Malibu Madness: Green vs Green Pt 1

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Doreen heads out to meet her Mom and little brother before the early morning meeting with her Mom's lawyer.

Doreen hadn't told her friends where she was going. In fact, she took her taxi money and snuck out her window with Monkey Joe in tow. She left a note though, so no one could be too worried about it that just said she'd be at her mom's today. Julian also knew.

No one needed to know about all the divorce stuff. Doreen found it overly depressing herself. She didn't want this to be happening. But if her in New York didn't make Mom and Dad work things out she was starting to wonder what would. She paid the cabbie when he pulled up outside what used to be their family home. Though the house was a very big house, it wasn't a mansion. Dad having always said there wasn't any reason to show off how well off they really were.

Well, used to be. The grass had a yellowish and brown tinge to it. Mom must've been conserving water. She made her way to the front door and opened it.

"Mom.? I'm home."

"Back here," her mother's voice came from the kitchen. Dori entered to find her mom leaning against the kitchen counter with a cup of coffee, still in her scrubs. "Hi, honey," Maureen said, favoring her with a tired smile. She set her coffee down so she could wrap her daughter in a tight hug, mindful of her tail. "How was the trip?"

"It was okay. Monkey Joe doesn't like flying," she said, her pet having taken off for where he remembered his bed being here. The house was now pretty much bare and there was the occasional box about, something Doreen didn't mention. Instead she smiled, "How was work?"

Her mom gave her a squeeze and then let go, reaching for her coffee, the tired smile still on her face. "Oh, it was work. Nothing too horrible happened, but it wasn't any quieter than usual, either. Your usual dull roar on the trauma floor." She looked behind Doreen. "And where is Monkey Joe? I hope he doesn't think he's excused from saying hello to me? I've missed him too, you know."

As if on cue, Monkey Joe poked his head into the kitchen and looked up at Maureen almost looking confused. Perhaps about things being missing or boxed, Doreen didn't know because her friend said nothing.

"Here he is," Doreen said picking him up and handing him to her mom, "We're all staying at Julian's house. Did I tell you that? It's huge. Dad would say it's a waste of space," she said before she caught herself. "I mean, he would've if he had seen it and... do you guys really have to do this?" she finally asked.

"Hey, buddy," Maureen said softly, skritching Monkey Joe behind the ears. Weirdly enough, she really had missed the guy. Some of the time. She sighed and held him out where he could climb onto Dori's shoulder.

Once he was safely out of her hands, she wrapped an arm loosely around Doreen. "I'm sorry, hon. I know this has been hard for you, especially since you've been gone--I'm sure that makes things seem like they've been moving that much faster. But yes, your father and I are both unhappy with each other, and I don't think we'll be able to be fair to you kids or to each other if we keep pretending like we're not." She rubbed Dori's arm soothingly. "I know change is hard, but sometimes it's for the best. Going to Xavier's was a big change, but it's worked out pretty well for you, hasn't it?" There may have been a touch of anxiety in her voice; with everything else going on with the divorce, Maureen was worried that Dori might fall through the cracks.

Monkey Joe made his way back to Doreen's shoulder, the first part she couldn't really smile during. If it had been just her Mom and Dad should've been able to patch things up while she was gone. But that hadn't happened, "Yeah, it's great there," she said brightly, cheering up. "Julian's there. They didn't send him to military school like everyone was saying. And I've made a lot of friends. And it's nice out there and they have a lot of trees and it's really great and I think you should come out to visit sometime. You know, if we have the money for it."

Her mom smiled. "I'd like that. I won't be able to take time off work for a while, but maybe Ryan and I can come out for Christmas instead of you coming home." She moved to the cabinet and started pulling out cereal for breakfast. "And how is Julian doing? Keeping himself out of trouble?" The question was asked with an air of gentle amusement, not judgment.

"Well, kind of," Doreen said to the last, "Trouble sort of follows him," she said with a shrug, "It must be like his other mutation, you know? Move stuff with your mind and get in trouble. OH! There are SUPER HEROES at the school Mom! Was that in the brochure? I don't think it was, but isn't that awesome?!"

That got her a raised eyebrow. "Superheroes? No, I don't remember anything about that in the brochure," her mother demurred. Dori had always been an enthusiastic, imaginative kid, but still... "What kind of superheroes?"

"Mutant super heroes!" Doreen squeaked, "Like the Black Canary, only I bet they're not as shy about using their powers why they fight bad guys as she is. Have you ever noticed that? She hardly ever uses her powers when she beats people up," she said sagely.

"I can't say I have," Maureen replied, hiding her wistfulness behind her amusement. She had missed having both of her kids under the same roof. Speaking of... "Ryan!" she called. "Breakfast!"

Only a pre-teen in a sulk could manage a reply that was both a mumble and loud enough to be heard from upstairs, and Ryan was a prime example. He took his time getting into the kitchen, still wearing his bedhair, but stopped in surprise at the sight of Dori. A half-smile flickered on his face before he remembered that he hated the world.

