Episode 13: Eggs

Abel sighed happily as he walked through the nice sunny, busy city park. He was enjoying the lovely peace and quiet with the warm soft breeze and the sweet smell of flowers. As he walked down the park path, a large red ball suddenly bounced at his feet. He smiled and picked it up for the small blonde boy came running up to him.

"Thank you." The boy smiled warmly.

"Harry, come on sweetie." A woman called.

"Coming Mommy!" The boy giggled and ran to his mother. Abel watched them embraced and walking away, his smile faded. He looked around the whole park and saw all the children, some older than him, enjoying their time with their families...

Querl growled in frustration as he was hounded through the garage by his friends. They had been badgering him for three days for a new game console since their old one was basically falling apart.

"It's just garbage." Sorun whined.

"You can ask till you're all blue in the face." He said. "It's not going to happen."

"Querl, please, we really need one." Kopi begged.

"Well, you're just going to have to try and manage, aren't you?" He smirked

"It's not funny." Kiara glared.

"Yeah, it's been like that since Tam went nuts." Kopi said, causing the green haired giant the glare at her back.

"There is too much lack of respect for the things in this place." He glared. "I am sick and tired of you being careless with your stuff, the games remote went through the window when Tam lost his temper, my staff was used as a ninja stick by Sorun and Abel and my car got stolen because someone forgot to lock up!"

"Oh yeah." They all gulped.

"Do you know what?" He glared. "It wouldn't be so bad if you would own up to your mistakes, until you all show me that you can take care of your stuff, no new game console." He smirked as he slinked away into the basement. When he stepped out into the base, he frowned when he saw Abel slumped in a chair, lost in thought.

"Hey Abel, how are things?" He asked.

"Querl, have you got a mom?" The boy suddenly asked.

"You know I have."

"But you've never met her?"

"Well no, she dumped me when I was a baby, but I guess you could say Irma was always a mother figure to me, even though she was only a few years older than me."

"So why did she let you leave?"

"She knew it was what I wanted, what I needed." He sighed. "But hopefully after all this is over I can finally rebuild those bridges and return to the Legion."

"Forever?" Abel asked and Querl froze.

"I'm not sure yet, Abel." He sighed. "You know, people will still love you even though they're not with you." He said before going to see what the others were up to...

Kopi hummed happily as she thoroughly dusted through the entire garage. She and the others were determined to prove to Querl that they were responsible enough to be given a brand new game console. She didn't really care about the game console, however, she just wanted a good excuse to boss Sorun around for a while.

That's right, there you go." She laughed as Sorun and Tam glared the latter's room "And make sure you clean under the bed! Lord only knows what horrors we're going to find in your room!"

"Watch blue, I could slip and spill all this stinking, disgusting trash in your room." He grinned. Before Kopi could go to strangle him, however, Querl suddenly walked up to them

"Kopi, have you got a minute?" He asked and, before she could answer, pulled her into the kitchen, away from the others.

"What's wrong?" She asked, knowing it was serious.

"It's about Abel." He said. "He's been fine since he moved in with us, he knows that this is his home, but now it's different, he's questioning things about his past, his parents and I don't know what to tell him."

"What do you mean?"

"I know what it feels like to wonder about your family, your parents, we need to be careful how we word things or it could make him even more feel abandoned."

"Is that how you feel now?" She asked.

"No." He quickly replied.

"Well, it's natural if you do, I mean, you've never had a parental figure in your own life."

"You're not a child now!" He growled. "I'm not here about me, I'm talking about Abel, unlike me he doesn't know the first thing about his mother."

"So what should we do?"

"I need some time, I need to find a way to distract him and the others until I can find the right time and words to tell him."

"Great, and while your thinking about that, what about that new game console?" She grinned.

"No." He glared.

"Just hear me out." She begged. "If nothing else, it maybe the distraction you need."

"I know that, Kopi, but what can I do, hmm?" He asked. "They wrecked the one they've got, they're not to be trusted."

"I know, but what if there's a rule, like no drinks near the computer?"

"I'm sorry but if they can't look after what we give them, how can I justify throwing away good money on a new one?"

