Life Chapter 10
"Lexi wait" called Bud.
"Why?" I snapped whipping around to face him but he was still sitting on the bench staring at god knows what.
He sighed before speaking slowly as if each word was painful.
"The reason I freaked out when you called me Ace is because, well, I am Ace" he said.
I took a few steps towards him.
"No, your not!" I said disgusted, "Ace is dead and has been for a year. What kind of sick person are you?"
With that I turned around and headed for the door. I had to get away from this guy.
"What, your not even going to brainblast me?" asked Bud.
I stopped walking. How did he know? I hadn't used my powers since I had arrived and the only person I had told was Sashie.
"You're not worth it!" I spat not bothering to turn around.
I was about to step inside when I lost my balance.
'Damn heels' I thought.
Unable to regain my balance I fell backwards. I closed my eyes and let myself fall waiting for the pain I knew would come.
Only that instead of pain and cold concrete I felt warm arms around my waist. Someone had caught me.
"I got you Lex" said Bud from behind me sounding sad.
My eyes shot open, why did the words 'I got you Lex' sound so familiar.
My mind was working overtime trying to figure out who had said that to me before. Only one person came to mind.
Ace.
As soon as Bud had me standing again I took off my mask and turned around to tell him that he was a jerk and to leave me alone but the words dissovled in my mouth. I was lost in a sea of blue.
It took me a few moments to regain my senses and look away from the bright blue eyes in front of me.
I was so confused. Bud had brown eyes. 'But Ace had blue eyes!' I dared to think. The little voice inside my head reasoned with me 'Ace is dead, you saw his room. He was attacked by a wolf or something. No-one can lose that much blood and survive. Not to mention the photo' it said.
While I was staring at the ground I realised that Bud was holding something in his hands.
Brown contact lenses.
When Bud saw where I was looking, he took a few steps away from me.
I looked at him, figuring out what it all meant but not brave enough to believe it.
"Ehh, what's up doc?" he said nervously, obviously uncomfortable with my silence.
"Ace?!" I whispered wanting confirmation, my eyes brimming with tears.
He grimaced "Hi."
I all but ran to hug him. I was enjoying his warmth and the feel of his arms around me so much that I didn't want to let go.
"I thought you were dead" I whispered through my tears.
Then the past year came flooding back. I stopped hugging him and stepped away from him.
"I thought you were dead!" I said, as the anger started rushing through my veins.
I slapped him. He accepted it which maddened me.
I slapped him again. Then, still not satisfied with his reaction, I punched him in the stomach.
He doubled over, the breath knocked out of him.
"What was that for?" Ace wheezed.
"I thought you were dead!" I yelled angrily, "Heck, we all thought you were dead! It took the team two months to get used to you not being there. Two months Ace! How could you?!"
"I'm sorry" He said softly.
"Sorry? That's all you have to say? Sorry? Well guess what? Sorry just isn't going to cut it. You hurt us all and you're not even going to tell me why?" I exclaimed with disbelief.
"You want to know why?" Ace asked, standing upright now having caught his breath.
"Yes, I do," I answered, still angry, "Don't you think of all people that I deserve an explanation? And the team, don't you think that they might like to know why their leader abandoned them?"
"Yes," he sighed, suddenly looking exhausted, "lets sit down. It's a long story."
For a few moments after we sat down Ace didn't talk.
"I'm not sure where to begin" he said utterly confused.
"Start at the beginning. Tell me what happened while I was unconscious" I suggested.
It was like the flood gates had been opened.
Ace told me how he had been devastated when I got hurt and that he blamed himself because he told me to brainblast my way out. He felt unworthy of the Loonatics thinking that if he couldn't protect me he couldn't protect the universe.
"So I decided to leave" Ace said.
"How? We all thought you were dead. There was so much blood" I pointed out.
He shook his head, "It wasn't all mine."
Ace explained that he had captured and killed a wild grey rabbit and smashed his window by jumping through it to get back inside. Once inside he took his anger out on the dead animal spreading fur and blood, mostly the dead rabbits but some of his own, around the room.
Ace faltered, obviously tormented by the memory.
"I didn't want to kill the rabbit," he continued, "but I had to."
"But how did you get out?" I interupted, the shock of Ace killing an animal was small in comparison to him being alive after all this time.
"I waited until midnight" shrugged Ace nonchalantly.
He recounted sneaking into my room and stealing 200 quasarlinium from my purse. When he took the money out of my purse Ace saw my locket and, in a moment of weakness, scribbled 'I'm sorry' on a piece of scrap paper before cramming it inside.
Then Ace told me that once he got back to his room he was so angry at himself for injuring me that he took his anger out on his suit ripping it to shreds. Ace explained how he had gotten frustrated when he couldn't destroy his triangle but that his anger quickly dissapated once he remembered its ability to act like a safe.
After storing the photograph in the triangle Ace had tossed the suit across the room before he ran silently to the wormhole generater and Acmetropolis. Once back in Acmetropolis Ace had changed his name to Bud (his great uncles name) before auditioning for a Looney Tunes movie remake and becoming the most famous comedian since Bugs Bunny.
"I'm sorry I hurt you," finished Ace, "I just thought you would be better off without me."
"You idiot," I replied, shoving his shoulder, "I was worse off without you! The team was lost without you."
"Maybe," he admitted, "Do you want to dance?"
"I would love to, Ace" I answered emphasizing his name.
Ace took my hand and lead me to the door.
'This time I won't let him out of my sight,' I promised myself, 'this time will be different.'
Then the memories of last time washed over me.
'This time will be different,' I thought sternly, 'starting now!'
I stopped walking and let my hand slip out of Ace's.
He took a few more steps before he realised that I was no longer right behind him.
Here goes nothing!
"Ace," I said as he turned around to face me, "I love you."
Ace just smiled.
'Oh god,' I thought, 'he doesn'f feel the same way, I've made a fool of myself! Nothing will ever be the same now.'
"I know" he replied.
'Here it comes' I thought, briefly considering running away or better yet I could brain blast him so hard that he would forget the past 5 minutes.
On second thoughts perhaps running away was best.
"I'm sorry Lex but I just don't feel the same way" Ace finished.
"Thats ok," I countered bravely, "I think I've had to much to drink."
"Do you want me to take you home?" He asked kindly.
"No thanks, I'll take myself. They have taxis here" I answered.
I walked away, tail between my legs (metaphorically speaking of course), doomed to unrequieted love.
The End
I shook my head pulling myself out of LexiLand as Ace approached.
Oh great, he's going to try and comfort me when he tells me he doesn't love me.
I made to step away but his hand caught my cheek paralysing me.
Ace looked deep into my eyes.
I began to drown in his.
"I love you too" he said softly.
I smiled, truly happy for the first time in, well, a year.
Then Ace wrapped his free arm around my waist a pulled me closer to him.
He smiled then kissed me.
All he did was press his lips against mine but it was enough to make me melt. I swear, if he wasn't holding me as tightly as he was I would have fallen.
Ace stopped kissing me but kept me wrapped up in his arms.
'Yes,' I thought as I rested my head on his shoulder, 'things were definately going to be different this time.'
The End
Hi guys, I hoped you liked it! I'm toying with the idea of a sequel so let me know what you think. Can't wait to here what you all thought! KW