A/N: I am really sorry for how long it took me to get this out. Spring quarter was a tad chaotic, but it was well worth it.
Helen breathed in deep the chilly morning air. Autumn was definitely on the way. She stood alone atop her favorite part of her roof, overlooking New City with a sense of foreboding. It was Ashley's first day of school, and she wondered if she had made the right choice of registering her daughter. She closed her eyes. Ashley was an abnormal: a dangerous one if not watched properly. She did not know fully how to control Ashley's vampiric tendencies, and then there was the teleportation problem. But Henry will be with her, she reasoned before opening her eyes. The sun's rays were just barely touching the outline of New City then.
She stole herself away from the edge of her roof to go inside. As she strolled through the silent halls of her Sanctuary, she thought over all that had happened the past couple years. She had lost her daughter, grieved and accepted that she was gone for good, and then John strolled in one day to tell her that he had found a super abnormal left over from the Cabal experiments, and that abnormal had just happened to be her formerly dead daughter. Over the last few months, she had worked tirelessly to figure out how to help Ashley keep control over what the Cabal had done to her—not help Ashley remove it.
She turned a corner to the elevator and took it down to the kitchens. Once there, she went to work to make everyone breakfast.
Will wandered in at about 7:30, bleary eyed and messy hair. "Huh? Magnus? What are you doing here?" He yawned.
"Fixing breakfast. Why?"
"Oh, nothing—I just never see you down here except to make tea. I didn't even know you could cook." He rubbed his eyes.
"I managed to bake Ashley her cake for her birthday," Helen replied curtly.
"Yeah—with Big Guy's help."
"Will, I lived in a time when it was still the woman's job to do the cooking." She shot him a glare as she flipped a pancake.
"Not from what Jack the Ripper has told me."
"And what did he tell you?"
"Hey—can't break the bro code—even if he's a raving psycho." He raised his hands in defeat.
"Do us both a favor, and wake everyone up—except for Ashley. We don't need a repeat of what happened last week."
"Yeah—I think I'm going to have scars for the rest of my life from that." Will walked away.
It was true; they would all have scars from Ashley's claws. The only ones to successfully wake Ashley without being torn to shreds were Helen and John.
Helen had to wait for several minutes before one by one, the members of her team walked in, still in pajamas and yawning.
"What's up, Doc?" Henry managed through a particularly long yawn. "It's still early for the abnormals feeding."
"I made you all breakfast." Helen shot a dangerous glare at John.
"Crepes?" Big Guy grunted.
"Ashley seems to like them. Now, if you'll all excuse me, I need to wake my daughter before she's late for school. And Henry, get ready after you eat." She walked out of the kitchen, leaving everyone to grab his or her own plates.
As she walked down the hall, she retreated deep into the depths of her mind. The Sanctuary had been startling quiet these past few weeks. In fact, it had been a standstill with missions. Sure, she had to send Will and Kate on a couple clean-up jobs when civilians spotted an abnormal on the street, but there had been no crisis to speak of. It was a nice change, but something about it unnerved Helen. She stopped in front of Ashley's door. Gathering her thoughts, and mentally putting them in a storage bin for later access, she opened the door.
Tucked safely away under a pile of blankets was her sleeping daughter; the rise and fall of the blankets bringing comfort to her. She slowly approached the bed, knelt down, and gently shook Ashley's arm. She quickly backed away as Ashley's amber eyes shot open and her claws extended.
"Ashley, it's me!" gasped Helen. It had happened many times now, to the point that she almost anticipated it whenever she had to wake her daughter, but the change in Ashley's appearance was still shocking for her.
The young girl blinked, and her eyes changed back to their normal light blue. Her claws retracted until her nails were a normal length. "Mommy?" she squeaked.
"It's alright," Helen murmured, smiling slightly. "You didn't even get me this time."
"But what if I had?" cried Ashley.
"I heal fast, sweetie. Come on, I made breakfast. It's your first day of school."
"Do I have to go?" whined Ashley.
"Yes, you do." She smiled as her daughter pouted, and she remembered when the Ashley from before started school had whined and complained that entire morning until Helen had picked her up that afternoon, and Helen had to listen as Ashley begged to go back for the sake of a normal life. She rummaged in Ashley's dresser, and pulled out a nicer green t-shirt with the Union Jack printed on it and a pair of black shorts. She absentmindedly helped Ashley dress, laughing when the little girl stuck her tongue out playfully.
