Disclaimer: I do not own Storm, Wolverine, Phoenix, Beast or any
other of the X-Men. Rafe and his family do belong to me.
A ROLL OF THE DICE
(NOTE: 'words'
= thoughts, "words" = telepathic communication, {words}=
sounds)
{Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!}
'Now what?'
{Bang! Bang!}
'Gotta remember to fix
that bell tomorrow.'
Wolverine approached the
front door of the mansion. Whoever was on the other side, was either an
acquaintance, or someone with knowledge of Shi'ar security devices. They would
not have made it to the front door at 3:30 in the morning, otherwise. His hand
on the doorknob, Logan sniffed and confirmed that it was a friend, and that he
wasn't alone.
'Rafe.'
He opened the door. Rafe
Wallace, Storm's boyfriend entered carrying a terrified looking young girl in
his arms. An older woman, who looked quite a bit like Rafe followed them in.
"What the hell?"
"Logan, she needs
help. She's my niece. Her powers just manifested themselves. She can't turn
them off!"
Melissa Williams was
holding her hands to her chest. They were clenched into tight fists. Her eyes
were closed just as tightly but tears flowed freely from them.
By this time, the rest of
the X-Men, had risen from their beds to see what all the commotion was about.
"Jeanie! We need
you up here pronto!" Logan was not a telepath but Jean Grey-Summers, always kept a 'mental
ear open' should any of her teammates need to contact her.
"Rafe? Joan? What
happening?" Ororo Monroe stood at the top of the stairs, one hand on the
banister, the other holding the cane Hank insisted she carry.
It had been three months
since she'd been attacked by Sabretooth. Her recovery was going well, she had
been up and around for two weeks now. However, to her dismay, the rest of the
X-Men were continually treating her like an infant, making sure she followed
the doctor's instructions to the letter. Always use the cane. Walk only when
necessary or when in therapy. No flying or other use of her powers. . . The
list went on and on, but the rest of the X-Men had somehow committed it to
memory.
Ororo's blue eyes now
whited over. Hank saw this and grabbed her before she could use her winds to
carry her down the stairs. He shook his head and picked her up, making it to
the landing in two gentle bounds. Hank knew very well that she had intended to
get down those stairs quickly, one way or the other. She was in no mood to
listen to his orders.
"Melissa's a mutant.
Joan brought her by my place a few minutes ago cause she thought you might be
able to help her. She can't turn it off."
"Turn what off?"
Bobby asked. There was no outward display of power.
"It's her hands."
Joan replied. "Some kind of. . . laser-- or something is coming out of her
fingers!"
"I'm sorry. I'm
sorry." Melissa was muttering quietly to no one in particular.
"You have nothing to
be sorry for, Melissa." Jean said as she and Scott came into the area.
"Rafe, let her stand up."
Rafe put Melissa down.
"It's okay Melissa,
you can open your hands now."
Melissa shook her head
furiously. Jean came over and gently took the girl's hands in hers.
"It's okay, Melissa.
I've turned it off. I've stopped your power."
Melissa looked up into
Jean's face.
"I promise. It's off.
You can trust me."
Melissa slowly uncurled her
finger, apparently with some pain. Those present soon saw why. As Jean
promised, Melissa's powers were negated. But her palms were covered in blood.
Melissa had been clenching her fists so tightly, that her nails had cut into
her hands.
"Hank. Please look at
this." Ororo asked.
The large blue doctor
stepped forward. Melissa noticed him for the first time and backed up into Rafe
in fear. Joan placed an anxious hand on Rafe's shoulder. Hank stopped.
"Mel, don't worry.
Hank here is one of the best doctors on the planet. Don't let his appearance
scare you. He's a nice friendly man."
"Yeah, Bobby added to
Rafe's comment. "Just think of him as a big blue teddy bear. Isn't that
right Hank? Aren't you just a big ole teddy weddy bear?"
He mussed the hair on Hank's head.
"Yes, Bobby. Someone
remind me to give him a bear hug tomorrow."
Melissa couldn't help the
small chuckle that escaped her lips. Bobby's facial reaction to Hank's threat
was too funny.
