Chapter 2
"Okay, we're here." John said, stopping the car.
I got all my stuff and went into the house. As always I set my things down by the piano in the front room.
Since it was just about dinnertime, I got cleaned up after I went for my walk, and started helping with dinner.
"Stephanie, do you need any help with anything?" I asked walking into the kitchen.
"No, I'm alright. It's almost ready anyway." Stephanie said, grabbing a bowl from the fridge.
"Ah, come on, I can still help." I said, grabbing dishes to set the table.
We had a pretty normal night, and about eleven everyone went to bed, though I sat up trying to figure more about my powers.
I figured that I wasn't going to be doing anything much, and so I would just wait until I could talk to the Professor to learn more, since he knew a lot more about mutants actually existing.
Since I couldn't really sleep at night, then I stayed up till about three in the morning, and finally started to drift off to sleep, so I turned the TV off and went to sleep.
In my dreams, I kept getting hurt one way or other, and thinking 'If I had Logan's powers then I would be able to heal myself, and this wouldn't really matter.' The pain in my dreams felt real though.
It was about six-thirty or seven in the morning when my brother came out to get ready for work, and like usual I didn't notice since I was in such a deep sleep. Apparently something was different, or wrong, since I soon heard him running to get something, or someone, and soon after felt him shaking me, trying to wake me up.
"No," I mumbled, trying to turn over to my other side, "I want to sleep more. I don't want to go to seminary today, can I just stay home?" I mumbled after having been shaken more.
"Courtney! Courtney, can you hear me?" I heard John asking, shaking me more.
"Yeah, let me sleep. I'll get up soon and help then." I mumbled back to him, glad that he had taken me from the pain in my dreams, but upset that he had woken me up so I couldn't see what came next, and starting to get mad at him for making me hurt outside of my dreams as well.
"Stephanie, we need to do something. We need to get her to a doctor." John said, and I finally heard the splashing.
"No doctor. What's going on?" I asked, trying to open my eyes, but seeing only red.
"Don't exert yourself, we need to get you to a doctor, something happened last night and you've lost a lot of blood and there are a lot of gashes all over you as well." Stephanie said, coming to my side.
"No, just leave me here, call Logan, he'll know what to do. The number is in the cell phone on the table." I said, starting to get coherency back. "He'll know what to do." I mumbled, started to fall into the black.
"Stephanie, will you call him?" John said, picking me up and taking me into the bathroom so I wouldn't be lying in all that blood, and they could get me cleaned up a little.
As Stephanie talked, John filled the bathtub with warm water, so they could put me in and hopefully stop the bleeding. After she finished with the call, finding out that Jean and Logan would be coming here, she came into the bathroom to help put me in the tub.
After I was completely undressed and in the tub, they covered the bathtub with a towel, so that the only thing showing were my legs arms and head.
I seemed to remember feeling very strange, like my body was working extra hard to heal, and yet, I didn't really understand why I felt that way. All I knew was that I hoped that John could get a hold of Logan and that he would get here soon, maybe the Professor would come and I could get some answers.
At about ten-thirty in the morning, I heard someone knock on the door, and I finally calmed down a bit. I had mostly healed by then. She was just about ready to get out, when Logan came in and looked crazed.
"Are you okay?" Logan asked, his eyes wide.
"I'm fine. I hardly felt a thing, and I'm almost completely healed now." Courtney said, looking around the bathroom for her clothes.
"Are you sure you're okay? Can I get you anything?" Logan asked, still not convinced.
"Is the Professor here?" I asked, remembering the questions I had been wanting to ask him.
This got Logan looking kind-of like he had been punched and felt it. "No, only myself and Jean." Logan said, though he looked out the door, seeing if there was anyone who was in the hearing distance. "Though Storm and Cyclops are in the ship."
"I need to talk to you, where no one can here. Get out so I can get dressed, and I'll meet you in the back." Courtney said, still looking for his clothes.
