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Mutants & Masterminds: Future Imperfect - [Fic] Imprinting


z-Rebecca Lee Howards

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March 13, 2000

St. Louis Mission of Mercy was a homeless shelter for runaway teens, especially mutants. That last had become more important in the last three months as paranoia about the mutants had spread. The mission was almost full for tonight with nearly all their beds occupied. Jose knew from long experience that they’d be full in probably twenty minutes; then they’d begin the hard process of calling other shelters to see if they had room. It was hard because usually the answer was no.

Jose was happy to help the kids that they could, but lately there’d been so many to help. The upsurge in anti-mutant sentiment was hitting all over and people were starting to get nasty. Someone had tried to throw a rock through their front window last night, not realizing that they had wire gridding over the glass for that reason. Jose foresaw it getting worse. With a heavy sigh, the older black man turned back to fixing the clasp on the parking lot’s fence; soon he wouldn’t have the light to make the repair by if he didn’t hurry. So many things to repair; so little time or money.

A car pulled up in front of the building. Jose peered at it cautiously, ready to memorize details if they tried to throw something. But the door opened and an older man got out. He walked to the back and opened up the trunk. Jose’s stomach dropped a little as the man threw out two bags, tossing them to land near the door. His stomach clenched as the man opened the passenger door and hauled a teen girl out. She was already crying, calling him Daddy and begging with him. “Damn,” Jose said wearily as he put down his tools and walked over.

“Daddy, please! I don’t do it anymore, I promise!” she wept, nearly hysterical as her father planted her on the sidewalk. He didn’t answer, just walked around to his side of the car. She followed like a puppy, only she understood she was being left behind. The man got into his car; Jose arrived just in time to pull the girl back before her feet got run over.

She half-collapsed against him, weeping. “Come on, sweetie,” he said softly, steering her to the front door, “let’s get you inside.” He paused to collect her bags on the way into the building. Inside, it was the familiar steps: admission, find her a bed, find her a locker. She could barely talk; getting her vital statistics was a trial. Still, Jose felt only sympathy for the abandoned child.

Finally, he led her to the exam room. It was standard for everyone to get checked by the medical staff the first time they were admitted; usually that was a nurse but lately they’d had a traveling doctor available. Jose put her in a chair in the hallway and tapped on the door. “Doc? We’ve got a new patient. Can you see her?”

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Kevin had just finished a prenatal exam on one of the newer girls at the shelter. Some of the stories of these casta-runaways were truly tragic. But, honestly, that was one of the reasons that he was here. All over the world he was drawn to those less fortunate, he was even drawn from one part of the world to the next because he heard of some people that needed him more. But that wasn't the only reason he was here. Not but a few months ago a virus had broken out that his abilities couldn't touch. Luckily it was still confined to mutants and luckily it only seemed to manifest when a mutant taxed, strained, or otherwise went full out with their powers. Even then there was only a chance that it would hit. But when it did, depending on the mutant and how much they tried to do, it could put them down... sometimes for good.

Needless to say, Dr. Bridges, as a secret member of the most powerful class of mutants, and a healer and protector in a war torn and merciless world, had a personal and vested interest in finding a cure or at least a treatment for this new pandemic. And, what better way to study the disease than in a shelter for mutants. They had to be examined anyways, and since he knew what he was doing he never used all the blood that he drew for the tests that were required. Not only did he not let their lifeblood go to waste, but he was using it to try and save not only their lives but the lives of all mutantkind.

But his aid and his study didn't come without a price. He had a heart, some said it was too big, and it broke almost every time he heard the story of one of these poor souls. Anybody who thought that people were generally good hadn't seen or heard the things that this retired army general had seen and heard. But despite all that, people were people, they had value, and they deserved proper care, treatment, and most of all to be loved. There was good in people, some more than others, even if it all indications were that it wasn't put there by nature.

Kevin was in the process of mending his heart, trying to deal with the situation of the two lives that had just walked out of his office when Jose said that there was someone new. His eyes showed each and every year of Kevin's long life, but his voice, through both practice and shear determination sounded as cheery as he could. "Sure Jose. You know I always enjoy meeting new people." He was busy clearing up charts from the young teen who had just left and so motioned the newcomer in without actually looking at her. "Come on in, come on in. I promise I don't bite." He looked right past her to Jose who ushered her into the room but stood at the door. "I know, I know. Dinner ends in 45 minutes, I'll get her out before the line is finished." Jose gave him a familiar look of disbelief. "No, really, I promise this time," and cracked him a genuine grin as the door shut.

