Bruce only shrugged in response.
Meg didn’t push the issue further. She was in no hurry to make herself look any more foolish than she already felt.She continued to load the grocery bags into the trunk. The smirk on Bruce’s face was still there when she finished.
“Why don’t we go check on Tony?” Meg inquired with a slight air of annoyance.
“I would love to do that. But I don’t think I’ll get to him any faster than you would.”
Bruce leaned back against the car and Meg pursed her small, pink lips at what he had said. She closed the trunk then she turned to Bruce once again.
“Can’t you just appear where he is or something like that?” Meg asked. The question came to mind and she was curious to know if it he possessed such an ability. Being what Bruce was, maybe there were numerous things he could do that would be impossible for a normal human being.
“I’m not a ghost, Meg. Give me a break,” Bruce replied in an offended tone. He ran his hand through his mop of messy, black hair and offered a weak smile. “Plus--I never actually tried. So...” A short pause interrupted the admission before Bruce sighed. “I just really don’t know.”
The silence from Bruce was almost painful for Meg. She could tell that the subject had crossed his mind more than once. Part of her didn’t want to force the issue.
She knew, however, that they were important questions to ask.
Chapter Two
WITH A GENTLE hand on Bruce’s arm, ever conscious of his peculiarities, Meg attempted to comfort him.
Bruce didn’t flinch or pull away. Instead, he felt a warm, happy feeling from deep within. Her touch was fundamentally different from when he interacted with Tony. The meaning of it was unspoken but understood instantly.
He would have dwelled on the feeling longer but Meg spoke up with a question.
“So, let me see if I understand. You’ve existed for years and you don’t even know the full extent of what you can do?”
“I never tried,” Bruce explained. “I never actually had to try before. My world’s always been focused on Tony. So I always stayed near.”
He couldn’t help but feel that sounded a bit needy.
That was a new thought to him.
“I see,” Meg said. She removed her hand from his arm and Bruce felt a fraction cooler, as if sunlight had been shining down on him and a stray cloud moved to block it.
It was an uncomfortable feeling. Bruce just grinned and bore it.
“Not to sound critical, Bruce, but maybe you should try doing things for yourself once in a while. Maybe just experiment with what your abilities and limits are.”
Bruce frowned at the suggestion for a moment. “It’s not that I don’t want to. But what if I do some experimenting and something unexpected happens?”
“What do you think would happen?”
“He could--I don’t know. A lot of stuff could happen.”
“You’re right. But you have to remember--you’re not alone in this anymore. I care about Tony, too. And I’m more then capable of protecting him just as well as you are.”
“I know that. Believe me, I do. It’s just really hard to remind myself of that fact. And I’ll admit that if it’s true--that I can do so much more than what I’m already able to accomplish--it will be hard to let go for even a bit. Ever since Tony was little, my purpose was to be a guardian and friend to him. That requires being near him.”
“And you’re worried that if you test your bounds in any way, you might not be able to get back to Tony?”
Bruce nodded solemnly. His candid admission was something that bothered him to his very core.
“It’s up to you, Bruce. But I think you should try at some point. You can’t stay with Tony forever, after all. One day he’s going to grow up enough to the point where he’ll want more independence for himself. How do you think he’ll handle having you around when he’s interested in girls? I don’t think that he could pass off talking to you as normal with any romantic interests he’d be experiencing at that point in his life.”
Bruce knew Meg was right. As much as Bruce hated to admit it to himself, Tony wouldn’t need him forever.
Perhaps I should pull away for a bit, he thought.
It was another entirely new concept for him.
If someone was to tell him this advice a year ago, he would have turned it down cold.
Tony needed him so much then.
And Tony was still sensitive because of everything that had transpired since then.
Thanks to Meg’s warm, positive influence--along with the weekly counseling sessions that had started before he’d even known her--he’d started making bolder, more determined choices in his life.
He’d started to admit to himself that maybe he was being a bit clingy. Years of being the only adult in a preteen’s broken world who didn’t hurt or disappoint him did that to a person.
He was very happy that Tony was now out of that situation.
But finding a new role for himself would be hard.
“He’ll still always need you in his life, you know. I’m sure of that,” Meg said.
Bruce hid his surprise from Meg well. She had easily read his mind. Empathy seemed a second language to her.
What Meg had said was true. He had suspected as much when Tony turned twelve a year ago.
