General disclaimer: The TV show Max Steel is not mine, though I really wish it was. It belongs to a number of companies whose names escape my memory at the moment, but my name wasn't on that list, if I recall. Kelly McGrath/Maxy Steel,and Xam Steel are my characters, Turbo is the creation of my friend and I and I will set my corgi-beagle on you if you use their names or their characters without my permission. Enough of that, on with the story!
BY:
Maxy Steel
Timeline: About three weeks after "Three Of A Kind." No, I am not trying to be funny.
Kelly woke in the middle of the night, and realized she was crying. You idiot! You want Josh and Xam to hear you?! she shouted at herself mentally, violently slapping tears from her eyes. They stung briefly, and she blinked until they stopped.
"Then again, maybe I could talk this out with them," she whispered to herself, laying back down. Turbo crept up and snuggled against her back. The young blonde sat up again, and buried her face against the animal's furry back like a frightened three-year-old.
"I know I can talk with them about anything, but just this...doesn't seem like something you discuss with a brother," she murmured, gripping the fur on Turbo's shoulder tighter. The animal licked her knuckles gently, and put her head down. It was almost routine for her. Kelly would wake up sobbing, and Turbo played comforter as best she could. Minutes later, the girl fell back asleep, using her pet to drive away the nightmares.
When morning came, Kelly found herself in an empty house, save Turbo. Xam had left a hastily scribbled note about spending the day with DeRe, and Josh simply said he'd be gone the whole day, but his comm line would be open.
"Well, today would be a good day to hide in the house all day," Kelly decided, which was rather uncharacteristic. She collected pillows, blankets, and sheets from the closet, fished a tent from the basement, and retreated to her room. Turbo watched with mild interest as her mistress cleared everything away until the middle of the room was bare. It took all of ten minutes to set up the tent, and then she spent another half hour arranging the materials to her satisfaction.
"There we go. Come on, Tee," she said, crawling inside. She laid down on the mat of blankets, and stared at the green peaked top of the tent. Turbo curled up in one corner, and sighed. It'd be nice to talk with someone, but...how would I explain an old boyfriend to my brothers? But then, that's kind of only one part of it. Berto would listen, but I'm sure the last thing he'd like to hear is about Rick, especially what he did to me. Pretty much all guys are out, old boyfriend talks aren't their thing. Rachel's too busy, even though she'd understand, the blonde teenager thought. It seemed to her that there was no one left, she was completely alone. The lump in her throat grew and rose. Safe in the realization that there was no chance of anyone catching her, she grabbed a pillow, buried her face in it, and cried herself out.
When she woke, all she felt was a deep well of depression. Crying never solved anything, it's just a way to tire out so you don't have to deal with everything, she thought, getting up. Turbo had left earlier through the open tent flap, and was nowhere to be found. With a heavy heart, the normally plucky teenager dragged herself out to the hallway. Turbo met her there, giving her a comforting lick across the palm.
"Hey there, Tee," the girl greeted listlessly. The animal snorted softly and raced down the hallway, tried to stop at the back door, couldn't, and smashed into the window. She turned slowly around, looking hopefully at her mistress. Kelly didn't even smile, so Turbo sighed and dropped her head...right into her water bowl. Even that didn't help the girl's mood, she simply picked up a towel and wiped off her pet and the surrounding floor.
"I wish Berto would just suddenly show up. But the chances of that are thin. He's got work and all that," she sighed, the sound turning into a whimpery sob. She snatched another towel, and buried her face in it. Turbo whined softly, the intense vibes of sadness washing over her. Kelly sank to the floor, face still hidden in the towel. Behind her closed eyes, a flash of the past appeared. A young man with black hair, holding a pocket knife, standing right in front of her. Rick... she thought for an instant. The image vanished, and she snapped her head up with a scream. Turbo yelped, and threw herself under the table, cowering at the invisible danger. Breath coming in short gasps, Kelly glanced around, looking sub-consciously for the man who had tormented her dreams for years. She sighed, and leaned back against the cabinet behind her.
