Little Boy Blue. Epilogue
I know I mentioned this in some of the earlier chapters, but I felt the need to mention it again. The inspiration behind the name was "Cat's Cradle" by Harry Chapin:
And as I hung up the phone, it occurred to me,
He'd grown up just like me.
My boy was just like me.
And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little boy blue and the man in the moon.
"When you coming home, son?" "I don't know when,
But we'll get together then, dad.
You know we'll have a good time then."
And now, here it is. The moment you've been waiting for. Or dreading. Either way, thusly ends Little Boy Blue.
Beta by alba_aulbath.
CHAPTERS: { Prologue }{ Chapter One }{ Chapter Two }{ Chapter Three }{ Chapter Four }{ Chapter Five }{ Chapter Six }{ Chapter Seven }{ Chapter Eight }{ Chapter Nine }{ Chapter Ten }{ Chapter Eleven }{ Epilogue }
<-{ previous story: Dangers of Dihydrogen Monoxide } { next story: Mullet-verse handbook/guide }->
Epilogue~
"They're flowers, sugarpop. ...No I'm saying I don't know what kind would be appropriate, sunshine. Use your best judgment. ...Then get a Grey-cursed cactus, kookaburra! I don't care."
Junior sighed, closing his eyes and rubbing his forehead as Goldie's voice filtered through his repaired comm. "Yes, that was inappropriate, dewdrop, I apologize," he agreed. "...Look, just ask the salesperson for advice, snuggy...buns, um. That's what they're there for. ...I, er...." Faltering, he opened his eyes and squinted one, gesturing wildly with one hand as a look of intense confusion and concentration crossed his face.
Finally a crow of triumph came from his comm and he let out a whoosh of breath. "Gah! Fine, you win," he complained. "You're sneaking trashy romance novels again, aren't you? One'a these days I'm gonna find your stash and then it is on!" He pointed ahead of himself at the woman in his mind's eye. "You hear me, Goldie Girl? It is ON!"
There was only laughter from Goldie as she closed the connection.
"Trashy romance novels?" came a voice from behind him.
Junior jumped and whirled, straightening and quickly lowering his hand as he saw Mike and his past parents loitering around the door. His smile was a hint sheepish and he reached up to scratch his ear. "Uh, yeah. You know. Like, bodice-rippers?"
"Bodice-rippers?" Ted continued, giving him a speculative look.
"With the...the covers?" Junior mimed reaching out and ripping something apart, presumably an article of clothing. "Heaving bosom, ripped bodice, macho but emotionally vulnerable guy, heaps of hair...so on."
"Think I posed for one of those, once," Mike remarked thoughtfully.
Ted glanced over at him with disbelief, then shook his head and turned his attention back to Junior. "And Goldie has a stash?"
"Well it's...I assume so," Junior muttered, spreading his hands to indicate he thought it was obvious. "She hasn't let me touch them since--She hides them." He nodded emphatically, clearly hoping they hadn't noticed his slip.
"Oh no," Booster pressed, grinning. "Since what?"
Junior rolled his eyes. "It's so stupid, she totally overreacted. It's--Okay, see.... What happened is, I was curious. So she loaned me one to read. And, I mean, I was doing just fine, but...." He bit his lip, snickering. "Then I got to 'turgid man-flesh' and I just--I snorted milk out my nose." He laughed. "It got all over the page and she's never forgiven me."
Snorting, Mike reached out and swiped at his son's hair as he walked over to stand next to him. "Milk."
Junior ducked and grinned at him, waving his hand away before leaning closer to rest his head against Mike's shoulder. His father's arm came around his shoulders and gave him a quick squeeze before Junior straightened. "Right out my nose."
"Suuure."
Glancing at Booster, Ted mouthed "Turgid man-flesh?" questioningly. Booster wiggled his eyebrows and leered, to which Ted snorted and rolled his eyes.
"What's so hard to believe about milk?"
"Well I guess I've heard it called that before...."
"Daaad," Junior groaned, shoving him and laughing. He looked up abruptly and held up an index finger. "Hang on a sec." Turning away, he tapped his comm. "Yes?"
After a moment, Junior hung his head and put a hand over his eyes. "I'm sure they didn't mean--Calm down, Cerdian, it sounds like a harmless prank. ...Yes I kn--Yes I realize that, Cerdi--Cerdian! Deep breath! Hold it! Okay, let it out. Now, is it possible it was just a 'welcome to the group' prank? ...Uh huh. ...Yeah. ...I see. ...Well of course you look funny, Ian. So do they. You're teenagers, it's like your job to look funny. Awkward, at least. I did too when I was your age." He paused and looked up with a quizzical look on his face. "Actually, I'm not sure I ever was your age. How old are you? ...Huh. Well there you go then. ...Okay, try to make the best of it, kiddo. I'm pretty sure they didn't mean any harm, but I'll still talk to them. Okay? ...Okay. I'll be at the Tower later this week with Gold and we can talk again then. ...Uh huh. Good luck, Cerdian. Blue Beetle out."
Tapping his comm again, Junior sighed and slumped, staring up at the ceiling for a moment before turning back to face the others. He smiled wryly. "Who needs progeny when you've got the Teen Titans?"
"Well, not that I'm eager to leave," Ted spoke up, swinging his arms a little. "But...."
