"Death to Muties." A common phrase, even though the government had officially dropped the Mutant Registration Act.
The "world had been saved by mutants."
Pfft, like the common Homo sapiens really cared! Sure, people were beginning to accept muties, but, really, it was a change in feeling that was fairly slow in coming.
Just like racism, which never truly went away. The Ku Klux Klan still existed, after all.
The feelings of a society took time to change, and that was time Gailyn didn't want to spend waiting until her children, or even her children's children, were truly accepted.
Joey, her twin brother, and only remaining immediate family, stood glaring at the anti-mutant graffiti along side her, clenching and unclenching his enormous fists. The knuckles turning white, then back to normal, just to be clenched again, the blood retreating back once more from the surface.
"You think Gramma and Grampa Grey would take us in…?" Joey ventured hesitantly, with a hint of a Boston accent, waiting for his sister's opinion as she continued to glare at the anti-mutant graffiti on the concrete wall of the underpass, as well. Well over six feet tall, and still growing, Joey was also known as 'Tank', and weighed in at over 300 lbs of almost pure muscle. Gailyn, about 5'7", was known as Psi. Both had bright red hair, the color of flames, and brilliant green eyes, like looking right into an emerald.
The weather had gotten torrential, as the two had been hiking along the bike-path. Soaking wet, they had sought refuge in this underpass where the path intersected under the highway. The air damp and slightly cold, the occasional honk of horns and the constant hum of vehicles as they drove over them, totally oblivious of the twin mutants. At least it was summer, so, even though it was soaking wet out, it wasn't freezing.
"How can we? With Aunt Jean going ballistic like that, and mom getting killed like that…", rage consumed her at the memory of what had happened, the walls of the tunnel shaking from something other then late afternoon traffic "How the heck could they ever trust us? Mutants?" Gaylin shouted, also with a hint of the same Bostonian accent. She was angry at their situation, not at Joey. Which he understood, he just refused to back down.
"We have to go somewhere!" he retorted in kind. "They're our only remaining family. They have to at least let us stay for a little while! Enough to get on our own two, or, rather, four, feet!"
"Oh, yeah, keep us around so they can keep an eye on us? Make sure we don't kill anybody, or, Heaven forbid, destroy a building! We don't even know where they're staying while they're house gets rebuilt! How do you intend to find them?" cheeks a light pink in the twilight, Joey could see her jaw clenching as she ground her teeth in anxious habit.
"Well, you're a psi, a telekine, so-" he began.
"No!" she interrupted, taking deep breathes and rubbing her temples in an attempt to sooth away a dull headache, " It doesn't work that way! I have to concentrate just to keep the locals' thoughts out of my head, and whenever I do lose control, I hear so many voices I feel as if my brain will explode. How do you expect me to scan a few states without killing myself? It's just… I can't do it…" the frustration and anger at their situation dripped from every word she said. The dirt and condensation on the floor began to rise. The little droplets of water floating in mid air like some pathetic joke of a fog.
"Calm down, Gail." Joey chided in a soft tone as he went and sat on one of the bench-like cement outcroppings at the bottom of each of the tunnel walls. Only a couple feet high, Joey looked as if her were sitting in a kiddy chair, he looked so awkward. "It was just a thought. I didn't mean to make you mad." His frustration didn't show in his tone, but his eyes spoke volumes. He was the calm one; he had become the anchor to his twin's mind. "Take a deep breath, ok?" She complied, closing her eyes as she centered herself.
"Sorry…" she apologized sheepishly. Her temper seemed to be getting the best of her lately. "It's just so hard, you know? Keeping out all these thoughts, staying out of people heads. I mean," she paused, thinking of the right words to describe it. "I can hardly keep myself from prying into other peoples' minds. It's more keeping myself out, then keeping them out, you know?"
Joey nodded silently. "I get ya, I get ya," he whispered, grinning at her weakly, before sighing loudly. "We could try that school Aunt Jean worked at…" he suggested.
A sudden cool, swift breeze blew through the damp, dark tunnel, causing Gailyn and Joey to look up, almost expecting to see their aunt's former colleague, Storm, but seeing nothing but the darkness of the trail ahead. Gail could hardly keep herself from comparing the darkness on the trail beyond of the tunnel, to the seeming darkness ahead of them on the paths of their lives.
Just nodding in agreement, Joey sat down on the damp asphalt. "So…?
