All Mine

Chapter 12

Skyler sat curled up on her chair, doing a good job of ignoring homework in favor of watching The Avengers.

Martin sat in the chair next to hers, reading from a tablet. He would occasionally look up at the TV before going back to his work. The furrow between his eyebrows gave away his frustration, and the ferocity of his scrolling was another clue.

“What is it?” She lowered the volume, but didn't look at him. She'd play down her interest.

He sighed. “Work.”

“Aren't you off work because of your butt problem?”

“I don't have a butt problem. And my injury isn't keeping me from advising the people I work with.” He sounded hesitant to share, as if he wasn't quite sure what he'd say next.

“So? What do they need advice for?” She was fishing for something- making herself seem innocent as she tried to get information from the secretive foster parent.

The doctor grumbled something incoherent, rubbing his face and sprawling. “Everything.”

She made a sound of sympathy, finally looking over at him. “You know Martin, I'd be able to justify your whining if I knew how bad you were hurt.”

His red eyes widened a fraction.

Gotcha.

“Well,” Martin laughed nervously, “I don't think you'd be interested in my health…” His face was red, and he wouldn't look her in the eye.

The slick son of a bitch wasn't hurt. She'd figured that from the get go but now she had him cornered. Why he was taking off so much time still escaped her, but she was starting to get her questions answered just by his incriminating responses.

“Drop the act- it's sad to watch.” She smirked. “Am I just that irresistible that you decided to take off three months of work just to be with me?”

Compared to a month ago she was incredibly more relaxed. Teasing the doctor and throwing in some flirtatious quips seemed safe, and he never seemed to think anything of it. He already flirted with her every other word and she'd deemed the behavior harmless enough.

He blinked, forcing a choked laugh. He looked pale. “No… um… well you see…”

“Listen Doc, you can keep all the secrets you want- but I'm just going to let you know that you're really shitty at doing so.” She'd be honest. Brutally so.

A tense silence stretched between them as the teen was stared down by the doctor.

The helicarrier exploding on the screen finally broke their stand off.

“You’re rude.” He scowled, relenting somewhat. He pulled his legs up onto the seat, swatting her with a Vogue magazine before pulling a blanket off the back of his chair and draping it over himself.

Skyler watched him get comfortable, amused to no end.

“Well go ahead and raise the volume. I won't be able to get any work done with you staring at me.”

Then teen chuckled, turning the sound back on.

She'd decided that even if he was hiding things, she'd stay. She'd remain in the Adobe house until spring, and then she'd leave. He deserved that at least, for all he'd done.

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Knockout could swear he saw more of his dead partner in the human every solar cycle. It was driving him mad. The similarities were as if a ghost stood in front of her every other moment.