Take the Long Way Home
Chapter 19, almost to the big two-oh! *Hack comes in* "You cut off my internet access! Now I'm trapped here!" *Vegeta snorts* "Welcome to my world kid." *He looks at me* "I don't suppose that there's any way in HFIL that I could get that tape from you without being one of your muses?" Let me think…how does no sound to you? *He gathers a large wad of energy in his hands* "Like you have a death-wish." Touch me, and a copy of that tape goes straight to your wife the same nanosecond! *He stops and lets the energy dissipate* "You don't have the…" Hack was the last one to say that to me. Look what happened to him. *Hack is battering against a forcefield that I've erected over every internet capable device in my little pocket dimension, effectively trapping him. He breaks down and starts to bawl like a two year old.* "Point taken."
L1701E- The idea you had earlier, you mentioned it in chapter nine of "Misfit Cannonball Run", I just called it the sugar idea because that part of it kinda stuck in my brain. I knew that, I just forgot! And I'll see if I can find some way to work Virus into the plot.
marie lebeau- Coyote's gonna teach them all a variety of stuff, but he's also going to teach each of them different thing as well. That's gonna be in the next chapter, along with one last permanent character being added to the cast (Unless I decide otherwise later on ^_^). But I'm not going to spoil the surprise of who it is!
Animeluvr1-I believe I've said this before, I'm shtoopid. I'm not that quick on the uptake. You need to use plain English when addressing me. I think you get the idea, I aint to bright in some aspects. Freddy didn't vote because Freddy wasn't there. Funfunfun indeed. And a kid in my class spells his name that way, Jaime instead of Jamie. I just got confused!
Andivari-I thought that it would be a nice twist, and it's opened up a few plot possibilities that I wanted to use. And think what's gonna happen when Ol' Buckethead finds out! Coyote-"I'm gonna hand his magnetic ass to him if he tries to start a throwdown with me! Keyword there? Tries!" O-o-okay, who let him into the sugar!?
LW- Yeah, I thought that it would be best if Hack stayed a loose cannon. Besides, there's a little plot loop that should prove most interesting in a bit that I've decided to throw in, combining it with the suggestions of L1701E. It'll come to light in a bit.
moezy-chan- Thanks, Hack's power is something that just hit me, and I decided to run with it.
"AAA"-talking
'AAA'-thought
AAA-telepathy
AAA-self debate, or conversation with feral side in Shawn and Rahne's case
Disclaimer- Contrary to popular belief, a barrel full of monkeys isn't fun at all; and is, in fact, quite horrifying.
Chapter 19- Motorcycles and Midnight Flights
"So how long're you gonna stay Jonny-boy?" Shawn asked his friend. The two of them were currently on the rooftop, along with Rick, who was strumming on his guitar, jotting down or changing something on a blank sheet of music that he had. Hack lay on his back, flipped his goggles down over his eyes and pressed a button on one of the straps. They morphed into a pair of Matrix-esque mirrored sunglasses.
"Ah, I dunno, a day or two at the most. I wanna find out why Coyote's here. Who're these 'Brotherhood' fellas anyway?"
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"They're another team of mutants, answer to some psycho called Magneto and an, I quote, "shapechanging bitch" called Mystique. Not a bad bunch though. The only one of 'em I don't like is Pietro. He's got an ego bigger than Slash's appetite!" The two of them shared a laugh, thinking about the almost insatiable appetite of the third member of their club. "But the other guys are cool. There's Todd, Lance, Fred and Wanda. Lance and Kitty are an item, and Todd's been trying to hit on Wanda for a while. I gave the little dude some advice, and his campaign seems to have taken off."
"Do you always have to get involved with your friends love lives?" He should know you by now Bahumut chuckled. Where have you been? Kid, theres only two other places for me to go where you won't notice me; and your subconscious aint exactly a primo vacation spot. I've been playing Tic-Tac-Toe against Smaug. He's pretty good For three days?! Hey, you haven't ngfthfthgfyhtreeded me for a while Yeah…I guess, but still… Awwwww! Did ya miss me? Don't push it pal Uh-huh, sure, whatever Shawn proceded to pick up the verbal conversation without missing a beat.
