The Son

"Daddy, I'm scared," Zoe cried.

"It's all right, sweetheart, there's nothing to be scared of," Jim answered. "Whatever's going on, they'll fix it and we'll go home."

"I want to go now, daddy."

"Okay, okay." Jim stood up and looked around. "Let's see what we've got here."

"Daddy, did you go away because of me?" Zoe asked after a few minutes.

Jim stopped searching around the Eye and walked over to Zoe. He sighed and kneeled down in front of her. "It wasn't your fault, honey, but where we came from, people aren't allowed to have more than two children. That's why I went to jail. This was something that your mom and I decided to do."

"I want to go home."

"I know, Zoe, but I promise, nothing bad will happen here. You just need to wait a little bit."

Jim could tell that his tactics were not successful. He put a hand on Zoe's cheek.

"Why did you break the law, daddy?"

Jim realized a way to keep Zoe momentarily distracted. "Well, honey, we didn't. I'm going to tell you something that you can't ever tell anyone, okay?"

"Okay."

"Do you promise not to tell anyone?"

"I promise."

"Do you remember when you used to hide in the vents?"

"Yes."

"Well, other parents who had more than two children sometimes sent one away. That's what happened when a friend of mine and mommy's had a third son. We took care of him. We loved him like he was our own son. And when all of us thought our friends found a way around the law, mommy and I had a second daughter."

"Me."

"That's right, but we were wrong. Josh had to stay with us a little longer than we thought, but couldn't send you away, could we, Zoe? We kept all three of you and we kept our promise to keep Josh safe as our own son. We couldn't ever break that promise. I don't break my promises, and I promise everything will be fine with us here."

"Okay, daddy."

Jim got up and started looking around the Eye again. "I'm going to look around for another way out and keep my promise. You just stay brave, okay? Just like those times when you were in the vents."

"Okay, daddy."

Thank you for reading. I don't actually believe this to be a canonical possibility or anything; it was just a thought that ran through my mind. Less than an hour elapsed between the idea's formulation and publishing, so please excuse any holes or grammar mistakes. I already forgot most of the dialogue in "Nightfall" so I might have erred in determining what Zoe knows or does not know about herself.

Also, I don't plan on continuing with this. I guess I just wanted to put the idea out there. If anyone happens to like the idea and would like to continue it (or completely revamp it), you have my blessing.