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Harvey coughed and sputtered as the smoke began to clear. Rose additionally waved her hand in her face as she began fretfully opening windows to get rid of the fumes. The bigger man’s concern for the building was soon replaced by absolute rage. He pointed a shaky finger at the brunette. “Your son,” He spat “did this.” Rose huffed, exasperated.
“It was nothing more than a mistake, he’s just a boy!”
“He’s an absolute monster,” Harvey retorted as he stood straight, eyeing the damage. Hopefully, the wallpaper hadn’t consumed the burning smell, or else the boy in question would have hell to pay. “This was no mistake.”
Rose then huffed, stepping towards the elevator. “No one told you to lock the poor thing in the basement, Harvey. So quick to point the finger at my son instead of taking your actions into accountability.” Her words held a mother’s bite to it. It was only natural that she’d defend her son, but this was absolutely ridiculous.
The man had no control of himself, grabbing the woman by her shoulders and shaking her lightly. “Have you gone mad?! Think of all the things he’s done, Rose!”
There was a pause between the two, and things went silent. Harvey mentally cursed himself. He was raised better than this, to lay his hands down on a woman and shake her like a ragdoll.
What would your father think?
Harvey’s grip dulled with guilt. He looked down, feeling a migraine coming on already. “Rose I-”
Rose sniffled and her lips thinned as she looked down. “No, you’re right.”
Now that’s not something Harvey expected to hear.
“He’s troubled, and he keeps hurting people, and I don’t know what to do. Every day I know he’s getting worse. He won’t even listen to me!” Rose cried out. Harvey let her go, now concerned. “Rose-” “It’s all my fault, I know it is. I was the one who married his bastard father and allowed him to lay hands on my child.” At this point, Rose was blubbering everything onto Harvey, and he was left shocked. “I stopped him but I was too late.”
Upon seeing Harvey’s inquiring look, Rose felt the need again to defend the violent boy. “He was only 2, Harvey. Just a baby! He can’t even remember his father, but every time I look at him I-” Rose paused, hesitant. “I see him inside Jimmy.”
“Rose,” Harvey sighed. “I’m sorry for yelling at you. I know you’re trying your hardest as a mother. It’s not your fault.”
The two of them stood in sullen silence. Rose clicked her heels and proceeded to the elevator. “It’s going to take a while for the smoke to clear. We might just have to be close until then.”
“I don’t think anyone’s willing to wait that long,” Harvey commented, his voice, less snarky than it normally is with the lady. Rose scrunched up her nose and smoothed down her hair, now somewhat embarrassed for throwing her concerns surrounding her own child onto Harvey, her work partner. “Well, I’m sure no one was planning on coming back today anyway. I can’t take it either, so I might just head to the diner down the road.”
“Very far if you ask me,” Harvey commented, but the scoff he received from the widow showed she could care less for his opinion. “I’ll stay here, and look for Jimmy.”
“You will?” Rose asked hopefully, her eyes looking a tad bit brighter and losing their dullness. This brought a twitch of a smile to Harvey’s lips. The poor woman always looked so stressed nowadays, for obvious reasons. “Yeah, I’ll find him, get him fed, and then in bed before 10.” Harvey smiled.
Rose looked him up and down and chuckled softly. “Sure you will. Just, please make sure he’s still here.”
Harvey nodded, giving a small wave as Rose finally retreated and went up the elevator to leave.
~~~~~~~~~
“Jimmy where the hell are you?!”
Harvey had been looking around the empty hotel for about half an hour, and his nerves were getting to him again. His anger was starting to intensify all over again, and he had even more reason to despise the damn boy.
He was a violent, murderous lying brat.
And he also was driving his mother into the ground with his wild he was.
At first, Harvey had always believed that Rose was simply oblivious to her son’s actions, but now knowing that was never the case, made everything different. First, it was Amy, then it was Doctor Bose, who next? Another innocent guest, maybe even Harvey himself, Rose?
No, Harvey wouldn’t let it get that far. Clearly, if his own mother couldn’t control the unruly child, then it was left to Harvey to do something.
