Fic : Fathers and Sons, Chapter 8
Eh. Hi. My work is insanely stressful and I'm only barely able to slough through on any given day. Most days I can't manage a thought more coherent then "fire bright, tree pretty".
But I bring fanfic. Fanfic good.
Title : Fathers and Sons, Chapter 8 (past chapters here)
Author : Dani Kin
Genre: Drama
Rating: PG-13
Summary : Being a parent is never easy and family relationships never run smooth. Megamind is ready to leave the nest and embark on a brilliant career in villainy, but can the warden handle letting him go?
Beta: Anyone who reads my other stories has probably noticed I can’t properly use a comma to save my life. Their correct usage here is all due to sharelle.
Edited to add: Some people in the comments asked but I need to say this is not the end! This is actually the dead middle of the story, which will be about 15 chapters when I'm done. So no, no, not ending it here! These two still have a long road to hoe.
~~~~~~~~~~~ M ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Did you look at those brochures I left you?” the warden asked, trying to sound casual as he examined the latest batch of schematics and incomprehensible notes suspended from the ceiling.
The boy snorted. “Ooh yeah. Cambridge. Oxford. Nice to know you want to ship me off to the other side of this godforsaken planet.”
The warden let out a heavy sigh and the papers fluttered in front of him. “That’s not why I-“
“Yes, yes, I know. You want me to go to college. Settle down, become another mindless drone.” The boy mocked him with an exaggerated tone of voice that the warden had come to expect but still hated. “No thank you. I have several highly promising ideas for evil inventions that would be a far better use of my time.”
God, not this again. Jesus. No wonder he was going grey. He fought the urge to hide behind his usual gruffness. He needed to make sure the boy was going to be taken care of. If that meant talking, even though he didn’t want to…..
“You need to stop wasting your time on these ludicrous plots and get serious about your future, young man. Go someplace where they recognize your talents and make you do something productive with them,” the warden lectured.
“I already recognize I’m a genius. And do you think they have anything to teach me I can’t learn on my own? Did you know the Dean at Oxford still thinks it’s possible that the electron cloud of the atom doesn’t influence alpha particle scattering?” The boy scoffed.
The warden had no idea what the young man was talking about but it was clear from his tone that the kid found that position deeply stupid. He tried again, sitting on the boy’s bed.
“Cambridge has the best physics program on the globe. You already passed on the robotics program at MIT.”
“Because their idea of cutting edge is things I drew out when I was nine,” the young man rolled his green eyes and crossed his arms.
“Well, not everyone has your mind,” the warden stated plainly.
“No, they don’t.” The blue boy gave a comically evil smirk. Ugh. The warden hated it when the boy was smug like this, but lately this was all he was like. His hopes that the boy would grow out of this phase were dimming.
God, could he still even call him a boy? He was almost a man, at least in the eyes of the law. He seemed to have grown as tall as he would, though it was hard to tell. At least he looked proportional in his own way. His head was still far larger than his body and he was still skinny as a rail, but he was no longer a gangly teen.
“Look, we missed the application deadlines for this fall but we could always apply for mid-year.” The warden gave it another go.
“I don’t know how to make this any clearer to you. I. AM. NOT. GOING. TO. COLLEGE. I am destined for a highly fulfilling career in villainy. And there is nothing anyone can do to stop me.” He tented his fingertips against each other diabolically. “Not you, and certainly not Metro Mahn.”
“Oh Lord, please don’t start in on Wayne Scott again.” The warden sighed and rubbed his temples. It was always like this. “You need to let it go, Blue.”
“I don’t respond to that name any more.” The boy’s voice was cool.
“Ok, Megamind. You need to be able to let it go.”
“What are you even doing here? Shouldn’t you be giving me a lecture peppered with clichés about a won-der-ful world or something? Where is my usual speech about how humans are really great and not a bunch of savages?”
“I don’t have anything prepared but I’m sure I can come up with something if you’d like,” the warden snapped back.
Megamind rolled his eyes. “I don’t need you to look after me anymore. Really.”
