Persistence of Memory
folder
X-Men - Animated Series (all) › General
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
57
Views:
7,368
Reviews:
68
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
X-Men - Animated Series (all) › General
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
57
Views:
7,368
Reviews:
68
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own X-Men Evolution, or any of the characters from it. I make no money from from the writing of this story.
4
Persistence of Memory Chapter Four (NC-17)
Disclaimers Apply
A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies, BUSIEST
WOMAN ALIVE ™, Prophetic Muse and Hamster Witch, I have a new title for you…Uberbeta! InterNutter, TC and Maxwell Pink get
chocolate chip macadamia nut muse cookies for archiving. J Virtual ones, of course. ProPhile is a sparkly smut muse (I am just
hooked on sparklies lately. I blame a
tomboyish childhood void of girly sparkly things in favor of dirt and sticks
and playing Black Knight…). Jubilee
gets Orli kisses just because.
Readers/Reviewers: The ducks are ignoring me. They seem to think I’m plotting against them… *whistles ientlently * Who, me?
Never! But in the meantime, thank
you soooooooooo much for reading and reviewing!
Kitty
chewed her lip nervously and bumped Kurt with her shoulder. “Now what?”
“What do
you mean?”
“How’re we
supposed to find out what happened to the Professor if we’re sitting here?”
“You could,”
Logan intoned from above, “ask…”
“Oh!” Kitty craned her neck to look up at Logan as
Kurt slouched in his seat. “Um, what
happened to the Professor?”
“What makes
you think something happened to the Professor?” Logan returned innocently,
stalking past them to stand next to Beast at the front of the room.
“Oooooh,”
Kitty breathed. “So not cute!”[1]
Kurt
smirked. “I don’t think it’s his job to
be cute, Schatz.”
“Hey.” A tall youth with reddish blond hair and a
distinct scowl sat down next to Kitty. “You
new here, too?”
“Nope. I’m one of the Firsters,” she said cheerily,
surreptitiously taking Kurt’s hand. It
had nearly become an argument between them about whether or not he should wear
his holo, Kurt’s xenophobia[2]
winning out over Kitty’s pragmatism.
The gesture drew the newcomer’s eye downward and his snarl/smirk changed
into a frown. Kitty tried to sound kind
as she asked, “What’s your name?”
“Call me Ray.”
“Call you
Ray?” Kurt asked archly as more students began to file in.
“Play nice,”
Kitty murmured. “Welcome to the Institute,
Ray.”
Ray
snorted. “You the welcoming committee?”
Kitty’s
smile became a shade more brittle. “Yes. Yes I am.”
“Okay,
settle down!” Logan began and the room fell mostly silent under his stern
eye. The long-time residents mostly
zoned out during his talk, already knowing the rules and ins and outs of the
mansion but the newer ones listened with emotions ranging from dread to excitement. After about twenty minutes of rambling,
Logan paused and fixed his gaze on Jean.
“Now lissen up while Jean here goes over training schedules for the next
week…Red.”
Jean
frowned at the appellation but did not object vocally. “The following people will have biology
first period tomorrow with Storm…” As she rattled down the list, moving from
one class to another, she contacted Kitty.
Do you know about the Professor?
Yes,
she replied after a moment. But
I don’t know details.
Damn
it. I was hoping… Her
connection was broken by an outburst from Ray.
“No way in
Hell am I spending three hours a day training!
What the Hell am I training for anyway, God damn it?”
Logan
growled, silencing the room. “Make his
four, Jean.”
Ray opened
his mouth to protest but Lance leaned over and muttered, “He’ll push it to six.”
“This is
fucking stupid,” Ray mumbled, sliding down in his seat.
The rest of
the orientation went reasonably well, the new mutants being led off by Jean
after half an hour of class schedule announcements while the rest of them
stayed behind at a subtle signal from Storm.
As soon as the door shut behind the last new student, Kitty demanded, “What
happened to the Professor? I saw
you take him from here so don’t tell me nothing happened!”
