Disclaimer: I do not own any of the X-Men movie characters.
Title: Unforgivable Sinners
By: Cmdr. Gabe E.
Note: This fanfiction occurs entirely in the X-Men movie-verse . Characters' unspoken thoughts are enclosed in .
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Chapter 38: Through the eyes of a child
In a split-second, the two of them reappeared in one of the mansion's living rooms. The living room had a big screen television, and a number of comfortable looking chairs and couches. The television was turned on, but its channels kept on changing with every second that passed by.
Kurt pulled away from Stryker, and then his eyes opened wide with surprise as he saw the man in front of him. Stryker barely had any color on his face. His lips were pale and shaking, and so were his hands. His eyes looked blank as he stared at him, and he looked very, very sick. He seemed to have frozen in place.
Kurt's eyebrows furrowed as he looked into Stryker's eyes. "Mr. Stryker?" He asked with a worried tone in his voice. He then remembered that some people didn't react lightly to being teleported.
Stryker looked back at him and gave out a faint, sickly groan. Then he slowly placed his hand on his stomach. He could feel the food in his stomach wanting to go back up his throat. He tightly closed his lips as his shoulders jerked forward.
"I don't feel so good." He groaned. He closed his lips again as he felt another urge to throw up all the food he had just eaten.
"I think I'm going to throw up." He added. His hand continued to clutch his stomach. If there was one thing he realized, it was the fact that his body wasn't suited for teleporting. During the split-second teleportation process, he felt as if he was turned upside down, and inside out. There was no way he was going to bamf with Kurt again.
"Do you need me to teleport you to the infirmary?" Kurt asked with concern in his voice. He knew he was to blame. But he just wanted to help. After all, he didn't know that that was going to happen.
Stryker quickly moved away from Kurt and waved his hands in front of him in a refusing manner. "Oh no. No more. No more teleporting please." He said in an imposing, yet courteous way. "I really appreciate your kind gesture, Mr. Wagner, but I think I've had enough of your teleporting for now." He said as he looked at him. Once was definitely enough.
Kurt raised his eyebrows and shrugged. "If you say so." He said with a smile. "And I apologize for the inconvenience. Perhaps next time you won't feel sick anymore, yes?"
Stryker clasped his hands together and slightly shook his head from side to side. "I'm sorry, Kurt, but I believe there won't be a next time for me." He didn't want to turn him down, but he didn't want to go through another teleporting experience either.
Kurt smiled and nodded. "I understand, Mr. Stryker." Then he motioned his hand towards the television set. "But you have the TV now. You said you wanted something to keep your mind busy. Well, whenever I can't sleep, I sit here and watch."
Stryker looked at the TV, and his eyebrows furrowed. The TV's channel kept on changing from one station to another. It didn't even stay in one channel for more than two seconds. "Um...Kurt, I think the TV's broken ---" He turned his head towards Kurt and only saw traces of blue smoke in the air.
He looked around and saw no sign of him anywhere. He sighed and rolled his eyes. "You could at least warn me whenever you're going to disappear like that!" He said loudly as he looked upwards.
He crossed his hands over his chest and indifferently looked at the defective TV. How in the world was he going to watch anything if it couldn't even stay in one channel? Kurt was right. That was definitely going to keep his mind off his problems...because he'd be too dizzy to think about them.
He was about to walk towards the TV to try and fix it, when he suddenly heard a child's voice.
"Kurt does that all the time. But he's pretty fun to have around." Said the voice.
Stryker slowly looked over the couch and saw a little boy sitting on it. He had straight brown hair that went down to his eyebrows, and he was wearing a pair of glasses with round, black frames. His eyes were focused on the TV, and he blinked whenever the channels switched from one station to another. The boy had probably been there ever since him and Kurt teleported into the living room.
"Hello." Said the boy, his eyes still blinking as he looked at the TV.
"Hi." Stryker said softly. He found it odd that the boy didn't even look at him. The child seemed too busy blinking at the TV. He wasn't sure if the child was a mutant, but he definitely had a weird way of watching television.
"Would you like to sit down?" Asked the boy politely.
"Yes, I would." Stryker said softly.
