Lucky Me
Chapter 066
I'd be laughing my wings off if it didn't hurt to breathe.
Man, how could I have been so stupid? Why didn't I see it coming? Hadn't it been building for months? I could look back and kick myself now for missing all the signs.
Why didn't I realize it? I couldn't believe the amateur mistake I made!
There was definitely something to be said for anger management courses.
Mr. Logan might be the strangest one to get them from, but he knew what he's talking about when it came to 'seeing red' (and, no, I didn't mean Jean). Why did I think he was so good?
Because during the Danger Room run earlier, my team could have blown up the entire scene (and did thanks to Chris) and it didn't faze me. Julie wasn't around so they couldn't blame her (though Adrian still did) for 'mellowing' me out. D-M was smiling slightly at the end of the session as she looked at the demolished hospital-guess she didn't like shots or something.
Professor's words went in my head, rolled around there, and then went straight to the 'trash' icon in my brain's computer. Cyclops even stopped one of the run downs of a mission I had to go on to ask if everything was okay.
So I was a little tired, what's their point?
They thought I was hiding something because I'd been spending more and more time in my black skin then in my normal color. Mr. Warren also was starting to preach again about the importance of 'our kind' keeping healthy by eating a lot of protein since we didn't have any body fat to speak of-blah blah boring.
What was wrong with these people? Since I'd gotten out of school (four days ago!) they'd not been happy with my appearance and actions.
Not like anything was wrong-okay, I'd confess I was exhausted and even Jean noticed my thoughts, though quieter, were being heard which should be impossible since my blood deflects telepathy to some point. Like if they wanted to read my mind, my brain would implode and try to kill me. Not now.
But they weren't trying to please the Lords and Ladies of the Eternally Deranged.
Especially Scott with his new catch line of, "Since you're out of school, you need to focus on your training and team work."
I felt like plowing him through the nearest window, but the anger management courses came thumping on my mental door telling me to forget it. I was trying to work past my anger, to logically think out why I get angry.
Well, let me see. I had been doing everything imaginable trying to please my 'father figure' and all he could tell me was that it's not good enough. So what did I do? Try even harder just to hear the same thing, it's not good enough, I needed to try harder, or I have more potential than that.
And Mr. Logan expected me to keep my anger in CHECK?
Riiiiight. It'd be in my check in to the mental home.
But it was Saturday, and it was the first day of June as well! In six days D-M and Adam were going to go to a big medical party thing, and then that following day Adam was leaving. I really didn't think it would bother me, but surprisingly, it did.
I guessed I got attached to him somehow always being around, like a geeky big brother with killer eyes. Adam was sweet and smart, a bit messy but creative minds rarely were neat.
Still I hadn't told anyone about his soon departure (although the boxes multiplying in front of his door should was a pretty obvious hint).
Then I saw a slight shadow shift from where I was curled up in a ball on the floor. I couldn't believe something like this happened to me! It only happened to dumb girls and yet there I was in pain and in remorse for not catching it sooner.
Thinking was blurry and painful, but I saw something reflecting slightly from underneath the bed. I tried to open my eyes even more, but the light seemed to jab and twist daggers into my pupils. I clenched them shut and the migraine thumped against my brain again.
This was punishment...for not realizing...for being an idiot...for being cruel to that dumb head doctor.
"Are you finally ready to let me see the true Kookie Summers?" Dr. Frese asked eagerly. I wanted to start laughing, but I was afraid she'd inject me with something or catch on to what I was up to.
It was with a faked smile I nodded just as enthusiastically.
"But," I added innocently, knowing that any noise would send Scott and Jean clambering in here, "Could you lock the door? I just don't feel safe doing this while there might be an intrusion..." I smirked as she nearly tripped over herself to run to the door.
Once I heard the lock click, I told her I was ready to turn off my image inducer, but not to turn around until I felt comfortable. Dr. Frese agreed wholeheartedly and somewhere in the back of my mind a ghost of a guilty conscience arose to ask me if I really felt okay with all this?
Heck yeah!
I flipped off my normal image inducer and clicked on the one Adam tweaked.
Then, in a small, shy voice (if I talked any louder I would have ended up laughing between the syllables) I told her to turn around.
