Taylor thanked Tony as the teleporter left, then looked around the courthouse nervously.
"Generally someone comes and tells us what's going on," he explained to Natalie before she could ask, "we just have to wait until then."
Natalie, Tad, Zac and Isaac
"Oh, okay," Natalie replied.
Well, this was slightly nerve wracking.
Tad looked bored.
"I bought plenty of money with me for more chocy muffins," Zac declared.
"Zac?"
"Yes, Ike?"
"You're an idiot."
"If it takes an idiot to understand the preciousness of chocy muffins, then yes, I am an idiot. And I proudly declare it."
"Uh huh."
Taylor
Taylor rolled his eyes as he sighted the woman with the clipboard. He stepped over to her as she spoke with someone else, before she told him what was happening.
He returned to the group looking slightly off colour.
"One of their witnesses didn't show up, so I've been moved forward," he explained quickly, "I'm due in five or ten minutes."
Isaac and Zac
"Oh wow, okay," Isaac said. "I guess we'd better get our butts over there."
Zac nodded.
"Onwards! To the courtroom Robin!"
Isaac rolled his eyes.
Taylor
"Interesting, they didn't say why the person didn't show," Taylor added, slipping his hands into his pockets before quickly taking out his right and taking Natalie's hand.
"Ready?" his eyebrows rose, indicating for her to follow him in.
Zac, Isaac, Natalie and Tad
"There could be heaps of reasons," Zac said, walking ahead, and chatting with his back turned to everyone else. "Could have chickened out at the last minute. Or maybe they got sick, yeah, maybe there was a medical emergancy. Or maybe they -"
"Zac?"
"Yes Ike?"
"Can it."
Meanwhile, Natalie squeezed Taylor's hand slightly and looked at him inquiringly.
"You okay?" she asked softly.
Tad followed from behind.
Taylor
"Last time," Taylor smiled, ignoring her question and squeezing her hand back.
He followed Zac into the courtroom and they found their usual seats. Taylor saved a spot next to him this time for Natalie.
Zac, Isaac, Natalie, Tad, Tanya and Leroy
Zac and Isaac sat down, and Natalie sat next to Taylor. Tad was sitting down in a nearby seat, when he noticed a familiar person - Tanya! She was at the trial? And who was that sitting next to her? Leroy Brown!
Tad realised he had finished sitting down, so he quickly plonked his butt on the seat before he could be caught staring.
Taylor
Taylor took a deep breath and sighed as they finished with the witness before him and they began to step down.
"Here we go," he said softly, before turning to her.
"I told my brothers this," he whispered, "if you ever feel the need to leave the room, by all means do so."
Natalie
Natalie nodded.
"Okay," she whispered.
She gave his hand what she hoped was a reassuring squeeze.
Taylor
Taylor waited until he was called, then let go of Natalie's hand. He cast his brothers nervous glances as he made his way through the seated area, then stood up to the witness stand. The door was held open for him for the last time, and he once again sat in the seat and swore on the Bible to tell the truth.
"Once again for the record, Mr. Hanson made contact with the defendant on nine separate occasions. The testimony of most have already been delivered, and today we will be concentrating on what took place between the first and eighteenth of June, 2004," the blonde woman recited, checking her notes, "this is the court's last known contact between Mr. Hanson and Dr. Blakesley."
As she said this, Taylor had looked up. He managed a fake smile for his brothers and Natalie, before gazing around. It didn't take long for his eyes to settle on Tanya. He frowned a little, giving her a curious look, before he saw who was with her and froze.
Leroy.
His eyes widened slightly, knowing fully well that this session would be the one involving Christian, and that it would be obvious to both Tanya and Leroy that he was trying to hide his identity.
"Would you care to begin with the events that took place in your written report on the evening of the first of June, 2004, Mr. Hanson?"
He barley even heard her.
Leroy and Tanya
"He looks sick," Leroy whispered.
*Wouldn't you be if you had to relive what he's been through?* was Tanya's telepathic response.
Leroy shrugged, but took the point.
Taylor
"Mr. Hanson?" came the woman's voice again.
Taylor managed to snap himself out of it, then glanced across at her before letting his eyes fall again.
"I was... warned that they were coming after me again."
"'They'?"
