Calamities
Sydney wouldn't say she necessarily had a crush on Max Steel, but it was a little hard not to find a superhero a bit attractive. He was pretty cool in his own way, but the guy she really liked was none other than dorky Max McGrath.
She paused in the middle of the sidewalk, earning some frustrated huffs from the people behind her as they were forced to walk around the girl. How interesting that they were both named Max. When she thought about it, it was almost like… No, no. That would be ridiculous.
She shook her head and smiled before continuing on her way. She was headed to a study date at Max's house, and even though she was going to be at his place, she still expected him to be at least an hour late.
That was why she brought her favorite book along, for when Max inevitably realized that he needed to "take his cat to the dentist", or some other hilarious excuse.
Sydney knew most girls would despise behavior like that, but she found it rather endearing. If he was really hiding something bad, he'd be a much better liar.
She often looked forward to his next hare-brained excuse, wondering what the calamity of the day would be. When she arrived at the McGrath apartment, she was surprised to see that an unfamiliar man opened the door.
Once she got over the initial shock of a new face, she smiled nervously as she remembered that Max told her his dad had returned after so many years of absence.
He hadn't gone into detail, but she assumed that it was a sticky situation. It always was when long-lost fathers finally turned up, though she hoped it would work out well for the family.
Max's dad beamed kindly, the edges of his shockingly blue eyes creasing with a bit of age. "You must be Sydney," he stated confidently, holding out a hand for her to shake.
Her smile brightened as she gripped his hand, "Yep, that's me!" "I'm Jim, Max's dad," he explained warmly. Sydney chuckled, "I kinda figured. You look a lot alike."
Jim grinned, "Well, come on in! Max isn't here yet, but he'll be along eventually." The teenage girl followed him into the apartment and took a seat at the table, arranging her books and notes so that they'd be ready when Max arrived.
She watched as Jim fished around in the refrigerator and pulled out two sodas, offering one to her. Sydney accepted it, and he sat down across from her at the table, sipping on his own drink as he casually flipped through a newspaper.
He didn't seem very preoccupied, so she was sure he was open to conversation, but Sydney had no clue where to start with one.
It would be impolite to ask why he chose now to come back into Max's life, and that was currently the only topic she could think of.
"Max tells me a lot about you. It's strange, because I feel like I know you even though we haven't met," Jim explained, finally breaking the silence.
Sydney beamed in spite of herself, "Really? He does?" Jim chuckled, "Oh yeah. Don't tell him I told you, but he doesn't talk about much else." Sydney giggled and quickly crossed her heart, "I won't speak a word of it."
"Good. Now, I know you probably have a lot of questions about me, so fire away. I'll try to answer them as best I can," Jim stated with a reassuring smile. Sydney's eyes widened, "Oh, well I don't know what to ask." "Anything," the man assured her.
"Um, well what brings you to Copper Canyon?" she asked politely. He shrugged nonchalantly, "Molly and Max. We'd been separated so long, there wasn't anywhere else I wanted to be."
"But why weren't you with them to begin with, if you don't mind my asking?" Sydney pushed cautiously.
Jim sighed, his eyes suddenly looking centuries older, "It's pretty complicated-" Sydney deflated, feeling rather rude for asking. "-But, I'll give you the gist of it," Jim continued, and the girl immediately perked up.
"Long before the Ultralink invasion that you know of, there was a preliminary assault on Earth," he began, earning a wide-eyed stare from Sydney. "I was part of the agency that fought back against them, a soldier of sorts. I ended up being taken as a prisoner of war, and was held for sixteen years. I was finally freed by Max Steel during the final battle against the Ultralink invaders."
The girl's jaw had dropped sometime during his explanation, and she quickly snapped her mouth shut. "I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed, tears welling in her eyes. Jim smiled kindly, "No need to apologize, it wasn't your fault."
She shook her head, a few droplets landing on her papers, "But I just assumed you were a deadbeat dad! I never should have jumped to conclusions like that!"
He raised his hands pacifyingly, "That was a reasonable assumption to make. It's a lot more common than the truth. I'm not offended." She sniffed and dried her tears, "I'm glad you're back. Max really missed you."
A knowing smile stretched across the older McGrath's face, "I missed him too."
When Max entered his family's apartment, he was surprised to see his dad sitting at the table with Sydney. They were laughing and joking like they'd known each other for ages. He glanced at the time on his clock and realized he was only forty minutes late.
Apparently that was just enough time for his dad to become his crush's new best friend. He wasn't sure whether to be happy or jealous.
'I think Sydney is stealing your dad,' Steel noted observantly. Max grimaced, he hadn't thought of it that way. Was that better or worse than his original conclusion?
"Oh, hey Max," Sydney greeted, with the gentle smile that made him feel all gooey inside. He chuckled nervously, "Hey Syd!" He promptly tripped over his own feet and caught himself on the edge of the counter, earning a muffled giggle from Sydney.
'Nice job, Romeo,' Steel commented in Max's mind. He ignored his buddy's comments and quickly took a seat next to the girl, "Uh, sorry I'm so late. I had to take my hat to the…dry cleaner's?"
Sydney nodded rather seriously, and started flipping to her geometry notes. Jim raised an eyebrow at his son, who made a face and shrugged helplessly.
"Okay, so if you have a right triangle, then this is a 90 degree angle…"
Jim moved to the couch while they studied, periodically sneaking glances when he was sure they weren't looking. Seeing the subtle sidelong glimpses pass between them, Sydney's peaceful smile, and the way Max's eyes lit up when she looked at him… Jim became aware that this was developing into something more than a mere crush.
Though, he'd suspected as much simply by listening to Max talk about the young lady. Sydney continued to work on geometry problems with Max, and the two teens chatted playfully.
As he watched them banter, he remembered Max's story about how Sydney had boldly stood up to various villains, including Extroyer and Elementor. For someone so small, she had such a courageous spirit.
It reminded him of another brave woman he knew. Jim McGrath couldn't help but to be grateful that his little Max had found someone just as amazing as Molly.
A/N: Short and sweet.
~Rose
