Disclaimer: Marvel owns x men and all associated characters. I only own Lucy.
I am currently planning on this being a one shot. Drop me a review and let me know if you think I should continue it.
"Now, you stay here honey, okay?"
Lucy looked up at her mom with wide anxious eyes as her mother laid a blanket and pillow on the front step of the castle they had driven to.
"It will be just like camping. You like camping right sweetie?"
"But can't we go in?" Lucy asked turning to look at the large wooden door she was propped up against.
"Not yet honey. Now, do you remember what mommy told you to do?"
Lucy nodded, "When it's breakfast time I knock on the door and give them your note," she recited, holding up the folded piece of paper.
"That's right honey. You'll see. This is the best thing for us…all of us."
With that last statement, Lucy watched as her mother dropped her little red suitcase beside her, got into the car and silently drove away. Lucy's gaze followed her mother's car until it turned a bend and was lost from sight. She clutched her teddy bear to her thin chest and sat, staring at the sky, willing it to be dawn. It was the longest night in her entire life.
8o8o8o8o8o8o8o8o8
Charles methodically ticked off the things left to do until the first term of his school began. The boys had been incomparably helpful. After hearing of his vague plan to create a school where mutants could live without fear and learn to control their powers, they had all become enthusiastic about it. Over the last two years they had taken advanced courses to gain teaching degrees. Even Alex had managed to tamp down his distaste for authority long enough to graduate. Charles had taken on the task of remodeling the estate to accommodate a school, gain certification and find other teachers. He had decided that he wanted mutants or those that were already aware of and friendly toward mutants. To that end he had engaged Lorna Dane, a mutant with powers disturbingly similar to Erik's, to teach math and Jean-Paul Beabier, a former Olympic skier from Canada, to teach French and Finances. The biggest surprise on his staff was Moira.
Nearly a year and a half after Cuba she had come to the estate. She told Charles that shortly after the Cuban missile crisis she had been demoted to secretarial work in the CIA and had decided to quit. While cleaning out her desk she had found an old notebook with this address written in her personal cypher. It hadn't taken much work to realize what it was for. She had waited 4 months to contact him, to ensure that she was no longer being watched by the CIA. Charles had asked why she had come, other than to regain her memories. Moira had turned determined eyes on him and stated that all she ever wanted to do was work for a cause that would make the world a better place. Charles read the sincerity in her eyes and had offered her a position handling the housekeeping of the school. After recalling their discussions of her early desire to be an artist, he also offered her a teaching position for Art Appreciation. Charles considered himself lucky in all of his acquisitions. They had their flaws, as all human beings did, but each brought a different experience and view point to the school.
His thoughts were interrupted by a light knock coming from the front door. Charles made a mental note to get the new security gate and fence finished this week as he opened the door to greet whatever workman had arrived. Charles mind shuddered to a halt as he turned his gaze down to a little girl standing on his doorstep. Her brown hair hung down her back and she clutched a grey teddy in one arm. The girl studied him with big brown eyes taking in his wheelchair before turning her eyes up to meet his gaze. Without a word she thrust out a slightly crumpled piece of folded paper.
Charles took the note, "Is this for me?" he questioned.
The girl nodded looking nervous. Charles felt his heart tug at her unease. "Why don't you come inside and we'll look at this in the sitting room, hmm?" The girl nodded with a tiny smile and then picked up the blanket and a child sized suitcase. Charles' heart sunk with a sudden certainty of what this letter contained. Keeping his face calm, he pocketed the slip of paper and pushed his chair into his study, listening to the girl's Mary Janes clicking behind him. Charles watched the girl look around the room curiously before turning her eyes on the window seat. A smile curled her lips and she hurried over to it before jumping up and landing in the middle of the throw pillows with a heavy thump. Charles smiled at the girl's joy, "Well, before I read this," he said indicating the letter, "How about we have some tea and get to know each other?" The girl nodded and Charles sent a mental request to Moira to bring a tea tray to his study, explaining that he had a very young visitor.
"I'm Charles Xavier."
"Hi. I'm Lucy."
"It's nice to meet you Lucy. Now, how did you get to my door this morning?"
"I didn't."
"Beg pardon?" Charles asked, confused.
"I got here last night. Mommy brung me."
"I see. What did your Mommy tell you when she brought you here?" he asked, keeping his voice light even as anger surged in him. What kind of mother would abandon her child on a strange doorstep?
Lucy's face fell and she turned her eyes to the floor. "Mommy said to stay and knock on the door when it was breakfast. She's mad at me."
"How do you know she was angry, Lucy?"
"Cause mommy always gets mad when she's scared. I didn't mean to scare her."
"Of course you didn't. What happened that scared her?"
Lucy shook her head mutely. Charles considered looking into the girl's mind but decided against it. She had been treated badly enough as it was. She didn't need to have her mind intruded upon as well. Instead he turned to the note and quickly read the two short paragraphs it contained. He was sadly accurate about its contents. Lucy's mother indicated that her child was unnatural and that she couldn't deal with her. She stated that she had heard from a friend that there was a school for other deformed children in New York and she assumed that this might be it. She went on to state that she would not come back for the girl and that if this was not the correct school he should hand her over to the state to do with as they pleased.
