Log:Mark and Patrica, Scene 1

Mark and Patrica 2014/06/10 	 Sukeban|Kotone Mark and Patrica Anthony Quinn Suzume

1

First Weekend Stay in Colonial Bay City
Colonel Steel contacts Anthony, Sukeban, and Suzume. She asks them if it will be acceptable if she brings Patrica and Mark over to Colonial Bay early on Saturday Morning? The Colonel suggests getting together for a meal at Space Burgers, as the kids have heard of it and want to try it out.

Quinn is only too happy to go out to Rocket Burgers with the kids. Given the outing he goes in his 'normal clothes' (i.e. his forcefield suit) configured to look like a comfortable t-shirt and jeans.

Suzume giggles as she drags Kotone into Space Burger, "Come on! Aren't you excited to see our potential daughter, and her brother?"

Kotone snorts, "Of course I am, I just... I've eaten a lot of crappy burgers in my life."

The Colonel arrives almost dead on time, just a couple of minutes late. She has Patrica and Mark with her. The kids are dressed in summer casual clothing. The moment they see the three of you they race over and swarm into hugs, excitedly telling you how happy they are to be here.

Colonel Steel hangs back a moment to let the kids have time with you all before approaching herself.

Suzume and Kotone bury Patricia in hugs. They hug Mark too once he's finished hugging Quinn.

Quinn breaks into a broad grin himself, genuinely happy to see Mark and Patricia, their enthusiasm infectious. "Hey you two," he says, tousling Mark's hair, "how have the two of you been doing? Anything interesting going on at school?"

Colonel Steel makes her slightly delayed approach, smiling. "I see you haven't changed your minds, Patrica, Mark." she teases the kids a little. "It's a pleasure to meet you again, Kotone, Suzume, Anthony."

Kotone and Suzume bow politely to Steel. "Good to see ya too, Colonel." "Likewise!"

Mark tells Anthony, "I got a A+ for my numbers test. Numbers are fun. I don't know why I never knew that before.

Meanwhile Patrica is telling Kotone and Suzume that their mouse project won the best project award for their class.

Anthony nods to the Colonel as Suzume speaks. "So how have they been doing at school? No problems with mutant mice roaming the airducts or anything like that?"

Suzume smiles and claps her hands, "That's wonderful Patricia and Mark! The two you gave us, little Tsukaima-chan and Henge-kun, are doing well in their new home too!"

Colonel Steel laughs. Then turns a little more serious, "Since coming back from the Iceland holiday their grades have improved a lot. Mark is correct, his Maths grades have gone through the roof. I guess you're a good influence on them."

Anthony smiles a bit wryly. "I don't know about that. We haven't really had that much of an opportunity," he says. "I suspect it has more to do with them just coming into their own."

Patrica smiles happily when Suzume tells her the news about the mice. Mark sits at the table and asks, "When can we eat?"

Kotone pokes Mark in the cheek, "As soon as the food gets here. Yer not the only hungry one. If yer not careful, I'll eat yer french fries!"

Colonel Steel nods, "It is past their normal lunch time. TransMat makes traveling easy but it does nothing about time zones."

Mark grins as Kotone pokes him in the cheek.

Quinn nods to Colonel Steel. "Normally they only serve breakfast this early, but I talked with the manager and they were able to make a bit of an exception for us," he says. He adds to Mark, "It will take them just a little bit longer since they weren't setup for lunch."

Food is eventually served. Colonel Steel remarks she'd forgotten how good American burgers were. Then comments she hasn't forgotten how many inches living in Colonel Bay added to her waistline when she was here. The meal goes smoothly and the kids do seem to be hungry and enjoying the meal. Colonel Steel asks if everything is ready for the kids to stay over the weekend? She reminds Patrica and Mark to call her if there's any problems. And tells Anthony, Kotone, and Suzume that she'll return Sunday evening to pick them up again.

Half way through the meal, Mark looks at Anthony, "I know you haven't adopted me yet. But while I'm here, can I call you Dad?" he asks in an almost pleading tone.

Kotone finishes of her her Triple Galactic Burger with Saturn Rings and Milkyway Sauce, with Martian Peppers, and her Rocket Blast milkshake, and her Comet Fries. Suzume was somewhat more restrained and got a Junior Cadet Space Burger Meal With Mystery Toy.

