It was a good thing that the next day was Sunday and there were no classes. Liz didn’t think she couldn’t concentrate if there were. She was too troubled over John and whether he was okay or not. She knew that others probably thought she was nuts since she didn’t know John but after that flash, she felt like she did.
Liz had been inside John’s head for a few minutes, had felt his horror and understood his thinking. Once she explained to Rogue, she knew that her roommate understood. After all Rogue’s imprinting worked in a similar way, leaving residue of the people she imprinted.
Liz had been surprised that she had been able to sleep at all after everything. But after taking a long hot shower, her body had given out on her and she had fallen asleep the moment her head hit the pillow. She woke to the knowledge that the snowstorm was over but still no word on John’s condition. Cyclops and Kurt were the only teachers at breakfast and they didn’t have any information for the teens.
By the time breakfast was done, everyone knew what had happened the night before. Even those who had managed to sleep through all the commotion. Liz was bombarded with questions until Bobby, Rogue and Max made it clear to leave her alone. Of course that didn’t keep Bobby from asking some of his own but since she knew that he and John had been close so Liz didn’t mind his questions. He was just concerned and trying to figure out what had happened.
Thankfully Rogue had kept the knowledge that Liz had gotten a flash from John to herself or Liz would have had to go into more detail. And she didn’t think it was her place to say anything about what she had seen. Granted she knew that the professor would probably want to know if he didn’t already but she wasn’t going to spread it around the student body.
Max seemed to be concern about her worry for John. He kept trying to reassure her that if things had gotten worse, the teachers would have come up from the underground. He tried to take her mind off of it but Liz wouldn’t cooperate. After, if Liz hadn’t known better, she could have sworn that Max was jealous that her attention was directed towards another guy. But she dismissed it, it just wasn’t like Max.
Eventually Liz decided to go up and finish her homework in the attempt to distract herself but she couldn’t focus on it so she switched to writing in her journal. She hadn’t written anything since before the snow fell so she started with the snowstorm and the snowball fight and went from there.
Liz had just started to write about the night before when she heard a light knocking. She figured it was probably Max so without looking up, she called out, “Come in.”
The door opened but instead of the telltale footsteps she expected, she heard the squeak of the wheels of the Professor’s wheelchair. Her head snapped up and she saw the Professor in her doorway.
“Professor! I wasn’t expecting it to be you or I would have answered the door personally.”
“I wanted to see how you were after last night’s events.”
“I’m fine.” Liz said quickly. “How’s John? Is he going to be okay?”
“You saw for yourself that his injuries are severe. Since we no longer have a resident doctor, we did the best we could for him before I contact a trusted associate to come check over John. He’s been treated and should be fine, physically at least after a few days recuperating. Emotionally and mentally is another story.” Professor Xavier commented.
The Professor’s last comment did not surprise Liz a bit. She could imagine that what John had been through since leaving Xavier’s had had an effect. She had felt some of it. “I’m relieved that he’s going to be okay.”
Professor Xavier studied her for a minute and let his mind gently brush hers. He saw her worries concerning John and her further worry. And although he could extract the memories of the night before, he decided to simply ask. “I know you have most likely told the story several times prior but I wondered if you would take a stroll with me and tell me in your own words what occurred last night.”
Liz nodded her agreement to the walk and quickly slipped on her shoes before joining the Professor in the hallway. As he led them to the elevator, he indicated for her to start her tale.
Liz tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear before beginning. “I couldn’t sleep last night. I was tired from the day outside but it wasn’t enough. I couldn’t get my mind to over some…personal things.”
“I thought maybe some Hot Chocolate might relax me so I crept out so I wouldn’t wake Rogue and headed down to the downstairs. Jones was in the common room watching TV and I didn’t want to disturb him so went to kitchen. I made my cocoa then decided to head back up to the landing on the main stairs. I knew the view was good there and wanted to watch the snow. We get so little of it in New Mexico.” Liz explained.
“I’m sure it is a pleasant treat.” The Professor said smiling.
“I don’t know how long I sat there. It could have been ten minutes, could have been an hour. By the time I finished my cup, I was feeling tired and figured I’d be able to go to sleep finally. But as I got up, I saw movement out the window. It took me a few minutes to figure out that it was something more than a tree moving. I mean, it was so cold out that I couldn’t imagine someone was actually out there.” Liz stated as they started the descent in the elevator.
“But when you did see that it was a person, could you see that it was John?”
“No sir. I was too far away.” Liz answered. “I could see that the person was stumbling, like they were hurt. When they collapsed, I rushed out.”
“Although it was brave and considerate, running outside without telling anyone was dangerous Liz. You could have gotten turned around and lost. You were not dressed for time spent in the elements.” The Professor admonished.
“I know. I’m sorry, I just reacted.” Liz apologized as they exited the elevator and started down the hallway. Students passed by them but did not approach them.
