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0.1134!
(That's 'hello' in upside-down calculator language. ;)
Yes, I *know* it's been along time but I have many other things demanding my brain space. Upcoming college finals, papers, tests, finals, the Sims, papers, finals…
You get the point. But I'm back now! LTOMG!
I don't own the x-men. Duh!
Beginner's Guide to Crazy Symbol Thingies:
** = telepathy
~~ = thought
bold = emphasis
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"Like, this is totally insane." Kitty folded her arms indignantly.
~I can't believe they're making me do this. ~
*Kitty…*
The girl in question glared at Jean. "Like, stay out of my head!" she snapped.
"Kitty, come on. The Professor says that this is very important to our training."
"Yeah but the professor, like, doesn't have to waste his time and hang around freaks-"
*Kitty! *
Kitty jumped at the shocked voice in her head. She glanced over at Jean who stood with her hands on her hips in the dimly lit hallway. Her expression was not one of anger, but one of deep sadness.
"Kitty," she started softly.
"Are you like, trying to wear my name out?"
"Listen Kitty. If the professor didn't want to be bothered with so called 'freaks', where would you be today?"
The younger girl's mouth hung slightly agape as she pondered the rhetorical semi-question Jean had just raised.
"Well like, I'd be…"
Jean smiled slightly.
Kitty's insides seethed at the little all-knowing grin.
~ERR! You think you know everything! ~
"I'd like, be…Uh! It doesn't matter! The point is I'm like, about to walk into a room with like, a highly contagious like, furry blue weirdo!"
"Kitty, if you can't do this out of pity or the desire for knowledge, do it for Rogue. We both know she's trying to cope with a lot. Getting close to him is just her way of connecting with a life she just found out she missed, with a mother she can't understand."
Jean's words of wisdom knocked a few stones out of Kitty's wall of stubborn indignance. She felt slightly deflated. But she also felt cheated of her precious time as well as apprehensive.
"Whatever."
~He's still one of the bad guys…~
She set off down the hall to the med ward. Jean sighed. It was going to take a long time to get used to him, maybe longer for some than others.
*Just remember Kitty, one day you could be fighting beside him. *
*Yeah, like, in my nightmares. *
~Stupid I-know-it-all-and-I-know-it Jean, stupid you-have-to-train-for-this-kind-of-thing Logan, stupid psycho-super-weird-freaky-furry-blue- ~
Her annoyance ridden thoughts were cut short as she entered the med ward. She flashed a superfluous grin at Dr. McCoy and began to fiddle with her hair.
"Well, I'm here for like, my mandatory prison sentence."
Beast just chuckled at her sarcasm and led her over to small area in the far corner of the room. Here a portion of the lab had been devoted to a hastily erected confinement area. Kitty rolled her eyes as Dr. McCoy pulled aside the cloth wall and beckoned her in. She hesitated.
"It's perfectly safe Kitty, we've all taken the vaccine."
She knew by 'we' he meant her, but the threat of catching a potentially deadly disease was the least of her worries.
~ 'It' may be perfectly safe, but how do I know 'he' is. ~
Despite her misgivings, she entered.
She'd hardened her heart to this moment for hours, but nothing had prepared her. She gasped.
He looked awful.
Beside the bed Rogue had fallen into a fitful sleep, still clutching his hand.
On the bed however, the boy lay absolutely still, his chest barely rising and falling. And doing so only with help from a machine, she noted. His eyes were squeezed shut and the areas around them were dark, almost purple through his fur. He didn't look half as dangerous as she remembered.
"Is he dying?" she whispered, forgetting her ditzy valley girl act and her former prejudice.
~Well, maybe I feel just a little bad for him. ~
Hank sighed, "Well, one can never be sure with infectious diseases such as this. I feel he is still in the danger zone, but his condition is stable."
Kitty could do nothing but stare at the profusion of tubes, both IV and breathing, and the monitoring devices all over the skinny teenager.
~What was his name again? Kurt or something? God, that must totally suck, being covered in all that stuff. ~
She edged a bit closer and studied the strangely shaped hand clasped in Rogue's.
~Ick, he's so…furry…~
Her eyes moved to his neck.
"What's with the collar?"
Hank turned from the IV he'd been adjusting.
"Oh, that's a Inhibitor, it blocks him from using his powers."
"But Logan said the virus like, inhibits that stuff anyway."
"Yes, well as he recovers the effect of the pathogen on his body will lessen. As he gets better, so to speak, so will his teleportation. Can't have him popping out of here before he's ready can we?" The man chuckled again.
Beside them Rogue began to stir. Kitty jumped at the sudden movement.
"Well, I think you've seen what this virus can do to a mutant, I think you can go." Hank's voice was not really an offer but a gentle command. Kitty nodded and slipped out. She knew what he really meant was, 'Rogue doesn't really want anyone around.'
Kitty wandered back down the hallway towards the elevator.
~I guess I do kinda feel bad for him…~
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Yes I know it's short. Like I said, I'm keeping them brief on purpose. And also I don't feel like writing more tonight.
As always, review! And then review again! And again!