The house checks were done. All the kids had been interviewed by social services. Bret had dismantled one of the televisions, three stereos and had nearly destroyed the I-pod Ames had asked for for his eighteenth. Meg had turned six the Wednesday after Ames' birthday, which was on the Saturday. Blake and the others were starting to realise that if he hadn't been told to leave something alone, then Bret would dismantle it. And he didn't have the skill to put it back together again.
Blake thought Nate might have warned them.
Cade and Eli were now practically joined at the hip. It seemed that the chocolate smell had merely been a contributing factor to the year old's infatuation with his new uncle. The pair were inseperable.
The new den was still work in progress. Blake liked this idea, because she didn't know who she was going to adopt yet, to replace Ames in the Den. To this effect, Cade had assigned Leah and Dec to keep an eye on Will and Matt's adopting spree.
Like that was going to work.
Blake had asked Mrs Sharpe if she knew of any child care homes who needed a little room freeing up, and the woman had smiled, offering them the address of a place where Social Services belived a mutant boy was staying. So, minus inhibitor collars and other obviously different items- Dec's eyes were the emerald green - sapphire blue colour that had hooked Leah in the first place instead of the red quartz colour of the contacts the X-Corps medics insisted he wore, and Matt, reluctantly, was actually using his cane- the two couples headed off to the address, having rung ahead.
All the kids, fully one hundred and two of them, were ready to be met by the couples. Callum was stood with Alyssa and Eddie, signing something for Eddie's benefit. Eddie grinned, and shook his head, signing back as a limo pulled to a halt outside the building. The kids stared as Matt, Will, Leah and Dec stepped out. Leah immediately ran and hugged Michael, who blushed and returned the hug. Will gave Dec a look, and Dec shrugged.
"Hormonal, maternal empath," he said softly. "That kid's had it rough."
"Wonder which one's Callum," Will said, softly, noticing that a little boy in army style gear looked at her when she said the name. "Callum?" she asked, looking at the boy. an older boy with the young one signed something, and Callum nodded.
Matt frowned.
"He's signing, Matt," Dec said, as Leah returned, holding Michael's hand. "But he's not deaf. I think his friend is."
"Callum's standing with a boy about 17 years old, he signed that Callum should say yes." Will added
Just then, the woman walked up, somewhat flustered.
"Mr and Mrs Murdock?" she asked. "I'm Kelly Chancellor, Director here. We understand you wish to meet Callum."
Matt nodded.
"And your friends have already found Michael. He's got a people problem, we're afraid. Doctors in particular."
"Has some sense then," Dec and will said with feeling, simultaneously, making Michael giggle, then hide his face behind Leah's arm.
Will smiled.
"Makes a change, huh, Leah? We found a kid more bashful than you."
Leah blushed, and Dec hugged her.
Ms Chancellor smiled, and Dec scanned the crowd of kids, his eyes landing on Tyler, who was looking right at him. Dec beckoned the boy over, and Tyler complied. Callum came over as soon as he saw the adults were safe, and Matt, Will and Dec's nostrils all flared.
"Kid smells a lil like Logan," Dec said softly.
"I think we should go inside," Ms Chancellor said.
Cade was going to freak out.
They ended up with twenty four more children, Dec and Leah with two more. It had started when Callum refused to leave without Faith, Lauren and Mara, and gotten steadily harder to refuse from then on. The kids were all either adorable, tough, or both. Matt was almost certain Callum was Weapon-X, and Alyssa sure wasn't a run of the mill human either. Twenty six kids... Sixty-two including the ones at home.
"Cade's gonna go nuts," Dec said, as the limo was replaced with the Sharpe Inc. tourbus.
Packed up, luggage in the luggage compartment of the bus, the kids clambered on to the vehicle, followed by the four adults. Michael was hugging close to Leah, while four year old Sini was sat on Matt's lap. Various chatter sprung up, then, eventually, Alyssa asked the question that silenced the group.
"So what is this, some international kiddie smuggling scam?"
Will cracked up laughing, breaking the silence, and pretty much confirming that it wasn't a child-smuggling ring.
