"And Vhy am I getting wrapped into zis?"

Disco and Kaiser were sitting down at one of the tables in the WVBA's Cafeteria. It was very much bustling today, plenty of people sat around, munching away at food. Disco usually never sat next to Kaiser, unless he REALLY needed something from him, which just happened to be the case here. "Because I need your help..." Disco admitted, "This whole thing is crazy I know, b-but there is so much more I NEED to know...and knowing I have a brother out there-", "As opposed to zhe many you have here?" Kaiser asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Disco gave him a disapproving look in response. "That's not the same, and you know it"

"Don't you zhink you might be in over your head? I mean, come on! Vhat else could you gain from knowing zhis and ruining your relationship vith your family?" Kaiser asked in a serious tone, his brows furrowed into a glare. Disco shook his head, "You know what? Fuck it, forget I asked" he said, grabbing his bag and getting up from the table, "I'll go find him myself"

Kaiser scoffed. Watching a 20 year old get huffy because someone told him 'No'. Pathetic....but then again, Lansing is big, and Michigan is bigger, and to be fair Disco wasn't always the sharpest knife in the box, even on his best days. Plus, he didn't have anything better to do...

"...scheiß willen" Kaiser grumbled. Against his better judgement he shot up from the table and grabbed his own bag. Disco look at him with confused eyes. "Listen, if you really expect to find him all on your own zhen...vell..." Kaiser went to say something smart, but got lost, eventually shaking his head in annoyance, "...Point is, I'm coming vith you" he finally got out. "Aww...really?" Disco asked, a smile appearing on his face.

"Uh, Ja? Besides if you are going to act like a baby zhen you are clearly not in any condition to go by yourself"

"Uh...yeah I guess, heh...whoops"

Kaiser gave a small smirk before he dragged Disco Kid along to the Cafeteria doors. "If ve are going to do zhis, ve must not let anyvone know. Got it?" He explained, Disco chuckled, "Well Obviously I ain't gonna let them kno-", "Good...ok...Now zhe problem comes vith trying to locate zhe boy..." Kaiser interjected.

"Well we could just ask someone here," Disco suggested, "Ah yes, and who exactly vould you ask?" Kaiser asked. Disco went to speak but held his tongue at the realisation. "Exactly" Kaiser said bluntly.

"Exactly what?"

Both men turned to see Hondo making their way towards them. "HONDO! I...i-it's um..." Kaiser fumbled with an answer before Disco pushed past and leaned in closer to Hondo, "We're trying to figure out if anyone would know where Kid Quick lived in Michigan" he whispered. Hondo cocked an eyebrow in confusion, he figured this sort of behaviour from Disco...but Kaiser?? What would he want with Quickie's address? "May I ask, why?" Hondo asked. Both Kaiser and Disco shared a look between each other before Disco gave a shrug. Kaiser sighed. Disco motioned for Hondo to lean in closer. Hondo did so and stood cold faced as Disco whispered into his ear.

"NANI!?" He exclaimed, catching the attention of the people passing by. Disco motioned for him to shush. Hondo gave an embarrassed chuckle, and waved the curious eyes away as he began to whisper to the pair. "You are his son?" he asked. Disco nodded.

Hondo looked at Kaiser, "And this is true?" he asked. Kaiser also nodded. Hondo grabbed his head and looked at the floor. "Bikkuri..." he mumbled to himself, before looking up at the two again. "So what are you going to do about this?" he asked, Disco leaned in close, "Well we can't do much about dad but I'm hoping by going to Michigan we might find my brother there and I can catch up on everything that I missed out on...bring him back here...where he needs to be", "Well that is honourable but...where will you go? Michigan is a very big place...and all those lakes..." Hondo stated, trailing off as he pondered about the many lakes in Michigan. Kaiser glanced at Disco. "So...vhat's your plan?" he asked bluntly.

