A/N: Final chapter of Just a Girl. I am already working on a sequel (is
that the right word? I WANT SPELLCHECK!). Tell me what you thought of this.
The last part of this chapter is based upon a song of a great (Dutch)
artist. I will put the lyrics in at the end. Her name is Ilse DeLange, the
song is called All The Answers, it was written in support of WarChild. I
don't owe this song either!
A/N2: I want to thank everyone who reviewed my second fanfiction, D-m-n-w-t and Agent-G especially. Did Jeager put those chinchilla's away yet?
Just a Girl – Life changes
The week went by faster the anyone had wanted. Jubilee and Rahne had gotten to know Marianne and grew to care a great deal about the young woman. When the time came to say goodbye, Connor was very happy with the mental shielding he was learning to keep up, because the unslaught of emotions would surely send him to the med-lab.
Marianne had agreed to stay in touch and send them weekly updates on her life, and had refused to give Shadow her home adress. Saying she didn't think he would keep the house intact and if he really wanted to find her, he would do so easily. As he had been able to find her every time she went out, which began to annoy her gravely. Apparently, his killer hang-over from his first adventure hadn't done anything to discourage him from going on another, or getting dead wasted again. After the third time, Marianne had decided to just leave him, it took the romance from a date if you have to get a dead-drunk 'big brother like', annoying and most of all stupid Shadow home.
They went with the Blackbird, flown by Ororo and Logan. They were welcomed by an ecstatic Joey, Tim and Sander, that was mainly because they had been living on left overs and take-out all week, but also because they had been afraid that Marianne would stay with the X-men and they would have to deal with Militaristic Michael again.
Time went by, christmas came, with christmas, Rogue came by to spend christmas with the group. Scott had gone to his brother Alex and since Marianne knew Rogue wouldn't go anywhere, she had invited the gothic girl to come and spent christmas in Boston. Ever since Rogue had gotten the pendant, her personality had greatly improved.
She staid for a week, and according to Marianne, that was just enough for them to show her the greatest spots in Boston. Rogue was astounded by how much Marianne knew about the clubs down town and how many people she actually knew behind the scenes. The Marianne she saw here was completely different from the one she knew from the mansion: she was the light of the party here.
As Marianne later explained, she was the always on-call, though not legally, medic from the neighbourhood, because she knew her medical stuff and she didn't charge anything but friendship. It amazed Rogue how little this Marianne actually cared for rules if they kept her from doing what she needed to do: take care of those who need care.
After that week, when Rogue left, she felt sorry she had too, never before, she had had such a great time. Being a friend of Marianne, as she had now let herself be known throughout the entire (large) circle of her, sometimes shady, friends, insured she was treated with respect and kindness, by most of them. Marianne had also gave her some tips on picking up cute guys, as she herself couldn't since she was deeply involved with Michael.
Rogue had found out Joey's power, they called him Drifter. He could open gateways in the air and get you in five minutes from one side of the country to the other. The stories he had told her about how much trouble he had gotten into before learning control had left her gasping for breath, laughing.
Tim and Sander were humans, friends from Marianne who had been kicked out of their dorm. Tim looked aggresive, but Rogue had soon found out he was a big softie with a rough past. Sander was a rich kid, who was disowned for fraternizing with 'mutie freaks'. He had backbone, where Tim looked aggresive, he looked like a pushover, but where Tim would try to compromise, Sander would push back hard enough to either get into a fight or get his way.
After her stay with the group for christmas, Rogue often returned, when she was in Boston, she felt like she was normal.
In May, all the favours that were needed were called in, and all the professors were convinced Marianne had no business following classes, as she knew everything she had to. So early May, she recieved her diploma, being followed by an all night party with her Boston friends and the X-men who were old enough to participate. Marianne firmly believed she was the only one sober at the end of the celebration, and that was only because she didn't feel like putting the entire block under her illusions.
Moving to Arizona was exhausting. They had to built everything, luckily, Logan decided he might as well help out and Hank made sure she recieved proper things to put up a small hospital.
