Chapter Forty-One: Harmful Past
Here is the next chapter for you all.
I hope you all enjoy and have a Jesus filled day.
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Previously:
He came to while he was on the ground holding a hand over his quickly beating heart. Near him he could hear Scott trying to get his attention and gently touching his arm. His hands flew to his face trying to tear off the mask that he could clearly see being put on. However he found that he couldn't as Scott was now holding them allowing him to realize that he had been scratching at his face instead. Body shaking his vision cleared as he locked eyes on the man trying to help him. However instead of seeing Scott all he could see was the mad scientist holding the mask. Letting out a terrified scream Gill shoved Scott to the ground causing the sunglasses to fall off. He didn't care to even see what the blast of red light was that shot off into the sky and took off running. He didn't care where he was running, however he knew that he needed to find his friends. That was all that mattered to him.
Now:
Remy and Greg (1) ran over to Scott who was trying to find his sun glasses blindly. Find them just to the right of the searching mutant Greg picked them up and gently tapped his shoulder, "Here they are."
"Thank you." Putting them on Scott jumped to his feet and tried to find Gill (2), "Where did he go? Where did Gill go?" Frantically he looked at Remy though he could feel the man trying to calm him down with his secondary ability.
"Calm down homey." Remy said gently taking him by the shoulders, "Calm down. Ava (3) is going after him. She told Greg what happened and we headed over to help you. Are you hurt anywhere?"
Scott shook his head as he asked, "No. What happened? Why did Gill react like that?"
Remy frowned hearing the question, "He went t'rough a flashback dat…causes him to react pretty badly. All four of us have pains dat we have not grown out of from de experience. We are all broken in ways dat is hard to fix. For Gill,…certain memories cause him to see de people dat caused our pain to begin with."
The optic beam mutant looked at the Cajun in shock. He would have never guessed that Gill had a broken mind in that way. He was so normal and the apparent guiding light to keeping the other three from having episodes. The fear he had seen on the man's face before he pushed him was not one that he would ever associate with him. It had been true unaltered fear. That expression did not belong to Gill. They had all been through so much already, none of them deserved their brokenness. "I…"
"Non, don't tink like dat." Remy warned shaking his head, "You didn't know it would trigger a harder memory for him. He isn't going to blame you in any way. Gill knows better dan dat."
Greg nodded in agreement, "Gill is one of the strongest people that escaped from there. Remy may have gotten us back home but it was Gill that really helped us get through our tough times. You still haven't seen Remy or Ava react to something that bothers them yet. Trust me when I say even in his own episode, Gill will go out of his way to make sure that either of us is okay before we even deal with his."
Breathing heavily Scott looked at the two of them trying to find the right words. Remy seeing that he was struggling squeezed his shoulder gently, "Don't worry too much. Ava will be able to get Gill to calm down. She is someone dat he will recognize in dis state and he knows what she is capable of. Everyting will be okay."
"What about you though, are you going to be okay." Greg asked looking at him in the eye. A small bit of worry could be seen on his face.
Scott nodded, "I'll be okay, this is not the first time that I lost my optic sunglasses."
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Ava found Gill looking around the forest trying to find out where he was, "Gill." The man's green eyes locked onto her, "It's okay, it me Ava."
The man looked then pulled her into a hug asking frantically after he pulled away and held her by her shoulders. "Where is Remy and Greg? They're in danger! They are back! The scientists are back!"
Ava gently took his hand in her and gently spoke to him, "Gill, I need you to listen to me very carefully okay." Shaking like a leaf he nodded and held on tightly to her hands, "I promise you the scientists are not here right now." He went to talk but she gently shushed him, "You said you would listen."
"R…right…sorry."
"It's okay, I completely understand." Ava replied pulling her hands free and touching his face as gently as she could, "The scientists are not here. You know I would never ever lie to you about this. I need you to think past this and try to remember the drive to where we are currently. Can you think of it?"
Gill took in frightened gasping breaths as he tried to recall what she was talking about, "Do you mean our drive home?"
"No, we recently went and retrieved the information regarding the bad men that took us. We did it with Remy, Greg and two others. Can you try to remember who they were?" Ava asked getting the other to sit down and placing a hand over his widely beating heart.
"Other m….men? Are they bad men?" Gill asked with a panicked expression
"No, they are very nice. Especially to Remy."
