A/N: Thanks for the kind words Reny Runner! Your English is really good and I hope you enjoy the rest of the story!
Chapter 5
It did not take long for Rev to become antsy. He was used to running around at super-fast speeds, letting all of his energy out whenever he felt like it. Walking alongside Tech at this laboriously slow pace, however, was absolute torture. Tech could tell just by looking at him, it was as if the bird was running in place, trying not to zip off. Tech knew he needed to offer up an olive branch of some kind.
"You know, Rev, I'd be grateful if you could go scout ahead really quick" It was a flimsy excuse, there wasn't anything to scout. Acmetropolis was clear as day out in the distance with nothing other than the hills and valleys to obscure their view. Never the less, the instant Tech said it, Rev immediately vanished, kicking up and immense amount of dirt as he sped off into the horizon. The coyote was barely able to process it before his friend had returned.
"Well-there-are-a-few-sticks-and-branches-as-well-as-some-old-tire-tracks-and-a-cardboard-box. Also, a motel" Rev listed off in rapid succession, "That's just the next few miles though."
"A motel? How much did it cost for a night's stay?"
Rev very quickly zipped away, then back again.
"Not that much, why?" Rev knew the answer, but for some reason he just wanted Tech to put it into words.
"Well, it's getting pretty late, and at this rate we aren't really going to make it back to Acmetropolis in a timely manner. Even if we could contact the team then it would be difficult to find us at night. It's nothing like the city out here, once it gets dark it stays dark" Tech was right, they had both become accustomed to the city lights. No matter what time it was in Acmetropolis there would be a light source somewhere. Out here though, it would be difficult to make things out, especially if they were searching from the air.
"So, I guess we're staying at the motel then?"
"Yes" Tech clarified. With that they continued walking in silence. Occasionally they switched which one held the bag of food, but for the most part there was very little contact or interaction between them. Every few minutes Rev would run off into the horizon, then immediately come back and give an update as to how far the motel was, though both of them knew that this was just a way for Rev to burn off energy. It was fairly dark by the time the motel came into view. Its bright neon sign was barely functional. Both the M and the T were out of commission entirely. The O flickered on and off quite a bit, and the gigantic arrow surrounding the word had trouble staying on, only blinking every few minutes or so. As they came closer, Tech began to realize how poorly kept this place was. From a distance, it seemed only the neon letters were in need of repair, but upon closer inspection the entire sign seemed rusted, with paint peeling off in every direction. It seemed to be standing at a rather jaunty angle, which Tech could only assume was not intended by the designer. The motel itself was a shabby little one-story building, with only two rooms. A small cabin was set off to the side, which he presumed was where the manager stayed.
Tech was starting to wonder if coming here was really the right decision. He looked over to Rev, who hadn't said a word, going along with whatever Tech had suggested.
"I'm beginning to have second thoughts about this place," said the coyote.
"You sure? This was your idea after all" Rev looked up to him. Tech didn't want to go back on his decisions this far in. A part of him was wondering if he should just stick it out and have Rev run them back. After all the only reason they were still out there was because Tech had been so stubborn in not wanting to get run back. Rev had brought them out there in the first place, but if Tech had just been willing to endure a bit more pain, then they would be back home by now. I promise I won't go leaving you. Those words ringed in Tech's ears. Rev could leave any time he wanted. There was nothing keeping him here in this awkward silence, but he wanted to stay. He was willing to go along with Tech's own stubbornness, just because he was that good of a friend.
"Alright. Let's give it a shot" Tech sighed, pulling himself together. The two of them approached what appeared to be a window open in the small side cabin. Beneath it was a lip, with a bell resting upon it. Tech tapped the bell, causing it to emit a dull ding. After a moment of waiting, he was considering pressing it again, when Rev stepped in.
"Oh, for heaven sakes, this is taking forever!" Rev pushed Tech to the side and began rapidly ringing the bell. Dingdingdingdingdingdingdingdingdingdingding! Each ring was so rapid that it became difficult to distinguish between them. Tech was about to stop Rev, when a grumpy man stomped up to the window and swiped the bell away. He appeared to be in his late fifties, nearly bald, with a rather unpleasant face, although at this time of night Tech was wondering if it might have been sleep deprivation.
"You don't need to go ringing it more than once! I can hear it you know! You think its fun don't ya? I've had it with people like you coming round and ringing this bell incessantly!" the old man, who appeared to be the manager, yelled at them. Both of them were quite caught off guard by the aggression, but at least he didn't seem to recognize them.
