No Heroes (Part 3) by Null0trooper

Early August 2007,

Bloomfield Hills, near Detroit, Michigan.

Adele Groenwald, oh crud. Has the help getting things ready for after they return from their vacation, it sounds like when Lizzy has to go to school. And talk of young Mister Groenwald, I hope they don't mean Benjamin's other name. Off to Paris and Karen Rodebaugh has 3 weeks free from two monsters and a brat.

Oh god, it is Matthew Groenwald, the other name Benjamin hates to use, he has to live with his parents and the brat of a sister, this is before whatever organization took him in and sent him on missions came along, what a nightmare. At least Karen knows it isn't just a game to Matthew.

Lunch.

Peanut butter and grape jelly sandwich, yum. Miss Esme is gone and Matthew knows it is because his father Hal got her pregnant, good lord, married to one of the most dangerous women on the planet and still cheats on her.

"Let's worry more about getting you ready for school than about new ways to make yourself scarce, shall we?"

Heh, I'm with Matthew, I would find any way possible to get away from that family.

Allgood's Department Store.

9 years ago, Matthew would be 6 years old, and he had that uncanny valley skin tone already, what did his mother do to him already? Cheap retail for the son of those who are so wealthy, all because he is an obvious mutant, I thought I couldn't hate his parents anymore, but there you go and prove me wrong again. Calling Matthew a thing, whoever said that should be fired.

T-shirts, briefs, and deodorant, but he is six, does he give off a strong smell because of his changes? Jennifer called Matthew a that, dehumanizing him once again, threatening to call the MCO just because of his appearance, I hate bigots. Matthew was such an innocent child back then, I hate that his innocence was ruined.

Half an hour dealing with mall security later.

30 minutes to deal with mall security and MCO sent two plainclothes agents, good grief. Hey! No badmouthing carnies, you MCO mook. Sam Mcgraff, is that a spoof on McGruff the Crime Dog? At least the agents are reasonable considering Matthew is just a little boy. No one asked to see him MID, that is just ridiculous after the uproar Jennifer started. Jennifer Ramsey calls Matthew a creature, really hoping something bad happens to her at this rate.

Head back to the office to cool off and Jennifer has to come to fill out paperwork whether she likes it or not, I hope it is a pile thicker than a dictionary for her. Agent Lascalle is annoyed at Jennifer's excuses.

"This could be a distraction for mutant-related criminal activities elsewhere, and that's just for starters. For the record? If a mutant manifested this young, you would have much bigger problems to deal with than shrieking for help. Today must be your lucky day, because Matthew here is only the victim of god-knows-what kind of crazy inventor shit."

"You know this ... er, kid?"

Oh, good. Maybe she can be taught.

"Since he was in diapers, young lady."

Oh crap, don't tell me his mother experimented on Matthew while he was still in her womb. That is insane.

2010's New Year's Eve (another day, another what?)
Undisclosed suburban home near Detroit, Michigan.

Special "Boys Night Out" Party and you are taking a kid who is 10,. Hal is sick, imo. Plus telling him to keep quiet about them, and paying the police to keep quiet, sounds like something the authorities would lock someone up for life for if they found out. Dress-up police costumes. *tries not to hurl*

"Uncle Bob" with a unicorn pony plushie, something from MLP: FIM.

Hal reminded his boy, "Good Boys thank their father's friends properly for gifts."

Fathers and their Good Boys, I can't comment more about this scene, I'm too enraged. I want to kill all the "Fathers" here for what they are doing to these young boys, this is beyond sickening. At least Matthew escapes them even if he is without clothes and it is snowing outside in January.

Early New Year's Day,
Detroit Medical Center.

Dr. Oswald doesn't believe Hal is Matthew's father, I don't either.

"The MCO has attested that whatever has been done to him in prenatal care, he remains as human as you or I."

Did his own mother do that to Matthew, or did someone else? I'm betting on his mother. Good lord, he almost died just to escape his father and those other monsters.

Hal lies through his teeth about Matthew, including about any of the other boys being naked even though Dr. Oswald doesn't believe him. Darn it, an investigation would be fruitless with men of wealth and means covering it up. The day after tomorrow he goes back to the nightmare.

Outside.

Bob calls Hall and Hall's lie was so they won't believe the truth from Matthew about what they were doing to him and the other boys. So, the organization that took in Matthew was someone his own parents handed him over to and they got paid for it, he has been with them since he was 12. No wonder Matthew/Benjamin is such a mess.

June 2010,
Amtrak Rail Station, Detroit, Michigan.

Matthew is back and yells to get Miss Karen's attention, and he has a friend with him.

Her remit only required her to limit the boy's familial attachments whilst avoiding psychological collapse. That latter part was becoming more uncertain. She'd have to get to the bottom of that before unacceptable damage could be incurred.

