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Kerry doesn't like to be outside of Cary, and she likes it even less when she has to be outside of Cary when Cary isn't there. But Cary says she has to, because Melanie and Oliver told him she has to.
Kerry doesn't see why what they say matters. Summerland's fine, she guesses, but when she stays inside of Cary it doesn't matter where they are. But Cary likes this place, so she guesses she'll do this for him.
Most of the time she hides. There's a lot of good hiding places here, and she can hide as long as she wants from everyone but Oliver.
The best thing about hiding is watching. She's found the best places to watch. There's always new people coming in, rescued mutants who need help. Cary's really happy when he gets to help, and Kerry's happy seeing Cary happy. So she mostly watches the new people come in.
Another new person arrived this week, a boy her age. Her physical age, at least. They didn't do the usual things with him, though. They kept him away from everyone while they got a mutant out of his head.
Kerry watched, sometimes from inside Cary, and sometimes from her hiding places. It looked like it hurt, getting the mutant out of him. For a while it looked like he was gonna die. But then it was over and they moved him to the infirmary, and Oliver dealt with the mutant they pulled out.
David, that's his name. David Haller. She doesn't usually care about people's names because she doesn't usually care about anyone but Cary. But David's interesting. He had another person living inside him, just like Cary. The other mutant wasn't anything like her, it was bad and it hurt him, but--
She's never met anyone else like her and Cary.
David sleeps a lot, and when he's awake he's quiet. He's really quiet, wide-eyed and scared. They can't take him back to his home because if he gets too upset he blows things up. Apparently the other mutant kept him too weak to use his powers, but now he's recovering and it's too dangerous for him to leave.
So he's staying for a while. Kerry's glad. She doesn't want him to leave.
He's in the cafeteria now, poking at his eggs and hash browns. Kerry settles in for another day of watching. And then he sighs and turns and stares at her.
Kerry startles. She looks around, and the cafeteria is mostly empty. She looks back at David, and he's still staring at her. Then he turns back to his breakfast.
Kerry takes another wary look around, then crawls out and brushes off her knees. She walks over to David's table and sits opposite him. She looks at his eggs.
"Food's gross," she tells him.
David's the one who startles now. Good. "It's fine," he says. "I'm just not hungry."
"Why?" Kerry asks.
"Why are you spying on me?" David returns.
"It's not spying, it's watching," Kerry defends. "You're new. I watch the new people."
David raises his eyebrows. "Why?"
"I don't need a reason," Kerry says. "What was it like?"
"What?"
"Having someone inside you?" Kerry asks.
David goes pale. His plate starts trembling and he holds it down. He closes his eyes and takes slow breaths. Oliver taught him to do that, Kerry saw it. And then--
His eyes open and his posture changes. He gives her a hostile look. "None of your business."
"Everything's my business," Kerry declares.
"Says the spy," David sneers. He stabs at his potatoes and eats angrily.
"You said you weren't hungry," Kerry says, annoyed that he's eating. She doesn't like food so he shouldn't either.
"You're not in charge of me," David says, and eats a big piece of egg.
"David?" Melanie walks over. "Kerry," she says, surprised. "Would you like some breakfast, too?"
"Food's gross," Kerry says again. She doesn't know why people don't get that. Food is stupid and gross. She gets everything she needs from Cary.
"Okay," Melanie says. "David, are you okay?"
David gives Melanie the same narrow-eyed look, and then-- relaxes. Smiles. "I'm okay."
"You sure?" Melanie asks, unconvinced. "You seemed upset."
"I just don't like being watched," David says, reasonably. "But Kerry's not watching me anymore."
"She does like to watch," Melanie agrees. She gives Kerry a fond smile. Kerry does not return it. "I'll let you two talk. If you need me I'll be right over there."
She walks over to the coffee machine and starts it. The coffee machine starts talking about cranes. Kerry thinks its weird how all the machines here talk like Oliver.
"Me too," David says, quietly. He's gone all shy again, eyes down, shoulders slumped. Not angry and defensive, and not calm and nice.
She gives him a very intense look. "Are you sure it's just you now?"
