This is the place where fics that have not been updated in the past three months will be moved until the author asks a mod to move them back to an active board.
Title: Escape From the Abyss
Author: Lizzie
Pairing: Liz/Logan
Rating: Mature
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Roswell belongs to Jason Katims et al. X-Men belongs to Marvel et al. I don't even own the idea for this fic as it is a challenge: Crossover Challenge # 16 by Jezebel Jinx :
Pairing: Liz/Wolverine (Logan)
-Liz is 17 going on 18 and a mutant. (she's known since she was 9, author can decide what abilities she has.)
-Nobody (except her parents) know Liz is a mutant, but her, Maria, Alex, Jim, and Kyle know about the aliens. (just like the show.)
-Someone finds out about Liz being a mutant (People are scared and violent towards mutants). So instead of staying in Roswell, she asks her parents to send her to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.
-She has no contact with anyone from Roswell, except her parents.
-While at the school she meets Logan (author can decide if he's a teacher at the school or not.) and is instantly attracted to him.
-Liz is at the school for about 6 months. And her and Logan become close friends and have the beginnings of something more intimate. But before the relationship can go any further Liz has to go back to Roswell to help with either her sick mother or sick father.
-I would like Liz's look to change a little when she returns to Roswell. (Nothing too drastic but to have a slightly more bad-ass attitude, with some leather clothes, and at least 1 tattoo.)
-Liz and Logan talk on the phone a lot (or as ofter as they can afford)
-But Logan comes to Roswell wanting to be close to Liz
-I would also like the 'I Know An Alien' Club to gang up on Liz when she comes back to Roswell and her telling them off.
-Rating: Teen-Adult (perferably Adult, but doesn't have to be as long as it's not Child or YTeen.)
-Everything else is up to the author.
A/N: This is the only time I am posting the whole challenge, so refer back to this post in the future if need be. I am making some changes to the challenge. Most notably about the reason Liz ends up at the school, and the time line. The beginning of chapter one begins during the scene at the football field at Roswell High when Max is trying to help Liz study for her Harvard interview in Season 3 Ep.12 : Ch..Ch...Changes. The prologue is both six months after that episode and directly after that episode. The X-men verse is the movie verse after the first movie, and we will see some of the second movie but both fandoms will be AU. I am posting the Prologue to see if there is any interest in this fic, but I won't be posting the rest until I am finished with the whole thing. Cheers!
Liz POV:
I stared at the jagged hole in the roof of the high tech stealth aircraft, eyes wide and horrified. I have other friends. I’ve been friends with Maria since we were kids. I’ve known Isabel for a little more than three years, although that friendship was a recent development. Kyle has been my rock and a loyal friend ever since he found out about the Abyss. Hell I even considered Micheal to be a friend, although our relationship was more like a couple of affable allies. But I was never as close to any of them as I am to Rogue.
She knows me like no one else ever has. She knows everything about me. Not just a part of me like most of my other friends. She is the closest thing to a sister I have ever had. And she’s gone. Just like that. The wind whipping through the cabin roared like an angry beast. There were debris flying everywhere. Was that a shoe? Time seemed to have stopped for me as I stared through that gaping tear after Rogue.
All I could think was ‘Not again. Please God, not again.’ I couldn’t lose another person I loved. I might go crazy this time. Heaven knows Rogue is the only reason I have remained on right side of the line of insanity these past months. She couldn’t leave me. I couldn’t be left alone again. But she did leave me, she’s gone. I continued to stare after her frozen in place. Funny how life can change so drastically in a matter of milliseconds.
Six Months Earlier:
My name is Liz Parker and I am a Mutant.
I found out when I was nine years old. I was on vacation one summer with my Grandma Claudia. I was visiting her on one of her dig sites in the Painted Desert in Northeastern Arizona and I wondered off and got lost. After several hours I started to really panic. I had no water or food, I was so thirsty and hot. I was scared I was going to die out there. I ended up so tired I could barely walk, and I kept tripping and falling on my hands in the dirt. I was wearing a sundress so my knees ended up scraped and bloody like my hands.
