A/N: I don't own Pokémon. So sad, so sad.
- / - / - / -
Blue sat, curled up, in her favorite chair, eyes staring, unmoving, at the book on her lap. She was listening hard for it – he should be here any minute. Blue flipped a few pages idly, trying to remember what book she'd picked to pretend to read.
Really, she thought, it's been fifteen years – you'd think I could deal with this a bit better.
Since the day of their divorce, Blue and Green had not seen one another. Any minute now, he'd be dropping Mason, who'd spent the summer with Green, off. Even this was routine. They shuttled Mason back and forth faithfully – but neither had ever gone in to see the other. Mason learned early that his mother and father could not see each other, though he never really understood why, and he'd learned quickly after that not to ask either one about the other. He knew nothing of their life together, nothing of what they'd done for the world when they'd been even younger than he was. Mason knew that his father was a well-respected researcher in Viridian City, and that his mother was the brilliant leader of a security company.
He'd never seen either of them battle. Did not even know that they had ever been Pokémon trainers.
Not that they'd really tried to keep it secret at first. For the few years after the divorce, when Mason had lived primarily with his mother, Blue hadn't had the energy to even think about her Pokémon. She'd left them at Professor Oak's laboratory. Green had Pokémon that Mason knew of, of course, but Mason assumed that they were just Pokémon that resided at his lab, because he'd never seen them trained.
Neither Green nor Blue had stayed close with the Dex Holders, both assuming they'd run in to each other at one of their friend's houses. Blue and Silver still spoke often, as they worked together, but she hadn't gone to see him the last three times she'd been invited. Yellow called Blue once every few months to check in; Blue was always vague and unhelpful in these conversations, so they became more and more infrequent. Red and Green had "men's nights" whenever they could remember to get around to it. Mason had never heard the stories of the Dex Holders; did not, in fact, even know they'd ever existed.
Blue heard the crunch of wheels on gravel and stiffened. She wanted to get up and look out the windows to see him, but she knew it would be bad to do so. Very bad.
"So, when will I see you again, Dad?" Mason asked, pulling his last bag out of the trunk of his father's car.
"As soon as you call and beg me to take you away from here," Green responded. His back was turned resolutely away from the house, hands deep in his pockets.
"Ha, ha, Dad, very funny," Mason said sarcastically, dropping his bag and kicking it towards the other two he'd already pulled out. He crossed his arms and faced his father. "She's not as poisonous as you seem to think. Honestly, Dad, you'd think the two of you had never even liked each other."
"Never mind her, Mason – why ruin such a nice summer now?"
Mason rolled his eyes in annoyance. Green grimaced. He was so like her when he did that.
"Yeah. This summer was great, Dad," Mason said sincerely, smiling. "Maybe next time I visit, you can show me how the experiment on the Golbat went?"
"Sure," Green said easily. "I've got a good idea about why they evolve based solely on their happiness level, but they're a very different type of Pokémon than I've been working with. Eevee is – obviously – genetically opposite to most of the Pokémon on the planet, after all."
"Yeah, yeah, Dad, you're brilliant, I know," Mason laughed. He glanced over his father's shoulder at the house. "Alright, I should go."
"Right," Green nodded. He took three purposeful strides forward and yanked his son into a hug. "You'll be okay, Mase. I know it. Don't even worry about school; you've got my brains and your mother's cunning."
"Dad, I know. You don't have to say that every time," Mason mumbled into his shoulder. "It's just my last year of school."
"But you'll be applying to university soon," Green reminded his son for the thirteen hundredth time that summer. "You need to be more –"
"Dad, really. I know," Mason said, pushing away from Green. "I'll see if I can come up to visit in a few weeks, all right? Unless you want to get me a car, then I can guarantee it..."
"Not a chance," Green shook his head. "I promised at graduation. Sweet talk your mother, she's a sucker for that puppy-dog look you do so well."
"Yeah, like you'd know anything about that," Mason muttered, thinking he was quiet enough to keep his father from hearing.
"I would know," Green countered. "It's the same as mine. Works like a charm."
Mason laughed and gathered his bags into his arms. "Love you, Dad. I'll see you soon. Call me when you get home, yeah?"
"I will. I love you too, Mason."
