Fred Does Some Thinking
"Aw come on little guy," Fred tried to give Claudius a bottle while he was lying in the bassinet type thing. "It's apple juice! It's good for you! Come on, I know you must be thirsty."
Most of the others were too busy to look after the baby mutant, so it fell to Fred to keep the little one entertained. "Come on! Look! It's good! I'll show you!" He took a few swigs from the bottle himself. "Mmm, Mmm! Good! Very good! Now you try some!"
Claudius screamed even louder. "Oh man," Fred sat down in a nearby chair and put his head in his hand. He looked at Claudius. "I know you're scared and everything, but I don't have a clue what else to do! You gotta meet me half way or something!"
"I don't know why Magneto even brought you here anyway," Fred sighed. "I mean it's not like you don't have any family or nothin'. Then again, I don't understand half the things he does."
"Nothing makes sense you know?" Fred looked at Claudius. "I mean, if he's supposed to make a better life for all mutants, why does he treat us so bad? Sometimes I wonder if I should have gone to the X-Geeks."
"Don't get me wrong. I can't stand those X-Losers. Bunch of jerks in my opinion. But even they have it better than us. I don't think Xavier does experiments on them. Well, no drug experiments anyway. You don't know this but they were fooling around with that blue freak's teleportation powers and opened this door to a dimension. Let loose a bunch of monsters in the middle of the school dance! It was wild!"
"I dunno, maybe if they weren't so hostile to me…Like that Summers guy. Way too overprotective in my opinion. Then again Jean's good at wrapping guys around her finger. What am I saying? I'll never fit in with them! Think humans will actually want to get along with us! Boy are they living in a fantasy land!"
"Then again you were living with a bunch of humans. You didn't wanna leave them did you? I mean, at least your dad loved you. I never really knew my father. Took off and disappeared before I was born. You know, my mom ditched me too after I was born. Ran off to Vegas to be a showgirl. Didn't exactly work out. Serves her right. My grandparents raised me on their farm. Until it went bust and…Well let's just say things went downhill from there pretty fast."
"But at least I can pass, somewhat. You, boy are you gonna have it rough."
Claudius made a loud gahh noise, indicating he was not happy. He waved his flippers wildly, trying to get out of the bassinet. "Hey you're a tough little guy huh?" Fred marveled. "Well that's good. Cause you're gonna need all the strength you can get to make it in this world. I may not be the smartest guy on the planet, but I do know being strong is a definite plus if you're gonna survive!"
"Dada," Claudius sniffed.
"You want your daddy don't you?" Fred asked softly.
"I see you've finally found someone you can have a conversation with," John quipped. He and Sabertooth were walking by.
"Well somebody's gotta feed the little guy," Fred said.
"Trust you to think of somebody's stomach," John cackled. "Of course usually it's your own."
"Humph," Sabertooth grinned. "Look at the size of those flippers. Kids gonna be huge! Aren't you?" He started teasing Claudius. Frustrated, the baby lashed out at him with his flippers. "Whoa! Feisty isn't he? Gonna be a scrapper that's for sure. Can always tell 'em."
"Don't tease him!" Fred frowned. "He's just a little baby!" He picked Claudius up and held him close to his chest, trying to protect him from Sabertooth.
"Ah a little teasing's good for him," Sabertooth waved. "Makes him mean. That's good in a fighter."
"You actually like that little drool machine?" John laughed.
"He can't help it," Fred told him.
"Ah you're spoiling him," Sabertooth waved and walked away. "Don't you worry thought. We'll make a fighter out of him yet."
"What does that mean?" Fred asked.
"Oh for crying out loud Blob, what do you think it means?" John groaned. "I know it's not your strong suit but try will ya?"
Fred looked at the baby in his arms. "He's gonna do stuff to him isn't he? Like he's doing to Pietro and you."
"So?" John huffed. "You say that like it's a bad thing! Sure he's rough with us, but ever since I came here I've been stronger than ever! Mutants need to be if we're gonna survive this war with humans. And he's gonna be our little trooper."
"Oh," Fred said.
"Look Fred it's for the best, really," John said. "You know Magneto only does this stuff to us so we can be strong, right?"
"Yeah I guess," Fred said putting Claudius back in the bassinet.
"Trust me mate, the kid is better off with his own kind. Not hanging around with a bunch of humans."
"Yeah," Fred nodded. "Thanks Pyro. Now I know what I gotta do."
