Dysfunctional ~ F.Hargreeves

9} Trips Down Memory Lane

"Stephen!" Jenna yelled to her son from the patio, "It's time for dinner, sweetie. Dad and I made spaghetti."
"But Mommy!" He whined, "Can't I just play for a few more minutes?"
"Fine. Only five more minutes, though," Jenna caved.
"Come play with me, Mommy!" Stephen begged.
"Darling, I can't right now."
"What about Daddy?"
"He's finishing up the food."
"Please!?"
"How about after dinner? Then all of us can play together."
"Yay!"

After his five minutes were up, Stephen came rushing into their home and jumped right into his seat at the dinner table.
"Daddy!" He yelled, holding out his hand, "Look what I found!"
"That is one really cool lizard, bud," Five smiled, "You gotta let it back outside though."
"Awwww. Why? I named him Stevie. After me."
"Your Dad is right," Jenna commented, "You have to put him back. You can see Stevie after dinner."
"No," Stephen pouted.
"Stephen-"

He stopped listening to his parents and bolted for the door. They lived in a simulated housing complex that the Commission built and it was all connected back to headquarters from the central road that all of the houses were built off of. Jenna and Five chased after him, but they were no longer in their primes and their son was very fast. He'd inherited their powers to a certain extent; he was able to move fast, almost cheating time like Five and breaking the laws of physics like Jenna.
"Stephen!" Jenna yelled to him, "Please come back! I promise you can keep Stevie!"
"No!" He screamed, "You're gonna make me put him outside again!"
He made his way down to the headquarters and busted through the door. By the time Five spatial jumped and he was within reach to grab, Stephen walked into a room and shut the door, locking it.

"Stephen!" Jenna yelled as soon as she caught up, "Open the door, please. It's not safe in there."
Before he could respond, Jenna and Five were left watching their son's fate through the tiny glass window in the door.
"No..." Jenna started to tear up as she melted against the door trying to phase through it. She couldn't and Five couldn't jump in either. They were too worn out to get through.
"Mommy..." Steohen whimpered, "I'm scared. Help me get out. I promise I'll put Stevie back outside and eat my dinner. I just wanna go home."
Jenna banged on the door and gave her all to open it, but she just couldn't.
"I'm coming, baby," Jenna tried to reassure her son, "Mommy's here."

By the time she finally got the door open, it was too late. They were left to watch as their son crippled to the floor from the toxic gas exposure in the room. It was used for experimentation, but he was too young to know that. Jenna ran for her son and pulled him into her arms, just holding him and stroking his hair.
"I've got you, baby. I'm here. Stay with me. Please..."
The last thing he ever did was place one of his hands overtop Jenna's and smile at her, "Mommy? What's happening to me?"
"Just stay with me and Daddy, okay?"  She tried to hold her tears in, "We'll go play with you when we get home."
"I love you, Mommy," He cooed as Jenna kissed his forehead.
"I love you too, baby. Stephen-" She cut herself short when she felt him go limp in her arms.
"No, no, no, no..." The tears in her eyes started to frantically fall.
Five was right behind her, hugging her and crying into her shoulder as she clung to her son's body.

Guards started to flood the room and pulled Stephen out of Jenna's grasp.
"No!" She screamed at them, "Give me my son back! Don't take him away from me!"
All Five could do was hold Jenna as closely as possible. He was shaking and was starting to lose his own grip on the world just as Jenna was. They were left only with each other and the sound of their sobs echoing all around them, taunting their every moment.