A/N: I own nothing you recognize. Just having fun.

A/U: Johnny and Shannon have two children. Robby and Laura.

A/N: Special thanks to Invisible Observer for all her help!

A/N: Special thanks to AllValleyGirl for her suggestions!

"Turn that shit down," Robby barked at Trey and Cruz. "My sister is sleeping." He glanced nervously at her door. He hoped she was still sleeping. As loud as they had been playing that video, she was probably awake and all he needed was for her come out and see him messing with weed and Trey and Cruz looking for porn or as close as they could find on YouTube.

When the music went silent, the door opened. Robby gasped in shock as his dad walked into the apartment. His eyes were wide before he regained his composure, narrowing his eyes as a scowl crossed his features.

"What do you want?" he asked, making no attempt to hide that he had been measuring out weed.

Johnny looked at the table then back to Robby who smirked at him as if daring him to say anything. Whatever. That wasn't what he was there about.

"You've missed school for a month? What the hell, Man? Why did you tell your principal we were in Colorado?" Johnny raised his chin, tense as though he were preparing for battle rather than just talk to his son.

Robby snickered and popped off about a 'father-son' trip before setting back down at the table and picking up the pipette he was filling.

"Daddy?"

Robby shot to his feet. Johnny noticed that this time, he quickly threw his jacket over the table. "Go back to bed, Lou-lou," he said, his face calm and open.

"Yeah, right," she scoffed.

"Why aren't you in school?" Johnny asked. His shoulders dropping, the tension of confronting Robby ebbing away as he turned to face her. Her oversize pajamas and bare feet making her look like a small child instead of a teenager. He half expected to her to be clutching a teddy bear in her arms.

"I didn't feel good," she said, looking around as though she was trying to figure out what she had done wrong.

"What's wrong?" Johnny asked, stepping towards her.

"You're sick, Laura," Robby moved as if he wanted to step in between them, but he didn't. "Go lay down. This doesn't concern you."

She pulled a face at Robby and shook her head as she shuffled towards Johnny, wrapping her arms around his waist and laying her head against his chest. "I have a headache," she told him.

Johnny placed a hand on her forehead, then her cheek, before sliding his arms around her thin shoulders, kissing the top of her head, and holding her close. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"I've got it under control," Robby snapped. His hands itched to reach out for Laura and pull her away from Johnny. Didn't she know that he was just going to let her down? He didn't deserve the contented look she gave him.

Johnny saw the dark, furious look Robby wore when looking at him. Robby's hands were clenched into fists, his shoulders squared. He looked as though he was ready for a fight like he expected to be attacked. Johnny knew that look well. It was the same way he'd looked at Sid for most of his life. His son saw him as he saw Sid. And why not? Hadn't he walked in here ready for a fight? He took a deep breath and forced himself to relax and change tactics. "Why do you want to quit school anyway?"

"I need to get a job. Somebody has to take care of things," Robby replied, his hand sliding between Johnny's arms and Laura's shoulders, gently tugging her towards him. Johnny let her go, not wanting to put her in the middle of their issues. Firstly because she didn't need that and secondly because he already knew how that would end. Laura may love him, in fact, he was pretty sure that she was the only person who still did, but her loyalty belonged to Robby. It was him that she looked to for confirmation when she was told to do something or punished. If it was Johnny that had told her to do something or tried to punish her, Robby would just roll his eyes and shake his head, telling her not to listen to him. The last weekend they had stayed with him, Johnny had taken her phone because she was being a smart ass. He had barely even set it on the counter before Robby snatched it up and handed it back to her saying, "I pay for this phone. It's mine. If she wants it, she can have it." Of course, John had no way of knowing if that was true or not. He'd never demanded Shannon account for how she spent the child support he sent, having hated it when Sid would make his mother account for every penny she spent right down to $2.50 for a box of tampons. Sid used money to control people. Maybe that's why Johnny had never cared much about it as long as his bills were paid and he had a few dollars left over to buy some Coors.

"Your job is to go to school," he replied. "I know it can suck, but you can make something of yourself."

With Laura safely behind him, Robby's eyes narrowed even further as he spouted off about LaRusso being a winner, his lips twisting into a cruel smile as his words hit their mark. He had Shannon's skill of being able to stab the knife just where it would cause the most pain. His look no longer reminding Johnny of himself, but of her, though Shannon usually played helpless instead of tough. The tough guy routine was straight out of Johnny's playbook.

