No copyright infringement intended.
Words in italics are telepathic conversations, dreams, or thoughts.
Chapter 6
"Rally. Rally. Wake up." Jean gently shook the young girl until she began to move and opened her eyes. Rally squinted her eyes to see who was there and then closed them again, wanting to go back to sleep. Jean smiled. "Come on, sleepyhead. We gotta' go shopping."
"What time is it?" Rally groaned, with her eyes closed.
"Around six."
Rally quickly turned her head to face Jean. "In the morning?" She asked.
"Of course." Jean answered. She could tell Rally was not a morning person.
The young girl groaned and flopped back down on her pillow and closed her eyes again.
The red headed mutant sighed. "Okay, here's the deal. I can allow you to go back to sleep, but then we aren't going shopping so you won't have anything to wear besides Scott's shirt until tomorrow."
That got Rally out of bed. She went over to the mirror to see how bad she looked. "I look terrible." The young girl said when she saw how puffy her eyes were.
"Let's go over to my room and I'll see what I can do." Jean suggested with a smile. Rally agreed and the two ladies headed over to Jean's room. It surprised Rally at how much activity was going on in the mansion that early. Students were already up, wandering about. Some were eating breakfast and others were playing outside or watching TV.
"Is this normal for everyone to be up at six?" Rally asked.
"Yes. The day starts out at five with training, actually, to get to children awake. We would have woken you up but decided you could use some sleep."
"Thanks." The young girl said a little sarcastically. She was still tired and wanted to lie down and go to sleep.
"You'll get used to it." Jean told her as they walked down an unfamiliar hallway. They stopped at the second door on the left and walked in. "This is my room. You can come here anytime if you need someone." She said, walking towards the bathroom. Rally noticed that Jean's room was much larger than her own, but then again, it had to house two people.
"Here's a pair of shorts and a tank top you can wear while we're shopping. They might be a little big, but it's the best I can do." The red head threw the outfit on the bed and Rally inspected. She held the shirt up to herself and then thanked her.
Jean smiled. "Your welcome."
Rally went in the bathroom and changed and then came out. The shirt and shorts were a little baggy.
"Not bad, but I didn't expect a perfect fit." She paused and then said, "Okay, now for some makeup." Jean led Rally into the bathroom again and began applying some kind of cream around her eyes.
"What is this stuff?" The young girl asked.
"It's like lotion, but instead of clearing up dry skin, it'll decrease swelling. Alright, take a look."
Rally turned her head and looked in the mirror. "Wow. I can actually see a difference." She felt around her eyes to make sure it wasn't a trick.
"Yeah. It's good. So are you ready now?" Jean asked, walking out of the bathroom and grabbing her purse.
Rally nodded and the two walked down to the garage and hopped in Scott's car. In no time, they were driving down the road, heading for the shopping mall.
Back at the mansion, Wolverine was just finishing up with his morning training. He had only gotten a mere two hours of sleep after Rally's incident and his mood was not at all good. Logan went back to his room, got a shower, and then headed to the kitchen for a soda. He passed Scott along the way.
"Have a good night sleep?" Scott asked, trying to agitate Logan further. He just growled and continued to the kitchen. When he arrived at his destination, he pulled a Pepsi from the refrigerator and sat down at the mock bar. He closed his eyes and took a nice long drink. It wasn't as satisfying as beer but it would have to do.
"Logan. I didn't expect to see you here." Hank said, walking in and getting himself a glass of water.
"Where did you expect me to be?" Logan inquired, grumpily.
Hank was taken back at his coldness but sat down beside him anyway. "I don't know. What's got you so upset?" He asked.
"Nothing." Wolverine finished his soda and crushed it in his hand.
"Oh really?" Beast said as he watched him destroy the can.
He growled in response and walked to the living room, hoping he could relax there without people on his back. To his surprise, nobody was there so he plopped down on the couch and clicked on the TV to a WWE match. Logan watched it for a few minutes in peace, but then Emma Frost walked in.
"There you are. I've been looking for you all over the mansion." She said as she walked over and stood right in the way of the TV with her hands on her hips.
"What do you want, Frost?" He growled.
"I know something."
"Yeah, I know something, too. You're in my way. Now if you don't mind, move." Wolverine responded grumpily.
"I guess I'll just have to go tell everyone else then." She said slyly.
"You do that." Wolverine paid no attention to her.
She walked back towards the door and before she disappeared around the corner, she said, "But, I'm not sure how you'll like it if I tell everyone that Rally is your daughter." She smiled and began walking down the hall, knowing that would get his attention.
Wolverine was out the door and grabbing onto her shoulder in record time. "How do you know that?" He asked, now even more angered.
"I'm a telepath, Logan." Emma stated plainly.
He growled. "Don't go in my mind ever again."
"I was trying to help."
"I don't need your help."
"I think you do." She said and did her signature move, placing her hands on her hips.
He let out a sigh or frustration. "Don't breathe a word of this to anyone. Understood?"
"Why do you want it kept a secret? She's your daughter. She deserves to know and so does everyone else in the mansion." Emma questioned.
"No." He answered and headed back towards the living room to finish watching the match.
"Logan, your going to have to tell her sometime."
