Alex and Luce stood in the doorway, waving the others off. "We got him into this mess, we'll get him out just fine," Alex assured them.
"I'm just worried that this is one huge trap," Ana said, and caught Nicky as he tried to tackle his sister. "They've got a conscience, says Sable and says that one doctor, but--who knows?"
Luce shrugged. "We've got to risk it. We can't just leave him there and we can't take more people than we have to just in case. Alex and I should be fine."
Anna Marie tugged on Alex's sleeve. "Uncle Ally, can I go on a mission too? I'm a big girl, like Auntie Nudge! I can do it! I promise I won't get in the way..."
He ruffled her hair and kissed her forehead. "'Fraid not, Dandelion. I need someone to do the big task of making sure Auntie Nudge doesn't get in trouble, can you and Nicky do that for me?"
Her face fell and she shuffled away. "I don't think I can do that."
He caught her shoulder. "Sure you can, Annie. Just have her read a story to you. She loves to read."
"Fine." She hugged him. "Come back home soon, Uncle Alex!" She turned to Luce and hugged his legs. "You too!"
Luce patted her head and waved to everyone as he and Alex headed out the door. He smiled at Sable. "Call me after you've talked to that doctor again?"
She nodded. "As soon as I get off. And Luce?" She poked him in the ribs. "If you have to put Dom in a straitjacket and drag him here by his feet, do it."
He laughed. "You really think I'd let him drag me away?" He stroked her hair before leaping off after Alex. "I'll see you when we get back. Alex! I'm driving!" Luce wrestled Alex out of the driver's seat and with one last wave to their Family, they drove off. They stopped at McD's for a very light lunch before continuing south. Apparently the ITEX facility was the one down in the desert, where Max and the others had been raised until Jeb had rescued them. This meant that they had about a five hour drive to look forward to.
Luce kept glancing at his phone. Alex rolled his eyes. "She'll call. Besides, it's illegal to be on the phone while driving. Which is why I should have been the driver."
"Shut up." Luce scowled. "I drive better than you even when I'm on the phone."
Alex pouted. "I'm not that--yes I am." He grinned, and picked up the phone just as it rung. "Why hello there, dearest Juliet. Your Romeo's driving at the moment, but he's giving me puppy dog eyes so I have the feeling he's missing you just as much as you miss him, if not more."
"More. I don't miss him a bit."
"You hear that Luce? Oooh, Luce just nodded, and he looks hurt. Gosh, you're mean Sabes," Alex teased. "Anyway, 'sup?"
"Dr. Zenaida says to drive until you reach a sign that says, 'Turn Back - Attack Horse - Go Away' in red paint on a very old wooden sign. Should look like an insane person wrote it. There should also be one of the green street signs with some spray paint on it with the roman numerals for thirteen on it. Tell me when you get there."
"Will do. Did you get a chance to ask how Dom is?"
"Yeah, he's apparently alright. He hasn't taken a shower since before he got there, though, so I'm warning you to plug your noses."
Alex wrinkled his nose. "He's trying to compete with Gazzy now. I didn't realize they'd become rivals."
Sable laughed and Luce pulled over and held out his hand for the phone. Alex leaned away. "Nuh-uh! I'm talking to your girlfriend."
Luce glowered. "We're where she told us to be, you can drive from here if you let me talk and try not to kill us." Alex immediately dropped the phone in Luce's lap and jumped out of the car, ran around to the driver's side, and dragged Luce out. Luce found himself stranded outside the car and Alex bouncing up and down in the driver's seat. "It's a wonder the Senator even lets him walk five feet by himself," Luce muttered. He held the phone up to his ear as he walked around the car and got in. "Hi, Sable."
"Hey, Luce. Tell Alex to head southwest at thirty miles per hour, for fourteen miles."
"Alex, you get that?"
"Of course! Woaaaah!"
Luce glared. "Sable, how did he get a license?"
"I think he either bribed or seduced the teacher."
"That would not surprise me… Does Nudge know?"
"Luce!"
"Eyes on the road!"
They lapsed into companionable silence, interrupted every now and then by swearing on Luce's part and frantic apologies on Alex's, with laughter on Sable's end. Finally, Alex stopped. "Now what?"
"Now flash your headlights three times and honk twice shortly, and twice long." They did so, and a little red Smart Car appeared from behind a random cactus and did the same before driving off.
"Okay, Sabes. We're following. Who'da thunk that ITEX'd be driving Smart Cars..."
"It's a sign they're wising up and trying not to be noticed. I mean, nothing screams evil like Smart Cars. Anyway. In about twenty minutes the car'll turn a sharp corner behind a rock formation, and you'll have to count to ten-Mississippi before following. The facility gates will be right there."
"Will Open Sesame have any effect?"
Sable laughed softly. "I doubt it."
Alex drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as they waited. When they reached ten and came to the gate, the car from before was parked right there and the driver was talking to the guard. The guard looked ready to stop them, but the scientist waved them on. "They're with me. Now, about this latest upgrade in security, it's not letting me in in the mornings..."
