Chapter 44
Sometimes I think that me constantly dying even when I don’t want to is karma for trying to off myself the first time. I had no intention of dying until I was old, grey, and senile. Now it’s like I can’t even cross a street without getting run over by a bus, or getting mugged, or having a house fall on me, and now a demigod threw me over a freaking cliff.
I should have left him….
I should have left him…
Where the hell should I have left him?
That was going to be a problem.
When I first started coming back, I could have sworn I was going to wake up in a hospital. They all smell the same. Sterile and clean but in an artificial overly strong smell.
“Ah!” I sat up coughing up water.
“Turn her on her side!” Someone shouted and I felt someone’s grab me and force me to face the side of the bed. Someone else pulled my hair out of my face as I coughed up the water I had drowned in.
“Ugh…” I groaned. “I hate drowning.”
“Here drink.” Someone said.
When I finally looked up I saw that it was Clint and Natasha.
“I have never been happier to see you two.” I said hugging them tight.
“UH…” Clint said tensing trying to get out of the hug
“You’ve known us for like five minutes.” Natasha deadpanned patting my back awkwardly.
“Huh?” I said pulling away only to realize that this Clint was missing an arm and this Natasha was not as social.
“I think you’re confusing us with someone else.” Clint said.
“Murderbots took over your world?” I asked.
“And then you brought us here in the middle of an alien invasion.” Natasha said.
“Oh…” I said. “Did you guys win?”
“Barely.” Clint said as I sat up and took a closer look at his eyes.
“Well no creepy blue eyes, so safe to say you’re not brainwashed.” I said.
“That happened in your world too?” Clint groaned.
“Yeah.” I said.
“What happened to you?” Natasha said.
“Uh… that’s actually a really good question.” I said rubbing my eyes. “I remember going to the airport and then everything gets kind of fuzzy. Sort of like a light flickering. There was a lot of walking, some climbing, I was talking to… Odin and… then the asshole pushed me over a cliff. Crap, I was doing so good at staying alive.”
“There’s always next time.” Clint said.
“It took me over 20 times to get back last time.” I said getting back on my feet.
“You’ve died 20 times?” Natasha said.
“No, it’s actually way more than that. I lost track.” I said. “Alright, one of you want to point me in the direction of a roof, or I guess I can try a gun. Whichever’s faster.”
“You sure you don’t want to take a break, maybe eat something first?” Natasha asked.
“Oh no, that’s not a good idea.” I said. “It won’t travel well. Roof?”
“Down the hall to the right, take the stairwell all the way up.” Natasha said.
“Thank you.” I said walking out of the room.
About 10 Deaths Later…
My landing at the bottom of the dark pit did not get any softer the more I did it. In fact it was starting to feel like each time I was here it took me longer to get pulled up again.
“Hanna…” the distorted voice sang.
“Who said that?” I asked.
There was no answer other than a clicking sound and the water dripping down on the wet floor.
I could barely see anything but there was something moving in the dark. A shadow.
The clicking sound got closer.
“Hanna…” The voice sang almost taunting me.
I turned as I felt something brush past me.
I heard a splash of water before I got yanked up again.
When I woke up again I was alone in a park. It was early in the morning and it was cold and foggy.
I saw a couple running along the path.
“Excuse me?” I called out.
“Another drunk passed out in the park.” The woman scoffed ignoring me as her boyfriend moved her behind her.
“I told you we should have taken our chances at the rose garden.” He said.
“Dick.” I cursed still feeling a bit stiff, probably from the rigor mortis.
Then I realized something, there was only one universe I had been in where that type of jerk was the norm and if I was in that universe there one place I needed to be.
So I ran without letting anything stop me. I ran through the streets, through alleys and finally down my block, just in time to see a very family messy dark blonde-haired boy walk out of his building.
“Dad hurry up…” He called out.
“One minute.” Theo called down.
“We’re going to be late.” Jamie whined.
