Michelle in Yonkers
Flamehair
Evelynn
BelevnDreamsToo
flyawayraven
thetvgeneral
Tessa1982
Vaderian
Thank you all for the feedback, the Happy birthdays way back in June and for just out and out being awesomely patient with me. (except Evee) Thanks a lot. Oh, and I suppose a recap is in order.
The story so far.
The Year is 2210 and the world is a different place. The existence of aliens is public knowledge, and they are greatly feared. Aliens are referred to as Maligns for reasons yet unclear. Due to a great fear of alien life forms there exist a group of people that are dispatched in order to kill Maligns.
Dover Blackwell is a member of this group called MDs or Malign Disposers. While he is dissecting a malign, it hatches to reveal that Maligns are human in form. This information was not previously known by the MDs.
Not having the heart to kill the Malign that resembles a five-year-old boy, Dover takes it home with him. Dover’s little sister Liz, otherwise know as ZeeZee, immediately takes a liking to the little boy and the two become friends. She gives him the name Max.
The next morning ZeeZee awakens to find that her new friend is gone. She finds him outside, but he is trapped in the middle of a thunderstorm. ZeeZee begs her brother to go and rescue Max and he agrees to do so. When Dover reaches him the little boy is struck by lighting and by all accounts appears to be dead. Dover goes to bury Max but the boy wakes up and is now capable of speech, something he was previously unable to do.
Dover takes Max back to his home and he and his wife deicide that they are going to keep him. The next day, Dover’s wife, Lilly, who is a doctor, takes Max with her to give him a check up. That same day, the cave from which Max spawned collapses on itself, trapping a man (Jimmy Valintie) inside.
In an attempt to blow the cave open, the Doughboys unearth an unknown element. They are then sent away from the cave and the MRs (Malign Researchers) take over the aria.
Inside the cave Jimmy experience a strange sensation of euphoria similar to a sense Dover got when he first entered Max’s pod chamber, before he passes out.
Much to the dismay of Jimmy’s uncle and the MD squad leader, Link Patterson, the pod is taken completely out of MD jurisdiction. The MDs are ordered to go on mandatory sabbatical and nothing transpierces for three weeks.
Meanwhile, Dover’s wife Lilly, a doctor, runs tests on Max to determine how different he is from normal human beings. She finds that Max hardly differentiates from humans at all. In those three weeks Max develops to the capacity of a normal five year old and in order to help him blend in he will now begin going to school. However on the day before he is to start attending school Dover gets a message telling him to report to MD headquarters as soon as possible. He leaves a sleeping Max and reports to HQ.
Dover learns that the element that was previously blocking the cave entrance has melted and he and his team as well as a group of MRs are to be sent in to retrieve Jimmy’s body. This worries Dover.
Back at the Blackwell domicile, Max awakens to find himself alone. He then goes in search of Dover. After hearing a strange noise from outside the domicile, Max figures out how to leave and runs into Joy Pallor-Smith, the Blackwell’s down the road neighbor. Joy, thinking Max is a lost child, takes him home with her.
What will happen to Max now that he is in the home of the Pallor-Smiths? How will Dover cope with the discoveries that may be made in Max’s cave? And what will Lilly and ZeeZee do when they realize Max is missing?
Find out on our next episode of The Amazing Spiderma-…um I mean the next chapter of Malign.
~Chad~
Part 1:
Chapter Eleven
Sealant New Mexico: Pallor-Smith Domicile
Max was hungry.
He looked down at his stomach and it made a funny gurgling sound. His stomach was hungry too. And he was sure that his feet, which dangled from the chair that Miss-es Pal had sat him on and told him not to move from, were pretty hungry too.
Problem was, he didn’t know what to do about this hunger.
Whenever he was with Lilly and got hungry, she would give him tasty food to eat. Well…most of the time. Sometimes the food would not be so tasty, but she would always make him eat it anyway. Regardless if the food was tasty, like sweet cookie bread, or not tasty, like green leafy stuff, Max was never hungry when he was with Lilly.
Max looked to the large jar that sat on the nearby countertop. It reminded him of another jar. Lilly had a pretty circle jar that she always kept cookie bread inside. Maybe Miss-es Pal kept cookie bread inside her jar too.
He looked down at his feet. Miss-es Pal had said not to move from this spot. Did that mean that something horrible would happen to him if he moved?
His stomach gurgled again. He was so hungry. He had not eaten anything all day. Surly, whatever happened to him if he moved from his spot wouldn’t be as bad as being hungry. Besides, if he moved from his spot, got the cookie bread, then moved back to his spot before Miss-es Pal got back, then maybe he could trick the horrible thing from ever knowing that he’d moved to begin with.
Max took a second to check his logic. It made sense to him.He stood up from his chair, then waited to see what would happen. Thankfully, nothing did, and as he suspected, the horrible thing did not have time to realize he had moved from his spot. But there was no telling how long it would take for the horrible thing to figure it out, so Max decided that he had better move quickly.
As fast as his feet would allow, Max ran over to the countertop and climbed up on one of the really tall chairs that was sitting beside it. No small feat, since the chair was much bigger than he was. But Max’s appetite was even bigger, and the idea of tasting some sweet cookie bread far outweighed any fear he would have had of a large chair.
Once Max was situated in the chair, he turned to the door that Miss-es Pal and the man she had called her hus-band had disappeared behind. He waited for a moment to see if he could hear any signs of them returning, and though he was able to hear the sounds of their voices, Hus-band’s voice more clearly than Miss-es Pal’s, it didn’t sound as if they would be returning anytime soon. That gave Max more than enough time to get his sweet bread and get back to his seat before either the two of them, or the horrible thing, figured out that he had ever moved.
One door away, Donald Pallor-Smith was furious. Not just furious, but enraged, livid, and just plain out mad. Although, if one were to ask him, he may have just described his feeling as being moderately irritated. After all, a gentleman did not feel such extreme amounts of a negative emotion. However, to look at his round face, which had nearly doubled in size with huffiness, or to take in the peculiar angular slant of his normally extensive eyes, a person might have almost believed that Mr. Pallor-Smith was truly upset.
Joy Pallor-Smith believed it.
“Now Donald darling, I know this is a bit unexpected, but I couldn’t very well leave the child out in the wild cold streets like that. Imagine what sort of havoc he could have wrecked on the world.”
“Yes, now all I have to worry about is the sort of havoc he’ll wreck upon us. Goodness Joy, what on earth were you thinking?”
Joy made a face at her husband. It was the face she used whenever he was being unreasonable and she wanted him to see reason. “I was thinking that it is what a good and hospitable citizen would do when faced in the situation. Regardless of how uncouth this child may be.”
Donald truly hated when Joy made that face. “I understand that darling, but we don’t know the first thing about this child. For all we know he could be disease filled.” Donald looked around the room as if someone other than the two of them could have been listening to their conversation. “He could have toxic exposure,” he said, whispering in a low tone.
Joy rolled her eyes and folded her arms across her chest. “Oh, Donald dear, don’t be ridiculous. He’s from the family down the road. They may be a little strange, but they’re hardly candidates for quarantine.”
Donald looked unconvinced. “I don’t know. You know that Blackwell’s an MD. Works around that stuff all the time. We don’t know what he’s got going on in that domicile of his. That wife of his is no contender for normalcy either. As far as I knew, they only had one kid, that nosey little girl that’s always running around here.”
Joy sighed. “Oh Donald, would you quit being so paranoid. Maybe he’s a relative. Anyway, he was looking for Mr. Blackwell when I found him, like he was a lost toy or something. He’s very strange, I’ll give you that, but no more so than any of those other Blackwells. But if it makes you feel any better, I left a message for them to come and pick him up as soon as possible, so he won’t be our problem for very long.”
“Well, he had better not be. Come on, I don’t want to leave him alone for too long. God forbid he starts touching things.”
“Donald, I will keep him out of your hair. After all, he is just a little boy. How much trouble could he possibly be?”
Donald didn’t want to think about the answer to that question as he followed his wife back to the main room where they had left their visitor.
If Joy was not fond of children, Donald detested them. It wasn’t that he had anything against them exactly, he just had no need for them in his life. Donald Pallor-Smith was a very organized man. He lived a very structured life, and he liked for the things in his life to have structure to them as well. Children just did not figure into that equation.
Oh, they could be appealing sometimes, much in the way a circus animal was appealing. But after a short time around them, they were nothing but noise and headaches. Neither of which Donald found to be structural or functional. As far as he knew, Joy had always felt the same way about children. It was a bit disconcerting to see her taking such an unaccustomed interest in this small boy she’d brought home with her.
Donald stopped walking suddenly when Joy stopped in front of him.
“What’s the matter?” he asked.
“Nothing,” she answered quickly as she turned to face him. “Actually, Donald, it’s been a bit of a long day. Why don’t you go and take a nap while I start dinner? You must be exhausted what with having to come and pick me up. And I don’t want to put any more stress on you today.” She smiled sweetly as she began steering him back towards the bedroom.
Donald placed his hand over his mouth to stifle an unexpected yawn. He was a bit exhausted. And a nap did sound like a good idea. With any luck, by the time he woke, the Blackwells would have come to get their errant missing child, and he could just put the whole ordeal behind him.
“Alright, I think I will. Wake me when dinner’s ready, would you please darling?”
“Of course.” Joy nodded her head.
“And make sure that boy does not disturb me,” he added.
“Oh, you will not even know he’s here,” Joy insisted. She let out a relieved sigh as she watched her husband retreat to their bedroom. Now that he was out of the way for a while, she could deal with her new little problem.
When Joy returned to the main room, it wasn’t to see that Max was sitting in the chair she left him in, patiently awaiting her return. Instead, the sight before her was of the little boy sitting on top of her counter with his hand, no, most of his arm, stuck inside of her flower jar.
Max looked up at her sheepishly.
“Max,” Joy said calmly as she walked over to the table. “What exactly is it you think you are doing, besides contaminating my flower?”
Max looked down at his arm, which for some reason had decided that it did not want to come out of the jar. He knew he was in trouble since he was no longer in the spot that he was supposed to be in, but maybe he wasn’t in that much trouble.
“Cookie bread?” he said as if that would be enough reason for him to have his arm stuck inside of a flower jar.
Joy frowned. Cookie bread? She didn’t keep cookie bread in the house. The stuff was dreadfully unhealthy, and Donald had an aversion to sweets. She looked over to Max. She understood now. He must have thought she kept cookie bread inside of the jar and being the little ragamuffin he was, he went searching for some.
Joy shook her head distastefully. “Well now, that serves you right. It’s rude to go sticking your hands in places they don’t belong.”
Max looked away sheepishly.
“And I suppose you’re good and stuck, aren’t you.?”
Max nodded his head.
“And are you clutching my flower, little Max?” she asked.
Again, Max nodded.
“Well perhaps if you let go, you will be able to get your hand out of the jar,” she suggested.
Max blinked. He hadn’t thought of that. He unclamped his hand from around the stuff that was definitely not cookie bread, and pulled his hand from the jar easily. But he frowned when he saw that his hand, and most of his arm, was covered in a white powered substance. Max tilted his head to the side as he examined his arm.
“What’s this?” he looked at Joy and waited for her to answer.
“That is four pounds of Tree-wheat flower that you have now ruined.” Joy picked up the lid to the jar and sat it back on top, then she placed the jar high on a shelf out of Max’s reach. She gasped when she turned back to face Max.
Max’s hand was stuck in his mouth.
“Oh my…Now don’t do that,” she said and snatched his hand away from his mouth.
Max grimaced. “Treat flower taste bad.”
“It’s not ‘treat flower’. It’s Tree-wheat flower, and it’s not for you to eat. Not like that anyway,” she explained.
“I’m hungry,” Max said, as he began rubbing the flower off of his hand, and onto his shirt.
“Oh my, no!” Joy stopped him. “Now you’ll make yourself all dirty.” She grabbed a towel, took Max’s hand, and wiped the flower off. “My, are you a handful,” she said more to herself than to him, as she rubbed.
Max sat still wile Miss-es Pal rubbed his arm, but he was still hungry. “I’m hungry,” he said again.
“Well, you are just going to have to wait. Look at you. You’re an absolute mess.”
Max’s stomach hurt. “But I’m hungry.” His eyes tickled with tears and he used his other hand to wipe them.
Joy noticed the sudden appearance of wetness in the little boy’s eyes. “Oh no. Don’t you dare start crying. Mr. Pallor-Smith is trying to take a nap, and I don’t need you making any noise that would disturb him.”
Miss-es Pal sounded angry and Max didn’t want to upset her, but he was still hungry. “I’m hungry!”
Joy tried not to let her annoyance show on her face. She supposed she would have to feed him, or else he would never cease making so much noise. That wouldn’t do. She turned around and looked at the stove and an idea came to her. “Fine Max. I’m going to make you something very special.”
Max wiped his eyes again and smiled at Miss-es Pal excitedly, and wondered what she was going to make him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sealant New Mexico: Blackwell Domicile
Max was with the Pallor-Smiths!
Lilly and ZeeZee came home from work and school as they were accustomed, expecting to find Max and Dover up to some form of rare male shenanigans. However, that wasn’t to be the case. Instead of finding the two at home and up to no good, they’d found the domicile to be surprisingly empty.
No big deal, was Lilly’s initial thought. Perhaps Dover had taken Max out with him. As Max developed more, and as his connection to Dover had obviously increased, Dover had become accustomed to taking Max along with him on short errands from time to time. As a matter of fact, sometimes Max would demand to tag along. The two were so virtually inseparable. But Lilly then found the note left by Dover informing her that he had to go in to HQ and that Max should have been sleeping when they returned.
But Max hadn’t been anywhere to be found. He wasn’t asleep on the couch, as Dover’s message had indicated. He wasn’t in his bedroom. He wasn’t in ZeeZee’s bedroom. Lilly had no way of finding him, nor had she any clue if Max even knew what it was to be lost. And what was worse, if there could be a worse, upon discovering Max’s sudden absence, ZeeZee had become highly upset, and wouldn’t stop crying.
“ZeeZee,” Lilly spoke softly as she took hold of the little girl and tried to soothe her. “Please, stop crying honey. We’re going to find him.”
Liz let out a huge hiccupping sob as she wiped her eyes on the back of her sleeve. “But why did Max leave? Does he not like being with us anymore?” What she really wanted to ask was did Max not like being with her anymore? Had she made him mad? Did he not want to be her friend?
“Oh no, ZeeZee, no. Of course Max likes living with us.” At least, Lilly thought he did. He seemed quite content to be with their little family over the last past weeks.
Liz looked as if she doubted Lilly’s words. “Then why did he run away?” she asked.
“Oh, I’m sure he didn’t run away. He’s just…” Lilly didn’t know what to say. “He’s just lost,” she opted as an answer. “And it’s up to you and me to find him.”
“Lost?” Liz thought. That didn’t seem so bad. It was just like when Max had gotten lost in the rainstorm when they had first met. Max was always getting lost. She would have to teach him not to do that so often anymore. She didn’t like it when he was lost.
Lilly nodded her head. “So will you come with me to help me find him?” she asked.
Liz nodded her head as well. “Yep, I’ll help. But I think when we find him we need to teach Max how to not get lost anymore.”
Lilly smiled as she took ZeeZee’s hand and led her towards the front door. “You know ZeeZee, I think that that’s a good idea.”
And so, Liz and Lilly set out to look for Max. Max was a bit of a wanderer, even though they made sure he didn’t wander off by himself. Lilly feared that Max had somehow managed to get out of the house. It was dangerous for any child to be out in the world by himself, even more so for Max, being what he was.
Lilly and Liz had called out to Max, but they had not received any answer. Just when Liz was starting to believe that he was truly gone, never to return, Lilly found the message from Mrs. Pallor-Smith, explaining how she had taken Max home with her. In some ways this was even worse than Max being alone in the world. The Pallor-Smiths were not exactly the most friendly next-door neighbors. In fact, in the letter she left, Joy Pallor-Smith had made sure to point out how irresponsible it was of Lilly and Dover to leave Max alone.
“Oh no, Max is trapped with that wicked old lady,” Liz said after Lilly told her where they could find Max.
“ZeeZee, don’t say that. Mrs. Pallor-Smith is not wicked. She and Mr. Pallor-Smith are just not used to being around children.”
“She’s wicked!” Liz exclaimed. “I bet she’ll try to cast a spell on Max to turn him into a toad. Just like the wicked old lady in the story you told us.”
Lilly tried to hide her smile. She would have to be careful of what stories she told Max and ZeeZee as bedtime stories in the future. Especially if Liz was going to apply the stories to real life. “Mrs. Pallor-Smith is not wicked, ZeeZee. And I don’t want you saying that to her. Do you understand?”
Liz nodded her head, albeit reluctantly.
“Good.” Lilly reached down and took Liz’s hand in hers. “Now, come on. Let’s go save Max from that wicked old lady,” she said, giving Liz a playful wink.
Liz smiled back and followed Lilly to the litter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sealant New Mexico: (back at the Pallor-Smith Domicil)
“And then you have a perfectly delicious and delectable, not to mention healthy, meal.”
Max looked at the bowl of…well, he didn’t know what it was, sitting on the table in front of him. Miss-es Pal seemed to think it was some sort of food, but Max had his suspicions. “What is it?” he asked, tilting his head to the side and poking the funny thing with the spoon she had given him to eat it with.
Joy gasped in offense. “What is it? Well, how ungrateful. I’ll have you know, Max, this is my world famous original recipe of Apple-boil.” There was no masking the pride in her tone over her splendid preparation.
“Apple…boy-old?” Max’s head remained tilted over the bowl. He looked up at Miss-es Pal, now even more confused. “What’s boy-old?” Was there a boy in his food?
Joy sighed in exhaustion. The little thing just asked so many questions. “Not boy-old,” she stressed, “boil. It is the heating up of liquid, producing bubbles of gas that rise to the surface.”
Max’s beamed a smile. “Bubbles? Like bath bubbles?” He liked bath bubbles. They were splashy and fun to blow. Maybe he was supposed to blow the Apple-boy-old like he blew his bath bubbles. Max looked down at the bowl, drew in a deep breath, and blew as hard as he could on it.
The Apple-boil, which was quite literally a bowl of sliced apples that had been boiled in hot water and placed in a plane broth, splashed out of its bowl and onto Mrs. Pallor-Smith’s decorative, not to mention pricey, table placemats.
Joy gasped as she watched the mess spill all over the table. “Oh no, now look what you did!” she shirked. She quickly lifted the bowl, so as to prevent anymore of its broth from spilling out. “My Moo-Moo-shaftly-stitched-hand-woven-added-beaded-pixle-decorated-commemorative placemats!”
Max smiled. “Moo-Moo,” he repeated, and laughed again at the funny sounding word.
“Ugh!” Joy groaned. She didn’t usually make such appalling noises, but she couldn’t help but make the aggravated sound. Max was a little pintsized nightmare that had been deviously wrapped in adorable, and stuffed with giggles.
“Oh, you stop laughing right this instant!” she commanded.
Max could tell from the sound of Miss-es Pal’s voice that she was not happy with him. He looked down at the mess he had made when he blew on the boy-old, and knew that it was the reason for her being upset. “I’m sorry,” he said, and then looked at Miss-es Pal’s Moo-Moo-shaftly-stitched-hand-woven-added-beaded-pixle-decorated-commemorative placemats. “I know! I’ll fix it.” He placed his hand on the wet spot over the mat.
Joy snatched the mat away from him. “Don’t you dare touch it,” she said, and brought the mat up to her chest before she could remember the wet spot. She then quickly brought it away from herself and looked down at the front of her shirt, expecting to see the sight of apple broth smeared all over her clean shirt.
However, when she did look at her shirt, it was to see that oddly enough, it was clear of any of the food residue. “That’s odd.” She held the placemat up and looked at it. Perhaps even stranger, there was not a smear of apple-boil left on the thing. Joy lifted her brow in confusion and looked back down at the table that was still wet with the spilled food and the slices of apple.
“Oh,” she said, still a bit confused by the situation. “I suppose my placemat avoided the spill.” Somehow…? “But that was still very reckless of you, young man. Do you realize what you could have done?”
Max didn’t, but he just nodded his head. “Sorry,” he said again, then smiled, as if he knew it would help her not to be so mad at him.
Joy sighed again. He was a wily little thing, trying to charm her with that smile, and those bright eyes, and that apologetic glance. Who did he think he was? She cleared her throat. But when she spoke, there was less anger in her tone than before. “Well then, come on and help me clean it up.” She placed her hands on the back of his chair and moved it from the front of the table.
“Okay!” Max hopped down off the chair and looked up at Miss-es Pal expectantly. She walked over to the kitchen counter to grab a towel, then came back to Max. “Here,” she said, handing it to him. “We are going to wipe the table off without getting a drop of it on my placemats,” she warned. “Aren’t we, Max?”
Max nodded. “Not a drop on Moo-Moo,” he said with a small giggle.
Joy couldn’t help but giggle herself…just a little. “Alright.” She handed him the towel and began removing the rest of the placemats from around the table.
Max lifted the towel and began wiping the table, which he was only just a head taller than, as much as he could with this disadvantage. He jumped and stretched and made a big show of attempting to wipe up the piece of apple that sat too far in the center of the table for his little arms to reach, but just couldn’t reach it. Max looked at Miss-es Pal, who seemed oblivious to his plight as she fussed over her Moo-Moo plate things.
What was he going to do? Miss-es Pal would be mad if he did not clean up the mess he made, like he said he would. But how could he clean the mess if he couldn’t reach it? Max sat the towel on the table. This situation called for Dover’s thinking pose. Assuming the position, Max began to think.
Thankfully, it didn’t take long for an idea to come to him. Max looked at the legs of the chair he had been sitting in before, then looked at his own legs. They were much longer than his own legs. In fact, when he had been sitting ion it, he could reach the table just fine.
His light bulb now screwed on, Max climbed back into the tall chair. However, apparently not screwed tight enough because when sitting in the chair, Max could reach the table just fine, but he still couldn’t reach the center. Max sighed. It was time for more thinking. He folded his arms, just like Dover, then touched his chin.
”Think, think!” he told himself. And then, another idea came to him. He bet it would be way easier to reach the center of the table if he stood up in the chair. Then he would have to height of the chair legs plus the height of his own legs. That would more than equal the space from the edge of the table to the center, and if he more than equaled the space from the edge of the table to the center, he would more than equal the center. And if he more than equaled the center, he could reach past the center, and if he could reach past the center, then he could reach the center!
Max smiled. He liked Dover’s thinking pose. It always helped him come up with the best ideas. He scrambled to his feet in the chair, making sure that his feet were firmly planted on the seat. But after he was sure and stable, Max discovered another problem. He might have more than equaled the space from the ledge of the table to the center standing up, but while standing up in the chair, he was even farther away from the center of the table. And too high up, he was definitely too high up as well.
Max frowned and looked at the piece of apple. Tricky apple. He wouldn’t let it get the best of him. One way or another, he was going to clean it up. And then, without even getting into Dover’s thinking position, another idea struck him. What if, like the apple, he was on the table? If he was on the table he could definitely reach the center. He smiled to himself. That was it!
Being careful not to fall, Max stepped over the tiny space from the chair to the table. Now the apple was well within his reaching distance. He walked to the center and got to his knees, then finally, triumphantly, victoriously, wiped the piece of apple off of the table.
“Look Miss-es Pal,” he said, holding it up in the towel. “I cleaned the table.”
Joy was in the midst of thoroughly examining her precious placemats when she heard Max call out to her. She turned around to see what he was doing and gasped in horror. The little boy had climbed up on her Old Mahogany (a wood she had spent a very long time trying to find)-Classic wooden table, and was sitting right in the middle of it, as if it were some sort of out of date barcalounger.
