Disclaimer: I don't own the X-men. I wish I did, because then I'd make my stories into all kinds of movies and be rolling in the money. But I don't. And I'm not. So don't sue me. I own nothing.
Authors Note: I've been writing this for a while now, and decided to put some of it onto to see what people other than my little sister think about it.
Now I can't take all the credit for the idea. I got it from JuJuBe's story 'The Daddy'. You should go and read that story right after reviewing this one. You ARE going to review, or risk be eaten by flaming plot bunnies riding orange motorcycles. You have been warned.
In the dark corner of a forgotten room in an ignored basement, a young girl sat. The floor was cold cement and the pipes that crisscrossed the ceiling dripped. The girl was curled up, desperately trying to stay warm. She played with a torn picture in her hand. It was the only possession she had. It was her only proof that she wasn't alone in the world, that she had a loving family somewhere.
She shivered slightly as the door opened to reveal a beautiful woman wearing a sparkly blue dress. The woman's hair was done up and her face word makeup that was expertly done. The woman looked at the girl with utter hatred.
"When is Daddy coming home?" The girl asked quietly. Her voice shook. It was painfully obvious that she had received beating from the woman. The woman laughed. It wasn't a nice laugh, but one that showed how much the woman hated the girl.
"Daddy's never coming for you. He left because he hated you and he hated me. He never loved you. He never will love you." The woman said off-handedly. She tossed a TV dinner – still frozen in the package – towards the girl and left without another word or a second thought. The girl tore at the package and ate the still frozen food hungrily. She only had something to eat once a day.
A tear ran down the girl's cheek as she thought of what the woman had said. She had never loved the woman, and knew that the woman lied a lot.
"Daddy will come for me. He does love me." She whispered to herself as she looked at the picture. It was of a smiling man holding her as a baby. The picture was in black and white, but the girl loved it with all her heart.
The girl woke up to an alarm going off. She jumped over to the door and tried to pull it open. But it was locked – as always – and it was useless to try and pull it open.
She felt the door and it was warm. It surprised her because the door was made of metal and was usually freezing cold to the touch. The girl pressed herself up against it, reveling in the warmth.
Soon it got too hot for her to touch so she jumped back. She knew that something was wrong. She looked at her picture wishing she knew what to do.
She heard footsteps and voices. At first she was quiet, thinking it was the woman with her friends again. But she didn't care anymore, she wanted out. She started banging on the door and yelling.
"Let me out! Help me! Let me out!"
The footsteps hurried towards her and there was a banging on the door. She backed away and kept yelling. Soon the door opened to reveal two men, in what looked like space suits, in front of fire. The one closest to her grabbed her arm and pulled the girl with him. The other man followed behind.
The girl stayed silent. She wondered where the woman was, and if the spacemen had saved her too.
Two Weeks Later
Toad walked down the long metal hallway towards his bedroom. He nodded 'hi' to Pyro as he passed. He turned towards his door and kicked it open, not bothering to use the doorknob. He wondered when the knob would fall off.
He looked around his room. His most prized possession, his computer, sat in one corner beside his bed. His close second, his stereo, was sitting on a shelf above his bed. Toad jumped into his swivel chair, allowing himself a moment to contemplate spinning a few times, before turning the computer on.
He logged onto his email – thetoadmsn.ca – and checked his inbox. There were a few junk emails trying to sell him bamboo flooring, a email from Mystique telling him that 'Senator Kelly' was going to need his 'Services' on the fourteenth, and another from someone he'd never heard of.
He hovered over the last one, contemplating opening it. The subject bar said it was urgent, and that he needed to reply ASAP, but then a lot of junk mail said that too.
He finally clicked on it after figuring that if it had a virus he could easily find out who sent it and kill them. He scrolled down to the actual message and nearly fell backwards off his chair at its contents.
Mr. Toynbee; (Toad cringed at the sound of his actual name)
My name is Julia O'Brian. I work for social services and regret to inform you
that an old friend of yours by the name of Katherine Brown has recently diedin a
house fire. She has left behind an eight-year-old daughter, and it was one of her
wishes in her will that the daughter be left to you.
Giving your occupation, however, by law we would not usually be allowed to
give the child to you. But because of extreme circumstances we are willing to allow
you to take her. If you come by my office to pick up the child, we are willing to
allow her to go home with you.
Yours truly,
Julia O'Brian.
Toad sat back in his chair. He had forgotten about Katherine. She had been a one-night stand when he had first joined The Brotherhood. She had been a pretty lady in trouble at a bar one night. He had kept the drunk guys off her and in return she had brought him to her home.
He hadn't seen her till nine months later, when she had finally called him saying that he was a father. He had been seventeen at the time and it had scared him silly. He had gone down anyways to her hospital to see her.
He hadn't ever seen her or his daughter again. Sure he had sent her a check every now and then (when he had the money) to help her out but she had forbidden him from visiting.
"What's the matter Toad?" came a voice behind him. Toad quickly downsized the screen and looked around. It was only Dime. She was the newest and youngest Brotherhood recruit.
"Nothin'. 'Ow's it goin' wif you? Tooth trainin' yeh right?" Toad asked her with a grin. He knew full well that Sabertooths training sessions were long, hard, and very painful. Toad had once been given the choice of running ten laps around the island instead with lead weights on his legs and arms instead of training. He had chosen the laps.
"Don't ask. What's up with you? You look like you had just been told that Magneto had joined the X-Goons." Dime said with a smile.