The guard turned his attention back to the driver, and Alex waved as they passed. They followed the arrows painted on the ground through the facilities, and discovered that it was probably the size of a small city. They were quickly getting lost, and their nerves were fraying. Finally, they were met by a man they guessed was Dr. Zenaida, who pointed them to an open parking spot. When they got out, they got out quickly and cautiously. Both Alex and Luce were ready to fight out of there if they so much as smelled something funky.
Dr. Zenaida gave them a friendly smile and handed them ID tags that labeled them as visitors. The boys just kind of stared at him.
"There's no way that this face isn't going to be recognized," Luce said, gesturing to his scarred mug.
"And I've been on TV and on all the magazines for 'hottest dude ever'. I don't think I can get away unrecognized either."
Eric laughed, and it wasn't the kind of laugh that jarred their nerves. Of course, that made them all the more wary, as all the nice people who were at ITEX were either controlled, meaning that this was a trap; or insane, meaning that this was just as, if not more, dangerous. Nevertheless, Dr. Zenaida didn't seem to mind their wary, narrowed gazes. "The name tags are just a formality that gives us an excuse to say, 'We don't know their faces, so when they told us their names were Joe and James, we had no reason for suspicion.' Keeps us out of trouble. But anyway, let's go inside. Dom's waiting just a few doors in for you guys."
When he didn't receive a response, Dr. Zenaida's smile cracked a bit. He turned abruptly and led them up to the front doors of ITEX. They stopped at the receptionist's desk, where a man in casual clothes stood behind the primly dressed secretary. "Hello, gentlemen," he said pleasantly and shook their hands. "I'm the manager. It's an honor to have you."
The boys were silent, and the manager was about to speak to Dr. Zenaida when there was a loud boom as if a semi-truck had hit the building, and every door in the facility flew open. The manager vaulted over the desk and ran outside, while Luce and Alex ran to the doors as well--for a different reason. Alex and Luce had been friends with Iggy and Gazzy long enough to know what had caused it.
A bomb.
They stood on the doorstep looking out across the huge campus in search of what had caused the noise and the shock wave, and they saw a huge plume of dark smoke billowing up from one of the buildings down wind. Definitely a bomb, and a large one.
Alex and Lucifer glanced at one another before running back inside. Upon seeing Dr. Zenaida standing ashen-faced and with a gun in his shaking hands, Lucifer, the taller of the two, grabbed the doctor by the shirt collar and slammed him against the nearest wall, fangs bared. The gun clattered to the floor and the doctor gasped and his trembling worsened under the terrible serpentine gaze that was centimeters from his face, and the hot, nasty breath that blew across his face only added to his instinctive terror. This Fallen was a killer.
Both of them knew it.
"Where the hell is Dominic?"
"Building C-31--follow the hall and the signs--"
Lucifer dropped the doctor to the floor and took off down the hallway at a run. Alex followed just as quickly, and the two skidded down the slick, well-waxed length of white tile following the signs to C-31. They passed E- and D- 1 through 200 it seemed, and finally entered a locked-down section of the building. A ball of ice settled in their guts as they realized what terrible luck they had.
C-31 was the building which had been bombed.
"Dom!" Lucifer and Alex shouted over the roar of a fire down the hall. "Dom, where are you?"
They couldn't hear any sound of him, and his scent was lost beneath the smoke and the bomb smell that still lingered in the building. Alex immediately picked up his phone and dialed Sable's number. It seemed like he listened to the ringing for an eternity and, moving away from the crackling fire and plugging one ear, he wished that she would pick up faster.
"Sable," he said grimly when she finally picked up, "someone just set off a bomb--not ITEX, they're just as freaked as we are. We can't find Dom in the mess, and this place is huge. ITEX usually gives their patients a bracelet or a chip to track their movements at least within the buildings. You think you could get Nudge to hack into the system and locate Dom for us?"
"I'm sure she'll love to. Hold on. Keep looking while she works, we'll tell you when we find him."
Lucifer appeared out of the wreckage of the room where the bomb seemed to have originated; he was covered in dirt, grime, smoke, sweat, and what looked like blood. His lips were thin and his skin under the smoke and ash was pale. "There was a conference going," he said through his teeth. "They're all dead. Ripped to shreds. Not just that room either. This entire side of the building. Flying glass." Alex felt sick, and Luce looked like he was about to be. Alex turned so that he wouldn't have to see.
"Oh God," Sable murmured. She had heard Luce's report. "This is terrible... It's going to be blamed on us. Shit." Alex gritted his teeth. "I am going to track down whoever did this and slap them silly. Killing ITEX employees isn't going to freaking help us. Damn it." Her throat was tight and her voice was swollen with anger and tears; Alex couldn't find a reply.
"Um, Nudge says that Dom should be in a corridor branching off of B-23's primary conference room."
Luce and Alex immediately took off and they passed through a portion of the building that had its roof on the ground, and another had a layer of water five inches deep across its length. Finally, Alex and Luce reached B-23 and began looking for the conference rooms. "It's labeled as Conference Room 3," was all Nudge could add.
