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ajremixFwah. I hate to say it, but we are once again caught up on pre-written chapters and, doubly unfortunately, I'm stuck on the next one. That, coupled with the fact that my summer classes are starting next week means that the next installment very likely won't be up next Friday. I'll try to get it finished as soon as I can, but no promises on how soon it'll be.
Quick thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
dinahqueen for making sure there were no glaring issues!
Title: The Inventor 12
Fandom: DCU
Rating: PG
Word Count: 3105
Characters: Ted, Booster, Wally, Skeets, Michelle, Rip
Summary: Eras don’t end, they merely change. One thing being resolved means something else needs dealing with.
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
“-and they listened, it was amazing! To think- six years ago I thought Bart was a bigger pain in my ass than all my Rogues combined,” Wally said with a shake of his head, “now he’s practically my savior. If it weren’t for him, the kids would’ve run me and Linda into the ground in a month.”
“I can’t even imagine it,” Ted said in disbelief. “I mean, one kid is strange enough, but twins?”
“Hey- twins are awesome!” Booster interjected. “Though twins with Speed Force- man, I do not envy you.”
“So I take it I shouldn’t expect either of you to babysit?”
They gave Wally an odd look. “You trust us to babysit?”
Wally shrugged, a grin playing on his lips, “Well, maybe in a couple years, they can babysit you.”
“Ahahaha,” Booster pounded on Wally’s shoulder hard enough to make him stagger a bit. “The comedian, folks.”
The teleporters were in view now and Wally’s humor dried a bit, “Yeah, well it got pretty hard to laugh about anything for a while. And I want to say that I do appreciate the both of you. I mean- you two were the ones that brought me to the League in the first place and you always offered help and advice when I needed it, you were always great guys to hang out with and you never failed to make me laugh, even when I didn’t want to. So if I ever acted like an ass to you guys or made you feel like I didn’t appreciate or respect you- and I know I have -I’m sorry. That was never my intention and you’ve been good friends and I want to thank you for that.”
Ted and Booster exchanged glances. “Not that we don’t enjoy a good ego stroking,” Ted said while Booster made a show of preening behind him, “but what brought that on?”
Wally shrugged and fidgeted a little self-consciously. “It’s just been a difficult couple of years. With Linda’s pregnancy and the scares I’ve had with the kids, and what happened with Bart and then Barry coming back... things have just been rough all over the place and I know Booster had it pretty bad, too. So,” he spread out his hands with a small smile, “I’m just saying thank you for everything you’ve done for me over the years. I’m sorry I’ve gone out of touch with you guys for so long. I’d like us to be friends again.”
Booster gave a touch smile, “Aw, Wally. That’s sweet.”
Ted patted him on the shoulder. “We’re still not babysitting for you.”
Wally laughed and his smile was big and unrestrained and with just a hint of wickedness- he looked almost exactly like he did when he joined the League, before life and loss and hardship wore him down. “Well, can’t blame a guy for trying.” He pulled first Ted into a hug, then Booster. “It’s good to have both of you back again. And seriously- if you need me, give me a call.”
As the men arranged themselves- Ted and Booster on the teleporters, Wally at the controls -Wally asked, “So where are you guys going?”
“I’ve got some work in Utah,” Booster said, stretching out his arms and back as if preparing for a long flight, “so outside Salt Lake City works for me.”
“You still have the Kord Industries holding facility in Chicago programmed in, right? I’m heading there.”
Wally paused, giving the two an odd look. It was obvious he wanted to question why they were separating but instead asked, “You sure it’s still there?”
“I willed most of my stuff to Booster including that storage facility, so as long as Booster didn’t get rid of anything...”
“Nope, still there,” Booster replied cheekily.
“Uh,” Wally looked a little uncertain in breeching the subject, “weren’t you legally dead for a time, Booster?”
“Yes, I was.”
When it became apparent that Wally wasn’t going to get anything more than that he said, “Okay,” then turned back to Ted, “so what’s in storage, then?”
“Projects, personal items, clothes, my plane.”
“Your plane like another Bug?” Wally had heard that two of Ted’s Bugs had been destroyed- how many did the man have?
Ted just smirked. “A plane like an Eclipse 500 VLJ. I used it mainly for business since the head of Kord Industries needed to get around in something other than a giant aircraft shaped like a bug.”
