Author's note: I'm going to stop writing the disclaimer; we should all know by now that I don't own anything apart from the fics themselves.
Title: Max
Read on, oh faithful ones...
...
"Good afternoon, Ms. Williams. This is Principal Carter - "
"Is everything all right?" Layla asked, immediately stopping what she was doing.
"There was a fight at the school; it seems Max and Elliot were involved. I've tried your husband and Elliot's father, but their phones went to voicemail," Principal Carter added with a slight frown. "Is now a good time?"
Layla looked around the art gallery they were currently robbing, citizens tied up by her vines, and sighed heavily. "We can be there in an hour."
"See you then," Principal Carter said to the dial tone.
"What's going on, hippie?" Warren asked.
"There was a fight at the school and the kids were involved. Where's Cee?" Layla asked, looking around the room for Carbon Copy or one of his copies.
"He's still in the vault; I'll get him," Warren said, heading towards the art gallery's collection of high-end items that were all locked by eye scanners and voice prints.
"What's going on, Poison? We've been planning this heist for a month," Zach hissed under his breath.
"The school rang. We've got to go," Layla replied, using her vines to knock out the remaining citizens who were still conscious.
"Do we have everything?" Zach asked, even as he began to help Poison.
"We've got enough; tell Tempest to get the jet ready."
"She's meant to be spending time with Merge. She's going to be pissed," Ethan pointed out.
"We'll deal with that later," Layla replied.
Zach looked to Ethan and held out his fist. Ethan sighed, rolled his eyes, and did the same.
"Rock, paper, scissors."
"Damn it. Best out of three?" Zach asked.
"Hurry up, Blaze," Ethan said, shaking his head.
Groaning, Zach took his phone out of his pocket and rang Wendy's number. She answered on the third ring.
"Hourglass already told me what's going on. We'll be there in five minutes. This doesn't mean I'm happy about the interruption."
"Understood, Tempest," Zach replied quickly, ending the call. "Jet'll be here in five!" he called out.
"We've only got half the collection. I can leave a copy behind to get the rest?" Craig offered.
"We can't risk that. You're already emotional enough as it is," Layla said, seeing that his disguise had slipped to reveal his freckles.
"I'm worried," he admitted.
"I know. We'll be home soon enough."
"Everyone ready to go?" Ethan asked, hefting up several bags containing the priceless artefacts they'd stolen.
"Ready," Warren said, glancing around the gallery to ensure that everyone was unconscious.
Walking out to the foyer where Adam was controlling the video feed, they left the gallery to find their jet landing in the park beside the building.
"Did you get it?" Donny asked as they boarded the small plane.
"Yes, among other things," Craig said with a quick grin.
"Good. Honey said we've got three minutes to get out of here; hurry up!" Donny called over the noise of the plane's engines.
Craig immediately made a few copies of himself, taking the bags of stolen artefacts from everyone as they boarded and putting them safely into the individual compartments. Everything was stowed away in one minute, and everyone was seated and ready to go in two. The plane was in the air in the third minute, and Wendy flipped a switch so her voice would be heard throughout the plane.
"Good afternoon everyone, this is your captain speaking. If you'll look to your left, you'll see the Louvre. In the distance is the Eiffel Tower, which Donny and I were supposed to be having lunch on," Wendy muttered.
In the co-pilot's seat beside her, Donny reached over and squeezed her hand. Wendy smiled at him briefly and then pushed the red button between them, rocket exhausts appearing at the back of the plane.
...
"Do you think they'll be angry?" Elliot asked, kicking his feet.
"Probably. They were meant to be in Paris today," Max said, shrugging.
"Oh, shit," Elliot groaned.
Max nudged him sharply in the ribs. "Swear jar," he said, trailing off abruptly when the principal's door opened.
"Elliot, Max, come in. Your parents are arriving now," Principal Carter said, holding the door open for them to go inside.
Max walked in behind Elliot with his shoulders back and chin held up. He wasn't going to feel guilty about what he'd done, especially when he knew he'd done nothing wrong.
Outside, they heard the plane arriving, setting down on the school's oval. Principal Carter met their parents in the school foyer and guided them to her office.
Max and Elliot could hear their Aunts and Uncles in the small waiting area outside the Principal's office - mostly because Uncle Zach had tried to sit on one of the chairs and had realised too late just how small they were, now vocalising his pain and cursing the stupid tiny chairs.
"Are you all right, Max?" Warren asked, cupping his cheek with a warm hand.
Max nodded. "I'm fine," he said with a quick smile.
"What happened?" Layla asked, taking his hand.
Under his skin, Max could feel his vines responding to the vines within his mother, and he relaxed on realising - on knowing - that she truly wasn't upset or angry, only worried and caring. Beside his parents, Uncle Craig was pulling faces without Principal Carter seeing, and Max knew then that everything would be all right.
"Your attention, please," Principal Carter said, stopping Max's chance to explain what had happened as the three parents turned around to face her. "When you first enrolled your sons in my school, I told you I would treat them like any other children who came in these doors. There would be no special treatment despite their... parentage and abilities," she added.
"We understand and appreciate that, Principal Carter," Layla said. "But understand that we have taught our sons to not use their powers or draw attention to themselves in this manner, so we want to hear what they have to say before you give us your account," she said, turning back to the two children.
"It's all right, kids. Just tell us what happened, and then we'll listen to your principal, okay?" Craig said with a reassuring nod.
Elliot glanced to Max and sighed heavily, looking down at his feet. "Max stopped Nick from punching me. He didn't even power up!" he added quickly.
Warren turned on Principal Carter immediately. "Who is Nick, and why isn't he here?" he snapped.
"Mr. and Mrs. Birmingham have already come and dealt with their son. Nick admitted to starting the fight, but he has apologised for his actions," Principal Carter said, forcing herself to sound confident rather than afraid.