Dropping her placemats on the counter, she hurried over to him. “What on earth are you doing?” she demanded, reaching to lift him off the table.
Max’s smile died at the sound of Miss-es Pal’s voice. She was angry. He could tell. But why was she angry? He had cleaned the apple off the table. That was what she wanted him to do. That was what he was supposed to do, right?
“Why is Miss-es Pal mad?” he asked.
Without answering, Joy reached for Max, and lifted him off of the table. Then she surveyed the damage. Just as she had feared, there were little shoe scratch marks all over her table.
She looked at Max. He looked at her. She said nothing. He said nothing.
Max was worried now. Miss-es Pal seemed really, really angry now, and he didn’t know why. “Um…” he held up the towel. “I cleaned the table,” he said, hoping that would make her happy.
One two three four…Joy counted silently in her head. Five six seven eight…He was just a little boy after all. Nine ten eleven twelve…it was safe to assume that he didn’t know any better. Thirteen fourteen fifteen sixteen. After all, he did live with those Blackwells, and they were not exactly perfect illustrations of good breeding. Seventeen eighteen nineteen…Still…
Joy looked down at her table. Shoe scratch marks!
She wasn’t going to explode. Not openly anyway. That would make her no more than a Neanderthal. She was, however, going to politely explain to Max why standing on her Old Mahogany Classic wooden table had not been a good idea.
“Max,” she started softly.
“Miss-es Pal?” he responded wearily.
“It is not polite, while in the domicile of other people, to stand upon their table. Even if it is in order to cleans it of a mess, so clumsily made,” she explained. Her voice was tranquil and serene, a complete contrast to what was going on in her head.
Max made a small ‘O’ with his mouth as understanding reached him. So he was not supposed to stand on the table. “Okay,” he said, then smiled at her to let her know that he understood.
Joy took another deep breath and then reminded herself for a third, fourth, and then fifth time that he was just an innocent child that didn’t know any better. She then watched as Max lifted the same towel he had used to wipe the apple pieces to wipe his hands, smearing apple all over them. Then he placed said dirty hand on the front of his shirt and looked up at her and said:
“I’m hungry.”
TBC
TAT: Malign (AU/ML/Teen) [COMPLETE]
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Thanks a lot for the feedback. I’m sorry that this took so long for me to get this part out. I hope you all like it.
Hey new word. Haven’t had one of those in a while.
Ber-kit: A derogatory name used by male MDs on female operatives. A play on the words ‘berserk’ and ‘kitten’ meant to show the contrast between a woman’s natural femininity and brutality.
Part 1:
Chapter Twelve
Plat City, New Mexico: Lacebark Cave
What remained of Lacebark Cave was submerged in a cover of fog and mud. The air was damp and muggy, brimming with the stale taste of mildewed earth. The smell of decaying nature perfumed the air with a thick cloud of nasty, building within the desire for one to cover their nose in order to suppress the wretched stench. The darkness of the cave was an apt fit. There was not a hint of light, aside from the luminescent beam of the flashes the MDs and MRs carried on them. The light did little to aid in removing the stifling impression that exuded from the cavern walls.
Dover led the way on careful feet, making sure not to disturb a single hunk of distorted rock as he moved through the cave. He and Adder had been ordered to lead Link and three as of yet unidentified MRs to the exact location where the malign pod was located. While the rest of the Doughboys were to wait above ground for Link’s orders. The cave was difficult to navigate for the small faction of MDs and MRs. No one was in any great hurry to move through it. They followed along slowly, each mindful of every step they made along the way.
Among them, Dover walked with a sense of foreboding at the forefront of his mind. Lacebark looked completely different. Though it had been difficult to see during his initial entry, the cave seemed somehow darker, as if the air of light, the air of life, it had once produced was now gone. Almost as if the cave itself had died Dover shook his head, clearing his mind of his thoughts.
“It’s like a crypt,” Adder said, giving voice to the thought that had just crossed Dover’s mind.
He turned to look at Adder, agreeing with him, but not wanting to speak his actual feelings. “Let’s just keep going.” They walked a little more until they came across what looked to be the remains of the crack that had been made in the wall in order to reach the malign.
“This is it.” Dover swallowed hard.
Adder walked up beside the crack in the wall and placed his hand on it. “So far there’s been no trace of Jimmy. He must be inside.”
“Hold up, Watson.” This came from Link, who had remained no more than a few steps behind Dover and Adder the entire trek through the cave. “We don’t know what to expect.” Link turned around and made a summoning gesture towards one of the MRs, who had also been following closely behind. “Well boy, do what you came here to do.”
The MR, a man who looked to be in his mid-thirties at least, was of a large build, with a stone face, and cold as granite eyes to match. He walked forward with a young male and female behind him. The male was a short, but fit man, with a lean and intelligent face. Attached to his left eye, he wore a thick mechanical monocle He did not appear the spelunking type, nor did he carry himself with the bearing of a man who held little fear of dark caves, but he did not lag behind. The female was an attractive woman, no older than her mid-twenties. Her mocha coloring soft features, and almond shaped eyes gave her the look of a woman whose profession should have little to do with the interior of a rundown cave. Her height was greater than that of the male beside her, but not more so than the man in front. The protective suit she wore did not adequately hide a body that was somewhat curvaceous in form. It meshed nicely with her pretty face.
Dover guessed that all three were MRs, but it was evident who was in charge by the way the latter two purposely shadowed the first man. They’re faces were rigid and gave away no sign of fear, but their movements seemed apprehensive and anxious.
Without addressing any of the three MDs, the stone-faced man came to stand directly in front of the crack in the cave wall. He placed one hand against his ear, then brought the wrist of the other hand up to his mouth. He began to speak.
“MR Tower Alpha, this is Inside Beta. I am reporting with Omegas One and Two. We’ve reached red-zone, aka outer stem area. Navigation time is an estimated five minutes. Distance an approximate…” He paused and looked at the female MR.
“Twenty feet below, sir,” the woman responded without hesitation.
“…an approximate twenty feet below surface,” he continued “Conditions appear to be normal.” He made a quick scan of the wall. “Red-zone area appears dilapidated, but otherwise unaffected.”
Dover did not completely understand everything about the inner workings of the MR system. However, he did know that MRs, who considered themselves far too intellectually superiorly for military echelon, designated their ranks by use of ancient Greek letters. He now knew that the man standing before him was a Beta ranked MR, while the other two were his Omegas.
He listened carefully to the Beta while he continued to spout off random information about the area. The man seemed to be giving an area status report of the cave to his commanding officer via comm. link. Dover would have bet a fifty-piece chip that “Tower Alpha” was Dr. Virgo. At this point, Virgo seemed to have the run of just about everything Lacebark related.
Without turning again, or voicing a command, the Beta MR held his hand out in the direction of the two Omegas behind him. The male, who still had not spoken, immediately stepped into reaching distance of the Beta. He was holding some sort of contraption in his hand, which he dutifully placed in the outstretched hand of the Beta, then retreated back to his proper position beside the other Omega.
The head MR took the device from his flunky without a word of explanation to Link, Adder, or Dover, and placed it against the wall of the cave, right beside the crack. Being able to see it a bit more clearly now, Dover took it to be some sort of small detonation device. It had a blue plasma screen and a nine-digit keypad on the front.
Link, who had remained silent throughout the entire passing, continued to do so. Of the three MDs present, he seemed to be the only one that had an idea of what was going on. Although Link was obviously in the know, Dover and Adder were completely lost on the situation. They watched the Beta MR closely as he began keying in several series of numbers. When he was finished, he turned to look at Link and Link alone.
“Have your men retreat a distance of no fewer than fifteen feet.” Without waiting for Link’s response, the Beta moved away from the crack. The other two MRs waited for him to pass, then followed behind him in perfect synchronization.
Dover and Adder smiled at each other and shared an amused look “Roboto freaks,” Adder murmured so that only Dover could hear. Dover smiled, but made no reply. The two stifled their laughter at the sight of the MRs following their shepherd like good, little, coordinated sheep.
“You heard him,” Link barked at his men. “Fifteen feet, now!”
Adder and Dover responded immediately, both seeing Link was in no mood to have his patience tried. Once they were all situated at a safe distance, the male Omega handed another object to his Beta. It was a device much like one the MR had placed on the wall, except it had no keypad, just a large button in the center of the face.
“What the heck is all this?” Adder asked. Dover had been wondering the same thing.
The Beta did not respond to Adder’s question, only looked at Link and said, “You will have your men address me in the proper form of a subsidiary officer.”
Adder almost choked on nothing. “Subsidiary?” he said with outrage. “Listen research boy, I don’t answer to you. I ain’t your subsidiary shit! And I damn sure ain’t one of your little leashed pups to go bow-wow, sit, or shit at your command!” Adder quirked his lip in a malevolent smile. “But if you want, I can make you roll over and play dea–”
“Watson!” Link shouted over him.
Adder gave Link his attention. “Captain?”
“Cool it,” he ordered, then sighed heavily and placed his index finger on his crinkled temple. “You and Lieutenant Blackwell will address Beta officer Klampton as Sir, or you will not address him at all. Do you understand me?”
“Are you freaking shitting me–oww!” Adder groaned as Dover gave him a hard jab in the side as a means of reminding him of to whom he was speaking.
Adder glared at Dover, but he changed his tone. “I mean, yes sir,” he amended, but never had there been a more reluctant acquiescence.
“Good.” Link turned to the man that had been identified as Beta officer Klampton. “Now that they’ve agreed to give you your…due respect,” he said mockingly, “why don’t you explain to my men what exactly it is you’re doing?”
The female Omega stepped forward. “Beta Sir is under no obligation to dispense that information to anyone aside from you, Captain Patterson, or an operative whose authority exceeds your own,” she spoke fast and firm, as if she were gravely affronted by the idea of her Beta having to answer to someone of lower stature. She turned to look at Adder, sending him a look of undeniable malice. Adder returned the look with as much, if not more spite.
“Stand down Omega-1,” Klampton ordered. He turned to Link and offered a smile so full of saccharine, it would have been no great shock to any of the MDs if his teeth were to rot right out of his mouth. “I’m perfectly happy to comply with Captain Patterson’s request. As long as he makes sure his subordinates adhere to my demands.”
Although the MR was facing Link as he spoke, Dover got the sense that he and Adder were the ones truly being addressed.
Link chucked softly. “That’s funny, I don’t recall that being a request.” He stuck his pinky finger in his ear and twisted it a few times. “Eh, maybe I’m getting hard of hearing in my old age.”
Klampton continued to look complacently at Link. “When put suggestively, as you did, Captain, your use of the word ‘why’ can be translated as a request.”
“Ohh!” Link nodded his head as if he were truly intrigued. “Thanks for the syntax lesson, boy. I bet you’d do any old schoolmarm right proud. Too bad there ain’t one around to sing your praise.”
Klampton’s face lost a bit of its smug air. “With all due respect, I was only being certain we were on the same page regarding addressing protocol. It is, of course, only out of respect for my station, as well as yours, that I bring it up. As you can see, my Omegas have been effectively informed to address you as Captain, seeing as how it is your station. I only ask that I receive the same courtesy from your men.”
Link tapped his finger slowly against the side of his chin as he met the MR’s gaze. “I believe that issue has already been dealt with, Klampton. I’ve given my men a direct order, and they know I’m not one for repeating myself.” He smiled as he continued to stroke his chin. “Anyway, since we’re on the subject, let us not forget who of the six of us is subsidiary to no one in this cave.”
Klampton’s voice was unperturbed, but he did not look pleased at having been put in his place by Link. “Then I suppose we have an understanding, Captain Patterson.”
“We sure do, boy,” Link drawled purposefully. “Now, pick it up where you left off by finishing your explanation of what that thing you’ve got planted on the wall really is.” This time, Dover noted, Link didn’t make it a ‘request’. He and Adder remained quiet and silently enjoyed watching Link take Beta officer Full-of-himself down a few pegs.
Looking a bit more ruffled than before, which gave all three MDs a slight sense of satisfaction, Officer Klampton cleared his throat and motioned towards the device he had set up on the cave wall. “That is a molecular particle explosive,” he explained as if he were talking to a group of small children. “This,” he continued holding up the device in his hand, “is its detonator.” He signaled to the second Omega, silently leaving the rest for him to explain.
The Omega picked up without faltering. “In order to insure no toxic particles, or other malign contaminates fill the air, the molecular particle bomb will do a sweep of the area, or ‘red-zone’ for any malign particles that may have been released during the explosion.” The Omega stopped and looked at Adder, who had been looking skeptical throughout the entire explanation. “All of this is very much for your own safety, I assure you.”
“What is this red-zone area?” Dover asked.
The Omega turned to his commanding officer, seemingly seeking confirmation from him to continue. When Klampton nodded, he went on. “The red-zone, also known as the outer stem area, is the safest location with the nearest proximity to the area from which the explosion originated: aptly named the stem area. Thus, it is the best place to set up the molecular particle bomb.”
“Does that answer all of your men’s questions, Captain?” Klampton asked.
Link shrugged. “Any questions, boys?”
“Yeah, I got one,” Adder half crossed his arm and leaned against the cave wall. “That sounds all wrapped nice and pretty in a fine MR package, but say the cave is littered with malign crap-olla, what then?”
“It is the job of the bomb to make sure that does not happen, Lieutenant,” the know-it-all Omega explained.
“Just do your job, and all should be fine,” the angry female followed.
Adder smiled wryly at her. “Oh, believe me, I’ll do my job. You just make sure you keep that pretty little head of yours out of my way. Wouldn’t want anything…” he gave a causal shrug, “…unfortunate to happen to it.”
The woman looked insulted. “Was that a threat, MD?” She stepped forward, placing herself directly in front of Adder’s six-foot frame, giving off all attitude and little fear.
“It’s whatever you want it to be, little girl,” Adder answered calmly. He examined the woman with mild interest. She had spunk; he would give her that. And her brashness was on a level that almost matched his tit for tat. Plus, she wasn’t all that bad to look at either.
A soft chuckle cut through the heated silence. “Are you kids finished, or am I gonna have to hose you down?” Link gave them his famous good ole boy smile.
“That won’t be necessary,” the Omega said. She scoured Adder with one more distasteful glare, before turning to return to her position beside her leader.
Adder stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. “S’all right, ber-kit. You probably couldn’t handle it anyway.”
She stiffened, and turned back to him. “Come again, MD?”
Adder stepped closer, not taking his hand off of her. “The hose, doll. It’s pretty powerful.” His gaze raked her body suggestively. “Not many ladies could take it all–”
“–right that’s enough!” The Beta interrupted. “Omega-1, return to me immediately.”
Adder ignored the MR. Looking down at her condescendingly, he said, “Better do what he says, ber-kit. Wouldn’t want him to tighten the leash, now would we? It might mar that pretty little neck of yours.”
To her credit, the MR remained outwardly calm, but on the inside she was seething. “First of all, MD, I’m not your ber-kit.” She shrugged her shoulder hard, forcing Adder to remove his hand from it. “Secondly, touch me again and you’ll be prying that hand from up your as–”
“Serena!” This time the Beta officer shouted his command. “I said back to me, now!”
Adder looked down at the woman standing before him. “Serena, huh?” he tested the name, then looked questioningly at Klampton. It was the first time the Beta’s voice had risen since he’d spoken. Hell, it was the only time he’d addressed either of his two officers buy name – first name, to be exact. Not to mention the Beta seemed uncharacteristically upset by Adder’s exchange with the woman. He hadn’t even appeared as upset by his altercation with Link.
Adder smiled at the Beta MR as understanding became clearer. “Oh I get it.” Then his gaze returned to Serena’s. “Looks like the leash isn’t the only thing your Beta holds on tight to.”
She squirmed guiltily under Adder’s assessment, and he felt a hint of inner satisfaction, but it was short lived, as she was quick to regain her composure. Serena stepped even closer to him, until there was virtually no space left between the two of them, and gave her head a slight feminine toss. “You had better be grateful he’s got the leash, MD.”
Adder felt a slight push against his abdomen. Though he had not even seen her unsheathe it, he was somehow not surprised to see the small diamond-dagger pressed against the front of his suit.
“I bite pretty hard.” With a forceful push, meant to make sure pressure was felt, but not necessarily to pierce, she pressed the dagger even closer, before returning it to its proper place. Without turning around, she backed away from Adder, back to Klampton’s side.
Adder nodded deferentially in her direction. “I’ll have to remember that,” he replied, but his voice was still littered with evident innuendo.
Dover observed the interesting conversation with a look of amusement on his face, and for a moment, he was able to forget the serious nature of the wayfarer they were on. Adder seemed to have found his match in the pretty young MR woman, though her Beta looked less than pleased. Things could start to get pretty interesting.
“Alright, boys,” Link looked at the female MR. “And girl,” he added. “We weren’t sent here to dally like petty children. If you recall, we are here for a reason and it isn’t to sit around pulling each other’s pigtails.”
Adder winked at the MR. She ignored him.
“Whenever you’re ready, Beta Klampton,” Link continued. “Blow that damn thing open.”
Having managed to reacquire his sense of power over the situation, or more appropriately, having had it given back to him by Link, the Beta now returned to his usual impression of grandeur. “Please cover your ears, gentlemen.” He turned to the female MR, “and my lady.”
Adder looked at Dover and rolled his eyes. Dover smiled and shook his head before covering his ears.
Once all ears were properly covered, Klampton pressed the large button in the center of the detonator, then immediately dropped the device to the ground, leaving his hands free to cover his own ears. There was a lingering sense of waiting as the six fixed their eyes on the red-zone.
Suddenly, a loud and high-pitched noise filled the cave, resonating in the small space with little mercy for the ears of its occupants. All winced in unison, aside from the male Omega, who had blocked out the sound through the use of ear-corks, the simple covering of their ears by their hands being hardly sufficient to obstruct the high keening sound coming from the molecular particle bomb. Thankfully, the sound only went on for a short while before it finally died the horrible death it had so lamented.
Adder was the first to uncover his ears. “Damn,” he eyed the Omega harshly, “didn’t think to bring some for the rest of us, eh Poindexter?”
The Omega looked down sheepishly. “Well…that is I…”
“Your insufficient preparation for the situation is not the fault of Omega officer Larx,” Klampton answered for him.
Dover could tell Adder was about to start in again, but they had already wasted enough time. “Let it go, Adder,” he warned his friend. “We’re here for Jimmy, remember?”
Adder didn’t say anything, but he glared daggers at Klampton. “Some of us anyway.”
Link was the first to move, his eyes transfixed on the cave where his nephew had been buried for three weeks. “Move it in,” he ordered, without looking back to see that anyone followed. But they did, leaving their petty bickering and inane conversation in the red-zone for now.
When they stepped through the cave, all had to cover their eyes to blot out the brightness. It was intense. The cave was awash in a bright blue glow that oozed off the walls, the floor, and the ceiling. In particular, the glow seemed to originate from one particular area in the cave. The pod.
Dover could not smother the immediate sense of déjà vu. He remembered the feeling all too well. It was like stepping into a dream. He recalled the saffron light that had filled the chamber, bouncing and reflecting gorgeously around him. He also thought of the crystal material that had been on the wall before. It, however, was now gone. The color of the glow was different as well. No longer saffron, but a deep aqua. The glow it exuded was still bright enough to blind the eyes though. This time, Dover didn’t even have his MD helmet and visor to protect his eyes from it.
He started to walk forward, but was stopped by the presence of a hand on his shoulder. It was the second Omega, Larx. Beta officer Klampton had called him.
“I suggest you proceed with caution,” he warned. “This cave may not be as your mind remembers it.”
Dover nodded his head. Larx had no idea how right he was. For one, there wasn’t a five-year old child sleeping in the pod in the middle of the room.
“Where the hell is Jimmy?” Adder asked.
Dover looked around the room. It was completely empty. There was no body, or even any indication that another person had been inside the room before them. Something was definitely not right here. “Don’t know. We’d better stay alert.”
While three MDs continued farther into the room, the MRs seemed to linger behind at the entrance. Of course, being inside of a malign cave was an entirely new experience for most MRs, but that did not appear to be the reason the three MRs hung back.
Having taken note of their hesitation, Link turned back to them. “What is it, Klampton?” he asked the leader directly.
Klampton looked to be in complete awe of the cave. His tendency towards propriety seemed to be the only thing that prevented his mouth from hanging wide open. “This–” for the first time, he stumbled over his words. He cleared his throat and tried again. “This isn’t right,” he exclaimed.
Dover and Adder stopped their entrance into the cave and turned to face the MRs as well. “Isn’t right?” they asked, almost in unison.
The MR didn’t respond, just walked over and placed his hand to the glowing blue wall of the cave. “I’ve never seen anything like this.” He ran his hand along the wall then examined it closely.
“Seen anything like what, Klampton?” Link asked.
Still, Klampton didn’t answer him. He turned to Serena. “Take a sample of this to be compared with the rest,” he ordered.
Dover frowned. The rest? The rest of what? Klampton was almost acting as if he were expecting to find something in particular inside of the cave, something other than the body of James Valenti.
Adder must have been feeling the same thing, judging by the way he tapped Dover on the shoulder and said, “Something stinks.” He nodded in the direction of the MRs, who were scraping samples off the wall of the cave.
“Mind filling us in over here?” Dover called out to them.
The two Omegas ignored him while the Beta walked further into the cave.
Unable to smother the sense that the MRs were in on something he had no knowledge of, Link’s causal manner was beginning to give way to anger. “What the hell is going on, Klampton?” he asked. “I want an answer right now! Where the hell is my nephew’s body?”
Klampton nodded his head. “Yes, I’m sure you do, Captain. My Alpha apologizes for the level of obscurity this task required.” He sighed heavily. “I suppose now is as good a time as any to reveal the true nature of this expedition to you.”
The three MDs exchanged confused looks. “True nature?” Link asked for all three of them.
Again, Klampton nodded. “Yes, Captain, the absolute truth.” He turned back to his Omegas. “That should be sufficient.”
Link advanced on the MR. “You’re trying me, Klampton, and I don’t like to be tested. You had better start talking now!”
“Of course sir.” Klampton agreed, but he did not look particularly fearful of Link’s response, nor did he seem to fear what Link’s reaction would be to whatever it was he was about to say. If the man truly was lacking fear of Link at the moment, MRs were obviously not as smart as they led on.
“The truth of the situation is James Valenti has not been inside of this cave for almost three and a half weeks.” Klampton explained this as if it were the simplest concept in the world.
However, unconsciously to him, Dover, Adder, and especially Link, did not receive it as such. In the blink of an eye, Link was on the MR, both his hands wrapped firmly around the man’s throat. “What did you just say?” his voice was cold as ice as he whispered his question in Klampton’s ear–breathed it down his neck.
“Beta sir!” Serena started towards the two men, but Adder was faster, grabbing her by the arm, and holding her firmly against his body. “Not so fast, ber-kit.” When she attempted to go for her diamond-dagger, he grabbed her other arm, securing it behind her back. “Sorry, but the gents have some things they need to speak on. Mano-a-mano, you understand.”
“Let me go!” she growled, struggling against him, but it was to no avail.
Dover looked at the other Omega MR officer, prepared to restrain him as well, but Larx didn’t appear stupid enough to try anything. Smart man.
“Tell me where the hell my nephew is!” Link demanded.
Klampton’s face was turning bright red, but he refused to make a spectacle of himself by attempting to speak with the iron clamp of Link’s hands around his throat.
“Can’t you see he can’t breathe?” Serena shouted. “He’s killing him!”
