A/N: Greetings and salutations, my dudes! This is my first fanfiction ever, so sorry in advance for any formatting mistakes or mistakes in the story itself. I have attempted, to the best of my ability, to use this new site and I hope it worked out. Anyways, a quick note before I get to the story, the first couple chapters will be much longer than the rest of the chapters.
Chapter One
Babette knew that she wasn't going to have a normal life the second that the caseworker dropped her off at a tiny house in the middle of Mission City. The young, raven-haired girl might only be five years old, but she was already aware that her circumstances were not what one might consider normal. Not only had she been diagnosed with Mirror-Touch Synesthesia just a few weeks ago, but she was also considered to have a near-photographic memory.
This young girl had been abandoned by her parents at the age of two after they had to go on the run, having been caught running an illegal smuggling ring, and then she was kicked out of her foster home at the age of five for "mouthing off" to her new "parents." Honestly, Babette didn't realize that explaining to her foster parents why she didn't want to eat her vegetables, in a manner that might be considered more diplomatic than the average five-year-old was capable of, was considered "mouthing off." Besides, she had only done it a few times. But, her foster parents weren't the kindest of people so, here she is, standing on the steps of this small house and holding her teddy bear tight against her chest.
The caseworker steps out of the car, small suitcase in hand, and then walks up the stairs to where Babette is. She sets the suitcase next to the five-year-old and then pats down her hair in what is supposed to be a reassuring way, but only serves to remind Babette of how helpless she is in her own situation. The caseworker knocks on the door and then pushes Babette forwards as the door opens to reveal a tall man with a shiny, completely bald, head.
"Oh, hello. You must be Babette." The man crouches down and rests his hands on his knees so that he can speak to the girl at eye level. His actions seem kind, but his eyes shine with annoyance. "Welcome to our little orphanage."
Babette gives a squeak of indignation as the man calls her by her first name, but she doesn't say anything as she shuffles into the house. She continues to hold the teddy bear tightly, using it like a barrier between her and the rest of the world. The man stays outside for a moment longer to speak with the caseworker before he comes back inside, Babette's small suitcase looking even smaller in his large hands. He sets the suitcase down by the stairs and then walks over to the young girl.
"Why don't I introduce you to the other kids in the orphanage?" He looks over at her for a moment before whistling loudly, and rather harshly, to get the attention of the house's eight other occupants
Babette tucks her teddy bear under her chin as the sound of feet comes thundering down the small flight of stairs. She brushes her black hair over her face as one of the three girls walks up to her. The other girl has a mop of red hair that sticks up in random curls and she has a crooked-toothed smile.
"Hello there. I'm Carla." The ten-year-old bounds up to Babette and pats her on the head with a laugh, as if she were petting a puppy. "What's your name?"
Babette glares at the older girl and ducks away from her hand without dignifying her with a response. The five-year-old goes over to the staircase and quickly runs up the stairs, taking them two at a time. She finally reaches the top of the stairs, quite a feat for her little legs, and then curls up against the wall in a raven-haired heap. Several minutes pass, during which Babette can hear the shiny headed man yelling downstairs, and then she hears the sound of footsteps pounding up the steps.
The man slides down the wall next to her, any traces of kindness gone from his face as he tightly grabs the back of her neck. His eyes are glowing pits of fury, at least, that's what they look like to the young girl as she sniffles and rubs a small hand over her face.
"Sorry, Mr. Shiny Head." Babette sniffles as she sits up and tucks her teddy bear against her chest. "Was gonna go to my room. Couldn' find it."
He shakes his head and stands up, pulling the little girl up by her arms. He then drags her down the hall and towards a small room at the end of the hall. The man shoves her into the room with a grunt before tossing the suitcase next to her and slamming the door.
Babette crawls over to the edge of the small bed before pulling herself up onto the ratty mattress. She lays back with a quiet sniffle as she hugs her teddy bear and slowly pulls the thin blanket over herself, not even bothering to change out of her clothes. The little girl's eyes slowly droop shut as the lights around the rest of the house are beginning to shut off.
The next day, Babette had decided that she would spend as little time in the house as possible and so, as soon as she'd finished her measly bowl of oatmeal, she shuffled over to where the tall man stood. She pulls at his sleeve as she holds her teddy bear tucked under one arm.
"Mister, could I go outside, please?" Babette pulls at his sleeve again as she bounces on her toes. She had tossed her bear to the side as she began to plead with the bald man.
