The mood in the Sentry household was, in all honesty, a sombre one. In the kitchen, the entire family was there, but no words passed between them. Scootaloo sat at one side of the table, her dinner plate empty, but with signs of having just been finished. Her Mother sat opposite her, and likewise had just finished her meal. But both of them bore concerned looks as they kept their eyes on the third member of their family; Flash. The boy was not sitting with them, but was instead standing at the nearby sink, washing up. He remained silent, his face hard to read, leaving the other two to glance at one another. Scootaloo was clearly worried, but her Mother let out a sigh, giving her a small smile and silently gesturing for her to leave. After giving her brother one final look, the young girl got up, before slowly making her way out of the kitchen.

"Thanks for dinner, Mom. It was good."

Her son's voice caused the older woman to turn to him yet again, and here, she got up. Eventually she made her way over to him, standing beside him and looking down at his work.

"So...are you going to tell me what's bothering you, son?"

The boy gave only the slightest hint of a frown.

"What makes you think something's bothering me?"

To that, his Mother raised an eyebrow.

"Well, for one thing...you've been wiping that same plate for the last ten minutes now."

Flash stopped, looking down at the plate in his hands, and knew already that his Mother had the right of it. He sighed, setting the thing to one side, and simply began to stare out of the window. The weather outside matched his current mood, with grey and overcast skies. While there was indeed a silence between them, it was, thankfully, short-lived.

"It's...nothing you need to worry about. A problem came...and then it was ended."

His Mother took on an incredulous look.

"I very much doubt that you'd be feeling this way if it was resolved, Flash."

Slowly, she gently placed a hand upon his shoulder, looking to him with softness in her eyes. Flash turned to her, and for a time, he too seemed to soften, albeit not as much.

"Now then...why don't you tell me what's wrong?" she asked.

There was clear hesitancy in the boy, as he turned away from her for a time. But, with her being there, and speaking to him in the way that she had, Flash soon let out a long sigh, nodding slightly before, at last, starting to explain himself.

"Okay. Well...you know Sonata?"

His Mother nodded.

"That blue Siren girl from another dimension? Yes, I think I remember her."

Flash took a moment to let out a dry chuckle at his Mother's nonchalant remark on that particular matter, only to then return to his previous stoic expression.

"Well, she invited me and Sunset over to talk with her. It turns out...she's decided that she wants to have a baby."

His Mother seemed somewhat intrigued by this.

"Does she?"

Flash nodded, prompting his Mother to continue.

"And...I'm guessing that wasn't what's upsetting you?"

Her son shook his head.

"No. She...she asked...if I could be the Father."

Silence fell between them, and for a short while, his Mother looked to him almost as if he was joking about what he'd just said. But, as this silence persisted, and he kept his angered look about him, it soon dawned on her that this was far from a joke on his part. So, she simply started to do as he was doing, just staring out of the window. It had begun to rain now, and as the droplets of water continued to batter against the window, the older woman finally started to speak up again.

"I see. I can understand that this would come as a shock to you."

But Flash shook his head again.

"It wasn't just that she asked me to cheat on Sunset. That much I was able to explain to her."

Resting his hands upon the side of the sink, the boy gripped so hard that his knuckles were turning white.

"It's that...she said that I didn't need to be a part of my child's life. It never occurred to her that I wouldn't want to stay away."

He frowned deeper.

"She even...even seemed to think I should be happy with that idea."

Here, understanding dawned on his Mother's face.

"Ah...I see."

Her son sighed deeply.

"I told her that I didn't want to be a part of it...and I left."

Again, things became quiet between them, but this time, it was a much shorter silence, as his Mother, after briefly looking to the nearby door behind them, then looked back to him before speaking.

"This anger of yours...would it, by any chance...have anything to do with your sister?"

As before, her son let out a dry and joyless laugh, looking to his Mother before giving a nod.

"You always did know me well, Mom."

His expression became a saddened one.