He was quite surprised that the child had invited him to sit. The boy probably didn't know who he was. With the way the child was talking to him, he didn't know that he was the William Stryker who almost destroyed their beloved school.
He slowly walked around the couch and sat an arm's reach away from where the boy was sitting. "Thank you." He said as he made himself comfortable. He leaned back and placed his hands on his lap.
"I'm Jones." Said the boy, his eyes still focused on the TV.
"And I'm William." Said Stryker as he tapped his fingers on his lap. He kind of felt awkward talking to a kid who did nothing but blink at the television.
He looked at Jones and saw him still blinking. He couldn't help but wonder what the boy's mutant abilities were. Perhaps his abilities had something to do with his eyes. He wanted to ask him, but he didn't want to sound like an inquisitive grown-up. After all, he finally found a mutant who knew nothing of his past. He might as well enjoy the company, even if it was in the form of a boy who looked no older than thirteen.
"Are you a new student?" Asked the boy curiously.
Stryker breathed in and clasped his hands together. He really didn't know what to say. He definitely wasn't a student of the school and he definitely wasn't a mutant. "Well, no. I'm actually just a guest here. I'm visiting...a friend." It was the safest thing he could say. He didn't want to tell Jones who he really was.
"I kinda guessed that." Jones said. "You're too old to be student." He said matter-of-factly.
Stryker raised his eyebrows and turned his head to look at Jones. The kid was pretty frank. But then, the child was right, because he was pretty old. He himself was surprised when he first looked into a mirror and saw an old face staring back at him. When Yuriko first found him by the river, he actually thought that he was the same age as her.
"By the way..." He said as he looked at Jones. "Shouldn't you be asleep by now? I mean...this is a school. The professor probably doesn't like it when his students stay up late to..." He looked at the television and cringed as the channels continued to change. "...watch late night TV." He said with disdain in his voice.
"Sleep?" Asked Jones. "I don't sleep." He said abruptly.
"Oh." Stryker said as he raised his eyebrows. That was probably Jones' mutant power...the inability to sleep. But what kind of mutant ability was that anyway?
He tapped his thumbs against each other as he forcedly looked at the TV. He narrowed his eyes as the channels changed from one station to another. If it were up to him, he would rather turn the television off instead.
He leaned closer to Jones, his eyes still focused on the TV screen. "Um...Jones? Shouldn't we call on someone to fix the TV?" He asked with his eyebrows furrowed. "I don't know about you, but I'm starting to get dizzy."
Jones suddenly looked at him, and Stryker almost jumped back in surprise. It was the first time he had ever seen the boy look away from the TV. And coincidentally, the channels stopped changing when he did.
"Oh I'm sorry." Said Jones. "The TV's not broken. I was actually looking for something good to watch. But I couldn't find any, so I just went channel surfing." He looked at the TV and saw a news show on the screen. "That's boring." He whined. Then he blinked, and the channel changed into another station that was showing cartoons. "Now that's more like it." He said enthusiastically. He sat back and watched the show.
Stryker's eyes widened when he saw what Jones just did. Now he knew why the channels changed whenever he blinked. He breathed in, and slowly moved himself a couple of inches away from him. Jones was not just incapable of sleeping...he could also control and manipulate things with his eyes.
Stryker sat still on his end of the couch as he watched the show in front of him. At least the TV was now in one channel. He glanced at Jones every now and then, just to see if he was going to do other things with his eyes.
"So... you can change the channel by blinking, huh?" He asked curiously as he looked at Jones. He might as well know more about the boy. It would do him no good if he just sat there, fearing his mutant powers.
Jones looked at him and smiled. "Uh huh." He said as he nodded.
Stryker suddenly jumped to the far end of the couch when he saw Jones looking at him. He still couldn't help but fear the child's eyes, especially now that he knew what they were capable of doing. Who knows what else he could do with those eyes of his?
"Are you all right, William?" Jones asked when he saw Stryker's recent action. The boy had a curious look on his face as he looked at the older man.
Stryker saw how the boy was looking at him, and he realized what he just did. He probably looked like a stupid, close-minded, mutant-fearing human. He couldn't hide the embarrassed look on his face as he slowly moved back to where he was originally seated. Then he straightened his suit and smoothed his tie, and smiled back at the boy. So what if Jones was a mutant? He was still a little human boy. And he would never harm anyone. There was no need to fear him.
