Part 5; Arizona

Arizona was driving the van that they had taken from the Dracs and loaded to near bursting with supplies from the beat down store. Next to him sleeping in the passenger seat was the little girl known as Blastzone Babydoll. She was apparently deaf and therefore she couldn’t speak. She was cute, and looked almost familiar but Ari quickly dismissed having met her at all, that maybe she just reminded him of the little sister he had back before they ran, leaving their Draculiod father behind. But a bomb had gone off killing his mother and baby sister. There was no way it could be her.

    She shifted slightly, looking positively adorable. Ari smiled to himself, which was an odd occurrence. Ahead of him, Wasp was driving with Mighty Mouse and more supplies. They looked to be having a deep discussion, that or catching up. He assumed the latter. He focused on the road or rather desert area ahead of him. By now the sun was beginning to dip into the sky, and they still had another fifteen minutes to drive.
    Arizona felt a pat on his arm ,so he glanced down to see Babydoll looking up at him with a sweet smile. He offered her a small smile before his eyes darted back to the area in front of him, then he glanced back at her to see her pointing at his goggles. He turned back to the road and held the wheel with one hand one while he used his other to pull off the goggles. He glanced down at her and handed them to her, smiling a near full-blown smile. He liked her. She was adorable and didn’t require talking to.
    She smiled and started to examine them, placing them over her eyes before pulling them off and placing a finger on one of the many spikes that protruded from them. For the next fifteen minutes, the little girl seemed to be engrossed in both the goggles and sitting in Ari’s lap, playing with the zipper on his leather jacket. He, of course, didn’t mind, as she wasn’t making any noise or being a nuisance.
    They finally arrived at the Basket where they pulled around the back and close to the small loading dock that the old restaurant had. Ari got out, holding Babydoll on his hip with his goggles hanging around her neck. He could see everything when wearing them, since they were one-way glass, but he still felt odd without them. As he turned to face Wasp she gave him an odd but approving look before she took Mighty inside. The young girl looked a lot like her mother, the same unruly hair, and she looked tired. Almost as tired as Arizona felt.
    They stepped inside and the onslaught of sound erupted around them. The place was as loud as it had been that morning and almost immediately Babydoll buried her face in Arizona’s neck her little arms hugging him tight. Wasp led Mighty away to get cleaned up while Arizona continued in to where the eating and sleeping area was. He was gonna have everyone unload things. He stepped in and after a few moments everyone quieted down. For three reasons. Arizona was not wearing goggles, he had a small girl in his arms, and he was about to speak.
    Ari’s eyes instinctively fell to his feet before he sighed and opened his mouth to speak. “Alright, we had a good day, and have a Drac van and half a Impala of new supplies, you know what to do with them, they will be distributed equally among families after tomorrow when we get back from getting the rest of it.” He told them, his voice deep and very masculine. The faces of everyone lit up in the room and they all made a dash for the loading dock while Arizona walked further in and sat down at a table, sitting Babydoll on it then sat down. She smiled at him and grabbed his hair.
    He chuckled and poked her cheek invoking a silent giggle from her when she poked him back. He smiled and ruffled her hair, again invoking a silent giggle. “She is mighty cute, where’d you get her? And how come only you and and Wasp showed up?” Came the words of Bird Song, Solar’s illegitimate boyfriend.
    “This is Blastzone Babydoll, the other girl is Mighty Mouse, Wasp’s daughter, her son is back at the store with Solar, and the others along with the rest of the gang. Wasp made them stay back to guard everything.” He told Bird. Bird gave a nod then turned around to walk off. He and Arizona didn’t get along to well, Solar and Bird had a thing, and Bird could see how jealous Arizona was of that, even if Arizona didn’t realize it.
    Arizona smiled a tiny smile, this was the first time he had seen the dining area completely empty. Babydoll reached forward and tugged on a lock of his green hair. He shook his head and grabbed her hand lightly. His hand was massive compared to her tiny one. He shook his head. “That’s my hair, I know its colored funny, but it’s no toy.” He told her then remember she could hear him. He stood and picked her up and walked her back into the bathroom to get her cleaned up. They had running water, which B.L.ind supplied without realizing it. He set her on the sink counter and turned on the sink, he took a cloth and held it under the water before he rung out most of the water and ran it over her face.  
