Lick The Pavement
Chapter Thirteen: Damage Control
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
//I'm glad that you're near
And I'm sad when you're here
This is what it's like to be me
I'm glad that you're here
And I'm sad that you're near
This is what it's like to die alone.
This all hurts me so much
That I honestly believe
You're the one this is hard for
I've bartered tact for wit
And I've already made up
A billion stories about you.
Knee deep in static
I hear you breaking up
I'm breaking up//
When One Eight Becomes Two Zeros- Glassjaw
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Brian shifted uneasily in his seat, partly because of the pain of his ribs, partly because he'd never been very good in social situations.
There were three strangers sat in front of him, people who he only recognised from the rescue attempt the other night.
There was the tall willowy red head with the slim figure and strangely penetrating yet reassuring green eyes. He remembered that she had some kind of telepathic, telekinetic power and her name was... Jenny? Jane? Something like that anyway.
There was one boy sitting in an armchair. He seemed to be slightly taller than the red-head, with medium brown hair styled after a mullet fashion, and bizarrely glowing red eyes, like embers.
There was another boy sitting on the arm of the chair, his arm laid across the back of the seat, head resting on his arm. His hair was a darker, earthier brown and long at the back. He had dark eyes and an altogether more rugged look to him than the other two, who practically screamed prep.
Despite this difference in image, the close proximity of the two, and the way the boy in the chair had his hand resting against the other boy's thigh was enough to let Brian know that those two were more than just friends.
This only served to remind him of his little brother, and the pang that that thought sent through him ached more than his ribs ever could.
Jean smiled at the nervous looking boy.
"Hey, you're Brian right?" He nodded. "I'm Jean, this is Scott…" Scott smiled and nodded. "…and Lance" Lance raised a hand in a lazy way.
"First of all, how are your ribs feeling?" She asked.
Brian held a hand to them.
"They hurt, but it's nothing I can't handle." He said.
*It's nothing I haven't handled before.* He thought.
Jean raised an eyebrow as she caught this thought, but said nothing.
"No offence," Brian started. "But what is this meeting all about?"
Scott fielded the question.
"Well, basically, we know that some of you are having problems with what's happened to you. We just wanna find out what kind of state your mind's are in right now, if you need or want any help, or just someone to talk to."
Brian had had a moment of cold shock when Scott referred to 'what had happened' to them, but calmed down fast when he realised that Scott meant their capture by the MSDC, and not the death of his bastard father.
"Plus, we wanna get to know you, and vice-versa."
Brian was slightly suspicious.
"What do you want to know?"
"Well… how old are you?"
"Seventeen, you?"
"Jean is twenty-three just turned. Lance and I are both twenty-two."
Lance blinked. The boy seemed much older than seventeen. Having said that, no one had believed that he was ever that age when he'd been seventeen. He'd just seemed to go from a quiet nine year old to a quiet nineteen year old. He wondered briefly what it was that had made this boy grow up so fast.
"This is our house in Statsville. It's just me and Jean and Lance, and the other kids now. Oh, and Logan… he's the guy with the claws…"
"Who rescued me, yea, I remember."
He vaguely reminded Brian of his dad. He had the same stature and the same air of danger, but where his dad's had been all out random anger, this was a more contained, more instinctual, naturalistic aggression, like a caged panther or something.
Jean built up a picture of Brian in her head as they chatted; enhancing what she was seeing with the odd thoughts she caught from the boy's head.
To her, Brian was a very guarded and hesitant boy, very mature for someone his age, and polite and almost deferential with it. He seemed to have some issues with his father from before, but jumped off those thoughts almost as soon as he'd had them, his mind skirting around the memories.
She was sure that, once he'd settled into the team, he'd make a natural leader; someone who would be looked up to by the others through his sheer maturity and the obvious protective streak in him.
"Do you have anyone back home who might want to know your safe here with us?"
Brian paused, and Jean felt a wave of hurt come from him.
"My brother." He said quietly. "My mom might as well, but I need to get word to my brother. He'll be worried about me; he won't know what's happened."
Lance actually stood and walked over to Brian, putting a hand on his shoulder hesitantly.
"You care about him a lot huh?" He said softly, and Brian nodded.
"You're going to be able to write to him, and phone him if you want. We haven't got a phone line installed yet, but as soon as we do, you can make a call, okay? I might even see if we can make a trip into town and use a phone box, but we have to lie low until we know the MSDC in that area is gone for good."
"Okay." Brian said quietly, thoughts of his Danny going through his head. The last time he'd seen him, he'd just killed their dad. Oh God…
Jean started as she caught that. She knew now that there were some serious issues in this boy's head, and she made a mental note to talk them over with him. But she'd give it a few days first, in case he came to her. She didn't really want to pry where she wasn't wanted, but she didn't want this eating him up inside either.