Disco bit his lip. He looked around before he heard the hearty laughter of Bear Hugger just behind him. The large man was guffawing at the acts of Great Tiger, who was currently shape shifting and doing impressions of his colleagues, shifting back and forth between Aran and Don, while Don Flamenco himself was stifling laughter and anger at the mockery he saw of himself from the magic man. Disco continued to stare at the trio for a while before his eyes lit up with an idea.

Gesturing for Hondo and Kaiser to come in close, he whispered an idea to the two. Both shot up from the huddle with confusion on their faces, Hondo's face soon twisted to show a look of concern. "We can't do that!" Hondo whisper-yelled, "We can't ask him to do that, I CAN'T ASK HIM TO DO THAT! That's too much! He wouldn't handle it-", "He's gonna be more compliant with us than the rest" Disco explained, "I mean, Joe and Bull would fly off the handle if I even asked, Soda would clam up and Tiger didn't even know Quickie that well besides that one moment, Hugger is the ONLY guy who will talk to us about it"

"He'll clam up too...he isn't as invulnerable or 'compliant' as you may think" Hondo said, using his fingers as quotation marks. Kaiser groaned, "Vell, he doesn't have to do anything besides helping us get an address, once zhat's done, zhat's done" he stomped his way over to the trio, "Come on, let's go."

The two men followed Kaiser as he approached the trio. "So can you do me nex- WH-HEY!" Hugger exclaimed as he felt himself being dragged off by Kaiser, "Get over here now" he grumbled. "OY, CABRON! He was still talking to us!" Don yelled, Disco and Hondo quickly followed and gave a forced smile to the two, "Sorry, we're only gonna borrow him for a minute!" Hondo said, apologetically, "Just a second, really, really sorry," Disco added, both men hastily following the older two as Kaiser dragged Hugger to the locker rooms. Don and Tiger shared a look of confusion as they watched their friend be dragged off.

Kaiser shoved the larger man gently into the centre of the locker room, waiting for Disco and Hondo to join him. Both men quickly checked around to see no one else was in here with them. Last thing they wanted was to send folks into another tizzy. There have been far too many of those lately. Once they were all clear, Kaiser quickly locked the door. "Ok, what's the deal, ya hosers? I was in the middle of a conversation already, eh?" Hugger asked, rubbing his arm from where Kaiser grabbed him. Kaiser went to speak, but Disco hastily pushed in front to talk. This was his problem after all. Why should he make others do his work?

He cleared his throat and gave a nervous smile to his friend, "Trust me, Hugger, this will only take a second, ok?", "What do you need, kid? And how come ya stormed off yesterday? Hugger asked.

"Well...truth be told I've found out something...alarming about Jordan..." Disco said calmly. The older man felt his heart drop a bit at that. "Go on?" Hugger said. Disco took a deep breath and sigh, turning to look at Kaiser and Hondo, the former of which gave him a stern nod.

"Jordan...is..." Disco started, nervously wringing his fingers in front of him, "...he's my dad! My blood dad! He and mom dated for ages but then they broke up once they had Dean! And Mom was heartbroken about it for years, and even more so when he died! And I don't know WHY she kept it a secret from me but she did! And now I need your help to find my brother so you need to tell me where he lives, PLEASE!" Disco yelled, panting as he finished his rant.

Hugger only stared in shock. "You...you're his kid?" he asked, quietly. Disco bit his lip and nodded. Hugger began to feel light headed and soon he began to stumble from the shock. Hondo rushed to his side and helped him to stand, giving him his shoulder to lean himself against. Naturally of course Hondo struggled to keep him up, after all he was holding 440lbs on his shoulder.

The older man sniffled and held his mouth in his hand. "This is..." he started, his voice quiet, and weak, "How...How long have you known?", "Just found out last night...I'm still shaken by it too," Disco explained. Hugger wiped at his eyes and took a deep breath, "...I can't...this...this whole thing..." he stumbled on his words a bit, "...I can't believe we didn't know...we never checked, we never asked, I-I-I should've-", "My friend, it doesn't matter what you should've done or known..." Hondo said, "What matters is what we do now"

"And vhat ve need to do is figure out vhere Jordan lived, so ve can go und find Dean," Kaiser stated firmly.