It was nice to hear those words in a kinder way than what his own inner voice usually told him. The fact that Meg easily figured out what had been bothering him was comforting. It was as if they were on the same wavelength.
Rubbing the back of his neck, Bruce smiled lightly. “I know. But thanks for confirming that for me. And thanks... for all of this. I mean, you’re handling all this weirdness rather well.”
Meg chuckled slightly in response. “Well, it was either that, or just curl up into a tiny ball in the corner and become a gibbering mess. I chose the better option, I think.”
Bruce smiled ever so slightly once again. “I have to agree. I like that you chose this option as well. Less pain for me that way.”
Meg moved away from the car trunk. “Looks like you’re learning,” she responded.
Meg went to get in the car.
Bruce didn’t react nearly as fast. He was too lost in thought to think of getting in. The talk had got him thinking about possibilities that had not been opened to him before.
He could go places without having to be with someone else at the same time. A possibility of seeing new things began taking shape in his mind--things that didn’t exist solely in a house or on Tony’s sketch pad.
With these thoughts suddenly enveloping his brainwaves, he felt excited about the future for the first time in a long time.
An unconscious smile eased onto his face.
He felt unusually warm--not an uncomfortable warmth rather, something similar to what he felt earlier, when Meg had put her hand on him. It was a feeling foreign to him, yet at the same time had the touch of the familiar.
Bruce didn’t quite know when he’d started comparing Meg to the sun.
It seemed right though. She did have a way of making him feel as if he was standing in a ray of sunlight, lighting him up and easing whatever dark feelings had embedded themselves into him over time.
He hoped to experience this feeling again.
He then realized something that would be doomed from the start. He was starting to fall in love with Meg.
Even if Meg returned his feelings, he knew they couldn’t have a real life together. What life was there for a couple such as themselves--one of whom was invisible to others?
His immediate instinct was to shrug off this feeling and forget it.
“Crap,” he muttered to himself, suddenly unsure that he could do what needed to be done.
Chapter Three
THE SUNLIT KITCHEN was one of Meg’s favorite rooms in the house. Its walls were painted in a gentle sunlight yellow. The well-kept white tiled floor was clear of dirt, thanks partially to the small, b
rown welcome mat at the back door. Her habit of sweeping the floor every day and mopping it once a month helped as well. She was aware that it was perhaps a bit obsessive-compulsive but it kept the floor looking nice.
She had just noted a bit of dust when the phone rang in a shrill tone.
After quickly placing her grocery bag down on the top of the wooden kitchen island, Meg picked up the receiver.
“Hello. How can I help you?”
“This is the Maine State Police department. I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, Miss Suthers. Buffliro escaped from prison late last night.”
Meg’s world froze.
At first she wondered if maybe she had misheard.
But she was certain she hadn’t.
“What do you mean, he escaped? How in the hell did he even manage to do that?”
“There were unexpected problems, Miss Suthers. That’s all I can tell you at the moment.”
“‘Unexpected problems.’ Un-fucking-believable. Do you have any idea what this means?” Meg shouted into the phone, her voice reverberating throughout the entire kitchen.
Rage was beginning to show now--angry questions billowing with fear and sheer panic throughout her mind that threatened to spill forth at any moment.
“Yes. I do realize what this means for you, ma’am. That’s why you’re being informed of what happened,” he replied in a solemn tone.
For a moment Meg squeezed her eyes shut, hoping beyond hope that this was just a bad dream. She leaned against the counter in silence.
“Miss Suthers?”
The officer’s concerned tone brought her back into the present.
She could feel a migraine coming on. She closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose in consternation. “I’m here.”
“Ma’am, we have reason to believe that Buffliro intends to track down his son.”
Her heart began to thud against her chest. She’d known that the subject would inevitably arise since being informed of Buffliro’s escape.
Just hearing the words spoken aloud made the fear all the more tangible.
“I honestly didn’t want to scare you, Miss Suthers. That’s never my intent. But I’d be remiss if you weren’t notified of the situation that’s unfolding here, ma’am. We’ve got a statewide APB out, and the FBI here in Maine and in Washington are working ‘round the clock to get this guy. Local law enforcement will be close by to keep an eye on the both of you. Everything will be done to keep you safe.”
Meg gripped the phone, her knuckles turning white. She was absolutely scared to death.
Her next words that tumbled forth from her lips surprised her.
“He can try to hurt us. But if he does, I will hurt him first,” she said. And she enunciated each syllable in a clear, strong voice.
* * *
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