The Cuckoos' Nest

[Cyclops]

There are five beds all with different colors according to the girls. Celeste's bedding is hot pink, Esme's is red, Mindee's is aqua, Phoebe's is green and Sophie's is blue.

There is a large tree that is just out of the window near Celeste's bed, which she uses to try to sneak in and out.

Each girl has a small vanity of their possesions and there is a book case of the titles that Mindee has brought up from the library.

There is a poster of Quicksilver by Celeste's bed...she has a crush.

[Cuckoos]

((Enter Esme from Cyclops and Phoenix’s Admissions Office ))

Esme headed toward her room. She had tears in her eyes, not sadness but anger. Their so-called parents were fools. How could then not see that they were being deceived. It did not matter any longer. After having back their real kid why would they want the girls around. He mattered so much for them. A son that they had not felt it was important to talk to the girls about. She could see just how high they were in their priorities.

Walking down the hallway, she met two other kids coming from the same direction, “Watch it gills!” she told the first one as she pushed pass him shoving the other into the wall...hard. While she was walking way all she heard was how they refrenced her as a bitch. Big freaking surprise.

Reaching her door she slammed it open, with so much force that the door knob actually left hole on the wall behind it. Not that she really noticed. Once reaching her room she screamed. This was not usually the way she behaved. She grabbed the picture of her sisters, her mom and dad and her and threw against the wall shattering the frame. It did not matter nothing mattered anymore.

[Cyclops]

Scott heard Esme's scream from the stairs. Wonderful. Why did Anna-Marie have to choose today of all days for an inspection?

Right now, that wasn't really important. If the British socialite couldn't figure out how to keep a friend she hadn't seen in ten years busy for a little while, no one could. He took the steps two at a time until he alighted the landing on the third floor.

Only two bedrooms actually existed up here. Storm's bedroom and greenhouse and the large room the Cuckoos shared. Esme must have fled to her room. He saw the door open as he moved down the hallway.

Scott stepped into the doorway, glass crunching under his shoe. He looked down at smashed picture frame, at the photograph. It was taken a few years ago. He and Jean, surrounded by the Cuckoos. He'd even managed a passable smile for it.

He looked at Esme and brushed the glass off the picture. "I'll offer you an explanation," he told her sternly. "After you calm down. You hurt your sisters badly with what you just did. I'm not even a telepath and I can see that. Now sit down."

[Cuckoos]

Esme stood in the center of the room, her mind racing. Her thoughts were litteraly flying way to fast for her body. It was like blinking you did not even notice. She had so much anger. She wanted other things to smash. But could not really focus on what...That was when Mr. Summers came in. When Esme heard him she whirled around. She was seeing red, of course he was brave enough to come to talk to her. He never gave up, good and bad quality.

He grabbed the picture frame, and brushed away the glass, "I'll offer you an explanation," he told her sternly. "After you calm down. You hurt your sisters badly with what you just did. I'm not even a telepath and I can see that. Now sit down."

How could he come here. And act this way. She wanted to scream. To grab his brain and turn it to pulp. Yet what could she do. At the end she did what any girl would do when confronted by her father, she sat down on the nearest bed.

“The others, will be fine. They were not prepared for that much emotion from me, but they will be fine.” she told him as she looked down. The her eyes came back up as she asked the only question she could ask, “Why?”

[Cyclops]

Esme looked like she might defy him for a moment, then sat down on her bed. Scott sat down onone the beds across from her, setting picture frame next to him.

“The others, will be fine. They were not prepared for that much emotion from me, but they will be fine.” Her eyes were downcast, which told Scott she wasn't entirely certain about that. He wasn't here to deride her about something he barely understood. He wasn't a telepath, even after all these years of having one in his head, he had only a rudimentary understanding of what they were capable of.

"Why?"

Scott hesitated, not knowing if she meant why they hadn't ever told the girls about Nathan, or why they believed that the boy in his office was Nathan. There were several other 'why?' questions she could be asking, but he suspected asking for clarification would just make her more upset or seem like he was stalling.

So he started at the beginning. "You know Charles Xavier was murdered in Washington twelve years ago. You know what happened to Mr. Cassidy and me." Scott tapped the left side of his sunglasses' frame for emphasis. "I'd asked Jean to marry me shortly before that day, but once the war had broken out, we put off our wedding plans. Not that we could have legally gotten married while the war was on, being two known mutants."

He got back the point. "When Sean and I were released from the hospital, we came back here," he continued. "We had nowhere else to go really. Going to Jean's family would have been endangering them, plus the students needed us." Paused again, knowing he was stalling, because he wasn't really ashamed of what had happened more so than not really wanted to be having this particular conversation. "To make a long story short, Jean told me she was pregnant a few months after the professor was killed. Nathan was born about a year into the war."

