Steve had walked the few miles to O'Malley's bar. It was an absolute dive, but Steve had drank in far worse places in his lifetime. The lights were dimmed and all the woodwork had a dark varnish to it. There were a smattering of tables spread out and three dart boards at the far end of the place. Journey blasted through the speakers overhead. Steve scanned the bar and spotted Mary flirting with the man standing next to her. Steve hated seeing men check out his sisters, let alone flirt with them. He was just thankful he hadn't had to deal with it a lot.
He ambled up to the bar and slid onto the stool on the other side of Mary. The bartender caught sight of Steve and worked his way down, "What can I get you?"
Steve knew it was difficult to find LongBoard on the mainland, "Stella?"
"One Stella, coming up." The bartender replied, and went about making Steve's drink.
With the question of the bartender, Mary realized Steve had sat down behind her. She hated to watch Steve hit on women, and having him around while she flirted with men was awkward. Depending on her mood, she could continue and make him incredibly uncomfortable, or take pity on him and brush the guy off. Honestly with her emotional state tonight, she just wanted to forget everything about her family. Going home with a stranger had a certain appeal. However, she thought about everything her brother had been through the last few days and decided to take pity on him. She politely brushed the guy off.
She sat down on her stool and took in the appearance of her brother, his face was haggard looking. His eyes betrayed his age. Steve kept himself in good shape, ate healthy, but the gravity of this week's situation was wearing on him, physically and emotionally.
The bartender arrived with Steve's Stella and poured another shot of tequila for Mary. Steve took the beer and before he could take a drink, Mary clinked her shot glass to his pint glass, "To a mother who repeatedly abandons her children."
Mary threw back the tequila, no need for lime or salt. She embraced the burn as the liquor ran down the back of her throat. Steve wasn't surprised by the toast and he wasn't going to fuss with Mary about the whole situation. He was still angry with Doris for so many things that he understood Mary's emotions. He took a drink of the beer and just let himself relax for a moment.
Mary looked at her brother, her anger bubbling up, "We were nothing to her. All this time, I thought it was dad who felt that way, but really it was mom."
Steve took another gulp of the beer, "She loved us, she just didn't know how to not be a spy. She loved being a spy more."
"The only reason she came home is because you made her, right?"
"I couldn't keep it a secret to myself. It wasn't right to you or 'Cena. But if I hadn't have made her come home, I don't think she would have ever been in our lives as adults."
"How does a person do that? I mean both of our parents just decided to stop being parents."
"Dad was a true parent, we just didn't understand it at the time Mare. He sacrificed for us." Steve said, as he ran his finger down the side of his pint glass, watching the condensation pool where his finger stopped. He could feel the alcohol work its way into his system, his shoulders becoming more relaxed.
"I wish I had understood that before we lost him." She offered, words Steve had never heard pass her lips. He reached out, wrapped his arm around her shoulder and squeezed her to his side. She was allowing herself to be vulnerable, which Steve hardly ever saw.
Steve was surprised when he volunteered, "I wish WoFat had never found his way into our lives, but we got 'Cena somehow."
"I'll drink to that." Said Mary, as she held her shot glass up for the bartender to refill. While she waited, Mary asked, "How does 'Cena feel about mom not going into the program and basically disappearing from our lives forever? I mean, she didn't really want her in her life when mom was around, so I can't imagine she is too upset."
"She doesn't know." Answered Steve, curious how that discussion was eventually going to play out.
"You haven't told her?" Exclaimed Mary, knowing the value Azucena placed on honesty. "The Boy Scout of a big brother not telling the baby everything. That's not going to go over very well. She's gonna be pissed."
Steve exhaled, Mary didn't understand the operating procedure of a situation like this. He turned his head and looked at Mary, "I can't tell her a lot of stuff right now because I can't accidentally shape her memories. She has to be the one to remember what happened."
"So if she doesn't remember, you're never going to tell her about mom being on the run."
"No," he said rubbing his hands over his face, "I have to give her time to remember on her own."
"So how long do we wait? Weeks, months, years?"
"I don't know Mary." He confessed, "I don't have all the answers. I'm honestly terrified she's going to remember what he did to her and she is going to fall apart."
"It was bad." Mary stated, knowing Steve didn't share all the gory details with her originally.
Steve lifted his glass, "She lied to protect Mom. I don't understand why because he was going to kill her if she didn't give up Shelbourne."
He drained the rest of his glass and motioned to the bartender for another. Mary lifted her shot glass up and looked at her brother, "Excuse me?"
"Yeah, so I'm really confused. I don't know what happened while she was here to make her protect mom, but she did. Something changed and I don't know what happened because she doesn't remember." He traded out glasses with the bartender.
The bartender topped off Mary's shot glass, she tossed the drink back, and held the glass out again for a refill. Steve's stomach churned at the sheer amount of liquor his sister had consumed in front of him. She was going to be in pain tomorrow.