"We're eager to leave," Booster finished for him, grinning.
"Right." Junior pointed at them, then patted his pockets for a moment before pulling out another comm. Max had assured them that it would receive and transmit any frequencies sent via the nanites in Ted's body. Ted wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea, but he took it and fitted it in his ear when Junior handed it to him.
Eyes on the satellite, and the clearly marked lines on the floor indicating the edge of its temporal field, they waited.
After a moment, a crackle came through the comm and the voice of Oracle asked, "Ted?"
Ted gave a relieved laugh. "We're here."
"We're focusing in on your signal, Ted," she told him, sounding relieved as well through the static. "Stand by."
"Well, I guess this is it," Booster said slowly. "Goodbye."
Junior smiled sadly at them. "Yeah. Guess it is."
"You sure you don't want to leave him for age, experience, and good hair?" Mike asked Ted, pointing at Booster.
"Hey!"
Ted shook his head, smiling. "It'll grow out. ...Eventually."
"You know, it's...I'm never going to see you again," Junior said suddenly, blinking. "I mean, not this you. The younger me will, but...I just...I don't even know what I'm saying." He shook his head and sniffed quietly. "I guess...I'm just going to kinda miss you."
Holding out his arms, Ted said, "C'mere, kiddo."
Junior lurched forward and wrapped his arms around the man, dropping his chin to Ted's shoulder as Ted hugged him back. After a minute, they parted and Junior ducked his head, surreptitiously wiping at his eyes. "Sorry, I--"
"It's been a rough couple days," Ted said awkwardly, clearing his throat. "And...it's dusty in here."
Chuckling quietly, Junior looked up and smiled at him. "Yeah, dusty." He grimaced suddenly. "Oh god, and I have work tomorrow."
"Can't you call in sick?" Booster asked, draping an arm over Ted's shoulders and leaning forward.
Junior tilted his head from side to side with an indecisive expression on his face. "I dunno...."
"Religious holiday?" Mike suggested.
"That could work," Junior said thoughtfully, then shrugged. "We'll see. Anyway--"
Ted suddenly twitched in surprise as Oracle's voice asked clearly, "Can you hear me?"
"Yeah, I hear you," Ted replied. "Are you ready for us to come through?"
"Any time in the next minute or two, Ted," Oracle replied.
"Got it." Tilting his head, Ted smiled at Junior. "That's our cue."
"Good luck."
"Hey, I...I know I'll probably say this plenty over the years, but...." Ted reached out to clap a hand on Junior's shoulder, beaming. "I'm proud of you."
"We both are," Booster said, giving Ted a playfully chiding look.
Ted rolled his eyes. "I, we, both, whatever. The point is...you seem like you're doing pretty good. And you seem to have turned out...just fine."
Grinning widely, Junior threw his arms around both men and squeezed tightly. "Thanks, dad," he said, voice slightly choked with emotion. "Dads. ...Whatever." Letting go, he took a step back, standing next to Mike.
"See you later!" Mike called after them as the pair walked toward the satellite.
Ted laughed, "Count on it."
Just as they stepped into the temporal field, Mike spoke up again and said, "You guys are going to love being married."
Wide-eyed, Ted and Booster whirled to look back at him, starting to blurt a startled question, but they were already being flung back to their own time.
There was a moment of silence as father and son stared at where the two men had been, then Junior snorted a laugh. "That was mean."
"Yeah," Mike agreed cheerfully, throwing an arm over Junior's shoulders and jostling him. "C'mon, let's go visit Ted before he decides the hospital food's going to poison him and tries to escape."
Junior smirked and let himself be led toward the door. "He won't if he wants that cheesesteak I promised him."
Faking a look of scandalized shock, Mike glanced down at him. "Bribery?" He grinned and squeezed Junior to him in a sideways hug. "Son of mine, you do us proud."
Flipping off the light as they passed through the doorway, Junior laughed. "Thanks, dad."
---------------
Unblinking eyes stared at the strip of metal and clear plastic held with silvery fingers, watching how the light played over the different materials as it was turned this way and that. Blue-tinted light from computer screens on one side, soft yellow-white from the overhead light, sharp whitened blue from one of the eyes.
"I'm not changing diapers."
Max turned his head to look at L-Ron, standing next to him by the table he was sitting at. "If it needed diapers changed, you would," he said, smirking. "You're soft-hearted."
"Unlike you, my hollow-chested consort?"
"Consort?"
"Cohort?"
"No, I like consort," Max replied musingly. "Sounds vaguely respectable. 'Cohort' makes me wonder where my high-spirited uncle is and what crazy scheme he's talked me into this time."
"You're so put-upon," L-Ron said consolingly, patting Max's arm.
"Aren't I though." Max sighed and sat back, holding up the strip housing the kidnapped AI. "You know I couldn't leave it there."
"I know."
"It was...cruel and unusual." Max frowned, bringing the strip closer to his face. "And they probably kidnapped it first. There's no way they could have come up with this on their own. Hopefully I can find out its origin...and maybe deprogram some of that mindless attack dog mentality out of it."
"It was the right thing to do," L-Ron slowly agreed. "But...'Little Spooky'?"
Max leaned forward again to drop an elbow on the table and bury his face in his hand with a groan. "You've been talking to Goldie."
"We gossip about you."
