Feral Bonds Chapter 8
Morgannia: I'm glad you are finding this story enjoyable. I honestly don't know if I'm going to put any pairing in this story at all. Other than that, I already have the rest of this story outlined. Left it open though so I could put one in if it was warranted. But to be perfectly honest, the chance of it becoming a kurrty is pretty low. As is obviously seen in the earlier chapters, I suck at writing Kurt. 8P But who knows.
Disclaimer: I realized I hadn't bothered to put one of these on the past few chapters, so here goes. Even after all this typing, I still don't own anything that relates to x-men. Kinda destroys the adage that says "Work hard enough, and you'll get what you want." One word accurately describes my feelings on the subject.
"Feh"
Oh well, on with the show.
Isolation ward
Xavier rolled back into the medlab holding a thick sheaf of papers. He took a look around and saw that Hank had mostly disposed of the glass and wood shards from the destroyed desk. Satisfied that things were getting back to normal, he turned to Kitty and inwardly chuckled. She was standing rigid as a metal beam, he eyes never leaving the boy sitting on the floor next to her. She didn't quite believe him when he told her she was absolutely safe where she was.
Her still wide eyes locked with his. "Professor? Can't you like make him go away?"
Xavier sat the sheaf of papers down and spoke. "No Kitty, I can't." Her face fell. "But you can."
Kitty's face went rigid with shock again and she asked. "Huh? How can I do anything with..." gesturing at the boy "..him."
Xavier smiled and answered her. "Just like you did before Kitty. Merely tell him what you want him to do."
Kitty blinked. "Why me Professor?"
Xavier just kept smiling. "Trust me Kitty, just tell him what you want him to do."
Logan came running into the room, skidding to a stop next to the Professor, he crouched down and sprang his claws. The boy instantly let his own claws snap out of his hand and jumped to his feet, placing himself between Kitty and Logan. Growling, his legs bunched and he was about to leap when Kitty belted out. "STOP! SIT DOWN!" And Logan's eyebrow arched when the boy instantly retracted his claws and dropped to the floor, silent as death.
Logan relaxed and turned to the Professor. "What the hell is this Chuck."
Xavier reached down and picked up the sheaf of papers. "This is the printout of the file we retrieved from the complex in Colorado Logan. I've read parts and I have discovered a few answers to some of our questions."
Logan let his claws slide back into his forearms, sensing that there really wasn't any danger here, even with the hole in the wall and shattered desk. "And?"
Xavier chuckled. "First off. He does not have a name. Or at least not a recorded name. He is referred to as the Weapon mk2 throughout this document. Second, and as we can plainly see, his claws, unlike yours Logan, are not natural. Third, they were deliberately keeping him feral. Along with the operations you saw, he was kept in a cage. Fourth, I deduced why he is acting the way he is towards Kitty. Literally, he's been programmed to."
Logan scowled. "Programmed? What sort of programming."
Xavier flipped through the pages of the document. "Instead of attempting to control him with electronics and drugs like they tried on the original Weapon X project, they manipulated his genetics to 'imprint' on one person. They hoped that this would give them an unbreakable control over him. They even went as far as having a mutant telepathically reinforce this instinct. They implanted a suggestion that would keep him from imprinting to anyone but the person they picked. The trigger was the unique pheromones given off by a pregnant woman."
All eyes turned to Kitty. "I'm totally NOT pregnant! Why do people keep like bringing it up!"
Xavier continued. "Calm down Kitty, it's a simple reason. Remember when Hank prescribed you birth control pills last month?" She nodded, still not comprehending what that had to do with anything. Xavier turned to Hank. "If you would explain?"
Hank adjusted his glasses and started speaking. "Current iterations of birth control, particularly the pills you were prescribed, work by fooling the body into believing it's carrying a fetus. That includes changing the hormone levels which in turn will change your scent Kitty."
Xavier continued. "To put it simply Kitty, you were in the right place at the right time with the right scent. He.." gesturing at the boy "..imprinted on you. Just like they planned to do with their own Controller. Fortunately for both him and us, they had not planned to bring the controller in until after the bonding process was finished."
Kitty blinked. "So?"
Xavier grinned. "It looks like you just acquired a guardian angel Kitty. Your voice and scent is the only thing that will control him for the moment. And with his instincts, you could not possibly be safer. As we saw earlier with Scott and here with Logan, he is quite protective of you. And as you determined for us, he does understand some language to at least a minimal degree."