“It cannot be changed now, go on.”
“It took some doing but I managed to get through the snow and to the person I saw outside. I could tell he was injured. Anyone could with the bruises and stuff on his face and body. That was also when I recognized John. I’d seen him in a flash I’d gotten from Bobby. I was shocked to see him since I knew about him leaving.”
“At that point, John opened his eyes and asked for you. He said he needed to see you. I told him I’d take you to him. I had to help him up and to walk inside. It was slow going, but we got inside. I started yelling for help. No one came immediately so I tried to leave. John grabbed me and asked me not to leave him. I think he was scared to be alone.” Liz explained. “And when grabbed me, I got a flash.”
“And you saw what happened to him, didn’t you?” The Professor asked although it was obvious that he already knew the answer to his question. But Liz nodded anyway. “You don’t have to tell me what you saw. I’ve already seen it in John’s mind when I read him to confirm that it was really him.”
Liz didn’t say anything as they got into yet another elevator, the one that would take them to the lower levels and descended. When the door slid closed the Professor could tell she was thinking about what she had seen in the flash and knew she needed to discuss what she had seen. “Liz, I understand your reluctance to talk about what you saw with your fellow classmates and I’m sure John will appreciate the respect for his privacy. But as I know what you have seen, you would not be betray any confidentiality. So if you would like to talk.”
“I just can’t understand how someone could just abandon someone to die like Magneto did to John.”
“Eric has always had a specific code of conduct. You’re either with him or in his way. And if stand in his way, he’ll do whatever is necessary to get you out of it. He’s not above sacrificing anyone to get what he wants. Mutant independence and the annihilation of those who oppose it, primarily humans.” The Professor explained.
Liz shuddered at the Professor’s statement but said no more as they made their way down through the underground corridors. She noticed they were going towards the hospital area. “Uh, Professor where are we going? I don’t need medical attention, I’m not sick or anything.”
“I know and you’re not here to be checked out. You’re here to see John.” The Professor clarified. “John is no condition to be thoroughly probed and questioned but he did ask if he could speak to you.”
“Me?! Why?”
“I don’t know. You’ll have to ask him.” The Professor said as they entered the medical room.
PART 17
When they walked into the room, Liz saw Logan standing off to the side. He was staring at John as he leaned back against the wall. It was obvious he was playing bodyguard, watching the teen for any signs of trouble. Not that John looked like he could cause any. He was lying on one of the exam tables, looking very much like a patchwork of bandages and bruises. She was surprised to see a Zippo lighter in his hand. She knew that Bobby had told her that he never went anywhere without it but it still surprised her to see it. Storm was also nearby checking to make sure that John didn’t need anything. The Professor cleared his throat, which brought the attention of all three onto himself and Liz.
“Logan, Storm, why don’t we give these two some privacy?”
Storm immediately acknowledged the Professor’s appeal by moving towards the door. Logan was reluctant at first but trusted the Professor’s instincts and stepped outside. But he didn’t go any farther, choosing to stand guard outside the door. The Professor nodded goodbye to both Liz and John before moving outside the room as well and shut the door.
When the door shut, Liz saw that John’s gaze and attention seemed to focus on her. So she stepped forward and said, “The Professor said you wanted to talk to me?”
“Yeah,” John said shifting uncomfortably but continued to play with his lighter. “Although most of last night is fuzzy, I remembered you helping me but I didn’t know who you were. Professor Xavier explained that you were a new student who had arrived since I left. Your name is Liz?”
“Yeah, Liz Parker. I’ve been here about a week.” Liz answered as she leaned against a nearby bed.
“You called me by name last night, how did you know who I was?” John asked.
“From Bobby and Rogue. We’ve become friends.” Liz explained.
“I’m sure they told you a lot about me.” John commented thinking of what they might have said about him, he was sure they weren’t real happy with him. He didn’t blame them, he wasn’t too happy with himself.
“Yes, and no. They won’t talk about you a lot, too sore a subject for them. But I’ve gotten some stuff out of Bobby. Enough to know who you were last night.” Liz explained. “Of course I didn’t know who you were when I ran outside, only that you needed some help.”
“That I did,” John reluctantly admitted. He hated admitting that he needed anyone except himself. But when he had escaped the burning remains of the building he’d been abandoned, he knew he needed help. And the first place he thought of was to come back to Xavier’s. It had been a rough trip but he had finally made it. “And that’s why I asked Professor Xavier about you, I wanted to know who helped me.”
John started to falter then because of what his next words would be, “I’m not real good at asking for help, and I totally suck at saying thank you for it but I wanted to say it to you. I don’t think I would have made it the rest of the way and just stayed there in the snow. So, thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” Liz said in acceptance. “You know when the Professor told me that you’d asked to see me, I was surprised but also pleased. I wasn’t sure how I was going to be able to sneak down here. He had told me that you were okay but I wanted to see for myself”
“You say that as if you were worried.”
