by Sarah Carter
Damien says, “We will get you food. We need to test you as soon as possible.”
“So you can see how to control me?” Mason snorts.
“Well…” Damien draws out.
Mason leans forward and in a snarky tone, he says, “You can’t. Sorry.”
“We can stop you from jumping.”
“Uh huh,” Mason laughs.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Damien asks, annoyance dripping in his voice.
“Nothing. You can do the tests as soon as I eat.”
“We’re starving too,” Aurora finally interjects.
“No fish and Brussel sprouts,” Ariel gags. “Fish okay.”
With a devilish smirk, Mason says, “Don’t know it until you try it.”
“No. Gross.”
“You can come with us,” Damien says to her. He turns to his right. “Mason, food will be brought to you.”
Ariel shakes her head. “No, we need to eat with him.”
Narrowing his eyes at Damien, Mason says, “You know, you want me on your side but are treating me like this.”
“You almost killed Claire.”
“She’s the one who drained me! I didn’t tell her to do it,” Mason exclaims.
Mr. Hardrick breaks his silence and looks at Damien. “He has a point. It was her choice.”
“I can’t be blamed for that and if Little Bit didn’t tell me how to save her, Claire would be dead. So, I helped to keep her alive, not kill her. I should be rewarded and not punished.”
Damien growls, “You’re a prisoner and you will stay there.”
“What crime did I commit?” Mason asks.
“You attacked Claire!” Damien yells.
Mason counters, “She attacked me first!”
“He has another point,” Mr. Hardrick notes.
“This Lexi girl must have told you that it was going to be Claire,” Damien seethes.
“Oh! Now, Lexi is real and can see the future. Very convenient. You should be consistent in your disbelief.”
Clenching his fists, Damien growls, “You’re very frustrating, if not infuriating.”
“Well, like I said, you never really like me. Hate is too strong of a word I guess, but dislike fits.”
“That doesn’t surprise me,” Damien scoffs.
“Well, let’s stop this,” Mr. Hardrick interjects. “You’re not a prisoner. We just have to make sure that we can trust you. We will go get you food. You should probably rest too. You did go through a big ordeal. We don’t want you to hurt yourself.”
Mason nods his head. “Yeah, I’d be of no help then. I feel as though I should eat and then take a nap. I’m all energy I know, but I do have a physical form, and I still have to take care of it. Food and a nap.”
Ariel walks over by him. She puts her hand outside the force field. “I want to stay by you.”
“I will be fine hon,” he replies, putting his on the force field. “Don’t worry. You will see in the morning.”
“No, I can’t leave you,” Ariel says adamantly.
“Ariel. It’s fine. Trust me and what I say. I will be okay. They don’t do anything until tomorrow and I bet you are there.”
She sighs. “Okay.”
“I will see you in the morning then.”
“I will get up early and make sure I’m dressed cute,” Ariel declares, with a big smile.
“Skirt,” Mason demands. “Short one.”
“I don’t own a single skirt. Don’t you know me?”
Aurora nudges her. “Luckily you have an identical twin. I have one you can wear.”
“I like her idea,” Mason laughs.
“Whatever Mason,” Ariel draws out dramatically. “I will see you tomorrow.”
“Bye pumpkin.”
She spins on him. “Don’t ever call me that again.”
He laughs again. “Why?”
“It’s so incredibly stupid.”
He winks. “Are you sure?”
“I will gag and slap you if you call me that,” Ariel declares, crossing her arms. A smirk twitches on her mouth.
“What if I like getting slapped?” Mason teases.
Xander can practically hear Damien roll his eyes. “Now, we are leaving. Food will be brought to you.”
“Food and a nap. It would be heaven if I could nap with Ariel.”
“I understand that. I’m not heartless. Maybe you can have some time tomorrow. You would be closely guarded.”
“I don’t care. Even if I could hold her hand,” Mason whispers, putting his hand towards Ariel. She puts her hand there too.
Damien sighs. “We will see about that tomorrow.”