Tilting his head so one eye was visible, Max glared at him. "I knew it. And I'm not naming it Spooky. Little or otherwise."
"But we are naming it." It was almost a question but not quite.
Max moved his hand to lean his cheek against it, sighing. "Yes. Tempted though I am to call it 'hey you' or use the infrasound verbal equivalent of its current name-thing."
"Might I suggest J-Law?"
Shooting the robot an unamused look, Max said, "I'm not naming it after your ex."
L-Ron tilted his head, managing to look put out through body language alone. "I said J-Law. In honor of economist John Law. Father of finance, responsible for the wide-spread use of paper money."
"Oh him," Max muttered, as if he had known it the whole time. After a moment he raised an eyebrow and smirked down at the robot. "What do you think of N-Ron?"
"There's a certain notoriety to it."
"Hm, we'll figure something out." Lowering his eyebrows, Max glowered at him and added sternly, "We're not adopting it."
"Of course not, O Grand High Capricious One."
---------------
"Excuse me, I'm a little lost."
The voice was pleasant and polite enough, and when Dr. Lambent glanced up from her paperwork she found herself looking at blue eyes, brown hair, and a smile that was the reason God invented teeth. "What?"
Seeing he had her attention, Mr. Gorgeous Smile smiled wider and leaned forward against the counter. "I'm looking for my father. Ted Kord."
"What's your relation to Mr. Kord?" she asked as she typed the name into the computer, then mentally kicked herself.
"I'm his son," the man said, smile tilting into sympathetic understanding. "Junior Carter-Kord, I might be listed as 'Michael'. Long day?"
Sure enough, a Michael Carter-Kord was listed as family of Ted Kord. Pulling Mr. Kord's room number, Dr. Lambent sighed. "There's a virus making the rounds through all the local schools. We've got schoolkids vomiting all over the place. Watch your step." Vomit and viruses. Smooth. Very smooth. She resisted the urge to smack her forehead, barely.
Junior chuckled. "Is it just hitting the kids, or...?"
"Oh no, it's getting the teachers and parents, too. Just not as quickly."
"Yikes, I may start wearing a mask to work," Junior joked. "The three people I work closest with have five kids between them. ...Just can't remember which ones are which. Hm...oh that's gonna be awkward during the company picnic."
Dr. Lambent laughed, then her eyes widened as he absently brushed his hair from his face. "Oh, I remember you now. You came in with the ambulance, didn't you?"
Looking a bit uncertain, Junior nodded. "Yeah, I was...um...yeah."
Reaching out to touch his hand, resting on the counter, Dr. Lambent smiled. "You did good. With the CPR, I mean. If you hadn't, there might not have been anything they could've done when the ambulance got there."
Junior ducked his head, blushing, then glanced at her through his eyelashes and smiled shyly. "I...almost gave up," he admitted quietly.
Dr. Lambent patted his hand and smiled. His expression made her want to do all sorts of things to him, like gather him up in a hug and tell him everything was going to be okay, or maybe suggest an empty examining room where they could play doctor. "You did good," she repeated, then motioned down the hall and gave him the room number. "I'm sure your dad will be happy to see you."
Turning his hand over so they were palm to palm, he gave her hand a grateful squeeze, then flashed another gorgeous, breathtaking smile and walked away. "Thanks!" he called over his shoulder, sounding completely sincere.
With a contented sigh, Dr. Lambent thanked whatever deity was in charge of making men wear pants that fit as she followed his retreating backside with her eyes. Gorgeous from both ends and not put off by talk of puking children. What a guy.
"Was it the eyes or the smile?"
Startled, Dr. Lambent looked up at the female voice. The woman was tall and looked like she was in shape. She had short blond hair, mirrored sunglasses, and was wearing a denim jacket. She looked vaguely familiar, and Dr. Lambent thought it might be because all she needed was some gum to snap and she'd look like she stepped right out of an old Eighties movie.
The woman flashed her a wide, knowing grin. "I'm taking a poll. Was it his eyes, or his smile?" An eyebrow raised over the glasses. "Or did you really not notice the delicious smell he was carrying?"
To be honest, Dr. Lambent had noticed the smell and recognized it from a nearby fastfood joint, assuming he was sneaking his father some outside food. In fact it had given her a craving for cheesesteak, but her shift wasn't even close to over. "I don't know what you're talking about," she replied primly.
"Well I know it wasn't his can, 'cause you didn't see that until he left."
"Excuse me, do you have any relation to Mr. Kord?" Dr. Lambent asked, flustered and frowning.
"Yeah," the woman replied, then pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Oh. No, actually. Ah, friend of the family." She shrugged and grinned cheerfully. "At least until Junior gets around to popping the question."
Dr. Lambent's eyes widened and she again resisted the urge to smack her own forehead. "Oh! Well...congratulations. I think. Er, do you think he will soon?"
Laughing, the woman tilted her head so she could look at Dr. Lambent over her sunglasses. "You kidding? We're not even dating yet."
---------------
Distracted as they were by Mike's words, the trip through time was barely noticed. And then all of a sudden they were stumbling away from a satellite that looked much bigger than the satellite they had just been walking toward. Absently, Ted wondered if parts of it had been broken off over the years, and if those parts still had the same properties as the satellite that were needed to time travel.
It was slightly worrying, if they were.