"Yes; yes I do. It gives me something to do besides training." Hack grinned as Rick chimed in.
"What about all the ogling you do of Maria?" he called.
Shawn blushed a bit as he snapped, "Can it Ricky! Besides," he added slyly, "You've been doing some looking yourself, at a certain klepto, hmmm?" Hack was rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
"Sounds like the two of you have a level five case of the "crush virus". If you like them so much, why not try to make a move in their direction?" Rick stuttered a bit, clutching at the sheet of notes he held. Hack noticed and grinned again. "Ah, I see. The old "serenade em by moonlight" scheme. Wassa matter? having trouble coming up with lyrics, or melody?" Rick hung his head a little.
"Both," he murmured. Hack got up and went over and slapped him on the back.
"Relax, I got just the thing to help you and Crush with your respective girls." So saying, he produced a white orb from who knows where. "Initiate program!" he commanded. The orb stretched out into a book nearly as thick as Freddy's biceps. On the cover was a simple triangle, with a different Japanese symbols, or kanji, at each corner of the figure. Rick peered at the symbols for a moment.
"What's that?"
"The symbol for the Triad. The left corner has the symbol for strength, the right symbol means cunning, and the top one means heart. They respectively represent Slash, myself, and Crush. I'm the brains, Slash is the brawn and Shawn's the heart of the team." He flipped the book open and began to rifle through the pages. Most of the pages were a diagram with notes. Those were identical, in looks, to the plans that Tabby had caught Rick and the others with earlier.
"What is that thing anyway?"
"Oh just one or two," Hack remarked idly
"Billion," Shawn cut in.
"Pranks, plans and codes that we've come up with since the Triad was formed. The remotely workable ones anyways," Hack finished, as he stopped with his finger on two separate pages. One was titled "Moonlight serenade", while the other was called "Carpet Ride".
"Okay fellas, these are two plans that Shawn and I came up with if we ever got girlfriends. I haven't used any of these on my girlfriend so far, but I keep them around, just in case." Shawn looked at him.
"You got a girlfriend? I figured that any girl would run screaming from your ugly mug," he said dryly. Hack handed the book to Rick for a moment, then put Shawn in a headlock and gave him a noogie.
"You're confusing my face with your hideousness!" he laughed. Shawn easily pulled out of the headlock and shot a half-glare half-laugh at his friend. Hack took the book back from Rick, and settled against one of the chimneys.
"Alright guys, I guess that you can use all the help you can get. Rick, I think that the serenade will work for you, and Shawn can take the flight plan." Rick looked questionably at the two.
"Are you sure that this'll work? I don't want to kill any chances…"
"Any chances for what Shaggy?" Rick spun around in shock to find Tabby coming towards them. Her face had a closed look, making it impossible for him to read her mood. He began to stutter a bit, but regained his cool.
"A prank that we're planning to pull on Scott." As he said this, her face cleared, and she smiled. "What did ya come up here for anyway? Not just to check up on us I assume."
"I got a proposition for ya Shaggy. Meet me in the garage at eleven I got something that I think you'll enjoy." Rick considered the proposal for a moment, then nodded his consent.
"I'll be there," he declared. Tabby nodded, and with that, she turned and sashayed away. Shawn looked at his roommate and friend.
"You do realize that she's gonna want you to do something dangerous, probably illegal; and more than likely going to get you in a shitload of trouble with either Logan, Xavier, or both?" Rick just stared after Tabby as he replied.
"Some things are worth that much trouble."
"Just checking."
Any further conversation was cut off, as Kurt ported up on the roof, landing on the top of the chimney Hack was leaning against. "Let me guess," Hack said dryly, waving some of the fumes away, "Kurt, right?"
"Ja, und you must be ze friend of Shawn's zat has upset Scott so much."
"Hey, he was warned not to try and tell Biker not to pop wheelies near his car. Is it my fault that he decided that it would look better with tire tracks running from end to end?" Hack, deciding that Biker should be fine inside the Institute, had let him loose and the virus had begun showing off his cycling skills to some of the students. The three of them had been the ones egging the virus on the most, so they had received the brunt of Cyclops' anger, which was the reason they were hiding on top of the Institute.