Two strangers, alone in a room, and the Dr. turned to look at Rebecca... and froze. Nala... No, it couldn't be her, she was... no, the skin was wrong, all wrong, and the eyes were a different shade. The hair was wrong and her hands... but it was her, well, could've been her sister anyways. An old, deep wound in the General's heart tore wide open at the mere sight of the girl sitting on his exam table. The pain was almost unbearable, and the Dr's eyes started to moisten.

Kevin blinked a few times. This wasn't her, much as she may look similar. With a deep breath, he pulled himself to his full height, sitting on his wheeled stool. Before her emotions, whatever she must be feeling, got the better of her, he finally spoke. His voice had only a slight edge of the crushing pain that he felt as he spoke with a well practiced light ease. "Hello, I'm Dr. Bridges. I, um... well, this is routine here, like Jose said, but I have to ask you some embarrassing questions and run some tests. But I promise that I'll make it as quick and easy as possible, ok? You can call me Kevin, what's your name?"

Though he started off awkward, by the end he was completely sincere. It was amazing the aura of trust and care that he gave off. It was like talking to your favorite grandpa on his front porch on Saturday morning over a tall glass of iced tea (not that either of them would actually know what that felt like), and he was genuine about it. That was the most amazing thing of all. After just a couple of sentences he was already treating Rebecca like his favorite granddaughter.

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The girl was staring at her hands, sniffling occasionally. When he asked her name, she finally looked up, showing the streaks of tears down her face. Making an attempt to wipe them away, she mumbled, “Rebecca.”

“Just Rebecca?” he asked kindly.

“Rebecca Howards,” she answered softly. Sniffing again, her entire frame trembled with the aftereffects of her sobbing. “Can I please have a Kleenex?”

“Of course,” Kevin said, scooting across the room to get the box for her. He gave her the time to wipe her face and blow her nose before moving onto the next questions.

Rebecca’s distress was not simulated. Her background and history may have been pieced together by a professional team of agents who created covers for people like her, but her unique creation process had imbued her with the memories of her family and life. Today, she’d lost that life; though it might have been fake, it was real to her. She was having trouble focusing on the task at hand; all she could think about was her father leaving her behind.

“What is going to happen to me?” she blurted, her fears interrupting Kevin’s exam. Her lips quivered as she looked to the kind man to help her.

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Kevin smiled softly at Rebecca. He made a show of thinking, putting his chin in his fist and furrowing his brow much deeper then need be. "Hmmm..." He looked down at his clipboard that he had the info that she'd already given and that he'd been adding to, and then up at her. He squinted and gave her an almost comical long evaluating look. "You know, I don't know." He took his hand from his chin and picked up his pencil, using it to talk with overly exaggerated motions. "President isn't out of the realm of possibility. Astronaut, teacher, congresswoman, farmer... well, you don't look like a farmer to me, but who knows, right?" He chuckled and gave her a big smile.

He gave a little pose, putting his hands on his hips and sticking his chest out as he spoke. "Who knows, you could even pursue the humblest and most noble of all careers and become a doctor!" With that he raised the hand with the pencil in it as if he'd just had a 'eureka' moment. "That's it! After we finish here, you're going to follow me around everywhere, I'll teach you everything that I know and you'll become a doctor!"

He knew that that wasn't what she was talking about, but hoped that it would get her mind off of, at least a little bit, the situation that brought her here. But what he really hoped, was that it made her laugh. Even just a little chuckle would make it all worth it.

Because in here, laughs were rarer and more precious than diamonds or gold.

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Rebecca managed a smile. "Sorry," she whispered. "I'm just... not sure what to do now." Before Kevin could say anything, she said, "This isn't how it was supposed to be. I'm supposed to be doing homework and getting into normal trouble. I know I shouldn't have used my powers..."

But she had to; it had to happen so that she'd be 'kicked' out of her family. Rebecca swallowed another sob, trying to not lose it again. With effort, she forced herself to take one deep breath, then another. Slowly, she felt it work, the effort of focusing on her breathing forcing her heart to slow down, too.

The girl that looked so much like his lost Nala crossed her arms tightly, hugging herself. "Are you almost done? I'm... I'm a little hungry." She was a lot of things; hungry wasn't really one of them. But she knew she had to eat something. And then she'd go to sleep. Maybe she'd feel better when she woke up.

