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Chapter 2: Family Matters

Day 1

The old Jason Wolfe would've slammed the door shut, run down the stairs screaming and probably started slamming his head into the closest wall. A more mature Jason Wolfe would've calmly smiled and told his son and the hot football jock that was buried deep into said son to clean up before dinner.

But Jason wasn't quite there yet.

So, he opted to take the middle route.

WHAM!

He slammed the door hard, pressing his back against the wooden frame that had started cracking against the force of his movements.

"J - Jason?" Sam stammered from the other side of the room. "H - Hey, you alright?"

"Y -Y - Yeah," Jason replied, realising his voice was unusually high pitched.

Goddamnit!

Get a hold of yourself! It's not like he's cheating on you or anything!

But he's your son! And he's having sex_!_

Although... You don't really have the right to call him your son...

Jason glanced at the ceiling and whimpered softly. "Please let this be a dream..."

It was strange... Despite having multiple sexual escapades with Sam, he just wasn't ready to find his son offering his ass to someone else outside of the family. It was a sure sign that his little boy was growing up... but at the same time... Sam wasn't his little boy... Never had been... Sam was his son... but never his little boy...

"Ow! Todd! Quit it!" Sam snarled from inside the room.

"I can't," Todd whispered back. "Dude, we're stuck like this for at least a good fifteen minutes."

Feh, I can stay hard for longer than that.

"Jason -"

"Just come down when you're all cleaned up," Jason squeaked, shakily pulling himself away from the door. His mind was swirling with thoughts that he could be losing Sam.

Like massive ten tonnes weights, horrifying revelations came slamming down on his head, forcing his head to hang lower and lower.

WHAM!

Sam had a boyfriend... or at least a casual fling and he hadn't been aware of it...

WHAM!

Despite two years of living with each other, Jason really didn't know Sam outside of the advice-giving, cheery wolf...

WHAM!

Sam was in senior year... and that meant he'd be going to college soon...

By the time he entered the kitchen, he was staring gloomily at his feet.

"I take it you walked in on Todd with his rod up Sam's ass?"

Jason looked up to find Brett leaning casually against the kitchen counter, a big, cocky smile on his broad, muscular frame.

"You knew!?" he cried.

"Of course I knew," his Rottweiler replied, slipping into dining room. The television had been shut off and Jason noted that the setting on the dining table was such that there was a single set of plates isolated from the other three. He knew exactly where he was supposed to sit.

"You knew and didn't tell me!?"

"Jason, I'm your mate not your mother," Brett replied, taking a seat. Jason gloomily sat down on the isolated dining set. "That said, however, you really should've seen it considering how he's your son."

That hurt... especially since it was true. "I know... I feel lousy..."

"I bet it's also all coming crashing down that Sam might be leaving us, right?"

"Yeah..."

"Empty Nest Syndrome," Brett sighed, folding his arms and smiling warmly. "Jase, you gotta realise that Sam is all grown up now. He was grown up when we found him. He's very well adjusted. I know he loves you but it's more like a brother than a father. There's just... a barrier between you two right now. If you want to break it down and get him to see his dad, you better do it before something else gets in the middle of that."

Like a boyfriend...

"Thing is..." Jason began softly, "I know exactly how to tear it down but it couldn't be harder..."

"You'd be surprised. Sam is very understanding..."

"How do you tell a guy that the truth about what we've been through and his consequent birth?"

Brett shrugged. "There's no 'how' about it, Jase. Just say it."

They heard tentative footsteps coming down from upstairs and they immediately straightened and waited. Sam appeared at the entrance to the dining room. Todd was nowhere to be seen... Until Sam scowled, lunged out of view and pulled the big bear into view.

"Jason... Brett... I'd like you two to meet my boyfriend... Todd Summers."

"Hey Todd," Brett replied with a cheery smile. "Good for you, Sam."

All eyes suddenly flicked to Jason. Feeling like he was baking under the intensity of their glares, Jason turned away and muttered a faint, 'Hi there'. Sam guided Todd to sit right next to Brett. They sat in awkward silence for a moment, Jason just staring at his empty plate.

"Jason..." Sam began.

For some reason, hearing Sam say his name instead of 'dad' just hurt all the more. "Food is getting cold," he interrupted, reaching out and scooping some stir fry into his plate. He began eating without another word.

A collective sigh escaped from the others as they too began their meals.

Jason finished his meal quicker than everyone else and he got up, announcing he'd go get dessert. He heard someone push their chair back and follow him.

Must be Brett...

Truly, he knew he was wrong to be giving Sam and Todd the cold shoulder. Really, he was happy for them... but at the same time, he felt like Todd was taking his son away... The son who he had two years to get to know and had squandered that time away focusing on how happy he was...

I've been such an idiot...

"Jason..."

He froze.

That wasn't Brett.

He flung around and found Sam standing there, looking terribly apologetic. "Sam..."

"Look, I know this comes as a shock..." Sam said, rubbing the back of his neck - a nervous habit he had picked up from Dan. "I wanted to tell you earlier but..." He chuckled. "How was I supposed to go about it, really? I mean, I know we've been living together for two years but it's still like we're total strangers sometimes."

"I know what you mean," Jason murmured casting his gaze away from Sam. "And I just realised that you might be moving away to college soon..."

"Ha!" Sam laughed. "Are you kidding me? What college would take a mutt like me? I'll be lucky if I can get a degree in hospitality!"

That surprised Jason... Mostly because he had hoped Sam would get a decent job somewhere. Maybe a doctor or a lawyer. "What do you mean? Aren't you planning to go to college?"

Sam placed his hands on his hips and puffed out his chest proudly. "Heck no! I'm going to go into professional writing!"

WHAM! WHAM!

Not only was that a ten tonne weight from the fact that his son was going to be a writer - who never really got a steady flow of income - instead of a successful businessman but also from the fact that Sam wasn't going to college!