"And Decoy chewing up his shoes wasn't your fault either?" Rick asked slyly. Hack's eyes shifted from side to side for a moment.
"Maybe."
"Anyvay, Storm told me to tell you zat dinner es almost ready." Having delivered his message, he "BAMF"-ed away. Shawn got to his feet, followed by Jon and finally Rick. They headed downstairs, Rick through the rooftop entrance, Hack and Shawn respectively jumping from ledge to ledge and gliding to the ground.
"So," Hack said conversationally between jumps, "You gonna. Go through. With it?" He was referring to the plan he had pointed out to his old friend. Shawn scrunched his forehead for a moment, before he shrugged.
"It's nuts, but nuts is what I do best at. Yeah; I'll do it!" he declared.
Dinner that night was a strange affair. Well; stranger than usual at the Institute. Biker had insisted on being allowed to eat with the rest of them, claiming that "Just cause I'm a computer virus don't mean that I can't eat real food!" He and Logan, who claimed that his earlier nervousness had been a side effect of his hangover and was now perfectly fine with the virus, were currently engaged in seeing who could eat the most hamburgers. So far Biker was in the lead, twelve to seven. Logan, Shawn and Hack were the only ones who didn't seem at least a little bit afraid of the virus; everyone else seemed to cringe a bit if he came within two feet of them. Maybe it was the grey skin, the three green eyes, the fangs or the tail.
Decoy and Scratch were there as well, in their smaller forms, picking up table scraps that the girls (And a guy or two) were happy to sneak to them. Even Rogue was infatuated with the little furball that was Decoy, scratching him behind the ears a time or two.
"So, Mr. Lutz, I've heard that you don't plan on staying here at the Institute?" The professor asked halfway through the meal. Hack nodded, not looking up from the (to him), serious business of eating. "Then what do you plan to do, if you don't mind me asking?" Hack shrugged.
"Ah, I dunno. I'm not the type of person to stay in one place much, without a good reason. I'm a wanderer, always looking to see what's over the next hill." Biker snorted.
"Wanderer-schmanderer, you just like puttin' the kibosh on e-criminals." He went back to the contest, grabbing another burger. Hack shrugged.
"That too." Kitty looked down towards the wiry hacker.
"But like, why do you have to leave all of a sudden? Couldn't you like, stay a while and at least see what the Institute has to offer?" Shawn, who had been discreetly eyeing Maria, judging what her reaction had been to the hurried note he had pressed into her hand a minute before dinner, grinned at the valley girl. He was also pleased to note that Maria seemed to be preoccupied. 'Good, she's read the note,' he thought.
"Why Kitty, whatever will Lance say?" He, Rick and Tabby were the majority of the handful that seemed to find his joke funny. Scott just scowled and bit into his burger viciously, while Logan gave a low short growl and Jean frowned in annoyance.
"It's not like, like that! I'm just sick of being the only tekkie in the Institute!" Hack shook his head in sympathy.
"We're a lonely breed, we connoisseurs of everything internet related. But," he continued, "You seem to have done alright for yourself, I'm sure that you'll be fine when I leave." He began to ramble on about the loneliness of the true tekkie and how no one understood them. Shawn threw a pleading glance to Biker, who was closer to Hack than he was. The virus caught the look and gave a slight nod. He didn't take any attention away from the contest, but his tail whipped upwards, and whapped his boss right upside the head. Everyone else gave the virus a look of gratitude while Hack rubbed at his scalp.
-Later that Night-
Shawn and Rick waited until they were sure that the rest of the mansion was asleep, before both of them threw off the covers and got out of bed. Rick was dressed in his jacket and boots, with faded jeans and a t-shirt, while Shawn had opted for a plain gray t-shirt and a fairly clean pair of jeans without shoes. If all went as planned, he wouldn't need them.
They threw a look at the clock. It was a quarter till eleven. They traded looks and each went their separate ways; Rick towards the garage, Shawn towards the roof.