"Well," Scott said. "It's getting on a bit and we still have to talk to the rest of the kids. Do you know any of them?"
"No." Brian said. "I went straight into solitary; I don't know any of them really. I only know Lukka, he's still unconscious, and Gabriel… but I haven't talked to either of them properly."
"OK. Can you ask the next kid you see to come up and see us next?"
"Sure." Brian said, getting up and leaving the room.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"What did you think of him Jean?" Scott asked the red head curiously, Lance going over to sit on the arm of the chair again.
Jean sighed heavily.
"He's got a lot of issues to work out." She said. "He should make a good leader for a small team though. He seems reliable and mature enough for that kind of responsibility."
"We have to let him get word to his brother." Lance butted in. "He got really worked up about that, did you pick that up to?"
"Yes, I did." She replied.
Scott gave Lance a look. "Why are you so concerned about that Lance?"
"I know how he feels." Lance said simply. "Him and his brother's like… well, like me and the Brotherhood. We have responsibilities…"
Lance trailed off, looking at the floor, and felt Scott squeeze his fingers. He looked up and Scott smiled at him, giving him a gentle kiss.
Lance smiled sadly.
"Thanks babe, I'm sorry."
"No problem." Scott replied.
Jean sat up.
"Here's the next one, stop lip-locking you two."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Brian sighed as he made his way to the main infirmary, wincing as his ribs twinged.
"I wish my power was healing." He muttered to himself, unhappy about being under one hundred per cent.
He pushed the door open and ducked in time to avoid a tiny ball of light that flew at his head. He stuck his head back in.
"Oi! Peace, it's me!"
The boy on the bed, Gabriel, laughed apologetically.
"Sorry, didn't know it was you. It wouldn't have hurt you anyway… I think."
Brian didn't like the sound of that, but his curiosity overcame his offence.
"What did you do?" He asked.
The little Brit held one hand palm down above the other and, slowly, tiny lighting bolts began to strike from the top to the bottom. He concentrated a bit and they started to form a shape… a dancing girl. The boy brought his hands together with a pop and the show stopped.
"This is a hospital right? There's a lot of… 'healing energy' flying around, storing up in here. I just used some of that."
Brian went and sat on the end of the boy's bed.
"So, you can what…?"
"Manipulate energy. Only emotional stuff though, I can't, like, drain power lines or anything…" he seemed to drift off for a second. "… that'd be cool."
"Right…." Brian said slowly, keeping a war eye on the other kid. "Okay then. My names Brian, who're you?"
The boy grinned like a pumpkin. "Gabriel Devitt, but you can call me Devi, I HATE my first name." He looked curiously at the bandages around Brian's ribs.
"You injured?" He asked.
"Yea, pretty badly. I cracked a few ribs before, but that guard guy broke them when he kicked me." He remembered that Gabriel had shot that man, and what he'd said after…
"Are you alright?" He asked tentatively.
Devil's eyes clouded briefly as his expression turned cold, but thawed out again in a matter of minutes.
"I'm fine; I healed myself when I woke up."
Brian's eyes lit up. "You can do that?"
Gabe shrugged.
"Sometimes. Depends on where I am, what kinda energy I can use. Cause this is a hospital, it's got healing energy, like I said before, so I just use that to speed up the healing. It's just what your body does anyway, only faster." He paused for a minute. "Do you want me to heal your ribs for you?"
Brian almost screamed with happiness.
"Yea, uh, sure, if it's ok by you."
"Nah, it ain't a problem." Gabe said causally, then held his hands against Brian's ribs and closed his eyes.
Brian felt heat coming form the boy's hands, running into his chest. The lights flickered slightly, and Brian's ribs began to really hurt. He whimpered and instinct told him to move, but he forced himself to stay where he was.
Devi was biting his lip in concentration, and now the pain was really hurting. Brian groaned with it, and was just going to ask Devi to stop when it started to ebb. A few minutes more and it had stopped hurting altogether, and Devi had pulled back, panting slightly.
"Wow… that was harder than I thought it would be." He said. "How are they?"
Brian poked himself experimentally.
"They feel… fine!" He said. "Thanks."
Devi smiled. "No problem."
"Oh, uh, that girl and the three guys want to speak to you now." Brian said awkwardly.
Devi's face dropped. "What? Why? Who wants to talk to me?"
Brian shrugged. "They just wanna see if you're okay. Or that's what they told me."
Gabriel shuddered. "Is that guy with the…" He made swiping motions with his hand. "things. Is he there?"
Brian shook his head. "He wasn't there for me. Why, what's your problem with him, he saved us"
Devi scowled, hugging himself unconsciously. "No problems, I just don't like him that's all."
Brian heard the threat in the other boy's voice and backed off. "Yea… anyway, just go down that corridor, turn right, then go through the door right in front of you, it's pretty big."
