Author's Note: Anything in italics is either thought or….You know what I have faith that you all will be able to figure it out.
Disclaimer: Marvel owns, Marvel owns.
Interesting X-Men fact: As a kid, Scott Summers was thrown from a burning plane and suffered a head injury, damaging the brain center that would have ultimately allowed him to control his optic blasts. (The Marvel Saga #4)
The Damned, Episode 1
Chapter 4: Exit Mother, Enter Agent
"So?" Raven asked impatiently.
The psychiatrist sighed, "Miss Farmer, Marie seems to have many more psychological problems then I would have thought." She rubbed her temples, "I'm afraid the constant nightmares she is experiencing can not be treated."
Raven ground her teeth. She looked at everything in the room, the oak desk, the leather chairs, the framed diplomas on the wall, before looking the psychiatrist in the eyes. "Look," she snapped, "I know you aren't exactly the best in your field but I would expect more than 'it can't be treated' from even the lowest level psychiatrist."
"Miss Farmer," the doctor said calmly.
"Don't 'Miss Farmer' me," Raven growled, "What exactly are you planning on telling Marie? The poor girl is waiting out there in the waiting room hoping for someone to come out and give her all the answers. What are you going to tell her? 'Oh I'm sorry honey but you're just fucking nuts,'?"
The psychiatrist ran a hand through his rough brown hair, "Miss Farmer I can assign your daughter to another psychiatrist, one who excels in child psychology."
"You do that," Raven sniffed, "but none of you quacks are helpful." As soon as she placed her right hand on the doorknob she heard the doctor speak up.
"Miss Farmer, I think you should know that Marie's problems are going to be hard to deal with. She's dealing with symptoms from seven years of abuse, the nightmares, the clothing, all of it is just a result from the abuse." The psychiatrist paused. "And growing up in an unconventional family is not going to help her."
Raven tightened her grip on the doorknob. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Once she begins school, kids are going to tease her not only about being adopted, but about growing up in a household where homosexuality is a norm."
* * *
A week later:
"But ah don't wanna go," Marie whined, standing in the kitchen in her pajamas, arguing with Irene.
Irene sighed, "Marie we've already been through this, you have to go to school."
Marie pouted, "But ah don't wanna."
Irene sat down on the cold tiled floor, feeling slightly dizzy.
Marie knelt down beside her, "What's wrong?"
"Go get Raven," Irene ordered between shots of pain.
Marie obeyed and within a few minutes Raven was by Irene's side. "What's wrong?"
"Dizzy, pain in side," Irene forced the words out of her mouth.
Marie noticed the flash of alarm that clouded Raven's eyes.
"Irene is it a vision?"
She nodded, "It's stronger than any other one I've had."
The little girl spoke up, "Vision?"
Raven nodded absently. "What is it of?"
Irene's eyes filled with sadness. She shook her head as if to tell Raven it was for Marie to hear.
Raven understood. "Tell me later," she whispered.
Irene nodded, "I will, now make sure Marie gets to school. I need to get to bed."
Raven and Marie watched as Irene made her way up the stairs and out of sight.
* * *
"But Raven ah don't wanna go there," Marie whined.
Raven smiled at the girl in the passenger seat. "Marie I know this is new to you but you have to give it a try."
"Why?"
"Because education is an important part of life," seeing that the girl was not convinced, Raven added, "And it's a great way to make friends."
That seemed to interest Marie, at least a little. "Do ya think that boy from across the street will be here?"
Raven shook her head, "Sorry honey, he moved out awhile ago." Marie pouted. "But there will be plenty of other kids to play with. I promise you."
Marie relaxed in her seat in the Mercedes, "Ah'll make ya a deal."
Raven smiled, "What kind of deal?"
"Ah'll go but ya gotta answer all my questions for meh later."
The smile on Raven's face disappeared. She knew this was coming, Marie had become increasingly interested in Raven and Irene's business. Raven had no way to explain to Marie how they had gotten the money to buy their house, or why Erik was living with them. Then again, keeping everything a secret from Marie had not been in her plans. She sighed, "Alright, you win, but you have to really give school a try. Believe me it's very rare that they let any child start at the second grade level rather than the kindergarten level."
