Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/1309936.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Underage
  Category:
      M/M
  Fandom:
      Metropolis_(2001)
  Relationship:
      Duke_Red/Rock_Holmes
  Character:
      Rock_Holmes, Duke_Red
  Additional Tags:
      Daddy_Kink, Daddy_Issues, Yandere, Orgasm_Denial, Bad_Parenting
  Stats:
      Published: 2014-03-14 Words: 3012
****** Familial Affection ******
by AmberSpirit
Summary
     Occasionally Red wondered whether he hadn’t gone a step too far by
     allowing Rock to be trained in militarized violence; the boy seemed
     to have absolutely no concept of morality or understanding of the
     value of a human life. The casual sadism he showed during some of the
     missions gave Red the impression that he unknowingly managed to raise
     a sociopath. He never felt particularly guilty about it.
     Rock may have been a beast but he was an extremely loyal one.
Notes
     This fandom is basically dead but that doesn't stop me from writing
     morally questionable shit.
A knock on the door. Red gripped the glass of scotch in his hand with a soft
grunt of annoyance.

He had been sitting alone in his office for a few hours already; the rest of
the staff on the floor had long since left and his two bodyguards were
stationed by the reception downstairs. The news of Dr.Laughton’s death and the
destruction of the laboratory hit him hard; it felt like losing Tima all over
again. Red had no desire to talk to anyone in his current mood, least of all
Rock who was the only candidate for such a late meeting. Red’s bodyguards would
not have let anybody else pass through and Rock was known to drop in at times
when he knew his guardian was by himself.
When the knock repeated, Red massaged his forehead as his headache threatened
to worsen at the muffled sound.

“Come in.”

Rock’s posture was as perfect as always from the moment he entered, the very
picture of an ideal soldier.
The boy was dressed in his customary Marduke uniform, his eyes a clear blue
without the usual glare of his sunglasses. They rarely left the teen’s face
except when in the company of his guardian. Red could appreciate the respect it
showed.

To this day Red sometimes wondered whether it was good idea to adopt the boy
and keep him by his side throughout all these years. He had been given very
little choice at the time; many people had blamed Red for the quick escalation
of the war because of his weapon trade business and he needed a short-term
solution for the bad press. Rock had simply been at the right place at the
right time; the sweet-faced child with a gun in his hand, forced to fight for
food and drinkable water.

However what started off as a way to improve his public image had quickly
turned into a PR problem itself. While the war was over, it eventually became
clear that the young boy Red adopted brought something back from it; an
unpredictable thirst for violence that clashed with all the authority figures
in his life. Rock had rebelled against everyone who wasn’t his guardian and Red
had no time nor desire to coddle him, being busy with his own political agenda.
There were only so many private teachers that he could bribe to keep silent
about what happened during the lessons with Rock. Most of them grew to fear
their unpredictable student and Red was eventually forced to give up on
providing any education for the violent boy. This happened during the later
stages of his formation of the Marduke Party and any public scandal would have
destroyed his chance at a political career.

Thankfully the matter eventually resolved itself when Red integrated the boy
into his anti-robot group. When given a purpose and an outlet for his violence,
Rock grew into a fine soldier that was eager to prove himself to Red and obey
any of his orders, no matter how unconventional. Occasionally Red wondered
whether he hadn’t gone a step too far by allowing Rock to be trained in
militarized violence; the boy seemed to have absolutely no concept of morality
or understanding of the value of a human life. The casual sadism he showed
during some of the missions gave Red the impression that he unknowingly managed
to raise a sociopath. He never felt particularly guilty about it.

Rock may have been a beast but he was an extremely loyal one; Red had the boy
completely under his control and could trust him to take his secrets to his
grave. Rock’s fanatical loyalty to him almost bordered on religious, present in
his gaze every time he called him father or watched from the sidelines during
one of Red’s speeches.
It was there in the boy’s eyes now as Rock slowly approached his guardian’s
desk. Red found the fervent devotion sickening.