"Why not get them doing something to prove they can be responsible?"

"Like what?"

"Like a challenge." She smirked...

The next morning, Querl ordered everyone down in the kitchen for a meeting. As they all sat at the table, Querl came in with a carton of eggs right from the store.

"Alright Querl, what's all this about?" Sorun sighed.

"You're all going to be egg-sitting." He grinned.

"What?" Tam asked

"Here are the rules; each one of you has to look after a raw egg between now and tomorrow morning without damaging it whatsoever; each of you must be responsible for the egg and you must have it on your person at all time." He explained.

"Huh?" Abel asked in confusion.

"Anyone breaks the egg, no game console." He said and they all groaned, realising why he was doing this. "If anyone doesn't have their egg then there's no game console. This is a great chance to show me how responsible you can be."

"Easy!" Tam grinned as he grabbed an egg, only to accidently crush it in his grip. Everyone laughed as Tam grimaced at the remains of the egg dripping from his hand.

"Great start, Tam!" Sorun laughed. "You've already lost!"

"It's OK." Querl sighed as he handed them all their eggs. "We'll start again from now, I'll see you all at day's end." He sighed as he and everyone else dispersed, leaving only Kiara and Abel in the kitchen.

"Kiara?" The boy asked.

"Yep." She smiled.

"Did this egg have a mother once?" He asked as he examined his egg.

"Yeah, why?"

"If it hatched, will we have to be its mom and dad?"

Yeah, I suppose, if it had no-one else to look after it." She shrugged before leaving...

Kopi sighed in boredom as she and the others sat in the living room, watching their eggs. When she had given Querl the idea to give them a challenge to prove that they could be responsible, she had no idea that it would be so boring.

"This is so boring!" Sorun exclaimed as Tam nodded in agreement. "I would rather sit on this egg and cluck like a chicken all day, than look after it."

"We all want this computer so take it seriously or there's no point." Kiara glared.

"Poached or fried, Sorun?" Tam laughed as they made their way to leave.

"Actually," Sorun smirked as they left. "I was thinking more of an omelette."...

Querl sighed as he walked around the garage, trying to get his head around the whole Abel situation. He never told anyone this, not even the Legion, but back when they first found Abel, Querl had dug up all his legal documents and found some... disturbing things in the young boy's file. He stepped into the kitchen and frowned when he saw Abel sat in the exact position he had left him in an hour ago.

"Abel, are you OK?" He asked and the boy nodded. "Where is everyone?"

"I don't know." He shrugged as Querl sat next to him.

"You know, even eggs get heavy after a while, do you want me to hold it?" He asked and Abel handed it it him.

"Querl, do I have real mom?" He suddenly asked.

"Yes, everyone's got a real mom somewhere."

"Why can't I go and live with her?"

"W-Well Abel... I uh, looked it up and found that when... when you have very little, your mom couldn't look after you properly." He gulped. "People we very worried that you and the people around you could get hurt that's why you live here, so we can keep you safe."

"Can't I even see her?"

"Maybe when you're older." Querl sighed. "Now, I think we need a drink, and maybe some of the candy I keep hidden for special occasions, what do you think?" He smiled. Abel thought about for a moment before smiling and following his green friend out the kitchen...

Sorun whistled to himself as he walked around the mall looking for something to do. He was starting to wish he'd never agreed to take this stupid challenge now, but he really wanted a new game console. As he continued to walk the the mall, his eyes suddenly caught a group a girls giggling and gossiping about their recent shopping spree.

He smirked as he walked over to them.

"Hey ladies, what's up?" He asked and they all blushed. Suddenly he was pushed aside by three jocks, who he assumed were their boyfriends.

"Who's the kid?" The biggest one asked.

"Hey! I'm not a kid!" Sorun exclaimed.

"Ha! What's with the egg?" He laughed when he saw the egg in Sorun's hand.

"It's nothing." He blushed faintly, when an idea suddenly came to him. "Hey ladies, you wanna see a few tricks?" He grinned and through the egg as far as he could.

Everyone in the mall watched as, when the egg was seconds from the ground, Sorun caught it with his speed. They all watched in amazement as he continued to perform tricks with his speed and the egg. It all suddenly went wrong when he tripped over an old woman's foot which sent him sliding across the floor.

