Whip was very curious about Slick. He kept odd hours, and although this could be partically explained by his going to work, he never actually mentioned to anyone what he did. In fact, everytime Whip tried to ask, Slick managed to find some way of evading the question, and in such a way that Whip didn't realise it had happened until hours after the fact!
Whip had his opportunity to find out what was going on. It was early morning - so early it was still dark out, when he heard Slick get up. Whip had been sharing a room with him again since he had been back, much to Slick's annoyance.
Slick dressed, then eyed Whip steadily for a few moments, and finally left the room. Whip waited until he couldn't hear Slick's footsteps any more, got out of bed and dressed quickly. He was just pulling on his jacket when he heard the sound of Slick's car. He turned himself invisible, took a deep breath, and teleported into the backseat of the car.
Suffice to say, he was very thankful for all those danger room sessions with Mark, developing the ability to teleport invisibly!
And so the trip began. After about half an hour, Whip wondered if they would ever get to... wherever Slick was going, but it was only a few minutes later that they pulled into a driveway. Slick parked his car alongside another, and as he got out, Whip teleported out.
Whip followed Slick inside the house, and down the stairs to the basement.
Where Whip got the shock of his life.
Marijuana. Lots and lots of marijuana. All being grown indoors, with some rather impressive looking equipment.
Slick started talking to the other guy that was there, but Whip paid no attention to the conversation. Instead he did an exploration of the house, and teleported himself back to the car, and made himself visible again, so give him an opportunity to think and to recharge his power batteries, so to speak.
It seemed so hard to wrap his head around the fact that his brother was a drug dealer. Doing them, maybe, but actually producing the stuff? It seemed so unreal. No wonder he evaded his questions!
After awhile, the owner of the other car came out and drove off. Whip turned invisible as soon as he saw him, and back again when he left.
Not long therafter, Whip was turning himself invisible again, because another car was coming up the road. A police car. Numerous police cars.
Whips eyes widened, and he immediately teleported himself back to the basement. Slick was nowhere in sight. Whip walked tentatively up the stairs and discovered the door was locked. He teleported to the otherside of the door and observed Slick running around frantically doing... whatever he was doing. Presumably he had seen the police also, and was taking appropriate precautions.
Whip watched as the door was knocked open, and police started pouring in. Slick was immediately apprehended, and he was forced up against the wall. The police then started searching the place.
"Great," Whip thought to himself, "Not only do I find out my brother is a drug dealer, I also follow him to work on the day that there is a police raid and he gets himself arrested."
He considered the matter briefly, but when the police started on the basement door, an insane idea came to him, and he moved to impliment it without considering either the risks or a second thought. He knew that all the evidence of the drug production was in the basement, and that's where he went.
Whip swallowed, and took hold of the waterlines. These lines connected everything in the room. He stared at the plants furtherest away and proceeded to turn everything invisible. Once he saw the plants in the back of the room disappear, he closed his eyes, determind to keep anything from distracting him. He had never turned so much invisible before, although he had been experimenting with the skill in order to aid him in games of hide and seek in the danger room with Mark.
He heard police come in. Whip hoped they wouldn't go too far into the room, on account of the fact that while he could turn everything invisible, he couldn't prevent people from bumping into it.
Fortunately for him, the few that did venture very far into the room managed to steer clear of the actual objects.
"I can smell it," one policeman mentioned. "But I can't see it."
"Must have cleared it out recently. Damnit we were so sure we had them this time."
"But sir... we can smell it!"
"Unfortunately, we can't arrest him on a smell. Let him go, and lets get out of here."
Whip was grateful to hear those words. He was getting so tired now... so very tired...
**********
Back upstairs, the policemen reluctantly took the handcuffs off Slick.
"You were lucky this time," he muttered to him.
Slick watched, a little confused as the police left. He knew they went into the basement. How didn't they see everything?
He followed them out, and made sure they all got into their cars. Another car arrived at the house, and the guys got out, shooting looks at the retreating policeman.
"Slick? What happened?"
"I have no idea," Slick replied, rubbing his wrists. "Came to do a raid, obviously, even went down in the basement. But..."
And he shook his head.
"I have no idea why they didn't..."
The men went into the house and went down into the basement.
"Where'd it all go?" one of them shrieked. "Months of work! All gone!"
He was about to lunge at Slick, when all the plants reappeared. Silence.
"How -"
"Whip?" Slick exclaimed.
All eyes fell on the young boy, collapsed on the floor.
Whip woke some hours later. He was alone in an unfamiliar room. He started to get up, but immediately got a dizzy spell and fell back on the bed again.
A few minutes later, Slick entered the room.
"Oh? You awake now are you?" he said.
"Slick?" Whip asked, his voice dry.
"How'd you get here?"
"I... I followed you."
"Yeah? How? And for that matter, how'd you hide the plants?"
Whip looked away. Slick rolled his eyes.
"Here's what I think. I think you're a mutant."
Whip looked back and met Slick's eyes.
"Yeah, I thought so. Invisibility or something?"
Whip nodded. Best he kept his teleportation quiet.
"Mom doesn't know, does she?"
"No. She doesn't know about this either, does she?"
"No. And you're not going to tell her."
"Yeah, she'd demand a cut in the profits if I did, huh?" Whip said. "And you can't tell her about me being a mutant."
"Sure, sure. A secret for a secret."
"Good. How long have I been asleep for?"
"Five hours. Must have been pretty tiring making everything invisible, huh?"
"Never done anything like that before, and not for so long either. Could I have some water?"
"Sure," Slick paused. "This scholarship you got? Is that really to do with your grades?"
Whip figured he may as well tell him.
"No, I go to a school for mutants. Annika -"
"She knows?"
"She was the first one. She knew one of the teachers at the school, and got to talk to the headmaster, and got me out of there."
"Hmph. The guys are concerned. Y'know, about you following me. And about you knowing."
"I just saved your ass, and your crops," Whip frowned.
Then he coughed, unable to continue for the dryness in his throat.
"I'll get you that water."
**********
None of Slick's workmates said anything to Whip, but it was understood that he would not get any further involved in their work, nor would they interfere with them.
If back at home anyone noticed that Slick and Whip were more civil to each other, no one commented.