Chapter 5: In Depth

Author's notes: I actually kind of like how I described Midnight's powers in that last chapter. Anyways, hope I get more reviews soon… The less I get the more discouraged I am to write. :/ But I'll be busy so not sure how fast I can update… Learning how to draw is hard…

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Arowl: Thanks again for your input, Arowl! Always appreciate hearing from you. :3 And I thought you would have found Midnight as cool, but he did not get anything from Lucas, if you're wondering. He's completely of my own creation, and I'm actually pretty proud of him. :3 Also, sorry about the chapter before. I actually did type a reply to your review, but I must not have saved it, so when I transferred it to Documents... Well... You can guess the rest.

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Well, this chapter is going to be leading up to some pretty big parts of this story so I hope I get everything correct, and that you enjoy it. It also has a lot to do with Midnight and Lex, hope that isn't a problem. :3

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I slowly blinked my eyes back into focus, waking up. This time I had no trouble remembering what happened. Midnight had saved me…and at the same time shown me something incredible, something wonderful… A world of pure serenity. No wonder he was always so calm, cool, and collected despite the many pressures put upon him. Whatever happened he'd always have a silent haven to go to.

I slowly sat up, but with greater effort than I had expected. Being in that world so long must have affected me, for real life was much heavier than the darkness. As the blurriness finally left my eyes I looked towards my side to see Mockingbird, her head lying on the bed as she slept soundly. I chuckled, placing my hand on her head and stroking her long, snow white hair. I heard her mumble, her tiny frame shaking slightly before she lifted her head, a small smile on her face. I knew she liked it when I ran my hands through her hair.

I pulled my hand away and she yawned, rubbing her eyes.

I looked at the clock next to my bed. It was 1 am in the morning. "G'morning, sleepy head," I told her and she slightly opened her eyes, the smile still on her face.

"Good morning, brother," she said in my voice. I grinned.

"How'd you sleep, sis? And why aren't you in your own bed?"

She took in a deep breath, sitting up more and looking at the clock, her eyes widening when she saw the time. "Awe man, asleep on the job…" She yawned again before turning her attention towards me. "Dad was here originally, but he called me after noticing you were having trouble sleeping. You were mumbling a lot and shifting, so he asked me to sing to you so you could sleep easier. He had to leave, of course, because my singing would affect him too, but apparently I must have fallen asleep…" She frowned. "I'm sorry…"

I laughed and shook my head, ruffling the hair on her head. She giggled. Mockingbird had been taking lessons on her voice control, so luckily her laughs and giggles were in her own girl voice. It made them all the more special to hear.

"Don't be sorry. I think I should move around a little, though, before heading back to bed. Everything feels stiff…" Mockingbird nodded and stood up from the side of the bed, letting me stand up. I yawned and stretched my tired muscles, my legs trembling slightly. They still weren't fully recovered, but I had to move around at least a little…

As I walked down the empty hallways, the ceiling lights surprisingly still on, I stopped to look out the window. The stars were shining brightly in the sky, each one trying to outshine the other against the incredibly black sky. I sighed and stared at the field of stars before something caught my eye. I looked down, seeing dark figure sitting all alone on of the benches. It didn't take much to realize it was midnight for the unmistakably long, black hair. I walked as quickly as I could down the rest of the hall, out into the cool night, and round the other side towards Midnight. He knew I was approaching him before I was able to get too close.

"What are you doing up, Lex?" he asked, looking in my direction, although the blindfold was still on. I sighed, pretending to be frustrated. "Awe, you caught me!!" He sensed the sarcasm in my voice and smiled as I moved in to sit beside him.

"Shannon fell asleep on the job," I stated, sounding disappointed.

"Ah," was all Midnight had to say as he nodded his head. We sat there in a comforting silence before I decided to say something. As I opened my mouth to speak, though, Midnight stopped me.

"Lex?"

"Yeah?" I asked, curious as to where this was going.

"Remember…in the shadow realm, how I said it was the first time I've ever seen you?"

I thought about it, running through all the memories of the day before. "Yes, I remember. You also sounded pretty surprised." Midnight half smiled and looked down.

"You mean a lot to me, Lex. You're second to my daughter, and I hope you don't take that as an offense! I mean, she's my daughter, my own flesh and blood and-" Was Midnight actually nervous? It was so strange seeing him this way and I quickly placed my hand on his shoulder.

"Relax!" I exclaimed, gripping his shoulder firmly. "I don't take any offense at all, actually I'm pretty flattered that you would place me so high, Midnight… It's a real honor." When I felt Midnight relax under my hand I knew he was back to normal.

