Lab rats
The sound was quiet and small and distant. Yet it was enough to wake up Erik from his light sleep. At first he thought it's an animal. A small cat or something. He moved slowly towards the door barefoot. He pressed the side of his head to the door and tried to listen closely. It took him another minute till he made out the whimpers reaching his ears were not indeed of an animal but a small child. A chill went down Erik's spine. Was someone hurting the kid? It sounded very small. Erik could smell the fear on it.
'So it was all a lie?'
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath turning his back to the door. It sounded so young. Younger than him. Erik stood tall and straightened his shoulders. He would go out and stop them. He could handle them. He could even kill them. He had killed before and he could do it again. And even if he wasn't strong enough for that it would be okay. Better him than the small child he was hearing. He opened the door and stepped out quietly trying to keep his element of surprise. Slowly he took few steps forward, the hallway strangely empty and the doors locked. He stood close to where he could hear the sound clearly, a few feet away from the second door to his. He wanted to move towards the door but he realized the voice would get further as he got closer to the door.
'what?'
Erik turned to look again and his eyes landed on a... Drawer. He kneeled in front of it. And the whimpers dialed down. Like they just noticed him.
'odd'
He raised his fingers and tapped the drawer. It gave a little shake. Erik draw his hand back quickly.
' I'm going crazy'
"Is... Is anyone... There?" He asked.
' absolutely going crazy'
And then there was a sniffing sound before a small head peaked out the side, 'SIDE! ' Erik's mind screamed, Of the drawer. Looking at him with big eyes. He almost fell back on his ass from suprise.
"You sound funny" she said titling her head to left as the top of her shoulder was revealed as well. "Are you alone?" She asked sniffing.
'she's hiding ' Erik realized. He nodded. She slowly came out of the drawer. And sat with her back to the wall. She couldn't be more than six. "How..." His mouth was hanging open.
"I can Walk through walls silly" she giggled despite her red eyes that showed she was crying.
'right...' Erik pushed the knowledge in the back of his head. He would deal with people who walked through walls and read minds later. It wasn't like he wasn't warned. " Are you fine?" He asked the girl looking her over for injuries. She nodded jerkily.
"Just didn't want to go with dad." She whispered.
"You are hiding from your Va...father?" Erik asked confused.
'Was she talking about the Xavier guy?'
She looked sad yet hopeful. "Uncle Charles said I don't have to go if I didn't want to." She said defensively. The knotted brows looked so adorable Erik felt his heart melt.
'uncle Charles... So not the Xavier guy'
" I'm Kitty" she said shyly.
"Erik" he still couldn't believe his eyes.
"You sound funny" she said again. " Are you from here?"
"No" Erik looked around. What if someone found them.
"Are you from far?" she poked his knee with her toe.
"Yes"he said. He was instructed to stay inside and she was hiding. It smelled like trouble. He was about to tell her that they shouldn't be here when she spoke again. "I miss my Mom" she was sniffing again. It broke Erik's heart. He missed his Mama as well, god he missed her so much. Punishment be damned. He could take it for her if necessary. Not sure if it was okay, Erik slowly moved to sit beside her and dropped a hand over her tiny shoulders. She soon tucked her head in his chest and wrapped her arms around his middle. "Where is your Mama?" He asked dreading the answer.
" She went for work to washington, Daddy is always angry when she's not around. he doesn't like that I can walk through stuff." She said quickly. He felt few tears soaking his shirt. Something bitter roared in his gut. How can a father hurt their children for being different. He knew his vati would never , if he had a chance to see what Erik could do. He was too kind for that. The girl's whimpers got more audible again and Erik was feeling very helpless as he held her tighter. Something caught his attention as he looked down at her. A small violet butterfly hair clip on her hair that matched her purple shoes and looked adorable with the creamy color dress. He realized that the kid was indeed looked after.
'could it be true?' he sighed and listened. The clip was indeed metal. Aluminum. "You... "He started and dhe looked up at him with big eyes waiting "you like butterfly?" He asked. Her eyes sparked tears already forgotten . An idea crossed his mind. "Can I?" He asked pointing at her hair. She sat and watched him for a moment as if questioning if he was worthy enough to hold her hair clip. It made him smile. Apparently whatever she was looking for was there as she said a small "Okay" and handed him the butterfly carefully. Erik held it between both hands and closed his eyes. It was a series of small simple tasks he could do with manageable amount of effort. Soon he felt them scrap inside his fists and he opened his eyes. She was watching him with the biggest eyes full of anticipation.
