Happy Thanksgiving! This is just a short little precursor to the next chapter, and a whole lot lighter than last chapter's Jesse point of view. Sorry for the confusion and the "oh-crap-bad-things-are-coming"-ness of the last chapter. I promise, the family (minus Jesse) is just as confused. It will make sense later, I promise. Without that, you wouldn't understand how certain things ended up where they are.
Also, a reviewer pointed out it would help if I said whose point-of-view the chapters are. Whoops. Will do that from now on.
Alright, apology for the confusion done! If you're confused about this chapter, go back to 'Honesty' because Anya hints she's doing this in that chapter! Hope you enjoy this!
Chapter Thirteen: Lock and Key
Sean
"Why is Anya walking around with a power tool?" I ask Alex, handing him a wrench so he can work on the underside of one of the various cars in the garage. Anya flounces past the open door with a drill as big as her head held aloft like a prize. Alex grunts from underneath the car and wrenches something hard enough that I hear the tell-tale clang of metal. He swears for several minutes while I wait with raised eyebrows.
"New project!" comes muffled from beneath the car. I roll my eyes even though he can't see it. Well, duh! I'm more curious about what "new project" requires a certain and unsettlingly familiar helmet on her head. Alex curses some more and holds a hand out under the bumper of the car. "Blue wrench." I look for the one with the piece of blue tape and hand it to him. I can't tell the difference between wrenches, and Anya just likes to melt them in experiments lately, so we devised this way for me to help him fix up the cars. "I dunno, she's trying to keep it from Charles, that's all I know. And she's driving Bozo crazy in the lab." I can hear the smirk in his voice even through layers of metal.
"She always drives Hank crazy in the lab."
"Yeah, well, she's even worse this time. Purple tool." It looks like a drill only the end if flat. I squint at the tool before passing it to him. "He kept complaining about her creating toxic gases or something when she melted a bunch of metals."
Metal. Whatever she's doing lately, it involves a whole bunch of metal. Copper, silver, titanium, iron - whatever she can get her hands on she melts and mixes and shakes her head at with mutters. Until a few days ago, when that asshole Winters was here. She came back from a trip to somewhere, a black bag over one shoulder, a smug grin, and Magneto's helmet on her head.
Speaking of…
"Alex? I venture hesitantly, rubbing my hand nervously along the side of my jeans. He hums and I exhale shakily. "Do you think… d'you think we made a mistake, bringing him back?"
Three weeks. Three weeks Erik has been here, and Anya has barely spoken two words to him other than to berate him for attacking Winters (not that anyone really gives a shit about that). Worse is the Prof; he acts like he's fine, but I've barely even seen our foster father around here. He's always hiding out in the library or his room or places I didn't even know this place contained. Erik's been worse to see in his own way. He's always chasing after the Prof, trying to talk to him, but for once that magical patience the man has seems to have completely vanished and he won't speak to Erik at all if anything surrounding their split comes up. And when Erik's not doing that he's awkwardly hanging around Anya, like he doesn't know what to do about her. Probably doesn't. The way he looks at her you'd think we'd given him a ghost - someone he thought was dead but still can't touch.
Actually, that seems pretty head on.
Alex is so quiet I think he's not going to answer for a long time. Then: "No, I don't think we did the wrong thing." He wheels out from beneath the car and sits up, wiping his oil-smudged face on a rag. I snicker a little when I see that he's absolutely drenched in black gunk. He tosses the rag at me and scowls. "Look, you idiot, it's not that things are wrong, now that he's back. It's just nobody knows how to act."
"No shit, Sherlock." He pretends to hit me with the a nearby wrench. Or maybe he doesn't pretend, maybe I just move fast enough. "Dr. Doom is back and he's pissed off at the human race still, even though his daughter is lacking a mutation."
"You know what lacking means?" Alex gawks. I grab the nearest screwdriver and pitch it at him. He just lazily moves out of the way and smirks at me. I scowl and perch on the hood of the car with my arms crossed. "That's half the problem," he continues seriously. "She's human. He doesn't know what to think or how to act. Heard him and the Asshole arguing too, about two weeks ago; apparently he doesn't like the thought of dear little Anya running into battle."
"Clearly he doesn't know Anya."
"No, he doesn't. But he wants her as far from this as physically possible." He shrugs. "Magneto sees humans as worthless and unable to defend themselves properly. He thinks that she'll die in twenty minutes or so and he's terrified of losing her. It's conflicting in his head. Add his love interest not pissed but afraid of him and everyone ends up walking on tiptoes around them. Well, except Anya. But then she's always been the ballsy one in the family." There's a quip in there about Alex teaching our little sister bad manners, but I'm caught just sort of staring at him. He's changed. When the Prof took on raising Anya on top of the three teenagers he already had, Alex stepped up to the plate to help him. We all did - of course we all did - but Alex took to it like he was born to it. Anya might as well have had a second dad while growing up the way Alex has watched out for her.
He grew up for her, from a seventeen year old boy to a parent in five years. I'm not sure if that's heartbreaking or admirable. Maybe a little of both.