"Rick...why can't you just leave me alone? It's been years," she whimpered, voice cracking near the end. Years...how could he had left such an imprint on my life? she thought, hugging her knees tightly to her chest. Turbo emerged from her hiding place, and came to lay down against her mistress, offering what voiceless comfort she could. The young, and rather frightened teenager got up, transformed, for no reason other than that she felt braver as Maxy, and cautiously moved down the hallway to her room. There, she collapsed into her hideout, grabbed a pillow and gripped it tightly to her chest, and drifted off again.
Berto pulled up outside the McGrath residence, and frowned, noting that the lights were off, unusual if anyone was home.
"Maybe I should've called first," he said thoughtfully. Never the less, he got out and stepped onto the porch. He knocked lightly on the door, and listened for anyone. All he heard was Turbo whine at the door and paw it. Wait. They never leave Turbo alone in the house. Someone must be here, he thought suddenly. He knocked louder, but still, only Turbo answered, with a higher whine. The teenager, now concerned, pulled out the spare key Maxy had given him, and opened the door. As he'd noticed earlier, the house was completely silent and dark. Turbo whimpered, and came up to him, licking his hand in greeting.
"What's wrong, girl?" the teenager asked, picking up the worry in the animal's body language. Turbo led him down the hallway, and stopped at Kelly's closed door. She pawed slightly at it, and looked up at him. Berto got the message, and opened the door. All he could see was the large tent filling most of the room's space. Turbo wandered off, willingly handing off the job of comforting Kelly. Cautiously, the Spanish teenager advanced further into the room. There was no sound from anywhere in the space. He pushed back the tent flap, and smiled. Maxy was asleep still, laying on her side, hugging the pillow's life out. Berto slipped into the tent and settled down on one side of the interior. It didn't seem even the slightest bit wrong or strange. She had offically become his girlfriend six or seven months ago, after all. For a few minutes, he just sat there, watching her, completely at ease. He reveled in the moment. As far as he could remember, it was the first time he'd seen her asleep on her own steam, not because of some drug of something. His mind filed the peaceful period into memory forever, drinking in every detail. Her chest rose and fell in time with her even steady breaths, and the tip of her ponytail had laid itself across her shoulder. Her grip on the pillow loosened, until it lay limply at her side. It was very peaceful, and the girl's boyfriend felt himself slipping into sleep as well.
Maxy rested fitfully, one of her first actual rests in days. The dream hadn't returned, and at some point, she'd felt even more relaxed, as if an extra measurement of safety had entered the equation. However, the relaxation was shattered as she felt herself falling, and landed into what looked like an apartment building. Inwardly, she cringed, recognizing the place. Rick's dorm room. Instantly, she knew the setting. Rick appeared from out of nowhere. He grabbed her hands, the iciness of his touch shooting through her entire body, freezing her in place.
"Kelly, please. You know I love you. Don't walk out on me. We can make this work," he said, so convincing and full of love, she wondered why she'd ever thought of giving him up. Then images of the beer bottles, memories of the shouting, cursing, threats, and lastly, the fist flying toward her right eye entered her mind. She steeled her nerves for what she knew would come.
"Rick, I told you before. This can't work. Maybe you love me with some part of your heart, but for me, the magic is gone. Forcing this relationship isn't going to help. It's over, I don't love you," she both felt and heard herself saying. Rick nodded to himself and let go of her hands, though she still felt frozen. He turned his back on her, as if in deep contemplation.
"If you won't love me," he began, still facing the wall.
"Rick, what are you saying?" she asked, a note of fear entering her voice. Rick whipped around, holding a small black object.
"Then you won't ever love anyone...again," he finished. The object turned into a pocket knife, which he swung down at her. Eyes wide with fear, the girl tried one last attempt.
"Rick, you don't want to do this..." she murmured, even as the blade embedded itself deep in her stomach, bare from her tank top. To her surprise, it didn't hurt. Red oozed and dripped out around the hilt of the blade, she watched it with morbid fascination as it flowed down to the band of her shorts and soaked in. He tore the knife from her body, eliciting a scream of pain, and stabbed again. The blood over-flowed off her shorts, and dribbled down on to the couch, forever marking it with evidence of the fight. Another stab, and other scream, and the blood began to pool on the carpet. She stared in horror at the bloody gashes in her mid-section, watching her life fluid stream from them. Rick grabbed her roughly by the shoulders, and forced her into a kiss. The pocket knife was pressed against her cheek, and left a smear of her own blood, along with a thin cut.
