Rating: PG
Characters: Cain/DG; Glitch-Ambrose; Raw
Disclaimer: Don't own them
Note: This was written for the LJ's TM Quote Challenge 02. The quote we had to use was "I can create stuff out of nothingness. I can alter the fabric of reality. So please, quit being a knucklehead." It had to be said by Glitch
Note 2: It's been a long time since I've taken chemistry and I had to fudge a bit to get the equations to fit the storyline.
Chemical Reactions
By Lattelady
Since having his brain reunited, Glitch had his good days and his bad ones. Some days he was pure Ambrose and others all Glitch, but most of the time he vacillated between the two. On this particular day, no one was exactly sure who he was or what was going on.
He'd closed himself in his study with six chalk boards. Each board had an equation at the top and the Queen's Advisor was furiously writing, erasing, and writing again, all the time muttering as he worked.
Raw came looking for him first, but soon after, Cain and DG knocked on his door.
"Yes, yes come in…" He looked between the Princess and the Tin Man and then back at the line of boards. He hadn't expected them to arrive separately, now-a-days they were always together, "Just not together," he added under his breath, as he shook his head. "I can't figure this out. Maybe if I could, that would change."
"What can't you figure out, Glitch." Deeg still called him by that name, no matter who he was and it always brought a smile to his face, but not tonight. "What needs to change?" She was confused but wanted to help her friend.
"I can't get this equation to work out." He moved quickly across the floor and tapped the forth board from the left. "The others work. They aren't balanced, but in the strictest sense of the word, they're organic equations, so they don't really have to balance." He laughed to himself. Of course they were organic, after all Cain and DG were basically hydrocarbons and water with some electrolytes tossed in to keep it all interesting.
DG walked behind him and examined his careful precise handwriting at the top of each board. "These are example of the six main kinds of chemical reactions!" She grinned very pleased that she remembered. It had been eight months since she'd taken that chemistry class.
"Hey, Doll, not only are you beautiful, but you've got a brain under all that hair!" He gave her a grin that was pure Glitch.
"Chemical reactions?" Raw was looking more confused than ever. He could usually understand his friend. If the words didn't make sense, he picked up on feelings, but tonight Glitch was being too erratic to read. The Viewer sensed frustration, but under all of that was deep worry that seemed to be directed at Cain and DG.
"Yes, when two or more substances are mixed together, they break apart on an atomic level and reform in one or more new substances. It has to do with bonding of electrons…" He was channeling Ambrose, the words spewing fast and sure until they suddenly stopped. "…and something else…I can't remember!"
"I think you need to explain this." While the others were talking, Wyatt Cain was studying the writing on the boards. He'd had enough basic chemistry at the Academy for dealing with explosives, but what the Head Case had written looked like something else all together. "Start with the first board on the left." He glared.
"But I already have those figured out. Weren't you listening to what I said? It's this one." He rapped his knuckles on the forth board. "The one that represents Combustion that eludes me!"
"Glitch," Cain's voice was low and menacing. He saw his initials and DG's written on one board after another. He was well aware that he had feelings for the girl, but he didn't like what he was seeing. "The first board…explain…now."
"Wyatt…" Deeg wrapped her hand around the wrist of his outstretched arm. She felt his strong muscles flex under her palm and his crisp shirt cuff pressed against her skin. Still holding on to her Tin Man, she turned worried blue eyes toward Glitch. "Maybe if you explained the first few boards, we could help you with the last three." She had noticed the initials too and she was feeling exposed.
"It's very simple really. These are a break down of the history of your relationship with Cain. I've divided it into the six basic forms of chemical reactions." He grinned at the astonished couple. True to form the Tin Man had moved closer to his Princess. Though she was still holding his wrist, it had dropped to his side, and he had placed one hand reassuringly on her shoulder.
"But we don't have a relationship," she argued. Raw snorted into his paw at the Princess's denial, while Glitch ignored her and got on with his lecture.
"The first board is what happened when we discovered Cain. It represents Decomposition. As you can see I've written CTS equals C + TS. In this case TS stands for tin suit. A couple of bangs with a hammer and he was out. That's what started this whole chain reaction." He pointed from board to board.
"The second one is a bit more complicated. It represents a Single Displacement reaction. Here one element in a compound trades places with another element, creating different compounds. DGTS + CBZ equal CDG + TSBZ. In this case the TS with DG stands for Travel Storm and BZ with Cain for Before Zero. You two had to let go of who you'd been in the past, before you could be who you are today.
"Wait a sec…" She could feel a blush forming on her cheeks. It wasn't helped by the tightening of Wyatt's hand on her shoulder.
"Doll, I'm not finished!" Glitch cut her off. "Here is where it gets really interesting, here on board number three. It represents the old Acid-Base reaction. DGAlone + WyattAlone equals DGWyatt + 2Alones. That's friends, best friends. You were both alone and now you're not."
"You're right about that one." Cain looked down at Deeg as his hand moved further up her shoulder until his fingers caressed her neck. "I guess we are best friends." His crystal blue eyes sought her sapphire ones for conformation.
"Yes, he is right about that one." She smiled, meeting his gaze.
"But see, see, it's right here that I can't figure it out!" He rapped board number four with his knuckles in frustration. "This one should be Combustion. I get as far as C + DG equals CDG, but it's not combustion, 'cause it's not exothermic. It doesn't give off any heat! See 'em, standing there." He pointed to the Tin Man and the Princess. "Those two keep it all deep inside. All it would take is the smallest amount of energy of activation, just the slightest move toward one another and kaboom! They'd be giving off heat all over the place."
Deeg and Wyatt had turned until they were facing each other. Both knew Glitch was right, but neither knew what to do about it. It all made sense, all the touching and teasing, wanting and needing; the long conversations about nothing and everything.
Suddenly Ambrose and Glitch fought for control. The expression on the man's face was the Queen's Advisor of old, but the voice and actions were pure Glitch. He walked up to Cain and lightly backhanded him on the shoulder to get his attention. "I can create stuff out of nothingness. I can alter the fabric of reality. So please, quit being a knucklehead." As quickly as Ambrose's demeanor had appeared, he slipped away and the Head Case grinned at his friends. "So will ya kiss the girl already, so I can finish up the last of my equations!"
Cain took DG in his arms and pulled her close. The second their lips met, Kaboom! Heat flew in all directions.
As they kept on kissing, Glitch went back to the last two boards and began writing. On the fifth board he wrote: DG + WC equals WDGC – Synthesis – two compounds join to form a more complicated one - Marriage.
On the last board he wrote PrincessDG + WCain equals DGW + BabyPrincessCain – Double Replacement reaction. This is when the anions and cations of two different molecules switch places, forming two different compounds.
On that note, he and Raw slipped quietly out of the study, leaving the kissing couple to work on their chemical reactions.
The End