"Manners, Ashley," she chided with a smile. "Now, how about some breakfast?"
"Ok!" Ashley smiled brightly as she ran ahead of Helen to the elevator. She waited impatiently for her mother to get in. When Helen rejoined her, she was insistent on pushing the button to take them down, much to Helen's amusement.
When they got to the kitchen, everyone was sitting at the counter, eating. Kate was telling everyone about one of her exploits before joining with the Sanctuary involving the transport of a minotaur under Cabal orders, and how when she delivered the minotaur, it had broken free and wrecked so much havoc that it was up to the Sanctuary to clean it up.
"I remember that—back in '03. How old were you, Kate?" Henry looked above his fork at her; his eyebrows furrowed suspiciously.
"It was right before my twenty-fourth birthday. I had been working for the Cabal for about five years at that point." She shrugged.
"That exploit of yours caused us quite the clean-up job," Big Guy grunted.
"That is quite enough talk about the Cabal for now," said Helen as she entered the room, looking her stern old self.
Will felt relieved to see this side of her again. Before they had found Ashley, Helen had only put that on as a front, and it had become her persona nearly 24/7. The difference now was that it did not feel forced to him. He watched as Ashley sat next to John to eat her breakfast.
"Hey, Doc, what time do I need to be at my new job?" asked Henry.
"In twenty minutes—you'd better leave soon. I'll bring Ashley as soon as she's finished eating. And make sure to act normal, Henry." Helen gave him one last stern glance before he hurried out of the kitchen.
"Mommy, why is Henry working at my school?" Ashley looked up from her halfway finished plate.
"To make sure that you don't accidentally use your powers, sweetie. Now finish your breakfast." She leaned against the fridge, feeling as she always did: apprehensive. Within the Sanctuary, she had complete control over what happened, but outside her facility, there was no telling what could happen. She stiffened when John came to stand beside her.
"You need to relax," he whispered, chuckling somewhat. "I assure you that nothing bad will come of this."
"And what if it does, John?"
"We will cross that bridge, if we come to it, and only then." He left a light kiss on her hair before kissing Ashley good-bye and leaving to do whatever it was he did on his own time. Helen did not want to think about it.
"Mommy, I'm done!" announced Ashley.
Helen forced herself out of her thoughts to give her attention to Ashley. She smiled. "Alright—" She turned to Big Guy, her eyes full of the worry she was holding back.
"Go—I will take care of the dishes and man the fort."
"Thank you, old friend." She squeezed his shoulder appreciatively before following Ashley to the garage. She took the keys to her black Hyundai from the safe and got in the car. Her muscles relaxed as she felt the low hum of the engine. She waited for Ashley to get buckled in the back seat before pulling out of the garage.
"When can I come home?" Ashley asked suddenly just as Helen was pulling into the school.
The question caught Helen off guard. "This afternoon. I will be here to pick you up, but before that, I would like to meet your teacher." She pulled into one of the few empty parking spaces available in the visitors' section. When she got out, she found Ashley already standing there, waiting.
"I hope that you didn't just teleport, young lady," she hissed reproachfully.
"I didn't—you told me that I'm not allowed outside of home." Ashley frowned as she followed her mother.
They walked into the main office, and up to a desk, behind which sat a young woman in her late 20s with short, dark auburn hair, brown eyes, and a slight tan. She looked up at them and smiled pleasantly. "Good morning," she greeted. "May I help you?"
"Yes, my name is Helen Magnus. My daughter Ashley starts school here today, and I was wondering who her teacher is going to be." She forced a pleasant smile as she held onto Ashley's hand.
"One moment." The woman typed in some information into her computer. "She'll be in Ms. Hagen's class. 10B—just down the hall here, tenth door on your left."
"Thank you." Helen led Ashley down the hall until they came across 10B. She opened the door, and was pleased to find that the room was well spaced with tables of four chairs. The decorations were multiplication tables and rules of English grammar. She looked around for a few moments before it became apparent that Ms. Hagen was not around.
"Mommy, I don't like it here," whined Ashley, tugging on Helen's arm.
"You'll be fine, Ashley," murmured Helen as she smoothed down her daughter's blonde hair. "After a while, you'll come to look forward to going to school." She hoped.
