Well, here's another update. Now, you've all probably noticed, I have a certain dislike for Martin's father. In most of my stories he's a real ass, but to be fair, I'm trying to help improve him. Well, his relashionship with Martin anyway. Yes, I am rambling again but I felt like it. :P Well, I'll let you read the story now.

Chapter 4 - Family Ties

Gerad Mystery walked down toward the cafeteria. His anger had not faded, if anything it kept building up. His hands were tucked away in his pockets where a now crumpled up get well card intended for Martin lay, the ink smudged so the words were un-readable. He found his way over to Diana, who was talking non stop with her alien friend Billy. Gerad Mystery, for all his common sense was worth, was puzzled at why his children would work in a place filled with so many different types of creatures. He didn't hate the fact that Diana and Martin worked for a place that had probably helped save the world on more then one occasion, it was the confidence it gave Martin.

Gerad Mystery wanted his son to build some morals, but it was plainly obvious that he didn't take into account that those missions also helped Martin build something entirely different. Something other then morals, not that he didn't have any. In fact one could say his morals were some of the highest ones out there, if not a little quirky but the world would be boring with the different and odd people out there. It was those very quirky ones; ones that thought they could get away with murder that bugged the elder Mystery but the topic on his mind was beginging to wander.

What Gerad Mystery failed to realize about Martin was all that pain the teen tried to conseal in the depths of his mind. His father never noticed how broken he looked when the elder man felt disapointed and angry at him when Martin was telling the truth. Truth be told, Mr. Mystery loved his son just as much as he loved Diana, even though she wasn't his flesh and blood. The problem was that Martin's father compared the two even if he didn't mean to. He just wished that Martin had more common sense, like Diana.

He watched his daughter from the other side of the table for a moment. True, Martin had saved Diana's life but he had also runned the risk of a father losing both his children. He knew he should have listened to Martin's side of the story, but he was just so tired of hearing the same old excuse. If he had bothered to listen to his son, he would have known that there hadn't been time. He would have known that Martin was right but he never did listen to his son. Even now, when there was proof of aliens he still didn't believe him. He loved Martin but he didn't like the way the Centre had made his love for the paranormal develope.

Gerad knew his relashionship with his son wasn't good, and it hadn't been since his mother died. Things had never been the same after that and his son had turned to the more irrational, but then again his mother had always been like that too. She had been full of life and cared for her family all the way up to the heavens and probably higher. He knew they would have their fights on what to talk to their son about, but most times she told Martin stories to see him smile where as his father wanted him to be more rational. The thought had never occured to Mr. Mystery that Martin could be destined for greater things. He knew that there had to be a rational side to every story but sometimes, that just wasn't the case.

"You okay dad?" Diana asked, "You seem really quite and you haven't yet once talked about one of your digs." His daughter had a good sense when to notice the little things that were wrong and that was one of the qualities he loved about her. It was Martin that puzzled him. Martin was never the same when he was around and the air around them would become slightly more tense then it should be. "Dad?"

"Oh!" He shook his head, "I'm fine dear. Just thinking a little bit. So, how do you feel today?"

"Better, but I'm going to go see Martin in a minute. I was just having something to eat." She finished her meal and stood up, "Are you going to come with me? I'm sure Martin would love to see you." She was looking at him for an answer but he couldn't come up with one. He couldn't tell his daughter that he had been kicked out of the room, by Martin no less. No matter how he looked at it, it felt digrating to him and he was disgusted with the way Martin had acted. He paid no mind to how he was acting, imeaditatly assuming Martin was going to come up with some poor excuse or lie.

"No. Not right now. I can pick you up later though, I have some errands to run." Diana frowned, not knowing what was going on in her fathers mind.

"Okay. How about around 8:35 pm?" Mr. Mystery nodded and walked past her, giving her a quick hug and kiss. He stopped at the trash can and threw something in and left. Diana, much to her disgust, put her hand in the trash and pulled out what he had thrown in. She opened the crumped cardboard and looked at it. The ink had been smudged, making it hard to see what was writtin. There was a small part that had been partially okay. She frowned and held the card to her chest. What was written on the small get well card was beautiful. 'Get well soon Martin. I love you just as much as your sister and I'm proud of you that you saved her life. Love dad.' Diana couldn't make out the top part, but it looked like it had been some sort of sonnet from a poem. "Why would dad throw this out?"

Gerad Mystery drove around town, doing various errands. He was trying not to think about what had happened in the hospital earlier. No matter how hard he tried though, he couldn't get that scene out of his mind. Martin had never told him to leave, he would just sit and take it like all good kids were supposed to. He had protested at times but his voice would just die out.

'If I'm such a disappointment why do you keep coming back to get discouraged?' His son's words echoed in his mind. What had Martin meant by that? Gerad Mystery was ashamed, though he wasn't quite sure of what. He knew one thing though, he son was a puzzle and he couldn't fit a single piece together.

Diana stepped into her brothers room. M.O.M was reading a book and Martin was sleeping. The dark haired woman looked up from her book and pulled a seat up to Martin's bed so Diana could sit down. "Thanks. Did Martin- I mean has he woken up yet?"

"Yes." M.O.M replied, not quite sure of what to tell the girl.

"Did my dad talk with him. I knew he came to visit but what happened?" M.O.M wasn't sure what to tell Diana. She had probably seen more then one fight between them but she wanted Martin to tell Diana himself.

"What's that in your hand?" M.O.M asked, finding a perfect change of subject, something she rarely did but it seemed to do the trick.

"Oh, dad threw this in the garbage. It's a card for Martin but he probably just threw out by accident." Diana placed the card on the stand. The ink was dry now and left in a smudged state and the card looked pretty beat up. M.O.M couldn't help but frown at the card.

Well I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. It was a rather hard one to write.