(Animeluver, I'm gonna borrow this next part from you, slightly modified, cause it's better than anything that I could come up from. If you get mad about it, feel free to flame me without fear of retribution in any shape or form.)
Rick got to the entrance of the garage to see Tabby standing there, wearing jeans, boots and a flowered t-shirt under a light jacket. He grinned. "Nice, but where's the leather?" he laughed. Tabby made a face.
"Kitty doesn't approve of "the mindless butchery of defenseless animals"," She mimicked.
"Tell her its pleather, she'll buy it. So…what did you want exactly?" He looked around, his eyes lingering on Logan's collection of bikes. Tabby gestured towards one in particular.
"We're gonna take the Mongoose for a ride. I hadn't been able to take it out; at least not until now." Rick nodded.
"So what makes me so special?" Tabby grinned her impish grin.
"Two people means half the blame for the parties involved. Besides, you're the only one that seems to be the type to actually want to do this. Scales aint a bike person and mini-Logan is a little too temperamental; repressed hormones, ya know?" Rick felt a half grin begin to form at the mention of that particular pair. He slung one leg over the cycle, as he felt Tabby mount up behind him.
"We won't get in too much trouble, will we?" He felt rather than saw her shake her head.
"Scales and Bobby pranked just about everyone in the Mansion when they got here. Bobby had to wax the X-jet once, and Shawn got off pretty light too, so I'd say we should be just fine." With that, Rick kicked the Mongoose into life.
Shawn scanned the length of the roof, the full moon giving him more than enogh light. No sign of Maria. He sighed, then perked as a light scent reached his nose from behind him. Lately he had noticed that his senses of sight and smell had improved tremendously, almost on par with Maria and Logan's, but not quite. It was a conflicting scent; it spoke of both battle and a tenderness that was only now being allowed to emerge. It was Maria's scent; he had practically memorized it the second he had realized what it was. "You're early," he said.
Maria stepped into view from behind a chimney, looking both a bit wary and more than a bit puzzled. Shawn found the combination strangely appealing. Easy kid, you need to move slow and follow the game plan if you want to get to where ya wanna go Bahumut cautioned. Yes, this is one that needs to be courted slowly, else she may run. Even I see that Smaug added. Thanks guys, but I think I should be able to handle this Shawn sent back.
"What did you mean in your note, "I have something to show you"?" Maria demanded. Shawn smiled at her. (AN: WARNING, WARNING: FLUFF ALERT DEAD AHEAD! IF YOU DON'T LIKE FLUFF, TURN BACK NOW!)
"Tell me something Maria; have you ever wondered what its like to fly?" He knew that, in fact, she did. He had seen her watching him and Sam as they practiced aerial maneuvers with a combination of envy and longing.
Surprise flickered across her face for a moment, followed by a tentative glimmer of understanding, before being hidden beneath a mask of indifference. Shawn found that he rather liked to see the play of emotion across her face. "Maybe," she said, crossing her arms in a defensive gesture. 'Something odd is going on here, he seems up to something,' she thought. As she watched, his wings unfurled from his shoulders as his tail curled on the ground behind him.
"How about I show you what its like to fly?" he gave her a grin, but there was a look in his eyes, a question that seemed to pull at her. 'Why would he bring me up here this late at night, just to ask me if I wanted a ride? Unless… maybe he feels something for me beyond camaraderie?' She gave him a small shy smile and a nod.
He came up to her and gently lifted her into his arms, not bothered by the extra weight that her adamantium skeleton provided. He held her closely, discreetly sniffing her hair, finding the scent not unlike that of daisies, unscented otherwise, since she couldn't stand perfumes and scented shampoos. As he leapt off of the edge of the Institute, he saw and heard the Mongoose leave the Institute grounds. 'Good luck buddy,' he thought, not knowing that, at the exact same time, Rick was throwing a glance into one of the side mirrors to see the shape of Shawn taking off and thinking the exact same thing.
