AU: Son of Science

Context: A few memories of Sabre's childhood :3

Warning: Injury

Yep y'all are getting more angst at the end hehe

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[3rd Person POV]

He held the small child in his arms, looking down at him as he slept.

It had been a few weeks since he took him in, and he finally got a room ready. It was a small part of the observatory, separated from the rest and turned into a bedroom. There wasn't much in it yet, just a crib and a few pieces of furniture, but it was enough for now.

He set the child down in the crib, the stars seen through the glass ceiling above giving a beautiful view for him. Professor Red leaned against the side of the crib for a while, watching his son. He looked so peaceful, and happy...

"I promise, I'm going to do everything in my power to protect you, Sabre." He whispered. "You'll never be abandoned again..."

He stands up and turns to the small table against the wall next to the crib, picking up a red teddy bear. It had a blue ribbon around its neck with a similarly colored fabric flower attached to it on its left side. The Professor places it inside the crib next to the child, chuckling to himself slightly as he realized it was nearly the same size as him.

As he continued to watch over his son, soon the child turned in his sleep and grabbed onto the bear, snuggling up to it. The Professor could have sworn he saw a smile on his little face.

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"Da!"

The Professor immediately stopped what he was doing, and looked up.

Young Sabre had started taking an interest in drawing, like most other kids his age. Professor Red encouraged this new excitement over art, wanting to make his son feel happy, and spent the afternoon with him watching him scribble on blank papers while sitting on the living room floor. He would read a book he brought with him when Sabre was occupied working on a new drawing, always ready to stop where he was when he was finished with his newest project.

He had nearly forgotten he had started babbling recently, and his attempts to teach him words, as he should when Sabre reached his current age. But as the smiling little toddler held up a scribbled drawing of a red person-shaped blob, he exclaimed with an excited shout to get his father's attention.

Needless to say, it worked.

The Professor just stared for a few minutes, processing what just happened, as Sabre held up his drawing happily and continued to show it to him while babbling.

"Da! Da, da!"

Professor Red's expression slowly turned into a smile, tears starting to gather in his eyes. He sat up and reached over, picking up his son and hugging him gently.

"It's wonderful, Sabre. It's wonderful." He says as Sabre giggled and returned the hug the best he could, not caring that he was crumpling his drawing in his hand a little. The Professor couldn't help but smile as a few tears ran down his face.

He wish he had something recording that.

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"I know you might feel a bit out of place, but it's going to be fun, I promise."

"Okay, dad."

Professor Red helped Sabre adjust the straps on his backpack as they stood next to the door. Already, Sabre had reached the age where he was to start going to school. He was a bit worried about him not getting along with the other kids, but not too worried. He was such a nice and kind child, if any of the other kids at his new school didn't like him, they'd be missing out.

He finished adjusting the straps and stood up, smiling. Sabre smiled back.

"You ready?"

"Yeah!"

And he opened the door, the two of them walking out into the bright, warm morning. Once they were in the town, they saw other parents walking their kids to the first day as well.

"Are you excited?" The Professor asks, looking towards Sabre as he held his hand on the street.

"Yeah, really excited! I'm gonna make friends and learn stuff!" Sabre beamed, looking up at his father. The Professor thought he looked adorable in his little school uniform.

"Glad you are! You remembered your books, right?"

"Yep! Checked before breakfast."

"Got your lunch?"

"With my books!"

They soon reached the school, stopping in front of the main walkway. There were a few teachers greeting the students coming in, one of them Professor Red recognized. He waved at Carnelian for a moment before turning back to his son.

"Okay, we're here. Do you remember the rules?" He asks, kneeling down to his level.

"Mhm." Sabre nodded. "Be nice, listen to my teachers, pay attention, and ask you first before I try experimenting with something I could do."

"That's my boy." The Professor chuckles, ruffling his hair a little as he gets up. "Have a good day, Sabre. I'll be here to take you back home once school's over."

"Okay dad! You have a good day too!"

"Heheh, thanks kiddo. Now go have fun!"

"I will!"

Sabre runs up the walkway, waving to his dad as he left, then turning forwards and continuing up the path. Once he reaches the door, he greets the teachers with a smile and disappears inside the school building.

Professor Red sighs, then turns and starts to walk back to the lab. It'd be a bit odd having the lab empty again after Sabre's been there for so many years, but he know he'll be back in the afternoon.

They really do grow up fast...

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The air in the room was tense, and a much older Sabre sat on a chair next to a cabinet full of medical supplies, the Professor rifling through it. His school uniform is messed up and the tie to it is missing, and he's holding an ice pack over his eye with a dark purple bruise underneath it. His nose had a small amount of dried blood under it, the collar of his uniform stained with a few drops. His cheek had a cut on it. Dried tears can be seen on his face.

Professor Red turned back to Sabre and knelt down, first wiping the cut with a cloth then carefully putting a bandage over it. He then stood up and closed the cabinet, looking at his son with a concerned and disappointed look.

"So... what happened today, Sabre?" He asks.

Sabre looks at the floor, still holding the ice pack. He sniffs for a moment, wiping his nose with his sleeve.

Professor Red walked to the other side of the room for a minute, taking a chair and placing it across from Sabre. He sits down, looking at him.

"Sabre, please. You're not usually the violent type." He says. "You're thirteen, know better, and know to be gentle with others. So please tell me, why did that fight happen today?"

Sabre keeps staring at the floor, his hands starting to shake. He tries not to, but he begins to cry once again, a tear following the path of the previous ones.

"...It was Blaze." He answers, his voice shaking. "He started it."

"I have no doubts he did, he's been bothering you since third year, and judging by the teachers' reactions it seems like he deserved the punishment you gave him. But I want to know what he did that made you react so... badly."

Sabre is quiet for a while, continuing to cry. Professor Red wipes away a few tears, holding his son's face and tilting his head upwards to look at him. While he looks at his son with worry and sadness, Sabre looks back with guilt and frustration.

"I'm not mad at you." The Professor says softly, taking his hand back. "I'm just worried about you. I will love you no matter what you do, okay?"

"...Okay." Sabre replies shakily.

"Now, what happened?"

There's a few moments of silence between them, the only sound being Sabre's quiet sobs. Professor Red just keeps looking at him with a gentle, concerned expression.

"...He called me a lab accident."

The Professor looks shocked. Sabre continues with his tearful explanation.

"H-He's always made fun of me because we don't know what I am or where I came from, something that literally everyone in the kingdom knows. He keeps saying and telling everybody that I was just some experiment of yours gone wrong, and he just won't leave me alone about it."

Sabre wipes his face for a moment.

"I-I-I was just trying to eat lunch in the yard with Maroon, and he came up and dumped a cup of water on m-me. Maroon tried to get him to back off but then he kicked me a-and I just-"

"You don't need to keep going. It's okay."

The Professor stops him, and brings him into a hug. Sabre returns it. He waits until Sabre calms down and wipes his tears, before letting go and taking a deep breath.

"...Perhaps it's time I need to tell you where you came from."