Being Warren Peace

chapter 3 "The man in the Cell"

A terrible feeling suddenly came over him, Baron had to try and ignore this though, even though he was in the minimum security section in Comet the prisoners were still a concern. Baron had already been jumped twice mostly for being married to Regina, some of the prisoners were put in jail because of her even so Baron kept trying to protect her good name.

Even though he was in prison, he still worried for his son, Regina did send many letters about him each one letting him know of how worse Warren had gotten and each time he read that Baron's temper would flare; sometimes so bad that flames would come out of his fists without his control, this was the downside of being a flame-thrower like Baron, even though he had long mastered his ability it was still hard to control fire when he was mad, many flame-throwers had this problem but to Baron his seemed to be way out there.

"Battle" Baron heard a security guard call him, this man he knew well and called him Mac; Mac was the guard who delivered his letters as well.

"Hey Mac...what do you have for me?" Baron replied kindly, even though Baron had robbed a bank he was still a favorite among the guards here in prison, probably because he was always so polite to them.

"I have a virtua letter for you, from A-Centre and your wife Regina" Mac yawned, Baron new that Mac hadn't gotten much sleep lately in fact most of the guards were especially tired, rumor had it that the new inmate was stirring up some serious trouble and was wearing out the staff.

"A-Centre? You mean Asteroid Centre?" Baron was astounded, had his son finally gotten the medical attention he needed?

"Yup, its AC alright maybe you'll get good news for a change Baron?" Mac said as he handed him a small diskette the virtua letter of course was inside it.

"Hopefully" Baron grinned and Mac left, leaving Baron to read his letter; Baron then inserted the diskette into a micro computer, only prisoners like Baron were aloud to use micro computers it was earned by how well you behaved and if you reached the prisons quota on respect, you were given one to read your letters privately instead of in front of the entire unit.

'Please let it be good news' Baron hoped as the screen began to display its letter, it read like so:

This is an official message of Asteroid Medical Centre, the sender of this data is not a medical assistant or affiliate of Asteroid but the detail of this message is protected by Asteroid and Meteor and will self-erase after its first reading.

"Baron, its me Regina

I have terrible news, Warren has developed the O132 virus and is in its last critical stage; the doctors have told me that there is no cure, nothing we can do can helpthey tell me our darling son will most likely...die at the end of his treatment..if we can even call it treatment at all.
They say that the medical assistants that Warren is receiving right now will ease his pain and prolong his life, but only for a limited time. They say that if Meteor had sent Warren directly to Asteroid that he would have had a chance at recovering but now they say there is absolutely no chance of him getting better.

Oh Baron, I'm so frightened...what if Warren really doesn't make it?

I have to do something but I don't know what to do, I've done everything that was available to me to help Warren and now I have nothing else, but we cant give up on him he's still to young, I have to find away there must be something that can help Warren...right?

Baron please respond quickly I'm at my wits end and I fear that I won't be much comfort for him...

Please write us a message darling...and fast...

-Regina

The message than began to erase itself, but the haunting message had already burned itself into Baron's cerebrum repeating itself over and over again like a broken record.

Before he realized what he was doing, Baron had thrown his micro computer into the wall of his cell and before he knew it his bed was on fire, blazing as hot as his rage.

"Baron! What the heck are you doing!" Mac's frantic voice rang in Baron's ear, but he did not respond nor did he make a move, Baron just stood in front of the flame as if he wore a statue, his fists clenched tightly making his vein almost pop out.

Baron knew he was in for it now.

-

Asteroid Medical Centre, room 1089

Room occupant: Warren Peace...

The lights were bright...too bright... It hurt his already sensitive little eyes, but still little Warren Peace opened them he knew something was wrong with him, but every time that he asked a nurse or doctor about what was happening to him, they would respond to him with lines like "Your fine" and "Don't worry little guy you'll be OK."

Warren may only be five, but unlike many other children his age Warren had very keen intellect and could tell if someone was lying to him or not, and right now he felt like the truth was being withheld from him, like why he had needles with long small tubes attached to the back of his small hand; the doctor had him attached to a machine and to something called an IV and the needles that connected him to it hurt; worse than anything he had ever felt.

"Mommy...daddy..." little Warren whispered into his pillow, shutting his eyes a tear escaped from his socket seven though he did not know what was going on, he knew it was bad really bad; otherwise someone would have told him and let him see his mom, oh...how he wanted his mother right now, to have her hold him in her arms and let him know that everything was all right and that he was just imagining things like when he thought there was a monster in his closet.

Warren then thought about his dad, a smile slowly began to spread on his tiny face; his dad always made him feel better like when he had hurt his knee after jumping off a tree in the park, but his daddy wasn't here. Warren knew his dad was in a place called Comet, but he did not know what they did at Comet; his father had told him that it was a place where people who make big mistakes go to the one's who had super heroes at that is.

Even though it was not a good place for him, Warren wished that he was there with his dad; any place was better than being here maybe at Comet they would not have put needles in him.

click clack

click, clack

Warren heard loud footsteps coming from outside of his room, was someone coming to see him? every time he heard those sounds someone came in his room. Warren then began to shake as fear gripped him all over, were the doctors coming back to put more needles in?

