Warning: References to torture, depression, PTSD, miscarriage, non-consensual drug use, and other triggers run throughout this piece. Please take this into account if you find any of these to be sensitive for you. I will list chapter specific warnings at the beginnings of each chapter but the ones above are specific for the entire piece.
John was tense, that much was clear. He'd been sat in front of the same computer screen for the best part of four hours now. John couldn't help the anguish inside of him, his wife was missing. She'd been heading to get some mutants safe, but they'd all been grabbed, John had tracked them as best he could but there was still no sign of her. For all John knew, Clarice was dead.
"Don't think that." Muttered a voice from behind him, he shot round, having not heard Taylor Strucker-Nobel, his best friend – his baby sister, come into the room,
"Don't think what, Tay?" The woman rolled her red eyes, John knew it was never going to work but he didn't need a lecture from Taylor right now,
"Y'know, there are times when being stuck in your head is really gross, other times it's really helpful." John scoffed before turning back to the computer screen,
"Look, Clare's strong, she's a survivor, she managed to survive while you were all away or while we weren't with her, she managed to survive after the complications throughout her pregnancy. John, she'll get through this." John wasn't so sure. Clarice always did have a way of getting back to them and surviving despite the odds, but this was different, this wasn't just she'd gotten lost in the woods, she'd been taken by Sentinel Services! It wasn't simple!
The pair stood in silence for a few minutes, neither wanted to disrupt the other, but neither wanted to be on their own. They found comfort in the other being close, in their minds linking to each other and holding them together. A few more minutes passed before the door to the office was pulled open,
"You guys need to see this!" Marcos shouted before running back towards the tech room. Taylor and John shared a glance before following the direction he went.
Once in the tech room they saw the police surveillance tracking an escapee from a relocation facility,
"Oh my god!" Taylor muttered,
"Clarice!" John added. They caught a glimpse of where the police were tailing Clarice, but the trio were already heading out of the room, Lorna catching up with them. All four ran outside towards the car, Sonia watched them, and her eyes darted to a closed door, behind which were four four-year-old girls sleeping soundly.
Four small girls that she couldn't stand. The eldest was Evie Proudstar, she may have been the eldest of the girls, but she was definitely the smallest. Evie was also the most ordinary looking of the girls with dark brown hair and tanned skin, her hair had some small streaks of purple. Evie was born on September 2nd, 2013 at 11:44pm
The second eldest was Evie's twin sister Rose, rose pink hair made her clearly different from her sister, that and their eyes – while Rose had John's brown eyes, Evie had inherited her mother's jade green orbs. Not to mention that Rose was nearly two inches taller than Evie. Despite Rose and Evie being twins, they had different birthdays with Rose being 15 minutes younger than her twin; she was born at 00:01am on September 3rd, 2013. Rose was almost deaf, she had been the reason all of her family learnt sign language, it meant she could be part of any conversation.
Aroura Diaz was the third eldest, the best friend to Evie was a chaotic bundle of energy with hair the same colours as the Aurora Borealis, she and Evie had been inseparable since the day they'd met three years ago. Though, even at four, Evie did like to remind Aurora that she was 11 days older.
The same story was with Rose and Imogen Noble, the youngest girl was the most boisterous, a mass of neon colours that never stopped moving at full speed, though that pair had known each other since they were born, Rose had been nearly a month old when Imogen was born on the 30th of September 2013. The adults all found it quite funny how outgoing and boisterous Imogen was considering her mother could go days – weeks even - without speaking at all.
Sonia had never been able to get on with the girls, she just didn't like them, especially the twins. She couldn't explain where her dislike for them came from, but it was clearer than anything else. It was also fair to say that Sonia hated Taylor and Clarice. She hated Taylor because after everything the red-eyed woman had done, she was allowed to stay at the HQ. Sonia always though that Taylor was the worst form of monster.
The rain hammered down around them as the car that the quartet had left in ground to a halt, John practically threw himself out of the drivers sear and instantly began tracking to check where Clarice was. Marcos held Lorna to his side, the cold rain making them shiver. Neither John or Taylor seemed to notice the cold, though that didn't surprise Marcos and Lorna, the marine and ex-prisoner were good at hiding things, they were especially good if one of their family was in danger.
