Alright, new story. Funny, I hadn't meant to write this, but the more I wrote "A Second Chance" the more Toad's past started to kind of work itself out for me. So now, I guess I'll have to write it. I think I'm gonna like this one better; I always feel so guilty about having a self-style character hooking up with Mortie. Don't worry, plenty of angst in this one, I promise.
The title, first of all, is from the Goo-Goo Doll's song "I'm Still Here." It was on the Treasure Planet movie, so if you've never heard it, go watch that movie, cuz it rocks and the sequence with the song is really really well done. The song played the other day while I was trying to work this story out and it suddenly all clicked. The lyrics to the song can be found at .
Um, so this is the first chapter, not a lot of action yet, just sort of setting things up. Ah, I should be working on my portfolio now! Bad Laura!
'Nuff Author's notes! Toad and X-stuff (c) Marvel Comics. Not mine. No $$.
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"Well, everything seems to be in order, Brother Felix." The old priest smiled across the desk as he tapped the pile of papers into a neat stack and placed them in a folder in a long drawer of files. When he had finished, he smiled again and reached his hand out to the younger man. "Welcome to St. Augustine's Home for Orphaned Boys." The younger man stood and took it with a friendly, if somewhat apprehensive, smile.
"Thank you, sir. When do my classes start?" He spoke with a slightly Irish lilt, somewhat diminished over more than a decade of living in England. The old priest chuckled.
"Eager to start, I see. Well, Monday's as good a day as any. Gives you the weekend to get to know the boys out of class."
"Yes sir." The monk paused, then asked cautiously. "And the other class, sir?"
The older priest sighed and adjusted his glasses.
"I still do not wholly approve of this, Brother Felix. It still seems to me a violent, and unnecessary practice, which I do not believe the children need."
"Sir, I assure you, the point of martial arts is only to teach discipline and self-control. Many of these boys have so much anger--they need an outlet of some kind--"
"Prayer is always a good outlet."
"Sir..." The two men met each other's eyes and sighed. They held few illusions about the boys at the orphanage, Father Anton even less than Felix. At last, he nodded.
"Very well. I admit I have heard it has done some good in other Homes. You have a period before lunch when you are not teaching. If you wish to bring some of the boys into the gym, then I suppose we'll see how it works."
"Thank you, sir." Brother Felix beamed. He half-bowed once, then caught himself with a sheepish grin, and started out of the small room. Father Anton's voice stopped him.
"Oh, and Brother Felix... You have heard of our...little problem?"
"Problem, sir?" Felix frowned.
"One of our...charges," the priest said darkly. "He is...different than the other boys."
"Mentally challenged, sir?" Felix asked, puzzled.
"Possibly. But no. I was referring to his..." The priest's mouth worked, twisting with some distaste. "He is a mutant."
Brother Felix blinked, and his face went blank. He nodded slowly.
"Ah. I understand." He opened the door. "Yes, Father, I had heard as much."
"Very good then, Brother Felix. At any rate, you probably won't run into him. I just wanted to make sure you were...properly warned."
"Thank you sir, but as I said, I have heard." Shutting the door behind him, Felix frowned thoughtfully and stared into a corner. "That's why I came."
