Memories

Adjusting

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men or any of their characters. Tora and Weapon X-ii are my own though.

She sat beside the Professor, watching them fight, working together to beat the room. It looked ludicrously simple. But perhaps that was part of the challenge. There would be a catch. And there it was. The razor wings leaving the wall. This was what she was meant to be doing. She looked over.

"You are fine with me training?"

He nodded, absorbed in his wards progress. Tora glanced down at the clothes he had offered her. It looked like the costume Kitty was wearing. Xavier had given it to her. She quietly went to change and prepare herself for the challenge. She realized she was looking forward to it.

"Is that what I have become? Someone who needs to fight to feel alive?"

But she hadn't really been living. Never had. Never would. Not since… Stop it, stop it. Don't think about that. You'll just upset yourself. Concentrate. Once you're in the room you'll be fine…

More than fine actually. She dodged and laughed. It was too easy. No lasers. No surprise attacks. Just a simple gauntlet. As she began to enjoy herself for the first time in years, the X-Men watched from above.

"Logan, this woman is almost as good as you."

Wolverine just grunted in response, slightly annoyed that they were making assumptions already.

"Now that's not fair," he chided himself. "You were saying the same thing last night."

It wasn't the hardest setting but it wasn't the easiest either. She…Was she laughing? Brilliant. They open their home to someone who gets a kick out of fighting. But then they realized she wasn't trying to destroy the robot. She was dancing around it, dodging the blasts. No attack. Just defence and avoidance. Suddenly, as swiftly as she had been dodging, her claws were out and the robot collapsed. There was something about the sudden change. It was like she had been fighting in one style and when the robot had worked out that she had changed as quickly as she could. That was definitely a new one.

Scott was looking hard at her. He tried to decide what made it obvious she was a mutant. It wasn't the black strip in the wild reddish-gold hair, a shade lighter than…no don't think of Jean, or the golden eyes with the oval pupils. It wasn't even the stare that bore into you or the way she scented the air every few seconds. It was more the overall look and body language. She had a look that reminded him of Logan. She was feral. But was this woman the same as they had taken out of the cage yesterday? She was too healthy. No one, not even Logan…well perhaps Logan…would be so full of life after starvation. Just as that thought passed through his mind she collapsed.

Always overdoing things. The woman couldn't help but laugh. Every single time in her life, Tora would do this. She'd be half starved or recovering from torture or just plain exhausted. And then she'd go and exert herself. Of course she took longer to tire. Could go for days. But she wasn't indestructible. She was so child like when it came to this. She'd stick her hand in the flames and then think if she did it again it wouldn't hurt. Of course she'd eventually learn. The important word in that sentence being eventually.

Tora woke, the darkness clearing away. Stupid. Blacking out like that. She was still in the training room. It looked so weak collapsing. Kurt was leaning over her and she got up quickly before he could offer her a hand. She didn't need help. She probably shouldn't be straining herself so soon but if there was one thing she'd learned in Creed's care it was that she hated sitting still and not being able to get her angst out of her system. That and the fact Creed was a sadistic freak. But that wasn't exactly top-secret information. What was wrong with her? Those statements weren't like her at all. She could tell they wouldn't allow her back in for a while. She might as well get those tests out of the way.

She broke contact. Why was she doing this again? Oh yes. Boredom. She'd skip the tests. They were dull and Tora had considered all sorts of ways to liven things up. The only good point had been when Xavier tried to take a series of photographs as her claws extended and they had come up blank. She'd let him stew for a while before offering to switch off the digital scramblers. She'd heard the laughter as Kurt disappeared to tell the others that Xavier had been tricked.

It had been easier than she expected. He'd just wanted to take an X-Ray of her hands and had swabbed one of her claws at her own suggestion. He had also taken a blood sample but that had been it. While he had been waiting for the machines to produce the results he'd talked to her. Asked her about her abilities. And she couldn't help herself. She'd told him about the way she saw reds that weren't and about the colours of scent. She'd told him about moving in the darkness and the knowledge. Not just the stuff about languages and weapons that were intrusive. But how scents melded and air patterns shifted. How she could feel the slight rise in air pressure before the storm. She told him how she could hear a mouse moving in the wall three rooms away. She'd been about to go into how she could see the tiny scratch on the other side of the room when the machine had beeped. He'd reached over and pulled the printouts over.

"Now Tora, I'm going to tell you what they say and I want to see if you agree."

"Yes Professor."

"You have four telescopic claws stored in your metacarpals?"

"Yes."

"The claws pass through the base of your proximal phalanx, where there is a gap in the bone."

"Yes."

"The claws are hollow and contain glands."

"Yes."

"The glands produce an enzyme that somehow secretes through the adamantium to coat your claws."

"Yes."

"The enzyme produced attacks the mutant healing factor preventing your fast healing."

"Yes."

"Does this only work on yourself?"

"No."

"Thank you for clarifying that." He moved onto the next sheet.

"You have high levels of hormones that increase your pain resistance and also speed up the rate of healing."

"Yes."

"We could probably go faster if you were more elaborate in your answers."

"You told me to tell you if you agreed or not."

"You don't have to reply with monosyllables."

She shrugged.

"Or with gestures. You said you could speak fluent English, Spanish, Japanese and French."

"And lots of other languages. It's just I can also think in those languages."

She faltered, realizing she'd fallen into a trap.

"That was underhand Professor."

"It worked in getting you to speak."

"Can we continue?"

"Of course. You have extreme hormonal imbalance that I would not expect in a woman. Where you ever given drugs in some form that Sabretooth kept up."

"Only one shot. I don't know what it was but it was smelt like Creed and one of your X-Men. Logan."

"Ah. In that case, I think a talk with Ororo may be in order."

"Why?"

"I do not feel as if I should be the one to give you the talk."

She didn't press him. His smell told her he was embarrassed enough at the moment.

"Would you like to continue evaluating me? This is very interesting. Your methods are very different to the ones I am used to."

He shifted in his chair, trying to find his place in the sheets before settling.

"You're adapted to living in outdoor conditions."

"I would not know. I have only been outside twice in my life. Once was yesterday."

"However, while Logan is adapted for an Artic climate, I think you are adapted to a more temperate climate."

"Would that give you an idea of where I came from?"

"Your adaptation seems to be for a climate with short mild summers and long middling winters."

"Would that give me any insight into my past…my…family?"

"Unfortunately Tora I cannot say."

"Thank you Professor. May I go now?"

He glance round and saw she was sitting deathly still. Very different from the numerous small movements she had been making through the entire questioning. The stillness of a cat just before it leaps. She obviously didn't like talking. Or perhaps all she wanted was that last sentence. About her family.

"You may leave."

She leapt up, the stillness evaporating as she dived towards the door.

"Tora!"

She stopped, frozen in mid-step. It would have been comical if he hadn't realized she was terrified about the punishment she would receive if she hadn't stopped.

"Perhaps Kitty can take you to get some clothes. You cannot live in the X-Men uniform and Ororo's clothes are too large for you. You could also possibly get a haircut."

She nodded then shot out of the door. He should have realized. This room was like the ones she was used to. She'd been trying to ignore it but she didn't want to spend too long there. What had they done to this girl that made her so confused? At one moment she'd be confident and calm and the next she was a cowering wreck. He quickly contacted Storm and told her all she needed to do. Let's hope that she wouldn't be too embarrassed.

She was always going to be like that. Slowly, the nervous spells would decrease but it would always be there. The fear. Anything could trigger the paralysing attacks that left her like a rabbit in the headlights. But nothing would scare her more than what was to happen that afternoon.