Quinn arches an eyebrow at that in surprise. "Of course you can," he says. "Whatever will make you more comfortable."

Mark squirms out of his seat to hug Anthony, "Thank you... Dad."

Patrica looks at Kotone and Suzume, "Can I call you Mom?" she asks tentatively.

Suzume smiles, "Of course. But since there are two of use, you can call me Mom, and you can call Koto-chan Ma."

Kotone grins, "Ya, I'm more of a Ma than a Mom."

Quinn returns the hug, though he is a little sobered by Mark and Patricia's need. He has to wonder at how out of place they must have felt that they are already eager to call him Dad and Kotone and Suzume Mom.

Patrica also slips out of her seat to go and hug Kotone and Suzume.

Suzume and Kotone return the hug, of course.

Colonel Steel takes the chance when the kids are in restrooms to speak to the three weekend guardians. "You know I adopted them. But they never called me Mum. It was always Colonel Steel. Be careful. I think you would break their hearts if you rejected them now."

Kotone nods soberly, "Don't worry. I'm not changin' my mind."

Suzume giggles, "As a Doi, I could hardly go back on my word, now could I?"

Anthony shakes his head and smiles. "I don't think that will be happening," he says. "Not unless something totally unexpected popped up and it would probably have to be so significant at this point that it would probably cause more of a concern for their well being."

The meal comes to an end. Colonel Steel tells the three guardians that's she's returning to England. She has thirteen wolfguard kids to watch over at the Hartford SAS base.

It's obvious the kids are trying to be on their very best behavior over the weekend. It might take a another stay or two before they relax and become their normal selves. Saturday passes smoothly. On Sunday morning Mark comes to Anthony while Anthony is busy, holding a hobbyist's aerobatic boomerang. "Dad, can I go to the park and play?" he asks.

As the weekend had been planned in advance Quinn was able to clear the majority of his schedule. Of course such things can never be one hundred percent for someone like Quinn so he says, "Can you hang on for just a little bit and I'll go with you. I'm not comfortable with you going to the park by yourself."

Mark nods, "Sure, Dad."

Quinn wraps up the bit of unexpected work before too long and then heads out to the park with Mark. "Unfortunately you're probably going to be a bit more of a target than a normal kid your age once I adopt you," as he gets ready to leave. As a subordinate comes rushing up Anthony shakes his head. "I asked Paxton to be on call for any emergencies like this," he says. "Go ahead and have him link with me if he needs to ask anything."

Mark waits for Anthony to be free and goes to the park with him, racing a little ahead and then coming back but never getting out of sight.

"I bought this boomerang at the TransMat terminal in London, Dad. I've never thrown one before. Do you think it will be hard to get it to come back to me?" Mark tells you on the way.

Anthony accompanies Mark to the park, unfortunately being a bit distracted by a semi-constant stream of calls that could probably be delegated. Having only theoretical experience as a Dad, however, Anthony elects to multitask. "Don't know," he tells Mark, "I've never tried one, but I think they make them so they are pretty easy to use."

Mark smiles and offers you the first throw when the two of you reach the park.

Quinn takes the boomerang. Like much of his life his knowledge of the boomerang is pretty much theoretical. Data he was able to download on the trip over to the park combined with his understanding of physics and engineering. He holds it with the blade forward and gives it a toss with a sharp flick to make it spin.

Mark wows as Anthony's first throw is a perfect circling flight that returns to Anthony's hand. "Oh, wow. That was awesome, Dad!" he exclaims in delight.

Anthony catches the boomerang, happy himself with the results. He gives the boomerang to Mark and then crouches down next to him to explain what he needs to do and why.

Mark tries to do as Anthony tells him. His results are pretty good for a complete novice. Although he is rather better co-ordinated then the average boy of course. His throws return about half the time. The other half of the time Mark is running off to collect the boomarang wherever it lands and racing back to try again.

As Mark goes running off to chase the boomerang once again Quinn gets another of the stream of calls he's been receiving. Once more he tries to multitask though he lets more and more of his attention focus on the phone call as time goes by.

After a while despite the distracting phone call Anthony realises that Mark isn't in sight. The boy went running off after the boomerang when it landed behind a large clump of trees in the park. Now Mark has been gone a few minutes and hasn't returned.

Meanwhile at a another location, Patrica comes running out of her room where she was sketching, "Mom! Mom! Ma! Ma!" she's shouting urgently.