He growled and felt his cheeks heat up as the egg smashed against his head.

"Ha, nice try kid! Better go ask yer Mommy to clean you up." The jock laughed as he and his friends walked away...

"I win." Querl laughed as he beat Abel at chest for the third time in a row. They were sat on the couch with a chess board between them and candy wrappers thrown in the trash can. Abel had chocolate smeared all over his face, whereas Querl's was clean as a button.

"Again?" Abel groaned before grinning. "Best 5 out of 9."

"Your on." The Coluan smirked as they cleared the board just as a sour Sorun walked in.

"What are you doing?" He glared.

"We're just playing chess, want to join?" Querl asked.

"That's kid stuff." He sneered.

"I've got to see Kopi about something, so can you keep an eye on Abel until I get back?" He asked.

"I'm not stupid Querl, of course I can." He scoffed.

"OK Sorun, I never said you were." He replied, extremely confused before giving Abel his egg back and walked off. Once he was gone, Sorun turned his attention towards the younger boy.

"Why've you got chocolate all over you?"

"We were just eating some, sorry you missed out." He smiled innocently.

"What's wrong with you? Why're you acting like such a kid?!" He growled.

"I am a kid." He frowned.

"You need to grow up Abel! In case you didn't notice, we're trying to round up over a hundred, dangerous criminals! This ain't a kid's game!"

"You can't tell me what to do! You're not even part of my family!" Abel shouted.

"Thank god for small mercies." He sneered at the child before dashing away. Abel just sat there, tears welling in his grey eyes. Suddenly there was a crack and a squish. He looked at his hand and saw that he had accidentally crushed his egg...

"Now he's asking about his real mother." Querl sighed as he paced around in front of his blue haired friend.

"And what did you tell him?" She asked.

"That she couldn't look after him properly and everyone was concerned for him and his family's safety, but I didn't go into details." He said.

"It's probably growing pains, it was bound to happen sooner or later Querl, you knew that." She said. "He's wondering who he is and where he belongs, we need to deal with this now."

"How?"

"Well, by talking to him, as honestly as we can." She sighed. "Go and see if you can find him, will you?"...

Kiara grunted as she worked her way through the training room working out. She had set her egg down in a very safe corner. As she finished another set, she heard the doors open. She looked over and saw Tam walking in.

"Get out! I'm practising." She glared.

"Wanna spar?" Tam asked as he set his egg next to her's.

"No, why would you want to spar with me?"

"Because we're meant to be a team, we need to be able to work together."

"We'll never be a team!" She exclaimed as she stepped towards in anger, making him move backwards with her. "And why do we have to fight in order to work in a garage?"

"It doesn't matter." He shrugged. They both suddenly froze, however, when a loud crack echoed throughout the whole training hall.

"Tell me you didn't." Kiara pleaded. They both looked down and saw both their eggs crushed under Tam's heel. Just then they heard the door open and they quickly stood in front of the remains of the eggs as Querl stepped inside.

"Have you guys seen Abel?" He asked.

"No." They quickly said at the same time. Querl gave them a funny look before leaving...

Querl growled in frustration as he searched high and low for Abel, but it was as if the boy had vanished off the face of the universe. As he stepped outside, he found Sorun sulking against the wall.

"There you are." He said as he approached the teen. "Where's Abel?"

"I don't know." He shrugged.

"But I left him with you." He frowned. "I told you to look after him, what happened?"

"Well, h-he can't have gone far, I'll find him." Sorun gulped as he ran off to look for the human boy. Querl sighed and pulled out his communicator.

"Kopi? It's Abel, I can't find him."...

"How could I let this happen?!" Querl exclaimed to Kopi as they stood in the basement. It was now clear to everyone that Abel had run away from them and the garage. To top it all off, Sorun had vanished as well.

"Oh Querl." She sighed.

"No, seriously, how did this happen?" He whimpered.

"He'll be fine." She reassured. "You went walkabout a few times when you were back in the Legion and needed some alone time to think."

