-1-
“Are you sure that was the right train ?,” I hiss at Isaac.
It comes out a lot meaner than I intend; I’d grabbed Issac’s arm and walked us a few feet away from where Grayson was sitting on the bench in the open air platform watching the departing train with a confused look on his face.
“Yes,” Isaac responds sharply. “There’s only one train that goes from here to the Sprawl and that was it.”
“When does it come back ?,”
“Tomorrow. It will come twice tomorrow to take the prospective students back,” he says and turns to his electric shuttle. It’s filled with school faculty and prospective Arkham families who just got off the train. “I can’t hold the shuttle up. Maybe he missed it. You guys can come to tomorrow’s pick up if you want.”
“This isn’t right. Haley was supposed to be back on this train.”
“I’m sorry,” Isaac says. “But I need to get these people back to the school. Maybe Kenji or Headmaster know something. I don’t want to make the prospective families late for their visits. We need to go now.”
I let out a frustrated fuck and then motion for Grayson to follow me back onto the Arkham shuttle.
“Why are we leaving ?,” Grayson asks, walking behind me with one eye on the empty train tracks
“We had the wrong train,” I tell him with a forced smile. “We’ll come back.”
“When ?,”
“Tomorrow.”
“The letter said today. What if Daddy comes later and there isn’t anyone here ? I want to stay--”
“There isn’t a later train. We’ll come back tomorrow--”
“I don’t want to go, I’ll stay--”
“We have to go,” I try and say firmly.
Grayson just walks back to the bench to sit down.
I try to exchange a look with Isaac but he is just glaring at me like I’m supposed to have this under control.
Jokes on him.
I had none of this under control.
It turns out babysitting Grayson overnight with my sisters and mom is not the same as actually being responsible for him.
Because Luce still had to be completely shut down at night, I’d slept in the other bed in the guest room with Grayson. He’d woken me up every hour needing something until 6AM, which was when he decided to wake up. Then he wanted me to help wash his back and hair, and got frustrated when I couldn’t do anything right. Haley had done something with most of his clothes and I couldn’t find them but I’d been able to cobble together what I thought was a decent looking outfit from what I'd found--Grayson hated it.
I’d been so looking forward to giving him back to his Dad.
“Grayson, sweetie, we can’t stay. We have to leave now,” I tell him but he doesn’t move from the bench.
“El--,” Isaac starts.
“Just go,” I tell him and then mouth. “And send back help.”
***
Grayson and I sit on the train station bench for nearly an hour before I hear a car pull up behind us. I turn to confirm it’s the Infiniti.
Grayson doesn’t react to the car but his body language gets suddenly tense at the soft whir of Luce’s approaching chair. As the sound gets closer Grayson starts for the other side of the train platform.
“Come on, let’s just go with them,” I try to reason with Grayson, taking his arm lightly so he can’t get away.
“I don’t want to go back, I want to go find Daddy--”
“We can’t do anything until--”
Grayson jerks out of my grasp and darts across the small footbridge to the other side of the platform. I’m not sure what he thinks this is going to accomplish because Luce and Grandma Sara are right behind him. Grayson looks for a place to run, but there isn’t anywhere to go in the open-air platform. It was a train station in the middle of a meadow.
Luce speeds up, cuts Grayson off from his path and grips his wrist. I see the panic flood into in his little face.
“It’s time to go,” Luce tells him.
“I want to find Daddy--”
“You can’t,” Luce cuts him off. “I don’t know where Alex is but I’m the only one who can find him and I can’t do that if I have to deal with your bullshit--”
“Luce,” Grandma Sara admonishes him.
She was standing behind Luce’s chair with her arms crossed and looking down. I notice she has two guns in her hip and one on her ankle.
“Listen, kid you’re my responsibility now and you need to learn to listen,” Luce continues his tone even sharper. “You are coming back to Arkham with me. You will stop crying and do as you’re told so I can figure out where Alex is. Let's go. Now.”
I suddenly feel really bad for not dealing with this myself.
Grayson’s eyes are shiny and his bottom lip is quivering so bad but he follows
Luce back across the platform without shedding a tear. Grandma Sara offers her hand to Grayson and the
moment he takes it he starts sobbing quietly into her arm.
The ride back in silence and Grayson’s almost cried himself to sleep by the time we get back to Hotako's house. When we get inside Luce snaps at him to go upstairs and lie down.
“Luce, he’s 6 years old you need to be gentle-,” Grandma Sara starts when Grayson is out of earshot.
“Is he my kid of not, Ma ? ,” Luce asks in a biting tone. “We keep losing people. This isn’t a fucking game and he needs to know that. I think Alex would prefer him a little upset than dead.”
Grandma Sara runs a hand through her hair and closes her eyes.
“We need to call Bright Seas,” Grandma Sara says opening her eyes. “See if Alex ever made it--”
“I know--,”
“Spoof Lansing’s ID when you call.”
