FicWad

"Oh, I forgot," Vex said after a few minutes of silence. He looked at all of his brothers, his eyes settling on Blight. "Those girls that walked by earlier - they were talking about us."

Blight looked over at him in surprise. "What were they saying? They thought we were freaks, right?"

Vex grinned and shook his head. "Your self-confidence is so low. How about a boost?"

Blight raised an eyebrow at him. "What are you talking about?"

Vex shrugged and laced his fingers behind his head, leaning back on the swing set's bar. If possible, his grin only widened. "They think we're hot.'" He laughed lightly. "Feel better now?"

Blight's eyes got a little wide. He looked away, but Vex could see the red tint rising to the skin not covered by his mask. Havoc had frozen in surprise, wondering if he'd heard right. He had been pushing Solace on the swing and didn't realize that the smaller boy had swung back. The swing hit Havoc in the chest and tossed him back into the sand. Vex burst out laughing, doubling over with a hand to his stomach.

"Oh, shut up," Havoc wheezed, pushing up into a sitting position. He coughed a few times, rubbing his chest with one hand. After taking a few deep breaths, he stood up. "Oh, great," He held his arms up, looking at the sand that had stuck to his clothes. "I think I got sand down my pants."

He moved his shirt out of the way and started to undo the top button of his jeans. Blight snatched one of his wrists, pulling it up into the air.

"Havoc!" He snapped. "What are you doing!? We're in public!"

"What?" Havoc looked at him, a little annoyed. "There's no one around."

Blight gestured towards Natalie.

"What does she care? She's a doctor!"

Natalie turned away pointedly. "I'm not looking."

Blight slapped a hand to his forehead and let Havoc go. Havoc kicked off his socks and shoes, knocking off the sand and setting them on the sidewalk, then pulled off his jeans and shook them out. Once they were emptied of sand, he put his clothes back on.

"Will someone help me with this?" He said when he walked over to them, turning his back a little to them. "I can't reach the sand on my back."

Blight rolled his eyes, put a hand on Havoc's shoulder to hold him still and helped wipe off the sand. "Try not to get it in the car. I don't want to be sitting on this for . . . however long it'll take us to get where we're going." He paused for a moment, hands poised in the middle of brushing off sand, and looked over at Chaos. "Where are we going?"

Chaos shook his head a little. "You won't know where it is. I'll show you on the map later on."

Blight sighed, accepting the answer, and continued what he had been doing.

When Havoc was almost completely sand free, they all headed back to the car. It was already getting dark. Chaos drove again and Solace reluctantly sat up front. When they got to a decent-looking hotel, they stopped and went inside. Chaos used his 'tricks' to get them two free, adjoined rooms. Natalie took one, though she stayed in the boy's room until they went to bed. Solace and Havoc shared the twin bed in the room, while Blight and Vex shared the queen. Chaos was going to share the queen with them, but he stayed up after they went to sleep, sitting at the table.

"Can't sleep?" He asked quietly after a while.

Blight turned a little and looked at Chaos over his shoulder. "How'd you know I was awake?" He kept his voice quiet so he wouldn't wake his brothers.

Chaos blinked slowly at him in the dim light of the lamp sitting at his side. "I can see the way you were moving."

"I could've been moving in my sleep."

Chaos shrugged. "It was a guess."

Blight smiled a little, but it faded fast.

Chaos set down the tourist guide he'd been looking at and leaned his cheek on his hand, elbow resting on the table. "You're afraid to sleep." It wasn't a question.

Blight sighed softly and gave a small nod. "I don't . . . want to have that dream again."

"It was just a dream." Chaos said, his tone softening a little. "We're not going anywhere. . . You should sleep."

"So should you." Blight shot back a little grumpily. "You didn't sleep at all last night, did you?"

Chaos didn't react to the accusation. "I'll sleep soon. You first. That way, if you have another nightmare, I'll be here to wake you up."

Blight couldn't argue. It was solid reasoning. Reluctantly, he nodded and turned back over. ". . . Goodnight, Chaos."