Adder rolled his eyes over the top of her head. “Yeah, so what?”
“Ohh,” she groaned in annoyance, then began twisting again. “Get your hands off me you idiot!”
“What for? You gonna play hero to your boyfriend?” Adder shrugged hardheartedly. “Seems like a wasted effort to me.”
“Please, stop this!” Larx interrupted, in what Dover supposed was a shout for the small voiced man. “I’ll explain everything you want to know. Please, just let Beta Officer Klampton and Omega-1 go.”
Link looked up at that. “Ahh, there’s the voice of reason.” He looked at Klampton’s red face. “And not a moment too soon.” He released his hold on the man’s neck so abruptly, it caused Klampton to stumble back.
Link nodded in Adder’s direction. “Let her go, Watson.”
“Heh-heh,” Adder laughed as, unwittingly to the others, he and Serena fought for control of the diamond-dagger she had somehow managed to reach. “Don’t know if that’s a good idea, Captain. I’ve gotten quite…comfortable here in…this…position.” He struggled to get the words out as he struggled with the woman in his arms.
“Omega-1,” Klampton wheezed out, as he was finally able to fill his lungs with oxygen. “Stand…down.”
“What?” Serena was outraged by the very idea.
“That…was a direct…order,” Klampton said, attempting to get to his feet with as much grace as he could muster.
“But sir–” she started to argue.
“Just do it!” Klampton yelled at his subordinate, his composure obviously gone.
Serena hesitantly released the dagger into Adder’s hand. He in turn, released her.
Adder smiled at her as she flexed her sore shoulder. “Whew, I usually like it kind of rough, but you’re a little too much for me, ber-kit.”
Serena had to bite her tongue to keep from going against her Beta’s orders and stabbing the MD with the smaller diamond-dagger she had tucked in the top of her boot. Now that her arms were free, she would have no problem reaching it.
Link was growing impatient. He addressed the Omega MR. “Explain what’s going on. Where the hell is my nephew?”
Larx looked at Klampton before he answered. “Forgive me, Beta sir,” he said shamefully. “And I ask for your forgiveness as well, Captain Patterson.”
Link raised an agitated brow in question. “Yeah, and why is that?”
The MR lifted a hand to his monocle and began shifting with the lens, an obvious gesture of nervous habit. “I’m apologizing sir, because what I’m about to tell you…” He looked over at Beta Klampton, and let out a deep sigh.
“Well, it’s something you are really not going to like.”
<center>TBC
TheAliensAreComing!
Flamehair
Evelynn
CandyDreamQueen
Michelle in Yonkers
paper
skippypeanut
BelevnDreamsToo
Shiesty23
Thanks a lot for the feedback. I’m sorry that this took so long for me to get this part out. I hope you all like it.
Hey new word. Haven’t had one of those in a while.
Ber-kit: A derogatory name used by male MDs on female operatives. A play on the words ‘berserk’ and ‘kitten’ meant to show the contrast between a woman’s natural femininity and brutality.
Part 1:
Chapter Twelve
Plat City, New Mexico: Lacebark Cave
What remained of Lacebark Cave was submerged in a cover of fog and mud. The air was damp and muggy, brimming with the stale taste of mildewed earth. The smell of decaying nature perfumed the air with a thick cloud of nasty, building within the desire for one to cover their nose in order to suppress the wretched stench. The darkness of the cave was an apt fit. There was not a hint of light, aside from the luminescent beam of the flashes the MDs and MRs carried on them. The light did little to aid in removing the stifling impression that exuded from the cavern walls.
Dover led the way on careful feet, making sure not to disturb a single hunk of distorted rock as he moved through the cave. He and Adder had been ordered to lead Link and three as of yet unidentified MRs to the exact location where the malign pod was located. While the rest of the Doughboys were to wait above ground for Link’s orders. The cave was difficult to navigate for the small faction of MDs and MRs. No one was in any great hurry to move through it. They followed along slowly, each mindful of every step they made along the way.
Among them, Dover walked with a sense of foreboding at the forefront of his mind. Lacebark looked completely different. Though it had been difficult to see during his initial entry, the cave seemed somehow darker, as if the air of light, the air of life, it had once produced was now gone. Almost as if the cave itself had died Dover shook his head, clearing his mind of his thoughts.
“It’s like a crypt,” Adder said, giving voice to the thought that had just crossed Dover’s mind.
He turned to look at Adder, agreeing with him, but not wanting to speak his actual feelings. “Let’s just keep going.” They walked a little more until they came across what looked to be the remains of the crack that had been made in the wall in order to reach the malign.
“This is it.” Dover swallowed hard.
Adder walked up beside the crack in the wall and placed his hand on it. “So far there’s been no trace of Jimmy. He must be inside.”
“Hold up, Watson.” This came from Link, who had remained no more than a few steps behind Dover and Adder the entire trek through the cave. “We don’t know what to expect.” Link turned around and made a summoning gesture towards one of the MRs, who had also been following closely behind. “Well boy, do what you came here to do.”
The MR, a man who looked to be in his mid-thirties at least, was of a large build, with a stone face, and cold as granite eyes to match. He walked forward with a young male and female behind him. The male was a short, but fit man, with a lean and intelligent face. Attached to his left eye, he wore a thick mechanical monocle He did not appear the spelunking type, nor did he carry himself with the bearing of a man who held little fear of dark caves, but he did not lag behind. The female was an attractive woman, no older than her mid-twenties. Her mocha coloring soft features, and almond shaped eyes gave her the look of a woman whose profession should have little to do with the interior of a rundown cave. Her height was greater than that of the male beside her, but not more so than the man in front. The protective suit she wore did not adequately hide a body that was somewhat curvaceous in form. It meshed nicely with her pretty face.
Dover guessed that all three were MRs, but it was evident who was in charge by the way the latter two purposely shadowed the first man. They’re faces were rigid and gave away no sign of fear, but their movements seemed apprehensive and anxious.
Without addressing any of the three MDs, the stone-faced man came to stand directly in front of the crack in the cave wall. He placed one hand against his ear, then brought the wrist of the other hand up to his mouth. He began to speak.
“MR Tower Alpha, this is Inside Beta. I am reporting with Omegas One and Two. We’ve reached red-zone, aka outer stem area. Navigation time is an estimated five minutes. Distance an approximate…” He paused and looked at the female MR.
“Twenty feet below, sir,” the woman responded without hesitation.
“…an approximate twenty feet below surface,” he continued “Conditions appear to be normal.” He made a quick scan of the wall. “Red-zone area appears dilapidated, but otherwise unaffected.”
Dover did not completely understand everything about the inner workings of the MR system. However, he did know that MRs, who considered themselves far too intellectually superiorly for military echelon, designated their ranks by use of ancient Greek letters. He now knew that the man standing before him was a Beta ranked MR, while the other two were his Omegas.
He listened carefully to the Beta while he continued to spout off random information about the area. The man seemed to be giving an area status report of the cave to his commanding officer via comm. link. Dover would have bet a fifty-piece chip that “Tower Alpha” was Dr. Virgo. At this point, Virgo seemed to have the run of just about everything Lacebark related.
Without turning again, or voicing a command, the Beta MR held his hand out in the direction of the two Omegas behind him. The male, who still had not spoken, immediately stepped into reaching distance of the Beta. He was holding some sort of contraption in his hand, which he dutifully placed in the outstretched hand of the Beta, then retreated back to his proper position beside the other Omega.
The head MR took the device from his flunky without a word of explanation to Link, Adder, or Dover, and placed it against the wall of the cave, right beside the crack. Being able to see it a bit more clearly now, Dover took it to be some sort of small detonation device. It had a blue plasma screen and a nine-digit keypad on the front.
Link, who had remained silent throughout the entire passing, continued to do so. Of the three MDs present, he seemed to be the only one that had an idea of what was going on. Although Link was obviously in the know, Dover and Adder were completely lost on the situation. They watched the Beta MR closely as he began keying in several series of numbers. When he was finished, he turned to look at Link and Link alone.
“Have your men retreat a distance of no fewer than fifteen feet.” Without waiting for Link’s response, the Beta moved away from the crack. The other two MRs waited for him to pass, then followed behind him in perfect synchronization.
Dover and Adder smiled at each other and shared an amused look “Roboto freaks,” Adder murmured so that only Dover could hear. Dover smiled, but made no reply. The two stifled their laughter at the sight of the MRs following their shepherd like good, little, coordinated sheep.
“You heard him,” Link barked at his men. “Fifteen feet, now!”
Adder and Dover responded immediately, both seeing Link was in no mood to have his patience tried. Once they were all situated at a safe distance, the male Omega handed another object to his Beta. It was a device much like one the MR had placed on the wall, except it had no keypad, just a large button in the center of the face.
“What the heck is all this?” Adder asked. Dover had been wondering the same thing.
The Beta did not respond to Adder’s question, only looked at Link and said, “You will have your men address me in the proper form of a subsidiary officer.”
Adder almost choked on nothing. “Subsidiary?” he said with outrage. “Listen research boy, I don’t answer to you. I ain’t your subsidiary shit! And I damn sure ain’t one of your little leashed pups to go bow-wow, sit, or shit at your command!” Adder quirked his lip in a malevolent smile. “But if you want, I can make you roll over and play dea–”
“Watson!” Link shouted over him.
Adder gave Link his attention. “Captain?”
“Cool it,” he ordered, then sighed heavily and placed his index finger on his crinkled temple. “You and Lieutenant Blackwell will address Beta officer Klampton as Sir, or you will not address him at all. Do you understand me?”
“Are you freaking shitting me–oww!” Adder groaned as Dover gave him a hard jab in the side as a means of reminding him of to whom he was speaking.
Adder glared at Dover, but he changed his tone. “I mean, yes sir,” he amended, but never had there been a more reluctant acquiescence.
“Good.” Link turned to the man that had been identified as Beta officer Klampton. “Now that they’ve agreed to give you your…due respect,” he said mockingly, “why don’t you explain to my men what exactly it is you’re doing?”
The female Omega stepped forward. “Beta Sir is under no obligation to dispense that information to anyone aside from you, Captain Patterson, or an operative whose authority exceeds your own,” she spoke fast and firm, as if she were gravely affronted by the idea of her Beta having to answer to someone of lower stature. She turned to look at Adder, sending him a look of undeniable malice. Adder returned the look with as much, if not more spite.
“Stand down Omega-1,” Klampton ordered. He turned to Link and offered a smile so full of saccharine, it would have been no great shock to any of the MDs if his teeth were to rot right out of his mouth. “I’m perfectly happy to comply with Captain Patterson’s request. As long as he makes sure his subordinates adhere to my demands.”
Although the MR was facing Link as he spoke, Dover got the sense that he and Adder were the ones truly being addressed.
Link chucked softly. “That’s funny, I don’t recall that being a request.” He stuck his pinky finger in his ear and twisted it a few times. “Eh, maybe I’m getting hard of hearing in my old age.”
Klampton continued to look complacently at Link. “When put suggestively, as you did, Captain, your use of the word ‘why’ can be translated as a request.”
“Ohh!” Link nodded his head as if he were truly intrigued. “Thanks for the syntax lesson, boy. I bet you’d do any old schoolmarm right proud. Too bad there ain’t one around to sing your praise.”
Klampton’s face lost a bit of its smug air. “With all due respect, I was only being certain we were on the same page regarding addressing protocol. It is, of course, only out of respect for my station, as well as yours, that I bring it up. As you can see, my Omegas have been effectively informed to address you as Captain, seeing as how it is your station. I only ask that I receive the same courtesy from your men.”
Link tapped his finger slowly against the side of his chin as he met the MR’s gaze. “I believe that issue has already been dealt with, Klampton. I’ve given my men a direct order, and they know I’m not one for repeating myself.” He smiled as he continued to stroke his chin. “Anyway, since we’re on the subject, let us not forget who of the six of us is subsidiary to no one in this cave.”
Klampton’s voice was unperturbed, but he did not look pleased at having been put in his place by Link. “Then I suppose we have an understanding, Captain Patterson.”
“We sure do, boy,” Link drawled purposefully. “Now, pick it up where you left off by finishing your explanation of what that thing you’ve got planted on the wall really is.” This time, Dover noted, Link didn’t make it a ‘request’. He and Adder remained quiet and silently enjoyed watching Link take Beta officer Full-of-himself down a few pegs.
Looking a bit more ruffled than before, which gave all three MDs a slight sense of satisfaction, Officer Klampton cleared his throat and motioned towards the device he had set up on the cave wall. “That is a molecular particle explosive,” he explained as if he were talking to a group of small children. “This,” he continued holding up the device in his hand, “is its detonator.” He signaled to the second Omega, silently leaving the rest for him to explain.
The Omega picked up without faltering. “In order to insure no toxic particles, or other malign contaminates fill the air, the molecular particle bomb will do a sweep of the area, or ‘red-zone’ for any malign particles that may have been released during the explosion.” The Omega stopped and looked at Adder, who had been looking skeptical throughout the entire explanation. “All of this is very much for your own safety, I assure you.”
“What is this red-zone area?” Dover asked.
The Omega turned to his commanding officer, seemingly seeking confirmation from him to continue. When Klampton nodded, he went on. “The red-zone, also known as the outer stem area, is the safest location with the nearest proximity to the area from which the explosion originated: aptly named the stem area. Thus, it is the best place to set up the molecular particle bomb.”
“Does that answer all of your men’s questions, Captain?” Klampton asked.
Link shrugged. “Any questions, boys?”
“Yeah, I got one,” Adder half crossed his arm and leaned against the cave wall. “That sounds all wrapped nice and pretty in a fine MR package, but say the cave is littered with malign crap-olla, what then?”
“It is the job of the bomb to make sure that does not happen, Lieutenant,” the know-it-all Omega explained.
“Just do your job, and all should be fine,” the angry female followed.
Adder smiled wryly at her. “Oh, believe me, I’ll do my job. You just make sure you keep that pretty little head of yours out of my way. Wouldn’t want anything…” he gave a causal shrug, “…unfortunate to happen to it.”
The woman looked insulted. “Was that a threat, MD?” She stepped forward, placing herself directly in front of Adder’s six-foot frame, giving off all attitude and little fear.
“It’s whatever you want it to be, little girl,” Adder answered calmly. He examined the woman with mild interest. She had spunk; he would give her that. And her brashness was on a level that almost matched his tit for tat. Plus, she wasn’t all that bad to look at either.
A soft chuckle cut through the heated silence. “Are you kids finished, or am I gonna have to hose you down?” Link gave them his famous good ole boy smile.
“That won’t be necessary,” the Omega said. She scoured Adder with one more distasteful glare, before turning to return to her position beside her leader.
Adder stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. “S’all right, ber-kit. You probably couldn’t handle it anyway.”
She stiffened, and turned back to him. “Come again, MD?”
Adder stepped closer, not taking his hand off of her. “The hose, doll. It’s pretty powerful.” His gaze raked her body suggestively. “Not many ladies could take it all–”
“–right that’s enough!” The Beta interrupted. “Omega-1, return to me immediately.”
Adder ignored the MR. Looking down at her condescendingly, he said, “Better do what he says, ber-kit. Wouldn’t want him to tighten the leash, now would we? It might mar that pretty little neck of yours.”
To her credit, the MR remained outwardly calm, but on the inside she was seething. “First of all, MD, I’m not your ber-kit.” She shrugged her shoulder hard, forcing Adder to remove his hand from it. “Secondly, touch me again and you’ll be prying that hand from up your as–”
“Serena!” This time the Beta officer shouted his command. “I said back to me, now!”
Adder looked down at the woman standing before him. “Serena, huh?” he tested the name, then looked questioningly at Klampton. It was the first time the Beta’s voice had risen since he’d spoken. Hell, it was the only time he’d addressed either of his two officers buy name – first name, to be exact. Not to mention the Beta seemed uncharacteristically upset by Adder’s exchange with the woman. He hadn’t even appeared as upset by his altercation with Link.
Adder smiled at the Beta MR as understanding became clearer. “Oh I get it.” Then his gaze returned to Serena’s. “Looks like the leash isn’t the only thing your Beta holds on tight to.”
She squirmed guiltily under Adder’s assessment, and he felt a hint of inner satisfaction, but it was short lived, as she was quick to regain her composure. Serena stepped even closer to him, until there was virtually no space left between the two of them, and gave her head a slight feminine toss. “You had better be grateful he’s got the leash, MD.”
Adder felt a slight push against his abdomen. Though he had not even seen her unsheathe it, he was somehow not surprised to see the small diamond-dagger pressed against the front of his suit.
“I bite pretty hard.” With a forceful push, meant to make sure pressure was felt, but not necessarily to pierce, she pressed the dagger even closer, before returning it to its proper place. Without turning around, she backed away from Adder, back to Klampton’s side.
Adder nodded deferentially in her direction. “I’ll have to remember that,” he replied, but his voice was still littered with evident innuendo.
Dover observed the interesting conversation with a look of amusement on his face, and for a moment, he was able to forget the serious nature of the wayfarer they were on. Adder seemed to have found his match in the pretty young MR woman, though her Beta looked less than pleased. Things could start to get pretty interesting.
“Alright, boys,” Link looked at the female MR. “And girl,” he added. “We weren’t sent here to dally like petty children. If you recall, we are here for a reason and it isn’t to sit around pulling each other’s pigtails.”
Adder winked at the MR. She ignored him.
“Whenever you’re ready, Beta Klampton,” Link continued. “Blow that damn thing open.”
Having managed to reacquire his sense of power over the situation, or more appropriately, having had it given back to him by Link, the Beta now returned to his usual impression of grandeur. “Please cover your ears, gentlemen.” He turned to the female MR, “and my lady.”
Adder looked at Dover and rolled his eyes. Dover smiled and shook his head before covering his ears.
Once all ears were properly covered, Klampton pressed the large button in the center of the detonator, then immediately dropped the device to the ground, leaving his hands free to cover his own ears. There was a lingering sense of waiting as the six fixed their eyes on the red-zone.
Suddenly, a loud and high-pitched noise filled the cave, resonating in the small space with little mercy for the ears of its occupants. All winced in unison, aside from the male Omega, who had blocked out the sound through the use of ear-corks, the simple covering of their ears by their hands being hardly sufficient to obstruct the high keening sound coming from the molecular particle bomb. Thankfully, the sound only went on for a short while before it finally died the horrible death it had so lamented.
Adder was the first to uncover his ears. “Damn,” he eyed the Omega harshly, “didn’t think to bring some for the rest of us, eh Poindexter?”
The Omega looked down sheepishly. “Well…that is I…”
“Your insufficient preparation for the situation is not the fault of Omega officer Larx,” Klampton answered for him.
Dover could tell Adder was about to start in again, but they had already wasted enough time. “Let it go, Adder,” he warned his friend. “We’re here for Jimmy, remember?”
Adder didn’t say anything, but he glared daggers at Klampton. “Some of us anyway.”
Link was the first to move, his eyes transfixed on the cave where his nephew had been buried for three weeks. “Move it in,” he ordered, without looking back to see that anyone followed. But they did, leaving their petty bickering and inane conversation in the red-zone for now.
When they stepped through the cave, all had to cover their eyes to blot out the brightness. It was intense. The cave was awash in a bright blue glow that oozed off the walls, the floor, and the ceiling. In particular, the glow seemed to originate from one particular area in the cave. The pod.
Dover could not smother the immediate sense of déjà vu. He remembered the feeling all too well. It was like stepping into a dream. He recalled the saffron light that had filled the chamber, bouncing and reflecting gorgeously around him. He also thought of the crystal material that had been on the wall before. It, however, was now gone. The color of the glow was different as well. No longer saffron, but a deep aqua. The glow it exuded was still bright enough to blind the eyes though. This time, Dover didn’t even have his MD helmet and visor to protect his eyes from it.
He started to walk forward, but was stopped by the presence of a hand on his shoulder. It was the second Omega, Larx. Beta officer Klampton had called him.
“I suggest you proceed with caution,” he warned. “This cave may not be as your mind remembers it.”
Dover nodded his head. Larx had no idea how right he was. For one, there wasn’t a five-year old child sleeping in the pod in the middle of the room.
“Where the hell is Jimmy?” Adder asked.
Dover looked around the room. It was completely empty. There was no body, or even any indication that another person had been inside the room before them. Something was definitely not right here. “Don’t know. We’d better stay alert.”
While three MDs continued farther into the room, the MRs seemed to linger behind at the entrance. Of course, being inside of a malign cave was an entirely new experience for most MRs, but that did not appear to be the reason the three MRs hung back.
Having taken note of their hesitation, Link turned back to them. “What is it, Klampton?” he asked the leader directly.
Klampton looked to be in complete awe of the cave. His tendency towards propriety seemed to be the only thing that prevented his mouth from hanging wide open. “This–” for the first time, he stumbled over his words. He cleared his throat and tried again. “This isn’t right,” he exclaimed.
Dover and Adder stopped their entrance into the cave and turned to face the MRs as well. “Isn’t right?” they asked, almost in unison.
The MR didn’t respond, just walked over and placed his hand to the glowing blue wall of the cave. “I’ve never seen anything like this.” He ran his hand along the wall then examined it closely.
“Seen anything like what, Klampton?” Link asked.
Still, Klampton didn’t answer him. He turned to Serena. “Take a sample of this to be compared with the rest,” he ordered.
Dover frowned. The rest? The rest of what? Klampton was almost acting as if he were expecting to find something in particular inside of the cave, something other than the body of James Valenti.
Adder must have been feeling the same thing, judging by the way he tapped Dover on the shoulder and said, “Something stinks.” He nodded in the direction of the MRs, who were scraping samples off the wall of the cave.
“Mind filling us in over here?” Dover called out to them.
The two Omegas ignored him while the Beta walked further into the cave.
Unable to smother the sense that the MRs were in on something he had no knowledge of, Link’s causal manner was beginning to give way to anger. “What the hell is going on, Klampton?” he asked. “I want an answer right now! Where the hell is my nephew’s body?”
Klampton nodded his head. “Yes, I’m sure you do, Captain. My Alpha apologizes for the level of obscurity this task required.” He sighed heavily. “I suppose now is as good a time as any to reveal the true nature of this expedition to you.”
The three MDs exchanged confused looks. “True nature?” Link asked for all three of them.
Again, Klampton nodded. “Yes, Captain, the absolute truth.” He turned back to his Omegas. “That should be sufficient.”
Link advanced on the MR. “You’re trying me, Klampton, and I don’t like to be tested. You had better start talking now!”
“Of course sir.” Klampton agreed, but he did not look particularly fearful of Link’s response, nor did he seem to fear what Link’s reaction would be to whatever it was he was about to say. If the man truly was lacking fear of Link at the moment, MRs were obviously not as smart as they led on.
“The truth of the situation is James Valenti has not been inside of this cave for almost three and a half weeks.” Klampton explained this as if it were the simplest concept in the world.
However, unconsciously to him, Dover, Adder, and especially Link, did not receive it as such. In the blink of an eye, Link was on the MR, both his hands wrapped firmly around the man’s throat. “What did you just say?” his voice was cold as ice as he whispered his question in Klampton’s ear–breathed it down his neck.
“Beta sir!” Serena started towards the two men, but Adder was faster, grabbing her by the arm, and holding her firmly against his body. “Not so fast, ber-kit.” When she attempted to go for her diamond-dagger, he grabbed her other arm, securing it behind her back. “Sorry, but the gents have some things they need to speak on. Mano-a-mano, you understand.”
“Let me go!” she growled, struggling against him, but it was to no avail.
Dover looked at the other Omega MR officer, prepared to restrain him as well, but Larx didn’t appear stupid enough to try anything. Smart man.
