The X-Men: New Additions - Part 11

Author:  Stacy Ricco

 
    Alex woke at five am after sleeping the usual three hours. She quietly got out of bed and got dressed. Meph was sprawled out on Logan's chest and the two of them were dead to the world. Neither of them as so much as opened an eye when Alex left the room.
She headed to the showers instead of the danger room. She opted not to do her usual morning workout. She didn't want to be physically tired when she met the Professor. She let the heat of the hot water soak into her muscles and bones. She healed the bruise around her eye while she stood in the shower. She didn't want to see the Professor with it and have to explain it to him. She stepped out of the shower and got dressed. She headed down to the kitchen to fix herself a bowl of cereal. Cooking was not one of her strong points and that's why she talked Logan into cooking dinner for her at every chance she could get. She had even talked Bobby into taking her cleaning duties for her. At this rate she won't have many chores to do. She smiled and continued to eat her cereal.
She looked at the clock when she was finished eating. It was only five forty five. She had an hour and fifteen minutes before she could even try to meet with the Professor. She headed to his office and stuck her head in the door. The office was empty, so she entered and sat down at the piano. Her fingers were actually fine for a change and she played flawlessly. She lost all track of time.
   
    Charles woke up around six thirty and headed down to his office. He heard the sound of someone playing the piano. He probed to see who it could be, but the person was almost completely hidden from his thoughts. There was a little backlash of psychic energy coming from the person, but he was able to deal with it effortlessly. He opened the door the door and peeked in. A rather attractive woman was sitting at the piano playing and singing.

    The moon's a fingernail
    And slowly sinking
    Another day begins
    And now I'm thinking

    That this indifference
    Was my invention
    When everything I did
    Sought your attention

    You were my compass star
    You were my measure
    You were a pirate's map
    Of buried treasure

    If this was all correct
    The last thing I'd expect
    The prosecution rests
    It's time that I confess
    I must have loved you
    I must have loved you