"Goodnight, Blight. Sleep well."

Blight wished he could, but he was too afraid. More than that, he wanted to know exactly why Chaos had stayed awake the night before. For the longest time, he focused on keeping his breathing even and staying completely still. After a while, he heard Chaos shifting positions, even moving the chair a little. Then, silence fell again.

Blight waited for what seemed like hours, though he knew it had probably only been twenty minutes or so at the max. Slowly, carefully, he turned enough to look over at his brother. Chaos was sitting with his chair tipped back, feet resting on top of the table, hands folded over his stomach. His eyes were closed. Blight could've sworn he saw Chaos' lips moving in the dim light. Just a little bit, but they were still moving. Blight risked sitting up. He knew he'd made a little noise with the blankets, but Chaos didn't look up.

Carefully, Blight reached over, not taking his eyes off of Chaos, and shook Vex's shoulder gently. Vex twitched once and stirred awake. He turned and blinked up at Blight sleepily.

"What?" He slurred. "What is it?"

"Shh," Blight whispered, putting a finger up to his lips to signal quiet. "Chaos is . . . acting strange."

Vex propped himself up on his hands and looked over at Chaos for a moment, then back at Blight. "Looks like he's sleeping."

Blight shook his head. "No, he's awake, I just know it. . . Try and hear what he's saying."

Vex sighed softly and closed his eyes, focusing his hearing on the spot he knew Chaos was sitting in. Even with his abilities, Vex could barely hear.

". . . going there, just like you told me to. . . Not yet. But they'll listen to me, I know it. I'll get us all to you. I promise. . . I'll rest. But can't we talk? Just for a little while longer? I still can't . . . can't believe it's you . . . Father."

Vex rubbed his eyes with a hand, bringing his hearing back to normal. "He must be dreaming. He thinks he's talking to Dad." Yawning quietly, he laid back down, turning his back to Blight and settling in once more. "Get to sleep, Blight. . . You need it. . ."

Blight heaved a sigh, blowing his hair up away from his face. Vex was already asleep, that much he could tell. Something strange was going on. Sliding away from Vex, Blight slipped off the other side of the bed. His sock-covered feet made a soft sound on the carpet and he padded quietly over to where Chaos sat. Hesitantly, he stopped just to his brother’s side and reached out. Blight paused for just a second, then shook Chaos' shoulder.

"Chaos . . ." He said quietly, "Wake up, I -"

Chaos' eyes snapped open and he brought his feet quickly down off the table, a hand shooting out. His open palm connected with Blight's chest, sending him toppling back. Blight hit the ground hard, his back slamming against the TV cabinet behind him. Vex turned over onto his stomach but surprisingly didn't awaken at the sound.

Blight put a hand to his chest where Chaos had hit him, looking up at his brother with wide eyes. Afraid. He was afraid, he realized. Right as Chaos had opened his eyes, Blight had seen the briefest flash of anger. Chaos had never shown anger before. And this . . . this had been intense.

"W . . . What . . ." Blight's voice sounded small even to his own ears.

Chaos got up and walked over, kneeling next to him with a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Blight. It was a reflex."

Blight nodded slowly, shakily, and let Chaos help him to his feet.

"Maybe you're right," Chaos gave the smallest of smiles, "I think I do need to get some sleep."

Mind reeling, Blight let Chaos lead him back to bed. Chaos turned off the lamp and crawled in beside his brothers, turning so his back was to them. In the darkness, Blight lay on his side, facing Vex with his back to Chaos. His eyes were still a little wide and he tried to keep his heart from beating hard in his chest. Something really strange was going on. First Chaos showed anger, then he smiled? A tiny, almost nonexistent smile, but it was still there. It was too much.

Maybe . . . Maybe he's right. Blight thought, trying to calm himself. Maybe I should just sleep. . . Everything's okay.

He managed to soothe his concerns long enough to start drifting off. Even so, he inched a little closer to Vex . . . a little farther from Chaos.