“I was.”
“But you don’t even know me,” John said oddly.
“That doesn’t mean that I wasn’t worried. After all, I saw how bad off you were last night, how severely you were injured. I had to practically carry you in here.” Liz stated. “And I wouldn’t say that I don’t know you.”
John lifted his eyebrow in question and Liz figured she should clarify. “You see one of my abilities is that I can see people’s memories when I touch them. Not every time but some times, like last night when you grabbed me to keep me from leaving you in the foyer.”
“What did you see?” John asked. He understood what Liz was telling him, she’d been in his head. A prospect he wasn’t too thrilled about.
“I saw what happened to you with Magneto. About him leaving you there when you would support whatever he was planning.” Liz described. She saw something in his eyes that were a mixture of panic and anger so she quickly apologized. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. I don’t have any control over it.”
John took a deep breath, trying to quiet down the waves of emotions that her admission had caused. He had known that in coming to the school that others would know that something had happened to send him back. Especially in the condition he’d been in. And he had accepted the fact that the Professor would see what had happened. But for a girl who he didn’t even know to have seen it all was another story. He had initially been angry although when she had confessed that she did not have control over it and he saw how sorry she was for it, the anger melted away. He knew she hadn’t meant to do it.
“It’s fine.” John said curtly.
Liz could tell by his tone that he didn’t want to talk about it but she felt she needed to say a little more. “I just wanted to tell you that I haven’t told anyone and I don’t plan to. It’s your business and not mine to gossip about it.”
Liz’s declaration left John fleetingly speechless. He hadn’t been expecting it, he figured she’d have already blabbed to everyone. Of course he had a tendency to see the bad in people and had a hard time excepting the good. He couldn’t help but dissect everything Liz had said and chewed over whether she was for real or not. And he concluded that she was. “Um, I guess I have something else to thank you for.”
“You don’t have to thank me.” Liz said feeling a little embarrassed.
They sat there for a minute in silence, not sure what to say. It drove John nuts. “Okay, I thanked you for helping me last night so you can leave if you want or we’ve got to talk about something because this silence is killing me.”
Liz smiled at his discomfort as she hopped up on the table she’d been leaning on. “What did you want to talk about?”
John had figured that she would have hightailed it out of there so he was at a loss for a minute as to what they should talk about. Their previous conversation had been too intense so he tried to think of something lighter. “You mentioned the whole memory thing as one of your gifts, what’s else can you do?”
Liz focused on his lighter and telekinetically called it to her. It rose out of John’s hand and flew to her. She caught it effortlessly and waved it at him, “Loose something?”
In spite of the fact that she had taken his most prized possession, John couldn’t help verbalizing his thoughts. “Cool.”
“Thanks, I’m just learning how to control it. I haven’t known until recently that I was able to do it at all.” Liz explained. “I can also move things in another room without having eye contact. If I know what and where something is in another room or if someone can describe it enough for me.”
“Very cool.” John exclaimed with wide eyes and raised eyebrows. “Do you think you could use your powers to fetch me something from the kitchen? Like a sandwich or some pizza? Storm said she was going to bring me something but broth and Jell-O don’t sound that tasty.” John said with a distasteful look on his face.
Liz laughed and tossed his lighter back to him. “I don’t think that’d be a good idea. But I’ll make you a deal. If you’re still here tomorrow, I’ll see about sneaking something down when I come to visit you.”
“You’re coming back?”
“If it’s okay with you.” Liz said.
“Sure.” John blurted out. “I mean, if you don’t have anything better to do.”
“I better be going, I’ve got homework to do. And you should get some more rest.” Liz said. “See you tomorrow.”
“Yeah, tomorrow.” John repeated as he watched her go.
PART 18
When Liz left John’s room, Logan was still standing guard. She told him that everything was fine and that John was resting. Then she smiled at him before heading upstairs. When she reached the main level of the school she headed for the stairs but saw her friends were in the common room so she changed her course. She hadn’t thought any of them had known where she was going but it was obvious by the way Bobby and Rogue were looking at her that they did.
“We heard that the Professor took you downstairs to see John. What happened? What did he say?” Bobby asked quickly. “Is he okay?”
“Hello to you too, Bobby.” Liz said sarcastically.
“Sorry.” Bobby said blushing.
“It’s okay, I’m only teasing.” Liz stated as she took a seat next to Max on one of the couches and tucked her feet in under her. “And yes, I did see John. The Professor came up to our room and asked to talk to me about last night. I told him my version of things as we walked and before I knew it, we were below. Then Professor Xavier told me that John had asked to see me and he took me to John’s room.”
“Why did he want to see you?” Max asked.
“To thank me for bringing him inside last night.” Liz explained. “And then after that, we talked a little. I’m going to go see him again tomorrow sometime.”