Scott paused again, briefly remembering that day. And the pain. Even with Betsy shielding them both, he'd nearly passed out from the pain being broadcast unhindered through the link he shared with Jean. But it had been worth it. He'd never been more proud, more content than the day his son was born. But he didn't say that to Esme. That might make things worse.

"Sean, Betsy and I were still helping who we could during that time, the mansion became a refuge for anyone displaced by the war, human or mutant," he continued. "After a few months, Jean rejoined the team. One of Xavier's old friends, a mutant who called herself Askani, would watch Nathan for us when all four of us had to go on a mission."

Now came the hard part. After watching what Scott had, seeing Askani's death, knowing that his son didn't die did little to alleviate the guilt and pain of what had happened. He wasn't certain he could relate it in words. He caught Esme's eyes from behind his ruby-quartz sunglasses.

Shifting off the bed, he knelt in front of her. "Showing you would probably be easier," he suggested. "But remember, I'm trusting you not to dg deeper." Closing his eye Scott, felt Esme's fingers press gently against his brow. He let the memories come forth into his surface thoughts.

Digging people from the wreckage of the collapsed building, many were dying, or badly wounded. It had been a long, tough, disheartening mission for everyone and all Scott had wanted to do was get Nathan from Askani's place and go home. Pain and guilt shot through him as he remembered stepping out of the car in front of what he'd thought was a safehouse. Or what was left of it. He remembered the rush of panic coming from Jean. As she telepathically scanned the rubble for a trace of their son or his babysitter, Scott had rushed into the smoldering ruin, calling for Nathan and Askani. He'd found the woman's charred body, but no sign of their son. And Jean telling him she couldn't sense Nathan there.

Pain, guilt, and grief clutched Scott's heart as he relived that day. Jean had been absolutely hysterical, he'd barely been able to think to call for Sean and Betsy to come get them. Neither of them were in any condition to do anything. All he could do at the time was hold his weeping wife and stare numbly at the rubble that hid their only child's body from them. A tear escaped from under the sunglasses.

< That is why we never told you girls about Nathan, > he told Esme. < Because...you girls didn't need to know that kind of pain. As sensitive as you are, you wouldn't have been able to handle our grief. And...we never wanted to relive that hell ever again. >

It wasn't the best of explanations and it probably didn't begin to answer her question. But it was all he could think of. It wasn't fair to keep the story from the girls any longer.

[Phoenix]

Cross-posted with "Cyclops and Phoenix's Administrative Offices"

Once Esme left his mind, Jean asked worriedly, < How are things going? > She hadn’t felt any negative spikes of emotion yet besides the roller coaster of emotions from before, so she hoped that was a good sign.

[Cuckoos]

You know Charles Xavier was murdered in Washington twelve years ago. You know what happened to Mr. Cassidy and me." Esme watched as he tapped the left side of his sunglasses' frame for emphasis. "I'd asked Jean to marry me shortly before that day, but once the war had broken out, we put off our wedding plans. Not that we could have legally gotten married while the war was on, being two known mutants."

Mr. Summers paused briefly before he continued, "When Sean and I were released from the hospital, we came back here. We had nowhere else to go really. Going to Jean's family would have been endangering them, plus the students needed us." He stopped once again, Esme knew he had not been one to offer explanations or talk about his feeling, it must be a bit weird, "To make a long story short, Jean told me she was pregnant a few months after the professor was killed. Nathan was born about a year into the war."

"Sean, Betsy and I were still helping who we could during that time, the mansion became a refuge for anyone displaced by the war, human or mutant," he continued. "After a few months, Jean rejoined the team. One of Xavier's old friends, a mutant who called herself Askani, would watch Nathan for us when all four of us had to go on a mission."

Cyclops then stopped. Who knew what he was thinking? Esme had not been trying to pry. Besides Mrs. Grey would be there, protecting him. He then got off the bed and knelt in front of her, "Showing you would probably be easier," he told her. "But remember, I'm trusting you not to dig deeper."

Esme was hesitant. He was actually offering for her to go into his mind. She finally reached out and touched his brow. Suddenly it was as if you were plunged under water. The memories he was showing her were right at the top. Rubble, there were people in danger. Dying under it. Esme could see how hard they were working to look for survivors. She could sense how her father just wanted to leave this place to go see his son.

The scene changed. He stepped out of the car; Esme could feel his horror as he saw the building his child was supposed to be destroyed. This was supposed to be a safe haven. This was not supposed to happen here. Mrs. Grey’s panic slammed unto her like a ton of bricks. Mr. Summers rushed to the rubble, just like the mission. He found the caregiver Askani’s body but there was not sign of Nathan. Mrs. Grey could not sense him. Where had he gone? They had both shut down in their own ways. Too much grief and pain.

