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At 10 a.m., Seth finally managed to start working. He often wondered how Ty would react to the news. He was just three years old, so he wouldn't mind for sure. But Seth wanted him to be happy. Really happy.
Speaking of happy, he almost forgot Summer and their conversation. She had told him that she loved him, that she had never stopped and that she had remained kind of "faithful" to him. Those facts made Seth the happiest man in the whole wide world.
But they made Seth feel confused as well. If he gave in, Summer would be able to hurt him again, but there was nothing he wanted more than to be close to her and Ty. He would love to have a family. Summer and Ty could be that family.
Seth started to draw and to write with a frenetic energy. Usually, it was good for him to write. It cleaned his head. After a while, he had an entire scene written:
The day was calm in Atomic County. Bryan Gatwood was planning a new shelter for his team and Melissa Scooter was designing the team's new wardrobe.
The boys were always whining that they didn't need new uniforms, but they were always ruining their old ones.
Steve Conan was on the streets of Atomic. He was the one in charge to warn the others if the water polo demons or the newpsies attacked. While Steve walked around, he thought:
"I won't have to worry at all. The bad guys are taking the day off."
Moments later, he heard something similar to glass shattering.
"As always, I spoke too soon!" Steve ran to a corner took off his urban clothes to reveal his uniform. The Ironist was back in action.
He ran in the direction of the noise and found himself in front of a sports store. Typical! Another water polo demon ready to steal sport goods. But, when he saw the attacker he realized that this hadn't been done by a water polo demon. Almost fifteen feet from him, he saw a petite figure dressed in white shorts and a red tank top. Her hair was in a messy pony tail, but he could tell that it was deep brown. That pair of legs seemed familiar...but Ironist wasn't able to recognize them.
She was making a pair of surfboards float near her while she threw stuff to the people in the store, which almost exploded on their faces. The girl seemed to be in a daze, as if she didn't realize what she was doing. The owner of the store was in panic, screaming for help.
Ironist concentrated and started to say random things, making his powers grow. When he felt that he was strong enough, he shouted: "Why don't you go to another corner, wonder whore?"
Within seconds, he unleashed a big wave of a blue thingy that hit the girl right in the back.
Usually, his waves of irony were strong enough to knock out his enemies, but this time it didn't work. Although the girl stopped for a few seconds to recollect her powers, she contra attacked. Without even turning around, she threw a credit card in his direction. Ironist was astonished. If he hadn't been quick enough, the projectile would hurt him.
He only knew one person that threw credit cards, had the enough power to defeat him and that was able to hurt him. Thanks to one of his powers, Ironist couldn't be hurt for almost anyone. He needed to have a connection deeper than hell with a person, so that the person could hurt him in any way: physically or emotionally. And he only shared that connection with one person, or woman: Autumn Rogers, aka Little Miss Vixen.
But it couldn't be her. She had been kidnapped by water polo demons a while ago and neither Cosmogirl, Kid Chino nor he had been able to find her. And he was forced to believe that she was dead. When she disappeared, he thought that his life wasn't worth it. If he wasn't happy with the girl he loved, nobody could be. If he stopped saving people their families would be miserable, just like he was. But Brian and Melissa talked some sense into him. They helped him to get through the bad times.
Anyway, his Vixen was dead. So, he had to fight this girl, even if she had something that made him feel attracted towards her. Like, a magnet or something.
Again, he gathered all the irony around him (while he avoided the dangerous plastic money that the girl threw) and released the biggest amount of irony he could at the moment.
This time, it was enough. The girl fell backwards and Steve ran towards her. He wanted to see who she was.
He sat himself beside her and brushed some hairs away from her face. He couldn't believe who he saw. It was Little Miss Vixen. Although she looked tired and she was dressed differently, she looked exactly the same.
But Ironist was confused. The Little Miss he knew just dressed herself in black, pink, purple and white. Sometimes a little blue or light green when she wore his shirts. But red? Maybe now Autumn wasn't so restrict...
She began to stir and he grabbed her hand and held it tightly. He pushed a few strands of hair out of her face and asked:
"Autumn? Vix, please, wake up..."
