Disclaimer: I own nothing. Roswell belongs to Jason Katims et al. X-Men belongs to Marvel et al. I don't even own the idea for this fic as it is a challenge: Crossover Challenge # 16 by Jezebel Jinx on RoswellFanatics (dot) net
Additional Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. - I like this one because it thoroughly covers my ass.
Chapter Three: The Professor and The Lab
As we moved through the giant wooden doors, I noticed that the Professor, at least I assumed it was the professor as he was sitting behind the giant dark wooden desk, wasn't alone in his office. There were two other people there. A man with red sunglasses, and a gorgeous tall redhead.
I heard a muted whirring as the Professor came around the desk, and noticed he was in an electric wheelchair. Some might think being in a wheelchair made a person look weak, but it only gave Professor Xavier a more dignified air.
He smiled at me as he came towards me. "Ms. Parker!" he exclaimed in a jovial tone layered with a posh English accent, "It is a pleasure to finally meet you! You look so much like your Grandmother when we were young."
I accepted his hand and shook it firmly, "Please call me Liz, Dr. Xavier. Thank you for allowing me to come here on such short notice." I said.
"Not at all, my dear," he said. "That's what this school is here for after all. I'd like you to meet two of my teachers here at the school. This is Scott Summers." Xavier gestured to the man with the sunglasses, and Mr. Summers stepped foreword to shake my hand.
"Nice to meet you Liz," he said in a deep clear voice. I shook his hand, and looked back to the Professor.
"And, I believe you have already spoken to Dr. Jean Grey." He said gesturing to the impeccably dressed woman beside Mr. Summers.
"Yes," I said eagerly, "We spoke on the phone. It is an honor to meet you Dr. Grey, I'm a great admirer of your work." As we shook hands I got one of those instant feelings, a reading on her character, and I didn't like it. I struggled to keep my face straight. I had been so eager to meet her; to learn from her! Her work on genetics was ground breaking, and unique! Damn it! I was just going to have to over look my feelings and intuition, for the most part, and be as polite as possible. I would be careful though.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Liz." Dr. Grey said in a smooth upper class alto.
We all stepped back to sit, and the Professor wheeled back around behind his desk. "So, Liz," Xavier said, "tell us what brought you here."
I hesitated. I didn't like telling people certain things, and I was wary of telling my story, even as edited as it would be, to everyone in the room. "Professor," I said cautiously. "No offense meant, but my Grandmother only knew you. She trusted you. I would prefer to keep as many details as possible, just between the two of us."
The Professor clasped his hands in front of him on the desk. He looked to Dr. Grey, and they looked like they were having a conversation without words. He looked back to me and nodded, "If that would make you feel more comfortable, than that is what we will do. Just know that I trust my people above all others." He looked into my eyes intensely as he spoke, and I felt a poke against my mental shield. It was subtle, and non-intrusive, and I figured he was just testing the strength of my shields.
The others in the room stood and left quietly, but I kept my eyes locked on the Professor. "Your shields are quite strong for a mutant of your age," he said. "You must have worked very hard on them."
"Yes, sir," I replied. "Claudia explained just how important it was that I have strong shields. Honestly though, if I hadn't had such a good sleep, and just had lunch they wouldn't be nearly as strong. I can only keep them up like this for a few hours at a time. Just enough to keep me from going crazy with random visions. Well, normally that is. The past few days have been very difficult and confusing."
Xavier brought his clasped hands to his chin, and looked deep in thought. "Why don't you tell me about when you first noticed your powers fluctuating." He said, all business now the formalities were out of the way.
"Well, sir," I said, "It started a few days ago when I had a huge fight with my boyfriend." I stopped with a gasp. Just thinking about Max brought out the Green Lighting all over my body.
"My word," said the Professor as he quickly wheeled around his desk toward me. "What on earth is that?"
I snorted indelicately. It certainly wasn't like anything on 'Earth.' "Pardon me, sir," I said apologetically for my disrespectful outburst. "Would it be alright if I finished the story before we worried about the Green Lightning?"
"It looks like it hurts, dear," he said with sympathy. "Are you sure you don't want to see Dr. Grey about this first?"
"Yes, sir," I said. "I would rather tell you what you need to know before we try to do anything."
"Very well," he said. "Proceed."
"Well, like I said, I had a fight with my boyfriend. We were so in love, and I thought he was my everything, my forever. I thought he felt the same way about me." I explained. I wanted him to know that serious and strong emotions were involved here. My Grandmother said that emotions often affect mutations, and the control thereof, so I figured it was important to explain, at least to a point, what I had been feeling.
