Persistence of Memory

Persistence of Memory Chapter Twenty Nine (NC-17)

Disclaimers Apply

 

A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies, BUSIEST
WOMAN ALIVE ™, Prophetic Muse, Hamster Witch and Uberbeta…I finally saw the
Gummi Oracle here. *snort * InterNutter, TC and Maxwell Pink are loverly
and sparkley for archiving. J ProPhile gets work muses (I don’t know what
kind of work they do, but they’re very wriggly…and ten points to whoever
guesses where the wriggly comment comes from).
Morgan…you there?
Readers/Reviewers: *HUGS * Or, if you’re not the huggy Southern sort…
*warm handshake * Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

Theresa
tied her sneakers with the air of one not to be interfered with. Drags me
here then ignores me. I’ll be damned if
I stay here… I don’t need this! She
stood determinedly, dusting her hands on her jeans. The room she had been given was neat and well appointed, but the
consequence of being newly built meant that sawdust and plaster turned up in
the oddest places, including just-vacuumed floors. She had been spared a roommate thus far because of her age and
the fact she was so obviously antisocial that, Storm had told her, it was best
that she have time to acclimate herself to the Institute before worrying about
getting along with a roommate. Theresa
could hear people in the halls, doors slamming and opening, music just a hair
too loud, and underneath it all the thrum of energy and tension, a nervous air
permeating the Institute. It was
impossible to hide from the non-Bayville students what had happened at the
school and the reactions were varied, ranging from sheer terror on behalf of
the mutants who had been outted prematurely to amusement and annoyance by the
“established” mutants like Scott and Jean.
Theresa, however, was ambivalent.
She wrote it off to having more things to worry about. Opening her door, she found her chief worry
staring her in the face. “Banshee,” she said coolly.

“Theresa,”
he sighed. “I wish you wouldn’t call me
that.”

“I can
hardly call you da, can I? You’ve never
been one to me.”

“Theresa,”
he said painfully, “that’s not fair.
Until three days ago, I had no idea you existed.”

“You still
expect me to believe that? Black Tom
told me that, too, you know, but he was full of it.”[1]

Banshee
looked behind him to find the hall empty and gently pushed his daughter back
into her room. “I have no idea how hard
this is for you,” he began, shutting the door behind him, “but I want you to
know that, as soon as I knew about you, I had to bring you here, to make you
safe.”

“Safe?” she
spat. “Safe is having the media
hounding you? Safe is some
weird…thing…with everyone’s powers?”

“Safe,” he
cut her off, his voice rising slightly, “is having you with me. For too long, Theresa, all I had of you was
a notion, an idea. Your mother and I…we
wanted you very much. We loved you
before you were even conceived. I had
no idea she was pregnant when I had to go.
She didn’t tell me and I don’t know why. She died before you could even meet her properly,” he trailed
off, turning his face away.

Theresa
shifted uncomfortably. “Black Tom
raised me fine.”

“I love my
brother dearly, Theresa,” Banshee said carefully, “but he had no right
to keep you from me so long. He had no
right to drag you into his life of crime!”

“It was at
least a life! It was him or an
orphanage and I’d rather it be him!” she yelled.

Banshee
cringed, recognizing what was coming.
“Theresa, keep your voice down…we can’t…shouldn’t yell.”

She sucked
in a sharp breath between her teeth, fisting her hands in her hair in an effort
to retain a measure of calm. “This
isn’t my home. I want to go home!”

“Where have
you lived for the past seventeen years, Theresa? A nice, warm, safe house?
An apartment? Or being uprooted,
running from place to place so you wouldn’t be arrested?”

“Banshee…” That struck too close to the quick for
her.

He
sighed. “I’m sorry, dove, but…I have to
admit I’m jealous. He had your whole
life and I just had a memory that never was.”
With that, he left her alone, shutting the door softly behind him.

Theresa
swallowed a rising sob, pushed her hair behind her ears and dabbed furiously at
her eyes with the collar of her shirt.
Determination renewed, she strode from the room, slamming the door
behind her, and stomped down the stairs to the hallway running along the back
of the house. She did not get far
before she heard a raging argument flowing from one of the lesser rec rooms,
this one set up seemingly specifically for the teenaged boys in the house,
judging by the proliferation of First Person Shooter games and women in scanty
amounts of clothing gracing the covers of magazines of dubious value, stopping
just this side of pornography. A tall,
blond youth was yelling at what seemed to be his sister, judging by the resemblance. A heavily cloaked individual sat on the
couch, staring up between the two combatants.


