Broken Fairytales part 4
by Phantaz-Magoria

A/N: Because it occurs to me there might be some confusion from the last chapter. I had this whole thing written out in my head and it didn't dawn on me until I posted the last one that I forgot to actually write it down. Oops, my bad =) So, this fits in right in the middle of the last chapter. Or, we could pretend that I did it as an artistic endeavor to demonstrate how disjointed and mixed up Glitch's memory is. Yeah... that's a good excuse... right? Please review! Please!

* * *

What happened that drove Glitch to desperation…

The Camaro's hood was propped up and Glitch was leaning inside. The engine was purring like a kitten and his expert fingers were tweaking things here and there.

"Hey, DG! Could you press on the gas pedal for me? The… uh… right one."

Nothing happened.

"The other right one, I mean."

The engine rumbled and roared. Glitch smiled and tightened one last thing. Perfect. He lowered the prop and let the hood slam down.

He walked around to the driver's door and the smile on his face instantly disappeared. DG was crouched on the seat, looking paler than pale, tiny arms wrapped around her stomach. She handed him a note, 'I threw up.'

"Oh, honey. Come here." He picked her up. "You should have told me you were sick." She lay her head against his shoulder and he rubbed her back as he began carrying her back to the bedroom.

"You have to tell me these things cause I can't always figure them out on my own and I can't fix something if I don't know it's broken. Who am I kidding? I can't always fix things that I know are broken, but I can't even try if I don't know about it. You gotta help me with this stuff, kiddo. I'm a little broken myself, you know."

It wasn't until he got to the top of the stairs, rambling the whole way, that he realized she had fallen asleep in his arms. He placed her in the bed and took off her shoes before tucking her in. His movements were hurried and he couldn't necessarily remember why.

Then a call from down in the shop, a firm, "Hello? Anyone home?"

That was why he was hurrying! The buyer was coming today!

Glitch flew down the stairs and sprinted across the warehouse. "I'm here! Don't leave, I'm here!"

The buyer was scarcely eighteen and had grown up with money. He was here with his dad. Dad seemed to be the no nonsense type. This wasn't going to be good.

Glitch grinned apologetically, "I'm sorry, but I still have a few more touches to do. Could you come back in an hour?"

The dad stepped forward. "You said the car would be done by twelve o clock today. A business man that doesn't keep his word isn't worth doing business with. Now, is it done, or isn't it?"

Glitch ran a hand through his hair. This wasn't good at all. "It's done, there's just one little problem that I haven't been able to take care of yet. You see, my assistant was sick today and I've only just sent her home, but I haven't had a chance -- "

"Oh, what the HELL!" The teenager had opened the door and was backing away in disgust.

Glitch winced. "Yeah, I haven't had a chance to clean that up, yet." He went to the workbench and grabbed two handfuls of shop towels and hurried to clean up the mess.

The teenager wasn't happy. "Dad, I'm not paying ten thousand dollars for a car that smells like somebody else's shit."

"You're not going to Trevor."

Glitch was scrubbing at the carpeting. His shoulders slumped. "Sir, if you give me an hour, I can have the car shampooed and cleaned. You won't even know that -- "

"Are you saying that my son and I should accept an inferior product?"

"Not at all, sir. There's nothing inferior about this car. I've entirely rebuilt the transmission, it's a six speed manual now. She's got a six point two liter V8 engine, alloy wheels with racing tires, new shocks, new breaks…" Glitch trailed off. He could tell he wasn't getting anywhere with these people. "Just give me an hour."

The dad shook his head. "I'll give you eight thousand."

"You're going to drop two grand just because of a little vomit? You're joking."

"I don't joke about business, Mr… Mr. Cain, is it?"

"Eight grand doesn't even cover the parts. Give me an hour and it will -- "

"Eight thousand not a penny more."

"I'm sorry, I can't sell it to you for that."

"Come on, Trevor. We're taking our business elsewhere."

"Wait! Ninety five hundred. It's the lowest I can offer."

