Reassurance
Roadblock found Todd outside; practicing his fighting moves and kicks. He was wearing a gray training outfit. He was beating the stuffing out of a punching bag. With one enraged kick, Todd tore a hole into the bag.
"Still upset huh?" Roadblock asked.
"Is it that obvious?" Todd sighed.
Roadblock tapped his nose. "Not just that, but you never pass up a chance to sleep in! Heck, you once slept though a fire alarm!"
"Yeah well, that's nothing compared to Blue Boy's snoring," Todd quipped. Then his face grew serious. He sat down on the ground. Roadblock followed him, waiting for him to speak. "It's just, having them here and seeing…fighting the Brotherhood, Mystique… brought back a lot of things you know? A lotta stuff I tried to forget. I thought I'd fight 'em, beat 'em, boom! It would be over. But…I still miss them. Well not Mystique but the guys. It doesn't make sense!"
"It's never easy fighting people you were friends with once," Roadblock said.
"That's the word. Once!" Todd spat. "I'm not that stupid! They're not my friends! They abandoned me when I needed them the most! But for some reason it's still easier for me to hate the X-Jerks than the Brotherhood. Of course, they weren't exactly nice to me either."
"I know kid. I know."
"They never really wanted me!" Todd snapped. "All that junk about how mutants should work together and stuff, please! Yeah and then they attack anyone who's not willing to follow their little program! A least the Brotherhood was more honest about what they wanted from me. Brutal, but honest. And now they both know I'm alive and can fight. Oh sure, now they're interested in me! Well forget it! I ain't goin! Baldy and his band of merry mutant misfits can take a hike!"
"Who said you were going?" Roadblock asked.
"I saw you talking to him," Todd told him. "Him and that Wolverine guy and the Weather Witch. I put two and two together!"
"You're right."
"What?"
"He did try to get me to give you to him. I said no. He can't have you. Boy I told you since day one you'd be stuck with me until you were a real fighter, and you are light years away from that!"
"Really?" Todd felt better. "I am?"
"You bet you are!" Roadblock told him. "You can't even follow orders right! And your punches…better, but you still need hours and hours of training for that alone!"
"Hey! You're right!" Todd beamed. "I mean my timing was way off! I just got lucky fighting the Brotherhood!"
"You bet you were!" Roadblock grinned.
"Well I guess I'd better face it," Todd grinned. "I have a lot more training to do. Oh darn."
"You betcha! We're gonna have to work twice as hard from now on! No more training to shirk! Mister you are gonna work! And if you even think of slacking off…" Roadblock smiled.
"You're gonna kick my butt!" Todd smiled back.
"Yeah like this!" Roadblock playfully tackled Todd. Both wrestled jokingly for a few minutes. This ended with Roadblock pinning Todd to the ground. "See that boy? What are you gonna…AAGGGH!" He gasped as Todd's tongue slimed him.
"I'm slain!" Roadblock grasped his heart, pretending to be wounded. "NOT!" This time he retaliated in giving Todd a tremendous tickle attack.
"Okay! Okay!" Todd gasped. "You win! You win! I give up! I give up!"
Both separated laughing. Roadblock mussed Todd's hair. Todd laughed. What the heck was I thinking? Todd beamed. How could I have ever thought that Roadblock would send me away? He does care about me! I should have known that he'd never send me away with those creeps! I knew he was different!
"Better?" Roadblock asked.
"Yeah," Todd nodded and got up. "Well, I guess I gotta go and say good bye. What a shame!" He started to go.
"Uh…Todd…"
Todd looked back at him. "Uh oh," He said. "I don't like the sound of that."
"They're not leaving just yet," Roadblock told him.
"What?"
"That was the other thing we talked about. The professor thinks it might be a good idea that they train with us Joes for a while. Thinks his kids will benefit from the same type of training you did."
"Aw man!" Todd kicked some dirt.
"It will only be a few weeks," Roadblock explained to him. "He's gonna work out the details with Hawk. They'll even have their own dorm separate from where we live."
"A few weeks!" Todd exclaimed. "Roadblock it took all the self control I had not to kill them last night! I'm not gonna make it!"
"Todd…"
"Roadblock," Todd whined. "No!"
"Come on," Roadblock took Todd's head in his hands. "I know it's gonna be difficult, but you can do it. Todd look at me! You can put up with them for a while longer. I know you don't like them but this is your chance to settle some issues with your past. You have to give them another chance. They won't try to recruit you; they just want to train. That's all."
"No…" Todd whined.
"Todd," Roadblock said sternly. "I want you to promise me that you'll behave and try to get along with them. Do this for me. Please?"
"Oh all right," Todd sighed. "I'll do it for you. I promise. I'll try hard to be nice to them. But if they start something…"
"They won't."
"They'd better not."
"They won't. Just be good."
"But if they do…" Todd started.
"NO!"
"How about if they call me names?"
"No."
"How about if they call you a bad name?"
"No!"
"How about if they complain about your cooking?"
"Okay then you can fight them. But try to get along alright?"
"Okay," Todd sighed.
"Now go get washed up for breakfast," Roadblock told him. "Oh one more thing, don't tell them about the other kids just yet. All right?"
Todd nodded and went to clean himself up.
************************************************************************
Xavier looked out the window, watching Todd and Roadblock spar playfully. Although he did not enter Todd's mind he could sense the love and affection the boy had for Roadblock. Somehow the Joe had unlocked that door of anger and hate and turned the boy around. He was still a long way from perfect, but he was finally on the right track.
As happy as he was for Todd, Xavier still felt a pang of jealousy as well as relief. "Perhaps I'm not as good a teacher as I thought I was," He sighed. "I should have been kinder, worked harder to recruit the boy. Maybe if I had the boy wouldn't have suffered as much."
Logan shrugged. "Maybe. But the truth is the boy is better off here than he is with us. The important thing is the kid has a family now. Somebody who will take care of him and love him for who he is. That's all that matters. Let's face it, Chuck, not every mutant we find is going to be cut out to be an X-Man. Some have to go their own way."
"Yes, Toad was lucky enough to find his. Perhaps it's because he has a more disciplined environment here. More personal attention," He sighed. "I shouldn't have been so quick to dismiss the Joes. What happened wasn't their entire fault. I admit I was foolish to think that we were safe enough, never realizing how much in danger we really were. And now that people know about our school…."
"It's a good idea to let the kids train here a while," Logan told him. "It will get them out of the mansion anyway. And they could certainly use the discipline."
"True," Xavier said. "But that's only half the reason. Cerebro managed to locate five other mutant signatures on the main Joe base, although it couldn't get a clear reading."
"Five?" Logan was puzzled. "Soldiers? Or kids?"
"I don't know but they are definitely hiding something. Why?"
"I don't wanna assume the worst," Logan told him. "I know these people. They're different from most other units. They ain't like you think they are. At least Hawk isn't. Cobra does have a rep for creating their own mutants and then tossing them aside like garbage, what's left of them anyway. They could be throwaways like Toad. "
"I hope you're right." Xavier sighed.