"Ah! A shimmer of
light! I assure you m'lady. I shall attend to your wounds with the speed of
Hermes and the gentleness of Sita."
"What?"
"Just smile and nod,
hon." Rafe said to Melissa.
Hank responded to Rafe's
remark with a raspberry. "My med. lab is this way. If you'll follow
me." Melissa, Joan and Jean walked after Hank.
"I'll walk with Ororo."
Rafe said.
Ororo rolled her eyes. Rafe
had been just as stringent about Hank's rules as the rest of the team.
"May I?" He held
out a crooked arm to Storm in a gentleman-like manner. He knew she didn't like
the restraints being placed on her.
"Silver tongued
devil." She said as she took the arm.
* * * * *
"Mrs. Williams, your
daughter has registered as a Beta Class Mutant. This means she has the
potential to be quite powerful."
"Oh."
"It also means she has
the potential to be quite dangerous--"
"Oh?"
"--if not properly
trained in the use and control of her abilities."
"What do you mean?
Training? What training? X-Man training? She's just a little girl! I don't want
her to be-"
"Joan! Calm down.
That's not what he's talking about, is it Hank?"
"Of course not.
Madame, this may be the home of the X-Men, but it is first and foremost a
school. With your permission we would simply train Melissa to control her
abilities. She would go on with her normal life and become whatever she
pleases! Of course, you could refuse our assistance, but considering the damage
all ready suffered to your property. . . They say the first instinct is usually
the correct one. Your first instinct was to come to us for help.
Joan sighed and placed her
hand on the head of Melissa who had been sitting quietly observing the
exchange. It was true. Her first calm thought after the commotion had been to
come to the X-Men.
Her husband David had been
in Chicago this week on business. It was difficult enough for Joan to sleep
when he wasn't beside her and the long day she'd had did not help matters. She
had gone to bed at ten and it was 2:30 before she finally began to nod off. But
there would be no sleep for her that night.
She wasn't sure which
happened first: the screaming or the explosion.
Joan was on her feet in an
instant and down the hall to Melissa's room. Inside, part of the roof and wall
had been sliced away, exposing the night air. Melissa was screaming, crying
that she could not stop it. There were thin blue streams of light emanating from
her fingertips. The light continued until it would hit something solid. Then it
would slice its way through like razor sharp claws. One of the beams came at
Joan. She ducked out of the way in time to see a chunk of her long dark hair
fall to the ground, from where the light had cleanly cut it. The only solid
that appeared to be unaffected was Melissa herself. In her panic, the young
girl had accidentally passed the lights over her own face. Nothing happened,
not even to her hair. But when the light moved past, it sliced through her
headboard. Seeing this, Joan told Melissa to ball up her fists so her
fingertips would be on her palms. She did so and the commotion stopped. The
next moment, Joan had picked up her daughter and ran out into the hallway past her
mother, who was comforting a terrified Jack. Avery was not crying, the child
could sleep through a hurricane. Shouting her intentions over her shoulder to
Natsuko, Joan was planning to go to Rafe, who could take them to the only
people she could think of at that moment to help Melissa. The X-Men.
"Melissa Honey, it’s
up to you." She said after a pause.
"Mel sat up
straighter, happy to finally be directly included in the conversation. "I
think I need their help mom. I mean, I don’t think Mrs. Summers can follow me
around for the rest of my life."
Jean chuckled.
"So, what do I do
first?"
"First," Hank
said, opening a drawer. "Some unpleasantries I am afraid." He pulled
a spherical object out and showed it to her.
Storm sighed. It had been
necessary for her to wear one of these for the first few weeks of her
convalescence. The pain she was in from the attack made it too difficult for
her to concentrate on controlling her powers. Hank had wanted her mind focussed
on her recovery. This collar prevented her emotional state from making El Nino
look like a sun shower.
"What is that."
"This unfortunate
thing is a restraining collar. It would be far too taxing for Ms. Grey –er Mrs.
Summers to cancel out your powers until you learn how to do it yourself. This
collar will shut off your powers when you don’t want to be using them, such as
when you are sleeping, which incidentally was what I was about to suggest as
step two.
