Hiding a Runaway (8 years prior to X-Men)
The next couple of days were unusual to say the least. Having another woman in the apartment was strange enough. Lily was able to borrow some of Nichol's clothing. The two of them seemed to get along quite well, and Lily leaned on the comfort and care of Nichol more than that of Matthew. In fact Matthew had to quash his masculine pride a bit and admit that there was much more that Nichol could do to help Lily than he could.
It had been almost a week since Lily had come to stay with them when Matthew and Thomas had to return to school for the spring semester. Lily obviously couldn't come unless she wanted to be caught. Her birthday was in a couple of weeks. Maybe then as a legal adult she could come out of hiding. Until then she never even left the apartment.
When Matthew and Thomas arrived at school they found there was a certain tension in the air. "Metalloy, they might ask us about Lily," said Thomas. "Just act like you don't know anything."
It was during Matthew's third period class that Ms. Grindel interrupted. "Excuse, Ms. Glennus, pardon my interruption, but may I have Matthew Fitzpatrick for a bit?"
"Of course, Ms. Grindel."
Matthew stood up. Here we go. He followed Ms. Grindel into her office. But as soon as he entered he saw a man in a suit coat with a badge and gun on his belt.
Matthew had long practiced not showing a visual reaction whenever he saw a cop, but this was enough to get his heart pounding. Nevertheless Matthew took a seat and said, "Good morning, Officer."
"It is Detective."
"Mr. Fitzpatrick," said Ms. Grindel. "Detective Carter would like to ask you some questions."
"About what?"
"About Lilian Davis."
"What about her?"
"Do you know where she is?"
"Home I guess; she didn't come to school today."
"You are her boyfriend, correct?"
"Yes."
"And you do not know where she is?"
"Is she not at home? I am confused, Offi…uh Detective."
"How do you usually communicate with Lily?"
"Here at school, mostly. She also knows where I work."
"You never call her?"
"She never gave me her home phone number, and she doesn't have a cellular phone."
"Have you talked to her in the last month?"
"Yeah, just as school let out for Christmas break."
"But not since then?"
"No, not since then."
"Are you aware that Lily Davis has been missing since last Tuesday?"
"Missing?! What do you mean missing?"
"She ran away from her home?"
"Why?"
"We were hoping you would be able to tell us. We were also hoping you might have an idea where she might be."
"I don't know either. She never talked about her family nor about anyone else important."
"You two never talked about her family?"
"No, and I am alright with that. There are things about my family I don't wish to speak about." At that comment the detective gave Matthew a funny look. Shoot! Don't talk too much about yourself, Metalloy. Then the detective stared right at Matthew intensely. Why is he doing that?
"What about your family?"
"My father died, leaving my brother and me to live with our mother. Things are good now, but I don't like to think about how things were before that."
"Oh," said the detective as he relaxed his stare. "So Lily has not tried to contact you yet."
"No, she has not."
"You will let us know if she does?"
"Of course, Detective."
"Okay, Matthew," said Ms. Grindel. "You can go back to class."
Matthew left the principal's office and walked back to the classroom. His heart was still racing. He had done well, but it was a close call.
After school he had a meeting with Thomas, Nichol, and Lily. "How hard was the questioning?" asked Nichol.
"Not too, bad. They suspected me, but they have no real reason to actually investigate."
"What if they come here, and find me?" Lily was shaken from the moment that Matthew first told her about the police.
"We gave the school a fake address, so they shouldn't find us here," answered Thomas. "You can relax a bit, Lily. This isn't our first time hiding from cops."
Lily gave a reluctant nod. If Nichol was worried she didn't show it. "It is time to prepare supper. Perhaps some food will keep our minds off things for a bit. Lily, will you help me." Ever since Lily had moved in Nichol's simple cooking had received a boost of flavor. Lily tended to use spices of her own making.
As soon as the ladies moved to the kitchen area, Thomas leaned in closer. "Now will you tell me what's bothering you, Metalloy?"
Matthew wasn't at all surprised that Thomas had picked up on his concern. "I don't like the way that cop looked at me, Alloy."
"You think he suspects you?"
"Sure he does. It's his job. But there's something else. I got the feeling he might have recognized me."
Thomas sat straight and alert. "That is not likely. How would a cop from Detroit recognize two fugitives from Chicago that haven't been seen in almost four years?" Despite his answer Thomas looked concerned.
"You are probably right."
"We ought to stay alert, though."