"And bring him home" Disco chimed in.

Hugger sighed, "I...failed him...the night Jordan died...I could've stopped it..." he straightened himself up and shook his head to clear it, "I'm not gonna do it again...I don't know where he lived EXACTLY, but I know how you can find out." With that, he made his way to a nearby set of lockers and reached underneath his beanie on his head. He pulled out his squirrel, Chip, who was squirming a wee bit in his grasp before relaxing as he was set on top of the lockers and in front of a loose vent. "You know where to go?" Hugger asked. Chip gave a squeak and nod in response. Chip lifted the vent gate up and slipped into it, his little feet pitter pattered along its metal surface and slowly faded away. "Uhh...How is zhis-" Kaiser started before he was shushed by Hugger's hand. Silence lingered for a minute before the pitter pattering grew louder.

Happy squeaks came into earshot as Chip pushed his way out of the vent, with a folder full of several papers in his mouth. Hugger gently grabbed him down and placed a small kiss on his head, "Good job, bud" he said. He opened the folder and flicked through the papers. Disco could see a small blue sticker on the folder's tab that read: "Kid Quick"

This was his information from the archives.

"Wh-I...isn't that illegal?" Disco asked, Hugger chuckled, "Only if they catch ya", "You're a fiend" Hondo said, astonished at his, supposedly peaceful, friend's actions.

"Aha!" Hugger cried happily, pulling out a sheet of paper with several words printed on it. "Here we are, He lived on Algonquin Way, Okemos...aw Confound It!" he said, angrily.

"Vas wrong?" Kaiser asked, Hugger showed him the sheet of paper in his hand, "The number of the house is all blurred"

Disco took the paper from Hugger's hand and looked over the information on it. He groaned in annoyance at the lack of a house number. "Well..." he said, "...this is better than nothing...in fact it's perfect" Disco's lipped turned up into a smile, he looked up at the older man and wrapped his arms around him in a hug. "Thank you so much, Hugs," he said, happily, "I promise I'll bring him back, safe and sound...you can count on it", "I trust ya will, kid" Hugger replied, hugging back.

The three soon gave their thanks, unlocked the door and said their farewells as they walked out, leaving Hugger alone. The man was left pondering the situation. His friend's son, who he didn't know even WAS his son, was one of his closest friends. So much he could've done. So much he could've checked. Could've known, SHOULD'VE KNOWN...but he never did...all because he was caught up in his OWN grief...no...not again.

A chitter and squeak was heard in his right ear. Hugger turned his head and smiled as Chip had reappeared and given a nod and happy chitter. Hugger chuckled back, "Alright then...High time I stopped wallowing in pity anyhow...time to get to work" he said, assuredly.

The trio were only a bit away from the Locker room doors, they were conversing amongst themselves about their plan of action. "So, ve get snacks, fuel, zhen ve go to Lansing?" Kaiser asked, Hondo shook his head, "Well we might need more than just that" he said. "Yeah" Disco, "Some general directions and MAYBE some muscle...if we need it?"

"Why would we need muscle?"

"Well...um...in case we need to break down a door?"

"...Well you have me sold"

Just then, a slam of the Locker room door and thundering footsteps came behind them, "HEY FELLAS!" Hugger cried as he approached them. He slowed down once he got closer, slightly panting. "Ya...ya think you lot got any room for one more on yer little...heh...trip?" he asked. The three all gave him a shocked look, "You want to come?" Disco asked, Hugger nodded. "I'm not gonna sit around anymore...I want to help...however I can, eh?" he said.

Disco smiled and began to jump giddily at the notion, "OH YES OF COURSE!" he said happily, jumping onto Hugger and locking in another hug. Hugger immediately hugged back. Hondo smiled and pat his friend on the shoulder, "Well done my friend, we're happy to have you" he said. "Vell, ve have your muscle zhen," Kaiser joked, "Are ve finally ready to go?", "We sure are, let's get going" Disco chimed as he left the hug and marched towards the door proudly. The other three stood and watched him go.