“At least he’s not hogging the bathroom.” I said getting his attention.
Jamie turned around dropping his backpack.
“Mom!” Jamie shouted before tackling me in a hug.
“OH!” I groaned as he hugged me tight.
“You know you’re rushing me but you forgot your…” Theo said coming out before spotting us.
“Honey, I’m home.” I said still hugging Jamie.
“Mom’s back!” Jamie said.
“She sure is.” Theo said hugging me. “You look like a hobo.”
“Rough trip.” I said. “Are we walking to school?”
“We’re actually late. Shit.” Theo said checking the time on his phone. “I have a thing…”
“I can walk Jamie to school.” I offered.
“Really?” Theo said almost surprised I offered.
“It’s not like I haven’t done it before.” I said taking Jamie’s backpack and putting in his lunch pack.
“You sure?” Theo said as I took the backpack out of his hand.
“Of course. I got him. Go before you miss the train.” I said.
“Thank you.” Theo said giving Jamie a hug and kissing the top of his head. “I’ll see you after school, be good, learn something!”
“Alright buddy, catch me up. What have I missed?” I asked as we made our way to his school.
“They opened up a new boba place.” Jamie said.
“Another one?” I asked.
“Uhuh.” Jamie said. “They also sell chicken fingers.”
“Weird combo.” I said.
“They taste like fish.” Jamie said.
“We’re never going there.” I said. “You in the mood for a donut?”
“It’s too early, maybe after school?” Jamie asked looking at me strangely almost as if trying to gauge my reaction.
“Good call.” I said. “Have I missed anything big?”
“Not really. Just the same old same old.” Jamie answered.
“Same old, same old huh? I could use some of that. I could really, really use some of that.” I said.
“Mom?” Jamie said snapping me out of my daze.
“You have no idea how much I missed you.” I said ruffling his hair.
“Missed you too.” Jamie said hugging me as we got to the school. “Are you picking me up?”
“If you want. Your dad looks like he’s busy.” I added. “Picking up those extra shifts?”
“Second job.” Jamie corrected.
“That’s your dad for you.” I said. “I’ll be here. 2:30?”
“2:30.” Jamie confirmed before running into the school as the bell rang.
I waited until Jamie was inside and out of sight before heading back to the apartment. It’s not like I had anywhere else to go.
This universe had not changed at all, even now that I could see it in color. I knew how to get into the building by wiggling the doorknob on the front door counterclockwise one and one quarter of the way before pulling it to get in without a key. The third step on the stairs was slightly higher than the others and the fifth step was wobbly. Lastly I knew that we always kept a spare set of keys in the planter in the hallway in case we got locked out.
“Home sweet home.” I said as I walked in. The place was… “Ugh…”
There was a stench that could only be described as sweaty feet and… whatever the heck died in the kitchen sink.
“Boys.” I said almost slipping on a dirty sock.
I did not feel so bad about how bad I looked and probably smelled right now. The question now was, do I clean myself up before or after cleaning up. That questioned answered itself once I saw what a mess the bathroom was.
There had to be something going on with Theo because there was no way he would just let things go like this. I washed dished, cleaned out the fridge, deep cleaned the bathroom, did a couple of loads of laundry including the linens and bedsheets.
I was putting away the clean clothes in the closet when I found a letter hidden in Theo’s underwear drawer.
“UCLA?” I said opening it up. “Huh.”
Meanwhile – Universe 616
“Anything?” Steve asked looking over Tony’s shoulder as he worked on his tablet trying to get a ping on Hanna’s last location.
“Same answer as when you asked me two minutes ago. Natashalie and Legolas just had to teach her how to stay under the radar.” Tony cursed. “Or that Jarvis is still running interference.”
“Is there another way to track her?” Steve asked.
“Got her!” Clint said running in.
“You did?” Tony and Steve said surprised.
“How?” Tony said. “I can’t get a ping on her bracelet.”