"People nice to Remy, people nice to Remy." The panicked man repeated still trying his best to recall what she wanted him to. "I don't remember. I'm scared Ava. I'm scared."
"I know you are Gill." The female replied as she hugged him running her fingers through his hair. "Do you need more clues?"
"Please."
"When you were picked up you had exciting news that those who are nice to Remy found out. Do you remember what that was?"
"Wh…what kind of exciting?"
"A very positive outcome for you. You talked about this from time to time with me." Ava replied continuing her calming ministrations.
"A baby?" Gill asked sitting up straight and out of the female's gentle hold. "That means I met someone. Are they in danger?"
"Not at all. In fact she is staying with her sister while you are here." Ava replied easily.
"Does she love me?"
The telepath placed her hands on his cheeks, "Of course she does. Look at your hand."
Gill brought his hands to his face and froze seeing the wedding ring on his left ring finger. "I'm married. I want to recall who she is. She must be wonderful."
"And the most understanding woman you have ever been with." Ava said with a bright smile on her face.
"Why do I get the feeling her sister doesn't like me?" Gill asked curiously.
"Because she isn't the biggest fan of you. I'm not sure why you never told me." Ava replied moving her hands down his arms to his hands that were now on his lap, "However, she is polite to you when you are around each other from what you have told me."
"The men that came with Remy, they know about my baby?"
"Yes, they were excited for you just like Remy was when he first heard." Ava replied rubbing her hand down his arm. "What else do you recall about them?
"Uh." Gill's light green eyes looked around then back at his ring bits and pieces coming back, "Remy talked about them a lot. They were good to him. Close in age actually."
"Yep, that is correct. Do you remember their names?" She placed a hand on Gill's face keeping him looking at her while she waved off Bobby and Kurt who had opened the back door to head outside. They closed the door letting the two of them be, "Don't worry about them."
"Why don't I like them?"
"Don't worry about them. The guys that came with Remy, what were their names?"
"One…one started with a 'p'… No wait they both had 'p' in their names."
"Yes, but for differ types of names."
Gill closed his eyes trying to recall the men she was talking about. He could see himself in the van with a group. He recognized his friends but there were two others that were there that he didn't know. "There is a tall guy, Russian I think, 'p' and 'c' seem to be in his names but I can't recall what they are."
"What about the other guy?"
"Had to be younger than Remy, if only by a few years. Ah, he's…Australian I think. 'J' and 'p' are important letters to his names."
"Very good. Now I need you to come up with what Remy called them. Even if it is just the names that come to mind. You don't have to figure out who they belong to yet."
"J….J…Jonathan, Jason,…no those aren't right. John, one name is John."
"Very good." Ava replied getting him to sit down properly holding his hands, rubbing her thumbs across the back of them.
"P…p… Payton… No, that is a girls name. Patrick, Preston,…" His eyes squeezed more trying his best to recall the name, "Pete… Pete? Peter, but that is not the actual name. It's an American version of the name."
"That's right, two more names to go. You are doing great."
"Okay, okay…" Gill took a deep breath, "C… It had to be attached to word meaning big. Colossal, copious, capacious…maybe. No, it was Colossus."
"Very good now what can the last one be?" Ava replied as reached up to pull out a leaf that had fallen down to nest in the man's short blond hair. Looking at his eyes she could see that his mind was going into overtime trying to figure out a clue for himself. She stayed patient however and waited for him to come up with what he was missing. Seeing a light bulb light up she smiled, "What did you figure out?"
"My wife's name is Elane (4). I remember her now. She has pretty brown eyes and she is a nurse at a hospital where we live. Her sister that doesn't like me is named Clare." Gill replied looking around the area starting to recognize where he was a bit. "This mansion...Remy talked about it before. Xavier Mansion. His past friends still live here. And in a letter he said that he was moving back here because his children needed a safe environment to get their powers under control."
Ava nodded her smile getting bigger, "I see you decided to look it up after all."
"I had to know where it was just in case that anything happened that I needed to come over here and make sure that they were not making Remy's live a living hell." Gill's light green eyes had a hint of sadness enter them as he continued to talk. His voice also giving away his internal pain, "He's gone through enough as it is. Elane even said that she would happily move in here if that was actually happening so I could be there to help him."
"Even if it meant making her sister upset that she was moving and changing jobs?"