He grinned at his father and turned to haul his bags up the front steps. Green got in the car quickly, turning it on before he'd finished sitting and slammed the car into reverse. He was gone before Mason got the front door open. Green breathed out a sigh of relief.
He hated lingering outside her house. He was afraid she would come out, that he'd have to see her. And he hated himself for his cowardice.
Green wasn't a stupid man. He'd known that he and Blue would never become friends after their divorce, as many couples somehow manage. But he'd thought they could be civil, cordial even. He had not foreseen the hostile relationship they now shared. Many times, he'd thought about calling her, just to chat. Maybe even to make amends. No, Green thought. Not even I would do that. If nothing else, Green had his pride. It wasn't much, but...
- / - / - / -
Mason narrowed his eyes as his father peeled out of the driveway. He angrily kicked the door open. He knew his parents hated each other, he really did. But did they really need to flaunt the way they did? He had friends with divorced parents; Alice's parents had stayed good friends (after a period), and Nathan's parents had both remarried and boasted a very friendly relationship. Even Seth's parents, who openly disliked each other, made an effort to be civil around one another for their son. Why did his parents need to be so adolescent and refuse to even try to get along?
When Mason was seven, he'd thrown a fit, demanding he had both of his parents at his first parent-teacher meeting. He'd been with Green that weekend; the meeting was the following week. Green had crossed his arms and informed his wailing son that he would not be attending Mason's parent-teacher meeting, and that that was simply the way things were. If Mason wanted both of his parents in his life, he would have to make some sacrifices. Mason didn't speak to his father for a solid month and a half.
When he turned ten, Mason had begged his mother to go with him to Green's for his birthday party. Blue had hugged her son, but told him that she couldn't go because Green wouldn't want her there.
"Trust me, baby," Blue whispered, smoothing his hair. "I want to be there. I want to meet all of your friends in Viridian City, honey. I do. But your daddy doesn't want me there. I don't want to ruin your birthday."
"Mommy, you won't!" Mason cried. "I promise. I'll make Daddy want you there. I will!"
"Sweetie, your daddy doesn't want your birthday to be bad, either. We both want your birthday to be as good as it can. So I need to stay here, okay?"
"Why?" Mason burst out, leaping out of her arms. "Why can't you guys even try to like each other? Everyone else's parents like each other! Even Alice's mom and dad get along, and they're just like you and daddy! They don't live together! But they're nice to each other! They both go to parent's night at school! They both went to her tenth birthday party!"
"Mason, honey –"
"Why can't you even try?" he bawled. "Don't you love me enough to even try?"
"Baby, don't think that, of course we love you – we love you more than anything!"
"Then prove it!" He screeched before turning and running up the stairs to his room. He threw himself onto the sheets and cried until he was too exhausted to move. Blue sank into a chair after Mason's outburst.
"Mason,"she whispered, "can't you see that we stay away from each other because we love you?"
Mason shook the memories out of his head and hauled his stuff inside. "Mom! I'm home!"
He dropped all of his bags, anticipating the hug his mother had in store for him. Sure enough, she appeared around the corner coming from her study and hurled herself into her son's arms.
"Mason! Oh, baby, it's so good to see you," Blue said, looking up into her son's face. "When did you get so tall?"
"About a year ago, Mom, you've just never been able to accept it," Mason said, grinning. "How've you been?"
"Pining, dear boy, pining away," Blue said dramatically. Mason laughed at her. "Well, no, but I have missed you. I've just been busy, slaving away, working on a new project for a company in Sinnoh."
"Thought you didn't do anything out of Kanto or Johto," Mason asked. Blue shrugged.
"The Galactic Project is paying through the nose to get me to work on a top-notch unbreakable security system for them. Money speaks volumes, kiddo. I've even enlisted Silver's help – they're pretty specific with what they say they need," Blue explained, hoisting one of Mason's bags into her arms. Mason frowned; the company's name rang a bell for him, but he wasn't sure why. "Shit, Mase, why's this smell so bad? You leave it out for the Stunky to attack?"
Mason snatched the bag away from her. "No, Mom, I just didn't do all my laundry before coming home. We have a perfectly good washing machine here; I'll put it to good use."
Blue raised an eyebrow. "Very well."
"I'll be down soon, Mom," Mason called over his shoulder as he carried the three bags up the stairs. Blue folded her arms as she watched him go.