"Ahem?" Kaiser said, clearing his throat.

Disco whirled around, "Hmm? Yes?"

"Ve might need some clozhes...and bags?"

"....Oh....right....heh"

-------------------

"So, how come you want to know about Jordan?" Quincy asked, placing a cup of tea in front of Mac. The younger boxer didn't answer immediately, he was still enamoured by the fact he was in the presence of the original Mr Sandman and Mr Macho Man. It wasn't something you just glossed over. But he had to gloss over it eventually. He had questions and if anyone had the answers it would be them. "I wanted to know his impact and significance to the WVBA," Mac stated firmly, "Doc doesn't like talking about him and neither do any of the other guys so...I really didn't know who else to turn to", "Of course, Claro que si! déjame agarrar mi libro! We LOVE talking about him, helps us to remember the good times' ' Reyes said gently, standing up to go and grab a photo album from one of the shelves.

"Back when we ruled the ring, Us 4, That is Me, Reyes, Doc and Jordan," Quincy started, "Used to go out and paint the town red!", "Si! We loved hanging out, Jordan was often the one who started the shenanigans of course," Reyes called, as he made his way back to the table, setting the book down in front of Mac and nudging close so he could see. Mac opened the book, his eyes widened with wonder and his lips turned up into a smile. "Wow!" Mac said, looking over the photos of Quincy, Reyes, Doc and Jordan together. Doc was so happy. Jordan was so full of life. He smiled. "They look so happy" Mac said quietly, "I...I kinda wish I got to be there...", "It was a magical time, being around them was like going down a rollercoaster for the first time" Quincy explained, "An absolute thrill."

Mac paid close attention to a particular photo of the 4. They were standing upright with a smile. In Jordan's arms there was a little baby. Mac smiled as he recognized who it was. "That there," Reyes said, pointing to the baby, "Is Jordan's youngest son, Dean, Bendito sea su corazón, dondequiera que esté."

"Youngest son?"

"Yeah, he had two other kids before him, but when his wife left she took the older two with her," Quincy explained, "It's sad but...that's life", "Si...Jordan was heartbroken...but he rekindled his passion in his son...somewhat anyways" Reyes said.

Well now Mac was intrigued, he eagerly wrote this information down in a small notebook and refocused his attention to the photo album. Jordan was always looking like a blur in most, possibly because of how he was moving. He noticed one picture of the entire WVBA at the time, including their 5 new Rookies. Mac laughed as he scanned his five friends in the pictures, shuddering slightly at the idea that Bald Bull, Soda Popinsky and even Bear Hugger, had hair at one point. Or that you could SEE Great Tiger's. Or even more so that Joey was a blonde.

He scanned over the photos more, one particular one was dated the day of Quickie's death. It was of Quickie standing by the ring, leaning against the ropes. Ironic how he was on them considering that was what caused his death.

"Was there...anything that happened on that...day?" Mac asked, "Anything that happened beforehand maybe?", "Hmm...there were a few things but..." Quincy started, "...I'd prefer not to say...it'd just make me upset at myself that I couldn't do anything to help"

"What do you mean?"

"Well...Jordan was a pretty scared soul. As most of us are...he did a few things that he probably wouldn't be too proud of nowadays...but that is the same with us all so it wasn't JUST him"

"But what did he do? What was he going through?"

"Like I said kid...I really don't want to say..."

