It's been awhile. I'm really sorry . . . I've just been so stressed I can't even think about writing. And I've tried – an Agents of SHIELD one shot. Turned out to be complete crap. Okay. Sorry :( I'll start again . . .
Here's the next chapter! Time to see what the moms are up to. Soundtrack: "Heaven Forbid" by The Fray.
"Alright," Sabrina slid into Janelle's SUV, slamming the passenger door behind her. "So I've checked every single floor of my house, even Chase's mission room, and they're nowhere. Not even a trace of them – except that Dai's backpack is missing. I also checked Bree's home but almost everything was gone. I guess Gael's on an Amber Alert or something. And now . . . Oh, my gosh, what are we going to do? Not only have we lost our kids, but we lost four unstable bionic super humans! What if they glitch? What if-"
"Sab! Calm down!" Janelle hushed her sister-in-law. "They couldn't have gotten too far. It's only been about three hours. Unless they got a bus or something-"
"Oh my gosh! You're right! What if they got on a bus?"
Janelle felt like banging her head on the steering wheel. She really needed to learn to keep her mouth shut. Five minutes and two streets later, she'd had enough.
"Enough!" She snapped. Sabrina glared at her in-law, but Janelle ignored the look. "Look, you're going to have a panic attack. You've already checked two of the most likely places they'd be, and I've checked the other two. They might be at an Internet cafe or something, there's one about a block from here. Let's check that before you get too panicky." she glanced at Sabrina again. "More panicked."
"Fine." she huffed. Arms crossed, she gazed out the window for any signs of the teens.
The small town of Walnut was alive on the bright Sunday. Crowds hurried from one curb to the next, arms laden with bags from a variety of shops. Bright signs competed with each other for sales while fabric awnings hung out over the side walk, spilling shade onto the patio tables. Cars honked and pretty much fought each other for parking spaces.
"There. On your side." Janelle pointed to a green themed shop. White letters announced the title of "e-Life – Keeping You Connected."
Sabrina sighed as her blue eyes searched the cafe. "Nothing."
Janelle continued driving down the street. Then, it hit her. It was so obvious it was almost painful to admit to herself that she had overlooked it.
Then, reality came back and she slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting a pedestrian. The woman gave her a dirty look before continuing across the cross walk.
"The lab."
"What?"
"The lab! They probably pieced something together and found the lab. Though I don't know how . . . I mean, it's not like we gave them anything to look for."
Sabrina's eyes widened. "Oh no. I'm not letting Dai be like her father."
"I don't think you really have a choice." Janelle mused. "But still, you're thinking worst case scenario. They could just be exploring the house right now, bored out of their minds."
Sabrina mumbled something along the lines of 'Yeah, their genetically enhanced minds,' before quietly turning to look out her windows.
Janelle made a highly illegal U-turn and took off toward the old Davenport mansion, which was about two and a half hours North. Along the way, she attempted to calm Sabrina down.
"Listen, I'm as nervous as you are, but the odds that they've found the lab is very small."
"The odds that my husband would bring home an infant – a bionic infant, I might add – was very small. Look at where that got us."
"I really don't see why you're so panicked, though. Leo told me before," Janelle drew in a breath, "before all this happened that there are a lot of safe guards put up so that it's very difficult for the kids to activate their chips. There have to be all four of them at once, and they have to find the elevator, and -"
"Okay!" Sabrina snapped. "I understand that. But I don't want my daughter to be out in the world fighting and getting hurt. Once they find out, there's no going back. She can't go to school until she learns to control her abilities, she can't be a kid and have sleepovers or anything because she could glitch, and she'll just flat out be . . . different!" she ran a hand through her hair and breathed out. "I just want what's best for her. Can't you see that? I'll never be able to embrace this. It's just too much."
"Of course I see that! But you have to realize, the second we all decided to keep these kids years ago came with a high price, and that meant letting them go sometime. They're not like us. They never were, and they never will be. You don't have to accept it, just know and be prepared - for better or for worse."
"I just . . . Dai is all I have left. I can't lose her like we lost Chase, Leo, Adam and Bree. It's just not fair. I thought I knew what I was getting into the day I got married, but now I look back and I ask myself, did I really? Did I really know that I might have to accept the death of my husband? That he may very well never come home one day. That I'd have to got through all of this again – but with a child?" her words had become choked up half way through. "We'd already agreed that them three would be the end. That our kids . . . that they'd be normal. That they wouldn't have to carry this burden." a bitter laugh escaped her. "But no. After what Douglas did, Chase and I knew we couldn't have more than one kid. It wouldn't be fair to have anymore – to them or Dai." a tear slipped down her cheek, which she brushed away. More fell to take its place."I guess I'm just mad about a lot of things. And this . . . it's just not helping my situation."
Janelle smiled weakly at her. "You know, they might not really be gone."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, this could be just like Budapest. I'm sure you remember that."
"Yeah, how couldn't I remember? They were missing for two days straight until the government swooped in."
"Well, they might still be out there. You never know."
"True. I'll give you credit. But there's a problem with that. Bree's chip was programmed to send out a signal, should her vitals stop, that would automatically print off a sheet with our addresses on it. Without it, Gael wouldn't have been able to find us. So they're gone. It's horrible, but there's no way around it."