"That boy doesn't have an arsenal of weapons at his fingertips." He glared. "Anything could happen, I'm going to go and look for him." He said and grabbed his keys.

"I'll go with you."

"No, stay at home in case he shows up, I'll call you with any news, OK?" He said before taking off...

Abel silently whimpered as he wandered the streets of the city. While he had been for a walk around the area near the garage, he'd never been to this part of the city and he soon found himself lost. As he walked up to a large park, he saw a Kryptonian man selling holo-papers to passerbys.

"Big Issue? Big Issue?" He called as Abel approached him.

"Do you know to Querl Dox's garage?" He asked.

"I'm sorry, kid, but I don't know anyone called Querl Dox." He replied before frowning. "Listen, kid, has nobody ever told you shouldn't talk to strangers?" He asked.

But Abel didn't say anything and walked into the park. He walked until his legs hurt and he sat and a lonely park bench. As soon as he sat down, he felt like he was hit by a sudden wave as tears started flowing from his eyes as he pulled his knees to his chest and sobbed loudly.

"Are you lost?" A soft voice asked and he looked up to see a Bgztlian with an infant in her arms staring at him. "Oh, it's all right, sweetheart." She soothed when she saw his scared expression. "Where do you live?"

"Shouldn't talk to strangers." He mumbled as she sat next to him.

"Well, quite right." She chuckled. "But, seeing as you're lost, it might be a good idea if you talk to me, my name's Nina and this little fella is called Adam."

"He's cute." Abel smiled lightly.

"Where's your mommy?"

"Don't know." He whimpered. "She hurt me, I've had a lot of families until Querl took me in, but then he left me with Sorun and he shouted at me, so I've run away." He explained as she looked at him in horror.

"Oh, well, you... you just stay there, sweetheart, I'm going to call the police." She stuttered as she pulled out her phone.

"But I haven't done anything!" He cried. "I just want to go home!"

"No, no, it's not you." She soothed. "You deserve to be looked after properly and the police will help us."...

Querl felt like crying as he drove around the city looking for Abel. He didn't know why he felt like this, he felt so scared and angry that if he did find Abel, he wanted to strangle the boy for putting him through this. He frowned in confusion when he noticed that his bike was running out of fuel. He felt like screaming as he was forced to stop outside a park on the other side of the city.

He had no choice but to do things the old fashion way.

He got off his bike and quickly looked around until his eyes landed on a Kryptonian giving out holo-papers.

"Excuse me!" He called as he ran up to the man. "Sorry, but have you seen a little boy? He's got brown hair and grey eyes and-"

"Ah, you must be Querl Dox." The man suddenly said and a spark of hope flared up in Querl's chest.

"Yes, have you seen him?"

"Yeah, we went off in there." The man replied and pointed into the park.

"Thank you so much." He smiled before running into the park...

Back in the park, Abel was now cuddling with Nina on the bench as they waited for the police to arrive. For what, Abel had no idea, but if it was the police then it couldn't be bad, could it?

"Won't be long now, Abel." Nina sighed as she wrapped her free arm around the boy.

"Could you be my mom?" He suddenly asked.

"Oh, I can't, sweetheart." She sighed regretfully. "I've got my own little boy to look after."

Abel sighed in defeat as he tried to occupy his mind with something. But as he looked around, his eyes went wide when he saw Querl down the path, looking frantically for him.

"Querl!" He called as he shot off the bench and towards the Coluan.

"Abe?" Querl gasped as he turned and all he felt was relief when he saw the boy running towards him. "Abel!" He cried as them tightly embraced. "Where have you been?! I've been worried sick."

"Abel, wait!" Nina exclaimed as she ran towards them. "You, wait there!" She glared at Querl. "Querl, is it? You're not taking him anywhere 'cause I've called the police, I don't know what kind of life you or your sort lead but you can't just abandon a child whenever you feel like it!" She glared.

"What?!" He snarled at her. The two stood there glaring for a moment before he knelt down to Abel's height and brushed his bangs out of his face. "Are you OK?"

"Yeah." The boy smiled before wrapping his arms around his friend's neck, to scared to let go...

