Hours later found Spencer and Scott half buried under the hood of the used 69 Charger parked in the corner of the garage typically used for repair work. They'd worked their way through most of the outside of the car and had already done an inspection under the hood. Then they'd taken time to debate what kind of work needed to be done and what should be done first. It was a nice feeling for Spencer. He found himself relaxing as he hadn't since that first day with the children. Here, he didn't have to fake anything. He didn't have to put up any kind of front or anything like that. He could just simply be a guy who enjoyed working on cars, talking with another guy who enjoyed working on cars.
Their conversation had been steadily growing more and more comfortable as well. Because of that, Spencer didn't startle that much when Scott suddenly spoke up, saying something that typically would have had him panicking inside and scrambling to think of how to lie just right.
"Tell me one thing about yourself." Scott said as he leaned under the hood of the car. "One thing that you haven't told anyone here."
Chewing on his lip, Spencer pulled himself out from under the hood on the guise of getting another tool. For a split second he debated if he should answer that. Should he tell Scott something about him that no one else here knew? Why?
Why not? His brain countered. What would it hurt? Sir had told him to be as honest as he could without betraying him. 'You are not to tell them that you work for me, but the rest of what you tell them is up to you.' That was what he'd said. There were plenty of things that Spencer hadn't told the people here yet that wouldn't really be all that bad if he actually said them. What could it hurt to give just a little bit of background about himself? After a moment longer to debate, Spencer finally settled on saying "I'm not as unintelligent as I allow people to think I am."
"Ok, let me clarify." Turning his head, Scott flashed a grin. "Something that we haven't already figured out on our own."
Something about that grin had Spencer grinning back. What a smart ass. Suddenly feeling a little more comfortable about this, he rested his arms on the edge of the open hood and looked in, eyes on Scott's face as he said "I have an IQ of 187. I also have an eidetic memory and can read twenty thousand words a minute."
"What?" Glancing over, Scott had a slightly dumbfounded look on his face. "Did I just hear you right? One hundred and eighty seven? Seriously? You're a genius?"
Something about this man made Spencer feel relaxed as he looked at him. Instead of worrying about his reaction, it made him laugh. "Yes. Though, I believe intelligence can't be accurately quantified, by common standards I am labeled a genius." For some reason, he kept talking, telling more than Scott had even asked for. "I graduated high school when I was twelve and I got my first degree when I was fourteen." When he saw the stunned look on the man's face, his cheeks heated and he ducked his head back under the hood, hiding a little as he got back to work.
"Your first?" Snickering, Scott bumped their shoulders. "You've been holding out on us, Spencer. How many do you have?"
Suddenly shy, Spencer flushed a little. "Three doctorates and three BA's." He caught Scott's look and started to answer the question he saw there. "The doctorates are in mathematics, chemistry and engineering. The BA's are in psychology, sociology and philosophy."
"Damn, Spencer. Just…damn. All those smarts, and…"
Spencer's lip curled and he pulled himself out from under the hood. "And I work as a whore. Yeah. Funny thing is, all the degrees in the world don't make someone want to hire a mutant freak." His voice held a bitter note to it. Though he'd had jobs over the years, like his recent stint at the BAU, he had never forgotten what it was like when he'd been living on the streets, without the benefits of his contacts, and no one had wanted to hire him. One look at his eyes was all it had taken for them to deny him. With effort he pushed those thoughts back and brought his mood back to normal once more. "Anyways, it doesn't matter any. I knew who I was before I got them. Having them doesn't change that. I didn't get them so I could change my life or change the world."
Straightening up, Scott looked at him curiously. "Why did you, then?"
"Partially because I wanted to learn." Spencer said simply. "And the other part was because…because I was told to." Abruptly he turned and grabbed a rag off the car, wiping his hands. Things were treading far too close to a part of his life he couldn't and wouldn't talk about. His voice was just a little strained and a little fast as he tried to switch the topic back to something safe. "So, it looks like things aren't as bad on the inside as they seemed. Not going to take too much work. He'll run for now, at least."
Sensing the conversation was over, Scott turned back to the car as well, mentally filing away this information and promising himself he would think hard about it later. "He'll run well enough. Like you said, the inside isn't as bad as we thought. The outside is all cosmetic. You should probably get a new battery in there before you drive all over, though. Why don't you take one of the other cars here tonight when you take the girls in? I'm not sure how much life this battery has. You'd probably end up needing a jump at some point."
