Aegis 3.0

[Scripted Away]

Mac smirked softly, planting a kiss on Hunter's forehead. ",You look amazing, baby", he mumbled happily, quickly stroked a wayward streak of hair out of his face and turned to the door.
"Heather, Noah, Misha! Time to go!''
Noah came rushing in with an excited grin and immediately took his father's hand. "Will there be music on the party afterwards so we can dance?''

While Rose was grinning proudly, Raven smiled softly at her father, her eyes twinkling mischievously. "An old Mustang, from 1967. I thought we could paint it Black, with blue and white lightnings. And maybe the lightning speed up technology you used in yours as well? If you wanna show me how you built that."
She winked.
"I bet the two of us will make it absolutely perfect, dad."

Sam smiled sadly and just gave Dylan a pat on the back, determination written in his eyes.
"This time, nothing will happen. I will make sure it won't. We will all be perfectly fine, I promise."
He smiled at his son , his expression gentle and proud. "I won't ever let anything hurt my family. All of you "

 

[Wyosch]

"Probably, yes.", Hunter replied, smiling softly as Heather came running towards them too, immediately taking her mother's hand.
"I have a surprise for Sam and Emma!"
"You do? What then?"
"I found this really pretty leaf and want them to have it."
"I bet they'll love it. Now where's Misha? Still with Levi?"

Jim let out a strange sound, that sounded a bit like the squeeling of a fangirl - just much deeper.
"Nice! Love that car. My grandfather won NASCAR in that one.", he explained, smirking. "We'll pimp the baby up to a V16, put in some nice racing knobs to make it roar, lightning-speed up tech, perhaps a new engine to give it even more horsepower- okay sorry I'm blabbing on.", he winked, smiling happily at his daughter.
"I'm glad you want to build it with me."

"Mhm I hope.", Dylan mumbled, thinking of something to change the topic.
"Soooooo- me and Lola are very probably going to visit her father in Norway this weekend. Quite excited, never seen snow before! And never been out of the US."

 

[Scripted Away]

Mac smiled softly at Heather, a proud sparkling in his eyes.
''i bet Sam and Emma will love it", he said happily, before he turned to the door again to call Misha once more.
"Levi, Misha, we really have to go!"
Levi sticker his head through the door with one eyebrow raised in surprise. "Why are you calling me? It's not like I'm invited."
"Sam said, and I'm quoting him here 'the while family, no matter how distantly related. And you are his sister's sister-in-law's half-brother. That's pretty distant, but it counts."
Levi just raised his other eyebrow eyebrow as well, put on finger against Mac's shoulder and shifted into him, to get access to all the forehead languages he knew. He was pretty sure the real reason was one the kids didn't have to know.
"Okay, und jetzt der wirkliche Grund", Levi said with furrowed eyebrows.
Mac just sighed. "Levi, ich weiß was mit deiner Familie passiert ist. Hab sie selbst nach Eden gebracht-"
Oddly enough, Mac had a Polish accent when talking German, but not when talking English. Excepting the fact that he sometimes, just sometimes, still rolled an r here and there.
"Und?"
"Und ich will nicht, dass du ganz allein da draußen bist.
Levi sighed silently, shifting back into himself with a sad smile. "Thank you, Macon..."
"Always."

Raven smiled softly, the exact same smile as Jim, and gently squeezed his hand, electrifying him like back when she still had been a baby.
"You said it yourself, dad. No matter how grown-up or old I am- I will always be your little girl. I will always love you."
Grinning proudly, she shifted her wings on her back- jet black feathers, with a faint, blue shimmer, like the feathers of an actual Raven. "And I have your wings!"
Remembering how he had mentioned her great-grandfather, Raven looked up at him with big, excited eyes.
"Tell me about great-grandpa!"

Sam smirked softly as Dylan told him about visiting Lola's father.
"So it's getting serious with you two, hm?", He asked chuckling, Lola just smirking innocently.
"Sam, don't scare him away before I even got to chain him up in the basement!", She laughed.
"Oh yeah right", Sam laughed. Turning to Dylan, he smirked proudly. "I like her."
"Aww, you're too sweet, Sam."
"...hä watt? I'm never sweet", he chuckled winking.
"That sounded like Lower Rhine?"
"Totally! You know our slang?"
Lola was grinning widely by now. "Sure, lived and worked there for about two years, before I became a model. It was complicated to understand at first, aber jetz habbich et zimmich drin."
"Sauuber, wasse im Ruhrpott unterwechs, wa?"
"Wattema, wo kommse von?"
"Olles Dorfgemüse, noch von vodde Zechn."
"Meine Fresse, musse ja gleichet ganze Dorf einlaan wenne ma feiers."
"Is abba nett mit allemann uropas schwarzgebranntn zu schnassln."
Laughing happily, Lola finally turned to Dylan again. "You never told me Sam is from there! Now I'm not surprised about the many people here anymore."

 

[Wyosch]

Hunter smiled softly at Levi, her smile widening as her youngest child came running towards them.
"Is Levi coming too?"
"Yes, he is."
"Can I show him my cars after the wedding?", he asked, giggling excitedly.
"Sure, I bet Levi will love to see your cars."
"Yay!" Misha walked over to his father and grabbed his free hand, grinning.
"Let's go to the wedding then!"

Jim smirked proudly as she showed her wings, nodding.
"Your wings are beautiful, honey.", he replied, quite sad that his wings were too big to be shifted onto his back while being in the house.
"About my grandfather? Well... I've never known him. He died in a car accident weeks before I was born.", he explained, smiling sadly. "When I got older, I once found some stuff of him in the basement, so I digged. Your great-grandfather was a racer. A very famous one. Won every race he participated in, gave his cars names and cared for them as if they were his children."
He sighed, lifting his shoulders.
"I can't tell you much about him, because that's about all I know of him."

Dylan just frowned akwardly at his girlfriend and soon-to-be-stepfather, lifting his shoulders.
"I had no idea he was from there.", he mumbled. "So eh- what did you two just talk about? I understood nothing."

 

[Scripted Away]

"wait a second!"
Levi quickly said, smiling awkwardly. "I don't have a suit yet. One moment."
His hand on Mac's shoulder, he copied his white button up shirt and dark blue pants, then put his hand on Noah's shoulder and copied his light grey tie.
"Alright, now we can go!"
With a smirk, Mac teleported all of them right in front of the church...into a huge crowd. While Macon didn't seem surprised at all, Levi looked as if his eyes were about to pop out. "...is this all family?!"
"Mostly", Mac chuckled. "Very distantly related, some of them, but family, yeah."