After he walked out, I guess he told Stephanie that I was getting out, because she brought me some clothes, since there were none in the bathroom.
After I got dressed, I walked out and found Jean and Stephanie talking. I didn't see Logan anywhere so I figured that he had already gone outside. I went out back.
"What is it that you were needing to talk to me about?" Logan asked, turning towards me.
"I'm kind of curious. I can't seem to figure out why it's taken till now for me to get your powers, and why they came this way." Courtney said, walking over to him. "How do you bring your claws out?" I asked, trying to find some other way to say it, but not finding one.
"I just flex, but also kind of thinking about it." Logan said, thinking about what she had said.
I started focusing on my hands, and flexing, but nothing happened. I gave up for a minute, and just started talking with him.
"You seemed somewhat upset when I asked if the Professor was here." I said, looking at the grass. "Why?"
"Well, I was kind of worried about you," I looked at him hard, "Alright, so I was really worried about you, and you just ask the if the Professor is here."
"Well, he is the only one who would be able to answer my questions completely, and I had a lot of questions." I said, realized I had hurt his feelings, after being so worried.
"I'm sorry." I said, looking down and realizing that my fingernails were about a foot long, and completely metal. "I think I'm starting to turn into you." I said, smiling and holding up my hand.
I had claws. I didn't know why, or how, since those were kind-of some of the questions that I was wanting to ask the Professor.
"Why did they come this way I wonder?" Logan mused.
"I don't know. I'm not even sure how I got them." I said, still looking at them, though now trying to take them in and put them back out.
When I had successfully taken them out and put them back in several times, I figured that it was time to go back inside, before Stephanie started to worry, or figure that something was going on that shouldn't be.
When we got inside, Stephanie was putting the babies to sleep for their nap, and Jean was just about to come outside to check on me and make a doctor house call.
For about twenty minutes Stephanie was silent, making sure that Jean could get her work done and still worrying about whether I would be okay or not.
"Well, you seem fine to me. Just sleep a lot and take it easy." Jean said, putting everything back in her bag.
"I can do that. But before I start, can I go for a short walk outside?" I asked her, knowing that she would know what I meant.
"Just don't go beyond the field in the back." She said, telling me where the ship was.
"Okay, I won't be long." I said, slipping on my shoes.
When I closed the front door behind me, I breathed a sigh of relief. 'Thank goodness I was able to get away before I scream.' I thought, thinking how much they would be watching me while I was here now.
I went down the road, then on the somewhat major street to get to the empty lot behind the house. I could see a glimmer, but nothing else, since they somehow had it camouflaged.
When the ramp was lowered, I could still hardly see anything, but she knew where it was, so when I checked around me and made sure that no one could see me, and I walked over to the ramp and I instantly disappeared from the 'magic' of the ship.
"Hello Storm." I said, looking around me, having never been inside before, but still remembering all the times I had dreamed I could be a mutant, from the movies. "You know, I never dreamed that mutants were real, like actually believed it. I dreamed it, sure, but never really believed it. Yet here I am, a mutant." I said, reflecting on everything. "Anyway, how has everything been at the school? Is everything all right? Is the Professor okay?"
"Everything is fine. The Professor is fine, just running a bit behind on things, and getting a bit tired, but we all warn him against doing to much." Storm said, getting up from her seat.
As I looked around, I saw Kurt. "Is it only you four?"
"Yes, the Professor couldn't make it, and with everyone still doing summer school to maintain control, then none of the students could come with us." Storm said, grabbing a soda from a cooled I guessed they had there just in case of something.
"Well, I suppose I should be getting back, I just wanted to make sure that everything was okay with everyone." I said, turning towards the door.
"Is everything okay with you? Are you okay now?" Storm asked, noticing that Kurt was paying attention now.
"Yeah, I'm fine." I said, not wanting to worry anyone, but still remembering the feeling of when I woke up.
"I'll talk to you soon, and see you later." Storm said, looking out the windows to see if anyone was around.