I eventually came upon a rock formation made out of several large boulders, and I shuffled around it looking for a good spot to rest in the shade. As I made my way to a niche between two of the boulders I tripped again and fell forward catching myself with my hands in the dirt. I felt a sharp pain in my left palm, and then I was someone else. I was a young man crouching between the rocks waiting for what looked like a deer of some kind to come into shooting distance of my bow. I waited patiently, still as the rocks around me breathing calmly with the wind. Just as the beast came into shooting range I noticed a crack in my arrowhead. I calmly and smoothly retracted the arrow, dropped it on the ground and strung my second, and only other, arrow in my bow. I breathed in, held it. The deer turned towards me it’s ears swiveling frantically. I loosed the arrow and it drove home directly into the animals heart. I quickly swung my bow onto my back and made my way to my kill to make sure it was dead and not suffering. But my shot was true and the beast no longer drew breath. After I thanked the animal for it’s gift to me and my people, I imagined myself walking back to the village and presenting my kill to my wife. I knew she would be pleased.
As I came back to myself, I found that I was lying in the dirt in the shade of the rocks still. I felt the throbbing in my hand looked down to see what had cut it. It was a shard of rock, no bigger than a dime. It was black and shiny where my blood wetted the edge. It looked like one of the pieces of shattered tools and arrow heads I had seen at the dig site. Oddly enough I felt a bit better after my strange little daydream. I looked up at the sky and saw the sun was in a similar position as in my daydream and decided to go the same direction I imagined the village to be in. I knew time was running short and it seemed like as good a direction as any at this point. I started walking directly away from the sun, like in my dream. I felt the backs of my arms and legs warming again to that nearly unbearable heat, but I kept shuffling one foot in front of the other.
What seemed like days later, but I knew couldn’t have been that long, I tripped for the last time. This time I couldn’t stand again, and had to crawl to move forward. Not too long after that I finally gave in to the exhaustion that had been weighing me down.
When I woke up I was in a hospital bed. I had a tube sticking out of each arm, and bandages over most of my body. I blinked and it felt like there was something thick and wet on my face. Like some kind of cream. I finally was able to turn my head enough to the left to see my Grandma Claudia sitting in a chair by my bed.
She told me members of a search party had found me almost two miles west of the dig site, and I had been flown by life flight to the closest children’s hospital. She told me my parents were on their way, and that I was going to be alright. Grandma Claudia said that I was severely dehydrated, sunburned, and I was suffering from heat exhaustion. The bandages were covering the scrapes from my many falls, and holding medicine on my burns. The gooey stuff on my face was antibiotic burn ointment. After making sure I understood what was going on, and that I was safe now, she held up the shard of rock I had cut my hand on. She asked me where I found it, and why I had it clutched in my hand when I was found.
I don't know why I still had the rock with me when I was found. I guess I just held onto it that whole time, and didn't realize. I trusted my Grandma Claudia more than anyone, even my parents. She always listened to me and never told me I was being silly or stupid. I also knew she was different than other Grandma’s. She was special. She had what she called a gift; She was able to influence people just by her presence. She said it was like charisma, but with an extra boost. This is how she sometimes got funding, and approval for important projects that other wise wouldn’t have gotten them. She said that she only used her gift for good, and only used it when it was very important. She asked me not to tell anyone, that it was our secret.
I knew she wouldn’t laugh at me, and so I told her the whole story. Grandma told me that she thought that I might have a gift like hers. She didn’t know exactly what it was, but she promised that we would figure it out after I was better, but that I shouldn’t tell anyone. Even my parents.
My parents were there when I woke up the next morning, and they took turns with Grandma to make sure someone was always with me. After a little more than a week the doctors said I could go home. Grandma Claudia came with us back to Roswell, and she spent the rest of the summer with me to help me figure out my gift.
We figured out that I was a sort of touch telepath. When I touched something that had been touched by someone else, or that had belonged to someone else I would sometimes get flashes of these people. It could be about what they were doing when they touched the object, what they were thinking, or feeling. Sometimes it was just a random flash of something that had happened or was going to happen to them, or someone they knew. We also discovered that when there is a highly emotional event; birth, death, murder, violence, joy, pleasure; it will some times leave an imprint in the places it happened and I would sometimes pick up on it by touching an object near where it happened. Like walls, or doors, or furniture.
As I grew older my gift grew as well. I started reading things from touching people too. Grandma Claudia worked very hard with me to learn how to control my gift and my reactions to the information I inevitably gleaned everywhere I went. Sometimes I wished I had some kind of mental scouring pad, so I could forget some of the things I learned. We wrote letters to each other, spoke on the phone often, and she visited whenever she could.
When I was eleven Grandma finally helped me find a way to turn off my gift for long periods of time. She had spoken to a friend of hers, and he taught her some meditation techniques, that she in turn taught to me, and I was finally able to flip a switch somewhere inside my head and not get any visions for hours at a time.