"So what?"
"You know… Xavier's school?"
"Oh… The so called 'school for gifted youngsters'?" she scoffed with a sneer. "Sounds like a school for retarded kids."
"Come on, Gail! We have to go somewhere!" Joey stood, towering over his twin, yelling right in her face. "Do you have any better ideas?" he asked in a softer, almost pleading, tone, his eyes softening. For a mountain made of muscle, he really was a caring guy, with amazing self-control.
Avoiding looking at him, she walked to the other wall before turning to face him with a huge sigh. "No, I guess I don't." she admitted grudgingly, clenching her teeth in anger at her own pride, taking deep breathes while counting to ten over and over again, she relaxed, mind and body. In doing so, her mind felt like it was reaching out.
While scanning the area, more fore fun then security, she noticed a presence, a very close presence other then her and her brother.
Joey could tell when she was using her telepathy, because she always seemed to tilt her head to the right, as if she were listening to something only she could hear.
Gailyn's mind barely brushed the other's when she was attacked. It was as if the other person had punched the side of her skull. Next thing she knew, her twin was kneeling beside her. Shouting her name franticly, she dumbly realized. What was wrong with her? Sounded like Joey was at the other end of a tunnel… and getting farther and farther away, his voice echoing off of the corners of her mind, the only light at the end of that tunnel where her brother was standing.
Darkness… Darkness… Her brother and the light had fled, or that was the feeling Gail was getting. Just like a dream, where you have knowledge of your situation from no prior experience. Hmmm, was this what death was like…? She always thought she'd see her parents in heaven. Unless this was-
"Hell?" offered a disembodied voice.
Gailyn would have jumped in surprise, but she was floating in oblivion. All she ended up doing was twitching in a rather amusing way. Or, at least the voice thought is was funny since it started to laugh. No… Not it… She… A familiar female voice too.
"Who are y-" overcome by a sudden feeling that something large was looming over her, licking it's lips and ready to swallow her whole, she shut her mouth tight, afraid of the answer.
"Who am I?" the voice seemed to be chuckling, amused. They were toying with her! Frowning, Gail nodded curtly. "You should full well know who I am, Gaily." The voice gave the impression of disappointment.
Eyes narrowing farther, she tried to place the voice. There was really only one person that came to mind that this other lady could be… but… she died…
"There you go…", a figure, the voice coming from them, now, instead of right in her ear. As the person approached, it was as if they were walking towards a campfire, they were constantly getting brighter, coming closer, out of the darkness.
Details became clearer. Female. Average height. Red… hair… Green… eyes…
"Auntie?" Gailyn squeaked, eyes wide, looking as if she just saw a ghost. Then again… Auntie Jean was supposed to be dead! She was seeing a ghost!
"Yes." Her aunt said meekly, whether replying to Gailyn's word or thoughts, or even both, she wasn't sure.
Jean came within a few feet of her niece before coming to a stop. Gailyn seemed to be a younger carbon copy of her aunt. Same eyes, same hair, same nose, mouth, ears, the list went on. They were identical, barring the obvious age difference.
Another difference was that Jean seemed to be standing on a solid surface, while Gailyn… no gravity was having any effect on her. She was just floating there. Gailyn grumbled as she turned in place, like a doughnut on display, asking to be bought by that lucky early morning trafficker.
Smiling that smile that told Gailyn she was about to be taught a lesson from an experienced professor, Jean looked down at the oblivion she seemed to be standing firmly on. "Just imagine it in your mind, solid ground, and it will be. Your mutation is in your mind. Your only limit is your imagination and your will to make it so."
Scowling slightly at her feet, she thought to herself, touch the ground, darn it! She then slammed to the ground. "Ouch! My tailbone!" she complained, rubbing her lower back, like a child that had just gotten a spanking, as she stood up. Equal in height to her aunt, they looked more like time warped mirror images then anything else.
"So… Auntie Jean… Aren't you, like…?"
"Dead?"
"Yeah…" Gailyn's eyebrow quirked, "How does that work again? You die and… go to heaven or whatever?" What else could you ask the walking dead?
Dr. Grey laughed. "I'm more like the floating dead then the walking dead, Gaily."
"Right…" Wha? "I heard… stories…" she hinted before feeling sudden fluttering sensation, like a moth flying in then out of her head, Gailyn guessed that was what it was like to have your mind read.
