Shattered Illusions [complete]

[Anna Fernandez]

Anna Fernandez swept her hair out of her eyes with a damp, sudsy hand, scrubbing a stubborn pyrex dish from the night before that she'd left to soak in the sink. Dios mío, what a night. She ran hot water on the other side of the partitioned sink, rinsing the soap from the baking dish to see what sort of progress she'd made on the gunk that had cooked onto the surface. There were still fragments stubbornly clinging to the corners and edges, so she dunked it back into the soapy water.

Apollos showing up had been completely unanticipated. And then the way he'd just left... also unexpected. The evening had been salvaged, of course, but it had rattled her. So like him, she mused, flexing her hand and then attacking the glass casserole dish with the scrubby side of the sponge, determined to remove the very last spot from it.

As was often the case in the summer, the house was empty, at least for the afternoon. Anna didn't mind, in fact she enjoyed getting a bit of time to herself, even if she was spending it washing dishes. She held up the pan and looked at it with the sun shining through it from the window, then lowered it and rinsed it off again. Por último limpia.

She was starting on the second casserole dish when he approached the House for the second time in two days, just as unexpectedly as before.

[Feral]

A rust red pickup parked in front of Redencion House. The engine died as the ignition key left its place on the steering column and found its usual place in Apollos' left front pocket.

From the looks of things, no one was home. Or at least none of the kids were home. He would find out. He could always come back later. He just needed to speak to her.

He walked up to the front door as he had the evening before, took a deep breath, and knocked. Then, he waited. He had planned out everything he had to say on the way here. Naturally, as the seconds ticked away on the front porch, all of it evaporated from his mind.

He did hope she'd hurry.

[Anna Fernandez]

Anna dried her hands on a towel, leaving the sink and its contents behind as she walked up the hall to the front door. Peeking through the peep hole she saw Apollos standing there, and she drew back for a moment, surprised.

But he was an old friend, of her, of the House, and she pulled the door open, the dish towel still in her hand. "Hello, Apollos. Two days in a row!" Anna unlatched the screen door, allowing him access inside. "It has been a while, I was afraid something had happened to you when we didn't hear from you for so long. Before... yesterday, of course." Her smile faltered only a bit as she remembered him stalking out of the house.

[Feral]

"It is odd, isn't it?" Apollos kept his voice civil. "It seems like so much has changed since I was last here," he continued, eyeing Anna's stomach.

He could feel it already--the anger. Who did that to her? How could she allow it? A woman of her stature, her class?

"May I come in."

[Anna Fernandez]

"Of course," she said, stepping back a bit as she held the screen door open. "And yes, a lot has changed."

Anna remembered the last time - not counting the night before - that she'd seen Apollos. The night the Tres Once's had attacked the house. She folded her arms around her body unconsciously at the memory, then looked down the hall towards the kitchen.

"Do you want something to drink?"

[Feral]

"No." There was a pause, and it seemed almost like an after-though that he remembered his manners. "Thank you."

Silence hung in the air, but he could find nothing else to say. Well, there was one thing.

"So you are having a baby, then? Is it true that some of the residents think it is mine?"

[Anna Fernandez]

"No!" Anna said, eyes wide, then amended, "I mean, yes, I am, but no... no I do not think anyone..." Her voice trailed off a bit, her eyes looking to the side and then back to his face.

"I was going to tell everyone that night. The night the Three Elevens attacked." Anna felt awkward having this conversation in the foyer, and took a step backward, down into the living room. "I'm sorry if it surprised you yesterday, just you haven't been around to find out..."

[Feral]

Apollos raised an eyebrow at her rather...emphatic reply. He felt relieved, but hurt. He had once thought what it might be like to have children, and (fortunately or unfortunately, he wasn't sure which), included Anna in those dreams.

Feral followed Anna, trying to keep his pace relaxed.

"So, whose is it, then?"

He braced himself for her answer. No matter what she said, he was sure he wouldn't like it.

[Anna Fernandez]

She flushed, putting her hand out and finding the back of the couch behind her. "I... I don't think that changes anything. He's not a part of this anymore. It just... happened."

[Feral]

Just happened. Just happened. "Just happened?"

Feral's voice dripped heavy with scorn and ridicule. "You? Anna? The woman who is always together, always in control, always so ready and decisive when it comes to setting a good example for the teens she cares for? Things suddenly 'just happened?' And now you tell me that this--this--this man, if he can be called such will be offering you no help in caring for the person he burdened you with?"

