"Love you too, bye mom."
Hanging up the phone, Ryan exhales a breath that he didn't know he was holding in. Running his fingers through his damp hair, he slouches forward on his bed. Feeling his hair had already gotten too dry to bother going back to the bathroom to properly dry it, he just puts his hat on and heads for the door to his room.
It's been a week since he'd arrived, and so far, he had no complaints. The people were friendly and helpful, and the mansion was quite homely. He hadn't visited the rest of Bayville quite yet but he had no doubt he would in due time.
One thing he hadn't expected, was the frequency in which the X-men went on missions. A grand total of 3 times he had seen them hurrying off into the basement, only to return hours later exhausted. I don't think I could keep up with that amount of action.
Exiting his room and making his way towards the kitchen, his thoughts were drawn to the call he just had with his mom. She had called while he was in the shower and he decided to forego blow drying his hair in order to return her call. And for the most part, the call was the standard, "How are things? Are you remembering to do blah-blah?", even the question she had asked that had drawn out his uneasiness wasn't exactly out of the ordinary.
"So what have you guys been doing?"
Ryan had no idea how to answer the question initially as he hadn't told either of his parents about the X-men and his decision to not join them. Obviously, his silence had set off a red alert for his mother as she immediately began asking him whether or not he had even made friends with anyone.
Obviously, he couldn't tell her that he didn't exactly hang out with them a lot since they were usually either on a mission or recovering from a mission. So after telling her a little white lie that he couldn't be bothered to remember, he immediately changed the subject. Though, his attention was and still is directed towards the X-men as a whole. Did I make the right choice? They might really need someone like me to help take some of the pressure off them.
Stopping in the middle of the hallway, he stares at the floor as if it would have the answer to all the universe's questions. Finally, he shakes his head and continues towards his destination. Yes, I did. Besides, even if I did join them, there's no way I'd have gone on those missions with them, I would still be way to green.
Making his way down the stairs and onto the first floor, he enters the kitchen to see a handful of friendly faces. Sitting at the table was Kurt, Evan, and Bobby, all of which with bowls in front of them. Off to the side stood Jean and Kitty as the two talked. Giving them a friendly nod, Ryan makes himself a bowl of cereal and takes a seat at the table with the other guys.
"Morning," he says, gaining their attention.
"Morning," they each respond in almost complete unison, causing them all to chuckle.
"So, what you guys up to today?"
"Nothing, unless a mission pops up. It's not usually this hectic. On a normal week, we may get a quick mission here or there, but nothing like these past few," Evan says hanging his head, exhausted.
"Really? What's made these past few missions so much harder?" Ryan asks as he eats a spoonful of cereal.
Kurt shakes his head, "Don't worry about it. Just the amount of them is all," Kurt says without looking up.
Ryan nods, clearly unconvinced, however, he drops the subject.
"So what are you doing today? More breathing exercises?" asks Bobby with a laugh.
"Oh haha. No, thankfully Storm knew that after the first session, it wasn't helping. And I think the Professor had a talk with Logan cause he hasn't had me try running constantly since I passed out and went flying into the wall of the danger room."
"Really? Then, how do you think they're gonna help you control yourself?" asks Evan.
Almost as if on cue, the hand Ryan was holding his spoon with, began to shake uncontrollably, splattering milk and soggy frosted flakes over the sides of the bowl. Dropping his spoon into the bowl to avoid making any more of a mess, he just sighs and curses under his breath.
"I don't know, but I hope it finally works," Ryan says, propping his head upon his steady arm.
Feeling a hand on his shoulder, Ryan looks up to see Jean. Looking her in the eyes, he nods before looking back to his cereal.
"I'm sure they'll find a solution soon enough," she said with a warm smile.
How can she be so sure of that? Nothing so far has worked. Not to mention I've been trying to control this since I was little. What have I not tried?
Jean sighs, "I'm sure there are a few things you haven't tried. Not only because you didn't think about them, but also since you never had access to the sort of resources we've had here."
