The League of Family Entanglements

[MELANIE—ALVAL LABORATORY]

The atmosphere of the lab is quite calm and refreshing. It's a good change of pace to see happy families since mine isn't one. My parents argue constantly, and really just go at it, throwing things sometimes too. It's a problem, and I don't know what I can even do about it.

"Alright, so we're just going to run some simple tests. Just wanna check out your vitals, your powers, all that jazz." Mrs. Santoro flashes a smile at me, and I smile back.

She wraps a blood pressure cuff around my arm and puts a clip on my finger. After that, she puts a thermometer in my mouth and I wait patiently for her to do the tests. The room is filled with silence as we wait, then the machine finally beeps. She reads the results, then writes it all down.

"Everything is looking normal. What can you do?" She asks as she removes all the attachments from me.

"I can turn invisible, and make these pink bubble things—like a force field. It happened to me the other day." I explain to her.

"Well, we don't know what to expect from your powers, so we need to wait before we can test the force field. But, we can test the invisibility since that's tame."

"Alright, just give me a moment." Straightening my posture and fixing my hair, I get more comfortable to make sure I can fully focus.

It's a bit hard to 'activate' my powers if I'm not focusing. I exhale then focus as hard as I can, the invisibility beginning to spread across my body." Mrs. Santoro watches in amazement as I vanish right in front of her.

"It seems you can even turn your clothes invisible. Meaning you don't just manipulate the light around you, you actually do turn invisible. Which also means you should be able to go through things... do you mind if I just—"

She steps in front of me and waves her hand in front of her. It goes right through me and we both let out a small chuckle. She steps back and writes down the data on her iPad as I focus on reappearing. Reappearing is easier than disappearing, which is a bit annoying to me. It takes almost all my strength to go invisible. Maybe it has something to do with how poor my control over my emotions is. Yeah, it has something to do with it.

[TREVOR—ALVAL LABORATORY]

After Melanie steps out of the testing area, Mrs. Santoro calls me over. I get up and Melanie takes my spot so Talia won't be alone. The moment I step in, I notice how bright the lights are. She pats a stool, then walks over to a machine as I sit at the stool.

"We're gonna start off by taking your blood pressure." She says.

She wraps the blood pressure cuff around my bicep and one on my fingertip as well then starts up the machine. It starts to tighten and I wait. While I am waiting, I notice how intensely Mrs. Santoro is watching me.

"Everything okay?" I ask her and she shuffles through a nearby drawer.

"Yes– well, no. You have very puffy eyes, and it seriously looks as though you're having an allergic reaction." She tells me.

"Uhm, is that bad? Wait, that sounds bad, why am I even asking?"

I finish speaking and she holds in front of me an object that projects a laser beam, giving me flashbacks from when I had that violent outburst on the field. It didn't hurt but holy fuck, I could've passed out from how startled I was. Everything was so sudden, and I still can't wrap my head around everything.

"Are your eyes flamethrowers or something? I'm just confused as to why the skin around both your eyes is burning up." She tells me.

"Oh nah, some red beams. They come out of my hands too." I reply.

"Huh, that's interesting. You'll have to ice your eyes for a bit. Let me get you an ice pack."

She walks towards a mini freezer, then takes an ice pack out of it. She brings it over, then hands it to me. But the moment I press it to my right eye, it begins melting. So I bring it down and suck air through my teeth, looking around awkwardly. She looks back at me and sees now a pack of water instead of ice.

"I didn't know that would happen, to be honest." I say in my defense.

"It's alright. We're just gonna have to figure out a chemical compound that would be able to neutralize your symptoms. So you're not, y'know, noticeable. For now, we'll do your vitals." She says.

She marks down all my vitals and then detaches everything from me. "Temperature's a bit high, but for obvious reasons. Besides that, everything looks normal. Can you send your sister in after you?"

"You got it ma'am." I reply.

She turns around to her tablet then I exit the testing area. I go back to where Talia and I were sitting, then sit back down. I look at her then I point over to the door where the testing area is.

"She says it's your turn." I tell her.

She smiles and then stands up, walking to the testing area. I get up as well, then walk around to find Wes. This letter I have in my pocket is quite freaky, and he needs to see it. After some looking around, I see him sitting with Penny and they're both on their phones, playing 8-ball together.

