Chapter 6 - Pain
For the first time I can remember, I stood on a high rooftop, the roof of a skyscraper, and was afraid. I'd never been afraid of heights, not even before I got my powers. I guess it was just fate's way of preparing me for what, no, who I would eventually become.
But I am not afraid of falling. I am afraid that I will catch myself, that if I jumped from this building like I have hundreds of others, I would be reborn. That he would be reborn. Which is something I do not want.
Or do I?
Things in my head are jumbled and confused. I take the elevator down; it's easier on body and mind. I reach the ground floor and head into the street. Immediately, two police cars and an ambulance go by, sirens blaring. I follow without really understanding why.
I run after them for what seems like hours. It seems as though the sirens are waiting for me though, as I can always just barely make out where they are ahead of me. Finally, they slow and stop, coming to a halt in front of the library. A crowd has already gathered, and I push my way through.
There, in the center lies a body.
Uncle Ben…
Then, suddenly the form shifts to Captain Stacy's. Then Gwen, MJ, Aunt May, Anna Watson, and Harry. No one around me seems to find at all unusual. The names on their lips change in time to the forms, and my world starts to collapse in on itself.
The body shifts back to Uncle Ben, and his eyes open, as does his mouth.
"Remember, Pete, remember."
Then forms shift again, and all of them start saying the same word, shifting too fast for one to complete it, but the next always starts where the other left off.
"Remember…"
Then the world about me totally collapsed, and the colors swirled and faded.
And I woke up.
My eyes slammed open, and I lay there, sweating.
What the hell did that mean? Remember what?
I glanced at the clock next to me. It read five-o-three a.m.
Great.
I walked into the empty bathroom, relishing in the thought that no one was going to bug me for once. It was hard to believe that there had been no sightings of the Six since that first battle almost two weeks ago.
Either the X-Men hit them harder than I thought, or they're up to something…
It was, unfortunately, almost always the latter of the two. Still a bit groggy, I headed down stairs, where there was still no one around. Frowning a bit I headed outside, to see if anyone was there.
If this is someone's idea of a joke, I'm going to hit that someone.
I headed into the densely packed garden area, wandering through the hedges that were not quite a maze. After a while, I was quite deep in.
At a twinge from my spider-sense, I suddenly dived forward. A red beam blasted through where I had been standing a moment before. Cyclops came out, and looked down at me.
"Oops."
"Oops?! I could have been seriously hurt!"
Then, from off to the side, there was a low growl, and a black and orange form hit Scott in the side. Scott was a bit frantic.
"Logan! Stop! Time out!"
"Don't get distracted kid."
"Logan, civilian!"
"Huh?"
Logan got off Scott, and turned to look at me.
"Oh?"
He sniffed the air a few times. He turned back to Cyclops.
"He'd probably do better than you in the field. At least he doesn't stink of fear."
I raised my voice in protest.
"I just got out of the shower. Kinda' hard to stink of anything."
Logan just looked at me and growled.
"Half-pint! Get over here!"
Kitty phased through one of the hedges a moment later.
"Yeah?"
"Get the kid here out of the training zone, and get back. ASAP."
"Okay Mr. Logan."
Kitty grabbed me and started leading me through the hedges, phasing me through as well, while I tried to clear my head. Kitty, on the other hand, had started talking.
"Sooo… Do you want to go shopping with me later?"
"No."
"Please?"
"Despite Logan's current opinion, I'm not quite that stupid."
"Oh, come on Peter!"
"Read my lips. Not. A. Chance."
We cleared the last hedge then, and she set me loose.
"Fine."
There was a weird expression on her face, and I raised an eyebrow.
"What are you planning?"
"Nothing…"
I might have believed her. Might have, if her voice hadn't had one of those annoying singsong qualities to it. I crossed my arms.
"I'm not buying it."
She stuck her tongue out at me, and ran back into the hedges. A feeling of impending doom not at all related to my spider-sense flooded through me.
This will not go well.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Kid."
Peter turned around from where he was walking.
"What?"
"I'm sorry."
"Huh?"
I growled a bit at him.
"Don't make me repeat myself, this is difficult enough as it is. I'm sorry about earlier, in the hedge."
"Oh. That. You were a little rude, Logan."
"I know, I know, but it's just… well, we haven't spoken too much since you came here, and…"
"…And you're feeling that you're neglecting some obscure duty?"
