I'm leavin out a lotta shit, nigga it's too real,
My alcoholic backround, the welfare motels,
Abuse that I had to take, struggle that my moms went through,
How the fuck I'm gon bond wit you?
-- from "Styles - A Gangster And A Gentleman"
A ray of sunlight filtered into the anteroom as the new day began. Warmth from the sun began to heat the room and soon, things that would normally have awoken did. Todd Tolensky was no different as he opened his eyes with a tired motion. Light blasted into his sensitive eyes and for a moment he didn't know where he was. Then he remembered: he had spent the night at the mansion. He had spent the night talking to Storm. He remembered her smiling as he called her mom and tucking him into the couch he found himself laying on. He remembered her face when he spoke to her. Todd felt, for the first time in a long time, the happiness of waking up in a place that was completely safe. He liked feeling safe.
Todd slid off the couch and neatly folded the blanket up, putting it at the corner of the couch. He smelled food and hopped towards the source of said smell. His nose led his feet and body towards the kitchen in the mansion where Storm was finishing up the preperations for breakfast. She smiled softly as she saw him hop in. He liked looking at her smile.
"Good morning, Todd. I hope you slept well," Storm said as she gave Todd a glass of orange juice. He smiled and took the glass, his face surprisingly light and cheery looking. Storm noticed this and smiled inwardly. She hoped he had, infact, slept well.
"Umm, Hi, ummm...thanks, yo. Umm...yeah," Todd stammered as he took the glass and sat down, shocked as all hell. No one ever gave him anything in the Brotherhood house except grief and here was Storm giving him a glass of juice and asking how he had slept. Life was too fucking weird. "I didn't have any nightmares, if that's what you mean, yo."
"Well that's good, but what I meant is were you warm enough and comfortable?" Storm asked as she pulled plates and silverware from various places in the cabinets and drawers.
"Yeah, I slept well, yo. Why'd you put me up for the night?" Todd asked as he sipped at his juice.
"You were in no condition to hope home after we talked. And anyways, I wouldn't have let you." At that, Storm looked at Todd with a smile but her face was set in an expression that said that she well would have demanded that he had stayed the night. Todd saw this and for the briefest of moments wished he was Evan and had Storm as HIS aunt.
"Oh."
"Professor Xavier wants to talk to you as soon as you eat, Todd. Come. I won't serve you when you're big enough to get your own meal," Storm said with a wry smile. Todd nodded and submitted without putting up a fight. He hopped over and began to fill a plate with food. Storm sat down and watched him as he began to eat. Rather, Storm watched as Todd devoured the entire plate of food he was eating in close to 5 minutes. She knew the boy had been underfed and such...but she had not seen the amount of malnourishment that Todd exhibited. But as she realized just how hungry he was she smiled. Another need had been met and hopefully another wall had been broken down.
"Why does Baldy...er, the Professor want to talk to me?" Todd asked as he politely wiped his mouth and put down his napkin in the middle of the plate. The sheer neatness the normally sloppy and generally uncouth boy showed made Storm lose herself for a moment and continue smiling, her head not believing that a little kindness and care could turn a ruffian into a potential gentleman. "Well, I think that is for you to find out. I'd rather the Professor talk to you before I talk to you again." Storm looked at Todd for a moment and rubbed her hands slowly. She wanted him to stay. Try as she might to think about the fact that she didn't know enough about him or if he was for real, she, in the end, wanted Todd Tolensky to stay.
"Ok, yo. Um...you mind if I see him now before I go?" Todd asked. Storm nodded and motioned for Todd to follow her as she rose from the table. Storm walked ahead and led Todd to the Professor's study. She knocked on the door and opened it, showing Todd in with a wave of her lithe hand. Todd walked in and stood before the Professor's desk as he sat behind it, his head down and his eyes focused on some papers. Todd waited a moment and looked around the room. The entire back wall of the study was a bookshelf with massive amounts of books. Todd wondered what was in all those books and wondered if he'd ever get to read one of them.
