Malibu Madness: Green vs. Green Epilog, A Heart to Heart

[x-squirrel.livejournal.com]

After everything has been settled and Doreen and her Mom moved to her Grandpa's hobby farm, Doreen and her Grandfather have a heart to heart. A secret not told anyone in almost twenty years comes to light...

Grandpa's house wasn't technically in Los Angeles. It was on the outskirts of one of the surrounding suburbs where you could find enough land for a place like this. The hobby farm wasn't by any means huge, but there was enough land to play around on and she had great memories of it as a kid. Everything was laid out so when you finally came on Grandpa's house, it seemed like it was hidden somehow. Like when you came upon it, it was some great surprise.

It also reminded her of a house like a hobbit would have.

But Doreen wasn't inside right now unpacking stuff into 'her' new room. (Or what would be her room when she stayed at 'home' now.)

She was outside, sitting on a swing that hung from a tree branch, pushing it back and forth slowly with bare feet. Monkey Joe was on the branch above her, but even with him chattering on she felt very alone.

Sean walked around the house in a state of utter agitation. He hadn't expected the decision to be favorable, not with Micheal's connections, but to give the man custody over either of his grandchildren was almost too much for him to stand. It simply didn't make sense. He'd been in the country for almost half a century and he knew the failings of the courts, but the judges decision was contemptuous.

As he turned the corner he smelled a very familiar odor, that of his granddaughter and realized that if he let her see him like this he would cause her even more grief. Stopping, and taking a deep breath, he collected himself and proceeded towards her favorite tree with the intent to cheer her up.

"Hey, Little One," he said, forcing a smile onto his face. It was all he could do to keep himself from breaking down and holding her close, telling her how he'd make things right, somehow.

"Hey," Doreen said, looking up. She hadn't seen her Grandpa coming, or anything, but she really wasn't paying attention to much right now. She smiled a bit, "Thanks for letting us stay with you now," she said lamely.

"It is my pleasure, Little One. You are my favorite granddaughter after all." He said, he could tell she was very down, not simply from the sound of her heart beating or the distinct smells of fear and sorrow, but also from the tone of her voice. At once he knew cheering her up would be much harder than he could imagine.

Doreen had to smile at that, “I’m your only granddaughter,” she said, not stepping off the swing. “I’m still going to miss our house,” she said, pouting, “It’s not fair.”

"I know," Sean replied, wondering for the briefest of moments if the 'life's not fair' speech was called for. He decided that it wasn't, his granddaughter knew more than most just how cruel the world could be towards the gifted. He need only recall the many times in his life he'd been persecuted, and how he'd vowed never to tell anyone but his wife of his mutation, to see just how bad it could be. "It may not seem like it right now, little one, but everything will get better. You are a strong girl, and I am happy to have you just the way you are." He smiled, full of charming sincerity.

"Yeah.. but... Dad really didn't want me," Doreen protested, not even pushing herself back and forth on the swing anymore, "but he has Ryan and all that judge saw... all he saw was my tail, Grandpa, he didn't even see me."

"And that is his failing, not yours." He said, his expression becoming more dour than he intended. He hated bigoted people, like that man, and it would take him a very long time to lose the pent up anger he felt towards them. Even though he'd always provided a safe place for his kind, others were not so respectful. "Your father, and I use that term very lightly, may have taken your brother from us for now... but I know that Ryan is good in heart and he may yet realize how wrong he is."

"I guess," Doreen said. She supposed she should be used to it by now. "I know it's not my fault, but... I still kinda feel like it's my fault," she admitted, "Like I could've said or done something different, or maybe if none of this ever happened that things could be like they used to be," Doreen said, looking down at the ground.

