Chapter Thirteen: Running on a Low Battery

OR

Return of the Doctor

A.N: I own the name Endomorphine so don't go to your local chemist and ask for a death-slowing drug; it doesn't exist. That is all. Hope you like my surprise ;)

ABYSS' POV

Three weeks have passed since Kane's disappearance and Raven has turned zombie-like. He routinely checks on Cameron every morning and night, while putting him down for his nap and things during the day, and he ignores every question we ask and eats like he's in a trance. Something is definitely not right with him.

The only person who seems to have Raven's attention is Cameron, but the small boy thinks Raven's his father, which is slightly odd if you ask me. The kid knows (or at least, knew; no one's really clarified that yet) his parents, so why would he call Raven, 'Daddy'?

Me, Daffney and Mankind are sitting in the kitchen when Raven comes in with Cam in his arms, a bottle stuck between Cameron's lips. Raven's hair is messier then it usually is and he has dark bags under his eyes, as if he hasn't slept at all in the past week. Which he probably hasn't. He's downstairs with Cameron when Daffney and I leave so I guess not.

"He won't stop saying Daddy!" the blond cries and he puts Cam in his highchair. Daffney picks up a stuffed duck from the ground and puts it on the small tray in front of him. Cam pulls the bottle from his mouth and gives Raven a big toothy grin.

"DADDY!"

"SEE!" Raven says, pouting and sitting beside Mick at the table. I snicker and ruffle the small kid's hair. He's gotten used to my mask so he doesn't cry anymore, and I can still wear it. Same with Mankind.

"He must see you as a parent figure then," I say, and this stuns them all. Why, I do not know. Daffney gives me a quizzical look and I take her hand, affectionately rubbing her knuckles. This always makes her melt, and right now is no exception. She faints into my arms and we almost topple from the stool. Raven and Mankind snicker while Abyss smirks in my head.

Dickhead, he sneers and I growl in return. Daffney kisses my jaw as I look at Raven.

"Has he said mommy?"

Raven shakes his head, his blond hair flopping everywhere.

"He will," Daff says, patting his hand. He smiles and then winces as the duck hit him in the eye. Daffney and Mankind crack up laughing as he growls and prepares to fling the duck back at Cameron. A very tanned hand grabs his arm and stops him.

Mankind and Daffney stop laughing in a heartbeat as Raven turns his head to look at the man holding his arm.

Doctor Stevie.

~X~

MANKIND'S POV

We're all stunned to see Stevie. He should have been dead twice, at the hands of both Kane and Abyss, but here he is, staring all of us down.

"How the hell..." I say, trailing off as Raven goes to smack him. Stevie grabs Raven by the wrist and twists it until the small blond cries out in pain.

"You can't keep a good doctor down," he smirks in return, putting more pressure onto Raven's hand. There is a muffled snap and Raven yelps as Stevie drops him.

The four of us, not including Cam who is struggling to get out of his highchair, back up against the pantry doors as Stevie pulls a syringe from the back pocket of his jeans. He smirks and heads straight for Cam, only to get punched out by none other then...

"KANE!" Raven yells as his lover, or former lover, I'm not sure which, stands over Stevie, his fist covered in blood. The bald man smirks and I am suddenly under the impression that Kane followed Stevie here so he could finish his little feud with him.

"Now," the big man says, kicking Stevie in the stomach. The small doctor screams. "The way I see it, you have two choices, Stevie."

Stevie coughs and looks up as Kane wrenches him to his feet. Raven crawls over, his hand bleeding and sits at Kane's feet. Kane barely registers this.

"You can die, right here, right now, in front of a small child OR," he glances down at Raven then back at the stupid doctor, "I can let Raven have you."

"NO!" Stevie yells, trying to get out of Kane's grasp. Raven barks like a dog and starts attacking Stevie's sneakers. I quickly run to Cam and get him out of the highchair and hold him close, going back to my friends as Kane's grip on the evil doctor's neck, tightens.

"Answer me this, Stevie," Kane says, pinning him to the bench, his hand still wrapped around Stevie's neck. "How the fuck are you still alive?"

"I live in a mental asylum," Stevie splutters, blood spraying onto Kane's face. "It's pretty easy to get drugs that'll slow down death."

"Oh well, that's useful," Kane says, flinging the small guy across the room like he's a doll. That's when I notice the small crescent scar on Stevie's collarbone from the chain hooking into his neck and dragging him to the floor.

Then I start questioning the logic behind Stevie's words. There are drugs labelled with 'Endomophine' all over the asylum, but no one ever told us what they were for. Those must be what Stevie used to survive. But how the hell did he survive his skull being shattered and his head being smashed in? Okay, this is really weird.

"I think I'll let Raven have you," Kane says and drops Stevie to the floor. Raven barks again and grabs Stevie by the ankle, dragging him away.

Kane turns to us and Cameron instantly pipes up, yelling something that we never thought he would, especially to Kane.

"MOMMY!"

Kane's eye twitches as he takes the child from me, looking into his bright green eyes. "I'm Mommy huh? That's interesting."

He turns to us then and Daffney shrinks back, still clearly hurting from the beating she received from this satanic man.

"How did you know Stevie was here?" I ask. He shrugs.

"I was following Mark back to the city and, instead of going to the cops like I thought he would, he went to the asylum to get a doctor. He found Stevie. They drove back here where I was waiting with a crowbar, ready to smash my brother's head in."

I nod; that makes perfect sense.

Cam starts to cry in Kane's arms and starts tugging on the collar of Kane's shirt. Kane looks down at his 'son' and smiles, a truly loving smile, which is something we haven't seen in a while.

After a few minutes of loud screaming, Raven comes back into the kitchen, still on all fours, and sits at Kane's feet. The big guy pats his lover's head before wrapping his massive hand throughout Raven's blond hair. Raven yelps as he's yanked to his feet. Daffney and Abyss don't know how to take this, but the look on Kane's face and the low growl he emanates speaks volumes; he's still mad at Raven for the Mindy-thing.

~X~

ABYSS' POV

This whole thing is very confusing.

First, Stevie comes in like he's superhuman and goes for Cam, who I think he was going to drug and take him away from Raven and Kane, who are practically his parents now. Then Kane comes back, totally unexpected, and gives Stevie to Raven to play with. I guess that's totally normal; Raven was always Kane's little instrument of torture.

Then Kane gets pissed at Raven like they were never anything to each other. Ow, I my head hurts just thinking about it.

Daffney steps forward and takes Cam from Kane, much to the small child's protest. He screams at the top of his lungs and cries even harder than he did before, his eyes filling with hot, sticky tears.

"We'll take him upstairs while you two fight," I say, knowing what she's thinking. I quickly follow her out the door, throwing a glance back as Mankind comes between the two bickering lovers.

When we get to Cam's room, we put the small child down in his crib and he blinks up at us, still sort of crying. Daffney gives him a kiss on the head and I smile; she's such a good person. I don't deserve her. I mean, sure, we met in a mental asylum under strict supervision that only allowed us to see each other when we went outside, but that didn't stop me from falling madly in love with her.

My Scream Queen looks at me and I take her hand, pulling her in for a kiss. Abyss growls in my head but I ignore him, caught up in the moment. Daffney wraps her arms around my neck and I hoist her up, forgetting about Cam, forgetting about Raven and Kane and most importantly;

Forgetting about everything else.