"What are you doing here, Fuzzbutt?"

"I had to come home for some of the divorce stuff, but Julian came back too, so I came back with him and we're staying at Julian's beach house with some of my friends from school. How're you?" she sniffed, "How long have you been wearing those clothes?"

The reminder of the divorce brought her younger brother's mood back full force. "Oh, give me a break. I'm not going to get lectured by someone who fucking sheds, OK?"

"Ryan." Their mother had brought out her Trauma Nurse Voice, cutting off Dori's reply. "One, you do not talk to your sister that way. Two, watch your language." She set a bowl and a spoon in front of him. "Dori's only here for a few days, and we've got a lot going on. Do you think you two could be civil to each other, if only for a short period of time?"

"I don't shed," Doreen muttered, the yelling reply had been stopped by Command of Mom. "We can get along. I'm glad to be home. And I'm sure things will work out okay... by that I mean... um... that... uh..." Doreen stopped for a moment wondering just how everything was going to work out okay.

Ryan frowned and poured a bowl of store-brand frosted flakes. "Yeah, right," he muttered under his breath. "Get a clue. It's over and it's your fault, all right?"

"Ryan Andrew Green." Maureen slammed the carton in her hand down on the counter, sloshing milk onto the granite. She glared at her son. "Upstairs. Now." There was no room for argument in her voice as she pointed towards the stairs. "We'll talk about this later."

Ryan got to his feet, but glared. "Don't waste your breath. I know you're just going to take her side again." He headed for the stairs. "I'm glad you two are breaking up!"

For the moment, the only sound in the room came from Monkey Joe, who was chittering angrily and jumping up and down on the counter, gesturing wildly (and quite rudely, for a squirrel) in the direction that Ryan had disappeared. After a minute, Maureen wiped her eyes and turned to her daughter, wrapping an arm around her. "Doreen, honey, your brother is just upset. And lashing out. He doesn't mean it. Okay?" She tilted Dori's chin up to look her eye to teary eye. "What's happening between your father and me...It's not your fault. I promise you that. It's not your fault."

Doreen nodded once and wiped her eyes. It was a good thing she was really too clumsy with her hands to handle make up because it would've been all over. "I... I know," she managed, even trying to smile as Monkey Joe kept going nuts. She didn't bother to tell him to knock it off. The comments about the dumb tailless human and the dumb mostly drunk older human were more than what she wanted to hear, so she tuned him out for the moment.

Doreen was an expert at putting on a happy face, and she tried it now, "I'm okay really. You can go talk to Ryan and I'll just have some breakfast. I haven't had breakfast yet because I thought we could maybe have pancakes or something, but cereal is okay too. So you can go check on him..."

Not My Fault. Not My Fault. Not My Fault. Not My Fault. Mr. Samson was quite insistent on that the few times they had talked about it.

Not my fault... not my fault... It was a mantra she never quite believed.

When Mom went upstairs, Doreen went to get a bowl, "Not my fault... not my fault... not my fault..."

She chanted that as the sounds of shouting drifted down from upstairs and went through the motions of breakfast. A bow of frosted flakes, a glass of juice (the fridge was so very bare), two slices of toast that included the heel of the bread. She never used to eat the heal of the bread. But they used to always have plenty of bread. She suddenly felt bad about being in the kitchen and eating food that Mom and Ryan would need.

Her ears twitched. She hated having such good hearing. And wondered why Ryan was swearing so much and focused on Monkey Joe instead.

[You want some granola? I'm sure Mom kept some for you, let's look for it!]

Ignore the fight upstairs.

Just focus on this.

After several minutes and one slamming door, Maureen came back downstairs. "Oh good, you found the granola," she said, trying to smile. It wasn't the gourmet granola they'd bought when Michael was still living with them, but it would do. She picked up her cold coffee and dumped it out in the sink before pouring a fresh cup from the pot. Only then did she turn to Dori. "Did you bring clothes for today, or do you need to get something from the things you left upstairs? They're mostly packed, but I'm sure we could find something."

"I'm wearing clothes already?" Doreen suggested, as she fed her pet. "...Is your lawyer nice? I mean, for a lawyer, and everything. I mean, I guess they have to be nice people or no one would ever, ever hire them," she said, chattering as she tried to eat breakfast.

Clothes packed up. Cripes, Mom really was moving out of the house. Of her house. Of Their house. She supposed it made sense. Houses here were expensive. Living with Grandpa wouldn't be. And Grandpa was cool for an old Irish Guy.

She didn't say what she was thinking. That she really didn't want to do this. And why was Daddy only suing for custody of Ryan and not her and all those other things that just sort of bubbled up.

"I guess I can get something from one of the boxes."

"She's very nice," Maureen said absently, then shook herself, her distant gaze adjusting to focus in on her daughter. She rubbed Dori's arm reassuringly. "C'mon, let's go find you something."

* * *

Doreen and her family meet with her Mother's lawyer, hoping to prepare her for what she might face in the custody hearing. Doreen finds out just where she stands with her Dad.

