Chapter One: Thunderstorms and Lightning Shows.

Now Alexis could say she knew from experience community service was shit. It was beyond mundane and pointless and was just plain crap; she had no idea how painting some benches was really going to benefit anybody. Lying bloody probation worker. With a sigh, she began dabbing random marks onto the planks of the bench so it looked like Mr Blobby. Or like it had chicken pox. Whichever floated your boat, she supposed.

She'd been stuck with Vicky Pollard and the obnoxious twat from earlier despite hoping to be with the silent guy, 'cause he at least looked like he offered some peace and quiet. After sentencing she had made a plan for getting through this and she had (had) every intention of sticking to it: head down, work done, home bound. But now she had Curly trying to rope her and the other girl into talking and it was so not happening.

"So… what's your name?" he grinned, one hand on the back of the bench as he leant over her; she was currently kneeling down, joining her dots of paint up in big spirals over the seat.

"Hm? Sorry, did you say something?"

"Aw. Don't be like that. C'mon, what's ya name?"

"Alexis."

That shit-eating smirk grew before he softly repeated her name:

"Alexis. Nice… and yours, love?"

He had turned on the other girl, sarcasm laced in his words so obviously she looked like she was about to punch him. Instead, she settled for staring him down.

"Kelly."

"What about you?" Alexis asked. Despite all that focus on not uttering one word to any of them, this boy had her breaking her vow in the first half hour. Looking back, maybe she should have taken that as a sign - a sign that Nathan could always, and would always, make her crack with that damn annoying charm of his.

"The name's Nathan." He sung, winking at her. Oh God, she could feel the corners of her mouth turning up at his cockiness despite herself but luckily for her, before he could notice, 50 Cent started a commotion. She wouldn't lie: when he got up, cap in hand and yelling angrily, she had jumped in surprise.

"Aw man, there's paint on my cap! This is bullshit!"

All six pairs of eyes were on him as he kicked one of the tins of paint into the river (her tin of paint, the prick), its contents spilling and splattering over the pavement and the water, covering them both in a gloss of wet, white emulsion as he stormed off. On his way, he couldn't help taking his anger out on an abandoned shopping trolley, kicking at it and making one of her eyebrows shoot up in bemusement. That guy would probably have been better suited at anger management than community payback.

"Wow. Whatta dick."

"Amen to that, sister." Nathan went back to leaning over her, a look in his eyes that she didn't like and yet, to her disgust, made her shoot him a smirk. Wow. Now she was playing some sort of warped game of she-didn't-even-know-what with this guy: flirting maybe? "So enlighten me. Why ya here?"

"You don't wanna know." She was purposefully being difficult, not really sure if it was in hopes that it'd make him leave her alone or either enflame his curiosity further and thus, intensify his attention on her. Man, she was fucked up; this orange suit was doing something to her head because had this of been a week ago, she would have hated a cocky son-of-a-bitch like him smiling down at her and would definitely not have been encouraging him. In any way.

"Oh, but I do. That's why I'm asking. C'mon…" Alexis shook her head, refusing to meet his eyes but grinning nonetheless. "… Prostitution?"

She shot him a glare; that wasn't exactly what she had wanted.

"No."

"Just tell me. You don't look the type who should be doing this kinda shit."

"That's 'cause I'm not."

"Fine," he sighed, elongating the last letter, "you're no fun." He turned his attention to Kelly, leaning forward as he said, "So, I'm guessing shoplifting? … No?"

"Don't act like you know me cos you don't."

Again, he didn't seem to understand the dangers of antagonising someone with an ASBO and just carried on, oblivious to what could occur. How had he not been stabbed yet?

"I'm just making conversation. Man, you're both so defensive! This is a chance to network with other young offenders. We should be swapping tips, brainstorming. Come on, what did you do?"

"This girl called me a slag so I just got inta a fight."

"… Was this on The Jeremy Kyle Show?"

Alexis had to laugh. She had totally been thinking about how well the other girl would have fitted on the show since she'd first seen her. Even worse for poor Alexis, Kelly decided to answer with something that made her giggle even more.

"No, it was down Argos."

"Argos?"

"What? Ya think it's funny?" Kelly pointed her paintbrush dangerously at the still giggling Alexis who shook her head, desperately trying to contain her laughter (albeit unsuccessfully).

"No. No, course not."

Kelly looked like she was about to say something else but Nathan managed to take back both their attentions.

"Oh. Well you know what you should've done? You should of got one of those little pens and jabbed it in her eye."

When he began miming the action, Alexis knew she had to get away or she was gonna burst into uncontrollable reams of laughter that would probably have Kelly trying to batter her or something - and she was not quite ready for a beat down just yet. With a look on her face like she was about to burst, she quickly moved over to the bench she had originally wanted, unaware of the other two watching her puzzled.

