7:27pm

Trigger warning: small mention of suicidal thoughts

I'm going, going, going, going.....! Gone

Au
—

"We want this one"

Patton blinked and looked up when he was scooped up from the floor by a carer, staring at the couple who stood in front of him with wide smiles and adoration in their eyes. A smile grew on Patton's face, giggles escaping his mouth while making grabby hands in their direction. They cooed and fawned over him, taking him from the carer's arms and out of the room he stayed in with a bunch of other toddlers and older children.

And they were his parents.

Every human starts with 'points', these points turn into 'parent points' as soon as they turn eighteen, depending on what they do in life and how they act the points will go up or down - as soon as they hit one thousand parent points they can purchase a child if they wish but in this day and age the 'parent points' are more of a symbol to show if someone is a 'respectful' or not. Caring for a child and raising them properly cannot be done by just anyone, which is why anyone under one thousand points cannot care for one.

The adults with the higher points can purchase children with higher points, the children with higher points are much 'better' - at least, that what society deems them as. They're smarter, more creative, don't fuss, don't throw tantrums, they're angels, the 'perfect child'. They're raised to be that way, batches of children are raised from when they are babies, the ones who act out are put into different facilities, not as great facilities, they're given less money for the children who are worth less.

In that facility many kids still garner a lot of points, but the ones at the bottom of the line, for instance, one hundred point children and lower are put into a separate facility, ones that are rarely visited, with limited staff, not enough food, water, toys - not enough anything to raise a child properly. Those children are damaged, broken and usually are never purchased by anyone - most age out, some die - decades ago they used to be purchased just to be used to help work but that was shut down once people started to riot.

But those people wouldn't purchase them. They want people to be treated equally, no matter the age, yet the points still dictate their choices - and they still go for the thousand children and up.

A couple with a lower-point child are shunned, receive stares, are ignored, stayed away from.

If an adult purchases a low-point child they doom their life to become an outcast which is why low-point children are left in their facility, to wonder why they're not good enough, to wonder if life is worth it at all.

However, for the first time in years, a low point child was finally purchased. In fact three of them were.

Remember Patton? Well he was an extremely high-point child, reaching into the one hundred thousand points. By the time he was eighteen he was close to a million due to how well he was raised by his parents. They taught him in the best schools, gave him opportunities not many people can have, raised him lovingly like any parent should - Patton truly did love them but he didn't love their views on low-point children.

Only a few people in his life saw him as kind for the way he talks about low-point children, his friend Thomas for instance is very much like him in that aspect and said as soon as he was married he would purchase a low-point child, but a lot of people who were once his friends are very opposed to the idea.

Let's just say Patton rid of them from his life pretty quickly.

He didn't care what his parents said, didn't care what his ex-friends said, he knew high-point children would be purchased so didn't feel bad at all from driving past their facility, or the middle facility either. There were usually three to four facilities to a town/city.

It took longer to find the last facility, the smaller building, more run down and hidden by trees. The parking lot was empty bar five cars sitting in the 'staff' area. He parked his car and looked up at the tall, dark building. It was painted an off white but looked more grey than anything, a few windows were boarded up, others rimmed with a yellow-ish stain. Patton frowned at the up-keep of this place, or lack of.

Stepping out his car, he locked it and walked up to the doors, running a hand through his hair quickly before opening them up.

Inside didn't look much better, the wooden floors were old and stained, the walls covered in old graffiti from past children, never covered up or painted over, just left as distant echoes of the past. Patton walked up to see what one said.

'i want a home'

He frowned, a shudder running down his spine. Parting from the wall he walked over to the reception, a small empty room littered with paper, pens and other office-supplies. It was empty of life, the window separating him from inside cracked in multiple spots.

The whole building was eerily silent and he wondered where everyone could be...until he heard a scream from upstairs. In fright he leaped back, grabbing onto a seat pressed to the wall, yelping when it broke under his weight. Now, Patton knew he didn't weigh enough to break a chair by just falling onto it, but after seeing it's condition he could see why it broke. Standing up he dusted himself off, worry over taking his fear in case one of the children were hurt, so he rushed further into the building, following the yells and screeches until he reached a room upstairs, the door was open, revealing three kids. Two were sitting against the furthest wall, one was yelling at a carer as another held him back.