Kitty looked down, watching the boy. He just crouched there, perfectly still, looking for all the world like a statue. But she somehow knew that his eyes were locked on Logan, the latest supposed threat. Reaching down, she poked a finger into his bare shoulder. Other than a slight twitching of the skin, he didn't move. Taking a step backwards, she saw his head swivel smoothly to the side, his left eye locking on hers. He still didn't move and she almost laughed with the sudden break of her tension when she saw the utterly innocent expression on his face. Deciding to test the Professor's statement, she pointed to the hole in the wall. "Um.like go to your room."
The boy looked to the hole in the wall and back to her, his brow dropping and the hospital pants and Twinkie remains that covered his face notwithstanding, he looked like a student having a particularly hard time on a test. She pointed again. "Go in there." He looked back at the hole, the look of concentration still on his face.
Kitty turned back to the Professor. "He totally doesn't understand Professor."
Xavier folded his hands under his chin and thought for a moment. Logan jumped in. "I really don't like this Chuck."
Xavier to him. "It's just temporary Logan. And much better than the alternative."
Logan snorted. "Yea. I don't want to watch it. I'll be at Harry's." and with that, he stalked out of the room.
Xavier turned back to Kitty. "Perhaps you should make your commands more simple Kitty. I think he only knows a few words."
Kitty sucked her bottom lip in and chewed on it for a moment. Her eyes suddenly lit up. She looked at the expectant face of the boy. "I'm like really sorry about this." She walked over to the hole in the wall and turned around. She called out in a clear voice, "Here boy!" and smacked her thigh twice. Scott and Evan snickered before the Professor's disapproving glance stopped them in their tracks.
The boy stood up and with a quick look around the room walked slowly towards Kitty, his eyes never leaving the other occupants in the room. Walking up to Kitty, he stopped and dropped into a half-crouch. She pointed into the hole again. "Go." He looked at her quizzically and just stood there. She stamped her foot in frustration. "I want you to totally go in there right now!" He cocked his head to the side and looked at her pointing hand. She was just about to push him in the room when he suddenly stood up straight and walked into the isolation room. Her mouth closed with a click.
She shrugged her shoulders and stepped back from the hole. Waiting a few seconds to make sure nothing happened, she turned and walked over to the Professor. "That was totally surreal Professor. Is he gonna like stay like that?"
Xavier inwardly chuckled when he couldn't tell if Kitty's expression was hopeful or disappointing. "I do have a plan that might separate you from your new.friend." He just couldn't keep the grin off his face this time.
Kitty groaned and rolled her eyes. "Just do something, he's creepy on 'so' many levels. I mean he just walked in there." Pointing back at the hole, she saw the boy standing there staring at her. She put her face in her hands and groaned. She turned and pointed back inside the room. "Go back in and sit down." Turning back to Xavier. "This is totally creeping me out Professor, do something."
Xavier was quiet for a moment. "Jean should be here momentarily. I've explained to her what we are going to try to do to him already." Patting her on the shoulder, he gave her a sympathetic smile. "We should be done soon."
Kitty glanced between the hole and Xavier. "Is he gonna be like ok? It's not gonna hurt him or anything right?"
Xavier smiled. "I'm proud of you Kitty. Not many people in your position would even attempt to show compassion to him. In answer to your question, I don't believe it will harm him, but this is an untested procedure. It will turn out how it turns out." Glancing over at the door way as Jean walked in, he finished. "We will need you to settle him down when we approach him. Preferably, try to get him to lay down on the bed."
Kitty glanced back into the room and saw the bed, or what was left of it. And the boy just sitting against the wall, looking at her blankly. She turned to Xavier and Jean. "That's like no problem."
Xavier and Jean followed Kitty into the room. Kitty gestured for him to stand up and come over. "Come on Mark, come over here."
Jean exchanged a glance with Xavier. "Mark?"
Kitty turned to her. "Yea, the Professor said they like called him the mk2, so why not just call him Mark?" She gestured to the boy, who appeared to be paying rapt attention to her. "See? He totally responds to it anyway. And I like don't want to keep thinking of him as boy or guy."
Xavier just nodded. "Mark it is then."