"Todd, it's good of you to come and see me," Charles said, his head lifting up to greet the young teen. He wheeled out from behind the desk and stuck out his hand to Todd. For a moment, Todd didn't respond. He didn't know how. He didn't have any idea as to how to greet the man who had shunned him as so many others had. But his hidden politeness resurfaced and he took the hand, shaking it firmly. "Please, sit down. We need to talk."
"Ok, yo," Todd said as he hopped to the small couch. Charles wheeled next to him and for a long moment, neither spoke.
"Todd," Charles finally said, "I guess I should get to the point as to why I asked you to come and speak to me. I want to extend an invitation to join the X-Men. No strings, no tests, no nothing. Just an offer to come into our school is what I offer."
"Wha...what? Why, yo? Why me?" Todd asked, barely believing his ears.
"I did you wrong when we first asked you to join us, Todd. Part of my error was because I had no idea if the mutant information on you was correct. Another part was because I was wrongly convinced that we needed someone who could fight. I was wrong; we needed someone with the courage not to fight. But mostly, I was wrong because I didn't test anyone else here and I tested you. I should have given you a fair chance to see if you fit in here and I didn't. I'd like to rectify that mistake." Seconds passed and Todd looked down at his webbed hands in shock. He knew what Xavier was telling him was truth. He knew that the Professor was giving him another chance at a life on the straight side. But...
"But why did you stop me the first time, yo? Why did you sic people on me in the first place?" Todd asked, his voice low but full of emotion despite his best efforts to hold back his rage and anger.
"...if you want the honest truth, I was convinced that we needed soldiers here. We don't; we need mutants here who will live what it means to be a human with more then the norm. We're not freaks, we mutants, and I listened to the wrong information in trying to have you come here." Charles paused, seeming to get his thoughts in order. "Todd, I feel I can say this to you because being with Magneto and Mystique has made you see things I wished none of my students ever have to see, at least till they're older."
"How do you know what the hell I'm about, anyway?" Todd asked, his voice picking up just a little. "Why are you picking through my brain, yo?"
"For the record, I'm not 'picking through your brain'. Your thoughts are screaming out to me from inside your head. It's hard to ingore someone when they're screaming curse words at the top of their lungs at you inside their mind. Being a telepath does have it's penalties, you know," Charles replied softly, causing Todd to look up at Charles for a moment. His face softened. He realized that he had in fact been screaming out his anger at the Professor as loud as he could. For a long moment, he couldn't speak. So Charles picked up the mantle and spoke again. "Todd, I made a mistake with you because I'm still human inside and I'm still trying to fathom the idea that part of the mutant fight is not going to be pretty. But I listened to the wrong people who wanted me to train soldiers here. We cannot defend ourselves against those who would harm us if we are not human first. I made a mistake with you, Todd, and for that I'm truly sorry."
"So Magneto's right. We are going to have to fight for our freedom," Todd said bitterly as things he had gone through and words he had heard Magneto growl and pander became crystal clear in his mind. "We're nothing more then soldiers in a war..."
"No, Todd. You children are not soldiers in a war. You're kids with the right to be kids as long as you can in a world where kids are being forced to grow up far too soon." A pause as Charles sighed softly. "I wish we didn't have to train the students here. The fact remains, however, that as long as there are people who wish to harm us, we must be ready to defend ourselves. But I and the others here are still comitted to finding peaceful ways to have humans and mutants co-exist. Part of this is bringing our own family together. The mutant family."
"So this is just your little part in trying to make things better?" Todd asked, his voice much tighter then he wished it to be. He didn't still want to feel angry at the Professor but he just couldn't help it. He looked into the Professor's eyes and screamed out that he was angry that he didn't get chosen when he was young, when he still had hope of better days. The Professor didn't flinch but he did roll forward and touch Todd's hand with his own.
"This is my part of trying to give you another shot at life without having to be afraid. I want to help you Todd. I want to show you that you can have people who care about you. We will care about you because we know that you're a decent person inside." A clock ticked on a far wall and sunlight filtered into the study through the far windows. Todd finally gave up trying to be angry and just hung his head. He knew he wanted to leave the Brotherhood behind and start over. But some little issues remained. He knew he just couldn't run away.
