Foster's Fanfiction

Well exams are over and I have a couple of weeks just to do nothing, so I have taken advantage of that and actually made some advancements in the plot, weird isn't it. I have noticed a few more people have put this story on alert/favourite which is obviously great, if you do read my story please don't hesitate to leave me a review, it's always nice to hear people's thoughts and it encourages me to update more often, in any case, enjoy the chapter.

Review Responses

Aden666- Thankyou once again for reviewing, well as I said my exams are over now so you can expect more substantial and frequent updates. Thankyou for your comments, I was hesitant to see whether people would 'get' the whole purpose of the clock theme and I'm very glad to see you did. I've been out about this week a lot so this chapter is unfortunately not a fleshed out as I'd like but still, better than nothing, enjoy the chapter :)

Mortal Coil – Chapter 9

"So you have no permanent accommodation, no source of income and still suffer withdrawal symptoms from your previous heroin addiction?" Terrence cringed, it was much worse when the PC read it out in short form, however Dean picked up on his feelings,

"Don't worry, it'll be some work but I can sort you out no problem," the constable chuckled, however Terrence felt a lot less at ease about the whole procedure than the PC. He had run-ins with the police before, one he was sure that Dean knew about, but the point was that they have never been this…well, on Terrence's side.

"Officer…I mean…Dean, why are you…why are you helping me?" Dean lazily looked up from his notes, wearing a reassuring smile,

"I've already told you haven't I?"

"Know, you've told me why you think I'm suitable,"

"Aren't they the same question…?" Dean's sentence died when he saw the look on Terrence's face, his expression was stony, he was determined to get the constable to answer him, honestly. Dean pinched the bridge of his nose and set down his notepad.

"Terrence, you have to realise that as police officers, we're not here to make your life miserable," Terrence still had some difficulty believing that,

"And contrary to popular belief, we're not corrupt, donut obsessed sadists who get some kind of jolly from making people's lives as hard as possible," he added bitterly, however Terrence still looked slightly unconvinced.

"Terrence I'm helping you because it is the right thing to do, I'm may be hard to get along with and an all-round misery-guts, but I know right from wrong. Not all people here see it my way, they think that you're unsuitable, but you have to see it their way, you do have a chequered past, but you don't have to worry because I will help," Dean picked up his notepad and began adding the final touches to his 'plan of action' to help Terrence, he had done what the teen wanted and had told him the truth, to be honest he really didn't care now whether Terrence believed him or not.

Terrence however was processing what Dean said, he liked the PC he really did, but he couldn't shake the ominous stigma that the man carried, Dean was imposing, but not physically, he was of a fairly average build, if not slightly taller than normal. Firstly he was a police officer, and that was already something that Terrence found unnerving, however the PC's menace was an officious one, he had the law behind him and had more say in Mac' future than Terrene himself did.

Dean seemed like he was not at all afraid of showing his authority, and Terrence was wary about investing his full trust in a man who could see to it that he never saw Mac again if he was so inclined. Terrence had been set on edge, he was waiting for Dean to snap and shout 'JUST KIDDING' before hundreds of men in white coats came in and removed Mac.

"OK, here's what we're going to do," Dean said after finishing whatever he was writing, "Firstly, I can get you a council flat, it's rather like how teenager mother's get some free accommodation from local councils. Then we are going to get you a job-seekers allowance while you look for work,"

"You mean going on the dole?" Terrence interjected sullenly,

"Terrence it's money, it doesn't matter where it's coming from…that being said it's not much, so you need to be looking for work, and finally, I believe you're on a methadone programme?"

