From now on, if you want to see a disclaimer, go back to one of my earlier
chapters.
Chapter 6 Cub
The seven year old was brought to the school by a Social worker, "Professor, I wish you luck," then under her breath I heard her add, "You're going to need it."
I smiled at the little girl, she was small for seven, "Hi, I'm Jaime,"
"I'm Kasy," She said shyly, I knelt down, and looked at her again, she was about the size of a normal five year old.
"You'll be staying with me, do you want to see our room?" I asked.
Kasy ducked her head. Like Rouge, I wore gloves most of the time, but I slid one off to touch Kasy's arm, the professor raised his eyebrows in surprise when I looked up, "Don't ask me for permission, it's your mind," he said.
Kasy was scared, which was to be expected, I would be to. "Come on, I'll show you around, we'll leave the adults to talk."
Kasy looked up at me, "Aren't you an adult?"
"You wound me," I said in an overly dramatic tone, causing Kasy to laugh, then in a low tone, I asked, "Do I really look that old?"
I showed Kasy the parts of the mansion open to students, then our room, her stuff had been brought in, there was a small suitcase, and a backpack. We knew she wouldn't have bedding, so Jean and I went shopping, I found a flannel sheet set, with blue moons, and stars on it, and Jean had found a pale blue comforter.
"If you need anything, night or day, Just ask, Ok?" I said.
Kasy nodded, "I'd stay, but I'm meeting a friend in a bit, I'll see you after supper, before you go to bed," I smiled, and put a hand on her shoulder.
"You're leaving?" Kasy looked scared, really scared.
I picked up my cell phone from my bed, and sat down, I dialed Jasmine's number, "Jasmine, I was wondering, do you mind if I bring my little sister?"
"I didn't know you had one," Jasmine said, "sure, bring her along."
"I didn't know you had a little sister either," Kasy said.
"I'd like to call you my little sister, if that's alright with you?" I said.
"Really?" Kasy asked, "I've never had a big sister before."
"Nor have I had a little one, come on, let's ask the professor if you can come."
After a little whining on my part which got surprised looks from the professor, I got permission to take Kasy with me. The next day, I woke up early, before the sun, and went out to the green house, I relaxed, feeling the trees, Miss Monroe came in, and sat next to me, "I noticed you've taken the new girl, Kasy, under your wing, does that mean that you'll come to dinner from now on?"
"I've been eating with the teachers, and you eat with the students, that's why you didn't know, I'll be sending Kasy to the large dining room, and as long as my welcome doesn't run out in the small dining room, I'll continue to eat in there," I said.
"You get better food than any of the students, did you know that?" Miss Monroe asked.
"I am aware of the fact that the teachers eat better than the students, but usually, though I am not banished to the kids tables, I still eat what my fellow students get."
"What do you think of moving the green house, let the trees in here stand on their own?" Storm asked.
"Where would I go, when I needed to be alone with the natural?" I asked.
"The trees would still be here," She said.
"But they would be open to every one, at any time, I could be sitting here, relaxing, or be connected with a tree, to get rid of my headaches, and someone could just come barging in, without any warning," I said.
"The trees would warn you," Storm said, "That's how you know who's come in now."
"But the students don't come in here, it's not their place, they like to be outside," I said.
"So you like the walls?" Storm said.
"Yes," I said.
"That makes sense, this is your sanctuary, How about this, I talk to the professor about putting walls up around these trees, leaving lots of room to grow, put in a gate, and maybe get some animals in here," Storm suggested.
"You'd do that?" I asked.
"I'll do that," Storm smiled.
The next night, at about midnight, someone shook me out of sleep, "Jaime," Kasy sounded scared.
"What is it?" I asked.
"I - I wet the bed," That's when I smelt it, she had definitely done that, I got up, and helped her change into clean Pajamas, then I took the sheets off the bed, they were soaked, so was the mattress, changing the sheets wasn't an option.
"I'm going to put these in the wash, then I'll be back, you hop up in my bed, for now, try to get some sleep," I said.
Thankfully that didn't become a nightly occurrence, but on Wednesday night, Kasy woke me up, by climbing into my bed, "I'm scared that the monsters are going to get me, will you protect me?" she asked.
