Twikatwee
Kurt always thought "Billiards and Spirits" was to fancy a sub title for The Happy Toad. "Get Drunk and Shoot Pool" would've been more suitable. At 6 in the afternoon it wasn't officially open yet, but he knew the owners.
"Yo, Kurt." Todd said as he unlocked the door. "Where'd you find the cute little fairy?"
"It's me, Gabs!" said the fairy, actually Kurt's 5-year-old daughter in her Halloween costume.
"Really? Didn't recognize you at first."
"Uncle Todd, you're silly!"
"Ready to go trick or treating tonight, kid?"
Gabs nodded enthusiastically. She was wearing a gauzy lavender dress and wore a gilt tiara on her dark brown hair. Her pale blue nylon and coathanger wings were held on with a belt disguised as a daisy chain. She had a star tipped wand in one hand and a Macy's shopping bag in the other. Her naturally pointed ears made her look all the more like a fairy. Even her blue fur didn't seem out of place.
Rogue sat on one of the barstools with a white sheet that she was working on with a pair of scissors. Tad was sitting on the bar, watching intently. "Wuzzat?" he asked.
"Your Halloween costume." she replied. "Stand up, kid, I wanna see how it looks." She draped the sheet over Tad's head, straightened it untill the eyeholes were more or less straight, and considered it. The sheet almost hid the fact that the 18 month old underneath it had a sizable beak. Well, it would be dark out soon. She just had to make sure he could walk in it. "Too long. I'll just trim it off about here." She started cutting.
"You're making Tad a ghost costume?" asked Kurt.
"Nah, Tad just joined the Klan and I can't seem to make the top pointy enough."
"Very funny, Rogue."
"How's Kitty?"
"Still pregnant. Last I saw her, she was on the couch with Lockheed and a bowl full of Tootsie Rolls. Hope she doesn't eat them all before the trick or treaters do. Oh, she wanted me to ask you if you could come over and keep her company tonight."
"Well, I guess Freddy, Blane and Courtney can handle things alone tonight. Soon as they get here, I'll go over."
"Wuzzat?" Tad pointed at a jack-o'lantern decorating the bar.
"That's a pumpkin." said Rogue.
"Hey, y'all." boomed Freddy as he walked in.
"Punkin!" Tad squealed.
"Out of the mouthes of babes." Todd joked. "Freddy, I'm taking the kids trick or treating and Rogue's going to stay with Kitty tonight. Think you and the others can handle things tonight?"
"Sure."
"I'll give you my pager number." Kurt wrote it on a napkin.
Jean came in with her two children in tow. Nine-year-old Rachel wore a costume made of yellow and red feathers and streamers of orange crepe paper. Eleven-year-old Nathan was dressed like Captain America. "Hey guys," she said. "Can I ask one of you to do me a great big favor?"
"What is it?" asked Kurt.
"Scott's on a business trip in Detroit and I have to work the ER tonight. Halloween at ER. Oh joy. Oh rapture." She broke out of her self pity long enough to make her request. "Could you take my kids trick or treating? And could one of you keep them overnight?"
"The more the merrier." shrugged Kurt.
"Thanks, Kurt, I'll owe you one."
"Deliver my youngest daughter and we'll call it even."
Jean knealed down to her children's level. "Now, what did I tell you?" she asked.
"Don't eat candy untill a grown-up looks at it." Rachel said in an I'm-so-bored voice.
"Don't cross the street alone." Nathan recited, just as bored.
"Don't take that tone with me. Every year I see kids your age and younger in the ER who just wouldn't listen to their parents. Now, you be good and mind Todd and Kurt." She kissed their cheeks. "I'll see you in the morning. I love you."
Freddy watched Jean leave while biting down on his lower lip. She didn't even say hi to me. he thought bitterly.
"You gonna be OK, man?" Todd asked, gripping the large man's shoulder.
"Uh-huh." Those coulda been my kids.
"Fred, ya need to get over her. Tell ya what, why don't you ask Courtney out tonight? She seems to like you."
"Yeah,right. Why would a cute chick like her go out with me when she could have a guy like Blane?"
"Uh, about Blane. I think he's a little- you know..." Todd held his hand out and tilted it back and forth.
"A little what?" piped up Gabs who had been standing nearby, unnoticed.
"Um, uh...happy!" Todd stammered.
"Yeah, happy!" said Fred. "Blane is a very happy person."
"That's good." Gabs skipped over to where Rachel was standing. "Hi, Rachel. I'm a fairy tonight. What are you?"
"I'm a phoenix." Rachel replied. "Like in Harry Potter. See my wings?" Rachel stretched out her crepe covered arms.
"Do kids still read that?" asked Todd.
"I'm up to book 6!" Rachel said proudly.
"I read all 7." said Nathan. "And I've started on the first prequel."
"Vati reads me a chapter from The Philosopher's Stone every night." said Gabs.
"Who's Vati?" asked Fred.
"I'm Vati." said Kurt. "It means 'Daddy' in German."
"I thought the first book was called The Sorceror's Stone." said Rachel.
"Vati reads it in German." said Gabs. "They call it the Philosopher's Stone everywhere else."
"You read to your kid in German?" Todd asked Kurt.
"Ja. And she understands every word."
Gabs and Rachel chased each other around the bar, pretending they really could fly.
