In The Cold

Synopsis: [KotCS] Mutt and Indy get into a fight over Mutt's most recent 'incident' at school. When Mutt runs away, whose will is stronger; father or son's?

Author's Notes: This is set about six months after KotCS.

Disclaimer: I obviously do not own Indiana Jones, any of the related characters or any of Spielberg's and Lucas' intelligence.

Characters: Mutt Williams, Indiana Jones. Mentioned: Trent Bachelor, Marion Ravenwood, Harold Oxley.

Words: 1, 808

Note: italics refer to flashbacks as well as thoughts, though thoughts are written in speech marks.

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Fifteen minutes later, Mutt and Indy were seated at the local burger joint, burgers in hand and fries sitting, steaming on the table. The delicious aroma was enough to make Mutt's stomach painfully remind him that he was hungry - he had missed dinner after all. The first bite was pure heaven to his grumbling and hollow insides. For a time they simply sat together, eating in a comfortable and contented silence that held only a tiny shadow of foreboding hanging over it.

When Mutt had finished his burger - satisfying his appetite for a while at least - his eyes met his dad's and he knew that things were about to get serious. He shifted slightly in discomfort.

"So," Indy started, wiping his mouth with a provided napkin. "You wanna tell me what happened today Junior? And I don't just mean out there in the alley, though that seems to be an interesting story too."

Mutt nervously tugged on the sleeve of his saturated leather jacket, definitely unsure of how this would all turn out. Lifting his eyes to meet Indy's once more, he took a deep, calming breath and began to explain.

()~~~~~()~~~~~()~~~~~()

Mutt slung his bag over his shoulder and walked towards the stairs leading to the first level. It was lunchtime - one of his least favourite times of the school day - and he was eager to get away from the majority of the school population.

"Hey Mutt!"

With a groan he turned and saw Trent Bachelor approaching him, pals close behind. The students in the immediate vicinity did one of three things:

1. Get away as fast as possible.

2. Crowd around in anticipation, eager for an on-coming fight.

Or

3. Run to find the nearest teacher.

Needless to say that the third option was the least popular. Most people either wanted nothing to do with the fights or always wanted to be near the action.

"What do you want Trent?" Mutt asked sharply, his body tense.

"Nothing," he answered in a smug voice. "Just thought you'd want to know that we don't think Doctor Jones is your real dad. Honestly, we think your mom got around so often that she just leeched onto whatever poor bastard was closest. She probably doesn't even know who your real dad is."

There were snickers from members of the crowd, alerting Mutt to the fact that they agreed with Trent.

Mutt felt his hackles rise at the proud smirk that was now plastered onto Trent's face and with an animalistic growl, he threw himself at Trent. Trent was obviously not expecting such an impulsive response because he took a step back and left himself completely open.

Mutt grabbed Trent's collar, glad for the first time that didn't have his switchblade - his parents had taken it off him after the incident with Trent's car - because he was seriously wanting to stick it into this jerk. Instead, he opted for forcefully shoving Trent into the window behind, sending Trent's head smashing into the glass, splinters and shards flying everywhere. Mutt could still feel his blood boiling in simmering anger and so he pulled Trent back from the window and threw him across the hall, grinning in delight - 'this is wrong' - as Trent stumbled over the top step and proceeded to fall down the entire flight of stairs.

There were gasps from on-lookers everywhere; people taking hasty steps away from the enraged Jones kid. The gasps broke through Mutt's anger and as he reached the top of the staircase, the red film of anger lifted from his eyes and his breath came in short pants.

It was at this moment, Trent lying at the bottom of the stairs with Mutt standing what looked like victoriously at the top, that a student returned with a teacher in tow. Option three may have been the least popular option but that didn't stop it from being the most annoying.

"Henry Jones III!" the teacher bellowed.

"Shit."

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"I really thought I'd get expelled," Mutt admitted, "and so I was going to try and talk my way out of it but mom always said it was important to tell the truth no matter what. Then the teach' came back, gave me a suspension and said I was lucky for having you as my dad cos it meant I got off lightly."

And with that, Mutt lapsed into silence, waiting for Indy's reply with baited breath. He risked a glance up and saw that his dad looked as mixed up as he felt. Anger, pity, frustration, understanding, pride and disbelief danced across his face. Mutt sneezed and placed his tired, heavy head on his arms while Indy thought everything over.

Indy watched his son critically, brain sifting through and analysing everything he had just been told. There were several rather large contradictions between Mutt's story and the story the school's teacher had told him. Call him biased, but he was feeling pretty inclined to believe Mutt's story. After all, Mutt couldn't lie to save his life - not that he ever wanted his son to be in a situation where it would. Indy carefully reached out a hand, gently ruffling Mutt's hair with it.

"Don't worry," he said over Mutt's moans of protest. "I believe you son."

"You do?" Mutt's head jerked up in surprise. Indy chuckled.

"Yeah I do. Sorry for not listening to you earlier. I'll take note of that."