Gill nodded, "Yes, she knows how important he is to me and she has come to care for him in a similar manner. I believe Clare said that she would be not too far behind if that was the case of us moving." He looked at Ava and his interlocked hands, his mind going a hundred miles an hour trying to understand the cluttered memories that were entering his brain. It was a bit overwhelming but he was able to somewhat piece together what had happened so far. "Pryo is the name of the last code name for John. The van we came in on…it belonged here right?"
Ava nodded answering the question carefully, "Xavier let Remy and them borrow it so that they could go and get us."
"Why though? I'm here and I get the feeling that it is important but why are we here?" Knowing she was not going to answer these question Gill once again looked at his hands, trying to find the memory that held the answer. He could see them in the van, their mouths moving but he was unable to hear what they were actually saying. In the back seat he could see Remy with his phone in front of his face, likely skyping his wife. "Not just his wife. Someone else is on the other end of that call. Who is it?"
"What are you trying to figure out?" Ava asked letting her thumbs rub the back of his hand again.
"Who Remy is skyping, why we are needed here, and why I dislike those two but not the guy with the sunglasses yet I dislike the two he hangs out with." Gill replied closing his eyes his senses being bombarded, "And easy one would be about the guy with the sunglasses. Why don't I dislike him? What happened between him and Remy that changed?"
His head shook as he tried to gather his thoughts. He resisted looking at his friend as he knew that he needed to do this on his own. He had all the clues he was going to get on the situation. He just had to find the right memory. Seeing one playing out he read Remy's lips as he could not hear what the conversation was about. The comfort he was feeling from Ava's gentle touch helping him stay calm as he tried to figure it out. He played the memory over again paying close attention to Remy's lips as they moved. The accent his friend had making it hard for him to get a full grasp on what was being said.
"He apologized for his actions. Scott apologized, yet the other two didn't. They are still giving him a hard time even though we are here as well." Though he didn't look up he could hear Ava giving a positive sound. Happy to know that he was right he focused on who it was that Remy was skyping. "Who could you be skyping? It isn't just your wife and kids." His eyes opened and looked into Ava's sky blue eyes, "The guys are back in the picture. Frantically his hand grabbed her shoulders though she didn't freak out, "Remy, John, and Peter came to get us because they have other clues on where they are."
Ava nodded her smile strained at the memory of the man that made their life hell, "Yes, Peter and John are looking into some guys that have proven to be the same men only this time…"
"They are taking humans and young mutants." Gill shook his head, "No, they have always been doing it. They have more than one area that they have been working on. Because it is mutant haters that they are taking now not humans that gets along with mutants."
Ava once again nodded to his statement, "Yes, who else is Remy skyping in the van?"
Gill bit his lip trying to recall. His mind once again picturing the man with the phone in his face. He couldn't picture the words Remy was trying to say so he read the body language. There was pride in his eyes as well as a smile playing on his lips. However, the smile wasn't one that showed he was talking to his wife and children. He had a more personal smile that showed more love than what he was showing here. No, this was a smile that showed that while he adored who he was talking to his care for them was different.
Thinking back a different memory came to mind, him at school. Normally this kind of memory bothered him but he wasn't really focused on his classmates that tried to mess with and make his day bad. Instead he was focused on the teacher. This teacher was different than that other he had in school. She had reached out to him when he tried to stay out of the spot light and not answer questions. She never made him do it but she did talk to him and made sure that he was okay.
She even helped him with his homework when he was struggling. Most his teachers tended to ignore him and let him flounder but not her. She had made it her mission to help him pass school. And if it hadn't been for her he would have failed. But this memory had something particular that had caught his attention. It was her smile when he answered a question in class for the first time. The pride she had felt reached him that day and he would never hesitate again to answer any of the questions in her class.
"Students. Remy is a teacher." His eyes met Ava's in surprise, "He has a bunch of students. He loves them like his own but not at the same time. They get a different kind of love from him. The love of a proud teacher."
Ava nodded a smile wide on her face, "Is there anything else that you need to figure out?"
Gill bit his lip as he tried to think of anything that he was missing. If he missed anything he would be overwhelmed when he walked back into the mansion. "I…don't think so. I think I figured out the most stressful parts that bothered me."
"Alright do you want to walk back inside?"
