Let me tell you Chapter 1: Let me tell you, a martin mystery fanfic

Beneath the smile, I see his tortured soul , Beneath the glowing eyes, I see eyes glazed over in tears
Beneath the happiness, I see the isolated, depressed child , Beneath the voice, I hear his crying every night
Beneath the words, I hear his silent prayer of deliverance , Beneath the man, I see a boy longing for maternal affection
Beneath the joy, I hear the anger within ,Beneath the surface, lies the truth in him

AN: I wrote this during the aftermath of hurricane Wilma along with another fanfic and some original work. Hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing more than my Lioko Files original stories.

Beta: This chapter has been edited by EveKnight75 and reposted.

Summary: Martin is known in boarding school for being full of childlike wonder. Nobody really knows the pain and desperation he hides so well. When Martin slips into a coma after a triumphant mission and a disastrous family reunion, can the bond he shares with the one person who cares about him bring him back?

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"Martin!" 16-year-old Diana called out to her step-brother as she walked over to the bench where he was sitting. Martin was one year younger than Diana and they were both in their junior year of high school at Torrington Academy. Although he was 15, Martin was what Diana liked to call "full of child-like wonder" - which was her nice way of saying that he was completely immature for his age. But Martin hadn't been acting like himself lately: he had been majorly spacing out and disappearing frequently. Diana was afraid that it was about her ex-friend Lucy. Two months after Jenny had been transferred to Stars Hollow high, a boarding school in Connecticut, Martin had started going out with Lucy, one of Diana's friends who had recently arrived at the academy. Even thought Martin wasn't exactly whom one would consider sensitive, she could tell that he really cared about Lucy. But it was obvious she didn't feel the same way when she dumped him because he wasn't normal enough, in front of everyone making a show in the hallway. Diana couldn't believe it! She also couldn't understand the surge of anger she had felt when she saw Martin's face; how afterwards, as the heavy minutes passed, he had walked away from the crowd that had just witnessed the scandal of the semester, with his head down and his hands shoved into his pockets as though accepting that he really wasn't normal enough or good enough for her.

Martin may be anything but normal, with his wild imagination for the paranormal, taste for sci-fi monster movies, comic books and videogames. But he had been great with Lucy, and he didn't deserve that. She had had a fight with Lucy that day and was asked to pick a side. She had picked Martin's side, which surprised everyone, including her. She and Martin hardly ever got along. She was a down to earth, straight-A student who believed in science more than anything, and the mathematical genius on campus, whereas Martin always seemed to have a made-up theory blaming a paranormal phenomenon for anything that happened and was anything but down to earth. She walked over to where he was sitting and just staring into space. Staring into space? Martin Mystery? He, who never ran out of things to talk about, a videogame record to share, or a comic book to show, was sitting quietly staring into space? Something was definitely going on. Whether it was good or bad Diana didn't know.

She sat down next to him. His expression was unreadable. "Martin?" she tried again. Nothing. She put her hand on his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Martin?". That seemed to do the trick. "Hey Di," he said, not looking at her.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah," he said, with a care-free tone that was second nature to him. "I was just thinking."

"I know," Diana said, trying to lighten the mood with some friendly bickering. "That's why I asked if you were ok."

Martin gave her a playful glare before continuing. "There's an art exhibition in a few weeks," he said to no one in particular. His eyes were fixed on the ground. Diana couldn't think of a time when she had seen Martin like this. Martin had always been outgoing as far back as she could remember. He always looked a person straight in the eyes when talking. He wasn't an observer - he grabbed the spotlight whenever he could. It didn't matter how different he was. That was Martin Mystery. What could possibly be going on that would make him act like this? And what did it have to do with an art exhibition?

"One student in every art field got an award. I got the award in the cartooning field." At this point Diana would have usually argued if you could call cartooning an art, but seeing Martin like this she chose not to. "All of the parents are invited," he went on. Suddenly, Diana knew what this was all about. The reason Martin took so well to rejection for his child-like eagerness was because he got it from his dad 24/7 before he came to boarding school. Whether he meant to hurt Martin or not was unknown, but he hardly called him and whenever they saw each other the spotlight was always on Diana. Their father always kept saying how proud he was of her, which felt great, until she saw Martin standing in the corner as far away from everyone as possible, his head down, and his hands shoved into his pockets, just waiting for it to be over. Diana was glad she didn't say anything about cartooning not being a real art form, because she knew that was what Martin was worried about: another one of his father's put-downs.

