Little ficlet that wouldn't let go.

[x-crowdofone.livejournal.com]

Inspired in roundabout fashion by x_kitten's latest post, and the events of X2 as portrayed by our illustrious cast. Stars a young Jamie and his father late at night a few months after Jamie's manifestation.

Very rough draft, language warning for the end.



Today had been a bad day. Jamie'd tripped in the yard, and bumped into a corner of the coffee table, slipped on the freshly-mopped kitchen floor, and slapped at a mosquito just that one bit too hard. Nothing out of the ordinary, for an ordinary boy.

Dan Madrox pushed open his son's door, and five heads turned in unison to watch him with frightened eyes. It scared the hell out of him, the way they moved, and he did his best to keep the fear off his face. It got easier when he noticed the tears.

"I'm sorry, Dad," Jamie said, one voice from five mouths. "I can't make them go away. I tried and tried." He swallowed hard. "What if they never go away? What if I'm stuck like this?"

Dan folded the nearest Jamie into a hug, rocking him gently. What one of them felt, all of them felt--or really, he supposed, Jamie felt what all of his bodies felt. "It doesn't matter, Jamie. We'll make do. Either you'll figure it out, or your grandma'll quit bugging your mom and me to have more kids."

The Jamies made a sort of half-choked noise that just missed being a laugh. "You're not funny, Dad."

"Oh, and you're the authority on funny, now?"

"No." Jamie sniffled. "I really thought I had it figured out, how to make them go away."

"You'll get it." Dan smiled. "Reminds me of something your Grandpa Madrox used to say. You remember I told you he was a doctor in the war?"

Jamie nodded. "World War 2. You said. He was a surgeon for the Army."

"Right. Well, he saw a lot of people have to figure out how to live without a leg, or blind, or even when there wasn't really anything really bad wrong with them except all their friends had died, and he told me that one thing he learned was nobody heals the same. Some people, their bodies healed fast but they never figured out how to deal with the loss, and some people had to stay in bed for a long time but they were always looking forward to what they'd do with the rest of their lives when they got back home. And he said, the most important thing they taught him was that it didn't matter how long it took if they didn't give up. Some people take longer than others to heal, but it doesn't make them weaker."

"So if I keep trying, I'll figure it out, and they'll go away?"

"Or you'll get used to it, and it won't bother you so much that they won't."

"Huh." Five foreheads wrinkled up in the face Jamie made when he was trying hard to memorize something. "It doesn't matter how long it takes if I don't give up."

"Right." Dan grinned, and lowered his voice theatrically. "That's not what Grandpa actually said, though. What he actually said was 'Shit happens, but I don't give a rat's ass how long it takes to wipe up as long as you finish the job.'"

"Dad!" Jamie collapsed in a truly impressive fit of laughter..

"Don't tell your mother I said that."

"She'll kill you."

"Which is why we aren't telling her, get me?"

"Got you."

"All right, then. Good night, Jamie. Love you."

"Love you too, Dad."