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Kevin shook his head slowly. He so wanted to comfort this hurting child that he reached out, instinctively and unconsciously. It would've only been meant as a reassuring gesture, but it had yet to be earned. So, before he actually made contact, he stopped and pointed at her; it was the best he could do, as jerking back would probably only hurt her more. As it was, the change was almost seamless, barely noticeable to anyone (except someone who could read his mind and his sudden though slight shift.

Along with the gently pointing finger came some words of comfort, or at least what Kevin hoped were words of comfort. "Rebecca, don't you ever think that your abilities are a bad thing. Regardless of what anybody tells you, anybody, powers are nothing to be ashamed of. They make you different, but that difference is what lets you help other people better. What firefighter wouldn't want to be able to put out a fire with a thought? And how many lives could he save if he could? What cop wouldn't want to be able to tell, perfectly, if someone was lying to him? How many criminals could he keep us safe from? And how many innocent people could he free?" He put his hand down and looked her straight in the eye (if she would let him). "No matter what your power is, you can use it for good, to save and help people. And there is nothing wrong with that. Anybody who tells you differently is either mistaken or evil."

He let the last statement sink in for a few seconds while he reeled himself back, stepping off his metaphorical soap box and sitting back down in his metaphorical rocking chair as a beloved grandpa. "To see something wrong and not do anything about it, when you have the ability to, is worse than if you had done the wrong deed yourself. Just remember that whenever anybody, including yourself, tries to tell you different."

With that he leaned back and crossed his right leg over his left. There was a white doctor's coat hanging on the wall (they said he had to have one, not that he had to wear it), reached into one of the pockets, and pulled out Rebecca's favorite color of sucker. It was just one of the simple ones with the paper loop for the handle, but they were still sweet.

With a smile he leaned back forward. "Hungry you say? Well I did promise that I'd let you out in time for dinner, didn't I? Here, you can have this sucker if you can stay with an old doctor just long enough to answer these last few embarrassing questions, or you can just leave, take the sucker anyway, and have to come back and see me again. Whatddya say?"

Kevin was hoping that she'd finish the questions and come back and see him anyways, but he always left the choice to the patient. Forcing someone to stay and talk to you was the surest way to get them to clam up. He wanted to help these people, get them to open up so that their wounds could be cleaned and heal, not pull back and let them fester.

Regardless of how many suckers he handed out, though, it took time. Especially with the new ones.

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Rebecca listened numbly, knowing he was right. Her abilities weren’t bad, but she’d just been censured by her father about them. It was hard to make her heart understand that her powers – and more importantly, herself – weren’t at fault. It would have been easier to blame them than the people she loved most in the world.

“Thank you,” she murmured when he was done. “I’ll… try to remember that.” She took one last look at him through her tear-soaked lashes and reached out to touch his mind. The resulting pain nearly undid her again.

She didn’t dig deeply; just enough to know what he was thinking. He was truly kind; his thoughts were colored with genuine care and concern. He was that rarest of creatures: truly a good man. Then she caught his emotional upheaval and froze. Shocked that she had unintentionally drawn up painful memories for him, she covered by dropping her eyes and pulling on the loose thread on her jeans. Nala. Out of respect for him, she didn’t attempt to learn more. She felt dirty enough, going through his mind for his intentions; rooting out more of his personal pain would have just been cruel.

His offer of a sucker made her smile. “OK, that’ll hold me through the rest of the questions. I guess it’s not exactly a healthy meal but its food,” she replied as she took it. “Aren’t you supposed to keep the children of America away from sweets?”

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Kevin smiled. "No, that's the dentists. I'm a real doctor, so I can give real candy." After that he finished with the questions, playfully joking and teasing to ease through some of the tougher or more embarrassing ones. Once done he opened the door and waved her through like she were royalty, giving her one last smile as she left.

Once she was out, he shut the door and made a small forcefield next to the door. It wouldn't keep a determined intruder out, but it would make the door appear locked. Then, he fell down on his knees, created a domed forcefield around himself to muffle sounds, and broke down into sobs. His hand snaked its' way up to his neck, where once a hemp necklace with a single, home made bead rested. It had been years since it had lain their, but his fingers could still feel the smoothness of the stone and the texture of the braid.

Memories of Nala flooded his mind. The memory of the times when he had saved her, when she had learned something new, and even just memories of her smile lifted his soul to soaring heights. But the memory of the time when he couldn't save her, of what had been done to her, took his soul beyond the crushing depths of despair.