"May I help you?" A shorter woman walked in. She was very skinny, but athletic in her build. She had shoulder length, dirty blonde hair that accented her features quite well in Helen's opinion. She wore very little make-up, just black eyeliner to draw attention to her bright green eyes.
"Are you Ms. Hagen?" Helen asked.
"Yes—and you are?" She extended her hand to Helen.
"Helen Magnus." She shook hands with Ms. Hagen. "My daughter Ashley is in your class, and I just wanted to meet you before leaving Ashley in your care. I am sure you understand." She smiled warmly.
"I certainly do—it is so rare to find parents who take care in their children's education." She looked down at Ashley. "Hello, Ashley."
"Hi," she squeaked.
"Is this her first time in a school environment?"
"It is."
"Then I assure you I will do my best to make her feel welcome."
"Thank you—Ashley, run along now while Mummy has a word with your teacher." She watched as Ashley found her seat at the front of the room.
"You came from England?" Ms. Hagen asked.
"A long time ago, yes. Now—I would like to inform you that Ashley can have a tendency to do things that she doesn't mean when she gets angry or frightened. If you notice any of those behaviors, please pull her aside and call me." She handed Ms. Hagen her business card.
"Sanctuary for All?"
"I run a private research facility not far from here. Now, if you can't get in contact with me, a friend of mine, Henry Foss, just got hired as a computers teacher here. Ashley already knows him."
"I will do my best to insure that Ashley never feels threatened in any way, Ms. Magnus."
"Thank you." Helen retreated to give Ashley one final hug good-bye before leaving the school.
"Doc—wait up!" Henry ran after her from the entrance.
"She's in Ms. Hagen's class, Henry. Do look after her for me, will you?"
"Of course." Henry watched as Helen left.
The school day passed excruciatingly slow for Ashley. She sat at her desk, surrounded by other students her age as Ms. Hagen stood at the front of the room, testing them on stuff they should have learned in the previous year, but she wanted to make sure that they had a grasp on. At the beginning of the day, the students went around introducing themselves. The children sitting with Ashley were Cain Wright, Beth Baker, and Darren Albright. For the most part, they whispered amongst themselves, leaving Ashley out of whatever plans they had come up with. At lunch, Ashley sat alone, nibbling on what the school cooks seemed to think was a cheeseburger. It tasted rubbery and the bread was stale. She ate about half of it before sneaking it into the garbage.
When she went out for recess, she sat alone on the swing set, looking up at the clouds, wondering what her parents were up to at the Sanctuary. She missed everyone who lived there.
"Hey, it's that weirdo who's in Ms. Hagen's class with us!" jeered Cain to a group of his friends, who all laughed with them. They were all boys in the same grade as him and Ashley.
"Leave me alone." She got off the swing and started walking away.
"Oh, I don't think so!" Cain grabbed her by the shoulder and roughly pushed her down.
As soon as she hit the ground, she felt her fangs begin to grow and her claws extend. "Stop!" she cried, squeezing her eyes shut so they would not see her for what she really was.
"What's the matter, Blondie? Going to run home and cry to mommy?"
"Get away from me!"
"No!" Cain grabbed her by the hair and pulled her to her feet.
It was too late by then. Ashley lashed out at the boy, cutting him with her claws and teleporting around him to avoid being hit. His friends had all run away by then when they saw what she could do. She did not stop until he was curled up in the fetal position on the ground, all bloodied up.
"Ashley!"
As soon as she heard Henry's voice, she regained control. There was blood on her hands and clothes. Cain was probably going to need stitches; she could tell that much already. She looked up at Henry, tears in her eyes.
"I'm so sorry," she cried. She nearly teleported away, but then a crowd had gathered around them.
"What happened?" Ms. Smith demanded. She looked down at Cain and then back up to Ashley. "Mr. Foss, escort that girl to my office while I take care of Cain.
Henry nodded before gently leading Ashley away from the playground. He ran his hand through his hair.
"What's going to happen to me now?" cried Ashley; now well on her way to hysterics.
"I don't know, Ashley," admitted Henry slowly. "They're going to have to call your mother. After that—I really don't know." He frowned thoughtfully as they walked through the small campus to Ms. Smith's office. "You'd better sit down, Ashley. I'm going to make a few calls." He forced a smile before leaving her there alone.
He stepped outside before taking out his cell phone and dialing Will. His friend did not pick up until the fourth ring. "Dude—Will, I need your help."