Storm
rubbed her temples absently, her eyes closed.
After a moment, she said softly, “The Professor has fallen ill and is
currently in St. Dymphna’s under observation.”
Kitty could
not help the chill that ran down her spine at the name of the hospital. She knew it had changed since Ruth had been
there, but the sick dread it inspired never really went away. “Ill?
How?”
“He…passed
out,” Logan said blandly. “We think it’s
stress.”
Beast frowned. “Mind you, the doctors at the hospital haven’t
reached a diagnosis yet,” he said in contradiction of Logan’s declaration. “They do feel, however, that familiar voices
might be good for him right now and we’d like to arranged a schedule of
visiting hours around your school hours.”
Scott and
Remy glanced at each other and shrugged.
They were the only two officially not in school anymore. “We can go first. Tomorrow?”
Beast
nodded. “That should be fine. Visiting hours start at nine and two are
allowed in at a time. Who’s next?”
Kitty
frowned and let the others go ahead with the scheduling, shifting around the
room to stand next to Rogue. “This is weird. The Professor never even gets a cold
much less something so…drastic.”
“He’s only
human, Kit. Even if we are Homo superior,” she added in a mockery of
Magneto’s tones. “Germs can get us,
too.”
“But this wasn’t
a germ!”
“We don’t
know that! It could have affected him
all weird or something…” Rogue nodded
in answer to Beast’s query about Thursday being a good day for her to
visit. “Look, Kitty, you worry way too
much about things. Yeah, this is kinda
scary but just because it’s never happened before doesn’t mean it’s some plot
or conspiracy.”
“Gee,
Scully, thanks for the support.” Kitty frowned,
deep in thought. “I’ll go with Rogue on
Thursday,” she called to Beast. “I get
out of Bayville at twelve fifteen…”
“I don’t
get out until half past one,” Rogue pointed out. “We can go at two.”
“Okay,”
Kitty agreed. She was instantly
thankful that her junior year at school was split between the Institute and
Bayville High School. With a wide yawn,
she announced, “I’m going to bed. See
you guys in the morning!” She made it all the way to her room before Kurt
caught up with her.
“What’re
you planning, Liebes?”
“I have no
idea what you’re talking about,” she said haughtily, pulling the elastic out of
her hair and setting to with her brush.
“I’m just going to bed a little early so I can…”
“So you can
come up with some weird Nancy Drew plot to find out if the Professor is just
sick or if there’s some deeper meaning to it!”
“You say
that like it’s a bad thing,” she pouted, turning to face him. “I just think it’s weird, is all…”
“I’m not
disagreeing with you,” he said, sitting on her bed with his knees tucked under
his chin, a posture of contemplation, “but I don’t think you need to panic
about this. Yet.”
“Yet?”
“Yet?” she
smiled faintly. “Why, Kurt, are you
joining the dark side?”
“Let’s just
say I’m open to new ideologies…”
Hmmm…familiar
face…Oh, yes. Xavier.
I know
you.
Yes you
do. She smiled down at him and, checking to make sure the hall was
clear, shut the door to his room. It’s
been a while, dearheart.
Do I
sense sarcasm?
Never
could slip anything by you, could I?
Are you…well?
Better
than you. Ionsconscious.
Ah. Still out, am I? Damn.
How
unlike you, Charles, to be flat out in front of a lady. Emma sat in the guest chair next to the
Professor’s bed. I understand you
just came in today. What was it? Magneto?
Botulism? Children?
I…I’m
not sure. I don’t know what
happened. I feel so strange.
You
should. You’re in a light coma, it
seems. We’re a peculiar breed, us
telepaths. Our minds range far and wide
even when we are otherwise out of reality.
I wonder sometimes if we’re not some higher power using human for solely
for ease of locomotion.
Emma, I’m
not sure what medications you’re on, but I’d like to have the same.
She laughed
aloud at that. Charles, even asleep
you’re amusing. How are my children?
