There's a graveyard in northern France where all the dead boys from D-Day are buried. The white crosses reach from one horizon to the other. I remember looking it over and thinking it was a forest of graves. But the rows were like this, dizzying, diagonal, perfectly straight, so after all it wasn't a forest but an orchard of graves. Nothing to do with nature, unless you count human nature.
Barbara Kingsolver
***
Senator McPherson had never been a big sleeper. He preferred to take the occasional power-nap so that he wouldn't miss any important events that could sometimes be neglected if he wasn't informed immediately of the situation.
That was the reason that he was awake at two o'clock in the morning, watching CNN in his home office, sipping a strong cup of black coffee.
'… Early last night, the city of Miami was rocked by a freak earthquake that caused severe damage to much property and took the lives of at least 20 people…' The glib female news reporter said seriously into the camera. Images of downtown Miami flashed onto the screen where Firemen and Police were organising a rescue and evacuation of the area.
'… The epicentre of the quake, which tipped the Rictor scale at 8.8, was just below an old apartment building that had been closed off due to building code violations for several months. However, it seems that many of the city's homeless community were taking advantage of the vacant building when the quake hit. Authorities are still searching the rubble of the building, but so far, not survivors have been found.'
The scene changed to an edited interview with a miscellaneous fireman. His name Mike Anderson was displayed at the bottom of the screen. 'We're doing all we can for these people. We can only hope and pray that there are still some alive down there.'
It flicked back to the horrific images of the destroyed area. '… This particular incident has brought to light how extreme the homelessness problem is in Miami. The Mayor has defended claims that he intentionally closed down six of the city's homeless shelters in the last three months due to budget issues.
Again the screen flicked to an old balding man wearing a cheap imitation suit, standing in front of an old lectern with a painted background behind it. 'I never intentionally shut down a homeless shelter. In fact, for the last few months, we have been trying to establish more shelters, around more of the city so that hopefully the situation will improve. What happened today brought home the startling truth that this city is not a city of rich people, who are always successful, but that there are also many other people who are far less fortunate than most. Who need the help of the fortunate few. Because of this, a donation hotline has been established to help fund the rescue operation and to start to build stronger networks to help these unfortunate people back to their feet.'
The glib news-reader returned to the screen. 'In related news, seismologists around the country are baffled at this sudden natural disaster. Many renowned experts in the field of earthquakes are baffled at the abruptness and the severity of the situation.' A small man with thick black rimmed glasses appeared on the screen with the came Phillip Perry.
'The world's surface is always moving and what people don't usually know is that there are often many small, almost un-noticeable earthquakes everyday. But the earthquake is an anomaly. It is in the middle of a tectonic plate, where it is very unlikely that earthquakes or volcanic eruptions will occur in this area. They are far more likely to occur on the rim. And even if they do, they hardly ever occur to this magnitude. Another weird thing about the situation is that there were no aftershocks. Usually a quake of this magnitude would have at least a minor aftershock. But at the moment the rector scale isn't detecting any movement at all in the Florida region.'
The screen flicked back to the news reader. 'Experts will be conducting a full enquiry into the event.'
The senator glanced interestedly at the television screen. He picked up the coffee cup from his desk and brought it to his mouth so that he could take a long gulp of the bitter liquid. He leant back in his chair and watched the next article.
'And just a week after the attempted assassination on Marie Denver, her spokesmen have issued a press statement that she will be released from hospital tomorrow. Last week at a rally in Boston, Miss Denver was shot in an attempted assassination attempt. She underwent surgery in a private hospital last week to remove a bullet from her right shoulder. Her statement declared that she would be holding a press conference in two days time.
'Miss Denver is a strong supporter of the anti Mutant registration laws that are being pushed into the senate by…' The Senator angrily shut the TV off.
Ever since the failed shooting a week ago, the Pro-Mutant movement had been steadily gaining support in sympathy of their fallen leader. They saw her as the newest Martin Luther King. Fighting for the rights of those who had none. Or in this case, fighting for the rights that they should keep.
Well Senator McPherson was not happy with the steady slump in support that the bill had received. The bill needed to be passed, or else scum like this Marie Denver and her mutant friends would dominate society, and soon people like him would be out of jobs, and moneyless.
He brooded a little more, before he was rudely interrupted by the phone ringing. He noticed vaguely for a few seconds that it was quite late (or early) for someone to be ringing him. But he put that thought aside and answered the phone.
"Hello, this is Senator Mark McPherson."
"It's Bol, Mark. We've had a bit of trouble."
The Senator sat up immediately. "What do you mean Trask? I thought that you made sure that there was no trouble with this program."
"We did sir." The voice on the other end of the phone said in a jittery voice. "But we didn't expect natural disasters to destroy our primary centre."
The Senator kept his voice calm, and asked quietly "What happened?"
