Disclaimer: I own nothing blah blah blah…So here's chapter three. Todd moves in with Roadblock. Lotta sad stuff here. Boy was I in a depressed mood when I wrote this chapter.

Day One

Cautiously Todd picked at his food. He didn't know what it was, something French was what Roadblock said, but he really wasn't paying attention. He was still in a world of his own. He barely looked up at Roadblock or said anything for fear of the huge Joe. He had hardly eaten anything, not that the food wasn't good, he was just too scared to eat much.

Something Roadblock said startled the boy and caused him to jump. In his fear he accidentally knocked over his milk glass. Todd shrieked in terror as he saw Roadblock get up and instinctively crouched on the floor. He covered his head with his hands, waiting for the blows to come.

They didn't. Todd tentatively peeked out from behind his fingers. Roadblock stood there, in shock. His mouth was literally hung open. Finally he knelt down to the boy. "Todd. Todd take it easy."

Todd cringed at Roadblock's touch. Gently Roadblock stroked the boy's hair in an attempt to comfort him. "Todd listen to me. I didn't mean to scare you like that. I'm sorry. I'm not going to hurt you."

Todd looked into his eyes. He didn't say anything. Roadblock laid his hand on his shoulder. "Todd, listen to me," Roadblock explained. "I do tend to yell a bit. But there's one thing I won't do is hit. I'm not like that. What I say is true. I won't hurt you."

Todd breathed a little sigh of relief, but he still was stiff. Roadblock sighed as he helped him up. "You okay now?"

Todd nodded. "You hungry?" Roadblock asked. Todd shook his head. "Okay kid, I guess if you're not hungry you shouldn't be forced to eat. Why don't you get ready for bed instead? Okay?"

Todd nodded and numbly went into the bedroom. He took a pair of pajamas on the bed and went into the bathroom to get ready for bed. When he emerged it was obvious the pajamas he was wearing were way too big for him. Roadblock sighed, "Well I think tomorrow what we should do is find some clothes that fit you. Now you okay?"

Todd nodded again and allowed Roadblock to guide him to the bed. Roadblock tucked him in and mussed his hair. "Goodnight kid. Get some sleep. Tomorrow we have a big day ahead." Roadblock said as he turned off the light and closed the door behind him.

Todd turned over and curled up into a fetal position. Tears ran down his face as he lay there. Why didn't Magneto simply kill me? That thought played over and over in his mind as he cried himself to sleep.

Roadblock sighed to himself as he finished clearing off the table. He had only started with the boy and already he felt like a failure. He thought I was going to beat him. He thought. He's terrified of me! Lord, how can I help him if he doesn't trust me?

"What am I going to do?" he whispered a silent prayer. "How can I get through to him?"

He shook his head. Dark memories resurfaced from the corners of his mind. He remembered certain missions. Missions he wanted desperately to forget. The mangled, destroyed bodies in the COBRA labs he had raided. The unlucky, unwanted experiments left to die in agony. All for science. And the worst of all was on the COBRA held island of Moreausan.

Roadblock clenched his fist. That was not going to happen to the boy. He would not allow history to repeat himself. Not if he could help it.

He looked around at the new quarters he and the boy had been given. It was a small two-bedroom apartment with a small living room and a kitchen/dining room area. Usually apartments like this were reserved for officers, but the general had decided that this would be more fitting for the boy. Plus Roadblock was in line for a promotion anyway so Hawk didn't see any harm in moving into it a little early.

Roadblock sighed again. The boy had had a lot of hard breaks in life. The last thing he needed was to live in fear. He had to prove himself to the boy. Somehow he had to show him that he was not a monster, but a friend.

The next day Todd found himself in front of a huge obstacle course. He looked down at his new clothes. He had green pants and a brown top that was very similar to his old one he wore at Bayville. Only this time he was wearing a T-shirt under it and it wasn't sloppily hanging out as usual. His boots were not regulation, but looked more like the boots he wore with his old uniform, only they were brown.

He looked up at Roadblock. "Stand straight!" He ordered. "Now listen up, at home you're Todd. But out here, you're Toad. Got it?"

Toad meekly nodded and tried to stand as straight as possible. "Now listen," Roadblock said. "I want to see how fast you can go through this obstacle course! Ready? Go!"

Toad raced to the start of the course and promptly tripped over the very first obstacle, a tire. Roadblock put his head in his hands and moaned. "Lord, this is gonna be haaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrddddddddddddd."

Yes I know, short chapter, but it's mostly to set up what's about to come. Poor Todd. Things go from bad to worse. Or do they?