Title : Fathers and Sons, Chapter 2

Genre: Drama

Rating : I'm gonna rate the story PG-13/T overall for some swearing in later chapters, but this one is pretty PG/K+.

Summary : Relationships between parents and children are never easy. Especially when the warden finds himself having to discipline a blowtorch-wielding two-year old.

Beta : Sharelle, I LOVES you. *mmmwah!*

The boy clearly knew he was in trouble as he stared at the warden with wide guilty eyes. The warden angrily grabbed the binky from the trike and heard the machine power down. The binky was stuffed in his pocket and even the fish looked guilty.

He picked up the boy in one hand and the trike in the other and hauled them roughly in the direction of his office as the fish, which the child had named Minion, rolled behind them. He didn't even wait until he reached the office to begin the lecture.

"No! This is not acceptable behavior Blue!" he started in on him as he pulled the child down the hall by his arm.

"I wanna go outside!" the toddler screamed in response.

"No. Outside time is after lunch," he retorted in frustration as his secretary Beatrice watched him haul the boy into the admin area.

"But I wanna!" At which point the boy started whining and kicking his legs and forcing the warden to practically drag him into the office as the fish rolled on, nudging the boys' legs.

"No. I have told you 'no' a dozen times. We don't go outside whenever you want!" He sat the child in the chair across from his desk and stood in front of it, towering over the angry toddler.

"We do not destroy license plates and we do not blow holes in the walls! Time-Out and I'm taking your minion away." He picked up the surprised fish in the ball and placed him in the desk drawer.

"Nooooooooo!" the child shrieked. "Minion!" He stood up from the chair and stomped his feet. "My minion!"

"No Blue. He is gone for today." The warden replied firmly, staring down the child.

Then with a huff the blue-skinned boy flung himself onto the chair and the warden knew what was coming. It was easy to see now. Although the boy was impressively verbal and cognitively dexterous, he was still a two-year-old. And like a human two-year-old, he didn't like the word 'no'. The boy was circling a total meltdown.

"If you are good for the rest of the day then you can have your minion back tomorrow."

The boy looked completely devastated and started to sob and scream at the same time.

"Now it's Time-Out time." The warden tried to grab his hand but the boy pulled it away. He was forced to grab more roughly and hold on tight as the child screamed and strained against him trying to get away.

"Waaaaaaaarrdeennnn Nooooo!" The boy shouted and went limp, forcing the warden to physically pick him up in order to place him in the empty corner of his office. As soon as he placed the boy there, the toddler ran yelling from the corner to dive onto the couch and kick the cushions. The warden charged over to him and the boy continued to shriek no over and over again. Someone listening on the other side of this door would think he was beating this child.

He placed him in the corner again.

"Time-Out for 5 minutes".

The child made angry pouty faces at him but stayed put. The warden walked back to his desk, eyes always on the boy and he took a kitchen timer out of his desk and set it for five minutes.

The boy made angry whining noises for a few moments and when that elicited no reaction he laid down on the floor and started kicking at the walls. The warden walked curtly over to the boy again.

"Stop doing that. We do not kick walls. Do you want another five minutes added to your time-out?" The boy's face crumpled and he gave an angry teary pout. "Stand up like a big boy, Blue." He continued to lie on the floor, pouting stubbornly up at the warden.

"I'll give you until the count of three. One."

The boy continued to glare at him, defiantly refusing to move.

" Two".

Now the boy looked nervous.

"This is your last chance. Thr—"

The boy got up and stood facing the corner.

"Good boy." And he sat back down at his desk. The kitchen timer informed him there as 2 minutes and 49 seconds left on the time-out. He took a deep breath and sat back down at his desk.

And then the warden heard the saddest most pathetic little cries. They were the cries of 'no one loves me' coming from the boy in the corner. The warden stifled a sigh and rubbed his temple. The kid was really pulling out all the stops today.

The warden ignored him until the little timer on his desk dinged. Then he walked over to the boy who was still staring at the wall, and touched his back gently. The boy made a huffing noise and turned around but refused to look at him. Still he wrapped an arm around the child's shoulders and gave him a squeeze. The boy's face was flushed purple from yelling and crying.