Just what, Harvey had no idea.
Upon getting to the first floor, Harvey was about ready to drop it and head to his own room and leave the demon-child to his own devices, but by luck, he heard a subtle creak in the floorboards from the stage room. Harvey made a beeline for it, opening the big glass doors. “Jimmy?” He called. When he received no answer, Harvey was suddenly filled with a sense of dread. Something was most definitely wrong.
On instinct, Harvey placed his hand on his gun, which was located on his hip.
3 Rounds still on the inside.
“Jimmy?” Harvey called carefully. Chairs were strewn all across the room, as everyone had just evacuated, and no one had the chance to clean them up. It seemed deadly quiet, compared to only moments ago, where it was silent. The quiet only proved Jimmy was actively hiding, and for good reason. He must be plotting against the man.
The man nearly startled hearing something fall behind the stage. This time, he didn’t speak, and slowly approached, very cautious of his movements. Once the man had entered, his eyes locked down. A fallen microphone on the wooden floor. He exhaled softly-
Harvey heard his light footsteps before he even saw him. The boy launching off the elevated stage to pounce on the man, holding something sharp, to harm Harvey. The grown man immediately dodged the attack and fired.
Luckily, Harvey was never a good shot like his old man. The bullet rang past Jimmy, much to both of their surprise. The sound bounced off the walls and knocked Jimmy off course, and the boy hit the floor without even touching Harvey. The man would be shocked, but he knew better than to dawdle. He began to restrain the boy. Jimmy shook his head of brown curls violently, the letter opener still in hand. “Let go of me!”
“You tried to stab me you little brat!”
“You’d deserve it! You’re always so mean to me!” Jimmy screeched, managing to poke Harvey in the knee. With how the boy was angled, he couldn’t apply enough pressure to break the skin, but it had the desired effect.
Harvey jumped off, giving Jimmy the half-second to get to his feet. The curly-haired boy growled like a feral animal. Harvey never seen anything like it. The boy never had someone who was willing to stoop to his level, and it was causing him to go rapid. The man glanced down at the boy’s hand and his stomach dropped.
A sharpened letter opener.
Swiftly, Harvey trapped the boy’s arm by his side and took own free hand to pry the letter opener from the boy’s hands. “Stop! Or I’ll tell the police!” Jimmy hissed.
“What? So you can end up killing me?!” Harvey questioned in disbelief, managing to get the letter opener across the floor and far away from the two.
“That was mine!”
Jimmy began squirming like crazy, trying to get close enough to bite Harvey. Harvey fumed at the display. Imagine if he hadn’t pulled out his gun. And who was Jimmy to try jumping at him with his newfound dagger only to proceed to try to bite him as a last resort?
Such an unruly act to match an unruly child.
Harvey grunted, yanking the boy close to his chest and swatting his backside in indignation. Honestly, Harvey himself hadn’t been planning on doing that, but the reaction was not what he’d expect out of the hellspawn named Jimmy.
The boy frowned, tense as a rod against Harvey, even though the opportunity to bite him was right there. His cheeks were flushed and he wouldn’t even look Harvey, his enemy, in the eye. Harvey was astonished at this discovery. He had never seen Jimmy like this. So caught off guard, so flustered. So vulnerable.
Harvey had to restrain himself from grinning at the reaction, keeping his face hard and stern, pulling the boy back and slightly coming down to look in the boy’s eyes.
“I can’t believe you.”
A straight lie, he most definitely could believe it.
Harvey then scooped the boy up in a fireman’s carry and strolled his way to the elevator. Now he had an effective plan.
Jimmy seemed to snap out of his catatonic state and immediately went back to struggling. “Put me down! Put me down, you asshole!” Harvey tutted, patting the boy’s rear in warning, much to the boy’s dismay.”Watch your mouth. I’ve had enough with your naughty mischief. I’m going to make sure this lesson sticks.”
This was the one occasion Jimmy willingly shut his mouth.