“I wasn't tracking her bracelet. I looked at the security feed at Heathrow, found her and followed from there.” Clint said. “After she hung up on you and she did some shopping.”
“Duty Free.” Tony said.
“Hanna didn’t stay in London. She got on a flight to Oslo.” Clint said.
“Norway?” Steve said suddenly more alert. “Where in Norway did she go?”
“What’s in Norway?” Bruce asked looking between Steve and Tony.
“Nothing.” Tony said. “Why would she want to go to Norway? Sure the fish is great but the land of Vikings doesn’t really seem like something Hanna would be interested in.”
“Nat’s working on pinging her exact location from her cell phone.” Clint said.
“Got her!” Natasha said running in with Bruce and Thor. “She’s in a town called Tonsberg.”
“Out of all of the places she could have run away to, she chose Norway?” Tony said still in disbelief.
“Maybe that’s why she chose Norway.” Bruce said as everyone turned to him. “It’s the last place anyone would ever think to look for her.”
“That’s not it.” Steve said finally putting two and two together. “We need to go there. Now.”
“What happened to we need to wait it out? We need to be patient and let her come to us?” Tony mocked.
“Tony there’s a reason she’s in Norway.” Steve said.
“Guys…” Clint said looking at Natasha’s hair. “Nat’s hair isn’t red anymore.”
“Shit.” Natasha said starting at Steve and noticing that his blue shirt and eyes were now gray.
“Jarvis get the quinjet ready.” Tony said throwing aside his tablet. “And pack my suit.”
Back in Universe 1218 -
I spent most of the morning trying to make the apartment habitable again. Three hours in I gave up on that and settled for making sure the health department wouldn’t condemn the apartment. I could try again tomorrow.
Once I was out of the shower I dug through the closet to put together an outfit for myself. I found a few of my old things. A black button up dress and a pair of sneakers that still fit. I cleaned the sneakers so that you could tell they were white. By the time I was done it was almost time to pick up Jamie. It was a bit chilly out so I grabbed Theo’s denim jacket and rolled up the sleeves.
I got to the school a few minutes before the final bell rang. Theo was already there and was surprised to see me.
“You’re here.” He said.
“I did promise Jamie.” I said. “I would have called but I lost my phone.”
“You tend to lose a lot of stuff.” Theo said looking me up and down. “Is that my jacket?”
“I got cold.” I said stuffing my hands in the jacket pocket. “I didn’t have time to cook anything so I was thinking we stop by for burgers or something and maybe a quick grocery run on the way back?”
“Sure.” Theo said as Jamie ran out of the gate and gave me a hug.
“Hey bud.” I said returning the hug.
“Good day at school?” Theo asked.
“We’re having a field trip!” Jamie said.
“Fun, where to?” I asked glancing at Theo and knowing we were both hoping for the same thing; a free museum day trip. Here’s hoping the school was cheaping out on us.
“The Observatory!” Jamie said. “We’re going to see a laser light show!”
Shit. That was easily going to be $30-50. Enough to throw off the budget. I wonder if the school accepted credit cards.
“Sounds fun buddy.” Theo said forcing a smile to hide how much he was freaking out as he mentally crunched the numbers.
“You up for some burgers?” I said.
“In-N-Out!” Jamie said running.
“Fuck me.” Theo said.
“Breathe.” I said looping my arm through his and pulling him along. “We’ll figure it out. We always do.”
“Things are a little tight right now.” Theo said.
“Things are always tight.” I reminded him.
“They are but inflation is not helping.” Theo said.
“Oh what a bitch.” I said making him laugh.
“Yeah, what a bitch.” Theo said before he started laughing making me laugh.
“We’ll come up with a plan, but for now let’s go stuff our faces while we still can.” I said.
“I think Jamie has a free burger certificate he got last month for perfect attendance.” Theo said.
“I can cover this one. Let’s save that one for when we’re back to living on instant ramen.” I said.