"Hey Wes, you got a sec?" I ask. He opens his mouth to speak, but then he gets called over by Donatello's dad, Mr. Santoro. "It's okay, you can go, just talk to me after."

He nods his hand and then walks away. Penny looks at me and speaks, "Were you gonna show him the letter?"

"Yep, but I can't find a good time to give it to him. I've been too busy these passed 3 days. Trying to attend to my eyes." I explain.

"Yeah, you look like you rubbed salt and lemon juice in your eyes." She replies.

"Thanks." I sit down next to her and pull out my phone. "Wanna play 8-ball?"

"You know it." She chuckles. "I'm after

[WES—ALVAL LABORATORY]

After Mr. Santoro calls me, I am forced to walk away from Trevor. As I walk over to the testing area, I wonder what he was going to say to me. But I snap out of it when Mr. Santoro starts talking.

"So, I'm Mr. Santoro. Take a seat on this stool here, and we will begin with your vitals. We don't have a stable room for testing powers, so you'll have to wait for that. Might take 1 or 2 days." He says.

"Okay, I can wait. No worries." I reply.

He smiles at me and then brings over a machine. The sound of velcro opening echoes through the room as he opens up the blood pressure cuff. He wraps it around my upper arm and then puts a thermometer in my mouth. He also puts a clip on my finger and once everything is set, he turns the machine on. I look at my feet and wait patiently, still thinking about what Trevor was gonna tell me. I'm just a curious guy.

The machine stops and releases, so Mr. Santoro walks over and stares at the thermometer, which is beeping rapidly. He detaches me from the machine and then keeps staring at the thermometer, now up close. He resets everything and waits patiently. After a few seconds of beeping, the thermometer freezes over and shatters, the screen of the machine cracking as well. My eyes widen and I get hit with guilt.

"Oh shoot, I'm so sorry about your equipment." I quickly apologize, knowing this all must have cost a fortune.

"Your temperature is in the negatives. It's like you have hypothermia."

"Yeah, I freeze things. And the other day, it began snowing over me in the park. Not sure what that was about." I explain.

He hums in response before taking a few steps over to the sink and making a glass of water. He brings it back over and places it on a table near me.

"Freeze this. I would just like to see a small presentation." He says.

Shrugging my shoulders, I grab the glass of water. I wrap my hands around the glass tightly and focus on changing the water. Slowly, the glass begins to freeze, going from the outside in. Once the glass is fully frozen over, I remove my hand and look at it.

"This is very impressive, Wes." He chuckles and jots downs some notes on an iPad.

"Thank you. It was terrifying at first, and it's very hard to hide the fact that my body temperature is practically below freezing."

"You measured it?" He replies curiously.

"Yeah. It kept saying low. Then I brought out a weather thermometer, an it went all the way to -40. Then it broke. Both of them broke." I say.

"Just like this one. Thermometers aren't all too strong, so if they get too cold then they break."

"Oh yeah, that makes sense. I think I lost some knowledge from stress." I sigh.

"We'll help you guys out. These tests will help us, and they will help you guys too. We'll your hemoglobin results tomorrow so we can see a full array of things." He tells me.

"Alright. Thank you." I say, then flash a small smile.

He smiles back at me and we discuss a few more things before I exit. The moment I exit the testing area, I go and find Trevor. Now he's playing 8-ball with Penny, which makes me chuckle a bit. Yeah, we all play 8-ball together constantly.

"Hey Trev," I say.

He looks at me, then both he and Penny put away their phones, "Oh good, you're here."

"Everything alright guys?" I quirk my brow out of confusion.

"The other day, Penny and I got approached by this girl. Her name was Amity Herring I think." He says.

"Oh, Amity. I tutor her for science, but her grades got better so her parents told me I don't need to anymore." I reply, still curious about where this is gonna go. "But what about her?"

"Well, she gave me this letter." He pulls a letter out of his pocket and then hands it to me. "Look at the highlighted words."

I open up the letter and read it. My eyes widen slowly as I read the phrase. There are underlined words, making up the sentence 'I'm watching you little rabbit'. I haven't heard that nickname in years.

I breathe out, "Oh, fuck."

