A/N: The idea came to me out of nowhere and I simply must write it! Set at the beginning of Necropolis when the four boys are at Professor Chambers' house.
Matt and Scott were fighting. Not a full on fist-fight, but from the look of it, they were getting pretty close. Richard was hovering around the two teenagers, trying desperately to calm them down. Naturally, they were both ignoring him totally. Professor Chambers was attempting to block them out beyond glancing at them periodically. Pedro and Jamie were following her example, playing the game they were taught with the dice. At least, they would be, if Jamie wasn't staring at his brother and pleading with him telepathically to stop.
"You stuck-up asshole!" Scott snarled, clenching his fists so hard his knuckles were white. "You have no idea what you're talking about!"
"Okay, let's all take deep breaths-" Richard tried to say.
"It's a possibility!" Matt snapped back at his fellow member of the five and simultaneously talking over the journalist. "You said it yourself; you don't know what the hell they were pumping into you back at Silent Creek! They could convince you to turn your back on us at any time!"
"What, and leave Jamie with only YOU to look after him?! Hah!"
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Matt's narrowed eyes and gritted teeth showed how truly pissed off he was.
"Means what it sounds like, oh wonderful leader!"
"You think I asked to be the leader?!"
"I don't know, but strutting around like a peacock while you issue our orders seems to be right up your alley, you pompous arse!"
"How about I throw you through that window?! And I don't mean with brute strength!!"
Jamie decided enough was enough; he'd been collaborating a plan while on the floor with Pedro that would distract Scott and therefore stop the argument in its tracks. The only flaw in this theory being that his brother would be so pissed with him, he'd kill him. Though hopefully he'd see the funny side after he'd cooled down. Probably not.
Jamie strode over as calmly as he could to the standoff, wiping his sweating palms on his jeans as he phrased his next sentence correctly in his mind. He held up his hands in surrender. "Hey, now, you two! We're all on the same side here, aren't we? If we want to get through our coming problems intact, we need to trust each other."
He paused to glare to his right at Matt, who met his eyes. "And to get along properly." His eyes now slid over to his twin's face, who also met his eyes. Scott stared at him and raised an eyebrow, recognising the look in Jamie's eyes. The younger brother smiled. "I thought you'd learned years ago that bickering doesn't help . . ." He leaned over and whispered one word in his brother's ear so softly no one else could hear.
Scott went rigid. Jamie bolted out of the room as fast as his legs could carry him. Pedro and Richard stared at the door through which the younger twin had just fled, Professor Chambers' gaze was switching from said door to the frozen older twin and Matt didn't even blink as he watched Scott, awaiting his reaction.
It came after about ten seconds.
"JAMIE!! YOU PROMISED TO NEVER CALL ME THAT EVER AGAIN!!"
The enraged teenager then proceeded to sprint out the room as fast as he could to catch his brother. For what end, nobody really knew.
Silence descended on the living room, punctuated only by the sounds of running feet in the rest of the house and Jamie shouting, "I did not! I only promised to never tell anyone else your nickname!" Until the back door slamming shut echoed through to them.
"It seems they've gone into the garden." The professor mused. The faint sound of Scott's angry voice floating to them from that direction seemed to support this hypothesis.
"Um . . . what exactly did Jamie say to Scott to upset him?" Pedro questioned slowly in his accented English.
"I don't know." Richard answered, sounding and, indeed looking, utterly bewildered.
"No idea." Matt said, his voice not betraying the curiosity, though it showed in his blue eyes.
XXXXX
Three hours later, Scott had decided to stop chasing Jamie, so the two of them once again joined the other four in the house, just in time for dinner, coincidentally enough. All six of them sat at the table quietly as they ate their enchiladas, Jamie randomly snickering every now and again, with Scott shooting him dark looks every time he did.
Richard was the first to crack, his years as a journalist taking affect. Placing his food back on his plate, he turned to the brothers and, addressing Jamie said, "I'm sorry, but I seriously need to know, what on Earth did you call him?"
This, of course, caused Scott's dark look to be redirected to the older man and made Jamie fall backwards off his chair in gales of full-blown laughter. The younger boy eventually crawled back into his seat and got his laughter under control – somewhat.
"Well," he began, "when we were about six, we lived in a foster home with a bunch of other kids-"
"Jamie . . ." Scott growled.
"And they were having a Christmas party or something to try and give us some 'festive joy' or whatever and Scott got into a fight with another boy . . ."
"I'm warning you!" The elder brother threatened as he half leaned over to his twin, his hands twitching spasmodically as he reached towards him.
"About cake. Scott used to love cake."
"Give me a break, I was little! And it wasn't my fault; he started it!" Scott fumed.
"Eventually, the adults came over and broke them up, but everyone noticed the type of cake he had been after, so it became his nickname!"
"Shut up!!" Matt noticed Scott's usually flint-hard eyes glowing like fire as he shouted, his cheeks flushing at the memory.
"Aww, what's wrong? Everyone got a laugh out of it that day-"
"Yes, I remember, thank you very much!"
"I thought it was cute!"
"Yeah, well, you would!" Steam was practically gushing out of his ears as he ranted. "Why do I get the crap names, first a box, then a pastry!!"
"But it suits you."
"IT DOES NOT!!"
"So what is the nickname?" Pedro inquired, no longer able to wait.
"Biscotti."
There was silence at the table as Scott plotted to maim his brother. Then Matt's great shout of laughter. Then another shout from Scott and a thump as he flung himself across the table at the first of the five, causing them both to land on the floor and begin a wrestling match.
XXXXX
It was now ten pm; two hours after the dinner escapade and Professor Chambers insisted the four teenagers go to bed before any more problems arose. They brushed their teeth, got into their sleeping clothes and climbed into bed.
"Goodnight Matt, Pedro, Jamie and Scott." The woman said.
"Goodnight boys." The blond man called to them.
"Night." Scott grunted; they assumed it was addressed to all of them.
"Goodnight professor, Richard, Scott, Matt and Pedro!" Jamie called cheerfully from his bed next to Scott's.
"Good night to all of you." Pedro's voice announced.
"Night Richard, night Professor Chambers, night Pedro, night Jamie." A pause. "Night Biscotti."
Scott jumped out of his bed, got tangled up in his sheets, hit the floor with a grunt, freed himself and launched himself down the hallway and at the blue-eyed boy and lay on top of him while attempting to throttle him, all in the space of fifteen seconds, complete with yet another roar of rage.
"You're gonna get a sore throat, Scott."
"Aagh! Get off of me, you crazy-!"
"Did he just break down my door?!"
There was no sleeping that night.
A/N: What do you think? I know Matt and Scott have never actually had a proper fight or stuff like this, but I can them imagine them doing so; I often do, actually.