Gill shook his head, "Not at this moment. I need to see Scott. I remember I pushed him and his sunglasses fell off. I need to see that he is okay before I walk in." Ava stood up taking his hand and leading him toward where he had last seen the man he was talking about. He knew he was going to see the damage that the optic beam had caused but he was more concerned with how Scott was. He had pushed him rather hard and could have sustained an injury.
Reaching the area he looked around in shock, "Goodness, that is a powerful beam." Light green eyes on a tree that had fallen over due to being cut in half. Walking over to it he placed his hand where it had been cut.
"I asked Scott to meet us here." Ava said walking up next to him placing a hand on his arm, "Whatever you are thinking it is not your fault."
Gill nodded replying his hand moving against the rough surface of the tree, "I know. We have no way of knowing when my psyche gets attacked in such a way. All of us have tried to predict it but there is no rhyme or reason."
"You will get through this. We all have scars." The telepath hugged him, snuggling into his side.
The green eyed male nodded looking over at Scott as he walked over. Instantly he looked for any signs that he was injured but only found that the glasses has a small break in the frame but not enough to mess with the glass protecting everyone from the blast that came from them. "Are you going to be okay?"
Gill nodded and let out a slow breath, "Yes, I needed to know that you are okay. I get a bit unpredictable in that state."
"It's no issue." Scott gave a small smile, "Greg and Remy explained everything to me. It sounds like you four went through a lot."
Nodding his head the electric mutant smiled back, "I'm glad that you are okay. The last thing I want to do is hurt someone that doesn't deserve the pain I wish to inflicted on those men."
"I get it. I'd likely be the same if I had ended up in your position." The sunglasses wearing mutant looked at the tree, "I'm just glad it was only a couple of trees that I brought down. The last time my glasses fell off my face at home I put a huge gash in the ground."
"I have no idea how you do it." Confused Scott looked at Gill as Ava let go of her friend and went to sit a distance away to give the two men a sense of privacy. She didn't want to leave just case Gill had another episode. "You suffer from the inability to go through life without ever being aloud to take off your sunglasses. That has got to be messing with your head."
"I'll admit that it does get to me sometimes but I'm not all that bothered by it. I've learned to live with my disability. I know there is a way that I can try to fix it but it is going to take time and patience before I'll ever be able to walk around without sunglasses on." Scott shrugged pushing his hands into his pockets. "What is your work attire?"
Gill gave a wider smile, "Sleeves. I can't hide all of my metal veins but it makes people feel better and less nervous when they can't see all of them."
"You know the professor has a watch that I am sure that can help you. Kurt wears it to hide his blue skin."
"I saw that." Gill replied a small breath making it way past his lips. Going to a tee the two of them leaned against it. The metal veined mutant letting his head rest against the surface his eyes closing. "I'll be fine without it. I'm willing to accommodate to others so long as they are willing to do the same."
Letting a small laugh escape his lips Scott looked at the male next to him, a smile on his face as he shook his head, "Goodness you are a different kind of mutant. Most with a physical mutation end up getting bothered by others reactions."
"I can't let it bother me. I did that once and I got scarred because of it." Scott winced losing his smile as Gill continued to talk, "I learned from that experience and I don't plan on going back from it. If people can't respect me for who I am, then they are only asking for the same thing to happen to them."
The sunglasses wearing mutant questioned if he should voice his question or not. Biting his lip he weight whether knowing or not would make him feel guiltier than they would want him to. "Did…Remy get anything else as an issue other than going blind?"
Gill thought over the question before shaking his head, "No, not really. Every once in a while his eyes hurt but that is only the phantom pains he is feeling. Despite having gotten used to not seeing he body acts like it hasn't adjusted at times." Light green eyes looked at him gently, "I'll say it again, everything that happened to him isn't your fault. If anyone is a fault is the stupid men that took us all to begin with.
"I still feel responsible."
"Don't, things could have been worse. Remy is alive that is what matters. He's learned to live with it and despite being blind he managed to marry a very pretty woman who he learned was far more beautiful on the inside." Gill nudged Scott with his shoulder. "Seriously, Remy couldn't be happier right now. He isn't letting his past scar him and he's learned to let what others say about him roll off him."