Matt smiled.
"Contrary to appearances," he said, "we aren't exactly human-"
"You're aliens!" Curtis yelled "COOL!"
"No, Curtis," Matt continued. "We're not aliens, either."
Curtis slumped in his chair, disappointed. Will was still laughing hysterically, so Dec grinned at Curtis.
"We're mutants."
Will looked at Dec, laughter dying out.
"Did you just say you were a mutant?" she asked.
"I am a mutant," Dec said. "Deosn't mean I have to like it, but I am."
He looked at Will, and shrugged.
There was snikt sound from Callum's direction, as claws the length of his forearm popped across his knuckles.
"Dey's bin hurtin'," he said. "But me's no able to pop 'em."
"Stuff safety," Will said. she was out of her seat and hugging Callum before anyone could stop her. Callum unpopped his claws, the wounds healing right up, so he wouldn't hurt Will.
"This still doesn't explain why you adopted twenty-four kids," Alyssa said.
"Sure it does," Will stated. "My mutancy makes me very wolflike, and I love kids. the more the better, mine or adopted."
"That's true," Matt agreed.
"Matt," Will said, "imagine a tongue being poked out at you."
"How about Tyler and Michael?"
Dec smiled.
"We couldn't leave Michael," he said, speaking for Leah. "After what he's been through, poor kid, he needs to be with people who are gonna help him with his ability. And Tyler's just plain cute."
"Ability? Michael?" Alyssa frowned
"Me and Sini both got abilities," Michael said, shyly, shocking all the kids but Sini, since they'd never heard him speak before. Scream blue murder, yes, but not talk. "Lab kids."
He clammed up again as Leah hugged him to her side, Matt hugging Sini.
"Dey close da labs dow' though," Sini said. "Whe' they re'lised tha' kids were be'n' used."
Still hugging Callum, Will snarled. Dec frowned.
"Guess in this dimension, its the humans who are the ba- bad guys," he said, stopping himself from swearing at the last moment.
Will stopped snarling. "No here it's fifty fifty, Sinister likes experimenting to."
"This dimension?" Caleb asked.
"I'll explain later," Dec said. "It gets kinda quantum."
"Physics?" Caleb said. "I know a bit about physics. Sound waves and that kinda thing in particular. I'm a subsonic screamer."
Matt, Dec and Will all winced.
"What?" Caleb asked.
"Two wolves and a blind man with very sensetive ears," Will said.
"Oh," Caleb answered. "Sorry."
"No screaming near us and no problem CAleb... your great uncle Deak's a banshee and 4 brothers when they meld and a sister are to." Will iomediately reassured the boy with a smile. "No scremaing around the wolves and Matt... only the wolf banshees are immune, Deak, Jay, Jake, Josh & Joe and Cassidy."
"Well, if everyone else is gonna have 'abilities' I guess I should join in," Alyssa spoke up. "Alyssa Josephson, Triple-X 334. General testtube baby experimental super soldier kid."
Still hugging Callum, Will growled. "How many of the super soldeir projects are there" she askled rhetorically.
"Too many," Matt stated.
"Lets take over the planet, that way no more of 'em." Will said only half joking.
"You tell me how to get rid of sinister," Matt stated, "And I'll take you up on world domination."
His smile showed he was joking.
"Send him to another dimension," Will suggested.
"How?" Matt asked.
"I dunno," Will said. "Have Hank and the techs work on it."
"I can talk to birds," David said, out of the blue. "I can almost fly."
"You can almost break your neck," Hazel said. "If I hadn't stretched my arm to catch you, you woulda been so much roadkill."
Will looks at David. "No trying to fly unless you morph, or get the ability to levitate or fly, that means taking off from the ground not jumping off of high things." She gently but firmly ordered.
David pouted.
"Birds learn by jumpin' off of things," he said.
"You are a human, not a bird. Hazel & others won't always be around to catch you... talking to birds is useful, hmmm what about those who can morph into a bird?" She morphed to a hawk
She morphed to a hawk. David put his hands to his mouth and mimicked a hawk cry, trying to say 'Hi, not sure I can do this'
Will replied in Hawk.