"Have you ever tried finding him?", Raven asked curiously, lifting one shoulder. "I mean, after all the borders between ghosts and living are pretty faint by now."
When Rachel came out of the bathroom, her deep black, sparkling slit dress, her hair in a messy bun with a few flowers and her Amber eyes striking through her smokey make up, Raven and rose both gasped.
"My mother is a friggin model...", She mumbled with wide eyes, causing Rachel to chuckle softly. "Only part succubus." She winked at Jim. "Everyone ready to go?"

"Oh I just asked him where in Germany he came from. Lower Rhine. ',Ruhrpott'. They have quite a unique slang there", Lola explained with a soft smirk. "Some call it 'dreckiges Deutsch'... Grubby German. It's a bit like Texan- say as much as possible with as little as possible effort."

 

[Wyosch]

"Thank god I don't suffer from social anxiety anymore.", Hunter giggled, smiling softly as she saw Misha hiding himself behind his father's leg.
"Are you ok, sweetie?"
"I'm fine."
Hunter raised an eyebrow, but immediately had to pay attention again as she didn't feel her daughter's hand in her own anymore.
"Heather?"
"I FOUND A STONE!"
"...that's great, honey. Please stay with us, we don't want to lose you."
"Okay mommy."
Misha gently pulled on his father's hand, still hiding behind him.
"Why are there so many people here?"

Jim's jaw dropped as Rachel walked out of the bathroom, looking beautiful as always.
He just stared at her for a moment, probably as long to make it akward for Raven and Rose, until he cleared his throat and blinked a couple of times to wake up from his daydreaming.
"I can't let her go there looking like this! Even though she's really beautiful-", he mumbled silently. "But now I gotta creep away even more guys who'll be trying to get her attention. And who'll succeed of course..."
He just smirked akwardly, noticing that he had said that out loud, and ran his hand through his hair, hoping that nobody had heard a thing he'd said. He didn't want Rachel to be mad at him again because of what he'd said.
"Alriiiiight- eh..."
>>Change topic, quickly.<<
"Jack, Kai, Angel - we're going!"
The little taps of toddler's feet was heard, their giggling filling the hallway, grinning as they arrived.
"Looking beautiful, Angel.", Jim complimented the young girl, who happily turned around to show off her dress once more.
Jack smirked, running his hand through his hair just like his father always did, and winked - with both eyes - at his mother.
"I like my suit. Makes me look so grown-up!"
"Well you are already almost three.", Kai replied, ruffling his little brother's black hair. "Raven! I hardly recognized you.", he mumbled afterwards, staring up at her for a moment before he just let his gaze sink down to the floor again.
"We're all ready, so - let's go?", Jim suggested, taking Angel's and Rose's hand. They were both still too young to roam around on their own with so many people being at the wedding. Or maybe Jim just wanted them to be near him.
Jack grabbed his mother's hand and smiled happily.
"You look really pretty, mommy."

"Eh well I've never heard Texan before so I really don't know how I should imagine that.", Dylan replied, smirking akwardly - his eyes widening as he saw his brother arrive in the distance.
"MOLEY!"
"Stop calling me like that, Dylan!"
"Neverrrrr!"
They hugged each other, Cole afterwards quickly hugging Sam and stretching his hand out to Lola.
"So you're the girl my brother's been talking about 24/7 lately? I'm Cole."

 

[Scripted Away]

Mac smirked softly at his youngest son, just picked him up and sat him down on his shoulders so he could overlook the crowd, instead of being stuck in a forest of legs and asses.
"This better?", He asked with a knowing smile as he leaned his head back to look at his son.
"You know, uncle Sam and aunt Rachel have a really really big family. Most of these people are related to them. For exaaaaaample..."
He looked around for a while, until he spotted a ghost that looked confusingly much like Rey.
"That ghost girl over there. That's Theresa, Rachel's stillborn twin sister. And that old Japanese lady over there is Sam and Rey's great-great-grandma. She's already 113 years old, but still fit! And those guys are their uncles...over there some of their aunts...and I believe those over there are some sort of grandcousins or so..."

Rachel smiled softly at Jim, just addressing him in his thoughts so their conversation would stay between the two of them.
>>No other man than you could ever win my attention in that way, honey<<, she thought to him smiling. >>You're my one and only. Forever.<<
While Rose seemed halfway confused that her father still thought it was necessary to hold her hand- she already was a big school girl, after all-, Rachel headed for the stairs. "I'll just quickly get William ready, and then we can go."
Just a few minutes later, she came back with William in a onesie looking like a suit, his already pretty wild brown hair standing up in all directions.
Rachel sighed, smirking softly.
"I don't know whose hair he got, but it's untameable."

Lola grinned widely as Cole came over, and shook his hand.
"Lola. so greet to meet you. Your gaming channel saved my butt in overwatch."
She smirked, looking around. "Okay, so,- you're Cole. So the others are... Michael and Emily, right?"

 

[Wyosch]

Misha slightly tilted his head as he looked at all these people. How could someone have such a big family?
"Daddy, why don't we-", he stopped mid-sentence, a painful frown on his face as he held his hands against the sides of his head.
"So many thoughts and memories! How do I stop this?!"

>>I know... but those thoughts come automatically... and I mean, you're beautiful- who wouldn't have eyes for you?<<, Jim replied, just nodding as Rachel walked off to get William ready.
"Rose, are you ok? You seem slightly... uncomfortable.", he asked, raising an eyebrow at his daughter, his eyes widening softly as he saw his youngest son all dressed up.
"Look how cute he is.", he chuckled, looking at Rachel's hair for a moment. "He definitely didn't get your hair. You can tame yours like nobody else.", he winked, thinking of his own. "Mine has a mind of its own and only sometimes wishes to work along."

"Oh wow, you know my gaming channel?", Cole chuckled akwardly, hoping nobody would tell his mother - she probably wouldn't really like that.
"Well our sister Emily had twins with a C-section only two days ago, she's at home resting now. Her fiancé is going to be here, though. He's great."
Dylan nodded at his brother's explanation, looking at Lola with a sad smile.
"Mike was murdered a couple of hours before my sister went into labor..."
"Dylan, turn around."
"What's it, Coley?", he asked, raising an eyebrow as he saw his brother staring at someone or something with huge eyes, clearly looking as if he had seen a ghost.
Dylan turned around, blinking a couple of times as he saw what Cole had mentioned.
"M-mike?"
"Heya Dyllie."
"You- you were dead- I-"
"I don't know who brought me back nor why, but I'd much rather stayed dead, believe me."
"What?"
"I was just roaming around earth man, that sucks."
"Shouldn't you be happy to be back?", Cole interrupted, frowning.
"Now I gotta do stuff again- oh, who's this beauty?", Mike asked, smirking as he saw Lola. He wiggled his eyebrow, ran his hand through his hair and pushed Dylan aside to stand in front of her.
"Well well well, aren't you a beauty? What's your name?", he winked, biting his lip as he lifted his hand to put it on Lola's hip.
"Don't fucking touch her.", Dylan hissed, turning his brother around. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Flirting. Isn't that obvious?"
"Well, for the record - that's my girlfriend, and second, no matter who it is you're trying to flirt with - you don't just go touch people, okay?"
"Your girlfriend?"
"Yeah."
"What's she doing with a loser like you?"
Dylan took a step back, his eyes wide open, a sad expression on his face.
Cole stepped in front of his brother, a threatening look in his eyes.
"Mike if I were you I'd step away from me, Dylan and Lola now - before I get angry."
"You don't scare me, Cole. I'm your big brother, how much could you hurt me? You wouldn't even hurt a fly."
"I don't like bullies, and you're really acting like one right now."
"You don't like bullies? And that's why you let yourself be bullied for years? That's why you let Dylan be beaten by bullies every day until he turned 17?"
"Shut up, Mike. Just leave."
"Nah, I'm staying for the wedding. Free food, duh."