Mark walked over to Kitty and stood there, staring at Jean and Xavier. Kitty pushed down on his shoulder and he went down on the remaining half of the bed, his head more or less level with Xavier's arms.
Xavier looked at Jean for a moment. She turned and walked towards Mark. Kitty grabbed his hands and held them there as he started to growl. "They are friends." Clenching his wrists to get his attention. "Just lie there, they are going to help you." Seeing that he didn't understand her, she thought for a moment. "Ok. Mark, STOP!" His body went rigid and the growling cut off like someone had thrown a switch.
Xavier and Jean both placed their hands on Mark's head and closed their eyes.
In the Mindscape
Xavier felt Jean reach out and envelop the boys mind. She was holding it tightly, keeping any new thoughts from forming, and building a bridge between himself and the boy. He pushed his own consciousness forward. Feeling his body lighten for a moment, he gasped as he arrived in a blank void occupied with only a single cage. He walked to the cage and saw the boy in the corner, unmoving. Banishing the bars with a thought, he stepped into the cage and picked the inert form of the boy up. Stepping outside the cage, he turned and tried to banish the entire cage. He frowned when the cage wavered, but remained. Trying again brought the same results. He thought for a moment before willing the cage to take on the form of a room, complete with a door. Shutting the door he turned and gazed into the void.
Pulling on both his own memories and Jean's impressions of the people she knew, he painstakingly carved out a world in the void. Placing people and places around in a generic representation of the world. He reached deeply into the nothingness and placed the English language into a box that formed out of the void. A blank pegboard winked into existence next to him. Drawing on Scott's love for order, he summoned a ruler and sat it down. He then drew on Jean's ability to interact with other people, he summoned a set of her soccer shoes and a trophy and put them on the board. Next, he drew on Kurt's ability to find and make humor, he summoned a multicolored ball and sat it down. Next he drew on Eric's ability to focus and his determination, summoning Eric's helmet, he placed it over the ball on the board. He then started summoning objects at random, settling them down on the table, forming a large pile when he was finished.
Jean blinked into existence next to him. "Are you almost finished Professor? I don't know if I can hold this for much longer." Xavier turned to her. "I believe that I have at least the basics of a working personality here. Would you double check? I can hold his mind." Jean blinked and the world shifted as she took control of the mindscape. Turning to the table, it shimmered and changed to a computer. Jean sat down in a chair and started looking through the files. She went through the files for a few minutes before turning the chair to Xavier. "I've never even heard of something like this happening before, but I want to say that it looks ok." Xavier nodded and passed the psychic hold back to Jean and the world shifted again. Stepping back to the computer, he reasserted his control over the world and willed it back to the pegboard table. Laying the body down on the table, he stepped back. "Jean, I'm going to need your help to fuse this personality together. Don't try to interpret anything, just lend me your power." Jean nodded and placed her hand on his shoulder. Xavier put his fingers on his temple and concentrated hard.
The table started to glow with an inner light. The intensity slowly building, the objects next to Mark started to shudder and move. The glow suddenly flared to a nova-bright intensity and the only thing Jean could see was the still body of the boy laying amid the burst of light. The light started shifting colors, flashing from white to red to green and back to white again. A hot wind began screaming past her, flowing to the light. Xavier grunted and stepped forward. Reaching out, he grabbed the edges of the light and..folded them in towards the boy. The winds reached hurricane intensity as the light got smaller and smaller. With one final shove, the edges of the light touched and it collapsed down into the boy. Jean blinked and looked around. The mindscape had changed from a void to the hallways of a hospital.
Xavier opened a door and stepped into the hallway with Jean. She noticed that his face was pale and he was breathing heavily. Reaching out and pulling his arm over her shoulder for support, she spoke. "Are you alright Professor?"
Xavier drew a few deep breaths before responding. "Yes Jean, I'm fine. I'm just tired." He looked up and scanned the halls. "It looks like we were successful Jean. I was not entire sure this was even possible. And if we had any other recourse, I would have never known." Grabbing her shoulder, he led her to the front doors. "Let's go back. I don't want to linger here too long, this personality is still unstable." Jean nodded and they stepped through the doors, vanishing into the light.
Isolation room
Kitty leaned back against the padded wall, sipping the Coke Hank had brought in an hour ago. Sitting the can down, she glanced at the three other people in the room for what had to be the millionth time. Movement in the corner snapped her back to alertness. Turning her head she saw Mr. Macoy's head poking into the room. He smiled at her and spoke. It appears as though they are still at it."
