Three Request Fics
First, great thanks to everyone who left prompts! Sometimes I just need to get my brain going, and it helps. Second, these are all massively unbetaed.
Requester: fullmetal_cute
Title: Tickled Pink
Fandom: Justice League Unlimited
Characters: Flash, Batman (full team mentioned)
Rating: PG
Prompt: Something in which Wally puts his knowledge from his day job to good use while super-heroing.
***
Ever since Mister Terrific took over assigning League missions, Flash had worked with just about everyone on the roster. He had his favorites (Elongated Man was a great guy, and he couldn't get enough of working with Fire and Ice) and his list of fellow heroes who drove him nuts (if he had to put up with both Booster Gold and Booster's ego on one more mission, he was not going to be responsible for happened, okay?) and his friends who were so close they were like extensions of himself sometimes (GL and Shayera and Diana and Supes and J'onn when he came back). But maybe because the old guard were all so good at working with one another, they didn't often get assigned together. The team was bigger now. The whole lot needed to work as a unit regardless of who showed up at a battle, so Mister T made sure they had plenty of practice.
When he was sent out to investigate a string of crimes that had Intergang written all over it, Flash wasn't expecting Batman to meet him at the scene of the latest break-in.
"I found this," Bats said, without even a hello, thrusting a piece of torn clothing into Flash's hands. "The fabric is the same as the uniforms worn by Lexcorp workers at their chemical plant."
"I thought Graves was back to running Lexcorp since Lex went all … " He attempted to mime the Brainiac creature that had thrust out of Luthor's chest with metal tentacles and a bad attitude and a god complex. From the non-look on Batman's face, apparently he managed "Scooby-Doo villain."
"She is. That doesn't mean they're not involved."
Flash looked at the fabric again. There was even a convenient tiny bit of logo on the edge of the tear, if he knew where to look.
Something wasn't right.
"Bats, stupid question." Batman looked at him like those were all Flash ever asked. "You got any phenolphthalein in your Bat Belt?"
He could tell that Bats wanted to correct him, that it was a utility belt, not a Bat Belt, but that Bats also felt he was probably too cool to protest. It was kinda funny to watch. Instead of replying, Batman flipped open a pouch and pulled out a small vial of clear liquid. Score. The lab where Wally worked used it for blood spot testing, and he figured Batman would have some on hand for the same reason.
"Thanks." He dripped a little over the fabric. Nothing happened. "That plant manufactures some pretty strong bases, lot of sodium hydroxide, that sort of thing." He showed the pristine fabric to Batman. "You ever know someone who worked at a chemical plant without getting any residue on their clothes? If there's no pink, this whole thing stinks."
Batman didn't say anything, only took the cloth back. Now they knew someone wanted to frame Lexcorp.
Flash said, "Oh, come on. It was funny."
"We're leaving."
"You're just mad you didn't say it first."
"Now."
***
Requester: anyjen
Title: Hemiparasite
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Ianto, Jack
Rating: PG
Prompt: Mistletoe (I may pick up the others later!)
***
He holds the mistletoe between two fingers. So many legends, so many myths, and he once read them all, because quiet boys who are a bit shy get beaten up less when under the safe eye of the librarian at school. Books aren't the best protection, but they can stop hard words from landing so brutally, and they can be a place to hide.
In the myths, the mistletoe shot down the most bright and beautiful god, who could not return for the lack of one god's tears. Ianto has never had that problem, which was another good reason to stay out of the way of the bigger boys. He can't always stop them even now, and part of him thinks that's a little piece of the magic. The most bright and beautiful god who dies like a solar legend all the time, he can come back because there will always be someone there to shed tears over his corpse. It's Ianto's own private myth.
One little sprig, so much trouble.
"What've you got?" Jack looms behind him now, warm and playful and currently quite alive. No arrows sticking out, no veins spurting his life's blood, just Jack when their work is finished for the day and they can both pretend for a couple of hours that they aren't who they are.
"Just a bit of decoration." He goes to set it down, but Jack's never been stupid, and he grabs it and holds it high above them, as high as his arm can stretch.
"Have I ever told you about the time … " Ianto stops him with a kiss, because yes, Jack has told him about that time, and also the other one The man never stops talking. Jack laughs into the kiss, and then tilts his head just so, and it's always like this, kissing Jack, like the sun is coming back after a long, awful winter deep under the sullen snow.
