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Once upon a time, there was a pretty, young girl named Rebecca, and she was a princess, because her mommy and daddy said so. True, they said many things, especially to each other, but to Rebecca? They said that they loved her, and that had to be true, because they were her parents; the three of them were family, until… Rebecca’s powers manifested themselves, overtly, (whatever that meant), and there was a new baby on the way too. Rebecca was ready to love the new baby and not be a princess anymore, (unless the new baby was going to be a boy, in which case Rebecca was going to remain a princess, because boys can only be princes), but…her parents decided not to keep her instead, but to lock her into a hell-hole of an insane asylum – perhaps forever.
…As life would have it, ‘forever’ did not last very long, in about a year Rebecca got freed by new people – very cool new people indeed. There was Andy, who was somewhat confusing, and Esme and her sisters, (who didn’t like Rebecca very much, but maybe it was just them), and Sage, (who did not hang around very long very often), and then there was Lorna, who was not confusing at all – she was a mommy. Not Rebecca’s mommy, true, Lorna’s baby was Dawn, but that was okay. If Rebecca squinted hard enough, she could imagine that she was a part of this family now for real-
She heard footsteps outside Lorna’s, and Dawn’s, quarters. As far as mothers went, Lorna was something of a bear: if you went to Dawn without asking permission first, Lorna would first rend you limb from limb and then apologize to your broken and bruised remains, if your intentions had been innocent. Rebecca was reasonably sure that Lorna wasn’t going to do that to her completely, but God helps those that help themselves and all that, so Rebecca went and hid in Lorna’s clothes’ closet, (provided by the Inner Circle, and as such – more than spacious enough to fit-in Rebecca).
“So, Andy,” Lorna sat onto her favorite armchair, one upon which she usually fed Dawn. “Did you know that Reeva’s readying us for a bank heist? Of all the things-“
“Yes, I expected something all along. Great-grandparents Struckers were bank robbers, after all, and after I learned that Rebecca had to turn a bank vault inside out, it sealed it for me. I may be a few weeks away from being 17 years of age still, but I can make connections already, thank you very much.”
There was a pause. “… I didn’t expect that,” Lorna admitted. “So, what’s the plan?”
“You have any better options? Don’t like being tricked, no, but do you want to back? To Marcos, and-“
“No!” Lorna snapped, her normally pale face now flushed even more. “Don’t speak of him to me! I do not talk to you of your family-“
“-and I don’t want to go back to them,” Andy, on the other hand, was pale, but he looked Lorna right in the eyes, even though he was visibly worried. “I love them, but I’m not going to be a Lannister, not even for them.”
“There you go with the pop references again! Why Lannisters, who the f- cranberries, cares about the Lannisters? I do not know what your big yen about incest is-“
“The original Struckers worked for the original Hellfire Club, you know, the one that died,” Andy exhaled. “They kept records and stuff of my family, I am looking through them…when I’m not training or playing video games, yeah, and while there’s no open mention of incest, it is implied in the Club’s documents quite heavily.”
There was a pause. “Really?” Lorna asked much quieter, in a much more normal voice. “That’s harsh, dude.”
“Yes, well, that’s life; Struckers had been more messed up than even an average mutant is, so it’s up to me, and maybe Lauren, if she ever stops pretending that everything is okay, to straighten our family out,” Andy nodded sagely. “Can we get back to the original topic?”
“I don’t know if we should,” Lorna muttered, as she shot a look at Esme – the blonde-haired telepath was also present, but she was sitting quietly in a corner, looking more subdued than how she usually did.
“Lay off her,” Andy said firmly. “She’s messed-up, true, but she isn’t a liar. Maybe Ms. Reeva is, but I don’t talk to her very much…”
“She gave you a chance,” Esme snapped, before Lorna looked at her. “…and you don’t need to stick up for me, really,” she added, sounding much quieter, again. “Thank you?”
“Yes, well, the Sentinel Services or whoever in charge of your childhood, they tangled the three of you up,” Andy looked at the floor now. “You’re neither three nor one; when the three of you together as one, you’re much more formidable than an average mutant is, but on your own? You’re flawed.”
“What a girl always wants to hear-“
“I and Lauren are the same way, even if she doesn’t admit it-“
Esme and Andy stared at each other; Rebecca was not sure if they were talking telepathically or what, because Lorna shifted in her seat and said:
“Kid? Come here!”
Since she was looking Rebecca right in the eye, Rebecca decided not to push it and came out. “Hi!” she said brightly, because she hated when others were fighting, because of her experiences. “What’s going on?”