How much she loved adventure, this was just a bit too much of it. They were sleeping outside in TENTS for crying out loud! It gave a whole new meaning to 'roughing' it. Tim, Sander and Joey had to stay in Boston, because they still had their classes and Marianne, Michael and Logan were on their own building the safehouse the first few days. After three days, finally, the promised workforces from Mutant Underground appeared. Apparently something went wrong (heh, office-work... go figure...) with the request. They had Digger, a very tall, broad build man who could create caves in the ground very easily. That came in very handy, because most of the safehouse would be underground, including the hospital.
After the teams started to show up, Marianne had restricted her work to patching up, cooking and keeping the men and women in check. What else could she do? She was a doctor! She had a diploma, she couldn't even stick on brick to another if her life depended on it. She doubted that it was even wise for her to come with Michael before the whole thing was put together. But then again: someone had to keep them all in check, these were not easy, happy campers and Michael was too tired to deal with them. After the first day, they had learned to respect, and fear, don't forget fear, her temper.
So far, after two weeks, she had set one broken leg, three broken arms, stitched seven cuts a week, at least, found out a way to preserve ice and a lot of it, somewhere where she could reach it easily and a way to use her powers to knock someone out, because they had run out of sedatives, mainly because someone had dropped the box. The working crew was still cursing Nova for that one.
Nova would be one of the permanent team, it was unlucky for them, though, that unless when he was under pressure, he was the one most prone to causing mishaps. His power was to create a field of 'mini' stars which exploded when something touched them. Like having a mobile minefield for your own convenience, according to Michael.
In July, things settled down, at last. Marianne would rather die then admit it, but the last months had been exhausting, challenging and she would never be so happy to see something finished as she was now. And a bed had never been as good to sleep in as it was now. The safehouse was officially up and running. The working crew had left, leaving the five of them behind, counting her and Michael. They had a total of three permanent members. Nova, Gaia and Tank. Nova's real name was Ben March. Gaia was a mutant with elemental control, her name was Sarah Dough. Then there was Tank, invulnerable and super human strength, add a wicked sense of humour and you had just the man to get on Gaia's nerves, he didn't tell them his real, he said he had left that life a long time ago.
The team wasn't big, but they were tight as family. Nova and Tank had jokingly appointed Marianne as 'mom' and Michael as 'dad'. Those who found refuge at their safehouse picked up on the habit, even though half the refugees were older then their 'mom'.
Marianne soon found out that her job as 'mom' was very difficult. It sometimes broke her heart to see her 'children' come into the safehouse looking so bruised, battered and distrusting. Children whose parents had 'disappeared' on the hands of mutant haters were also often brought in. Every single one of them was scanned for the X-gene, most had them, some had the dormant variant and a single one didn't have it at all.
She sometimes wondered is it was all worth it. Why should she go one fighting? Mutants were still hated, feared, shunned, they still had to operate in secrecy. Every time the team brought in new refugees, her heart broke again, but every time she heard her nickname being called out, every time she heard them joke around, saw one of the little ones smiling at her, her heart mended again, a little stronger then before. She knew she had to go on, for the little ones, to try and build them a brighter future.
She didn't know what tomorrow would be like, what the morning sun would bring, and to be honest, she didn't want to know. It could bring trouble, it could bring salvation, but what was most important was the here and now.
She no longer was just a girl, another face in the crowd. She had the chance to do something important and she was going to do it. No longer just a girl, her life had changed, for the better for her? She didn't know. For the better for others? She would make sure of it.
.
All the Answers - Ilse DeLange .
When I call you in the morning
I tell you everything's allright
I can't see into the future
I don't see the danger of the light
I know that there is trouble
And there are battles yet to fight
.
'Cause I may not have all the answers
I wouldn't have it any other way
.
And there's an innerpeace I'm seaking
There's a lightness in my soul
And everytime I think I found it
I wanna touch it, feel it, hold it
.
And the day that I stop asking
Will be the day I'll say goodbye
The world will not be safer
But there's no truth without the lie
.
I may not have all the answers
I wouldn't have it any other way
No I may not have all the answers, no
I wouldn't have it any other way
.
I've asked the good Lord Jesus
I'm asking Allah too
I tried the great God Boeddah
And now I'm asking you
.
'Cause I may not have all the answers
I wouldn't have it any other way
.
When you're deep in trouble waters
You've got to fight for every breath
And you feel you're getting weaker
You're facing life,
you're fashing death
.