The man glares at her for a moment before a small smirk stretches across his face. He nods slowly and then places a hand on her shoulder to lead her towards the door. "What a wonderful idea. Why don't you walk to the park down the street?"
"Thank you!" Babette smiles widely and then runs over to the door. She pushes it open and then begins walking down the street. The five-year-old doesn't stop to think that she has no idea where the park is, so she continues on in a random direction. She walks for a few minutes and, just by pure luck, comes across the small park.
The park is completely empty except for one other person, a blond boy, who is sitting on the empty swing set. Babette walks over to the swing set and pulls herself onto one of the swings, her stubby legs barely reaching the ground.
The blond boy looks over at her, blue eyes watching the much younger child with curiosity. The boy couldn't be any older than fifteen, but the five-year-old was certainly under the impression that he was much, much older than her. She turns to look at him, brown eyes meeting blue.
"Hello." The boy speaks very quietly as he glances over at Babette. He blinks slowly, as if thinking something through, before speaking again. "I'm Mac, who are you?"
Babette is startled by the boy's sudden question and she almost doesn't give him a response, mostly out of shock and a little bit of fright. After a second, she gives a small nod and speaks softly. "I'm Babette. But I don' like it."
"It? Your name, you mean?" The boy, Mac, swings closer to the five-year-old as he tilts his head in curiosity. "I don't like my name either."
"Mac isn't bad." Babette says with a small frown as she kicks her legs out to move the swing. "Why don' you like it?"
Mac laughs as he looks over at the toddler with a small smile. "Mac's just my nickname; short for MacGyver. My actual name is Angus."
Babette giggles as he says his name and then kicks her legs out to move the swing again. She smiles at Mac as the swing moves back and forth. "That's funny."
"Yeah, it is kind of funny." Mac gives a smile and nods slowly as the toddler continues to giggle. He too begins to move the old swing he is sitting on.
"Why's that your name?" Babette stops laughing suddenly and then looks over at Mac as she questions him.
"Guess my parents just liked it. I don't know." He shrugs and then pokes at the toddler teasingly. "At least it's not Babette."
Babette sticks her tongue out at him with a laugh. She swings her legs back and forth as she giggles softly. The swing squeaks loudly as it moves with the toddler's rocking and the toddler giggles softly to herself as it moves, only stopping when Mac speaks.
"Hmm… Why do you think of as Babe for your nickname?" He glances at the toddler, waiting for a response. She gives a quick nod, a wide smile growing on her face as she swings.
The two sit on the swings for a while, Mac mostly rambling about a treehouse that he had built in the forest and Babette grinning as he tells the story. She asks him a lot of questions about the treehouse, but she mainly wants to know if she can go to the treehouse. Mac simply shakes his head, more indicating that she would have to wait and less a negative response, and then goes to continue the story. He only stops as he is interrupted by a loud shout.
Mac whips his head around as he hears the shout. The blond boy looks out at the street and sees a tall man standing at the sidewalk. He continues to shout at the two of them loudly until Babette hops off of the swing and shuffles over to him.
"Goodbye, Mac." She looks over her shoulder at Mac and gives a small smile, moving her fingers up and down in a small wave. As she walks up the man, he clasps a hand around the back of her neck and begins leading her back in the direction that he came.
Mac returns the wave, a dumbfounded expression on his face at the toddlers almost carefree response to this man's almost abusive way to lead her away. He watches them until they've turned the corner and he can't see them anymore. After a few more moments on the swing, he shakes his head and hops off of the swing. His grandfather would be angry if he was late to dinner... again.
Babette stares at the floor and a single tear rolls down her cheek before she quickly brings a hand up to her face, stopping it from falling with a bit more force than necessary. She knew that the man couldn't have been telling her the truth when he said that she could go to the park, but she had believed him and now she was grounded for the rest of the week. How was she ever going to survive a whole week in her room?
The week crawled by for the five-year-old at the pace of a snail. Each day brought the same bowl of boring cereal (it didn't even have any marshmallows in it!) for breakfast, a burnt grilled cheese for lunch, and a bowl of soup that was a striking yellow color. Babette surely wouldn't have been able to survive the week, had it not been for Mac sneaking small letters through her window to entertain the young girl.
The man knocks on Babette's door and then opens it without waiting for a response. He glares at the girl as he enters and then grinds out a response. "It's noon. You can leave." He turns to go, only to be pushed out of the way by Babette.
