psinex@yahoo.com Fires of Tomorrow 13/60 by Phil Hartman DISCLAIMER: They're all Marvel's, except for Danny, Deanna, Dave, Mel and the Richards twins, who are mine. Please don't sue. NOTES: Aidan's taken over every other chapter, so he and his sister get to run amuck here :) (P.S. - Has anyone else noticed how much "Fires of Tomorrow" sounds like a BAD soap opera title ? "As the mutants angst, so do the fires of tomorrow burn down ...") (Sorry. I've had too little sleep :P) -------------------------------------------------------- X-Mansion: 3/15/2004: 13:00 hrs EST: -------------------------------------------------------- Aidan tossed aside his bottle and sighed from within his crib. The big people got all the fun. #Nate party,# the baby "thought" - more of a blur of images and emotions, really not so much coherent thought as early reasoning and reaction. Images of his uncle Nate blowing out the candles, and the taste of frosting on his tongue, made Aidan "peek" downstairs with his telepathy. He'd gotten quite good at it, actually, and pulled himself up to the top of his crib bars to focus better. ~Party ?~ he sent, casting about for his parents' minds. Dada was warm and deep, while Mama's was bright and funny. Both of them were full of love, and made Aidan happy to be able to know they were there. ~Bird,~ Aidan thought, smiling toothlessly as the Phoenix Force danced before him around his mother's psi-print. The "bird" was also warm, but sometime scary - Aidan didn't like it so much, unless Mama was using it. Then it was OK. ~Someone's awake,~ another familiar mindvoice called merrily. Aidan giggled as his Gama peeked in the door and walked to the crib. "You're just so big," Jean smiled. "Yes you ARE ! Your mom was the same way - hated her baby fat. That's partly why your folks took forever to admit their feelings. Frank'd tease your mom, and she'd always fight with him. But you'll never do that, will you ? You'll probably find some nice, normal socialite's daughter through your Grandma Sue's connections ..." Aidan only understood parts of his Gama's sentence, but cooed happily nevertheless. She was a lot like his Mama, just taller. Jean kissed his head, checked his diaper and nodded, "You're OK for right now. Let me take that bottle for you ... later, sweetie." She headed back downstairs, leaving Aidan to sit and ponder. #Gama go,# he realized, laying back down and pouting. #Miss Mama, Dada, Nate, Gama -# "Hey there !" Scott smiled, walking in. "Hi there, Aidan - hi !" ~Gapa !~ Aidan sent happily. Scott lifted the baby from the crib and sat in a nearby rocker, rocking back and forth with a smile. "You've really brought a lot of memories back," Scott mused. "I remember rocking your mother to sleep like this ... now SHE'S a mother ... but ..." Gapa radiated sorrow, and Aidan reached out one chubby hand to his face. #No touch red,# the baby thought, avoiding Scott's glasses. #Big boom.# "Oh, I was shocked," Scott admitted, letting Aidan pat his cheek. "But you're a miracle, you know that ? And your father's really a very responsible young man - I'm proud of him, as much as your mom. I wish they'd waited, but ... ah well." ~Gapa,~ Aidan sent, snuggling in Scott's arms. He let Scott rock him a little longer, then motioned towards the crib. Scott put the baby back and said, "Sleep tight, kiddo." He left, not noticing Aidan watch him leave. #Miss Gapa, too,# Aidan thought. There were so MANY Big People Aidan knew by their mindsignatures - Gapa, Gama, NoHair, SilverHair, Bluefuzz, Feather, Skunk, Redeye, Cold, PurpleHair, M-Face, Smiler, Singer, Ceccy, Slug, Shiny, Redhair, Coffee Lady, Icelady, and the Smelly Thing. The Smelly Thing's pointy hair had scared Aidan badly at first, until it - he ? - had let the baby scan its surface thoughts. The Smelly Thing was still scary, but it was really just hurt inside. Aidan knew that feeling when he had gas. What bothered Aidan most about the Smelly Thing was its' Smelly Sticks. Mama got mad whenever the Smelly Thing burned the Smelly Sticks around Aidan, but all the Thing would do was go outside. Aidan laughed sometimes, too, when Coffee Lady made coffee and the Big People ran away scared. Coffee Lady had a