"No, he didn't," Max said, his voice quiet. "He said he was sorry we felt that way."
"Totally not an apology," Craig agreed, glancing to Layla and Warren.
While Warren was one word from bursting into flames, Layla was quiet and to those who didn't know her, she could have seemed cold and unaffected. Those who did know her would have seen that her eyes were bright green and thorny vines were just beneath the surface of her skin; Layla was just as angry as her husband.
"Thank you for contacting us, Principal Carter. We will deal with this at home," Layla said, taking Warren's hand in her own and squeezing firmly.
Principal Carter seemed relieved at the idea, but she cleared her throat and tried to gain control of the situation again anyway. "Nick has apologised for starting the fight, but Max has yet to apologise for ending it. As Nick is not here, a written apology will suffice. I would like it handed in to me on Monday morning before school starts. I will be here at eight-thirty."
"Of course. Goodbye, Principal Carter," Layla said, taking Max's hand and leaving the office, Warren a step behind her.
Craig grinned at the principal as he picked Elliot up out of his seat. "See you on Monday morning, Principal Carter."
The words felt like a threat rather than a promise and Principal Carter held her breath until they were all gone, letting it out in a trembling breath.
...
Max looked between his parents, wondering what they were thinking. They'd been silent ever since ushering him out of the school and onto the private jet. Wendy and Donny had smiled at him and Elliot as they had boarded, but then Donny's face had changed when his parents had boarded the plane. He'd waved them over and talked to them in hushed whispers, far too low for Max or Elliot to hear. Craig had settled Elliot in the seat between his own and Adam's, while Zach was trying to distract Max from his obvious fate - a grounding, or worse - by pretending not to know how to put his seatbelt on. It worked for a while, Max grinning as Zach tried to put his seatbelt around his legs, but then his parents returned to their seats on either side of him. Max had seen their faces and knew that at that moment, they weren't his parents, they were Chaos. Zach had winked at him reassuringly and then headed to his own seat next to Ethan.
"Am I in trouble?" Max asked eventually, unable to take the suspense much longer.
Both his mother and father seemed surprised at the question, but they both shook their heads. Max felt some of the tension leak out of his shoulders at their adamant response.
"We're upset with the school and with this... bully, not with you," Warren explained, his mask cracking.
"We'd like to hear how this happened, if you're up to it now?" Layla asked, squeezing his hand gently.
Max looked down at his feet, swinging them listlessly. He didn't want to seem weak in front of his parents - the two who were on their way to ruling the whole world - but he knew from experience that they would support him.
When he'd been younger and had broken one of his Gramma's vases by playing in an area he shouldn't have been in in the first place, Max knew he had to tell them the truth. He'd considered trying to hide the pieces, lying about it, but he knew his parents hated liars more than anything. Max had debated about it for a few minutes, but soon left to find his Gramma and parents to tell them what had happened. His parents hadn't yelled at him or hurt him like some other kids' parents might have. He apologised to Gramma as soon as he'd finished explaining, and had offered to pay for the vase from his own allowance from doing chores. Max had then found out that it was a rare vase from the Ming dynasty and not even all of his allowance and the savings his parents were collecting for him would have been enough to replace it.
He'd burst into tears then, not knowing what else to do or how to make it right. Gramma had taken him to the kitchen for some water to help calm him while his parents thought of a solution. Once Max had calmed down again, his tears dried and his water finished, his parents had come into the kitchen. They were going to replace the expensive Ming dynasty vase, they would use some of Max's offered allowance to make amends for breaking it in the first place.
"Nick's been picking on Elliot 'cause he's smarter than he is, so he feels threatened by it. Also, Elliot's been practising shifting at lunch and Nick caught him, so he's jealous since he's just a citizen."
"You've been shifting at school?" Craig asked Elliot in surprise; the first rule they'd given both of the kids was to not power up at school.
"Only in the bathroom! I forgot to change my nose back and Nick caught me coming out of the cubicle," Elliot said with an annoyed sigh.
Max glared over at his cousin; Nick wasn't the first person who'd caught Elliot shifting, but he had been the first to do something about it.
"You have one rule! You broke the only rule we gave you?!" Craig said incredulously.
"You're always telling me how you shifted heaps when you were young! Why'm'I getting into trouble for it?!" Elliot asked.
"I was an idiot and you can learn from my mistakes. Besides, you're drawing attention to yourselves - yes, both you and Max, this isn't just about you, Elliot - and you know how dangerous that is."
Elliot folded his arms over his chest and glared at the seat in front of him. "No one's tried to hurt or kidnap us in years."
"That doesn't mean you should go around advertising you're a super!"
"I'm not advertising. Besides, it's just a couple of citizens; who cares about them anyway?" Elliot muttered.
Beside him, Adam took out his phone and pressed a few buttons, then handed the phone to Elliot.
"What's this?" Elliot asked suspiciously, frowning.
"Repeat what you just said about citizens," Adam said, nodding to the phone.
"Why?"
"Because I'm sure Anita, my mum, Sarah, Jared, and Mrs. Woo would love to hear you say that."
Elliot paled and shook his head, pushing the phone back at Adam. "No way. They would hate me."
"They're just citizens, why do you care?" Adam asked pointedly.
"They're family, friends; that's different!"
"They're still citizens," Adam replied.
Elliot opened and closed his mouth a few times, then shut it with a snap and glowered at the seat in front of him. "Whatever."
"You know that you're grounded, right? That means no after-school activities and no shifting lessons for a week," Craig said.
"What? That's not fair! I didn't even do anything!"
"You did, and you know it. Adam, can you check if Honey's got any of the power suppressing cuffs left? One should be able to fit Elliot."
Elliot paled at the threat. It was one thing to take away his shifting lessons, but the idea of having his power taken away made him feel physically nauseous, even if it was only temporary. "No. Not that, please. Pa, you wouldn't really do that to me, would you?!"
