Title: Paths of the Past: Chapter Two
Author: Stormhawk
Rating: PG-13
Chapter Word Count: 3136
Notes: Nope
Please read and Review.
The next afternoon.
"I'll get it," Stevie called to the rest of the house as someone rang the doorbell. She opened the door and saw an older guy with short dark brown hair.
"Hello."
"I'm Brad, I live up the street."
"Brooke."
"We're having a party tonight, so we're inviting everyone and getting everyone else not to call the cops if the music gets too loud. You interested?"
She smiled, "sure."
Brad grinned, "good, the whole house is invited. Seventeen twenty, the brown and white joint. When you hear the music come on up."
"Cool."
"See you then," he said with a wink as he left.
"You can't go," Stevie jumped a foot into the air as she heard her dad's voice as she closed the door.
"Don't scare me like that dad!" she screeched as she tried to calm her heart rate back down. "When the hell did you get here?"
"I just got here."
"And you were listening in?"
"You cannot go to this party."
"Don't tell me that! This is the first party I've been invited to since I've been plugged back into." He went to say something but she stopped him, "that isn't a birthday party."
"It's a school night."
"I won't stay out that late."
"That boy has a criminal record as long as my arm."
"Don't say that," she groaned as she followed him through to the kitchen.
He required a file and flipped it open, "Brad Williams, age seventeen," he paused, "it's actually longer than my arm. Theft, drug abuse, disturbing the peace multiple times. His friends who share the house with him have similar records."
"If they're that bad then why isn't they in jail?"
He was quiet for a moment, requiring the answer. "Their parents bribed the police."
She pouted, "damn."
Smith looked down at his daughter, he wasn't trying to spoil her fun but he didn't want her in danger. The dilemma of every parent. "It's not the last party in the world."
"Yeah but everyone else in the street is going." She looked up at him, "and don't you pull the jumping off a bridge line on me."
"Yeah," Cray said as he walked into the kitchen, "let's bungee off.a.bridge." He stopped and looked up at Smith. Even after this time being plugged back in it was hard not to be afraid of the deadliest agent of all. Even if he was Stevie's father.
He'd probably get over it.
"I wasn't talking about bungee jumping Cray," Stevie said tiredly. "It's the parent's line. You know."
"Yeah," he mumbled as he walked to the fridge. "What about anyway?"
"There's a party and I'm not allowed to go."
"The boys holding it are criminals," Smith reiterated.
"Then I can't go either. Ryder would flip if he knew I was anywhere near a bad element. We will not mention the parties that Niq has been to."
"A couple of months ago you were a bad element."
"Yes dad, but he's not a rebel anymore." Cray gulped as he realized that today of all days he was wearing all black. A sign of the resistance.
"Maybe not," Smith conceded.
"So? Are we going?" Stevie asked her dad. He nodded and she waved to Cray as they shifted away.
When they walked up to the cinema the long was very long. They joined it and looked around. "I didn't think it would be this busy," Stevie mumbled.
"It's not your fault."
Stevie nodded and looked around, she jerked her thumb toward Imor, a shop that sold cool and punk clothing. She could see a red top in the window. "Can I go there for a minute?"
Smith looked at the line ahead of him, "I'm sure I'll still be here." She grinned and walked off.
"They grow up so quickly don't they?"
Smith turned and saw an old man in line behind him. He nodded. "They do."
"You can't stop it, one day they're a baby in your arms, next they want the car and your credit card. Then they move out and stop calling."
Smith looked toward the store where he could just see Stevie through the decorated windows. "Are they all like that?"
The old man shrugged, "I don't think so. I hope you don't have to find out."
"So do I," Smith mumbled.
***
Stevie had tried on the red top. It fit perfectly and it was on sale so it was a good purchase. She carried it toward the counter but something caught her eye.
It was a purple material and mesh tank top. The mesh was on the back and bottom, leaving a purple tube top surrounded by mesh to make it look like a real top. It wasn't the kind of thing she usually went for but something about it made her want to buy it. She pulled one off and tried it on.
She looked at herself in the mirror. No, it wasn't really her.
But.
She took another look and found her gaze locked onto the reflection of her own eyes. She wasn't sure how long she looked into them.
It was almost as if.
"Miss are you alright?" the attendant called out.