After my twelfth birthday Grandma Claudia told me that her friend, a Dr. Charles Xavier, wanted me to come to his school so he could help me himself. It was decided that we would have to tell my parents everything so they would understand the reason I wanted to go away to boarding school. They completely flipped. You see my dad, for some reason, didn’t ever manifest a ‘mutation,’ as my parents called it. His mother, Grandma Claudia was a mutant, but he wasn’t. Grandma said he still carried the gene, and that he knew it was a possibility I would manifest an ability all along. My parents decided not only would I not be going to Dr. Xavier’s school, but all talk of me being a mutant was now forbidden. I was their perfect little girl with a bright future ahead of me, and there would be no more of this mutant ‘nonsense.’
Grandma Claudia and I still spoke about my gift, but we were extra careful not to let my parents find out about it. When I was sixteen I died. Well, almost. I was working in my families café, The Crashdown, when two men got into an argument. One of them pulled a gun, and I got shot in the stomach.
The story of how I survived is even more convoluted and crazy than the whole mutant thing! I’ve kept a journal for that stuff , and I left it at home well hidden. I don’t see how the people involved in this other crazy stuff knowing about my gift would help any. If anything it would bring more trouble down on us, and we have enough to deal with already! And if my own parents can’t stand the fact that I’m a mutant, what would my friends think?
Shortly after I was shot Grandma had a stroke and died. Ever since then I have been dealing with my mutation on my own. As I grew older the other stuff got so bad that I decided I would have to leave Roswell. I had a huge fight with my boyfriend, and I decided I needed to be on my own for awhile. I really need to concentrate on myself, my own problems. I need to figure out who I am outside my family, and my friends. Away from Roswell and the Abyss.
ADDITIONAL DISCLAIMER: I wrote the Prologue on the 21st of July. On the 25th a toddler went missing nearish to where I wrote that Liz went missing. And today the 4th of August another toddler went missing in Arizona. By the way CNN says the two cases are unrelated. I originally wasn't going to post the Prologue until the story was finished, so I didn't' think I needed to worry about this. Then yesterday I decided to post it and forgot. So: I do not mean anything in this chapter as offensive too anyone. I don't trivialize in any way the tragedy that these people are going through. My heart goes out to the missing and their families and loved ones. Please pardon my mistake, it was not meant maliciously.
Last edited by Lizzie on Thu Dec 01, 2011 2:59 pm, edited 10 times in total.
Anything done out of love, is beyond good and evil.- Nietzsche
We have art so that we may not die of reality. – Nietzsche
It is better to die on your feet, than live on your knees.-Emiliano Zapata
Death is not extinguishing the light; it is putting out the lamp because dawn has come. --Rabindranath Tagore
Title: Escape From the Abyss
Author: Lizzie
Pairing: Liz/Logan
Rating: Mature: Language, violence, and mild smoochies.
Timeline: Roswell- Starts during Season 3 Episode 12 Ch-Ch-Changes, then goes very AU. I have made some changes to Season 3, but you should be able to pick them up as you read. X-Men- Starts after the first movie then goes AU.
Summery: When Liz leaves in Ch-Ch-Changes for boarding school she doesn’t end up at Winnaman Academy. Liz Parker, welcome to Charles Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Roswell belongs to Jason Katims et al. X-Men belongs to Marvel et al. I don't even own the idea for this fic as it is a challenge: Crossover Challenge # 16 by Jezebel Jinx. In this chapter there are lines of dialogue taken directly from Season 3 Ep.12 Ch-Ch-Changes. I do not own them. There are some direct quotes, and some altered quotes, and there is story around them. The sections of my story with these quotes will be marked with *** at the beginning and the end of each passage. I believe I marked them all, but if I didn’t they are still not mine. The transcript I referenced was on crashdown(dot)com. This is the only chapter where I will directly quote Roswell. The title of this chapter is a play on the title of that episode which I do not own. I also do not own the SyFy channel or any of their awesomely bad movies.
A/N: The beginning of this chapter starts during the scene at the football field on the bleachers at Roswell High when Max is trying to help Liz study for her Harvard interview in Season 3 Ep.12 : Ch-Ch-Changes. And, yeah, I lied! I said I wasn't going to update until I finished the whole story, but I finished Chapter One and I was so exited that I just have to post it! The next chapter, however, will take awhile to write and beta since I haven't started it yet. Anyway, enjoy!