"I'll protect you," I wrapped the small girl in my arms, and fell asleep again, thinking of all the childhood nights that John or I would crawl into the other's bed, or when I'd slip out of our room, after a nightmare, to crawl in with Jesse.
My parents had a picture from when I was seven, Jesse was fourteen, and I had crawled in with him, and fallen asleep with my head over his heart. I remembered that night vividly, I had had a dream that Jesse had left, and to reassure myself, I'd gone to listen to his heart beat, Three years later, to the day, Jesse had left.
I came home from school on Thursday, with a headache, so after ethics, I went to the green house, once my headache was gone, I went up to my room, to start homework. *My Cub * drifted into my mind, I sat up, but that drifting piece of my 'uncle' Logan was gone. He wasn't really my Uncle, he was just one of those fairly permanent fixtures you get in some houses. He was my mom's best friend's widower, well, actually, he was my blood father, but he couldn't handle raising an infant alone, so I was adopted by my mother and father, with Logan being a semi-permanent fixture in my life. He called me his Cub, because he had animal senses, and Just like my parents weren't really my parents, my brothers weren't really my brothers, but I was close to them anyway. Logan had left about a month before my ninth birthday, he didn't usually miss my birthday, so when he didn't come back, I knew something was wrong. The police never did anything about it, they said something about him being a grown man, but I knew my Uncle Logan wouldn't leave me by choice, he was my Ada, and he loved me. (Ada means dad, for those of you who aren't Lord of the Rings fans)
I went downstairs, I didn't really want to, I knew I'd find a lot of people down there, but I had to see the professor about that thought. I was at the top of the stairs, when I saw Rouge greet Logan, and that's when my mind made the connection, I had seen him when he was planning to leave before. He had purposely been putting on weight then, to make sure he'd be fine with little food while he was gone, but now he was skinny, skinnier than when he'd left, eight years ago, but he'd been planning on being gone about a month then. Logan went to speak with the professor, I followed him, as quietly as I could, inside.
After he left the professor's office, a moment later, he looked at me, "What are you looking at, Kid?"
"I've seen you before," I looked at his ears, they were pointed, like mine were.
"I was here when you got here, kid," he turned away.
"I didn't recognize you then, you were planning on leaving for awhile, putting on weight for it, and though I'd seen you do that before, it was to long ago for me to recognize you, but now, now I do recognize you," I said.
"Where do you recognize me from?" He asked harshly.
"When I was a kid," I said, "You disappeared, eight years ago, you said you'd be back in a month, but you never came, Where have you been?"
"I was in Canada, searching for my past, you say you saw me eight years ago? I only remember the past five," He said.
"You don't remember me?" I said.
The Professor's office door opened then, "Jaime, you wanted to see me?" He said.
I looked at the professor, then back at Logan, He didn't remember me, I turned and I ran out to the greenhouse.
***Logan's P.O.V.***
"Who was that?" I asked Charley.
"That was Jaime, she's the only person here with more secrets than you," He replied, simply.
"She said she knew me," I said.
"That's more than I knew, but Jaime seems to know a lot of people, Beast is her Uncle, One of the students has parents who run an orphanage, Jaime's older brother, Jesse, works there, and she's got another brother around, somewhere, who's the same age as her," He said.
"Where is she?" I asked.
"Storm is checking on her, don't worry," Charley said.
***Jaime's P.O.V.***
I was sitting by my favorite tree, when Storm walked up, "Go away, I don't want to talk to anyone," I said.
"You don't have to talk, but can I sit with you?" She asked.
Ten minutes later, Storm was sitting against a tree across the path from me, I heard the door to the green house open, and small footsteps, after they walked around for a bit, they hesitantly approached us, "Jaime, are you mad at me?" Kasy asked.
"No, Kasy, I'm just sad, and I didn't want to make anyone else sad," I said.
"Will it help if I gave you a hug?" Kasy asked.
"Sorry Kasy, it's not that kind of sad, it goes deeper than a hug," I said.
Kasy crawled into my lap anyway, and cuddled up to me. When it started getting dark, Kasy fell asleep, Storm took her from me, "I'll come back in a bit, I'll bring you something to eat."
