel, chattering away now that they’d broken the awkwardness between them.

Together they formed a little mound of sand from what Martin had dug up. The pup gathered some shells and things to stick onto the mound, giving Way his own handful to decorate with. Once they’d run out of acceptable decorations within easy reach, Martin, once again holding his water gun, grabbed a ball from his small pile of toys and tried to gently stick it on top of the mound. It immediately rolled off, given a burst of speed by a sudden breeze, and neither of them was quick enough to catch it before it could roll too far away. Martin got up to chase after it.

Someone walking past stopped the ball with their foot and crouched down to pick it up. They turned to see where it had come from and Way hissed under his breath when he saw the man’s face. He jumped to his feet, his back protesting at how quickly he’d stood up. Seeing Martin, the man bent down to hand it to him. Martin took it back, shyly thanking him. Way desperately hoped he was just seeing things, that it was just some stranger with a very unfortunate resemblance, but hurried over to get his pup away.

“Aww, you’re welcome, noo,” the man responded to Martin’s thanks, patting him on the head. Martin stiffened slightly, not one for suddenly receiving attention from strangers, but then relaxed.

Way bristled. “Martin!” he called.

The pup turned around, beaming. “Mama!” But his smile faded when he saw the look on his father’s face. “Mama?”

Way lifted up Martin, holding him protectively and turning him away. He didn’t actually think Martin was in danger, but he didn’t want his pup anywhere near the Alpha. Especially not now that he was close enough to see the man somehow was who he thought he was, even though that shouldn’t have been possible.

“P’Way?!”

“Charlie!”

The two of them stared at each other for a moment. Then, they both exclaimed, “I thought you died!”

Sure enough, it was Charlie. Even though he’d seen the accident on TV, seen Alan’s subsequent announcement that the young Alpha racer had died in the hospital from the injuries he sustained in the crash and that the team would be pulling out from races for a while. Charlie, however, looked relatively unscathed. Save for a few bruises and the now shocked expression on his face, he was the picture of a happy beach-goer. He had only swimming trunks and his usual necklace besides a bag slung over his shoulder, as well as his ridiculous glasses that Way had the sudden urge to smash but couldn’t with a child in his arms. His skin was sun-kissed and his hair slightly wet, and it seemed he’d come from the direction of a small dock where some jet skis were parked.

Way found his voice first after their shared outburst, snarling, “You died in that accident!”

“Uh-” Charlie looked panicked. “I’m not Charlie. I’m-”

Was he really going to pull something like that as if they hadn’t just recognized each other? Way bared his teeth.

Charlie, so flustered by their encounter, could only manage an obvious lie, “I’m his twin?”

You asshole! Way wanted to scream. But months of cohabiting with a small child had made him better at holding back any swears. “Nope,” he hissed instead. “You’re supposed to be dead, Charlie.”

The young Alpha decided to gloss over his fumbled lie as if he hadn’t said it. Way decided to as well. It was just too pitiful to dwell on. “Huh? So are you! You’ve been gone for months. Everyone thinks Tony captured you. I thought for sure he’d killed you.”

Way was certain that Charlie sounded almost disappointed, even though he just sounded surprised. He wanted to throttle him. “I left to avoid that. You better not have told Babe I died!”

Charlie shook his head. He really was like some kind of ridiculous dog. Way didn’t find it endearing at all. It was just infuriating. He couldn’t understand how Babe could tolerate it, much less find it so charming. “No way! He’s heartbroken that you’re gone. He’s sure that Tony is keeping you trapped somewhere. It was so hard to keep him from going after Tony himself to try to find you.”

It was very nice to know that Babe missed him and was willing to do that to attempt a rescue, Way thought. But now wasn’t the time to be pleased about that.

“So you what? You faked your death?”

Charlie rubbed the back of his head. “Er…”

He really was the most irritating person alive. Way couldn’t believe it. “Why would you do that?! Does Babe know you’re here?”

“No.”

