"You want to what?" The Warden said, unable to hide the shock in his voice.
"I want to adopt him." Logan said, keeping his voice steady and his expression serious. He had been thinking about this for the past month, spending all the time he could get in the library and on the internet, researching his rights and whether it would be a legal possibility or not. He had discovered that while it would be difficult, it would not be impossible for a convict to adopt a child, prisoners had been allowed to get married whilst serving long sentences so an adoption would not be much different.
"Why?" The question was so simple, Logan didn't quite know what to say at first.
"Well," He started, trying to get his thoughts in order, "The kid needs someone to look after him, properly. He's smart, so smart it is scary! He needs someone to guide him, to be responsible for him, 'cos as soon as he realises that there is no one responsible for him, he is going to grow into a whole heap pf rebellious teenager."
"You think you being his guardian will make that much of a difference?"
"Yes sir I do." Logan answered, his hands clasped behind his back in an attempt to remain as non-threatening as possible.
"Is that the only reason?"
"No sir, I -" Logan paused, not accustomed to talking about his feelings to people like the Warden, "He is like a son to me, sir. I want to be like a father to him."
The warden examined the man stood before him closely. He had seen a change in Logan over the last few years. The man had come into the prison as a convicted murderer, withdrawn and sullen, with a distinct air of danger around him. His temper was the worst thing about the man, his self control was amazing but when something did make his temper snap, he erupted with all the ferocity of a raging volcano. He was the type of prisoner that was widely considered to be the most dangerous. The type of man that could look at you with a completely blank expression on his face and all the while be repressing the urge to rip your head off of your shoulders. And now this same man was asking for permission to adopt the prisons resident blue alien. The boy that the Warden had worked so damn hard to keep below the radar.
"What makes you think it would be legally possible, you are a convicted felon remember, and he isn't exactly a legal citizen." The Warden asked as he settled back into his chair, regarding the man with a cool expression.
"I know that sir," Logan sighed as he shifted on the spot, he hoped he had interpreted the laws correctly and that his intuition was right, "I have done some research, legal family proceedings are still possible for me as a convict, people get married in prison all the time, I know t wont be easy but I believe it is possible." He paused for a moment, hoping with all of his heart that, "As for Blue, sir, well I think that if he was really classed as an 'illegal alien' then he would not still be in here, he would have been taken away a long time ago Sir, but then I think you know that. Don't you sir?"
The warden was watching the man carefully, one eyebrow raided in either surprise or respect for the man in front of him. With a sigh he leaned forward and glanced at the prison guards stood by the door. They were both trusted guards, having had a lot to do with the child in question over the years since he had become an unexpected guest of the prison.
"You know, Logan, If you had put as much thought into the law, back before you came here, as you have done now then you would still have your whole life ahead of you."
"I'm aware of that sir, I will never be able to forget what I have done and I'm not asking for anyone's forgiveness. That is exactly why I want to do this for Blue, I see a lot of myself in the boy sir, I don't want him going down the same path I have walked." Logan said honestly, he figured his 'tough guy' reputation was already in tatters over the child, why not be honest with everyone now?
"That is admirable, I give you credit for that. And yes, I can see many of the same qualities you seem to find important in the boy. He is very quiet and withdrawn, whenever I look at him I'm reminded of my belief that it is the quiet ones you have to watch out for." The warden mused almost to himself, "But the question still remains, what makes you think the law will accept him as a legal citizen?"
"Correct me if I'm wrong, sir, but I believe you have already dealt with that particular issue." Logan couldn't help the slight smirk that tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"Oh really?"
"Sir, Blue came to me a few months ago and said that he had enjoyed talking to the 'men in suits' who had been asking him all sorts of questions. He even asked me what was so special about a 'card that was green'." Logan managed to suppress the grin that threatened to spread on his face when he saw the look of surprise pass across the warden's face. His intuition had been bang on, Logan breathed a sigh of relief, that was one thing he no longer had to worry about.
"Yes, he does have a Green Card. I had to pull a few strings to get it but we were in a catch 22 situation. Without one we could not legally keep him here and we would have had to hand him over to the government yet with one he now has all the rights of an American citizen. You have this officer here to thank for my decision, never could say no to a begging woman." The last part was muttered under his breath as Logan tuned to look over his shoulder at the officer in question. Marci was doing her very best to repress a smile and refused to meet Logan's eyes.
"So, sir? Do you think it would be allowed? I will never ask for another thing again, I promise!" Logan's excitement at the possibility was beginning to get the better of him.
"You sound like my daughter, begging me for a puppy!" The Warden scoffed at the mans excited outburst, "Technically you should not be asking for this at all! You know how it works, we reward good behaviour and as I recall you have been detained in solitary, what is it…. Five times in the last 6 months? Why should I do anything for you?"
"I know I have gotten myself into trouble recently, sir, but that is part of why I want to do this. Each time I was placed in solitary it was because I was fighting to defend Blue, there are a lot of the other inmates that have taken against him. He has a habit of forgetting how much smarter he is that the other guys in here and they seem to take offence to that." Logan explained, wincing in memory of how badly he had had to beat up one man that had been particularly determined to cause the boy harm.