"Things would have eventually gotten to this point, any way you look at it, he proved that today in court. He is so preoccupied with other people's opinions that if you, or your mother, ever did anything wrong he would have run away just as fast." His blood was almost boiling. He took a moment to inhale deeply and process his thoughts. He could not vent to his granddaughter, because he did not want to upset her more. "You are a gift, a magnificent woman with talents beyond most people's imaginations. I may call you little one, but that is only so I can hold onto you for a little while longer. Someday you'll be so grown up you won't even want to come visit your old grandfather..." He tried to keep a straight face, to make the moment seem intense, but he ended up laughing his way through the end of his speech. He hoped it cheered her up as he hated seeing her so depressed.

"I'd never not want to visit," Doreen said, looking up at her Grandpa, "I think it's neat we're going to be living here because I always liked coming here and there's so much room to runaround and everything doesn't smell like smog, only a little bit like smog," she said thinking about it, "And I love you, grandpa," she said, giving him a hug.

Sean took his granddaughter tightly into his arms and held her there in silence. He would not be able to protect her from everything and everyone, but he would be there to support her when she needed him. Tears filled his eyes, and he held her tighter so she would not see how torn he felt. He wished both his grandchildren were with him at that moment, rejoicing in their love for one another, but he knew that it would probably never be that way again.

Turning his head to the side, he breathed in the smell of his granddaughter, committing everything to memory so that he could stand the time when they were apart. "Little one," he started, " I love you too." It was all he could say, all he wanted to say.

"I know. And I'm really happy we're staying here," she said, hugging him, "And Monkey Joe needs a new bed. I think his old one got lost in transit," she managed.

Crinkling his nose, Sean thought about that for a moment. "I'm pretty sure I've got the materials for another one in the shed." He knew it would be good for both of them to move around, he always felt a little jittery when he spent too much time in one space, something he always attributed to his mutation. "You should bring Monkey Joe so I can get the size right."

"Okay," Doreen said and looked up at the tree and clicked. Monkey Joe jumped down and landed on her shoulder and Doreen giggled, it did tickle, "Let's go! I know the way," she said, skipping into step.

Sean smiled as he fell in beside her. "Good. Do you still remember where all the tools are?"

"Yep!" Doreen said, fetching the tools.

She wasn't very good with her hands, her claws made her fingers clumsy. But she could hand her Grandfather things and chat. She talked a lot about school. The school did seem a lot like a second home now.

"It is nice there. But I like being home too, I guess it's nice knowing I'm not alone, you know?"

Sean finished screwing in one of the sides of Monkey Joe's new bed and then set the screwdriver gently on the counter. He looked at his granddaughter and smiled, he remembered feeling like her, being so alone that he kept judging his actions on how they would affect others. It was not a good place to be. When he met his wife everything had changed, he told her of his mutation and she supported him completely. From then on he was able to do what needed to be done, in spite of all those who would persecute him.

He reached out and touched Doreen's shoulder gently. "Little One, you are not alone." He paused, trying to figure out how to tell her without upsetting her. At that moment, he felt like he'd been lying to her since she manifested. "I share your gift, though mine is quite different. I am a rabbit."

Doreen looked at her Grandpa for a moment like she couldn’t quite figure out what he was saying and then her eyes widened, “Really?” she asked, “Really really?”

Sean smiled, "Yes." He was surprised by her frantic response, and wondered if he should have told her when she first displayed her powers. He decided that he couldn't waste time with what he should have done, because she was in front of him and she was willing to accept it. "I've never told anyone but your grandmother."

“Mom doesn’t know either?” Doreen asked, “Why? Why not tell anyone?” she asked.

"No, I never told your mother." He paused for a moment, collecting himself as a flood of repressed emotions hit him. He'd spent a lot of time hiding and his nature made it very difficult for him to simply come out and talk about things he knew could hurt both of them.

"I didn't tell anyone because my father reacted to my mutation by trying to get rid of it... He cut off my tail and told me that he loved me even as he did it." Tears sprung to his eyes unbidden. "After that, I kept it a secret because I was ashamed with what I was. My father told me that to succeed in the world I would have to go back to being human, and I spent long nights figuring out just how to do that. It's been over half a century, and yet I can still hear his voice rebuking me for being different."

