Run away
Run away
One day we won't feel this pain anymore
Take it all away
Shadows of you
'Cause they won't let me go
- Lost in Paradise, Evanescence
Max and Angel didn't return until well into the next day. Angel's therapist appointment was in less than an hour. Max had given her the address of where the office was located so she could make her way there on her own. Angel had been quiet all day, but given her new self it was hardly a surprise to anyone. The young blonde went to the therapist's office in a sort of strange fog, not completely aware of what she was doing but not being able to control it either. The sensation frightened her but she decided to ride through it. Strangely enough Angel snapped back to normal when she was permitted to enter the small office.
"Hello," an older woman greeted pleasently. "I'm Dr. Kate Remmingway. You must be Angel." The girl nodded and nervously took a seat in a plush red bean bag. Other than the standard desk that faced the door behind her, this office didn't look anywhere near like a normal therapist's office. Instead of uncomfortable chairs, there were bean bag chairs, a nice alternative to make the atmosphere more child friendly. Posters of all kinds littered the walls: Broadway musicals, television shows, and superstars of all kinds.
"When you have your graduation appointment, you'll get to put a poster up there too," Kate said happily. Her eyes were a warm chocolate brown, just like Max's, but they held so much more wisdom and softness. Some wrinkles showed on her face, but age appeared to be doing kind things to her rather than harsh. For one thing, although her once tawny hair was gradually turning silver, it was a beautiful becoming shade that made her look like a grandmother. Angel relaxed at once. She might be able to trust this woman...just maybe, if nothing went wrong today.
"I know you were abused in several different ways by your adopted family," Kate began once Angel settled herself in. "And I also know about the ways you've...dealt with those issues after a time." She nodded toward Angel's covered up scars. "But we can discuss that later. Right now...I want things done in chronalogical order." There was a long silence as Angel processed this. When she didn't speak, Kate continued.
"Would you like to tell me about when you were adopted?"
"I-I really?" Angel squeaked, her heart racing as memories began to take over with a suffocating strength. Tunnel vision made it hard to breathe and she forced herself to relax, repeating over and over that she was safe in here and Kate could be trusted just as well as Max.
"Take your time." Kate was so kind and patient, understanding even though she didn't know the terrors she had been through. Or at least not all of them. So, taking a shuddering breath, Angel recounted the events of that fateful day.
"Angel!" Max barked as she stormed into the Martinez household.
"Oh no," Iggy snickered. "What did you do now, Angel?"
"What?" Angel deadpanned. Max had been out doing who knows what for hours, how could she possibly have done anything wrong?
"I finally found you a family," the flock leader said hesitantly. Oh, now she got it. Angel sifted through Max's thoughts and realized she was going to miss her, and a whole lot too.
"It's okay," Angel said. "You don't have to let me go."
"Don't you want to have a normal life, though?"
"I guess..."
"This is about making you happy, not me. Come on, let's check it out. Oh, I used your old fake name by the way. Old habits die hard, Ange."
At the adoption center, Angel saw a young man and woman waiting for her. She meekly approached them, still skeptical of adults even after a couple years of no threat of white coat scientists, Erasers, or some other mutant monster out to hurt her.
"Hi, Ariel. Ready to come home? I'm Eric, and this is my beautiful wife Bethany. I'm proud to call you my new daughter. Come on, let's go." Angel allowed herself to be led away, hoping that these people would love her for what she truly was rather than what she appeared to be.
"...and that was it," Angel concluded. "The paperwork was done, I belonged to them." She looked down at her hands, lost in thought. Kate finished taking notes and glanced up.
"Alright, thank you for trusting me with that, Angel. That was very brave of you. However, this is only the beginning. You've gone through so much in three years, based on what I've heard from Max. Yuo'll probably continue to have nightmares for a time, but that is perfectly normal. I think we're done for today. See you next week." Angel left the office in silence.
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Her therapist Kate couldn't have been more right. Though Angel was tired that night, she didn't want to sleep at all. She tossed and turned, images of Eric on the edge of her mind. His dark, gleaming eyes that threatened the promise of pain were ingrained into the very depths of her soul.
"Why?" Angel cried out, trying to ignore the urge to harm herself, knowing it was wrong. Max, having gotten the hint that she couldn't be trusted, removed anything sharp from any easily accessible areas. Even forks dropped off the face of the earth. That would make eating spaghetti difficult.
The night was so long it felt like ten. But eventually, Angel slipped into a miserable sleep. She continually had nightmares that were impossible to wake up from. She was choked down and paralyzed, forced to relive every single moment of hurt and feeling of worthlessness that still rushed through her mind every single day.
