Ok this is my first FanFic. So please be kind when you read. I'm still trying to get the hang of how this works. I do not own the X-Men. I did use some names from another set of novels. The names of the wolves come from Christine Feehan's Dark series. I know, I just admitted to reading romance books. I am a sap for a good love story. The rating on this story is for later chapters that will have some nasty parts to them. These first few chapters are Character intro chapters. I'm giving up on trying to write Cajun. So Gambit will sound a little different. Please let me know what you think and if you spot any mistakes I'll try to fix them.
Bobby sat at the bedside of the injured woman know only as Priestess. All his thoughts were focused on her. He sat at her bedside in the same clothes that he wore to the fair the night before. He still had her blood all over his shirt from when he picked her up and handed her to Kurt. Hank was able to get him to wash the blood off his hands, but Bobby still felt like they were covered in her blood. He had not slept in a day or so. He was so afraid that if he did she might slip away from him. He could not figure out why he felt this way. He had just met this woman a few hours ago, but he felt connected to her for some reason. He never even seemed to notice the people that would come and go from the lab. Hank had tried to tell him four or five times that the woman would be fine. That did not seem to make Bobby feel any better. Hank was worried about the health of his friend so he asked Jean to talk him into getting some rest.
When Jean walked in she was shocked to see the state that Bobby was in. He looked much older than his 24 years. That happy smile and quick wit she had come to depend on was gone. It had been replaced with a somber guilt ridden façade Jean had never seen on Bobby. When she tried to get him to go eat something the only response she could get was a shake of his head as he continued to stare at the injured woman. This behavior went on for another day and a half.
The Professor then came down to talk to Bobby. When he entered the medlab the first thing he saw was a despondent Bobby holding the hand of the injured woman. The Professor took a minute to look the woman over. She was a small woman compared to the other women living at the mansion. He could see how the rest of the X-Men would think she was a young girl. She might have been 5'5" at most and may be 110 pounds. She looked so young lying in that bed. This was the part that tore the Professor up the most. He could never get over seeing the sick and injured in here. It brought back memories of fallen friends. He felt a wave of comfort coming from somewhere. He looked around the lab to see if it might have been Jean that sent the wave of emotion, but she was nowhere around. He tried to trace the feeling back to the source but it faded as soon as he felt it. That was when he decided to talk to Bobby and see what he could find out about this woman.
"Bobby, there was nothing that you could have done to save her. From what Kurt told me she seemed to know what would happen. Now don't make her sacrifice be in vane. Go up and get some thing to eat and then rest for a while. It will not do her any good for you to run yourself into the ground." The Professor laid a comforting hand on Bobby's shoulder. Bobby looked up straight into the Professor's eyes.
"How can I leave her? She is here because of me. If I had only waited like Kurt told me to she would not have been hurt. I don't know if what I saw was a true vision or not, but I saw what was going to happen right before the gunshot went off. Priestess looked shocked that I had seen it. Is there anyway that she might be able to have these visions? If it were a real vision why would she have jumped in the way of the bullet? This all makes no sense to me. I also have this feeling of grief that won't let up. It is not an emotion coming from me. I can feel someone sending the emotion to me. I have no empathic powers. How can I feel this grief?" Bobby looked away from the Professor back to the woman lying so still on the bed next to him.
"Let me look in your mind and see if I can trace these emotions back to the person sending them. I might be able to see who they are and why they are doing this. I might also be able to block them and get you released from this forced empathy." The professor moved behind the chair that Bobby was sitting in and put his hands on either side of Bobby's head.
When the Professor opened his powers and entered Bobby's mind he got a brief flash of the vision from the other night. It seemed that it was true that this woman did have visions and they did come to pass, thought the Professor as he moved deeper into Bobby's mind. The Professor loved the freedom he felt as he moved through a person's mind. He was no longer limited by the fact that he could not walk. When he was in a person's mind he could do anything he wanted. He could fly like a bird or swim like a fish in the sea. For right now he was content to just walk in Bobby's mind as he looked for the source of the grief that Bobby was feeling.
