Note: As should become rapidly clear, I've completely reworked David Haller for my needs, rather then pulling him directly from canon. While The names Jack, Cyndi, and Jamal will come up, do not expect to see everything as you would expect if you're familiar with Legion. Also apologies for delays on update, I had this finished 10/12 but was unable to get it up until now.
"I suppose you will make me tell this too, Doctor?" Gabrielle asked with a frown, and had her question answered with just a nod of the Scottish womans head.
"Okay. When we broke up, Charles, I found out I was pregnant a month after the fact. You were off with Erik plotting the future of mutant kind, and I knew you'd never be a good Father. So I raised David on my own. He was a normal in every way that we could tell, except he suffered from Autism. He never even showed a sign of being a mutant until last year." Closing her eyes, Gabrielle sighed.
"We were in Tel Avid because of my job. I had left him with a baby-sitter/body guard for the day while I was at work. Him and his guide were caught in the midst of a suicide bomber, but he survived.."
"Och, your over-simplifying it Gabrielle. He didn't just survive, his powers manifested for the first time. As soon as the first bomb went off, David erected a telekinetic shield to protect himself, but he was nae prepared for the feeling of other people dying aground him. His powers, and his mind, did nae know how to protect himself and others from that. The best we can figure is that David absorbed everyone in the area, their psyches, into his own, before he fell into a coma." Moira was frowning at the other woman, as if she should've been able to say what she just had.
"Uhh. Pardon moi, but dis kid he pulled other people.. into his head?" Gambit knew he sounded confused, surprised. How powerful was this kid, if he could do something like that?
"Aye, that's exactly what he did Gambit." Well, that didn't reassure his feelings at all.
"After David fell into a coma, I had him brought to Moira. I didn't want to bring him to you Charles, and she was my next best hope. For the last year, Moira has been trying to help David, but until a few days ago it seemed to be for nothing. Then he woke up again..."
"Oy woman, yuir over simplifying things. If by waking up yuir trying to convey that he absorbed one of my interns and melted a wall before ye could get to him and calm him down..."
"He absorbed more people? Why?" Charles frown was more tightly compressed then anyone elses in the room.
"I dunnae know, Charlie. I think it may have been because his last memory was of the attack, and he reacted on instinct. We have nae been able to get close to him, except Gabi. He gets on edge when others come around."
"I see. What did you hope that I would be able to do, Moira? Gabrielle?" Charles didn't look like he liked this any more then Gambit felt distrust for this situation. Storm had a sad look on her face, as if she felt sorry for the poor kid, or perhaps for the people he had absorbed into him. Logan just looked bored, as if he was thinking there was no one to gut in this 'adventure'.
"Yesterday.. he asked for his Father, Charles. He asked for you. By name... I never told him you were his Father." It was Gabrielle's turn to sound scared of her own son.
Merde! Dis gonna be a mess. Why dey bring me wit' for all dis anyway?
"Hello.. Father." The young man was tall, skinny, with a mess of dark hair. Pale from nearly a year in a coma and lack of true sunlight except what came in from windows. His eyes looked more then a little insane.
"You can come in. I won't hurt you. You might as well bring your X-men in too, they're annoying me by standing out there thinking they might be able to get the jump on me if I did anything." David Haller's grin was a chilling one, but that wasn't what made Charles shiver. Moira had not been lying. The young mans mental shields were stronger then his own. While Jean had the potential to be stronger then he, he'd never encountered another that dwarfed his own ability so. Even untrained, Charles wasn't so sure he could pierce those mental shields.
"Very well David. Storm, Gambit, Wolverine, you may join me." That said, his attention turned back to his.. son. "Why did you ask for me David? What can I do to help you?"
"Oh, two reasons Daddy. You can help me..." The swelling of psionic energy happened so fast Charles couldn't erect a defense against it, not one that didn't crumple instantly as David's shields went down, and he assaulted all four of them.
