nextgenerationmarvel | Fourth Time's Never the Charm

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Fourth Time's Never the Charm

It took a couple of days after her disastrous meeting with Athos for Brooke to set one up with Rachel. For one thing, she'd needed to calm her nerves down a little bit - the meeting had truly been difficult and Brooke had never felt so off of her game in her entire life. For another, there had been the clean-up to consider. The turtle had left quite the hideous mess for Brooke - scorch marks included! - and it had been hard work for the brunette to clean all that up.

I'm never taking Sharona for granted again, Brooke mused as she knocked on the door of Rachel's office. Such a hearty constitution when it comes to hard manual labor like that.

She smoothed down the skirt of her dress and glanced again at the clutch she'd discovered while shopping that weekend. It was meant to look like the cover of one of Brooke's favourite books, L'Arrache-cœur. It was a French novel about a psychoanalyst who moved to a village where absurd things occurred. Not quite like the Institute, really, though thematically, it fits in some ways, she thought wryly.

She took a seat outside of the office, flashing back to many of the other meetings she'd had with Rachel here since her arrival at the Institute not so long ago. And really, who knows how this one will end?

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Brooke took in a deep breath. "He wasn't entirely impolite. On the whole, he had more manners than that moronic Cajun social climbing guttersnipe you allowed to stay here for those few weeks," she said. "Better company too, but only by a margin." She crossed and uncrossed her legs. "I had difficulty getting through to him. Possibly because he needs to come with subtitles, but the mutant ability to translate spoken word and create the necessary subtitles hasn't come into evolution yet."

She sighed. "I didn't use my powers to try and manipulate Pete into coming out, and I think at one point Athos suggested that the vibes I was giving out weren't the most friendly, so I did try to redirect my emotional quotient so he wasn't hit quite so hard by the me-ness of me." She sighed again. "But there were moments where I could feel his amusement in addition to Athos' Athosity. I couldn't draw him out, though. Athos was Pete-blocking me, I'm sure."

"Technically, that's my husband's powers if you hand him a pad of paper." While Doug had not spent any time around the turtles that she knew, she figured he would be the most likely to understand any unique ways of speaking. Though Dani seemed to get along better. Ray didn't know if that was her sharp intuition or use of her former teammate's abilities.

"From conversations with Franklin about Pete, I have a hunch Pete can come out if he wants to. It has to be something he's really invested in. I also assume his manifestation was particularly rough on him. Particularly with how fast his family shoved him out the door to us." She settled back in her chair. "That he was amused by something is actually a good sign. It means he felt something other than constant fear."

"Well, I wish he'd feel something more so he could reveal himself to me. It's not as though I'm chasing him down with a battleaxe or manipulating his emotions." She was even working hard on dialing down her general attitude. She looked around the office. "Do you have any tea, by the way?"

She crossed her arms and then uncrossed them. "The thing is, I'm actually kind of worried about him."

"You're getting more from him than most people on campus. Pete is a very difficult case, but if you help get through to him, you'll have more than earned a your place to help out Xavier's or the X-Men." She paused and looked thoughtful.

"I'll have some tea here in about two minutes." Rachel had another cup added and Brooke's favorite added to the incoming tray.

She raised an eyebrow at Brooke's admission. That was... kind of a huge first for the brunette. "Can you elaborate?"

Was that Brooke perking up just the slightest bit at the mention of maybe joining the X-Men? Maybe. She wasn't admitting it.

Out loud, anyway.

"The layers he's surrounded himself in. All four of them. How much of it is truly protecting him, and how much of it is them keeping him repressed? It's a big world out there, Rachel, you know that. We may not be the largest part of it, but we're a part of it nonetheless. For him to hide in his shell like this - literally, figuratively, whatever - he won't adjust until he learns to trust us. And like I told Athos, no, I haven't experienced what Pete has. I'm from a family of wealthy, privileged mutants. My experience is a little different. A lot different. But I can still be someone that he can count on and rely on." She paused. "I'm starting to feel like a broken record, Rachel."

Edited 2014-10-31 04:04 (UTC)

Rachel noted the perking up, even silently, and would consider the full implications of it later. There were more pressing concerns.

Like the knock on her door. Rachel waved and the door opened. A student scooted in to set the tray on Rachel's desk. Then beat feet to get out of the office. Possibly to get away from Brooke more than the headmaster. Rachel waved her hand the other way and the door closed behind the student.

"How much do you think the turtles are separate entities from Pete's baseline personality? Or to put it another way, how much of a duality have you sensed from him?"

Brooke watched the student with a mild form of disdainful interest. She didn't interact with the students much, but she was well aware of the reputation she had amongst the students as being some sort of magnificently bitchy hell beast.

"I've sensed both the turtles and him at the same time. He's lurking under there somewhere," she said. "I'm not sure where he ends and when they begin, though. Or how much of it is less subconscious than Pete's actually letting on." Not that she was accusing him of being some grand chessmaster with the four of the turtles, but there was the distinct possibility that whichever one came out was the direct result of whatever Pete was feeling just that moment.