"...What about Fred, yo? What about Lance? I mean, I just can't up and leave now. I may not be loved there...but Fred's the closest thing I've got to a best friend there. Hell, he's the closest thing I've got to a friend period. And Lance might not like me messing up but he keeps Mystique from ripping me apart from time to time," Todd said quietly. "I don't wanna stay...but I don't wanna leave either, yo. Like it or not, that's my home."
"I know this is difficult for you Todd. I'm willing to wait until you've made a decision either way. Regardless, you're welcome to stay here as long as you need to before you go back to the Brotherhood house," Charles reassured him. Todd let out a sigh and nodded slowly as he stood to his feet. "Shall I have Storm come back or are you leaving the mansion now?"
"Um...no, yo. I wanna kind of look around. You know, make sure things are ok. I mean, you never really did give me the dime tour, yo," Todd said with a tight smile. Charles responded with a broad one of his own and mentally called out to Storm. Storm came into the room after a moment and nodded to the Professor.
"Storm, would you show Todd the mansion?" Charles asked as he wheeled behind the desk again.
"Yes, Professor. Come, Todd," Storm replied as she walked out of the study. Todd followed and the door closed behind him, pulled shut by Charles's latent mutant power. Things were beeping and calling on Charles's desk but he ignored them as he went into a short but powerful thinking mode. He wanted Todd to join the X-Men. He was assured of it now.
***Kitty emerged from the upstairs bathroom that she and Rouge shared and made her way downstairs, her face bright and shining. She had just washed her face and despite being only clad in a nightshirt and a pair of night pants, she looked like she could have graced the cover of any teen magazine. She knew she was cute...but she still knew others were more attractive. she may have seemed bright and shining on the outside but recent events with Lance had made her less then sure of herself on the inside. Those events made her think of others as she walked down the stairs to the kitchen to get some breakfast. Others like Todd Tolensky.
Kitty didn't know why she had spent so much time looking at Todd as he slept that evening previous. She didn't know why the smaller boy looking so sweet and silent made her feel as she did but she knew she liked it. Deep down in a place she wasn't really sure she wanted to admit existed, she liked having a crush on someone other then the usual jock assholes. She thought that Todd was cute in a little brother sort of way but she didn't like his attitude. Or his smell, which was oddly gone when she saw him last. And those legs!...Kitty felt herself shudder to the point where she had to stop and collect herself for a moment. She knew as she walked that she felt something for Todd...she just didn't know what. Or why.
As Kitty turned the corner into the hallway, she saw Storm and Todd walking towards the main room of the mansion. She waved to them both and yawned cutely. "Good morning, Storm! Where are you taking Todd?"
"I was going to show Todd around the mansion grounds...but I just remembered that I need to water my plants. Would you show him the outside grounds, Kitty?" Storm asked with a sudden gleam in her normally reserved eyes. Todd merely looked off into the distance, too caught in his own thoughts to really hear or see Storm but Kitty caught the look and hesitated for just a moment. She cocked her head a little but couldn't get even the smallest sign of what Storm was up to. She sighed and nodded.
"Sure, Storm. I'll show him around. I've got time before we go to the mall this morning," Kitty replied. Storm nodded and looked down to Todd.
"Todd, I'll talk to you soon. Kitty's going to show you around and you can leave at any time. Be sure to come back if there is any change in your situation." At that Storm left but not without giving Kitty another sage look and a saucy smile. Kitty blushed a little and fidgeted a little more with her hands. This Todd caught and he looked at Kitty with an odd look in his eyes.
"What's up with you, yo?" Todd asked curiously.
"Oh, nothing!" Kitty exclaimed.
"...right."
"It's true! I just...um...didn't expect to be seeing you so soon. Storm said you might be joining us," Kitty said as she turned and began to walk towards the main doors of the Mansion. Todd followed and smirked a little at Kitty's words. He knew something was up.
"Well yeah, yo. I might be joining up because life sucks at the Brotherhood house and I want out. Me and Baldy were talking about it," Todd replied, his usual bravado trying to make a comeback but failing as he got his first real look at Kitty under much less tense situations. They had stepped out onto the front lawn and under the warm morning sun, Kitty seemed to be framed by a sheen of light, like she was even softer and sexier then she normally way. Todd looked at her as they both walked aimlessly around and couldn't help but notice that she was, in fact, really damned cute.