"Oh, and to punish you All of you." Those words echoing through their minds, as David pulled and ripped their minds into his own, each one falling within seconds of the next. Xavier first, Gambit second, his mental shields crumpling even easier then Xavier's did, Logan fell next, the confusion and chaos that was his mind offering him no protection, and then Storm, just as her eyes had been about to shade over white, fell.
"Whooops. I've been a bad boy." Telekinetic force rippled outward from David, sealing his room off from Moira and his Mother. "You're not allowed to play!" He informed the two women pounding at the invisible walls of force that blocked the door way.
Welcome to Hell. Enjoy it, I've had to for a year now, Daddy, because you were too busy with your precious X-men to come help me. Because you scared Mommy and left us. So you can suffer too, and your X-men.
David Haller's mind-scape was a fractured place, disjointed from one corner to the next. Remy could identify bits of different cities, but they were all combined together awkwardly. Tel Avid, Paris, Jerusalem, New York, Washington D.C., Berlin, Munich, hundreds of cities that Gambit.. well. He guessed the kid had been to them while his Mom did her job as an Ambassador, but it made for an overwhelming sight. Especially combined with the swirling red and pink sky. There was no sun, it just seemed to be perpetual late after noon with diffuse light.
Small blessing, with no sunglasses. Patting his duster down, Remy checked his stock of weapons. Two decks of cards, an assortment of throwing spikes, two packs of cigarettes. Slipping one of them out, he lit it with a brush of his finger, mostly just to see if the powers still worked in this place. To his surprise, they did. Excellent. With a shrug, he tried to check with his empathy, and found himself walling the shields back up and not trying that again. Pain of every type seemed permeat the very surroundings, so strong it was threatening to overwhelm him, yet when his shields were up he didn't even sense it battering at his shields.
"Dis jus' be great. Dey never mentioned not'ing like dis when I joined de X-men. Now what? Where de others be, anyway?"
Taking a drag off his cigarette, he took in the bleak view. There didn't seem to be any people around at this weird city-scape. Everything looked mostly fresh – except blocks that looked rent by battle – but there were no people.
"Stormy." Swalling, Gambit did the one thing he wasn't sure he wanted to do. Started climbing the nearest multi-story building, so he could get a decent view of the area, maybe catch a glimpse of Logan, Ororo, or Charles. One of them had to have an idea of what the hell they were doing here, didn't they? That'd be a better clue then what Gambit had.
Aw sonofabitch. Knew that rotten little kid was up to no good. Never trust the loonys Charlie. Shit, this kids screwed up. His voice all booming across this place too. So we're gonna be his play toys are we? I don't think so kid.
Popping his claws just to make sure they were still with him, grinning in satisfaction at the sight of them extending, he retracted them. Not even wincing at the pain that came from having razor sharp adamantium claws breaking skin, or as his healing factor reknit the damage.
Sniff. Sniff. Lots of scents, but most of them were old. Definitely were fights in this place at some point, and he could just catch the scent of Charles to the north, the direction the wind was coming out of. Go after Chuck, or stick to it on his own? Chuckie was soft hearted, might not have the cajones to do what needed doing. Then again, Logan had to admit he wasn't entirely sure what would happen if he gutted David here. Wherever the heck here was.
Then again, Chuck might not have his Wheel chair here...Damnit. With a grunt of disatisfaction, and a few moments of reluctant consideration, Logan began to slip up alley ways, sticking to shadows. Relying on the black ops training he never remembered actually receiving, but was none the less fully there in his mind just waiting to be used, he moved like a ghost through the city.
Oh. There you are. Really now, running won't help. Watch Daddy! Watch how good I am. With me you wouldn't even need the X-men!
Logan's screams rent the city, as his mind was invaded. It wasn't the light touch like Charles used when they had their sessions to try and find out parts of his past. It was like a sledge hammer was being pushed through his nose into his brain at a few thousand miles an hour. Logan's world exploded in colors and memories. Colors that took on the shimmering steel of a katana, the glistening silver of a Samurai's armor, beautiful dark eyes of a woman he seemed to know, another dark eyed woman – Yukio the ronin quite a bit younger. Plum trees falling. Another samurai, no armor for this one.