Reyes pat Quincy on the shoulder gently, "There, there amigo," he said softly, "We Obviously love Jordan, but he went through a lot...lost two of his kids and soon formed an unhealthy addiction to Marijuana and-"

"WAIT HE DID MARY J!?" Mac exclaimed, "What happened to him to push him to do....that?" he asked, Reyes and Quincy didn't answer. Mac sighed, he had overstepped a bit it seemed. But he had gotten more info here than he had before. "Sorry...that was a bit much...anyways..." Mac trailed off, wanting to change the subject. Reyes cleared his throat and pointed to another picture in the book of Jordan with a very familiar looking woman. "That Woman there, was Una hechicera musical de la ciudad de los sueños," he said dreamily, "Denise her name was", "Jordan was lucky enough to snag her for himself...fucking dick" Quincy chimed in, albeit grumpily. Reyes snickered and leaned in close to Mac's ear, "He's just mad cause he wanted a chance with her and he didn't get one", "Shut it Reyes" Quincy growled. Both Reyes and Mac laughed.

"And here is- Oh!" Reyes began, stopping as he flipped through more pages annd found no pictures of Jordan. "Oh, Lo siento, I think that was all we had of Jordan", "Aw, what? But I still have so many questions" Mac whined.

Quincy scratched his chin before his eyes lit up. "¿Qué pasa?" Reyes asked, noticing his friend's eyes, "You have an idea?", "Sure do," Quincy said, getting up from the chair and making his way over to a small cupboard. He pulled open the top drawer, the items rattled around inside as Quincy searched through them. He pulled out a small notebook that was the size of the average person's hand in his own gigantic mitts. He walked over and handed the book to Mac. Mac examined the book and saw a folded down corner of a page. He opened on that page and flicked through the book to find a list of names and numbers. "These are all the contacts of our friends from the 70's" he explained, "All the old boys from the WVBA?" Mac asked, Quincy nodded.

"You just ring these numbers and ask them whatever you need, who knows? You might learn more from them than you did with us" Quincy said, smiling at the boy.

"Oh! And don't forget that there are bound to be some folks around the WVBA who might have a scoop, that commentator fella...uh...Robin? He might know something" Reyes added.

Mac smiled gratefully at the two, "Thank you guys! Thank you so much! This is really gonna help me out!", "Happy to help, hijo" Reyes said, "You better get going before Doc notices you're gone...or your teach...ers...Wait a minute..." Quincy said, trailing off when he realised that it was a school day and Mac was ditching. The boy laughed and grit his teeth as he walked out of the house, waved the two goodbye and began his long walk back to school.

"Weird kid" Reyes chuckled, Quincy shoved him with a laugh, "Like our boys aren't?"

"Fair enough"

----------------------

Dean flicked his hands around and placed two freshly made Caramel Lattés. The two customers smiled as they took their drinks and placed their money on the countertop before exiting the cafe, "Thank you very much," Dean said with a smile. He grabbed the cash and placed it into the register. He clicked it shut and leaned back with a sigh and a smile. A blissful silence had engulfed the Cafe and Dean could finally just do what he needed. Clean what he had to, tidy up his area, and then get Parker ready to see Mac at training.

It was an exciting feeling. Going to see them again. Even if it wasn't HIM doing so. He felt sort of guilty doing so but...at least he was GOING...well kind of.

It was confusing

Just then, Dean heard muffled laughter and chatter of two people outside the cafe. The voice of Glass Joe was unmistakable, though he couldn't pinpoint who the other person was. He could hear the voices growing louder. They were coming in.

In a panic, he quickly turned to grab his mask and cover his face. The sound of a cup shattering against the floor echoed through the building. Dean didn't care about that though. The bell above the door jingled and footsteps walked in. Dean quickly adjusted the mask onto his face and shot up. Joe walked in and held the door open as the hulking figure of Bald Bull pushed his way in. "I still not sure why asking Bald Bull to come here" Bull growled, "Bull don't like normal coffee, is not the same", "Now, now, mon ami, I thought after yesterday, we could go do something to help take our minds off of it, non?" Joe asked with a smile. Bull pouted, "B-but a cafe?"

"Oui! Giovanni told me to come here and check it out! Now hurry up and order something!" Joe demanded, quietly wringing through his wallet. Bull sighed as he went up to the main countertop, where a young girl stood waiting with a nervous smile. She chuckled nervously, "H-Hello there sir...wh-what can I get started for y-", "GET ME 2 CANNOLI'S" Bull's voice boomed. The girl yelped with fear before shrinking behind the counter.