She opened her eyes and realized who was sitting beside her. She sat and hugged him quickly, holding him tightly, as if expecting him to disappear if she let go. She rambled close to his ear, refusing to be away from him:
"Where am I? What's happening Conan? Where have you been? I've been scared shitless... Where's Taylor? I want my baby! Make them give him back to me. Make the voices in my head stop... Please Conan? Oh my god, I missed you so much..."
Steve was confused, to say the least. What voices? Taylor? Baby?
"Autumn, slow down a bit, ok? I'm going to try to answer to your questions, but I don't have all the explanations..."
She nodded and he kept talking:
"You are in Atomic County; you were attacking some people in this store and stealing surfboards. Honestly, I don't know what is happening! I never left Atomic. I've always been here with Bryan and Melissa..."
"Oh" realization hit her "I remember some parts of it. I remember discovering that my father was a water polo demon and I remember when he kidnapped me. Then I don't remember a thing until Taylor's birth. I remember pushing and the pain. It hurt so much, Conan! The last stuff that I remember are the water polo demon's voices in my head, telling me that if I wanted to be with my son I'd have to do this and that... And I remember being with my baby at night. Every night. Actually the nights are pretty much what I remember. Everything else is blurry!"
"What?" Ironist was paralyzed "Your baby? You have a son?" Of what he had understood, Autumn had a son. She referred to him as her baby. The water polo demons must have kept her hypnotized.
She sighed and smiled broadly: "We have a son Steve. I was going to tell you when I was kidnapped. My father wants him to become a demon. But I didn't let him. I stayed with my baby. They made me do horrible things, but at least I was with Taylor. His name's Taylor. He is so beautiful; he looks so much like you." By now she was rocking herself trying to not appear as desperate as she was. "They have him now! Do you promise me that you'll do anything in your hands to have our baby back? "Crying silently, she rested her head on his chest, feeling desperate, but safe.
Seth kissed her temple and whispered into her head: "I promise! Even if it's the last thing I do."
He lifted his head, tickled her side and asked with a smile: "Are you dressing red now too? You were already pretty in pink."
Seth smiled. He liked the outcome of his frustrations. This new issue would be a success. Little Miss Vixen was coming back and in great style.
For now, Ty wouldn't appear in the comic. It would be easier that way. They could pretend that he was lost, pretty much like had happened with Spiderman's daughter, May.
While Seth daydreamed, the phone started ringing.
Seth picked it up and within a second, he heard Marissa's hysterical voice:
"Seth Cohen! WHERE THE HELL IS YOUR HEAD?" Seth chuckled. Sometimes Marissa could be really weird.
"My head is where it's supposed to be. On top of my neck! I know that you already found out about my slumber party. I'm sorry, I should have invited the "too cute to be true" couple."
On the other side of the line, Marissa didn't find it funny. "Seth, stop being an ass! You know why I'm mad. Actually, why I'm furious. You promised that you wouldn't let her ruin your life again! Do you remember what you went through? Or do you need me to refresh your memory?"
Seth didn't want to hear this. He examined the marks on his arm. "I remember everything perfectly." Marissa hadn't the right to judge him like that. He refused to hear moral lessons from miss "I overdosed when my boyfriend cheated on me, but now I have a perfect life".
"Stop right there Riss. I know you're worried about me, but don't be. I'm fine. It's not like Summer and I are dating!"
Marissa snorted: "Knowing the two of you, it won't take long!" Seth decided to ignore her.
"Just hear me. Summer came back to introduce me my son. His name is Ty and he's three years old. You're going to love him. But moving on, she left because she found out she was pregnant. She was afraid she would ruin my life. That I would start working, instead of finishing college. You won't believe how much she's changed. To top all that, she's sick."
Seth knew he had said the magic words: Summer and sick.
"She's sick? How serious is it? Oh my god… I can't believe it. I treated her like trash this morning…"
Seth smiled: "I already heard about it. She's on medication and she needs to rest. Don't worry. It's not that serious."
"Still. I was awful with her. I need to apologize. She's still my best friend!"