Stevie blinked and snapped back to reality. "Yeah, I'm fine." She changed back into her normal top and smiled at the black-haired girl. "I spaced."
"Taking both of these?" she asked as she took the two tops off the teenager.
"Yup," Stevie said as she pulled out her bankcard. She paid for the tops and carried the black plastic bag out. She found Smith waiting with tickets.
"You forgot the popcorn."
"No I didn't, I didn't know how long you were going to be so I'll require some once we're in there."
"Good plan."
He shifted them both back to the mansion once the movie was over. "Bye dad," she said as she hugged him and he shifted away. She followed her nose into the kitchen.
The other three were eating spaghetti and meatballs. "Hungry?" Niq asked as she picked up a spare plate. Stevie nodded and the older girl spooned some out, "don't worry Darth didn't cook it."
"Hey!"
"Sorry Darth but you really can't cook," Niq said flatly.
"I can when I want."
"Yeah, which isn't often. And goop doesn't count cause we grew that."
"Goop is the ultimate fungi," Cray muttered as he slurped up some spaghetti.
"Ew," the girls said in unison while the boys snickered.
A few hours later everyone said goodnight. Stevie got changed for bed and she looked out her window and could see the party going in full swing and hear the music loud enough to sing along with it.
She wanted to be there.
But her dad had said no and she had to listen.
Didn't she?
If she went for a while he wouldn't know would he? No one would rat on her to Agent Smith. Not the ex-rebels anyway. Stef might have but she wasn't there was she?
Stevie grinned to herself.
She made her mind up and pulled open her wardrobe and looked for something suitable to wear to a party. Then she remembered about her new tops. She pulled open the bag and immediately discarded the red one, slipping on the purple mesh one. She looked at herself in the mirror.
Perfect.
Tight black pants and short heeled boots and the mesh top. She smoothed her hair behind her ears; she was considering dyeing it, maybe red. She dug threw her desk drawer and found a spiked cuff that she had picked up on a shopping trip and slipped it onto her right wrist.
She looked in the mirror again. Much better.
Her own eyes caught her attention again. She stared unblinking as the image around her almost seemed to morph or distort but with her focus solely on her eyes everything was blurry anyway.
It was almost as if someone else was looking back at her.
"Freak show," she muttered and opened her window. She jumped out and fell slowly through the air as to not hurt herself and landed softly on the grass. She was getting better at manipulating the Matrix. Well after all, it was her world.
Smirking, she walked up the street.
"Ah you made it," Brad's voice came from off to the side as she walked up the stairs of the house, which was of comparable size to the mansion she lived in.
"Cause I did."
He jumped down from the railing, "let me show you around."
"Cool."
He led her into the house, which was full of teens and young adults in varying states of drunkenness and awareness. "Food there, don't touch the green chips if you want to keep your stomach." She gave him an odd look, "some health food shit."
"You'd have to pay me to go anywhere near them," Stevie said as she caught a look at him.
"You a user?" he asked in a quieter tone. She shook her head, "well if you want to experiment the guys in the room on the other side will set you up with some pretty mind blowing stuff."
"No drugs." She said, but somehow felt conflicted about saying it.
"Drink?" he asked as he handed her a beer.
The word 'no' stuck in her throat before she could say it. She didn't actually want to say no.
She didn't drink.
No one had to know.
Just one.
"Anything but beer, I hate the smell," she said in a slightly rougher voice.
"A girl who knows what she wants, at last." He mixed her a couple of drinks together and handed her the plastic cup. She sniffed at it.
"Trust me," he said with a grin.
She shouldn't trust him.
She told that part of her brain to shut up.
She downed it without blinking. She blew out a long breath then looked up at him, "what else you got?"
"Not the innocent I thought you were," he said as he poured some more into a taller cup and handed it to her. Stevie tossed her other cup over her shoulder, hitting a nearby teen in the head.
This drink she took slower, drinking it in-between moving to the music. Throwing her cup away she grabbed a girl's bottle of beer and sculled the contents.
"I thought you didn't like it," Brad said with a scoff.
"I changed my mind."
After an hour of drinking half-empty beers it began to feel familiar.
Almost too familiar.
She saw a flash of color and all of a sudden she wasn't looking at a house. Looking around, it looked like an abandoned building with ripped posters over the walls and spot lights in the corners to provide the partiers something to see with.