Shocked, Ryan stares up at Jean, "Did you just-"
"Read your mind? Yes. Yes she did," says Bobby as stands to wash his bowl.
Jean, however, recoils at the realization of what she had done. "I'm so sorry, sometimes I don't even realize I'm doing it," she proclaims as she covers her mouth.
Ryan just forces a smile and scratches his head, " I guess it's okay, just don't do it too often. I like my privacy."
Jean smiles, still slightly embarrassed, "Yeah, I really don't plan on doing it at all, it just happens."
Chuckling, Ryan turns back to his food, "Oh I know that feeling, trust me."
Earning a small laugh from those in the kitchen, Ryan finishes the rest of his breakfast in relative quiet besides the occasional bit of small talk by the others. After finishing his food and cleaning his bowl, he makes his way back to his room.
Rounding a corner though, he feels something run into his chest. Stumbling back a step, he instinctively grabs the wrist of the now falling person in front of him. Unfortunately for him, he had no idea what was in store for him as his fingers made contact with the bare wrist.
An excruciating pain began to rip through the entirety of his body, forcing him to immediately let go. Falling back onto the ground, he feels his muscles all tense up as the sensation soon leaves. After a moment, Ryan finally feels himself relax and allows his eyes to slowly open. As they open, they are met by a pair of grey ones staring back at him.
Clearly taken off guard, Rogue falls back from her crouched position over him. "Dear lord, you had me worried there for a second, you okay?" she asks cautiously.
Shaking himself a bit, Ryan eventually nods, "Yeah, I think so. What was that?"
Rogue immediately freezes at the inquiry and averts her eyes. Slumping her shoulders, she speaks up, "My power."
"Oh," he replies.
Taking a moment, he begins to stand up, using the wall for a bit of support. Upon making it to his feet, he slowly extends his hand out to the girl still sitting on the floor.
"Okay, this time, let's not do whatever we just did," he says with a weak chuckle.
Smiling, Rogue takes his hand and is pulled to her feet. Taking a step back, she rubs her arm nervously, "Yeah, that's what happens when someone touches me. Well, at least when my skin touches someone else's skin."
"Well damn, that sucks," he says before pausing. "I guess that at least makes for a good self-defense mechanism."
Taking in his words, Rogue can't help but grin a little, "I guess that's one way to look at it," she says staring at her hand. The mood then turns somber once again, "Though, it would be nice to be able to control it. Instead of it being stuck on."
Ryan nods, knowing there's not much he can say in this situation. Looking around, he sees that they're the only ones in the hall. Well at least no one else was here to witness that, he thinks as he rubs his palm trying to get rid of the last of the stinging sensation in his hand. Eventually satisfied, he turns to a surprisingly quiet Rogue. Looking at her, he sees she hasn't really moved like she had completely zoned out.
Snapping his fingers in front of her, he finally gets her attention, "Hey, you okay there?"
Shaking her head vigorously, she nods, "Yeah, still just a little shaken up."
"Ah. Well, you, uh, need me to like walk you to your room or something?" he asks hesitantly. Let's hope that didn't sound weird!
Smiling, Rogue shakes her head, "No, but thanks."
Shrugging, Ryan smiles, "Well, I'll see you later. I'm gonna go relax before I inevitably get called to try a new method of controlling myself."
"See ya," Rogue replies as he making his way down the hall.
When he rounds the corner, she immediately slides down the wall. Rubbing her forehead, she grits her teeth as she sees a handful of memories flash before her eyes. However, these memories weren't exactly her own, and that she knew very well. One image that caught her attention, was a mental image of a mic standing in front of Ryan and a camera standing on a tripod a few feet away.
Heading back to her room, Rogue lays on her bed, mentally analyzing the memories she had obtained. They… All seem to be of him and his friends… His band. Did they record themselves or something? Wait… A guitar pick necklace! Sitting straight up, Rogue looks to the list she had made filled with info about "Donnie" and immediately sees what she was looking for. "Guitar pick necklace"!