"Sorry, it's just…well, I really don't want to offend you…" He stopped talking then, but I had a feeling there was more. I leaned forward, looking at him in the face.

"Is there…anything else you want to say?" I asked. He smiled for real then.

"No hiding anything from you, huh?" He sighed. "It's sort of a selfish request, but…can I see you? One more time? Not…in the shadow realm, though… Differently…"

There was only two ways Midnight had seen me. With the shadows and in the shadow realm. The only other way I could think of him seeing me, would be…

"You mean…"see" me see me?" I asked, surprised. He had said that he could see at night, but that it'd be the equivalent of a bright, sunny day, and his eyes were sensitive from being under that blindfold for so long, but he nodded his head slowly.

"Are you sure it's safe?" I asked him. "Like, won't it hurt or anything."

"Maybe a little in the beginning," he told me. "But I think it'll be worth it…"

Midnight rarely ever asked anything of me, and if this was a simple task that would make him happy then so be it. He was my best friend. I'd easily do it.

"Alright," I answered and he seemed surprised. He turned his head towards me.

"Really? You'll do it?" I nodded.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I?" I stood in font of him, the starlight creating a shadow that loomed over him.

"Alright, ready!" I stated happily. Midnight quickly undid the knot that was in the back of his head, the only thing keeping the cloth on his head. He took the cloth in both hands and slowly put it down in his lap. Slowly, he opened his eyes. He had to blink a few times, but he finally managed to open them all the way and what I saw was strange.

The white of Midnight's eyes were black and the colors of his eyes were a deep ruby red. The black only made the red more striking. I was frozen where I stood, awed by his eyes.

"Wow…" he said and I blinked, realizing he was talking about me. I looked down at what I was wearing. I was still in my X-Men uniform, but without all the yellow belts and pockets, so it was basically just a black, sleeveless suit that fit snug against my body.

"So much color," he muttered, standing up and poking my tan arm. I laughed.

"Are you kidding? I'm all in black! But, if you think that's amazing…" I walked back a few steps. "Watch this." It took a little longer than usual, but I managed to shift completely into my bear form. Midnight looked directly at me, since we were now about the same height, like a kid who just found a toy airplane he wanted to try.

"Whoooaah!!" He slowly took my large, furry arm and held my paw with both of his hands, stroking it. "This is so cool… I thought it was amazing before, but seeing it with my own eyes…seeing your fur… You're amazing, Lex…"

I felt like blushing and scratched behind an ear. "Nah," my gruff, lower voice said and that made Midnight laugh. It was even rarer to hear him laugh than Shannon.

"Say something else!" he urged, and I thought about it before finally deciding on something.

"Siegfried," for some reason all my "R"s were followed up by a low growl, making them sound more powerful or threatening than they were supposed to be, "you are the most amazing person I have ever met and value the fact that I can call you friend." I closed my eyes and smiled, which must have looked awfully funny on a bear's face, but Midnight didn't laugh. In fact, he looked dumb struck.

"What's wrong?" I asked, concerned.

"…You call my by my first name and…and then say such beautiful words…and you expect me to take them easily?" He sat down, his mouth still slightly open. "It's been so long…since the last time anyone's ever said anything so special to me. Shannon and I say we love each other all the time, but being acknowledged by you in this way…" He looked up at me with an almost puzzled expression. "It's different…but it's a nice kind of different." I almost felt like frowning. Midnight had such a hard past. Sometimes it really got to me why such a nice guy like him had to have had it so hard. It must have made compliments one of the greatest things in the world. Sometimes it was like he was a kid. It was just too easy to make him happy.

I sat back on the concrete, slowly shifting back in my human form, and crossed my legs in the Indian position. I pat the space next to me to allow Midnight to sit there before staring up at the stars.

"We've both had hard pasts, haven't we, Siegfried?" I asked, still staring up at the stars. He didn't respond, but I knew he was listening. "The hard times…well they were hard, and I'm sure we have plenty waiting for us in the future, but knowing there are also times like this waiting for us… It kind of makes facing the challenges worth it, y'know?"

I heard him sigh and I looked towards him. "I'm sorry, did I go all philosophical on you again?" I chuckled. He shook his head and smiled.

"You're very mature, Lex," he stated. I frowned slightly.

"I wouldn't say that. Just...very observant." He laughed and then I looked towards the ground, a serious look on my face.

"Ever since my wife left me, and I lost Shannon," Midnight started. "All the happiness in my life just seemed to be sucked away, as if nothing was important anymore. It was only weeks, but those weeks felt like years to me. Everything was just in grey. There was no color in my life, no happiness, nothing. I thought that I would never be able to feel happiness again." He turned to me and smiled. I still couldn't get over how red his eyes were. "Then I met you and saw how optimistic you always were despite your dark past and it made me realize something, that we could make our own happiness. It's thanks to you that I'm even talking at all today."