“Why?” Max asked. He knew he was sounding like a jerk, after all the guy was laid up injured but he felt jealous of Liz’s sudden friendliness with John.
“Because I want to.” Liz answered. “I helped him and was worried about him. And now that I’ve seen him, I’m not going to just forget about him. I told John that I want to be his friend, he needs them now.”
Liz turned her attention in Rogue and Bobby’s direction and added. “You two really should go downstairs and see him. I think he’d like it.”
“I doubt he’d want to see us.” Bobby stated.
“You’re wrong.” Liz pointed out “Guys, I’m not trying to tell you what to do but nothing is ever going to be settle unless one side takes the initiative. You guys think he doesn’t want to see you, he thinks you don’t want to see him, it’s a circle that needs to be broken.”
Rogue reached out tentatively with a gloved hand and took Bobby’s hand. “Liz is right. We should at least talk to John. Otherwise things will never get settled. And I don’t know about you but I don’t think we’d have any success avoiding each other after he’s out of the hospital wing.”
“Logan said that the Professor was in his office, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind an interruption…” Liz mentioned leading them in the direction that would get them to see John. She felt like she was prying and meddlesome but she had seen that John needed all the friends, real friends, he could get.
“Well then we better go talk to him.” Bobby said as he continued to hold Rogue’s hand and got up. The two walked out of the common room and headed for the Professor’s office.
Liz watched them go before turning to Max. “What is your problem with John? You act like he’s some big bad guy or something. You haven’t even met him.”
“I’ve heard about him, including about how he left to go with some other mutants who were not as peaceful as the ones here.” Max explained.
“But he’s back here now.” Liz argued.
“And why?” Max asked. “How do we know that he is here for innocent reasons?”
“Trust me Max, John’s reasons here are not to trick us. He knows what he did was wrong and he regrets it.” Liz stated. She felt herself starting to get angry but pushed it back. Max hadn’t seen what she had, he didn’t know.
“How can you be so sure? You act as if you know him or something.” Max asked.
“No, I don’t. Not completely anyway. But I know that he’s telling the truth. I got a flash from him, I know he’s trustworthy.” Liz stated. “You sound like its something wrong to want to get to know him.”
“From everything I’ve heard, he can be dangerous.”
“Well if you listened to all the rumors out there, then all of us mutants are dangerous.” Liz said in a harsh whisper. “I know you feel responsible for all those around you Max but in this case, I don’t need your protection. I can take care of myself”
Liz stomped off then before Max could stop her. He blew out a deep breath and mentally smacked himself. He hadn’t meant to offend Liz by his comment. He had just tried to forewarn Liz to be careful that John was an unknown who could be dangerous. But he knew that the whole argument had been stemmed from jealousy.
Finding out that Liz had gotten a flash from John was like a kick in the gut and poured more fuel on the fire. And seeing Liz’s closeness with John made him start to think that maybe she would be better off with someone more like herself, a mutant. Not an alien who had to hide among mutants. Maybe he should give her some space to figure out what she wanted; of course what would he do then if she decided she wanted to with a mutant? He guessed he would have to accept it, after all it was what was best for Liz. He sighed as he went to find Michael and Isabel.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The Professor had immediately granted Bobby and Rogue’s request to be allowed to see John. But not after telling them that everyone made mistakes and made it clear that he had trusted John enough to let him back into the school. He said he knew that Bobby and Rogue would have the most difficult time of all the students since they had been the closest to him. They had nodded then before heading downstairs. They were all ready familiar with its layout so the Professor did not escort them down.
When they reached the right corridor, they didn’t need to look at the room number to see which one was John’s. Logan was standing guard outside one of the rooms so they knew that was where John was. As they approached, Bobby became uneasy like he typically did around Logan but Rogue just gave him a shy smile.
“What do you two think you’re doing down here?” Logan asked gruffly.
“We came to see John.” Rogue answered. “The Professor said it was okay.”
Logan looked at them for a minute before stepping away from the door so they could pass. They cautiously opened the door and stepped inside. When they did, they saw John lying on the other side of the room, his eyes closed like he was sleeping. They could see how banged up he was and figured they’d let him sleep. But as they turned to leave they heard John say, “You guys don’t have to leave, I’m not asleep.”
Bobby and Rogue turned back around and saw John had opened his eyes. Rogue gave him a small smile hello, “Hey. How are you?”
“Better than I was last night.” John answered apprehensively then turned his attention over to Bobby. He knew what had to be said so he figured he wouldn’t beat around the bush and get it over with. “I’m sorry man. I was totally in the wrong to go with Magneto. I shouldn’t have left you.”
After his apology, John extended his hand for Bobby to take as a peace offering. Bobby wanted to stay mad at him. They had been friends since Bobby had came to the school and John had just up and left. He left when he thought he had found something better. But seeing how battered and injured John was, seeing what his decision had led to, Bobby couldn’t hold on to his anger.