“For the
love of Mike, Paige,” Sam ranted, “you can’t just go out!”

“Why not?”
she demanded. “I wasn’t at that school
today and neither was Jono! No one’s
seen us and we’re going to the damned movie whether you like it or not!”

A new
figure Theresa had not seen before shifted into view. “Dude, just let ‘em go.
All your screeching is fucking annoying!”

“Shut up,
Todd!” the siblings shouted as one.

“Uh,”
Theresa put in during the brief lull.
“He’s got a point. Just let them
go. If no one’s seen them, what’s the
problem?”

Irish?

Theresa
blinked. “Who said that?”

Me,
Jono sighed.

Theresa stifled
a soft gasp as Jono stood, making a half-wave motion with one hand. “You?”

Me. Look, Sam, he said, switching his
focus, we’re going. If you want
to tag along and play chaperone, come on.
I’m not waiting. He took
Paige’s hand and with a backwards look of triumph from the blonde girl, they
sailed from the room.

Todd
snorted. “Good luck getting past
Logan.”

Sam seemed
to brighten somewhat. “I’d forgotten about that…”

Theresa
frowned. “You’re mad she’s going on a
date? Overprotective much?”

“Who are
you?” Sam demanded.

“Theresa.
Who’re you?”

“Sam…Canonball.”

“Unusual
last name.”

“That’s
my…”
“I know,” she sighed. “I was
being facetious. And who’re you?”

“Todd. Toad.”
He shrugged. “Obviously.”

“Ah…you’re
the one the goth girl was moping about?” Theresa raised a brow. “Interesting.”

“Rogue was moping?”
Todd asked hopefully.

“Yeah. She was stomping around upstairs earlier
outside that scary girl’s room…bitching about some guy named Todd who had
issues. And you’re Todd.”

“Whoooo!”
he shouted. “She’s all mopey over
me! Kick ass!” He leapt from the room, startling Theresa
into a yelp.

“Like he
said…Toad,” Sam shrugged. “What’re you
doing in here?”

“Looking
for a back way out,” she admitted. “You
know one?”

He looked
her up and down, taking in her heavy sweatshirt, jeans and sneakers. He could see mittens sticking out of one hip
pocket and was fairly certain she had a wallet in there, too. “Runnin’ off?”

Theresa
snorted. “Do you know one or not?”

“If I told
ya, I’d have to kill ya.”

“Try it,
hick.”

“Hick?” he
laughed. “That’s the best you’ve got?”

“Twit.”

“Nuch uch
better. Getting there, though.” Sam grinned.

Theresa
opened her mouth to respond but was interrupted by Storm sticking her head
around the corner. “We’re having an
emergency meeting…Oh, hello, Theresa,” she smiled, not wishing to make the girl
feel uncomfortable by drawing attention to her presence. “We need some of you older students who’ve
been here a while. Come to the downstairs library immediately.”

Sam made a
noise of ascent and started to follow Storm, but stopped as he drew even with
Theresa. “Look,” he said
confidentially, “this place kinda gets up your nose at first if you’re not used
to the whole large family thing. It’ll
get better.” She snorted her
commentary. “I don’t know how long this
is gonna take, but…um…I’d like to show you ‘round when I’m done. I’ll even show you the secret exit if you
want.”

She could
not help but grin in return for his dopey smile. “Sure. That’d be
nice. I’ll…” she looked around the
room, “go wait somewhere with less testosterone.”

“Try the
rec room off the main hall. I’ll meet
you there later.”

Theresa
nodded, letting him pass before shaking her head. Smooth, Siryn. You’re
turning into a dork.

 

“You are
too!”

“I never
mope!”

Todd just
smiled smugly. “Sure you don’t.”

Something
in Rogue snapped then and she could not stop the words pouring out of her
mouth. “It really pisses me off that
you’d even think there’s any reason to be jealous because if you’re jealous
that means you don’t trust me and great balls of fire, Todd, I thought you
trusted me because I sure as Hell trust you!”

Todd
blinked at her owlishly. “Uh…”

“Yeah, I
was glad to see Cody that time but he’s my past! So is Pietro! And if
anything, you should be fucking happy I had a thing with Pietro because
if I hadn’t we never would’ve gotten together!”

