"Morning," I reply, my eyes darting around the room.
"Just as you requested, Storm," Laura says. "A healthy, although not too happy, Darcy."
"Is there anything wrong?" Storm asks from her seat behind the grand wooden desk.
"Nothing that won't come right with time," Laura says calmly, resting her now un-gloved hand on my shoulder.
"Thankyou Laura," Storm says. "Now, Darcy," she says, turning to me. "I trust you're feeling better now?"
"Better than I have in a while, yes," I say tightly, noticing that all the people that came to get me are here now. "What is this place?"
"This is the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters," Storm says. "It's a place for people like you. A place where mutants can be safe. A place that, if you choose to accept, you can call home."
"You want me to stay here?"
"We believe that it would be best for you," Storm says diplomatically.
"So who are all these guys?" I ask, gesturing to the other people in the room.
The young girl with the brown hair steps forward and holds out her hand, which I hesitantly take. "I'm Kitty Pryde," she says with a smile. "People call me Shadowcat. I can phase through solid objects."
"So basically you can walk through walls," I say, giving her a half-smile.
She laughs. "Pretty much," she says.
The huge man that I think turns into metal steps forward then, and grips my hand in a strong handshake. "Pete," he says in a gravelly voice. "They call me Colossus."
"Let me guess, metal man?" I ask, a small smile playing on my lips. In response, the hand he's holding mine in turns to metal.
"Yeah, I guess you could say that," he says.
The other man comes over then, and shakes my hand. "Hi, I'm Bobby Drake. They call me Iceman." To prove this, his hand turns to ice, freezing around mine.
"I wonder why," I say with a laugh.
The last girl in the room reluctantly approaches me, and I notice that she too is wearing a pair of brown elbow-length gloves. "I'm Rogue," she says simply, coolly, taking my hand for only a second, stepping back almost immediately.
"So Darcy, would you be willing to stay here?" Storm asks. "We can help you learn to control your gift. We think it would be best for you to stay here."
"You do need medical treatment," Laura says softly in my ear.
I pause, thinking about my options. "Fine," I say after a moment, "I'll stay."
"Excellent," Storm says. "Now there's just the matter of sleeping arrangements after you're cleared from the infirmary."
"Morgan's got a spare bed in her room," Kitty says. "Why don't they share?"
"Morgan does have a bit of a temper though," Laura says. "Are you sure she'd accept a roommate?"
"I'll talk to her about it," Kitty pipes up. "She might listen to me."
"Thanks Kitty, do you want to go find her now and discuss it with her? The sooner we do it, the better."
"Can I take her back down now?" Laura asks.
"I think that's all for now. Rogue, if I could just speak with you for a moment," Storm says as Laura leads me back down to the infirmary.
"So I guess this is home now," I say quietly as Laura leads me through the maze of hallways.
"I guess it is," Laura says, nodding slowly. "I'll always be here for you. If you just need to talk to someone then come find me and we can have a chat."
"Thanks," I say, looking up at her. "So how long have been here for?"
"A couple of years now," she says, opening the doors.
"Do you like it here?"
"Yes, I do. Everyone around you just wants to help you. You don't have to worry about people hating you for who you are. It's a safe haven."
"So I'll be safe here?" I ask timidly as we near my bed.
"You'll be perfectly safe with us," she replies, lifting me onto the edge of the bed. "I'm just going to put you back on the drip and leave you to get some more sleep, and then I'll run those tests again when you wake up."
I lie down and Laura pulls the blanket over me, and I wince as she pushes the needle back into my arm, taping it in place. I listen to her footsteps fade as she leaves the room, and fall asleep quickly, into a dreamless sleep.
When I wake again, I'm still alone. I lie still, and wait for Laura to return. After twenty minutes or so, she comes back, smiling when she sees I'm awake.
"Did you sleep well?" she asks, heading over to my bed.
"Yeah, I slept pretty well. I just feel so drained though, even though I've slept so much."
"You're just catching up on all the sleep you've missed. While you're down here, sleep as much as you can. You'll be back to normal pretty soon, but until then, you're going to be feeling pretty crappy."
"So when can I get out of here?" I ask as she pulls the drip from my arm.
"In about two days I reckon. As long as you have your strength back by then, you can go up to your room."
I sit up and Laura helps me off the bed and leads me back to the operating table to run the tests again. It goes quicker this time, now that I know what I need to do. My temperature's 36∙4 degrees now, so the food and jacket have paid off. My blood pressure's lower now, as well as my heart rate, pulse and respiratory rate. She pulls out the stethoscope again, warming it in her palm, and returns to me.
"Has the ventolin worked?" she asks, her fingers playing with the hem of my shirt.
"Yeah, my breathing feels a bit easier now," I say.
"I'll just have a listen, and then I'll check your organs again, and then you can go back to bed," she says.