"My mom can fly for real." Rachel told Gabs. "She's taken me with her."
"My mommy used to could walk through walls." said Gabs. "Only now she don't do it 'cuz she has a baby in her tummy. I'm gonna have a little sister."
"Trust me, Gabs," said Nathan. "It's not that much fun."
"What do you know?" Rachel challenged.
"More than you." Nathan stuck his tongue out at her.
"Kurt! Nathan's thinking mean things about me!"
"Nathan, don't have mean thoughts about your sister."
Todd chuckled at the surrealty. "Ah, the joys of having psychic kids."
Gabs and Rachel walked away from the annoying brother. "Mom said she was my age when she found out she could read minds." Rachel said. "When I asked her what it was like, she just got very sad and didn't wanna talk about it any more."
"Vati doesn't like to talk about when he first 'ported either." said Gabs. "He just said he was really old, like thirteen. Maybe when I grow up I'll be able to 'port too. Or walk through walls. Prof told me my mutant power might be yoo...um..yoo-neek was what he said. He said that meant it would be a completly different power. I guess that would be OK."
"When I grow up," said Rachel. "I hope I can fly like Mom does. I tried movin' stuff with my mind. I made a pencil roll over yesterday."
"Rachel, Gabchen," Kurt called. "Ready to go?"
"Yes, Vati!"
"Coming, Kurt!"
"Bloooo-dy Mary!" Nathan chanted into the mirror on the wall behind the bar. "Bloooo-dy Mary!"
"Bwuddy Mawy! Bwuddy Mawy!" Tad chanted excitedly.
"Sorry, boys." said Todd. "Not untill you're 21."
"I've got the girls." said Kurt. "Let's go."
"Have fun tonight, Tad." Rogue kissed him through the sheet. "Todd, I got you something." She handed him something wrapped in celophane. Todd opened it. It was a pair of Groucho glasses. He tried them on. Gabs giggled.
"Last night I had to shoot an elephant in my pajamas." Todd imitated Groucho. "How that elephant got in my pajamas I'll never know." The kids laughed.
Their first stop was an old lady's house. "Trick or Treat!" Rachel, Nathan and Gabs chorused as they held out their bags.
"Tad," Todd prompted. "What do you say?"
"Gimme!" Tad held out his open bag.
The old lady seemed amused. "What a spooky little ghost! Here's something for you. And something for Captain America. And something for the little birdie."
"I'm a phoenix, ma'am."
"Of course you are. And something for the cute little pixie-fairy! Er- why does your costume have a tail, dear?"
"It's a fairy tale. Get it?"
"My, how clever! And your daddies are all dressed up too! We've got a scary blue devil and Groucho Marx. You all have a happy Halloween!"
"What do we say, children?" Kurt prompted.
"Thank you!" Nathan, Rachel and Gabs chorused.
"Tankoo!" said Tad.
"You shouldn't teach your kid to say 'Gimme'." Kurt was saying to Todd.
"I liked that part about the fairy tale." Todd said. "Cute pun."
"Mein Engelchen came up with that all on her own." Kurt said proudly, petting her head.
"Ever notice that candy corns kinda look like teeth?" Rachel pondered as she looked at the treat.
"No," said Nathan. "It's the other way around! Every Halloween they grind up annoying little sisters and give away the bits and pieces as treats! Bwa-ha-ha-ha!"
"Eew! Nathan, that's gross!" Rachel protested.
"Wanna hear a scary story?" Nathan didn't pause to hear assent or dessent. "One night on Halloween a dad took his kids trick or treating just like we are. The dad saw this other kid dressed like a skeleton standing out in an open lot- not moving or nothing. The kid was holding a big, heavy looking trick-or-treat bag in both hands."
"Nathan," said Kurt. "Perhaps you shouldn't tell that story. You might scare Gabs."
"I'm not scared, Vati." she said.
"Yes you are." he contested.
"I think Kurt's the one who's scared." Todd commented.
"No I'm not!" he said a bit to quickly.
The next house belonged to a young woman. "Trick or Treat!" chorused the older children.
"Twikatwee!" Tad chirped.
"Whoa," said the lady. "More people totally into the feast of Samhein. Shway."
"You gonna give 'em some candy or not?" Todd asked. Kurt glared at him.
"I got some incense and some raisins." She started filling their bags. "Nature's candy. Happy Halloween!"
"OK, kids." said Todd. "Later tonight we're coming back to this house and we're bringing eggs and toilet paper."
"No, we're not." said Kurt. "Todd, we have to set a good example for the kids."
"You're no fun." Todd grumbled.
"So, anyway," Nathan continued. "The kid dressed as a skeleton doesn't move all night. Just stays on that one spot, not budging, holding the bulging trick-or-treat bag. The dad starts to wonder about this weird kid and goes up to him. 'Are you lost?' he asks. No answer. 'Where do you live?' the dad asks. No answer. 'What's your name?' he asks. The kid holds the bag out to him. 'Do you want me to look in the bag?' he asks. The dad looks in the bag and sees..."
"Oh, look, another house!" Kurt intrerrupted. "Why don't you go ring their bell?"
"I want to know what was in the bag." said Gabs.
"Candy!" Kurt blurted. "Lots and lots of candy!"
"That's not very scary." Gabs complained as she climbed the porch steps.
"Trick or Treat!" The man at the door handed out caramel apple pops as he commented on the children's costumes. Kurt's pager went off. It was his home number.