Mutt just nodded, a genuine smile on his face. Then he sneezed again and Indy furrowed his brow in worry.

"You coming down with something Junior?"

Mutt shrugged and Indy rolled his eyes.

"Well if you will go walking around in the rain."

"Whose idea was it to get a burger and stay in wet clothes?"

Indy scratched the back of his head guiltily; he should have thought of that.

"Alright then, let's go home."

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By the time they got home, Mutt's head was feeling decidedly stuffy and he was making a habit of wiping his nose on his sleeve, much to Indy's disgust and annoyance. As soon as they got inside, Indy went to the bathroom to collect some warm towels while Mutt rummaged for some dry clothes in amongst the heap on the floor. Indy returned and placed the towel on Mutt's bed.

"The sooner you get out of those clothes, the sooner you'll feel better," Indy commented when Mutt made no move to change.

The boy looked around in a fidgety manner and Indy couldn't help but roll his eyes again - they were both men weren't they? Mutt eventually mumbled something that vaguely resembled 'okay' and pulled off his wet shirt, quickly pulling on a dry shirt. Unfortunately, he didn't complete the change fast enough.

Indy leapt over as soon as he saw the bruises that were haphazardly littered over his son's back. Some were fresh, no doubt from tonight's fight, while others ranged from a few days old to a few weeks old. Not to mention that a significant number of them looked particularly painful.

"Mutt," he said in a dangerously low voice.

"It's nothing," he replied, trying to tug his shirt down.

Indy stopped him with a hand and let his other ghost over his son's back. Turning him around gingerly, Indy realised that the marks were the same, if not worse, on Mutt's chest. He could feel rage beginning to build up inside of him. No one harmed his son.

"It's not nothing! Who did this?" he asked - even though he was pretty sure of the answer already he needed to hear it from Mutt himself. Mutt shifted his weight, hating being put on the spot.

"Just Trent," he murmured. When Indy opened his mouth he quickly cut in again. "Please…just don't make a scene alright? It's nothing I can't handle over time. And please, don't tell mom, she'd have a cow."

Indy had a million things to say to that but they all vanished when Mutt suddenly took the liberty of fainting right then and there. He quickly caught the boy and carried him over to the bed. Indy placed a hand on Mutt's forehead and winced at the heat radiating off it. Marion would not be happy.

()~~~~~()~~~~~()~~~~~()

3 Days Later

Mutt blinked blearily at the harsh sunlight entering his room. He groaned and then the stinging light was hidden by curtains being pulled closed. He let his eyes focus and he saw his dad leaning over him.

"You okay Junior? You've been out of it for a few days."

"I'm fine," Mutt slurred. "Still a bit tired though."

"No rush to get up," Indy said simply, smoothing down Mutt's blankets absently. "Your mom and I have been talking-"

"Mom's home?" he interrupted.

"Are you kidding? Came home as soon as she heard the words 'Mutt' and 'sick' in the same sentence. I didn't tell her about…well, you know, Trent and everything."

Mutt nodded. "Thanks dad. I don't want her spacing out."

"I never told you," Indy recalled with a smile. "I'm proud of you for standing up for your mom like that at school."

Mutt blushed at the unexpected praise, looking away.

"So…uh, you and mom were talking…" he repeated, trying to change the subject.

"Yeah," Indy agreed. "We decided…well, how would you like to be home-schooled by your mom and me, and maybe even Oxley; that is, if you think you could stay awake."

Mutt's eyes widened in disbelief. Indy cracked a wide smile, a spark in his eyes.

"It gets better," he said, almost laughing at the way Mutt was practically hanging off his every word. "We thought that maybe once a week you could do a half-day and spend that other half working on that bike of yours. What do you say? It's all up for grabs."

Mutt just stared at him, completely overwhelmed. Then he had his arms around Indy in a - definitely, definitely, definitely manly - hug. Indy patted his son on the back and ruffled his hair, laughing shorty when Mutt pulled back and attempted to fix his hair.

The glow on his son's face was enough for Indy; he'd made the right choice. An invisible line had been crossed. He was now on the way to be being seen by Mutt as his father and everyday Mutt became his son more and more. Maybe being a dad wasn't as hard as he'd originally thought; all it took as a deflation in ego, less stubbornness and some compromise.

()~~~~~()~~~~~()~~~~~()

Three months later, Mutt was sitting at the back of one of his dad's lectures, dutifully taking notes and taking rapt attention. His bike stood gleaming in the parking lot outside and the Ox was coming for the weekend. He wasn't alone anymore, and he wasn't a failure. He was home.

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A/N: once again, thanks to all reviewers! You people really make my day! Someone wondered if we use 'awesome' in Australia and I can tell you that it is the one of the most popular words, the others being 'beer', 'bastard' and 'bugger'.

Sorry this chapter is so long but I didn't want to make it into two. Hope you liked the ending and what Mutt did to Trent; hope it wasn't a let down. Thanks for reading and see ya!