"Blakesley and some... things he had helping him. I'm not all that sure what they were," Taylor scratched his head, "one woman that had wings I'd met on another occasion under completely different circumstance and she already wanted me dead."
"Why would she want you dead?"
"Because I stopped her from killing someone else," Taylor shrugged.
"So what did you do, when you were warned?"
"I was in my old apartment with my brother Isaac," he gave him a nod, "and I fled down the stairs and out into a back alley. I don't remember where I was planning to go, but I ran into Blakesley who had..."
He paused with a frown.
"...My girlfriend of the time, Nina. He had hold of her and he held a taser to her neck. He said he'd been planning to use her to blackmail me another time but now... you know. It was happening now."
"What did he want?"
"He told me to look in a bag he had. He said there were... collars in there. He said that if I put one on he'd let her go. But I didn't."
"What did the defendant do?"
"Well I dusted the taser so he couldn't use it on her. But he touched something on her neck which... he told me he'd stopped the blood flow or something and that I only had a few seconds or she'd die."
"But you still didn't give in, did you?"
Taylor shook his head, "I couldn't. I knew I couldn't. So I ran. Then I heard the sound of one of those, dart guns firing. Three times. He was aiming for me but the closest he got was one cutting my arm."
He pointed out where it had hit.
"I went around a corner and hid in the shrubs. Then he had another girl with him who... I don't know, she could 'see things' or whatever. He had her find me. He tried to hit me again but he missed. I ran again."
"You did mention in your statement you were feeling drowsy here."
"It ws a sedative he'd hit me with," Taylor confirmed, "it just wasn't enough to completely knock me out. Anyway this girl kept following me, and I don't know... I must have turned or something because a second later Blakesley just stepped out of the shadows and punched me in the gut. And he put one of those collars on me."
"What did this collar do?"
"This one blocked my atom manipulation power, and would electrocute me on command," Taylor replied softly.
"And what happened then?"
"Then he hand cuffed me. Made me get up. A couple of rats tried to help me but he killed them. When I wouldn't do what he said he slammed my head into a brick wall," he scratched his forehead where the scar used to be.
"I was then told that the woman with wings - Astrid her name was - was back at the apartment with my brother. And we headed back there to wait for her."
"What was she doing there still?"
Taylor grit his teeth, quickly trying to come up with alternatives that weren't lies.
"My brother had been trying to hold her off, and obviously he was doing a good job," he shrugged finally, "when she came down I... I met Ashtoreth for the first time. Then we left. Blakesley and the girl took a van, and I went with Astrid on a hurrok. Like a pegasus but a carnivore."
"Am I to understand that you... let Blakesley kill your girlfriend of the time?"
Taylor hesitated awkwardly.
"It wasn't that easy," he insisted finally, "she wasn't... I mean... It was another prank of Ashtoreth's. When I got into the labs eventually I saw, I was told he'd been making these clones, and she was just one of them."
He bit his lip.
"And I was tricked into having feelings for her."
"Where did Astrid take you?"
"We were heading for the labs, but when night fell she stopped. We went somewhere that had just a few rooms and stuff to spend the night. She tied me to a wall because either she just hated me or didn't trust me free."
"You were still wearing the hand cuffs at this point?"
"They didn't come off until I'd been in the labs a couple of days," Taylor shook his head.
"In your written report you stated you were travelling for a few days. When did you finally reach the labs?"
"From what I've worked out I think it was the fourth of June," Taylor guessed.
"We are now progressing three days, to the fourth of June 2004," the woman told the court before returning her attention to Taylor, "what happened when you entered?"
"I got taken into one of the rooms and restrained to wall with my hands above my head," Taylor demonstrated, "Blakesley was there, he was just busy. When he eventually came over, he... took another skin sample form my chest."
He indicated where.
"What was Blakesley doing before that?"
Taylor's eyes darted, worriedly.
"I don't see how that's relevent," he said finally.
"You're reminded that Blakesley is the defendant and is being prosecuted, and that you need to tell us anything that can help with that."
"It's not my..." Taylor began to shake his head, his eyes on Tanya and Leroy again.
He stopped himself, trying to think of a way out.
Zac, Isaac, Leroy and Tanya
"What's he stalling for?" Zac whispered.
Isaac shrugged. But he noted that Taylor hadn't mentioned Christian had been helping him with Astrid.
"Christian, maybe?" he suggested, his voice low.