"Could I borrow your phone, please?" he asked the man. "It's my wife. She's expecting." The man loaned Kurt his cell phone. Rogue answered.
"I don't know what happened." she said. "We were just sittin' on the couch, watchin' It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown when all of a sudden she starts cryin'!"
"It's the hormones. Put a Tootsie Roll in her mouth. That usually works."
"I'll try anything."
"She OK?" Todd asked.
"Ja, she just got a little emotional over a movie they were watching."
"What movie was it?"
"It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown."
"She got all upset over that?"
"Well, you know that scene where Lucy goes out to the pumpkin patch where Linus has been waiting all night and she takes him home and puts him to bed? I sometimes get a little choked up over it."
"I always thought it was kinda sad that Charlie Brown only got rocks when trick or treating."
"Does anyone wanna know what was in the bag?" asked Nathan.
"No!" said Kurt.
"OK, then I'll tell the story of Bloody Mary."
"No! Nein! Absolutly not!"
"Kurt, don't tell me you actually believe all that scary stuff people make up for Halloween." Todd teased.
"Todd, you're talking to a man who has a tail and is married to a woman who can walk through walls."
"Yeah, but that don't mean all that other stuff is true."
"There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Todd, than dreamt of in your philosophy."
"English translation?"
"Hamlet? William Shakespere? We were supposed to read it in senior year."
"Oh, yeah, that Ethan Hawke movie. Rogue and I watched that together- mostly."
"Mostly?"
"Uh, can't tell you. Not infront of the idskay."
"What can't you say around the kids?" asked Rachel.
"Why don't you try that house over there?" Kurt suggested.
The kids came back with fun-sized Snickers. "Oh, Nathan," said Todd. "About Bloody Mary. You were doing the thing with the mirror all wrong. You're supposed to wait untill midnight and say 'Bloody Mary' into a mirror 5 times with the lights out."
"Don't tell him that!" Kurt admonished.
"Why do they call 'em 'fun-sized'?" Rachel pondered. "You'd think a big candy bar would be more fun."
They spent the next hour walking from house to house, asking for candy. "Daddy!" Tad cried out. "Gotta go potty!"
"OK, there's an Eckerd's over there. C'mon everyone."
Eckerd's was full of other costumed celebrants that night. Some were refilling their candy supplies. Some were looking for make-up to make last minute touches. Some had kids who needed to use the bathroom. Kurt was getting many compliments on his "costume".
"Thank you." he said to one shopper. "It's made of all natural material."
Todd came back with Tad. "Crisis averted." he said.
"Anyone else need to go?" asked Kurt. No one did. Gabs let out a jaw cracking yawn. "I think my fairy is sleepy."
"No I'm not." she said, rubbing her eyes, obviously very sleepy.
"Come here, my little sapphire." he said fondly as he picked her up. "I'll take you home and put you to bed."
"Will you read Harry Potter to me, Vati?" she asked, hugging his neck.
"Ja, if you can stay awake that long."
"Let's go, Tad." Todd took a tiny sheet covered hand.
Todd came back to The Happy Toad with a sheet draped toddler over his shoulder and chibi-Captain America and a crepe phoenix in tow. He saw a werewolf at the bar, a vampire couple at one table, and the Frankenstein monster playing pool with a clown. "Hey, Todd." said Fred. "How was Trick or Treating?"
"Kids got a good haul." he said. "The Summers kids are staying the night so I'm taking them up and putting everyone to bed. Then I'll probably come down and man the fort with you guys."
The Summers kids went upstairs to the apartment where the Tolenskys lived. Nathan sat on the wrap around couch and pulled off his cowl, revealing stark white hair. He pulled a candy out of his bag. He started to unwrap it when Todd took it.
"Uh-uh, I'm gonna check it out first. If you got a razor blade in your mouth, your mom would never let me hear the end of it."
"We've been trick-or-treating for years." said Rachel. "And Mom and Dad haven't once found a razor blade."
"Rachel, who's the grown-up here?"
"You are." she sighed.
"That's right. That means you do what I say. Right, Tad?" He pulled off the sheet, revealing a tiny blond girl in a pink dress.
"That's not Tad." Rachel astutly observed.
"No, no i-it's not." Todd was trying very hard not to have a panic attack. Breathe, Tolensky, breathe. Slowly. Don't let the kids know you're freakin' out. "OK," Todd tried to clear his mind. "I know it was Tad at Eckerd's. That's where we must've got mixed up. We'll just go back and, and, and..." And what? I have no idea where this kid's parents are. Oh crap. Tad didn't have his image inducer. Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap..........
"I can help you find him, Todd." said Nathan.
"How?"
"Rachel's not the only one who can read minds. I know what Tad's thoughts sound like."
"Then why didn't you tell me I had the wrong kid!?"
"I was thinking about candy." Nathan shrugged. "That kinda blocks everything else out."
"I can imagine. Well, let's go."
"This way!" Nathan called. Todd followed the blue clad boy down a side road. Todd hefted the strange toddler on his shoulder. Rachel followed, her orange tail feathers streaming in the wind.
"I hear his thoughts too." she said. "He's very close by."
They came upon a heavyset woman walking hand in sheeted hand with a toddler dressed as a ghost. "Excuse, me, Ma'am," Todd called as he jogged up to her. "I'm afraid we got our kids mixed up."
