DreamChild : EPISODE 1 : Songs of Silence

NOTE: These are writings from the late ninety's, which means they are over a decade old. Thus they lack a certain- hmm, 'polish?', but they are also fond memories of my days on alt.comics.fan-fiction and I wouldn't trade them for the world. ^_^

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Tada! A new series, and one I hope people will like. This story is
about a 9 year old child who can do some rather interesting things.
Including turning the X-mansion into a giant daycare center. But its
all for a good cause...right?

And now to confuse all DreamWeaver-addicts... this story is set in same
universe/world! But please do not assume that what applies to Daniel,
applies to K.C.

Telepath Key: : : One person hears or thoughts directed at self
:: :: Everybody hears

All characters are the property of Marvel Comics, except for those that
aren't. The story, however is _mine_, copyright 1996
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DreamChild
~~~~~~~~~~~
By Martha McMahon

EPISODE 1 : Songs of Silence
----------------------------

It was a clear and cloudless day, and Rogue was once again up on
the roof, attempting to figure out just where life had gone wrong.

:Remy...ya dolt. Why couldn' ya leave well enough alone?: She
hugged her knees to her chest. :Someday yur gonna push too far, then
what?: Staring at the roof, Rogue watched mindlessly as the first few
raindrops hit the sun-baked tiles. Then it connected. :Rain?: She
released her knees and glanced up at the sky. The previous clear blue
expanse was hidden in a swarm of angrily billowing stormclouds.

:Fits mah mood.: Rogue noted and stood, preparing to go for a
little cloud-dance. At the very least it should help her get her mind
off Remy. :'Ah'll have t' thank Storm latter..: But before she could
leap off, several things happened all at once.

The sudden storm climaxed in a barrage of lightning strikes...

The warning claxons in the mansion went off...

And a quiet voice from behind her asked, "Momma?"

**********

Rogue stared at the kid who had suddenly appeared on the roof. The
child stared back.

"Momma?" The child was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, her light-
brown hair cut short, and her golden eyes wide and scared. A grey-brown
mocking bird, perched on her right shoulder, eyed the spandex-clad
X-man warily. Rogue realized she was staring and reached out a hand.

"Hush shugar, it's okay, but I ain't yer mama." The child grabbed
her offered hand, oblivious to Rogue's denial. The mockingbird chirped
annoyed as it was unceremoniously dislodged from its perch.

"Momma." The child proclaimed happily, as it wrapped its arms
around the startled X-man. "Don' never leave me 'gain..."

**********

Rogue was still attempting to deal with what had happened, as she
gently lowered the two of them onto the ground. She looked over at the
assembled X-men, most of whom were still gearing down from the Code
Red. She gave Xavier a helpless look, and the Professor moved over.

"'Ah...She..." Rogue attempted to explain, then gave up. Xavier
smiled.

:I see. She seems have formed an attachment to you, do you know
what she was doing on the roof?: he asked.

"'Ah fell fr'm de sky." The child answered him. "An' 'ah found mah
Momma, been lookin' soooooo long." She smiled. Xavier and Rogue
recovered quickly.

"You fell from the sky?" Xavier asked. The child nodded. "And you
think Rogue is your mother?" The child looked a little offended.

"Don' tink, _know_." The rest of the X-men had slowly maneuvered
their way over towards the threesome. Logan was grinning.

"You done somethin' the rest of us ought to know about?" Rogue
glared at him. Storm was looking at the child, with a fascinated gaze.

"That is the child that caused this storm?" Rogue looked at her.

"Ya mean, ya didn' do this?" She waved at the fast evaporating
clouds. Storm shook her head. The mockingbird chose that moment to
return, it chattered at the child scoldingly, as it settled back on her
shoulder. The girl grimaced.

"What's the matter child?" Xavier asked.

"He say she ain't ma right Momma, an' dat I gotta go." The child
glared at the bird. "Not gonna." The bird chirped. "No." It puffed up
its chest and glared back with a shiny black eye. "Uh-uh." The bird
looked like it was about to explode. "Go 'way"

"Um, shugar" The child looked up at Rogue, "tha bird c'n talk?"
The child nodded vigorously. "Does't have a name?" The child nodded
again.

"Bird." Rogue looked at Xavier, he shrugged. Rogue turned back to
the girl.

"Its name's Bird?" The girl nodded.

**********

:This is not where you belong: Bird snapped. :and you know it!:

:All 'ah know's Ah've found Momma.:

:She is not your mother. Not here, not anywhere.:

:She is!:

:She is not. You were wrong to come here, and you know it.:

:Go Away!:

**********

The mockingbird shot from the child's shoulder into the sky, and
was gone into the nearby woods in seconds. The girl burst into tears,
and clung to Rogue in a death grip.

"You won' leave me. Say you won' leave me!" Rogue looked down at
the child and gave in.

"Alright shugar, Ah'll stay, you c'n stay...shush darlin'" Rogue
knelt and hugged the girl. She tilted the tear stained face up to meet
her own. "You got a name shugar?" The child nodded.

"K.C." She responded smiling, :'Ah home, Ah don' care wha' Bird
says, ah'm home...:

**********

Logan tracked the bird into the woods, and waited silently until
it had settled, before he moved into view. The bird cocked its head
and looked at the X-man with a shinny black eye. Logan looked up
quietly for a few moments and then spoke.

"You smell like a sparrow." The bird ruffled its feathers and
glared at him indignantly. "You do." The bird hopped down the branch
towards Wolverine. "Nope. Now you smell like a cardinal." The bird
flipped its wings, and glared. "That's a chickadee." The mockingbird
flew down to a lower branch, half a foot from Logan's head. He sniffed
thoughtfully. "That's the right species, but the should be the
northeastern subspecies, not the western."

:I would love to know, where you get off telling me what I should
or should not smell like!: The bird chirped angrily. :A bird is a
bird.:

"What are you normally?" Logan asked. The bird shot up into the
air and circled his head menacingly, before settling down again.

:What! I ought to..! You!:

"Well, it's obviously not a mockingbird."

:No..well alright, it's not. I'm normally a red-tailed hawk, but
there are laws against that here...:

"Or at least against nine year-olds owning them." Logan noted as
he gave the bird a measuring glance. "What's the deal with the kid?"
The mockingbird drooped.

:Sasha may have my head for this, but how much worse can it get?
I'm a _prey_ species for Gods' sake!: it ruffled its feathers. :You
may want to sit down...it's a long story.:

**********

:'Ah jus' agreed 't take care 'o a child I never seen before.:
Rogue noted, a little overwhelmed. :'Ah must be crazy!: She looked
down at K.C.'s shinning face. :Well.. maybe not.: Rogue was just about
to get up, when K.C. reached a hand up to touch her cheek. Rogue
flinched, but to late to prevent the skin to skin contact. Time seemed
to stand still as Rogue's mind panicked.

:Not again, dear God not again...: she cried silently as she
waited for the flood of memories. It never came.

"Momma?" K.C. asked quizzically, "Wha's de matter?"


(End of Episode 1...)


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