“Do you expect me to just sit with this?” the warden exploded at the boy. “Pat you on the back and wish you luck? This is stupid and illegal. And dangerous!“
“I don’t expect anything from you! It’s not your life. It’s my destiny. Not. Yours. And I know what I’m doing!”
“Oh yeah, you know everything at age 17.”
“Well I do have a mega mind,” the boy sniped. “And I’m not a child anymore.”
“Fine. Where is Minion?” The warden crossed his arms as he changed the subject.
Blue shrugged at him but the warden was pretty sure it was an act. He decided to stare pointedly at the boy until he gave him an answer.
“I don’t know,” the boy said with an air of smooth detachment. Yes. That was most definitely a lie.
“Don’t think I haven’t noticed that he doesn’t come back here most nights.”
“He isn’t restricted by stupid laws saying that he’s a minor,” the boy replied bitterly.
“Look, I know you two are raring to get out of here. You’ve made that pretty clear. But you’ve got to think practically. Where are you going to live? What are you going to do for money?” The warden tried to ask him sensible questions. It was the middle of December in Michigan, for crying out loud. The boy had never been good with cold.
“I have several highly promising ideas for evil inventions,” the boy repeated slowly as thought the warden was a moron.
“That’s not an answer.”
“I know.” The boy crossed his arms and stared him down.
The warden was unsurprised. He used to being shut out. Had the boy actually answered any of his questions he may have died of shock. But still, what the hell was he supposed to do? He didn’t have a any way to change the boy’s mind. Talking to him wasn’t accomplishing anything.
“As soon as Minion gets back I want him in my office.”
“You’re not going to be able to get him to talk me out of this,” the boy scoffed.
“I know,” the warden replied. I just want to make sure someone is going to be there to take care of you, he thought.
The warden checked his watch. Damn, he had to get on the phone for that 3:00 conference call. He stood up.
“Are you at least going to stay for the day on Saturday? We could do something for your birthday.” The warden felt like he needed to mention it before he could leave.
“It’s not my birthday.”
“You know what I mean,” the warden replied quietly. “We always do your birthday on the 17th. Counting back from crash landing day. Whatever you want to call it.”
And if it was the last one he might get he wanted to make it good. Get the boy something practical since he refused to think of these things himself.
“Minion and I have plans,” the boy replied. “Evil, evil plans.”
“Can evil plans wait 24 hours?” the warden asked with exasperation. The boy shrugged. Apparently that was the best he could get before he had to go.
~~~~~~~~~~~M~~~~~~~~~~~~
After the call he tried to throw himself into his prolific backlog of email. But as usual his focus was terrible. Which was how he had gotten the backlog to begin with.
God, what would he do if the boy wasn’t here? If he couldn’t just pop down to chat and check on him? If he had no way of knowing if the kid was dead in a ditch somewhere….
Someone knocked on his office door, and Leroy popped his head in.
“You still want the fish boss?”
The warden nodded at the familiar guard, who opened the door the rest of the way to usher in a fish in a thin, metal body that made him look like a robot. Should he have the suit sit down? Did it matter? Minion was standing right in front of his desk. The warden took a moment to collect his thoughts.
“Look, Minion, I’m going to lay this out plain. Can you talk him out of this supervillian bullshit?”
“Sir believes that being a supervillian is his destiny,” Minion replied, fins fluttering with what the warden guessed to be nerves.
“I’m well aware of that. What do you think?” The warden let his frustration show just a bit around the edges. And Minion just looked from side to side as the warden put him on the spot.
“My only job is to take care of him. If this is what he wants to do….” The fish didn’t finish that sentence.
“So you think this is total crap too.” The warden crossed his arms and held Minion’s gaze.
“Sir is very intelligent. He thinks this is his destiny. And I have no doubt he will make a magnificent villain.” The fish sounded oddly proud and the warden threw his hands up in the air.
“So you’re just going to enable this ridiculous feud with Wayne Scott? Minion, that boy has superpowers. We both know Blue is a certified genius, but he could get seriously hurt if this escalates. Have you thought about that?” the warden pressed him, desperate for answers.
Minion started to shake his head and swim in agitated circles.
“Sir said that you would try to trick me, but I won’t help you hold him back. My sole job in life is to look after him.”
