Disclaimer: Marvel Entertainment owns everything, with the exception of Cat who is my own creation. This is a work of fanfic, no copyright infringement intended. Sorry forgot to put this on Chapter 2.
Chapter 3: Meeting Everybody.
Moria MacTarggert made her way down to breakfast early, but she was not the first one. Cat was already up, putting the kettle on and shoving bread in the toaster.
"Last to bed, first up!" Moria observed coolly.
"So I'm the tweeny." Cat joked, laughing. Moria did not laugh, despite been one of a handful of people at the institute who would have understood the joke.
"What time did you get to bed last night?" she enquired. Cat shrugged.
"Two or three. I'm not sure; you'll have to ask Mystique."
"And it's now" Moria glanced at the clock. "Seven o'clock and you've been up for…?"
"'Bout half an hour." Cat replied. She shrugged. "I'm alright, I've lasted on less."
Moria might have said more, but a distraction was provided at that moment by the entrance of Sabretooth with Kyle.
"You should be in bed!" Cat said sternly. "If Michael catches you up-"
"Quit fussin' will ya! I'm fine." Sabretooth replied, sinking into the chair nearest them. Kyle was attached to Sabretooth by a collar and chain that was secured to Sabretooth's wrist, sat like a dog next to him.
While Kyle, like Cat, Wolverine and Logan, had a healing factor and claws, his mutation was very different. It had been induced into him and possibly because of that it left him in an animistic state. That was the reason for the chain. Kyle was if possible more dangerous than Wolverine in a berserker rage as he couldn't always tell who was his friend and his enemy. The chain meant that he could be yanked back before he hurt anyone. Curiously the other three mutants, with claws and healing factor, had a connection with Kyle that no one else could understand and because of this he was no threat to them. However to those like Moria, who he now sat regarding with deep suspicion, he was dangerous.
Because of this Moria moved back a couple of steps and began making coffee.
"Really?" Cat continued. "Last night you had a fever of 180, could barely breathe, you were virtually blind and deaf, and were in agony. I know you have a healing factor but…" she turned around and saw, not for the first time, the pain in Sabretooth's eyes.
A year ago Sabretooth had escaped from Apocalypse, possible the most infamous mutant murderer, taking Kyle with him. In return for information about Apocalypse defences Sabretooth and Kyle had been pardoned. However it turned out that Sabretooth carried information that was more valuable and more deadly, than even he knew. Apocalypse, it seemed, had been developing a virus to eradiate ordinary human. He had, in fact, created the opposite. The SHIELD mutants who had been in contact with Sabretooth had died within twenty four hours, as had the mutant guinea pigs of Apocalypse. Sabretooth's healing factor was fighting it, but barely. From his white blood cell a vaccine had quickly been developed, but there was no cure. Sabretooth was dieing and he knew it.
Cat was spared an awkward moment by the toaster.
"Anyway" she said, reaching over, grabbing a couple of slices of toast and buttering it. "Now you're up, you might as well have a decent breakfast! Eat!" she said sliding the plate across, "and I don't want to see you feeding 90 of it to Kyle"
"He's a growing boy" Sabretooth observed.
"Ummm" Cat began, but she spared answering by the arrival of Dr Michael Twoyoungmen.
"You've been drinking!" Cat observed.
"Just a glass or two! Anyway" he continued defensively "can't a man celebrate the safe arrival of an heir for Wakanda?"
"She had it then," was Cat's only response.
Michael nodded. "A boy Evans T'Chaka, born at 6 am this morning weighing eight pounds, the son of Ororo and T'Challa."
Cat smiled softly. The 18 year old mutant queen of Wakanda had become pregnant with in a few months of her marriage and Cat knew that Michael had been over the moon to be asked to care for the mother and deliver the child.
"Difficult labour?" she asked.
"Have you ever tried delivering a baby in the middle of a hurricane?"
Cat might have replied, had not the Summers' brothers chosen that moment to make their entrance.
Scott and Alex Summers had being 8 and 6 when their parents were killed in a plane crash. Both had been taken to an orphanage run by Dr Nathan Essex, a.k.a Sinister. They had remained there till Scott was 12 and Alex was 10 when a routine SHIELD investigation had found Sinister, still wanted for crimes against humanity committed during World War II. Sinister had escaped, but his records had revealed his belief, now proved correct, that Scott and Alex were powerful mutants. This coupled with Sinister's indoctrination of his philosophies (hatred of non mutants and survival of the fittest), had led to them been taken to the institute.
Scott was now 18, tall with brown hair and eyes that were hidden behind ruby quartz lenses. When the plane had crashed Scott and Alex had been forced to jump out of the plane, with the only parachute. Damage that Scott had received to his brain as a result of the rough landing had left him with amnesia and unable to control his optic blasts. Despite this there was hope that he would be able to study engineering at one of the local colleges in the fall or apply to train as a pilot with SHIELD, but that was still very much in the air.
Alex however was tall, blonde and in the manner of all sixteen year olds out of portion. None of the local schools would accept students from the institute, so Alex was educated at home. His loves were not planes, like his brother, but sports and geophysics. Alex powers were similar to his brother's, but while Scott's blasts came out of his eyes, Alex's came from his hands,
Neither of them was dressed, so they merely grabbed bowls and cereal before sitting down as far away from Sabretooth as they could get.
A second later Jean Grey entered, clutching a doll. At the age of eight, Jean's best friend had been killed in a hit and run accident. The shock as the child witnessed it had caused her powers to develop. As the main one of these was telepathy (along with telekinesis and an undefined power, nicknamed the phoenix force) she had felt her friend die. The shock of this had sent her in to a coma for ten years. While she had recently awakened, she was still mentally eight. Scott adored her as Sinister had stated that they were destined to be together. Because of this Jean wandered over to sit beside Scott, who poured her some cereal.
The sound of pounding feet announced the arrival of the last long term patient, Feral. Feral, like Cat, Wolverine and Sabretooth was a survivor of the weapon X project. She had only been 16 when they got hold of her, and the experiments that they had preformed on her had forced her body into a semi animalistic state. She was slowly emerging from it. She now could use some basic language, stand, admittedly slightly uncertainly, on two legs and sort of feed herself. By that it meant that about 90 of the food ended up on her, her clothes and the walls. Because of this Cat handed the plate of toast for Kyle to Sabretooth and, picking up a bowl, made her way over to sit next to Feral, just as Wolverine and Mystique entered.
"Mmm Mystique?" Moria asked.
"Yeah?" Mystique replied, pouring herself a cup of coffee.
"What time did Cat and Logan get to bed last night?"
"About two thirty" Mystique replied sinking into a chair. "They were late back after settling the new patient."
"New Patient!"
Everyone turned to look at Cat and Wolverine, including Feral who spilt a large quantity of her breakfast over herself and Cat.
The telephone chose that moment to ring and Wolverine escaped to answer it.
"Coward!" Cat muttered at Wolverine's retreating back. "Yes! Yes! We do have a new patient" she continued, grabbing a handful of kitchen towel and wiping herself and Feral down. "He arrived last night. He's SHIELD's responsibility and he'll be staying with us for a few days so Be Nice!" she turned her attention to Michael. "He's got some bruises that Fury's concerned about."
"Yeah Sharman," Wolverine said entering, "so you'd best knock up some Mumbo jumbo and sober up fast. Fury wants a report by noon."