Your…oh. I’m afraid the only one with us is Roberto…Sunspot.
The only
one with…oh. You mean the only one still with your little group of do-gooders.
The
X-Men.
I’m
starting to think you have some sort of complex about the letter X, Charles.
Emma,
Emma, Emma…you sound like you’re trying to be Cured.[3]
It’s
rather being forced upon me. Oh, do
wake up, Charles. This mental
conversation isn’t nearly as witty as actual speaking. And we miss so many nuances!
Duly
noted, Emma.
She waited
for him to say something else but was disappointed. He drifted into a deeper state of unconscious, leaving her
relatively alone in the dark hospital room.
Emma Frost, telepath and mild megalomaniac, tucked her legs under her
thighs and stared at Charles Xavier with an expression as near to forlorn as
she could muster. She was only recently
coming to grips with what she had done, what she had tried to do, with the
Hellions and the knowledge faintly sickened her. The doctors at St Dymphna’s had been pleased with her progress,
however, and allowed her to join some of the group meetings in the ward twice a
week. If she showed continued
improvement, she would be allowed to up her attendance to three times a
week. That, she thought to herself, was
pathetic. I’ve been reduced to
planning my life around arts and crafts.
This is sad. I can live without
wide-ranging power but if I see one more Popsicle stick, I may puke. With a sigh, she stood and padded her way to
the door. Mental tendrils sought but
did not find any presence in the hall that need concern her, so she let herself
out. Charles Xavier in the cuckoo
ward. Somehow, I thought this would be more pleasurable.
[1] Ranma,
anyone? Ranma has been accused of being
“uncute” whenever he does something that makes Akane made. Or Shampoo, for that matter. Geezum crow, where do they get the names for
some of these characters?
[2]
Xenophobia. Xeno, from the Greek for stranger,
Phobia from the Greek for fear. Fear of
Strangers. (Why do I feel like the dad
on My Big Fat Greek Wedding now?)
[3] Stole the
capitalization of Cured from Lois McMasters Bujold and her Vokosigan Saga. Poor Mark tried desperately to look Cured
for Kareen’s parents. *sigh * I love
that woman. Really.
Disclaimers Apply
A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies, BUSIEST
WOMAN ALIVE ™, Prophetic Muse and Hamster Witch, I have a new title for you…Uberbeta! InterNutter, TC and Maxwell Pink get
chocolate chip macadamia nut muse cookies for archiving. J Virtual ones, of course. ProPhile is a sparkly smut muse (I am just
hooked on sparklies lately. I blame a
tomboyish childhood void of girly sparkly things in favor of dirt and sticks
and playing Black Knight…). Jubilee
gets Orli kisses just because.
Readers/Reviewers: The ducks are ignoring me. They seem to think I’m plotting against them… *whistles ientlently * Who, me?
Never! But in the meantime, thank
you soooooooooo much for reading and reviewing!
Kitty
chewed her lip nervously and bumped Kurt with her shoulder. “Now what?”
“What do
you mean?”
“How’re we
supposed to find out what happened to the Professor if we’re sitting here?”
“You could,”
Logan intoned from above, “ask…”
“Oh!” Kitty craned her neck to look up at Logan as
Kurt slouched in his seat. “Um, what
happened to the Professor?”
“What makes
you think something happened to the Professor?” Logan returned innocently,
stalking past them to stand next to Beast at the front of the room.
“Oooooh,”
Kitty breathed. “So not cute!”[1]
Kurt
smirked. “I don’t think it’s his job to
be cute, Schatz.”
“Hey.” A tall youth with reddish blond hair and a
distinct scowl sat down next to Kitty. “You
new here, too?”
“Nope. I’m one of the Firsters,” she said cheerily,
surreptitiously taking Kurt’s hand. It
had nearly become an argument between them about whether or not he should wear
his holo, Kurt’s xenophobia[2]
winning out over Kitty’s pragmatism.
