Children of the Atom - X-Men

As she tuned to check on the group of unconscious friends, Kim would find nothing. Nothing except the quickly dissipating cloud of blue smoke that remained. Before thoughts could form, another burst of smoke appeared at her and Cam's side.Now standing there, a fang-lined grin on his face, was a blue demon-like figure that stood with the utmost class. The swordsman that had stood between Moriarty and their group before.

It was Nightcrawler.

"Hallo nochmal! Please, hold on for just a moment."

Nightcrawler placed his hands on the two, looking back toward the black jet that now hovered overhead. In a flash the trio disappeared, all While Blitzkrieg continued to punch Deadpool, his energy spent and his fists now as normal as any other man's. As the Blackbird pivoted, engines roaring, launching off toward the horizon, Blitzkrieg finally ceased his attack. Like small toy blocks falling into place to form a rocket ship, the realization that his original targets were no longer there set in. 

Through a sloshy sort of mouth, Deadpool spoke, "Well great, there goes a paycheck!" Blitzkrieg then punched him again.

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On the Blackbird, the band of mutants had already begun the healing process, though consciousness was not returning to them yet. Cam, slumped down against a seat, looked a confused Nightcrawler in the eye. 

"Ummm...vat to ve do for your vounds?"

"I'll examine his injuries when we return to the school, Kurt" a well-spoken man called back from the cockpit. Cam, through lazy eyes, dragged his stare to find the source, another blue man, though fur-covered, and very large.

"Very vell, Beast."

Nightcrawler looked Cam in the eye, "try to rest, ya? Ve'll get you a good meal vhen we arrive."

After the initial mental whiplash of going from a battlefield to safety, Kim checked over her merry band of mutants plus Gambit to see for herself that they were alright. She couldn't withhold a quiet sigh of relief when she saw they were, not any more than she could hold back a somewhat loopy grin, because she'd done it. She'd actually done it. She had kept Blitz busy and focused on her, and even when Deadpool had arrived and Cam had woken up and helped, everything had turned out alright. Everything was alright, and everything was going to be alright, and she was so, so glad.

But the day wasn't over yet.

Kim rejoined those who were actually still awake on the plane, shoving her scaled hands into her pockets and looking between the two who also seemed like they'd stay that way. "First of all, thanks for helping us out. That was awesome and you guys are awesome. Secondly, I'd like to point out that you two are really, really cool. Just saying. Again. Sort of. Third and last but definitely not least, is there anything I can do to help or something? Because I've got energy to burn and time to kill. I could maybe look him over for you in the meantime? Believe it or not, I'm actually pretty good at patching people up."

She sat down next to Cam as she spoke the last couple sentences, looking at him and softly nudging his shoulder with her own, both to indicate who she was talking about and to silently ask her friend if he was alright. He'd never answered her back on the ground, and while he clearly wasn't actively dying, that didn't mean he hadn't gotten banged up. If there was anything she could do to help, be it him or the others, she wanted to. If there was nothing for her to do, she'd wait. Well, wait and talk, most likely, but wait. But Kim had at least three hours of energy left in her system thanks to Blitz trying to drain it all away, and she would like to make them useful if she could.

"I don't know if dat's a good idea" Nightcrawler began to rationalize, but was halted before he could continue. His voice was weaker...weaker than normal, but still the hiss of Cam's voice was enough to catch the attention. If not, the green stare of the snake was enough to get his point across. He had enough power to say three words, "Let her...gah...please."

He turned to Kim...or rather, his neck slid down to face Kim after giving out. He didn't nod, smile...he just looked at her. Looked at her in the way that said she knew he wanted to help, and there wasn't really anyone else that could.

There wasn't anyone else he wanted to.

Kim nodded, happy to be able to help, even if it wasn't so good that Cam needed help in the first place. Or good at all, honestly. Still, helping was good. "Alright, buddy. You awake enough to tell me what's hurting or you think you're gonna pass out on me? Because that's fine if you have to, but — hold on, actually, I need you to stay awake for at least just a little bit longer."

She gently placed a hand under Cam's jaw, scaled flesh changing yet again to neutralize her friend's poison, and she carefully maneuvered his head so she could examine the sides of it. Finding no injuries there, Kim released her hold and stood up to examine the back and top of his head. What she saw made her wince. There was definitely a head injury, already swelling and bleeding a little. It wasn't a grievous wound or anything, just a semi-serious bump, but the sight of it flooded Kim with guilt. She'd tried so hard not to let her friends get hurt, thought she'd done so well, and here was her failure in plain sight, showing herself and the world that she hadn't been good enough.

Why couldn't she ever get used to not being good enough?

But it didn't matter if she wasn't good enough, because Cam needed her now, and she wasn't going to fail him twice. 

"Tough break, buddy." Kim said, nothing in her face or voice to show her inner thoughts, just sympathy and compassion. "You've got a head wound back here. It's not too bad as far as they go, not even bleeding that much, which, let me tell you, these can bleed a LOT, but it's still a head wound and I'm gonna need you to stay awake until I can make sure you don't have a concussion. Sorry, man."

She moved to sit beside him again, but turned her attention away from the green person and onto the two blue ones. "So where's your first aid kit? Maybe some ice? Bandaids? Water? Literally any medical supplies? I kinda need them. Also, is there any place separate and quiet on here where him and the others can lay down and rest? Figure the others are going to be sleeping for many many more hours, and they need it, so I don't want any risk of talking to wake them up, and with any luck this guy'll be joining them soon. So, yeah, can you point me in the direction of any of that stuff, please? Thank you."

With that all said, Kim finally turned back to Cam. "Still with me, buddy? It's really important that you stay awake right now. I know it stinks, but I don't want to risk you falling asleep and not waking up if you DO have a concussion. Now, can you tell me how you're feeling? Does anything hurt or feel abnormal? Can you feel any injuries beside your head? Can you tell me about them or where they are? Or do you mind taking your shirt and jacket off so I can check for myself? I know you're tired, and I'm sorry, but the sooner we do all this the sooner you can get your well-deserved rest, okay?"

Cam moved his eyes up to Kim, probably the only part of his body he could move at that moment, and in one glance he spoke louder than words could. For the first time in their time together, Cam gave a stare of questioning, if not a slight glare. A hint of "do you really think I'm moving?" to it. There wasn't anger, but a real hope that she wouldn't just whip him around like a rag doll to take his shirt off.

