A little light on dialogue, pretty short, and it does contain strippers. Nothing graphic but it is a stag party people!
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Eagle had chosen Ben Daniels to be his best man. To him it felt like the obvious choice. His only brother was trying to throw him out of the family and erase him from the family tree for good. Snake was too introverted to plan a stag party. They'd end up at the library if he was best man. Wolf was far too cranky for such an endeavor. He'd end up yelling at them all if he was best man. So Fox had taken on the duties, though Wolf was the one who had the wedding rings. His flat had the best security and they all knew he was the least likely to lose them.
Fox had done a pretty good job too. He had helped with some of the planning and had even helped Jack make the wedding party's bouquets. They had gone with fake flowers in order to save money. Eagle maintained that everyone could tell the difference but Jack said it was good enough for the twenty minutes they'd be holding them. The woman was by no means picky about the wedding decorations as long they looked relatively classy. Eagle liked that about Jack.
The best man had also done a fairly good job at planning the stag party. Because of the two underaged boys, the night had started off at the Laser Quest where they'd played a few rounds and gorged on greasy pizza. They'd all had a surprisingly good time, especially when they found out that Wolf and Tom had basically spent the entire time hunting each other down for their own personal vendetta. Tom had won, though Eagle had a very strong suspicion that Wolf had let him win.
Afterwards, they had dropped the kids off at the Rider home and went to a strip club. Fox had done this just to entertain Wolf and a couple of SAS friends who met up with them. Snake and Fox weren't all that into body glitter and Eagle wasn't sure if he'd get in trouble. They sat a table, drank, and joked.
"Are you ready for married life?" Snake asked him as he watched Wolf down a shot.
"I think so," he replied. "Feels like we've been married for just about forever anyway. The only thing that will really change is the paperwork."
"Never did ask you, how did Alex take the guardianship stuff?" Fox asked.
"He was fine with it," Eagle told him feeling a little strange talking about Alex's guardian situation while a woman named Candi swung around a pole with her breasts out. "Knew about it way before I brought it up."
"Doesn't surprise me," he said, and turned away to watch Candi. Wolf was in the thick of things. He had always been a hard partier and the excuse of a stag party was more than enough to go crazy. He had left several of the SAS boys laughing hysterically around a near-by table and was now receiving a lap dance in the corner. Eagle thought it was amusing but saw no reason to go and copy him.
They sat around for about an hour, picking at the buffet table, drinking, and watching the others make a fool of themselves. Snake managed to get a great photo of Wolf in a pink boa, party top hat, and glitter smeared all down his front. He looked incredibly drunk as he weaved his way back to their table. He suddenly stopped, his eyes widened comically, and his mouth opened in a gaping expression that left him looking like a drunk fish.
They turned around and were met with a group of women in pink t-shirts that read Bachlorette Party of the Year! They were giggling hysterically at Wolf's expression and Eagle couldn't help but laugh at the sight of Jack. She wandered over.
"Hey!" she said and kissed him on the cheek. She smelled strongly of beer.
"Hey," he said calmly. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, we were at the club dancing and we all got hungry. Marlene said this place has the best buffet. She soooo didn't say anything about strippers." Jack darted away without waiting for a reply to catch the waitress who had just walked by with a tray of shots, nearly knocking over Wolf in her quest to order a beer. He managed to safely land in a chair at the correct table.
"Are we still allowed to party?" he asked, clearly uncertain if a strip club had been on Jack's approved list of stag party venues. Eagle was too amused to say that Jack clearly didn't give a crap that they were there and didn't seem interested in doing anything but enjoying her own party with her friends. There was a decent chance she would barely remember that they'd run into each other by the time morning rolled around. He watched as several of the women passed bills up to the stripper on the pole.
By the time another hour had come and gone, Eagle was starting to feel very tired and was ready to climb into bed and fall asleep. He stood up to find Wolf so they could leave and was greeted by the sight of Jack engaged in a poker game with an SAS soldier that Eagle barely knew but had been invited along anyway.
