Okay. I don't know how this chapter's going to go to be precise; I'm going to let it pick its own pace and follow its own path so please don't shoot me.
Actually, I've noticed that, what little I've got of this chapter down on paper, I've changed the POV for this. It's Hank's perspective, obviously, but it's different to the other chapters. I hope that doesn't put anyone off really.
Also, just to shout out about this; the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred in 62 around October... so that's the date I'm using for this; I do wish First Class had given us an actual timeline to work with instead of making people rely on their history knowledge -_-
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THE AFTERMATH: The Boys have feelings too
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HANK:
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Video Log #4820
Entry Date: 21/10/62
Location: Classified
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Recording...
Sitting on a stool in front of the video recorder, a small prototype object that he'd managed to cobble together based on some of the notes he still had with him, he looked at the screen and composed himself. Taking a deep breath he blinked a couple of times before beginning:
"I don't know what to say this time around. I always have something to say normally...
So much has happened since my last entry, it feels unreal; not that it didn't before of course just... it feel really unreal now."
He paused and frowned as he tried to think of how best to start, what he could say, how he could say it, what he should say first. Tapping his fingers on his knee he gave a little nod before continuing with his words, quiet and aged.
"We stopped Shaw. That's probably the biggest thing really... actually no, no it isn't. We found the Professor, then we stopped Shaw. We only saw him in his suit really, except in the jet when he was not you know, solid or anything, but... oh God.. I can't imagine what Shaw did to him."
He paused again and looked away from the screen, picking the hem of the lab coat he's wearing. Slowly he looked back at the camera and continued, his voice strained and tired but his eyes are filled with wisdom and sadness.
"He has nightmare's most nights, the Professor. The other's don't really notice but I do, I notice more than they think I do really. Magneto, Erik, Magneto notices as well though. Sometimes, a lot of the time actually, I'll hear something... a laugh o-or crying but when I look around me there's nothing there. It's creepy... and then I feel the pain.
It's pain I've never known, a pain I didn't even thought could exist... and then the Professor's screaming for Erik and I think I'm screaming for Erik too... I feel like I'm being burned alive, every part of me is being eroded by incomparable heat and. And then it stops."
The speaker shivers as he looks at the camera, his face filled with vulnerability and sadness. A too young face with too old a set of feelings. He took a deep, shuddering breath as he tried to steady himself before continuing.
"It makes me feel like I've just died.
"I know I should tell him, the Professor, what he's doing but it'll hurt him. More than the nightmares already do because we're his charges, his family, his team and he's meant to protect and guide us. If I told him that everytime he dreams and, if I'm still awake, I can feel myself burning as he relives what's probably one the worst moments in his life..
Magneto already has problems getting the Professor to dine with us in the evening, if I told him I think it'd send him over the edge."
The speaker sighed tiredly and the camera records him running a hand through his coloured hair. He looks tired, ragged and stressed out by everything they've been dealing with as of late.
"Raven's worried for him, Alex is being even more of an ass than usual, Sean's trying to keep the peace with Angel and the others, Magneto's only able to do so much to keep us calm and look after the Professor...
We're falling apart and we need Charles Xavier back, we need our Professor X, our leader if we're going to survive whatever the world's going to throw at us now."
Hank slowly looked directly in the video camera and he sighed. "End of Video Log." He muttered as he stopped the recorder and the screen faded to black.
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SEAN:
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Sean sat down heavily and rested his arms on the marble counter-top. His eyes were red and bloodshot, and contrary to what everyone believed it wasn't due to the bud he'd been smoking. He was tired. No, correction. He was exhausted. For the last month or so he'd been having an awful time trying to sleep, and he couldn't blame anyone but himself.
Well, that's technically not true, he could blame it on the professor because Sean's mind was normally pretty level anyway, even if he acted to the contrary at times. His mom had often said he was immaturely mature; whatever she meant by that. But, the point was, he couldn't blame the professor – even if it was technically Charles' dreams bleeding into his own – because the professor was recovering and didn't need any additional blame.
And then there was the fact that Erik, Magneto, had used their latest work-out session to remind them of the professor's need for them to be 'supportive'. And of course, just to reaffirm the 'reminder' Erik had then proceeded to kick their arses into the middle of next week. Needless to say, Sean wasn't going to go and complain about anything right now; he literally valued his existence.