Then there was an excited call of "Dad!" and a short figure was impacting with his abdomen and holding on tight. Looking down, Ted found Junior hugging him. The Junior he remembered from...had it really been only a few days ago?
Ted wrapped his arms around his son and hugged him back, swallowing against the lump forming in his throat. He had years, years, before his son, his flesh and blood, would be the strong, competent man he had met in the future. Looking up, his vision was slightly blurry for some reason, but he caught Booster's eye and the man moved closer to hug them both.
He couldn't wait to live those years with them.
When the hug broke up, Junior grabbed Ted and Booster's hands and tugged them toward a door in the large room. "I'm so glad to see you again, I missed you!" he chattered happily, beaming. "And there's some guy here who was looking for you, and he said he knows you, and Max said you'd worked together, 'cause he found some news article, he's getting like really good at looking stuff up, and the guy doesn't have a face, isn't that cool? And Barbara's here too and have you seen how fast she can go in that wheelchair? There was, like, this really long hall and she raced me and Max and it was so cool! And this place is just totally awesome, even though I'm not supposed to touch anything and--"
"Were you supposed to be in here?" Ted interrupted as they reached the door.
Junior paused, then fidgeted nervously. "Um...maybe?"
"Junior!" called an exasperated female voice. Junior winced, then ducked behind Ted and Booster as Barbara wheeled around the corner. "You know you weren't supposed to be in there."
Booster chuckled and reached back to grab the boy around the waist and hoist him up under one arm. "Maybe, huh?"
Flailing for a second, Junior clamped his hands around Booster's arm as he dangled from the man's grip. "Daaad!" he protested, giggling.
"Thanks for keeping an eye on him," Ted said wryly.
Barbara rolled her eyes, then smiled. "He's a joy. Really." Her eyebrows raised innocently and Ted laughed.
"I wasn't in jail in the future, was I?" Junior asked suddenly.
Startled, Booster let go of him and the boy easily landed on his feet. "Uh, no."
"Toldja!" Junior shouted.
Max warily peeked around the corner, his hologram up and giving him the appearance of a brown-eyed, brown-haired teenager. It was strange how much like his older self he looked if one was looking for the similarity. Then he shrugged and stuck his tongue out at Junior, shattering the illusion of the ruthless businessman he had once been. "I can't be right all the time," he said haughtily. "Just most of it."
"Max," Ted said suddenly, voice flat. The teen flinched and stared up at him uncertainly. He looked somewhat scared and something in Ted squirmed unpleasantly at that. "...Tell Bug I'd like to speak to her later."
Nodding rapidly, Max started backing away. Then Junior darted forward and smacked his arm, yelling "Tag!" as he ran past him. Jumping in surprise, Max shouted a protest and ran after him, almost colliding with a trenchcoated man. The man sidestepped the boys and joined the adults.
"I assume you're the faceless guy Junior was talking about," Ted said. "He mentioned you were looking for me."
"Yes," Question said simply. "...Good to see you again. In a family way, no less."
Ted shrugged uncomfortably. "You're not here to catch up on old times, though, are you?"
"No," Question sighed, his blank features somehow managing to look earnest and worried. "There's a problem...."
Turning to Ted, Booster said mournfully, "We're never going to have sex, are we?"
-----
[Haha, yes, first Mullet-verse story to end with a bit of a cliffhanger. And irony of ironies, I've gotten myself in a bit of a pickle regarding the next installment. See, I have a bit of a Thing about writing characters I've had little exposure to and, wouldn't you know it, the next story contains one such. So I've been looking for a book that I'm told has potentially useful information. Forensic Files of Batman by Doug Moench. Thing is, the bookstore I checked didn't have it and I didn't want to ask them to order a copy just so I could flip through it and make sure it was actually useful. Likewise, I don't want to buy a copy online unless I know it's got what I need in it. And my local libraries have been entirely non-helpful as well. So, ah, I believe the vernacular would be "I'm screwed."
Though if anyone here has a copy and could maybe, I dunno, scan in the pages I need, that would just rock five tons of flax right there. If you do, and can, pleasepleaseplease drop me a line HERE and let me know. What do you get out of the deal? You get to know, ahead of time, who this mystery character is. Also my undying gratitude. So, yeah. Please?
Barring such incredibly fortuitous fortune, I had some ideas to pass the time while searching: One, I could write the story of how Junior came to have a certificate proclaiming him to be sane. It would, quite likely, have very little actual Boostle in it. Two, I could write the idea I had for a prologue sort of thing to the Mullet-verse. A sort of expanding on the original Hairy Situations and Situational Hair prologue, showing how Booster went from pissed off and trying to kill Batman to a crazy supervillain, father, and zombie-tamer living in Ted's basement. Or three, I could just throw out all canon of the character, twisting them to suit my purposes, and write the next story. That is, of course, provided I can ignore the facial tics and brain twitches that would no doubt result. (Like I said, I have a Thing about that.)
So what'll it be? Crazy Junior, crazy Booster, or crazy me? ;) You know how impressionable I am, I'll go whichever way you folks decide. Either way there's gonna be some crazy! (And please keep in mind that I'll most likely be writing all three eventually, this is just to decide which goes on the top of the To Write pile.)