I'm not as stupid as you think, young man, Blue thought, her eyes narrowed at his retreating back. She didn't much feel like confronting him now; he'd only just returned. She didn't want to start things out badly. Blue turned and returned to her study.
- / - / - / -
Shit, Mason sighed when he was safe in his room, that was way too close.
He dropped two of the bags on the floor just inside the door; and carried the bag who's smell had so offended his mother to his bed. Mason unzipped the bag and rooted through the dirty clothes until he found the paper bag he'd been looking for. He unwrapped the package to reveal the fabulous prize it concealed. Jackpot.
He'd spent the summer helping his father look after the Gloom and Vileplume in his laboratory; he was 'researching' the spore secretions they released, and careful and discreet work had left him with several ounces of these secretions – and if treated in the right way (as this had been), they served as an excellent mind-altering chemical.
If Mom saw this... he let the thought trail off and pulled out his cell phone and sent a text to each of his best friends – Alice, Seth, and Claire.
Successful summer – when do I get to see you? I'll share the fruits of my labor.
- / - / - / -
"Green, dude, didn't Mason leave today?" Red voice blared through the phone. Green frowned.
"Yes, he did."
"You should come over tonight then. It'll just me you, me, Gold, and Ruby. Silver's working, Em's sick."
"That many people should not be preceded by the word 'just,' Red," Green said, bored. "I have work on a research project I need to do. And I should work with my Pokémon now Mason's left. Anyway, I don't know them anymore. I doubt they'd like it were I there."
"They're still your friends, Green," Red said quietly. "I'm still your friend."
Something in Red's voice made Green pause.
"You might be, Red, but they're not."
"It's your own damn fault you let everyone go when you left Blue. We never stopped caring about you – none of us did – you just blew us off every time we tried to let you know that," Red snapped. "Maybe if you'd pull your head out of your ass, you'd realize that."
"Fine, then," Green grumbled. "Where?"
"We're meeting back in Pallet Town," Red said promptly. "For old time's sake, you know?"
"I was just there," Green complained.
"Suck it up, Green. You can't keep letting your friends down."
"Blackmail," he grumbled.
"Yep," Red said shamelessly. "I'll tell Ruby to swing by and get you on his way."
- / - / - / -
Blue tapped her foot impatiently against the well-worn wood under her desk. Mason had been in his room for a very long time, and she knew perfectly well what had been hidden in that bag. It was already well past seven, and she was sure he'd ask to go and see his friends soon.
"Hey, Mom, where are you?" Mason had called from the foot of the stairs. She didn't answer; he'd try her study first.
"There you are," Mason said from her door several moments later. Blue smiled tightly at her son.
He'd changed little – physically – over the summer; his dark brown hair was perhaps in inch longer, and fell in his eyes. Blue often had trouble looking into Mason's eyes – they were the perfect replica of his father's. He looked stronger, as he always did after helping his father in the lab. And though he'd denied it, she was sure he was taller now.
"Hey, Mase. What's up?"
"It's good to be home," Mason smiled easily at his mother.
"I should think so," Blue said. "You had fun, though, right?"
"Yeah, I always have a good time with Dad."
Blue hummed noncommittally. She never spoke badly of Mason's father – she still couldn't even think his name consciously – but she knew that he didn't restrain himself in the same way. Mason was told all of his father's less-than-flattering opinions of Blue.
"So, Mom – I was wondering if you have any plans for me tonight?" Mason asked. Here it comes, Blue thought.
"Well, your birthday's tomorrow, Mase," Blue said. "I want you here either tonight or tomorrow."
"Okay, tomorrow then?" Mason offered. "I haven't seen Alice, Seth, or Claire all summer."
"You haven't seen me, either," Blue pointed out, crossing her arms.
"Mom, don't do this."
"So you get to spend the whole summer with your father, and leave the second you get home to be with your friends?" Blue asked. "How is this fair?"
"Mom, it's one night," Mason rolled his eyes. "Besides, you said you're working on that big project. We can have a really nice dinner tomorrow night for my birthday, and get caught up on the whole summer. Deal?"
"Bringing up my work. Clever boy," Blue smiled.
"I learned from the best, Mom," Mason said, and he kissed her cheek. "So, I'll go now and be back later?"
"Define later," Blue said, eager to close off any loopholes Mason was planning to exploit.
