"I'm escaping this world

one step at a time

but all I need first

is a partner in crime" - J.H.

 

Laughter and posh lectures one with another. Gentlemen in suits and ladies in dresses. The environment felt elegant and suffocating in this venue, at least for the seven year old Giotto. He looked adorable in his little suit, at least that’s what everyone said as his father showed him off. His father was the chief of security of the city, wealthy, handsome, widower, everything and anything Giotto could care less of. His most popular trait was his hatred and fear against mutants, beings with supernatural abilities that could surpass animal and machine. The city both feared them and revered them, it was a dividing side. But being a small minority they would only stand out every so often in the news. What his father would never know was that his own son was a mutant with developing powers. Another rub to the head, causing his hair to get messed up caused Giotto to groan and sneak away, away from the strong smelling perfumes and out a door that led to the outside for fresh air, the back parking lot barely lit up by a street lamp and decorated with a few garbage cans. “Stupid party, stupid stuff, stupid dad.” Giotto muttered under his breath as he got his hands in his pockets and kicked around a rock. He hated social events like this. Not only was he ignored, he was used as an item to show off. “Stupid!” He kicked the rock again.

 

Once again Mercer couldn’t seem to keep his eyes off Rowan. The last time he saw her he was changing her diapers and feeding her from a bottle, just barely starting to eat baby food. She had grown to be such a beautiful young girl. “Ah, thank you for the tea, miss.” Mercer said happily. God she was just too cute in his eyes. “I don’t think I’ve even told you my name, miss. The name’s Mercer. Nice to meet ya.” Mercer said as he offered a handshake. “I’ll be the one helping out with the renovations around your house. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure that it all looks like a piece of heaven was built right in.” 

Giotto laughed a bit. What Jesse said had truth. If Giotto began with one story he would end up going on and on with endless detail. He turned around, finding a comfortable position next to Jesse. “Right. Sweet dreams, Jesse.” Giotto chimed.

 

Rowan smiled as Mercer introduced himself. No one other than herself and Vargas lived in he house, so she was actually kind of excited to have another person stay for a little bit. Obviously this was a construction worker she never met, but hey, maybe this new person is going to be nice. He's nice already.

"My name is Rowan." Rowan said while returning the handshake. "I'm happy my daddy hired you. He... Always tries to do everything himself." She said with a sigh, glancing towards her caretaker. "He'll work a week without any sleep if you let him."

Vargas shook his head and began to pour the tea into the tea cups. "That's enough out of you." He said with a small huff. "Mercer is going to stay here for a while, so I expect you're going to be on your best behavior."

Lucy grinned and leaned against the kitchen counter. "Rowan IS right. My dad used to tell my all the time how he had to force feed you because you forgot to eat." Lucy took some small looks towards Mercer from time to time. Inside she felt a tinge of sadness, for she could imagine how it must feel having another person parenting her child. The thought of it... Wasn't nice.

 

Jesse huffed and rolled his eyes. He nuzzled himself into the floor, his back facing Giotto as he laid. "If you try to spoon me I am going to take you out. I will straight up kick you right in your f****** balls. And be careful how you sleep on the floor. It's going to give you the worst back problems of your life." With that, he closed his eyes. "Night."

Mercer couldn't help but to chuckle. It appeared regardless the class and social status there was one thing that they could be the same; and that was to work your @$$ off to pay the bills. "I'll make sure he doesn't overwork himself when I'm around then." Mercer said casually, picking up one of the cups of tea. Taking a small sip from it he tasted the mix of sweetness with bitterness. It tasted pretty good for being leaf water. He made sure to glance at Rowan whenever she wasn't looking his way, not wanting to scare her. He just couldn't help but to feel both sad and glad that out of all places, she fell in such a lovely place like this one to call home. "(A greenhouse for Rowan? Well then. I guess I'll have to make it the best greenhouse this city has ever seen.)" Mercer thought to himself. Hell, he wanted to start right away of how pumped he felt about it all. Already he began to mentally note of different possibilities. But then again, one thing at a time. However, he was still curious to just let a chance of knowing Rowan better to slip away. He was also curious about Lucy and this relationship. "So your father and mister Vargas worked together, Lucy?"