Elizabeth Conroy had taken on family law early on in her career, wanting to genuinely help the families she saw coming through the courts. Years of compromise had hardened her however, and she now looked at the young woman in front of her with a searching look, trying to decide what the best course of action was here.

"Doreen, a pleasure to meet you," she said finally, holding out her hand to the young mutant.

"...Um... Nice to meet you too," Doreen said, shyly holding out a clawed hand. They had found something nice in the boxes and Doreen's hair was back with a couple ribbons. The effect was almost childish.

Doreen looked back at her Mom for a moment, this whole thing was just awkward.

Elizabeth took Doreen's hand and shook, noting the feel of her hand, so different from Elizabeth's own. She'd found out recently what judge they'd drawn for the initial hearing, and things weren't looking good for them. Doreen's obvious mutation was always going to be a hard sell, which is why she'd been glad that the child was unable to be here. Now? Well, they'd just have to make the best of it they could.

"Please take a seat everyone," she said, gesturing the several seats arrayed in front of her desk. "Would any of you like something to drink?"

Doreen sat down and looked around the office, "Um... lemonade?" she squeaked.

"I'm fine, thank you," Maureen said, taking a seat between her children. She waited until drinks were served and Elizabeth had seated herself before speaking. "When we spoke on the phone you mentioned that you were concerned that Dori's mutation will be something that Michael's attorney will bring up in the custody portion of the hearing. What sorts of things should we be expecting to have to deal with?"

"Quite frankly they'll try to confuse her, possibly even anger her as much as possible. They'll want everyone to believe she's uncontrollable and a danger to her brother. If they can convince the court that Doreen may kill her brother if they were allowed to live together, then her father would gain custody quite easily."

"Why would they want to do that? I wouldn't hurt Ryan at all!" Doreen squeaked.

Elizabeth looked Maureen for a moment and then back at Dori. "Doreen, your father wants Ryan with him, and he doesn't want you. If he can make you seem dangerous, make people believe that it's in Ryan's best interests to be with him and not with your mother, then he'll achieve what he wants. His lawyer will do everything possible to make that result come to pass."

Oh.

That hit like a ton of bricks. Doreen looked down at the floor, "He doesn't want me, huh?" she managed. "I... guess I can get why...."

Maureen shot the lawyer a look, then took her daughter's hand. "Honey, I know this is hard, but we need you to be prepared. Your dad's lawyers are going to say some very mean things in court. It doesn't mean that he doesn't love you, okay?"

Ryan had been staring at the wall while the other three spoke, trying very hard to block out his sister's distress and everything else the lawyer was saying, but there was only so long you could stay quiet while everyone else was being so stupid.

"They wouldn't have to say anything if you'd let me go live with Dad like I want."

"Ryan," their mother admonished. "We've talked about this. Your father's is not a good environment for you. I'm happy to let you stay with him on the weekends, but I don't think living with him will be a...stable, healthy way of life." She folded her hands in her lap, knuckles white. "I'm sorry, Ryan, but no."

Ryan's eyes narrowed. "You're just saying that to get back at him because he wants a life that's normal!"

"Ryan! That's enough," Maureen said sharply. "I just want what's best for you, and right now, that's not your father and his--" She cut herself off; Maureen had promised herself that she wouldn't use her children as leverage in the divorce. She wasn't going to be one of those mothers who got back at her ex by ruining her kids' lives. "Don't make this any harder than it already is."

"Perhaps it's might be best to get back to the subject at hand?" Elizabeth noted, glancing at mother and son before turning back to Doreen. "Now, whatever your father may or may not feel about you personally, his lawyer is going to try their best to make you upset, and appear to be uncontrollable. Our very best solution to this will be to stop you from testifying at all. Are you willing to help us do that? I may need to be very cruel with you, and I want to make sure you're going to be ready for this."

Doreen was taking a moment to make sure she could speak without the tell tale wobble of her voice that she was going to cry. She nodded, "Can Monkey Joe come with me?" It would make it easier to take, "When we have to see the judge."

"I'm sorry Doreen, but no. They don't allow animals in the courthouse." Elizabeth replied, smiling gently at the girl. She could tell how confused Doreen was, but there was only so much she could do.

"Oh," she said, looking crestfallen, "But he's more like my friend than a pet..."

"Unfortunately the court does not see it that way. But, if you would like you can bring him and have someone look after him while you're in the courtroom," Elizabeth noted, feeling for the girl. This entire situation was always hardest on children, sometimes she wondered if the parents really saw just how hard.

"...I guess so. I'll do my best with all of this. Um... how many people are going to be there?"

"Only a few for this first hearing," Elizabeth noted, a reassuring smile touching her lips. "Just myself, your mother, your father and his lawyer and your brother. This is mostly to prove whether you're capable of taking the stand or not.

"Okay. What if there's more after that?" Dori asked.

"There'll be the judge, and no doubt press and interested members of the public," Elizabeth replied, looking over at Maureen and then back at Dori. "It would be best it not get to that point if we can help it."