“Jesus, Minion, would it kill you to have an opinion of your own?” The warden was aware he was taking his frustration out on the fish, but someone needed to hear this and it was clear the boy wasn’t interested in listening. “Are you his best friend or his servant?”
“Both!”
“Well, one day you’re gonna find that those two things don’t mix. I hope you remember that you had plenty of chances to stop this craziness before it’s too late.”
They glared at each other. He had never been best friends with the fish, but the warden had always tried to respect the special bond that he shared with the boy. Now he couldn’t help but feel like Megamind had chosen Minion over him, and it stung. The silence stretched out across the desk, long and awkward. Finally, the warden got up from behind the desk and stood in front of the mechanical suit.
“Just…. promise me that you’re going to look after him,” the warden demanded, his voice shakier then he expected and his face inches away from Minion’s glass.
“His parents sent me to take care of him. I will always take care of him,” Minion replied, fins still fluttering as he stared back.
“You better. He’s going to need someone out there.”
~~~~~~~~~~~M~~~~~~~~~~~~
The boy had liked the cake. But then again, he always liked cake. Or any kind of sweets, really. The warden remembered the first time he had bought the kid a birthday cake. He was three and he had tried his damndest to eat the entire thing. Then he had bounced off the walls for hours. Memories, the warden scoffed to himself.
Finally, he handed the boy his gift. Megamind tore the paper off the box and opened it eagerly. God, he was still such a child sometimes. Then he made a face when he saw the contents.
“It’s a… backpack?”
“It’s um, got lots of useful stuff in it. And there’s some money in the side pocket.” The boy unpacked the bag and looked baffled, removing the empty water bottle and the solar blankets and the waterproof matches. He was still pulling things out of the bag in confusion.
“You got me a sweatshirt?” Megamind cocked his head in confusion.
“Well, it’s a pullover. It doesn’t actually pull over, it’s got a zipper up the front so it should fit over your head. I guessed at the size, but I figured too big was better than too small.”
The boy still looked utterly bewildered.
“It’s…” the warden trailed off. “And there are boots. So your feet don’t get cold.”
He sounded so stupid. And the look the boy was giving him made it clear he thought this was stupid, too. It was a stupid present. What do you give your kid when they are about to embark on a career as a supervillian? The backpack had seemed so useful and practical when he thought of it, now it just seemed strange.
God, he couldn’t do anything right. But then if he had done things right, then the boy would stay. He wouldn’t be ready to pretty much disappear into the night.
Finally the boy pulled the last thing from the bag.
“A cell phone?”
“Call me once and while, will you?” The warden tried to sound nonchalant, but he prayed that the boy would actually call.
“I’m not interested in having a leash,” Blue responded bitterly. “Did you put tracking software on this? Because you know I’ll just remove it.”
The warden sighed. This was going all wrong. Why did it seem like everything he did and said was wrong?
“I wouldn’t know how to put tracking anything on there,” the warden responded gruffly. “It’s just common sense, so you can check in.” So I can know that you’re not dead in a ditch somewhere, he thought.
Something that looked like guilt momentarily flickered in the boy’s eyes.
“Oh.” Megamind seemed to be looking anywhere but at him.
“There’s nothing I can say to change your mind, is there?” The warden made his voice sound as gruff as possible. He had to stand firm on this or he would crumble. The boy just shook his head in an irritated fashion.
“No. Is that all?”
Was that all? What should he do now? He wanted to wrap the boy - his boy - in his arms and refuse to let him go. He wanted to ground him for the rest of his life. He would give anything to stop him from making this mistake.
He wanted to beg - pride be damned if it meant he would stay. He just wanted the boy home and safe and outside of the reach of government agents and super-powered assholes.
But if he started he might not be able to stop. And the boy wasn’t his. Not really. Even if he had changed his diapers and fed and clothed him, even if he held him when cried and played make-believe with him for hours. He wasn’t his. Even if he had an envelope of paperwork in the bottom of a file drawer to the contrary.
He was his own man now.
And the warden would not - could not - cry in front of him. He never had before; he wasn’t going to start now.
