Chapter Text
The bed was stiff, it was unclean and far over do for a proper washing. That's his own fault though... He can't do anything right. No wonder why he isn't an actual part of the team, not even able to he want himself.
He shifted in his bed, tossing and turning, his clothes felt too loose, his tee-shirt was stained, and his eyes were glued to the ceiling. Watching the fan spin around, actually getting a move on with it's life...
What has his life come too? Comparing himself to a fan. That's just... sad. Could things get any sadder than this?
He should change, get dressed, do anything. Sure, it was past eight P.M, and he had skipped dinner just to hide away in his room...
Yet, he can't seem to get up, or even try to. He just wants to close his eyes and never... never open them agai-
Knock knock.
Great...
"Who is it?" He called out to the door, hoping they'd maybe just leave.
"It's Graham." His brother replied. His tone sounding strained.
"Yeah...?" Cody said to the door, trying to not sound like a total jack ass.
"Uh, Dad's worried about you... we all are, you haven't been eating, or sleeping like normal, and uh, you've been avoiding us... even the bots noticed." He said through the door, causing Cody to sigh, he knew that those song and dance wouldn't be long until people started picking up on his bullshit...
"I'm fine." He shouted to the door, just barely louder than his normal tone, his throat was itchy, when's the last time he drank anything?
"Cody... would you please let me in?" Graham asked, Cody rolled his eyes. If he let him in, he'd have to put on a jacket and shit to cover his beyond ruined arms, and, his room was already like, eighty degrees... serves him right for never airing it out.
"Just... go away. I'm fine, just tired." And technically, it wasn't exactly a lie. He was tired, and, since he didn't know what was wrong with him, it wasn't really wrong for him to claim himself as fine.
There was a long bit of silence after that, he'd hoped that Graham did indeed, give up.
Until he heard a sigh from the other end.
"Fine... but, you know we're here for you, right? When you're ready to talk, we'll be there." Bullshit, they weren't there for him the first nine years of his life, why bother now?
He groaned, rolling over to face the wall, maybe he'd watch whatever comes on his for you page layer, but right now...
He's too exhausted, he just wants things to end, it's a burden, he's a burden... He doesn't even have the energy to just put an end to his 'suffering', how...
God, he's a disappointment.
Graham didn't get another response after that, pushing wouldn't do much. He's just... he's worried! His baby brother is clearly suffering, slowly killing himself even! And he doesn't have the answers! He's the smart guy, he should know what's wrong...
But he doesn't, and, it makes him feel helpless, he's a trained rescuer, why is he just so... helpless?
He started walking back to the kitchen, they'd basically formed a routine of checking on Cody, nobody had said anything about it yet, but Graham was smart, or, smart enough to figure this out atleast, he knew what they were all thinking.
Cody's on suicide watch.
And, nobody has the guts to admit it, not like he's one to talk... Cody's probably knows it too, even if it isn't official, but they're all thinking it... thinking that, one day, they could lose Cody, to his own hands.
Utter bullshit. And he's getting tired of waiting around.
He shuffled himself into the kitchen, disappointment written so clearly on his face. Kade had a seat already pulled up for him, inviting him to join them.
"Any luck?" Charlie asked, just to get a headshake from Graham. "No... he's still pushing us away, insisting he's fine. Dad, it's getting bad, this isn't the first time he's locked himself in his room all day, and if this keeps going? It isn't going to be the last." He said with such sorrow in his voice, desperation flowing strongly.
"I know son, I know..." Charlie had practically whispered out, where... where did he go wrong? How did he screw up so badly to put his own child in so much misery.
"Guess it's my turn next?..." Dani asked, that's normally how it went. Dad, Kade, Graham, and then her. So, she was surprised when he shook his head.
"No, I shouldn't have pulled you all into this... I wanted to wait until he's ready to talk, but I don't think that'll happen." He said, getting up from his chair.
"I'll go talk to him, and I'm not leaving until he talks back." He started walking towards the door, he should've atleast tried to press a little, not...
Not have waited until it got this bad.
He feels like a bad father, he probably is. His children are out every day, risking their lives, and Cody... he never considered how Cody could be in danger, he didn't pick up on this until it was too late.
He thought back to about a month ago, when Graham had called a family meeting. Cody was at Dr. Green's lab, which already set off a red flag. A family meeting without one if the family members?
But, everyone had guessed what the meeting was about, Cody, which is why he was excluded. He doesn't like to think of some things suggested in the meeting.
He got to Cody's door, he couldn't see any light coming from under the door. Great, he was either sleeping, or just laying down in the dark, both aren't great. He'd hopefully managed to have a productive conversation with him.
He knocked on the door, loud enough to be heard, hopefully not loud enough to wake him if he were sleeping. "Cody? Are you awake?" He asked gently.
He could hear the springs in his mattress move, so he assumed it was a yes.
"Can we talk, son? I know, you're probably tired of hearing that, but, I just want to chat." He said, trying to keep his voice calm and welcoming.
Again, he got not response. It made him worry, and that worry made him feel sick. He shouldn't... he shouldn't have to think about the possibility that the reason he wasn't responsive was because he was on a rope, or took a bottle of pills, or... God. He knew being a father was hard, but he didn't think it'd ever be like this.
"Son, I'm not leaving until you come out of there. I'm not going to force the door open, but I'm staying right here." He said, moving to sit at the base of the door, back to it's wall.