“Okay, yeah, that makes sense. Alright, Booster- I’ll send you off first. Keep in touch, big guy.”
“Sure thing, Wally. Good luck with the kids.” With a grin and a wave, Booster vanished.
Wally programmed in the next destination and he put his hand on the switch and paused. “...hey, Ted?”
“What’s up?”
“You’ll... you’ll keep an eye on Booster, right?”
Ted just cocked his head to the side and said patiently. “Sure. Why?”
“I’m sure you’ve heard it before and I’ll bet you’ll hear it again, but Booster had it really tough. Not just losing you but also Dimitri, the fallout with the satellite and when the new Beetle went missing,, the whole thing with Max and then the row he had with Ralph... I don’t think he’s had anyone really supporting him and- well, you know Booster better than I do so you know...”
“Yeah. I know.”
Wally traced a finger around the controls for a moment. “It isn’t that we didn’t tr- okay, yes, we didn’t really try and believe me when I say I’m really ashamed by the way me and everyone else has treated him. But the thing is,” he looked up at Ted with worry, “no one knows what Booster is doing anymore. He makes sporadic appearances here and there but it’s not the same- he’s not the same. Or at least he’s not to those of us that actually know him to any degree. Does that make any sense or do you think I’m going crazy?”
A small, warm smile crossed Ted’s face. “Like you said, Wally, Booster’s had it tough, but I’ll take care of him. Promise.”
Wally grinned. “I’ll hold you to that.” A pause, then, “So you sure you won’t babysit-“
“Bye, Wally.”
“One evening. A trial run-“
“Just push the button.”
“Fine, fine. Jerk.” But he was still grinning and Ted was shaking his head and laughing as he left.
~*~*~*~
Booster had figured out some nifty little tricks he could do after Rip modified his suit. Moving laterally through time was one of them. It wasn’t teleportation like he could do in the Supernova suit, but it was probably as close as one could get and after teleporting to Salt Lake City’s outer limits, Booster tapped into the controls of his gauntlets and time shifted until he was outside the lab in Arizona.
“Ah,” he half hopped, half floated down the stairs, “good to be back.” Rip’s security system acknowledged him, doors pulling back just enough for Booster to get through before sealing shut behind him. It took a moment for Booster’s eyes to adjust to the light level inside, but his visor helpfully plotted out an obstacle-free path for him. “Lucy!” He called as he strolled in. “I’m home!”
Booster made a beeline for the kitchen- teleporting on a full stomach was never a good idea for him and he was starving. Skeets met him at the doorway and, expressionless robot though he was, seemed glad to have Booster there again. “Welcome back, sir. How was your trip?”
“Long,” Booster ducked into the fridge, shuffling things aside until he found a container of leftovers under Rip’s name- meh, why not. “Boring. Resolving.” He kicked the door shut, then went over to the microwave with Skeets floating over his shoulder. “I’m feeling pretty good.”
“I’m glad to hear that. We missed you here.”
“You missed me or you missed me doing the work?”
“I do believe it’s possible to do both.”
After programming in the time, Booster reached over to rub Skeets’s surface. “Aw, I missed you too, little buddy.”
“Perhaps I did not miss you that much.”
“Mikey?” Michelle poked her head into the room. At sight of her brother, she beamed brightly. “I knew I heard your voice! Welcome home!”
“This is home?”
“It’s home enough,” she bounded over and pulled Booster into a tight hug that he laughingly returned. “You’re looking well.”
“I feel well.” The microwave beeped and Michelle refused to relinquish her hold. Booster tried to wrestle her off, but she planted a foot against the cabinets and locked her arms. “Oh, c’mon! I’m hungry! This is sibling abuse!”
“Pfft- didn’t stop you from planting slugs in my room when we were kids, did it?”
“Oh, don’t tell me you’re still bitter about that.”
“It gave me a phobia, jerk!”
“At least slugs only come out after it rains! Not like the rats that were everywhere! Or the one you kept as a pet.”
“Fammy only bit you because you scared her!”
“It ran at me! It was not scared!”
The two eventually fell to the ground, cursing and accusing each other of their complexes as they fought and though Booster was bigger and stronger, Michelle fought dirty. A knee to the gut, pinches to the neck, noogies, tickling- she took no prisoners.
