AN: Well finally I make it to post something on here, its been far too long. I've had a lot on my plate for a very long time and despite meaning to get this done sooner it just wasn't happening for me. My life could literally be a TV series or possibly a soap opera haven't figured out which yet to be honest. Any way, enjoy this is one of two one shot fics that will lead into the sequel the Shadows of War. Later and enjoy!
Special Note: If you havent read Knight's Calling this one shot will make absolutely no sense to you whatsoever most likely. OK now you can enjoy.
About four weeks had passed since the four formally captured members of the Brotherhood had been rescued as Charles Xavier looked over some last minute updates. Every two weeks or so the man would fly out to Muir Island and meet with Moira to check on the status of the four and what had happened to them. It was unusual for him to fiddle with his hands but the last communication had reported some good news, the four were finally beginning to wake up so to speak. Rolling his way down a hallway he smiled as Moira waved to him.
"Charles, you came at a good time, they are doing really well today. I was worried that it would be a little too much stress to see you in person so I hope you don't mind observing from a distance." Moira spoke concern lacing her voice because she didn't want anything to affect their progress.
"Of course Moira, you're the best in your field so I'll follow your lead on this. Let's start with the one that I was concerned the most with and that would be Wanda." Charles replied both starting to move towards the first of the isolationist rooms.
The four individuals had been placed in four different rooms each with what could amount to being a device designed by Forge to inhibit their powers. Wanda's room was at the tail end of the hallway they were currently moving through mostly to keep her separated from others in case Forge's device failed and she went on a rampage. Moira stopped at a door next to Wanda's room opening it and motioning for the Professor to go inside.
"I'll give you the status update on her first and then well I'll let you look at her with your own eyes. You should know however that the update will probably have some areas that you will find less then appealing." Moira started her words causing his stomach to actually become unsettled. "She was on the largest amounts of drugs and we've made progress removing those from her system. In doing so she's started to make some progress but not much I'm afraid in many areas. Physically speaking she's in excellent shape but mentally is another story, I don't know what happened to her but she won't let any men near her."
Charles could feel his eyes narrowing in anger before he spoke, "That is normally a sign of a traumatic experience with a male that occurs frequently in rape victims. I see that would explain the presence of birth control drugs, they didn't want her to become pregnant."
"Yes, I'm afraid that your conclusion is probably correct which means she has a lot more healing to do then the others. I'm going to try some counseling with her soon but first I have to deal with the nightmares that she seems to be having about the experiences. It seems her memory is beginning to return now that the drugs have left her system completely." Moira commented the whole situation made her slightly queasy when she thought about what the young woman must have gone through.
"Do you have her on any drugs right now that are helping with the situation?" Charles asked trying to figure out the best way he could help them.
"Honestly right now we have her on anti depressants, birth control to help with her cycle, and finally some sleeping medicine to make sure she actually sleeps at night. Making sure they sleep has been a real problem, if we don't well let's just say it isn't a pleasant night for anyone involved. Here there's something I want you to see." Moira answered a sad tone in her voice when she thought about the problems her four unique patients had at the moment.
Moira pressed a few buttons the monitor flickering to life as it showed a picture of Wanda with a buzz cut on the screen. She was sleepy peacefully on a soft bed in a hospital gown while the camera zoomed in on her face showing the blank expression on her face. She shut the camera down quickly as Wanda turned over to enjoy the most peace she got at any time during her captivity. Moira turned on the speaker to the room so the two could listen to the words that Wanda seemed to be mumbling.
"No get away from, please…" Wanda whimpered tears starting to come down her face before she started to talk again. "I don't want it; I'm scared, someone help me. Why is this happening to me?"
"My god it's that bad at night, I'll look into adding some mental shields to try and block some of the memories until they are ready for them. I can't block the memory permanently but I've done it before in some dire circumstances. One thing is bothering me, what happened to her hair, it's a little disconcerting to see that." Charles commented as the women seemed to sigh as Wanda continued her whimpering.
"Damn you why won't you leave me alone…I'm going too. Why, why won't my powers work? Why can't I send you away? Damn you to hell!" Wanda screamed finally jumping out of her bed sweat and tears pouring down her face.
Moira bowed her head slightly before speaking, "She had an episode about a week or so ago that resulted in her attempting to pull out her hair. We had to sedate her and then well we had to give her a hair cut until we figured out what was going on. It wasn't done lightly I assure you of that. We should move on to Lance, he's the next worse one when you compared them all. Before that though one minute while I have one my assistants help Wanda back to sleep."
Pressing a page button a small woman entered the room carefully approaching the distraught Wanda. Handing her a couple of pills, Wanda gratefully took the two pills swallowing them without hesitation. As Wanda went back to her bed the woman watched her carefully before leaving the room as well.
"I'm concerned that Wanda took those pills so easily, it could be…" Charles started when Moira cut him off.