Quiet Guy didn't look up, or even register her presence as she settled herself on her knees in front of his bench.

"Hi." She said gently, smiling through the slats at the boy crouching on the other side who looked, to her, like the epitome of helpless vulnerability.

Those hypnotic blue eyes rose to catch with her dark brown ones, an attempt at a smile on his mouth: it was quick and cracked and a little unsure. The boy had to look away before he could reply.

"Hello."

"I'm Alexis."

"Simon."

"Nice to meet you, Simon."

She wasn't looking at him anymore, she was now engrossed in dipping her brush into Gangsta's left over tin and painting a big 'A' over the bare area of the bench, presenting Simon with the opportunity to study her freely. And he wasn't really sure what to make of her…

She was pretty. Pretty in that young-woman-not-really-sure-of-herself way that made him think of misunderstood heroes and half-grown sunflowers – that made him think of himself. There was an air of damaged intensity about her, of helplessness hidden behind a façade that appealed to him incredibly; it was almost reassuring to know even those who seemed so confident, so normal, still harboured some insecurities. Make-up appeared to be her shield, her defence of choice against the world and yet it ruined the composure of her features. It was too much - too much make-up, so carefully, meticulously put on, like a mask hiding what he could only imagine was a beautiful face without it.

Simon was a hell of a lot more observant than anyone else - always had been. The rest of them had simply seen a pretty girl who looked anything like a criminal, completely out of a place in a boiler suit, surrounded by criminals. Simon had seen straight through her.

Maybe he had zoned out during his study because when he glanced back up at her, those big coffee eyes were aimed at him, startling him like light beams scorching his retinas. Flushing, he quickly looked down. She didn't comment, instead she slipped a small compact from the pocket on the chest of her jumpsuit, flicking it open and examining her appearance. Simon quickly, daringly, shot her another look, not enjoying the heavy weight of dislike in her eyes as they stared at the mirror.

"What about you, weird kid? Don't take this the wrong way or anything but you look like a panty sniffer."

Both Alexis and Simon looked over at Nathan as he acted it out, hands up and sniffing heavily. Okay, she'd admit that Nathan did have a rather disarming quality about him (it was either his charisma or his looks, she hadn't decided yet) but this part of him she didn't like at all. (Not that she liked any part of him, of course. Obviously. Right. Right? He was a stranger. And a stranger with a criminal record at that. She definitely disliked him.)

A small, tiny, down-trodden (despondent)part of Simon had almost hoped Alexis (or anyone) would say something for him, something in his defence but she remained tight-lipped, glaring over at Nathan with a look on her face not too far from the one that had been there when she was looking at her own reflection. He supposed it was a little too much to expect protection from a stranger (from anyone).

"I'm not a panty-sniffer. I'm not a pervert."

Nathan began using his paint brush to imitate wanking off, grunting like an animal as he did so and aiming his actions over at Simon. Simon glanced up nervously while Alexis' eyes grew wider watching the display. Okay, he was definitely a prick. Right now, she couldn't even fathom the thought of finding him attractive (though she did): bullies not only turned her off but made sparks of disgust burn in her stomach. Eurgh.

She wasn't sure what she was gonna say, or really why she was gonna say anything at all, but just as Alexis opened her mouth to smack Nathan up with a verbal-beating, Simon's exclamation cut across her would-be words. (Was it awful if part of her was a little relieved?)

"I tried to burn someone's house down." The words were bitten, sharp, brittle and the last thing she had expected out of his mouth. He had… he had tried to burn someone's home down? Dear Lord, appearances truly were misleading… although in honesty, she hadn't even begun to fathom as to why someone as innocent looking as him would be in a place like this. To her, he looked more lost, more mistaken here than she did; at least her past gave her an edge of… something.

Nathan let out a high pitched squeal, smirking at the fact he had garnered the animated response from Simon before turning away, obviously only annoying the boy for shits and giggles. The arsehole.

Embarrassed or ashamed, or maybe even a little angry, Simon went back to boring his eyes into the bench, a flush creeping up his neck as he attempted to continue painting. A twinge of fear caught her in the solar plexus as she watched him furrow his eyebrows, a deep sense of unease burying itself in her which she knew would one day blossom into something more. This boy had more depth, more hidden secrets, than she could imagine but attempt to imagine, she did. She got lost in thought – at her, at him, at this situation, at the fact that this was anywhere she had hoped to be a year ago.

Around and around she went. But just before she got too lost in the maze of her mind, a growl of thunder rattled the air. Shaken, she glanced up at the sky as clouds rolled over its former blue canvas, slates and charcoal and black hazy colours bleeding and tainting it into something wild and dangerous and scary.

Alexis was from England: she was used to a spot (a lot) of dark skies, and storms of any sort, be them rain, snow, hale. But this… this one had her bones quaking and the hairs on her neck and arms standing up.