Chapter One: Ch-Ch-Cheater
***“Uhh, what is your greatest regret?” Max asked looking up from the book. ‘Well lying to you and all my friends even after you told me your deepest darkest secret is definitely in the top five.’ Liz thought to herself. But she didn’t really even regret that. It was necessary.
When Liz didn’t answer Max asked if she was feeling alright. “Kinda. You know what I really should get going. My dad is expecting me at the Crashdown. Thanks for your help, Max.”
As Liz turned to leave Max grabbed her arm. Max said something, but Liz didn’t hear him. With how sick and out of it she had been lately, she had been having trouble controlling her gift, and when Max grabbed her she was sucked into a detailed vision.
*Flash*
She was kissing someone ardently. As she moved down to their neck she caught a glimpse of their face. Pam Troy?! What?!
Pam let out a little breathy sigh “Max, you know just what I like.”
“I should,” I heard Max’s husky voice reply, “We do this often enough.”
“Why don’t you dump that bitch Liz already? You know I’d make it worth your while,” Pam said on a moan.
I pulled back and looked her in the face. “Liz is none of your concern, and if you want to keep up our little arrangement you would do well to remember that. Now where were we?”
*Flash*
As I came back to myself I realized that I had fainted, and I was lying in Max’s arms. This was the first time my gift had ever worked on one of the Pod Squad, and I wished to heck it hadn’t.
“You alright?” Max asked me.
I felt like I was going to puke so I went with: “Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. I just think this flu is hitting me. I should go home and get into bed.” I just wanted to get away from him before I completely lost it. I couldn’t believe he had done it again. Part of me was beyond sad and betrayed, while another part was boiling with a rising anger that threatened to explode out of me. I had to get out of here.
I started hastily gathering my books trying to keep a lid on my emotions, but when I went to pick one up from the bench in front of me it burst into flames. I pulled my hand away and fell back with a little scream. Max got in front of me and put out the fire.
“I didn’t do that,” Max said. Um, duh you lying, cheating, man whore! Okay, I needed to calm down and get out of here.
“I did,” I replied.
Max looked at me like I was insane. “That’s not possible,” he said. Has he always looked at me like I’m an imbecilic child? Was what I interpreted as adoration and love been condescension and possessiveness the whole time?
“Yes, it is,” I told him. “You healed me and now I’m different.”***
Well, more different anyway. What was happening to me? I was enough of a freak without mutating (HA!) into an Alien Hybrid. An alien mutant hybrid? When had I gotten sucked into a bad SyFy movie? As we left the football field, I looked behind me to make sure no huge weird creature was swiftly lumbering across the field and/or swooping down from the sky to eat me.
++++
Things had been kind of tense around here, well more tense anyways, since Isabel had escaped. She wanted to go to college in Las Cruces, and after much drama, she actually went. At first Max was completely against it, and forbade her to go. She balked at his authority, but reluctantly agreed to stay in Roswell. After much huffing and rebelling, which included an ill advised liaison with an employee of her father’s, Isabel went to her parents. She told them she got accepted to New Mexico State University and even got a scholarship, but Max didn’t want her to go. She told them how guilty she felt, and that she didn’t want to leave him, but she didn’t want to be stuck in Roswell forever. And didn’t they want her to be happy?
One thing you should know: Isabel almost always gets what she wants. She has an amazing ability to get people, especially her parents, to see things her way. Once her parents started in on Max he didn’t stand a chance. Max couldn’t come up with a good enough reason for Isabel not to go, and with their dad already suspicious about them Max was painted into a corner. So Isabel basically told Max to ‘Suck it!’ and went off to college. Good for her, I say! She has lost enough, been through enough, and she deserves to have a life of her own.
This of course got Maria thinking about the Abyss, and not wanting to be sucked into oblivion, she broke up with Michael. That added a bit more conflict into the group. Just a little. Which is why I don’t want to bring her into this. She has somehow wiggled free of the Abyss, and I didn’t want to drag her back in. And now she may be getting a contract with a record label. If she gets signed not only will she be living her dream, but she will be truly free of this mess. I am happy for her, it is her dream after all, but if she leaves me I don’t know what I’ll do! She is my best friend and I need her. I would never ask her to stay just because of me. Just the thought of being stuck between Max and Stonewall Guerin though. Alone. I’ll be driven insane!
++++
I just completely bombed my Harvard interview! Everything was out of focus, and spinning. I couldn’t understand what my interviewer was saying. I just couldn’t focus on anything and I completely freaked out. Maria was right! The Alien Abyss ruins everything!