“Okay, okay!” Booster flailed, trying to slap his sister away while protecting his sides. “I give!”
Michelle popped up to her feet, triumphant, while Booster wheezed. “Ha! Still undefeated champion!”
“If we had a ref, you so would’ve been penalized.”
“Skeets didn’t see any unsportsmanlike conduct, did you Skeets?”
“I’m sorry,” he said flatly, “I was going over my weekly maintenance checks. Did I miss something?”
“You’re a traitor,” Booster said, pushing himself upright. “Now can I eat in peace?”
“Sure, sure.” When Booster took a seat at the table, Michelle sat next to him. “So where’s Ted?”
“Hm? Oh, he’s in Chicago.”
Michelle was silent for so long Booster looked at her over a forkful of noodles. She seemed distraught. More so than Booster had seen in a long, long time. Then she punched him in the arm, nearly making him choke on food.
“Ow! What the hell?”
“You let him go? What is wrong with you?”
“With me? You’re the one hitting me for no good reason!”
“I’m hitting you because you let the love of your life leave!” She punched him in the arm again.
“Ow- stop that!” Booster scrambled backwards, putting a table between him and his punch-happy sister. “He’s not gone, he’s just picking up some personal stuff before coming back!”
Michelle paused. “He’s coming back?”
“Yes!”
“Oh.” Michelle looked thoughtful in her seat. Booster carefully went back to his food, inching closer and keeping a careful eye on his sister. Then, once he was in range, Michelle punched him again. “You should’ve said so in the first place!”
“Dammit! Hit me one more time and I’m hitting you back!”
“You big baby. If it hurts that much, then use your forcefield.” Then Michelle’s expression softened and she asked, “So you and Ted are okay?”
“Yeah, we’re okay.”
“Good.” She reached out a hand and patted Booster’s. “I was really worried about you two.”
Booster turned his hand over, squeezing at Michelle’s fingertips. “We talked it out. We’re good.”
“Good.” She waited a beat before asking, “So did you tell him you love him yet?”
Booster gave her a look, fork sticking out of his mouth. “Tell you what- why don’t you tell me what you’ve been up to so I can eat?”
“Alright,” and she talked about what she and Skeets had been doing and what she was learning, all the while giving her brother a look that said ‘I haven’t forgotten the topic you don’t want to talk about so don’t think you’re off the hook’. Skeets interjected every now and again to either correct some detail or to explain his own part in Michelle’s timey hijinks.
Booster hurried to finish his meal before Michelle finished her story so he could toss the dishes in the sink and say, “Alright, I’m gonna go take a shower before Rip starts cracking the whip on me again.” He couldn’t help throwing a smug ‘so getting out of your interrogating’ smile at her before walking away.
He, of course, should’ve known better because as he walked away, Michelle called out, “Are you going to be fantasizing about Ted while you’re at it?”
Booster whirled around, scandalized. “Shel!”
“What?”
He spluttered incoherently, growing bright red all the while. Michelle grinned wickedly. “I’m going to take that as a yes.”
“Argh!” Booster scrubbed his hands over his face. “Don’t say things like that!”
“Why not?”
“Because that’s... it’s-“
“True?”
“Yes! No! I mean- it’s inappropriate!”
“No, inappropriate would be if you were fantasizing about him in public. Alone and where your sister can’t hear you moaning his name is completely appropriate.”
Booster continued to make a horrified gurgling noise. And people thought he was shameless. “Please don’t say these kinds of things around Ted. I don’t want you scaring him away.”
Michelle sniffed, insulted. “I do have a modicum of tact, thank you. Just that now that I can say Ted’s name without you looking like you’re about to break into tears, that makes him a safe topic.” Which meant Ted was going to be the least safe topic because Michelle was going to embarrass her brother about him any way that she could.
“The next thing that I can pick up, I’m throwing it at you.”
Skeets gave a little beep. “I think I’ll be going now. Good to have you back, sir,” and he promptly zipped out.
“Skeets! Aw, c’mon!” Booster called after him. “I wouldn’t throw you!” Skeets didn’t come back and Booster turned on Michelle. “Great- see what you did?”
“Uh-uh, I didn’t do a thing. If Skeets thinks you’d throw him at someone, that’s on you.”
“If I can pin the blame on you, I will.”