"Hello?" He called and everyone in the room turned to face him which made an uneasy feeling away through him.

The three children looked confused, the one throwing a tantrum slowly calming down.

"Sir? What-sorry" a carer rushed out the room, closing it behind her and straightening out her skirt. "Are you lost?"

Patton slowly shook his head, he could see her points - nine hundred.

And he thought only one thousand and up point adults could care for children.

Anyone could see anyone's points by just looking at them so Patton knew she could see his. "Are you..." her face crossed with confusion, as if what she was about to suggest wasn't...possible.

"Are you here to purchase a child?" Her voice fell hushed, filled with shock and it didn't help Patton's anger very much. "I am - why else would I be here?" He retaliated, controlling his voice to not come out too harsh. He knew purchasing such a low-point child was outlandish, not done at all anymore, so he supposed he could see where her shock was coming from.

"Ah-well..." she glanced towards the door, "I mean-" she rose an eyebrow, "are you sure? These children- they're..." she drifted then shook her head, leading Patton down the hallway. "I think you're mistaken, sir, this isn't the facility you should be in. There is one closer to the centre of the city, many children there will match your points-"

"I'm not lost, ma'am" Patton corrected politely, not walking anymore. "I'm here to adopt these children"

Her face scrunched up, "adopt?" She hadn't heard the word before.

"A nice word than purchase" he shrugged, turned and headed back to the room. The lady seemed floundered for a moment before hurrying after him.

"If you're sure, we only have three here at the moment" she explained, hesitating before opening the door again, the two carers inside turned to see if the other carer came back, surprised to see the man once again. "He's here to purchase a child" she explained and both carer's eyebrows rose in shock, glancing between their co-worker and Patton who focused on the children, sending them warm smiles and a soft wave.

They were all sitting on the ground pressed to the wall, watching Patton curiously.

"Um-well...this is Logan, Virgil and Roman" the lady he talked to pointed left from right, "Logan is one hundred points, Virgil is forty seven and Roman is...eight" she swallowed thickly, "but I am sure you can see that" she hurried to change the subject.

"Which would you like to have? We can sort out the papers-"

"All of them"

"Moment-what?" She cut herself off after Patton stated this. "I want all three. I know you need more than one thousand points to care for more than one child but I think I have enough" he smiled a little cheekily and the lady glanced at the two other carer's who shrugged lightly.

"You-you do, sir, it's just.." she took Patton out the room again, slowly closing the door. "Most people can't handle children who are such low points. I feel like Logan would be best, maybe Virgil but..."

"I'll have them all and you can't change my mind. So, what was that about papers?"

The lady licked her lips, adjusting the end of her skirt slightly. "Very well" she settled and took Patton down the stairs and into the reception area where she found the three children's paper work, giving them to Patton who read over them all, writing down where he needed to and signing his name on each.

It took towards half an hour but the paper work usually took awhile, especially for three children.

"Here they are, sir" another carer called his attention when he handed back the paper work to the first lady who put it underneath her scanner, sending the information to the higher-ups who were sure to be surprised to get papers from the lower facility.

The three children, Patton learned all varying in ages, Virgil being six, Logan seven and Roman eight stared up at him expectingly, their expressions closed off but Patton could see the curiosity underlining each of them. He smiled again, taking the paper work once the lady was finished.

"Behave for your new father, kids" the carer told them while ushering them closer.

"Don't touch me" Roman suddenly growled, whipping his body away from the carer who sighed and looked up to Patton in a 'good luck' sort of way. Patton ignored it.

"Come with me, kiddos" he gestured and after a moment they did, he called a 'thank you' to the carer's before leaving the building, holding open the doors for the children who all slipped out.

"Are you really keeping us?" Logan asked as they headed down the staircase and towards the only car. "I found out that sometimes we're purchased to be sold" he explained while clutching a book to his chest which he had on him when Patton first saw him.

He frowned and bent down on one knee, gently reaching up to place a hand on his shoulder. "Logan, I promise I won't sell you to anyone, you're my son now and I'll try and give you the best life I can"

He nodded but still didn't look entirely convinced, Patton knew why, many low-point children don't really trust adults for they aren't exactly treated kindly by them.