Gabriel sighed, as if he was going off to meet his doom, and made a show of dragging himself off the bed.
"Thanks anyway." He called before slipping out of the door.
Brian shook his head, then, feeling tired after the quick and sudden healing, decided to lie back and catch some sleep for a bit.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Gabriel paced nervously in front of Jean, Scott and Lance, chewing on his thumb.
The other three watched him for a minute, until Scott broke and finally asked.
"Are you okay?"
"Yea" he snapped. "I'm fine. I just need my methadone, now. Or a hit would be better, but I don't think you're going to be nice enough to give it to me, so I need the methadone. If you ain't gonna put it up, I ain't staying." He warned.
Scott looked confused, but Lance wasn't.
"Look, we'll see what we can work out for you. But right now we need your co-operation."
Gabriel snorted. "Yea, whatever. Who the hell are you people anyway?"
Lance growled, but Scott took it in his stride.
"I'm Scott, and this is Lance and Jean. We're mutants, like you, we're just trying to keep you safe from the MSDC until it all dies down out there."
Gabriel looked less aggravated, but still unhappy. He took a seat on the floor, sitting cross-legged against the wall.
"Okay, what do you want with me then?"
"We don't want anything with you." Jean said soothingly. "We just want to make sure you're alright after being in that prison, maybe find out a bit more about you."
Gabriel snorted. "Oh yea, I'm fine after that." He said bitterly. "It wasn't the first time I was in an institute you know, I lived in a foster home a while back. It had less freedom, but more comforts, so it wasn't a bad trade off really. I was just pissed about being caught in the first place. NOW can I go?"
Lance had sat up once he'd heard that the boy had been in a foster home as well. He decided to try and have a talk with him later on, especially as he had some personal experience in that area.
Scott was talking.
"No." He said, bluntly, but that was apparently how you needed to deal with this kid. "Chill out kid. What's your name?"
Gabriel sighed. "You can call me Devi."
"Okay then, Devi. How old are you?"
"How old are you?" He retorted.
Scott filled him in on how old they were and where exactly he was, then waited for his answer.
"'m fifteen."
"Do you have anyone outside who'd want to hear that you're safe here with us?" Jean asked.
Devi laughed. "Nope, not since I broke up with Geraint. I'm kinda between boyfriends at the moment."
Lance and Scott shared a look.
Devi shifted his weight from foot to foot in a nervous fashion. "Can I PLEASE go now?"
Lance sighed. "Yea, you can go. Tell the next kid you see to come up and see us ok…"
Devi was long gone.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
When he had left, Jean put a hand to her head and groaned. Scott looked up and over at here.
"Jean! Are you okay? What's wrong?"
Jean raised a hand at Scott, telling him it was okay, then, using her powers, floated a cup of water and an aspirin over to her.
"We have to teach these kids some mental restraint." She sighed as she took the little painkiller. "They keep… SHOUTING at me."
Lance gave her a minute then asked her what the verdict on Devi was.
She gave him a look.
"I could hardly hear anything about the prison, or being here. The only thing that was on his mind just now was some kind of drug… it's pretty much all he's focusing on at the moment."
"Heroin." Lance told them.
"What?"
"Heroin. He asked for methadone, yea? Well, you give heroin addicts going through gradual withdrawal methadone. It's like the actual thing but less vicious."
He felt Scott's stare like an itch on the back of his neck.
"What?" He asked, irritated.
"How do you know so much about it?" Scott asked curiously.
Lance sighed.
"I've known junkies before Scott, it's not exactly uncommon." Sometimes the gaps between their life experiences just caused more problems than they solved...
Scott seemed to sense Lance's slight irritation.
"Sorry babes, I didn't mean to grill you... I was just curious as to how you knew that's all."
"S'okay." Lance chilled out a little bit.
"So, do we need to do anything for him?" Jean asked. The other boys looked at her, confused. "I mean the addiction thing, what do we need to do...?"
Lance shrugged. "We can either get him the methadone and wean him offa it, which is gonna be less trouble where HE'S concerned, but more trouble for us to actually GET the stuff, or we can put him through cold turkey. I think that's our best option. He's already been coming off it and it shouldn't be too hard to keep a little shrimp like that on grounds away from the others until he's better."
"Lance, that sounds kinda mean." Jean said.
"Well Jeanie, you gotta be mean to be nice... or something."
"Are we gonna have trouble with that one?" Scott asked seriously.
"I don't know." Jean said. "I was doing all I could to BLOCK his thoughts, but I didn't actually get anything concrete about him for all that he was yelling. I think we should treat him as a loose cannon for now, until we get to know him a little better anyway. The way he is now, he could go either way."
They stopped their discussion as there was another knock at the door.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Devi trudged through the long and tangled corridors, trying to make his way back to the infirmary.
Apparently, there were some clean clothes waiting for him there, as well as a little map showing him where his room was.
