Warning: Umm, my imagination got a little sick here. Nothing too bad, just a little gory. Be warned! Disclaimer: The following contains characters and subject matter which belong solely to Marvel. They are used for entertainment purposes only, i.e. no profit is being made off of this story. Revelations: Part 14 Chris Votulle, August 1997 She held up a small hand against the thick, glass wall. It was a constant barrier between her and the outside world. The bad man who brought her there had never let her outside, but he got inside when she was sleeping. He never hurt her while she was there, but he ran all kinds of tests on her. They were very scary. The man told her that he loved her and wanted to be her Daddy, but her brother told her that he didn't love her. He was lying. Bad people lie and she hates bad people -- especially the bad man. She told him that and he got mean. He said that if she didn't cooperate that he would hurt her brother just like he hurt her Mommy and Daddy. That scared her because she loved her brother more than anything in the whole world. She and her brother had a special bond. That's why she was able to talk to him even though he wasn't in the room with her. She always knew what he was doing and what he was thinking. She supposed that he knew what she thought too, but she never asked him. She didn't want to make him feel bad if he couldn't do it. Right now he was sleeping, but he was having a nightmare. It was about the bad man strangling him. He couldn't breathe. He kicked at the man and pulled at his fingers, but he still couldn't breathe. The world was turning black. #Remy, wake up! It's just a dream. Wake up!# His eyes snapped open at the telepathic summons. It took him a few moments to recognize where he was, but reality soon fell into place. #Kali? Is that you?# #Yes. Who else would it be, silly?# He smiled at her response. #Oh, I don't know. The queen of England?# She giggled. He was always able to make her forget about where she was and what had happened to her. #No, I'm queen of the whole world!# #Oh, really? Then what does that make me?# She shrugged as if he could see her. #You can be king if you want to.# #No kidding? Thanks!# His mental voice dripped with sarcasm. She could tell that he was making fun of her, but she didn't care. It was enough just to have some kind of human contact. She was about to change the subject when she felt a sudden stab of fear. She knew that it wasn't her fear, so it had to have been her brothers. #Remy what's wrong?# The fear was escalating. Kali could sense that someone was in the room with her brother. It could only be the bad man, but why was Remy so afraid? The bad man was mean, but he'd never hurt them before... except for the night that they met. #Kali, he knows! Break the link, break the link!! He's going to...# His voice was cut off my an excruciating stab of pain. Kali put her hands to her head as a reflex as she crumpled to the floor. Her ears were ringing with a deafening sound that she didn't realize to be her own scream. Suddenly, her contact to her brother was cut, but in it's place was an entirely new awareness. She could sense people hurting... everywhere. People were suffering, agonizing, dying -- and she was experiencing it all with them. Most of all, she could sense her brother's pain. She could no longer hear his thoughts, but she could feel the torture that was being inflicted on him. The bad man was punishing him for maintaining contact with her. It was her fault! Her brother was being hurt because she couldn't handle being left all alone. She would soon find out that he wasn't the only one being hurt. A wave of nausea overcame her and she threw up a mixture of blood and bile. Blood began to escape from her eyes and her nose. She tried frantically to plug the flow, but it poured out from between her fingers. The mental trauma was causing her brain to hemorrhage. She brought a shaking hand up to the glass panel and watched as it slowly created a smear of blood, causing everything outside to appear a shade of red. She let the blood flow freely now as it created a pool around her. She had a mental image of drowning in a pool of her own blood, and it pleased her. Maybe death was the escape that she was searching for. That peace didn't last long. Seeing all of the blood triggered a memory and suddenly her mother was lying before her -- her blood covering every available surface. She rubbed and scratched at her skin in an attempt to rid it of her mother's blood, but she only caused more blood to appear. "NOOOOO!!!" Her wail pierced the air. "Make it stop! Make it stop!" * * * * * "Hey, are you okay?" Kali's eyes snapped open as she realized that it was just a dream. At least she tried to convince herself that it was, but something deep inside her knew better. She looked over at the man who had woken her up. "I'm sorry if I disturbed you, but you were crying out in your sleep." He was middle-aged, with unruly red hair that was bespeckled with some grays. He seemed friendly enough, but Kali hated drawing attention to herself. "I'm fine," she assured him. "It was just a dream. Nothing to worry about." "I'm not so sure about that. You we're screaming and woke up terrified. You're