"This is the third time you've been caught shifting in public, so yes, I really would do this to you. It seems like it's the only way you'll learn," Craig said.
"I hate you!" Elliot snapped, tears in his eyes.
"I know. Don't worry, I said the same thing to Chaos when they made me do this," he replied.
"Honey's got a cuff that'll fit," Adam said.
Elliot shifted to Ethan's form and promptly melted down.
"Will I have to wear a cuff as well?" Max asked, shuddering at the thought.
He'd worn one before during training exercises so he wouldn't rely solely on his power, just like his parents did every now and again, but that didn't mean that Max liked wearing one.
"Have you been powering up at school?" Warren asked.
"No way. Mine's harder to hide, besides, you'd be upset if I did," Max said. Then he winced. "I mean, I kept the flowers in the classroom alive, but that's because Mr. McKey always forgets to water them and they don't deserve to die because of that!" he added in protest.
"Someone's bound to notice that the flowers aren't dying even though no one looks after them," Warren pointed out with a sigh.
In the aisle across from them, Elliot popped back to his own body, unable to hold the shift any longer.
"Ethan, when's the next parent-teacher conference?" Layla asked.
"Three weeks, why?"
"Because Mr. McKey could probably do with a present for teaching Elliot and Max for the past year; I'm thinking a fake flower," Layla said, winking at Max. "It'll let me keep an eye on Elliot as well," she added to Craig, who nodded in thanks.
Max sighed, wishing he had his mother's strength. His own power was limited to brightening and reviving plants. He still couldn't grow or maintain them from a distance, though everyone had assured him that his power would grow and evolve as he grew older.
He was almost ten, how much older did he have to be?!
"You didn't set anything or anyone on fire, did you?" Warren asked.
"No. I thought about it, though. Nick's a jerk," Max muttered.
"Swear jar," Layla said.
"But, he is!"
"Ace, look into it, would you?" Warren asked.
Adam snorted. "I did that before we even took off. Those school walls are paper-thin, dude," he said, shaking his head. "Mr. Birmingham is working more often than not, Mrs. Birmingham's maxed out five credit cards in the past three weeks, and Nick's having trouble with his grades."
"We'll have a talk to them on the weekend; we might be able to work past all of this," Layla said.
"Really, hippie? How do you propose that? Last I saw, neither of us have degrees in psychology."
"No, but Simon does. Besides, if Simon can't help them, then we both know ways of getting what we want, don't we?" Layla asked with a pointed look.
"I'll send you their address; you do whatever you want. And stop looking at each other like that; you're making me nauseous," Adam said, pulling a face.
"Like what?"
"Like you'd be doing things if there weren't children aboard the plane."
Warren snorted. "Contrary to popular belief, we do have some self-control."
"Bulls- uh, shirt?" Adam said with a wince.
Elliot huffed in annoyance when he realised he wouldn't be able to tell Adam off about the swear jar.
"You do realise these seats turn into beds, right?" Zach teased Adam.
"Of course I do. That doesn't mean you have to do things in them!"
"It's a very good way to distract from the turbulence," Layla said, shrugging nonchalantly.
"I'm getting a new seat installed and it's going to be as far away from all of you as possible. You disgust me," Adam groaned, Craig snickering at his expression.
"Don't worry, Honey gets someone to sterilise the plane after every trip. What? I see the cleaning bills," Ethan said, rolling his eyes when they all looked at him.
"Still gross," Adam muttered.
Max bit his lip impatiently while everyone talked. "Can I see your code, Ace?" he blurted out eagerly as soon as there was a lull in the conversation.
"Depends on your punishment, little dude."
Max sighed and looked between his parents, hoping for something lenient.
"You knew Elliot was shifting at school and you didn't tell us. This could have ended up so much worse than a bully, and we wouldn't have known why," Layla said, her words careful and precise. "For lying to us - yes, omitting the truth is still a lie - you have to let the flowers in your class die."
"That's it? That's nothing compared to my punishment!" Elliot cried.
"I can make your punishment two weeks instead of one," Craig offered.
Elliot shut his mouth with an audible click and shook his head.
"For getting in a fight with a citizen, you have to do your chores for a week without any allowance," Warren said. "Every morning you don't make your bed is another week without allowance."
"But Da!" Max protested.
Making his bed every morning was so stupid. All he was going to do was mess it up again later in the day anyway!
"Would you prefer a cuff?" Warren asked.
Max shook his head quickly. "I'll make my bed."
"Good to hear. Now, since Elliot's cuffed and grounded for a week, you'll have to train with someone else instead. For defending Elliot against this bully, you get to pick."
Max's eyes widened at the unexpected decision. "Uncle Ace for two days, you and Ma for one each, Uncle Ethan and Zach for one day, Aunt Wendy for one, and Uncle Craig for one."
"Saving the best 'til last, good one, kid," Craig said with a wink.
"I meant one person," Warren sighed.
Layla laughed. "You should've been more specific. Ethan, can you check our schedules and make sure we can all get time with Max for the next week?"
"Sure thing," Ethan said, opening his diary, scanning through the coloured symbols for each of them that told him where they'd be and what they'd be doing. "Max and Elliot have after-school lessons with Heidi and Babs - I'm assuming they're not part of the grounding?" he asked Craig, who nodded. "Okay. Chaos, you're organising the goods from today's heist tomorrow, so you'll have to be later in the week; Ace, you've got papers to grade on the weekend, so something during the week would be better for you - how's your Wednesday looking?"
"Thursday's better for me. There's a faculty meeting on Wednesday, I'll probably be dead by the end of it," Adam muttered. "I can do Friday too."
Ethan nodded, marking a symbol. "Zach, can we reschedule dinner with Heidi from Wednesday to Tuesday instead?"