Way’s voice rose, “You-” There was a little muffled sound against his shoulder. Right, he thought, Martin. Not wanting to scare him, he lowered his volume, “-agh! How could you do that to him?! Do you know how upset he must be?”

“Jeff said it’d be fine.”

Of course his shady little brother was in on this too. Way felt as equally vindicated as he did outraged.

“Why?”

“It’s to- wait, you’re pregnant?” Charlie looked down at his belly. “Is that kid really yours?”

Way felt incredibly grateful that his swim shirt had a high collar, hiding the mating mark on his neck that Pete had given him on the flight out here. He didn’t need Charlie pointing out that as well. But he’d only just gotten over his anxiety about being seen visibly pregnant. No one was supposed to know who he was here, and it was obvious anyway that he was a parent with how he had Martin with him. But then Charlie had shown up. He pulled at his shirt with one hand even though it was too late. Charlie had already seen.

“Yes,” he replied, even though he thought it was unneeded. Clearly, he was pregnant, and Charlie had heard Martin calling him Mama. Did Charlie really think he would let some child that wasn’t his call him that?

“Oh… Well, I won’t say anything if you don’t, so-” he stopped at the look on Way’s face. Way hoped he didn’t look too anxious, trying to school his features to a more blank expression. Charlie’s voice got more serious. “P’Way. I’m trying to stop Tony. That’s why I faked my death.”

“Sure.”

“Really. I want to protect P’Babe.”

Way really wished Pete had told him a bit more about the plan to take down Tony. Did it include Jeff and Charlie? Maybe he shouldn’t have been so quick to thank his man so thoroughly as soon as the Beyond Group private jet had finished taking off. They really should have talked more. Then he wouldn’t be so uncertain.

Of course, then he might not have gotten the mark on his neck or the pup in his belly. He wasn’t sure what would have been the better trade-off. It was probably better this way, even though he had to feel threatened by Charlie. Way blamed his hormones for making him nervous.

He decided not to bring up Pete’s name or his plan, in case Charlie and Jeff weren’t a part of it. He didn’t want them interfering. He had far more faith in Pete and whatever he was doing than in those two.

“So why are you here instead of working to stop Tony?”

“Oh! Jeff said I needed to relax a bit before we went forward with things! He’s got things covered.” Charlie brightened up. “Maybe P’Babe and I can come vacation here after everything is over. I know he’d love the jet skis. They were super fun!”

“We’re leaving.” Way didn’t want to deal with Charlie anymore. He felt stupid for being nervous about him. The whole situation was giving him a headache.

“Wait, P’Way! I really won’t tell anyone you’re here, I promise. You and your pups should stay safe. P’Babe would be so sad if something happened to you guys. Does he know about this little guy?”

Well, it was nice to know Babe had never spilled that secret to his boyfriend. “He does, actually,” he replied, smug. Of course, Way had used his powers to make sure Babe and Alan never brought up the pup he’d had, but there was no way he would ever admit that to Charlie. He’d take this as a victory.

“What’s his name? Hey, kiddo. I’m your uncle, Ch-”

“No. You’re not married to Babe. You can’t claim his nephew. Martin, this man isn’t related to you. Don’t listen to him.”

Martin lifted his head as he was spoken to. He glanced at Charlie, frowning. His dark, almost black, brown eyes were narrowed. Charlie gave him a big smile and waved at him.

“Hi, Martin! I’m Phi Char-”

Martin aimed his water gun at Charlie and got a perfect shot straight down the man’s throat.

Way had never been more grateful than in that moment that his son had inherited Pete’s Accuracy power rather than his own. As Charlie doubled over and hacked up the ocean water from his lungs, Way took Martin back to their things and gathered them up as quickly as possible. Once everything was bunched up under his arm, he stepped into his sandals and started walking back to the house.

Before they could reach the road, Charlie had recovered from his coughing fit and ran after them, calling, “Wait!” He grabbed Way’s arm, and Way growled softly. But he didn’t let go.