Now he realized that the pause had been too long and the boy was staring at him. “When are you leaving?” he asked quietly.
“Morning.” The boy responded in a dispassionate tone, studying him.
Well. That was. Yeah.
The warden moved closer and awkwardly patted him on the back. The boy made an irritated sound, clearly seeing the touch as an imposition, but allowed it.
“Good night, then,” the warden said awkwardly and the boy nodded. Then he left the cell before he could embarrass himself further.
He went up to his office, where he strongly considered a scotch before deciding it would just be too damn much work to get the glass and pour the drink. Instead he slumped glumly on the couch and fought with himself. At some point it started to get dark outside and he couldn’t even manage the energy to get up to turn on a light.
Then there was a knock on the door. He ignored it. Then another.
“I know you’re in there boss,” he heard Leroy say from the other side. The warden sighed. What was he going to do, hide out here all night? He would need to interact with other people at some point. He got up off the couch and opened the door.
The chubby black guard let himself into the office like it was an everyday occurrence. If he noticed the fact that the lighting was dim he didn’t remark on it. He grabbed one of the chairs in front of the warden’s desk and turned it around to cross his arms and lean against the top of the back as he sat.
“Stopped by and saw the kid. He’s packing somethin’ crazy. Seems to be turnin’ all his stuff into those funny blue cubes and putting them in a backpack,” Leroy said, watching the warden carefully.
The warden sat back down on the sofa. “I don’t know what else to do. He’s gonna end up a criminal. I raised him around criminals and he’s gonna turn out to be some crazy supervillian.” He put his head down into his hands and stared at the floor.
There was a moment of silence but it wasn’t awkward. Just a silence. Which made sense. Overall, Leroy was a man of few words. Finally the older man broke the silence.
“I remember your first day here. You came in all young and tough. Dressed sharp, too. Made it clear that you ran a tight ship and wouldn’t tolerate foolishness. I’ve been workin’ in prisons for damn near 30 years and I never saw anyone with as much bravado and the skill to back it up. Then when Madge left it was like you got locked down hard on everyone, including yourself. Until that kid showed up. So you don’t need to tell me what he means to you. I seen it firsthand.”
Leroy laced his fingers together in the pause. “But every kid needs to leave the nest at some time, boss. And it don’t matter where that boy goes, you’ll always be his poppa. That’s fact.”
The warden silently nodded.
“Plus, you and I know criminals. And that boy is no criminal. Needing time to figure himself out maybe, but not a villain.” Leroy spoke plain, but he spoke true.
“I just keep hoping he will figure it out soon,” the warden replied glumly.
“Boy’s gonna take as long as he’ll take, boss, especially a stubborn one like that one. A piece of advice?” Leroy asked, for the first time looking uncomfortable. The warden watched him and nodded.
“You don’t wanna be haunted by what could have been.” Leroy seemed to be looking past him now. “If you’ve got somethin’ you wanna say to that boy, go say it. Maybe he can take it with him wherever he’s gonna go.”
Then Leroy stood up, and patted him on the shoulder before leaving the warden alone again with his thoughts.
Could he really hide out here, or god-forbid go home, knowing this was the boy’s last night here? He got up and paced for half an hour before realizing that the answer was no.
He didn’t know if there was anything he could do or say to change the boy’s mind before sunup, but at least he could spend what little time he had left with him.
The warden walked quickly back down to the familiar cell. He could spend the night with him, like had when he was a boy, eating leftover cake. And maybe they could go up to his office and watch TV or something. Then the kid might still leave, but at least he would know he had been loved.
Maybe that wasn’t good enough, but it was all the warden had to give. And at least he might be able to make some kind of peace with himself in that.
He turned the corner at a clip and instantly knew it was all wrong.
The cell door was hanging open, but even in the dark he could see that it was empty. The fluttering paper cloud was gone, as were his computers and all his clothes. He had left a few of his oldest notebooks and some toys he hadn’t touched in years behind, but otherwise the cell was stripped of anything that would show it had ever been his.
The warden gripped the doorway. This was actually happening. Had actually happened. Damn.
