"Here you are, Todd," Storm said softly, less tense then before after seeing how much less intense Todd was when he wasn't trying to be a little thug. The teen took the teacup from the older African woman with a small smile but didn't speak out. Both were sitting in the bright and very open mansion kitchen, a cup of tea in front of each of their places. For a long moment neither of them spoke, the steam from their teacups wafting up into their faces.

"Well..." Todd said softly.

"Well what, Todd?" Storm asked lightly, taking a sip of her unsweetened tea.

"I'm just trying to figure out what words to say, yo. It ain't that easy talking to someone older then I am and not feel like I'm going to be slapped or insulted." Todd shook his head and sighed. "I mean, we've never really spoken, much."

"Well you have been on the other side of the line, Todd. Why don't you tell me why you joined the Brotherhood? I'd like to know why you'd join a place where you're not getting what you need."

"How the hell do you know what I need? Are you a mind-reader as well as being a weather witch, yo?" Todd asked his voice grave and scorning. He looked at Storm for a moment and smiled a little, though Storm felt no warmth in his visage.

"I'm not telepathic, Todd. I just look at people and observe them. And I can see you're hurting inside." Storm looked right back at Todd with eyes that seemed to overflow with concern for the boy. Despite all their fights against one another and the fact that Todd had been, and in fact was still, with Magneto's group, Storm felt herself wanting to help him in ways she knew the Brotherhood couldn't. She had maternal instincts that had only been awakened in her time with Evan and they were telling her that he wouldn't have come here unless he had something bigger in mind then what he currently had.

"...truth is, yo, I joined the Brotherhood because that was the only place that would take me in. I mean, we all know what happened when that asshole baldy decided to give me a tryout here." Todd snorted out the last few lines and looked over at Storm who was fighting to keep her face impassive. "Mystique gave me an offer I didn't want to refuse. She promised me a home. She promised me power. She promised me respect. She promised...she..." At the mention of Mystique's name he got slightly more choked up then he was and he looked away for a moment to compose himself.

"She promised..."

"She promised me that she'd find a mom for me, even if she had to be it herself." Todd looked down at his tea with a forlorn look in his eyes. "I miss my mom. I need a mom, yo."

"A mother?" Storm asked, genuinely confused at the turn of events in the conversation.

"Yeah. My mom died when I was really young and I took to the streets of New York City when I was 9. I've basically been homeless and without a family for years, yo. I...I miss my mom, yo. I miss how she used to touch me and make me feel like I was important. Mystique promised me I'd find someone like that. And...And I want Mystique to be my mom and she just uses me for her own benefit. Everyone uses me for what they want. No one wants me, yo. Not Wanda, not Magneto, not Pietro, not Lance, not Mystique, certainly not you guys..."

"That's not true, Todd," Storm blurted out, unable to hold herself back any longer. "We wanted you to join us when you first came. But it was Wolverine, not Professor Xavier who wanted you to be tested before you joined. This was before Logan had become less and less like a drill sergeant and more and more like a father here."

"Then why did Baldy...err...the Professor go along with that, yo? Why didn't he want to keep me regardless?" Todd asked, looking up his eyes full of tears. "You got no idea how much it's hurt to know that no one has wanted me just for me. That everyone has had to want to test me or mess with me or disrespect me...it hurts a lot, yo. Especially considering that the Professor didn't test anyone else before they came here. Only me. I'd like to know why he felt he had to test me."

"I do know what you're going through, Todd." Storm replied quietly, her own face beginning to flush a little as she spoke.

"You do? How?"

"I know how you feel because in my life before I came here, I was used by the village I was born in as nothing more then a magic charm." Storm stopped for a moment and sighed, her eyes beginning to cloud over with her own memories. "By the time I was 9, my powers were in full bloom and my tribe knew fell well that I could control the weather. They basically used me whenever we had a storm and whenever the crops failed. We never had to worry about food not being there when I was...but none of the children my age would play with me. They were all too busy being told to not hurt me because I was so 'valuable to the tribe'.

"Then, when I was 13, I ran away from my tribal village and lived on the streets of Kinshasa, Zaire as a beggar. It took a long time for my life to get better but eventually I came to America and the Professor took me in and wanted me to be here because he cared about me." For a long moment, neither person spoke. The steam wafted up into their eyes, lightly masking the contrasting emotions they both were feeling. Then Storm spoke again, her own voice tired but hopeful, "You have to believe that it can and will get better, Todd. We do care. I do care."

"Then why did he do this to me? Why did he feel like we're all just little soldiers for his to be played with? I mean, at least with Magneto you know you're nothing more then a pawn for his control...but I thought that the Professor had more humanity then that." Todd said softly as he rested his hands on the Formica tabletop. He looked off into space for a long time and then smiled slightly. "Wow, I didn't think that would ever happen again, yo."

"What?" asked Storm who was more then a little confused about this sudden turn of phrase.

"I just remembered that I had just said an entire string of words without using the word 'yo', yo. It's been so long since I've actually just spoken out without...without being stupid me." Todd shook his head ruefully and sighed some more. "I'm not as much of an idiot as people think I am, Miss Storm."

