Raising Anti

18

Dad... The kid just called him dad. Sure he didn't know the full significance in the fact that ANTI just called him dad but still... He called Chase dad.

"Fuck me..." Chase mumbled under his breath as he sat there on the couch nursing one mother of a headache. "Dad? Why... Why would he..." Chase gulped his bottle down before groaning and leaning against the arm of the couch with this pained expression. "He called me dad. Shit... shit. shit. shit... FUCK!" Chase threw the bottle right at the wall smashing it to pieces as the liquid courage painted the walls. "Oh shit." Chase jumped up to grab some paper towels only to sway a bit as the room spun around him. "Jack is gonna flip."

"What do you mean?" Chase paled as he looked up to see Jack standing there with the others Chase couldn't help but cower under his gaze. Jack took one good look at the room and frowned. There were bottles everywhere and that wasn't included the smashed one against the wall. "Chase, what happened? I haven't seen you so much as look at a beer. What made you..."

"Sam is sick." JJ and Jackie frowned as they both ran off to check on the child. Marvin just sighed as he waved his hand through the air making the mess vanish in a thing of glitter. "He has um... a fever of 100*... and I had him take some medicine."

"Ok. That's good then." Jack smiled softly as Chase shook his head. "You took care of things. You made sure he was ok and you did what you had to." Chase just kept shaking his head making Jack tense with concern. "Then what's wrong, Chase. Why'd you drink?"

"First off, I'm an alcoholic. I'm gonna drink but... Fuck, Jack. I just..." Chase wined as he gripped his hair tightly, tears streaming from his eyes. "I can hear her. Her laughter... her calling out to me. She sad and she's crying. So sick... in so much pain for such a small child."

"Oh, Chase." Jack pulled the breaking father in as he cried in his shoulder. "I'm sure he's ok. It's probably just a cold."

"He called me dad, Jack." Jack snapped up with this look of shock that tore through everyone. Even Marvin was in shock, his face as pale as a ghost. "Sam, he... He called me dad. I... I gave him something to drink after the meds and he... he said 'thanks, dad'. Just like that. That poor kid... called me dad. What the fuck, Jack? What am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to feel?"

"Well, how did it make you feel when he said it?" Jack was tense. After all, he knew exactly who 'Sam' was and he was highly worried about what would happen when the spell wore off. They didn't know how long it would be. It's already been a month's time. Surely it couldn't be that much more.

"That's the thing, Jack..." Chase smiled through his tears as he laughed at himself. "It made me happy."

"I see..."

"But then I felt really bad because I felt like I was replacing my Sammy, and I could never do that. But there was that kid, sick and in pain, calling me dad with the softest smile on his face. I just... I don't know what to feel, Jack. And it's making it hard to focus on... on anything really." Jack's frown grew as Chase curled up into himself. "I'm not his dad, Jack. I'm not. I just managed to get my own kids back. I should be focusing on them. I should be... I came here specifically to-..." There was a loud crash followed by fast footsteps drawing everyone's attention in. Marvin sighed as he waved his hand over his face summoning his mask with a sleight of hand. 

"Be careful, Marv." Jack mumbled as Marvin simply waved him off only to freeze as Jack stopped dead in the doorway. 

"Wait. Stop..." Jackie frowned slightly as he panted. "Jesus, I'm getting weak. I need to work out again. This kid and his sweets are gonna be the death of me."

"Jackie, what happened?" Jackie panted as he held a finger up only for everyone to jump at the loud scream that tore through the room.

"Episode. He's just having another episode. Jack, I think your right." Jackie smiled sadly as he stretched himself out. "There's no way these episodes are... lucid. I don't know. He was having a nightmare. Woke up and freaked out." Chase took a step forward only to stop as Jack held his hand. Jackie's eyes filled with sadness as he shook his head again. "You can't. The only people who can handle him during an episode is JJ and Marvin."

"Episode? What episode? What's going on?" The three all shared a look before Marvin ended up walking off to join JJ who was no doubt still with the panicking child. "Guys, what episode?"

"We don't know exactly, Chase." Jack's voice was soft as if trying to calm the parental ego. "All we do know is, however, it's triggered, when he has one, he's VERY aggressive and dangerous."

"Dangerous? He's just a child!" Jack nodded as his grip on Chase's arm tightened drawing his attention back to him. "He's just a child, Jack. How bad could these episodes be?"

"Let's just say it explains a lot." Chase yanked his arm free and started for the door only to get stopped by Jackie this time. 

"Get out of my way."

"I can't do that, Chase. If for your own safety." Chase laughed as took a single step back giving the hero a look they all have recognized to be Chase's signature 'Warning'. "Chase, it's just for a few more..." Jackie's back hit the wall second after Chase thrusted his foot into him. The hero only grunted with a laugh as Chase stormed down the hall. "Well, there goes my attempt at stalling. Seriously. I need to get back to working out."

"Sam!" Chase burst into the door finding Anti in a pink bubble as Marvin sighed with a frown. "What the hell? What are you doing?" Anti just stood there sniffling as he rubbed his eyes. "Sam?"

"Daddy?" Chase didn't even waste a second. The fatherly ego rushed over letting the bubble pop around him as he pulled Anti in and started to bounce as if calming a baby. 

"It's ok, Sam. I've got you." Marvin and JJ just stood there watching the whole event with a worried yet relieved look in their eyes. Anti latched onto Chase as he hiccuped and sniffed. Yet it was clear that in Chase's arms Anti had calmed down a lot faster than JJ had ever been able to do. "It's ok, kiddo."

"Scared... b-b-bad-d d-dream... Can't sleep. Feel icky." Chase laughed sadly as he held the kid close and brushed back his sweat-slicked hair. 

"It's ok. It was probably just a fever dream. You're ok now. I promise." Anti clutched Chase's shirt tightly as he slowly dozed back off to sleep Chase let out a shaky breath as Marvin risked getting closer only to stop seeing Chase's 'warning' look shot at him. "The fuck was that shit?"

"Chase, you don't understand. I didn't have a choice." Chase growled protectively as he carried Anti out of the room with only his words to fill the empty space left behind. 

"I don't care... don't fucking do it again."