xp_logs | Forge & Dani - letters from the road

Dear Mom and Dad. Am having wonderful time away at school. Currently on cross-country drive with seventeen-year-old pregnant mutant woman so she can handle her divorce. She seems to have adopted me as her 'little brother' and is taking me to meet the wild savages to get in touch with my heritage.

"Well, it's retro rocket time inside my attic, I'm all wrapped up in the flag to keep me warm, Got my brain locked in the cruise-o-matic, Rollin' Ronnie Reagan in suppository form," Danielle sang off-key with the radio somewhere in West Virginia. She had insisted on driving since they had left and had also claimed control of the radio station. It was a death grip on a little control in her life.

Forge was in hell.

He rolled his eyes, slowly banging his head against the window. He'd let Dani drive, figuring that if they were going to his bad weather,it'd be better to have him fresh as a driver. He didn't know that meant she got to play folk-rock DJ, scanning through every bad AM radio station on the dial. Would it kill her to find a station that would play something that used an amplifier and some distortion?

"Hey, it's coming up on rush hour," Forge mentioned, "such as it is around here. And I figure if we can get about another four, five hours in after we eat, we can probably make Oklahoma by tomorrow evening. The operative word there being 'eat', since you've passed by nearly every fast food restaurant on the interstate. You do eat, right?"

Dani turned as if seeing him for the first time. She'd forgotten she wasn't alone. "Why're you here again?" she asked, cutting off a family in a minivan that was driving under the speed limit in an effort to make the next exit.

"You asked, remember? Good god, you need food. Or maybe your brain has just finally snapped. I can see it now." Forge began pantomiming narration into an invisible tape recorder. "Dear Mom and Dad. Am having wonderful time away at school. Currently on cross-country drive with seventeen-year-old pregnant mutant woman so she can handle her divorce. She seems to have adopted me as her 'little brother' and is taking me to meet the wild savages to get in touch with my heritage. Am considering that she may be batshit insane. Love, your dutiful son."

As Danielle passed yet another restaurant, Forge peered over his shoulder. "Something wrong with
McDonald's? They've even got a value menu, you know."

"Fine," Dani cut off a cadillac that seemed to have lost its driver, not registering his narration. Truth be told, she wasn't registering much of anything. She turned into a Wendy's, leaving the keys in the ignition as she went inside before coming out and trying to haul Forge out of the truck, "Eat."

Forge hopped out, grabbing the keys on the way. "Well, that WAS the intention. What with saying 'hey, food' for the last six exits. And you've got to be hungry, eating for two and all." Flipping through his wallet, Forge was pleased to see that they had a credit card machine by the counter.

"Hey, you took your turn driving, I'll pick up dinner. Come on, my treat." When Dani didn't respond, Forge did a small mental double take. She was acting like - well, like he'd been a few days ago before Kyle and the Professor managed to snap him out of it. "Hey," he snapped his metal fingers, the sound like a gunshot, "Earth to Dani. You want to eat, or were you planning on speeding to Oklahoma half-dead from starvation?"

She looked at him stupidly, only comprehending half of what he was saying, which was an improvement from nothing at all. "I'm driving," she reiterated, this time following Forge into the Wendy's and heading for the bathroom. Relieved, she headed out and sat at a table, staring out the window at the little playground with a couple kids running around.

Forge sat down across from her a few minutes later, carrying a tray with his burgers. "Two mushroom cheddar double cheeseburgers for me, and a baked potato with the fixings for you. I had them put everything on the side, didn't know if you like sour cream or not. Figured the starch and the dairy would be good for you anyway, from what Doc Moira's saying. She's pregnant too, you know." Forge took a huge bite of his burger, then wiped his chin. He'd shaved the attempt at a goatee since Muir, and as he absently looked at his reflection in a window, he was once more reminded of how young he looked. Dani didn't seem much older, a year, maybe, and here she was with a kid on the way.

"So how come your husband wants a divorce, huh? I mean, you guys can't have been married long."

"Four months, about," she replied, heaping everything onto her potato. It had every food group so she could pretend it was healthy. Taking a few bites she realized how hungry she was, "And I don't know. He sounded fine on New Years, but that's always how it is, ain't it? Everything's fine until it's not. Doesn't even have the cajones to call me! Sends PAPER with no warning!"

"Four months..." Forge did some quick math, then glanced down at Dani's stomach. "They give any reason? Irreconcilable differences or something? I mean - not that it's my business, but if you've got a court battle or something, I'm sure the Professor can help you find a good lawyer."

"Why bother, ain't like we got nothin'," the potato wasn't enough, so she grabbed one of Forge's cheeseburgers and unwrapped it, "Live with his mom and four sibs, ain't any propety or whatever. Only the baby," she didn't feel right calling it an 'it' and she didn't have any names yet. "My truck is gone, and takin' his ain't right. It was his daddy's."

"Well, that's just it." Forge pointed down at Dani's midsection. "I may not know the first thing about, well, you know. But I'm pretty sure he had a hand in that baby, and from what I hear, that means he's
got a responsibility to him. Her. Whatever." He shoved the last bit of his burger in his mouth, washing it down with a gulp of soda.

Forge paused before speaking, choosing his next words carefully. "You mentioned coming to the school because you had nowhere else to go. Did -" He realized he didn't even know Dani's husband's name, "- your
husband give you shit about being a mutant? That why he wants a divorce?"

Dani closed her eyes, breathing slowly. She had the inhibitor on still, which helped, but only barely. It figured he would bring this up. "I was causing nightmares. His family...I tried to control it. I did. I was fine until recently. They yelled and I yelled and when his sister threw the bottle...I left. I threw some stuff in my backpack and left. Mr. Rashid picked me up a week later. I don't remember most of it."

Internally, Forge seethed. This was the kind of stuff he'd read about, and even hearing it secondhand managed to stir up anger in him. "Sounds like a real prize. So," he spoke between handfuls of fries, "you want the divorce?"

"I WANT my husband to be a man and tell his mother off!" Danielle almost yelled, slamming her fist on the table, "He didn't kick me out, she did. He could have stopped her. He could have stopped me, I wouldn't have left if he had. And when I called him, he sounded concerned. He sounded upset. Then this! It ain't right, I gotta go fix it."

Forge was confused. This sounded more like a high school romance that an actual marriage - then he reminded himself that Dani was only 17. "So... your husband lives with his mother. And he's being a prick, because she's horrible?" He rolled his eyes. "And people wonder why I don't bother to date."

Danielle ignored him, heading back to the bathroom. As she strode through the resturant, she tried to wipe her eyes discreetly. She was not going to cry. She was strong. She was independent. And she was going to make Sheldon pay. Or at least, hurt a little.