No, Karen, you should have gotten Matthew out of there after he came home from the hospital after that incident, you shouldn't be doing what his parents want.

Albert Miller and his father are there; cleft palate and harelip, but surgery to correct it for Albert. Oh, Albert's mother is there as well. Damian, the older brother, is with Ms. Evans. Oh, John, Albert's father, knows about Hal and is glad Matthew won't be alone with him. Aww, I wish Matthew was going with them on summer break to be with his friend.

"Some, which I am not in a position to discuss." As if there were enough evidence for an inquiry. The bastard and his cronies were too good at cleaning up after themselves. "However, there is no reason to keep the two young friends separated. If desired, I can make arrangements?"

I hope Matthew comes back sometime in the future and 'takes care of' his father and all his buddies in that Special Father and Son Group. Poor Matthew, can't even have a friend over out of fear of what his father might do. Karen, you should be doing everything in your power to get Matthew away from his father and mother, not aiding in their plans.

Made to go into the guest room, and remove any concealer or foundation he may be using, all to hide injuries from Karen. Who has been beating him and why? Is it just because of his appearance or something else?

Years earlier,
Geneva, Switzerland.

Irene Savatier at an interview with someone of power. Quit working for the Compte family.

"There is. I am forced to admit that it is well suited to a graduate of a certain program formerly offered in Berlin."

Why do I get the feeling that this is Karen's real name and she is using a cover name while working for the Groenwalds?

"A certain Holger Groenwald's wife has been having issues with their second child. Unknown to them, this child is the product of a research lineage. It'll be useless to its sponsors dead. Nor should it be rendered nonfunctional for lack of skills and training. Indeed, it should be primed for training by such handlers as may be assigned. The daughter is of little concern. So long as the subject and family remain unaware of the nature of your work, do as you see fit there."

This means that Matthew is the way he is due to being a part of the Groenwald family line and his family's history of experiments, not anything his mother did to him. Irene Savatier is Karen Rodebaugh, she has been grooming Matthew to be a part of the Groenwald's evil empire since she arrived. And I thought she truly cared for Matthew, this sucks.

August 2010,
Michigan, under a full summer's moon.

Just how many identities has Karen been through by now and what is her original name? Darn, so to stay around Matthew she has to not take out Hal like she would prefer to. The organization that Hal was referred to about sending Matthew to at 12 is one connected to the Groenwalds, and the nightmare just gets worse.

She still didn't know what had been introduced into the germline to cause the kid to be born with two hearts, blackened blood, and too much intelligence for comfort.

I knew the Groenwalds have a history of experimenting on their children, but that is too much. Oh, the blackouts his mother is having are due to Matthew spiking her alcohol cabinet drinks with something, and even Karen doesn't know where or how he gets it.

Card reading, Celtic Cross spreads, Karen uses card reading to relax and review her mental state. Who is this red-haired woman who just showed up without Karen detecting her before she spoke? Marie Brigid, is that her real name, and if so how does this woman know it?

"No one living may remember your name, but the dead? They have a long, hard time forgetting."

Uh oh, she is dealing with someone who can talk to the dead.

"Why must it always fall to the children to pay for the evil done them? Who will put them back together when the party's over and it's time to clean up?"

This card reading has taken a terrifying turn. She is predicting Matthew's future, who is this woman? This sounds like a bad future for a lot of people, not just Matthew.

"When someone's been poisoned in the heart, soul, and mind, giving them bandages and bindings only prolong the suffering. All that evil has to bleed itself out 'til the water runs clear, or everyone falls."

Is this about Matthew's future before he came to Whateley, or after at this point? If after, I'm worried for him and everyone who has gotten close to him. That last card, yikes. Break something to let it heal right, oh boy.

Morning, August 20, 2012,
Groenwald Residence, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

So help me, Elizabeth needs to go down with her father for saying that to Matthew. Karen, just how do you see the world that you wouldn't notice those details first yourself? Four years old and staring at appliances, his back not to a door. He thinks he might be a ghost because his own mother said he was supposed to be dead, good lord, his whole family needs to be taken down. Karen tried to comfort him that she couldn't see herself in the fridge surface either, but Mattie thought she meant they were both ghosts, oh boy.

Well before sunrise, January 12, 2017,
The Village, Whateley Academy.

What kind of childhood did Marie Brigid have to learn to do that at such a young age? Whoa, her description of the night sky over Whateley Academy. Just why is she referring to that old card reading from her dream with the strange woman now?

Break room, Doyle Medical Center. Marie Brigid Delacroix in Doyle's break room, black coffee to remind her this is still a hospital. Oof, dream work. She was trained at DeVille Academy, no wonder she had such an unusual childhood. Yikes, the jobs she has had over the years.