He whined under his breath as he rubbed, irritated, at his arm. It had been so long since it had felt the needle in his vein, and they itched terribly, inside and out, as his body demanded the drug.
The last time he had shot up had been in a public toilet before clubbing at the 'Dirty Needle'. Methadone was better than nothing, but it was a piss poor substitute for the real thing. He needed to get his hands on a hit and now. He was already feeling sick from early withdrawal symptoms…
He was suddenly slammed into by another body hurtling around the corner. He was sent flying, being so small of frame, even though the other person seemed to reach only 5'3", as he himself did. He turned himself round on the floor and was facing the person by the time they recovered, ready for fight or flight.
He could tell by the female tone of the stream of self-chastising and apologies that this was a girl. That fact made her no less dangerous in his eyes, and he kept his guard up.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Rae hurtled down the corridors, cursing herself for not taking that tiny hand-drawn map with her when she had gone off in search of the kitchens.
She'd thought it had been silly at the time. After all, it was just a house, how big could it be? She didn't really need that map right… right.
She'd been searching for at least half an hour, trying to find her way back, and was having no luck. She was panicking, unable to bear the thought that straying into places she shouldn't be in would offend her hosts, and thus, she had begun running, only to slam into this boy.
"I am soooo sorry." She said, scrambling up and then reaching over to him. "Are you okay?"
Devi got up without her help.
"Yea, yea, I'm fine. Are YOU?"
"Yea, I am. Sorry about that… I was just… I'm kinda lost…" She realised that she was starting to feel a tightness in her chest, so she rummaged through her pockets until she found her inhaler.
Once she could breathe a little easier, she spoke to the boy.
"So, you were in the prison too yea. You were on the plane last night?"
Gabriel nodded. "Yea, I'm Devi. You are?"
"Oh sorry, I'm Rae."
"Yea. Hey, you don't know the way outta here do you?"
Rae raised an eyebrow. "You want to leave?"
Devi shook his head. "Nah, I just wanna, uh… go stretch my legs."
Rae gave him a steady look, and then shrugged.
"Sorry, I can't help you. I was looking for the kitchens; I have no clue where I am."
"Oh, I could help. Turn left, then go up that corridor, till you get to this big pair of double doors, there's some guys in there who saved us last night who wanna talk to you anyway."
Rae paled. "Am I in trouble?"
Devi laughed.
"No, they just wanna talk to us. Might bore you to death though."
Rae laughed.
"Okay then, thanks a lot."
"No problem."
Rae and the odd-eyed boy parted ways and she followed his directions until she came upon the door. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on it.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Jean smiled as the shy looking girl stepped into the room.
"Uhm... that boy outside said you wanted to see me?" Rae said hesitantly, suddenly afraid that what Devi had said had been just a mean joke.
"Yep, come on in."
Rae entered and pushed the door closed behind her.
"You wanna sit down?"
She did so.
"So. First things first. I'm Jean, this is Lance and Scott."
"I'm Rae Straus."
"Hey Rae. Now, do you know what you're doing here?"
Rae shook her head.
"Basically," Scott took over. "We saved you and a few other kids from that prison place, as you know. We just want to help you and the others with your powers and getting used to having them in your life without fear of people like the MSDC."
Rae gave them a look.
"You're the mutants from that Institute place in Bay-something aren't you! Xavier's kids!"
Scott was quiet and so was Jean, thinking about Xavier no doubt. Lance answered the question.
"That's right, we're from Bayville, so we know exactly what you guys are going through. We just wanna talk to you lot and find out how we can help you get over it, and get on with your lives."
Rae blinked.
"Sorry Rae." Scott put in. "Lance gets like that sometimes."
Rae laughed. "That's okay."
"Great. So how old are you?"
"I'm eighteen, how old are you guys?"
The conversation carried on much like the previous two before.
"Is there anyone who you'd like us to contact, to let them know you're okay or anything like that?"
"Yes, my parents!" Rae cried out suddenly. "They must still think I'm stuck in Burma!"
"Burma?" Lance asked.
"Yea, I went to Burma recently, my dad came from there originally... it was sooo cool, I saw everything. They still haven't sorted out their government over there- but if the people stick behind Aung San Suu Kyi..."
She stopped when she saw the other three staring at her, Jean with a faint smile on her face.
"Uhm... sorry." She said sheepishly.
Jean laughed. "It's alright. Did you want us to send word to your parents?"
Rae thought for a while.
"I want them to know that I'm alright... and that I'm somewhere where I'm safe from mutant haters where I can train myself. I don't want them to know about being kidnapped or anything. Is that okay?"
"Sure. We'll get word to them by mail for now, but we'll be getting a phone line in soon, and you can call them, or even email them."
Rae grinned. "That'd be great."
