Title: Orphans

Category: General

Season: Post "X-Treme Measures"

Pairing: None, Amara/Ray (mentioned)

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: minor language. F-word used in Ray's opening.

Summary: Jamie and Ray think about parents, life, and friendship.

Disclaimer: If I owned any of it, I'd be yelling at the WB for not renewing my show. Since I'm doing this pro bono, I obviously don't.

Ray didn't know why he liked the night. 'I lived underground for four fucking years,' he thought, smoking one of his few remaining cigarettes, 'you'd think I'd be tired of total fucking darkness by now. Well, at least there isn't a night session this week. Maybe I can get some sleep for once.'

He looked across his balcony at the girls' wing. Sometimes, if he leaned out far enough, he could catch a glimpse of Amara sleeping. This night, though, he just sat contemplating just what had happened to the hard-ass no-nonsense guy he had been when he came here. It couldn't have been just her. No woman on earth had that power, except for maybe Kitty, but Lance was an okay guy to begin with. 'Hell, it's probably all of them. They may be idiots who wouldn't last a New York minute in the sewers, but they're my idiots.'

Thinking about the sewers brought back painful memories he tried to push away. His thoughts then turned to the aftermath of the skateboarding competition, when 'Spyke' turned Morlock. Ray would never have thought that moron would be the one to go Under. He thought of Callisto, his mentor, who had exiled him before he could even apologize. He thought of Scaleface, his former lover who had subsequently tried to kill him. He thought of Artie and Torpid, two children he had helped raise in the Morlock way, along with everyone else. He knew they all both hated him and pitied him. Hated him for being able to blend into society, for abandoning them for the chance to go Up. Pitied him for desiring to go Up into a world which hated them all, the "freaks" and those who looked normal. He was all alone, even with other people. Once an orphan, always an orphan was how he explained it.

He pulled out another cigarette and tried to forget why he hated and loved the night.

Jamie knew exactly why he loved the night.

He sat by his window and stared up at the stars, so much dimmer than those in Kansas. Sometimes, if he stood right up to the window, he could see the near edge of the Bayville Lake, and the moonlight and stars reflecting off of it. He looked at himself in the reflective pane of glass, and wondered what happened to the friendless farm-boy he had been when he came here. It could have been the people. Friendship did a lot. There were even some who understood him, like Sam, who shared a similar background, only with a whole lot more relatives.

Thinking about families brought back painful memories he didn't know how to push away. His thoughts turned to the aftermath of the tornado, when Jamie turned into Multiple. He never thought he could ever be in a place like this. He thought of his father Daniel, a brilliant scientist from Los Alamos who designed the suit that kept Jamie whole. He thought of his mother Joan, the sweetest woman ever, who had helped him through the things his father couldn't explain through science. He thought of Martin and Peter, sons of the general store clerk who had been the only other kids he knew, but were not his friends. He knew they all were alive in spirit, watching him do things that he'd never get to share with them. He was all alone, even when he was surrounded by people. Isolation for most of your life can do that to you was how he explained it.

He looked up at the stars and he smiled, while trying hold on to and forget the memories of his home.

Note: Jamie's backstory is true. His father was a scientist at Los Alamos, whose work with radiation has been hinted to have caused Jamie's mutation. Xavier suggested they move to a farm in Kansas where Jamie could be raised without others making him feel uncomfortable. Jamie's parents died when he was fifteen in a freak tornado, his containment suit became damaged, and he freaked out and went to New York where he fought and was helped by the Fantastic Four.

I want to do a follow up to this, with the two of them talking to each other, but I want to hear your reactions first.

The Hog of Hedges