He tapped his fingers on his lap as he looked at Jones from the corner of his eye. He knew he had to apologize. He didn't want the boy to think that he feared him just because he was a mutant.
He bowed his head down and looked at the boy who was seated beside him. "Jones...Look, I'm really sorry for acting like..." Then he stopped in the middle of his sentence when he saw the young man snickering. The boy seemed to be laughing at something.
"What are you laughing at?" Stryker asked curiously, his eyebrows furrowed.
Jones looked at him with a big smile on his face. "You. You looked so funny." He snickered again. "You looked like Rogue when she saw a mouse in the kitchen. It ran across the floor and then she screamed and jumped on the table."
It was funny how a mere child's innocence could make a fully-grown man realize his own flaws and mistakes. Stryker smiled and scratched his head. "Yeah. I did look ridiculous, didn't I?" He said as he looked at the boy.
Jones raised his eyebrows and nodded in an all-knowing way. "Mm Hmm. But that's okay. You're pretty cool for an old guy."
Stryker arched an eyebrow. "Look, can we drop the 'old guy' bit already? I'm not that old." He said in a joking way.
Jones looked back at the TV. "Anyway, thanks for keeping me company." He said as he watched the show. "It's been pretty quiet around here with the other students gone. Well, there's Kurt and Scott and Bobby and the others, but they're busy doing their own stuff." Then he looked back at Stryker. "And at nighttime, I really don't have someone to talk to. Kurt stays up late sometimes, but not all the time, like me."
Stryker looked at Jones curiously. "Well, don't you want to go home? Logan said that the students were sent home because the mansion is undergoing repairs. How about you? Don't you miss your family?"
Jones sighed and he looked back at the TV. "I really do want to go home. But, well, you see, my parents are busy with their own stuff too."
Stryker nodded. "Oh. Okay." He said softly. He really didn't know how to react to what the boy had just said. He couldn't imagine how Jones' parents could be too busy for him. It's like they didn't even care about their own son. The school was a safe place, but any parent would want their child by their side during situations like that.
"Didn't you tell them that you wanted to go home?" He asked curiously.
Jones looked back at him. "Yeah. I did. But...they said I'm better off here. They said I belong here." Then he smiled. "But that's really okay because I'm really happy staying here with the other students. It's really fun especially when everyone's around."
A gentle smile curled up Stryker's lips as he looked at Jones. He admired the child's independence and optimism. Even if he was shunned by the very people who had brought him into this world, he was still determined to live a happy life.
"So this school really does take care of you, huh?" He asked.
"Yeah. We're like a family here." Said Jones. "The professor's like a father to us, and so is Scott. The professor said that we should always take care of each other, and that's what we do." He said with enthusiasm in his voice. He sounded like he could talk about the school for hours on end. It sounded like heaven to him...a place where he could always be safe, accepted and happy.
Stryker felt his chest tightened as he heard Jones' words. He couldn't believe that that was the same school he tried to destroy before. And those students, including Jones, were the children he almost slaughtered. No wonder everyone looked at him with so much hate and contempt. He deserved it. And the more he looked at Jones, the more he hated himself. Because he almost drenched his hands with that boy's blood...almost.
"William?" Jones asked when he saw the distant look on Stryker's eyes. He waved his hands in front of Stryker's face. "Hello?"
Stryker's eyes opened wide with surprise when he snapped out of his trance. "Oh...I'm sorry. I'm fine." He forced a smile upon his lips. "I was just thinking about something."
"Okay." Jones said with a smile. Then he tilted his head in an innocent, childlike way as he looked at Stryker curiously. "How about you?" He asked. "Do you have a son?"
Stryker looked at Jones with his eyebrows furrowed. And then he looked away. He could hear Jones' question echoing in his head as his heart pounded in his chest. Something about Jones' question bothered him. His eyes darted from left to right as blurry images suddenly started flashing in his mind. He felt as if his mind was unearthing some of his memories...and yet he couldn't understand any of them.