“I will see you later,” Mason whispers to Ariel.
“Get some sleep,” she replies.
“I will,” he promises.
Everyone turns to leave, except Xander and Ariel. “Hopefully I will see you in the morning,” she says to Mason.
“That’s when we are going to do the testing. It’s been a rough day,” Damien says. “We should all rest.”
Mr. Hardrick turns to him. “You should go check on Claire.”
“Just so you know,” Mason interrupts. “She’s going to sleep for a day.”
“She has to eat,” Damien states.
“Trust me. She sleeps. Little Bit says so,” Mason replies.
“I’m going to let the doctors take care of her. Not some two-year-old that I don’t believe exists.”
Mason rolls his eyes this time. “Whatever. She survives and kicks as much ass as she did before.”
“I hope so,” Damien sighs. There is a pause before he continues. “I will send in your food.”
“Bye guys!” Mason exclaims, waving way too overenthusiastically.
Aurora laughs and waves back. “Bye!”
Mason looks at Ariel. “Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
“We will go get you some food,” Damien says to Ariel, Aurora and Xander.
Xander asks, “What about the testing tomorrow?”
“What about it?” Damien replies.
“Can we be there?”
“No.”
Furrowing his eyebrows, Xander snaps, “Why not?”
“We do need to keep this top secret, so I’m sorry but no,” Damien states.
“What are we supposed to do? I will want to see Mason,” Ariel says.
“You can see him after the testing. I know this has to be tough but I promise he will be fine. We are only going to try and do the simple testing we did on you. Nothing too intrusive.”
She crosses her arms. “You promise you’ll come and get us as soon as it’s done.”
Damien puts his hand over his heart. “Yes.”
“Alright.”
Turning they walk away from the door. The door slides shut behind them. Xander turns and looks at it. He trusts Damien but he’s still worried about Mason. With a heavy sigh he follows everyone else down the hallway.
*****
There is a loud banging on the door. Xander shoots up in bed. He looks at the clock and realizes he slept for a really long time. There is loud banging again. “Xander! Wake up!” He gets up and runs to the door. Whipping it open, he finds Ariel.
“What’s wrong?” He asks.
“Nothing,” she replies. “We can go see Mason.”
His shoulders slump and he goes, “Seriously?”
“Yes.”
“It’s still morning. We can see him already?” Xander yawns, running his fingers through his hair.
A large smile spreads across Ariel’s face, “Yeah. Damien said so.”
Xander sighs, “Let me get dressed and brush my teeth.”
“Hurry up,” Ariel urges with her hands.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Xander groans, shutting the door. Half asleep he starts to get dressed.
There is banging on the door. “Come on!”
A few minutes later, he opens the door again. “There. All ready.”
“Let’s go,” she says, grab
bing his hand. Aurora is standing down the hall a little bit. Ariel drags Xander down the hallway and Aurora follows. Finally, going past a few points of security, they get to Mason’s room. Damien is standing there. “Can we see him?”
“Of course,” Damien replies. He opens the door.
“Hi baby!” Mason exclaims.
“Hi,” she gasps. “Are you okay?”
He puts his hands to his chest. “I’m fine.”
“How did your testing go?” Xander asks.
“They obviously won’t tell me anything, which I think is totally unfair. It’s me. But I did break their scanner.”
“Really?” He laughs.
Damien rolls his eyes. “Yes.”
“Because you’re energy,” Ariel says.
“Probably,” Mason replies. “They said they got a brief reading before I fried it.”
“You fried it?” Xander laughs again.
Waving his fingers up into the air, Mason replies, “There was smoke.”
“It’s amusing how you’re proud of this,” Damien draws out.
“I haven’t been scanned before. It’s kind of awesome.”
“It is kind of cool,” Xander agrees.
Ariel asks Damien, “Did you get a blood sample?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“All I will say is the results were…interesting,” he replies.
She throws up her hands. “How can you say something like that and not elaborate?”
