STORM FRONT

By SFwriter

Saran City Blues
Aftermath

- Part 2 -

Set after SF5.09 - A June to Remember

* * * * * * *

  

Dade opened his eyes, surrounded by white, feeling surprisingly good.  He felt light, he felt almost weightless.  Is that what being dead was like?  Where was all the fire and brimstone?

“Hello, Dade.”

Dade turned around and gasped in surprise to see a very familiar old figure.  Marty Lee Miller.  He looked just as he did the last time Dade saw him, wearing a suit that was far too expensive for its own good.  Without thinking, Dade rushed to Marty Lee, hugging him tightly.

“Yay, I don’t get to rot in hell alone.”  Dade cried, clutching to Marty Lee, “I never thought I’d be so happy to see you.”

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t get my suit wet.  It’s more expensive than your future earning potential.”

Dade rolled his eyes and stepped backwards, sniffling and rubbing his nose, “Where’s all the fire and shit?  I mean, for starters, I don’t believe in hell, but if I did, it’d be more hellish than this.”

“Well, Dade, this isn’t actually hell.  I’m here because you want me to be here.  I suppose you think of me as someone … protective, nurturing, prescient.”  Marty Lee said dryly, “I’m flattered.”

“I bet.”  Dade groaned, “I finally just got it over and done with.  I gave Storm what he wanted and probably gave my daughter the best future she could hope for.  So I’m dead, right?”

“Dead in the brain.”  Marty Lee muttered under his breath, before he looked at Dade, “No need to get into specifics.  Let’s just take this for what it is.  This is you getting your wish.  A chance to let you see your dream come true.  Let’s imagine a world without Dade Marcus, shall we?” Marty Lee smiled and held out his hand, “Come talk and walk with me.”

Dade extended his hand to Marty Lee, “I wish you smiled more when you were still around.”

“No need for falsities, Dade.  We all know the person I was.  Don’t let time make your vision rose tinted.  I’m still happy where I am.”

“You were a psycho.  You were a complete bastard to me and many others, and you probably deserved what you got.”  Dade admitted with a shrug, “But by the end, I liked you.  And when you were gone, I missed you.”

“I suppose I wasn’t a complete loss then.  Let’s get on with this, shall we?”  Marty Lee said, flicking his fingers, “Let’s go back to the start.”

Dade found himself suddenly surrounded by trees.  Trees he realized were part of a park setting.  Out of the trees ran a young woman, right past Dade as if he wasn’t even there.

“Mom?” Dade gasped, recognizing her younger self instantly, “Why did you bring me here?  I don’t want to see this!”

“You won’t.”  Marty Lee said, pointing as June jogged through the park without obstacle, “The reason you don’t exist is the man who donated sperm to your tasty body is currently in an ambulance after being hit by a car.  He’ll be dead before he gets to hospital.”

“Things are looking up already.”  Dade said bitterly, “Pity he didn’t meet a more brutal end.”

“So, your mother was never raped and you were never conceived.  Now you don’t exist.”

“This is awesome.”  Dade shrugged, “I’m failing to see a downside.”

“Life is never one or the other.  You’ll see both, Dade.  Let’s continue, shall we?” 

The setting changed to somewhere Dade recognized immediately.  Storm’s bedroom.  From the rather childish decorations, Dade estimated it must be during Storm’s much younger years.  Sure enough, sitting at the edge of his bed was a chubby faced little boy of five, swinging his legs back and forth and looking very bored and lonely.

“This is Storm?”

“Well, who would have thought?”  Marty Lee asked sarcastically.

“Thought what?”

“That Storm could ever be considered cute and innocent.”

Dade burst with laughter at that statement, still gushing at the sight of a five year old Storm, “He’s so cute!”

“Storm is never, ever cute.  I am refusing to consider Storm ever being anything less than anally retentive and inherently evil.”  Marty Lee said, “And I say this as a kindred spirit, from one psychonuts to a tempestuously unstable nutjob.”

