Disclaimer: Don't own anything. 8D
Pairings: Eventual Owen/Zach, once Zach gets older.
Summary: Zach didn't want a baby brother. He couldn't understand why his parents were getting him one. So he was going to run away. Just as soon as he convinced the older kid in the waiting room to help him cross the street.
Never Go Home Again
Chapter 1: Running Away
He made up his mind. He was running away. He didn't want a new brother. He didn't know why his parents were getting him one anyways. He didn't ask for one. Wasn't on his Christmas list. He didn't remember asking Santa for one. In fact, he remembered asking Santa for a puppy. Maybe Santa messed up. Because he didn't get a puppy. And now his parents brought him to the hospital to pick out a baby brother. Why did they keep the new babies at the hospital anyways? And why did they have to go get the baby in the middle of the night? He'd been sleeping. And why did they have to rush? Daddy had driven really fast and mommy had screamed and then they had left him alone in the waiting room.
Daddy said to wait there and not move. "We'll be right back, Zach. With your baby brother."
There was a TV in the waiting room. It was playing cartoons. He liked Spiderman. And there was a coloring book and markers and toy cars. But he didn't want to wait for his new brother. Because he didn't want a new brother. So he was running away. He made up his mind.
He slipped from the waiting room silently and started wandering down the hall. He ran his hand along the wall as he walked. There was a blue stripe painted on the wall and he was following the line. He went the way he thought he'd come with his parents. But it was another hall. He followed it and there was another hall. Then there was an intersection. He glanced down both halls and frowned. Just how big was this dumb place? He didn't know where he was or how to get out of the hospital.
Zach turned left and followed that hall. And came to another waiting room. This one didn't have Spiderman on the TV and it wasn't empty. There was an older kid, a lot older, he thought. Not like a grown up yet. But this kid could definitely cross the street by himself. Zach's eyes widened. Maybe the kid could help Zach cross the street! He'd have to cross it to run away and mommy said never to cross the street by himself.
The older kid was sitting on the couch. He was staring ahead, at nothing it looked like to Zach. He didn't seem to see Zach, as the younger kid stepped closer. He had shaggy golden brown hair and Zach thought he looked sad. Zach waved his hand at him. The kid still didn't see him. Zach reached out and grabbed his sleeve. He pulled gently. "Hey mister."
The kid was still for a few moments longer. Then real slow, he blinked and turned his head towards Zach. He blinked again and opened his mouth. But he didn't say anything.
"Can you talk?" Zach asked, rather bluntly. "Or do you talk with your hands?"
The kid closed his mouth and looked confused.
"There's a kid down the street." Zach continued talking. "His name is Jimmy." He lifted his hands and tried to mimic some of the stuff he'd seen Jimmy do. "He talks with his hands. I can't talk with my hands." Zach let his arms drop in his lap. "But I still play with Jimmy. I share my Legos with him."
The older kid blinked at him again. And then he slowly smiled. "I can talk." He said slowly, his voice soft and gravely. "With my mouth." He added. "Not my hands."
"Good." Zach said with a nod. He stepped around the older kid and climbed up on the couch and sat beside him. "My name is Zach."
The older kid turned to watch him and smiled. "Hi Zach." He said softly.
"What's your name?"
He older kid frowned. "My name?" He repeated slowly.
Zach nodded. "You have one, right?"
He nodded and looked away for a moment. Then he blinked and looked back. "Owen." He finally answered. "My name is Owen."
"Hi Owen!" Zach said happily. "I'm 5."
"I uh... I'm... 15..." Owen answered slowly.
"My favorite color is green."
Owen smiled. "I like blue."
"Spiderman is my favorite superhero."
"He's cool." Owen said, leaning back. "Swinging around the city. Pretty awesome."
"I like how he shoots web from his hands." Zach lifted his hands and pretended to shoot at Owen." Owen laughed and Zach smiled. "Are we not strangers yet?"
Owen stopped laughing and frowned. "Not strangers?" He repeated.
Zach nodded. "I'm not allowed to talk to strangers."
"Oh..." Owen bit his lip and looked away. He shrugged. "Uh... I guess we're not."
Zach smiled brightly. "Great! Can you help me cross the road?"
Owen turned back to him. "The road?"
Zach nodded again. "I can't cross the road by myself."
"Why do you need to cross the road?"
"I'm running away."
"You're running away?"
Zach nodded.
"Why?"
Zach let out a loud, over exaggerated sigh and leaned back. "Because I don't want a new brother but they are giving me one. And I asked Santa for a puppy, not a brother."
Owen nodded slowly. "You're running away because you don't want a brother?"
Zach nodded. "I hate him!"