***
Requester: lawsontl
Title: The Boy Who Lived
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Steven, Alice, Jack, Ianto
Rating: G (sorry!)
Prompt: your ET/TW crossover. Any day after the story finishes, Jack, Ianto, Alice and Steven (I know, it's four, but one's a kid!) having a meal together or some other type of family bonding that's also a bit of a debrief/post-mortem of the alien visit.
Author's Note: For those coming in late, this is referring to The Extraterrestrial.
***
Saturdays were the best days of the whole week. Weekdays meant waking to the alarm, dozing off again, and then getting up to Mum yelling at him to get his bum out of bed. Hurry to dress, hurry to eat, stay out of Mum's way when she got lunches ready, and out the door, and Steven hardly had time to breathe.
Saturdays meant no shouting, lazy curling up under his sheets, and when he finally went downstairs, cereal in front of the telly for as long as he wanted.
His clock said it was past eight, and he could hear Mum downstairs. He lay in bed a little longer, thinking about school. The work was never hard, no matter what the subject. His classmates complained all the time, but Steven sped through his assignments and spent the rest of his time daydreaming. Mum told him -- at home where no-one could hear -- that she'd excelled at school when she was a girl, that it was a good thing but try not to show off. "Try not to stand out," was what she meant, and he could never figure out why. His best mate Bobby didn't mind if Steven was smart, but Bobby had moved and Steven had made a new friend, but the new friend had been a special secret who'd gone away again.
"Why'd you have police at your house?" Mary Duncan had asked him two days later when he'd been well enough to go back to school. Mary lived on his street.
"There was a robber," Steven had told the little crowd of kids who'd gathered round to hear. "He held up Mum and me, but the police came and he got away." Mum and Uncle Jack had coached him on the story, once UNIT had left and all the mess in the house got cleaned up.
"What'd he look like?" Mary pressed, but Steven did what Uncle Jack had told him to do, and shivered, and said he didn't want to talk about it. The other kids grumbled and walked off, except the new boy, Tim. He'd moved over the summer into their neighbourhood.
"Really a robber?"
"Really," said Steven.
After that, the other kids had gone back to ignoring him, which was okay because he wasn't sure how he'd keep lying about the squashy alien who'd lived in his wardrobe. Mary Duncan said he was a freak, and her girlfriends tittered when he walked by, but Steven told himself he didn't care.
And now it was Saturday, and he didn't have to deal with Mary Duncan and the rest for two whole days. Steven crawled out of bed, put on his play clothes, and went downstairs for breakfast.
"Good morning," said Mum, sitting at the table with her coffee and her newspaper.
"Morning, Mum." He got out the sugary chocolatey marshmallowy cereal he liked best and made himself an overflowing bowl with lots of milk as Mum watched, smiling in a weird way at him.
"How are you feeling, sweetheart?"
"'m good," he said around his first crunchy bite.
"Not tired? Nothing sore?" Mum had asked him every day since the alien left how he felt, which was weird. He felt fine. And of course she always ended with: "Do you still miss your friend?"
Steven shrugged, like he always did. "Yeah." But as the days passed, he found that he missed Bobby more.
Usually, Mum would drop it after that, but usually, it was morning and he was running late anyway. Mum said, "Your uncle is dropping by later." Her face got that look she always did when she mentioned Uncle Jack, like she just bit into a lemon but didn't want to look like she just bit into a lemon.
Steven grinned around his cereal. Uncle Jack had been by a lot lately, even before the alien, and he always brought presents. Mum scolded him and said he was spoiling Steven, but Steven didn't mind one bit.
Mum watched his face. "Now, he said he was dropping by. His job keeps him very busy, and he might not have a chance." She always said that, when she said he was coming to visit. Sometimes she was right. His grandmother used to say the same thing and sometimes Steven thought Mum wanted to say something else, thought he heard other words under the ones she said. "Go spend time with your uncle" was said in the same warning tones as "Don't talk to strangers" and "Don't go play with the faeries."
Steven finished his cereal and watched telly until Mum made him do his chores and start his homework.
At four, there was a knock on the door, and Steven beat Mum to it, remembering before he did the lock that he was never ever supposed to open the door himself, even if he knew who it was. Anyone who belonged there would have a key, and anyone who didn't would have the Devil's own time of getting in while he got himself away. His grandmother's rules again, he remembered, imprinted on him like words to paper.
