SPOILER WARNING: If you read "A New Home" you should know that there are spoilers in this story for upcoming plotlines. If you don't read "A New Home" you don't need to worry about it. ;) As always, this is a stand-alone fic: no outside knowledge needed. Thanks to Maelstrom, for beta-reading. JBMcDragon
Cody watched his sister with eyes older than his seven years. "Mom 'n Dad aren't gonna be happy," he said quietly from where he stood
under the tree. "Oh, they'll get over it." Brigette climbed higher, trying valiantly
to reach the kite that had rebelliously flown into the branches just out
of her reach. A thorn snatched at her strawberry blonde hair, and she
tugged it out impatiently. It was the first day in almost--she stopped
to count--three days that her brother had been allowed to play (though
they did have to play gently) and she wasn't going to let a mutinous
kite ruin it. Even if she did get in trouble in the process. "Brij. . . . " Cody sighed, already tired. He sat down on the grass,
not minding that it was slightly wet from the morning dew still. He
knew she was just trying to make him happy, but he was happy. He was
getting awfully weary again, though. Silently he closed his eyes, "looking" into her future. He smiled when
he saw that she wouldn't fall, and stopped pestering her. She was very
good at climbing trees; much better than he was. He was afraid of
heights. He really hated it when Aunt Rogue flew his sister around, it
made him nervous. True, Aunt Rogue had never dropped either of them,
but it still made his stomach squirm. "Guys! Time for lunch!" "Oh, squishy poop." Cody stifled a giggle at his sister's exclamation. They both knew
she wasn't supposed to say things like that. Brigette looked down at her laughing brother, and smiled. In her
opinion, he didn't laugh out loud nearly as often as he should. "Squishy soft
gooey poop." "Brij," Cody said, hiccuping, "stop it!" Brigette grinned and went to jump the last few feet to the ground. Her face
fell when she stopped mid-air, and she looked up to see her mother standing in the doorway, frowning. "Brigette! How many times must we tell you to stay out of that tree?" "She wasn't goin' to fall, mom," Cody said, standing up slowly. "I
checked." "Checked, and it doesn't matter. Brigette, do you remember what I said
I'd do if I found you in that tree?" "Gimme cookies?" Brigette asked hopefully. ~No.~ The youngster cringed at the irritated voice in her head. ~No desert tonight. And if you do it again, you'll have no desert for
a week.~ Brigette thought about that for a moment, then decided it was worth
it--though she hid those thoughts carefully from her
telep--tele--mind reading mother. Cody, however, seemed to guess her thoughts, for he smiled hugely. "Uncle Hank wants to see you after lunch, sweetie," Jean said, laying a
hand on the tiny back. He was undersized for his age, due to the sickness that had plagued him from birth. Hank came down four times a week to check on the boy and, sometimes, offer more help. Once they had tried to clone a new, healthier body for him, but that
one had fallen apart faster than this. After tests, tests and more tests from Moira
and Hank, they had finally come up with the only diagnosis possible; his
body was simply too small to accommodate his mutant powers. The powers were
tearing him apart. Hopefully he would learn to master them, and they
would strengthen his body as he got older. When they said that to the
boy, however, he only smiled serenely as though he knew something they
didn't.
*** "When I grow up, I'm gonna be an as-tor-not," Brigette announced
through mouthfuls of food. Her sandwich was more on the table than in
her mouth or on her plate, and Jean was eyeing the crumbs with a
practiced gaze. They swept themselves into a small pile, then lifted
and dropped into the sink. "Jubilee told me all 'bout them t'day. They get ta go inta space an'
stuff, and they're in-vul-erabl." Jean arched a brow. "You mean 'invulnerable'?" Brigette nodded and took a bite. "I don't think so, sweetheart. Other people are invulnerable, but not
always astronauts." "Oh. Watch what Cody can do, Mom! Show 'er, Code." Cody obligingly squinted at his plate, and slowly it lifted before
rotating a full 180 degrees and setting itself gently back down on the
table. "Wow! Great job! When'd you learn to do that?" Jean kept her
reaction minimal, aware that both her children assumed they should be
able to do these things, and that they thought it was nothing out of the ordinary for
seven year olds to be able to do so. Cody tucked one shoulder up to his ear, trying to keep from blushing.
