As I lay motionless inside a random machine, I thought of the list of
things I had to apologize for. I doubt that Ororo would be asleep by the
time I was done here, but if she was.........well I wouldn't remember all of this
tomorrow, I'd apologize for that as well. I closed my eyes and sighed,
receiving a chuckle from Hank.
"We're almost done milady." He said in his educated voice. I smiled, I had no idea what was going on, but I smiled.
"'Dis count as de physical non?" I asked as I slid out of the circular machine. Hank laughed a hearty laugh. Every student was required to come down here at the start of the year and have a full physical.
"We'll see." He said typing something into a computer. "Alright, that's all we'll go through tonight, but I expect to see you first thing in the morning, before classes."
That was early. That was really early. I don't think he realized how early that was. Despite all of the aforementioned inner complaining, I agreed and hopped off the examination table. I walked straight up to the attic room that 'Ro and Bishop shared, taking a deep breath before knocking on the door. Bishop pulled the door open, his face turning stone-cold before opening the door slightly.
"Like t' speak t' 'Ro, s'il vous plaît." I mumbled, not able to look him in the face. He opened the door wider so I could see 'Ro sitting on the window seat. He jerked his head towards her and I entered the room before he left it, slamming the door shut behind him. The slam of the door made me jump, but Ororo didn't even flinch, she simply looked over at me, in her calm regal manner. I walked over to her. "Came t' apol'gize." I said, she nodded and motioned for me to take a seat.
"Sorry." I started. No excuses attached, just simply what I wanted to say. "Sorry dat I disrespect' you in fron' of 'veryone. Sorry dat I didn' listen t' you. Sorry der was a scene. Sorry ah made you angry. Sorry dat ah got cocky." I bit my bottom lip and tried to remember the rest of the list. "An' sorry dat ah came up so late." That was all I could remember. I looked at my hands, sitting in my lap for a minute, building up the courage to look her in the eyes. When I finally did, she nodded.
"Thank you." She said. "Now if it's not too much trouble I would like to enquire as to why you thought it necessary to cause such a scene." I knew that was coming, not in all of those big words. But I knew it was coming. I took a deep breath.
"T'ought dat if I didn' do what Papa tell me t', den Papa'd be hurt." I said, flinching as I said it out loud again. Ororo's eyes turned cold again and she nodded. "I didn' mean t' hurt you!" I said, as if it would change her attitude. "I didn' know dat you woul' get involved."
Ororo laughed bitter, cynical laugh. "You thought I would let it come to a physical confrontation between you, my goddaughter and Remy, one of my closest friends, dare I say family?"
Well when she put it like that I just sounded ridiculous. "I jus' t'oght dat 'Ro might by on dis side." I mumbled. She just smiled at me.
"Child if you thought for one minute that my loyalty and love for you would outshine that of my love and loyalty to your father, then you are in for a rude awakening. While I do cherish our relationship and maintain that if you ever need anything at all, you come to me. My relationship with your father is a bond that nothing can nor will break, do you understand?" I nodded, damnit I hated when other people had a point. "Now I have sat with you father and let him explain his hurt and his worries about you, and I have enquired to his reasoning behind this shamble that you call a feud, now I am offering you the same. Why must you continue to hurt your father, your family?"
I just shrugged and stood up. "Papa lied t' me."
"We lied to you about the tooth fairy, does that mean you're going to stop talking to us?" Bishop asked from behind me, I didn't question when he got back to the room, he was sneaky.
"De tooth fairy ain't real?" I asked in mock-horror. "Dats it, frien'ship ovah." I turned back to my godmother who was watching the exchange with mild amusement. "Sorry 'gain." I said and walked out of the room and up to my dorm.
Opening the door I found Sean pacing in front of his bed. "You okay?" he asked as soon as I walked into the room.
"Fine mon ami, no worries." I said and went to my drawers pulling out some pyjamas. Sean sat on his bed.
"Who gave you that jacket?" he asked as I walked to our bathroom.
"Luke, old frien'." I said.
"You don't have to worry about me being a big ol' creep and watching you change." Sean said, I turned to him. "You're not my type."