Rowan smiled as she listened to Mercer's words. He said he was going to make sure Vargas wasn't going to overwork himself... Having Mercer here was going to be a nice experience. As he went to sip the tea, Rowan held her breath in anticipation.

"Do you... Like it?" Rowan asked. "That's my favorite kind of tea. It's black tea with milk."

Lucy meanwhile chuckled at Mercer's question. She took a cup herself and began to drink it. "Worked together? They were practically brothers. My dad knew Mister Vargas since they were in high school." Vargas smiled at the lovely memory and decided to continue what Lucy was saying.

"Why yes... It wasn't even high school. We knew eachother since middle school. We were... The most troublesome boys. He used to drag me into so much trouble and I... I created that trouble most of the time. Then we became colleagues and then partners. Most of all; we were best friends. After he was killed life was never the same. Oh Mikey... How much I miss him. Well- his name was Michael."

Mercer smiled gently. "Childhood friends. Sounds like you two were partners in crime back then huh?" Mercer softly joked. He had his own friends, but not as close as this apparent friendship was. He turned to Rowan, once again stunned by how amazing she was at such a young age. Then again, everything she did in Mercer's eyes was amazing. "The tea is delicious, miss. I've never drank a tea this good in my entire life. Thank you very much." Mercer said, genuinely pleased. He was the type of person that looked like he could kill you but was actually a cinnamon roll, especially around his wife and of course, his daughter. If anything he felt more inspired to show off, as if wanting Rowan to think that he was cool. He drank the rest of his tea in a gulp, almost like a shot, and gently set the cup down. "Mister Vargas, could I borrow some paper and a pencil? I want to start noting down some stuff for the renovations. I also would like to take a look at the spaces of it."

Lucy snickered at Mercer's comment. She took a few more sips of her tea. Honestly tea was the only fancy thing she ever drank.

"Partners in crime isn't even the right word. They were practically Bonnie and Clyde in the brothers sense. I've heard so many stores of all the trouble they caused." With that, she looked to Vargas with a sly smile on her face.

Vargas shook his head at Lucy, appearing to be rather embarrassed at the comment. He sighed and put his hand to his chin. "We were adolescents. Why, I'm sure you were an even worse child, Lucy. Your father used to call me all the time in the middle of the night ranting on how much of a bad girl you were- and I think you still are. You and your older brother. The only person your father didn't complain about was your younger sister. Why, she was an angel and you were the exact opposite." With a small sigh, Vargas turned to Mercer and retrieved a notebook and pencil from a kitchen drawer.

"Luckily I keep many of these all throughout the house because I keep forgetting I left them there. Here you go." Vargas said as he handed Mercer the notepad and pencil. "Write down anything you'd like. No information is useless."

Mercer took the notebook and the pencil, thanking mister Vargas. He opened up the notebook, instantly noting down different materials he might possibly end up needing out of memory from previous jobs. Glass, metallic frames, wood, concrete, tile, carpet possibly depending on the current state of the floor where the rooms need to be expanded. For the green house he thought it would be best to use brick for the floor. Maybe a double herringbone design. On the same page he ended up sketching an idea for the greenhouse. He couldn't draw people to save his life, but structures were a different story. He flipped the page and wrote down on the other side of ideas for expanding the kitchen he was in currently, glancing around and taking notes. He was a tad bit too excited. After all he was going to end up showing off to his daughter, whether she knew it or not. He turned to mister Vargas. "Right. I'm ready to start when you allow me too. Just give me a budget and I'll make it work, sir." Mercer said, glancing at Lucy with a grateful smile. If it wasn't for her, none of this would have happened. "I owe you one, Lucy."