"Are you nuts!?" Jason roared, throwing his arms into the air. "No publication will even look at your work unless you have a college degree."

Sam raised an eyebrow in challenge. "So you would believe but you'd be surprised. I've got two world-class publishers fighting for my works. I've got a thirteen-instalment series on my computer ready for editing and publishing. One publisher is offering me a hundred grand plus a 5% of the sales for the series and the other is offering fifteen grand per book as well as a contract for another five books at fifty thousand per book provided they're released within the next five years."

Whoa...

That was a lot of money... He still felt Sam deserved more but...

"Oh yeah and there's the online yiff commissions I do," Sam added, sticking out his tongue playfully. "It's not much but it's fun to do and I'm getting a lot of exposure on the net."

"You're selling pornographic stories online!?"

"And drawings too. Wanna see my art? I mostly do muscle growth and superhero themed stuff since I have such good inspiration."

"Dear god, no," Jason winced shaking his head and backing away slightly. "Sam... When did all this start...?"

The young wolf shrugged innocently. "When Brett gave me that computer and access to the internet."

That was the instant we moved into this house a year and a half ago!

The computer was their gift to Sam to help 'break in' the new house.

"I knew I should've told him to put a cap on that thing..."

"Hey, come on," Sam replied defensively. "Don't blame him. I mean, sure he's my beta reader and he's the one that got Dan to be my agent as well but it was my choice to do go down this path."

WHAM! WHAM!

More ten tonnes weights... This time, each one felt tainted with a bit of betrayal because both Brett and Dan knew about this and hadn't told him. It made him feel like he was the self-centred, nagging parent that was trying to live his life through Sam...

Okay... Calm down, you have to respect Sam's wishes...

He's your son... But he's all grown up...

All... grown... up...

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" he whimpered faintly.

"Well... It's not like I had to, right? You're not my dad or anything."

CRACK!

And that was the world shattering around Jason. He was left completely speechless... and empty... Sam had reached into his chest, pulled out his heart and kicked it to the curb where it was run over by an eighteen wheeler on fire being driven by a thousand demons laughing at his plight.

"I mean, those were just pet names, right?" Sam insisted. "Seriously, we're like six years apart in age. You're really not my dad."

It seemed the opportune moment to say, 'Actually I am... You see...'

But Jason's courage left him. "Yeah," he laughed nervously, "I guess that's true. I'd just like to know if there was a smut peddler living under my roof!" He finished with another laugh and Sam beamed brightly.

"Well, that's not my profession. I write fantasy and sci-fi fusion stories. Occasionally romances. Dan said that he knows a guy who runs a gay book store and is gonna talk to him to see if I can get some of my more homoerotic works on the shelves."

Great... My son is going to be an author of gay porn works... He's going to live in a converted barn somewhere in the country, ploughing fields and his boyfriend all through the day while writing hot guy-on-guy stories for countless horny loons on the internet...

"You know,"_a little voice inside his head began, _"if you just tell him you're his real father, you might actually get a say in this..."

Jason pushed the thought aside and forced a smile. "So, can I get a feature in one of your stories?"

Sam's grin suddenly took on a very strained appearance. "Uh... Who's to say you haven't?"

CRACK!

+1 to horror and humiliation.

-1 to sanity.

Suddenly, Jason imagined those countless horny loons pawing off to images of him performing crazy sexual acts that could only be possible in the realm of fantasy.

Oh god...

"You're the dad of my main character," Sam replied, his smile brightening again. "You provide moral support for the young, dishevelled warrior who must journey to through the Thirteen Realms to collect the Sigils to rebuild Tower Thirteen and stop the Originals from destroying the world."

Wait...

"Is my character... gay...?"

Sam shrugged. "It's implied by my soon-to-be published stories are strictly PG-13 and my character is straight anyway."

Okay... -1 to horror and humiliation...

Sanity levels were still dangerously low but it didn't seem like they were about to get any lower.

Todd entered the room. "Sam? Jason? Is everything okay?"

Jason straightened and nodded. "Yeah... We were just having a little talk..." He felt relieved... slightly disappointed that his son wasn't going to be a college man but relieved that Sam wasn't going to go back to his life as a barely-living self-sufficient adolescent without a future.

"Oh... Great!" Todd beamed. "Well... I'll leave you two to it then."

Thinking about Brett in the other room, Jason said, "Todd, can you give this to Brett? I bet he's waiting for it." He pulled open the refrigerator and pulled out a large, plate covered by a large, plastic dome that completely obscured its contents. "And for the love of god, let Brett open it!"

"Why?" Todd replied, taking the plate with a puzzled look on his face. "What happens if I open it?"

Sam and Jason exchanged glanced. "Chocogeddon," they replied in unison.

"Huh?"

"Just do as he says, bud," Sam replied, patting Todd's shoulder. "Trust me. And when you set it down, stand clear."

"Right..."

Todd left the room and Jason watched him go.

"So is he the one?"

"Nah," Sam replied with a faint smile. "Todd is special, yeah, but he and I aren't meant to be anymore than friends with benefits. We're just 'boyfriends' right now but I know he'll find someone else eventually."

Oh...

"What about you?" Jason replied worriedly.

Shrugging, Sam said, "Someday I know I'll be with the one I'm destined to be with. But you have to be patient after all. Part of being mortal is knowing when to change. Change too soon and it'll destroy you. Change too late and you wouldn't have changed at all."

Right...

That was a sign... definitely a sign.

It's not too late for me to change...

Jason reached out and grasped Sam's shoulders... slowly pulling the younger wolf closer to him and pressing Sam's body against his chest. "Sam... You matter a lot to me. I'll support you in whatever you choose to do. But I'd like to be kept in the loop as well, okay?" He held Sam at arm's length. "I love you Sam. I love you like a brother."

Or a son.