“We’re going to rob a bank,” Lorna said conversationally, or at least – with far less hostility that she talked with Esme, “want to put in your two cents too?”
“Why?” Rebecca blinked. She expected to be reprimanded, (at least), not asked her opinion, because of – experiences.
“Because we’re a family here, of sorts,” Lorna shot the younger mutant a look. “This isn’t the Mutant Underground, it isn’t going to be the Mutant Underground, and we all got issues here – but, and, you’re one of us, so let’s hear what you think about it all-“
Lorna didn’t finish: something snapped into an active mode in Rebecca’s mind as soon as Lorna mentioned a family, and as a result, she did something unexpected: she walked over to Lorna, (even though she usually gave the older mutant a wide berth – Lorna’s temper was unpredictable, and some distance was required for safety), hugged her, and buried her face, (vaguely and distantly aware that she was acting ridiculous, immature and un-lady-like).
“Oh, Becca,” Lorna exhaled. “Just what-?”
“She’s quite fine mentally,” Esme’s voice sounded in Lorna’s mind, sounding quite defensive of the younger mutant too. “Emotionally, however, she is stunted, and her time in that nutcase hell-hole didn’t help. Ergo, be easy on her, would you?”
“Since we got contact,” Lorna hissed through her mental teeth – she didn’t like telepathy as a rule, “want to tell me if you’re okay that all of ‘Ms. Reeva’s’ glorious future so far are common crimes? Not even political ones-“
“Little strokes fell great oaks,” Esme shot back, “you need money for revolutions-“
“The Inner Circle has money – it is the only heir of the Hellfire Club,” Lorna did not back down, “or are we heading towards bankruptcy too?”
“No, we don’t!” Esme’s reply was vehement – she and her sisters were not shallow, but after a childhood as test rats, they really did like their ‘creature comforts’. “Believe us, we and Sage are keeping tracks of the investments, on Reeva’s say-so, yes, but-“
“Stop, I believe you,” Lorna rubbed her temples, “and you’re giving me a headache. Bravo.” She snuck a glance at Esme and Andy outside of their mentalscape – the duo were sitting side by side, not even hiding anymore; but then again, why would they hide from Lorna? Lorna had to admit that she genuinely did not care if those two flawed individuals make it work-
Okay, she did care. However, it was because they were family, as messed-up as all of them were. Moreover, speaking of messed-up…
“You okay, kid?” she looked down at the younger mutant.
“I’m fine,” Rebecca made a good attempt to sounding sincere, but did not really pull it off. “It’s just that-“
“Eh, I’m already a mom to Dawn though it scares the – dickens out of me,” Lorna spoke with a dismissiveness that she did not feel and more honesty that she had intended to. “Might as well keep you too.”
“Really? You won’t regret it?” Rebecca asked before she could help herself.
“Becca? Regrets are a part of life. That said, Lorna keeps her word, so get used to her being in your life, for a long while,” Esme spoke up from her position. (Both hers and Andy’s faces were decidedly pink, but neither Lorna nor Rebecca cared about it right now).
“What Esme means, here, is that since Andy’s Dawn’s godfather, she’s going to be your godmother,” Lorna told brightly.
“Really?” Rebecca’s eyes lit-up. “Never had a godmother before! Are you going to be like Cinderella’s fairy godmother?” She approached Esme with some hesitancy. “Um, do godmothers hug?”
“Only if you don’t talk about Cinderella again,” Esme replied, as the two mutants awkwardly hugged – neither was quite sure what to feel towards the other one yet. “Now where were we?”
It was then that Esme’s sisters, as well as Sage, walked into the room, and sat between the foursome, forming a half-circle of sorts. Reeva arrived last, and looked genuinely surprised to find everyone on her ‘number one’ team already present.
“Oh, you’re all here,” she blinked as she gamely caught her bearings. “So, what did I miss?”
“Just some personal issues,” Lorna said grandly, as she put Dawn back into her crib. “So, what is this meeting about, other than the immediate and the obvious?”
“No, just that,” Reeva replied, and the two women exchanged a look that was just too intense, and a smile that was just too toothy, to be truly friendly.
Inwardly, Esme sighed. “She must really be worth it,” she sent a mental comment to Phoebe, “for you to pull that ‘Mr. Lonely’ prank on her later and all.”
“Yes,” Phoebe snapped back – also mentally. “Anything else?”
“I’m Rebecca’s here new godmother – and she thinks that I’m the fairy in the family.”
Phoebe shot Esme a dark look, but kept quiet, as Reeva went over their upcoming heist and plan one last time.