Restart

Nate's expression had the look of a clueless "Huh?" at Alyson's suggestion. He turned to follow her gaze, and as his eyes settled on the forlorn teen star his jaw clenched and the weariness hanging like heavy sacks under his eyes hardened with resolve like a rock.

And then it was gone in a flash. He turned back to Alyson and spoke quietly, "You don't have to stay if you don't want to." Shifting on his feet, he crossed his arms over his chest. "If you got to be at work," he corrected himself. "I understand if you can't stay."

~~~~~~

Mary Jane nodded, a little dumbly, as if Layla's answer helped lighten the befuddlement at all. "Is he . . ." She didn't know how to say it and the question had a such a bitter taste she had to say it quickly before her taste buds were ruined forever. "Is he in pain?"

Restart

Alyson shook her head slowly. "I'm going to stand in this spot right here until you apologize," she said stubbornly. "You bruised his face, for Pete's sake, Nathan. You owe him an apology at least for that."

----

Layla shook her head quickly. "Oh no. Well, not really. He gets these headaches sometimes, but they go away after a little while. He's gotten so good at covering them up I sometimes miss them. Thankfully, Jenna never does and always makes him take something for the pain when he gets them." Layla looked down at John Luke and wondered if he understood anything they were saying, and if she should change the subject just in case.

P.S."Brooklyn!"

Restart

Nate glanced down at the floor as he rocked back on his heels. For a while he didn't say anything until he looked up, muttered something under a groaning sigh, and took a step back.

"I'm going to get some coffee," he announced, and then quickly went to find the cafeteria before Alyson tried to stop him.

~~~~~~

Again Mary Jane nodded. The response was becoming a mechanical reaction, as there was no emotion left in her to form any words to say. She hugged John Luke again, stroking his red hair out of comfort for herself, and kissed his forehead.

John Luke rested his head against his sister's shoulder and stuck his finger in his mouth, sucking on it as he watched Layla attentively.

Restart

Alyson sighed but stayed where she was. Taking her phone out she started texting a friend at the newspaper, telling him what had happened and what was going on so he could take notes for her (after making him promise on his dead goldfish's grave not to take the story for himself). After a while her feet started aching, so she slipped out of her high-heels and stretched her toes, one foot at a time, texting a word a second.

----

After a few minutes the doctor came back, a relieved look on his face. "Your brother is conscious now," he told Layla. "You can go in to see him." He glanced over at Mary Jane. "Only two visitors at a time."

"How about two and a half?" Layla asked with weak smile, gesturing to John Luke.

The doctor relented with a slight smile. "Just as long as you keep an eye on him," he said, and moved on.

"Coming?" Layla asked, turning to MJ. She did not want to make the girl come if she did not want to.

P.S."Brooklyn!"

The Aftermath
Matthew walked over to Ellie and John "That kid was great" he said "I'll have to even out his attitude though" He said with a shrug "Come on, Ellie its about time for your shift"

Restart

Not a few minutes after Nate left the double doors of ICU flung open and a nurse came out. "Is there a Mr. Waters here?" she called out, looking around the waiting room for a face that would match up to the name.

~~~~~~

Mary Jane looked partially stunned when Layla offered, obviously torn between the idea. At first she wanted to protest with a lame excuse that she should wait for her mother to come, but the incredible guilt of saying such a thing snagged onto her and she found herself nodding in agreement.

Kneeling down, she put John Luke back on his feet, and straightening she took his unused hand in hers. She didn't know how she was going to face Chase after finding out about his condition, it was bad enough to have this sprung onto her but now with the fact that this accident had started a time bomb in him. . . She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. She had to keep reminding herself this was not her fault.

Restart

Ty started when he heard his name called. He stepped up to the nurse quickly.

"I'm Ty Waters," he said hurriedly. "Well, Tyler Waters. I mean, what's going on? Is she awake? Is she asking for me?" The words spilled out of his mouth in a jumbled mess.

----

Layla led the way down the hall and into the room.

Chase was sitting up, his left arm bandaged and in a sling. A large bruise covered his forehead and his left eye was swollen shut. Still, he grinned crookedly as the girls and John Luke came into the room.

"Hey," he said, his voice slightly hoarse. "Wow. You know, it kinda hurts not to be the best looking person in a room. But don't worry, I'll be back to my beautiful self soon enough."

Layla cracked a small smile. "How are you feeling?" she asked, pulling up a chair and sitting down in it.

Chase shrugged his free shoulder. "Like a car rammed into me." He glanced over to see Mary Jane and John Luke. "Hey," he said, as if surprised to see her. "How are you doing? Those scrapes need any TLC that I can take care of?" He grinned, but there was pain behind his eyes, hidden behind the bravado expression.

P.S."Brooklyn!"

Restart

The nurse started to shake her head, but then as if rethinking the idea, she lifted a finger to her lips inconspicuously. "Will you come this way?" she asked, gesturing to the intensive care unit doors in a fluid motion, using the action to hide her secrecy.