"You mean you and the Professor," Kitty volleyed back lightly with a smile on her backwards glance. The subtle move made Todd smile back at her and nervously play with his hair.
"Yeah, yo. Me and the Professor talked a while this morning. He apologized for not giving me a fair chance when I first came here."
"...indeed." For a moment, both of them fell silent as they walked on the unusually silent mansion grounds. The birds sang and the wind lightly blew against them, warming them to the springlike weather that had come down from the north. Kitty knew that this moment of peace was going to be shattered at any minute by someone doing something insane in the crazy place that was the mansion so she decided to ask some questions she had always wanted to know about. "Todd, can I ask you some things?"
"What about, yo?"
"Well...things. Stuff I've wanted to know about for a while. Like, you're Lance's friend and he has talked to me about you from time to time and there are just things I've been wondering about." Kitty took a breath and went on. "Why do you act like such a show off in class? I mean, we have a couple of classes together and you seem like you know the material, but like, you always seem to just want to goof off. Why do you have to be so creepish?"
"Them's fightin' words, yo," Todd replied with a mock country drawl and a sloppy smile that made both of them laugh once they looked at each other. They laughed till their sides ached and their eyes watered, the tension dissipated. "Seriously, yo," Todd said after they both had stopped laughing enough to catch a big breath, "I guess I just hate Bayville High School, yo. I mean, most of the teachers there take one look at me and immediately think I'm a doof, yo. 'Bout the only class I get any respect in is Art and that's because the teacher tends to think I have talent. Whether I do or not is up to her to decide, yo."
"You like to draw?" Kitty asked, more then a little surprised at his admission.
"Yeah. I know it sounds weird, a villain like me having a sense of culture and class, yo. But I like to draw and paint and write, yo." Todd took a breath and continued. "Plus, add in the fact that Duncan and his goons like to make my life a living hell as much as possible, and you might see why I hate going to school, yo."
"Duncan Matthews does tend to make life around here, like more tense then usual," Kitty observed with a slight frown. "Jean's in love with him but can't see that he's got the IQ of a peanut and the sex drive of a bull in heat. He's just after her because she's pretty and popular."
"Is that a bit of jealously I hear, yo?" Todd asked saucily. Kitty looked at him and saw the smile that he was fast becoming famous for. She briefly thought about smacking him but decided against it.
"No, just wondering if being a mind-reader is making Jean a little less able to gauge character then she should."
"If you say so." Another smirk, but once again Kitty let it pass. Their walking brought them to the far side of the mansion's outside ground towards a large ring of trees and shrubbery. "I just think he needs to be arrested and locked up."
"Why?"
"...Cause he and his goons tried to rape me in the shower after gym class a couple of times." Todd said this so matter-of-factly that it caught Kitty completely off guard. She stopped in her tracks and made her step in front of Todd to get a look at his eyes better.
"Please tell me you're joking, Todd."
"I wish I was," Todd replied softly.
"Duncan tried to rape you?"
"...twice. He and his crew cornered me on one of the few times I wanted to take a shower at school. They tried to gangbang me but thankfully both times teachers came in and broke them up from trying anything really hard. All they did was hang me from the ceiling and give me a 40 minute swirly in the nasty toilets after beating the shit out of me." Todd looked off into the distance and sighed. "You'd be surprised how much shit the teachers here ignore if you're not on their good list. You tend to not want to have people even come near you when you get that all the time, yo. Hence the whole not showering thing."
"God, Todd. Like, I had no idea he was doing this."
"Few people do. Hell, I didn't tell anyone, not even the rest of my team. They would just tell me to kick their asses or fight my battles for me and yell at me while doing it. I'm not a little kid...but it's hard to fight a whole lot of people when all they want to do is bully you." A long silence passed and neither spoke. "I guess it's just God's little retribution for all those times I've been stealing money and food to live on, yo."