They were playing for chicken wings taken from the buffet and both were clearly drunk. A couple of the strippers were standing around, cheering Jack on as she wiped the glitter-infused floor with the soldier. When Jack won a hand, one of the strippers gave her a pink boa and a kiss on the cheek. Wolf was in the seat next to her, accepting all the cash he'd won from the people who had bet that Jack would lose. Eagle pried him away, waved good-bye to Jack, and left with Fox and Snake stumbling behind him.
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While on the train, Wolf regaled them all with how awesome Jack was.
"I've never seen anyone kick Zebra's ass at poker," he exclaimed and they were all glad that the carriage was empty as three o'clock in the morning as Wolf was very loud. Eagle was exhausted.
"Where did she learn to play like that?" Snake asked.
"Her dad," Eagle mumbled, watching as Wolf's attention wandered and he attempted to wipe the glitter off the front of his shirt. He couldn't help but notice that when Wolf was drunk he acted a lot like Tom. The two of them spent too much time together; they were picking up on each other's mannerisms. Just the other day he had seen Tom give someone a sidelong glance in much the same way Wolf did when he was sizing up someone he was considering fighting.
They chatted until, finally, the tube stopped at the station Eagle needed. He got off alone and stumbled home. It took three tries to get the key in the lock and open the door. He shut it as quietly as he could and went to bed.
Jack wasn't home yet and he could hear Alex's breathing through the boy's open door.
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About three hours later, as the sun was coming up, Jack fell on top of the bed, boa still wrapped around her neck, glitter on her cheeks, and leaves in her hair. He was too tired to ask her about it and simply fell asleep.
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Sometime in the early afternoon, he managed to pry himself out of bed and went to the living room where he joined Alex watching a show he'd never of before. The boy reached over to the end table and deposited a bottle of water and two pain relievers in his hands.
"Thanks, kiddo," he mumbled.
"Have fun?" he asked.
"Sure," Eagle replied. "As far as stag parties go, it was alright. I think Wolf might have had a little too much fun."
"Tom caught him passed out on the lawn in front of their building."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah, he pulled him out when the sprinklers came on. Wasn't pleased about it either. Apparently the guy was covered in glitter and it got all over his favorite rugby jersey."
Eagle managed a small laugh despite the pounding in his head. He was sorely reminded of the fact that he wasn't much of a drinker.
"You should have seen Jack last night," he told him.
"You guys saw each other?"
"Yeah, at the strip club," Eagle said. There was very little that Eagle wasn't comfortable telling Alex about. In return, Alex was usually just as honest with him.
"You guys know you're supposed to have your parties at different places, right?" Alex asked, amused.
"It was an accident," he told him a little defensively. "Besides, she barely said two words to me while we there."
"Yeah, once she gets a couple of beers she's really flighty."
"Oh! Why does she have leaves stuck her hair?" he asked. In his hungover stupor he was entirely certain that Alex would have the answer to this question. It never occurred to him the kid wouldn't know something about Jack. He wasn't disappointed.
The teen laughed and said, "She got out of the taxi, couldn't figure out how to get her key in the lock, and decided to come in through the window. Instead of going around the bushes she tried to go through them. I had to go outside and untangle her."
If he had been feeling even a less miserable he would have laughed.
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At some point he had fallen asleep again, but was woken up when Jack came stomping down the stairs, freshly showered, and green looking. Alex gave her the same two items he'd given Eagle. Once she had swallowed the pills she snuggled up next to him on the couch. He turned so he could lay his head on her shoulder.
It occurred to him that Fox had been incredibly smart to have both parties planned for the same night a full week before the wedding and two days before they had to pick up arriving Americans at Heathrow. They'd have a full two days to feel human again.
Alex made them food, which they nibbled at and then ignored and they spent the rest of the day watching movies with the kid. Last night had been fun, but curled up with Jack and watching cheap horror films was Eagle's favorite part of the stag party. This realization made him feel a little old but happy nonetheless.