I don't know why I'm popping these out so fast, but I am. Maybe it's because, while my inspiration well has dried up for EVERYTHING else I'm writing, there appears to be an inspiration spring for this fic. *Rolls eyes* Go figure. I will, however, slow down if my furious writing pace slackens off any. Just so you know.
MetaChi: Well, Fangorn Forest or Helm's Deep. Either one!! And yes, I did know that. ^.^ Hee hee. That guy is freaky, isn't he? O.O Good thing that omelette place was in, like Illisnois or something. Or maybe it's a bad thing….^.~
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"You're sure it's all vight zat I go in and see her?" Kurt asked Ororo shyly. The older woman nodded and smiled reassuringly.
"Go on in Kurt," she said. "I'm sure she'd be glad for some company. Since we're not sure how shifting back to human form would affect her with an injury like that, she got a long and painful recovery ahead of her." Kurt winced.
"Really?" he asked. "How long?"
"We're not really sure how long it will take the wing to heal," Ororo said, "but we figure it will be a while. Now get in there." Ororo smiled, and gave the blue-furred mutant a gentle push towards the door of the infirmary room where Janella had been installed.
"Danke, Ororo," Kurt said.
"You're welcome, Kurt," she said with a smile. "Now remember, there is a call button in there. I won't be far, so if you need anything, just press it, alright?" Kurt nodded, and pushed open the door.
Janella was in a two-person room, but they would not be able to install another in here. The twin beds had been pushed together. Janella was lying on one, and her injured wing was spread across the other. She had one arm folded across her abdomen, and was lazily bouncing a paddleball with the other. She looked p when he entered.
"Hola, Kurt," she said brightly, though there was a tinge of pain in her voice.
"Hallo, Janella," he replied.
"Hey, whatcha got there?" she asked, looking at a bundle in his hands. He smiled and came over, setting it on the edge of the bed. She glanced quizzically at the blanket wrapped bundle, and pulled back some of the fabric.
"My laptop!" she said happily. She slid the blanket off the rest of the stuff, reveling her charge cables, CD collection, and some DVDs. Her eyes lit up, and he figured if she smiled any wider the top of her head would fall off.
"I figured it vould help pass ze time," Kurt explained, now smiling himself.
"Oh man, Kurt, if I could throw my arms around you right now, rest assured I would!" she said with a laugh. The injudicious movement swept a wave of pain through her body, starting from her midsection. She doubled up on herself, which moved her wing, which caused another wave of pain. Kurt knew the movements had to hurt, but was shocked he felt an echo of them in him. The moment he felt that echo, the pain in her lessened just that much. She lay back on her bed, trying to take deep calming breaths and relax. Kurt hooked a chair with his tail and pulled it over to himself before sitting heavily.
"Was the heck vas zat?" he asked quietly, after a moment of silence. Janella shook her head.
"I…I don't know," she said finally. They both fell silent, and Janella bit her lip, appearing deep in thought. "Y'know…" she said finally. "I've read of a…ritual among…well, I don't think anyone actually practices it anymore, but…"
"Was ritual?" Kurt asked, interrupting her.
"It was a sort of…blood bonding of sorts," she said. "People, like Native American or African tribes, those kinds of people, thought that, if two people shared their blood, they would be able to sense the other person's body, at least in a rudimentary sense."
"And…you zink zis is was is-?" Kurt started. Janella shrugged.
"Only thing I can think of," Janella said. "The practice died out a long time ago, when Europeans took over and convinced native peoples world wide that their cultures sucked and everything they believed in was wrong!" She sagged against her pillow, adding as an afterthought, "No offense, Kurt." He rolled his eyes.
"None taken," he said. "Okay, zis…ritual sounds…I don't know. You mentioned--?"
"It's a blood-bonding," she said again. "An interchange of the blood of two people. If that's what happened though…"
"Vhen did ve share blood?" Kurt finished.
"Exactly." Silence fell on the room.
"I can only zink of vone place," Kurt said finally. "At ze mall. Yesterday. After…" He gestured to her wing, and she nodded.
"That would make sense," she conceded quietly, before yawning widely. She snapped her mouth shut and blinked. "Sorry," she murmured.
"It'z all vight," he said. He reached down and took her hand, giving it a brief squeeze. "I should go."
"Aww…" Janella said sadly. She thrust a bundle of cables at him. "Can you plug these in somewhere for me?" she asked.
"Ja," he said, taking them and finding a conveniently close outlet to plug them in. He handed her the connection, which she attached to her computer. He headed for the door, and paused there. She yawned again, and waved weakly.
"Thanks for coming, Kurt," she said with a smile.
"I'll be sure to come often," he assured her.
"That'd be nice," she said. "Bye!"
"Bye, Janella," he said as he walk through the door. "I'll see you later."