Rogue could read Bobby’s eyes and saw that he had forgiven John. She was glad, she didn’t want to see the two hating each other. She could understand how John had felt when he left, he was still in her head from when she’d imprinted him and she knew the insecurities he had about who he was. For that fact, she forgave him but waited for Bobby to make a move.
Bobby reached out and took John’s proffered hand, and slapped him gently on the back, “Glad to have you back, man.”
“Thanks, it’s good to be back.”
**Note: Remember, this story is only a Xover with the movies. None of the comics or cartoons. The movie didn’t talk about John’s background so it’s of my creation. **
PART 19
The next day, Liz avoided Max. She didn’t talk to him in class or as in the corridors. She was still upset about their discussion and didn’t feel like talking. Thankfully he didn’t press the subject, he gave her the space she had showed she wanted. Instead she stayed close to Rogue and Bobby throughout the day including lunch.
Liz just couldn’t believe that he didn’t trust her judgment about John after everything that had happened the last few months. She had been right that they could trust Maria and Alex, she had been right about Topolsky had not been who she said she was and she had been right about Professor Xavier. She had right often enough that Max should trust her. But no…he had to act all unreasonable and mistrustful. He had been hang around Michael too much.
After her classes, Liz stopped by her room to drop her bag off before heading to meet the Professor for training. After the training she planned on going down to see John. She would have just enough time for a visit before combat training if she skipped dinner. Thankfully she didn’t have a lot of homework and what she did have could be done after the class with Logan.
Training with the Professor went well despite the fact that her mind had not been focused on it. Liz could tell that the Professor was aware of her thoughts but did not say anything. She figured that he didn’t like butting into the students’ lives over minor things like her and Max’s argument.
After training, Liz grabbed a few of the things she wanted to take down with her when she went to visit John and headed downstairs. She was surprised when she didn’t see Logan standing guard but figured he was busy preparing for the night’s lesson. The door was cracked open and she was going to knock when she heard the audible click-click of John playing with his Zippo lighter.
Deciding to play with him, she pulled the image of the room up in her mind’s eye. She could clearly envision the room and where John should be lying, flipping the lighter. Like the day before, her focus was on moving his lighter.
John sat in shock as his lighter was pulled out of his hand by an unseen force. When it started to float towards the door, he figured out how it was happening. “I know you’re there Liz. You can’t hide from me.”
Liz came through the door and gave him a big smile before tossing him back the lighter. “You can hardly blame me, it’s not like I could resist having a little fun.”
“If I didn’t know that you were able to that, I would have thought this place was haunted or something.” John teased her. “It’s spooky.”
“Maybe that’s what I should pick as a code name, Ghost or something like that.” Liz stated.
“You don’t have a name yet?” John asked with upraised eyebrows.
“No.” Liz answered. “Why?”
“Just usually someone already has a name or gets one shortly after they come here.” John explained. “I picked mine before I got here.”
“Well no one has given me one yet.” Liz shrugged.
“We’ll have to fix that.” John said thinking.
“You think on it, while I get out my surprise for you.” Liz stated as she opened her bag and started pulling what she had brought, making sure that John couldn’t see it.
“Surprise? What did you bring me?” John asked. He had had a boring day. He couldn’t wait until he got out of there, even the stares he knew he’d get once he was back upstairs was better than sitting around down there all day.
With flourish, Liz displayed her surprise. “I figured that we wouldn’t get in too much trouble if I kept the grease amount down so I brought two cokes and two galaxy subs.”
“Two what?”
“Galaxy subs, they're just subs that my parents sell at their café in my hometown. I’m from Roswell and our café is alien themed.” Liz said as he handed John the large sub.
“Even I can’t eat all of this.” John stated.
“That’s good since it’s not all yours.” Liz said. “I thought I’d join you for dinner.”
John was surprised by her offer but liked the idea. “Sure, it’s not like I’ve got a bunch of other offers.”
“Good, because if I didn’t eat with you then I wouldn’t have had time for dinner and a visit with you before I had to get back upstairs.” Liz explained.
They began to eat and after a couple of bites John swallowed his food and asked, “So did you run away from Roswell or did you come here like Bobby and you’re parents know where you are?”
“Like Bobby. That’s how I met him. He came with Professor Xavier to talk to my parents and me. They don’t know the truth though.” Liz answered. “I’m going to tell them, but so much was going on to get me here that I didn’t tell them. What about your parents?”
“They don’t have any idea where I’m at. I ran away a few years back.” John said.
“Why?” Liz asked. “If you don’t mind my asking.”
“Nah, I don’t mind. Its not like it’s a big deal.” John said. “My dad used to smack me around whenever he felt like it. I just took it most the time, fought back others. Then one time he went too far. It started with a regular beating but he decided to give me something that would scar me permanently.”
