August

February 8

He was so close to being finished that he couldn't stop now; he was almost done. Phidias just had his proofreading left to do which, honestly, he felt was the worst part. Emily had always helped him with that - she was so good with the details - but she wasn't here now. Phid rubbed his eyes and stared at the screen. His stomach was a mess again; having Caddy home had been almost as stressful as it had been relaxing. It had been a little over a month since his son had been enrolled at the CEC, and Phidias felt already as if entire chasms were opening up between them. Caddy, who had always been so open before, so forthcoming and outright, had suddenly become brooding, prone to mood swings and sulky moments that extended into hours. Adrian had warned him about this; he'd said that the hormones would be wreaking havoc on Caddy until they evened out. But Phidias felt that it was something quite more.

Perhaps part of it was the fact that there was now and entire, major part of Cadmus' life from which his father was entirely disconnected. Phidias could sympathize, of course, and listen and study and try to understand, but in a very fundamental way, their relationship had changed; the road which Cadmus followed now was one he'd have to walk alone. His father couldn't advise him. And that felt like a strange, and frightening, and almost painful experience to have with one's 14 year old - how could Phidias let him go through this alone?

Phidias approached the last page. Not much longer. His stomach was giving him hell, and thinking about Caddy, who would by now be asleep in his own big bed, only made it worse. By now, his entire abdomen ached, and Phidias decided that if the pain hadn't stopped by Sunday, he was most definitely going to the doctor. For now, though, Phidias kept typing.

~:~

Joseph Stern was the first traitor to show himself. He knocked on the door sometime around 3, sticking his head in to grin at Phidias before entering. Phidias raised one eyebrow. Joe Stern never knocked.
"Hey, Phid."
Phidias regarded him with immediate suspicion; Dr. Long's warning was still fresh in his mind.
"Hey."
Joe came in, kicking his toes in a meandering kind of walk, and sat down on the edge of Phidias' desk. Phidias stared up at him in irritation. Joe Stern never sat in a chair, either.
"Heard you've had some changes with your boy."
Joe Stern also never beat around the bush. Phidias pushed his chair back from the desk, disturbing his coffee so that it splashed, cool and sweet, down onto the dark wood and dripped off one drawer onto the floor.
"I don't know what business that is of yours."
Joe looked at him shrewdly.
"You know, I've got a boy of my own."
Phidias shook his head.
"It's not happening, Joe. Phidias is a kid."
Joe held up his hands in a defensive gesture.
"So's Tom. He's only 27."
Joe might as well have said 'he's only a serial killer', for the look he got from Phidias.
"Get out of my office."
"Phid - "
"Get out!"
Joe stood to leave, looking with a fair amount of irritation at Phidias.
"Just consider it. Tom's good; he'll look after Caddy. God knows you need someone to do it - you can't."
Phidias seized up with anger.
"I can damn well take care of my own goddamn son."
Joe rolled his eyes.
"Bullshit. You can't even take care of yourself." he began to head for the exit. "But I don't need to prove this now. You'll just come crying to me when he runs off with some drunk hillbilly, or gets raped by some junior officer in the bushes on his way home."
Phidias, being a rather slightly built man, and one of a pretty calm and even constitution, had never been much interested in fighting. But, suddenly, right now, he very much wanted to punch the shit out of Joseph Stern.
"You get the fuck out of my office before I throw you out."
Joe Stern cocked one eyebrow at him.
"I'd like to see you try."
Phidias didn't even bother to go around the desk - he went over it, and landed a pretty solid punch on the side of Joe Stern's jaw, and Joe went for him and they both went down, tussling their way to the floor. Phidias had been slight all his life, and so was able to use his size to his advantage, ducking from Joe's ill-timed swings and grabs, putting the man off-balance until Phidias was able to land himself on top of him. He pinned Joe's arms with his legs and swung down, at his face, with both arms, blindly. He felt two punches land and then suddenly, as if pulling strength from nowhere, Joe moved them. He flipped Phidias off, kneeing his groin accidentally in the process, then landed him unceremoniously on the floor, on his side. His head scraped the desk, then cracked against the ground. For a minute, they were both still, just staring at each other across the uncrossable expanse of floor.
Dr. Long came in.
"And just what," he asked, taking in the spilt coffee, papers in disarray, and two men lying mussed on the floor, "in the good green hell is going on here?"

~:~

"Sorry, Alan. Really, I am. It's just that he - he pushes my buttons, he always has. And today it got worse. He went off about Caddy."
Dr. Long furrowed his brow in concentration, busy examining Phidias' head wound. There was a long, but shallow gash on the right side of his face, and
Dr. Long quietly rubbed some ointment into it. Phidias said, more to himself than Dr. Long,
"I almost won."
Dr. Long scoffed.
"You almost got a concussion."
Phidias scowled.
"He got one up on me. Don't know how. Must not have been paying attention - I should have been able to hold him."
Dr. Long frowned and leaned closer in to Phidias' head wound.
"I can't have my scientists - professors, all of you! - getting into fights. For any reason. It's ridiculous, and it's unacceptable. You'll both have to be disciplined."
Phidias felt a wave of guilt, then irritation.
"He shouldn't be allowed to harass me."
Alan looked directly into Phidias' eyes.
"But I told you this was going to happen, didn't I, Phidias? I gave you time to prepare. It's not over, you know - the others will come."
He put some things away in his first-aid kit, pulling out a bandage in exchange. Phidias watched him, his head throbbing.
Dr. Long finished bandaging and sat back in his chair, looking pityingly at Phidias.
"I'm sorry, Phidias, but you can't fight them all."
~:~