It was more than Spencer could take to not laugh. The sound echoed around them. "Oh, honey. You're a riot." He teased Scott. Reaching out, Spencer held his hands over the battery for a second, gathering the electricity that was always waiting inside of him. Once he had enough, he put his hands on the battery as if they were jumper cables and he fed the electricity into the battery, effectively 'charging' it. When he let go, his hands were tinged with a small amount of blue light. "There. That should hold me till I can buy a new one." His voice was just a little bit smug.
Scott laughed at him, grabbing a rag to wipe off his hands even as he shook his head. "Point well taken, Spencer. You're awfully handy to have around. I see quite a few uses for you already. Why, imagine, never having to worry about a dead cell phone battery in an emergency ever again. I've got myself a walking cell phone charger on the team."
"Watch it." Holding up a hand, Spencer let the energy crackle over it. "I might just accidentally overcharge your phone."
"Hm. I think you would."
"You better believe it, honey."
Somehow the girls resisted quizzing Spencer until it came time to leave. When they made their way to the garage and found Spencer leaning against his car, keys twirling on his finger, their curiosity got the best of them. Rogue was the one to march forward, hands on her hips, and get right into his face. "Tell me the truth, sugar. You really know K4?"" she demanded.
Spencer smiled widely at her. He'd been wondering how long it would take before they'd question it. He knew it was hard to believe. A low down mutant hooker, friends with one of the most famous music bands in the teenage world? A band that was loved by mutants everywhere because one band member, and they refused to announce which one, was suspected of being a mutant? Spencer knew which member that was, of course. The same one that he was going to see tonight. The same one that he had been friends with since before he even really knew what a friend was. "Guess you'll just have to wait and see." He said coyly. "Now, you girls ready to go or what?"
"Shotgun!" Jubilee shouted out.
Another voice joined the mix and three heads turned to look to where Logan stood, leaning against the door. "I'll be there to pick you girls up at eleven." He called out. At the strange look Spencer gave him, he smiled and said "You're meeting up with a friend, pup. You think I'm gonna make you cut it short to ferry these two brats home for bed? Yeah, right. Have fun with your friend. I'll pick the girls up once the show is done, so you just worry about getting them there."
While the girls protested at the 'brat' and 'bed' portion of things, Spencer grinned. "Thanks, honey!" he called as he took his seat. Jubilee had apparently gotten 'shotgun' and Rogue was sulking over it in the backseat. But they both smiled when he turned the car on and let it roar to life. For being used, it sure had some decent parts on it, even if it didn't look so pretty. Grabbing the CD from his pocket that he'd taken out of his room, he stuck it into the CD player and cranked it up loud.
K4 blaring on the speakers and the two girls screaming, Spencer took off from the garage, leaving Logan behind, shaking his head at them.
The drive in was full of laughter and music. They left it on the entire trip, psyching themselves up for the show. Spencer couldn't help but feed off of their excitement. He let his walls down just a tiny bit so that he could feel it without it overpowering him. But once they started to get close, he tightened his shielding as tight as he could get it. A concert hall full of people? Oh, that could be trouble if he wasn't careful.
He parked his car in the parking lot, taking just a moment once they'd stopped to look in his mirror and check his makeup. He'd redone his earlier makeup, touching it up just a little bit. By now all of his bruises were gone and the parts where skin had torn were thin red lines. Logan had been right; caring for them had minimized the scarring. Some of them couldn't even be seen underneath his tattoo. Because of that, he'd gone ahead and changed his shirt to something a little more comfortable and that would breathe. The sapphire shirt he'd chosen was short enough that, when he moved in the slightest, skin peeked at the bottom. If he lifted his arms, it would show most of his stomach. The top had a low plunging collar that was laced together, the strings dangling down the front just a little. He'd left on the jelly bracelets and he'd kept the fedora from earlier. A perfect look for his role and one that definitely wouldn't get him recognized anywhere in public. This was so far from Dr. Reid. No one would ever suspect him of being that person.
The three of them moved from the car and Spencer actually took a second to look at the girls. Rogue had her hair free flowing, which he thought was the best look for her. She'd put in wide hoop earrings that complimented her face well and had been sparing on the makeup. Her jeans were dark, with designs on the back pockets. Since she was going to be in a crowd of people and could potentially bump into someone, she'd worn a turtleneck, but he was pleased to see that it was of a soft, breathable material. Over her turtleneck she'd put on a vest that gave her outfit a younger, slightly hipper look. She also had on gloves to keep her hands shielded. It was sad that she had to be careful that no one bumped her skin here for fear of hurting them, but it was a fact of life for her. At least she knew how to work with it.