Eighteen years to the day that the boy had crash landed at his prison, the young man had walked out the door to find his destiny. At least he took the backpack. Though he had left behind a cell phone on the crisply made bed.
But I bring fanfic. Fanfic good.
Title : Fathers and Sons, Chapter 8 (past chapters here)
Author : Dani Kin
Genre: Drama
Rating: PG-13
Summary : Being a parent is never easy and family relationships never run smooth. Megamind is ready to leave the nest and embark on a brilliant career in villainy, but can the warden handle letting him go?
Beta: Anyone who reads my other stories has probably noticed I can’t properly use a comma to save my life. Their correct usage here is all due to sharelle.
Edited to add: Some people in the comments asked but I need to say this is not the end! This is actually the dead middle of the story, which will be about 15 chapters when I'm done. So no, no, not ending it here! These two still have a long road to hoe.
~~~~~~~~~~~ M ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Did you look at those brochures I left you?” the warden asked, trying to sound casual as he examined the latest batch of schematics and incomprehensible notes suspended from the ceiling.
The boy snorted. “Ooh yeah. Cambridge. Oxford. Nice to know you want to ship me off to the other side of this godforsaken planet.”
The warden let out a heavy sigh and the papers fluttered in front of him. “That’s not why I-“
“Yes, yes, I know. You want me to go to college. Settle down, become another mindless drone.” The boy mocked him with an exaggerated tone of voice that the warden had come to expect but still hated. “No thank you. I have several highly promising ideas for evil inventions that would be a far better use of my time.”
God, not this again. Jesus. No wonder he was going grey. He fought the urge to hide behind his usual gruffness. He needed to make sure the boy was going to be taken care of. If that meant talking, even though he didn’t want to…..
“You need to stop wasting your time on these ludicrous plots and get serious about your future, young man. Go someplace where they recognize your talents and make you do something productive with them,” the warden lectured.
“I already recognize I’m a genius. And do you think they have anything to teach me I can’t learn on my own? Did you know the Dean at Oxford still thinks it’s possible that the electron cloud of the atom doesn’t influence alpha particle scattering?” The boy scoffed.
The warden had no idea what the young man was talking about but it was clear from his tone that the kid found that position deeply stupid. He tried again, sitting on the boy’s bed.
“Cambridge has the best physics program on the globe. You already passed on the robotics program at MIT.”
“Because their idea of cutting edge is things I drew out when I was nine,” the young man rolled his green eyes and crossed his arms.
“Well, not everyone has your mind,” the warden stated plainly.
“No, they don’t.” The blue boy gave a comically evil smirk. Ugh. The warden hated it when the boy was smug like this, but lately this was all he was like. His hopes that the boy would grow out of this phase were dimming.
God, could he still even call him a boy? He was almost a man, at least in the eyes of the law. He seemed to have grown as tall as he would, though it was hard to tell. At least he looked proportional in his own way. His head was still far larger than his body and he was still skinny as a rail, but he was no longer a gangly teen.
“Look, we missed the application deadlines for this fall but we could always apply for mid-year.” The warden gave it another go.
“I don’t know how to make this any clearer to you. I. AM. NOT. GOING. TO. COLLEGE. I am destined for a highly fulfilling career in villainy. And there is nothing anyone can do to stop me.” He tented his fingertips against each other diabolically. “Not you, and certainly not Metro Mahn.”
“Oh Lord, please don’t start in on Wayne Scott again.” The warden sighed and rubbed his temples. It was always like this. “You need to let it go, Blue.”
“I don’t respond to that name any more.” The boy’s voice was cool.
“Ok, Megamind. You need to be able to let it go.”
“What are you even doing here? Shouldn’t you be giving me a lecture peppered with clichés about a won-der-ful world or something? Where is my usual speech about how humans are really great and not a bunch of savages?”
“I don’t have anything prepared but I’m sure I can come up with something if you’d like,” the warden snapped back.
Megamind rolled his eyes. “I don’t need you to look after me anymore. Really.”
“Do you expect me to just sit with this?” the warden exploded at the boy. “Pat you on the back and wish you luck? This is stupid and illegal. And dangerous!“
“I don’t expect anything from you! It’s not your life. It’s my destiny. Not. Yours. And I know what I’m doing!”