[In the mean time, the siren song of my Big Damn List is calling my name. ;D]
Mullet-verse handbook/guide. (AKA "Are you as lost as I am?")
And as I hung up the phone, it occurred to me,
He'd grown up just like me.
My boy was just like me.
And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little boy blue and the man in the moon.
"When you coming home, son?" "I don't know when,
But we'll get together then, dad.
You know we'll have a good time then."
And now, here it is. The moment you've been waiting for. Or dreading. Either way, thusly ends Little Boy Blue.
Beta by alba_aulbath.
CHAPTERS: { Prologue }{ Chapter One }{ Chapter Two }{ Chapter Three }{ Chapter Four }{ Chapter Five }{ Chapter Six }{ Chapter Seven }{ Chapter Eight }{ Chapter Nine }{ Chapter Ten }{ Chapter Eleven }{ Epilogue }
<-{ previous story: Dangers of Dihydrogen Monoxide } { next story: Mullet-verse handbook/guide }->
Epilogue~
"They're flowers, sugarpop. ...No I'm saying I don't know what kind would be appropriate, sunshine. Use your best judgment. ...Then get a Grey-cursed cactus, kookaburra! I don't care."
Junior sighed, closing his eyes and rubbing his forehead as Goldie's voice filtered through his repaired comm. "Yes, that was inappropriate, dewdrop, I apologize," he agreed. "...Look, just ask the salesperson for advice, snuggy...buns, um. That's what they're there for. ...I, er...." Faltering, he opened his eyes and squinted one, gesturing wildly with one hand as a look of intense confusion and concentration crossed his face.
Finally a crow of triumph came from his comm and he let out a whoosh of breath. "Gah! Fine, you win," he complained. "You're sneaking trashy romance novels again, aren't you? One'a these days I'm gonna find your stash and then it is on!" He pointed ahead of himself at the woman in his mind's eye. "You hear me, Goldie Girl? It is ON!"
There was only laughter from Goldie as she closed the connection.
"Trashy romance novels?" came a voice from behind him.
Junior jumped and whirled, straightening and quickly lowering his hand as he saw Mike and his past parents loitering around the door. His smile was a hint sheepish and he reached up to scratch his ear. "Uh, yeah. You know. Like, bodice-rippers?"
"Bodice-rippers?" Ted continued, giving him a speculative look.
"With the...the covers?" Junior mimed reaching out and ripping something apart, presumably an article of clothing. "Heaving bosom, ripped bodice, macho but emotionally vulnerable guy, heaps of hair...so on."
"Think I posed for one of those, once," Mike remarked thoughtfully.
Ted glanced over at him with disbelief, then shook his head and turned his attention back to Junior. "And Goldie has a stash?"
"Well it's...I assume so," Junior muttered, spreading his hands to indicate he thought it was obvious. "She hasn't let me touch them since--She hides them." He nodded emphatically, clearly hoping they hadn't noticed his slip.
"Oh no," Booster pressed, grinning. "Since what?"
Junior rolled his eyes. "It's so stupid, she totally overreacted. It's--Okay, see.... What happened is, I was curious. So she loaned me one to read. And, I mean, I was doing just fine, but...." He bit his lip, snickering. "Then I got to 'turgid man-flesh' and I just--I snorted milk out my nose." He laughed. "It got all over the page and she's never forgiven me."
Snorting, Mike reached out and swiped at his son's hair as he walked over to stand next to him. "Milk."
Junior ducked and grinned at him, waving his hand away before leaning closer to rest his head against Mike's shoulder. His father's arm came around his shoulders and gave him a quick squeeze before Junior straightened. "Right out my nose."
"Suuure."
Glancing at Booster, Ted mouthed "Turgid man-flesh?" questioningly. Booster wiggled his eyebrows and leered, to which Ted snorted and rolled his eyes.
"What's so hard to believe about milk?"
"Well I guess I've heard it called that before...."
"Daaad," Junior groaned, shoving him and laughing. He looked up abruptly and held up an index finger. "Hang on a sec." Turning away, he tapped his comm. "Yes?"
After a moment, Junior hung his head and put a hand over his eyes. "I'm sure they didn't mean--Calm down, Cerdian, it sounds like a harmless prank. ...Yes I kn--Yes I realize that, Cerdi--Cerdian! Deep breath! Hold it! Okay, let it out. Now, is it possible it was just a 'welcome to the group' prank? ...Uh huh. ...Yeah. ...I see. ...Well of course you look funny, Ian. So do they. You're teenagers, it's like your job to look funny. Awkward, at least. I did too when I was your age." He paused and looked up with a quizzical look on his face. "Actually, I'm not sure I ever was your age. How old are you? ...Huh. Well there you go then. ...Okay, try to make the best of it, kiddo. I'm pretty sure they didn't mean any harm, but I'll still talk to them. Okay? ...Okay. I'll be at the Tower later this week with Gold and we can talk again then. ...Uh huh. Good luck, Cerdian. Blue Beetle out."
Tapping his comm again, Junior sighed and slumped, staring up at the ceiling for a moment before turning back to face the others. He smiled wryly. "Who needs progeny when you've got the Teen Titans?"
"Well, not that I'm eager to leave," Ted spoke up, swinging his arms a little. "But...."
"We're eager to leave," Booster finished for him, grinning.