"Definitely."
Detective Carter, returned to the precinct. Something had sparked a memory in his interview of Matthew Fitzpatrick. He looked familiar. Then he had learned from Ms. Grindel that Matthew was one of two twins. "Hey Tom, can you find a file for me?"
"Sure thing, Detective. What are you looking for?"
"A wanted poster, particularly one from Chicago about two twin mutant child fugitives about six years ago."
The young officer dug through a filing cabinet. "Ahha, I think I found it." The officer handed him the poster "Do you think you found them?"
"Probably not, but I didn't make detective by not checking out my hunches." Detective Carter looked closely at the photos in the wanted poster and compared them to an old year book that Principal Grindel had given him. "Hmm, now that makes things interesting." Detective Carter picked up his phone and dialed the number at the bottom of the poster.
Exposed
The next couple days at school were uneventful, and the brothers began to calm down. Lily's birthday was approaching. At that point she could come out of hiding and not be required to move back home. Of course that would leave her homeless. But they were working on a way to allow Lily to move in, without making it look like she'd been there the whole time.
Thomas sighed as he leaned against the school bus window. He was more than happy to help out Metalloy's girl, but the experience of having another woman in the house was tiring. He had grown quite used to Nichol and even considered her like family. But he had not yet gotten used to Lily. Perhaps I better get used to her given the way Metalloy looks at her. There was no mistaking it, Thomas' brother was in love. Lily might just be the one.
Thomas sighed again as he looked out at the school as the bus pulled up. His mind was thinking about girlfriends and being alone, when he saw something that made his heart jump.
What he saw was a black Ford Crown Victoria with Illinois license plates.
"Metalloy."
Matthew reacted instantly to the use of his code name in an unusual place. He was sitting on the same seat as Thomas on the aisle side, but now he leaned over and looked out the window. "Oh no. What do we do?"
"There is a chance that he is not here for us."
"Really, Alloy, an Illinois cop car parked outside our school. That detective did recognize me."
"I wager you're right." Thomas thought for a moment as the bus came to a halt. There was no sign of police around the front of the school. "They won't want to make a scene. They will probably call you to the office, for more questions."
"They will pull you out of the classroom."
"That's why I'm not going to the classroom. I'm going to go out from under the stage; you try the bathroom."
"I will meet you at the store two blocks down, Alloy."
Kids began to get off the bus. The brothers each took a breath and wished each other good luck.
Matthew had no doubt in his mind that their cover was blown. Four years we flew under the radar. Why now? He entered the school building, and just as Alloy had predicted Ms. Grindle stopped him.
"Mr. Fitzpatrick, please come with me to my office."
"See you in class, Matthew," said Thomas as he walked to his locker.
"Ms. Grindle, I really need to use the bathroom. Can I go there first?"
Ms. Grindle's face displayed her nervousness. "This won't take long. Come with me now."
Matthew followed her for a bit, but right outside her office he danced a little in place. "Ms. Grindle, I have to go. I'll be back in a minute." Then without permission he quickly shuffled his way to the boy's room. Behind him he heard a conversation of a few men who had come out of the office.
Matthew just got into the boy's room when the men began to chase him. As soon as the door had shut, Matthew fashioned a crude spike from his metal making mutant ability. He then thrust it diagonally through the door and into the door jam, making an effective door lock. The cops began to pull on the door. But Matthew formed another spike, and using his hand as a hammer broke the hinges on the window. He then turned the window latch and removed the whole window. In a few seconds he was outside and running.
Thomas dropped off his bag at his locker and grabbed the materials for his first class. But instead of going to the classroom he turned and went down the stairs that led under the stage in the gymnasium. The door was locked, but Thomas had picked the lock several times in his four years at this high school. He was through the door in a matter of seconds. He then made a makeshift dead bolt for the door. That will confuse them for a bit.
He knew that he had precision little time. The cops would have figured up that he wasn't at class. But he had explored the entire underworld of the school in his downtime. He found a large air vent that lead to the tunnel crawl spaces beneath the school.
Just as he had opened the vent, he heard someone at the door. They turned the bolt with a key, but Alloy's homemade bolt still held. He heard some swearing on the other side of the door. Heh heh heh! That's funny.
Now he was in the crawl spaces. It was a labyrinth down there. He heard the crash of the cops breaking down the door, but it didn't concern him. They had no idea where he was or where he would reappear.