**************************

Several hours after his breakdown, Kevin was good again. He filed Rebecca's paperwork and went to his room. He didn't need to sleep, but today had been draining enough that he actually sought the brief respite of unconsciousness.

**************************

Early the next morning, Kevin was down in the kitchen, cleaning and getting ready for the day. Once the cooks came in he helped them prepare breakfast, and then once the residents showed up, he helped serve food, giving everyone a heartfelt, cheery smile and words of good morning.

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Rebecca allowed herself to be led out of the room, away from the nice doctor. Her stomach had already digested the sucker, making short work of the treat, and she was hungry as she got some food. Because she was there right as they were closing the kitchen, she ate alone in a nearly empty room.

After, the young mutant was directed to the rec room with the other kids. She tried mingling with the other kids, but with the usual casual cruelty of teenagers, they weren’t so fast to welcome her into anything. They’d need some time to accept her. She was too shy to start that process that night. The call to go to bed was almost a relief.

Only once she was in the dark, the tears came. While she was eating and distracted by TV and her new environment, she didn’t really feel the loss of her family. It was only when the lights were out that she felt the loss and loneliness creeping in; it was then that her exile became real. As softly as she could, she cried herself to sleep.

**************************

Rebecca was up early; unlike the other girls, she’d gone to bed when told and had actually fallen asleep earlier than the others. As such, she had the showers to herself and was the first down to breakfast. She looked tired – not from lack of sleep, but from the emotional beating she’d taken yesterday. Her eyes were downcast and her expression dark as she wandered down the line, looking at the food. She didn’t even glance up to see Kevin as she passed him on the serving line.

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"Good morning to you Rebecca, did you sleep well?" A familiar voice asked from across the serving line. When she looked up she saw the nice doctor from yesterday in the serving line, hair net, apron and all. As odd as all that was, it wasn't as odd as what he did next. He handed his spoon to the lady who actually took it and with a knowing smile shoo'd him away.

Rebecca could only sense, if she chose to do so, happiness at the sight of her. The pain that her face had caused yesterday was gone, replaced by a grim determination.

It took long enough that Rebecca had finished with her meal and had found a seat, at a table by herself, but Kevin came out from the kitchen doors. He was wearing a plain, cheap looking blue button up shirt, blue jeans and work boots, and he had an oversized blueberry muffin in each hand (the likes of which Rebecca hadn't seen anywhere on the breakfast line).

Heads turned and he smiled and nodded at various youths as he made his way to Rebecca. His concern showed in that, even though he was definitely on his way somewhere, he took the time to stop and exchanged some meaningful words of cheer, encouragement, and inquiry with certain individuals as he walked. The general mood was that he actually cared for the kids around him... and they actually cared for him back.

Once he finally made his way to Rebecca, he put one of the muffins down by her tray and sat down opposite her. His voice was more cheery than anyone had a right to be this early in the morning. "I do apologize Rebecca. I usually make it a habit to visit certain newcomers before lights out. But I'm here now, with dessert, trying to make up for lost time." He gave her a big grin. "Forgiven?"

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Rebecca smiled, feeling a spark of hope for the first time since coming here. It shone in her face like a light, emphasizing her youth. That smile seemed to come easily, as if she did it a lot. "It's alright," she said, feeling a little shy as she picked up the muffin. Peeling back the wrapper daintily, she added, "I know you are busy here. So it's okay."

The young mutant pulled a piece of the muffin loose and put a bit of it in her mouth. It was good: sweet and flaky with the hint of tart from the berries. It was almost as good as her mother's. No... they kicked me out... or would have, if I were theirs. This muffin is better, much better. "Thank you for the dessert," she said politely to Kevin. "It's very good.

"So are you officially a doctor here, and you just do stuff on the side?" Rebecca asked, wanting to talk to someone nice. She also wanted to talk to him; he seemed to enjoy her company and she wanted to reply his kindness. "Do you have a medical practice somewhere else?"

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Kevin laughed easily and smiled at Rebecca's question. "Well, that's the question, now isn't it?" He fiddled with his muffin as they spoke, eventually working the top dome off of the paper wrapped base. "I am officially a doctor here, though I am in no way employed by this fine establishment. And I do do stuff on the side, like serve food and talk to nice young ladies and gentlemen." He smiled as he took a small bite out of his muffin dome, chewed and swallowed.

