Chapter 3 "Tests and Trials"
"Are you ready to begin?" Hank asked Sky while he scrubbed his hands, preparing to begin the tests. Sky walked out of the woman's changing room back into the lab in a sports bra and very tiny and a pair of very uncomfortable black spandex. Hank gave a low chuckle. It struck him funny that a woman who had exuberated so much spunk and attitude only hours before could possibly look so bashful and self-conscious.
Sky glared at the big furry man in spectacles and huge white lab coat. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and muttered, "Can we just get this over with?"
"Right!" Hank clapped his hands together loudly. "I need you to lay down here on this table." Sky did as he asked. "We are going to do a full body scan first." Hank informed her before pressing a small red button, sending Sky into the machine doing the scan.
……0……
Three hours and several invasive tests later, Sky was told to put her clothes back on and that the tests were over. She was then lead by Hank into a room where the rest of the team was waiting for them, all seated around a large round table. She spotted Logan right away. He motioned toward the empty chair next to him and Sky took the seat gratefully.
Her x-rays and scans were on a board in the front of the room, making Sky feel as if she were afflicted with some debilitating disease and needed a room full of opinions about what the hell was wrong with her.
"Alright, are we ready to begin?" Hank stood up and walked to the board, glancing at Sky, asking permission to begin with his eyes. She gave him a curt nod and he flashed a very pointy toothed grin.
"Right," Hank cleared his throat and flicked open an old school metal pointer, which made a few of the younger team members snicker. "This first picture you all see here is a full body x-ray of Sky," Hank said, using his pointer to point at the first picture. "As you can see, the atamantium has been surgically grafted to her skeleton. I've compared her x-rays with the x-rays taken of Logan when he first arrived here at the mansion and they are---as far as I can tell--- identical. I have no doubt that the same person who performed this procedure on Logan was also responsible for your claws and loss of memory, Sky."
Sky stared at the x-ray in front of the room in awe. Twenty-four hours ago she'd had no clue who or what she was and was content to simply have a dry bed at night. Now she was sitting in a room full of strangers, looking up at an x-ray of her bones covered in an indestructible metal that some dead man had grafted onto her and---as far as they knew---two other people. Someone turned me into a monster and I'll probably never know who I was, she thought.
"You okay?" Sky was jerked out of thought by Logan's grunt and a nudge from his elbow.
"Yeah, sorry…" she muttered.
"As you can guess, Sky and Logan share the same gift--- uncharted regenerative capabilities. I am sure by now you've noticed, Sky, that you heal rapidly and that you age at an extremely slower pace then the average human or mutant." Hank said. Sky nodded in the affirmative.
It hadn't taken Sky long to realize that every time her claws came out---though it hurt like hell every time--- as soon as they retracted the wound would heal almost instantly. As an experiment Sky cut her own arm to see if it would also heal. When it did, Sky knew she was definitely a mutant. And then she discovered her other powers…
"Sky also has the ability to---for lack of a better term--- turn into a shadow." Hank continued.
"I bet that comes in handy!" Jubilee giggled.
"Maybe for you Jubes! You'd use it to sneak into Peter's room at night!" Said Bobby, causing both Jubilee and Peter to blush furiously. Sky smirked.
"Sky, I was also wondering if you knew that you had a partially dormant third power?" Sky cringed.
"I knew something was jacked up about it, yes," she grumbled.
"Wait a minute… how can a power be partially dormant? It either is dormant or it isn't." Asked Storm.
"I call it partially dormant because I honestly cannot find any other way to explain it," Hank replied, using his pointer to point to a graph with lines and numbers that had no meaning to Sky.
"Sky also has some telekinetic abilities, but it's almost as if the power simply never fully developed. As if the gene that carried this particular power did not evolve correctly."
"What the hell does that mean?" Logan asked, scratching his chin.
"Sky, when you move objects does it have any negative sight effects?" Hank asked her. She nodded.
"The bigger the object the more drained I feel afterward. If I can't sleep at night I find something like a car or a large rock---depending on where I'm sleeping that night--- and I pickit up and move it. Within minutes I'm knocked out." Sky said hesitantly. She didn't like the idea of a whole room full of people she'd just met knowing her weakness.
"Yes, I was afraid of that." Hank said gravely.
"Could this be serious for her Hank?" Storm asked, concern prominent on her face. Hank nodded solemnly.
"Yes, I'm afraid so. If Sky were forced to pick up too many objects at once or something just too heavy…it could kill her."
……0……
Logan glanced over at Sky, trying to read her face and gage her reaction, but her she appeared emotionless.
It was the first time Logan had actually gotten a look at her in good lighting. There was no denying that she wasn't an ugly woman. She had clear porcelain skin, a round face, and medium length auburn hair. Sky looked up at Logan, obviously feeling his stare, and flashed him a very brief toothy grin, showing off very straight pearly white teeth. But what Logan noticed the most about her face was her eyes. At first glance they looked a smoky blue, but the longer Logan looked the more he realized that her eyes weren't blue at all. They were green.
