Chapter Seven: The Calm Before

November 13th, 1996

Michael gave the ball a little extra oomph and watched triumphantly as it swished through the net, Max rolling his eyes as he punched him in the shoulder.

"You were the one who made the no powers rule, Michael."

"Rules are meant to be broken, Maxwell," he replied with a smirk after reaching down to snag the ball from the bush it had bounced into.

Max sighed, unsurprised by the response, then turned and walked away from the court. Heading for the swings where Lyn was sitting, he tossed one last comment over his shoulder. "I'm going to hang out with your sister until you decide to make cheating a rule so that you can break it."

Michael grinned, almost impressed by the crack, before shrugging unconcernedly and turning around to shoot hoops by himself.

Max collapsed forlornly into the swing next to the petite redhead and she gave him an understanding smile. "Michael being Michael again?"

He nodded and made a face. "Did Isabel abandon you again?"

Lyn gave him a lopsided grin as she nodded. "She wanted to check out that new store on 9th and didn't understand why I wasn't willing to walk three blocks to look at belts and purses."

Max kicked the ground, sending the swing backwards a few feet and asked in a long suffering and over dramatic tone, "Why do we put up with them?"

She giggled and started pumping her legs, swinging beside him for a few minutes in silence before tilting her head to meet his gaze. "Because they put up with us when I won't stop talking about school and you go all rule crazy."

He gently shoved her swing in mock indignation and she promptly shoved him right back, using her own powers to give her more strength and almost sending him careening into the metal frame. "Hey!"

"Oops," was all she said with a not quite innocent expression on her face and he squinted his eyes at her as he got his swing back under control.

"I think you're more like your brother than we give you credit for."

Before she could respond, they were both shoved out of their swings and onto the gravel, said brother standing over them smirking. "There's no one like me."

The two on the ground exchanged glances and then raised their hands in unison. Michael hit the ground and actually skidded a few feet backwards, dust flying and gravel raining down around him as his eyes widened in shock and not a little pain.

Max stood up and brushed himself off before bending down and offering Lyn his hand. "My lady."

She giggled as she took it and allowed him to pull her up. "Why thank you, kind sir." She shot a mischievous glance at her brother who was still gaping at them. "So nice to have a knight here to rescue me from this uncouth knave."

That seemed to pull Michael out of his stupor and he jumped to his feet, a wide and slightly maniacal grin crossing his face. "I'll show you a knave."

Lyn and Max exchanged another glance and then turned to run as Michael pelted after them, both still laughing. They didn't exactly pay attention to their route in their haste to get away and Lyn crashed into a newly returned Isabel, sending her, her bags, and the purchases they contained, flying onto the ground.

Once Isabel recovered from the shock, she lit into the two boys furiously, hands on her hips as they scrambled to find everything she dropped and paled at her threats if so much as one thing was damaged. Lyn was exempt from her wrath, as Isabel incorrectly assumed that she had been an innocent victim, and was standing slightly behind the blonde trying desperately not to laugh.

Eventually the four left the park, Michael and Max carrying Isabel's bags as they headed towards the Evans'. Lyn sidled up to Max and whispered in his ear, "I think the dragon won this contest, brave knight."

They both snorted as Michael and Isabel shot them suspicious looks. "I think you're right, fair lady. Next time I'll send the knave first. Maybe after a meal the beast will be calmer."

At that Lyn could not hold her merriment in anymore and dissolved into helpless giggles, tears streaming down her face as Max tried to support her through his own chuckles and without dropping Isabel's bags. It was another losing battle and eventually he gave up, both of them falling to the ground laughing while their siblings stared on in bemusement.

August 12th-13th, 1997

Lately, Lyn had been picking up on the thoughts and feelings of people besides the three of them, and living in the close confines of the trailer had made it worse. She barely spoke anymore and avoided Hank even more than usual; on the rare occasion they were in the trailer together, she refused to speak at all and just hid in their room, ignoring Michael when he asked her what was wrong.

At the moment, she and Isabel were sitting at a table in the corner of the lunch area picking at their food, while the eighth grade males around them stared and muttered to each other. Both girls had fully developed that year and were two of the curviest in the entire class, making them quite popular with the boys, if not so popular with the jealous girls.

Michael's glare had become even more prominent and he spent as much time as possible looming over Lyn's slight frame, scowling ferociously at every boy who looked her way. Max felt protective of Isabel too, but she didn't let him hover, so he had to settle for the occasional glare when she wasn't looking, or responding to comments when she wasn't around.

Michael was not oblivious to the pull of the opposite sex; just like the other boys he was full of all sorts of hormonal driven urges, but the only girls at school he thought were pretty, he saw as sisters.

The Parker girls had both been pretty, especially the one Lyn had been friends with, and he was sure that they had both grown up to be even more attractive. But he did not really know them, so thinking about them, about her, did not really feel like he was dreaming about a real person, but more like a character like that Jubilee girl he used to see when they were actually allowed to watch TV.

So while he had the same amount of fantasies and 'personal time' as the other boys their age, he was less than sympathetic when he heard them discussing those fantasies with each other when a real girl, especially one of his sisters, was in the starring role.

It made his palms itch with the urge to blast their smirking faces off and only the control he had built in the past several months prevented just that from happening. Instead he had memorized the names and schedules of the worst offenders and enacted a little plan of punishment, a plan he had not let Max in on for fear of the other boy's innate sense of fair play interfering.

The next day, five boys called in sick with a mysterious rash, at lunch the school administration decided it might be contagious and sent the students home early. In the parking lot, as they waited for Mrs. Evans to show up, Lyn punched a smirking Michael in the arm while their two friends watched amusedly.

"Stupid boys." Lyn said as they climbed in the car, both she and Michael resisting all attempts from Max and Isabel to get more information out of them.

October 25th, 1997

All of the guests had left other than Michael and Raelyn, and Mr. and Mrs. Evans had shooed them out to the backyard stating that neither Isabel nor her friends were allowed to help with the clean up from her birthday party. Max, unfortunately, fell into the category of family so he was still inside helping Mrs. Evans with the dishes.

Lyn shot her brother a look and got out of her chair. "I'm going to go grab a water bottle. I'll be right back."

Isabel nodded and Michael, after receiving a second pointed glare from his sister before she disappeared through the back door, reluctantly took her seat next to Isabel on the wooden porch and pulled a rolled up piece of paper out of his jacket.

"This is for you," he said shortly, handing it to her and then staring down at his hands as he cursed himself for letting Lyn talk him into it.

Isabel looked surprised but unrolled the paper and gasped as she saw the drawing that was revealed. It was her on the night they were 'born'. So tiny with short hair and big eyes. Her hand was stretched out and there was a small smile on her face, she knew it was the moment she had helped Michael out of his pod.

"Oh, Michael, it's beautiful," she said softly, blinking back tears as she looked up to see him blushing uncomfortably and refusing to meet her gaze.

Reaching out she hugged him and ignored the way he stiffened at her touch. "It's the best present I've ever gotten. Thank you."

After a moment he relaxed and even awkwardly hugged her back, causing her to smile. Isabel knew he didn't really believe it, but she considered him as much her brother as Max was and she had missed him every minute from the time the Evans found them until that day in third grade.

It was nice to know that he had thought of her too.


A/N: So just to clear up any potential misunderstanding this chapter was NOT a possible precursor to a Max/Lyn pairing. While I fully respect Cliffhangers and other pairings within the pod squad, to me they are family and I am trying to portray all four as siblings rather than just the two sets, so the goal here was just some bonding.