Wade had decided to stay with me the rest of the summer. We had a new directive: Fix up the basement. Since I wasn't keeping Lance there anymore, I had decided to turn it into my own 'Bat cave'. Hey, if Bruce could have one, why couldn't I?
"Andi, can I ask you something?" Wade spoke as he set up the second of four mannequins downstairs.
"Anything you want, Wadiepoo." I said as I dressed the first mannequin in my very first uniform: tan khaki pants and a hunter green spandex leotard.
"You know how you said that you'd explain everything to me later? It's later."
I chuckled. "Well, it all started the first night I returned to Stryker's. After everyone had gone to sleep, I had J'onn and Dad switch places. That way Mr. Hawkins could stay with the family, and J'onn would stand in for him. He really did a magnificent job pretending."
"Yeah, Storm told me what he did to Stryker."
"What?" We had stopped working now, and were just looking at each other.
"He didn't tell you?" I shook my head. "J'onn screamed at Stryker when Mirage created that army. He yelled at him to make her take them back, I don't know why, but he did."
"I'll be right back." I mumbled then teleported away.
"We don't go anywhere anymore." Wade said to himself as he continued to work on the basement.
J'onn was sitting in the Watch Tower with Flash, Batman, and Green Lantern having lunch. It was pizza today.
"So how's Iris doing?" Bruce asked Flash.
"She's good, gotta a new boyfriend."
"That's so weird." GL shook his head as he took another bite of pizza.
"Dude, I know."
Suddenly, I appeared next to J'onn. "Why did you say that?"
"Say what?"
"Why did you tell Stryker to make Mirage stop? I can take care of myself you know. I am an adult, ask the state!"
"I do not care how old you are! I didn't want you to relapse, you know what happened last time!" He stood up and towered over me.
I took a deep breath and said through clenched teeth. "J'onn, I am a mature adult who has been living on her own for many years now. I do not need you to watch my back!"
Ouch, J'onn thought but he still kept his 'angry face' . "Then go. If you don't need me, then I won't be there."
"Fine!" I shouted before I teleported away.
A terrible awkward silence erupted between the group. That is until Bruce said, "You know she doesn't like it when you play Daddy."
He sighed. "Yes, I know." With that, he left the group to go to his room.
Bruce had followed him. "What she said hurt, didn't it?"
He groaned when Bruce made himself known, but then he remembered that Bruce was his best friend, so he answered, "Yes, it did. But I won't let her know that. As long as she's stubborn, then I'll be stubborn."
It was Bruce's time to sigh. "J'onn, you know that when Andi is upset she doesn't mean a word she says."
"I don't care, if she doesn't want me to watch her back, then I won't protect her." And then Bruce gave him that 'Please' look. "At least as far as she knows."
Bruce smiled. "That's the J'onn I know."
"So...Chinese?" I asked Wade as we vegged on the couch after a hard day's work.
"Yeah." After a second, he jumped up from the couch. "Let's go out to eat."
"What?"
"Let's actually go to the Wok and Roll and eat there. We never go out anymore."
"You know, we're not married nor are we going out. All you have to do is tell me you want to go out. I'll be more than happy to take you places." Did I seriously just say-
"I don't want to have to tell you! I want you to come up with it on your own." He crossed his arms over his chest all chick-like.
"I can't think of you all the time. I have other stuff to do."
And then it dawned on both of us. "Oh my God, we are a married couple." And with a scared look on both of our faces we blindly sank into the couch.
"I don't want to be a married couple, I'm too young." I was shaking my head over and over again.
"I don't want to be a married couple, I still haven't done everything I wanted to do."
"You know, just because you get married doesn't mean that you can't do the stuff that you want to. You just have to learn to compromise with your spouse. Some things you're gonna have to put on hold because when your married you can't go off on your own all of the time, you have to do them with your spouse. That's what marriage is all about: being together." Wade just looked at me like I was crazier than a crazy straw.
"I actually paid attention to the videos in Life Skills." I explained.
"Got it." And we sat there in a weird silence. "So are we still goin' out for dinner?"
"Yeah." I smiled and grabbed my keys from the dish next to the couch.
"So how mad were you at J'onn?" Wade asked as he ate his General Tso's chicken with fried rice, and I ate my Orange chicken with fried rice.
"I was pretty mad."
"Why? He was just worried about you."
"I don't like it when people try to protect me. I don't need it."
Then Wade grinned like an idiot. "You like it when I protect you."
"That's cause you're my partner and you're supposed to protect me. Just like I'm supposed to protect you."