* * *
Marie observed her surroundings. The only words she could come up with to describe it were colorful and flamboyant. She almost giggled, Irene had taught her that word, flamboyant. Marie still thought it sounded silly.
The little girl looked at Raven, who was leading her to the correct classroom. Raven was in the form of her alter ego, Hillary Farmer. Marie didn't understand why she could only call her Hillary in public. She didn't understand a lot of things, like why Erik lived with them and his kids were in New York, or why Raven told her mutants were feared, or even how a social worker could afford to live in a large house. As little as Marie knew about the adult world, she knew enough to know when something was odd.
"Marie this is it," Raven announced.
Marie looked at the door of her classroom then back at Raven, "Hillary, what if they don't lahk me?"
"Don't worry," Raven told her, hugging her tightly, "You are very likable."
With one last look at Raven, Marie opened the door and stepped into the classroom.
* * *
"Class, settle down," a middle-aged man with salt and pepper hair was saying, "we have a new student today." Suddenly the class was silent with anticipation, "This is Marie-Amber Farmer. Everyone say hello."
"Hello Marie," the class said in unison.
Marie looked at her feet shyly.
"Marie, would you like to pick a seat?" the teacher asked.
Marie made her way to the only vacant seat.
"Now class, today we will be learning more math skills." The class groaned, "Now, now, I promise you this will be fun."
"Yeah right," grumbled the girl seated next to Marie.
"We are going to use cubes to represent…."
* * *
When recess came, Marie sat alone under a large orange tree. She watched the other children play; each of them having fun whether it be playing dodge ball or talking to their friends. Marie sighed, not knowing how to make friends. She never had to worry about all of that back in St. Mary.
"Hey you!" Yelled a girl, the same girl who had been sitting next to Marie in the classroom.
Marie looked around, startled. She looked back at the other girl and pointed at herself mouthing "Me?"
"Yeah, with the brown curly hair, wanna play with us?"
Marie nodded and walked over to the other girl and her group of friends. The first thing she noticed was the other girl's hair, it was the softest shade of red Marie had ever seen. The second thing she noticed was that they were all identical; each with their pigtails, shorts, and pink shirt. Suddenly she felt out of place.
"Why are you wearing all that, Marie?" the other girl asked, she seemed to be the leader of this clone-fest.
She shrugged, "just cold," she lied.
"Cold?" a girl with brown hair asked, "it's hot and.." she searched for the word, "humid."
"What's humid?" another girl asked.
"It means it's all sticky outside," she answered back.
"Naw aw," their leader told them, "Humid is an ice cream flavor."
All the girls nodded in agreement.
"So," Marie started, "What're yer names?"
"Ah'm Stacy," the leader answered. "These are Vicky, Brenda, Brittany, Courtney.."
Too many names came flying at Marie, only a few had time to register.
"Ew!" One of the clones exclaimed, "What are you wearing?"
Marie looked at her clothing. As usual she was wearing jeans and a long sleeved shirt with matching gloves.
"Look," the ringleader told her, "to hang out with us ya gotta have some kinda fashion sense," she looked at Marie's clothing and laughed, "and not wear that. Aint it hot anyway?"
"Not really," Marie replied quietly.
"Hey Stacy, what are you doing to the new girl?"
Stacy looked past Marie. "Oh, it's you Mica."
The girl named Mica put a hand on Marie's shoulder, "Whatever they were telling you, ignore it." Marie noticed the lack of a southern accent in Mica's voice. "They're just annoying little girls that sit around in the shade all day. If you want to play come with me."
Not bothering to look back at Stacy and her sheep, Marie followed Mica.
Once out of range Mica began to talk, "So I hear you're from St. Mary." Marie nodded and the dark haired girl went on, "I hear it's a really small city." Marie nodded again. "Don't talk much do ya?"
"Not really."
Mica smiled, "See there's a start." She regained a serious composure, "But I'm serious about what I said about those girls before, "Ignore them, they think they're so popular but they're really just a bunch of stupid girls."
"Alright."
"Radical," Mica held out her hand, "My name is Mica Goodes."