"Um, sorry to bother you sir, but we were looking for a room to spend the night" Tech requested meekly. The manager eyed them gruffly.
"A room? Singular?" he huffed.
"Erm, well if you have two rooms then we would prefer two" Tech clarified.
"Sorry to break it to ya, but one room is already full. Only got the one left" The manager pulled out some keys, "Take it or leave it." Rev and Tech looked to each other, both of them hoping that the other would give some non-verbal signal as to how they felt about this. Sleeping in the same room as Tech, Rev's mind was racing, but not nearly as much as it was panicking.
"Well, what do you think?" Tech asked.
"I said I'm not leaving you, that goes double for a dingey old place like this" Rev then turned to the manager, "No offense." The manager simply scoffed at this remark, not bothering to dignify it with words.
"I'm not willing to do it if you'll feel uncomfortable" Tech stressed.
"No, it's fine, really" Rev answered.
"Are you two getting the room or not?" the manager interrupted. The two looked at each other, then nodded.
"Yes, erm, we'll be taking the room" Tech answered. They paid for the night, then received the keys. The manager pointed them to which one was theirs, the one on the right, then promptly slammed the window shut. It seemed they wouldn't be able to change their mind until morning. Tech looked to Rev, who had been holding the food during that entire confrontation. Without another word, the two strolled over to their room, happy just to have somewhere to sit down. Tech fidgeted with the keys, doing his best to unlock the door, which was acting rather finicky. He eventually decided to just cheat and opened it with his magnetic powers. The room was pitch black. Tech felt around on the wall for a light switch. The wallpaper felt old and cracked, the room had a certain musty smell which became apparent upon walking in. Tech soon flipped the light switch. It took a moment, but the light overhead eventually flickered on. Rev was just glad that it wasn't flashing on and off like the ones on the sign.
The room was very basic, without a lot of space to move about. The only furniture present was that of a single bed, suitable for only one, and a tiny trash can. An old tv was mounted in the corner, and in back there was a door leading into a dingey bathroom in desperate need of a bleaching. The floor was lined with an old rug, practically coming up and the seams, with spider webs and dust infecting many of the room's corners. Not sure where else to put it, Rev placed the bag of food on the floor, as off to the side as he could. He would have been lying if he had said that the state of the room did not fill him with more apprehension about spending the night. He had hoped that there would be at least a couch or chair of some kind, but the bed was the only option they had. He checked underneath to see if it was a pull out, but alas there was only more dust and cob webs. Tech opened the small window, hoping to get some air moving and lessen the effect of the smell.
"Is there any way you could use your super speed to clean up a little?" Tech asked.
"Without even a feather duster? I can't very well scoop up the dust with my hands" Rev had a point. They could only do so much to improve their situation. They could probably ask the manager for some cleaning supplies, but he made it quite clear that he did not want to be disturbed.
"Any chance you can go grab some stuff from HQ?"
Before Rev could answer, a loud growl could be heard emanating from his stomach. They had skipped out on lunch due to working in the lab, and it was only now that both of them realized they had yet to eat dinner. Even taking food out of the equation, it was getting late and they had been through a lot.
"Alright, uh, never mind" Tech clarified. Rev smiled. Not knowing what else to do, both of them sat on the floor, facing each other, with a little bit of room in between to put things down. They began unpacking the bag, taking out container after container of whatever it was that had been included.
"I don't suppose you brought along some high-tech utensils?" Rev asked, looking at all the food.
"No, I wasn't really prepared for much tonight" Tech said, emptying out his pockets to check. He pulled out his phone, then suddenly stopped, "Rev you're not going to believe this, I got a signal!" He held his phone out, revealing one bar, singular. Any other time that wouldn't seem like much, but in that moment, it was a miracle.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Call the gang!" Rev exclaimed. Tech was already on it, before long his call had gone through.
"Hey… Yeah it's me. Listen, Rev and I sort of wound up in the middle of nowhere… No, we're fine just go back to the tower and let Ace and Slam know we won't be coming back tonight… Yeah, it's pretty late, by the time you guys found us it would be long past midnight… just come get us in the morning, ok? … Sure thing, see you tomorrow" Tech then hung up, "Alright, that was Lexi. I'm texting her our coordinates now. They'll be here tomorrow."
"They as in all of them?" Rev asked nervously.