"Kind of." Jean responded to the girl's thoughts. "You're a psi, so, you're more mentally aware then, say, a normal person. Joey, though, could probably recognize being scanned, though."
"Really?" she wanted to know more. "How come?" Gailyn hadn't even realized her eyes had gone wide with fascination. That was good. Better to feel intrigued by your mutation then be afraid of it.
"Well, if you're scanned enough, or are familiar enough with the scanner, your subconscious gets used to it, familiar with the feeling. Do you get what I'm saying?" she asked her niece, causing her to nod and grin.
"That's kinda cool." She whispered in fascination, her eyes closed, her mind going over the sensation of being 'read'. She was almost caught up in the moment before her sense caught up with her instead. Remembering where she was, she opened one eye, gazing at her Aunt warily. "So… the whole dead thing… You are dead, right?"
Jean laughed lightly, sadly. "Yes. I am dead. In body."
"You're on drugs." Her niece responded, opening her other eye as her eyebrows began to form a slight scowl, which earned a peeved glare from Jean.
"Are you just going to give me attitude, or are you going to listen?" she sounded every bit the teacher she once was.
Gailyn grinned at the response, motioning for her aunt to go on.
"Alright. So, when I died at Alkali Lake, I really did die… but something strange happened. The Phoenix somehow brought me back together again." Shaking her head as if she could hardly believe this bit of news herself, she went on; "It took a long time before I was fully regenerated, and when I was whole, my subconscious began reaching out to Scott…" a tear fell down her cheek, and why not? Even Gailyn heard that her aunt's fiancé had somehow died, and that Jean was somehow involved. "Well… he came to me… woke me up… and I…" She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, causing tears to fall down both sides of her face, trying to regain her composure. As long as Gailyn had known her, she had always been that way, always in control. This was the first time she had actually seen her… lose that façade.
"And you, what? Tickled him to death?" Gailyn prodded, knowing it was harsh, thinking it was partly true, yet wanting answers.
"No… yes… sort of… I kind of… tore him apart…" Jean looked as if she desperately wanted to crawl into a hole and vanish. Gailyn was surprised that she didn't just wink out right there.
" You 'tore him apart'? Like…"
"With my powers…it was as if every single molecule in his body had somehow become loose, and he… poofed." Jean still hadn't opened her eyes. If anything, they were shut even tighter then before.
"He… poofed… That's very… How do you say, um, pleasant?" Inside, Gailyn was shocked. The images Jean was transmitting certainly could be described as Scott Summers going… poof… He seemed to have exploded into a cloud of multi-colored dust. She then saw images of her aunt making out with a hairy, hot guy that looked very animalistic. Wow! "Auntie, I must say, you got good taste!"
Even with tears streaking her face, Gailyn was able to make her smile, even laugh a little, as she lightly bonked Gailyn on the side of the head with her fist. "Get your mind out of the gutter, Gaily."
Giggling, Gailyn rubbed her head where she had been 'hit'. "Why? You seem perfectly content in the gutter!" she yelped as Jean telekinetically bonked her on the head again.
This was how they had been before Gailyn's dad died. Before She pushed all but her brother away. She had tried to push Joey away… but he stood by her, even when she didn't want him there. Only later on did she realize that… she had wanted him with her from the start, she just didn't want to admit that she needed anybody. Not after her dad 'leaving' like that. She had been six years old, for crying out loud, how else could she understand her dad suddenly not coming home one day? Never coming home again…?
"Gailyn!"
It took her a moment to realize it was Joey's voice she was hearing. Frowning in confusion, she turned a question eye to her Aunt, who just shrugged in response. "You were thinking about him, so your mind probably subconsciously reached out to him. If that's not the answer, then I have no idea."
Nodding, Gailyn closed her eyes, concentrating on that mental link she had with her brother. "Joey?"
ΨGailyn had seemed to be hearing something before she suddenly collapsed. With surprising speed, even with his bulk, he caught her before she hit the ground. "Gailyn?" he cried out. He gently laid her down on the wet ground. Her eyes were closed, her breathing seemed normal, same with her pulse. He felt as if his heart would stop. "No… No! Gailyn! Come on Sis! Wake up!"