The language easily showed a woman that was deeply afraid of her daughter and had already begun to disassociate herself from her, hence the use of the term 'the girl' instead of 'Lucy' or 'my daughter'. Lucy looked no more than six. She was unlikely to remember her home address and her surname was extremely common. Charles doubted that he would be able to locate her family, even if he wished to. As he read through the information Moira walked in with the tea tray. Charles touched his temple and explained the situation to Moira before she could ask anything that might upset the little girl who was currently absorbed in whispering some secret to her teddy.
Moira, this is Lucy. She was abandoned by her family. I don't want to upset her any further.
Moira made eye contact with Charles and nodded her understanding before placing the try on a low side table. "Hello, I'm Moira," she said to the girl, bringing her attention back to the adults in the room. "You must be hungry, how would you like to have a little tea party with Charles and I?"
"Can King Max come too?"
Moira nodded and pulled up two chairs while Lucy pulled up the last and ceremoniously deposited her teddy on it. She studied the table then grabbed the chair to Charles' left and tugged it closer to him before scrambling up into it. Charles watched bemused as he became the unwitting guest at a tea party including a little girl, an ex-CIA agent, a teddy bear king and a mutant. Moira chatted with Lucy, pulling further details from her. She had been in the car all night before being dropped off at the institute, indicating that her family lived several states away. She had no siblings. Her father was a banker and her mother stayed home. She was six years old and had not yet started school because she had been ill the previous year. Lucy seemed uncomfortable when they asked about grandparents and only mumbled that her grandma went to heaven. She reached out and clasped one cherubic hand around Charles fingers while answering the questions about her grandmother. Charles suspected that the woman's death had happened very recently and that the little girl may have been present when her grandmother passed away.
Suddenly Lucy became very still and her eyes widened, "A monster," she said in an awe filled voice. Charles turned in his chair to see Hank standing in the doorway staring with equal shock at the 6 year old girl. Charles looked back and forth between the two for a moment before addressing Hank, "You needed me for something?"
"Um…yes, sorry Professor, I didn't know you had your um…" Hank had taken in the child's fair skin and brown hair and had obviously drawn an unfortunate conclusion. He was equally curious and embarrassed by the prospect of Charles having, at best, a niece that they were unaware of and, at worst, an illegitimate child.
Charles turned back to Lucy. She continued to stare at Hank's bestial visage but didn't seem to show any obvious signs of fear.
"Hank, this is Lucy Thomas. Her mother dropped her off with us as a new student. She will be staying with us for the foreseeable future. Lucy, this is Hank McCoy. You needn't be afraid, he's a teacher here."
Lucy blinked then looked at Charles as if he were a particularly dimwitted student, "I'm not afraid," she said before hopping down from her seat and walking up to Hank. Charles bit his lip to prevent the smile that was trying to tug its way over his mouth. Hank had actually taken an involuntary step back from the tiny girl as she advanced on him. Finally Lucy got up to him and hesitantly reached out to stroke the fur covering the back of Hank's hand. After several minutes of observation she declared, "I like your claws. Are you gonna be my teacher?" And it seemed that's all it took. Hank smiled his shy smile and dropped down to his haunches to look the girl in the eye, "I don't know. I'm teaching Science. I suppose you will be learning reading and writing first."
"When I learn science will you be my teacher?" she persisted.
"Definitely. It's a promise."
Lucy solemnly held out her hand and Charles watched as Hank carefully engulfed it in his large blue paw. The two of them shook hands before Lucy walked back to the tea set and clambered back onto her chair. She looked at Hank then back at the chair beside her before finally picking up King Max and offering Hank the seat. Hank smiled and declined, saying that he had work he had to do. He then quickly briefed Charles on the completion of the dorms and handed him the final count of registered students for the coming year before excusing himself from the room. Charles made a mental note to discuss Lucy with the others at tomorrow morning's meeting. No doubt the rumors would already be rife by that time.
The three remaining occupants finished their tea and Moira gathered the dishes, leaving to take them back to the kitchen. Lucy cuddled her teddy close before turning a sad gaze on Charles, "Mommy doesn't want me anymore huh?" she asked dejectedly. Charles wheeled around the table and gently scooped the little girl up into his lap, "I don't know, love. She said that she thought we would be able to raise you better here."
Lucy's face was buried in Charles' shirt but she nodded her head in understanding. "It's cause I'm a wild thing. She didn't want a wild thing. She wanted a little girl like everyone else."
"Shh, shh. I know love. I know what it's like to be different. Not what everyone expected."
"You're a wild thing too?" Lucy asked, raising her tear drenched eyes to him.
Charles smiled sadly at the girl as he rubbed her back soothingly, "I suppose you could say we are all wild things here."
Lucy considered his worlds before rubbing her face on his shirt to dry her eyes. Finally with a quivering breath she timidly asked, "Can I stay?"
Charles hugged her close to his chest, feeling her tiny frame match her breaths to his. It took several trys before he was able to force words past the lump in his throat. "Yes love. You are very welcome here."