After ten more minutes of searching, they found the empty meeting room and the door that led to a dark hallway. The doors leading to it were closed and there were no windows, so it was very dark, but Alex and Luce's keen eyes could pick up the glow of Dom's wide eyes and his shadowy form huddled deep within the corridor. They didn't need to ask what he was doing in there, because his haunted eyes told them all they already knew. No windows meant no flying glass. He had seen what had happened to the others.
"Hey, Dom," Alex said softly. "Let's get out of here."
Dom didn't move, and Alex stepped closer to reach for his friend's arm. Just then, another loud boom shook the floor. Dom dropped to the ground and covered his head. Alex steadied himself against the wall, and Luce dodged out of the way of the door swinging shut with violent force. It caught him in the back and he sank to his knees, his teeth sinking into his lip to stifle a cry of pain. They were silent as they finally righted themselves. Alex put an arm over Dom's shaking wings and shoulders.
They slowly began the trek out and to the car, bypassing all the doctors and managers and dead bodies as best they could. They reached the car without incident and drove out the gates unhindered. Dr. Zenaida watched from the doors of ITEX as they drove away.
Dominic reeked of refuse, unwashed skin, stale sweat, fresh blood, smoke, and vomit. Twenty five miles out of sight of the facilities, Dom rolled down his window and hung himself out of it, his wings smacking and straining against the sides of the window, and his grip on the side of the car white-knuckled and slipping. Luce rested his forehead on the steering wheel, and Alex closed his eyes.
The phone rang and each of them started; Luce picked up, pressing speaker and setting it on the dashboard.
"You alright, guys? We heard another blast and then lost the signal or something."
"Yeah." Luce sighed and flinched as Dominic was violently sick again. "No."
"Come home, alright?"
"NO!" Dom bellowed, and smacked his head on the top edge of the window. He let loose a few F-bombs and clutched his head. "Damnit, no! I'm not going back!"
Luce sighed again, and Alex handed Dom a water bottle. "We'll argue it later," Alex said softly. "For now, I just want to get back to Nudge. Even if she has to fly out half way... I promised I'd take her along with me."
Dom groaned and dry-heaved before collapsing in the back seat. "Fine, you jack--"
"Dom, just because you have your flipping voice back and you're flipping pissed off and you have a pole up your flipping scrawny butt doesn't mean you can start cussing. It was bad enough in your own language, now you have to share it with the rest of the world and polite company!"
"You, deary, ain't polite company--"
"You bet I ain't, you jack--"
"Sable, Dom, shut the heck up!" Alex roared. "I will duct tape both your mouths shut! Now be quiet!"
Luce sat up slowly and began driving again. "Sable, tell Nudge to meet us at the park across from the McDonald's on E street."
"Alright... Couldn't you and Alex come by, if Dom proves unmovable?"
"No, I don't trust him alone. I'm sorry, Sable."
She sighed, and Dom looked down. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "But..."
"It's okay, Dom," Sable said with a bitter edge. "Really. Just get to E street as fast as you can."
Lucifer limped out of the car and onto the empty playground as best he could, his back screaming in protest with each step. When the door to Dom's hiding place had swung in the force of that second blast, he had just gotten out of the way enough for the doorknob to smack him in the spine, hard. Luckily he hadn't been turned into a shish kabob, but he had hit something that made his back and ribs flare with agony every time he inhaled.
Nudge was hugging Alex tightly under a swing set, her arms 'round his neck, smoothing his hair and whispering comforting words to him. Her eyes were dark with sorrow. Dom was fast asleep in the car, and no one felt like waking the sour puss. Sable ran up to Luce and took one look at him before she demanded, "What hurts?" and opened the first aid kit she had been dragging behind her.
"I don't know, something in my back." He was already tugging at his shirt and hissing through his teeth in pain. "Could you take a look?"
"Yeah, sure."
Her face didn't even color as he pulled off his T-shirt, and she focused on his face and not his scarred, lean-muscled chest and abdomen. But as he turned around, her eyes widened; Luce heard her sharp intake of breath and panicked. "What's wrong?" he asked, frightened.
Sable moved closer, her fingers extended but hesitating. "I've never seen what happened to you," she said sadly, softly. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't..."
His shoulders tensed, his muscles rippling under his skin. "Is it really bad? Still?" His voice was weary, but held no trace of bitterness. He had gotten over the angst years ago, when it first happened. He was only sad now, and a bit embarrassed. He half-turned to hide it from her.
"No, not health wise... Just... It looks so..." She avoided his eyes but gave in to the urge and trailed her fingers lightly across his back, where some feathers still grew even after all this time, and where his muscles were taught under her touch, and where the remnants of his wings remained. They were just a pair of lumps under his skin, angry red, viciously scarred, and very ugly.