She took Mica's hand, "Marie Farmer."
* * *
"Erik what you are suggesting is impossible!" Raven exclaimed.
"Not necessarily," Erik replied gruffly.
Irene looked at him from where she was sitting on the couch, "Erik the prospect of a single asteroid designated for mutants is ridiculous."
"Irene I didn't expect you to be on my side, you never did like me," Erik glared at the precog.
Irene matched his glare, "Erik you need to think about what you are saying. What mutant in their right mind would give up being able to walk outside in the sunshine, or breath in fresh air, just to live on an asteroid? Besides, how are you planning on keeping an asteroid in orbit?"
Raven watched the exchange between Irene and Erik. As much as they hated each other, she had to admit they were a nice system of checks and balances, each keeping the other in line. She walked over to Irene and placed her hand on Irene's shoulder. "Erik she is right, even with your powers it would be incredibly difficult.
Erik focused on Raven's hand and resisted the urge to react possessively, "There is a mutant, I will not disclose his name, but he can boost my powers up to ten times, that should be enough to get the asteroid into orbit. This mutant is planning on coming aboard with me, this way I will always have someone to act as a jumpstarter."
"And what's this mutant's name?" Raven asked.
"I promised him I would keep that information a secret," Raven sighed, "but he is trustworthy."
Raven looked at her watch, "Look Erik we'll continue this some other time, right now I have to pick my daughter up from school." She looked up to see both Irene and Erik smiling. "What?" she asked, annoyed.
"That was the first time you've ever called Marie your daughter," Erik informed her. "She is a good influence on you Raven, I've never seen you so happy."
"I think I'm finally understanding why people love children so much," Raven admitted. "I'm sure you feel this way about your children."
A look of pain flashed across Erik's eyes, "yes," he choked out.
Raven walked across the living room to pick up her jacket, "Irene are you coming?"
"No," the precog told her, "I think it would be better for you to talk to Marie yourself."
Raven rolled her eyes before walking out of the room.
Erik looked at Irene sharply, "Talk to her?"
Irene looked into his eyes in annoyance, "Not that it concerns you but Raven has decided that our daughter should know the truth about what he do for a living."
The graying mutant knew that Irene's choice of wording was intended to hurt him. Our daughter. It let Erik know he wasn't a part of Raven's life anymore, not intimately anyway. "Irene of course this concerns me, I'm a part of your professional life, suppose the child can't keep a secret."
"Erik," Irene sat back on their leather couch and tuned the big screen television to a sitcom, "The child knows Raven is a mutant already. Trust me, the girl can keep a secret." Erik grunted, "Besides I would think that you would be happy."
"How do you figure?" he asked, letting the images of comical television characters numb his mind.
"One more mutant for your army."
* * *
"Andthere'sthistubulargalMicawholetmeplaytagwithherandherfriends," Marie told her foster mother.
Raven smiled, "Marie sweetie take a couple of breaths."
Marie took the advice.
"So, you had a good day then?"
"Yup, an' ah finished mah homework in class, before everyone else," Marie proudly told her. Then she frowned, "But there are these gals at school that ah don't lahk much."
"Why not?"
"They're mean, even Mica doesn't lahk them. She said they were so uncool."
Oh how quickly they pick up the slang. "Marie there are always going to be mean people, just avoid them and don't let them bother you." She looked at her daughter and saw her nod.
Marie was suddenly very alert, "Where are we going?" This was definitely not the same road they'd taken to get to school.
"We're going to Freddy's Grill. You'll like the food."
* * *
"Do ya'll know what ya'll want?" the waitress asked, popping her gum.
"I would like the cheeseburger, well done, with no pickles."
"Fries?"
"Yes please, and a Coca-Cola, no ice."
The waitress nodded, scribbling it all down on her pad of paper.
"Marie what would you like?" Raven asked.
Marie looked into her mother's blue eyes. Her yellow ones are prettier. "Ah wanna get the same thing, with Root Beer."
The waitress nodded again before scurrying off to give their orders to the cook.
Marie looked around her. The Grill was decked out in red and white. The tables were red, the booths were white, the overhanging lights were red, the only things to escape the repetitive coloring were the floor and walls; which were made of wood.