"I know, Frost. Just stay out of it." Logan called back rudely and disappeared in the living room
It was evening when Jean and Rally walked back into the mansion after their day of shopping. Each girl was carrying four bags of all different kinds of clothing.
"That was a fun day." Jean commented, but there was no enthusiasm in her voice.
"Yeah." Rally replied weakly.
Both girls were exhausted from their shopping spree. They had left at 6 in the morning and it was now 7:30 in the evening. The young girl looked like she would collapse any second.
As they headed up to Rally's room, Scott and Storm met them in the hallway.
"It's about time you two got back." Storm teased.
"Well," Jean said, "We wanted to make this a one time trip and there was a lot of stuff to get."
Scott noticed the weary looks on the girls' faces and offered his help. "Here, let me get some of those. I'll start taking them up to your room." Rally nodded and allowed Scott to take the bags she was holding.
"I don't believe we've met." Storm said kindly to the young girl. "I'm Storm."
"Hi." Rally tiredly smiled.
"Oh, and this is Emma Frost." The white-haired mutant introduced, seeing Emma walk out of a room and into the hallway.
"Hello, Rally." Emma greeted.
Rally just smiled because she didn't have enough energy to speak.
"What did you do to the poor child?" The blonde woman inquired.
Jean glared at Emma. "We were shopping all day."
"Ladies." The Professor interrupted, rolling his wheel chair down the hallway to where the small group stood.
"Hello Professor." Emma and Storm both said. Jean and Rally just smiled.
"Hello, ladies." He replied, and then looked at Rally who was struggling to stay upright. "Rally, you looked tired. You may go to your room if you would like." He smiled kindly.
The young girl nodded and picked up the bags Scott had not yet carried up to her room and walked away.
"Poor thing." Storm sighed. She felt compassion for her now, even though it was her idea to keep her away from the other students.
"She'll be fine." The professor stated. "She has strong blood in her veins."
"You can say that again." Emma replied. Both of the telepaths were implying the relationship between Wolverine and Rally, unknowingly to each other.
"Well, if you don't mind Professor, I'm going to sleep." Jean stated.
"See you in the morning, Jean." He replied.
The red-head walked down the hallway, towards her room.
"I've got to make sure the kitchen isn't a mess from dinner." Storm said. "See you later, Professor. Emma."
The Professor nodded and then looked up at the blonde still remaining. "I would like to speak with you, Emma."
"Oh, About what?" She asked.
"Not here. My office." He replied and the two headed off to his office.
Rally slowly made her way up to her room, passing Scott along the way who helped her get the rest of the bags there.
"Thanks." She said.
"No problem. See you in the morning." He said and walked back downstairs.
The young girl noticed a new door had been installed on her room and wondered who she owed the thanks. Drowsily, Rally opened her door and dragged all the bags in. She didn't even bother to do anything more with them. The only thing she did before crawling into bed was change from the shorts and tank top Jean had lent her to Scott's shirt she had slept in the previous night.
Rally snuggled under the covers and relaxed. Her muscles were so sore from being on her feet all day. Maybe shopping really could be considered a sport. Just then, she heard a slight knock on her door and she frowned. Not wanting to get up out of her comfortable position, she said, "Come in."
Slowly, the door began to open and it surprised Rally who was on the other side.
"Warren." The young girl started to get up embarrassedly.
"You don't need to get up." He told her. She sat back down on her bed and watched as he shut the door and began walking over to her.
"What are you doing here?" She asked, knowing full well that she wasn't allowed to be around other students, never mind the fact that he was a guy in her room at night.
He sat down on the bed beside her, which made Rally a little nervous. Maybe she shouldn't have let this boy in her room.
"I just want to talk." He said with a sincere smile. "You're always with the x-men and I never get a chance."
"Well…I can't really talk." She said sadly.
"You always say that." The blonde boy responded, realizing there was a pattern to her actions.
"I'm sorry." She apologized. Once her mutant abilities activated, life would be better at the mansion.
He sighed. "If you don't want to talk, just tell me. Don't keep making excuses. I'll leave you alone."
Rally bit her lip, debating whether to tell him or not. She liked this boy, even though she barely knew him. More than anything, she wanted to get to know him, but she didn't want to put his life in danger. "I'm forbidden to talk to any of the students." The young girl said and looked down at the floor, avoiding eye contact.
He chuckled. "Why? Are you some dangerous mutant?"
"I'm not a mutant yet." She replied. Warren suddenly stopped laughing and looked at her with a curious expression.
"Your human still?" He asked, making sure he understood her correctly.
"Yes." Rally answered. Maybe now that he knew she was human, he wouldn't be interested in her anymore.
"Why did they bring you here?"
"My father was…killed by mutants and the professor has reason to believe I am a mutant."
"Oh, I'm sorry, Rally." He tried to comfort her by placing his hand on hers.
"It's alright." She said, even though she knew it wasn't, at least for now.
They sat in silence for awhile before Rally pulled her hand from his grasp. "You should probably go. I'm sorry."
He stood up and walked over to the door. The young girl realized this would probably be the last time she would speak with him until she got her powers and it made her sad. It was sweet of him coming and now that he knew the truth, maybe Warren didn't even want to come back.
"Goodnight." He said and was out the door before she could respond.
The young girl laid her head back down on her bed and began to cry. Why couldn't life just go back to the way it was two days ago?
End Chapter
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