Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
"Sure, you are." Rachel looked skeptic. "I mean, everyone can edit articles on Wikipedia, that's no reliable source. Besides, gods and goddesses do not exist."
"Yes, and neither do people that are indestructible." Mercedes threw her a killing glance.
"But isn't your theory…farfetched?", Sam asked her tentatively. "Not that I don't believe you, but maybe, there is another reason why you have those dreams about that woman."
Mercedes rubbed her temples in distress. "Look, I can't explain it myself, but I just know it. I'm Soraya's descendant and also her successor, I can feel it."
"You sure you didn't just binge watch the history channel? Or just bang your head pretty badly?", Santana queried with cocked eyebrows.
"Besides, why are you her successor?", Rachel added. "Soraya was born more than 2 000 years ago, during ancient times."
"Maybe, all the generations before me have been skipped", Mercedes thought out loud.
"Sorry, but that kind of doesn't make any sense." Sam kicked away a rock pensively. "But what about our lives makes sense? I mean, freaking aliens are chasing us, and one day, I woke up and was able to stop time. I still have no explanation for that."
Rachel exhaled loudly. "Okay, let's say you are right. What are we going to do with that piece of information?"
"Why do you ask me?" Mercedes looked at her, bemused. "Doesn't happen every day you find out that you're a demigoddess."
Just at that moment, Kurt came jogging over to them. "Hey, sorry I just stormed off", he said, slightly out of breath. "I needed time to think abou-" He trailed off when he noticed the puzzled face expressions of the other four. "Have you just seen a ghost? Did I miss something?"
"You sure did, my friend", Sam commented. "Apparently, gods and goddesses are a thing, we found out that Mercedes' ancestor was one."
"That's…interesting." Kurt seemed to be at a loss of words.
"Does that mean you also have her powers?", Santana wondered while she was reading something on her phone. "According to Myth and Folklore Wiki, Soraya also had superpowers. Did you get some of these?"
"I have absolutely no idea", Mercedes confessed and lifted her hands in surrender. "Guys, I literally just found out about my heritage. Cut me some slack." She ruffled her hair in distress. "Can we just…change the topic? Please?"
Sam rubbed his stomach. "I'm starving. Are you in the mood for pizza?" The rest of them just groaned while Sam was pouting. "What? Never underestimate the might of an empty stomach, right?"
…
The next day, they continued driving.
"Guys?", Kurt suddenly spoke up after he had looked up from his phone. "Would you mind if we made a stopover in Lima?"
"And why?", Mercedes asked him curiously "Do you have some secret lover you want to visit?"
"Heavens, no." Kurt rolled his eyes at that. "I'm through with relationships after I got disappointed." He threw Rachel a pointed glance who just looked back at him angrily. "I need to go home; I promise I won't take long."
"Dude, is it a good idea to visit your family, especially because Brainwarp wants to kill us?", Sam wondered. "Just sayin."
"It's urgent." Kurt looked down before he added: "It's for maintenance purposes. The microchip in my brain needs an update."
At that, Santana broke into loud laughter. "And you are mad whenever I call you robot boy! Who - or rather, what else needs to be maintained, huh?"
"For the hundredth time: I'm no robot!", Kurt scoffed with hot cheeks. "Can we stopover in Ohio or not?"
"We are going to drive through Ohio anyway, so that should be no problem", Rachel, who was now driving, remarked. She shortly glanced over to Santana. "What's the matter with that address you entered into my google maps?"
"That's one of my homes in Tucson, Arizona", the Latina explained shortly. "I put a spell on my house so that nobody can enter as long as I don't allow it. We are going to be safe there."
"But that's, like, a two-day long ride", Sam pointed out worriedly. "What if those aliens catch up with us before we arrived?"
"Simple", Santana answered concisely "We just make sure to not get caught."
…
"Thanks, you really helped us, Ma'am." Taj hung up and started smirking.
"What is it?", Kaz asked him with cocked eyebrows while she was brushing her long, dirty blond hair. "Did you find out anything?"
"Yeah, I did." Taj got up from the couch in their tourbus, his icy blue eyes were sparkling. "I know where our freaks are."
Rex looked up from his tablet. "Really?"
"That young lady of some motel's reception told me she has seen a quintet that looked exactly like the humans were are searching for. They departed this morning, though."
Deacon grabbed his notepad and his pencil. "Still better than nothing. Where was that motel?"
"Grove City, Pennsylvania", Taj told him, and Deacon wrote it down.
"Perfect, at least, we have a clue now." Rex hopped into the driver's seat and started the bus.
Kaz put down her brush and threw her friend a worried glance. "What are you doing, Rex?"
"What do you think?" Rex hit the gas and the cars before him were honking angrily. "We are going to drive to Pennsylvania and chase them down."
"And our concerts?", Deacon queried, he fell down when his best friend turned the vehicle to the right. Cursing, he got up again and took a seat at the shotgun. "You can't just act on impulse and leave New York without talking to Adrianna first!"
"Our manager will have to wait, Deek", Rex answered with a smile. As always, Deacon was the voice of reason, that was probably why he was their leader number two. "That's more important now, and we both know it."
Taj put on headphones and started watching Game of Thrones. Bodhi was playing Angry Birds on his iPhone, and Kaz was about to apply eyeliner on her face. Apart from Deacon, nobody seemed to care about Rex's plans.
