False Secruity
4 years after 'Finding Salvation'
Chapter 1
"Shawn?" Jack spoke aloud moving stealthfully through the corridors of the small house they had. No answer.
"Shawn!" Jack asked aloud again, then was greeted by small giggling coming from behind the closet door. He grinned as he placed his hand on the door the pulled it open.
"Gotcha!" Jack pulled the small boy out of the closet and put him into his arm. Shawn laughed hysterically clinging to Jacks' neck. Shawn had brownish blonde hair, and had blue eyes. He looked just like Jack when he was a kid. Jack carried him into the small kitchen and sat him down.
"Now time for breakfast little man" Jack said as he was setting him down and then moving to the cupboards.
"I want cereal!" Shawn demanded almost.
"Alrighty cereal coming up" Jack smiled as he grabbed the box of rice krispies out and went to pour it into the bowl he had pulled out before to realize there was none in the box.
"Okay buddy, we dont have cereal, how bout some fruit?" Jack said tossing the box away.
"I want a banana!" Shawn said.
"Okay, I think we have that..." Jack said pulling open the fridge door, and pulling out 2 bananas. He walked over to Shawn and peeled one giving it to him. Jack then proceeded to peel the last one as Shawn ate the one Jack had given him.
"What are we gonna do today?" Shawn asked while still chewing a mouth full of banana, so it sounded slightly muffled.
"1 you shouldnt eat with you mouth full of food Shawn, and 2 you get to spend the day at daycare, remember? I told you last night I have to meet someone today" Jack said.
"Why cant I come?" Shawn said after finishing the banana.
"Because you are too young" Jack said the only thing that he could actually think of. The real reason was that he had an interview and also He just needed some time alone within the last 4 years he hadnt gotten a moments peace. Though he liked it like that, he loved Shawn to death and all. He just wanted to talk with people near or his own age. It was just hard being a single parent with next to none income. The house was given to them by the Canadian government. The government had a set district for the American refugees. Though it was kind of discriminating, it was just the fact that there were so many of them that were misplaced. The Canadian government didnt know what to do with all of them.
"Okay..." Shawn pouted.
"It wont be that long" Jack said trying to cheer Shawn up a little. Jack then finished his banana then looked at the time, realizing they was going to be late.
"We are gonna be late, Shawn, we need to get going" Jack said getting up and tossing the banana peels away.
"Yes Daddy" Shawn got down from the chair and rushed over to Jack, grabbing his hand and they headed out the door. There house wasnt much, it looked like a shack, but then again so did all the others around the area. It was like a large complex of small shack like houses scrunched together to the point that there was no back yard, or front yard for that matter. Jack hadnt minded the place that much, it was better then nothing he thought. They walked down the street past several houses.
Once they reached the end of the complex there was a large house, it was runned by the manager of the complex. The managers' wife was a daycare person. She took care of the childern when the parents were looking for jobs or had jobs. Most of the people that lived in the complex were unemployed. It was very hard to get a job because of all the refugees. The government had a hard time keeping up with the job demand so most of the refugees were unemployed, and were on government wellfare. Jack and Shawn were on wellfare at the moment. Jack hadnt been able to land a job interview yet, but applied for countless jobs daily.
"Here we are Little man" Jack said as he pulled Shawn up into his arms and opened the ajar door into the daycare center.
"Hi Jack" The woman smiled caringly at the two.
"Hey Renee" Jack smiled as he set Shawn down in the entry way.
"Hi Mrs. Searson" Shawn walked over and wrapping his small arms around her waist in a greeting hug.
"Hi Shawn" Renee friendly hugged him back. "Why dont you go play with the other kids, they are in the living room" Renee continued looking down at Shawn.
"Yipe!" Shawn squealed letting go of Renee, he was about to charge off to the living room when he whipped around quickly and hugged Jack good bye. Jack had knelt down knowing he would do that, he did every time. Jack hugged him back and kissed him on the forehead before Shawn moved backwards waving to him then turned back around and ran off down the hallway towards the living room.
"How long this time Jack?" Renee asked looking over to him and moving towards him as Jack was standing up.
"It shouldnt be anymore then a few hours, I have an interview" Jack smiled.
"Good for you Jack, I know youve been trying forever to try and get one" Renee congradulated him.
"Yea, Lets hope I get the job" Jack said.
