Memories

Warning

Disclaimer: What do you think?

If you want to use Tora, or any of my other characters, PM me.

Curt stood in the middle of the Danger Room, eyes bright. His black jeans and orange t-shirt writhed until they became an orange and black suit, covering his face. He saw his parents standing above him, looking worried. Cyclops' voice ran out over the speakers.

"Beast suggested this would be a good way to help you deal with the loss of your mutation. We're putting it on the easy level."

He nodded, excited, wanting to start. The first of the enemies faded into existence and Curt instantly felt the part of him that was Poison take control.

Let's go!

I agree!

(Try not to get yourself killed.)

Curt leapt up, his feet instantly sticking to the wall. He dropped to all fours and crawled up to the ceiling. When he reached the top, he reached out a hand and thwapped a piece of symbiote webbing to the centre of the ceiling before swinging out over the floor, sending out a claw from his foot and successfully beheading the first robot. He flicked in the air and landed on the ceiling, legs and arms splayed out behind him. He reached out with his left hand and sent out a piece of black webbing, that caught another robot and allowed him to pull it up to his level before stabbing it with his wrist claw. He laughed, exhilarated. He was a god again!

This is FUN! Can we do this again?

Oh, yes PLEASE!

(Ask the dude up there with the silly glasses.)

Curt twisted, turning over so he could see Cyclops through the glass.

"Can I-"

A shot hit him on the back and he started to fall. Instantly he twisted, sent out a line and swung up, landing on the wall and continuing to run before using his momentum to launch off the wall and slam right into the robot who had shot him. He laughed and Poison laughed as well. Leaping into the air, he backflipped before slamming feet-first into the final robot and causing it to fall to the ground sparking. He jumped and gave a cry of triumph. The door slid open and Tora marched in, looking mad.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?"

"What?"

"DOING THOSE STUPID SHOW-OFF ACROBATICS, JUST TO SHOW THAT YOU COULD! YOU COULD HAVE BEEN HURT!"

"I wasn't Maman. I wasn't. Look."

He turned and showed the scorched symbiote which had thickened to prevent the laser from hitting his back. Tora wheeled him round and hugged him.

"Don't you dare scare me like that again!"

The suit squirmed and became normal clothes again as Curt hugged his mother back.

"I'll try not to."

She smiled and pressed her chin to his head.

"You stay safe, understand?"

He shrugged and Logan came in as well.

"You been having lessons with Spidey kid?"

"No."

Tora grinned.

"Remember? Symbiotes have a genetic memory. Poison's memory may be faulty, but Venom spent a long time joined with Spider-Man. So of course Curt is going to remember how to fight as Peter fights."

"Oh…"

"You haven't read Hank's notes of symbiotes have you?"

"No."

"Read them. It's very interesting."

"Can I have more cookies?"

Tora raised her eyes and counted silently to ten.

"There aren't any left. Go and raid Gambit's bitter chocolate stash. It's in the third cupboard on the left, top shelf, behind the spices."

Logan blinked.

"Is that the one in the black and gold wrapper?"

"Did you…? You ate it, didn't you?"

"I was hungry!"

"Remy will kill you."

"It's just chocolate!"

"It's Remy's chocolate."

"How did Remy get that chocolate? It was the best ever."

"How do you think he got it?"

"You think he stole it?"

"He was a thief Jean. Of course he stole it."

The figure screamed into the night but the wind caught her cry and flung it back at her. She screamed again, just to have the satisfaction of hearing it swept away. She screamed again and again until there was no more air in her to scream. She stepped forward and looked down at the rocks below. So…tempting. The promise of no more hurt and grief. No more pain. No more…loss. She closed her eyes and stepped forward into the oblivion…

Tora started upwards, gasping for breath. The dream had been so…clear. There had been the sense of loss, of suffering. Of all-encompassing emptiness. She wondered what the dream was about. And what it signified. It could simply be a representation of her fears of what could have happened and she saw so clearly but she didn't think it was that. It could be the guilt over losing Eva for a second time. But she'd never associated Eva with the sea, or cliffs. Eva was the snowy woods near the base of a mountain. The place where she had last seen Eva alive. She didn't count that room where everything stank of blood and gore. She remembered her, as she had appeared then, resolute, determined to be free. And now she had an adult Eva to see, a face to place to her. A dark, soft face, full of care and kindness. Wildly curly black hair, which had been cropped short when Tora had known her. Bright blue eyes that sparkled and danced with the joy of freedom. Eva had been so different from how she had been when they'd been Xii and Eden. Tora bowed her head and bit her lip to prevent the tears from coming. So it hadn't been Eva or the alternate realities. So what was it? Dragon stirred and Tora frowned.

Is this some sort of warning?

It is a message from yourself.

About what exactly?"

That is for you to work out.

Oh, brilliant.

Less sarcasm please. If it were anyone but you, they would have crumbled to dust by now.

Yawn!

She sensed rather than saw Dragon's annoyance and fondness, rolled into one little package. Dragon seemed to see her as a little sister, to be pandered to and cared for. What Dragon didn't seem to realise was that this little sister had claws and the know-how to use them to lethal effect if required. She got up and shrugged on a loose cotton robe, knowing that at this hour, she could rely on one person to be willing to talk.

She hurried along the corridors and stopped outside one door. Closing her eyes, she let the shields around her mind drop and shouted out the name in her head. There was a low moan then Emma opened the door.

"Are you alright?"

"No. I…I want to talk. You're the only one I trust with this."

The look on Emma's face was worth the pain she was going to go through. Since Jean's death a year ago, people had treated her with distrust and hatred. Tora knew of hatred and wasn't going to feed it. The sight of one of Jean's closest friends acting friendly towards Emma lead to mutters but Tora couldn't care less. Emma smiled slightly.

"You knew I hadn't been sleeping."

"Yes."

"I keep seeing their faces… I let them die Tora! I killed my students. Again…"

"It's not your fault Emma. It's the fault of those who attacked the children who were not a threat to them any longer. They are the murderers."

"You needed me to scan you?"

"Yes. There's a dream I had and it's…different. Like a memory but I've never been to that place. Or did what I…what I do."

"Show me."

Tora closed her eyes and let Emma press her hands to either side of her head.

"Concentrate on what you want to show me."

Tora thought back to the dream and the terrible sense of loss that came with it. It played out again and Emma gasped and released Tora's head.

"Oh my…"

"What?"

"There were…undercurrents. You couldn't sense them but I could."

"Tell me."

"Not him as well. Not after Jean and Kurt and 'Ro and Emma and Bobby and Scott and Piotr and Kitty and Rogue and Remy and…and… Jamie."

Tora staggered backwards.

"Jamie…"

"But…there are other messages there. We must not let conflict tear us apart. We will fight ourselves, man to man. Utopia will rise. The darkness will come. Fear the Serpent. United we will survive. We must stand together. When all is lost, Dragon rise higher than ever before. Utopia will be made of angels wings, phoenix fire, ice heart, beast thought and whirlpool's eye."

"What?"

"That's what I'm getting. It's a mess. It's like someone tried to send you a message but it was cryptic to begin with and got garbled on the way. Then somehow, we can't, haven't got the knowledge to decipher the code. I'm sorry."

Tora shook her head.

"I…I almost understand…"

"You should. The psychic signature is yours."

"What!"

"That was a warning from yourself. Sometime in the future."

"How?"

"I don't know Tora. I don't know."

The two women sat in the chairs, staring at each other for a long time before silently getting up and returning to their respective rooms.

"Typical. She can't even decipher a simple little code like that."

"To be fair, we do know what happened next. She didn't."

"Oh. Yeah."