Besides, the professor's nightmare's weren't the only reason for his problematic sleeping. They had all been on edge and, even though Shaw was dead – it turned out that the missiles had hit the man full-on and he hadn't been able to absorb the energy so it was 'bye, bye Shaw, from Russia and America with fear and love' – there was still the possibility of action on the government's part. And so Sean had been working extra hard; training more than usual, strengthening his screaming and the duration of them, and keeping an eye on Moira.
Moira...
She was a problem, in several ways really. Erik didn't like her. Hank avoided her because she was unnerved by his new look. Raven was weary of her but polite whenever she asked a question. Charles disappeared whenever she was around; though the professor did that with everyone else as well, so it was nothing unusual. Alex was a mix between Raven and Hank, he avoided her if he could but was polite with her whenever he couldn't. And so, it fell to Sean to babysit her and keep an eye on her movement's. It was... annoying. And upsetting for him as well.
Moira was nice. But she was human, she wasn't a mutant – or at least, not like the rest of them were. So all she would ever really be, especially because she was CIA, was a threat to them. Sean knew that the professor understood this, and he guessed that was one of the reasons why Charles avoided her, but Sean also knew that Erik understood the fact too. And Erik wasn't as nice as Charles about threats to them; in fact, from what Sean had already seen, Erik would probably have already killed Moira and disposed of her body if it weren't for the facts that Charles wouldn't like it, and he'd be going against his newfound philosophy.
And that was another thing that stumped Sean. Magneto was all for "mutant and proud" and "we are the next stage of evolution" but Erik wasn't. Erik was different now. There was no 'Magneto' it was just 'Erik', and though Sean hadn't seen Erik and the professor meet for the first time, he had a feeling that Erik had been 'Magneto' for a very long time. It confused him a little and kind of unnerved him, because the professor had had something to do with such a massive change in Erik's philosophy that his entire mind-set seemed to have changed. Oh sure, he was still 'huggles mc-gruff' and 'if you touch me without permission I'll dig your heart out of your chest using a spoon' and stuff, but he was more... more human really.
They all were at the end of the day. Human. They looked like other people – even Hank because he had two arms, two legs, two eyes, a mouth, nose and so on; the blue fur and yellow eyes were what made him look so different – and they felt, thought and acted like other people. Whenever Raven, Mystique, was angry she ranted. Whenever Alex was upset he went to play foosball or snooker, or he went and sat alone and read something from the library. Whenever Hank was feeling offended, he puffed his chest, his eyes dimmed a little and he disappeared to his safe-place; his lab. Whenever Erik was happy, he smiled and laughed and was genuinely at peace with himself.
They all thought the same about certain things; Canadian hockey, American Football – though the professor really hated calling it football amusingly enough. And they all lived in a society where those who were different were either shunned, hated, hunted or feared.
They shunned people, the feared other people, they hunted others. They were just as human as Moira. Just as flawed.
And no-one could argue that they didn't fear other people because Sean knew, he knew, that they all feared the professor a little. How could they not? The man was a telepath who could read your mind, make you forget, and make you relive the darkest moments of your life. If you didn't fear him then you were beyond stupid, especially considering they'd all grown up in a world, a society, that talked about people having the right to privacy, to free will and so on. And he's a man who can take it all away from them with a thought.
Sean sighed and lifted his head off the counter-top as his sensitive hearing picked up the sound of footfalls; a side-effect of his screaming for some absurd reason was that his hearing had improved dramatically, it was useful at times. He blinked in surprise as he recognised the footfalls as those of the professor's and quickly schooled his face and tried to calm his mind; but, like when you told someone not to look down on a rope bridge, he found that his thoughts became louder and he cursed. It was like he was begging for his mind to be read.
"Maybe you are Sean." Charles said lightly as he stepped into Sean's sight. He looked tired and drawn, not haggard per say but not far off, and Sean couldn't help but frown. The professor didn't suit that look, and he suited it even less because Sean knew that Charles didn't give up.
People thought Sean didn't see, but the thing was. Sean saw as much as Charles did, using his eyes, and though he didn't understand everything he saw, he did understand that what you could see on the outside wasn't what was always going on, on the inside.
"Say what's on your mind Sean, you obviously need someone to talk things through with." Charles said kindly, warmly, like a parent waiting patiently for their child to explain their problem. It made Sean wonder just how old Charles really was; not physically but mentally.
