04/04/08
Due to all my upcoming projects at school, I'm going to have to cut back my usual updates. For the moment I'm not going to update on weekends anymore, but if I need more time I'll have to start just updating whenever I have time. I apologize to my faithful reviewers. -sniffs sadly-
Chapter 6
Superman sprang up and caught Brainy before he had fallen too far back.
"You okay Brainy?"
Still covering his mouth with his hands, Brainy nodded.
Rushing around Timber Wolf, Saturn Girl took Brainy from between the two boys and hugged the little Coluan close to her.
Tears began to form in Brainy's eyes, his hands lowering in a shaky manner.
"I'm sorry, please don't be mad."
"Mad?" questioned Saturn Girl, pulling away from Brainy just enough so she could look him in the face. "How can I be mad at the cutest boy in the universe?" She kissed his cheek and hugged him to her again.
Blinking, Brainy's tears disappeared only to be replaced by confusion.
Standing up Triplicate Girl walked over and smiled at Brainy.
"Cutest boy in existence."
Though he stared at Triplicate Girl in disbelief, Brainy's face darkened in blush.
"Hey, I wanna hug the cutie now," said Phantom Girl, floating over and holding out her arms.
Saturn Girl turned so Brainy was out of the other girl's reach.
"No way, Brainy is staying with his mommy."
Hearing this, Brainy's gaze swung up to look at her.
Looking down at him, Saturn Girl smiled and kissed his forehead.
Smiling bigger then any of the Legionnaires had ever seen him, Brainy wrapped his arms around Saturn Girl's neck and kissed her cheek.
In response, Saturn Girl's face practically glowed with happiness and she rubbed their noses together in an Eskimo kiss making Brainy giggle.
"That tears it," exclaimed Phantom Girl. "I'm getting a camera!" She flew out of the room, possibly out of headquarters.
"Why does that worry me?" asked Timber Wolf.
Retrieving Fuzzy from the floor Superman returned it to it's rightful owner, smiling when Brainy smiled at him.
The newly dubbed 'mommy' was very hesitant about letting go of her charge. She carried him to the kitchen instead of letting him continue his cut off piggy back ride and had him in her lap nearly the entire time Timber Wolf showed the child how cookies were made and kept him away from the oven when the cookies were being put in.
"Cookies smell nice," commented Brainy. "Is that their purpose?"
"No, you eat them," said Timber Wolf.
"After they've cooled down," added Saturn Girl.
"Are they for lunch?" asked Brainy.
"Your can't make a meal out of cookies," commented Saturn Girl. "They're more like a dessert or a treat for a snack."
"So they're sweet?" asked Brainy.
"Yep," said Timber Wolf.
"Like pancakes?" asked Brainy.
"It's a different kind of sweet," commented Timber Wolf. "And they are lots of different kinds of cookies. We're just making chocolate chip."
"What's chocolate chip?" asked Brainy.
"Well, chocolate is a sweet made from coco beans and milk and chip is just referring that it's in small pieces," explained Saturn Girl.
"Does everybody get a cookie?" asked Brainy.
"If they want one," said Timber Wolf.
"Are you kidding? I'd eat them all if I could," said Lightning Lad, coming into the kitchen. He shot Brainy a smile. "Timber Wolf makes the best cookies."
Following their former leader, Phantom Girl grinned as she fiddled with her new camera.
"Yep, he's such a cute little house wife in training."
Even from under Timber Wolf's furry cheeks, blush became visible as his eyes widened. He snapped out of it however after there was a flash and softly growled.
"Phantom Girl…"
"I thought only girls could be wives," said Brainy.
"Nope, Timber Wolf is gonna be my wife one day," said Phantom Girl, snapping another picture when said boy's eyes widened again, this time accompanied by deeper blush and a dropped jaw.
"So," began Brainy, thinking over this new information. "Are boys the wives on Earth and girls the husbands?"
"No," exclaimed Lightning Lad before Phantom Girl could answer, quickly covering her mouth to make sure of it. "Phantom Girl is just being silly."
Timber Wolf growled and Lightning Lad, giving the other boy a confused look, released Phantom Girl and threw up his hands with a sigh.
"So Phantom Girl is going to be the wife and Timer Wolf will be the husband?" asked Brainy.
"Yep," said Phantom Girl, grinning at Timber Wolf's stare.
"When did this happen?" asked Superman, coming into the kitchen.