Michelle just smiled. “Welcome back, Mikey.” She walked over to give him a quick hug. “You go shower, I’ll let Rip know you’re back.”
“Thanks.” Before Michelle could move back, he placed a kiss to the crown of her head. “Missed you.”
“Surprisingly, I missed you too.” She laughed and shooed him off. “Now get going. You’ve got work to do.”
~*~*~*~
Booster was suited up but still drying his hair when he went into the lab proper and found Rip jotting some things down on his chalkboard. Even with access to all technology across time, even with the myriad of complex equipment and things that could send even Isaac Asimov into peels of glee and Rip still did a vast majority of his work on a chalkboard. Booster could not understand it.
“Welcome back,” Rip greeted without turning around. “Wasted no time getting comfortable, I see.”
How could you tell if you don’t even look, Booster thought, sending a mock scowl at Rip’s back. “Gotta make sure I’m prepared to take on all of time, right?”
“Well, I suppose that’s one way of looking at it.” Rip finished up another sentence (something about lead ascots and tap-dancing mutants- was the man physically incapable of doing anything that made sense?) and then finally looked at Booster. “By the way, have you talked to your sister yet?”
Booster snorted and rolled his eyes. “She beat me and then mortified me, all within five minutes.”
Rip’s lips twitched upwards and he turned, obviously trying to hid a smile, “That’s probably a record.”
“One I wish didn’t exist.”
“Did she talk to you about anything else?”
Booster leaned up against Rip’s board, forcing the other man to look him in the eyes. “How about you tell me what you think she should’ve said and I can tell you if she did or not? Make it easier on everyone.”
Rip looked at him in an extended beat, gave a little sigh and said, “Michelle wants to take a couple days off.”
“And?”
“And not be in the time lab. As in go out and see the world.”
Booster hesitated. “By herself?”
“Well, she certainly didn’t sound like she wanted either of us to go with her.”
“Skeets could-“
“We need Skeets here.”
“When Ted gets back-“
“He’s still legally dead.”
Booster’s jaw clicked shut. Rip just gave him a knowing look. “You know we can’t keep her here against her will.”
“I know that, but she’s my twin and my only family- my only family I actually know and not some great-to-the-nth-power grandparent. There’s no way you can expect me not to be worried about her.”
“Especially after what happened the last two times she was on her own?”
“Especially then.” Booster crossed his arms. “Do you have any ideas?”
Rip turned, lifting up a leg to perch on the corner of the desk. “I talked to Skeets about it and, honestly, we both think that it mostly sounds like Michelle is lonely.”
“Lonely? So you think if we found Shel a friend- someone to watch over her...?”
“Given her track record with road trips, I’d say it’s a safe bet.”
Booster tapped at his chin for a moment. “You know- you’re right.”
That gave Rip pause. “I... I’m right?”
“Yeah. We can’t keep Shel here if she doesn’t want to be and I can’t keep her hidden away if it makes her lonely.”
Rip’s eyes narrowed. “Wait- you’re not saying-“
“That I’m going to introduce her to the superhero community? Yes, I am.”
“Booster-“
He gave Rip an unyielding look, refusing to back down from this. “Shel is here because you saved her, not because she chose to be here and she deserves to decide the kind of life she wants to live. If she goes out and finds something she’d rather do than the time-thing, I’m not going to stop her. She’s my sister and I want her to be happy, no matter what it is she ends up doing. And yeah- a lot of capes don’t like me much, but there’s a few I can trust to look out for Shel until she’s fully capable of taking care of herself. I’m not losing her again, Rip, and this is the best way I know how to protect her.”
Rip’s mouth twisted into a line, but he shook his head, knowing better than to argue. “Alright. I had a feeling it was going to come down to this. So? Who did you have in mind?”
“First off I’m going to talk to her about this. Then I’m going to call Ted.”
Quick thanks to
dinahqueen for making sure there were no glaring issues!Title: The Inventor 12
Fandom: DCU
Rating: PG
Word Count: 3105
Characters: Ted, Booster, Wally, Skeets, Michelle, Rip
Summary: Eras don’t end, they merely change. One thing being resolved means something else needs dealing with.