"Our biggest centre in Miami was at the epicentre of the earthquake. It was levelled to the ground. We can't find any survivors."
The Senator nodded. "What about Scott and Emily. They were there yesterday afternoon to see if they could find any information on the people who attacked my offices."
"Well, we found Emily's body in the rubble. She was crushed to death by the building. We haven't found Scott's body though."
The senator swore loudly and slammed his hand down on the table. "Scott was my best operative. I expect replacements Trask."
"Yes sir, that will be organised," The man conceded, and then continued on. "But I think that the whole situation is quite suspicious."
"What do you mean Boliver?" Mark picked up his coffee from the table and took a sip.
"Well there are a few things. There is a lot less rubble than expected, it's like a whole chunk of the building is missing. And there are far less bodies that we had in there. So far we've only found seventeen, and there were at least one hundred people in the buildings. Of the ones that we've identified, all of them were capable of getting themselves out of the situation, but didn't."
"What are you saying Trask?" The Senator asked, finally intrigued.
"I think that this was a set up. Missing bodies. The continual attacks we've had on our various centres. Sure this time they were a bit more organised that in the past, but it has some very noticeable consistencies."
"How do you explain the earthquake?"
"Well I assume you've been watching the news. All of the experts think it's an abnormality. And you and I know what that means these days…" The man on the other end of the phone dragged off, obviously implying something to the Senator.
"Mutants."
***
It was about half an hour before the blackbird reached the hanger of Marie Denver's mansion. And just as he was told, Chase was waiting with a hospital bed so that he could get Gambit into the infirmary as quickly as possible. Gambit was carried out by a troupe of Jamies, while the rest of the X-men escorted rescued mutants out of the hanger.
Kitty, despite being desperately exhausted, was assigned five female mutants to look after, and find beds in the mansion. All of which needed medical attention, which they probably wouldn't receive until Chase had finished, and all needed some serious counselling.
But Kitty didn't complain. Just did as she was told, and she took the mutants up to her room, where she went through her closet to find clothes that would be suitable for each of the girls.
The youngest was a girl of about 15, and the oldest was around 30. Thankfully they were all quite skinny like her, and not very tall, so they could all fit into her clothes. She didn't worry about shoes, but gave them socks that they could cover their feet with, as she was discovering the nights were getting colder as the days went by.
While she was giving them clothes and showing them the shower, she began to learn a little more about each one. All of them had been discovered by the FOH when their powers manifested. Three of them remembered being taken to a holding area, like one she described to them before being taken to the facility they had just been liberated from.
"I think that my powers were latent," Explained the 30 something mutant who's name was Louise. "I was having a night out with my boyfriend at a nightclub near our house. There was a heavy metal band playing, and their music was apparently really loud. My boyfriend he broke up with me, I was totally shocked and angry, because he said he'd cheated. Then the music just got louder and louder until everyone but me had fainted on the ground. The noise level had knocked them all out. But I was ok. I ran out of there, and the next day Police came by my house and asked me to come down to the station. That they wanted to ask me a few questions about what had happened the previous night, and the next thing I new, I was in a holding area."
Each one of them had similar stories to Louise; a few days after they had manifested, they were contacted by the FOH, and manipulated into going with them. Then eventually taken to the centre.
Kitty patiently listened to their stories, and comforted them as they cried, as painful memories popped up. And eventually made out beds for them on her floor, so that they could eventually sleep. They weren't fussed about the lack of proper bedding. One of them explained that after sleeping for a few weeks in a hell hole like the one they had been, sleeping on the floor, sharing a heavy soft blanket with someone else was perfectly normal, and even seemed comforting.
Kitty herself sat in the uncomfortable wooden chair that was near her desk, as she gave up her bed to one of the girls who had what she suspected as a cracked collarbone. She would have to get Chase to have a look at it later.
Eventually all of the girls fell asleep. She tried to stay awake, and watch over them, but she found herself drifting off, even though she was still in the uncomfortable chair. She quickly jerked herself awake, and sat back up straight again. She decided that if she was going to stay awake, she would have to get some caffeine into her system, so she decided to take a quick trip to the kitchen to grab some.
So she quietly got up from the chair, and daintily stepped over the girls who were peacefully asleep on the floor, opened the door quietly and stepped out of the room. She walked quickly down the hallway to the elevator she knew would drop her off just down the hallway from the kitchen.
Wearily she pressed the button for the ground floor, and then she leant up against the back of the elevator and closed her eyes. Soon she was on the ground floor, and the doors opened, letting in the bright lights of the hallway, that pierced through her closed eyes.
She stood up straight again, and walked out into the hallway, and down towards the kitchen. She walked mindlessly towards the coffee maker, which was already switched on.