"Yeah. Thanks, and sorry for the trouble." I said, walking out before she could say anything more. I was getting really tired, and I was still not sure how long it should be, but knowing that I should be back by now from a short walk.
When I got back to the house, Logan greeted me, coming out the door, saying they were just leaving, and he would see me soon.
"Stay safe." He said, when neither Jean nor Steph could hear him.
"I'll try. I'll see you soon." I said, smiling at his concern.
"Courtney, don't try anything to strenuous, and try to take it easy. I know that may be kind of hard for you, but try your best." Jean said, coming outside behind Logan. "We'll see you beginning of the school-year, and who knows, maybe we'll see each other before then, "She said, then leaned toward me and whispered, "But hopefully it won't be for anything bad."
"I'll see you." I said, going inside and closing the door after they had both started down the drive.
I turned toward Steph. "I'm sorry for all the trouble, don't worry about me, I'm fine, and I hope that I haven't completely ruined everything for you. I'll clean up all the mess from last night and this morning, so you don't have to worry about that." I said quickly, before she could say anything.
"You don't have to worry about anything Courtney. I can take care of it." She said, walking towards the kitchen. "I need to take the kids and put them down for their nap though." She said, yawning.
"And so do you. You need some sleep." I said, realizing how late she had to stay up, and how early I had woken her up this morning. "Go, I'll just take a nap too."
"Are you sure?" She asked, still worried that I might start cleaning up.
"Yeah. I'm kind of tired myself." I said, putting together a air bed and making sure that everything would work out.
"Okay, I'll see you later." Steph said, going off to do some things.
As I laid in bed, I could feel something was happening, but I couldn't tell what. With what the Professor had taught me so far, I tried to see what had me so on edge, and I realized something happened to Logan, and Jean, and Storm, and Kurt, and that they were in trouble.
"Crap!" I said quietly, not wanting to wake anyone.
Making sure that everyone was still asleep, I quickly got dressed, went into the bathroom, shut and locked to door, trying to make it seem like I was just in there, then transported to where I sensed they were.
When I reappeared on the other end, I didn't see anyone that I had to fight, but I kept my eyes open. I knew that the ship was right outside where they were, in a cave, or so it looked, so I walked up to each in turn, and teleported them back to the ship. When I came back for the last one, I still didn't see anyone, so I took Kurt back, and made sure that no one was following me, for damage later.
Thankfully, they had already shown me a little bit about how to fly the ship, but there was also a book, just in case of emergencies, so I took a quick lesson, and started out for the school.
I messed up a couple of times, but thankfully, since I didn't have to watch out for traffic, then I could read the instructions, so I could also read the instructions on landing, so a while later when I finally got to the school, since no one had woken up, I landed the ship, and transported each of them into the Professors study.
Once I had each of them inside the study, I mind spoke to the Professor, to see what was to be done. Once he got inside the room, he checked each of them for anything serious.
"It doesn't look like any real damage is done. They just seem to be out cold." The Professor said, looking up at me.
"Good, I was worried that something might have been done to them, since I couldn't wake them up, and they didn't wake up already." I said, sitting down and putting my head in my hands.
"Lets get them to Jean's lab." The Professor said, gently coming over and putting his hand on my shoulder.
'Ice, Rogue, I need help down in the Professor's study. Can you come quickly please?' I thought, knowing that they would come, since it was to the Professors study.
After a few minutes, they got inside the study, and stopped when they saw me. They had obviously known that someone else was here, since they didn't know who called them, but they had heard descriptions of me, so they knew who I was when they came in, and it wasn't who they expected.
"Rogue, Bobby, this is Courtney. She has just helped get Logan, Jean, Storm and Kurt back here. Now, if you would help her take them to Jean's lab, then we'll talk after." The Professor said, motioning to them.
"Rogue. You said that you're powers were gone, since you did…whatever it was…but…they aren't. I don't know how, but I can…sense them, if you will call it." I said, looking down at the floor, and picking up Kurt.