"Somethin' like that, yeah."
He smiled a bit then.
"Well, I haven't exactly been the best conversationalist lately myself. Forget about it. I'm a little used to being alone."
"Well, remember that you aren't alone. I forget often enough. Two of us would be really bad."
He laughed a little.
"I'll remember that."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I sat on my bed studying a book on MySql, a semi-advanced database programming language, when the doom feeling returned.
What now I wonder?
I looked up.
Nuts.
Kitty stood there, purse in hand.
"Come on, let's go."
"I said I'm not coming."
"You're coming anyways."
"Go by yourself."
"I can't. With everything going on, we're not supposed to travel is anything less than pairs, and no one else wants to go."
"Neither do I. Besides, I'm not a mutant, don't I count as a 'civilian'."
"Professor X says you'll do. Now come on."
"No."
"Get up."
"Make me."
She just growled and grabbed my leg.
I didn't mean it literally…
I dropped my book in a hurry and grabbed the bedpost. I slowed, but ever so slowly, the bed started moving as well.
I guess those hours training do pay off.
Eventually I had to let go of the bed or severely damage it as it impacted with the dresser. She pulled me out into the hall, where I grabbed a doorframe instead. My grip wasn't incredibly good, so I adhered to the thing instead.
It turned into a strange game of tug-of-war at that point.
Laughter interrupted us. Kitty gave me a little slack at that point, and we looked over to see Scott and Jean pointing at us and laughing. I'm pretty sure we were both beet red. I know I was. I tried to alleviate myself.
"I don't suppose I could get a little help here?"
Scott stopped laughing long enough to answer. Indirectly anyways.
"Come on Jean, let's leave these two to their… fun."
I'll get you for that Summers.
And laughing, they walked off down the hallway. Kitty suddenly had a mischievous grin on her face.
Oh boy.
Suddenly, I was loose. It wasn't that I had stopped sticking, but that suddenly there was nothing to stick to.
She's using her powers on me.
To my continuing horror, she continued dragging me all the way out to the garage, which included several long flights of stairs and the astonished looks and amused laughter of several others, including, but not limited too, Beast, Storm, Bobby, and Rogue.
I'm never gonna live this down.
For the first time I can remember, I stood on a high rooftop, the roof of a skyscraper, and was afraid. I'd never been afraid of heights, not even before I got my powers. I guess it was just fate's way of preparing me for what, no, who I would eventually become.
But I am not afraid of falling. I am afraid that I will catch myself, that if I jumped from this building like I have hundreds of others, I would be reborn. That he would be reborn. Which is something I do not want.
Or do I?
Things in my head are jumbled and confused. I take the elevator down; it's easier on body and mind. I reach the ground floor and head into the street. Immediately, two police cars and an ambulance go by, sirens blaring. I follow without really understanding why.
I run after them for what seems like hours. It seems as though the sirens are waiting for me though, as I can always just barely make out where they are ahead of me. Finally, they slow and stop, coming to a halt in front of the library. A crowd has already gathered, and I push my way through.
There, in the center lies a body.
Uncle Ben…
Then, suddenly the form shifts to Captain Stacy's. Then Gwen, MJ, Aunt May, Anna Watson, and Harry. No one around me seems to find at all unusual. The names on their lips change in time to the forms, and my world starts to collapse in on itself.
The body shifts back to Uncle Ben, and his eyes open, as does his mouth.
"Remember, Pete, remember."
Then forms shift again, and all of them start saying the same word, shifting too fast for one to complete it, but the next always starts where the other left off.
"Remember…"
Then the world about me totally collapsed, and the colors swirled and faded.
And I woke up.
My eyes slammed open, and I lay there, sweating.
What the hell did that mean? Remember what?
I glanced at the clock next to me. It read five-o-three a.m.
Great.
I walked into the empty bathroom, relishing in the thought that no one was going to bug me for once. It was hard to believe that there had been no sightings of the Six since that first battle almost two weeks ago.
Either the X-Men hit them harder than I thought, or they're up to something…
It was, unfortunately, almost always the latter of the two. Still a bit groggy, I headed down stairs, where there was still no one around. Frowning a bit I headed outside, to see if anyone was there.
If this is someone's idea of a joke, I'm going to hit that someone.
I headed into the densely packed garden area, wandering through the hedges that were not quite a maze. After a while, I was quite deep in.
