Disclaimer: Meg owns all the characters from the Mediator series. I own the unfamiliar characters. Any scientific facts I got from various websites.

Hey there people.

I think there aren't enough fanfics dedicated to the always interesting step-brothers of Suze, so here is a story straight from the mind and heart of the lovable Doc. It all started with a solar eclipse that took place in Carmel. This is set around Ninth Key and Reunion.

Have fun reading.

Aina aka Sharky

"David, are you ready?"

"Yes, Dad, I just need to take a few things with me." I called out while zipping up my backpack. After checking to see that I didn't leave anything in my room, I walked out.

And bumped straight into Brad.

"Watch where you're going, twerp!" He growled, pushing me back against the wall. I stared at him, my heart thudding fast. I could feel adrenaline pumping through my body as a way to prepare myself for the 'fight or flight' action. I was sure he was going to hit me and it wouldn't be the first time either. My first choice would be to run.

"Leave him alone, Do- Brad," Suze suddenly said, opening her bedroom door and poking her head out. She glared at him, and Brad glared back at her but then retreated to his room. It was funny how scared he was of her. Well, it would have been funny if I wasn't too terrified of being thumped.

I've always thought that Brad is the epitome of the alpha male. Probably, so did he. Only he would substitute the term 'alpha male' to 'I am the man' or something like that. That is until Suze moved here and proved my theory wrong.

I sighed in relief. Saved by Suze. Time and time again.

Suze looked at me and opened her room door wider. Some music was playing in her radio, songs that I don't really recognize. She stepped out the door, smiling at me. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." I mumbled. "Thanks." I could feel my face getting red. I wish I have enough nerve to stand up on my own so that I don't have to keep being saved by my step-sister from my own brother. It was humiliating.

"Where are you going? You look nice. Are you going on a date?" Suze smirked.

"No," I said loudly, my face hot. She never stopped teasing me about girls. I don't know why she kept on doing that. "I'm not interested in all that."

"Right." Suze grinned. "So where are you going on a Friday night like this dressed up all nicely? Wait, is that a sleeping bag? Now I'm really interested to know."

I was still embarrassed, but I felt better that we had ventured on to a safer topic. One that I know all about. "I'm going to school. The Science Club had planned a sleepover tonight so that we could look and study the solar eclipse tomorrow morning."

"Oh right, Father Dom had mentioned something about a club sleepover the other day. I wasn't really paying attention since –" She realised I was staring at her. "There's an eclipse tomorrow?"

I grinned. "Yeah. Well, it won't be clear tonight, but by tomorrow morning we're going to have a total solar eclipse right here in Carmel. It's never happened before. We've only had partial eclipse in California, and our club decided that it would be a great opportunity for us to study the phenomenon since it's most likely won't happen again anytime soon. At least, not in our town."

Suze looked at me, her brows furrowed. "Can I see the eclipse from here? I mean, from this house?"

I nodded. "Yeah, you can, but you must have a filter made from a thin layer of aluminium, chromium or silver. It is extremely unsafe to look at the sun even during an eclipse, because the glare could damage your eyes. The only time you can look at the sun is during total eclipse, but it won't happen until tomorrow morning."

She grinned. "Thanks for the Science lesson, Doc. I might just catch the eclipse in time. If I could wake up early enough, that is. Have fun!"

"Okay. See you, Suze." I waved a little at her and then trotted off the stairs, carrying my back pack and sleeping bag along. Dad was already waiting in the car, and Mom was waiting downstairs.

"You have everything you need, David?" Mom smiled at me, fussing around with my shirt and checking my sleeping bag. Basing on what I gathered from Suze and her life in Brooklyn, she had never had sleepovers at school or went camping. So it was natural that her Mom would be pleased to see her child participating in a school sleepover for the first time. Even though I am technically her step-child.

"I have everything, Mom." I laughed. "I have to go. Bye."

She gave me a hug, and I walked over to the car. After putting everything in the car boot, I slide into the front seat. "Ready, kiddo?" Dad grinned at me.

I tried not to roll my eyes. I think Suze's attitude was rubbing off on me. "Let's just go, Dad."

I was getting excited. I tried to calm myself, but it was hard considering that I was finally going to see a solar eclipse using my own two eyes and not on TV or on the web. On the way to school, I tried to take my mind off the potential occurrence and remembered the conversation I had with Suze.

Then I realised she didn't call me David. What was it that she said? Doc. Yeah, Doc. Why would she call me Doc? Was she making fun of me, like calling me a doctor? Hey, Doctor David Ackerman. That doesn't sound too bad. I grinned to myself as our car approached the school gate.

There were already a few other students there, setting up their equipments and laptops in one of the classroom where we had cleared the tables and chairs to make way as our sleeping place for tonight. There were only about 20 of us so we could all fit in the classroom. But I have a feeling that no one would sleep a wink the whole night because none of us could contain the excitement.

Dad left after making sure that I had everything I needed. I took my bags and things to a corner, where my friend Ryan had set his sleeping bag and was lying on his stomach, typing something on his laptop. "Hi Ryan," I said, dropping my things.

"Hey, David. Check out this photo of the eclipse that happened a few years back in Turkey. It is awesome." He pointed to a picture on the screen of his computer.

"That is neat. I have pictures of the total eclipse that happened in Africa. The pictures they took were amazing, mostly because they used telescopes. But who knows, maybe we can get even better pictures tomorrow," I said, laying out my sleeping bag.

"I've already set up a website for the eclipse. We can put up all our pictures and videos there. Do you think the event will be on TV?"