"What are you talking about? They can't still be there, wouldn't someone still know about them, or wouldn't I have been able to tell, or they come back by now?" Rogue asked, unbelievingly, in an insistent voice.
"I don't know, but to me, they are still there. And how would I be able to get two more powers, when you two are the only ones I've met just now. I can tell when I get knew powers, and both are there, even from you." I said, not willing to use them right now.
As we took them back to Jean's lab, I explained how she could bring them back out and only use them when she wanted to, so she could continue her life like she had been living it lately. When we finished taking them to the lab, I had to leave so I could make it back before they woke up and found me gone. I didn't want to worry Stephanie more than I already had.
The last trip I made was transporting Logan, since no one could carry him, as he was kind of heavy, what with all the metal.
"Stay safe Logan, and thank you for everything." I whispered to him, even though it was just myself and whoever was unconscious. Since there was still no sign of him waking, I gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek, made sure that I wasn't holding on to anything, and transported back to the house.
When I got to the house, I heard them just getting up, so I laid down on the couch, and covered up with a blanket and acted like I had been sleeping the whole time.
When they all came into the room, Chris got excited and wanted to play, so he came over and started waking me up and talking to me. We played for a while, and then made some dinner and cookies.
After we finished everything we all went swimming and had fun there as well, came home and took showers, and waited for John to get home so we could eat.
For the next week and a half, I kept acting like I was still recovering, but was feeling better than ever.
The night before my parents would pick me up, I made sure that I had all of my things, and had fun watching movies late with Stephanie and John. When we all finally went to bed, I called the Professor to make sure that everyone was okay, since they had barely gotten up from the tables where they had been since we took them there.
"They're all fine. Even with all the sleep that they've had, they've gone to bed." The Professor said, and I could hear the smile in his voice, since I had called nearly every day. "Apparently you're getting good with you're powers, since you could tell that I wasn't asleep."
"I just try to focus. Thanks Professor. Goodnight." I said, hanging up the phone.
In the morning when I finally woke up, nearly everyone else had already eaten and gotten ready for the trip, since we were meeting them part way.
"You guys ready already? Man, I feel lazy, since I've been sleeping all this time, and you're all ready." I said, quickly grabbing what I needed for a shower and taking a quick shower, skipping breakfast.
When I got out of the shower, I packed all the little things that I hadn't packed the night before, and took everything out to the car.
In the trip, I entertained the kids in the backseat, while we listened to Jeff Foxworthy and Bill Engvall, or just random country music.
When we got to the meeting place, my parents weren't there yet, so we just waited, though not for long.
"Thank you so much. I had such a great time, and I'm sorry for all the trouble and worry I caused you." I said, hugging all of them goodbye.
"We'll see you again soon." Stephanie said, handing me Edward.
"Bye buddy." I said, hugging him gently and handing him back to Stephanie so I could hug Chris.
Once we were on our way, it was pretty quiet, though thankfully we didn't have long to go, so I was able to think through almost everything that had happened while I had stayed there.
When we got home, since I was leaving again in two days, I unpacked all my stuff, put dirty clothes in the laundry, packed another bag for church camp, and anything else that I needed, and prepared for everything else going on, since after this, I would be going to school, then I also packed some boxes to send to the school, after which we went to town, sent the boxes, and did any last minute errands for camp.
"Hey mom! How has it been to be rid of me for almost a month?" I asked, after getting back from camp.
"Well, the house hasn't had a good cleaning, since I can't do cleaning and yard work, so before you leave for school, I need you to clean it, and it seems that you'll have to clean Chase's house, since after this he won't have you there to clean for him." Mom said, turning onto our road.
"Yeah well, this is going to be fun, and besides, I can't always be with my family everywhere." I said, going through a discussion that seemed to happen a lot lately.
"Are you sure that you have to go Courtney?" Mom asked, looking at me with a worried look.
"Yes. Besides, it'll be great." I said, closing the conversation, and getting my stuff out of the car to again wash it and get ready for my plane the next day.