"You had a tail?" Doreen breathed, listening intently, "Didn't that hurt?" she asked, not wanting anything to have hurt Grandpa, but he seemed so... sad right now, "I'm sorry!" she exclaimed and then hugged her Grandpa tightly. "I'm sorry he hurt you! Was this back in Ireland?"

Sean shuddered as he remembered the pain. He couldn't tell her how much it hurt, only hope that she never went through anything like it. "Yes, my father considered me an abomination. He didn't let me play with any of the other kids once my mutation showed for fear that it would be discovered. Even after he cut my tail off he kept his eye on me, making sure I didn't do or say anything that might make me seem out of place."

He paused, holding his granddaughter tightly to him. "It wasn't till he was back in the ground that I was finally able to start dealing with all my problems. By then, I was so lost I didn't have a clue where to begin." He remembered the first moment he'd met his wife, standing in the market across the way, he'd been too shy to say anything and it was only because he forgot his milk that he'd accidentally run into her. He couldn't imagine where he'd be without her. "Then your grandmother came along...and saved me."

"Is that why I'm named after her?" Doreen asked, Grandma had died before she was born but she had always known Grandpa had picked out her name. This was... so sad, she didn't know any of it. And she couldn't imagine someone hurting grandpa like that.

But she also remembered some of the things she had overheard her Dad saying about her when he had fought with her Mom. Or kids at her old school talking about cutting off her tail when they were sure she could overhear it. "I know she was really, really nice. Mom says she was."

"She was more than nice," he said, "but that is not why I chose that name." Though, he thought, it fits almost too well. "I named you after her because in those first moments of life I knew you were going to be as strong as she was, and having been here to see all that you have been through I couldn't have been more right." He smiled, "You are the most resilient woman I've met since she passed from my presence and I know that she would be very proud of you."

"I don't feel that strong sometimes," Doreen said, "I'm glad you're proud of me though. ...Are we going to tell mom that you're like me?" Doreen asked.

"We can, Little One, but only if you want to. My instincts tell me that we shouldn't, but that's probably just my tendency to hide from anything that could hurt me." He gave a weak smile, knowing that his answer was probably insufficient. He finished screwing in the last wall of Monkey Joe's bed and held it up in the light. "There we are, I hope he finds this to his liking."

Monkey Joe had already climbed into it and looked up, wondering why he was suddenly so high. Doreen laughed, “I think he does. Thank you Grandpa. If you don’t want me to tell anyone either, I won’t. I promise.”

She could understand keeping it secret.

"Thank you for that." Sean looked at her, eyes alight with pride, and then felt his stomach rumbling. Being so serious always made him hungry. "What do you say we take Monkey Joe inside and get something to eat?"

Later at night, Doreen and Julian have another sort of heart to heart.

The farm was peaceful, quiet save for what he'd been told were frogs out in the fields. Julian stood alone on the wrap around porch, arms folded over his chest as he looked up into the starry night. Company was the last thing on his mind as the wind kicked a chill into him, sending a shiver down his spine. It was hard to believe that his fight with Simon had only been a short while before, 'Why did he attack, me? Keller was so lost in thought that he didn't notice the approach of a friendly face.

Doreen never had problems seeing in the dark. She was using it as an excuse to go for walks. Grandpa didn't have a huge amount of land, but the hobby farm was still big for a plot of land outside the city. They were far enough outside of L.A. that the air didn't smell so smoggy and you could see more stars than inside the city.

"Hey," she said, as she padded across the grass towards Julian, "What's up." She had a lot of questions, but they didn't have to be said right now. She was dealing with a lot of her own stuff right now.

Startled, Julian's eyes flashed green momentarily as his body tensed. Seeing that it was Doreen, he relaxed and slumped against a post, "Hey, Dori...nothing," he lied. In truth, he knew, it was feeling sorry for himself.

Doreen hopped on the porch railing easily and sat down, her feet dangling, "Is it about what happened?" she asked, "What did happen, anyway?" she asked, still fuzzy on all the details.

Julian shook his head, "I got punched through a window...landed on a sofa." He shrugged, "I honestly don't know, Dori."

