Fear Itself

“But really, it’s time to get down to business, I think,” Alex finally said, shooting out serious silence amongst the laughter.

I set the ice cream down on the coffee table and switched it for the backpack laying there, right where I had left it. In the backpack’s stead, Ralph jumped on the table and curled up comfortably, clearly enjoying the company (or maybe he was just doing it because Dean had motioned as though he was preparing to put his feet up, and Ralph clearly didn’t want Dean to be comfortable). I started rummaging through the bag as the boy’s started to squabble.

“We don’t have anywhere to go,” Alex stated, and Dean laughed at him.

“No shit, Eyebrows,” he huffed. “Our base got blown to pieces.”

“Y-yeah b-b-but,” Sam stammered. Avery huffed a laugh.

They kept arguing. Things about whether or not they would move or just give up. I highly doubted that they were going to just call it quits after fighting for four years. Avery had tuned out as well, and I didn’t really have much to contribute, so I began going through my bag, and I found the picture of my mother and her friends outside of that funny red box. She looked so happy right then, with Landon and Lawrence. I assumed Landon was the one in the bow tie. He had Dean’s eyes. Lawrence didn’t look much like anyone. He also didn’t look like a man who would keep a Bible, but Avery also didn’t look like a man who would let me crawl into bed with him in the middle of thunderstorm.

I decided then that I was going to remember my mother happy, like this, and not like in the video Kennedy had made me watch, not even knowing that she was my mum. “Princess,” Avery grumbled under his breath. Nobody else heard him. They were far too busy arguing to notice us whispering. “Lemme see that right quick,” he requested, so I handed him the photograph.

“Careful, Mumbles,” I cautioned. “It’s the only photo I’ve got of her.”

His fingers grasped the photograph gently, and his eyes widened, confirming whatever suspicions he already had about the photo. “Princess, I know that place,” he mumbled.

“Really?” I asked. “It’s funny, ‘cause I’ve never heard of a Bond Street, and there are these strange phrases on the back that look like instructions for something—“

“They are,” he muttered and handed it back to me. “Bond street don’t exist no more, though.”

“How do you know that?” I asked.

“I know ‘cause I live on that street now,” he huffed. “And it ain’t called Bond street.”

“What’s it called now?” I questioned, even though I had been on that street just days ago. Granted, I had been dreadfully lost. I wouldn’t have remembered even if I wanted to.

“Gower street,” he explained. “Tell these morons we can go there.” He nodded toward Dean, Sam, and Alex who were still arguing. I looked on the back of the photograph just briefly and read over the directions: 1. Tap three times center panel, 2. Beef Brisket, 3. Enter.

“Mates,” I called, trying to interject, but they kept bickering. “Mates,” I repeated, just a little louder. “Mates.” Still no answer. “Hey, boys,” I tried, but no. Nothing. With a huff, I moved and stood up on the table. “Hi! Hello! Hey there, everyone!” I shouted, waving my arms, and everyone just stared up at me. “Thank you,” I scoffed.

“Blondie, will you please sit?” Dean asked, practically begging with my eyes.

“No,” I huffed. “It’s like when I sit on the couch, I suddenly vanish, and nobody listens. I’ll sit when I’m done.” Dean sunk into the couch. “Great, now that I have everyone’s attention,” I began, doing a little twirl so I could see everyone. “I would like to inform you that I have an idea.”

“Really?” Alex asked, quirking a single brow.

“Don’t look at me like that, Eyebrows. What happened to that ‘shatterin’ the glass ceiling’ rubbish?” I retorted.

“I wanna hear your idea, T-tali,” Sam piped up, smiling, so I smiled right back.

“Why thank you, Sam,” I giggled. “How sweet.”

“Kiss ass,” Dean muttered.

“Anyway,” I cut in again, holding the photo out. “See them? Yes, you all know them, except maybe Alex. Maybe not ‘im.” I slowly trailed the photo around, starting with Sam and traveling around the semi-circle with it. “Take a good, hard look, mates. See that box behind ‘em?”

“What about it?” Sam asked.

“Boys, that’s gonna be our new base,” I boasted.

All three of them leaned forward, and Avery sat on the couch looking smug until his eyes caught the clock. He gave me a look and a nod. I nodded well and gave him a goodbye smile before he walked out the door. “How do you know that?” Dean asked, eyebrows furrowed.

“Found this in my mum’s photo albums a long time ago,” I explained. “When I was eight.” I glanced at the photo in my hand and smiled fondly for a moment. “There are directions on the back how to get in, I think.”

“What’re those?” Alex inquired, resting his elbows on his knees and leaning forward.

“Tap the center panel three times, then something about beef brisket,” I told him, and almost immediately, Dean let out a loud groan.

“The bloody beef brisket,” he agonized. “Always with the beef brisket.”

“That was Dad’s favorite food,” Sam explained under his breath. Then, it made a little more sense. I gave him a nod.

“Anyway,” I drawled. “I think we should head out here tomorrow.”

“To Bond Street?” Alex asked. “But that place doesn’t exist anymore.”

“You’re right,” I agreed. “Now it’s called Gower Street.” Dean looked at me with confusion. “Mumbles told me,” I explained, and he just gave me a slow nod. “So tomorrow, then?” I asked, and everyone exchanged glances while they nodded. “Great!” I exclaimed. “So tomorrow we go to Gower Street and see what we can make of this box.”