The teenage boy snapped awake by a sharp scream, and some terrified whimpering. He looked over. Maxy was still asleep, trapped in some nightmare. Her body jerked and writhed as she struggled to wake up. The pillow flew to one side by a sharp movement from one of her hands as tears streamed down her cheeks from behind her eyelids. Berto was confused for a second, then moved to her side. He planted his hands on her shoulders, and shouted for her to wake up. The jerky movements only increased sharply as she fought him.
"Maxy, wake up!" he commanded again. She screamed and lashed out, barely missing him. Berto whipped away from her, honestly thinking she was going to attack him. He watched with horrified interest as she started to come out of her dream. Hoping that she had calmed enough, and wouldn't strike out at him, Berto scooted back to her side, and laid one hand on her cheek. She paused in her struggle, and relaxed. I can't believe she's still asleep, he thought. With a gasp, she actually woke, sat up, and quickly pressed her hands to her stomach and face, feeling for damage. No blood, no knife, just the scars from the fated night. She started when a pair of gentle arms wrapped tightly around her and drew the teenager close to something that felt warm, soft, comforting, and above all else, safe.
"That must have been some dream," an accented voice commented into her ear. Maxy registered it as Berto's instantly, and collapsed fully against him, drawing on the intense aura of love surrounding him.
"You don't know the half of it," she replied, then burst into tears, burying her face against his chest. If possible, he drew her closer, tightening his grip around her, as if a hug could just force the pain and fear away. For how long he didn't know, and furthermore, didn't care, Berto sat there, holding his girlfriend and rocking her gently.
"Feeling better, novia?" he asked finally, loosening his grip somewhat. She kept her head rested against his chest, hearing his heartbeat relax to normalcy after the scare she'd given him.
"A little," she replied truthfully, sensing that he wanted the flat out truth. He turned her around so her back was facing him, and kept one arm around her waist while the other moved up to rub her shoulders. She relaxed slowly, muscle fiber by muscle fiber.
"You want to talk about it?" he pressed gently, stroking down one of her arms. She molded herself against him, starved for the safe comfort she was now emersed in.
"It was about my first and only other boyfriend," she started, then shivered. Even now, she could still feel his icy touch on her hands. She glanced down to make sure they weren't encased in ice. Berto took one of her hands and squeezed it.
"When I first met him, I thought we were the perfect couple. I think I really did love him," she added, feeling her boyfriend's muscles tense up. She realized that all guys hate hearing about the old boyfriend, but Berto had asked.
"That is, until I found out about his drinking. That was almost three months into it. He never responded to anything I said, but promised to keep it under control. I believed him, until the first time I saw him drunk, and he socked me in the eye," she explained. The arm around her tightened protectively, and she reveled in the feeling. Rick had always the kind of 'every man for himself' guy. Not that she'd minded, being the type herself, but now it felt nice to have someone to turn to when she wasn't feeling her strongest.
"He apologized, and I thought we'd patched things up, but I guess not well enough. Now, though, I'm really glad. Berto, if we hadn't broken up, I'd probably never have come to Del Oro, and I love it here so much," she sighed. He put his other arm around her.
"I'm glad you came too," he told her, lips touching her cheek in a faint kiss.
"Me too. I feel safer here, with you, Josh and Xam, not like when I was with Rick. Six months into the relationship, and our dates usually consisted of him conking out in his dorm, drunk," she said quietly, the last part filled with disgust. Berto nodded sympathetically, wondering what all the screaming and thrashing had been. Maxy sighed, pretty much pressing her weight against the young man.
"After a really long talk with my closest friend, Lissa, I made up my mind to break it off with him. I still remember a lot of what we said, but one thing she said really sticks. 'Kel, you should have snapped it off the day after he punched you.' She's right, I was an idiot," the teenage girl said bitterly. She moved her body until her side was against him, and wrapped her arms around his waist, head on her boyfriend's shoulder.
"Comfortable?" he asked lightly, running a hand through her ponytail. She nodded against his shoulder as he slid his arms back around her.
"This is the part that's just plain haunted me. Breaking up with him," she murmured softly, involuntarily holding him closer.
"That bad?" he asked in understanding. Her head bobbed in agreement, and he lowered his head to hers, inducing a long kiss. She smiled up at him after.