Even when the pain of having a sledge hammer broke through his mind and passed, Logan found himself dazzled. Memories were swirling through his mind.
I remember. Some of it. I remember. Her name was Mariko.. she was my wife. Honor. He couldn't straighten out his thoughts, memories were bubbling up like gas bubbles in a swamp, coming to the surface and chilling him with years of his life he hadn't ever considered before. Old memories, memories where he didn't have adamantium in his bones, and his fighting had been done by katana, knives, and with his fists.
He remembered where he learned how to fight with a katana. Where he learned martial arts. A very unkindly faced man named Ogun swam before his eyes almost, then drifted away. He remembered apple blossoms and night spent amidst sheets with Mariko. The memories seemed to span three or four years of time spent in Japan.
"Logan. Logan, are you alright?" Chuck's voice drawing him out of his thoughts, and Logan found he could look at Charles.
I'm fine, Charles. Logan answered without thinking, and just frowned at Charles when he looked confused. What's your problem?
"You are speaking in Japanese, Logan." Charles was still frowning, but Logan realized he was looking up at Charles. Who wasn't in a wheel chair, but standing tall. Huh. Guess if we're in some mind freaky stuff, that makes some kind of sense that he doesn't think of himself as a cripple.
"Oh. Get over it bub. Whatever yer son just did to me, I remember now. Parts. How come he could do that, and ya can't Chuck? You been holding out on me?" Eyes narrowing, a bit of a growl escaping from his lips. To his surprise, Charles didn't look the least afraid, and just shook his head sadly.
"David appears to be significantly more powerful then I am, Logan. I never even found as much as a whiff of memories prior to your adamantium. How David did, I do not know.."
"Whatever. So what now?" The memories were still bubbling, Logan pushed that to the side. He would explore them. Soon. Once he had wrapped a hand around this Haller's neck and demanded he pull out the rest of his memories. There had to be more. There had to be.
"What we always do, Logan. We stand up against impossible odds." Charles sounded almost amused, Logan thought. Maybe because he was in the field. It wasn't like Chuck came into the field a whole lot. Maybe the walking again was getting to him or something? Sniff. Sniff. He smelled normal.
Oh Bright Lady, what happened?
Storm quelled the instant moments of panic when she awoke in what felt like a very cramped space. Moments later winds burst away from her, and she felt somewhat silly, when she realized she'd just woke up in a cardboard box in a street, not in any kind of thing that could actually contain her.
Taking in the oddly mish-mashed city, her breath was drawn in in a gasp. She had never seen a mindscape that looked so confused and unnatural before. She had seen glimpses of hers and others in the past. Her own was like nature itself, varying from geological setting to match her moods, but always natural. The other Mindscape she had seen had been a thing of darkness and terror. The Shadow King. He was truly a terrifying person, even without his powers.
Yet this was not the Shadow King's work, she was looking at. It was a confused young mans. She needed to find Remy. Remy and the others, of course, but where was Remy? Occasionally it seemed like David's voice boomed across the sky, but there was nothing assaulting her, as of yet.
With a shrug, she called upon the winds, to carry her up. They were a bit slower to react here – perhaps because she was fighting against David's control of his own mind to manipulate such a basic thing as the weather, but they did respond after some delay, carrying her up into the air so she could perch on a roof top.
A flickering, unsteady apparation appeared before her. A muslim man was frowning at her. "Becareful here, Wind Rider. The weather is a part of David's landscape, your powers will be of less use to you then the others are to them because of that. Your friend is that way." A point.
"Who are you? What are you?" At first she had thought a ghost, but that faint flickering image.. It was an astral projection! There was another telepath here, one that wasn't David or Charles.
"Becareful here." With that, he was gone, and Storm was frowning. Did she trust his directions? Turning her gaze that way, she caught a glimpse of brown rustling along other rooftops. It could be Remy's duster, he wouldn't stay totally in the open. Not her thief.