"Now, do you think you're going to be up to doing some training with your powers later on? We're not starting the training until next week, but in the next few days, we're going to be just exploring your powers. If you don't feel that you can handle it just yet, we won't push you to it."
"That sounds great." Rae said. Being locked up with nothing to do had made her severely bored. She needed something to keep her mind active, and that sounded perfect. Besides, she would be the first one to put her hand up and say that she needed help with her powers.
"Will that be all?" She asked politely.
"Unless there's anything else you want to talk to us about, yep." Scott replied. "Is there?"
Rae shook her head, her short cropped hair bouncing slightly.
"Okay then, can you send the next person you see up for us?"
"Sure thing." Rae said, then skipped out of the room.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Jean?" Scott looked over to her.
"Well, she didn't shout as much as the other two did." She exclaimed, with some relief. "She seems to be pretty mentally disciplined and, from what I picked up, her mind is quite sharp. She'd be a good tactician."
"I like her." Scott agreed. "Lance?"
"She's okay. She rambles a bit doesn't she."
Scott smacked him in the arm.
"Lance!" Jean defended the girl. "She was just nervous that's all. And we know that she gets on well with the other girls. I think she'll be a great asset to the team."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Rae skipped out of the corridor before she realised that she was, once again, lost.
She slowed down and walked for a while, trying to find somewhere that looked familiar, until she found something better than a landmark.
"Tone!"
The Irish girl looked up and smiled.
"Hey Rae. How ya doin'?"
"I'm lost." She wailed. "PLEASE tell me you know where the rest of the girls are?"
Tone blinked. "Uhm... they're right down there, jes take a left." She said liltingly, pointing down the corridor.
Rae gave a sigh. "Thank God! Oh, by the way, how's you face?" She asked with concern.
Tone raised a hand and gently traced the still slightly hurting scar that was healing there.
"Eh, considering I crashed a whole van, it could be worse." She shrugged.
Rae grinned. "Well, it's good that you have such a good outlook on it. Oh, and, three of our rescuers want a word with you." She carried on as Tone suddenly looked worried. "Oh no, don't worry. They're just interviewey things. They're alright. You need to go this way to get there."
She gave Tone directions, and the two girls parted ways.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
There was a knock at the door.
"Come in."
Tone pushed the door open and entered, sitting down as she looked from the girl to the two boys.
"I met Rae outside, she said ye wanted tae see me?"
"Sure." Jean answered her. "We just want to make sure you're okay and that you've been dealing with everything since we rescued you. How's the cut on your face feeling?"
"It's fine." Tone said agreeably. "I'm fine, really. Is that all ye were wantin' t'know?"
"Not quite. We want to know a bit more about you. How old are you Antonia?"
Tone winced. "I'm sixteen, and it's Tone. Please don't use my full name."
Jean laughed. "Okay then, Tone."
She made the introductions.
"Now, do you have anyone back home who you want to contact, to let them know you're alright?"
She was quiet for a long time. There were her parents, and her older brother Dean, but for some reason, she didn't want them to know about her plight at that moment. She didn't want to worry them, but most of all, she didn't want their pity.
"No." She said quietly.
Jean gave her a look, but respected her thoughts and said nothing.
"How are you getting on with the other girls Tone?" Scott asked.
Tone smiled. "I luv 'em all, they're so much fun. An' after everythin' we been through t'gether we're like family now."
Scott grinned. "That's good to hear. Well, if there's anything else you want to tell us..."
Tone shook her head, then remembered.
"Oh! We're kinda finding it hard to navigate roun' here. Is there anyway you could help us find our way about? The maps are helpful, but they get lost easily."
The three older kids thought, until Lance said, "We could put up signs or something?"
Scott shrugged. "Sure." He turned to Tone. "Will that be helpful?"
Tone nodded vigorously.
"Well, that's alright then. Tell the next person you meet to come up and see us, and I think you should be able to go and get those stitches taken out soon. If you think they're healing up, just let us know, okay."
"Alright." Tone agreed and left the room.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Well, I like her." Lance said. "She has the most confidence out of everyone else we've seen."
Jean agreed. "She seems to be quite stable. She'd be a good second-in-command with a small team."
"It's a shame about that nasty cut across her face." Scott said reflectively. "It's going to scar."
Jean sighed. Lance shrugged. "Hey, she seems to be holding up well- plus I guess she'll attract attention anyway with those unique eyes."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Antonia made her way back to the girl's room and found that Rae had decided to join the other two girls in their room. They were apparently talking about Rae's meeting.
"...And I SWEAR that that guy... Scott, yea, him and Lance, I SWEAR they've got something going on."
Tone came in and flung herself on a bed, legs hanging off the edge.
"Aye, I think they do an' all."
"Hey Tone."
"Hey, where have you been?"
Antonia waved at Liz and answered Lia's question.
"I was where Rae jist was." She said. "They wanna see one of youse now."