++++
After I got home from the interview, I was starting to feel even worse so I called Kyle, and he called Max after he saw my condition.
When Max got there I resisted the urge to throw a book at him. Where was Maria when I needed her? I couldn’t confront him about my vision because he didn’t know about my gift. If Maria were here I could tell her I had a bad feeling, and she would go ‘Hurricane DeLuca’ on Roswell until she found out the truth. Then I could dump E.T. and try to figure out what in the nine hells was happening to me.
Kyle told me to show Max, so I pulled up my sleeves and displayed the light show on my arms. They had arching bolts of what looked like green electricity dancing all over them. Every flash of green was accompanied by a feeling like a bad static shock. The effect was so constant I felt like I had a low current of energy moving through me continually. I wasn’t even worrying about my gift anymore, I couldn’t control it even if I tried, and besides I hadn’t had a flash or vision since I had fainted earlier.
He put on his concerned/angst face as he examined my arms. Why had I let myself be blinded by him for so long? Had I loved the idea of us so much that I had only seen what I wanted to see? I felt like I was coming out of a fog since that vision of him and Pam. That I was truly seeing Max and myself clearly for the first time in I don’t know how long. What had I let myself become?
I used to have dreams and ambitions. I was my own person. Now my dreams are shattered. Since the Alien Abyss had started I had been kowtowing to Max. I have been doing what he thought was best for us. Not what I thought was best for me. We never would have known about what Tess did to Alex if it had been left up to him. I was starting to think one of Max’s kingly powers was blinding other people to his faults. Could he have somehow hypnotized us into doing what he wanted? Now that I think about it Isabel might do this too without even realizing it. It seems to only work on humans, or mutants like me. It must not work on their fellow aliens. That could be why I broke out of it, when this illness/transformation really got going.
I didn’t know what was happening to me, but I knew it hurt, and that it was getting worse. Much worse very quickly. When I asked Max if I was going to die he didn’t answer.
++++
***Max, Kyle and I went out to the desert to see if Max could heal me. He said the translation of the book told him how to use the Healing Stones to amplify his healing powers.*** Being anywhere near Max right now was painful. And I’m not just talking about the green lightning. He was cheating on me. Lying to me. He says he loves me, would do anything for me, but he’s not who I thought he was. He says he wants to wait to be with me until I’m ready, that he doesn’t mind waiting. Then he goes off and screws Pam Troy behind my back.
I don’t even know what I am to him anymore. Just some trophy hanging off of his arm that he can point at and say, “Look what I have. Isn’t it pretty?” Am I just a possession to him? Is he just humoring me with a fake relationship so he can keep me on a leash? So no one else can have me? My heart feels constricted, like a huge fist is squeezing the life out of me. It burns with the heat of the anger that I am suppressing.
***After Max lays me out on the ground he arranges the healing stones around my head. He says with their help he should be able to wipe out whatever is making me sick. Well, more than one thing is making me sick, but here’s hopping he can at least fix my Czechoslovakian problem.***
Max put his hand over my stomach and started to use his powers. At first it just felt weird. Like many waves of power rushing through me from all directions, but not that painful. Then the static shocks I had been feeling started to get worse. Instead of shocks all over my body it felt like the green lines were cutting into me like razor wire. As the pain increased I began to feel overly full. Like I was a balloon being filled with air and I was reaching my capacity. It felt like too much all of the sudden.
***I told Max he was hurting me, but he wouldn’t stop. ***I was burning now. On fire. My skin felt like it was stretching to the breaking point. I was sure I would explode any moment, leaving pieces of scorched flesh all over the desert. ***I tried to tell Max to stop, he didn’t.***
I started getting visions now.
*Flash*
I was looking at my wife Ava appreciating that I landed such a beautiful specimen from such a wealthy family. She would serve me well.
*Flash*
I was looking at a young Michael and Isabel. Michael had bruises on his arms but he said it was nothing. That he was fine. I knew he wasn’t.
*Flash*
I saw myself through Max’s eyes dancing at the Prom. He was thinking that he liked Tess’ body better than mine. More curves.
*Flash*
Me and Tess were having sex. It was mind blowing. Amazing. I never wanted to stop. I could stay here with Tess forever.
*Flash*
Tess was walking towards me in my bedroom slowly unbuttoning her shirt.
*Flash*
Pam was screaming my name.
*Flash*
Some slutty tourist, that I had picked up at the UFO museum, and I were going at it in the back of my car.