“You leave him alone.”  Dade grinned, staring in awe, “He’s perfect.”

Storm was staring out the window, looking very glum.  Dade sat down next to him, unnoticed.  This was a very, very surreal experience.

“Why’s he so sad?”  Dade asked.

“He has no one to play with.  No little brother.”

“But what about Mike?”

“You seem to forget.  Mike’s younger than Storm.  He’s closer to your age.  You just forget that, because he’s in Storm’s group, and because he’s more mature than the rest of you nitwits.  But because you don’t exist, there was no reason for Mike and Storm to start spending time together, since it was you and Mike who started playing together first.”

“That’s okay, Marcel will be here in five years, right?  I can’t possibly influence that.  And surely Mike and Storm will still meet later on, won’t they?”

“We’ll get to that later.  Time to move on.”  Marty Lee said, flicking his fingers before time fast forwarded.

Storm seemed at least a few years older now, and was in the dojo under the watchful eye of Sensei Takada.  Dade had forgotten how long Sensei Takada had been a part of their lives, and how much he seemed to sincerely care about the Marcus brothers, or Storm at least, in this case. 

Storm was practicing his kata, and doing very well with it.  Suddenly a child version of Marty Lee ran onto the mat, beat Storm up, and stood cackling over him.

“See!  Something’s right!”

“What the?”  Dade asked, scratching his head, “Marty Lee, I don’t think that happened, even if I am gone.”

“Oh alright, I’m indulging myself here.”  Marty Lee chuckled, rewinding history a few moments, “Now, as you can see, Storm is still in the arts, but he isn’t as good.  He doesn’t have a little brother to impress.”

“Oh come on.  That’s a bit rich.  I cannot be that important.  I can’t make that much of a difference.”

“You two might have forgotten how close you were, but make no mistake, without Dade …”  Marty Lee said, pointing to a younger Storm being beaten by his opponent and crying afterwards, “… there is no Storm.  There’s just this pansy Daniel who only had himself to worry about.  And we all know that deep down, he doesn’t really care that much about himself as much as he does the people around him.  You gave him reasons, Dade.  Reasons to impress, to try, to protect, to care.  Here?  He’s just lonely.  He’s one half of a soul that never got to meet the other.  For whatever horror your mother suffered, your existence eclipsed that immeasurably.”

“But he hates me now.”

“You hate yourself now, Dade.  Storm doesn’t hate you.  He hates that his mother is no longer with him.  That pain will never die.  It will only become more bearable.”

Again time fast forwarded past the point of when Storm was ten years old.  Past the point where Dade knew his parents divorced.  Only now, they seemed happily married, kissing under mistletoe at the annual Marcus Christmas party.

“I bet you’re going to tell me a downside to my parents never divorcing?”

“No, I don’t really have anything there.  The reason they never divorced is … because you were never born.  I’m simply being honest here.  Part of the reason they did divorce is because your … conception was an elephant in the room, so to speak.  In this timeline, that elephant doesn’t exist, because you don’t.”

“God.”  Dade frowned, a little saddened to be told he was inadvertently the cause of his parents divorce, “Is this really how it would have been without me?”

“Yes?”  Marty Lee said, “I’m just being honest.”

“I know, and I … I appreciate that.”

“Next.”  Marty Lee said, flicking his fingers again.

Once more time moved forward.  Dade found himself standing in a schoolyard.  He could see Marcel being picked on for being the fat kid.  Little did anyone realize then he’d end up one of the fittest and strongest in Merlow.  Surprisingly though, Dade could see Storm in the distance, but he didn’t help Marcel.  He was watching, but he seemed too afraid to intervene.

Marty Lee glanced at Storm, and then to Dade, “This isn’t Storm.  This is Daniel.  Sure, they become friends eventually, but here …” 

Time moved forward, and Dade could see that Marcel eventually had to stick up for himself.  He fought off his bullies and earned himself a reputation.  Marcel became the leader of a much different Pack.  Time moved forward and the now teenage Marcel was clearly a dominant figure, with Storm ever following close by.