Then he saw a boy. He saw him in his mind. The boy was so small, so fragile. His eyes were of different colors. And right beside the boy was a young woman. She had wavy, brown hair, full lips and a beautiful face. They were both smiling at someone. They looked like they were having their picture taken. Yes...there was a man and he had a camera. He was going to take their picture. He couldn't see who the man was because he was holding the camera over his face. Then the man moved the camera away and...
Stryker suddenly leaned forward and placed his hand over his head as quick, rugged breaths escaped from his lips. The blurry image ended before he could see more of it. Was that vision a part of his memories? A part of his past? Who were the young boy and the young woman? And who was taking their picture? Why did Jones question trigger that image? Did he use to have a son?
He closed his eyes and leaned back against the couch. He clasped his hands over his stomach and he deeply breathed in and out. He didn't know why that image made him feel so heavy. The woman and the boy looked so happy, and yet, something about it didn't feel right. Seeing their smiles caused him so much pain. What was wrong? Who were they? Did he know them?
He opened his eyes and saw Jones looking at him.
"Are you sure you're all right?" The boy asked curiously.
Stryker sat up straight and smiled. "Yes. I'm fine." He said as he nodded. "I...uh...probably still feel sick from teleporting here."
He just wanted to forget about what he saw. If it were truly a part of his past, then he would eventually remember it anyway. He would remember it once he regained all his memories. But as for now, he just wanted to relish his current innocence. He wanted to forget about the man he once was...and for once, live his life as the man he never knew.
"You asked me if I had a son." He looked at Jones. "No. I don't." He said with a smile.
"How about your friend?" Jones asked. "Is she a student here?"
Stryker's eyebrows furrowed. /"Friend? What friend?"/ He thought to himself.
Then he remembered what he told Jones earlier...about the reason why he was there in the mansion. "Ah yes." He said with enthusiasm. "My friend...um, well, she's actually new around here. I think she's going to be working with the professor."
Jones' eyes widened. "You mean we're going to have a new teacher?" He asked with excitement in his voice.
Stryer smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I believe so. And I know you'll like her. She's great." Stryker looked away and the grin on his lips grew wider. "One of the best persons I've ever known." She was the only person he ever truly knew. He had only been with her for two days...and yet he was talking as if he had known her his entire life. He talked as if she really was his friend. Perhaps in the past, she really was.
"Where is she now?" Jones asked. "Well you did come here to visit her, right?"
The smile on Stryker's face suddenly faded as he looked back at Jones. Of course he knew where she was...She was with that Logan. "She's with a friend of hers." He said abruptly.
It was the last thing he wanted to think about. Whenever he thought of Yuriko and Logan together, he just wanted to march out to the swimming pool area and pull them apart. Then he looked at Jones and forced a smile on his face. He didn't want to look like something was bothering him.
"So...if you came here to visit her, then why is she with another friend? I thought you were her friend. So she should be with you." He said in an innocent way. He emphasized the word 'you' whenever he mentioned it.
Stryker smirked and shook his head from side to side. There seemed to be no limit to Jones' curiosity and talkativeness. But then, he really couldn't blame the child. Who else would the boy talk to at this time of the night? And since most of the students were away, he really didn't have anyone else to spend the time with.
He raised his eyebrows and looked at Jones. "You're a very curious young man, aren't you?" He asked.
"I just want to get to know you better." Jones said with a smile. "They say don't talk to strangers, but once you get to know someone, they're not strangers anymore, right?" He looked back at Stryker with his round, innocent, child-like eyes.
Stryker nodded his head. "True....true." Then he looked at Jones with his eyebrows furrowed. "So...I was just wondering. What else can you do?"
"What do you mean?" Jones asked curiously.
"I mean...your powers." Stryker said. He looked at the TV and pointed to it. "Well, you can change the channel just by blinking at the TV. Can you do anything else?"
"What?" Jones asked. "Like this?" He turned his head towards the bookcase, and one of the books flew off the shelf and floated towards Jones. Jones grabbed it in midair and then he looked at the cover. "The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery." He read out loud. Then he handed the book to Stryker.
"I've read it tons of times before. It's pretty good. You want to read it?" He asked.
Stryker's eyes opened wide as he saw what just happened. He looked at the book and remained unmoving. After a few seconds, he reached out and took it from Jones' hand. "Yeah. I guess I...would like to read it." He said. He still couldn't believe what Jones just did. Those mutants were definitely full of surprises.