He would be okay with ninety five. He wouldn't be able to buy more Erebus until the jeep was finished, but it would pay off his credit with the dealer he bought parts from, would give him enough to restore the jeep and pay for food for the next week or two. He could live with ninety five.

"If you think you can afford to let a car like this sit around for months on end waiting for a buyer, you're more than welcome to try, but I won't pay more than eight thousand."

The business man had Glitch by the throat. That was the stranglehold. The crux of the matter. Glitch didn't have the money to rebuild the next car on the list until he sold the current one. He had very slowly and tenuously worked to acquire the capital that he had and he had nothing to spare to cover any hitches in his system. He could no more afford to let a car sit than he could to drive it off the wharf.

"Sir, I'd be losing money if I let you take it for that much. Nine thousand. We both know it's worth more."

"I'll be generous and write the check for eight seventy five. How does that sound?"

Glitch swallowed. Guess he wouldn't pay for food for the next week or two. And he would be hard pressed to finish the jeep without going over budget. Glitch shrugged. The last of the cash had gone to buying DG some new dresses, but he had some more books to sell if he needed, and the Erebus he had should finish the month out. As long as nothing else went wrong, he could make this work. Still, the words stuck in his throat, his mouth was as dry as paper. "I guess you've got a deal."

The business man smirked and pulled a checkbook out his pocket. He tore out a check and handed it over. Glitch felt hot anger flooding through him from the tips of his toes to the top of his head. The check was already filled out. He hadn't ever planned on paying full price.

He tossed the key ring to the young man and took the check. "Thanks."

Trevor caught the key and held up his hands. "What? You aren't going to clean the mess up?"

"For ten grand, I clean the mess up. For less than nine it's your problem. Good day, gentlemen."

Glitch wiped his hands off on a towel and dropped it into the waste bin on his way to the back. He was so angry he didn't even know how to deal with himself. His hands were shaking again. It was almost time for another dose of Erebus. He could take it early just this once. He could be irresponsible just this once. His insides were crawling as he climbed the stairs.

Glitch didn't even bother pulling the box off the bookcase, he just opened it and pulled out a syringe and the thin rubber hose. He rolled his black and red striped sleeve up past his elbow, tied the hose and pulled one end tight with his teeth. He filled the syringe. Just as he was about to slip the needle into his skin, a hand on his leg startled him.

He jumped. The needle stabbed him and broke, his arm knocked into the wooden box. He watched in frozen horror as it tumbled off the shelf, the delicate glass bottles inside spilling out into the air. He felt his heart skid to a stop when they shattered on the tile floor.

Glitch looked over to see DG standing beside. Her face had a look of shocked horror on it too. Glitch felt like he was going to be sick, but he forced himself to smile. "Hey, sweety. It's okay, don't… don't move okay, do NOT move."

Her lip quivered and her eyes began to fill with tears. She looked up at him as if to say she was sorry. Carefully, Glitch wrapped one arm around her and lifted her, carrying her over to the doorway to the bedroom.

"It's alright, DG. It was an accident, I know that. I just… I need you to stay over here because that stuff could hurt you real bad and I don't want you to be hurt. So stay right here and let me get this cleaned up, okay?"

Blood was dripping off of his fingertips. Wincing, he carefully pulled the broken needle out of his arm. He ran a hand through his hair, trying desperately to distract himself. He looked up with a more genuine smile. "So, what are you doing out of bed, honey?"

She handed him a note, 'I'm feeling really bad.' She pointed to her stomach then pointed at the broken glass on the floor. Then pointed again for emphasis.

"Worse because of this mess? Don't worry about it. It's no big deal… no big deal… no big deal…"

He was about to go start cleaning it up when she wrote out another note and handed it to him, 'I'm sorry I made you break your medicine'

"You didn't make me do anything, kiddo. You should be in bed, though, so you feel better."

DG shook her head. She couldn't sleep.

Glitch looked at her with concern, a frown tugging at the corner of his lips. She was extremely pale… He pressed the back of his hand to her forehead. "I think you might be running a fever, but I can't tell. What do you think? You have to use the back of your hand, because your palms are more desensitized to hot and cold since you use them so much. Go ahead, try it."

