Disclaimer: All characters belong to Marvel. No money is being made off of their use. Etc. etc. etc. -- don’t sue me =) I would still really appreciate your comments, even if you hate it. Just tell me. PLEASE!!!! Thanks. cvotulle@vt.edu Quick Reference: “This is when someone is speaking aloud.” #This is when someone is speaking telepathically.# Revelations: Part 3 Chris Votulle, May 1997 Bobby sat in his room, with his head in his hands, wondering what exactly had just happened. Hank hadn’t disclosed any information to him and this angered him slightly because he felt that he deserved an explanation. Instead, he was reprimanded for disturbing Hank’s ‘patient.’ Bobby had explained to him what had happened and that he hadn’t done anything to provoke her. Hank seemed to accept this account, but he still sent Bobby out of the lab leaving him to wander in his confusion. He pulled his hair in frustration. He stood up and kicked the pile of dust on the floor, scattering the remains of his alarm clock in every direction. * * * * * She awoke to discover that she was being held in some type of crude cage. It was dark and she was frightened. “Mommy? Mommy, where are you?” her tiny voice barely penetrated the silence. Nobody answered. Her fear was escalating. She felt her way around her prison in an attempt to detect a means of escape. There didn’t seem to be one. Her lip began to tremble. Where was her Mommy? Why didn’t she come for her when she called? What is this place? Suddenly, almost in response to her thoughts, a light was turned on to reveal a room full of all kinds of strange equipment. She had no idea what it was all used for, but it looked very complicated and painful. If it was at all possible for machinery to exhibit tendencies of malice, these machines took it to the extreme. But even worse than the threatening devices was the man who was standing among them. She recognized him instantly, and with that recognition came the memories of the horribly painful experiences that he had caused her to endure and she began to scream. He tried to calm her down, telling her that he wasn’t going to hurt her. He even told her that he loved her -- that he would take care of her from now on. He opened the cage to let her out and she pressed herself to the opposite side, hoping that he wouldn’t be able to reach her. He pulled her out of the cage and she lashed out at him, kicking him forcibly and pounding her small fists into his chest. “Let me go, let me go!” she screamed at him. She started to sob uncontrollably and went limp in his arms. There was no point in resisting -- she was so small and he was tremendous. All she could do was close her eyes and pray that when she opened them it would all go away. She counted to ten and then opened her eyes and was completely surprised to find the man gone and a beautiful woman standing in his place. “Forgive me, but you had a nightmare and were projecting your emotional responses onto the astral plain. Are you all right?” The woman seemed genuinely concerned and something about her was vaguely familiar. Kali sat up and tried to block out all memories of the nightmare. She was also quick to resurrect her mental shields. “Yes, I’m all right. It was just a bad dream -- nothing to worry about.” Jean looked doubtful, but accepted her response anyway. She needed to gain this girl’s trust and fussing over some mental trauma would not be a good way of going about it. Besides, it could always be brought up later when she feels more comfortable. “I’m glad. Hank told me that you had a rather frightening experience earlier today and I was afraid that it had more of an effect on you than he realized.” Jean paused. She wanted to make sure that she said the right things to the girl. “I want to make sure that we start off on the right foot here. First off, I’m going to promise you that you have absolutely nothing to fear while you remain here. No one will hurt or threaten you. Also, you don’t have to remain here if you don’t want to, but I would suggest that you stay at least as long as Dr. McCoy deems necessary. My name is Jean Grey.” She extended her hand and Kali took it loosely. “Please, feel free to ask me anything.” Kali now remembered her from the night before and how her presence was reassuring despite all of the frightening things that had happened that night. She liked Jean instinctively, and she didn’t take to many people so quickly. It was a refreshing change and oddly comforting. “I don’t like labs. W-would it be possible for me to move somewhere else? And can I take a shower?” she asked rather sheepishly. Jean was relieved to get such a thoroughly human response from her. From what Beast had told her, she was expecting resistance to help of any kind. “Of course you can move. It may be difficult for you to walk though. That knife wound you received last night tore through some muscle and it’s still healing.” Kali smiled. “I think I can manage.” She stood up off of the bed, but this time she