"Oh."
Leroy noted Taylor's eyes on him, and he turned his head slightly to Tanya.
"Perhaps you'd better reassure the boy that I know about Christian being there."
Tanya looked at him with raised eyebrows.
*Okay,* she said agreeably, *and then later you can tell me how you know.*
She moved her telepathy to Taylor then and - carefully - sent him the message:
*Taylor? Leroy knows about Christian. I'll find out how later, but getting Blaksley's more important right now.*
Taylor
Taylor couldn't stop his face going white and he hung his head.
"Mr. Hanson? You're reminded you're under oath."
"There was another Dathrian in the room with me," Taylor finally revealed, "he was unconscious and wearing a collar like mine, but it blocked both his powers. Blakesley was checking him over."
"Did you know this Dathrian?"
"Yes."
"Do you care to divulge his identity? He is not mentioned in your written statement..."
"I don't know him very well," Taylor added honestly.
"How about a first name?"
Taylor hesitated, then looked down at his hands nervously.
"Chris. Can we get on with this?" he practically begged.
"Go ahead," the woman relented softly.
"Ah... he cauterised the wond on my chest with a knife again," Taylor went on, "then he was just... taunting me for while."
"How was he taunting you?"
"Well all he wanted was to break me. Emotionally," Taylor reasoned, "and he almost did. but I knew that with the trouble I'd been having in my mind that it wasn't going to be that easy. I could have just as easily gone insane. And when I pointed that out he... well, he wasn't very deterred."
"What happened after this?"
Taylor hesitated as he tried to remember past what happened with Christian.
"He cut me again. Near where he'd taken the sample. Then he... brought out some needles. One went through the webbing between my thumb and pointer finger," he demonstrated, "holding it to the wall. Two went under my arm, and another two went into my stomach."
He faltered as he almost choked on the last few words, remembering what it had felt like.
"Then he was called from the room, and I passed out."
"What happened when you awoke?"
"He woke me up by doing something to one of the needles in my stomach," Taylor frowned, "I'm not sure what, but it hurt like hell. He threatened to cut my face with a saw..."
"Just randomly?"
"Well, no," Taylor admitted, "he was blackmailing Chris. He wanted something from him, and... he gave it because I was threatened. Then instead of a saw he used a knife."
He glanced at Leroy before his eyes fell.
"And that was basically it for that day."
"We will now be moving to the 5th of June, 2004," the woman announced, before turning back to Taylor.
"All that happened that day..." Taylor shook his head, trying to remember and distinguish between days, "I think Blakesley came in and... I don't know. I'd been fading in and out of consciousness all night and day but I managed to stay awake when he came in. He was mainly focused on Chris and... and the reaches of my power. He worked out that I could read body language and written language - including codes."
"What kind of codes was the defendant interested in?"
"Military codes. That comes later. I'd insisted earlier that I couldn't read them, and without having any proof otherwise I was punished for it. He had a small drill-like tool and he dug it into my collarbone. That was basically it for the day, though I did manage to convince him what I'd tried to tell him earlier - that if it did go so far that I was no longer mentally capable, my power would be just as... dead."
"Are you ready to move to the 6th of June then?"
Taylor nodded, and the woman announced it officially.
"Not much happened this day either," Taylor shrugged, "but he got me to read some computer feedout. Code that is. He made me translate it to English, and then when he was satisfied he had us watch the Sentinel test."
"Sentinel?"
Taylor's face went slightly red, not sure if they knew about them or not.
"Robots," he began to explain, "able to differentiate between humans, aliens, or mutants. They ignore humans and... slaughter the others. The test he ran was successful, so we saw both an innocent mutant and Dathrian shot to death with lasers."
He couldn't stop his voice cracking, and rubbed his chin awkwardly.
"Was that all?"
"For the 6th, yes."
The woman announced that they were moving to the 7th of June, 2004, and returned her attention to Taylor.
"I was taken from the room for the first time," Taylor frowned as he remembered, "Blakesley's father was visiting the labs. Whenever he did everyone would run riot and fuss over everything. I mean people that weren't scared of Blakesley were petrified of this guy."
"Was he higher in rank?"