 

[Scripted Away]

Mac carefully carried Misha away from the crowd.
Once they were in a few feet distance, he carefully pushed his hands against the sides of Misha's head, closing his eyes. He groaned for a second, before he opened his eyes again.
"Your mind reading ability is really powerful...", He mumbled calmingly. "Look, if you want to control it, you have to build up a wall against the thoughts, in your mind. Imagine it. Picture it in your head. How does it look? Like a brick wall? Made of light? How does it feel? Hard? Soft? Cold? Warm? Imagine every single detail and build it up in your head. It will block out the voices."

"I mean look at him! I have slight waves, but not curls like that!", Rachel chuckled as she gently ran her hand over William's chocolate brown hair.
While Rachel was still playing around with William, Rose just gently cuddled against her father's arm.
She knew how much it hurt him that Raven was already grown up, and she didn't want to hurt him by telling him he didn't need to hold her hand because she was old enough to take care.
"Nope, I'm just a bit nervous about meeting Sam's new family", she explained with an awkward smile. "I hope they're nice."

With a deep grown on her face, Lola intertwined her fingers with Dylan's, and slapped Mike's cheek with surprising power with her free hand.
"First, you asshole: I wouldn't want to flirt with you even if you were the last man on earth!
Second: touch me one more time and you'll lose a fingerAND THIRD: I love Dylan, you miserable idiot. And from what I can tell, you are acting like an asshole because you are jealous that Dylan and Cole both have girlfriends who love them, while you are all alone with your sickness of a personality! So say one more word against my boyfriend and I'll show you what pain this beauty is capable of!''
While Lola was still steaming inside, Sam gripped Mike's shoulder tightly, his voice full of anger.
"Michael Anderson, this was the last straw."
He made two bags appear next to mine and frowned deeply. "Your stuff. I don't want to see you in my house anymore. I got you a small flat in Germany, and a job. You start working today. If it wasn't for your mother I wouldn't even do this much for you. You will be picked up for work in five minutes."
And, with a cold smile, Sam teleported Mike into a tiny flat in Duisburg.

 

[Wyosch]

Misha frowned, trying to picture a wall inside his head like his father told him to.
"Will I have to picture a wall every time there are many people around?", he asked, looking up at his dad with big, fearful eyes.
"I think I build a wall, I'm not sure... but I think so."

"You don't need to be nervous.", Jim replied to Rose, though he himself was actually quite nervous too. Sure, some of Rey's family had been at their wedding too, but not even half of what was coming to this one. And yes, he was scared to meet them all. He'd probably say or do something wrong...
"They're your mom's and uncle's family - look how nice they are. They'll all love you."
He smiled gently at Rose, before turning to Rachel.
"Should we go now? Don't wanna be too late. Kai, can you watch Jack?"
"Sure thing, dad.", Kai replied, taking his brother's hand and smiling happily.
"Ready to teleport everyone?"

Dylan and Cole were staring at each other for a moment, before Cole stormed off and Dylan just hugged his girlfriend tightly.
"I'm so sorry you had to see that... he's... I don't know what's gotten into him.", he mumbled, sighing silently. "Just- I'm not like him. Neither are Cole, Emily, my mom and Sam..."

Mike shook his head as he suddenly found himself in some tiny appartment room.
"What the fuck, Sam? You can't just force me to go work! I'm not your kid!"

 

[Scripted Away]

"no, at least not that awarely", Mac explained with a gentle smile, giving Misha a comforting pat on his back.
"Just imagine that wall has a door. You can open and close it as you please, it just takes a bit of practise."

At Raven and rose calling 'yes', Rachel grinned excitedly and teleported, appearing a few feet outside the crowd.
"Yup, I see the entire family", Rachel chuckled, looking around with a happy smile.
"Even Theresa, Great-great-grandma and Andrej aren't there! Wow!"

Lola smiled sadly as she hugged Dylan and kissed his cheek, cuddling against him.
"I know none of you guys is like that", she mumbled gently.
Trying to cheer him up, she looked up into his eyes and smirked softly.
"Hey, you won't get rid of me that easily. Your ass of a brother won't even get close to scaring me enough to leave you alone. Sorry man, you got me glued to your sexy ass."
Meanwhile, Sam was running after Cole. "Cole, wait!"

A loud banging was heard at the door, before Ava just walked through it as if it was made of air.
"Michael Anderson?", She asked with one raised eyebrow, the Russian accent in her voice obvious. "Alright, move your ass, we're going. And don't you dare to talk back to me, I'm a witch and I will turn you into a little squeaking piggy if you don't toe the line, boy."

 

[Wyosch]

"A wall, but as a door?", Misha asked confused, raising an eyebrow. "How should I imagine that? That's not possible... is it?", he slightly tilted his head, looking up at his father with big eyes.
"Daddy, why can't I control my powers and Heather and Noah can?"

Jim took a deep breath, smiling softly at his kids, before he looked at Rachel.
"You lead the way, hun. Where should we go?", he asked, slightly tilting his head - like a puppy usually does when not understanding something.

Dylan chuckled, shaking his head.
"You're only thinking about my butt, hm?", he winked, giggling. "You know, I like hot buns too. Pun intended."

Cole stopped, his hands balled into fists, and turned around to Sam.
"What?", he growled, sighing silently afterwards.
"I'm sorry- I didn't mean to... I just... he didn't have to say all that stuff... especially about the bullies. Dylan still has problems because of that..."

Mike just stared at the woman, raising an eyebrow at her.
"And who might you be?", he asked, crossing his arms as he leaned against the wall. "Listen, my stepdad teleported me here which must be a grave mistake because I don't like living in apartments and I surely won't listen to some anom."