I laughed and rolled my eyes. "Merci, Sean sure know how t' make des filles melt non?" I said sarcastically. HE collapsed onto his bed laying on his back and putting his arms behind his head.
"Girls? Who said anything about girls?" he asked. "Now Luke.........he's definitely my type." I cocked an eyebrow. He caught my eye and smiled. "Professor Xavier thought I should probably tell you........." I just nodded and continued into the bathroom to change. I walked back out and Sean had taken it upon himself to read a couple of my comics.
"Dos ain't mine mon ami, so don' hurt 'em." I said; Bobby would kill me if his precious comics got hurt. Sean just looked over at me and raised an eyebrow. "Dey Bobby's, dey his chile or somet'in." I said with a grin.
"So, what exactly did you do wrong? I mean besides the bracelet thing?" Sean asked putting the comic down carefully. I took a sharp intake of breath.
"Disrespect Papa an' 'Ro, made de scene. Dey jus' figure dat since I been here for long time, dat I should have som' extra respect." I said. "Jus' havin' a l'il tantrum is all." I said grinning over at my roommate.
"Alright, well listen if you need to talk, I'm right here y'know? I mean, we're roommates now, we gotta be honest right?" he said climbing under the covers of his bed. I nodded and flicked off the light.
~~~~~****** It was cold, no, it was beyond cold, it was freezing. I could feel the cold blowing right through me. I saw people, lots of people, or maybe just a few, I wasn't sure, my eyelashes were frozen together. But I heard them, laughing, taunting, I couldn't even hear what they were saying, but I felt the words. They stung as much, if not more, than the cold. I then I felt someone step closer to me, I reached out, begging for help, but they maneuvered around my hands and stood in front of me. I watched as the hand came forward and lingered in front of my chest. I looked up and saw a smirk, before I felt my chest being ripped open, I screamed making the crowd laugh harder, looking down I saw the hand had pushed through my skin, through the bone and wrapped around my heart. I watched the dark red, almost black, liquid splatter against the blanket of snow, creating patterns for a moment before pooling together around my knees. I watched as my heart was wrenched from my body and thrown to the ground.
*****~~~~~~~
I opened my eyes with a start, immediately putting my hand over my heart. With a sigh I smiled, still in tact. I looked over at Sean, he was sleeping soundly, apparently I hadn't actually screamed, that was probably for the best. I sat up and looked down at my hands, which were still shaking, either from the cold or the straight fear. Why had it felt so real? I shook my head. Sleep just wasn't in the cards for me tonight, running my hands over my eyes I sighed. Looking over at Sean again, I stood and walked out of the dorm room, and down into the kitchen.
I opened the fridge door and searched for something, anything really. I ran my hand across the back of my neck, across the sensitive area where my tattoo was printed, wiping the miniature amount of sweat which had gathered over the tattoo.
"Not many kids your age have the guts t' get somethin' permanent like that." A voice said from behind me. I didn't have to turn around to recognize the growl. I grabbed a bottle of Pepsi and a beer before turning around, sitting at the kitchen table across from Logan.
"Don' Logan evah sleep?" I asked sliding the beer across the table to him. He caught it and popped it open.
"Could ask you the same thing kid." He said. I nodded, indeed he could.
"Jus' don' feel like sleepin'." I said. I caught his gaze and held it. "What 'bout you?"
"Don' need t' sleep." He said calmly before breaking the gaze the take a swig of beer. I nodded. "So nightmares huh?"
My eyes snapped up to meet his again. "Wha'?"
He chuckled, the laugh coming out like a small growl. "You're talkin' t' the king of nightmares. I could smell your fear soon as you walked int' tha room."
"An' whats t' say dat I'm just 'fraid of you?" I asked picking at the label of the Pepsi. I hated feeling like a scared kid, especially in front of Logan.
"Yeh didn' know I was here, that's why. Ain't nothin' t' be ashamed of kid, we all get nightmares." Logan said. Was Logan being nice to me? What the hell?
"But yo' nightmares are legendaire. De nightmares I have, dey ain' even mine." I said looking up at him.
"Legendary huh?" he said with a cocky grin.
"Oui, 'vryone know not t' go near yo' room when you have de nightmares." I said softly.
