1. Life As We Knew It
Tennis was officially Joe's least favourite sport. He'd never found it interesting. People smack a yellow ball back and forth while making uncomfortable and unnecessary grunts until someone misses and then it starts all over again.
But when hundreds of those balls were flying at him at eighty-five miles per hour, he found a whole new reason to dislike the sport.
Joe ducked as one flew over his head. He felt the top of his hair get pushed back from the wind. Another one came at him from the side and he was forced to slide back to avoid being hit. Chaos continued to fly around him.
He tried to catch his breath to no avail. He'd been at this for thirty minutes and still hadn't managed to complete this training exercise. Warmth surged through him, his magic ready to go. He pushed the warmth to his hands and grinned as large orbs of green energy flashed to life.
He threw his hands in front of him. The time magic shot forward and destroyed three oncoming tennis balls, but more took their place. Joe continued to jump and dodge, occasionally throwing in a few blasts of time energy, but they just kept coming.
"How many tennis balls can these stupid machines hold?" Joe yelped in pain as one smacked him hard in the shin. He cursed under his breath.
There were too many coming and they were too fast for him to shoot them all. How was he expected to do this?
"Sydney! You can turn these off at any time you know!" Joe nearly fell over as he tried to evade another cluster of tennis balls.
"You can do it, Houdini! Think outside the box!" Sydney didn't even bother to look up from the stack of papers in front of her and continued to absentmindedly tap away on the wireless remote controlling the tennis ball machines. She was sitting in a lounge chair comfortably and safely behind the three spinning and sliding death machines. With large sunglasses and her ruffled hair pulled back into a high ponytail, she appeared to be enjoying the sunny weather.
Joe was not. He was sweaty and wanted nothing more than to end this exercise and go home. He collected his thoughts, which was easier said than done giving his turbulent surroundings.
Think outside the box she had said. Well, blasting the balls away hadn't been working and he was getting far too exhausted to keep eluding them. He could stop time, but he doubted he'd be able to stay still long enough to freeze the whole area. He might be able to slow down individual balls but there were way too many coming at him.
A ball flew by and grazed his ear, speeding up Joe's thought process.
He could just destroy the three machines that were shooting the balls, but he highly doubted the place they were renting them from would appreciate that. The idea of speeding them up popped into his head. They would run out of ammo quicker, but they'd also be firing at Joe a lot quicker as well and he knew he definitely wouldn't be able to dodge them all then. So maybe it wasn't the machines he needed to speed up.
Joe arched his back and stood on his toes, almost falling over, as another ball flew by behind him. He swiftly swung his hand over his chest and placed it over his Warp Wizard mark.
"Accelerare!"
Everything immediately came to a crawl around Joe. It was as if time itself slowed down. Joe smirked, pleased with his new discovery. No, he was just moving faster than everything around him.
He sauntered off the court at a nice, leisurely pace, occasionally slipping through a few tennis ball clusters. Enjoying the calm and lack of being attacked by balls. Sound had slowed down too and despite being in the middle of the most populated city in the country, it was relatively quiet. The tennis balls casually floated by him, no longer a threat. He even pushed a few out of his way and they drifted off in another direction.
The air took on a green tint around him, a side effect of using his magic. The time energy in the air concentrated whenever he used his power, and his eyes would glow green, allowing him to see into the time plane easier.
He reached Sydney and snatched the remote away from her. Quickly, he shut it off and allowed himself to slow down back to normal speed. Time around him returned to how it was and the sound of New York City life filled his ears.
Sydney glanced up at him, a sly expression appearing. "I was wondering how long it would take you."
Joe frowned. "You've lost your coaching privileges."
"Have I?" Sydney chuckled, showing how little she believed him.
He sat down next to her, rubbing the sore spot on his shin. "I think I broke something," he groaned jokingly.
"Guess you'll just have to be faster next time" Sydney teased. "Impressive trick though. Try not to do it too often, however. It ages you." Sydney's lips turned down and pointed to Joe's face.
A rough, prickly sensation met his fingertips as he traced his jawline, even though he had just shaved his face this morning. "Good thing you love facial hair so much."
Sydney scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Please."
"Hey, you're the one who made me age myself. Trying to get me die early?"
"There were a hundred ways for you to finish this challenge. It's not my fault you chose the one that would age you. And you're not going to die any sooner than you're supposed to. Death is determined by date not age. Do you know how soon time travelers would die if their deaths were determined by the age of their bodies?" Sydney shook her head. "You've come so far and yet you have so much to learn."
"Well, to be fair, my teacher has been slacking lately." Joe leaned in and glanced down at the papers in her lap. He saw the words 'Ever After' written in bold in the center of the front page.
"Ah, ah, ah," Sydney tsked. "Don't even think about it."