She nodded slowly. The small pot of tea with Brooke's tea raised itself and started pouring into one of the tea cups.

"Sensing both makes it better but also harder to work with. There was a fear he had dissociative identity disorder like David Haller. But those of us with mental powers can sense the duality, which is not present with Legion. But none of us can really talk to Pete with our powers if one of the turtles is prominent."

When the tea was poured, the pot settled back on Rachel's desk. "Milk or sugar?"

Having been in England for awhile with Excalibur, Rachel had developed a taste for milk in her tea.

"Both." Brooke was, after all, not one to do things by halves. Milk and sugar were both required to make her tea, well, tea. "Kind of like how there's always a hint of Pete around when there's a turtle in control," she smiled.

"Help me. Guide me. You have experience with this. I..." Brooke took in a very deep breath. "I don't. I might be a little out of my element here." Like a beauteous tropical fish in some terrible place like Snake River.

Edited 2014-11-01 06:45 (UTC)

The milk and sugar went into Brooke's glass and stirred while Rachel poured her own tea by hand. The cup and saucer floated over to Brooke while the redhead added milk.

"Experience with someone like Pete? Not really. He is a very unique case. But one of the things that will be important in dealing with him is not to rush it. Time and patience, Brooke. He's not going to work on anyone's timetable but his own." She picked up her own tea cup. "Hasty decisions on his own part and his biological family's have only deepened his problems."

She took a sip. "I also think he's aware is mutation is very unique among us. So, it could be a situation where his uncomfortableness is raised due to being 'a freak among freaks.'"

"I meant in helping people in general," Brooke said. "My sort of constructive judging isn't going to help here."

She plucked the cup and saucer from the air and took a dainty little sip. She closed her eyes and savoured the flavour of the tea. It was perfect. She opened her eyes, considering Rachel's words. "Someone should tell him about Typhoid Mary," she said. "There's another mutant with different personalities, only she handled it badly." She took another sip before asking, "What would you suggest I do?"

Rachel smiled slightly. "Your sort is more a destructive judging, and you're right, it won't help at all in this instance."

She gave the suggestion only the slightest consideration. "I think telling him about someone similar who handled it badly would hinder more than help. As for a course of action, you need to find a way to show him the good side of being a mutant. If he sees some sort of benefit it might help allay some of his fears."

"To construct, one must first destroy," Brooke replied easily. She was well aware that she wielded her tongue as a bunker buster, blowing straight to the heart of the matter and obliterating everything without, but it was a necessary evil sometimes. Every group needed someone so blunt and honest, no?

"I wasn't serious about Typhoid Mary," she added. "He'd become a hermit, and that's really only acceptable for crabs." Brooke looked down and gently toyed with the single bangle she was wearing. "Oh god. You're not suggesting a good old-fashioned X-Men baseball game, are you? Because I've seen pictures of A League of Their Own and those dresses were not flattering."

"That should be a sometimes, Brooke. It should not be a default mode." Rachel shook her head slightly. "Though credit is due for you not taking that road with Pete."

The redhead took another sip of her tea and then tried hard not to snort it out her nose when Brooke mentioned baseball. She carefully set down her cup. "That came out of left field. But I wasn't suggesting a team building exercise. I was suggesting you figure out a way for him to see mutants in a less scary light."

"I'm working on it," Brooke said. "Slow going, but I'm getting there." She hadn't really lashed out at anyone that week.

"Hello? He has me talking to him on a regular basis. If I'm not the purest essence of how fantastic it is being a mutant, I don't know what is."

"All meaningful change takes time to stick. Just keep at it, Brooke. You're doing well." She picked up her tea cup again. She hoped for no more surprise conclusion jumps. Rachel was really not fond of tea up her nose.

She sipped her tea rather than make her normal response to Brooke. She assumed the brunette was joking, but one couldn't tell sometimes. "I was thinking more along the lines of showing him mutant powers doing beneficial things. Which means with the adults on campus since their control of power is not likely to backfire on the idea."

"Am I?" She felt as though she was failing miserably, and failure was something that Brooke was mostly unfamiliar with.

"Oh good. I'll invite Athos up here for hors d'oeuvres and mocktails one evening. We'll start with you." Hey, it was Rachel's idea, after all.

"If it came easy, the change wouldn't stick. Just keep working on it." She set her tea aside and raised an eyebrow.

"What beneficial thing would you like me to display that he hasn't seen before?"

Brooke bit back a multitude of smart comments that came to mind. It took a great deal of effort on her part, it was true.

"I don't know. Maybe you can get all fiery on him and burn away whatever isn't working."

...that was the lesser of the evil comments, really. She pinched her nose. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. This is just stressful and at the rate this is going, I'm going to end up needing Botox before my twenty-eighth birthday."

"I believe that a display of phenomenal cosmic power that my mother currently has would not help the situation," Rachel noted dryly. While the redhead had a tiny portion due to being the next in line for the power, she could not do some of the things Brooke kept mentioning. Though when Jean Grey-Summers gave up the power, Ray would be able to once again.

