okay, so this is the first piece of a series i'm gonna be doing. it's really short, but there will be longer chapters in the distant future? and Eugene should be up next, since my brain already decided on it.


The first time Jason ever got in a fistfight was in the eighth grade, when one of his classmates called all those Soldiers deployed to Vietnam 'cruel baby killers.' It was between his house and his school on a warm Wednesday afternoon and they had stopped to argue on the sidewalk. Surprisingly, Jason didn't feel better at all when he punched the kid, who he knew deserved it. Todd, the bully, lurched forward, looking as if he was going to fall. Then he grabbed hold of Jason's shirt and pulled him fast towards the pavement.

They ended up having a brief scuffle on the ground, and Jason was the first to pull away, suddenly feeling sick inside his stomach, not due to the dark blood that streamed from his nose.

There was both his and the other kid's blood on his hands.

Jenny had been disappointed. "This isn't like you." She said, and even if Jason hadn't done something like this before, he wondered if it was like him, since he had thought about it before. He didn't know when the anger started, but at some point it had, and found it tempting to storm.

"You know what he said." He argued pointlessly, tiredly.

"That's not an excuse." She sighed, and her gaze burned. Hazel eyes vibrant shades. He thought she was more upset since Whit hadn't been as vocal as she had, that he hadn't reiterated that no matter what anyone said about Jerry, violence wasn't an answer. "You know that's not an excuse, Jason. Having self control is one of the-" She paused to take a breath, and he willed himself not to look away. "Most important things you'll ever need to learn, to gain respect, and live a life worthy of the calling."

"Mom."

"You can't react like that, no matter if the person does deserve it." Jason's shoulders slumped. Part of him knew she was right, above else, and above else said justice had to lose control sometimes.