I9DT - In the Blood

by **Rick Ferguson** » Mon Apr 09, 2012 1:02 am

The car was heading down a country road a little ways out from the center of town.

"I'm pretty sure that that's it," Rick said, looking out the window.

The house he was looking at happened to be very new-looking, and also pretty huge. Especially for a family of three.

by **Marcus Kingston** » Mon Apr 09, 2012 1:05 am

"You weren't kidding. That job of your dad's is really bringing in some money."

by **Rick Ferguson** » Mon Apr 09, 2012 1:13 am

"Yup. Money that's being spent on very useful things, like showing the neighbors just how much disposable income they have," Rick deadpanned.

"I think we should've stayed here for the night. I could put up with your dad's grumpass-ery better than that damned hotel bed."

by **Marcus Kingston** » Mon Apr 09, 2012 1:30 am

"Course that's part of being the more fortunate. My mom was like that for a long time but she eventually got out of it." He chuckled at the comment about the hotel.

"Yeah..those weren't the best."

by **Rick Ferguson** » Mon Apr 09, 2012 9:23 pm

"And there was never anyone who deserved it more." Rick took a deep breath. "Let's go." Rick got out of the car and walked up the driveway, heading for the front door. As they got closer to the house, they could start to hear something coming from inside it. Raised voices. As Rick raised a hand to ring the doorbell, the door flew open in front of him. A teenage girl carrying a bunch of clothes on hangers stalked out, almost running right into him, if Rick hadn't taken a quick step back.

"Oh, uh, hey, Maggie."

"...Rick?" She just dropped everything that she was carrying.

by **Marcus Kingston** » Mon Apr 09, 2012 10:08 pm

Marcus stood beside Rick, planning on staying quiet and seeing how things played out unless he was asked to speak. He blinked when the girl came storming out of the door. He smiled at her, already guessing who it was but by the looks of things, they weren't going so well.

by **Rick Ferguson** » Mon Apr 09, 2012 10:50 pm

"Omigod, I'm so glad you came here! But...how did you know?"

"Uh, know what?"

"Well, night before last I kind of told Mom and Dad about the whole, y'know, mutant thing."

Maggie bore a little resemblance to her brother, enough to make it apparent that they were siblings if you already knew that they were. The most striking similarity was in her grey eyes, so similar to those of her brother and her uncle. Aside from that, she was slightly above average in height, with light brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, and an athletic tone showing in her arms and lower legs.

by **Marcus Kingston** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 3:40 pm

He frowned. Well, that explained all the arguing.

by **Rick Ferguson** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 8:13 pm

"We, uh, totally didn't know that."

"Oh. Well, that makes more sense. Either way, you have good timing. I was just um uh, packing a few things."

"For?"

"Whoa, hey there! It's so good to see you again!" She hugged her uncle.

"Heh, good to see you too, kiddo."

"And you're Marcus. It's so cool to finally see you, like, in the flesh!"

by **Marcus Kingston** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 8:18 pm

He chuckled. "I know. I've heard so much about you from Rick. It's good to see you."

by **Rick Ferguson** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 8:47 pm

"Maggie, just answer my question. Please?"

"...Oh, okay. I'm planning on going to Xavier's."

"And how were you going to get there?"

"...the airport, of course."

"Then why aren't you packing all of your things up?

"Well, it has to get to my car at some point, right?"

"When did you decide to do this?"

"I've been thinking about this for a while. You know that!"

"Yeah, but when did you finally set your mind to it?"

"When I went to bed last night."

"That's what I thought. You can't even drive yet!"

"Sure I can! Just not legally."

"I know Dad is making you angry, Maggie," she said, putting a hand on your shoulder. "But you should think things through before you act. I know, pot-kettle black."

by **Marcus Kingston** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 11:21 pm

Marcus listened to the siblings. Not like he had much to say but he did glance over at Rick's uncle, wondering how he felt about all of this.

by **Rick Ferguson** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 11:38 pm

"I could help with getting you where you need to go, Maggie. No need to do anything drastic."

"Thank you. I'd really appreciate it. As long a-"

"Rick?" The voice came from inside the house, behind Maggie.

"Hey, Mom."

"Rick..." She stepped out of the house and toward her son. It was awkward at first; neither of them seemed to know how to react, though finally, she took her son's hands in her own, clutching them. She had apparently lent both of her children her smile; that was the post striking similarity. She had silky shoulder-length brown hair, several shades darker than her daughter's, with brown eyes that were almost the same shade.

