Taken to the Woodshed
Summary: Ebenezer and Kincaid have a long history and there’s a lot of bad blood between them. Ebenezer promised to kill him the next time they saw each other. Instead, he does something very different
Warning(s): Spanking; spoilers up to and including Blood Rites of the Dresden Files; AU; references to violence; references to canon character death; references to canon character injury
Author’s Note: It’s not explicitly stated in any of the books, but given the history between Ebenezer and Kincaid, I’m going on the theory that Kincaid is his son
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Ebenezer had seriously considered going to Harry’s home. The younger wizard wouldn’t invite him in; he knew that much. But at the very least, he might be able to see with his own two eyes that his one-time ward was as well as he could be. Even if his hand was damaged beyond repair, at least Harry Dresden was still alive.
Even if he now hated Ebenezer. But the old wizard was used to that. Used to there being conflicts between him and the other wizards. Even his own son….
But that was a wound still too tender to be poked and prodded. Seeing Kincaid again, after so long, had torn open feelings inside him he’d never thought to experience again. Emotions he’d thought he’d buried a long time ago. But seeing Kincaid again, after so long….
Feeling like this hurt. And it hurt so much. It wasn’t even just the history between him and Kincaid, though that was painful enough to think about. No. He should have expected that Harry would eventually learn about Ebenezer’s past…about his history. And what the younger wizard had learned had been one of the worst things he could have done. And perhaps that was another thing to place the blame on Kincaid for. Perhaps it was another thing he could lay at his son’s feet.
He should go back to his farm. Return home, where he could lick his wounds in peace. Where he could forget the painful memories that had come from both his biological son and the person who he’d considered a son for so long.
But he couldn’t bring himself to back to his farm. Not right now. Not knowing that he would be alone. Normally, he didn’t mind it so much. Normally, being alone was almost a welcome feeling. It gave him the ability to think and plan…but right now, he couldn’t be alone with his thoughts. He didn’t suffer from nightmares. But he did suffer from the thoughts that tormented him.
That probably explained why he hadn’t gone home and now found himself at the airport, having driven there without any kind of conscious thought. He hadn’t been directly told of the time Kincaid’s flight was, but he’d picked the information up. And then he’d called the airport to confirm.
Kincaid was in the crowd of people. Ebenezer watched the man, considering his next course of action. He’d promised Kincaid that he’d kill him the next time they saw each other. But they had seen each other. And Ebenezer had been talked out of taking his revenge. And now that the need for vengeance had left him, he was left with regret. His whole life was full of it.
He was moving before he thought about it. Edging his way through the crowd of people. Kincaid’s senses must have been on overload, because he didn’t turn. He didn’t look at Ebenezer. So the wizard was able to sneak up behind him and place a hand on Kincard’s shoulder before the younger man flinched, pulled away and turned with his hands darting towards the gun he carried at his waist.
For a few moments, they just stared at each other. Then, slowly, Kincaid relaxed his stance. He nodded at Ebenezer, stepping away from the crowd of people and motioning for Ebenezer to join him. “Is this the day of my reckoning, then?” He asked the question calmly enough, but his hand remained planted on his hip; near to the gun he had secreted there.
“If I said yes, I’m sure you’ll use any one of a hundred ways to retaliate,” Ebenezer answered coolly.
“A hundred and one,” Kincaid correctly. “What are you doing here, old man? Are you planning to take me out the same way you took out Duke Ortega? There are a lot of innocent people here. Then again, it isn’t as if you care so much about taking out innocent people.”
“We’re at war with the Red Court,” Ebenezer answered. “There are no true innocents in this war with the vampires.”
Kincaid shrugged, the movement casual…at least to anyone who didn’t know him. “Is that why you’re here? You have a target to give me? Multiple targets? I need to be back with the Archive in 48 hours, so any mission you give me needs to be able to be completed by then.” He paused. “Is this from the Council? Or are they unaware of what you’re asking me to do?”
