Voyagers
"The Right Idea"
Summary: Phineas decides Sam's mother has the right idea…when dealing with a smart, but trouble finding, kid.
Author's Note: Takes place during the second episode "Created Equal" before Phineas and Jeffery head back to Rome to free Spartacus.
Warning: This story has a scene of parental discipline in the form of spanking.
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. I just wrote this story for fun.
Voyagers…Voyagers…Voyagers…Voyagers…Voyagers
Phineas Bogg and Jeffrey Jones, along with their new friend Sam, waved as the steamboat carrying Harriet Tubman left port.
"She's going to be a great woman," Jeffrey told Phineas, smiling.
"She already is," Phineas told him, smiling back.
"Sam!" a high shrilled voice pierced the air and the three turned to see an older lady storming towards them. "Sam Clemens, you get yourself on home right this minute!"
"Oh, gosh!" Sam exclaimed, wide-eyed. "It's my ma! I ain't been home since yesterday and I left the catfish in the washtub!"
He quickly dashed towards his mother, who sent him scurrying towards home with a resounding smack across the rear end that caused him to jump a foot in the air.
She continued to swat him all the way down the street.
Jeffrey winced.
"Boy, I sure am glad that's not me," he said, smirking up at Phineas. "I'm glad you don't get that mad at me."
Phineas lifted an eyebrow. "Oh? Why's that?" he asked, curiously.
Jeffrey snorted. "C'mon, Bogg," he said, chuckling. "You'd never do that to me."
Phineas raised an eyebrow.
It was true he was new at this handling a kid thing…but the way the kid made it sound he nothing but a pushover.
"Oh, I don't know," he said, narrowing his eyes. "Seems like Sam's ma might have the right idea…"
"Yeah, right," Jeffrey said, snorting. "Quit kidding, Bogg…"
Phineas crossed his arms over his chest.
"Jeffrey," he told him, seriously. "You did ignore me when I told you that breaking Harriet out was only going to lead to trouble."
Jeffrey glanced up at him. "You told me you liked what I did," he said, stubbornly.
"No, I said I liked your stubbornness," Phineas told him, glaring. "But what you did nearly got you, Sam, and Harriet killed!"
Jeffrey glared up at him. "Like your plan was any better," he told him, sulking. "You just got lucky!"
"Maybe so," Phineas told him, "but that still doesn't change the fact that you deliberately ignored me."
"Yeah, well," Jeffrey said, pouting even more. "So, what?"
"So maybe its time for some comeuppance," Phineas told him, picking him up and tossing him over his shoulder.
"Hey!" Jeffrey exclaimed. "Put me down, Bogg! What are you doing?"
Phineas ignored him and carried him into a nearby ally where he sat down on a barrel.
Setting Jeffrey down, he pointed a reprimanding finger at him.
"I'm going to give you something you've been asking for," he told the boy, proceeding to turn him across his knee.
"Let me up, Bogg!" Jeffrey exclaimed, worriedly. "C'mon, this isn't funny!"
"It's not supposed to be," Phineas told him, rearing his hand back and bringing it down across the boy's upturned bottom.
"Ow!" Jeffrey winced at the sting that smack caused. "Quit it, Bogg!"
"Nuh uh," Phineas said, bringing his hand down again. "You might be the brains, kid, but I'm the boss. So, when I tell you NO that's exactly what I mean!"
Phineas continued to reign down smack upon Jeffrey's upturned backside, giving him a total of fifteen hard smacks.
He let Jeffrey off his lap, intending to continue his stern lecture…
But the sight of the boy's tear stained face was too much for him.
He pulled Jeffrey against him and soothed him gently.
"Now, that's enough," he told him, quietly yet firmly. "You deserved that and you know it."
"M-Maybe I did," Jeffrey sniffled, rubbing his backside. "I-I should have listened to you."
"Like I said, you're the brains," Phineas told him, grinning. "But I still have more experience at being a Voyager than you. Sometimes, I do know what I'm talking about."
"Yeah," Jeffrey agreed, still rubbing, "but that doesn't mean I have to like it."
Phineas chuckled. "I didn't much like it myself," he told him, standing up. "What say we get back to Spartacus?"
Jeffrey nodded, and then glanced up at him sharply. "Hey!" he exclaimed. "That was Sam Clemens!"
"Yeah, I know," Phineas said, setting the Omni. "C'mon, kid, Rome's awaitin'!"
With that, he pushed the button on the Omni that sent them hurtling through the cosmic time stream…
The End