"With good reason, don' really feel like rippin' apart some kid for bein' curious." He said with a grunt. I just nodded. He finished off his beer with a final gulp and I stood to get him another one from the fridge. "Y'know kid, you ain' half bad." He said as I slid his second beer across the table. I just looked at him.
"Not many people that would stand up to 'Ro." He said.
"Wen' crawlin' back t' 'pologize." I said with a grin.
"See that was the smart thing t' do. We don' need an angry Storm 'round here." He said with a grin, cracking another beer. "I hear you're in my class this year."
I nodded. Self-defense/ martial arts; got to love that class, you got to hit stuff.
"Should be good." He said. Small talk obviously wasn't his forte. "Anyway, get t' bed kid, I'll see ya in class tomorrow."
He stood and walked out of the kitchen, leaving me alone with my thoughts. Which can be a dangerous place if you're not careful. I sat at the kitchen table, glancing at the clock every once in a while, I went through all of the Pepsi in the fridge, I'd blame it on Bobby later, he wouldn't mind. I checked the clock again, 5:24. I sighed and walked back up into my dorm, grabbing some clothes to get changed.
Breakfast was at 7 and Hank wanted me down in the lab before breakfast. I changed in the bathroom and clipped my hair back, my tattoo exposed, and walked into the room. Sean was sitting up in his bed.
"You want me to walk you down?" he asked rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. I shook my head.
"Non mon ami, I go alone." I said and walked out the door after throwing my pajamas on the bed. I walked to the elevator and it opened, apparently the professor knew I was coming. I got in and let it take me downstairs. The door slid open and I saw Hank and the professor, I put my grin back in place and skipped into the room.
"Good morning Kaley, I trust you slept well?" the professor asked, I just smiled at him. He didn't have to worry about me, he could worry about other things, sleep was a privilege and one that I didn't need to indulge in. I sat up on the examination table and waited for something to happen. "Hank and I have gone over the results of your tests and it seems that Hanks theory is correct, if your powers were to be taken away, your body temperature would drop so drastically that it would indeed find yourself unable to function."
"Well dat ain't good." I said with a grin. The professor attempted to suppress a laugh.
"No, no it's not." He said. "But what this means Kale, is that you have to be the epitome of responsibility. Your powers are linked to your temper, so we can't have you getting angry over stupid little things." I nodded, I could have recited what was coming next. "No playing around, we don't know what you are capable of yet. No showing off, or bragging that you don't have to wear the inhibitor bracelets, do I make myself clear?"
"Oui Monsieur." I said with a nod.
"If you could extend your arm milady." Hank requested. I looked at him with confusion but did as I was asked. He wrapped an elastic around my upper arm and grabbed a syringe from the table. I pulled my arm away. I didn't like needles.
"what dat for?" I asked, my voice full of suspicion.
"Blood work Kale. Tattoos aren't the safest thing in the world." The professor said in a tone of voice that suggested he did not approve.
"'Tis safe." I said holding my arm close to me. I didn't like needles. "Nancy made sure." The professor waited expectantly to hear the rest of the story. "I got dis two three days ago, an' on de first day Nancy healed it. Kale made sure de needle was safe."
"It's just a safety precaution Kale." Hank said. I looked from his eyes to the needle and back again. I shook my head. No needles.
"Would you like me to get someone down here?" Hank asked. I bit my lip and nodded. "I'll call Remy........."
"Non!" I said, almost too quickly. "Bobby." I stated. Hank nodded and a few minutes later Bobby came flying through the door.
"What's wrong?" he asked, concern flooding his normally bright blue eyes. HE looked from me, holding my arm against my chest to the syringe on the medical tray and then back at me. "You don't like needles?" I shook my head adamantly. He came over and sat next to me, taking my other hand. "It's okay smallpint. It won't hurt at all I promise."
I buried my head in Bobby's shoulder and took a deep breath as Hank extended my arm. I squeezed my eyes shut as I felt the needle hit my arm. A single tear leaked onto Bobby's shirt and then it was over.
With a Powerpuff Girl band-aid I was sent back upstairs with Bobby. Hank followed close behind and when we got to the kitchen I saw Papa pull Hank aside. Bobby put a bowl of cereal in front of me and I just stared at it, until it got soggy. I hated needles.
