Title: Kinda I Want To
Author: Askani'daughter / Eruntalince (newloverboys@yahoo.com)
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Kinda I Want To 6 - Through Ororo's Eyes
By Askani'daughter
Goddess, how can a person sum up how they feel when their teammate, their friend, their *brother* dies before their very eyes?
The moment Cyclops died, Professor, a part of all the X-Men died.
Jean was next to me, and I supported her as her body sagged. She wept like a child, and with good reason. She and Scott shared a special bond, and his death had to hurt even more for that bond.
It was Warren who cradled Scott's body in his arms, pressing his face against Scott's cooling flesh. He made no sound. But tears poured from his ocean blue eyes, seemingly without end. Scott had given his life to save Warren's. The ultimate gift.
I had known for a long time Warren loved Scott. I don't know exactly how I knew, but I just picked it up as we went along. I try to notice the little things. To be honest, I don't really approve of love between two of the same gender, I feel it's unnatural, but this is...
...heart-breaking.
"Scott...wake up. Please, wake up. You can't die. You can't," Warren finally moaned. Every last one of us just stared helplessly at the scene, too stunned to say or do anything. Betsy stood before him and I saw her turn her face, crying quietly.
Warren started to keen, and I know he was blaming himself. He was thinking that Scott wouldn't have died if he hadn't come here. The sound made my heart bleed, and it only caused Jean to sob harder.
It took all of us a few moments to realize that Sinister had appeared in our midst.
"Sinister!" Wolverine growled, his claws popping out.
"This wasn't supposed to happen," Sinister said sadly. "My deepest apologies."
"Apologies?? You monster!!!" Logan screamed and flung himself at Sinister. Sinister raised a hand and Logan was flung back against the wall, his body bouncing once before landing on one of the Marauder clones.
"Do you really want to fight me? Kill me? Now? You invaded *my* home, X-Men. I merely sought to defend myself. But I had no intentions of killing any of you, just driving you out with numbers. This was a mistake, a most heart-wrenching mistake," Sinister said sadly, and I almost believed him, Professor, he sounded so sincere.
Bobby, who was closest, helped Logan up. We all stared at Sinister. What were we supposed to do? Sinister had a point.
"Why, Remy? Why go through this madness to try and kill me? Do you hate me that much?" Sinister asked, sounding almost heart-broken as he turned to the Cajun thief, watching Remy come to his feet.
"Oui."
Sinister looked away. "You blame me for everything, don't you?" he asked sadly.
Remy met the Sinister's cold red eyes, and I noticed that they had the same profile. The thought chilled me. "An' why shouldn' I, Sinister? Y'are responsible f'r everyt'ing," Remy said bitterly. Whatever anger had possessed him earlier, it was gone now.
"That a father should be hated so by his own flesh and blood. You wound me, Remy," Sinister said sadly. I think the X-Men stopped breathing for a moment.
Remy's jaw worked. "Y'had t'tell dem, didn' you?" he asked bitterly.
"Father??" Rogue asked, her eyes widening with understanding. Even though she had absorbed Gambit's memories, even she didn't know everything of his past. None of us did.
Sinister turned to Rogue, a cold smile playing on his cold lips. "He must have forgotten to mention it to you. It's my fault, really. I had no idea I had impregnated his mother until I employed him much later on. A rather interesting discovery for both of us, I assure you," the villain said coolly. More doubt to sow in the X-Men's minds. The fact that he was baiting us on purpose made my blood boil, Professor.
"I'm sorry it had to come down to this, Remy. I really am. I have done so much for you, and you repay me by trying to kill me? And by doing so, you have gotten your fellow X-Man, Cyclops, killed," Sinister said, once again adopting sadness and regret into his tone.
"F'r Remy? Y'never did anyt'ing f'r Remy. Not wit'out wantin' somet'in' in return. An' even Remy take de second fiddle to Cyclops. Because Remy not de great mutant his fat'er want. But dat fine. Remy not wan' t'be y'r guinea pig," Gambit said darkly, his face full of hate for the man that sired him. Goddess, but it explained so much....
