Hi! I'm back, finally. Been a bit busy, but in truth I've become addicted to Agents of SHIELD. I've kinda ditched Lab Rats FF for SHIELD, but I'll keep on with the stories I already have up! Onto the story!
Attempts at sleep were futile that night.
Dawn cracked, but the lone bionic laid still under the sheets. Her hazel, teary, conflicted eyes stared out the window. The sun rose steadily, a burning ball of flame, into the sky. Birds chirped and flitted from branch to branch outside the glass.
She breathed a sigh, the air lifting strands of hair that had fallen across her face. Smoothing down the frizzy strands, she sat up slowly. Sparing a passing glance at the clock, her eyes noted the late time. 10:34.
Not all surprising, Dai hadn't heard Sabrina stir yet. It had been a long night, after all – getting home at nearly two AM, having her chip disabled, the silence . . .
The weight of the past few day's reality hit her full force again. Her stomach flipped, not for the first time, at the fact that she was one of only four other surviving super humans.
Begrudgingly, she pushed off the comforter and stood up shakily. She reached her dresser, where she quickly reviewed her phone. A few texts, fewer calls, and a couple social media updates.
Unsurprisingly, the notifications all came from Janie.
Janie was a strange girl. She was crazy and loud and obnoxious – everything Dai wasn't. They had met in third grade when Janie had taken the class hamster for a 'walk.' The little rodent wound up in Dai's backpack somehow, and the two had gotten in trouble together. Since that trip to the principle's office, the two had really hit it off.
Where r u? (6:08 PM)
I'm bored. U? (6:13 PM)
Hello? (6:13 PM)
Anybody home? (6:15 PM)
ANSWER ME! (6:18 PM)
Dai sighed at her friend's texts. She put the phone down and changed into some half decent clothing before moving to her computer.
Quickly, she did something she never thought she'd do again.
Fania Dooley_
Almost instantly, thanks to her expanded browser, results popped up. There were a handful of different people that lived in various locations across the globe. After a few moments of scrolling, she decided upon the link that appeared most appealing. A page popped up with contact information, living arrangements, family, guardians, ETC.
Dai copied the information into her phone before closing down the page. She shot a quick text to Janie to ensure the girl didn't arrive with an armed mob. She really didn't need a repeat of seventh grade.
After a few more moments of hesitation, Dai sent a short text to Fania – that is, until she remembered the incident. It really hurt to feel so helpless, to have a phone number but no way of actually contacting a phone. And only adding to that small spark of anger was that the broken phone was partially Dai's fault.
Her phone pinged with a new message from Janie.
Where were u last nite?
Crap. Just what she needed. A nosy friend – but to be fair, she had been like that from day one. She tended to be a mix of caring and over protectiveness. Add in a tinge of stalker, and you pretty much had Janie.
A part of her wanted to tell her friend the truth – if her siblings weren't around, at least she could talk to her friend about her 'uniqueness.' But on the other hand, it was apparent this wasn't an unspoken case of stupidity secret. This was obviously a 'life threatening don't-you-dare-tell-anyone' type secret.
In the end, she decided to meet on neutral ground.
Complicated. Maybe tell you later. - Dai
How much later? - Janie
Dai scowled. Maybe this wasn't such a great idea after all.
Never if you keep bugging. - Dai
Fine, jeez! - Janie
Anyway, you have anything going on? - Janie
Not in particular. - Dai
Then I'll see you at the Freeze at 2 :) - Janie
Fine – Dai
Ha, like you don't want to :P – Janie
Dai smiled and rolled her eyes before pushing her phone into her back pocket. Janie could be such a nut. But she was her best friend, nonetheless.
Dai warmed her hands on a cup of tea as she read over the morning news on her phone. Nothing new, no random sightings of teen super humans.
There was a creak at the stairs as Sabrina stepped into the living room. Dai barely spared her a passing glance despite the fact the couch faced the stairwell. In all truth, she had no idea how to treat the situation. So she started as if they were on egg shells; press too hard or move too fast and they'd break.
Sabrina nervously tightened her robe, still standing and facing her daughter. In the end, it was her who broke the tension after a few silent minutes.
"I'm sorry,"
Dai glanced up, surprised, causing the hot liquid in her mug to spill and burn her hands. She didn't notice. Confusion was etched into her face.
Sabrina sighed again before crossing the room and sitting in the first of two identical love seats. "I'm sorry, for," she motioned with her hand and a stutter. "last night. I never wanted you to find out like that."