Lia looked at Liz, as they were the only girls left.
"Do you want to go first, or shall I?"
Liz shrugged. "I don't really mind."
"Well, neither do I." Lia said.
Rae sighed. "Well, how about you go in alphabetical order."
Lia laughed. "I guess I'm first then."
"You sure?" Liz asked.
"Yeah, I'm not fussed really."
After Tone had given her directions, Lia left to go talk to their hosts.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Lia knocked at the door and bounced in.
"Hi." She beamed.
"Er, hi." Jean smiled, Scott greeted her and Lance raised an eyebrow but smiled back at her.
"How are you?" Lia asked politely.
The others were slightly taken aback.
"Uhm, we're good, right guys?" Scott turned to the other two.
"Yea." Jean nodded.
"Definitely." Lance said. "How are YOU feeling?"
Lia shrugged. "I'm as good as can be expected. So, what did you guys want to talk to me about?"
"Well, we just wanted to find out if you were okay. Jean's a telepath, so if you need anyone to talk to, you can go to her... or even me or Lance here. But let's start from the beginning. How old are you?"
"I'm seventeen."
Lance thought out loud so that Jean would pick his thoughts up. *Send this to Scott: why are all these kids so short?*
She did so, smiling at his comment, and Scott turned and gave Lance an amused look as he got it too.
They chatted, as they had done before, sorting through Lia's mental state and finding out about her personality.
"So Lia, is there anyone you want to get in contact with? We don't have a phone line at the moment, but when we do..."
Lia immediately shook her head. "No." She said decisively. "The only people who I would write to are the ones who betrayed me to the MSDC in the first place."
She thought briefly of her little sister, but her letter, or call, would surely destroy any tale that her parents had made up. She didn't want to confuse the girl, so she would leave. Plus, there was also the danger that her parents would find out where she was and that would put them all in danger.
The room was quiet for a minute, until Scott broke the silence.
"I'm sorry Lia." He said softly. "I know what it's like to lose your parents."
"Thanks." She said softly.
Lance couldn't take the tension.
"Well, if you wanna go back and send someone else up?" He said. "And remember, we'll always be available for you to talk to us if you need to."
Lia smiled.
"Thank you. I'll send Liz up next."
So saying, she left.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Opinions?" Lance asked, sliding from his seat on the arm of the chair to Scott's lap.
"She seems like a friendly kid, and her mental blocks are very very good." Jean decided. "I could hardly hear anything from her at all."
"What did you think about that thing with her parents?"
Lance growled. "If her fuckin' parents don't want her, it's their loss."
Scott rubbed his lover's back soothingly.
"It's okay Lance." To Jean he said. "You'll talk to her if she has problems... and we'll do our best to show her that she's wanted."
"It'll never be good enough for her though." Lance seethed. "She's gonna spend the rest of her life knowing that her parents didn't want her."
He got up from Scott's lap.
"I'm gonna take a walk." He said, before walking out the door, slamming it behind him.
Jean stared after him, then at Scott, who was looking pained.
"Scott...?"
Scott shook his head.
"I'll talk to him later. Right now, we have to see the rest of the kids."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Lance glowered as he walked through the corridors aimlessly.
Speaking to those kids, seeing how many of them were treated as disposable by their parents, it all made him angry because he could relate. He knew too well how it felt to be abandoned by his parents- he too had been left through no fault of his own, in a place where you wouldn't leave a dog.
He kicked a door open and stormed through, being stopped by the glint of metal that suddenly crossed his neck.
Wolverine saw who it was, and sheathed his claws.
"Jeez kid, I could have decapitated yer." He said gruffly.
Lance snorted. "I know you have better control than that Logan."
"Yea, well, you still shouldn't come bursting into the solitary infirmary rooms, especially when it's occupied."
Lance walked over to the bed and looked down on the boy lying there; face pale and coloured with bruises, and his long red hair lying like a pool of colour around his head.
"How is he?" He asked Wolverine.
Wolverine sighed and fell back into a well-sat-in chair.
"Physically, he's stable, but he should have woken up by now. I can't figure out why it's taking so long."
Lance frowned.
"Is there anything we can do?"
"Apart from sit with him until he wakes up, no."
Lance gave Logan a studying look.
"Have you had a break since you came here?" He asked.
"Well..." Logan said, not answering the question. Lance already knew the answer.
"Look, you go and get something to eat, have a shower, I dunno, something. Just get outta here, I'll look after him for a while."
Logan frowned and was about to say something when Lance interrupted.
"No, there is no good reason for you to stay here. I'll be fine, now go; you're making the place look crowded."
Logan grumbled, but left, leaving Lance to his thoughts and the silence, broken only by the sound of the boy breathing.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Liz knocked on the door, and entered when someone called her in. She sat down only after being invited, and studied Jean, and especially Scott with suspicion. She briefly wondered where the other guy- supposedly this Scott guy's boyfriend- was and kept herself ready for action.