“Marcel’s the leader.  Mike and Sarah aren’t here.  Your brother and Marcel become close, and by the time they turn thirteen, they’ve shared their first kiss.  Mostly because Marcel wanted it, and your brother lives to please him.  Turnabout is fair play, I suppose.  Your brother is soft here.”

Where Marcel would sit, Storm would sit close by, clutching his arm.  Anything Marcel needed, Storm would fetch.  Anything Marcel wanted, Storm would provide.  Any time Marcel would leave Storm’s side, Storm would become anxious, even emotional.  Clearly the tables had turned in this world.

“That’s kinda funny.”  Dade admitted, “My brother the needy, comfort seeking little homosexual.  I’m surprised Marcel tolerated him.”

“In some universes, love just … doesn’t care who tops.”  Marty Lee smiled, “In this universe, perhaps they are meant to be.”

“Like Mike and Sarah?”

“It seems their fates are always tragic.”  Marty Lee sighed, “I didn’t want to say so before, but Mike never made it to six.  Your mother was never a big part of his life here.  She wasn’t around to protect him from …”

“His father?”

“Beat him to death because he didn’t fetch his beer fast enough.  Pathetic, isn’t it?”

“Oh God.”  Dade said, immediately glistening with emotion in his eyes, “Because I wasn’t here?”

“Ripple effect of your presence not binding the two families more than they had in your own lifetime.”

“And Sarah?”

“Oddly she developed her cancer a lot earlier here, a year after Mike she was dead as well.  Like I said before, their fates seem intertwined and often tragic.  They cannot live without one another, because they are the other.”

“At least in reality, they got their happy ending.”

“Right.”  Marty Lee nodded, “Of course.”

Dade was about to speak up and question Marty Lee’s hesitation, when time began to move forward again.  This time, it stopped inside a bus.  A bus where Storm sat in the front, not in the back.

“Let me guess, because Storm is a pussy, he never catches Lucas’s eye?”

“That and the fact he’s sitting in the front and …”  Marty Lee pointed to the back of the bus, “Josh is sitting in the back.”

“No way.  Josh and Lucas?”

“Lucas helps Josh out of the closet, so to speak.”  Marty Lee shrugged, “But even here, he did notice your brother, but Marcel had too strong a hold and he wasn’t going to share your brother with anyone.”

“This is fun, I need popcorn.”  Dade grinned, “Well … except for Mike and Sarah dying as kids.  God, if that’s my fault, I take it all back.  But … wait a minute!  Mum’s not dead here, right?  Because I don’t argue with her, she has no reason to drive away upset!”

“I was wondering when you’d ask about that.”

Marty Lee flicked his fingers and time sped up again.  A rather weak imitation of the Pack formed, with Marcel, Storm, Brad, Rebecca, and Carl making up the numbers.  Dade smirked a little at the sight of Storm perched in Marcel’s lap, seeking approval for every little move he made.

“God it’s almost pathetic.”  He laughed, “But still cute.  At least in any universe, Marcel still protects my brother.”

“Now to the moment you’ve been waiting for.”  Marty Lee said, flicking his fingers again.

Time moved forward and Dade found himself staring at his mother as she lay sleeping next to her husband, safe in their bed.  Dade caught sight of the date on the digital calendar next to his parents bed.  It was a year after the date June had died in Dade’s existence.

“So she does live if I don’t exist.”  Dade said with relief, “She’s only dead because of me.  And if I don’t exist, she gets to live!”

June suddenly sat up in her bed, sobbing and clutching her face in her hands.  Dade rushed to her side, but could do nothing except watch her cry.  He looked at Marty Lee in confusion.  What was going on here?

