Baby Beaky

"Where in the world did you get him?" Althea asked.

"I found him," Shipwreck said. "Hey you wanted something to take care of and play with."

"We also wanted something we could play fetch with," Todd said. "Hey look at his arm yo!" He pointed to the baby mutant's tiny arm. Just above the three-fingered hand was a tiny cast. "What happened to it?"

"Its okay it's going to heal just fine," Shipwreck shifted the frightened infant closer to his chest. "Right baby Beak?"

"Why don't you call him Barney?" Wanda asked.

"He doesn't know it's his name yet," Shipwreck explained. "He only responds to 'Beak' so far. His new official name is Barnell Bohusk Delgato. But I thought 'Barney' would be better for him."

"He's definitely a Barney," Wanda said looking at him.

At this Barney squawked. "He's not used to all these people yet," Shipwreck explained.

"Well we should make him feel at home then. Hi there," Lance tried to tickle Barney's chin. At this Barney took offense and bit him. "YEOWCH!"

"Yup he's right at home here all right," Fred chuckled.

"Geeze that beak is sharp!" Lance held his finger. "I'm lucky he didn't draw blood!"

"Okay Shipwreck spill it," Cover Girl said. "Where did you get him?"

"I told you I found him," Shipwreck said. "Let me put him down first. It's been a long trip," He took him upstairs.

"Okay little guy," Shipwreck told Barney. "Let's go meet your new roommate. Hey there Claudie!" Shipwreck grinned when he saw Claudius gurgling from his crib. "Look what I got you! A new brother!" He put Barney in the crib. "See! Now you have someone to play with and hang out with instead of the girls."

Both babies looked at each other in fascination. "I'm gonna let you two get acquainted," Shipwreck said as he kissed each one on the forehead. "Now play nice."

He went out of the room only to be confronted by an entire house full of curious people. "Okay Shipwreck what gives?" Roadblock asked.

"Well I might as well tell all of you the whole story at once," Shipwreck sighed as he closed the door. "In the kitchen. I need some coffee."

"Where did you find him?" Cover Girl asked as they followed him.

"In a bar in Amsterdam," Shipwreck said.

"A bar?" Lance asked.

"Yes," Shipwreck said. "That's kind of how I ended up coming back early."

"What did you do?" Cover Girl asked. "And what was that baby doing in a bar?"

"It's not that big a deal," Shipwreck said. "Me and my buddies were going around seeing the sights of the city…"

"Bar hopping," Althea put in.

"Anyway," He glared at her. "We went to this one place where they advertised unusual entertainment. We went in and I saw this little guy."

"Let me guess," Lance said bitterly. "He was one of the 'entertainments'?"

"Yeah well he was the only mutant in the place but…" Shipwreck sighed as he poured himself a cup. "Look you guys wanted a pet so I got you a brother. End of story."

"What happened to his arm?" Todd asked. "They were hurting him weren't they?"

"Yeah," Shipwreck looked at his coffee. "Look he was scared and hungry and…you didn't see how they treated him. Didn't even have a diaper on. They bought him from some guy that could have been his father a few months ago. I had to do something so I kind of made the owner an offer he couldn't refuse."

"What did you do?" Low Light asked.

"Um, let's just say I'm not going back to Amsterdam anytime soon," Shipwreck shrugged. "Anyway to get the kid legally out of the country I had this buddy who knew someone who pulled a few strings and I legally adopted him."

"WHAT?" Althea yelped. "You mean I have another baby brother?"

"Well yes," Shipwreck said simply as he sipped his coffee.

"I gotta lie down," Althea shook her head and went upstairs.

"Okay so that's all my news," Shipwreck said. "What's new around here?"

"Oh nothing," Fred said. "We trashed a Wal-Mart, ended up on KP duty. The usual."

"Yeah lucky you," Low Light said. "You got out of it by not being here."

"Uh…don't be too sure," Shipwreck shrugged. "Let's just say compared to what the authorities wanted to do to me in Amsterdam, KP duty is getting off pretty light." ************************************************************************

Not long after Shipwreck went upstairs to check on the babies. He found Althea already there. She was looking into the crib. Both of them were cuddled up together, sound asleep.

"Look at 'em," Shipwreck marveled. "They're already pals. Sleeping like babies."

"They are babies," Althea told him.

"Look …uh kid," Shipwreck scratched his head. "I know this was kind of a rash decision on my part. It's gonna take some getting used to."

"Save it," Althea stopped him. "You just couldn't leave the little guy there. Actually, what you did was pretty cool."

"Really?"

"Well compared to the way I got my other siblings yeah. This ain't so bad. He is kind of cute, in a geeky sort of way."

"That's the spirit!" Shipwreck put his arm around her. "Okay so he's not blood. Doesn't have any of our genes."

"Hmmm, you know that's another good point. I'm liking this idea more and more."

"Ha, ha. Very funny."

"Hey I got used to the triplets," Althea shrugged. "And a brother with flippers. Not to mention the other lunatics around here. I guess I can handle a new brother with feathers and a beak."

Shipwreck put an arm around her and gave her a hug and kissed her on the forehead. "You're a good kid, you know that?"

"Don't be so sloppy," Althea grumbled, but she didn't push him away. "So what did you really do? Set the bar on fire?"

"How did you know?"

"Lucky guess. But I'm glad you did that. Serves 'em right for what they did!"

"Yeah well," Shipwreck sighed. "I guess I did get a little carried away."

"But for a good reason," Althea said.

"Look kid, I ain't gonna lie to you," Shipwreck told her. "Things aren't getting any easier for mutants. Time's gonna come one day when…"

"Dad I know what you're going to say," Althea said. "I don't want to think about things like that. We stopped them from taking us away before. We're safe now. We're not gonna let that happen. We're going to survive Dad, don't worry." She fingered Barney's small tuft of hair on his head. "I won't let any mutant suffer if I have to."

Next: Destro finally discovers Emma's true agenda! Will he survive long enough to tell anyone about it?