 

[Scripted Away]

Mac chuckled softly, ruffling Noah's hair.
"No, a wall with a door", he clarified, lifting his shoulders at Misha's question afterwards.
"To be honest I'm not sure. I suspect it's because your powers are just really really strong. I mean, your brother's weather control is very strong, too, but it's still bound to his emotions by now, and since he's very balanced normally, it's just not enough emotion to change the weather remarkably. In your case though, your powers are mind-based, and you are my son. I have an IQ beyond the scale, and I'm pretty sure you inherited quite an intelligence, too, honey."

Rachel looked around for some time more, before she lifted her shoulders. "Honestly? I have no idea. There are...really many people here."
She took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a while.
"So many voices speaking at once..."

Lola laughed softly, leaning against Dylan's side with a happy sigh as she watched the bustle all around them.
"Hey Didi?"
With her eyes sparkling softly, she looked up at him.
"I meant it, you know? I love you. Probably more than you think. With your computer games, and marvel fandom, and your bad puns and awkwardness around strangers. Don't let anyone make you doubt yourself. You're a great guy, just being yourself."
She smiled softly.
"...are you okay though? You looked really hurt at Mike's comment..."

Sam sighed sadly, stroking a streak of hair behind his ear as he nodded at Cole.
"I will make sure Michael won't hurt any of you anymore", he mumbled silently.
"When Ava is through with him, Michael will hopefully have learned. Until then, it would probably be best to cut any contact..."

Ava crossed her arms, her eyes gaining a dangerously radiating red color.
"Michael Anderson, you nosy idiot", she said with a cold smile, while she turned his left little finger into wood.
"Okay, let's make a deal. Every time you are a jerk, I will turn another part of you into wood. Every time you aren't, I will turn a part back.
You screw up- you end up all Pinocchio. I have a few safety questions, and you will answer them. You lie- Pinocchio. You refrain from answering- Pinocchio. You act nosy- Pinocchio. Got me? Good."
With a red glow surrounding him, she telepathically nailed him down on the next chair.
"Question one: when did you join HACK?
Question two: why did you join?
Question three: what job have you done at HACK?
Answer now."

 

[Wyosch]

Misha slightly tilted his head, raising an eyebrow.
"So I am as smart as you too?", he asked, his eyes glittering proudly. "And my abilities are mind-based? So because of my intelligence my powers are so strong?"

"You ok honey?", Jim asked, sorrowfully looking at her with big eyes - his attention being drawn to his youngest daughter as she suddenly called,
"ELSA!"
Upon turning his head, he saw Hunter walking towards them, both Noah and Heather by her side, while she looked as if she was dead-tired already.
Heather immediately ran up to Angel and Rose, while Jack made his way to Noah and complimented him on looking 'schwifty' - which made Jim question who had taught him that.
>>Dennis. Definitely Dennis.<<
"Jim, I-", Hunter began, Jim shaking his head.
"It's fine. I understand why you said what you said. It was necessary for me to accept the truth."
Hunter sighed relieved, smiling softly.
"I'm glad you're finally going to get help. So Rey, how are you? Feeling better too?"

"I just don't understand why he's acting like this...", Cole mumbled, lifting his shoulders as Sam told him to cut contact.
"Won't be much of a difference than when he was dead."

Mike stared at his wooden pinkie, frowning angrily at Ava.
"Are you fucking insane?! Turn it back NOW!", he yelled, definitely acting like someone who wouldn't work along.
"How do you know I worked for HACK? Who told you that? And why the fuck would you want to know that? I'm not answering any questions until you tell me what's going on!"

 

[Scripted Away]

Mac nodded, smirking proudly at his youngest son.
"Yeah, at least I think that's the reason. I mean, you're on an illectual level that's far beyond your years. You are an incredibly smart kid, my angel."
Smirking softly, he gently ruffled his hair.
"I'm really proud of you."

Sighing, Rachel rubbed her temples and smiled weakly at Hunter and Jim.
"Yeah, I've just never been good at tuning out background noises like many people talking at the same time. Giving me headaches here..."
However when she saw a woman with dark brown hair as her approaching, Rachel grinned widely and rushed over to hug her.
"Mel! So great to see you again come on, come on, you gotta meet...well, everyone!"
Leading her and two young boys of around Kai's and Rose's age back to Jim and hunter, she grinned happily, while the boys were holding her hands with the same grin.
"Guys! There are my aunt Mel and my cousins Max and Luis!"

"Me neither...", Sam sighed sadly, but then smirked quite mischievously.
"However he will be working for my sister's company. And the department head of the department Mike will be working for...let's say she can be really creepy. She will make a man out of him."

"Wrong answer."
With a cold smile, Ava turned the entire rest of Mike's hand into wood.
"Let's try this again, okay?
Oh and, Michael-"
Her smile went from cold to murderous in less than a second.
"When your chest turns to wood you will suffocate in your own skin. Really really painful. Just saying. You might want to work along.of course I could also summon a raptor to eat you again. Wasn't that how you died last time, right, Michael Anderson, 21 years old, ex of Coby, the half dragon? Oh or what about I send you back to jail? Isn't that your one fear? What about 8 send you to jail with two wooden arms or legs? Wanna see you defending yourself that way.remmeber the cold, damp metal bars? The empty, tiny room? The constant fear that you would end up with someone far creepier than little Mikey in your cell? Who would punch you dead if you'd do one wrong step? I could arrange that, you know?"
Her mischievous smile all of a sudden faded, and made space for a bloody seriousness.
"You work along. Or you will regret it even more than what you have done for hack. no, don't try to deny it now. Your innermost is an open book for me. You are in pain and numbing yourself in hope to make it stop. You think that everything you do will be wrong because everything you ever did was wrong. It won't stop hurting, Michael. And it won't stop haunting you in your nightmares. The ones in which you shoot your own family, for example. I don't even have to pull a knife to kill you. Your doing it on your own every day a bit more. How long do you think you can make yourself believe that you actually don't care? How long do you think you can make yourself believe that it was just a dream that you cry at night?"

 

[Wyosch]

"I am?", Misha asked, grinning proudly at his dad's comment. "I mean I can count already really high! Up to 100 and beyond! Heather keeps mixing 6 and 9 up.", he grabbed his father's hand and looked up at him with sparkling eyes.
"You know, I want to be like you when I grow up."

Hunter smiled happily, immediately shaking Rachel's aunt's hand.
"I'm Hunter, so nice to meet you."
Heather tilted her head at the two boys, staying hidden behind her mother's dress.
"These are Noah, my oldest son, and Heather, my daughter. My husband's currently somewhere with our youngest, Misha."
She looked at Rachel for a moment before raising an eyebrow.
"Are they German? Schön Sie kennenzulernen!"

