Hello! I'm back on this story~! I hope my writers block for it never pops back up, I really wanna get this one done too!
Disclaimer: I do not own X-men, only my character Thirteen and the plot
Day fifteen and not a crumb to eat. I did a bad thing and now I have to pay for it. I wasn't supposed to kill him, but I had no idea I had until they gave me punishment. I could still feel the pain of the beating. I've been in solitary confinement for fifteen days now, not a single doctor had come to see me. This room was bare, and the door easily blended into the wall, unforeseeable to anyone, but I saw it with my sharp cat vision.
Tired again, no surprise since I got nothing to do here. I lay down and let sleep overcome me.
Soft, much softer than the ground should be. This confused me. I stay still, feeling another presence near me. I was wide awake the second I felt this soft feeling beneath me.
"Child, I know you are awake." said a male voice, and a hand touched my back. I don't like my back being touched. My eyes flew open on contact and, uncurling, I jumped away from the hand. Landing on a brown thing filled with different sized smaller things with writing. I turned to see two guys in the room. One was the man who was in a wheelchair and the other was a gruff looking man whose hand was still outstretched. I hissed best I could and let my back hit the wall. The man in the wheelchair looked at me and spoke.
"We will not harm you, come down and let us see you." he said. I looked at him and sniffed the air. I detected no bad aura coming off him, so I took a step to the edge.
What if their pretending?
No bad aura, so no pretending.
I jumped to the ground and sat, looking at them. The gruff man crossed his hands, and was chewing on a thin thing.
"You can change back. There will be no judgments here." the gruff man spoke. I flinched, they knew?
'yes, I am telepathic. And you are a morpher. Morph back and I shall explain what happened.'
This voice was the guy's in the wheelchair, but his mouth hadn't moved. I hesitated again, but morphed back into my human form.
"that's better. Now, my name is Charles Xavier, and this is Logan..." he continued on with explaining my gift and that all here had gifts like mine and that I was welcome to live here if I so chose to. All the while I sat there on the ground, truly interested in what he said. When he finished I stood and the door to my left opened.
"Elf, this is the girl you'll be showing around." Logan said, and a boy stepped into the room. He was completely blue and covered with fur. His hand only had three fingers and his feet only two toes. His eyes were yellow and I saw a tail with an arrow looking tip. It waved from side to side, catching my attention. I followed it with my eyes,then pounced, startling everyone in the room. I stood behind Elf with his tail in my hands, not pulling since I wouldn't want my tail pulled. It, too, was furry, but did not look it. His tail slipped out of my hand and I looked up to see amused faces.
"Easily entertained." Xavier said. I blushed and looked down.
"Guten tag frauline." he said, smiling. I saw his fangs and tilted my head. Why did he look different from the other two? I didn't get an answer, but a three fingered hand to my arm and the smell of brimstone. Everything disappeared and reappeared. But this time, it was different. This looked more like a hallway. I looked up at Elf and he let my arm go.
"This will be your room if you stay here." he gestures for me to follow him and walks down the hall. I scurry after him, sniffing the hall for any bad auras. I stuck close to Elf, sensing him to be as pure as a newborn baby.
After the tour, Elf took my arm again and I smelled brimstone as the room disappeared and my room, if I so choose, appeared. He dropped my arm and I watched him disappear in a puff of blue smoke and the smell of brimstone. I turn around and enter the room to look around. A bed, not like the one the doctors gave me, all hard and uncomfortable, but soft and comfy. A large wooden box in the corner which, upon opening, reveals shelf's like what the docs used for their chemicals. On them were clothes, and those things people wear on their feet. Closing it, I turn and go to the bed to sit. 'Maybe, I could stay the night.' laying down, I pull the covers over me and, for the first time in forever, fall into a restful sleep.
In the morning, I wake up and am immediately on the defensive, expecting the docs to come in and take me for more tests. But, this doesn't feel right. Why is the bed soft? And where are the docs? My eyes open, I look around the room, which is oddly familiar. I think over last night, wondering about how this happened. Then last night comes back and I remember, I had escaped and Mr. Xavier offered to let me stay.
Smiling, I get off the bed and go to the box with clothes. I grab some and change, then pull on the foot coverings. Going to the door, I open it to see people in the hall. I close it and lean on the door. People, with gifts like me. I should have realized that I would be in a hall with people in rooms nearby. Should I go out and go with them? Or wait until they're gone?
A knock startles me away from the door. Turning to it I crack it open and look out at the girl with brown hair and white strip across the front. I sniff the air and sense no bad vibes.
"Hey, I'm Rouge. Kurt asked me ta show you around." I tilt my head in confusion, Kurt? Whose he? "So, ya hungry?" I nod and open the door so I can go out. With a stretch, I morph into a Bombay cat and look at Rouge. She looks at me in shock, then walks off down the hall. I jog after her and stay with her.