The gesture drew the newcomer’s eye downward and his snarl/smirk changed
into a frown. Kitty tried to sound kind
as she asked, “What’s your name?”
“Call me Ray.”
“Call you
Ray?” Kurt asked archly as more students began to file in.
“Play nice,”
Kitty murmured. “Welcome to the Institute,
Ray.”
Ray
snorted. “You the welcoming committee?”
Kitty’s
smile became a shade more brittle. “Yes. Yes I am.”
“Okay,
settle down!” Logan began and the room fell mostly silent under his stern
eye. The long-time residents mostly
zoned out during his talk, already knowing the rules and ins and outs of the
mansion but the newer ones listened with emotions ranging from dread to excitement. After about twenty minutes of rambling,
Logan paused and fixed his gaze on Jean.
“Now lissen up while Jean here goes over training schedules for the next
week…Red.”
Jean
frowned at the appellation but did not object vocally. “The following people will have biology
first period tomorrow with Storm…” As she rattled down the list, moving from
one class to another, she contacted Kitty.
Do you know about the Professor?
Yes,
she replied after a moment. But
I don’t know details.
Damn
it. I was hoping… Her
connection was broken by an outburst from Ray.
“No way in
Hell am I spending three hours a day training!
What the Hell am I training for anyway, God damn it?”
Logan
growled, silencing the room. “Make his
four, Jean.”
Ray opened
his mouth to protest but Lance leaned over and muttered, “He’ll push it to six.”
“This is
fucking stupid,” Ray mumbled, sliding down in his seat.
The rest of
the orientation went reasonably well, the new mutants being led off by Jean
after half an hour of class schedule announcements while the rest of them
stayed behind at a subtle signal from Storm.
As soon as the door shut behind the last new student, Kitty demanded, “What
happened to the Professor? I saw
you take him from here so don’t tell me nothing happened!”
Storm
rubbed her temples absently, her eyes closed.
After a moment, she said softly, “The Professor has fallen ill and is
currently in St. Dymphna’s under observation.”
Kitty could
not help the chill that ran down her spine at the name of the hospital. She knew it had changed since Ruth had been
there, but the sick dread it inspired never really went away. “Ill?
How?”
“He…passed
out,” Logan said blandly. “We think it’s
stress.”
Beast frowned. “Mind you, the doctors at the hospital haven’t
reached a diagnosis yet,” he said in contradiction of Logan’s declaration. “They do feel, however, that familiar voices
might be good for him right now and we’d like to arranged a schedule of
visiting hours around your school hours.”
Scott and
Remy glanced at each other and shrugged.
They were the only two officially not in school anymore. “We can go first. Tomorrow?”
Beast
nodded. “That should be fine. Visiting hours start at nine and two are
allowed in at a time. Who’s next?”
Kitty
frowned and let the others go ahead with the scheduling, shifting around the
room to stand next to Rogue. “This is weird. The Professor never even gets a cold
much less something so…drastic.”
“He’s only
human, Kit. Even if we are Homo superior,” she added in a mockery of
Magneto’s tones. “Germs can get us,
too.”
“But this wasn’t
a germ!”
“We don’t
know that! It could have affected him
all weird or something…” Rogue nodded
in answer to Beast’s query about Thursday being a good day for her to
visit. “Look, Kitty, you worry way too
much about things. Yeah, this is kinda
scary but just because it’s never happened before doesn’t mean it’s some plot
or conspiracy.”
“Gee,
Scully, thanks for the support.” Kitty frowned,
deep in thought. “I’ll go with Rogue on
Thursday,” she called to Beast. “I get
out of Bayville at twelve fifteen…”
“I don’t
get out until half past one,” Rogue pointed out. “We can go at two.”
“Okay,”
Kitty agreed. She was instantly
thankful that her junior year at school was split between the Institute and
Bayville High School. With a wide yawn,
she announced, “I’m going to bed. See
you guys in the morning!” She made it all the way to her room before Kurt
caught up with her.