Dai nodded slowly, comprehending; fighting the tinge of anger underneath.
She took this as her cue to continue. "I can tell you're mad, y'know. But . . . you have to realize, every time your father left, I had to deal with the fact that he might not come back. Several times he almost didn't. And then . . . last week." she gazed brokenly out the window.
"And you're scared I might not." Dai spoke for the first time.
"Exactly. But, as much as I hate it, you have to. I mean, I'm assuming you heard about the fire a few days ago . . ."
Dai nodded, averting her gaze. The fire had ripped through an apartment building complex in downtown New York, killing dozens.
"If your dad and the team had been there, there wouldn't have been that many deaths. But they weren't, obviously."
Dai looked up with glistening eyes. "How did he die?"
"I don't know. I tried poking around, asking some agents. But all I got were a couple slammed doors and 'classified's." She breathed out. "Same thing when I tried to find out what happened to Gael and Ever. No one let me know anything; said they were fine. But I figure they just didn't have time for a couple of kids. Left them on their own, and they found us. Our government's not what it used to be, I guess."
Silence engulfed them for a few moments, broken again by Sabrina.
"And now I realize, that while I don't want you going on missions for quite a few more years, you're always going to be in danger. When I didn't have news on the boys, I thought someone had found out what they were and taken them. And, as far fetched as that may sound, it's true. You're never going to be completely safe. You need to be able to protect yourself." Sabrina reached into the pocket of her robe and pulled out a gray box. She tossed it to Dai, who caught and examined it carefully.
It was about the size of a flip lighter, rectangular and stainless steel. There was a crack running down the center of it that suggested it opened lengthwise. Taking the assumption, she pulled it apart to reveal an empty, black coated interior on one side. The other half had more black metal, but it was filled and had a red switch. She reached to slide the switch, but Sabrina cut her off.
"Not yet! That's only for emergencies." At Dai's questioning look, she explained: "It activates your chip."
Dai gave a small smile, her breath leaving her in amazement at the sudden turn of events. "Thank you."
Sabrina smiled back sadly. "You're welcome. But like I said: emergencies only. I'm still not completely on board with this whole thing, remember."
"Of course," she tucked it into the pocket of her shirt. "and thank you. For not freaking out like last night, I mean."
Sabrina nodded and smiled, a tinge more joyful this time. "Now, it's spring break. Go get Janie and do whatever it is she has planned. But let's just make sure we don't have a repeat of last year, alright? I don't believe your principle will let you back into school another time, okay?"
She laughed and stood up, hugging her mother. "Alright. But you have to admit, we were pretty good artists for our first time using spray paint."
Sabrina suppressed a laugh. "True. Now go! Enjoy your break!"
"Oh, remember sixth grade? The year when you insisted on camping out back?" Janie waved her spoon around, sending small drops of melted ice cream onto the table.
Dai smiled, scraping a bit of candy from her own cup of frozen dairy. "Yes! And you insisted on padlocking the tent, saying that there were people outside."
The two laughed, remembering the rainstorm that had hit out of no where, leaving them stranded inside the locked tent. A beat of silence passed after the laughter had subsided.
"So, you said you'd tell me about last night." Janie glanced expectantly with her bright blue eyes.
Dai immediately clammed up, her posture going stiff. Still undecided . . .
Janie rolled her eyes as she stood up, flipping her caramel ponytail behind her. "Alright, touchy ground. But you're going to tell me eventually," she raised an eyebrow at her friend's expression. "right?"
Dai smiled tightly. "Right."
Janie nodded and walked across the courtyard of the ice cream stand, tossing her cup and spoon in the trash. Dai followed and did the same.
"But anyway, do you remember how . . ." Janie trailed off as she realized her friend had spaced out and stopped walking. Following her gaze, she saw a trio of teenagers walking across the street. Huh?
Suddenly, it clicked for Janie. "Ah!" she squealed, breaking her friend's trance. "Somebody's got a crush! Took you long enough. Which one, the taller one or shorter one? Well, one's probably with the girl-"
Dai made a noise – somewhere between a gag and a snicker. "Heck no! Those are my-" she broke off, catching herself. "You know what, I'll be right back. Just . . . stay here!"