Luce turned to face Sable and met her haunted eyes. He put his hands on her shoulders and squeezed them comfortingly. "It's alright," he said gently. "I'm not offended, so don't worry about it." She gave a sad sigh and put her hands on his bare waist, fondling a loose down-feather. "It's not your fault, Sable. There's no way you can think that--"
"I don't," she said. "Can't I just be sad that you had to go through that at all? Can't I just be sad that you've lost your wings? Can't I just feel bad for you?" He carefully sat her down on the metal bars that led to the slide, and even so she only came up to his nose. He kissed her forehead and her hair and she pressed her face against his shoulder, hugging him tightly. "By the way," she said as he rubbed up and down her back, "you look fine. You probably'll have a nasty bruise, but an Icy Hot should be all you need."
"An Icy Hot and a little love sounds good," he murmured.
"Mom?" Eleven's voice floated into my dream, interrupting it rudely. My eyes snapped open and I sat up slowly, narrowing my eyes against the darkness and fuzz of sleep. Eleven's shadowy form was to my left; he was on his knees, and his eyes gleamed in the moonlight. "Mom?"
"Hey, sweetie," I said groggily and found one of his hands. It was wide and flat and warm like Fang's, but smaller. His thin fingers curled around mine and he rubbed the back of my hand against his cheek. The muscles in his jaw flexed. "You get scared again?"
He nodded. "Can I sleep with you?"
"Of course." I sat up on my branch and put my back to the trunk, pulling him to my lap. He rested his head on my breast and wrapped his gangly arms around my waist. I ran my fingers through his matted, unwashed hair. "You know, sweetheart, you stink."
"No, you stink."
"No, you!"
He smiled against my shirt. "We both stink."
I poked his cheek. "You stink more though."
"Mom!"
"Mommy has spoken!"
Eleven shook his head but hugged me more tightly. I looked down at him and my heart swelled. Then I felt something hit us softly and we both looked at Ten who was smiling groggily. "Quiet! I'm trying to sleep." He yawned, and I could smell his breath from where I was. I needed to clean these kids.
I rubbed Eleven's back.
"I think it's time for another bath."
"NO!"
"Do you want worms to grow out of your skin and eat you alive?" I asked, adopting my scariest voice. Ten's face was filled with horror. Eleven rolled his eyes and flipped his hair in a way that made me wonder if he really had been cooped up in ITEX all of his life. He would fit in with thirteen year olds, this kid, with the attitude.
"Yeah right," he said.
"It is true! I'm not going to let you find out about it though." I looked over at Ten. "Are we going back to sleep now or are we up kiddo?"
"Sleep if it's bath time!" He grinned at his brother. I rolled my eyes.
"Come on," I said, and sighed. "We should seriously go check in to a hotel. I don't want you to get lice, and ITEX'd be able to smell us a mile away."
"We'll beat 'em up! We're epic ninjas now!"
"Nice try." I stretched. "Ninjas bathe, pirates don't. You just agreed to bathe."
I finally managed to get them in the air via kicking them out of the tree, literally, and soon we were landing in a busy city at 5 AM in the morning. I made sure their wings were as hidden as I could get them under their jackets, hid my own, and then led them by the hand out into the 2 AM crowd. From checking at a city map, I determined we'd have to take a bus to get to the nearest cheap hotel. I sat them down at a bus stop and stood behind the bench, leaning against the graffitied glass of the overhang. I closed my eyes for a moment, exhausted.
"Mommy!"
I felt someone grab my phone out of my pocket, and I grabbed the person's arm and twisted, kneeing him in the groin and grabbing my phone before it could fall to the ground. I called him a very bad name, and smacked him over the head. He fell to the ground unconscious and curled up; and then I realized that my backpack was hanging open and it was now considerably lighter. I spun around and saw someone with a long red braid running away with my wallet.
"Damn!" I glanced at the boys. "Eleven, take care of your brother, and stay here. Do not leave. Don't let anyone touch you." I ran off, trusting Eleven to follow orders.
The girl was fast. She ducked and swerved easily through clusters of people, and took off at a dead run when the way was clear. Angry at her for stealing my stuff and making me have to leave my kids, moved by an outside force inside my head, I dove headlong into trouble without thinking about it.
I chased after the redhead. Being a thief, she was an expert at dodging around groups of startle people. Then again, so was I. I gained on her when she made the mistake of running down an empty street. With no one there to get in the way, I sprinted after her. I tackled her, and ripped my belongings from her hands as I stood.
"Thank you."
She rolled over and grinned at me. Not good.
Before I could even blink, someone kicked me in the butt and I was sent into a faceplant on the cement. Blood poured down my chin, and then the girl jumped on my back and pinned my arms to the pavement with her knees. "Got you, Max II!"
I knew that voice.
"Lissa? What the heck are you doi—what the heck are you talking about, I'm not Max II!"
"Save it!" the red-haired girl said cheerfully. "You can't trick me!"
"Nice job, Lissa," my voice said from behind me. I looked up to stare at a pair of Converse just like mine. "I'd say long time no see, Max, 'cept I looked in the mirror just this morning."