“Please don’t tell P’Babe or anyone else, P’Way!”

“Charlie. I won’t tell anyone about your awful plan-” Way ignored Charlie’s bewildered echo of the word awful. “And Babe will kill you if something happens to his nephews-”

“Oh, the baby is a boy?”

“No. I don’t know. It’s a surprise. Listen.”

There was a sudden dreamy, starstruck look in Charlie’s eyes that told Way he was imagining whether or not Babe would want it to be a surprise with their own hypothetical future children. Way forced himself to get that thought out of his head and looked at Charlie’s necklace instead of his face before his headache could get any worse.

Charlie let him finish. “I’m not going to tell Babe you’re alive,” Way told him. “And you’re not going to tell anyone I’m alive either. So you should just find someplace else to stay so we never see each other again. Now let go of me.”

He couldn’t even tell anyone if he wanted to. Pete had told him that it wouldn’t be safe for him to use his phone or any other device, so Way ditched his phone and laptop in his condo before leaving. He wondered if he should say that to Charlie. Maybe it’d make him let go.

“Way-” Charlie started.

“Let go, I don’t even have-” Way hissed, trying to yank his arm from Charlie’s absurdly strong grip. He didn’t get why the Alpha was so strong.

Martin started crying, shocking the both of them.

“Ah- Martin…” Way focused on his pup, who dropped both of his toys so he could cling to him. “No, don’t cry, it’s okay-”

“What’s wrong, noo?” Charlie asked. Martin just buried his face against Way’s neck, sobbing harder.

“You’re freaking him out!” Way hissed at Charlie.

Charlie let go of him, immediately looking like a kicked puppy. His eyes shone with guilt. “I’m sorry!”

“Take this-” Way shoved the stuff he was carrying at Charlie to free up his other arm. He adjusted Martin and rubbed his back. Nuzzling him, he said softly, “It’s alright, little one. Shh.”

“Mama…!”

Charlie, flustered at having upset a child, kept trying to apologize. He stammered about usually being quite good with kids, and Way spared a thought to Charlie and Babe’s potential future children. He wasn’t so sure. Way gave him a death glare when he tried to reach to pat Martin’s head again.

Some bouncing and more assurances and shushing got him to stop wailing, but the pup continued to hiccup, tears still falling.

“Oh! Do you want Phi Charlie to get you some ice cream, Martin?” Charlie offered in his cheeriest voice.

“Ice cream?” Martin echoed.

“Yeah! There’s a really nice place nearby. Phi Charlie will get you and Mama- your mama some ice cream, okay?” That seemed to do the trick, making the pup gasp and brighten up. Way didn’t get why Charlie had stumbled over his words in the middle of his offer, but he wasn’t going to dwell on it. The two of them deserved some kind of consolation for having their nice outing ruined. “If that’s okay, P’Way…?”

“Fine. Carry our things.”

To their mutual horror, the person at the ice cream stand kindly told them that their pup was very cute before telling Martin she’d give him extra sprinkles on his ice cream. Way couldn’t bring himself to correct her, staring at Martin to try to figure out how exactly she could have mistaken him for being Charlie’s. He could only conclude she thought Martin was adopted. Charlie quickly told her that they were just brother-in-laws, and Way wanted to snap at him that he was getting far too ahead of himself, but didn’t want to risk restarting Martin’s tears.

A cup of ice cream was all it took to fully cheer up Martin. Way wiped the tears from his cheeks with some napkins and then it was like the pup hadn’t ever been crying. To his dismay, Martin quickly was won over by Charlie, the man good with children just like he’d claimed. Charlie got their stuff organized for them, and Way had to slap his hand to keep him from trying to wipe the ice cream and sprinkles from Martin’s face and hands.

“Don’t touch him.” He grabbed another napkin and cleaned up the pup himself.

“Sorry…!”

Way sighed, hugging his pup. Martin went back to eating his ice cream. “Neither of us will ever tell Babe about today.”

Charlie nodded in agreement. “Yeah.”