Game Afternoon
Disclaimer: not mine.
Summary: Piper babysits Wally´s kids when Trickster pays a surprise visit. Takes place after whole Countdown thing.
It was a rainy afternoon in Keystone City. One of those typical october afternoons; grey sky, chilly and wet outside, foggy - the right time to be inside the house and hot cocoa. It was also the time for Wally West (aka Flash) and his wife to be on their second honeymoon. It was a three-week cruise around the whole world. all speedsters had promised to take care of all superhero stuff and Wally was told (repeatedly) by Mr Terrific (and J´onn, and Superman, and Diana, and...) to not enter the watchtower or any other JLA/JSA/whatever facility out of any reasons- he should enjoy his life.
For their kids it was a good opportunity to get closer with the family:
They spent the first week with Jay Garrick and Joan. (they also made a day trip to space with Alan Scott but were supposed to not tell Wally)
The next week was with Iris Allen and Josh. It was fun to play with the son of Weater Wizard, especially when he accidently summoned a cloud inside the kitchen and learned how to fly on it. Josh told Iris that she was now his sweetheart and that one day he would marry her. Iris laughed and told them that this was the sweetest proposal she ever witnessed- except her own, of course.
The last week was back in Keystone with Piper. After all charges against him were finally dropped (his time with the Rogues was an undercover-operation after all) he was fully rehabilitated and became a part of the West family. "Uncle Piper" was the cool uncle with the high-tech equipment, the loudest instruments and the sound-proof appartement. Linda´s only condition was: no drums, no electric guitars and no tuba.
It was a fairly quite week; no supervillain trying to take over the world and no cosmic crisis approaching. Piper took them to the Flash museum, explained them the history behind each Rogues ("Mark is afraid of spiders. Cold can´t sleep without his night-light. ...and Boomerang can´t hold his liquor."). He showed them his instrument collection, introduced his pet rat Rathaniel and made a total mess in the kitchen on the first evening before he ordered pizza.
Now they were sitting on his carpet and playing memory. Iris was winning; already more than half of the little cards on a neat pile in front of her. It was a lost cause, but Jai continued to try. He lifted a card "The teddy bear! I knew where the other is!" triumphantly he flipped another card, only to revail a fire truck. Sulkingly he flipped them back and immediately Iris snatched them.
"I won!", she cheered, "I love this game!". Jai said there and was not-pouting when Piper´s head jerked toward the door. And then the bell rang.
Piper got up and opened the door.
"James! What are you doing here?" asked he smiling. Then the smile faltered. "Wait...since when do you actually use the bell when you enter my house?" A big, big grin appeared on Trickster´s face.
"Come on, Hart; don´t be suspicious. Hey, do I smell cookies in here?" he pushed Hart through the door and flung his jacket over the couch. "Hey kiddos!" he greeted the twins and strode into the kitchen. "Awwwww, you really made cookies?"
There were indeed cookies (or pseudo-should-have-been-ccokies) in the oven. "I didn´t know you could cook."
Piper sighed. "I can´t cook. This "cookies" resemble more a battlefield and not baked goods. We´ll probably feed them to Rathaniel."
Trickster turned around. "Can´t be good for the little rat; come on, I´ll make a fresh tray. You can go on playing with the kiddos." he shot another disarming smile towards Piper who gave up.
Too much experience told him that you just couldn´t get rid of Trickster when he didn´t want to leave. And it was nice seeing him again. After the "charm bracelet" he sometimes awoke at night and asked himself where Trickster went before he realized that Trickster hadn´t been there at all. Weird. Really weird, but things like that stopped being so crazy around him. Madness in general seemed to follow Trickster whereever he went and he seemed to infect people with it. That meant, the more time you spent with Trickster, the more sense he made. Which was downright creepy.
"Fine. Do whatever you want." He went to a closet and searched for another game. "Jai, it´s your turn to choose. What do you want to play?"
The twins were still sitting there, mouths open. "Who is that guy?" whispered Jai.
"That´s James Jesse aka the Trickster. Remember? Yesterday at the museum-" came Piper´s voice from the closet.
"Oh, yes, yes. Now I recognize him!" called Iris. "He was the one you said-"
"Yes, exactly that one." Piper cut her off. "You can play Monopoly -although that game represents capitalism and the cruel system which-"
"The other game!" called Trickster. "Unless you kids want to be bored with the famous "I´m a social rights activist and I´m cool with rebelling against the system" speech." he added.