"Ready?" He asked. She nodded enthusiastically . Erik slowly opened his fists and two slightly smaller butterflies started to fly around her. He almost cringed at her loud shrieking as she jumped up and down clapping her hands.
" They're alive!! they're alive!! " She said with wonder as they flew higher and looked down at him who was still sitting on the floor. For a small moment Erik almost forgot where he is , almost ...
"Kitty?" Said a female voice and Erik was so frightened that his hold on the butterflies slipped dropping them on the floor as he jumped to his feet. Before he could hide the girl behind himself, she picked the butterflies from the ground and ran to the girl who was now just few steps away from them. Soon she was kneeling in front of Kitty patting her dark hair. "I looked everywhere for you kid. You gave me a heart attack. Where were you?" She said with a worried voice. She was in her twenties probably, dark skin and white hair. Dressed in a colorful top with leather pants and boots. He was frozen in place from both fear and shock. But Kitty didn't seem to mind and the woman didn't seem to notice him.
"Sorry Storm" the girl said.
'that's an odd name.'
"It's okay kid just a little head's up next time" she said tickling her a bit getting a laugh out of her. He felt a bit of relief finding it's way into his tense muscles. Maybe if Erik moved slowly enough she wouldn't notice him.
"Look look, Erik made a friend for lily they were flying!" The girl said unnecessarily loudly and showed the young woman the hair clips.
'or not' Erik was halfway turned around when the woman turned to look at him, as if she just saw him. She looked a bit shocked. Erik clenched his hands into a fist waiting but turned and kept her gaze. He needed to look strong. "Did he now?" She said voice kind and teasing yet not mocking. The pair moved closer standing in front of him.
" He did... He made them fly..." The girl repeated as if Erik stopped a plane mid fly.
"you came out" she said surprised looking between him and the room then stretched her hand forward. Erik flinched. "Hey it's okay " she said hurriedly with a frown drawing back her hand. "My name's Ororo. Everyone calls me storm." She said.
"Erik" he got out.
"It's nice to meet you Erik. thanks for looking after Kitty."She said voice soft. He just nodded. " Actually it's dinner time i was going to bring so..." Ororo was cut mid sentence as Kitty suddenly shouted "cookies!!" And a" come on" before grabbing Erik's hand and dragging him towards the stairs."we're having cookies for dessert come on!"
He heard Ororo calling the little girl's with warning and trying to keep up with them. He also was aware that Kitty was saying something as they almost stumbled down the stairs. A shout of "careful" following them. He noticed all this but he was just too shocked to give any reactions. So he just let himself be dragged towards whatever Kitty was babbling about. If Erik was being honest he just couldn't find it in himself to kill down her excitement. And if he was going to be punished for that, then he could manage something.
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Peter dropped down on a chair with a tray in hand. He was tired and that was something because he didn't do tired. Kurt, Jean , Scott and Bobby were sat on one side of the table near him. Logan, Laura, Raven and Hank on the other with Charles at the head. Rouge , Gambit and Jub were sitting over the other table with Ganoshians and the kids they brought. It has been a very long day. They had 12 kids to enroll in different classes and control. And now everyone was just sat around chatting among themselves. He looked around for Orie. She went to look for Kitty who disappeared when her dad arrived. The guy was so grumpy Peter would have disappeared if he could as well. The silence and the whispers were desired. He set a tray in front of Raven "is this okay?" He asked. Professor told to prepare Erik a dinner and take it to his room. So Peter found a tray and tried to fit a bit of anything on the table into it.
"thanks Pete, it's great" she said with a nod.
Before she could get up they heard Kitty's voice getting near the kitchen , a babbling of name's that both belonged to people and meals followed by a frustrated voice of storm repeating the girl's name. Charles, Celine and Jean all suddenly stared at the door confusing everyone further and soon the little ball of energy ran in dragging... 'oh'... Peter thought, a shell shocked Erik inside with her. She ran to Charles leaving the boy who just stood a foot away staring around like they were all going to murder him alone. Ororo soon followed in as well. " Professor!!! Look Erik made a friend for lily!" She held to violet butterflies in front of Charles's face. He smiled and patted her hair.
" They're stunning love. Now why don't you go join the others?"
"Yes professor" she said and went to sit a chair away from Peter beside Bobby. Peter took a the moment to look at this kid who was his father. Whom by the way was literally squirming now that most of the adults were watching him. The reaction didn't go unnoticed as everyone pretended to be back to their meals. They were not doing a good job. "Erik" Charles said softly.