“Tell me where the hell my nephew is!” Link demanded.
Klampton’s face was turning bright red, but he refused to make a spectacle of himself by attempting to speak with the iron clamp of Link’s hands around his throat.
“Can’t you see he can’t breathe?” Serena shouted. “He’s killing him!”
Adder rolled his eyes over the top of her head. “Yeah, so what?”
“Ohh,” she groaned in annoyance, then began twisting again. “Get your hands off me you idiot!”
“What for? You gonna play hero to your boyfriend?” Adder shrugged hardheartedly. “Seems like a wasted effort to me.”
“Please, stop this!” Larx interrupted, in what Dover supposed was a shout for the small voiced man. “I’ll explain everything you want to know. Please, just let Beta Officer Klampton and Omega-1 go.”
Link looked up at that. “Ahh, there’s the voice of reason.” He looked at Klampton’s red face. “And not a moment too soon.” He released his hold on the man’s neck so abruptly, it caused Klampton to stumble back.
Link nodded in Adder’s direction. “Let her go, Watson.”
“Heh-heh,” Adder laughed as, unwittingly to the others, he and Serena fought for control of the diamond-dagger she had somehow managed to reach. “Don’t know if that’s a good idea, Captain. I’ve gotten quite…comfortable here in…this…position.” He struggled to get the words out as he struggled with the woman in his arms.
“Omega-1,” Klampton wheezed out, as he was finally able to fill his lungs with oxygen. “Stand…down.”
“What?” Serena was outraged by the very idea.
“That…was a direct…order,” Klampton said, attempting to get to his feet with as much grace as he could muster.
“But sir–” she started to argue.
“Just do it!” Klampton yelled at his subordinate, his composure obviously gone.
Serena hesitantly released the dagger into Adder’s hand. He in turn, released her.
Adder smiled at her as she flexed her sore shoulder. “Whew, I usually like it kind of rough, but you’re a little too much for me, ber-kit.”
Serena had to bite her tongue to keep from going against her Beta’s orders and stabbing the MD with the smaller diamond-dagger she had tucked in the top of her boot. Now that her arms were free, she would have no problem reaching it.
Link was growing impatient. He addressed the Omega MR. “Explain what’s going on. Where the hell is my nephew?”
Larx looked at Klampton before he answered. “Forgive me, Beta sir,” he said shamefully. “And I ask for your forgiveness as well, Captain Patterson.”
Link raised an agitated brow in question. “Yeah, and why is that?”
The MR lifted a hand to his monocle and began shifting with the lens, an obvious gesture of nervous habit. “I’m apologizing sir, because what I’m about to tell you…” He looked over at Beta Klampton, and let out a deep sigh.
“Well, it’s something you are really not going to like.”
<center>TBC
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Re: TAT: Malign AU/ADULT AN: 8/26/08
AN: Okay for real, here is the next part. And just as a side note there are only two more parts left before we get to part two. At last! I made a kick ass banner to go with it, and I can't wait to show it to you guys. Anyway, on to Chapter Thirteen.
Part 1:
Chapter Thirteen
Sealant New Mexico: Pallor-Smith Domicile
Max was beginning to think Hus-band Pal was a very strange person. He definitely didn’t act like any of the other persons he knew. He always seemed to be angry, and he did not smile half as much as ZeeZee or Dover or Lilly. No, his mouth was always turned down with those funny upset lines.
As upset as Miss-es Pal seemed to be all the time, Hus-band Pal was even more upset. Whenever he looked at Max his eyes would squint as if he suspected the boy was up to no good. Max, not really knowing any better, would squint right back at him, which would only serve to upset the man even more.
“Joy, that boy’s making eyes at me.”
Joy placed a plate of food in front of Donald. “Oh, he is not, Donald. That’s just the way he looks.”
But Max had been making faces at Donald. He couldn’t help it. He was not trying to be rude. He’d only been mirroring the faces Donald was making at him.
“Stop that!” Donald shouted at the boy.
Max sat back in his seat at the sudden sound of Hus-band’s loud voice shouting over the table. There was no doubt in the little boy’s mind that Hus-band was definitely the most not happy person he had ever met.
“Don’t yell, Donald dear you know how it gets your heart rate up,” Joy chided.
Donald’s eyes remained narrowed on Max. “When did you say those Blackwells were coming to pick up their…kid…thing?”
“Soon,” Joy answered, then sat down at the dining room table. She made sure to sit beside Max, just in case he got the urge to get into some sort of trouble.
“Not soon enough,” Donald mumbled under his breath.
“Don’t mumble dear.” Joy reached over and absently began cutting the earth eel she had prepared for dinner into little pieces on Max’s plate. Max eyed her with curiosity as she moved the knife effortlessly across the slimy meat. When she was done, she placed the knife she had used on the side of her own plate, and handed him the fork.
“What’s this?” Max asked, tilting his head at the plate.
Joy sighed. “It’s eel. A delicacy, and very good for you.” She took a napkin off the side of the table and placed it neatly in Max’s lap. He was far from clean to begin with, but there was no sense in getting him any filthier.
Max looked up at Miss-es Pal. “Do I eat?”
She nodded. “Yes, of course you eat it. What else would you do with it?”
Max could think of a few things. None of which involved putting the nasty looking eel inside of his mouth. There were some things even he wouldn’t eat. “Taste…good?” He didn’t really see how it could.
“What?” Joy asked. “Well, yes it tastes good.” At least she liked it passably and Donald had never complained about the taste. “Anyway, it’s not about the way it tastes. It’s about the nutrients and vitamins it offers.”
“Noot-tree-ants and vi…vite…vite-mens?” What were those? Somehow he doubted they tasted like cookie bread. Max thought back to the apple boy-old she had given him earlier. Miss-es Pal sure tried to get him to eat the strangest things.
“Nutrients, and vitamins,” she corrected. “They are like–”
“Oh enough already! Just eat it, boy!” Donald interrupted with a yell.
Joy was surprised by his outburst. “Donald, what has gotten into you?” His behavior would have been unacceptable if Max were anyone other than a small lost child. Why, it was almost downright embarrassing.
“Joy, a word in the kitchen.” Donald got to his feet without so much as a pardon me, obviously expecting Joy to follow.
Joy scooted her chair back with an audible skid. “Wait here Max,” she said, then followed her husband into the kitchen.
Standing in the sectioned off kitchen of the domicile, a good distance away from the dining room, Donald grabbed his wife’s arm and yanked her over towards the sink. “I’ve got a bad feeling about that boy, Joy. Something seems not right about him.” Donald looked over at Max anxiously as if he were afraid Max was somehow listening in on their conversation.
Joy let out an exhausted breath. She would admit, Max was a particularly odd child, but he didn’t seem all that different from any of the other heathens his age. He was an annoyingly inquisitive thing. He didn’t listen very well. He asked far too many questions, and he had a particular penchant for getting into trouble…but there was still something about him that prevented Joy from thinking he was a complete nuisance.
“Donald, he’s no older than four, five years old? You can’t expect him to posses anything in the way of a maturity level. I’m sure all little boys his age act this way.”
Donald glared into the dining room area. His anger was displayed clearly on his face. “And how would you know? You know about as much about little boys as I do, and that’s not very much.”
Joy looked outraged. “Pardon me Donald, darling, I may not have ever had any children of my own, but my intuition as a woman gives me far greater insight on this situation than any paltry male brain could ever gather. Believe me, I know what I’m talking about.”
Donald looked skeptical. “I don’t care if he’s normal for his age or not, I don’t want him in my home any longer.”
“Donald, you’re being ridicules.”
“No!” Donald shouted.
For the second time in a matter of minutes, Joy found herself shaken by her husband’s sudden outburst. Donald had always been a rather ruthless man, however he had never been one to raise his voice in anger. That wasn’t to say his disposition wasn’t sometimes choleric, but she couldn’t believe he had become so passionate over such a small situation. Something about Max had her husband uncharacteristically on edge.
Joy didn’t understand why her husband was acting this way. She knew he had never had a high tolerance for children, but Donald seemed to have a precise aversion towards Max. It was almost as if he was afraid of the little boy.
Donald pinched the bridge of his nose between his index finger and thumb and took several deep breaths. It was a move Joy recognized as her husband attempting to get a handle on his emotions. “Very well, Joy,” he started to speak. “Coddle him if you please, feed him, for god sakes bathe him, but hurry up and get him out of my domicile.”
Donald walked back over to the table, eyeing Max who was eyeing him. He picked up his plate and returned his gaze to Joy. “I’ll be taking my dinner in the bedroom.” He turned his eyes back to Max. “Take care of this.” And with those less than friendly words, Donald Pallor-Smith, marched haughtily out of the room.
Max watched Donald exit the room and noted the very angry look on his face as he did so. He looked over at Miss-es Pal. Her face was red but she didn’t appear to be as angry as Hus-band Pal. “Why is Hus-band so angry?” he asked her.
Joy shook her head. She wasn’t sure how to respond to the question. Actually, she wasn’t sure if there was a real answer. Instead of attempting it she just smiled pleasantly down at Max as if all were right with the world. “Mr. Pallor-Smith is just a little tired. He’s had a very trying day and he would prefer to eat his meal alone.”
Max contemplated this. He looked down at the plate of…what had Miss-es Pal called it? Earth eel? Maybe Hus-band didn’t like eel and was hiding so he didn’t hurt Miss-es Pal’s feelings by not eating it. “Does Hus-band not like eel?” Max asked. He couldn’t blame him if he didn’t. The slimy dish didn’t look like it tasted very good. Noot-tree-ants and vite-mens didn’t sound yummy like cookie bread.
“No, Mr. Pallor-Smith likes eel just fine,” Joy answered offhandedly.
Max tapped his chin. “Does Hus-band not like me?”
Joy frowned at him. “Why would you ask that, Max?
Max shrugged. “He gave me an unhappy face.”
“An unhappy face?”
“ZeeZee says you can tell when a person does not like you because they will give you unhappy faces. Hus-band gave me lots of unhappy faces.”
Joy was outraged. Max could tell just as easily as she could that Donald was upset by his presence in their home. It was best to patronize the boy. Joy walked back over to the table and took a seat next to Max. She then placed an awkward hand on his shoulder. “Don’t think about Mr. Pallor-Smith.” She looked at the plate of food setting in front of Max on the table. “Just eat your dinner.”
Max looked at the plate as well, then back to Miss-es Pal. “But I don’t want to. It looks yucky.”
“Yucky?” Joy was gravely offended by Max’s words. “It does not look yucky.”
Max stared at Miss-es Pal convinced that she must have lost her mind, then back to the plate, back to Miss-es Pal. The eel. Miss-es Pal. The eel…yes, her mind must have most definitely been missing. “Um…it still looks yucky.”
“You haven’t even tasted it.”
“Cuz it looks yucky.”
Joy rolled her eyes. “Well, you should taste it before you make that kind of declaration.”
Max didn’t know what a declaration was, but he knew he wasn’t going to taste the yucky eel. He shook his head stubbornly. “No.”
“Oh, for goodness sake.” Joy lifted a bite of the eel on to Max’s fork and hovered it in front of his mouth. “Just try it.”
Again Max shook his head. “Nope.” Then he pressed his lips firmly together.
“You’re being very obstinate, Max,” Joy complained.
Max tilted his head to the side. “Obstina-oomhp”
And just like that, Joy stuck the eel into Max’s mouth.
At first Max almost choked on his surprise, not to mention the slimy chunk of wormy fishy meat that went sliding down his throat. He started to make a face, expecting not to like the taste as it hit his tongue. However as he absorbed that taste of the earth eel he was pleasantly surprised. It was not bad at all. In fact, it tasted pretty good.
“Ohm,” Max said smacking his lips together. “Taste good.” He placed his hand on the plate and used his small fingers to rip off another piece of the meat, then stuck it in his mouth.
Joy shook her head in somewhat unsurprised shame. She stopped Max from reaching for another piece, and instead placed the fork in his hand. “Here, use this.” She said. She could not hide her smile as she watched Max take the fork from her and began stabbing eagerly at the eel.
“Well,” Joy mused out loud as Max stuffed his face with eel, “at least you’re finally eating the food instead of making a grand mess with it on my table.” She continued to watch him for a while and then started in on her own plate of food.
Max ate everything on his plate and then looked at her with that charming little smile he had and asked for seconds. Joy was never one to indorse gluttony, but the child had whooped down the food so fast, there was no telling when the last time he’d had a healthy and nutritious meal. That is if he had ever even had one. If he was so easily given cookie bread there was no telling what other unhealthy foods those Blackwells were feeding him. So she gave in and allowed Max to have a second portion of earth eel.
Max was in the middle of working diligently on his second helping when the small door buzzer sounded, signaling that someone had just stepped onto the porch of the Pallor-Smith domicile.
“What’s that?” Max asked, looking up from his plate and glancing around the room as the strange noise chimed all around him.
Joy stood up from her seat. “Hurry up and finish eating. It’s probably your guardians, come to take you back where you belong,” she explained.
Max smiled brightly. “With Dover and Lily and ZeeZee,” he answered as if she had asked him where he belonged.
Joy frowned at Max’s response. He was such a strange little boy. But she just shrugged it off.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sealant New Mexico: In front of the Pallor-Smith Domicile
As Lilly stood outside of the door to the Pallor-Smith domicile she could not shake the nervous feeling that sat in the pit of her stomach. Max had been with the Pallor-Smith’s for quite a time now. In the few weeks that he had spent with them, Max hadn’t exhibited any actions that seemed particularly strange. That wasn’t to say that everything he did was completely normal, but to a person that was not familiar with children he should not appear too differently.
So it wasn’t the fear that Max would outwardly appear any different than a regular child his age that had Lilly’s stomach turning in knots. No, she was sure that for all the rest of the world, or for the Pallor-Smiths at least, Max would appear an average five-year-old boy. But there was a part of her that couldn’t for the life of her stop seeing the words “malign” stamped clearly across his forehead. She feared the world could see it to.
“Do you think Mrs. Pallor-Smith was mean to Max?” ZeeZee asked looking up at Lilly and drawing her from her inwards musings.
Lilly tried to smile at the little girl, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Now who could possibly be mean to Max?” she asked, trying to reassure ZeeZee that Max had not been treated badly by the neighbors. She didn’t think the Pallor-Smiths were the type of people that would hurt a child. Not with the formally domestic message Mrs. Pallor-Smith had left on their door.
“Mr. Pallor-Smith doesn’t like children.” Liz commented.
Lilly looked down at her. “What makes you say that?” she asked.
Liz shrugged “He told me.”
“When?” Lilly didn’t like the idea of ZeeZee being anywhere near Mr. Pallor-Smith. He didn’t seem the type that would harm a child, but he definitely was not a big fan of them. The farther ZeeZee and Max stayed away from that man the better. “When did Mr. Pallor-Smith tell you that he didn’t like children?” she asked again.
“When I was playing in the highgrass field over there and my ball blew into his yard.” Liz pointed to the large field of highgrass that was directly adjacent to the Pallor-Smith domicile. “When he saw me in his yard he told me I wasn’t supposed to be there, and that he didn’t like kids, so I had better stay away from his yard.” She paused a moment as if she were thinking of something. “He still has my ball,” she complained.
Before Lilly could comment the door to the Pallor-Smith domicile suddenly swung open, and Joy Pallor-Smith stood before the two of them looking as if she had been expecting them for quite some time. “Well it’s about time you showed up,” she said rather rudely, then stepped back to allow the two of them entry into her domicile.
When Liz spotted Max seated at the dining room table she immediately ran to him. “Max!” she shouted excitedly.
Max dropped his fork on his plate at the sound of Liz’s voice, his meal forgotten. “ZeeZee!” he shouted back, then scrambled off the seat and ran to meet her. The two met halfway between the door and the table and embraced as if it had been years since they had last seen one another instead of just a few hours.
“Max,” Liz said taking a step away from him, but keeping her arms wrapped around him, “You get lost way too much,” she complained.
Max turned his head to the side. Lost? Had he been lost? He didn’t think so. In fact, Dover was the one who had gotten lost. He had only been trying to find him. “But I wasn’t lost.” He tried to explain to ZeeZee. “I was looking for Dover.”
Liz frowned and turned to look at Lilly. “Oh, is Dover lost too?” she asked Lilly. Honestly, she was seriously beginning to think all boys just needed to be kept on a leash like little puppies.
Lilly laughed at the confused faces of her two charges. It seemed this had all been just a big mix-up. “No, Dover isn’t lost, Max. He just had to leave for a little bit.” She walked over to the two children and turned Max to face her. “But you should have known better than to leave the house on your own. What were you thinking doing something so dangerous?”
Max frowned. Lilly did not sound as if she were pleased with him. He looked down sheepishly, not liking for her to be mad at him. “I just wanted to find Dover,” he explained. “Is Lilly mad at me?” He asked the question of ZeeZee instead of addressing Lilly directly.
Lilly shook her head. It was impossible to be angry with him. “I’m not angry with you, Max. I was just worried. ZeeZee and I were worried. We don’t want anything bad to happen to you, is all.”
Max smiled, “Miss-es Pal happened to me.” He said, turning to the other woman over the top of Lilly’s shoulder.
Lilly turned around and looked at Mrs. Pallor-Smith, grateful that she didn’t appear to have found anything odd about Max. “Thank you,” she said rising to her feet. “Thank you for bringing Max home with you. I don’t know what I would have done if anything had happened to him.”
The expression of annoyance Joy wore on her face didn’t change, but she nodded her head. “Let’s just hope something like this doesn’t happen again. My husband does not enjoy being imposed upon.” Without allowing Lilly to respond, she turned her attention to Max. “Well Max, I suppose it’s time for you to be on your way.”
Lilly didn’t miss the way Mrs. Pallor-Smith’s voice softened as she addressed Max. It seemed she had been worried for nothing. If anything, Max seemed to have picked up a new admirer. Lilly was beginning to see that he had that effect on a lot of people. Everyone he met could not seem to help but love him. She wondered, was it a natural charm that caused people to respond this way to Max, or was it something else? Something malign.
Max smiled back at Mrs. Pal. “I liked the earth eel.” He said.
Liz made a face at that. “Eww, Max you ate earth eel? Nasty!”
Max shook his head. “Not eww, it’s good.” He took her hand and started to drag her back towards the table he had been sitting at when they’d entered the house. “Come and try some.”
“No!” ZeeZee screeched, but didn’t stop Max from dragging her to the table.
“Hang on a sec guys, we have to get back home. You heard Mrs. Pallor-Smith, we’ve imposed enough.”
Mrs. Pallor-Smith made a noise behind her. “Well if the children are interested in tasting fine cuisine who am I to say them nay.”
Lilly frowned at Mrs. Pallor-Smith’s comment. She was being really odd. Not…nice, but odd. For a moment she almost believed that Mrs. Pallor-Smith was enjoying having Max around. She looked over at Max and ZeeZee who were now sitting down at the table. Max was holding a fork full of food up to ZeeZee’s face, while Liz was shaking her head in adamant objecting. But Max refused to be denied.
“It’s good,” he insisted, trying again to get her to eat it.
“It doesn’t look good.” ZeeZee said skeptically.
Max moved the fork away from her mouth and examined it himself as if to see if she were telling the truth. He had thought the earth eel looked yucky too. And it did. After a moment of examination he turned his gaze back to her. “It does look yucky,” he agreed.
ZeeZee smiled knowing she was right.
“But it tastes good, and it has noot-tree-ants and vite-mens. And they don’t taste yucky like they sound. They actually taste good.”
Liz arched a skeptical brow at Max and kept her mouth shut.
Max sighed. “You’re being very obstinate, ZeeZee,” he repeated the words in the same tone Miss-es Pal had used on him.
“Obstinate?” Liz asked, puzzling over the unfamiliar word, just as he had. The moment she opened her mouth Max saw his chance, and just as Miss-es Pal had with him, he stuck a large helping of earth eel right into ZeeZee’s mouth.
Max smiled smugly at his trick and watched ZeeZee closely, prepared to boast that he knew she would like the food if she just tried it. But instead of wearing an expression of delight at the discovery of the taste of the eel, ZeeZee’s grabbed at her throat with her small hands, and her eyes bulged widely.
Max turned his head to the side, confused by ZeeZee’s reaction. He had been sure that she would enjoy the earth eel just as much as he had. But she appeared as if she wasn’t very happy with the taste. In fact, the face she was making seemed almost as if she were in pain.
And even odder than her apparent displeasure with the food, she was starting to turn a really strange color.
TBC
Part 1:
Chapter Thirteen
Sealant New Mexico: Pallor-Smith Domicile
Max was beginning to think Hus-band Pal was a very strange person. He definitely didn’t act like any of the other persons he knew. He always seemed to be angry, and he did not smile half as much as ZeeZee or Dover or Lilly. No, his mouth was always turned down with those funny upset lines.
As upset as Miss-es Pal seemed to be all the time, Hus-band Pal was even more upset. Whenever he looked at Max his eyes would squint as if he suspected the boy was up to no good. Max, not really knowing any better, would squint right back at him, which would only serve to upset the man even more.
“Joy, that boy’s making eyes at me.”
Joy placed a plate of food in front of Donald. “Oh, he is not, Donald. That’s just the way he looks.”
But Max had been making faces at Donald. He couldn’t help it. He was not trying to be rude. He’d only been mirroring the faces Donald was making at him.
“Stop that!” Donald shouted at the boy.
Max sat back in his seat at the sudden sound of Hus-band’s loud voice shouting over the table. There was no doubt in the little boy’s mind that Hus-band was definitely the most not happy person he had ever met.
“Don’t yell, Donald dear you know how it gets your heart rate up,” Joy chided.
Donald’s eyes remained narrowed on Max. “When did you say those Blackwells were coming to pick up their…kid…thing?”
“Soon,” Joy answered, then sat down at the dining room table. She made sure to sit beside Max, just in case he got the urge to get into some sort of trouble.
“Not soon enough,” Donald mumbled under his breath.
“Don’t mumble dear.” Joy reached over and absently began cutting the earth eel she had prepared for dinner into little pieces on Max’s plate. Max eyed her with curiosity as she moved the knife effortlessly across the slimy meat. When she was done, she placed the knife she had used on the side of her own plate, and handed him the fork.
“What’s this?” Max asked, tilting his head at the plate.
Joy sighed. “It’s eel. A delicacy, and very good for you.” She took a napkin off the side of the table and placed it neatly in Max’s lap. He was far from clean to begin with, but there was no sense in getting him any filthier.
Max looked up at Miss-es Pal. “Do I eat?”
She nodded. “Yes, of course you eat it. What else would you do with it?”
Max could think of a few things. None of which involved putting the nasty looking eel inside of his mouth. There were some things even he wouldn’t eat. “Taste…good?” He didn’t really see how it could.
“What?” Joy asked. “Well, yes it tastes good.” At least she liked it passably and Donald had never complained about the taste. “Anyway, it’s not about the way it tastes. It’s about the nutrients and vitamins it offers.”
“Noot-tree-ants and vi…vite…vite-mens?” What were those? Somehow he doubted they tasted like cookie bread. Max thought back to the apple boy-old she had given him earlier. Miss-es Pal sure tried to get him to eat the strangest things.
“Nutrients, and vitamins,” she corrected. “They are like–”
“Oh enough already! Just eat it, boy!” Donald interrupted with a yell.
Joy was surprised by his outburst. “Donald, what has gotten into you?” His behavior would have been unacceptable if Max were anyone other than a small lost child. Why, it was almost downright embarrassing.
“Joy, a word in the kitchen.” Donald got to his feet without so much as a pardon me, obviously expecting Joy to follow.
