Chapter Thirteen

Tom told himself that he had to be strong. It was easier said, or in this case thought, than done. He was looking down at his youngest who was laying on his stomach just glaring at him.

"The mighty Tom Mason...you must be real proud of yourself!"

It wasn't the first time that Tom had faced the wrath of one of his sons but this was completely different. This time it wasn't some petty 'no' when they wanted a 'yes.' It wasn't some 'maybe' either. This was the look of a hate filled enemy.

"No, no I'm not..." Tom honestly replied. He pulled up a chair and sat down, placing his hands on his knees.

"I'm not proud of myself. I'm not proud because I failed, on so many levels. I failed the 2nd Mass, I failed your mother, I failed your brothers and I failed you."

"So...you finally admit that you aren't perfect?" Matt asked.

"I never said I was perfect..." Tom shot back.

"And yet you want everyone else to believe that you are always right and that you never make mistakes!" Matt replied.

"You, a history professor turned soldier fighting to free your world from the tyrannical clutches of an evil species. Did you ever stop to think that maybe, just maybe it is you and your kind that are the tyrannical aliens?! You humans...you speak of peace yet all you know how to do is bring war! Even before we as liberators came you waged war on yourselves. We the Espheni are here to stop that! We are here to change the world, to make it better!"

Tom let Matt go on and on. Matt needed to get that propaganda off of his chest. It was quite apparent that the Espheni had done quite a number on him in a short amount of time. Sure they let him keep some of his free will but it was obvious that they planted a lot of their own ideas and ideology in to his head as well.

He really didn't understand how the Espheni could possibly think that what they were doing was peaceful, but he wasn't about to just jump all over that yet. He needed to plant the seed of doubt and if he could do that then hopefully it would shake Matt's confidence in his new found 'family,' and cause him to reconsider which side he was on.

"So...when you first arrived, all of those cities around the world, all of those lives...you killed them for peace? It was you and your kind that attacked us, all we were doing was defending ourselves. You destroyed everything we held dear; our homes, our lives, our families and yet we keep fighting. We all have a right to fight for our freedom..." Tom said.

Slowly Tom lifted a hand and placed it on his son's back next to one of the spikes.

He was fully expecting Matt to start jerking around, demanding he stop touching him, which was why Tom bowed his head and let the wall that guarded his true emotions crumble. His breath hitched in his throat and several tears ran down his face to get caught in his beard. It was part of a show and then again it wasn't. Matt needed to see the real him; the father figure inside the man.

"This is all my fault..." he whispered, "If I had been a better father, if I had listened to you...I wanted to keep you safe and I couldn't even do that."

Matt had some haughty comeback prepared for his father but when he heard Tom sobbing, he shut his mouth and just listened.

It was true that he had 'drunk the Kool-Aid' as it were, but the harness was off and the voices were gone. He wasn't connected to them anymore. Yes he missed the connection and he wanted it back but right then and there he was just an angry little boy.

"I called for you but you never came..."

Slowly, Tom Mason lifted his head to look at his son. He looked in to those wide eyes that were staring back at him. For the first time since the whole thing started he saw his son; not some brainwashed person, no he saw his son looking back at him. He saw the fear and sadness alight within his youngest son; fear of what was to come and the sadness was from being left; abandoned.

"And then you said I didn't matter to you anymore and you were going to shoot me..."

"I know and I'm sorry for that. It broke my heart to say those words to you but I couldn't let anything happen to the 2nd Mass..." Tom replied.

He watched Matt close his eyes and then ever so slightly shake his head.

"So...it was my life or the 2nd Mass...now I know where I stand in the grand scheme of things..."

"Mattie, listen..." Tom whispered, leaning in, "I love you, never forget that. I. Love. You. No matter what, I will always love you. You are my son..."

Mattie. It had been a pet name Tom had given his youngest when he had been just a baby. It had been something that Matt had asked his father to stop calling him before the invasion. To hear it escape his father's lips made Matt smile, if only for a second. Ever so slowly though that smile faded.

"Which is why you are going to die..."

Tom Mason barely had time to shoot his son a quizzical look before the building was rocked by a loud series of explosions. Jumping to his feet, Tom left the room but not before locking the door behind him so Matt couldn't escape.

Weapon in hand he ran down the nearest hall, having to steady himself every so often as another explosion would rock the complex.

Eventually he arrived at the President's office. The door was open and there were quite a few people inside.

"Ah, Professor Mason!" General Bressler said once he saw Tom through the door, "We don't know where they came from but skitters and mechs are pounding us from all sides. Their ships are even dropping bombs on Charleston from above. Right now we are holding our own but those bombs are being purposely dropped early. Right now they are trying to scare us rather than cause damage. One of your rebel friends came through moments after the attack started. He was bleeding and he died shortly thereafter but he did manage to say that this attack is courtesy of this Overlord and he said there is only one thing that particular Overlord wants."

Tom looked at the General and then shook his head. "No, no way. I am not handing my son back over to them."

"We may not have much of a choice. Many innocent civilians are going to die if we keep this up. We don't have enough weapons or ammo to arm everyone. Right now all the Overlord is asking is for your boy."

"And if we give them Matt then what? There is no guarantee that they will just leave and forget that we are even here!" Tom shot back.

"Dad's right. We obviously can't hold them indefinitely and there is no way we are handing Matt over to them so the only other option is to run," Hal said, coming to the defense of his father.

"Run? Run where? There is nowhere to run!" the General said.

"General, if you want to stay here and fight that's your call but you aren't going to drag my sons in to it!" Tom warned.

The building trembled again, dust coming down from the ceiling and books flying off of the shelves to hit the floor.

"Dad, it's him..." Ben said from the shadowed corner of the room, "I can feel him. He and his ship are a mile off." Stepping forward, Ben brought his weapon to bear, not aiming the barrel at anyone, but he was quite ready and willing to fire it.

"He said that if we don't give him what he wants he will send every skitter and mech in the area at us and take 'his son' by force..."

His son? His son?! Having the Overlord call Matt his son made Tom's blood boil. The Overlord had absolutely no claim to the boy. What's worse was Tom knew what would happen if the Overlord seized control of Matt again! No, that was never going to happen again! He was not going to willingly let his son go again; not again!

All of a sudden an idea came to him. It was sneaky but it just might work. In any case, there was no time to try anything else

"Where's Anne?" he called, "Get me Anne!" He trusted Anne Glass and if there was any way for his idea to work, she would know.

After his order was issued, a guard ran out and started to quickly head towards the infirmary where Anne was.

If the Overlord wanted Matt so badly he could have him but not until Tom was done with him. There was a saying 'if I can't have it you can't have it either,' Tom meant to make good on that saying. If he couldn't have his son then he was going to make damn sure those aliens couldn't have him either.

"What are you thinking dad?" Hal asked, looking at his father curiously.

Tom looked at his eldest, glad to see that Hal was once again on his feet and back in the fight, but now was not the time to marvel at his seemingly quick recovery, now was the time to save his son. Matt needed him even if he didn't realize it.

"What am I thinking?" he repeated, a small smile coming to his face, "we kill Matt."