Astoria Oregon, Saturday Night
It had hit him rather suddenly. An almost physical pain that had nearly floored him. But he had held it together for Tommy's sake. The boy had just turned two in March. Billy had supposed this might happen one day when his son turned five, the age he'd been when his own father had taken him away. But he hadn't counted on it today.
He'd been teaching Tommy to play catch.
If it hadn't been for the mental discipline he'd learned from Storm Shadow, and even Blair at Fandom, Billy might not have been able to keep from breaking. But he'd managed. Now though...now he could let it floor him.
Playing catch. The one memory he had from the days before Cobra. Playing catch with his father. He supposed even then the man must have been losing it, but still.
Billy sat on the darkened porch his face resting in one hand, the other clutching a letter.
Dear Billy,
I don't know if you'll ever read this. Right now you're lying in the hospital, in a coma. And though I can't really know for certain, I think it's my fault. The doctors tell me your accident happened not far from Springfield. Were you coming back? To confront me? To make amends? To finish what you started?
It doesn't matter. What matters is, my son, my only son, my flesh and blood, was betrayed. Betrayed by the one person he should always be able to trust. Me. Your father. I cannot begin to apologize for what's happened in the past. To even try would be an insult.
All I can do, is try to make sure that the future, is a better one. For you. For me. For the both of us. I promise you now, if you ever wake up, I will do everything in my power to give you what you should have had in the first place. A father worthy of a son as strong as you've proven to be.
You're all the family I've got Billy. My parents died when I was your age. I never knew my grandparents, and my brother was killed shortly before you were born.
I pray you wake. I know you will. You're strong William. Strong enough to stand up to me, strong enough to return, you will be strong enough to come out of this. And when you do I will be waiting. And I will do all in my power to make it all up to you.
Love,
Your Father
[Open for calls and the like.]
He'd been teaching Tommy to play catch.
If it hadn't been for the mental discipline he'd learned from Storm Shadow, and even Blair at Fandom, Billy might not have been able to keep from breaking. But he'd managed. Now though...now he could let it floor him.
Playing catch. The one memory he had from the days before Cobra. Playing catch with his father. He supposed even then the man must have been losing it, but still.
Billy sat on the darkened porch his face resting in one hand, the other clutching a letter.
Dear Billy,
I don't know if you'll ever read this. Right now you're lying in the hospital, in a coma. And though I can't really know for certain, I think it's my fault. The doctors tell me your accident happened not far from Springfield. Were you coming back? To confront me? To make amends? To finish what you started?
It doesn't matter. What matters is, my son, my only son, my flesh and blood, was betrayed. Betrayed by the one person he should always be able to trust. Me. Your father. I cannot begin to apologize for what's happened in the past. To even try would be an insult.
All I can do, is try to make sure that the future, is a better one. For you. For me. For the both of us. I promise you now, if you ever wake up, I will do everything in my power to give you what you should have had in the first place. A father worthy of a son as strong as you've proven to be.
You're all the family I've got Billy. My parents died when I was your age. I never knew my grandparents, and my brother was killed shortly before you were born.
I pray you wake. I know you will. You're strong William. Strong enough to stand up to me, strong enough to return, you will be strong enough to come out of this. And when you do I will be waiting. And I will do all in my power to make it all up to you.
Love,
Your Father
[Open for calls and the like.]