[TALIA—ALVAL LABORATORY]

I go into the testing room where Donatello's mom is, Mrs. Santoro. I sit at the stool and she turns to face me.

"Hi there! We're going to just do some tests on your vitals, and you'll be all set. At first glance, you're sweating a bit." She points out.

"Oh, I'm like a lightbulb. That's what my powers are I suppose, but I'm not sure what else I can do." I reply.

"Okay, well we'll get to power testing another day. We need to build a testing room, or at least reinforce an empty room." She tells me, and I nod to express my understanding.

She grabs a cuff, then opens it, and wraps it around my arm. She puts a clip on my finger, then puts a thermometer in my mouth. I start swinging my legs gently and look around the room at all the things in it. The machine stops, and she puts down my vitals on her iPad then detaches everything from me.

"Your temperature is high, but presumably from your powers." She says.

"Do you wanna see?!" I ask excitedly. "I can glow."

"Sure, I'd love to see." She smiles.

I put my hands out in front of me and start thinking about things that make me feel strong emotions. I learned that's a good way to get my powers to work. I open my eyes and I see my hands glowing with rainbow light. She looks impressed as she walks over to her laptop, typing down her observations.

"Thanks for showing me Talia, this is one of the most interesting abilities I've seen." She says.

"You're welcome! Can I go now?" I ask.

"Yes you may, just send in Penny afterwards." She replies.

I nod my head then leave and go to find Trevor. I don't find him, but instead, I find Donatello sitting alone. It's not something weird to see, but I don't wanna just leave him alone so I sit next to him.

"You don't need to sit next to me, y'know?" He says.

"Yes, I know. But I want to." I reply.

"I'm okay with sitting alone," He points out.

"Well I would much rather you not sit alone. So we can sit together, and you will talk with me." I say, causing him to chuckle a little.

I smile and he does as well, "Thanks Talia."

"No problem, Donatello."

He smiles, "Actually, I have a question."

"Yes?" I look over at him.

"Do you think that Melanie would go for me? I really like her and she likes me. Yet I don't feel like I'm good enough for her…" He looks away, "I guess I'm just kind of complicated."

"You both are complicated." I point out.

[PENNY—ALVAL LABORATORY]

A silent curse leaves Wes' mouth as he begins storming off. Trevor and I both begin to run after him, but I get stopped by Talia. She tells me I'm next for testing, so I tell Trevor to go after Wes. While I go and enter the testing room. I look around and spot a stool, immediately sitting down.

"The testing won't take too long, I noticed you having some friend issues out there." She tells me.

"Yeah, don't even get me started." I sigh.

She chuckles a bit as she wraps the blood pressure cuff around my arm. She puts a thermometer in my mouth and puts a clip on my index finger. I let out a long and quiet sigh, wondering about what Wes is gonna do. If he says yes to Amity, what's gonna happen to Chris? I know I should be rooting for both of them, but Amity isn't even that great. She's terrible actually.

"You alright? You're giving off a black mist right now." Ms. Tina points out.

She puts down my vitals and detaches me from the machine. I look down at my hands and see the black mist. Shaking my hands gently, I try to get the mist to go away, but it doesn't. Instead, an extension—almost like a black misty arm—shoots out of my side.

It hits the wall and makes a dent, pieces of the wall falling to the ground as the extension comes back to me. Ms. Tina's eyes are wide and she's leaning against the counter as she looks at the hole in the wall.

"That was both terrifying and impressive at the same time." She says, pushing her glasses back up.

"Yeah, that's the first time that's happened." I look over in disbelief as well.

"I'm going to have to somehow fix that…but uhm, your vitals are good." She says.

I chuckle nervously, "Am I good to go?"

"Yes.." She says, so I get up and leave the testing area.

[3RD PERSON—ALVAL LABORATORY]

Penny rushes out of the testing area and finds her friends, who are all in the waiting area.

"I hope you guys waited for me." She says.

"Of course." Natalie replies, opening her arms to Penny.

Penny walks up to Natalie and hugs her. They hugged for a few seconds before Penny stands behind Natalie and hugs her from behind. Everyone's eyes direct over to Wes who's crossing his arms, withholding information.

"Yeah, he won't tell us what the letter is about." Trevor says.