Kitty grabber a forelock of her hair. "Yea, they've totally been just standing there for hours."
Hank smiled. "Patience is a virtue Kitty."
Kitty rolled her eyes. "It's still boring. And I gotta sit here and do like nothing while they do their head stuff."
Hank was about to respond when the Professor and Jean both shivered and opened their eyes. Reaching out, he grasped Jean's arm and kept her from collapsing onto the floor. "Are you all right Jean?"
She took a few deep breaths before answering. "Yes Mr. Macoy, I'm fine. Just a little, winded I guess you could call it."
Hank guided her to a chair. "I'd love to sit down and have you describe what happened in there. When you are rested of course."
Jean smiled, knowing that Beast would never pass an opportunity to learn something new. "Sure, talk to me on Thursday after school."
Xavier rolled out of the isolation room with a gaunt look on his face. "Jean, Hank, I'm going to turn in. Make sure Kitty doesn't leave the boy.or Mark if you will, tonight. His psyche needs to adjust and if he wakes up without her there, it may cause permanent damage."
Kitty was stepping out of the isolation room when she heard the Professor's request. "You mean I have to stay down here like all night?!"
Xavier turned his bloodshot eyes to her. "Yes Kitty, but just for tonight. He should be stable enough tomorrow to function on his own."
Hank spoke up. "The portable beds we store down here are actually quite comfortable Kitty."
Kitty stood still for a moment before throwing her hands up in frustration. "Fine, I'll stay, but I'm going to crash like right now."
Hank pointed out the spare room that contained the beds and Kitty dragged herself in, letting the door bang shut behind her. He turned to the Professor. "Was your venture successful Professor?"
Xavier leaned back in his chair. "For the most part it appears to be successful. However, I was unable to break the imprinting. I'm afraid that Kitty has acquired a shadow for the time being. Either way, I am exhausted, so good night to you both."
Hank watched Xavier and Jean stagger out of the medlab. Glancing to the storage room where Kitty was, he spoke quietly. "Your life is about to take a most unexpected turn little one." He then turned back to what was left of his desk and started picking through the bigger debris.
Morgannia: I'm glad you are finding this story enjoyable. I honestly don't know if I'm going to put any pairing in this story at all. Other than that, I already have the rest of this story outlined. Left it open though so I could put one in if it was warranted. But to be perfectly honest, the chance of it becoming a kurrty is pretty low. As is obviously seen in the earlier chapters, I suck at writing Kurt. 8P But who knows.
Disclaimer: I realized I hadn't bothered to put one of these on the past few chapters, so here goes. Even after all this typing, I still don't own anything that relates to x-men. Kinda destroys the adage that says "Work hard enough, and you'll get what you want." One word accurately describes my feelings on the subject.
"Feh"
Oh well, on with the show.
Isolation ward
Xavier rolled back into the medlab holding a thick sheaf of papers. He took a look around and saw that Hank had mostly disposed of the glass and wood shards from the destroyed desk. Satisfied that things were getting back to normal, he turned to Kitty and inwardly chuckled. She was standing rigid as a metal beam, he eyes never leaving the boy sitting on the floor next to her. She didn't quite believe him when he told her she was absolutely safe where she was.
Her still wide eyes locked with his. "Professor? Can't you like make him go away?"
Xavier sat the sheaf of papers down and spoke. "No Kitty, I can't." Her face fell. "But you can."
Kitty's face went rigid with shock again and she asked. "Huh? How can I do anything with..." gesturing at the boy "..him."
Xavier smiled and answered her. "Just like you did before Kitty. Merely tell him what you want him to do."
Kitty blinked. "Why me Professor?"
Xavier just kept smiling. "Trust me Kitty, just tell him what you want him to do."
Logan came running into the room, skidding to a stop next to the Professor, he crouched down and sprang his claws. The boy instantly let his own claws snap out of his hand and jumped to his feet, placing himself between Kitty and Logan. Growling, his legs bunched and he was about to leap when Kitty belted out. "STOP! SIT DOWN!" And Logan's eyebrow arched when the boy instantly retracted his claws and dropped to the floor, silent as death.
Logan relaxed and turned to the Professor. "What the hell is this Chuck."