Bull blinked in confusion and backed away to go to the other counter, where 'Parker' was waiting for him. Bull stared for a bit before a small smirk formed on his face, "I recognize you" he said quietly, "You're Parker! Mac's friend!", "That I am, how can I help you?" 'Parker' asked.

Bull looked at the drink list behind the tall boy and groaned, "None of these strong enough for me" he said, "I need a proper-", "Turkish Coffee?" Parker asked, sliding a cup towards Bull. A rich, dark coffee smell floated from the cup to Bull's nose. He was speechless. It smelt perfect!...too perfect. He glared at 'Parker' through slitted eyes. "How is you knowing this is what I wanted?" Bull asked, Dean felt himself sweating behind his mask, both figuratively and literally. He shouldn't have done that.

"Uh...Lucky guess?" 'Parker' lied. Bull glared before shrugging and drinking the coffee. It was perfect. He sighed in content as he continued to sip. Joe soon accompanied him. "Oh Bonjour, Parker! I didn't know you worked here!" he greeted. Parker nodded, "Yes, I do, I've worked here for a while now..." he stated

"How long?"

"Oh! I guess since I was old enough to work...maybe a bit earlier."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, G always took me to make some of the pastries and pizzas when I was little...he'd let me snag a few of the toppings too"

Joe snorted before giggling into his palm, he tried to put his hand up to apologise but it wasn't any good. Dean smiled beneath his mask and chuckled too. The two soon settled down and 'Parker' cleared his throat, "...so what can I get you?" he asked

"Oh! Full Cream Mochiatto, please?" Joe asked with a smile, 'Parker' nodded and made his way over to the machine. Within 2 seconds, he had whipped up the perfect Mochiatto, with seemingly no effort at all! Impressive.

"Oh! Merci," Joe said, taking the coffee into his hands. "How much?" he asked. Dean wasn't sure why he said what he said next, but for some reason it felt right to him. "Oh don't worry! It's on the house"

Joe and Bull looked at each other with shocked eyes. "Are...are you sure?" Joe asked, The tall boy nodded. Bull seemed satisfied with that and went to sit down. Joe on the other hand did not share the same satisfaction, "Non, non, non, This will not do," his face screwed into a small frown and he yanked out his wallet from his bag, "c'est le café le plus incroyable que j'ai jamais eu, je ne paierai rien pour ça, That is simply unacceptable"

The Frenchman took out $20 from his wallet and slammed it on the countertop, "That should cover it, right?" he asked. The tall boy only stared in awe at the money. He had NEVER earned that much from making coffees in his whole life. The saddest part is that this wasn't even far from what Joey would've done for him. Joe was someone who had looked after him when neither his dad or Giovanni could. He'd give him money to spend. More than he even asked for. Of course, Joe was also stubborn as all hell. He wouldn't ever take No as an answer. Whether that was Joe sucking up to his dad or something was unknown to Dean, but he never questioned it.

Because this was that man. The man who cared for him. The man who spoiled him. Treated him like he was his own son...like so many of the others had. Memories flooded into his head and tears began to prick his eyes, he felt himself holding back a sob behind his mask. Joe's face softened and soon grew with concern. "Parker?" he asked, gently placing a hand on the taller boy's hand. Bull watched and rolled his eyes, "This what you get for being nice" he said with a smirk.

"Shut up, imbécile" Joe shot back. Bull's eyes widened with surprise at the outburst. Joe looked back towards the boy. "Are...you ok? What ever is the matter?" he asked. The boy nodded hastily and wiped at his eyes, "Y-yeah it's just..." he sniffled before resuming his talk, "...this is such a nice thing...no one's done that for me before", "You have not been paid for your efforts?" Joe asked.