Thanks to his cartooning abilities, his paranormal knowledge, and the adventures from the Center, Martin had an A in art. Sure, Martin had improved on other subjects, unknown to the rest of the school; he did have a reputation to keep, but that was with Diana's help. The teachers had assigned her as his tutor, and he hardly ever got an A. But art was something he could always count on for getting an A - an A he could get on his own. However, his father never noticed this and when Martin had tried to point it out he had simply said, "Grow up Martin. Cartooning isn't an art, it's an excuse to be called an artist. It repulses me how people would actually accept it as art and encourage those wanna-bes to try and make a future out of it.". After that, the subject had been forgotten, never again to be brought up. "I... I was thinking." Martin said, "that maybe I'll ask Dad to come."

"Ok," Diana replied, but her mind was still processing everything. Martin said that he didn't care what other people thought of him. But somehow that concept didn't seem to apply to their family, especially their father. Not to mention that cartooning had to mean a lot to him if he wanted their dad to come to the exhibition. But Diana couldn't help but worry that if their dad did a put-down marathon, not only would it hurt Martin, but it could even shatter his confidence. But if he didn't show up at all... well, that wouldn't be good either.

"Do you think he'll come?" he asked, finally taking his eyes away from the ground and facing her. "You know him better than I do.". She thought for a moment before answering him. She didn't want to get his hopes up, but if she told him not to call their dad, then the next time they met... well, that wouldn't be good either. Martin had to decide this, not her, but she needed to make sure she said this in the right way. "Well," she finally said, "what do you think? Maybe you know him better than you think.".

Martin shook his head. "Not likely," he said. "But I guess I can give him a call. Don't have anything to lose." Diana nodded her head in agreement. "I'll go too," she said. "There's something I gotta tell dad about the family reu-" she stopped abruptly, knowing that it wasn't the time or place to bring that up, so they silently walked over to Martin's dorm room.

"Martin! When was the last time you cleaned this place?", Diana yelled. Martin gave her one of his playful glares. "Not everyone's as obsessed with perfection as you are. you know. Some weird-os actually enjoy life," he retorted as he dialed his father's work number. Diana opened her mouth, about to give the perfect comeback, but couldn't, because at that moment someone at the other side of the line picked up and Martin went to the other side of the room. Diana was glad he was back to his cocky, outgoing, completely annoying self. "Hello," he said into the phone "can I talk to Dr. Mystery? ...Oh... Ok... I'll hold." While Martin waited, Diana glanced around the room. Their dad had made it so that not only did they go to the best school around - which of course had to be a boarding school - but that they didn't share a room with anyone. Martin's room at school was pretty much the same as any other room that was given to Martin. A complete mess. Videogames, comic books, and clothes were scattered everywhere. Then, she noticed it: sitting on Martin's desk was a small framed picture of Martin as a little boy, his brown eyes shining with excitement. Beside him, her arms wrapped around her, was a woman who looked like she was in her mid-twenties; her long light-brown hair came down below her waist and she had the same brown shining eyes. From the background Diana could tell they were in the Galapagos Islands. But who was this? Diana had never seen her in any of the pictures at the house, and there were pictures of practically everyone in the family tree in the house. So why wasn't this woman in any of them? It was obvious that she and Martin were, maybe still are, really close.

"Oh, yeah I'm still here." Martin's voice snapped Diana out of her thoughts. "Oh... Ok... yeah just tell him that his son called." There was a flash of pain in Martin's eyes but it disappeared as soon as it came. "Martin, just tell him that Martin called.". He hung up and sighed. "He's probably busy," he said with another one of his care-free smiles. "You know, with the family reunion and everything." Diana didn't say anything but smiled with sympathy. Martin sat down on his couch, turned on his PS2, and put in his favorite game. But he wasn't able to play it because just as Diana was preparing to leave, Martin's U-watch started beeping. Martin dropped the control and located the portal. "But I have an English paper to finish and a presentation to start!" Diana whined as Martin walked over to his closet. "Well, then bring your laptop and let's go!" he said a little impatiently as he opened his closet door to reveal a portal. Diana grabbed her bag and they both disappeared behind the portal.

Next chapter: Martin and Diana face a scientific experiment gone wrong. M.O.M surprises them with an award. Martin receives an unpleasant call. We find out who the mystery woman is.

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