Vargas watched as Mercer wrote down the notes and plans. He had to admit he was deeply impressed. He wasn't expecting Mercer to be THAT good. Once Mercer asked about the budget, Vargas chuckled and placed his hand on Mercer's shoulder.

"Ahh the budget... How about this- you point out anything you want or need and I'll take care of it yes? The budget is limitless."

Rowan never saw a man draw and write so fast before. She watched in awe, eyebrows raising as she saw Mercer flip the page and reveal a page full of sketches and notes.

"Wow..." She exclaimed, completely taken in a trance by the notes. "It's like another language!"

Beauty was impressed as well. She never saw a handy man at work before. As she saw the sketches, she wished she could draw like that. Suddenly, Mercer thanked her and Lucy looked up to return the smile. "It's okay.

Mercer couldn't help but to feel a tiny bit embarrassed. Overall flattered when he heard Rowan awing over something that was usual for him to do. It only made his heart beat faster and become much more excited overall. This was good. He wrote down what he saw it that would be necessary for the work, materials and a few tools. He would usually use his powers as a tool when people weren't looking though. It was very easy for him. "I think this should be what is necessary for the work." Mercer murmured, taking out the page and showing it to mister Vargas. The list was surprisingly specific, with the list of items, how much exactly and their uses right next to it. "I'll go ahead and make measurements around the rooms and in the back to be ready for when the materials arrive." Mercer hummed, his hands and fingers twitching out of habit of using sign language to speak with his wife.

Vargas looked through what Mercer had wrote, and was very impressed at what he read. Mercer was a construction genius. He analyzed carefully of what was written and made sure he had it committed to his memory. He looked over to Mercer and gave a proud nod.

"This is very impressive... I will give you a tour around the house now."

Lucy rolled her eyes at how interested Vargas was with a smile. It was silly to see him this way. When Vargas offered a tour, Lucy piped up.

"Hey, why don't you have Lucy give him the tour? After all, he's going to be living here."

Vargas hummed and looked to Mercer. "It's your decision."

Rowan smiled and stood up from leaning against the counter. "I don't mind giving him a tour. I never get to give tours of the house anyway."

 

Mercer rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. He wasn’t praised often. However, as Lucy offered for Rowan to give him a tour, he became overall excited. To be shown around by his daughter? He wouldn’t have it any other way! He could get to see how she behaved overall, even if it was just for a few minutes. He smiled slightly. “Well. I wouldn’t mind if miss Rowan showed me around. If she doesn’t mind either, that is.” Mercer said, doing his best to contain his overall excitement. Internally he was just jumping up and down. “Right. Why not show me around, miss? I haven’t seen the rest of the places yet.”

 

Rowan smiled at seeing how excited Mercer was. She stretched and hugged Vargas right after.

"Thank you!" She chimed, and went to go drag Mercer along. "We'll be right back!"

A few minutes in, Rowan was already leading Mercer down into the hallway. It was a long hallway with all the wooden floors and beams made of pure oak. The walls were white and in a Japanese style.

"My daddy, he had this house built for himself way before I was born. He's obsessed with oriental stuff even though he has no oriental heritage." Rowan commented. "He kinda got me into it, too." She looked to a Mercer and pointed to a coin that was connected to a chain around her neck. "This is a copper piece. It's what they used for currency back in the day. I like wearing it for good luck." She stopped in the middle of the hallway, and opened the door to a lovely light blue sea themed half bathroom. "This is the bathroom. He wants to expand it into a full bathroom instead of a half one. The other one is on the other side of the house."

 

Mercer listened intently and nodded from time to time. He glanced inside the bathroom and looked down the hall slightly and then back at the bathroom. To make it bigger? This one was huge at it was! Well, at least in Mercer’s eyes. “Full bathroom, that shouldn’t be a problem.” Mercer hummed as he glanced around and began to sketch again in the notebook, taking a few notes here and there. “It’s a pretty cool thing to get into, though. You get to learn of something completely new. My grandparents are from Turkey, and my in-laws are from Egypt.” Mercer chimed.