Jim smirked akwardly, shaking the woman's hand.
"Great to meet you, ma'am. I'm Jim, Rachel's husband."
He looked down at the two young boys, his nervous expression softening and turning into a smile.
"And you two must be Max and Luis.", knowing that most of Rachel's family was German, he tried to remember what he had once tried to learn, not sure if the little boys had understood him.
"Ich... am Jim, Deutsch not good. Gut. Not gut."
Kai chuckled at his dad's attempt to talk German. Good thing he was learning German as an optional class at school. He for sure didn't want to learn French, neither did he want to not take an optional class, so German it was.
"Ich bin Kai, und mein Vater kann kein Deutsch da man das in Amerika normalerweise nicht lernt. Wer von euch ist denn Max und wer Luis?"

Cole raised an eyebrow, quite a satisfied smirk on his face - that he did try to hide.
"You think someone can get through to him?", he asked. "I mean we've tried for 21 years..."

Mike was staring at Ava in horror, feeling how his arms were trembling and his legs felt all wobbly.
He looked at his wooden hand, then back at Ava, and lastly turned his head to the right with a defeated, yet still terrified expression on his face.
"I-"
He gulped, memories of his time in jail floating in front his eyes, sending shivers down his spine.
"Shut up.", he mumbled as Ava started talking about how he was supposedly feeling right now.
"You wanna know about my time with HACK? Fine. But don't start playing the shrink."
He turned his head back to Ava, this time his face entirely expressionless, emotionless even.
"Joined HACK when I was 16 when they caught me dealing drugs and were threatening me to step to the police. I was a guard at first, just making sure none of the test objects would escape. Later on I helped out in the labs. Hurting the anoms until they'd shift or use their powers. Or until they died. Both worked for me.
Worked as one of many trackers for a couple of months until the war was supposedly lost and I went to jail. Tracked down numerous targets, wounded about three dozen, single-handedly killed about a dozen with my rifle - if you don't count the casualties in from the lab experiments.
Now happy?"

 

[Scripted Away]

Macon smiled softly as he pointed his hand at a nearby puddle that was showing a reflection of Mac and Misha.
"Look over there, angel. See how incredibly similar we look?"
He smiled softly.
"I bet, if I had ever been a little boy, I would have looked exactly like you."

Rachel and Mel both laughed softly, smiling at Jim.
"Hey Jim, great to meet you again. We already met when you came to our barbeque in Germany, remember? About two years ago."
Meanwhile, Mel turned to smile at Hunter with a happy "hunter! Rachel wrote so much about about you, I actually feel like know you all for years already."
"Was hat Rey alles geschrieben?", Noah asked in a perfect, accent free German, leaving everyone baffled.
"Naja eh...wie wichtig ihr alle ihr seid und-...."
Changing back to English so everyone would surely understand, she smirked at Hunter.
"She wrote that you are the best friend she ever had, and that you are like a sister for her."
Rachel blushed slightly at that, but wrapped her arms around hunter with a wide grin.
"Well it's true though! I love my wonderful potato here!"

Max and Luis were smiling at Jim as he attempted to speak German. "It's okay, we can just talk English. Luis and I practised together all the time since we got the invitation to Sam's wedding.", The older one explained smirking.
"He's right!", The younger one, Luis, said with a wide grin. "That's Max, he's in fourth grade. And I'm Luis. I'm in second grade. We both get the best grades in English at our school!"

Sam just smirked with Cole, raising one eyebrow mischievously.
"Ava is very special. She knows exactly what to do and to say. She has incredible powers, as a witch, but her strongest weapons are her mind and her words. She can turn a single syllable into a blade that cuts through you like a razor blade . If someone can make him change, it's her."

With a slight smirk, Ava turned his wooden hand back into normal flesh and bones, and crossed her arms as she looked at Mike.
"Believe me Michael, I don't care about you enough to play the shrink. I just do what I have to do to make you talk, and as you see, it works."
Grabbing him by his neck, she teleported into a pitch black room.
The same room Rachel and Jim had been in when Jim had joined AF.
"Names?", The giant computer asked.
"Mysteria", Ava replied into the darkness. "Register new agent."
"Name?"
"Michael Anderson."
"Enemy detected."
"Let him pass."
"New code name?"
Ava turned to Mike. "Just don't discuss with me, got me? You choose a code name. We work with utter secrecy here. In fact, we aren't even supposed to know eachothers names because that would unnecessarily obviously show a connection. But, I don't trust you either way, and I won't take my eyes off you, so we can as well bend this rule a bit.
Choose your name."

 

[Wyosch]

Misha stared at their reflections for a moment, his eyes sparkling proudly.
He indeed looked like a small version of his father.
"Daddy?", he looked up at his father again, a happy grin on his face.
"I love you. Very very much."

"Oh yes, I'm so sorry. I totally forgot.", Jim replied, smirking akwardly at Mel and Rachel, before he turned to the boys again.
"Well your English is really good. I didn't even know that you learn English at school in Germany."

Hunter blushed as well, quickly hugging Rachel back.
"Awww that's so cute!", she winked, giggling as she looked back at Mel.
"Good thing I feel the same about her."

Cole nodded, thinking for a moment.
"So what is it that Mike's gonna be doing now?", he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Cleaning toilets? Taking out the trash?"

Mike stared at Ava for a moment, thinking for a moment before he spoke up.
"Eh... Breakdown."
He turned to Ava, trying to see if she was reacting somehow to what he said.

 

[Scripted Away]

"I love you too, my angel", Mac said with a happy Smile and softly sparkling eyes.
How could he ever thank fate for a family like his? They were all he had ever dreamed of, and everything he didn't deserve.
"You know, when I was still an Android I would have never thought to ever have such an amazing family. A wife as astonishing as mommy, and kids as fantastic as you and your siblings. It's amazing."

All of a sudden, Rachel jumped out of Hunter's and into the arms of a 6'4 tall, jet black haired, young man. "Ash!!", She called happily, squeaking in surprise as her son just lifted her up with ease and laughed gently, his silky voice tired but happy.
"Hey Mom. How's it going?"
"Fantastically! How are Emily and the kids?"
"They're good. Greetings from Em. You won't believe what Benny did just this morning. He shifted! Into the cutest puppy you could ever imagine. Dad!"
Hugging his father as well, Ash grinned widely by now. "Hey Dad. Weeeee gotta talk after the wedding. But that has time."