"What letter?" Natalie asks.

"Why don't we take this upstairs. We can go to the common area." Donatello says.

They all agree, so Donatello shouts out to his parents that they're going upstairs. Just to let them know. He guides them up the stairs and into the living room, bringing them over to the couch. It's a giant L-shaped couch that's big enough to fit all of them.

"Damn. Your living room is gigantic." Penny points out.

"And for what?" Trevor jokes.

"Anyways, sit down, then Wes needs to explain this letter." Donatello says.

They all sit down and get comfortable with each other, then Trevor clears his throat and begins to speak.

"The other day, Amity Herring approached me during the beginning of school and gave me a letter. There were some underlined words, that made out the phrase 'I'm watching you little rabbit'. But he won't tell us what it means." He explains.

"Wes, you can tell us, y'know." Chris reassures him.

"Okay, okay. Fine." He sighs. "But my dad called me 'little rabbit' and when I was 5-years-old, my mom forced my dad to leave… He made very terrible choices, you guys, and he's not a good person at all. About 4 years ago, I saw his obituary, but apparently it was fake if this nickname is here."

"Are you sure it isn't a coincidence?" Natalie asks.

"100%. Nobody knows about that nickname." Wes replies.

"Does this mean he's actually alive?" Donatello asks.

"Likely." Wes breathes out, leaning over and putting his face in his hands.

"Oh god, you guys. Are we gonna have to take him out or something?" Talia asks.

"Hopefully not, but we might need to. For now we all go home. Don't worry about this until tomorrow morning, we can find a meeting spot." Wes answers.

"We all can meet at my family's restaurant. We serve breakfast." Trevor says.

"Perfect. They have good breakfast." Penny replies.

"I agree." Melanie says.

"Alright, then. It's settled, we'll meet there and discuss what we're supposed to do." Wes says.

"It's getting late, you guys should text your parents to pick you up," Donatello looks out the window as he speaks.

[MELANIE—ALVAL LABORATORY]

While everyone is leaving, I approach Donatello. There's no way I'm going home, I won't be able to bear it.

"Hey Donatello, can I ask you a question?" I look at him.

"What's up?" He asks.

"Can I stay over? I just really don't wanna be at home." I tell him.

He nods, "Yeah, of course. You can stay in the guest room. I'll get you—"

I cut him off, "I was actually wondering if I could sleep in your room this time?"

"Oh, yeah sure!" He tells me, then grabs my hand and brings me upstairs.

Everyone has gone home by now, and he brings me to his bedroom. The lights are off, and the moonlight is providing a little luminescence throughout the room. Donatello walks over to his closet and shuffles around it as I sit at the end of his bed. He brings over a shirt and sweatpants for me to wear, seeing as I didn't bring over any extra clothes.

"You can change in my bathroom," He says, pointing over at the door.

I smile and get up, then go into his bathroom. I undress, switching out my clothes for his. His sweatpants are a little baggy on me, but I tie them around my waists tightly to keep them up. It smells just like him, and I'm going to be stealing more of his clothes.

I grab my clothes and step out, then Donatello puts my clothes in his laundry. After that, we both get into his bed. He pulls me close to him and holds me tight, his body heat resonating off him and warming me up. I rest my head on his chest and listen to his heartbeat.

"Everything alright at home?" He asks.

"My stepdad started drinking again, and when he drinks, he gets abusive. Which is why my brother stays with a friend when my moms out for work. And why I ask to stay over here often." I tell him.

"Oh, well, you can stay over here anytime you want then." He gives me a small forehead kiss, making me smile.

But soon, my smile fades when I realize that he might not think of me that way. Donatello is the type that prioritizes his friendships immensely, and I don't think that he sees me that way. Maybe he does, but even if he does he would never take it further. He wouldn't kiss me on my lips, nor would he call me his girlfriend.

[3RD PERSON—WES' HOME]

Wes sits in the car with his mom Ekaterina, staring out the window and slouching in his seat. He can't get that letter out of his mind, and he can't just keep it a secret. His dad truly is as bad as he says he is, so it'd be dangerous not to tell her.

"I think Dad might be alive." He says.

He notices her grip the steering wheel tighter, her knuckles turning a ghastly white, "I know."