Why did I never have a camera when I needed one?
Her eyes must have hurt growing that large in their sockets; her mouth opened into a lovely 'o' of fear, as she plastered herself to the door.
"What?" I asked worriedly. "What's wrong?" Then I started the fake tears. "I thought you said you'd understand!"
Well, I guessed if I hadn't asked Adam to create an image projection of a five foot six and a half inch, green/gray blob with huge zit like things which popped and fizzled over, not to mention I had my face distorted so one eye seemed to be hanging by a muscle outside of its socket and the other one had a noticeable film covering it. As I walked to her, trying to keep up the sadness without busting out laughing, I opened my arms wide.
"Can I have a hug for support?"
Then Dr. Frese started to scream.
She turned back to the door, unlocked it, and ran from the room. In a heartbeat I switched images to my normal Kookie-without-wings look and tried my best to look baffled when Scott and Jean came thundering in the room.
I could hear Dr. Frese screaming for them to get me out of her office. As they looked over at me, I put my head in my hands and faked the best crying scene I could.
"I thought you said she knew! I turned off my image inducer and she freaked out! How is she supposed to help my self-acceptance?"
Scott looked ticked, Jean eyed me suspiciously and I carried on with my faux sobbing and such.
Guess I wouldn't be seeing Dr. Frese for a while!
Yeah, this was what I got for being mean to the doctor and probably made her lose some of her patients. If I caught the one who did this—well, she'd have a new patient soon enough, that was for sure!
I reached out blindly toward the lump of clothes under the bed. An idea formed in my thoughts and a hope in my heart. If I was right, which I rarely was, my salvation was in this article of clothing. I hoped I wasn't wrong and it turned out to be a pair of underwear or something.
That would be disgusting, and why the heck was I cracking jokes at a time like this?
Oh, right, defense mechanism.
Defense, defiance, death-man, I had to do something I couldn't stand to have anotherperson die! Not when I could stop it!
It was two days before Saturday (which would make it Thursday, duh) and I was supposed to be on a mission. I had spent the previous night chasing my "adorable" fur ball around because the dumb cat has an underwear fetish that just wasn't normal.
How many people do you think I wanted to know about my Stitch underwear?
Not to mention I was still sorta tired about the whole 'write evaluations on your team' assignment.
The only time I got to get some shuteye was when we were on the plane headed somewhere to do something (I kept zoning out during the briefing). Of course, no one permitted an exhausted girl to actually sleep.
"Blyt!" I woke up with a jolt, only to see a Cyclops' pink eye staring back at me.
"Y-yeah?"
"Pay attention. Northstar, Angel, and you are going in at this direction..."
If I was going to be paired off with those two, then I really didn't need to pay attention. Mr. Warren went over the maneuvers even after we had all been told (I guess it's because I had such a short attention span that he knew he better re-tell me before I tripped an alarm or blew something up). The Blackbird landed and I got out of my seat, stretched and yawned. Maybe if I wasn't so tired I would have been a bit more excitable about this whole affair (not to mention I might actually have cared in the near future about something-doubtful, but it could happen!).
"You three, go," Cyclops whispered as Mr. Je-er, Northstar started to run toward wherever the heck we were. Mr. Warren-I mean, Archangel and I took to the sky. I was slow because, again, I was tired. I could care less about doing whatever we were doing to whoever we were doing it to as long as I got a nap at the end of it.
"Blyt, you need to focus, one slip and you could end up-"
"Shot?" I finished in a dry voice.
He nodded and pointed toward the compound.
"You take the west watchtower; I'll go to the east. Northstar should be working on the rest."
I nodded and started to pick up speed, the only problem was I had no idea which tower was the west one. I waited until Mr. Warr-Archangel hit his tower, and then I went to the one directly opposite of it.
There were two guards with guns (asleep) and for a split second I had the thought of joining them in their trip to dream land, but Scott would be ripped if I did that. 'Sorry I got caught, but they had a free chair...'
Shrugging, I moved to the first guard's side, but something wasn't right. My boot squeaked. I froze. I really didn't want them to give them a better chance to shoot me than necessary.
Neither of them moved.
I looked down at my boots and got confused. These shoes only squeaked when wet-hmm, guessed I knocked something over?