Grabbing the list, she runs out the door, and into the halls. Eventually seeing Kitty sitting in the parlor, she hops over the back of the couch and sits beside her.
"Kitty!" she yells as she lands.
Kitty, surprised by how energetic Rogue seemed, slips off the couch and onto the floor. Groaning, she sits up and narrows her eyes at her roommate, "Jeez, give me some warning before you do something like that."
"Worry about that later, right now, listen to what happened a little while ago!" Rogue says, in a rush.
Sighing, Kitty lounges against the armrest of the couch facing Rogue, "Okay, what's up?"
"Okay, earlier when I rounded a corner, Ryan and I bumped into each other. Well, he tried to catch me, and when he did, our skin touched and long story short I absorbed some of his memories," blurts out Rogue.
"Okay, so what did you see?" Kitty asks, swinging her feet off the couch, giving Rogue her full attention.
"Well for one, I learned that he and his band of friends back in Iowa used to record themselves doing something. From the little bit I saw, I think it was just them recording themselves playing songs. The other thing I found out, the reason I ran to find you, is that I found out Ryan actually has a guitar pick necklace!"
Kitty pauses for a moment, absorbing the information she had just been given. After a moment, she finally returns her gaze to Rogue, "So what? You think Ryan and Donnie are one in the same?"
Rogue nods, "I think it may be possible. These may just be coincidences but they may not be. I mean think about it, have you seen him far from one of his hats? The physical description is pretty accurate other than the skin tone being a tad off," Rogue says trailing off.
"You're right about that, Donnie almost looks like a vampire, while Ryan just looks like a typical guy out of a nearby high school," Kitty says rubbing her chin.
"Anyway, I can attest that he can be pretty energetic at times, like at Mario's on his first day."
"True, from what I heard, it really was a sight to see."
"See what I'm talking about?" Rogue asks as she clenches the paper in her hands a bit tighter.
Kitty once again goes quiet as she ponders over all the details. Sighing, her eyes meet Rogue's, "Can we really consider a guitar pick necklace a clue? Or even the recording thing? I mean I'm sure a lot of aspiring musicians have necklaces like that as well as record themselves. After all, they have to get their music out there."
Rogue begins to slump forward, as if energy was being drained from her body, "Yeah, you're probably right. Hell, I might be misinterpreting things, I only got a few snippets of his memories anyway. Or I could just be seeing the possibility of a connection and was just seeing what I wanted to see."
Kitty nods, "That's also a possibility."
With a heavy sigh, Rogue stands up, "Yeah, I think I'm gonna go get some fresh air. Maybe that'll help me when it comes to figuring out who Donnie is," she says with a small laugh.
"Okay bud, I'll see you later," Kitty says as she watches Rogue leave the room.
Meanwhile, Ryan sat on his bed, scrolling through news feeds. Wow, they're still reporting on me leaving the band? Is there nothing better to report on? Shaking his head, he rubs his shoulder as he feels a twinge of pain for a brief second. Damn, that run in with Rogue was really no joke. Speaking of which, she seemed a bit more shaken up by it than I was. I wonder if she's okay. Sitting up, he looks to the door. Putting his shoes back on, he gets up and heads to the door. Leaving his room, he heads towards her room. When he gets there, he raises his hand to knock on the door but is interrupted by a voice from behind him.
"Hey, Ryan! Just the guy I was looking for," said someone behind him.
Turning around, he's greeted by the smiling face of Jean. Returning her friendly smile, he turns his full attention to her, "Oh really? What's up?"
"Nothing, much. I was told to come and find you and tell you that Storm and Forge are waiting for you in the danger room."
Nodding, Ryan turns to head straight to the danger room, "Thanks, maybe they found a way for me to control my powers."
"Maybe," Jean says as a thought hits her, "What were you doing here in the girl's section?"
Feeling his face heat up, Ryan chuckles nervously and scratches the back of his head, "Oh, I was just coming to check on Rogue. I thought I saw her head off this way."
Upon hearing this, Jean adopts a sly grin as she looks at the brunette, "Oh really? Why is that?"