Sam sniggered and took a step away. "Yeah... I love you too Jason... I love Brett and Dan too... They're my family. We're all family. I never want to lose any of you. That's one change I'm unwilling to undertake." He turned to Jason with a bright grin. "And that's the thing about changes in all mortals. It's still a choice. We have the final say on how we change. Not anyone else."

Smiling back, Jason said, "I'll keep that in mind."

And I want to change, Sam... I want to change for you.

Brett and Dan are already so close to you... I want to get closer. I want to know you and be your father.

But I have to earn that right... and not just declare it.

"So what do you say after dinner we pop my favourite movie in and sit down as a family?"

Sam's eyebrows shot up. "You mean Brett's 'Envious Temptation' movie?"

_Envious Temptation_was the one of Brett's movies that he had made as a porn star that Jason had managed to sit through completely without ending up covering in cum and naked in the arms of either his mate, Sam or Dan. That was given to the fact that he had forced himself to resist temptation and he'd lose fifty bucks if he did.

Only after the movie ended did he end up rubbing that fifty bucks - among other things - into Brett's face.

"No!" Jason exclaimed with a laugh. "I meant Gates."

Sam smiled and nodded. "Sure! That movie is -"

CRASH!

A strangled cry erupted from the dining room.

Both Jason and Sam turned towards the cry before exchanging glances.

They shared a single thought.

"Chocogeddon."

Jason surged into the dining table to find Todd on the floor, the thick, chocolate mud cake covering him and Brett all over him, tearing off his clothes and licking the last bits of chocolate from them. Brett was literally eating the chocolate off Todd.

"Get 'im off! Get 'im off!" Todd cried, flailing madly. "For the love of god! Get 'im off!"

Sam winced with a slight grin on his face. "Sorry, man, you're on your own. When Brett gets like this, you just have to bear it." His grin grew broader as he nudged Jason's ribs. "Get it? 'Bear it'?"

Rolling his eyes, Jason folded his arms across his chest and just watched as Brett practically tore all of Todd's clothes off, reducing the brown bear to a state of semi-nudity. It surprised him how ticklish the bear was and the way he giggled and snorted reminded him of a friend he had once...

Kevin...

Jason became lost in the memory of the friend who had driven the world to the brink of destruction only to commit suicide at the very end to give Jason the opportunity to destroy the evil controlling him. He still felt angry thinking about how a Malefactor had controlled Kevin and used his friend's fears to drive almost ruin Enria.

Some degree of relief washed over him knowing that he had rid the world of the Malefactors... The cost had been high... but the world seemed safe...

I just wish Kevin and Chris could be here to see the world we made...

"Don't worry, Todd," he said, "he'll be done in about two minutes."

"I won't - hehehe - be here in - ahahaha! No! Not there! - two minutes!"

Jason decided to take the time to get to know his son a little more. Two minutes was a lot of time for some bonding. If they were ever going to be more than just 'brothers', they'd have to know each other better.

"So, you mind if I get to know you better in the next two minutes?"

Raising his eyebrows, Sam's tail flicked upwards and stood on end, ready for the challenge. "Okay, so long as I get to ask you a question too."

Jason felt his own tail straightening and a grin crawling onto his face. "Alright." A thought occurred to him. "And every time you're unwilling to answer a question, you lose a piece of clothing."

That caught Sam off-guard and his son's tail dropped slightly. "Is this an interrogation or a strip search?"

"A little come Column A and a little from Column B," Jason answered with a shrug. He gave Sam his most challenging smirk. "You game?"

"Somehow, I don't think I'll get out of it either way..." Sam shook his head and nodded towards the lounge room. "Let's get some privacy."

Once away from Brett and Todd, they sat down on the lounge couch with a sizable gap between them. Jason felt a little nervous and a little guilty for somehow turning his innocent little question-and-answer game into something sexual. Still, this wasn't about getting Sam naked. It was about knowing Sam's boundaries.

If his son couldn't answer a question, Jason would know what boundary not to cross.

"Let me go first," Sam said, regarding Jason sincerely. "Okay... Favourite colour?"

What? That's it?

"Red," Jason answered simply with a shrug. Then he realised he didn't even know Sam's favourite colour. "Your favourite colour?"

"Blue."

Yikes...

Couldn't get more different than red and blue... A feeling of incompatibility was starting to creep into Jason.

"Favourite food?"

Jason had to think about that for a while. As an amateur chef, he had lots of favourite foods. "Well... Um... If I had to pick one... I'd have to say..." He paused again. "Creamy seafood risotto with king prawns, butterfly fish, lobster with seasonal vegetables, watercress and little bits of ham with a slight drizzling of olive oil. You?"

"Raspberry Sorbet."

He hid a wince. It was complexity versus simplicity... and for some reason, simplicity won.

"Favourite sport?"

"Soccer. Your favourite sport?"

"Gotta have to say it's football."

Jason went rigid.

What? Really?

That he hadn't expected. By the way Sam had ignored the football game, he had guessed his son was adverse to the game. But... if Sam's favourite sport was football... why had he rejected all of Coach Townes offers to join the team?

"Why?" Jason asked. "I thought you hated football."

Sam blushed and grinned sheepishly. "Well... I really like big guys. Big muscled guys like you and Brett. I guess it's why I was attracted to Todd a bit... And football... well... It's basically, those guys are smoking. Seeing all of them running around with their tight bubble butts, chasing a ball and crawling on top of one another..." Sam shuddered and Jason noticed he drooled slightly.

Smiling, Jason unfolded his arms and slid a little closer to his son. "Big guys, huh? So if Brett, me and Dan all got into the one bed you'd jump in without a second thought?"

"If you were all naked and crawling all over each other like horny dogs, hell yeah!" Sam replied with a big grin. "Okay! My turn!" There was just something about Sam's grin that Jason didn't like... "What is it about a woman that scares you the most?"

Jason recoiled. "Wh - What!? Why would you ask that!?"