"Yeah, I started a couple of months ago,"

"Well it's imperative that you carry on with that, it's probably the main reason I was able to convince people you're a suitable guardian for Mac,"

"Ok," Terrence agreed while feeling rather powerless, it seemed his life was being determined by a man he met mere hours ago. Dean ripped of the slip of his notepad and gave it to Terrence; it had a few numbers, helplines, Dean's and the council etc. It also included the a couple of addresses with question marks next to them, Dean had scribbled, 'Delete as appropriate' above them, it had the amount of money Terrence would receive monthly with the dole and family allowance on it. Terrence looked it up and down before turning his attention to Dean, who had sat back in his chair, looking completely chuffed with the job he had just done.

"So that's it?"

"That's it," Dean confirmed, Terrence didn't feel right, they'd been discussing matter for around half an hour and Dean had apparently sorted it all, the teen thought that they were going to be in this room all night, and now Dean was telling him everything was sorted.

"All we have to do is go down to the courts and get a few papers signed," Dean took a sip of tea, and looked at Terrence as if expecting him to say something,

"That's it?" Dean chuckled again,

"Terrence, I know TV suggests otherwise, but these things take less time than you would think, we'll get you down to the courts, sign all the necessary paper work, get you some temporary accommodation and in a couple of day's it will all be sorted," Dean put his feet up on table, barely disguised smugness on his face, he had got the whole job wrapped up,

"What about Mum?" Dean corrected himself; he immediately took his legs off the table and wiped the satisfied look of his face.

"That's not up to me to decide, I would think that you would decide upon the funeral arrangements," Terrence looked down in disappointment,

"I don't think I can afford one,"

"Terrence, I'm sure your grandparents will help out,"

"Our grandparents died," Suddenly Dean felt another wave of sympathy for this little family, he could specifically remember happening upon the names of 'Mum' and 'Dad' in Terrence's mother's phone, what state was one in when one forgets to delete their dead parent's numbers out of their mobile, surely seeing them would just prolong the pain of their loss.

Terrence looked small, his skinniness was even more prevalent when coupled with the expression he was now wearing. He was really just a child himself, Dean was ultimately the one who chose what happened to Mac, and he was putting a lot on the shoulders of an already vulnerable individual, nearly-all eighteen year olds are in no state to look after a child, but a recovering heroin addict, who had such a relationship with his mother, Dean just prayed that Terrence could deal with it.

"Terrence I can't make these decisions for you but I'm sure you'll do the right thing,"

"What about Bloo?" Terrence and Dean looked around, Mac had sat up, he rubbed his eyes, it was the first time he had said anything comprehensible in hours. The boy looked as he had for a while, lost, the situation was not one that a child should be in and it reflected the boy accordingly. However the seemingly nonsensical question he had just asked must have had some great bearing on the boy, as his puffy red eyes were fixed on Dean's with an aged intensity.

"I see you're up," Dean said with a smile, however it was not a fully-fledged one, he was treading carefully, he didn't want to offend the young boy but at the same time he couldn't ignore the undoubtedly odd query the child had put forward.

"What about Bloo?" Mac repeated again, folding his arms across his chest and sounding out each word more clearly,

"Mac, I'm afraid I don't know what a 'Bloo' is," Dean said gently, Mac turned his attention to Terrence, who had that same look, a sort of sensitive bafflement, Mac sighed sharply in frustration,

"Bloo is my imaginary friend, Mum made me get rid of him but I visit him at Foster's every day, could he live with us?" Children often spoke in the tone that Mac was now adopting, a bit like when a child asks if he can have a separate pudding, the child knows the outcome of their request is unlikely to be positive, so their tone reflects this. It was pathetically hopeful and unrealistic in equal measure, Terrence would like to say it was inadvertent over purposeful but still, it was silly to assume some children weren't aware of the pity it directed at them, the weight and realism it added to their request.

Dean however was unaware to the crisis Terrence was having, torn between disappointing his brother and biting of more than he could chew, Dean was in fact unaware to anything outside the now-whirring cogs of his own mind. It added up, why would someone as smart as Mac spend all of his time at that stupid crooked funhouse, to visit his friend, that had to be the only reason, because that bloody girl and senile mess that was her grandmother had the combined charm of a king Charles spaniel after a head-swap operation.