nice voice, but she couldn't make coffee, or so Dada and Mama told the baby when Coffee Lady wasn't around. Singer and Smiler were also nice - Singer sang to Aidan, and Smiler played with him when they weren't busy. All the Big People were nice. M-Face was real sad, and acted mean, but he was playing, Aidan could tell. Skunk was real sad, and wouldn't let Aidan touch her, but she was nice too. She had a pretty voice, and would say hi to Aidan when she could. Bluefuzz talked a lot, but he was silly, and was BoneGirl's Dada. Aidan liked it when Bluefuzz was around; he looked like Aidan's Bamf doll, but had blue eyes. His best friend was Ice, who was REALLY silly. #Friends,# Aidan thought, smiling at the even greater number of friends his parents had. There was Nate, Patch, BlurGirl, Blond, PlantGirl, Gail, Joey, TwoGirl, Artie, Bone, 'Rik, Bear, Kev - so MANY ! Nate was special. He could mindtalk like Mama could, and played with Aidan a lot when Mama or Dada couldn't be there. So did Patch, who had one voice when she was with the Friends and another when she was alone with Aidan. She felt sad, but not mean. The only one of the Friends who scared Aidan was Kev. He was real sad inside, and hungry a lot. But he never hurt Aidan, and the baby wanted to trust him. Coffee Lady was Kev's Mama, or so Aidan's Mama had tried to explain. ~Mama,~ Aidan called, fussing a little. He missed his Mama, and reached out - - and blinked when another baby looked back at him. She looked like Aidan, and waved, smiling. ~Hi,~ Aidan sent, smiling. He'd never scanned another baby before. She - somehow he knew it was a she - wore a pink sleeper, like Aidan's blue one, but she was far away. ~Aislinn,~ the girl sent. Aidan nodded, and replied, ~Aidan.~ They reached out, but a Bad Shape loomed over Aislinn. #Hurt !# Aidan thought, scared. He reached out - - and the Bad Shape yelled real loud, and Aislinn fell into Aidan's crib ! ~Aidan !~ Aislinn sent, giggling. They hugged, but the Bad Shape came back - - and it was THERE, in the room. "Fascinating," it said in a MEAN voice. "I should have predicted the effect of blood on -" Then the Bird boomed, and Aidan smiled as Mama and Dada flew in. They were scared and MAD, but not at Aidan. "GET AWAY FROM - them - oh my GOD !" Mama cried. She threw the Bird at the Bad Shape, and Dada picked up Aidan and Aislinn with a funny smile. "I don't - oh my - Sinister, you DIDN'T -" Dada said all at once. ~Show,~ the babies sent to Mama and Dada. They gasped, then smiled, and watched as the Bad Shape backed away. "This is NOT - wait - what've I stepped in ?" the Bad Shape muttered. Then he screamed, and Aidan covered his ears - - and the Bad Shape went away. "My GOD, what happened !?" NoHair yelled. Aidan and Aislinn just smiled and looked at each other, while Mama and Dada hugged them. ~... Sister ?~ Aidan asked Aislinn. ~Yeah,~ Aislinn replied. Mama and Dada looked at each other, smiling and crying and laughing, while the Big People looked for the Bad Shape. "He - Sinister GREW Aidan a sister !" Mama told Gapa and Gama and Nate. Aislinn was scared at first, until Aidan Showed her his memories, and she giggled. ~Mama ! Dada !~ she sent. Mama and Dada hugged them both, and Aidan watched as the window fixed itself. "Self-repair function," NoHair explained as most of the Big People left. "Bishop, any sign of -" "No, sir," M-Face frowned, entering the room. "At least the security grid managed to detain Sinister for a moment." "Sinister's teleport tech is hard to block," Gapa muttered. "But we're NOT going to let this happen again. It's time we stopped that maniac once and for all." "Scott !" NoHair yelled. Gapa just looked mean at NoHair and muttered something, leaving with Gama. The babies looked at them, then lay down and snuggled together. ~Sleep,~ Aidan suggested. Aislinn nodded, and they dozed off, smiling as Mama and Dada stood watch. ~Amazing,~ Aidan heard Mama send. ~Sleep tight, sweeties ...~ -------------------------------------------------------- NEXT: Considerably less sweet - the final fate of Nicole and Claudette ! -------------------------------------------------------- end _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com