"Hi David, you just did, well done kiddo."
Then she morphed back to human form, grinning at David, who grinned back.
"For those of us who don't speak bird, did you understand him and vice versa?" Dec asked. Then he answered his own question. "Since ya both grinning like Chesire cats I guess you did."
"Any more of you kids got abilities?" Will asked, surveying the bus.
Andrew looked at Will and grinned.
"I can alter inorganic molecular structure."
He demonstrated on the coach seat back, he was sitting behind Matt & Sini.
"Next time, I want a warning before my seat is turned to raspberry jelly," Matt said, seriously.
Will burst out laughing.
"Least no wasps around or anyone who morphs into one... right?"
She looked at the kids.
The kids all shook their heads, apart from Steven, who was deeply engrossed in a book. Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson.
Will looked at him.
"Steven, you don't turn into a wasp or any other insect do you?"
She asked as she used TK to gently remove the book, making sure to keep his place.
"You can read later, interaction helpful at the minute."
"Wha-?" Steven looked at Will and frowned. "Oh, right. No, no insects. Can do pretty good impressions of computer viruses though. I can fix jus' 'bout anythin'."
Will grinned.
"You can? Brilliant, Matt's son Bret loves taking things apart, he's not good at putting things back together."
Steven smiled.
"OUR son," Matt stated, pointedly. "Sam is mine, Cooper is yours, Bret is ours."
"Since Mike was Coops bio dad, that's fine but I'm Sam's mom, for all he takes more after you, he's still a wolf as well as a nutcase."
Matt grinned.
"Me, lawyer," he said. "You not. You know damned well what I meant."
Will grinned back.
"Yeah but I'm pedantic... Okay so we're both responsible for Bret being a pest with dismantling everything that he's not told not to, Sam definitely takes more after you though, apart from the wolf stuff he's a mini you... Cooper yeah guilty."
She held her hands up, still grinning.
"Look's like Alec, but personality is both mine and Mike's more annoying traits."
Maya smiled.
"You got a big family?" she asked. "I always wanted a big family."
Will laughed.
"You could say its big" she told the five year old. "You have 36 siblings at home, and two other uncles and a great uncle... and a great aunt in New York."
"Plus eight cousins on the way," Dec and Leah added simultaneously. "That'll be siblings in the case of Michael and Tyler, who have 36 cousins waiting at home."
Maya grinned, eyes wide, like all five of her Christmases and birthdays had come at once.
"Never had a proper fam'ly b'fore," she said. "Kids always come and go at the care home."
Eddie, sat next to Callum, signed something suddenly. Callum nodded.
"Eddie says 'at means we each have fif'y-nine siblin's," Callum said, for Matt's benefit. The rest of the kids, who had been coming to this conclusion them selves, all made some comment, or noise or another. Ty looked at Leah and smiled.
"Not all of us," he said. "Me 'n' Michael only gots eight on the way. That's an easy big family. 59 names is a lot to 'member."
Scott and Sawyer had been quiet for a while, and eventually Sawyer spoke up.
"Me 'n' Scott are telepathic," he said. "But on'y with each other. Scott sometimes forgets to speak out loud."
This admission from one set of twins set the other set of twins grinning.
"Us too," Zane stated. "We got talent. Not telepathy, but kinesis. I'm geokinetic, and Gina's aerokinetic."
Will grinned.
"That's great kids... hmm if Ryan as an ice wielder can be water, with Rowanne a pyro we've a full set.."
She moved to Swayer and Scott and crouched next to their seats..
"Twin telepathy? Well my quads also have that ability, though they talk as well, just tend to talk together most of the time. And although no telepathy, well of the identical twin kind, between non-identical twins Bret and Ben, Bret's the more talkative on most topics, and Ben tends to let him talk for them both... so Sawyer letting you speak for you both is fine... don't worry that you forget to speak aloud sometimes, Scott."
She gave both boys a hug.
"We've plenty of talkers in the pack." She added in complete understatement.
"Understatement of the century," Dec said. "Tori and Jas alone could talk any politician to a standstill. The rest of 'em? I think it's genetic. Least our kids'll be quiet, broody types."