"In this instance, I would trade places with 'Cena." Stated Mary. Steve's eyes caught Mary's, "Something horrible happened to her, and she can't remember it. I would take that for the one time Hiro's men kidnapped me. That feeling of terror never entering your life, I would take that in an instant. I can still remember the feel of their rough hands over my mouth and not being able to break free of their grip. It makes my skin crawl."
Life through the eyes of Mary was never dull, Steve thought as he took another sip of his beer. Steve looked ahead at the mirror, "Having a blank memory of the torture you endured might be nice for a while, but not being able to account for that time would be terrifying in other ways."
"Is she scared of the missing time?" Quizzed Mary, knowing Azucena was much more open with Steve than anyone else. Their kid sister was incredibly reserved and when matters of WoFat surfaced, there was really only one person she would talk to.
"I don't think she's processed that part yet. She's so terrified she's going to have to start over without anyone. I think when she is back on the island, she will relax and things will begin to surface. I could be wrong, but that's my guess."
As the night wore on, the siblings continued to talk and drink. They stumbled back to Azucena's apartment around midnight, and Mary crashed out in 'Cena's bed, while Steve stepped out on the small balcony and using Mary's cell phone, called Danny.
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Steve and Mary arrived in Azucena's room the following morning, a little worse for wear. Mary didn't remove her large sunglasses even as they entered Azucena's room. Steve was thankful that he stopped at three beers. He could have put down more and been fine, but he had watched Mary struggle to get around this morning. He almost considered telling her to sleep it off, but he knew telling her what to do would end poorly. Over the years, he had learned to pick his battles with Mary.
Azucena was out of bed, sitting in a hospital issued recliner. She was thankful to be out of the bed, but her body was in agony. Steve flashed back to when she was in the hospital after they returned from North Korea. Lots had happened in two years, now including three hospital stays for her. "I see you moved, that's progress."
"Yeah, the usual routine, walk down the hall and back." Answer Azucena, all too familiar with the routine of getting out of the ICU ward.
"How did it go?" Steve inquired, trying to be positive for his sister.
"I was as fast as a herd of turtles running through peanut butter." She responded, irritation with her progress showing on her face. She wanted to go home more than anything and this slow healing process was keeping her from leaving Roswell.
"Maybe not peanut butter, perhaps molasses." Offered up Catherine, a smirk on her face. The activities of the morning had been hard work, but the two women had found humor throughout the situation.
"That's progress." Agreed Azucena, and then looked to her siblings, "Rough morning?"
"Not for me." said Steve, as he sat down on the edge of Azucena's bed. Mary leaned against the counter next to the sink, "How about everyone use their inside voices?"
"And last nights poison was?" Azucena asked, looking at Mary and knowing the pain she was in.
"Tequila."
"Well, I would have picked something that tastes better, but whatever works." Responded Azucena, thankful her siblings had a evening where they could unwind and didn't have to worry about her. "Did you at least get to relax?"
"I think Mary's hangover says yes." Offered Steve, suppressing a grin. Mary turned her head in his direction, but the death glare she was sharing with him was covered by her sunglasses.
Mary's cellphone began to ring, her whole body cringed at the noise, she excused herself from the room to take the call. Catherine looked at the remaining siblings, "I think I'm going to go back to 'Cena's place, take a shower, and crash in a proper bed for a few hours."
"Good plan." Said Steve, as he stood up next to his best friend. He swiftly took her hand into his and looked at Azucena, "You okay if I walk her out?"
"Of course, I'm not going anywhere." The youngest of the siblings stated, knowing that they hadn't had any alone time together since they arrived in Roswell.
Their departure was interrupted by Mary's return to the room, disappointment on her face. Azucena was the first to catch it, "Everything okay Mare?"
"No, that was work, they need me to work a flight out of New York. To make it work, I have to catch a flight out of Roswell in 2 hours."
Azucena could speak up before anyone else could say anything, "Go, get out of here. You've spent the better part of a week hanging out in the ICU ward of a hospital. Anything has to be more entertaining and interesting than this."
"You're not mad?" Quizzed Mary, knowing her sister had only been awake for almost a day and a half.
"I'm bored here, I can't imagine how boring it must be for you guys. Go, don't miss work on my account. And hopefully we're all back on the island in the next day or two." Reassured Azucena.
Mary gently bent down to hug her sister, tenderly touching her person, for fear of hurting her. Mary was honestly relieved everything had worked out in their family's favor, "Heal quickly and I'll see you when we both get back home. Maybe you can stay at my place in a few days, so we could give the lovebirds some alone time."
"Works for me." Agreed Azucena, as she gently squeezed Mary's arms, "Be safe."
Steve looked to Azucena, as the group headed to the door, "I'll be right back."
"I'll be right here."
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Thank you to those that continue to read. Comments, thoughts, opinions, and ideas are all greatly welcomed and appreciated.
Elle - I promise, the next chapter, you will get Steve and 'Cena, because I'm biased too. :-)