Family Portrait: Laurie, Marie & Zach Garrison

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Posted early due to timezones.

Date: Saturday 15th September 2007 Time: Early Morning

Laurie and Marie set out for Atlantic City.



Laurie fiddled with the radio control, trying to find a station that wasn't playing harsh grinding metal music. It wasn't that she particularly minded Industrial rock just that at this time of the morning it was a bit much to take. She finally settled on a station playing 'Straylight Run'.

"Thanks for doing this." she said to Marie, looking over at her.

"You're quite welcome," Marie said, smiling at Laurie. It had been a blessing really, to have a reason to leave the mansion. It felt like everyone was staring at her these days. "When you explained what was going on to me, you wouldn't have been able to keep me from accompanying you. And the professor seemed to think it was a good idea too." Laurie had been one of the students Marie had felt close to throughout the past school year and she would do anything she could do to help the girl out, after all the trouble she'd been having.

Laurie blushed at the mention of the Professor; she hadn't exactly been sunshine and roses with the poor man. It was just difficult right now and she felt so out of control sometimes, she'd apologise when she got back.

"I'm a little scared." Laurie admitted, gazing out the window at the trees rushing by. "I don't know how he's going to react to a teenage daughter."

"There's no telling," Marie said. "And Ah think it's ok to be a little scared because of that. You gotta think about what you're hoping for versus what you think will really happen."

Laurie thought about it for a moment, the father she'd known in the dream versus the man who existed in this reality. Zach without powers had been an alright father, perhaps a little too indulgent at times and prone to wanting the best things in life but he'd loved her and she'd always known it. Zach with powers, and still the desire for the best things in life? She wasn't sure what that would do. She knew he'd hurt her mother though, and that he hadn't wanted her at all.

"I want him to be my father, the one I knew from the dream. Only, he's not going to be and I think I'm going to be hurt. What do I do if he doesn't want to help?" Laurie asked.

"Then we keep looking for other ways to help your mother," Marie said, reaching out with a gloved hand to gently pat Laurie's knee. "But that's good, that you aren't expecting your dream father. Better to keep expectations realistic and then hopefully he'll surprise you." Marie had given up on having any expectations of what a family should look like, and though she didn't want to dump her cynicism on Laurie, she also didn't want the girl to be crushed after having some ideal picture in her mind.

"I hope so." Laurie replied, before turning from the window to look directly at Marie. "What were your folks like?"

"My folks..." Marie trailed off, her hand retreating to twist a lock of hair around her finger. What a complicated questions that had become. "My adoptive parents were, well, typical parents Ah guess. Nice, loving, a little misguided at times, but they tried hard." Swallowing hard, she continued softly. "They're good folks." Better to talk about them than her apparent biological father.

"I didn't know you were adopted,"

Laurie was surprised, she'd always thought Marie must have come from some large Southern style family that went to church every Sunday and seemed to have that Uncle who was eternally rumpled hanging out on the lounge. She realised how...well, ignorant that view had been.

Marie smiled reassuringly at Laurie, surprised but happy that Laurie apparently hadn't gotten wind of all the rumors. "Didn't know myself 'til last year and it's not exactly something you come back and post in huge block letters on the journal. But being adopted didn't keep me from having a fairly normal childhood." It had taken her over a year, but she'd finally realized her Momma and Daddy were still her parents, whether or not they had been the ones to biologically create her.

"I think family is what you make it, you know? I never missed not having a Dad around; Mom was always more then enough. I think people gave her a hard time for it sometimes though, like it was somehow her fault that Dad left." Laurie replied, almost a whisper as she went back to staring at the passing scenary.

She'd like to meet those people, because she'd definitely have a few choice words for them. They'd all been long gone from her mother's circle of friends by the time Laurie was old enough to understand that not everyone had only one parent like she did.

"Sometimes people say things like that because they've got their own pain they haven't dealt with yet," Marie replied. "But it sounds like you know it wasn't her fault and that's the important thing."

"No, not her fault," Laurie said, not adding that perhaps it had been her arrival that had been the issue. "Do you think it'd be okay if I took a nap? I haven't been sleeping very well lately."