And if you have a God to turn to
Oh don't turn the other way
Or a friend that you can call on
Just a prayer that you can say
.
I may not have all the answers
I wouldn't have it any other way
No, I may not have all the answers no
I wouldn't have it any other way
A/N2: I want to thank everyone who reviewed my second fanfiction, D-m-n-w-t and Agent-G especially. Did Jeager put those chinchilla's away yet?
Just a Girl – Life changes
The week went by faster the anyone had wanted. Jubilee and Rahne had gotten to know Marianne and grew to care a great deal about the young woman. When the time came to say goodbye, Connor was very happy with the mental shielding he was learning to keep up, because the unslaught of emotions would surely send him to the med-lab.
Marianne had agreed to stay in touch and send them weekly updates on her life, and had refused to give Shadow her home adress. Saying she didn't think he would keep the house intact and if he really wanted to find her, he would do so easily. As he had been able to find her every time she went out, which began to annoy her gravely. Apparently, his killer hang-over from his first adventure hadn't done anything to discourage him from going on another, or getting dead wasted again. After the third time, Marianne had decided to just leave him, it took the romance from a date if you have to get a dead-drunk 'big brother like', annoying and most of all stupid Shadow home.
They went with the Blackbird, flown by Ororo and Logan. They were welcomed by an ecstatic Joey, Tim and Sander, that was mainly because they had been living on left overs and take-out all week, but also because they had been afraid that Marianne would stay with the X-men and they would have to deal with Militaristic Michael again.
Time went by, christmas came, with christmas, Rogue came by to spend christmas with the group. Scott had gone to his brother Alex and since Marianne knew Rogue wouldn't go anywhere, she had invited the gothic girl to come and spent christmas in Boston. Ever since Rogue had gotten the pendant, her personality had greatly improved.
She staid for a week, and according to Marianne, that was just enough for them to show her the greatest spots in Boston. Rogue was astounded by how much Marianne knew about the clubs down town and how many people she actually knew behind the scenes. The Marianne she saw here was completely different from the one she knew from the mansion: she was the light of the party here.
As Marianne later explained, she was the always on-call, though not legally, medic from the neighbourhood, because she knew her medical stuff and she didn't charge anything but friendship. It amazed Rogue how little this Marianne actually cared for rules if they kept her from doing what she needed to do: take care of those who need care.
After that week, when Rogue left, she felt sorry she had too, never before, she had had such a great time. Being a friend of Marianne, as she had now let herself be known throughout the entire (large) circle of her, sometimes shady, friends, insured she was treated with respect and kindness, by most of them. Marianne had also gave her some tips on picking up cute guys, as she herself couldn't since she was deeply involved with Michael.
Rogue had found out Joey's power, they called him Drifter. He could open gateways in the air and get you in five minutes from one side of the country to the other. The stories he had told her about how much trouble he had gotten into before learning control had left her gasping for breath, laughing.
Tim and Sander were humans, friends from Marianne who had been kicked out of their dorm. Tim looked aggresive, but Rogue had soon found out he was a big softie with a rough past. Sander was a rich kid, who was disowned for fraternizing with 'mutie freaks'. He had backbone, where Tim looked aggresive, he looked like a pushover, but where Tim would try to compromise, Sander would push back hard enough to either get into a fight or get his way.
After her stay with the group for christmas, Rogue often returned, when she was in Boston, she felt like she was normal.
In May, all the favours that were needed were called in, and all the professors were convinced Marianne had no business following classes, as she knew everything she had to. So early May, she recieved her diploma, being followed by an all night party with her Boston friends and the X-men who were old enough to participate. Marianne firmly believed she was the only one sober at the end of the celebration, and that was only because she didn't feel like putting the entire block under her illusions.
Moving to Arizona was exhausting. They had to built everything, luckily, Logan decided he might as well help out and Hank made sure she recieved proper things to put up a small hospital.
How much she loved adventure, this was just a bit too much of it. They were sleeping outside in TENTS for crying out loud! It gave a whole new meaning to 'roughing' it. Tim, Sander and Joey had to stay in Boston, because they still had their classes and Marianne, Michael and Logan were on their own building the safehouse the first few days. After three days, finally, the promised workforces from Mutant Underground appeared. Apparently something went wrong (heh, office-work... go figure...) with the request. They had Digger, a very tall, broad build man who could create caves in the ground very easily. That came in very handy, because most of the safehouse would be underground, including the hospital.