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Title: Unforgivable Sinners
By: Cmdr. Gabe E.
Note: This fanfiction occurs entirely in the X-Men movie-verse . Characters' unspoken thoughts are enclosed in .
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Chapter 38: Through the eyes of a child
In a split-second, the two of them reappeared in one of the mansion's living rooms. The living room had a big screen television, and a number of comfortable looking chairs and couches. The television was turned on, but its channels kept on changing with every second that passed by.
Kurt pulled away from Stryker, and then his eyes opened wide with surprise as he saw the man in front of him. Stryker barely had any color on his face. His lips were pale and shaking, and so were his hands. His eyes looked blank as he stared at him, and he looked very, very sick. He seemed to have frozen in place.
Kurt's eyebrows furrowed as he looked into Stryker's eyes. "Mr. Stryker?" He asked with a worried tone in his voice. He then remembered that some people didn't react lightly to being teleported.
Stryker looked back at him and gave out a faint, sickly groan. Then he slowly placed his hand on his stomach. He could feel the food in his stomach wanting to go back up his throat. He tightly closed his lips as his shoulders jerked forward.
"I don't feel so good." He groaned. He closed his lips again as he felt another urge to throw up all the food he had just eaten.
"I think I'm going to throw up." He added. His hand continued to clutch his stomach. If there was one thing he realized, it was the fact that his body wasn't suited for teleporting. During the split-second teleportation process, he felt as if he was turned upside down, and inside out. There was no way he was going to bamf with Kurt again.
"Do you need me to teleport you to the infirmary?" Kurt asked with concern in his voice. He knew he was to blame. But he just wanted to help. After all, he didn't know that that was going to happen.
Stryker quickly moved away from Kurt and waved his hands in front of him in a refusing manner. "Oh no. No more. No more teleporting please." He said in an imposing, yet courteous way. "I really appreciate your kind gesture, Mr. Wagner, but I think I've had enough of your teleporting for now." He said as he looked at him. Once was definitely enough.
Kurt raised his eyebrows and shrugged. "If you say so." He said with a smile. "And I apologize for the inconvenience. Perhaps next time you won't feel sick anymore, yes?"
Stryker clasped his hands together and slightly shook his head from side to side. "I'm sorry, Kurt, but I believe there won't be a next time for me." He didn't want to turn him down, but he didn't want to go through another teleporting experience either.
Kurt smiled and nodded. "I understand, Mr. Stryker." Then he motioned his hand towards the television set. "But you have the TV now. You said you wanted something to keep your mind busy. Well, whenever I can't sleep, I sit here and watch."
Stryker looked at the TV, and his eyebrows furrowed. The TV's channel kept on changing from one station to another. It didn't even stay in one channel for more than two seconds. "Um...Kurt, I think the TV's broken ---" He turned his head towards Kurt and only saw traces of blue smoke in the air.
He looked around and saw no sign of him anywhere. He sighed and rolled his eyes. "You could at least warn me whenever you're going to disappear like that!" He said loudly as he looked upwards.
He crossed his hands over his chest and indifferently looked at the defective TV. How in the world was he going to watch anything if it couldn't even stay in one channel? Kurt was right. That was definitely going to keep his mind off his problems...because he'd be too dizzy to think about them.
He was about to walk towards the TV to try and fix it, when he suddenly heard a child's voice.
"Kurt does that all the time. But he's pretty fun to have around." Said the voice.
Stryker slowly looked over the couch and saw a little boy sitting on it. He had straight brown hair that went down to his eyebrows, and he was wearing a pair of glasses with round, black frames. His eyes were focused on the TV, and he blinked whenever the channels switched from one station to another. The boy had probably been there ever since him and Kurt teleported into the living room.
"Hello." Said the boy, his eyes still blinking as he looked at the TV.
"Hi." Stryker said softly. He found it odd that the boy didn't even look at him. The child seemed too busy blinking at the TV. He wasn't sure if the child was a mutant, but he definitely had a weird way of watching television.
"Would you like to sit down?" Asked the boy politely.
"Yes, I would." Stryker said softly.
He was quite surprised that the child had invited him to sit. The boy probably didn't know who he was. With the way the child was talking to him, he didn't know that he was the William Stryker who almost destroyed their beloved school.
