I'll Be Home: An Extended Invitation

[x-wolfcub.livejournal.com]

Julian and Kurt get the backstory of "John", and are further convinced they've found Nick.


Julian tapped his foot against the grime covered black and white tiles that textured the floor of the dive of a deli he and Kurt were waiting in. The man, no, Nick! Nick was already a half-an-hour late. Kurt had insisted on going back to the mansion to get a photograph of Nick to show the paramedic. Some nagging doubt as to the man's identity had snuck into Julian's mind- why would Nick be working as an airport paramedic? Why didn't he seem to recognize them? "You think he's ditching us?"

"He would not do that", Kurt said with conviction, though he was watching the door anxiously. "He had no need to agree, after all. Not really."

The boy suddenly showed up from around the corner, his coat pulled up around his chin and still pulling his medical bag with his arm. "Sorry to keep you waiting, no car means slow transport sometimes." Pulling up a seat me was able to muster a small smile. "Thanks for taking me to dinner... uh..." His eyes dashed from side to side. "What did you say your names were again?"

"I am Kurt Sefton, and this is Julian Keller", Kurt introduced them. "And we still think you are the one we have been looking for... but why do you not tell us who you think you are."

"Just a regular John Doe really..." He quickly let himself fall down into one of the chairs opposite Kurt. "Just a normal guy trying to get by in the city." He let out a laugh.

A thought struck Julian, "And what would the name of that John Doe be?"

"Just John's what I typically go by." The boy forced out as he grabbed onto one of the pieces of bread at the table and ripped through it with his teeth, hungrily scarffing it down like a wolf that hadn't seen food for a few weeks. Even with the food in his mouth, he continued to talk. "At least, that's what they call me at the shelter.

"John Doe", Kurt echoed, exchanging a glance with Julian. "So... you do not know your real name? And you live at a shelter."

"Let me guess," Julian raised an eyebrow and paused in buttering his roll, "Amnesia?"

"John" spoke between bites, spraying bits of food in the process. "Woke up in New York a few months back." He cracked a small smile.

"And you couldn't possibly be the guy we've been looking for, because...." Julian held out his hands for the young man to answer.


The boy shook his head from side to side. "Look, you two seem nice and everything, but I really think you're just trying to fit a square peg in a round hole here." His smile continued. "I'm just a normal guy trying to get his memories back."


"Then look at this." Kurt produced a creased and battered photograph from his pocket, nudging it across the table. "And tell me that is not you."

The boy reached out and grabbed onto the picture. Swallowing hard, he noticed the person did have a lot of similarities to his own. Enough to cause him to put down his bread at least. "It does look a lot like me but..." It was getting to be a bit much for him. "Look, you two seem real nice and all..." He shoved himself back from the table. "But this is getting a little two personal for me." He let himself push his way up shaking his hands in front of him. "Thanks for the meal offer, but I think I'm gonna bounce." Quickly he turned and made his way back in the direction he had come from a few seconds earlier.


"Stop", Kurt said pleadingly, getting up to follow him. "Do you really remember nothing of me, or Julian... or Catseye? Do you remember a purple cat, or a girl with purple hair, or turning into a wolf?"

The boy froze, turning around dead in his tracks. "How do you know about the wolf thing?"


Julian motioned for him to sit back down at the recently vacated chair. "We know about it because it's the reason you came to Xavier's in the first place."

"Julian, we have not told him about Xavier's yet", Kurt reminded him, then looked back at the young man. "But perhaps you have heard of it already. That is where we all met."

The boy's smile still cracked the side of his face. "I'm still trying to get over waking up on an operating table a few weeks ago and then turning into a werewolf. Everything else is still a bit blurry."


"An operating table?" Kurt asked sharply. "Where? In a hospital?"


The boy's eyes continued to shake as he still kept his distance form the pair. "Your guess is as good as mine. All I remember is waking up on a table with sensors all over me and being strapped down, panicing, suddenly going all hairy and big, and storming out of the place through a side door."

The hair on the back of Julian's neck raised slightly at the description. Given the circumstances, his friend had likely not been in a hospital and that meant that the Purifiers had him, or the Reavers, which led to some terrifying thoughts. "How long ago was this?"


"John" let out a sigh. "I don't know... maybe 6... 7 months ago?"


"Which is around the time my son disappeared", Kurt said quietly. "We have the picture of you, and look, here is one of you and I together. We knew about your ability. Is it so hard to believe we might know and care for you?"


The boy looked at the picture for another second, shaking his head. It certainly did look like him. A little less scraggly, but a lot like him. Still, he had to be skeptical. "Look, I know that you miss your son and everything, but this is all just a little bit too... heavy." He backed away a few more steps. "Plus the people at the shelter should be expecting me soon."


Julian leaned forward, "I know it's a lot to take in and you don't need to come with us tonight, but tomorrow, would you just come by the mansion and see if anything looks familiar?"


"Here is the address", Kurt chimed in, offering a business card. "And you can bring anyone you like, if you do not feel safe coming alone."


"John" reached over for the paper, looking it over for several seconds before answering, peering over the top at the two men. "I can't make any promises..."


Soft selling the issue, Julian nodded and said plainly, "It's your choice. But were I in your shoes, I'd drop in- we can probably help you get your memories back, if nothing else."


"We will be waiting", Kurt said in a similar tone, if a little gentler. "And if you do not come tomorrow, the door will still be open to you after that."


He simply nodded, tapping the card on his hands. "Well I've never been one to drag out an awkward good bye." He scrunched his eyebrows. "At least, I don't think I ever was." Falling into an awkward silence, he quickly gives a quick wave before turning and making his way out of the restaurant.


Julian turned to Kurt and let out a long withheld breath, "What are we going to tell everyone else?"


"The truth", Kurt said simply. "That we believe we have found Nick, but he... is amnesiac."