Random Acts of Forgiveness
Lance hovered near Spirit's open door. He was afraid of disturbing him. He had said nothing to him since they had both returned from KP duty. The one thing Lance wanted to do more than anything right then was to cry out and beg him for forgiveness. Of course he couldn't do that. He still had some pride left. But not enough to feel guilty.
Lance had never felt guilt like this before. He felt that he owed Spirit so much for saving his life and taking him in. No one had actually bothered that much about his well being. That's why he felt so loyal to him. He didn't decide to stay with the Joes because of some goody two shoes sense of remorse or phony idea of doing the right thing. It was because Spirit and the other Joes treated him like a person, not a weapon or lowly flunky.
Of course he did wonder if part of the way he felt was because of the mind control drug. Okay he'd always thought he had a streak of loyalty to those who helped him. That was one of the reasons he stayed loyal to Mystique in the first place. She did get him out of that foster home and away from the mess he created in Illinois when he destroyed his first high school. Then again she never had enough of his loyalty to want him to go down on his knees and beg when she was angry.
Something inside Lance compelled him to want to be with Spirit. He saw him as a substitute father somehow and he wanted to please him. To do whatever it took to make him happy no matter what. At that moment he really didn't care anymore why he felt this way, he just wanted to stop feeling like such a failure.
Spirit saw him and motioned for the boy to come in. Lance walked in nervously. "I…I'm sorry about what I did," Lance gulped. "I didn't know they'd take it out on you. If I had I'd have never done it. It's one thing if they punish me, but you…"
Spirit said nothing. "Spirit you gotta believe me," Lance pleaded. "You're the last person I'd want to hurt."
"I know," Spirit's tone softened. He placed his hand on his shoulder.
"I know it's a stupid excuse, but I don't really know why I did it," Lance told him. "Those drones looked so cool and I was curious and well…It got out of hand."
"So I noticed," Spirit said wryly.
"It was dangerous and stupid and I'm sorry I got you in trouble," Lance apologized. "I wasn't thinking."
Spirit nodded. "I accept your apology young one. I see you truly are sorry for your actions. I forgive you."
"You're not mad at me anymore?" Lance asked.
"I was never angry at you," Spirit told him. "Disappointed yes, but not really angry. It was expected that you would have some problems…adjusting to army life. I was hoping it would be later."
"Spirit I promise, I…I'll make you proud of me," Lance said. "Nobody's ever been as good to me as you have. I wanna do good by you. Really."
"Well, let's just say we'll work on it," Spirit nodded. "But you still have to pay for what you've done."
"I know," Lance said. "I won't complain. I promise. Just give me another chance. I'll do better. Really I will."
"All right, come here," Spirit hugged him. "I'm not going to give up on you. I promise I'll try harder as well."
Lance fought the tears in his eyes. He pulled away. "I'll make you proud. You'll see."
"I'll hold you to that. Now go to bed young one," Spirit told him.
"Yes sir," Lance nodded. "Good night." Lance went to his room and got ready for bed. See! He mentally crowed to his inner demons. He does care about me!
He cares about your powers and keeping you under control, The cynical voice of experience snarled at him. It's just that stupid drug in your system that's making you feel guilty. Face it. You've just traded in one master for another.
I don't care! Lance snarled inside his mind. He's nothing like the others! He's not Magneto!
You're right. He's human.
So what? I don't care! He's treated me pretty good! That's all that matters! So shut up! I'm not gonna listen to you anymore! Lance closed his eyes and fought off his inner demons for another night.
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Meanwhile back at the Delgato house Pietro and Fred were sitting in the kitchen getting chewed out by Todd and Wanda. "I can't believe you did something so stupid!" Todd shouted.
"How were we supposed to know they'd punish Shipwreck and Roadblock?" Pietro snapped.
"Spirit got punished too," Wanda pointed out.
"But Low Light and Cover Girl didn't," Fred wondered. "And neither did the Blind Master. I wonder why?"