*Flash*
I wanted it to stop! The pain was unbearable! My heart was burning with disgust and betrayal. My emotions were almost as devastating as what was being done to my physical body. My body felt like it was splitting apart and churning around like the glass at the end of a kaleidoscope. I knew I would fly apart at any second. I felt like an atom about to be split. There was potential for something vast and hideous building in my very DNA. I could feel my cells stretching, combining, changing. I was floating apart from my body as it fought to maintain cohesion.
***I begged. He wouldn’t stop. ***I felt my whole person being ripped apart, cell by cell. Piece by piece. It kept building to a crescendo I did not want to see. There was so much pressure. A high ringing sound. For one millisecond everything stopped, and there was complete silence.
Then something deep within me snapped. Suddenly everything was moving again. Rushing onward. ***The stones exploded. I landed hard on the ground, and greedily sucked air into my lungs, I tried to shuffle away from the man I had thought was my soul mate. Something had changed. I felt different. Like I was in someone else’s body.
“Just stop,” I said to Max as he tried to come closer. “Stop hurting me.”
“I wasn’t trying to,” Max said.
“No, but Max, you do. You always do. Why did you sleep with her? With them?! Why?!” I cried.
“Liz?” Max said confused.
“Every single time you mention your son, I am reminded of what you did to me. How you were unfaithful. How could you not know that? And after the flashes I just got how can you except me to ever trust you again?!” I was distraught but not enough to give away the fact that I was a mutant. After the things I had been seeing on the news this was just self preservation at this point. I didn’t even have to really think about it. Plus if there is one thing the Abyss has taught me it is how to lie on the fly, and under pressure.
Max scooted toward me and reached out. “Liz please.”
I shuffled further back, “Stay away. You're doing this.” I begged.
“No, I'm not. Liz please.” He said, and reached out to touch my face.
It felt like my head was going to explode. I swear I felt my skull buckle and expand at the same time. I screamed. I would have given anything in that moment to make it stop. Then another vision hit.
*Flash*
I was standing in the park watching my wife pushing our son on the swings. I enjoyed the way the sun played off her golden hair, and how her crystal blue eyes sparkled with laughter. She still insisted on keeping her nose and eyebrow pierced, but looking at her glowing face, for once, I couldn’t seem to mind.
*Flash*
Kyle was finally able to pull Max away from me. I collapsed in the dirt, and struggled to breath.*** I knew that had been a vision of the future. I didn’t get them very often, I got them very rarely in fact, but I knew how to distinguish between past, present, and future visions. They all had a different feel to them, like I was using a different muscle for each. That was a vision of Max’s future. Or a possible future. If Future Max had taught me anything it was that the future is not set in stone; It is in a constant state of flux. All the same I recognized the woman pushing the kid on the swing. It was Ava, Tess’ Dupe.
I internally shook my head to clear it. Kyle helped me into his car, and drove me home.
++++
***Kyle pulled to a stop in front of the Crashdown. “Need help getting upstairs?” he asked.
Kyle was such a good friend, and I loved him dearly. I was so thankful that I still had him on my side. “No,” I said “I can make it on my own.” Still I sat there starting at the doors to the café. “That really just happened didn’t it?” I said quietly.
“Yeah it did,” he said. “What did you mean when you said ‘with them’? Didn’t you mean her?”***
I took a deep breath. “Kyle, have I told you recently how lucky I am to have you as a friend? How grateful I am that you are always there for me, even when you’re freaked out, and any sane person would run screaming?”
Kyle smiled a crooked smile at me. “It’s always good to hear that I’m appreciated. I love you too little Lizzie.” He said in an ‘Oh, golly, gosh!’ tone of voice. He then lifted his hand and chucked me gently on the chin. His face turned serious again,” But you still didn’t answer my question.”
Oh well, it was worth a try. “I really don’t want to talk about it right now, Kyle. But I promise I will let you know what is going on as soon as I figure a few things out for myself.”
I leaned over the center console to give him a gentle hug. Funny how it didn’t hurt me at all to be this close to Kyle. In fact it felt nice. “Goodnight, Kyle.” I said softly.
“Night, Liz,” he replied.
I carefully got out of the car, and headed upstairs to bed.
++++
Maria showed up soon after I got into bed. We went outside and talked for awhile. After talking to Maria that night I realized I was being a bit of a hypocrite. I wanted her to fulfill her dreams, to take a chance, but I was just sitting around in this town, letting a boy and his issues, intergalactic though they may be, keep me tied down. My life only had two directions it could follow in Roswell: Stagnation or Annihilation. I would either be stuck with the status quo, and be completely unsatisfied. Or I would end up being destroyed in every way a person can be.