David doesn't answer, but in a way that Kerry knows means he's keeping a secret.
"You're a mind reader, right?" Kerry asks. "That's how you knew I was there."
David narrows his eyes again. "I don't need powers to spot you. You're not as good as you think."
"And you're a jerk," Kerry says, upset. "Eat your stupid food. You're not new anymore so you're boring." She stands up and marches off and doesn't look back.
§
She doesn't want to talk to David ever again. But Summerland isn't very big and David's always around. She goes back to watching him, even though she knows he'll know.
Everyone's paying a lot of attention to him, but she can tell he doesn't like that. She feels kinda bad for being mean to him. He's weird but he's a mutant like her. They're supposed to stick together. And there's nobody else their physical age, it's all grown-ups and a few babies.
David's lonely, like her. And that surprises her, because she hadn't really realized she was lonely. It's all this being outside of Cary that's the problem, but Cary keeps making her be outside.
And then she finds David in one of her hiding places. He's curled up and crying softly. Kerry sits next to him but doesn't know what to say. So she just sits with him and watches the people passing by.
David calms and starts watching with her. It's nice, watching together.
It becomes their thing. Whenever David can get away he finds her and hides with her. Kerry knows that Oliver and Melanie and Cary know, because they check on them once in a while, even though they're trying to be sneaky about it. But David hears them so they can't be sneaky.
Finally Kerry has a mind reader on her side. It can't stop Oliver from finding them, but it feels good anyway.
David eats a lot, or at lot to Kerry anyway. He likes sweet things like waffles and cherry pie. She starts keeping him company while he eats. She still doesn't like being seen by all those people in the cafeteria, but it's okay with David. It's almost like being with Cary.
"I'm very proud of you, Kerry," Cary says one night, when they're getting ready for bed. "You're helping David a lot."
"He's okay," Kerry says.
"He's very shy," Cary says. "Melanie and Oliver are doing their best, but I worry. To endure so much at such a young age--"
"He's not always shy," Kerry says. Sometimes David's kinda mean, and sometimes he's weirdly calm. But mostly he's quiet.
"I'm sure he isn't with you," Cary says, warmly. "Now come on, time for bed."
"Finally." Kerry steps back inside him and sighs, happy to be where she belongs.
§
The next day, she visits while Oliver is working with David. She doesn't sneak in but just walks in and finds a chair. There's not a lot to see. They're both just sitting there with their eyes closed. Mind readers are kind of boring that way. All the interesting stuff happens on the inside.
"What's it like?" she asks, when she and David are hiding together later. "When Oliver helps you?"
"We go somewhere else," David says. "The astral plane. And we practice there, play games."
"What can you do?" Kerry asks.
"I can hear people's thoughts from really far away," David says. "And I can make things."
"Show me," Kerry says. "Make me something."
David hesitates. "What do you want?"
Kerry thinks. "A weapon."
David's eyes go wide. "That's dangerous."
"We're mutants," Kerry says. "If we're gonna help people like Oliver does, we gotta be tough."
"But you're always hiding," David says.
"I'm not hiding, I'm watching," Kerry says. "Now make me a weapon already."
David huffs. "Fine. Hold out your hands and picture what you want."
Kerry closes her eyes and focuses hard on the image of a cool sword she saw in one of her comic books. She'd look so awesome with a sword. All the bad guys would run screaming.
She feels a weight in her hands, and opens her eyes. It's just like she imagined. She holds the sword by its hilt and raises it.
"It's heavy," she says, surprised. She gives it a testing swing, then looks warily around. "We should go somewhere else so we can practice. You can teleport, right? Take us to the woods."
"I don't know," David says.
"Don't be such a baby," Kerry says.
David gets that narrow-eyed look again. "I'm not a baby." He holds out his hand and she takes it.
In a blink, they're in the forest.
"Awesome!" Kerry says, grinning. She steps away from David and swings her sword around. She whacks at a tree and knocks off chunks of bark. "You should have a sword, too. Then we can practice and we can beat up bad guys together."
When David doesn't reply, she finally turns around. David's gone quiet, still.