"Sometime next week when Timber Wolf takes me out on our first date and I realize how madly in love with him I am," said Phantom Girl, winking at Timber Wolf, who went to check on the cookies.
"Is she joking?" asked Brainy, looking up at Saturn Girl.
"Surprisingly not," said Saturn Girl.
"So Brainy, who do you want to marry?" asked Phantom Girl.
"No one," said Brainy immediately and with such seriousness, it reminded the others of the older version of the Coluan.
"Awww, why not?" asked Phantom Girl.
"I don't want there to be a Brainiac Six," said Brainy, hugging his bear close to him as if the idea horrified him.
It was one of those moments where everyone looked around awkwardly that made Superman wish that he knew more about Brainy's ancestor.
"Well, that would only happen if you married a girl," commented Phantom Girl.
Brainy looked at her in wide eyed confusion.
"Oh no, don't go around putting ideas into Brainy's head," said Lightning Lad waving his arms in a way a referee would for a foul. "He can make up his own mind about these things when he's older."
Phantom Girl pouted.
"Hey guys, did we miss the cookies?" asked Bouncing Boy as he and Triplicate Girl came in, carrying a big box together.
"It'll be another five minutes," said Timber Wolf absently, still looking at the oven.
"What's in the box?" asked Lightning Lad.
"I asked my sisters to send some of my old kid stuff," said Triplicate Girl as she and Bouncing Boy put the box on the table. "I'm sure Brainy will like some of the puzzles I had, and maybe a few of my old books."
Opening the box, Bouncing Boy laughed and pulled out a clothe doll similar to a Raggedy Anne of Superman's time.
"I think you forgot to mention to your sisters that Brainy's a boy."
"That would explain why they sent my tea set," said Triplicate Girl, holding up the hold tea pot decorated in pink roses.
"Hey Brainy, wanna have a tea party with our cookies?" asked Phantom Girl.
Before anyone had the time to blink, Lightning Lad had rushed over to Saturn Girl and Brainy, picked the child up and started to leave the room with him.
"Lightning Lad, where do you think you're going with my Brainy?" demanded Saturn Girl, stalking him as he headed out.
"I'm saving Brainy from all the cooties. We'll be back in five minutes-" began Lightning Lad.
"Four minutes," corrected Timer Wolf.
"Four minutes for the cookies," said Lightning Lad.
"Lightning Lad, there's no such thing as cooties," said Brainy, loosely holding onto the older boy's neck as he walked away from the others.
"That's just what they want you to think," said Lightning Lad.
"Who's the one giving Brainy ideas now?" asked Saturn Girl.
After the door closed behind the trio, Bouncing Boy pulled out a small pink dress and busted out laughing.
"I would have loved to see Lightning Bulb's head explode at that," commented Phantom Girl.
"Like we'd ever do that to Brainy," said Triplicate Girl, taking the dress and putting in back into the box.
"Not that he needs to know that," grinned Phantom Girl.
"Man, I hope we don't end up screwing up Brainy," mumbled Bouncing Boy.
"Do you think what we do now will affect Brainy when he's back to his normal age?" asked Superman.
"I have no idea," admitted Bouncing Boy. "He may not remember anything or he remember things subconsciously. It's even possible that these new memories will somehow integrate with the ones he has when he really was that age and confuse him about what really happened."
"That's is if we can even find a way to get him back to his normal age," said Triplicate Girl. "Too bad we couldn't arrange for Legion tryouts sooner then next week."
"You know, holding tryouts doesn't guarantee that we'll get anyone smart," commented Phantom Girl. "Maybe we should put it out on the intergalactic web that we're looking for a scientist."
"But if we just advertise with a scientist we could get someone without powers and you know the rules. No powers, no membership. I doubt we'd be able to find a scientist willing to do all that work for nothing in return," said Bouncing Boy.
"And you might end up with a maniac instead of a real scientist," pointed out Timber Wolf.
"Right," said Bouncing Boy, looking away. "We'll just have to hold auditions and hope we get lucky. If not, then we may have to go scientist hunting."
The oven beeped and Timber Wolf put on his oven mitts to take out the cookies.
Soon after Lightning Lad, still carrying Brainy, and Saturn Girl returned the two were still arguing about the kind of things that should and should never be done, under any circumstances, when dealing with Brainy, who seemed to be finding this conversation very interesting, looking between the two of them whenever one of them was speaking.