"It looks
uncomfortable."
"It
is not that bad." Ororo said with a weak smile. Rafe squeezed her
hand gently.
"Is that
really--"
"Mom, it’s okay."
She took the collar from Hank and snapped it on. It beeped twice indicating
that it was active.
"Here’s the key."
Hank said handing her a small silvery object.
"You can keep it with
you. It is not so bad being under lock when you yourself have the key."
* * * * *
"May I join you,
Joan?"
"O-of course,
Ororo."
It was the next morning.
Joan was sitting on a porch
seat outside. She had been banished by her daughter from the Danger Room
viewing area, as she claimed Joan’s watching was making her nervous.
Without external argument,
she reluctantly left Melissa to the care of Phoenix and Gambit. Rafe, Cyclops,
Iceman and Cannonball had gone to see what repairs could be done to her house.
She had called David and he was on his way home.
Joan took Storm by the
elbow to help her sit when she saw her brother’s love was yet again trying to
mask the difficulty she was having moving around. Ororo thanked her.
"So. . . how’s it
going in there?"
"Fine. I would not
worry. Jean is overseeing the training and Gambit is an expert at controlling
energy flows through the body. Melissa is in good hands."
"Good. . . good."
Joan trailed off then looked away into space.
"I was hoping we could
talk."
"Talk? Talk about
what?"
"About that."
Storm pointed to Joan’s hands, which she was nervously folding and unfolding.
She stopped. "Well—
it’s not everyday your daughter has laser beams shooting out of her
hands."
"True. But from what I
have observed, you have always done this—when I am present at any rate. Do I
make you nervous, Joan?"
"Nervous? Don’t be
silly, Ororo! You don’t make me nervous!" Her laugh betrayed her.
"Joan. . . "
"Look Ororo," she
started, standing up, her back to Storm. "You don’t make me nervous. Well.
. . all right, you do. . . Well, not really. . . {Sigh}.
Ororo watched her silently.
A few seconds later, Joan continued.
"The truth is. . .
you, all of you. . . intimidate the hell out of me."
"What? Why?"
"Why!?! Lady, do the
words Mother Nature mean anything to you?"
"I am not the
great mother."
"Well you do a damn
good impersonation! And what about all of this?" She gestured with her
hands at the mansion surroundings. "You’re an X-Man. Hell, you’re one of
the leaders! I’m just a low-level T.K.; I have trouble lifting anything heavier
than a book. Now, I’ve always considered myself a strong person. I excel at
almost everything I do. . . except being a mutant. In that I am weak. I can’t
stand the idea that I am weak, that I am no good at something that is so
personal to me. So I don’t use it that often, I ignore it; I don’t have to
think about it. Then here comes my little brother, head over heals in love with
someone who excels at my insecurity."
She flopped back down on
the bench beside Ororo. "I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that."
"Of course you should
have. It sounds like you have wanted to get that off your chest for a long
time. I am glad you told me."
"It’s my own stupid
fears coming to surface. And last night was no help either. Here was my
daughter, my own flesh and blood, in trouble and I didn’t have a clue how to
help her. I couldn’t help her, I was useless."
"You did help her
Joan. You remained calm, did not panic, and you brought Melissa to people you
thought could help her."
"She’s more powerful
than I am. Much more. How am I supposed to handle that?"
“Just
because Melissa has a higher level mutant power than you, does not mean that
she does not need you. In fact, she will need you more than ever now. She is a
thirteen-year-old child with a dangerous potential. It is up to you to guide
her, to point that potential in the right direction. Many of the mutants we
fight did not have that guidance. They became corrupt. They believe their
abilities give them the right to do as they please. You must teach Melissa that
with great power comes great responsibility. A friend of ours often says
that."
"Just how old are
you Ororo?"
"Why?"
"Because, you sound
much too wise to be in your twenties— or thirties— or sixties. Hell, we should
just stick you on a mountain top somewhere so people can come to you for advice
and worship."
Ororo laughed. "Been
there, done that."
"Huh?!?"
More laughter.
The End