"So do you." Sean replied without thinking and he repressed the urge to kick himself because he was just a kid to the professor, he wasn't anyone to talk to about stuff. But, he was right, the professor needed someone to talk to and so he offered.
Charles froze for a moment as he stared at Sean, his smile stuck on his face as his eyes flickered with something that Sean couldn't identify. As quickly as Charles froze Sean observed how the professor suddenly started back up again, his smile changing to something different and his eyes filling with false calm; it was unnerving.
"I have Erik." Charles said softly, his gentle tone a contrast with the rigidity of his smile and the false calm. Sean didn't like it one bit. No-one should hide their emotions after they've gone through something like the professor has. It's just not normal...
"Sean." Charles sighed, his face softening and his smile becoming more real. "I won't lie to you and say that what has transpired hasn't affected me, because it most definitely has, and I won't patronise you because you are not a child; even if I do still consider you as such." Charles continued, looking directly at Sean who tried to not squirm at the intense scrutiny and emotional-undercurrent in Charles' words. "But. That being said, I won't discuss my time with Shaw with you because I have chosen to confide in Erik."
Sean couldn't help but nod silently as he understood what the professor was saying "you're too young in my eyes and I don't want to put more upon your shoulders than is already there, so please don't make me" and so Sean didn't, wouldn't, force Charles to do something he didn't want to. He owed the man too much and he respected him far more than the other's assumed he did.
"Okay." Sean said quietly and he couldn't help but think, 'As long as you're talking to someone', and Charles smiled at him as he realised that he'd projected the thought. "Just answer one thing for me professor." He added, looking back at Charles who nodded slowly. "Did you know how strong you really were? Back on the beach."
"I..." Charles blinked in surprise and he tensed slightly. This wasn't a question he'd been expecting anyone to ask him, not even Raven; only Erik had been the one to call him on it and he'd hoped that no-one would question him about it again. Evidently, hoping counted for nothing nowadays.
Looking at Sean, a boy in Charles' eyes, but a boy who'd willingly agreed to fight a war against a maniac, a boy who'd been injured in said war and Charles realised with a sad and sharp stab to his heart, that Sean wasn't a child, he was a man and deserved to be treated as such.
"To some degree." Charles answered slowly, watching Sean's reaction warily. "I knew I was powerful as certain experiences in my past have provided me with some inkling of my ability." Sean frowned as the ghost of old pain flittered across the professor's face. "For reasons I won't go into, I locked away a portion of my power and it would have remained locked away if it hadn't been for Shaw..."
Sean was silent as he stared at the professor, the man who'd helped him learn to control his power, and he couldn't help but think that Charles was a bit of a hypocrite. No... not a hypocrite exactly. He didn't exactly understand the professor's power but, from the little he'd managed to take in from Hank's talks about their abilities, telepathy was pretty difficult to control and Sean couldn't help but wonder if the professor had cut off his power because he hadn't been able to handle it. Afterall, from what Raven had mentioned, Charles had developed his telepathy when he'd been young, like just hitting puberty kind of young. It would stand to reason that, because he was so powerful, his younger self had been so scared of his power, that he'd locked most of it away in order to function. Sean didn't know exactly, but he knew enough about Charles Xavier to guess he was right.
"So, basically." Sean started slowly, tapping his fingers lightly on the counter top. "You were a kid and something happened to freak you out, so you put a cap on your power. And then Shaw took the cap off?"
Charles couldn't help but smile in amusement at how Sean managed to condense his explanation so excellently. Nodding slightly Charles said. "In essence yes." His eyes sparked with warmth at the fact that Sean wasn't afraid of him, even though the boy, man, was wondering if he'd put the 'cap' back on.
"I'm afraid to admit that I don't know how to replace the cap." Charles answered the unasked question and Sean raised an eyebrow. "Sorry. Everyone's thoughts are louder than I'm used to." Charles added as he looked apologetically at Sean.
"No problem man. I keep breaking windows everytime I laugh, I have no higher ground to judge you on." Sean shook he head at Charles' apology. "None of us do really. You are what you are, we shouldn't tell you to be anything different."