If they ever told me how to knock out a person who was already asleep, I didn't remember. So in my exhausted, illogical mind it seemed like a good idea to wake them up one at a time and then knock them out. Going to the first guard, I almost lost my balance (I guess I was really tired, but I shouldn't be focusing on that-if I could focus on anything). I tapped him on his shoulder, no movement. I figured he must be a heavy sleeper.
Sighing, I shook his shoulder, but still nothing.
Irritated, I went to slap his cheek but I halted as soon as my fingertips brushed against his face.
It was stone cold.
That's when I heard Archangel's voice crack through the comm. badge, "The guards in the east tower are dead."
The lights flickered on, and I started to back up toward the window I had come through. There was blood all over the floor, and both guards were white as flour. Oh man, dead bodies. Two dead bodies and I was in there with them!
"Meet in the courtyard." Came the ever-unaffected voice of Cyclops. Trying to shake off the shock, I continued to back up to the window; taking in that the only things that were wrong with this room were the two dead guards (...did they have families? ...daughters?) but of course, my luck was horrible if anyone hadn't noticed and I slipped.
Their blood was everywhere and I slipped in it. It took a split second for me to scramble to my feet and take off out the window. When I met up with the others, there was coolness (as in distant not awesome-cool) in everyone's attitude. Was this how the X-Men reacted to things?
Turned off their emotions and go robot?
"Blyt, you're covered-" Iceman started.
"I-lost my balance," I confessed sheepishly. Apparently all the towers were full of not living people. I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand erect because this was so creepy and unnatural. Who would do this? Why would they do this?
"Where's Northstar?" Rogue asked. That got us all looking around; Cyclops tapped his badge and called for Northstar to respond.
There was only static.
"Beast, get to the computer system, copy the files, and then destroy it. Rogue and Storm, you're his back up. Everyone else find Northstar! Go!"
I jumped into flight. Gambit, Archangel, Iceman and the others were going in every other direction as I headed back to the way we came. Mr. Jean-Paul was fast, so maybe he went back to the Blackbird after seeing the whole compound was filled with nothing but zombie wannabes.
Then I saw someone moving along the outer wall of the compound, I went into a dive, and then I just went into pain. I didn't get shot, but I wished it had been that simple. Instead I went crashing into the rocky ground, getting cut up pretty badly along the way. I thought for sure that my black skin would be able to handle the minor fall.
But as I lay on the ground, my black skin started to show every minor cut and bruise. Funny thing was I couldn't get up. My blood was on fire and I thought that a pyromaniac had attacked me. I felt a foot nudge my side and then roughly kick me over.
"Here's another one," someone almost purred. "But it's another X-man. I guess where you find one there are bound to be about ten more." I remembered a fist at some point and time, I saw it balled and then bam!
Out went the lights in Kookie City.
Why couldn't I have just stayed unconscious? Why did I have to wake up? Why didn't I just stay asleep for a few moments longer?
My fingers gripped the armorish-leatherish clothing and slowly, I drew it toward me. The tears of pain slipping down my face and into the vomit the migraine had caused. Yes, I was lying in a puddle of my own throw up; I didn't care at that moment. I really didn't mind it at all. My brain was being jack-hammered so nothing really mattered, well, except calling Scott.
He had to know!
"You looked like you tried to make out with a speeding train." D-M stated as she slowly absorbed all the little nicks and bruises. When Gambit found me I was propped up on my elbows cursing headaches in general. They found Northstar much in the same state, only he was further inside the compound.
Everyone at that place was dead, Professor said my mental shields were painfully tight (meaning if he tried to scan me, I'd be in more of a hurt). He wanted to see if the assailants could be recognized through my memory. All I had a clear picture of was their knuckles (which I thought would be indented on my cheek as well).
"Ah'm almost done, and then you can run away to your hole in the wall, just like Chris," D-M muttered. After about ten seconds she pulled her hands away, wiped her forehead, and smiled at me. "Thanks that should help."
I quirked an eyebrow. "I thought that was my line."
She laughed at me and I gave her a smile in return.