"Marie," Raven started, grabbing the attention of the young girl, "I know we made that deal earlier…" Suddenly Marie seemed more interested, "I told you I would let you know everything." Marie looked at her expectantly. I can't do this, what if she hates me? "Well first you need to know the basics, I told you all about mutants when I met you." Marie nodded. "Well you should know that Irene and Erik are mutants too."
"What're their powers?" Marie whispered, sensing this subject was to sensitive to be spoken about loudly.
Raven was thankful she and Marie were the only people in the Grill, it never got busy that early. "Irene is a precog," Noting Marie's confusion she continued, "it means she can see the future." The pair of green eyes staring into her's widened excitedly. "And Erik can manipulate metals, that means he can control any metal he wants to do whatever he pleases."
"Tubular."
"I wish more people thought so. You see Marie, people hate mutants. Well those that really know about us anyway. They think we're monsters, mean people, that's why I always stay in a regular looking form when I'm in front of other people, I don't want them to be frightened."
"Ahm ah a mutant?" Marie asked.
"I don't know, mutant powers usually only show up when you're about 13 years old."
"Bummer," Marie muttered, "ah wanna be a mutant now."
Raven smiled at the girl's innocence. "You should also know that I am not really a social worker."
"You're not?"
"No, actually I am working with Erik and Irene to make the world safe for mutants."
"Cool, how?"
"We are forming an organization of mutants to show the world that we are not the freaks they make us out to be. However, at the rate we're going it might take awhile. Our…associates are not being very co-operative."
"Order's up!" they heard the chef shout.
The waitress hurried to the chef's window to grab the plates of food and brought them over to Raven and Marie. "There ya go." Then left.
Marie inspected her burger.
"Anything wrong?"
"Ah've nevah eaten a cheeseburger before."
"They're very good, just eat it like a sandwhich," Raven demonstrated, taking a bite out of the large pile of meat and cheese.
Marie copied, savoring the taste of her first cheeseburger, "Good," she mumbled through the food.
"Have you ever eaten French fries?" Raven asked.
Marie shook her head before picking one up and eating it, "Even better!"
"I guess I shouldn't be encouraging the consumption of junk food but I can't help but love the stuff myself." Raven inhaled her French fries before turning back to Marie, "Now where were we? Ah yes, the associates. They don't think we can get the world to believe we're not freaks."
"An' how can ya'll afford the house?"
"Irene inherited it from her Austrian relatives, fully paid for, just never wanted to use it. And our associates help to pay for the bills. On top of that I have my money from being a social worker."
"Ah thought ya said…"
"I was never a real social worker. Hillary Farmer, the real one, was a social worker. She passed away and no one ever found out about it so I took her identity. They paid me in her spot, of course they never knew." I should tell her how Hillary really died, Raven thought, that she was a mutant who crossed me and fell victim to my anger. Yeah that'll definitely get her to open up to me.
Marie took a bite out of her burger, "Do ya want me ta keep it a secret?"
Raven nodded, "It's important that you do, keep everything a secret I mean."
The young girl nodded, "Ah understand. Ah'll nevah tell anyone."
"Good girl."
Marie's eyes brightened, "Oh, can ah go ta mah friend Mica's house tomorrow aftah school ta play?"
"Sure but I have to meet her parents." Marie nodded in agreement. "Now eat your lunch before it gets cold."
* * *
"So she is okay with all of it?" Irene asked, sitting up in bed.
"Yup," Raven confirmed, changing into a silver nightgown, "and she is going over to her new friend's house tomorrow."
Irene nodded in amazement, "That girl is definitely well adjusted, more so than I would have expected."
Raven crawled into the bed, snuggling up close to Irene, "So do you think this was a good idea?"
"Do I think what was a good idea?"
"Taking in a little girl when we're about to go to war?"
"War huh? Getting a little overdramatic aren't we?"
Raven looked Irene in the eyes, "you know what I mean and do you think it was a good idea?"
"Raven, you never gave me a choice on whether or not I wanted a daughter," Irene sighed, "but I guess it was a good idea, she needed a family and who better than us to be her parents."