 

Rowan watched as Mercer took down some notes. When Mercer spoke of his heritage however, Rowan's eyes widened in awe.

"Turkish and Egyptian? Wow..." Rowan said with a smile. "That's really cool. Me, my heritage is kind of boring..." She sighed as she led Mercer further down the hallway after closing the bathroom door. "My daddy says his mom is from here and his dad is from England... He says my mom is Italian too but that's kinda boring... What's even worse is that I don't look anything like my daddy. I've seen a picture of my mom and I don't look like her at all either. Lucy's little sister says there's a resemblance but I don't see it."

"(That's because you got your mom's eyes and my ears.)" Mercer thought to himself. The more he listened the more he just wanted to confess, even though he knew that it wasn't the best idea at the moment. There was a time for everything and his time to reveal himself to her wasn't even near close. "Well, maybe you just inherited more of your grandparent's looks. Happens all the time here and there. No biggie to worry about." Mercer said casually as he walked along, glancing at Rowan. "But hey Italian is pretty cool for heritage you know. All that yummy pasta and pizza is great." Mercer said with a chuckle, trying to form any type of conversation. "I didn't know Lucy had a little sister though. Is she around your age?"

Rowan huffed as she walked along, not really amused by Mercer's answer. It did not satisfy her at all.

"But I don't even know what they look like and everyone is basically Italian or German or just European in general..." She led Mercer down to the end of the hallway and opened a door on the right to reveal nice little room. It had a gentle grey blue color along with some small purple floral patterns around. The floor was dark oak and had a purple fuzzy rug in the middle. In the corner was a full bed with purple and blue covers, and across was a dark oak desk along with a little dresser and table lamp. On the wall in front of the bed was a nice little mounted TV, and to the left side of the room was a slide mirror closet. On the walls was a few posters of different things like a few celebrities, pictures of friends, and characters from her favorite animated movies like Mulan and Ariel.

"This is my room. There's going to be no renovations on it but I still wanted to show you. It took my daddy a while to convince me to color it slightly lighter colors." She looked to Mercer and smiled at the question of Lucy's sister.

"And yeah she does. She's not my age though... She's a little older. She's eighteen. Lucy's the middle at twenty one and she has an older brother who's twenty two."

Mercer glanced around at the beautiful room, feeling the pit of his stomach slowly turn sour. For a moment he felt pale. This room was spacey enough and had a TV and a beautiful desk and many other things. This was much bigger than what her room would have been back at the apartment. Could he had given her everything that was here at the moment had she been raised with him and his wife? Maybe? He never would have known. He had gotten raises here and there and had been saving up to buy a place somewhere in the edges of the silver district. But the doubt still lingered, because he knew he could never give her so much as mister Vargas had. "It's a cute room." He finally commented. "My daughter would've loved a room this cute. But we aren't allowed to paint in rented apartments." Mercer mentioned, mixing truth with lies and so on in making conversations. "They're all pretty young then. Man I feel a bit old now." Mercer chuckled. "Think you could show me the lab or study? I need to see what needs to be extended."

Rowan looked around her room, smiling at her sanctuary. Still, there was a strange feeling that plagued her heart. Mercer... There was something strange about him. It was as if her mind was trying to tell her something.

"Ahh... Wow, you have a daughter? What's her name?" She asked. Maybe Rowan would get to know Mercer. "I bet she loves building stuff. Like Legos. I love building things too... One of my favorite classes is woodshop in school. And I still ask for Legos for Christmas." Once Mercer asked about the lab and study, Rowan let him out of her room and into the living room to go towards the other side of the house. "I'll show you your room later."