The lady started when she saw the girl Todd was carrying. "Sandra! How did you..?" The woman took her baby back. "I am so sorry, sir." she said. "I don't know how this happened."
"Lots of kids dress up as ghosts." he said, picking up Tad.
"Maybe you should check, just to make sure this one is your kid."
"Uh, that's OK. I recognize his shoes. You have a good night, ma'am, sorry about the mix-up." As soon as they were a good distance away, Todd pulled the sheet back, revealing a beaked face with luminous black eyes. "Don't ever do that to me again." he chided. "Um, kids," he said as they walked back to his place. "Your parents don't need to know about this. Rogue definitly doesn't need to know about this. No one needs to know what happened."
"Don't need anyone to know the grown-up needed help from the kids, huh?" Nathan said a bit smuggly.
"Nathan, you're to smart for your own good."
"OK, we won't tell."
Todd opened the door to his apartment to find Rogue sitting in the living room.
"Oh-uh-Hi, Marie. Just finished taking the kids trick-or-treating."
"Uh-huh," she nodded. "How could you take 'em trick-or-treating when their bags are right here?"
"Um, uh, well, uh..." There was no way out of it. "We kinda- misplaced Tad. But we found him!" He showed her the toddler as proof.
"He's not hurt?"
"No."
"No one saw him and threw a hissy fit?"
"No."
"Then don't worry. Everythin's fine. God, you shoulda seen Kitty tonight. She's as big as a house! Her feet were all swolen and all she did was cry." She kneeled down to Tad's level. "Tad, honey, thank you for making me a momma the easy way." She kissed the tips of her gloved fingers and pressed them on the tip of Tad's beak. "I'll find something for the Summers kids to wear to sleep in. You put Tad to bed."
Tad's bedroom was actually a converted corner of the living room. Todd smiled as he remembered how Kurt and Fred helped him plaster the sheetrock that made up the two new walls. They initially forgot to put in a door and found themselves temporarily trapped. Right out of the Three Stooges. Tad had recently graduated from his crib to a bed. Todd changed Tad into his pajamas and tucked him in. "Want me to read to you?" Tad nodded. Todd looked over their small collection of children's books. No way could I read Runaway Bunny after what happened tonight. I'd probably start bawling in front of the kid. We finished Paddington Bear last night. So that leaves Curious George or..hmm.
Eighteen months ago, when Todd and Rogue told everyone they found a mutant baby, their friends held an impromptu baby shower. One of the gifts had been the Harry Potter septology. The books were as yet unopened. Todd took out The Sorceror's Stone. "You, know, Tad, when these first came out I didn't read them. I thought they were for kids and I wasn't a big reader anyway. Well, better late than never." He sat in the chair by Tad's bed and opened the book. "Chapter One: The Boy Who Lived. Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much...."
Seventeen pages later, Tad was fast asleep. Todd gently kissed his forehead, turned out the light and left the room.
Rogue and the Summers kids were on the couch watching TV. The kids were dressed in a pair of oversized T-shirts and wrapped themselves in the extra blankets Rogue got out for them. Rachel looked at the concert tee her brother was wearing. "Todd, what's Eminem?"
"What-what's Eminem?" he sputtered. "You kids don't know who Eminem was?"
"It's candy, isn't it?" asked Nathan.
"What do they teach you kids in school today?"
"Todd," said Rogue. "I'm pretty sure they don't teach the history of rap. Have a seat. The Exorcist is coming on next." Todd sat next to his wife. "And kids, I took the liberty of checking your candy while you were out. It's all good." The Summers wasted no time digging into their goodies. Todd edged closer to Rogue.
"Why does your breath smell like Milk Duds?" he whispered. She blushed and covered her mouth.
An hour or so later, both kids were asleep. Rogue was nodding off. Todd was trying to figure out what was so scary about a kid that could spit up green slime. He stood, stretched and noticed the time. Midnight. There was a mirror hanging on the wall. Todd approached it. "Bloody Mary." he whispered. A chill ran down his spine. Whoa. I'm letting Furball freak me out. "Bloody Mary." he said a bit louder.
"Huh?" Rogue mumbled. "What is it, Todd?"
"Um, you wanna go to bed?"
"Sure." she turned off the TV. "I'm tired."
"Me too." Todd went to bed glad Rogue had interrupted him. In some of the legends, you only needed to call on Bloody Mary three times.
A/N: X Evolution belongs to WB. Gabs and Tad are my own orriginal characters. Nathan and Rachel are from the Marvel comic. In this world, they are both the children of Scott and Jean. (Evil clone stories confuse the hell out of me, so let's say there was no Madeline Pryor.) Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. Bloody Mary belongs to everyone. Incidentally, how many variations are there on Bloody Mary. I've heard she's a witch who sacraficed babies to Satan on Halloween, that she's a woman who killed her children after she went crazy after finding out about her husband's infidelity, that she's a girl who slit her wrists in a bathroom. The number of
times you're to call on her changes. I've heard it's as much as 100. (Presumedly, you'll lose count or your nerve before you get that far.) My husband says that he heard that if she appears in the mirror, you can ask her 3 questions and she'll answer them. Nathan's scary story is a variation of a tale in Bloody Mary, A compilation of scary stories. /It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown/ belongs to
the late, great Charles Schultz.