"I don't think you're an idiot Todd. And you can just call me Storm," she replied with a small smile.

"Maybe, but I'm not so sure everyone knows that. I mean, I know I'm smelly and a little bit odd, yo, but you would be too if you got picked on like I did." Todd sniffled a little then drank some more of his tea before continuing. "I mean, I used to be this nice, sweet smelling kid and then when I got tired of people picking on me I decided to just stop showering. Make 'em gag and they'll leave you alone, right? Well it works. But I'm tired of pushing everyone away, yo. I want Wanda to like me just as I am without the stink. I want Mystique to care about me when Magneto is kicking my ass for something I didn't do. I want people to see that Fred isn't the idiot people think he is, either."

"You mean Blob?"

"Yeah. Blob. Fred Dukes. The people here don't know that Fred has a learning disability. He's got dyslexia and he doesn't even know it, yo. I mean, I try to help him read but he's hurting so much like I am that most of the time we just talk about how much we hate the world and how much we hate women. He despises Jean so much for leading him on and shit that sometimes it's all I can do to talk him down from kicking her ass, yo." Todd's face darkened as he spoke the name of the youthful telepath. He could feel his blood boiling and his hands clench but he couldn't stop thinking about how much he didn't like Jean Grey. This was not lost on Storm who immediately sent up red mental flags before she spoke again.

"How do you mean she lead him on? From what I heard, he tried to rape her and kidnap her in the premise of a date," Storm said, her voice being held in a tone that would convey curiosity and questioning, not condemnation. The last thing she wanted now was to scare this frightened boy off.

"Well that might be what she said to save face but the reality is that Fred mistook what she meant to think that, for once, someone liked him for him and not because he was a big dumb ox. He's not, yo. He's smart and a romantic like me and he was lead around by Jean. I mean, it's not like girls are just queuing up to want to date either of us," Todd said with a sad smile, "And he ran away like me to Magneto because he got tired of being teased and humiliated. Yeah, he may have gone too far too soon, yo but she went out with him because of pity and when she found out he was serious she bolted. I have no respect for her, yo."

"Is that the only reason why you don't like her? Because she hurt your friend?"

"No, I don't like her because she's everything I hate about going to school. She's smart, popular, preppy and cliquish. She's a golden girl and I'm a brown boy, yo. Ho's like her are the reason why my life is a living hell. I mean, at least I know Wanda hates my guts but she also hates everyone else's. Including her own, yo." At the mention of Wanda, Todd grew silent. His hands shook a little as he realized how much he knew about things and about people. Todd could feel his heart melting at the thought of Wanda being Wanda and Wanda being hateful and mean because it was so easy to be so. He hated knowing that he couldn't make her see that he understood and wanted to love her for life. "I just hate knowing that she's got guys who want her and she's not worth shit and I'm worth so much more and have nothing. The very girl who should give a damn about me doesn't, the woman who recruited me to Magneto couldn't care less about me, and nearly everyone in the Brotherhood house only tolerates me. Throw in being bullied and hated at school and fighting with you X-Geeks, and you've got where I am now."

"You're bullied at school? Even with your powers?"

"More like, specifically because of my powers, yo. You have no idea what it's like to have the entire football team threaten to rape you and beat you up just because you smiled at a girl. I stole some wallets before and still do. I have no issue with that, especially with the jock assholes in that school, yo. But do I deserve to be gang beaten and nearly raped by the entire football team? Just cause I'm a small, tiny mutant?" Todd asked, bitter acid lacing his voice and tears shining in his eyes. He hung his head and sniffled-choked as Storm struggled to keep a passive face. At that moment she realized that this was what was going to be the future of the mutant race, unless Charles Xavier was right and that mutants and non-mutants could live together. She also realized that being a mutant didn't make your teenage life easier, just more complicated. She reached over and touched his arm with her hand, stroking up and down the soft downy hairs with her slender fingers.

For a long moment, neither of them did anything but sit with their own thoughts then Todd stood up and walked next to Storm and gave her a big hug. Todd gave Storm the kind of hug that only boys give to their mothers when they get their eyes dried and their emotions comforted. And she hugged him back, without fear or shame or worry about betrayal. She hugged him like she would have hugged Evan, or Scott or Kitty or anyone of the X-Men. Even his smell, light though it actually was, didn't bother her as she held on to the shudder boy as he broke down crying into her shoulder. He cried so intently and shuddered so much that he missed Professor Xavier wheel into the kitchen with a somber look on his face. He nodded to Storm who nodded back and squeezed closer to Todd, giving him a motherly pat on the head. The Professor wheeled silently out of the kitchen and proceeded to go back to his study to continue recording the two of them as they spoke and to listen to the recordings he had picked up earlier. Living with a security maniac like Wolverine had it's advantages and being able to know the entire conversation between Todd and Storm whilst they were in the kitchen was definitely one of them.

He sat behind his desk and slipped on a pair of headphones. It was going to be a long night.