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
“-and they listened, it was amazing! To think- six years ago I thought Bart was a bigger pain in my ass than all my Rogues combined,” Wally said with a shake of his head, “now he’s practically my savior. If it weren’t for him, the kids would’ve run me and Linda into the ground in a month.”
“I can’t even imagine it,” Ted said in disbelief. “I mean, one kid is strange enough, but twins?”
“Hey- twins are awesome!” Booster interjected. “Though twins with Speed Force- man, I do not envy you.”
“So I take it I shouldn’t expect either of you to babysit?”
They gave Wally an odd look. “You trust us to babysit?”
Wally shrugged, a grin playing on his lips, “Well, maybe in a couple years, they can babysit you.”
“Ahahaha,” Booster pounded on Wally’s shoulder hard enough to make him stagger a bit. “The comedian, folks.”
The teleporters were in view now and Wally’s humor dried a bit, “Yeah, well it got pretty hard to laugh about anything for a while. And I want to say that I do appreciate the both of you. I mean- you two were the ones that brought me to the League in the first place and you always offered help and advice when I needed it, you were always great guys to hang out with and you never failed to make me laugh, even when I didn’t want to. So if I ever acted like an ass to you guys or made you feel like I didn’t appreciate or respect you- and I know I have -I’m sorry. That was never my intention and you’ve been good friends and I want to thank you for that.”
Ted and Booster exchanged glances. “Not that we don’t enjoy a good ego stroking,” Ted said while Booster made a show of preening behind him, “but what brought that on?”
Wally shrugged and fidgeted a little self-consciously. “It’s just been a difficult couple of years. With Linda’s pregnancy and the scares I’ve had with the kids, and what happened with Bart and then Barry coming back... things have just been rough all over the place and I know Booster had it pretty bad, too. So,” he spread out his hands with a small smile, “I’m just saying thank you for everything you’ve done for me over the years. I’m sorry I’ve gone out of touch with you guys for so long. I’d like us to be friends again.”
Booster gave a touch smile, “Aw, Wally. That’s sweet.”
Ted patted him on the shoulder. “We’re still not babysitting for you.”
Wally laughed and his smile was big and unrestrained and with just a hint of wickedness- he looked almost exactly like he did when he joined the League, before life and loss and hardship wore him down. “Well, can’t blame a guy for trying.” He pulled first Ted into a hug, then Booster. “It’s good to have both of you back again. And seriously- if you need me, give me a call.”
As the men arranged themselves- Ted and Booster on the teleporters, Wally at the controls -Wally asked, “So where are you guys going?”
“I’ve got some work in Utah,” Booster said, stretching out his arms and back as if preparing for a long flight, “so outside Salt Lake City works for me.”
“You still have the Kord Industries holding facility in Chicago programmed in, right? I’m heading there.”
Wally paused, giving the two an odd look. It was obvious he wanted to question why they were separating but instead asked, “You sure it’s still there?”
“I willed most of my stuff to Booster including that storage facility, so as long as Booster didn’t get rid of anything...”
“Nope, still there,” Booster replied cheekily.
“Uh,” Wally looked a little uncertain in breeching the subject, “weren’t you legally dead for a time, Booster?”
“Yes, I was.”
When it became apparent that Wally wasn’t going to get anything more than that he said, “Okay,” then turned back to Ted, “so what’s in storage, then?”
“Projects, personal items, clothes, my plane.”
“Your plane like another Bug?” Wally had heard that two of Ted’s Bugs had been destroyed- how many did the man have?
Ted just smirked. “A plane like an Eclipse 500 VLJ. I used it mainly for business since the head of Kord Industries needed to get around in something other than a giant aircraft shaped like a bug.”
“Okay, yeah, that makes sense. Alright, Booster- I’ll send you off first. Keep in touch, big guy.”
“Sure thing, Wally. Good luck with the kids.” With a grin and a wave, Booster vanished.
Wally programmed in the next destination and he put his hand on the switch and paused. “...hey, Ted?”
“What’s up?”
“You’ll... you’ll keep an eye on Booster, right?”
Ted just cocked his head to the side and said patiently. “Sure. Why?”
“I’m sure you’ve heard it before and I’ll bet you’ll hear it again, but Booster had it really tough. Not just losing you but also Dimitri, the fallout with the satellite and when the new Beetle went missing,, the whole thing with Max and then the row he had with Ralph... I don’t think he’s had anyone really supporting him and- well, you know Booster better than I do so you know...”