Mum opened the door with a tight smile. Uncle Jack had a wide grin for her, and a paper bag full of what Steven thought looked like groceries. He wasn't alone. Mum's eyes went back and forth between them, until she finally said, "Well, come in, then."
Steven was used to Mum and Uncle Jack. Most people said "Hello!" or "How are you?" or "What a pleasant surprise!" but when it was Uncle Jack, Mum tended to say, "Oh, it's you."
As soon as Uncle Jack was inside, Steven piled into him. Uncle Jack set down the bag and picked him up like he didn't weigh anything at all. Mum said Steven was too big for her to lift anymore, but Uncle Jack made him feel like he could fly.
"Did we come at a bad time?" asked Uncle Jack's friend. Mr. Jones, that was his name. He'd been at their house when the alien had gone home, and again right after. He was one of Uncle Jack's work friends, so maybe Uncle Jack had to go back to work soon.
"No," said Mum. "I was about to get supper started." She looked through the bag while Uncle Jack swung Steven around so hard it made his stomach do flips. "If you make him vomit, you're cleaning it up."
"Fine, fine."
Steven found himself on the ground again. He wasn't supposed to ask for presents, and he didn't see anything in the bag that looked like toys, just some bread and some bottles and things. Steven spied something wrapped that could be a cake.
Mr. Jones said, "Jack wasn't sure what you were planning, so we picked up a few extras."
"That's fine," Mum said, and lifted the bag. She tilted her head to Uncle Jack. "A word? In the kitchen?" Uncle Jack ruffled Steven's hair and followed her into their kitchen while Mr. Jones found a hook for his own jacket. Without the jacket, Steven could see the cast on his arm. There were lots of names on it, and some pictures, too. When Jamie Harold broke his leg last summer, all the kids had written their names on his cast too, and Steven had drawn a picture of a mouse with great big ears.
Mr. Jones looked at Steven, his mouth crumpled up for a moment like he was thinking hard, maybe. "It's good to see you again," he said, finally. "Have you been well?"
Steven shrugged like he did with his mum. "Yeah."
"Good." He stared into the kitchen, where Mum was talking in her low, annoyed voice. "Do you know if your uncle told your mother I was coming with him?"
He shrugged again. "Dunno. She didn't say. Do you want to see my room?"
"I've alre … Sure."
Steven went upstairs with Mr. Jones behind him. Mr. Jones had seen Steven's room before, when the alien was still there, but now Steven got to show him all his cool aeroplanes and rocket ships, and this one neat book he had about whales, and the race cars that really moved. He couldn't show his computer, not since the alien broke it, but that was okay. Mr. Jones sat in the one chair in the room, and he smiled like he was a little scared as Steven showed him everything.
There was a knock on the doorframe, and Uncle Jack said, "I was wondering where the two of you got to."
"Steven was showing me his toys."
"Steven has a lot of great toys." Uncle Jack loved coming up here and playing with him, and he always made the best noises when they flew the planes around the room.
"I can see that." He got up from the chair and went over to Uncle Jack. In a soft voice that Steven wasn't supposed to be able to hear, he said, "Is Alice angry?"
"Alice is always angry at me."
"I should go."
Uncle Jack's hand shot out and held his friend's good arm. "No, you should stay."
"Not if it's going to make things more difficult between the two of you."
"She'll be fine. She likes having things to resent me for."
Mr. Jones sighed. "Jack … "
"I want you here. Please?"
Uncle Jack hardly ever said "please," which was one of the things that Mum complained about using very bad words Steven wasn't allowed to say. Mr. Jones had the same look on his face that Mum got when Uncle Jack said something crazy and she didn't believe him, which was most of the time. "I don't think it will be useful for either of us if you parade around your latest … " he broke off, looking over at Steven. "Anyway, I'm sure she's tired of you bringing people over unannounced."
"I don't … " Uncle Jack's face changed a little then. "Steven, when's the last time I brought someone over to visit with me?"
Steven thought. "Last week. Mr. Jones and Miss Cooper and Miss Habiba." He stumbled over the last name, just as he had the first time he'd said it. "And all those UNIT people. And Miss Johnson." She'd been around three more times since, but Uncle Jack hadn't been with her.
"What about before that?"
He shrugged. "Dunno."
"I don't bring people over, do I?" Steven shook his head. "Unless you've got an alien in your wardrobe. So if I do bring someone over, that's a pretty special occasion, right?"