~~~~~~~~~***********~~~~~~~~~******
A/N: Review now.
"We're almost done milady." He said in his educated voice. I smiled, I had no idea what was going on, but I smiled.
"'Dis count as de physical non?" I asked as I slid out of the circular machine. Hank laughed a hearty laugh. Every student was required to come down here at the start of the year and have a full physical.
"We'll see." He said typing something into a computer. "Alright, that's all we'll go through tonight, but I expect to see you first thing in the morning, before classes."
That was early. That was really early. I don't think he realized how early that was. Despite all of the aforementioned inner complaining, I agreed and hopped off the examination table. I walked straight up to the attic room that 'Ro and Bishop shared, taking a deep breath before knocking on the door. Bishop pulled the door open, his face turning stone-cold before opening the door slightly.
"Like t' speak t' 'Ro, s'il vous plaît." I mumbled, not able to look him in the face. He opened the door wider so I could see 'Ro sitting on the window seat. He jerked his head towards her and I entered the room before he left it, slamming the door shut behind him. The slam of the door made me jump, but Ororo didn't even flinch, she simply looked over at me, in her calm regal manner. I walked over to her. "Came t' apol'gize." I said, she nodded and motioned for me to take a seat.
"Sorry." I started. No excuses attached, just simply what I wanted to say. "Sorry dat I disrespect' you in fron' of 'veryone. Sorry dat I didn' listen t' you. Sorry der was a scene. Sorry ah made you angry. Sorry dat ah got cocky." I bit my bottom lip and tried to remember the rest of the list. "An' sorry dat ah came up so late." That was all I could remember. I looked at my hands, sitting in my lap for a minute, building up the courage to look her in the eyes. When I finally did, she nodded.
"Thank you." She said. "Now if it's not too much trouble I would like to enquire as to why you thought it necessary to cause such a scene." I knew that was coming, not in all of those big words. But I knew it was coming. I took a deep breath.
"T'ought dat if I didn' do what Papa tell me t', den Papa'd be hurt." I said, flinching as I said it out loud again. Ororo's eyes turned cold again and she nodded. "I didn' mean t' hurt you!" I said, as if it would change her attitude. "I didn' know dat you woul' get involved."
Ororo laughed bitter, cynical laugh. "You thought I would let it come to a physical confrontation between you, my goddaughter and Remy, one of my closest friends, dare I say family?"
Well when she put it like that I just sounded ridiculous. "I jus' t'oght dat 'Ro might by on dis side." I mumbled. She just smiled at me.
"Child if you thought for one minute that my loyalty and love for you would outshine that of my love and loyalty to your father, then you are in for a rude awakening. While I do cherish our relationship and maintain that if you ever need anything at all, you come to me. My relationship with your father is a bond that nothing can nor will break, do you understand?" I nodded, damnit I hated when other people had a point. "Now I have sat with you father and let him explain his hurt and his worries about you, and I have enquired to his reasoning behind this shamble that you call a feud, now I am offering you the same. Why must you continue to hurt your father, your family?"
I just shrugged and stood up. "Papa lied t' me."
"We lied to you about the tooth fairy, does that mean you're going to stop talking to us?" Bishop asked from behind me, I didn't question when he got back to the room, he was sneaky.
"De tooth fairy ain't real?" I asked in mock-horror. "Dats it, frien'ship ovah." I turned back to my godmother who was watching the exchange with mild amusement. "Sorry 'gain." I said and walked out of the room and up to my dorm.
Opening the door I found Sean pacing in front of his bed. "You okay?" he asked as soon as I walked into the room.
"Fine mon ami, no worries." I said and went to my drawers pulling out some pyjamas. Sean sat on his bed.
"Who gave you that jacket?" he asked as I walked to our bathroom.
"Luke, old frien'." I said.
"You don't have to worry about me being a big ol' creep and watching you change." Sean said, I turned to him. "You're not my type."
I laughed and rolled my eyes. "Merci, Sean sure know how t' make des filles melt non?" I said sarcastically. HE collapsed onto his bed laying on his back and putting his arms behind his head.
