Road to Deneva

by Starsinger

I'm just now realizing that I'm within a few chapters of completing Deneva, and I'm a little sad, some nearly forty chapters later. Did not anticipate it being THIS long. lol So, I'm experimenting again with this prequel. Let's face it, Jim loved Kitty, but we've never met her. What endeared Gloria enough to Jim for him to take her home to Frank. And how is it Frank is the nice guy instead of the drunk asshole that we all know and hate. Well, here we go. Don't own them.

Frank sighed, Winona was drunk, again. He looked down at two pairs of eyes who looked at him imploringly to keep them safe from their drunk Mom. Jimmy already cradled his arm protectively. Frank shook his head. Jim and Sam had saved him. When he married their mom, he'd been just as much a drunk as she. They had begged him to stop after a doctor told him that if he didn't stop he would be dead in a few years.

"I WANT THESE BRATS OUTTA HERE!" Winona shouted. "JIMMY DROVE HIS DAD'S CAR OFF A CLIFF…"

Frank had had enough. He knew why Jimmy did what he did. "That's it, Winona. GET OUT OF MY HOUSE! I'll take care of Jimmy and Sammy, you won't EVER have to see them again." He pushed her out the front door and locked the door behind her. He stomped upstairs and called the police before coming back down with blankets. He wrapped Jim up in one and told Sam to come with them. They were headed back to the hospital. He programmed the destination into the hovercar's navigation system and cradled the nine year old against him. The boy whimpered, "It's going to be alright, Jimmy, I won't let her touch you again."

They sat in the hospital for four hours waiting to see the doctor. Frank was adamant, he wanted the injuries documented. He was tired of playing around, Winona didn't deserve these kids. The doctor took pictures of the bruises and bumps on both boys and the compound fracture of Jimmy's left arm. Winona had pushed, more like launched, him down the stairs when she learned what he had done. "He's going to need surgery, Sir. Compound fractures can't be fixed by a simple run under the regenerator. His calcium level is low too."

"You need to keep him here?" Frank asked.

"Yes sir," the intern told him nervously.

"Can we stay with him?" Frank asked. The doctor nodded as the police tracked him down.They took Frank's statements and doctor's own observations. CPS finally arrived and Frank allowed them access to Jim's and Sam's medical records. All could be tracked back to when Winona was on world. Nothing happened when it was just Frank looking after them.

Frank lay in a cot beside Jim's bed, he was going into surgery the next day. He had decisions to make, and he could only think of one way to resolve the situation. Sam would be going back to a boarding school in the morning. George, Winona's late husband, had a sister on a colony planet, Tarsus IV. He spent the next day making arrangements to get Jimmy to his Aunt's house so he could settle things here in Iowa. Denise was more than happy to take Jim in. Unfortunately, Frank would discover months later, it would be the worst decision he'd ever make when it came to the boys he'd come to love as his own.