Thanks to savedbygrace94 and MysteryGal5 for reviewing! Big brother Alex is a lot of fun to write and I'm so glad he's fun to read, too!
Alex slept sitting upright on the plane home from Vietnam. The army's mutant unit had been unsettling. The others had been unsettled, too, and Alex had to be stronger—because he had been part of a unit before. They called it the X-Men, but it had been a mutant unit.
The unit. Raven. Raven without Erik, no Charles, no word… Alex was tired of being frozen out. Charles kicked him out, the army kicked him out, Raven had saved him but there had been no recognition of friendship.
Mostly, he was just tired.
So Alex slept on the plane home. He slept on the bus back to Ohio. He walked to his parents' house and he wanted to just collapse in his bed.
He rang the bell instead of using the key hidden in the flower pot, and hugged his ma while she cried into his shirt. "Good to see you, too."
He dropped his stuff and took a shower. Hot water kept washing the suds off him as he stood under the water for more and more minutes. He dressed in civilian clothes and was debating between a plaid shirt or his leather jacket when his ma popped into the room.
"Give me your laundry. I'll toss it in later. I need to go pick up Scott for lunch—peanut butter for you, too?"
It was unnervingly normal being back home. The soft clothes and utter lack of mugginess made him feel like a different person. So why was the ache still in him?
Alex pulled on the plaid shirt. "Can we have grilled cheese?"
"There's not time for—sure. Of course you can."
"I can pick him up."
"Sweetie… you just got home."
"I'm not takin' him for pho in Ho Chi Minh City. I'm bringing him home for grilled cheese."
There was another factor, of course.
Alex carried the rejection as he marched down to Edison Elementary. He was in the habit of marching. When he arrived early, he just stood and he waited, apart from all the moms waiting to pick up their children. Edison looked just like it had when he was a student here: white-washed walls and red brick stairs, hedges and a flagpole surrounded by grass.
It was all so normal. Alex couldn't help but wonder if any of the mothers hid the same secret he did, if any their children would one day need to. Were there any mutants here?
The door squeaked as a teacher pushed it open and a herd of students boiled out. They skipped and ran to their mothers, beginning to babble about their mornings. Scott stood out from the rest, both for the bruise under his eye how loudly he shouted when he realized Ma wasn't here.
"ALEX!"
That was what he wanted. That utter devotion and love—because it pushed out the rejection. Seven years ago, Alex held his newborn brother and promised to protect him. Scott repaid him with affection. Right now that meant wrapping around his legs.
"Hey, buddy. You want to let go?"
"Nuh."
Scott doubled down, plunking onto the floor so he could wrap both arms and legs around Alex.
"Scott."
Alex tried to wriggle him off without doing harm.
"You gotta get off me so we can go home."
No luck.
"Piggyback ride?"
Like a magic key, the words unlocked Scott's death-grip. Alex crouched to let him climb aboard.