After a second, he said, "J'onn is like a daddy figure to you, right?"
I shrugged. "I guess so."
"And fathers care about their kids right?"
"Yeah."
"And fathers that do care usually do things to protect their kids, right?"
"Yeah."
"So J'onn was just trying to show you that he cared."
God dammit. I hate it when people teach me what I already know. "I'm not apologizing."
"Not asking you to." He picked at his chicken.
"Don't make me feel like this Wade. Because I'm not apologizing." I swear if I go on another guilt trip I'm gonna kill someone. Literally, and I'll be happy about it.
"I know." He nonchalantly ate his rice.
"Don't put all this pressure on me." I warned him.
"I'm not putting any pressure on you. But if it were my dad, I'd like it if he kept an eye out for me."
I knew that was the truth. When it came to his dad, he always wished he could've done more. I know, it's very cheesy. But at least it's sweet.
"Fine. I'll do it...but I'll do it when I damn well please."
"Okay." Wade smiled.
"Stop harping me, would you!"
I had to get away from Wade. He made me feel guilty. I don't get it, I can kill seven thousand six hundred and fifty nine people without a conscious, yet I can't yell at one person without feeling so bad that an emo kid would look like Kristen Chenoweth.
"Andi, you aren't scheduled today." Judy Evans, the lady at the main desk said to me.
"I know, Judy. I just want to sit in my chair." I said sheepishly.
"Would you like me to tell Mr. Wayne that you're here today?" She started to reach for her phone.
"No, I'm sure he'll find me sooner or later." We smiled at each other and I headed towards the elevator. Damn, there's people in it, can't teleport out. Just take a breath and suck it up, you're just going downstairs. I gotta say though, I had my eyes closed the whole time. When the elevator opened to Applied Sciences, I finally opened my eyes and went to my desk.
I sat in my wheelie chair, and I felt so much better. I don't know what it was about this chair, but it just took all of my troubles away. Feeling so relaxed, I put my feet on my desk, and closed my eyes. Maybe a nap was all I needed.
And then I heard a waltz. It wasn't really a waltz, but the footsteps were alert and graceful, so they could be perceived as a waltz. Only one person I know walks like that.
"You know, usually the boss doesn't bring mail to the employees." Bruce's cool voice said happily.
I could only smile. "You could've just sent one of the interns."
"I actually got call from Charles Xavier, asking me to deliver this in person." He placed the slightly larger than average box onto my desk.
I opened it, and smirked when I saw the dark blue-black spandex uniform with a large green X on it. I took out the suit, and underneath it was a pair of knee high metal boots and a matching green metallic eye mask.
"They also sent you a telegram, and requested I tell it to you in a British accent, but I'm not gonna do that." I chuckled. "Dear Andrea, I hope that you will 'join my little crusade' sooner than later. Our team could use your knowledge and your presence would be greatly appreciated. Charles Xavier. PS, The boots were Gambit's idea." Bruce finished and looked at me.
"What?" I was loving the boots, not gonna lie.
"Are you joining them?"
"No, but I am diggin' the boots." These would look fab with my reverse Deadpool costume.
"Good, cause J'onn would be pissed."
"Then maybe I will join."
Bruce rolled his eyes and sighed. "Why can't you two just get along?"
"Because he broke rule number one: Don't piss me off."
"Oh come on! If that was really Robert, you wouldn't have thought about yelling at him."
"Robert is my dad now, J'onn isn't."
"You know he thinks of you as his own-"
"Just because he thinks it doesn't mean it's true." I took a deep breath to keep calm. "He knows that I am honored to be compared to J'orah, but I am not her."
Then Bruce got confused. "His daughter's name is K'hym."
I shook my head. "K'hym is the daughter of M'yri'ah, not J'onn. J'orah is the daughter of J'onn, not M'yri'ah. The only exception, was that no one knew of J'orah except her mother and him." And then a chuckle escaped me. "He told me that, 'everyone has a little Green Arrow in them'. I didn't know he was talking about the cheating until I heard what Ollie had done."
"See? He's not all bad."
"I know he's not, but I'm still not apologizing."
"Come on Gypsy, why not?" Oh great, he pulled out the pet names.
"Well Hayes, that would break rule number two: No regrets." He scoffed.
"What's the real reason?"
I shrugged. "I don't want him to think that I'm weak. I can take care of myself. He has it implanted in his brain somewhere that I'm going to end up like J'orah, or K'hym, or M'yri'ah if he's not there to protect me. But I'm not."
"I know that you're not going to end up like them, but I still worry about you."