At the kitchen, I sniff the air then go weaving through peoples legs. They reach down to pet me, and I sit looking at them.
'Thirteen, do not hide behind your cat facade. They will not harm you. Let them see you.' Mr. Xavier said in my mind. With a tilt of my head, I acknowledge his advice, but I don't quite trust anyone. Not yet. I can smell the aura's without trying and, while some are okay, other's aren't as good. And after the hell the doc's put me through, I'm not ready to trust to many.
"Frauline?" turning, I see a boy with blue hair. I tilt my head, questioningly, at the boy. Looking down, he chuckles. "right, you haven't seen me this way yet." he presses a button on his watch and he-blinks? Into his Elf self. My eyes widen and I approach him. "Ze profezor would like to see you." Elf says, picking me up. He then teleports to a door. Knocking, I hear Mr. Xavier call to us to enter and Elf opens the door. He sets me down, urges me in and closes the door behind me.
I tilt my head at Mr. Xavier in greeting and sit in the chair in front his desk.
"Thirteen, I notice you don't talk. Why is that?" I shift into human form, stretching, and shrug.
The docs ever tell us?
Don't think so.
'Thirteen? What doctors? Where were you before Kitty found you?'
'Kitty? Doctors? I dunno where the docs held me, but I know I escaped and will never go back. Somehow, when I got my gift, they took my voice box. I can never speak again, so I communicate through my cat forms. Each one is an emotion to me, and says what I want without talking.' I don't know what it is, but I trust Mr. Xavier a lot. Normally, that would scare me, but I just don't feel scared at that thought.
"It seems as though you can communicate through thoughts at the moment. Beast will have his work cut out for him fixing you." he wheels over to me and puts a hand on my shoulder. "Try talking today, alright? We'll help you get your voice back." he turns from me to the door. "Kurt, come in." Elf, or Kurt as Mr. Xavier says, comes in and stands behind me.
"Yes Profezor?"
"Thirteen has no voice, so she will need someone to help convey what she wants to say. Will you help her?" nodding, Kurt puts his hand on my shoulder. I look up at him, he's looking at me with -eagerness? I smile, glad to finally have a friend.
After a while, I settle in at the mansion with all the people (whose names I now know). They don't know about my power, or my missing voice but they are growing on me. Maybe I'll let them know soon, but for now, I don't trust them.
I lay on the examination table as Beast walks around, collecting tools and telling me what he's going to do.
"I do not guarantee that you will still have your gift, or if you survive. I Can't even guarantee that I can give you your voice again." I nod, understanding. He comes over with a needle and my eyes narrow in warning. He only chuckles before injecting me. My world goes dark and I slip into the realm of dreams.
Where's mommy? She should be here. Why did she give me to this man? I want to cuddle but the man only throws a toy at me. Why wont he play with me? Mommy, I don't like it here, please take me back home. I cry then, hoping he'll understand and take me home. "Shut up!" he yells at me. "First thing to go is your voice box. Then we will experiment on you." experiment? What's that? And why do they wanna take my voice box away? What is a voice box?
"Thirteen, wake up." what is that voice? That's not my name! My name's Valerie! Mommy! Then a man in a rolly chair appears in my room. "Thirteen. Look at me." I obey, he looks familiar, but he's not one of the people who torture me for their experiments. Then why? My room collapses and I shrink in horror, but am not crushed. Looking up, all I see is white and that man.
"What's going on?" I ask, then clutch my throat. "I-I can talk?"
"Yes, Beast has successfully repaired your voice, but you slipped into a coma. You've been out for days. We're worried, Especially Kurt. He refuses to leave your side until you wake up."
"Who? I don't know them. And my name's Valerie, not Thirteen."
"Why don't you take my hand?" the man says, and holds out his hand. I hesitate. I don't know him. Why is he here anyways? Shaking my head, I reach for his hand.
"This is crazy, but why not?" I feel light headed.
Sitting up, I grip my head. I feel dizzy. Opening my eyes, I look around the unfamiliar room.
"Where am I?" I ask, wondering where that man went. I hear a groan and see a boy, or what looks like a boy but has blue fur and a, tail? I feel an odd compulsion to pounce on it, then see that the boy is looking at me.
"Frauline?" he asks.
"What does that mean, and who are you?" I ask. His eyes go from wonder to downcast. Is this the Kurt the man spoke of?
"Well, even if you don't remember, at least you can talk again."
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"Can you change into a cat still?" odd question. The docs gave me that gift forever ago. Nodding, I morph into a tabby cat and look at him. "You can still morph."
"Yes, and it would appear that the operation has wiped her memory. Kurt, I want you to help her remember." the man from my head says as he wheels into the room. The boy whose name appears to be Kurt nods and the man nods at me to morph back, which I do, and Kurt then takes my hand and then all blue and brimstone. The scent is familiar in a way.