"We are driven by five genetic needs: survival, love, power, freedom and fun."
[xxxxx]
Chapter 9: Survival of the Species
As was usual in the hours after classes, the living room was filled with kids of all ages, goofing off when they should have been doing their homework.
Some kids huddled around the Foosball table, fighting for their turn, while the rest gathered on and around the couch, all trying to grab for the remote.
The current holder of the remote was a dark-haired teenager known as Jake Barrington, or Jake the Snake, as he preferred.
"Gimme the remote, Jake." One girl pouted. She was about ten, and small even for her young age. "I wanna watch Hannah Montana."
"Shut up, Lydia." Jake said, trying to concentrate on the news. "They're saying something about the cure."
"I don't care! Hannah Montana!" Lydia said, and lunged for the remote.
She was too slow, because before she could even flinch, Jake had it floating in the air far above both of their heads.
"No fair! You're using you're powers!" She pouted.
"Oh, bite me."
Lydia narrowed her eyes at him before running behind the TV and pulling out a cable. The news anchor disappeared and the screen went black.
"Hey!" Jake called, standing up. Some other kids who had also been watching TV chased her out of the room, so he stayed behind. Otherwise, he'd be after that little brat in an instant.
"Guys!"
He spun around to the main doorway, where Tabby Smith, one of his gang, was walking into the room. He met her near the doorway, along with the rest of his gang - Amy Burrows and Evan Daniels. None of the other kids seemed to notice them.
"D'joo guys hear about Rogue?" Tabby said in a sort of a whisper, as if not to attract the other students' attention.
"No. What happened?" Amy asked.
"Well, I heard from Colleen Cameron that Wendy Suppers told Duncan Schuler she saw Professor McCoy carrying Bobby Drake down to the basement and that he looked like he was dead."
Amy gasped "Beast is dead?" She asked, wide-eyed.
"No, Bobby's dead, you idiot."
"What happened?" Evan asked.
"What do you think happened?" Tabby said, raising an eyebrow. "Him and Rogue got a little frisky and zap! Now Bobby's talking with St. Peter."
"That's impossible!" Jake said. "She got the cure."
"No shit, Sherlock."
"So... what?" Evan said. "The cure doesn't work?"
Tabitha rolled her eyes. "Ditto to you, Watson."
Jake turned around to face the television. It was back on, but instead of watching the news, it seemed that everyone was more interested in an episode of Family Guy. He remembered what the news anchor had said before Lydia had unplugged the TV: "Live coverage about the public announcement from Worthington Labs begins after these messages."
He turned back to his friends. "Tabby... is she okay? Rogue, I mean."
Tabitha shrugged. "Colleen said she was locked up in her room. You aren't gonna...?"
Jake pushed past her before she could finish. "You guys stay here. I'll be back in a few minutes. And don't tell anybody about Rogue, okay?" He trotted away, heading for Rogue's room.
After getting directions, as well as a date with a few girls in the hallway, Jake was quickly on his way to Rogue's room. When he knocked, no one answered, and the door was locked.
He didn't know Rogue all that well, but she was one of the most well-known students in the school. She got to do sessions in the Danger Room, along with the other more advanced students. Jake and his gang were second place in the popularity contest, and he had a few classes with Rogue, but other than that they were strangers.
"Rogue?" Jake tried to speak through the door. "Okay, I know you're in there, and I know you can hear me. Just open up, okay?" A group of girls passed him, and although he tried to look casual, they all gave him weird looks and giggled as they walked away.
"C'mon, Rogue..." He said once the girls were gone. "You're making me look like a schizophrenic out here. You wouldn't want to embarrass me, now would you?"
He sighed. This approach wasn't working.
"Look," He said in a much sterner tone. "If you don't open up, I'll tell Logan who's idea it really was to throw a red towel in with his load of whites."
There were a few seconds of silence, then the door slowly creaked open and Jake stepped inside.
"Glad you opened up." He said. "That could've gotten ugly." He shut the door behind himself.
Rogue stood with her arms crossed, trying to look unimpressed. Her eyes were red and her face was splotched with pink. It was obvious that she had been crying. "Alright, Jake. Whaddya want?"