"And yes, I also have medical practices elsewhere, all over the world in fact." He chuckled a little at the expression on Rebecca's face. "But none of them are mine. I am a licensed, board certified, medical doctor, and I travel the world and help those who need me the most. Now, it's not as glamorous as it sounds, I promise. I walk most everywhere I go and I hardly ever 'see the sights'. I just walk across the world and help everyone that I meet that needs it.

Pretty dull, actually..." He grinned again as he took another bite of muffin. In his mind he was replaying all of the 'dull' moments of his trips: The times when he had saved villages from rebels, stopped an outbreak in the middle of a rainforest, and all the other times he had protected innocents from aggressors. Dull indeed.

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"That's not dull," Rebecca said, unaware of his sarcasm. "That's incredible. Most people would want to settle down somewhere and just have a regular practice. And it's not glamorous. It just makes you the nicest person I know."

She tore her muffin into smaller pieces, eating slowly and daintily. "I used to admire the people who went off on missions for my church," she told him, smiling. "It seemed so noble that they'd give up vacation time and resources to do that. You're giving up... like your whole life." She tilted her head at him. "Do you like doing that? I mean... I know why the people from my church do it. Why do you do it?"

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"Why? Well..." Kevin paused as he tried to figure out the right words to say. Well, because I'm an immortal Class V mutant that can heal with a touch and can stop bullets and RPG's with my mind, and to do anything less would be villainous. While the truth, such a statement would never work.

"...because I can, I guess. Remember yesterday when I said To see something wrong and not do anything about it, when you have the ability to, is worse than if you had done the wrong deed yourself? Well, I see plenty wrong with this world, and I have the ability to help people... and I'm not evil... so I guess you could say that it's what I'm meant to do." With that he simply shrugged and leaned back in his seat, muffin forgotten in his hand.

"What about you? Yesterday we said that you were going to follow me around and I was going to teach you to be a doctor. But first I gotta know what you see wrong with the world?"

Nala saw the pain and suffering that greed caused, was even a victim of it. She didn't even have any powers, but that didn't stop her; she was dead set on changing the world...

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Rebecca's smile faded under his question. She felt like she was being tested now, a sensation that probably wasn't true but that felt accurate at the moment. "I see the wrong when people treat each like they aren't other people," she said, her voice soft. "Where they get dumped or locked up because they don't meet someone else's standard of 'quality'." She stopped because it was hitting too close to home; it was too soon after her abandonment to speak of this without tears.

And Rebecca knew what she was meant to do, too - she was made to hunt mutant terrorists down before they had a chance to hurt someone. She was part of the world that hunted down clear and present danger and stopped it from being a danger. That's what she'd been created to do - hunt evil with the face of a child.

She'd been made to be bait.

"I like battling the same evil you do," she said softly. "I like the idea... Helping people sounds so good." She really wanted to be someone like him, who could give comfort directly to people, but she'd settle from protecting them from the shadows.

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Kevin felt bad as he could tell he had dredged up painful memories, but absolutely beamed with pride at her answers. After she had finished, Kevin ate the rest of his muffin dome, nodding and thinking about all the things that he could teach her.

Once he finished chewing and swallowed, he spoke again. "Good, very good. So, once you finish breakfast, whaddya say we go and I start training you to be my nurse? Then we can help these people here together."

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The next couple of days were wonderful for Rebecca. Instead of being lost and lonely, missing her family all the time, she had something to distract her. Working with Kevin gave her life meaning and structure. Even if her nights were full of her loss and misery, her days were full of learning. Even though she was on-mission, Rebecca loved learning how to help people on the most basic level.

Kevin taught her with great patience, moving forward in small, easy steps. Rebecca found the training to be fun as well as useful. Kevin was pleased to find that the girl was quite intelligent, quick to pick things up and able to retain them.

Her natural personality also shone during her lessons; she was shy and introverted, but genuinely cared about other people. There was some strength to her; Kevin thought she just needed some more confidence in herself and her abilities to start to shine.

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It was subtle at first, but Rebecca caught on quick. Dr. Bridges truly enjoyed his time with her, but he started letting her in on his conversations with the other two doctors. He started praising her (more than he usually did), in front of her, to the other doctors. He started offering her newly trained services to the other doctors. Then she caught him...

...he was thinking of where he was going to go next.