Both heard a knock at the door.
"Yes?" Irene half expected it to be Erik.
Marie walked into the room, "Will someone tell me a bedtime story please?"
Raven got out of bed, "I'll tell you a story, I know one from back in Austria about a witch and an ogre."
"Thank you mama," Marie replied as she was led back to her own room.
* * *
"Hi I'm Hillary Farmer," Raven extended a hand to a lady with deep red hair.
The woman smiled, "Marie's mother right?" Raven nodded. "It's a pleasure to meet you and Marie," the woman turned to Marie, "Hey there Marie, Mica is in her room. It's the one on the left when you get into the hallway, why don't you go and say hi, I know she's been excited about your playdate." Marie nodded and hurried off to play.
"So Mrs…"
"Oh I'm sorry, I'm Margaret Goodes, just a Miss, not married or anything. Please come in, I have some freshly baked pie and I am just dying to know all about the parent of Mica's 'tubular' new friend."
As Raven followed Margaret into the house she laughed, "So your daughter uses the same ridiculous slang too."
Margaret nodded as she led her guest into the kitchen, "Unfortunately. How children learn them is beyond me." She motioned towards a chair at a small table, "take a seat."
Raven sat, "you have a nice house." She wasn't just being polite, the house was very comfortably, loving.
"Thank you Miss Farmer."
"Please call me Hillary."
"Only if you call me Margaret." She brought over two slices of apple pie.
"Deal." Raven took a bite out of the pie, "Wow that is excellent. I haven't had pie that good since I left Austria."
"You're Austrian?" Margaret asked.
"Yes actually, moved here as an adult because of the better economic opportunities."
"Wow, you must be very in tough with your roots," Margaret laughed, "Here we're so confused about our heritage we don't even bother to look it up."
Raven smiled, "Just by looking at you I can tell you are at least a little Italian mixed with French."
"Well I know one of my relatives was Italian, don't know about French though." She switched topics, "You know I am very glad Mica has found a friend. She doesn't ever ask to bring anyone home although I know she loves to play with the kids at school. I just started to worry that she was getting a little antisocial, well until she met your daughter and started talking about how 'radical' she was."
"I can relate. If your daughter has been talking about Marie then I'm sure you know that Marie is my foster daughter," the other woman nodded, "I was so worried that she wouldn't want to become friends with any of the people in her class, she was a bit of a shut in when I adopted her."
Margaret nodded, "I hope they'll be good for each other. In fact, I know they'll be good for each other."
* * *
"So what do you want to do first?" asked an excited Mica.
Marie shrugged, "Ah don't know, what do ya wanna do?"
Mica's eyes lit up, "I know, we should go down to the river."
"The river?"
"Yeah, you know, the Mississppi river."
Marie looked at her blankly, "Ah didn't even know we were anywhere near the Mississippi."
"The whole city is on the river!" Mica exclaimed excitedly. "Come on it's only a few minutes from here, let's go." Without waiting for Marie's reply she ran out of the room, leaving Marie to attempt to catch up.
As Mica passed the kitchen she yelled, "Mom, I'm going to show Marie the Mississippi."
"Have fun and be back soon!" her mother yelled, observing the children run out the door in a hurry.
"Do you think that's a good idea?" Raven asked, taking another bite of her pie.
"Yeah, they'll be fine," Margaret answered, "it's where all the local children like to hang out and Mica knows better than to put herself in any danger."
* * *
Marie's jaw dropped at the sight of the majestic body of water flowing gently through the city. The grassy banks were more beautiful than she could have ever imagined; flowers blooming wildly, cat tails tickling their legs, butterflies flying without a care.
Mica smiled at Marie's reaction, "You like it?"
Marie nodded dumbly.
"Mica over here!" both girls turned to see who was yelling.
A girl approached them. She wore an oversized t-shirt with the words Italians Do It Best, printed in large, bold, red lettering. "Mica ah haven't seen you here forever."
"Hey Laura."
"And who's this?"
Marie was suddenly aware of two pairs of eyes on her. "Ah'm Marie."
"Ya new?"
She nodded.
"Ya'll wanna play hide and seek with us?"