"This spray will only last eight hours, so please come back to the front desk ten minutes before the Anti-Vira wears off and we will re-spray you" he heard a women speaking was she talking to someone?

"Thank you nurse...I will make sure to come see you when that happens" a women responded, she sounded like she was really sad.

"Your welcome Mrs. Peace...and please know we will do everything we can for him" The nurse assured the women, Warren knew who the women was now his mom.

Warren's fear than subsided as joy took over him, he was finally going to see his mother!

The door then creaked open, it opened a little at first before his mom stepped in; Regina quickly closed the door behind her, she feared more harmful viruses would enter the room if she left it open.

"Mommy?" Warren whispered, Regina smiled and quickly hugged Warren making him smile.

"Yes, baby its me..." Regina sniffled, she had been sobbing for hours since she had heard the news of her sons condition and in effect her nose had become red, her eyes puffy and her cheeks swollen, still she hoped this wouldn't alarm her son.

"Mommy, why do they put all these needles in me? they hurt...can you take them out?" Warren asked his mother while looking up at her innocently, Regina had hold back her tears; was her little boy really going to die? it just wasn't fair!

"No baby I cant...you have to keep them in or else you could get sicker" Regina responded as calmly as she could, it was hard considering how bad her eyes ached for release.

"But I don't wanna get sicker...I wanna get better" Warren frowned at this his mother wrapped her arms around him, she was careful to not remove the tubes that were connected to him Regina always hugged Warren tightly so she had to be especially cautious.

"You'll get better sweetie, I promise" Regina spoke softly, there just had to be a way right? Regina quickly felt remorse for promising Warren something that might not ever happen, oh gods...she just couldn't bury her son...he was to young...

"Oh Baron if only you were here" Regina thought to herself as she finally lost control and began to weep.

-

Mac and other guards quickly opened the cell and hauled Baron out of his holding, Baron did not speak to them as they all quickly dragged him out of minimum security, he knew they were taking him to Solitary confinement, the place where the unruly went; still he said nothing he had been there only once and that was after burning another inmate's hand for calling his wife an inappropriate name.

The entire time Mac and the others apologized to him, they new he wasn't such a bad guy they all knew his son was ill and they took pity on him. But they still had a job to do so there was no avoiding his stay in Solitaire.

Yet an hour later Baron still hadn't calmed down he wasn't going to get out until he did, but who could calm down with the news that he had just received.

"Damn Meteor..." Baron said through clenched teeth "Curse THEM!" He yelled out.

"Yes, curse them all, now silence I require sleep half-wit" a man from the next cell retorted, Baron growled.

"How dare you speak to me that way! Wouldn't you act the same way if you knew your kid was dying because of that center!" Baron argued.

"oh...so the half-wit has an excuse" the man laughed, only making Baron angrier "If you do not mind my askinghalf-wit I would like to hear what is going one with this child of yours"

"Not that its any of your business, but he is sick" Baron hissed "Meteor ignored my son's health and now he is dying..." At this Baron choked, it had never been like him to tell other people his problems especially to strangers, but Baron knew that if he didn't get it off his chest that he himself would burst, lucky for him this man would listen.

"An illness you say? What is it?" the man asked curiously.

"I don't know what it is"Baron responded now a little calmer "my wife told me it was an 0132 virus i have no clue what it does but I know that he is in a crucial stage "Baron grimaced, what was that disease? Why did his son have it? his thoughts were interupted by the man in the next cell, he was laughing, it made Baron angry once more.

"How dare you laugh at my son's illness" Baron shouted, making the man laugh harder and adding to Baron's fury.

"Oh friend, calm down I laugh at the doctors for not coming up with a suitable cure for it yet" he laughed maniacly.

"What are you trying to say? that there is a cure?" Baron questioned.

"Of course there is...well its not legal yet but I am still proud of my concoction" at this Baron's eyes widened; hope had returned to him.

"You have a way to cure it?"

"Well, yes, but all of the ingredients used for it are unjustly put in the illegal category, I find it to be a shame quite frankly" The man added "Those few little lives that need this cure wont get it because of the chemicals I use" Baron closed his eyes and pondered for a minute, could this be a sign? But could he ask for his help.

"How do I get this cure?" Baron asked, pause followed; to Baron it felt like an eternity why couldn't this man just respond?

"That depends" the man in the next cell paused once again "what will you do to get your son my medicine?"

Now it was Baron who paused, what was he getting at? Somehow Barons gut instinct told him it was going to cost him more than he was willing to give...but this was his son we were talking about, he loved him to much to give up on him and as a father he had to do anything...even if he had to give up his dignity.

"I would do anything for my son" Baron finally replied, Baron swore that he heard the man in the next cell snicker it made him feel uneasy, he knew this guy was serious trouble.

"I hoped you'd say that" he began "Now half-wit...allow me to explain what I require, but first lets introduce ourselves...I Am Abbadon your new best friend..."