1The phone was ringing. Sam's stomach churned, he wasn't sure if it was the smell of booze or the anxiety that was making him want to throw up. Maybe he should just hang up, it was super late anyways, the older Nova was probably asleep. Carrie was right, he shouldn't have come.
"Ugh, kid do you have any idea what time it is?" A groggy voice answered the call. Sam gulped, running a sweaty hand through his hair. He hoped Rich wouldn't be mad. He was really the only person Sam could think of that could help him. He couldn't call his mom, she'd be so disappointed, his dad was still mia, and Carrie was grounded. And everyone else he knew couldn't zip halfway across the world to come bail him out. At least, not quickly.
"I'm at a party. The other people, they're kids from my school, they're drinking alcohol and I think I saw one of them with a bag of weed-"
"Hold on kid. Do not drink or eat anything until I get there, got it? Give me ten minutes." The older man hung up.
Letting out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding, Sam slumped against the wall next to the toilet. Rich was coming, it was going to be alright. He flinched when he heard pounding on the bathroom door. He couldn't make out what the person on the other side was saying because of the loud music, but he had a pretty good idea what they wanted the bathroom for. After a minute the pounding stopped and he pulled his knees to his chest, curling in on himself. He hoped Rich got there soon. He looked down at his phone, seven more minutes.
Rich cursed to himself as he dodged another pack of wild birds. D'ast those things were so annoying. He checked in with his helmet, which was tracing Sam's biosignature. Speaking of which, his mind wandered to the reason why he was flying all the way to Arizona from New York at two in the morning. The brunet was honestly surprised to hear the kid was at a party. Not that Rich had any right to judge, he'd done some not so savory things in high school, but he had been a loser. Sam is a good kid. Like Robbie. Or how he used to be, Rich had no idea where Robbie even was. He shook his head, it wasn't the time to go down that route right now, both of his kid brothers' needed his help but he could really only help one of them right now. His mind came to a bit of a halt.
Why did Sam need his help? The kid was a Nova for crying out loud!
But the kid had sounded so scared over the phone though. Maybe there was a villain, or maybe he couldn't find a clever way to sneak out? Rich willed himself to go faster.
... . .-.. .-. / .. ... / ... . .-. . .-.-.-
Sam's head shot up from where it was buried in his knees. That clinking sounded familiar. Standing up he looked around the dingy bathroom. His eyes caught onto a bright blue light hovering outside the window. His mouth curled up into a smile, he knew that color. Flipping the lid down on the toilet he climbed on top of it so that way he could get a better view of the window. There was a gold-helmeted man hovering, with his arms crossed and the corners of his mouth dropped down into a frown. Despite how obviously annoyed the man was the Hispanic teen couldn't help but be relieved. He started searching around for a latch, and once he found it he shoved the window up as far as it would go.
"Hey kid. Take it you don't like the party?" The older boy said voice dripping with sarcasm.
"It sucks. Can you take me home?"
"Sure thing, where's your helmet?"
"I may have left it-"
"Don't say it-"
"-at home." The younger boy finished. He winced when he heard Rich groan dramatically. The space-faring young adult stretched out his arms and slowly floated himself to the ground. He took off his helmet, and shaking it into cloth form he stuffed into his hoodie pocket. Sam winced again when he saw that the brunet was basically wearing pajamas, it reminded him that he ripped Rich away from some probably much needed sleep.
"Alrighty then, we can't have civilian you seen with me, it would get suspicious. Guess we're walking home!" He said faux cheerfully. Sam banged his head against the window sill.
"You couldn't have brought a car?"
"Kid, I don't even have my license anymore, lost it years ago. Probably on Knowhere or something." The older man mostly muttered the last part to himself. Sam picked his head up at the familiar sounding place.
"Isn't that where you took me for that alien beer that one time?"
"Hey it was one beer, and you had a responsible adult with you. And your stupid helmet. C'mon, hop out, we gotta get you home." He nodded to Sam, and made motions for the younger boy to jump out the window. Sam looked at him like he was crazy.
"You couldn't have come through the bathroom door?"
"Kid I know how these parties work. You get seen being dragged out by an adult then you are going to be made fun until you graduate."
Sam considered Rich's words. He had a point. And besides, the teen was a superhero! He's done way more risky things then jump out of a first floor window. He tried wiggling himself out, but the window wouldn't budge up much. Halfway through, Sam came to an awful realization. He was stuck. He voiced as much to Rich.
"What do you mean you're stuck!? Kid you're as thin as a stick, and you weigh like ninety pounds soaking wet!"
"Not helping!"
Sam hung his head in defeat as Rich started pacing around, trying to figure out what to do. The teenager could tell the exact moment the brunet had come up with a plan. His brown eyes lit up, and a bit of a sinister grin crept onto his face. Sam knew that look. This was not going to end well.
"I have an idea, and I need you to cover your head. Got it?"
"Rich what are you doing?"
"Who owns this house?"
"Nobody, it's abandoned."
"Perfect." With that Rich's eyes started glowing and Sam immediately put his hands over his head. he heard a fwoosh and in a matter of seconds he felt the pressure on his back disappear entirely. Grabbing Rich's hand he leapt down from the window and took a look back. The wood around the window was completely scorched, and the entire window was gone.
"Did you shatter it?"
"Nope."
"Then how did you-"
"Nova secret I'll teach you later. Come on let's get you home."
Sam was too tired to argue with the older man at that point, and he just let Rich put a hand on his shoulder and steer him down the street. He hoped his mom wasn't awake.
By the time they made it to Sam's house, it was almost three in the morning. Both Novas concluded that walking sucked. Sneaking around to Sam's bedroom window, the kid pushed it up and made to crawl inside. Rich stopped him by putting a warm hand on his shoulder. Giving him a schlag-eating grin he asked,
"Hold on kid. You gonna get stuck again?" He started cackling. Sam elbowed him in the stomach and shushed him.
"If my mom hears us I'm dead. I thought you cared man."
Rich's face suddenly turned dead serious, and Sam was reminded that this was the guy who torn his own alien parasite guts out. He was not the kind of dude you wanted to mess with. But it was that kind of thing about Rich that made Sam respect him. And maybe fear him a little too, who rips their own guts out only to complain about the taste afterwards?
"I do care, Sam. That's why I came. You know you can call me anytime, right?"
"I didn't mean to say you didn't, it's just hard."
"I know, adults suck. But every once in a while, they know what they're doing, so give them a little credit. And also don't go partying again like that, your mom worries enough."
Sam hung his head down in shame a the last part. Rich's heart softened a little, and whatever snide remark he was going to add in he quickly forgot as he pulled the kid into his arms. Sam returned the hug tightly. After a few minutes and a hair ruffle, Rich pulled away and let the kid climb into his room. Before he made to close the window, the boy turned his bright blue gaze at Rich, an unnamed emotion wavering in his eyes.
"Thanks Rich. For getting me out of there. And making sure I got home safe. You want to crash here? It's late."
"You're welcome kid. I would, but I have work in a few hours. Remember that you can call me for anything, okay?"
"Got it. Night Rich, fly safe."
The brunet haired man nodded at the black haired teenager, and after taking a quick glance around he ducked behind a tree and transformed. In the next few seconds he was gone, leaving behind a faint blue trail of light. Sam yawned and shut his window, and then collapsed into his bed. He was glad to have someone like Rich looking out for him. It was like having a big brother. Rolling over to smother his face with a pillow he made a silent plea that Kaelynn wouldn't be as stupid as he was when she got to be his age.