"You certainly didn't act like it. You were supposed to support her. Summer was expecting you to jump and shriek with happiness, so she was kind of … sad, about your reaction."
Marissa sighed. She hadn't meant to be a pain in the ass. She just wanted to protect Seth. It was kind hard to digest the information, but Marissa missed Summer so much. She was trapped between two boys. Although she loved them, she missed the girly talk. To top it all, Summer had a son. A three year old. How cute should he be?
"That's it!" Marissa decided "I'm willing to give Summer another chance. She needs a friend and god knows that I need one too. But Seth, don't let yourself fall for her so soon. Get to know her again; get to know your son. But give it some time."
"Ok" Seth agreed "I promise that we'll try to go slow."
"Alright." Marissa changed her voice from a serious tone to an excited one. "Can we go visit you two tomorrow?"
"Of course. You already told Ryan didn't you?"
"Duh." Marissa replied "We're hurt by the way, because you didn't tell us the news right ahead."
"We're even. You told Ryan that you were pregnant first. See you tomorrow."
Marissa giggled. "Ok, see you. Tell Summer that I'm sorry."
"Will do. Hung up already! I need to work. Tell Ryan I said Hi"
Seth immediately heard Ryan's voice on the other side of the line: "Hi, man!"
"Unbelievable!" Seth grunted "You heard all the call and you didn't say a word?"
Marissa quickly replied: "He's just here for emotional support! Bye."
"Bye." And Marissa finally hung up.
"So Ty, what do you think?"
Summer and Ty had arrived to the beach. There were beaches in San Francisco, but not like the O.C. ones. Ty seemed to be having a great time playing with the sand and building castles. Summer was trying to get a decent tan, but it was hard to get anything with a three year old near her. Sometimes Ty walked closer to the sea and Summer needed to get up, afraid that he would be dragged away by the waves. The other times Ty just wanted attention. He wasn't one to sit quietly for a long time.
For now Ty was sitting between her legs, splashing water from his bucket. Hearing Summer talk, he turned around and replied:
"I love it. The water is a bit cold, but it's salty!"
"Well, it's supposed to be salty honey. I'm glad you like it. But we'll have to go home soon. "
"Why? I don't want to!" Ty immediately pouted.
"Because little boys and girls can't be under the sun after certain hours. And don't know about you, but I'm starving." Ty tried to run away from Summer, but she didn't let him. "Come on Ty, be a big boy. There's no need to throw a fit. If you behave decently, I might tell you a secret…"
Ty immediately sat down making Summer smile.
"Ok," Summer began "Do you remember when I told you that we were coming here for you to know your father and your other family?" Ty nodded vigorously and asked: "Am I going to know him?"
"Well, you already know him." At first, Summer expected Ty to catch on what she was intending to say, but when he made a confused face, she remembered that he was just three. "Seth is your father." Summer blurted quickly.
Surprisingly Ty understood. "Cohen?" Summer smiled and nodded.
Ty beamed and replied: "Wow! Cool…" And he left it at that.
Summer was surprised that Ty didn't talk on and on about the subject, but she knew he was happy. And for now, that would be enough.
Ty interrupted Summer thoughts: "Can I call him dad?"
"Of course you can. I have the feeling that he will love it!" Summer answered ruffling his hair. "Now let's get back."
After a few hours, Seth arrived home with a massive smile. It felt good to have someone to go back to. The moment Ty heard the door opening, he ran towards it.
"Daaaaaaaddy!" Seth spun around to find Ty running into his arms.
"Wow! Hi Ty! So you already know the news, right?
Ty nodded and beamed for the millionth time in the day. After a few moments they met Summer on the kitchen. She was near the oven, cooking dinner. Seth approached Summer with Ty on his arms and kissed her on the cheek, whispering "Thanks" on her hear. She smiled and told asked Seth if he could get Ty to sleep. Seth was surprised:
"To sleep, Summer? We still have to eat…" Summer laughed and replied: "Seth, it's almost 10 o'clock! We…" she said, motioning between the two of them "still need to eat. Ty ate almost an hour and a half ago."
