A/N I finally decided to write a story on Thrax's childhood. I'll also continue through "Almira's Story", showing his POV on meeting Almira. I don't own Thrax; he belongs to Warner Bros. I DO own his surname, his family, and other characters you don't recognize fromOsmosis Jones.

DNAngelFangirl: We all love the d'aw moments :D Thanks :)

Princess LaLaBlue: I didn't say in the last chapter, but the name "Big Brother Thrax" foreshadows a different kind of "Big_Thrax" nickname ;) An yeah, it is cute :D

Chapter 4

It was a couple of months later that Thrax's life changed drastically. It was a normal day at the start; Thrax woke up—by his alarm clock, and not Amelia's crying—he had breakfast, got prepared for school, and spent the next five minutes playing with his little sister before running to make the school bus.

At school, they had been learning more about different viruses, as well as cells of the body, like blood cells and brain cells. There were plenty in the rat, but in school, they were able to really learn about them. Plus they were learning to use their powers. Thrax was learning to use his burner claw, making it glow orange and burn objects with just a touch. Ed used his claws to absorb liquid, as Ebola caused a dry hacking cough. Their new friend, Riley, used her claws to shoot small blue bolts of lighting to paralyze nerves, as part of the Rabies symptoms.

Speaking of Riley, the boys found out that she wasn't as shy as she seemed; only when she transferred to their school after her family moved into the rat. She was actually quite friendly. Sometimes she was a little too friendly. She seemed to have a crush on Thrax, following him around. He didn't really mind; true to Ed's gibe, he was starting to be interested in girls. As soon as he found out his son was starting to notice girls, Joseph had given him the "father-son talk", which was very awkward to the nearly-teenaged virus, and had given him a new perspective on girls.

At school, it was very normal. Aside from the learning, Herman still taunted him; Riley still followed him around with Bambi eyes, as well as a few other girls, much to the young Rabies virus' irritation. However, it was an hour before school ended when Thrax's life had truly changed.

On their way to a classroom, Thrax, Ed and Riley were approached by the principal's secretary. "Mr. Muerja, the principal wants to see you."

"Aw, spit, what'd I do now?" Thrax groaned.

"You're not in trouble; it's something else." She left before he could ask though.

"That was strange." Ed remarked. "If you aren't in trouble, why do you need to go to the principal's office?"

"I hope it isn't anything bad." Riley said nervously.

"You guys go on ahead," Thrax said, turning in the direction of the principal's office. "I'll catch up." At his friends' nods, he made his way to the familiar office.

"Well, good afternoon, Mr. Muerja." The principal, a Salmonella virus, said. "Before you ask, you aren't in trouble."

"Then why am I here? Not that I like it here, y'know."

Ignoring the virus' smart-aleck remark, the principal answered, "It's your mother. She called us and asked that we send you home."

Thrax's face paled; the only reason his mother would call him out of school was if it was extremely serious. "What's wrong?"

"She wouldn't say. She just wants you home. You're excused to go home for the day. I'll tell your teachers for your remaining classes why you're absent."

Nodding silently, Thrax stepped out of the principal's office. He smacked into a light purple mass. "Riley?" He said, baffled, rubbing his forehead where hers had hit him. "Ed? What're you guys doin' here?"

"We wanted to see why you were sent to the principal's office."

"She wanted to," Ed spoke up. "I wanted to get to my class."

Riley sent a poisonous glare at the young Ebola virus. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know." Thrax shook his head, brushing his dreadlocks back. "He said Mom called an' wanted me home. I hope it ain't serious." Leaving it at that, he brushed past his friends and hurried out of the school, deaf to his friends' protests.

The walk home was a long one; all the while, Thrax had a nervous feeling in his stomach. He didn't know if it was him wondering what's wrong, or if it was the nagging feeling that something was wrong. Was Amelia sick? No, that wasn't a serious enough reason to pull him out of school. Something awful had to have happened. But what?

He soon made it home. Taking a deep breath, Thrax stepped inside. He was greeted with a startling scene: Amelia was nowhere in sight—probably asleep in her room—but his mom was sitting on the couch, crying into her claws.

Dropping his book bag, Thrax hurried to Elaine, growing more worried. "Mom? What's wrong? Why're you cryin'?"

Elaine looked at her son with red-rimmed eyes. "Oh, Thrax," She muttered, rubbing the tears from her face. "It…it's your father…"

Thrax gulped; it sounded serious. "What about Dad? Has something happened?"

Joseph surprisingly had a job with the Immunity of the rat. His job was to kill the few germs the small and sorry Immunity caught. He did his job well, but no one there liked him because of his status as a virus. Joseph never started trouble because as much as the job and its employees sucked, it paid a decent amount of money.

Tears continued to fall down Elaine's face. "Thrax, sweetie," She barely bit back a sob. "Your father…he…he's dead."

Thrax felt his heart stop. His face fell, and his eyes widened. "No." He muttered, shaking his head in denial. "It's a lie!" Tears began to grow and fall from his eyes. "He…he ain't dead! It's a lie!"

Elaine grabbed him in a hug, crying heavily again. Thrax hugged her back, not caring that he was bawling like a baby. His father, his role model, was gone; gone forever.

Elaine never told Thrax what had happened to Joseph, and Thrax never wanted to ask. The last thing he needed and wanted to hear was how his father had been killed. Little Amelia didn't really know what was going on; she didn't comprehend that her father was gone and was never coming back. She knew he wasn't coming back; she just didn't know the reason why. She cried for her father until her mother or big brother calmed her to sleep. She soon accepted that her father was gone and was never coming back.

It was easy for the baby; for Thrax, it had been much harder. He ignored his friends' attempts at comforting him and telling him that they were sorry about his father. For weeks, he was a depressed mess. After some time, he slowly turned back to normal. He was still saddened by his father's death, but he didn't let it take over him. And he vowed that he would never accept anyone else as his father.

He had made this vow after Elaine had met and married Hamilton.

A/N Hopefully the chapters will get longer later.

Thrax's virus powers (that sounds kinda epic XD) are easy; they're shown in the movie. When I made Riley, I researched rabies symptoms for her powers. Rabies causes paralysis; especially in the jaws, making the infected specimen drool, thus creating the rabies' most famous symptom: foaming at the mouth. So I had her shoot electricity from her claw.

Ebola was a bit more difficult. But since a symptom of Ebola is a dry hacking cough, it seems logical for Ed to absorb liquids, drying out the throat, thus creating the cough. I seem to use claws quite a bit; I guess I like claws ^_^

Remember in the Enemy is Alive and Well when Thrax said his mother only told him that his father had died, but not HOW he died? Truth be told, I couldn't think of a way for him to die ^^; So I just used my imagination for that. When writing this story, I came up with a possible cause to his death. His job and how his employees are towards him provide a clue ;)

Who's Hamilton? You can either guess or find out later ;)