He slowly walked around the couch and sat an arm's reach away from where the boy was sitting. "Thank you." He said as he made himself comfortable. He leaned back and placed his hands on his lap.
"I'm Jones." Said the boy, his eyes still focused on the TV.
"And I'm William." Said Stryker as he tapped his fingers on his lap. He kind of felt awkward talking to a kid who did nothing but blink at the television.
He looked at Jones and saw him still blinking. He couldn't help but wonder what the boy's mutant abilities were. Perhaps his abilities had something to do with his eyes. He wanted to ask him, but he didn't want to sound like an inquisitive grown-up. After all, he finally found a mutant who knew nothing of his past. He might as well enjoy the company, even if it was in the form of a boy who looked no older than thirteen.
"Are you a new student?" Asked the boy curiously.
Stryker breathed in and clasped his hands together. He really didn't know what to say. He definitely wasn't a student of the school and he definitely wasn't a mutant. "Well, no. I'm actually just a guest here. I'm visiting...a friend." It was the safest thing he could say. He didn't want to tell Jones who he really was.
"I kinda guessed that." Jones said. "You're too old to be student." He said matter-of-factly.
Stryker raised his eyebrows and turned his head to look at Jones. The kid was pretty frank. But then, the child was right, because he was pretty old. He himself was surprised when he first looked into a mirror and saw an old face staring back at him. When Yuriko first found him by the river, he actually thought that he was the same age as her.
"By the way..." He said as he looked at Jones. "Shouldn't you be asleep by now? I mean...this is a school. The professor probably doesn't like it when his students stay up late to..." He looked at the television and cringed as the channels continued to change. "...watch late night TV." He said with disdain in his voice.
"Sleep?" Asked Jones. "I don't sleep." He said abruptly.
"Oh." Stryker said as he raised his eyebrows. That was probably Jones' mutant power...the inability to sleep. But what kind of mutant ability was that anyway?
He tapped his thumbs against each other as he forcedly looked at the TV. He narrowed his eyes as the channels changed from one station to another. If it were up to him, he would rather turn the television off instead.
He leaned closer to Jones, his eyes still focused on the TV screen. "Um...Jones? Shouldn't we call on someone to fix the TV?" He asked with his eyebrows furrowed. "I don't know about you, but I'm starting to get dizzy."
Jones suddenly looked at him, and Stryker almost jumped back in surprise. It was the first time he had ever seen the boy look away from the TV. And coincidentally, the channels stopped changing when he did.
"Oh I'm sorry." Said Jones. "The TV's not broken. I was actually looking for something good to watch. But I couldn't find any, so I just went channel surfing." He looked at the TV and saw a news show on the screen. "That's boring." He whined. Then he blinked, and the channel changed into another station that was showing cartoons. "Now that's more like it." He said enthusiastically. He sat back and watched the show.
Stryker's eyes widened when he saw what Jones just did. Now he knew why the channels changed whenever he blinked. He breathed in, and slowly moved himself a couple of inches away from him. Jones was not just incapable of sleeping...he could also control and manipulate things with his eyes.
Stryker sat still on his end of the couch as he watched the show in front of him. At least the TV was now in one channel. He glanced at Jones every now and then, just to see if he was going to do other things with his eyes.
"So... you can change the channel by blinking, huh?" He asked curiously as he looked at Jones. He might as well know more about the boy. It would do him no good if he just sat there, fearing his mutant powers.
Jones looked at him and smiled. "Uh huh." He said as he nodded.
Stryker suddenly jumped to the far end of the couch when he saw Jones looking at him. He still couldn't help but fear the child's eyes, especially now that he knew what they were capable of doing. Who knows what else he could do with those eyes of his?
"Are you all right, William?" Jones asked when he saw Stryker's recent action. The boy had a curious look on his face as he looked at the older man.
Stryker saw how the boy was looking at him, and he realized what he just did. He probably looked like a stupid, close-minded, mutant-fearing human. He couldn't hide the embarrassed look on his face as he slowly moved back to where he was originally seated. Then he straightened his suit and smoothed his tie, and smiled back at the boy. So what if Jones was a mutant? He was still a little human boy. And he would never harm anyone. There was no need to fear him.
