Red silently watched as her son barricaded all the entrances and window to the base in a flurry of blurred motions. Honestly she had never seen him move so fast in his life for anything other than a Lunacorn or Peanut Butter Winkie. Yet he usually had a bliss look on his face and not one of utter terror.
She waited until he finished barricading the front door and was leaning against a dresser she could have sworn was in her lab, panting for oxygen, before she finally spoke up.
"Private?"
Private jumped at the voice, his eyes momentary widening in terror and gave out an ear-piercing shriek of fright, before he realized exactly was speaking to him.
Thank God, it was just his Mother. For a moment he had thought one of Them had managed to get inside with him.
A deep blush of embarrassment settle on his face as Red continued to stare at him in obvious worry.
"Private? Is something wrong? You seem a bit...Jumpy."
His blush grew knowing he was being much more then a bit jumpy. Part of him wanted to tell her the truth about what was outside the base but another part of him protested against doing so, not wanting his Mother to think of him as weak.
"I...You see..."
Red raised an eyebrow, patiently waiting for an answer while Private's mind raced, trying to come up with an believable excuse.
"You see, I thought we could spend the day together inside the base... with no possible way for anyone else to get inside."
He looked up at his Mother to find she had her hands crossed in front of her chest and an eyebrow arched in obvious disbelief. He didn't blame her, he hardly believed the words that had came out of his own mouth but still offered her an innocent smile, hoping beyond hope she would just go along with it.
Red had the feeling she was missing something, something important. She was certain Private was lying, she also was certain she had taught him to lie better then that, but she didn't call him on it. Instead she looked over her son, trying to place what exactly it was that had him looking so terrified.
Same blond hair.
Same blue eyes.
Same Angelic Smile.
Yet there was something off...
...
...
...
Was that? No way in Hell.
"Private?"
"Yes Mom?"
"Why is their lipstick on you shirt?"
Her son's face turned a bright crimson as he mumbled softly under his breath.
Red frowned as she looked closer at her son, just now noticing the light pink smears on his face.
"Private, you know I don't speak mumbles."
Her son's face darkened as he spoke a bit louder.
"The girl's in my class offered me a Valentines Gift and then they tried giving me cooties, so I ran away but they kept following me."
Oh...
That explained the terrified look and way he barricaded the room...
Wait a minute...
"Valentines Day? That's today?"
Private frowned as he slowly nodded. He knew his Mother sometimes forgot Holidays but why did she sound like that? Glancing up, he found his mother had paled dramatically, lone eye wide in utter terror. It was also glazed over as was usual when she was remembering something not so pleasant.
He begin to worry as he noticed his Mother was trembling and a light precipitation had appeared on her forehead.
"Mom?"
His voice seemed to have snapped her out of it as in a blink of an eye, his Mother had suddenly grabbed him and rushed towards her lab, carrying him like a sack of potatoes. She slammed the door shut behind them before hitting a few buttons on her monitor and he watched as steel plates slide down from the roof, completely covering and enforcing the door.
The Count having looked up from his current project sighed noticing his protégé's state of Panic and his Grandson's terrified look. It seems he would be spending another Valentines Day on Total Lockdown.