Jubilee on the other hand had dressed with her usual disregard for what anyone else might think. A jean skirt instead of her typical shorts tonight and she wore her K4 t-shirt. She'd even left behind her usual trench coat, surprisingly enough. He didn't think he'd ever really seen her without it.
"Are you ladies ready?" He asked them. Holding out his arms, he offered them to the girls, grinning when they took them.
Together, the trio went forward and got in line, waiting to make their way to the front. Jubilee started in talking about the newest album and how well the tour was doing, just gushing about being able to go and how long it had taken her to convince Logan that she'd be just fine at the show, and her bubbly conversation kept them occupied as the line slowly moved forward. Eventually, though, they reached the front. Spencer grinned and let go of the girls to reach into his back pocket while they both got out their tickets. He pulled out his ID and slid it through the gap. At least, one of his ID's. His driver's license that he was using here. "Spencer Samuels. I believe you have some things for me and my girls here." He told the lady on the other side of the glass. Taking the girls tickets, he slid those under as well.
The woman looked at his ID and slid it back to him. Then she pulled out an envelope and passed that over as well as the upgraded tickets for the girls. "Go on in and enjoy the show, Mr. Samuels." She told him cheerfully. Spencer reached in and pulled out the three lanyards with the VIP tags on them. He gave one to each girl and put one around his own neck.
"Oh my God, you weren't kidding!" Jubilee squealed as she looked at her pass. "I have a VIP pass! A VIP pass! Oh, you have got to introduce us to them, Spencer!"
Rogue had a hold of his elbow again and was grinning widely. It was one of the few times since he'd met her that he'd seen her look her age. "Spencer Samuels, huh?"
He tipped his sunglasses down just enough to wink at her. "That's what this ID says, at least."
"Why do I get the feeling you've got more than one?"
"Because you're a very, very smart girl." Smiling, he patted her gloved hand, which still sat in the crook of his elbow. "Now let's go enjoy the show."
They made their way into the arena and, once they showed their passes, were escorted to special seats right up towards the front and off to the side, giving them one of the best views in the house. Settling back in his seat, Spencer fortified his shields and watched as the arena filled while the two girls with him started to chatter excitedly. He found himself drawn into a conversation on the group's music as well as debates over their best songs or best albums and which one of them had the nicest hair, the best ass, and things like that. Then the lights dimmed.
It never failed to make Spencer grin when he saw his friend perform. The screaming in the arena grew to epic proportions as lights flashed blindingly and the four boys ran out on stage. For this first initial part, Spencer had to close his eyes, the lights far too bright for him to handle, even with his sunglasses on. Once they evened out, he opened them again and watched the show.
Lyle looked good up there. He noticed Spencer almost right off and gave him a huge grin, never breaking from his choreography or his singing. But he made a point to look their way most of the night. A few times he made a face or executed a move that had Spencer laughing out loud at him. Lyle had always been a little wild and zany. It was the way Spencer liked him. His happy go lucky, cheerful friend. That part of him hadn't come out as much back when they'd first known one another, but the after Lyle had left Sir's employment, it had started to come out more and more.
After a bit, the lights from the show started to get to Spencer's eyes. He leaned over and tapped Rogue's shoulder between songs. "I'm going ahead backstage!" he called out to her over the screams. "The lights are a little too much. You guys have backstage passes, so I'll see you after the show. If I don't, I hope you have a good time!"
"Thanks, Spencer!" In a random burst of goodwill, Rogue reached out and hugged him. The gesture surprised Spencer. He couldn't seem to stop his smiling as he made his way over to where security was at. A flash of his pass and his ID got him admitted backstage. There, he had someone point him in the direction of Lyle's room. It required him to show ID again and get approval from security, who seemed entirely unsurprised by his arrival once they saw his ID, but eventually he was led to the dressing room and left in there. After turning off the overhead lights and turning on the single lamp in the room, making it much dimmer in there, Spencer climbed onto the little couch in the room and curled up. His head was aching from the bright lights and he just wanted a quick nap. No one could get to him in here except for one of the boys or security and none of them would hurt him. There was still at least an hour left of the show, too.
Comfortable, his headache eased quite a bit by the semi dark room, Spencer fell asleep.
A hand running through his hair was what woke him from his sleep. He didn't even have to open his eyes to know who was there. The touch combined with that emotional signature was very familiar to him. No one else had ever had that kind of love, bright humor and that slight sense of protectiveness to them where Spencer was concerned, except for one person. Without opening his eyes, Spencer murmured "Your show is done, I take it?"