"Good luck" Renee smiled patting him slightly on the shoulder.
"Cya later" Jack said then proceeded to leave the house.
Chapter 2
Jack was sitting anxiously in the waiting room when his name was called. He walked casually in the office to be greeted by the interviewer. He was tall, very tall, and had a shaved head. He was pretty well built, and had soft brown eyes. He seemed generally kind off of first appearances.
"Nice to meet you Mr. Bauer" The man smiled.
"Nice to meet you as well Mr. Hayward" Jack shook his hand. Mr. Hayward gestured him to sit down as he did himself.
The interview went along very pleasantly. And by the end Jack was confident that he would get the job. It was simple desk job at the police station near by. Just 5 blocks walking away from the complex.
He left the building and stopped by the grocery store that was a block away from the complex, to grab Shawns' favorite cereal brand which was Rice Krispies. He bought the biggest size box so it would last while and headed back to the daycare to get Shawn.
As he was about to come to the daycare center a man approached him.
"Jack?" Jack heard the voice from behind him, He turned around and his jaw dropped in shock. 'am i dreaming?' he thought to himself just standing there. 'no hes dead...theres no way...its not possible' he continued to think.
"Well are you going to say something? or just stand there" The man said.
"I thought...you were dead!" Jack stuttered just staying where he was.
"No...I was out of the country on holiday when the attacks happened..." The man stated.
"And Michelle? She here too?" Jack asked.
"Yea shes at home, I just wanted to come here and see for myself, I thought you were dead as well, but then I saw your name in the list of refugees in this complex" Tony explained. Jack was about to cry in joy, he moved over to Tony, dropping the box of Rice Krispies and hugged him in a friendly matter.
"Its good to see you" Jack smiled.
"Yea same here..." Tony smiled hugging him back. "Why dont you come over to our place and we can catch up on all these years?" Tony asked.
"Yea sure, just let me get Shawn and drop this off at home then we can go" Jack said pulling back and grabbing the box that he had dropped.
"Shawn?" Tony asked in confusion.
"Yea hes my son, hes 4" Jack smiled as they headed into the complex.
"Dam alot has apparently happened" Tony muttered as he followed Jack into Renee's house.
"Hey Renee, I came to pick up Shawn" Jack said seeing Renee coming up the stairs from the basement.
"Alrighty just a second" Renee disappeared back down stairs. A few seconds later she came up holding Shawns' hand.
"Daddy!" Shawn squealed as he rushed over to Jack hugging him.
"Hey little man, have a good time?" Jack asked.
"Yea, we got to play with legos!" Shawn smiled, then noticed there was another man with Jack.
"Who is he?" Shawn whispered into Jacks' ear, as if trying to not let Tony know he was asking.
"This is Tony Almeida, He and I were friends a long time ago" Jack introduced Shawn to Tony.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Almeida" Shawn was always very polite, Jack never understood how a boy of his age could be so polite.
"Nice to meet you too" Tony chuckled. Tony noticed right off the bat the uncanny resemblence between Jack and Shawn. It was unmistakable.
Chapter 3
Tony, Jack, and Shawn made it back to the house quickly. Tony knew the houses in the complex where sad looking, but the interior was even worse. He stepped into the small house slowly following Jack and Shawn. Jack moved to the kitchen.
"Make yourself at home Tony" He called from the kitchen as he put the box of cereal away. Shawn was watching Tony in a curious way.
"Mr. Almeida...Wanna see my room?" Shawn asked pawing at Tonys' hand.
"Okay, lead the way" Shawn squealed for joy, it wasnt often they had visitors. He grabbed Tonys' hand and lead him down the small coridor into a bedroom that wasnt much bigger then the living room. There were 2 twin beds in there neatly made with worn blankets. There was also a small closet, a chest of drawers, and a window. The room had concrete floor like the rest of the house along with the walls. It was very plain. Shawn excitedly gave him the tour of the room.
"Thats thats were I sleep...and and thats where daddy sleeps!" Shawn pointed to each bed. Tony could tell Shawn hadnt meet many other adults by the way he was getting excited, that they hadnt had many visitors.
"Come on let me show you the the living room!" Shawn pulled Tony back into the living room. The living room was the size of the bedroom, and same style of walls and flooring. There was a futon against one of the walls with a coffee table that looked like it was falling apart infront of the futon. There was also an old lazy boy type chair against the opposite wall of the futon.