was careful to place all of her weight onto her left leg. Then she looked at Jean timidly. “Are you really a mutant?” Jean smiled. This was something that she expected. “Yes I am. I have both telepathic and telekinetic powers, in case you’re curious. This school is dedicated to teaching young mutants like yourself how to use their powers properly. Using your mutant capabilities is encouraged here, so don’t be afraid of people’s reactions because around here it’s just ‘run of the mill’.” Kali was visibly relieved. She then extended her right hand downwards and reached her fingers towards the floor. They elongated and twisted around each other, changing both form and shape until they hit the ground. She now had, extending from her wrist, not a hand, but a sort of walking stick. Placing all of her weight on her arm instead of her leg she was now able to walk with relative ease. Jean was impressed. For someone who had not used her powers often, Kali seemed very comfortable employing them creatively to practical use. “If you can, please follow me and I’ll show you to a room where you can stay while you’re here. There is a bathroom adjoining it so you can take a shower and I’ll bring some clothes to you that you can put on when you’re done. Those Rainbow Brite pajamas that Beast gave you look ridiculous. I wonder where he got them from.” Jean shook her head in amusement. Kali giggled. “Oh I don’t know. I always did have a fancy for Rainbow Brite.” * * * * * Scott looked up from where he was standing in the War room. All of the X-Men were there except for Jean, Hank, Bishop, Ororo, and Remy. Jean was with Kali, Beast was working on some experiments concerning the Legacy virus since he didn’t get a chance to work on them yet that morning, Bishop was patrolling the grounds, and Storm and Gambit were gone for a week's vacation at the beach. “First off, I would like to apologize to Betsy and Bobby for failing to show up at our scheduled training session this morning.” Logan snickered. “You mean that fer once the mighty Cyclops overslept? Glad to finally know that yer human like the rest of us. Maybe now you’ll cut it out with the pre-breakfast practices.” Scott caught his eye and smiled. “That won’t be likely Wolverine.” He then focused his attention back to the entire group and the issue at hand. “Now, I’m sure you’re all wondering why I called you down here. Let me assure you that I’m not about to send you on a mission to save both mutant and human kind from evildoers or the like. It’s much simpler than that.” The tension in the room eased slightly and it’s occupants were quite obviously relieved. “While Jean and I were out last night we came upon a mutant-hating mob that was in pursuit of a young mutant. We interfered, but were too late to prevent the girl from sustaining any injury so we brought her back here. Hank has since treated her and says that she is doing fine and will recover shortly. However, he has discovered that she possesses many powerful mutant capabilities and most probably doesn’t know how to use them all. Jean is talking to her now and, if I know Jean, she’s going to try to persuade her to stay here at the school. I for one think it’s a good idea. If she doesn’t learn how to control her powers or, worse, uses them for amoral purposes I would somehow feel responsible. All I ask is that you try to be friendly towards her and, if possible, help to ease her into life here at the mansion. I trust that you have no objections?” He paused and when no one moved to speak he resumed. “Good. That’s all that I have to say for now. Unless anyone has something else to contribute you’re all free to go. Oh, one more thing. Bobby and Betsy: count yourselves lucky. You won’t have to reschedule your training session. Consider it a gift” He smiled and exited the room. * * * * * Kali toweled her hair dry and looked at herself in the mirror. Her skin was still pale, but there was a slight rosiness to her cheeks. She didn’t just look healthier though -- she felt it too. The warm water from the shower helped to relieve the tension in the muscles of her leg and she found that she could now walk without the aid of a cane, but she did have a rather exaggerated limp. Hopefully that would go away shortly. She was wearing a white T-shirt and a pair of blue-jeans. She smiled. She was warming up to the idea of being in a house full of mutants. She had felt isolated and alone most of her life. It would be nice to have people around her who she could relate to for a change. She was so used to being the weird one. All she had ever longed for was to be normal. She couldn’t take away her mutant powers, but at least here she was given a chance to fit in and that was good enough. She just hoped that she would be accepted. Jean had left her alone for the time being and told her to meet her in the kitchen when she had finished dressing. Jean had also given Kali directions on how to get to the kitchen, which gave her an impression of just how