"Still I was unnecessarily mean to him. I let his past define him when he came to the mansion. It is because of me that Bobby and Kurt can't let it go right now." Scott let the back of his head bump into the tree trunk. "If I had just let it go like Jean told me to…"
"You both needed time away from each other." Gill interrupted the man mentally beating himself up, "You were both teenagers and as teenagers we all did some stupid things growing up. You are not the only one with regrets Scott, before I got my mutant abilities I used to be a bully too." Quickly Scott tuned and looked at him his jaw dropped in surprise. Gill felt a pang in his chest at his own reminder, "I was one of the smartest kids in school and I picked on anyone that I perceived as dumber than me. It wasn't just the easy to pick on kids either, jocks were my favorite target. I was a better fighter than they were so they were unable to do anything."
"I…I did not picture you as a bully."
Light green eyes closed as he continued recounting the event, "The day that I got my powers I moved the overhead and it cut through my shirt. I had always worn long sleeve shirts and used make-up to cover up the other metal veins that were visible through my skin. That day I knew what it was like to be on the receiving end of insults. It didn't take long before I knew what it was like to be picked on. My confidence had taken a plunder and my grades started falling. That's why I signed up for the program that had gotten me captured. I wanted the vein's to not look like they were there when my parents were making plans to move."
Scott watched as Gill's right hand unconsciously touched his left arm where the metal veins were seen. "I get where you are coming from when you say that you still feel at fault. After I got free and my parents moved in a new location a few states away I made it my mission to call up everyone I bullied and apologized." Green eyes opened looking into the sunglasses the other was wearing, "Just like you apologized to Remy. Thankfully unlike me you received an instant thank you and forgiveness. I only got that from a few of them that I bullied."
Scott stayed quiet processing what he had heard. Looking the man over again he tried to see the bully that Gill said he had been. Nothing in his stature suggested that he had ever done it yet the emotions he had used when telling his story was everything Scott needed to know that he was telling the truth. "How did you get over the regret?"
"I never did. Every now and then I think back to the kids I used to bully and I feel the need to apologize all over again. At most what I have managed to live with the fact that is who I used to be and I grew from it. Some of the kids I bullied back in the day are actually people I talk to every once in a while."
"That is going to be hard to do." Scott replied a sigh making it way past his lips as he looked at the sky through the leaves above his head. He wanted to make it up to Remy for the way that he treated him but the Cajun refused to accept it. The reason being that Remy felt that the apology was enough for him. The very action of Scott apologizing to his face had been everything that Remy ever wanted. Even knowing that he felt that he should do more than just that, it wasn't enough for Scott. Why couldn't Remy see that?
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(1) Greg Terence (1) Power see through anything and night vision, (2) Hair short black with natural red highlights, (3) Eyes glowing neon green, (4) Physical Attribute is his eyes, (5) Level _, (6) Attitude playful, sweet, caring, (7) Job after school tutor in which he wears green contacts that hide most of his glowing from his eyes, (8) Montana (third), (9) Age: 16 to 25 (10) Has a fear of needles near his eyes, It is so bad that he hates just about anything near his eyes. Even the contacts he wears, (11) PTSD due to what happened to him in the past. Will flip if anything comes close to his eyes. (12) Knows sign language (13) had to be beaten near of his captivity (black baseball cap, a black t-shirt, dark blue jeans, and black boots.) (14) Has not evolved yet
(2) Gill Findel (1) Power electronic controlling and electricity, (2) Hair short blond, (3) light green, (4) Physical attribute is metal looking veins, (5) Level _, (6) Attitude serious, intelligent, almost emotionless, (7) Job electronic store, (8) Georgia (first) (9) Clothes: Laid back - wearing a black long sleeve shirt, black jogging pants, and white socks, (10) Age: 16 to 25 (11) Skin: dark tan (12) Allergic to grapes (13) _
(3) Ava Trace (1) Power telepath, (2) Hair short red, (3) Eyes sky blue, (4) Physical attribute is a purple tattoo over left eye, (5) Level _, (6) Attitude sweet, motherly, caring, (7) Job nursing home, (8) Alabama (second) (9) Age: 14 to 23, (10) Knows sign language, (11) was touched while she was held captive when a teenager
(4) Elane Findel: (1) Power: _ (2) long black hair, (3) dark brown eyes, (4) Attitude: loving, gentle, and caring, (5) Job _ (6) Georgia (7) Clothes: green t-shirt, shorts, and sandals (8) Family: Sister [who does not like Gill, name Clara, mutant ability: shields] (9) Skin: Tan