With a frown and mindful of the warnings, she manipulated the winds once again. Not to fly, but to give her the distance to jump roof tops. Three rooftops later, she landed from a jump in a crouch, to see her cajun about to jump roof tops himself, before he twirled to look at her.
And then gasp in shock and horror when he turned to face her. His eyes were glowing a dark red, and his grin was.. evil. Not the one she knew Remy could wear, such as when he'd pinched her bottom and suggested they try... well. No. Not that. This was sheer evil, cruel, dark. Only one person had facial expressions like that.
The Shadow King. The odd red/orange/pink sky turned dark with clouds as lightning began to rain down at the fake cajun, and he danced between lightning strikes. Louder then the wind were her shouts of "No!" and "I will not be your slave again!" Winds whipped through the air, even a tornado was summoned from the skies. All of it for naught, when that lightning fast figure clipped her with an almost gentle blow to the back of the head.
Why would the shadow king fight me like this..? Then she was experiencing unconsciousness, and being scooped up in strong arms.
Oh, impressive Father. The so called Goddess can't even see through an illusion.
When she awoke, it was in Gambit's arms, his coat swallowing both of them, her head on his shoulder. She kissed his neck lightly, and nuzzled against him. "I'm sorry, Remy. I thought... I thought.."
"It be okay, Stormy. I be fine,ya aim was pretty crappy cuz ya panicked. Was able t'dodge de lightning, for de most part. But whatever ya did out dere still be raging. Can ya make it stop? It ripping dis city apart." He was warm, his voice soft and soothing as his arms around her were. There was no seduction in his touch, not this time.
With a sigh, she reached out towards the weather.. and shivered and shook her head. "I can't touch it, Remy. It's too ragged, to chaotic to get a grip on it. I think.." She frowned. Where were they, anyway? It looked like a cave of some sort, with a fire burning. She hadn't even noticed Charles or Logan, both watching her and Remy until Charles spoke.
"It's alright, Ororo. I didn't think it was possible. David tricked you into using your powers, into summoning a storm of that magnitude. It's destroying the city-scape in his mind. He should have been able to change it himself, he is powerful enough, but I don't think he knows how. So he used you to destroy it, so that he can.." Charles shrugged. He didn't sound like he was exactly sure what his son was trying to do.
"Yer son is a nut case, Chuckles. So what, we wait out the storm in here?"
Storm frowned. This was.. worse then she had imagined it might be. Charles looked thoughtful, but the apperation was back, the projection of the muslim man was back.
"If I may make a suggestion?"
All of their eyes shifted immediately, and she felt Remy tense and knew he had a throwing spike – or cards – ready. Logan's claws popped out, while Charles just looked thoughtful.
"You, you were the one who set me up.." Storm hissed.
A flickering hand raised. "Not so. I sent you towards your young lover. I did not realize David was intending for exactly that. Thankfully, he didn't notice my appearance to you. I am still able to conceal myself from him, sometimes. I do not have long."
A forestalling hand was raised, so they didn't waste his time with useless questions.
"There used to be hundreds of us, in here with David. A few of us are mutants. At first it was just chaos, a mad battle for survival. All of us against eachother, against David. Some of us, the mutants, went to David for each of us our own reasons. I went to help him. He didn't know how to heal his mind, how to eject our psyches from him. While it was not the best solution.. I have been helping him heal his fractured mind. By killing many of the others. They, we, have been too long trapped in his mind. Our bodies may be dead, or they may not be, but even David couldn't put us back. It's been too long away from our bodies."
Charles merely nodded, but frowned at the implications. Storm was shivering. Killing psyches? It was no worse then murder.
"As the number of minds within his mind scape began to decrease, David began to heal. He came out of his coma recently, when we were down to seven of us. There are now five of us left, and David for some reason does not wish to remove any of us five. However, not all of us five have his best interest at heart. Two of the others at the least think they can over-take his body if a few more of us are removed. I am the prime candidate for elimination. David himself, for all of his power, lacks the ability to finish off anyone here. Once something is begun, he can strengthen it, or weaken it, but he cannot make changes here entirely on his own."