"What is going on with this weather?" Nathan mused while Alexis struggled to her feet, hugging herself.

"How did that happen? I mean, you've been here five minutes." Probation worker-man said, appearing out of nowhere and indicating the tin of paint floating in the river. "It's painting benches. How'd you screw that up? You tell me 'cause I have no idea."

Alexis had turned at the sound of his voice, watching him (his name still lost in her memories) try and contain his anger as he spoke, hands on hips but as the last word left his mouth, something smashed into the window screen of the car behind him.

Alexis screamed, throwing her hands over her head and she could only imagine the others did something similar.

"What the hell was that?"

"Oh, Jesus!"

"What's going on?"

"Fucking hell…" She spluttered voice partially drowned out by the car alarm that was now ringing. She stood up to look at the mangled mess of car that was left as Simon did too; he must have scrambled around to her side of the bench when the car had been hit. But hit with what? There was no way that was just a brick.

"That's my car…"

Simon fumbled with his phone, flipping it up and pointing it at the probation worker and his now broken automobile.

"Classic." There was a grin in Nathan's voice as he regarded the mess, instantly enamoured and drawn in by the chaos and damage before his eyes. Karma, however, turned right around and bit him on the arse when another massive something (what was it? A huge snowball? Hale? She couldn't tell) landed in the river just behind them. Its resounding splash arched over the group while they ducked for cover, screaming at the cold water drenching their backs.

"Oh my God!"

"OK, so I'm a little bit freaked out."

"What is that?"

Everyone turned to look at what Frizzy was talking about and Alexis felt her stomach knot up. Okay, that wasn't normal… not even in England. Spirals of dark clouds were forming over their heads, lightning flashing briefly and more huge boulders falling on the other side of the water; the sight made her breath catch in her throat. Accidentally, her shoulder brushed Simon's as he raised his phone, aiming it at the storm and part of her couldn't help thinking: I'm guessing now is not the best time for action, camera man.

But before she could voice her opinion, one of the gigantic balls of hale crashed into the dumpster just by her and him. Hale: yeah, it was definitely hale. It knocked the container over, sending its contents exploding and she screamed again, grabbing at Simon's elbow and blindly dragging him away and towards where the others had huddled together. When she turned to regard where she had just been stood, she whimpered in fear, clutching tighter onto his suit without realising.

"I didn't sign up for this…" she murmured.

Simon glanced at her from the corner of his eye, partly concerned, partly freaked out and partly hoping he could catch all this on film. He wanted to say something about her clutch on his clothing, maybe ask her to loosen it, but he didn't need to as Tony (the nameless probation worker) began shepherding them away and she let go.

"Right, let's get everyone inside. Move! Move. Run!"

Alexis didn't need telling twice. Quickly she followed his lead, joining the others in running as fast as she could back to the community centre. Phone booths were shattered and the pavement cracked from the hale that was still being catapulted from the sky. Their feet pounded the ground, their breathing harsh and heavy, their voices hoarse from yelling and screaming and shouting out in terror. Alexis had her arms over her head to shield her as best she could, cursing herself for being so lazy as well as bloody Runner Boy's superior athletic ability. She would have given anything for longer legs right now.

At last! She was close. She hopped the steps two at a time, diving for cover under the community centre's veranda as quick as she could. Runner guy had got there before her and was busy shaking the doors, trying to wrench them open – and funnily, that's when she remembered his name from the paper: Curtis, Curtis Donovan. Scary what pressure could make you do.

"It's locked!"

"Open it." Alexis pleaded when Tony finally got there, already fumbling with his ring of keys. Everything was a blur from then on of words and shouts and hale and fear.

"What is happening? What's happening?"

"Open the door!"

"I'm finding the right key."

"Come on!"

"Open the door."

"Open the fucking door!"

"Fucking open it!"

"Don't speak to me like that!"

And then Alexis and the other five misfits were suddenly struck by lightning.


'The rip of the thunder, it splits the sky; it's jagged proof for the strength of chaos.

There's a strange music in the rumble.

It's like the anger and the love's loss.'

Life in the Storm – Edward McCain


I had originally began planning and writing this story at 2x1, back before Superhoodie had popped up with those wonderful abs of his and fucked up everything I had planned. So thanks to him, I've had to shift quite a bit around but I'm praying I've finally got everything sorted into some semblance of order and coherence, although some parts are still a little shaky. Thankfully, he only really affects 't4' (yes, I did just abbreviate my own title ;) from 2x2 onwards so it'll be a little while before we enter unchartered territory.

Now we just have to wait for series three to find out what other spanners the writers have decided to throw into my works and how much of this speshs up the canon, won't we?

It's okay. Honey was made for challenges! :)

And for begging - so ! H-xo