Paige and kidlet

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Because we clearly haven't been attacked by enough logs today. Paige has gone down to the medlab to add her capable hands to the bunch. It's a long night. Before heading upstairs she checks on the kiddos, finding one little girl still awake. Cuteness and a side of strange, foreign thoughts.


Paige nonchalantly dug into the corner of her eye with a finger, trying to pry loose whatever sleep or dirt or blood was itching her as she walked down the medlab hall. Everything had finally slowed back down; no one was going to up and die tonight. She could go upstairs and get a glass of water now, but not before she checked up on one last thing.

The door to the kidlets room was left slightly ajar, just enough for Paige to see through. All of them, tucked up in their cots. It made her smile; they'd brought them back alive this time.

"Hi." The soft voice belonged to the blonde girl on the cot nearest the door, the oldest of the six rescuees. She peered up at Paige with eyes that reflected the light from the hallway oddly.

"Hey, chickpea," Paige replied gently after she'd got over her initial surprise of being caught off guard by a 14-year-old. "You're supposed to be sleeping, you know."

The girl turned over, propping her chin up on the pillow and gazing at Paige woefully. "Don't want to," she said, but was making an obvious effort to keep her voice down so as not to disturb the others sleeping around her. "I'm scared I'll wake up somewhere else."

Feeling her heart hitch, Paige silently stepped into the room, crossing to the girl's side. "Hey, hey. No one's going to be hurting you here. It's safe here," she answered, reaching up naturally to smooth the girl's hair back. "And no one will take you anywhere you don't want to go."

"It's been scary," the girl muttered, but didn't duck away from the touch. "I just want to go home." She sniffled a little. "My foster parents told me they didn't care I was a mutant, when they first found out. But the man who came to get me told them he was from Social Services and I had to come with him..."

"And we're going to get you home. Even if I have to do it myself, we will get you home." Paige tried to smile, if only for her. She didn't know when she had made it her personal mission to make sure these kids were okay. Maybe it was her cold reaction to those body bags getting back at her. It was a relief to know she could feel something, at least. Tugging the cuff of her sleeve down, Paige wiped the girl's nose and then rolled it up away from her skin; she wasn't worried about a little mucus. "Would you like a hug?"

The girl sniffled again. "Please?" she said more shakily, reaching out to Paige almost pleadingly. "I tried to help, but there were people shooting, and the whole forest blew up..."

Making soft, soothing noises, much like she did with Nemisis when they used to compete and he got nervous, Paige raised herself to sit on the bed and enfolded the little girl in her arms. "You did good, chickpea. You were so good and brave, and now you're safe. You're safe."

The girl clung to Paige, shivering. "I wasn't brave," she said a bit absently. "Neil and Rick and Carey were brave. They were hurt when the helicopter crashed but they didn't let them take us. And then Doctor Maddie and the big blue guy came to help..."

Listening, Paige rocked the girl ever so slightly, bundling the blankets around her. She felt so small. "There are many kinds of bravery. Not all of them involve leaping out of helicopters."

"I don't even know why they took us in the first place," the girl said, her voice still shaky but a growing anger in it. She just clung to Paige harder, though. "Just woke up in the helicopter. Neil and Carey told us that everything would be okay, but then the old guy was shouting and we were crashing."

"Everything is fine now," Paige reassured her, collecting her into her lap so that she could stroke her hair. Paige let her back rest against the wall as the girl made a tiny fist in her shirt. "Everything is okay."

The girl sighed heavily. "Then how come I can't sleep?" she muttered. "Everyone else is..."

"Well," Paige offered quietly, "You've had a pretty rotten day, to put it nicely. And I know when I've had a bad day, it feels like my mind is running so fast and so loud that I can't turn it off. However, I do sleep better if someone stays with me. Would you like me to stay with you?"

The girl looked up at her. "Okay," she said after a moment, then gave Paige a very hesitant, very tired little smile. "Thanks."

Paige smiled back, pleased. This felt... right. Easy. "No problem, chickpea. I'll even rub your back if you'd like. That's what my mama did for me."