large the mansion she was staying in must be. This intimidated her since, in traveling the distance to the kitchen alone, she was running the risk of meeting someone unexpectedly on the way. She knew that she would have to encounter the people who lived there eventually, but she wanted to do it on her terms. She had always been a shy person. No, that was putting it mildly. ‘Abnormally frightened of others’ was the phrase that her psychologist had used in describing her affliction. She’d like to think that she was improving. Living on her own had forced her to speak up and approach people more often. Even so, she would prefer to be introduced to these complete strangers by Jean rather than having to explain to them her presence in their house. She did not want to relive the episode with Bobby. She closed her eyes and tried to collect her thoughts, taking several deep breaths in an effort to calm herself. After a few moments she opened her eyes and approached the door to her room. She stepped into the hallway and started towards the kitchen. * * * * * “End program.” Bobby wiped the sweat off of his brow as he stood panting from the intense workout that he had just undertaken. Scott might have given him a day off, but he knew that he couldn’t afford it. Of all of the X-Men, Bobby was the one who had the least amount of control over his powers. Except maybe for Joseph, but amnesia was a pretty good excuse for that. Bobby was one of the original members of the team and just couldn’t stand being shown up by people like Gambit who not only hadn’t been there as long, but had a very shady past that no one seemed to dispute. He tried to conceal from the other members of the team just how hard he worked at mastering his ice powers. He spent hours each day going over exercises that emphasized both strength and control, but he was a perfectionist and as such he failed to see any improvements he was making. He tried to remain the always aloof Bobby Drake that everyone was used to, but inwardly he was struggling with bouts of depression and feelings of inadequacy. These thoughts and other similar ones were tying up his concentration as he walked towards his room. He was so absorbed in self-reflection that he wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings and as he turned a corner he found himself standing face to face with that same strange girl whom he encountered in Hank’s lab that morning. The funny thing was that she was even more startled to see him than he was to see her. He reached out a hand to steady her and smiled. “We do have to stop meeting like this.” He looked into her eyes and was prepared to meet a reflection of all of his self-doubt, but was surprised to see nothing but clear blue. He had no way of knowing that her mental shields were up, but it was just as well. This way he was able to restore at least some of his confidence. Kali didn’t know what to say. Here was that same man to whom she had betrayed all of her emotional inhibitions. She wanted to run, but knew that she was incapable of it. She was embarrassed to have shown such weakness in front of him and even more embarrassed that she continued to do so. She quickly straightened up and faced him, wearing her best poker face -- which was formidable. “I-I’m sorry. Excuse me,” she said as she proceeded to walk past him. Bobby quickly blocked her path with his body. “Wait! Look, I didn’t mean to frighten you earlier today. Please don’t go without at least giving me a chance to apologize.” She relaxed slightly. “There’s no need. Please, just let me by.” She wanted desperately to reach the kitchen and the safety which she imagined resided there. “Well, I’d still feel better if you forgave me for upsetting you before. Are you feeling better now?” “Yes, much.” “That’s good. So, am I forgiven?” Bobby looked at her with wide ‘puppy dog’ eyes. She smiled half heartedly. “Of course. Can I go now?” “No. Absolutely not. We still have not been properly introduced.” He extended his hand to her. “My name is Bobby.” She took his hand reluctantly. “I’m Kali.” “Glad to meet you Kali. Now if you will allow me to escort you to your destination?” He presented her with his arm. Scott had said to be friendly and she looked like she could use some help walking anyway. That is, if she’d allow him to help her. She froze. Every instinct in her body told her not to accept. People couldn’t be trusted -- especially men. If you got too close they would turn on you. But if she wanted to live here, at least for a while, then she would have to learn to trust them. Bobby sensed her hesitation and quickly spoke before she had a chance to refuse. “I won’t bite. I promise,” he said as he made a motion of crossing his heart with his hand. Kali sighed in resignation and held on to his arm. She looked at him warily. “I’m meeting Jean in the kitchen.” “Great! It’s just about lunch time anyway. Let’s go.” He allowed her to lean on him slightly as they slowly made there way towards to kitchen.