“Not now, Rock” he said, the coldness in his voice ruined by the slur of the
words. The alcohol was threatening to drag him down the thick mud of depression
and Red could not afford to mourn the loss of his daughter for long. He will
simply have to move past this tragedy the same way he did last time. The
Ziggurat had to fulfil its purpose without his beloved Tima.
When he looked up he was surprised that the boy was still in the room despite
the clear dismissal.

“I can’t help but notice that you are distressed, father” Rock stated,
hesitating at the end of the sentence. The teen’s mistake was painfully
obviously in the silence of the room but Red couldn’t be bothered to do
anything about it. He knew that the boy still considered him to be a father
figure of sorts, no matter how much abuse Red dished out. It would be sad if it
wasn’t so pathetic.

“Is this about Dr.Laughton? He was just a filthy criminal- you should not
concern yourself with the likes of him.”

Red narrowed his eyes at the mention of that man’s name. Laughton, that
fool...! How could he have let this happen so close to Tima’s completion?
Red angrily finished his drink, brushing back his hair into its usual
immaculate style.

“It’s not any of your business” he retorted with a glare, annoyed at Rock’s
typical persistence. “I assume you didn’t come here to watch me drink so what
do you want, Rock?”

The boy stood still for a moment and then took out a large envelope, placing at
the top of the desk.

“These are the records of the robot disturbance during the last three days of
the celebrations.”

Red hummed in understanding, taking out the papers and skimming through the
contents.

“Wasn’t Clayton supposed to bring me these?” he asked with lazy suspicion. He
didn’t mention the fact that he was also supposed to receive this particular
report tomorrow morning.

“He was busy” Rock replied curtly. Red glared at the obvious lie; it was
evident that this was one of the boy’s numerous attempts to create some sort of
an intimate, father-son moment between them. After the still fresh loss of his
beloved Tima, such endeavour was especially unwelcome.

“I see” he sneered, narrowing his eyes at the text before him. Everything
seemed to be more or less normal, if one counted the upper level robots’
reaction to the Ziggurat test run... But one specific piece of information made
Red glance back at his charge.

“Do you realize you are mentioned in this report?”

Rock straightened up even further, every bit the perfect soldier.

“I was not aware.”

“It says here that you attacked a fellow Marduke” Red raised one eyebrow
questioningly “Is this true?”

Rock’s expression seemed to collapse for a second in a strange sort of half-
twitch but then the adoring gaze returned, mixed with something akin to
frustration.

“We had a disagreement.”

“A disagreement” Red echoed, tapping his fingers on his desk. He wasn’t stupid;
the report had clearly softened the actual circumstances of the dispute. Red
would have to be blind not to notice his charge’s sadistic tendencies and while
Rock behaved like calm guard dog around him, out there he turned into a wolf.
Red didn’t really care as long as the boy’s enthusiasm for amputation and
decapitation included strictly robotic victims, but the moment human beings got
involved things turned serious.

This wouldn’t have happened if the boy hadn’t been an idiot and got himself
seen by the rest of the Mardukes.

“Everything is resolved now, father.”

Red sighed in disgust at that dreaded title, once again reminded of Tima. He
reached for the bottle to pour himself another drink.

“We will talk about this later” he stated, having enough of the boy for tonight
“You’re dismissed.”

The alcohol felt good flowing down his throat, leaving that familiar burning
sensation behind. Burning...fire...Tima...

Rock didn’t move, acting as if he hadn’t heard the dismissal.

“Father” he said, using that darkly adoring voice which always gave Red a
headache “You know that you can trust me with everything. Please tell me how I
can help you...I will do anything-”

“I SAID YOU’RE DISMISSED!” his hand banged against the desk, shaking its
contents. When Rock continued to stand completely still, Red gritted his teeth
in frustration.

“Allow me to help-“

“You can’t help me, Rock because you are an incompetent idiot who can’t even
cover his own tracks!” he shouted, the alcohol and the knowledge that they were
completely alone loosening his tongue.