"Come on" Patton smiled, gently pinching his cheek before standing up and walking to the car where Virgil and Roman waited, all three boys wore bags on their back, Virgil being the only one to have a jacket.

"Okay" he grinned, "who wants to sit in the front?" For there was only two seats in the back.

"I will" Logan spoke up after a moment, knowing Virgil felt safer when he was with either him or Roman. So they all quickly hoped into the car, Patton driving out the carpark quick, the facility becoming impossible to see. The children stayed mostly silent for the ride, Patton turned on the radio so the silence wasn't too thick, the gentle flow of music keeping the car ride more bearable for all of them.

Patton looked up through the rear-view mirror to check on the other two, noticing Virgil was whispering something into Roman's ear. The boy nodded after a moment, Virgil leaning away and playing with his sleeves, all was answered when Roman spoke up.

"We want food" he demanded and Patton chuckled. "I'm hungry too, kiddos. Do you want..." he drifted, tapping the steering wheel. "McDonalds?" He suggested and when all he got in response was silence he glanced at Logan who stared back confused, "what's that?"

Patton frowned, "it's a fast-food place, they make food for us to eat"

"Like a restaurant?" He asked and Patton nodded. "Yeah!"

"Ms. Janet said we're not good enough to go to one" and Patton's grip tightened on the steering wheel. "Well, she's wrong" and then a sudden thought popped up in his mind. He was still on quite the empty road so he parked on the side, turning in his seat to be able to gaze at all the children who watched closely.

"I know it might be difficult but I want you to try and forget whatever those carer's told you. These points?" He shook his head, "they don't, well, they shouldn't mean anything" he emphasised, "you should be treated like any child - everyone deserves equality no matter the points - I don't care what anyone says, you three are wonderful children, if a little demanding" he winked at Roman who stared at him in surprised vulnerability.

"We're not...bad?" Virgil whispered and Patton turned even further to give him his full attention. "No, Kiddo, none of you are - you're all good kids, I promise" and he slowly reached out to place a hand on his knee, Roman and Logan sat up in alarm, Virgil tensed, but the two older boys relaxed when they realised Patton wasn't hurting him, instead merely patting his knee reassuringly.

"Now, McDonald's?" And the three boys nodded.

"What d'you guys want?" Patton asked awhile later once they were nearing the building, then he quickly remembered they had never had one before. "Oops, silly me" he chuckled, "how about a burger and fries?" He suggested and the three nodded.

"You are not...like the carer's, are you?" Logan asked for confirmation and Patton nodded.

"I'm sure hope not" he giggled lightly.

Logan waited for a moment, "will it come with...cheese?"

"Why, kiddo?"

"I don't like it" he explained, "could I have it without?" And Patton nodded quickly, "sure! What about you guys?" He asked the two in the back, Virgil glanced at Roman.

"It's fine, whatever, just give us food" Roman replied harshly and Patton frowned, turning to face him when he parked the car. "Kiddo, don't speak to me like that, okay? It's not very polite" Roman's eyes narrowed but when Virgil's hand landed on his he quietened down.

"It's okay to be annoyed, but we have other ways to let out anger..." Patton turned forward and reached across the dash to grab a foam ball that was sitting in a cup holder.

"This, for instance" he showed to them all, squeezing it and releasing it, the three watching in wonder as it returned to it's original shape. "If you feel angry, squeeze this, it might help" he reached it closer to Roman who tensed when Patton's hand neared, snatching it from his grasp, avoiding touching his hand. He didn't do anything with it until Patton turned away, but the man saw him tentatively squeezing it through the mirror and smiled.

"'C'mon, kiddos" he called, opening the doors. The children all got out and followed Patton inside the building, luckily he was able to park where one didn't have to cross the road. The line wasn't too long so they stood at the end, Patton watching the three boys gaze at everything they could, including the post that was filled with balloons.

"Want one?" He suggested and they looked up at him to see if he was serious. When he nodded they walked over and took it from the stand, a nearby family glancing over, the couple shocked to see how low the children's points were. "I want that one" Roman pointed to a red balloon right at the top, Logan looked at it, he himself holding a blue one.