"Here is ze first aid" Nightcrawler crouched down to Kim's side, a fanged-smile just below his yellow eyes that were just so happy to help, "However zere's not really anyvhere else to go on ze Blackbird. Don't vorry, ve're good at keepink quiet."

Cam managed to work a little strength into his lips. With very slight sound, he whispered "I'm just tired. Don't move me."

"Thank you." Kim said to Mr. Wagner as she took the first aid kit, entirely unable to keep from grinning as she did. It was a silly thing, but his accent made her really happy. It reminded her of her brothers, of home way back before mutants were ever a significant part of her life. Or a significant and present part of her life, anyway. "And it's good that you guys can be quiet, but I unfortunately really struggle with that sort of thing, so when I'm done I'll just move to the back of the jet. Figure it'll be harder to hear me there, at least, away from everyone."

Kim opened the kit and got the supplies she needed from it, then turned her attention back to Cam. "I'll be taking your word on the just tired thing, then." She told her friend, cross-referencing his behavior with concussion symptoms as she looked him over for physical ones. To her immense pleasure she found very few in common, and none that couldn't be more easily explained by exhaustion. "From the looks of it you don't have a concussion, either, so once I'm done with this you'll be fine to sleep. So there's some good news, at least."

She worked quickly after that, being careful not to move him or hurt him as she did. When Kim finally finished, she put everything away before beaming at Cam. "Alright, you're all set! Sorry for the wait. Off to Dream Land with you, say hi to Kirby for me. I'll see you when you wake up. Sweet dreams."

With that Kim pressed her lips briefly to Cam's forehead, a kiss to make it better, and then went to make good on her promise of moving to the back of the jet.

If he could have, Cam would've blushed or turned his head away to avoid the random pulses in breathing that one small gesture of affection would've caused, but his body hurt too much to feel embarrassment or overwhelming joy. He let his eyelids grow heavy, closing down around his eyes.

He wasn't going to Dreamland, though. He never dreamed. Not anymore.

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Tap. Tap. Tap.

The ornamental silver tip on the end of the cane tapped upon the tile floor with an echo that rocked down the halls from the room. The floor vibrated after each strike under the hard soles of his glossy black dress shoes. One hand wrapped around the neck of the cane right under the handle, another hand rested upon his knee above the white dress pants. Out of all the things he wore, though, it was the unamused grimace of Moriarty that garnered the most attention.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

As he tapped his cane on the floor, a second set of percussion joined in from down the hall, approaching ever closer. Footsteps. More importantly. The identity would normally be a mystery; a blistering suspense right on the heart, but Moriarty had known who it was....about fifteen minutes before.

"Pyro."

After the name was Spoken, it was indeed Pyro that entered into the room. He shook his head, though his arrogant and slightly crazed smirk remained.

"Mate, you gotta stop doin' that. Ya give me the damn collywobbles."

"Quite. Mr. Wilson has failed."

Tap. Tap. Tap.

"I'd ask how you knew that, but you'd s-"

"I'd say I've always known. Mr. LeBeau has shown his colours as well."

"And Toad and Sabert-"

"Have also failed. Yes, I know."

Pyro paced a little bit, arms folded across his chest. Moriarty, however, gave no attention to his "guest". He didn't call for attention, anyway. There was only the goal, the end that these means had been supplied for. Truth be told, he always knew his hired guns would fail, or at least up until that point. One should never cook a meal without seasoning, after all.

"So who do ya plan on sendin' next, eh?"

Tap.

"No one."

Pressing his cane into the floor, Moriarty rose from his chair and swiftly made his way to the door. He rested the cane under his arm, adjusting his cuff links ever so slightly.

"I'll do it myself."

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As the hours moved on, the motion of the Blackbird started to slow as if resting like its passengers. Before long they were stood still, and after that, they began to descend.

They were landing.

Kim bounced in place a little, still keyed up on adrenaline and excited to be landing. She was curious about so many things, the Professor and his Institute and all the rest, and she was hoping to finally be able to ask the telepath all the questions she'd been holding in until now. And boy, did she have a lot of them. 

For now, though, Kim watched the jet descend through the window, getting up to check on the others when it stilled. Much as she wanted answers, her friends would always be her first and foremost priority.

The Blackbird descended down, closer and closer to a patch of sage green. As the wheeled talons of the bird reached for the ground, the eyes out of the windows could see a mansion, brilliant in appearance and raising up like an iceberg in the sea. It was crafted from only the finest bricks and marble, a double-staircase and porch on a grand scale adorned on the front like an ornament.

And as they landed, another sight came into view, and this one indeed for sore eyes. A team of ready medics, stretchers and all, stood on the green in await for Blackbird, and placed in the center of it all were two warm faces: a woman with snow white hair, or Ororo Munroe as Kim had learned, and seated next to her in a wheelchair, the grinning face of Professor Charles Xavier.

The jet touched down and opened the hatch on the back. Immediately, Munroe and the medics made their way onto the Blackbird.

"Take the young ones to the infirmary, special equipment for the green child. Gambit's room has been prepared for medical treatment as well."

The team worked on moving the mutants on-board with care onto their stretchers, bringing them down onto the green and to the mansion. Nightcrawler assisted where he could, while Beast rose from his pilot's seat to join them.

"You did a great job, Hank. As quick as expected."

"Oh it's nothing, Ororo. I just drove the bus. It was this one here that should be praised."

The blue mutant gestured a hair claw to Kim in a movement that held as much power as it did grace and maturity. Ororo, with the same smile she had the very day they met, turned to Kim.

"Hello again, Kimberly."

Kim couldn't help but stare a little at, well, everything. The mansion looked like a freaking castle, and there was an actual medical team to help with everyone. An ACTUAL medical team. The blue man she was unfamiliar with, Mr. Hank apparently, had said earlier that he would look at Cam when they got to the school, so she had assumed that there would be some kind of infirmary or something at the Institute, but all this? A whole professional team with stretchers and everything? Not what she was expecting. It was a good surprise, obviously, because they would definitely be able to take care of her friends that way, but still. Surprising.

What was also surprising was the fact that Mr. Hank claimed that it was her who should be praised, if anyone, and sounded like he meant it. It took a herculean effort for Kim not to look away or fidget or something at that. Praise was not something she was used to hearing, especially not sincerely. Heck, the last time she could remember being praised at all was by the Professor himself, when he had called her strong-hearted and understanding back in Crenshaw. Which, it had been nice to hear, but considering how badly he'd read her mom's heart, she couldn't put any stock in the kind words. Mr. Hank's indication that she should be praised for something she didn't even deserve praise for? Yeah, she didn't know how to handle that.