The toddler quickly hops down the steps of the small house and then crosses into the kitchen, only to stop short when she sees a small group of girls crowding around the counter. She begins backing away and then quickly goes to the back door of the house. She walks along the side of the house until she comes to the front yard.
She comes to a stop as she sees a familiar face popping out from behind one of the bushes that line the front yard, acting as a fence that keeps the children in and everyone else out. Babette smiles and gives a little squeal as she runs over to greet the fifteen-year-old as he crawls under the bush, probably receiving several uncomfortable scratches on his arms.
"Hey there, Babe." Mac greets her with a wide smile as the girl flops down on the grass next to him. He ruffles her black hair as she sits down, eliciting a giggle from the five-year-old. "I heard you were being let out from the prison today."
Babette nods quickly as she leans against the blond boy with another small giggle. She begins to bite the inside of her bottom lip as she tucks her legs in under her small body. The two sit in relative silence, the only sound being Babette's soft giggles and, if you could hear smiles, the sound of the wide one that had found its way onto Mac's face.
Mac looks over at the little girl with a smile and then nods in the direction that he came. "Come on. I want to show you something."
Babette grins and crawls under the bush, followed close behind by Mac. She gives a loud "Ow!" as she gets out from under the bush and Mac quickly climbs out from under the bush to see what's wrong. He finds Babette holding her arm and sniffling quietly.
Mac frowns as he grabs her arm lightly between his thumb and his index finger. He examines the small scratch on her forearm which was starting to lightly bleed. He hums in thought before sweeping the toddler into his arms and standing up.
"Don't you worry. I'll fix this up and you'll be good as new." Mac looks down at Babette with a small smile as he pokes at the girl's belly. "How does that sound?"
Babette sniffles and tucks her face into the crook of his arm. She twists her small hands in the fabric of his shirt as Mac begins to walk. The girl begins to trace the pattern on the pocket of Mac's heavy jacket and Mac shakes his head, smiling to himself as he continues down the street.
Babette had finally stopped her sniffling as they reached the edge of the forest and she was now wiggling in Mac's arms, wanting to be let down. Mac shakes his head and glances down at the squirming toddler. "You can't go down. I don't know what's out here, so I'd feel safer if I carried you."
She frowns, but doesn't protest Mac's statement, and tucks her face into the crook of his arm again. Mac treks through the underbrush, gaining the sneaking suspicion that the toddler had fallen asleep, until he comes to the small treehouse.
Mac shifts the sleeping toddler, so that she now rests against his shoulder, and then begins to climb up the ladder with his one free arm. He reaches the top of the ladder and slips onto the small porch that sits on the front of the treehouse. He sits down and then moves the toddler so that she's resting in a more comfortable position.
"I break you out of your house and what do I get? I get to carry a sleeping toddler around." Mac says teasingly under his breath as he pats the girl's hand softly.
Babette begins to stir, blinking her big brown eyes slowly as she looks up at Mac. She bites the inside of her lip and reaches her hands up to pull at the collar of Mac's shirt.
"Hey. Welcome back, kiddo." Mac smiles at her, taking both of her hands in his own as he sits her up. He turns her so that her back is against his chest and her little legs hang over the edge of the porch.
"Treehouse?" She rubs at her eyes and yawns widely as she looks over the edge of the platform. Babette grins as she sees the trees stretching up around them.
"Yeah, treehouse." Mac ruffles her hair and then slowly stands up. He pushes open the little door and then steps inside. Still holding Babette, Mac walks over to a small shelf on the wall of the cabin. He opens a small box and then pulls out a Bandaid.
"Look, just like I promised." He opens the Bandaid and then lifts the toddler's arm so that he can see the scratch better. He places the little purple bandage over the scratch and then taps Babette on the nose. "Good as new."
Babette giggles softly and wiggles in his arms. Mac shakes his head in amusement as he lets the toddler down and then kneels down to be at eye level with her. He rests a hand on her shoulder as he begins to speak. "It's going to be time to head back to the orphanage soon, okay?"
Babette sticks her bottom lip out in a pout and crosses her arms across her chest. She shakes her head quickly before flopping to the floor of the treehouse and then rolling onto her back. She looks up at Mac with a defiant glint in her eye.
"We have to go before it's too dark out." Mac moves next to her and then lays down as well. He rolls onto his side and then pokes at her with a smile. "Come on now."
Babette huffs in annoyance and then sits up. Mac follows suit, slowly standing up and looking down at her. She lifts her arms, asking for Mac to pick her up.