"What if I'm not tired?" I ask.
"Are you good at science?" she asks me.
I shrug. "More or less; I was top of the class before I left."
"Well, then you can give me a hand with the research I'm doing," she says. "I think you'll find it interesting."
"I'll take your word for it," I say, trying to relax. Sure, I'm a bit more relaxed now than I was before, but having someone openly touch my skin is putting me on edge.
She gently lifts up my shirt and places the cold metal disc on my chest. "Breathe in for me," she says, listening as I do so. "And breathe out," she says. I take controlled breaths that I fight to keep steady. "It all sounds clear," she says after a few minutes. "I just need to check your organs, and then you can go back to bed or give me a hand."
I lie back on the operating table, and Laura gently probes my abdomen, the sore spot I had before no longer there. She pronounces me in good health, and I decide I've had enough of the bed for now, so I follow her out to her lab, throwing on my jacket as I go. When we arrive, I don't recognise much of the equipment, but what catches my eye is a rack on one wall with vials of what look like blood in them.
"They're samples from a few people here," she explains. "I was wondering if you wouldn't mind letting me take a sample from you. Since we don't know much about your abilities, if we find anything useful, we might be able to figure out exactly what you can do."
"Will it hurt?" I ask timidly. Needles honestly terrify me; I used to have panic attacks and had to be held down by doctors just so they could give me a flu shot every year. Giving blood was never high on my bucket list.
"That depends on how you react to it. If you try to relax, then it shouldn't hurt much at all. If you tense up, then yes, it will hurt a lot more."
"I'll give it a shot," I say, willing to help her research, especially if it could help me figure out what my mutation is.
"Excellent," she says, clapping her hands together. "If we do it now, then we can get started on decoding this DNA."
She heads over to a cabinet which she proceeds to unlock, pulling out a syringe and thin needle. I start trembling again, but force myself to relax. I don't want any unnecessary pain. She sits me down in a chair and turns over my arm, lowering the needle to my skin. I relax my arm as the needle enters, and avoid letting the noise of pain building in my throat make an appearance. It's over in less than a minute, and she deposits the blood into a vial and we get to work. I don't do much, mostly just grabbing some things for her, or writing stuff down, but occasionally I make a comment on some findings, but only occasionally. After a few hours I go back to bed, my eyelids drooping and fighting to stay awake.
"Darcy," a gentle voice calls. "Darcy, wake up."
My eyelids flutter as I adjust to the light, until I can make out Laura standing at the end of my bed.
She smiles. "I figured I probably shouldn't try and shake you awake."
I return a smile. "No, that probably wouldn't go down too well." I slowly sit myself up, watching Laura closely. "So why exactly did you wake me up?"
"Storm wanted to see you. I tried to convince her to put it off until you woke up yourself, but she said it couldn't wait. I'm sorry, I didn't want to, but she is in charge of this place, so I kind of had to listen to her."
I yawn. "Don't worry about it. Where is she?"
"She's just outside. Are you ready, or do you need a couple of minutes?"
"No, I'll be fine, let her in."
"Alright then," she says, heading back over to the door, opening it and letting Storm inside.
"Thankyou, Laura," she says calmly. "If you could give us a few minutes of privacy, that would be greatly appreciated."
"Of course," Laura says, stepping out. "I'll be back with some lunch for you when you're done," she adds, shutting the door behind her.
My stomach lets out an embarrassingly growl at that and I blush. "Sorry about that," I say.
"Don't worry my dear," Storm says calmly. "It happens to everyone. Now, I haven't come here purely for a social call, although I do hope you're well. I do have some serious matters to discuss with you. Firstly, we have found a room for you, and Kitty has spoken with Morgan, who has agreed to share her room with you. I must warn you, she is quite hot-tempered, but if you spend the time to get close to her, she is very nice. Secondly, we were wondering if you wanted to go back home for a little while to get some of your belongings."
"There's nothing left for me there," I say, looking her dead in the eye. "If there was I would have stayed there. That's the only reason I came with you; because I had nothing left."
She lowers her gaze slightly at this and nods. "Thankyou, Darcy," she says. "I hope to see you up and about very soon. Until then, feel better and good day." She walks out of the room and Laura enters a couple of minutes later with a tray of food for me. She sets it down on my bedside table and smiles gently at me.
"I'll leave you to eat in peace," she says. "I have some work to do, and I'll come back in a couple of hours to check on you, OK?"
"Sure," I reply. "Thanks for this."
"No problem; it's my job to look after you," she says. "If you're happy then I've done my job well. I'll leave you to it."
She smiles as she leaves, and I'm already feeling so much better. She wants to help me, make me feel better and find out what I really am. But that other girl, Rogue, I don't know what she has against me, but it's unsettling. I don't know what to do, but I'll just leave it and see what eventuates.
After all, it's not like this is the first time someone's hated me.
