Chapter Text
Tommy stood at the front door, his backpack slung over his shoulder, tapping his foot impatiently. Phil had insisted on taking him to school today but he’d gotten a call and said it would only take a second but at this rate he’ll be late.
“Dad! Hurry up, I’m gonna be late if we don’t leave now.” Tommy calls out, he hears a shuffling upstairs and suddenly Phil is coming down the stairs, holding the phone between his head and shoulder, a sweater haphazardly thrown on and his bag barely closed. He gestures wildly for Tommy to make his way to the car and Tommy grumbles to himself, opening the front door and heading towards the car.
He settles into the front seat as Phil opens the driver door and slides into the seat, fumbling around a bit before putting the keys in the ignition and starting the drive, one hand still holding his phone.
“I understand Mr. Simms, I will have someone send the paperwork to you as soon as I can. I’m sure you’ve seen the news, you’ve seen how busy I’ve been this past week-- No, Blade can’t come down, you know how this arrangement works, everything goes through me, Blade does not participate in this part of the work-- I don’t care what you think of that, that’s the agreement and you will have to respect that. Now if you excuse me, I’ll get one of my people to send you the paperwork this morning but I have to go now, I am hanging up now. Goodbye.” Phil grips his phone and Tommy watches to see if it’ll crack like last time but Phil settles for putting it in the cup holder and settling the hand on the wheel.
“So what’s your day looking like today?” Phil asks after a few deep breaths as the tension from his call fades and he settles back into the role of father instead of hero.
“I’ve got a history test and apparently my gym class is merging with another one today because their teacher had to take time off.”
“How are you finding gym class so far?”
“If you’re asking if I seem like a normal kid, I do. I make sure not to be too good.”
“Okay you caught me, don’t go getting cocky though. How’s your music class going?”
“I don’t understand why I have to take it! It’s not like I’m going to need it, I’m gonna be too busy kicking villain ass to need to know about majors and minors.”
“You’re still young, you may find that the hero business is not one you want to go into and you’ll be thankful for all the experience in other fields that you have.”
“Oh please, look at who you are talking to! I’m this close to taking Techno down in a fight, I have to be a hero.”
“You don’t have to be a hero, besides you know that Techno pulls his punches when it comes to training, he does it with me still and we’ve been fighting for years. I know you’re desperate to be a hero but you know the rules.”
“I know I know, I have to wait until I’m done school and I have to prove that I can control my powers but you won’t tell me what I need to do to prove it anyways, at this rate I’ll be your secretary and in charge of filing away your mission reports.”
“Secretary work is honest work, they are the backbone of what we do. You are too young to be out there in the field, you need more time to mature and then you’ll find true control over your powers. Continue training with us and once you are ready you’ll be unstoppable, the bad guys will tremble in your presence.”
“Okay so I can’t do fieldwork but when can I start to drive?”
“You’re killing me, slow down a sec. I can’t believe you’re old enough to drive. I’ve got some free time in the upcoming weeks and we can start then, but you gotta start reading up for your road test.”
“I spent all of last week reading up. I’m gonna be a great driver, maybe that’ll be a part of my hero qualifications. Tommy Craft: Fast, agile and epic driver. The streets should be scared of me.”
“You’re not helping your case. I’m glad to hear you’ve been studying though, I’m proud of you, even if you’re growing up too fast for my liking. Tonight me and Techno have the mayor’s ball and I tried to get out of it but with all the stuff going on with Alan Simms we’ve gotta be careful with our public image.”
“Okay, bring me home some ice cream.”
“What kind?”
“Cookie dough.”
“Of course, I’m glad to see your tastes haven’t changed at least.” Phil smiles, pulling up to the drop off section of the school. “Here we are, have a good day at school kiddo” Phil says, ruffling Tommy’s hair as Tommy unbuckles.