"We want the other ones" decided the kids in unison.
"Trivial Pursuit it is then"
"You´re playing the not-socialist version, I hope" said James. "That features nice questions like "Why are politicians dirtbags?" and "How to egg a dirtbag´s house?"."
"Hey!", protested Piper, "I only did that one time." Then he clamped a hand over his mouth. "Forget I said that."
Snickering could be heard from the kitchen.
"Come on: I was young, bent on anarchy and rebellion...and by god, that lousy" -he glanced at the kids- "man got it coming."
"No way!" laughed Trickster, still unseen in the kitchen. "You probably tagged his house with graffiti, too."
Piper just groaned and hid his face in his hands.
20 minutes later the twins noticed two things.
It was strangely not akward having a stranger bursting in your appartement and that he was making cookies in your kitchen seemed familiar. At least both adults acted like it was pretty familiar.
And secondly, they had no idea of 21th century culture.
When Iris couldn´t tell them who Micky Mouse was and Jai´s answer to "Who was the first man on the moon?" was "Superman?" Piper decided to give Wally and Linda a good lecture. Trickster was done with the dough and now the cookies (who, this time, deserved the title baked goods) were in the oven. He had joined them and was cheating. They had split up into two teams: Trickster with Iris and Piper with Jai.
Piper´s education had provided all their points, while Trickster cheated charmingly. Hart couldn´t prove it, but he knew it. He so knew it.
"I don´t like this game" announced Jai, "let´s play one we all know."
"I spy with my little eye?" suggested Trickster. Piper arched one eyebrow.
"That is so childish. There was one, only one occassion when I ever played this game with you. All Rogues were drunk, it seemed like a good idea at that time when you suggested it. And you cheated. You said-" he raised his hands in the quote-sign -" but I do see a flying pink elephant. I win, you losers" He shook his head. "Never again."
"We could play tag!" said Iris.
Piper explained: "Sweetie: normally, I´d love to, but in a closed room with lots of fragile equipment and two speedsters---let´s play that tomorrow in the park. There´s more room and-"
"You can play paintball then!" announced Trickster cheerfully. "What?" asked he.
"Stop corrupting Wally´s kids" said Piper.
"How about Never-ever-have-I"
"You´re better not suggesting a drinking game" declared Piper sternly.
"We can play dress-up!" cheered Iris.
"What?!"
"Come on, it´ll be fun. Please!" she looked at Piper with her big eyes. "Please Uncle Piper!" Piper´s heart melted at the sight.
"Alright." he made a mental note to tell Wally that his daughter had inherited his favorite puppy-eyes-trick. But then he remembered many occassions when Wally talked him into things, using that special expression
"Come on Piper. She said that she would only go out with me if I get her cousin a date, too."
"I´m gay Wally. I thought I told you"
"You don´t have to make out, just go with me. Pleeeeeeeease? Just this one date, I promise it won´t be so bad"
In the end the cousin turned out to be a butch redneck whose ex showed up and threatened to beat Piper into a bloody pulp. ...
He grinned mischievieously. No, he decided. Let him find that out on his own accord.
The twins had already stormed off to raid his closet while Trickster had stayed behind. "You´re not playing with us, James?" he asked daringly.
"Don´t be ridiculous, I-"
Piper burst in laughter. "Ridiculous? From the Trickster? From the guy with striped yellow pants, from the guy with rubber chicken, from.."
he continued laughing.
"Hey!" James poked him. "That´s not funny-"
A crash could be heard from Piper´s bedroom.
Both adults hurried there, but Iris had only knocked over a chair.
Nearly all of Piper´s clothes were scattered in the room.
"Come on!" said Jai. He tugged goth their hands, "you have to play, too!"
He had found one of Piper´s first costumes. The one with the polka dots and the pixie boots. He looked suspiciously like that Link from the Zelda-Videogame.
"Wait a minute." said Trickster while leaving the room. He returned with a camera. "That´s a memory we should cherish." He snapped a few pictures. "You can dress up as this next week on halloween!"
Iris had Piper´s scarf around her head and his coat around her shoulders. "Look at me, I´m a ninja with a cape!"
Trickster raided Piper´s closet in hope of finding something not too embarassing to try on. He found a box at the bottom. Inside...he started laughing.