"Since when did you grow a brain?" I demand incredulously. I am not so mature yet that I can't harass him. Alex just grins awkwardly and hunches his shoulders.
"Dunno. Guess being surrounded by geniuses helped a little."
We fall silent, Alex shaking off the maturity that is no longer a facade and hiding beneath the boyish innocence once again. I stare at my shoes and don't really think of anything, really. My mind is just sort of… caught. There's a difference between knowing and seeing a change in a person, and then actually understanding that change.
Hank walks out into the garage in all his blue-furred glory, expression resigned. "Hey, Bozo, what're you doing out here?" Alex greets with a smile. He purposefully claps a hand on his shoulder, leaving a greasy handprint in the fur. Hank scowls at us and shakes Alex's hand off.
"Anya said that you needed me here," he says, looking peeved. "What do you -"
"Um, we haven't talked to Anya since this morning at breakfast," I say in confusion. Hank blinks. "She's been running around the house in Erik's helmet and with power drills," I say helpfully.
"But… but she said…"
"Get in the car!" Anya's suddenly in the garage, shoving at Hank's furry back and interrupting. "Everyone, in in in!" Her cheeks are flushed and a wide grin is splitting her face. My eyebrows aren't the only ones that shoot up at her face. Hank refuses to budge. She punches him lightly to get him to move, diving headfirst into the driver's seat of the nearest sports car.
"Oh like hell you are driving!" I exclaim. One too many times of trying to teach her to drive have taught me that lesson. Her head looks peculiarly small beneath the thick metal of her biological father's helmet, her tongue even more so when she sticks it out at me.
"I've got the helmet, it's my helmet, I drive! EVERYONE IN! We don't have much time!" she squeals. Hank crosses his arms over his furry chest and Alex drops his head into his hands.
"Anya, what did you do?!" he groans. She shrugs and grins so widely I'm surprised her face doesn't hurt. Her green eyes are sparkling mischievously.
"I'll explain once we're far enough away. Hurry! He's going to realize very soon!" she urges, bouncing in the driver's seat. Alex sighs but gets in. Hank and I stubbornly refuse to move. "Do I have to clock you with a wrench?!" my little sister demands in disbelief.
"Anya, I can't go anywhere! I'm blue!" Hank protests. Anya's eyes flash but her smile doesn't diminish.
"Duck down then. Come on!"
"I do not feel like throwing up today," I say firmly. She rolls her eyes.
"You won't throw up, now come on!" Eventually we do trudge over to the car, getting in and grumbling. There's a blanket in the backseat, probably from some picnic or other Alex took one of the many girls he's used Anya to pick up. Wrinkling my nose at the thought but not left with many options, I throw the blanket over Hank to hide the furry blue mutant. He growls but ducks his head down so it's not immediately obvious that someone's there.
Anya shifts into the car and peels out of the garage so fast that I'm pretty sure she left part of the tires behind.
Can I just say that Anya driving is the single scariest thing I've seen? And I've seen some scary shit. It's not that she's a bad driver per say; she just believes that speed limits are speed suggestions. As showcased by how she is currently driving a convertible sports car down a twenty-five mile-an-hour street at closing in on sixty miles an hour. I grip my seatbelt in a white-knuckle hold and pray like hell that we make it out of this adventure alive.
"ANYA WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Alex yells at the top of his lungs, clinging to the dashboard and the door and looking ready to blow chow everywhere he's so green. Anya pantomimes letting go of the wheel, which has all of us panicking and screaming. She just laughs like the spoiled rotten kid she is and drives. If I didn't love her so much I might beat her to death.
After driving for twenty minutes like this I think I might beat her to death anyway.
Eventually the car slows when we get close to a popular picnic area in summer that, at the beginning of November, is completely deserted. The Prof has taken us here occasionally for a family outing because it's just far enough away from the city that he doesn't hear every single person in New York City. It's just his family when we come out here.
That's how I know that this place is out of the Prof's range.
I practically fall out of the car when she finally stops, gasping in air and digging my fingers into the ground. "You… are… nuts," I finally wheeze out. "What the hell was that about?!" Anya bounces out of the car and stares down at me, amusement pulling at her peachy lips.
"Oh don't be such a baby. All three of you," she adds with raised eyebrows at Hank and Alex, who are in similar positions. She pulls the helmet off and gives us a cheeky grin, bouncing it back and forth between her hands like a giant metal beach ball. "C'mon, picnic stuff is in the trunk." We get to our feet shakily, trailing after the tall girl with the flaming hair.
"Ahn… what did you do? Why did we have to run like that?" Hank pants. Anya shrugs and pops the lid of the trunk.
"Oh, nothing too drastic, I guess. I just didn't want Dad going and reworking all the time I put into my plan by having one of you open the door for him. Oh the sandwiches got squished…" She pouts at some sandwiches that seem like the force of the car was a bit much for them. At least they're still edible. "Oh well."
