(art by skylerngl on insta)
(btw in this au johnny survived the rock to the face in STD)
Rupert hates to admit it, but stickmin has really redeemed himself.
He never really liked Henry(in fact he used to absolutely HATE Henry), him being the reason that his best friend Dave Panpa was fired, and then the reason his second best friend Johnny Panzer almost died from a concussion due to Henry throwing a rock at his head. It was a miracle he survived with just a few stitches.
But, ever since the airship mission, he'd started to see him in a new light.
Sure, he'd wanted to shoot him in the face when he first woke up on that helicopter, but after seeing how well he worked with Charles and got the toppat leaders arrested, he started to see Henry in a new light.
Ever since then, he'd noticed how close Henry and Charles had grown, always going on missions together and hanging out whenever they could. (he later learned this was because henry had asked him out and now they were dating. A bit sudden, but hey, Charles was happy so he didn't mind.)
Another thing Rupert hated to admit is how bloody adorable Henry and Charles were together.
He thought Henry was nothing but a no-good, thieving criminal scum (which he used to be at least-) but whenever he was around Charles, he acted like a little kid who had received the best christmas present ever. It was kinda sweet.
But I mean, what do you expect from charles? The guy's like a livin' ray of sunshine.
However, even though Rupert was happy for them, seeing them together always saddened him a little, because it reminded him of the way he'd used to be with dave... (well except that him and dave were just friends...unfortunately)
Rupert had always regretted losing him, even though Dave's sudden disappearance was really something he had no control over.
Still didn't make it hurt any less.
But, he did admire Henry and Charles's sense of teamwork and comradery. Especially today, when they worked together to keep the Toppat's orbital space station from launching. All the remaining toppats were booked, and the clan was no more, at least for a while.
The mission was a big success, and Henry and Charles were promoted to special covert ops agents (despite Henry not being enlisted), meaning that they'd be able to go on lots more missions together. The two were overjoyed at this, hugging each other tightly.
Rupert laughed a little as he watched the scene play out. Being special covert ops suited them honestly.
After that, Galeforce instructed him and a few other soldiers to go into the rocket and see if there were any remaining prisoners left in the toppat's brig. They salute, then go to do just that.
As Rupert looked through some of the cells, he noticed that most of them were empty, save for one or two innocent bystanders that were captured by the clan for witnessing their crimes. They were escorted out and consoled by the other soldiers. He thought it was kinda pointless to keep looking...
But then he came to the last cell.
As he approached it, he heard someone crying.
It saddened him, the poor thing had probably been there for longer than anyone else...
He gently opened the door.
He spotted a figure wearing a very tattered security guard outfit, curled up into a ball and crying his eyes out.
"Oi, you." he says quietly. "C'mon, you're free now."
The figure flinches, then slowly looks up, meeting Rupert's eyes.

YOU ARE READING
NON Sam and max stories (mostly THSC)
RomanceExactly what the title says. Same rules, all one-shots and no nsfw.