"Yeah, all right. She's not doing anything with Gwen, right?"
"No, they're going out on Thursday. Tempest, how are you for training with Max on Monday?"
"Fine by me; there's a lightning storm due that night anyway," Wendy called from the cockpit.
"That means you get Tuesday, Craig; Chaos, you get the weekend. Any preference for your days?" Ethan asked, looking over to them.
"I'd prefer Saturday; I'll be in the kitchen all day Sunday," Warren said, prompting Ethan to mark down another symbol.
"Okay, so you've got Sunday with Max then, Layla," he said, filling in the last slot for Max's training.
"Everyone's put their meal orders in with Warren, right?" Ethan asked, pen poised in case he needed to add any last-minute requests.
"If you don't request it, I'm not cooking it," Warren added firmly.
"Nuggets and cheese potatoes," Elliot said immediately.
"I already put your order in, El. Twice, as requested," Craig said, rolling his eyes fondly.
"I've just sent my request through," Adam said, nodding to Ethan.
On his phone, Zach opened the email Adam had sent, flicking through curiously. Ethan nudged him and Zach sighed heavily, putting the phone down so Ethan could include Adam's requests on Warren's cooking list.
"Can I help you cook, Da?" Max asked eagerly.
"What about your training with me?" Layla teased, grinning.
"How about we organise a full day in the kitchen closer to your birthday?" Warren suggested. "You'll get to help taste-test all of the cakes and cookies, then."
Max grinned. "Awesome."
"This is your captain speaking; we'll be starting our descent shortly, please ensure your seatbelts are fastened and your tray tables are locked in place. Craig, put Elliot's bag under the seat or I'll put you under it," Wendy threatened.
Craig hurried to do as she said, Elliot laughing at his father's panicked expression.
"Yeah, we'll see who's laughing when you get hit by a bolt of lightning," Craig muttered.
Elliot wanted to ask about that, but then the plane started to descend and he had to hold on tightly, his eyes squeezed shut, and his stomach feeling as though it was still hundreds of metres above his body.
...
"Good night, Max. Love you," Layla said, kissing his forehead.
Warren kissed Max as well, tucking his blanket up over his shoulder. "Sleep tight. Love you, Max."
"You too, Da. Love you, Ma. G'night," Max murmured tiredly.
Leaving their son's room, Warren and Layla heard Craig putting Elliot to bed down and across the corridor. Warren dimmed the lights along the corridor, allowing both Max and Elliot enough light to get around if they woke up in the middle of the night.
"Night, guys. Elliot's probably going to sneak out when he thinks we're gone; would you put up a fern for me?"
"The shadows gave them both nightmares for a week," Warren pointed out over his shoulder as he headed into the kids' games room.
Craig sighed. "Fine. What about a vine on the door handle?"
"I'll put one on the door frame. You'll feel it," Layla added, gripping Craig's wrist for a moment, his vine tattoo spinning.
"Thanks. Honeysuckle?" he asked, glancing back down the corridor to Elliot's room.
Layla nodded.
In the kids' games room, Warren let out a noise of pain and frustration. "I'm sure we told them to put everything away! I swear, if I step on one more damn piece of Lego, I'm going to melt it all down."
Craig sighed. "That'd be my kid. I'll put it away; you two go relax," he offered. "I'm sure I'll have to herd Elliot back to bed again soon anyway," Craig added, shooing them out and towards their room. "Ace and Zach are watching RuPaul; Ethan's checking the budget with Honey; Donny and Simon are working on inventory after today's heist; Wendy's visiting Heidi."
"Thanks, Cee. Don't stay up too late, okay?" Layla said, kissing his cheek.
"I'll try not to get distracted by the Lego," he said with a grin.
Warren waited until Craig was inside the games room and he and Layla were out of earshot. "We're going to wake up to another Lego city, aren't we?"
"Probably. Elliot wants to be an architect when he grows up; it's a Friday night and we both know that Craig would let him stay up until sunrise if he wanted."
Warren snorted. "Yeah, and in the morning we get grumpy Craig and Elliot. Remind me to be far away from the Hive tomorrow."
"Only if you remind me," Layla said, grinning.
Laughing, Warren pulled Layla in close, his laughter dying down as he kissed her firmly. Layla wound her arms around his neck, kissing him deeply in return, Warren's hands burning against the small of her back.
"How'd I get so lucky?" Warren murmured against Layla's lips.
She smiled as she pulled away to look at him. "Pretty sure it's because I didn't leave you alone when I was a freshman."
Warren laughed again. "Sounds about right. You're lucky I didn't roast you."
Layla's smile turned devious. "You're lucky I didn't tie you up and have my way with you."
"Wait, what? Details, hippie."
"I thought you were cute."
"Cute?"
"Oh, fine; I thought you were the hottest person I'd ever laid eyes on. Happy?"
"Much better. Let's talk more about this tying me up thing," Warren murmured, his words hot against her ear, his mouth curving into a smile when he felt Layla shiver.
"We can talk or we can do," Layla replied, kissing him firmly before ducking past and running to their room.
Warren grinned and ran after Layla immediately.
...
"Good morning, Mrs. Birmingham. We were wondering if we could talk to you for a minute?" Layla asked.
"No, I don't need to find God, Jesus, or Super-Jesus," she replied through the closed door.
"We're not selling you anything. Now open the damn door," Warren snapped.
"I don't know who you think you are, but you've no right to talk to me that way!"
Adam snorted at Chaos' faces. "Open the door, lady, or I'll destroy your Internet connection."
There was a small gasp of disbelief, and the door opened a crack. "What do you - oh. Oh my... Holy... Fuck - " Mrs. Birmingham's eyes widened at the sight of Chaos standing on her doorstep. The door slammed shut, though they could all hear her exclamations clearly.