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"Mom...its awful seeing Angel go through this," Max said heavily, putting her head in her hands. Dr. Martinez sympathetically placed a hand on her daughter's knee. She had no idea what to say, but it was best to at least be there for Max.
"Just give it time," she said. "Angel has only been to one session. How long has it been since she was taken from that family, do you think?" Max shrugged. She was horrible at keeping track of time.
"I don't know, maybe a few weeks? And most of that time she wasn't even with us. She was off somewhere else."
"There you have it. But now she has you to help out, and you've changed so much these past few years...compared to now and when you were fourteen, well, that is an even more radical change." She smiled softly. "Be patient, Max. She'll come around. Angel is strong." She hugged Max and went to leave, knowing she needed to be back with Ella, Dylan, and Gazzy.
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Dylan woke up to quiet sobbing in the bathroom. Disoriented, he rolled out of bed and dressed himself in a pair of loose jeans that were in desperate need of washing. He approached the bathroom, uncertain of what he might find but curiosity overpowering his hesitation. He gently pushed the door open to see Ella curled up on the clean, cream colored tiles, sobbing her heart out. Her eyes were puffy from constant crying.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm so sorry! We should have never started doing this!" Despite being exceptionally smart, Dylan was confused. What did Ella mean?
"What are you talking about, babe?" he murmured, sliding to the floor to sit next to his girlfriend.
"I'm pregnant!" she wailed. "My mom will never forgive me! She-she always said to wait until you're married!" She hiccupped several times, and her breathing hitched as she tried to get in more air without much success. Ella was having a panic attack.
"Ells, calm down," Dylan said. He did his best to soothe her so she wouldn't wake everyone else up. Plus, it couldn't be good for the baby for her to be working herself up like this. He may not be an expert on the baby department but he knew that much at least.
"What are we going to do?" she moaned into his chest.
"We tell your mom." She tensed up against him. "No, its going to be okay, trust me. Your mom knows me and she knows I'll be a great father. And she'll understand you...she's your mother, after all. Haven't you ever thought she grained all this wait until you're married stuff because she might not have and regretted it ever since?"
"No," Ella admitted. "But that does make sense...can you just hold me?"
"Of course." They stayed like that for a long time, thinking about how different their future was going to be now.
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"Iggy..." Nudge said faintly. "Bronson's wings haven't been growing as fast lately." Their infant child squirmed, not wanting to go to sleep.
"Tha's great," Iggy slurred from the arm chair. "Gimmie five, Gasser." Nudge rolled her eyes and tried to get her child to sleep so she could sleep as well. Unfortuantely, it was a long time before Bronson finally agreed he was tired and shut his eyes. The African American bird kid mutant crawled into bed, exhausted beyond belief. Their child was about the size of a two month old and still growing at a breakneck speed, surprising even Jeb at this point. Nudge was still endlessly worried about their first born, but Iggy appeared calm about everything. Then again he was blind. He didn't have to see their child growing half an inch practically every night, like he had been fed growth horomones instead of formula milk. The entire household was asleep and at peace. Little to everyone's knowing that that was the moment Bronson smiled for the first time. He was dreaming, quite peacefully in fact. About what, his parents would never know.
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The next day, Angel woke up feeling more exhausted than she had before going to sleep. She had to face the day, however, and forced herself out of bed. She numbly shuffled into the living room and was unsurprised to see Fang casually sitting there. He must have arrived during the night when they were all sleeping.
"Hi," Angel whispered. It had been so long since she had seen Fang. Well, only ten days, but it felt like an eternity to her. She wasn't really the hugging type anymore, so she just nodded to him and headed for the kitchen in search of something to eat. Maybe after breakfast a little nap would fix her sense of complete exhaustion.
As she ate her cereal, she thought about the therapy session yesterday and wondered if Kate was really worth trusting. After all, the woman was a complete stranger. She spoke to her all of one times and already she was expected to be friendly and trusting. But for Angel that seemed like an impossibility.
"What are you doing?" Max asked. Angel dropped her spoon back into the half empty bowl, feeling herself being sucked into a flashback quite abruptly.
"What are you doing?" Eric yelled as he stormed into the guest room. Angel had already been given the tour of their house and was settling herself into the room Bethany had promised her not more than a few minutes ago.
"Getting ready for bed," Angel replied. "Could you read me a story, Eric?" She hadn't caught onto his mood as of yet, too blinded by the happiness of actually being accepted so easily.
"This isn't your room!" Eric growled, his eyes flashing threateningly.
"Bethany said-"
"I don't CARE what she said!" he said angrily. He grabbed her arm roughly, causing Angel to let out a squeak of pain. She had no idea what to expect out of Eric upon first meeting him, but it certainly wasn't this.