"Always, Doctor. 'Know thyself. Nothing to excess. Surety brings ruin.' Curious that the Oracle makes no attempt to exempt herself from her own statements, isn't it?"

Huh, never heard those expressions before together.

She was hired to help Benjamin, oh boy, this could get complicated. Access to his records is blocked, rats.

"All I can comfortably say is that there are ways to sabotage a patient's records such that the counselor becomes a danger to the patient. Magic and psychological manipulation are two broad but subtle methods that come to mind. Both have been used here and at ARC over the years, and the results have not been pretty."

Nope, do not want to see what would happen if those were used against Benjamin.

Dr. Delacroix's Office.

Oh boy, she tried to gain access to Benjamin's files and got Colombine's attention.

"All that I may say to you is that he is currently my patient, and I will be rather cross if anyone should interfere with today's appointment."

Nope, Colombine just telling her Benjamin is right outside her office and she will see her soon. Oh, Marie, you need to be careful you don't upset Colombine.

They left out the fact he is blind in his left eye, they should have told her that at least. After his childhood, I wouldn't want my back to any door, or on a blind spot ever again. She doesn't recognize him! The make-up and concealer really work. She dismisses that he can't be Matthew, heh. Yes, Benjamin is studying you, he does that to everyone he meets.

Where he was born, his birthday, what he considers his birthday, and his home now. Oh boy, he lets slip the names of his "real" parents.

Maire would almost have preferred to learn of Leonides Daibliku or Celestina Valocco being the boy's parents. But, of course not. They cared for their children.

Strange how some supervillains are better parents than rich, twisted snobs, isn't it.

"My suggestion would have been to tell the couple to find a safe place far away with strong locks and big dogs. Oh, and never, ever turn out the lights! Our employer has other ideas."

"It's the lawyers that have other ideas, Cee."

Rats, I like Cee's idea better. And Benjamin knows Marie was Karen, I knew this going to get complicated.

Dr. Cody's Office

Marie is ticked and heading to Mazarin's office, get your earplugs ready.

"Done. As I've told him already, I'll expect the same in return from you. The truth is that there is damned little that I, or the staff of this school, won't do to give these kids a better chance of walking out of here as whole human beings than they arrived with. Sometimes, that requires us to take a shortcut or two through the mud."

Maire looked ready to say something, but Wyatt held up a hand. Wait.

"Some of them arrive here like me: one half chock-full of myself, the other half nothing but insecurities, and the rest nothing like a person I'd want existing around my children. Others arrive in shock from the trauma of manifesting as a mutant and the bewildering changes that that brings. Then there are those who have been hurt badly, barely patched together again, and sent back out in the cold to see what new injuries they could collect. But do you know who are the saddest cases? Hell, they don't even know that they've been hurt!" Cody snarled the rest, "And why? Because life has always been that way for them. They've never known better."

Good lord, Benjamin is probably one of the worst for the last category of students, if not the worst.

No wonder they want her on staff, to not be held back by a remit, to be able to help kids like this for once. Matthew was already broken by the time he was taken away, the last time Karen/Marie saw him.

"What do you think happened?"

"My gut feeling is that extreme measures were used, regardless of need or utility."

"Do you think you can work with him – the person he is now – despite your shared past? Professional ethics or not, I did say we would do just about anything here to help these kids heal."

What the Groenwalds did to him and so many other children, they need to be stopped once and for all.

Dreamer wrote:

Adele Groenwald, oh crud.

Different Groenwalds and she'd only be one by marriage. There's no shortage of Dutch and German ancestry in the US. However, it's easy to mistake one family with the same name for another. Does that excuse the abuse? Nope.

Dreamer wrote:

Matthew would be 6 years old, and he had that uncanny valley skin tone already, what did his mother do to him already?

Prenatal tinkering on an inventory close-out, pawn the viable result on some suitable couple having troubles conceiving. The catch is that he was delivered to someone other than his original owners. Whether they care or not, who can say?

One thing we can be sure of is that he doesn't have the same experience with the MCO that Phase, Lapin, or DragonsFyre has had.

Dreamer wrote:

Made to go into the guest room, and remove any concealer or foundation he may be using, all to hide injuries from Karen. Who has been beating him and why? Is it just because of his appearance or something else?

Ever get nail polish remover or rubbing alcohol into a fresh cut? Not something you'd want to try again a second time.

Dreamer wrote:

She doesn't recognize him! The make-up and concealer really work. She dismisses that he can't be Matthew, heh. Yes, Benjamin is studying you, he does that to everyone he meets.

Four years growth, new eye color, a few changes in latitude and attitude... And, she doesn't have any preconception of seeing Matthew instead of Benjamin. As to studying her, Benjamin was taught by an expert or two, as we can see.