"I was stressed because of an interview with the Harvard recruiter at school, and I just wasn't feeling well. We were talking, and my shield slipped. Long story short he was being unfaithful, and saw me as no more than arm candy to show off. I started feeling sicker. I was dizzy, I had a fever, I was hallucinating, my senses were out of whack, and then the Green Lighting started. At first it was just like a small electric shock, but over the space of a few hours it got to the point where it was seriously painful. Whenever I would talk to my boyfriend, or ex I should say, or even think about him, it got worse. We ended up in the dessert, in the middle of nowhere, shouting at each other. I'm not exactly sure what triggered it," I said. This was true. I mean I knew it had something to do with Max, but not what exactly. I didn't want to lie to Dr. Xavier, after all he was supposed to be helping me, but I would not give up the secret. I would tell him what I thought he needed to know, and try not to lie, while vague-ing up the details as much as my conscience would allow me to.
I cleared my throat. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to leave out some names and details to protect certain people. I'm not trying to be dishonest, I just can't betray the trust others have placed in me, even at the expense of my own health." I paused. "I would appreciate it if you would try to stay out of my head, even when my shields fail. I mean, surface thoughts, I get you can't really block all of those, but please try not to dig for more info than what I feel I can tell you. It's important, for the safety of everyone, that certain things remain a secret." I looked at the Professor in the eye as I awaited his response.
"I see you feel very strongly about this. So," he said, "I will do my best to respect your privacy. And if you feel some things should be left out, I trust that you'll relay the information needed to determine what is happening with you mutation."
"Thank you, sir," I said. I swallowed, and continued, "There was a surge of energy. Some kind of radiation I think. You know they did nuclear tests out there in the dessert in the 50's? Some people say that there are still nuclear pilings, and residual radiation in some places in New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and Utah." I looked at him pointedly. The look he gave me in return made me think he got that I wasn't saying nuclear tests were the source of the radiation, just that this would be a good excuse to tell others so they wouldn't dig too deeply for the real source.
"Do you think this surge of radiation would be able to happen again, and hurt others?" Xavier asked.
I got that he was only willing to avoid the truth as long as it wasn't harmful to anyone else. "No, sir," I answered. "The circumstances surrounding this phenomena were very specific, and are very unlikely to ever be duplicated." I assured him. He nodded for me to continue. "The energy surge enveloped my entire body. I can't even accurately describe the pain to you. The Lightning was like razor wire cutting into me, my whole body burned, I felt like I was stretching and swelling and changing, and after the energy hit it's peak I felt something in me snap and give way. Like a lug nut that was so stuck you think you'll never get it to turn, and then Boom! It budges and you fall to the ground. I felt tingly, and different. Like my genetic structure had somehow been altered, though I don't know how I know that's what it felt like. I just did." I looked up at him, and he seemed to be in deep thought.
"Since this incident, how has your mutation acted? Any differences? And what about your other symptoms? Were they the same or worse than you described them before?" he asked, in full scientist mode. It made me feel a measure of relief that he seemed so in control, and not worried. He saw a problem, and he knew the steps to take to figure it out, and try to help me.
"Since I left Roswell," I replied, starting with his first question, "My mutation has been sporadic. My shielding wasn't up to par, because of how exhausted I was, but nothing that was to be unexpected given the circumstances. I don't feel like anything is too different about my gift. Maybe it's a bit more powerful than I would expect it to be? I've been getting stronger at a steady pace as I've gotten older, but I feel like maybe I've taken a jump forward power wise. Does that make sense?" I asked with my eyebrows scrunched in concentration. The Professor nodded, so I continued. "My body feels different. There is a humming in my head, like a tuning fork that has been struck. A low buzzing. My whole body feels like it's vibrating on a molecular level. Shifting around." I shook my head trying to focus. "The Green Lightning, or we could call it GL, has lessoned significantly. It seems the only times it has gotten bad have been when I think of him." I shivered as the energy arced across my body. "My senses have mostly returned to normal. At least they have stopped being so disorienting. I haven't checked to see if I have a fever. I'm not so dizzy anymore." I sighed and looked up at the Professor.
He was looking at a spot on the far wall deep in thought. After several minutes, he nodded subtly, and turn back to me. "I would like to get you to the infirmary, and run some tests. We'll start with blood work, and measuring the electric nerve impulses in your body. This will hopefully help us determine the mechanics of this 'GL' and figure out what to do about it. We'll start a genetic profile as soon as we get the blood sample."
I started to feel frightened. I had decided that my cells wouldn't be any different than a mutants. At least not in a way that couldn't be explained by the 'energy surge' and it's effects on my body. Part of me was still worried that me cells would give me, and more importantly my friends, away. Like there would be little green alien heads smiling up into the microscope from the slide. I took a deep breath. Even if there was an anomaly, I wouldn't tell them anything. And without my help, chances are they would never figure it out.
I lifted my head, sat up straight, and looked Dr. Xavier in the eye. "I'm trusting you," I said softly. "I'm trusting you to keep any results to yourself, and if needed Dr. Grey. I'm trusting that you, and she, won't ship me off to some secret government facility to be dissected like an insect. That you won't share any details with anyone without my express permission. I would prefer it if you would keep any results in hard copy only, and not on any computers. I know I sound paranoid, but I have heard the rumors of nightmarish places where mutants are treated like lab rats. If I were just dealing with a normal mutation, I wouldn't be so worried. But given the circumstances that have brought me here, I am an anomaly, and if certain people learned about me, I would never be safe anywhere for the rest of my life."
