Sins of the Father

Sins of the Father Chapter Twenty Two (NC-17)
Disclaimers Apply

A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies, BUSIEST WOMAN ALIVE (tm), Prophetic Muse, Hamster Witch and Uberbeta... *twirls * Almost caught up!!!! InterNutter, TC, Maxwell Pink and Dracena are supersquishyloverly for archiving/hosting! ProPhile: *GLOKE * Morgan: *glomp * Readers/Reviewers: The two challenge prize fics left to write are coming along... *kicks RL * Aside from that... *snoopy dance * Thanks for reading and reviewing!!!



Storm was awake, but she did not feel much like opening her eyes. She had lost track of time somewhere the previous evening. She had been aware of someone helping her drink soup and of being very warm, but she had not reference for activity aside from that. A warm hand brushed her forehead and a pang of familiarity shot through her painfully. "Evan," she murmured opening her eyes a sliver. "You're here."
"So're you," he muttered faintly, blushing. It was past dawn but the cabin was still dark save for a thin sliver of yellow light seeping through the trees and into the window. He could see the faint lines of worry etched on his aunt's brow beneath the bloodstained bandage. "Stay still and I'll get the stuff to clean that cut..."
Storm simply nodded and closed her eyes again, sighing. She found it best not to try and puzzle out why the Morlocks were there or why Evan was with them still. Her head hurt enough as it was. "Evan," she murmured softly when she felt him kneel beside her again, "where are we?"
It was Caliban who answered. "We are at Professor Xavier's retreat house. Your car has been moved away from the road and out of sight. You are safe here."
Storm opened both eyes wide, coming awake suddenly. "Safe from what?" She struggled to sit up only to have Evan and a small woman with an extra eye push her gently back onto the pallet of quilts she was laying on. "I need to call the Institute. I need to tell them..."
"No," Evan said quietly. "Please don't. The Professor knows we're here...he..." He looked away, feeling guilt pour over him at his aunt's startled, accusing gaze. "He's known where I am all along."
"I see," Storm replied calmly. Certainty hit her in the face like a cold rag. He knew, she thought. _He sent me here because he knew... _ She was torn between anger, gratefulness and embarrassed rage. "I'm going to have to have a long chat with him when I return home."
Evan swallowed hard. "Aunt Ro, don't be mad at him. Please. I asked him not to tell you..." He looked back to her and found it was very difficult not to cry. "I couldn't stand the thought of knowing you didn't want to see me."
"Evan...you're just like your father," she sighed. "Stubborn and self centered. But I love you. Nothing will ever change that. Whatever you did or think you did...it's already forgiven and forgotten."
"Even if I wanted to, I can't come back," he sighed. Slowly, he shifted and moved into the light.
Storm bit down on her gasp as she saw why he had been so careful to hide in the shadows a moment before. Plates of bony armor were visible on his face and neck. Long spikes sprouted from his arms and were visible over his shoulders. The palms and tops of his hands and the space around his eyes were free from this advance in his mutation. "Oh, Evan..."
Caliban stepped into view. "He has chosen to remain with us, those who cannot hide behind wrought iron and rules. He has made his decision...please respect it."
Storm swallowed a cry. "Yes, of course..." She pushed herself up on her elbows and schooled her features into cool normalcy. "I still have to call the Institute. I need to let them know about the car at least. I'll tell them nothing about your presence here if that is your wish." She really wanted to yell at Professor Xavier but thought it best to save that for a tete a tete.
Caliban and Evan exchanged looks and some unspoken communication passed between them. Evan nodded and, with a sad smile for his aunt, joined the woman with the third eye and slipped out of the front door. Caliban lowered himself to the ground to sit very close to her, his eyes unblinking and glassy. "I am glad fates have brought you to us, Ororo Munro. You are quite important to us right now...more than ever."
Storm tilted her head to one side in curiosity. She recognized import when she heard it and knew Caliban was not one to be melodramatic. "If the fates have brought me to you, then our paths must be the same."
He raised a brow. "One would assume so, yes. You are well aware of the Pantheon Project and the Professor's role in it, correct?" Storm mirrored his expression as she murmured acknowledgement. "He is not being entirely truthful with you. He has not severed all ties with the Deus Ex Machina aspect of the project."
There was a thunderous silence that seemed to roll forever before Storm responded. "I think you are mistaken. He was instrumental in closing down the labs..." She could not help the stabbing pain of remorse in her gut as she was forcibly reminded her of her own complicity in the events of the month before and the potentially disastrous results.
Caliban's expression became even more closed, if that was at all possible. "Even now, the gods walk among your children, Storm. The experiment isn't over. It has just...shifted."
She felt more than a little ill. "I'm sorry to say, Caliban, that I feel you are mistaken. I am aware that Professor Xavier asked to be allowed guardianship of the youngest, non affected lab subjects...they are not the godlike creatures we previously dealt with, though. They were the..."
"Feeders," Caliban finished. "The ones created to serve the Pantheon." He rose to his feet and made an openhanded, dismissive gesture. "I cannot force you to believe anything. Just know that I will be here with answers when you decide to ask questions."
Storm struggled to her feet as Caliban went the way of Evan and left her alone in the large, one room cabin. Her head throbbed from the concussion and stress, her legs were shaky and weak and she desperately needed the bathroom. First, though, she decided, she needed the phone.