August 31 - Questions Unanswered (BtVS/X-Men)
Title: Questions Unanswered
Author: GlitterAngelEm
Fandoms: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and X-Men (Movieverse
Characters: Bobby Drake, Buffy Summers, Kitty Pryde, Rogue, Jean Grey
Rating: PG
Word Count: 843
Author's Notes: Follow up to Experiments. A little more X-Men, a little less Buffy.
He watched, still somewhat numb with shock, as Ms. Grey - no, that wasn’t right, he was part of the team now and was supposed to call her Jean - smiled brightly as she finished changing the diaper of the baby girl, leaning over when she was done to blow raspberries on the six month old’s stomach. The baby rewarded with with a huge smile and a noise that could potentially be interrupted as a laugh.
So the others said. He wasn’t convinced.
Still, the baby seemed entertained enough as she was picked up and given back to her mother, the mysterious blond the X-Men had rescued from the abandoned experimentation center. Without him. Their logic was that they wanted to protect him from going back there before he was ready, wanted to keep him from falling back into the half-conscious state he had been in when he escaped. Avoid anymore PTSD and all that.
He could have told them it didn’t help.
He had escaped from the facility about fifteen months ago. The baby was six months. That was basic math.
That and the blood test had come out positive. Little baby Jane Doe - no one knew her real name, they were all just calling her Baby for the moment - was definitely Bobby’s child. He was still recovering from his own experimentation, dammit, and wasn’t sure how to handle this newest overwhelming bit of information. Especially considering the mother of the baby wasn’t really speaking in real sentences. According to Professor Xavier, she had somehow hidden her true self beneath a mental barrier, one that he didn’t want to break, afraid of causing permanent damage to her mind.
Bobby wasn’t convinced that she wasn’t a mutant, no matter what the others said.
Two familiar presences appeared at each of his sides, and he couldn’t help but smile as he looked first at Rogue, then at Kitty. Ever since Kitty and the other X-Men brought the blonde stranger and her baby - his baby - back to the Mansion, they’d been the best of friends one could have. Knew when to give him space, knew when he needed someone to just sit with him, deal with the latest surprising situation.
“Dr. McCoy is running her through facial identification software,” Kitty said, sitting down on the floor next to him, leaning her body against his. “He’s gotten hold of an entire database of missing people and he hopes he can find a match.”
“The Professor is talkin’ awfully seriously about other options, if that doesn’t work,” Rogue added, bringing her voice down to a whisper. “Talk of Ms. Frost came into the conversation.”
That got Bobby’s attention, and he was surprised to see Kitty as astounded as he; he figured she’d know all this gossip already. Especially gossip of this caliber - discussions of Ms. Frost and her rival school were kept in secret talks between students, since none of the faculty of the school seemed willing to discuss…well…just about anything. About to ask what else they had heard, he was distracted by Jean calling out quietly, “Bobby.”
She may no longer be his teacher, and may technically be just another teammate now, but that tone had him automatically straightening, giving her his undivided attention. Any other time he would probably flush slightly at the ‘student’ tendencies he still fell into, but not right now. Not when she cradled the little baby girl in the crook of her arm, gesturing for him to come over to her with the other. A quick glance at the mom, who gave an awkward nod, like the gesture was unfamiliar to her, had him stepping forward. Neither Kitty nor Rogue held him back.
“Say hello to your daughter, Bobby,” Jean said, her voice quieter than before. She nodded at the blond, the one that was slowly becoming Mystery Mom in his head, in lieu of a real name. “She can tell, you know. That you’re the father. I think she might remember you, though it’s hard to tell.”
With trembling fingers, part of him wanting to reject the situation and walk away, the other part wanting to get to know his child, his baby girl, he gently caressed the side of the little girl’s face, watching in fascination as her hands came up to grip his. He couldn’t help the bubble of laughter that escaped him as she gripped his fingers - rather strongly, he was pretty sure they were going to bruise. “Hello, baby girl.”
A rumble from next to him broke him from his adoration of the child, and if it wasn’t for the hold the baby had on his fingers, he would have stepped back. The Mystery Mom was suddenly right there next to him, nodding at him. Her own hand jutted forward and patted him awkwardly on the arm. Taking that for approval, he smiled tightly back at her, wishing he knew what she was thinking.