I was thinking about Max's time in the 'White Room.' Pierce and the 'Special Unit' scared the hell out of me. During the rescue I just kept picturing myself on a table with them cutting into me. There were rumors that governments captured Mutants and experimented on them. I believed that the Special Unit was closely connected to these other facilities. Maybe sister programs. What happened to Max was just too similar to what was rumored to happen to Mutants that were captured.
Dr. Xavier looked at me with a serious expression. "I give you my word that I will protect any information gained through these tests, and you, just a fiercely as I protect all my other students." He said. And I believed him.
I made it to my room that night at about 1am. I had spent nearly 14 hours in the lab with Dr. Xavier, and Dr. Grey. They drew blood, venous and arterial, swabbed my mouth for DNA, took samples of hair, skin, and muscle. Then stared the nerve test to measure the electric currents in my body. That hurt like hell. They put long needles into my muscles by the nerves, and sent an electric current through them. Ouch. Not as bad as the Green Lightning but still far from pleasant.
They did some sort of scan next. They had debated for awhile on if my GL would harm the machine, but given the data gathered from the nerve test, they decided that since the GL was mostly electric energy that if I was to lay on a rubber mat (collected from the 'Danger Room' wtf?) it would absorb any energy that might be harmful to the machine. They had me meditate and relax for the first scan, and then had me think of Max for the second. I shorted out the machine. The scan was mostly finished when it happened, and they said they had all the data that they wanted from the scan so I wouldn't have to do it again. Turns out I just blew a few fuses, so at least I didn't destroy the very expensive looking machine. And I melted the rubber mat. Oops.
There was much muttering and conferring between the Doctors throughout the day. I heard some of it, but mostly I just concentrated on keeping myself calm. I got a couple of visions towards the end of the day when my shields were wavering with my fatigue. I saw Professor Xavier on a bed, with EEG probes stuck on his forehead. I saw a man, pale and sweating, holding Ororo's hand. He was so scared. I got a couple other random flashes, but nothing as interesting as those two.
The Doctors decided to get a bone marrow sample. I argued the point as I had heard stories of the pain associated with extracting the marrow. They said they needed it to see the cell production in the marrow had been altered in any way. I laid on my stomach as Dr. Grey draped a surgical sheet over me, and prepared the site on my left hip. She injected a local anesthetic, and then inserted a big ass needle with a weird tip. The only things I could compare to that pain, was firstly being shot in the gut, and secondly the excruciating pain in the desert when Max tried to fix me only days ago.
Then they decided that they needed spinal fluid. Yippee! I got to get a Spinal Tap! Note the extreme sarcasm. Having a four inch needle inserted into your spine is not any fun at all. I had to lay on my back for two hours afterwards while they did other tests. An EKG to check my heart function. Some test where Dr. Grey used a sonogram type machine to probe the left side of my chest to get a good look at my heart. She called it an 'Echo' I think. My left breast will never be the same after all the pain and punishment it took during that test.
They did a brain function test, an 'EEG.' Again they had me relax when they ran the test the first time, and then think of Max while they ran it again. Again, they got the info needed before the machine blew, but it blew. Dr. Grey had to rush and get a fire extinguisher to put it out.
They finished the last of the tests shortly after this, and I shuffled up to my room, leaning heavily on Dr. Grey, to try to sleep. I had decided that the off feeling I got from her didn't have anything to do with her professional life; i.e. Teaching, and being a Doctor. It was her personal life that told my gut not to trust her completely. Since I didn't plan on associating with her on a personal level, I decided not to worry about it too much. She gave me a heating pad, and some pain pills for the pain in my hip from the bone marrow extraction, and left me to sleep.
It took me until 3am to finally fall asleep, and again I dreamt the oddest dreams.
I was running through the woods, the precious package strapped to my back, and my dress gathered in my hands so I wouldn't trip. My breathing was hard and fast, and my breath puffed out in a white cloud before me.
I could hear them behind me in the distance, the sound of their voices raised in the joy of the hunt. They eventually would catch up to me, I knew this, and I was determined to be no longer living when this happened. I would not allow my body to be defiled by these retched men.
I just had to run a little further to the hiding place, and put the tablets there. Once they were secure I would swallow the poison all of the members of the sisterhood carried. We were virgin priestesses, and we would rather die than have our purity stolen from us. The rest of my sisters were already dead, having fought till they were slain, or taken the poison to be released from the torture that would await them should they be caught.
My feet pounded against the forest floor, and I pushed myself even harder as I heard their footsteps gaining on my position. I had to make it to the cave. I had to! My failure would mean the end of all.