DG felt her own forehead with her hand.

"See? Now feel mine." He knelt so she could reach him. "What do you think? You feel warmer than me, don't you?"

DG nodded.

"I'd have to get a thermometer to check for sure. I might have one downstairs. You go lay down and I'll go get it, okay?"

DG nodded again, looking for all the world like the sickest, most miserable little girl in the world. Glitch gazed sadly at the pile of broken glass before grabbing a broom and beginning to sweep it all into a dustpan. Where was he going to get enough money to replace it? Correction: Where was he going to get enough money in time to replace it? He could use one of the other needles on the full syringe, but one dose… If he took it now, without more to follow he'd be a shivering, writhing, screaming mess by sun down tomorrow. By dawn, the pain would be gone and DG would be left pouring her own bowl of cocoa puffs.

He swept the glass into the trash can and went downstairs. He thought he had a first aid kit in the bathroom, but it'd been so long since he cared about anything like that that he couldn't remember for certain. Sure enough, there was an old first aid box and in that was an old fashioned glass thermometer, gathering dust in the corner. He grabbed that and a wet towel and trotted upstairs, cleaning the thermometer off as he went.

"I've got one!"

DG was sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting for him.

"Here, the fat end goes under your tongue. There. That way your mouth heats up the red liquid inside and then it will move to show us how hot you are. See, liquid takes up more space the warmer it is. Not so much that you would be able to notice, except that it's such a very thin tube inside. It's pretty cool when you think about it. But we have to wait a few minutes so, while that's working, I'm going to go finish cleaning up."

Glitch patted her on the head, then went and mopped up the spilled drugs and the last of the glass bits. Just to be safe, he threw away the towel and took the trash can down to the dumpster outside and emptied it. By the time he came back inside, the thermometer was more or less done.

"One hundred one. That's definitely a fever." He sat on the bed next to DG and she curled over onto his lap. "I'm not very good at treating fevers. I could make you chicken soup?"

DG shook her head plaintively.

"No soup, huh. Could get you an ice pack, might help bring the fever down."

DG just snuggled closer. Glitch rested his hand on her shoulder and leaned sideways so he could see her face. "Just want someone to cuddle with, huh?"

DG nodded just a tiny bit. She was already almost asleep. Glitch sighed. He needed to go cash that check, maybe stop at the store and get some cold medicine. But he supposed he could wait until she fell asleep.

* * *

Two years ago…

"You don't have to carry that, you know. I can get it."

Cain was carrying a large brown box up the stairs. The same stairs where he and Ambrose had met the year before. Ambrose was watching him carefully, a nervous expression on his face.

"Naw, it's okay. Adora threatened to castrate me if this didn't make it safely to the science fair this time. She thinks you've got a real chance of winning."

"You sure I can't carry it?"

"I love ya, kid, but I sure as hell don't trust you with my balls, but thanks for the offer."

Ambrose snorted. "Well, when you put it that way, I really don't want to handle your balls either. Keep the box."

"Glad you see it my way." They were almost on the third floor.

"Do you mind if I ask you a personal question, sir?"

"Shoot."

"Why are you doing this? I mean, any of it? You don't offer to carry other people's stuff, you don't invite any of the other kids home for dinner. Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but I'm kinda waiting for the shoe to fall here. And don't get me wrong, or anything, I love coming over for dinner, and I like babysitting Jeb, and you're real awesome and everything… but why?"

"Why? That's a pretty heavy question. Especially on a birthday."

"I don't ask questions very often. Thought I'd make it worthwhile."

Cain readjusted his grip on the box. "I do it cause I like you, kid."

"You like me? Is that… like as in… Catholic priest like me… or…?"

"No, it's more of a… Adora and I would like to adopt you sort of like."

Ambrose stopped walking.

"You want to adopt me?"

"Yeah. Unless… well, unless you don't want us to."

"You're serious."

"Yeah. Figured it would be sort of a sixteenth birthday present."

Ambrose was still trying to process the enormity of it all. "Most kids get a car for their sixteenth birthday."