Joy scooted her chair back with an audible skid. “Wait here Max,” she said, then followed her husband into the kitchen.
Standing in the sectioned off kitchen of the domicile, a good distance away from the dining room, Donald grabbed his wife’s arm and yanked her over towards the sink. “I’ve got a bad feeling about that boy, Joy. Something seems not right about him.” Donald looked over at Max anxiously as if he were afraid Max was somehow listening in on their conversation.
Joy let out an exhausted breath. She would admit, Max was a particularly odd child, but he didn’t seem all that different from any of the other heathens his age. He was an annoyingly inquisitive thing. He didn’t listen very well. He asked far too many questions, and he had a particular penchant for getting into trouble…but there was still something about him that prevented Joy from thinking he was a complete nuisance.
“Donald, he’s no older than four, five years old? You can’t expect him to posses anything in the way of a maturity level. I’m sure all little boys his age act this way.”
Donald glared into the dining room area. His anger was displayed clearly on his face. “And how would you know? You know about as much about little boys as I do, and that’s not very much.”
Joy looked outraged. “Pardon me Donald, darling, I may not have ever had any children of my own, but my intuition as a woman gives me far greater insight on this situation than any paltry male brain could ever gather. Believe me, I know what I’m talking about.”
Donald looked skeptical. “I don’t care if he’s normal for his age or not, I don’t want him in my home any longer.”
“Donald, you’re being ridicules.”
“No!” Donald shouted.
For the second time in a matter of minutes, Joy found herself shaken by her husband’s sudden outburst. Donald had always been a rather ruthless man, however he had never been one to raise his voice in anger. That wasn’t to say his disposition wasn’t sometimes choleric, but she couldn’t believe he had become so passionate over such a small situation. Something about Max had her husband uncharacteristically on edge.
Joy didn’t understand why her husband was acting this way. She knew he had never had a high tolerance for children, but Donald seemed to have a precise aversion towards Max. It was almost as if he was afraid of the little boy.
Donald pinched the bridge of his nose between his index finger and thumb and took several deep breaths. It was a move Joy recognized as her husband attempting to get a handle on his emotions. “Very well, Joy,” he started to speak. “Coddle him if you please, feed him, for god sakes bathe him, but hurry up and get him out of my domicile.”
Donald walked back over to the table, eyeing Max who was eyeing him. He picked up his plate and returned his gaze to Joy. “I’ll be taking my dinner in the bedroom.” He turned his eyes back to Max. “Take care of this.” And with those less than friendly words, Donald Pallor-Smith, marched haughtily out of the room.
Max watched Donald exit the room and noted the very angry look on his face as he did so. He looked over at Miss-es Pal. Her face was red but she didn’t appear to be as angry as Hus-band Pal. “Why is Hus-band so angry?” he asked her.
Joy shook her head. She wasn’t sure how to respond to the question. Actually, she wasn’t sure if there was a real answer. Instead of attempting it she just smiled pleasantly down at Max as if all were right with the world. “Mr. Pallor-Smith is just a little tired. He’s had a very trying day and he would prefer to eat his meal alone.”
Max contemplated this. He looked down at the plate of…what had Miss-es Pal called it? Earth eel? Maybe Hus-band didn’t like eel and was hiding so he didn’t hurt Miss-es Pal’s feelings by not eating it. “Does Hus-band not like eel?” Max asked. He couldn’t blame him if he didn’t. The slimy dish didn’t look like it tasted very good. Noot-tree-ants and vite-mens didn’t sound yummy like cookie bread.
“No, Mr. Pallor-Smith likes eel just fine,” Joy answered offhandedly.
Max tapped his chin. “Does Hus-band not like me?”
Joy frowned at him. “Why would you ask that, Max?
Max shrugged. “He gave me an unhappy face.”
“An unhappy face?”
“ZeeZee says you can tell when a person does not like you because they will give you unhappy faces. Hus-band gave me lots of unhappy faces.”
Joy was outraged. Max could tell just as easily as she could that Donald was upset by his presence in their home. It was best to patronize the boy. Joy walked back over to the table and took a seat next to Max. She then placed an awkward hand on his shoulder. “Don’t think about Mr. Pallor-Smith.” She looked at the plate of food setting in front of Max on the table. “Just eat your dinner.”
Max looked at the plate as well, then back to Miss-es Pal. “But I don’t want to. It looks yucky.”
“Yucky?” Joy was gravely offended by Max’s words. “It does not look yucky.”
Max stared at Miss-es Pal convinced that she must have lost her mind, then back to the plate, back to Miss-es Pal. The eel. Miss-es Pal. The eel…yes, her mind must have most definitely been missing. “Um…it still looks yucky.”
“You haven’t even tasted it.”
“Cuz it looks yucky.”
Joy rolled her eyes. “Well, you should taste it before you make that kind of declaration.”
Max didn’t know what a declaration was, but he knew he wasn’t going to taste the yucky eel. He shook his head stubbornly. “No.”
“Oh, for goodness sake.” Joy lifted a bite of the eel on to Max’s fork and hovered it in front of his mouth. “Just try it.”
Again Max shook his head. “Nope.” Then he pressed his lips firmly together.
“You’re being very obstinate, Max,” Joy complained.
Max tilted his head to the side. “Obstina-oomhp”
And just like that, Joy stuck the eel into Max’s mouth.
At first Max almost choked on his surprise, not to mention the slimy chunk of wormy fishy meat that went sliding down his throat. He started to make a face, expecting not to like the taste as it hit his tongue. However as he absorbed that taste of the earth eel he was pleasantly surprised. It was not bad at all. In fact, it tasted pretty good.
“Ohm,” Max said smacking his lips together. “Taste good.” He placed his hand on the plate and used his small fingers to rip off another piece of the meat, then stuck it in his mouth.
Joy shook her head in somewhat unsurprised shame. She stopped Max from reaching for another piece, and instead placed the fork in his hand. “Here, use this.” She said. She could not hide her smile as she watched Max take the fork from her and began stabbing eagerly at the eel.
“Well,” Joy mused out loud as Max stuffed his face with eel, “at least you’re finally eating the food instead of making a grand mess with it on my table.” She continued to watch him for a while and then started in on her own plate of food.
Max ate everything on his plate and then looked at her with that charming little smile he had and asked for seconds. Joy was never one to indorse gluttony, but the child had whooped down the food so fast, there was no telling when the last time he’d had a healthy and nutritious meal. That is if he had ever even had one. If he was so easily given cookie bread there was no telling what other unhealthy foods those Blackwells were feeding him. So she gave in and allowed Max to have a second portion of earth eel.
Max was in the middle of working diligently on his second helping when the small door buzzer sounded, signaling that someone had just stepped onto the porch of the Pallor-Smith domicile.
“What’s that?” Max asked, looking up from his plate and glancing around the room as the strange noise chimed all around him.
Joy stood up from her seat. “Hurry up and finish eating. It’s probably your guardians, come to take you back where you belong,” she explained.
Max smiled brightly. “With Dover and Lily and ZeeZee,” he answered as if she had asked him where he belonged.
Joy frowned at Max’s response. He was such a strange little boy. But she just shrugged it off.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sealant New Mexico: In front of the Pallor-Smith Domicile
As Lilly stood outside of the door to the Pallor-Smith domicile she could not shake the nervous feeling that sat in the pit of her stomach. Max had been with the Pallor-Smith’s for quite a time now. In the few weeks that he had spent with them, Max hadn’t exhibited any actions that seemed particularly strange. That wasn’t to say that everything he did was completely normal, but to a person that was not familiar with children he should not appear too differently.
So it wasn’t the fear that Max would outwardly appear any different than a regular child his age that had Lilly’s stomach turning in knots. No, she was sure that for all the rest of the world, or for the Pallor-Smiths at least, Max would appear an average five-year-old boy. But there was a part of her that couldn’t for the life of her stop seeing the words “malign” stamped clearly across his forehead. She feared the world could see it to.
“Do you think Mrs. Pallor-Smith was mean to Max?” ZeeZee asked looking up at Lilly and drawing her from her inwards musings.
Lilly tried to smile at the little girl, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Now who could possibly be mean to Max?” she asked, trying to reassure ZeeZee that Max had not been treated badly by the neighbors. She didn’t think the Pallor-Smiths were the type of people that would hurt a child. Not with the formally domestic message Mrs. Pallor-Smith had left on their door.
“Mr. Pallor-Smith doesn’t like children.” Liz commented.
Lilly looked down at her. “What makes you say that?” she asked.
Liz shrugged “He told me.”
“When?” Lilly didn’t like the idea of ZeeZee being anywhere near Mr. Pallor-Smith. He didn’t seem the type that would harm a child, but he definitely was not a big fan of them. The farther ZeeZee and Max stayed away from that man the better. “When did Mr. Pallor-Smith tell you that he didn’t like children?” she asked again.
“When I was playing in the highgrass field over there and my ball blew into his yard.” Liz pointed to the large field of highgrass that was directly adjacent to the Pallor-Smith domicile. “When he saw me in his yard he told me I wasn’t supposed to be there, and that he didn’t like kids, so I had better stay away from his yard.” She paused a moment as if she were thinking of something. “He still has my ball,” she complained.
Before Lilly could comment the door to the Pallor-Smith domicile suddenly swung open, and Joy Pallor-Smith stood before the two of them looking as if she had been expecting them for quite some time. “Well it’s about time you showed up,” she said rather rudely, then stepped back to allow the two of them entry into her domicile.
When Liz spotted Max seated at the dining room table she immediately ran to him. “Max!” she shouted excitedly.
Max dropped his fork on his plate at the sound of Liz’s voice, his meal forgotten. “ZeeZee!” he shouted back, then scrambled off the seat and ran to meet her. The two met halfway between the door and the table and embraced as if it had been years since they had last seen one another instead of just a few hours.
“Max,” Liz said taking a step away from him, but keeping her arms wrapped around him, “You get lost way too much,” she complained.
Max turned his head to the side. Lost? Had he been lost? He didn’t think so. In fact, Dover was the one who had gotten lost. He had only been trying to find him. “But I wasn’t lost.” He tried to explain to ZeeZee. “I was looking for Dover.”
Liz frowned and turned to look at Lilly. “Oh, is Dover lost too?” she asked Lilly. Honestly, she was seriously beginning to think all boys just needed to be kept on a leash like little puppies.
Lilly laughed at the confused faces of her two charges. It seemed this had all been just a big mix-up. “No, Dover isn’t lost, Max. He just had to leave for a little bit.” She walked over to the two children and turned Max to face her. “But you should have known better than to leave the house on your own. What were you thinking doing something so dangerous?”
Max frowned. Lilly did not sound as if she were pleased with him. He looked down sheepishly, not liking for her to be mad at him. “I just wanted to find Dover,” he explained. “Is Lilly mad at me?” He asked the question of ZeeZee instead of addressing Lilly directly.
Lilly shook her head. It was impossible to be angry with him. “I’m not angry with you, Max. I was just worried. ZeeZee and I were worried. We don’t want anything bad to happen to you, is all.”
Max smiled, “Miss-es Pal happened to me.” He said, turning to the other woman over the top of Lilly’s shoulder.
Lilly turned around and looked at Mrs. Pallor-Smith, grateful that she didn’t appear to have found anything odd about Max. “Thank you,” she said rising to her feet. “Thank you for bringing Max home with you. I don’t know what I would have done if anything had happened to him.”
The expression of annoyance Joy wore on her face didn’t change, but she nodded her head. “Let’s just hope something like this doesn’t happen again. My husband does not enjoy being imposed upon.” Without allowing Lilly to respond, she turned her attention to Max. “Well Max, I suppose it’s time for you to be on your way.”
Lilly didn’t miss the way Mrs. Pallor-Smith’s voice softened as she addressed Max. It seemed she had been worried for nothing. If anything, Max seemed to have picked up a new admirer. Lilly was beginning to see that he had that effect on a lot of people. Everyone he met could not seem to help but love him. She wondered, was it a natural charm that caused people to respond this way to Max, or was it something else? Something malign.
Max smiled back at Mrs. Pal. “I liked the earth eel.” He said.
Liz made a face at that. “Eww, Max you ate earth eel? Nasty!”
Max shook his head. “Not eww, it’s good.” He took her hand and started to drag her back towards the table he had been sitting at when they’d entered the house. “Come and try some.”
“No!” ZeeZee screeched, but didn’t stop Max from dragging her to the table.
“Hang on a sec guys, we have to get back home. You heard Mrs. Pallor-Smith, we’ve imposed enough.”
Mrs. Pallor-Smith made a noise behind her. “Well if the children are interested in tasting fine cuisine who am I to say them nay.”
Lilly frowned at Mrs. Pallor-Smith’s comment. She was being really odd. Not…nice, but odd. For a moment she almost believed that Mrs. Pallor-Smith was enjoying having Max around. She looked over at Max and ZeeZee who were now sitting down at the table. Max was holding a fork full of food up to ZeeZee’s face, while Liz was shaking her head in adamant objecting. But Max refused to be denied.
“It’s good,” he insisted, trying again to get her to eat it.
“It doesn’t look good.” ZeeZee said skeptically.
Max moved the fork away from her mouth and examined it himself as if to see if she were telling the truth. He had thought the earth eel looked yucky too. And it did. After a moment of examination he turned his gaze back to her. “It does look yucky,” he agreed.
ZeeZee smiled knowing she was right.
“But it tastes good, and it has noot-tree-ants and vite-mens. And they don’t taste yucky like they sound. They actually taste good.”
Liz arched a skeptical brow at Max and kept her mouth shut.
Max sighed. “You’re being very obstinate, ZeeZee,” he repeated the words in the same tone Miss-es Pal had used on him.
“Obstinate?” Liz asked, puzzling over the unfamiliar word, just as he had. The moment she opened her mouth Max saw his chance, and just as Miss-es Pal had with him, he stuck a large helping of earth eel right into ZeeZee’s mouth.
Max smiled smugly at his trick and watched ZeeZee closely, prepared to boast that he knew she would like the food if she just tried it. But instead of wearing an expression of delight at the discovery of the taste of the eel, ZeeZee’s grabbed at her throat with her small hands, and her eyes bulged widely.
Max turned his head to the side, confused by ZeeZee’s reaction. He had been sure that she would enjoy the earth eel just as much as he had. But she appeared as if she wasn’t very happy with the taste. In fact, the face she was making seemed almost as if she were in pain.
And even odder than her apparent displeasure with the food, she was starting to turn a really strange color.
TBC
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Re: TAT: Malign (AU/ML/Teen) Short AN: 10/15/08
This chapter is dedicated to all of you, but more specifically to BlueStar8. Because I know you’ve been waiting forever!
BlueStar8
Natalie36
Flamehair
Ellie
Michelle in Yonkers
destinyc
Chadslilhottie
CandyDreamQueen
Thank you all so much.
I should probably do a recap, but I’m a little stressed for time to write one. And yeah, I know it’s just tacking on a few extra sentences to the last recap I wrote, but it has been three chapter since I last wrote one, and a lot of malign stuff was brought up in twelve, so I want to make sure I sit down and do it right when I do it. But since it has been so long, if you’re really confused about where this chapter starts, go back and read chapter 12. That should help.
I’ll try to add a recap to this chapter as soon as I get the time. But if I don’t get around to doing it, don’t worry, I’ll be sure to put one at the beginning of part two, which is now only one chapter away. So I guess that means it should be posted in about…December (lol just kidding…I hope
)
Also, one last thing. This fic just happens to be nominated for none other than… drum roll please…
“Fic you’d most like to see completed”
lol So thank you to all that nominated me, and to everyone that votes for me. I’m very flattered. Believe me, it's the fic I would most like to see completed too
Enjoy!
~Chad~
Part 1:
Chapter Fourteen
Plat City, New Mexico: Lacebark Cave
“Not going to like?” Link asked. Larx’s last statement had successfully gotten the attention of all three MD officers. “What do you mean by that?”
Larx fidgeted with his monocle again. The man was obviously not good under pressure. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Dover frowned at him. He was an odd little man. He moved around tensely, like he was getting himself mentally and physically prepared to give his explanation. “Well sir, as Beta sir said before, Officer Valenti is no longer in this cave, and has not been for some time.”
“Yeah,” Adder said, “we got that part. So where the hell is he?”
“I’ll take over the explanation from here Omega-2” This came from Klampton, who was finally managing to stand solidly on his own two feet. He was rubbed his sore throat as he addressed his Omega.
“Yes sir” Larx said obediently.
Link, Adder, and Dover all turned to Klampton, waiting for his continued explanation. “This had better be good,” said Link.
Though he continued to clutch his sore throat, Klampton looked at the three of them. He was competently calm, as if an old man had not just physically assaulted him. His face remained as composed as ever. “Officer James Valenti, Jimmy, as you refer to him, was removed from this cave approximately three weeks ago by an MR medical research team. He was examined and found to be still alive.”
All three men breathed a sigh of relief. “Why wasn’t I informed of this?” Link asked.
“Because, although he was still alive at the time of his retrieval, James Valenti was found to have been exposed to extremely high levels of toxin.”
“Toxic exposure?” Link asked. His voice sounded startled, but his face remained unrevealing of his emotions. “Are you saying that my nephew…”
“Yes, Captain Patterson. Your nephew has toxic poisoning. We’ve placed him under strict quarantine.”
All three MDs took a second to register those words. Toxic poisoning was no light ailment. Actually, no one, not even the MRs, were one hundred percent sure of what all the effects of toxic exposure truly were, but they did know one thing: There was no record of a single person having made a recovery after contracting the disease. Fear of toxic exposure, and the contracting of toxic poisoning, were the greatest catalyst for the fear of maligns.
Dover felt his hands begin to shake, so he clamped them into tight fists. Toxic poisoning. Jimmy had toxic poisoning. That just didn’t make any sense to him. Dover had been inside the cave, same as Jimmy. Not only that. but he’d seen bright lights. He’d felt a strange euphoria that he hadn’t been able to explain. Hell, he was living with a malign. Yet he, and his entire family were perfectly fine. If Jimmy had toxic poisoning, surely Dover would have had it too.
Then Dover remembered the explosion. He had been inside of Lacebark before the explosion had occurred. The explosion must have been triggered by Max’s removal from the cave. That was the only explanation for it. And if that was true, it meant…
This was all his fault.
“Why are we here?” Link was asking Beta officer Klampton.
“Bringing you here was the most effective way of explaining the situation at hand, without it seeming to you that we had given up on retrieving the officer’s remains. Besides that, during Officer Valenti’s rescue we were able to recover some of the element that we believe to be the source of toxic exposure. After several weeks, the substance we collected appears to have died. This operation was mainly an expedition to obtain more of the unknown constituent, all in the hopes of creating a cure for this monstrous malignic disease.”
“A cure?” Link asked. There was an air of hope in his tone.
Klampton nodded. “But I must be frank with you, Captain. Judging from your nephew’s current condition, he is not likely to survive long enough to be a recipient of such a cure, if one is attainable.”
Link’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Is he at MR HQ?”
“Yes,” Klampton answered.
“Why?”
“The affects that the toxin has had on Officer Valenti’s body are extraordinary. It is beneficial to us to continue studying them for as long as possible, so that we may gain better understanding of how the toxin works on the human body. Therefore, it is best that Officer Valenti’s body remain within our possession for further observation.” Klampton’s tone was cold and unfeeling as he spoke. “It is our professional advice, as well as the recommendation of the highest ranking MRs monitoring this situation, that you go on letting your family, as well as the rest of the world, believe James Valenti is dead.”
Having heard more than enough, Adder growled in a low severely heated voice, then attempted to go for Klampton himself. “You cold-hearted son-of-a-bitch!” Both of the Omegas moved to protect their Beta, but there was no need. Dover had already grabbed his comrade’s arm, stopping him from reaching the MR. That didn’t stop Adder from cursing the man though. “What the hell is the matter with you, you lousy-sack-of-shit-on-a-stick? Jimmy is a human being! He’s somebody’s son, somebody’s friend,” Adder paused and looked at Link. The captain stood motionless, his head facing down. “Somebody’s nephew!” Adder finished. “He’s not just some lab experiment for you to poke and prod at so you can ‘gain better understanding’ of him. Damn you!” He pointed to Serena and Larx as well. “Damn every last one of you fuckheads!”
Larx, Serena, and Klampton remained silent. The two Omegas appeared remorseful, and Dover could see that they knew on some level that what they had done to Jimmy was wrong. Klampton, on the other hand, appeared his stoic self, assumingly unfazed by Adder’s heated outburst. “I’m sorry that you feel that way, Lieutenant Watson. However, as MRs, we have the sometimes difficult responsibility of basing our actions around what is the greater good for all of mankind, not just one officer’s grieving family.”
Adder spoke between gritted teeth. “Let me go so I can kick his ass,” he said.
Dover started to do it. Never had he heard a man speak with such callousness, and with Link standing right there. Remembering his commanding officer, Dover looked at Link. He was still standing with his head faced down, his expression unreadable. “Captain?” Dover asked.
Link made no response. Instead, he turned his attention from the floor over to Adder. “Leave this cave, Lieutenant Watson.”
Both Dover and Adder looked at Link. “What?” they asked simultaneously, surprised by the command.
“I said, leave.” Link repeated calmly. “And take Blackwell with you,” he added. Before Adder or Dover could voice an objection, Link turned his attention to Klampton. “Tell your Omegas to wait outside with my men. I want to speak with you alone.”
Klampton nodded his head in simple understanding. “Omega-1, Omega-2, please wait outside with Lieutenants Watson and Blackwell,” he commanded.
“Beta sir,” Serena protested. “I don’t think that’s a wise decision.”
“Your opinion is noted, but unasked for, Omega. Please wait outside,” Klampton repeated.
“But sir-”
Klampton turned those cold eyes on Serena. “I won’t ask you again, Omega.” His voice was just as cold. It was the second time he’d addressed her by rank without number, using the title as an indication of her lower status. Serena did not voice any other objections, but she appeared just as angry over being dismissed as Dover and Adder were. The only person who didn’t have a problem with exiting the cave was Larx.
Dover, Adder, Serena, and Larx headed back for the cave entrance, but Dover stopped when he reached the hole that had been blown into the wall. “Link.” He purposely used Link’s first name, as he turned back to face his captain, “What are you thinking?”
Link didn’t look at him. He was still staring at Beta Officer Klampton. “I’m thinking that my men are taking an awfully damn long time obeying a fairly simple directive. Now leave this cave, Blackwell.”
With a chest deep sigh, and a final nod of his head, Dover turned around and followed Adder and the MRs out of the cave. His mind raced as he walked. He couldn’t tell what Link was thinking. He didn’t know what to say or do to soothe his friend’s anger. He had failed Jimmy. He had failed his entire squad. All because of Max. And the worse part of all was that he couldn’t even feel remorse for what he had caused. After all, his actions had saved Max’s life. They had saved an innocent child’s life.
And probably taken one’s away.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sealant New Mexico: Blackwell Domicile
Max sat in the bubble bath.
Sat.
Just sat.
He didn’t splash.
He didn’t laugh.
He didn’t make any movements at all.
He just sat.
And frowned.
And sat.
Lilly had been the one to sit him in the tub. He waited for her now. She’d promised that she would return as soon as she tucked ZeeZee into bed for the night. ZeeZee had already had her bath. She’d already been dressed for bed, and she most likely was already well on her way to sleep.
Without him.
