Old Roommate
Logan had finished cleaning up a little while ago, but the babies were having so much fun he didn't want to interrupt them. He just watched as Pam had a gentle look on her face as she watched the fun and games.
He quickly put his phone on silent and snapped a couple of pictures without being caught.
This woman in front of him meant a lot to him, he wasn't ready to say it was love, but he plans to stick around and see what it becomes. These children weren't going to stop that.
"You can put them on the floor now if you want to Pam. Morph, nothing bigger than half their size, and stay gentle with them."
Pam smiled and put Hazel and Rose on the floor to play with Morph. She patted the couch next to her, inviting Logan to sit.
When he sat down, Pam kissed him and then laid her head on his shoulders. "I guess I owe you an explanation here, don't I?"
Logan kissed the top of her head, "You don't owe me anything Pam, but I would love to hear the story. I can tell they are not Human of The Red; they also don't seem of The Green completely either. With you, I can feel what part is of The Red and Green, but not with them."
She took a deep breath, "They are the results of the experiments that Luise and I were doing. We combined ancient long-lived plants with human DNA, and this was the result. They were born from a plant into this form." Pam showed some pictures of the plants in their growth phase and just before she delivered them from the flower buds.
"So, this is why you are so desperate to get your research back. I understand now." Logan felt some tugging on his pant leg and when he looked, he saw Hazel had used his pants to pull herself up to her feet.
"Their growth is exceptionally fast from the looks of it. Two days to go from newborn to being able to stand. You are going to need your research to see what this means. You don't know if the growing phase will continue this fast and result in a short lifespan or if they will reach maturity and continue to live exceptionally long life spans like the plant you retrieved from Africa."
"Even with my research there isn't much I know or can learn from it. But my question here is you. What do you think?" Pam didn't look up, as if afraid to meet his eyes.
"If you are asking me to be a part of their lives, my answer is yes. But before you decide how much of a part I will play; we need to come to an agreement or at least an understanding."
Hazel patted Logan's knee to get his attention, so he reached down and picked her up, placing her on his lap facing him. "What we have is new and just beginning, if it doesn't work out, we are both old and mature enough to accept and work our way through that."
"But if I become their father figure then you will never get rid of me so long as they are here. My commitment to them will be 100% and they will be my girls for as long as they need me. Beyond that even."
"If I took on that role and left them, they wouldn't be able to process that until much later in life, if ever. It will also be ingrained in them before they have that chance to understand why. I will not allow that."
Logan took a deep breath and bopped Hazel on her nose. "Finally, you must understand that they will not make our budding relationship easier in any way. In fact, it will be harder, because we will have to place their needs above our own wants.
"Money won't be an issue, but it doesn't raise good kids either. Speaking of good, you know I am an aspiring hero. Because of who and what I am, I have an idea of some tragedies coming our way and I will be there to stop them. Or at least do everything in my power to prevent this planet from being affected."
Pam finally looked up at him. "Well, I am no aspiring hero, but I am no villain either. Someone helped me stop that from taking place. She is also the reason we are here."
Hazel had Logan's hand gripped in her two tiny ones, inspecting it, moving the fingers around. Logan stiffened his finger into a claw and started tickling Hazel with his fingers on her belly and ribs. She burst out into the classic baby laugh, clear and innocent.
When he stopped so she could catch her breath, she smacked his hand and stared at him with a pout. She put his hand back on her belly like she wanted him to continue. Logan couldn't resist his impulse and pulled Hazel into a hug and squeezed her as gently as he could.
Drawn by Hazel's laughter, Rose crawled over to the couch and pulled herself up then gave a pleading look to Pam. Not able to resist for even a moment, Pam reached down and pulled her into an embrace.
"When is your old roommate supposed to arrive?"
"She doesn't really do schedules; she is very free-spirited when she isn't working."
Logan stood up, "We should probably head to the patio and greet her then. In case she shows up."
Morph ran to my leg and absorbed back into my body as we started to move to the patio doors. Once Pam opened them to the night air, a figure jumped over her head and landed next to a chair. "Long time no hear, Girlfriend."
The figure was a female in a skintight black latex-looking outfit. She had a whip wound around her waist with the whip tip hanging down and swaying like a cat's tail. Her outfit went up the back of her neck and over the top of her head leaving her face bare but on her head were a pair of cat ears and large aviation-looking glasses.
A tuft of black hair spilled out of the hood of her catsuit. "Cat got your tongue?" She asked when Pam didn't reply.
"Just admiring the outfit, kitty."
Catwoman smiled at Pam and posed a bit, showing off her attributes a bit more. Then she noticed Logan and the babies in their arms. "The man is a delicious specimen, but I think the kids are pushing it, Ivy."
These are new genetically engineered plant / human DNA hybrids. I took a snippet of... You know what we can save that for later. The man is my boyfriend, Logan." She felt a thrill saying that word to her friend.
"Hmm, you must be something special to have caught the eye of my little wildflower," Selina said while looking Logan over once again.
She walked into the loft, "How's the new job treating you? Do I call you Pam? Poison Ivy? Or Dr. Isley now?" she asked as she walked around the room, taking note of the broken glass and lack of plants.
Still holding Rose, "It has its moments. Do I call you Selina? Black Cat? Catwoman or Miss. Natchios? It all works."
Selina looked over her shoulder, "You are being awfully loose with those names' darling. Considering we aren't alone."
"Nothing new to my ears, we have a mutual friend that shares your color scheme," Logan replied to the unasked question.
"Oh ho, are you the one I saw transform into that ghastly slimy bug-looking thing and chase the drug mules over behind Beet Street Arcade?"
Logan smiled, "Why yes, that was me. I hear the psychiatrists are making a mint off the nightmares I have been leaving crooks with, using that shape. It's no fun anymore though, all they do is sit down and cry as soon as they see me now. No running or screaming."
Selina just started laughing at that. "Well, it definitely had me keeping my distance."
About 20 minutes later Pam, Selina, and Logan were hovering over the computer screen, and Morph was again entertaining the kids.
"So let me get this straight... Someone stole your research at your lab... Is poisoning and killing the top scientists... and it's not you.
"Correct."
"They have sealed off the entire building, but Logan here found schematics of the original building."
Pam nodded her head again, "I think whoever killed Luisa and Grimley and stole my work is keeping it in this old building here." She pointed to the screen.
"Huh, you may be right. That's awfully state-of-the-art security for an unused building."
"Do you think you can get us around it?"
"I knew this wasn't just a social call... I have all the tools, but a lookout would be helpful."
"I will be with you so I can do that. Though we will need someone to sit with the children." Logan pointed out.
"I can make more plants to protect them here in the loft."
"That's all they would be able to do Pam, they don't have the intelligence to grab the girls and retreat if needed. Just a sec, I will reach out to someone."
{Hey J'onn, you got any plans tonight?}
{Barring a League emergency, I was just going to watch some Television.}
{What do you think of doing some Babysitting?}
{I am unfamiliar with this term. Surely you do not wish for me to place my posterior upon a Human infant?}