(SLASH starts in this chapter...sort of. Fair warning.)
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4th Chapter
You got some 'splainin' to do, Booster.
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Booster woke up with the instant feeling that Something Was Not As It Should Be. A glance over at the cot where he had deposited Ted earlier revealed that the man was missing and thus the source of the feeling of wrongness. Something in his chest tightened and he had to remember to breathe as panic tried to settle over him.
He just...woke up and...went upstairs! Booster thought, head whipping around to face the stairs as he did his best to not imagine Ted fading away in his sleep.
After one more quick glance around the basement to make sure he hadn't missed something (he refused to even consider checking Zombie Max's closet), Booster hurried upstairs and started looking for any signs that Ted had been there. A muffled scream pierced the air and Booster sprinted for the partly closed door it had come from. He swung it open, hinges protesting quietly, and found himself staring wild-eyed at the exact same expression from two eerily similar faces.
There was another muffled scream and now Booster saw that it came from the TV, and also sounded nothing like Ted screaming. For a moment Booster wondered why they were watching gay prison porn together before he realized what was actually happening. "Ew, is he eating that guy's face?"
Ted frowned at him. "I know you've seen this movie before."
"Yeah, but I fell asleep before the face-eating part!" Booster protested, grimacing in disgust as he looked away from the screen. Adrenaline was ebbing away and he felt almost limp with relief that no one had disappeared while he was asleep.
(On second thought, Zombie Max disappearing might have been helpful.)
Bored by the conversation, Junior turned back to the movie. "No wonder you got weird when I suggested skinning Max," he muttered, shaking some raisins out in his hand.
Ted frowned at Junior, who didn't notice. Then he frowned at Booster, who did notice, and winced. "I...have to go talk to Booster, kiddo. This has been fun. ...Thanks for the raisins." He stood up and frowned more at Booster.
Junior flashed him a quick grin. "'Kay. Any time!" he chirped, before once again losing himself in the bloody antics of serial killers.
"Booster," Ted said in a low voice, walking past him out the door. When Booster hesitated to follow, he grabbed his arm and pulled him along until Booster reluctantly kept pace. When they got back down in the basement, Ted shifted through various poses trying to find something to do with his hands, then finally settled on crossing his arms over his chest.
"Um--" Booster started, but was interrupted.
"Let's start at the beginning." Ted said, frowning at him again. "Why am I--You brought me back with--No, how long was I..." He grimaced and shoved a hand through his hair, then made an odd face when he realized it was still longer than he expected it to be. "How long?"
Booster rubbed the back of his neck, furrowing his brow. He'd been doing so well not thinking about...that. "I...don't really know," he sighed. "Maybe...less than a month. I don't know exactly when you...when..." He cleared his throat and stared down at the floor. There was an odd paint stain on it that looked a little like blood...if blood was a dirty blue color. "I know it was some time between when you left the hospital and when Batman showed us your goggles," he swallowed thickly as the image of Blue Beetle's shattered, bloody goggles swam into his mind's eye, "but I don't know what day... It's been a little less than a month since then. I kind of lost track of time, though, so I don't know what today is."
He looked up to find Ted still frowning at him, but differently. The man opened and closed his mouth a few times in an attempt to speak, but couldn't seem to find the words. Finally, he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay, I have...questions about that, but they can wait. How did you...what the hell did you do to me, anyway?"
Crossing to the desk, Booster picked up Cybele's Stone and held it up for Ted's inspection. "I used this to resurrect you," he said, adding, "Well, this and a spell, but mostly this. The spell's just...like an 'on' button."
Ted had an odd look on his face. "How--Where did you get--How?" He pulled a hand over his face, then left it there. "Where did you get that, how did you know how to use it?"
"The Big Book of Resurrection Rituals." Booster answered, carefully setting the Stone back down. He wasn't sure what would happen to Ted if it was damaged, so he wasn't taking any chances.
"You're kidding."
Booster leaned over the desk to flip the book closed and held it up so Ted could see the cover. After a quick scan of the title, Ted looked at him and said flatly, "Booster, that's in Latin."
"Yeah, there's a Latin/English dictionary...somewhere around here." Booster set the large tome back on the desk and glanced around at the contained chaos of his workspace with a frown.
Ted shook his head and waved a hand to indicate he didn't care, or at least wasn't going to spare it further thought for the moment. "Nevermind. What about...?" He motioned toward the closet. It took Booster a moment to realize he meant Zombie Max; he'd gotten so used to the undead tenant he'd forgotten him.
"Accident." Booster said sheepishly, then cleared his throat and rocked back and forth on his feet. "Not sure what I did. But he's not the kind of zombie with superstrength, so he's pretty harmless." He shrugged. "Junior thought maybe he needed to eat in order to have superstrength, but I made him stop throwing spoiled meat at him after a while because...well, he can't catch and he can't bend over much. It was kind of pathetic."