"Right." Junior pointed at them, then patted his pockets for a moment before pulling out another comm. Max had assured them that it would receive and transmit any frequencies sent via the nanites in Ted's body. Ted wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea, but he took it and fitted it in his ear when Junior handed it to him.
Eyes on the satellite, and the clearly marked lines on the floor indicating the edge of its temporal field, they waited.
After a moment, a crackle came through the comm and the voice of Oracle asked, "Ted?"
Ted gave a relieved laugh. "We're here."
"We're focusing in on your signal, Ted," she told him, sounding relieved as well through the static. "Stand by."
"Well, I guess this is it," Booster said slowly. "Goodbye."
Junior smiled sadly at them. "Yeah. Guess it is."
"You sure you don't want to leave him for age, experience, and good hair?" Mike asked Ted, pointing at Booster.
"Hey!"
Ted shook his head, smiling. "It'll grow out. ...Eventually."
"You know, it's...I'm never going to see you again," Junior said suddenly, blinking. "I mean, not this you. The younger me will, but...I just...I don't even know what I'm saying." He shook his head and sniffed quietly. "I guess...I'm just going to kinda miss you."
Holding out his arms, Ted said, "C'mere, kiddo."
Junior lurched forward and wrapped his arms around the man, dropping his chin to Ted's shoulder as Ted hugged him back. After a minute, they parted and Junior ducked his head, surreptitiously wiping at his eyes. "Sorry, I--"
"It's been a rough couple days," Ted said awkwardly, clearing his throat. "And...it's dusty in here."
Chuckling quietly, Junior looked up and smiled at him. "Yeah, dusty." He grimaced suddenly. "Oh god, and I have work tomorrow."
"Can't you call in sick?" Booster asked, draping an arm over Ted's shoulders and leaning forward.
Junior tilted his head from side to side with an indecisive expression on his face. "I dunno...."
"Religious holiday?" Mike suggested.
"That could work," Junior said thoughtfully, then shrugged. "We'll see. Anyway--"
Ted suddenly twitched in surprise as Oracle's voice asked clearly, "Can you hear me?"
"Yeah, I hear you," Ted replied. "Are you ready for us to come through?"
"Any time in the next minute or two, Ted," Oracle replied.
"Got it." Tilting his head, Ted smiled at Junior. "That's our cue."
"Good luck."
"Hey, I...I know I'll probably say this plenty over the years, but...." Ted reached out to clap a hand on Junior's shoulder, beaming. "I'm proud of you."
"We both are," Booster said, giving Ted a playfully chiding look.
Ted rolled his eyes. "I, we, both, whatever. The point is...you seem like you're doing pretty good. And you seem to have turned out...just fine."
Grinning widely, Junior threw his arms around both men and squeezed tightly. "Thanks, dad," he said, voice slightly choked with emotion. "Dads. ...Whatever." Letting go, he took a step back, standing next to Mike.
"See you later!" Mike called after them as the pair walked toward the satellite.
Ted laughed, "Count on it."
Just as they stepped into the temporal field, Mike spoke up again and said, "You guys are going to love being married."
Wide-eyed, Ted and Booster whirled to look back at him, starting to blurt a startled question, but they were already being flung back to their own time.
There was a moment of silence as father and son stared at where the two men had been, then Junior snorted a laugh. "That was mean."
"Yeah," Mike agreed cheerfully, throwing an arm over Junior's shoulders and jostling him. "C'mon, let's go visit Ted before he decides the hospital food's going to poison him and tries to escape."
Junior smirked and let himself be led toward the door. "He won't if he wants that cheesesteak I promised him."
Faking a look of scandalized shock, Mike glanced down at him. "Bribery?" He grinned and squeezed Junior to him in a sideways hug. "Son of mine, you do us proud."
Flipping off the light as they passed through the doorway, Junior laughed. "Thanks, dad."
---------------
Unblinking eyes stared at the strip of metal and clear plastic held with silvery fingers, watching how the light played over the different materials as it was turned this way and that. Blue-tinted light from computer screens on one side, soft yellow-white from the overhead light, sharp whitened blue from one of the eyes.
"I'm not changing diapers."
Max turned his head to look at L-Ron, standing next to him by the table he was sitting at. "If it needed diapers changed, you would," he said, smirking. "You're soft-hearted."
"Unlike you, my hollow-chested consort?"
"Consort?"
"Cohort?"
"No, I like consort," Max replied musingly. "Sounds vaguely respectable. 'Cohort' makes me wonder where my high-spirited uncle is and what crazy scheme he's talked me into this time."
"You're so put-upon," L-Ron said consolingly, patting Max's arm.
"Aren't I though." Max sighed and sat back, holding up the strip housing the kidnapped AI. "You know I couldn't leave it there."
"I know."
"It was...cruel and unusual." Max frowned, bringing the strip closer to his face. "And they probably kidnapped it first. There's no way they could have come up with this on their own. Hopefully I can find out its origin...and maybe deprogram some of that mindless attack dog mentality out of it."
"It was the right thing to do," L-Ron slowly agreed. "But...'Little Spooky'?"
Max leaned forward again to drop an elbow on the table and bury his face in his hand with a groan. "You've been talking to Goldie."
"We gossip about you."
Tilting his head so one eye was visible, Max glared at him. "I knew it. And I'm not naming it Spooky. Little or otherwise."