Yes! The badge was on the uniform! I thought it might be! Heck, I knew my team well enough to know that none of us were neat freaks. I had yet to hear a story were the bad guy refused to fight an X person because their uniform was wrinkled.
I pulled the badge through my up-chucked dinner and brought it as close to my mouth as possible. I could hear the clicking of someone's heels and it was as if they were ramming their stilettos in my ear cavity. Swallowing whatever was available to swallow in my mouth and throat I tried to speak, but it came out as a broken whisper.
"SSS...ssss...ssss" apparently I couldn't get my mouth to form the word 'Cyclops' so I tried 'Scott' knowing that all the X-Men were down in the Danger Room practicing. Scott was observing them or something like that, so he'd hear me-eventually, I hoped.
"SSssss-cccc-" okay, the word was still too complicated.
How was I supposed to get his freakin' attention in time!?
My current concern was trying to figure out things about my life. I wanted to be self-centered for a moment and reflect on the recent events in my life—not. Free and down time was what I was looking for, what I got was an annoying knock on my door from Adam. Once I knew it was him, it wasn't so annoying. He came in all decked out for the big party.
"Wow, you look good!" I smiled, "no wonder D-M dragged you to the prom!"
"Yeah, well, speaking of her, Dr. McCoy and I are ready to depart. I was curious if you would be so kind as to go to Daisy's room and call her for us?"
I guessed clothes really did make the man, I felt like a bum off the street because Adam went into his 'I-know-lotsa-BIG-words' talk after his simple request. Like a good friend, I agreed and headed over to D-M's room.
When I got there, her door was ajar, not wanting to walk in on anything, I rapped on the door, but no answer. Shrugging I pushed the door open and walked in.
My eyes grew in surprise or utter shock (were those the same things?) when I saw her room in an organized mess. There were pictures all over the floor and on her wall she a medical poster of the female body circled in several spots.
Morbid curiosity was a horrible thing to own because when I examined the poster closer, I recognized the marks made with the red permanent marker. They were all the previous injuries D-M absorbed. This wouldn't have freaked me out so much if she didn't have 'fatality' with a smiley face next to it on the gashes across the chest (from Sabertooth's attack on Chris).
"Nosey Posey," Came a sugary voice that made my blood French kiss fear and dance around with a bottle of adrenaline. Thankfully, I was, for now, stuck in my black form so she couldn't see my skin crawl. Turning, I saw D-M in the same dark red dress she wore to prom. "Ah'm guessing this means that my escorts are ready."
I swallowed the lump in my throat. "Yeah, that's right."
She narrowed her eyes at me for a moment and then smiled brightly.
"Okay! Ah'll be goin' in a second." I turned to leave her room, my mind aching as if there was something that should be clicking but wasn't. There was still a piece of the puzzle missing that wouldn't allow me to see what the final outcome could be.
"Hey, Kerry?"
If I had been hit by a Mac truck, smeared across a wrecking ball later used to smack down Chicago, and then burned in the pits of heck, it would have felt better than what she did to me by touching the back of my neck.
"Sorry, Ah can't have you running off telling anyone." She smirked, and then it faded. D-M's words were making my already aching head throb even worse as I fell to my knees, clutching my skull. It felt like someone was shooting 100 rounds in my skull with every second that passed. "Forgiveness comes with a debt, Kerry, and Ah haven't been paid yet."
I fell over into a fetal position, my wings twitching erratically.
She turned, and through my blurred eyes, I saw her pick out something from her closet. She gave it a nasty look and dropped it by my face before D-M casually stepped over me and partly shut the door.
The poster, with the millions of holes from the darts and the words 'Anna Marie' scrawled on top of it, looked back at me. Tears blurred my vision so badly I could barely make out the face of Trish Tilby staring back at me.
I couldn't let D-M become a killer! Trish Tilby was going to die tonight unless, by some miracle, I was able to contact someone!
Blood was on my hands from my Dad, I couldn't bear for someone else to be guilty of something like that. From somewhere, I felt my throat burn with the one word that I could muster in a semi-audible voice. Gripping onto the badge until the low red light that indicated it was transferring waves came on, I felt two words leave my throat.
"Dad...die..."
And then I sobbed, "ddd-ad."
I cried out again. Please Scott! Be there! Please!
Please!