Feral wondered if he would ever see that child forming in Anna's womb as anything more than that: a burden. Anna would spend the money, the late nights, the lost sleep, and the man who did it to her got to put another notch in his bedpost and cross off "sexy mutant" on his sexual bucket list.

He was disgusted.

[Anna Fernandez]

Anna drew back, shocked at his tone, and placed a hand reflexively on her stomach, growing but still small at only four months along. "He - he doesn't even know about the baby. I can't tell him."

She flushed, remembering the circumstances of her baby's conception. "I am trying to set a good example for the teens," she said, and then added, "But no one is perfect."

[Feral]

"Can't, or won't? But no, I don't expect you could tell him. If he was worth a damn, he would still be here."

Feral stood silent. No one is perfect. No, not even her. When he wanted to conquer the world, he pictured her as his queen. She was not perfect.

"Was he a mutant, at least?"

[Anna Fernandez]

"What does that matter?" Anna said, incredulously. How could she tell this silently seething man that she couldn't tell the father because she didn't know how to get in touch with him. She couldn't even tell her brothers that, and they were family.

Apollos stood there, judging her, and she felt small in his eyes. "He - it is none of your business, Apollos. And if my baby is a mutant or not, I will still love her."

[Feral]

Feral couldn't begin to put into words what he supposed this mystery man might have thought about Anna. All he thought he knew was that this person used her. It only mattered that he was a mutant because at least there wouldn't be the stink of "blonde, brunette, redhead, Asian, Hispanic, Mutant..."

Apollos rolled out his wrists, resisting the prickles under his skin from where his bones threatened to poke through and show his ire.

"No, it is none of my business. But then, none of this is my business, is it?"

He waved a hand at the house. "And yet, here I am trying to lend a hand to help you better provide a safe place for people to come and find refuge from a world that hates them. The same world that will hate that baby--because it is a mutant, or its mother is a mutant, or that it was born a bastard amongst the turmoil of a neighborhood riddled with gang violence and drugs. But then, you never wanted my help, did you?"

[Anna Fernandez]

She took another step back, flustered at the sudden change of subject and the vitriol coming from a man she thought she knew. "I have always appreciated your help, Apollos," Anna said. Her child would never be called a bastard. Her hand tightened on the back edge of the couch, steadying her.

"You - you were always welcome at Redencion." And maybe it was true, but she remembered past frustrations with the man, always showing up unannounced and just doing things without asking if it was all right. Just assuming it was his place to take charge.

[Feral]

"Then why take umbrage when I come?"

Anger relented for a moment and tagged in hurt and confusion. "You and Jake both. For a woman so busy, I try to take care of things I know I can do. I did not worry you about them. You have enough to do. So I took care of the rest."

[Anna Fernandez]

"You - you just assumed," Anna exclaimed. "You never asked. This is my house... my home. My organization! I built it from the ground up. And ser honesto, Apollos, this was never about the house or the work for you."

She put her hand to her temple, rubbing lightly. "Every time you fixed a door, or built a fence or cualquier otra cosa, it was like you were adding something else to an unseen book. To make me -" Anna bit off her words, threw up her hands, and turned away, walking towards the kitchen.

[Feral]

"Make you what?" Feral followed her into the kitchen and leaned on the island as he had done the evening before.

He watched her in silence, feeling impatient and more angry at the half-finished sentence.

"Make you what?"

[Anna Fernandez]

She trembled, either with fear or anger, and whirled on him, the island a barrier between them. "Make me care for you! You want- wanted more than I can give you, more than my friendship."

Anna wiped angry tears from her eyes, turning away and attacking the casserole dish in the sink.

[Feral]

"Make you care for me? MAKE YOU?"

Feral's neck muscles bulged as his jaw clenched down. "I could never make you care for me anymore than I could make the sun stay in the sky! And I did want more than your friendship! A beautiful, caring woman like yourself, who devotes her time and energies so selflessly as to open her home to strangers? How can anyone not dare to dream to fall in love with a woman like that?"

There, he said it. He finally admitted directly, aloud, that he loved her.

"I never meant to intrude. Everything I did, I did because I cared for you. I wanted you to love me too, but--" suddenly words failed him. "Had I known that surprising you with a sink that no longer leaks water all over the floor would make you like me less, I would have gladly let it flood the place!"

Feral sneered. "If it means that much to you, I promise not to even unclog a toilet without your say-so."