"Do you have any questions Sky?" Hank asked, interrupting Logan's train of thought, which he was almost thankful for. The last thing he needed to be doing right at that moment was thinking about how beautiful her tricky eyes were…
"Yeah, just one. Is there any way you can tell how old I am?" She asked, her curiosity on the subject apparently getting the best of her.
"I'm afraid not," Hank shook his head. "Your mutation makes it impossible to determine." Sky nodded in understanding.
"Sky, me and Hank had a little time to talk this over and we would like to offer you something." Storm stood up and walked to the board, standing next to Hank.
"Alright…" Sky said cautiously, unsure about what they were about to 'offer' her. Logan cocked an eyebrow. Now one had discussed anything with him about any offer.
"We would like for you to join the team. We would like to invite you to join the X-Men." Hank smiled as Storm spoke. Jubilee and the mousy runt Kitty smiled, seemingly pleased. Bobby, Warren, and Peter seemed a bit indifferent, but one pair of eyes caught Sky's attention. The girl they called Rogue looked none to happy about Sky being asked to stay.
"Is this a joke?" Sky scoffed.
"No, we are very seriously. We think that you would be an asset to our cause." Hank replied seriously.
"Uh-huh, I've heard all that before." Sky muttered.
"What do you mean?" Logan asked, cocking his eyebrow.
"I mean ya'll ain't the first group of mutant that I've come across with some great cause or some shit who thinks my abilities could come in handy, that's what!"
"What other group?" Logan had a feeling that Sky had a run in with some very bad mutants.
"It doesn't matter," Sky snapped. "The point is, how do I know you people are the real deal?"
"How about a trial period?" Kitty suggested quietly.
"Yeah! That's sounds great! You stay for a little while, get a feel for us, and if you like what you see then you stay on. If not, you hit the road and go back to living…wherever you were living!" Jubilee shrieked excitedly. Sky glanced up at Logan with a look that screamed "Am I going to have to put up with this kid?" Logan nodded.
"I don't know…" Sky hesitated. She'd already been fooled by one charismatic mutant and his group…
"What? You got somewhere better to go?" Logan asked. Sky glared at him. "Maybe I can just take you back to that bar you were hidin' out in." Logan smirked, enjoying the fact that he'd caused enough of a stir within her to make the color rise to her cheeks.
"Fine!" she snapped. "I'll stay for a while, but no promises."
"Excellent!" Hank boomed. "Now, I do believe it is around noon, so why don't we all head down to the kitchen for a well deserved lunch!"
……0……
After lunch Kitty volunteered to show Sky around the campus. Sky was thankful it was the runt instead of the hyper-active Jubilee. Kitty's a shy kid, Sky thought as Kitty showed her into a place called the Danger Room and quietly explained its function. She seemed eager to talk to Sky but she was just too damn self-conscious to open her mouth for longer than ten seconds. Sky decided to take matters into her own hands.
"So, how long you been holed up in this joint?" Sky asked Kitty, shoving her hands into her jacket pockets. Kitty jumped; shocked that Sky had even spoken.
"Um," Kitty fiddled with her pony-tail, thinking about how to answer the question. "Since I was thirteen. I'm eighteen now."
"You a senior?" Sky asked, urging the girl to talk a little more as they made their way through the lab.
"Yeah, I'll graduate in May." Kitty said, then explaining---a little more confidently--- that the lab is where Hank did all of his research and treated the students and faculty when they were sick or injured.
"So, when did you become an 'X-Man'?" Sky asked, cocking an eyebrow. It seemed strange to her that someone so young would be allowed to risk their lives the way she was sure these cowboys did. She then noticed Kitty looking at her strangely. "What?" she asked.
"Oh, nothing really," Kitty shook her head. "You just reminded me of Logan when you did that. To answer your question though---I've been being trained since freshman year. Sophomore year was the first time I went on a mission…" Kitty trailed off. Sky could tell by the look on her face that she was trapped in a not so fond memory. Must have been one hell of a mission, Sky thought, feeling sorry for the kid.
"Well, what's your gift?" Sky decided to ask, thinking that it was best that they had a subject change. Sky got a little nervous when the kid smirked.
"Lets speed this tour up a bit, shall we?" Kitty grabbed Sky by the arm and gave her a wide smile…and then they walked through a cement wall.
A/N: This chapter is kind of short. Sorry, my bad! And my bad for not updating much, but I swear I just finished this chapter today. I've been insanely busy with school and all that good stuff. Plus, I happen to have a bit of a social life, so that takes up some time too. I also apologize for the lack of Logan in this chapter, but I do promise you will be seeing PLENTY of him in the future! Alright, I demand reviews people!!!!! I will not post again unless I get AT LEAST 5 reviews. Well, okay I probably will, but you'll never know if my threat is real or fake…MUWAHAHAHA….
Alright, on another note, I've decided to do a playlist for this fic also, SO I haven't decided if I want to post one song per chapter or post all of them at the end of the story. What do ya'll want? I'll leave it up to my readers. So, take a vote:
One song per chapter.
Wait till the end of chapter and post all.
Thanks for being patient! All my love-Alison!