Now becoming far more embarrassed than before, Ryan tries to blurt out an answer, "O-oh nothing too major. We just had a little a-accident were our skin touched."
Suddenly growing much more serious, Jean watches Ryan closely, "Was anyone hurt?"
As she asks this, Ryan feels a twinge of faint pain in his arm. Shaking his head, he smiles warmly at Jean, "No, not really. It was like when you touch an electric fence and immediately stop. It just kind of burned sort of. I don't know how to describe it," he finishes with a chuckle.
With a small smile appearing on her face, Jean nods and starts to leave before glancing over her shoulder, "Let us know how it goes, I'm sure everyone else is as curious as I am as to how things go when it comes to controlling your powers."
With a light grin, Ryan makes his way to the danger room in the second sub-basement. Reaching the elevator, he presses the button for said floor and waits patiently as it sends him further and further into the ground. Upon opening, Ryan immediately steps out of the elevator and takes a deep breath. God, I hate going down in those things. Especially into the ground.
With another deep breath, Ryan steels his nerves and heads into the locker room nearby. Seeing the two who wished to see him as he entered the room, Ryan approached them calmly.
"Hey, you guys wanted to see me?"
Forge turns to face him in a flash, excitement plastered on his face, "Yep! I think I've finally come up with something to help you!"
Clearly skeptical, Ryan raises an eyebrow, "Oh really now?"
Smirking widely, Forge steps off to the side to reveal some sort of suit, laid on a bench, "If you don't believe me, then why don't you try it on?"
Stepping over to the suit cautiously, Ryan shifted his glance between Storm and Forge, still not completely sure what exactly to do. Picking up the suit, holding it by its shoulders, Ryan examines it. Hmm is that an oxygen tank on the belt? And what's with the padding on the chest and arms? Hell, why is it a full body suit? How would I walk around in public with this thing on? Turning his head slightly, he narrows his eyes at Forge slightly, "Okay, so how is this thing suppose to help me control my powers?"
Folding his arms and smiling, Forge replies, "You see, the reason we failed till now to find a solution to helping you, is because we've been looking at this all in the completely wrong way! We were looking for a way to control when you sped up so to speak. When in reality, the answer isn't to suppress your powers, it's to indulge in them. Your body acts up the way it does because it wants to travel at such high speeds, yet you won't let it. That's where this suit comes in. With this suit, you should be able to travel at the speeds that would usually cause you tons of difficulty. Once you start to indulge in them, you should begin to have fewer and fewer spasms like you have."
Taking all this in, Ryan stayed silent as he looked over the suit when another question popped into his head, "Okay, so do tell me how exactly this works because as far as I know, I don't absorb oxygen through my skin if that's what you were thinking."
Forge and Storm laugh at Ryan's remark and Storm steps up next to the young man. Taking the glove off one of the arms, she rolls the sleeve up a little, revealing several dozen tiny needles in the wrists, "As you can see, Forge here has incorporated an oxygen tank at the small of the back that has a series of small tubes running through the suit, eventually reaching the wrist where a series of needles will be used to inject oxygen directly into your bloodstream, taking much of the burden off your lungs."
Ryan remains silent as he stares at the series of small needles in the suit. While to many others, the needles may only be a minor inconvenience when it came to something like being able to breathe at extremely high speeds, he saw it as an option that he refused to consider. The idea of having possibly dozens of needs stuck in him while running at speeds no human should ever be able to reach did not sit right with him, causing him to set the suit on the bench. "I'm not wearing that."
Clearly taken aback, Forge stares at Ryan in disbelief, "W-why not?"
Turning his attention to the technically much older male, Ryan shakes his head, "For one, those needles. What if I were to hit something while in that thing and jerk my arm suddenly? The last thing I want is to rip my veins out of my wrist. Another thing is I can't wear this thing all the time. To put it simply, I don't think there's much as far as clothes go that could go over that without looking beyond goofy. And finally, and this one is crucial," he begins as he exchanges glances between Storm and Forge, "I'm not here to indulge in my powers. I'm here to learn how to control them. At least to the point that I can lead a somewhat unhindered life."