"After eleven," Mason offered.
"And before when?" Blue pushed. Mason made a face at her.
"Two?"
"Nope. Your curfew is still midnight, kiddo."
"Oh, come on. Can we push it to one?" Mason pleaded. "Just for tonight."
Blue surveyed him for a minute. "Fine. Just for tonight. But – if you're late, your curfew's going to be ten-thirty until you're out of school."
"I won't be late, then," Mason laughed. He hugged Blue, and mumbled, "Thanks, Mama."
"I love you, Mason," Blue whispered.
"I love you too, Mom," Mason smiled and released his mother from the hug. He turned away and walked out of the study towards the front door. "I should get going, huh?"
"Wait just a moment, Mason," Blue said from behind him. Mason cringed. He knew that tone.
"Yeah?"
"What are you taking with you to meet your friends?"
"Just my phone, so I can call them and figure out where we're meeting up. And my wallet," Mason lied.
"I hope you don't think I'm that naïve," Blue said softly, leaning against the door frame of her office. "I really don't want to fight with you right now, young man, but I will if I have to."
"There's nothing to fight about."
"Really. Why don't you open that backpack you've hidden behind the plant by the door, and show me what's in it, then?"
Mason's eyes widened. He knew for a fact that she'd been absorbed in her work when he'd stashed the backpack there. How could she know..?
"Uh, what backpack?"
"Mason, if you make this difficult, it will only be worse for you," Blue said in a hard voice. "I know you hid the bag there because you suffer from an astonishing lack of subtlety, and you made far too much noise when you put it there. And the fact that you started sweating and looking guilty the moment I mentioned it. Get that backpack. And get it now."
Mason crossed his arms. "No."
"Mason. Get that bag right now, or you'll be very sorry. You may think you know all of my tricks, but I assure you, you barely know the tip of the iceberg."
Mason glared at her, whirled around, and stormed off to the entrance hall. Blue stood, waiting for him to return. After several moments, she followed him to the entrance hall. The front door was slightly ajar, and she saw Mason running full tilt to his friend's car that was idling at the end of the driveway. She wrenched the door out of the way and screamed, "Damn it, Mason! Get back here right now!"
Mason ignored her and leaped into the car, which screeched away immediately. Blue had tears of rage in her eyes as she stormed back inside and called Mason's cell phone, which went instantly to his voice mail.
"You are in the biggest shit hole you have ever dug for yourself before right now, Mason. If you are not home by midnight, you will not leave this house except for school until you graduate. I will be waiting up for you, young man. I'm talking one minute late. Don't make this even worse for you than it is right now. God damn it, Mason, I am so angry at you!" Blue snarled as she hung up.
She stood in the kitchen, breathing heavily for several minutes. When her heart rate had roughly returned to normal, she picked the phone up again and dialed a number she still knew by heart.
"Hello?"
"Hey, is that you, Red?"
"Blue..?" Red asked tentatively. He hadn't heard from her in over a year.
"Yeah, it's me."
"How are you?" Red asked uncertainly.
"I'm going to kill my son, but that's neither here nor there," Blue said easily. "How have you been? I'm sorry it's been so long..."
"Oh, I'm fine. Going out with some of the guys tonight," Red said. "Leaving pretty soon, actually..."
"I get it. Is... Uh, is Yellow there?"
"Yeah," Red said quickly, relief thick in his voice. "Here she is."
"It was good to talk to you," Blue said halfheartedly.
"Yeah, you too," Red lied. "We should... Uh, we should catch up soon."
"Hello?" Yellow's tired voice issued through the phone barely a second later.
"Hey, Yellow. It's Blue."
"Hi," Yellow yawned, too tired to register that Blue's call was very out of the ordinary. "What's up?"
"What're you doing tonight?" Blue asked, cutting right to the chase.
"Nothing. The girls are going to a friend's house for a sleepover. Why?"
"Can we get a drink?" Blue proposed. "Or many?"
"That bad, huh?" Yellow mumbled. "Me too. Sure. I'm guessing near you?"
"Is that okay?"
"Yeah. Red can drop me off. He's going to Pallet tonight, too."
"Okay. Well, you still know where I live," Blue said. "I'll be waiting for you."
"Okay. I'll see you in a few hours."
