xp_logs | Log - Of birthdays and remembrance...

x-dazzler.livejournal.com posting in

Miles goes outside to look for Mao while Alison drops by to visit Cain - and while he doesn't find the cat, his search isn't without results, either.

Remy LeBeau dropped back over the wall and resettled his bag across his shoulders. The new pin sensors had been an elegant touch, but with the heavily wooded environment that compromised the bulk of the mansion grounds, it hadly had the ability to whisker out intrusions over the ample background noise. The remote cameras were supposed to pick up the slack, but since the system relied heavily on automation, it offered wide gaps to a professional with a bit of patience. Remy grinned as he could see Kuk's irritation in his minds eye.

LeBeau had told Scott once that the mansion's biggest security issue was it's very own nature; a sprawling school. The only way to truly lock it down would require martial law on the inhabitants, and that was a step that they were not ready to take. Even Kuk, a truly gifted security agent, was hampered by the fact that there was only one of him. Remy wouldn't even consider trying to safe the compound without at least twenty men, working in eight hour shifts, and even that was just to get minimal observation, without any true response capability. He sighed, turning the problems back over in his head. LeBeau's biggest failing was that he had to look at things from a penetration perspective, and not a single concept under the current model could keep him out.

The weather was brisk; an early winter day with a crisp chill in the air. They had only had light dustings of snow so far, and the autumn leaves still crunched underfoot. He juggled his bag to a more comfortable position and started up the path to the boathouse. Remy grinned as he considered the little gift he'd picked up for Marko while in Las Vegas. The extra week had verified that they had gotten away clean, and Remy had been clearing up the very last threads when the giftshop from the Ripley's Believe It Or Not! had caught his eye. Specifically the Urban Legends line of plush dolls. Bigfoot, Nessie, Yeti, and right there in red and peach plush, the contribution of the American Mid-West.

The Juggernaut plush doll.

Remy grinned wider, considering exactly how to maximize his roommate's annoyance with it.

The walk towards the boathouse was the same as it had ever been, the lack of gaping holes in the ground proof that none of the students had decided to blow up outside during Remy's absence. The boy peering down into the waters of the lake was not part of the everyday tableau however - at least not with that particular expression etched on his face as he stood there, unmoving.

There was a small pile of stones neatly piled next to him, both boy and rocks situated about two feet away from the rim of the dock and the water of the lake. Some of the rocks had been there before, a collection of perfectly flat skipping stones that had permanent residence there, even if the occupants of the stone pile changed regularly - they had clearly been untouched for a while now though, a few dead leaves clinging to them stubbornly as proof of this.

His mood wasn't somber however, despite what his pensive appearance seemed to denote - after a moment Miles looked up and gazed across the lake and smiled to himself.

Remy stumbled and bit back a curse. He had heard vaguely that Miles was some kind of power leech; shut down the mutant abilities in those around him. Since his preternatural agility and situational awareness were well beyond human norms, the sudden loss of both almost made his head spin. The noise was enough to make the child turn, and Remy forced a smile on his face as he approached.

"Bonjour, petit. Come down to visit Uncle Cain?" He said, swinging the bag from his shoulder and tossing it on to the wooden bench by the dock.

The usual discomfort when someone with an active power was affected by him wasn't hard to notice for Miles - he'd been seeing it all his life, after all. Frowning just a bit he concentrated, pulling his field back in, and then nodded at Remy. "Hello! Miles will be careful, Mr. Remy. And yes. Cain is back in the boathouse now." The statement was cryptic of course, but it didn't occur to Miles to explain, so happy he was with the simply fact that Cain would be all right, given time and care. The emotions showed through easily on his face, culminating with a smile.

"Back in de boathouse?" Remy said and then shrugged. Obviously Marko had gone somewhere while they were in Vegas. He'd ask him about it later. The sudden return of his awareness was almost as shocking, and he shook his head for a moment to clear it. "And it's just Remy, petit. Dat Mister Remy wears a suit. Works in de bank downtown." He grinned. He wasn't good with children, and he didn't really know how to speak to them. So, he gambled that talking to them like a slightly slow adult (or Jubilee) was probably the right level.

"Miles thinks it is better to have permission first, Just Remy." The declaration was as solemn as anything else, Miles nodding with wide and innocent eyes as he said this. He leaned back and then continued, after giving Remy a very appraising sort of look for someone who had officially sort of turned eight. "Just Remy would look good in a suit, Miles thinks, if Just Remy did not work so hard at looking like a scruffy nerf herder."

"Who's scruffy looking?" Remy said, immediately winning the child's approval by knowing a chunk of Star Wars trivia. The fact that he'd seen it for the first time ten years after its release, and in Romanian didn't really matter. "And I think dat you know dat it's just Remy, and not Just Remy, petit." Remy raised and eyebrow and was greeted with an indulgent smile. The kid might be eight, but he wasn't a dumb eight.