Kurt always thought "Billiards and Spirits" was to fancy a sub title for The Happy Toad. "Get Drunk and Shoot Pool" would've been more suitable. At 6 in the afternoon it wasn't officially open yet, but he knew the owners.
"Yo, Kurt." Todd said as he unlocked the door. "Where'd you find the cute little fairy?"
"It's me, Gabs!" said the fairy, actually Kurt's 5-year-old daughter in her Halloween costume.
"Really? Didn't recognize you at first."
"Uncle Todd, you're silly!"
"Ready to go trick or treating tonight, kid?"
Gabs nodded enthusiastically. She was wearing a gauzy lavender dress and wore a gilt tiara on her dark brown hair. Her pale blue nylon and coathanger wings were held on with a belt disguised as a daisy chain. She had a star tipped wand in one hand and a Macy's shopping bag in the other. Her naturally pointed ears made her look all the more like a fairy. Even her blue fur didn't seem out of place.
Rogue sat on one of the barstools with a white sheet that she was working on with a pair of scissors. Tad was sitting on the bar, watching intently. "Wuzzat?" he asked.
"Your Halloween costume." she replied. "Stand up, kid, I wanna see how it looks." She draped the sheet over Tad's head, straightened it untill the eyeholes were more or less straight, and considered it. The sheet almost hid the fact that the 18 month old underneath it had a sizable beak. Well, it would be dark out soon. She just had to make sure he could walk in it. "Too long. I'll just trim it off about here." She started cutting.
"You're making Tad a ghost costume?" asked Kurt.
"Nah, Tad just joined the Klan and I can't seem to make the top pointy enough."
"Very funny, Rogue."
"How's Kitty?"
"Still pregnant. Last I saw her, she was on the couch with Lockheed and a bowl full of Tootsie Rolls. Hope she doesn't eat them all before the trick or treaters do. Oh, she wanted me to ask you if you could come over and keep her company tonight."
"Well, I guess Freddy, Blane and Courtney can handle things alone tonight. Soon as they get here, I'll go over."
"Wuzzat?" Tad pointed at a jack-o'lantern decorating the bar.
"That's a pumpkin." said Rogue.
"Hey, y'all." boomed Freddy as he walked in.
"Punkin!" Tad squealed.
"Out of the mouthes of babes." Todd joked. "Freddy, I'm taking the kids trick or treating and Rogue's going to stay with Kitty tonight. Think you and the others can handle things tonight?"
"Sure."
"I'll give you my pager number." Kurt wrote it on a napkin.
Jean came in with her two children in tow. Nine-year-old Rachel wore a costume made of yellow and red feathers and streamers of orange crepe paper. Eleven-year-old Nathan was dressed like Captain America. "Hey guys," she said. "Can I ask one of you to do me a great big favor?"
"What is it?" asked Kurt.
"Scott's on a business trip in Detroit and I have to work the ER tonight. Halloween at ER. Oh joy. Oh rapture." She broke out of her self pity long enough to make her request. "Could you take my kids trick or treating? And could one of you keep them overnight?"
"The more the merrier." shrugged Kurt.
"Thanks, Kurt, I'll owe you one."
"Deliver my youngest daughter and we'll call it even."
Jean knealed down to her children's level. "Now, what did I tell you?" she asked.
"Don't eat candy untill a grown-up looks at it." Rachel said in an I'm-so-bored voice.
"Don't cross the street alone." Nathan recited, just as bored.
"Don't take that tone with me. Every year I see kids your age and younger in the ER who just wouldn't listen to their parents. Now, you be good and mind Todd and Kurt." She kissed their cheeks. "I'll see you in the morning. I love you."
Freddy watched Jean leave while biting down on his lower lip. She didn't even say hi to me. he thought bitterly.
"You gonna be OK, man?" Todd asked, gripping the large man's shoulder.
"Uh-huh." Those coulda been my kids.
"Fred, ya need to get over her. Tell ya what, why don't you ask Courtney out tonight? She seems to like you."
"Yeah,right. Why would a cute chick like her go out with me when she could have a guy like Blane?"
"Uh, about Blane. I think he's a little- you know..." Todd held his hand out and tilted it back and forth.
"A little what?" piped up Gabs who had been standing nearby, unnoticed.
"Um, uh...happy!" Todd stammered.
"Yeah, happy!" said Fred. "Blane is a very happy person."
"That's good." Gabs skipped over to where Rachel was standing. "Hi, Rachel. I'm a fairy tonight. What are you?"
"I'm a phoenix." Rachel replied. "Like in Harry Potter. See my wings?" Rachel stretched out her crepe covered arms.
"Do kids still read that?" asked Todd.
"I'm up to book 6!" Rachel said proudly.
"I read all 7." said Nathan. "And I've started on the first prequel."
"Vati reads me a chapter from The Philosopher's Stone every night." said Gabs.
"Who's Vati?" asked Fred.
"I'm Vati." said Kurt. "It means 'Daddy' in German."
"I thought the first book was called The Sorceror's Stone." said Rachel.
"Vati reads it in German." said Gabs. "They call it the Philosopher's Stone everywhere else."
"You read to your kid in German?" Todd asked Kurt.
"Ja. And she understands every word."
Gabs and Rachel chased each other around the bar, pretending they really could fly.
"My mom can fly for real." Rachel told Gabs. "She's taken me with her."