He sighed. "I heard what happened with Bobby. I just wanted to make sure you're alright."
"Ah'm fine." She lied. "He just hit his head. He'll be alright."
Jake blinked. "I thought he was dead." At Rogue's confused expression, he sighed. "Blame Colleen Cameron."
She sighed. "Look, Jake... Ah'm fine. I swear."
He raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
She nodded.
"Then touch me."
"What?"
"Touch me." Jake repeated, holding out his arm. "Show me. If you're alright, you'll be able to touch me, right?"
Rogue looked down at his hand, then sighed in defeat. "Fine." she said, and sat down on the bed. "Ah'm not alright. My powers are back."
Jake shut his eyes. "Shit."
"What?"
He opened his eyes, but didn't look at her. "You know what this means, right?"
Rogue stared at him blankly.
"The mobs, the riots... it's gonna start all over again. It's died down since Alcatraz, but now it's back to the beginning, and it's gonna be ten times worse."
"Magneto." Rogue said randomly after a moment of silence.
"What?" Now Jake was the confused one.
"He's got his powers back, too. If the cure doesn't work, then he's got his powers back."
"Oh, shit... you're right." He sighed, and began to pace the room.
"Shouldn't we tell Storm?" Rogue asked. She opened one of the drawers in her dresser and pulled out a pair of long, black gloves before slipping them on, and smoothing out the wrinkles.
Jake stood by the window, watching the dead autumn leaves dance as the wind blew them across the lawn. "They've probably already made the connection. My guess is-"
At that moment, the door creaked open and a woman who Jake was all too familiar with walked in. "Oh, I'm sorry... I hope I'm not intruding." She said to Rogue.
"Mom?" Jake said as he turned around, surprised to see his mother standing in the doorway.
"Oh, Jacob! I didn't see you there!" She said, stepping wholly into the room.
Abruptly, another familiar face entered the room - one that Jake was much less pleased to see than his mother's.
"Rogue." Logan said as he burst through the door. "What's he doing here?" He asked angrily as his eyes shifted across the room to Jake.
"He's just visiting." Rogue answered quickly. "He was makin' sure Ah was alright. Isn't that considerate?"
Logan ignored her question, and thus fell an awkward silence. Jake stared at his mother, Samantha watched Rogue, Rogue watched Logan, and Logan continued to glare at Jake.
"Jacob," Samantha said, splitting the silence. "Why don't you go back to your room and work on your homework?"
He paused for a moment, then nodded. "Sure, mom." He got her real meaning, though: Go away. Now. He awkwardly squeezed past Logan and was quickly out of the room.
"Rogue." Logan said once Jake was gone. "What happened?"
She sighed and turned her back to the adults. He expected her to yell and tell them to go away, but instead her voice was sweet and mellow. "It was just a kiss. Just one..." She paused and drew in a shaky breath. "And in just a second... he was on the ground. And now..." She reached out toward the wall, and ice shot from her hand. "Now this."
Again, there was silence.
Samantha laid a hand on the girl's shoulder. "We didn't come to talk about the past. We came to talk about how we can make the future better."
Rogue shrugged the hand off of her shoulder and stood by the window, with her back turned toward the both of them.
"We want to know how we can make it better." Samantha continued. "How we can help you."
"You wanna know how you can help me?" Rogue said angrily, turning to face Samantha.
She nodded.
"You can do somethin' about it! You can find another damned cure n' give it to me!" She yelled angrily, turning to face them.
"Rogue..." Samantha muttered, taking a step back. "There's no reason to get angry."
"Of course there's a reason to get angry! What's yer power, huh?" Rogue asked, stepping toward the psychologist with a snarl on her face. "Do ya read minds? Can ya make fire come outta yer hands? Or maybe you've got some shiny claws like Wolvie over there. Ah bet yer one of them pro-mutants, huh? Well, ya know what my power is?"
