Agent-G: Yup, the title is coming into play. I figured out I completely
forgot why I named it Fighting Destiny, but now I remember it again. Not
the biggest Forge appearance yet, in this chapter, but it'll get
somewhere...
Fighting Destiny – Talking things out
"O man," Kurt groaned as he collapsed on the couch, "zhat Michael guy is going to kill us."
"For once," Scott looked up, looking worse for wear, "I agree."
"Is it, like, just me, or did he get, like worse because of the fight with Marianne?" Kitty dragged herself to the nearest chair.
The X-Men had just finished another trainingsession, after Marianne and Rogue had returned to the Institute, and Logan had put them up against Michael. Michael, who had a couple of years on them, and had trained almost all his life, even before his powers surfaced, had easily taken care of them.
"Ah believe so, Kitty," Rogue nodded, not really feeling for a longer answer.
"They're just a little tense about what is happening," Jean tried to stick up for Michael and Marianne, "who wouldn't be?"
"Still, it doesn't excuse nearly, like, killing us!" Kitty cried out in frustration.
"I'll go talk with Marianne, Scott, you'll talk with Michael," Jean sighed, and got up to try and find Marianne. The knowledge the woman had of the hiding places in the Institute alone had proved to Jean she had spend time there, in her own dimension.
"Marianne? Are you up here?" after a while of looking, Jean had ventured up to the attic, to find the young doctor staring out of a window.
"Is something wrong, Marianne?"
"Huh?" the woman spoken to looked around, rather startled, "I forgot how beautifull it was here, how peacefull," a loud crashing sound downstairs interrupted, "compared to the safehouse. I miss that, you know?"
"Then why don't you go back when you get back to your dimension?"
Marianne let out a bitter laugh, it didn't suit her: "Yeah, right, Jean. As if I could go back. I've seen too much, been through too much to ever completely believe in this dream you all have again. This dream of humans and mutants peacefully co-existing. I'm not an X-man, woman, whatever. You guys sit in your pretty little mansion, go out to fight, and we deal with the survivors, the victims of the humans. There are times that I want to go out and just show these humans just why exactly they should fear us. And I wonder more and more if it is all worth it, I'm tired Jean. So tired."
By now, tears were streaming down Marianne's face, the angry expression that she had worn at the beginning of her outburst was now a face tortured by things she had seen.
"I try so goddamned hard, every day. Every time the team goes out. Every time I have a kid on the operation table, it hurts Jean, it hurts, I try not to let it bother me, I do, but the pain just won't stop. Every time, my heart's ripped in two. But I can't stop, I'm needed," there was a strange kind of desperation in Marianne's face as Jean looked at her.
'She's too soft hearted for this,' Jean realised.
"Feeling the pain makes us care, Marianne, it doesn't make you weak, it makes you strong," Jean tried to console the young doctor, "it's okay to feel angry, you have every right to be, I don't know how the future looks like, but I think no one can blame you. But you're still helping people, and that's what counts."
"Or so I keep telling myself," Marianne sniffed, "I'm sorry, I just, sometimes it gets a little too much, ya know. And now with all this, and the fight with Michael. I just needed someone to rant at. I'm sorry it was you. Back in my dimension, you've been nothing but kind to me, you helped me get settled and all."
"Hey, it's okay, we all need to let lose sometimes. But talking about the fight with Michael. Could you two patch up? He's really killing us in the Danger Room," the redhead smiled.
"Yeah, that's Michael for ya. Sometimes I'd say we're complete opposits, he's brutal when it comes to training or missions," Marianne smiled weakly, "but he's a real good leader, a very good friend too."
"And you love him, things are stressfull for the both of you. But everything will work out, we'll get you back to your own dimension, no doubt about it," Jean smiled broadly. For a moment, Marianne contemplated if she should tell Jean about the warning from Irene, but decided against it. That was, for the moment, a secret between her, Rogue and Irene herself, and if it was up to her, no one would ever find out.
"Hey, what day is it?" Marianne suddenly asked.
"Tuesday, why?" Jean didn't understand it.
"You'll find out," she looked at her watch, "in three... two... one..."