Sam grinned innocently. "Because I've heard of 'painfully straight' but 'painfully gay' is something I've never seen before. I mean, every time you see a woman half-naked, you scream and burry your face into the nearest male crotch!"

It was true... Whenever those fur conditioner ads came up on TV, Jason would scream and he would dive into Brett or Sam's crotches. Just thinking or seeing a woman naked struck fear in his heart.

"It's the..." Jason coughed. "The... erm... boobies."

Sam's grin grew broader. "'Boobies'," he repeated.

Jason blushed deeply, grateful his fur would hide the colouring. "They're like cannons! They follow you around the room, homing in you and getting ready to blast you to death!"

"Right... Well, I'm always open to changes but personally, I'm happy that you chose not to change to a breeder. Okay, next question."

"Hey!" Jason snapped, feeling the need for revenge crawling into him. "It's my turn."

Sam's grin returned as he held up a finger. "No it isn't. You asked me three questions in a row, remember?"

Jason was about to protest when he realised - to his absolute horror - that it was true.

Oh crap...

His exact words were, 'Why? I thought you hated football.'

And...

'Big guys, huh? So if Brett, me and Dan all got into the one bed you'd jump in without a second thought?'

No! It was a trap!

"You're evil," he growled, narrowing his gaze at Sam and flattening his ears against his head.

"Hey, I may be young but I'm not stupid." Sam turned towards Jason, his smile fading slightly. "So... if you and Dan weren't father and son... would you... you know... marry him or something?"

Jason's heart constricted.

Every bit of him shouted 'YES!'

But there was something in him that cried out 'NO! YOU LOVE BRETT!'

Poof!

Suddenly, a little imaginary version of himself wearing nothing more than a black shirt with a red, frowning face on it appeared. "Are you crazy!? You married Brett! You love_Brett! He's your soulmate! What do you think will happen if he hears you're rather have your dad than him!?"_

Poof!

Another version popped into existence, this time with a smiley face. "Please. We all know Jason has intimate feelings for his father. Sam knows it, Brett knows it and even Dan knows it. For all you know, he and Dan could be soulmates too."

Poof!

A third and final version appeared, this one's shirt showing an ejaculating penis. "Whoo for polygamy!"

Poof!

Jason started when a fourth imaginary subconscious entity appeared... only this one didn't appear like him. This took the form of a man dressed in white and gold armour wearing a cloak of stars with his features hidden by a thick helm except for his sapphire-blue eyes with pupils shaped like eight-pointed stars.

What the!? Who are you!?

"I am the Reason in your subconscious," the R3-look-alike responded.

_"Invader!"_Horndog - the one with the cock-designed shirt - cried. He pulled out a chaingun loaded with dildos. Optimist and Pessimist - the entities with the smiley face and the frowning face respectively - drew a large, frozen tuna and a flaming frying pan.

Reason sighed and waved his hand. A massive circular portal appeared above the other three which quickly opened and speared the rest with the enormous sword that sprang from beyond its confines. The other three subconscious entities vanished in a flurry of white feathers, leaving Reason alone with Jason.

"If you feel uncomfortable answering Sam's question, then there's no reason you can't just deny him the answer,"_Reason explained. _"However, as his father he is deserving of the truth. You love your father more than a son should and I am sure Sam loves you more than he should as well. If you are unwilling to admit one or the other, than perhaps this is a question best answered another time."

That... that was perfectly reasonable.

He wasn't ready yet to tell Sam the truth and tell the young wolf they were really father and son... But at the same time, he wasn't prepared to tell his dad that well... He was Brett's now. He loved Dan so much but he was unwilling to admit he loved Dan that much... even if he did. That 'empty nest' feeling was creeping back in and he feared that he would be left alone when Dan eventually went off to be F6 the Patriarch again...

The time he spent trying to cling onto his father made him realise just how much he loved Dan... But Dan would forever be his father and never anything more. He just didn't want that realisation to get back to Dan and somehow crush his father's spirit... Dan was in a fragile place right now...

If he told Sam the truth... Dan might just decide it was time to leave Enria and go back to being F6...

... if he didn't... He'd just be stringing his father along for some selfish reason...

Oh crap... I'm screwed...

Sighing, Jason reached under his shirt and slowly pulled it off. Sam looked both disappointed and smug. As he threw his shirt to the side, he glanced at Reason.

Where have you been the past few years?

_"Bound, gagged and tortured,"_was all Reason said.

"Okay... Ask your next question," Jason said in resignation.

Grinning, Sam said, "So... If you and Brett were going to adopt, what kind of kid would you have wanted?"

"Don't say something cheesy like 'just like you',"_Reason said. _"You'd be lying. The best thing to do is be honest with him. He is_your son."_

Didn't we just lie to him before?

"You avoided the question which he allowed. It's totally different."

Okay...

"I would've liked a kid that smart just like Brett," Jason replied, "big and muscled." A sheepish grin crawled onto his face. "I guess we're sorta the same like that... I like my guys big too. And I would've liked our son to go to college..."

"Oh... Right. Well... Last question until it's your turn," Sam straightened. "Honestly, what do you think about me becoming a writer?"

_"Honesty,"_Reason reminded him.

"I think you're making a big mistake," Jason responded. "Brett and I won't always be around to support you and I know that a writer's career can be really bumpy. You just never know how your fans will react and you'll always be in the public eye. I mean, I know I'm not such a good example since Dan go biographies written of me and junk but being a Professional Super gives me a steady income. As a writer... you might not get that."

He reached out and wrapped his arm around Sam's shoulder. "I want you to be happy, Sam. Happy and safe. I want to make sure that when I pass on, you'll be able to not only stand on your own two feet but also charge forward in life and make something more of yourself. When you were waiting tables and working at the gym, you were stuck there... and you didn't want to move. You were content. I want to you want more and keep wanting more.

"To hope for something better."

Sam chuckled. "We all have the right to hope." It looked like he was about to cry but he turned it into a grin and poked Jason's bear chest. "Okay, your turn."

