Rating: K+

Words: 818

Author's Note: I changed ideas for this prompt so many times before settling on this idea. Not much has been said about Casey's family, so I wanted to try to write about them. For this story, I used 'Shadow' as the name of Casey's sister. If this turns out to not be canon later, I apologize. Enjoy!

Dark

All the lights in the apartment were extinguished, indicating that everyone within was asleep. Casey breathed a little easier as he scaled the fire escape to the third floor landing, directly outside of his bedroom window. Careful not to make any noise, he slid up the pane as high as it would go and slipped inside.

Casey had been careful to keep his window unlocked so that he could have an easy entrance when he got back from busting up Purple Dragon scum. Dragging his feet slightly, he set his golf bag with his bats and hockey sticks onto the floor by his bed. He threw his gloves haphazardly into his closet and started pulling off his shoes.

Suddenly the room was bathed in light with the click of the lamp switch. His head snapped up and in the direction of the lamp and his blood froze in his veins as the sight of his dad leaning against the closed door, dressed in a torn t-shirt and boxer shorts. There were heavy bags under his eyes as he glared darkly at his son.

"Where the hell have you been?" Pop growled irritably. Casey's mind raced frantically for a good excuse. At a loss for anything believable, he said the first thing that popped into his head.

"At April's. She's been tutoring me in trig, Pop."

"Is that so?" he countered, casting a meaningful glance at the alarm clock that read 3:37 a.m. Well, Casey was invested in the lie now, no matter how stupid it was.

"Yeah… We lost track of time."

"Then what's with the mask?"

Casey reached up to the top of his head, feeling the slick plastic mask under his fingertips. Busted.

"You've been doing it again." Pop accused hotly, gritting his teeth.

"Doing what?"

The innocent act wouldn't have convinced a toddler, and Casey knew that he definitely hadn't fooled his old man.

"That vigilante crap," Pop said, pressing his hands against his temples in exasperation, "I told you a hundred times already, you're gonna get yourself killed doing that. Either that, or they'll throw you in the slammer and I don't have enough to put up bail for you."

Defensive anger rose and tightened his chest indignantly. Casey Jones could take care of himself.

"You don't understand, Pop! I'm trying to make the streets safer for kids like Shadow. I'm just trying to make New York a better place for her to live!"

"And you getting shot by one of those thugs is going to make the city safer?" Pop asked, devastation etching even deeper lines on his round face, "What'll happen to your sister if you were killed by one of those thugs? What'll happen to me? I can't lose you too… "

The indignation disappeared just as quickly as it had come. He was thinking about Ma…

"Nothin's gonna happen. I'm always careful." Casey assured quietly, as much to convince himself as well as his dad. There were always a lot of things that could go wrong. He knew that about as well as anyone. But he was confident that he could overcome whatever the Dragons could throw his way.

Pop mopped at his red rimmed eyes, fighting off his obvious distress. It hurt to see his dad vulnerable like this, and it was worse because he had caused it. Casey walked up to him and looked him full in the face. He wanted to make him understand, though he was sure that his dad would always be against his vendetta.

"You gotta trust me, Pop. I don't want what happened to Ma to happen to anyone else. That's why I'm fighting back against the scum that's swarming the city. Maybe I can make a difference."

For a long time, Pop just stared at him with concern brimming in his eyes. Then, he threw his arms around Casey and squeezed him tightly in a bear hug. The teenager stiffened against the sudden embrace, but reached around his dad's large frame to return the hug. Pop's voice was strained when he spoke over the top of Casey's head.

"Okay, son. I can't stop you, and even if I tried, you'd find a way to do it anyway. "

"Yeah…"

"Let me finish," Pop interrupted quickly, "You got your Ma's spirit, so if this is what you gotta do… Just be careful. Okay?"

Casey nodded, his bandana slipping up his forehead as he pressed further into his dad's chest. His dad was always such a pillar of strength in his life, so it was strange to hear him so scared and uncertain. All Casey wanted was a world where his family could be safe and happy, and if he needed to put himself in danger to do it, he would.

"Sure, Pop," he promised, though he knew that it was an empty promise. He would try, at least. Casey could do that much.