"I'm going to have Leroy take you back to your cell now. If you are good then I'll come down after dinner and play with you and read you a bedtime story."

"Minion?" he asked with a quivering lip.

"No you're not getting your minion back today," the warden responded firmly.

The boy began to make gasping sounds as he began to cry again. "Pleeeeeeease?" He looked up at him with tears rolling down his face.

"No," the warden responded, shaking his head. The boy continued to cry.

"Theatrics are not going to get you what you want Blue. If you are good today, then I will give him back to you tomorrow and that's final." The boy gave him pleading looks as hot frustrated tears continued to pour out.

"You can have your binky," and he handed it to the crying little boy who snatched it angrily. There was a knock on the door as it opened and a familiar guard named Leroy came in.

"Take him to his cell, no stops for any reason. And make sure you lock it when you go."

The boy gave the warden another pathetic look and cried softly as the big black guard led him away.

The warden nearly collapsed onto his chair. He reached for his keyring and unlocked a cupboard behind his desk and removed a bottle of scotch and glass. He poured himself two fingers and sighed, letting the warm alcohol surge through him as he took a moment.

Then he leaned down and examined the trike. How did he get a tricycle and why on earth would he cover it in license plates? Further examination of the thing revealed something even more surprising; it appeared to actually be made of license plates. What the hell? And how the devil did he get into the license division anyway?

Then there was the fact that this thing could apparently blow a hole in a wall. That was more than just astonishing; it was a possible major security breach. This situation had been contained by the quick thinking of several guards - those prisoners stupid enough to see this as a potential for escape had been quickly rounded up and would be spending a lot of time in solitary. But the boy was just a child who wanted to play outside and he was capable of building something like this?

Wow.

This toy was impressive and the warden felt oddly proud. He knew his boy was smart, but this was beyond even gifted.

His thoughts were interrupted by a thumping noise coming from the drawer. He tried to ignore it but it increased until he couldn't stand it anymore. With a frustrated sigh he opened the desk drawer and the fish stared up at him angrily.

"Giving me a migraine is not going to get me to give you back to him any sooner," the warden said harshly and moved to shut the drawer again.

"You're a bad man!"

He looked down at the fish in wide-eyed disbelief. There was no way the fish just talked. He looked at it for a moment then started to close the drawer as he watched the fish closely.

"You heard me," it said angrily.

He blinked three times and stared, then slammed the drawer shut. There was no way. No way this was happening to him. How much did he have to drink? The boy would sometimes tell him things that minion had said, but he assumed it was an imaginary friend situation.

"He's sad and he needs me," a pathetic voice called from inside the drawer and the thumping resumed.

Yes, this was really happening.

He opened the drawer, picked up the ball, and brought the creature to eye level to give it a wary look.

"The boy needs to learn the meaning of the word no," the warden explained cautiously.

"He knows it! You don't have to be so mean!" the little fish whined.

"Excuse me?"

"You made him cry and now he's all alone!" The fish began swimming in agitated circles

"He will survive one night without you," the warden replied caustically. Apparently the boy wasn't the only one who needed to learn how to self-soothe.

"He never has before! " The fish almost looked like it was going to cry. "I promised his parents I would look after him." It was actually shaking.

"And how exactly do you do that from inside a ball?" the warden replied in exasperation.

The alien fish glared at him. The warden sighed. He did not have time for this.

"If he is very good and if you are very quiet, then I will bring you to him, deal?" he offered.

The little fish fluttered with happy excitement. "Deal." The warden resisted the urge to shake hands with the ball. Instead he placed the fish back in his desk. Then he took a moment and finished his scotch.

Once the delightful burn of the alcohol receded, he picked up the phone and called his head of security.