“So next week?” Theo retorted.
“We’ll figure it out.” I reassured him as I thanked myself for taking Tony’s credit card with me when I went to find Odin and the fact that it seems to work in other universes for some weird unexplained reason.
I know that I was very fortunate that Tony despite putting up a very self-centered egotistical was very generous and since I had crashed into him, he had… for lack of a better word spoiled me. He was very generous with the people he cared about even if he didn’t make it obvious, he was doing it. I had a pretty good life in New York. I never worried if I was going to be able to afford rent or my next meal there. Though I have to say even the best restaurants couldn’t come close to the run-down diner down the street from the apartment.
I don’t know if it was the sticky floors, the lead-based paint chipping off the walls or the fact that the health department shut this place down every six months before it reopened under a different name but no gourmet Michelin award winning fries could compare to the Chili cheese fries at Sweeney’s diner.
“Um…” I moaned as the melted cheese caressed my tastebuds.
“They don’t have chili cheese fries in… Where did you go again?” Theo asked.
“Haiti, and no they did not.” I said. “It’s the little things you take for granted. Eat the tomato and lettuce.”
“But it’s squishy.” Jamie complained as he picked it off of his lettuce.
“Mine isn’t, trade you for your pickles?” Theo said.
“But that’s the best part.” Jamie whined.
“Pickles are not the best part of a burger.” I said. “It’s the bun and the cheese.”
“That’s a grilled cheese.“ Jamie deadpanned.
“Exactly.” I said biting my meatless hamburger.
“You’re such a weirdo.” Theo said teasing me.
“So what’s new with you?” I asked.
“Oh nothing much.” Theo said.
“Really? Nothing at all? Not even a fishy chicken boba shop?” I retorted.
“As if we really needed another boba shop around here.” Theo said.
“Over saturated market.” I said shaking my head.
“You know what we really need around here?” Theo said.
“Affordable grocery store? Laundromat? Rent Control?” I retorted.
“Yes, yes and god yes. But what I was really going to say is an all day breakfast place.” Theo said.
“You really think we need another overpriced brunch place?” I said. “We can barely afford rent as is.”
“Not a brunch place, an all-day breakfast place.” Theo said. “Nothing fancy. Just eggs, bacon, sausages, omelets or burritos hell maybe even cereal, coffee and juice but all day, all night. Breakfast whenever you want.”
“Like Denny’s” Jamie said.
“And those IHOP’s that are open 24 hours.” I added.
“Norms?” Jamie said.
“No not like those.” Theo said.
“And this place.” I said.
“Not like this place, I meant a place where the food is actually good.” Theo said making the waitress and the cook at the table next to us clear their throats. “Like you’d be eating here if it wasn't free.”
“Yeah this place is a real shit hole.” The waitress wiping the counter said.
“My point.” Theo said gestured around him.
“I think the only point you made was that we desperately need some groceries so we don’t have to eat here again.” I pointed out.
“Can we have a sushi night?” Jamie asked.
“I don’t know…” Theo said.
“We have to check if they have good tuna at the store first.” I said.
“And avocados, and carrots so it’ll be healthy.” Jamie listed and Theo tried his best to hide how much each new item on the grocery list twisted the knife stabbing his wallet.
I dragged them both to the closest grocery store and get everything we could possibly need and then some. Theo and Jamie were hesitant to grab anything. Jamie only grabbing one apple putting it in the cart and asking if he should get more. Theo picked up a can of soup put it back then picked it up again and put it back.
Then when we were at the register, he tried to put things back but I stuck the card in the chip reader before he could argue.
“You didn’t have to do this.” Theo said.
“I’ve seen your fridge. I really, really had to.” I said as we lugged everything from the metro station back to the apartment. “Besides, I’m like months behind on my child support payments.”
“True.” Theo said opening the door to the apartment.
“Dad, I think we’ve been robbed!” Jamie shouted once we got inside.