Still, the man's intentions were good, so she kept smiling.

When all three people turned their attention on her and the woman among them greeted her, Kim replied happily, if a tad too quickly. "Hi Miss Munroe! Hi Professor Xavier! I have so many questions for you guys. Sooooooo many questions. Possibly all of the questions ever. But right now I'm more worried about the others, so. Is it okay if I follow them? I'm gonna follow them."

She followed them.

There was no offense in her haste to help her friends, or at least seem them to safety. In fact, it was a trait admired at the X-Mansion. Ororo did nothing to stop her, only placing a soft, guiding hand on her back as Kim made her way off of the Blackbird.

"She really was something," Beast continued as soon as Kim had left, "it was endurance unlike anything I've seen. Her opponent, however....."

Ororo turned to her blue friend, whose demeanor turned a tad more serious as he cupped a claw around his chin, "was also unique. He moved like Quicksilver, and yet he hit with force I couldn't believe. We felt the shockwaves in the Blackbird on approach. He was....horrifying. We should discuss both him and the girl he was with when the kids are ready."

"Of course, Hank," Ororo respond, "but first, we allow them to rest." Through the window, she spotted Kim approaching the Mansion, "they've earned it."

--------------------------

The inside of the mansion was just as beautiful as the outside. The wooden floors and walls shined like gold with the ornamental lighting. The place, as Kim had thought earlier, looked more like a castle than a medical facility. From down the halls, eyes watched as the band were escorted on their stretchers. Dozens of mutants, all their age, all students with concern for their fellow mutants.

The band were each escorted into separate rooms, but a quick glance shook away any concern that they weren't in the right place. While the rooms were fancy, they were also stocked with state of the art medical equipment. The medics worked to set each member up with monitors and whatever else they needed, but it was safe to say for the first time in months they were safe and well taken care of.

Concerned as she was for her merry band and Gambit, Kim couldn't help but continue to stare in awe at her surroundings and the people who filled them. Within reason, of course. Staring wasn't polite. But she still couldn't shake the amazement, or the slight disbelief that they were finally at Professor Xavier's mansion. It felt like they had been trying to reach it for forever, and here they finally were. Reaching the place under better circumstances would have been ideal, but still, they were here. She and her friends were finally here, and now her friends were finally, finally safe.

And Gambit, him too.

Something deep inside of Kim settled when she saw everyone settled in, a sigh of relief escaping her. As she leaned against a wall outside of Gambit's room, the last of the five she'd seen, she was at last able to turn her focus elsewhere. Like to thoughts of all the questions she had, and as she played with the charm bracelet on her wrist, thoughts of her family. Kim hadn't been able to truly think about or bring up the latter topic while with the merry band, too concerned with everyone else surviving to ask if they could start heading towards Georgia to go see her brothers. Even if she had been able to ask she doubted it would have gone over well anyway, the timing not right to bring up something like that. But if there was ever a time to think or talk about it, it was now, so think she did, and talk she would.

Kim knew that her parents were okay. There was no doubt in her mind on that, even if she had no evidence to support it. She was also sure that they knew she was okay, because they knew about her mutation. Her brothers, however, did not. They were in the dark for possibly everything, because while she highly doubted news of Crenshaw's destruction hadn't reached them by now, it would have still been weeks of radio silence when normally she and her brothers talked on the phone every day, with a family talk every week. Skipping any of those without some sort of explanation just wasn't done, so no matter if they did or didn't know of Crenshaw they were undoubtedly freaking out. And if the two of them did know, well...Kim winced at the thought. Her poor brothers. With any luck her parents were already there with them, and had at least given them some story on what had happened that would calm them down. Some, anyway. They wouldn't truly be calm until they saw her.

She needed to go see them.

To do that, though, she needed to talk to Professor Xavier. Which was fine, she still had so many questions about everything, and she was sure if she didn't get to ask them soon she would actually explode. But regardless of what she was planning to do, she needed energy to do it, and a quick check told her that she was running low on it. If she didn't want to change back and fall asleep then she was gonna have to make more.

It took some searching, but eventually Kim found a spot on her body that wasn't scaled, a sliver on the side of her right wrist. She bit down on it hard enough for anyone else to bleed, but she only got even more scales. That gave her...well, normally it would give her about an hour of energy, but with how much of hers had already been siphoned and spent that day it might not have been the best idea to assume it was the same amount. Still, Kim could tell without trying that it'd be more than enough to find and talk to Professor Xavier. Now she just needed to do that and not get lost in the process.

Kim pushed off the wall and went looking.

The mansion was not unlike a winding labyrinth; a maddening maze of bookshelves, statues, and master-crafted architecture. At this point in the day, classes had been dismissed and the students were allowed to return to their average day or talking, playing, and whatever else they found fit to mix in with their studies. Only a few spare faces passed by the now completely scaled Kim in her search for the Professor, but they all shared one quality: they didn't look at Kim. Not in a strange way, but in a perfectly normal way. She was just there, even with her powers in full-force.

However, a search is not without an ending. The ending to Kim's search came in the form of a library; not grand in scale but still powerful in the sheer aura and the musk of the ages preserved within the pages on the shelves. A specific title seemed to catch the eye of the man already in the library, and as he brought down "The Works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle", the Professor grinned.

"I was going to ask one of the students to give you a tour when you were ready, Kimberly, but I had the sneaking suspicion that your adventurous side would find the way..." he finally turned up from the book face, his fatherly grin removing any traces of anxiety or nervousness from the conversation, "When the time was right."

Professor Xavier placed the book upon the blanket draped over his lap and wheeled closer to Kim. "I'm very glad to see you, Kimberly, though I do wish it was during a more joyful occasion. Your friends will be taken care of to the fullest extent of our ability, you have my word."

Kim beamed at the older gentleman. "Hi Professor! Glad to see you too, and thanks for taking care of everyone. I really appreciate it. Soooooo not to be rude or anything, but I have to ask you some questions now because if I don't I am pretty sure I am going to explode. Like, actually go boom into a gajillion pieces. Very loud, very messy, wouldn't want to do that, so, instead, questions. A lot of these are probably dumb or obvious or something and some of these I don't even know if you can answer, and some of these I don't even want to ask but figure the others may want to know when they wake up, but either way I have had questions building up for weeks now and at this point I just need to get them out, so, here goes."