“It’s about me,” Mason says. “How can you not tell me about myself?”
“You’re a prisoner.”
“I’m not a prisoner. I’m a hostage. I didn’t attack Claire. She turned those gloves on and tried to grab me. What would anyone do? Stand there and let some stranger, that hid they were Neturu, shock you? No one on this planet would let that happen. So, if anything you are the aggressive ones. You’re illegally holding me prisoner.”
Damien crosses his arms. “How do you know what’s legal?”
“Aren’t you a peaceful species?”
“Yes,” Damien counters.
Mason arches a perfect blonde eyebrow. “A peaceful species that holds people prisoner that only tried to defend themselves.”
“I can’t let you loose.”
“Let me around them,” Mason points to Xander and the girls.
Pressing his lips together, Damien says, “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know if you can trust me. How am I supposed to trust you in the end? If this is the way you treat me? Why would I want to cooperate with people that held me prisoner for no reason other than their own selfish needs?”
“Fine. I will let them in,” Damien replies.
“No!” Ariel exclaims. “It will be a time shift! You said I didn’t get to be by you until after the institute.”
“No,” Mason says, taking a pause. “I sort of had to lie. The rooms were bugged. This may not have happened if Damien heard about it. He doesn’t believe in Little Bit.”
Damien narrows his eyes. “Well, now I don’t know if I should let you.”
“Seriously? You’re not going to make a good leader if you’re constantly going back on your word,” Mason points out.
“What do you know what it’s like to be a good leader?”
"I'm thinking that they would be the exact opposite of The Collector. She would tell us things, tell them things, to get them to do stuff and lie about what was going to happen. She was incredibly cruel. Being a good leader means taking care of your people. To be kind and make the right choices to better everyone. You can't lie." Mason pauses. "Well, I mean, I guess you could lie. To protect people and keep things top secret. But you shouldn't go back on your word unless it's a dire circumstance."
Looking at him thoughtfully, Damien says, "That is what makes a good leader. You can see each other." He waves his fingers at the guards. They draw their weapons. "You can take as long as you want." Damien presses a few buttons and the force field lowers.
Ariel sprints forward and slams into Mason. He lifts her off the ground and twirls her around. "I can touch you!" She cries out. Mason pulls her face forward and kisses her hard. Xander awkwardly looks around. His eyes drift to Damien and Aurora. They both, too, are staring at the floor.
Finally, Aurora says, "Alright, enough. I want to hug him, too." Ariel lets go while laughing. Aurora runs over and tackles Mason. "I'm so excited to be able to hug you."
"Me too," Mason whispers. Mason then looks at Xander. They stare at each other for a second. Suddenly, Mason throws his hands out. "Oh my god Xander."
Xander laughs and then dramatically squeals and waves his hand. "I can't believe I can touch you."
"Oh my god," Mason even more dramatically replies. "I need a hug. Give me a hug."
Running over to him, Xander hugs him and then they start jumping around. "I'm so excited," Xander cries.
"Alright, ha ha ha," Ariel draws out. "That's enough."
Mason reaches over and gently punches Xander in the arm. "What's up man?"
"Not much. It is really good to see you. To know you are okay.”
Ariel moves back over by Mason. He puts his arm around her and she hugs him close. “This is incredible to see you right in front of me. I didn’t think I would ever get to see you again.”
“I was afraid you were going to be locked up forever,” Ariel whispers, not letting go of him. “I can’t believe I can touch you finally. We were never able to do this before.”
He looks down at her and winks. “You can touch me all you want.”
“I don’t know if I am ever going to let you go.”
“Well, one of us is going to have to go to the bathroom sooner or later. I don’t mind but you might,” Mason laughs.
She lets go of him. “Eww, gross.”
“But don’t let that make you stop holding me,” he says, yanking her back towards him. “I’ve dreamt of this for a really long time.” Carefully he pulls her head up towards his and he kisses her.
“Awww,” Aurora draws out. “That’s so cute.”