***As I walked into my room I saw Max sitting outside my open window. “Max,” I said, “what are you doing here? You can't be here. I don’t want you here.”
“I've been calling,” he said.
“Not that it’s any of your business, but I was out with Maria” I replied.
“I thought something happened,” he said.
“No, it didn't, but my dad is going to be up here in a few minutes.” I had to keep looking away from him. I couldn’t stand to look into his eyes. Those eyes I had loved, with everything I had for so long. Those eyes that had lied to me time and time again. He leaned toward me, and I felt the green lightning flash across my face in a web of pain. “Max, you need to go.”
“Look, we'll drive to L.A. Langley will know what to do. He can fix it.” Max pleaded. After the incident in the desert tonight, I really didn’t think trying anything else Czechoslovakian-y would be wise. I don’t think I could survive anything even remotely similar happening to me again. In my minds eye I could see all the atoms in my body vibrating until they lost cohesion, and I just dissipated into the ether. No, Max couldn’t help me. I didn’t even want him to help me anymore.
“Max,” I said in frustration.
“Maria can cover for you. We can be back in two days.” He was giving me his kicked puppy eyes. I could feel my heart wrenching in my chest.
“No!” I said forcefully.
“Please Liz,” Max said, and he reached for me. I pulled away quickly, and he retracted his arm. He continued speaking in a pleading tone, “Everything you said tonight, we just can't pretend it didn't happened. We have to talk about it.”
I didn’t want to talk about it. I just wanted it to stop. I had loved him for so long, I didn’t know who I was without that all consuming emotion. I started to shut my window, and it felt like I was severing my own limb by shutting him out. My throat felt tight, and I was trying very hard to hold back my tears. I could see Max was on the verge of tears as well. My heart was tearing in two.
“Liz, please don't shut me out. What are we going to do?” Max said in a choked voice.
“’We’ aren’t going to do anything. There is no we anymore. I have to figure it out. By myself.” Tears fought their way free and slipped down my face. I shut the window. Max prepared to stand up, and we stared into each others eyes. I used to see lifetimes when I stared into his eyes. I would see us together and happy with kids running around us. I would see us growing old together, and still we would gaze at each other with all the love of the ages.
Still gazing into my eyes Max mouthed ‘I love you.’ He backed away, stood, and went to the ladder that led to the alley behind the Crashdown. As he prepared to descend he looked at me one last time. Then he was gone.***
++++
After I pulled myself together as best as I could, I went downstairs to talk to my dad. Something had to change. I had to get away from here. I had to figure out what was happening to me. Something had changed in me out there in the dessert. Something fundamental, at the very core of my being. I was terrified, and I wished with all my heart that my Grandma Claudia was here to help me. But she wasn’t, and there was only one other person I knew of that could help me.
My father looked up, and when he saw me he asked me what was wrong.
***“My life is out of control,” I said. “ I want to go to boarding school. I know you want me to go to Winnaman, but I think it would be best if I went to Xavier’s. You wouldn’t have to pay for it, Grandma left a trust with tuition money, incase you and mom changed your minds.”***
“Well, we haven’t. You’re not going to that school.” he said.
“Dad, what difference does it make what school I go to? I’ll still be away from Max, and that’s what you want isn’t it?” I asked. He actually looked like he was thinking it over. He really did hate Max. “I know you don’t want to talk about my gift, but it’s part of the reason I need to go to Xavier’s. I’m getting more powerful. I’m changing, and I need help.”
My father looked at me with a torn expression on his face. “You know your mother and I love you no matter what don’t you? We don’t want you to get hurt, or to lose opportunities because of your mutation.” He could barely choke out the word ‘mutation.’ “The world would not be kind to you if they knew. You’ve seen how the public reacts to mutants. That registration act almost made it into law. Your mother and I only want what is best for you.” Here he paused to think.
“Nancy and I decided that we would only let you go to that school, if we had no other choice.” He paused. “Maybe it’s time for you to explore that side of yourself. It would be best if you did that away from home.”
“You mean I can go?” I asked surprised. I had been afraid I would have to agree to go to Winnaman Academy, and then switch busses and sneak to New York.
“Yes, but I don’t want you to bring any of that nonsense home with you. Is that clear?” he asked sternly.
“Yes, daddy. Thank you.” I gave him a hug.