*Bamf*
"Hide behind the crates, guys, Jean, put open that window, I'll put open this one," Marianne grinned as she directed Kurt and Bobby to a good hidingspot behind a stack of old boxes. She and Jean then quickly opened the windows to wash away the sulfur smell.
"Where's the elf?" Logan growled.
"How should we know, mister Logan?" Marianne used a tactic she had stopped using a couple of years ago: puppy-dog-eyes, "what did they do?"
"They had a little fun with my simulation," he snarled, before sniffing, turning on his heels and stalking away from the attic. Apparently the fresh air had subdued the sulfur smell, well, that and the stuffy, old smell you tend to have on attics made him uneasy.
"O, they had fun alright," Marianne giggled, "at least this time they got away. You can come out now, boys."
"This happened in your dimension?" Jean raised an eyebrow while crossing her arms.
"O yeah, filled on of his training simulations with pink, stuffed animals, didn't you?" Marianne laughed as Kurt and Bobby grinned, "well, in my dimension, you guys got caught and were very sorry."
~*Other Dimension*~
"Why am I here?" Forge asked the group who stood waiting for him, "mister personality over there didn't say anything. At all."
"Ve need your help, some of our friends vere transported to anozher dimension and ve need zhem back," Kurt was the first to respond.
"Now your talking. I think I can help. But I see some new faces, who are you all?" Forge this time turned to look at Tank, Sarah and Ben.
"We work and live at the safehouse. Two of our group, Marianne and Michael, our doctor and the guy in charge, were transported. It's incredibly important we get them back. I am Sarah, this walking disaster area is Ben and this guy is Tank," she pointed to the two men next to her. Tank nodded, but him being so tall and broad worked a little unnerving, as it did on every newbe. Ben just glared at Sarah, before grinning at Forge.
"I'll take you to the lab, we have a lot of data, but I don't really know what to do with it. It's not like I have to write a trainingprogram for it," Ben grinned.
~*Back with Marianne and Michael*~
"So, we, like, have Marianne in the greenhouse, and we now have to, like, get Michael in there," Kitty smiled broadly at their accomplishments.
"And ve're not letting zhem out untill zhey make up," Kurt agreed, "Jamie's getting him."
About three minutes later, Michael and Marianne were locked inside the greenhouse, together, with the X-Men AND New Mutants standing guard outside. Ofcourse they could have broken out, but the greenhouse belonged to Ororo, and Marianne didn't think she would take too kindly on her greenhouse being demolished by Michael.
"So why are we here?" Michael grumbled, not liking it very much that he was locked away, even in a glass house.
"Because you were running them into the ground because of our fight. They want us to make up," Marianne sighed.
"I wasn't running them into the grou..." a look from Marianne stopped him midsentence, he had wanted to say 'I wasn't running them into the ground because of our fight'.
"I know you too well, you're frustrated," she flopped down onto the ground and looked up at him, she wasn't feeling so frustrated anymore, actually, she thought it was nice to see her friends again when they had been younger.
"I'd disagree with that, but you're right. Still, I think we should keep our options open about Apocalyps," Michael sighed, slightly exasperated.
"Even if the guy still existed, which he doesn't, I don't think he woul do this. He would take over this dimension, or atleast try to," Marianne told him with a mysterious little smile, "I did some research and I found out a peculiar difference in the legends and myths about him, he was completely defeated, his body was disposed of in so many pieces, not even the champion of jigsawpuzzles can piece him back together."
"Who defeated him?" Michael looked slightly baffled at this.
"They claim the gods, who were angered by his existance, I think some other mutants, perhaps he wasn't the only mutant back then. So, do you agree with me now?" Marianne crossed her arms, awaiting the apology.
"Well, there goes one enemy. Yes, Anne, you were right, I was wrong and I am very sorry about our fight," Michael said, slightly sarcastic, but then grinned at Marianne: "so, what do you have planned for tonight?"
"Nothing yet," Marianne grinned back.
"So, what do you say I ask Logan for a set of wheels and we go out for tonight?"
"That, my friend, sounds like a solid plan. But Xavier asked me to tell him something about the safehouse system. I think he wants to be able to set something like that up if the public turns violent towards mutants," Marianne got up and sat down next to him.
~*Other Dimension*~
"Forge! Don't do..." Ben's warning came too late as an explosion filled the tech-lab, followed by a nearly solid, black smoke.
