Alien Watch in a Monster School

Retribution

Nine Years Ago

"He's been in there for hours. He's not coming out to eat. Mr Tennyson... I... I don't know what to do..."

Max watched as Rose once again came downstairs after another unsuccessful attempt to get Christian to leave his room. He could understand the blonde girl's frustration. She had known the seven-year-old nearly as long as he had and thought of him as a sibling. She was strong though. She had loved the Hawke family like her own. And now here they were; sat in the dark living room of their home, surrounded by pictures of memories that Christian and she would never get to experience again.

"He just lost his family. I doubt he'll be coming out for some time" he replied, massaging his temple. "Can you imagine the pain knowing you'll never see your parents again? Especially at his age."

Rose nodded before moving to sit on the sofa opposite Max. The moment she fell on to the cushions, she buried her head into her hands. "Why did this have to happen? He's only a kid. His parents never did anything wrong... They treated me like I was a part of the family."

"You know just as well as I do who his parents were and what they did," Max replied, his mind going back to watching the two Plumbers train at the academy in his glory days. "They were good Plumbers and even better people. It's just a shame a routine check could go so wrong."

"Does... Does Christian who they were?"

"No. James and Lucy didn't want him to know. The last time I talked to them, they were thinking of retiring."

Rose sniffed before raising her head, her tears burning her cheeks. "You need to tell him. He can't go the rest of his life not knowing why or how his parents were killed."

"No."

"Why not? Lucy told me!"

"You were looking after her child and your family used to have ties to the Plumbers. You could be trusted."

"And their son can't?" The blonde rose to her feet, angrily glaring at the older man. "He deserves to know. He needs to know. If you don't tell him, I will."

Max knew the girl was serious. She was normally quite bubbly but in matters such as these, she could be very stubborn. She would tell Christian the truth, no matter what he did. But... she wasn't the right person. There was no way of telling how he would react to the news his parents had been lying to him all his life. He may resent whoever told him. Christian had already lost his parents. He shouldn't lose his sister figure too.

"Fine. I'll tell him." With a heavy sigh, the older man rose to his feet. "You don't know what this will do to him though."

"It can't be any worse than if we don't." Rose looked at Max with determination he had never seen from her before. She had only just entered her twenties and yet she was so strong. It was time for him to do the same. Flashing a small smile, Max began to make his way upstairs.

As he came to the wooden door decorated in Iron Man stickers, he found himself stalling. Taking a breath, he knocked four times. "Christian? It's me, Max. Do you mind if I come in?" For a few seconds, there was no answer. Finally, the door was open by the dishevelled seven-year-old boy, still clutching at his toy rocket like a lifeline. His eyes were red and puffy from where he'd been crying, and his hair was an absolute mess. His gaze bore into Max as if begging for him to say the last few hours had all been one big joke. Unfortunately, he couldn't do that.

"Christian... There's something else you need to know."

XXX