Joe's shoulders sagged. "Oh, come on. You and Skyler have been working on this thing for over a year now. You have to let me see it at some point."
"Says who?"
Joe sighed. "Alright, fine. So," Joe put his arm carefully around Sydney's waist. "Now that we're done for the day, how about we head back home? We still have a while before Jade gets home from school and the twins can stay at grandma's for a little longer." He placed a soft kiss on her lips.
Sydney softly laughed. "We can go home, but we aren't done yet."
"We're not?"
"There's one more thing I want to show you today. Don't worry, it won't be as physical as this was."
"That's a shame, because I'm really in the mood to do something physical." Joe winked and started caressing her hip.
Sydney shook her head in amusement. "Too bad I'm not."
"Really? I bet I can make you. You're forgetting how well I know you. And I do mean every inch of you, like how some parts are a little more sensitive than others." Joe hand slowly drifted up from her waist to a small spot just below her ear, sending a shiver down Sydney's spine.
She quickly stood up and grabbed her things. "I need to teach you this first. After that, maybe I'll let you have your reward for all the work you've done today."
Joe groaned. "But I've done so much today already."
"It'll take ten minutes. I promise you won't be disappointed."
"There has to be a way we can get this."
"It would work fine if you made it bigger."
"We tried that, remember? It just made it look... weird."
"It looks weird as is."
Sam groaned in frustration. "This isn't going to work, is it?"
Cade offered him a sympathetic grin. "Why must you always be so pessimistic? All we need to do is rework the formula a little. The gloves work, as long as the wearer is under seventy kilos. And once we finish the boots it'll help. Soon climbers everywhere will be using Gecko Gear to scale mountains and buildings."
Cade held up a pair of black gloves. The palm side was composed of microscopic squares coated in dry synthetic adhesion. The back side had their logo in white. Their logo was a cameo of a human head with an atom symbol inside. The head was surrounded by a circle modelled after Cade's charm bracelet and had several small scientific images, such as DNA strands and beakers, branching off of it.
Sam rubbed circles on his temples. "But the formula is so specific. If we alter it we could make them too adhesive and they'll stick to everything and never come off."
"There's a way. You know there is. We'll figure it out. You know that too." Cade brushed Sam's hair back and fixed his glasses.
Sam couldn't help but smile. "Where would I be without you?"
Cade flashed her teeth in a bright smile. "You don't need me with that brilliant brain of yours."
"I'll always need you." Sam's face softened and he curled a strand of Cade's ginger hair around his finger. "That reminds me, I have something for you."
Cade perked up, intrigued by Sam's words. It wasn't that Sam didn't give her gifts, but it was rare that he did it when it wasn't for a special occasion like her birthday or their anniversary. Today was neither.
"I really think you're going to like it." Sam dug around inside a bag that was sitting behind him. "I feel like I should have done this years ago."
That caught Cade's attention. She and Sam had been dating for eight years, since their senior year of high school. They had stayed together all throughout college, even helping each other graduate in three years, and had gone on to graduate school together and were now working on their doctorates side by side. Sam had been a part of Cade's life since they were ten and she had loved every minute of it.
All of their friends were married by now and they all had kids as well. It was only natural that Sam and Cade followed suit. They'd certainly been together long enough. It was the next step for their relationship. Cade had been waiting for this day for too long.
She tried to contain her excitement as Sam pulled out a small white box from his bag. She grasped the lab table behind her to support herself. She didn't even care that he was proposing in their lab. It wasn't the most romantic of places, but it was where they spent most of their time together.
Sam made his over to her, gift in hand. "Like I said, this seems long overdue." Sam opened the box to reveal his gift.
"A charm?" Cade's smile faltered.
"Yeah. It's the molecular structure for dopamine, one of the neurotransmitters involved with love." Sam held it up for her to see.
Cade knew what dopamine was. It, along with several other amines, was what caused people to fall in love. Dopamine was arguably the key neurotransmitter in the process. It was what made people seek out the ones they love and do anything in their power to keep them or win them over.
"You don't like it." Sam had hurt written all over his face, interpreting Cade's silence to mean disappointment.
"Of course I do!" Cade took the charm from Sam and examined it under the light. It was a small, silver charm. Like Sam had said, it was the molecular formula for dopamine. "I just wasn't expecting this."
Sam gave a sheepish shrug. "I wanted to surprise you with it. I know your charm bracelet was something you and your mom made together and you haven't added anything since she passed away, but I thought that maybe you could put this on it. If you don't want to, that's okay. I understand. It doubles as a necklace pendant."
Cade glanced at her charm bracelet. Not a day went by that she didn't think about her parents who had died when she was only seven. The charm bracelet was one of the few things she had left of them.
Cade took the charm out of the box and quickly added it to the collection on her wrist. The bracelet was there to remember those she loved. Sam deserved to be on there.