I glared up at my clone as she leaned down to examine me. "Did you cut out a tangle this morning?" she asked curiously. "'Cause I could have sworn you had a chunk of hair right there... Oh well. No one'll notice."
I spit at her. "What the heck do you think you're doing?
She didn't answer my question. "Don't worry about the boys," she said, and grinned at my obvious horror and fury. "I'll take good care of them."
Ten bounced up and down trying to catch a glimpse of Max. Eleven elbowed him.
"Knock it off, she'll be back."
"But what if she can't find us? Or she beat up the thief too bad and got took to jail?"
Eleven grabbed Ten's arm and made his little brother look him in the eye. "A little thing like jail wouldn't stop our mom," he said firmly. "She's probably lecturing the idiot about how he's a jackass or something. Don't worry."
Ten seemed more focused on shouting, "YOU SWORE!" over and over, adding, "Mom's gonna make you wash your mouth with soap!"
"Shuddup!"
"No!" The wrestled for a while, and Eleven managed to clamp his hand over his brother's mouth only to promptly let go when Ten caught sight of their mother and licked him. "Gross!"
"MOM! Mom, he swore!"
"No I didn't!"
Max sighed. "Kid, don't swear. You're too young."
Eleven froze. He gave his mom a wary look and slowly asked, "No soap, right, Mom?"
She blinked. "No soap," she said, and she seemed bemused. "Anyway, we were headed to the hotel right?"
"Yeah, and baths," Ten said miserably. "We missed the bus though."
"Well, we can always walk."
"But it's too far to walk, and we can't fly there 'cause there's people." Ten frowned at her. "That's why we take the bus."
She smacked her forehead. "Oh, duh! Sorry, got a little caught up with that stupid thief, my brain's gone flying out the window. Sorry, guys. We'll catch the next bus. How about some Gushers?"
"Gushers, yay," Ten said, but he was lacking his usual enthusiasm. When he received the pack of snacks, he held it in his hands and just looked at it for a while. Max coughed. "Thanks, Mo--Max," Ten mumbled. Eleven elbowed him. Ten elbowed him back. Soon they were fighting again, and Max stepped in and broke them up just before she received a phone call. She told them to hold on a moment, and then moved a little ways away. Ten immediately rounded on his brother. "That's not Mom," he whispered.
"It's not," Eleven agreed. "Mom'd kill me for cussin' 'round you. But we can't let this person know we know they're not Mom, 'kay? We gotta act natural."
Why?" Ten scowled at him.
Eleven rolled his eyes. "In case she slips up and tells us what happened to Mom, don't you know anything?"
Ten wrinkled his nose, but agreed. When Max came back he couldn't manage a smile at her, but slipped his hand into hers. "What we gonna do now?" He glared at Eleven without her noticing.
Max flipped her hair. "We have to wait for the next bus. It should be here in fifteen minutes or so."
They reached the hotel without incident, although neither Ten nor Eleven spoke the entire ride. In the elevator they kept their silence, and they were silent when they got to their room as well. Ten broke it. "Bath time," he said softly. He glanced at Eleven almost fearfully. "Can he take a shower with me?"
Max seemed perplexed, and rather disgusted at the idea, but she didn't beg for explanation. She merely sighed and nodded. "Sure, fine," she said. "Need me?"
Both the boys shook their heads, and, accepting a change of clothes each from the backpack, they scurried into the bathroom and locked the door. Eleven leaned against the door, his ear pressed up against it. Ten understood the need to be silent.
Finally, Eleven came back and he sighed. Wordlessly, he hugged his little brother tightly. Ten hugged him back. They were silent for a while, until Eleven said, "You can take a shower first, I'll just sit here." He pushed Ten and sat down on the toilet seat, extending a wing and plucking at a few stray feathers. The shower turned on and Eleven heard Ten step into it, and Eleven mulled over what he'd heard.
"Sure, I'll meet you tomorrow. I'll bring the boys. I'm sure they'll just love to meet you."
Who had this strange woman been talking to? What kind of trap could this be?
"Hey Ten?"
He heard Ten pause in scrubbing. "Yeah?"
"We're gonna get away as soon as we can," Eleven whispered in a rush. "It doesn't matter if she slips up about Mom or not, she's taking us to meet somebody and we're not gonna meet a whitecoat."
"Yeah," Ten said softly through the rushing of water. "I know. We can find Dad if we have to."
"Mhm." Eleven sighed. "I don't remember where Mom said he went though, but I do remember Auntie Sable's address."
"And I remember her email and her phone number," Ten replied excitedly.
"Great. We can try to get her to leave us alone long enough to escape, and if that don't work then we can sneak away when she sleeps."
"Maybe she'll mention Mom before then." Ten turned the water off and grabbed a towel. "I smell like a girl!" he complained.
Eleven grinned. "Luckily for us, it won't last for long."
"Thank goodness!"
They both jumped when Max pounded on the door. "Are you done yet? What do you want to eat?"
"Not done yet!" Eleven shouted back.