Taylor's eyes searched the alleyway while Marcos created light over what remained of a police light,
"Got something!" He called, causing John and Taylor to run towards it. John lifted one and could feel the remnants of Clarice's powers on them. Taylor slapped John's shoulder, grabbing his attention. The youngest in the group motioned her head towards the warehouse that seemed hidden in the dark and rain.
Slowly, Taylor edged towards the building, John wasn't so subtle considering he had sensed Clarice inside. He kicked in the door which only caused Taylor to roll her eyes, she knew John was normally the most rational of the group, but when Clarice or the twins or even her were in danger, all rationality went out the window in order to protect his family.
"Clarice?!" John called, Taylor let out an exasperated sigh,
"Yeah because that helps us remain hidden," she hissed at him,
"C'mon Tay, it's fine." John shot back. Taylor moved her hand, motioning for Lorna and Marcos to check the back room while she and John would search the main warehouse.
The sound of police cars approaching was what caused them to run into the back room, John saw Clarice and pulled her into his arm, hugging her impossibly tight. The sound of the sirens forced the pair to join the others in the main room,
"Kill the lights!" Taylor whispered, Lorna obliged while the others flipped tables and hid behind them or behind walls.
Weapons fire forced them to duck, Lorna began messing with the police and their weapons and Taylor kept causing them pain for the briefest of moments. A blinding light erupted followed by a yell as Marcos ordered them out of the warehouse.
Running out of the warehouse, John gripped Clarice's hand as he led her towards the car, not once letting it slip. In what seemed like a split second, Marcos fell down as a bullet scraped his arm. Taylor turned, running back to grab her 'brother' as Lorna began attacking the police officer that shot her boyfriend.
"Lorna! C'mon!" Called Taylor as Marcos began fighting against Taylor.
Police officers poured out of the warehouse, one tasered Lorna, forcing her to the ground where they cuffed her hands. Taylor threw Marcos into the back seat of the car before he could get a chance to get away. Taylor turned back to look at Lorna who was being hauled to her feet, the older woman nodded. That was all Taylor needed; she climbed into the car and John sped off before the police to grab them all.
Andy Strucker sat on the floor outside his student councilor's office, his sketchbook on his lap as he drew, attempting to ignore the rest of the world – or at least the rest of his school. Inside the office, Caitlin and Reed Strucker were talking with Andy's councilor.
"I understand you have some concerns about your son, Andy?" The man asked, Reed took up speaking,
"Yes, we believe he's being bullied." The teacher looked taken aback, his face stiffened,
"Belleview High has a zero-tolerance policy towards bullying."
"That's why we came." Caitlin explained, her eyes darting between her husband and her son's teacher.
"Um, Andy and I have always been very close, but lately he… he just stopped talking to me." Reed explained,
"It's affecting his grades." Caitlin added, "he-he's not sleeping."
"In situations like this, we like to use the "CARE" system communicate, adjust, reconcile and empathize." The teacher began, "first, we take the kids, and we put them together to talk."
"These boys are-are tormenting our son." Caitlin exclaimed, not understand the teacher's approach.
"I understand that's upsetting."
"Stop right there." Reed stated, causing the man to freeze. "Let me be clear. Andy needs help, and if he doesn't get it, I will sue this school into oblivion."
"Mr. Strucker, we have procedures. I can't-"
"Then get someone who can. Now."
"Okay, I'll-I'll be right back." And with that, the teacher left the room.
Caitlin and Reed sat alone for a few minutes before Reed was called away to deal with a mutant situation. Caitlin smiled as her husband left the room, he protected them from mutant threats.
As evening fell, Lauren and Andy arrived back home, Lauren stood in her room, video calling her boyfriend, she held two outfits in her hands,
"You really have no preference? They're two completely different outfits!" Her exasperation was evident in her voice.
"I dunno… the blue one, that one looks nice." He offered. Lauren continued talking with him for a few more minutes before Caitlin called her and Andy down for dinner.
The three sat in silence for a few minutes before Caitlin turned to Lauren,
"So, Lauren, how was choir?"
"Good. We're practicing for the spring concert."
"Are you still going to the dance tonight? Want me to show you some of my moves?" Lauren scoffed,
"No, thank you."