Now it was Forge's turn to be silent. He had never had someone outright refuse to use one of his creations before. Then again, he wasn't making something for the same reasons that he usually did. Usually, when something like this needed to be made, it was so someone could use their powers unhindered in a combat situation. Simply put, he usually built things for the X-men. Not people in Ryan's situation. "You're right, dude. I've been looking at this entirely the wrong way," he says as he locks eyes with Ryan. "I've been working on this as if it were just another project for just another X-men, not another mutant," he says trailing off. Suddenly, Forge grins nervously, "I don't even know how the needle thing got past the design phase!"
Chuckling, Ryan walks over and pats Forge on the back, "Yeah, that was a bit of an oversight. But then again, everyone makes mistakes. After all, powers or not, we're all human."
Smiling, Storm nods, "That's true. It's nice to see someone so new here already realize that. Many refuse to acknowledge that fact and end up becoming the very thing we train to stop."
Seeing the conversation may head towards a topic he would like to avoid, Ryan pats Forge again, "But hey, I do appreciate your effort dude, it means a lot."
Nodding, Forge smiles, "No problem man, anytime! Actually, speaking of any time, I'm gonna go start thinking of a different way to solve this problem!"
And with that, Forge made his way back to his lab. As he disappeared around the corner, Ryan felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking over, he sees Storm with a smile on her face. She said nothing however as she then proceeded to walk off, leaving the young man alone.
Hmm, well that wasn't what I was hoping would happen when I got down here, though I guess it can't be helped.
Sighing, Ryan also takes his leave, heading to the elevator. When he gets there, he takes a deep breath and steps in. Damn these things. Pressing the first-floor button, he waits as patiently as he can for the elevator to get to the surface, and as soon as it does, he doesn't hesitate to almost leap out of it. Looking back at the contraption responsible for his unease, Ryan narrows his eyes.
Calming his nerves, he then looks around, seeing no one. Hmm, I wonder what I should do now…
"Ugh, what should I do?" groaned Rogue as she laid on a concrete bench in the garden. Sitting up with a huff, she slouches forward, resting her chin in her hand. This whole 'Who is Donnie' thing is really getting old. Like, is it really that bad to let your fans know who you are? Do people really value privacy THAT much?! I mean it's not like you're giving out your address and personal information, all people want is a face to put with the voice. Is that so much to ask!?
Groaning once more, this time much louder, Rogue takes out her phone and instinctively goes straight to Spotify. Clicking a random playlist, she relaxes as she begins to lose herself in the music. As song after song begins and ends, she starts to forget all about her frustration little by little. That is until a song she doesn't recognize begins to play. Acoustic? I don't remember putting any acoustic songs on this playlist. Looking at her phone for the answer, she realizes she was right, she didn't.
She did, however, forget to put the playlist on repeat, causing Spotify to start playing songs it thought she'd like, based off that playlist. Seeing this as a slight inconvenience, Rogue starts to click on another playlist when a strange sense of familiarity overtakes her. Wait a second. Have I heard this song before?
I let you in, you pushed me out
You left me on my own, you left me all alone
I let you in, you tore me down
You left me skin and bone, you left me all alone
You left me all alone
As the song went on, Rogue continued to wonder where exactly she had heard the song from. I only remember the beginning of the song, the rest all seems new… Then it hits her. Wait! This is the song Ryan was singing on the flight here! Leaping to her feet, Rogue stares at her phone as she fumbles through her lock screen. As the lock screen fades, Rogue is met with yet another clue. You're Gone - Digital Rebellion. Pausing, Rogue thinks through each possibility for why Ryan was able to match the song perfectly last week. Could this mean he really IS Donnie? No, no, no, don't get ahead of yourself Rogue, first think about all the possibilities. Could he be a fan as well? I mean, we both like the same sort of music, our tastes are bound to overlap in places. Or could he just be a fan of the song and not the band? There's no real way to tell, other than asking him. But how would that go? Oh, hey do you like this band, that I may or may not think you're the mysterious singer of? No, that's not happening…
Running her fingers through her hair, Rogue sighs, "There's no way this can all be a coincidence. It all fits too well to be one," she says to no one in particular.