She took a deep breath.

"What the heck? I know that's sort of a broad question but it had to be asked, because seriously, what the heck? To get a little more specific, what the heck happened in Crenshaw? Where did those Brotherhood guys come from and what was their deal? What were they talking about, with evolution and Genosha and all that? And what reason did they have to crush the town when they were done doing whatever they were doing? And for real, what were they doing? Collecting mutants? Why? And why in Crenshaw? It's a — or, it was a tiny town, and now I guess it's an even tinier town considering it's currently nonexistent, but I don't think it had a population much higher than ten thousand, what reason could they possibly have had to go there? If they wanted to find a bunch of mutants then I'm pretty sure literally almost anywhere else would have been better. And how the heck did they get what looked like every one of those ten thousandish people to come to their bizarre powwow? And how the heck did YOU know about their bizarre powwow? You guys had to have known before, coming to town and visiting me when all that craziness happened the very next night was WAY too convenient to be coincidence. Which, actually, how did you guys find out about me, anyway? I know that no one besides my mom and dad ever saw me transform before that night after you visited, which, to reiterate, was AFTER you visited. After. So there is literally no way you guys could have known about me to visit me. Which. Why did you guys visit me, anyway? I mean I get that it was probably a two birds with one stone sort of thing, why not visit this girl and invite her to our place while we're waiting to minimize mass genocide? We've got time to kill before it's killing time. But none of the others knew about you, or, no, one of them knew about you vaguely, through rumors, like wasn't-even-sure-you-were-real rumors, but none of them knew you were in town so you didn't visit any of them. Well, I guess you could have and done the memory wipe thing like you did with my mom, but that seems unlikely because you didn't do it to me so why would you do it to them? And even if visiting me was the absolute first thing you did in Crenshaw, which I really doubt, you had a whole day to go visit everyone else, and even with all the other mutants there apparently were in town I'm pretty sure it would have been doable, so lack of time is out. And some of the others were definitely interested in learning about your institute, even if they didn't necessarily want to join, so it would have been good to visit them. And hey, maybe they would have even been able to join that way if they did want to, unlike me. Going back to me, seriously, why me? Like I said, no one but my mom and dad knew I was a mutant before I met you guys. You can't have found me randomly, which means you searched for me, which means you knew about me, which means for whatever reason you specifically wanted me to join your institute. When there were other people who might have been interested and able to join, and when considering that if you knew about me you probably should have known that there really wasn't any point in coming to see me other than for an interesting visit because I probably couldn't join you because Mom. But for some reason you were willing to try. Why? I really can't think of any reason you'd specifically want me. My mutation is awesome, but so are everyone else's, and I don't have any other outstanding features. Or even any remotely interesting features. I mean my mom called me bright but that's only because she's my mom, you know? She's not gonna tell people I'm dull. Which I am, to warn you. If it wasn't obvious already. But anywho, you said your facility teaches people with gifts to understand and control them, right? I've got that down pat by now, for a while now. Maybe if you had shown up, like, even a year ago I wouldn't have minded a second opinion, but now I'm good, and have been good for about a year, as I said. And maybe you didn't know that, but if you knew about me being a mutant at all I feel like you would. So I really can't put together any reason you would want me to join your institute. Which, what is it exactly? Mr. Hank called it a school, and you talked about teaching as well. Is it just for teaching mutants about their gifts, or do you teach other things too, like the stuff you would find in a normal school, reading and writing and 'rithmetic and all that? Are there people who aren't mutants here too, or is it only mutants? How do you teach the mutants about their abilities? Is it a one size fits all learning style or do you have, like, tutors? Are gifts ever similar enough to have tutors for? Or does it just end up being a lot of guesswork on everyone's part? How many people are there here, anyway? How many are students? Staff? Random citizens? Is there an age limit on students because when you came to my house you said the facility helps young individuals. How young is young? When's too old for young? Is it like high school age people only or do you help other ages too? Do you just ignore people who are too old but still need help with their gifts? Does everyone live here or do they just come during the day? What happens when people are done learning here? Do they just find a job and leave or something? How long does it take the average person to finish? How many students have you had over the years? When did this place start, and how? Did you found it, or was it inherited? From the looks of it it's massive, how do you keep it running? And just how big is this place? The building itself looks like a castle from those fantasy-esque medieval storybooks you'd read as a kid, all white and huge and fancy inside, and that's not even taking into account any other buildings I may not have seen or the grounds themselves. Where are we, anyway? Gambit said that this place was northwest, but anywhere's northwest if you travel long enough. SPEAKING OF GAMBIT, what was all that about, huh?! Seriously! It was ridiculous enough that you thought any of us were untrustworthy or whatever, and especially enough to send Gambit to spy on us! Do you know how much that freaked everyone out?! A lot. The answer is a freaking LOT. And then what was the deal with him beating everyone up and selling us out to those Brotherhoods creeps?! I don't care if he or you or the Thieves' Guild or whoever needed it to look real! I know there had to have been a better way to settle everything than all that! You can read our MINDS, for Pete's sake, and I bet you could have read theirs too! How was anything else necessary?! Why would you ever — no, no, wait, sorry. I'm sorry. That was mean and wrong and bad and I'm sorry. I'm just still mad at Gambit for hurting them, and it flared up all of a sudden and I took it out on you. That's no excuse for the yelling and accusing, but it is why, and I'm sorry. I'm sure there were reasons for what you guys did, or at least I like to believe there were, and I don't even know how your gift works. For all I know you aren't able to go deep into someone's mind like that and find out what they're plotting or if they're trustworthy, and even if you can that's a huge invasion of privacy, isn't it? You don't strike me as the kind of guy who'd want to do something like that for anything other than the absolute last resort. I'm still not happy with the way you guys did things, and I don't think I'll ever be, and I'm still mad at Gambit too, but I shouldn't have yelled at you for it. But I guess that brings me to more questions, like, why are those Brotherhood people after us? I remember one of the two that were there, oh, gosh, what was his name, name name name name name...the other guy was Toad and I know they both had to do with animals and his was like extinct or something. Uuuuuh, Mammoth? Nooooo, it was a predator. Rex? Oh, man, I am seriously the worst at names. Think think think...oh! Oh, Sabertooth! That was it, Sabertooth! Like the tiger! Yay! But where was I? Oh, yeah, Sabertooth said that...oh, geez, I'm not even going to try and remember another name right now, Sabertooth said that SOMEONE said he and Toad could have fun with the 'other ones'. Implying that there were people in the group that were in some way expendable. He said 'ones', as in more than one, and there had to be at least one person they were after, so that means the Brotherhood are after at least one to at most three people in our group, because otherwise what he said makes no sense. He started coming closer all menacing-like after that, like he was going to mess with the ones who they didn't need, but I was pretty out of it at that point so unfortunately I have no idea who he was heading for. Though even if I was, half of us were carrying the other half, so it may not have been such an effective time to guess anyway. And he and Toad may have actually been expecting Gambit's sudden but inevitable betrayal, because Sabertooth mentioned having planned for it? I dunno. But they weren't even the only guys sent after us, there was another guy too, whose name I am not even going to try and remember but I'd bet my bottom dollar that he was paid by the Brotherhood. Not that I have a bottom dollar right now, but still! Heeeeee seemed kinda off, though, so I don't know if we can take anything he said or did into account for trying to figure out who they want and why. But do you know who they want and why they want them? And how did you know about them targeting us in the first place? And I'm glad you did, don't get me wrong, but why are you helping us anyway? And what makes you guys and this place so safe? Do you have some state of the art security system or is it because of that team you had in Crenshaw? Which, that. What was that about? Is that what this place is for? Training superheroes to battle supervillains and the forces of evil? Because that's kinda what it looks like to me. Aaaaaaaand...I think that's it. For now, at least. Awesome. So, to summarize...what the heck?"