Janelle had no reply. Sabrina was right.
The original bionics were gone.
Janelle raised her fist to knock, but decided against it.
It was almost eleven at night by the time the pair reached the 'deserted' mansion. The road was dark and had gone unused over the years.
Sabina shot her an annoyed look from beside her and flung open the door . . . to an empty home.
The two adults stood still for a moment, listening for any sign of their children. Nothing. Janelle flicked the light switch on the inside, and the dusty lights hummed and buzzed before they lit up the dark space.
A faint smile flickered over her features – this was the place of so many memories. Where she and Leo had had many a fight and laugh. It was where many of her teen years had been spent – right up to when Leo had proposed to her in this very room.
But the moment was gone as soon as it had come.
Because that's when Sabrina saw the elevator.
"No . . ." her breath caught in her throat as she ran into the home, the thud of her footsteps echoing through the empty establishment. Her wavy gold hair bounced over her shoulders, matching the rhythm of her foot falls.
Janelle solemnly followed her sister-in-law into the now open elevator. The ride down brought back many more memories of the old days, back when she had considered Leo bad luck and his siblings weird. She chuckled to herself; if only she had known.
The doors hissed open to a dark lab. Or at least, darkened lab. Lights from the various equipment still clicked on and off. The double sliding doors in front of the two were closed, hiding what was behind them.
The blond's hand was inches from the button that would open the doors when Janelle grabbed her arm.
"Sab, you have to promise me one thing. If the kids really have found out, just . . . let them go. This has been coming from day one. They need to be set free."
Her eyes were teary when she looked at Janelle. "I can't. Dai . . . she isn't meant for this."
And with that, she pressed the button that revealed the laboratory. Boxes were scattered on the ground where the rock wall stood. Blue light swirled from the occupied capsules, machinery humming and buzzing all around.
Sabrina stood with her hands on her hips, full out crying and angrily facing the capsules from behind the door way.
"Dai Dawson!"
Said figure jumped in her sleep, instantly awake. Quickly, she composed herself and pressed her palm against the blue glass, the door quietly squeaking open. She was dressed in gray sweatpants and a matching loose fitting top, her hair pulled back in a braid. One by one, her siblings also pushed open the glass doors, clad in similar apparel.
"Mom?" Fania groggily rubbed her eyes as she stepped out.
Dai was near instantly a crying mess much like her mother. "I think you mean Davenport." she swallowed thickly.
Fania and the others instantly straightened up, stepping out of the mother and daughter's way. Janelle engulfed Fania in a bone-crushing hug before giving her a glare that plainly stated: you're next.
"So you know now?" Sabrina regarded her with a hurt expression.
"Why else would I be sleeping in a glass box?"
"Don't you dare talk to me like that!"
"I don't that's as big of a problem as the fact that you've lied to me over and over and over again! Dad died and you didn't even tell me how it happened!"
"Maybe I don't know! Did you ever care to think of that?"
"Why wouldn't you know? You have to know something!"
"Well I don't! All I know is that he was out on a mission and he didn't come back. And that's why you're coming home and we're going to disable your chip again. You don't have to be a part of this."
Dai stared at her mother with shock and hurt. "But I want to. This is my family! For sixteen years I thought I was an only child. Well no, I'm not. My siblings have been hidden from me by you guys! Oh, not to mention you hid who I really am from me. Did you ever think I might have been able to handle it?"
Sabrina had just opened her mouth to reply when Dai's clenched fist came alive with static. The bolt surged around her hand for a moment before jumping outwards and slamming into a screen next to her.
Her mother gazed at her sadly. "And you still can't handle it."
Dai's face was soaked with tears as she turned and stalked off into a back room. Ever ran off after her without a word.
Fania gulped as her own mother turned to face her.
"Looks like it's time for our talk."
The ride home was dead silent. Sabrina had been able to program a self driving car to come and pick her and Dai up, leaving Ever, Gael, Fania and Janelle to ride home.
Forty five minutes into the trip, Janelle broke the silence, smiling mischievously at her sulking daughter and nephews through the darkness.
"Alright, don't leave me hanging. What abilities do you have?"
And with that, the car burst into chatter.
I hope it was okay. I'm still not too sure . . .
So I've been thinking, and it's kinda only fair I give you guys a quick rundown of why I've only updated like twice in the past two months: um, it's kind of difficult to give you guys a good idea without being too whiny and personal, but, among many deeper and more personal things, I'm no longer homeschooled. My parents can't afford it. So I'm going into High School. I have no idea what to do . . . I'm just really scared. I've spent a lot of nights crying . . . and yeah. Wish me luck!
On a happier note, I'm on Instagram! I've created a Fan Account for everything Marvel. It's called Avenging_The_SHIELD_Agents. So if you'd check it out, maybe follow if you have an account, that'd be awesome! I'm going to be posting a lot of FitzSimmons :D And Pepperony . . . and Romanogers . . . and Steggy . . . and Huntingbird XD I've become addicted to anything Agents of SHIELD! If you haven't seen it – GO. It's a great kick in the feels to get you writing! I'd start with FZZT!
And yeah . . . I'd appreciate a review or two :) Thank you guys so much – you always stick by me and I can't express how happy that makes a girl :) I hope my half-rate writing was okay . . . See you ;)