Disclaimer – I do not own X-Men: Evolution in any way, shape or form. They all belong to their most respected owners who have my full appreciation. Any quotes that you recognise are not mine; they belong to their respected owners.
Chapter ten.
Joshua Kale was prodding at all his bandages again. He couldn't sleep and he wasn't able to move about so instead he had to entertain himself by inflicting pain. He thought that was weird but there was nothing else for him to do. Sighing deeply he leaned back into the semi hard pillows and glared at his sterile surroundings. He ran a hand through his newly cut hair and felt a sense of loss. His hair had rested above his shoulders and he thought that was how he had always had it but Aidan had told him that they hadn't cut it for a while because he had been sick.
"I don't remember having short hair" he muttered to himself before laughing when he remembered that he had amnesia. For all he knew he could have had bright purple hair before he got shot although he somehow thought that Aidan would disown him if he had had purple hair.
Aidan didn't seem to like anything that wasn't normal but Josh couldn't think bad thoughts about him because he was his brother and he had done so much to help him. He felt so ashamed when Aidan told him what people with the X-gene had done.
He moved again and drew in a ragged breath as a short burst of pain ran through his chest.
"Damn it" he cried.
He was feeling really frustrated being stuck in bed all the time.
"If only Kitty was here" he said to himself and then froze.
"Who is Kitty?" he asked himself.
Images tried to enter his head but he couldn't make sense of them. A girl with bright eyes and dark hair, moving through a wall. Someone who suffered from the X-gene like himself. A small smile came to his lips as feeling arose in his mind, feelings that were attached to this girl.
"Good morning, brother" a voice called from the doorway.
Josh looked over to see Aidan standing there, arms crossed and a smirk on his mouth.
"Hi Aidan. Good news? You look like the cat that got the cream."
"Oh we have had some success with destroying the X-gene."
It was the way he said destroying that made Josh's spine crawl. He felt foolish because he knew that he shouldn't be afraid of his brother but there were times when he felt that Aidan was keeping things from him. There were times when Aidan thought that he was asleep and his whole demeanour would change dramatically. Josh had also noticed how many of the staff here acted when in his presence. They were scared of him.
"Really" Josh replied, trying to sound enthusiastic.
"Yes but we cannot test it on anyone yet. This discovery may save a lot of innocent people, Joshua. It would be a great day for us. You could finally be free and even go out into the world. You would be a normal person" Aidan told him.
"Normal" Josh whispered to himself as if it were a sacred word.
He saw Aidan's eyes seem to darken for a minute but he smiled at his brother and his brother smiled back before saying good-bye and leaving the room.
Josh watched his brother leave then went back to prodding his wound to see if it had healed any in the time that Aidan had been in there. The thoughts that had previously worried him were all gone at the thought of being able to go out into the real world.
~*~
Lorna sat at the dinner table surrounded by many of the other students, all of which had been on house arrest for a long period of time and it was definitely showing. Small squabbles were breaking out in every direction and there were a lot of sullen silences as well. Lorna was exhausted from lack of sleep and she could see similar dark smudges on many of the older students.
Logan came in not long after they had all began to eat and he was looking worse for the wear. Scratches that hadn't started to heal were visible over his face and Lorna was afraid to ask what had happened. The younger students hadn't noticed the tense feeling that had settled over the room and they were still talking when Scott spoke.
"Are you alright Logan?"
Logan looked up as he bit into a large piece of meat, his eyes looking as dark as usual.
"Fine" he growled and went straight back to eating.
Lorna saw that only the older students actually heard Scott. They continued to eat in silence and Lorna knew that there were some very dark thoughts on the minds of the students here.
She finished the rest of her meal quickly before returning to the lab. The lab was where she had been spending most of her time as of late, trying to help Dr. McCoy in any way possible. They had been analysing both Jean and Kitty's blood and the drugs that had been in their systems.
Lorna sat down behind a set of bacteria cultures and stared blankly ahead. She was over tired but she felt the tension in the air.
"Lorna are you alright?" Hank asked.
Startled Lorna fell backwards and heard a clatter of metal.
"I am so sorry, sir" she muttered looking at all the metal that she must have been influencing.
Distorted pieces of metal were lying on the ground but nothing else seemed to be harmed.
"You should get some rest. You have been helping me here for the last week and I don't recall seeing you rest apart from eating."
Dr. McCoy's blue form moved delicately around the room as he picked up the metal and replaced the items that were broken.
"I'll be okay. I'll just go and rest for a minute" Lorna sighed. She didn't want to be away from the lab but she knew that she wouldn't be of much help if she were exhausted. Hank nodded as she slowly left the lab and made her way to her room.
On the second floor she ran into Bobby who was trying to lighten up the atmosphere by skating around the halls. He had made enough ice for a mini skating rink and some of the younger students were sliding around. Jamie had slipped into a wall and there were several versions of him sitting on the floor.
Everyone was laughing when Kitty poked her head out of her room with a frown on her face. The silence was immediate with everyone going back to their rooms. Lorna didn't know what to say to Kitty. She had been through a rough time but to take it out on everyone else was not fair.
Moving on she entered her room and sat down on the bed. She lay back and stared at the ceiling. Slowly she let her body relax and she fell asleep.
~*~
"Kitty has changed so much" Rogue's voice drawled.
"Yes. We've all noticed it" Kurt said as he hung from a chandelier.
"I can't read her mind. She blocking me the whole time but I do know that she has learned more about her powers." Jean was sitting on a sofa next to Scott. Her face was as grave as Scott's and they both cast worried glances in the direction of Kitty's room.
"Lorna is worried as well. She has been down in Dr. McCoy's lab for days trying to help him" Rogue said as well.
"She has been busy. She must really hate this Kale guy" Scott muttered.
"Don't you?" Kurt shot back.
They were all on edge.
"He is a creep but we have faced worse in our time" Rogue said, making everyone fall quiet.
"I think we have to talk to the professor. He will have to talk to Kitty or something. Logan is happy with her fighting skills though" Jean mused, a slight grin forming on her face.
That made them all laugh if only for a few minutes.
~*~
He stood watching the Institute and he felt as if he should be in their helping them. Everything that had been happening was tied in to what he had been trying to tell Charles all along but he never listened. Now Charles had recovered his lost student but he was still missing two of his. Lance and Fred. Mystique was missing as well but he didn't think that the two were related.
"Gambit, I want someone to keep an eye on the Institute at all times. I don't think that these people have finished with Charles' kids" he ordered.
"Oui, Magneto" Gambit mock saluted as he leaned lazily on a staff. "Anything you say."
To Be Continued…