< That is why we never told you girls about Nathan, > he told Esme. < Because...you girls didn't need to know that kind of pain. As sensitive as you are, you wouldn't have been able to handle our grief. And...we never wanted to relive that hell ever again. >

When she pulled back she felt the sting of tears in her eyes. She could not believe she was crying again. What a freaking day. Mr. Summers’ emotions were so pure. “I have felt what you went through. I know what you feel for him. But how can you love us now that he is back. Did you even love us like that? Or were we just a consolation price?”

[Cyclops]

Scott had been holding his breath as he waited for Esme's reaction. It had been a huge risk, but a calculated one, letting her experience what had happened instead of just telling her.

And it had apparently backfired. Esme pulled back, tears in her eyes. “I have felt what you went through. I know what you feel for him. But how can you love us now that he is back. Did you even love us like that? Or were we just a consolation price?”

< How are things going? > Jean's mental voice broke in, unsurprisingly concerned.

< Just great, > Scott replied bitterly. < Now instead of being jealous and confused, she thinks us taking in her and her sisters was a rebound thing. Christ, Jean, what I am supposed to tell her? > He let out a long sigh and pressed his fingers to his brow. < Tell me things are going better down there? >

He should wait for Jean's advice on how to reply to Esme's painful questions, but he couldn't. He soldiered on, hoping he didn't make things worse. God, he was terrible at this.

"Esme, love doesn't work like that," Scott told her, thinking he might possibly be the least qualified person in this world to be giving a lecture on how feelings work. He didn't really understand his own all that well. "It doesn't just go away. We're not going to stop caring about you and your sisters because Nathan's alive and here."

He let out another long breath. "And you were not a consolation prize," he retorted bitterly. "You were a second chance I didn't deserve."

Scott hadn't meant to say that. Even Jean would have been angry at him for the overwhelming guilt that still plagued him over not being able to protect his family. He was Nathan's father, it was his job to protect him. And he'd failed. He'd sworn when they'd rescued the girls that he wouldn't fail them.

And from the look in Esme's eyes, all he was doing was hurting her.

Damn it, he was terrible at this.

[Psylocke]

((Crossposted from Back Yard))

In the meantime, she sent messages to both Cyclops and Phoenix, <Better finish up what you are doing because she's anxious to get started. We're doing the outside sweep now but that will be all I can stall her for.>

[Cuckoos]

"Esme, love doesn't work like that," Mr. Summers said to her. So simple so true. Love if it was one of the things that they have learned is incredibly difficult to explain. Just when you think you have finished figuring out it becomes something all together different. The girls had been taught to think using logic, but love does not answer to logic. Does logic state that you should risk your life for someone else? Love does.

"It doesn't just go away. We're not going to stop caring about you and your sisters because Nathan's alive and here." He let out another long breath. "And you were not a consolation prize," he retorted bitterly. "You were a second chance I didn't deserve."

Esme could see the pained look on his face, even through his visor. She knew that he was being honest. As much as it was killing him. Telepathy was wonderful tool when needing to read emotions. Emotions. These things that trap your body, making you lose control. Yet without them, you are just hollow, nothing.

She looked at him and put her hand on his, “I believe you. I cannot say that I am not angry, or if I understand. Perhaps, I have become a bit wary of mutants again. But it is something I’ll have to deal with by myself. You should go. They need you, as always. The Red Guard is here; I can feel the one they call Rogue.”

[Phoenix]

[Cross-posted with "Cyclops and Phoenix's Administrative Offices"]


< Just great. > Scott was clearly aggravated at the situation. Jean had to keep her emotional blocks in check to keep his frustration from affecting her too much. < Now instead of being jealous and confused, she thinks us taking in her and her sisters was a rebound thing. Christ, Jean, what I am supposed to tell her? > The question seemed half-rhetorical, half-honestly asking. If no one else were in the room, Jean would have sank into the chair she was sitting in with a heavy sigh.

But keeping her composure for the girls and Nathan she sent back, < That we love her and her sisters, and will continue to no matter who comes into our lives. > There were no heavy negative peaks of emotion from Esme anymore, so Jean took that as a good sign. < You’re doing great, Slim. This will take getting used to.. for all of us. >

Hearing the sigh in his mental voice he asked, < Tell me things are going better down there? >

It had been like a circus in her mind, with everyone popping in and out. She was finally able to get back to Scott’s last question.

< Things are going. The girls offered to help shield Nathan from any devices Anna might have to locate signatures, so that’s a good sign. Nathan is now in the sub-levels, and I relayed that to Betsy, so Anna is free to come inside for the mansion inspection. > Pausing Jean took a moment, < Would you like me to go meet her and Betsy or are things with Esme going better? > Either way, one of them would have to meet with their old-time friend.