Another shrug. Steven had learned from his Mum how not to answer questions if there was no good answer. "I guess."
"So let's all go downstairs and have some supper together." He looked at Mr. Jones, "All right?"
"What if she hates me?"
"Then we're spending the holidays with your sister. She likes me." Mr. Jones kind of froze in place, like the little rabbit Steven found in the yard one morning, too scared to run. Uncle Jack laughed. "Complain about me over dinner. Alice will be your new best friend." He gave his friend a quick squeeze, and then he swooped over to pick up Steven.
Steven held out his arms like a bird as his uncle flew him down to stairs, both of them whooping and laughing as Mum frowned. "Be careful with him. God knows you'll drop him."
"Never!" said Uncle Jack.
Mr. Jones came down the stairs behind them. "I take it when he comes to visit, you've got two children in the house?"
Mum kept frowning, but Steven could tell she was trying to fight a smile.
Supper was delicious, a creamy pasta dish that Steven loved, and his uncle showed him how to mop up all the sauce with the bread and make noises as they ate it. Mum sighed a lot, but so did Mr. Jones, and they both agreed that they just couldn't take Uncle Jack anywhere, really.
Steven was midway through a large slice of chocolate cake when the phone rang. Mum answered and said it was for him. That usually meant it was his dad, but when he said, "Hello?" the voice on the other end was the new boy, Tim, inviting him over to play and watch a DVD.
His stomach got tangled a little. Uncle Jack was over, and that usually meant Steven ought to stay and be nice to family. But Uncle Jack had been coming around a lot lately, and would be coming around more, and maybe that meant it would be okay. Part of him was sad because he still missed Bobby, and he hadn't played with anyone except the alien since Bobby had left. But part of him wanted to go see Tim's toys, and anyway, it sounded like fun.
"Can I go?"
Mum fussed over him. "Are you sure you feel up to it?" Steven nodded. "I suppose you can go."
Steven let out a yell and then told Tim it was okay. He kissed his Mum, got a quick hug from his uncle, and hurried into his jacket. The adults stayed at the table, with cake and coffee, and Mum wasn't even yelling at Uncle Jack. They were talking, boring grown-up talk, and Steven was glad he had the chance to go play.
They were still talking when he got home, hours later.
***
Requester: fullmetal_cute
Title: Tickled Pink
Fandom: Justice League Unlimited
Characters: Flash, Batman (full team mentioned)
Rating: PG
Prompt: Something in which Wally puts his knowledge from his day job to good use while super-heroing.
***
Ever since Mister Terrific took over assigning League missions, Flash had worked with just about everyone on the roster. He had his favorites (Elongated Man was a great guy, and he couldn't get enough of working with Fire and Ice) and his list of fellow heroes who drove him nuts (if he had to put up with both Booster Gold and Booster's ego on one more mission, he was not going to be responsible for happened, okay?) and his friends who were so close they were like extensions of himself sometimes (GL and Shayera and Diana and Supes and J'onn when he came back). But maybe because the old guard were all so good at working with one another, they didn't often get assigned together. The team was bigger now. The whole lot needed to work as a unit regardless of who showed up at a battle, so Mister T made sure they had plenty of practice.
When he was sent out to investigate a string of crimes that had Intergang written all over it, Flash wasn't expecting Batman to meet him at the scene of the latest break-in.
"I found this," Bats said, without even a hello, thrusting a piece of torn clothing into Flash's hands. "The fabric is the same as the uniforms worn by Lexcorp workers at their chemical plant."
"I thought Graves was back to running Lexcorp since Lex went all … " He attempted to mime the Brainiac creature that had thrust out of Luthor's chest with metal tentacles and a bad attitude and a god complex. From the non-look on Batman's face, apparently he managed "Scooby-Doo villain."
"She is. That doesn't mean they're not involved."
Flash looked at the fabric again. There was even a convenient tiny bit of logo on the edge of the tear, if he knew where to look.
Something wasn't right.
"Bats, stupid question." Batman looked at him like those were all Flash ever asked. "You got any phenolphthalein in your Bat Belt?"
He could tell that Bats wanted to correct him, that it was a utility belt, not a Bat Belt, but that Bats also felt he was probably too cool to protest. It was kinda funny to watch. Instead of replying, Batman flipped open a pouch and pulled out a small vial of clear liquid. Score. The lab where Wally worked used it for blood spot testing, and he figured Batman would have some on hand for the same reason.
