The X-Project

Matt sits down with Kevin to go over the details to give him a legal identity. It goes about as well as expected.



The end of the year was always a mad rush of deadlines, holidays and things to do, but that didn't mean the work stopped or that mutants in distress stopped showing up at Xavier's. So Matt had asked for a rain check with Foggy in order to meet with their newest resident. Hearing his heartbeat out near the trees, he stopped a few feet away. "Kevin?" he asked, "I'm Matt. Mind if I join you?"

Kevin turned to stare at the other man, head cocked to the side like a confused dog. This was another new face. How many faces could there possibly be?

“Okay.”

Taking a seat nearby, he set out his phone to record, but didn't turn it on yet. "I understand you're new to... well, everything. Mind if I explain why I'm here? And you're welcome to ask me any questions at any time."

“A guess.” Kevin said, anxiety twitching along the edges of his mind. Everyone wanted him to ask questions. How was he supposed to know what to ask?

"I'm a lawyer and I specifically work with Xavier's in a variety of ways. In your case, I'm going to make you exist legally, which unfortunately means a lot of questions. I'm going to record our conversation so I don't miss anything. I'm also blind," he didn't want to assume Kevin didn't understand, but he knew Kevin had a very limited framework as well.

"Wit's a lawyer? Also wit's blind?" Kevin asked. These questions at least seemed easy. It was much easier to ask when other people said words first.

And this was why Matt canceled his night out with Foggy. It was fine, he understood. Taking his glasses off, Matt let Kevin see his eyes and how they didn't really track. "'Blind' means I can't see," he explained, "I use my powers to compensate. That's why I'm going to record things, so I can play it back later and listen to it. And a lawyer is a person who has studied the law and interprets it, knows how to navigate the legal system and anything else pertaining to our government. In this case, you don't have anything that makes you exist in the legal system, a birth certificate, a government ID, etc. I'm going to work to get you those, so if you'd like to learn how to drive, attend school, get a job, or a bank account, or whatever, you can."

Kevin frowned, face twisted up in almost offended confusion. "Laws.....those put people in prisons aye? The fuck dae a want wae those?"

"Some laws... yes," Matt allowed, "but not all. If you drive a car without a license and you're caught, then you are breaking a law and would face the consequences. Which could mean jail, but there are other ones as well. What I'm trying to do is prevent you from breaking those laws unintentionally. No one wants you in prison."

"Well that's shite." Kevin grumbled. Wasn't the threat of a prison just as damning? It made an imaginary prison in the head- do this or you go here. "Wit's ye're questions?"

Activating the recording function on his phone Matt began. "Firstly. You were born in Scotland. Do you want citizenship in Scotland or here?" He wasn't at all an expert on the laws in the UK or Scotland, but he could get a forged birth certificate anywhere with the resources at his disposal.

"Scotland." Kevin said immediately. As if that were any question. The moors were where he'd first tasted fresh air, where he'd first seen the sun, experienced the salty ocean spray- his first moment of freedom. There were too many rules here. Why wasn't it enough that he just be good?

"Do you know your parents, where you were born and when?" Matt was fully ready to falsify any information required, but the less lying Kevin had to do, the easier things were to remember.

"That cunt Moira and the bastard Joe." Kevin spat, venom in the names. "I was at Muir. I don' ken what time is."

"Months, days years?" Matt asked, clarifying. He'd get someone to help determine Kevin's age and give him a birthdate. "Okay. You can read?"

Kevin shrugged, and then remembered that Matt couldn't see. He kind of knew what that felt like.

"I don' ken what those are." He said. "And a cannae read."

Okay then. He reached over, turning off the recorder. Matt could tell from Kevin's heart beat and pulse that this wasn't a conversation that he was enjoying and he wasn't here to pick at wounds or cause new ones. "Thanks, you've been a help. I'll see if I can find your birthdate and if not, I'll get you one. Any more questions for me? Anything you need?"

"'M fine." Kevin said, thankful this was over. "Davey's got me. I have a friend now."

Who was Davey? "I'm glad," he said, meaning it. "Hopefully, we can be friends, too."