"What did you do?!" Sarah yelled, as she came running, to see the black smoke.
"I didn't do it, Forge did!" Ben said between coughs, for once glad he wasn't the one who blew something up.
"I'm *cough* fine *cough* I think," Forge's voice came through the smoke, and a second later, he staggered out, "I fried some circuits and the machine overloaded."
"O great, two of them," Sarah turned her eyes up to the ceiling, before turning away and start to take care of who was supposed to cook tonight. She began to get a whole new load of respect for Marianne and Michael, as she and Tank were now in charge, and Sarah began to discover just how hard this all was, and they didn't even have refugees!
~*Back with Marianne*~
"Professor, I believed you wished to know some more about the safehouse- system, didn't you?" Marianne walked into his office and sat down in a chair facing Xavier.
"Yes, I'm rather interrested in your personal experiences," he smiled at the young woman.
"O... well... okay. Well, I'm the doctor in our safehouse, second in commands. They call me 'mom' back there," she smiled remembering that, "Michael is 'dad'. We help a lot of people, not all of them mutants. Some of them helped mutants out, and were labeled 'traitors'. Some kids whose parents 'disappeared'. Kids whose powers surfaced at the wrong time in the wrong place. We have room for about 20, sometimes we've been filled up with about 60. When one of big labs are busted out. I keep a miniature hospital running on my own and try to keep most of our 'guests' in check. Which is hard. They've all been through a lot, and they get into fights easily. I'm just happy we have an in-house hospital. I'm pretty much the test-subject for the powers of most of them."
"Why is that?" Xavier raised an eyebrow.
"Think 'bout it. We have mutants who've been experimented on, they're in pain, have bad dreams, they fnd out they're in a hospital and I'm the doctor. Ofcourse they're freaked and the first thing they do is try to get away. Or they panick and lose control. It's not their fault, it still hurts when I get on the recieving end, but it's not their fault. They wouldn't be able to hurt me if we restrained them, I think, but that's not good. It would make them think they're still in thos horrid places," Marianne shuddered, thankful she herself had never actually been in such a lab to be used to experiment upon. Even though she thought that being caught under the rubble and nearly dying was bad enough.
Fighting Destiny – Talking things out
"O man," Kurt groaned as he collapsed on the couch, "zhat Michael guy is going to kill us."
"For once," Scott looked up, looking worse for wear, "I agree."
"Is it, like, just me, or did he get, like worse because of the fight with Marianne?" Kitty dragged herself to the nearest chair.
The X-Men had just finished another trainingsession, after Marianne and Rogue had returned to the Institute, and Logan had put them up against Michael. Michael, who had a couple of years on them, and had trained almost all his life, even before his powers surfaced, had easily taken care of them.
"Ah believe so, Kitty," Rogue nodded, not really feeling for a longer answer.
"They're just a little tense about what is happening," Jean tried to stick up for Michael and Marianne, "who wouldn't be?"
"Still, it doesn't excuse nearly, like, killing us!" Kitty cried out in frustration.
"I'll go talk with Marianne, Scott, you'll talk with Michael," Jean sighed, and got up to try and find Marianne. The knowledge the woman had of the hiding places in the Institute alone had proved to Jean she had spend time there, in her own dimension.
"Marianne? Are you up here?" after a while of looking, Jean had ventured up to the attic, to find the young doctor staring out of a window.
"Is something wrong, Marianne?"
"Huh?" the woman spoken to looked around, rather startled, "I forgot how beautifull it was here, how peacefull," a loud crashing sound downstairs interrupted, "compared to the safehouse. I miss that, you know?"
"Then why don't you go back when you get back to your dimension?"
Marianne let out a bitter laugh, it didn't suit her: "Yeah, right, Jean. As if I could go back. I've seen too much, been through too much to ever completely believe in this dream you all have again. This dream of humans and mutants peacefully co-existing. I'm not an X-man, woman, whatever. You guys sit in your pretty little mansion, go out to fight, and we deal with the survivors, the victims of the humans. There are times that I want to go out and just show these humans just why exactly they should fear us. And I wonder more and more if it is all worth it, I'm tired Jean. So tired."