A gesture at the storm beyond. "He used you to annihilate the parts of his mind scape he hates. Perhaps taking some of the memories with them, I cannot say. David's mind is complex beyond reason. He intends to build a garden over the cities location, a garden and a mansion." A glance at Charles at that.
"He wants your help. He thinks you, for some reason, will help him become whole again." The man frowned, shook his head.
"I am Jamal. Beware all others you find here. None of the others have David's best interest at heart. They merely wish to use him, to regain their own lives. They refuse to accept that our lives are gone, and all we can hope to do is help David." A sad shake of his head.
"I must go. His attention is shifting, and I cannot let him listen to Jack without counter counsel."
The projection vanished.
"I don't like dis. How we know dat man not be lying? Could be. I be lying if I in his place. Who want t'die? No one sane. Like he say, mebbe he just want de competition offed, so dat he can take over David, eh? No like Astral projections, can't tell if dere lying.."
Remy was muttering, but his arms stayed around Storm who still remained in his arms. She was looking thoughtful, maybe at his words, or maybe at her own thoughts. When he pinched her rear, she shifted and poked him in the ribs, then smiled at him.
"Remy may be right. Can we trust any of the people who remain here in David's mind?" Storm hated to be suspicious, Remy could tell, but she seemed to share his doubts.
Logan just looked at his still extended claws. Although Gambit thought it was an odd look. As if Logan were wishing they were another weapon. Logan was always a confusing wash of emotions, and right now he was even more confusing to Remy then ever.
Charles however just had his lips compressed.
"Jamal was telling the truth, about most things. None of them could be returned to their bodies, not after a year. From what Gabrielle said of the attack, it's unlikely most of their bodies are even alive to attempt to be returned to. As distasteful as it may be.. I believe the correct course of action is to help David put the last of these five to rest, so that he can heal."
Heh. Sure, dat de right course of action mon ami. Dat just cuz it ya son, and ya feel guilty for not being dere for him? For not being round t'train him to deal wit' his powers, dat all dis is ya fault cuz ya didn't know ya had a kid?
It was a disturbing thought. Did he have any unknown children? He'd been with many women. Many. Some multiple times, some just once. Bella? Candra? Yukio? Vertigo? Arclight? Alexandra? Who knew what happened with them after he'd broken up with them, or walked out of their lives.
Or what Sinister do wit' dem.. He can clone people, after all. That sent cold shivers down his spine, and Ororo was shifting to look at him quizzically. He tried to offer her a reassuring smile.
"So, we help de kid out eh?" Three other heads nodded.
"D'accord. So.. where we go?" Why was he doing this? Oh, because being insane was apparently a requirement for being an X-man.
"The top of the mountain. That is where we have to go." Charles answered, looking out the cave mouth. The storm had passed more into the city, while the edges – rain and fairly strong winds still gusted out there, it wasn't enough to keep them penned down.
"And just what are we doing at the top, Chuck?" Logan was looking for some kind of confirmation.
"We help David." Logan nodded, and eyed his hands again. As if he was still waiting to find something there, other then the claws that were lurking in his arms.
Mon ami going weird on us.
Dis just be creepy. Dat's all dere is to it.
Remy frowned, when they'd came out of the cave. A mountain rose up above them. A creepy looking mountain, with multiple paths up it. Not a huge thing, but tall enough. It was creepy because what it represented. Every so often along the path, a grave stone rose marking where one of the people David had absorbed was apparently put to rest.
The weirdest part was while they climbed, there was no opposition, but at the top of the mountain energy could be seen flung now and then. Fire, objects thrown by telekinesis, the sound of battle. Once they'd progressed far enough up the mountain to begin hearing the sounds of battle though, urgency grew in all of them. Logan's jaw was tightened, and his fingers kept flexing as if he was preparing to extend them.