Confused, she looked around the kitchen to see who else was in here, and saw Magneto sitting in a corner, reading a book and sipping from his cup. He looked up at her when she entered, and put his coffee cup down the table.
"Good morning Miss Pryde." He said in something that resembled a cheerful voice. He looked back down and continued reading his book.
She began to make her coffee. "What time is it?" She asked with a yawn.
He looked at his watch. "About five past three. You got back at about nine o'clock."
She nodded at him, as she got a mug out of the cupboard. "When did you wake up?"
"Not long after you left. Your doctor wanted me to stay overnight for observation, but I have never been a fan of hospital environments, so I declined and slept in my quarters."
"How did Gambit's surgery go?" Kitty asked, grabbing a teaspoon from the drawer and started putting sugar and instant coffee into the mug. Then she went over to the fridge, and took the carton of milk out of the door.
Magneto flipped the page of his book, and answered, "Fine. He's resting in the infirmary. Your doctor placed three pins in the ankle. But he'll be on crutches for at least 3 months."
Kitty looked out the window into the garden. Some lights were on, so it wasn't extremely dark. It was bleak and grey. Heavy grey clouds hung in the sky, but some of the moonlight shone through the overcast skies to make the grass glow eerily.
It wasn't hard for her to remember that just a few days ago she had stood out there next to Jean, looking at John's coffin. It was so bleak and grey that day, just as it was today. She didn't understand it. They had just made a great victory against their enemy. They had liberated at least 70 mutants from that hell hole. All of which seemed fine. A little shaken, and a bit bruised, but none the less, fine.
But still she had this unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach. That something wasn't right.
She shook it off, and picked up her coffee. Strong and full of sugar.
"I'm back off to look after the girls now." She told Eric, then she began to walk out the door.
"Wait Katherine." Eric said, putting his bookmark in the page and closing the book. "I'll come with you. Keep you company."
Kitty quickly shook her head. "Oh no, it's ok really. You don't have to. It's quite cramped in there already, and it would just be uncomfortable, for both of us, and—"
He put his hand up, and she stopped babbling. "It's ok Kitty. The book isn't really that interesting anyway."
Kitty looked down at the ground, as though she had just been chided by her dad.
Magneto laughed, "It isn't a punishment girl. I just want to keep you company. Even if you want to have a sleep, I'll keep watch. I imagine you're exhausted after Miami."
Kitty shrugged and began to walk back towards the elevator. "That's what the coffee is for."
***
Disclaimer: They're not mine. And I never claimed they were.
A/N: Well. I broke the 150 mark! Which makes me happy! Yes it does! And I know I said I'd update quickly, but I didn't and I'm sorry. But I still updated. Consider it my New Year's present to you!
I've already started work on chapter 19. I'm on a bit of a roll. Now I haven't got work, or school, and my Movie-buff friend is on holidays for a while, I have time to burn. So hopefully I'll have the next chapter finished soon.
And Shoutouts!!
No Name: Thanks for the review. It's appreciated.
Rogue151: I didn't get much in about it this chapter, but next chapter they'll realise exactly how much room they have. Rogue sorta did run into the fight without thinking a lot about the consequences. She's gonna be thinking about them for a while now. And you're welcome for the Rogue bit.
Ishandahalf: Nice to see you started writing your own fic! And yeah. Gambit'll live. He's a tough cookie. I never planned on killing him. I feared the wrath of many if I did.
DoWriter12: I'll see if I can work in Magneto's reaction next chappie… Just for you
FaDiNgSiLvErStAr: My vacation is very fun thanks. I still have about a month left before I go back to school. But who's counting?
bluefuzzydude: Thanks for the pecans! They were nice. And OC's are pretty much only made to do a purpose. All mine have been to either fill a position that I couldn't find a canon character to use that I hadn't already killed, or to be killed in dramatic gory ways. But I'm not morbid… no!
DemonRogue13 – I'm glad you're enjoying it.
UnknownSource – Hmm… You've got some pretty good theories about all this. Either that means you're real smart. Or my plots are so seethrough that anyone can get them. I'm guessing the first cos you're the first to guess all that. And yes there were many 'psycho mutants' still inside when the building went kaput, so you're right on track there. But for the rest. You'll have to wait till next chapter. And merry belated Christmas to you, and a late Happy New Year!
bloody_lady – It's not finished yet. But It's coming to an end.
Lonegrowlithe – I'm glad that you like my story. Hope that you liked this chapter too.
Rose – The reason why I added so many Comic characters is that I needed man-power, and I knew that if I tried to make up characters people would lose interest, so I use comic characters, and people get interested cos they do exactly what you said. "Ooh!! that one has a psylocke version in it. I wonder if she's any good?' I didn't really read the original comic though, so I had to do a fair bit of research to get all the characters.
Well there we go. All shoutouts done, and I've already started the next chapter. it's all go for GELD
Well see ya next time!