Wishing he knew who she was. And why they had both been used for the creation of the child.
Author: GlitterAngelEm
Fandoms: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and X-Men (Movieverse
Characters: Bobby Drake, Buffy Summers, Kitty Pryde, Rogue, Jean Grey
Rating: PG
Word Count: 843
Author's Notes: Follow up to Experiments. A little more X-Men, a little less Buffy.
He watched, still somewhat numb with shock, as Ms. Grey - no, that wasn’t right, he was part of the team now and was supposed to call her Jean - smiled brightly as she finished changing the diaper of the baby girl, leaning over when she was done to blow raspberries on the six month old’s stomach. The baby rewarded with with a huge smile and a noise that could potentially be interrupted as a laugh.
So the others said. He wasn’t convinced.
Still, the baby seemed entertained enough as she was picked up and given back to her mother, the mysterious blond the X-Men had rescued from the abandoned experimentation center. Without him. Their logic was that they wanted to protect him from going back there before he was ready, wanted to keep him from falling back into the half-conscious state he had been in when he escaped. Avoid anymore PTSD and all that.
He could have told them it didn’t help.
He had escaped from the facility about fifteen months ago. The baby was six months. That was basic math.
That and the blood test had come out positive. Little baby Jane Doe - no one knew her real name, they were all just calling her Baby for the moment - was definitely Bobby’s child. He was still recovering from his own experimentation, dammit, and wasn’t sure how to handle this newest overwhelming bit of information. Especially considering the mother of the baby wasn’t really speaking in real sentences. According to Professor Xavier, she had somehow hidden her true self beneath a mental barrier, one that he didn’t want to break, afraid of causing permanent damage to her mind.
Bobby wasn’t convinced that she wasn’t a mutant, no matter what the others said.
Two familiar presences appeared at each of his sides, and he couldn’t help but smile as he looked first at Rogue, then at Kitty. Ever since Kitty and the other X-Men brought the blonde stranger and her baby - his baby - back to the Mansion, they’d been the best of friends one could have. Knew when to give him space, knew when he needed someone to just sit with him, deal with the latest surprising situation.
“Dr. McCoy is running her through facial identification software,” Kitty said, sitting down on the floor next to him, leaning her body against his. “He’s gotten hold of an entire database of missing people and he hopes he can find a match.”
“The Professor is talkin’ awfully seriously about other options, if that doesn’t work,” Rogue added, bringing her voice down to a whisper. “Talk of Ms. Frost came into the conversation.”
That got Bobby’s attention, and he was surprised to see Kitty as astounded as he; he figured she’d know all this gossip already. Especially gossip of this caliber - discussions of Ms. Frost and her rival school were kept in secret talks between students, since none of the faculty of the school seemed willing to discuss…well…just about anything. About to ask what else they had heard, he was distracted by Jean calling out quietly, “Bobby.”
She may no longer be his teacher, and may technically be just another teammate now, but that tone had him automatically straightening, giving her his undivided attention. Any other time he would probably flush slightly at the ‘student’ tendencies he still fell into, but not right now. Not when she cradled the little baby girl in the crook of her arm, gesturing for him to come over to her with the other. A quick glance at the mom, who gave an awkward nod, like the gesture was unfamiliar to her, had him stepping forward. Neither Kitty nor Rogue held him back.
“Say hello to your daughter, Bobby,” Jean said, her voice quieter than before. She nodded at the blond, the one that was slowly becoming Mystery Mom in his head, in lieu of a real name. “She can tell, you know. That you’re the father. I think she might remember you, though it’s hard to tell.”
With trembling fingers, part of him wanting to reject the situation and walk away, the other part wanting to get to know his child, his baby girl, he gently caressed the side of the little girl’s face, watching in fascination as her hands came up to grip his. He couldn’t help the bubble of laughter that escaped him as she gripped his fingers - rather strongly, he was pretty sure they were going to bruise. “Hello, baby girl.”
A rumble from next to him broke him from his adoration of the child, and if it wasn’t for the hold the baby had on his fingers, he would have stepped back. The Mystery Mom was suddenly right there next to him, nodding at him. Her own hand jutted forward and patted him awkwardly on the arm. Taking that for approval, he smiled tightly back at her, wishing he knew what she was thinking.
Wishing he knew who she was. And why they had both been used for the creation of the child.