“When he was sure that I was down long enough Dad light a cigar. I knew he planned to burn me with it, and I remember wishing that the stupid cigar would blow up in his face. And amazingly, it did. He was so busy trying to save himself that he didn’t notice me running back to my room. I didn’t know what had happened but I knew that I had somehow caused it. It didn’t take them long to figure out it was me either. I took off a few months later.” John explained as he lit the lighter and used the flame to form a small fireball in his hand “That day though, I felt so out of control of my abilities. You know that was only time that the fire has scared me?”
“It doesn’t scare you, what you can do?” Liz asked as she used her own powers to move the ball from his hand. She knew she shouldn’t but watching him play with it was fascinating.
John’s story had shocked her. True, she knew that stuff like that happened, she had witnessed what Michael went thought only a month before but it was still hard to hear it. Especially from people she considered friends.
“No, it doesn’t scare me. I know how to handle it. Even when I was encased in that metal trap that Magneto left me in. I was already banged up pretty good but I was still able to control the fire, I could get it to pull away from the metal so that it wouldn’t cook me inside like a microwave.” John explained pulling the fireball back to him before extinguishing it. “That’s how I was able to get out, I waited until the metal cooled enough that I could pry my way out then made my way here.”
“I’m glad you did.” Liz said. “Have they told you when you’ll be able to get out of here?”
“Maybe tomorrow but if not, the day after.” John explained. “I’ve got it.”
“You’ve got what?” Liz asked confused.
“Your name. Your codename.” John said, “Spirit.”
“Spirit?” Liz said rolling the name over in her head.
“Yeah,” John stated. “It’s like we said earlier, your power kind of makes it look like a ghost is in here but Ghost doesn’t fit you so I thought of Spirit.”
“I like it, Pyro.” Liz smiled before finishing up her sandwich.
“Cool, Spirit.”
PART 20
Max blew out a breath of frustration. He, Michael, and Isabel were practicing their powers with Professor Xavier but he couldn’t concentrate. At their first practice session with the Professor, they had discovered that the aliens could focus their energies into a blast. It could be varied to simply knock something over, or make it explode. Michael was the best at it, knocking down every target laid in front of him.
Max normally wasn’t bad, except today. His mind was elsewhere; his attention was directed at another part of the school where Liz was currently at. It had been four days since John had reappeared and Liz had befriended him. Liz and him still weren’t talking, at least not as much as before.
The argument they had had was still keeping up a wall between the two them. In the mean time she hung out with Bobby and Rogue or helping John catch up with his studies. He had come up from the lower level two days before and joined the rest of the school. That was when Max had officially been introduced to him.
John wasn’t bad. He reminded Max a lot of Michael. He had the standard smartass; rebel attitude that liked to smirk and rub you the wrong way but Max was used to that. No, what bugged Max was the rapport John had with Liz. They seemed to have become fast friends, obviously having bonded by the uniqueness of their first meeting. They seemed to have some kind of secret link; Max had even heard John calling her by a name other than Liz, Spirit. John had given her a code name.
Whenever he saw them together, Max couldn’t help but stare at the two of them as they sat at one of the tables in the library. He would watch Liz smiling and laughing at something John had said but Max hadn’t quite been able to hear. It reminded Max of the envy he used to feel when he would see Liz with Kyle. His earlier thoughts were proving to be right, Liz should be with one of her own kind.
“Max? Max?” He heard the Professor calling him.
“Yes, Professor?” Max asked. He could tell that the Professor had been calling to him for some time, but he had been too lost in his thoughts to hear him.
“I was just saying that I wanted to stop practice now so that I might discuss something with the three of you.” Professor Xavier explained.
“Sure. What?” Max asked as he, Michael, and Isabel all took seats around the Professor.
“I have spoken in great lengths to John about what he knows about Magneto’s plans as well as other useful information he might have.” Professor Xavier explained. “And something he mentioned I thought that you three might know something of and be able to help with.”
The three were confused for the moment that elapsed before the Professor explained. “It seems Magneto has a new associate in his attack against the human race. A man who can change his appearance but in a way that is completely different than John has seen before as well as other abnormal things. John said he saw him kill a man by placing his hand on his chest, there was a bright light and a silver handprint on the spot when he pulled away.”
“Nasedo.” Michael stated. “It’s got to be him.”
Before the Professor could ask or read it in their thoughts, Max elaborated. “Nasedo is an alien we believe to be another survivor from the crash, one who awake when it happened. After I healed Liz, we found out from the Sheriff’s files and from an old Indian man who befriended him that he’s killed several people over the years. From what we’ve heard it seems that he doesn’t seem to like humans very much.”
“The perfect ally to join Magneto.” Professor Xavier concluded. “And a powerful one.”
“But why?” Isabel asked. “Why would Nasedo want to pair himself up with a human if he hates them so much?”