[Anna Fernandez]

Anna dropped the pan with a clatter, leaning on the edge of the sink with both hands. "And now what? Hmm?" She turned to face him, her cheeks flushed. "A guilt trip? You come in here, demanding answers about my baby, my baby.

"And no, the father is not a mutant. He was a mundane. My baby could be born without abilities and I could not love it any more than I do now." Anna put her hand on her stomach protectively.

[Feral]

"I don't care about the baby. I care about you. I'm not trying to make you feel guilty." Feral pounded his fist on the kitchen island. "Is this--"

He stopped cold. Why wasn't she mad? Where was her indignation? She had been used at worst, but at best she shared a bed with someone she didn't know, would never know, and never--it seemed--really cared about. Now she carried his child. A child she was attached to, but why? Why care so much? Was the maternal instinct really that strong? This child would be a challenge. How would she tell this child where it came from? What would its heritage be? On what ground would she stand that child to form its identity?

"Is this really what you want?" The heat fled from his face and the booming sound of his voice faded away into a more quiet tone. "A life like the one you stand to lead? So many look to you for support, and you support them. Alone."

Apollos ran a hand through his hair. "I am a direct man. I set myself a task, and I accomplish it. This quality frustrates you, and I apologize. Though you frustrate me too. How can you be so accepting of anyone? There is no one you turn away. Not one person seems to be able to draw out these angry qualities. You have patience to last a thousand lifetimes. Though it seems our interactions prove to be exceptions to that rule."

[Anna Fernandez]

His pounding on the island had caused her to jump, but his gentler tone screamed that he was humoring her. "I do not need a man to give me my identity, Apollos! I made my decision, and whatever consequences there are are mine.

"You don't care about the baby, fine. We are going to be fine, without you." Anna turned to pick up the heavy glass dish in the sink, but it slipped out of her wet hands, bounced off the edge of the counter and fell to the floor where it shattered loudly.

[Feral]

Feral said nothing, and did not flinch when the glass pan shattered. He was too busy focused on her words.

"Indeed, I can see that."

He made no move to help her. She would have resented it, rather than seeing it as the gesture of enduring friendship and goodwill it was supposed to be.

Before he had knocked on the door the night before, he figured the house had in fact gotten on quite well without him. Only Jamie seemed to truly care that he was back. Every one else didn't seem to feel like his absence had been a big thing. Jake no doubt was positively thrilled at life without him. Anna too, perhaps.

He just couldn't voice it. He just couldn't bring himself to put that one thought in his head into words that would hang in the air for him to hear and know: He should have never come back in the first place.

[Anna Fernandez]

Anna flushed angrily, crouching down and digging a paper grocery bag out from under the sink. She began picking up the largest pieces of glass with her bare hands, not really hearing the thump of boots on the back deck as she concentrated on ignoring Apollos' disapproving presence in the kitchen.

[Tycho Auriville]

And in the powderkeg wake of the third world war, the creak of the back screen opening seemed more like an engine droning to signal the approach of an airstrike. Instead, Tycho stepped in, his face a stony canvas of cautious inquiry. The man's eyes flicked to Anna first and then followed a trail across the kitchen to Apollos and back, finally, to the shattered Pyrex dish on the floor.

"Was just stopping by with those roofing samples and I heard talking," Ty explained in a casual voice. Only the cadence - measured with the precision of an accountant during tax season - belied the resolve behind the remark. He shrugged. "Well, shouting actually."

Again his gaze wandered between the two, but they lingered on Anna for a moment longer before he nodded at the other man, the one holding down the kitchen island. "Apollos, right? We met briefly last night. I'm Tycho."

[Feral]

"Yes. You're the one working on the house."

Feral forced himself to unlock and offered Tycho a handshake. They were a lot alike it seemed.

"You are going to be repairing the roof?"

[Anna Fernandez]

Anna sucked in a breath sharply as a piece of glass slipped in her hand, slicing across her index finger. Irritated, she let the shard drop noisily into the bag, then pushed up to her feet, ignoring Apollos as much as she could. She was so worked up over what Apollos had said to her that she was shaking.

"Excuse me," she said softly, brushing around behind Tycho, putting her uninjured hand briefly on his arm as she squeezed past him, keeping him between her and Apollos. Anna stalked into the laundry room, grabbing a clean rag and wrapping it around her finger, then getting the broom and a dust pan off their hooks on the wall before going back into the kitchen. The sight of the blood on her hand only reminded her of what Apollos had done to Father Lucian the night before, assaulting the man in the back yard of all things, and she was determined to tell him off for that as well.