Caitlin laughed for a moment before turning to Andy,
"How about you? How was your day?"
"Uh, bad." Caitlin looked to him with worry, "I mean, you were there." Caitlin let out a laugh of relief,
"I meant your classes. Anything interesting?"
"We had a debate in social studies about the law they want to make to test people with the X-gene and, like, monitor them. I don't know. Anyway, this one kid was, like, freaking out.
I guess his cousin's a mutie or something." Lauren scoffed, her eyes filled with pain,
"Mutie, Andy? Racist much?" She hated the way people treated mutants, she remembered Taylor a lot more than Andy did.
"What? Person of genetic difference." Andy said sarcastically,
"You are such an ass! What about Taylor? Is she just a 'mutie' to you too?!" Lauren snapped causing Andy and Caitlin to freeze, everyone knew that Taylor was the one part of the Strucker family that wasn't mentioned,
"Really, Lauren? Taylor's dead. If she's not dead, then she abandoned us." Andy snapped back.
"Enough." Caitlin yelled, silencing the two teenagers, "okay, please. You're fighting about social studies class now. Can we not have a normal conversation?" Neither of the two kids spoke, "guess not." Caitlin muttered, returning to her dinner.
Nearly 12 hours passed before anyone came towards Lorna who was being held in a clearly temporary cell, her powers were uninhibited, and the cuffs were plastic zip ties. The man approached the cell,
"Ms. Dane. My name is Reed Strucker." Lorna narrowed her eyes at the man, he was the man who had caused Taylor years of locking herself away from anyone, Lorna didn't try to mask the hatred on her face. This man had hurt her littlest sister and she would give him Hell for Taylor if she could.
"This is my associate, Carla Jackson -" Lorna had enough of playing calm,
"I'd offer you a seat, but..." she motioned around the empty cell which held nothing but her inside,
"You're accused of the attempted murder of two police officers. That plus the enhanced sentencing due to the use of your mutant abilities-" Reed was interrupted by Lorna who rolled her eyes,
"Equals I'm screwed! Yeah. I got that part." Lorna's eyes turned cold as she glared at the man, hating every bone within his body.
"Look all I know is that I was walkin' home when these cops shot at me." Lorna lied with a shrug of her shoulders, Reed approached the door to the cell,
"Come on, Ms. Dane. You and I both know that you and your associates in the Mutant Underground have aided and abetted dozens, if not hundreds, of fugitives," Lorna couldn't help but smirk as her friend's father entered her cell despite the warning of his associate,
"Believe it or not, I'm trying to help you. These are serious charges, attempted murder -" Lorna twisted her had slightly, the man cried out slightly in pain as Lorna messed with screws in his knee,
"Those screws in your knee? An old sports injury? If I wanted to, I could pull out those screws and show you some attempted murder. If I wanted those cops dead, they'd be dead." Lorna dropped her hand making Reed lift a piece of paper from his file and show it to Lorna,
"There's a factor that you may not be aware of." Lorna's eyes widened as she looked at the piece of paper,
"I'm gonna ask the court to assign you a lawyer, okay? You've got a big decision to make, Ms. Dane." Reed stepped back from Lorna who was shaking, he left the room with her screaming causing the lights and a mirror to shatter,
"Just think it over." Reed said before leaving the room followed by his associate.
Lauren made her way out of the house, heading towards the car, she heard her mom's shout of her 11:30 curfew. Lauren rolled her eyes as she started the car,
"Yo." The voice beside her startled her,
"Andy!? What are you doing here?"
"I snuck out." Andy said with a shrug. "I thought I'd go with you."
"Didn't you tell Mom you were going to bed?"
"Yeah, that's why they call it sneaking." Andy commented with a roll of his eyes. "Can we go?"
"You can't!" Lauren argued. "What if she finds out?"
"If I get caught, I'll tell her I was going down to Ian's. You won't get in trouble. When was the last time I got to go out on a weekend? It's like I'm a one-one of those baby cows they keep in the crates." Andy argued.
"Veal?" Lauren offered. Andy nodded.
"Yeah. I'm being raised like a veal."
"You really want to go to a dance? After everything that's been going on at school?" Lauren couldn't help worrying about her little brother.