"Go ahead hun," Marie said, casting another look over at her young charge. "Ah'll wake you up when we get there." She only hoped Laurie would have pleasant dreams, something to take the girl's mind off all the trouble that had entered her life lately.

Living lost just like deer in headlights/ Terrified, blind, and wait to die/ I wonder when they'll come get me/ I wonder when they'll come get me.



Set in the Afternoon

The esteemed Mr Zach Garrison.



Laurie paced back and forth as she watched Marie inquiring at the front desk as to whether Mr Zach Garrison was currently available to see them. She hadn't expected a security apartment, and it was only Marie suggesting they try the front desk that had stopped her from bursting into tears of frustration.

She knew that should be a sign to her that she wasn't going into this meeting with her father with the right state of mind but she didn't have a choice. She needed him to help her mother, and he would help, she'd make sure of it.

"He's coming down," Marie said to Laurie after thanking the security guard. "You ready for this hun?" she asked, gently placing a gloved hand on Laurie's shoulder. She was worried for Laurie - meeting parents wasn't an experience that tended to go well for mansion residents.

"Miss D'Ancato, I presume? I'm Zach Garrison, and I believe you have me at a bit of a disadvantage here. I'm not certain if we've met, but you--"

Zach's voice trailed off as he noticed Laurie, his eyes evaluating her quickly. It wasn't hard to notice the similar build between father and daughter, the same curve of the mouth, the same curious furrow between the eyebrows. So many obvious resemblances all to realize in the first moment.

"Well," Zach said after the awkward pause, dropping his hand to his side. "This is a surprise."

"Mr Garrison." Laurie said, eyeing her father critically. He was different then she'd remembered from the dream. A little more, polished? She thought that might be it. "I believe you know my mother, Gail Collins."

"So you're Gail's daughter," Zach said without betraying any emotion. "I haven't seen her in, what, thirteen? Fourteen years?"

"Seventeen" Laurie replied, eyeing him. "Is there somewhere other then your lobby that we can talk?"

Marie was quietly watching the pair. She'd expected some kind of reaction from Zach at seeing Laurie for the first time in years, and the fact that he'd had none at all didn't bode well for how Laurie's request would go over.

"Seventeen years," Zach rubbed a hand over his chin, then nodded. He turned and spoke in low tones to the security guard behind the desk, and motioned towards a small office. "We can have some privacy here."

The room wasn't lavish by any stretch of the description, just a desk, two chairs, and a file cabinet. Zach leaned against the desk, folding his arms and looking at Marie and Laurie. "So," he repeated, "you're Gail's daughter."

"And yours." Laurie responded, suddenly irritated with the way he seemed to be completely dismissing his own responsibility in the matter. As far as she knew, the natural way to conception took more then one person. "Or would you like to make some excuse as to why we look so similar?"

Marie shifted slightly, moving to stand behind Laurie, trying to offer the girl some moral support. Zach certainly wasn't making it easy on her, but she wasn't surprised. It wasn't like anyone from the mansion ever had much luck with long lost relatives.

Zach just shook his head. "All right. You're my daughter." He spread his arms and turned in a circle, then stopped as he faced Laurie again. "Here I am. Now, if this is what you came here for..."

"No, it's not what I came here for," Laurie almost hissed, feeling anger rise at his flippant response. This was the man who was her father? She couldn't say she was impressed. "You need to come back to Westchester with us to help my mother."

Zach folded his arms. "Back to Westchester? Look... whatever your name is, I'm sorry, but I don't have any plans to head back up to New York any time soon. So I'm sorry, but you've wasted your time."

Marie mirrored Zach's body position, arms crossing over as she made sure to look him directly in the eyes. "Sir, Ah'm gonna ask you to listen to Laurie. You might want to hear the details about why she wants you to help before you just go shooting her down."

"You gave my mother cancer, Zach." Laurie said, gaze flicking briefly toward Marie before focussing back on Zach. She didn't want to put Marie into an awkward position but there was a large part of her that simply wanted to force her father to come back with them, and forgo all this useless discussion. This was her mother's life they were talking about, and Laurie would do almost anything to make sure that life was saved. "I would think someone with any sense of honour or goodness at all would want to correct that little blunder."