“Yeah. I know.”
Wally traced a finger around the controls for a moment. “It isn’t that we didn’t tr- okay, yes, we didn’t really try and believe me when I say I’m really ashamed by the way me and everyone else has treated him. But the thing is,” he looked up at Ted with worry, “no one knows what Booster is doing anymore. He makes sporadic appearances here and there but it’s not the same- he’s not the same. Or at least he’s not to those of us that actually know him to any degree. Does that make any sense or do you think I’m going crazy?”
A small, warm smile crossed Ted’s face. “Like you said, Wally, Booster’s had it tough, but I’ll take care of him. Promise.”
Wally grinned. “I’ll hold you to that.” A pause, then, “So you sure you won’t babysit-“
“Bye, Wally.”
“One evening. A trial run-“
“Just push the button.”
“Fine, fine. Jerk.” But he was still grinning and Ted was shaking his head and laughing as he left.
~*~*~*~
Booster had figured out some nifty little tricks he could do after Rip modified his suit. Moving laterally through time was one of them. It wasn’t teleportation like he could do in the Supernova suit, but it was probably as close as one could get and after teleporting to Salt Lake City’s outer limits, Booster tapped into the controls of his gauntlets and time shifted until he was outside the lab in Arizona.
“Ah,” he half hopped, half floated down the stairs, “good to be back.” Rip’s security system acknowledged him, doors pulling back just enough for Booster to get through before sealing shut behind him. It took a moment for Booster’s eyes to adjust to the light level inside, but his visor helpfully plotted out an obstacle-free path for him. “Lucy!” He called as he strolled in. “I’m home!”
Booster made a beeline for the kitchen- teleporting on a full stomach was never a good idea for him and he was starving. Skeets met him at the doorway and, expressionless robot though he was, seemed glad to have Booster there again. “Welcome back, sir. How was your trip?”
“Long,” Booster ducked into the fridge, shuffling things aside until he found a container of leftovers under Rip’s name- meh, why not. “Boring. Resolving.” He kicked the door shut, then went over to the microwave with Skeets floating over his shoulder. “I’m feeling pretty good.”
“I’m glad to hear that. We missed you here.”
“You missed me or you missed me doing the work?”
“I do believe it’s possible to do both.”
After programming in the time, Booster reached over to rub Skeets’s surface. “Aw, I missed you too, little buddy.”
“Perhaps I did not miss you that much.”
“Mikey?” Michelle poked her head into the room. At sight of her brother, she beamed brightly. “I knew I heard your voice! Welcome home!”
“This is home?”
“It’s home enough,” she bounded over and pulled Booster into a tight hug that he laughingly returned. “You’re looking well.”
“I feel well.” The microwave beeped and Michelle refused to relinquish her hold. Booster tried to wrestle her off, but she planted a foot against the cabinets and locked her arms. “Oh, c’mon! I’m hungry! This is sibling abuse!”
“Pfft- didn’t stop you from planting slugs in my room when we were kids, did it?”
“Oh, don’t tell me you’re still bitter about that.”
“It gave me a phobia, jerk!”
“At least slugs only come out after it rains! Not like the rats that were everywhere! Or the one you kept as a pet.”
“Fammy only bit you because you scared her!”
“It ran at me! It was not scared!”
The two eventually fell to the ground, cursing and accusing each other of their complexes as they fought and though Booster was bigger and stronger, Michelle fought dirty. A knee to the gut, pinches to the neck, noogies, tickling- she took no prisoners.
“Okay, okay!” Booster flailed, trying to slap his sister away while protecting his sides. “I give!”
Michelle popped up to her feet, triumphant, while Booster wheezed. “Ha! Still undefeated champion!”
“If we had a ref, you so would’ve been penalized.”
“Skeets didn’t see any unsportsmanlike conduct, did you Skeets?”
“I’m sorry,” he said flatly, “I was going over my weekly maintenance checks. Did I miss something?”
“You’re a traitor,” Booster said, pushing himself upright. “Now can I eat in peace?”
“Sure, sure.” When Booster took a seat at the table, Michelle sat next to him. “So where’s Ted?”
“Hm? Oh, he’s in Chicago.”