This whole time Rogue had been advancing toward Samantha, pushing her back toward the door. "Ah can kill my enemies with just one lil' touch... but there's a catch, ya see. Ah can't get close to anybody. If Ah ever get settled down, there's no kissin' the bride, no wedding night neither... So you can-"
"Rogue." Logan said, attracting her attention. He had his claws unsheathed, but his expression was unreadable. "Step back from her."
Rogue looked at him and didn't say anything, but after a moment she took a step back from Sam.
"Let's go." Logan said, and Samantha quickly scurried out of the room. He sheathed his claws and followed her out into the hallway, shutting the door behind him.
"That part of the PTSD?" He asked, guiding Sam down the hallway.
"Only in severe cases..." She muttered, not making eye contact. "She seemed fine with Jacob, but as soon as he left..." Her voice trailed off, but Logan didn't push her anymore. She seemed to be jarred from Rogue's intimidation, so he thought it would be best to leave her be for some time.
[xxxxx]
"Where's Logan?" The redhead asked for the twentieth time. She threw her doll on the ground in frustration and crossed her arms.
Mentally, Kurt cursed. He got along with all of the other children just fine, but Lenore? Lenore was a completely different story.
"I want Logan." Lenore moaned.
"For the last time, Logan is with Dr. Barrington. You'll see him at dinner." He said, almost losing his temper. He looked at the door, hoping that Warren would walk in any second. He left ten minutes ago, claiming he had to go to the bathroom, but now Kurt was getting skeptical.
"I wanna see him now!" She continued to whine.
He sighed in frustration. "Here." He said, holding up another doll. "I'm Barbie! I like to shop and wear make-up and drive around in my little pink car." He said in a very fake valley girl accent.
Lenore raised an eyebrow, looking unimpressed. "You obviously don't know squat about Barbie." She snatched the doll from his hands and returned her to the miniature dream home that sat in the middle of Lenore's room. "When Barbie became a CEO, she lost her California accent in order to take on a more serious persona." She narrowed her gaze. "Do your research."
Kurt rolled his eyes and sighed as Lenore went back to playing with her dolls. Where was Warren? He should have...
There was an abrupt click that sounded from out in the hallway. "Attention staff members," Storm's voice boomed over the intercom. "Please assemble in the conference room as soon as possible. Students, please report back to your dorm rooms until called for dinner, which will be served later than usual this evening." Another click signaled the end of the announcement.
Kurt stood up. He knew that the "conference room" was a code that seemed to frighten the students less than its true name - the War Room.
He looked down at Lenore, who was still playing with her dolls. Storm said all staff members, so that included him. However, he didn't want to leave Lenore all alone.
"Lenore, let's go." He decided after a few seconds.
She looked up at him with her big blue-green eyes. "I wanna stay here." She said stubbornly.
Kurt sighed. Did this ever end? "C'mon. We have to go. Storm said we have to." He paused. "Logan will be there."
At this, she stood right up and dropped her doll. "Okay." She said with a smile.
Out in the hall, they met up with Warren, who fell into stride alongside his friend.
"Hey, buddy." He greeted.
Kurt rolled his eyes. "Ja, buddy."
"What?" Warren asked innocently. "Oh, you mean the bathroom thing? Yeah... sorry about sticking you with Lenore. I had a bad chili dog for lunch and-"
"Save it." Kurt interrupted.
The rest of the walk was silent, until Lenore fell back to walk beside both of the older mutants. She walked gingerly, humming to herself.
"Kurt?" She asked.
"Ja, Fräulein?"
"Can you take your bracelet off?" She asked sweetly. "I like you better when you're blue."
He sighed. It was more than likely that Samantha would be joining them in the War Room, and he hadn't had the opportunity to reveal his true self to her yet. He wasn't sure how she would react to his demonic appearance, or if she would even recognize him. Then again, she didn't seem to mind Beast, and Lenore had asked so sweetly...
"Of course." He pressed a button on his image-inducer wristwatch and was transformed back into his true self - blue fur, yellow eyes, pointy teeth, three fingers, and of course, the tail that swung behind him as he walked.
Lenore smiled and skipped ahead of them, happy to have her way.
"You gonna be okay, buddy?" Warren asked in a hushed tone, so that Lenore wouldn't be able to hear. "That new lady-therapist hasn't seen you yet, huh?"