"I...heard her and ... I didn't mean to... The room..." The boy said stumbling over his words.
"It's alright Erik. Thank you for looking out for Kitty" Charles said reassuringly. A pause that followed with a small jump in Erik's muscles and yet it stretched a little longer .
'of course they still do the weird mind talky thing' Peter thought and Erik relaxed a little apparently Charles was successful in doing whatever he was doing. "You can join us for dinner"
"Thank you" said the boy. He sounded a bit like Kurt with his thick accent as he spoke Peter noticed. Ororo sat beside him. " You can sit with me." Said Laura mouth half filled with food as she tapped an empty chair at her side. Erik moved silently and sat down looking at the father and his teenaged daughter for a moment with deep focus before he suddenly cringed like someone who has been screamed at. "You okay kid?" Asked Logan.
"Yes . Just too loud ,sorry." The boy said regaining himself but still frowning. Obviously adjusting to something. "Loud? We didn't say anything" Laura asked confused.
The boy nodded. " You have metal in you. " He said looking between the pair. "It's very loud"
'oh... Wait he heard metal?' Peter realized he really didn't know how Erik's powers worked.
"Do you wanna see?" Laura said fishing the chance to show off. Erik looked at Charles who nodded, like he was in charge of everything or something. Peter realized to Erik probably he was. There was a sound and soon three claws jumped out of Laura's knuckles. She gave a gasp as it suddenly was dragged in the air stopping in front of Erik's face, at first she was worried she hurt him and a look of utter fear crossed her face, she too was not yet c to the life of the mansion the scars left by her time in the labs still throbbing, but soon she realized what happened as the boy stared at the metal like it was the most fascinating thing in the world his fingers raised. " Did you just?" She gave a wide grin. Erik suddenly came back to himself looking just as afraid as she was few seconds ago. he let go of the metal and dropped his hand.
"Sorry" he said and Laura looked a bit confused like she was thinking back to something. She was going to say something but Erik's stomach growled and the boy sank in his chair even more. "Here " Raven pushed the tray his way and Erik leaned forward and picked a spoon going for the soup which was an odd choice for a kid to have in a tray full of junk food and cookies, looking like all his embarrassment had washed away at the sight of the warm meal , Raven watched him before thinking about something and she continued" just eat slowly othe..."
"Otherwise I puke my guts out. I know" said the boy nonchalantly caughting her off gaurd. He didn't look up as he put a small spoonful in his mouth not caring for the others like the food might disappear. He gave it a second before going for another. Peter watched him a few more second and turned his head just the right moment to get the sight of a look of understanding that settled in Laura's face as she watched the boy beside her before going back to her meal, slowly and not paying anyone any attention like her plate might disappear as she always did. It was something he couldn't understand till now why she did. He also didn't miss the few scoops of sweet potato mash she snuck into the boy's plate.
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"How far are we?"Asked Moira as she entered the lab before sunrise. It has been a long time since she went somewhere so early. Hank gave a frustrated sigh as he looked around the room. Except for Charles who looked up and gave her a bright smile and a mental touch no one actually acknowledged her presence.
'Do I even wanna know what happened to the lamps on the backyard?' she asked. The entire row of lamps were crumbled on the ground beyond repair when she drove in today.
'Erik had ... Some hardship sleeping' Charles answered sadly . his 'no' followed right the moment the idea of the situation might be putting others in danger crossed her mind. She believed him.
The professor and the other telepath were nose deep in some genetic books. As Emilia was writing down something aggressively on a glass board. Forge and Hank already working behind the microscopes. "Not far" the scientist answered before looking back down. She went to Charles and Celine. Giving them a stack of papers "I looked up mutant archives , I think this might help." She said. Charles accepted the file with a smile. "We could use all the help we can get"
"How did it go with the kids?" She asked sitting down beside them."may I?" She asked reaching for one of the un opened articles beside Celine.
"Please do." Said the woman with a smile letting Moira join them as well.
"We settled them down and enrolled them in classes for now. At least for the coming week. " Charles answered her question.
"You did what?" She asked looking up.
"What we couldn't have them just running around." The professor said looking offended.
"You're unbelievable." She shakes her head fondly. Of course he wouldn't miss a chance even though none of the kids would remember it when they returned to their real age. "Guys..." Said Forge, " you might wanna check this out."