"Apology accepted. Pete is an extreme case so stress is warranted and even expected. But you can see the need he has for help even though he doesn't. Keep at it, Brooke. He might just need the familiarity. He doesn't live in a dorm with you nor are you one of his teachers he sees on a daily basis. That Athos is standing so firmly in the way could be a sign you're getting close."

"Unless someone else at the Institute decides to chase him further away," Brooke said pointedly. "Because there are certain elements here..." She took another sip of her tea. "I'll just have to keep badgering Athos while he keeps on putting scorch marks on furniture," she added. "Which, by the way, some furniture in the library needs replacing." She smirked at Rachel. "Shocking that the burn marks aren't yours this time."

"He doesn't exist in a vacuum, Brooke. That's something you're going to have to account for. Whether you approve of the people in his surroundings or not." Rachel had no idea who Brooke was disapproving of since Brooke had not been around the students all that much recently. Nor had Rachel been paying attention to where the brunette had been with all the construction around the grounds.

"If you think a school for teenagers who don't have control of their powers can't handle scorch marks, you've maybe forgotten where you are."

"It's not just that," Brooke replied. "I need to show him what's so great about being a mutant, but we're one Sentinel attack or one unleashing from Animus from scaring him into that literal-proverbial shell for good."

Brooke set her cup and saucer down and stood up. She walked past Rachel to the window and looked out into the campus. "I'm used to having control. Being in control. This is too...wild-cardy for me."

"You also forget attacks by other dimensional beings, members of the Hellfire Club, well-armed bigots, and whatever villain team of the day decides to attack. We are in constant danger. Which may or may not happen and may or may not set him back." Rachel made her chair float up and turn to follow Brooke's movements. She had gotten comfortable and was loathe to get up at the moment.

"Who's to say he's not traumatized by being abducted by Arcade? But we're not giving up on him." She took a breath. "This wild card craziness is pretty typical for X-Men. We can control ourselves, but the world will still come at us, our students, and those like Pete."

"Yes, I know," Brooke huffed. "The world we live in is very wild card-y."

She paled, though, at that bit about Arcade. "Arcade. That didn't even cross my mind," she said, eyes wide. "Which turtle was it that experienced that? Or was it Pete himself?" Either way, Pete would have been left a little traumatized. "Rachel, I need to know more about this incident."

"Pete was on a day trip with an adult in New York City." Considering the short list of adults Pete was comfortable around, Brooke could surmise which one in short order.

"He was the one kidnapped and knocked unconscious. He turned into Athos on waking. So, Athos was the turtle who went through Murderworld." That was what Rachel had managed to piece together from talking to the turtle, Franklin, Dani, and a very brief and rare appearance of Pete.

"Franklin Richards?" The only other person that Brooke could even think of it being was Doug Ramsey, but Brooke wasn't about to suggest that he was inept at protecting Pete, given her present company.

Besides, the thought of it being all-powerful Franklin Richards who was knocked out...well, that amused Brooke.

"So he's being hyper-vigilant," she said. "I get it. I just wish...you know, it's not like I'm about to kidnap him or something." She paused. "He also believes that only reason I'm talking to them was because you asked me to. And maybe that was true, at first." Because it was. Brooke could own up to that. "But that's not the case anymore, and I don't know how to make him believe it without...forcing him to."

"Try having a less-planned interaction with him. You are setting up a situation for him to walk into. It might, on some level, send up warning flags after his recent experiences. You're seeing him on your time. Try catching him around the school or set up something with his input." She rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

"Otherwise, it's the dreaded it's going to take time answer."

"Draw him in instead of draw him out!" Brooke exclaimed. "Of course! That makes perfect sense." Now she only needed to find the right turtle at the right time.

Or leave it up to chance and hope the fates smiled down on her.

Fingers crossed?

"I'll give that my best shot," she said. "Hopefully it works."

"It's the best advice I can give at the moment." She not going to admit she was a little surprised Brooke cared so much about... someone so completely not in her social sphere. Also, he turned into turtles, which Ray had picked up as very scary to the socialite.

"Even if it doesn't work right away, it'll help in the long run. Don't give up. You're doing a good job with all of them."

They were terrifying for her.

Even when they were dead and in soup.

But this was...at some point down the line, Brooke had actually gotten invested in this. Why, she couldn't really say. He was, after all, outside of her social sphere.

In as much as that was true, though, Brooke was also starting to realize that in some way, the turtle was part of one of her social spheres - the mutant one.

If she was ever going to be someone that the mutants could look up to, she was going to need to start helping those in need.

"Thank you," she said, finally. "For that last little...thanks." She smiled at Rachel. "I needed to hear that."

"You're welcome. Anything else I can help with?" All in all this had been one of the easier and more pleasant meetings with Brooke in her office. They had certainly come a long way since the first one.

"No, I think...I think that's it for now." Brooke stood up and smoothed down her skirt. "But thanks for hearing me out," she said. "I needed to vent, and talk out loud at someone." And considering that she was in this predicament because of Rachel, well, who else was better to talk to about all of this anyway?

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Fourth Time's Never the Charm

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