A Bit of Filler

Lucy sat at the table, absently munching on a warm chocolate chip cookie. The stress she was feeling wasn't going away despite the four batches of cookies, complete with personally created chocolate chips she'd made in the past few hours. Her eyes were trained on one of the several televisions that were now running.

All of them were showing news reports about vanishing people, mostly children. The one that Lucy was paying attention to had even been so bold as to make connections and blare them out loud and clear to agitate the populace.

Lucy's eyes narrowed as she took a deliberate bite. Dawnie and Don had gone home to convince their mother that they weren't among the abducted. Aarti had just shrugged and ran off with Rena to buy some ridiculously fancy, useless piece of clothing, and Court was busily hunting down just what was going on with the robot vacuum cleaner with Jebediah.

So far, they hadn't been able to track it down. If she strained her ears, Lucy could just faintly hear muttered swears and dire warnings about cluttered warehouses. The thought that the thing was some sort of spy did irritate Lucy just a little bit, but when she thought about it some more, who'd really want to spy on them?

Her thoughts were derailed as an eager interviewer sprinted after Wonder Woman, waving their microphone aggressively. She paused mid-bite as a flurry of closed captioned questions flashed across the screen. The only reaction from the interviewee was a pleasant, slightly interested smile that belied the flash of anger that was so fleeting that if Lucy hadn't been paying such close attention, she would have missed it completely.

"Yep, they're mother and daughter alright," she murmured to herself as she poured more milk into the cup next to her. She set the bottle down and capped it. Picking up a walkie-talkie, she clicked a button. "Court? Are you still looking for that thing?"

"Of course, we're still looking for it! It could be a spy or something," Court responded, static crackling among his words.

Lucy opened her mouth to refute and then just shook her head. Nothing she could say sounded like anything other than an excuse for them to stop. She was starting to wish she'd gone shopping with Aarti and Rena.

San sauntered out of the shadows, looking remarkably relaxed. She frowned thoughtfully at him as he pulled out a chair and dropped into it.

"So, when did you get a table, Luce?" He asked, reaching over and snagging a cookie.

"Jebediah and Court kept complaining that they needed a flat surface to do experiments, and I wasn't going to give up my kitchen counters." Lucy shuddered. "I may love Court, but he can't dirty up my kitchen with science."

San chuckled. With quick, succinct bites, he finished off his cookie and reached for another one. Then he got up and wandered towards the little kitchen area, searching in the cabinets. He returned with a glass tumbler and poured himself a glass of milk.

"So, what's with all the baking, Luce? Nervous or something?" He asked before taking a gulp.

"I'm not nervous," Lucy said. She studied San for a long moment, making him twitch just a little. "Why are you so laidback all of a sudden?"

"Just realized that life's too short to be traumatized by the little things," San responded. He brushed some crumbs off of his shirt.

With a whir, the little robot vacuum cleaner that Court and Jebediah had been searching for emerged from the shadows. It busily cleaned up the crumbs before disappearing in the direction of Court's rig.

Lucy watched it go with a raised eyebrow. She leaned a little to the side to watch it work for a moment. Then she shrugged. Lucy picked up the walkie-talkie again.

"Hey, Court?"

"What is it now? We're hip-deep in this section that's nothing but stacked chairs. No, Jeb! Don't pull that—!" Court's voice dissolved into a bunch of static.

From far off, Lucy heard the sound of collapsing wood and even more objectionable words.

"Looks like I get to go be a hero," San laughed as he stood up. He started walking in the direction of the chaos. Then he paused. "Do I just stack the chairs back?"

Lucy thought for a moment. She looked around the hideout. Since Jebediah and Rena had shown up, they'd pulled out more furniture and partitioned off areas for ease of use. It was starting to look more like an ersatz house than a warehouse.

Still, his question reminded her of Don complaining of a distinct lack of 'cool' chairs, whatever that was supposed to mean. Her mind summoned up an image of the Batcave and the rather impressive chair that Batman had occupied while trying to kick Trolli out of his computer systems.

"If there's any with interesting looking carvings, bring it back. Otherwise, just help them put it back so it doesn't fall on them again." Lucy sighed. "And please tell Court that the suspicious little vacuum cleaner is over here and not there somewhere."

"Will do, Luce," San said cheerfully. He polished off the cookie he held as he walked away.

Lucy studied his back as he walked away. San had changed a little too much for her taste. He'd been all dour and growly the last time she'd seen him.

She heaved a deeper sigh. Her eyes flickered to the televisions and then back the way San had disappeared.

Lucy leaned her head back, rotating it from side to side to work out the beginning kinks. She wondered just what she'd done to deserve all this responsibility.

Then she remembered Kaylen and her last promise to him. She could see his firm, resolute eyes in her memory and could almost feel the tight grasp he'd had on her hand. He'd always said that San was the most vulnerable of them all. Hardening her resolve, she stood up and grabbed the two glasses.

She needed to call Aarti back.