Chapter 3

Joel really hadn't considered what he would do if things went almost exactly right. He didn't think of all the people he might get to see again — and how young they would be. These were original members of the X-Men…

Fuck. He hadn't even considered the possibility of seeing both his parents alive and well. Why didn't he? Obviously they would be here too.

Now that he was here at the Institute, face-to-face with some of his childhood heroes, he found himself having to do a hell of a lot of improvising — all while his head was threatening to split in two. He could barely concentrate on getting the words out.

He was going to pass out again, he could feel it.

At least he had three extra years to prepare them for what was coming. It could've been worse — he could've traveled to a date that was three years too late.

"Let me tell them, please," Joel said to Dr. McCoy, gesturing vaguely at the iPad between the beastly mutant's furry hands.

"I understand," Dr. McCoy replied with a nod.

It was all too much for his body and his mind. After struggling for so many minutes, he finally collapsed onto his pillow and shut his eyes against the bright fluorescent lights. It fucking hurt, so much so that he could barely focus on the hum of the air conditioning unit or the beeping of the monitors. The voices around him were growing fainter and more distant…

Was any of it even real… or was he dreaming?

"I really don't feel well…"

Those were his last words for a long time.

Joel woke up completely disoriented.

His mouth was as dry as sandpaper. The bright lights and sterile smell were overwhelming. It took almost a full ten seconds for him to remember where he was — when he was. Then he recalled speaking to Xavier and the rest of them.

Shit! How long was he out for?

He sat up in bed, his head still throbbing, and looked around at the empty medical bay. There were no windows so he couldn't really tell the time of day.

He pushed the blankets away and gripped the IV drip for stability, then he attempted to get to his feet.

His legs were like jello; they completely gave out underneath him and he ended up falling flat on his face.

"For fuck's sake!" he swore loudly, cheek pressed into the white tiled floor.

He rolled onto his back and was suddenly face-to-face with—aw shit, it just had to be her.

"Are you okay?" Kitty asked softly, crouching down next to him.

"I'm fine," Joel said quickly and then swore under his breath. He didn't mean to come off so icy and terse. He also didn't mean to reject her when she tried to help him back to his feet, and yet he did. Why?

She only meant to help him.

He forced himself to look at her again to gauge her expression. It hadn't changed much; if she was upset with him she was hiding it very well. He couldn't even tell whether or not she knew.

He hoped she didn't…

In fact, if he could've had it his way, he would've kept the truth from all of them for as long as possible. He knew that wasn't going to happen the moment Dr. McCoy admitted to running a DNA test on him.

His parentage would come out soon enough — if it hadn't already — and then things would be all kinds of awkward.

"How long was I unconscious for?" he asked, pushing the thought of his parents all the way at the back of his mind. They weren't his parents yet; they were just two complete strangers that had no memory of his existence for another four and a half years.

"All day," Kitty replied. "It's almost 9PM. Time travel really did a number on you."

"So you believe me," he said.

"Yes," she nodded once. "Hank says the tech you were wearing isn't from this time. We're at least a decade or two away from even conceptualizing anything like it. Mind you, there wasn't much left to look at… most of it was pretty much obliterated… I'm guessing that's how you managed to get here…?" she added with genuine curiosity, following him back to the bed.

Joel sat down, accepting that he was still too weak to move around. He definitely wasn't going to attempt any teleporting.

"That, yeah, and my powers," Joel told her.

"You can travel through time?" Kitty asked excitedly.

"Well, no, not normally," he corrected. "I can move from one place to another. The device was designed to help me move across time as well, but it was—uh—honestly, we weren't even sure if it was going to work."

"Oh," Kitty nodded, lowering her gaze toward the bedsheets and looking suddenly very pensive. "Kurt doesn't know about you."

Joel couldn't quite keep his composure when he heard his father's name. He winced slightly, and Kitty noticed right away.

She remained quiet for a while. She hesitated at first before speaking again, but he supposed curiosity and excitement was probably getting the better of her.

"You look like him," she offered a small smile. "You're… just a little less blue… but you look like him."

Joel didn't reply, suddenly very interested in the fresh bandages that were wrapped around his arm. The skin underneath was tight and a little itchy but otherwise it wasn't so bad. He'd been through worse fighting sentinels.

Hearing about his dad was ten times more painful than anything he'd ever experienced.

A lot of people used to tell him exactly the same thing when he was young and it always hurt like hell. His whole life, all he'd ever had to go off of were old photographs and other people's memories.

His dad was killed when his mother was still pregnant with him.

"I'm sorry," Kitty continued with a heavy sigh, probably reading the shift in his demeanor. "It's all a lot for you, I'm sure, you're probably still feeling overwhelmed…"

She trailed off awkwardly.

"Anyway. I just wanted to let you know you're doing really well. Dr. Reyes came by again while you were asleep and checked your burns. She's the one that patched you up when you first—uh—arrived. She'll probably be back again in a couple days. But… uh… I guess I'll let you rest now... The Professor will probably want to try and pick your brains again in the morning. Oh! If you need any pain medication you can just press that button over there."

"Okay. Thanks, Kitty," Joel replied.

"It's no problem," Kitty smiled at him.

He watched her dim the light above his cot and adjust some of the wires that were caught between his sheets. He could've told her then. He could've told her a dozen times as she walked away and phased right through the wall.

She was so quick to put two and two together when it came to his dad but she hadn't figured out how big of a role she also played in the story. She'd looked him right in the eyes and still couldn't tell that he was her son.

He just couldn't bring himself to tell her.