"What was your first clue?" Lyle teased. His voice was pitched soft. "The lights bothering you, Rakurai?"
The fingers in his hair shifted to rub lightly at his temple and he couldn't help but sigh happily. "Just a little." He felt his lips twitch at the name Lyle used. The man had never approved of the name Sir called him. No matter what anyone said, Lyle had absolutely refused to call him Inanime but he was forbidden by Sir to call him Spencer. So he'd searched around on his own until he found a name that he felt suited. He told Spencer once that Rakurai was the Japanese term for 'bolt of lightning', essentially. Sir had allowed it, shaking his head at the ridiculous nickname. But it had been Lyle's nickname for him ever since then.
"I didn't think about that until after inviting you to the show. When I saw you disappear, I knew you'd be in here. I let your friends know you were ok, by the way. I met them after the show."
Wait a second…cracking one eye open, Spencer looked into his only real friend's face. "How long have I been asleep?"
Lyle smiled at him in that sweet sort of way that he had. "The show's been done for about an hour. I already did the meet and greet and everything. Don't worry, I made sure your friends were well taken care of and I introduced them to everyone. You looked like you needed the sleep when I came in. I should have had you back here from the start. I know how the bright lights hurt your eyes."
"Yeah. I deal with electricity and can pull lightning from the sky, but I can be blinded by bright lights. Oh, the irony." He said dryly.
"Your own lights don't seem to blind you."
"They don't." He agreed. "That's a plus, at least." Sighing, Spencer finally gave in and opened both his eyes. He smiled at his friend. "Hello, Ly."
Squatting beside the couch, Lyle Donovan shifted his arms to rest on his knees. "Hello, Spencer." There was a familiar twinkle in his blue eyes. Impulsively, Spencer sat up enough that he could reach out and wrap his arms around him, hugging him tightly. Lyle didn't hesitate to bring his arms up and hug Spencer back just as tight. In that hug, Spencer felt the maelstrom of emotions that were in Lyle and he reacted instinctively to it, projecting love and comfort. "Oh, honey, what is it? What's wrong?" Pulling back, he framed Lyle's face with his hands. "Tell me. Tell me what's going on."
"It's nothing."
"Ly…" Spencer tried to look stern, knowing that it never worked on his friend.
Sighing, Lyle shook his head. "Damn your empathy." He said without any real heat. "If I don't tell you, you're just going to worry about it all night, aren't you?"
Spencer nodded quickly. "Yes."
"Naturally." This time Lyle's sigh was a whole lot deeper and it carried an edge of exhaustion that had nothing to do with the physical. "It's nothing new, Rakurai. I've just been fighting Adam again, that's all. And I don't really want to talk about it at the moment. That's not why we got together. We got together to visit and because you said you wanted to talk."
"And I will. When's your next show, Lyle?" Spencer sat up all the way, still holding Lyle's face in his hands.
The surprise at the change of topic showed on Lyle's face. "We've got tomorrow off here in the city and then we leave on Monday. Why?"
Spencer made the decision easily. He let go of Lyle's face only to grab his hands and pull them both to their feet. "You're coming with me. We're going to go out and have some drinks and you're going to get rip roaring drunk, talk only about happy things, and then you're coming to sleep at the mansion with me. We'll spend tomorrow together talking and I'll bring you back in time to leave Monday, ready and raring to go. How does that sound?"
With no one else would Lyle have relaxed enough to do this. But looking at Spencer, he sighed out some tension and let himself smile. "Sounds like a plan to me. Let's blow this popsicle stand."
The two stuck to their plan. Once they'd disguised Lyle, they snuck him out of the arena and crept away to Spencer's car. From there they'd driven to a hole-in-the-wall bar that Spencer knew and he proceeded to get his friend as drunk as could be. The night was full of nothing negative whatsoever—only tales of humor were told between them. Good memories were rehashed. Lyle told Spencer tales from the tour that had them both laughing so hard they almost fell onto the floor. Spencer regaled Lyle with stories of the team he'd worked with on his last job, making Lyle laugh so hard the water Spencer was forcing him to drink came out of his nose.
Eventually Spencer decided he better get Lyle to bed before the man got to the passing out portion of the night. "Come on, Lyle. Let's get you in the car." Spencer said as he paid off their tab. Putting himself under one of Lyle's arms, he started to help him weave his way out of the bar and to the parking lot. It took a little bit of work to get Lyle inside his car and he prayed as he did that the man wouldn't puke all over the place at any point. Furrowing his brows at the disgusting idea, he quickly looked to Lyle. "If you need to throw up, please, speak up first. I just purchased this car this morning and I don't feel like cleaning vomit out of it."