"With that sort of language, maybe she does need God, super or otherwise," Ethan snickered.
"Shut up, Molten. Can we just knock the door in and get this over and done with?" Craig asked.
"If you hadn't stayed up playing with Lego 'til 3am, you wouldn't be so shitty right now," Adam pointed out.
Craig pulled several faces at Adam.
"All right, I've had enough. Stand back so I can open the door," Warren said, waiting until he had some space before powering up and slamming into the Birmingham's front door.
It fell to the ground with a loud crash, revealing Mrs. Birmingham sitting on her staircase with a phone pressed to her ear.
"Who are you calling? The police? FBI? Super Bureau?" Adam asked, plucking the phone out of her hand to see the caller ID. "Your husband? What the hell's he going to do? He's in London."
Mrs. Birmingham frowned. "How do you know that?"
"We've been keeping tabs on your husband for some time," Adam lied easily, then glanced at the phone when he saw it had been answered. "Mr. Birmingham? Yes, I do know what time it is in London. Mr. Birmingham, listen closely: if your wife doesn't follow our instructions very carefully, she will be killed and your son will be taken away," he said, hanging up the phone promptly and handing it to Ethan.
Mrs. Birmingham's eyes widened as her phone melted down into a puddle of water. "What if he calls back?" she asked, stunned.
"He'll probably think that you've been killed," Ethan said with a shrug.
"Which means he'll either re-evaluate his life choices, or try to get your insurance money for an extended holiday," Zach said.
"Mum? What's going on?" Nick asked, his eyes wide when he saw the broken door and Chaos standing in their foyer.
"Not now, Nick. Go upstairs," Mrs. Birmingham snapped.
"Actually, Nick, you're the man of the hour. Speed here would like to talk to you," Warren said.
Simon was inside the house in a blink of an eye. "Lounge room okay, Mrs. Birmingham? Thanks," he said before she could reply. "C'mon, kid, let's talk," Simon said, leading Nick into the lounge room.
"B-but... What's going on?" Mrs. Birmingham asked, confused.
"We're here to talk to you about your parenting skills," Layla said pleasantly. "Blaze, can you fix the door while we talk to Mrs. Birmingham?"
"Yeah, sure," Zach replied. "Where are your tools?" he asked Mrs. Birmingham.
"They're in the garage. It's locked," she called, Zach waving off her concern as he left with Ethan. "I don't know what's going on here, and I'd like an explanation," she said as firmly as she could manage with her house almost overrun by supervillains.
"We've already explained; you're just not listening," Warren snapped.
"Let's go to the kitchen, Mrs. Birmingham; can I call you Janet?"
Mrs. Birmingham nodded and let herself be guided through to the kitchen. It seemed easier than the idea of resisting, and besides, there were knives if she needed to defend herself. Behind them, she heard one of Chaos' group snicker.
"Don't go for the knives, Janet. It never ends well," Donny said, rolling his eyes.
"Knives, really? I'm insulted," Adam muttered, scrolling through his phone. "Just for that, you lose your Internet for a week."
"Wait, what? I need that, turn it back on!"
Janet could vaguely hear a drill being used at the front door. She didn't want to know how they'd managed to get into the garage that even she didn't have a key for.
Adam snorted. "I heard the same thing a million times from the kids; you'll survive."
"Kids?" she echoed with a frown.
"Two of 'em. Both redheads, one with a million curls and his father's nose, the other with his mother's complexion and father's eyes?" Adam said pointedly, nodding to Chaos.
Janet turned to look at Chaos, her face paling as understanding flowed through her like a wave.
"Congratulations, Janet; your kid chose to bully the kids of the most powerful supervillains on the planet."
"Well, Elliot's my kid, and I don't know that I'm the most powerful supervillains on the planet," Craig said, glancing to Chaos as though trying to determine whether he could win against them or not.
"Don't you dare think of challenging us again, Cee; we'll beat you just like we did the last eleven times," Layla said, rolling her eyes.
"I... I didn't know. I didn't know it was your children. I'm so sorry. I don't know what's gotten into Nick lately; he's a good kid most of the time," Janet said, starting to blubber as her eyes filled with tears.
Wendy sighed and put an arm around Janet's shoulder. Despite their status as powerful supervillains, Chaos were utterly hopeless when people started crying; they just didn't have the patience for it. Donny filled a glass with water and offered it to Janet, all of them watching as she drank greedily, spluttering when she drank too fast.
"S-sorry," she said, wiping some of the water off of Wendy's arm carefully.
"It's fine, Janet. Now, why don't you tell us what's going on? There has to be some reason for Nick's behaviour, doesn't there?"
"I can answer that," Simon said from the doorway. "Nicholas, Snr. is cheating on Janet. Nick found out a few months ago, and after reviewing Ace's report, I'd say Janet here found out about... three weeks and two days ago herself?" he asked, glancing to the report Adam had given them to see when Mrs. Birmingham's excessive spending habit had started up.
Janet clutched the glass firmly, her knuckles turning white. If she'd been a super, the glass might've broken already in her grip. "He's in London with his mistress," she admitted, the words settling in her stomach like rocks. She looked over to Speed sharply. "You said Nick knows?" Janet asked, paling.
"Nicholas Snr. has a separate email account; Nick found it and saw the emails he'd been sending. Some were probably a bit too graphic and traumatising for a young mind, in fact. Merge, you might want to handle that," Simon added.
"How'd Nick find the email address?" Ethan asked curiously as he came back to the room with Zach, the front door fixed.
"He's very good with computers. Ace, you might want to talk to him about that; it'll keep him calm while Merge is working on him," Simon added.
Adam seemed intrigued at the idea, following Donny to the lounge room where Nick was waiting.
"Nick talked to you?" Janet asked in disbelief. "He's hardly said a word to me in days."