"Well, I'm not sure about the car. I'd have to talk to Adora to see if we could swing it… but if not, would a family be an okay substitute?"

Ambrose almost felt like he couldn't breathe. It took him a moment to realize the aching in his chest was happiness. "I think… I think I'd like that."

Cain smiled and began walking again. The auditorium was just down the hallway. "Good. Just act surprised when Adora tells you about it at your birthday party tonight."

"You guys planned me a party too?"

"Yeah, umm. Act surprised by that too, would ya?"

"Yes, sir." Ambrose was smiling happily.

"You can call me Wyatt. You know that, right? Or Dad, if you prefer…"

"I'll try to remember that… Dad. Wow, that sounds kind of weird, huh?"

"You'll have plenty of time to get used to it, kiddo."

Ambrose grinned. Today was turning out to be a pretty good day…

* * *

Present day…

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"

Glitch wasn't certain that he heard correctly. He always felt out of place in banks and he could feel anxiety creeping up his back between his shoulder blade, a creepy, tickling feeling like a thousand tiny little spiders crawling over his skin. He'd been waiting forever and the girl behind the counter looked at him with that fake sort of regretful apology look. She couldn't help him, and she was sorry about it, but she would forget entirely about him the moment the next customer walked up.

"I said that there's been a stop order put on this check and we can't deposit it for you."

"A stop order?"

"Yes, sir. I'm really very sorry, but there isn't anything we can do."

"Nothing? Nothing at all?"

"I'm sorry, sir."

Glitch put his head in his hands. He shouldn't be surprised. He should have seen this coming. "I don't suppose you could tell me when this happened, could you?"

"It looks like it only came through about forty-five minutes ago."

"Figures." Glitch felt anger and fear mixing inside him, that high strung feeling that told him a nervous breakdown and lots of tears were just cresting on the horizon. "Can you tell me if there's any sort of… of… reciprocating action I could take? Because this gentleman has already driven off with the car he purchased with this check and if he's put a stop order on it, he really is kind of stealing from me and I don't know what I'm supposed to do about it."

"Well, sir, you can file a grievance with the police department, but I'm afraid that's the only information I can give you."

"The police department… great. Thanks." For nothing…

"I'm sorry, sir."

"Sure you are. Can I have the check back, please? Thank you."

"Can I help the next person in line?" She hadn't even waited for him to leave her counter. He couldn't really blame her. The rain had started up again when he walked outside. Today didn't seem like it could get any worse. He shoved his hands in his pockets and began walking home in the rain.

* * *

Two years ago...

"Just do what we want and we won't have to kill them. It's that simple."

"Zero, please don't do this."

"Look at them. I don't think the wife can take another hit like that, do you? She might even be dead already. Then we start on the kid next. Now do what you're told. Unless you want to see more?"

"No, please stop, please God stop!"

"All it takes is one little word…"

"Yes."

"Yes, what?"

"Yes, I'll do what you want, just please don't hurt them anymore, please? Please?"

"Now you're starting to see sense. Get it done. You've got one hour before the baseball bat starts swinging again."

"One hour? I can't… it can't be done in an hour…"

"Then I suggest you work fast…"

* * *

The straw that broke the camel's back…

It was beginning to get dark outside. Glitch could see the rain falling outside the glass doors of the Emergency Room. By the time he had made it back home, DG's fever had risen to a hundred and five and had developed the nastiest cough Glitch had ever heard. With a fever that high, he couldn't justify not bringing her here. Fevers that high were too dangerous to mess around with. The cough made him wince in sympathy, but the fever was what worried him.

So Glitch had cursed and cursed inwardly, but smiled on the outside and told her it would be okay and that they were going on an adventure. And it had been. Glitch had taken enough money for the bus, because even he wasn't silly enough to think he could carry an eight year old girl all the way to the hospital. He'd been tempted to try, but one look at her glazed blue eyes and the black circles under them and her pale pale face had convinced him that this wasn't the time to be frugal. The bus ride hadn't been bad. He'd asked the driver to kindly remind him when his stop came up and they had been nice enough to help. That wasn't always the case and Glitch had long since given up on busses, but having DG with him helped.

