-Sander Sides Oneshots-

27. Mischief

Ship & Genre: none, angst
Warnings: abandonment, crying, attacks
A/N:sorry this took so long @MischiefSanders

"We're going to have to get into a lot of mischief." Joan stated to Thomas. Thomas looked at his best friend weirdly.

"Mischief?" He asked.

"What's wrong?" Joan asked, concerned by the distant look in their friends eyes.

"Nothing." Thomas said, brushing away the weird feeling he had gotten from hearing the word and returned his attention to his friend.

Inside the mind palace, Patton felt like he was going to faint. "Mischief..." He murmured.

~Flashback to 26 years ago~

"Shhh." Patton whispered to the toddler in his arms. The toddler was a small child in overalls and braided pigtails. She clung to Patton's shoulder. The duo arrived at the toddlers room, which had appeared a few days ago. The girl reached towards the bedroom door. When she touched it, the door opened to reveal her bedroom.

Inside, the walls were orange with pink accents. There were buckets of toys and a bunk bed with a little monkey bar attached. The toddler immediately jumped out of Patton's arms and started throwing toys all over the place, wreaking havoc and mischief. Patton sighed and smiled a bit. He confiscated the keys of the room before she could and played with the toddler for a few hours.

Soon, they reached the end of the day. The room was a mess, but the toddler seemed content with that. Patton carried her to her bed and tucked her in.

"Good night, Dad!" The girl said.

"Good night, angel,'' Patton said. He left the room and locked the door from the outside. With tears in his eyes, he broke the knob, and returned to his room.

~End flashback~

"What's that, pop?" Roman asked, coming up behind him. Patton jumped a little.

"What are you guys doing here?" He asked the rest of the sides as the assembled behind him.

"We felt something weird coming from Thomas." Remus said.

"Do you know what's wrong?" Logan asked. "You're the side who controls most of the feelings." He pointed out.

"I-I..." Patton started.

"Don't lie to us." Janus said, looking him in the eye.

"Uh..." Patton stalled. All eyes were on him now, expecting an answer.

"Patton has a child." Virgil blurted out. All of them turned to him standing in the back of the room. He gave them an annoyed look. "Oh don't tell me you guys hadn't thought of it before." They all looked around at each other. Sure, they had thought of it before, but with no evidence they had dropped it.

"Is this correct, Patton?" Logan asked.

"H-how did y-you know?" Patton asked, still looking at Virgil.

Virgil rolled his eyes. "A dad with no kid? An abandoned room with no knob?
The sad look on your face when one of Thomas' friends has a kid? C'mon."

"You said that room was going to be unlocked when Thomas got married." Roman exclaimed.

"Well..." Patton started.

"I just thought Patton was still upset that Thomas wouldn't have any biological kids because he was gay and didn't want a surogette." Remus admitted. Patton looked at his feet to avoid everyone's gaze.

"I just- I wanted to keep Thomas safe. My kid... -they aren't safe for him." Patton admitted. He started to cry.

"We've been through this." Janus said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You can't just keep 'dark' sides away from Thomas. It will do more harm than good." Patton nodded, remembering what Janus had taught him.

"Are you guys mad at me?"

"Of course not." They said.

"Let's go fix this then." Janus said. Patton nodded, and wiped away his tears. Virgil and Roman put their hands on Patton's shoulder after Janus removed his.

"I miss my child." Patton admitted.

"Then let's find him." Roman said.

"Her." Patton corrected.

"Her." Roman corrected himself before giving Patton a weird look.

"How does that happen, We're all male." Remus said.

"She liked she/her pronouns more than he/him and they/them when she was a kid. She just responded better to that, so that's what I call her by." He admitted. The other nodded. "C'mon, I'll lead the way."

Trail behind the group was Virgil and Logan. "How were you able to figure that out?" Logan asked Virgil. Virgil shrugged.

"I watch way too many crime documentaries." He answered. Soon they entered the dark side's part of the palace. At the entrance stood the abandoned room. Patton touched the door. It lit up and all the scratch marks and dust was erased. Logan stepped up to the door and summoned a new knob. In no time, the knob was replaced. Patton inserted the keys and turned the knob.

The room looked like nothing had moved in the past twenty six years. The toys were in the same place as the night Patton brought her here. He stepped into the room. As soon as he did, Mischief turned around in her chair. Patton hadn't even seen her there. She sat in a pink folding chair near a window. She looked about the same age as she was when he left here there. Her pigtail braids had become undone, and one of her overall straps had broken. Her eyes landed on Patton.

"Angel," Patton started, stepping closer. The child snapped and lunged towards Patton, screaming at him. She banged against his chest, yelling random words at him. The others quickly reached towards Patton, trying to pull him away. He resisted.

"Angel, it's me! It's dad!" He exclaimed, reaching towards her. She continued to attack him until the twins were able to pull Patton out of the room. Janus quickly shut the door before the kid followed.

Patton collapsed to the ground in tears, begging the others to let him back in. The others broke the knob before he could reach for it. He refused to let them touch him, so they left him there for the night and took shifts, watching him from a distance.

Patton learned to move on after a while. Logan was able to install a window on the door, so he could see his daughter from time to time. But, every time he did, he broke down, upset that she'd never call him her dad again.

Date written: 8/12/20-8/22/20
Date Published: 8/23/20
Word Count: About 1,000