"Slow down, Henry—what is it?"
"Go to my lab—it's really urgent, Will—before Magnus gets called to the school."
"Whoa—what happened?"
"Ashley—she attacked a student. She tried getting away, but wasn't able to, and she defended herself. Thing is—I think that she was caught on camera."
"So you want me to delete all evidence of this?" Will guessed.
"Yeah—but could you put it on a flash drive. I want you to figure out what happened. We're going to have to clean this up."
"And the kid?"
"Badly hurt, but it looked like he'll make it. I'm more concerned about the parents, Will."
"What about Ashley?"
"She's pretty shaken up."
"Alright—" He sounded distracted on the other end. "I'm in your lab. What do I do?"
"I'm sending you the security code to the cameras here—and let me tell you, this school uses really ancient technology."
"Focus, Henry—time's limited."
"Right—here you go. I need to get to work on my end." He hung up before sending Will the security code.
Will waited for the codes to be sent to his phone. He stood at the desk as he worked, feeling that sitting would take away from his attention. When he found the security footage, a feat that took him only a few moments, a sickening knot twisted at his stomach as he watched Ashley being pushed down and brought back to her feet by her hair, and then she retaliated by using her vampiric and teleportation powers. The other kids surrounding the fight ran away. Then the fight was broken up. Will quickly deleted the footage that revealed what Ashley really was. He saved it on his personal thumb drive.
"Will, what are you doing in here?"
He jumped at the sound of Helen's voice. "Oh—uh—Henry wanted me to do something for him." He forced a smile.
"William, don't lie to me."
"It's not important. Henry just forgot to save some files he was working on before going to the school this morning." He dodged out to the way and hurried down the hall, just as Helen's cell rang.
"Magnus."
"Ms. Magnus, this is Ms. Smith from your daughter's school. I need to speak with you at your earliest convenience."
"What's wrong?" Helen demanded quickly.
"I think that it's best that you come to my office." She hung up.
Helen stared at her phone for a few moments, stunned that someone had actually hung up on her. She shoved her phone back in her pocket before marching to the garage and into her black Hyundai. She peeled out of the garage and onto the street, speeding to Ashley's school. She dialed for Henry.
"Doc—look, I'm kinda busy."
"It can wait, Henry," she snapped. "I just got a call from Ms. Smith. What's going on?"
"Uh—everything's taken care of. No clean up job necessary." He laughed nervously.
"Henry Foss!"
"Look—a kid attacked Ashley on the playground at her lunch recess. She tried to get away, but couldn't—then she defended herself. Ms. Smith is pissed about it because I guess the kid's family is very powerful and has the ability to sue the school for this."
"Did they catch it on camera?"
"It's all taken care of."
Helen thought back to Will being in Henry's office and seeming uncomfortable when she questioned him. She hung up and accelerated until she peeled into the school's parking lot. She swerved into an empty parking space before marching across the campus to the main office.
A short blonde woman greeted her. When her eyes met the woman's, the shorter woman seemed to puff out her chest threateningly. "Are you Ms. Magnus?"
"I am," replied Helen curtly. Her lips drew to a thin line as she assessed the woman before her. "What is this about?"
"Your daughter—does she misbehave at home?" asked Ms. Smith.
"Never." Helen glared at Ms. Smith furiously. "What has she done to require you to call me away from my work, Ms. Smith?"
"Step in my office." She stepped aside and waited for Helen to step inside.
Helen's eyes fell on Ashley. The weight on her chest lifted slightly when she saw that her daughter had not been physically harmed, though Ashley had tears streaming freely from her puffy red eyes. She rounded on Ms. Smith. "I demand to know what's going on?"
"Your daughter attacked a student today, Ms. Magnus," snapped Ms. Smith. "He's being taken by ambulance to the hospital right now. He's likely going to need stitches, and his parents have already threatened to sue. As this girl is your responsibility, the charges will default to you."
"This school has insurance, I presume."
"And what is that supposed to mean?"
"This school's insurance should be sufficient to handle such situations. And I assume that Ashley was defending herself; something that I fully expect her to do should she be attacked, another student or no."
"Assuming anything can be dangerous, Ms. Magnus. Your daughter will be expelled if she so much as steps over the line with her toe one more time. Now, get out of my office."
"Ashley, we're going home." She led her daughter out of the school, anger radiating from her in waves as she marched away from the office.