The Mysterious Mr. Z

[Zach Long]

Loraine reached out slowly, softly patting the boy's head. He had stopped crying, finally, which was a relief for her. She wasn't supposed to console him the way the young child needed when he was hurt, but more crying usually resulted in more unwanted questions for Zach.

She was happy she kept candy in her purse, as she watched the youngster suck happily on the lollipop she had given him. He smiled up at her, wiggling a bit in the chair.

"Do you feel better, Jonah?"

Jonah nodded. His attention wandered around the room, looking at the various pictures and plaques the counselor had in the office. His focus came back to Dr. Carlson. "Where are we?"

"We're at Zach's school. This is one of his teacher's offices."

Jonah wrinkled his nose, looking around again. "I don' like it. Yours has more toys. Is more funner."

"I know, I'm sorry. I'll remember to bring a toy the next time I have to visit Zach at school, ok?" She wrote the note down in her book, then showed it to Jonah. "See? It's right there so I can remember." She smiled at him.

Jonah smiled back, bouncing a little more in the chair as he swung his legs. He bent down over the piece of paper in front of him and picked up a crayon - courtesy of the good doctor's purse, thankfully - and began to scribble.

Loraine watched him for a little bit, thinking. Zach had never mentioned Katric before; as far as he could remember, all he knew about were the twins, Jonah, Mainframe, and the two in Alcatraz, Jailer and Hatter. But, now that she thought about it, he always had a "K" written on his notebooks, or when she asked him to list out his alters, he would always end with a "K," but would never answer when pressed about it. It was possible he had learned - or even subconsciously molded - not to remember Katric while he was in exile.

"Miss Lorry," Jonah spoke, bringing Loraine back to the office. "Who is dat dark man?"

Loraine looked over her shoulder, making sure they were still alone, then back to Jonah. "Who, Jonah?"

"The dark man. He wasn' dere before. Mainfwame says he's bad." Jonah frowned, looking very much like the young child he was mentally. "He stick Miss Corona in a statue and send her away to the bad place. Why he do dat?"

Ah. Katric. "Well, the dark man is Katric. He's another friend of Zach's, just like you are."

"But why he do dat to Corona? Dat just mean."

"I know, but him and Corona...are having an argument. You remember what that is, right?"

"Where two peoples who fink differntly get into fight wif words" Jonah repeated. "But Katric didn' say a lot. And Corona looked really really scared."

Carlson nodded. "Katric was a little mean, but he's been away for a while. He doesn't...he doesn't remember the rules. He'll learn though, don't worry."

"Otay. I'm gonna draw Miss Corona a picture for when she comes home!" Jonah closed his eyes, and Carlson had to jump again to catch Zach's head from hitting the desk a second time.

There was a small groan, and then Zach's whole body shuddered. He gasped for a breath, and sat back in the chair as if he had been thrown backwards. His eyes opened, looking around in confusion.

"What...where..." His eyes focused as he took a few steadying breaths. His gaze stopped on Loraine, and the confused look on his face grew more apparent. "Doc? What happened?"

"Zach?" Carlson smiled just a little, being as reassuring as she could. He nodded, then pulled the lollipop stick out his mouth, his confusion compounding even more. "Zach, I think we need to talk. A lot has happened."

Zach looked at the stick, then back at Carlson. "What? What does that mean?"

The doctor sat back in her chair with a sigh. "I'll just start from the beginning, and we'll try to piece it together, together." She smiled a little more. "It seems you have another friend..."

Zach's face fell, and he groaned again. "You have got to be kidding me...

"Seven?"

"Seven."

[Zach Long]

There was a flash of light in the room, and then the feminine figure was standing in front of the door, light radiating like an angelic halo behind her head. She opened her dazzling green eyes, quickly glancing around the darkened room at the rest of the figures gathered. "Boys."

There was a mirthless laugh from the left corner of the room, and two yellow eyes opened in the shadows. "You're in deep this time, sis."

"Shut up, Eclipse." Katric stepped forward, his red eyes blazing like hot coals, and the scar on his face glowed bright red as well. "What the hell were you thinking, Corona?"

Corona shrugged, walking across the room to the small window that overlooked the ocean. She opened it, letting the cool breeze wash over her before she turned back around. "He knew."

Katric's scowled deepened even more, and the room grew darker. "Why would you tell him, then?"

Corona laughed, shaking her head. "Trust me; it was dumbass' fault." Corona pointed at her brother. The shadowy figure materialized into a more human form, and Eclipse stepped forward, fists clenched.

"There's no way in hell this is my fault!"

Corona stepped forward as well, the light emanating from her increasing with her emotion. "Yeah, because you've always been SO great at playing Zach!"

"Shut up, little miss giggles!"

"Both of you, shut up! Now!" Katric clapped his hands together, and Corona and Eclipse were tossed backwards, away from each other. He turned and looked at Eclipse. "She's right, Eclipse. What the hell were you doing tonight?"

"Get off me, Kat. I was having fun. More fun than anyone else around here has."

Katric rolled his eyes, then turned back to Corona. "And you thought it would be a good idea to just TELL Arthur about us?"

Corona nodded. "He already knew. He knew the difference between Eclipse and Zach immediately. And he knew I was different too. Apparently us using different names for his classmates is also a red flag." She looked past Katric at Eclipse. "Mr. 'Goldilocks.'"

Eclipse huffed. "Hey, she was hot, and she was digging it. Zach'll be thanking me when she's talking to him."

"You don't even know her name, E."

Eclipse opened his mouth to retort, then shut it and nodded. "Yeah, ok. So?"