"I don't think he had anything to do with the lab itself or what went on in there," Taylor shook his head, "but it seemed he taught Blakesley everything he knew. Chris knew more but I never found out. Anyway I was taken from the room and down the corridor by a soldier. Into another room. My wrists were taped to the arms of a chair and I was blindfolded and gagged. Thena... assaulted. Minorly."
His eyes fell and he pursed his lips, his face flushing red mainly from embarrassment.
"How were you assaulted?"
"He..." Taylor hesitated, trying to think of how to word it.
After a moment of silent contemplation, he looked up again.
"He licked my ear. And was kind of taunting. It was... odd," he shook his head, "but then he left the room and I just had to wait for Blakesley."
"How long were you waiting?"
"I don't know. I was too worried about what was coming."
"You had a bad feeling about it?"
Taylor couldn't hold back a chuckle.
"I had a bad feeling the entire time I was there. I knew it wasn't going to end."
"What happened when Blakesley finally came?"
"He brought his father in," Taylor scratched his head, "who seemed interested in meeting me. He was mainly just checking me out. Said something about my weight and when he took the blindfold off something about my eyes being similar to Blakesley's mother's. He said he wanted to keep one as a souvenir when I was killed."
He visibly shuddered at the memory.
"They spoke about my interpreting codes and Blakesley's father said something about blinding me for security reasons."
"So you couldn't read the code?"
"I guess so," Taylor shrugged, "at the time they seemed more interested in using me in a war situation. You know... converting codes used by potential enemies and such. Then they began talking about what could happen if they disabled my power... and I begged them not to because I had an idea."
"And did they?"
"Yes," Taylor whispered, his head hanging again before he covered his eyes, "they changed my collar to one like Christian's where I couldn't use either power. I... I went into shock."
He gulped.
"How long did this last?"
"I woke up a few days later. I don't know how long it was. I think I worked it out to be four or five days."
"According to Mr. Hanson's written statement, this takes us to the 12th of June, 2004. What happened when you awoke?"
"It looked like I was in a hospital, but... again I had a bad feeling," Taylor shook his head, "I just didn't believe it would be that easy, and I was right. They tried to convince me I was in a mental institute and I got told a couple of different stories on how I ended up there. I could see right through them because I can tell when people are lying - it's part of my power. They also tried to convince me that three months had passed. I don't know. I got out of the room and went looking around but I couldn't find a way out or anything. Nothing happened until the next day."
"Moving to the 13th of June, for the records."
"A soldier came in, no warning at all, and shot me in the neck with a tranquiliser," Taylor went on as if she hadn't said anything, "when I awoke I was on the floor. Back in the labs. Wearing a collar again. Blakesley's voice came over some speakers and said something about letting a... a failed experiment into the room. He told me to 'pacify it before I got too damaged'."
"In other words calm down a monster?"
"Exactly," Taylor shrugged incredulously, "and I was barely even awake. And then he told me he was going to take my power away again and I just... I couldn't believe it. I mean what was I supposed to do? I thought I was dead already."
"What happened?"
"I saw it... come in. And then he disabled my power and I couldn't tell you what happened," Taylor shook his head, "I don't know how long I was out, but when I got my power back this... thing, was standing over me. It looked something like a werewolf or a big cat or something, I don't know what it was supposed to be. Once I got my bearings I started trying to calm it down. I'm not all that sure why it didn't straight out attack me, but I guess they wouldn't let it."
"Did calming it work?"
"I'm far from empathic, I only understand language," Taylor shook his head again, "I tried, and I guess it kind of worked. I managed to touch it without it biting my hand off, put it that way. Then I offered..."
He trailed off, then seemed to snap himself out of whatever trance he'd gotten into.
"I offered to help it. Because of what it was saying. It was desperate to get out and I knew it wouldn't, so I offered... I offered to kill it."
"Did it accept?"
"No," Taylor's eyebrows rose, "But I... I got to it anyway. And then I tried to use one of its claws to slit my own wrist before I was knocked out with sleeping gas."
"You tried to take your own life?"
"Wouldn't you?" Taylor challenged, "if you knew that was all your life was going to be? He told me he was going to use me to test the Sentinels, and anything else he wanted from me was just the self satisfaction of having me and breaking me when I'd evaded him or something he could get from an autopsy."
The woman was silent, and Taylor took a deep breath.
"Sorry."
"Go on."
"It was the next day when I woke up," Taylor shrugged, inviting the woman to alert the court to the change of date.
