The Freaks

8

Alex walked up the steps of the old house. He chose not to see his friend the way he was now. He saw him the same as he was fifty years ago. He stopped in front of the door and knocked. He could hear old Rusty Stevens arguing with nurse in the room before he shouted a come in.

Alex opened the door and walked in the room. The nurse smiled nervously at him before leaving. He saw Rusty sitting in the chair in the corner of the room, a rather grumpy look on his face. 

"Rus, what'd you do now?" Alex questioned as he walked closer to the older man. 

"Agh, that infernal woman was trying to get me undressed again." Rusty grumbled. Alex shook his head at his friend. 

"Are you sure she wasn't trying to give you your sweater like last time?" Alex questioned. Rusty paused. 

"Maybe she was. But for god's sakes, she's got to warn me." Rusty spoke. Alex chuckled. 

"How've you been?" 

"I'm seventy-four years old with a nurse. I'm horrible." Rusty told him. Alex shrugged as he sat down across from the man. 

"It's not that bad, Rus. Nurses used to help us out all the time."  

"Yeah, but you're mister miracle. You're damn near eighty years old and you still look the same as when I met you." Rusty stated. 

"It's not all it's cracked up to be. I'd rather be a grumpy grandpa." Alex told him. Rusty waved him off. 

"No, you wouldn't. You always enjoyed it when the girls looked at you and luckily for you, they still are." Rusty spoke. 

"All I got to look forward to is when Maggie comes to visit me or whenever I see her again." Rusty added. Alex scoffed. 

"Don't talk like that, you got lots to look forward to. I heard Buck's got a kid on the way." Alex spoke. 

"He does. Said it was a girl, she's due any moment now." 

"You're gonna be a grandfather, that's a huge thing to look forward to." Alex encouraged. 

"How's that girl of yours, I never asked you that. Her name was Jacqueline, right?" Rusty changed the sentence. Alex shifted slightly. 

"She died, Rus. Back in eighty three, I think it was heart disease. She wasn't my girl though. She was with married." Alex told him. 

"But you liked her?" 

"She was a co-worker, Rus. Just a friend, nothing more. Why do you ask?" 

Rusty shook his head slightly. "You just got that look in your eye. Every time, you found a nice gal, you would get this sparkle or something. Of course since we went to Nam, it went about as far as a ball that Legs threw." 

Alex smiled fondly at the memory of Legs. He missed his old army buddies. 

"Well, there sort of is. Before you get any of your weird ideas, I work with her and she's just a friend." Alex told Rusty. Rusty lifted up the newspaper and pointed to a picture. 

"Which one?" 

It was a picture of Red Veteran, Fantasia, Owl and Black Phoenix. It was taken a few years back and since it was one of the rare pictures of the team, had been produced in every piece of press about them ever since. Alex took a deep breath and cast his friend a shamed look before pointing at Black Phoenix. 

"Don't you tell anybody. But her name's Evie." Alex told him. Rusty turned the picture to see for himself. 

"Does that one remind you of anybody?" 

Alex shook his head. "No, Evie's her own person. She's very... different." 

"From the things I've heard, she reminds me of the Crimson Mistress." Rusty spoke. 

"No, we were all made by the chemical crap. Evie was born this way," Alex told him. 

"For the better half of ten years, you've been telling me about this Black Phoenix and up until today, I wasn't under the impression that you knew a lot about her." 

"She told me that." 

"Is it possible that it passes down? Maybe she doesn't know about it." Rusty suggested. 

"Technically no and besides that, if it did pass down, her mother would've had it. Evie never said anything about her mother having it." Alex defended. 

"What I would've done to get a hit of that stuff?" Rusty spoke after a moment of silence. Alex laughed. 

"You never changed, Rus."  

"Remember when we tried grass?" 

"No, I remember when you tried it." Alex corrected. Rusty waved him off. 

"It was a good night." Rusty sighed. Alex chuckled at his friend again. 

"Well, you didn't have to chase yourself down with a blanket." Alex mumbled. Rusty let out a loud laugh. 

"Come on, Al. I named my son after you. Buck up. I was only going a little au naturel." Rusty teased. Alex shook his head. The bag he'd dropped by the door suddenly rang. 

"Your work, I assume." 

Alex sighed. "Sorry, buddy. I'll come back tomorrow." 

Rusty waved him off. "Go do whatever it is you do now," 

Alex nodded and smiled faintly before walking to the door and picking up his bag. 

"See you when I see you." 

~

I had soo much freaking fun writing Rusty! He's just a grumpy old grandpa to be! I'm very glad that I got two chapters out, two nights in a row! Yay! I hope you enjoyed these last two chapters!! 

Please, vote and comment below!!! 

Have an amazing night!!!