A guy with a tattoo on his face walked toward her, "hey Je."
"Brooke!" Brad said loudly as he saw her eyes were hazing over. The alcohol was starting to have an effect on her system.
Looking around, it was if she knew exactly where she was but none of it was familiar. Like reading your life in a textbook but not being able to remember anything about it.
She pushed past him and ran for a bathroom.
Pushing the people out of the way, she found an empty bathroom, turned on the light and locked the door behind her. She leant on the ceramic basin and looked into the mirror. Again, a stranger's eyes looked out from her face.
"My name is Stevie," she whispered to herself and looked up. It was jut her once more. A sickly green her but still just her.
She fell in front of the toilet and puked.
*****
"Stevie?" Darth called from outside of the teenager's room. "Your light's on so I guess you're not asleep. You left your phone downstairs and you just got a message so I brought it up. Thought it might be important." He waited for an answer. "Hello?"
He twisted the doorknob and held a hand over his eyes, "I hope you're decent," he muttered as he opened it. "Stevie?" cautiously he opened his eyes and looked around. She was gone. He looked out the window and saw the party up the street.
Cray had told him about it, and how she wasn't allowed to go. And being the eldest of the collaborators in the Matrix he was expected to keep an eye on things. "Crap," he said as he dialed a number on the cell phone.
***
Stef jumped and kicked the rebel's head so hard that she heard the neck snap. Then she heard her phone ring; Smith shook his head as he shot the last rebel.
"Hello?"
"Remember that party? The one Stevie isn't supposed to go to?" Darth asked.
"Yup."
"Guess where she is."
"Shit." She looked over at Smith, "don't follow me."
She shifted to Stevie's room and followed Darth's gaze up the street. "She is so dead if he finds out. Thank you." He smiled as she shifted up the street. Looking around she decided the quickest way was to shift straight to where the teen was.
She didn't expect Stevie hung over a toilet, sweating and shaking. "Oh shit," Stef muttered as she knelt beside her. "Stevie?"
"Kill me, it has to feel better than this," she choked through some tears.
"You'll be ok."
"No I won't."
"Hold on," she said as she held her around the shoulders and shifted to the mansion. "Get me some towels," she said to Darth as they walked quickly to Stevie's bathroom. Stevie knelt and puked again. Stef grabbed a hair tie from the sink and pulled all of Stevie's hair back out of the way.
Darth handed her the towels and nodded his head to the room. Smith was there. She pulled Darth out of the bathroom and pointed to the door. He did as ordered and left.
"I told you not to follow me."
"What's going on Stef? Where's Stevie?"
There was a loud retching from the other side of the door. Worry crossed his face, "what's wrong with her?"
Stef shook her head, "go away Smith."
He glared at her, "what?"
"You heard me."
"She's my daughter."
"And the last thing she needs right now. You go in there and you'll yell at her."
"She went to the party." It wasn't a question. Stef nodded.
"Just trust me enough to look after her tonight, you can see her tomorrow." He nodded, knowing that it was probably for the best and shifted away.
Stef opened the door and found Stevie resting back against the tub. Stef knelt and wiped her face clean. Then she looked at what she was wearing. "Defiantly a good thing I didn't let your dad in here."
"I feel horrible," Stevie whimpered holding her stomach. Stef required the teen into a loose tee and some soft pajama pants. Getting a wet washcloth she wiped the sweat from her face and arms.
"Come on," she said as she helped her to her feet. She was too unsteady so Stef picked her up and deposited her in her bed. Turning the fan on Stevie winced in pain. "Drink this," Stef said as she required a glass of water and allowed her to sip it.
"I.am never.drinking again," Stevie stuttered between sips. Stef got a cold washcloth and laid it across her forehead.
"So you were drinking. I wondered why you reeked of alcohol." She paused, "Stevie when did you start drinking?"
"I don't drink. But I did tonight."
"How much did you have?"
"I don't remember. And I don't remember why either." She closed her eyes, "can you put the light out please, it hurts." Stef required the light out. "I was thinking I would have one drink. I didn't even blink when I had that one and then."
"And the outfit? Drunk with an outfit like that really isn't a good idea."
"I haven't been feeling myself. I felt like I didn't want to be myself so I did this."
"That really doesn't seem like a good reason."
"Can you give me something to make me go to sleep?"