He sighs, more teasingly than in actual annoyance, and then picks the toddler up. He holds her against his chest and then moves towards the ladder. Mac slowly climbs down the ladder, careful not to jostle the five-year-old.
Mac reaches the ground and then begins his trek back through the underbrush. He hugs the toddler to his side, attempting to block out the cold that had begun to set in with the quickly setting sun. He shakes his head at the girl's lack of jacket. Who doesn't use a heavy jacket it the Winter?
Babette had begun to shiver as the two of them reached the small house. Mac sets the girl down and then pulls his jacket off. He wraps it around her shoulders and then taps her on the nose. "You keep that. I bet it's really cold in that house."
Babette smiles, hugging the mountains of fabric against herself with a giggle. Mac ruffles her hair again and then straightens into a standing position. He gives a small laugh as the girl begins playing with the sleeves of the jacket that is far too big for her.
"It'll be your early, or late, birthday present." Mac taps his chin, a look of deep thought crossing his face before he speaks again. "Actually, when is your birthday? So I can get you a real gift next time."
Babette's tongue sticks out of the corner of her mouth before holding up five fingers and then speaking. "It was five days ago. November… 20th."
"Really? You were trapped in your room on your birthday?" Mac frowns as he realizes that the only thing that she'd received for her birthday was a boring card that he'd made with a piece of orange construction paper.
"I did get an extra sandwich for my birthday." Babette says this with a small smile, still distracted by the mountains of fabric. She giggles as the sleeves flop up and down with the movement of her arms.
"That's it?" Mac places a hand on top of her head, patting down a loose puff of hair that sticks up on the back of her head. "That's not a very good birthday."
Babette shrugs, flopping the sleeves up and down again. She looks up at Mac after a moment's silence. "And your card! I liked all the cards."
"That's good." Mac smiles at her, shaking his head slightly as the toddler continues to play with the jacket. "I've got to go now. Alright?"
The girl nods, shuffling towards him to wrap her small arms around his leg in a hug. She smiles as Mac ruffles her hair and then peels her off of his leg. The fifteen-year-old gives a small wave and then heads down the street in the direction of his home.
Babette watches him go before turning and crossing the front lawn. She opens the front door and then slips inside, attempting to be as quiet as possible. The man with the shiny head doesn't like it when the orphans come inside after dark. He usually just locks them outside, but maybe he'd forgotten to lock…
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" There's nothing to warn Babette of the man's sudden appearance at the bottom of the stairs, and she's definitely not prepared for the rough hold on the back of her neck as the man steps behind her.
Shebites the inside of her bottom lip as the man begins to lead her towards the back door. He pulls the door open and then pushes the toddler out of the house, causing her to stumble down the steps and then fall on her knees. She begins to sniffles slightly as the cold concrete cuts into her knees through the thin material of her pants.
The man stands at the door, arms crossed against his chest. He glares down at the toddler for a moment before going back inside, slamming and locking the door behind him. The frame reverberates with the force of the door slam and the man grins to himself as he walks up the stairs.
Babette bites the inside of her bottom lip as she stands and then moves slowly towards the side of the house. She looks over her shoulder every couple seconds as she passes the house and enters the front yard. The raven-haired girl then crawls under the small bush "wall" that surrounds the orphanage, pulling the over-sized jacket around her shoulders.
The toddler pauses for only a second in front of the patch of dead grass that serves as a yard. She then quickly makes up her mind and moves slowly down the road in the direction that she'd seen Mac leave a few minutes ago.
Mac was nervous. He wasn't exactly sure what had him worrying so much, but he had a sneaking suspicion that it had something to do with the five-year-old he had become friends with over the past week. He fiddles with the sleeve of his hoodie as his mind spirals into concern. He grabs a stray paperclip from the table in front of him, but he can't seem to do anything with it.
He'd left her at the orphanage only thirty minutes ago and he was already worrying that something had gone wrong. Mac knew that there was no reason to be worried, but he couldn't help but feel just slightly anxious as to what was going on back at the orphanage.
A loud knock at the front door pulls Mac from his frenzy of thoughts and he gets to the front door just as his grandfather is opening it. Mac walks over to his grandfather, hands in the front pocket of his hoodie. He has the paperclip in his hands and he had begun to twist it apart as soon as he saw who had knocked on the door. Two police officers stand on the small porch and as Mac looks down, he sees the reason for their sudden visit.
"Babette?! What's going on?"