The Professor found the empathic link and tried to follow it back to the source. Once he started to see whom the sender was, a vast physic wall crashed down. In the world of Bobby's mind a storm raged out of control. The Professor walked calmly up to the wall and started to probe at it in different places. To his surprise there was no way in. He had never come across a mental block as strong as this. He could break it down but that might cause damage to the other person's mind. The best he could do was to throw a mental wall up of his own in Bobby's mind. It should hold for a while. It will at least let the other person know that Bobby was not to be used again. Once the wall was in place and the Professor took one last look around Bobby's mind to make sure there were no gaps that the other telepath could use, he left.
"What did you do Professor? I don't feel any of the emotions any more, but the last one that I could feel was dark hatred. It was aimed at you. I thank you for your help but I think the other person was really pissed at what you did." Bobby raked a hand through his hair with a worried look on his face.
"I just put a mental wall up that should block the other telepath from sending those emotions for a while. It was a very strong mind that I found at the end of the empathic link. I have a feeling that the mystery telepath will make an appearance soon. I want to see if I can try to wake Priestess up. From what Hank has told me she is in some kind of self- induced coma. I want to see if she knows who this telepath is and if they are a danger to us." The Professor then moved over to the opposite side of the bed from Bobby and took the hand of the sleeping woman.
When he entered her mind it was a minefield of disturbing images and visions. He had a hard time moving through her mind. It was like walking in a lake of quicksand in a rainstorm. Above all of these images was a dark presence. The dark being seemed to be pulling the most disturbing memories this woman had to the front of her mind. He could feel her reliving the horror of past assaults and nightmare visions that would not leave her in peace. He remained a shadow in her mind. Floating from one nightmare to another. There was one bright light in all the darkness of her mind. The Professor went over to see what he could find out about this light. He almost fell to his knees when he neared the light. It was a pure source of goodness and hope. That one light was the only thing holding back the darkness of the other being. That light was her soul casting a beacon for others to follow in the darkness. The Professor had never seen a soul that pure before. Everyone had a dark side; no one was pure goodness like this woman seemed to be. He sent a soft probe into that light. What he saw in there was a scared child that had the weight of the world bearing down on her.
Priestess, my name is Professor X. I came here to help you. I need you to wake up and help me push the darkness way. He sent the thoughts with a feeling of friendship and caring. The child in the soul looked toward him and raised a hand to stop him from moving any closer. She sent a single image of a priest on a throne with what looked to be people praying to him. This was an odd image that the Professor could not understand. He then felt a force pushing him out of the woman's mind. He fought to stay where he was. There was still so much he wanted to ask her. As he left the woman's mind he could see the light fading a little, almost dimming out like a candle in a soft wind. Then the light grew brighter and he could see the child in the light with a lost look of hopelessness on her face. He found himself back in his own mind. He was left with more questions than answers.
"What did you find out Professor? Could you wake her up?" Bobby said in a hopeful voice.
"No. I'm sorry, she did not want to wake up and there was a dark being in her mind that I did not want to fight and I could not trace it back. It was not the same person that had been in your mind. I do know that much. This darkness seemed to be forcing her to relive nightmares from her past. It seemed to gain power from the memories it forced her to relive. She fought me as I tried to wake her. She has a very strong telepathic power but it is on a level I have never seen before. She seems to pull power from her very soul. I cannot see how a person can tap into the power of their soul the way she does. When I use my power I use a part of my mind that is dormant in most people. Priestess can tap into the power of her spirit. That is way she is on life support now. I leave a part of my mind in my body to keep my heart pumping and air moving through my lungs. She took all of her being with her when she retreated into her mind after being shot. I have never seen a telepath do that. She was fighting the darkness with everything she has but I don't know long she can keep it up. She did send me a thought. It was more of an image, like the one she sent you of the tower. I'll have to see want I can make of it. I do not know much when it comes to the occult. I'll have to do some research." The Professor sat back in his wheelchair with a puzzled look on his face.
The wolf had sat at Bobby's feet through this conversation. As the Professor sat back the wolf got up and moved to sit next to him and lean his muzzle in the Professor's lap. It almost seemed like the wolf was trying to thank the Professor what he had tried to do. The Professor reached down and ran his hand through the think fur along the side of the wolf. With that acknowledgment the wolf went back to Bobby and tugged on his arm gently and then moved to the door of the medlab.