On their very first breakfast together he had told her that he was a world traveler, but she hadn't expected it this soon. He was planning on leaving her; in fact, he would have already been gone had it not been for her.

It took him a few days to finally work up the courage to tell her, but she knew what was coming when he called her into his exam room when no one else was there, shut the door and asked her to sit on his doctor's rolly stool.

He did good with the nonchalant mask that he put on, but the underlying pain still showed through. There was only the slightest quaver in his voice when he spoke. "Rebecca, there's something that I need to tell you..."

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Rebecca pressed her lips together, but she couldn't stop herself from blurting, "You're leaving. Aren't you?"

"I..." She'd clearly caught him off-guard with her statement. "I told you that I move a lot."

"And you're looking at me like that," Rebecca said softly. A tear escaped and she hastily wiped at it, foolishly hoping that he wouldn't see it and knowing that he would. "Like you have bad news for me and this is the worst thing you could tell me."

"Rebecca..."

"No, I knew this was coming," Rebecca said, trying not to cry - cry more. "I didn't mean to make it harder." She sniffled and asked, "Where are you going?"

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Kevin squatted down to be more on eye level with Rebecca (though it actually put him below eye level). He put his hand on her shoulder for emotional support, and spoke soft and reassuringly. "I don't have a set destination in mind; I usually don't. I remember hearing something about some pretty bad flooding over in Mozambique, they could probably use my help. Besides that, there's plenty of violence all over the world, Europe, Russia and Africa in particular. No telling who would need my help along the way."

Seeing the tears welling up in her eyes and several more escape down her cheek he let her go and plopped down onto the floor, back leaned against the exam table. He broke eye contact and started chewing his bottom lip, something Rebecca had yet to see him do.

In his mind he was planning out routes that he would usually take, climate, places to stop and rest (not that he usually did), food, shelter and safety. Basically he was trying to see if he could take her along with him and she would still be ok.

Once his mind reached a boarder, he distractedly asked, without looking up, "You wouldn't happen to have a passport, would you?" He was obviously expecting her response to be 'no' and so he thought about ways around the boarder crossings at the same time that he remembered times that he would've been in a world of hurt if he hadn't been in a country legally.

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“I…” Rebecca was rendered breathless by the sudden understanding that he wanted her to come with him. That wasn’t part of the mission, but Rebecca suddenly didn’t care. She’d make it work out. “I have a passport, actually! We took a mission trip to Peru… my youth group – and we all had to get them. And Dad gave me all… I mean.” She stopped, swallowed and forced herself to say calmly, “When he dropped me off, he gave me my stuff.”

She paused, looking hopeful; after a moment, she slid off the table and sat down across from him. Her dark eyes studied his gently-lined face silently. When she spoke, there was a tremble of hope in her voice. “Do you really want me to come with you?”

Her expression was haunting; expectant yet afraid. It was the look of a child who had already been abandoned once and was faced with the possibility of rejection again. It was also the face of the girl who was hoping that this time, the ‘no’ would be a ‘yes’. Rebecca knew she shouldn’t be doing this, but she also knew that she would do it, if he wanted her to come with him.

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Kevin looked up at Rebecca, his eyes still distant, off in thought. All of a sudden, in his mind's eye, there was Rebecca standing next to him, out in the middle of the woods (that was where he was in his mental journey when she spoke). He pursed his lips and nodded slightly as his eyes focused on her.

"Sure."

His response was quiet, short, sweet, and to the point, as was his final, definitive nod. After that, he started getting up and offered her a hand. "Ok, so gather your things and say whatever goodbyes you need to. Right after breakfast tomorrow we head out to start on your field training." He smiled at her as she stood, and then ushered her out of the exam room and after saying a friendly goodbye, headed off on his own way.

First he found the director and told him that he'd leave tomorrow, and that he was taking one of the teens with him. There were a few raised eyebrows and a short, invigorating discussion, but a few reams of signed paper later, matters were finally settled.

Once he left the director's office, he went to the kitchen and helped serve dinner. Once the line dwindled, he left and went out and made his 'rounds' amongst the residents. There were lots of hugs and more than a few tears, both from him and the others (especially the pregnant ones), but he gave each a task to complete in his absence. To some of the older ones he gave the job of looking out after the younger ones, and to the younger ones, he gave the task of looking after the older ones.

Then, as lights out was called, he packed up his duffel. He had very few worldly possessions. Despite the varying climates that he traveled through, he didn't need many clothes, and the fact that he didn't need to eat meant that, barring outside factors, his clothes stayed cleaner longer.