Gently picking her up, he cradled her to his hulking chest. "Wake up… come on, wake up…" He found his eyes watering, and, at the rate that the tears were falling he couldn't blame it on something in his eye. "No, come on! Gailyn! You're all I have left! Come on! Wake up!" He put her somewhat at arms length so he could slap her cheeks, in attempts to wake her, but that failed.
All he could think to do was cradle her to him, as he rocked back and forth, becoming increasingly more frantic by the second. After a minute or so, he finally remembered his own advice. Taking deep breathes, he thought of a way that might bring her back.
So, with body and mind, he tried calling out to her, "Gailyn!"
Her brows knit together, as if confused, but her eyes didn't open. "Joey?" joy swept through him like a tsunami, cleansing away the panic abruptly and thoroughly.
"Hahaha, yeah." He said softly; more tear springing forth, but this time out of relief. "What happened?" he asked, still holding his sister close, as if she might slip away from him… just like their parents.
Ψ"Hahaha, yeah." Gailyn heard Joey say softly, but in this black oblivion his words seemed to echo.
"Alright, Gailyn, I need to talk to you." Jean said, wiping the tears from her face in a very dignified manner.
"Just a sec Joey. I'll be right there.
"Speak your piece, Auntie." Gailyn replied, her aunt's tone told her this was very serious.
Jean took a deep breath, as if she were preparing herself. "I need a host." All that did was earn an incredulous stare from the younger redhead.
"A… host…? What are you talking about? Maybe you really are on drugs, Auntie."
"Gaily, I'm serious. As I already told you, I'm 'more like the floating dead'. That's because I'm kind of… a wandering spirit…" Jean laid her hand across her forehead, eyes closed, as if she were speaking words she never thought she would ever speak in her entire life, lines that were only in books and movies.
"And… you need a host?" Gailyn wanted to help, but past experiences told her to be cautious. "And, you came to me… cause you want me to be your host?"
Jean just nodded.
"Hmmm, right…" biting her lower lip, she began walking around the oblivion, never venturing more then a few yards from where Jean stood. "And…? What does being a 'host' entail?" Gailyn seemed to be interrogating Ms. Grey as she started walking in slow circles around her. Jean kept her eyes on her niece at all times.
"I'm not sure, really. I've never heard of situations like this… although Xavier's is similar, it's not the same." Gailyn paused in place, her blank, confused face begging Jean to elaborate. "Well, while wandering, I came across Professor Xavier's spirit. He seemed a little lost. He said he was looking for Muir Island, looking for Moira McTaggert. Said there was a body without higher brain functions. Said he thought of a way to use the body." Gailyn began walking again, eyes on her aunt at all times.
"So, using the his ideas, I went in search of a host for myself… then I remembered you. You and I look almost exactly alike, and we're family, so…"
Gailyn nodded. "You figured I was your best bet?"
"Yes." Jean admitted, feeling like she was confessing to a crime, about to be sentenced to some kind of death sentence. Which didn't really make sense since she was already 'dead', but oh well. "Also, it would be less of a shock for me to look in the mirror and see your face. After all, mom always said we looked more like twins then you and Joey." Both laughed at that, because it was true. Gramma Grey was so cool. Plus, she made the best lasagna in the world!
"Y'know what Auntie Jean?" Gailyn asked with a mischievous grin.
"What?" she didn't like that look on her niece's face.
"If I become your host… will you be able to help me on tests in school, if I ever go back?" Gailyn was full out smiling from ear to ear now, waiting expectantly for an answer, eyes practically sparkling.
Laughing whole-heartedly, Jean bonks her on the tops of the head before grabbing her in a chokehold, giving her a playful noogie. "Ah! My scalp!" Gailyn squealed. "Auntie! Stop! Ah!"
"Wrong relative!" Jean grinned, laughing at her niece's pleas.
"Uncle! Uncle!" Gailyn squealed instead. Jean let go, both laughing.
"I'm sorry," more laughing. "But you'd have to do those on your own, haha, I'll help you study, though." Smiling, she waited for Gailyn's answer.
The younger redhead rubbed her chin thoughtfully with one hand, while rubbing her sore scalp with the other, chewing on her lower lip. "This is a very important decision, you realize." Said jokingly, even though she was thinking very seriously. She could say no… Then Auntie Jean would have to go find a different body. But… What if she were in Jean's place? She'd probably want a family member, too… For one, it was somebody she knew. It wouldn't be just some stranger, so getting used to the host would be easier. Plus, the face in the mirror really did count. She knew her aunt took pride in how she looked. After all, Gailyn herself was somewhat proud of her appearance, though she often said otherwise.