"Both of you, shut up." Katric squeezed the bridge of his nose. "Mainframe..."

"Oh sonuva...Katric!"

"I said, shut up, Eclipse. Mainframe, are we secure in here?"

"Longbottomz229 is unaware of the current conversation in the attic."

Katric turned to face Eclipse. "What's the matter, scared of Alcatraz, E?"

Eclipse straightened up, and his form slowly grew so that he was larger than Katric when he replied, "Of course not. I just didn't think I deserved..."

Corona laughed, shaking her head. "Yeah, he's scared." Eclipse turned and glared at her, causing her to laugh more.

"Again, both of you, before I lock you both down." Eclipse's eyes and the scar on his face lost their fiery glow as he calmed down. "Corona, it was stupid, but if this means Arthur isn't going to go after Zach anymore..."

Corona shook her head. "He's a bit of a jerk, but I know we can trust him. There was something about him tonight; I don't know what it was. But it almost...noble of him. He knows there's something wrong with Zach, and he also knows that his beef isn't with Zach; it's with the asshole in him." She shot a scathing glance at Eclipse, who turned his back on her. "For him, Zach is off-limits now. To everyone. He intentionally jumped in and started taking the focus away from Eclipse tonight when he started picking on James." She looked at Katric, connecting with his eyes. "And he won't tell anyone, either. We can trust him."

Katric frowned, then shook his head. "I hate this, but Zach needs someone he can trust who knows about him. Maybe it'll help in the long run." He glanced behind him at Eclipse. "And you need to get your act together, or I WILL put you away with Hatter. You got that?"

Eclipse rolled his eyes, then faded into the shadows. "Yeah, whatever. Shit."

After Eclipse was gone, Katric turned back to Corona. "He is right; you giggle way too much."

As if on cue, Corona let out a small giggle, her cheeks going crimson. "Sorry."

[Zach Long]

"I don't know what it was...I don't even remember who they started talking about. I didn't recognize the name. And then out of no where someone mentioned multiple personalities, and then Lorne goes off talking about how much he knows..."

"Did you say something?"

Zach shook his head. "Nah...I mean, I might have." There was a flash of memory, and he sighed, nodding. "I did. Just said not everything is as cut and dry as Lorne was describing. But beyond that I said nothing."

Carlson nodded, turning back to the doodles on her paper. The picture was quickly turning darker the more Zach spoke about the previous night. What had started as a circle had quickly transformed into a dark, moonlit scene with a scared boy sitting on the ground, hugging his legs to his chest. At least, that's what she knew it was; her art skills left quite a bit to be desired, but they helped her understand her patients.

"I don't know why I got so scared...I mean, the one guy knows but," Zach shook his head. "They're probably just being really nice and not saying anything. I mean, some of them are freaking psychics; you'd think they'd have a clue by now, that they would have said something." He looked back at her. "I don't know."

"Well...tell me more about the game Lorne had you play."

Zach laughed a little. "Awkward, for starters. It's probably fairly common knowledge now that I hate my 'real' family. He decided, since they were my family, that I should say which of my classmates fill what family role for me." He smiled, looking off to the side. "It was kind of fun, although I had to stop Eclipse from saying something bad about Jeremy. I don't think 'little brother who gets to wear a helmet and eat pudding' would have flown with the group."

"Jeremy? This is the boy that gets your name wrong all the time, right?"

Zach nodded. "Yeah, him." Zach walked back over to the chair and sank into it. "Everyone else was a bit nicer. Brother, sister, brother...Lorne wound up as the grandpa of the group. He's just...always happy. Ok, maybe not 'happy,' but...I don't think I've ever seen him angry. And everyone at the school sorta looks up to him. He brings so many of us together that wouldn't normally be around each other."

Loraine paused, glancing up from her paper. She knew the next question might make him upset, but it had to be said. "Why 'grandfather?' Why not..."

"Dad? Seriously, Doc?" He shook his head. "You've met my old man. He's the reason we even know each other. Why would I want to equate someone with him?"

"You wouldn't have to equate them with him. Surely, someone - maybe Lorne - would have stood out as being a 'better' father figure, in your mind, than your father is."

Zach shook his head, and was back on his feet. He began to pace the room again, looking more agitated. "No way. I know...I know there are people out there - fathers, even - better than mine. But I can't give anyone that title and expect to feel all Mickey Mouse and rainbows about it. I H-A-T-E my father." He winced, putting two fingers to his forehead and rubbing for a moment. "These people here - even the ones who antagonize me - are my friends. None of them could do to me what he's done. I can't...I can't see any of them in that light."

"And a 'mother?'"

Zach stopped his pacing, taking a deep breath. "Maybe a couple girls; I didn't give myself the chance to think about it. Still, though, even that title should be off limits." He bit his bottom lip, his gaze suddenly looking very distant as he looked inward, replaying numerous memories in an instant. "No; just brothers and sisters. I don't hate any of them enough to see them as my parents."

Dr. Carlson nodded, then looked back down at her notepad. She tore off the top page, letting it fall on the ground next to her as she put her pencil down on the fresh, blank sheet. Zach paced for a few more minutes, then sat on the chair again. He exhaled loudly and fidgeted nervously. Loraine looked up at him and gave him a small, encouraging smile. "Are you ready, then?"

Zach shook his head. "No. But I need to say it. Well," he smiled a little and rolled his eyes, "someone needs to say it."

Loraine nodded. "Well, whoever wants to. I'm just here to listen. What happened when you went back home, Zach?"

Zach frowned. "Nothing I didn't expect to happen."