“Oh yeah, you know everything at age 17.”
“Well I do have a mega mind,” the boy sniped. “And I’m not a child anymore.”
“Fine. Where is Minion?” The warden crossed his arms as he changed the subject.
Blue shrugged at him but the warden was pretty sure it was an act. He decided to stare pointedly at the boy until he gave him an answer.
“I don’t know,” the boy said with an air of smooth detachment. Yes. That was most definitely a lie.
“Don’t think I haven’t noticed that he doesn’t come back here most nights.”
“He isn’t restricted by stupid laws saying that he’s a minor,” the boy replied bitterly.
“Look, I know you two are raring to get out of here. You’ve made that pretty clear. But you’ve got to think practically. Where are you going to live? What are you going to do for money?” The warden tried to ask him sensible questions. It was the middle of December in Michigan, for crying out loud. The boy had never been good with cold.
“I have several highly promising ideas for evil inventions,” the boy repeated slowly as thought the warden was a moron.
“That’s not an answer.”
“I know.” The boy crossed his arms and stared him down.
The warden was unsurprised. He used to being shut out. Had the boy actually answered any of his questions he may have died of shock. But still, what the hell was he supposed to do? He didn’t have a any way to change the boy’s mind. Talking to him wasn’t accomplishing anything.
“As soon as Minion gets back I want him in my office.”
“You’re not going to be able to get him to talk me out of this,” the boy scoffed.
“I know,” the warden replied. I just want to make sure someone is going to be there to take care of you, he thought.
The warden checked his watch. Damn, he had to get on the phone for that 3:00 conference call. He stood up.
“Are you at least going to stay for the day on Saturday? We could do something for your birthday.” The warden felt like he needed to mention it before he could leave.
“It’s not my birthday.”
“You know what I mean,” the warden replied quietly. “We always do your birthday on the 17th. Counting back from crash landing day. Whatever you want to call it.”
And if it was the last one he might get he wanted to make it good. Get the boy something practical since he refused to think of these things himself.
“Minion and I have plans,” the boy replied. “Evil, evil plans.”
“Can evil plans wait 24 hours?” the warden asked with exasperation. The boy shrugged. Apparently that was the best he could get before he had to go.
~~~~~~~~~~~M~~~~~~~~~~~~
After the call he tried to throw himself into his prolific backlog of email. But as usual his focus was terrible. Which was how he had gotten the backlog to begin with.
God, what would he do if the boy wasn’t here? If he couldn’t just pop down to chat and check on him? If he had no way of knowing if the kid was dead in a ditch somewhere….
Someone knocked on his office door, and Leroy popped his head in.
“You still want the fish boss?”
The warden nodded at the familiar guard, who opened the door the rest of the way to usher in a fish in a thin, metal body that made him look like a robot. Should he have the suit sit down? Did it matter? Minion was standing right in front of his desk. The warden took a moment to collect his thoughts.
“Look, Minion, I’m going to lay this out plain. Can you talk him out of this supervillian bullshit?”
“Sir believes that being a supervillian is his destiny,” Minion replied, fins fluttering with what the warden guessed to be nerves.
“I’m well aware of that. What do you think?” The warden let his frustration show just a bit around the edges. And Minion just looked from side to side as the warden put him on the spot.
“My only job is to take care of him. If this is what he wants to do….” The fish didn’t finish that sentence.
“So you think this is total crap too.” The warden crossed his arms and held Minion’s gaze.
“Sir is very intelligent. He thinks this is his destiny. And I have no doubt he will make a magnificent villain.” The fish sounded oddly proud and the warden threw his hands up in the air.
“So you’re just going to enable this ridiculous feud with Wayne Scott? Minion, that boy has superpowers. We both know Blue is a certified genius, but he could get seriously hurt if this escalates. Have you thought about that?” the warden pressed him, desperate for answers.
Minion started to shake his head and swim in agitated circles.
“Sir said that you would try to trick me, but I won’t help you hold him back. My sole job in life is to look after him.”