“I know,” Luce says, taking a tablet out of his chair. He types some code and then calls Bright Seas.
“Bright Seas,” the receptionist answers the line.
“This is Lansing Prescott’s office," Luce says. "I’ d like to be connected to Kenneth Maxwell.”
“Right away,” he chirps and the line connects.
“This isn’t good. I told Lex to kill him.” Luce grumbles.
I think Luce is going to hang up but he lets the call connect
“Maxwell ?,” Luce asks.
Lansing. Is it really you ? I’m sorry. Please. I need you. the computer voice says.
“Guess again, asshole.” Luce says.
Cyborg ? the computer voice says.
“Where is Lex ?,” Luce demands.
The line is silent.
“Did you see him yesterday? What time ? We look out for people who help us. Talk to me you fucking piece of shit or you’re never getting out of that bed.”
More silence.
Is...he...missing ?, the computer asks.
“When did you last see him ?,” Luce repeats and gets no response. “Maxwell.”
There is more silence and then---
I’m laughing the computer voice says.
Luce cuts the connection and throws the tablet into the wall, it smacks the siding hard and smashes into pieces.
“This is good,” Grandma Sara says.
“How ?,” Luce spits.
“Think about it. Maxwell’s still in Bright Seas, which means his block was re-installed,” she explains. “So we know Haley at least made it to the hospital. Anything could have come up between then and the train leaving. Let’s give him the day.”
“I don’t like this, Ma,” Luce grumbles.
***
-2-
“El.”
I pull the plush duvet over my head and pretend like I don’t hear my name.
“El,” Grayson repeats sitting on the bed I was sleeping in and poking me just under my side boob.
The beds in Hotako’s guest rooms are sinfully comfortable and I was so pissed I hadn’t had a good night sleep in one.
“Hmm,” I mange, opening my eyes to see Grayson peering down at me, the robot plushie clutched in his arms.
“I was thinking…do you know the the evil man who put the bad tattoos on Daddy ? Do you think he took him ?”
“No,” I say
“Oh…why ?”
I didn’t really know how much Grayson knew about Haley’s tattoos. If I was just learning that they were done by this Maxwell guy I can’t imagine Grayson knows much.
“Luce checked. Your Dad will probably be back today so let’s go back to sleep.”
He's quiet and I happily snuggle back under the covers but he only pokes me again.
“I can’t sleep.”
“Try counting sheep.”
“I did that already, I got to 214 sheep.”
I turn and look over at clock but it’s one of those olden time ones with a face and I can never figure out what time it is. It was either 4AM or 5 AM. Or possibly 1AM ?
“Okay, how about I read a chapter from your book---”
“No, I’m only reading that with Daddy.”
“Okay, how about a different book--”
“Can we go get water ? Please.”
The last thing I wanted to do was leave this bed. I hadn’t had a good night sleep since this all started and I really needed one.
“Fine,” I say getting up. “But then you have to let me sleep, okay ?”
He nods enthusiastically and I lead him downstairs and into the kitchen. Everyone else in the house is asleep and the only sound in the silence is the soft bleeps of Luce’s breathing monitor. He was turned off and “sleeping” on the floor of the guest room he shared with Grandma Sara.
The Other Washington’s had made it clear they wanted us to make ourselves feel at home so I start looking through the kitchen cabinets. I have to open a few cupboards before I find the glasses but along the way I stumble across the perfect thing for my current situation.
“How about we try a little of this ?,” I ask Grayson holding up a heavy glass jar labeled Good Night Calming Tea.
“I like tea. Can you put honey in it ?,” he asks.
“Maybe ?,” I tell him because instead of having a jar of honey like a normal family these Washingtons had a chunk of honey comb in the cabinet.
I’d watched Kenji make tea for his parents last night but it takes me three tries to figure out how to tie the tea in the bag and the first time I try to steep it the water isn’t hot enough. After unsuccessfully trying to break the honeycomb into pieces we try to pull the honey out with our fingers.
By the time it’s all done we’re both sticky with honey and this seemed like a terrible fucking idea.
“Take your tea upstairs and clean up a little bit. There's a shit ton of bugs in this place who like sweet things,” I tell him. “I’ll clean up the kitchen.”
“I don’t know want to sleep in this,” he says poking at his honey smeared shirt.
“Right,” I say, thinking. “Kenji mentioned there’s a laundry
room outside. Let's see if your Dad put your clothes in there,”
I clean up the kitchen the best I can and then slip outside to the laundry room. It’s not so much a room but a complementing shed in the back of the house.
When I walk inside it smells amazing and the walls are lined with loud industrial washing machines. I look on a folding table and sure enough there is a stack of neatly folded clothing, including some of my things.
