Again

Chapter 22

Steve's not sure which of the things wakes him first. It could have been all the security lights coming on at once, causing a beam to stream directly onto Steve through the sliver between the curtains or Beans going absolutely mental barking the house down. He looks at the alarm clock. It's nearly two in the morning, he groggily stirs from under Robin's draped-over arm, and as he moves, she wakes too. He blinks to take in the room and can see Max's outline standing at the foot of his bed. He switches on the bedside lamp.

'Oh good, you're awake. I was worried I was going to have to use this!" Max hoists a spray bottle above her head.

"Are you ok? What's going on?" Steve croaks out, rubbing his still-sore eyes, and Max puts her hands on her hips with an unimpressed expression.

"If I knew what was going on. Beans and I wouldn't be trying to wake you up so frantically now, would we, genius!" She snips.

"Oh, yeah, sorry, Max," Steve says awkwardly.

Robin leaps to her feet, "What the hell? Who the-? Is it burglars? Am I gonna take down an attempted serial killer" Steve notices she's armed herself with one of his big cans of hairspray.

"I don't think it's nearly as serious as all that. Well, unless they work in convoy now?" Max replies.

"Convoy? What? Robin put down my hairspray. It's not a weapon." Steve grumbles getting to his feet and adjusting his pyjamas from their twisted sleep state.

"Oh, Steve, I worked with you in the eighties. I know this stuff is weapons-grade!" Robin replies suredily.

"Look, can we focus, please!" Max says seriously, "I think I heard a bunch of cars pull up the driveway, but no one knocked on the door or the window or called or anything. I could just hear...well...buzzing."

"Buzzing? Like Bees?!" Robin asks hurriedly, "Oh god, after everything we've been through, we finally get taken out by bees? Quickly, er smoke, they don't like smoke, right? Right guys?"

"Yes, that's it. A bunch of beekeepers drove to Steve's in the middle of the night to drop off some bees." Max says, thoroughly unimpressed.

"Well, that seems unlikely," Steve laughs, and Max throws her hands in the air, exasperated. She was being sarcastic.

Robin points at her, smiles at Steve, and then back at Max, looking pleased with herself. "Ah, good, it's just sarcasm. I get it. So what kind of buzzing do you mean?"

"Like...electricity...you know the hum of it, but a lot of it...I don't know how to explain it...like-" but Max's words are cut short by a high-pitched noise, which has them all covering their ears quickly, and Beans drops to the floor with a whimper covering her's with her paws.

"Sorry, everyone," a voice rings out, amplified, and Steve feels his heart pound in his chest.

"Eddie." he manages to say in a whisper as his face drops. He quickly smooths over his hair in the mirror and checks his face. Unfortunately, he doesn't have time to get changed, as Robin pulls back the curtains. A huge smile spreads across her face as she looks out the window.

"Steve, oh my god. You're not gonna believe this. Hurry up!!!" Robin pulls Max close to her and begins whispering the details to her, and a big smile spreads to her face too.

Steve rushes to the window and, at full speed, trips over Beans in the process but quickly gets back to his feet just in time to hear the sound of ukuleles and percussive instruments and then the unmistakable sound of Eddie singing.

(The song if you want to hear it 

https://open.spotify.com/track/5R4A875r8ug0PaKGPUqxfs?autoplay=true