"Corn dogs!" Ten shouted, and went to towel off. Eleven stripped and got into the shower. Ten sat down on the tile, rolling up the cuffs of his too-big jeans. "You think Dad'll be okay?" he asked
"Of course Dad'll be okay. Why wouldn't he be? He has Angel and Uncle Trin."
"It's just…" Ten began chewing on his nails. "Beta—Mom was telling Auntie Ana that she was worried Beta might come back again, and this time hurt Dad…"
"That won't happen." Eleven tried to sound confident but his voice faltered. "Dad's tough."
Ten continued to chew his nails, and Eleven sighed. He was just as scared and nervous as his brother, but he couldn't afford to show it. Instead of curling up on the floor of the shower like he wanted to, he glared at Ten. "You know Mom doesn't want you to chew your nails," he said quietly. "Come on, everything will be all right."
Ten huffed. He stopped chewing his nails and stared emotionlessly at the floor. "You've said that before. And Mom has too."
"We've come this far."
"Yeah." He started chewing his nails again. "Waiting for everything sucks."
Eleven turned off the shower and stepped out, drying himself off and getting dressed quickly before shaking his head like a wet dog would shake its body, and then he took a towel and began wiping down his brother's wings. Ten shivered and hugged his knees.
"You need to be more silly sometimes."
Eleven paused. "Is now the time to be silly?"
"You sound like Mom." Ten snickered. "No, I'm just sayin'."
"You know," his brother said after a moment's thought, "I never did take you up on that ninja fort pillow fight."
Ten spun around and hugged his brother tightly. Eleven smiled and smoothed Ten's mop of inky hair away from his pale face, only to find Ten sniffling and his eyes leaking tears. His smile softened. "Come on," he said. "Ninjas don't cry."
"I'm only half-ninja," Ten snuffled, and wiped his eyes.
Lissa yanked the brush through her hair for the millionth time, flicking Sam in the face with her hair for the millionth time as well. He batted her hair away.
"Cut it out Lissa, nobody is going to care how your ponytail looks."
"But—"
"From what Max said, the boys are ten and eleven. Are you really such a pedo that you have to fuss over your hair for them? Or do you like Max?"
"Oh shut up!" Lissa glared at him. "You know that's your gig, not mine."
"Whatever. Hurry up. If we keep her waiting she'll have a fit." He marched ahead and Lissa made faces at his back.
Joey appeared beside her, and she blinked. "Where'd you come from, Joey?" she asked. He merely grinned. "Well, what do you think?"
He lost his smile. "I don't deal with relationships and girls," he said pompously. "I have more important matters to consider!"
"Oh yeah? Like what?" Lissa rolled her eyes. "Look, I don't even wanna know. What did you do with the evil Max? I thought you were guarding her, not meeting the boys."
"Oh, don't worry about her," he said smugly. "She won't be bothering us for a while. Besides, I want to check in with our Max."
"Oh, good." They stopped in front of the hotel. "This is the right one, isn't it?" Sam squinted. "They'll be on the second floor?"
Lissa and Joey nodded, and they walked on inside. When they reached the second floor, they traversed the halls until they found the right room. Joey did the knocking.
A harassed looking Max appeared at the door. "Come in, come in." She shut the door behind them. "The kids are in the next room. Apparently Eleven sleepwalks. They should be up soon."
Lissa immediately ran to the door to the next room and peered around the edge to try and catch a glimpse of the kids, who, she was absolutely sure, were two very cute Kindergartners with wide, sad eyes and pale faces who just happened to have very cute little battle scars and pitiful nightmares.
When the door slammed on her fingers, then opened to reveal a very angry looking Eleven, she was proven wrong.
"Stay out of our room," Eleven hissed. His eyes were dark and furious, but inside he was frightened. He had planned on running away before this, but this "Max" lady hadn't given the boys any warning that the people were coming and this visitor had caught him by surprise. He was scared, and because of that he was angry.
"Hey!" Max scowled at him. "That's no way to behave!"
He bared his teeth at her at her. "I don't want her in here."
"There's nicer ways to get that point across than slamming a door in someone's face. Say you're sorry."
"Sorry," he said unapologetically. "Ten's changing out of his pajamas and I don't think anyone wants to see his scrawny butt naked."
Lissa shuddered, squeaked, and took a step back. Eleven grinned smugly in his head.
Sam looked him up and down. "Who are these kids again?"
"They're—err, they're Fang's kids," Max said. Lissa gave a squeak, and Eleven gave Max a confused look, and she returned it with an, 'I'll explain later,' kind of expression. "This is Eleven, the older one, and Ten's changing like he said."
Ten appeared at the door behind Eleven, pulling his shirt over his head. "What? I heard my name."
"Kiddo, this is Joey, and Lissa, and Sam," Max said. "They're friends of ours. Your father, your aunties, and I knew them back when we were younger. We went to school with them."
"Not the School," Sam said quickly. "Just regular old, boring, school."
Ten raised an eyebrow. "Mom went to school? Seriously?"
"Yes, seriously," Max said.
