Siku was bored.
Bored bored bored bored bored.
Overwhelmingly bored.
Totally bored.
Bored to the ultimate power of bored.
Bored.
With a frown, she looked at her colouring books. Boring. She regarded the dolls her Daddy thought were inappropriate due to their reinforcing gender stereotypes. Aunt Jean had given them to her for her birthday anyway. Boring. Her legos were boring. So were her storybooks, and her video tapes, and her collection of stuffed toys; even including her Bamf doll, sent all the way from England.
The little girl sighed, deciding that it was altogether unfair that she should be bored. But what was there to do? Daddy was locked in his lab, working on his research, and he'd asked her not to disturb him unless it was an emergency. Somehow, devastating as her boredom was, she didn't think it would qualify in her Daddy's mind as an emergency. Aunties Rogue, Jean and Psylocke were out shopping with Uncle Bobby and Auntie Ororo was puttering in her garden. Uncle Remy was asleep on the couch with a headache that she had heard Uncle Joseph say was something called a hangover and Uncle Joseph himself was in the Danger Room with Uncles Scott and Logan and Warren. Which meant she had no one to play with.
Which meant she didn't have any way at all to get rid of her boredom.
The little girl sighed and went out of her room and downstairs. She loved living in the mansion with all her aunts and uncles and especially her Daddy, but sometimes she wished that she had a few friends to play with. So... maybe she should go find some.
She wandered into the living room to where Uncle Remy was lying on the couch. He opened his eyes and looked at her blearily. "Mornin', petite," he mumbled.
Siku frowned. Uncle Remy was usually much more alert than this. "It's two o'clock."
"Is it?" He closed his eyes. "I t'ink I lost a few hours dere."
Siku blinked, intrigued. This sounded interesting. "How can you lose hours, Unca Remy?"
Red on black eyes reopened to look at her. "By gettin' in a fight wit' y' girlfriend, dat's how."
"But where did the hours go?"
"Straight inta a scotch bottle," he muttered.
"But-"
"Why don' you go out an' play, Siku?" He asked, sounding a little desperate.
Her breath caught in her throat. She wasn't allowed to go out anywhere without permission, and even then there always seemed to be someone nearby. "I can go out?"
"Sure. Go wherever y' wan'." His eyes closed again.
Before he could change his mind, Siku ran out of the house. This was a golden opportunity. Unca Remy said she could go ANYWHERE, so that meant she could leave the grounds and find a friend to play with. Deep inside, a little voice told her that wasn't quite what he meant, but she ignored it. She was tired of being bored.
Happily, the little girl ran down the driveway towards the gates. She was strong, designed for speed and endurance, so she wasn't even winded when she reached them. There was a box near the gates that controlled the gates, but she didn't know the code for it and the bars were just wide enough that she could slip through. Once on the other side, she started skipping up the road towards Salem.
There was no one and nothing at the gate. He checked for ambushes, then went down to the control box. There was a camera with a small playback feature on it which would show who had been near the gate. He rolled the tape back and then watched as five year old Siku went through the bars and off down the road. The big man frowned. This was unlike the girl, to go wandering off without supervision. Still, she was alone and she didn't look as though she were in any immediate danger. As his research was vitally important, he didn't see any reason to notify Beast. Opening the gate, he went through and closed it, then hid his gun under his coat and started walking in the same direction as the little mutant girl.
She was just about to turn around and start back when she saw a playground ahead, with kids in it. Her breath caught in her throat. There were so many of them. A sudden shyness filled her, but her Daddy always said she had nothing to fear but fear itself, and all her aunts and uncles assured her she was the best little girl they'd ever met. Surely she wouldn't have any trouble making friends.
Swallowing bravely, she walked over towards the kids, who were playing tag around the jungle gym. She was about to ask if she could play too when one of them saw her and screamed.
"She's blue!"
Siku looked down at herself. Of course she was blue. So was her Daddy. That didn't mean anything at the mansion, and they'd always said that anyone who didn't like it wasn't worth being around. With a sinking feeling in her stomach, she wondered if these kids were going to be that way.
Apparently they were.
"Are you a mutie?" One of the boys asked belligerently.
Siku gasped. That word was NEVER spoken around the mansion. "I am not!"
He looked confused. "Then what are you?"
"I'm a mutant," she said proudly.
They all started screaming, leaving her frightened and confused. No one had ever behaved like this to her. "Mutie!" They screamed. "Run or you'll be a mutie too!"
Most of them ran, screaming and throwing taunts, while a few stayed to hurl insults and even rocks. "Freak! You're a freak!"
"I am not!" She shrieked back, tears in her eyes. This wasn't going at all like she wanted it. "You're just a bigot!"
"Mutie freak!"
Her lip trembled, and she remembered another word that wasn't supposed to be used around the mansion. "Flatscan!"
"Sikudhani McCoy."
She froze, eyes wide, afraid to look behind her at who she KNEW was there. The boys were rooted at the spot too, gaping behind her. The voice sounded again.
"All of you, go home."
The boys fled.
"Look at me, Siku."
Slowly, knowing she was in deep trouble now, Siku turned around, and looked up, and up at Uncle Bishop. The big black man frowned down at her sternly and she swallowed. There was almost nothing she could think of worse than having Uncle Bishop mad at her.
"Explain yourself," he demanded.
Siku started to cry. "I jus' wan'ed t' go out," she mumbled, her sobs messing with her pronunciation.
His frown deepened. "Who gave you permission to leave the grounds?"
She swallowed. "Unca Remy said it was okay," she whispered. His eyes narrowed and she suddenly wondered if an adult could get into trouble. If so, Uncle Remy was in a lot of it.
"Why did you go out?" He asked coolly.
She wiped at her tears, crying harder. "I wan'ed some friends..."
"What?"
"I wan'ed some friends," she repeated, a little louder.
Bishop regarded her coldly, then, to her surprise, he sighed and knelt down before her. "Siku, stop crying."
She tried, she really did. But once something like that was started, it was hard to stop. Bishop finally picked her up and held her in his lap as she sobbed herself out. It was the first time she could remember him holding her like that, and it made him feel like just another uncle in a way. That, more than anything, helped her calm down.
"I'm sorry," she said at last.
"You should be. It's not safe for you out here."
She sniffed. She'd seen the truth of that for herself. "They said I was a freak."
He set her down and stood up, taking her hand and leading her back towards the mansion. "To them, you are." She hung her head. "Are you going to believe them?"
She blinked. "No?"
"Good. Because you're not."
He said it with such conviction that she smiled. Then she frowned again. "I just wanted to be friends with them, Uncle Bishop. But they didn't like me."
"Bigots never will."
She frowned. "So how do I get friends?"
He looked down at her. "You keep trying until you find someone who doesn't care what you look like. Then you'll have a friend."
Impulsively, she hugged his leg. "Like you."
He didn't say anything, but she thought she saw a bit of a smile play on his face. He just kept walking, his eyes casting back and forth, his whole body on alert. Siku didn't care. She'd never really made any sort of connection with Bishop before and now that she had, she wanted to give him something to mark the occasion. As they walked, she picked dandelions from the side of the road and weaved them together as Unca Remy had taught her. Then she tugged on his leg.
"I made this for you, Unca Bishop."
He looked down at her and blinked at the sight of the dandelion crown she'd made. Her eyes beamed up at him, full of happiness and trust. "I hope it fits," she said shyly.
With a quiet sigh, Bishop took the crown of dandelions from the little girl and put it on his head. She giggled and took his hand, swinging it back and forth as they walked, pleased to be with her new found friend.
The End**********