“Jesus, Minion, would it kill you to have an opinion of your own?” The warden was aware he was taking his frustration out on the fish, but someone needed to hear this and it was clear the boy wasn’t interested in listening. “Are you his best friend or his servant?”
“Both!”
“Well, one day you’re gonna find that those two things don’t mix. I hope you remember that you had plenty of chances to stop this craziness before it’s too late.”
They glared at each other. He had never been best friends with the fish, but the warden had always tried to respect the special bond that he shared with the boy. Now he couldn’t help but feel like Megamind had chosen Minion over him, and it stung. The silence stretched out across the desk, long and awkward. Finally, the warden got up from behind the desk and stood in front of the mechanical suit.
“Just…. promise me that you’re going to look after him,” the warden demanded, his voice shakier then he expected and his face inches away from Minion’s glass.
“His parents sent me to take care of him. I will always take care of him,” Minion replied, fins still fluttering as he stared back.
“You better. He’s going to need someone out there.”
~~~~~~~~~~~M~~~~~~~~~~~~
The boy had liked the cake. But then again, he always liked cake. Or any kind of sweets, really. The warden remembered the first time he had bought the kid a birthday cake. He was three and he had tried his damndest to eat the entire thing. Then he had bounced off the walls for hours. Memories, the warden scoffed to himself.
Finally, he handed the boy his gift. Megamind tore the paper off the box and opened it eagerly. God, he was still such a child sometimes. Then he made a face when he saw the contents.
“It’s a… backpack?”
“It’s um, got lots of useful stuff in it. And there’s some money in the side pocket.” The boy unpacked the bag and looked baffled, removing the empty water bottle and the solar blankets and the waterproof matches. He was still pulling things out of the bag in confusion.
“You got me a sweatshirt?” Megamind cocked his head in confusion.
“Well, it’s a pullover. It doesn’t actually pull over, it’s got a zipper up the front so it should fit over your head. I guessed at the size, but I figured too big was better than too small.”
The boy still looked utterly bewildered.
“It’s…” the warden trailed off. “And there are boots. So your feet don’t get cold.”
He sounded so stupid. And the look the boy was giving him made it clear he thought this was stupid, too. It was a stupid present. What do you give your kid when they are about to embark on a career as a supervillian? The backpack had seemed so useful and practical when he thought of it, now it just seemed strange.
God, he couldn’t do anything right. But then if he had done things right, then the boy would stay. He wouldn’t be ready to pretty much disappear into the night.
Finally the boy pulled the last thing from the bag.
“A cell phone?”
“Call me once and while, will you?” The warden tried to sound nonchalant, but he prayed that the boy would actually call.
“I’m not interested in having a leash,” Blue responded bitterly. “Did you put tracking software on this? Because you know I’ll just remove it.”
The warden sighed. This was going all wrong. Why did it seem like everything he did and said was wrong?
“I wouldn’t know how to put tracking anything on there,” the warden responded gruffly. “It’s just common sense, so you can check in.” So I can know that you’re not dead in a ditch somewhere, he thought.
Something that looked like guilt momentarily flickered in the boy’s eyes.
“Oh.” Megamind seemed to be looking anywhere but at him.
“There’s nothing I can say to change your mind, is there?” The warden made his voice sound as gruff as possible. He had to stand firm on this or he would crumble. The boy just shook his head in an irritated fashion.
“No. Is that all?”
Was that all? What should he do now? He wanted to wrap the boy - his boy - in his arms and refuse to let him go. He wanted to ground him for the rest of his life. He would give anything to stop him from making this mistake.
He wanted to beg - pride be damned if it meant he would stay. He just wanted the boy home and safe and outside of the reach of government agents and super-powered assholes.
But if he started he might not be able to stop. And the boy wasn’t his. Not really. Even if he had changed his diapers and fed and clothed him, even if he held him when cried and played make-believe with him for hours. He wasn’t his. Even if he had an envelope of paperwork in the bottom of a file drawer to the contrary.
He was his own man now.
And the warden would not - could not - cry in front of him. He never had before; he wasn’t going to start now.
Now he realized that the pause had been too long and the boy was staring at him. “When are you leaving?” he asked quietly.