“It is,” Damien agrees. “I’m going to check on Claire. You’ve been right Mason. She hasn’t awoken yet. Her vitals are strong and there’s nothing wrong that we can tell. She is just sleeping.”
“Little Bit said her body was drained. She has her energy back but her body needs to recoup. She will wake up tomorrow and be as big of a pistol as she ever was.”
Damien smiles a sincere smile. “You seem to know her well.”
“The imaginary kid that we all talk to says that Claire is pretty spunky her whole life.” Mason looks up as he thinks. “How did she say is it? ‘Mommy is in your face.’ I laughed and had to have her repeat it. ‘Mommy says she always in people’s faces. She teaches Lexi to be in people’s faces.’ Needless to say she is a rocking mom and mischievous mom at the same time.”
Shaking his head, Damien says, “This whole thing is hard to believe. You have to understand. That this tiny, two-year-old girl could be this powerful.”
“You have no idea,” Mason laughs. “But she is an instrument of good. You just have to meet her to understand. It’s an instant connection.”
“I heard her in my head,” Xander interjects. “It was as if she knew me. It wasn’t hi Xander this is Lexi. It was, ‘Xander!’ She knew me. She knew who I was. Lexi had to have to get into my head. If we are all hallucinating, why are we all hearing the same voice? You can’t say it’s a succubus thing. We aren’t succubi. We aren’t even fully Neturu. So how did you explain how we are all just making it up?”
He stares at him, before Damien says, “That is a valid point, but I feel as though, for the health of Claire, that one of us needs to keep a level head. One of us needs to be of sound mind in case this is not true. She would be devastated if she thought all of this and it ended being a lie.”
“She’s not a lie. She’s real. I have held her on my lap. I have played Barbies with her. Get this. She built a Neturu ship out o
f fricking Legos.”
“What!” Damien exclaims.
Mason nods his head vigorously. “She said it was runner ship. She says it’s the type of ship that will take her away from the institute. She said there’s a runner ship just for her and Mommy.”
“Why would they put her on a separate ship?” Xander asks.
“Ohhhhhh,” Mason draws out. “You’ll see why.”
“I would like to know what that means,” Damien replies.
Obviously, trying not to laugh, Mason says, “You kind of get to see what she can all do.”
“She attacks us!” Damien snaps.
“I don’t know how much I am supposed to say,” Mason mutters. Suddenly, he stands up tall. “Whoa. Whoa. Calm down.”
Damien raises an eyebrow. “I was even that excited.”
“No, hold on,” Mason says, putting his finger up. “Calm down and slow down. What’s wrong?” He loses color. “Was it me? I swear I did everything that you said. Oh crap. Calm down and tell me exactly what to do. Okay.” Mason looks up at Damien. “Get Mr. Hardrick.”
“Why?” Damien asks.
“There’s been a time shift. You have to get Mr. Grandin before he gets to the institute.”
Pressing under his ear, Damien says, “Get me Kaleb immediately.” He walks to outside of the force field. “Where do we need to go?”
“Hold on. She is very excited and a two-year-old.” Mason looks to the side. “Take deep breathes. Where is he? Someplace with a lot of lights.”
“New York or LA or New Orleans? There’s so many places.”
Mason’s head jerks to the side and he looks confused. “There are a lot lights and girls with no clothes on.”
“He’s at a strip club?”
“No, it’s a big city.”
“Ummmm,” Damien draws out. “You’d think if it’s a city with naked women, I would know about it.”
“Little Bit, you are making no sense. Naked girls with sparkles and feathers.”
Snapping his fingers, Damien shouts, “Las Vegas! Show girls!”
“Is it Las Vegas Little Bit? Yeah, you think so. Where in Las Vegas? The safe house. Who would let him in the safe house?”
“The Neturu safe house?” Damien snorts. “I doubt it. Everyone is looking for him.”
“The Collector’s safe house,” Mason replies. “Lexi says to scan for him in Las Vegas.”