“I apologize, father. Next time I will-“

“I AM NOT YOUR FATHER!” Red jumped from his seat, approaching the boy with rage
in his eyes. The fact that Rock didn’t even flinch at the outburst only served
to make him angrier. Always so calm, always acting the role of a perfect little
soldier, as if Red wasn’t aware of the ugly things happening behind the
curtain. Did he seriously think Red would love him if he hid those parts of
himself? The boy completely failed to understand the fact that his guardian
didn’t give a damn about him from the start. The adoption was only a farce.

“YOU ARE NOTHING TO ME, DO YOU UNDERSTAND? NOTHING!”

It was perhaps the fact that Rock simply stood there with a blank face, taking
the abuse without a single word that made Red do what he did. He had rarely hit
the boy before so the itch to strike Rock came as a surprise, most likely
originating from the ugly mix of alcohol and his dark thoughts.

To his credit, Rock took the punch as a man, not making a single noise as Red’s
fist connected with his face. It was only after three hits that the teen
collapsed on the carpeted floor. Red pressed his foot against the boy’s
stomach, eyes ablaze with anger.

The boy was mumbling something between his heavy breaths and it took the man a
moment to decipher the words.

“I...want to be...something...to you...”

Red looked down at the boy with mixed feelings, his anger already subsiding.

“You are my guard, Rock. Not my son.”

The boy was dirtying carpet, staring up at him with bloody nose. Red almost
kicked him when he saw the return of that uncanny adoring gaze.

“I will always guard you, father.”

Red sneered at the words, getting steadily uncomfortable despite the fact that
he was the one looming over the boy.

“Have you not heard a thing I said, you idiot? I’m not-“

His words were stopped by a firm touch on his calf. Red froze as he watched
with some sort of sick fascination at the boy at his feet pressed his face
against his leg, moving in a positively obscene fashion. He was dirtying Red’s
trousers with blood but somehow the man couldn’t bring himself to step away.
Rock’s breaths sounded strangely incriminating in the complete silence of the
room.
When Red glanced down he saw the evidence of the boy’s arousal distorting the
shape of his Marduke uniform trousers. The sight of it sent Red’s already
muddled mind spinning.

“Please, father, please...”

Moving very slowly, Red pried his leg away from the Rock’s grasping hands and
moved it downward until it hovered above the boy’s crotch. Then, possessed by a
sort of detached curiosity, Red pressed his shoe against the bulge between the
boy’s legs.

Rock moaned softly, the voice sounding uncharacteristically vulnerable. Red
added some pressure, slightly moving his foot up and down as the teen rocked
against him and he could make out the outline of the boy’s erection pressing
against his shoe.

“Father, father, father” Rock chanted fervently, the words sounding like a
prayer to some sort of a depraved god.

“I love you...” he panted, spreading his legs even further. Red cocked one
eyebrow at the heated confession and then pressed even harder until Rock’s
cries of pleasure turned into pain. The obscene sounds echoed against the wall
of his office, creating a sharp contrast to the elegant setting around them.

Red softened the pressured and began to move his foot in the rhythmic motion
again. Rock’s painful cries turned hungry and he started to babble as his
breathing grew more and more erratic.
“You’re mine...” Red could make out between the noises of pleasure “mine, only
mine...”

Red nearly stopped upon hearing the words, finding the statement disturbing but
eventually dismissed it as pathetic ramblings. He always knew that Rock was a
freak but he would have never guessed that he harboured such feelings towards
what he believed to be his only father figure.

The sight of the body under his foot was disgusting and yet Red found himself
to be captivated by Rock’s expression of need. The boy’s eyelashes were
incredibly dark and fine, sharply contrasting against the heated flesh of his
cheeks. When he opened his eyes to look up at Red, the lightning of the room
caused them to become a familiar colour and the man inhaled sharply as he was
once again reminded of his little Tima.