Seth slapped himself. "I'm sorry. It's just… I'm used to arrive late from work. That way I don't have to be alone a lot of time. But you two are here now, I need to remember that. It won't happen again."
Summer's face softened. This was Cohen in the purest sense of the word. "No need for that Cohen. Now put Ty on the bed and let me finish this." She motioned to the casserole.
"Yes mam! Come on buddy. Let's go to bed. We don't want to upset the pretty lady." Summer shrugged: "Ty, I will go to your room to say goodnight later, ok?
Moments after, Ty was already in bed and Seth and Summer were talking on the kitchen. Summer was curious about Marissa:
"So, how did Marissa react?"
"Pretty well. I mean, at first she screamed and cursed but I talked her into it…" Summer snorted.
"You told her I was sick, didn't you?" Seth made a surprised face.
"Am I that obvious?"
"Not that much. I already had mentioned Ty to Marissa and it didn't melt her heart. I'm just supposing that your so called charm doesn't do a thing for Marissa. So, my illness was the only card left."
"You're so flattering… actually, my charm helped because she and Ryan are coming here tomorrow. She's is worried about you and she wants to meet Ty."
"Wow, what a change of heart. This morning, she made clear that she didn't want in the town, let alone in your house." Seth shifted uncomfortably from one foot to another.
"What, Cohen? What did she tell you?" Summer noticed that Seth was clearly uncomfortable.
"She kind of made me promise that I would stay away from you. At least for now…"
Summer didn't know what hurt more: the fact that her supposed best friend had suggested it or that she knew Seth had agreed.
"And of course, you agreed." Seth could see tears in her eyes that she was trying to hold back.
"Yeah." Seth nodded. "I'm sorry."
Summer shook her head. "You don't need to be. But after what we talked this morning, I just hoped that you would stick to your word. Enjoy your dinner." Summer left the kitchen hurriedly. Seth promptly followed her and grabbed her arm to stop her from going further than the hall.
"Let me go Cohen!"
"I won't. Try to hear me out!" Seth was speaking rather loudly, but tried to not shout, to not wake Ty up, but Summer seemed to have other plans.
"I don't want to hear you out!" She shouted. "What I see is that you don't trust me at all!"
"What do you want me to do?" Seth nearly shouted, but lowered his voice, trying to calm Summer, remembering that she wasn't in conditions to have such strong emotions. "You ran away, Summer! Face the consequences. I love you, but obviously, I don't trust you enough not to do it again!"
"Obviously." Summer stated calmly, even though her face showed pure rage. "I'm sorry to inform you, but there's no love without trust. Now let me go, because if you don't love me, at least you should respect me! I'm sick, remember?"
With that, Seth totally lost control. Without releasing Summer's arm, he replied angrily:
"Well, if I don't love you and I don't respect you, why are you in my house? The exit is the front door! Just leave my son please. I don't care if you dye in the middle of the street!" And he released her arm, as if saying: "I dare you to move."
Summer did what she felt like. In fact, she moved. She moved her hand straight into Seth's face, slapping him hard and leaving her handprint on his cheek. She simply couldn't believe that he had said that.
Seth felt awful for saying that. He knew he had gone too far.
Summer ran up the stairs and Seth went behind her, apologizing:
"I'm sorry Summer, this slipped out of my tongue. I didn't mean it…. You know I didn't!"
"I don't know a fucking thing about you anymore! One minute you're shouting me to leave, the other you're begging for forgiveness."
Seth put his hands around her waist and leaned in for a kiss. His lips grazed hers and Summer could feel his warm breath in hers. Summer felt her heart quicken its pace.
The next thing she felt, was nervousness.
The next thing he felt, was Summer's dead weigh on his arms.
Of all the places he expected Summer to faint, he certainly wasn't expecting it to be in the middle of their first kiss.
I want to thank my readers and my reviewers.
I'm sorry if I disappointed someone with this chapter! I'll try to be better…
You already know how it works! You guys, review! I want to know what you think. Tell me your thoughts.
Sorry for any mistakes, you already know that I'm Portuguese and that English is a foreign language for me… REVIEW! The more you review the more I update!
Take care
Coheny