"Where's dad?" he asked quietly. "He said he was going to get me some
baseball cards." "He's at the grocery store still," Jean said, smiling. "I'm sure he
hasn't forgotten, though." "Could you check?" Cody asked plaintively. Jean closed her eyes briefly, then smiled. "He says he's on his way
home, he remembered, and he loves you very much." That wasn't all he'd
said, but the rest wasn't repeatable to some so young. "Where's sissy?" Jean smiled at the name Chiya had given to herself and taught her
sister to call her. "She's visiting Bobby up at the house." "Could you call her down?" Cody asked wistfully. "An' Blue too?" Jean looked at her son carefully. He seemed . . . thoughtful. True,
the boy had always been quiet, but he was almost pensive this afternoon.
"Are you okay? Should I call Hank?" The boy smiled and shook his head. "No, but could we all have dinner
and stuff together tonight? Blue's not going out with friends again, is
he?" "No," Jean said, unsettled. "Tommy's staying in tonight." ~Scott?~
she sent, a flash of light through the mental plane. ~Hurry.~
***
That night Brigette rattled on about what she was going to be when she
grew up. Cody was quieter than usual, not chiding his sister about her
manners or slurring her speech, not asking questions of Tommy about his
school day. He sat, curled in the nook of Scott's arm, his hand on his
sister's head as she sat below him and just listened, a smile on his
face. He seemed . . . peaceful. ~Scott,~ Jean sent, a whisper. ~I'm here.~ ~Is Cody . . . ?~ Scott wrapped his arm tighter around his son, protectively, and didn't
answer. "I'm gonna be like Supergirl when I grow up. An' I'm gonna haf a
whale." #No you're not!# Chiya signed from her favorite spot. A giant cat lay
on the floor behind her, sleeping. Her head and back rested against
him, her fingers tangled in his mane. #You'd have to have a pool
soooooo big . . . # "That's okay, cuz I'm gonna be rich," Brigette said happily to her
not-quite-teenage foster sister. #Doing what?# "Saving the world. Everyone will be so happy when I save them that
they'll give me all their money!" Cody giggled, ending with a cough. "You okay, kiddo?" Tommy asked, looking up from his math homework. He
really hated math. "Yeah. Jus' tired, s'all." Scott frowned at the slurring, knowing it wasn't something his son
normally did. "Are you sure?" Cody smiled sleepily and nodded. "I think it's time for a few children to go to bed," Jean said,
smiling. "Can't we just stay up a little more?" It was Cody's request, asked in
such a wistful tone that Jean had to relent. "A little." She came and sat by her son, Brigette at her feet. The
little girl smiled, then looked uncertainly at her twin brother. "You're sure you're feeling--" Cody gave his mother a long-suffering look, and she broke off with a
smile. "Okay. You're fine." They sat for a long while, sometimes talking, sometimes sitting
silently, comfortably. Not until long after their bed time were the
twins put to sleep. It was almost eleven, and Chiya had to follow suit.
Tommy--Blue--promised he'd get in bed as soon as he finished that one
problem. "I love you," Cody whispered, wrapping his arms around his mother and
then his father. "We love you too, Cody," Scott said back, as Jean held her son tightly.
"We'll see you in the morning." The door closed, and Cody lay back, tired. It was his turn for the
top bunk, but he had let his sister have it. She was tossing and
turning as usual, sighing heavily. Cody had thought that tonight, of
all nights, she would be sleeping. It was very late. "Code?" she whispered finally. "What?" he called back. "Are you gonna die?" Brigette always trusted her brother in things like this; he always had
the answer. She could ask him anything, and he knew just what was
right. She couldn't imagine not having him around to boss and play with
and ask questions of. "Yeah. We're all gonna die sometime, silly. Even Superman." "Superman will never die," Brigette countered. There was silence from
above, then suddenly she twisted around and hung down the side until she
could see her brother. "But I meant soon." Cody was quiet for a very long time. "Tonight." Brigette slid off the bunk and sat on the bed by her brother, and he
sat up to be beside her. "How'd'ya know?" Cody shrugged. "Same way I knew you weren't gonna fall from the tree.
Same way I knew when Gran'pa Gray was in that car crash before anyone
else knew." "Oh. You just know." Cody nodded. "I hate it when you do that." Cody nodded again. "You know that too, don't you?" Another nod. "Will you say something?" Cody smiled slowly. "Something." To their young minds this was hilarious. Alone in their room, they
didn't know that many people before them had thought of that joke. And
if they had known, they wouldn't have cared. After the laughter had died down, Cody started hiccuping. He sighed
and laid down, knowing from experience that it seemed to help. Brigette
laid down beside him, and the two looked up at the top bunk for a while. "Do you know what it'll be like to die?" Brigette asked quietly. "I read a book that said it was real nice an' stuff. And a girl on TV
said that she saw a white light and heard horns." Brigette scowled. The only horn she had ever heard was the one at the
big house, that blared when there was an intruder. "I don't imagine
that would be very nice." "I think it probably was, because the girl looked like she liked it." They were quiet again. "You think you'll meet all the people in the graveyard?" The graveyard was of great interest to the twins, ever since the day
Chiya had tried to tell them that it was where the X-Men had put the
corpses of all the bad children. They hadn't believed her--not after a
while, at least--but ever since then they had made it a point to go out
and make up stories about the names on the stones. Their stories were
generally more entertaining than what really happened, when they asked. "I hope I'll get to meet all the people in the graveyard. That would
be nice. I wanna meet that James boy especially. Uncle Sean said that
he was a very nice boy." Brigette nodded, even though she couldn't remember which one James was.