I closed my eyes, and let my emotions flow into the tree, "Is this a private party? Or can anyone join?" I recognized Logan's voice.
"By all means," I motioned to the spot Storm had vacated.
"I don't know what I said, or did, that hurt you, but I'm sorry," Logan said, he had chosen to sit beside me, rather than across from me.
"How can you apologize, if you don't know what you're apologizing for?" I asked.
Logan looked at me, "I don't remember much, I'm trying to get my memory back, but I just can't remember."
"My mom died, when I was just a baby, a couple days old, she was a mutant, as was my father, my father didn't think he could raise me alone, so he went to my mother's best friend, she had a son, the same day. I was adopted, my father stuck around, as much as he could, but he was a member of the Canadian forces, reserves, and he was a wilderness tracker, when he wasn't looking for lost kids, or training, he'd stay with us. Sometimes, he'd go away, for weeks, or months, with a cell phone incase someone needed him, and nothing else. A month before my ninth birthday, he went on one of his trips, He woke me up at four AM, to say goodbye, I hugged him, and began to cry, 'My Cub, I will return, I promise,' he said, 'I'll be back for your party next month.' I never saw him again."
"You knew then that he was your father?" Logan asked.
"No, I didn't find out until John left home," I said.
"How old are you now?" Logan asked.
"I'll be seventeen in December," I said.
"Why was your dad a wilderness tracker?" Logan asked.
"I'm not completely sure, but he was good, they'd call him in on the really difficult cases. He'd work alone, whenever he'd work with people, if they found the child injured or worse, he'd not come home after, he'd go on one of his trips," I said, "and the people in any nearby town would always say that for two nights, they'd hear a wolf howling nearby."
"Your dad was an animorph?" Logan asked.
"I like to think so," I said.
"But you don't know," Logan said.
"I was to young, he wouldn't talk about it, and all my adopted parents knew was that he was a mutant, as far as I know."
"So, what's your power?" Logan asked.
"I'm an Empath, and Telepath, though it's hard for me to be around people, most give me headaches," I said.
"Oh, sorry, do you want me to leave?" Logan asked.
"No, you're simplistic enough, you may have a lot of pain, and a lot of secrets, but there's something not fully human about you," I said.
"It might be the adamantium skeleton," Logan said lightly.
I looked at him, and said, "The sound of a wolf, it excites you, but also frustrates you, like you should be out there, but you can't because you don't fit, just like you don't fit with people."
"What?" Logan said.
"You feel just at home, out in the woods, as in civilization, if not more, I know, it's the same for me," I said.
Logan gave me a funny look, "Sorry, I thought maybe I was right about you, but I guess not," I looked down at the ground.
"How did you know all that?" Logan asked.
"I told you, I feel it too, not always, just recently, in the last few months," I said.
We sat in silence for awhile, "Logan, does it hurt?" I asked.
"Does what hurt?" he asked.
"The adamantium, it doesn't have your DNA, so your body must try to reject it," I said.
"My body has accepted it, as part of me, now, but it hurt a lot, at first," He said.
"And your claws, do they hurt?" I asked.
"Every time," he replied.
"Because your nerve tissue has grown back over it," I said.
"Right," We sat under the tree, until Miss Monroe came back, "I brought you some food, Jaime."
"Thanks, but I'm not hungry," I said.
Storm sat across from us, and said, "The professor sent some of the teacher's food out for you, it's a lot better than the student's food, you were right,"
"I'm always right about food," I said.
Later, I went in, Kasy was in her bed, I laid on mine, and fell asleep quickly. Three days later, Logan left again, this time, he came into our room, at about ten. "I'm leaving, but I'll be back," he handed Rouge his dog tags, after giving her a hug. He turned to me, we had spent a fair amount of time together, "I'm not going to promise to be back for your birthday, but I'll try, alright, Jaime," I nodded, Logan hugged me and whispered, "You can be my Cub."
A/N: I can't write anymore, it's getting to long, what do you think, the next chapter will be called Changes, I know she said Logan was her father, but there is a reason she didn't push it, she didn't want him to reject her. In the next chapter, Siphon will no longer be an accurate title, so I may change it, though I'm not sure what to.
