Author's note: Trying to give a little background info on Mary here. Basically a short retelling of the events in the movie The Prophecy for anyone who hasn't seen it. I recommend it mostly because of Christopher Walken, but it's also the movie the character of Mary is from. Happy reading!
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Chapter Two:
Everything was quiet. Everything was perfectly still.
Mary was sitting on the edge of her bed, facing the window. She had not moved in some time, and the sunlight shining on the floor was slowly inching toward her feet. Her mind was also completely silent, as she focused all her attention on the approaching light.
After a few more minutes, the warmth from the sun touched her feet, then legs, and then reached her hands. She stared down at them for a long time without moving. She thought about the light, all light...her light. She did not know where it had come from, she did not understand it. She only knew it was something much bigger than she was, like the sun itself...and she was not ready to accept it.
When the knock sounded on Mary's door, the sunlight had reached her face, and she blinked quickly as she looked up, the rays reflecting off her gathering tears stinging her eyes.
Mary stood and took a few deep breaths before heading to the door. She composed herself quickly, and by the time she greeted Rogue, her face was clear and calm.
"Hi," Rogue said, sporting a friendly, understanding smile, "Can I come in?"
Mary nodded, "Sure...How are you feeling?"
Rogue shrugged as she walked over and sat down on the bed.
"I'm alright," she said, and then chuckled, "It's not like I've never been unconscious before."
Mary closed the door slowly and shot her a nervous glance. She had, of course, heard of some of Rogue's adventures with the X-Men since coming to Xavier's school, but Mary had not been entirely prepared for the after effects of such an incident.
"I mean..." Mary said hesitantly, "I mean...are you ok? After...absorbing that other mutant's power..."
Rogue sighed heavily and she looked down at her own hands sadly.
"It was...it wasn't much different than the other times I've...absorbed...someone's powers..." Rogue said, and then looked up at Mary thoughtfully, "I felt his power, but not really the powers of the others he had taken. Only echoes...like after thoughts. And, I felt his memories...good and bad. The Professor said that mutant died before the base exploded, right?"
Mary nodded, folding her arms across her chest as she leaned back against the wall.
Rogue shrugged, "Well...maybe, in some way, part of that mutant...of the person named Cody Weinberg...will always be remembered through me."
She looked down at her hands again, but was smiling.
"I have a little of everyone I've touched inside of me," Rogue said, "Not all of it is good. But...Cody was like me. A mutant like me. Knowing he'll stay with me actually makes me feel a little better than it should, I guess..."
Mary shook her head, "No...no, I think that's a good thing. I mean...that's the first time I've ever heard you say anything good about your power..."
Rogue grinned, "I think it's the first time I've ever said anything good about my powers. Seeing those mutants at that lab...it makes me realize how lucky I am."
Mary nodded, and sighed. She walked slowly across her room toward the window and stared out. Her back was to Rogue, who was watching her curiously. None of the others had been very clear about what exactly had happened after Rogue lost consciousness in the underground base, so she waited for Mary to tell her experience in her own words.
Lucky...Mary thought cynically. She did not know if it had been luck or something else that had helped her yesterday. Luck was easy. Luck was random. Luck did not have a purpose beyond chance.
"I'm afraid," Mary said after a few moments.
"Of what?" Rogue asked, and then decided to risk a direct question, "Of what happened in that base?"
Mary turned toward her friend and sighed again.
"Yeah...of that...of everything," she admitted, dropping her arms in frustration, "My whole life...every time things seem to be going right...something impossible happens and makes me doubt everything again."
Rogue watched, and waited, a practiced skill of listening she learned from the Professor and her other teachers.
Mary took one last long breath, and began to tell Rogue a brief story of her life.
"When I was ten," she began, "Something happened to me that I've never been able to explain. No one has ever been able to explain it...or maybe they just never wanted to. My parents were already dead by then, my mother and the man I knew of as my father. We had always been happy. My father taught me about the history of the land, and my mother taught me about listening to the land. Everything had been beautiful then, I don't remember one day that I was unhappy or afraid. Then, an accident took them from me. If not for my grandmother, I would have been alone.
