Weather Girl

Summary: Senka Poe has been in love with Warren Peace for...well, forever. As a senior, a series of changes cause her to reconsider pretty much her entire life and nothing is like she thought it would be. Especially with Warren. WarrenOC eventual, LashOC

Disclaimer: I pretty much claim nothing.

Just a note: I haven't stolen this story from Moontrimmer. It's an old pen name of mine, and when I finally started re-writing this, I realized I had no idea what email I was using two or so years ago.

Project REVAMP/REWRITE: I was working on my magical yearly update and decided to go back and read through the story so far. Then for the next 12 hours I went through and proceeded to revamp every single chapter, and some were almost completely rewritten. Enjoy.

THIS CHAPTER GOT REVAMPED ON AUGUST 5th, 2012.


one more crucifixion one more cross to bear you're a hole in a photograph

Time stood still with all of us crowded around my mother. She came to eventually, much to everyone's relief, but then surprised us. A usually calm and pleasant woman, immediately she glared at the strange man and laid into him.

"How dare you show up here?" She said at him, sitting up while she tried to blink away tears from her eyes. Brad, Drew, and I all stared, confused. We had no idea what was going on.

"Marnie," the man said, trying to explain. "You've got a right to be angry with my gone for so long. But you I've had a lot of time to think about things, and I realized I had to come back. I have to make amends."

"Oh really? Amends?" she asked, eyebrows quirked, the look on her face one of doubt. "You won't find forgiveness with me Joseph. Hope you have better luck with your children!"

She turned away from him and the look on his face was a sad one. Meanwhile, my own jaw dropped all the way to the floor. My father had knelt next to me on the floor, he'd seen me in the coffee shop. It all made sense after that revelation – why he'd given me such an eerie feeling. I didn't know what to say, as usual; a million ideas buzzed through my brain but none of them seemed right.

"The hell, man?" Drew asked, angry, and Brad echoed him. They both let loose a string of curses. Unlike me, it seemed they knew what they wanted to say. As my brothers bombarded him with questions and accusations, my mother slipped away, probably to her room. I, on the other hand, could only look at him. I studied his face, which betrayed little of what must have been going on in his head. I wondered how he could possibly keep his cool in such a situation. I certainly couldn't. That man was my father. The gravity of it crashed heavily onto my shoulders like a tidal wave or something else equally as epic. There were so many questions that bubbled up inside of me upon seeing him, so many things I wanted to ask but didn't know how. It would turn out to be too overwhelming for me. I knew I had to leave. Calmly, I stood and walked up the stairs to my room. In the commotion of the event, no one noticed. Once I'd closed the door, the calm was gone and instead I was frantic. I grabbed a random assortment of clothing and stuffed them into my backpack. With it in hand, I knew who I wanted to call at that moment. It wasn't Warren, not Maj, not even steady but strange Charlie. I pulled out my phone and dialed a number, waiting for the person to pick up.

"Lash?" I asked upon hearing the groggy 'hello?'. "Can you please come and get me as soon as possible? I can't stay here. Please?"

"Yeah sure," he said, and sounded worried. "What's wrong?"

"I'll explain it when you get here," I assured him and then the phone call was over. I rummaged around my room to make sure I'd grabbed enough things to last me a while. I decided I was going to ride out the worst of the storm at Lash's house. Carefully, I slipped downstairs and quietly made my way to the door. The key was not to make eye contact. Don't look at them and they won't look at you. Don't look at them and they won't look at you. Don't look at them and they won't look at you. I repeated the phrase over and over again, thinking if I said it enough it would become true.

"Where are you going?" Drew's voice boomed. "You can't just leave!"

"Oh yes I can," I informed him, snappy in demeanor. "And I will. If you need me, you have my number."