But that was okay. Why would she want to sleep in the same bed as him after what he had done to her? Well…he still wasn’t entirely sure what he had done. Though Lilly had tried to explain it to him, Max didn’t really know what al-ler-gic meant, but judging by the frantic reaction Lilly had given after he’d fed ZeeZee the earth eel, whatever it was had not been good. She’d rushed them straight home, and taken ZeeZee into the lavatory. Max hadn’t seen Liz anymore after that, but Lilly had told him that she’d given her an anti-robotic…or something like that, to help control her al-ler-gic reaction.
He couldn’t forget it, the way ZeeZee had turned so pale, and started coughing, and started…what had Lilly called it again? Choking! He could not forget the way she had started choking. Then she’d turned all puffy, and Max had been afraid that her head was going to pop right off. Lilly had made her spit most of the eel out, but ZeeZee had still swallowed enough of it to cause her al-ler-gic-ness to come out. From that moment on, Max had decided two things. One: that he didn’t like al-ler-gic-ness. And two: He would never eat earth eel again.
Never ever again.
The door to the lavatory slid open slowly and Lilly stepped into the room. Max was still where she had left him. He sat quietly in his bubble bath, not splashing, or laughing, or being his usual bath loving self. He just sat there, staring down at the water with the most pitiful look on his face she had ever seen.
“Max?” Lilly walked over to the side of the tub and kneeled down beside it so that she was on the same level as him. “Why aren’t you splashing?” She knew he loved splashing and popping the bubbles. She was hoping his bath would bring him out of the sadness he had been in ever since his accident with Liz.
Max shook his head. “Don’t want to.”
“But you love bubbles,” she reminded him, playfully blowing a handful of bubbles in his direction.
Max didn’t react. He let the bubbles sit unnoticed on top of his nose as he continued to stare down into the water. “Don’t want to,” he repeated.
Lilly sighed and wiped the ignored bubbles off of the little boy’s face. She placed her hand on his small chin and tilted his head up to her. “Max.” she tried coaxing him in to look at her. His head tilted up, but his eyes remained fixed down on the water. “Max,” she tried again.
He shook his head.
“Max, look at me.”
His gaze shifted a little, almost coming to meet hers, but he immediately looked back at the water when he realized what his sneaky eyes were doing.
Lilly wanted to laugh, but she knew Max would not appreciate that right now. She leaned her head over the tub, letting her hair spill over into the water, all the way down until his eyes were forced to meet hers. That’s when she saw the tears inside them. They hadn’t spilled over, but they were well on their way to gathering enough to do so.
“Oh sweetheart,” she said, stroking his bubble wet cheek. “Don’t cry.”
Max tried to turn away from her. The tears were beginning to spill over onto his cheeks. “Can I sleep in Mommy and Daddy’s bed?” he asked.
Lilly frowned. He was referring to the bed that he had slept in the first night he’d come to them. Max hadn’t slept in that bed since.
“Sure sweetie,” she said. “You can sleep wherever you want.” Lilly waited, but when Max didn’t give an explanation for why he didn’t want to sleep with Liz tonight she decided to fish for it. “You don’t want to sleep with ZeeZee?”
Max quietly shook his head.
“Why not?” she asked.
“Because I hurt ZeeZee,” he answered.
Lilly’s heart broke at Max’s sorrowful tone. “But it was an accident, baby,” she tried to reassure him. She knew Max would never intentionally hurt Liz.
Max tilted his head, the tears slanting on his cheek. “What’s act-see-dent?”
Lilly smiled. Even in his misery, Max remained his inquisitive self. “An accident is when you do something that you don’t mean to do,” she explained. “Remember when I made you afraid of me in my black coat?"
Max nodded slowly.
"Well, I didn’t mean to make you feel that way. It was an accident.” Lilly finished her explanation.
Max thought about Lilly’s words. They made sense to him. “I didn’t mean to hurt ZeeZee,” he said.
Lilly nodded. “I know that. So does ZeeZee.”
“She does?” He asked hopefully.
Lilly nodded. “Of course she does. ZeeZee knows you would never hurt her.” And so did she, Lilly realized. Not in a hundred million years would this little boy ever do anything to hurt Dover’s little sister, or Dover…or her.
“Act-see-dent,” Max said, testing out the words on his own tongue.
Lilly chucked “Ac-ci-dent,” she repeated much slower, pronouncing every syllable.
“Ac-ci-dent,” Max mimicked.
Lilly nodded. “Yes.”
Max smiled…a little.
Lilly was glad to finally see it, even if it wasn’t his usual beam of happiness. “So, are we ready to start your bath before this water gets all cold and the bubbles go away?”
Max nodded. He didn’t like it when the bubbles went away.
“Okay then.” She dipped her hand inside of the water, wetting his towel and wringing it out. Max watched her while she soaped up the towel, and then smiled a little bit more, this time a bit mischievously. He cupped his hands together and dipped them into the water, scooping up a handful of bubbles. Letting out a huge breath, Max blew them right into Lilly’s face.
Lilly jumped back as bubbles came flying at her. Luckily, none got in her eyes, but they were all over her cheeks, chin, and shirt. “Max!” she gasped in feigned outrage.
Max smiled completely and clapped his hands together, sending the remaining bubbles flying every which way. “It was an ac-ci-dent,” he said, right before he started to giggle uncontrollably.
Lilly arched a disbelieving brow. “An ac-ci-dent, huh?” she mocked.
Max nodded, still laughing.
“Really?” Lilly dropped the soap into the water and placed both of her hands inside the tub. “Well, so was this!” she said, soaking Max with a big splash.
Max shot back in the tub in an attempt to avoid the water, but it was useless. He squealed in delight, and immediately began splashing Lilly back. The two laughed, and splashed and blew bubbles at one another until eventually all the bubbles in the water disappeared. When that happened, Lilly sobered up from their play, and began bathing Max in earnest. Afterwards, she dried Max off with the large dry towel he liked to wrap himself in, and helped him put on his pajamas.
Max hadn’t made any indication of not wanting to sleep with Liz, but Lilly carried him into Mommy and Daddy’s bedroom anyway. By the time she tucked him into bed he was already fast asleep.
Lilly stoked Max’s hair lovingly, and placed a tender kiss on his brow. Hopefully by the morning he would have forgotten what it was that had made him so sad.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Plat City, New Mexico: Outside Lacebark Cave
The Doughboys and the two MRs stood outside of Lacebark, not knowing what to do or say to each other. Adder had wasted no time explaining the situation with Jimmy to the other members of the squad. Between the angry looks the Doughboys cast at the MRs, and the building anxiety of waiting for Link and Klampton to emerge from the cave, tension was thick in the air.
Dover sat on a wide rock, close to the cave entrance. For a while he watched Adder as he paced the length of the entrance over and over again. He wished there was something he could say to calm his friend down, but Adder was clearly set on fret mode, and he was a pretty unreasonable guy most of the time anyway. Even if Dover could come up with something to say to him, chances were Adder would still remain on edge.
“You know, contrary to popular belief, pacing only stimulates apprehension, it doesn’t alleviate it.”
Adder stopped pacing for the time it took him to turn his head in the direction of the voice that had spoken to him. It was the female MR, Serena. He frowned at her. “Yeah, and what are you, some kind of–”
“Doctor?” she cut him off. Serena indicated the MR badge on her chest. “Yes, I am. All MRs are.”
Adder blew out an annoyed puff of air and went back to pacing.
Serena shook her head and rolled her eyes skyward, wondering why she even bothered with him. Instead of attempting to address Adder again, she went to stand in front of Dover, motioning to the empty spot beside him. “Mind if I sit?”
Dover shrugged. “Go ahead.”
Adder started to pace even faster.
Serena sat down beside Dover, then stuck her hand out in greeting. “I’m Serena, by the way.”
Dover took her outstretched hand. “Yeah, I know.” He shook it cordially. “Dover,” he introduced himself.
She smiled. “Nice to meet you.”
Dover couldn’t help but notice how her beautiful brown eyes gleamed brightly in the New Mexico sunlight. She really was a very attractive woman. However, he also noticed that outside of the cave, there was something about her that seemed different. She seemed softer. Friendlier. Of course, that may have had something to do with the fact that she was no longer attempting to stab Adder. “Nice to meet you too,” he smiled back.
Adder was still pacing.
“Is your friend always so…animated?” Serena asked, watching Adder as he moved quickly backward and forward.
“Adder?” Dover watched his friend. The man was practically jogging now. “He’s just…Adder.”
“Ahh, the affects of too much testosterone, I presume?” Serena guessed.
Dover laughed. “That could be a factor, but I think he’s just worried about Link. I know that he hates that there isn’t anything we can do for Jimmy. Adder’s not one for sitting around doing nothing. ”
Serena stopped smiling. “I am sorry for the way this has all turned out, for Link and for his family.”
Dover sighed. “You were just doing your job.”
She shook her head. “It’s still no excuse. Toxic poisoning…I-I wouldn’t want to lose a family member that way. Captain Patterson…he…”
Dover cut her off. “Link’s a strong old guy. He’ll get his family through this.” Dover was well aware of just how tough Link was, but this was still going to be really hard for him. Link Patterson was an excellent leader, but at the end of the day he was still a man. He hurt, bled, and loved just as strongly as anyone else, maybe even more so. He was just better at hiding those emotions than others. Dover knew this was a wound that would bleed on the inside, and it would bleed deeply.
Searching for a change of subject, Dover looked across the desert at Serena’s partner. “Hey, what’s up with your friend?” he asked.
Serena looked in the same direction Dover was looking in. “Who, Larx?”
“Yeah. Is he always so…fidgety?” Having worked with Adder, Dover was used to fidgety, but Larx was an entirely different kind of fidgety. At times the man seemed almost panicked.
Serena laughed. “I don’t know. He’s always kind of been that way. He’s usually really quiet, real focused, never makes much trouble. A brilliant MR, but scared to death of his own shadow.”
Dover noticed the fearful look on the MRs face. Scared to death was an appropriate description. “He doesn’t exactly exude confidence, does he?” Dover said as he watched Larx, who was practically shaking in his boots at the sight of a very angry, very large MD, who lingered over him. The man leered down at Larx with an intimidating scowl.
“Well can you blame him?” Serena asked. “You’re friend isn’t exactly showing off his hospitality skills.”
“You didn’t seem to have a problem with them.” Dover said. Then again, unlike her partner, Serena did not seem like the type of woman to back down from anyone. Male or female.
She shrugged nonchalantly. “I know how to take care of myself. Being a woman in this line of work, you learn real fast not to let anyone bully you around.” She chuckled softly. “I guess that’s a lesson Larx needs to work on.”
Dover nodded as he watched the poor man cowering in fear. Making up his mind, Dover stood up from his seat.
“Where are you going?” Serena asked.
“To rescue your friend.”
He walked over to the two men, stepping between the MD and the MR. “Hey, why don’t you lay off him.”
The MD, Gillman was his name, snorted unpleasantly. “Why should I? These MRs have known for weeks that Jimmy was not in that cave, but they still had us sweating it out all this time.”
“Yeah, I know, and that sucks,” Dover agreed. “But Larx is just an officer doing his job. Same as us.”
Gillman frowned at Dover. “I didn’t realize you were a turncoat, Blackwell,”
Dover knew he should have ignored the comment. Gillman was angry and spoiling for a fight, even if it was with one of his own teammates. But there was something about being called a traitor that didn’t sit well with Dover. Maybe it was because that was exactly what he felt like. “What did you call me, Gillman?”
Gillman smirked. “I said you were a turncoat, Blackwell. You know, someone that sides with the enemy.”
Dover clenched his fists together. “And the MRs are our enemies now?” he asked, feeling anything but as calm as he appeared.
“Hell yeah they’re our enemies. They for damn sure aren’t our friends.”
“I’m not siding with the MRs,” Dover said.
“Oh yeah? Then what do you call this?” Gillman pointed behind Dover at Larx.
“Jackass protection,” Dover answered. He noticed that Adder and Serena were now standing on both sides of him.
“Jackass protection?” Gillman asked.
“Yeah, you know: standing up to a jackass.” Dover pointed to Gillman. “The jackass would be you, by the way.”
“You want to say that again, Blackwell?” Gillman took a step forward, but as he did, so did Adder, placing a stopping hand on Gillman’s chest.
“Whoa, cool it Gillman. This isn’t the time or place.”
“You an MR aficionado now too, Watson?”
Adder chuckled softly. “Gillman, Gillman, Gillman. I wasn’t looking to break anyone’s legs today, but when you say dumb shit like that it gets me all violent.” He cracked his knuckles loudly. “Now I suggest you piss off before someone has to drag your sorry ass away. And I guarantee you, if that happens you’ll be begging for a little MR assistance.” Adder glanced at Serena and smiled. “They’re all doctors, you know.”
Serena rolled her eyes, and bit her bottom lip to keep from smiling back at him. She couldn’t have him thinking that she thought of him as any less of a prick just because he was standing up for Larx, which technically he wasn’t even doing.
Gillman didn’t find anything amusing about Adder’s words. It wasn’t that he was scared. Gillman was a large man, larger than both Dover and the scrawny little MR. But Adder was even larger than him, and Gillman had seen first hand on several occasions that Adder was more than capable of some pretty serious acts of violence when he applied himself. Gillman wasn’t scared, but he wasn’t stupid either.
“Whatever,” he said, as if the matter were irrelevant. Then Gillman did the smart thing, and turned around and walked away.
Dover watched Gillman’s retreating back, a little relieved that the ordeal was over, yet disappointed that it had ended so peacefully. He supposed a part of him had been spoiling for a fight as well. He turned to Adder. “I had that, you know.”
Adder laughed. “Gillman’s got a good foot and fifty-something pounds on you. No, ya didn’t.” He draped a friendly arm over Dover’s shoulders. “Besides, Lilly would have my balls for lunch if I let something happen to that pretty face of yours.”
Dover shoved Adder away from him. “Shut up. Shouldn’t you be pacing a hole in the ground over there?” he asked.
Adder shrugged. “Someone told me pacing only stimulates apprehension,” he said looking at Serena. She rolled her eyes at him and he smiled before turning back to Dover. “I’m gonna go wait with the boys. Think you can handle babysitting the MRs?”
“Babysitting?” Serena asked indignantly.
“Yeah, babysitting.” Adder said.
“We don’t need babysitting. As a matter of fact, instead of wasting your time here, why don’t you concentrate on doing something more productive, like keeping your Cro-Magnon man attitude in check, and Larx and I will watch our own backs.”
Adder smirked down at her. “Or I could watch your back, doll.” He shook his head as he leaned slightly over her shoulder, “M’m, m’m, and what a fine back it is,” he said, shamelessly checking out her backside.
“Aw, how sweet,” Serena crooned mockingly. “But if you’re so otherwise engaged, who’s gonna watch your back?”
“Watch my back?”
“Yeah, you never know just who might sneak up on you with something sharp and pointy.” She unsheathed her diamond dagger as she spoke, and played with the tip. “Something really sharp, really pointy, and really deadly.”
Adder laughed. “I appreciate your concern, babe, but I’m used to handling sharp objects.”
Before Serena could respond, Dover interrupted. “Would the two of you please stab each other already? I think we have more important issues to deal with.”
Adder continued to look down at Serena. “I wouldn’t mind giving her a little poke.”
“A little poke?” Serena looked down in the direction of Adder’s crotch and gave a mockingly disappointed sigh. “That’s too bad.” She smiled back up at him, and laughed a little, but there was nothing funny about the way she toyed with the sharp dagger in her hands. “Sorry. Not even in your wildest wet dreams, MD-boy.”
Adder grinned “Sure about that, sweet? My wet dreams can get pretty wild.”
Dover groaned. “Oh for the love of–”
“Look, it’s Beta sir and Captain Patterson,” Larx interrupted, creating the change of subject Dover was dieing for. He pointed to the cave, drawing everyone’s attention to the entrance, where Link and Klampton had just emerged.
All joking and talks of stabbing, or poking, or assaulting, or…sex?…immediately ceased, as the MDs and MRs rushed to meet their commanding officers. Each man, and the one woman, stood quietly around the two men, waiting for one of them to speak.
Dover noted that Beta Klampton was still in one piece, so he assumed no violent acts had taken place inside of the cave. That was good. When they’d left the cave earlier the look on Link’s face had been so cold, Dover hadn’t been sure that his captain wouldn’t resort to violence once left alone with the MR.
Klampton was the first to speak. “Omega-1, Omega-2 we’re leaving,” he ordered without addressing the MDs, or giving any explanation. He turned to Link. “Captain Patterson,” he said in a salutatory tone, then making no further clarifications, he walked away from the sight to the litter he and the other MRs had arrived in, expecting his Omegas would obediently follow. Larx and Serena appeared confused by Klampton’s actions, but they did just that.
Once the MRs were gone, leaving just Captain Patterson and the Doughboys behind, finally Link began to speak.
“As of 9:25 PM this evening, James Valenti is dead.”
This announcement was received with a gasp of outrage. All at once the men began to make protests. However, Link lifted his hand to silence them, stopping them from interrupting him again. He didn’t appear angry or enraged or disgruntled, as any other man in his position would have been. Instead he just seemed calm, perfectly and unexpectedly calm.
“James Valenti’s body was recovered from Lacebark Cave, where he was discovered to have died from suffocation. His body will be transported to MR headquarters, where it will be prepared for immediate burial. There will be no public interment service, but a memorial will be placed at MDHQ in his honor. If you wish to hold your own private memorial in his name, please do so within the next week.”
Dover didn’t know what to say. Link was going along with the MRs “Jimmy is dead” story even though Jimmy was still alive. Dover understood that his chances of surviving from toxic poisoning may have been slim, but he was still alive. What had gone on inside of that cave? What had Klampton said to Link to get him to go along with this story? And why was it really so important for the rest of the world to think Jimmy was dead anyway? Like him, Dover suspected the MRs were hiding something. And he was pretty sure that whatever it was had a great deal to do with Max. He didn’t think they were aware of Max’s existence yet, but this was getting really dangerous, because they were definitely aware of something.
“Do you all understand what I have just told you?” Link asked.
None of the men spoke, all of them reluctant to go along with this story. When no one answered immediately Link’s face changed from calm to angry. “I said, do you all understand?” he repeated. “And let me just make it clear that anyone that does not understand will be permanently suspended, effective immediately.”
As Dover slowly watched each man began to agree, he knew he had made a mistake. He looked around him at the faces of the men that he had worked with. Among them were some of his closest friends. Jimmy was young and had not yet acquired the status of a full-fledged Doughboy, but he had shared in the same close camaraderie as the rest of them. Dover’s mistake had cost Jimmy his life. He couldn’t change that. But he could no longer pretend either. He could no longer lie to the face of great men that he cared deeply for. He was torn. The MDs were a faction that was meant to safeguard and shelter. It was their job to protect the world from any and all malignic threats.
Who was he protecting now?
He wouldn’t risk Max to protect his friends, and he couldn’t protect his friends without risking Max.
There was only one answer.
TBC
BlueStar8
Natalie36
Flamehair
Ellie
Michelle in Yonkers
destinyc
Chadslilhottie
CandyDreamQueen
Thank you all so much.
I should probably do a recap, but I’m a little stressed for time to write one. And yeah, I know it’s just tacking on a few extra sentences to the last recap I wrote, but it has been three chapter since I last wrote one, and a lot of malign stuff was brought up in twelve, so I want to make sure I sit down and do it right when I do it. But since it has been so long, if you’re really confused about where this chapter starts, go back and read chapter 12. That should help.
I’ll try to add a recap to this chapter as soon as I get the time. But if I don’t get around to doing it, don’t worry, I’ll be sure to put one at the beginning of part two, which is now only one chapter away. So I guess that means it should be posted in about…December (lol just kidding…I hope
)Also, one last thing. This fic just happens to be nominated for none other than… drum roll please…
“Fic you’d most like to see completed”
lol So thank you to all that nominated me, and to everyone that votes for me. I’m very flattered. Believe me, it's the fic I would most like to see completed too
Enjoy!
~Chad~
Part 1:
Chapter Fourteen
Plat City, New Mexico: Lacebark Cave
“Not going to like?” Link asked. Larx’s last statement had successfully gotten the attention of all three MD officers. “What do you mean by that?”
Larx fidgeted with his monocle again. The man was obviously not good under pressure. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Dover frowned at him. He was an odd little man. He moved around tensely, like he was getting himself mentally and physically prepared to give his explanation. “Well sir, as Beta sir said before, Officer Valenti is no longer in this cave, and has not been for some time.”
“Yeah,” Adder said, “we got that part. So where the hell is he?”
“I’ll take over the explanation from here Omega-2” This came from Klampton, who was finally managing to stand solidly on his own two feet. He was rubbed his sore throat as he addressed his Omega.
“Yes sir” Larx said obediently.
Link, Adder, and Dover all turned to Klampton, waiting for his continued explanation. “This had better be good,” said Link.
Though he continued to clutch his sore throat, Klampton looked at the three of them. He was competently calm, as if an old man had not just physically assaulted him. His face remained as composed as ever. “Officer James Valenti, Jimmy, as you refer to him, was removed from this cave approximately three weeks ago by an MR medical research team. He was examined and found to be still alive.”
All three men breathed a sigh of relief. “Why wasn’t I informed of this?” Link asked.
“Because, although he was still alive at the time of his retrieval, James Valenti was found to have been exposed to extremely high levels of toxin.”
“Toxic exposure?” Link asked. His voice sounded startled, but his face remained unrevealing of his emotions. “Are you saying that my nephew…”
“Yes, Captain Patterson. Your nephew has toxic poisoning. We’ve placed him under strict quarantine.”
All three MDs took a second to register those words. Toxic poisoning was no light ailment. Actually, no one, not even the MRs, were one hundred percent sure of what all the effects of toxic exposure truly were, but they did know one thing: There was no record of a single person having made a recovery after contracting the disease. Fear of toxic exposure, and the contracting of toxic poisoning, were the greatest catalyst for the fear of maligns.
Dover felt his hands begin to shake, so he clamped them into tight fists. Toxic poisoning. Jimmy had toxic poisoning. That just didn’t make any sense to him. Dover had been inside the cave, same as Jimmy. Not only that. but he’d seen bright lights. He’d felt a strange euphoria that he hadn’t been able to explain. Hell, he was living with a malign. Yet he, and his entire family were perfectly fine. If Jimmy had toxic poisoning, surely Dover would have had it too.
Then Dover remembered the explosion. He had been inside of Lacebark before the explosion had occurred. The explosion must have been triggered by Max’s removal from the cave. That was the only explanation for it. And if that was true, it meant…
This was all his fault.
“Why are we here?” Link was asking Beta officer Klampton.
“Bringing you here was the most effective way of explaining the situation at hand, without it seeming to you that we had given up on retrieving the officer’s remains. Besides that, during Officer Valenti’s rescue we were able to recover some of the element that we believe to be the source of toxic exposure. After several weeks, the substance we collected appears to have died. This operation was mainly an expedition to obtain more of the unknown constituent, all in the hopes of creating a cure for this monstrous malignic disease.”
“A cure?” Link asked. There was an air of hope in his tone.
Klampton nodded. “But I must be frank with you, Captain. Judging from your nephew’s current condition, he is not likely to survive long enough to be a recipient of such a cure, if one is attainable.”
Link’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Is he at MR HQ?”
“Yes,” Klampton answered.
“Why?”
“The affects that the toxin has had on Officer Valenti’s body are extraordinary. It is beneficial to us to continue studying them for as long as possible, so that we may gain better understanding of how the toxin works on the human body. Therefore, it is best that Officer Valenti’s body remain within our possession for further observation.” Klampton’s tone was cold and unfeeling as he spoke. “It is our professional advice, as well as the recommendation of the highest ranking MRs monitoring this situation, that you go on letting your family, as well as the rest of the world, believe James Valenti is dead.”