"You mean my fan club? Yeah, whatever. I'm used to them." He tried to reassure her, Lauren groaned.
"Buckle up." She stated as she started the car.
The school hall had been decorated for the dance, Andy looked all around while Lauren was searching for her boyfriend.
"Oh, my God." Andy muttered as Lauren's boyfriend came over,
"Lauren!" He called, grabbing the attention of both siblings.
"Hi." Lauren muttered as she went over to her boyfriend, sharing a kiss.
"Okay, that's enough. Leave room for Jesus." Andy commented as he pushed the pair apart.
"Hey, dude. You, uh - Going to the dance."
"Yeah, that's me. I'm a dance guy now." Andy commented, he sounded uncomfortable.
"Okay. Well, have fun."
"Yeah, you, too." Andy turned, wandering over to the bleachers, "don't get pregnant!" He yelled back as he saw Lauren and her boyfriend kissing again.
"Are you sure you can't stay out a little later?" Lauren's boyfriend asked her after a few minutes. Lauren shook her head,
"You know my mom. It's not gonna happen."
"Just ask." He pushed,
"I have Andy with me. I can't stay out later." Lauren argued just in time for the gym to start shaking, it seemed to be creaking and bending.
Within a few moments, the gym began to collapse, Lauren ran to find Andy, using her powers to block any falling rubble. Finding Andy, Lauren quickly pulled him from the building, dragging him to the car and racing towards their home.
By the time Taylor, John, Clarice, and Marcos returned to the HQ, they had anger rippling through them. It had taken them the best part of 14 hours to get home thanks to police following them. Eventually, they'd been able to shake them, but it had still taken much longer than anyone would've liked.
As they got inside, John took Marcos towards the medical room where he bandaged up his arm, Clarice was taken by Sage to be questioned about what had gone on, and Taylor began formulating a plan to get Lorna back. John glanced over to her, he could tell already that she wouldn't want to rest until her 'oldest sister' was safe.
Taylor didn't get much done in the way of planning as Imogen ran over to her,
"Mommy!" Taylor scooped the girl into her arms, holding her close,
"Where'd you go? You were gone all day!" The girl said with exasperation,
"Oh, well we had to go and rescue Auntie Clare from the police." Taylor said. She placed Imogen back on the ground after kissing her temple. The four-year-old ran off to join Rose before the pair headed to the bedroom that all four of the girls shared. Zingo trotted after the girls.
"Taylor!" Came a shout from John, the woman startled slightly at the sudden noise, turning away from the two girls and the dog to focus on John. John motioned her over, his eyes filled with worry as he, Clarice, and Marcos headed towards the tech room. Closing the notebook, Taylor followed her family.
"Yes, and as we have reported, breaking news on the mutant attack at Belleview High. We believe two young mutants to be responsible for the destruction. We've also heard that Federal authorities will be getting involved." The news rattled on about the attack as the group stopped inside the tech room.
Taylor's eyes went dark as she heard the report,
"What was the school?" She asked, not even turning but her voice was dark, cold. The familiar and yet unfamiliar sound made John and Clarice tense. It was the same voice she had held when she began speaking to the pair after John and Gus had rescued her. It was a voice that only the couple were familiar with, even Gus hadn't really heard her voice this dark.
"Belleview High." Finally, Taylor turned around with wide eyes, a blizzard of emotions running through her psychic link and her eyes.
"No. No, it can't be. No!" The 27-year-old was filled with a frenzied mixture of worry and anger as she stared towards the screen and then back to her 'older siblings'.
"That's my old school! Andy and Lauren should be attending now, that's where they would've gone!" John came over to her, placing one of his hands on either of her shoulders,
"Just because it's their school doesn't mean it was them." Taylor shook her head, John's soft voice not calming her,
"Don't give me that, John! You and I both know that they have a higher chance of being mutants because I was born one."
John wrapped his arms around his friend as her knees buckled at the thought of her biological younger siblings being in danger. She had fallen out with her parents yes, but never with Andy or Lauren, they were 3 and 5 when she had left, they wouldn't really remember her now.
Taylor's pale blue hair framed her face as her John looked into the eyes the color of blood.