"I'm a qualified psychologist, Mrs. Birmingham; besides, I'm good with people, including kids who just want someone to listen to them," Simon said with a smile.
"You honestly think we'd be running the world if there wasn't someone we could talk to about the weird and crazy things we do?" Layla asked.
"The death threats are never fun to deal with," Warren added, sighing.
Janet honestly hadn't thought about it. They were just another group of supers and her day-to-day life hadn't really changed when they'd taken over. They were just figures on the news, and sure, they'd changed a few laws here and there, but nothing that had really affected her personally.
Even when they'd robbed banks, nowadays they only stole the high-end items in vaults. They'd stolen cash early on in their villainous careers, but all villains did that. Acidic had revealed that he could have stolen every single dollar and cent the banks held, hacking into every bank across the world at the same time, stealing a few grand from each, and then leaving a message on their websites to state what he'd done. (No one outside of Chaos' group knew that he'd done it on a dare, and had subsequently won movie-choosing rights for two full weeks.) The banks had been terrified he'd come back to steal everything, and there was a frantic rush of people getting as much of their money out of their accounts as possible. Of course, Chaos and their group had organised heists for that day, so they ended up getting more money than usual. Janet had heard all about Carbon Copy creating copies of himself throughout the globe to rob the international banks as Earthstone, the Commander, and even Ice Guy in a few places, but she had been in labour at the time and had more important things to worry about.
"What do you want me to do?" Janet asked with a heavy sigh.
"We'd like Nick to apologise to Elliot and Max properly, and for you to deal with your husband in an adult manner rather than spending all of your money on useless crap," Warren said, spying a spiraliser sitting on the bench, still in its original box. According to Ace's report, it had been one of the first things Janet had purchased.
"I suggest that you spend time with Nick instead of money. He doesn't even like Batman," Simon added, remembering the overwhelming amount of Batman-themed things Janet had bought.
"What? I thought he was his favourite?"
Simon shook his head. "He prefers Marvel over DC."
"I don't know what that means," Janet admitted.
Wendy sighed, rolling her eyes. "Even I know what that means, so yeah, spend time with your kid."
"Hey, Janet? Can we steal your kid for the day? We'll bring him back," Adam called.
"What?"
Donny returned to the kitchen, grinning slightly. "They've bonded over technology and Adam wants to show him the tech-hive. Oh, and I erased most of Nick's memories about the whole thing. I left the knowledge there, because otherwise he wouldn't understand if you two fight, but the images themselves are gone. Also, Janet, tell your husband to take better photos, would you? No one wants to see a dick-pic that damn close. I wish I could erase my own memory," he said with a shudder.
Warren screwed up his nose. "Speed, you know a couple's therapist, don't you?"
"Yeah, I'll leave their number on the fridge. They're really good, but only if you're both willing to make your marriage work. I also know a good attorney; I'll leave their number too," Simon said, writing both names and numbers on a piece of paper and sticking it to the fridge.
"Uh, hey. Didn't get an answer?" Adam said, poking his head into the kitchen.
"I... I don't know," Janet said, her eyes wide as she tried to process all of the information that had been thrown at her in the last fifteen minutes.
"Why don't I stay and we'll talk about your options? Nick can go with the others, have some fun with Acidic's tech stuff and the million and one toys the kids have, and we'll organise a plan of action for you," Simon offered. "Today's session is free, but you'll need to pay for the next one."
Janet thought about the offer. The shock that she'd felt on finding out about her husband's mistress was starting to wear off, the mask that she'd worn since then was starting to crack, and a myriad of emotions were starting to seep through: anger, frustration, sadness, self-doubt, self-pity, more anger. She didn't want Nick to see her - or hear her - while she was like this.
"It's all right if Nick sees you being emotional, Janet. It's more dangerous for him if he saw you unaffected and cold. Expressing your emotions is a good thing, but that doesn't mean you let them control you," Simon added, his voice warm.
Janet nodded, a tear falling. "Okay. I'll... I'll say goodbye to Nick."
"We're bringing him back, don't make it sound like we're not," Adam muttered.
She sniffed and wiped at her eyes with her sleeve. "I know, that's not what I meant," she said, leaving the kitchen to find Nick in the lounge room, playing on Acidic's phone. "Nicky?"
Nick's eyes widened when he saw his mother's red eyes. "Are you okay? What happened? Who made you cry?"
Janet coughed, sniffed, and wiped at her tears again. "I'm fine, Nicky. Well, not completely fine. I... I found out about your father having an affair," she said.
Nick's shoulders hunched and he looked at the carpet, scuffing his foot against it. "I found his emails. I didn't want to tell you; I didn't want you to be upset."
"I know, Nicky. It's all right, though. Sometimes being upset isn't a bad thing," Janet said. "I'm going to talk with Speed, and I'm going to be very emotional. Would you like to go with, uh, Acidic and see his technology... stuff?" she offered.
Nick frowned. "I'm not still grounded?"
"Oh, right. Well, you are, but... we can start that on Monday instead," Janet replied.
"Cool!" he said, looking excited. Then his expression fell. "Will you and Dad be okay?"
Janet licked her lips. "I'm not sure, Nicky. We may be okay and work on it together, or we may be okay alone. But that doesn't change how much we love you," she said, gathering Nick into a firm hug.
Nick clung to his mother tightly, his eyes squeezed shut. "Love you too, Mum."
"I know, and I'm very grateful for that, Nicky. Now... When were you going to tell me you didn't like Batman?"
Nick winced. "Never?"
His response made Janet laugh and she wiped away her tears again before kissing his forehead. "Well, I'm probably going to have to return all of the things I bought. Later, why don't you tell me who or what you like, and I'll see what I can do, okay?"
Nick nodded firmly, already creating a list in his head. "Will you be okay if I leave?"
Janet gave a watery smile. "I'll miss you all day, but I'll be okay, Nicky. Promise," she added.