After a few moments, Shawn began to gain altitude. Eventually, he got above the cloud cover. He heard and felt Maria's gasp of astonishment as she caught sight of the cloudscape presented to her, bathed in moonlight. It was like some gracious spirit had created a fairytale land, all castles and spires bathed in moonlight, just for this night. Who knows, maybe Mozart put in a good word for us somewhere Bahumut sent wryly. Shawn ignored him, focusing on the girl in his arms.
"Its…beautiful," Maria whispered. Shawn looked down at her face.
"Beautiful," he echoed. Maria looked up at him, and saw what he was looking at. She blushed, and then raised her hands to her cheeks in astonishment. Shawn smiled gently and bent down to whisper gently in her ear. "I think that the blush makes you even more beautiful. I didn't even think that that was possible until a moment ago." This caused her blush to deepen even more, as he chuckled softly.
He tipped his wings, and began to lower, until the two of them were barely skimming over top of the cloudbank. He tipped until the edge of one wing was trailing in the cloud, then tipped the other way, so that he and Maria were within reach, the trailing wing bringing a pale wisp of vapor along with it. Maria reached out wonderingly and trailed her hand through the cold substance, giggling a bit at the feeling.
They seemed to just drift along for an eternity, the two of them in a magic void. Occasionally there would be a break in the cloud cover, and they would see the lights of Bayville laid out beneath them, tiny moving light indicating the cars that went about their nightly business. Neither one of them found any reason to speak, letting the cool night wash over them.
Eventually, they turned back, and came to a soft landing on the balcony leading to her room. Shawn gently set Maria on her feet.
"I…thank you," she said in a low voice. Shawn said nothing, a strange look in his eye. Now or never kid Bahumut sent. Shawn nodded imperceptibly. He advanced until the two of them were barely inches apart, their breath mingling as they breathed. Shawn ran a knuckle down her cheek, before he began to inch his face towards hers. She closed her eyes as she felt a light pressure on her lips, and felt his hand on the small of her back, gathering her to him. She gave a confused little whimper, but didn't make any move to resist. After a moment that seemed to last an eternity, they separated, for lack of oxygen more than anything else.
In his head, Bahumut was doing the Cabbage Patch, while Smaug watched in amusement. GO SH-AW-AWN, IT'S YO BIRTHDAY, GONNA PARTAY LIKE IT'S YO BIRHTDAY!!!!!
Maria reached up and touched her lips with her fingertips, a wondering look in her eyes. "Why did you…?" He gave her a gentle smile.
"It was a gut feeling," He placed another light peck on her cheek, "And I tend to go with my instincts." He looked a little sheepish now. "Ummmm, would you like to go and get something to eat sometime? Maybe go and see a movie?" His voice had a pleading tone to it. She nodded slightly, still looking a little bemused by the kiss as she quietly opened the door and stepped into the room, giving him a smile before she turned and was gone.
Shawn took off from the balcony and headed towards the men's wing of the mansion, doing several victory loop-the-loops on the way. He landed on his own balcony, absorbed his wings and tail back into his body, and entered his room, sighing as he massaged at his shoulders. They were already starting to throb, and he probably wouldn't be able to move his arms much in the morning, but it had been worth it. I'll say kid, that was your first kiss! Bahumut congratulated him.
As he got ready for bed, he glanced at the clock and blanched. It was nearly two in the morning! He sighed and climbed into bed, just as Rick stumbled through the door. They traded looks. "Soooo…how'd it go?" Shawn asked. Rick smiled tiredly, but gave thumbs up.
"And you?" he returned. Shawn just gave him a shit-eating grin. "That good huh?"
"Even better," Shawn responded. Rick climbed into his own bed, and turned off the small light that Shawn had had on.
"Night," he said.
"Night." All through the conversation, Sam hadn't stirred once. As Shawn slipped into sleep, he began to dream of flying, with Maria held safely in his arms, sharing a sweet kiss.
---To Be Continued---
WOW! This has had to be the fastest update I've ever done! Next chapter, we find out what Coyote has in store for the Brotherhood, as well as Fred's reaction to the newest 'Hood member. Plus a little Duncan torture when Hack and Decoy go for a walk. And a new character makes his grand entrance into the Institute! Who is this new fellow, and how does Logan know him? Find out next time, but until then, Read & Review!