Kim pulled in another deep breath and waited curiously, hopeful to at least get some answers.

The Professor sat silently as Kim dropped down her torrent of words, questions, and accusations. He didn't interrupt her or felt any impulse to do so. Kim deserved her time to speak, no matter how long it would be. What was a moment of his time compared to the months she had been waiting? Even without his abilities, the Professor could have known she would be in this fiery of a mood, but in all truth he had sensed her frustration and urge to speak since he first spotted the Blackbird in the distance.

When she had finished, the Professor folded his hands over the book on his lap. As he spoke, the tone of regret in his voice was unmistakable, "I am certain that the means used to bring you here were less-than-favorable. Gambit is a good man, but he is willing to fight dirty and plan just the same. I assure you, for what it's worth, if we had any other means we would have used them."

Xavier rolled his chair toward the table in the middle of the library, placing his book down and opening it to about the middle of its pages. He always did enjoy "The Hound of Baskervilles". However, his stern facade told a story that he was not done with addressing Kim yet.

"There are questions I cannot answer for you exactly yet. There are some things, believe it or out, that even I can't see. However, you do deserve answers so to you I will give them. To answer some of your questions at the same moment, we were in Crenshaw for you. Not just my associates and I...but also the Brotherhood. Kimberly, you were the goal the entire time. To put it in a manner of how you phrased it, yes, the Brotherhood was there to 'collect'. They recruit for their cause where ever they go. Erik...Magneto, seeks to ensure the future of mutantkind, but his vision is dominance, where we here believe that we can one day co-exist with humanity. There other mutants that joined them that were simply an added bonus to their true reason for arriving: to find you."

He sighed, knowing that his words were very heavy to set on a young girl's heart, as well as the memories and emotions now brewing with this new knowledge. "We had noticed months before our meeting that a series of mutants with similar powers to adapt their bodies to dangers around them had gone missing, disappearing without a trace."

"I have means of watching over our fellow mutants. Finding the mutants that need our help the most. One day I hope to show you how, but for now, know that we found you. I searched for mutants of all kinds, anyone that could fit the pattern. You were the only one we found. You, Kimberly, are the only living mutant with your kind of gift. We came to you to bring you here, yes...but we did so to protect you."

He didn't need to read her mind to know her response, "And yes, protect you. All other mutants who had your abilities were taken and....have passed. We had no idea it was the Brotherhood until we saw them that night, but we didn't fear murder. Magneto would not kill other mutants so likely or quickly. There's a reason for these disappearances, and until we know, we must fear for the worst. As for Crenshaw...." surprisingly, the Professor was halted for a moment. He reached up a hand to wipe away a single tear, his heart still sitting in that moment, "the gathering was intended only for mutants, but as you can imagine hundreds of people moving through the night would draw attention from others. Crenshaw was not an accepting place. The riot was made of their own choice, but....they did not deserve their fate. I assume, though, that you didn't stay long. We did what we could, put our focus on defending the town. In terms of architecture, yes, the town has been decimated....but many citizens still live."

He rolled back toward Kim, "You mentioned the meeting with Sabertooth and Toad. The individual they spoke of...his name is Benedict Morrison, though now he prefers the alias Moriarty...he is the reason you and your friends are here. His gifts are strange, unique in a way I've never witness before. He seems to....know. Everything. He appeared a few months back around the same time the mutants who shared your gifts started disappearing. He is no doubt the source and I fear...." the Professor held back the word 'experimentation', fearing the worse for Kim's last few pieces of sanity, "his interest is to blame. I have no doubt he knows you and your friends are here, but I also have no doubt he knows any attempt to retrieve you here would be deterred. I can promise you that."

After taking a moment to collect his thoughts, the Professor once again brought a grin to his face, "As for the school...both thoughts are correct. We are a school dedicated to helping young gifted students with learning and adapting to their powers. However, we do what we can to help all mutants along their way. As for the 'superheroes'...you've seen our selected team from both exceptional students and teachers. They've taken to calling themselves the 'X-Men', despite my wish for more modesty. This does no take away from our work here at the school."

Xavier motioned to the collection of books, singling out specific genres as he continued, "We teach our students history, science, math, all of the subjects one would find at a traditional school...but we also train with their gits. To those who have gifts we already understand, we utilize techniques we've previously developed. To new gits, we simply try new things until we find something that works. The dedication to our students doesn't change. I founded this school to help...and help I will. We'd like to help you and your friends, Kimberly. You may not think you need it, and I will admit you do have impressive control over your gift...you depend on it too much, with respect of course."

He reached out, taking a scaled hand into his own, "You don't necessarily need practice in controlling your power, but in avoiding the need to use it. The greatest power is not invincibility or great physical strength, but being wise enough to use all other options first. I believe your friends have much to gain here, but I also believe you do as well. However, we will not force you to stay."