[Tycho Auriville]

Tycho nodded, hooking one ankle over the other as his hip came to prop against the other end of the island. "Knee deep in it, actually," he said. "One of those jobs that seems pretty straightforward but ends up being more involved, you know?"

Again his eyes patrolled the space between Apollos and Anna, prodding at the thick mire of tension that walled it`s way from one to the other.

"So there`s no problem here, then." Tycho`s arms folded a loose line across his chest. "`Cause I thought for sure there was a grease fire or something, the way it sounded from outside."

[Feral]

"A difference of opinion," came Apollos' non-committal answer.

What was it to this man that he had an argument with Anna? Though he could not help but notice how Anna stayed behind him, squeezed his arm as she passed. How he seemed to stand in the way of him, like she needed protecting from him.

It was getting to be too much. She hated him, feared him. There was no other explanation. And this...Tycho...clearly so much like him, but somehow better in Anna's eyes. He would not stay where he was not wanted.

"It is time I was going, anyway."

[Anna Fernandez]

Past time, Anna thought, the plastic dustpan hitting the ground as she dropped it from her hand. She stared at him a little heatedly, chewing her bottom lip. "I cannot believe you assaulted Father Lucian in the backyard last night. Qué demonios estabas pensando? What were you thinking?"

She put out her hand as though to forestall any comments. "Never mind. Just go."

[Feral]

Feral didn't notice the mask slip when he smiled. His eyes glinted coldly, his features subtly sharpened, accenting the corners of his mouth and giving his expression a predatory character.

He was glad she changed her mind. Trying to explain to her what Lucian had unknowingly asked would be too much work. He had alienated himself from her enough already.

He knew. Somehow he knew he wouldn't be coming back to this house. Not as Apollos, anyway.

Feral walked out of the house, containing his pain, anguish, and fury. The contractor's license had been a waste of time after all. He wouldn't be needing the truck anymore.

He left the truck where it was. He would come back to destroy it later. Feral stalked down the street, letting his emotions play with his face, making it the visage that terrorized so much of Greece and Europe. He would find a place. Then, when it was dark, he would destroy as much of Apollos as possible, and anyone else he chanced across in the process.

[Tycho Auriville]

To his credit, Tycho didn't flinch the way his instincts rallied to as Apollos... changed somehow, a whisper of something else entirely rolling over his face like a passing shadow. It reminded him of nights on the flat moon-bleached stretches of New Mexico soil where the coyotes danced around the supplicating flames of campfire, their eyes dark and unreadable one moment and then catching the licking light and glinting with a primal sheen the next.

But you didn't back away from those wild creatures unless you meant to send a message that the ground underneath your feet was up for grabs.


It wasn't until after the other man - whom Tycho didn't have a bone to pick with, beyond the feeling of having walked in on a splintering rafter of a conversation that would have brought the roof down without intervention - left that he allowed the coiled readiness to leech out of his muscles. He straightened and glanced back at Anna, at her uneven, furious breaths.

Tycho bent down and picked up the fallen dustpan, pressing it to the floor on the waiting side of the glittering shards of glass. He held it there, inviting the broom's whiskered limbs to gather up the pieces, and quietly broke the silence with a clearing of his throat.

"Hope I didn't step where I oughtn't have," he said, nodding toward the glass. "But it sounded like you needed a hand."

[Anna Fernandez]

She stared down blindly at Tycho, and then nodded, slowly, her hand going to the broom handle automatically. "Yes, I... I was clumsy." She maneuvered the broom carefully, sweeping up the glass as best she could. She'd have to remember to go over the floor with a wet paper towel, to make sure there were no slivers left to be found by someone's bare foot.

"You brought shingles?" Anna took a deep breath, wetting her lips with her tongue and walking over to the table in the breakfast nook. She was pulling a chair out to sit when her legs started feeling shaky, and then her whole body started to tremble. She sat abruptly, hands splayed out on the table for some sort of balance as she felt it get hard to breathe.

[Tycho Auriville]

If she hadn't been doing a spot-on impression of an autumn leaf plummeting to the ground from high branches, Ty might have laughed. As it stood he merely nodded and then rose to his feet and carried the gathered glass to the trash, emptying it with a hollow clatter into the bin.

"Not important right now," he said, and set aside the plastic dustpan. As he crossed the lino floor he made sure to make his steps deliberate and easy, approaching with an open caution so she wouldn't be caught by surprise when he stopped in front of her. Tycho crouched down again, put a hand lightly on her knee in a gesture that was sturdy somehow but didn't cross a line of intimacy.