"Thanks." He dripped a little over the fabric. Nothing happened. "That plant manufactures some pretty strong bases, lot of sodium hydroxide, that sort of thing." He showed the pristine fabric to Batman. "You ever know someone who worked at a chemical plant without getting any residue on their clothes? If there's no pink, this whole thing stinks."
Batman didn't say anything, only took the cloth back. Now they knew someone wanted to frame Lexcorp.
Flash said, "Oh, come on. It was funny."
"We're leaving."
"You're just mad you didn't say it first."
"Now."
***
Requester: anyjen
Title: Hemiparasite
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Ianto, Jack
Rating: PG
Prompt: Mistletoe (I may pick up the others later!)
***
He holds the mistletoe between two fingers. So many legends, so many myths, and he once read them all, because quiet boys who are a bit shy get beaten up less when under the safe eye of the librarian at school. Books aren't the best protection, but they can stop hard words from landing so brutally, and they can be a place to hide.
In the myths, the mistletoe shot down the most bright and beautiful god, who could not return for the lack of one god's tears. Ianto has never had that problem, which was another good reason to stay out of the way of the bigger boys. He can't always stop them even now, and part of him thinks that's a little piece of the magic. The most bright and beautiful god who dies like a solar legend all the time, he can come back because there will always be someone there to shed tears over his corpse. It's Ianto's own private myth.
One little sprig, so much trouble.
"What've you got?" Jack looms behind him now, warm and playful and currently quite alive. No arrows sticking out, no veins spurting his life's blood, just Jack when their work is finished for the day and they can both pretend for a couple of hours that they aren't who they are.
"Just a bit of decoration." He goes to set it down, but Jack's never been stupid, and he grabs it and holds it high above them, as high as his arm can stretch.
"Have I ever told you about the time … " Ianto stops him with a kiss, because yes, Jack has told him about that time, and also the other one The man never stops talking. Jack laughs into the kiss, and then tilts his head just so, and it's always like this, kissing Jack, like the sun is coming back after a long, awful winter deep under the sullen snow.
***
Requester: lawsontl
Title: The Boy Who Lived
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Steven, Alice, Jack, Ianto
Rating: G (sorry!)
Prompt: your ET/TW crossover. Any day after the story finishes, Jack, Ianto, Alice and Steven (I know, it's four, but one's a kid!) having a meal together or some other type of family bonding that's also a bit of a debrief/post-mortem of the alien visit.
Author's Note: For those coming in late, this is referring to The Extraterrestrial.
***
Saturdays were the best days of the whole week. Weekdays meant waking to the alarm, dozing off again, and then getting up to Mum yelling at him to get his bum out of bed. Hurry to dress, hurry to eat, stay out of Mum's way when she got lunches ready, and out the door, and Steven hardly had time to breathe.
Saturdays meant no shouting, lazy curling up under his sheets, and when he finally went downstairs, cereal in front of the telly for as long as he wanted.
His clock said it was past eight, and he could hear Mum downstairs. He lay in bed a little longer, thinking about school. The work was never hard, no matter what the subject. His classmates complained all the time, but Steven sped through his assignments and spent the rest of his time daydreaming. Mum told him -- at home where no-one could hear -- that she'd excelled at school when she was a girl, that it was a good thing but try not to show off. "Try not to stand out," was what she meant, and he could never figure out why. His best mate Bobby didn't mind if Steven was smart, but Bobby had moved and Steven had made a new friend, but the new friend had been a special secret who'd gone away again.
"Why'd you have police at your house?" Mary Duncan had asked him two days later when he'd been well enough to go back to school. Mary lived on his street.
"There was a robber," Steven had told the little crowd of kids who'd gathered round to hear. "He held up Mum and me, but the police came and he got away." Mum and Uncle Jack had coached him on the story, once UNIT had left and all the mess in the house got cleaned up.
"What'd he look like?" Mary pressed, but Steven did what Uncle Jack had told him to do, and shivered, and said he didn't want to talk about it. The other kids grumbled and walked off, except the new boy, Tim. He'd moved over the summer into their neighbourhood.
"Really a robber?"
"Really," said Steven.
After that, the other kids had gone back to ignoring him, which was okay because he wasn't sure how he'd keep lying about the squashy alien who'd lived in his wardrobe. Mary Duncan said he was a freak, and her girlfriends tittered when he walked by, but Steven told himself he didn't care.