Will not being near enough to physically ruffle his hair used TK to ruffle it.
"Most of 'em are talkers,only twenty are bio. Yeah that they will be, poor Matt my talkative genes beat his quiet ones in most of the kids."
She grinned and finally moved back to sitting next to Matt.
"I know noise is good for you Matt, but we must drive you nuts sometimes."
Matt smiled.
"You can tell when I'm getting annoyed," he said. "I switch on the stereo and turn it up loud so I can see which kid to cuff for talkin' too much," he joked.
Will laughed at that and gave him a hug.
"Huh? What do you mean so you can see? You a human bat?" Alyssa queired slightly sarcastically.
"Ain't no such thing as a human bat," Matt said. "But I'm the closest thing ya can get to one. Echo-location, very sensitive hearing."
"Really that's cool, so with noise you aint blind..." Alyssa got it.
"But to much would be bad." She figured it out.
Will nodded.
"Hence the wince at Caleb's power... Any more screamers?" She suddenly thought to ask.
The kids who hadn't stated powers shook their heads, then Eddie signed Only Callie if you try get her to shower. She insists on baths.
Will laughed at that and translated for Matt.
"Eddie said only Callie screams if you try to get her to shower.She insists on baths."
Matt smiled.
"I think Eddie gets it easy. He can lipread, right?"
"He can speak too," Alyssa said. "He just signs stuff 'cos it's easier for him."
Will nodded and smiled at Eddie and said and signed.
Signing classes then for the pack, you'll have to speak for Matt, Sam and Erin, they're blind to.
OK, no problem.Eddie signed.
"Will says you're gonna have to learn sign language," he told Matt.
"That'll only work for Matt, Sam and Erin if there's enough noise, so you'll have to speak sometimes. Erin's only one and Sam four, Sam should pick it up pretty quick, Erin you'll definitely need to talk for, although babies do well with learning to sign." Will replied looking thoughtful, again speaking and signing.
Eddie smiled, signing to Will, speaking for Matt.
"I meant so he- or they- can talk to me and Callum and Alyssa. All three of us can sign. Callum sometimes goes real fast."
Will grinned at Callum, and continued, still speaking and signing.
"Well signing is now on the school curriculum... Adults included... Although your uncles Alec and Cade can both sign... hmm Matt how about adding it for all the kids, not only pack?"
Matt shrugged.
"I'll see what I can talk Mr Sharpe in to," he said. "Sounds like a good idea though. Reaching out to the deaf humans, showing them we don't wanna cause trouble, or annihilate them for 'posing a threat to the gene pool'."
Will snorted.
"Only idiots want that... Mr Sharpe should go for it, its another language to learn and signing is useful among the hearing to... although Alec, Cade and I use the language Mike and Alec made up as kids, not proper sign language."
Sounds coolEddie signed. Would you mind if I learned?
Leah looked at Eddie and smiled shyly. "I'll happily learn to sign."
"Me too," Dec said. "Could be useful."
Matt smiled.
"I think Mr S'll agree," he said. "But I gotta run it past him anyway."
Will smiled at Eddie and signed.
I'll happily teach you our private signs, Alec and Cade will to.
"Yeah he's the boss." Will replied to Matt.
"I get the feeling I'm gonna have to teach Erin to sound-see," Matt said. "And have the stereo system upgraded."
Will laughed.
"Well you were going to have to teach her that anyway... we'll add upgraded stereo to the shopping list."
She gave him another hug then looked thoughtful.
"You know even with Dec and Leah moving out and an extra two level's we're not all going to fit into one den... how about Alec, Cade and those over 17 move into a neighbouring apartment... although everyone'll still probably live in the main den, just sleep in their own, so won't stop us talkers from driving you nuts."
"Wouldn't'a done anyway," Matt stated. "Telephone system's real good, even if I locked myself in an empty room, the telepaths'd still drive me nuts."
"Poor baby," Will grinned continuing to hug him.
"Damned right," Matt said with a grin. "The lot of you are gonna turn me into an asylum case."