"Girls? Who said anything about girls?" he asked. "Now Luke.........he's definitely my type." I cocked an eyebrow. He caught my eye and smiled. "Professor Xavier thought I should probably tell you........." I just nodded and continued into the bathroom to change. I walked back out and Sean had taken it upon himself to read a couple of my comics.
"Dos ain't mine mon ami, so don' hurt 'em." I said; Bobby would kill me if his precious comics got hurt. Sean just looked over at me and raised an eyebrow. "Dey Bobby's, dey his chile or somet'in." I said with a grin.
"So, what exactly did you do wrong? I mean besides the bracelet thing?" Sean asked putting the comic down carefully. I took a sharp intake of breath.
"Disrespect Papa an' 'Ro, made de scene. Dey jus' figure dat since I been here for long time, dat I should have som' extra respect." I said. "Jus' havin' a l'il tantrum is all." I said grinning over at my roommate.
"Alright, well listen if you need to talk, I'm right here y'know? I mean, we're roommates now, we gotta be honest right?" he said climbing under the covers of his bed. I nodded and flicked off the light.
~~~~~****** It was cold, no, it was beyond cold, it was freezing. I could feel the cold blowing right through me. I saw people, lots of people, or maybe just a few, I wasn't sure, my eyelashes were frozen together. But I heard them, laughing, taunting, I couldn't even hear what they were saying, but I felt the words. They stung as much, if not more, than the cold. I then I felt someone step closer to me, I reached out, begging for help, but they maneuvered around my hands and stood in front of me. I watched as the hand came forward and lingered in front of my chest. I looked up and saw a smirk, before I felt my chest being ripped open, I screamed making the crowd laugh harder, looking down I saw the hand had pushed through my skin, through the bone and wrapped around my heart. I watched the dark red, almost black, liquid splatter against the blanket of snow, creating patterns for a moment before pooling together around my knees. I watched as my heart was wrenched from my body and thrown to the ground.
*****~~~~~~~
I opened my eyes with a start, immediately putting my hand over my heart. With a sigh I smiled, still in tact. I looked over at Sean, he was sleeping soundly, apparently I hadn't actually screamed, that was probably for the best. I sat up and looked down at my hands, which were still shaking, either from the cold or the straight fear. Why had it felt so real? I shook my head. Sleep just wasn't in the cards for me tonight, running my hands over my eyes I sighed. Looking over at Sean again, I stood and walked out of the dorm room, and down into the kitchen.
I opened the fridge door and searched for something, anything really. I ran my hand across the back of my neck, across the sensitive area where my tattoo was printed, wiping the miniature amount of sweat which had gathered over the tattoo.
"Not many kids your age have the guts t' get somethin' permanent like that." A voice said from behind me. I didn't have to turn around to recognize the growl. I grabbed a bottle of Pepsi and a beer before turning around, sitting at the kitchen table across from Logan.
"Don' Logan evah sleep?" I asked sliding the beer across the table to him. He caught it and popped it open.
"Could ask you the same thing kid." He said. I nodded, indeed he could.
"Jus' don' feel like sleepin'." I said. I caught his gaze and held it. "What 'bout you?"
"Don' need t' sleep." He said calmly before breaking the gaze the take a swig of beer. I nodded. "So nightmares huh?"
My eyes snapped up to meet his again. "Wha'?"
He chuckled, the laugh coming out like a small growl. "You're talkin' t' the king of nightmares. I could smell your fear soon as you walked int' tha room."
"An' whats t' say dat I'm just 'fraid of you?" I asked picking at the label of the Pepsi. I hated feeling like a scared kid, especially in front of Logan.
"Yeh didn' know I was here, that's why. Ain't nothin' t' be ashamed of kid, we all get nightmares." Logan said. Was Logan being nice to me? What the hell?
"But yo' nightmares are legendaire. De nightmares I have, dey ain' even mine." I said looking up at him.
"Legendary huh?" he said with a cocky grin.
"Oui, 'vryone know not t' go near yo' room when you have de nightmares." I said softly.
"With good reason, don' really feel like rippin' apart some kid for bein' curious." He said with a grunt. I just nodded. He finished off his beer with a final gulp and I stood to get him another one from the fridge. "Y'know kid, you ain' half bad." He said as I slid his second beer across the table. I just looked at him.