"It seems that he wants you to go with him. I have to agree, you need to eat and rest and the wolf should have some time out of this room. Go and rest, it is an order." The Professor said with heartfelt concern. Bobby took one last look at the woman sleeping on the bed and then got up to follow the wolf out of the room. The Professor sat there watching the girl trying to figure out the meaning of the image she sent him.
Gambit was walking down the hall heading toward the danger room to have a workout session with Scott, when a distracted Bobby bumped into him.
"Hey, you need to be watching where you are going. Is everything ok with the girl that save you the other night?" Gambit said this as a bit of a joke on the younger X-Man.
"Oh, you think it's funny that Priestess almost died saving me. I don't think it is a joke at all. She is still in a coma and there seems to be nothing that anyone can do to help her. The last thing I need is a Cajun with a bad sense of comedic timing. So if you will get out of my way I have to let the wolf out." As Bobby finished talking the wolf stepped around him and growled at Gambit.
"Gambit meant no harm in his little joke. The Professor could not talk to this woman at all. That is strange. I have never known the Professor to be out matched in the telepathy department. Did the professor see anything in her mind that mind help to wake her up?" Gambit said with true concern. The mocking tone gone now that he saw the pain his friend was in. Gambit was much like Bobby in ways. He never wanted to see his friends or teammates in pain. At times Gambit and the Professor thought he might have a limited amount of empathic powers, but they could never seem to prove it one way or another. Gambit, himself, thought that it was not so much an empathic power but a trick he picked up during his life as a thief. He had to be able to judge the mood of a person before he would pick their pocket. If the person was too alert he might feel the hand in his pocket. That was not empathy it was a survival skill.
Bobby looked up at the face of the tall lean Cajun to judge if Gambit meant what he had said. Gambit was wearing the dark leather body armor under a long duster coat that he was known for. It was so much a part of him that Bobby could hardly remember a time that Gambit did not wear that body armor and duster. His red on black eyes gave nothing away, so it was hard for Bobby to judge Gambit's mood. Gambit was a loner on a team of misfits. He had few true friends at the mansion and Bobby was not one of them. Bobby had a hard time understanding Gambit's detached behavior to others. It was not the same detachment that Logan showed. Logan was at arms length with the world. Gambit on the other hand tried to charm the world and you could never tell if he was being genuine or if he was just saying what you wanted to hear. Bobby did have to admit that Gambit was a good conman. He thought he might as well tell Gambit what he wanted to know. There seemed to be no harm in telling him and maybe Gambit might know something about the image that Priestess had sent to the Professor.
"The only thing the Professor could get from her was a strange image of a priest or holy person on a throne with what looked to be people praying to him. It was a strange image that the professor could not understand. Do you know anything about tarot cards? She sent me an image of a burning tower that was the same as one of the cards that came up during Kitty's reading earlier that night. I think this image is another one of the cards as well but I don't know what they mean." As Bobby said this a stunned look quickly crossed Gambit's face. He tried act like nothing bothered him in what Bobby had said.
"I know a bit about the cards. I knew a seer back in New Orleans that had visions and used the cards to tell people's fate. That does sound like one of the cards but I'm not sure what one it is. Let me think on it for a while." Gambit went to move around Bobby when Bobby reached out and grabbed his arm.
"If you are playing one of your games now, I don't like it. If you know something you better tell me. This is not something to mess around with. If I find out that you withheld information and something happens to Priestess I'll come after you." With that said Bobby stormed off down the hall with the wolf making one last growl then following after him.
Gambit stood stunned in the middle of the hall. Something must have taken over poor Bobby's mind, thought Gambit with a shake of his head. That was not the Bobby that he loved to drive up the wall by messing up his pranks and jokes. The Bobby he knew would have understood that there were some things he just could not talk about. Bobby had never threatened anyone before. Bobby was the boy next door to a tee. Gambit could picture him as Beaver on Leave It To Beaver. He had the short sandy colored hair and the lean build of a surfer. Gambit would find him most of the time in one of the rec. rooms watching reruns of old cartoons and miming the words to the ones he knew well. He did have to admit to himself that he knew a bit more than he was letting on. How could this be happening? It was a story told to scare little boys and girls into listening to the seers. There was no way it was true. As Gambit thought all of this he made his way to the kitchen so that he could go out and have a smoke. It drove him crazy that he could not smoke in the mansion but it was the Professor's house so he got to make the rules.