“What?” Theo said.
“No buddy, this is just what the apartment looks like when it’s clean.” I corrected.
“You cleaned?” Theo said looking around surprised while also checking where I put all of his things.
“Someone had to.” I said as I started unbagging the groceries and putting them away.
“The bathroom’s white again!” Jamie cheered making Theo laugh.
“I also did a couple of loads of laundry.” I said. “Including the sheets.”
“Did I mention how happy I am to have you visit?” Theo said. “Because I’m so happy you’re here.”
“I know.” I said with a smirk. “Alright where’s my sous chef, no way I’m going to roll all the sushi by myself.”
“I’m washing my hands.” Jamie called out.
“With soap.” Theo and I reminded him.
I kept Jamie busy in the kitchen while Theo paid his bills and took some time for himself on Youtube and TikTok.
“Alright bud, I’ll finish cleaning up, you get ready for a shower.” I said.
“Do I still need to use my shower sandals if it’s clean now?” Jamie asked.
“I would just to make sure you don’t slip. We need to get a new bathroom matt.” Theo said.
“I’ll stop by the 99 cents store tomorrow after we drop your off at school.” I said.
“The 99 cents store closed.” Jamie said walking into the closet to get his Pjs and towels.
“What?” I said.
“Yeah, the company went bankrupt. They all closed a few weeks ago. It was all over the news.” Theo said.
“Seriously? Damn inflation’s a bitch.” I said. “Is the off brand one still open?”
“It’s a family dollar now.” Theo said. “and it’s open for now. Just don’t buy any snacks or… clothes… stick to the bathmat and nothing else.”
“Do I want to know?” I asked.
“Look it up on TikTok.” Theo said watching and waiting for Jamie to close the door to the restroom and start the shower.
“So, you’re going to drop off Jamie at school tomorrow?” Theo asked in Spanish.
“Is that a problem?” I asked continuing in Spanish.
Years ago when Jamie was learning to talk and become more aware of some of our more adult conversations and we still thought we were only going to be temporary guardians, we realized that the best way to have private conversations while living in close quarters was to switch to a language we never taught our son.
In hindsight, it was not the best long-term decision for Jamie. Being bilingual would have looked great on his college applications.
“No, it’s great I just… didn’t know how long this layover was going to be.” Theo said. “Don’t they need you in… Haiti?”
“I wrapped up in Haiti.” I said. “And I haven’t received an assignment yet. I was thinking of sticking around for a bit, you know if you’ll have me?”
“Of course we can squeeze you in.” Theo said looking like he wanted to say something but deciding against it.
“You okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, just the usual things that pop up.” He said.
I wanted to bring up the admissions letter I had found earlier but decided against it. He was tired and now was not the time. Besides I think I needed to get a better idea of what was going on around here.
“There’s an easy fix to that.” I informed him.
“Margaritas?” Theo asked.
“No it’s a school night and you have work tomorrow. Doesn’t mean we can’t get chocolate wasted.” I said pulling out a pint of ice cream from the fridge.
“There really is nothing chocolate ice cream can’t fix.” Theo said pulling out the spoons. “Just make it quick, if Jamie eats any ice cream he’s not going to fall asleep.”
Back in Universe 616 -
Tony and Natasha spent the hours during their flights hacking through Jarvis’ safety firewalls to finally get a more accurate ping on Hanna’s cell phone. The signal led them outside of Tonsberg.
“This is the place?” Steve asked.
“Are we sure?” Clint said sticking his hands in his pockets as he tried to stay warm.
“This is where the signal is coming from.” Tony said from his suit.
“Hanna came all this way?” Thor asked. “There’s nothing here.”
“Not to mention it’s freezing. She puts on an extra sweater if the thermostat is under 75 and won’t go outside of it rains but this is where chose for her vacation?” Clint pointed out.
“Not sure we can call it a vacation.” Natasha said.