He smiled in his way to Kim, "Though it would be our honor if you would consider calling the school your home, at least for the time being."

"You're really cool." Kim's mouth autopiloted as she stared down at the Professor without really seeing him. It was an almost random and undoubtedly stupid thing to say, what with the proverbial bombs he had just dropped on her, but that was probably why she'd said it in the first place. The fact that Professor Xavier was a really cool guy was a lot easier to think about than everything else she'd gotten from his words.

But think about everything else she did.

Kim didn't know how to be scared for herself anymore. It was a silly, pointless thing, that sort of fear, when she couldn't be harmed and had nothing to be afraid of. So she had trained herself out of it early on, before she'd even figured out the full scope of her gift, and eventually she had stopped being afraid of more abstract concepts than pain or harm or death as well. Now she was unable to be afraid of the thought of being kidnapped, injured or killed even when there was apparently a very real chance of it happening. But fearless though she was when it came to her own safety, the thought of being taken away and dying sent shivers down her spine for another reason entirely, for the thought of what it would do to her family if that happened. She knew instinctively that they wouldn't survive it. None of them would be okay if that were to happen to her, and none of them would ever recover. And there were others outside of her family who would be upset if that happened to her as well, other people she loved. That more than anything filled her with fear, the thought of her loved ones' pain and suffering. Kim didn't want any of them to go through that, especially not her family. Not again.

The reason she could possibly be kidnapped and killed finally registered in her mind after that — because the Brotherhood wanted her, had come to Crenshaw specifically for her, like they had found and taken so many with mutations like hers before. It had occurred to Kim in an absent sort of way that she could have been one of those at-most-three people they wanted, but this? Being the sole focus? For whatever reason it had never really been an option. But why did they want her? For her mutation, yes, that much was clear, but what did they want it for? Because they had to want it for something, and whatever that something was the other mutants hadn't cut it, because she was either the final touch or the last resort. The others hadn't been enough for whatever reason, and seeing as she was now the only person in the world with her kind of gift left, it had ultimately been the death them.

Kim wondered if the Professor had known any of those mutants.

She had the tact not to ask.

And if the Brotherhood had come to Crenshaw for her, then that meant...everything that had happened there and following was because of her. It was all because of her. She was the reason that the town was in ruins, ruins so many people were buried beneath. Professor Xavier hadn't been wrong. Kim hadn't remained in Crenshaw for all that long, but the time she'd been there had been more than long enough. The X-Men had done their best, but they couldn't save everyone, hadn't saved everyone, and Kim had seen it. Seen the people who were already dead, the people who were dying, the people who were about to die that she'd been too far away from to save herself. Looking for her parents had had her looking at a lot of people who weren't them, and even the way back to the others had her finding more and more casualties. She was never, ever going to forget it, any of it...and it was all because of her. And everything after that too, her merry band running from the Mardies, being forced to steal and hide in the woods, getting chased out of them into Salt Lake City, the Sentinel, Gambit, Sabertooth and Toad, Blitz and the girl and the other guy, it was all because of her. All the death, all the pain, all the misery that had happened, and she was to blame for all of it. And anything in the future would be on her shoulders too. Attempts to retrieve her may have been deterred so long as she stayed, as the Professor said, but that didn't mean attempts would be nonexistent, and people could get hurt in them, and it would be because of her. She was the reason for everything that had happened, and for everything that would. Everything was all her fault.

...No. No, it was not her fault. She had done nothing wrong. Those Brotherhood guys were up to something, and that something involved her, it was true. But just because she was a part of that plan and just because they had done all those awful things searching for her did not mean she was to blame. They had their reasons and had made their choices, and she'd had no say in them. Their actions were their own, and the consequences were on them. Maybe she was why they'd gone to Crenshaw, why everyone had been in danger, why her new friends (though she still had to ask three out of the four to actually be her friend — God, could she even do that now?) had needed to flee for their survival, why they'd been hunted down and hurt. Maybe it was all because of her. But that didn't make it her fault, didn't mean she was to blame, because it was the Brotherhood who had done it, the Brotherhood who wanted her and her mutation for whatever reason. Kim was not in the wrong for that. She was not in the wrong for what others had done. She was not in the wrong for being herself. She was not in the wrong for living.

But in the wrong or not, the fact that the Brotherhood was after her was indisputable. Kim wondered what she should do. There were two paths immediately in front of her — to stay at the school or leave it. Leaving was Kim's knee-jerk thought, to go away and try and hide somewhere she wouldn't be found, to keep everyone else out of it. Maybe the Professor and his X-Men were willing and able to protect her, but that didn't mean they should have to. She didn't want to bother them, to risk giving them trouble even if they could handle it. Plus even if they could handle it, there was always the risk of collateral damage. She didn't want that. And Kim doubted that any of the other mutants the Brotherhood had taken had known they were being sought out beforehand, but she knew now, and maybe that would give her an edge evading them, and if they really needed her so bad then avoiding their clutches would halt the progression of their evil scheme. And even if that Moriarty guy knew everything, like where she would go, that didn't mean he would be able to catch her, especially if she went to, say, the Himalayas, or the bottom of the Mariana Trench. 

It was a dumb idea, Kim knew, to leave. Even she could see all the flaws with it. She'd have to be on the run for however long the Brotherhood was willing to chase her, possibly her entire life. Seeing her brothers was non-negotiable, and even without Moriarty's apparent know-it-all gift it was still Villainy 101 to set a trap involving family, so there was risk of her being caught in Georgia no matter what. Professor Xavier had gone to a lot of trouble to seek her out, even if he was willing to let her go, and it would be silly for him to do something like that if he didn't really want to help, if he would rather help. And regardless there was strength in numbers, even if she didn't want to risk those numbers getting hurt, and if she left then she would be on her own. Which was another thing. Kim really, really didn't want to be alone. Leaving was a dumb idea, and it wasn't one she liked at all, but it was her first and even for all its flaws it wasn't without merit. In spite of everything, her leaving might have been the best for everyone.

Whether it was or wasn't, however, Kim was too selfish to leave.

"I want to stay." She told the Professor as she finally actually looked at him again, her words unusually quiet and slow. "This place sounds amazing, and even if I didn't think I could gain much here I'd want to stay. But you're right. I rely a lot on my gift. I like it, you know? It's a part of me, as much as my hands or my heart, and I love it. It makes me happy that I can use it. And goodness knows I need to, if only for the fact that I'm a major klutz. Seriously, ask the others when they wake up, my record low for stumbles in a day while I was with them was thirteen. My highest was somewhere in the forties, and it was much more common for me to be closer to that than thirteen. To be fair, though, most of our time together was spent in the woods. But clumsiness aside, it's better to have options rather than one end-all-be-all choice, isn't it? And apparently it's possible to have my gift suppressed, so, yeah. Probably better."