"I highly doubt it's everybody. If nothing else then Ace is gonna keep somebody at the tower in case Zadavia calls" Tech was right. There was no need to get so worked up. Rev had quite a bit going through his mind at the moment, but for the time being he just needed to eat something. He reached down into the bottom of the bag.
"Oh! Hey!" Rev pulled out a handful of plastic utensils, "They gave us sporks!" he held them out. Tech began laughing.
"What? What's so funny about sporks?" Rev asked, starting to laugh as well.
They both took a plastic spork and knife and began eating out of the containers. The food was not nearly as fresh as it would have been at the restaurant, but it had retained some of its warmth. There was more than enough for them to finish. It was only now that Tech realized they didn't have anywhere to store most of it, and it would spoil overnight.
"You sure you don't have the energy to run this over to base? I hate to see it go to waste."
"I'm sorry, I just don't have the strength for it at this time of night" Rev hunched over, feeling somewhat inadequate.
"That's fine" Tech didn't want Rev to feel pressured. That was the last thing he wanted now. The two of them continued eating in mutual silence. There was something different this time, however. Back on the road, the silence between them was awkward, unbearable. Here, it was amiable in a way. Neither of them could define what it was, but it seemed clear that things had become a bit more relaxed between the two. Even if neither of them knew what to say, then at least they didn't know what to say, together.
Lexi rested her feet up on the dashboard. Both her and Duck had managed to dodge the press and make their way back to Tech's sports car style civilian jet, but both he and Rev had yet to show up. Logically speaking, Lexi knew that they weren't in any real danger, never the less she couldn't help but worry about them. Fortunately, Tech had designed it to be accessible via the same key cards they used in the tower, so Lexi and Duck were not locked out.
"How much longer are we going to wait around here?" Duck complained from the back seat.
"Duck, we're not going to just leave Rev and Tech behind!"
"Oh common! It's not that bad; it's not as if we're abandoning them on a mission or something. Besides, Rev has super speed, they're probably back at the tower already." Duck was clearly getting antsy to get going.
"If they're back at the tower then they would have contacted us by now. I've texted both Rev and Tech, yet they've yet to respond" she checked her phone, just to make sure she hadn't missed any calls.
"Maybe they're just ignoring your calls" Duck mocked. Lexi looked back at him annoyed.
"And why would they ignore my calls? If anything, you're the one who's calls would get ignored" she teased.
"What!" Duck leapt up, bonking his head on the ceiling, "No one ignores Danger Duck! I'm the indominable and beloved protector of the people! The lovable chum who makes funny quips! The guy who you look to when Slam eats all the food, and know that at least you have a fellow soul in pain to connect to!"
"I donno man, I think to most of us your just an annoying coworker" Lexi smirked.
"An annoying coworker?!"
"Yeah, pretty much." Lexi giggled. Duck opened his mouth, about to retaliate, then closed it, thinking for a moment.
"Oh yeah…well…at least I got on this team via my own merits" he eventually jabbed back.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Lexi said, more so confused than offended.
"All I'm saying, is that we all know what it means when there's one girl on a team with all guys" Duck folded his arms, as if that was enough to settle the argument.
"What? Is the implication that I've slept around or something?" Lexi asked out of sheer curiosity to see where this was actually going.
"Oh please! Nothing so pedestrian. We all know that the reason you got put on the team, was solely to widen our demographic."
"Our demographic? Duck, we're a team of super heroes, not a tv show." Lexi rolled her eyes, once again facing forward with her feet up on the dash. She didn't even know why she was having this conversation; she should have known better than to give Duck of all people a chance to speak.
"All I'm saying" Duck continued, "Is that if it's a team of all guys, then the ladies won't be as interested, even with my devilishly good looks. You need someone the girls can look up to, this is where you come in."
"You do realize that our boss is a woman, right Duck?" Lexi posited without looking back, knowing it would put an end to their conversation. Without saying anything else, Duck slumped back into his seat. It was then that something else occurred to him.
"Hey Lex, can I ask you a question?"
"It better not be about the gender dynamics in super hero teams" she was disinterested at this point, looking down at her phone.
"That was in the past, it's time to move on. I've been meaning to ask you about Rev and Tech." Duck once again leaned forward, as if he didn't want anyone else to hear. Of course, there was no one else around to hear, but he did so anyway.
"Listen Duck, if this is going to be about another argument you got into with Tech, then I just am not interested" she was still facing away, having zero confidence in which direction this conversation would go.