“Signal’s coming from over there.” Tony said pointing toward a large cliff.
“That’s more of a climb than a hike.” Steve said.
“Or we could just fly?” Tony suggested.
“You and Thor go ahead. We’ll go on foot and see if we can find anything down here.” Steve said.
“Hurry up Pointbreak.” Tony said flying away. Thor quickly spun Mjolnir and followed after him.
“What should we be looking for?” Natasha said.
“Any hint as to why Hanna would be here.” Steve said looking around trying to see anything that looked like what he had seen in the movie.
“I think it’s pretty obvious. She wanted to get as far away from as possible.” Clint said.
“Probably but, why Norway?” Natasha said looking at the ground and kicking a few leaves aside. “There are better places to be that are farther away.”
“I don’t think it’s that simple. Nothing with Hanna ever is.” Steve said deep in thought. “When I was in Hanna’s world she let me see one of the movies. The one about me in the 40s. The movie started with Hydra and the Red Skull invading Tonsberg and finding the Tesseract.”
“That was over 70 years ago. Hanna said we won’t find it again until next year.” Clint said.
“Maybe, or maybe there’s a reason the Tessaract was here to begin with.” Steve said. “They should have left that thing in the ocean.”
“We found something.” Tony said via their comms.
“Hanna?” Bruce asked.
“Her phone.” Tony said.
“She must have fallen as she tried to climb up.” Thor said swinging his hammer and flying up to the top off the cliff.
“Thor wait!” Tony said flying after him.
Thor was ready for a fight but when he got to the top and he looked around he saw there was nothing there. At least that’s what it looked like to him.
Odin watched his son look straight through him. If it had been Loki he would have easily seen through the illusion he had casted. Magic had never been Thor’s best subject.
“There’s nothing here.” Tony said. “It’s a nice view.”
“You think Hanna would try to climb up here to watch the sunset?” Thor asked.
“I don’t know Thor. I don’t know what goes on in her head. I don’t think even Hanna knows what goes on in her head.” Tony answered with a sigh. “My old man used to say that the moment you think you know what's going on in a woman's head is the moment your goose is well and truly cooked.”
“Your father was a wise man.” Thor said in agreement.
“That’s debatable.” Tony said.
“Anything up there?” Steve said over the comms.
“Nothing. All clear.” Tony said with a sigh.
“We still haven’t checked her hotel room.” Natasha answered. “Maybe she left something there to tell us why she came here.”
“It’s worth a shot.” Clint said.
Universe 1218 – One Week Later
When Theo said that things were bad, he was not kidding. He only had $30.00 in the bank to make it to his next paycheck in 2 weeks.
I immediately went into damage control and started seeing where we could cut corners. That was hard to do when you were cutting every corner you could to begin with.
“How the hell did things get this bad?” I asked late one night after Jamie had gone to bed.
“They cut my hours, rent went up, bills went up, everything went up.” Theo said. “I’m looking for another job…”
“You’re already working two jobs. Another one isn’t going to help.” I said going through the spreadsheet. “Okay here’s something. If you cut down on your student loan payment, it should give you a bit of wiggle room…”
“I thought about that but the interest rates would kill me later.” Theo said.
“I’m not saying quit paying just send in the minimum until things settle down.” I said.
“That is the minimum.” Theo deadpanned.
“What the fuck?” I said picking up the statement. “Whoa!”
“Yeah, Uncle Sam is taking his sweet ass time forgiving my student loans.” He said.
“We’re not even middle class, we shouldn’t be getting screwed over this badly.” I said. “And they raised the rent on this place? Legally this place doesn’t even exist.”
“Gentrification.” Theo said as if that explained it.
“Alright, it’s going to be tight but we’ve been through this before. I have some cash saved up and that should hold us over for a month or two.” I said. “Jamie loves PB & J Sandwiches, he’ll love it.”
