TS20

Defenders of the Earth: This Is Their Story

By Marzena

Chapter 20

"You’re ok?" LJ asked when he saw April sitting by herself at this late hour, basically just staring at the wall. April never just sat there, staring at something. She was always busy doing this and doing that.

"Bad day," she muttered. "Sorry, did I wake you?"

"By sitting in the kitchen at night, staring at the wall? Yes, totally, couldn't sleep anymore and had to come downstairs to investigate," he joked. He went over to the fridge and got some leftovers out which he started eating.

"Sorry, won’t happen again," she replied with an attempted grin.

"Jokes aside, what are you doing here anyway?" he asked, sitting down next to her to eat his food. "I haven’t seen you around for a while."

"I'm just in town for the weekend and needed a place to crash," she replied. After everything that had happened, she had taken some time away from the team to get her life in order. "And you?" she wanted to know. "You’re here to raid Mandrake's fridge?"

"That is actually a good reason." He grinned. "Mandrake's fridge is always full. Mine isn't."

"I'm sorry," she said, reading between the lines. "You and Kate…?"

"We're currently off again," he admitted. "It's the old discussion again. She doesn't want to start a family, not while I'm an active Defender, and I get that. With her being in a coma for years because of an ice robot attack, I get it. And I would give up being a hero — not gladly, but I would — if I thought it would be helpful. But if anything, I feel like as an active Defender I'm able to protect my family more than as a private person."

"Her accident had nothing to do with your job," April said. "Ice robots can show up everywhere. They can show up when your kids are on a field trip or while you're having a family dinner at a restaurant. That’s not a valid reason."

"It is for her," he sighed.

"If you want a family someday, don't let her keep you from it," she said.

"What about you?" He changed the topic. "Who are you hiding from? Your feelings for Krotan?" She threw him a dirty look and he raised his arms defensively. "Sorry. Not going to go there again."

She sighed. "I was doing better, distracting myself and everything, you know. Keeping busy. But now, being here again…"

"Then let's not be here," he suggested. "Want to go for a ride?" The idea had just come to him and he liked it. He knew some cool places he could drive them to on his motorcycle. Places where they wouldn’t constantly be thinking about all the shit in their lives.

"It's in the middle of the night," April replied, eyebrows raised.

But she hadn't outright said no, so he guessed that she was interested. "So?" he asked, and when she suddenly got up, he knew he had won. He put the dirty dishes in the sink. "Get dressed," he told her. "Meet you outside in five."

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Article

Author

Chapters

1: Death

April and the other Gordons face a tragedy.

2: Beautiful

Mandrake is reunited with a romantic interest.

3: Peace and Quiet

Flash is thrown into an unexpected struggle.

4: Nightfall

Sheila and Flash continue to bond.