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CHICAGO 2023
"Daddy watch this! Watch this" a young boy ordered as he held a football, preparing a throw.
"Let me see. Let me see it" Phastos challenged, fixing a bicycle. The young boy tossed the ball to his other dad, excitedly smiling.
"Dad. I'm only a starter" the boy complained as his throw didn't go as he planned his dad laughing lightly at him.
Phastos caught sight of Sersi, Ikaris and Sol walking up the driveway, who had insisted she came along.
"Hello. Can we help you?" The man asked.
"Throw it again" the boy complained as his dad held the ball, before obeying and throwing it back.
"Hey, Jack, Ben" Phastos chuckled, putting his glasses on. "Hey guys. These are my friends from collage" he lied, Ben giving him a look. "Uh, this is Sylvia, uh Issac and, uh Suzie. That's Suzie" Phastos pointed, making the three quite confused.
"Dad, that's super man" Jack gasped, walking closer to Ikaris or 'Isaac', pointing at him excitedly, making Sol chuckle lightly.
"No, no! That's definitely super man" Jack insisted, jumping up and down. "I saw him in tv. He was in London, fighting a monster" Jack exclaimed. Ben giving Phastos another look. "And you were with a cape and you were shooting laser beams outta your eyes" Jack did a laser motion.
"I don't wear a cape" Ikaris corrected, Jack apologising quietly.
"Ok. Well we should just go inside, right?" Phastos said, annoyed "Can I call you Clark?" He mumbled sarcastically, referring to super man "Is that what you go by now? Because you know..."
"You've called me worse" Ikaris shrugged, heading inside.
Phastos sighed in annoyance, before looking back to Sol, who smiled widely. "It's good to see you though" Phastos grunted as Sol put her arm around his shoulder, exited to see her friend again.
"I missed you!" Sol beamed "God, it's been so long" She sighed, walking inside with Phastos.
-
"You got it Jack?" The trio could hear Phastos asked his son from the other room, encouraging Jack to brush his teeth "Way to go" He cheered. "Alright. Show me how it's done. Round and round and round and round" they chuckled.
Phastos peeked behind him to see Sersi and Ikaris snooping in from the hallway. Sersi and Ikaris quickly put themselves into positions, Ikaris snatching a boom from Sersi, who was left to grab a mug. Sol chuckled from the end of the table.
"Yeah. Incredibly natural guys" Phastos raised his eyebrows, sitting across from Ikaris. "So, after all these years, even you fell for Ajak's lies" he scoffed.
"No need to rub it in" Ikaris snapped back.
Phastos shook his head "It all makes sense why she wouldn't let us interfere with human conflicts. Conflicts lead to war and war leads to advancement in lifesaving technology and medicine" he sighed "So our mission was never make a peaceful or harmonious world, but to increase the population at all costs" he spat, venomously. "Just farming humans as food for the Celestials, right?"
"That's bleak" Ikaris shot. Sersi and Sol sharing a look, knowing the two would argue.
"Well so is telling your husband and your child that they could be dead within a few days" Phastos argued, making a point in Sol's mind.
"Thought you'd given up on humans" Ikaris objected.
"I got lucky, ok?" Phastos defended. And to Sol, she was happy for Phastos. She knew Ikaris couldn't talk, he'd only ever lived Sersi, he never tried to get over her unlike she did. "I have a family now. They give me faith again" Sol smiled at him, thinking back on Jericho. "And I see he good in humanity in them every single day. So look, I cannot help you. I am never leaving them" Sersi whispered his name desperately, she knew his help would help inevitably "I'm sorry, Sersi. It was wrong for me to use my powers without thinking about the consequences in the first place" He asserted, thinking back to Tenochtitlan and Hiroshima. "So now I choose to use my hands to fix my child's bicycle, ok?" He raised his voice.
"Do you?" Ikaris challenged, making the three look at him.
"I don't use my powers anymore" Phastos confirmed.
"You sure?" Ikaris queried, making Phastos question him before Ikaris shot his lasers at the glass door, which didn't shatter, only reflected it, a glow of gold patterns covering it. His action made them jump, covering themselves for a moment.
Sol sighed "Not using them anymore, huh?" She sarcastically asked, wondering why he lied.
Phastos only glanced to her, glaring at Ikaris "What the hell is wrong with you?! My child is right down the hallway!" He screamed.
"That looks like someone's been using his powers" Ikaris pointed, talking specifically to Sersi, as if Phastos wasn't there.
"Oh my god" Phastos grumbled, rubbing his forehead.
"I bet you've built the perfect safe house" Ikaris nodded, looking around the room, before motioning to the table "Whats this even made of? Vibranium?" He challenged, raising his fist, earning a shout from Phastos. Ikaris slammed his hand on the table, it shattering in two. Ikaris stared at it, shocked.
"Fall collection. IKEA" Phastos corrected, calmly "Ass. How do you even deal with this guy for over 5,000 years?" He asked Sersi in disbelief.
"If you stay here, you might as well invite the deviants to dinner" Ikaris shrugged, earning a scoff from Sol. "Never mind waiting for the end of the world"
"He has a point" Sersi agreed, shrugging lightly. Sol discreetly nodded.
"No. I'm sorry. You can't just show up in my life and expect me to go with you" Phastos scoffed "im not gonna..."
"You should go, hadibi" Ben appeared from the hall, earning the groups attention.
"You want me to go?" Phastos asked in disbelief.
Ben scoffed lightly "You know what my mum would say to you right now, right?" He rhetorically questioned, before speaking Arabic "Quit procrastinating Phil and take care of your business" he switched back to English, looking at the other three "he's a chronic procrastinator" he laughed, making the three smile.
"I'm not leaving you two. No way" Phastos assured, standing to get closer to Ben.
"I'm not happy about it" Ben whispered "but if there's a chance for us to watch Jack grow up to live a life of his own, we should take it"
- And like that, Phastos was convinced, he said his goodbyes to Jack and Ben before they headed off, Sol reassuring his as they walked down the street.
