FicWad

When they were all ready to go, Natalie led them all out to her car and drove off. From his position in the back left seat, Blight could see Chaos watching just about everything. His eyes moved rapidly, probably scanning over street signs and houses, searching for landmarks and mapping out the route they took. Blight knew he would never have been able to remember what turns they took - he was completely lost - but Chaos would probably be able to lead them back on the same exact route if he had to. Even to his brothers, with their own unique talents, it was amazing.

When they got to Walmart, they drew strange looks, as Natalie had thought. Havoc glared, Vex cast sidelong glances, Solace couldn't stop grinning and Chaos simply ignored them all. Blight watched passively. The stares were a little unnerving, but no one approached them.

"We should split up," Chaos said, stopping in the middle of an aisle. "Vex, Havoc, Sol, see about getting us some socks and shoes. Blight, Dr. Parker, you come with me. We'll pick out some regular clothes."

They all nodded and split up.

"What should we consider normal?" Blight asked with a little smile. He held up a neon yellow shirt. "Hopefully not this."

Chaos shook his head. "We want to blend in, not stand out." He held out a plain, dark blue t-shirt. "Try something more like this."

Blight put the shirt he'd been holding back on the rack and started looking. After a few minutes, Natalie couldn't help herself and had to pitch in. She ended up picking out two pairs of jeans and two shirts for each of them. Since all of them were just about the same size, the shirts were easily interchangeable and everything matched with jeans. If they needed it, she would buy them more clothes later on. She wasn't sure where they were going yet, or if Chaos would allow her to go with them anyway, but it would have to be enough for now. With five pairs of socks and shoes thrown in, the total price would be much more than she normally paid on her trips to the retail store. She just hoped it wouldn't get flagged back at the Token facility where the boys had been living before.

"For the last time," She heard Havoc's voice from a nearby aisle, coming closer, "You can not get purple shoes."

"But - But - But I like them!" Solace whined in protest.

Havoc snatched a box from Solace's hands as they came into view. "These are girl shoes!"

"But . . ." Solace reached for the box and Havoc held it away. "I want 'em! They're pretty!"

"Exactly! 'Pretty' is for girls! You're not getting the shoes!"

"But -"

"Stop saying 'but.' You're not getting them."

"But -"

"I said no."

"But -"

"For the last time -!"

Vex cut them both off with a hand on each of their shoulders. "Stop shouting." He growled quietly, "You're making a scene." He shook his head a little, sighed and handed Solace another box. "Here. Take these, Sol. They're softer than the other ones."

Solace grinned, nodded and hugged the box to his chest.

"Oh, sure," Havoc muttered, "Listen to him."

"You're such a baby, snake." Blight said with a grin.

"Shut up." Havoc punched Blight in the arm as he passed, making him wince. "If you would have seen those things, you would have been fighting him, too."

Blight rubbed his arm where Havoc had hit him. "On the contrary, Sir Hiss." Havoc bristled. "I would have been logical and found something else he would have liked. Isn't that right, Vex?"

"Don't drag me into your little squabbles." Vex muttered as he walked by and dumped three boxes of shoes into the shopping cart.

"Stop arguing," Chaos said simply, glancing over what they'd all picked out. "This should be good enough for now, but we'll need something to carry them in." He looked to Natalie. "Do they sell backpacks here?"

Natalie looked upward a little as she tried to remember. "I'm pretty sure they do."

Chaos nodded. "Then we'll get a few. Blight, Havoc, stop arguing. Sol, do what they say, and someone keep talking to Vex, he's getting twitchy. I'll meet you at the check-out lines."

Blight started to ask where he was going, but thought better of it. He gave Vex and Solace a little push. "Come on, guys. Let's hurry up and get out of here."

"But I like it here." Solace said, looking around at all of the clothes.

"The sooner we get done here, the sooner you can see Brandy again."

Solace grabbed Havoc's hand and pulled him forward faster, chanting quietly. "Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!"

Blight laughed lightly and managed to fight back the urge to cough. He rested a hand on Vex's shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll be out of here soon."

Vex shuddered a little and tried not to twitch like Chaos had said. "It's too quiet here."

Blight smiled knowingly behind his mask and patted Vex's shoulder. "Then, just keep talking, all right? You'll be fine."

Vex nodded a little and Natalie watched as Blight kept him talking steadily. It was amazing to her to see how easily they interacted, how well they knew each other. Havoc's rough edges melted away whenever he was around Solace. Blight and Vex seemed perfectly in tune, knowing and able to compensate for the other's weaknesses. And Chaos . . . Chaos took the roll of leader without so much as a word of complaint. He dealt with them all so easily. And his expression never changed, even when he'd all but threatened her with death if she didn't help them.

She shook her head with a sigh. What had she gotten herself into?

*******************************

When they'd grabbed a few backpacks - and a particularly soft teddy bear Solace had found and insisted on having - they walked up to the front of the store to wait for Chaos. When he caught up with them a few minutes later, he had five small boxes in his hands.

"What are those?" Blight asked curiously, picking up one of the boxes as Chaos set them in the shopping cart.

"Hair dye." Chaos replied simply and grabbed the front of the basket, pulling it up into one of the check-out lines.

Blight looked at the box, made a face and passed it to Vex, then caught up with Chaos. "Do we really have to do that?"

Chaos only nodded, setting their items on the conveyor belt.

"But . . ." Blight fingered a few strands of his hair, "We're all gonna look the same anyway if we all use the same color. Why not just keep it the same?"

Chaos shook his head a little. "Anything different will throw them off. They won't expect us to be able to buy anything and even if they did, they won't expect us to know what to do."

Blight sighed a little and tossed a box of hair dye up next to the clothes. "Great."

"I know you don't like it," Chaos said, looking back at his brother, "But it's necessary."

"Yeah . . ." Blight sighed again and moved out of the way so Natalie could pay. "I know."

Once Natalie had paid for everything, the quintuplets stopped and put on the socks and shoes they'd bought at Chaos' directions. It was easier to walk that way.

When they got to the car, Solace decided that he wanted to sit in the back with Havoc, so he and Blight changed places.

Solace grinned and bounced a little in his seat, happily clutching the teddy bear to his chest.

Havoc smiled a little as he reached over to buckle the smaller boy in. "You really like that thing, huh?"

Solace nodded and hugged the bear a little tighter, then held it out to Havoc. "Feel! He's soft."

Havoc resisted the urge to grimace and patted the bear's head to pacify his brother. "Yeah. Nice."

Vex laughed a little and leaned his cheek on a hand, elbow resting on the door. "You gonna name him?"

Solace stopped fidgeting and thought for a minute, then hugged the bear again with a smile. "Benjy!"

"Benjy?" Blight turned around enough to look at them for a few seconds, then smiled a little beneath his mask and turned back around. "Nice choice."

Havoc started to say something, but Chaos spoke first.

"We're being followed."