Unconsciously Red moved his foot away which caused a noise of protest spilling
from the boy’s mouth, but the sound quietened when Rock watched his guardian
lower himself on one knee. Red grasped the teen’s face, alcohol muddling all
his senses as he brushed the brown locks away from his eyes to get a better
look. Rock whined softly at the touch.

Red couldn’t remember the last time he touched the boy in such a direct manner.
Perhaps when he took him in, all those years ago and they had their picture
taken for the newspaper. Rock had never been a particularly affectionate child
and Red disliked touching him in any way. But seeing the boy’s reaction now,
Red realized that he had been completely starved for touch and most likely
hiding it from everyone through all these years. How utterly pathetic.

Rock turned his head and burrowed his face in the palm of the man’s hand,
nuzzling it roughly. Red grimaced when he felt something hot and wet brush
against his skin.

“You’re disgusting” the man stated with a sneer and pried himself away from
Rock’s wandering hands. “Father-“ he called with a tight voice but Red was
already walking away from his charge and wiping his wet hand against the fabric
of his trousers.

“Stand up” he commanded roughly as he returned back to his seat by the desk. It
was hard to compose himself with so much alcohol in his system but Red
eventually managed to regain his equilibrium as he watched the teen get back on
his feet.

Rock was a mess: his uniform wrinkled, his hair ruffled, the blood still
dripping from his nose as he stood at attention in front of his guardian. The
erection straining against his trousers was even more obvious now and Red
pointedly avoided looking at it. Despite the straight posture, the boy was
still breathing hard and his expression was raw with unfinished desire.

“For God’s sake, clean yourself up- you’re a mess” Red sighed in disgust and
then softly reached for the framed picture of his daughter on the desk, finding
the feel of it between his fingers pleasantly familiar. How could he ever
think, even for a second, that this mess of a boy ever resembled his beloved
princess? It was unthinkable.

Rock was completely silent now; a stark contrast to the stream of noises he
made just a moment ago. Red watched as he wiped at his dirty face, using the
sleeve of his uniform to get rid of the blood.
“We will never mention this again, am I clear?” Red asked with a dark voice. He
noticed that Rock’s gaze was fixed on the picture on his guardian’s hand and
there was something unsettling about the look. Uncomfortable, Red put the
framed photo back in its place.

“Am I clear?” he repeated.

“Yes, father” Rock replied with a husky voice.

“Good. You’re dismissed.”

There was a brief moment during which Rock’s expression transformed into
something dark and violent and Red was reminded of all those stories he heard
about the boy’s unpredictable behaviour when he was let loose in Metropolis.
There was something ugly in the look his charge was sending him now; a cold yet
cruel gleam in his eyes which hardened his whole face.

To Red it seemed as if the boy was deciding on something. He knew one of those
decisions was to obey his guardian and leave, the other...

Red didn’t know what the other option was.

The silence in the room was almost unbearable at this point but the man was
determined not to speak first. For a moment it looked as if Rock would choose
the second option -some rash unpredictable act with heavy consequences- but
then the boy swallowed and dropped his gaze, looking down on the floor.

“Yes, sir.”

Red let out a breath of relief he didn’t even realize he was holding and then
smoothed the fabric of his sleeves with what he hoped was a composed gesture.
He didn’t look up until the boy closed the door behind him.

Really, he would have to be careful with that one. Rock may have been as
obedient as a dog when commanded by his guardian but what Red just witnessed
made him think that there was something unpredictable lurking underneath the
surface, something he would not be able to control in the future.

For some reason it felt as if Red had made a mistake by touching the boy like
that.

The man sighed bitterly as he mentally added this problem to the list of his
growing worries. He really didn’t have the time to deal with that idiot,
especially so close to the completion of the Ziggurat project. Hopefully the
boy would continue to do as Red commanded and they would never mention this
strange evening again.

Red reached for the bottle again, pouring himself another drink.
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