still having problems controlling you're breathing. That's not normal. Would you like to talk about it? I've been told by several people that I'm a good listener." The man smiled at reassuringly, but she was far from being reassured. He seemd concerned, but he was a little *too* concerned for her liking. And why was he sitting next to her? There were plenty of empty seats on the bus. And why did the expression on his face look so annoyingly familiar? "I said I'm fine. There's no need to discuss anything." Kali's tone was extremely, and purposefully, curt. However, the man did not desist. "Are you sure? You still look a little shaken up to me." The man was nothing if not persistent. She had no desire to argue with this complete stranger about why she did not want to talk to him, but that seemed to be the direction that the conversation was heading. Rather than continue down the path she was already pointed towards, she decided that a telepathic suggestion of sleep directed towards the man would be the best way to avoid explaining herself. She carefully lowered her shields and reached out towards the surface of the man's mind, but quickly recoiled in shock. She wasn't very skilled in her telepathy, but she believed that she could recognize a person's mind once she had already probed it and this man's mind was *definately* familiar. She reached out again in attempt to confirm her suspicions only this time she probed deeper. There was no longer any doubt in her mind. "BOBBY DRAKE! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING ON THIS BUS?!" All eyes in the bus turned to face her as she stood up in her seat, cheeks flushed and eyes like daggers fixed on the man sitting next to her. Bobby quickly pulled her back down into her seat. "What are you doing?" he hissed. "You're causing a scene." Kali stood up again. "You think that *this* is a scene? You haven't even begun to experience what a scene is. When I get through with you, I..." Bobby pulled her back down and clasped a hand over her mouth. "Be quiet. Do you want to get us kicked off the bus and stranded here in the boonies?" #Get you're hands off of me,# she sent telepathically since he was covering her mouth. Bobby flinched at the telepathic statement. Kali had never communicated telepathically since she came to the X-Men as far as he knew and it unsettled him. Nevertheless, he managed to maintain his grip on her. "Really, Kali. I would think that you would have grown tired of this routine by now. In any case, if you settle down I will let you go." #What gives you the right to play my babysitter? I have a very good reason to be upset here and I have no intention of 'settling down.' Let go of me now!# She sent a jolt of electricity through Bobby's arms and he immediately let go of her in response. Unfortunately, he also responded by turning into his ice form, but his image inducer was able to compensate enough so that no one on the bus seemed to notice. "Holy shit! What did you do that for?" "I did it so you would let go of me," she replied calmly. "And it worked." "But that hurt!" He stared at her incredulously. "Not as much as it hurt your pride," she retorted. Kali crossed her arms over her chest and turned to face the window, leaving Bobby to stare at her back. They stayed like that for a while -- neither quite knowing what to say. Bobby was the first to break the silence. "Look, I'm sorry that I followed you. I was just worried that you were in some kind of danger. I didn't want to see you get hurt." Kali continued to stare out the window as she responded. "Maybe I didn't want you to come along precisely because it would be dangerous. Maybe I don't want to see any more people I care about get hurt. And there is no need to apologize. You can make it up to me by getting off of this bus at the next stop and heading straight back to Westchester." Bobby sighed. "Kali, no offense, but you sound like a broken record. I'm not getting off of this bus -- especially since I've already made it this far. Besides, even if I do get off I'll just meet you in Seattle since I know that that is where you're going. Face it -- you're stuck with me." Kali turned around with a beaten look on her face. "Bobby, please." There was a slight quaver in her voice as she pleaded with him. "I don't want to see anyone else get hurt because of me." "What are you talking about? You couldn't hurt a fly." Well, actually that wasn't true. According to Hank she could probably destroy the entire planet, but Bobby didn't think that this was a good time to bring that up. "I'm not the one who'll hurt you." "Kali, you're being vague again. Don't you know how to spell things out? What's in Seattle, and better yet, why are you going if it's so dangerous?" Kali inhaled sharply and closed her eyes. Communication was never one of her strong points -- far from it. "I don't know for sure that it *is* dangerous, Bobby. All I know is that when people get close to me they get hurt, so I don't get close to people anymore." She opened her eyes to face his alien visage. "In answer to your question, I'm going to Seattle to take care of something that should have been done a long time ago." Vague, vague, vague. Bobby cursed her mentally, hoping