A/N 1: As in the previous chapters – ideas for fic and character development, questions, plotbunnies, suggestions, flames, character pictures, corrections, additions, comments, and everything in between can be mailed to hack_heaven@usa.net
A/N 2: This chapter will focus on the Shadow Alliance, the next on the Guardians. It was easier to keep track of that way. And I repeat: I do not encourage underage drinking. Hangovers = Bad Thing. Trust me.
Cherry Drop: Well, Kyle and Suzuka *did* expect a fair fight. Unfortunately the Shadow Alliance did not agree...
J.DeLuca: Alcohol? I don't think they'll need that...*eg*
Rascal: UST is Unresolved Sexual Tension. RST is Resolved Sexual Tension. Both are concepts that will show up in the 4th interlude ^_^
XFreakx: Well, Laetitia didn't exactly have a normal childhood. I don't think she even knows how to act like a 'normal' teenager.
* * *
Chapter Twenty-Six: In the Dark of the Night
* * *
The drive back to the hotel that the Shadow Alliance stayed at was a blur to Jhonen. The whole thing seemed so...surreal. He suspected that the reality of the situation would catch up with him soon, but for the moment it still felt strangely unreal. Like he wasn't really in the car, but it was just some movie he was watching.
He was sitting on the back seat next to Zach and listened with half an ear as Jordane brought Blade up to date. They spoke quietly and sometimes it seemed like they almost forgot that they weren't alone in the car.
Jhonen turned his head slightly to look at Zach. Now *there* was a scary kid – he only needed a few more years to carry his attitude on, and he'd be able to give even Blade a run for his money. Dark clothes, a T-shirt with unusually ugly, red demon on, and a long, black trenchcoat that Jhonen was pretty sure hid more than just the collapsible bo staff.
Teenager or not, he was definitely not someone you'd want to meet in a dark alley.
Zach noticed Jhonen's look, and smirked.
"Don't worry, I won't bite," he said with a hint of smugness that belied his real age – he was still at the stage where he found it amusing to frighten people with his appearance. It would change, though. In a few years, Zach would treat his appearance just like any other weapon, and use it with impressive results.
Jhonen quickly shook his head and looked away.
"No, it's not that. I'm just – the whole thing just feels so..."
"Surreal?" Blade suggested and turned his head to look at Jhonen.
Jhonen shrugged helplessly.
"Well...yeah. It's not because I'm regretting anything, it's just...hard to comprehend, I guess," Jhonen confessed.
"Give it a little time," Jordane said, taking her eyes off the road for long enough to send him a brief, reassuring look in the rear mirror. "I know it feels weird, but I think you'll like it here. We're not the coldhearted assholes that Cretes claims we are."
Jhonen nodded slowly, and had to admit that she was right. From what he'd seen so far, the Shadow Alliance was nowhere near as evil as Ryan claimed. He'd already seen the way Nike hovered protectively around Pheonix, not to mention the affectionate, almost loving way that Blade treated Jordane. If they were really so evil, they wouldn't have acted that way.
Jordane turned down a side-road, and finally stopped the car in front of small hotel. Behind them Laetitia followed Jordane's lead and stopped the other car.
Jhonen slowly got out of the car and took a look around. He wasn't sure what he'd expected, but this wasn't it. The neon-dragons above the entrance, the Oriental decorations...the hotel actually looked nice. Not a place one would expect a group of criminals to spend the night.
"Well...at least they've cleaned it up a bit," Blade remarked to Jordane.
It was apparently a private joke, because Jordane grinned.
"It couldn't get any worse, could it?" she replied.
Blade smirked and followed Jordane inside. Jhonen hesitated for a second, then raised his head resolutely and followed his new teammates.
* * *
"Pick a bed, any bed," Aaron said, then added. "Except that one. That's mine. And that one. That's Zach's, and he's too lazy to move."
Almost against his will Jhonen smiled and dropped his jacket on one of the beds. Zach and Aaron had, like the girls, hogged a four-person room, so they wouldn't have to move around to make room for Jhonen. Blade and Jordane – or actually Jordane, since Blade had still been with the Guardians when they'd arrived earlier that day - had picked one of the few two-person rooms on that particular floor, for reasons Jhonen had quickly decided not to wonder about. There were some things he preferred not to know.
It wasn't much he'd brought along from the Guardians – everything had happened so fast, after all – and apparently Aaron had noticed that as well.
"You know, we gotta get you some clothes tomorrow," he commented.
"We could dump him with the girls, and let them take care of that," Zach suggested with an impish grin. "Naah...too evil."
"Way too evil," Aaron agreed.
Buy clothes...Jhonen could survive that. There was just one problem – except for a few coins in his pocket, Jhonen didn't have any money with him. He bit in his lower lip and wondered how to bring up the subject, but again it appeared that his two roommates had read his mind.
"Don't worry about money," Zach assured him. "We'll steal a credit card, or grab one of Blade's. Since you're new, I don't think he'd mind."
"What about you? I mean, when you need something?" Jhonen asked.
Zach shrugged.
"We get a monthly...well, we call it an allowance."
"'Allowance'?" Jhonen repeated, incredulously.
"It's kind of an in-joke," Aaron explained. "Blade *is* nearly a decade older than most of us, so we – Pheonix, Zach, and me – sometimes call him 'dad' to annoy him. It pissed him off at first, but I think he's gotten used to it by now. 'Sides, it prevents his ego from getting too big."
"Usually he doesn't like to be reminded of his age," Zach added with a small grin. "I think it's because of the seven-years age difference between him and Melee."
Jhonen held up his hands.
"Too much information! New subject - *please*."
Zach smirked, obviously enjoying Jhonen's reaction to the conversation.