"Hey, it's okay," Ty soothed in a warm hush, a spooked-horse unfurling of words. "You're okay. What can I do?"

[Anna Fernandez]

Anna knew she was starting to hyperventilate, and she breathed purposefully and slowly, inhaling through her nose and exhaling out her mouth. Tycho looked up at her, and she shook her head, couldn't stop shaking it. "I've never seen him like that. Didn't expect..."

Her face twisted as she remembered what Apollos had said. "He said the baby was a burden. That... I'm not setting a good example." Anna looked at Tycho, brown eyes meeting green, the shine of tears in hers again. "I don't answer to him, I jus'..."

She sucked in ragged breaths, closing her eyes and controlling her tears as best she could. His face there, at the end. What had she done to him?

[Tycho Auriville]

The sharp arrows of the remarks stung and he was hearing them secondhand; Tycho couldn't imagine how Anna was feeling. But he didn't have to because the cracks were showing through the veneer of calm strength that she normally projected and for a moment he wondered if she was going to lose hold of that last bit of composure and shatter like the glass they'd just picked up.

Tycho let her catch her breath and kept his hand where it was, a solid anchor to draw her attention.

"Where's Jamie?" he asked.

Anna looked at him blankly, puzzled by the sudden turn. Tycho's thumb traced a reassuring circle over her kneecap.

He repeated, "Anna, where's Jamie? Are you here by yourself?"

[Anna Fernandez]

She blinked, looking down and frowning slightly, trying to concentrate. "Ah... she... she went to the park with Scott and Ronnie." Anna put a hand to her head, fingers in her hair. "They'll probably get burgers on the way home."

She felt his hand on her knee, and somehow was able to recall what else he'd asked her. "Sí, I am alone." All alone. Raising the baby. Solo.

Her lip trembled and she raked her hand through her long hair. "He was right, too, that is the worst part.."

[Tycho Auriville]

Tycho snorted. "The only thing he was right about was me fixing the roof."

But saying as much wasn't going to change what had been said or what Anna had heard, not with the confrontation still rippling through her like a loose circuit and jostling her system with false starts. Tea, normally. Hot tea with sugar. That remedied just about any shock but when the feel of it was lingering in a room like this, even sweetened Ceylon couldn't cut through.

He stood up, held out a hand. "Come on," Ty said quietly. "Let's go."

[Anna Fernandez]

She took his hand automatically, let him help her to her feet. "Where are we going?" Anna grabbed at her keys hanging on the kitchen wall as he led her down the hallway.

[Tycho Auriville]

"Anywhere," Tycho answered, pausing in the foyer and picking up a handbag. He held it up. "This yours?"

Anna nodded and he slung it on his own arm. It wasn't really his style but black went with everything and his Madras button-down, in shades of faded summer yellow and beach glass grey, worked in a casual chic sort of way.

Dimly he was aware that he'd just trodded through the house in his boots but it didn't seem as important or impolite as it normally would have. He waited while Anna locked the front door and then took up her hand again like a willing child's, walked beside her down the street to where he'd managed to snag a parking spot along the curb.

The passenger door creaked in slow reluctance as he opened it. "Watch the seats - vinyl might be hot."

[Anna Fernandez]

Her mind was an overflowing mess of thoughts and self doubt, and she carefully got into the hot cab of his truck. The seats were hot, but she easily cooled them down with her gift to something better suited for sitting on in thin capris.

He handed her the purse and closed the passenger door and walked around the front of the truck to the driver's side, climbing in easily. Anna pulled the seatbelt around her, carefully tucking the lap belt under her burgeoning belly, and stared out the window as he started the vehicle. A part of her brain was telling her to talk, to say something, but somehow she knew if she said anything she would just melt into a puddle of tears, so she just sat there numbly, hands in her lap.

[Tycho Auriville]

He made easy work of the silence, slipping under it's yoke willingly and turning it into an ally rather than an ominous blanket of conviction. The air conditioning unit in the truck was two years past working order, spitting only dusty smelling warm breeze, but the windows functioned perfectly and he rolled them down halfway with the automatic controls on the driver's door. Momentum ushered in a tumbling wave of sun-sweet air and Tycho twisted an arm up behind him, awkwardly coaxing the back slat glass open to encourage the rest of the trapped heat to take a bow and exit.

The residential background of Los Santos gave way to more commercial ground as they pulled onto the main thoroughfare, fast food restaurants and laundromats lumped together next to sewing outlets and copy stores.