"Of course Miles knows! But Remy made it too easy." The boy continued without missing a beat after that declaration. "And Miles will be bringing all three movies for Cain to watch while he gets better, too." Nodding wisely, Miles tilted to the side a bit, looking around Remy to the package on the bench. "But it is a surprise. Miles and Mama got Cain some things to listen to, as Christmas presents, only Cain will get them earlier. Since Cain is in the living room, the TV is already all set up for that!" Somehow, he managed not to look at the package again - for now.

"Gets bet--" Remy stopped himself. Interrogating an eight year old was not the best plan, but obviously something had happened to Marko. The intelligence agent in his head was screaming for information, but Remy beat him back. Cain obviously wasn't dead, or reduced to minced bits, or the child would be a lot more upset. That meant whatever had happened could wait for an adult.

Remy rolled his eyes as he considered who the adult might be. But, as much as he found Alison Blaire a sanctimonious pain in the ass, he also hadn't exchanged more than a word with her since learning he wasn't just a teenaged smart ass. That bought her some leeway.

"So, what you doing around de boathouse, petit? Just skipping stones?"

"No! Miles was looking for Mao, to bring back to Cain. Cats are therapeutic and make people feel better. Catseye said so!" Looking rather pleased with himself, Miles glanced out of the corner of his eyes. "Mao usually tries to ambush Miles after a bit, when Miles comes back from the dock towards the boathouse. Miles just has to be patient." He paused, then looked pained. "Miles thinks it is very hard to be patient sometimes and... Miles used to be so much better at waiting. Miles thinks it is because there are choices Miles can make now."

Toeing the ground for a moment, the boy snuck a look at the boathouse. "Mama is there with Cain now and Miles has to go back soon. And Remy lives there." Pensively, Miles reached out for his hand. "Miles thinks being on the road makes people hungry. Would Remy like a green frosted birthday cupcake? Miles and Mama brought plenty to put in the refrigerator!"

"Didn't know today was your birthday." Remy said, a smile coming to his lips. The fact that after years in a freak show the kid could still remember his birthday was remarkable. "Dat makes you, what, nine years old?" Miles beamed with the same kind of happiness that any kid found when an adult took them seriously. "Guess dat means you now de man of de house wit' your mere. Got to look after her." He said with mock seriousness.

"Eight now! Miles is eight. At least everyone thinks Miles is eight. And Miles' birthday was yesterday, and that was adoption day a year ago when Mama went to see the judge when we were in Mexico to make him let her take Miles home! Mr. Wisdom helped Mama bribe the judge," was the confidential whisper. The words were coming at a rapid fire pace, Miles not keeping anything in reserve at all. "And yesterday Cain woke up from blowing up and that made it a special day too, so Miles picked yesterday." A look over his shoulder towards the mansion, and he continued chattering. "Today is the day that one year ago, Miles came home. Here."

His expression darkened a bit though as they continued toward the boathouse. "Miles tries to watch after Mama. But - sometimes, the bad people are too strong." He looked at the tip of his winter boots, pace slowing down a bit.

"Dat's why you got birthdays, homme." Remy sat back on his heels, crouched down in front of Miles. "See, de thing is dat de bad people, dey get old too. So, de older you get, de more you going to be able to do to stop dem. De stronger you going to get. Fact, Remy bet you pretty strong already." Mile flexed back at him, and LeBeau laughed. "See, just like dat." A thought struck him, and remy reached for his bag, pulling it off of the bench and unzipping it. "Since it's your birthday, guess dat you need a present. 'specially if you going to protect your mere. Maybe someone to help."

In even his weirdest dreams, remy couldn't have imagined handing over a plush version of Cain Marko to the adopted green son of a woman who had introduced herself to him with a punch to the jaw. if this was Xavier's Dream, it had to have evolved out of magic mushrooms first.

"Mama says Miles has all the time in the world and should be a little boy all he can..." His voice was hushed though, and he stared at the plush with wide eyes. "There are Teddy Bears of Cain?!" The question was squeaked out but not incredulous in the least, since Miles had tangible proof of the fact. A slow, wide grin spread over his face as Miles pressed one fingertip to the plush's nose. "Cain will blow a gasket. Miles thinks it is perfect."

Hugging the plush to himself, he peeked at Remy, eyes brimming with curiosity. "When is Remy's birthday?"

"Dat's a good question, petit." Remy said, mostly humouring the kid. Anyone that had grown up in some Mexican sideshow had the chance to claim an even worse childhood than his. "See, Remy don't know his parents. So guess dat any day could be Remy's birthday." He smiled crookedly. "Dey won't let me have it everyday like I asked."