“I’m sure our ten year old that can tell the difference between sushi grade tuna and the frozen stuff we get at ALDI will love that.” Theo groaned. “I’ll call Lana and see if she can hook me up with a few catering gigs. They’re mostly a few hours at night on the weekends so I can swing them. Plus cash tips.”
“And what about Jamie?” I said. “You can’t leave him alone.”
“I don’t want to but… it’s a few hours at night.” Theo said with a shrug.
“It’s a few hours at night in our neighborhood.” I reminded him.
“Bad idea.” Theo said. “I’ll figure it out.”
“We’ll figure it out.” I corrected him.
“Will we?” Theo said.
“Yes. In the meantime I’m going to Zelle you some cash so you don’t get hit with an overdraft fee in case autopay kicks in early.” I said grabbing the laptop and logging into my bank account.
“I’m failing as a dad aren’t I?” Theo said.
“Your dad was a homophobic asshole who kicked you out at 17 when his attempt to ‘fix you’ failed and mine was a negligent abusive asshole who’s solution to every problem was to either scream at it, drown himself in alcohol or hit me with his belt or whatever he could throw at me. Being poor isn’t a crime or you failing as a parent, it’s just a rough patch. We will figure it out.” I said.
“You’re being weirdly calm about all of this.” He said.
“You know the golden rule.” I said.
“Always say please and thank you?” Theo teased.
“We can freak out, we just can’t freak out at the same time.” I reminded him.
“You never freak out.” Theo said.
“I time my freak outs for when I’m alone in the shower where no one can hear me.” I said with a smile.
“That’s really fucked up.” He said.
“It’s either that or hiding under the bed.” I answered.
“I remember the first time I saw you do that. I had to get a tetanus shot.” Theo retorted before yawning. “I think I’m ready for bed.”
“I’ll take the couch. I’m going to stay up a bit longer, see if I can find a few work arounds.” I said.
“Don’t stay up too late, you promised Jamie pancakes.” Theo said patting me on the shoulder. “Good Night.”
“Night.” I said waiting for Theo to slip into the bedroom and close the barn style doors that separated the bedroom from the apartment. They were a pain to get into the apartment and install but they did come in handy.
It was good to get some rare modicum of privacy in this apartment. It also gave me a chance to do some light snooping.
Theo was still logged into his email account and it was easy to guess his password. He had used some variation of the same one he had always used, a mash up of Jamie’s name and all of our birthdays.
I thought I’d have to scroll all the way down going through each individual email but Theo was just as meticulous as I was about keeping things sorted. He had saved all the emails in a separate folder labeled UCLA-TRANSFER.
It was months ago during the first time I landed back here with Steve that Theo had reached out to the admissions office about applying. He had gotten his transcripts, taken a few general education courses at a community college before applying as a transfer and he had gotten in.
By the looks of it he had received the admissions email a few weeks ago with his financial aid offer.
Tuition had definitely gone up and while financial aid could cover a part of it would still leave him with a big chuck to pay out of pocket. Not to mention the overpriced textbooks.
I kept looking through the folder and found an email asking about the possibility to defer admissions for a year but that was not an option for a transfer student. It was literally now or never.
This news could not have come at the worst time for him.
I took a breath before I opened up my bank information to see if I could move some things around. I did have some savings, I even had a bit saved up in my retirement account thanks to my old job in Big Pharma.
I went onto UCLA’s website and started looking at their options to see how I could make this happen.
Days Later…
It took a few days, a very long commute via public transit which has not gotten any better, some heavy networking and some light snooping but I was going to make it happen.
Theo had ignored what I had said and had taken an extra job working for a catering service. He had been getting home late.
“Hanna!” Theo called storming in and running up the stairs.
“Hi honey, how was your day?” I said popping open a pair of beers for us.
“What did you do?” He said.
“Besides make your favorite dinner because I am sure today was a great day for you.” I said grinning.
“Don’t you… wait you made lasagna soup?” Theo said.