Deacon sighed resignedly. "And there is nothing I can do to change your mind?"
"Nope", was the short answer.
"Goddammit!" Deacon leaned his head back on the seat. "Let's just hope your plan will work."
…
It didn't take them long to arrive in Lima. After they had dropped Kurt off at his home, Rachel decided to drop by at her dads' homes as well. Even though they were divorced now, the two men were still on a friendly basis for the sake of their daughter.
"Guys, would you mind if I left too?", Sam asked Mercedes and Santana while the trio was sitting in the car of some Mall's parking.
"Where do you want to go?", Mercedes asked him.
"To my aunt, she lives here in Lima. My parents are visiting her right now", he explained to them while he got out of the car.
"Kay. But don't forget, we are all going to meet exactly here again in four hours, alright?", Santana reminded him.
He waved at the two women with a smile before he rushed to the next bus station.
"What do you say, Lopez?" Mercedes nodded to the Mall in front of them. "You in the mood for a shopping spree?"
The witch just shrugged. "Yeah, why not? But only if you are going to pay."
…
As always when Sam entered his aunt Rosie's hose, the air smelled of lilacs. Her house's exterior was all violet, so were the wallpapers inside.
His elder aunt pulled him into a bone crashing hug immediately and Sam almost couldn't breathe. "Samuel, oh how grown up you are now! Look at you, you are such a big boy!"
"I'm twenty-three years old, Aunt Rosie", Sam pointed out with a blush. "Of course, I look grown up."
"Come in, your parents are already waiting for you." Rosie tugged her nephew into the kitchen where his parents were sitting at the table with mugs of coffee in front of them. For some reason, they had weird expressions on their faces, but who knew, maybe Sam just imagined things.
Another round of hugs and exchanges of kisses later, Sam was sitting at the table with his aunt and his parents, chatting and exchanging news.
"What brings you to Lima, son?", Dwight asked him curiously.
Sam rubbed his neck, trying to think of a convincing lie. "I'm on a trip. With friends of mine." Whether he could already call them friends? "Why have you been trying to call me all the time?"
Dwight and Mary exchanged weird glances. Rosie quickly got up with an odd face expression. "I need to…uh…water my plants", she muttered before she left the room.
"What in the world…?" Sam looked after his aunt confusedly. "What's going on? Did someone die?"
"Sam, we need to tell you something." Dwight took his mother's hand and squeezed it.
"You are scaring me." Sam's stomach sank. "What's wrong?"
"You know we both love you, baby", Mary started. "So, so much. Please don't be mad about what we are going to tell you. We don't want to postpone it any longer."
"Oookay…" That didn't sound good at all. "Shoot."
"The truth is that…" Mary looked down. "I'm not your mom."
Sam was staring at her, speechless. But then, he laughed. "Of course you're my mom."
"I mean, I'm not your biological mom", Mary corrected herself.
"So that means… I'm adopted?" That couldn't be. That was impossible.
Much to his relief, Dwight shook his head. "No, I am indeed your biological father. But when I was young, I was dumb and made irresponsible choices. I had that one-night stand with that mysterious woman I met at a bar, and nine months later, she showed up in front of my door, handed me a baby and told me I was the father and that she didn't want to be involved in his life. After that, she disappeared without a trace. I tried finding her again all the years, but in vain."
Suddenly, the room was spinning and he needed to hold on to his mug. Sam breathed heavily, not able to properly process that new information. "So that means I'm nothing but a mistake? The product of a silly one-night stand?"
"Of course not!", Dwight exclaimed, visibly upset. "I love you so much, son. You and the rest of the family are the best that happened to me."
"I met you and your father one and a half years later. He was an emotional wreck", Mary explained.
"And that wonderful angel took me out of my hole and showed me what real love is. She accepted and loved my baby boy as if he was her own flesh and blood. We got married half a year later." Dwight shortly caressed his wife's hand.
"My siblings are my half siblings?" Unbelievable. His entire life was nothing but a lie. Sam felt as if he was drowning.
Mary was crying now. "I'm so sorry we didn't tell you earlier, sweetie", she sobbed. "We wanted to tell you as soon as you turned eighteen, but we just didn't find the right timing."
"It's…it's okay", Sam stammered. To be honest, he would have acted like that as well if he thought about it. "I get it. Thanks for your honesty. And mom?"
"Yes, baby?"
"I don't care about what our DNA says. You were the one that raised and loved me unconditionally. You always helped me with the homework. You taught me how to tie my shoes. You took care of me whenever I was sick. You will forever be my mom."
More tears were running down Mary's cheeks, but this time, those were happy tears.
Dwight also had tears in his eyes. "We have a great son, don't we?", he whispered to his wife.
"Yes, we do."
Sam squeezed both of their hands, not knowing what to feel. He was right: Mary was his mother, not some woman that gave birth to him, but refused to be part of his life. Nevertheless, Sam wondered who his biological mother was. Whether she had something to do with those powers that popped up when he turned eighteen? Whether his mother had those powers as well?
If she did – that gave him another reason to be mad at her. His mother should have been there for him when he discovered his time-freezing abilities, but instead, she preferred to just leave.
That's when he decided to search for his mother, not because he wanted to reconnect with her – he already had a loving mother, thank you very much – but because he wanted to find out more about himself, especially more about his powers.