“What’re
you planning, Liebes?”
“I have no
idea what you’re talking about,” she said haughtily, pulling the elastic out of
her hair and setting to with her brush.
“I’m just going to bed a little early so I can…”
“So you can
come up with some weird Nancy Drew plot to find out if the Professor is just
sick or if there’s some deeper meaning to it!”
“You say
that like it’s a bad thing,” she pouted, turning to face him. “I just think it’s weird, is all…”
“I’m not
disagreeing with you,” he said, sitting on her bed with his knees tucked under
his chin, a posture of contemplation, “but I don’t think you need to panic
about this. Yet.”
“Yet?”
“Yet?” she
smiled faintly. “Why, Kurt, are you
joining the dark side?”
“Let’s just
say I’m open to new ideologies…”
Hmmm…familiar
face…Oh, yes. Xavier.
I know
you.
Yes you
do. She smiled down at him and, checking to make sure the hall was
clear, shut the door to his room. It’s
been a while, dearheart.
Do I
sense sarcasm?
Never
could slip anything by you, could I?
Are you…well?
Better
than you. Ionsconscious.
Ah. Still out, am I? Damn.
How
unlike you, Charles, to be flat out in front of a lady. Emma sat in the guest chair next to the
Professor’s bed. I understand you
just came in today. What was it? Magneto?
Botulism? Children?
I…I’m
not sure. I don’t know what
happened. I feel so strange.
You
should. You’re in a light coma, it
seems. We’re a peculiar breed, us
telepaths. Our minds range far and wide
even when we are otherwise out of reality.
I wonder sometimes if we’re not some higher power using human for solely
for ease of locomotion.
Emma, I’m
not sure what medications you’re on, but I’d like to have the same.
She laughed
aloud at that. Charles, even asleep
you’re amusing. How are my children?
Your…oh. I’m afraid the only one with us is Roberto…Sunspot.
The only
one with…oh. You mean the only one still with your little group of do-gooders.
The
X-Men.
I’m
starting to think you have some sort of complex about the letter X, Charles.
Emma,
Emma, Emma…you sound like you’re trying to be Cured.[3]
It’s
rather being forced upon me. Oh, do
wake up, Charles. This mental
conversation isn’t nearly as witty as actual speaking. And we miss so many nuances!
Duly
noted, Emma.
She waited
for him to say something else but was disappointed. He drifted into a deeper state of unconscious, leaving her
relatively alone in the dark hospital room.
Emma Frost, telepath and mild megalomaniac, tucked her legs under her
thighs and stared at Charles Xavier with an expression as near to forlorn as
she could muster. She was only recently
coming to grips with what she had done, what she had tried to do, with the
Hellions and the knowledge faintly sickened her. The doctors at St Dymphna’s had been pleased with her progress,
however, and allowed her to join some of the group meetings in the ward twice a
week. If she showed continued
improvement, she would be allowed to up her attendance to three times a
week. That, she thought to herself, was
pathetic. I’ve been reduced to
planning my life around arts and crafts.
This is sad. I can live without
wide-ranging power but if I see one more Popsicle stick, I may puke. With a sigh, she stood and padded her way to
the door. Mental tendrils sought but
did not find any presence in the hall that need concern her, so she let herself
out. Charles Xavier in the cuckoo
ward. Somehow, I thought this would be more pleasurable.
[1] Ranma,
anyone? Ranma has been accused of being
“uncute” whenever he does something that makes Akane made. Or Shampoo, for that matter. Geezum crow, where do they get the names for
some of these characters?
[2]
Xenophobia. Xeno, from the Greek for stranger,
Phobia from the Greek for fear. Fear of
Strangers. (Why do I feel like the dad
on My Big Fat Greek Wedding now?)
[3] Stole the
capitalization of Cured from Lois McMasters Bujold and her Vokosigan Saga. Poor Mark tried desperately to look Cured
for Kareen’s parents. *sigh * I love
that woman. Really.