I made a point not to look at my mom just then. I couldn't have imagined what the whole thing felt like for her. The love of her life, who abandoned her and their children because he didn't know how to deal with grief, suddenly appeared on her doorstep asking for forgiveness. Asking if he could make things right. But I was part of that – he'd wronged me too, all those years ago, and I needed time. I wasn't like my brothers, able to face that kind of situation head on without any preparation. Lash beeped his horn outside and I left, giving my family a weak wave and shut the door.

Outside, Lash waited for me in his truck. He smiled at me when I got in, and although it was a simple enough gesture, it comforted me. I said nothing, and he accepted it; we rode in a silence that cradled me, somehow. The silence, or more the nature of it, spoke volumes about our relationship.

"So, you gonna tell me what's going on?" It was his first question after we sat, comfortable, on his bed. I sighed.

"Have I ever told you about my father?" When he shook his head no, I laid back on his mattress and braced myself to tell the story.

"My parents…where to begin. My dad was a bartender when they met, the best friend of my mom's best friend's brother. They hit it off instantly and all that whirlwind romance stuff. They had only dated a month when he proposed. Things were great, they had my brothers, dad became a well-known hero. Yada yada. But the most important part of the story was one person: Baron Battle," I explained softly. "He was my dad's best friend, and the brother of my Aunt Katianna. She's not my actual aunt, just my mom's best friend ever. Things started to spiral right around the time I was born. I think you know how Baron's story goes, of course; ends in villainy and tragedy. But my mom played a big part in that – one of her visions led to his arrest and my father just didn't know what to do, what to feel, I guess. One day we woke up and he was gone."

Lash laid down next to me and took my hand while I spoke. He could tell it was hard for me to talk about.

"You remember all this?" Lash asked after I finished, clearly shocked.

"No," I admitted. "It's fact. I know it from my brothers, Aunt Katianna, stuff like that. But the point is that tonight…tonight my father showed up at our door claiming he's here to make amends,"

Unsurprisingly and in typical Lash fashion he responded with a poignant "that asshole." Part of me had been tempted to agree, nod along and pretend it was that simple. But deep down I knew it wasn't. My father was a part of me; we looked alike, had the same powers, apparently both liked to bolt when things got tough, and he was my father.

"It's easy for you to say," I snapped, voice full of emotion. "Your dad has always been in your life as a drunk and a deadbeat. It's pretty clear what his priorities are. It's easy to write off your dad when he's a permanent, if unwanted fixture. Not so much when you don't even remember him! I want to know him, Lash, but I'm so scared!"

By then, I had started crying, so Lash wrapped his arms around me. I didn't feel bad about crying all over him, either. I can't say how long we sat there, but he said later I fell asleep around midnight.

Staying over at Lash's for several days was…interesting. Strange. I constantly avoided my mother's phone calls and continued to go to school like nothing had happened. After a week of guilt, I finally made the decision that it was time to go home. I was done running away. Lash, however, had other ideas.

"Stay here, Senka," he urged me. "Tell your mom you're not ready to face him. I don't want you around him. I won't let him hurt you."

"Excuse me?" I asked, blown away by his response. I won't let him hurt you? It made anger creep into my bloodstream. Lash might have been my boyfriend but it was my life we'd been talking about. My father. My family. My decision! If I wanted to go back, there wasn't anything he could do about it.

"It's in your best interest," he explained, and then shrugged as if it were nothing. I pinched the bridge of my nose in exasperation.

"It is up to me to decide my best interest, Lash," I informed him, my anger evident and resolve like steel. "This isn't your business."

His eyes flashed at my words, and he reached out, grabbing my wrists in a forceful grip. We were both upset with one another, and it showed in how tightly he held my wrists.

"You, Senka, you're my business. And right now, you're still too wrapped up in your emotions to think about this clearly," he said, trying to plead with me. "I'm going to keep you safe no matter what it takes!"

"No, no you're not! I don't want your help, Jake!" I spat, surprised how venomous I sounded using his given name. Jake was the name of his father, the drunken, wife-beating man who was probably downstairs while we spoke. He recoiled from me like I'd slapped him.