"Do we help them?" Marcos asked,
"No." Taylor spoke in a shaky voice as she shook her head,
"We help them if they contact us. I'm not making them live in fear if they don't have to." The other three all nodded, and they all left the room heading for their beds.
Taylor and John hung back slightly, staying in the tech room until they were the only two left. It was only in these moments that the pair would ask questions that they avoided when they had company.
"You don't think… you don't think that your parents will do what they did to you to those kids do you?" John felt Taylor shrug as he pulled her into a hug,
"I dunno, I mean, they abandoned me to those… animals. But that was 12 years ago. I was barely 15. Maybe they've changed slightly and will just kick 'em out." John released Taylor from his arms, he saw her force a smile onto her face,
"Go to bed, Proudstar. I'm sure your wife's missin' ya." John smirked at Taylor's attempt of a joke.
John watched Taylor retreat to her room, but he couldn't help the feeling of sympathy in his gut that he knew Taylor hated; she was missing Gus, remembering the people she'd accidentally killed, reliving the betrayal of her parents. She needed someone and there was only one person she wanted at the minute; Gus Nobel.
The following afternoon, Marcos stood in the Vault, attempting to find a way to break Lorna out of prison. Clarice sauntered into the room and collapsed onto the couch with Zingo at her heels. The dog hadn't left her side since Clarice had returned. Zingo might've been everyone's dog, but she had a clear preference in Clarice.
"So how've things been without me for the past two weeks?" She asked. Marcos knew that she was trying to occupy his mind with something other than the fact that Lorna was missing.
"Well, your kids didn't want to leave John, too worried about losing you. Taylor had about 20 episodes a day – her controls slipping at the minute, even John's beginning to feel it, he's starting to weaken, their link's hurting him now more than ever." Clarice winced, deciding that she'd need to talk with John, making sure that he was ok. The woman sent a look to Marcos,
"Well it is almost 12 years to the day since her parents shipped her to that place. She's reliving all of that, she's blaming herself for what happened at the Citadel, she's regretting everything she did. Plus, with her siblings thrown into the mix now, she's gonna be hurting more than you've ever seen her." Clarice pointed out. Marcos nodded briefly, a tight expression crossing his face – he'd completely forgotten about what time of year it was.
Marcos knew Clarice was right though, he and Lorna knew a lot less of what Taylor had been through compared to John and Clarice. Gus knew Taylor better than anyone, even John and Clarice, he knew the best wats to help her fight her episodes. Marcos and Lorna hadn't known the group until about three and a half years ago, they didn't know what Taylor was like when John and Gus first found her.
The conversation didn't get to grow much further as a mass of deep blues and greens ran into the room and threw herself over the couch, landing on the concrete floor with a thud before muttering something incoherent, Clarice chuckled at the girl she saw as her niece. The adults were always careful about what they said about Taylor's condition in the presence of children, it was at Taylor's request that they did this – they didn't want the kids scared about what Taylor had been through. They didn't want them scared of Taylor's powers.
"Aurora?" Marcos asked without looking over, causing the girl to peer over the couch to him showing as little of herself as possible, Marcos turned to face her with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah..." she drew out, looking directly at Marcos then to the doorway and then back at Marcos again,
"What are you doing?" He asked, feeling like he should be slightly concerned,
"Hidin'!" Aurora exclaimed causing Marcos to nod sarcastically and another chuckle to escape Clarice, she'd missed this.
"Yeah, I can see that. I meant, why?" the four-year-old rolled her eyes in a way that Marcos knew would've made Lorna proud.
"Cos Evie gotta come find us so we have to hide." The child exaggerated with a sigh, Marcos shook his head as his daughter slowly disappeared behind the couch, the two adults shared a look, both smiling at the girl.
"Why did I even ask," Marcos muttered just as a bundle of neon named Imogen bounded into the room, took one look at Marcos and Clarice, rolled her eyes and left just as fast as she had entered.
The two adults chatted about hopefully harmless topics for a couple of minutes, avoiding the subjects of Taylor or Lorna due to Aurora hiding. They didn't get to talk for long before Clarice saw a girl with brown hair with subtle streaks of purple come to the doorway. Clarice smiled at the sight of her eldest daughter stood in the doorway; the girl folded her arms over her chest covering the dinosaur tee she was wearing and look Marcos and Clarice up and down before entering the room.