When Gambit arrived in the kitchen he found Bobby and Kurt sitting at the table talking. He walked past them to the French doors that lead to the back yard of the mansion. He was about to head out when Bobby spoke up.
"Gambit, I'm sorry for what I said a few minutes ago. I have not been myself for the last few days. I have had one too many people playing with my mind and emotions. I am just so worn out that I kind of lashed out at you." Bobby sat at the table looking like a lost child. He looked so tired that Gambit thought he might just fall asleep where he was.
"Consider it forgotten, my friend. I knew it was not you talking. When I know something I will tell you. Now go get some sleep before you run into Logan and really get yourself in trouble." Gambit moved to open the door. The wolf came over and stood waiting to go out. "I'll take care of the wolf for a while. I don't think you are in any shape to do it." He opened the door and let the wolf out and gave Bobby a nod, and then he followed the wolf out. Gambit watched as the wolf made his way over to the woods that ran along the left hand side of the property. He started to follow at a slow pace so that the wolf could get a chance to hunt. Gambit just wanted to make sure it hunted the right type of prey. Once the wolf had fed the pair made their way back toward the mansion. Gambit sat in one of the chairs that were scattered around the back yard. The wolf wandered around the grounds, sniffing at the air from time to time, or standing stock-still and listening to the sounds of the night. Gambit lit up his cigarette and thought about the letter he had received out of the blue from an old friend. It came with the gift of an old set of tarot cards. All the note said was that Gambit would know who to give the cards to when the time came. The note and the cards came the day before the attack on Priestess.
While Gambit was lost in the world of his own thoughts the wolf had wandered over to the woods once again. He walked into the woods sniffing the air and found the sent he was looking for. It was a familiar sent that he had missed during his confinement with the traveling carnival. He followed the scent back to the source. It lead to a female wolf that looked like a copy of the male only a little smaller. He brushed his body along the side of the female wolf in greeting and quickly looked around for the real person he was looking for. That person was hidden in a tree above the two wolves. He jumped down to the ground with out making a sound. The two wolves come up and sat in front of him. He reached out to the minds of the wolves to find out what they knew.
"It is good to see you are well my old friend. I know that I asked a lot of you when I sent you to watch over Destiny. She would not let me help her and I knew that she would not send you away. How is she? I can no long reach her in my mind and that worries me. I tried to use the mind of the man that saved her but some one is blocking me. What can you tell me, Nicolae?" The man sat running a hand down the side of the male wolf.
"She is not doing well Talon. I cannot reach her either. That is not a surprise. I need her to reach out to me to talk to her. I was able to find out that the darkness is after her. I think she fears that Asmodeus might have found her. She does not know where she is. She is afraid to wake up. She needs you now. She is trying to fight it herself from what this Professor person said. She projected the image of the Hierophant to him. This Professor did not understand the image. I think she was looking for you and was afraid to reach out to find you. When I talked to her a few days ago she said that the nightmares were back and that she could no longer hold the visions at bey. I came as soon as I could. It will not be easy to get in there. That man that is sitting out side now is tough to get by. I'll see if I can pull him away from the house so that you can sneak in. I'll need Syndil's help. I'll need her to chase me out of the woods and get him to come after us. Do you think you're up to a game of keep away dear sister?" Nicolae looked over at his sister.
Syndil huffed at Nicolae in a disgusted manner. "I am more than up for the challenge of your little game." In a softer tone she added, "It is good to have you back." She then looked over at Talon. "I will not have you send Nicolae off like that again. I know what those people did to him. I will not let that happen again. I don't care what mess Destiny gets herself into I will not let anything happen to Nicolae. Destiny is yours to protect and Nicolae is mine." She did not wait for Talon to say anything. She knew that he felt horrid about what Nicolae had to go through to protect Destiny. She just had to let it be known that it would not happen again. She started to head for the house so that she and Nicolae could divert the attention of the man outside.
Nicolae gave one last lick to Talon's hand and followed Syndil out to play their game of keep away.