"But we are naming it." It was almost a question but not quite.
Max moved his hand to lean his cheek against it, sighing. "Yes. Tempted though I am to call it 'hey you' or use the infrasound verbal equivalent of its current name-thing."
"Might I suggest J-Law?"
Shooting the robot an unamused look, Max said, "I'm not naming it after your ex."
L-Ron tilted his head, managing to look put out through body language alone. "I said J-Law. In honor of economist John Law. Father of finance, responsible for the wide-spread use of paper money."
"Oh him," Max muttered, as if he had known it the whole time. After a moment he raised an eyebrow and smirked down at the robot. "What do you think of N-Ron?"
"There's a certain notoriety to it."
"Hm, we'll figure something out." Lowering his eyebrows, Max glowered at him and added sternly, "We're not adopting it."
"Of course not, O Grand High Capricious One."
---------------
"Excuse me, I'm a little lost."
The voice was pleasant and polite enough, and when Dr. Lambent glanced up from her paperwork she found herself looking at blue eyes, brown hair, and a smile that was the reason God invented teeth. "What?"
Seeing he had her attention, Mr. Gorgeous Smile smiled wider and leaned forward against the counter. "I'm looking for my father. Ted Kord."
"What's your relation to Mr. Kord?" she asked as she typed the name into the computer, then mentally kicked herself.
"I'm his son," the man said, smile tilting into sympathetic understanding. "Junior Carter-Kord, I might be listed as 'Michael'. Long day?"
Sure enough, a Michael Carter-Kord was listed as family of Ted Kord. Pulling Mr. Kord's room number, Dr. Lambent sighed. "There's a virus making the rounds through all the local schools. We've got schoolkids vomiting all over the place. Watch your step." Vomit and viruses. Smooth. Very smooth. She resisted the urge to smack her forehead, barely.
Junior chuckled. "Is it just hitting the kids, or...?"
"Oh no, it's getting the teachers and parents, too. Just not as quickly."
"Yikes, I may start wearing a mask to work," Junior joked. "The three people I work closest with have five kids between them. ...Just can't remember which ones are which. Hm...oh that's gonna be awkward during the company picnic."
Dr. Lambent laughed, then her eyes widened as he absently brushed his hair from his face. "Oh, I remember you now. You came in with the ambulance, didn't you?"
Looking a bit uncertain, Junior nodded. "Yeah, I was...um...yeah."
Reaching out to touch his hand, resting on the counter, Dr. Lambent smiled. "You did good. With the CPR, I mean. If you hadn't, there might not have been anything they could've done when the ambulance got there."
Junior ducked his head, blushing, then glanced at her through his eyelashes and smiled shyly. "I...almost gave up," he admitted quietly.
Dr. Lambent patted his hand and smiled. His expression made her want to do all sorts of things to him, like gather him up in a hug and tell him everything was going to be okay, or maybe suggest an empty examining room where they could play doctor. "You did good," she repeated, then motioned down the hall and gave him the room number. "I'm sure your dad will be happy to see you."
Turning his hand over so they were palm to palm, he gave her hand a grateful squeeze, then flashed another gorgeous, breathtaking smile and walked away. "Thanks!" he called over his shoulder, sounding completely sincere.
With a contented sigh, Dr. Lambent thanked whatever deity was in charge of making men wear pants that fit as she followed his retreating backside with her eyes. Gorgeous from both ends and not put off by talk of puking children. What a guy.
"Was it the eyes or the smile?"
Startled, Dr. Lambent looked up at the female voice. The woman was tall and looked like she was in shape. She had short blond hair, mirrored sunglasses, and was wearing a denim jacket. She looked vaguely familiar, and Dr. Lambent thought it might be because all she needed was some gum to snap and she'd look like she stepped right out of an old Eighties movie.
The woman flashed her a wide, knowing grin. "I'm taking a poll. Was it his eyes, or his smile?" An eyebrow raised over the glasses. "Or did you really not notice the delicious smell he was carrying?"
To be honest, Dr. Lambent had noticed the smell and recognized it from a nearby fastfood joint, assuming he was sneaking his father some outside food. In fact it had given her a craving for cheesesteak, but her shift wasn't even close to over. "I don't know what you're talking about," she replied primly.
"Well I know it wasn't his can, 'cause you didn't see that until he left."
"Excuse me, do you have any relation to Mr. Kord?" Dr. Lambent asked, flustered and frowning.
"Yeah," the woman replied, then pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Oh. No, actually. Ah, friend of the family." She shrugged and grinned cheerfully. "At least until Junior gets around to popping the question."
Dr. Lambent's eyes widened and she again resisted the urge to smack her own forehead. "Oh! Well...congratulations. I think. Er, do you think he will soon?"
Laughing, the woman tilted her head so she could look at Dr. Lambent over her sunglasses. "You kidding? We're not even dating yet."
---------------
Distracted as they were by Mike's words, the trip through time was barely noticed. And then all of a sudden they were stumbling away from a satellite that looked much bigger than the satellite they had just been walking toward. Absently, Ted wondered if parts of it had been broken off over the years, and if those parts still had the same properties as the satellite that were needed to time travel.
It was slightly worrying, if they were.