"I got Springsteen or Taylor," Tycho finally said, taking the overpass that would lead to the highway exit that climbed up into the rugged hills of Runyon Canyon Park.

He passed Anna a battered travel CD case, the zipper broken and chipped of it's black paint. "Might be some Petty, too. It's work stuff but it's meant for getting lost in. Does the trick most times."

[Anna Fernandez]

She took the CD case obediently, and flipped through it as he drove, finally choosing a Springsteen album at random and slipping it into the CD player of the truck. Music (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiCxqhu9cio) filled the cab, and Anna closed the case, trying to figure out the zipper before giving up and returning it to its place behind the front seats.

She leaned against the seat, one hand unconsciously on her stomach as summer brown hills began to surround them, scrubby brush and yucca trees prevalent on the landscape. She closed her eyes, letting the breeze wash over her.

[Tycho Auriville]

It wasn't obtrusive, the high soulful wail of Soozie Tyrell's violin bleeding into the passing world like a trailing marker as the truck climbed higher and higher into thin arching pine trees and broad-citied views. Rather, it touched just the edges of their company, colouring so deftly that it seemed a part of the moment just as surely as the faded Auto Trader flapping on the dashboard and the smell of clean oil and sawdust and piña colada air freshener mingling in the cab.

Tycho drove past the official entrance to the park and rumbled around a lazy mountain curb, guiding the truck a few more miles up the road to a strangled section of wood, more open space than crowded forest in defiance of the rest of the state land. Slowing to a crawl he nosed the Tacoma onto soft, pine-needle carpeted earth and then they were off-road and edging through the bouncing terrain until ahead the trees gave way completely as did the ground, cutting a jagged cliff edge that afforded a dazzling view of the park and, distantly, the long arm of the southern half of the city.

In the waning stillness the engine ticked, cooling in park as Ty twisted the keys and pulled them out to rest on the bench seat. He leaned forward, hands looped on top of the steering wheel, and took a long breath through his nose. Without the bloom of urbanization to send off potent vapours, there was a sweetness to the air.

"So," Tycho squinted into the bright light, peering through his tousled hair. "That wasn't your boyfriend, then."

[Anna Fernandez]

The view was breathtaking, despite the bumpy ride to get there, and it took a moment for Anna to register what Tycho had just said. She undid her seatbelt, stretching a little in her seat before leaning against the door to look at him better.

"Uh, no. Hardly." She scrubbed her hand over her face, trying to think how best to describe what Apollos was to her, but it was only making her think of their argument and that was the last thing she wanted to do. "Not my boyfriend."

[Tycho Auriville]

Okay. That was good, she hadn't freaked out. It was always hit or miss diving right into things but when it hit, it was usually right on target. Of course the misses were spectacular scenes in the opposite vein.

Tycho waited to see if she'd elaborate. When nothing came, he encouraged, "But a friend, yeah?"

[Anna Fernandez]

She closed her eyes. "Yes. Someone I trusted."

Anna sighed. "I trust too easily, perhaps." She cracked her eyes open and looked sideways at Tycho. "Jake will not let me forget this, either. He never liked Apollos. I... I should have listened to him." She laughed, bitterly. "He is a psychic, after all."

[Tycho Auriville]

"That mean he knows everything?" Ty arched a brow in pointed wonderment. "Maybe he can tell me whether or not to put down a Benjamin on the Lakers."

[Anna Fernandez]

Anna shook her head. "Point taken." She idly rubbed her stomach, staring out the windshield at the view.

She sighed again. "I do not know what I am doing."

[Tycho Auriville]

Ty shrugged on a soft smile. "Right now you're admiring the view, getting some air."

Without the benefit of movement the heat was starting to add up, even with the alpine thinness. Tycho popped open his door and pushed it with a booted foot, leaning back in his seat. He dropped his head back to rest against the seat and then it turned to one side, his green eyes capturing Anna.

"Do you think it is?" he asked. "Do you think the baby is a mistake?"

[Anna Fernandez]

Anna sighed again, the heat prickling against her skin and dampening her hair to her forehead. "No. I know this was an accident... but how can I view the baby as a mistake? Like... something to regret or try to erase."

She shook her head. "I never considered not going through with this pregnancy."

[Tycho Auriville]

He let her talk, nodding faintly. There wasn't anything that he could say to make things easier, to make her feel better. That was the answer to most of the problems in life, though: listening. Just letting the all of it wash over you and paying enough attention to understand the gist of it.