His Stormy had her jaw set tightly. Remy reflected perhaps that was because whatever they did 'someone' would end up dying in whatever was about to come, if people weren't already. Charles was impossible to read. He couldn't touch the mans emotions, and his face was entirely blank except for one thing. Determination.
Still, before they made the peak, more of a plateau then anything, there had been a few screams that Gambit recognized for what they were. Death crys. It was an odd sight that waited for them at the top of the peak. A taboo of some sort, really.
David, the scrawny man-child, sat upon a flat stone surrounded by a ring of fire, and a crackling halo of telekinetic power. Outside of the protective wards, three people were left battling eachother. A woman throwing fire, a ragged caucasion man warding himself from those flames with telekinesis. And the Muslim man who seemed to be ignored by the other two for the moment. Gambit couldn't get a read on his emotions or Hallers either – telepathy.
"You three.. so confident you could use me. But I will use you. I am Legion, The Many Made One. But the only way I can be one with you is if you die. So join your bretheren!" David was looking at Charles while he spoke, but his actions definitely weren't aimed at Xavier.
Even as he spoke, the womans fire seemed to strike the man, and the mans telekinesis seemed to strike her at the same time. That was when David, no Legion's, telekinetic bubble lessened, and he struck. Changing what would have been harsh wounds into killing blows.
A reminder of what Jamal had told them, perhaps he hadn't been lying, otherwise the young man could have struck them down at any time, but as the two were reduced to lifeless husks by Legion's powers he grinned a sick grin at them all.
"I will make the world right, Father. I have the power to make them understand. I can make your dream a reality. I can do anything.." Then he frowned, at Jamal.
"Of course, your left. I'm afraid I can't do that while your still alive. That won't do at all. You." Haller smirked, pointing at Logan. Who stiffened, and growled. "Kill him, and I will unlock your memories. All of them. Father can't do it, but I can. It may kill you though.. but it'd be worth it, wouldn't it Wolverine?"
Remy expected a denial, instead Logan's claws unsheathed and he growled deep in the back of his throat. Oh dis no good at all. Who we supposed to be helping here? Not sure if we supposed to protect dis homme, or David, or ourselves...
No one else seemed to have any clue either. Storm looked shocked, and Xavier was frowning. Logan looked ready to murder Jamal, but was holding himself back. He wouldn't have, even the other day, for the answers offered him. What had changed in him? Something clearly had.
Gambit frowned at the cards in his hand, and looked back at the taboo.
"No, David, I do not think so." Charles voice seemed to surprise everyone. "You cannot force others, even if you can. That is not the way son. We are not Gods, to be changing other peoples lives, their beliefs, just because we are able to. Responsibility is called for, and people must be allowed to be themselves, not puppets played by our strings."
Jamal was nodding to that, which confused Gambit. Hadn't the man said he wanted to heal David?
"Return us to our bodies, David, and I will help you heal your mind. Help you overcome what has caused this, what has caused you pain. I will be the Father to you I never knew I was." Charles was pleading, Remy realized. Which was an odd thing to hear, given the Professor's normal in control demeanor.
"Lies! You just want me neutralized, kept off balance. You don't want me to succeed where you failed, Father. Your dream is failing! Already there are forces preparing for a war, not just Magneto's. I can feel them out there, they think their safe, hidden behind mental shields, but I can see beyond them! I can feel the fire and death that is coming, and I can change it Father! I can make your dream a reality, make mutants and humans co-exist. Put an End to war, bring out culture and learning. I can do it!"
"No, David. No!" That was Charles. Gambit on the other hand was charging his cards, and Logan seemed paralyze in indecision. Storm was beginning to crackle with lightning, her eyes whited over.
"No David, you cannot." Yet it was Jamal who said that, and he sounded sad. "Forgive me Charles. He will need your help."
Confused looks crossed everyones faces, even David's, but he screamed in rage. "You can't take me over! No!"