Blue dropped the phone back onto the receiver and turned to go back to work. She stared at the blueprints of the Galactic Project's main building for several minutes, trying in vain to plan their new security system. The phone rang and she answered it absently.
"Hello?" she muttered, rubbing her face with her free hand.
"Hello," an unfamiliar male voice answered. "Is Mason available?"
"No," Blue said crossly. "He's not here."
"May I ask where he is?"
Blue frowned. None of Mason's friends were this polite. Besides, he didn't have many good friends apart from the three he was with now.
"May I ask who's calling?" Blue asked, switching her tone to overtly polite.
"I'm a friend of his in Viridian City," the voice answered smoothly.
"Oh," Blue nodded. She'd never met any of his Viridian friends; she didn't even know he had any, really. "He's out with a few of his friends now."
"Oh," the voice echoed her. Blue thought they sounded pleased, which made her frown again. "Well, thank you. I'm sorry to have taken up your time."
The line went dead before Blue could respond. She shrugged and dropped the receiver and went to take a long bath and get ready for her evening with her friend.
"Why did I agree to do this?" Yellow asked in an almost panicky voice as Red parked their car in front of Blue's house. Red hummed sympathetically. "No, really, Red, I don't know her at all anymore! How can I sit through a night of drinking?"
"Drinking is easy," Red pointed out. "Just listen to her complain about whatever's bothering her. Play some pool, drink some beers, something. I don't know."
"Thanks, Red," Yellow sighed, "but women are slightly different from men."
"So I've been told. Now, I've got to go," Red kissed Yellow swiftly on the cheek. "Gold's already waiting for me at the bar."
"Say hello to him for me. And to the rest of the boys," Yellow said, opening the car door. She walked swiftly up to Blue's door and raised her hand unwillingly to knock.
We were best friends once, Yellow reminded herself, just focus on that.
She heard the clicking of heels and the door opened and revealed her ex-best friend, dressed in a pair of faded jeans and a simple white v-neck. Yellow looked her up and down quickly before smiling shyly.
"Long time, no see," Yellow said. Blue grimaced.
"I know, I know. I'm so sorry," Blue apologized, waving Yellow inside. "I've been a terrible friend. So, thank you for agreeing to come tonight – I'm sure this wasn't something you wanted to do."
"No, I don't mind," Yellow lied. "It's good to see you."
"Sure, it is," Blue laughed, leading Yellow to the kitchen. "You're still not a very good liar, Yellow."
"It is good to see you," Yellow insisted, sitting in the chair Blue indicated. "But you're right, it's weird to actually see you. I don't think I've seen you since... Well, before Alyssa was born."
Blue flushed. "Alyssa's seven now, isn't she?"
"Eight, actually. Her birthday was last month," Yellow corrected softly. She was grateful Blue was facing away from her, reaching into a cabinet to get glasses. No sooner had she thought that did Blue whirl around to face her, leaning against the counter.
"I'm sorry, Yellow," Blue said sincerely. Yellow looked at the island counter before her, unwilling to meet Blue's eyes. "I've been a horrible friend. You deserve better than me, and I'm sure you've found friends that deserve you."
"I've missed you, Blue," Yellow disagreed. "You're my oldest friend, nothing can change that."
Blue smiled, but seemed unsure of what to say.
"So, what are we drinking?" Yellow asked lightly.
"Well, I was thinking wine," Blue began, "but I think I need something a bit stronger."
"Like old times, huh?" Yellow laughed, and she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. Blue nodded.
"I've got some of the good tequila here..."
"You must have had a rough day then," Yellow smiled, following Blue to the extensive liquor cabinet. "What happened? Red said something about Mason..."
"Oh, God, you have no idea..."
Green said at the end of the bar, ignoring Red's voice as he chattered away to Gold and Ruby. The ride over had been bad enough – Ruby hadn't changed a bit, and had yammered on about the new trend on bandage skirts, whatever the hell that meant, for the entire hour long drive to Pallet – and it would be worse to pretend he cared about what they were talking about. Then they'd ask him to contribute.
"What's he doing here, then?" Gold's abrasive voice broke through to Green. He didn't look up, though.
"Gold, shut up," Red hissed. Green rolled his eyes.
"What? I haven't even seen him for nine years," Gold snapped. "You, Ruby?"
"It's been six years," Ruby answered easily.