And now it was Saturday, and he didn't have to deal with Mary Duncan and the rest for two whole days. Steven crawled out of bed, put on his play clothes, and went downstairs for breakfast.
"Good morning," said Mum, sitting at the table with her coffee and her newspaper.
"Morning, Mum." He got out the sugary chocolatey marshmallowy cereal he liked best and made himself an overflowing bowl with lots of milk as Mum watched, smiling in a weird way at him.
"How are you feeling, sweetheart?"
"'m good," he said around his first crunchy bite.
"Not tired? Nothing sore?" Mum had asked him every day since the alien left how he felt, which was weird. He felt fine. And of course she always ended with: "Do you still miss your friend?"
Steven shrugged, like he always did. "Yeah." But as the days passed, he found that he missed Bobby more.
Usually, Mum would drop it after that, but usually, it was morning and he was running late anyway. Mum said, "Your uncle is dropping by later." Her face got that look she always did when she mentioned Uncle Jack, like she just bit into a lemon but didn't want to look like she just bit into a lemon.
Steven grinned around his cereal. Uncle Jack had been by a lot lately, even before the alien, and he always brought presents. Mum scolded him and said he was spoiling Steven, but Steven didn't mind one bit.
Mum watched his face. "Now, he said he was dropping by. His job keeps him very busy, and he might not have a chance." She always said that, when she said he was coming to visit. Sometimes she was right. His grandmother used to say the same thing and sometimes Steven thought Mum wanted to say something else, thought he heard other words under the ones she said. "Go spend time with your uncle" was said in the same warning tones as "Don't talk to strangers" and "Don't go play with the faeries."
Steven finished his cereal and watched telly until Mum made him do his chores and start his homework.
At four, there was a knock on the door, and Steven beat Mum to it, remembering before he did the lock that he was never ever supposed to open the door himself, even if he knew who it was. Anyone who belonged there would have a key, and anyone who didn't would have the Devil's own time of getting in while he got himself away. His grandmother's rules again, he remembered, imprinted on him like words to paper.
Mum opened the door with a tight smile. Uncle Jack had a wide grin for her, and a paper bag full of what Steven thought looked like groceries. He wasn't alone. Mum's eyes went back and forth between them, until she finally said, "Well, come in, then."
Steven was used to Mum and Uncle Jack. Most people said "Hello!" or "How are you?" or "What a pleasant surprise!" but when it was Uncle Jack, Mum tended to say, "Oh, it's you."
As soon as Uncle Jack was inside, Steven piled into him. Uncle Jack set down the bag and picked him up like he didn't weigh anything at all. Mum said Steven was too big for her to lift anymore, but Uncle Jack made him feel like he could fly.
"Did we come at a bad time?" asked Uncle Jack's friend. Mr. Jones, that was his name. He'd been at their house when the alien had gone home, and again right after. He was one of Uncle Jack's work friends, so maybe Uncle Jack had to go back to work soon.
"No," said Mum. "I was about to get supper started." She looked through the bag while Uncle Jack swung Steven around so hard it made his stomach do flips. "If you make him vomit, you're cleaning it up."
"Fine, fine."
Steven found himself on the ground again. He wasn't supposed to ask for presents, and he didn't see anything in the bag that looked like toys, just some bread and some bottles and things. Steven spied something wrapped that could be a cake.
Mr. Jones said, "Jack wasn't sure what you were planning, so we picked up a few extras."
"That's fine," Mum said, and lifted the bag. She tilted her head to Uncle Jack. "A word? In the kitchen?" Uncle Jack ruffled Steven's hair and followed her into their kitchen while Mr. Jones found a hook for his own jacket. Without the jacket, Steven could see the cast on his arm. There were lots of names on it, and some pictures, too. When Jamie Harold broke his leg last summer, all the kids had written their names on his cast too, and Steven had drawn a picture of a mouse with great big ears.
Mr. Jones looked at Steven, his mouth crumpled up for a moment like he was thinking hard, maybe. "It's good to see you again," he said, finally. "Have you been well?"
Steven shrugged like he did with his mum. "Yeah."
"Good." He stared into the kitchen, where Mum was talking in her low, annoyed voice. "Do you know if your uncle told your mother I was coming with him?"
He shrugged again. "Dunno. She didn't say. Do you want to see my room?"