“I haven’t asked you to do anything yet,” Ebenezer replied.
Kincaid just stared at him, face carefully expressionless.
“I want you to come home with me.”
That brought a reaction. A slight narrowing of the eyes, true, but on anyone else, it might have been a gasp of surprise. A stronger reaction. “You want me to come home with you?” Kincaid shook his head. “You threw me out.” When you realised what I was. He didn’t have to say the words, but they hung in the air between them anyway. The hint of accusation in his voice. What might have been a shout from anyone else.
“I did,” Ebenezer agreed. “I’m not saying things will be perfect. I don’t think they ever can be perfect. There’s a lot between us. A lot of bad blood. A lot of open wounds. But I’m willing to give it a try. If you are too.”
“I have a responsibility.”
“The Archive.” Ebenezer nodded. “You can make the necessary arrangements. Bring her here.”
“Why?” Kincaid responded. “You never wanted me. I was your dirty little secret. The scion of a human and a demon. Your scion.” His voice was calm, neutral, in spite of the accusatory words. His eyes moved towards the crowd of people and then back to Ebenezer. “You told me you’d kill me. The next time we saw each other.”
“I don’t want to kill you.” Ebenezer looked into Kincaid’s eyes…into his son’s eyes.
“That’s not what you said before.” Kincaid shook his head and took a step back, moving away…turning away. “And say that I did come back with you. The moment I do something you don’t like, something you don’t agree with, you’ll kick me out again. I’ll save you the trouble. I’m leaving. We probably won’t see each other again for at least another century. Maybe a whole lot longer, if we’re lucky.” He stepped towards the crowd.
“Wait.” Ebenezer placed a hand on his shoulder.
Kincaid stiffened. Spoke in a low voice. “Touch me again and I’ll rip your arm off.”
“No, son. You won’t,” Ebenezer said firmly. “You’re asking me what I’ll do the next time you do something that I don’t agree with. Come home with me now and I’ll show you. Because while I won’t kill you, I plan to punish you for how you left things the last time we saw each other.”
“Punish?” Kincaid repeated, a note of disbelief creeping into his voice. “What makes you think I’d let you, old man?”
“I believe the fact you haven’t punched me in the jaw yet indicates you might be willing to listen to me,” Ebenezer answered. “No more rejection. No more throwing you out. Come home with me, son.”
The slump was barely perceptible. Kincaid sighed and half-turned, eyeing him warily. “You’ll punish me, but you won’t send me away again?” he asked, his voice brittle. “Because if you do, if you do send me away again, I won’t come back.”
“I believe you.” Ebenezer lightly squeezed his shoulder. “We should go home now. And once this rift between us is done with, we’ll make arrangements to bring the Archive here.”
Kincaid was silent; for long enough that Ebenezer wondered if his son would refuse. If Kincaid would say no. Would get on the plane and fly away from him. And Ebenezer couldn’t blame his son if that was the choice he made. Wouldn’t force it if Kincaid chose to leave him without looking back. Finally, though, the younger man shifted; towards Ebenezer. It was a minute movement. But it was enough. And Ebenezer squeezed his shoulder before he let go and jerked his head towards the exit of the airport. “Come with me.”
The breath that escaped Kincaid was almost a sigh. He followed Ebenezer without a word as they headed outside, towards Ebenezer’s van that was parked outside. They both got into the van without another word to each other and then Ebenezer began driving.
The drive was conducted in silence. Ebenezer didn’t see the need to break it and Kincaid just watched the scenery out of the window as it passed by. He looked relaxed enough to the untrained eye, but Ebenezer could see that his son was on his guard. Ready and prepared for anything.
By the time they reached the farm, it was well into the middle of the night. Ebenezer parked outside the farmhouse, a small wooden building that had once housed cows and chickens…until Ebenezer’s duties had made it impossible to keep much in the way of livestock.
“It doesn’t look any different,” Kincaid commented, glancing at the farmhouse out of his window. “You haven’t changed much.”