"Thank you. Okay, I think I'm ready to tell, you think you can handle it?" she asked, a spark of her usual personality flickering in her eyes.
"I'm listening," he replied. She snuggled closer, sub-consciously seeking protection from her demons of the past.
"I went to his dorm room. When I went in, I could see he was clearly drunk. Wasn't expecting me, I guess. I told him we as a couple were over. He shot me this look, and told me to sit on the couch. He vanished for a minute, then reappeared, shoving something in his pocket. I'll always remember this. He begged me to stay, insisting that we could work this out. I told him again that the romance was gone, and I was leaving. He turned away, and I remember his exact words. 'If you won't love me...then you won't ever love anyone...again.' I thought the worst he could do was punch me and maybe scream at me a little," she sighed deeply, and cringed.
"Worse?" Berto asked, stating the obvious. The blue eyes flooded with tears, and she nodded, then the emotional volcanoe of pain, fear, and lost love erupted, for the first time.
"I found out what that thing in his pocket was. A pocket knife. Until he brought it down, I thought he was going to threaten me. But he stabbed me, three times," she said when she'd finished letting her tears flow. Her scars seemed to twinge with pain. She felt her boyfriend's other arm go around her, as if he hoped a hug could squeeze all the pain of the past out of her system. She didn't object, feeling too weary to do so even if she'd wished.
"How old were you?" his voice asked softly.
"Almost 17, in a couple months," she replied in an even softer tone.
"You've been having that dream over and over since then?" he continued. She nodded into his shoulder. Almost 17...she's almost 20 now...for three years? he calculated mentally.
"Sometimes it's just a flash image of him standing over me with a knife. Usually, I wake up just as the knife is coming down the first time. This was the first time I got the full dream since I moved to Del Oro," she explained in a soft whisper.
"Full dream?" the boy whose arms she was in asked.
"After he stabbed me, Rick...kissed me, then threw me across the room. He turned away, and walked out the door. He was just going to leave me there until I was dead. I honestly thought I was going to die. I'd been stabbed three times," she whimpered. A hand rested itself on her cheek, and turned her face gently. A pair of lips pressed against hers softly, then deepened.
"You didn't, you wouldn't have. If you were anything back then like you are now, you wouldn't have. You've got too much spirit to die," he told her honestly, head still only centimeters away.
"You must be right," she replied, smiling softly. Still in his embrace, she moved so that her back was pressed against his chest. They remained in that position silently for a few minutes.
"Anything else you want to talk about?" he asked finally.
"I suppose I should finish the story. Well, anyway, Rick left, and I was just laying there. I couldn't think of any way I could get out of this mess. Then suddenly, the door was broken down, and a couple police officers entered. While I was being taken out to the ambulance, they explained that my friend, Lissa, had heard me scream, and had called them out. Rick was already in custody, though they'd only booked him for being over the limit on alcohol, and carrying a concealed weapon. I guess finding a battered half dead ex-girlfriend in his apartment added a few things to his charge," she chuckled coldly at the last line.
"I'll have to call your friend Lissa and thank her one of these days," Berto murmured. Maxy leaned against him, half relieved and half surprised. She'd honestly thought that she would have scared all those close to her away if they'd known about this chapter of her past. Berto didn't seem to think so, emphasizing this with how close he was holding her.
"I spent almost a month in the hospital, and then the dreams started. I didn't have a roomie, so no-one ever really knew. Carol knew that I'd been attacked, and wanted me to come home right then, but I wanted to finish out the semester, if not the whole year. Lissa didn't realize that I was having them, and I had too much pride to tell anyone. Because I kept up my grades and my cheerful attitude, I don't think anyone noticed," she finished, sounding a touch bitter that during one of the hardest periods of her life, she had been alone.
"You didn't want them to notice, did you?" Berto said revealingly. His girlfriend nodded, then turned to face him, looking surprised.
"How did you know?" she questioned.
"I know you better than you think. And now, I know you even more. Guess old love strengthens new, huh?" was the reply. Maxy chuckled and snuggled her head under his chin, bracing one hand against his chest.
