A/N: Just have to say that I was dying to upload this for months but I needed to hold back because I needed to lighten the load first. I was due to upload the sequel of Girls with Brown Eyes next but I trashed the file so I need to re-write it (but I'm working on getting that done ASAP. I hadn't written a dark fic since Wildflowers and I was desperate to do something else along the lines so if you choose to stick around for this one then expect angst, drama, tragedy and the works. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter One:

The air in the principal's office was thick, in spite of the working air conditioner near the window. Rick put it down to all them rising tempers in the room, partly his own. If there was one place that he didn't wish to be, then it would be in Mrs. Monroes office. It meant that something had happened that was beyond a regular teachers intervention, and if he were to be completely honest with himself he would admit that he knew the day would come soon enough. He peered at his son from the corner of his eye and couldn't look away from his bloodstained lip. It only infuriated him more.

"...This has got to come to an end", Mrs. Monroe strained her broken voice. She had warned them that she was feeling under the weather before they even began their meeting but only minutes in and Rick was half expecting her to fall face down to her desk, "I think that both boys have behaved¬"

"Both? Excuse me, but why both?", Rick's eyes slid over to the woman sat a foot away from him, who was perched on the edge of her seat. Mrs. Anthony was no stranger to him; he'd seen her around plenty of times but they'd never spoken. She always seemed to be in a rush with her phone glued to her ear. She wore dark pantsuits in styles that Rick had never seen before and the one she wore that day was no different; black with a slim fit leg and a blazer that wrapped around her narrow waist like a blouse would. She looked like she meant business and barely blinked when she spoke, "This isn't just a case of two boys fooling around and getting out of hand, and I don't condone my son's behavior but he has been relentlessly bullied by this boy and his friends¬"

Rick sat up defensively while Carl immediately denied the claim, "I'm not bullying him¬ I'm not a bully¬"

"Hold on a minute", Rick raised his hand to stop Carl as he turned in his seat to face the angry women, "I don't appreciate you throwing that word around when it comes to my son, ma'am. In spite of everythan' that's happened between the two of them- I haven't said anything negative about him¬"

"Oh, you haven't?", She narrowed her chocolate brown eyes as she swiveled in her chair to look at him, "So where did your son learn that language from?"

"What language?", Rick's head jerked back and turned back to his son, "What language?"

"I don't know", Carl looked just confused as he did, "I don't"

"Andre, is there something you failed to mention to me earlier?", Mrs. Monroe leaned on her forearms as she looked at the quietest person in the room.

Andre was a very slender, gangly teen like Rick's own son. His skin was a few shades lighter than his mother but he had her features and wore his hair in a similar dreadlocked style that fell around his face. His shoulders were slumped and you could almost see the bruise beginning to form under his eye, but he hadn't looked up the entire time, and continued to do so as he replied, "...I heard them call me not-nice words when I walked by the table where they were sitting. They were laughing…"

"What word?", Mrs. Monroe probed as she leaned in closer.

Mrs. Anthony put her hand on his knee as she answered for him with a stone cold tone, "Dumb coon."

Rick's head reared even further back than before and his face contorted in utter confusion, "Excuse me?"

All eyes fell on Carl, and he shook his head adamantly, his eyes wide and pleading, "I never said it¬ I thought they made it up¬ I don't even know what it means¬"

"You heard Carl use that word?", Mrs. Monroe tilted her head to see his face, "I just want you to be sure since that's a very serious allegation to make, Andre."

The other teen seemed so withdrawn from the discussion that Rick was surprised he even answered in his quiet, monotone, "...I don't know… I looked back and he was laughing too."

"I wasn't laughing with them", Carl argued with a flushed face, "How could I have been¬ We got to the lunch hall at the same time and I didn't see anyone throw the pudding at him, I just saw it on his shirt¬"

"I don't believe for a second that my son would say somethan' like that", Rick had observed his son long enough to believe he was telling the truth. He stuttered incoherently when he was innocent, but only because he was trying so desperately get all the information out, "He probably couldn't even tell you what it means, and he hasn't been raised to think that any kind of slur like that is acceptable or funny"

Mrs. Monroe looked over at Andre and his mother as she grabbed a tissue from a box on her desk, "...I can have a talk with the other boys. Maybe one of them did use that word but they didn't know just what it means. They might think that it's just a funny sounding word, but obviously, we won't stand for that here¬"

"I can't believe this", Mrs Anthony rolled her head back as she looked up to the ceiling, then back at the principle, "So let me get this straight; You and I have both been aware that my son has been having problems with this boy and his friends, and when he finally escalates things by throwing something on his shirt¬"

"I didn't throw it", Carl insisted in a strained tone, "I don't know who threw it¬"

