Chapter 11- Retrieving Memories Part II
Charles sat at his desk in his office, going over a student's paperwork. Charles was muddling it horribly. He could hardly keep his eyes off Amanda. She had fallen asleep on his couch. His baby was truly exhausted as Dr. Nicholls had said that they had broken Shabbat and driven all night just to get here and away from Stryker. Hearing the circumstances of what Stryker had tried to do, Charles couldn't be angry at Dr. Nicholls or his wife. They had protected Amanda and had shown that they truly cared for her.
Charles left his desk and went to Amanda. Amanda had always been a very sound sleeper. All the years away hadn't changed that detail. Charles rested his hand on her head. With his mutation he suddenly saw what his girl was dreaming. She was at a school and talking with people at lunch time about books and the Jewish diet she followed religiously. She mentioned something about cheese blintzes and kugel; two foods Charles would ask Nicholls about. If his daughter loved those dishes, he would make sure she had them. David had always groused that being his son and Charles being the principal at Xavier's School For the Gifted was no picnic. David had to try harder to make good grades to please Charles. Charles had always tried to say David's grades didn't matter as long as he did his best. Charles hoped that Amanda didn't kill herself just to please him with her grades.
Amanda groaned in her sleep and blinked her eyes sleepily at him. Charles smiled, stroking her forehead tenderly. What is it, Professor?" Amanda asked.
"Nothing. I'm just watching you sleep. When you were little, I used to watch you sleep all the time. That was when I would read to you the most. We had just finished "Great Expectations" and I was going to read to you "War and Peace" when Stryker took you," Charles said.
"I saw the movies for both books, but I haven't read them yet," Amanda said with a yawn.
"I will introduce you to classics once I get your schedule under way. You should be in two of my classes, like David. Literature and how to control your powers. What was your favorite subject among the humans?" Charles asked as she sat up.
"History and Polish. At my school they gave a wide selection of languages and I opted for Polish. The next language is German and Russian. Thanks to my memory, I can learn languages a lot quicker than most. It didn't take me long to learn Hebrew when I had my Bat Mitzvah," Amanda said as Hank came in.
"Charles, we're ready," Hank said.
"All right. Are you ready, Amanda?" Charles asked, stroking her face tenderly.
"I guess so. Will it hurt, Dr. McCoy?" Amanda asked nervously.
"Not any more than your dad going into your mind to see how bad the block was," Hank said.
"Oh. That one did hurt," Amanda said with a slight wince.
"I know it did. Charles, we're gonna need you to go into her mind after we administer the antidote. We need to know if the block is breaking," Hank said.
"All right. Come along, Love. The quicker we get this done, the better," Charles said, taking her by the hand and pulling her to her feet. They went back to Hank's lab. Charles looked at his daughter. She was nervous and licking her lips.
"All right. Here's the antidote. You ready?" Nicholls asked.
"I don't know, Abba. How does anyone get ready for this?" Amanda asked. Nicholls touched her face gently.
"One step at a time. You weren't ready when I hurt you when you were three. This time it's your choice," Nicholls said as Amanda sat down on the hospital bed.
"I was told it was going to hurt," Amanda said.
"It hurt the first time, but hopefully you should remember everything," Nicholls said as he cleaned a spot on the back of Amanda's neck and thrust the needle in. Amanda's eyes rolled into her head and she passed out.
Hank flashed a light in her eyes. "Well?" Moira asked from her spot beside Charles.
"She's sedated. Charles, I think we should try Cerebro now. If the block is breaking then you can go into her mind and trigger the locked memories," Hank said as he turned off the light.
"All right. Let's try it," Charles said as he, Hank, and Nicholls went to Cerebro, Nicholls holding Amanda.
It didn't take long to find the blockage. This time Charles could see it disintegrating and the x-gene that had been muted starting to shine as big as it did when his daughter was a baby. "Okay, the antidote is working. The block is breaking," Charles said, removing his hands from her temples.
"We won't know the full extent until she wakes up. How much can you unlock, Professor?" Nicholls asked.
"I can only unlock so much, Nicholls. Some of her memory will have to come back on its own. But since the drugs you gave her years ago are going, it shouldn't be all that long. But we don't want to be in here all night. Let's take her to her bedroom and put her to bed. When she wakes up, we'll see how it goes," Charles said as Nicholls picked her up and followed Charles and Hank to Amanda's bedroom.
"I'll go get Moira, David, and Naomi. They'd want to be here," Hank said to Charles after they tucked Amanda into her bed.
"Thank you, Hank. Nicholls, are you okay?" Charles asked as he started to stroke his daughter's forehead gently.
"I'm fine. I just...I should have brought her to you a long time ago. I was scared and thought that she needed protection. I had no idea that Stryker would come back," Nicholls said as he sat on Amanda's other side and squeezed her limp hand gently.
"From what I have seen in my daughter's memories, you did the best you could. Being a father is sometimes about making what we think is the best choice for them. My son had often gotten angry when I make a choice that's for his own good," Charles said, caressing the dark brown strands of his daughters hair.
"She is so beautiful when she's asleep. She doesn't look as if she has a care in the world. I look in on her often to make sure she's okay," Nicholls said.
"I did that too and I also check on David. I think it's to make sure they are still breathing," Charles said as the door opened and Moira, Mrs. Nicholls, and David came in followed by Hank and Raven, who had been away on a mission.
"Raven?" Charles asked, removing his hand from Amanda's hair and his adopted sister gave him a hug.
"Hank told me Amanda was back. Charles, does she remember anything about any of us?" Raven asked, her eyes tearing over as she looked at Amanda.
"We won't know much of anything until she wakes up. I have been able to see some of her more recent memories, but not much of what happened when she was taken. There was a block, which is now starting to disappear," Charles said, placing his hand back on Amanda's head.
"Well, I suppose we either should get some coffee or go to sleep. It should be awhile before she wakes up if me and Hank timed the sedatives right in that dose we gave her," Nicholls said, looking at his watch.
"How long should she be out, Jack?" Mrs. Nicholls asked.
"It's a heavy concentration of sedatives. It also repairs the damage that the drugs I gave her before caused. She should sleep between 24 to 36 hours," Nicholls said.
"Well, then I guess we get some coffee and wait it out," Hank said. Raven, Moira and Mrs. Nicholls went to get the coffee and Charles, Hank, Dr. Nicholls, and David talked while they waited.