"Dad...he died before she was even born. She never got the chance to grow up with him. Never even knew him."

He shut his eyes tightly.

"He was my idol...my hero. And...he never had the option to be a part of his own daughter's life."

Then, his gaze became an angry one once more.

"And for Sonata to just say I should go along with a kid not knowing their Dad...not knowing me...and be happy about it? I just..."

He hesitated for a moment, then said things in a somewhat more restrained way.

"Dad would never have left Scootaloo if he had a choice in the matter. And if he would never do it...then neither will I."

He stopped talking now, all while his Mother watched him intently. She'd been carefully taking in everything her son had to say, weighing her words and thoughts with care as she did so. Now, with him having said everything he needed to, she finally decided to speak up again.

"Flash...I appreciate that you regard your Father as highly as you do, but..."

She hesitated slightly.

"...but despite what you might think...he wasn't perfect. He made mistakes, the same as everyone."

Flash turned to her and raised an eyebrow.

"I understand that, Mom. Nobody's perfect. But something like this? Just getting a girl pregnant and walking away? No, not him. Never him."

He looked away from her, and while his attention was focused elsewhere, on the weather and the garden outside the window, he failed to notice the look his Mother now bore. There was again hesitancy there, but mixed into it was a look of discomfort, as well as, strangely enough, shame. She opened her mouth, as if to say something, only to stop herself before doing so. Instead, she took a moment to collect her thoughts, letting out yet another sigh as she did so, before then speaking up in that calm tone she had been speaking with before.

"This Sonata girl. Is she a friend?"

At first, Flash was taken aback by this, but, after taking a few moments to consider the question, he gave a short nod.

"I...yeah. I mean, I've had my issues with her, just like everyone has had with the Sirens, but...yeah, I've come to see her as a friend."

His Mother nodded.

"And when she came to you with this...offer of hers...did she give it in a manner that suggested that she was trying to insult you?"

Again, Flash was caught off-guard with those words, but when he stopped to think on it, his expression softened considerably. He looked down, the anger now gone from his eyes for the time being, and shook his head.

"N...no. I mean, she was pretty nervous about asking, but...aside from that, I don't think she really meant to upset me or Sunset."

A brief grimace crossed his face.

"It...it probably took a lot for her to come forward to us about it, actually."

As before, his Mother nodded.

"And when you turned her offer down...how did it go?"

To that, Flash actually started to look, for lack of a better word, ashamed.

"If I'm being honest...I don't think I handled it as...diplomatically as I could have done."

He paused, then raised a hand to his head and rubbed his temples.

"Actually...I probably left her feeling like I hate her or something."

His Mother, hearing this, once more placed a hand upon his shoulder, gaining his attention.

"Flash...you had every reason to be as upset as you were. But from the sound of it...Sonata never meant to make you angry. She didn't know about your Father or anything else that was on your mind. And she certainly didn't seem to bring you over to insult you or make you feel like a terrible person. She merely..."

She considered her words carefully.

"...merely underestimated the standards you hold yourself to."

Flash, at long last, started to smile, though it was coupled with a somewhat snarky-looking raised eyebrow.

"Is that your way of saying I'm too much of a boyscout, Mom?"

His Mother smiled innocently to that.

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean."

Here, both of them laughed together, and when it died down, Flash, to the surprise of his Mother, stepped forward and embraced her in a warm embrace. The older woman, while taken aback by this, nevertheless composed herself soon afterwards, returning the hug. When they finally parted, the boy continued to smile at her.

"How are you always able to help me make sense of this stuff?"

A look of pride crossed her face.

"Well, you don't get to raise two kids by yourself without picking up a few things here and there, son."

Flash nodded to this, then started to take on a more serious look, turning around and heading for the door. His Mother, watching this, looked to him with interest.

"Where are you going?"

The boy stopped in the doorway, looking over his shoulder and, after a brief moment of hesitation, gave his honest answer.

"I think...there's somebody I need to talk to."