"They've got kids in this place now?" He shouted. Banging on the bars at the retreating guards. "Seriously? I'm doing my time for armed robbery!" He groaned frustrated as he was ignored before examining his new "cellie". The small child couldn't have been older than six. He was small and tiny, less threatening than a butterfly. Not like the teddy bear in the kids arms helped. He crossed his arms as he watched the boy with a frown. "How did a kid like you end up in jail?"

The little boy shifted awkwardly from foot to foot. He glanced up to meet his eyes before he looked back down and answered lowly. "I pushed my teacher."

"Wow," he responded rolling his eyes. "They really send people to jail for anything now."

"I-I-I-"

"Spit it out," he snapped already annoyed.

"Well I didn't think she'd fall off the roof," the boy said awkwardly still watching the stone floor. "Or hit her head... or die."

He watched the little boy for a moment more before a smile spread on his face and bent down and ruffled the boy's hair. "I'm Riley."

"Jack," the boy said quietly moving away clearly uncomfortable with being touched.

"Well Jack," Riley said as the wheels turned in his head. "I think we're gonna get along great."

~~~~

Or we won't get along, Riley thought hours later when he lay in his bunk. He did his best not to look at the bottom bunk where the small child was crying. He couldn't deal with kids. He hated kids. He had nearly shot that crying kid during the bank robbery, the only reason he hadn't was because pretty sure the kid would only cry more as she died which would just be annoying.

Perhaps this was part of his sentence. So many times he had told the guards he didn't want to hear about their kids, was this his karma for that?

"Riley?" A small voice asked.

Riley cursed under his breath and stared up at the darkness of the ceiling hoping the kid would just go back to sleep. He heard the crying kid get off his bunk and he closed his eyes. He could hear as Jack moved around before he felt a pillow smack him in the face.

"What the fuck!" Riley shouted sitting up and staring down over his bunk to where Jack stood. The small child held his bear close and shrinked back. "What do you want?" Riley asked through gritted teeth.

"I-I- had a bad dream."

Riley raised an eyebrow. "Mind pushing me off a roof before I help you with that?"

"I didn't mean to push her," Jack mumbled before he sniffed and in the dim light from emergency lights in the hall Riley could see tears flowing down his face again.

"What do you want me to do about your dream?" Riley questioned swinging his legs around before hopping down off his bunk.

"Um my Mama always told me stories... I miss Mama..." the child began to sob more openly and in response Riley heard someone bang on the bars of their cell.

"Shut that fucking kid up before I come choke him. I need my beauty sleep!"

"Shut up Grayson!" Riley shouted back as he rolled his eyes. "You can't get of there for one, and two no amount of beauty sleep can help you!"

"I am gorgeous! Thank you very much!"

"Has anyone called you that besides your reflection Narcissus?" Riley heard Stell call from the cell beside him.

"My ex!"

"Key word being ex."

"Just- just shut the kid up!"

"How?" Riley called back moving to the bars of his cell.

"Sing to him, or hug him," another tired voice, Riley was pretty sure it was G, advised. "That's what I always did with my kids."

"Before or after you burned down the house with them inside?" Stell questioned.

"They weren't supposed to be there!" G yelled back his voice no longer tired but clearly angry. "I-"

"All of you can it!" A voice cut in effectively silencing everyone. Riley quickly moved away from the bars and scooped up Jack in his arms and covered the mouth of the crying child who immediately tried to squirm out of his grasp. He hurried to sit on Jack's bunk as footsteps got closer to his cell.

"Jack I need you to be quiet," Riley hissed in the boy's ear. "I'll help you with whatever after, but you need to be quiet now."

Jack didn't stop crying but he quieted slightly and stopped moving.

"That's better," called the same voice. "I don't wanna hear another peep. If I do I'll recommend that the warden uses this cell block for his next venture. Understood?"

"Yes Officer Lenid," Riley chorused along with the other convicts still awake.

"Wonderful," Officer Lenid said and Riley could hear the smile in his voice, it made him sick. "Goodnight convicts."

"Goodnight Officer Lenid."

Riley didn't relax until the heard the footsteps go down the hall. Only then did he release the boy. Riley glanced down at Jack. The boy had stopped crying, apparently what had just happened was far more interesting.

"Who was that?" Jack asked quietly wiping his eye.

"No questions," Riley said his voice barely a whisper. "For now sleep." With that said he laid down in Jack's bunk and the boy reluctantly followed suit. Riley pulled the thin blanket up around the boy, and closed his eyes to show the conversation was done. Thankfully Jack didn't say anything more.

~~~~~

"Look. In Relden things work differently. It started about... five years ago? Yeah five. A new warden took over his name is Delen. And Delen fired everyone. Then he had picked inmates and gave them training and the title of Corrections Officer. So all the officers were once in this prison. His supposed reasoning for doing this is that those cons would never get a job outside- which is true. And that no one better would know what is going on inside the prison- which is also true. But this means that every con who holds a grudge then becomes an officer, like Lenin, basically scares us into submission. If we disobey we are brought to the warden who implemented another new and crazy idea. That he sends the con off somewhere. I have no clue what happens there and I don't want to know. All the guys who gone back don't talk about it. And those that do are sent back over and over again until they learn their lesson. So, you cannot anger anyone? Got it?"