Us? Marie looked around and realized there were plenty of other children playing by the river.
"Marie do ya want to?" Mica asked.
"Um, sure."
"Great!" Laura exclaimed, flipping her long blonde hair over her right shoulder, "Follow me."
Following the two girls, Marie spoke up, "What's hide and seek?"
* * *
"This is Jessica Bryans reporting live from New York City, New York where there has been a recent rash of sightings of mutants. It is unclear if these mutants do in fact exist or if they are a product of mass hysteria."
"Turn that off," Raven ordered.
"Raven its very interesting," Erik complained before turning the volume up.
Marie, who was sitting next to Erik on the leather sofa, stared at the screen intensely.
"…Sir what are your thoughts on this?" The reporter stopped to interview a balding man.
"I think," the man began, "that this 'mutant' hysteria is just that, hysteria. After all, how could such beings exist?"
"Charles," Erik growled.
Marie looked at Erik, never had she seen so much anger in any one man's eyes. It frightened her, especially when she saw the metal centerpiece rise off of the coffee table.
"What?" Raven asked from where she was sitting, reading a new novel.
"You missed it," Erik told her. "Charles was interviewed by a reporter in New York."
"So he's in New York now is he?" Raven smiled, "For a guy that likes to keep a low profile he doesn't seem to be doing a good job of it."
"Who is Charles mama?"
"One of the men against our mission honey."
Marie's eyes widened, "You mean he's against mutants?"
"Yes," Erik told her, "even though he's a mutant himself."
"Ah don't understand," Marie told him, "Why is a mutant against other mutants?"
Erik shrugged, "He just refuses to do what is best for mutants."
Marie sat pondering this for awhile before she yawned.
The yawn didn't go unnoticed by Raven; neither did the drooping eyes. "Come on Marie, time for bed it's already 8pm."
The girl nodded before drifting off to sleep. Raven smiled at the innocent girl before lifting her into her warms arms and carefully taking her up to her room.
* * *
"Agent this is Station 315, do you read me?"
Raven winced at the crackling sound in her ear, "Yes, I read you."
"Are you in?"
"Not yet, I'll contact you when I am." To any one passing by it would seem that Raven or rather, Alicia Mefler, was speaking to no one. The carefully concealed communication device was of military value, in fact its design was indeed military.
Raven looked at her surroundings, a military base like so many others; sterile gray walls containing doors leading to separate sections of the base. Major Mefler walked rigidly through the halls, only pausing to bark orders at subordinate officers. Locating the door she needed, the Major slid an identification card through a machine.
Admit.
Stepping through the doorway Raven smiled. In front of her was a large military computer, marked by the official U.S seal.
"Agent 276 to Station 315, I'm in."
"Excellent Agent, now turn on the computer, find the files we need."
Sitting at the computer, Raven began to search for the files needed. Arriving at a password screen Raven typed in several codes until she found the right one. Smiling, she couldn't help but think that the military was predictable. She quickly accessed the files she needed. Placing a floppy disk in the correct drive she downloaded everything she needed.
"Station 315, I have the files."
"Good, now e-mail the station a copy."
"E-what?"
"New technology. Just follow my directions to a T."
She did what she was told. Good lord, technology will be the end of mankind. With this kind of technology my missions will become so much easier. "I'm finished."
"Good Agent. Now come back to the base for further instructions."
* * *
"Will do."
Nathaniel Essex smiled, his evil eyes glowing red with pride, "And Agent, make sure anyone who saw you enter the room is dead before you leave."
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I know it took me a long time to get this chapter out but I was stuck, I know what I want to happen in future chapters but I had nothing to put in between last chapter and the future ones. So what do you think of this one?
Rogue151: No, thank you for reviewing.
T.: I'm glad you didn't think they were corny.
Tammy: ::grins evilly:: We'll see about them later.
Panther Nesmith: Will do….hopefully. More Irene/Raven to come!
LiLRoguE: I always thought Marvel was missing something between Raven and Erik so I wrote it in myself. I'm just glad no one found it disturbing or anything.
MCLBLUE: Thank you. Just to keep you happy I will keep writing :)
Thanks to all my reviewers for their kind words and advice.