"That's another thing--who is that kid?" Ted asked, suddenly remembering. An uneasy feeling had settled in the pit of his stomach.
"He's...sort of...my son?" Booster muttered reluctantly.
"Your son? He has to be at least--wait, how is he 'sort of' your son?"
"Well he's...also...sort of...yoursontoodon'thurtme!" Booster blurted in a panicked rush.
There was a pause before--"What!" Booster winced at the outburst as Ted's face rapidly cycled through several different expressions before settling on a combination of incredulous disbelief and confusion as he sputtered out, "How--how--how is he my son too!"
"Well, you know Max--" Booster started.
"OH GOD -- he's not the father too, is he!" Ted shouted in wide-eyed horror, grabbing Booster's shoulders with both hands.
"No!" Booster yelped, wincing as Ted's fingers dug in. "Just you and, uh, me. It was an accident like Max -- the wording wasn't clear and the translation was a pain in the ass!"
Ted frowned at him, one eyebrow rising while the other lowered. "You're making this up," he said, trailing off as Booster slowly shook his head. Ted stared at him while Booster did his best to look harmless. "...My son?"
Booster nodded.
"And your son?"
Booster nodded.
"He wanted to skin Max?"
Booster shrugged sheepishly.
Ted frowned. "You named him 'Junior'?"
"Well I had to call him something. He was starting to answer to 'oh crap'."
Ted closed his eyes and bowed his head, letting go of Booster's shoulders. He turned away, crossing one arm over his chest and resting his elbow on it as he cupped the lower half of his face. "This is...a lot," he muttered. He glanced back over his shoulder and Booster could tell he was frowning behind his hand by the way his eyebrows scrunched. "None of it explains your hair, though."
"Oh. That." Booster cleared his throat, looking embarrassed. "Well, it...seemed like a good idea at the time. I mean, if I was going to be a supervillain I thought I should look the par--"
"Wait, what?"
Booster blinked at him. "What what?"
"Supervillain?" Ted's expression had returned to incredulous. "What are you-- What the hell were you--" His eyes narrowed and a hint of accusation slipped into his voice. "When did you become a supervillain!"
"About the time everyone stopped giving a damn about you!" Booster snapped, then grimaced and crossed his arms over his chest. "I even tried to shoot Batman."
Ted raised an eyebrow. "You took a shot at Batman?"
Booster shrugged.
"That's...actually kinda cool."
Surprised, Booster looked up to see Ted smiling a little. "Yeah?"
"Yeah." Ted said, then pointed a finger at him. "You're nuts, but yeah." He frowned again. "So...no one noticed I was...?"
"Guy and Bea, maybe." Booster sighed. "Probably a few other people. I haven't really spoken to them since I started...trying to get you back."
"...Have you spoken to anyone lately?"
"Yes." Booster said indignantly.
Ted leveled a look at him. "People you created don't count!"
Booster shuffled his feet. "...No," he muttered.
"God!" Ted threw his hands up and paced a few feet. "You are nuts! Hell, this whole thing is nuts! You accidentally made us the supporting cast of 'Junior Has Two Daddies'--"
"I--"
"--you're keeping the zombie of the man who killed me in a closet--"
"He tries to eat people otherwise!"
"--you've apparently become some insane hermit supervillain--"
"I couldn't get the stuff I needed legally!"
"--you shot at Batman, for God's sake--"
"He had it coming!"
"--you brought me back from the dead, Booster! Dead. I was--"
Booster suddenly grabbed Ted by the shoulders and shook him. "I know!" he shouted. "You were dead! Killed being a hero, and no one cared! If I could I'd try to shoot Batman again and I hope Superman isn't there to block it this time! You didn't deserve... I--I--You were...hnn--" Just as suddenly as he'd grabbed him, Booster collapsed against the surprised man, clinging tightly.
"Booster?" Ted asked worriedly, wrapping his arms around the man and shifting slightly to better support his weight.
"You were dead." Booster said in a small voice. "You were dead and...and...I didn't know what to...so I just kept going and...and now you..." He squeezed him, pressing his face against Ted's neck. "I got you back," he whispered. "I got you back. ...I don't know what to do now, Ted..."
Ted sighed, gently rocking him. "It's okay, Booster," he murmured. "It's okay. We...we do the same thing we do every night."
"Whuzzat?" Booster muttered, calmer.
"Try to take over the world."
There was a silent pause before Booster lifted his head to look at him. They stared at each other for a moment before Ted's lips twitched into a grin. Booster grinned back. "God I missed you, Ted."
Then, just as he was leaning forward to kiss Ted, Booster passed out.
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