"Don't you dare call me that, I'm not like him," Lash retorted, clearly hurt. Regret hit me then, and I knew I'd gone too far, but couldn't stop.

"Oh, I dare! How can you get to talk about my father like you know him but I can't make obvious comparisons?" The words slipped out of my mouth without my control. "You're trying to control me, just like I'm sure he did with your mom. She was smart – getting away from both of you!"

"Just shut up!" he yelled, throwing something from his dresser across the room and without thinking, he struck me. I froze, and so did he; we were both shocked. I pushed him too far, and I knew it. Lash wasn't a violent man, but even I couldn't believe what I'd said. If the situation were reversed, I would have done a lot more than hit him. His eyes widened in shock when my own hand went up to my face, and he quickly backed away from me.

"I'm sorry, Senka, I'm so sorry…I didn't-" Lash started to freak out. "Leave. Get out. Take your stuff and go."

He looked so frantic, so sorry, so desperate, so hurt, but then he also looked hateful. Did he hate me? I couldn't help but wonder. I backed away slowly, grabbing my bag and whatever was in it.

"I'm, uh, gonna go home now," I said, quiet, and ran a hand through my hair tiredly. "I…need some air."

I turned to the door, and something in me hoped he would keep me from leaving. But he didn't. Instead, he sat on his bed, head in his hands. Oh, how I wanted to go over to him. I wished we could kiss away what happened between us and wake up the next morning with clean slates. It wouldn't happen that way, though. It couldn't. Lash needed to face his own demons and I needed to face mine. We couldn't have done it together. I always believed we all have our moons, complete with both light and dark sides. When it came time to look at that dark side, there wasn't a person in the world who could do it for you. Sadly, I closed the door and ended up sitting on the curb. I needed a ride home and I was too distracted to remember I had superpowers. Warren Peace was the only alternative I came up with, so I dialed his number.

"Hey," I said after he picked up. "Can you come get me? Please? I'm at Lash's house."

"I guess," he replied, and hung up. Such was the second time in a week I'd been forced to call someone to pick me up from an unpleasant situation. For about ten minutes, I sat awkwardly in front of Lash's house. I knew he could see me from the window of his room if he wanted. Look at me, I thought, willing him open the window and call my name. Then I heard the familiar hum of Warren's bike in the distance. He pulled up to the curb, stopped the bike, and handed me his extra helmet, all without words.

"Thanks," I smiled, fitting it snugly on my head. His eyes saw the marks on my wrists from Lash's grip and the still-red one on my face, but did not address them specifically.

"Wanna tell me what's up?" he asked, looking ahead and I straddled the bike.

"Nope," I said simply. Without another word, I wrapped my arms around his waist and hoped the conversation would end there. Luckily, it did. We pulled up to my house and unfortunately, my father very clearly sat alone on the front stoop. All I wanted was a drama-less existence. I wanted my old life back. Instead, everything was turning into a crazy reality tv show.

"Uncle Josef?" The words came from Warren's mouth. My heart felt like it'd stopped beating momentarily.

"Warren!" my father greeted him with a grin. "I didn't know you and Senka knew each other."

What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck what the fuck what the fuck

"What a coincidence! I had no idea you two knew each other either," I exclaimed sarcastically. "So, Dad, why don't you explain?"

"Dad?" Warren asked, eyes wide. The look on his face was sharp and surprised. It many ways it mirrored my own. I wondered why my life couldn't feel normal for even a measly second. The whole thing was unfair and what would happen next felt like a knife to the gut.

"Warren, I'd like you to meet my daughter, Senka," my father said and smiled, as if it was some sort of fun game. "Senka, I'd like you to meet my godson, Warren."

I looked at Warren and he looked at me. We both looked at my dad, then back at each other. Any passing stranger could have read the looks we wore: come again?


Fin chapter

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