Michelle was silent for so long Booster looked at her over a forkful of noodles. She seemed distraught. More so than Booster had seen in a long, long time. Then she punched him in the arm, nearly making him choke on food.
“Ow! What the hell?”
“You let him go? What is wrong with you?”
“With me? You’re the one hitting me for no good reason!”
“I’m hitting you because you let the love of your life leave!” She punched him in the arm again.
“Ow- stop that!” Booster scrambled backwards, putting a table between him and his punch-happy sister. “He’s not gone, he’s just picking up some personal stuff before coming back!”
Michelle paused. “He’s coming back?”
“Yes!”
“Oh.” Michelle looked thoughtful in her seat. Booster carefully went back to his food, inching closer and keeping a careful eye on his sister. Then, once he was in range, Michelle punched him again. “You should’ve said so in the first place!”
“Dammit! Hit me one more time and I’m hitting you back!”
“You big baby. If it hurts that much, then use your forcefield.” Then Michelle’s expression softened and she asked, “So you and Ted are okay?”
“Yeah, we’re okay.”
“Good.” She reached out a hand and patted Booster’s. “I was really worried about you two.”
Booster turned his hand over, squeezing at Michelle’s fingertips. “We talked it out. We’re good.”
“Good.” She waited a beat before asking, “So did you tell him you love him yet?”
Booster gave her a look, fork sticking out of his mouth. “Tell you what- why don’t you tell me what you’ve been up to so I can eat?”
“Alright,” and she talked about what she and Skeets had been doing and what she was learning, all the while giving her brother a look that said ‘I haven’t forgotten the topic you don’t want to talk about so don’t think you’re off the hook’. Skeets interjected every now and again to either correct some detail or to explain his own part in Michelle’s timey hijinks.
Booster hurried to finish his meal before Michelle finished her story so he could toss the dishes in the sink and say, “Alright, I’m gonna go take a shower before Rip starts cracking the whip on me again.” He couldn’t help throwing a smug ‘so getting out of your interrogating’ smile at her before walking away.
He, of course, should’ve known better because as he walked away, Michelle called out, “Are you going to be fantasizing about Ted while you’re at it?”
Booster whirled around, scandalized. “Shel!”
“What?”
He spluttered incoherently, growing bright red all the while. Michelle grinned wickedly. “I’m going to take that as a yes.”
“Argh!” Booster scrubbed his hands over his face. “Don’t say things like that!”
“Why not?”
“Because that’s... it’s-“
“True?”
“Yes! No! I mean- it’s inappropriate!”
“No, inappropriate would be if you were fantasizing about him in public. Alone and where your sister can’t hear you moaning his name is completely appropriate.”
Booster continued to make a horrified gurgling noise. And people thought he was shameless. “Please don’t say these kinds of things around Ted. I don’t want you scaring him away.”
Michelle sniffed, insulted. “I do have a modicum of tact, thank you. Just that now that I can say Ted’s name without you looking like you’re about to break into tears, that makes him a safe topic.” Which meant Ted was going to be the least safe topic because Michelle was going to embarrass her brother about him any way that she could.
“The next thing that I can pick up, I’m throwing it at you.”
Skeets gave a little beep. “I think I’ll be going now. Good to have you back, sir,” and he promptly zipped out.
“Skeets! Aw, c’mon!” Booster called after him. “I wouldn’t throw you!” Skeets didn’t come back and Booster turned on Michelle. “Great- see what you did?”
“Uh-uh, I didn’t do a thing. If Skeets thinks you’d throw him at someone, that’s on you.”
“If I can pin the blame on you, I will.”
Michelle just smiled. “Welcome back, Mikey.” She walked over to give him a quick hug. “You go shower, I’ll let Rip know you’re back.”
“Thanks.” Before Michelle could move back, he placed a kiss to the crown of her head. “Missed you.”
“Surprisingly, I missed you too.” She laughed and shooed him off. “Now get going. You’ve got work to do.”
~*~*~*~
Booster was suited up but still drying his hair when he went into the lab proper and found Rip jotting some things down on his chalkboard. Even with access to all technology across time, even with the myriad of complex equipment and things that could send even Isaac Asimov into peels of glee and Rip still did a vast majority of his work on a chalkboard. Booster could not understand it.
“Welcome back,” Rip greeted without turning around. “Wasted no time getting comfortable, I see.”