One thing Glitch had noticed about DG was that she seemed to make his life better. His memory seemed to work better when she was around, anyways. He hadn't glitched in days… He was probably coming due for one. But having her around was pleasant. It was nice. And now he was waiting for her to come back.

He sat in the uncomfortable waiting room chair, avoiding the accusing glances from the nursing staff. They seemed to be able to stair right through him, straight through his sodden and drenched clothes to the bruised needle tracks on his arms. Every look he caught from them seemed condemning, as if they knew from a glance that he was a drug addict and what was he doing with such a sweet little girl and how dare he lay a finger on her and he obviously couldn't take care of himself so what was he even thinking trying to take care of somebody else.

Or maybe it was just him thinking those things. It was hard to tell, especially when he went too long without his Erebus. He had decided to save his one shot left for when he really needed it. When the pain became too intense, he would take it. Right now he was just nervous and shaky. And queasy. And shaky. His leg was doing its own thump, thump, thump routine while he waited. Like Thumper pounding the log in Bambi… He willed it to stop. Ten seconds later it started again.

After hours of waiting, a young man in a lab coat came out of the doors that DG had been taken behind. He had a clipboard.

"Are you Mr. Cain?"

Glitch shot to his feet. "How is she?"

"She has bacterial pneumonia. We've gotten her fever down and she's resting comfortably. We've started her on some antibiotics, but we'd like to keep her here over night. We've already moved her to a bed upstairs."

Glitch nodded slowly. "Okay… But she's going to be okay, right?"

The doctor nodded. "She'll be fine. I had some more questions to ask about your family. You said DG was…"

"My sister."

"Your sister, right. And your father…"

"Is at work right now. I take care of DG while he's gone. I called him, but he couldn't leave work and I couldn't get the fever under control which is why I brought her here, but that was the right thing to do, right? Because she's really sick and everything…"

"Yes, Glitch is it? You did the right thing. But what I need to talk to you about is the insurance. Now, you said you don't have any sort of insurance plan. Are you certain?"

"Yeah, I'm certain."

"Is there any way you could contact your dad and find out for sure? Maybe he could give you the insurance information over the phone?"

"I… umm, well, I could call him, but I'm pretty sure he'll say the same thing."

"The reason I'm asking is because things like this can be very expensive. Just to be seen in the Emergency Room is three hundred dollars. Then add in the lab tests, the antibiotics, that's another seven hundred fifty. The overnight stay is going to add even more to the costs. It would really be for the best if you could find out about that insurance, okay?"

Glitch could actually feel the blood draining from his face at every word, but he managed a slight nod. "Yeah, I can find out. Can I, uh… Can I see her now?"

"I'm afraid that won't be possible. Visiting hours are over and she's asleep. It's best to let her rest."

"But… but I'm her brother. I should… I should stay with her."

He could feel that familiar twitch… the glitch waiting to happen. This was the absolute worst time for it. He bit his lip and struggled to stay together.

"I can assure you, she will be perfectly fine tonight. You should go home and get some sleep. You can come back and see her tomorrow."

There was something wrong, something wrong about this. Family members had a right to stay, but the gazes from the nurses made him feel crawly all over, made him feel wrong somehow. Maybe he was just being paranoid. Maybe there was nothing wrong about this at all. He took a breath and nodded.

"Alright. I'll try to have the insurance information by then… but.. but… but if I don't, what… what sort of, uh… cost are we looking at?"

"All told, it should run close to two thousand dollars, but at this point, I can't say. There could be complications, we could need to keep her longer than a day. You'll have to get with billing when you check her out."

"Th… th… thank you."

The doctor was looking at him funny too, now. He had to leave, had to get out of here. He nodded stiffly and walked towards the door, not bothering to look back.

Outside, he lifted his face to the sky, hoping the rain would hide whatever tears might escape. How in the world was he going to get two thousand dollars!?

A sick twisting cold feeling in the pit of his stomach told him that he knew of a way. He knew somebody who could help.

He had to find Zero…

* * *

TBC