“She has dreams where she’s with her children and she can hear a child crying.  It’s you.  You’ve always believed in things that aren’t … so easily explained, Dade.  The bond with your brother.  How did he find you the night you were going to kill yourself?  How did he feel you?  Your mother loves you, unconditionally, and even when you don’t exist, she notices.”

Dade’s eyes darkened and his brow deepened with sadness, “She did love me.  Even … even after what happened to her and how I was made, she loved me.”

“She loves you.  The moment you were born you belonged to her.  She never regretted you.  Not once.  It’s time you accept that, because deep down you already know it’s true.”

“I wish I could have her back.  But at least if I don’t have her around, Storm would get to have her.”

“He never really became Storm here.  And because of that …”

Dade was moved forward in time to a place he recognized in White Swan.  Marcel and Storm were walking hand in hand down the street, enjoying an evening together.  As Dade seemed to notice in this universe where he did not exist, Storm was completely smitten with Marcel. 

“They really do make a lovely couple.”  Dade smiled, “Marty Lee, isn’t this world a better one?  Without me?”

Marcel gave Storm a chaste kiss before he left to go into a store nearby for what Dade could only imagine was a surprise of some sort.  Smiling, Dade watched his brother, who rubbed his hands together, blowing them to warm them up.  In moments however, the scene quickly changed and Storm was rushed by a gang of youths who by sheer force of numbers, soon had Storm on the ground, covered in his own blood.  They dragged him away by the legs, while Dade screamed helplessly.

“What’s this!?”  Dade gasped at Marty Lee, “What’s happening to him!?”

Dade was forced to watch as his brother was dragged away to an alley, where he was systematically beaten, raped, sodomized, tortured, and ultimately stabbed.  The word ‘faggot’ had been carved into his chest, causing Dade to simmer with rage, tears falling from his eyes

Marty Lee sighed, “Because you weren’t around to impress and inspire him, he never really became that good, or that strong, or that Stormy.  And because of that … he had no chance here.  He’d die on life support two days later.  Marcel killed himself not long after.  Storm might have been the one hanging off Marcel here, but those two come as a set.  Can’t have one without the other.”

Dade thought he was going to throw up, “So what you’ve basically shown me is that I kill all of the Pack except for the one I don’t really like.  Mike, Sarah, Marcel, my brother.”

“If it makes you feel better, Lucas never finds happiness?”

“Well, small victories, I suppose.”  Dade said sarcastically.

“What I’m trying to show you, is that despite how hard your life has been, and it has been, you still matter.  Even to people who don’t realize how much impact you’ve had on their lives.  You matter, Dade.  Without you, their lives are as diminished as your life is without them.  Sure, some of the things you want would happen.  Your mother would live.  But in this world, she’d have no sons.  I’m certain she’d agree she’d rather be dead than to have that.”

“I just want it all back.  I want to not know I’m not full brothers with Storm.  I want to be the person I used to be.  I want to be happy.  I want my mother to be here.  Everything I want I don’t know if I can have here.  But I can’t just leave because I have a daughter.”

“So what are you going to do?”

Dade frowned and looked at Marty Lee, “I miss you.”

“I miss me too, Dade.”

“Come back with me?”

"Now wouldn't that be a twist?"  Marty Lee smirked as he stepped forward, placing his hands on Dade’s arms, “So you’re going to go back then?”

“Of course I am.  I can’t leave Storm.  He might hate me.  But he needs me.”

“Even after what he did to you, you’d still forgive him?”

“He’s my heart.”  Dade said, eyes glistening with emotion, “You’ve proven that so much right here.  I need him as much as he needs me.  Without him, there is no me.  I need him to love me, to forgive me, as much as I realize he needs me to love him and forgive him.  I want another chance.  I want another turn.  I can make a difference.  I want another chance.  It isn’t too late.”

“No, it really isn’t.”  Marty Lee said, squeezing Dade’s arm, “Goodbye, Dade.”

Dade gave Marty Lee a small, sad smile, “Bye, Marty.”