"No! No! I have but...just not this much...it reminded me of an old friend I had" 'Parker' explained, "He'd always give me way more than I could ever ask and...I-I am forever grateful for that...even now"

"Well...where is he?"

"Hmm?"

"Your friend?....Where is he?"

Dean clicked his tongue and wiped his eyes again, thinking about what he was going to say next. He gave a chuckle behind his mask and smiled through his eyes. "He...isn't far I don't think...he never was" he answered quietly. Joe nodded, gently sliding the money towards the boy, "Well...take this anyways, Je pense que vous le méritez" he said, smiling back.

"Thank you" 'Parker' said happily, slowly taking the money from the countertop and flicking it into the register. The two older men sat down at a table and drank their coffees. Joe hummed contently as he drank, glancing to notice Bull glaring at Parker with suspicious eyes. "What's wrong, mon ami?" Joe asked, tapping Bull lightly on the shoulder. Bull huffed, "Is not something off about boy?" he asked. "I don't follow" Joe replied.

"He knew my coffee, and his talk about friend...not suspicious?" Bull asked again, Joe shook his head, "Non, I didn't think anything about it was suspicious..." he said, "...The only thing that was off was his eyes...his hands...", "How?" Bull asked, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.

"His hands...the back of them anyhow...felt like Jordan's"

"Joe," Bull spoke calmly "You know we aren't meant to talk about-", "You fucking asked, idiot" Joe snapped back, glaring at the younger man, "Anyways...his hands felt like Jordan's did...smooth...but tight! A-and his eyes! They looked like him! Sparkling a-and gentle it-"

"Joe!" Bull exclaimed softly. Joe held his tongue and sighed, "...I know...it's not him...I need to stop", "He's gone...we have to accept..." Bull said, holding his friend's shoulder. It was tiny in his giant hands, but he tried his best to give a reassuring touch. "...We cannot pretend like he is still here...we have to accept it...", "....I know..." Joe mumbled, "...I wanted to forget all of this...I didn't want to be back on this today..." he held his friend's hand within his own slender fingers, leaning into his touch. He felt his eyes water and he gently rubbed them against his shirt sleeve. "I just...I miss him..." he continued, "...He made me feel like I was...someone!...someTHING...he gave me more hope and love in those few years than my own parents gave me all my life...I loved him...a-and I just wish he...", "We all wish he was still here..." Bull said, gently squeezing his friend's hand, "...we all miss him..."

"I...I just want to move on..." Joe whispered, his voice sounding half choked.

As this happened, Dean was faced to the back wall of his area. His mask was pulled down and he sniffled quietly to himself, hearing them talk about his father. He remembered all the times they had been there for him when he was younger.

Of course there was the moments he spent with Joe, and how he gave him more than anyone could ask. When he had slipped and hurt his head, how Hugger would have tended to it in a heartbeat. How he played with Bull and Soda, running around and chasing him through the halls. Even vague moments where Tiger was there doing magic for him. The most prominent moment though? With Doc. Talking to his uncle about his dreams, his aspirations, doing 'training' with the big guys and knocking them down with little ease. Yes it was pretend but it was the memories that counted. The moments spent with those he knew, treated like family. They were long gone now to him.

They were distant now, and he had to move forward...like so many others had to...except they hadn't. He hadn't moved on. They hadn't moved on. They were still caught up in 10 years of pain. He knew they were hurting, yet he hid behind a facade and acted like he didn't know. Like everything was alright...but it was his dad! He had the right to do this, he had the right to say it was ok...it was them who hadn't moved on...it wasn't him...it wasn't...it was all them...it was....it...

...he didn't remember what it was anymore...all he knew now was what wasn't.

And what wasn't was the moments spent as a happy child...before that night.

He sighed and wiped at his eyes, his back still turned to the duo. It wasn't ok...he was suffering...and it wasn't ok...

...but it would be...it would be...eventually anyways. He shook off his tears and pulled his mask back over his mouth. He quickly readjusted a few things before dashing off to get changed. He had a big day ahead of him.