"My mommy used to could walk through walls." said Gabs. "Only now she don't do it 'cuz she has a baby in her tummy. I'm gonna have a little sister."
"Trust me, Gabs," said Nathan. "It's not that much fun."
"What do you know?" Rachel challenged.
"More than you." Nathan stuck his tongue out at her.
"Kurt! Nathan's thinking mean things about me!"
"Nathan, don't have mean thoughts about your sister."
Todd chuckled at the surrealty. "Ah, the joys of having psychic kids."
Gabs and Rachel walked away from the annoying brother. "Mom said she was my age when she found out she could read minds." Rachel said. "When I asked her what it was like, she just got very sad and didn't wanna talk about it any more."
"Vati doesn't like to talk about when he first 'ported either." said Gabs. "He just said he was really old, like thirteen. Maybe when I grow up I'll be able to 'port too. Or walk through walls. Prof told me my mutant power might be yoo...um..yoo-neek was what he said. He said that meant it would be a completly different power. I guess that would be OK."
"When I grow up," said Rachel. "I hope I can fly like Mom does. I tried movin' stuff with my mind. I made a pencil roll over yesterday."
"Rachel, Gabchen," Kurt called. "Ready to go?"
"Yes, Vati!"
"Coming, Kurt!"
"Bloooo-dy Mary!" Nathan chanted into the mirror on the wall behind the bar. "Bloooo-dy Mary!"
"Bwuddy Mawy! Bwuddy Mawy!" Tad chanted excitedly.
"Sorry, boys." said Todd. "Not untill you're 21."
"I've got the girls." said Kurt. "Let's go."
"Have fun tonight, Tad." Rogue kissed him through the sheet. "Todd, I got you something." She handed him something wrapped in celophane. Todd opened it. It was a pair of Groucho glasses. He tried them on. Gabs giggled.
"Last night I had to shoot an elephant in my pajamas." Todd imitated Groucho. "How that elephant got in my pajamas I'll never know." The kids laughed.
Their first stop was an old lady's house. "Trick or Treat!" Rachel, Nathan and Gabs chorused as they held out their bags.
"Tad," Todd prompted. "What do you say?"
"Gimme!" Tad held out his open bag.
The old lady seemed amused. "What a spooky little ghost! Here's something for you. And something for Captain America. And something for the little birdie."
"I'm a phoenix, ma'am."
"Of course you are. And something for the cute little pixie-fairy! Er- why does your costume have a tail, dear?"
"It's a fairy tale. Get it?"
"My, how clever! And your daddies are all dressed up too! We've got a scary blue devil and Groucho Marx. You all have a happy Halloween!"
"What do we say, children?" Kurt prompted.
"Thank you!" Nathan, Rachel and Gabs chorused.
"Tankoo!" said Tad.
"You shouldn't teach your kid to say 'Gimme'." Kurt was saying to Todd.
"I liked that part about the fairy tale." Todd said. "Cute pun."
"Mein Engelchen came up with that all on her own." Kurt said proudly, petting her head.
"Ever notice that candy corns kinda look like teeth?" Rachel pondered as she looked at the treat.
"No," said Nathan. "It's the other way around! Every Halloween they grind up annoying little sisters and give away the bits and pieces as treats! Bwa-ha-ha-ha!"
"Eew! Nathan, that's gross!" Rachel protested.
"Wanna hear a scary story?" Nathan didn't pause to hear assent or dessent. "One night on Halloween a dad took his kids trick or treating just like we are. The dad saw this other kid dressed like a skeleton standing out in an open lot- not moving or nothing. The kid was holding a big, heavy looking trick-or-treat bag in both hands."
"Nathan," said Kurt. "Perhaps you shouldn't tell that story. You might scare Gabs."
"I'm not scared, Vati." she said.
"Yes you are." he contested.
"I think Kurt's the one who's scared." Todd commented.
"No I'm not!" he said a bit to quickly.
The next house belonged to a young woman. "Trick or Treat!" chorused the older children.
"Twikatwee!" Tad chirped.
"Whoa," said the lady. "More people totally into the feast of Samhein. Shway."
"You gonna give 'em some candy or not?" Todd asked. Kurt glared at him.
"I got some incense and some raisins." She started filling their bags. "Nature's candy. Happy Halloween!"
"OK, kids." said Todd. "Later tonight we're coming back to this house and we're bringing eggs and toilet paper."
"No, we're not." said Kurt. "Todd, we have to set a good example for the kids."
"You're no fun." Todd grumbled.
"So, anyway," Nathan continued. "The kid dressed as a skeleton doesn't move all night. Just stays on that one spot, not budging, holding the bulging trick-or-treat bag. The dad starts to wonder about this weird kid and goes up to him. 'Are you lost?' he asks. No answer. 'Where do you live?' the dad asks. No answer. 'What's your name?' he asks. The kid holds the bag out to him. 'Do you want me to look in the bag?' he asks. The dad looks in the bag and sees..."
"Oh, look, another house!" Kurt intrerrupted. "Why don't you go ring their bell?"
"I want to know what was in the bag." said Gabs.
"Candy!" Kurt blurted. "Lots and lots of candy!"
"That's not very scary." Gabs complained as she climbed the porch steps.
"Trick or Treat!" The man at the door handed out caramel apple pops as he commented on the children's costumes. Kurt's pager went off. It was his home number.