Suzume looks up from her seat on the floor in the living room, "Is somethin the matter, Patti-chan?" Kotone, looks over from where she's sprawled on the couch, "Huh? Somethin' up Chibiko

Quinn says something decidedly impolitic once he realizes that Mark has been gone for more than a few moments. He almost kicks on the forcefield suit and takes to the air but realizes that could easily be an overreaction so instead he just takes off on foot to where he last saw Mark, calling his name.

Patrica rushes over to Kotone and Suzume, "Mark's been arrested. A policeman is taking him away in a police car." she tells them blurring the words together a little as she hurries to get the news across.

Kotone bolts to her feet. "What for?" Suzume scrambles to her feet as well, "Is he sure it's a real policeman?"

Hurrying through the trees in the direction Mark took Anthony bursts through into another grassy area of the park. Mark is nowhere to be seen.

Patrica says, "For fighting. Mark tried to tell the policeman that his Dad was just on the other side of some trees but the policeman didn't believe him when Mark said his Dad was Mr Quinn. The policeman said sure and his uncle is the Pope."

Kotone frowns, "What was he fightin' for?" Suzume pulls out her phone and calls the direct number Anthony had given them.

Patrica tells Kotone and Suzume, "Some older boys wanted to take Mark's boomerang."

Ok. Now this is getting more serious. Quinn has no idea if Mark's hearing is as good as the typical Wolfguard but it seems to be a reasonable guess that even if all his Wolfguard enhancements are fading his hearing is probably still better than normal. Given that he hasn't responded to Anthony's call he must either be too far away to hear or else unable to respond. Quinn's clothes ripple as they shift from the appearance of comfortable clothing into a more practical Quinntex body suit and he takes to the air to search the area.

Taking to the air and searching, Anthony fails to see anything out of the ordinary. Cars on the road running along this side of the park. a few strollers some distance away. It's a large park although this area is close to a road and thus not popular because of the traffic noise.

"Quinn!" Anthony snaps, not taking the time to examine the caller ID. He almost doesn't answer but if it's a kidnapper or perhaps Mark calling he realizes he should.

Suzume says, "Ah, Quinn-san, this is Doi Suzume. Patti-chan just told us that Mark has been arrested, apparently, for fighting with some older boys that tried to take his boomerang. I'll put us on speaker phone. There. Patti-chan, has the car started moving?""

Patrica nods, which Anthony won't see. "Yes, Ma, Mom. It's on the road going away from the park. The policeman said he's taking Mark to the police station and Mark will stay there until he's honest about who his Dad is."

Well, ok, that certainly puts a different spin on things. Immediately Quinn begins to search for any police cars that might be in the area. Given the short time duration he figures they probably haven't gotten very far from the park.

Suzume starts donning her Vajra armor.

When Anthony looks for a police car he sees one leaving the vicinity of the park and heading towards the Colonial Heights district.

Kotone says, "Patti-chan, did Mark see the number on the police car?""

Anthony changes direction as he turns to follow the car. "Can she tell me what he sees out the window?" Anthony asks. "I think I've got them but it would help me double check.:

Patrica nods. "I'll try to remember. It was... uh..." She reels off a car registration plate number.

Patrica hears Anthony, "I can see a building on the left. I'm just passing it now. It's got a brick wall and fancy iron gates. There's a name, Suncrest Mansion, on the wall near the gates.

Anthony looks at the area around the car to see if he can confirm that it is the correct one.

The police car Anthony has his eyes on is indeed passing just such a building.

Suzume, now in her armor, tunes into the police band to listen in.

With the identity of the car confirmed Anthony flies ahead of the vehicle, landing in front of it as it approaches a red light.

The police bands are as busy as ever. But there's no mention of Mark. Taking a boy in to the station isn't the kind of activity that generates much radio chatter.

The police car stops at the red light. Now he is at street level Anthony can see Mark in the rear seat of the car.

Anthony smiles and then walks around to the driver's side of the police car, motioning for the driver to roll down the window. "Do you know why I pulled you over?" he asks, his smile breaking into a wide grin as he gets the opportunity to ask a police officer that question.

Over the radio a shocked voice says, "Bejesus and the Holy Mother. Q has just landed in the street here."

The police officer is about to speak when from the rear seat of the car, "DAD! You're here!"

Patrica grins, "Dad's there." she tells Kotone and Suzume.