"David?" Kerry calls, worried. She's never seen him like this. She steps closer, and then-- Blinks. David's-- Blurring?
And then suddenly there's three of him. She steps back and puts her sword up, alarmed.
"It's dangerous," one of the Davids says. "We'll get hurt."
"Chicken," says another David. "You never want to do anything fun."
"I'm just trying to keep us safe," says the first David.
"This place is boring," says the second David. "The monster's gone. We wanna have some fun, stretch our powers! Right?"
He turns to the third David. The third David looks less confident, but he nods.
And then all three of them turn to Kerry and-- And then suddenly there's just one David again.
"What the heck was that?" Kerry says, wide-eyed.
And then David panics, and then-- He's gone.
Kerry's alone and she has no idea where she is. She runs one way, then another, but she's lost. She starts to cry even as she tells herself she's gonna be brave and find her way back and figure out what the heck is up with David. She's got a sword. She can do anything as long as she's got a sword.
And then Oliver appears. "Kerry," he says, relieved.
For once, Kerry's happy to see him. Then she's kinda mad. "You need to help David," she tells him, firmly.
"I will when we find him," Oliver says. "He's gotten very good at hiding, thanks to you."
Kerry puffs up at that, proud. "You can't just hear him?"
"Not anymore," Oliver admits. "Perhaps I should have held off on those mental shielding lessons. Ah well. He'll turn up, I'm sure."
He takes Kerry's hand, and then-- They're back in Summerland, and Cary and Melanie are there.
Cary rushes up and hugs her. "I was so worried. Kerry, you can't just leave like that. And-- Where did you get a sword? You can't have a sword."
"It's mine," Kerry says, pulling away. "David made it for me. I'm keeping it."
Cary huffs, exasperated. "This is very inappropriate. What if you hurt yourself? You're too young."
"I'm your age, stupid," Kerry says, annoyed. "We're mutant twins, so we're the same age. That's what Oliver said. So stop treating me like a baby!"
Cary puts his hand to his chest, startled. "Goodness!" He turns to Melanie. "I'm sorry, I don't know what's gotten into her."
"It's all right," Melanie says. "Kerry, what happened to David? Do you know where he went?"
"I dunno, he just freaked out," Kerry says. "We were having fun and then there was three of him, and then he freaked out."
"Three of him?" Oliver asks, concerned.
"Did we miss something?" Cary asks him.
"Apparently we did," Oliver says. "Three Davids? Were they all identical?"
"They looked the same," Kerry says, calming now. "But they acted differently."
"Another power?" Melanie suggests. "Perhaps he can-- Split into multiple selves?" She turns back to Kerry. "You said you were having fun? David was relaxed, happy?"
Kerry nods.
"Perhaps this power is only showing now that David is starting to recover," Cary offers. "Given his extraordinary abilities--"
"I'll check his family home," Oliver says, and vanishes.
"Kerry," Melanie says. "I'm afraid we need to take your sword. Just for a while. I promise we'll give it back."
Kerry gives her a narrow-eyed glare. "It's mine."
"It's yours," Melanie agrees. "But I'd like Cary to look at it, since David made it. Maybe it can help us understand his powers better."
Kerry holds the sword close, then huffs. "Fine," she says, and hands it over. "But only for David."
Cary takes the sword and examines it. He's impressed. "How did he make it?"
"He just asked me to picture what I wanted," Kerry says.
"And how did you learn about swords?" Melanie asks.
"My comics," Kerry says. "Can I have it back now?"
"I'd like to run some tests first," Cary says. "But-- How about we do that together?" He offers her the sword back, and she takes it.
§
Oliver comes back that evening, without David. Everyone's getting really worried now. Kerry doesn't like the thought of David being alone. Even if he's really powerful, he shouldn't be alone. She checks all their hiding places but he's not there, and she doesn't want to be in them without him. It's not the same anymore.
She gets a cherry pie from the kitchen and tries to work up the desire to eat it. Eating cherry pie makes David feel better. Maybe it will make her feel better? She takes a cautious bite and then spits it out.
Food is still gross.
She takes the pie outside and walks to the lake. David likes the lake and he likes cherry pie. Maybe together they'll be enough to bring him back.