Okay, I shouldn't get ahead of myself. Even if he is Donnie, what's the likelihood he'd admit it? Frustrated once more, Rogue groans and sits back on the bench with her face in her hands. After a few moments, she hears the sound of the back door opening and closing. Glancing up, she sees the source of all her frustration.
Momentarily forgetting this, however, Rogue just watches as Ryan walks outside in an almost disinterested fashion. She noted the lazy look in his eye as he looked around. Taking out his phone and earbuds, Ryan soon began to listen to music as he walked off to the side of the garden, away from Rogue. Intrigued by the sudden change in behavior from him, she decided to stand up and slowly follow him.
While she did so, she watched as he would stop every so often to look at the flowers and such that were planted alongside the path. While he was clearly paying attention to his immediate surroundings, it was obvious his mind was elsewhere. Curious, Rogue began to slowly catch up to him. As she finally got within feet of him, she was surprised he either hadn't noticed her or hadn't acknowledged her presence. Which one it ended up being though was answered when she reached out and tapped him on the holder, causing him to jump a little.
Giggling a little, Rogue grins, "Scare ya?"
Leaning on his back leg, Ryan smiles lightly, "Nah. Just pretending to be. Yeah, that's totally it."
As they both let out a small chuckle, Rogue spoke up again, "So, what are ya doing out here? Just chilling?"
Ryan shrugs, "I guess. I like the quiet the outdoors can give off every now and then."
"Still not used to not being in a big city?"
"I wouldn't say that. The size of the city ain't it. It's the amount of peace and quiet I can get. Back home, there was always so much going on that you can barely stop to think," he says as he casts his gaze across a small patch of flowers, "Not exactly my ideal hangout, but at least it's quiet."
Rogue only nods as Ryan seemingly gets lost in thought. He seems so at peace here. Who would think a metal singer, would be so at home in such a quiet setting? As she thought, she couldn't help but sneak glances at him whenever she got the chance. While doing so, she notices something strangely familiar. His hat. The base color of it being a flat black as a silver lion covered about half of it. Seeing this, Rogue smirked. Gotcha. There's no doubt now.
"So, how you feeling? After our little incident I mean," Ryan said, catching Rogue off guard.
Merely shrugging, she smiles slightly, "I'm good."
Nodding, Ryan stuffs his hands in his pockets, "That's good. I still feel a little sting in my shoulder if I move it just right but I doubt that'll be there later."
"Yeah, we didn't touch for long enough for it to get really bad," Rogue replies as she walks alongside the man.
It's so peaceful out here, Ryan thought as he listened very closely to the ambient sounds of the outdoors. Birds chirping, wind blowing through leaves, causing them to rustle. To him, it all felt, calming. While he did enjoy the advantages of living back in Cedar Rapids, being in such a small city, by comparison, was a nice change of pace. Here, he could still do things like go and hang out in a mall or something but he could also go for a walk without bumping into anyone if he didn't want to. However, to him, the best thing about Bayville so far was the amount of quiet that he could enjoy. The very same quiet that he ended up enjoying with Rogue for most of what was left of day. While they did talk every so often, much of the time they spent, was in complete silence.
Later that day, as Ryan stared at his ceiling while the moonlight shone through his window, he couldn't help but smile to himself. It's nice having someone like Rogue around. Sometimes it's nice to just be around someone. No words, no over the top antics to get up to. Closing his eyes, he begins to drift off to sleep as one final thought slips into the forefront of his mind. When the hell are we going to find a solution to… me.
A/N - Hey guys, thanks for sticking around! Sorry if this chapter sucked or any characters are just beyond out of character, I'm still trying to get the hang of writing for them so it's been a bit of a struggle. As usual, feel free to voice any questions, concerns or anything about the story in a review or PM. Thanks, and hopefully see ya soon!