Kim squeezed the Professor's hand, being carefulcarefulcareful not to do it too hard with the hysterical strength she still had. "But before I can even think about staying, I need to go see my brothers. They live down in Georgia, in a little town called Dovland. Doubt you've heard of it, it's tiny, but it's there, I swear, and I really need to go. My parents have got to be there too by now, and I know they're all worried about me. I can't just call them and tell them I'm okay either, they won't believe me. It's sort of a family thing. I have to go there in person. And it's my mom's call if I can stay here or not, you know? She's my mom. Kind of my legal guardian and all that. I admit that she didn't have the best impression of you guys the first time...or, well, the second time, but I think...no, I know I can do a better job convincing her this time. I'm sure of it. But I need to see her, see all of them as soon as possible, and I can't stay if I don't do that. So. Would you mind maybe helping me out with that? I feel rude asking but you do have a jet and the only other option I have is walking there. Or swimming, I guess, if we're close enough to the ocean. But yeah, I'd really appreciate if you could help me out with that. Also, I'm gonna hug you now, okay?"

She didn't actually give the Professor enough time to form a proper response or refusal, which wasn't fair, and she also wasn't supposed to hug people who weren't family or hadn't given verbal confirmation of friendship, but Kim needed to hug him, gosh darnit, so hug him she would. She threw one arm around the man, not wanting to use the other and be forced to let go of his hand because of it. Her grip was perhaps just a little too tight to be polite, but not painful, and she'd probably passed politeness some time ago anyway, so she didn't let it bother her and just hugged him.

"Thank you." Kim told him, soft and serious and solemn, but smiling. Always smiling. "For everything. For my friends, for Crenshaw...for me too, just. Thank you. Thank you."

The Professor had felt all of her emotions, heard fragments of her thoughts like whispers down a long hall. Even when trying his hardest, he couldn't stop the thoughts from coming in. Not all of them. Still, Kimberly's sudden shift in self trust was a relief he hadn't expected to come so soon. Some students took years to develop trust or belief like she had.

He would have thought on the pleasure in her agreeing to stay, if she hadn't hugged him immediately after. It was sudden, and he gave a slight gasp in the abruptness of it all, but this wasn't his first gratitude hug. He didn't need to think of what to do next. The Professor wrapped his arm around her, returning the embrace.

"You're very welcome, Kimberly."

When their hug had finished, the Professor connected eyes again with his new hopeful student. "As for your trip to Georgia...I can tell this is very important for you. What are we without family?" He said. "We will escort you where you need to go, Kimberly, though I will ask for a few days to prepare, as well as for you to rest. I would also insist on an escort to ensure safety. You're aware how obvious your meeting your family will be."

"It won't just be teachers, of course. I would like for some of our students to experience travel and put some of their schooling to the test."

Kim beamed and nodded. "Thank you, and an escort's fine by me. The more the merrier! Just, I hope they don't feel awkward with all the family talk we'll probably be having. Maybe tell them to bring a music player with headphones? Or just warn them. I dunno. But yeah, I can wait a few more days. And resting would admittedly be nice. I will probably sleep for days when all this wears off, I am not even exaggerating. Which, before I forget, is there somewhere you don't mind me crashing? Because I'm pretty sure I will soon, whether I want to or not, and it'd probably be for the best to head there now if there is a place so I don't end up in a heap on the floor."

Isaiah, would you come in, please?


"In fact, Kimberly, we've had a room ready for you for some time." As the Professor spoke, a new figure entered into the room. Unlike the Professor, his form was not sleek or frail in any sense. He was large, shoulders broad, yet he smiled like a gentleman as he approached Kim and the Professor.

"Kimberly, this is Isaiah, one of our most promising students at the institute."

"Izzy, please, Miss," he held out a strong hand to Kim, his voice welcoming with an unmistakable southern accent, "pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Isaiah will escort you to your new room."

"If you're just Izzy then I'm not Miss. I'm Kimberly, and it's nice to meet you too." Kim said as she shook Izzy's hand, careful again with her grip. "Also Professor I almost just said you were psychic for having the room already prepared, but, well. Yeah. Aaaaaaand now I guess I did say you were psychic."

Well, at least her first impression to Izzy was an accurate one.

"Anywho, lead on, Izzy. I'll see you...eventually, Professor. I seriously have no idea when that'll be."

"Telepathic, Kimberly. We'll be sure to explain the differences in class upon your return."

"Right, glad to meet you Mi-..Kimberly," Izzy took Kim's hand, though her need to loosen her grip faded right away as they interlocked. It was as if her super strength had no strength at all in that handshake. "Pardon me using my gifts on ya, Kimberly. I heard about your transformations. Well, all of us have heard by now. Didn't want you to waste more energy or focus than you needed," he said with a smile.

"Isaiah can manipulate the impact of any object to his liking," said the Professor, moving closer to his larger student, "your strength remains the same, but the crushing force of that strength cannot injure him."

As they finished, Izzy motioned to the door. "This way, please. See you soon, Professor."

"You as well, Isaiah. We will meet again soon, Kimberly. Whenever you please, my door is open."

"Dude that's so cool!" Kim gasped upon hearing about Izzy's gift, bouncing on her toes with excitement as she began to question him about it. "How does it work? Do you just think about it and it happens? Is it more instinctive? Do you have to be touching what you want to affect for it to work? Or do you not have to touch it all? Can you only affect the impact of things within a certain distance, or is it anything you can see? Do you have to see it at all? Is it only solid objects or can it be things like wind or water too? How — right, leaving. We were doing that."

Kim grinned sheepishly at the Professor as she waved goodbye, following Izzy out the library and towards wherever her room was.