I'll write more soon.
Chapter 6 Cub
The seven year old was brought to the school by a Social worker, "Professor, I wish you luck," then under her breath I heard her add, "You're going to need it."
I smiled at the little girl, she was small for seven, "Hi, I'm Jaime,"
"I'm Kasy," She said shyly, I knelt down, and looked at her again, she was about the size of a normal five year old.
"You'll be staying with me, do you want to see our room?" I asked.
Kasy ducked her head. Like Rouge, I wore gloves most of the time, but I slid one off to touch Kasy's arm, the professor raised his eyebrows in surprise when I looked up, "Don't ask me for permission, it's your mind," he said.
Kasy was scared, which was to be expected, I would be to. "Come on, I'll show you around, we'll leave the adults to talk."
Kasy looked up at me, "Aren't you an adult?"
"You wound me," I said in an overly dramatic tone, causing Kasy to laugh, then in a low tone, I asked, "Do I really look that old?"
I showed Kasy the parts of the mansion open to students, then our room, her stuff had been brought in, there was a small suitcase, and a backpack. We knew she wouldn't have bedding, so Jean and I went shopping, I found a flannel sheet set, with blue moons, and stars on it, and Jean had found a pale blue comforter.
"If you need anything, night or day, Just ask, Ok?" I said.
Kasy nodded, "I'd stay, but I'm meeting a friend in a bit, I'll see you after supper, before you go to bed," I smiled, and put a hand on her shoulder.
"You're leaving?" Kasy looked scared, really scared.
I picked up my cell phone from my bed, and sat down, I dialed Jasmine's number, "Jasmine, I was wondering, do you mind if I bring my little sister?"
"I didn't know you had one," Jasmine said, "sure, bring her along."
"I didn't know you had a little sister either," Kasy said.
"I'd like to call you my little sister, if that's alright with you?" I said.
"Really?" Kasy asked, "I've never had a big sister before."
"Nor have I had a little one, come on, let's ask the professor if you can come."
After a little whining on my part which got surprised looks from the professor, I got permission to take Kasy with me. The next day, I woke up early, before the sun, and went out to the green house, I relaxed, feeling the trees, Miss Monroe came in, and sat next to me, "I noticed you've taken the new girl, Kasy, under your wing, does that mean that you'll come to dinner from now on?"
"I've been eating with the teachers, and you eat with the students, that's why you didn't know, I'll be sending Kasy to the large dining room, and as long as my welcome doesn't run out in the small dining room, I'll continue to eat in there," I said.
"You get better food than any of the students, did you know that?" Miss Monroe asked.
"I am aware of the fact that the teachers eat better than the students, but usually, though I am not banished to the kids tables, I still eat what my fellow students get."
"What do you think of moving the green house, let the trees in here stand on their own?" Storm asked.
"Where would I go, when I needed to be alone with the natural?" I asked.
"The trees would still be here," She said.
"But they would be open to every one, at any time, I could be sitting here, relaxing, or be connected with a tree, to get rid of my headaches, and someone could just come barging in, without any warning," I said.
"The trees would warn you," Storm said, "That's how you know who's come in now."
"But the students don't come in here, it's not their place, they like to be outside," I said.
"So you like the walls?" Storm said.
"Yes," I said.
"That makes sense, this is your sanctuary, How about this, I talk to the professor about putting walls up around these trees, leaving lots of room to grow, put in a gate, and maybe get some animals in here," Storm suggested.
"You'd do that?" I asked.
"I'll do that," Storm smiled.
The next night, at about midnight, someone shook me out of sleep, "Jaime," Kasy sounded scared.
"What is it?" I asked.
"I - I wet the bed," That's when I smelt it, she had definitely done that, I got up, and helped her change into clean Pajamas, then I took the sheets off the bed, they were soaked, so was the mattress, changing the sheets wasn't an option.
"I'm going to put these in the wash, then I'll be back, you hop up in my bed, for now, try to get some sleep," I said.
Thankfully that didn't become a nightly occurrence, but on Wednesday night, Kasy woke me up, by climbing into my bed, "I'm scared that the monsters are going to get me, will you protect me?" she asked.