"Walt, can you pull security footage from the license division for the last week? Yes, all of it. I want it in my office for review." There was a pause as he waited for a response. "As soon as you can get it upstairs. I want to look at it this afternoon."

~~~~~~~~M~~~~~~~

As usual he was the last one to leave the administrative area of the prison, and he hit the lights and walked down to cell block A. He held the Minion fish in his arms but the creature was covered but his suit coat. It only took a moment to reach his destination, a little cell off to the corner closest to the admin offices.

The little blue boy was lying on the floor, coloring with thick crayons that he could barely grip in his tiny hands. He was sucking furiously on his binky as it glowed.

The warden used his keys to open the cell and the boy looked up guiltily as he walked in. The warden set his package on the floor at the end of the bed and sat down.

"The guards tell me you've been a good boy all afternoon," he said.

The boy sat up and looked nervous, the binky still in his mouth.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" the warden prompted sternly.

"I'm sorry," he whispered around the binky.

"Ok. That's a good boy." The warden loosened his tie and slid it over his head. "Come here."

The boy moved quickly over to him and wrapped his little arms around the warden's leg. The warden let him cling for a moment, and then pulled the child up into his lap, where the boy instantly curled up against his left shoulder. He gave the boy a hug for a quiet moment as the toddler sucked his binky. The boy seemed exhausted and relished the physical contact just like he had as an infant. Then the warden asked the question that had been bothering him all afternoon.

"Who taught you how to use the blowtorch? That's the only part I can't figure out."

"Nobody." The child looked up at him confused.

"How did you know how to use it?" the warden rephrased.

"I just did it." The boy replied and the warden stared at the boy for a long moment.

Well didn't that just beat all. Smart enough to build a working machine out of scrap metal at age two. Most human children didn't even know their ABC's at that age. He felt that burst of pride again, followed by a determination to prevent this type of thing from happening in the future.

"How about I get you some science books?" the warden offered.

"What are those?" the boy cocked his head quizzically.

"Books about how things work, like the trike".

The boy's face lit up.

"They will be for reading, not so you can build things out of license plates. Do you understand?" he said sternly.

The boy nodded.

"Next time you want to build something, come let me know what it is and I will get you the right materials. And for god's sake, don't you ever touch that blowtorch again without an adult. It's dangerous. Do I make myself clear?"

The boy nodded and the warden squeezed him tighter. The boy made a happy sound and snuggled him back, then let out a big yawn. Usually when the warden came down in the evening it would take hours of playing with trucks or dinosaurs before the boy would be this tired.

But the warden sensed that an early night might be in order after the tumultuous events of the day. He got the boy changed and in his tiny pajamas. He let him pick out a picture book and settled the weary toddler in his lap.

Then the warden read the book aloud as the boy happily sucked on his binky and leaned his head into the man's chest. The warden thought maybe next time he would experiment with teaching the boy to read it to him, the boy was clearly smart enough. But tonight the child was exhausted. He had clearly had a long day. When the story was over he closed the book and looked down.

The boy looked so sleepy and he had been so good. The warden picked him up off his lap and put him into bed. There he smoothed Blue's oversized forehead as he pulled the covers over the sleepy toddler.

Finally he curled a slightly faded green blanket around the child's shoulder and the boy immediately grabbed it in his fist.

"I have something for you," the warden said softly.

The boy's eyes opened fully. The warden picked up the jacket from the floor and removed the fish ball from it. The boy's face lit up.

"Minion!" Blue shrieked and wrapped his arms around the fish, clinging to it for dear life.

"Oh Sir!" The fish seemed to squeal with happiness.

"Now you two boys get some sleep." The warden kissed the boy on the forehead and patted the fish awkwardly on his sphere.

He picked up his coat and left the cell, locking it behind him as he went. He hit the bank of light switches next to this particular area and it became dark. He stood still for a moment and breathed a sigh of relief. It had been a long day. And in the quiet darkness he could hear two very small voices.

"It's okay Sir, I'm here now."

"I missed you so much Minion. Don't ever go away again."

"Never."

Then a quiet moment.

"I told him I can talk. And he didn't try to eat me."

"I told you it would be fine Minion. He's a good warden. He takes good care of me."

And the warden smiled to himself as he walked away.