Tycho's arm snaked across the back of the seat and he tugged gently on Anna's hair.

"Upset people say stupid shit, Anna," he said. "More than drunks, even. It's a syndrome."

[Anna Fernandez]

"Oh, really?" She felt him tweak her hair and turned to look at him, a soft smile on her face. "I don't suppose you have had experience with this syndrome before..?"

The breeze was failing them despite the open door, and she took a deep breath, concentrating and cooling the air around them to a more comfortable temperature.

[Tycho Auriville]

A frosty lick tickled it's way across his cheek and Tycho's nose twitched, that shadowy urge to sneeze sneaking up on him before losing courage and bailing. He canted his head to one side.

"If I didn't get upset from time to time, I wouldn't be normal," Tycho agreed and then he laughed and rubbed at the back of his neck. "Although I'm more partial to saying stupid shit for the latter reason."

Something akin to bashfulness wrapped it's way around his body and he looked out the windshield, the sun glaring brightly even through the gentle tint of the glass.

"My point is," he continued quietly, "Nobody but you can define what this is. Talking loudly don't change that."

[Anna Fernandez]

"I suppose you are right," she allowed, brushing her hair back from her face. "It is hard not to allow loud words to have an affect, however-"

Anna broke off abruptly, her eyes widening. "Wait -!" A smile crept over her face at a flutter in her stomach, suddenly realizing what it was she was feeling. Without thinking she grabbed at Tycho's hand, pressing it to her belly. "The baby's moving..!"

[Tycho Auriville]

"What's -"

Before he could manage much of anything (and he wasn't sure what it had been, a protest or a word of concern?) Anna seized his hand and Ty found himself tilting to one side, skin against the cotton of her shirt in such a broadly intimate press that he instinctively readied himself for a slap. It didn't come, of course, because she'd been the one to initiate it but the readiness was there.

He cleared his throat, ready to break the silence, when something silver smooth whispered across his palm, a ghost against the calloused skin.

"Haaa-aa!" Tycho's hand jerked and he looked up at Anna with wide eyes. "Is it... is that supposed to happen?"

[Anna Fernandez]

She grinned, still holding his hand against the strange hardness of her stomach. "Sí," she said softly, and the baby moved again, so small still, but unmistakable. "I have felt her before, but she is only just now getting big enough for others..."

The baby brushed against her, a tiny foot or hand thumping right where Tycho's hand was, and she laughed at the expression on his face. Anna released his hand, no longer holding him captive, but the baby continued to flutter under her skin, and a strange sense of peace came over her. Yes, this was certainly worth any sacrifice.

[Tycho Auriville]

Jesus. It was the strangest thing he'd ever felt and Tycho had done a four-month stint working septic tanks in Georgia: his hands had touched things no horror movie could prepare you for.

"Does it... hurt?" Ty asked, glancing up for permission before he spread his palm over Anna's stomach again, that strange fluttering sensation making his heart skip with adrenaline and wonder.

[Anna Fernandez]

"No, not at all." Anna looked down at his hand, his touch warm through her t-shirt. "It is a strange feeling, however."

She reached down and gently guided him to the other side of her belly. "She is being very acrobatic in there!" Anna smiled, her hair falling in her eyes as she looked at her stomach, unaware of just how close they were together as he reached across her.

[Tycho Auriville]

"Future gymnast, maybe," Ty grinned, still marveling at the concept that there was something alive inside of Anna. Of course they'd all known that, pregnancy implied new life - but it was one thing to know and another to be aware.

He laughed at an unexpected skim beneath the weight of his hand, pressing back a little. "Exploring her world in there. Gonna be a shock when she gets out here; big upgrade."

[Anna Fernandez]

Anna nodded, putting her hand next to his, trying to feel it herself from the outside. "I can't even imagine meeting her - or him - for the first time." She sat back, resting her head against the seat. "January seems so far away...

"...and also not nearly enough time!" She laughed. "Does that make sense?"

[Tycho Auriville]

He nodded, moving his hand away after a moment to give her more room to track the little movements, though he stayed bent close as though if he stared hard enough he might be able to see something shifting.

"I remember when I got my first dog," Ty mused, eyes casting back to a different year. "Seemed like there was a million and one things to get ready before we could pick him up from the pound. And a kid's gotta be a thousand times more complicated."