"You're my brother, you're supposed to worry."
"And J'onn can't worry?"
I gave him the puppy eyes. "You're not playing fair."
Bruce smiled. "I'm not supposed to play fair. I'm an adult."
"Me too."
And he chuckled. "Yes you are. And an adult would say, 'Screw rule two,' and forgive him."
"Stop making me go through a guilt trip. You're just like Wade."
"Then Wade's a pretty smart guy. Because anyone that knows you, knows that the only way you'll do something you don't want to do, is to guilt you into it."
"Please don't guilt me into anything, I'm not in the mood." I stood up and was about to leave when...
"Andi don't leave yet." I stopped. "Look, what you said really hurt him. The least you could do is apologize."
"What did I say?"
"That you didn't need him. You basically told him that he had no purpose in life."
"His purpose in life should not be me-"
"Well it's going to be!" his outburst actually scared me. "When we are gone he is going to have no one but you. You are going to become the only one to understand him, to accept him. Don't fuck up your friendship because you're too proud." With that Bruce left me alone to gather my thoughts.
"I'm not." I murmured.
"Why won't she just talk to him?" Bruce complained.
"Dude, I don't know. Andi is still a mystery to me." Wade plopped onto the couch and Bruce followed suit.
"Why can't she just swallow her pride?"
"It's not about pride, Brucie." A voice by the stairwell in my house startled them. They turned and saw the same older woman who had interfered earlier. She was still in the outfit prior (A pair of tan cargo pants with the bottoms tucked into a pair of knee high metal boots, with a black wife-beater and two swords strapped to her back. Along with the swords, she had four guns: two in a waist holster, and one strapped on each of her boots).
"Andi?" Bruce asked getting up and going over to her.
She nodded. "About nineteen years into the future."
"How did you get here?" It was Wade's turn to ask questions.
She then touched the belt around her waist. "Nathaniel."
"Who?"
"Never mind. Look, what's going on with Andi is not pride, it's guilt. You two have sent her into a guilt trip thanks to your prodding. And do you know what happens when Andi goes on a guilt trip?" she paused for dramatic effect. "She takes it out on herself. This time, she's doing it differently: She's distancing herself from everyone. Soon, she won't talk to you two, or the Hawkins family, or Johnny, or anyone. She's just going to waste her life away in this old house because she feels guilty for yelling at J'onn. If you two don't fix this, I'm not going to exist. And trust me, I like existing. So fix it!"
"How?"
She shook her head in confusion. "I-I don't know. It was a long time ago."
"How can you not know? You're Andi!"
"Like I said, it was a long time ago." She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose in thought. "Uh, you could try telling her that what she did was justified."
"But it wasn't." Bruce argued.
"It doesn't matter if it was or not. You either figure out a way to fix this or she's going to try and do it on her own. And then BAM! She's going to shoot herself in the foot."
"Alright," Wade took a deep breath and said, "Well, we've obviously got to get them together to apologize to each other."
"Why should J'onn have to apologize?" Bruce questioned.
"First off, he broke rule number one, and he knew the consequences of breaking rule number one. And second of all, I don't really know J'onn, so I'm gonna side with Andi." Well, at least he's honest.
"Well I know J'onn, and I know he was just showing her that he cared-"
"Oh my God! I'll do it!" Future-Andi yelled, throwing up her hands in defeat.
"Okay," Future-Andi said as she circled me and J'onn in the Watch Tower cafeteria. "Here's how this is going to go down: On the count of three, you are both going to apologize. I do not care what you apologize about, or to whom you apologize, I just want to hear, 'I'm sorry' to come out of both of your mouths."
"And what if we don't?" J'onn asked.
"Then I'm going to shoot both of you in the head." She took out the two guns from her wait holster and pointed them at J'onn and mine's heads. "Then I'll wait for you to regenerate, and we'll try this again. We will do this until you get it right. Now, one...two...three."
" Gabh mo leigseul" I murmured.
"Sorry." J'onn said almost as soft as me.
Future-Andi put her guns away. "That's better. Now that you've said sorry," She turned to me. "Stop being depressed," then she turned to J'onn. "And stop thinking that you're life will be worth nothing. Trust me, you will be plenty busy in the future."
And then, she got a peppy skip in her step. "Now children, if you'll excuse me, I have more blood suckers to kill." She winked at the two of us and pushed a button on her belt that made her disappear.
"I'm sorry for calling Storm a vagina." I mumbled loud enough for him to hear.
"I'm sorry I ever cared about you."
And just like that, our friendship was over.