"Yeah, but why?" Doreen asked, looking over at him, "Someone just doesn't randomly punch you through a window. Unless you're in an action movie. We're not in an action movie."

"After today, I'm not entirely sure about that," he smiled, weakly, at her, turning his body. "His name was Simon, though. An...old friend."

"Did we go to school with him?" Doreen pressed, "I don't remember anyone named Simon," though to be fair she didn't know a lot of names, "And if we're in an action movie I get the car chase scene. Those are always the best."

"Yeah, and you don't have to worry about bruised ribs, right?" He paused, "Well, hopefully I mean." With a sigh, Julian meandered back into a two person swing on the porch. "No, he didn't go to our school, he was from the south side. Simon Gutierrez. We...belonged to the same group."

"Why would you be in a group with someone from the South Side?" Doreen asked, raising an eyebrow. She wasn't being mean, it just didn't make sense. Especially given what Julian's social status had been at school.

"It's...complicated...and a long story too," Julian said with a shake of his head. "I went over some of it earlier at the annex, but I think you were off with your mom."

"Yeah, we've been moving stuff in here and putting stuff in storage," Doreen pointed out, "Since this is sort of home, now," she said. "We got time. Spill it," she said, smiling sweetly.

"I was part of a group, um, called...oh god, you're going to laugh," he sighed, putting his face into his hands. "The Lords of Justice."

"Why would you pick that name?" Doreen squeaked, "Haven't you ever watched the Justice League or read the books? That sounds too much like the Justice Lords, and they were evil! Totally not a good name for a group!"

A finger pointed at her, "Hey! One, I didn't pick it. Two, we were the bad guys." He paused, "That came out wrong."

Doreen looked taken aback, "Why would you be in a group with a bunch of bad guys?" she asked Julian, "You weren't a bad guy!"

He held up a hand, trying to stop her, but there was no use, once there was a break, he pressed on, "I didn't know that we were the bad guys at first. Figured that out when our boss tried to have us rob an armored car, until then...we were busting up crack houses and meth labs. I thought we were doing good."

"The name should've given it away!" Doreen returned, "No hero group would ever call themselves something like that. You don't use words like 'lord' and stuff in the name of hero groups, you just don't. Besides, that sort of stuff can be really dangerous if you're not all trained for it! Even Batman had to get training!"

"Dori, I know, okay!" he shouted, instantly regretting it. "It was a stupid mistake, but I wanted to do something good with my powers and they were offering us a way...besides, we had something better than training, or so we thought...Gordon."

"Who's Gordon?" Doreen asked.

"The guy who brought us all together, formed the group. And if I'm right, is the current drug lord over most all of L.A." Julian shrugged, "Turns out that's what we were really doing...he'd send us out, we'd bust up the place, then he'd come in to clean things up with the B-team...turns out they were killing and taking over operations."

Doreen facepalmed, "Was this all before or after you told everyone at school you were a mutant?"

"The summer before," Julian got very quiet, remembering the events of that summer and comparing them to the man who'd left a bruise on his ribs earlier.

So the summer between her Freshman and Sophomore year. Doreen considered them to be friends at that point, but it hadn't really been a close friendship. "You know, you didn't have to go bust up anyone to be a hero. You already were. To me, anyway," she said simply. Quietly.

Julian smiled and nodded, "Yeah, but I needed to do something big and flashy..." he continued in a mutter, "show my parents my powers were actually worth a damn."

"No you didn't," Doreen said, "I mean, I guess I kind of understand, because the summer before I started high school I'd sneak out at night and go jumping over rooftops," she said. And while the thought of fighting crime like Batman (or Black Canary, she was a mutant!) had occurred to her, in the end she never really could, "But it doesn't matter what they think about it, Julian. I mean, it's nice when the people in your family accept stuff," she said thinking about her Mom and her Grandpa. (Her Grandpa the mutant! How had she missed it?), "But what really matters is how you feel about it. I mean, I guess that's how I dealt with it. Dad started drinking, Mom was...mostly okay with it, my little brother would pull my tail... but... it's just so cool most of the time. I wish people would get that," Now Doreen thought of their old school, "But in the end it's what you think, right? Does that make any sense?"