Ten simply couldn't accept this. "Why? Why would anyone go to school willingly? I thought you hated school."
"I did," Max said. "We were forced into it by a woman named Anne."
"Why'd she go and do that for? Did you beat her up?"
"Ten!" Eleven groaned. "Shut up."
Ten scowled and elbowed him. Max rolled her eyes and turned to the others. "Anyway, what's up? Joey, you gotta have a good reason for being here."
"Everything's set up for the raid," he said. "My followers just contacted me to inform me that we should move soon."
She brushed her hair out of her eyes. "Alright. Whenever's a good time for you, go ahead and do it. It's your responsibility. Just tell me right before, and take either Sam or Lissa with you. They need the experience." She rolled her eyes. "I'll be glad to have them out of my hair."
"Aye-aye, captain," Joey said, and did a stiff salute. Eleven and Ten eyed him like he was insane, which he was, but they didn't know that.
Eleven scrunched up his nose. "What are you doin' on the raid?"
"It's a secret," Max said in a baby voice, and Eleven felt hatred rising up in his throat. He swore that if the baby voice continued, he'd kill her on the spot. Ten had his fingers in his mouth, and when she spoke to them like that he unthinkingly bit down hard, drawing blood and making her freak out. "Oh, God, Ten, not again!" She grabbed his arm and tugged him to the bathroom for the first aid kit.
"So your Fang's kid?" Lissa asked hesitantly. Her voice was breathy, like she was going to cry.
"Yeah," Eleven said frigidly. "He's my dad. What's it to ya?"
"Nothing, it's just..." She sucked in a breath. "We were together, you know? And I just thought...well, he'd still be available. Who's your mom?"
"I don't know where she is," Eleven said. It was true—he didn't know where Max was. And if this 'Lissa' person was in cahoots with Max's clone, he wasn't going to tell her.
Lissa tittered sadly. "That's too bad. It's good Max can take care of you though." She flipped her hair over her shoulder. "You've got your dad's attitude, you know that?"
"I just hope you don't start making eyes at him too," Sam said from where he'd been observing the goings on.
Lissa scowled and turned on him. "Oh, shut your trap, Sam! He's just a kid. Stop being such a jerk just 'cause you can't have any girl."
"For your information, Max said yes."
The quiet sobriety of his voice and his small, slightly smug smile was infuriating. Eleven clenched his jaw and tried not to narrow his eyes at this Sam person; anger was bubbling up hot as lava in his chest, burning like bile in his throat. He sucked in his breath quick and cold through his nostrils; the air that flooded his lungs did everything but cool his temper.
"No!" Lissa gasped, her jaw on the floor. "When was this?"
He smirked. "Just before we rescued the kids. We're going to try going out for ice cream again after this next raid, since we had such a good time the last time we went out."
"In like, high school!" Lissa hissed shrilly.
Sam rolled his eyes and looked at Eleven. "Ignore her," he said flatly.
"Gladly," was Eleven's icy reply.
Lissa shrieked, and Max yelled down the hall for her. With a wordless glare at Sam she left the pair. Sam snorted. "Idiot."
"I will never understand girls," Eleven said, and crossed his arms.
Sam nodded slowly, taking in the glare he was getting from the eleven year old hybrid. He could easily see that this boy didn't like him at all, and he wasn't surprised in the slightest. The boy's father hadn't liked him, either, he recalled, and it seemed that the son was no different. But there was something else.
"You don't like any of this, do you?" The way he said it was more of a statement than a question, and he continued on. "What are you gonna do, fly away? The whole world's like this, you're gonna have to fight it off, girls included."
"And I'll win," Eleven said, and it wasn't a boast. Sam could just feel that Eleven meant it heart and soul, and, for some reason, part of Sam believed it too.
He took a step forward and held out his hand. Eleven eyed it, and Sam gave a thin smile. "I don't know what's going to happen next," Sam said, "and I don't know what's going on right now. But kid, I like your style. Good luck."
Eleven took his hand warily. "Thank you."
o0XxrEdWiNgSxX0o: haaaayyy, wats uppp?
Mudd: My mood had been for a moment. Not anymore.
o0XxrEdWiNgSxX0o: wats that sposed 2 meen?
Mudd: Nothing, nothing. Anyway, what brings you to this deserted chatroom?
o0XxrEdWiNgSxX0o: i wuz hping 2 find Nick i meen Fang.
Mudd: So she capitalizes Nick and Fang, and can spell 'that' and 'find', but nothing else. Why oh why do I not like this person? Who are you, mystery FangGirl?
o0XxrEdWiNgSxX0o: lissa. teh 1 form holdon
Mudd: Mm'kay. Right.
~o0XxrEdWiNgSxX0o has left the chatroom~
~Sable has entered the chatroom~
Sable: Hey, Spence. Who was that? I caught the tail end of her leaving the chatroom.
Mudd: She says she's Lissa. From that one time with Anne or whoever it was. She's looking for Fang. She can't spell, type, punctuate correctly, or capitalize anything except tall, dark and emo's name. Both of his names, actually.
