1Disclaimer: I do not own X-men. I do not want to disillusion you into believing that I do.
Chapter Two
For the first time Marian could remember, no dreams plagued her sleep. She was awakened not by a voice in her head, but a real voice that her ears truly heard.
"Professor, she's gone!" The voice seemed to be right in her ear.
'Don't touch me, you fool! Don't touch me!" she screamed mentally to whomever it was. She forced her eyes open and moved from the bed. She could hardly believe the sight that met her eyes. A blue creature, human in form, stood on the opposite side of the bed. She heard a squeaking of metal and saw a bald man in a wheelchair, the same one she vaguely remembered seeing earlier, approach.
"No, Kurt, she isn't gone. She is in this room. Marian, come on out. We won't hurt you."
"You might harm yourselves, though," she thought. She rose, crawled out from behind the bed, but neither Kurt nor the Professor saw her. She was invisible and, hard as she tried, she couldn't stop being invisible. She couldn't make herself seen. She began to panic.
"It's all right, Marian. Speak to me and we will find you." His voice was calm and relaxing.
"Okay. Just don't touch me." Kurt gave the Professor a puzzled look, but Xavier simply nodded.
"Can you tell where you are?" Marian heard Xavier's voice in her head. She looked around and thought for a moment.
"I am on the floor to the right of the bed," she realized aloud.
"Stand up as quickly as you can." Marian could feel strength from some unknown source probing her, lending its strong will to her weak one, its healing to her pain. In an instant, she found herself standing and, much to her surprise, she could see her body. Charles was smiling at her as was Kurt, who she was a bit surprised to see for she had thought him to be some sort of hallucination.
"Marian Weaver, this is Kurt Wagner. He is a mutant, just as we are." Kurt smiled.
"Welcome, I would shake your hand, but I have been warned that it would not be appropriate under the circumstances," he said in his strong German accent. Marian could see that despite his unusual appearance and vicious-looking yellow eyes, Kurt was quite a gentleman. She wondered if . . . No! She mustn't allow herself to think about him that way. She could never have that love again, for if she permitted herself to selfishly find that passion, the one she loved would surely perish altogether, a fate worse than death for both of them.
"I am pleased to meet you, Mr. Wagner."
"Call me Kurt . . . or Nightcrawler." The second name came almost as an afterthought, as though he half-hoped she would never call him that, yet part of him desired her to do so. Suddenly the group heard footsteps approaching. Marian looked past Kurt to see a short man, but something made her think he was not to be trifled with. That something was the fact that he had knives protruding from his hands.
Author's Note: Enter Wolverine. Up next chapter Wolverine meets Marian.