"What happened this day?"
"When I woke up I couldn't move. Eventually when Blakesley... let me out, I realised I'd been in some sort of sack thing. Much like after I'd been exhumed in September except this time it was tighter because I could actually fight back."
"What happened when Blakesley freed you?"
"His father was there again," Taylor glanced up at his brothers and Natalie before letting his eyes fall again, "and he had... he had a guitar. He wanted me to play it. He said it would be the last time I ever would."
"I'd like to mention to the court that Mr. Hanson is a musician... One third of the band Hanson to be exact."
Taylor began fiddling with his fingers before she turned back to him.
"What did they hope to gain by this?"
"It was just emotional torture," Taylor shrugged, "nothing more, nothing less. I knew it would be the last time, and music is everything to me."
"What happened?"
"I played two songs and then Blakesley's father gave the order."
"What order?" the woman asked curiously.
Taylor was silent for a long time, before looking up.
"To blind me," he replied before carrying on quickly, "Blakesley had a soldier hold me so I couldn't fight back and then stabbed a knife right through my right eye. Then he... he cut the other one out because his father had said he wanted one. And I passed out."
"We are now moving to the 15th of June, 2004," the woman announced to the court, "what happened when you woke up?"
"I woke up on a floor," Taylor took another deep breath, "it was very, very cold. There was a bandage around my head and my hands were cuffed behind me. I was there for quite a while before Blakesley's father came in, and somehow I knew it was him. He made me sit at a table and just began interrogating me on what I felt or how I understood things without... without my sight. He insisted that I keep my hands on the table and this was reinforced many times."
"And then what happened?"
"Blakesley came in," Taylor gulped, "threatened me, basically. Because apparently I was feeling everything in a substancially enhanced way and he wanted to... to see how it would affect me under his hands. His father broke two of my fingers."
He indicated which.
"Then because I'd taken my hands away from the table they threatened to nail them there."
He stopped himself suddenly, realising that the topic would become focused on Christian if he didn't change or dismiss it.
"Go on," the woman prompted.
Giving Leroy a glance, he looked up again.
"That was basically it. We were just talking and they teased my senses. They left me alone for a couple of days. And then they..."
He trailed off, and put his head in his hands.
"I take your hesitation as being a reference to the actions taken place on the 17th of June, 2004?"
Taylor just nodded, not moving otherwise as he tried to get himself together.
"Would you... care to tell the court what happened on that day?" the woman asked carefully.
Taylor was silent for a long time, and being made to relive the memories he couldn't hold back the tears as much as he wanted to. When he finally looked up again, his face was red and tears had stained his cheeks.
"They crucified me," his voice cracked, though he succeeded in stopping himself actually crying.
"And they made me... they made me feel everything. When I'd been on it - the cross - for a while, they carried it into a room and I lost my power again. I couldn't understand anything other than the pain."
His voice cracked again and he hung his head, hiding his face.
The courtroom was silent, before the woman stepped closer to him.
"We're almost done," she reassured softly, "can you tell us what happened the following day? The 18th of June, 2004?"
Taylor wiped his eyes and looked up again.
"The next day I was rescued. By my brothers over there," he indicated Isaac and Zac, "I owe my life to them. Isaac multiple times even. They got me out of there and... and I was healed and we went home."
"Thankyou," the woman smiled, before turning back to the court.
"As earlier stated, this is the last known contact between Mr. Hanson and the defendant, Dr. Kaleb Blakesley. Mr. Hanson, you may step down."
Taylor thankfully departed and headed back to where his brothers, Natalie and Tad were sitting, still wiping his eyes. He nodded to them and indicated the door, before giving Tanya and Leroy a glance and making his way straight out.
Leroy, Tanya, Isaac, Zac, Natalie and Tad
Leroy shook his head and Tanya squeezed his hand. It was truly dispicable.
Isaac, Zac, Natalie and Tad stood to walk with Taylor out. Natalie reached out and took Taylor's hand.
The court continued in its proceedings as they left the room.
Taylor
Taylor began to feel awful when Natalie took his hand, hating himself for breaking down in front of her like that. He couldn't bear to even look anyone in the eyes as he looked around for a bathroom to clean himself up.
"Sorry," he said finally, wiping his eyes again.