"Sure kid," Stef said as she laced the water with a drug and handed it back to the girl. Stevie drank as much as she could and fell almost immediately asleep against Stef. She put an arm around her surrogate sister and wondered what the hell could have made her act like that.
There was a light tapping at the door and it opened a crack, Darth peeked his head in. "Is it safe?"
"She's asleep."
"Oh, I'll go."
"From what I just gave her she's not going to wake up from us just talking." He nodded and walked in, quietly closing the door behind him. She required a chair and he sat down.
"Did she drink something spiked?"
"I think it just could have been what she drank."
"Little Stevie went binge drinking?"
"Looks that way, I think she drank more than I have in my life. Lucky she's managed to puke most of it."
"Even in the state she's in Cray will be jealous." Stef groaned and shook her head. Smurf-boy could be very odd sometimes.
"I'm glad I skipped all this crap."
"No parties?"
"I stayed at home and used the net. It's not as stupid or dangerous."
"Good point."
"I just don't get why she did this."
"She's a teenager, it's probably a brain chemical thing." He yawned.
"You go to sleep, I want to stay here with her."
"I'll be lonely."
"You'll have to be, I'm not leaving her alone in this state." He kissed her and whispered goodnight before leaving.
*****
"How is she?" Smith asked as Stef shifted just prior to the morning recruit exercises starting. They looked around as Brown took them through stretches so they wouldn't pull their muscles as they did pre-breakfast training. They walked out of the gym when Brown had got them all in order.
"Still asleep, don't worry Darth's looking after her. When the others wake up they can give him a hand. She'll be ok."
"I hope so."
"She just got exceedingly drunk. A couple of days of rest and she'll be fine."
"But why did she do it?"
"She's sixteen, you do stupid stuff when you're sixteen."
"Did you?"
"Well, no, but most sixteen year olds do."
"She's growing up very quickly."
"I think you're getting paranoid. It's only one time. You raised a good kid Smith, I don't think there's any reason to worry."
"I hope not. But this may how she wants to live."
"Come on, this is Stevie we're talking about."
"I've been told that children grow up and grow away."
"Only if they want to. Only if they have a reason to."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
That was interesting, let's go to the next chapter...
Author: Stormhawk
Rating: PG-13
Chapter Word Count: 3136
Notes: Nope
Please read and Review.
The next afternoon.
"I'll get it," Stevie called to the rest of the house as someone rang the doorbell. She opened the door and saw an older guy with short dark brown hair.
"Hello."
"I'm Brad, I live up the street."
"Brooke."
"We're having a party tonight, so we're inviting everyone and getting everyone else not to call the cops if the music gets too loud. You interested?"
She smiled, "sure."
Brad grinned, "good, the whole house is invited. Seventeen twenty, the brown and white joint. When you hear the music come on up."
"Cool."
"See you then," he said with a wink as he left.
"You can't go," Stevie jumped a foot into the air as she heard her dad's voice as she closed the door.
"Don't scare me like that dad!" she screeched as she tried to calm her heart rate back down. "When the hell did you get here?"
"I just got here."
"And you were listening in?"
"You cannot go to this party."
"Don't tell me that! This is the first party I've been invited to since I've been plugged back into." He went to say something but she stopped him, "that isn't a birthday party."
"It's a school night."
"I won't stay out that late."
"That boy has a criminal record as long as my arm."
"Don't say that," she groaned as she followed him through to the kitchen.
He required a file and flipped it open, "Brad Williams, age seventeen," he paused, "it's actually longer than my arm. Theft, drug abuse, disturbing the peace multiple times. His friends who share the house with him have similar records."
"If they're that bad then why isn't they in jail?"
He was quiet for a moment, requiring the answer. "Their parents bribed the police."
She pouted, "damn."
Smith looked down at his daughter, he wasn't trying to spoil her fun but he didn't want her in danger. The dilemma of every parent. "It's not the last party in the world."
"Yeah but everyone else in the street is going." She looked up at him, "and don't you pull the jumping off a bridge line on me."
"Yeah," Cray said as he walked into the kitchen, "let's bungee off.a.bridge." He stopped and looked up at Smith. Even after this time being plugged back in it was hard not to be afraid of the deadliest agent of all. Even if he was Stevie's father.
He'd probably get over it.