    “Look at you, you poor thing, so dirty..” He said frowning as years of dirt and grime rubbed off onto his cloth. He rinsed it again then took his goggles from her then took off her clothing and set it to the side to be washed. The next thing he did was take a cup and fill it with water then pour it over her head. She frowned and tried to pull away but he assured her it was ok and after a while she sat there, drenched. Then he pulled out some soap. Usually they werent allowed but he had seen loads of soap and shampoo in the store so he figured it would be ok, and even if it wasn’t he was making a special use of it for the dirty little girl. He put some soap in her hair and massaged it around, suds quickly forming and turning a dark dirt color.
    After he had a good lather worked up he closed his eyes hoping she would understand. She didn’t so he touched her eyes and she closed them then reopened them when he pulled away. He sighed and laid her down, placing her head in the sink and turned the water on so that it flowed down over her hair, then he began rinsing the soap out. She looked up at him as if confused by this new ritual, her pretty blue eyes sparkling with curiosity. After he had her hair rinsed out and the rest of her clean he started drying her off when Mighty mouse stepped in quietly, just in time to hear Arizona say, “So you’re a little blonde huh?” Mighty’s eyes widened and she pushed him away, and in his surprise he fell over.
    “Don’t touch her you pedophile freak!.” She shouted, scooping Babydoll up.
    “What? No, she was dirty, so I cleaned her up, nothing wrong with that.” He said standing up. He looked down at her his eyes showing all truth and after a moment of intense stare down Mighty nodded and set a scared looking Babydoll down.
    “Sorry. I’m just protective of her.” She said averting her eyes and stepping around him towards one of the stalls. “Do the toilets work?” She asked nervously. Arizona nodded then turned back to Babydoll where she was wrapped in a green towel. He blocked the sink drain and filled it with water then submerged her clothing in the water then set to washing it clean with the rest of the soap while Babydoll once again engrossed herself in his silly looking goggles.
    Shortly after he heard the distant flush of a toilet then Mighty Mouse walked out. “I didn’t catch your name..” She said looking down at her hands as she ran water over them at another sink.
    “Toxic Arizona, you could call me Arizona if you want.” Was his short response as he rung out the little clothes and set them out on the counter to dry. By now Babydoll was dry so he took off his leather jacket and then his red Anarchy shirt. He set his jacket down next to the little girl then took the towel and finished drying her blonde locks. Next to him at the other sink Mighty was watching, her cheeks slightly flushed. Arizona took no notice as he took his shirt and slipped it onto Babydoll, turning it into an overly large dress.
    “You got a name or did your voice stop working?” He asked finally facing Mighty full on. By now her face was more then just flushed. “What? Never seen a guy without a shirt?” He said tilting his head a fraction, making fun of her. He didn’t usually do such a thing, but he found her nerves to be cute.
    “It’s uhh, M-mighty Mouse..” She finally responded before she made her way out careful not to dash nor look at him. After the door closed Arizona chuckled to himself then looked over to Babydoll who was holding her arms out waiting to be picked up. Arizona obliged but only after  he put his goggles back on and slipped out, leaving his jacket and the girl’s clothes.
    Back out in the dining area Arizona could tell by the sound of the dying noise of conversation that it was late at night. Many of the Killjoys were already asleep though there was a few who were still awake and talking quietly. Namely the ones belonging to Bird’s group. They were chatting when one of the girls saw him and broke away. She sauntered up to him and looked up at him, cocking out a hip.
    “Don’t you look mighty sexy with a baby on your hip and no shirt exposing all that muscle.” She said her southern accent thick on her tongue. Arizona rolled his eyes which she couldn’t see.
    “Shut up Cyanide.” he said tartly and stepped around her. That girl was not only queen bitch, but queen whore and it ticked her off that she still hadn’t been able to get into Arizona’s pants. She followed him closely to where he usually slept. He sat down, Babydoll immediately snuggled up to him in his lap closing her blue eyes. Moments later she was asleep. Cyanide sat next to him and leaned her head on his shoulder her hand on his upper thigh rubbing slowly and seductively.
    “Cyanide, do you remember what I did to Solar this morning when she ticked me off?” Arizona started, speaking slowly and maliciously. “Because if you do, I want you to understand that if you don’t leave me alone to sleep then it will happen to you, only I will not let go, I will let you die at my grip.” He said to her, which caused her to pout then got up and walked back over to her Killjoy family swaying her hips a little extra though Arizona wasn’t even looking.