Having heard more than enough, Adder growled in a low severely heated voice, then attempted to go for Klampton himself. “You cold-hearted son-of-a-bitch!” Both of the Omegas moved to protect their Beta, but there was no need. Dover had already grabbed his comrade’s arm, stopping him from reaching the MR. That didn’t stop Adder from cursing the man though. “What the hell is the matter with you, you lousy-sack-of-shit-on-a-stick? Jimmy is a human being! He’s somebody’s son, somebody’s friend,” Adder paused and looked at Link. The captain stood motionless, his head facing down. “Somebody’s nephew!” Adder finished. “He’s not just some lab experiment for you to poke and prod at so you can ‘gain better understanding’ of him. Damn you!” He pointed to Serena and Larx as well. “Damn every last one of you fuckheads!”
Larx, Serena, and Klampton remained silent. The two Omegas appeared remorseful, and Dover could see that they knew on some level that what they had done to Jimmy was wrong. Klampton, on the other hand, appeared his stoic self, assumingly unfazed by Adder’s heated outburst. “I’m sorry that you feel that way, Lieutenant Watson. However, as MRs, we have the sometimes difficult responsibility of basing our actions around what is the greater good for all of mankind, not just one officer’s grieving family.”
Adder spoke between gritted teeth. “Let me go so I can kick his ass,” he said.
Dover started to do it. Never had he heard a man speak with such callousness, and with Link standing right there. Remembering his commanding officer, Dover looked at Link. He was still standing with his head faced down, his expression unreadable. “Captain?” Dover asked.
Link made no response. Instead, he turned his attention from the floor over to Adder. “Leave this cave, Lieutenant Watson.”
Both Dover and Adder looked at Link. “What?” they asked simultaneously, surprised by the command.
“I said, leave.” Link repeated calmly. “And take Blackwell with you,” he added. Before Adder or Dover could voice an objection, Link turned his attention to Klampton. “Tell your Omegas to wait outside with my men. I want to speak with you alone.”
Klampton nodded his head in simple understanding. “Omega-1, Omega-2, please wait outside with Lieutenants Watson and Blackwell,” he commanded.
“Beta sir,” Serena protested. “I don’t think that’s a wise decision.”
“Your opinion is noted, but unasked for, Omega. Please wait outside,” Klampton repeated.
“But sir-”
Klampton turned those cold eyes on Serena. “I won’t ask you again, Omega.” His voice was just as cold. It was the second time he’d addressed her by rank without number, using the title as an indication of her lower status. Serena did not voice any other objections, but she appeared just as angry over being dismissed as Dover and Adder were. The only person who didn’t have a problem with exiting the cave was Larx.
Dover, Adder, Serena, and Larx headed back for the cave entrance, but Dover stopped when he reached the hole that had been blown into the wall. “Link.” He purposely used Link’s first name, as he turned back to face his captain, “What are you thinking?”
Link didn’t look at him. He was still staring at Beta Officer Klampton. “I’m thinking that my men are taking an awfully damn long time obeying a fairly simple directive. Now leave this cave, Blackwell.”
With a chest deep sigh, and a final nod of his head, Dover turned around and followed Adder and the MRs out of the cave. His mind raced as he walked. He couldn’t tell what Link was thinking. He didn’t know what to say or do to soothe his friend’s anger. He had failed Jimmy. He had failed his entire squad. All because of Max. And the worse part of all was that he couldn’t even feel remorse for what he had caused. After all, his actions had saved Max’s life. They had saved an innocent child’s life.
And probably taken one’s away.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sealant New Mexico: Blackwell Domicile
Max sat in the bubble bath.
Sat.
Just sat.
He didn’t splash.
He didn’t laugh.
He didn’t make any movements at all.
He just sat.
And frowned.
And sat.
Lilly had been the one to sit him in the tub. He waited for her now. She’d promised that she would return as soon as she tucked ZeeZee into bed for the night. ZeeZee had already had her bath. She’d already been dressed for bed, and she most likely was already well on her way to sleep.
Without him.
But that was okay. Why would she want to sleep in the same bed as him after what he had done to her? Well…he still wasn’t entirely sure what he had done. Though Lilly had tried to explain it to him, Max didn’t really know what al-ler-gic meant, but judging by the frantic reaction Lilly had given after he’d fed ZeeZee the earth eel, whatever it was had not been good. She’d rushed them straight home, and taken ZeeZee into the lavatory. Max hadn’t seen Liz anymore after that, but Lilly had told him that she’d given her an anti-robotic…or something like that, to help control her al-ler-gic reaction.
He couldn’t forget it, the way ZeeZee had turned so pale, and started coughing, and started…what had Lilly called it again? Choking! He could not forget the way she had started choking. Then she’d turned all puffy, and Max had been afraid that her head was going to pop right off. Lilly had made her spit most of the eel out, but ZeeZee had still swallowed enough of it to cause her al-ler-gic-ness to come out. From that moment on, Max had decided two things. One: that he didn’t like al-ler-gic-ness. And two: He would never eat earth eel again.
Never ever again.
The door to the lavatory slid open slowly and Lilly stepped into the room. Max was still where she had left him. He sat quietly in his bubble bath, not splashing, or laughing, or being his usual bath loving self. He just sat there, staring down at the water with the most pitiful look on his face she had ever seen.
“Max?” Lilly walked over to the side of the tub and kneeled down beside it so that she was on the same level as him. “Why aren’t you splashing?” She knew he loved splashing and popping the bubbles. She was hoping his bath would bring him out of the sadness he had been in ever since his accident with Liz.
Max shook his head. “Don’t want to.”
“But you love bubbles,” she reminded him, playfully blowing a handful of bubbles in his direction.
Max didn’t react. He let the bubbles sit unnoticed on top of his nose as he continued to stare down into the water. “Don’t want to,” he repeated.
Lilly sighed and wiped the ignored bubbles off of the little boy’s face. She placed her hand on his small chin and tilted his head up to her. “Max.” she tried coaxing him in to look at her. His head tilted up, but his eyes remained fixed down on the water. “Max,” she tried again.
He shook his head.
“Max, look at me.”
His gaze shifted a little, almost coming to meet hers, but he immediately looked back at the water when he realized what his sneaky eyes were doing.
Lilly wanted to laugh, but she knew Max would not appreciate that right now. She leaned her head over the tub, letting her hair spill over into the water, all the way down until his eyes were forced to meet hers. That’s when she saw the tears inside them. They hadn’t spilled over, but they were well on their way to gathering enough to do so.
“Oh sweetheart,” she said, stroking his bubble wet cheek. “Don’t cry.”
Max tried to turn away from her. The tears were beginning to spill over onto his cheeks. “Can I sleep in Mommy and Daddy’s bed?” he asked.
Lilly frowned. He was referring to the bed that he had slept in the first night he’d come to them. Max hadn’t slept in that bed since.
“Sure sweetie,” she said. “You can sleep wherever you want.” Lilly waited, but when Max didn’t give an explanation for why he didn’t want to sleep with Liz tonight she decided to fish for it. “You don’t want to sleep with ZeeZee?”
Max quietly shook his head.
“Why not?” she asked.
“Because I hurt ZeeZee,” he answered.
Lilly’s heart broke at Max’s sorrowful tone. “But it was an accident, baby,” she tried to reassure him. She knew Max would never intentionally hurt Liz.
Max tilted his head, the tears slanting on his cheek. “What’s act-see-dent?”
Lilly smiled. Even in his misery, Max remained his inquisitive self. “An accident is when you do something that you don’t mean to do,” she explained. “Remember when I made you afraid of me in my black coat?"
Max nodded slowly.
"Well, I didn’t mean to make you feel that way. It was an accident.” Lilly finished her explanation.
Max thought about Lilly’s words. They made sense to him. “I didn’t mean to hurt ZeeZee,” he said.
Lilly nodded. “I know that. So does ZeeZee.”
“She does?” He asked hopefully.
Lilly nodded. “Of course she does. ZeeZee knows you would never hurt her.” And so did she, Lilly realized. Not in a hundred million years would this little boy ever do anything to hurt Dover’s little sister, or Dover…or her.
“Act-see-dent,” Max said, testing out the words on his own tongue.
Lilly chucked “Ac-ci-dent,” she repeated much slower, pronouncing every syllable.
“Ac-ci-dent,” Max mimicked.
Lilly nodded. “Yes.”
Max smiled…a little.
Lilly was glad to finally see it, even if it wasn’t his usual beam of happiness. “So, are we ready to start your bath before this water gets all cold and the bubbles go away?”
Max nodded. He didn’t like it when the bubbles went away.
“Okay then.” She dipped her hand inside of the water, wetting his towel and wringing it out. Max watched her while she soaped up the towel, and then smiled a little bit more, this time a bit mischievously. He cupped his hands together and dipped them into the water, scooping up a handful of bubbles. Letting out a huge breath, Max blew them right into Lilly’s face.
Lilly jumped back as bubbles came flying at her. Luckily, none got in her eyes, but they were all over her cheeks, chin, and shirt. “Max!” she gasped in feigned outrage.
Max smiled completely and clapped his hands together, sending the remaining bubbles flying every which way. “It was an ac-ci-dent,” he said, right before he started to giggle uncontrollably.
Lilly arched a disbelieving brow. “An ac-ci-dent, huh?” she mocked.
Max nodded, still laughing.
“Really?” Lilly dropped the soap into the water and placed both of her hands inside the tub. “Well, so was this!” she said, soaking Max with a big splash.
Max shot back in the tub in an attempt to avoid the water, but it was useless. He squealed in delight, and immediately began splashing Lilly back. The two laughed, and splashed and blew bubbles at one another until eventually all the bubbles in the water disappeared. When that happened, Lilly sobered up from their play, and began bathing Max in earnest. Afterwards, she dried Max off with the large dry towel he liked to wrap himself in, and helped him put on his pajamas.
Max hadn’t made any indication of not wanting to sleep with Liz, but Lilly carried him into Mommy and Daddy’s bedroom anyway. By the time she tucked him into bed he was already fast asleep.
Lilly stoked Max’s hair lovingly, and placed a tender kiss on his brow. Hopefully by the morning he would have forgotten what it was that had made him so sad.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Plat City, New Mexico: Outside Lacebark Cave
The Doughboys and the two MRs stood outside of Lacebark, not knowing what to do or say to each other. Adder had wasted no time explaining the situation with Jimmy to the other members of the squad. Between the angry looks the Doughboys cast at the MRs, and the building anxiety of waiting for Link and Klampton to emerge from the cave, tension was thick in the air.
Dover sat on a wide rock, close to the cave entrance. For a while he watched Adder as he paced the length of the entrance over and over again. He wished there was something he could say to calm his friend down, but Adder was clearly set on fret mode, and he was a pretty unreasonable guy most of the time anyway. Even if Dover could come up with something to say to him, chances were Adder would still remain on edge.
“You know, contrary to popular belief, pacing only stimulates apprehension, it doesn’t alleviate it.”
Adder stopped pacing for the time it took him to turn his head in the direction of the voice that had spoken to him. It was the female MR, Serena. He frowned at her. “Yeah, and what are you, some kind of–”
“Doctor?” she cut him off. Serena indicated the MR badge on her chest. “Yes, I am. All MRs are.”
Adder blew out an annoyed puff of air and went back to pacing.
Serena shook her head and rolled her eyes skyward, wondering why she even bothered with him. Instead of attempting to address Adder again, she went to stand in front of Dover, motioning to the empty spot beside him. “Mind if I sit?”
Dover shrugged. “Go ahead.”
Adder started to pace even faster.
Serena sat down beside Dover, then stuck her hand out in greeting. “I’m Serena, by the way.”
Dover took her outstretched hand. “Yeah, I know.” He shook it cordially. “Dover,” he introduced himself.
She smiled. “Nice to meet you.”
Dover couldn’t help but notice how her beautiful brown eyes gleamed brightly in the New Mexico sunlight. She really was a very attractive woman. However, he also noticed that outside of the cave, there was something about her that seemed different. She seemed softer. Friendlier. Of course, that may have had something to do with the fact that she was no longer attempting to stab Adder. “Nice to meet you too,” he smiled back.
Adder was still pacing.
“Is your friend always so…animated?” Serena asked, watching Adder as he moved quickly backward and forward.
“Adder?” Dover watched his friend. The man was practically jogging now. “He’s just…Adder.”
“Ahh, the affects of too much testosterone, I presume?” Serena guessed.
Dover laughed. “That could be a factor, but I think he’s just worried about Link. I know that he hates that there isn’t anything we can do for Jimmy. Adder’s not one for sitting around doing nothing. ”
Serena stopped smiling. “I am sorry for the way this has all turned out, for Link and for his family.”
Dover sighed. “You were just doing your job.”
She shook her head. “It’s still no excuse. Toxic poisoning…I-I wouldn’t want to lose a family member that way. Captain Patterson…he…”
Dover cut her off. “Link’s a strong old guy. He’ll get his family through this.” Dover was well aware of just how tough Link was, but this was still going to be really hard for him. Link Patterson was an excellent leader, but at the end of the day he was still a man. He hurt, bled, and loved just as strongly as anyone else, maybe even more so. He was just better at hiding those emotions than others. Dover knew this was a wound that would bleed on the inside, and it would bleed deeply.
Searching for a change of subject, Dover looked across the desert at Serena’s partner. “Hey, what’s up with your friend?” he asked.
Serena looked in the same direction Dover was looking in. “Who, Larx?”
“Yeah. Is he always so…fidgety?” Having worked with Adder, Dover was used to fidgety, but Larx was an entirely different kind of fidgety. At times the man seemed almost panicked.
Serena laughed. “I don’t know. He’s always kind of been that way. He’s usually really quiet, real focused, never makes much trouble. A brilliant MR, but scared to death of his own shadow.”
Dover noticed the fearful look on the MRs face. Scared to death was an appropriate description. “He doesn’t exactly exude confidence, does he?” Dover said as he watched Larx, who was practically shaking in his boots at the sight of a very angry, very large MD, who lingered over him. The man leered down at Larx with an intimidating scowl.
“Well can you blame him?” Serena asked. “You’re friend isn’t exactly showing off his hospitality skills.”
“You didn’t seem to have a problem with them.” Dover said. Then again, unlike her partner, Serena did not seem like the type of woman to back down from anyone. Male or female.
She shrugged nonchalantly. “I know how to take care of myself. Being a woman in this line of work, you learn real fast not to let anyone bully you around.” She chuckled softly. “I guess that’s a lesson Larx needs to work on.”
Dover nodded as he watched the poor man cowering in fear. Making up his mind, Dover stood up from his seat.
“Where are you going?” Serena asked.
“To rescue your friend.”
He walked over to the two men, stepping between the MD and the MR. “Hey, why don’t you lay off him.”
The MD, Gillman was his name, snorted unpleasantly. “Why should I? These MRs have known for weeks that Jimmy was not in that cave, but they still had us sweating it out all this time.”
“Yeah, I know, and that sucks,” Dover agreed. “But Larx is just an officer doing his job. Same as us.”
Gillman frowned at Dover. “I didn’t realize you were a turncoat, Blackwell,”
Dover knew he should have ignored the comment. Gillman was angry and spoiling for a fight, even if it was with one of his own teammates. But there was something about being called a traitor that didn’t sit well with Dover. Maybe it was because that was exactly what he felt like. “What did you call me, Gillman?”
Gillman smirked. “I said you were a turncoat, Blackwell. You know, someone that sides with the enemy.”
Dover clenched his fists together. “And the MRs are our enemies now?” he asked, feeling anything but as calm as he appeared.
“Hell yeah they’re our enemies. They for damn sure aren’t our friends.”
“I’m not siding with the MRs,” Dover said.
“Oh yeah? Then what do you call this?” Gillman pointed behind Dover at Larx.
“Jackass protection,” Dover answered. He noticed that Adder and Serena were now standing on both sides of him.
“Jackass protection?” Gillman asked.
“Yeah, you know: standing up to a jackass.” Dover pointed to Gillman. “The jackass would be you, by the way.”
“You want to say that again, Blackwell?” Gillman took a step forward, but as he did, so did Adder, placing a stopping hand on Gillman’s chest.
“Whoa, cool it Gillman. This isn’t the time or place.”
“You an MR aficionado now too, Watson?”
Adder chuckled softly. “Gillman, Gillman, Gillman. I wasn’t looking to break anyone’s legs today, but when you say dumb shit like that it gets me all violent.” He cracked his knuckles loudly. “Now I suggest you piss off before someone has to drag your sorry ass away. And I guarantee you, if that happens you’ll be begging for a little MR assistance.” Adder glanced at Serena and smiled. “They’re all doctors, you know.”
Serena rolled her eyes, and bit her bottom lip to keep from smiling back at him. She couldn’t have him thinking that she thought of him as any less of a prick just because he was standing up for Larx, which technically he wasn’t even doing.
Gillman didn’t find anything amusing about Adder’s words. It wasn’t that he was scared. Gillman was a large man, larger than both Dover and the scrawny little MR. But Adder was even larger than him, and Gillman had seen first hand on several occasions that Adder was more than capable of some pretty serious acts of violence when he applied himself. Gillman wasn’t scared, but he wasn’t stupid either.
“Whatever,” he said, as if the matter were irrelevant. Then Gillman did the smart thing, and turned around and walked away.
Dover watched Gillman’s retreating back, a little relieved that the ordeal was over, yet disappointed that it had ended so peacefully. He supposed a part of him had been spoiling for a fight as well. He turned to Adder. “I had that, you know.”
Adder laughed. “Gillman’s got a good foot and fifty-something pounds on you. No, ya didn’t.” He draped a friendly arm over Dover’s shoulders. “Besides, Lilly would have my balls for lunch if I let something happen to that pretty face of yours.”
Dover shoved Adder away from him. “Shut up. Shouldn’t you be pacing a hole in the ground over there?” he asked.
Adder shrugged. “Someone told me pacing only stimulates apprehension,” he said looking at Serena. She rolled her eyes at him and he smiled before turning back to Dover. “I’m gonna go wait with the boys. Think you can handle babysitting the MRs?”
“Babysitting?” Serena asked indignantly.
“Yeah, babysitting.” Adder said.
“We don’t need babysitting. As a matter of fact, instead of wasting your time here, why don’t you concentrate on doing something more productive, like keeping your Cro-Magnon man attitude in check, and Larx and I will watch our own backs.”
Adder smirked down at her. “Or I could watch your back, doll.” He shook his head as he leaned slightly over her shoulder, “M’m, m’m, and what a fine back it is,” he said, shamelessly checking out her backside.
“Aw, how sweet,” Serena crooned mockingly. “But if you’re so otherwise engaged, who’s gonna watch your back?”
“Watch my back?”
“Yeah, you never know just who might sneak up on you with something sharp and pointy.” She unsheathed her diamond dagger as she spoke, and played with the tip. “Something really sharp, really pointy, and really deadly.”
Adder laughed. “I appreciate your concern, babe, but I’m used to handling sharp objects.”
Before Serena could respond, Dover interrupted. “Would the two of you please stab each other already? I think we have more important issues to deal with.”
Adder continued to look down at Serena. “I wouldn’t mind giving her a little poke.”
“A little poke?” Serena looked down in the direction of Adder’s crotch and gave a mockingly disappointed sigh. “That’s too bad.” She smiled back up at him, and laughed a little, but there was nothing funny about the way she toyed with the sharp dagger in her hands. “Sorry. Not even in your wildest wet dreams, MD-boy.”
Adder grinned “Sure about that, sweet? My wet dreams can get pretty wild.”
Dover groaned. “Oh for the love of–”
“Look, it’s Beta sir and Captain Patterson,” Larx interrupted, creating the change of subject Dover was dieing for. He pointed to the cave, drawing everyone’s attention to the entrance, where Link and Klampton had just emerged.
All joking and talks of stabbing, or poking, or assaulting, or…sex?…immediately ceased, as the MDs and MRs rushed to meet their commanding officers. Each man, and the one woman, stood quietly around the two men, waiting for one of them to speak.
Dover noted that Beta Klampton was still in one piece, so he assumed no violent acts had taken place inside of the cave. That was good. When they’d left the cave earlier the look on Link’s face had been so cold, Dover hadn’t been sure that his captain wouldn’t resort to violence once left alone with the MR.
Klampton was the first to speak. “Omega-1, Omega-2 we’re leaving,” he ordered without addressing the MDs, or giving any explanation. He turned to Link. “Captain Patterson,” he said in a salutatory tone, then making no further clarifications, he walked away from the sight to the litter he and the other MRs had arrived in, expecting his Omegas would obediently follow. Larx and Serena appeared confused by Klampton’s actions, but they did just that.
Once the MRs were gone, leaving just Captain Patterson and the Doughboys behind, finally Link began to speak.
“As of 9:25 PM this evening, James Valenti is dead.”
This announcement was received with a gasp of outrage. All at once the men began to make protests. However, Link lifted his hand to silence them, stopping them from interrupting him again. He didn’t appear angry or enraged or disgruntled, as any other man in his position would have been. Instead he just seemed calm, perfectly and unexpectedly calm.
“James Valenti’s body was recovered from Lacebark Cave, where he was discovered to have died from suffocation. His body will be transported to MR headquarters, where it will be prepared for immediate burial. There will be no public interment service, but a memorial will be placed at MDHQ in his honor. If you wish to hold your own private memorial in his name, please do so within the next week.”
Dover didn’t know what to say. Link was going along with the MRs “Jimmy is dead” story even though Jimmy was still alive. Dover understood that his chances of surviving from toxic poisoning may have been slim, but he was still alive. What had gone on inside of that cave? What had Klampton said to Link to get him to go along with this story? And why was it really so important for the rest of the world to think Jimmy was dead anyway? Like him, Dover suspected the MRs were hiding something. And he was pretty sure that whatever it was had a great deal to do with Max. He didn’t think they were aware of Max’s existence yet, but this was getting really dangerous, because they were definitely aware of something.
“Do you all understand what I have just told you?” Link asked.
None of the men spoke, all of them reluctant to go along with this story. When no one answered immediately Link’s face changed from calm to angry. “I said, do you all understand?” he repeated. “And let me just make it clear that anyone that does not understand will be permanently suspended, effective immediately.”
As Dover slowly watched each man began to agree, he knew he had made a mistake. He looked around him at the faces of the men that he had worked with. Among them were some of his closest friends. Jimmy was young and had not yet acquired the status of a full-fledged Doughboy, but he had shared in the same close camaraderie as the rest of them. Dover’s mistake had cost Jimmy his life. He couldn’t change that. But he could no longer pretend either. He could no longer lie to the face of great men that he cared deeply for. He was torn. The MDs were a faction that was meant to safeguard and shelter. It was their job to protect the world from any and all malignic threats.
Who was he protecting now?
He wouldn’t risk Max to protect his friends, and he couldn’t protect his friends without risking Max.
There was only one answer.
TBC
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End of Part 1 1/3/09
Morning Dreamgirl
thetvgeneral
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Thank you all for your feedback.
Anyway. For all of you that have been waiting. Here it is at last. The last Chapter of Part one. It's fairly shorter than my other chapters, but that's because it's only one scene and I felt like nothing else needed to be said at this point in the story. But don’t worry, you'll find out much more in Part 2. Which I will be posting as a new thread, so be on the lookout. I'll also post a link here.
Get ready, because after this, the story is going to change dramatically.
Part 1:
Chapter Fifteen
Sealant New Mexico: Blackwell Domicile
Dover was tired. He had never been more tired in all of his life. But he was home now. Home: the place where he could let his mind and body rest. Here he didn’t have to think about the events of the day. Though he couldn’t ignore what had taken place at Lacebark, for now, he could push it all aside. For now, all he had to do was be Dover Blackwell.
