Todd was never fond of police stations. He had learned at a very early age that the police were not what everyone seemed to want you to think they were. They weren't around to protect him and his mother from their father's brutality. They looked right through him and couldn't see the bruises on his body back them. He didn't know how to tell them he needed help and they never noticed that he and his mother were in need of it.

Once he got his well-earned reputation as a troublemaker he was the go to guy for the LPD whenever the wind changed. He was their excuse for not actually doing the work. Todd just didn't have a hell of a lot of respect for any of them.

He had a thick folder in his hands as he walked into the LPD and this was one visit he thought he might actually enjoy.

"Manning, what are you doing here?" Bo asked irritably.

Maybe not.

"I've got some paperwork here," Todd said, keeping his voice neutral. "To make sure that everything done in my name while I was otherwise occupied for the last eight years gets stricken from my records."

"That's something the courts need to handle."

"The courts are handling it," Todd snapped as Bo attempted to turn away. "I was advised by my attorney to hand deliver this to you, Commissioner, so that you would be aware that this is happening. I'll be visiting the DA with this as well. Who is your head file clerk so I can be certain this gets the attention it merits?" Todd chose his language carefully wanting to make absolutely sure that Bo knew he meant business.

He was well within his rights to want everything Victor had done in his name off of his records and that included a significant number of things that turned his stomach. At the absolute top of his list, Todd wanted his name removed from Marty's captivity and Blair's rape trial.

With all of the new technology available even in the eight years he'd been gone, Todd had been able to dig around quite a bit. The more he dug, the more he found reasons why Blair was such a closed off tower of ice whenever he tried to broach the subject of what had been going on with her during those years.

It also made him want to beat the shit out of Victor.

Bo finally called someone from records to sit down with Todd and go over everything 'by the book' which was tedious in the extreme. Todd imagined that Bo got some sick pleasure out of it after all given how boring it all was but Todd had a goal in mind and he wasn't about to let it go. He got everything stamped and signed and stamped again before gathering his things in preparation to leave. That's when he saw his assistant wander in.

He still couldn't remember her name. Missy? Tracy? Stacy? Brunhilde? He'd read that some bosses were able to keep track of everyone who worked for them and referred to them by name each time they bumped into each other. He was the boss who never remembered anyone's name. That had been Lou's job. And this new girl didn't strike him as particularly promising in that regard.

"Mr. Manning!" She blinked in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Paperwork," he replied. "What are you doing here?"

"Detective McBain had some questions for me regarding the fire at The Sun."

Todd's blood ran cold. Shit, if McBain presses then he's going to put it together that Jack is the one responsible. I am not about to let that happen. Jack's a little shit but he's my little shit and I'll be the one to handle him... well, me and Blair. He let out a slow breath and then pasted on a friendly smile. "Tell me about it..."

Tyler Givens was sharing his philosophy on tiki-taka. "It's all about redefining the size of the pitch," he said, "by creating space. You've got a great eye in the mid-field and you can easily take charge when the seniors leave after this year. You've got amazing potential, Jack, are you ready to step up?"

Jack was uncertain as to what the soccer captain was trying to say. His words were one thing but there seemed to be some weight behind them.

"You'll be done with your probation at the end of the year and that's way before the season starts," Tyler went on. "You'll be able to be with the team full time... as long as nothing else happens."

Ah, there it was, Jack sighed. "Well, you never know, right?" Tyler was feeling him out regarding the whole bullying thing. Sometimes, he wondered if he should just start the whole thing over again so people would stop looking at him... waiting for him to fall and fulfill their worst expectations.

"I was close to your age when I went down that road," Tyler said quietly. "Actually, I started in the eighth grade."

"What?"

"I was a bully too, Jack," Tyler said bluntly.

Jack would never have guessed that clean-cut, All-American boy Tyler Givens had ever been a bully. He looked like he grew up with Captain America for a father. He acted that way, too.

"My brother went into the service," Tyler explained. "And I didn't exactly know how to deal with it. I wanted to be just like him. He was strong, athletic, good at everything and I looked up to him completely. When he left, I just didn't know what to do and when he went MIA for a few months and I thought he was dead... that was even worse."

Jack just stared, open-mouthed.

Tyler looked somewhat sheepish. "Look, I know things are crazy with your family. It's hard not to know what's going on there with the way this town is. I'm just here to tell you that I know what it's like when you take the wrong path. And I also know that it doesn't have to be the end of things, you can turn it around."

They stood together outside the school gym and found themselves in the middle of an awkward silence.

"Let's go for a run," Tyler suggested.

Jack thought that was a really good idea.

The run helped. They'd run in silence for a while and then Jack would ask a question and Tyler would answer. They went back and forth about bullying and redemption before they both decided to ice the conversation and talk soccer instead. When they jogged back to the gym to get their things together their talk was relaxed and open. Jack felt strangely hopeful about his life and where it might go.

"Is that your dad?" Tyler asked. "I mean... the one that was missing and just came back?"

Jack looked over to where Todd was standing by a town-car. "Yeah..." this was a surprise, seeing him there. Jack couldn't help but feel wary.

"He looks pretty intense," Tyler noted.

"I think he always looks that way," Jack mumbled, noting that Tyler hit on the nose with his description. Given the situation, Jack was pretty sure he was the reason behind the expression on Todd's face.

"Guess you'd better get over there," Tyler slapped him on the back. "See you tomorrow, Manning."