"Know what I'd really like to do? I'd like to go back and visit Carol's grave. It's been over a year," she said suddenly, and softly. Berto didn't ask, and she didn't expect him to. Carol was one subject Kelly had talked over with Josh, and Xam, so Berto had been able to listen in.
"I'd just like to know how my family is doing, for real," Berto said in reply. The slight weight of her head lifted from his chest, and she looked up at him.
"Something happen?" she asked. He shook his head.
"Nothing serious. It's just I've been here for a few years, and I haven't seen them all this time," he shrugged. Her eyes went wide with sympathy.
"But don't they ever write? I know you do, I've seen a couple of your letters," she questioned with interest, hoping she wasn't going to bring out any pain he'd already dealt with and buried.
"Of course they write back. But still, it's not quite the same as being there. Reading about Maria's 'A+' essay isn't the same as being there when she tells about it. By the time I find out about something earth-shattering, it's become old news, and there's another event," he lamented.
"I know what you mean. It was kind of the same for me until I found Josh, except without the letters," his girlfriend murmured, then yawned.
"Somebody's tired," Berto observed jokingly. Maxy rested her head on his shoulder.
"You think?" she asked boredly.
"The suggested length of a good night's rest is eight hours, novia. Not five minutes," was the scolding reply. The brunette snorted softly.
"It's that dumb nightmare. I haven't been getting much sleep in the past four or five days," she informed him. He made a sympathetic noise.
"I'm sorry I didn't recognize it sooner. How have you been managing to keep up with your usual standards then?" he inquired. She shrugged in response.
"I do what I have to do to keep anyone from noticing. It's what I did in college, it's what I do now. I have this thing about showing that emotion in public. I just had my guard down today," she explained, stifling another yawn. The lack of rest the past few days was really starting to catch up with her.
"That's silly. You know you can talk to me anytime. And Max and Xam would help you too, if you'll let us," he told her, tapping her nose lightly.
"Yeah, but I'm supposed to be lil miss tough girl," she reminded him, smirking slightly. He shrugged indifferently.
"We all have our off days," he chided her, tightening his grip on her as they kissed again. Neither noticed Turbo slip in, until her tongue flicked across Berto's cheek. He made some gagging noises, rubbing at the slobber on his face. Maxy giggled tiredly, and stroked her pet.
Hours later, about 11:00, Xam arrived home. In typical male fashion of completely ignoring the lateness of the hour, he clattered inside as noisily as possible, then scouted around the house for his twins. He passed by Kelly's room, saw the tent, and chuckled.
"I'll bet she used the gas grill to roast marshmallows in here too," he muttered, then came to the stairs leading down to the game room, spare bedroom, and laundry. On a whim, he snuck down the stairs, and into the game room. Because of the angle of the couch and TV, all he could see was the back of Berto's head. The teenager was intently focused on playing a video game. Kelly and Turbo were no where in sight. He tip-toed closer, hoping to startle his friend. He paused a few steps from the couch. Maxy was stretched out on the rest of the couch Berto didn't occupy, a blanket covering her body from the waist down. Her head rested on the younger teenager's right leg. With Turbo curled up on the floor before them, all they needed was a sleeping baby in Maxy's arms to complete the perfect family picture. Xam grinned impishly, and clapped Berto on the shoulder, a little violently. The teenager, clearly not expecting the attack, jumped slightly and dropped the controller. The movement woke Maxy, who yawned and turned her head to look up. Turbo was on her feet, looking for danger.
"Oh, hiya biggie bro," the brunette greeted drowsily. Xam gave her ponytail a playful tug.
"I was expecting Berto to be here, but the last thing I was expecting was you sleeping. I got worried when I wasn't tackled into the door," he joked. His sister yawned, and sat up.
"Turbo'll be happy to give you your greeting tackle. Go get 'em, Tee," she chuckled as Turbo cleared the couch, and knocked Xam to the floor. By the time he'd managed to elude the hyper dog, Berto had resumed his game, and Maxy had taken back her position. Her brother came up and moved her legs, sat down, and challenged Berto to a match. Maxy kicked her brother lightly in the side for revenge, then turned her head to watch the battle. Turbo came back to her place by the couch, and relative silence, punctuated by clicks from the controllers again enclosed the room. Maxy fell back asleep just before Berto beat Xam, for the third time.