"I'll protect you," I wrapped the small girl in my arms, and fell asleep again, thinking of all the childhood nights that John or I would crawl into the other's bed, or when I'd slip out of our room, after a nightmare, to crawl in with Jesse.
My parents had a picture from when I was seven, Jesse was fourteen, and I had crawled in with him, and fallen asleep with my head over his heart. I remembered that night vividly, I had had a dream that Jesse had left, and to reassure myself, I'd gone to listen to his heart beat, Three years later, to the day, Jesse had left.
I came home from school on Thursday, with a headache, so after ethics, I went to the green house, once my headache was gone, I went up to my room, to start homework. *My Cub * drifted into my mind, I sat up, but that drifting piece of my 'uncle' Logan was gone. He wasn't really my Uncle, he was just one of those fairly permanent fixtures you get in some houses. He was my mom's best friend's widower, well, actually, he was my blood father, but he couldn't handle raising an infant alone, so I was adopted by my mother and father, with Logan being a semi-permanent fixture in my life. He called me his Cub, because he had animal senses, and Just like my parents weren't really my parents, my brothers weren't really my brothers, but I was close to them anyway. Logan had left about a month before my ninth birthday, he didn't usually miss my birthday, so when he didn't come back, I knew something was wrong. The police never did anything about it, they said something about him being a grown man, but I knew my Uncle Logan wouldn't leave me by choice, he was my Ada, and he loved me. (Ada means dad, for those of you who aren't Lord of the Rings fans)
I went downstairs, I didn't really want to, I knew I'd find a lot of people down there, but I had to see the professor about that thought. I was at the top of the stairs, when I saw Rouge greet Logan, and that's when my mind made the connection, I had seen him when he was planning to leave before. He had purposely been putting on weight then, to make sure he'd be fine with little food while he was gone, but now he was skinny, skinnier than when he'd left, eight years ago, but he'd been planning on being gone about a month then. Logan went to speak with the professor, I followed him, as quietly as I could, inside.
After he left the professor's office, a moment later, he looked at me, "What are you looking at, Kid?"
"I've seen you before," I looked at his ears, they were pointed, like mine were.
"I was here when you got here, kid," he turned away.
"I didn't recognize you then, you were planning on leaving for awhile, putting on weight for it, and though I'd seen you do that before, it was to long ago for me to recognize you, but now, now I do recognize you," I said.
"Where do you recognize me from?" He asked harshly.
"When I was a kid," I said, "You disappeared, eight years ago, you said you'd be back in a month, but you never came, Where have you been?"
"I was in Canada, searching for my past, you say you saw me eight years ago? I only remember the past five," He said.
"You don't remember me?" I said.
The Professor's office door opened then, "Jaime, you wanted to see me?" He said.
I looked at the professor, then back at Logan, He didn't remember me, I turned and I ran out to the greenhouse.
***Logan's P.O.V.***
"Who was that?" I asked Charley.
"That was Jaime, she's the only person here with more secrets than you," He replied, simply.
"She said she knew me," I said.
"That's more than I knew, but Jaime seems to know a lot of people, Beast is her Uncle, One of the students has parents who run an orphanage, Jaime's older brother, Jesse, works there, and she's got another brother around, somewhere, who's the same age as her," He said.
"Where is she?" I asked.
"Storm is checking on her, don't worry," Charley said.
***Jaime's P.O.V.***
I was sitting by my favorite tree, when Storm walked up, "Go away, I don't want to talk to anyone," I said.
"You don't have to talk, but can I sit with you?" She asked.
Ten minutes later, Storm was sitting against a tree across the path from me, I heard the door to the green house open, and small footsteps, after they walked around for a bit, they hesitantly approached us, "Jaime, are you mad at me?" Kasy asked.
"No, Kasy, I'm just sad, and I didn't want to make anyone else sad," I said.
"Will it help if I gave you a hug?" Kasy asked.
"Sorry Kasy, it's not that kind of sad, it goes deeper than a hug," I said.
Kasy crawled into my lap anyway, and cuddled up to me. When it started getting dark, Kasy fell asleep, Storm took her from me, "I'll come back in a bit, I'll bring you something to eat."