The logic was silly but still - adults gave you logic you could then bring up again and it meant they were stuck with it. "But if Remy has no birthday, how will Remy grow up to stop the bad people?" Taking Remy's hand firmly, Miles made a beeline for the boathouse, plush tucked under his other arm very firmly so. Once they were inside, Miles let go and darted towards the kitchen, pausing only to wave rapidly in the doorway of the living room to let Alison know they were back. There was a faint murmur in return, music drifting from the living room softly.

Remy stayed in the kitchen door, not letting Alison see him. He was sure that the boy didn't need a lecture on why to stay away from Remy LeBeau on his birthday, after all. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, listening bemusedly with half an ear. He had this feeling that if he wasn't seven foot tall, Cain would be all over Alison Blaire like a cheap shirt. But his roommates's sadly two generations out of date morality had obviously not allowed him to consider the other options available, and frankly, he figured Alison for a yodeller at climax, and that he could live without.

The sound of the refrigerator opening and closing rapidly was Remy's only sign of what Miles was up to, though the cupcake carefully balanced on a small plate was easy to see upon the boy's return. Stopping in front of Remy, Miles lifted up the plate towards him with a solemn expression. "Miles knows it was yesterday and it is a bit late since Remy only came back today, but... if Remy likes, Miles could share his birthday with him. That way, Remy will have a birthday too."

Remy grinned as he accepted the cupcake and held the door open for Miles to walk back outside. he followed, taking a bite of the cupcake and instantly tasting Lorna's handiwork. "Dat's nice of you, homme. But Remy think dat it should be your own birthday. Maybe you help Remy choose his birthday another time den." He said, and grinned wider at the solemn nod Miles gave him. One thing children seemed to have in vast supply was seriousness when required. "Dat way, your family don't get confused of de day."

"Miles does not think that could happen. Remy is tall and scruffy looking, and Miles is short and green. And cute too." Hanging on to the plush (he'd decided he could get silly about not wanting to be seen with one when he hit nine or ten, since being shorter meant people assumed he was younger, thus letting him get away with the things), Miles snuck a quick look up at the man walking beside him. "Remy should pick an important day to him. Miles picked yesterday because it meant a big change and Miles' life getting much better. Has Remy ever had a day like that? When everything went from being really bad to maybe being good?"

"Don't think dat Remy had a day like dat yet, Miles." Remy stuffed his hands in the pocket of his trench coat, aware that he was likely supposed to be fidgeting about the kid being warm enough or something, but not having a clue where to start. "Guess dat your bad day was being part of de show, and your good day was when your mere show up. Dat right?"

"Mama found Miles in a cave. Miles escaped from the freak show and had friends, kids like Miles who lived there, help him run and hide." He'd been deathly afraid to run too, but the kids would have been in bigger trouble than he if they'd been found sneaking in at night as they'd done. "The day Mama found Miles was a good day. But Miles was afraid of going back to the freak show. And then Mama asked Miles if he wanted to stay with her, but Miles didn't think it could be true." Smiling a bit, Miles hugged the plush in his arms hard. "The best day was when Mama came back from talking to the judge and told Miles he was staying with her. And showed him all the papers and Miles' new passport and I.D. and... Miles thought that maybe it could all be true after all."

"Dat sounds like a pretty good day to me, petite." Remy grinned back at the kid. At least he'd gotten out young enough to leave some of the baggage behind him. There was no telling what a few more years could have done to him. Still, something niggled the back of Remy's mind, and he wasn't exactly sure what made him ask the next question. "Guess all your new family is from de last year, non?"

"Remy is right." Well, in a sense he was - Miles had talked about it with Alison often enough, especially with what had happened recently with Sarah leaving without a word, to think he knew what Remy was getting at. "Miles remembers nothing but the freak show, though Mama told him about Sarah and the Morlocks on the plane, before they got home. And Sarah told Miles about it some too, before she left. So Miles knows about the Morlocks, even if he does not remember." His voice was perfectly calm as he continued. "Miles was only a baby when the Morlocks died. Mama never told Miles this, but Miles knows Mama wonders why Miles was not killed too, sometimes. Or Artie. But Miles was not and Artie was not, and Miles is very glad Artie came here first instead of ending up in the freak show like Miles."

"So, you--" Remy stopped cold as the word Morlock clicked in with cold finality. His smile turned sickly as he looked down at the young boy trotting along beside him. Oh god, that was what was twitching his sense. "Dat's something to be glad about." He swallowed heavily and knelt down beside Miles. "Think it might be time for you to get back to your mere, petit. She going to be getting worried. Go show her and uncle Cain your present." He could see some confusion in Miles' eyes, but mostly excitement at the new present to show off. Thankfully, he could tell what was in Remy's eyes. Miles nodded, and scamped back down the path back to the boathouse.

Remy watched him until Miles reached the door, and turned back to the woods. Any thought was swamped behind the raising panic. He had to get out, now. Forgetting everything, Remy ran for the wall, seeking to leave the mansion and his memories behind him as soon as he could.