And with that, the teen was off and running before Janie even had a chance to blink. There was a small clatter as the necklace around Dai's neck fell, but she scooped it up and ran across the street – much to the multiple motorist's dismay. She yelped something and the kids turned, taking in the sight of her before hurriedly heading back her way. The other girl flung her arms around Dai's neck, hugging her tightly for a moment before pulling back and chatting excitedly, the two boys attempting to get a word in.
Janie was dumbfounded. One second her best friend was next to her, the next she was gone, hugging some random girl like a long lost relative. Slowly, she made her way back to their table, sitting down and watching the scene across the road with rapt attention.
A few minutes passed before Dai pulled the kids back across the road – this time using the cross walk, thank god – and walked/ran up to the table with a grin plastered on her face.
"Care to explain, missy?" Janie glowered.
Dai didn't seem to notice. "Janie, this is Gael, Fania and Ever." she gestured to each teen, who smiled and gave a small greeting. "Guys, this is Janie, my best friend,"
The brown haired girl – Fania – grabbed Dai's arm and pulled her aside for a moment, leaving the boys to have a very awkward and stuttering conversation with Janie. The girl simply glared.
"Okay, seriously? Do you know how stupid that was? She's going to ask questions, like how we know you, and then it's going to turn into one of those "she knows too much" type things, and we're going to have our first death on hands."
Dai smiled at her sister. "Then let's just tell her the truth! If we're going to be hanging out together, then she'd might as well know!"
"Yeah, about that, it's obvious I want to see you and all, but will your mom let you? You said she gave you the remote and such, but does she really want you seeing us?"
She shrugged. "We ran into each other at the ice cream stand. It's not our fault fate has a twisted sense of humor." she grinned devilishly.
"Jeez! And I thought you were supposed to be the good one." a smirk played on her lips.
Dai rolled her eyes in response and stepped back over to the group amid Fania's protests about not actually having found a resolve to their problem.
Janie not-so-politely excused herself from one of Ever's pointless stories, cornering Dai with her eyes, which held a dangerous glint. "Okay, I'm going to say this again. What the heck?!"
"Okay, okay! You know my dad . . . passed last week. Well, it turns out -"
"Dai," Gael glared warningly.
"-that these are my cousins!"
Janie looked about ready to blow. "Cousins? You never told me you had cousins! Seriously, this is absolutely -"
Dai cut her off. "I didn't know either. You see, my dad and their mom weren't on speaking terms. So we just met."
Janie cocked an eyebrow. This made little sense, yet it was a tinge believable . . . after all, her Aunt Caitlin didn't quite like her mother. However, the aunt and niece spent copious amounts of time together despite this.
"Okay, I guess . . ."
It took all Gael had not to slam his head on the table.
Whew, I'm finally back. Aren't you all so proud? Yeah, me too :3 I hate my life . . .
Anyway, just a little update on me. I don't know why, but it's fun to rant to a captive audience XD I've made a friend! Hoorah! Well, six friends, actually. We're all rejects. Seriously, our part of Michigan in racist or something. I'm Mexican, M's Puerto Rican, D's African American, A's Indian, and my other two buds are geeks XD The blond girls I've known for five year don't even acknowledge me. Whatever, they can do that. (just to be clear, I have nothing against blonds. Just this particular group of blonds -_-) OOOH, and I got invited to the Homecoming Dance! It's on Saturday. My friends and I are all going, and I'm literally going to exact revenge on this group of boys that keep on antagonizing me. My squad is on my side. XD
Shout-Outs!
PurpleNicole531: Totally XD I was having fun messing with them and glitching – it's such a fun aspect XD
Guest: Thank you! And I know. I didn't want to, but it was necessary to have a bit of angst / break up. :) It's a mixture of selfishness and protectiveness, which I struggled with XD But I hope this helps your views on her! Thanks for the review!
Ereader12: Thanks! Haha, that's literally me. I don't get up til my siblings get too loud downstairs XD
daphrose: Aw, it's alright! I'm behind on reviewing, and I pretty much updated because you reminded me to get my butt in action! XD No, trust me, it doesn't. I'm a total reject, but I've made friends :) I've got straight A's except for Algebra, so I'm pretty happy. Thanks! I might take you up on that one day :) Yeah, here's your update!
Thank you guys for sticking with me. It means a LOT, like you don't even know. Thank you all so much!
One last thing: I'm looking for a creative consultant / beta. If you wouldn't mind, that would be great :) I never let my stories have any cursing or go past T, so . . . yeah!
Hope to see you sooner rather than later!