Xavier reached down and picked up the sheaf of papers. "This is the printout of the file we retrieved from the complex in Colorado Logan. I've read parts and I have discovered a few answers to some of our questions."
Logan let his claws slide back into his forearms, sensing that there really wasn't any danger here, even with the hole in the wall and shattered desk. "And?"
Xavier chuckled. "First off. He does not have a name. Or at least not a recorded name. He is referred to as the Weapon mk2 throughout this document. Second, and as we can plainly see, his claws, unlike yours Logan, are not natural. Third, they were deliberately keeping him feral. Along with the operations you saw, he was kept in a cage. Fourth, I deduced why he is acting the way he is towards Kitty. Literally, he's been programmed to."
Logan scowled. "Programmed? What sort of programming."
Xavier flipped through the pages of the document. "Instead of attempting to control him with electronics and drugs like they tried on the original Weapon X project, they manipulated his genetics to 'imprint' on one person. They hoped that this would give them an unbreakable control over him. They even went as far as having a mutant telepathically reinforce this instinct. They implanted a suggestion that would keep him from imprinting to anyone but the person they picked. The trigger was the unique pheromones given off by a pregnant woman."
All eyes turned to Kitty. "I'm totally NOT pregnant! Why do people keep like bringing it up!"
Xavier continued. "Calm down Kitty, it's a simple reason. Remember when Hank prescribed you birth control pills last month?" She nodded, still not comprehending what that had to do with anything. Xavier turned to Hank. "If you would explain?"
Hank adjusted his glasses and started speaking. "Current iterations of birth control, particularly the pills you were prescribed, work by fooling the body into believing it's carrying a fetus. That includes changing the hormone levels which in turn will change your scent Kitty."
Xavier continued. "To put it simply Kitty, you were in the right place at the right time with the right scent. He.." gesturing at the boy "..imprinted on you. Just like they planned to do with their own Controller. Fortunately for both him and us, they had not planned to bring the controller in until after the bonding process was finished."
Kitty blinked. "So?"
Xavier grinned. "It looks like you just acquired a guardian angel Kitty. Your voice and scent is the only thing that will control him for the moment. And with his instincts, you could not possibly be safer. As we saw earlier with Scott and here with Logan, he is quite protective of you. And as you determined for us, he does understand some language to at least a minimal degree."
Kitty looked down, watching the boy. He just crouched there, perfectly still, looking for all the world like a statue. But she somehow knew that his eyes were locked on Logan, the latest supposed threat. Reaching down, she poked a finger into his bare shoulder. Other than a slight twitching of the skin, he didn't move. Taking a step backwards, she saw his head swivel smoothly to the side, his left eye locking on hers. He still didn't move and she almost laughed with the sudden break of her tension when she saw the utterly innocent expression on his face. Deciding to test the Professor's statement, she pointed to the hole in the wall. "Um.like go to your room."
The boy looked to the hole in the wall and back to her, his brow dropping and the hospital pants and Twinkie remains that covered his face notwithstanding, he looked like a student having a particularly hard time on a test. She pointed again. "Go in there." He looked back at the hole, the look of concentration still on his face.
Kitty turned back to the Professor. "He totally doesn't understand Professor."
Xavier folded his hands under his chin and thought for a moment. Logan jumped in. "I really don't like this Chuck."
Xavier to him. "It's just temporary Logan. And much better than the alternative."
Logan snorted. "Yea. I don't want to watch it. I'll be at Harry's." and with that, he stalked out of the room.
Xavier turned back to Kitty. "Perhaps you should make your commands more simple Kitty. I think he only knows a few words."
Kitty sucked her bottom lip in and chewed on it for a moment. Her eyes suddenly lit up. She looked at the expectant face of the boy. "I'm like really sorry about this." She walked over to the hole in the wall and turned around. She called out in a clear voice, "Here boy!" and smacked her thigh twice. Scott and Evan snickered before the Professor's disapproving glance stopped them in their tracks.
The boy stood up and with a quick look around the room walked slowly towards Kitty, his eyes never leaving the other occupants in the room. Walking up to Kitty, he stopped and dropped into a half-crouch. She pointed into the hole again. "Go." He looked at her quizzically and just stood there. She stamped her foot in frustration. "I want you to totally go in there right now!" He cocked his head to the side and looked at her pointing hand. She was just about to push him in the room when he suddenly stood up straight and walked into the isolation room. Her mouth closed with a click.