After the teams started to show up, Marianne had restricted her work to patching up, cooking and keeping the men and women in check. What else could she do? She was a doctor! She had a diploma, she couldn't even stick on brick to another if her life depended on it. She doubted that it was even wise for her to come with Michael before the whole thing was put together. But then again: someone had to keep them all in check, these were not easy, happy campers and Michael was too tired to deal with them. After the first day, they had learned to respect, and fear, don't forget fear, her temper.
So far, after two weeks, she had set one broken leg, three broken arms, stitched seven cuts a week, at least, found out a way to preserve ice and a lot of it, somewhere where she could reach it easily and a way to use her powers to knock someone out, because they had run out of sedatives, mainly because someone had dropped the box. The working crew was still cursing Nova for that one.
Nova would be one of the permanent team, it was unlucky for them, though, that unless when he was under pressure, he was the one most prone to causing mishaps. His power was to create a field of 'mini' stars which exploded when something touched them. Like having a mobile minefield for your own convenience, according to Michael.
In July, things settled down, at last. Marianne would rather die then admit it, but the last months had been exhausting, challenging and she would never be so happy to see something finished as she was now. And a bed had never been as good to sleep in as it was now. The safehouse was officially up and running. The working crew had left, leaving the five of them behind, counting her and Michael. They had a total of three permanent members. Nova, Gaia and Tank. Nova's real name was Ben March. Gaia was a mutant with elemental control, her name was Sarah Dough. Then there was Tank, invulnerable and super human strength, add a wicked sense of humour and you had just the man to get on Gaia's nerves, he didn't tell them his real, he said he had left that life a long time ago.
The team wasn't big, but they were tight as family. Nova and Tank had jokingly appointed Marianne as 'mom' and Michael as 'dad'. Those who found refuge at their safehouse picked up on the habit, even though half the refugees were older then their 'mom'.
Marianne soon found out that her job as 'mom' was very difficult. It sometimes broke her heart to see her 'children' come into the safehouse looking so bruised, battered and distrusting. Children whose parents had 'disappeared' on the hands of mutant haters were also often brought in. Every single one of them was scanned for the X-gene, most had them, some had the dormant variant and a single one didn't have it at all.
She sometimes wondered is it was all worth it. Why should she go one fighting? Mutants were still hated, feared, shunned, they still had to operate in secrecy. Every time the team brought in new refugees, her heart broke again, but every time she heard her nickname being called out, every time she heard them joke around, saw one of the little ones smiling at her, her heart mended again, a little stronger then before. She knew she had to go on, for the little ones, to try and build them a brighter future.
She didn't know what tomorrow would be like, what the morning sun would bring, and to be honest, she didn't want to know. It could bring trouble, it could bring salvation, but what was most important was the here and now.
She no longer was just a girl, another face in the crowd. She had the chance to do something important and she was going to do it. No longer just a girl, her life had changed, for the better for her? She didn't know. For the better for others? She would make sure of it.
.
All the Answers - Ilse DeLange .
When I call you in the morning
I tell you everything's allright
I can't see into the future
I don't see the danger of the light
I know that there is trouble
And there are battles yet to fight
.
'Cause I may not have all the answers
I wouldn't have it any other way
.
And there's an innerpeace I'm seaking
There's a lightness in my soul
And everytime I think I found it
I wanna touch it, feel it, hold it
.
And the day that I stop asking
Will be the day I'll say goodbye
The world will not be safer
But there's no truth without the lie
.
I may not have all the answers
I wouldn't have it any other way
No I may not have all the answers, no
I wouldn't have it any other way
.
I've asked the good Lord Jesus
I'm asking Allah too
I tried the great God Boeddah
And now I'm asking you
.
'Cause I may not have all the answers
I wouldn't have it any other way
.
When you're deep in trouble waters
You've got to fight for every breath
And you feel you're getting weaker
You're facing life,
you're fashing death
.
And if you have a God to turn to
Oh don't turn the other way
Or a friend that you can call on
Just a prayer that you can say
.
I may not have all the answers
I wouldn't have it any other way
No, I may not have all the answers no
I wouldn't have it any other way