Sinister was silent for a moment before he turned to Jean. "It grieved me to learn of your divorce, Jean. You two were beautiful together. But it was very selfless of you, to cut Scott free. He really did live in your shadow. You are the only person stronger than him," Sinister said conversationally.
"Fuck you," she spat.
"Perhaps sometime, my dear. Just for fun, though. For the real thing, I'd far prefer you to fuck Scott. It's far more productive," Sinister smiled.
"Bub, yer lookin' fer a *real* ass-whuppin'," Wolverine growled. The entire team was ready, tensed. One wrong move, and we'd attack Sinister. But we held back. Why?
"I assume there's a reason why you're using your charm powers to convince your team members not to attack me, Remy? Especially considering how much you hate me," Sinister cooed.
" 'Course. Remy wan' y't'fix up Scott. Remy know y'c'n do it. Just like y'did f'r Remy when he died. Bring him back, or it's gone get real ugly in here, cher," Remy smiled, every bit as sinister as Sinister's own smiles. "Now Remy, he *know* y'don' wan' t'have t'kill y'fav'rite li'l lab rats."
Sinister actually smiled back. "And then there are times like these, when I know you truly are my son. But you know everything has a price, Remy. I taught you that after I took you in," Sinister said calmly.
"Wha' d'y'wan' from Remy?" Gambit asked wearily, brushing back his mussed auburn hair, his odd eyes meeting Sinister's coldly.
"Nothing, actually," here Sinister turned to Jean, "I want something from both you and Scott."
Jean looked up at him, hatred in her face. I'd never seen Jean full of hate. It frightened me, Professor. "What, Sinister?" she growled.
"Your divorce hurts my future plans. Greatly. I want a blood sample from each of you."
Jean went still in rage and shock. She knew what that meant. She knew what Sinister could do with a blood sample from both her *and* Scott. But in the end, did she really have a choice?
I didn't envy her position. Would you make a deal with the devil to bring back someone you love? Would you be willing to let a genetic madman tinker with your genetics, just to bring back the dead?
I couldn't answer that question.
"Fine," she said weakly, and hung her head in defeat.
Warren sat huddled with Scott in his arms, his face a mask of sorrow. All the rage and hatred and hopelessness he felt when he came here to kill Sinister paled in the face of this. In an effort to rid Scott of Sinister's manipulations, he had just, in a domino effect, caused the manipulations to deepen.
But would he allow it to happen?
Sinister just smiled and walked over to Warren, and held his arms out. "You must give him to me. If I don't do this quickly, his body will start to decay, and I will be unable to resurrect him, Angel. You *do* want Scott alive, don't you?" he asked, almost sweetly.
Warren just stared at the villain, clinging to Scott's body fiercely. "Don't do anything to him. Nothing. Just take your blood and make him live. But if you fucking dare screw with him..." Warren hissed.
"You have my word. Nothing more than a withdrawal of blood and the resurrection process. I really don't need to do anything else," Sinister shrugged, his arms still outstretched for Scott.
Warren reluctantly placed Scott in Sinister's arms, his tears yet to stop.
"It is only necessary that Jean stay for this. I don't need all of you here," Sinister said aloud. "I promise to return her unharmed."
"I'm staying. *Try* and make me leave," Angel said darkly, and the look on his face alone convinced me why Apocalypse chose him to be the first Death.
"And I, I stay to watch over them both," I said aloud. I would not allow them to remain here by themselves. Both were too emotionally vulnerable.
"And Remy, he stay, 'cause he know what y'need t'do an' not do. He make sure y'behave," Gambit said darkly, folding his arms.
"And Ah'll stay, cuz if ya make one wrong move, goth boy, Ah wanna be the one t'crack yo' teeth first," Rogue said just as darkly.