"Blah, blah, blah." Lyle made the 'talk' hand at him and giggled. God, the man was beyond sloshed! Spencer shook his head and gunned the engine. He better get him back fast before Lyle really did throw up or pass out or something like that.
They practically flew back to the mansion, playing the radio and singing along the entire way. Lyle whistled at the sight of the mansion when they pulled up to the gate and Spencer entered his code. "Damn fine place you're staying here, Rakurai. What the hell's he got you doing here?"
Just the mention of Him was enough to have Spencer shivering and casting a quick look around him like there was a chance that someone was close enough to have heard that. "Be quiet, would you?" Spencer grumbled. He shot a glare in his direction before making his way up the drive to the garage. "Are you looking to get me caught and in trouble, Ly?"
Lyle had the decency to look chagrined—for all of five seconds. "Don't be mad at me. I can't take another person being mad at me." He slurred out.
Parking the car, Spencer shook his head and turned the engine off. That left him free to look at Lyle. It really wasn't fair that someone could look so adorable while being so drunk. The hazy grin that he got just made him shake his head again. "You are far too drunk for this. I should've thought my plan through a little better. You probably aren't even capable of walking on your own." He really, really should've thought of this earlier. It was going to be hell to haul him in the house and upstairs to his room. "Come on, let's get you to my room. You've got to be quiet, though. There are people asleep here."
"Quiet as a mouse." Lyle agreed with a drunken giggle. Spencer couldn't resist reaching out to tug on a dark brown curl that was dangling in his friend's face. This had been what Lyle had needed. A night with someone he trusted to just cut loose and have fun. To forget his troubles for a little while. It had been what Spencer needed a little bit, too. Someone he knew and who knew him. Someone he could relax around a little and not worry all the time about keeping back from or getting too close to.
Getting him into the mansion was proving to be an interesting task, however. It wasn't difficult to get him from the car, but beyond there, Lyle could barely manage to walk on his own and every bit of it was funny to him. Each time he stumbled, almost taking them down, he giggled. To whoever was on security detail they had to look completely ridiculous. Spencer hoped vaguely that it wasn't someone like Warren or Bobby. They'd hold this against him. The others, though, would probably get a good laugh out of it. Especially right at the moment. The stairs were proving to be rather interesting to navigate. Halfway up, after stumbling and almost falling countless times, Spencer had to stop and take a breath. "You are going to be the death of me, honey! Can't you just make it up a few more stairs? Then I'll drag you if I have to. But you keep weaving and laughing and we're going to end up breaking our necks."
"I am not that graceless." Lyle said indignantly. "I'd catch myself."
"Oh, so it's just my neck you'd break."
"You'd heal." Reaching out, Lyle grabbed his chin and shook his head. "Such a pretty neck too. Be a real shame for it to break."
Rolling his eyes, Spencer couldn't stop his smile. "Come on, honey. We're almost there. Then I'm tucking you into bed."
"Why Rakurai, you coy thing. Getting me drunk and taking me to bed. Whatever would people think of you?" The words were slurred enough that Spencer almost had to translate them in his mind. Then he laughed. Cautiously, he started to slowly get them up the stairs once more. "Get your mind out of the gutter, Ly. You are so not my type."
"I'm breathing, aren't I?"
Again Spencer laughed. Taunts like that never bothered him when Lyle said them. He knew his friend was just joking with him and that Lyle would never, ever, intentionally say something to hurt him. To amuse himself, he smacked his hand to Lyle's chest right as they got to the top of the stairs. "Sure hope you are. Otherwise, I'm in a lot of trouble."
That had Lyle sniggering the whole way to Spencer's room. Once inside, it was much easier to deal with his friend. Spencer stripped them both down and put pajama pants on them. Then he grabbed a bucket and set it beside the bed. Before Lyle could fully pass out, Spencer made sure he took two Advil and drank a whole glass of water. Then he laid him down and climbed into the bed with him, lifting the blankets up and tucking them around them.
Snuggling close as he'd done so many times when he was younger, Spencer kissed Lyle's cheek. "Sleep, honey. Tomorrow, we'll fix whatever's wrong. Just sleep now. I'm here and I've got you."
"You're a good friend, Spencer. Thanks." Lyle mumbled.
As sleep took him, Spencer smiled.