"Hi Liz." Jean greeted, sensing her agitation and telling Scott to let her handle the situation telepathically.
Liz nodded.
"How old are you?"
"Twenty three."
Well, here was someone older than even them, although it wasn't by much.
"It looks like you're the oldest one in the building after Logan." Jean laughed. "But he doesn't count."
Liz did not seem amused.
"Well Liz, we called you up here..."
"I know." Liz cut in. "You want to know if you can help me with anything. Well, I don't wanna be rude, but I'd rather solve my own problems thanks. I won't be a liability to you, and I'll be able to function, but I want to be left alone to work through things myself."
"That's okay." Scott said softly. "We just want to know if we can help you in anyway. Have you got anyone back home that you want to contact."
Liz briefly thought of Tora, but pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind.
"There's my boyfriend, but I guess this kind of puts a dent in our relationship." She said futilely. "Can I go now?"
Jean shrugged. "Unless you want to discuss anything else with us?"
"Actually, there is." Liz said. "Are you keeping us here? Or are we allowed to leave."
"Of course you can leave." Scott said. "Only it would be safer for us if you would wait for a few weeks, just to make sure that the MSDC aren't trying to find you all again."
Liz studied them unnervingly, then nodded. "Sure whatever. See you."
With that, she had gone.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Issues?" Scott half-asked Jean.
"Issues." She replied.
Scott sighed. "Hopefully she'll start to trust us a bit more if we manage to socialise with her a bit, yea?"
Jean sighed. "I don't know Scott. We'll see what happens, when it happens. As long as she stays here and lays low until the MSDC are gone and the other kids are safe, I don't think we can have a say in what she does."
*PLEASE join us.* Jean thought desperately to herself. *We need someone like you.*
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Lance yawned and brushed at his nose as something tickled it.
After sitting in the comfortable chair in the warm infirmary for a while, he had started feeling sleepy, and had slowly drifted off. Now, something danced under his nose. At first he had shook his head and sniffed, but now it was getting worse. He brought his hand up and tried to move whatever it was, but felt nothing. Thinking it must have been a piece of thread or something, he tried to get back to sleep... only to feel that same tickling.
He opened his eyes and gave a yell as he saw strands of red hair dancing in wisps in front of him.
"Sorry." A voice came. Lance looked up to see that Lukka had FINALLY woken up. "I can't control it when I'm this injured." he stopped for a while, apparently thinking, then his brow furrowed. "Who are you?"
This sounded suspicious and vaguely threatening, so Lance talked fast.
"Calm down, your in our infirmary. I'm Lance, me and my friends saved you from the MSDC, they had you beat up pretty badly. You've been in our infirmary for a couple of days now, and we don't know how long you were unconscious for before that."
Lukka tried to sit up, but lay back down, wincing.
"What happened to you?" Lance asked carefully.
Lukka tried to think back...
"I was in the mall with a group of mates, just hanging out... then these police guys appeared outta nowhere, just attacking me... I freaked I didn't know what was going on so I defended myself. I think I made them angry when I threw a few of them over the divider... they beat me up pretty badly after they caught me before I passed out, I know that."
"Those bastards." Lance hissed, and Lukka glanced at him, trusting him more after that outburst as a fellow mutant.
Lance shook his head. "I'm sorry, I've just had enough of anti-mutant humans for one day..." *Or for one lifetime.* He thought. "How old are you anyway?"
"I'm nineteen, my name's Lukka Miller."
"Pleased to meet you Lukka. Is there anything we can do for you?"
Lukka winced. "Well... some painkillers wouldn't be unwelcome."
"Oh, right."
Lance busied himself looking for the painkillers when the door was opened and a brown haired head peeked round.
"Hi. You're Lukka right? Finally awake."
"Lukka, this is Brian Knight. He was in the same place as you were and also got injured."
"Yea." Brian said, sitting on the end of the bed. "They don't like it when you hurt their mates."
Lukka laughed carefully. "They like it even less when you kill some of their mates."
Brian waved a finger at him. "You mean you...?"
Lukka nodded.
"Wow. And I thought I was bad."
Lance stopped.
"Yeah, I thought you were bad too. What happened?"
"Oh, Devi healed me."
"What?"
"Yea, it's his power, something to do with healing energy in here, I don't quite get it myself."
"He's a healer?" Lukka asked. "PLEASE ask him to heal me, even my HAIR hurts."
Lance sighed. "I'll see if I can find him and bring him back Lukka." He reassured the boy. He turned to Brian. "You're coming with me."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Bryn was sitting at his desk in his room, reading a book in German that he had found in the house's library when the voice entered his head.
//Bryn? It's me Jean.//
He jumped, before realising who Jean was, and calming down a bit.