"Could I borrow your phone, please?" he asked the man. "It's my wife. She's expecting." The man loaned Kurt his cell phone. Rogue answered.
"I don't know what happened." she said. "We were just sittin' on the couch, watchin' It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown when all of a sudden she starts cryin'!"
"It's the hormones. Put a Tootsie Roll in her mouth. That usually works."
"I'll try anything."
"She OK?" Todd asked.
"Ja, she just got a little emotional over a movie they were watching."
"What movie was it?"
"It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown."
"She got all upset over that?"
"Well, you know that scene where Lucy goes out to the pumpkin patch where Linus has been waiting all night and she takes him home and puts him to bed? I sometimes get a little choked up over it."
"I always thought it was kinda sad that Charlie Brown only got rocks when trick or treating."
"Does anyone wanna know what was in the bag?" asked Nathan.
"No!" said Kurt.
"OK, then I'll tell the story of Bloody Mary."
"No! Nein! Absolutly not!"
"Kurt, don't tell me you actually believe all that scary stuff people make up for Halloween." Todd teased.
"Todd, you're talking to a man who has a tail and is married to a woman who can walk through walls."
"Yeah, but that don't mean all that other stuff is true."
"There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Todd, than dreamt of in your philosophy."
"English translation?"
"Hamlet? William Shakespere? We were supposed to read it in senior year."
"Oh, yeah, that Ethan Hawke movie. Rogue and I watched that together- mostly."
"Mostly?"
"Uh, can't tell you. Not infront of the idskay."
"What can't you say around the kids?" asked Rachel.
"Why don't you try that house over there?" Kurt suggested.
The kids came back with fun-sized Snickers. "Oh, Nathan," said Todd. "About Bloody Mary. You were doing the thing with the mirror all wrong. You're supposed to wait untill midnight and say 'Bloody Mary' into a mirror 5 times with the lights out."
"Don't tell him that!" Kurt admonished.
"Why do they call 'em 'fun-sized'?" Rachel pondered. "You'd think a big candy bar would be more fun."
They spent the next hour walking from house to house, asking for candy. "Daddy!" Tad cried out. "Gotta go potty!"
"OK, there's an Eckerd's over there. C'mon everyone."
Eckerd's was full of other costumed celebrants that night. Some were refilling their candy supplies. Some were looking for make-up to make last minute touches. Some had kids who needed to use the bathroom. Kurt was getting many compliments on his "costume".
"Thank you." he said to one shopper. "It's made of all natural material."
Todd came back with Tad. "Crisis averted." he said.
"Anyone else need to go?" asked Kurt. No one did. Gabs let out a jaw cracking yawn. "I think my fairy is sleepy."
"No I'm not." she said, rubbing her eyes, obviously very sleepy.
"Come here, my little sapphire." he said fondly as he picked her up. "I'll take you home and put you to bed."
"Will you read Harry Potter to me, Vati?" she asked, hugging his neck.
"Ja, if you can stay awake that long."
"Let's go, Tad." Todd took a tiny sheet covered hand.
Todd came back to The Happy Toad with a sheet draped toddler over his shoulder and chibi-Captain America and a crepe phoenix in tow. He saw a werewolf at the bar, a vampire couple at one table, and the Frankenstein monster playing pool with a clown. "Hey, Todd." said Fred. "How was Trick or Treating?"
"Kids got a good haul." he said. "The Summers kids are staying the night so I'm taking them up and putting everyone to bed. Then I'll probably come down and man the fort with you guys."
The Summers kids went upstairs to the apartment where the Tolenskys lived. Nathan sat on the wrap around couch and pulled off his cowl, revealing stark white hair. He pulled a candy out of his bag. He started to unwrap it when Todd took it.
"Uh-uh, I'm gonna check it out first. If you got a razor blade in your mouth, your mom would never let me hear the end of it."
"We've been trick-or-treating for years." said Rachel. "And Mom and Dad haven't once found a razor blade."
"Rachel, who's the grown-up here?"
"You are." she sighed.
"That's right. That means you do what I say. Right, Tad?" He pulled off the sheet, revealing a tiny blond girl in a pink dress.
"That's not Tad." Rachel astutly observed.
"No, no i-it's not." Todd was trying very hard not to have a panic attack. Breathe, Tolensky, breathe. Slowly. Don't let the kids know you're freakin' out. "OK," Todd tried to clear his mind. "I know it was Tad at Eckerd's. That's where we must've got mixed up. We'll just go back and, and, and..." And what? I have no idea where this kid's parents are. Oh crap. Tad didn't have his image inducer. Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap..........
"I can help you find him, Todd." said Nathan.
"How?"
"Rachel's not the only one who can read minds. I know what Tad's thoughts sound like."
"Then why didn't you tell me I had the wrong kid!?"
"I was thinking about candy." Nathan shrugged. "That kinda blocks everything else out."
"I can imagine. Well, let's go."
"This way!" Nathan called. Todd followed the blue clad boy down a side road. Todd hefted the strange toddler on his shoulder. Rachel followed, her orange tail feathers streaming in the wind.
"I hear his thoughts too." she said. "He's very close by."
They came upon a heavyset woman walking hand in sheeted hand with a toddler dressed as a ghost. "Excuse, me, Ma'am," Todd called as he jogged up to her. "I'm afraid we got our kids mixed up."