Jack shook his head. "You're confusing."

Riley groaned and dropped his head down on the metal table. After a moment he looked back up to the kid who was busy poking at his food. "Look, the guys who are in charge? They used to be in cells. And now they are mad at everyone. And if you're bad instead of timeout you go to bad place and get hurt. So you can't get people mad 'cause it's hard to tell who's a good guy and who's not. Does that make sense in your tiny brain?"

"Mostly."

"Good enough," Riley sighed and took a bite of his food.

"I think you got the perfect cellie," Stell commented with a smile.

Riley sent the man a glare. "You know I hate kids."

"That's what's so perfect about it!" Stell declared. "You got the perfect punishment."

"Fuck off you-"

"What's your name?" Jack cut in looking up to Stell.

Stell's smile slipped and his green eyes narrowed as it focused on the boy. "Why?"

"I'm Jack," Jack started. "And if I'm gonna be here with all of you can't I know your names?" He asked looking to Stell, G, and Grayson who also sat with them.

"Don't worry about him kid, the drugs messed him up bad. I'm Grayson," Grayson nodded. "That's Stell. His first name is Landon so he usually goes by Stell. The big guy over here is G."

"Just G?" Jack asked looking up the large man.

The large man named G smiled, and ruffled Jack's hair. "My name is kind of a mouthful and hard for a lot of people to say so people call me G."

"I guess that makes sense," Jack decided.

"You should eat your food."

"Its icky," Jack responded wrinkling his nose.

"I know," G nodded. "But it you don't eat it you're gonna be hungry all day. There's no other food or snack time or anything. So pinch your nose and eat it quickly."

Jack frowned, but after G gave him an encouraging smile Jack took the advice.

Riley watched this and found himself wondering how weird this whole scene must've looked.

Four inmates sitting with a six year old. Four very different inmates too. Stell was a skinny guy just under twenty with piercing green eyes doing time after being caught dealing drugs. Grayson was just over thirty and very short, with long brown hair, but he was nothing to ignore. While he couldn't beat someone up physically, he knew exactly what to say to con someone out of the pants they were wearing. He could get anything he wanted with just a couple words, except for the fact he had an unhealthy obsession with his appearance. Then there was G. G was about thirty five if Riley remembered correctly, he was a large man both in height and weight, but he was all muscle. He was bald, but he had large, bushy brown mustache, and tattoos covered his arms. The man was actually a softie if you looked past the arson and murder and he had committed. Supposedly he had just tried to burn down his ex wife's house so the judge would have to send his kids back to him, but he his planning had gone wrong and his family was caught in the blaze. Then there was him. Riley himself looked like nothing special, he wasn't tall, he wasn't fat, his hair was dark but not quite black, and his eyes were a dark brown. He looked like your average twenty four old, and he was if you factored out the fact that he had chosen to rob a bank, instead of heading off to college. Not his best choice.

"Done!" Jack declared proudly pushing away the tray of his food.

G smiled at him. "Good job."

"What the fuck has my life become?" Stell wondered aloud as he clapped for Jack's accomplishment.

"No swearing around him," G scolded.

"He's in prison," Riley reminded G. "Where aren't guys swearing or doing worse?"

"Within the five of us."

Stell pulled Jack's plate toward him and began to eat the remainder of the food. "I don't remember adopting a kid."

"Technically Riley adopted him," Grayson pointed out. "I already have a cellie and he's not five years old."

"I'm six!" Jack interjected.

"Whatever."

"I swear I'm gonna get Si to say something one of these days," Stell muttered looking over his shoulder to where a tattooed clad man sat watching everything. "Sup Silence?" He called.

The man in response only blinked.

"I'll get him someday..."

"Right..." Grayson said slowly. "Well this has been great and all, I have deals to make and such. Any requests?"

"Alcohol," Riley answered immediately.

"What kind?"

"I don't give a shit-" he cut himself off momentarily and looked to Jack who watched him with wide innocent eyes, his eyes then flickered to G who gave him a glare. "-crap. I just need something which will get me drunk."

Grayson stood up. "Anything else?"

"You don't get anything I ask for," Stell pouted.

"I'm not getting myself locked up for longer for getting you drugs. If you want something land yourself in sickbay."

"I did that last week."

"Not my problem. G? Want something?"

"Get a kids book for the kid," G answered.

"Okay alcohol, non existent drugs, and kids book. I'll go work my magic."

Riley watched Grayson cross the room and he silently wondered who the man couldn't con. He'd done it the guards often enough, even those who knew what he was. Riley finally shook his heading deciding that he truly didn't need to know, all he needed to know was that the con man was on his side.

Well he had always had Grayson by his side, but never before had he needed him so desperately. He needed all of his little group.

The con man, the strong man, he even needed the druggie. Though oddly enough it would be the newest addition who would needed the most if Riley was even to consider the plan he had come up with the night before. Things needed to be perfect, but then again his fate rested in the hands of a six year old.