"Yes I know, but we have had some time to build up trust and she trusts the female staff to an extent now. Come along Charles, we have three others to see before we are done here tonight." Moira interrupted the whole situation angered her greatly.
Moira sighed dejected before turning off the speaker and motioning for Charles to follow her. The two traveled for a few minutes in the opposite direction eventually ending up in front of a metal door. Sliding a key card through a device and punching in her code, the door slid open revealing another monitoring room, this one having one difference with a computer in the corner monitoring for any earthquakes. Pressing a few buttons a picture of Lance appeared he seemed paler and thin compared to the young man the Professor had met in the past.
"He doesn't look well Moira, what's happening to him?" Charles asked rubbing his forehead as he tried to predict the problem.
"Charles, this boy is close to being in worse shape then Wanda. Apparently he was tortured badly and I do mean badly he'll start screaming for no reason whatsoever at least to us any way. His mind is still literally recovering from everything and we try to keep him reasonably sedated. As soon as I feel he's ready, we're going to begin sessions with a counselor and psychologist." Moira responded tapping a few buttons to show him some past data recorded about his mental activities.
"Hmm I can see how this increased mental activity could cause problems, but how does this relate to his physical state." Charles stated wondering what the connection between the two.
"That is an easy thing to answer I'm afraid, but first he is making some progress. Those photos that your student Kitty left have done wonders to help him recover in some areas. He no longer screams out that people are dead and I've seen glimmers of his old self starting to shine through. Not much yet but in a few months he might be ready for visitors." Moira started her words full of hope before she handed him some pictures that were on the desk. "As for the pale and thin body we've had some problems at first getting him to eat so we had to put him on an IV for the first week or so. We had to be careful when he started eating for himself again because he tried to stab some of my staff with plastic forks. He's doing better now however, so we're hoping that he'll regain some strength here soon."
"Was he that bad when he arrived here, I know that his condition wasn't the best during the trip but still I find this so hard to swallow?" Charles asked his mind focused solely on the concern he was feeling for Lance's well being.
Moira seemed to rub her forehead before responding, "Well after he got here it's been a real challenge just to get him to do anything. He's afraid of almost everyone even me, he hides in his room holding his knees and shaking back and forth like a scared child. Charles, this kind of thing you couldn't have seen until well after the drugs he was on worn off."
Charles Xavier couldn't help but shake his head as he looked at some photographs that had been taken while treating the young man. There was even a rather large and clearly present scar on his chest that had been photographed which no doubt had occurred when Lance had been captured or during his captivity. It was disturbing to see all of the pictures as he finally shook his head and handed her the pictures. There was only so much a person could take as he turned his wheelchair around to follow her.
"Yes many of my older students have been asking to visit them, but I didn't think it was wise to allow them right now. For the time being I have asked that they write letters and send pictures then later on we can move on to things like phone calls and finally personal visits." Charles spoke as he remembered a conversation he had with most of the students about the situation.
Moira merely nodded as she handed him a file on Lance before speaking, "Yes in time that would be wonderful Charles, but right now they have a long road ahead of them. They all have such traumatic experiences to work though. Right now we're having a hard enough time getting them to speak normally; they really don't talk very much."
The two continued moving down the hall as they finally came to a stop in front of a much larger steel door. Motioning to the left, Moira guided him into another monitoring room. This one however had a lot of equipment inside monitoring all kinds of vitals and statistics as computers beeped and made their latest recordings. Pressing a few buttons a rather large and imposing picture of Fred Dukes aka Blob appeared on the screen.
"Is he in bad shape Moira? This is quite a lot of equipment just to look after him." Xavier asked his mind wondering about the situation and concerned it could be worse.
"Compared to the other two no he isn't nearly in the situation that they are. Fact is that he and Toad as your students call him are two of the more stable ones here. However, the drugs that he was placed on have caused an unexpected side affect. Apparently this Master wasn't considering how his mutation could possibly affect the drugs." Moira started handing Charles another chart to look at before she continued. "The drugs and their combination of them have caused some irregular heartbeats and a murmur to develop. Fortunately thanks to the latest in medical technology and treatment we don't see a problem with him living a normal life or at least as normal as we think he is going to have. We're working on finding the best treatment program for him as we speak, we have to be careful or it could result in worsening the situation."
"I see this means that the Master considered them nothing more then tools to be used for his gain. He only valued them as such and didn't consider researching more into the health item because he considered them expendable." Charles solemnly replied his voice taking a rather sad tone.
"I'm afraid you're probably right Charles, mentally speaking though he's made the most progress. I've actually managed to start counseling sessions with him and we are making some progress in dealing with what happened. We've been taking it slow though and I've only just brushed the surface of what we really need to talk about. Mostly I ask him simple questions and I get simple answers." Moira spoke her voice remaining hopefully optimistic about the situation.