I closed my eyes, and let my emotions flow into the tree, "Is this a private party? Or can anyone join?" I recognized Logan's voice.
"By all means," I motioned to the spot Storm had vacated.
"I don't know what I said, or did, that hurt you, but I'm sorry," Logan said, he had chosen to sit beside me, rather than across from me.
"How can you apologize, if you don't know what you're apologizing for?" I asked.
Logan looked at me, "I don't remember much, I'm trying to get my memory back, but I just can't remember."
"My mom died, when I was just a baby, a couple days old, she was a mutant, as was my father, my father didn't think he could raise me alone, so he went to my mother's best friend, she had a son, the same day. I was adopted, my father stuck around, as much as he could, but he was a member of the Canadian forces, reserves, and he was a wilderness tracker, when he wasn't looking for lost kids, or training, he'd stay with us. Sometimes, he'd go away, for weeks, or months, with a cell phone incase someone needed him, and nothing else. A month before my ninth birthday, he went on one of his trips, He woke me up at four AM, to say goodbye, I hugged him, and began to cry, 'My Cub, I will return, I promise,' he said, 'I'll be back for your party next month.' I never saw him again."
"You knew then that he was your father?" Logan asked.
"No, I didn't find out until John left home," I said.
"How old are you now?" Logan asked.
"I'll be seventeen in December," I said.
"Why was your dad a wilderness tracker?" Logan asked.
"I'm not completely sure, but he was good, they'd call him in on the really difficult cases. He'd work alone, whenever he'd work with people, if they found the child injured or worse, he'd not come home after, he'd go on one of his trips," I said, "and the people in any nearby town would always say that for two nights, they'd hear a wolf howling nearby."
"Your dad was an animorph?" Logan asked.
"I like to think so," I said.
"But you don't know," Logan said.
"I was to young, he wouldn't talk about it, and all my adopted parents knew was that he was a mutant, as far as I know."
"So, what's your power?" Logan asked.
"I'm an Empath, and Telepath, though it's hard for me to be around people, most give me headaches," I said.
"Oh, sorry, do you want me to leave?" Logan asked.
"No, you're simplistic enough, you may have a lot of pain, and a lot of secrets, but there's something not fully human about you," I said.
"It might be the adamantium skeleton," Logan said lightly.
I looked at him, and said, "The sound of a wolf, it excites you, but also frustrates you, like you should be out there, but you can't because you don't fit, just like you don't fit with people."
"What?" Logan said.
"You feel just at home, out in the woods, as in civilization, if not more, I know, it's the same for me," I said.
Logan gave me a funny look, "Sorry, I thought maybe I was right about you, but I guess not," I looked down at the ground.
"How did you know all that?" Logan asked.
"I told you, I feel it too, not always, just recently, in the last few months," I said.
We sat in silence for awhile, "Logan, does it hurt?" I asked.
"Does what hurt?" he asked.
"The adamantium, it doesn't have your DNA, so your body must try to reject it," I said.
"My body has accepted it, as part of me, now, but it hurt a lot, at first," He said.
"And your claws, do they hurt?" I asked.
"Every time," he replied.
"Because your nerve tissue has grown back over it," I said.
"Right," We sat under the tree, until Miss Monroe came back, "I brought you some food, Jaime."
"Thanks, but I'm not hungry," I said.
Storm sat across from us, and said, "The professor sent some of the teacher's food out for you, it's a lot better than the student's food, you were right,"
"I'm always right about food," I said.
Later, I went in, Kasy was in her bed, I laid on mine, and fell asleep quickly. Three days later, Logan left again, this time, he came into our room, at about ten. "I'm leaving, but I'll be back," he handed Rouge his dog tags, after giving her a hug. He turned to me, we had spent a fair amount of time together, "I'm not going to promise to be back for your birthday, but I'll try, alright, Jaime," I nodded, Logan hugged me and whispered, "You can be my Cub."
A/N: I can't write anymore, it's getting to long, what do you think, the next chapter will be called Changes, I know she said Logan was her father, but there is a reason she didn't push it, she didn't want him to reject her. In the next chapter, Siphon will no longer be an accurate title, so I may change it, though I'm not sure what to.
I'll write more soon.