[Cyclops]

< That we love her and her sisters, and will continue to no matter who comes into our lives. > Jean was supportive and understanding as usual. And she's confirmed what he'd just was right. Miracles never ceased. < You’re doing great, Slim. This will take getting used to.. for all of us. >

Scott lowered his head and sighed aloud. < I know, > he replied heavily. < But that doesn't make it any easier. I'd rather walk up to Magneto and tell him I'm amassing an army to overthrow him, Red. It'd be less painful. >

At that moment, Betsy invaded his head again. <Better finish up what you are doing because she's anxious to get started. We're doing the outside sweep now but that will be all I can stall her for.>

He was getting aggravated. < I'll be back down in my office when I finish ripping my heart out trying to console a sixteen year old girl who's just found out the only people she really trusts have been lying to her for a decade. That'll take a moment more. Stall her. >

Yeah, Scott knew Betsy didn't need his attitude, but he honestly did not care at that point. He hated this, and Rogue's timing couldn't have been much worse.

Esme laid her hand over his, drawing his full attention back to him. “I believe you. I cannot say that I am not angry, or if I understand. Perhaps, I have become a bit wary of mutants again. But it is something I’ll have to deal with by myself. You should go. They need you, as always. The Red Guard is here; I can feel the one they call Rogue.”

She couldn't have hurt Cyclops more than if she'd slapped him and told him she hated him. That would have hurt him less. Perhaps, I have become a bit wary of mutants again. The words echoed in his mind.

Is that what she thought of them as? Just untrustworthy mutants? He thought the Cuckoos thought more of them. Scott had basically considered them his children for year now...thought he'd raised them better than that. To have a girl who was essentially his adopted child throw that kind of bigotry at him stabbed his heart like a knife.

He pulled his hand away and stood up, glad his eye was hidden behind his sunglasses. He didn't want her to see the pain, or disappointment there. "I'm sorry, Esme," he said quietly and stiffly. "But there's nothing I can do to change what's been done. We never intended to hurt you or your sisters. You're like our daughters. We don't care where you came from, that doesn't matter. We're all human. Never forget that."

Scott let out a long heavy sigh. "I have to go deal with Anna-Marie and whatever dozen other crises that decide to happen today," he added. "But that does not mean Jean and I don't have time for you and your sisters. This doesn't change anything." Okay, that really wasn't true, but he was emotionally exhausted already and he still had to face a government inspection. "I'll be in my office."

As he headed for the door, he heard his wife in his head. She sounded as tired as he felt. < Things are going. The girls offered to help shield Nathan from any devices Anna might have to locate signatures, so that’s a good sign. Nathan is now in the sub-levels, and I relayed that to Betsy, so Anna is free to come inside for the mansion inspection. > Pausing Jean took a moment, < Would you like me to go meet her and Betsy or are things with Esme going better? >

< I'm on my way, honey, > he replied. < And I'm glad the girls are being reasonable. Thanks for taking care of Nathan. > He paused in his steps, smiling briefly. < You were always better at that anyway. > Then he remembered Esme's comment. Could Jean handle that on top of everything else right now? Cyclops decided no for now. < And we need to talk about Esme later. But for now, I think she'll be all right. >

And he headed down the stairs, Scott sighed. < Remind me again why I turned you down this morning, Red? > he asked in a wry tone, thinking he needed the stress relief badly. < Next time, just throw me on the bed. For my own good. >

[Cuckoos]

Esme felt the emotions Mr. Summers tried to hold back. Most people would say he was emotionally dead inside, how wrong they were. "I'm sorry, Esme," he said quietly and stiffly. "But there's nothing I can do to change what's been done. We never intended to hurt you or your sisters. You're like our daughters. We don't care where you came from, that doesn't matter. We're all human. Never forget that."

She knew he was telling the whole truth. He felt everything he said. But why was she not letting it go. "I have to go deal with Anna-Marie and whatever dozen other crises that decide to happen today," he added. "But that does not mean Jean and I don't have time for you and your sisters. This doesn't change anything. I'll be in my office."


With that he left. There Esme. You got your point across. You hurt him, the same way they had hurt you. That was what you wanted, then why do you feel this way. Why all the remorse over the way you handled things. Shouldn’t you be more grown up? No, this was not about her. It was about them. Their lies, their ‘supposed’ feelings. It had been a lie. Perhaps all that had been taught to them. All of it. She needed out and now.

She walked across the room and opened the window. There was Celeste’s tree. She was going to borrow it.

((Exit Esme to Front Yard, Garage.))