Sam grinned when he saw her put it on. "It looks beautiful. Just like you." He gave her a sweet peck on the cheek.
"I love you." Cade smiled at Sam.
"You too."
Sam's phone rang, interrupting their moment. He pulled it out and looked at the caller ID. "I need to take this. I'll be right back." He shuffled out of the lab, phone to his ear.
Cade let out a heavy sigh and thoughtlessly fiddled with her bracelet.
"Recent census records show that the average age for marriage in the US is twenty-seven for women. There is still time."
Cade pinched the bridge of her nose. "Thank you for reminding me, PAIA."
"I'm registering high levels of stress in you." PAIA flew in front of Cade. A blue light came out of it and scanned up and down Cade's body. "Perhaps it would be a good idea for you to get a massage or try meditating."
"I see your health care modification is working." Cade straightened and went over to her laptop. She had been so focused on Sam's latest invention, she hadn't had time to work on her research project. "Thanks for the suggestions PAIA, but I have a lot of work to do and don't have time for a massage or meditation."
"High stress levels can cause heart disease and asthma." PAIA followed Cade to her work station.
"I am aware of that, PAIA. My stress levels are not high enough to cause me any health problems. And they'd go away if Sam would just propose already," Cade grumbled the last part.
"According to recent studies, couples who marry later in life are less likely to get divorced," PAIA continued on.
Cade let out an irritated groan. "PAIA, enter sleep mode."
"Sleep mode activated." PAIA flew down to a nearby table as its screen shut down and its wings folded in.
PAIA wasn't capable of understanding human emotion. It couldn't be blamed for its sometimes irritating nature. But if an emotionless robot could pick up on Cade's desire to be married, why couldn't Sam?
Cade sighed and focused on her work. Sam would propose soon. He had to.
Fred may have been biased, but Jesse was the cutest baby he had ever seen. At seven months old, she had completely stolen Fred's heart. Everything about her, from her bubbly giggles to her large, grey-blue eyes, was perfect in Fred's eyes. Jesse had inherited Kairi's heart-shaped face and Fred loved how he could see a little bit of Kairi every time he looked at his daughter.
Having a child so soon into their marriage had been working out surprisingly well. Jesse was an easy baby who loved to sleep all the time, giving Fred and Kairi any newlywed time they needed. They had their moments, sure. What couple didn't? But for the most part, life was great for them. Fred would even go so far as to say it was perfect.
Jesse, currently bouncing on Fred's lap, reached for his hat and he let her grab it. She loved wearing it even though it was much too big for her little head. Fred thought it was good look for her nonetheless.
Jesse giggled as the hat slid down her forehead and obscured her eyes. Fred readjusted it back onto her head.
"We should buy you a hat that actually fits, don't you think?" Fred grinned at his daughter.
Jesse giggled in response, causing the hat to slip over her head again.
Fred heard the front door open and click shut. His grinned widened and he stood up with Jesse in his arms to great his wife as she came home.
"Mama!" Jesse squealed and reached her small arms out to Kairi.
Kairi beamed and grabbed Jesse out of Fred's arms. "I see you're wearing daddy's smelly old hat again."
"That's the smell of years of adventures." Fred winked at her.
Kairi laughed and rolled her eyes. She handed Jesse back to Fred and sat on the couch with a heavy sigh. She quickly kicked off her shoes and relaxed into the cushions.
"Long day?" Fred sat down next to her still holding onto Jesse. It was only two in the afternoon, but Kairi had been up since dawn in and out of meetings and shopping at fabric stores.
Kairi sat up. "It was weird."
"Weird how?" Fred asked, suddenly concerned. He leaned forward and studied Kairi's face. She appeared worried and she kept rubbing up and down her arms.
"I was cold all day. Even though it was over seventy degrees outside. And, this is going to sound silly, but I had this strange sensation that I was being watched." Kairi shook her head, clearing her thoughts. "Maybe I'm just being paranoid."
Fred put his arm around her shoulders, a small gesture of comfort. "I'm sure it's nothing, princess. Maybe all you need is a nice nap to shake it off. Then you'll be all rested up for your girl's night tonight."
Kairi nodded her agreement. "I might just do that." She gently kissed Jesse on the forehead, then Fred on the lips.
Kairi disappeared towards their bedroom and Fred returned to playing with Jesse. Yes, life was definitely great for them. Fred felt like nothing could ruin this moment of his life.
A/N - So there you have it! The first chapter of Dead Debts! Just a little set up to show where everyone is at in their relationships. (And for timeline reference, the trio is twenty-six.) I have a lot planned for this story and I'm very excited to write it. So hopefully, updates will come often, but at the same time I don't want to rush it.
Anyway, you know what to do! Review, favourite, and follow! Thanks for reading!