"I stopped by the house and told your mother that you and I needed to talk," Todd said as Jack approached cautiously. He held out Jack's phone as proof. "She gave this to me to give to you."

Jack looked at his phone. There was a text from Blair on it. "Talk to Todd. We're having tortellini with pesto for dinner tonight. It'll be ready for you when you get home." That was one of Jack's favorite meals so he knew that his mom was doing that special for him. "What do we have to talk about?"

"Get in," Todd jerked his head towards the car and went around to the driver's side.

Jack sensed that this was not the time to pull any attitude. Not to mention that Tyler's talk was still preying on his mind and getting in the way of any smart answers that might want to come out. He got into the car and slouched down in the seat. Todd glanced at his sullen posture and snorted lightly with a brief shake of his head but said nothing further as he started the car.

It was a fifteen minute drive to the Manning Building that housed The Sun. Todd maneuvered the car into his spot in the underground parking and got out, waiting for Jack to follow.

Jack slouched along behind his father wondering what he was in for. The silence from Todd didn't bode well, it evoked the calm before the storm and Jack wasn't sure what the storm would be.

"I was at the police station today," Todd finally said once they were shut into his office. "Which isn't actually all that strange but what was strange was that my assistant showed up, too." He paused and leveled a look at Jack. "Care to guess why?"

"I'm guessing you're going to tell me."

"John McBain called her in," Todd continued. "He called her in for information on the fire that happened here." He stepped forward and leaned towards Jack. "You should be very, very grateful that I got to her first."

"Why's that?" Jack couldn't quite hide the tremor in his voice.

"Because she would have told McBain about your little phone call releasing all of the employees that day. The day off that they all so richly deserved, remember that?"

Jack stared hard at the floor.

"I'm not stupid, Jack," Todd said quietly. "I've known you were the one who started the fire since the day it happened. So has your mother."

"You told her?!" Jack wasn't exactly sure why he chose that to respond to.

Todd's face took on a stormy countenance. "She is your mother and she has been here fighting for you for your entire life," he said roughly. "I have an idea as to how things were when Victor was pretending to be me but I know the mistakes I made with Starr and I am not going to make them with you!"

Jack blinked. "Did you just use the words 'Starr' and 'mistake' in the same sentence?" He looked out the window. "Are there any pigs flying around out there?"

"Okay, smart-ass, sit down," Todd nudged him towards a chair. "You've got an overdeveloped sense of sibling rivalry going on there, you know?"

"You try living with a sister who screws up all the time and everyone still thinks she's perfect," Jack grumbled.

"Have you met Viki?" Todd asked. He cocked his head knowingly at his son. "I'm very familiar with the 'she can do no wrong; I can do no right' family dynamic. This isn't about Starr or Viki, though. This is about you and me and your little attempt to start a career in arson."

Jack trudged over to the chair Todd pointed at and sat down heavily, slouching in his best 'I don't care' manner.

"You do realize that with John calling in my assistant he was about two seconds away from figuring you out, right?" Todd asked. "And if you had been fingered for the arson then your probation states you go to juvie and that's pretty much all she wrote. No more soccer, no more school, no more anything... you're done."

Jack hadn't exactly thought of that but now that it was being pointed out so clearly he felt a shiver run down his back. Tyler had just told him that it wasn't the end for him and Jack had almost proven him wrong due to a temper tantrum. "So... why isn't he here with his handcuffs?"

"Because of me."

"Is this where I say thank you?"

"You should," Todd told him. "You should thank me for not allowing you to spend your sophomore year in juvie. Do you want your life to end before it has a chance to begin? Is that what you really want?"

Jack scowled fiercely not wanting to give Todd the satisfaction of his saying no.

"Do you have any idea what jail is like?" Todd asked. "Because I do. If you think your life has been difficult than you are kidding yourself. You are fighting, every second of every day, in there. You are told when you can sleep, when you can eat, when you can use the phone, when you can go to the bathroom. You do not have the luxury of thinking for yourself except for how to survive." He stepped forward and grabbed Jack's face in his hands. "You are my son, Jack Manning. You are my son and I would do anything to keep you from experiencing what I have in my life... in those hell holes that try to take everything from you."

Jack stared at his father despite himself. The look in his eyes, the desperate searching look that bore into him was the same he got from his mother. He had never seen that look from Victor. Ever since he started getting into trouble he thought it was just a look that mothers gave. Now, seeing that same look from Todd he wasn't quite sure.

What did that say about his relationship with Victor?

Jack stepped backwards, out from Todd's grasp. "So... what?"

Todd noted his hesitance and also noted that for a brief second he seemed to reach his son. He sighed lightly and tapped his chin lightly with his finger. "Okay, well, things are going to change now."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Todd nodded. "You're going to come work for me after school. You're going to spend some father/son time with your real old man and not the faker who took my place for almost your whole life. And you will not call me Scarface anymore."

Jack was surprised that was all there was to it. He was expecting some demands to ally with Todd in his obvious attempts to get Blair back. Then again, he wasn't doing so bad on that front on his own. "What if I don't agree?"

"It's not a negotiation, Jack."

"And you think that blackmailing me into spending time with you is going to make me like you?"

Todd shrugged. "You're a Manning, kid. You're a product of your mother and me," he ignored Jack's shudder at the thought. "We never do things the easy way... or the right way. We do things our way. And as it turns out... it suits us."