"Such lovely taste in women you have, my boy. I do approve," Sinister smiled, showing off his sharp, white teeth. Rogue scowled at him.
"The rest of you, please return to the Blackbird. But stay nearby. In case we call you," I told the rest of the team. Reluctantly, they left, most them wanting to stay and keep an eye on Sinister.
"Get to work, Sinister," Jean commanded the moment they left.
Sinister offered another cold smile and started walking towards one of the main doorways on this floor. He glanced upward at the destruction we had rained upon his complex, frowning slightly. "I must say, X-Men, you *do* know how to make an entrance," he commented, leading us down the twisting, winding hallway.
"Ya'll should see us at parties," Rogue quipped. I had to admire her. Not even death killed her sense of humor.
Sinister led us into an immense laboratory. He offered us seats and headed to a raised part of the floor, on which stood an empty tank. Remy stood just behind him, watching his father very carefully. Sinister pulled out the harpoon from Scott's chest rather roughly, causing the lot of us to wince, despite the fact Scott was already dead. He then stripped Scott completely naked, tossing spandex and other various articles of clothing to the side.
"Since you are making it a point to watch my every move, Remy, would you be so kind as to assist me in my efforts?" Sinister asked blithely as he placed Scott upright inside the tank and began attaching tubes and various devices to him.
Remy remained deadly silent, but much to our surprise, he aided Sinister in the hook-up, attaching things with expertise, apparently familiar with this "resurrection" process. Leaving Remy to the hook-up, Sinister turned to a control panel. We remained silent, tense and weary.
"Now despite what you may think or think you know about death, it is a reversible process. It takes a little over an hour for the entire body to die, and the energy of the person to fade and move on to the astral plane. Scott is still mostly inside his body. The conscious part of his psyche has fled to the astral plane, but the buried, deeper part, essentially his soul, is still inside him. There are still cells within his body that live, and haven't received the memo, for lack of a better term, that Scott Summers was impaled. This process I invented takes that energy, and uses it to spread back to the deceased cells. Basically reversing the process of death. It doesn't always work, but I think it will on Scott, since he was in excellent health before he died," Sinister lectured us impromptu.
One day, Professor. One day I shall understand why super-villains prattle so much.
"However, I want you to understand that by 'resurrecting' Scott Summers, I have to activate every last one of his cells. Every single part of him will be re-energized," Sinister concluded, looking meaningfully at Jean.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Warren growled.
Jean's face was troubled. "It means that by doing this, Scott's latent mutant powers are most likely to activate. And there's no telling what will happen with his optic beams," she answered.
"Latent powers...?" I finally asked, breaking my own silence. This was news to me.
"Scott.... has latent powers. Powers that never surfaced, mostly because he keeps himself far too much in control of himself. He actually was able to keep them latent, by force of will alone. Moira McTaggart discovered them in a genetic scan long ago, but we both agreed to leave them be. Now he doesn't have a choice..." Jean admitted, wrapping her arms around herself.
"Remy, my boy, please activate the ruby quartz shielding on the tank," Sinister said calmly. That comment startled us all. He couldn't have *planned* this, could he?
Remy bristled, but did as he was asked. It struck me that in order to save Scott's life, Remy was willing to put aside his hatred. Out of guilt, out of sympathy, or out of honor, I don't know. Or perhaps this was all a ruse, and Remy was still working with Sinister, his father?
"What are those powers....?" I asked Jean, curious. A hum began to fill the room, and Remy finished with the hook-up, and closed up the tank, stepping back. Pink liquid began to fill the tank, very slowly.
It was Sinister who answered my question. "Empathy. Very powerful, and very uncontrollable empathy. Mind linking, telepathic speech, and limited telepathy with those he's closest too. He can also alter other people's feelings, and project his own emotions with a little practice. With direction and focus, he can even create physical sensations in others, such as pain and pleasure. You didn't think Jean was the sole contributor to Cable's enormous psychic powers, did you?" the tall, dark man informed us and directed power into the tank. The pink liquid started to glow, sloshing around Scott's calves by now.
