For days after the incident Dominic sat in her room. She was extremely withdrawn and barely ate or slept as she tried to contemplate what had gone wrong. Leslie had sent word t one of the other draconidaes in New York that their alpha had been injured and was unable to attend any council meetings. Several times Kurt and Kitty came to check on her and bring her homework, but they were turned away every time. Finally, Kurt decided to speak out about it.
"Why won't you let us see her? She's our friend and my girlfriend!" Kurt protested.
"You don't get it do you? Hanging around you made her a target and now as a result she can't even walk without sending searing pain through her spine!" George snarled flashing his golden wolf eyes and sharp teeth.
Fred held his twin back. He was just as upset about the whole situation, but he knew starting a physical altercation wouldn't solve anything. "You should just go." He said pushing his brother back into the house.
"Come on Kurt." Kitty said but Kurt wasn't ready to leave.
He instead teleported into Dominic's room. She didn't even register he was there. Kurt couldn't help but notice the tray of uneaten food and pile of homework that hadn't even been touched.
"Dominic?" Kurt addressed but she didn't respond. With the glazed look of her eyes he wasn't sure if she was all there. "Dominic, I don't know if you can hear me, but I am so sorry this happened to you. I'm just trying to understand why you hid this from me of all people. You knew you could trust me!"
He still got no response and sighed in defeat.
"Alright I just want you to know this doesn't change anything between us." Kurt said before teleporting away. She had indeed heard him and couldn't help the tear that ran down her face.
"You should have seen her professor. She was like a soulless husk. I really worried about her." Kurt said as he paced back and forth.
"That is very common of people with depression." Professor Xavier stated. "She has gone through a very traumatic experience. It may well be some time before she begins to act normally."
"Is there any way to get through to her professor?" Kurt begged as he stopped his pacing.
Professor Xavier thought for a moment. "I could try to get through with cerebro but I cannot guarantee that will work. She has incredibly strong mental defenses for one so young."
"Thank you, professor." Kurt nodded before departing.
Professor Xavier made his way down to the giant machine that was cerebro. He searched for the young girls mind and after some trouble managed to locate it. Much to his dismay he couldn't penetrate her mental defenses. If anything, her depression had seemed to strengthen them. How was it possible that not even cerebro could get through?
Tears had continued to roll down her face long after Kurt had left. A soft knock on the door forced her to quickly try and wipe them away.
"Y…yes?" she responded.
"Dominic the Sorcerer Supreme and his apprentice are here to see you." Leslie informed her
"Oh, ok can one of the boys help me out there?" Dominic requested.
"There is no need for that my dear." The Sorcerer Supreme's voice said from behind her making the girl jump sending a small stab of pain up her spine. Dominic turned to see both the Sorcerer Supreme and Steven Strange behind her. "Apologies Commander, we did not mean to startle you. When we received word that you were injured we had to come and offer our assistance."
"Oh." She was a bit surprised at their concern. "I'm sorry you've come all this way for nothing."
The Sorcerer Supreme's smile didn't fade. "And why would you say that little one?"
"Because I already tried with eclipse light. The most powerful healing energy for my kind even without a good deal of healing knowledge and it didn't work." Dominic sighed in frustration at the memory.
"Therein lies the problem little one. You see there are some injuries that require intimate knowledge of healing magic." The Sorcerer Supreme stated.
"I don't understand." Dominic admitted. "It was just a couple of scrapes and maybe a broken bone."
"Are you certain that was all that was injured?" The apprentice asked. "It sounds as if there is nerve damage. Nerves are particularly tricky to heal even with magic. He raised his own hands to show that there was a slight shake to them."
"Steven here was a neuro surgeon and is an expert in the field." The Sorcerer Supreme explained.
"If you'll permit me to perform a spell of revelation, I can diagnose the extent of the damage." The apprentice offered.
Dominic didn't hesitate to nod. She did her best to push herself up with a fair amount of struggling. The Sorcerer Supreme aided her with his magic while his apprentice performed the spell. The spell produced a 3D image of her lower spinal cord and the surrounding nerves. Electrical pulses could be seen traveling along the nerves in real time and tears could be seen in a couple of them. They were small but clear.
Dominic couldn't help but just stare at the image until the Sorcerer Supreme spoke again.
"Did you happen to save any of the eclipse light?" The Sorcerer Supreme asked as if he already knew the answer and was reminding her.
"Oh yes." She admitted pushing some papers aside to reveal the moon crystal she had saved from the eclipse. It glowed an eerily red.
"Good." He nodded turning to his apprentice. Doctor Strange, I need you to teach her what you know about nerve regeneration."
The apprentice nodded and Dominic couldn't help the shocked expression that crossed her face but she quickly hid it. She had met another Doctor Strange several years prior. It had completely went over her head when she had met him back in December. If he was a dimensional constant, then she knew he was destined for great things. She listened intently to everything he knew.
"Now remember that even with magic it is going to take a fair amount of time and multiple healing sessions." Doctor Strange reminded her.
Dominic nodded. "Um Doctor Strange can you show me how to do that spell of revelation?" she requested.
Strange nodded and showed her how to perform the spell.
"Thank you for your help." Dominic nodded in thanks.