He's not there, but she sits on the rough bench and thinks very hard about how much she misses him, and how he has to come eat the pie she brought him.
She falls asleep, but when she wakes up there's a blanket over her, and the pie is gone.
"David?" she calls, but there's no answer. She looks at the blanket. She doesn't recognize it from the blankets Summerland has, so she knows David made it.
He's here, she knows he is. He's just being shy again.
In the morning, she gives Cary the blanket to study, and then she gets more slices of cherry pie. She leaves them in some of their hiding places. When a pie disappears, she knows David was there.
"I think David's invisible," she tells Oliver.
"Another power?" Oliver says, impressed. "I think he's here, too. I think he's found an even better way to hide."
"So how do we stop him from being invisible?" Kerry asks.
"We're already doing what we can," Oliver says. "Sometimes people need to feel safe before they'll let themselves be seen. David isn't in any trouble at all. He should take all the time he needs. Just make sure you keep giving him food, all right?"
"I will," Kerry says, determined.
She takes her new task seriously. She chooses the hiding place David likes best and makes that a safe place for him. She brings blankets and water and clean clothes, and she brings him real meals, not just pie. She even tastes the food just a little to see if she can stand it, and eventually manages to not spit it out.
She doesn't see David, but the food is eaten, the blankets are rumpled, the clean clothes disappear and dirty ones are left behind.
And then one morning, she brings breakfast to the hiding place, and doesn't find one David but three of them, all snuggled together under the blankets.
'I found them,' she thinks, knowing Oliver will hear.
She sits and watches the Davids, studying them. One of them wakes up, and when he sees her-- The other two Davids vanish. But the awake David stays.
"You're three people, huh?" she asks. "That's cool. You really are like me and Cary. Are you triplets?"
"I dunno," David says. He sits up and takes the food she brought, starts eating it. "I've always been-- More than one."
"Do all three of you have to eat?" Kerry asks. Maybe that's why David eats so much.
David shakes his head. “We're usually together. We don't have-- Separate bodies like you and Cary. Just separate minds."
"But I saw them," Kerry says.
David pauses and-- The other Davids are beside him again. Kerry shifts closer and touches one of them. He feels solid, real.
"Why didn't Oliver know?" Kerry asks.
One of the other Davids looks embarrassed. "We hid. We were afraid. We thought-- Oliver would think we're like the monster."
"We're not gonna let them pull us apart," the other other David declares.
"I won't let them," Kerry promises. "Are you all called David?"
"I'm Dvd," says the other other David. "He's Divad."
"Hi," Divad says, with a wave.
"I'm just David," David says, with his mouth full.
"You two were here the whole time," Kerry realizes. "I knew you were hiding something!"
"You're not mad, are you?" Divad asks.
"No, I get it," Kerry says. "Sometimes-- You just have to watch for a while, until you're sure it's safe." She pauses. "It's safe for us here. I promise."
Dvd and Divad and David all look at each other. Then they look at her.
"Okay," Dvd says.
When David's finished eating, she brings the Davids out. People stare at them but she warns them off with a glare. No one's gonna hurt David and Dvd and Divad while she's around.
Oliver, Melanie, and Cary are waiting for them.
"Hello," Melanie says, warmly. "It's good to meet you."
Divad and Dvd give Melanie a wary look, but David walks forward and lets Melanie hug him. Divad and Dvd then demand hugs, too, and Melanie obliges.
"Thank you for letting us see you," Melanie says. "All of you."
"When you're ready, I think we should all play some games together," Oliver says. "I'd love to see what each of you can do."
"We can do lots," Dvd declares, proudly.
"I'm sure," Oliver says, pleased.
"Can we play now?" Dvd asks.
"Of course," Oliver says. "If it's all right with your-- Brothers?"
The Davids all look at each other, then shrug. "Brothers," Divad agrees. "Yeah, let's play. C'mon David."
David hesitates. He looks at Kerry.
"Can I come?" Kerry asks.
"Absolutely," Oliver says.
Cary smiles proudly.
Kerry takes David's hand and thinks-- She's done hiding, too.