"I wasn't talking about bungee jumping Cray," Stevie said tiredly. "It's the parent's line. You know."
"Yeah," he mumbled as he walked to the fridge. "What about anyway?"
"There's a party and I'm not allowed to go."
"The boys holding it are criminals," Smith reiterated.
"Then I can't go either. Ryder would flip if he knew I was anywhere near a bad element. We will not mention the parties that Niq has been to."
"A couple of months ago you were a bad element."
"Yes dad, but he's not a rebel anymore." Cray gulped as he realized that today of all days he was wearing all black. A sign of the resistance.
"Maybe not," Smith conceded.
"So? Are we going?" Stevie asked her dad. He nodded and she waved to Cray as they shifted away.
When they walked up to the cinema the long was very long. They joined it and looked around. "I didn't think it would be this busy," Stevie mumbled.
"It's not your fault."
Stevie nodded and looked around, she jerked her thumb toward Imor, a shop that sold cool and punk clothing. She could see a red top in the window. "Can I go there for a minute?"
Smith looked at the line ahead of him, "I'm sure I'll still be here." She grinned and walked off.
"They grow up so quickly don't they?"
Smith turned and saw an old man in line behind him. He nodded. "They do."
"You can't stop it, one day they're a baby in your arms, next they want the car and your credit card. Then they move out and stop calling."
Smith looked toward the store where he could just see Stevie through the decorated windows. "Are they all like that?"
The old man shrugged, "I don't think so. I hope you don't have to find out."
"So do I," Smith mumbled.
***
Stevie had tried on the red top. It fit perfectly and it was on sale so it was a good purchase. She carried it toward the counter but something caught her eye.
It was a purple material and mesh tank top. The mesh was on the back and bottom, leaving a purple tube top surrounded by mesh to make it look like a real top. It wasn't the kind of thing she usually went for but something about it made her want to buy it. She pulled one off and tried it on.
She looked at herself in the mirror. No, it wasn't really her.
But.
She took another look and found her gaze locked onto the reflection of her own eyes. She wasn't sure how long she looked into them.
It was almost as if.
"Miss are you alright?" the attendant called out.
Stevie blinked and snapped back to reality. "Yeah, I'm fine." She changed back into her normal top and smiled at the black-haired girl. "I spaced."
"Taking both of these?" she asked as she took the two tops off the teenager.
"Yup," Stevie said as she pulled out her bankcard. She paid for the tops and carried the black plastic bag out. She found Smith waiting with tickets.
"You forgot the popcorn."
"No I didn't, I didn't know how long you were going to be so I'll require some once we're in there."
"Good plan."
He shifted them both back to the mansion once the movie was over. "Bye dad," she said as she hugged him and he shifted away. She followed her nose into the kitchen.
The other three were eating spaghetti and meatballs. "Hungry?" Niq asked as she picked up a spare plate. Stevie nodded and the older girl spooned some out, "don't worry Darth didn't cook it."
"Hey!"
"Sorry Darth but you really can't cook," Niq said flatly.
"I can when I want."
"Yeah, which isn't often. And goop doesn't count cause we grew that."
"Goop is the ultimate fungi," Cray muttered as he slurped up some spaghetti.
"Ew," the girls said in unison while the boys snickered.
A few hours later everyone said goodnight. Stevie got changed for bed and she looked out her window and could see the party going in full swing and hear the music loud enough to sing along with it.
She wanted to be there.
But her dad had said no and she had to listen.
Didn't she?
If she went for a while he wouldn't know would he? No one would rat on her to Agent Smith. Not the ex-rebels anyway. Stef might have but she wasn't there was she?
Stevie grinned to herself.
She made her mind up and pulled open her wardrobe and looked for something suitable to wear to a party. Then she remembered about her new tops. She pulled open the bag and immediately discarded the red one, slipping on the purple mesh one. She looked at herself in the mirror.
Perfect.
Tight black pants and short heeled boots and the mesh top. She smoothed her hair behind her ears; she was considering dyeing it, maybe red. She dug threw her desk drawer and found a spiked cuff that she had picked up on a shopping trip and slipped it onto her right wrist.
She looked in the mirror again. Much better.
Her own eyes caught her attention again. She stared unblinking as the image around her almost seemed to morph or distort but with her focus solely on her eyes everything was blurry anyway.
It was almost as if someone else was looking back at her.