Anthony smiles and waves to Mark. "Yep. Now give me just a moment to talk with the officer," he says.

Suzume giggles. Kotone grins, "Serves the cop right."

The police officer shakes his head, "No, Mr Quinn. What's the problem." he answers while looking pretty shocked.

Quinn nods his head to Mark in the back seat of the cop car. "I'm afraid there's been a bit of confusion. When Mark was telling you that I'm his Dad he really was telling you the truth," he says. "I mean, the situation is a bit more complicated than that but for a nine year old it is a pretty fair summary."

Mark nods. And suddenly the Mark and Patrica look woebegone and depressed. "I got into trouble." Patrica says miserably. "I didn't mean to. Please, give me another chance. Don't send me back."

Patrica and Mark are close to tears.

The officer shakes his head, "He was telling the truth? By Jesus, I didn't believe him. He turns his head to look back, "Sorry kid. But..." He looks back at Anthony, "I never knew you had a child."

Suzume hugs Patricia, carefully, in her armor. Kotone kneels down and puts her arms around them both. "You didn't do anything wrong. Mark just got into a little trouble, that's all. When yer older, I'll tell about some the scraps I got into when I was a kid."

Anthony glances down the street as the light gets ready to change. "As I said, it's a little more complex than that, but how about we get out of the street so we can talk about it?" he asks.

Patrica hugs onto both her Mom's. "Really. You aren't going to send me back?" she asks, seeking assurance.

The officer nods, and driving forwards when the light turns green he pulls over and parks a little way ahead.

Kotone blinks, "Huh? Uh, Patti-chan, I don't know what sort of crazy standards Steel holds ya to, but, with us, yer allowed to make mistakes, be a brat, cause trouble, annoy us, walk in to our room at the wrong time." Suzume smiles, "You're allowed to be a child, Patti-chan. Our child."

Once the officer is parked Anthony explains a little bit better. "I'm not his father, biologically speaking," he says, "but I'm going to be adopting him and for the moment I am acting in Loco Parentis." As he talks his clothing ripples once more and shifts back to the t-shirt and jeans appearance. "I apologize for any confusion that was caused. I'm afraid I let myself become distracted and lost track of Mark while we were at the park. I'm still trying to get a handle on this parenting thing."

Patrica is crying after Kotone's words, no longer tears of misery but of happiness.

The officer nods. "You get used to it. I have three of my own and keeping an eye on them can be hard to do. Your lad was fighting. I didn't see the start of it, and when I approached the boys the other three took off. Your lad was the only one to stay put."

Patrica relays the conversation so Kotone and Suzume know what is happening.

Quinn nods and smiles to Mark. "He's quite responsible," he says. "While I can't say for certain he didn't start it I'd have to say that it's a pretty safe bet." He chuckles a little. "I kind of suspect that if he really didn't want to go with you you wouldn't have been able to get him to go along, but he knows that he shouldn't do things like that, right?"

Mark nods. "They tried to take my boomerang, Dad. I didn't hit any of them. I didn't want to risk hurting them. I just used throws. Uh.. I might have strained the wrist of the one who had the knife when I took it away from him." Mark admits.

Quinn arches an eyebrow. "One who had a knife?" he says. He looks to the officer then back to Mark. "Do you think you could give a description of the boy to the officer and perhaps have Patricia draw a sketch?"

The officer nods. "The other three boys were a lot older than your lad. Twelve or thirteen I'd say. I didn't see any knife though. Your lad was holding his own however. Where did he learn to fight like that?"

Mark nods, "Yes, Dad." Then he describes the three boys, their facial features, clothing, etc.."

Patrica asks her Moms, "Dad wants me to make a sketch of the boys who attacked Mark. Can I go get my sketchpad and pens?"

Quinn says, "His brothers and sisters. They all went to a sort of military academy together but that kind of lifestyle just doesn't seem to suit Mark that well. He's got a lot more interest in science and the like. However, he's still got a good respect for authority and quite a few skills he's picked up."

Kotone nods, "Of course!"

The officer nods. "If it had been somewhere local I would have tried to get my boys enrolled there. I can't imagine your lad started it. Not against three older boys. I wouldn't have been taking him into the station only, well, when he told me you were his Dad I just didn't believe him."