“There’s enough for leftovers too.” I said.
“You… Ugh!” Theo said turning around only to notice Jamie was asleep. “You. Me. Roof. Now!”
“Don’t forget your beer.” I said taking mine and following him upstairs.
Theo was fuming all the way up to the roof and once we were there I took a seat in a pool chair we had left up there for when we grilled in the summer while he continued to pace around.
“You… I can’t believe you!” Theo exclaimed
“Did something happen today?” I said playing coy.
“Oh don’t play dumb and blonde with me, you know what you did!” He said.
“I’ve done a lot of things lately but no idea what I could have done to make you this angry.” I said.
“You paid my tuition!” Theo shouted. Technically Tony’s credit card paid for Theo’s tuition.
“Oh that!” I said “Happy Early Late Birthday!”
“Are you fucking kidding me?!” He said.
“You don’t look happy, why aren’t you happy?” I said.
“Where do you want me to begin? The fact that you hacked my email, snooped through my things and went behind my back to do this?” He said.
“I wouldn’t have had to snoop if you had told me you got into UCLA. Which by the way…” I said reaching out and pulling out a vintage college t-shirt with the school name and logo. “Congratulations Bruin Class of 2024, I promise not to hold it against you that you betrayed our old team.”
“This is nice really but, you need to get your money back. I can’t do it.” He said. “It’s not a good time.”
“Yeah you can. It’s done. Tuition from now until your graduation is fully paid for.” I said.
“How… Where did you get the money?” Theo said.
“Big Pharma pays really well. I had a really healthy savings account.” I said.
“You had a year’s worth of tuition in your bank account?” He said in disbelief.
“And in a few other rainy-day funds.” I said.
“Well that’s really sweet of you but I still can't do it. I can’t stop working. There are still bills to pay and…” Theo started hyperventilating.
“And I will take care of it.” I reassured him.
“I know Big Pharma pays well buy there’s no way you have that much money saved up.” Theo said.
“I don’t but my job comes with full benefits and a very nice salary, and I’ll be doing some freelance project managing work which will hold us over until you graduate and get the job you deserve.” I said.
“You got your job back?” He said.
“Apparently I’m almost impossible to replace. Even after I quit on short notice.” I said.
“What about Steve and helping the needy in Haiti, Thailand, or wherever you were?” Theo said.
“The world will still be a mess in a year and it’s not going anywhere. Steve should have it handled until I get back.” I said. “For the most part. You need me more.”
“I can’t let you do this.” Theo said. “I mean you’re finally traveling the world like you always wanted to and you’re the happiest I've ever seen you.”
“I’m happy here too. I missed you guys, it felt like something was missing. Besides we had a deal remember?” I said. “You dropped out of school to work full time and supported me while I finished, and I was supposed to do the same for you. It’s my turn now. I owe you this and I want to.”
“It made sense, you had an internship and headhunters fighting over you…” Theo said.
“And so will you.” I said. “Your dreams matter just as much as mine. So, stop arguing, put on the damn t-shirt and scream to world that you’re not a college dropout anymore.”
“I’m really going to back to school.” Theo said tearing up.
“Not just any school, you’re going to UCLA.” I said offering him the T-Shirt again and this time he took it and started crying.
“I got into fucking UCLA!” Theo shouted as finally accepted it was happening.
“You got into fucking UCLA!” I said crying with him.
“I’m going to UCLA!” He shouted.
“You’re going to UCLA!” I shouted.
“Are you sure?” Theo said.
“Yeah. It’s a year, the world can wait a year.” I confirmed.
It was one year. I owed Theo and Jamie and everyone that. Besides it’s not like I was making any progress in New York or even…. Where the fuck was I?
Yeah, that is going to annoy the heck out of me. The girl with perfect recall can’t remember where the king of Asgard pushed her over a cliff or why he even did it.
I guess that was going on the list of things I needed to work on this year.