Sam shook his head, looking at the sky for a moment before he looked at his son with a soundless sigh.
"I promised you that I'd never lie to you. I want to keep that promise, but you have to swear that you will never lose a word to anyone about anything I'm going to tell you now, alright?"
Waving his hand in Rachel's direction, he smirked slightly. "When it was clear that a war between anoms and HACK couldn't be prevented, my adoptive sister's grandfather founded a secret organization that tracked everything HACK did, produces the strongest weapons and the fastest jets. Everything to save the world from HACK, shouldn't Aegis be able to stop them. This organization, Aegis' right arm called Aegis Force, exists till this day. They track every movement of Neo-HACK formations, and find every previous HACK soldier that survived... To show them the right way or put them in prison forever.
Michael will be working for Section 1: overwatch and tracking. The head of this section, Avania Romanov, is one of the three last members of an old circle that still possesses real magical powers. An actual witch. And she's known for her sharp tongue and strict leadership. The only person she'd ever take orders from is Rachel. Mike is given a unique chance there. If he does good, he might have a real future. See...I'm just as angry as you. I am so angry at him. But despite that, he is a part of my family, and I want him to have a chance in life."

"Breakdown registered. Security level?"
Ava frowned at Mike. "Two."
"New agent registered."
The doors opened, revealing the giant digital map that showed every movement of every single previous and new hack member.
Two right where AF was.
"That spot there is you", Ava explained. ",And the one right next to it is me. It tracks everyone who has ever been a member of HACK or still is."
A silent sigh made it past her lips, but then she straightened up and her face gained the same emotionless expression as before.
"We have five security levels here:
Zero:
Absolute stranger. May not even enter this part of the building.
One:
Guest. May enter, but only the office parts where they can't see anything important that they could use against us.
Two:
Basic worker. May enter, but nothing else. No sorts open for them if there's no one of at least security level 4 to confirm their allowance to enter that part of the building behind the door.
Three:
Trusted worker.
Can open doors on their own, excepting the ones that lead to the important parts.
Four:
Deputies.
Every section leader has a deputy that posses almost the same rights here as them. However they can not enter the code of this building and don't have access to the deepest secrets of this place.
Five:
The head, and the leaders.
Eclipse, our number one, Fox, the leader of section three, Snapdragon, leader of section two, and Mysteria, myself, leader of section one. We have all-access. Almost every newbie starts as a two, but of course it's possible to work up."
A small, proud smile appeared on b her face for just a second. ",I started as a zero and made all my way up to five in just three years.
Any questions till now?"

 

[Wyosch]

Misha looked down at the floor for a moment, frowning.
"Daddy, how are you human when you were an android?", he asked, now looking up at his father again. "I mean, you surely wasn't an android at birth. That's impossible. I know from uncle Jim's thoughts that he made you an android, tough I'm still trying to figure out how. And you are now human, but how?"

Jim smiled happily as he hugged Ash back, quite surprised to find him this tall, but then again so was he.
"I gotta talk to you too, Ash.", he replied, sighing internally. Not really a talk he was looking forward to, but it had to be done.
"If you want we can talk now. We still got some time."

Cole blinked a couple of times, trying to take in all this new information.
"So you're telling me Mike's gonna be like a secret agent now?", he asked, raising an eyebrow. "And he has to hunt down HACK people? I didn't even know those were still out there!"

Mike stared at the screen with the two dots for a moment, frowning.
How did that thing know it was him? And how did it know he had been HACK?
"Second dot is you. You were HACK too?", he asked after Ava had finished her speech about some clearance stuff that didn't really interest him.
"Mhm."

 

[Scripted Away]

"I've been trying to find an explanation for this ever since it happened", Mac explained with a wondering smile, lifting his shoulders as he looked at his youngest son.
"But at some point I've accepted that there is no explanation. No scientifical one, at least.
I know it was your mom, but how... I don't know."
He chuckled softly.
"Even though it's a gift to understand how everything works...there are some things we don't need to understand to be happy about them."

Ash's smile slowly faded when he noticed how serious his father seemed to be right now.
Slightly furrowing his eyebrows, he tilted his head to the side with a half confused, half worried expression.
"Um...okay...?", He mumbled quite bewilderedly, wrapped one arm around his father's shoulders and led him out of the crowd a but, to Grant him some privacy for whatever serious topic he wanted to talk about.
resting his hands on his waist and looking away for a moment, he tried to collect his thoughts again, after Jim had left him quite confused.
"So, eh...dad, you seem super serious about something, while I actually just...wanted to ask you something that's quite great. If you'd help me build a house for my family on the meadow. We are planning to move back to Montana. It's just better for the kids, and the Lakers will survive a season or two without me."
He had been looking at his hands while had talked, but now he looked up, his dark and light eyes fixating his father as if he was trying to see right into him. Just like Rachel always did.
"...but...what's wrong with you dad?"

Sam chuckled silently as a hint of mischief mixed into his gaze.
"Well let's say he will have a lot to do...but for sure not with being an agent. At least not until he shows some motivation, good will and skills."

Ava crossed her arms, her eyes still on the monitor.
"Mind your own business, Breakdown", he said bluntly, before a tall man approached, packed with muscles and clearly targeting his anger at Mike.
"So you are the dirty rat they sent to work here, eh?! You are a disgusting worm. You don't deserve to be left alive and I swear if it was how I wanted-"
"Coooobraaaa", Ava hummed in a warning tone, but the man kept on hissing.
"-i would kill you right here and now, you worthless monster-"
"Cobra! Cut it!" Ava pushed the man away with surprising strength, and he immediately silenced.
"You can tell the others as well. The traitor is under my protection and I do not wish him to be harmed by any of you. Understood?"
"Understood, Mysteria." The man marched away grumbling, and Ava just crossed her arms.
"So, to your job. You clean the bins, then you sort the archive and the shredders. When you're done with that, you fill up every desk with the supplies the agents tell you they need. Then you come back to me for new jobs.oh and, Breakdown?"
Smiling, she turned his little finger into wood again. "Don't forget our little agreement."

 

[Wyosch]

"So mommy really does heal auas!", Misha replied, all excited and happy.
"Mommy said that if we are hurt we have to sing the aua song with her and we will feel better!"
He grinned as he happily started singing the 'aua song'.
"Pat it!"
He grabbed his dad's hand and gently petted it, then kissed and stroke it.
"Kiss it, stroke it!
Hug it!"
He hugged his father, giggling.
"Three days of sunshine!", while singing, he had made a big circle above his head to represent the sun.
"Three days of rain!"
He started with his hands above his head, twinkling his fingers and moving his hands down to his chest to represent rain.
"Little hand,
all well again!"
He grinned proudly, looking up at his father with big eyes.
"And if you're hurt somewhere else you replace hand with leg or so!"