"Not many people that would stand up to 'Ro." He said.
"Wen' crawlin' back t' 'pologize." I said with a grin.
"See that was the smart thing t' do. We don' need an angry Storm 'round here." He said with a grin, cracking another beer. "I hear you're in my class this year."
I nodded. Self-defense/ martial arts; got to love that class, you got to hit stuff.
"Should be good." He said. Small talk obviously wasn't his forte. "Anyway, get t' bed kid, I'll see ya in class tomorrow."
He stood and walked out of the kitchen, leaving me alone with my thoughts. Which can be a dangerous place if you're not careful. I sat at the kitchen table, glancing at the clock every once in a while, I went through all of the Pepsi in the fridge, I'd blame it on Bobby later, he wouldn't mind. I checked the clock again, 5:24. I sighed and walked back up into my dorm, grabbing some clothes to get changed.
Breakfast was at 7 and Hank wanted me down in the lab before breakfast. I changed in the bathroom and clipped my hair back, my tattoo exposed, and walked into the room. Sean was sitting up in his bed.
"You want me to walk you down?" he asked rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. I shook my head.
"Non mon ami, I go alone." I said and walked out the door after throwing my pajamas on the bed. I walked to the elevator and it opened, apparently the professor knew I was coming. I got in and let it take me downstairs. The door slid open and I saw Hank and the professor, I put my grin back in place and skipped into the room.
"Good morning Kaley, I trust you slept well?" the professor asked, I just smiled at him. He didn't have to worry about me, he could worry about other things, sleep was a privilege and one that I didn't need to indulge in. I sat up on the examination table and waited for something to happen. "Hank and I have gone over the results of your tests and it seems that Hanks theory is correct, if your powers were to be taken away, your body temperature would drop so drastically that it would indeed find yourself unable to function."
"Well dat ain't good." I said with a grin. The professor attempted to suppress a laugh.
"No, no it's not." He said. "But what this means Kale, is that you have to be the epitome of responsibility. Your powers are linked to your temper, so we can't have you getting angry over stupid little things." I nodded, I could have recited what was coming next. "No playing around, we don't know what you are capable of yet. No showing off, or bragging that you don't have to wear the inhibitor bracelets, do I make myself clear?"
"Oui Monsieur." I said with a nod.
"If you could extend your arm milady." Hank requested. I looked at him with confusion but did as I was asked. He wrapped an elastic around my upper arm and grabbed a syringe from the table. I pulled my arm away. I didn't like needles.
"what dat for?" I asked, my voice full of suspicion.
"Blood work Kale. Tattoos aren't the safest thing in the world." The professor said in a tone of voice that suggested he did not approve.
"'Tis safe." I said holding my arm close to me. I didn't like needles. "Nancy made sure." The professor waited expectantly to hear the rest of the story. "I got dis two three days ago, an' on de first day Nancy healed it. Kale made sure de needle was safe."
"It's just a safety precaution Kale." Hank said. I looked from his eyes to the needle and back again. I shook my head. No needles.
"Would you like me to get someone down here?" Hank asked. I bit my lip and nodded. "I'll call Remy........."
"Non!" I said, almost too quickly. "Bobby." I stated. Hank nodded and a few minutes later Bobby came flying through the door.
"What's wrong?" he asked, concern flooding his normally bright blue eyes. HE looked from me, holding my arm against my chest to the syringe on the medical tray and then back at me. "You don't like needles?" I shook my head adamantly. He came over and sat next to me, taking my other hand. "It's okay smallpint. It won't hurt at all I promise."
I buried my head in Bobby's shoulder and took a deep breath as Hank extended my arm. I squeezed my eyes shut as I felt the needle hit my arm. A single tear leaked onto Bobby's shirt and then it was over.
With a Powerpuff Girl band-aid I was sent back upstairs with Bobby. Hank followed close behind and when we got to the kitchen I saw Papa pull Hank aside. Bobby put a bowl of cereal in front of me and I just stared at it, until it got soggy. I hated needles.
~~~~~~~~~***********~~~~~~~~~******
A/N: Review now.