He was only joking, though, and that was obvious. Will continued hugging him, and grinned.
"You already are a basketcase," she told him. "Just ask Cade."
"So Cade's Matt's brother or yours?" Alyssa questioned. "And Alec and who's sibling to Dec or Leah? Who's related to Sophia and Deak?"
"I'm an only child," Dec said. "Matt too. Alec is Will's brother-in-law, my honourary bro-in-law. Cade's an honourary brother to Leah, Alec and Will, so an honourary brother-in-law to me and Matt. And Leah is honourary sister to Cade, Alec and Will."
The complexity of it was apparently lost on Dec, who reeled off that set of relationships as easily as if he were counting to ten. Then Will took it up.
"Sophia is Alec's aunt, my aunt-in-law. She's the cubs' great aunt. Deak is John Deacon, although sometimes he answers to Sean. He's my great-to-the-power-of-six uncle. I think. Might be seven, not six. Banshees are longlived, apparently he's a baby in banshee terms."
Alyssa took the data in her stride until Deak was mentioned, then she blinked.
"Banshee? Like in legends... how old is he if he's only a baby in Banshee terms but Will's 6 or 7 times great uncle?... Also Will you look damn good for having had twenty kids... have you not heard of contraception?"
Some of the younger kids looked shocked, while Richard, Zane and Andrew smirked.
"What?" Alyssa said. "She's got twenty biological kids, it's a perfectly reasonable question."
"I'm a pretty strict Catholic," Matt muttered, with an impish grin.
"Deak is one-hundred and fifty-eight," Will said, pretending not to hear Matt's mutter. "And the bio kid thing is kinda complicated. Alternate universe, a few days ago two dozen kids turn up from one. Their versions of me and Matt had been killed, their Deak sent them to us because there are no other versions of them in this universe, and me and Matt were together and it's relatively safe... Their Will had eight kids with Mike, first husband died of cancer, and eight kids with Matt, the other eight were adopted. I'm a wolf, we always have multiple births and love kids. In the alternate universe, Will had two sets of triplets and a set of twins by each husband, in this universe I have a set of quads by Mike. And I'm not pregnant now so obviously using contraception."
"So why's Leah having multiples? Is she wolf too?" Alyssa asked.
"No," Leah said, quietly, blushing. "I'm just married to one."
"Yeah, but you knew that when we met," Dec said, smiling. "I may have never claimed to be a mutant before, but I've always told you I'm a wolf."
"I didn't put you being a wolf together with me having multiples." Leah softly argued. "Twins to quads would be fine but I get octuplets..." She paled again.
Dec hugged her as Will spoke up.
"Give Dec diaper duty all by himself," Will suggested with an evil grin.
Leah smiled a little, as Dec glared.
"I think we should gag Cooper," he stated.
"You'd have found out at the first scan, or Sam woulda spilled on hearing 8 heartbeats... Ever hear of a vasectomy Dec?" Will asked. "Not Coop's fault you got Leah pregnant with 8, don't gag the messanger."
Dec gave Blake a look.
"Not totally my fault!" he stated. "Genetically my family's always had singles and twins. Even the wolf cub I was joined with only had two sibs."Will shrugged.
"But you're the wolf, so you're fault... like my multiples are mine."
Dec sighed then.
"Guess I'll have to concede that point," he said.
"You said joined," Alyssa said slowly. "What does that mean?"
"Difficult story," Dec said. "Seems there are a lot of them going around. I'm not from this dimension either, as I said earlier."
He talked quietly, but the whole bus was silent. It was easy to see, for those who knew him, why he'd been the lead Rebel Wolf his code name now proclaimed him as.
"In the dimension where I come from, mutants have a tendency to be not very nice people. I was born human. No X-gene, no radiation, just a human kid. But I was a weak child. My mother died in childbirth, and I was too early. My father told me as I grew older that the skin on my arms and legs was still translucent, he could see the muscle and flesh. So, leaving me for less than half an hour with his brother, he went out, and found a group of men baiting a wolf cub. He bought the cub, and managed to kinda turn me and the cub into just me. A Joining."