"...Why did you tell me all this, Todd? I mean, I believe you a lot more then you might think. But why now?" Kitty asked, still not entirely able to believe her ears.
"Because one day, I'm going to get revenge on Duncan for good and he won't survive what I have in store for him," Todd said darkly, his bravado and bravura evaporating like the morning dew in the desert. "I'm going to kick his ass and own him and then he's going to feel what's it like to be hurt and dominated. I told you all this because if Jean's smart, she'll hook up with Scott and stop putting herself at risk. I mean, I don't like her for what she did to Fred...but no one deserves what Duncan offers."
"Like, damn."
"Yeah, yo."
"...Well, like that might explain why you're the way you are but you're not like that now. Why?"
"Do I have to be an ass all the time, Kitty? Can't I just sort of exist without having to play a role as comic relief? I mean, it's tough being the joke all the time, yo. Hell it's tough being the joke for you guys, the scapegoat for my crew, the punching bag for Duncan and his crew, the punching bag for Wanda when she's pissed at Lance..." Todd said before he realized what he was talking about. Kitty looked at him for a moment.
"Wanda gets pissed at Lance? Why?" Kitty asked, her suspicion about her part time boyfriend becoming more and more inflamed. Todd picked up on this and made a deft move away from the subject.
"Oh just cause Wanda gets pissed at everybody, yo. Especially when I try to hit on her. She seems to not like anyone liking her, yo. Especially me. She doesn't like when I try to speak to her, even if I'm not trying to hit on her." Todd looked down and felt lots of real shame in telling this, a strange situation considering just previous he felt no shame in admitting that Duncan was an attempted rapist. "It's tough getting told by someone you love that you mean nothing to them and that they repulse you."
"I wish I could tell you it's going to be ok with her, Todd," Kitty said softly. "I know how much you like her. But she doesn't seem like the type who's ever going to be happy with anything. Like, she doesn't seem to be able to see the special gifts you have to offer someone."
"And I suppose you do, Kitty?" Todd asked lightly but with a small amount of extra snap in his voice. He was surprised when she lifted up his chin and looked into his eyes.
"Yeah, Todd. I do. You're not the cleanest boy around but you're not a monster either. I...I don't know what's going on but I feel like inside of me I want to get to know you more. I might be totally crazy but I want to know you. You're not so bad," Kitty said softly, blushing immediately after she said everything. Todd made her blush even harder by then leaning kissing her cheek softly. She replied almost immediately by kissing his back and clinging to his arm a moment.
Both Kitty and Todd looked at one another for a moment and then smiled sheepishly at one another. Kitty blushed a little and Todd nervously hopped from foot to foot. "Um...thanks, yo," Todd finally said.
"Like, you're welcome. But what for?"
"'Cause you're not the airhead I thought. Thank you for proving me wrong." Todd said with a smile. He turned to hop away and Kitty fought an overwhelming urge to drag him back for good. "I'll talk to you soon, Kitty. I gotta go home. Got some things to take care of, yo."
"Alright. Bye, Todd!" Kitty watched as Todd hopped off, looking at his retreating form in the sunlight. She felt a strange lump in her throat grow and tighten. She hoped he came back. He made her feel different then all the other guys who hit on her. He made her feel important.
---A/N: More authors notes. Before all you reviewers hate on me for making Kitty so OOC, she's not. Trust me. In here, I wanted to make her less of a ditz and more of a sweet girl who is more apt to listen then the others. All will be revealed in later chappies. But, and think about this before you send that review, wouldn't Todd be mad cute if he did shower? Wouldn't he?
Also, I know a lot of people have been asking for an X23/Todd pairing. I'm sorry guys and gals, but unless people can give me evidence that it should and convince me that X23 is not a glorified Mary-Sue, it's not gonna happen. Trust me, the angle I have for Todd is so much better then just giving him a descendent of WWolverine's DNA. I mean, think about it: it's not like Todd and Logan's first meeting is going to any sort of pleasant...what makes you think Logan's going to want Todd as a son in law?
All that said, you guys know what to do. Review. Give me ideas. Make me watch my mailbox. I made this chapter extra long just for you...reward me! :D