"Yeah, it makes a lot of sense," he said with a smile and a nod. "Wait, aren't I supposed to be supporting you right now? I mean, I only got punched through a wall," Julian pushed himself up and went to stand next to where she was sitting. "How are you doing?"

Doreen shrugged, "Okay I guess. Grandpa says this place is better than living in the city, but I miss our house back home. And I miss my brother," she said, "You know Dad won't let him visit. I still don't get why."

Playfully, Julian nudged into her, "The courts won't let that continue. And there's lots more trees out here, right? Squirrels too, I'd bet."

"There's a lot of squirrels in Los Angeles, actually," Doreen said, "And you were there... I don't think mom will win this one, Julian. And even if she does, Ryan pretty much said he didn't want to live with her."

"He's just a kid," Julian smirked, "not to mention a little-brother, since when do they know what the hell they want?"

“He was pretty sure,” Doreen said, “Of course, Dad’s been talking to him a lot and I don’t think Dad’s been totally honest. I mean, not that he’s lying. Just that he’s not… yeah.”

"Think about when you were that age, did you know what you wanted? I wanted to run Keller Industries at the time, hell if you'll ever catch me doing that job now." Julian smiled and put an arm around his furry friend, "He'll come around, Dori. Your dad too, I'm sure of it...I'm just not sure when it will happen."

Doreen shrugged, “What I wanted didn’t really matter,” she said. Before she had realized she was growing her tail and changing all she had wanted was the same. Comic books, clothes, friends… And she thought about what her Grandpa had told her. “You know. Sometimes I wish I could’ve hidden what I was. That maybe things would be better if Dad never found out or no one could tell.”

"I think that would have been a shame though," he smiled and gave her a side hug. "If it weren't for you, I never would have come out as a mutant and would probably still be with Cassandra." Julian shrugged too, "I think life is more interesting this way at least."

“You came out because of me?” Doreen asked, not sure she understood that right.

"Well, not just because of you...but I couldn't take the way that everyone was treating you anymore."

Doreen thought about that and nodded, “Yeah, I really didn’t like it either,” she said, reflecting on it. Pulled tail, spit balls, classes spent in lockers or teachers sending her to stand in the hall. “That school it was all about how you looked and how rich you were. I… didn’t want to leave Mom all alone, but I am glad I went to Xavier’s, you know?”

"I totally know," Julian said with a slight smile. Then he gave her another squeeze and winced slightly as he agitated the scratches on his back and bruising on his torso- which put his mind right back in the thick of the fight.

"Are you okay?" Doreen asked, "I can kind of smell blood," but she hadn't wanted to grill him about it in front of anyone else.

Julian shook his head, "Simon punched me through the living room window...just a few cuts, not anything that needs stitches or will even leave any badass scars."

"Oh, yeah, you said that. Did they catch him?" she asked, looking worried, "I mean, you wouldn't want it to happen again."

"Not particularly," Jules shut his eyes and listened to the frogs again. "It is really pretty out here."

"Yeah, it is, but you didn't answer my question. Did they catch him?" Doreen pressed.

"I dunno, maybe? I gave them everything I knew about him, but he...he was definitely boosted."

"You mean, he got out?" Doreen squeaked, "He won't try to cme after you again, will he?"

"No, I mean...it's complicated, but no, I doubt they caught him. He's smart and has resources if Gordon is still out there." Julian tried to stretch slightly, but it was very uncomfortable.

"Don't hurt yourself again," Doreen said, sliding off the railing, "Let's go inside and get something. I mean, I know Grandpa doesn't have any meat, but there's this huge freezer downstairs with ice cream and stuff in it."

With a smile, Julian followed her inside, "Ice cream for the win...um, I'd appreciate you not telling anyone I just said that."

"Already keeping one secret," Doreen said, "Two won't be a challenge."