"Doesn't sound like a very Cyclops' kinda power," Rogue observed.
"Why do you think he buried it, my dear? Scott's not the type who would want his mind to fill every person's emotions in a ten mile radius. And he'll never be able to turn it off, just like his eyes, I'm afraid. The only way he'll be able to avoid madness is by forming a close bond to someone, someone on whom he can focus. This was the reason for the mental bond between Jean and Scott. Jean didn't form it, Scott did," Sinister answered, adjusting dials. Various tubes and projections that were hooked-up to Scott's body came to life.
"What do you mean 'was'?" Warren asked, quickly catching on.
Jean looked over at him. "I severed our bond when we divorced. I thought it would be best, and I thought he wouldn't need it. I guess I was wrong..." she said sadly.
Warren worked his jaw, and just stared at the woman who had captured Scott's heart.
The pink liquid was filling the tank, and was just reaching the top of Scott's thighs. The level of the liquid caused me to avert my eyes, suddenly aware that Scott was rather naked.
"Now, as a warning, when the tank is filled, the power will be fed directly into Scott. The 'resurrection' process is rather dramatic, so just bear with it," Sinister advised as the liquid reached Scott's waist.
Remy went over to Warren, who was watching Scott intently, his face a mask of pain. Warren turned slightly at the presence of the thief and he bent over slightly as he and Remy whispered in each other's ear. I had no idea what they were saying, but I noticed a rather deadly smirk on Angel's lips.
Jean narrowed her eyes at both of them.
"Jean, what's wrong?" I asked her gently.
"Nothing, nothing. Don't worry about it," she sighed, waving a hand at me. Something was definitely suspicious, but I let it pass.
The pink liquid had reached Scott's shoulders by now, and I noticed his body was twitching slightly. The movement caught Warren's attention, and he only had eyes for Scott. Remy kept his eyes on Sinister.
Jean sucked in her breath when the tank was completely filled.
The lights started flickering on and off in the room, and Scott's body started twitching violently. The room started to shake, and I knew that this time, it wasn't an effect of Vertigo's powers. Only the podium remained still. The glow from the tubes and the liquid itself was almost blinding, and Scott's body was writhing within the tank so badly he looked like he was having a seizure. Or being electrocuted.
Or being revived from the dead.
A scream filled our minds. It was not a scream one could hear, and it had no physical counterpart. Scott's mouth was open, but nothing escaped his lungs but air. His oxygen mask held. And then he opened his eyes.
The flash of power blinded us all, so bright it rivaled the sun. When our sight was returned, a red haze filled the room, and the mental scream grew louder.
"Scott!!!" Jean screamed, clutching her head. As a telepath, she was the most sensitive to Scott's psychic scream.
And then abruptly, it stopped and Scott closed his eyes and went still. Only the rise and fall of his healed chest convinced us this had worked at all. Only a small scar remained on his chest, evidence of the fatal wound he had received.
We were all crouched on the ground, most of us trying to blink away the sunspots in our eyes. Gambit remained crouched on the ground, and Warren sat beside him, his wings enfolding the Cajun. Was Remy injured somehow?
"What's wrong? Is he okay?" Rogue asked with more concern in her voice than I'm sure she wanted to show, anxious to know why Warren huddled over Gambit.
"He'll be fine. I think he hit his head or something. I'll keep an eye on him. He appears to be dazed," Warren said dismissively.
Sinister smiled, and looked over at Jean. "Impressive, I think. My test read-outs are inconclusive, but I think the mental screams proved his latent powers are quite active," he said, proudly. Goddess, he's a bastard.
Jean stepped up to him and bared her arm, glaring at him. "My end of the bargain, Sinister. Get it over with," she spat.
A hum filled the room again, but I couldn't locate it's source. It was soft and subtle. I don't think Sinister noticed, as he was too busy gleefully taking Jean's blood sample.