//Jean? How are you?//
//I'm very well thank you Bryn, but Scott and I need to talk to you. Don't worry, it's nothing bad. Could you come to this room please?//
She put a mental map of where they were in his head.
//I'll be there immediately.// He said to her, and began to make his way.
When he got there, he knocked at the door and waited to be called.
"Come in."
He opened the door and let himself in, closing it behind him.
"Sit down." The boy with the glowing eyes offered him a seat, which he took.
"It's Bryn isn't it."
"Bryn Zeitsagen, yes." He replied formally.
"And you're how old Bryn?"
"Nineteen."
The questions carried on much like the times before.
"Have you get anyone back home you'd like to contact, to let them know you're okay?" Scott finally asked. "Jean said that you couldn't go back now because they know where you live."
"That is correct." He said. "I would like to contact my mother and father and let them know I am safe. I also need some personal items from them. Can this be arranged?"
"Sure, no problems there." Scott assured him. "How are you settling in?"
"I've travelled around a lot." Bryn replied. "It is no problem getting used to a new place. Besides, it is much better than that other place."
As they wrapped up the conversation and Bryn began to leave, he turned around.
"Thank you for rescuing me from that place." He said. "I will not forget it."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Well, you were right." Scott said. "He IS very polite."
"Mmm..." Jean said, somewhat detachedly. "If only I could find a man like that... so refined, and polite, and charming..."
Scott shook his head and laughed.
"So unlike Lance." He said. "But I love him anyway. It's weird how it hits you that way Jean. You'll find someone someday." He comforted his lonely friend.
"Now, who have we got next?"
Jean held up a hand as she heard Lance shouting for her.
//Jean?//
//Yes Lance?//
//Lukka's awake.//
//That's excellent news!// She thought, beaming.
//Yea... better news is that that Devi kid apparently healed Brian, so we're trying to find him to see if we can ask him to heal Lukka too.//
//Well, good luck with your search Lance.//
//Wait, can't you give us a hand?// Jean's thought-voice was playful. //What would be the fun in that for you? Give me a call if you haven't found him in half an hour.//
//Well thanks a lot Jean... and tell Scotty this from me...//
He evilly sent a barrage of risqué images of him and Scott in compromising positions, and Jean winced.
//I'll pass the sentiments on certainly... you evil, evil...// She cut off before he had the pleasure of hearing her swear.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Kegan walked straight into the room and sat down on the chair, one leg hanging over the side, bold as brass.
"Hey guys, whaddaya want?"
The two were slightly taken aback.
"Uhm, hi Kegan. We wanted to have a chat to you to see if you needed anyone tot talk to, or anything in general after that prison cell?"
Kegan thought for all of five seconds.
"I'm dying for a cigarette."
"Well, how old are you?"
"Seventeen."
"You're underage…" Scott said doubtfully.
"I'm also a practising bisexual, a mutant hated by humanity and once locked in a prison for it and a recovering heroin addict, I THINK I should be allowed one fucking SMOKE."
There was silence in the room until Jean stood up.
"There's no need to swear Kegan. If you feel you need a cigarette, you can ask Logan to lend you one."
//Jean, you're mean. // Scott sent.
//Gotta be cruel to be kind. //
She sent back, as Kegan slammed the door behind him on his way out.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Well..." said Scott.
"Indeed." Jean replied. "He's so angry at everything, but I don't if that's just the way he is or more of a defence mechanism. I think we're going to need to work with him on his people skills… but I know we can get through to him eventually."
She was interrupted with a shout in her head.
//JEAN! PLEASE help us, we can't find Devi ANYWHERE. //
//Ouch! Lance, don't shout at me. What do you mean you can't find him? //
//Seriously, he's not anywhere. I think we might keep missing him, please can you look for us, PLEASE? //
//Okay, okay, give me a minute… though he's probably right behind you. //
She paused and, putting her hands to her temples for better concentration, looked for Devitt's mental signature.
//Uh-oh, he's outside the perimeter walls! // Jean sent this to Scott AND Lance. //He's gonna give away our position! //
//Lance, can you… //
//I can't, I'm too far away. Logan's nearer. //
//Logan? //
//What Red? //
//That small boy, Gabriel? Or Devitt? Well, whoever he is, he's left the perimeter walls. //
//And you want me to go bring him back right? //
//Please. It'd be a big help, and might save us being discovered. //
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Logan sighed, put his beer down and made his way to the back door.
"No good little fidgeting, escaping, disobedient…"
The trail of words followed him out of the door.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
FINALLY! The next chapter! This thing is 27 pages long okay. See what I do to make sure you're all mentioned.
If you'd prefer your chapters out sooner and don't mind your character not being a big part a coupla times, do tell me. If more people want their chara in every instalment, but don't mind waiting, tell me. I'll see what I should be doing ok.
Any other comments, please leave a review.
Luv u all,
DCJ