He gulped
at the sight of tears standing in her eyes.
“Marie…I’m sorry.” He shuffled
to stand next to her where she leaned against the cold window glass. “It’s just…” He sighed. “I remember
what it was like before and I guess it all caught up with me or somethin’. I couldn’t help thinkin’ about you with them
and I got stupid about it.”

“Before?”

“When you
were with the Brotherhood, too, and Pietro’d always be drooling after you. You were…”

“Mean to
you,” she sighed, slipping her arm around his waist. “I called you all sorts of things and said mean things to you.”

“Everyone
did,” he shrugged. “I didn’t know
people could be nice to me…to anyone…and mean it. I mean, really mean it.
Not until,” he laughed ruefully, “I came here. Spend years fightin’ you guys and here I am. I love you, Marie. More than anything.”

She
sniffled. “Shut up, Todd,” she said
mock-gruffly.

“So why
didn’t you want to do that damned family tree thing?” he asked after a moment,
seeking to break the tension.

She sighed
and shifted so that she could lean against him. “Because.”

“That’s
it? Because?”

“Let it go,”
she breathed. “Tomorrow is a safe day.”

“I know,”
he sighed. He could feel her warmth through their clothing, the shift of her
body against his, how her breath tickled his skin as she spoke, and he hated
all of it for a moment. For a moment,
he almost said the most dreadful words that could ever be spoken between then—“I
wish we didn’t have to wait.” Instead,
he sat on the windowsill and leaned back against the glass, pulling her to
stand between his knees so she could rest her head on his shirt-covered
shoulder.

“Thank you,”
she said quietly.

“For what?”

“For not
making me remember.”

Logan
knocked softly on the door. “Rogue,
Todd…whatever you’re up to, cut it out and come to the downstairs library. Now.”

Todd groaned. “But we’re comfortable.”

There was
silence, then, “I really don’t want to know, but if you’re not out in ten
seconds, I’m comin’ in after you.”

Rogue
sighed. “Tomorrow.”

“I know.”

 

Emma felt
like banging her head against the wall.
“That’s all it was…those damned prescriptions!”

“What are
you talking about?”

She fixed
an irate gaze on Beast. “At St. Dymphna’s,
they medicated the telepaths so we could not use our powers while we…healed. They gave us, Charles and I, the same
combination of pills. It induces
temporary amnesia and blocks powers. I
have no idea what they are. You’ll have
to figure that out yourself.”

“Amnesia? That’s…”

‘That isn’t
the only thing causing it,” she broke in.
“He’s got some holes in his memory but those pills were keeping it from
healing and keeping me from being able to see what he could not see himself.” She closed her eyes. “Damn it, this is infuriating.”

Beast took
off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Summarize this for me. I’m confused.”

Emma sighed
painfully. “When I missed a dose of
those pills because of lax nursing, I started to remember and I realized what
was going on. I stopped taking the
pills and played dumb.” She quickly
relayed what happened at the hospital, ending with the incident in the
study. “Now that I threw out the pills
and had that rather scary child incinerate them, he should start to heal
properly. Painfully, but properly.”

“I see,”
Beast lied.

“No, you
don’t,” she snapped. “Whatever is
causing his amnesia was just exacerbated by the medications. He still needs help and I’m going to give it
to him.”

“Why the
charity?”

“Because I
owe it to him,” she snarled, turning on her heel and striding from the room.

Beast sighed
and glanced at the clock above the door.
The meeting would be starting any minute and he still did not have a
list of questions he could brief the students on. “Damn.”

“Beast!”
Kurt cried, appearing as if from nowhere.


“Ah, save
me the trouble of finding you. You and
Kitty are to come to this impromptu meeting and…Stars and garters, are you
okay?”

Kurt spewed
a jumble of Germaforefore he could catch himself. Taking a deep breath, he panted, “Kitty’s sick. I think she’s allergic to that shot!”

Beast
grimaced. “Bring her down here. That meeting is going to have to wait.”

 



A/N Damn it. Couldn’t
get to the Kurtty bits in this one. I promise
it’s first in the next chapter.
Really.



[1] Long story
short, Black Tom was her uncle and Banshee’s brother who got her to commit
crimes for and with him.