"Guys, shut up," Red groaned.
"I told you they wouldn't want me here," Green said smugly. He'd always loved being able to say 'I told you so' to Red. It was one of the few pleasures in life.
"I didn't say I didn't want you here," Ruby said hastily. "I just said I hadn't seen you for six years."
"I don't not want you here, I just want to know why you're here," Gold clarified. "And whether or not you intend to get the fuck over yourself and be a man about your divorce. It was fifteen years ago. Move the fuck on."
"I thought you gays were supposed to be sensitive," Green shot at Gold. He knew the stereotype pissed Gold off, and he didn't want to respond to Gold's jab.
"You think Silver's sensitive? Ha," Gold snorted. He took a long drink from his glass. "And anyone who's met me knows I wouldn't know sensitivity if it bit me in the ass. So, 'scuse me, but no, not all gays are sensitive. And don't think you're sneaky. Trying to get a rise out of me – not like that, Red, don't be a perv – isn't going to make me forget what I want to know."
"I'm here because Red invited me," Green answered with finality. Gold rolled his eyes.
"Duh, dipshit, that's obvious. I meant, does you deciding to grace us with your presence mean you've decided to grow up and stop avoiding us?"
"I wasn't aware you cared," Green sighed, signaling to the bartender he'd like another beer.
"Of course we cared," Ruby interjected. "We all used to be friends. Good friends, even. You're the one who ditched. We still would be if you didn't throw yourself into research when you decided to leave your wife."
Interesting, how Ruby had known not to say her name.
"Yeah," Red agreed. "We would have been there for you. You just –"
" – I didn't let you because I didn't need you to be there for me."
"That's bullshit and you know it," Gold laughed. "You think you're okay? Even now? Dude, you haven't seen her since the divorce. You don't have closure. Have you dated since then?"
"I've been busy," Green protested.
"For fifteen years? Not bloody likely. Have you even gotten any since –"
"Gold, I really hope you're not trying to get into my sex life."
"Not in the way I'd like to, no, but I think it's a valid question."
"If he doesn't want to tell us, he shouldn't have to," Red protested. "C'mon, leave him alone."
"You shouldn't have invited him if you wanted Gold to leave him alone," Ruby disagreed. "And I think we have a right to ask whatever we want after how he acted. He was an ass."
"He is an ass, it's in his nature," Red argued. Green rolled his eyes. This night was not worth the time he had put into it. "He can't help it."
"To drop this subject," Green interrupted Ruby's response, "yes, Gold, I have had sex since my divorce. Are you satisfied?"
"Not even close, bud."
Green lowered his eyes to his refilled glass and listened to Gold rattle off another series of invasive questions. Yeah, I should have stayed home.
"Mase, dude," Seth mumbled. Mason belatedly glanced at his friend, staring up at the stars in the grass a few feet from him. "This shit is amazing."
"I know," Claire agreed, blowing a cloud of smoke from her last hit straight up into the air.
"Mmhmm," Mason nodded, looking back to Alice, who was resting her head on his stomach.
"Like, really, dude, you can feel the blood," Seth insisted. "Can't you feel it? I can feel the blood moving in my body. I can feel each little molecule of blood, dude, moving in my legs and arms, really."
Alice laughed softly, and it sent vibrations through Mason's body. She met his eyes and smiled languidly at him. His eyes glazed over and he smiled back blindly at her.
"You can't feel blood," Claire disagreed. "Hey, have you ever tried to stop swallowing after you've started swallowing? It's impossible, you can't do it."
"I can," Seth asserted.
"No, you can't."
"I missed you this summer," Alice murmured to Mason. He couldn't see her eyes, it was too dark...
"I missed you, too, Alice."
A bright light blazed from the road.
"Fuck, man," Seth complained, rolling on the grass, covering his eyes. Claire laughed. Alice cringed away from the light, and rolled into Mason's chest. Mason felt a thrill shoot through him – maybe Seth was right, you really could feel the blood moving – before he saw two men walking towards them, their van's engine still running, headlights pointed directly at them.
"I know, I know," Yellow squealed, Blue laughing hysterically beside her on the couch. "I said, don't put the marshmallow in the microwave, but did she listen? Gooey sugar all over the kitchen, two little girls caked in melted marshmallow. Never hired that babysitter again."