"Your son did admit to starting the altercation, Mrs. Anthony", Mrs. Monroe added gently, "He told me that himself¬"

"Can you blame him?", Mrs. Anthony argued, "I certainly can't at this point! All he has to do is deny everything and the Sergeant will obviously agree with his son and then my son will look like the one that's lashing out for no reason at all¬"

"If any of what was just said even sounded even remotely like somethan' my son would do, then I'd be the first one to pull him about it", Rick frowned as he addressed her directly, "And he can tell you that for himself. Now what it sounds like to me is just a big misunderstanding; I think Carl got the heat for somethan' that his idiot friends did and I've warned him that these thangs can happen when you get yourself involved with the wrong crowd¬"

"So it's his friend's fault, not him?", She summarized sardonically, "That sums it up perfectly"

"They are to blame, and it's also his fault for not picking better friends", Rick shot back, his forehead creased, "But Andre also needs to know that he can't react that way. I understand that they probably said some disgusting thangs but¬"

"You think that's all they've done?", She snapped, her eyes alive with anger, "They have tormented him and he's even come home looking a lot worse than your son, and the fact that you know that he's hanging around with kids like that but you haven't done anything besides warning him that he might get some heat for it, is ridiculous"

"Mrs. Anthony", Mrs. Monroe held up her hand to stop her while Rick found himself speechless, "Please. You're angry and you have every right to be, but we won't solve anything this way. I've gotten all I could from both boys and I will have to talk to the other boys involved, as well as their parents, and I'm going to continue to do everything I can to make sure that no one is bullying or being bullied. Andre and Carl are both great kids, who are both doing so well in their classes and I'd hate to see that change because of this… And I have to tell you that I do believe that the Sergeant might be right here"

Everyone heard Mrs. Anthony inhale sharply.

Mrs. Monroe continued, "It does sound like Carl came in at the wrong time and Andre assumed he was in on it. He said that he wasn't sure if he heard him say anything but he saw him laughing after the pudding was thrown and… that's when the fight ensued. Does that sound plausible to you boys?"

Carl nodded his head in agreement, while Andre just shrugged his shoulders, "I guess…"

Mrs. Monroe gave him a pitiful look, "I hope you can both calm down enough to hear what I have to say. I've had a lot of time to think about what's happened today and what I think we need to do moving forward, and while I do believe that a punishment is in order… I'd be willing to look past that if you both agree to allow me to use your boys as… guinea pigs… for a new program that we wish to practice at the school"

Ricks eyebrows sprung up at the term, "Guinea pigs?"

"Well, yes", Mrs. Monroe began to smile, "You see, even though Kings Academy is performing the best in this district, we still face the same problems as any other school in terms of students behavior. We very rarely like to suspend students and we encourage them to use their words and we try to get parents involved as much as we can, but after learning that several schools in the area will be taking part in this program and we were required to send a few students ourselves, I was wondering who we could enrol that had a better chance at succeeding"

Ricks mouth opened and closed as he thought about that. He glanced at his son and was about to ask for more information but Mrs. Anthony beat him to it, "What is it?"

"Students are encouraged to spend time together outside of school and completing team building exercises put together by several highly trained officials called, Just Partners. Activities take place at the Lenox Centre and it will run from two-thirty to five thirty for four weeks. It's already been tested in other districts and I've heard nothing but rave reviews so far. It teaches them about boundaries, mutual respect, understanding, empathy¬"

"Things the parent's meant to be teaching their kids already", Mrs. Anthony raised an eyebrow at the principle as she made the snide remark, leading Rick to turn his head so he could look directly at her.

"...Yes.", Mrs. Monroe sighed, "But it's done in a way where they get to work directly with their peers so they can help source the route of their conflict"

"With all due respect, Mrs. Monroe", Rick began to shake his head, "But wouldn't Andre be better suited with someone he actually had a conflict with? Like I said earlier, the problem lies with the other boys, not my son"

Carl perked up in his seat as he added, "Yeah, and I'm not a bully"

The older woman clasped her hands together, "Well I would agree that pairing Andre with one of the other boys would be a good idea but¬"

"I'd take a front seat in hell before I allow my son anywhere near those boys", Mrs. Anthony warned clearly, "Never."

Mrs Monroe tilted her head to the side as if she were saying, 'That's why', "And you must understand that the situation with the other parents of the boys is already quite volatile... and we aim to tackle any forms of discrimination very seriously¬"

"Unless you're the Sergeant's son", Mrs. Anthony ejected dryly.

Rick whipped his head around to look at her, "There's only meant to be two children in here ma'am, not three"

She reeked of attitude as she rolled her hard stare over to meet his, then rolled her eyes right back to Mrs. Monroe, "So say my son does take part in this program; what happens after? How do Just Partners make sure that they don't revert back to old habits?"