Josh was the last one to arrive home, as usual. It was after midnight, but then, not like the triplets ever went to bed without at least saying "good-night" to each other. He hurried to his room to dump off the armored padding he'd been wearing for the fantasy-war battle he and a friend, Park, had set up. He glanced into Xam's room, nothing. Same for Kelly's. He peered outside on the off chance even Kelly was crazy enough to be running her gymnastics drills at midnight in the pitch black darkness. Finding no one, the teenager headed for the game room. Of course, there he found both the twins he was looking for, and Berto. He and Xam were engaged in yet another re-match, and, coming closer, he could see his sister's head resting on Berto's knee. He slipped up, and clipped both boys firmly in the backs of their heads.
"Morning!" he greeted brightly, grinning as they dropped their controllers. Once again, Maxy was jolted awake by one of her brothers scaring her boyfriend almost senseless.
"Do the words 10:00 mean anything to you?" she yawned, sitting up. He shook his head, and pilfered Xam's controller. Amazingly, the relaxing silence reigned again. Maxy wondered briefly how it was that she, Josh, and Xam could be in the same room, and not be causing trouble. She gave the game they were playing the credit, and fell back asleep, glad that she hadn't really been interrogated on her listlessness. Berto yawned and handed off his controller to Xam, and was asleep when the teenager glanced over at the couple a few minutes later. Josh moved around to the side of the couch, and the remaining two continued dueling.
Half an hour later, Turbo woke up, stood, stretched, and looked around. She saw her owner curled up on the couch against her boyfriend, both were asleep. The dog made a half-hearted attempt to wake them, then snorted softly. Xam was out as well, leaning against the back of the couch. She nosed his knee, then lost interest in the boy. Josh was sleeping too, stretched out face-down beside the couch. The dog wandered over, nudged his side, then trotted back to the TV. She used her nose to shut off the console, then padded back to Josh and laid down on his back. He grunted sleepily when she settled down, but remained asleep. The dog rested her head on his shoulder, and dozed off.
The next morning, Rachel showed up at 8:00, concerned when four of her partners hadn't shown up. Using the key Josh had given her, the McGrath/Steel triplets gave anyone who was a trustworthy friend a spare to their house, she entered the almost perfectly silent house. Like Xam and Josh had done, she checked the three rooms, and was only slightly surprised by the tent set up in Kelly's room. Both of the boys' rooms were empty as well, and generically messy. She passed by the stairs leading to the game room, and the light from the TV caught her eye.
"I wouldn't be surprised if they were up the entire night playing video games," she muttered, heading down the steps. However, the television was playing some random cartoon, and the four teenagers and one dog were silent. Rachel stepped around to the couch, and smiled slightly. None of them had moved, and the same relaxing family essence was still there. The only awake N-tek agent shut off the TV, then headed back upstairs, trying to be as quiet as possible. She went into Kelly's room, and plucked the digital camera off the teen's desk, then hurried back to the game room. She stood in front of the television, and focused the camera, making sure to get everyone into the photo. Turbo's ear twitched, as if anticipating the flash.
"Say cheese," she whispered, then pressed the shutter. The click and flash of light were sufficient to wake Maxy, who yelped and dug her nails into Berto's leg, waking him, and Turbo, who squealed and started dancing around, still on Josh's back. Xam was the last, woken by a kick to the side from Maxy. He started yelling at her, and Josh was shouting at Turbo, who by this time was cowering from him, huddled in the gap between Maxy and Berto.
"That had to be one of the strangest reactions to having a picture taken I've ever seen," a voice said, catching all five's attention. They looked towards the TV to see Rachel, one hand on her hip, the other holding Kelly's digital camera by the strap.
"Well, no fair using it to wake us up," she accused, yawning. The others added their half-awake agreements. Rachel sighed and handed Maxy the camera.
"I'd advise fully waking up and getting ready. You five were supposed to be at N-tek an hour ago," she informed them, heading for the stairs. The teenagers took several more minutes to wake up, then Josh transformed into Max, and they had a quick race up the stairs.
Okay, this wasn't supposed to have any point whatsoever. It's more to understand Kelly/Maxy's character, and dig a little into her past. The ending was to make the story longer and add a little humor to an otherwise serious story. The next in this series will be "D.O.X. Danger."
-Maxy Steel