"I just want an honest second opinion. Did they seem a bit weird this afternoon?"
Lexi thought for a moment. In all that had happened she had not paid much attention to Rev and Tech in particular. Her focus was much more so directed at Ace, trying to convince him that they could eat out, then later doing her best to keep things under control once the press arrived at La Merde.
"In what way?" She asked.
"Nothing in particular, just a sort of… standoffishness I guess?"
"No offense Duck, but someone being standoffish to you is nothing out of the ordinary" Lexi looked back to her phone, still no new texts.
"I'm not talking about towards me! I mean at each other. Those two brainiacs usually get along really well, but tonight they barely said two words to one another. I could have sworn I saw Rev hiding behind his menu, just to avoid eye contact." Duck explained. Lexi put her phone to the side, thinking about this for a moment. She tried to remember back to what had happened earlier that day. After she finished arguing with Ace, Tech had showed up. He wasn't particularly talkative, but that was fairly normal behavior on his part. Then she, Duck, Rev and Tech all went to the hanger, to go get Tech's sports jet as transport. She couldn't recall Tech and Rev saying anything to each other during that time. Normally when they spend all day in the lab, they would at least want to tell the rest of the Loonatics about it, but today they seemed to act as if there was nothing to talk about. Most of the talking Tech had done was about the jet itself, and then on the ride over, most of the chatter was from Duck or herself, with music in the background to test out the speaker system. Of course, when they had arrived at the restaurant itself, there was barely any time for conversation.
"Are you sure this is recent?" she asked, trying to remember how they acted the day before.
"I'm positive, this morning they were as chummy as ever. They went into that lab of theirs and when they came out after working in it all day, suddenly there's this great divide."
"Do you think they got into an argument?" Lexi said, trying to figure out what could divide those two apart, "Do you think they had a disagreement on something that happened in the lab, over some invention or something?"
Duck shook his head, "I don't think so. Believe me sister, I know animosity when I see it, and this is something very different. This is the type of social anxiety which arises from embarrassment, miscommunication, and secret keeping. Trust me, I would know." Duck sat back as if this were some sort of mic drop moment. Lexi scratched her chin, trying to piece things together.
"So, you're saying that they spent their entire day working in the lab, and something happened which resulted in them being awkward around each other" Lexi paraphrased.
"Well, being the brilliant detective that I am, that would seem to be the case." Duck attempted to look as proud and noble as he possibly could.
"So… do you have any idea what actually could have caused this?" Lexi asked. Duck did not answer for a moment.
"Madam, I only have so much information to work with" Duck brushed off. Lexi should have known better than to assume Duck would have some sort of conclusion to all this. She was beginning to wonder if they should take the jet and search around, then suddenly a call came it. It was Tech.
"Shh! It's Tech" she told Duck.
"I wasn't even talking"
"I said shh!" Lexi answered it, putting it on speaker.
"Hey" Tech's voice came through faintly, wherever they were, they didn't have a very good signal.
"Tech is that you?" She asked.
"Yeah, it's me. Listen, Rev and I sort of wound up in the middle of nowhere."
"Should we come and get you? Are you all right?"
"No, we're fine, just go back to the tower and let Ace and Slam know we won't be coming back tonight." Tech seemed resolute. She was unsure as to whether or not he was hiding something.
"Well, are you sure you don't want us to come and get you?"
"Yeah, it's pretty late, by the time you guys found us it would be long past midnight"
"Well, if you're sure then ok. I just don't want anything happening to you guys."
"Just come get us in the morning, ok?"
"Right. Text the quadrantes so that we'll know where to pick you two up, ok?"
"Sure thing, see you tomorrow." Tech hung up. Lexi looked back at Duck.
"Do you think they're in danger?" he asked.
"It didn't seem like it to me, but in a weird way, I kind of feel like this has something to
do with what you were talking about."
"You mean the mass appeal of our team based on viewer demographics?" Duck questioned, confused as to the implications.
"No, not that! The whole thing about them feeling awkward around each other!"
"Oh that! Well, this just got a whole lot more intriguing" Duck seemed to be savoring this new piece to his ever-expanding puzzle, "If they texted you the coordinates, then should we go check things out?"
"If they're not in danger, then there isn't an immediate rush, but we should probably go back to the tower and tell Ace and Slam all about this. After all, if there is something that can affect the team, then he'll want to know."