"When I was ten, though. That's when I really became alone. I told some of this to Storm...on the jet...but not all of it. I don't even remember all of it, but...what I do remember makes me afraid of what might be inside me. I know it doesn't make any sense but I'll try to explain...
"When I was ten...I think I saw an angel. Not some guy pretending to be one or some mutant with wings...but a real angel. Like directly from a choir of seraphim. I've studies a lot of religious texts since then. His name was Simon, and he was running from someone. He had something he needed to hide. So he gave it to me. But it wasn't a good thing...and I wish he hadn't picked me...
"It was a ghost...or a soul...or a spirit...I don't know. But suddenly I had the memories of a very bad man in my head. I saw the terrible things he'd done. I knew everything he knew. God, I can still smell his aftershave sometimes...
"The next thing I remember is that now I was being chased. The ones who had been after Simon were now after me. They were other angels...but not good angels. Fallen angels, I guess. Would you call them demons? I don't know. But they wanted what I had.
"Somehow, the elders of my people were able to remove the soul from my mind before those others could get to me. I was freed, the scents and memories were gone, but my mind never entirely closed to those other voices...
"That's when I started having visions. I could just see more than other people could. Finding things that had been lost, knowing if someone was in trouble...sensing if something dangerous was nearby...
"What happened under the base...whatever that creature was that tried to hurt me...hurt all of us...it felt just like those angry angels had felt. Hate, so much hate. I was so afraid it was going to hurt you all, hurt everyone there, I had to stop it. I couldn't let it just take you all, like they had tried to take me...because...
"What if it was there because of me?"
Rogue stared at her in silence for a few long moments. Mary's face had been emotionless as she spoke, but the terror in her eyes as she finished her last sentence was obvious.
"What if it follows me here?" Mary said finally, and then covered her face with her hands. She did not cry, but the sunlight on her face seemed to burn her skin. The memory of the fire that destroyed the base...her vision of the fire at the school...what if she was the one that would bring this danger upon the people who were trying to help her.
Rogue stood and walked toward her friend quickly.
"Listen to me," she said firmly, and Mary dropped her hands, "I'm not going to pretend I understand what you felt or what's happened to you. But, I do understand how you feel now. The first week after the X-Men brought me and Logan here, I ran away because I thought I'd brought a danger here the Professor would never want. I was dangerous, and I thought I deserved to be alone. The Brotherhood took me, and the X-Men had to come after me. For a long time, I wondered why they thought I was worth the trouble. But then I thought about what would have happened if they hadn't. I would have been dead...thousands more would have died, too. The danger wasn't my fault even though it would have been my power that killed those people. The worst evil happens when those who can stand up to it don't. If some danger's coming after you, it's gonna have to get through all of us first."
Rogue grinned then, and looked surprisingly like Logan.
"Besides...I heard it was you who kicked that creature's ass at the base. It might be a little afraid itself to come after you after that."
Mary tried to smile, but it fell from her face quickly.
"What about the fire?" she asked, doubtfully, "I saw...my first vision here...I saw the mansion on fire..."
Rogue bit her lip thoughtfully, "From what the Professor says...that fire didn't have anything to do with you. One of the other mutant's there...the girl who was shot...she can start fires. And...another one of the Brotherhood can manipulate fires. The Professor said he expects to hear from the family of the girl who was shot pretty soon. He seems sure they all made it out of there alive."
Mary seemed to relax visibly, "I hope so."
Rogue touched her shoulder reassuringly and Mary glanced out the window again.
"Do you think the Professor would want to know, too?" Mary asked, "What I told you about my past, I mean?"
"It can't hurt," Rogue said, "He always seems to have an answer for a question someone was just about to ask."
Mary chuckled, "Just like me..."
Rogue narrowed her eyes dramatically, "Next week's history test...question four."
"George Washington Carver," Mary replied quickly and Rogue blinked in surprise.
Mary laughed, "Just kidding."
Rogue walked away, flabbergasted with many exaggerated dramatic flailings of her arms.
"That's not funny!" she said, and drug Mary toward the door, "I am so feeding all your tacos to Bobby!"
"I hope Dr. McCoy has a lot of Tums for later on tonight..." Mary replied before following Rogue out the bedroom door.