Thomas stopped under one of the hatches that led to a classroom and listened to the teacher. Hmm. Freshman Algebra. I bet they won't forget this. He opened the latch and popped out right in the middle of the class. "Excuse me."
"Mr. Fitzpatrick!" exclaimed the teacher, but Thomas ignored her. He walked up to a window with a chisel and hammer of his own making. He broke the ends of the hinge pins, and removed the whole window.
"See you later… or rather never again," he waved to all the students then jumped out the window. A few minutes later he caught up to Metalloy.
"What took you so long?"
"I had the luxury to leave a complicated trail," answered Alloy.
"Lucky you. I had to run almost from the moment you left me." Metalloy stared back towards the school. Alloy read the sadness on his brother's face. He was going to miss that school. "We need to get some distance between us and here, and then head home."
Lily was bored. Matthew had left his advanced chemistry book behind, but it was far too easy for Lily to enjoy it. Nichol was a good companion. Lily had been shocked to find out her previous line of work, but she understood Lily very well and was compassionate. This morning, however, Nichol had left before the boys in order to get to work. Thus Lily was all by herself.
Lily was just picking up the chemistry book when Matthew and Thomas burst back into the apartment. "What…what are you doing here?"
Thomas turned to the door, locked the nob, threw the bolt, and engaged the chain. Matthew walked right to Lily. "The cops were at the school. We had to run."
"They were there for me?"
"No," said Thomas. "They were there for us. At least one of the cops was from Illinois. They must have finally recognized us."
"This is my fault."
"No, it isn't, Lily," said Matthew.
"If the cops hadn't been looking for me, they would have never recognized you." Lily suddenly noticed that Thomas was packing a duffle bag. "What are you doing?"
"Packing. We need to leave here."
"But I thought you never gave them this address."
"We never gave them this address, but we ride the bus to school every day from here," said Matthew. "They will figure it out eventually."
Lily watched as the brothers packed in almost perfect unison. Both seemed to naturally know what the other was doing. They would occasionally speak to the other about things like money or food. Lily herself was in shock. What will I do without them?
Just then the door began to open. First the dead bolt was undone, then the nob. The door opened but caught on the chain. "Lily, you can open the door. It is just me."
Thomas got there first, and Nichol was surprised to see him. "What are you doing here? You are supposed to be at school?"
"The cops were there. They were looking for us. Our cover is blown. How about you? Aren't you supposed to be at work?"
"They were overstaffed." Nichol looked around and saw the bags. "You are leaving." The sound of sadness in Nichol's voice stopped the brothers in their tracks. "I suppose you need to."
"We made up the address for the school. There should be no way in which the cops will trace us to you once we are gone," said Matthew.
Nichol smiled. "You boys think of everything." She lowered her head for a bit, then raised it up. Lily could see a tear in her eye. "I'm going to miss you two. No one has ever cared about me as much as you."
The two brothers walked up and shared a three way hug with the woman who had pretended to be their mother for four years. Lily watched from the side, and suddenly felt the pain of her own good bye. Or do I have to?
After a minute or two the three broke their hug. Matthew found words first. "When things calm down a bit, we will find a way to contact you."
Nichol smiled, "Thank you, Matthew."
Then Matthew turned to Lily, and she knew what he was going to say. "Lily, you can stay here for a…"
"I want to come with you."
Thomas looked startled, and Matthew worried. "You don't need to. In a few days you will be eighteen and free to do as you wish."
"But I wish to be with you now. I can always change my mind later, but if I wait till I'm eighteen then I will never see you again."
Matthew's face looked torn between a desire to say yes and fear. "Lily, my past is not going away. This is my life. They will have newer pictures now. I am almost eighteen myself. My face won't change that much anymore. They will always know what I look like. I will always be running."
"Then I want to run too."
Matthew looked at Thomas who gave him no answer and then to Nichol who gave him a knowing half nod. Lily didn't know what that look conveyed, but Matthew now looked directly at her. "Are you absolutely sure?"
"As sure as anything."
Matthew again looked at Thomas, this time as though asking permission. He gave him a nod. "Okay," he looked back at her. "Pack everything you need, we leave after lunch."
Lily packed everything that she had (which wasn't much of anything). They ate one last meal together at the kitchen island. Nichol gave the boys each a hug and a kiss, and she wished them good luck. She even gave Lily a kiss on her forehead, right on top of the almost healed scar above her eye.
Then they left all that was familiar to them, and Lily joined the fugitive brothers.