"God, I remember when Mason tried that –" Blue choked on her laughter. Yellow smiled, it really was like old times. They'd fallen back into their friendship easily.
"I've missed you, Blue," Yellow said suddenly. Blue nodded, hiccuping back to seriousness.
"I missed you, too, Yell," Blue agreed. She heard a clock chime from somewhere. "Damn it, what time is it?"
"Oh, wow, it's past midnight," Yellow said, sounding surprised. "I should call Red.."
"God damn it, Mason's late," Blue groaned.
"He'll be back soon," Yellow guessed, dialing Red's cell number. "I wouldn't want to risk your wrath... Hey, honey. You see the time? Planning to leave me stranded here?"
Blue peered blearily at her cell phone. Mason hadn't called.
"Well, we have to get a hotel, now," Yellow was saying. "It's a three hour drive back to Saffron. No, I will not go back tonight, are you crazy?"
"You could stay here," Blue offered. Yellow smiled and covered the mouthpiece of her phone.
"Thanks, but I don't want to get in the middle of yours and Mason's fight," Yellow whispered. Blue nodded in understanding. She was terrible to behold in a fight. "Okay, call me when you're out front."
Yellow hung up. "Sorry, I'm not trying to get away. But really, I don't want to see you fighting him."
"I got it. I'm worse with him than anyone else," Blue made a face.
"Even...?" Yellow shook her head, embarrassed. Blue bit her lip and looked away. Yellow changed tack immediately. "Even though I'd love to stay, I don't want to see you mad. And it's me and Red's only night without the girls..."
"Of course, I get it."
The women talked for the ten minutes it took for Red to arrive. He didn't call and wait in the car, but came up to the door.
"Had to see you for myself," Red smiled at Blue. "I really have missed you, Blue Bell."
"Oh, God, I forgot you like to call me that," Blue groaned. Red laughed. "But, horrible name notwithstanding, I've missed you too."
"Can we all have breakfast before Red and I leave in the morning?" Yellow suggested. "I'd love to see Mason, it's been so long."
"And I'd love to catch up with you, Blue," Red added. Blue shrugged and nodded.
"Sounds great to me. I'll be up around eight, so whenever after that."
Yellow hugged Blue tight. "I'll see you in the morning, then."
"Drive safe, you two," Blue waved. "See you in the morning."
She watched them drive away and checked her watch. Again. Goddamn it, Mason, it's already one in the morning.
Blue's eyes flew open and she sat up. The blanket she'd covered herself with slid off of the couch onto the floor. All of the lights in the living room were still on, the clock on the wall read three o'clock, and it took her a minute to understand what had woken her up. "Mason! I heard you close the front door, get your ass in here!"
She didn't hear him moving towards her. She narrowed her eyes in fury, and opened her mouth to yell at him when the sound came again.
Oh, it wasn't the door closing. Someone was knocking. Blue walked to the door, wondering who the hell was paying a social call at three in the morning. Maybe Mason didn't take his key. Idiot boy.
As Blue approached, she could see flashing blue lights in front of her house. Blue flashing lights... No, that would mean...
She flung the front door open, and saw two men and a woman standing on the front step. They all wore blue uniforms. Blue frowned. If Mason had been arrested, surely, they would have called, not just shown up...
"Blue," the woman said solemnly, "I'm Officer Jenny. These are officers Curad and Stabler. We're here to tell you about your son..."
Blue sank to her knees as Jenny explained that a teenaged girl had been found dead in a park several miles away, her two friends (one male, one female) badly injured. The boy was still in surgery, but the girl had explained that two men had approached them and hurt them, taking their last friend with them.
"And.. my son?"
Jenny looked at her sadly. "Your son is not the boy in surgery. We don't know where he is."
- / - / - / -
A/N: Hey, finally an update. Sorry it's taken so long, but I wasn't actually planning on working on this for a while (until today, haha). It's slow now, but I promise it gets more exciting. The 'drugs' Mase and his friends took is just my weird equivalent of marijuana, nothing really harmful (I have no idea how to make drugs, but Gloom secretions would probably be interesting. Acid-like, I'd guess..).
Thanks so much for your reviews of the prologue – I'm working on reworking the fight. It won't actually change anything in the story, but you're right, it doesn't make sense. So at some point soonish, I'll replace the prologue with the updated fight.