A hand landed on Nathaniel's shoulder. Nathaniel jumped, turning and glaring at Connor.
Connor lifted his hands, "Sorry. I'll stop that."
Nathaniel gave him a small smile, "Thanks. I don't want to reflexively attack you again." Connor smiled at him, shifting his hand away from Nathaniel. Nathaniel looked away, smile disappearing. Connor stepped past Nathaniel, exciting the store and walking away from the officers. Nathaniel followed him, Gene walked behind him, obscuring him from any officer's eyes.
Connor looked back at them, "I think we've had enough shopping today."
Nathaniel entered the Rachet's home, feeling himself finally relax. He hadn't seen Wasp since this morning, that was the best part of the day. He went into the guestroom, putting his bags behind the couch. He then turned around. It was time to finish exploring the house.
He walked through the house, Connor had headed to his room with Gene to put away their clothes, he didn't see anyone else in the front room. So he moved on, choosing the hallway that moved into the house more. There were three rooms in this hallway, he looked into the first, this was another bathroom, though there was no shower in it. The room next to it was a bedroom, the doorway larger, this had to be Mr.Rachet's bedroom. There was a bed, and in the far corner an elevator. That must be how Mr. Rachet got upstairs, there had to be a ramp somewhere in the house in the case of emergencies. Mr. Rachet seemed like the type to be prepared, he wouldn't have a house he couldn't move in.
Nathaniel moved on, crossing the hall to the last door. He opened it, eyes going wide as he discovered the Rachet library. It was unbelievable. Nathaniel rushed into the room, staring at the countless books lining its walls. There were small kids' books near the floor, then the books grew in size and maturity as they rose from the ground. Nathaniel moved towards the first of 7 bookshelves that lined the walls, they looked like they were built right into the ceiling. He ran his hand along the spines of the book, wondering how long it had been since he'd read a book. He read the newspaper whenever he could and read street signs, so he could still read. But now he had books.
"Oh, here you are."
Nathaniel turned around, smiling as Cole and Christin entered the room. Cole walked to Nathaniel, ruffling his hair. Christin walked by and grabbed a few books from the shelf above Nathaniel's head. Nathaniel read the cover, they were city birth records. Not your usual read.
Cole caught Nathaniel's look, he laughed, "Jordyn and Kiara are being put into school and we have to figure out their last names from their birth records." He shrugged, "We were going to bring their adoption papers, but Kiara wanted to know her family history."
Nathaniel nodded, sure he would want to know his family too.. He would do anything to see his mom again. His hands started shaking, he shoved them in his pockets. It was too late for that family now.
"Why haven't those girls been to school yet?" Nathaniel asked, the twins had to be old enough for middle school. They only looked about 2 years younger than him, definitely on the high end of middle school.
Christin smiled, "It's up to them when they want to start school. Looks like this is the year. Their school starts tomorrow." She tucked the book under her arm, waved and left the room.
Nathaniel walked closer to the bookshelf, starting to search the shelves. He wanted to be able to find a mystery, he hadn't read a good mystery for longer than he cared to remember.
"What're you looking for?" Cole asked. Nathaniel looked at him, remembering how the vigilante had asked him. The vigilante was more casual in his grammar, which meant Cole probably wasn't him. He could have a different talking pattern as the vigilante, but that would take a lot of work and patience and the vigilante had seemed too casual. Nathaniel would keep an eye out, just in case the vigilante needed help while out of costume.
"A good mystery," Nathaniel answered, continuing to scan the forest of books, breathing in the scent of old and new books. The Rachets took good care of them.
Cole smiled, walking deeper into the room, he gestured for Nathaniel to follow. Nathaniel followed him, seeing a painting of a phoenix hanging on the wall, emerging from a pile of ashes. Nathaniel smiled as he pictured Pel nibbling Gene's ear.
Cole continued onward, spurring Nathaniel to jog past the Phoenix painting, vowing to come back and get a better look.
"Here we are. All of this bookshelf is mystery." Cole gestured to the bookshelf in front of him.
Nathaniel froze, in front of him was the largest bookshelf he had ever seen. It stretched along the entire back wall, he counted the shelves, 15, 15 shelves full of books. He hadn't seen so many books in one spot, much less mystery books.