"You sleep in the attic!" Eric demanded. "You got it? And if Bethany asks, tell her that you sleep there now becase you such an ungrateful little bitch that has no place in my house!" Angel sniffled and nodded to show she got the message.
"Angel, calm down, you're safe," Max whispered over and over, stroking Angel's hair. Angel had suddenly zoned out and now started hypervenilating like someone was trying to hurt her. After a couple minutes, she snapped out of it and slowly calmed down with help from both Max and Fang.
"Sorry," Angel said, her voice cracking slightly.
"There's nothing to be sorry for," Max assured her. "Are you okay? What happened to you?"
"I think it was something you said." She nodded in understanding.
"Max, what happened while I was gone?" Fang asked, knowing he didn't get the chance of a proper greeting with Max. She told him what had gone on over the past twenty-four hours, being careful not to leave anything out.
"Great. So now what?"
"Can we watch a movie?" Angel asked hopefully, looking back and forth between Max and Fang like they were her parents.
"Sure," Max said, shrugging undifferently.
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"Mom?" Ella said nervously that morning, shaking internally with nerves. Dylan nodded for her to continue, squeezing her hand reassuringly.
"Yes, honey?" she said distractedly, still fixing the Gasman his breakfast. Oh God, Ella thought fearfully, what if she kicks me out? No, stop it, Ella! Focus! You can't back out now, you have her attention already you dummy. She took a deep breath and looked her mom straight in the eyes as she turned around with the plateful of breakfast food in her hands. Dr. Martinez handed Gazzy his food and told him to go eat in his room, sensing this was a private conversation. She didn't ask questions when Dylan firmly remained rooted to the spot, gripping Ella's hand a little tighter than before.
"Mom...I'm pregnant." There was a heavy silence. Dr. Martinez took several breaths to steady herself, searching for the proper reaction.
"First of all, you shouldn't be so afraid, honey. You are eighteen and allowed to do as you please. Secondly, how long have you known?"
"Since last night. I was afraid because I've never had to deal with this before. I've never been in an intimate relationship, especially not with Dylan." He gave her a questioning glance.
"Sorry," she muttered. "That sounded completely wrong coming out of my mouth."
"I think that this is great news!" Dr. Martinez said cheerfully, losing the serious mask at once. "Why don't we go shopping for some baby stuff right now!"
"Um..." Ella said uncertianly. "Don't we need to have breakfast first?"
"Oh, right! What would you like?" The tension melted off of Ella's shoulders now that the news had gotten out of the way. Dylan tried his hardest all through breakfast not to torture his girlfriend with 'I told you so' even though that would amuse him to no end. He knew exactly how scared she had been of not being accepted by her mother for not being more careful. Then again, both of them had known what they were getting into from the beginning of this...interesting relationship.
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Two hours later, Angel was fast asleep as the end credits to 'Christmas Vacation' scrolled up the screen with unyielding fail, concluding the ten thousandth, one hundred and fifteenth time that it had been played within the past year. Fang carried her off to bed, his onyx eyes softly watching Angel sleep for a moment before rejoining Max.
"I hope we have a daughter," Fang said to her.
"Me too," Max whispered. "I want her to be just like Angel." It was the first time since the miscarriage that they had discussed children. Fang wondered if that meant Max was finally ready to move on from her devastating loss. She had gone through the surgery while Angel was at the therapist earlier today, according to what she said, so within a few weeks she'd be able to make love to him again. And that was with their exceptional healing skills. Fang sighed internally, missing Max's touch in so many places. He would never be able to fully describe what that woman did to his heart and other important organs.
"Are you okay?" Max asked suddenly, her chocolate brown eyes locking onto his with concern. "If you're not ready yet, we could wait longer-" Fang cut her off by planting a kiss on her soft lips, silencing her at once. She melted into him and responded willingly, moaning slightly as he pulled back, only to kiss her much more fiercly than before. Everything suddenly felt hot, and Max suddenly twisted away from him.
"Fang..." she moaned. "You know we can't just yet."
"I know." He just held her for a while, waiting for his desires to calm down. It was going to be a long three weeks.
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The Gasman was bored. Really bored. Without anyone to talk to, life was pretty boring. He had no one to talk about girls to or build bombs with. What was he good for now? He was in the shadows anyway. Gazzy sighed and stared at the wall facing opposite his bed. Why did like have to get boring now, after they saved the world? Why was everything seeming to be too perfect?
"I'm bored," he growled, storming out of his room and into the kitchen, only to find no one was there. Ella's half empty plate still resided on the counter, from breakfast that morning.
"Relax, they only went shopping," Dylan said, materializing out of nowhere. "Want to teach me more bomb related stuff? I'm highly interested." Gazzy grinned and lead him up to his room. Finally, he was useful for something.