Jean waited, holding her mental breath as she heard her niece's thoughts. The girl was being a lot more understanding then she would have given the teen credit for. The attitude was pretty much self-defense, she was afraid of people getting too close to her… That spoke volumes for Joey, seeing as how he was so close to her.
"Ok, I've come to my decision." Gailyn announced. "I… will… not…"
Jean felt like crying.
"…let you go without a body." Gailyn finished, her smile tense, trying to keep the atmosphere light and humorous. This wasn't any easy thing for her, as Jean could full well see and read in her mind. "So, how does this work? Is there some type of ceremony or whatever?" Fear began twisting at her gut. What did she get herself into?
ΨJoey continued to cradle his sister. She had sounded more serious then usual when she had told him she would be right back. "Hurry up, Gailyn." He muttered. Night had fallen, and the moon rose, almost full.
Ψ"Hurry up, Gailyn." Joey words echoed.
"You heard the man. Chop, chop." Gailyn made a karate chop action, hitting the palm of her other hand, emphasizing each chop. Jean nodded gravely in response.
ΨBecoming increasingly impatient, Joey had begun tapping his feet to rhythms only he could hear. He had been in a band once. Lead singer, in fact. A pretty darn good one, too. If he did say so, himself.
The trouble came when some guy named William Stryker somehow gained the technology to target mutants about three years ago or so. That had been what had awakened Joey's mutation…
Shunning that memory to the back of his mind, he tried to think of happier thoughts. Or, he had been trying to when his sister suddenly began convulsing in his arms, as if she were having a wicked bad seizure.
Caught by surprise, all Joey could do was stare as his sister's mouth open in a silent scream. It was when her eyes shot open that Joey thought he had lost his grip on his sanity. Gailyn's eyes seemed to be on fire, staring straight ahead, seeing nothing. The walls of the tunnel all around began shaking, bits of cement falling all around them.
The highway had, luckily, become devoid of cars, so nobody noticed when a large crack marred the asphalt road from one end of the bridge to the other, many other small cracks fanned out from it.
Then, silence.
Joey hadn't even noticed that he had closed his eyes and covered his head with both arms, sheltering himself from the falling ceiling. Panicked, he looked around for his sister, whom he found standing a few feet away, her back to him.
"Gaily…" He said softly, trying to get her attention. A slight breeze blew through the tunnel, ruffling both kids' hair. Dust and debris fell from his shoulders as he carefully climbed to his feet. "Gaily." This time catching her attention, she turned her head to the side, gazing at him with fiery eyes.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know." She said sadly, eyes furrowed in a slight scowl, frowning tightly.
"Didn't know what?" Joey was beginning to get a bad vibe, here. She wasn't acting normal… and her eyes never blazed like that before.
"Joey… Gailyn's unconscious. I didn't know this would take such a toll on her." the girl explained.
"Why are you talking in the third-person?" What the heck is goin' on here?
"Allow me to explain. This may take a bit." She said, her eyes dying back down to their normal shade of green.
"Alright… I'm listening…"
Ψ"So… Xavier's alive?" Joey could hardly believe his ears; he had heard the geezer had croaked.
"Yes." Answered Jean.
"And… You're Auntie… and you're… possessing my sister? Why does this sound like some B-Rate sci-fi movie?" Joey's voice went low, imitating the movie trailer voice, "His sister possessed by his undead aunt, the world in peril! What will our hero do?"
"Joey, this is serious!" Jean scowled.
"I know it is! I'm just trying to use humor so I can cope for the time being, alright!" Jean didn't seem to be listening, though. Her head was slightly tilted, as if she were hearing something he couldn't
"Great." He was really losing it. "You lecture me, then stop listening. Do you teach all your classes this way?"
Shaking her head, Gailyn frowned at Joey in confusion. "I never taught any classes… I'm a freakin' teenager, gosh!" she said with a grin.
"Gailyn…?" her twin asked cautiously. "Is that you?" That earned a grin from her.
"Yeah, I'm back. And now we're schizophrenic! Isn't that wonderful?" Gail squealed sarcastically. Ugh, when life gives you lemons, just shut up and eat your lemons, gosh darn it!