“But Magneto and his people are not normal humans. They are mutants. It would appear that this Nasedo finds mutants more desirable company than humans.” The Professor said.
“Well it makes sense,” Max commented.
“Finding out somehow that Magneto would find no greater source of pleasure than the elimination of humans would agree with him.” The Professor stated. “We must find them and try to stop them.”
“How?”
“I am not yet sure.” Professor Xavier admitted. “But do not worry, we will figure out a plan.”
“Professor, I know that you told us before that your X-men and not the students are the ones who deal with threats from Magneto and others but since Nasedo is an alien…” Max said before the Professor interrupted.
“And you want to join in whatever happens.” The Professor finished for him. All three of the aliens nodded and the Professor thought about it for a minute, he didn’t like the idea of bring in the teen into a dangerous situation but Max did have a point. “I will keep you apprized of the situation and when the time comes you will not be excluded.”
Max, Michael, and Isabel nodded before the Professor dismissed them to return inside. The thought of Nasedo being paired with Nasedo weighed heavily on Max as he went inside. He needed to talk to someone. He didn’t feel like talking Isabel and Michael though. He knew what they would say, and he wanted a different opinion. He needed to talk to Liz.
He looked for her in the library first, figuring she’d be busy with homework. There were several students inside but no familiar head of brown hair. While he was there, he check the computer lab as well then headed for the common room. Before he was even through the door, he heard her laugh and knew she was inside.
Max stopped in the doorway as he sought her out. She was sitting on one of the over stuffed couches with John next to her. Bobby and Rogue were on one of the other couches and all four of them were watching a movie. Max glanced at the TV and saw that it was an older movie but didn’t recognize it. It was obviously a comedy, because the four of them were cracking up. But his attention was focused on Liz.
The smile on her face increased her beauty ten fold. Her eyes lit up like a thousand volts of electricity powered them. He could almost feel it when she suddenly turned her gaze from the television to him. The expression on her face wavered a bit but she didn’t loose the smile as she asked, “Hey Max.”
“Hey.” Max replied. Liz’s greeting had made the other three aware of his presence and they turned to greet him.
“Max, man why don’t you sit down and watch with us?” Bobby asked. He and Max had hit it off since the other boy had become a student there but Bobby had noticed that over the last few days that it seemed like Max had been avoiding them. He had a feeling that Liz and him had had a fallout but neither had told him a thing.
“But we should warn you, Spirit here seems to have seen this too many times and knows all the words. It’s aggravating.” John as he bumped his shoulder into Liz. He tried not to smile when he saw Max’s eyes flair with jealousy. He knew from the little bit that Liz had told him that her and Max had used to date and he could see with his own eyes that Max still liked Liz. So his newest hobby was to see how often he could get Max jealous. He considered it an added bonus to his friendship with Liz.
Liz shoved back, “Bite me.”
“Anywhere?” John teased causing Liz to roll her eyes.
“Come on Max, sit down and watch.” Liz offered. She could see that something was bothering Max and she thought he could use a laugh.
“Um, no thanks. I was just about to head up to my room. I’ve got some homework to do.” Max refused. “I’ll see you guys later maybe.”
Max turned to head up to his room but only made it to the entryway to the foyer before he felt a small hand on his bicep. He looked over and saw Liz had followed him and looking at him with concern. “Max, are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Enjoy the movie.” Max said. As much as he wanted to talk to her, he wasn’t going to interrupt her fun. And he didn’t feel like just hanging out at the moment.
“Are you sure you’re okay? You looked like you were looking for someone to talk to.” Liz stated.
“It was nothing.” Max said faking a smile before turning to the stairs and going.
Liz watched him go, but with frustration. She knew that something was bothering Max however he didn’t talk to her about it. Deciding to give him a little distance before she would push the subject, she went back to the living room to watch the rest of the movie.
PART 21
Liz didn’t know what woke her up but she knew that it was not her alarm clock. Not when she could see outside her window that it was still dark out. She looked at her alarm clock and saw that she’d only been asleep a few hours.
There was a dim light spilling over the room but it did not come from the window that she was facing but from behind her. Liz rolled on to her back and saw that Rogue’s desk lamp was still on along with Rogue fast asleep over top of her books. She had obviously stayed up too late studying and had fallen asleep. They had been up kind of late watching movies with John and Bobby so Rogue had gotten a late start on finishing up her homework. It was Spring and getting close to finales so they had a lot of work to do.
Rogue looked dead to the world and Liz would have left her but she knew that Rogue would have neck and back problems in the morning if she did. So she tossed away the covers and padded over to her slumbering roommate
“Rogue…Rogue you fell asleep and you need to wake up.” Liz said as she reached out to shake her. Although she was still awake, Liz was still on the edges of sleep enough that she didn’t see the danger before it was too late. Her bare hand was touching Rogue’s bare shoulder and arm. It would have been okay if Liz would have withdrew right then but instead she was sucked into a flash of Rogue’s dream.
