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Guest 1: Haha, you know me well, don't you? Atom Wave is almost always going to happen in my stories. ;) Thanks for the review!

Guest 2: Indeed. Unfortunately, it'll only get worse from here. Thanks for the review!

Allison jumped, startled awake by a light tapping on her window. Groggily, she tore her eyes open to be met by an officer. He was a young black man, probably new to the force, with a head full of dark hair and a well kept, stiff beard on his face. The man looked nothing short of professional, his uniform neatly pressed and freshly ironed; Allison could see his badge - the name West printed ever so elegantly on the shiny metal - hanging tightly upon his left breast. Looking in the rearview mirror, she spotted his police car parked delicately behind her.

With a quick glance back at her son, Allison was relieved to see that Mickey was still fast asleep. She reached forward, rolling the window down so that she could speak with Officer West.

"Ma'am, I'm afraid you can't park here," Officer West told her immediately once the glass parted from the rim.

Allison nodded slowly, still tired from the less than adequate sleep she had gotten, dozing in the car. "Uh, right. Yes... Sorry, Officer. We were just on our way."

"We?" He frowned, before turning his head slightly to the right and spotting Mickey. His eyes widened, as he took note of the suitcase and bag that sat in the back with the boy, his mouth parting just a bit; and Allison suddenly felt very self conscious. He was judging her, thinking she was a terrible mother for allowing her son to sleep in this cold, dank vehicle. She just knew it.

Except the expression Officer West was wearing wasn't one of judgment. It was one of concern. (And maybe a bit of suspicion.) The officer quirked one of his brows upward, as he glanced back at Allison. "Everything alright, Ma'am?"

Allison found herself nodding, despite the contrary being the truth. "Yes. Fine," she mumbled.

The officer nodded, sending another worried glance at Mickey. Allison wasn't sure why that look made her so uneasy. It wasn't as if he was considering anything suggestive, was it? After a moment, she brushed the thought away, deciding it must have been fear. Not of the officer, of course, but of the fact that he could so easily take her son away from her. Send him to Child Services. Allison wasn't sure she could handle losing her boy. She would rather die.

"There's a shelter not too far from here, you know," Officer West offered carefully. "If you and your son need somewhere to stay...They've got free meals and showers. It's just around the corner and down the block from CC Jitters. Can't miss it." His expression went beyond that of just polite concern. It was a look of full on terror, as if he was genuinely afraid of what might happen to the boy if she didn't find him somewhere nicer to stay; the look was so authentic, Allison found herself belatedly wondering if he, too, was a parent.

She just smiled kindly, trying not to break down in tears once more. This was actually the best news she had received in ages. "I'll look in to it. Thank you, Officer."

He replied with a stiff nod, as she rolled her window back up and started her car. Officer West only retreated to his own vehicle when Allison started driving away; she could tell that he was reluctant to leave the poor, innocent child with the less than competent mother.

The shelter, just like Officer West had said, was just around the corner. Allison drove past the little coffee shop, idly day dreaming about saving up her pennies to buy a drink from there someday. (She'd lived the better half of her life on a farm. Trips to the city didn't happen often, so she had never really gotten the chance to drink any of those fancy coffee drinks from the coffee shop.)

It was getting close to noon, when she and Mickey arrived at the shelter. A nice lady (Allison couldn't really remember her name. Was it Kate?) greeted them immediately. She took their bags and escorted them inside, giving them some hot food and cold drinks. (By this time Mickey was awake and extremely fussy, but the promise of food made sure that he behaved himself.)

The place wasn't very big, and there were about a dozen other people there, but it was enough to accommodate them for a few nights. The walls and floors of the sleeping quarters were impossibly messy - clothes thrown all over the place, a grimy substance smeared everywhere (Allison was too scared to find out what it was) - but at least the mattresses looked comfortable enough.

The dining hall was fairly large, long tables filling up every inch of the space; the food tables were at the end, paper plates and plastic forks stacked for people who wanted something to eat. Kate explained that breakfast would be closing soon, so Allison decided to get Mickey food while she still had the chance.

She grabbed two paper plates, filling them with bacon, eggs, and even a few pancakes for Mick. Then, she sat herself and her son down at one of the tables, while Kate brought them each a bottle of water. For the most part, they ate their meal in silence, but after about a minute of fiddling with the paper plate, Mick shocked Allison with a question she wasn't quite prepared to answer. "Did I do something wrong, Mama?"

Allison blanched. She stared at him for a moment, trying to wrap her mind around the thought. "No! No, baby...Why would you think that?" She wrapped her arm around him, hugging him as tightly as she could manage without hurting him.

The boy shrugged, pouting just a bit. "Well, I was playing with Papa. And then you were mad, and we left. So, I must have done something bad..."

Allison shook her head vigorously. She leaned back so that she could look him in the eyes and make sure she got her message across. "No, Mickey. Honey. Don't ever think that, okay? You didn't do anything wrong, you hear me? We didn't leave because of you."

The boy frowned, tilting his head slightly to the side. "So, why did we leave, then?"

Allison felt the tears welling up in her eyes once more. He was just too young to comprehend anything that was happening to them right now. "Because. We..." She trailed off, honestly lost for words. How could she explain anything to him, when she hardly understood the situation herself? Her mind was still reeling from the night before, lagging, failing to process any of it.

So, instead Allison decided to turn the child's attention to something else. "I heard Kate say there was a park somewhere near by. What do you say we go check it out?"

The boy's face lit up instantly. He seemed to forget all about the dire question he'd just asked his mother, trading it in for thoughts of play and imagination. "Can we?!"

Allison smiled, glad to see that grin of his. She just wished she could keep it on his face forever...

"Of course. Once we finish up here. Then, we can go."

Mick hurriedly scarfed down the rest of his food. (Allison had to scold him to slow down more than once.) She didn't eat much herself. Her apatite had vacated her, after everything that had happened, but she kept smiling anyway, not wanting her son to see anything was wrong. He already deemed this awful situation his fault; she didn't want him worrying any more than he had to. Just let him be a child, she thought. Just for a little while longer.

I was gonna have this be the last part of chapter one, but I think I'll drag it out just a little bit longer. (One or two more parts at least.)

So...I'm curious. What did y'all think of Joe's little cameo? I was really nervous as to how that would be perceived... If you guys like it, I have plenty more easter eggs planned where that came from. If not, then I'll just make this one the first and last... They're not very impactful to the plot anyways. Just fun little cameos...

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this update. Don't forget to comment/review!

That's all for now, toodles!

~ Elsie