"All right, Kurt," she said, though it was slightly muffled through another yawn. "See ya…"
Almost everyone in the mansion visited her at least once during her recovery, and she was friendly to them all, even engaging. But perhaps it was only the Professor who noticed that she truly opened up only around Kurt. They kept a camera in the room. Though it was on all the time, it wasn't usually monitored by anything more than a computer; it was for safety reasons. Sometimes, especially among the younger or less experienced mutants, when they were injured, their powers would go out of control, and the camera was wired into an alert system to warn the Professor if anything began to go wrong. He was reviewing some of those tapes, contemplating them, when Ororo entered the room.
"What are you doing, Professor?" she asked, standing behind his wheelchair and looking over his shoulder.
"I'm just reviewing some of the tapes we have of Janella," he replied thoughtfully. "I believe she and Kurt may have formed some sort of bond, something physical, but I'm not sure what it is."
"I'd noticed something like that too," Ororo commented, lips pursed.
"Really?" the Professor asked. "Do tell."
"Well," Ororo said slowly, considering her words, "remember the time Kitty was bringing her dinner, and accidentally phased in through Janella's damaged wing?" She paused a moment for the Professor's affirmation before continuing. "Well, Kurt knew, and it couldn't have been more that an instant after it happened. He grabbed at his shoulder like it hurt and then teleported away, and by the time Kitty came up to say something was wrong and I got down there, he was there with Janella."
"Ah yes," the Professor remarked. "I do remember that."
"And that's not the only example of that, either," Ororo added. The Professor nodded.
"I believe there may be something between them that goes deeper than just friendship," he remarked. "And I think we may need to find out exactly how deep it goes. Go get Kurt and meet me in Janella's room."
"Professor Xavier? This is a pleasant surprise," Janella said mildly as he opened the door and rolled into the room. "And Ororo…and Kurt too? Wow…I feel so loved." She smiled shyly, and the Professor could tell she was truly gratified they had come to see her. "In fact," she continued, "I was just considering getting up and finding someone. I was SO bored!" She received concerned stares all around, and held up her hands defensively. "Calm down! I was kidding!" she assured them.
"I zhould haff hoped so," Kurt admonished slightly, coming over and sitting on the edge of the bed. The Professor entered farther, and Ororo pulled the lone chair over and seated herself.
"So, to what do I owe this pleasure?" Janella asked smoothly, carefully drawing her legs up to her chest and resting her arms on them. She could move her body without pain fairly well now, as long as she kept her wing still. She winced slightly as her wing shifted place, and Kurt felt a twinge of pain in his shoulder. He ignored it though, and leaned back against her knees. She gave him a thump on the back, but let him be. He shrugged, but the Professor leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands.
"We'd like to know exactly what happened to you at the mall a few days ago, Janella," he said, carefully. "All we have at the moment are speculative reports from Scott, Jean, and Kurt here." Janella nodded.
"Fair enough," she murmured, biting her lip. She took a deep breath, and began to tell. It didn't take her long because most of the details were already known. The only things she had to add were what happened after they got the civilians evacuated-but she left out what she and Kurt had deducted about their blood-bonding. "And so I think it was-"
"Quicksilver," Professor X finished for her. She nodded, and a look of unmistakable anger flashed across Kurt's face.
"Quicksilver?! Vhy zat sneaky little-" Ororo laid a restraining hand on his arm, and he subsided.
"How's your wing doing, Janella?" she asked. "I don't think there's no better way to get back at Pietro then get back in the game before he expects it." Janella's face brightened slightly.
"I guess you're right," she said. "It feels fine, Ororo, at least when I keep it stationary…"
"Which you don't do that often," Kurt muttered under his breath. Janella glared at him, trying to keep the look, secret, which she failed at. The Professor glanced between the pair.
"Zere vas…something else zat happened on zat day," Kurt said slowly. Both the adults remained silent, and waited for him to elaborate. "Ve're…vell, ve're not exactly sure was happened, but-"
"-it was a blood-bonding of sorts," Janella finished.
"A blood-bonding?" the Professor questioned.
"Yes," Ororo said, answering instead of Janella. "It's a ritual you hear about being used among native tribes in Africa, or perhaps Australia."
"It involves the sharing of…well, blood, between two people," Janella added. "It's supposed to heighten their awareness of each other. I'm not sure what the exact purpose of it is, but it's definitely an intriguing concept."
"Indeed it is," Xavier conceded.
"Well, it does explain certain things, Professor," Ororo said, cocking an eyebrow at Kurt, who grinned nervously. Janella shrugged uncomfortably and leaned back against her pillow. She crossed her arms against the headboard.
"I'm sorry to have to leave so abruptly" Professor X said after a moment of silence, "but I do have things to do, so…"
"Professor," Janella interrupted quickly. "I want to tell you about my family."
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O.O Secret…revelation!!! Bwahahaha!! Cliffhanger! *Points* The only person who isn't in suspense right now is MetaChi, I guarantee you that. Because she read *Fic name deleted for safety purposes* ^.^ Right. So, if you want the next chapter, you know what to do! Review!
Disclaimer: *Yawn* If you think I own anything except Mythos…you're sadly mistaken.