Jason held his son tightly. "Right... So why don't you like girls?"

There... Sam winced... before sighing. He pulled off his shirt a second later.

What!? Aw, that's not fair!

_"It's his right,"_Reason answered.

I'm gonna ask him another question!

"Your funeral."

"If you like football so much why have you rejected Coach Townes offers to joint he team?" Jason insisted.

Sam winced again and removed his shorts.

Damnit!

Before he could ask another question, Sam turned to him. "If Dan can alter the physical bodies of anything, why haven't you ever gotten him to make your cock bigger?"

...

WHAM!

Even Reason got hit by that ten tonne weight.

Jason began pulling off his pants.

Sam spoke again. "What's with that pen?"

Jason stopped... and regarded the golden pen hanging from a silver chain around his neck. Chronicle was a gift given to him by R3 the Writer of Reality. "Oh this? It's a gift from R3. It used to be that it was the only thing that I could use to write in the book that was my reality, Legacy. When I gave Legacy back, R3 let me keep it."

Hmmm...

"Go on,"_Reason said, _"it's show just how much you care about him."

Jason pulled Chronicle over his head, regarded it at arm's length before turning to Sam. "Here, why don't you take it."

Sam blinked in surprise. "Wuh - What? Really? You mean it?"

"That's three questions," Jason replied slyly, handing Chronicle over. He helped slip the pen over Sam's head and the young wolf held the pen reverently in his hands, gawking at its golden, surface.

Lightning fast, Sam pounced onto Jason, pushing the bigger wolf back against the couch, their lips melding into one. Jason was both shocked and terribly aroused. He managed to push Sam away for the briefest of seconds.

"I don't wanna answer those questions," Sam reported.

"Oh... In that case..."

Jason wrapped his arms around his son, holding them together in a tight, loving embrace. Suddenly, it no longer felt like they were complete strangers. Maybe slight mysteries to one another but they were definitely closer now. Their tongues slid and twisted over one another's, turning in new ways and exploring one another's muzzles with newfound enthusiasm.

His arousal was pushing past his boxers, rubbing against his abs while sliding through Sam's thick fur.

"Ahem."

Jason froze with his tongue halfway down Sam's. His eyes slowly pulled away from his son's angelic face to over the couch where Brett and Todd were standing. Both of them were suspiciously clean... and an image of his Rottweiler licking the bear completely clean entered his mind. That only made his erection harder.

"I see you two are got your own desserts," Brett observed with a grin.

Todd moved around the couch and wrapped his arms around Sam. The young wolf pulled away from Jason's lips and gave the bear and pleasant grin.

"Mind if we join in?" the bear asked, leaning in and gently nuzzling Sam's neck.

A new thought entered Jason's mind.

Him... Todd... Sam... and Brett...

Okay, wait... Reign yourself in!

You just connected with your son. You don't want to ruin it by screwing his boyfriend and -

Warm, muscular arms wrapped around his chest and slowly pulled him away from his son. "Come on, Jase, let's leave the two to their own thing."

Aww... But foursome!

However, he let Brett take him away from the scene of Todd and Sam sharing a passionate kiss. He watched them longingly but curbed his hormones knowing full well that Todd was Sam's boyfriend, not his own. There would come a time when he'd have to 'initiate' the bear into their family but to do that, he'd have to first reconnect with his son.

Being towed upstairs by Brett, he was thrown onto the bed still thinking about Sam and the progress they had made. Only when Brett's lips wrapped around his did he realise where he was. For a moment, he moaned softly and let himself be swept up in his mate's love.

"Hmmm... What about... Hmph... dishes...?" he murmured.

"All taken care of," Brett answered, moving his muzzle down to Jason's neck, gently nibbling at the muscles there.

"Huh?"

"Babe, you were talking to Sam for way more than two minutes. It must've been like an hour or something."

Considering just how much of a connection they had made, Jason just grinned. "Totally worth it."

Brett pulled away and lay down beside Jason, grinning broadly. "Oh? Got to know Sam a little better did we?"

"Yeah... I did," Jason replied, lying back in the bed, crossing his arms behind his head. "It's long overdue, I guess... And why didn't you tell me Sam wanted to be a writer?"

"Because it's something he shared with me. No offense, Jase, but you come off as the 'all expectant' parent. Sam has shared a lot of his secrets with me and Dan but you... He's kinda scared."

That hurt... and made him feel terrible at the same time.

"Scared? He's scared of me?"

Brett snuggled in next to him, kissing his cheek tenderly. "Well... Yeah... You know how he can see through you easily, right? He knows you as much as I do and he can see that you're afraid of things changing. You want things to be stuck like this forever."

Of course, Brett was right.

Jason never wanted to let Sam go... The four of them - Sam, Brett, Dan and himself - it was his vision of a perfect family. Entertaining the thought that, one day, Dan would have to become F6 again and the three of them would probably fade away into this reality was just something... something he had hoped he wouldn't have to think about for a long time yet.

"I know how you're feeling," Brett sighed, pulling his shirt off his heavily muscled torso and pressing that hot, chiselled body against Jason's. "Heck, I thought the same thing too when I realised Sam was hitting senior year."

I didn't...

"But then Sam gave me this lecture about how, as mortals, we are all subject to change. I realised then that this was inevitable... He's got his own life to lead, Jase... We've done what we can for him but he's old enough to stand on his two feet - he was old enough to do that when we found him - but one of these days, we gotta let him go."

"One of those 'if you love something, set it free' moment, huh?" Jason replied, feeling a deep sadness fill him.

"Yeah..." Brett's arms tightened around Jason and he slowly wiggled out of his pants. "But you know... we've still got time. Sam may never be our son emotionally... but we at least owe him the truth."

Jason nodded solemnly. "We do... But we can't just outright and tell him. We need the right moment."

"Graduation?" Brett offered, pressing his hard cock against Jason.