"Just because you shouldn't doesn't mean you don't, Sean." Charles pointed out, frowning a little as he wondered what Sean was trying to say. "And you seem to be forgetting that my power differs greatly to everyone else's." Charles added with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm not forgetting anything." Sean countered as he scratched his cheek. "I know you're power's really against a person's privacy and all that, but so is Raven's really." Sean added and he elaborated as Charles frowned. "You can read a person's thoughts yeah, that's really creepy and invasive. But Raven becomes another person. She takes on their face, their looks, their everything. I'll admit that I find it weird that you can know everything about me without me ever having to tell you anything, but I find it even weirder to look at myself without a mirror."
Charles' face showed his surprise and Sean sighed as he tried to explain what he was trying to say better. "Dude. Raven says 'mutant and proud' but it seems to depend on the mutation. Magneto, Erik, thinks we're Gods and Hank's now a blue fuzzball. Alex can blow a hole in the walls the size of Washington and I can make a guys ear drums burst. We're all mutants and, thanks to you, we're all proud of who we are. It's because you've encouraged us, knowing just what to say and how to say it, that we're so comfortable in our own skins. Even Hank."
Charles blinked in surprise, unable to fully comprehend Sean's words and his implications. Sean didn't allow him to open his mouth to say anything as the younger man continued. "You've read our minds, big deal, Raven's copied my skin and Hank's ended up looking like Raven – blue skin, yellow eyes and all – and then Alex is trying to act like Erik more. We're all copying each other, but we all try to copy you because you're the one person who doesn't seem to be proud of his ability. You act like you're fine with it, like you're okay with us telling you to stay out of our heads but you're not. Are you?"
"I..." Charles couldn't find anything to say, what could he say exactly? He couldn't agree with Sean because that would make this even more complicated. But he couldn't disagree because Sean was right. Everything he'd said was true. And it made Charles wonder how he'd ever thought of Sean as a child when the young man was clearly a lot more perceptive than he ever let on.
"I've seen Erik carrying around something metal, all the time, and I've seen Alex wondering around searching for bottles of water. Raven has a thing for yellow objects and Hank likes to have wide-spaces around him. I hate it when I lose my voice because I feel like I've lost a part of myself." Sean continued as he stared directly at Charles, and a part of him was screaming at him to just shut up because the professor didn't need to be lectured by a kid. But Sean wasn't a kid and someone needed to tell Charles who wasn't Raven or Erik. And so, the duty fell to him.
"That helmet Shaw wore blocked out telepaths. If you'd worn it, it would have stopped your ability. You read minds like we all breathe, like Erik likes metal and Alex enjoys staring at fires. It's a part of you and you've accepted all of our needs, all of our abilities; even if they could potentially kill you. But we haven't done the same for you, and you've let yourself believe that we have every right to tell you to hold your breath." Sean said quietly, his voice growing softer and more sad as he continued, as he realised that they'd been starving Charles and the professor had been accepting the malnourishment without complaint. It made him feel sick.
"Sean." Charles began, his voice low and trembling slightly, like he was having trouble trying to get his words out and stop himself from crying. Sean supposed he really was trying not to cry. "I don't know... I..." He swallowed and, after a long moment of tense silence, Charles lowered his gaze to the counter top and said, softly. "I can't disagree with anything you've said."
"I know." Sean replied quietly as he slowly stood up. "And you shouldn't have to because we've had no right to hurt you when all you've done is helped us and accepted us as we are." Swallowing thickly, Sean blinked rapidly as he realised that he was beginning to cry. "Good night professor."
"Good night Sean." Charles whispered gently, his words echoing around the kitchen, and in Sean's mind as the young man realised that Charles had projected the words as well as spoken them aloud. It made Sean feel a little better about everything.
'You should get some sleep professor, you look like an old man', Sean thought at the professor who looked up at him in surprise. He held Charles' gaze as the professor smiled at him, his features softening and looking the most-natural Sean had ever seen them.
'Thank you Sean', Charles projected as Sean nodded at him and left the kitchen, silently heading towards his own bedroom and just as he began to ascend the staircase Sean heard a gentle voice whisper in his mind, 'Have a good sleep.'
'I will professor, I will', Sean thought back and a part of him, the quiet and happy part of him that was now starting to grow, whispered to him and made him believe that he really would have a good night's sleep. He smiled as he closed his bedroom door as he realised that Charles wouldn't be projecting his nightmare's anymore.