"I am sorry." Jamal sounded sorry, but even as the X-men moved to attack – Gambit and Logan at Jamal, Storm appearing ready to hold off David, Charles looking baffled – or perhaps his battle was on another level. Yet the world began to drift away from them, before any of their attacks could land.
When the world returned to color, it was the hospital room in Muir, where they had all been absorbed originally. The telekinetic field around the door still held, it seemed, and David was looking sadly at his hands. Or is it Jamal now?
Charles frowned, looking at his X-men as they began to slowly stir. Not as used to such rejoining and leaving of bodies as Xavier was.
"Jamal?" Cautiously asked.
"Yes, Charles. I am still struggling against David. It will be some time before he realizes he has all of the power he'd ever need to decide the struggle between us, but until he overcomes those limits, I can provide a balancing force against him. He will hate me for it, but since I am the last one left, I have enough strength to hold him now."
"I see. Is he powerful enough to do as he said, Jamal?"
Flat. "Yes. What abilities he didn't possess originally, he took on from those he absorbed. There is little your son is not capable of. He is a threat to everything. He will hate me for it, but until he has come to beat me – he can't until he learns some of what I have to teach him, he will learn what you tried to tell him. I hope."
"Your companions, are they fully back in their bodies? It was a struggle to get all four of you out at the same time."
Charles frowned, and checked mentally. Gambit's shields weren't up yet, and he only carefully checked the young mans thoughts. Just fine. Ororo's were intact. Logan's were a chaotic mess – as always, but seemed fine, if more filled then previously.
"Yes, they are. Will you be able to help him Jamal?" Charles wasn't sure he could trust the man, but so far he had followed his words.
"I will. He needs your help too though, not now, but in time. Thank you for trusting me, Charles." With that, the telekinetic shield about the door fell away, and his sons body fell over on the bed, apparently unconscious. A brief glimpse showed the truth though. Jamal had put David back into a coma, while they waged their battle in David's mind.
"So, ya telling me we wandered round dat son of yas mind for five six hours, an dat it was all pretty much for not'ing?" Gambit frowned. It didn't make any sense to him. The whole trek, what had happened in there, the changes in Logan, the way Storm clutched his hand as if afraid of letting go of that physical contact. It didn't make much sense to him at all.
"Not necessarily, Gambit. Some good was done, I think. Storm's work allowed for the eventual rebuilding of a new mental landscape for David, which is incredibly important. If he rebuilds a stable solid foundation, it could almost entirely heal his mind. Logan has gained some insight into himself, and found that there is honor to be had in sacrificing what you want most, for Good to win the day. I.. have learned that I have neglected my son, and others." Charles frowned.
"Our presence, chaotic as it was, seemed to have spurned the final motions of 'healing' of David's mind, and Jamal is helping David heal even now. And you Remy, did you learn anything of yourself in this?"
Storm looked up questioningly at him, even Logan turned to eye him from scowling at Charles for the mention of honor, to see if the cajun had had any revelations.
"Non. Just dat for de first time, see why most people a bit creeped out by ya telepaths." A grin was on his lips, he knew. That was all he'd learned. And that kids with that much power scared the shit out of him. If that kid was so powerful, what really could they ever hope to do against him? For the first time, Remy felt outclassed or helpless against someone.
Don't much like dat feeling, neither.
"Now what, Charles?" Ororo asked, raising her head from Gambit's shoulder so she could make eye contact with Xavier.
"I will remain here at Muir for a few days more, the rest of you shall return to the mansion. I need to work out some things with Moira. I fear when David wakes up, we will have an interesting situation. He may either be a future team-mate amongst the X-men, or an enemy. And I have no idea which it may be."
Charles frowned. Ororo trembled. Logan growled. Gambit? Well. Gambit just shivered.
Author's Note: Not the ending to this that I imagine most expected. No heroic dashing saves by the X-men, but that's the way the story goes sometimes. Sometimes the Kings, Queens, Bishops, become pawns.