“Not on the outside, at least,” Ebenezer replied. He got out of the van and waited for his son to join him, then walked towards the farmhouse.
“Are you literally taking me to the woodshed?” Kincaid asked, as they stepped through the doors and into the small wooden barn. There was the faintest trace of amusement in his voice.
Ebenezer didn’t reply with words. Instead, he walked over to his workbench and moved his tools off the surface, placing them all to one side to clear the workbench entirely. Then, he reached up to the hooks that had been hammered above the workbench and took down a wide leather strap. Calling light to his fingers, he turned to face his son and said, in a calm voice, “Once this punishment is over with, we can start over. A clean slate. The air will be cleared.” He paused and waited. He wouldn’t order Kincaid to bend over. This had to be his son’s decision.
Kincaid watched him for a few moments before he finally nodded. He breathed in deep and walked over to stand right next to the workbench. He bent forward at the waist and positioned himself over the bench, reaching out and grabbing onto the far edge.
Ebenezer moved to his son’s side and placed a hand on Kincaid’s back. “From now on, you will work with me and not against me. If you take on work for hire, that’s fine. But it won’t be working against my interests.” He rubbed low down on Kincaid’s back for a few moments and then brought the strap down in a fairly hard stroke.
Kincaid’s whole body stiffened, but he didn’t voice any reaction. And no verbal responses were released as the second and third strokes landed, each one just below the first. The only sign he gave that he was feeling the strapping was the way his fingers flexed and clenched on the opposite side of the workbench.
After a half dozen strokes from the strap, Ebenezer paused. His son was showing minimal reactions and Ebenezer rubbed the younger man’s back for a few moments before he directed, “Stand up and take your pants down.”
Kincaid drew in a sharp breath, but he slowly stood up. His hands went to his pants and he shoved them down before positioning himself back over the workbench.
This time, when the strap landed across the seat of Kincaid’s boxers, the younger man drew in a sharp breath. It wasn’t much of a reaction, but it was more of a reaction than when the strap had been landing over two layers of clothing.
Another six strokes of the strap had Kincaid beginning to shift from one foot to the other and the glow of vivid red lines showed clearly through the white material of his underwear. And when the strap landed across the tops of his thighs, he gasped out in responses.
After another six strokes with the strap, Ebenezer gave a sharp tug to pull Kincaid’s underwear down and then brought the strap down against bare skin.
That garnered a bigger reaction and Kincaid’s body stiffened as a strangled cry escaped his lips. Ebenezer could see the darker red stripe left and he rubbed Kincaid’s back a few more moments, until his son relaxed, and then brought the strap down again and a third time. Between each stroke, he paused to rub Kincaid’s back until his son relaxed…and then delivered the next stroke before repeating the pattern.
He didn’t keep count of how many times he brought the strap down against bare skin. Eventually, it was impossible to distinguish where each individual strike had landed. Kincaid’s whole bottom was a bright red and Ebenezer didn’t have to touch it to feel the heat radiating from the punished skin.
A final six strokes and Kincaid’s body slumped. Ebenezer couldn’t tell if his son was in tears or not, but the younger man was accepting the punishment and so Ebenezer stopped. He hung the strap back into place and then rubbed Kincaid’s back until his son’s body relaxed and the tension eased from him. Then, he stepped back, averting his gaze as Kincaid stood and replaced his clothing.
“Are we done?” Kincaid’s voice was strong and no hint of the strapping he’d just suffered through sounded in his voice.
“We’re done,” Ebenezer agreed. “And the next time something happens, this is exactly how I will deal with it.”
“But no kicking me out again?”
“No kicking you out again,” Ebenezer agreed. He reached out and squeezed his son’s shoulder. “If you’re ready, we can go into the main house and talk about our next plan of action.”
Kincaid nodded slowly and sighed. “I’m ready.” He paused and then, as if the word was a surrender, said quietly, “Dad.”
The End