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ALEX:
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Sitting in the library, ignoring the way the snow glittered on the window panes, Alex tried to calm himself down enough to stop the pulses of heat running along his hands and singing the magazine in his hand. He'd long-since given up trying to hold one of the thick volumes after he'd turned one of them to ash; and he was so going to tell the professor that he would replace it – even if it was a 17th century original novel and likely cost more than the money his family had ever amassed in their entire history.
The was little Alex could do to calm himself besides breathe deeply, but that only worked so well – which was a great pity because he seriously needed to calm down and fast. It hadn't been anyone's fault really, the reason why he was so angry was because of himself, because of what had been happening and he hadn't even been aware of it. Oh sure, he could argue that he'd had no idea – and for the most part he could get away with that – but there were times in Alex's life when he couldn't shrug off the responsibility for his actions. And now was one of those times.
He growled in frustration as he continued to try and read the magazine only to make it curl and blacken as a burst of energy shot down his hands and melted the magazine. Crying out in surprise Alex threw the magazine away from him, letting it land on the polished wooden flooring and shrivel up in a blackened mess. Staring at his hands, his emotions flitting from anger and frustration to surprise and confusion, Alex found himself wondering if his mutation was changing because last time he checked he never used to be able to melt things with his hands.
And that was how Charles found him, nearly two hours after Alex had blown away a sizeable chunk of the surrounding trees during his temper tantrum, sitting there, staring at his hands as though they could answer all his questions.
Carefully levering himself into the chair opposite the blonde boy, Charles observed how Alex seemed to be completely fascinated by his hands. "If you're looking for the answer to the universe and everything then I already know it." He said casually and Alex's head shot up as his eyes locked with Charles' own. "It's 42."
"Huh?" Alex said, realising after he said it that it was the stupidest response he'd given to date.
Charles smiled as Alex shot him a frustrated glare and Charles' face morphed into a concerned, paternal look that made Alex want to squirm in his chair. "What's wrong Alex?" Charles asked, worry and concern present in his voice and only tempered by the warmth and affection that Alex could hear loud-and-clear.
"Nothing." Alex bit out as he looked away from Charles' face and over at one of the many book cases lining the walls of the library.
"Really?" Charles said, sarcasm littering the word, and Alex repressed the urge to glare at Charles. The professor was just trying to help, and that was the problem really. "Then why is it that your body language indicates otherwise?" Charles continued, his words low but the challenge was there for Alex to hear; subtle and refined and a part of Alex found that the respect he felt for the professor increased because, to be that subtle with just words took some skill.
"It's not important." Alex tried to say, tried to reaffirm the fact that it wasn't important, that it wasn't, wasn't, that what he was so angry about meant nothing. But the words sounded forced and false even to his own ears, and judging from the professor's raised eyebrow, it sounded forced and false to Charles too.
Charles didn't say anything, just stared at Alex in absolute silence and the tension, the apprehension and the anticipation of a break-down increased with each second until Alex couldn't stand the silence anymore and he cracked.
"Sean mentioned something to me." Alex said quietly, refusing to look at Charles' face.
"Ah." Charles breathed out lightly, and Alex looked up at him because that single sound was so loaded that only an idiot wouldn't notice it. Frowning at the professor, Alex waited for the him to elaborate but it seemed that Charles had only been acknowledging his statement and not deciding to add to it. So Alex decided to explain what he meant, though he was sure the professor already knew.
"He said that we'd been unfair to you." Alex continued, watching Charles' face and his reactions closely. "He told us that we were suffocating you, drowning you, because we didn't want you to read our thoughts." And Alex's face paled as he watched Charles tense. 'Oh God', he thought, 'Sean was right...'
"Alex." Charles began but the blonde stood up abruptly and he couldn't help the instinctive flinch at the sudden movement.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Alex asked, no begged, and Charles' face paled as Alex shook his head. "You... why... we've been hurting you all this time and you-"
"No." Charles said forcefully as he stood up and moved so that he was standing directly in front of Alex. "You haven't hurt me Alex. None of you have." Charles continued, as he stared intensely at Alex. "I would not lie about that fact Alex. Yes, it has been difficult for me to not read your minds for such a length of times, but it hasn't hurt me like you think it has."
Alex stared at Charles, unable to speak as his throat constricted around any words he tried to choke out. His mind however was whizzing about, every neuron active as his thoughts screamed out. And one in particular, constantly on repeat, made him want to throw up, 'We're no better than Shaw.'