"I'm the same height as you" Logan responded and Roman huffed, beginning to jump to try and reach it. That's when a separate family came over, when Roman was down they took it and handed it to their own child.

"Hey!" Roman yelled, rushing over and ripping it from the child's grasp. "This is mine!" He yelled, clutching it close to him. Patton hurried over, placing him between his son and the family. "What's wrong?" He directed the question at Roman but the parents answered for him.

"Your child stole my daughter's balloon, that's what's wrong" the father explained, glaring at the boy who he quickly realised was only nine points.

"Oh, he's not yours, sorry sir" he tried but Patton's eyes only hardened. "He is mine, they all are, and if you have any decency you'll let him keep the balloon" he usually isn't so rude to people but he was a protective person, he would stand up for his family no matter what.

"Decency? He took the balloon from my daughter" the mother tried, Patton's eyes flickering over to her. "You know what those facilities are like, the ones my children come from have nothing, while your child's had everything. Let him have the balloon, please" his voice quietened towards the end and the parents knew he was right, every adult knew, but it was never talked about - never mentioned. To have someone outright say it caused an uneasy silence to fall across the building, everyone facing the direction to listen to the conversation, and they all heard his comment.

"I want the orange one, mama" the girl pointed and she smiled uneasily, "of course dear"

Patton turned to his three boys who all watched on, shocked that an adult...stood up for them. "C'mon, let's order, yeah?" He smiled and they rejoined the queue, people slowly began to talk again but not without looking over at the children to see their such low points and Patton's high one. In fact he had the most points out of every person in this room.

Patton ordered the food, three happy meals and a normal one for himself. Once they received them he paid and they left the building, noticing Logan swap his box with Virgil's. He assumed the boy didn't want to ask for no cheese. Patton of course didn't mind but didn't mention it either.

"I guess your favourite colour is red, huh?" Patton asked Roman who stopped squeezing his ball. He shrugged, "I guess...it was mine but they took it!" He accused, stomping his foot afterwards too.

"He's right - Roman was reaching for it first" Logan added and Patton frowned. "Then it's a good thing I convinced them huh?" He smiled and Roman shrugged again.

They all ate in the car, Patton driving to a more remote place so they could gaze at nature instead of a fast-food building. Patton watched them all munch down the food hungrily and quickly, all seemingly enjoying it very much. "What's this?" Logan asked, reaching into his box and pulling out a toy.

"They come with happy meals" Patton explained, taking it from him and opening the rapper, inside a small plus toy with string in a loop coming out it's head. Logan looked it over for a second before turning to Virgil who already had his own toy, silently Logan handed it over and Patton watched the tiniest of smiles sweep over Virgil's lips. Yep his heart was melting-

"That was sweet of you, Lo" Patton smiled affectionately, Logan looked up at the foreign expression he's never received before, at least none he could remember.

"I hope you guys don't have too many teddies because I might have bought...a lot" Patton giggled, cheeks heating up with red. "We don't have any" Roman spoke up, pushing his box to the car floor when he finished with the food. "I want one" he added on but still gave his small toy to Virgil who was currently clutching all three close, a small smile adorning his features as he looked at them.

"Of course, Kiddo, there's many to choose from. Even a red one! But it's a dragon"

Roman's eyes widened, "I want that one-give me that one!" He demanded but his voice sounded more excited than anything else. Patton hummed, "what's the magic word?" He cooed and Roman slumped down a little.

"...abracadabra?" He murmured and Patton giggled.

"No-well, yes, but when you want something you say 'please ' on the end" Patton explained and Roman frowned. "Please" he whispered, testing the word on his tongue. "Does it make people give you stuff?"

"Most the time, yeah" Patton grinned and Roman squeezed his ball lightly.

"I want the dragon. Please" and Patton beamed.

—

"Here it is! Your new home" Patton exclaimed when he parked the car in the driveway, gesturing with jazz hands up to the two story building in front of him. "You can each have your own room or share, whichever you want" he grinned, quickly jumping out the car with excitement buzzing around him.

