Father and Son

Chapter 1

@AllieKat0602 Finally got this fic for you, with more to come :D I hope you like it!

"So why are you back? You come slinking in here trying to see your son after years without even so much as a phone call, and you think that I'll just let you back into our lives? Unbelievable." Barbara brandished a plate in one hand and a kitchen knife in the other as she faced the man standing in her house for the first time in over ten years. James Lake, Jim's dad, stood amid shards of broken plates across the room from Barbara. "Please, I promise that I can explain."

Barbara laughed sarcastically. "Seriously?" She threw up her hands, an exasperated grin on her face. "Let's hear what could possibly justify abandoning your family." James hesitated only briefly before blurting out, "I know what our son has become. I know about the trolls, I know about Gunmar, changelings, I know about all of it.

Standing with her mouth open in shock, Barbara felt around on the counter behind her for her phone. "I am calling my son. If I let you see him, it'll be as short or as long a meeting as he wants. And you are answering every single question I have, no objections." Knowing that this would likely be the best deal he would get, James agreed.

Jim appeared at the house in less than ten minutes, along with Claire, Blinky, and Strickler. The historian went in first, one hand holding a dvorkstone, another holding a horseshoe, and a third resting on a large blade stuck in his belt. Barbara placed a hand on Blinky's shoulder, obviously stressed but wanting to avoid having a large hole ripped through her house. "I'm sure that won't be necessary. James is simply answering a few questions for Jim and I, then he's leaving."

James tried to approach his son but Jim backed away, making it clear that he wanted his personal space left well enough alone. "Son I... I promise that I can explain." Jim growled, baring his teeth angrily. "Don't call me son. I have a dad, and it isn't you. You're far too late for that. Explain what you've been doing for eleven years that was so important that you didn't have time for your family."

Sighing, James sat down and told his story. "I am a Cambion, a hybrid of human and troll much like a changeling, or like you Jim. I am human passing, as many others of my kind are, but some can be troll passing or somewhere in between. When you were five, I received a message that Gunmar was planning to escape the darklands, which would put my kind and everyone connected to us in danger. I went into hiding to protect you and your mother, but it appears that my efforts were fruitless."

Jim rolled his eyes, exasperated. "Got that right. Well as interesting as that was, I still smell a rat. I want you out of my mom's house, and then I'm going home with my dad." At this statement James's eyebrows shot up and he stood, sizing up Blinky quizzically. "Fine, I'll go. Melodramatic, but I guess I have no choice." Strickler nodded, putting an arm around Barbara pointedly. Just as James reached the door, he turned and stabbed his finger into the center of Blinky's chest. In a low voice he growled, "You will never really be his father, no matter how much you want it. I am the dad, and he is my son no matter what. I can't believe I got replaced by a rock." Blinky bared his teeth and flicked his ears back in fury, growling, "You abandoned them with a terrible excuse, then waltz in years later expecting some sort of warm welcome. You got replaced by a rock because I'm all that Jim has." Then he slammed the door in James's face.