"What´s the matter?" asked the children. As an answer he pulled out a sceleton mask. "Found your halloween stash" he announced.
He emptied the content over the bed. Along with many costumes they discovered a little box with lots of face-paint, a few bags used for collecting sweets and a album with many photos.
The photos featured Piper and a girl with red hair. She resembled Piper a lot.
"Who´s this?" asked Jai. "She looks nice." while he pointed to a picture where the pair was dressed up like Peter Pan and Wendy.
A smile, sad yet fond, crossed Piper´s face. "That´s Jerri, my little sister. We always do that on Halloween. It´s probably childish and we always feel sick from so many sweet the next day...but it´s a holiday tradition and it´s fun."
Iris flipped through the album. "What are those costumes?"
On most of the photos they were dressed up like Disney characters.
Beauty and the Beast (which earned a snicker from Trickster and "How did you manage to keep all that fur from falling off?"), Mulan and her prince charming, Snow-White, Cinderella (each with Piper as the prince) Jasmin and Aladdin, and the one from last year (every picture had a little title and a date) as Mickey and Minnie Mouse.
"And this year..." Piper snatched the sceleton mask.
"I am Jack Skellington, the King of Halloween Town!"
"Who?" asked Iris. Piper, still with the skull mask, shook his head "I really need to talk with your parents about that."
"Come on, try it on!" Trickster held up the black suit. "I´m sure it would mean soooooo much to the kids."
The children nodded "Please!"
Piper´s resistance was blown away. "Fine." he sighed. He picked up the box and disappeared into the bathroom.
James sat on the bed and flipped through the book. He had read about Piper´s sister. Born when he was a teenager, Jerri was the second child and only daughter to the Rathaway publishing empire. And that she had a mental condition. He wasn´t sure about the name, but he knew that her mind didn´t develop with her body; she had the mental state of a little girl. And she looked like a mini version of Piper. The hair the same shade of red, both those stunning green eyes...there was one picture, from two years ago: both were again Disney characters, this time princess Anastasia and ...what was the name again? Dominik? Dimitri? both beamed through the photo at him, Piper had his arm protectively around his sister and Trickster´s heart beat a little faster. Then there came a noise from the bathroom.
"Are you alright Uncle Piper?"
"Yes, yes...stupid sink."
Iris bounced on the bed next to Trickster. "Come on, you must dress up, too."
"But-"
"No but!" she said and grabbed his arm while still bouncing. "Play with us!" She continued chanting that until Trickster gave up.
"Ok, ok...just let me look for something."
On short notice he grabbed a white shirt and a black vest. He put them on and went over to a mirror. With the make-up kit he painted his face white and then as if he were a pantomime. Good enough for two minutes of dress up. Unfortunately the kids had discovered what fun make-up could be and smeared it all over their faces.
There was a howling wind sound, and thunder crackling..but inside the appartement. Piper emerged from the bathroom. Clad in a black suit, with a bat as a bow and and the skull mask. Trickster was amazed by Piper´s look for details. His gloves resembled bones, but they seemed too long for real fingers. The mask actually moved whith his face and he seemed taller.
"This is Halloween, this is Halloween-" sang Piper. Then he remembered that the kids didn´t know the song and settled for a simple "Wheeeee!". He could have told them before that he built a voice synthesizer in the bat...but he enjoyed the look on their faces too much. He made flaying motions with his arms "Beware!" Then he briefly touched the bat "Happy Halloween!" boomed a grave voice . The kids shrieked with delight and he chased them around the bed. He stopped when he saw James. "Does that costume mean you will shut up for the rest of the day?"
"Um...no!" and then he started chasing Piper. They both giggled very immaturely, but neither cared. Until Piper stumbled and fell down.
The kids rushed to his side. "What happened?" they asked in concern.
Piper peeled of the mask. "Nothing. Damn those stupid high heels"
"You wear high heels?" asked James.
"Not what you think; just very thick soles so that I appear taller. But running with them is lethal." He pulled off his shoes.
Trickster snapped many pictures in that hour, most of them featured the kids pouncing on Piper or Piper making spooky gestures and faces.
Then they realized that they had forgotten the cookies. Which didn´t really matter because Trickster himself had forgotten to turn the heat on.