"Do you want to share?" Logan asked his two, he guessed, brothers now but they always treated each other like such anyway. Virgil and Roman nodded and that was settled, they were much more comfortable with each other and hated being separated.

They got out the car and followed Patton to the front door, they were shocked at how...nice it looked, clean and very colourful. They had never seen something like it before.

"I'll give you the tour now" Patton promised while closing the door, "but I have something to show you first" he led them down a hallway and into a room that had a bunch of toys set neatly onto shelves, the chairs, the floor and inside a chest. The walls were a soft yellow with colourful stickers littered everywhere and the floor was a fluffy carpet.

"These are you toys, now we'll keep most of them in here but you can each take three up to your room, deal?" He asked, Logan and Virgil nodded while Roman was already inside, using the chest to reach up to a shelf that held the red dragon he was so thrilled about.

"This is mine!" He called to make sure everyone knew, holding it high in the air while jumping down onto the floor. "We know, Kiddo" Patton grinned, leaning on the doorway. "But don't forget to share" he added and Roman's face scrunched up at the idea.

Each of the children collected three toys from the room, Logan and Roman leaving while Virgil stayed behind for a moment, looking at the six toys he held, the three from the happy meal and three from the room. He frowned up at Patton who knelt down and gently tucked his hair behind his ear.

"Don't tell the others, but you can have them all" he whispered with a grin and Virgil found himself slightly smiling backs hiding the three smaller toys in his pockets while Patton watched on.

He held out his hand and Virgil stared at it curiously, slowly reaching over to place a toy on it but Patton shook his head with a smile. "No, no Kiddo, you can carry it. I just wanted to hold your hand" he explained and Virgil sucked his bottom lip into his mouth.

"What's...that?" He asked quietly and Patton frowned. "Like a hug but for hands, can I show you?" Virgil timidly nodded, holding up his free hand, his teddies tucked under his other arm. He watched closely as Patton gently held his hand and he was right - it was like a hug, not that he receives many, all from Logan and Roman.

"I'll show you to your room" he then stood up and Virgil hurried along, watching their hands with a certain fondness in his eyes. Logan and Roman glanced over and tensed, remembering back to what happened when someone were holding onto them but Virgil seemed...okay, and Patton was smiling, not hurting Virgil at all.

They shared a glance, not really understanding it. Roman frowned, held his teddies under his arm and stood on the other side of Virgil, holding his other hand but unfortunately Virgil's teddies fell to the ground. He let a little whine but Logan scooped them all up as he only had one teddy and it wasn't very big.

"Don't worry, Kiddo" Patton smiled to Roman, "he's okay" he added but didn't stop Roman from holding his hands up the stairs and to their room. Patton found their protectiveness cute but also hated the thought of where it stemmed from.

"This is your room" Patton explained, opening up the door. It was a large room with three beds inside, one to the left wall, one in the middle and one to the right wall. He may have...bought seven beds because originally he didn't know how many children he was getting so with five extra rooms he made them all into bedrooms, this room was the biggest so he made it for three.

Roman was first to claim a bed, the one on the right, closest to a window. Logan looked between the two and chose the middle because he knew Virgil preference sleeping beside a wall but the boy didn't move, he didn't want to let go of Patton's hand. The man realised this and smiled widely, taking him over and helping him set his teddies across the pillow, the tree biggest walls leaning on the headrest, his small McDonalds toys between them.

The room had soft blue walls with medium-sized stickers of clouds towards the roof, the wall Roman's bed beside had a giant rainbow that completely across it in a curve. The floor had a soft carpet the children all enjoyed shuffling their feet against. Beside each bed was a table with a small lamp on all three, at the end of Roman's bed was a wardrobe while at the end of Virgil's was a chest of draws.

"D'you guys like it?" He asked, Virgil nodded instantly, still holding to his hand.

"Yes" Logan replied, sitting on his bed with his book in his lap. "It's better than our old room" he added with a soft of happy gleam in his eyes.

"Well I love it" Roman was sprawled onto his bed, staring up at the ceiling that had small stars across the entirety of it. Patton beamed at their responses, becoming extremely giddy indeed.

Even if they were all low-point children, they were everything Patton could ask for and more.

—
Idea from:

9:37pm