It was until sun down that Querl and Abel made it home. While the boy was having a well needed bath, Sorun was eavesdropping on Querl's and Kopi's conversation in the basement.

"...and we were with the police at the station and everything!" He heard Querl shout. "How do you think I felt, trying to explain a complete stranger explain I wasn't some scum who just abandoned his child!"

"Look Querl, I understand that you're upset but you should go hunting for Sorun." Kopi replied.

"Why not! If he hadn't of treated Abel like that this wouldn't of happened!" He growled. "I've just had that boy sobbing into my shoulder because he feels like an outsider around here!"

Sorun could bare to listen anymore and took off running...

By now the sun was nothing but a faded streak of dark orange across an inky sky. Querl silently grabbed a few cans of soda from the fridge and climbed onto the room where he found Sorun staring into the dark night sky.

"Hey Sorun, what's wrong?" He asked as he sat next to the speed teen.

"Don't talk to me, I'm not worth it." He mumbled.

"What do you mean?"

"I lost it with Abel and he bolted the first chance he got! I drove him away!"

"No you didn." He sighed. "I knew he was upset and questioning himself and his place in this world and I should've stopped it there, this was my mistake, not yours."

"You don't understand." He glared. "I heard what you said to Kopi, how it was all my fault!"

"Sorun, when people are upset or angry they do and say things they wouldn't normally, I was just upset because of this whole Abel situation before you even knew about it, don't blame yourself." He said before smiling and handed Sorun a can.

The teens smiled at each other before turning back to the sky...

The next morning, Querl called them all into the kitchen for an emergency meeting and they all knew what it was about. It was time they put this whole 'Abel Situation' to bed and fast.

"Abel, you know we love you right?" Kopi asked and he nodded. "So you know that we're all part of this strange family, right?"

"No we're not." Abel frowned. "A family's a Mom, Dad and their kids."

"Abel, families come in all different shapes and sizes." Kiara sighed. "There are all sorts of different families, Abel; some families have one mom, some have one dad or two families, some children live with their uncle or aunt, some live with their grandparents and some children live with foster parents, some live in separate homes and neighborhoods in different areas of the country, even different planets, and they may not see each other for days, weeks, months or even years at a time, but if there's love those are the ties that bind."

"Do you understand Abel?" Querl smiled. "We are not your ordinary family but we are close as close can be and we all have our own part to play in this family."

"Yeah, I mean Kopi's steady and secure." Sorun grinned.

"Kiara's warm and strict." Querl added.

"And Tam's always by your side." Kiara smiled.

"Sorun has a big heart." Kopi said. "But he just got confused for a bit."

"And Querl, well, he loves you." Tam smiled.

"So you see now Abel, if you add everyone up here together, it's like having one big gigantic family and some people would say that makes you a very lucky boy." Kopi smiled as Querl walked over to the draws. Abel sat there for a moment before smiling.

"Thank you guys." He sniffed just as Querl came back with some egg holders.

"Right, eggs." He grinned as they all but Abel put their eggs in the holders.

"So, Querl, when do we get our new game console?" Sorun grinned as the green teen examined the eggs carefully.

"Well, it all seems perfect." He smirked. "But, before I handed out the eggs, I made some small marks on them so I'd know if they'd been replaced." He said and all their faces dropped.

"And I take it from the expressions on their faces that these are not the same eggs." Kopi laughed.

"Nope, only yours is." He replied. "I can't believe you all broke your eggs, you have yet to prove to me that you can behave responsibly you lied about it again, except for Abel, who told me straight away that he had broken his own egg; therefore, there will be no new game console for you guys but Abel, I will make you your own game buy and Kopi, I'll do those upgrades to your blasters you wanted." He grinned.

"This is so unfair, Querl! Your just doing this 'cause their your favourites!" Sorun glared.

"Don't be ridiculous, I have no favourites in this family." He laughed before leaving. Once he was gone, Abel grinned as an evil idea suddenly came to him. Slowly he picked up one of the eggs and threw right at Sorun's face. The teen just stood there for a second before grabbing another egg and throwing it at Abel, only for it to miss and hit Kopi in the stomach.

It was all downhill from there...

ROLL CREDITS!