The two took a look at the various monitors to see that not only Blob was awake but he was walking around the room seemingly to get some exercise. While they carefully monitored what food he ate a few plates of some rather healthy foods like broccoli, carrots and other fruits and vegetables remained on a cart close by. As Charles recognized some of the weight the young man had lost, he took a seat by the food and carefully started to eat his eyes darting back and forth from the door to the food and back again.
"He seems rather cautious when eating like an animal that is taking a drink and is worried about becoming someone's prey." Charles commented noticing the animal like reaction the young man was having towards the food.
"Yes, in his case we believed that food deprivation was also used to condition him since he has such a deep attachment to it. They would probably put food in front of him and right when he was about to take a bite or get another take it away. That would make him constantly paranoid about people coming to take his food away, so we don't enter the room while he's eating to put him at ease. He also seems to have a bad reaction to men in uniforms; I wish I knew everything that happened to them it might make treating them easier." Moira retorted her answer concise and voicing her opinion of what she believed to be the truth about the young man.
Charles took one last glimpse of the young man before speaking, "We are still making our way through all of the data that Alan managed to secure for us. It's had a lot of data and information on them about not only their medical issues but what also occurred to them, I'll be sure to pass all of it along to you as we get more of it done. He was rather meticulous in keeping the data but Kitty and Hank are spending all the free time they can on getting it done as soon as possible and we have had some help from time to time from Leah sending us emails with information."
"I see, I suppose I should thank Alan and the rest of them, all of this information have made things a little easier on us. Still we can talk about this later; there is still one last person I want you to see." Moira replied opening the door as the two started to walk down the hallway and took a right.
"Moira, this place is almost like a maze why do you have it built this way?" Charles asked a small smile on his face as he was trying to be more positive about things.
"Ah it's built like this in case something happens and someone either tries to break in or we have a patient attempt an escape. It makes them easier to track down in such a confusing mess of hallways and thanks to the improvements in our security system we can actually find them much easier." Moira replied the two moving down a hallway and then taking a few different turns into the twisting labyrinth that was Moira's facility.
Taking another left and what seemed to be quickly followed by a right ended up in one last monitoring room. Moira rubbed her forehead slightly before pressing a few buttons and brining up the last patient for the day. As the picture on the screen appeared the Professor couldn't help but notice how thin and lean the young man appeared to me. Much more so then what he was in the past and what also seemed apparent was the fact that he actually seemed to be well clean.
"Well I have to say based on what you told me about their past I thought this one's physical condition might be a problem. That being said though I think he was forced to keep himself clean and in a neat manner which meant he didn't have a choice but to shower and keep himself groomed." Moira started already figuring out what her friend was thinking. "Otherwise the torture used on him wasn't as strong as the others and I think he already had withdrawn his personality as a survival mechanism. His will appeared to be easily broken but I think it's more likely that he saw giving up as a way to survive until he could find a way out."
"I see so out of all four of them he's the one in the best shape." Charles commented while Moira let out another deep sigh.
"Yes, but its not that simple. He has such horrible memories that well it would almost be comparable to the ones returning soldiers have when they arrive home from the battlefield. Unlike the others, he reacts to every sound and if it's loud enough he becomes easily frightened and reacts rather angrily. One of my staff has a broken arm to prove it, but to be honest I don't see him having as long as a road to recovery as the others."
"That's good he also looks rather healthy and well taken care of compared to the others. I have to wonder if that's because he complied so easily with the Master or if it was something else that made him receive better treatment." Charles replied a sudden beeping on a palm pilot he had on him drawing away his attention.
Moira watched as her old friend pulled out the black device and quickly read over his latest email message. It was unusual for the man to actually keep something like that on him, so she watched in fascination as his eyes read the message until he finally closed the device and put it back into its rightful spot on his wheelchair.
"Something wrong Charles?" Moira asked his face seemed to have taken on a pale and much fainter look then it had earlier in the day.
He nodded once before answering, "Yes, I'm afraid that something is terribly wrong with Tessa and unfortunately the person that is supposed to help her has yet to find an opening to do so. He's been delayed by many things, but I was hoping for a much faster and effective solution to this situation."
"Tessa, that's a name I haven't heard in a very long time. You don't really talk about her much Charles, and I have to wonder what has you so worried that you want her back so badly. Especially considering the history the two of you have, she isn't your biggest fan after all." Moira replied being an old friend of the man gave her some insight into the situation.
"Yes I know, I'm afraid that I have to go meet Alan now about this Moira. Please continue to do your best in regards to the Brotherhood; all of us are worried about them." Professor Xavier started his mind lost almost in deep thought before he continued. "I'll be in touch and I'll be coming again to check on them very soon. Terribly sorry to cut this short, but I have to go now."
Moira watched as one of her oldest friend left the room, the weight of the world seemed to be on his shoulders at that very moment. Turning her attention to what she could control the woman sighed slightly before deciding her time and effort was best spent on taking care of four young people that had been left in her capable hands.