 

* * * * * * *

 

Dade awoke with a gasp, sitting up in his bed, sweaty, crying.  He looked at the clock next to him.  3am.  Devil’s hour?  That made sense. 

“Storm?  Storm!”  He called out.

But there was no answer.  It had all been so real in his mind.  Was his loneliness getting to him that much?  Was his despair driving him to lunacy?

He rubbed his bare chest, checking for bruises, but there were none.  Did he hate himself that much that he would inflict his brother’s worst wrath against himself?

And then there was Marty Lee.  Someone Dade had both despised and loved.  Someone Dade missed immensely.

“Fuck it.  I don’t care what time it is.”  Dade said, picking up his cell phone, before it started to ring randomly, “Hello?”

“Dade?  Are you alright?”

Dade closed his eyes and buried his face in his hands, the phone pressed to his ear by his shoulder.  It was his brother.  A brother that it seemed had not completely lost his near uncanny empathy for Dade.  A brother who with four words reduced Dade to tears.

“Storm?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Just … just a bad dream.  A really bad dream.  And then a good dream.  And then …”

“Dade, if you’re doing drugs, I will bust you.”

“Because you care?”

Silence for a small moment, before a sigh, “I called you, didn’t I?”

“Do you wish I’d never existed?  That I was never born?”  Dade asked, sniffling, “Would you rather it was me that died?”

Storm sighed, pausing a moment before he answered, “I wish I had died, Dade.  But never you.  Not her, not you, just me.”

“You don’t still feel that way, do you?  I wouldn’t want you to die.  I just want you to love me again.  Like you used to.”

“You know that’s just between us right?”

Dade burst out laughing at that comment, “Hey, I’m the pervert, not you!”

“Look, Dade.  I’ve been thinking, and on the receiving end of Mike giving me an ear full.  Maybe it’s time we … worked on us.  I’m not talking about forgiving or anything like that because we’re … we’re family.”

“God, I love you so much right now.”  Dade gasped, blinking back tears.

“I just want us to be able to trust each other again. Both of us.  Let’s spend some time together, okay?”

“Now?”  Dade asked, soft plead in his voice, “Tomorrow?  Yesterday?”

“I’m in Merlow right now, so I’ll catch the next flight out, okay?  I got a week left before I need to get home.  Wow, might you finally tell me where that is?”

“Nah, you might try and visit.”

“You asshole.”  Dade smiled, “You’ll come.  You’ll tell me.  We’ll work everything out.  I’ll be a big baby.  We’ll have some kinky sex.”

“Dade …”

“Oh okay, we’ll just hug lots.”

“You okay, Little brother?”

“God, it seems like it’s been years since you called me that.”  Dade sighed, still overcome by how much emotion he felt right now, “I love you so much, Storm.  Promise you’ll come?”

“I’ll be there tomorrow.  Is there enough room for Corey?”

“No!”  Dade snapped quickly, “This is my time!”

“Easy, Tiger.”  Storm chuckled, “I’ll fix him up with Mum and Dad.”

“Mike and Sarah?”

“Who else?”

“Awesome!  So it’s just the boys?”

“Just the boys.”

“This is going to be so great.”  Dade sniffled, wiping his nose and smiling, “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay.  And no more bad dreams or shit, okay?  I need to sleep.”

“You love me!”

“You’re a dork.  Go to bed.”

Dade was about to say goodnight when he paused, “Storm?”

“Yeah?”

“Think she’s proud of us?”

“Maybe not lately.”  Storm said honestly, “Maybe not for a long time.  But I think she will be real soon.”

“I love you, Storm.”

“I love you, Dade.”

With those words spoken, and the conversation over, Dade lay back on his bed and felt as if some huge weight had been lifted off him.  He started to cry softly, but they weren’t really tears of joy or sadness.  They were simply tears of relief, of release.  Tears as an angel felt his wings start to heal themselves.  Tears that maybe finally his blues were the beautiful blue skies of a sunny day, filled with hope.

 

* * * * * * *