"Nah... That's a happy moment. Not a soap opera moment." Their lips met and Jason moaned softly as their nude bodies rubbed against one another. He breathed in Brett's alluring, musky scent that reminded him of well-seasoned steaks. He began drooling uncontrollably, gripping the back of his mate's head and that firm, muscular ass.

He resolved to tell Sam by the end of the week at the latest. Before then, he'd fill the next few days with events to get to know his son better.

Roommate first... then best friend... and finally... father.

Fuck-buddy fits somewhere in there but it's all good.

A soft ringing filled his ears and he vaguely registered that it was the phone but he ignored it and ran his hands all over Brett's wonderful, muscular back. No matter how many times he explored those huge mounds, he would always find something new. His claws drew lightly across the short, black fur as their cocks rubbed against one another, spewing molten hot precum against their hard abs.

In the back of his mind, he imagined Sam and Todd were doing the same thing down stairs on the couch and wondered if it was a sign that the two would be together just like he and Brett. It filled his heart with joy at the prospect.

The ringing continued and he growled softly. Brett distracted him by pulling away from the kiss and nibbling at the bottom of his lips, drawing them away from his muzzle. Jason slipping his leg between Brett's, loving how his mate's huge, bulging, vein-crossed thighs wrapped around his like a steaming hot meat sandwich. His hand drifted down to his mate's stub of a tail, playing with it between his fingers as it wagged uncontrollably.

Brett moved his feet so that they were exactly positioned against Jason's, their toes intertwining.

More ringing...

"Oh for the love of..." Jason sighed, turning towards the phone. He snatched it from the receiver. "Hello?"

"Jason? It's an emergency!"

It was the Police Commissioner.

"Can't some other super take it? We're kinda busy right now."

"It seriously can't. We need you at the First National Bank."

Jason sighed and regarded Brett who shrugged and got off him. The Rottweiler's body began seeping into shadows, a pair of black, shadowy wings sprouting from his back and his eyes taking on that topaz glow.

"Duty calls," Brett said with a sigh.

"Major mood-killer," he replied, setting down the phone. "Sam!" he shouted. "Hero Emergency! Don't do anything we wouldn't do!"

A shout wafted up from downstairs.

"Sam's not home!"

Jason sniggered and leapt to his feet. "That's my boy."

*****

Being a world-renowned superhero had its ups and downs.

The fame was overwhelming and Jason had enough money to be set for life. That was both good and bad. Considering how his life was a constant soap opera, he could easily be the target of several scandals but he had been behaving for the past two years since he entered his state of perpetual bliss.

A state he knew would eventually have to end.

But with the fame came the countless people trying to _de_fame him. Such as the supervillains constantly trying to challenge the great 'Jason Wolfe'. Jason and Brett had to take down a supervillain at least five times a week - three if it was slow - since so many guys were trying to match themselves against them. With the appearance of Legion, the attacks seemed to only intensify.

This was no different.

As Jason was set down by Brett - who was a shadowy superhero with the ability to control darkness and had the power of flight under the name Hellhound - he regarded their newest target and sighed. The guy looked like some blade-crazy maniac that was a cheap rip-off of Legion. The man was dressed in a silver spandex suit - Jason hated spandex - and was holding a woman hostage with a long blade that was sticking out of his palm. The guy looked human while the woman was an elderly cougar.

"Ah-ha!" the villain exclaimed. "Jason Wolfe and Hellhound! Fear me for I am the Sword King!"

"We stopped having sex for this?" Jason murmured softly. He stepped forward from the police barrier with Brett by his side. "Okay, Sword King, let the woman go and we'll go easy on you."

"Ha! You think I'm afraid of the likes of you!? A glorified sell-out! Just because you saved the world twice it doesn't mean you're all powerful!"

It was the same thing every time a villain popped up. Old or new, they'd always bring up how Jason had saved the world twice before challenging him.

"Look at the numbers Sword King," Brett growled ferociously, spreading his wings threateningly. "If it isn't the two of us, it's the police. You're outnumbered."

Sword King just grinned. "Is that so? Look above me jackasses."

All eyes turned to the top of the towering skyscraper which was the First National Bank of Newroads.

Jason's heart froze in his chest.

There was what appeared to be a twelve year old girl - a cougar - hanging by the scruff suspended by a punk-style hyena. The hyena - a female - had a multi-coloured Mohawk, several piercings all over her body and dressed in a tough, leather, biker outfit. Lightning was crackling at her fingertips.

"Shock Queen will turn that girl into a lightning rod unless our demands are met!" Sword King shouted.

Jason slowly clenched his fists. His floor-length blue trench coat billowed in the winds and he glanced at Brett from underneath the visor that concealed his features. "Think you can get to the girl before she's turned into a battery?"

"I'll have to," Brett whispered back. "Think you can get to the guy with a sword fetish before he slices that woman's throat open?"

Nodding, Jason said, "I'll have to."

"HEY!" someone from the crowd shouted. "Who's that!?"

All eyes flicked back up to Shock Queen standing on top of the ten storey building. Behind her appeared a dark figure dressed from head to toe in black armour save for the underside of the canine face. A pair of metallic wings were attached to the figure's back.

Legion.

The vigilante tapped Shock Queen's shoulder and the villain turned around in shock.

Even from his distance, Jason could hear the wham as Legion delivered a punch that broke Shock Queen's jaw. The hyena's grip on the girl's scruff loosened and the young cougar plummeted to her death.

"Hellhound!" Jason shouted.

Brett was suddenly a blur of black shadows streaming towards the girl. "I'm on it!"

Sword King was momentarily distracted and Jason flicked out Genesis, his signature morphing sword and transforming it into its three-bladed shuriken form. He charged towards Sword King, hurling the blade underhanded.

Swish!

Sword King gave a cry of agony as Genesis bit into his face, a flurry of blue-white feathers and stars erupting from the impact and sending the villain reeling. The villain instantly released the hostage and Jason surged forward, tackling the man to the ground.