This was the PC's chance, if Mac was going to visit that…place, everyday then Frances would be able to contact him, if he went to where she lived out of choice then Dean couldn't restrict her there without establishing an official restraining order, and Terrence as Mac's soon-to-be legal guardian was the only one who could send off for that.

Dean could do it, he knew what was best for Mac, not being near that unstable redhead was good for him and Dean knew it, but Dean could do it, he could convince Terrence to adopt out this 'Blue' or whatever, and then Mac wouldn't have to visit anymore, he could recover…successfully. Dean would've done his job, he would've given the best chance for Mac to get over his bereavement, a golden opportunity had been handed to him… on a silver plate… by a butler… who could juggle… chainsaws.

"Mac, why did you make an imaginary friend?" Terrence asked, his voice laden with concern

"When you left, Mum didn't let me go out to my friend's houses, she hated my friends, I was just…lonely," Mac slumped down, expecting a scolding, though there was no evidence to suggest so, Mac was certain he had done wrong, but he was unaware of the effect of his words had had on his brother. Terrence suddenly felt torn, cutting Mac of from the world really didn't seem like the type of think for the uber-caring woman he thought his mother to be, in fact if Terrence didn't know better it seemed almost…cruel. This boy had been through so much, too much, he had lost his brother and his mother, and Terrence now had to make him lose more, and he hated that fact.

"Mac, if I'm going to be taking care of you, I don't think I can afford to take care of someone else,"

"Wait," both Mac and Terrence looked at Dean, who had been uncharacteristically quiet for the past minute, "I think you should reconsider Terrence,"

"But the cost,"

"That's irrelevant; you would receive over double the family allowance for the second child you're taking care of,"

"Child?" Terrence queried,

"Yes, we live in a modern time and imaginary friends live in a state of prolonged infancy, therefore people looking after them get a fixed sum of money to help them out, it's like permanently looking after a child, some can mature but they're all fundamentally children below the surface,"

"How do you know so much about it?" Mac asked, he had wrinkled his nose, it was clear he wasn't fond of Dean's way of talking about imaginary friends, he was too clinical, too scheming and business-like, as if the beloved figments of children were just common commodities.

"Believe me Mac I don't, I have to sort out a lot of cases with kids who often have imaginary friends, so I know the legal mumbo-jumbo but I don't know a lot about them at all," Mac didn't need telling, he could tell himself.

"Dean I don't know if I can afford it,"

"I already said, money isn't a problem as long as you're looking for work, and I know from experience that it would help Mac massively," Terrence looked to his brother, and back at Dean, both were urging him to say yes, but for totally different reasons. Mac was innocent of intent, wishing only for the prolonged company of his dearest companion, Dean however cared not for Bloo, he was only concerned with the well-being of Mac, he was truly convinced that preventing, or at the very least reducing his visits to Foster's would help, so he looked into Terrence's eyes with a Machiavellian insistence, his expertly trained expressions were more than enough to win over the teen, and with the imploring gaze of Mac, Dean couldn't lose.

"Okay Mac," Terrence agreed shakily, the other two had been so insistent on Bloo's adoption that Terrence couldn't really deny it, but he was still unconvinced that it was the right thing to do.

"Well, there's no use in prolonging things, the sooner you two, soon to be three can get settled, the better, it would probably be best if we got down the courts to sign these papers, but I see no reason we can't pick up Bloo on the way,"

"What… adopt him…now?" Terrence asked in disbelief,

"As I said Terrence, these things are often better when you just get them done as soon as possible," he leaned in to the teenager and spoke quietly, "The quicker you all can just get somewhere permanent, the sooner the grieving process can begin, and you need to get that out of the way." Terrence processed what Dean had said, recent events had frazzled him and that act in itself had become something of a chore, but he helped Mac up and the three began to exit the room, Terrence was glad, the sooner this day was over, the better.