An hour later when the kids and Trickster were paint-free again and they all had changed back to normal clothing, they settled around the couch table and enjoyed dinner. Which consisted of peanut butter sandwiches, cookies, "battlefield cookies" (who tasted good and just looked awful), chocolate and pancakes (courtesy of Trickster). They agreed not to tell the parents.
Piper then went into the kitchen to wash the dishes and left the kids with Trickster.
When Piper returned to the living room, he blinked and stood still. Thne he stomped over to Trickster. "James?" he asked.
"What is it?"
"Are you teaching them how to play POKER? Gambling? Wally will kill me! Stop that now!"
"Calm down, music man. I´m not teaching them how to play poker..." Piper let out a little sigh
"I´m telling them how to WIN!"
"Argh" groaned Piper.
"But it´s fun Uncle Piper." explained Jai. "Only until we win once."
Trickster flashed Piper a big grin. "As soon as I lose, I´ll stop. Promise."
He could recall enough Rogue meetings when no one could ever beat him. You didn´t need to cheat at poker; the game itself consisted of cheating. Bluffing and making people believe things...good thing Trickster was a con artist. A damn good con artist.
"Fine." Piper sat down. "Usual rules?"
And another happy flashback to the times when no one could beat him.
"Sure."
"I still can´t believe how you managed to beat me! How on earth did you do that?"
Trickster followed Piper who was getting the kids ready for bed.
"Don´t forget to brush your teeth- your pyjama´s over there sweetie- And no, I´m not telling you Tricks."
"Come on." Trickster knew he sounded whiny. "Please?"
He was rewarded by an icy glare. "Pretty please?"
"No Tricks."
Then the kids were finally in bed and sleeping. Trickster was yawning between all the "Tell me!" and "Ple-ease!". Piper shook his head.
"If you want, you can crash on the couch." offered Piper. "I don´t think I could bear the responsibility of letting you walking outside unsupervised in that state."
"Gee, thanks old pal."
"You´re welcome." Piper countered with a mock bow. He rummaged in a closet and tossed Trickster a blanket. "Here." And he used the pillow to hit Trickster on the head.
"Hey!"
Piper grinned smugly. "What?" he asked with clearly feigned innocence.
"That´s it!"
The one-sided pillow fight was soon reduced to a tickle war which Trickster won.
Piper was writithing and giggling under him. "Stop. Stop! Mercy!" he laughed.
"Only if you tell me how you beat me."
Trickster found a ticklish spot under Piper´s ribs.
Hartley burst out laughing. "I give, I give."
"So?" asked Tricks. Neither of the seemed to notice that Piper lay on the carpet while Trickster sat on top of him. Or that Trickster´s hand never left Piper´s abdomen.
"It´s simple Tricks. When do people lie to you James, you can see that in their body language. You know the symptoms, perspiration, those little details, when they don´t look you into the eyes, quickening of the heartbeat..."
"So...you can hear my heartbeat?" asked Trickster. He knew that Piper´s implants were good, but that good?
"Only when persons are nearby, when there is not too much background noise and when I really concentrate...then yes. But in normal life that doesn´t happen anyway."
Trickster looked at him. Then he leaned closer. "You mean...back in the old days: you could have beaten me then, too? If you would tune the others out...you could have won. Man, Hartley, you could have made a fortune! Why didn´t you do it?"
Piper looked him into the eyes and stated: "Because that´s cheating."
Laughter bubbled up in Trickster and he rested his forehead on Piper´s chest.
"What´s so funny?" asked Piper.
"Hartley: we were Rogues back then. Criminals...and you didn´t want to cheat? That´s ...Oh man. Did the pope ever sent back the appliance for sainthood, mother Theresa?"
He laughed and then straightened to look Piper in the eye. "Can you hear it now?" he asked softly.
Piper´s expression was unreadable. "James, I-"
"Can you hear my heart beat?"
Piper close his eyes and exhaled slowly. He rose his hand to his chest and began to rap a rythym. Ba-bum. Ba-bum.
Trickster leaned closer. Piper held his eyes closed, but the rythym quickened. And quickened.
"Piper? Hartley?" ba-bum ba-bum ba-bum
Green eyes looked up at him.
"I-- I wanted to---"
"Shut up and kiss me."
Piper didn´t complain and did what Trickster told him to do. For the first time in his life withouth questioning and complaining.
Author: ...what do you think?
and ...did I just wrote slash? or is it more pre-slash?...
who cares?
And I´m not going to beg for reviews.