Then there was an excited call of "Dad!" and a short figure was impacting with his abdomen and holding on tight. Looking down, Ted found Junior hugging him. The Junior he remembered from...had it really been only a few days ago?
Ted wrapped his arms around his son and hugged him back, swallowing against the lump forming in his throat. He had years, years, before his son, his flesh and blood, would be the strong, competent man he had met in the future. Looking up, his vision was slightly blurry for some reason, but he caught Booster's eye and the man moved closer to hug them both.
He couldn't wait to live those years with them.
When the hug broke up, Junior grabbed Ted and Booster's hands and tugged them toward a door in the large room. "I'm so glad to see you again, I missed you!" he chattered happily, beaming. "And there's some guy here who was looking for you, and he said he knows you, and Max said you'd worked together, 'cause he found some news article, he's getting like really good at looking stuff up, and the guy doesn't have a face, isn't that cool? And Barbara's here too and have you seen how fast she can go in that wheelchair? There was, like, this really long hall and she raced me and Max and it was so cool! And this place is just totally awesome, even though I'm not supposed to touch anything and--"
"Were you supposed to be in here?" Ted interrupted as they reached the door.
Junior paused, then fidgeted nervously. "Um...maybe?"
"Junior!" called an exasperated female voice. Junior winced, then ducked behind Ted and Booster as Barbara wheeled around the corner. "You know you weren't supposed to be in there."
Booster chuckled and reached back to grab the boy around the waist and hoist him up under one arm. "Maybe, huh?"
Flailing for a second, Junior clamped his hands around Booster's arm as he dangled from the man's grip. "Daaad!" he protested, giggling.
"Thanks for keeping an eye on him," Ted said wryly.
Barbara rolled her eyes, then smiled. "He's a joy. Really." Her eyebrows raised innocently and Ted laughed.
"I wasn't in jail in the future, was I?" Junior asked suddenly.
Startled, Booster let go of him and the boy easily landed on his feet. "Uh, no."
"Toldja!" Junior shouted.
Max warily peeked around the corner, his hologram up and giving him the appearance of a brown-eyed, brown-haired teenager. It was strange how much like his older self he looked if one was looking for the similarity. Then he shrugged and stuck his tongue out at Junior, shattering the illusion of the ruthless businessman he had once been. "I can't be right all the time," he said haughtily. "Just most of it."
"Max," Ted said suddenly, voice flat. The teen flinched and stared up at him uncertainly. He looked somewhat scared and something in Ted squirmed unpleasantly at that. "...Tell Bug I'd like to speak to her later."
Nodding rapidly, Max started backing away. Then Junior darted forward and smacked his arm, yelling "Tag!" as he ran past him. Jumping in surprise, Max shouted a protest and ran after him, almost colliding with a trenchcoated man. The man sidestepped the boys and joined the adults.
"I assume you're the faceless guy Junior was talking about," Ted said. "He mentioned you were looking for me."
"Yes," Question said simply. "...Good to see you again. In a family way, no less."
Ted shrugged uncomfortably. "You're not here to catch up on old times, though, are you?"
"No," Question sighed, his blank features somehow managing to look earnest and worried. "There's a problem...."
Turning to Ted, Booster said mournfully, "We're never going to have sex, are we?"
-----
[Haha, yes, first Mullet-verse story to end with a bit of a cliffhanger. And irony of ironies, I've gotten myself in a bit of a pickle regarding the next installment. See, I have a bit of a Thing about writing characters I've had little exposure to and, wouldn't you know it, the next story contains one such. So I've been looking for a book that I'm told has potentially useful information. Forensic Files of Batman by Doug Moench. Thing is, the bookstore I checked didn't have it and I didn't want to ask them to order a copy just so I could flip through it and make sure it was actually useful. Likewise, I don't want to buy a copy online unless I know it's got what I need in it. And my local libraries have been entirely non-helpful as well. So, ah, I believe the vernacular would be "I'm screwed."
Though if anyone here has a copy and could maybe, I dunno, scan in the pages I need, that would just rock five tons of flax right there. If you do, and can, pleasepleaseplease drop me a line HERE and let me know. What do you get out of the deal? You get to know, ahead of time, who this mystery character is. Also my undying gratitude. So, yeah. Please?
Barring such incredibly fortuitous fortune, I had some ideas to pass the time while searching: One, I could write the story of how Junior came to have a certificate proclaiming him to be sane. It would, quite likely, have very little actual Boostle in it. Two, I could write the idea I had for a prologue sort of thing to the Mullet-verse. A sort of expanding on the original Hairy Situations and Situational Hair prologue, showing how Booster went from pissed off and trying to kill Batman to a crazy supervillain, father, and zombie-tamer living in Ted's basement. Or three, I could just throw out all canon of the character, twisting them to suit my purposes, and write the next story. That is, of course, provided I can ignore the facial tics and brain twitches that would no doubt result. (Like I said, I have a Thing about that.)
So what'll it be? Crazy Junior, crazy Booster, or crazy me? ;) You know how impressionable I am, I'll go whichever way you folks decide. Either way there's gonna be some crazy! (And please keep in mind that I'll most likely be writing all three eventually, this is just to decide which goes on the top of the To Write pile.)
[In the mean time, the siren song of my Big Damn List is calling my name. ;D]
Mullet-verse handbook/guide. (AKA "Are you as lost as I am?")