How could you tell if you don’t even look, Booster thought, sending a mock scowl at Rip’s back. “Gotta make sure I’m prepared to take on all of time, right?”
“Well, I suppose that’s one way of looking at it.” Rip finished up another sentence (something about lead ascots and tap-dancing mutants- was the man physically incapable of doing anything that made sense?) and then finally looked at Booster. “By the way, have you talked to your sister yet?”
Booster snorted and rolled his eyes. “She beat me and then mortified me, all within five minutes.”
Rip’s lips twitched upwards and he turned, obviously trying to hid a smile, “That’s probably a record.”
“One I wish didn’t exist.”
“Did she talk to you about anything else?”
Booster leaned up against Rip’s board, forcing the other man to look him in the eyes. “How about you tell me what you think she should’ve said and I can tell you if she did or not? Make it easier on everyone.”
Rip looked at him in an extended beat, gave a little sigh and said, “Michelle wants to take a couple days off.”
“And?”
“And not be in the time lab. As in go out and see the world.”
Booster hesitated. “By herself?”
“Well, she certainly didn’t sound like she wanted either of us to go with her.”
“Skeets could-“
“We need Skeets here.”
“When Ted gets back-“
“He’s still legally dead.”
Booster’s jaw clicked shut. Rip just gave him a knowing look. “You know we can’t keep her here against her will.”
“I know that, but she’s my twin and my only family- my only family I actually know and not some great-to-the-nth-power grandparent. There’s no way you can expect me not to be worried about her.”
“Especially after what happened the last two times she was on her own?”
“Especially then.” Booster crossed his arms. “Do you have any ideas?”
Rip turned, lifting up a leg to perch on the corner of the desk. “I talked to Skeets about it and, honestly, we both think that it mostly sounds like Michelle is lonely.”
“Lonely? So you think if we found Shel a friend- someone to watch over her...?”
“Given her track record with road trips, I’d say it’s a safe bet.”
Booster tapped at his chin for a moment. “You know- you’re right.”
That gave Rip pause. “I... I’m right?”
“Yeah. We can’t keep Shel here if she doesn’t want to be and I can’t keep her hidden away if it makes her lonely.”
Rip’s eyes narrowed. “Wait- you’re not saying-“
“That I’m going to introduce her to the superhero community? Yes, I am.”
“Booster-“
He gave Rip an unyielding look, refusing to back down from this. “Shel is here because you saved her, not because she chose to be here and she deserves to decide the kind of life she wants to live. If she goes out and finds something she’d rather do than the time-thing, I’m not going to stop her. She’s my sister and I want her to be happy, no matter what it is she ends up doing. And yeah- a lot of capes don’t like me much, but there’s a few I can trust to look out for Shel until she’s fully capable of taking care of herself. I’m not losing her again, Rip, and this is the best way I know how to protect her.”
Rip’s mouth twisted into a line, but he shook his head, knowing better than to argue. “Alright. I had a feeling it was going to come down to this. So? Who did you have in mind?”
“First off I’m going to talk to her about this. Then I’m going to call Ted.”
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-06-19 03:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-19 05:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-19 05:36 am (UTC)I do wonder how long it will be before Wally gives up on charming babysitters and resorts to begging and/or bribery? :)
no subject
Date: 2010-06-19 07:10 pm (UTC)If it weren't for Bart, Jay and Iris, I do not doubt Wally would be shamelessly throwing himself at people. And, of course, the first ones he'd go to would be his former teammates.
Dick: Sorry, I got some brooding and intimidating to do. Also, I have Damian.
Roy: Sorry, I have to keep Ollie from doing stupid things, expand Connor's worldview and also I have Lian.
Garth: *is underwater, can't here, lalalaaaa~*
Donna: Craaaaaaaaaaaap.
no subject
Date: 2010-08-12 09:06 pm (UTC)Gotta say, loving the fic so far.
8D
Date: 2010-10-26 09:36 pm (UTC)BTW... How do you do enteries per say?
^^;; I wanna post my BG/BB fic... buut D: I'm not sure how you do it.
Re: 8D
Date: 2010-10-26 09:44 pm (UTC)Or just read up here: How to Cut (http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=75)
no subject
Date: 2012-07-10 12:10 am (UTC)