By now, tears were streaming down Marianne's face, the angry expression that she had worn at the beginning of her outburst was now a face tortured by things she had seen.
"I try so goddamned hard, every day. Every time the team goes out. Every time I have a kid on the operation table, it hurts Jean, it hurts, I try not to let it bother me, I do, but the pain just won't stop. Every time, my heart's ripped in two. But I can't stop, I'm needed," there was a strange kind of desperation in Marianne's face as Jean looked at her.
'She's too soft hearted for this,' Jean realised.
"Feeling the pain makes us care, Marianne, it doesn't make you weak, it makes you strong," Jean tried to console the young doctor, "it's okay to feel angry, you have every right to be, I don't know how the future looks like, but I think no one can blame you. But you're still helping people, and that's what counts."
"Or so I keep telling myself," Marianne sniffed, "I'm sorry, I just, sometimes it gets a little too much, ya know. And now with all this, and the fight with Michael. I just needed someone to rant at. I'm sorry it was you. Back in my dimension, you've been nothing but kind to me, you helped me get settled and all."
"Hey, it's okay, we all need to let lose sometimes. But talking about the fight with Michael. Could you two patch up? He's really killing us in the Danger Room," the redhead smiled.
"Yeah, that's Michael for ya. Sometimes I'd say we're complete opposits, he's brutal when it comes to training or missions," Marianne smiled weakly, "but he's a real good leader, a very good friend too."
"And you love him, things are stressfull for the both of you. But everything will work out, we'll get you back to your own dimension, no doubt about it," Jean smiled broadly. For a moment, Marianne contemplated if she should tell Jean about the warning from Irene, but decided against it. That was, for the moment, a secret between her, Rogue and Irene herself, and if it was up to her, no one would ever find out.
"Hey, what day is it?" Marianne suddenly asked.
"Tuesday, why?" Jean didn't understand it.
"You'll find out," she looked at her watch, "in three... two... one..."
*Bamf*
"Hide behind the crates, guys, Jean, put open that window, I'll put open this one," Marianne grinned as she directed Kurt and Bobby to a good hidingspot behind a stack of old boxes. She and Jean then quickly opened the windows to wash away the sulfur smell.
"Where's the elf?" Logan growled.
"How should we know, mister Logan?" Marianne used a tactic she had stopped using a couple of years ago: puppy-dog-eyes, "what did they do?"
"They had a little fun with my simulation," he snarled, before sniffing, turning on his heels and stalking away from the attic. Apparently the fresh air had subdued the sulfur smell, well, that and the stuffy, old smell you tend to have on attics made him uneasy.
"O, they had fun alright," Marianne giggled, "at least this time they got away. You can come out now, boys."
"This happened in your dimension?" Jean raised an eyebrow while crossing her arms.
"O yeah, filled on of his training simulations with pink, stuffed animals, didn't you?" Marianne laughed as Kurt and Bobby grinned, "well, in my dimension, you guys got caught and were very sorry."
~*Other Dimension*~
"Why am I here?" Forge asked the group who stood waiting for him, "mister personality over there didn't say anything. At all."
"Ve need your help, some of our friends vere transported to anozher dimension and ve need zhem back," Kurt was the first to respond.
"Now your talking. I think I can help. But I see some new faces, who are you all?" Forge this time turned to look at Tank, Sarah and Ben.
"We work and live at the safehouse. Two of our group, Marianne and Michael, our doctor and the guy in charge, were transported. It's incredibly important we get them back. I am Sarah, this walking disaster area is Ben and this guy is Tank," she pointed to the two men next to her. Tank nodded, but him being so tall and broad worked a little unnerving, as it did on every newbe. Ben just glared at Sarah, before grinning at Forge.
"I'll take you to the lab, we have a lot of data, but I don't really know what to do with it. It's not like I have to write a trainingprogram for it," Ben grinned.
~*Back with Marianne and Michael*~
"So, we, like, have Marianne in the greenhouse, and we now have to, like, get Michael in there," Kitty smiled broadly at their accomplishments.
"And ve're not letting zhem out untill zhey make up," Kurt agreed, "Jamie's getting him."