"You dare touch your king!?" the villain shouted.

Jason yelped as a long, silver blade shot out from the villain's chest and almost speared his heart. He scrambled back, vaguely registering that the cougar woman had bolted for the police line. Sword King jumped to his feet, a multitude of blades springing from his body and lunging at Jason like a maddened monkey covered in spikes.

_Genesis_flew back into Jason's hands and he barely brought it up to -

CLANG!

Whoa! This guy is fast!

Sword King was definitely a king in swordsmanship as the man spun deftly, slicing and nicking Jason with small cuts. Sharp pangs of pain shot through Jason's body as his foe forced him back. He was permanently caught in the defence!

The King was too fast and too good!

Confidence was showing on Sword King's face and his bright, green eyes widened upon realising he was winning.

Lightning crashed beside Jason's left leg, making him leap to the right -

CLANG!

... giving Sword King an opportunity to disarm him.

Oh damn...

The villain grinned, levelling his blade-covered arm directly at Jason's face. "Now... the great Jason Wolfe dies!"

SWISH!

Jason shut his eyes tightly, gritting his teeth...

...

Slowly... He opened his eyes slightly...

Sword King stood agape. There was another sword sticking out of his chest but this wasn't one of the silvery weapons that he normally had. It was a sword that had sapphire-blue circuitry running along its surface.

The weapon wasn't anywhere near the man's heart... While still fatal... there was a look of unending agony on the villain's face that just didn't fit the injury. Jason expected the guy to go on some 'curse you' rant but... he just stood there... looking like he was going through hell...

Wait a second... He's not bleeding...

Then it started...

The flesh around the wound started to blacken and degrade. To Jason's utter horror, Sword King's entire body began turning a sickening black like he was rotting right in front of his eyes!

"Oh my god!" he cried, leaping back in horror.

Sword King fell to his knees, bringing down the sword with him and revealing his assailant.

Legion.

The renegade super held onto the other end of the odd sword that was slowly eating away at the supervillain. Jason felt sick and he clamped his hand over his muzzle to keep his dinner in. Sword King's entire body became nothing more than a bag of black flesh, the eyes permanently widened in a look of horror.

"A blackened body to fit a blackened heart," Legion murmured in a dull, empty, soulless tone.

"Wh - What did you do to him!?"

"Same thing I did to that battery bitch up there," Legion replied, hiking a thumb back at the roof of the bank.

Jason glanced up and staggered back when he saw a blackened figure hanging on the ledge of the building's roof.

"How could you!?" he cried. "They're mortals too! They deserve a second chance!"

"Then maybe they'll have it in their next life."

R3... How could you!?

Jason couldn't believe that the Writer of Reality could be so crass... so... so... brutal. Was this how he fixed the realities?

Am I the only exception?

Because I'm Dan's son, I get treated with special care instead of being stabbed and turned into an empty, black, flesh bag!?

"This isn't right!" Jason snapped.

Legion pulled his sword out of Sword King and hooked it back up to his array of wing-blades. "No, it isn't. But someone has to do it."

"What!?"

Legion smirked. "Tell you what. If you can catch me, I'll tell you." The vigilante held up a small device he was holding in his free hand.

Before Jason could think, 'flashbang' -

BOOM!

... he was blinded by a brilliant flash of light that made his head spin. He cursed under his breath and lashed out wildly hoping to catch Legion in a blind swipe. His sword hit nothing and when the stars stopped twinkling in his eyes, he noticed Legion was gone.

Brett swooped in beside him, carrying the girl. The older cougar was the mother and she came running up to them, singing their praises and thanking them from saving her baby. The media was already on the scene and taking pictures, begging for interviews.

Jason ignored them for the moment and regarded the blackened figure that was left over from Legion's attack. Most people that Legion killed ended up this way. He had seen reports, seen the bodies at the morgue and watched the clips on the news but actually seeing it first had...

... it just killed all thoughts of sex for the night...

"Damn... What the hell is Legion?" Brett muttered, rubbing the back of his neck while still in his Hellhound guise. "He's fast, Jase... Really fast. Barely saw him move before he had a sword stuck in Shock Queen."

Jason decided to let the pun go and stared at the body of Sword King. "Whatever he is... He's a menace, Hellhound. No one deserves this... and no one has the right to do this to someone... Not even a No One."

****

Day 2

Jason was still a little shaken from his encounter the previous night with Legion. It had been the first time he had met the vigilante and he didn't like what he saw.

Thankfully, Sam was extremely therapeutic.

His son had the brilliant idea invite everyone they knew to a picnic out at Newroads National Park. It was hardly original but Jason agreed that the fresh air, lush environment and good company would rid him of all thoughts of Legion.

As he parked the car next to the park, he glanced in the rear view window at Todd and Sam who were trying to play very nonchalant about their relationship but failing badly at it. The two were constantly casting glances at each other and their hands were on each other's knees. It was both cute and heart warming.

A very 'dawww... moment'

"We're here!" he announced.

Sam looked like he had snapped out of a dream and hurried out of the car. Todd quickly followed, blushing deeply.

"Ah, teenage romances," Brett sighed, watching the two disappear behind the car as Jason unlocked the trunk.

"They've really got chemistry," Jason admitted, heading out of the car. Sam got the majority of the food and picnic equipment and challenged Todd to a race to the picnic grounds. The bear naturally accepted and charged after Sam. "I hope they last."

"They won't."

Jason balked as he pulled out the barbeque equipment and marinated steaks he had set up the previous night. "Huh?"

"Their relationships is built entirely around favours and exchanges of goodwill," Brett explained, picking up the kerosene tank, hefting it over one shoulder. Jason had to keep himself from drooling upon seeing his mate's bulging biceps. "Sam saved Todd, Todd saved Sam and they think they've got something but really, they have nothing in common."

Jason's eyebrows shot up. "Huh? They don't?"