"Well someone had to watch the other kids," Althea walked into the room. "And would you try to punish a ninja master with KP duty?"
"I guess not," Fred sighed.
"Althea I'm sorry about your dad and…" Pietro started.
"Please," Althea waved. "This is my father, remember? He could use all the discipline he can get! What I am angry about is how you guys got Roadblock and the others in trouble!"
"That's partly my fault," Todd sighed. "I should have told you that they sometimes punish the adults too if we get in trouble."
"Man these guys are strict," Pietro groaned.
"Maybe it would be better if we did get hit," Fred said.
"No," Shipwreck walked into the room. "Hitting only teaches you how to hit back. And you kids are already a bit too aware of that lesson. The goal here is to teach you control without resorting to violence. Up until now most of you have been fighting or using your powers in order to get what you want or if you can't control your anger. We're trying to break you of that bad habit."
"Then why are you teaching us fighting techniques?" Wanda asked.
"That's for when you have to fight," Shipwreck told her. "We're not stupid. We know there are going to be plenty of times when you need to defend yourselves. But you have to learn when it's appropriate to hit and when not too. If you get hit over every little thing you'll never learn the difference."
"Shipwreck we're really sorry for getting you in trouble," Fred said. "We're really sorry!"
"Yeah," Pietro added. "I mean if we'd known that maybe…"
"Maybe you would have thought twice about fooling around?" Shipwreck said. "Well if I had told you the consequences of doing things like that in the first place maybe I wouldn't have had to be punished as well. I guess I'm not exactly the best example of stability for you kids am I?"
"Tell me something we don't know," Althea groaned. Then she softened. "But you really are a cool dad. Sometimes. At least you know when to take responsibility."
"You know what I think?" Shipwreck said. "I think tonight we should all go over the rules and the consequences for what happens when you break a rule. Now I promise you will never get hit, but that doesn't mean you are not accountable for your actions. And what you do reflects on not only the adults but the rest of your unit."
"You mean stuff like you can get locked up if you run away?" Pietro asked.
"Or if you use your powers to intentionally hurt someone," Shipwreck added. "Or hit one of the adults. But those are extreme cases. I'm talking the everyday stuff, like fooling around, breaking curfew…"
"What curfew?" Althea asked. "We live on an army base. We never go anywhere."
"But sometimes you do tend to sneak out to see each other at night when you're not supposed to, don't you?" Shipwreck raised an eyebrow.
Todd turned scarlet. "You know about that?" Althea gasped.
"I know everything," Shipwreck waved. "I have parent superpowers."
"What?" Pietro asked. "What did you do?"
"That's not really something that should be discussed right now," Shipwreck said. "But since that was an extreme case I decided not to punish you for that long ago, Althea. But I won't be so lenient next time. Understand?"
Althea nodded, unusually subdued. "Yes sir."
"Good. I think we should call a family meeting tonight with all the kids and adults. We'll go over the rules and situations and discuss what punishments we can agree on are fair," Shipwreck said.
"Hey as long as I don't get hit I don't care what I have to do," Todd shrugged.
"Well most of you are a little old for spanking anyway," Shipwreck smirked. "Of course some of you might like it depending on who's doing the spanking." He smirked at Althea and Todd.
"DAD!" Althea protested while Todd turned bright red.
"And as I said, we aren't going to hit you either," Shipwreck continued. "I like to think we have more…creative ways of getting the message. Like tomorrow."
"What?" Pietro blinked. "There's more?"
"Oh yes," Shipwreck cackled. "Tomorrow Beach Head is going to be in charge of your training. And if that isn't punishment I don't know what is!"
"Oh boy," Althea gulped.
"What?" Pietro asked.
"Let's just say you boys better get some rest for tomorrow," Althea told them. "You're gonna need all the energy you can get!"
Next up: Cobra attacks! 'Nuff said?