"I'm just saying that you can't treat Brainy like a girl," said Lightning Lad.
"And I'm saying that I don't see the problem with a tea party. It would just be teaching him table manners," said Saturn Girl.
"His table manners are fine," protested Lightning Lad. "You just want to treat him like a living doll."
"We do not and it's not like we're dressing him up and playing princess," said Saturn Girl.
Phantom Girl's lips curled upwards in a way that made Superman think she would start rubbing her hands together and laughing manically. She sprang upward and tried to reach into the box for the pink dress with Triplicate Girl dividing herself and fighting her to keep it hidden.
Thinking that Brainy really didn't need to be in the middle of Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad's 'discussion', Superman walked over and reached to take Brainy out of Lightning Lad's arms.
Glancing over to see who it was, Lightning Lad handed Brainy over and turned back to continue his 'conversation' with Saturn Girl.
"They're silly," commented Brainy, looking up at Superman with a smile.
"Very silly," agreed Superman, smiling back.
Brainy was fine with sitting on Superman's lap as they watched Timber Wolf flip the cookies off the pan and onto the cooling tray.
"When do we know when the cookies are okay to eat?" asked Brainy.
"They should be fine in about a minute," said Saturn Girl, walking away from her conversation with Lightning Lad to the refrigerator. She got out the milk and a small plastic cup for Brainy.
Seeing Phantom Girl and Triplicate Girl still struggling with something in the box, Brainy turned to Superman.
"What are they doing?"
"Well, Phantom Girl is trying to make Lightning Lad's head explode and-" began Superman.
Eyes widening, Brainy's attention swung towards the girl's.
"Don't make Lightning Lad's head explode!"
Stilling, Phantom Girl turned and looked at the little boy. She sighed at his alarmed expression.
"Okay, Brainy. I'll leave Lightning Lad alone."
As soon as Phantom Girl pulled her hands away from the box, Triplicate Girl closed it and put it under the table.
"Thanks Brainy," said Lightning Lad, grinning.
Phantom Girl stuck her tongue out at Lightning Lad, pressing her thumb to her nose and waving her fingers at him mockingly, the moment Brainy looked away.
Putting the small glass of milk in front of Brainy, Saturn Girl smiled when he reached for it and took a drink. She turned to Superman.
"Would you like a glass of milk too?"
"Sure, thanks," said Superman.
Saturn Girl went back to the cabinet and got out two more glasses, adult sized, and filled them with milk. Walking back to the table she gave one to Superman and sat down with the other in her hand.
"The cookies should be fine now," said Timber Wolf.
Putting one of the cookies on a napkin, Saturn Girl placed it in front of Brainy.
Picking up the cookie with both hands, with Fuzzy sitting upright on his lap, Brainy sniffed the cookie before taking a little nibble. His eyes widened and, after a moment, he smiled in a way that made the others think he would have cried out 'Yay' if he knew what it meant, taking a second, much bigger, bite.
"Careful Brainy," warned Saturn Girl, but she smiled at the little boy's expression and got a cookie for herself and one for Superman.
Phantom Girl took a picture before turning to Triplicate Girl and whispering something into her ear.
Triplicate Girl giggled in a way that almost made her spit out her cookie.
"What's so funny?" asked Bouncing Boy.
"I was just commenting that they look like a cute, little family," said Phantom Girl.
Brainy paused in his chewing to consider this. Swallowing what he could he looked up at the dark haired girl.
"Aren't you all my family?"
The Legionnaires looked at each other and smiled.
"Yes, we're all your family," said Triplicate Girl, looking like she could cry from happiness.
"Family picture time," announced Phantom Girl, messing with her camera. "Everyone gather behind Superman and Saturn Girl."
Getting up from their perspective chairs the Legionnaires gathered around them. Triplicate Girl kneeled down next to Saturn Girl and Bouncing Boy stood behind her while Lighting Lad stood between Superman and Saturn's Girl's chair and Timber Wolf stood next to Superman's chair.
Tying her flight ring onto her camera, Phantom Girl got it to stay in the perfect spot to capture the group.
"Alright, smile in ten seconds!"
Phasing into the floor, Phantom Girl reappeared behind Timber Wolf, jumping onto his back and nearly knocking him over. She triumphantly gave the camera a peace sign and winked.
"Cheese!"
SNAP!