that she wasn't strong enough of a telepath to read his surface thoughts. He tried his best to disguise his frustration as he prodded her for more information. "What are you going to do?" "It's time for me to let go -- before it's too late. I have to say good-bye to m-my past, and it s-s-starts in Seattle. So that's w-where I'm going." She pulled her legs in towards her chest and began rocking back and forth. Bobby looked at her quizzically before he realized that her actions were in response to the decreasing temperature caused, unintentionally, by him. He immediately switched back to human form and raised the surrounding temperature. "Kali, I'm sorry. Really. Are you okay?" She almost smiled at his concern. "I'm f-fine. If I wasn't, I would have complained. Or something." "Are you sure? Is there anything that I can do?" "Actually, yes. Can you turn off whatever it is that makes you look like that? It's really weird talking to you and seeing some stranger." "Sure." Bobby pulled the image inducer out of his pocket and turned it off, after making sure that no one was looking. Fortunately, there weren't very many people on the bus and most of them were sleeping. Kali still looked cold and Bobby felt rather guilty about that, so he took off his jacket and placed it on her shoulders. Normally, she would refuse such an act, but she was cold and tired of arguing. She sighed. It seems that every time she was with Bobby all they did was argue. Why did he care so much? Why wouldn't she let him? As much as she pretended not to need anybody, she knew very well what comfort human companionship could bring. She was trying hard to forget, but that seemed to be a luxury that would forever be unattainable. She looked over at the man sitting next to her. He was practically a complete stranger, but he was probably the closest thing she had to a friend right now. Would it really kill her to try and open up to him? Or at least to accept his offer of friendship? She pushed the thought from her mind as soon as it appeared, but the trace of fear that accompanied it still lingered there. "Kali?" "Huh?" She was snapped out of her reverie by Bobby's questioning glance. "You never did tell me what you were going to Seattle for, exactly. What are trying to let go of?" Kali slumped back in her seat and began rubbing her arms absentmindedly. Bobby placed an arm around her shoulders and she immediately stiffened. She didn't know if he did it to assure her that she could tell him anything without fear of his reaction, because he was trying to warm up her body temperature, or because he was trying to keep her from running away. She looked into his eyes and relaxed as much as her guards would allow her. "I'm trying to let go of my past. My parents died in Seattle and I never really got a chance to say good-bye. >From that point on, my life kind of went downhill. A lot." She shivered involuntarily and Bobby tightened his grip on her. "I was hoping that some kind of closure might help me finally move on with my life. A life free of the past. I feel the need for a new start, and this is the only way I could thing of doing it." Bobby nodded. "I can understand that, but why is this so sudden? And why are you so convinced that it's going to be dangerous?" "My parents didn't die of natural causes. They were murdered. Intentionally. In front of me. To get to me. I don't want to go into any specifics, but I've been hiding from this for most of my life. If I ever face the person who did it, they would probably hurt anyone to get to me. And I might hurt anyone to get to them. Like Remy." Her eyes misted over at his name. A name that wasn't spoken from her lips for many years in an attempt to forget, and she almost did. But then she ended up at the X-Mansion and ran into him -- a ghost from the past. She honestly though he was dead and that it was her fault, but yet here he was. He was alive, but he didn't remember, and that was her fault too. "So you thought that Remy was the man who killed your parents?" "Yes." "Was he?" Kali stared at Bobby incredulously. "No! I thought he was your friend. How could you ask such a thing?" Bobby shrugged. "Gambit and I haven't always been on the best of terms. He has a very mysterious past and I have no idea what he is capable of. It didn't seem too far fetched." "My parents were killed when I was three. That would make Remy seven and a half at the time. Believe me, he couldn't have done it." "No, I suppose not." Bobby's brow creased as he pondered Kali's last statement. "How do you know how old Remy is?" Kali mind screamed as she realized her slip. "Kali?" "Umm, lucky guess?" "Try again." Kali could tell that Bobby's patience was running thin by the tone of his voice. She closed her eyes and prepared herself for the onslaught of questions that Bobby would no doubt have after hearing what she had to say. "Okay, I'll give you the truth. I know how old Remy was at the time of my parents death because he was there. He's my brother." **************************** Note from author: Before anyone decides to flame me, I promise that this is not your typical lost sibling story. There is a twist. I detest cliches and will try to steer clear from them if at all possible.