"It's good to see you."

"Thanks. You too."

Okay, still awkward, but it could be worse.

by **Marcus Kingston** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 11:47 pm

Marcus smiled as he watched them. He was surprised how long it's been since Rick seemed his family. He hoped things would go as smoothly as possible. They might that is..until the whole test thing popped up.

by **Rick Ferguson** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 12:51 am

Or, you know, just Rick's dad.

"To what do I owe this pleasant surprise?," came another voice from inside the house.

Mr. Ferguson moved to stand in the doorway. He was a bit taller than Rick, and had roughly the same blond hair (though cut much shorter) and grey eyes. His face, though, had a more severely defined jawline, and of course there were lines that Rick didn't have, especially lines in the brow, that were more pronounced right how as he scowled down at them. His son wasn't a carbon copy or anything, but Marcus might still see a few features about him that would remind him unnervingly of Skeiron.

"...Hey, Dad."

by **Marcus Kingston** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 12:56 am

Marcus's expression didn't change any despite the strong resemblance. That wasn't a sign that it didn't effect him any, his mind wandering to thoughts of that grim future.

by **Rick Ferguson** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 1:08 am

"What a way to talk to your son that you haven't seen in, what, a couple of years at least? Or for that matter, your brother that you haven't seen since-

"I saw you over there. Rest assured, I saw you. His gaze turned to Marcus. "And you must be what Rick left us for. Among other things."

by **Marcus Kingston** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 1:15 am

"I'm fairly certain I had no influence on him suddenly ending up in New York and going to school there. That said, no. I'm not what he left any of you for nor would I want him to." He looked at Rick's father.

"I can only imagine why he'd want to leave to begin with..."

by **Rick Ferguson** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 1:33 am

Maggie was biting her lip, trying to keep her grin from showing too obviously.

"So, I guess you guys showed up to be Maggie's 'honor guard,' help her move out?"

"Nope, but we'll be glad to help with that," Noah chimed in.

"Then what is it?"

"Earlier this last school year, I was infected with the Legacy Virus."

"Legacy, huh? I guess that's bound to happen at your school. You look pretty healthy right now though. So what does that have to do with anything?"

"We were all cured. Turns out it was a specific strain that didn't infect first generation mutants. It only hit those of us who inherited our X-Gene." Rick looked his father in the eyes, pointedly.

Mr. Ferguson didn't react at all. He just stood there in the doorway. "So?"

"'So?' What do you mean, 'so?' I had to have inherited the gene from someone." He glanced over at Noah. "And it seems to me like it's your side of the family that's passing it around."

by **Marcus Kingston** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 12:44 pm

Marcus played with the idea of Mr. Ferguson not being Rick's actual father. They looked too much alike for that though. Such a shame.

by **Rick Ferguson** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 1:12 pm

"So you think I'm like all of you? Heh. Hate to disappoint, but I'm not."

"Then prove it."

"And how do you want me to do that?"

Rick reached down into the messenger back he was carrying, and pulled out a small white box. "Use this. It's a DNA test. Just give me a scrape of some of your cells, and we can settle it pretty easily."

Mr. Ferguson's eyes narrowed as he stared at the box in silence.

"What's wrong, David?," Noah asked mockingly.

"Shut the hell up, Noah."

"Well, are you gonna take it?"

"Guess I can hardly object at this point, can I?" He turned and went back into the house.

"...I think that means he wants all of you to come in," Mrs. Ferguson spoke up.

Rick nodded, looked around at the others, and followed his mom inside.

by **Marcus Kingston** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 1:22 pm

Marcus simply nodded and followed the rest of the Fergusons inside. He was curious as to how this would play out but with Maggie also being a mutant there was a strong chance Mr. or maybe ever Mrs. Ferguson must of been a mutant.

by **Rick Ferguson** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 1:49 pm

Everything inside looked very new, because it was. To those without a nose that was accustomed to it, the scent of varnish on the hardwood floor could still be detected.

Rick headed into the kitchen/dining room with Marcus, but since Maggie asked Noah for some help with the moving, she went upstairs with him.

"Let's get this over with. How do I take the test?"

"You scrape the inside of your mouth with these. Behind the cheeks, in particular," Rick said as he opened the box. There was no love lost between these two.