There was silence for a few minutes, during which Leah hugged Dec, then Caleb spoke.
"So being joined with a wolf makes you a kinda mutant."
Dec shook his head.
"In the other dimension, Joinings aren't considered mutants. A mutant is purely genetic, father to son kinda thing, predestined before birth. In this universe, Alec or Cade told me, I am a mutant. I told them to go laugh up some other tree. But now, I am a mutant. Gene therapy and all to prove it."
Will rolled her eyes.
"Matt and I also told ya that being part wolf makes you a kind of mutant... and the gene therapy was because you stupidly went against Sinister alone and came back pretty much dead, only way to save you was to mutate you."
"I never said I hadn't done something to lead to the gene therapy," Dec said. "I just figured if they wanted to know they'd ask. Alyssa's doing pretty good so far."
Will nodded.
"Yes she is, but you were a complete idiot and as your big sister I get to tell everyone that from time to time, and I had the perfect opening."
She moved so he could see her face and she stuck out her tongue, then sombered.
"Also four of the kids have been experiments, Dec, so should be pointed out that you were mutated to save you... all of our other kids have their X-gene activated. In the alternate dimension, Sinister activated those in the younger kids, the older ones were already active. Subject that they have to bring up, don't question them, they were used to destroy X-Corps and their parents... Bring it up, don't come crying to us when Nate throws you across the room. The twelve kids Matt and I adopted were in an orphanage that activated kids' X-Genes. If the kids let on they were experimented on, ours didn't let on. The quads got the ability to morph at 6, were born with the wolf senses and in the last two months got the ability to merge into one, a 16 year old, who can scream and fly."
Mia, sat next to Taylor, whispered in her friend's ear.
"Tell 'em, Tay," Mia said in Taylor's ear. "They'll find out eventually."
Will and Dec shared a look, while Matt gave an almost imperceptible nod.
"How 'bout you, Taylor?" Will asked.
Taylor didn't say anything, but gave a little demonstration, shrinking in size then returning to her own.
"I don't like to do it much," she said. "I can't control it properly, if I lose concentration during a shift, I can get stuck. Still new to it."
"She shrank to about 3 inches." Will said to Matt as she smiled at Taylor.
"That's okay Taylor, most of the kids at X-Corps are still learning to control their abilities, that's part of the curriculum as well as more normal lessons like math. You'll all learn better control of your abilities and also other useful subjects like martial arts, climbing...Not only are the kids still learning, the adults are too."
Like with signing lessonsEddie signed for Will. Alyssa smiled, and translated into sound for Matt.
"Eddie said that signing was a lesson too," Alyssa told Matt. "What I want to know is, what's X-Corps. you keep mentioning it."
"Matt'll explain." Will volunteered him.
Matt smiled.
"Gee, thanks, Will," he said, sarcastically, before continuing anyway. "X-Corps is the pseudo-military section of Sharpe Inc. Made up of mostly, but not exclusively, mutants. X-Corps replaced the X-Men when the latter were destroyed by Sinister's forces. We train people up, offer them safety, self confidence. They only have to go up against Sinister if they want to, we don't force anyone into anything they don't wanna do. Apart from routine physicals. Sorry Michael."
"The doctors are alright Michael, Dec and Leah wil be with you and only an idiot would anger Dec." Will told the boy smiling at him. "Matt you run X-Corps so who better to explain it? 'Sides I'd done most of the talking as usual." She complained.
"You're more talkative than me," Matt said. "You know that. I'm more content to listen."
He hugged Will though, as if to apologise for not talking.
"Lemme see," he continued. "We've had Dec's wolf thing explained, and Will's family links. How about how a blind kid learned not to fear a thing?"
"Me's wanna hear that." Callum told him, grinning.
Hugging Matt back, Will whispered in his ear.
"Going to tell them who you are now? Good idea."
Then she recalled Callum's mentioning his claws.
"Callum you can pop your claws anytime you need to, no one'll blink an eye at home... we've an adult version of you, and you popping your claws won't often mean trouble." She grinned at him.
Matt smiled, waiting for complete silence. Then he started on his story.
