"So," he looked around the room cautiously, trying to get the feel for it, find entrances and exits, dangers and safe spots, trying to get comfortable in the still strange surrounding, even if he didn't look uncomfortable.
From her spot sitting happily on the couch, Emily smiled. She was still getting used to everything about being on her own again, free again, but seeing the young man in the doorway made her day. Made it seem like as bad as it all had been and as stupid as she had been, maybe it could still be okay. "You can come in, you know."
Walking in cautiously, Alec shrugged and took off his jacket, settling it on a chair before following Emily's example and sitting down. "You settling in okay? Have everything you need? I know it's hard to get used to the world again and all that…" he paused, trying to seem calmer, "just, if you need any help with anything, that's what I'm here for."
Edging into more of a sitting position, Emily leaned forward and offered Alec a glass of milk, picking up her own forgotten glass. "I'm doing okay, I think. But don't worry, if I need help, I'll let you know." she laughed slightly, internally thanking everything that she could that she was getting the chance to know this young man, to be able to tell that he was nervous.
Shrugging slightly, Alec let a slight smile come across his face for her benefit mostly. He was nervous, agitated over a subject that he knew it was past time to bring up. "Yeah, that's good. Don't think I was going anywhere ever anyway."
Emily nodded, accepting that it probably would be hard for her to get used to life again, and knowing more than anything that she was glad she had her son here to help her though it. To be there for her. It was all a mother could ask for, something she wasn't sure that she deserved. "That's why I had a big, strong, boy, right? To help me move furniture around when I so desire."
Alec looked down quickly, not wanting to meet Emily's gaze yet, but knowing that he was going to have to eventually. That he would have to explain something that he didn't really have any right to be explaining, something that he was still trying to deal with. "Yeah," it lacked the confidence his tone usually held.
Even that brief look that she caught was enough to convince Emily that something was wrong, something was making Alec sad and nervous more so than just that they were here talking. "Alec," she waited until he looked up and tried to show understanding in her gaze, "what's wrong?"
"It's… do you remember, even a little…" he gestured fruitlessly, too flustered to get out what he wanted to say without either being too blunt or too vague. Alec looked away again, for the first time in his life unable to find the words.
There was only one thing that Emily could think he would be asking about, to do with memory that she should have and he would know about. Why Alec was so upset confused her, but she understood that it would come out in time, he would explain. She hoped. "When I had you?" he nodded, "No, there were some problems I understand and they had to put me to sleep for it… I never got to see you…" she could feel her eyes misting but fought the urge to cry away.
Biting his lip, Alec noted that as was usual the easy way through anything was being denied to him. It didn't surprise him overly, but it didn't help him either. Not knowing what else to say, Alec decided the only thing to do was say the truth, be straightforward. "I guess nobody ever told you… they didn't tell me either… I was a twin."
Her breath caught in her throat and Emily felt a wave of first confusion, then joy, then pain, as his words sank in and she caught the telltale and heartbreaking was. Swallowing the slight lump that was forming in her throat, Emily asked, "Was?"
Nodding unhappily, Alec couldn't help but realize now that he had friends and almost a family how much it meant to him that he'd never even gotten to meet his identical twin. For the first time he could feel the empty spot where it meant something to him, where it meant everything to him. "Ben… he… died, last year…"
Closing her eyes tightly, Emily fought against a flashback to her much younger self, the one who had looked wide-eyed at the seemingly easy offer that Manticore had given her and had accepted without any further thought. She wondered how she could have known so little and been so stupid. "What… what happened?"
Licking his suddenly dry lips, Alec turned back to meet his mother's stare, and replied evenly, "Manticore. Wanted to take him back and he didn't want to go…" he could see the questions forming in Emily's eyes, but refused to get drawn into them. "I never met Ben," he could see the startled look this elicited. "We were in different groups. He was with Max's group… she knew him. You should really talk to her."
She could see the way talking about this hurt Alec even though he was trying not to admit to it. Thinking about all this was hurting her, and Emily wasn't even sure if it had really sunk in yet. They needed to talk about something else, something less raw. "So, you and Max, huh?"
Jerking slightly, startled, Alec was sure he would blush, but thankfully he was able to side step the natural reaction with the practiced ease of ignoring emotions. He did imagine that his slack jaw did somewhat give it away though. "Me and… Max? Like that. Uh, no, see, we're friends." Yeah, the kind of friends who kissed, apparently…
Despite herself, a slight twinkle lit in Emily's eyes as she tried not to smile. Her mouth twitched slightly and then was calm again; as though she hadn't seen way, way, too much from the flustered reaction she had received to her question. "Oh. I see." It's a little more than that from Maria's descriptions… "My mistake."
"Uh, yeah," Alec turned slightly, fixing the collar of his shirt, and Emily caught distinct sight of some sort of tattoo. When Alec looked back again, Emily was regarding him curiously, "What?"
Gesturing to his neck, Emily asked with equal parts curiosity and amusement, "Is that a tattoo on your neck, or are you going to tell me about some sort of bizarre encounter with a black marker."
Instead of the returning grin that Emily expected, Alec paled slightly, hand lingering to rest protectively over his neck. Then he let out an unneeded sigh and tried to calm his nerves, reminding himself that Emily was by far not the first person to notice his barcode, and probably one of the few he could trust. "Not a tattoo. A barcode. Mine, actually."
"Ahh," Emily nodded as though his cryptic answer had explained everything just as well as a five-paragraph speech would have. "So, my son's like some sort of superhero."
Finally, her comment got the reaction she was going for, a grin, and a slight chuckle. Alec stood up abruptly, "That's nothing, watch this."
Emily watched, dumbfounded, as Alec suddenly was nothing more than a blur of color that she could follow moving across the room and… up the wall? Then he was back again, grin firmly on his face, having taken no more than a second out of her sight. "Oh, my."
Still smiling, Alec caught the expression on her face and noted that it was more of shock and less of horror with satisfaction. He hadn't wanted to admit to himself that he had been slightly worried that she might not like his transgenic side. "Superhero, huh? Never been called that before, but I like it. Wait till I tell Max!"
Recognizing that perhaps they both needed some time to breathe and think things through, Emily embraced this idea instead of embracing Alec, as she wanted to. He seemed to still be holding back slightly. "Hmm, just remember that she's a superhero too, no fighting amongst you gods."
Alec laughed along with his mother, sweeping up his jacket fluidly and turning to go, suddenly awkward. But when she waved him on, Alec relaxed again, glad that he wouldn't have to do too much more of the hugging thing, especially when he was still trying to get used to all this family stuff, "Will do. See you later," he paused. "Mom," and was out the door.