"Is he here yet?"
Zach shook his head. "No. Mommy and daddy are getting him now. Daddy said to wait but I don't want to wait for my brother. I want to run away." His eyes widened. "You want to run away with me? I can cross all the roads with you!"
Owen laughed. "I don't know, kiddo. I don't think you should run away."
Zach stuck his bottom lip out and crossed his arms. "But I wanna!" He pouted.
Owen laughed again and reached out to ruffle Zach's hair. The younger kid ducked away from him. "Hey. Having a brother isn't so bad."
Zach was still pouting. "How would you know?"
Owen stopped. "I uh... I have a brother..." He said, nodding slowly. "Yeah, I have a brother."
Zach tilted his head. "You do?" He asked slowly.
Owen nodded again. "Yeah. His name is..." He closed his eyes for a moment. He took a deep breath and licked his lips. "Peter." He finally said, opening his eyes again. "Peter." He repeated. "I have a brother named Peter."
"You don't sound sure." Zach tilted his head to the side. "Are you like that umm... that fish?"
Owen frowned. "What fish?"
"The blue one." Zach said. "In the fish movie?"
"What fish movie?"
Zach breathed out loudly and pulled his legs up on the couch. He turned fully towards Owen and folded his legs up under him. "There's this little fish, his name is Nemo. And he gets kidnapped. And his daddy goes to find him. And he meets this blue fish who can't remember stuff good. She says uh.." Zach tilted his head, trying to remember. "Short term memory loss." He said with a nod. "And she forgets stuff."
Owen smiled and shook his head. "I missed that one."
Zach sighed again and nodded. "Okay. I'll tell you what happens." Zach liked the fish movie, he had seen it a lot. He really liked the turtles and the sharks. So he knew all the characters and all the words and for the next hour, he recited nearly the whole movie perfectly for Owen. Owen leaned back and listened to the young kid talk. He nodded and laughed at the funny parts and made Zach smile and laugh.
"And then, they roll across the street and fall into the water and they're stuck in bags!" Zach said dramatically. "But they're out of the yucky dentist office. But that's how it ends! Like that!"
"That's lame." Owen said. "They don't get to find Nemo and meet his new friends."
Zach shook his head. "No but I think they do. And they all live at the reef together."
Owen smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I think so too."
Zach suddenly yawned widely and leaned back.
"Tired?" Owen asked softly.
Zach nodded. "I was sleeping when they woke me up." He mumbled around another yawn. "Don't know why he couldn't a waited until the morning."
Owen smiled. "Sometimes baby brothers come in the middle of the night."
"Don't want the baby." He mumbled again.
"You will." Owen said, still smiling. "One day, you'll be happy to have him."
Zach shook his head. "No I won't."
"You will." Owen insisted. "When he's big enough to play with, it'll be great."
Zach looked at his hands in his lap. "He'll be able to play with me?"
"Yeah." Owen said. "When he gets bigger."
Zach let out a sigh. "But he can't now!" He whined. "And Jimmy talks with his hands and I can't and he's hard to play with." He looked back up at Owen. "Can you play with me?"
Owen smiled again and laughed softly. "Yeah. Maybe."
"Zach?"
The pair turned as an older woman walked down the hall towards the waiting room. Relief was on her face as she came closer.
"Zach Mitchell?" She asked.
Zach nodded his head.
She smiled at him. "My name is Gretchen." She said warmly. "I'm a nurse, I work here. We've been looking all over for you. Your parents are worried."
"Oh..." Zach looked at Owen.
Owen smiled at him. "You should go back to your parents and meet your new brother."
Zach smiled and nodded. "Okay." He slipped off the couch and waved at Owen. "Bye. I'll see you later."
The nurse laughed and reached out for Zach's hand. "I'm not going anywhere yet, sweetie. I'm going to walk you to your parents.
Zach nodded. "Okay." He followed behind the nice nurse. Before they turned the corner, he turned around and waved at Owen. Owen smiled and waved back at him.
The nurse watched him and tilted her head. "Who are you waving at, honey?"
Zach looked back at her. "Owen."
"Who's that?" She asked.
"My new friend."
The nurse glanced back down the hall. Then she nodded curtly and pulled Zach along.
Owen watched until they turned the corner. He breathed deeply in and out and tried to remember what he'd been doing before the kid showed up. But his mind was blank. Everything seemed blank. Owen pulled his legs up to his chest and tucked his chin against his knees. But no matter how hard he tried to remember, nothing came to him. After an unknown amount of time, he opened his eyes and slowly eased his feet back down on the ground. He blinked and stood up. And then turned and walked down the hall where Zach had gone.
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Author's Notes: 8D