Harvey hesitated on which floor he should go to. Maybe to Jimmy’s room, but for all Harvey knew, there were more weapons on there. So he sighed through his nose and pressed the 1st floor button. Along the wait, Harvey shifted Jimmy over his shoulder, his mind going wild.
He could never imagine having Jimmy so close without either of them losing a finger or a bit of sanity.
Once the doors opened Harvey bolted to his door, and his hand once again paused at the knob. He craned his neck to glare at Jimmy, despite the fact he was sure Jimmy couldn’t actually see the glare. “No more pranks right?” Harvey snarled. “N-No,” Jimmy grumbled, meekly seesawing his weight a bit, only stopping once Harvey rested his hand casually on his bum. Harvey couldn’t put enough swing into if he was actually planning on swatting the boy, due to their position, but the idea was there.
“You sure about that? I’m the one in charge here, Jimmy, and I don’t appreciate lies.” Harvey chastised. Jimmy squirmed under his scrutiny and pouted. “Glass. Under your pillow.”
“Harvey snorted, patting the boy almost in a mock encouraging way. A dark chuckle escaped his lips. “Aw, you are going get it.”
Once the two entered the room, Harvey put the boy down, and noted that the boy refused to look him in the eye. “Clean up the glass, Jimmy.” Harvey raised an eyebrow and turned the boy around to the bed, sending him forward with a sharp swat to the seat of his pants. Jimmy squeaked but didn’t dare comment, swiftly brushing the glass away and fluffing up the sheets, so the glass was cleared.
“I did it.” Jimmy murmured.
Harvey merely nodded and sat down on his bed, pulling Jimmy to stand between his knees. They sat in long silence, and Jimmy began to fidget with worry. “Wh-What are you going to do, Harvey?”
The man tapped his pointer finger on Jimmy’s wrist thoughtfully. “I’m going to take you over my knee for a sound spanking, Jimmy.”
The boy’s eyes bulged and he then struggled with new found strength. “The fuck you will!” Harvey allowed him to struggle, rolling his eyes before pulling Jimmy over his knee with ease.
“Rape! Rape!” Jimmy screeched, kicking his legs out. “Keep screaming, no one else is in the building but you and me.” Jimmy whimpered, and his struggle turned meek. Harvey rested his hand on the small of Jimmy’s back, and hooked his finger in the boy’s pants.
Jimmy tensed and turned his upper half to look at Harvey in disbelief. “You can’t!”
“After nearly burning down the whole building, I’m sure I can.” With that being said, Harvey yanked them down, revealing Jimmy’s pale bottom. He patted it, gently, rubbing on Jimmy’s back. “Anything you want to say to me?”
Jimmy heaved with nerves, before turning to Harvey in distaste. His throat was suddenly dry and his lips felt cracked. He licked them absently. “Fuck you.”
That’s when the first hit cracked on his right cheek. Jimmy sucked in a sharp breath. He would have fallen forward had Harvey not put his hand around his waist. Then another, then another.
Harvey had a history with spankings. He’d fallen victim to them in his adolescence and he even dealt them out to others in his adulthood, but in that stage of life, it was more for fun. But here he is, with this vicious child over his lap, and he could just barely contain his amusement at how poetic it seemed.
Jimmy stayed stubbornly quiet, feeling Harvey’s hand peppering up his bare ass, and eventually, the building heat and dull ache was getting to him. “You won’t get away with this,” Jimmy grit out. “Oh?” Harvey hummed quietly.
“I'm going to tell my mother you hurt me, and she’s going to call the police and-”
“All this ranting,” Harvey groaned, swatting at his sit-spots as he scolded. “As if your mother would take your word for it. I’d happily explain to her that I only took you over my knee for a tanning. Hell, she might even praise me for it.”
Jimmy flushed at the idea, so Harvey added, jokingly. “If I were you, I’d keep it to myself. But just know I’m not opposed to telling her myself.” This brought a whimper out of the boy, and Harvey slowed down the spanks, his swats now directed more on the undercurve, so Jimmy would focus on his words. “Now, let’s talk about all the naughty stuff you’ve done up till this point.”
“I’m innocent,” Jimmy whined
“Liar. What about Amy?”