Once they were on their way, Kim started up again. "But seriously, how big an impact can you make things have? How small? What are your limits? If something's moving and you change its impact does that change its mass or acceleration? That's how the formula goes, right? Force equals mass times acceleration? Though is impact the same thing as force? I'd think it was, but, maybe not. Is it more of a natural thing to do, or do you really have to think about it? Does it have a set duration? Do you have to stop manipulating it before it goes back to normal or does it just fade away over time? Or is it that you can only manipulate one specific impact before it goes back to normal and for prolonged things you have to keep it up? Does it take a lot out of you to use your gift? When did your gift show up? I am being rude? I've yet to be told if it's rude to ask about other people's gifts. I don't mind sharing, but I could be the only one. So how'd you hear about my gift, anyway? You said everyone else knows about it too by now. Was it and everything else public knowledge? Did Professor Xavier or Miss Munroe or someone just tell everyone about it now? Or does gossip just travel really fast here or something? What's it like here, anyway? It sounds super cool, but I've only got an outsider's perspective about it. Is everyone nice? Are classes fun? Are they really hard? Are you happy here?"

She finally paused and gave Izzy a chance to respond.

"You're a lively one, ain't ya?" Izzy never lost his smile, though his slow southern speech pattern seemed to be a crawl next to Kim's rapid word display. He scratch behind his back just under the white t-shirt and the short-sleeved blue and white plaid shirt over it. "Well first and foremost, yeah, this place is home. Wonderful, everyone's just welcoming and wants to help. No judging words or eyes. Classes are tough sometimes but ain't nobody ever learned anything the easy way, like my Grand Daddy used to say."

He thought about the questions regarding his gift. In truth, Izzy had never really thought about it before. He recently had learned some things through his time at the institute. "No need to be shy about asking about the gifts. It's why we're here, ain't it? Hmmm, well I've only ever used it on things I can see, or at least close enough to see, so I'll say I can only do that. It's just impact that changes, which doesn't make a lick of sense but Ms. Munroe can make thunderstorms so anything's possible."

He stopped to chuckle at the statement.

"I don't have to touch anything to use the gift on it. I just gotta be near it and think about it. Only lasts about a second, so I gotta time it right, but the Professor and the teachers here have really helped me with my timing. I was pretty good already, not to brag. Played baseball. Was a boxer too. I got me all kinds of practice."

"As for you and your friends, well, that ain't like bad gossip of nothing like that. Word travels fast. We asked some of the teachers what was going on. We just wanted to make sure y'all were alright."

He stopped at a room; a large ornamental oak door before them.

"This one'll be yours from now on. Real nice one, though they all are."

He opened the door for her, and he was right. The room was gorgeous; an illustration from a child's fairy tale book brought into the real world. A large bed with a beautifully carved frame was pushed back against the wall with an equally charming desk set across from it on the tasteful ornamental rug.

"You can go ahead n' make yourself comfy. Get that beauty sleep, ya hear? It's gonna be a long drive in a couple days."

Izzy stopped for a moment, his face jumping as he remembered something.

"Oh, I like to say this to all the new faces. Welcome home, Kimberly. Glad you're here."

"Good to be here." Kim answered him, her smile turning a little shy before she turned to inspect what was now her room. 

It was...well, the first thing to come to mind was wow, which was an apt description in and of itself. The room was gorgeous and fancy, almost too much for Kim to believe it was hers to use. It certainly fit the rest of the place's castle-like appearance, what with the bed and the desk and the rug all looking they belonged in a painting or something. Kim was kind of afraid to touch any of it. She'd cleaned up best she could on the Blackbird earlier, but that wasn't to say she was spotless. Well, she could always wash everything later, and to be honest, if she was going to be staying there then it was inevitable for it to get a little messy. Might as well get used to it now. There was no dresser in the room but it wasn't like she had any clothes to put in one anyway, and the window on the far wall displayed a beautiful view when she went over to peek out it. Really, the room seemed too good to be true. The whole place did.

There was a floaty feeling in her stomach, anticipation and hope all in one. It almost didn't feel real, everything that had happened, was happening. But it was real, the good parts and the bad, and from here on out it was only going to get better. Her friends were all safe, would stay safe, in a few days she would finally get to see her family again after so, so long, and if she could just convince her mom then she'd have this too, this room and this school and all the wonderful people in it. Everything was looking up.

Kim couldn't keep a grin off her face as she turned away from the window and wiggled her feet out of her shoes and socks, wiggling her toes when they were free. The rug was as soft as it was ritzy, which was seriously saying something. She crossed the room and closed the door, then couldn't resist the urge to belly flop onto the bed, giggling as she landed with a bounce. It was even softer than the rug, and just being in a bed again was enough to make her want to cheer. She rolled around on top of it instead.

Eventually she settled down enough to get under the covers and lay on her back. Blitz's blow to her chest and its consequences hadn't escaped her, and she knew from long ago experience that sleeping on her stomach or side was not a good idea. Kim took a deep breath in and closed her eyes, starting to meditate. It wouldn't be long until she changed back anyway, but the sooner she went to sleep, the sooner she would wake up.

Indeed it wasn't long before her scales became skin again and her bones returned to normal. The change back make every cell in her body scream with agony, the pain hot and blinding and overwhelming. Kim almost screamed along with it, but it was so intense that it stole her breath away, and darkness claimed her soon after that.

Her sleep would be long, and her dreams would be sweet.

Her sleep may have only seemed like a few passing moments among the wonderful sights of her dreams, but three days had passed in the Xavier Institute. Classes went on as usual, and yet a special eye was always kept on the new guests, and hopefully students, on their way to recovery. The first one to awake was Gambit, his gift of energy helping him on his way to consciousness. Since that moment, he had spent his time assisting with the young mutants who still remained drained and unconscious. It was thought to be out-of-character for Remy, but the Professor could see that something in the Cajun mutant had changed.

The band had been looked over and treated with all technology and mutant gifts of the medical kind that could be utilized, but there was only so much they could do. Most of the young mutants, Rosa and the siblings, were simply drained of energy and like Kim, needed to sleep it off. Cam, however, was another story. He had been kept is a special containment room, medical aids only allowed in after placing on full-body hazmat suits to touch him without fear. He had been drained worst of the group, next to Kim, and his body was unable to adapt to it. His attacks had tore his muscles, strained and sprained almost everything he had moved on. The wound on his head was just the horrible icing on the pain cake.

And yet, he remained awake for another day after they had arrived before finally, somewhat forcibly via medication, succumbing to sleep. He didn't look peaceful. He hadn't looked peaceful since then.

There was a light knock on the door of Kim's room. There was no real intention of waking Kim up, just a test to see if she was. "Hey Kimberly," the voice on the other side was unmistakable. It was Izzy. "You still gettin' those winks?"