"Okay. Bye, Mum," Nick said. He hugged his mother and kissed her cheek, then grabbed Acidic's phone and rushed out of the lounge room to continue their conversation.
Simon knocked on the door frame and offered Janet a box of tissues when she started crying again. "It's all right, Janet. Just let it all out. Later, we'll discuss whether you still love your husband and if staying with him is the best decision for you."
Janet started crying harder and took several tissues at once to blow her nose loudly.
...
Max and Elliot both stopped in shock at seeing Nick returning with their parents. Frieda looked amused at their expressions, gently closing their jaws. "Good morning, dears. Who is this young fellow?" she asked, smiling at Nick.
"This is Nick," Layla replied. "Nick, this is Frieda. She's Max and Elliot's grandmother."
"Hello, Frieda," he said shyly.
"Hmm, are you the same Nick that's been upsetting my boys?" Frieda asked with a shrewd expression.
Nick winced. "I'm sorry, Frieda."
Warren tried not to laugh; Frieda's brand of disappointment worked on everyone.
"You shouldn't be apologising to me, should you?" she replied pointedly.
Biting his lip, Nick nodded. He looked to Max and Elliot. "I'm sorry for bullying you. I won't do it anymore."
Elliot blew a raspberry at Nick, still irritable after his late night Lego stunt and not enough sleep.
"Elliot Spencer Forge, that is not appropriate behaviour," Frieda said sternly.
Elliot winced. "Sorry, Gramma," he said quickly, shovelling a spoonful of porridge in his mouth.
"Do you mean it?" Max asked Nick, ignoring Elliot's response.
Nick nodded. "Yeah. I've been letting my emotions handle me," he added.
"You've been talking to Speed?" Max asked curiously.
Again, Nick nodded.
"Okay. Want some food?" Max asked.
"What've you got?" Nick asked, his stomach rumbling.
"Porridge, fruit, cereal. The bread's all been eaten," Frieda added.
"I'm cooking tomorrow; it's not my fault Cee eats everything in sight," Warren muttered.
"Your bread tastes amazing, so that's totally your fault."
"I'm not going to bake bad bread!"
Nick sat on the seat next to Max. "Are they always like this?"
"Yeah," Max said with a shrug, stirring his raspberries through his porridge before taking another bite. "We're almost out of honey, too, Da," he said.
"Thanks for letting me know," Warren said. "Want to see the bees with me later?" he offered.
"Really?"
"Yeah, we'll work on your smoking skills. Creating smoke without an actual fire is very difficult, so don't get upset if you can't manage it on your first try," Warren added.
"Can I see?" Max asked, grabbing his father's hand.
"Not inside; you'll set off the fire alarms again," Layla said.
Frieda poured Nick a bowl of his chosen cereal and he ate it slowly, watching everyone interact with a fair amount of curiosity. He'd never met real supers before. (Elliot was just a kid, he didn't count.)
"Later then. Can you ripen this apple for me, Max? It's a little bitter," Warren said after taking a bite and chewing, his nose screwed up.
Max looked at the apple, careful and intent in ripening it so the skin was shiny. "How's that, Da?"
Warren took another bite and nodded. "Great. Thanks."
Max smiled broadly and took another mouthful of porridge.
"You're a super too?" Nick asked in surprise.
"Duh, 'course he is," Elliot said, rolling his eyes as Max nodded in response.
"So why'd you hit me?" Nick asked, confused.
"Setting you on fire didn't seem worth it," Max said, shrugging. "I'm sorry for hitting you."
Nick shrugged; apparently being hit was the least Max could've done to him. "S'okay."
"I've usually got Gameboy and Nintendo DS, DSi, DS-XL, as well as older stuff like Atari and Nintendo SNES, but someone borrowed my stuff without asking. Again," Adam muttered.
"I'll remind her tonight. Sorry, Ace," Wendy said, wincing.
"She'll bring it back, Ace; you know she always does. And if not, Bolt'll do it after their date on Thursday," Zach said, taking some grapes from bowl on the bench and sitting beside Ethan.
"That's not the point, dude, like, at all."
"It's one of the points," Zach replied, grinning as he ate a grape.
Adam opened and closed his mouth twice, then rolled his eyes and turned back to the kids. "Okay, who wants to learn Fortran?"
"Nick's gonna learn too?" Elliot asked suspiciously.
"Anyone who wants to learn should be allowed to learn. Unless you've got a problem with that?" Adam asked, looking between Elliot and Max.
Elliot scrunched his nose up but shrugged after a moment. Max looked at Nick for a long, silent time and then held out his hand for the other boy to shake, his body tense.
Layla fell silent as she recognised her son's vines gathering up in his body, ready to defend himself if necessary. Warren felt it too and they both watched silently, the others going quiet around them. It was the first time Max had shown any awareness of his inner vines, and Layla had to bite her tongue to stop from saying something in excitement and ruining Max's concentration.
Nick tilted his head slightly, his cheeks full of cereal, but set his spoon down and shook Max's hand. Max relaxed when nothing happened to Nick and his vines retreated.
"Okay, Uncle Adam. He can learn with us," Max said.
"Good to know. Finish eating while I set up the hive," Adam said, ruffling both Max and Elliot's hair before heading downstairs.
Elliot let out a groan of annoyance, tugging at the cuff around his wrist. "Do I have to wear this, Pa? I hate it," he said, looking up at Craig with big wide eyes.
Craig might've fallen for his big innocent eyes once, but he knew the consequences of shifting in front of the wrong people, so he steeled himself against his son's expression and didn't give in. "It was your decision to start your week today, not Monday," he reminded Elliot.
"But Pa!"
"Don't you 'but Pa' him, Elliot. You know not to shift in front of people; you were told explicitly not to do that, so this is a suitable punishment for breaking that rule. You'll just have to get used to being yourself instead of someone else," Frieda said, kissing his hair.