But... they had sex... and... they're good together...

"Jase, if they really had something, they'd have told you or at least come clean with it," Brett answered, shutting the trunk.

That's true... and Sam did_say that they were just friends with benefits..._

"What did you mean Sam saved Todd?" Jason asked, locking the car and following the two boys towards the picnic grounds. "I thought Todd saved Sam from a bunch of bullies."

Shrugging, Brett said, "Sam never went into detail about it but apparently, he saved Todd from a drug addiction. He said that something was eating Todd inside and ruining his life. It wrecked his previous friendships and Todd needed a fresh start but no one would touch him because of that past. Sam did and stopped Todd from going back into that dark place."

Remembering how Sam had offered him life-changing advice that had pulled him from depression, Jason could certainly believe Sam was capable of reaching out to people and brightening their existence.

The miracles of having someone born of true colour...

Newroads National Park was simply enormous. As Jason and Brett followed the trail through the enormous, verdant forest-like plains, a light drizzle descended upon them, carrying the pine-cone scent to their muzzles. Preteens were playing between the towers trees and picking flowers from the numerous flower gardens. Aged couples were sitting by the mini-lakes, feeding the ducks and other families were having their picnics on the multiple grassy knolls that littered the area.

Sam found a good picnic spot with one of the barbeques that the park had set up on a small knoll overlooking the western lake with a large apple tree growing on it. By the time Jason and Brett go there, Sam had Todd pinned to the tree. They weren't kissing but by the grin they were sharing, they were about to.

"Save it for the trip home, kids," Jason said, setting up the barbeque. "We've got guests."

As Jason started cooking the sausages, lamb shanks, pork ribs and chicken wings, the others started arriving. Dan arrived shortly after they did with a huge, armoured, metal crate containing the desserts Jason had specially prepared and cooked in Dan's house during the morning to prevent Brett from getting to them. Brett muttered something about going to extreme edges but whenever the Rottweiler thought they weren't looking, everyone saw he was trying to crack the code on the box.

Next arrived Warren and Robin. The big ex-military dragon and Jason's high school friend had gotten along very well since the end of the Malefactor Incursion. Warren had been a Malefactor host himself and Robin had been the one to knock him out of it, opting to spare him instead of kill him. There was a spark there and Jason suspected the two had gotten pretty serious... despite Warren expressing interest in men as well.

The fact that they were holding hands and Robin was beaming said a lot too.

"Hey guys!" Warren boomed, his bright, sky-blue eyes shining.

"Jason! Brett! Sam!" Robin exclaimed, pulling away from Warren and taking hold of Jason tightly, wrapping her arms around him. The gesture would've shocked Jason two years ago when Robin was a cold, hard bitch but she had become quite open and warm since she had gotten together with Warren. She had her Ice Queen moments but they were rare these days.

"I need to talk to you as soon as possible," she whispered suddenly, desperation in her voice.

Uh-oh...

"Sure," he whispered back.

As if the exchange had never happened, Robin turned to hug Brett and pecked his cheeks in a friendly way before assaulting Sam. "Wow! Sam! Look at you! You've grown since the last time we met!"

"Must be all the protein I keep getting pumped into me," Sam chuckled.

WHAM!

Another ten tonne weight...

"You workout?" Robin asked.

"Oh yeah. Jason and Brett work me all day and night."

WHAM! WHAM!

This time, even Brett looked like he had been hit.

"Gods have mercy if you turn into them," Robin laughed, swatting Sam's shoulder playfully.

Sam got a cocky look on his face. "Well, I dunno. Dan turned out pretty okay and he's been planting the seeds of his influence in me too."

WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!

Dan was caught in the crossfire too.

He's doing this on purpose!

Jennifer Rose arrived last. The bright, young lady whose brother had been a Malefactor arrived alone just like Dan and she brought some macaroons to share. She had put the Malefactor Incursion far behind her and was now working with a reparations committee to fix the damages caused by the entities that embodies all mortal evils. She opted to focus less on the evils of the world and trust in the good in people.

When lunch was well and ready, Jason served everyone and Jen was the last to come up for a hotdog.

"How's things at work, Jen?" he asked.

"A little hectic right now, Jase," she replied, her green eyes sparkling. "But alright nonetheless. It's kinda weird, though. We've managed to trace the influences of the Malefactors using devices given to us by the you-know-whos and lately, the people we've tracked to have faint traces of evil have been disappearing."

That's not good...

Jason knew that it was impossible to get rid of all the evil in the world. Part of being mortal was that they were a mix of good and evil. The Malefactors caused a great imbalance because they were purely evil and corrupted everything they touched. However, if the tiny pinpricks of evil around the world were disappearing... he imagined they were gathering all together to form some sort of Malefactor comeback...

"Disappearing how?" he asked.

"Simply put... They die," Jen answered, taking a bite out of her hotdog. She swallowed it and Jason noticed how she had lost a little bit of weight. While still a little rounded, she wasn't as plump as she used to be. "Most of the guys we find are those that are involved in criminal activity. All of them end up dead. Shrivelled up like they had been dead for days. Blackened skin, empty eyes the lot."

Wait a second...

Blackened skin... empty eyes...?

"Hey Jen... Can I get a list of those victims from you if you don't mind?"

She laughed and nudged him. "Of course not! Anything for Newroad's resident superhero."

As Jen moved away, Robin came slinking up with a faint smile on her face.

"Hey Jason..."

"Hi," he replied, switching the gas off. "What's bugging you?"

Robin took a deep breath and let it out very slowly. "Alright... So there's no easy way to say this but you have to promise not to repeat what I say in a shrill, high-pitched girly voice, alright?"

He decided that she seemed rather serious and very nervous so he'd let the jibe at his voice going up a few octaves when he panicked. "Sure. What's up?"

She paused...

... then three words came tumbling out of her mouth that shattered Jason's entire world.

...

"I am pregnant."