About three minutes later, Michael and Marianne were locked inside the greenhouse, together, with the X-Men AND New Mutants standing guard outside. Ofcourse they could have broken out, but the greenhouse belonged to Ororo, and Marianne didn't think she would take too kindly on her greenhouse being demolished by Michael.
"So why are we here?" Michael grumbled, not liking it very much that he was locked away, even in a glass house.
"Because you were running them into the ground because of our fight. They want us to make up," Marianne sighed.
"I wasn't running them into the grou..." a look from Marianne stopped him midsentence, he had wanted to say 'I wasn't running them into the ground because of our fight'.
"I know you too well, you're frustrated," she flopped down onto the ground and looked up at him, she wasn't feeling so frustrated anymore, actually, she thought it was nice to see her friends again when they had been younger.
"I'd disagree with that, but you're right. Still, I think we should keep our options open about Apocalyps," Michael sighed, slightly exasperated.
"Even if the guy still existed, which he doesn't, I don't think he woul do this. He would take over this dimension, or atleast try to," Marianne told him with a mysterious little smile, "I did some research and I found out a peculiar difference in the legends and myths about him, he was completely defeated, his body was disposed of in so many pieces, not even the champion of jigsawpuzzles can piece him back together."
"Who defeated him?" Michael looked slightly baffled at this.
"They claim the gods, who were angered by his existance, I think some other mutants, perhaps he wasn't the only mutant back then. So, do you agree with me now?" Marianne crossed her arms, awaiting the apology.
"Well, there goes one enemy. Yes, Anne, you were right, I was wrong and I am very sorry about our fight," Michael said, slightly sarcastic, but then grinned at Marianne: "so, what do you have planned for tonight?"
"Nothing yet," Marianne grinned back.
"So, what do you say I ask Logan for a set of wheels and we go out for tonight?"
"That, my friend, sounds like a solid plan. But Xavier asked me to tell him something about the safehouse system. I think he wants to be able to set something like that up if the public turns violent towards mutants," Marianne got up and sat down next to him.
~*Other Dimension*~
"Forge! Don't do..." Ben's warning came too late as an explosion filled the tech-lab, followed by a nearly solid, black smoke.
"What did you do?!" Sarah yelled, as she came running, to see the black smoke.
"I didn't do it, Forge did!" Ben said between coughs, for once glad he wasn't the one who blew something up.
"I'm *cough* fine *cough* I think," Forge's voice came through the smoke, and a second later, he staggered out, "I fried some circuits and the machine overloaded."
"O great, two of them," Sarah turned her eyes up to the ceiling, before turning away and start to take care of who was supposed to cook tonight. She began to get a whole new load of respect for Marianne and Michael, as she and Tank were now in charge, and Sarah began to discover just how hard this all was, and they didn't even have refugees!
~*Back with Marianne*~
"Professor, I believed you wished to know some more about the safehouse- system, didn't you?" Marianne walked into his office and sat down in a chair facing Xavier.
"Yes, I'm rather interrested in your personal experiences," he smiled at the young woman.
"O... well... okay. Well, I'm the doctor in our safehouse, second in commands. They call me 'mom' back there," she smiled remembering that, "Michael is 'dad'. We help a lot of people, not all of them mutants. Some of them helped mutants out, and were labeled 'traitors'. Some kids whose parents 'disappeared'. Kids whose powers surfaced at the wrong time in the wrong place. We have room for about 20, sometimes we've been filled up with about 60. When one of big labs are busted out. I keep a miniature hospital running on my own and try to keep most of our 'guests' in check. Which is hard. They've all been through a lot, and they get into fights easily. I'm just happy we have an in-house hospital. I'm pretty much the test-subject for the powers of most of them."
"Why is that?" Xavier raised an eyebrow.
"Think 'bout it. We have mutants who've been experimented on, they're in pain, have bad dreams, they fnd out they're in a hospital and I'm the doctor. Ofcourse they're freaked and the first thing they do is try to get away. Or they panick and lose control. It's not their fault, it still hurts when I get on the recieving end, but it's not their fault. They wouldn't be able to hurt me if we restrained them, I think, but that's not good. It would make them think they're still in thos horrid places," Marianne shuddered, thankful she herself had never actually been in such a lab to be used to experiment upon. Even though she thought that being caught under the rubble and nearly dying was bad enough.