"How is this possible?" Nathaniel walked to the books, touching the spines to make sure they were really there.
Cole laughed, "Dad's a fan. He's got every great there is along with any he's loved. Some are written by him too." He pointed to a row of books at his eyesight level. There were four of them, the series named Ghosts, the author Henry Rachet. Cole touched the books, his fingers lingering on the second book of the series, "They're good. He's working on a two-parter right now, has been for years. He has the beginning for two others." Cole looked at him, "Who knows, it may be three others soon."
Nathaniel smiled, that was a lot of books. It must be hard to have so many ideas in your head, "So is he an author?"
Cole smiled, "I think so, but not outside of our house, he doesn't want to share his books, they're too personal for him." He touched the second book's spine again, a cloud covering his face before clearing again, "You can read them if you want, since you're living with us."
Nathaniel bit his lip, fingers brushing the first book, he wanted to understand. To understand this family, maybe reading this would help. Maybe it would give him a peek into Mr. Rachet's brain and his relationships with his kids. He knew his writing hid his emotions and ideas, maybe Mr. Rachet did the same thing. He slid the book out, looking at the blank green cover, there was no unique title, just large silver letters spelling Ghost across the cover.
"This'll be good for now." Nathaniel turned away from the bookshelf, knowing he could be here all day. He didn't want to keep Cole from the rest of his family. Plus, he wanted to read outside, it had been a beautiful day.
Cole smiled, "Feel free to come here whenever, these books have been missing some attention." He grabbed a book from above his head, slipping it under his arm before Nathaniel could see the cover. They exited the library, standing to the left of the dining room, Cole turned to move into the front room where Christin sat, searching through birth records with Jordyn and Kiara by her.
Rocky stood up from the pillow he laid on, walking to Nathaniel's side. Nathaniel smiled and turned away from the front room, following the light cast on the floor. It would lead to a door or a window, either would work for getting into the back yard.
Nathaniel now stood in front of a door, it led to the Rachet's backyard. It was protected by the fence surrounding it, so Wasp shouldn't be able to get in without setting several traps. Nathaniel walked onto the grass, walking to where a large tree stood in the middle of the yard. Nathaniel sat down in the shade, flipping open his book. Leaves rustled above him, wind blowing through them. Rockie settled in on Nathaniel's lap, resting his head on Nathaniel's raised knees.
"It's Connor."
Nathaniel straightened as he heard Connor's voice. He looked around him, no one was there. He narrowed his eyes, listening for his voice again. He looked up, seeing a shape in the tree. He hadn't expected anyone to be here with him.
"I'm sorry I needed to call." Connor's voice was nervous, shaky, "It's just, today there was a fey who got into my head." He let out a shaky breath. Nathaniel stiffened, this was a private conversation. Nathaniel gestured for Rockie to get up, he should let Connor be.
"Gene doesn't remember what happened, I don't want to hurt him again." Connor's voice was emotional, scared. Nathaniel's gut hardened, it took everything he had to start standing up. Connor didn't want to burden anyone, Nathaniel felt the urge to listen, to try to support him, but that wasn't his choice. Connor had someone to talk to.
Nathaniel bit his lip, getting ready to walk away. He didn't want Connor to see him here, "You know what's in my head. I just, I just…" Connor's anguished voice fell down to him, searing itself into his head. Connor was heartbroken, hurting in a way so raw and real it scared Nathaniel. He didn't know how he could help him, but he couldn't leave him alone.
"I need someone to talk to." Connor cried. Nathaniel froze, at war with himself. He wanted to help, but he didn't have that power. He wasn't a hero, or a brother, he didn't know how to heal a broken heart. Rockie looked at Nathaniel, then at the tree. He meowed then walked to the tree, unsheathing his claws as he started to climb the tree.
Nathaniel moved back to the tree, standing under Connor so he could call up to him. Nathaniel heard Rockie meow again, he must've made it to Connor.
Connor sniffed again, taking a deeper breath, "I'm sorry for calling. I know you're busy right now. But, I hope you come to the gala next week. It's just been so long since I've seen you." He took another deep breath, "Well, I'll see you later. Bye." Connor sighed, the tree sighing with him. Nathaniel rested his head against the tree, willing his presence to strengthen Connor.