"What?!" He sits up and looks at her, pure shock on his face.

"He visited me while you were at Donatello's house. Eventually I got him to leave. But I have a feeling he's going to come back." She tells him.

"What else did you forget to tell me?" He replies sarcastically.

"Wesley, cut the attitude. This is serious." She says.

"Sorry, but I feel like I have the right to be a little upset about all of this, no?"

"I understand, Wes, but I need to protect the both of you from him. Stevie would be too young to remember him, and I would like to keep it that way." She replies.

"Good then." He says.

They finally arrive home, and Ekaterina parks the car. They both get out and enter their house, seeing Steven watching a movie with their dog, a baby Australian Shepard named Artem. He looks more entertained than Steven, so Wes lets out a small laugh as he takes his coat off and then hands it to his mom.

"What are you guys watching?" Ekaterina asks as she takes off her coat as well and hangs both of them up.

They sit on the couch with Steven and the dog, getting comfy together. Wes peaks out of his window to see Chris' vacant home. Wes has no clue where Chris could be, but he assumes it's important if his whole family isn't home. He starts to get a bit worried, so he pulls his phone out of his pocket and quickly texts him.

[3RD PERSON—BALTIMORE JAIL]

"It's been 7 months, when will you be home? Will you even be home?" He asks, his voice shaking a bit from keeping down his tears.

"I'm not sure. They're not lifting the charges no matter what," Kevin sighs. "I'm sorry I let you down son."

"You didn't let me down. I know you didn't do it. Someone framed you, and I promise I'll find them." Chris replies.

"Chris, don't do that. You're a kid, worry about school and basketball. You'd be putting yourself in danger, kid." Kevin sighs.

"About that.. Can I tell you a secret?" He whispers, his voice down low.

Luckily nobody else is being visited at this time, so this is the only opportunity he has. He brought Natalie and Penny with him, and Natalie is using her powers to make sure the police officers aren't paying any attention at all.

"I have special abilities, and friends with special abilities. We can get you out, but we have to find the person who framed you first. If we don't then he could put you back here again." He tells him.

"Son, I know you wanna help bu—"

"I'm serious, look." He holds his hand in front of him, and his entire hand gets engulfed in flames.

Kevin watches in shock, jumping at the sight of the flame, "Chris, where did this come from?"

"Faulty night adventure. I'll bring justice to the person who did this to you, dad." He tells him, putting his hand against the glass.

Kevin sighs, "I can't believe I'm 'bout to say this, but find this guy, Chris. Take as long as you need, I'll always be here." He puts his hand against the glass where Chris' hand is.

"I'll be back dad. I love you." He says.

"I love you too Chris." He says back.

He shoots a text to Natalie, and she releases her hold on them. They take Chris' dad back to his cell, and Chris watches with tear-stricken eyes as he gets his dad ripped away from him. This isn't his first time visiting him, but he always gets teary when his dad gets taken away from him. It feels like the night he got arrested just plays over and over again. He hangs the phone back up and stands up, walking out of the visitor's area. He goes to the exit and collects his belongings then leaves the building. He finds Natalie and Penny in the car and gets in the driver's seat. The tears start flowing out of his eyes, and Natalie rubs his back gently, a worried expression on her face.

Penny sits forward, and the both of them entangle Chris in a warm embrace. For a long time, Chris has always been close with his dad. He understood him, and he was the first and only person that Chris actually told he is gay. Chris has always had a complicated understanding of his sexuality, and his dad helps him when he gets confused.

"I don't think they're going to let my dad out anytime soon." Chris cries into Natalie and Penny's shoulders quietly.

"It's okay, we're here for you. My aunt is a lawyer, and she's a good one, so we can get her to help him out." Natalie says.

He sits up, "Are you serious? You have no idea how much that means if you're serious."

"Of course I'm serious, you mean a lot to me and my Aunt has been looking for a new client anyway." Natalie smiles.

Chris smiles back, "Thank you."

"No problem, my friend. You can go ahead and drop us both off at my house." She says.

Chris starts the car and begins driving them all home. He glances over at the clock in his car, seeing it's almost midnight. Natalie smiles as she reaches for the radio, putting on some music so the car isn't quiet. He drops Penny and Natalie off at Natalie's house, then drives himself home.