"You want to move back to Montana?", Jim asked, his eyes sparkling happily as he already started thinking of everything he could do with Ash now.
"That's great, Ash! You and Emily would be near your family again, and your kids wouldn't grow up in a crowded, loud city..."
He smiled softly, looking down at the floor for a moment while his eyes quickly going from happy to sorrowful.
He sighed.
"Listen, Ash... I just... I want to say sorry. For leaving you in the times you needed me most. For not being there for you... for not helping you out and for abandoning you..."
He looked at his son again, sighing silently.
"I know you're disappointed and I know you would have much rather had a dad who was there for you, especially with being so young and experiencing a first pregnancy. Someone who went through an entire 9-months-pregnancy, someone who would've been there for you no matter what... and I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you through that all."
His gaze sank to the floor again, while he put his hands in the pockets of his jacket.
"I just hope you'll give me another chance to be there for you and to show you that I can indeed be a good dad instead of a crappy one."

Cole let out a chuckle, shaking his head.
"Mike and motivation? Not in a hundred years!"
He rolled his eyes as his phone rang and quickly picked it up with an apologetic smile to his father.
"What is it this time?
...
I already told you to go right at the mountain instead of left.
...
Yes, I know it says 'go left' but you gotta go right to get there before the others and get the treasure map.
...
I'm on my mom's wedding, I can't.
...
This'll have to wait until tomorrow. Try figuring it out on your own."
He put his phone back, smirking akwardly at Sam.
"When you're the one with a gaming channel, everyone keeps asking for advice - and then not doing it anyway."

Mike growled as Ava turned his pinkie into wood again, only just keeping himself from making her lose her finger.
"Yeah fine, I know what you want - now give me my finger back!", he hissed. "You want me to work, don't you, Ex-HACK?"

 

[Scripted Away]

Mac chuckled softly as he gently stroked some hair out of Misha's face.
"Well well, I will have to memorize that one. Oh wait- already did."
He winked.
"You know, your mommy is really someone special. We should do something nice for her sometime, maybe plant her favorite flowers somewhere in the front garden, or make a beautiful bouquet for her..."

Ash groaned internally as his father started to apologize. He actually had hoped they'd just forget about it and carry on, for their both sake.
He knew Jim could tell when he lied, so he was kind of forced to say the truth, and even if not, he wouldn't have wanted to lie.
"Eh, that topic...", he muttered under his breath, frowning slightly as he looked away.
"Dad, I want to be honest with you-
Yes I am disappointed. And yes, I would have needed you. I almost drove insane there. That's why I could recommend Dr.Merryweather to you for help. She helped me when I needed a shrink to stay sane."
He sighed soundlessly.
"And I wrote song over song to cope with my feelings and kept wondering why you weren't even strong enough to help your own son, who came to you pleading for help just to be ignored. I doubt you even noticed me..."
Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and wiped a small tear off his cheek.
"And there were moments when I tried to hate you to stop missing you...
But...
I couldn't.
Every time I closed my eyes and tried to see you as an asshole...all that appeared in front of my inner eye was how you saved me from my father. How you showed me how to play basketball, to walk on two legs as a human, where to find the different parts in a car...
Every time I tried to hate you, it just ended up in missing you more."
Sighing soundlessly, he darted forward to hug his father and rusty rested his chin on his shoulder.
"Dad...you can't undo the past. The pain you caused wont just vanish, the people you disappointed won't just be able to trust you again all of a sudden. But you can make up for your mistakes, and you can forgive yourself, just as I forgave you."
Smiling softly, he looked into his father's eyes, and gave him a comforting pat on the back.
",You know, you might have hurt me, but you also taught me an important lesson:
Our background and circumstances may influence who we are, but we re responsible for who we become."
He smiled determined as he looked at a photo of Emily, Ben and Jasmin on his phone. "And I will become someone my fiancee and kids can count on, anywhere, anytime."

Sam grinned slightly as he raised one eyebrow at his son with a mischievous smirk.
"That actually reminded me of something. Y'know, it's been ages since I played a game last time. I thought, hey, why not get some- or rather masses- of ice cream and Coke and popcorn and nachos and all that shit and play a round? Or ten."
He shrugged.
"I mean, only if you want. I gotta get my great title as the king of gaming back. Y'know, from back when I still hid in my apartment in Germany because I didn't understand the world anymore. You might have heard of 'Lordezz', the mysterious top player in basically every MMORPG out there?"
Grinning, he wiggled his eyebrows. 'time he comes back and scares the shit out of some PVP machos, don't ya think? Together with his new partner, the almost famous Cole Anderson?"

"Oh yes, ex-hack", Ava chuckled with a cold smile. "And your finger will remain like this as long as I think you need a little reminder of what I'm capable of, boy. Now why are you still standing here? We have the night shift together, and everything needs to be finished until 8 pm at latest so we can keep an eye on the monitor then. So mooooove."

 

[Wyosch]

"I know where to find really pretty flowers!", Misha replied, grinning at the idea of being nice to his mother. She always did a lot for them and never expected anything in return.
"You know, mommy helped me get over my fear of the dark. She said you helped her get over her fears too."
He happily hugged his father's leg, lovingly closing his eyes.
"You're both my heroes."