Zach's eyes narrowed. "Prove it," he said through clenched teeth.

"You...you bastard." Laurie breathed, shocked that he'd think she was lying to him in some way. "Do you think, what the hell do you think? Why would I tell you my mother has cancer if she didn't?"

"Because you're Gail Collins' daughter," Zach shot right back. "And mine, like you said. Tell me, which of those is supposed to engender an abundance of trust, Laurie?" He pushed off the desk and paced around the small office, breathing deeply. "Explain to me how you think I gave your mother cancer."

Laurie's eyes had narrowed in anger at Zach's crack about her mother. Why would her being her mother's daughter not engender trust? The other however, she couldn't disagree with, Zach hadn't exactly proven himself to be anything but unworthy of trust so far.

"It's your power, the doctors said it must be toxic over long periods of time. And since I haven't yet to cause anyone cancer, then it had to be you." she explained, carefully as if to an infant.

"My power."

Zach stopped in his tracks, looking back and forth from Marie to Laurie. "So which of them told you all about me? Your mother? The Professor? Erik?"

"Doctor Summers-Grey, actually" Laurie said, folding her arms and glaring at the man. "After I told her I thought it was me, because I didn't think anyone could do the same things I could do. Only you can, can't you? It's your fault, all of it. They put me in a jail cell, I didn't have anyone who knew how to help me control it. You didn't even give enough of a damn to find out about your own child. I hate you."

"Jean?" Zach's eyebrows hit his hairline in surprise as the rest of his daughter's invective set in. "Well, that's what the Professor's school is all about, isn't it? Control what you can do. Don't use it unless Charles Xavier says so. Always for the greater good, is that still the party line? And believe me, Laurie, you can hate me all you like. Because as much as you think you do, you don't know the first thing about me."

He reached into an inner pocket, fishing out a card and scribbling a phone number on the back. Looking down at Laurie, Zach walked for the door and handed the card to Marie as he passed.

"Tell Jean that I'll be in touch."



Evening

Marie tries to get Laurie to calm down on the drive back.



Laurie stared pensively at the road before them, having turned the radio off some time back. She still couldn't understand whether Zach handing them his phone number meant that he would help or not. He didn't seem particularly inclined to do so, but then...she was so confused.

"Hon, take a deep breath and try and calm down. Ah'm having trouble concentrating on my driving," Marie said with a worried look at Laurie. In the room with Zach she'd felt anger, an anger that didn't belong to her and one she'd fallen silent trying to control so that Zach didn't end up punched through a wall.

Laurie did as she was told, taking a deep breath and letting it out, attempting to get some sort of control over her emotions. She didn't want them having an accident because she couldn't suck it up. So her father was a jerk, so what? There were lots of jerks in the world, it was just a case of percentages.

"I'm sorry. I just feel like this was such a useless trip. Time I could have been spending helping Dr Summers-Grey, rather then chasing after my jerk of a father." Laurie replied, bitterness lacing her words.

"You didn't know until you tried...and he still might surprise you," Marie said, trying to reassure Laurie. Someone had to have a family that would be good to them.

"Maybe," Laurie replied, trying for a smile but knowing it was a lost cause. "I guess he did give us his phone number, didn't he?"

It was a small ray of hope, and something she'd willingly hold onto with both hands and teeth if it meant her mother might live.

"Yeah," Marie said, smiling encouragingly at Laurie. She just hoped she wasn't giving the girl false hope. "But maybe Jean'll have had another idea for how we can help your mom by the time we get back. You couldn't have better people trying to help her...maybe try and focus on that."

Laurie nodded, trying for a smile and managing it...just. She needed to stay positive, not only for herself but for her mother as well. She'd been with her almost every day since they'd found out, lending a bit of her power toward the process of keeping her strong. Laurie might not be able to cure it but she could at least stop her mother's body from breaking down too much from the strain of the treatments.

"You're right, I need to stay positive. I'm not going to help anyone if I give up now."

"And when you start having trouble feeling that way, you have friends who are here to support you," Marie replied. "Just remember that this isn't something you have to do by yourself."