He paused and frowned, shaking his head at Anna aplogetically. "Not that your kid is a dog, obviously. It's worse than that, in the... best way possible. I mean, a dog is, what? That's nothing. Not really a big commitment in the grand scheme of things, but a child? That's huge, that's for life - and yeah, they pretty much make the same messes for the first couple years but then kids grow up, they get... well, they get more complicated and make more trouble than dogs, for sure, but..."

Crash and burn, crash and burn, abort, abort. Tycho scrunched his face and cleared his throat. "I'm sure your kid will be great."

[Anna Fernandez]

She laughed, moving her hand around a bit, and then relaxing, pushing down against the seat to shift to a more comfortable position. "I think she fell asleep while you were digging that hole you're in."

Anna winked. "I know what you are trying to say. I hope she'll be easy to paper train, though."

[Tycho Auriville]

"Just smack her around a bit, always works," Tycho said with a deadpan nod. Before Anna could practice the advice on him he raised his hands in surrender.

"Only kidding. That stops working as soon as they go to school and you have to hide bruises - ow!" he laughed and rubbed his arm where she'd landed a digging knuckle punch. "Yeah, see, just like that. A couple of those and potty training will be a snap."

[Anna Fernandez]

"Awful," she sighed, rolling her eyes at him. Anna raised her fist again threateningly. "There are more where that came from, so behave yourself. I have six brothers after all, I know how to throw a punch."

She giggled, giving him a friendly shove instead. "Thank you, for this." She indicated the view. "I needed some air."

[Tycho Auriville]

Tycho shrugged and followed her gaze. "I'll put the gas on your tab."

This was nice, just sitting with a comfortable ease together. It came as simply as solitude, a natural order to being with Anna that Tycho hadn't felt outside of old friends from high school who'd known him since he was a scrawny teenager.

But he didn't want to jinx it by letting the silence fall from graceful to awkward, a transition as quick to cross as a skipping stone, so he reached out and unhooked the dangling tree-shaped air freshener from the rearview mirror and cupped it in his hands. A liquid orange glow leaked from the spaces between his fingers, furnace rich hues of fire that molded into the tanned lines of his skin.

"Here," Tycho said, and when he held out the little tree on it's string it was of burnished gold and caught the sun like a charm. "You can hang it in the nursery. Or, I dunno, pawn it for a college fund or something. Congratulations on the baby."

[Anna Fernandez]

She held her hand out gingerly for the gift, still amazed at his ability - one she had not fully understood the day she'd met him at the taco stand. Once he'd placed it in her palm, she could feel the weight of it, so very different from a cardboard air freshener.

Anna held it to her nose, wondering if it still contained a scent of pine, but beyond a faint whiff it had no odor. She looked at Tycho, realized what she was doing, and put her hand down, blushing a little. "I couldn't help it... it is so amazing, what you can do."

She lifted the golden tree a little, and added, "Thank you for this, I will treasure it."

[Tycho Auriville]

"It's a neat trick," Ty compromised, watching the liquid warm shades of gold turn in the air, held aloft in Anna's hand. He'd never been one to dwell on his ability - it wasn't an earned skill so much as a twist of fate - but the wonder on her face made him smile, a curl of unexpected pride filling his chest.

The air was still and weighty. Ty tapped on the back of the seat, the Springsteen bass still caught in his blood. "Comes in handy around Christmas - I'm a real hit at tree trimming parties."

[Anna Fernandez]

"I bet," she chuckled, tucking the tree into the purse at her feet. Anna sat back against the seat, a sudden yawn overtaking her.

She covered her mouth with a hand, and smiled. "Guess I am a little worn out. Un poco." She snuggled as best she could into the seat, looking over at Tycho. "Don't judge me if I fall asleep. Growing a baby takes it out of you."

[Tycho Auriville]

"Well, since you've been so nice I'll try not to hold it against you," he said, hand naturally bumping gently against the crown of her head as she settled back in her seat. He let it rest there for a moment, just barely brushing the silky, dark waves and then with a clearing of his throat that he willed to translate to his head, Tycho straightened.

The driver's door shut and he started the truck, resting his weight against the wheel for a moment as he looked out at the vast stretch of California valley before them, starting to take on the lazy rose and almond hues of the hour.

"Better head ba--" the words faded as Ty turned to see Anna already down for the count, her face propped against the passenger side. She looked peaceful, even in the awkward position and he watched for a moment as whatever thoughts played across her eyelids made her lips jerk up in an instinctive smile. Good dreams, then, or maybe nothing at all except the wash of refreshing slumber.

With quiet ease Tycho leaned over and carefully tugged the seatbelt across Anna's chest, fastening it for the ride home.