"Of course little one." The Sorcerer Supreme nodded and both he and Strange disappeared.
Dominic sighed. She had to admit she felt better now. She felt hope
Dominic returned to school a few days later. Doctor Strange had left her a doctor's note as to why she hadn't been at school as well as some braces and crutches. She got several concerned looks from her fellow students. There were none more concerned than Kurt, Kitty and Rogue. She did her best to avoid their gaze. She knew that she was going to be subjected to a ton of questions. Before any of them could approach her Fred and George were at her side helping her with her books. They had made arrangements with their teachers to leave early and arrive late to their classes to help her. None of her friends dared approach her with the brothers there. She sat through hours of painfully slow classes. Kitty sat next to her in her final class.
"Hey." Dominic whispered.
"Are you alright?" Kitty asked.
"Not really." Dominic admitted. "I really don't want to talk about it right now."
"Ok, what about after school?" Kitty asked.
Dominic considered for a moment. "Ok after school we'll talk."
It was difficult to focus on class due to what she knew would be an incredibly awkward and difficult conversation. Finally, the last bell rang, and she hoisted herself up with a fair amount of difficulty even with Kitty's help. As soon as they were out of the classroom, Fred and George were on them like the wolves they were.
"Easy guys." Dominic said. "Kitty and I are just going to have a friendly chat."
Neither of the twins liked that idea. "Not without us you're not." George stated protectively pulling her closer a bit too forcefully. Stars dotted Dominic's vision as pain shot up her back and she lost her balance.
"OW OW OW! George!" Dominic cried out as tears ran down her face.
"I'm so sorry Dominic." George apologized quickly scooping her up and sending another stabbing shot of pain through her and her to cry out again. From down the hall Kurt and Evan came running down the hall and other students were staring. This was not good.
"Alright everybody just back off.' Dominic half growled. She felt her teeth sharping and her eyes shift to purple for a moment "George put me down right now."
Everyone was in complete shock from her aggression even if it was warranted. George slowly put her back down while Kitty cautiously handed her the crutches.
"You guys want to talk then let's talk outside. I don't have a lot of time before I have to go to physical therapy." She said beginning to move towards the exit. She was so frustrated that she could thump them all with her tail. Once they were outside she sat at one of the outside lunch tables. Kurt, Evan, Kitty, and the twins sat around her. She fully intended to let them talk first. Surprisingly it was Evan who broke the silence.
"I don't get it man. Why'd you lie to us? I mean we're all mutants." He accused.
Dominic raised an eyebrow. "I am not a mutant, and neither are these two." She said indicating to the twins.
Evan gave an annoyed look "Oh come on you really expect us to believe…"
"Evan that's enough!" Kurt cut him off before softening his gaze towards her. "I don't understand. Mutants are the only ones with powers. There is nothing else that you could be."
Fred gave a soft laugh and George simply shook his head.
"That's not even close to true." Dominic stated. "I'm not even a human. I'm a supernatural being known as a draconidaes. My powers come from the magic in my blood."
"But Dominic you could just be a mutant with the same powers as another group of mutants." Kitty reasoned.
"I highly doubt mutants have as many abilities as I do or fire blood for that matter." Dominic countered.
"Or have to transform during a full moon." Fred pointed out. Both Dominic and George nodded in agreement.
The X kids gave each other confused looks.
"Alright look." Dominic started again. "There are a number of other non-human beings with powers whether they be from magic or not." This was honestly a lot for them to take in. She could only imagine what was going through their heads. Well she didn't have to imagine since she could always read their minds if she wanted. "The point is we're different too so take that how you will."
There was silence for a long while. Finally, Kurt moved his hand and rested it on Dominic's. "I don't fully understand how to process this, but I do know that I still care about you and I want to help you through this difficult time."
"I want to help too. I'm not leaving my bestie ganging." Kitty commented.
Dominic gave a soft smile. "Thank you, both of you." She had seriously been concerned that they would hate her and resent her for keeping this huge secret from them especially given what they were going through right now.
Evan continued to scowl at her. "It's still seriously whack that you didn't tell us."
Fred had, had enough. He slammed his large hands down causing a crack to appear from the impact and he stood up towering over Evan. "Alright look here you little jerk. You want to know why she didn't tell you? Because it's illegal in our culture unless you are doing something like marrying someone like us otherwise someone is supposed to wipe your memory. The only reason that hasn't happened is because Dominic is working towards promoting open interactions between the magical community and the mutant one!" he spat.
Dominic rested a hand on her packmate's arm trying to calm him down, but the X kids look shocked.
"I don't understand." Kitty said. 'Why would you have to erase our memories?"
"Its for safety reasons." George admitted. "Usually when someone finds out about us they either try to kill us out of fear or a hunter will try to get information out of them by any means to find and kill us."
"But I'm not going to." Dominic quickly interjected. "Because like Fred said I'm trying to show that positive interactions are possible and maybe we won't have to hide anymore either."
Now it all made sense. The secrets, the half-truths. She was trying to protect them and thought they didn't understand what influence she could possibly have, they didn't question it. For now, they would keep her secret and the twin's secret as well. She didn't need the extra stress while she was healing, and they would do as much as they could to help her heal. Dominic was just glad she still had her friends.