She shrugged her shoulders and stepped back from the hole. Waiting a few seconds to make sure nothing happened, she turned and walked over to the Professor. "That was totally surreal Professor. Is he gonna like stay like that?"
Xavier inwardly chuckled when he couldn't tell if Kitty's expression was hopeful or disappointing. "I do have a plan that might separate you from your new.friend." He just couldn't keep the grin off his face this time.
Kitty groaned and rolled her eyes. "Just do something, he's creepy on 'so' many levels. I mean he just walked in there." Pointing back at the hole, she saw the boy standing there staring at her. She put her face in her hands and groaned. She turned and pointed back inside the room. "Go back in and sit down." Turning back to Xavier. "This is totally creeping me out Professor, do something."
Xavier was quiet for a moment. "Jean should be here momentarily. I've explained to her what we are going to try to do to him already." Patting her on the shoulder, he gave her a sympathetic smile. "We should be done soon."
Kitty glanced between the hole and Xavier. "Is he gonna be like ok? It's not gonna hurt him or anything right?"
Xavier smiled. "I'm proud of you Kitty. Not many people in your position would even attempt to show compassion to him. In answer to your question, I don't believe it will harm him, but this is an untested procedure. It will turn out how it turns out." Glancing over at the door way as Jean walked in, he finished. "We will need you to settle him down when we approach him. Preferably, try to get him to lay down on the bed."
Kitty glanced back into the room and saw the bed, or what was left of it. And the boy just sitting against the wall, looking at her blankly. She turned to Xavier and Jean. "That's like no problem."
Xavier and Jean followed Kitty into the room. Kitty gestured for him to stand up and come over. "Come on Mark, come over here."
Jean exchanged a glance with Xavier. "Mark?"
Kitty turned to her. "Yea, the Professor said they like called him the mk2, so why not just call him Mark?" She gestured to the boy, who appeared to be paying rapt attention to her. "See? He totally responds to it anyway. And I like don't want to keep thinking of him as boy or guy."
Xavier just nodded. "Mark it is then."
Mark walked over to Kitty and stood there, staring at Jean and Xavier. Kitty pushed down on his shoulder and he went down on the remaining half of the bed, his head more or less level with Xavier's arms.
Xavier looked at Jean for a moment. She turned and walked towards Mark. Kitty grabbed his hands and held them there as he started to growl. "They are friends." Clenching his wrists to get his attention. "Just lie there, they are going to help you." Seeing that he didn't understand her, she thought for a moment. "Ok. Mark, STOP!" His body went rigid and the growling cut off like someone had thrown a switch.
Xavier and Jean both placed their hands on Mark's head and closed their eyes.
In the Mindscape
Xavier felt Jean reach out and envelop the boys mind. She was holding it tightly, keeping any new thoughts from forming, and building a bridge between himself and the boy. He pushed his own consciousness forward. Feeling his body lighten for a moment, he gasped as he arrived in a blank void occupied with only a single cage. He walked to the cage and saw the boy in the corner, unmoving. Banishing the bars with a thought, he stepped into the cage and picked the inert form of the boy up. Stepping outside the cage, he turned and tried to banish the entire cage. He frowned when the cage wavered, but remained. Trying again brought the same results. He thought for a moment before willing the cage to take on the form of a room, complete with a door. Shutting the door he turned and gazed into the void.
Pulling on both his own memories and Jean's impressions of the people she knew, he painstakingly carved out a world in the void. Placing people and places around in a generic representation of the world. He reached deeply into the nothingness and placed the English language into a box that formed out of the void. A blank pegboard winked into existence next to him. Drawing on Scott's love for order, he summoned a ruler and sat it down. He then drew on Jean's ability to interact with other people, he summoned a set of her soccer shoes and a trophy and put them on the board. Next, he drew on Kurt's ability to find and make humor, he summoned a multicolored ball and sat it down. Next he drew on Eric's ability to focus and his determination, summoning Eric's helmet, he placed it over the ball on the board. He then started summoning objects at random, settling them down on the table, forming a large pile when he was finished.