Jimmy remained quiet, and Harvey reeled back and swatted his thigh in warning, causing Jimmy to squeak. “I only took her toys.”
“Don’t forget you burnt her hand. She just wanted to be friends and you hurt her instead.”
“I wasn’t trying to get her killed!”
“If that was the case you would have called for help,” Harvey informed calmly.
“But then I’d get in trouble,” Jimmy grumbled out, not seeing the point of the argument. Harvey sent a sharp swat at his bum for his attitude. “And where’d that land you?” He sneered once again, but when he didn’t get a response, he knew he had to keep his cool and be the stern one here. “Then what did you do?”
“I gave her whiskey,” Jimmy admitted. “But I never told her to jump down the stairs!”
Harvey sighed. “Surely.” He didn’t know if he should take Jimmy’s word for it, but he kept his voice strict. “She was a good kid, Jimmy. I bet she had a promising future and everything, and you took that away.”
“I didn’t-” Jimmy sniffled, and rubbed his nose violently. “I didn’t mean to kill her.”
“And then there was doctor Bose-”
“He was actually mean to me!” Jimmy cried out.
“Despite that,” Harvey spoke, practically ignoring Jimmy’s childish cries. “You don’t accuse people of such things. What if someone finds out you’re lying, and then when it actually does happen to you, no one will believe it.”
“My mother would,” Jimmy hissed.
“And because your mother did the last time, Doctor Bose took his own life. Is that what you wanted?”
“I don’t care for him,” Jimmy muttered. He received an even harder swat for that, and he squeaked at that. “Good, so we can move onto the last thing: nearly burning down the hotel.”
“Seriously Jimmy? You could have killed everyone-”
“You locked me in the basement-”
Harvey clicked his tongue, pausing his spanking altogether. “Only after you shot me with a crossbow.” He broke into a rhythmic pattern, starting with light taps before delivering the actual smack before repeating on a different spot. “But after you shocked me I destroyed all your things, so I think we’re even on that. But you could have even got yourself killed, just to prove a point. Do you know how upset your mother would be?”
Jimmy’s eyes began to water a bit. “Yeah, the hotel damages are a lot, I know.” Harvey frowned. “No, that’s not what I mean. You know how upset she’d be if you died?” The young boy only sniffled, and Harvey suddenly felt an ache in his chest. “She’s always by your side and you’re constantly worrying her. The least you could do is stay out of trouble. If you had died she’d be left with nothing, you understand me?” Harvey’s voice sounded agitated and harsh at the end, and only then did the tears begin to fall.
“I’m sorry!” Jimmy cried. “I just, I didn’t, I never meant-”
“If you ever feel angry it’s not right to take it out on others. And it’s not okay to lie, ever.”
“I’m sorry, Harvey! I’ll be good, I’ll be good!” Now Jimmy was sobbing. Harvey sighed, finally having gotten through to the troubled child. “Let’s get through with this.” He titled the boy forward on his knee and began a sharp blur of swats towards the now very bright pair of cheeks in front of him.
Jimmy was exhausted from struggling and instead grabbed a hold of Harvey’s leg as he wailed, praying that the man would stop.
And when he finally did, Jimmy couldn’t stop crying. He actually felt guilty for once in his life, and it felt horrible, practically on the same level of pain in his ass. Harvey sat Jimmy up on his knee, mindfully of his freshly tanned hide, and cautiously hugged the boy, to comfort him. Jimmy didn’t hug him back but he clearly was soaking up the affection.
Harvey murmured soft words to Jimmy, repeatedly saying, ”It’s over. I’m not mad anymore. It’s okay.”
“I’m s-s-sorry.” Jimmy hiccupped, gasping for breath. If he kept this up, he’d make himself sick, something Harvey didn’t want to happen, especially not on his shirt.
He patted the boy’s back, though not unkindly. “Now, Jimmy, I’m going to need you to listen to me, okay?”
“O-Okay.” Jimmy rasped. Harvey pointed to the far corner. “I’m going to need you to stand in the corner for a bit, okay?”