Kurt nodded. "I'll be fine. I've dealt with worse."
Within minutes they were in the sub-levels of the mansion, Lenore now clinging to Warren's hand. "Are you sure that Adrian's not here?" Logan told me she was here." She asked, biting at her nails.
"I'm sure, honey. Trust me." Warren lied.
Lenore nodded, but he could tell she was still uncertain. He would be, too, if he was her.
They were outside the War Room quickly. The doors opened automatically, and all three of them stepped inside. They were the last ones to arrive, but they hadn't started the meeting yet.
"Logan!" Lenore exclaimed once she set her eyes on her baby-sitter. She ran over and pummeled him with a hug, followed by a warm greeting.
Warren and Kurt were just about to take their seats when Storm stopped them. "You brought Lenore to the War Room?" She asked sternly.
Kurt shrugged. "What else were we supposed to do? Leave her with Baby-Sitter Barbie?"
Storm's lips pressed into a thin line, and she turned away from Kurt and Warren. They took their seats, and so did everyone else. Storm stood at the head of the table, and with the click of a button on her remote, the lights centered in on the table.
"As you all know, we are currently holding Adrian Davis, aka Control, prisoner." Storm started off on what Kurt could tell was about to become a very boring speech. "We have been able to extract very little information about the Superiors from her. All we know is that they're planning a large terrorist attack that somehow involves her younger sister, Lenore." She gestured to Lenore, who cowered behind Logan's chair.
"We also know that the Superiors are working with another group of mutants. This group is essential to the attack. Now, we initially thought that these mutants were a group of amateurs that Control scraped off the street, but we now think that she is working with Magneto, and that his powers have returned."
Storm paused to take a deep breath.
"We suspect that Magneto and the Brotherhood will either attempt to continue the plan without Control, or they'll try to rescue her. Until further notice, we are keeping our eyes peeled for any type of activity from either the Superiors or the Brotherhood."
She took a seat as Beast rose, and cleared his throat. "As you all know, we have just discovered earlier today that the mutant cure is faulty. This afternoon the news became public, and already there are riots brewing across the country. I have already begun research on the cure to see what went wrong, but it could take up to several weeks before I find anything conclusive. I theorize that Magneto has not fully recovered from the cure yet, so he may be in a weakened state. However, I cannot be certain. He may still pose a serious threat." He took his seat.
"So what're we supposed to do?" Logan asked angrily and crossed his arms. "Lay around, waiting for Magneto to make a move?"
"Right now that's all we can do." Storm answered.
He scoffed. "Isn't it obvious where he's gonna hit first? Even if the cure was a flop, Worthington Labs still has a chance of fixing it."
Beast removed his glasses and leaned on the table. "We can't be sure of anything, Logan. Besides, we are blindfolded. We can't even be sure that Magneto's the one Control has been working with." He said.
"Who's Magneto?"
All eyes turned to Lenore, who stood beside Logan's chair, silent until now. No one answered her.
"Well, that wraps things up for now." Storm said, breaking the silence. "If we find any additional information, another meeting will be called. Dismissed."
Everyone rose from their chairs and filed out of the room, except for Beast and Storm, who were no doubt staying behind to go over other matters.
Thanks again to my beta, martshi3.
Sorry for the abrupt ending. I had more, but the chapter was just getting too long and the rest wasn't all that important so I cut it off.
And if you're wondering, Evan Daniels is supposed to be Spyke from X-Men: Evolution and Tabitha Smith aka Boom-Boom is from the comics. They both belong to Marvel. Jake Barrington and Amy Burrows are both mine. Wow... my character list is getting really long. Is this too confusing?
In case no one got the red towel thing that Jake said, when you put anything red in with a white washload, then all the whites turn pink. I wouldn't explain that unless my sister hadn't asked me about that, and I doubt anyone's as stupid as she is. Not that you're stupid if you didn't know that, it just... Oh God, I being me again, aren't I?
The quote is by William Glasser. I'm not sure where I got the title, but I remember it was from a book or a comic or something... but all I know is that I didn't make it up.