Disclamer:I own none of the Rocket Power Characters

Chapter 2:Flashback

(Flashback to 6 years earlier)

Doug Dullard walked through the door of his home four hours later than usual. His suit was wrinkled, dark circles formed underneath his eyes and his breath smelled of alchohol. In front of him stood his wife, Paula Dullard, whose hands were on her hips and a look of disgust on her face.

"What's your excuse this time Doug?" she asked.

"I got held up at the office honey. I tried to call you but the line was busy." he replied.

"Oh really? Then can you explain why you smell like a bar? I doubt your boss allows you to drink on the job. And don't give me that bullshit about not being able to call, I've been sitting by the phone for hours waiting for you to call." Paula said a bit loudly.

"Aw, shut the fuck up will you! Your such a control freak, I'm surprised you haven't set up a curfew for me yet!" He retorted while pushing past her towards the kitchen.

Ten year old Sam Dullard woke up to his father's voice and ran into the kitchen to greet him.

"Dad your home, you will never guess what happened at school today!" he said while pulling on his father's sleave.

Doug whipped around fast, sending his son into the wall with a loud BANG!

"Don't touch me you little brat!" He screamed while taking off his belt. He grabbed the boy who was sitting up against the wall in pain and turned him over so he was on all fours. He brought his belt down on Sam's back hard and kept doing it until blood was seen soaking through his flannel pajama shirt. Paula rushed to the crying boy while screaming at Doug, but he heard nothing.

The drunken man walked into his bedroom and sat down on the king size bed. A look of dibelief spread over his face. 'Did I really just do that?' he thought to himself. Without knowing it fell into a dreamless sleep and woke up two hours later. By know he was sober and could fell the beginnings of hangover starting.

"Sammy's having trouble falling asleep. He's afraid you'll come into his room and hurt him again." Doug's head jerked up to meet the face of his wife, her eyes were red and he could see a blood stain on the sleaves of her white nightgown. 'Must be Sam's' he thought to himself.

"I'll make it up to him." Doug said and left the room without another word. Paula heard the car start up in the driveway and drive away until she heard only her son's sobbing from the other room.

Paula walked into Sam's room to see him sitting on the top of his bunk bed with his face in his pillow, muffling his whimpers. "Its okay Sammy, Daddy left for a little while." Paula said in a soothing voice.

"Did he leave forever, is ever gonna come back so I can say I'm sorry." the small boy asked fearfully.

" He'll be back honey, and its not your fault. Your father just had a bad day at work. Goodnight Sammy."

"'Night" he said and fell asleep. Paula sighed and went to bed.

The next morning, Sam walked into the kitchen to see his Father with a guilty look on his face and a big box in his hands. "Sorry about hurting you last night buddy, I was just in a bad mood. Here I got you a present".

Sam opened up the box that his Dad set down on the table and inside was a brand new laptop computer that Sam had dreamed of one day owning. "Wow!Thanks Dad!" he said excitedly. Doug chuckled and ruffled his son's hair.

From the doorway, Paula watched as Doug started helping Sam set up his new laptop. 'He always does this!' she thought to herself annoyingly. True, this was not the first time Doug had taken his anger out on Sam and then shower him with presents for forgiveness. It had been happening since before Sam could talk in full sentences. It did not happen everyday or every month for that matter but happened way more than it should. It happened So many times that Paula had lost track of what toys Sam had gotten for holidays and what he got as guilt presents from his father.

The injuries that Sam had received from his father were never life threatning, bruises, sprains, cuts. Paula was pretty sure she could blame Sam's asthma on the times where Doug had hit his back or choked him. By now, she must have rubbed bottles and bottles of ointment into Sam's skin to prevent scars. If one looked closely, they could faint white lines in Sam's skin, especially on his back. Luckly, Sam had fair skin. But these scars were nothing compared to his scars on the inside.

'This is the last straw, never again will he hurt my son' Paula said to herself silently as Doug kissed Sam goodbye and went to work. As soon as he left, Paula packed hers and Sam's things into her car and drove herself and her confused son to her mother's house three hours away. She had left Doug a note that revealed her feelings about their marriage and called her lawyer later that afternoon asking for divorce papers.

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The divorce was anything but pretty, Both parents fought over the custody of their son, but in the end Paula recieved full custody of Sam and Doug was only allowed to visit him if he had the permission of the judge and his ex-wife.

Sam lived with his grandmother for nearly three months because the divorce process took so long with his father's refusal to sign the papers. Luckly school was out shorlty and his mother was hired at a law office in California. Sam was depressed about moving, but he had never seen the ocean or been someplace were it was always warm, so he didn't complain much.

Sam blamed himself for his parents divorce but did not tell anyone and let the guilt slowly eat away at his soul until it was too much to ignore along with life's other problems and let his blade get rid of the pain. At age 13, Sam started walking down the dangerous path of self-destruction.

Next Chapter: Back to the Present!!

A/N to mike2000: Thanks for your review! I've read your Sam-centered fic before and enjoyed very much. I'll try to update the story reguarly and keep it from not sucking too much!

Thanks Again!- chester315