He tapped his fingers on his lap as he looked at Jones from the corner of his eye. He knew he had to apologize. He didn't want the boy to think that he feared him just because he was a mutant.
He bowed his head down and looked at the boy who was seated beside him. "Jones...Look, I'm really sorry for acting like..." Then he stopped in the middle of his sentence when he saw the young man snickering. The boy seemed to be laughing at something.
"What are you laughing at?" Stryker asked curiously, his eyebrows furrowed.
Jones looked at him with a big smile on his face. "You. You looked so funny." He snickered again. "You looked like Rogue when she saw a mouse in the kitchen. It ran across the floor and then she screamed and jumped on the table."
It was funny how a mere child's innocence could make a fully-grown man realize his own flaws and mistakes. Stryker smiled and scratched his head. "Yeah. I did look ridiculous, didn't I?" He said as he looked at the boy.
Jones raised his eyebrows and nodded in an all-knowing way. "Mm Hmm. But that's okay. You're pretty cool for an old guy."
Stryker arched an eyebrow. "Look, can we drop the 'old guy' bit already? I'm not that old." He said in a joking way.
Jones looked back at the TV. "Anyway, thanks for keeping me company." He said as he watched the show. "It's been pretty quiet around here with the other students gone. Well, there's Kurt and Scott and Bobby and the others, but they're busy doing their own stuff." Then he looked back at Stryker. "And at nighttime, I really don't have someone to talk to. Kurt stays up late sometimes, but not all the time, like me."
Stryker looked at Jones curiously. "Well, don't you want to go home? Logan said that the students were sent home because the mansion is undergoing repairs. How about you? Don't you miss your family?"
Jones sighed and he looked back at the TV. "I really do want to go home. But, well, you see, my parents are busy with their own stuff too."
Stryker nodded. "Oh. Okay." He said softly. He really didn't know how to react to what the boy had just said. He couldn't imagine how Jones' parents could be too busy for him. It's like they didn't even care about their own son. The school was a safe place, but any parent would want their child by their side during situations like that.
"Didn't you tell them that you wanted to go home?" He asked curiously.
Jones looked back at him. "Yeah. I did. But...they said I'm better off here. They said I belong here." Then he smiled. "But that's really okay because I'm really happy staying here with the other students. It's really fun especially when everyone's around."
A gentle smile curled up Stryker's lips as he looked at Jones. He admired the child's independence and optimism. Even if he was shunned by the very people who had brought him into this world, he was still determined to live a happy life.
"So this school really does take care of you, huh?" He asked.
"Yeah. We're like a family here." Said Jones. "The professor's like a father to us, and so is Scott. The professor said that we should always take care of each other, and that's what we do." He said with enthusiasm in his voice. He sounded like he could talk about the school for hours on end. It sounded like heaven to him...a place where he could always be safe, accepted and happy.
Stryker felt his chest tightened as he heard Jones' words. He couldn't believe that that was the same school he tried to destroy before. And those students, including Jones, were the children he almost slaughtered. No wonder everyone looked at him with so much hate and contempt. He deserved it. And the more he looked at Jones, the more he hated himself. Because he almost drenched his hands with that boy's blood...almost.
"William?" Jones asked when he saw the distant look on Stryker's eyes. He waved his hands in front of Stryker's face. "Hello?"
Stryker's eyes opened wide with surprise when he snapped out of his trance. "Oh...I'm sorry. I'm fine." He forced a smile upon his lips. "I was just thinking about something."
"Okay." Jones said with a smile. Then he tilted his head in an innocent, childlike way as he looked at Stryker curiously. "How about you?" He asked. "Do you have a son?"
Stryker looked at Jones with his eyebrows furrowed. And then he looked away. He could hear Jones' question echoing in his head as his heart pounded in his chest. Something about Jones' question bothered him. His eyes darted from left to right as blurry images suddenly started flashing in his mind. He felt as if his mind was unearthing some of his memories...and yet he couldn't understand any of them.
Then he saw a boy. He saw him in his mind. The boy was so small, so fragile. His eyes were of different colors. And right beside the boy was a young woman. She had wavy, brown hair, full lips and a beautiful face. They were both smiling at someone. They looked like they were having their picture taken. Yes...there was a man and he had a camera. He was going to take their picture. He couldn't see who the man was because he was holding the camera over his face. Then the man moved the camera away and...