The domicile was quiet. It was late, and he was sure Lilly, ZeeZee, and Max had already turned in long ago. He stopped for a moment to peek inside of ZeeZee’s bedroom. Sure enough, she was sound asleep with her arm curled protectively around one of her stuffed animals. It was one of her favorites, Randy, the elephotamus. He was surprised to see that she was alone. Max and ZeeZee always slept together. Even when Dover and Lilly had tried to separate the two of them, they always seemed to find their way back to each other.
Dover ducked out of ZeeZee’s bedroom and made his way down the hall to the room that he and Lilly had originally tried to get Max to sleep in. His parents’ old bedroom. He cracked the door open slowly to make sure he wouldn’t wake Max if this is where he was sleeping. Not surprisingly, Max lay asleep in the middle of the big bed. He smiled. The sight reminded him so much of the first night he had brought Max home with him. He’d slept in this very same spot.
Dover stepped into the room and closed the door silently behind him. He had not known it then, but that night had changed his life so much. Oddly enough, with all the good and bad things that had taken place since Max had come into his life, Dover still couldn’t regret the decision he had made that night to bring Max home.
He walked farther into the room and took a seat on the bed beside the sleeping boy. The little boy stirred a little, but remained asleep. Dover smiled as he looked down at him. Tonight had been very difficult for him. He’d learned some things that it had been difficult to hear, and made some decisions that had been very hard to make. They were decisions that he might possibly one day regret. Nevertheless, whatever the outcome came to be from the events of tonight, Dover knew he had protected Max. Even if that meant giving up a little piece of him.
“Dover?”
Dover looked down to see that Max eyes were open, and the little boy was smiling up at him.
He smiled back down at Max. “What’s up little man?”
Max frowned and looked up at the ceiling. “That,” he said, pointing up at it.
Dover looked up at the ceiling. “Yeah, you’re right, Max. That is up.” He laughed “I meant how are you doing?”
“I was doing sleep,” Max answered looking around the room distractedly. It seemed as if he was just now realizing that he wasn’t in the room with ZeeZee.
Dover smiled. “Getting sick of sleeping with girls?” he teased.
Max’s happy face fell and he looked down at the bed. “How is Dover doing?”
“I’m fine.” Dover frowned. Something seemed to be wrong with Max, but whatever it was, he obviously didn’t want to talk about it.
Max didn’t look back up. He seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. Dover gave him some time to see if he would tell him what he was thinking.
“Dover?”
“Yeah Max?”
“Where did you go today?” he asked.
Well that wasn’t the question Dover was expecting. “Where did I go?”
Max nodded. “When I woke up you were gone. Did you get lost?”
“No I didn’t get lost. I just had to take care of some things for a little while” Dover explained.
“Oh,” Max tilted his head to the side. “I’m glad you came back.”
Dover laughed. “Me too.”
Max sat up and began pulling the covers off of himself. “Play with me!” he said standing up in the bed.
Dover reached out and grabbed Max, stopping him before he could engage in his favorite game: Jumping in the bed. “No, no, no, Max, it’s bedtime, not playtime.”
Max frowned disappointedly. “But I want to play,” he complained.
“We can play tomorrow,” Dover promised. He sat Max back down on the bed and began pulling the covers back over him.
“Tomorrow is school,” Max reminded him.
That’s right. It was going to be Max’s first day going to school with ZeeZee. Dover had almost completely forgotten about that. “Well then you should definitely be sleeping. You have a big day tomorrow.”
Max didn’t have an argument for that. “Okay,” he agreed unenthusiastically.
Dover finished tucking Max back in. “Go back to sleep,” he said, ruffling the little boy’s hair.
Max closed his eyes, but was obviously not sleeping.
“Max,” Dover said warningly.
“I’m sleeping,” Max insisted.
“How can you be talking if you’re sleeping?”
“I’m sleep talking.” Max said cracking his eyes open.
Dover shook his head, letting Max know he wasn't buying it.
Max opened his eyes all the way. “Lilly tells me sleep stories.”
“Sleep stories?”
“Stories that make me go to sleep,” Max explained. “If you tell me a sleep story, I can go to sleep.”
Dover frowned. He didn’t know very many stories, but he knew Max well enough to know what he would like. He figured he would give it a shot. “Alright then, move over.”
Max moved over in the bed, making room for Dover, then he squeezed himself underneath Dover’s arm.
“Okay,” Dover started. “Once upon a time, there lived a young boy.”
“Named Max?” Max asked?
Dover laughed. “Sure, there was a young boy named Max.”
“Just like me.” Max smiled.
“Right, so this young boy, he lived in a great big kingdom.”
“With a princess?” Max cut in again.
Dover frowned down at him. “Who’s telling this story, me or you?”
Max pressed his lips together.
“Thank you. Now where was I?” Dover pretended to think about it.
“There was a young boy named Max who lived in a great big kingdom!” Max reminded him helpfully.
“Ah, that’s right. So in this kingdom, there was a great deal of magic.”
“Magic?” Max tilted his head to the side “What’s magic?”
“Magic is what you need in order to make wonderful things happen,” Dover explained.
Max eyes lit up curiously. “What kind of wonderful thing?”
Dover took a second to think. “Well, things like flying.”
Max’s head tilted even farther. “So…birds have magic?”
Dover shook his head. “No, birds have wings. But with magic, people, who don’t have wings, can fly way up high over the clouds.”
Max gasped. “Over the clouds?”
Dover nodded. “Yep, way up over the clouds.”
“Wow!”
“I know!”
“Finish the story!” Max said excitedly.
Dover leaned back in the bed and began spinning an amazing story full of magic, dragons, and princesses, starring a young boy named Max. Just like the little boy who listened eagerly beside him. Max lived in a majestic kingdom that was located so high above the clouds, it could only be reached through the use of the rarest magic ever found. He was a brave young soul who went on many adventures, sleighed many mischievous dragons, (he paused to explain what mischievous meant) and rescued many lovely princesses, many times. One of the princesses was particularly lovely, and she became the brave young Max’s best friend. Her name was Princess Lizzie. Max used his magic to take the lovely Princess Lizzie back to his kingdom, where the two of them danced and played, and jumped in beds all day.
Dover was deep into the story when the soft sound of breathing caused him to look down beside him. Max was fast asleep.
Dover reached over to rearrange the blankets so that they better covered Max. He then gently slid Max’s head off of his chest and down onto the pillow.
“Goodnight Max” he whispered, and slid soundlessly out of the bed.
“You’re late.”
Dover turned around to see Lilly standing in the doorway of the room. He smiled at her, happy to see his wife’s beautiful face, even if she didn’t appeared to be very pleased with him. “I thought that you’d be sleeping. I didn’t want to wake you.”
Lilly folded her arms. “I couldn’t sleep. I was worried.”
Dover crept over to her on nearly silent feet. He took her into his arms and kissed her softly on the forehead. “Everything’s fine,” then kissed her on the lips. “You don’t have to worry,” he said reassuringly.
Lilly leaned into Dover’s body, hugging her arms around him. His assurance made her feel a little better, but not very much. “They called you back to Lacebark?” she asked.
Dover nodded.
“How did things go?”
Instead of answering, Dover kissed Lilly on the forehead again. But no matter how much he wanted to avoid it, he knew this conversation could not be evaded. “We should go to our room,” he suggested, motioning to the sleeping Max.
Lilly nodded and led him out of the room, closing the door behind them. Once they reached the privacy of their own bedroom, Lilly helped Dover undress and the two of then climbed into bed together.
Dover pressed his head against his wife’s shoulder, and she lifted her hand to stroke his hair back away from his face. The two of them were quiet, neither wanting to ruin the gentle moment. But they both knew that it couldn’t last as long as either of them wanted it to.
“You don’t want to talk about what happened today, do you?” Lilly asked, continuing to run her fingers through Dover’s hair.
Dover shook his head, not surprised by how well she could read him.
This time it was Lilly that leaned over and kissed him on the forehead. “Was it really bad?” she asked quietly.
Dover nodded.
“Are we in danger?”
He silently shook his head no.
“Is Max in danger?”
Again, Dover shook his head no.
Lilly couldn’t help but breathe a soft sight of relief at that. “Then what’s the matter, baby?”
Dover rolled over and sat up on his elbows, looking down at his wife’s concerned face. “I quit,” he finally told her.
Lilly sat up in bed as well. “You what?”
“I quit the Doughboys,” he repeated.
Lilly’s mouth started to move as if she were going to say something, but no sound came out. When she finally was able to find her voice, only one word came out. “Why?”
Dover sighed. He wasn’t sure how he was going to explain this to her. He only barely had a grasp on the situation himself. “Lilly,” he started. “There are a lot of things going on at MD and MR HQ that you don’t know about. It’s not safe for our family, or the family of the men I work with if I continue to work as an MD.”
Lilly shook her head franticly. “You have to keep being an MD! Hide in plain sight, remember? What if they get suspicious? What if they find out we’re hiding something? And what about your clearance? How are we supposed to know if they’ve found something that links Max to Lacebark?”
“Right now they have nothing that links Max to Lacebark. No one from HQ even knows about him, not even Adder. The more we distance ourselves away from the MDs and MRs, the better off we’ll be.”
“But, Dover…”
“Believe me baby, I’ve thought this over and it the best way to protect Max and our family.”
But that wasn’t all. Lilly could see it in Dover’s face. There was another reason he had quit the Doughboys that had nothing to do with protecting their family. “There’s something else isn’t there?” she asked. “What is it?”
Dover laughed humorlessly. He really could keep nothing from her. “I can’t keep doing this, Lilly,” he confessed. “I…I don’t know which side to fight for. Max, or the MDs? I feel like Lacebark is my fault, I feel like what happened to Jimmy…what’s happening to Jimmy is all my fault, and yet if I hadn’t saved Max, his death would have been my fault too. I can’t protect Max and work for the faction that wants to destroy him. And I definitely can’t kill another malign. It’s best for all of us, including the Doughboys, if I cut all my ties to anything that has to do with being an MDs.”
Lilly nodded. She understood. As much as she didn’t like it, she could see how much working as an MD and carrying this secret was tearing her husband apart. “Okay, Dover,” she said drawing him back down to her. “You don’t have to say any more. I understand.”
Dover laid his head against her shoulder. “Everything will be fine. This way we can be a normal family. We can raise Max like he’s a regular little boy, and just live our lives.”
Lilly nodded, even though she wasn’t quite sure she believed that.
Dover took her hand and laced her fingers between his, seeming to sense her apprehension. “Everything’s going to be fine,” he repeated, kissing their intertwine fingers.
Lilly just nodded again.
Everything was going to be fine.
The End of Part 1
thetvgeneral
BlueStar8
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Thank you all for your feedback.
Okay.......sooooo...if you all would be so kind as to just pretend like I never said that. I would really appreciate itRosDude wrote:So I guess that means it should be posted in about…December (lol just kidding…I hope
Anyway. For all of you that have been waiting. Here it is at last. The last Chapter of Part one. It's fairly shorter than my other chapters, but that's because it's only one scene and I felt like nothing else needed to be said at this point in the story. But don’t worry, you'll find out much more in Part 2. Which I will be posting as a new thread, so be on the lookout. I'll also post a link here.
Get ready, because after this, the story is going to change dramatically.
Part 1:
Chapter Fifteen
Sealant New Mexico: Blackwell Domicile
Dover was tired. He had never been more tired in all of his life. But he was home now. Home: the place where he could let his mind and body rest. Here he didn’t have to think about the events of the day. Though he couldn’t ignore what had taken place at Lacebark, for now, he could push it all aside. For now, all he had to do was be Dover Blackwell.
The domicile was quiet. It was late, and he was sure Lilly, ZeeZee, and Max had already turned in long ago. He stopped for a moment to peek inside of ZeeZee’s bedroom. Sure enough, she was sound asleep with her arm curled protectively around one of her stuffed animals. It was one of her favorites, Randy, the elephotamus. He was surprised to see that she was alone. Max and ZeeZee always slept together. Even when Dover and Lilly had tried to separate the two of them, they always seemed to find their way back to each other.
Dover ducked out of ZeeZee’s bedroom and made his way down the hall to the room that he and Lilly had originally tried to get Max to sleep in. His parents’ old bedroom. He cracked the door open slowly to make sure he wouldn’t wake Max if this is where he was sleeping. Not surprisingly, Max lay asleep in the middle of the big bed. He smiled. The sight reminded him so much of the first night he had brought Max home with him. He’d slept in this very same spot.
Dover stepped into the room and closed the door silently behind him. He had not known it then, but that night had changed his life so much. Oddly enough, with all the good and bad things that had taken place since Max had come into his life, Dover still couldn’t regret the decision he had made that night to bring Max home.
He walked farther into the room and took a seat on the bed beside the sleeping boy. The little boy stirred a little, but remained asleep. Dover smiled as he looked down at him. Tonight had been very difficult for him. He’d learned some things that it had been difficult to hear, and made some decisions that had been very hard to make. They were decisions that he might possibly one day regret. Nevertheless, whatever the outcome came to be from the events of tonight, Dover knew he had protected Max. Even if that meant giving up a little piece of him.
“Dover?”
Dover looked down to see that Max eyes were open, and the little boy was smiling up at him.
He smiled back down at Max. “What’s up little man?”
Max frowned and looked up at the ceiling. “That,” he said, pointing up at it.
Dover looked up at the ceiling. “Yeah, you’re right, Max. That is up.” He laughed “I meant how are you doing?”
“I was doing sleep,” Max answered looking around the room distractedly. It seemed as if he was just now realizing that he wasn’t in the room with ZeeZee.
Dover smiled. “Getting sick of sleeping with girls?” he teased.
Max’s happy face fell and he looked down at the bed. “How is Dover doing?”
“I’m fine.” Dover frowned. Something seemed to be wrong with Max, but whatever it was, he obviously didn’t want to talk about it.
Max didn’t look back up. He seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. Dover gave him some time to see if he would tell him what he was thinking.
“Dover?”
“Yeah Max?”
“Where did you go today?” he asked.
Well that wasn’t the question Dover was expecting. “Where did I go?”
Max nodded. “When I woke up you were gone. Did you get lost?”
“No I didn’t get lost. I just had to take care of some things for a little while” Dover explained.
“Oh,” Max tilted his head to the side. “I’m glad you came back.”
Dover laughed. “Me too.”
Max sat up and began pulling the covers off of himself. “Play with me!” he said standing up in the bed.
Dover reached out and grabbed Max, stopping him before he could engage in his favorite game: Jumping in the bed. “No, no, no, Max, it’s bedtime, not playtime.”
Max frowned disappointedly. “But I want to play,” he complained.
“We can play tomorrow,” Dover promised. He sat Max back down on the bed and began pulling the covers back over him.
“Tomorrow is school,” Max reminded him.
That’s right. It was going to be Max’s first day going to school with ZeeZee. Dover had almost completely forgotten about that. “Well then you should definitely be sleeping. You have a big day tomorrow.”
Max didn’t have an argument for that. “Okay,” he agreed unenthusiastically.
Dover finished tucking Max back in. “Go back to sleep,” he said, ruffling the little boy’s hair.
Max closed his eyes, but was obviously not sleeping.
“Max,” Dover said warningly.
“I’m sleeping,” Max insisted.
“How can you be talking if you’re sleeping?”
“I’m sleep talking.” Max said cracking his eyes open.
Dover shook his head, letting Max know he wasn't buying it.
Max opened his eyes all the way. “Lilly tells me sleep stories.”
“Sleep stories?”
“Stories that make me go to sleep,” Max explained. “If you tell me a sleep story, I can go to sleep.”
Dover frowned. He didn’t know very many stories, but he knew Max well enough to know what he would like. He figured he would give it a shot. “Alright then, move over.”
Max moved over in the bed, making room for Dover, then he squeezed himself underneath Dover’s arm.
“Okay,” Dover started. “Once upon a time, there lived a young boy.”
“Named Max?” Max asked?
Dover laughed. “Sure, there was a young boy named Max.”
“Just like me.” Max smiled.
“Right, so this young boy, he lived in a great big kingdom.”
“With a princess?” Max cut in again.
Dover frowned down at him. “Who’s telling this story, me or you?”
Max pressed his lips together.
“Thank you. Now where was I?” Dover pretended to think about it.
“There was a young boy named Max who lived in a great big kingdom!” Max reminded him helpfully.
“Ah, that’s right. So in this kingdom, there was a great deal of magic.”
“Magic?” Max tilted his head to the side “What’s magic?”
“Magic is what you need in order to make wonderful things happen,” Dover explained.
Max eyes lit up curiously. “What kind of wonderful thing?”
Dover took a second to think. “Well, things like flying.”
Max’s head tilted even farther. “So…birds have magic?”
Dover shook his head. “No, birds have wings. But with magic, people, who don’t have wings, can fly way up high over the clouds.”
Max gasped. “Over the clouds?”
Dover nodded. “Yep, way up over the clouds.”
“Wow!”
“I know!”
“Finish the story!” Max said excitedly.
Dover leaned back in the bed and began spinning an amazing story full of magic, dragons, and princesses, starring a young boy named Max. Just like the little boy who listened eagerly beside him. Max lived in a majestic kingdom that was located so high above the clouds, it could only be reached through the use of the rarest magic ever found. He was a brave young soul who went on many adventures, sleighed many mischievous dragons, (he paused to explain what mischievous meant) and rescued many lovely princesses, many times. One of the princesses was particularly lovely, and she became the brave young Max’s best friend. Her name was Princess Lizzie. Max used his magic to take the lovely Princess Lizzie back to his kingdom, where the two of them danced and played, and jumped in beds all day.
Dover was deep into the story when the soft sound of breathing caused him to look down beside him. Max was fast asleep.
Dover reached over to rearrange the blankets so that they better covered Max. He then gently slid Max’s head off of his chest and down onto the pillow.
“Goodnight Max” he whispered, and slid soundlessly out of the bed.
“You’re late.”
Dover turned around to see Lilly standing in the doorway of the room. He smiled at her, happy to see his wife’s beautiful face, even if she didn’t appeared to be very pleased with him. “I thought that you’d be sleeping. I didn’t want to wake you.”
Lilly folded her arms. “I couldn’t sleep. I was worried.”
Dover crept over to her on nearly silent feet. He took her into his arms and kissed her softly on the forehead. “Everything’s fine,” then kissed her on the lips. “You don’t have to worry,” he said reassuringly.
Lilly leaned into Dover’s body, hugging her arms around him. His assurance made her feel a little better, but not very much. “They called you back to Lacebark?” she asked.
Dover nodded.
“How did things go?”
Instead of answering, Dover kissed Lilly on the forehead again. But no matter how much he wanted to avoid it, he knew this conversation could not be evaded. “We should go to our room,” he suggested, motioning to the sleeping Max.
Lilly nodded and led him out of the room, closing the door behind them. Once they reached the privacy of their own bedroom, Lilly helped Dover undress and the two of then climbed into bed together.
Dover pressed his head against his wife’s shoulder, and she lifted her hand to stroke his hair back away from his face. The two of them were quiet, neither wanting to ruin the gentle moment. But they both knew that it couldn’t last as long as either of them wanted it to.
“You don’t want to talk about what happened today, do you?” Lilly asked, continuing to run her fingers through Dover’s hair.
Dover shook his head, not surprised by how well she could read him.
This time it was Lilly that leaned over and kissed him on the forehead. “Was it really bad?” she asked quietly.
Dover nodded.
“Are we in danger?”
He silently shook his head no.
“Is Max in danger?”
Again, Dover shook his head no.
Lilly couldn’t help but breathe a soft sight of relief at that. “Then what’s the matter, baby?”
Dover rolled over and sat up on his elbows, looking down at his wife’s concerned face. “I quit,” he finally told her.
Lilly sat up in bed as well. “You what?”
“I quit the Doughboys,” he repeated.
Lilly’s mouth started to move as if she were going to say something, but no sound came out. When she finally was able to find her voice, only one word came out. “Why?”
Dover sighed. He wasn’t sure how he was going to explain this to her. He only barely had a grasp on the situation himself. “Lilly,” he started. “There are a lot of things going on at MD and MR HQ that you don’t know about. It’s not safe for our family, or the family of the men I work with if I continue to work as an MD.”
Lilly shook her head franticly. “You have to keep being an MD! Hide in plain sight, remember? What if they get suspicious? What if they find out we’re hiding something? And what about your clearance? How are we supposed to know if they’ve found something that links Max to Lacebark?”
“Right now they have nothing that links Max to Lacebark. No one from HQ even knows about him, not even Adder. The more we distance ourselves away from the MDs and MRs, the better off we’ll be.”
“But, Dover…”
“Believe me baby, I’ve thought this over and it the best way to protect Max and our family.”
But that wasn’t all. Lilly could see it in Dover’s face. There was another reason he had quit the Doughboys that had nothing to do with protecting their family. “There’s something else isn’t there?” she asked. “What is it?”
Dover laughed humorlessly. He really could keep nothing from her. “I can’t keep doing this, Lilly,” he confessed. “I…I don’t know which side to fight for. Max, or the MDs? I feel like Lacebark is my fault, I feel like what happened to Jimmy…what’s happening to Jimmy is all my fault, and yet if I hadn’t saved Max, his death would have been my fault too. I can’t protect Max and work for the faction that wants to destroy him. And I definitely can’t kill another malign. It’s best for all of us, including the Doughboys, if I cut all my ties to anything that has to do with being an MDs.”
Lilly nodded. She understood. As much as she didn’t like it, she could see how much working as an MD and carrying this secret was tearing her husband apart. “Okay, Dover,” she said drawing him back down to her. “You don’t have to say any more. I understand.”
Dover laid his head against her shoulder. “Everything will be fine. This way we can be a normal family. We can raise Max like he’s a regular little boy, and just live our lives.”
Lilly nodded, even though she wasn’t quite sure she believed that.
Dover took her hand and laced her fingers between his, seeming to sense her apprehension. “Everything’s going to be fine,” he repeated, kissing their intertwine fingers.
Lilly just nodded again.
Everything was going to be fine.
The End of Part 1
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RosDude
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Re: TAT: Malign (AU/ML/Teen) Part 1: Complete, 1/3/09
1. Alien614
2. Augustus Snodgrass
3. behrlyliz
4. BelevnDreamsToo
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12. destinyc
13. dreamer destiny
14. Ellie
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16. Flamehair
17. flyawayraven
18. Fred
19. Galliard
20. I am a dreamer
21. kittens
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I really do appreciate all the feedback you all have left me on this part of Malign. All 44 of you! I hope you all continue to enjoy the story. And to do that. Here is the link to PART TWO. Again thank you all very much for reading.
~Chad~
2. Augustus Snodgrass
3. behrlyliz
4. BelevnDreamsToo
5. BlueStar8
6. Breathless
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19. Galliard
20. I am a dreamer
21. kittens
22. linliz68
23. loviedovie
24. Luvya
25. Mareli
26. Michelle in Yonkers
27. Morning Dreamgirl
28. Mrsjbehr
29. Natalie36
30. Natz
31. nickimlow
32. paper
33. roswellianprincess16
34. Scottie
35. Shiesty23
36. skippypeanut
37. Smac
38. Tessa1982
39. Thanette
40. TheAliensAreComing!
41. thetvgeneral
42. touched by an alien
43. Vaderian
44. WildSphinx
I really do appreciate all the feedback you all have left me on this part of Malign. All 44 of you! I hope you all continue to enjoy the story. And to do that. Here is the link to PART TWO. Again thank you all very much for reading.
~Chad~