"Alex." Charles said forcefully, anger seeping into his tone for the first time, and Alex blinked at it. "You are nothing like Shaw." He said, his words so strong and the emotion behind them so powerful that some of it seeped into Alex's bones and he felt his knees weaken at the sheer strength of it.
"I..." Alex didn't know what to say to the man standing in front of him, this man who he saw as a father. He felt like a child that Charles was constantly looking after. Alex felt loved for the first time in his life, loved by someone who genuinely cared for him and it shook him to his core because he knew that, even though Charles said it didn't, asking the professor to not read his mind had caused him a great deal pain. Maybe not physically but emotionally. They'd rejected a part of Charles when all he'd ever done was accept them for what, who, they were.
"Alex." Charles said, his voice soft and gentler now, and Alex found himself calming in a way he'd never calmed before. There was no blowing things up, no solitary confinement, no curling up with a book under the covers well into the night as he just tried to calm down. There was only silence. Silence and serenity. "You're right. Whenever any of you ask me to not read your thoughts it does make me resent my mutation, but I assure you that it has never hurt me on the scale you believe it has. Other things in my life have already done that I'm afraid."
Other things... Alex frowned, a small spark of anger growing in his gut as he couldn't help but wonder what had happened to the professor to make him already feel so lowly about his own power. As soon as the spark jumped into existence it was soothed with a gentle caress and the calm washed over him again. He found it strange and unnerving but he also found it welcoming.
"Are you calming me down?" Alex asked, his words low and quiet, calm and more level than he'd ever felt before. He studied how Charles' eyes flickered with a smatter of emotions as the professor hesitated in answering.
"Yes." Charles answered slowly. "Do you wish me to stop?" He continued as he looked at Alex, and the blonde realised with a jolt that here was his chance to absolve himself of his guilt over the past. The professor was offering him a choice between saying 'yes' and saying 'no' and he knew that Charles wouldn't judge him for it. Charles never would because he'd already concluded that he didn't have any right to control a person's thoughts or emotions, to calm them or anger them, to stop or start their minds. Even though his power meant he did, just like Alex had the right to make rings of plasma and shoot them at people who threatened him.
It was odd really. Alex and Charles weren't as different as he'd always assumed. It was true that he'd always found himself able to relate to Erik more than the professor but, when Alex stopped to think about it, he was startled by the realisation that their powers were destructive if they didn't have control. Oh, everyone else obviously had scary powers when they lost control but for the most part they were nothing compared to Alex's or Charles' abilities. If Erik lost his temper in the middle of the desert, where's there was no metal, no real harm would come of anyone – though, that wasn't strictly true because Erik had hunted Nazi's for God's sake. If people were wearing ear mufflers then their hearing would be fine. Raven and Hank were the only two who's abilities couldn't outright cause direct deaths; kind of.
But he and Charles could cause real devastation no matter where they were. If Alex was in the middle of the ocean he could do damage to the habitats of sea animals. If he was in a crowded city, he could level city blocks and kill hundreds of people. If he was in the middle of the desert he could turn the sand to glass. If Charles was in the middle of a crowded city he could stop everyone. If he was in the middle of the desert he could stop the sand from moving.
Their powers were two of the greatest and most destructive, and Alex had learnt the hard way just how deadly he could be. And it made him wonder if Charles had learnt the hard way too.
"No." Alex replied as he smiled a smooth, calm and completely relaxed smile. "You shouldn't have to ask me to read my mind. It's a part of you and we've been a bunch of idiots to try and ignore it." He continued and he couldn't help but laugh at Charles' surprised face. The professor had honestly thought he would say 'yes'.
He'd never try to suppress another person's mutation ever again; intentionally or otherwise. Least of all the mutation of Charles Xavier.
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Jesus Christ! I've finally finished this God-awful chapter!
It's taken me DAYS to get through it. I have no idea why it's took me so long but I am so glad that it's finally over. *falls face-first onto desk in exhaustion*
Now, I'm not entirely certain but, to me at least, this kind of feels like the last chapter or close to the last chapter... it's likely I'll do one more and then an epilogue or something like that. *shrugs*
Anyway! People, I'm so very sorry it's took me this long to update; nearly a month after the last entry in fact, and I hope you'll forgive me *puppy dog eyes*
I'll try and sort this fic out super-fast *nods determinedly* so you can all bow down to it and revere it :p
Peace out kiddies.
Kasey