I hadn’t even noticed Haley had taken my clothes to wash. It looked like he had been in the middle of folding them when he had to leave.
Feeling successful I grab a clean shirt for Grayson and I’m headed back to the house when I sense I’m being followed. I don’t have my weapon on me and I don’t see anything I can use as one so I prepare to deliver an elbow to the face.
A figure wearing a face covering tries to rush past me but I catch them mid-stride by sticking my foot out. They go down and sensing it’s a man I slam my knees into his balls.
Jackpot.
He makes an agonized sigh and then reaches to remove his face mask revealing
Isaac.
“Why…did…you…do that ?,” he asks, his voice tight and clearly in pain
“You ran up on me!,” I remind him standing up suddenly. “What the hell are you doing wandering around in the dead of night like that ?”
“I should be asking you that--”
“I was in the laundry room because--”
“Honey ?,”
“How did you know ?”
“You smell like it.”
“So, you were sniffing me ?”
“I wasn’t--it's--”
“What were you up to ?”
“You have no authority to ask me that--”
“The last time some stranger I didn’t know was sneaking around at night my entire family was killed so I’ll ask--”
He sits up on his elbows.
“Do you remember those mysterious packages I mentioned the school has been getting ?”
I nod.
“My superiors have this policy where they throw out suspicious packages and send cease and desist letters to the senders before calling the authorities. It’s a good policy and all but I wanted to see what was in the packages. I feel like all of this is connected. I have only respect for The Washington’s but…sometimes I don’t think Headmaster and Kenji realize all the dangers that exist in the world. They've lived here most of their lives. They like to hide instead of fight.”
“What was in the packages ?”
“Nothing. Just a small roll of gauze.”
“Maybe there was something you couldn’t see ?”
“I don’t think so. The face mask I was wearing detects that kind of thing.”
We’re quiet for a minute and then he picks himself up off the ground. I feel kind of bad because he’s walking like he’s still shaking off the pain.
***
-3-
The tea seems to have done the trick and Grayson is not only asleep when I get back upstairs but he also sleeps through breakfast.
I’m sitting at the breakfast table on the patio with The Other Washingtons, Grandma Sara, Luce and Isaac—who is listening dutifully as Kenji goes over their schedule for the visiting prospective students.
“Will you and your stepson need an escort to the train station today?,” Hotako asks Luce.
“Just me,” Luce says. “I want to believe Alex is going to be on it but if he’s not I’m not sure the kid can take it.”
“I don’t know how long you will be here,” Kenji says. “But I’d be happy to work with him when I’m not with the prospective families. Children need consistency and schedules. From what I understand he had that and all this is probably throwing him off.”
“I’m not sure that’s necessary--,” Luce starts but is cut off by the loud crack of Grandad walking headfirst into the glass door that lead to the patio.
Grandma Sara yells his name and goes to the doors, opening them for him.
“Fuck! That is some clean glass,” Grandad laughs, stepping outside.
Grandad had been passed out for the better part of two days but now he’s smiling and sober, swinging his high heel from three night ago around in his hand.
“Mm.Mm.Mm. fresh air! Now, why the long faces ?,” Grandad asks. “I’m about to make our fucking day.”
”Jean, we really need to catch you up--,” Grandma Sara starts
Grandad holds up his heel to show the bottom off to Grandma Sara and Luce. Grandma Sara takes it and looks at the sole closely.
“Is this blood ?,” she frowns
“Blood, saliva, maybe some teeth? If my memory serves me correct I got quite few kicks in one of those henchman who tried to hang me,” he says. “You do your little do-hickey science and figure out who they were and then…follow the money trail. That should do it, right ? Let’s find these fuckers and put a bullet in their skulls.”
“A DNA profile is useless with nothing to compare it to. Without Luce's cybernetics at full capacity we don't have access to this backdoor of the Fed’s citizenship system. It could take me weeks to make a new one.” Grandma Sara tells him.
Grandad smirks and loops his arm around Hotako which makes Isaac go stiff and reach for his stun gun but I quickly tap his hand and shake my head.
“Not nothing,” Grandad says, conspiratorially. “Right, Mr. Washingtons ?,”
“I’m sorry,” Hotako tells Grandad gently. “But it would be a breach of contract and highly unethical to let you use the student DNA profiles for anything other than what--”
“Fuck your ethics, brother. My daughter is fucking dead,” Grandad spits. “You have genetic profiles for over 75 years of students. One of them might be related to the men who tried to kill me and took my daughter’s life.”
“Jean--”
“All I want is a yes--”
Kenji stands, he’s taller than Grandad but he’s not being aggressive.
“How about we meet you halfway, Mr. Dory ?,” Kenji suggests.“We’ll start with former students first and if you don’t get a match we can discuss using current students. ”
“Pleasure doing business,” Grandad smiles handing over the shoe.
---
I know, I know I keep having people walk into glassdoors