It was like Evie knew that her friend would be in there just because Aurora's dad and auntie. Evie's electric, jade green eyes scanned the area before she held her left hand out and flicked her wrist, using her air manipulation powers to lift the couch like it was a sheet of paper, Clarice moved from the couch to stand beside Marcos, Zingo remaining at her heels, Aurora clung on as long as she could but Evie began shaking it making her friend fall,
"Got you!" Evie yelled triumphantly as Aroura stood and dusted off her jeans with a pout, her eyes darting from her friend to the couch hovering above her head to her father.
"Yeah but you cheated! Tell her daddy!" Marcos shook his head with a fond smile,
"She used what she could." Evie giggled at her uncle and ran over to hug her mom while Aurora stuck her tongue out at her dad before the two took hands and ran off, a faint green glow following them. The two adults just laughed at the pair when Marcos' phone rang.
Clarice sat fussing Zingo as Marcos left the room to answer the phone.
"Hello," Marcos said calmly, leaning against the doorframe, watching the four kids play nearby.
"Is this Marcos Diaz?" The voice on the end of the line asked,
"Uh-huh. Who's this? How'd you get this number?" Marcos asked,
"My name is Reed Strucker" Marcos looked over to where Taylor was stood with her back to him, watching the children while chatting with Clarice. His blood ran cold as he spoke to the man who'd caused his baby sister so much suffering in her life.
"My family needs help getting across the border. You and the people you work with, you do that right?" Strucker asked, Marcos didn't take his eyes from Taylor but answered the man,
"Maybe." Marcos stated, giving nothing away, he really didn't want to be the one to break it to Taylor that her birth family had called asking for help. He knew that he and Taylor were still a confusing relationship; they were siblings in every sense, including the way they fought.
"Did you hear about the mutant incident? At the high school? Those were my children." Marcos took his eyes from Taylor; he closed his eyes for a moment. Taylor's words running through his mind – don't help them unless they ask. They were asking him.
"I'm sorry I can't-" before Marcos could finish, Strucker interrupted him,
"I was a prosecutor for the city. I was responsible for building a case against you and your associates for the districts attorney's office." Marcos rolled his eyes; this man really wasn't giving him a reason to help him out.
"And you're calling me for help? Why should I lift a finger for you?" Marcos hissed,
"Because I can help you. Your, uh, your associate, Lorna Dane, goes by Polaris?" Marcos stopped walking suddenly,
"What do you know about Lorna?" He asked with urgency,
"You want to help her, you can talk to me. You know about her medical condition?" The man said calmly,
"What are you talking about? What medical condition?" Marcos asked, panic evident in his voice,
"You gonna help my family?" The man asked, son of a bitch Marcos thought,
"What are you talking about?" He hissed again,
"I want a meeting!" The man on the other side snapped,
"Yes. Fine. I'll meet you, just tell me!" Marcos' voice was low but was venomous,
"She's pregnant." The man stated simply. Marcos gave him the location of Fade's bar knowing that it would be the best place to meet if the man were to bring cops.
Clarice found John sat in the tech room, a smile fell onto her lips as she noticed him still half asleep; he was doing far too much, not to mention that he was woken up every time Taylor had a nightmare, it was affecting him. Her hands fell to his shoulders as she approached, startling him at the contact. Worry fluttered through Clarice at the fact that John hadn't noticed her. He was always focused on his surroundings, it was what left him drained at the end of a day, his senses were left exhausted and he was left with a headache and exhaustion.
"Hey." She whispered as she rubbed his shoulders for a moment, feeling some of his tension disappear as she did so.
"Hey." He muttered back, his hand settling on top of one of hers.
"So, Marcos was telling me all about how you're feeling the effects of Taylor's powers. That's never happened before, what's going on?" John stood up, taking Clarice's hands in an attempt to reassure her,
" It's nothing too bad, I can handle it." Clarice raised an eyebrow at him. Her doubt was obvious.
"Yeah, and the psychic link hurting you? John it's never done that before." John pulled Clarice closer, hoping to comfort her,
"We'll figure it out. All of us. I reckon it's got something to do with the anniversary." He said softly.