Elliot sighed, knowing that if his Gramma thought it was appropriate punishment, then it definitely was. He doubted there was any use in trying to get his Nan on his side. "Fiiiiiine," he groaned, hopping off his stool and taking his bowl to the kitchen.
"You like computers?" Max asked Nick curiously.
Nick nodded, finishing the last of his breakfast. "Yeah. I'm good with them."
"We'll see how good you are when I start teaching you. C'mon, I've got everything set up. You'll get to race each other in a typing test at the end of the day," Adam added with a grin.
"Don't resort to fists, and don't melt the computer," Layla said.
Max winced at the reminder. "Maybe I should wear a cuff, then. I left mine at Nan's; do you have a spare, Ma?" he asked.
"Elliot has the last small one," Craig called from the library.
"I'm not using mine today, you can use it as an arm band," Ethan offered, coming into the dining area to hand it over. "Just make sure to give it back at the end of the day, okay?"
"Thanks, Uncle Eth," Max said, slipping the bracelet over his hand and as far up his arm as he could.
"Don't cut off the circulation, kid; you won't be able to type for long," Adam said.
"I'll clear the dishes; you two go and have fun," Frieda said, waving them off.
"Thanks, Gramma."
"Thank you, Frieda," Nick said quickly, hurrying after Max and Adam.
"By the end of the day, they're going to be best friends," Layla predicted with a grin.
"We'll probably see Nick as often as our own kids, won't we?" Warren asked, thinking about the extra food he'd have to start cooking; it seemed like Max and Elliot were getting taller and hungrier every day.
"Probably. Are you sure you're okay with me going out for the night?" Craig asked. "I don't like leaving while he's meant to be punished; you know how El likes to push boundaries."
"Yes, we both know that very well," Warren said pointedly.
"We'll be fine, Cee. Go and enjoy your date," Layla said, kissing his cheek.
Craig grinned and straightened his shirt. "Think Noah'll like my outfit? Mel used to say it was her favourite before we broke up," he said, though he still sounded uncertain.
"Melanie had awesome taste in clothes, so you know she was right," Layla said.
"Besides, Noah's head over heels for you, so he'll love whatever you're wearing," Warren said, kissing Craig's other cheek playfully before pushing him towards the door. "Go on, before I run away with you."
"Promises, promises," Craig called over his shoulder with a laugh.
"I'll go help the kids; I'm kind of curious to see what Adam's teaching them. Maybe I can race them later," Layla said with a grin, heading downstairs into the Hive.
"You'll help an old woman stack the dishwasher, won't you, cutie?" Frieda asked Warren, grinning when he sighed at the nickname.
"Of course, Frieda," he replied, following her into the kitchen with Nick's plate and Max's bowl.
"Now, why don't you tell me what's on your mind?" Frieda asked as she started to rinse plates and bowls, handing them to him.
"Nothing," Warren said a little too quickly.
Frieda gave him a look, disbelief mixed with disappointment, and Warren felt the whole of ten centimetres tall under her gaze.
"I'm worried about Max," he finally said, stacking more of the dishes in the dishwasher.
"Why? He's a good boy."
"Exactly. What if he's too good?" Warren asked.
Frieda would have laughed if Warren hadn't sounded quite so serious. "Once upon a time, I thought you were a good boy wearing his father's leather jacket."
"Everyone assumed I was a bad kid for wearing that jacket," he said, shaking his head.
"And you're assuming Max is a good kid for not wearing one?" Frieda asked.
"It's not that, Frieda; it's... I don't know how to explain it."
Frieda handed him the last dish, shook off her wet hands, and dried them on a tea towel, thinking hard for a moment. "You're worried he's Hero-good because he defends his family, because he's quiet-spoken?"
Warren nodded briefly.
Frieda smiled and reached up to pat Warren's cheek. "He sounds just like someone else I know, cutie."
"Me? I don't... Well, I mean, I do, but..."
"Don't you 'but' this, young man; there is no but. Max will grow up to be whoever he wants, and you'll support him, just as your mother supported you and your father didn't. Even if Max grows up to be Hero-good, that doesn't mean he's not worthy of your love."
"Of course not! I'd love Max no matter what. It's literally his name," Warren said, a grin quirking his lips. "I'm still allowed to worry, though."
"Of course you are. That's what being a parent is about; you worry about your children, but you don't overwhelm them and hold them back with your own worry. Max will grow older, he'll have wings, and you have to let him fly."
"I never know if you mean that literally or not," Warren muttered, thinking of Layla's own leaf-wings that held her afloat with the help of his flames.
Frieda just smiled and patted his cheek again. "Now, I need your help with my knitting; I need someone to re-wind the yarn for me, and you're faster at it than the others."
"All right. Thanks, Frieda," Warren said, kissing her cheek.
"You're most welcome, dear. Come on, then. This yarn won't re-wind itself," she said, heading to the library with Warren a step behind her.
Downstairs in the Hive's tech-hive, Max was laughing with his friends. He was happy, and that's all Warren and Layla ever wanted for their child.
One day, Layla and Warren would give Max the world itself.
...
Author's notes: As Layla predicted, Max, Elliot and Nick were fast friends by the end of the day.
Frieda was presented with a new Ming dynasty vase for her birthday, much to her amusement.
Warren eventually found out that his fears were unfounded when Max set three buildings on fire a year later after Elliot and Nick were kidnapped. His cousin and best friend were found within a matter of hours, and Max broke a power-repressing cuff to exact his revenge on their kidnapper.
After years of friendship, fights, tears, happiness, and love, Nick proposed to Max. Max said yes.
Elliot had learned to duplicate himself by then, and was the best man for both of them.
...
The end.
Thanks for reading; I hope you liked it!