Stryker suddenly leaned forward and placed his hand over his head as quick, rugged breaths escaped from his lips. The blurry image ended before he could see more of it. Was that vision a part of his memories? A part of his past? Who were the young boy and the young woman? And who was taking their picture? Why did Jones question trigger that image? Did he use to have a son?
He closed his eyes and leaned back against the couch. He clasped his hands over his stomach and he deeply breathed in and out. He didn't know why that image made him feel so heavy. The woman and the boy looked so happy, and yet, something about it didn't feel right. Seeing their smiles caused him so much pain. What was wrong? Who were they? Did he know them?
He opened his eyes and saw Jones looking at him.
"Are you sure you're all right?" The boy asked curiously.
Stryker sat up straight and smiled. "Yes. I'm fine." He said as he nodded. "I...uh...probably still feel sick from teleporting here."
He just wanted to forget about what he saw. If it were truly a part of his past, then he would eventually remember it anyway. He would remember it once he regained all his memories. But as for now, he just wanted to relish his current innocence. He wanted to forget about the man he once was...and for once, live his life as the man he never knew.
"You asked me if I had a son." He looked at Jones. "No. I don't." He said with a smile.
"How about your friend?" Jones asked. "Is she a student here?"
Stryker's eyebrows furrowed. /"Friend? What friend?"/ He thought to himself.
Then he remembered what he told Jones earlier...about the reason why he was there in the mansion. "Ah yes." He said with enthusiasm. "My friend...um, well, she's actually new around here. I think she's going to be working with the professor."
Jones' eyes widened. "You mean we're going to have a new teacher?" He asked with excitement in his voice.
Stryer smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I believe so. And I know you'll like her. She's great." Stryker looked away and the grin on his lips grew wider. "One of the best persons I've ever known." She was the only person he ever truly knew. He had only been with her for two days...and yet he was talking as if he had known her his entire life. He talked as if she really was his friend. Perhaps in the past, she really was.
"Where is she now?" Jones asked. "Well you did come here to visit her, right?"
The smile on Stryker's face suddenly faded as he looked back at Jones. Of course he knew where she was...She was with that Logan. "She's with a friend of hers." He said abruptly.
It was the last thing he wanted to think about. Whenever he thought of Yuriko and Logan together, he just wanted to march out to the swimming pool area and pull them apart. Then he looked at Jones and forced a smile on his face. He didn't want to look like something was bothering him.
"So...if you came here to visit her, then why is she with another friend? I thought you were her friend. So she should be with you." He said in an innocent way. He emphasized the word 'you' whenever he mentioned it.
Stryker smirked and shook his head from side to side. There seemed to be no limit to Jones' curiosity and talkativeness. But then, he really couldn't blame the child. Who else would the boy talk to at this time of the night? And since most of the students were away, he really didn't have anyone else to spend the time with.
He raised his eyebrows and looked at Jones. "You're a very curious young man, aren't you?" He asked.
"I just want to get to know you better." Jones said with a smile. "They say don't talk to strangers, but once you get to know someone, they're not strangers anymore, right?" He looked back at Stryker with his round, innocent, child-like eyes.
Stryker nodded his head. "True....true." Then he looked at Jones with his eyebrows furrowed. "So...I was just wondering. What else can you do?"
"What do you mean?" Jones asked curiously.
"I mean...your powers." Stryker said. He looked at the TV and pointed to it. "Well, you can change the channel just by blinking at the TV. Can you do anything else?"
"What?" Jones asked. "Like this?" He turned his head towards the bookcase, and one of the books flew off the shelf and floated towards Jones. Jones grabbed it in midair and then he looked at the cover. "The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery." He read out loud. Then he handed the book to Stryker.
"I've read it tons of times before. It's pretty good. You want to read it?" He asked.
Stryker's eyes opened wide as he saw what just happened. He looked at the book and remained unmoving. After a few seconds, he reached out and took it from Jones' hand. "Yeah. I guess I...would like to read it." He said. He still couldn't believe what Jones just did. Those mutants were definitely full of surprises.
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