"I said nothin'. It's none o'yer business so buzz off." Toad replied irritably. He got up and left. He closed his bedroom door behind him and locked it. He walked down the hall towards Magneto's study to ask if he could leave to pick the girl up.
He didn't see Dime push his door open and read his email.
"So you had no idea?" Magneto asked. His fingers formed a steeple on his desk. Toad shook his head.
"I knew. She jus' told me not t'go and see them. Besides, I woz busy 'ere." Toad said. Magneto looked like he was thinking.
"Does the girl have powers?" Magneto asked. Toad knew he was thinking of the fact that he himself had been a mutant from birth.
"She's a mutant." Toad said.
"Take Pyro with you. Just in case." Magneto said. Toad nodded quickly before backing out of the room. He found Pyro playing pool in the main room. Pyro followed Toad unquestioningly. He had learned quickly that when it came to Magneto's orders, you don't ask questions.
"So where are we going?" Pyro asked as he followed Toad to the helicopter. Toad just growled in response. He didn't want Pyro along and the boy was going to know it.
"You're starting to sound like Sabertooth." Pyro mumbled as he pulled out a game boy. Toad ignored the comment as he allowed himself to get lost in the joy of flying.
Toad and Pyro walked into the office building. Pyro still had no idea where they were going. His questions had gone unanswered.
Toad's hood was pulled up as far as it would comfortably go as he walked up to the desk. He asked where Julia O'Brian's office was and thanked the secretary when she told him. They both went onto the elevator and rode it to the fourth floor. Toad told Pyro to wait there for him. Pyro wanted to protest but the look in Toad's eyes told him not to.
Toad walked down the hallway. He was enjoying the silence as he read the little nameplates on the doors he was passing. He saw the right one and stopped. He took a deep breath to try and calm the thousand butterflies in his stomach before opening the door and stepping in.
Toad looked quickly around the room as he walked in. There was a secretary behind a desk and no one else. There were two more doorways, one on either side of him. The floor had soft beige carpeting and leather chairs on either side of a mahogany table. One the table was a short stack of magazines that were probably years old.
Toad walked up to the secretary and was told to go through the door on the right. He did as he was told, making sure to knock first. He entered and the first thing he saw was a young girl sitting in a chair. She looked scared stiff and was obviously a mutant. Her body was covered in dark-green scales, but the scales stopped at her fingers. The skin on her fingers and palms was a light green colour, similar to Toad's. Her fingers ended in claws like an alligators. Her hair was crudely cut to the bottoms of her ears, which ended in small points. She had a long tail, much like Nightcrawler's only green.
Toad couldn't help but stare at the girl until he remembered why he was there. He walked up to the lady on the other side of the desk. She was about his age, give or take a few years. She smiled sweetly at him.
"I assume you're Mr. Toynbee?" She said happily. Toad grunted. The lady, Julia O'Brian, didn't seem perturbed by it though.
"There's only a few sheets that you need to fill out before you can take her." Julia said. She held out a clipboard with a few papers on it, which toad took and quickly filled out. He glanced up at the girl a few times as he filled the forms and saw that she kept looking at a small black and white photo. He wondered absently what it was of as he finished filling out the forms and handing them back to Julia.
"Okay. Everything seems to be in order." Julia said happily. She stood up and walked over to the girl. She knelt down and looked the girl in the eye. "Emily, this man is your Daddy. It's time for you to go with him." Julia said kindly. The girl, Emily, nodded and looked up at Toad. Her eyes were a piercing blue.
"Will you love me?" Emily asked. She looked scared and it made Toad's heart ache.
"O' course I will." Toad said. Emily smiled happily and ran up to Toad. She hugged him around his waist.
"Are you going to take me home?" She asked as they walked out of the office and down the hallway. Toad nodded.
"Where d'you live?" She asked happily. Her tail was wrapped around her waist. It was holding up a pair of pants that were obviously too big for her.
"Far away where no 'umans can ge' us." Toad said. They rounded a corner and could see Pyro leaning against the wall next to the elevator. Toad gave Pyro a look that dared him to say something. Pyro knew full well that Toad didn't like him.
"Who are you?" Emily asked Pyro. She had a wide smile on her face as she looked up at him. He clicked his lighter and dropped it into his pocket. Pyro was about to answer before Toad cut in.
"Pyro. C'mon Em. We need t'get goin'." Toad growled. He was glaring at Pyro with daggers in his eyes. Pyro got the hint he wasn't to talk to Emily, or at all, during the trip. Toad knew that it probably wouldn't last. But Toad also knew that Sabertooth would gladly turn over Pyro's training for a day or two if Toad asked.
The three went into the elevator in silence. Toad and Pyro didn't say anything. At first Emily was quiet too. She reached her hand up slowly to hold Toad's hand. She was really eager for human contact. Toad's heart jumped when he felt her small hand envelope his own. He had an urge to pull his hand away but fought it back. He looked sideways at Pyro, who had a grin on his face.
Toad silently vowed to make Pyro's training hell, as they walked down the street to where the helicopter was hidden.
Authors note 2: I just love putting Toad in awkward situations! Who doesn't! It's just so damn fun!
So… review! Obey the smexy blue button that's probably directly below this sentence. I again mention the flaming plotbunnies that ride motorcycles… their anger can hurt sometimes; you don't want to be attacked by them. REVIEW OR BE ATTACKED BY MY ANGRY PLOTBUNNIES!