Jean blinked into existence next to him. "Are you almost finished Professor? I don't know if I can hold this for much longer." Xavier turned to her. "I believe that I have at least the basics of a working personality here. Would you double check? I can hold his mind." Jean blinked and the world shifted as she took control of the mindscape. Turning to the table, it shimmered and changed to a computer. Jean sat down in a chair and started looking through the files. She went through the files for a few minutes before turning the chair to Xavier. "I've never even heard of something like this happening before, but I want to say that it looks ok." Xavier nodded and passed the psychic hold back to Jean and the world shifted again. Stepping back to the computer, he reasserted his control over the world and willed it back to the pegboard table. Laying the body down on the table, he stepped back. "Jean, I'm going to need your help to fuse this personality together. Don't try to interpret anything, just lend me your power." Jean nodded and placed her hand on his shoulder. Xavier put his fingers on his temple and concentrated hard.
The table started to glow with an inner light. The intensity slowly building, the objects next to Mark started to shudder and move. The glow suddenly flared to a nova-bright intensity and the only thing Jean could see was the still body of the boy laying amid the burst of light. The light started shifting colors, flashing from white to red to green and back to white again. A hot wind began screaming past her, flowing to the light. Xavier grunted and stepped forward. Reaching out, he grabbed the edges of the light and..folded them in towards the boy. The winds reached hurricane intensity as the light got smaller and smaller. With one final shove, the edges of the light touched and it collapsed down into the boy. Jean blinked and looked around. The mindscape had changed from a void to the hallways of a hospital.
Xavier opened a door and stepped into the hallway with Jean. She noticed that his face was pale and he was breathing heavily. Reaching out and pulling his arm over her shoulder for support, she spoke. "Are you alright Professor?"
Xavier drew a few deep breaths before responding. "Yes Jean, I'm fine. I'm just tired." He looked up and scanned the halls. "It looks like we were successful Jean. I was not entire sure this was even possible. And if we had any other recourse, I would have never known." Grabbing her shoulder, he led her to the front doors. "Let's go back. I don't want to linger here too long, this personality is still unstable." Jean nodded and they stepped through the doors, vanishing into the light.
Isolation room
Kitty leaned back against the padded wall, sipping the Coke Hank had brought in an hour ago. Sitting the can down, she glanced at the three other people in the room for what had to be the millionth time. Movement in the corner snapped her back to alertness. Turning her head she saw Mr. Macoy's head poking into the room. He smiled at her and spoke. It appears as though they are still at it."
Kitty grabber a forelock of her hair. "Yea, they've totally been just standing there for hours."
Hank smiled. "Patience is a virtue Kitty."
Kitty rolled her eyes. "It's still boring. And I gotta sit here and do like nothing while they do their head stuff."
Hank was about to respond when the Professor and Jean both shivered and opened their eyes. Reaching out, he grasped Jean's arm and kept her from collapsing onto the floor. "Are you all right Jean?"
She took a few deep breaths before answering. "Yes Mr. Macoy, I'm fine. Just a little, winded I guess you could call it."
Hank guided her to a chair. "I'd love to sit down and have you describe what happened in there. When you are rested of course."
Jean smiled, knowing that Beast would never pass an opportunity to learn something new. "Sure, talk to me on Thursday after school."
Xavier rolled out of the isolation room with a gaunt look on his face. "Jean, Hank, I'm going to turn in. Make sure Kitty doesn't leave the boy.or Mark if you will, tonight. His psyche needs to adjust and if he wakes up without her there, it may cause permanent damage."
Kitty was stepping out of the isolation room when she heard the Professor's request. "You mean I have to stay down here like all night?!"
Xavier turned his bloodshot eyes to her. "Yes Kitty, but just for tonight. He should be stable enough tomorrow to function on his own."
Hank spoke up. "The portable beds we store down here are actually quite comfortable Kitty."
Kitty stood still for a moment before throwing her hands up in frustration. "Fine, I'll stay, but I'm going to crash like right now."
Hank pointed out the spare room that contained the beds and Kitty dragged herself in, letting the door bang shut behind her. He turned to the Professor. "Was your venture successful Professor?"
Xavier leaned back in his chair. "For the most part it appears to be successful. However, I was unable to break the imprinting. I'm afraid that Kitty has acquired a shadow for the time being. Either way, I am exhausted, so good night to you both."
Hank watched Xavier and Jean stagger out of the medlab. Glancing to the storage room where Kitty was, he spoke quietly. "Your life is about to take a most unexpected turn little one." He then turned back to what was left of his desk and started picking through the bigger debris.