"I wish you would have told us that you were coming. I would've gotten the bedrooms ready for all of you," Mrs. Ferguson said aside to Marcus, not unkindly.

by **Marcus Kingston** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 1:55 pm

He smiled over at her, his voice a bit hushed just so she could hear. "Oh. It's quite all right. It's wonderful to finally meet you all though."

by **Rick Ferguson** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 3:03 pm

She nodded. "I don't keep in touch with Rick all that much, but he's said some very good things about you." She smiled faintly, looking over at her husband and son.

"It's a work in progress, but I'm trying to get used to everything about my children. That they're both mutants, that Rick is in love with another boy. It hasn't been easy, but I'm getting there. I was worried that Rick might do something stupid when he was out on his own. Party too hard, be a bit too...ah, promiscuous." Marcus could probably tell that this wasn't easy for her to talk about.

"But it's really good to know that that's not the case. How long has it been, three years now?"

by **Marcus Kingston** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 3:12 pm

"Well, that's good. I only have wonderful things to say about your son."

Mrs. Ferguson's worries made him chuckle a little. "These things take time. Also, I can assure you, those last two things couldn't be further from the truth. He's never been much of a party person. We also met in high school and have been together ever since, monogamously."

"It's been four years."

by **Rick Ferguson** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 3:31 pm

"Wow. In some ways it feel like he's been gone that long, but in others..." She shook her head and sighed. "I should have been more supportive back then. I regret that now."

by **Marcus Kingston** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 3:45 pm

Marcus nodded. "I know how you feel. In any case, as long as you're ready to be supportive now..I think that's all that matters. He'll be happy and appreciate it all regardless."

by **Rick Ferguson** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 4:06 pm

"Does he? I've just always gotten the feeling that he's resented us."

Rick took the swab has did had just handed to him and put in in a vial. "Okay, it says we should wait a little bit on using the second one."

"Do we have to?"

"I'm not going anywhere immediately, anyway," Rick said to his dad. "We have to move Maggie out now, apparently."

by **Marcus Kingston** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 4:44 pm

"I never got the vibe. Please don't worry about it. He definitely doesn't resent you or Maggie at least. As for Mr. Ferguson...well, I'm sure you know much more about that than me."

by **Rick Ferguson** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 5:16 pm

She silently nodded at that last part.

Mr. Ferguson just looked over at the two of them now, staring hard. Especially at Marcus.

"So, Marcus. Wanna go with me and help Maggie?"

by **Marcus Kingston** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 5:35 pm

The stare didn't seem to bother Marcus at all. If anything, he just looked right back at Mr. Ferguson. When asked the question, he simply smiled. "Sure. I'd love to."

by **Rick Ferguson** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 7:05 pm

Rick got up from the table and headed for the stairs with Marcus.

"Sorry about that..."

by **Marcus Kingston** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 8:09 pm

Marcus chuckled. "It's okay. Sort of no worse than the way my father treated you when you first met him."

by **Rick Ferguson** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 10:20 pm

"I guess so..." They could see Maggie and Noah at work in Maggie's room, but Rick took a little detour first.

"Heh, so I guess this is 'my room' now." He turned on the light and walked in. A couple of his band posters that he had evidently left behind were up on the walls. "God, I haven't listened to them in ages...but I guess it's kinda cool that Mom put them up anyway."

by **Marcus Kingston** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 10:40 pm

He smiled and looked around Rick's room. "Finally nice to be able to see yours. Far less dorky than mine."

He walked inside and glanced back at Rick. "You don't dislike your mom right? She seems really worried about that."

by **Rick Ferguson** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 11:09 pm

He shrugged. "I don't know if we're 'cool' or anything yet, but I guess I got over being as mad at her as I used to be. And we're on each others' Christmas card and birthday lists, so, yeah."

On a mirrored hutch, Marcus would find two things that might catch his eye; a framed photograph of a group of people, and some kind of silver piece of jewelry.

by **Marcus Kingston** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 12:38 am

He grinned. "Well, she was telling me about how she regretted not being more supportive before back then and plans on being more now. She said it's a 'work in progress' but she's come around it seems."

He noticed the jewelry. "Hm? What's this?"

by **Rick Ferguson** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 12:48 pm

"Hm?" Rick turn around to look.

"Oh...wow. I haven't seen this in years. It's the badge for Clan Fergusson. My grandpa gave it to me when I was really little." He picked it up and looked it over. "I thought it was lost forever. Guess someone must've found it when they unpacked everything for this house."

by **Marcus Kingston** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 12:58 pm

"Really? That's awesome someone found it. Maybe you should take it with you when we head back."

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