((Flash
Rogue and Bobby fixed in a comfortable embrace. Rogue’s arms and hands were bare, but the contact with Bobby was not hurting him.
Bobby reached over and lightly pressed his lips to Rogue’s. Rogue brought her hand up to cup Bobby’s face and savored the feeling of his skin in her hand. She opened her mouth and deepened the kiss.
Flash))
As Rogue felt the telltale warning of when she imprinted someone, she awoke. When she did, she noticed that several objects were floating around the room like when Liz used her telekinesis. She looked over and saw Liz’s eyes opened wide but clouded as if she was seeing something that wasn’t there. She also felt Liz’s hand on her arm and knew that it was Liz that she was imprinting. But before she could pull away, she was sucked into a flash of her own.
((Flash
“I want my money now! Not tomorrow.” An older man yelled as he began struggling with another man.
Liz watched on helplessly as the two struggled before a gun went off. Liz fell back as she felt a blow to her stomach that knocked her backwards. She felt the pain in her stomach and the distant chattering of people before a memorable face appeared before her.
“Liz, I need you to look at me.”
Liz opened her eyes a little more before she felt a warmth around the pain in her stomach. The pain started to fade away as max continued to stare into her eyes.
“You’re alright now” Max said when the pain was all gone, and she opened her eyes completely. She stared at a panting Max. He reached up and broke a ketchup bottle before pouring it over top of her. “You fell and spilt ketchup. Please don’t tell anyone.”
Liz stood up holding the open flaps of her uniform together as she moved towards the door and watched her knight in shining armor scurry out of the café.
Flash))
Rogue finally felt herself emerge from the strange memory flash and quickly yanked away from Liz. Liz’s unconscious body fell to the floor and Rogue knew she had hurt yet again one of her friends. She jumped out of her chair and went running into the hallway. She yelled for help as she ran quickly to the teachers’ corridor and started pounding on one of the doors. “Logan! Help! I need your help!”
The door flew open to reveal a dismayed Logan. But he was on alert more than ever when he saw the look on Rogue’s face. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s Liz. She touched me.”
Logan knew exactly what Rogue was implying and took off with her towards her room. Others were coming out of their rooms, alerted by Rogue’s yells for help. Storm came up alongside Logan as they headed for the girls’ room. They went inside and saw the lifeless girl’s body on the floor.
“We need to get her downstairs.” Storm declared.
Logan picked her up like she weighed no more than a feather and headed back out into the hallway. The students parted to allow him to pass.
When Max saw Liz’s motionless body in Logan’s arms, he felt an unbelievable amount of anguish. It was as if someone reached in and squeezed his heart as hard as they could. She looked so weak and vulnerable. He had to help her. He moved forward but felt a hand hold him back. He looked over expecting to see Michael but instead seeing John. “You can’t do anything for her. Rogue imprinted her.”
“Imprinted?”
“You know what happens when someone touches Rogue without some kind of covering right?” John asked and Max nodded. “That’s what happened in there. Liz touched Rogue’s skin. I’m guessing for long enough that she drained her pretty good. The Professor will do what he can to help her.”
Max couldn’t believe what John was telling him. He looked over and saw that Rogue had put on a robe. This was allowing Bobby to wrap his arms around her in comfort. When Rogue looked over and noticed him watching her she said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. I’m so sorry. “
“I know you are.” Max said knowing Rogue wouldn’t hurt Liz deliberately. “What happened?”
“I’m not really sure. I was asleep at my desk, the feeling I get when I imprint someone woke me up and I saw Liz standing next to me, with her hand on my arm. But I had absorbed enough of her powers that things were floating around and I had one of those flashes from her. After it was over, I came out here for help.”
Bobby saw Rogue rub her temple and he knew that she was feeling the effects of having Liz in her head. “She’ll be okay. The Professor will help her.”
John remembered how weak he felt after Rogue had imprinted him at Bobby parents’ house. It was not an experience that he hoped not to have again and would not recommend it to others. But she had not done it for so long that he had passed out like she had done with Liz.
“You guys go back to bed. I’m heading downstairs. I still might be able to help her.” Max stated as he moved to go help Liz. He didn’t know if he could do anything but he had to try.
“Maxwell, if there’s anything you can do, Professor Xavier would send for you.” Michael said in a cryptic way that Max knew he meant that the Professor knew he could heal and if it would help Liz, he would have him come.
But Max wasn’t going to sit by and wait. “I’m still going Michael.”
Max turned away from Michael and continued to the stairs. Nothing was going to stoop him from trying to help Liz. He didn’t even stop when he heard someone yelling his name.
John couldn’t believe how fast Max was moving and it wasn’t until he reached the elevator to the underground facility that he caught up with him. “I’m going with you. I want to see her. Spirit is my friend too.”
Max just nodded, not willing to waste time arguing.
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