She preferred Doug because Cousin Rahne said she knew him once.
Brigette liked Cousin Rahne. She talked funny. Though, sometimes she
was hard to understand. "Cody?" "What?" "Will you say hi to everyone for me?" "Okay." There was quiet again, and Brigette started to drop off to sleep.
Swiftly she roused herself. "Will you miss me?" Cody turned and hugged his sister tightly--as tightly as he could,
which really wasn't too much since he was so unhealthy. "I will. Will
you tell everyone I love them very much?" Brigette hugged her brother back, gently so as not to hurt him. "Yeah.
Cody? I love you." "I love you too." They were quiet, and it wasn't long before Cody heard the even
breathing of his sleeping sister. "I love you very much, Brigette." He
sniffed, and closed his eyes. He knew he would die tonight. He had
seen it all in one of his visions. But he wasn't really scared--it
didn't seem to have hurt him in his vision. A coolness stole over him, a calm that swept through his body. His eyes opened once more, and looked up as he sensed someone at the
foot of his bed. A young woman stood there, wearing a long pink dress. Her hair was
blond, her eyes blue, and she seemed rather . . . nice. "Hi," Cody said, then quickly checked to make sure his sister still
slept. "Hi. You ready to go?" Cody looked back down at his sister--he hadn't realized he'd gotten
up--and felt only a slight sadness to be leaving. "I guess. Will she be okay?" The blond smiled. "I think she'll be fine. My name's Illyana. James
is waiting. So is Doug--we heard what you promised your sister." Cody smiled. "Oh, that's good. I don't like breaking promises." He started to get up, then stopped and looked back at his sister, her
arms wrapped around his still form. "I don't know . . . ." "Come on, Cody. Your family will be fine. And I'll tell you a little
secret . . . "
***
A tear streaked it's way down Brigette's tiny face, leaving a wet mark
before she'd even woken up. It was still dark out. The stars shone brightly in the sky. Beside
her, her brother's deep mahogany hair blended with his pillow. She had felt him leave. Brigette turned her head, burying her face in her brother's neck, and
crying silently. "I love you lots, Code," she said, sobbing. "Lots an'
lots an' lots." After a while she wiped at her tears, then moved off the bed and away
from her unnaturally still brother. Silently she padded through the
room, reaching the door. The digital clock on her desk read that it was
just before one in the morning. She opened the door and walked out,
heading down the hall to her parents' room. "Mom? Dad?" She opened the door and peered in, then climbed over to
where they slept. "Brigette?" Scott said grumblingly. "What's the matter, sweety?" "C-Cody. He . . . he's dead. He's dead, Daddy. He left."
***
Jean walked slowly to where her daughter sat, subdued, by the window.
"What are you looking at, Brij?" Brigette looked up at her mother, who looked tired and worn even to
her young eyes. "Nothing." Jean smiled slightly, placing her hand on her daughter's head of thick
hair. It had been only days since Cody had died, and no one had yet
recovered. "Really." "I . . . " Brigette paused. How to explain to her mother? Best try
the truth. "I was looking at Cody." Jean looked up, out the window, hope flaring briefly. The morning was
misty, the graveyard almost out of sight over a small hill. The newly
broken ground couldn't be seen from here. Jean tried to pierce the mist
with her eyes, daring to pray that her son still lived. Stranger things
had happened. There was nothing. The mist swirled, casting shadows where there were
none. But there was no young boy with haunting blue eyes. Jean bent and kissed the top of her daughter's hair, praying silently
that the girl would get over the loss of her brother. Brigette watched as her mother walked away, then turned and looked back
out the window. Cody smiled and winked, then started to skip out of
sight, his hand held in that of a tall, blonde girl. ~I love you, Brij.~ Love you, Code. She smiled slightly as a movement of the fog caught the two shapes,
twisting through them. As suddenly and silently as they had appeared,
the pair were gone. Love you.
************************
Back to the living room -
Growing Up A Superhero (3)
Love To My Brother
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