Jim sighed brokenly as Ash told him all that, just staying in silence for a moment, trying to find the right words to answer his son.
"Don't freak out.", he mumbled after a while, putting his hand on Ash's shoulder - everything around them darkening until there was nothing left but a black emptiness.
"Watch."
The blackness slowly faded, turning into the inside of a house, to be precisely a living room. Vases shattered. Chairs broken.
A very young, black haired and blue eyed boy sitting in the corner, his face bloody, his fragile arms filled with bruises. Terror in his eyes.
"You are such a disappointment. You know, I actually thought you might have become someone useful. And then you do something like this? Run off to save some stupid dog?"
A man, the same hair and eye color, was standing in front of the boy now - a broken beer bottle in his bloody hand.
"It was about to be run over, I couldn't just-"
"You obey my orders. Nothing you ever do succeeds, and as you see, neither did saving that animal."
"Y-yes, Sir..."
"Jim."
"Yes, Sir?"
"Don't ever think you'll be something greater than a disappointment."
The scenery faded, now showing the same boy as before, a little older, with another one of about the same age.
"I don't care that you're of a different skin color than I am. You're my friend.", the blue-eyed boy said, his hair just long enough to cover up a bad bruise on his eyebrow.
"You're my friend too, Jim. We'll always stay friends!"
The black boy suddenly vanished, revealing a new scenery of three boys laughing at the black-haired, blue-eyed boy - one of those three being the black boy whom he was seen with earlier.
"What a loser!"
"Getting beaten by his own dad!"
"Probably because he's such a disappointment!"
"Good thing you're not friends with that weirdo anymore."
"Totally. Honestly never liked him. Just wanted to make him feel loved for once, loser!"
The scenery vanished again, now showing something that looked like an old movie - rapidly showing fractions of a black-haired boy with blue eyes being left over and over again by people he thought he could trust, until it lastly stopped at a picture of a young commander talking to a doctor.
"Jim, you have had someone telling you what to do your entire life. Following orders like a soldier. You have self-destructing tendencies when you get your freedom, you are showing extreme behavior that can be dangerous because you feel as though you have to catch up on all the life you have been missing, you exhibit a constant sadness that tells me you're scared of not living your life enough. You have massive issues with authority, and as I see you have fear of commitment because you feel as if it is going to tie you down and take your freedom away. You have learned how to lie far too easily, you don't trust people or public spaces because anyone could be a predator, and as I have said before, which honestly worries me... you can't do basic tasks or take initiative unless it's about war, because you're so used to someone telling you how and where and when to do everything that any and everything fills you with anxiety and stress."
"So?"
"How do you want to live your life when all that's going on in your mind?"
"Oh, doc - that's just the top of the iceberg."
The scenery faded once more to a film, playing video after video on a high speed, showing the journey of a young commander through his service in the military to his work as HACK Head Hunter, until it stopped at a picture of a beautiful, strawberry blonde, amber-eyed woman, with a smile that could light up an entire room.
A black figure, looking just like Jim, appeared in front of the scenery, staring at the picture of the woman, a tiny spark appearing inside of his body - the figure now slowly starting to become seethrough. The spark kept growing and growing, until the entire figure was glowing, and the room filled with gentle voices.
"You are loved, Jim."
"I love you."
"You aren't what your father made you!"
"Please believe me when I say you mean the world to me."
"I'll guide you through the darkness."
"What you are doesn't define who you are."
"I love my brother, no matter our past."
All of a sudden, the scenery seemed to break in two, showing the black-haired man coming home from the hospital - the figure on the other side of the room slowly starting to darken.
"She's in a coma-"
A loud thunder was heard, and the figure turned entirely black again, the little spark vanishing completely, while the scenery faded to a broken man sitting in the basement.
The scenery went black.
Voices.
"You're all alone again."
"Told you everyone would leave you in the end. Who would want to stay with you?"
"Can't even decide what to do now, loser."
"Little baby boy scared and all alone?"
"Nobody even notices you being gone."
"Everyone you care about gets hurt in the end."
"Where you show up, there's always someone crying in the end."
"You lost everything."
"Look at you, so worthless."
"You don't even know what to do anymore."
"Why don't you just make it easier for everyone and leave? They're all better off without you."
"Who'd want you as their friend?"
"Imagine having him as a brother."
"Or worse, a father."
"You are just like your father."
"Worthless."
"Ignorant."
"Stupid."
"Egoistic."
"Useless."
"You're nothing without her, Jim."
"Nothing."
The entire scenery faded, slowly turning back into reality, Jim taking his hand away from Ash's shoulder, a cold and empty, practically numb, stare in his eyes.
"That's a fragment of what I kept seeing and hearing for those four months. I didn't want to break. It happened before I could do anything against it.", he mumbled, his voice emotionless, monotone.
"Maybe that'll help you understand that I never wanted to leave you all. And I am getting help. I have an appointment with Mayrose after the wedding."
He clenched his teeth together, taking a deep breath as if he was releasing the pressure of not trying to break again, his hands slightly shaking.
"Let's go back to your mother."

Cole laughed, shaking his head.
"Almost famous? I have the most famous gaming channel on youtube, old man.", he replied, winking. "I wouldn't dare to say you back in your days weren't as big, but 50 million subs is more than some artists have.", he explained, chuckling. "But yeah, that'd be awesome. Just don't go cry when I beat your ass!"

Mike rolled his eyes, frowning.
"Night shift? What about sleep? Don't you Germans know about that?", he asked, running his hand through his hair.
Stalling.
"And what about that monitor? Why would we have to watch that for an entire night? Urgh, who cares?"

 

[Scripted Away]

Smiling happily, Mac cuddled against his son for a moment, before he looked at him with sparkling eyes.
"You have to show me that spot sometime. And then we will make the most beautiful case full of flowers for mommy. Just the two of us. Sounds good?"
He planted a small kiss on Misha's forehead and smirked reassuringly as he stood up and held out his hand to him.
"C'mon, what do you think, are you ready to go back to the others? I bet the wedding will start soon."

Ash just grabbed his father's shoulder to make sure he wouldn't just run away like he tended to do when things got uncomfortable for him, and turned him around so he could look straight into his eyes.
"Dad, wait. I..."
He sighed soundlessly as a friend appeared on his face.
"It's hard to put feelings into words... Mom is so much better at this than me, but songs always work, don't they?"
Smiling sadly, he gently pushed Jim down so he'd sit on the ground and took a seat beside him and made a guitar appear in his hands.
"Okay just... Don't laugh, okay?"
After he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, he started to play a soft melody, his voice so similar to Jim's, but without the roughness, as he silently started to sing.
"Loving and fighting
Accusing and denying
I can't imagine a world with you gone
The joy and the chaos
The demons we're made of
I'd be so lost if you left me alone

You locked yourself in the bathroom
Lying on the floor when I break through
I pull you and feel you heartbeat
Can you hear me screaming please don't leave me?

Hold on I still want you
Come back I still need you
Let me take you and I'll make you right
I swear I'll love you all my life
Hold on I still need you

Long in this hallway
silent beside me
driving a nightmare I can't escape from
Helpless and praying
The light isn't fading
Hiding the shock and the chill in my bones

They took you away on a table
I pace back and forth as you lay still
They pull you and feel your heartbeat
Can you here me screaming please don't leave me?

Hold on I still want you
Come back I still need you
Let me take you and I'll make you right
I swear I'll love you all my life
Hold on I still need you

I don't wanna let go
I know I'm not that strong
I just wanna hear you say boy let's go home
Let's go home
Yeah I just wanna take you home

Hold on I still want you
Come back I still need you..."
Wiping a not so small tear off his face, he took a shuddering breath and just leaned against his father's side.
"I love you Dad... No matter what you'd do. And no matter what, you will always remain my hero. With a ragged cape and anger problems, yes, but still. Nothing could ever change that. And, dad..."
Gently tilting Jim's head in his direction, he smiled weakly. "You always try to be strong and unbreakable. That's not healthy, to bottle it all up. I'm here for you, okay? You can always come to me. I'm a grown-up man, I can handle grown-up problems. I'm here. Always."

"The only one who may touch my ass is my wife!", Sam laughed, gently shoving Cole away with a mischievous sparkling in his eyes. "And I might have to admit I'm one of your subscribers."
He snorted amused.
"Really, back when you still hated me and the entire rest of the world I wouldn't have guessed that you're such a people-person, but you are. Some might say it's only YouTube, but you're doing great. I'm proud of you, son."

Ava looked completely bored by now and just turned his entire left arm into wood while yawning.
"Wanna discuss this further? And by the way, I'm Russian, dumbass."