Sable: Ah. Why do I hate her already?
Mudd: And she probably won't even see us bashing her. Or understand it.
Sable: Pshh, yeah.
Sable: Wait. Shouldn't she be in her twenties right now? Like Fang?
Mudd: …This is scary.
~o0XxrEdWiNgSxX0o has entered the chatroom~
o0XxrEdWiNgSxX0o: back
o0XxrEdWiNgSxX0o: oooooooooh new person hiiii!
Sable: Mudd: Very scary.
Sable: Hi, Red. Or Lissa. Whoever you are.
o0XxrEdWiNgSxX0o: i'm lissa! yah! Who r u?
Sable: *points to name* Sable.
O0XxrEdWiNgSxX0o: ohhhhhhh srry im so stupid lol
Sable: No, really.
o0XxrEdWiNgSxX0o: wats that sposd 2 meen?
Sable: Sorry, talking to Mudd. Not you.
~Mudd has Private Messaged you~
Mudd: Close one.
Sable: Heh.
~Sable has left the Private Chat~
o0XxrEdWiNgSxX0o: so i wuz loking 4 Fang
Sable: He's not here right now. May I take a message?
o0XxrEdWiNgSxX0o: wat if i cant trust u? huhhhhhh!
o0XxrEdWiNgSxX0o: u culd b working 4 itexecon!
Sable: First of all, it's ITEX. If you ad 'icon', it's Itexicon. Secondly, you really can't read, can you? I'm a moderator on this site. I started the Family. Fang lists me as one of his contacts on his blog, and he talks about me in his blogs all the time. Look, if you want verification of my identity, let's go over to his site and go on the chats there. They all know me.
o0XxrEdWiNgSxX0o: u culd still b spis!
~Mudd has Private Messaged you~
Mudd: Translation: **You could still be spies.
Sable: I wouldn't be surprised if this really is Lissa, but something's up.
Mudd: I've got the same feeling. Let's just wait and see, though. Maybe she can give us some information.
~Mudd has left the private chat~
Mudd: How do we know you're not a spy, "Lissa"? Do you know how many people we get claiming they're Lissa, or Sam, or whoever?
o0XxrEdWiNgSxX0o: im reall i swear~!
Mudd: Right. Anyway. If we believe you're real, you have to believe we're real. We'll get your message to Fang; he's somewhere where he can't reach us at the moment, for safety reasons, but as soon as we can get a hold of him, we'll tell him. Okay?
o0XxrEdWiNgSxX0o: ok…fine…
o0XxrEdWiNgSxX0o: so max has his kids + we where 1dring weather or not he wuz going 2 meet up w/ us the mall 4 next fri's attack
Mudd: What attack?
o0XxrEdWiNgSxX0o: uuuuuuhhhh i cnt bleave Fang didnt tell u! we r havin n attack on itexecon next fri!
Sable: What'll you be doing?
o0XxrEdWiNgSxX0o: lyk well b settin up bombs igg & gaz made 4 us & well b destroying there base its disguysed as a mall
~Sable has Private Messaged you~
Sable: WTF.
Mudd: This doesn't sound good.
Sable: Iggy and Gazzy say they have "no freaking clue" what this "batshit crazy woman" is talking about. I believe them.
Mudd: Ditto. Think we've found the people who bombed Dom's ITEX?
Sable: I think so. But she says she's talking to Max—and she knows about Ten and Eleven.
Mudd: You thinking what I'm thinking?
Sable: Imposter of some sort, and the boys are in trouble.
Mudd: You know, Joey was talking about some crazy stuff like this. I heard he's got some of the more bloodthirsty Fallen on his side as his avian vampires—and he's still just as crazy as ever about the Illuminati.
Sable: This is not whist. However, I do have my prototype for that hoverboard you had in the comic.
Mudd: Now that is Whist. Want me to go rescue the boys for you?
Sable: If you don't get yourself killed along the way, go ahead! I want Ten and Eleven safe, and if you can stop that bombing, I'd make you cookies.
Mudd: Alright. I'll leave tomorrow morning, drop by your place for the board, and then head out.
Sable: Good luck.
~Mudd has left the private chat~
o0XxrEdWiNgSxX0o: uhhh hellooooo?
Sable: Sorry, I was trying to contact Fang. No dice.
Mudd: And I have to leave now. G'night, Sabes, Lissa.
o0XxrEdWiNgSxX0o: nite!
Sable: Night, Mudd.
Sable: Anyway, I have to go as well, Lissa. I'll be sure to tell Fang. Where should I tell him to meet you?
o0XxrEdWiNgSxX0o: next fri at barnes & noble at the mall with the mcdonalds in forest city in co.
Sable: Alright. Well then, goodnight.
~Sable has left the chatroom~
~Mudd has left the chatroom~
o0XxrEdWiNgSxX0o: w8…
o0XxrEdWiNgSxX0o: dammit!
Review? Please? Pretty please with bacon on top?