Isaac, Zac and Natalie
"Nothing to be sorry about," Isaac said firmly, feeling a little emotional himself.
He well remembered the day they had rescued him. That would be forever seared in his mind. Zac felt the same way.
Natalie let go of Taylor's hand long enough to pull out a tissue from her handbag for him.
"Here," she offered.
Taylor
Taylor managed a smile as he took it.
"Thanks," he said softly, using it to wipe his face.
"Did you guys see who else was in there?"
Zac and Isaac
"Leroy and Tanya?" Zac asked. "Yeah, we noticed them."
Isaac would have mentioned something about Christian, but opted not to, due to Tad.
Taylor
Taylor nodded, before putting the tissue in a nearby bin.
"Let's get out of here, huh?" he suggested softly, "in case they decide they forgot something."
Isaac, Zac and Natalie
"Sounds like a plan," Isaac agreed.
They headed towards the exit. Zac refrained from talking about chocolate muffins.
"Do we need to call Tony?" Natalie asked.
Taylor
Taylor pulled out his cell phone.
"I'll just message him," he said softly, while doing so.
He sent it off and they soon met with Tony at the door.
Isaac, Zac, Natalie and Tad
"Well," Isaac said. "Guess it's time to go home."
Zac nodded and Natalie took Taylor's hand again. Tad closed the distance between them to make teleporting easier for Tony.
Taylor
Taylor gave Natalie's hand a subtle squeeze as a silent thankyou, before they were teleported back to Isaac and Taylor's.
"Guess we'd better get your room set up," Taylor said to Natalie before moving over to Zac and giving him a hug.
"Thanks for coming."
Zac, Isaac and Natalie
"No problemo dude," Zac nodded.
He hugged him back.
"See you later, Zac," Isaac said.
"See yas," Zac replied.
And soon Tony was whisking Zac back to his place.
"Still moving in, I see," Natalie said, noting all the boxes.
Isaac grinned. Many was the time he was tempted to take his telekinesis to it, but that would just clue Tad into thinking that his power was working properly again. And where would be the fun in that?
Taylor
"Yeah, sorry," Taylor apologised again.
"But we have most of the bedrooms set up. And the music room. So... the important stuff is all good."
Natalie and Isaac
"It's no big deal," Natalie said. "I've moved house before. It's huge. You probably still have stuff at Zac's house."
Isaac grinned.
"Probably," he said. "Although I would hope that we've gotten everything."
Taylor
"We didn't really have that much to begin with," Taylor shrugged, "we're not really... material people. We travel too much."
He began down the hallway, attempting to point out her room. When he found it, he indicated for her to follow him.
Natalie
Natalie followed Taylor to her room and peeked inside.
"Oh yeah," she said, noting her bag on the bed. "I'd forgotten about my bag."
It had been dropped off earlier when she had arrived with Tony to pick them up.
Taylor
"That's cool," Taylor shrugged.
"I don't know if you'd want to bother unpacking seeing as you're only staying the night... bathroom is through there."
He indicated the door.
"Ike's room... my room... and the music room is up the other end. It's sort of a back room. Are you hungry yet?"
Natalie
"Cool," Natalie replied.
She turned to face him and wrinkled her nose.
"Naw," she said. "I'm fine at the moment."
Taylor
"Ok well, I'm starving," Taylor couldn't help but chuckle.
"So... I'll let you get settled in while I put something together. Just come out to the music room when you're ready."
And he made for the kitchen.
Natalie
"Okay," Natalie replied.
Natalie decided not to unpack (well, she was only staying the night, what was the point?), so she just made sure that the bed was made properly and headed to the kitchen. Well, this was the house of two bachelors who had just moved in. It needed checking.
Taylor
Taylor had quickly made himself something before washing his face in the sink. He took something for the headache he felt coming on, before looking up to see Natalie in the doorway.
He smiled, before hearing Isaac start playing something with multiple instruments.
"Guess we'd better go find him before he gets too lonely," he chuckled, taking Natalie's hand again and leading her to the back room.
Natalie and Isaac
Natalie giggled and followed.
Isaac was not only playing multiple instruments, but he was also typing away on his notebook computer, his latest novel. He glanced up at them briefly.
"I felt my writing needed some musical accompaniment," he explained.
Taylor
"Sure, sure."
Taylor turned to Natalie.
"Too late," he shrugged with a grin.