The lady started when she saw the girl Todd was carrying. "Sandra! How did you..?" The woman took her baby back. "I am so sorry, sir." she said. "I don't know how this happened."
"Lots of kids dress up as ghosts." he said, picking up Tad.
"Maybe you should check, just to make sure this one is your kid."
"Uh, that's OK. I recognize his shoes. You have a good night, ma'am, sorry about the mix-up." As soon as they were a good distance away, Todd pulled the sheet back, revealing a beaked face with luminous black eyes. "Don't ever do that to me again." he chided. "Um, kids," he said as they walked back to his place. "Your parents don't need to know about this. Rogue definitly doesn't need to know about this. No one needs to know what happened."
"Don't need anyone to know the grown-up needed help from the kids, huh?" Nathan said a bit smuggly.
"Nathan, you're to smart for your own good."
"OK, we won't tell."
Todd opened the door to his apartment to find Rogue sitting in the living room.
"Oh-uh-Hi, Marie. Just finished taking the kids trick-or-treating."
"Uh-huh," she nodded. "How could you take 'em trick-or-treating when their bags are right here?"
"Um, uh, well, uh..." There was no way out of it. "We kinda- misplaced Tad. But we found him!" He showed her the toddler as proof.
"He's not hurt?"
"No."
"No one saw him and threw a hissy fit?"
"No."
"Then don't worry. Everythin's fine. God, you shoulda seen Kitty tonight. She's as big as a house! Her feet were all swolen and all she did was cry." She kneeled down to Tad's level. "Tad, honey, thank you for making me a momma the easy way." She kissed the tips of her gloved fingers and pressed them on the tip of Tad's beak. "I'll find something for the Summers kids to wear to sleep in. You put Tad to bed."
Tad's bedroom was actually a converted corner of the living room. Todd smiled as he remembered how Kurt and Fred helped him plaster the sheetrock that made up the two new walls. They initially forgot to put in a door and found themselves temporarily trapped. Right out of the Three Stooges. Tad had recently graduated from his crib to a bed. Todd changed Tad into his pajamas and tucked him in. "Want me to read to you?" Tad nodded. Todd looked over their small collection of children's books. No way could I read Runaway Bunny after what happened tonight. I'd probably start bawling in front of the kid. We finished Paddington Bear last night. So that leaves Curious George or..hmm.
Eighteen months ago, when Todd and Rogue told everyone they found a mutant baby, their friends held an impromptu baby shower. One of the gifts had been the Harry Potter septology. The books were as yet unopened. Todd took out The Sorceror's Stone. "You, know, Tad, when these first came out I didn't read them. I thought they were for kids and I wasn't a big reader anyway. Well, better late than never." He sat in the chair by Tad's bed and opened the book. "Chapter One: The Boy Who Lived. Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much...."
Seventeen pages later, Tad was fast asleep. Todd gently kissed his forehead, turned out the light and left the room.
Rogue and the Summers kids were on the couch watching TV. The kids were dressed in a pair of oversized T-shirts and wrapped themselves in the extra blankets Rogue got out for them. Rachel looked at the concert tee her brother was wearing. "Todd, what's Eminem?"
"What-what's Eminem?" he sputtered. "You kids don't know who Eminem was?"
"It's candy, isn't it?" asked Nathan.
"What do they teach you kids in school today?"
"Todd," said Rogue. "I'm pretty sure they don't teach the history of rap. Have a seat. The Exorcist is coming on next." Todd sat next to his wife. "And kids, I took the liberty of checking your candy while you were out. It's all good." The Summers wasted no time digging into their goodies. Todd edged closer to Rogue.
"Why does your breath smell like Milk Duds?" he whispered. She blushed and covered her mouth.
An hour or so later, both kids were asleep. Rogue was nodding off. Todd was trying to figure out what was so scary about a kid that could spit up green slime. He stood, stretched and noticed the time. Midnight. There was a mirror hanging on the wall. Todd approached it. "Bloody Mary." he whispered. A chill ran down his spine. Whoa. I'm letting Furball freak me out. "Bloody Mary." he said a bit louder.
"Huh?" Rogue mumbled. "What is it, Todd?"
"Um, you wanna go to bed?"
"Sure." she turned off the TV. "I'm tired."
"Me too." Todd went to bed glad Rogue had interrupted him. In some of the legends, you only needed to call on Bloody Mary three times.
A/N: X Evolution belongs to WB. Gabs and Tad are my own orriginal characters. Nathan and Rachel are from the Marvel comic. In this world, they are both the children of Scott and Jean. (Evil clone stories confuse the hell out of me, so let's say there was no Madeline Pryor.) Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. Bloody Mary belongs to everyone. Incidentally, how many variations are there on Bloody Mary. I've heard she's a witch who sacraficed babies to Satan on Halloween, that she's a woman who killed her children after she went crazy after finding out about her husband's infidelity, that she's a girl who slit her wrists in a bathroom. The number of
times you're to call on her changes. I've heard it's as much as 100. (Presumedly, you'll lose count or your nerve before you get that far.) My husband says that he heard that if she appears in the mirror, you can ask her 3 questions and she'll answer them. Nathan's scary story is a variation of a tale in Bloody Mary, A compilation of scary stories. /It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown/ belongs to
the late, great Charles Schultz.