"I'm glad you asked that, Mrs. Anthony. Just Partners actually have a mentor for each pair of students, and when they've completed the four weeks then that mentor remains in touch with them, checking that their progress continues to soar and that if any similar problems do arise then they'll be able to tackle that negative behavior before it manifests itself again.", Mrs. Monroe reached for a cup nearby and held it to her lips as she asked, "So how does that sound?"

Rick slowly inhaled as he looked at Carl. He didn't look too blown away by the idea either, but Rick would prefer that to suspension, "What do you think?"

Carl shrugged as he looked at him, "Whatever. I don't mind, I just don't want to keep getting called a bully…"

"This is all good and well but my son will still be here in the school day and that's when all of this happens", Mrs. Anthony crossed her slim arms over her chest, "You said that you'd continue to make sure that bullying is dealt with but¬"

"I promise you that I will", Mrs. Monroe set her cup back down, "I mean it. This has gone on long enough and I'd hate for you to withdraw his place here because he's doing excellently. You're a very bright young man, Andre"

Andre finally lifted his head, but that was only to look at something on the wall. His mother still kept her hand on his knee protectively.

She flashed a small smile in his direction, even though he hadn't looked up to see it, "So what do the parents think? Is this something we're willing to try?"

Rick slowly inhaled as he was about to confirm his agreement, but Michonne was quicker, "Fine."

"Sure", He added.

"Great", Mrs. Monroe beamed at them all, "Well I hope the two of you will be able to get the time off work to attend the sessions too, and I know it's a lot to ask but¬"

"Wait, we have to attend too?", Mrs. Anthony unraveled her arms and sat forward, "I thought this was just for them?"

"No… Parents are encouraged to attend also. Often in situations like this, you'll find that students can benefit from having their parent involved too. It helps to build their confidence, and often in situations like this you'll find that there may have been a breakdown in communication between parent and child, which leads to¬"

"While I do see how it can be beneficial for parents to be present, I have to stress to you that I've just accepted the position of district attorney for the Kings County judicial circuit…", As soon as the title left her lips Rick wanted to release the longest, most dramatic groan that he could. His whole department had been made aware that they'd found someone for the role and knowing it was her immediately annoyed him, but it made sense. She continued to try and worm her way out of the program, "I don't think I'll be able to come along because I have so many cases to catch up on¬"

"If you're the district attorney then aren't you meant to start in November?", Rick squinted at the wall as he tried to recall the information he'd previously heard, "We were told down at the Sheriff's department that they weren't due to introduce you until the annual ball"

Mrs. Anthony didn't even attempt to look at him, "That's not true."

"You should probably find out before you shoot down a chance to help your son", Rick was so pleased with his comeback that he wanted to applaud himself, and seeing her tense in response only made him more pleased with himself, "We'll be there Mrs. Monroe, just let me know when it starts so I can run it over with my Lieutenant"

"Fantastic. And Mrs. Anthony, I'll give you some time to check that you'll be available and if you can get back to me some time this week then I'll appreciate it", Mrs. Monroe reached for another tissue again, "This can be very beneficial for all of you."

As soon as they were able to leave the office and subsequently the school building, Rick could breathe a little sigh of relief. He truly did believe that his son wasn't bullying Andre but he knew that he'd befriended three other boys that Rick was wary of. He had warned his son that they weren't the type of friends he wanted to keep and he hoped that this would be a valuable lesson to him.

He told Carl to wait in his truck so that he could speak with Mrs. Anthony and after getting her attention he strolled up to her while she sent Andre to her car. Rick tried not to gawk at her son but there was something about him that was a little unusual, but it wasn't overly obvious what that was. When they were finally close enough to speak, her eyes scrutinized every inch of him, "Problem?"

"No. No problem at all", He set his hands on his sides as he peered at her, "Just think that we've got an opportunity here to turn everythan' around for both of them"

Mrs Anthony stared at him for a few moments before turning on her heel, "Alright, goodbye¬"

"Wait- wait, hold on a second", He held up a hand to stop her from walking away, "I meant that we could help them by not labeling anyone anythan', and perhaps not grouping my son together with¬"

"Ah, there it is", She shook her head as she took a small step back, "You want to make sure that it doesn't get out that your son's part of a group of¬"

"Because he's not", Rick ejected firmly before she had a chance to offend him again, "He hasn't always had it easy around here and he fell in with the wrong crowd because of it¬"

"And neither has my son, but you don't see him joining forces with other delinquents and making there lives a living hell", She raised a neatly plucked eyebrow at him, "So there's no excuse for it and you can stop looking for one"

"I don't have to look for one, it's right in front of us and as clear as day, Mrs. Anthony", Rick found himself using his authoritative voice, "And I actually think that both of them might find some common ground somewhere if they get the chance to talk to each other. Despite what you might think, my son's not a bad kid and I've gathered that Andre isn't either, and I think I have more right than you to be mad about the fact that Andre was the one to start the fight but I'm not because I still think this was just a big misunderstanding. I also think that my son deserved to see first hand what happens when you mess around with the wrong people."