Mercer chuckled. "Legos are fun." Mercer smiled. He never would have expected his daughter to take up on such hobbies, but regardless a part of him tingled with pride. She had grown to be such a vibrant young girl. He just wanted to know more and more. She then asked about his daughter, and he paused for a moment, thinking of what to say. He could lie, or he could tell the truth. He found himself deciding on telling him her original name. The one that they had given her that night in the hospital the night she was born. "...Natalya." He finally answered. "Her name is Natalya. She's around your age, actually." Mercer explained.

Rowan couldn't help but smile as she heard that name. Natalya... "Wow, that's a beautiful name. I wish my name was as beautiful as that." She commented, leading Mercer into the study with a smile. The study was a rather cozy yet elegant room; it was a medium sized room that was completely covered with books. The walls were bookshelves completely filled with all kinds of informational books. The room was round, and the wall in front of them was a talk window leading to a balcony which revealed a beautiful view of a nearby frozen lake. On the right side of the room was a desk complete with a bright lamp, as well as notebooks and writing utensils.

"I think my daddy wants to make the room just a bit bigger, and add more furniture that'll make the room move lively. Sometimes sitting in here drives you nuts."

Mercer looked around the study in awe. Not even the library had this many books. Ok maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration but that's how he felt anyways. It was outstanding. Like having your own personal library where you can red whatever whenever without having to worry about a due date. The only books he had were his old school books and some cowboy novels and even those were worn down. "Wow." Mercer finally breathed, looking around and taking a mental note of where the expansion could take place to make it just bigger enough. "He's read all of these?" Mercer asked. He was almost like a little kid seeing t-rex skeleton for the first time.

Rowan looked around the study with a smile. Honestly she didn't want it to be expanded just because she loved how it was already. It was nice and cozy and it should stay that way.

"Yup! He read every single one. He wants me to read all of them but... I'd rather not." She admitted, rubbing the back of her neck with a guilty smile. "These are more encyclopedias, science books and whatnot. I love reading the books in here about birds. I can name any kind of bird!" Rowan sounded rather proud at the accomplishment. "And bird at all."

 

“All birds huh?” Mercer cooed, smiling a bit as he turned back to Rowan. “Mind telling me a few birds that can be found around the city, then? I know nothing of birds, but only a bit of flowers because of my wife. She constantly teaches me the meaning of different flowers and whatnot.” Mercer chuckled, glancing down at his notebook. “Right, just a bit bigger. I think it’s possible to add a few more book cases here and there.” Mercer hummed as he glanced up at one wall. “But this place definitely needs more lighting. How about an arched window with some cushions on it to be able to sit by it?” Mercer said as he extended his arms a bit. “It would give a view to the yard, and I can add a bird bath and some bird houses, and hopefully they can attract some birds for you to watch.” Mercer hummed.

Rowan hummed in thought as she tried to recall all the birds that were in the city.

"Well..." She began. "We have woodpeckers, red finches, pigeons, ravens, crows, blue birds, ruby- throat hummingbirds, great gray owls and... A bunch more." She said with a chuckle. Upon hearing Mercer's knowledge of flowers, Rowan looked in awe. "Will you teach me flowers? I'd love to know more. And I would love to sit at the window and watch the birds!"

Mercer smiled and took down a note. "Window it is." He murmured. He was impressed by her knowledge of birds. He hoped to add an extra detail to attract birds to the yard for her enjoyment. Then she asked about the flowers. He scratched his cheek sheepishly. In all honesty he found it a tad bit embarrassing that he could just look at a flower and being able to recognize it. It was useful when given landscaping work, yet it wasn't the type of things you could exactly show off with the boys around and so on. "Well, throughout the years flowers have developed a language of their own. Not only does each flower mean something, it can also vary on their color. Example a red poppy means pleasure while a white poppy means consolation. As pretty as they are willows mean sadness, and Forget-Me-Nots, as the name applies, mean to not forget someone and keep them in your memory. I could explain to you every flower that comes to mind but then we'd stand here until nightfall." Mercer smiled.