"Would you relax? It's not like they're sleeping together or anything. Although with all that UST between them..." he trailed off with a smug look on his face, and Aaron shook his head.
"Stop scaring our teammate. The poor guy just arrived," he remarked in mock seriousness, and Jhonen couldn't help but smile.
Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.
* * *
An hour later, when they'd had the chance to shower and relax, the team met in the girls' room. Jhonen received more than a few curious looks as he entered the room with Aaron and Zach, but he forced himself to act casually. He didn't want one of their first memories of him as a teammate to be that of a nervous, jumpy guy.
"I don't know about you guys, but I really need a night off," Zach said and sat down heavily on one of the beds. "Go out, get wasted, get into a few fights..."
"Skip the fights, and I'm in," Hal said and shrugged. "Not much else to do. Pheonix? Nike?"
Her two roommates exchanged a look, and quickly reached a decision.
"Sounds cool. We're in," Pheonix said.
Jhonen was tempted to stay behind and let his mind catch up with everything that had happened, but the little devil on the left shoulder sang a different song – it would be fun to get out. It had been way too long since he'd last been able to relax like that. Ryan was usually too responsible (or too strict; Jhonen wasn't sure which) to let his team out in the nightlife. With the kind of world they were living in Jhonen really couldn't blame him, but in this case he would be out with people who obviously knew how to defend themselves.
"Sure...count me in," Jhonen finally said with a faint smile. Zach grinned, and Pheonix patted his back.
"That's the attitude, J.!" she said. "Aaron?"
Aaron shrugged.
"If we pick a bar where I won't have to fight just to get in...sure," he replied.
"Mutant-friendly bar – deal," Pheonix said. "Blade? Jordane? You guys coming?"
Blade shook his head.
"I've had enough excitement for one night, and you're old enough to handle yourselves," he replied. "But no hangovers. We're leaving tomorrow."
"Gotcha, boss. Jordane?"
"No, not tonight," Jordane said and shook her head. "Someone has to stick around and make sure that our glorious leader doesn't get himself into too much trouble," she said with a teasing grin directed at her long-time partner.
"Cute," Blade replied and glared at her, but there was no real anger in his eyes.
Jordane just smirked.
"Well...I guess we'll be going then," Zach said. "See ya later."
Jordane and Blade watched as their team headed down the hallway, chatting among themselves, then returned to their own room to enjoy the welcome silence.
* * *
It took a while to find a bar that wasn't too anti-mutant, but they finally succeeded. It took a lot less time to get inside – they only had to slip the bouncer a twenty, and he agreed to overlook the fact that their ID cards were fake.
They picked a table a bit away from the music, so they would be able to talk without having to scream, and then sent Zach and Pheonix to the bar for drinks.
"Hal...right?" Jhonen asked the albino while they waited for the duo to return. He was fairly sure about most of the names, with one or two exceptions – Hal being one of them.
Hal smiled.
"Yeah." She paused, then sent him a curious look. "You hear voices, too?"
Jhonen blinked.
"What?" he asked, confusion plain on his face.
"The spirits, I mean. You hear spirits, right?" she clarified.
Jhonen nodded.
"Yeah. And usually, they won't shut up," he replied and sighed. "They can be annoying."
"Tell me about it," Hal muttered, and Zach looked at her.
"You hear them, too?" he asked surprised.
"No, no...I don't hear spirits. I...bring luck, I guess. I can see the various timelines, and pick the best one," she explained.
"See? And hear, and feel, too?" Jhonen asked at the advice of one of said voices.
Hal nodded.
"Yeah...it sucks," she replied and sighed.
Something in her tone told Jhonen that she knew exactly how bad it could be not to be in control of your own mind, and he couldn't help but feel a beginning companionship with the girl. Their powers weren't the same, but the results were alike. And somehow it felt good that he wasn't alone in that regard anymore.
Zach and Pheonix returned and placed the various beers and drinks on the table.
"Well, we weren't sure what ya liked, so we picked a screwdriver for ya," Pheonix said.
"Screwdriver?" Jhonen repeated.
"Vodka and orange juice. It's good," Zach said and smirked. "Next time we'll drag you along and let you take a good look at the drinks – that's easier."
Jhonen picked up the drink and sent it a suspicious look. It wasn't that he hadn't tried alcohol before – he drunk beer on several occasions – but he hadn't tried this particular drink before. He took an experimental sip. It tasted like plain orange juice.
"Are you sure there's vodka in it?" Jhonen asked. "It doesn't taste that way."
Zach smirked.
"Trust us, we saw the bartender mix it. There's vodka in it, all right."
Jhonen shrugged and downed a good part of the drink. Maybe a little more than he'd intended, but it didn't taste like alcohol, so...
Pheonix shook her head and stood up.
"I'm not sitting here all night. I wanna dance. Come on, Jhonen!"
And before Jhonen could object, Pheonix had dragged him onto the dance floor and started to move her body to the deep beat of the music. At first he felt uncomfortable, but as the alcohol started to take effect he felt himself loosen up and start to move in the same rhythmic movements as Pheonix. The music seemed to enter his body and course through his veins, making it impossible to stand still. Finally he gave up and let go, letting himself soar away on the deep, rhythmic beat, for a brief moment forgetting about teams, mutant camps, ideologies, and police officers.
Hal joined them on the dance floor and sent him a brilliant smile, her whole body glowing in the ultraviolet light, a strange contrast to Pheonix' almost black skin. A new song began, taking control of his body through bass and beat.
It was a weird night.
* * *
Coming up: Ryan broods, the Guardians have to deal with the fact that Jhonen isn't coming back, and when things look worst, Prue visits an old friend who pass along some disturbing rumors...