Mrs. Anthony appears unmoved by his speech and simply blinked in response.

"I'm just saying, if we appear to support this then they might really get somethan' out of this, and we can't do that if you're standing in the way", He cocked his head to one side as he looked at her, "So can we agree to approach this differently?"

Mrs. Anthony gave him that hard stare for a few more silent moments before rolling her eyes, "I will continue to approach this as a concerned parent¬"

"And so will I"

"Then that's that", She didn't waste time stalking away from him the second time around, holding her head high, while Rick growled to himself out of frustration.

He could understand the root of her anger. It made perfect sense to him since he would probably react the same way if it were Carl, but from the moment she marched into Mrs. Monroe's office, it was clear that she had already made up her mind about how the meeting would go. He thought they'd at least reach a civil understanding by the time they were done, but he was mistaken. He figured that it wouldn't have been so bad if she weren't so striking.

"...I just walked in there and they were all laughing like maniacs and… I mean I started to smile because I wanted to know what was funny but then I saw Andre… and he just started punching me so I punched him back", Carl explained listlessly as they sat in his truck, "I heard them saying that word but they always tell these weird jokes that I don't get so I just thought it was something they made up…Is it something to do with him being black?"

"Yeah. It is, and It's a word that none of you should be using", Rick replied a little firmly, "And I hope you realize now what kind of boys they are"

"I know", Carl sighed as he looked out the window, "I knew they could be a little loud and stuff… and they could jerks sometimes but… they were cool with me, you know? It was cool being treated like a regular kid...and not 'the kid whose mom killed herself'..."

Ricks pupils sailed away from his son as he let that label sink in, "No. You're… You're more than just that. That was just somethan'... somethan' that happened to you but it's not what defines you, and it shouldn't put you in a position where you think that any friends are better than no friends. You're a great kid and sometimes it takes people time to see that, but you don't change who you are for that to happen…"

Carl exhaled tiredly as he dropped back against the headrest, "I know, dad…"

"Good. I don't want you hanging around with them again because it won't end well for you... I bet none of them gotta' a busted lip", Rick finally started his truck as he tried to subdue thoughts of his wife, "Maybe this program might really help you and Andre. You never know; you might find that the two of you have a few thangs in common. Some great friendships have started off on the wrong foot"

"...I don't think so. His mom seemed pretty angry…"

Rick tried to refrain from snarling, "Yeah. Obviously, he's been having problems for a while and it's not nice to see your loved ones upset because of other people… and if you had played a part in that then we'd be having a different conversation right now but that wasn't the case and I think she needs to accept that"

"...We didn't have a problem before… I know those guys used to mess with him but it wasn't anythan' bad¬"

"Stop right there", Rick took his attentions away from the windshield for a second to look at his son, "You weren't the receiving end of that so you can't decide how bad it was, and it doesn't matter if you didn't join in or not when they were messing with him, the fact that you stood there and witnessed it without saying a word or walking away, makes them think that they're safe do those things around you and it makes Andre think that you're apart of it."

Carl bowed his head as he listened to his father.

"You know a few years back we arrested three young boys for breaking into a house. One was the mastermind, the other was the lookout while the third was just tagging along. You think the judge let him go? Even though he didn't help them break in or touch anythan' when he got in there?"

Carl turned his head to look at his father, "...No?"

"No. He still went to jail and so did the lookout, and you know why that is? Because chances are, if they hadn't agreed to go along then the mastermind wouldn't have wanted to do it alone", Rick huffed as he shook his head with despair, "There's nothing more dangerous than an Idiot with a following. One idiot is manageable, but ten of them would be a problem"

Carl smirked at his summary, "Yeah. I got it; don't be an idiot"

"No. Don't be an idiot. Always tell yourself that when you're faced with somethan' like that again"

"Yeah...", Carl grew quiet for some time before finally requesting softly, "...Can we stop and see mom?"

Rick tightened his hold on the steering wheel, "Uh, yeah… We can."

His son should have reworded his question because it was him that wanted to see Lori's grave, not Rick. He still couldn't bring himself to get close enough. She was buried within view of the cemetery, so he could wait by his truck while Carl went to clear his mind. He could imagine his son visiting her grave for years and years to come since they were so close. Closer than he was with Rick. He couldn't deny him the chance to reconnect her.

The anniversary of her death was looming over them both and soon Carl would clam up and hide away from the world. It would be an emotional day for both of them but it had to happen, even if Rick hadn't forgiven her yet.