"...It's not worth it." He released a breathe that he didn't even know he was holding, relieved to hear his son's voice.
"What isn't worth it?" He asked the door.
"Me, just go away." Cody told the police officer, his voice was so drained, so tired.
"Son, I'll wait out here all night if I have to, I'm not leaving until I can see your face." He told the boy behind the door, his voice wasn't even frustrated. He couldn't imagine himself getting frustrated with Cody for this.
He heard a small groan on the other side of the door, in his eyes, Cody had every right to be frustrated with his family. Charlie could see how, and why. The only person he's upset with is himself.
"You're wasting your time..." Cody said, Charlie rest his wrists on his knees, sighing.
"No son, I don't think I am. If it involves my children, it isn't a waste." He told the teen. It broke him, it was still breaking him to hear just how prescient Cody was on handling whatever he was going through alone.
"I'm fine." He heard the teen grumble.
"Okay, if you're fine, could you come out and talk?" He asked.
Inside the room had gotten silent, as Cody thought of what to say and or do next.
"No." He finally made out, nothing else to add, just no. Charlie sighed, rubbing his eyes, he accidentally wiped away a tear. And, he wasn't a man who cried easily.
"Can I come in instead then?" He requested. And if the answer was still no, he was going to camp out here until Cody did come out. He isn't sure what the plan is after that, but he'll have to come out eventually to use the bathroom, or eat, if he was still interested in living...
Let's not go to those thoughts.
"... Give me... a few minutes, okay?" Cody said in defeat, Charlie let a sad smile slip onto his face, happy to know he'd hopefully gotten through to him, even to a small extent.
"Alright." Charlie said, patience was key here, he didn't want Cody to feel like he was being attacked, but he also didn't want him to continue to hide away.
He heard a loud creak, probably from the bed inside. He wishes that Cody would just let him fix it already, instead of trying to sleep with such an old frame.
Next, he heard a bit of shuffling, what he could guess was Cody maybe cleaning up a little in there? He's never had a clean room, but something tells him that he's cleaning up used tissues and dirty clothes, not toys or games.
He stood up, now waiting at the door, steps could be heard approaching said door, before it finally opened.
"Hey dad..." Cody said, and, he looked like a wreck. His hair was a mess, large eyebags under his eyes, he was wearing a stained grey shirt, with a white undershirt. His shorts seemed to loose, of course Cody lost weight, another thing he didn't notice.
Cody turned around, walking back into the dark room, yeah, it was still a mess. But not like normal, most things that the teen liked, like basketball, was shoved into a box in the corner. Most of the room just bring dusty, clothes on the ground, and the trash being full of uneaten food.
Cody had already climbed back into his bed, turned to face the wall. Charlie walked over to the bed, sitting on it next to the blonde one.
"Cody? Could I turn the light on?" He asked quietly, just getting a shrug from him. "Sure..." He muttered out.
The police man gently clapped his hands twice, the automatic lighting flickered on, showing the not so great state of the room.
"Son, what's going on? Why are you hiding?" Charlie asked the boy, placing his hand on his shoulder. While the boy barely reacted to the movement, he still flinched, something that Charlie felt the need to worry about.
"'M not hiding... I'm just not a kid anymore, I'm not happy all the time..." He told Charlie, while it did technically make sense, because everyone grows up, the other three never went through a phase like this, only... only after their mom died.
"Son, that's fine, you don't have to be smiling twenty four seven. But there's a difference between not being as happy over every little thing, and not being happy at all." He told the teen, who only gave a small excuse of a sigh.
"What's so good about being happy?..." He muttered out, causing the chief's eyebrow to raise rather high.
"Well... it feels good. It'sfeels nice to feel safe, and spend time doing what you love, or with the peopleyou love. Thsys why we do what we do, son." Charlie spoke in a soft tone.
Cody groaned, turning to face the man. "No! Happy didn't get us anywhere, happy is something everyone wants and will fight for, happy always gets ripped away from us! Rather mom dying or fucking time travel. I'm, done. I'm done trying, I'm done chasing it, there's no point." He shouted, before his face immediately went to regret. He opened his mouth, as if he were about to speak, about to apologize, but he couldn't. He closed it, slowly rolling over on his side.
He made a small hiccup, curling himself into a small ball, trying to hide from the world in his covers. "I'm... sorry dad, just- just leave... I'm not worth your time." He spoke sadly.
"I'm not wasting anything." Charlie replied, scooting closer, he started stroking Cody's head, hoping to be able to offer some sort of comfort to the boy.
"Sorry... I'm s-sorry..." He whispered out, whimpering. "You don't have anything to be sorry for..." Charlie said back.
"I... I kept ignoring you, and the others... I don't get put of bed, I yelled at you..." Cody cried, budging up the ends of his blankets, giving him something to hold on to.
"That's okay son. You were hurting, you still are. I'm not mad, nobody is, we're just... worried..." He finally said.
Cody turned around, looking at hid dad with teary eyes, Charlie opened an arm out, letting the upset teen dive in for a hug, just sobbing.
"There you go... It's okay Cody, we're going to get you help." He said, moving both his arms to be wrapped around the teen, rubbing circles on his back.
"I promise, nobody is mad." He told the boy.
"R-Really?" Cody asked through his tired cries.
"Really."