"Which one?" Clarice asked grimly.
"Her being sent to the Citadel. Her losing control. Me and Gus finding her. Gus' death. Losing her baby. All of them happened around this time of year, and she's blaming herself for everything that went wrong. That much, it gets to me." Clarice kissed him gently, she knew how much her best friend blamed herself for what had happened in the past, but that didn't make anything any easier. Clarice promised to try and talk to Taylor before letting John get back to what he'd been doing. It was a Saturday, so he was usually doing supply count and supply route planning because it was one of those jobs that the others hated to do.
About an hour passed before Clarice began looking for Marcos, she caught John's eyes as she did so, confusion settling onto his expression. She made her way over to her husband, but her eyes were still searching for Marcos.
"Marcos got a call about an hour ago and now I can't find him. Dunno who called or where he went. John I'm worried. Marcos is reckless when Lorna's in trouble." Taylor had joined the pair by the time that Clarice finished talking. John stood up, taking Clarice's hand.
Taylor hung back slightly, messing with the cuff of her hoodie as she looked towards John and Clarice.
"I'm gonna stay and keep an eye on the girls." Taylor stated as John and Clarice moved to the door, they froze, turning to look at the woman. Taylor glanced to the floor as Clarice took her friend's hand.
"You're needing people in full control of the powers for this. That's… that's not me. I'm just gonna be a liability out there. I could injure you guys, accidentally kill Marcos, slaughter an entire building. I can't go with you... Besides, someone needs to keep an eye on the girls." The others nodded sadly and made their way out of the building to find Marcos. They knew she was right about what she'd said but it still hurt that they couldn't protect her, she was family to them, and they couldn't save her.
Taylor reached the door to the girls' room, she burst it open, her face scrunching in confusion at the sight of four beds floating and the bean bags lifted into the air, it took her a few moments to realize that the floor was hot as well.
"The floor is lava, Mommy" Imogen yelled to her mother,
"Well I'm dead then." She said before smirking and hopping onto one of the beanbags, Taylor quickly made sure Rose was facing her before she spoke and signed,
"C'mon bedtime. Evie, drop the beds. Rose, cool the floors." The four girls groaned in chorus which made Taylor chuckle, she could feel the heat in the room lessen as Rose stopped using her powers of heat manipulation on the floor.
"Pajamas at least," The girls all looked at Taylor with suspicion,
"Where's Momma and Daddy?" Evie asked as she dropped the beds and beanbags to the floor, causing the five of them to fall with them. The girls all flopped down onto the beds while Taylor leaned against one of the walls.
"They've just had to go out to get Rory's dad out of trouble," this caused all the girls to laugh,
"Right! Pajamas and then you can play for 5 more minutes. No more!" All the girls cheered and raced to get their pajamas on so they could keep playing.
The girls all grabbed their pajamas as quick as they could, Evie changed into her dinosaur ones which said 'Don't wake sleepy Dino', Rose's were Beauty and the Beast ones, Aurora's were Harry Potter ones that said 'Don't let the Muggles get you down', and lastly Imogen pulled on her ones which were covered in ice creams with faces. All the girls grabbed their stuffed toys, Imogen's was a rhino, Rose's was a penguin, Aurora's was a frog and Evie's was shockingly a dinosaur. No one really understood where Evie's obsession with dinosaurs came from, but it always made people smile.
The girls were quick back to playing but didn't get long because true to her word, Taylor came back in five minutes later and helped get the girls into bed. She began telling them a story when the sound of yelling and screaming filled the room.
Taylor looked at the girl's scared faces, her eyes meeting Evie's as her hands clasped her ears as the noise became too much for the girl who'd inherited enhanced hearing from her dad, Rose had her own hands clamped over her sister's ears; she knew how much sounds could affect Evie. Taylor ran her fingers through Evie's hair, trying to settle the girl and alleviate some of her fear.
"Stay here. I'll be back. If I'm not, come and find me." The girls nodded but huddled closer together. They each clutched a soft toy while they sat in pure silence.
After almost five minutes, the girls all decided that they wanted to see what was going on, they headed out of the door and saw Clarice lying unconscious on the bench and Taylor was yelling at a woman and two teenagers.