I blushed slightly and scratched my head. "Awe, I wouldn't say it was all me, but I did notice how sad you were when you first arrived at the institute and I made it a point to try and cheer you up. I felt as though you were a nice person if someone got to know you, and look how right I was." I smiled for a time and we both kept staring at the stars before a thought struck me.

"You know what else I noticed?" He looked towards me.

"Shadowcat's still missing."

Midnight nodded. "I talked to Storm about it when we got back, she said she knows where she is, but she doesn't want to send a whole party like last time. She needs it to be done quick and without any risk of casualties, so I volunteered to go." Before I even got a chance to ask why he explained.

"I'm very powerful, Lex. Much more powerful than any of you guys know. I'll be able to handle myself."

I jumped off my seat and stood up. "Either way, I'm going with you!" I exclaimed. He blinked, surprised. "I know you're powerful, Siegfried, real powerful, maybe frighteningly so, but you need someone there who can defend you in case something goes wrong. I can be your shield!" He looked skeptical and I got on my knees in front of him. "Please Siegfried, let me do this. I want to help you, and Kitty's one of my friends, I have to do this…" Another shocked expression, but he finally chuckled.

"Alright. I'll ask Storm tomorrow if you can come, but if she disagrees I'm not standing up for you!" I grinned and hugged him tightly before sitting back down on the bench.

"I'm sure she'll let me!" I stated optimistically. "And besides, if we work together we're invincible!" I nearly cheered, but made sure not to yell too loudly in case I would wake someone up in the institute. Midnight laughed, his rare genuine laugh, and then ruffled me hair a little bit.

"But you need to get your sleep if you even hope to be of use to me." I quickly jumped back up.

"You're right!! I should get going anyways, Shannon probably thinks I ditched her." I hugged Midnight one more time and he hugged back, starting to put on his blindfold again. I waved as I ran, even though he may not have seen it. "See you tomorrow, Midnight! Remember, talk to Storm!" and like that I was back inside, sprinted to my room, and before Shannon got a chance to ask what I did I threw myself into bed and told her to sing me to sleep again.

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The mission the next day was actually rather easy. The layout for where they held Shadowcat was much like where they held us, except she was kept in a sort of glass tube where she was kept asleep. If she was awake she could easily escape out of there. Midnight was right about his powers too, I barely even had to do anything as swarms of fists and shadows engulfed and destroyed every sentinel and soldier in our way, although what soldiers were doing guarding Shadowcat was beyond me.

We had just escaped the facility and everything seemed to be going well. I was carrying Shadowcat in my bear form, her body slung over my shoulder since she was still in a very deep sleep, but then something shined in my eyes. It was only for a second, but it was enough to blind me. I had to stop and rub at my eyes.

"Lex?" Midnight asked, stopping as soon as he heard me stop moving which was pretty easy to do considering my size and weight. "Lex, what's wrong?"

"I don't know…something shined in my eyes…" I opened my eyes again, but this time the light clearly shot into them, completely blinding and stinging them.

"Argh!!" I groaned, laying down Shadowcat onto the ground as I covered my eyes.

"Lex!! What happened?" Midnight asked, panicked. He knelt beside me, hovering his hand over me, inspecting my condition with the shadow his arm cast. "You don't seem physically hurt."

"It's…this light," I groaned, my eyes still burning. "It keeps shining in my eyes and it stings… I'm sorry, Midnight, but I can't see…"

"Midnight?" a soothing, female voice asked. "Is that your name now?" I heard Midnight gasp, but I couldn't see anything so I grabbed his hand.

"Midnight, what's wrong? What is it?"

"Yes, Midnight, what's wrong?" the female voice asked. Although she sounded very serene, her voice had a mocking tone to it. "Don't you recognize me? Oh wait…you can't see me, can you?"

"This can't be…" Midnight muttered.

"Midnight?" I calling. My hand let go of him as he stood up. "She sounds like she knows you, Midnight, who is it?"

"No need, Midnight, I can do it." I heard her footsteps come closer to us and the light in front of me began to seep through my eyelids so I had to cover them with my paw. I felt her face not too far from my own.

"My name is Candace. Candace Clarence." The last name was what made me gasp.

"No…" I muttered and I called for Midnight again. "Midnight, is she telling the truth?"

"Yes," Midnight said, almost disgusted. "I can't see her, but it's her voice… It's Candace…my ex-wife…"

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Quite the long chapter, I know… I was planning on ending it sooner, but I decided that ending it like this would be a nice touch, maybe get me more reviews. :3