~~~~~~

Mary Jane followed Layla in but stopped at the foot of Chase's bed. Releasing her brother's hand, she let John Luke go to sit by Layla, herself too anxious to sit. She fingered her hands behind her back as Chase tried to lighten the mood, but she couldn't bring herself look into his face and smile. She couldn't help but feeling guilty for doing this Chase.

When Chase addressed her, she forced herself to raise her eyes off the sheets covering his feet. "I'm fine," she said with a sort of smile that she hoped was more reassuring than she felt it was. "Nothing broken--" She mentally winced, chastising herself brutally for saying something stupid like that.

Restart

Ty hurried to follow the nurse, hoping this meant Dotty was alive and, well, not well, but alive and conscious at least.

----

Chase raised his eyebrows. "Nothing but your voice, I see," he said. "Hey, it's cool. I mean, I've been in worse scraps before. I once broke my leg and my arm because I miscalculated the distance between the tire swing and the lake. Jenna told me I wouldn't make it, but I thought I had studied enough math to figure it out. I had to spend the next eight months listening to her say 'I told you so' while she tutored me. And we didn't have a TV then either, because I fried it when I spilled Coke all over it."

He knew he was rambling, but somehow he could not get his mouth to stop. He did not want Mary Jane to feel bad about the accident, but it looked like she was blaming herself anyway. Which was totally stupid since it was not her fault. But something was wrong, he could tell. Which is why his mouth kept going.

P.S."Brooklyn!"

The Aftermath
"Well, there's always a drawback." replied Ellie. Her attitude guess had been right after all, as she expected. "It should be worth it though." she thought out loud. "He really is very good." she added as she turned around and began to walk back towards the main part of the castle, Matthew beside her. "What about his training though?" she asked once they were a safe distance from the training grounds. "Are you going to train him while he serves under you?"

A (Slightly) Less Normal Life
Rianna and Nessie spent several minutes talking and getting to know each other. Rianna explained that she had been traveling with her father to various planets in the Ditto Galaxy, and cities on Dittotopia, on diplomatic missions designed to build up the Intergalactic Alliance that had been started between Delantare and the Autobots. Ever since the Second Galactic Civil War had ended in the Jedi Galaxy, the Delantrim had grown weary of the corruption that ran rampant in the galactic governments and wished to strengthen their ties with the Ditto Galaxy should they need to defend themselves. Rianna enjoyed the opportunity to be able to work alongside her father and to see so many different worlds and peoples.

Nessie told Rianna of her similar excitement to be able to learn about Dittotopia's history with her uncle. She loved him almost as much as she loved her parents, and pretty much considered Chase to be a surrogate father, especially since she hardly saw her real father due to his work with the Monstropolis P.D.

"It's funny that you're from Monstropolis, yet you like my parents and the other people in the Fountain Fellowship," Rianna mused. "Dad and I went to Monstropolis right before coming here, and when the Senate realized that he used to be part of the Fellowship, he got booed down and we had to be escorted back to our ship by security forces for our own safety!"

"Yeah, people there really don't like the Fellowship," Nessie said sadly. "My family's the only ones I know of that don't hate them."

"Why's that?" Rianna asked.

"After Doga's War, people began worrying that the Fellowship was becoming a group of vigilantes," Nessie explained. "And when one of them snapped and killed an entire village and leveled the police station, that pretty much made everyone in the city hate and fear them. Thankfully, my dad was off duty that day or else he would have been killed."

"Oh my!" Rianna exclaimed. "I had heard about what happened to Jedi Rojo, but Master Joey helped him turn back to the light side."

"That doesn't matter to the Senate," Nessie said. "For some reason, they won't forgive them. They've pretty much been banned from Ditto Monstropolis. Even the Di Veracinis have to keep a low profile, and they used to be heroes for what they did in stopping the Undetto. I've even heard that there's people in the Senate that are trying to expand Monstropolis's influence over Dittotopia so that they can outlaw the Fellowship!"

"That's horrible! Do you think they could do it?"

"I dunno. Dad says Dittotopia's too independent, and it would take a thousand years for the Senate to pull that off."

"Well then, at least we won't have anything to worry about, then," Rianna said with a smile. "Come on, let's go to the observation deck."

"Are we allowed to?" Nessie asked concernedly as she followed the older girl.

"I've got diplomatic privileges," Rianna said, tossing a sparkling grin over her shoulder.

The pair took a flight of stairs up a level and found themselves on a large platform overlooking the entire island of Ditto Metru. Nessie gripped the handrails in awe as she looked over the city. The view was spectacular, and the ocean breeze gently blew her hair around her face. As they two girls took in the sight, Nessie was surprised when Rianna suddenly started happily singing in a language she didn't recognize. She drank in the girl's beautiful voice as it seemed to float along with the breeze."

A (Slightly) Less Normal Life

Malcolm hurried over to Moira as she slumped down onto the floor.

"Who was that guy? What did he want?" Malcolm demanded.

