“I don’t know, T.J. but I hope we do help him.”
T.J. glanced away and crossed her arms over her chest. Catching Dead’s eye, she smiled weakly and her skin colour paled. Her hand shot to her mouth and she raced to the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. Jamia and Krista met eyes and they ran up the stairs after Dead. Swallowing, I turned back to the group and T.J. chewed her lip.
“T.J?”
“Yeah dad?”
“Just be careful tomorrow,” Ray said and T.J. raised an eyebrow.
“Me? A Killjoy? Being careful? Pfft, what century are you living in?” T.J. remarked and I stifled a laugh.
Ray shook his head and ruffled T.J’s hair. She ran a hand over her now messy hair, smoothing down the stray strands. Her huge blue eyes sparkled with mischievousness. T.J. casually walked away and into the kitchen. Biting my lower lip, I caught Franks’ eyes and his face broke into a smile.
“Hey Ray,” I said and he glanced at me. “What would you do if something stupid was to happen in about, let’s say, five minutes?”
“That depends on what it is,” he said. “Why?”
“Oh, just wondering,” I smiled but Ray looked doubtful.
T.J. reappeared, holding a glass filled with water and crept up behind Ray. She tilted the glass over his head and Ray squealed as water dripped over his hair, down his face and soaked his shirt. Frank, Oscar, T.J. and I burst into laughter, while Ray glared at his eldest daughter, shaking his head.
“Ew, hairy water, yuk,” Oscar gasped and that made us all laugh that bit harder.
“Gerard,” snapped Jamia and the laughter stopped.
I glanced at her and met her eyes. Jamia was smiling and inclined her head up to the bathroom. Racing up the stairs, I knocked on the bathroom door and Krista walked out, smiling brightly.
“Go on, she needs your ‘words of wisdom’,” Krista smiled and I nodded, walking into the small room.
Dead was sitting up against the wall, her head resting against her arms which were hugging her knees to her chest. I slide down the wall and wrapped my arms around. A small sob escaped her lips and I tightened my grip slightly.
“What’s wrong, babe?” I whispered and she grasped my shirt.
“I-I’m,” she cried. “I’m going to be a mum.”
“You already sort of are,” I said, frowning slightly.
“Not just to Bandit,” Dead whispered and it finally clicked.
“That’s great news,” I smiled and caught her gaze.
“I don’t want to stuff anything up,” she whispered.
“You won’t,” I said. “I mean look at me. I’m probably the worst dad in history but I’m trying to make it up to Bandit.”
She smiled and rested her head on my shoulder.
“If you say so,” she giggled and I smiled, kissing her forehead.
“Yeah, I say so.”
Hugging Dead, I glanced over her shoulder at Bandit and smiled at the eleven year old. She looked so much like her mum, it hurt. Pulling away from Dead, I kissed her cheek and met her eyes, which sparkled with tears. A single tear slid down her cheek and I rubbed it away with my thumb. Dead smiled a tiny smile and I hugged her again.
“I’ll be back,” I whispered.
“I know you will,” she whispered back.
Bandit ran up to me and wrapped her arms around my waist. My daughter burst into tears and I hugged her back.
“Bandit,” I said and her big hazel eyes met mine. “Please promise me you will help Dead out.”
“I promise, Daddy,” she said, wiping some of her tears away. “I’ll try.”
“That’s my girl,” I smiled and kissed her forehead.
“Bye guys,” T.J. said and we climbed into the Trans AM.
T.J. stuck her head out the window as the restaurant vanished behind us and a single tear slid down her cheek.
“What’s up T?” I asked and she glanced at me.
“We can finally save him,” she smiled and I nodded, smiling to.
“You get to have your boyfriend back.”
“And you get your brother. If this works.”
“Don’t sound so doubtful.”
“I’m not. I’m just hoping nothing goes wrong.”
I nodded in agreement and stared hard out the window. Losing Mikey had been one of the hardest things I have ever had to go through. Losing Lyn-Z and Dad due to BL/ind was the other hardest things to go through. I don’t even know if Mum is alive still.
“Gee?”
I blinked and glanced at T.J, who was staring at me.
“Yeah?”
“Does this mean that the world can go back to being normal?”
“What?”
“With Korse and the Boss dead, does that mean the world will heal?”
“I don’t know, but we all know that Korse won’t stay dead for very long.”
The diner slowly came into view and I slowed the car down to a stop behind the diner. Slinking out of the car, we didn’t close the doors and slipped in through the back. Quietly checking all the old rooms, I found that Mikey’s bed was unmade and grasped my gun.
“Static,” I whispered and she lifted her head. “Someone is here.”
She nodded and pulled her mask over her eyes. I did the same and we crept around. A noise came from the kitchen and we kneeled to the ground. Static crawled over to the window looking into the kitchen and peeked in. She suddenly ducked back down and swallowed, catching my eye.
“It’s him,” she mouthed and I nodded.
Static crept into the kitchen and a bang sounded from inside. I bolted upright and looked in. Something wasn’t right.
“T.J, that isn’t Mikey,” I said and she shook her head.
“It is,” she retorted.
“You should listen to the old man, T.J, or you’ll get yourself killed,” smirked Mikey’s voice and T.J’s eyes widened. I turned my head to find a red ray gun pointed to my head and glared down at the blonde, skinny man holding it.
“Told you so,” Mikey smiled and my eyes narrowed even more.
“Um, Party?”
I turned back around and watched as the other guy shrivelled up. His skin turned yellow and started to disintegrate. T.J. shot a hand to her mouth and tears sparkled in her eyes. As quick as lightening, I changed my gun to Stun and shot Mikey in the chest. He fell backwards and landed with a thud.
“What the hell?” T.J. shouted and I glanced at her.
“He’s just stunned,” I said and she nodded.
“Let’s go,” she said and we picked up Mikey, placing his arms around our shoulder. “If that had of really been him, what happened back there, could have happened to him right?”
“I don’t know T.J. but he is still a Drac,” I said. “We need to break into BL/ind and get the proper drug.”