"Open the door - Anya!" Alex snaps. "Ahn where is -"
"Safe." Hurt flashes across her face and the pout becomes real. "You really think I would hurt -"
"Anya we are fully aware that you would never willingly hurt the Prof," I say immediately. "But you have to admit, this is kind of… scary-looking. And sounding. And wrenching considering how my guts still feel." She pushes the sandwiches at me and rummages around in the trunk for the rest of the food she brought.
"Dad's fine," she says, her voice muffled by the trunk. "I just might have… forced him to talk to Erik, that's all."
"Forced how?" Hank demands, sounding increasingly anxious. Open the door…
I suddenly get it and I burst out laughing. Anya beams.
"Oh my God you evil little genius! How'd you do it?!" I guffaw. Hell, I didn't think there was a force on Earth that could make Magneto do what he doesn't want to do. Leave it to his kid daughter to be the one who figures out how to beat him. She grins and shrugs.
"Easy. Well, not easy, but Annie and Elliot and research and metal scraps mostly. And a lot of doors kicked in," she admits. "A LOT of doors kicked in." I crack up, picturing Anya trying out her latest experiment by repeatedly kicking a door to see if the new lock would give. Alex has the "dawning realization" expression on his face and Hank is just horrified.
"Do you mean to tell me -" Hank starts, his fur almost turning white with shock. I however do not see the problem with this plan and am debating letting Anya get her way for the rest of the year
"YEP!" she chirps, bouncing in place. "Isn't it great?!" Alex has a slow smile growing, beaming at our maniacal little sister.
"Hell fucking yes! Squirt that is the most ingenious thing you've ever done!" He grabs her around the waist in a bear hug and swoops her off the ground, hollering about her intellect as he spins in tight circles. She giggles like a young girl and hangs on tight, occasionally shrieking at some of the faster spins.
"They're going to kill each other," Hank says faintly. "This is so bad, they will rip each other apart -"
"Cool it, Bozo, Kid here was just doing them a favor," I say with a shrug. Hank glares at me for the nickname and I grin unrepentantly. "C'mon, you can't tell me you seriously haven't thought of it too? I know I have. At least once a day watching the run-around act they put on." I raise my eyebrows when he starts to stutter. I know he's thought it. It's hard not to.
"Well… maybe… But it's not any of our business!" Hank protests. Alex is currently trying to dance with Anya in a victory waltz, something she is squirming to get away from. "She had no right to do that, you had no right to do that Anya!" Hank yells. Anya just sticks her tongue out at him.
"And we have no right to try and help them in any way we can?" I ask a little harshly. Hank is stiff and unrelenting about this. I sigh and pat his shoulder gently. "Look, I get it. I wanna run away when I see them tearing each others' throats out too." He glares at me for that, and I ignore him. "She wants the Prof to be happy. And for whatever reason, Erik makes him happy. She's just helping." For some reason that makes Hank angry in a way I haven't seen before. He growls and paces back to the car.
"And what if Erik leaves, hm? What then? Set the Professor up so his heart gets broken all over again? How is that fair?" I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose. Hank is pacing back and forth, making me really very nervous. Nothing like a beast pacing to get the blood pumping.
"And that's better than letting them go on pretending they don't care?" I ask. He groans. "Yeah, it's messed up, but we have to give this a shot. Maybe nothing changes maybe something does. Who knows. Can't blame her for trying." Hank's yellow eyes narrow on me, then slide to the girl back at the car trunk, oblivious to the heavy conversation going on near her.
"I can blame her for trying," he says softly. "It would just be a little hypocritical since we broke him out in the first place." I grin and clap him on the shoulder. Good old Hank, boring and a pushover.
"Well, duh. I'm hungry." Alex throws a bag of chips at my head and Anya sits on the back bumper with an air of smug satisfaction. "Quit it, Kid, you know you're in big trouble when you get back. Breaking the speed limit, driving without a license, and taking Hank from the house?! You are going to be grounded young lady!"
"Don't parent, Sean, unless you want me showing Dad you're hidden pot stash." I blush and she cackles. Damn it but she's always finding it! Alex must help her - that seems like his thing, after all. "Bet you ten bucks they're making out when we get baaacccck…" Our family and betting. Really, it should be illegal the things we are willing to bet on. Hank scoffs next to me and Alex grimaces.
"Oh ew, Squirt, let's not talk about that!" Alex groans, shoving the side of her head. She ignores him and out-stretches her hand to me. She even wiggles her fingers a bit, as if I need the incentive. I take it.
"You are so on."
"That is a complete fool's bet Sweetie! How is being locked in a room together -"
"A bedroom," Anya corrects with a wink. Alex gags. With him on that.
" - Going to result in them having a relationship together. It's utterly ludicrous!" Hank says stubbornly, even crossing his arms over his chest. The other three of us exchange glances and snickers. Hank is so naive sometimes it's sad...
"Dude, you ever, like, play Seven Minutes in Heaven or something? It'll work. Trust me."
Oh boy.
Like? Don't like? Let me know!