I gave him a mere nod, smiling and taking his hand that he'd slowly moved out of the bed. The dull blue gaze brightened. "Yes," I assured. "I'm Sullivan Sense." Alder wriggled out more from under the covers so he could see me properly. I saw his face for the first time since he left during the holidays. Belt scars raked the right side of his face and I gagged, turning away.

"S-Sully..." Alder's voice was weak. "Don't.... leave...."

"I'm not leaving," I said assuredly. "You just.... surprised me." Alder's gaze flickered. I looked back at him. I gingerly brushed my hand down his face's right side, stopping when I felt Alder stiffen. I removed my hand and looked at him.

His gaze looked haunted.

"Oh God..." I whispered. "Oh God..." I just stared at him in shock. Alder turned away, looking defeated and sad.

"You... d-don't have t-to-" Alder began coughing. My gaze ripped itself away from where it was, looking at the wet patches on Alder's shirt, and settled on him. His cough sounded raw and hard, and... I wished I was dreaming it... was expelling blood.

"Alder? Are you okay?!" I asked but it was futile. I knew he couldn't answer me. The coughing fit stopped after a while but I wasn't worried about that. The blood by Alder's mouth was worrying me. What had his father done to do THAT? Alder was shaking as he looked back up at me. "What kind of father does THIS?" I asked no one in particular, now on the verge of a rage. "To their own SON?" Alder flinched, clearly sensing my approaching storm.

"My sorry excuse for one," he said quietly. "Sully.... I told you he was gon-" He started coughing again, this time more violent.

"And did NO ONE take care of you?" I asked, now basically shouting. Alder flinched through the coughing fit and wriggled deeper into his covers. "WHO in their RIGHT EFFING MIND does this to A EFFING CHILD?! Their OWN EFFING CHILD? HOW EFFED UP DO YOU HAVE TO BE TO EFFING COME CLOSE TO MURDERING YOUR OWN DAMN EFFING CHILD?!" I was in full on rage mode now. It was a part of me no one had ever seen. I paced around the room Hulk-like, breathing heavily. In Sullivan Rage Mode, I'd get so angry I didn't even care if I swore. Alder was whimpering, but not too much as if he knew this would set me off like this. He was completely submerged in the covers. "I need a moment," I said and walked out of the room for a few minutes, trying to calm down. I heard that Alder had stopping whimpering and had gone very quiet.

A while later, I re-entered the room. Alder's expression was unreadable. I couldn't tell if he was scared, shocked, in disbelief or all three. He didn't say anything as I sat back down on the chair. "I might've forgotten to tell you about.... that side of me." He still didn't answer. I didn't know what to feel, he was scaring me. One thing, he didn't shy away from where my hand was. He was probably in shock. He just looked at me, still silent. "Alder...?"

"Sully..." he managed out eventually. "Did... how.... what, was that?"

"I don't know," I admitted, now looking away. "I don't know what it was either..."