“I don’t-” Harvey once again ushered the boy where he wanted to be and patted his head, but this time it wasn’t in a patronizing way. “I’m going to go get you some food, okay?”
Jimmy reached down to pull his pants up. “I already ate-”
This was also a lie. He’d been locked away in the bloody basement and wouldn’t have had time to eat.
On instinct, Harvey swatted the boy, making him drop his already fallen pants. “No lying, and keep your pants down. That’s part of your punishment.”
“I’ll be back in less than 5 minutes-”
Harvey took his time to enter the kitchen and grab something quick but filling for the boy. He’d planned on giving the poor thing a grilled cheese, but that’d take a while, so he grabbed a basic yogurt container instead, throwing some fruit inside, before making his way back upstairs.
Fortunately for the both of them, Jimmy was still in the corner, his red backside on display for all to see. Harvey could only shake his head, not that Jimmy could see him. The man noted how Jimmy flinched when the door opened, his shoulders up to his ears in fear. Harvey exhaled, to audible show it was only him.
Harvey helped himself onto the bed and sat there, absently mixing the yogurt up with a spoon. Jimmy truly could be a good kid, soft-spoken and apologetic for his many mistakes, and maybe even improve upon himself, with the right hand. “Jimmy,” Harvey called softly, patting the bed beside him. Jimmy slowly turned around. He was no longer crying, just sniffling, and his face was flushed. He crestfallen but approached, hesitantly getting on the bed beside Harvey.
Feeling bad about the kid’s predicament, Harvey gently pulled up the boy’s boxers, causing Jimmy to yelp, but left it at that. Harvey would’ve pulled up his pants too, but Jimmy kicked them off on his own accord. Harvey was put more at ease to pick the boy up again and rest him on his lap again, holding the spoon full of yogurt to the boy’s mouth.
“I can feed myself,” Jimmy complained, albeit with less conviction. “I know you can, kiddo,” Harvey praised, even though it was probably unneeded. “But I’m going to do it this time.” In reality, Harvey was only a bit hesitant to give Jimmy the spoon, because the far end could be considered sharp with enough force.
Jimmy fussed for a few moments, but when Harvey didn’t budge, he ate it. Harvey got another spoonful and Jimmy turned his head. “I don’t like the fruit chucks.” He whined. Now Harvey raised an eyebrow, tapping Jimmy’s bottom in warning. “I didn’t ask what you want. I said I was going to feed you.” With that warning in mind, Jimmy took the spoonful and the next without complaint.
This on for a bit, before Harvey spoke again. “I know you can do better, Jimmy,” Harvey claimed, before looking Jimmy in the eye. “So from now on, if you act up I’ll take you over the knee again.” Jimmy then whined again behind the spoon, staring pleadingly at Harvey, but the man was unphased.
“Don’t give me that look. I know you’ll rethink being a brat after that spanking, and you won’t even have to worry about me doing it again as long as you stay out of trouble.”
Only then did Harvey smirk at the boy knowingly. “But knowing you, there’s no chance in hell that’ll happen.” Jimmy pouted but wisely chose not to answer.
Once the boy finished, Harvey was fine with holding him close to his chest, comfortable silence between the two. He even played with the boy’s curls, getting a pleased hum from the child. “You’re mother should be back soon,” He mumbled, more to himself as he looked at the clock.
Jimmy looked up at Harvey in fear, and without even saying anything, Harvey knew what his question was.
“Don’t worry, I won’t tell her unless you give me a reason to. Which you haven’t... yet .” He practically whispered the last part. Because Rose would eventually find out, just how was the question. He held Jimmy’s head under his chin. “Get some sleep, kid.”
Jimmy didn’t need to be told twice.
Harvey sat, with the boy in his arms. The same boy he had been ready to thrash the other day for shooting him with a crossbow and getting him sent to the hospital. Now he felt a sense of responsibility for Jimmy. And he wouldn’t hesitate to step up to the plate when needed for the boy.
If not for him, then maybe his troubled mother.
With that final thought, Harvey turned off the lamp and joined the boy in blissful rest.