"Its very nice" Tony smiled weakly. Shawn returned with a big grin then went to the futon and pulled out a small white rabbit, stuffed animal. It also looked like it had seen many moons. Shawn held it up to Tonys' view.
"This is Mr. Bunny!" He smiled.
"What have you been doing Shawn?" Jack interupted, almost starting to laugh as Shawn gave him an innocent look.
"I was just...showing Mr. Almeida the house..." Shawn smiled innocently moving over to Jack clinging onto his stuffed rabbit.
"Okay, Im ready to go now Tony" Jack said pulling Shawn up into his arms. Shawn clung to Jacks' neck with the stuffed rabbit there as well.
"Right! I got a car just outside the complex" Tony said heading out of the house. He hadnt expected any of this. He hadnt even expected to find Jack. He had thought the list had a mistake, but he had to make sure. Sure enough He had found Jack, with a son. What had all happened? He thought to himself as the three of them walked out of the complex area. He thought Jack had been in LA at the time of the attacks, and so forthe believed he was dead with everyone else that he knew. Jack looked pretty good, he thought to himself. Not like he was before obviously, but it didnt look like he was starving. He did look kind of homeless though, as any refugee did. He wondered how long he had been in the complex, how he had gotten to Canada. All of this he was wondering about as they approached his car.
It was a cheap Honda Passport, but Jack and Shawn both looked at it like it was a jaguar or something. Jack got Shawn settled in the back seat as Tony climbed into the drivers' seat. Jack then climbed into the passengers' seat and they were off. Shawn was watching threw the window intentively, and Jack was almost doing about that but decided to make some conversation along the way.
"How have you and Michelle been doing?" He asked half concentrating on looking through the window and half paying attention to Tony.
"Really Good actually, Ress just turned 13, and hes becoming a troubled teen as most would say, and Alexis is 5 now" Tony explained.
"Sounds like You and Michelle have had a good life here..." Jack smiled, as they pulled up to a middle class home. It was 2 stories tall and a light blue color. Jack got out at the same time Tony did and then pulled Shawn out.
"This is a big house..." Shawn commented as Jack pulled him into his arms again. Tony went up the driveway followed by Jack and Shawn who were just looking around at the surroundings. It was a nice neighborhood.
Tony pulled open the door to be attacked by a small black fuzz ball.
"Hi Spark" Tony knelt down and pet the black fuzz ball of a dog. Jack looked at him and smiled weakly. It reminded him of Maverick. Spark then rushed over to Jack and Shawn jumping up for attention. Shawn clung in fear to Jacks' neck.
"Its okay buddy...he wont hurt you..." Jack tried to calm Shawn down as Tony went off to find Michelle. Jack was finally able to set Shawn down, and petted the dog to show Shawn that spark wouldnt harm him. Shawn was still uncertain and cowered back into the corner of the entry way. Spark went up to him and stood up on his hind legs trying to get Shawn to pet him. Shawn whimpered trying to pull away. Jack sighed pulling the dog back gently and petted him so he wouldnt go after Shawn.
"Jack?" A female voice, Jack heard. He looked up from the dog and smiled.
"Michelle" He stood up and went over and hugged her, and she hugged back.
"Its so good to see you" She said then noticed Shawn in the corner trying to stay as far away from spark as possible, who of which was all over Shawn begging for him to pet him.
"Whos he?" She asked looking at Jack.
"Hes My son, Shawn, come over here I want you to meet someone" Jack ushered Shawn over to them.
"but but but...hes going to get me if if if i move!" Shawn whimpered. Spark barked at Shawn, as Shawn cowered away even more.
"Spark Come here" Tony ordered the black fuzz ball. Spark looked at Tony in defeat and slowly made his way over to Tonys' side. Shawn watched him cautiously.
"Its alright Shawn" Jack said looking at Shawn. Shawn slowly moved over to Jacks' side, clinging to his waist.
"Shawn this is my old friend Michelle" Jack introduced him to michelle.
"Michelle this is my son, Shawn" Jack continued. Michelle smiled, she also had recognized the uncanny resemblence between the two. Michelle knelt down to Shawns' eye level.
"How old are you?" Michelle asked him. Shawn held out one hand and held up 4 fingers.
"I am 4 years old" He said proudly.