Moira hid her face in her hands and shuddered. When she looked up at her friends, tears streaked her face. Pandora grabbed Malcolm's hand and squeezed it hard. She was almost more frightened of Moira's tears than she was of Jack.

"Jack is a shinigami. In most worlds that have supernatural entities, shinigami are benign. Unfortunately, on the Earth I'm from, shinigami are malevolent. His brand of shinigami manifest themselves in the physical realm by possessing the bodies of murderers. While incarnated, they kill for pleasure and to continue their existence. For a time, I tried to blend in with the humans of London. While I was there, I met Jack. We met on the street. We knew instinctively what the other was. He taunted me, said he'd play a game with me. He'd kill five women. If I could save one of his victims, he'd call off the game and leave London," Moira explained.

"You did it, right? You won the game? Didn't you?" Pandora asked. She didn't sound terribly hopeful.

"No. I made the mistake of thinking I could be something other than what I am. I tried to be a human. I didn't wail outside their windows, I didn't wash bloodstains out of laundry where the future victims could see. I tried telling them they were going to die. They thought I was crazy. No one believed me, not the police, not the press. No one. They all died. I fled the city. I don't know where he's been since then."

"So he's come to Ditto Town to play the game with you again?"

"It certainly sounds like it."

"We can fight him though, can't we? He can be killed or stopped or something?"

"In the years since, I've done my best to learn more about shinigami. They can be destroyed, but only if the body they possess is killed before they can flee it back into their home dimension. But killing one is nearly impossible. They can teleport, walk through walls, fly."

"But this is Ditto Town! Everyone has freaky powers. Jack doesn't stand a chance.

Moira smiled tentatively, but then the kids entered the bakery. Moira took one look at the youngest boy and ran back into the kitchen.

A (Slightly) Less Normal Life

The youngest boy of the group stared after Moira as she ran into the kitchen, frowning slightly in thought.

The older boy stepped up to the counter. "Hi," he said with a grin. "I'm Peter. These are my friends Hero and Nikolas. We're new here in town and really hungry. Well, I am at least. Those pastries sure look good. How much are they?"

Hero wandered over to the door and stared out of it while glancing surreptitiously at Malcolm.

Nikolas did not acknowledge the others in the shop but instead kept staring at the door to the kitchen where Moira had disappeared into.

P.S."Brooklyn!"

Restart

The nurse quickly led Ty down ICU, looking down a few hallways they passed to avoid being spotted, and as no one took notice of them she picked up the pace, suddenly grabbing Ty's hand and pulling him into a room.

She released his hand as she turned to close the door. The room grew darker as she turned a latch, their only light came from between the window's blinds. When she turned back to him there was a sly grin on her face, if anyone could tell in the darkness.

"Ty! You came back to me! Oh, I knew you would," she purred blissfully, leaping across the room to him and throwing her arms around his neck. It was the nurse Tyler had used to help Dotty make her escape, and clearly she had not forgotten his "promise."

"I knew you would find a way to see me," she breathed as she pressed kisses on his neck. Her grip around him became ravenously tight as her mouth moved closer to his. "That was so clever of you to use that unconscious girl to get to me. No one will ever suspect that it's really me you want!" She pulled back to give him a wide, adoring smile before she kissed him fully and firmly on his lips.

~~~~~~

John Luke, who now sat in a chair beside Layla, cracked a grin as Chase started to ramble and when the teen had finished, he was giggling in full mirth. As he laughed he rocked himself from side to side in his seat, his head thrown back and his eyes squeezed tightly shut, as if the laughter was too contagious to keep to himself but he was honestly trying.

Mary Jane looked admonishingly at her little brother, shocked at his behavior and its inappropriate entry, and she moved from the foot of Chase's bed to quiet him. But when she opened her mouth John Luke gave a squeal.

"Chase funny!" And at that point Mary Jane didn't know what to do. Sighing exasperatedly, she scooped John Luke up in her arms. He was still giggling as she looked at Layla apologetically, her eyes skirted around Chase.

"I'm sorry," she said, eyeing the door and its means of escape. "I-I shouldn't have brought him."

Restart

Ty was completely and utterly speechless with shock as the nurse attacked him. He had no idea who she was, and she was practically kissing his skin off! With some difficulty, he managed to tear himself away from the crazy woman and flee for the door. He struggled with getting it open for a moment, before he realized it was latched and he flipped it.

He closed the door behind him, holding it shut tightly as he looked up and down the hallway for a route to escape. He spotted and orderly wheeling a cart and dove behind it, following the orderly in a crouched fashion, following the man deeper into the ICU.

----

Chase blinked at John Luke's laughter and then laughed himself, chortling uproariously.

Layla smiled. "Careful Chase, your arm?"

Chase's laugh died slowly as he grimaced. "Yeah, just felt that," he said, and chuckled again. He shook his head at Mary Jane. "Don't apologize," he told her with a wide grin. "I like the little dude."

He beckoned to John Luke. "Come here little dude. I like you. You can sit next to me." He patted the spot on the bed next to his legs where there was room for a small person to sit.

P.S."Brooklyn!"