At a twinge from my spider-sense, I suddenly dived forward. A red beam blasted through where I had been standing a moment before. Cyclops came out, and looked down at me.
"Oops."
"Oops?! I could have been seriously hurt!"
Then, from off to the side, there was a low growl, and a black and orange form hit Scott in the side. Scott was a bit frantic.
"Logan! Stop! Time out!"
"Don't get distracted kid."
"Logan, civilian!"
"Huh?"
Logan got off Scott, and turned to look at me.
"Oh?"
He sniffed the air a few times. He turned back to Cyclops.
"He'd probably do better than you in the field. At least he doesn't stink of fear."
I raised my voice in protest.
"I just got out of the shower. Kinda' hard to stink of anything."
Logan just looked at me and growled.
"Half-pint! Get over here!"
Kitty phased through one of the hedges a moment later.
"Yeah?"
"Get the kid here out of the training zone, and get back. ASAP."
"Okay Mr. Logan."
Kitty grabbed me and started leading me through the hedges, phasing me through as well, while I tried to clear my head. Kitty, on the other hand, had started talking.
"Sooo… Do you want to go shopping with me later?"
"No."
"Please?"
"Despite Logan's current opinion, I'm not quite that stupid."
"Oh, come on Peter!"
"Read my lips. Not. A. Chance."
We cleared the last hedge then, and she set me loose.
"Fine."
There was a weird expression on her face, and I raised an eyebrow.
"What are you planning?"
"Nothing…"
I might have believed her. Might have, if her voice hadn't had one of those annoying singsong qualities to it. I crossed my arms.
"I'm not buying it."
She stuck her tongue out at me, and ran back into the hedges. A feeling of impending doom not at all related to my spider-sense flooded through me.
This will not go well.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Kid."
Peter turned around from where he was walking.
"What?"
"I'm sorry."
"Huh?"
I growled a bit at him.
"Don't make me repeat myself, this is difficult enough as it is. I'm sorry about earlier, in the hedge."
"Oh. That. You were a little rude, Logan."
"I know, I know, but it's just… well, we haven't spoken too much since you came here, and…"
"…And you're feeling that you're neglecting some obscure duty?"
"Somethin' like that, yeah."
He smiled a bit then.
"Well, I haven't exactly been the best conversationalist lately myself. Forget about it. I'm a little used to being alone."
"Well, remember that you aren't alone. I forget often enough. Two of us would be really bad."
He laughed a little.
"I'll remember that."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I sat on my bed studying a book on MySql, a semi-advanced database programming language, when the doom feeling returned.
What now I wonder?
I looked up.
Nuts.
Kitty stood there, purse in hand.
"Come on, let's go."
"I said I'm not coming."
"You're coming anyways."
"Go by yourself."
"I can't. With everything going on, we're not supposed to travel is anything less than pairs, and no one else wants to go."
"Neither do I. Besides, I'm not a mutant, don't I count as a 'civilian'."
"Professor X says you'll do. Now come on."
"No."
"Get up."
"Make me."
She just growled and grabbed my leg.
I didn't mean it literally…
I dropped my book in a hurry and grabbed the bedpost. I slowed, but ever so slowly, the bed started moving as well.
I guess those hours training do pay off.
Eventually I had to let go of the bed or severely damage it as it impacted with the dresser. She pulled me out into the hall, where I grabbed a doorframe instead. My grip wasn't incredibly good, so I adhered to the thing instead.
It turned into a strange game of tug-of-war at that point.
Laughter interrupted us. Kitty gave me a little slack at that point, and we looked over to see Scott and Jean pointing at us and laughing. I'm pretty sure we were both beet red. I know I was. I tried to alleviate myself.
"I don't suppose I could get a little help here?"
Scott stopped laughing long enough to answer. Indirectly anyways.
"Come on Jean, let's leave these two to their… fun."
I'll get you for that Summers.
And laughing, they walked off down the hallway. Kitty suddenly had a mischievous grin on her face.
Oh boy.
Suddenly, I was loose. It wasn't that I had stopped sticking, but that suddenly there was nothing to stick to.
She's using her powers on me.
To my continuing horror, she continued dragging me all the way out to the garage, which included several long flights of stairs and the astonished looks and amused laughter of several others, including, but not limited too, Beast, Storm, Bobby, and Rogue.
I'm never gonna live this down.