Johnny went on the defensive, saying something about not caring if Robby went to school, a line that he pounced on, going off about how Johnny had never cared, getting in Johnny's face, pushing him to hit him, but he had never struck his kids and he would never, no matter how much Robby pushed him.

Robby ended his rant with, "You can go. We," he motioned to himself and Laura, "Don't. Need. You."

Johnny looked from Robby to Laura. Her head was down and tears were swimming in her blue eyes, but she didn't speak. "Whatever," he said, leaving. Robby followed him to the door and slammed it shut.

"Why do you have to be so mean, Robert?!" Laura snapped as soon as the door shut. She was shaking with fury, sadness, and disappointment. Her tears spilled over her cheeks but she hastily wiped them away. "You're such an asshole. I wouldn't want to be around you either. Why don't you and your loser friends just go away?" She ran to her bedroom and slammed the door, leaving Robby staring in shock.

He stood stock still in the middle of the kitchen, unsure how to process what had just happened. Laura had never spoken to him like that before. He was pretty sure he'd never even heard her say a curse word much less call him an asshole.

"Dude, your sister is a bitch. She must be PMSing," Cruz said, inadvertently making himself the lightning rod for the feelings Robby couldn't process.

"Hey! You don't talk about her like that!" He quickly swept all their paraphernalia back in its box and threw it at him.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Trey asked.

"He isn't going to talk shit about Laura," Robby replied, his anger growing. "Get the fuck out of my house!"

Trey and Cruz looked at each other, then back at Robby, looking bewildered that this had suddenly turned around on them. Deciding they weren't moving fast enough for his liking, Robby grabbed Cruz by that stupid jean jacket he always wore and drug him to the door. "Get the fuck out of my house!" he shouted again.

"Man, come on," Trey said, pushing between them and guiding Cruz out the door. "Apparently Robby's the one on his period. Let's let him cool off." He turned back to face Robby. "You better be there tomorrow night," he warned, stabbing his finger into Robby's chest.

Robby slapped his hand away. "Don't worry about me," he said, slamming the door in Trey's face. He stalked over to the sofa and threw himself down. He had known that his dad would find out he'd quit school eventually. Hell, maybe he'd wanted him to find out. Maybe that was why he'd forge the note from him instead of Shannon. He knew that nosy vice-principal would call him. What had he wanted to happen? For Johnny to try to make him go back to school? Fuck that. He'd like to see him try. For Johnny to wrap his arms around him and kiss his head like he had done to Laura? Hardly. He didn't have time for that pussy shit. He punched the sofa and kicked the coffee table. This was stupid. Why was Laura mad at him? He wasn't mean. He'd only told Johnny the truth. If he cared so much about Robby's education then why did let them live in North Hills and go to that shit hole school? They could live with him and go to West Valley without having to take two buses and still walk several blocks. Laura wouldn't have to spend three hours a day on a bus and he wouldn't have to walk through metal detectors just to get to first hour. Maybe if Johnny had stepped up and took custody of them, he would have met good people like Uncle Bobby and Aunt Barbara, or that MacKenzie girl Laura hung out with all of the time at school, instead of wannabe thugs like Cruz and Trey. Maybe if Johnny had been a good dad, then maybe he'd be playing football the next night like Ryan Brown, rather than heading to Valley Mall to shoplift some shit to sell. Whatever. It wasn't like it could be helped now. Maybe he'd go see Ryan play tomorrow before meeting up with Trey and Cruz. He wouldn't mind seeing Uncle Bobby and Aunt Barbara and they always let him and Laura tag along with them. He wondered for a minute when the last time his dad had talked to Uncle Bobby was, but put that out of his mind. He knew Bobby would give him a lecture about quitting school but he wouldn't try to force him back and maybe he'd know of a decent place Robby could get a job. He got up and went to Laura's door and knock lightly.

"Come in."

He walked over and sat down beside her on the bed. Her back was turned and she was texting someone. "I'm going to go get us something for supper. Mom probably won't be back for a while. You want pizza or a burger?"

"A burger," she said. "And fries with ketchup."

"You got it," he said, reaching out and ruffling her hair. That was as close as he could come to apologizing for his earlier behavior.

Please R and R.