Patrica runs off to get her sketchpad. She draws quickly, not the finely detailed sketches she usually draws but somehow an essence of the three boys who attacked Mark sketched in just a few lines. Quick it may have been but the sketch has captured their likenesses.

Quinn smiles and nods to the officer. "Perfectly understandable," he says. "I'll have to make sure he's carrying a Pid so that he can just give me a quick call the next time a situation like this occurs. I'm a little more concerned about the boy with the knife though. I mean, if he was willing to use it on a nine-year old I would think that is a boy in serious need of some help."

The officer gets out of the car and walks around to open the rear door. "Out you get, lad. You're free to go now your Dad's here."

Mark scrambles out of the car and runs to hug Anthony. "I'm sorry." he says.

Anthony hugs Mark back and tousles his hair once more. "Nothing to be sorry about," he says. "Just confusion on the officer's part. This is mostly my fault. I should have kept a closer eye on you and given you a Pid as soon as you got here. Can you have Patricia email me the sketch of the boy with the knife so we can show him to the officer?"

Patrica asks her Moms, "Dad wants me to have the sketch emailed to him. Can you do it please, Mom. I don't have a PDA."

Suzume grins, "Sure." She uses her suit sensors to capture the image and send it to Quinn.

Mark says, "Mom is sending it, Dad. The boy who had the knife is the one in the middle."

As the image comes through Anthony shows it to the officer. "Do you recognize him?" he asks.

The officer nods, "That I do. A nasty little lad indeed. A knife now is it, Alberto Shapiro? We'll be having a word with you. Mr Quinn, will you be willing to have your lad testify in court?"

Anthony glances over to Mark. "I'm sure he is," he says, "though there might be legal complications, I'm not sure. He's not a US citizen yet and I'm not sure if the sketch would be considered admissible. The more important thing, I think, is to make sure you know to keep an eye out for him and if there's anything that can be done to correct his path it get done now rather than when it might be too late."

The officer shakes his head. "That one's been trouble since he first walked. I'm thinking it's well past too late for him. I would have recognized him if I'd gotten closer before the other boys ran away. Well, if there's a court case a detective will be in touch with you Mr Quinn. I'm sorry to have not believed you lad. Have a safe day now, Mr Quinn, lad."

Mark says, "Thank you, Sir."

Quinn sighs a little and nods. "I was afraid it would be something like that," Quinn says. "It's funny but if this happened closer to Harrisburg there might actually be more of a chance of helping someone like him. So many of them fall into these paths because of lack of opportunity and things like that, but out here when you encounter someone like that so often it just seems like there's something broken in them that can't be fixed. They've got all the opportunity and choices and they want to be this way. Anyway," He fishes out a business card which he passes to the police officer. "If there's anything else we can help you with please don't hesitate to call." He extends a hand to the police officer as well.

Patrica flips back a couple of pages in her sketchpad. Leaving it open at a sketch of Kotone and Suzume hand in hand in a school playground.

Suzume says, "It looks like things hae been resolved Quinn-san, so I'll let you go now." She hangs up and starts getting out of her armor again.

Kotone looks at the picture, "Heh. Cute."

The officer shakes Anthony's hand, then gets back in his car and starts to drive away, telling all his colleagues what just happened over the police radio.

Mark looks up at Anthony, "Dad, should I have just let them have the boomerang instead of fighting?" he asks.

As the police officer drives away Quinn smiles to Mark. "You did a really good job," he says to him. "Why don't we go and get some ice cream." He sighs at the boomerang question. "I wasn't there so I can't say," he tells Mark. "People are...complicated. There's every possibility it had nothing at all to do with the boomerang. He may have been looking for an excuse and if you just gave him the boomerang he would just have found another excuse." He thinks for a moment and then adds, "and even if he didn't, if you had given him the boomerang then perhaps he would have used the knife on the next person to stand up to him and that could have resulted in someone being hurt or killed and him being arrested for something much more serious."

Mark thinks over what Anthony said. Then focuses on the important bit. "Can I have a chocolate dip ice-cream, Dad, with a flake and sprinkles?"

Anthony nods to Mark. "Absolutely," he says with a smile. "Why don't you see if your Moms want to join us so I can fill them in on what happened?"

Patrica grins, "Dad's taking Mark for ice-cream. He says to ask if you want to join him."

Suzume smiles, "Of course! Let's go. I'll have Nazuka-san drive us there."

Kotone sighs, "I still can't get used to havin' a maid..."