"Freak show," she muttered and opened her window. She jumped out and fell slowly through the air as to not hurt herself and landed softly on the grass. She was getting better at manipulating the Matrix. Well after all, it was her world.
Smirking, she walked up the street.
"Ah you made it," Brad's voice came from off to the side as she walked up the stairs of the house, which was of comparable size to the mansion she lived in.
"Cause I did."
He jumped down from the railing, "let me show you around."
"Cool."
He led her into the house, which was full of teens and young adults in varying states of drunkenness and awareness. "Food there, don't touch the green chips if you want to keep your stomach." She gave him an odd look, "some health food shit."
"You'd have to pay me to go anywhere near them," Stevie said as she caught a look at him.
"You a user?" he asked in a quieter tone. She shook her head, "well if you want to experiment the guys in the room on the other side will set you up with some pretty mind blowing stuff."
"No drugs." She said, but somehow felt conflicted about saying it.
"Drink?" he asked as he handed her a beer.
The word 'no' stuck in her throat before she could say it. She didn't actually want to say no.
She didn't drink.
No one had to know.
Just one.
"Anything but beer, I hate the smell," she said in a slightly rougher voice.
"A girl who knows what she wants, at last." He mixed her a couple of drinks together and handed her the plastic cup. She sniffed at it.
"Trust me," he said with a grin.
She shouldn't trust him.
She told that part of her brain to shut up.
She downed it without blinking. She blew out a long breath then looked up at him, "what else you got?"
"Not the innocent I thought you were," he said as he poured some more into a taller cup and handed it to her. Stevie tossed her other cup over her shoulder, hitting a nearby teen in the head.
This drink she took slower, drinking it in-between moving to the music. Throwing her cup away she grabbed a girl's bottle of beer and sculled the contents.
"I thought you didn't like it," Brad said with a scoff.
"I changed my mind."
After an hour of drinking half-empty beers it began to feel familiar.
Almost too familiar.
She saw a flash of color and all of a sudden she wasn't looking at a house. Looking around, it looked like an abandoned building with ripped posters over the walls and spot lights in the corners to provide the partiers something to see with.
A guy with a tattoo on his face walked toward her, "hey Je."
"Brooke!" Brad said loudly as he saw her eyes were hazing over. The alcohol was starting to have an effect on her system.
Looking around, it was if she knew exactly where she was but none of it was familiar. Like reading your life in a textbook but not being able to remember anything about it.
She pushed past him and ran for a bathroom.
Pushing the people out of the way, she found an empty bathroom, turned on the light and locked the door behind her. She leant on the ceramic basin and looked into the mirror. Again, a stranger's eyes looked out from her face.
"My name is Stevie," she whispered to herself and looked up. It was jut her once more. A sickly green her but still just her.
She fell in front of the toilet and puked.
*****
"Stevie?" Darth called from outside of the teenager's room. "Your light's on so I guess you're not asleep. You left your phone downstairs and you just got a message so I brought it up. Thought it might be important." He waited for an answer. "Hello?"
He twisted the doorknob and held a hand over his eyes, "I hope you're decent," he muttered as he opened it. "Stevie?" cautiously he opened his eyes and looked around. She was gone. He looked out the window and saw the party up the street.
Cray had told him about it, and how she wasn't allowed to go. And being the eldest of the collaborators in the Matrix he was expected to keep an eye on things. "Crap," he said as he dialed a number on the cell phone.
***
Stef jumped and kicked the rebel's head so hard that she heard the neck snap. Then she heard her phone ring; Smith shook his head as he shot the last rebel.
"Hello?"
"Remember that party? The one Stevie isn't supposed to go to?" Darth asked.
"Yup."
"Guess where she is."
"Shit." She looked over at Smith, "don't follow me."
She shifted to Stevie's room and followed Darth's gaze up the street. "She is so dead if he finds out. Thank you." He smiled as she shifted up the street. Looking around she decided the quickest way was to shift straight to where the teen was.
She didn't expect Stevie hung over a toilet, sweating and shaking. "Oh shit," Stef muttered as she knelt beside her. "Stevie?"
"Kill me, it has to feel better than this," she choked through some tears.
"You'll be ok."
"No I won't."