I didn't think anything of the hum, or the fact that the floor was glowing ever so softly beneath my feet, a glow spreading outward from where Remy and Warren were huddled. There was a reason for that.
"I took Scott's blood sample the moment he was revived," Sinister said, apparently not noticing the glow, or not caring. There was a reason for that, too.
"Can we have him back now?" Jean asked impatiently.
"Of course, of course," Sinister said as he drained the liquid to the tank. Jean motioned for Rogue, who ripped the tank door off its hinges and pulled Scott out, yanking off devices and tubes.
"Well, Sinister, it's been real. It's been fun. Can't say it's been real fun," Jean smiled and I heard her whisper in my mind to start flying. I did so, wondering why.
Sinister blinked. Some sort of glamour had been covering his eyes, whether courtesy of Remy or Jean, I can't say. He shook it off and looked around his lab, noting that most of it was glowing with Remy's powers.
"NO!! Remy!! Stop!!" Sinister screamed. Jean telekinetically blasted him through a wall, destroying the vial of her blood he held in his hand.
Without having to be instructed, I sent a bolt of lightning into the holder for Scott's blood vial. The roof suddenly exploded, and Cannonball came whizzing through with Psylocke in his arms, a fierce grin on his boyish face.
Angel spread his wings, revealing Gambit, who was concentrating on charging up as much of the lab as he could. Psylocke was concentrating fully on psychically distracting Sinister as much as she could, given his powerful telepathic immunity. But Betsy wasn't just any telepath, she was a very specific kind, a kind able to sneak past most people's defenses.
I started hurling gale-force winds at Sinister as he came to his feet, growling in anger. And then Iceman, riding in on his icy slide, caged Sinister in ice. Gambit looked up, sweat pouring from his brow, and Warren picked him up. Rogue was already flying through the roof, Cyclops in her arms.
"Time t'go, X-Men!" Gambit grinned and flipped his father off, even as the ice block Sinister was trapped in began to chip and crack.
We didn't need to be told twice. We all flew as fast as we could out of the building, those of us who couldn't fly clinging onto to those who could. Up and away we went, barely escaping the rather impressive blast of a kinetically-charged laboratory blowing up behind us. Even if Sinister was able to salvage any of the blood before, he wouldn't be able to now. Everything was destroyed.
"I hope he's dead," I heard Gambit spit from Warren's arms, his hatred for his father plain for all to see.
//Good work, X-Men. All in a day's work. Together, we just taught the devil a thing or two about his deals.// Jean told us telepathically.
But even as we flew into the Blackbird, proud of our day's accomplishments, the sight of Scott's unconscious form being laid out on a cot for Beast to examine, the price of our victory sobered us all.
Jean helped Beast, aiding him in checking on Scott's health. Rogue took the pilot's seat, taking us back home. I just stood off to one side, absorbed in my thoughts, wondering what sort of transformation Scott's powers will have on him. What effect will the revelation of Remy's parentage have on our already tenuous trust of him?
A winged form trudged past me, sitting down quietly off to the side, watching Scott with large, sad blue eyes. He folded his wings around himself, like a cloak or a barrier from others. The former fourth Horseman of Apocalypse looked rather pitiful like that.
As I have said, I feel homosexuality is unnatural, but I am in no position to judge anyone. That Warren loves Scott is undeniable. That he feels he is responsible for this is obvious. That he is hurting and lonely goes without doubt. If love truly is spiritual, then love between two men can be no different than that of a man and woman.
I put a comforting hand on his shoulder, but Warren didn't even register my presence. He saw only Scott. He saw only his pain. There was nothing, no one else for him.
"He died for you, Warren. Whatever else shall result from this tragedy, at least you can take away the knowledge that he loved you enough to give his life for you," I offered and turned from him, feeling overwhelmed by the man's grief and pain.
Warren looked up at me for a moment, and then hung his head, a tear slipping down his cheek. But he learned something today, I think.
He learned that life, indeed, has value.