    She finished the song and he entered the room. She stood up immediately when she saw him. Charles noted that she stood at attention. The folder that Scott gave him mentioned military service. He knew she wouldn't say anything unless he addressed her first.
"Alex I presume?"
"Yes sir."
"Short for?"
"Alexandra, sir. I was named after Alexander the Great."
"You're up early."
"No sir. Woke up late this morning, sir."   
"Seven am is late?"
"Yes sir. Although I woke up at five am. I usually wake up at three am, sir."
"Alex you can drop the sir."
"Yes sir."
"Charles. Please call me Charles."
"Yes Charles."
"Please have a seat," he said motioning to on of the chairs that sat in front of his desk. "We might as well get started since you are here. I wasn't expecting you until nine am."
"I don't sleep much. About three hours a day," Alex said taking the chair that he offered.
"Is this normal?"
"Yes. Only when I'm healthy, but when I'm recuperating from something all I do is sleep."
"Yes your file mentions extensive injuries, and that's only since you've been here. Is this correct?"
"Yes. Logan says I'm a magnet for danger."
"He would be the authority on that."
Alex just smiled.
"Yes, I know about you and Logan. How are the two of you doing?"
"Sir?"
"How are you getting along? How serious is this relationship?"
"We get along fine. We've only had one slight altercation so far, but things were patched up. I don't know how serious it is."
"I see. I have details about what has happened to you since you been here, but there is very little information about you from before that time. Could we talk about your past?"
"Yes. Where would you like to start sir?"
"How about your childhood?"
"I don't remember much from before I was five. The biggest thing that I remember is when my parents were killed."
"How did that happen?"
"They went AWOL and were hunted down by a squad and killed. My sister and I were separated and put into foster care until our powers began to develop."
"Why were they hunted down and killed?"
"They didn't believe that the way the government was treating mutants was right."
"Did you feel the same as them?"
"Sir, I was five years old at the time and innocent. I had no feelings either way."
"I see. And when you went into the service?"
"At first I did believe in them and what they did. As I grew older I didn't believe in how they treated mutants, but it was either serve or die."
"And now?"
"I believe in myself and in the Great Mother."
"The Great Mother?"
"Another name for Storm's Goddess."
"I see. Perhaps you should inform Storm of your beliefs. The two of you have much in common."
"Perhaps."
"Was your sister was your only living relative?"
"The only one I knew. There were rumors of a half brother, but never confirmed."
"I see. What happened after your parents were killed?"
"My sister and I were separated and put into foster homes."
"Did you ever see your sister after that?"
"No sir."
"Then what happened to you?"
"One of my powers first manifested itself when I was six and a half. I was then put to work in the civilian sector. I got to work in public gardens and parks. It was quite nice."
"Then what happened?"
"When I was ten my second power manifested itself and when they discovered what it could do, I was put into the military. I've been there ever since."
"Interesting. What are your powers exactly? It says here in the file, but I would like to hear you describe them."
"The first power that manifested itself is that I can transfer part of my life-force into another living thing. It can be anything from an amoeba to a human. The more I give the more it takes out of me. I can do it until I die along with the thing I was sustaining dies. The longest I have done it to date was two hours."
"Amazing. Was this ever used as a weapon?"
"Not exactly that power. I discovered later how to modify it so that I could send something akin to electrical shocks into a person."
"So this is how you nearly destroyed my brother?"
"Sir?"
"Cain Marko is my step-brother."
"I'm sorry sir. I didn't know."
"No apologies necessary. We all choose the paths we walk down and take the consequences that come from those choices. Now please continue."
"My second power is the ability to adapt. I take in stimuli from the environment and then my body adapts in response to the stimuli. My body can somehow sense what powers other mutants have and adapt to deal with those powers. For instance, if I was facing Bobby in combat, my body would respond and I would be able to produce heat and flame to counter his ice generation."
"Remarkable. And your weaknesses?"
"I can't handle more than two threats at a time. Anymore than that my system goes into overload and my body can't figure out what to adapt to."
"Have the other X-men figured this out during the danger room sessions?"
"I don't think so sir. They usually attack me one on one and I haven't dealt with more than two at a time."
"Any other weaknesses?"
"Exhaustion. Producing energy and adapting takes enormous amounts of energy out of me. I usually have to carry a few candybars with me when I go on missions."
The Professor just nodded in understanding. "Could you please describe your combat experience?"
"How long do you have?" Alex said with a completely straight face.
"I see. How about a brief overview then?"
"I started active duty when I was twelve. Those missions were mostly reconnaissance missions. When I turned fourteen I started active combat and I had my first leadership position when I was sixteen. When I turned twenty I was made a squad leader and have been that for about five years."
"Impressive. How many missions have you been on?"
"One thousand one hundred and five to be exact."
"That many?"
"Yes sir. I never had time off, only for injuries."
"Was it like this for everyone?"
"Yes. We were encouraged not to take any time off."
The Professor just nodded. "What did you do when you did get some free time?"
"I read, played piano or went for walks. My squad and I had the day off when we
were ambushed in Central Park."
"Why were you ambushed?"
"The squads were ranked based on the number of successful missions and the lowest number of casualties. We held the second spot and were known as Beta Squad. One of the squads attacked, hoping to take us out. Taking out other squads is highly frowned upon, but can be done if you can do it without anyone else finding out. The squad that attacked us were probably either harshly disciplined or killed, since I saw that Sybil survived."
"And how are you adjusting to life here?"
"I'm adjusting fine. I seem to have a lot more free time. I really like it here," she said with a smile thinking about Logan.
"I'm glad."
"Thank you."
"Could you please fill in some of the missing details in your file for me?"
"Sure."
"Is there anything we are missing?"
"Well sir, I guess I should show you what I've been through too. I've shown Jean and Logan, and since you're concerned about me being here then you should see it too."
"Thank you."
"I don't think you'll be thanking me once you see all this. You're a telepath correct?"
"Yes."
"That will make this much easier. Please start with a light touch and then I will let you in."
Charles touched her mind gently and saw walls erected all around him. In a second the walls were gone and scene after scene started to flash before him. He was amazed at some of the images that he saw before his eyes.
Logan walked in some time later to see Alex and the Professor staring at each other. He knew what was taking place after he saw Alex's eyes starting to tear up. Letting other people see her memories really bothered her. He sat down in a chair and waited for them to finish.
After about an hour Alex blinked and wiped the tears from her eyes.
"You okay?" Logan asked putting a hand on her shoulder.
She nodded.
"Jean sent me in here to make sure the two of you don't forget to eat. Breakfast is almost ready."
"Thank you Logan. Alex, I believe that we are done for now. Will you please let me know when you get done updating your file?"
"Yes sir. I will do it right after breakfast."
"Thank you."
Logan, Alex and the Professor made their way to the kitchen. Huge stacks of pancakes were sitting in the middle of the table and the rest of the X-men were filtering into the kitchen.
Bobby walked into the kitchen and all the X-men stopped in mid-sentence or mid-bite to stare at him. His hair was a bright blue. Everyone burst out laughing. Bobby looked at Alex.
"This one wasn't me. Honest!"
He continued to stare at her.
"I was in the Professor's office since seven. Wasn't me."
Bobby just sighed. "I will find out who did this."
"Ya know Bobby. That color matches Hank's fur so well."
"Thanks Jean."
Beast howled with laughter.
"I will get you back for this Hank."
Hank laughed even harder.
The remainder of breakfast was uneventful for the most part. There was the occasional chuckle every time someone looked at Bobby. Alex quickly finished her breakfast and headed off to assume her monitoring duties.