"I've alre … Sure."
Steven went upstairs with Mr. Jones behind him. Mr. Jones had seen Steven's room before, when the alien was still there, but now Steven got to show him all his cool aeroplanes and rocket ships, and this one neat book he had about whales, and the race cars that really moved. He couldn't show his computer, not since the alien broke it, but that was okay. Mr. Jones sat in the one chair in the room, and he smiled like he was a little scared as Steven showed him everything.
There was a knock on the doorframe, and Uncle Jack said, "I was wondering where the two of you got to."
"Steven was showing me his toys."
"Steven has a lot of great toys." Uncle Jack loved coming up here and playing with him, and he always made the best noises when they flew the planes around the room.
"I can see that." He got up from the chair and went over to Uncle Jack. In a soft voice that Steven wasn't supposed to be able to hear, he said, "Is Alice angry?"
"Alice is always angry at me."
"I should go."
Uncle Jack's hand shot out and held his friend's good arm. "No, you should stay."
"Not if it's going to make things more difficult between the two of you."
"She'll be fine. She likes having things to resent me for."
Mr. Jones sighed. "Jack … "
"I want you here. Please?"
Uncle Jack hardly ever said "please," which was one of the things that Mum complained about using very bad words Steven wasn't allowed to say. Mr. Jones had the same look on his face that Mum got when Uncle Jack said something crazy and she didn't believe him, which was most of the time. "I don't think it will be useful for either of us if you parade around your latest … " he broke off, looking over at Steven. "Anyway, I'm sure she's tired of you bringing people over unannounced."
"I don't … " Uncle Jack's face changed a little then. "Steven, when's the last time I brought someone over to visit with me?"
Steven thought. "Last week. Mr. Jones and Miss Cooper and Miss Habiba." He stumbled over the last name, just as he had the first time he'd said it. "And all those UNIT people. And Miss Johnson." She'd been around three more times since, but Uncle Jack hadn't been with her.
"What about before that?"
He shrugged. "Dunno."
"I don't bring people over, do I?" Steven shook his head. "Unless you've got an alien in your wardrobe. So if I do bring someone over, that's a pretty special occasion, right?"
Another shrug. Steven had learned from his Mum how not to answer questions if there was no good answer. "I guess."
"So let's all go downstairs and have some supper together." He looked at Mr. Jones, "All right?"
"What if she hates me?"
"Then we're spending the holidays with your sister. She likes me." Mr. Jones kind of froze in place, like the little rabbit Steven found in the yard one morning, too scared to run. Uncle Jack laughed. "Complain about me over dinner. Alice will be your new best friend." He gave his friend a quick squeeze, and then he swooped over to pick up Steven.
Steven held out his arms like a bird as his uncle flew him down to stairs, both of them whooping and laughing as Mum frowned. "Be careful with him. God knows you'll drop him."
"Never!" said Uncle Jack.
Mr. Jones came down the stairs behind them. "I take it when he comes to visit, you've got two children in the house?"
Mum kept frowning, but Steven could tell she was trying to fight a smile.
Supper was delicious, a creamy pasta dish that Steven loved, and his uncle showed him how to mop up all the sauce with the bread and make noises as they ate it. Mum sighed a lot, but so did Mr. Jones, and they both agreed that they just couldn't take Uncle Jack anywhere, really.
Steven was midway through a large slice of chocolate cake when the phone rang. Mum answered and said it was for him. That usually meant it was his dad, but when he said, "Hello?" the voice on the other end was the new boy, Tim, inviting him over to play and watch a DVD.
His stomach got tangled a little. Uncle Jack was over, and that usually meant Steven ought to stay and be nice to family. But Uncle Jack had been coming around a lot lately, and would be coming around more, and maybe that meant it would be okay. Part of him was sad because he still missed Bobby, and he hadn't played with anyone except the alien since Bobby had left. But part of him wanted to go see Tim's toys, and anyway, it sounded like fun.
"Can I go?"
Mum fussed over him. "Are you sure you feel up to it?" Steven nodded. "I suppose you can go."
Steven let out a yell and then told Tim it was okay. He kissed his Mum, got a quick hug from his uncle, and hurried into his jacket. The adults stayed at the table, with cake and coffee, and Mum wasn't even yelling at Uncle Jack. They were talking, boring grown-up talk, and Steven was glad he had the chance to go play.
They were still talking when he got home, hours later.
***