Natalie and Isaac
Natalie chuckled.
"Too late for what?" Isaac asked.
"Don't worry," Natalie assured him. "What are you writing?"
Isaac paused. It was only a few months back that his brothers found out that he was a sciende fiction writer. While he didn't mind them knowing, he didn't want just everyone to find out. But then, she was taking care of Taylor, and she did heal him...
"A new novel," he said. "I, umm, write Dathrian sci-fi. Gotten a few books published - under a psudeonym"
"Cool."
Taylor
"He hasn't even let us read any of them," Taylor pointed out, noticing idly that he was still holding Natalie's hand.
"So you should feel priveledged he even told you they exist."
He finally let go and went over to the piano.
"Stop playing dude," he insisted, sitting down.
Isaac and Natalie
"But I'm building up to the sub climax where Jo finds out that Carla's -" Isaac looked around. "Oh okay, fine then."
He relinquished his power use, and saved his file. Natalie grinned and took a seat.
"Carla's what?" she inquired. "An alien?"
Isaac shook his head.
"Nope," he said, then pretended to look around as if worried someone might overhear, "that she isn't real."
"Oh, like an imaginary friend?"
"Not quite."
Natalie looked at him inquiringly, and Isaac just smiled knowingly.
Taylor
Taylor just rolled his eyes before playing something random.
"So you tell Nat, but not us. Favouritism or what?"
Isaac and Natalie
"Hey, you never asked," Isaac defended. "And you can read my novels any time. Not my fault you've been too lazy to pick them up. Slacker."
"Does he know what youe psudeonym is?" Natalie asked.
"Sure," Isaac replied. "I even told them. Eventually."
"Eventually?"
Isaac shrugged.
"Well, y'know," he said, "I didn't want to write under my own name because I wanted my books to succeed in their own right, not because 'Isaac Hanson' had written them."
Natalie nodded.
"But what has that got to do with not telling your brothers?"
"Uhh, well, umm... I don't know. It seemed logical at the time."
Taylor
Taylor just shook his head.
"So... I guess we need to find something for Nat to do so she doesn't die of boredom tonight," he said suddenly, resting his hands on his knees.
Natalie and Isaac
"Somehow I doubt spending any amount of time with you gusy could be boring," Natalie replied.
"That's only the case if Zac was here," Isaac grinned. "It's just you, me, Tay and Tad. Hey, lets pull pranks on Tad!"
Natalie giggled.
Taylor
"Like we don't do enough of that," Taylor chuckled, "it'll be interesting to see what he reports to Leroy."
Then he hesitated, realising Natalie didn't know about Christian. Or what was going on with Leroy for that matter.
Isaac and Natalie
"Hehe, tattletale," Isaac chuckled, noting the look on Natalie's face. "Tad is like a whiny brat, only older."
"Oh I see. And that only inspires you?"
"Exactly," Isaac nodded.
Isaac wasn't sure how Taylor felt about Natalie knowing about Tad spying on them. They could always decide to tell her later, but maybe that would be enough to distract her from realising that Taylor said "Leroy" and not "Tanya".
Taylor
Taylor glanced at Isaac, before playing another random piece of music. Hey, he was at the piano after all.
"Any particular ideas for something to do tonight?" he asked, while still playing.
"We could go out or something."
Isaac and Natalie
"Yeah," Isaac agreed. "Movie or something? I dunno... what's on?"
"Elektra is," Natalie pointed out.
"Oh, you want to see that?"
"I wouldn't mind..."
"Zac saw that. Of course, he just likes anything Jennifer Garner is in," Isaac chuckled. "Our friend Friday is a real Elektra fan though. According to Zac - who talks to her more than us - she thinks it wasn't violent enough."
"Wow," Natalie remarked. "All this complaining about too much violence in the media... and now something isn't violent enough?"
"She is an assassin."
"Point."
Taylor
"I'm up for it," Taylor shrugged.
He stopped playing for a moment, thoughtfully.
"We could go now if we want," he suggested, "there's nothing inparticular I need to work on yet."
Isaac and Natalie
"Cool," Isaac said. "Let's go then."
He stood and grinned.
"I wonder what Tad'll think of it? Cause, y'know, he'll have to come with..."
"Oh, he'll probably want to gawk at Jennifer like Zac does," Natalie giggled.