I shrugged. "I think so. My mom said something about it yesterday. But if they're broadcasting the event, they'll be filming it probably somewhere higher and less obstruction. Maybe on the hills."

"That would be cool if we could watch it from the hills. But here is good enough." Ryan went back to typing.

If you think we are nerds, you would be wrong. Only people who have the tendency to label the human population into categories would call us nerds, people like Brad and his friends. They do not understand that we are humans too, on equal terms with the rest of them. Of course, our intelligence surpassed theirs even though they should be far more developed mentally considering that they have developed physically and in age compared to us, and we are also not easily distracted by trivial things like wrestling with each other or the prospect of intercourse with members of the opposite sex such as Kelly Prescott. But we are still equal as human beings.

A few minutes later, Father Dominic walked in the classroom, followed by Sister Ernestine. "Hello, children. Well, how exciting it must be for all of you to witness a rare natural occurrence for the first time in this town. I am glad that all of you have displayed such an interest in nature's phenomenon and how it affects all of us."

Father Dominic had allowed us to have this sleepover on the conditions that we don't make noise and we listen to whoever is in charge of us. Not that hard to go by since that pretty much sums up a day in school for us. But I think what made Father Dominic not hesitant in giving us permission for this sleepover is the fact that all of the members of the Science Club have good academic records and had never been in trouble with the teachers at school.

"Sister Ernestine has kindly volunteered to look after all of you tonight, and she will be sleeping in the nurse's office next door. If you need anything at all, please don't hesitate to call Sister Ernestine. I myself will be at the rectory, if I am needed. Have a good night, children." Father Dominic smiled and walked out.

Sister Ernestine stepped into the room, and everyone looked at her in terrified silence. It was no secret that everyone is scared of the nun. Not just us sixth-graders, but pretty much everyone at school. My theory was it was because of her assertive authority and commanding figure, but I also think she had pride in maintaining respect and order from the students of the school as Father Dominic can, at times, be a little more lenient.

"I expect no trouble from any of you. You are here for a school project and that's the way it will be. I am sure I can get the utmost co-operation from all the bright students here." She looked at us sternly.

"Yes, Sister Ernestine." Some of us said in chorus. She then looked around the room to make sure that the boys are sleeping on one side and the girls are sleeping on the other. After she was satisfied, she left. The room immediately buzzed with anticipation. Everyone was talking to each other excitedly, swapping notes and typing on their laptops. I smiled, feeling right at home. Then I took out my laptop.

0 - 0 - 0 -

It was beautiful.

The total solar eclipse occurred at around 6.30 in the morning and we all stood near the fountain, looking in awe at it. Some of us were taking photos, some were filming the event. A hushed silence had fallen over the members of the Science Club as we stood in almost total darkness, watching the picturesque view of the sun covered by the moon.

Usually, a total eclipse lasts only for a few minutes in the place where there is 'Path of Totality' – as in the place where the sun is completely covered by the moon. In this case, it is Carmel. Other places may also experience eclipse, but it would be partial eclipse and the sky wouldn't darken as the sun is only half-covered by the moon.

I took a few pictures of the eclipse, feeling awed and thrilled. I wonder if anyone else in Carmel were aware of this phenomenon that is happening right now. Considering that it's around dawn, I would bet that many people are still asleep. It was after all, a Saturday morning.

After a few minutes, I could see the moon beginning to move away from the front of the sun, and decided to get my aluminium filter. We didn't use the filter as it was safe to look at the sun while it was completely obscured during the total eclipse, but now the light of the sun had begun to shine through.

I held up the filter and looked through it. The sun was still about three-quarters covered by the moon and the light didn't look as threatening as yet. That was my only excuse for the extremely foolish thing I did next.

I lowered the filter and looked at the sun.

A white hot glare filled my eyes, and I immediately closed them and looked down, gasping in shock. White dots filled my head. I kept my eyes tightly closed, and I could hear Ryan saying something to me, but I wasn't paying attention. I kept my eyes closed until the white dots disappeared, before slowly opening them again. I feared that I might have gone blind.

Ryan was looking at me worriedly. "Are you okay?"

I'm not blind! "I'm okay. Just made a mistake, looking at the sun." I breathed slowly. I looked around and was aware that some other people were looking at me and I felt my face redden. "It's nothing, I'm fine."

"You really shouldn't have done that. You could go blind. The retina is very delicate -"

"Yes, I know, Ryan. It was a mistake." I cut him off. I was fully aware of the danger of looking at the sun directly even during an eclipse. I even lectured Suze about it! Yet somehow I still did what I did. Maybe the lack of sleep I had was interfering with the level of oxygen that entered my brain, and I was not able to fully process my thoughts and put them into action.

I looked at him and smiled wryly. Ryan smiled back, still looking worried. Then he offered me his filter, one of five he had made himself. Safety in numbers, he said. Anything happens to one, he would have four backups. Can't say I disagree with that.

I shook my head and told him I already had my own. Then I looked at the sun again, only this time wisely using the filter. Not long after that, the sun was shining in full again, the moon had completed its cycle. All of us chatted excitedly, some rushing to upload their pictures on their laptops, some looking at their films on their videocams.

I was walking over to my bag when I saw something glowing under the breezeway. I turned to look at it, but whatever it was had gone. I stared at the spot for a moment, thinking of how familiar the glow was, but couldn't quite remember the last time I had seen a glow like that. After a moment I gave up and picked up my bag to join Ryan who was uploading pictures on his website.

I had no idea that it wouldn't be the last time I would see that glow. Or that a split second glimpse at the sun would change my views on certain things forever.