“Morning.” The boy responded in a dispassionate tone, studying him.
Well. That was. Yeah.
The warden moved closer and awkwardly patted him on the back. The boy made an irritated sound, clearly seeing the touch as an imposition, but allowed it.
“Good night, then,” the warden said awkwardly and the boy nodded. Then he left the cell before he could embarrass himself further.
He went up to his office, where he strongly considered a scotch before deciding it would just be too damn much work to get the glass and pour the drink. Instead he slumped glumly on the couch and fought with himself. At some point it started to get dark outside and he couldn’t even manage the energy to get up to turn on a light.
Then there was a knock on the door. He ignored it. Then another.
“I know you’re in there boss,” he heard Leroy say from the other side. The warden sighed. What was he going to do, hide out here all night? He would need to interact with other people at some point. He got up off the couch and opened the door.
The chubby black guard let himself into the office like it was an everyday occurrence. If he noticed the fact that the lighting was dim he didn’t remark on it. He grabbed one of the chairs in front of the warden’s desk and turned it around to cross his arms and lean against the top of the back as he sat.
“Stopped by and saw the kid. He’s packing somethin’ crazy. Seems to be turnin’ all his stuff into those funny blue cubes and putting them in a backpack,” Leroy said, watching the warden carefully.
The warden sat back down on the sofa. “I don’t know what else to do. He’s gonna end up a criminal. I raised him around criminals and he’s gonna turn out to be some crazy supervillian.” He put his head down into his hands and stared at the floor.
There was a moment of silence but it wasn’t awkward. Just a silence. Which made sense. Overall, Leroy was a man of few words. Finally the older man broke the silence.
“I remember your first day here. You came in all young and tough. Dressed sharp, too. Made it clear that you ran a tight ship and wouldn’t tolerate foolishness. I’ve been workin’ in prisons for damn near 30 years and I never saw anyone with as much bravado and the skill to back it up. Then when Madge left it was like you got locked down hard on everyone, including yourself. Until that kid showed up. So you don’t need to tell me what he means to you. I seen it firsthand.”
Leroy laced his fingers together in the pause. “But every kid needs to leave the nest at some time, boss. And it don’t matter where that boy goes, you’ll always be his poppa. That’s fact.”
The warden silently nodded.
“Plus, you and I know criminals. And that boy is no criminal. Needing time to figure himself out maybe, but not a villain.” Leroy spoke plain, but he spoke true.
“I just keep hoping he will figure it out soon,” the warden replied glumly.
“Boy’s gonna take as long as he’ll take, boss, especially a stubborn one like that one. A piece of advice?” Leroy asked, for the first time looking uncomfortable. The warden watched him and nodded.
“You don’t wanna be haunted by what could have been.” Leroy seemed to be looking past him now. “If you’ve got somethin’ you wanna say to that boy, go say it. Maybe he can take it with him wherever he’s gonna go.”
Then Leroy stood up, and patted him on the shoulder before leaving the warden alone again with his thoughts.
Could he really hide out here, or god-forbid go home, knowing this was the boy’s last night here? He got up and paced for half an hour before realizing that the answer was no.
He didn’t know if there was anything he could do or say to change the boy’s mind before sunup, but at least he could spend what little time he had left with him.
The warden walked quickly back down to the familiar cell. He could spend the night with him, like had when he was a boy, eating leftover cake. And maybe they could go up to his office and watch TV or something. Then the kid might still leave, but at least he would know he had been loved.
Maybe that wasn’t good enough, but it was all the warden had to give. And at least he might be able to make some kind of peace with himself in that.
He turned the corner at a clip and instantly knew it was all wrong.
The cell door was hanging open, but even in the dark he could see that it was empty. The fluttering paper cloud was gone, as were his computers and all his clothes. He had left a few of his oldest notebooks and some toys he hadn’t touched in years behind, but otherwise the cell was stripped of anything that would show it had ever been his.
The warden gripped the doorway. This was actually happening. Had actually happened. Damn.
Eighteen years to the day that the boy had crash landed at his prison, the young man had walked out the door to find his destiny. At least he took the backpack. Though he had left behind a cell phone on the crisply made bed.