Title: Heatwave
Pairing: Adam Carter/Lucas North
Rating: PG13
Length: 1047
Summary: As England basks in unexpected sunshine, Lucas' anxieties come to the fore


It was one of those rare things that every Englishman prayed for fervently each year; a summer without rain. England had already been basking in blazing sunshine for three weeks and there was no sign of the weather relenting. Parks and beaches the length and breadth of the country were full of people flashing the flesh to try and catch some sunshine while pubs and bars were full to overflowing from after work until closing. It was a welcome heat and, as the mercury rose, so did everyone’s spirits.

With one exception.

Lucas North.

While the rest of England stripped down and spent as little time as possible inside, Lucas did the exact opposite. He continued wearing suit trousers and long-sleeved shirts (although he did dispense with the jackets) and did his best to maintain the image that the weather was no warmer than mid-March, even refusing to decamp a bit closer to any of the massive fans that had been brought in to try and keep Section D running at a somewhat bearable temperature. Instead, he simply suffered in silence and tried to discreetly wipe away the sweat that beaded his brow, completely oblivious to his colleagues rolling their eyes at his stubbornness.

It wasn’t that Lucas disliked the heat. On the contrary, he rather liked it. After all, he had spent several years living in Africa where it could be far hotter than what England was currently experiencing. No, the problem didn’t lie in the heat but in the fact that Lucas’ life had taken a rather unexpected turn almost nine years ago and Lucas was still suffering from the results.

By the time the weekend arrived – after three and a half weeks of glorious sunshine – Adam Carter had had more than enough of his lover’s bloody mindedness. The summer seemed set to stay and Lucas was just going to have to deal with it and, if Adam had anything to do with it, actually enjoy it. Luckily for Adam, he had a more than willing (and ruthlessly effective) co-conspirator in his son, Wes.

Having taken to Lucas being his dad’s partner with far more alacrity than anyone had expected, Wes had been pretty vocal about what he wanted and now lived with the two men in their recently purchased house. However, Wes had been away for the last fortnight, having first spent a week away on a school trip then a week with his grandparents and had made it clear that he wanted to spend the weekend with both his dad and Lucas. Neither man had had any protests – well, Lucas had, but his were shot down immediately by both Carter’s – and so all three had decamped to Hyde Park for a bit of a kick around and a dip in the Serpentine.

As soon as they arrived at the Serpentine, Wes wasted no time in stripping down to his swimming trunks and running headlong into the water, whooping in delight and shrieking slightly at the water temperature. Adam wasn’t too far behind his son, albeit considerably more sedately, and drawing more than a few admiring glances in the process. Despite numerous exhortations from both Carter’s, Lucas remained obstinately on the bank wearing a long-sleeved t-shirt and jeans, the object of more than a few curious and bemused stares. Eventually, bored of Lucas’ pig-headedness and unwilling to deal with a moping son over the fact that Lucas wouldn’t join in, Adam pulled himself out of the water and over to his lover.

“Right, is there a reason that you’re martyring yourself by dressing head to toe while England basks in a heatwave? Are you doing penance for something that I’m not aware of?”

“Don’t be ridiculous! Of course I’m not doing penance for anything and I’m hardly being a martyr but it’s not as though I can take my shirt off is it?”

“Why not? England’s hardly going to come crumbling down if you do. You might set women to swooning and inspire a few inappropriate erections but the world’s hardly going to come to an end.”

Adam’s words were met with a withering glare but he refused to be cowed. “Come on, why can’t you take it off? Wes really wants you to join us…”

“Are you being particularly dense today Adam? Has the heat melted your brain?” Lucas waited and then, when Adam didn’t respond, hissed out “my tattoos.”

“Ooookaaay,” Adam was a bit nonplussed. “What about them? Wes has seen them before and I’ve definitely seen them before. Besides, look around; there’s plenty of ink on display here already.”

“There’s a bit of a difference between the type of ink you can see around you and mine. Nobody is going to care about flowers, tribal images and football teams in varying levels of dubious quality. Russian prison tattoos are a different thing altogether.”

Adam couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing and he made that perfectly clear to Lucas. “Seriously? This is why you’ve been hiding yourself under long sleeves during the hottest summer that the UK has had in 30 years or so? Your tattoos? Lucas, who’s even going to know what they mean?”

“Around here? Plenty of people,” Lucas muttered darkly.

“Okay, maybe so but that’s just here. Everyone in Section D knows about them and they don’t care. Wes thinks they’re cool and you know exactly what I think of them. “Adam couldn’t help the smirk that graced his lips as he caught sight of the faintest blush on Lucas’ cheeks.
“You got those tattoos in service of your country. The important people – the only ones that matter – know that and so do you. now, stop being ridiculous and go change into these swim shorts so you can get in the water.”

“Bossy.”

“Well how about a bit of an incentive then? Lose the shirt, change into the shorts and get in the water and then, tonight, I’ll take all the time in the world showing you just how much I like your tattoos. Deal?”

Adam’s smirk turned into a full blown grin, both at the speed with which Lucas snatched up the clothing in question and the hoarseness of his voice as he replied, “Deal.”

Lucas North was easy to deal with when you knew how.