Rodrick was getting worried. His father hasn't returned with Carmen and the others yet, and now he's starting to think they may have gotten injured or something worse than that.
Rodrick paced back and forth. Getting even more worried by each passing second.
Suddenly, the door burst open to reveal Martin, with Team Red following in tow.
Rodrick felt worry and anger boil inside his veins. He growled at his father.
"Dad! Where the hell have you been!? You've been gone for hours and Natalie said you weren't here-"
Martin shushed him. "Son, be quiet! There are people who are trying to sleep here!"
Rodrick took a deep breath, and then exhaled. "Sorry. But where have you been?" He whisper-yelled, glaring at Martin.
Martin looked over at Carmen, who nodded in approval of what he was about to tell his son.
Martin sighed. "Son, I will only say this once so listen carefully—I used to be a criminal who worked for VILE, which stands for Villains' International League of Evil. After we started losing money because of the Sterlings, I made a deal with them to give us money..and in exchange, I had to bring them..her." Martin said, pointing at Carmen.
Rodrick gasped in shock. He..had not expected that. His father..was a criminal?! And after all this time, he was still in touch with this VILE?!
Martin reached out his hand. "Rodrick-"
Rodrick turned away from his father. Hiding his face, which was red with anger and a little bit of sadness.
"Don't touch me." Rodrick said coldly.
"Rodrick-"
"SHUT UP!"
Everyone else in the room looked at the young man. Surprised to see him so..angry. And it's understandable he is, but he's really, really angry.
"You are telling me—that my life has been a lie?!" Rodrick seethed.
"Rodrick, your life isn't that at all-" Martin started.
"Oh really? So keeping secrets from your son and pretending that you aren't some criminal mastermind who used to work for a group of evil people isn't affecting my life in the worst way possible?!" Rodrick yelled, interrupting his father mid-sentence.
"Oh, yeah, greatest dad of the year!" Rodrick said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
Carmen, Ivy and Zack all exchanged anxious looks. They had a bad feeling about how this would end up for both Martin and Rodrick.
Martin growled. "That's it! You're grounded!"
Rodrick scoffed. "For what? Telling the truth? Wow, what a great reason to ground me!"
"I was doing it to protect you!" Martin snapped.
"I can protect myself, thank you very much!" Rodrick retorted.
Martin shook his head. "Not from VILE, you can't!"
Rodrick dryly laughed. "Oh? And how am I supposed to believe VILE is real? How do I know that this isn't another lie?"
Martin opened his mouth to speak, but then he froze in his place. Realizing that since he lied to his son his entire life, he would not believe him when he said VILE existed.
"That's what I thought." Rodrick said, as he turned on his heel and walked off. Leaving his distraught father behind.
________________
Rodrick stared up at the light orange and red hues in the sky as the sun slowly started to drip down from its place in the air:
After a very tense dinner with the others, his father included, Rodrick decided to go to the rooftop and get some fresh air. Since it is his usual spot for "unwinding" as Team Red called it.
"Hey Rodrick."
Rodrick looked over his shoulder to see a familiar woman with a red hoodie standing before him.
"Oh, hey...Carmen, was it? What's up?" He asked, as said woman walked over and sat down beside him.
"I just came to check on you." Carmen said, before focusing her attention on the sunset.
Rodrick sadly chuckled. "Yeah? Well, there's no need for that. I'm fine."
"Are you?" Carmen asked, turning to look at him.
Rodrick sighed. "Yeah, I am."
Carmen leaned on her left shoulder, studying Rodrick's facial expressions. Which were ones of depression...anger...betrayal.
"Your father loves you." Carmen said suddenly, getting Rodrick's attention.
Rodrick let out a bitter laugh. "If he truly loved me, then he wouldn't have kept so many secrets from me."
"Rodrick, I understand your anger, I understand that you feel betrayed." She said, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"But look at this through your father's eyes. Imagine that you are a father to a child yourself. And that you used to be a criminal who worked for an international organization of crime. Would you really want your child to know about it so early in their life? Do you want him or her to deal with the dangerous people you had been hiding from?"
Rodrick growled. "No, because there's no such thing as them!"
Carmen sighed. "Oh, they exist, alright. Player.." she took out her phone to reveal a teenage boy, around sixteen, on her screen.
"Show him the hard drive." Carmen instructed.
Player's eyes widened. "Wait, Red, are you sure? This info is really classified!"
Carmen nodded. "It's the only way to prove VILE's existence."
Player sighed. "Fine." He said, pulling up the files on screen for both Carmen and Rodrick to view.
Rodrick skimmed through the data presented to see if it was biased and faked to just convince him to apologize to his father. But..nothing looked fake at all. There were no spelling or grammar mistakes, there wasn't any "unlocked" symbols saying the information was not secure..it was all genuine.
His father had been telling the truth all along.
Rodrick's thoughts then switched back to what Carmen had said, or asked, him before. What would he do if he were in his father's shoes? What would he do when there was a top secret criminal organization that was currently trying to hunt him down?
One thing he would do..was try to protect his child. To keep them away from those awful people trying to ruin their lives. And his father thought that the only way to protect him was to not tell him about VILE at all.
To give him a life that he himself couldn't have when he was at VILE.
Rodrick turned to Carmen. "My dad was telling the truth all along..wasn't he?" He asked, looking down in shame of all the things he had said to his father before.
Carmen nodded, gently rubbing Rodrick's shoulder. "He was." She said, pulling Rodrick into a side hug.
"He didn't want to hide anything from you. You could see it in his eyes. But..he felt like he had no other choice, and he's accepted that one day..you would find out. And that you would have to face VILE eventually."
Rodrick rested his head onto Carmen's shoulder. He sniffled softly, burying his head deeper into the fabric of Carmen's hoodie.
Carmen quietly gasped once she heard his sobbing, and then she wrapped her arms around him and pulled the poor boy's head onto her shoulder. Allowing him to cry.
"I-I'm sorry..I'm sorry.." Rodrick cried out.
Carmen shushed him. "I know you are." She said, rubbing his back.
"We all know you are."