The next morning, before breakfast, Kevin found Rebecca and took her stuff, promising to put it somewhere safe with his stuff. After breakfast, she found him waiting by the main exit with an old, olive drab, army duffel that was stuffed to the brim, and a new single person tent, and inflatable air-mattress.

His voice and thoughts were both cheerful. "So, you ready to go?"

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  • 3 weeks later...

“Sure am!” Rebecca said, despite the yawn that had split her face only a moment ago. It was a wee bit early for her to be this enthusiastic. She was still trying to understand the great fortune that had put her here and now, where she could meet Kevin.

“Alright,” Kevin said, nodding to her bags. Rebecca scooped them up and settled them on her shoulders, making sure they were comfortable. Together, they started walking, side by side with easy steps. It was easier for Kevin; his body was conditioned to the rigors of the road. Rebecca less so, and though she continued valiantly, he noted when she started flagging.

“Shouldn’t we hitchhike?” Rebecca asked after the first hour.

“Walking is good for us,” Kevin grinned, not giving a clue to his real reason: that he wasn’t thumbing a ride with a cute sixteen year old girl in tow. That was asking for trouble, as far as he was concerned.

“So is not dying,” she said.

“You’ll be fine,” he assured her, patting her on the shoulder. When he thought he’d pushed her hard enough, they found a campsite and settled for the night. That became their pattern, east across Illinois, through the tip of Indiana and down into Kentucky. Their first extended stay was in Louisville, at a homeless shelter in the city. They stayed for two weeks, providing whatever services were needed. Kevin’s were largely medical; Rebecca cooked and cleaned, played with the children to give their parents a respite and helped Kevin.

It didn’t take Kevin long to learn that his companion had a keen sense of human nature. No one seemed to be able to pull anything over on her; she seemed to see into the heart of a person, though he noticed she rarely acted on that knowledge.

Rebecca gradually got used to the walking, keeping up with Kevin easily. She had the vigor of youth to help her. After Louisville, it was ever east, stopping occasionally to stay and help. They pressed on to Norfolk, where they stayed in a clinic for two weeks before leaving the country.

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  • 2 months later...

It took two weeks for Kevin to find his old friend Mal. Mal was a grizzled old war vet, though no one ever really said which war. His face was wrinkled and leathery and he always wore a brown trenchcoat and kept a US Navy service revolver strapped to his leg when he was on his boat. But for all his huff and gruff, Mal was a sweetie at heart. Kevin had done something in the past that had earned him Mal's respect, and that respect got them the best room on the boat. Plus, Mal treated Rebecca as his own daughter (and as Rebecca could tell, it wasn't just an act either).

The trip took about a week and a half, by which time Rebecca knew every inch of the ship and actually helped Mal in the wheelhouse. They docked in Casablanca, Morocco, which Rebecca thought was the coolest thing, and after assuring Mal that she didn't actually want to hire on as first mate, she and Kevin set out.

Once making sure that they had plenty of water (easier than usual since he didn't need any), they headed SSE, straight across the Sahara. Needless to say, nobody stopped them at the Algeria border, neither did they see anyone at the Mali border, but Kevin made sure that they went through a checkpoint and got their passports stamped at the Niger border. From there they headed through the jungles and grassland as they headed ever east.

On their trek they stopped by many towns and villages, each it seemed to Rebecca had its' own language, but it seemed Kevin was fluent in all of them. But what was more surprising than that was that Kevin was well known in each of the villages, often remembering people by name (and the occasional child (and sometimes adult) that he had overseen the delivery of as a baby). It honestly seemed as though he was a folk hero or something in this part of the world.

There weren't many families that spoke English through the heart of the continent, but Kevin made special effort at each of the ones that did. They always stayed a few extra days, and Kevin was always keen on Rebecca's reaction to them. Slowly, over the course of the weeks and months (though it seemed as though time wasn't really even an issue when she was with Kevin) it started to dawn on Rebecca that they weren't just traveling and helping... Kevin was trying to find Rebecca a family that would love and care for her like she deserved, like what had been taken away from her... like he did.

Once they hit the coast in Djibouti, between Ethiopia and Somalia, they caught a ferry across the Red Sea to Yemen, where Kevin said he knew some people who could take them to India. After a discussion, Kevin finally admitted that the land route, through the middle east, was just too dangerous for him to take her that way.

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