Okay, so this one shot is the one I was going to post last Thursday before I had the idea for Accidentally on Purpose. A few things first, the next chapter of Healing Earth will (hopefully) beup next Wednesday. I'm just typing it up, editing, and putting the final touches on now. Second, last week there was some sort of issue with this sites reviewing system. For awhile it was saying that I had gotten some reviews, but on the actual site they weren't showing. It's telling me that I only got one review for the last chapter. Now that's fine and it may be that only one person had reviewed. I'm just letting you know in case you left a review and I don't respond to it so you don't think I'm ignoring you.

fandomenforcer: Well, he is a genius. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

.:Line Break:.

Francis Stone sighed as he stood outside the principal's office. Katrina, who stood beside him, took his hand in hers and gave him a comforting smile.

"Whatever's wrong, we'll face it together. Just like we always do." she assured him quietly.

"Yeah, I know." Steeling himself, he opened the door and walked inside, Katrina following closely behind him.

"I demand you have that child removed from this school! She's a trouble maker, just like her father!"

"Mrs. Price, I must ask you to calm down." the principal, John Sullivan told her, "I must hear both sides of the story."

Francis glanced at the woman, Mrs. Price, who sat in front of the principal's desk next to a young boy who he could only assume was her son. The boy was sporting a bloody nose.

He then looked to the other end of the principal's desk where two empty chairs were placed on either side of his young daughter, Francine Stone. Francine had long crimson and blond streaked hair tied in a messy braid that had been tossed over her shoulder and emerald green eyes exactly like her father's. She wore a short sleeved blue dress, long white socks that reached her knees, and little black shoes that Katrina had just bought for her last week. Pouting, her arms were crossed over her chest as she glared sulkily at the boy and his mother. As he and his wife took their seats next to their child, he couldn't help but notice that Francine was covered in sand for some reason.

"What exactly happened, Mr. Sullivan?" Katrina asked, keeping her tone polite.

"Something happened on the playground during recess between Francine and Steven here and I'm trying to get to the bottom of it." he explained, looking exasperated.

"What happened is that your brat hit my precious baby for no reason!" Mrs. Price spat.

"Yeah, and then she was going to use her fire on me!" Steven chimed in.

"No, I wasn't, you liar!" Francine yelled.

"Francine, please calm down." Mr. Sullivan reminded gently.

Francis turned to his daughter calmly, choosing to stay that way until he knew the full story. "Spitfire, is that true?" Spitfire was his nickname for Francine. He came up with it after she had developed fire powers of her own.

Francine glanced up at him before staring at the floor, biting her lip. "W-well... I did hit him. B-but it wasn't for no reason and I didn't use my powers! I know you don't want me to use them at school and I don't, daddy! Honest!"

"She's obviously lying!" Mrs. Price declared, "She's a little monster! She shouldn't be allowed to attend school like normal children!"

Francis leaned back in his chair, seeing that his wife was visibly fuming. She glared menacingly at Mrs. Price and he decided that he'd let Katrina handle her.

"First of all, Francine has as much a right to attend school as your son does, regardless of her status as a bang baby. Second, I would like to remind you that the "little monster" you are referring to is my daughter and I will not let you or anyone else talk about her like that. If you don't keep your mouth shut and let her explain what happened, it's not my daughter or my husband that you'll have to worry about. It'll be me!"

Mrs. Price's mouth snapped shut. Francine was clenching the fabric of her dress in her tiny hands, clearly upset by the remarks. Francis placed a hand on top of his daughter's, causing her to look up at him with big, sad green eyes. "Tell us what happened."

"...W-well, I was playing in the sandbox and Steven came over and pulled on my hair. I told him to stop and he said that daddy wasn't going to save me. So I took my hair back and told him to leave me alone."

"And then what happened?" Mr. Sullivan prodded.

"...He called daddy a bad word and said that I was just like him."

"What did he say, Francine?"

She looked up at her father, as though silently asking for permission. Francis nodded.

"...He called him a bastard. Then I told him that I was going to tell the teacher that he was using bad words. He pushed me into the sandbox to stop me. That's why I hit him. Then a teacher saw us and came over."

"She's lying!" Mrs. Price insisted, looking appalled, "My son is an angel! He would never use such filthy words and we don't talk like that in our house!"

Steven turned to his mother in confusion, "But mommy, that's what you and daddy call him all the time. And you say that Francine's mommy is a whore."

Mrs. Price blanched at her son's words. Katrina was scowling and Francis was openly glaring at her, barely restraining himself. He didn't care what people thought about him, but his wife and child were a different story. They both put their arms around their daughter's shoulders as Mr. Sullivan gave Mrs. Price a pointed look.

"I think we're done here." he said before turning to the Stone family, "I'm sorry for the trouble. I'll take things from here."

Mrs. Price gaped at them, watching as they stood to leave. "What? But she hit my son! I demand that you do something!"

"Mrs. Price, this whole meeting was just a formality. I have already spoken to several witnesses who told me the same thing Francine did, including the aid who broke the children up. I'm not punishing her for defending herself." Mr. Sullivan told her, his tone firm, "Now, if I recall correctly, a similar incident occurred about two months ago between your son and Allen Evans. Your son had started the altercation then and also made disparaging remarks about his father. There have been other children as well, all of them meta humans. It sounds to me like your son is picking up on your discrimination of meta humans and that's what keeps getting him into trouble. One more incident like this and I'm going to have to expel him."

"This is an outrage!" she yelled, furious.

"Oh, I agree." Katrina said, her voice dripping with disdain, "The fact that there are still such narrow minded, hateful people in the world is nothing short of outrageous, especially when they pass their bigoted views onto impressionable children. I should be able to send my daughter to school and not have to worry about someone trying to hurt her because she's a meta human. Despite the term "meta human", Mrs. Price, they are still human and they deserve to be treated as such."

"And if you have a problem with me, you take it up with me, lady. Leave my wife and kid alone." Francis growled, "The next time your kid touches my daughter, I'm taking you to court for discrimination and harassment! Got it?"

Mrs. Price gawked at the family as they left, each parent holding one of their daughter's hands.

Once they were outside, Francine finally spoke up. "Are you mad at me?"

"No, Spitfire, we're not mad at you."

"We won't get mad at you for defending yourself, Francine." Katrina assured her with a smile.

"Then... can I ride on daddy's shoulders?"

He pretended to think a moment, then grinned, "I guess so."

"Yay! Thank you!"

Francis picked her up and set her on his shoulders, hands gently gripping her legs to prevent her from falling.

"So, you gave him a bloody nose, huh?" he asked as the continued walking home.

"Uh-huh. I was aiming for his throat, but he moved." she said, sounding disappointed.

Katrina almost stopped walking. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at her husband, who was trying, and failing, to look innocent. "Francine, why were you aiming for Steven's throat?"

"'Cause that's what daddy told me to do if someone was trying to hurt me. He said to aim for the eyes or the throat."

"Francis!"

He didn't even attempt to look ashamed or embarrassed. He just threw his head back and laughed. "Who's girl are you?"

"Daddy's!" Francine proudly declared.

"That's right. And no one messes with daddy's girl." He paused to press a kiss to Katrina's cheek, "Either of them."

Katrina blushed and playfully rolled her eyes, but smiled nonetheless.

.:Line Break:.

That advice Francis gave his daughter about aiming for the eyes or throat is something my own father told me when I was younger. I thought Spitfire would be a cool handle for Francine to go by when she grows up. She'll eventually be a superhero. And yes, she is named after Francis' mother. Imaginary cookie for whoever guesses who Allen Evans father is.