"Hmmmm, yes well that is no excuse for that sort of behaviour. That is what the guards are there for." The warden send a glare to the two guards stood by the door, to their credit they didn't even blink under the close scrutiny, "I will think it over Logan, but you must remember, if I allow this then it is down to you to keep the boy on the straight and narrow! Anything he does before he becomes an adult will be your responsibility! Do you understand that?"
"Yes sir."
"Good, now get out of my sight! I sick of looking at you!" The warden snapped as he turned his back on the man to look out of the window. As he heard the door shoot behind them he smiled to himself. This might be just what the boy needs, a sense of self was very important o a child, and while Logan was an inmate for a very good reason, his moral code was one of the strongest the seasoned Warden had ever come across. Maybe the man was rite. Maybe having a sense of belonging would give the blue boy some direction in life.
Logan returned to the exercise yard with a grin on his face, he found Blue sitting on a bench watching a game of basket ball and hurriedly making notes in the note book that never seemed to leave his grasp these days. Logan rolled his eyes as he realised the boy was trying to over think a simple game again. Working out trajectories and probabilities induced by wind direction and surface tension and the like. As he approached he noticed the boy tapping out some sort of pattern with his finger onto his thigh. That was a dead give away that the boy had allowed the world to slip away from him so he could concentrate on the task in hand, otherwise having other people witness little things like that would mortify the kid. Logan's face darkened as he realised who the boy was sitting next to.
"Don't normally see you around this part of the yard Derek." Logan said, glaring daggers at the man sitting next to the impressionable young boy.
"Yeah well, it's a free country!" Derek laughed as he gestured to the yard around hem, "Well, almost."
"Anything I should know about?" Logan leaned over the man from behind the bench, Blue still hadn't taken his eyes off of the basketball game, nothing short of an explosion would snap him out of it.
"Like what, exactly?" Derek levelled a chilling gaze at Logan. This man was dangerous, Logan knew what the man was in for and frankly he was surprised the guards had allowed him into this part of the exercise yard. He was very clever and extremely likeable. That combined with his utterly disgusting choices of 'entertainment' meant he was one of the most dangerous animals in the entire prison. It chilled Logan's blood to wonder why he was here sitting next to the boy.
"What are you doing down here Derek? I know what goes on inside that sick little head of yours. You should know by now that I'm not one to be taken lightly!" Logan hissed into the man's ear with more venom than he ever thought possible.
"I honestly don't know what you mean Logan, the kid and I are just testing out a business agreement." Derek grinned as he looked to the boy, still deep in his trance. Logan instantly had the man by the collar of his prison uniform, hauling him over the back of the bench to slam him down onto the ground.
"Don't you ever, EVER look at him again you understand me? If I see you anywhere near him again I will make you wish you had never even heard of me or the boy!" Logan snarled as he slammed the back of the man's head into the ground for good measure.
Derek simply laughed from his position on the ground underneath the raging prisoner.
"The kid was just helping me with a bet on the game, that was all, nothing sinister." Derek was still smiling, despite watching Logan's fist hovering in the air ready to make contact with his face, "You don't honestly think I could ever harm the boy do you?"
"Don't play games with me Derek, I promise you, you will not win!" Logan hissed and released the man before the prison guards had enough on him to send him to solitary. He was going to have to get the guys together, if the likes of Derek were starting to take notice of the boy then everyone was going to have to band together to protect him, Logan couldn't spend every moment with the boy after all.
"Oh, hi Mr Logan!" Blue said in surprise, "Hey, where did the other man go?"
"He had to go back to his side of the yard." Logan said as he watched the man making his way back to the group of prisoners hanging around the back corner of the yard, "Listen Blue, that man is not a very good person to be hanging around with. I don't want you anywhere near him, you understand? If he comes up to you again I want you to go and find one of your Uncles ok? They will keep you safe."
"But he seemed nice." Blue said, his smile fading.
"I know, that is why I need you to stay away from him. He seems very nice but he isn't, he is a very very nasty person and all he wants to do is hurt you. The more you like him in the beginning the better it is for him. Just please, promise me you wont let him come near you again." Logan cupped his hands over the boy's cheeks as he stare into the boys brilliant green eyes to make sure he was taking everything in.
"Ok." The boy said simply.
"Cool, now, why don't you go and ask the guard if you can head off to the library, I think Uncle Stephan is in there today, You need to move onto those new encyclopaedias they just got it." Logan said as he stood up, pleased that the boy's face had brightened up again.
"Sure! Bye!" Blue said as he started trotting across to the prison guards, who escorted him back inside the building
Logan whistled to get the attention of some of the other man from his prison block, the ones that he considered loyal to him and had had contact with Blue from the beginning. After explaining what had happened with Derek the other men had been more than willing to go over there and to teach the guy a lesson he would never forget. Logan managed to calm them down and all agreed that they needed to keep a close eye on Blue to try and keep him out of that kind of trouble. Logan couldn't help but smile at the oddball family the boy had found himself with. It was the biggest bunch of misfits anyone could imagine but then no family was perfect and this was the only family the boy had.