"Hold on," she said as she held her around the shoulders and shifted to the mansion. "Get me some towels," she said to Darth as they walked quickly to Stevie's bathroom. Stevie knelt and puked again. Stef grabbed a hair tie from the sink and pulled all of Stevie's hair back out of the way.
Darth handed her the towels and nodded his head to the room. Smith was there. She pulled Darth out of the bathroom and pointed to the door. He did as ordered and left.
"I told you not to follow me."
"What's going on Stef? Where's Stevie?"
There was a loud retching from the other side of the door. Worry crossed his face, "what's wrong with her?"
Stef shook her head, "go away Smith."
He glared at her, "what?"
"You heard me."
"She's my daughter."
"And the last thing she needs right now. You go in there and you'll yell at her."
"She went to the party." It wasn't a question. Stef nodded.
"Just trust me enough to look after her tonight, you can see her tomorrow." He nodded, knowing that it was probably for the best and shifted away.
Stef opened the door and found Stevie resting back against the tub. Stef knelt and wiped her face clean. Then she looked at what she was wearing. "Defiantly a good thing I didn't let your dad in here."
"I feel horrible," Stevie whimpered holding her stomach. Stef required the teen into a loose tee and some soft pajama pants. Getting a wet washcloth she wiped the sweat from her face and arms.
"Come on," she said as she helped her to her feet. She was too unsteady so Stef picked her up and deposited her in her bed. Turning the fan on Stevie winced in pain. "Drink this," Stef said as she required a glass of water and allowed her to sip it.
"I.am never.drinking again," Stevie stuttered between sips. Stef got a cold washcloth and laid it across her forehead.
"So you were drinking. I wondered why you reeked of alcohol." She paused, "Stevie when did you start drinking?"
"I don't drink. But I did tonight."
"How much did you have?"
"I don't remember. And I don't remember why either." She closed her eyes, "can you put the light out please, it hurts." Stef required the light out. "I was thinking I would have one drink. I didn't even blink when I had that one and then."
"And the outfit? Drunk with an outfit like that really isn't a good idea."
"I haven't been feeling myself. I felt like I didn't want to be myself so I did this."
"That really doesn't seem like a good reason."
"Can you give me something to make me go to sleep?"
"Sure kid," Stef said as she laced the water with a drug and handed it back to the girl. Stevie drank as much as she could and fell almost immediately asleep against Stef. She put an arm around her surrogate sister and wondered what the hell could have made her act like that.
There was a light tapping at the door and it opened a crack, Darth peeked his head in. "Is it safe?"
"She's asleep."
"Oh, I'll go."
"From what I just gave her she's not going to wake up from us just talking." He nodded and walked in, quietly closing the door behind him. She required a chair and he sat down.
"Did she drink something spiked?"
"I think it just could have been what she drank."
"Little Stevie went binge drinking?"
"Looks that way, I think she drank more than I have in my life. Lucky she's managed to puke most of it."
"Even in the state she's in Cray will be jealous." Stef groaned and shook her head. Smurf-boy could be very odd sometimes.
"I'm glad I skipped all this crap."
"No parties?"
"I stayed at home and used the net. It's not as stupid or dangerous."
"Good point."
"I just don't get why she did this."
"She's a teenager, it's probably a brain chemical thing." He yawned.
"You go to sleep, I want to stay here with her."
"I'll be lonely."
"You'll have to be, I'm not leaving her alone in this state." He kissed her and whispered goodnight before leaving.
*****
"How is she?" Smith asked as Stef shifted just prior to the morning recruit exercises starting. They looked around as Brown took them through stretches so they wouldn't pull their muscles as they did pre-breakfast training. They walked out of the gym when Brown had got them all in order.
"Still asleep, don't worry Darth's looking after her. When the others wake up they can give him a hand. She'll be ok."
"I hope so."
"She just got exceedingly drunk. A couple of days of rest and she'll be fine."
"But why did she do it?"
"She's sixteen, you do stupid stuff when you're sixteen."
"Did you?"
"Well, no, but most sixteen year olds do."
"She's growing up very quickly."
"I think you're getting paranoid. It's only one time. You raised a good kid Smith, I don't think there's any reason to worry."
"I hope not. But this may how she wants to live."
"Come on, this is Stevie we're talking about."
"I've been told that children grow up and grow away."
"Only if they want to. Only if they have a reason to."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
That was interesting, let's go to the next chapter...