“Now go get some sleep pumpkin,” he said softly and he let me go with a kiss on my head.
I went upstairs to my room, and made the phone call that would change my life. I found the number to Charles Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters in a letter Grandma Claudia had sent me years ago. Also included in the letter was the information I would need to get my tuition paid from the trust she had left me for this purpose.
I sat down on my bed with the phone in my hand and dialed the number. I knew it was late, after midnight here so it had to be 2 or 3AM in New York, but the letter said to call anytime if I needed help. The phone rang three times before it was picked up by a woman.
“Hello,” said a smooth accented voice. “This is Ororo Monroe how can I help you?”
“Hi. This is Elizabeth Parker. I was told to call this number if I needed help.” I cleared my throat “Help with my mutation.”
“You have got the right number Elizabeth. What seems to be the problem?”
“Well, I don’t know exactly. My gift is going haywire, and I feel really weird.” Not a total lie, but close enough. “My Grandmother, Claudia Parker, was friends with Mr. Xavier before she died. She had wanted me to attend his school when I was twelve, but my parents didn’t want me to go. Now that I’m having problems with my gift though, they have agreed that it would be best for me to attend there. Plus, I just really need to get out of Roswell.”
“I take it Roswell is where you live now?” she asked.
“Yes, I’ve lived here my whole life.” I replied.
“Are you in any immediate danger Elizabeth?” she sounded worried, but alert. Like she was ready to jump into action.
“No, no! I’m safe, Ms. Monroe! I just need to leave for personal reasons. Well besides the mutant reasons.” I hurried to reassure her. “And please, call me Liz.”
“Do you already have transportation sorted out?” she asked in a more businesslike tone.
“I’ll be catching the bus in the morning, and I should be there in about two days. I just wanted to make sure Mr. Xavier would be able to accommodate me.” I said.
“Charles is never one to turn away a mutant in need. I will let him know to be ready for you. Do you have a cell phone number, incase he wishes to speak with you?” she asked.
“Not right now, but I plan to buy one on the way. I’ll call after I get a phone to let Mr. Xavier know my number.” I responded.
“How old are you Liz? If you do not mind my asking?” Ms. Monroe inquired.
“I’ll be turning eighteen in a couple of months.” I answered.
“I will let the Professor know you called, and we’ll be ready for you when you get here. Have a safe journey, and do not hesitate to call if you get into any trouble, or if you need anything.” She said.
“Thank you Ms. Monroe, I will. Goodbye.” I said.
“Goodbye Liz. See you soon.”
I hung up the phone, and put it on my nightstand. Before I went to bed I decided to pack. I included a new dairy in my suitcase. I couldn’t risk the old one being found and read by a curious roommate. I found my emergency stash of money, and packed some in my suitcase. The rest I put into my carry-on along with some books to read on the way. I had been saving money for awhile, and had close to $2,000. Plenty to last me several months at least. I packed some CD’s and a couple of photo’s into my suitcase as well. One photo was of Maria, Alex, and me when we were younger. And one of us just a couple of weeks before he died. I still missed Alex terribly. Out of all my friends he was the only one I ever came close to telling about my gift. I know he wouldn’t have seen me any differently, and he would have gone out of his way to help me with it. I just never knew how to tell him. Then the Abyss happened and life was too complicated. Then Alex was gone.
I finished packing, and looked around my room. This room was full of my whole life up to this point. I knew the next time I saw it I would be a different person.
I decided to write Max a letter. I wanted him to understand where things stood between us. I think I owed him that much. I sat down and began writing:
*** Dear Max,
What's so great about normal? Do you remember when you asked me that? Back then the answer was nothing, because of you Max, because of how much you loved me. Now though, the answer is different. Normal is something I need, and that's why I have to leave. I have to figure out what my life means away from Roswell and away from you.
When you were trying to heal me in the dessert, I had flashes of you with other women. Tess more than once, Pam Troy, and some nameless woman you had picked up at the UFO museum. I loved you more than you could ever know. I gave you everything. I risked my life for you, and I kept your secret even at the risk of my future.*** I forgave you for letting Tess go. I even tried to help you find your son. Heck, I robbed a convenience store for you. I thought you loved me like I loved you, but now I see the truth. You were just using me. I was just some pretty trinket that you wanted to own. Like a selfish child that doesn’t want his toy anymore, but won’t let anyone else play with it either.
Well, I am done being your toy Max. It’s over. For good this time. No amount of soulful puppy looks, and empty apologies are going to make me take you back. Your Kingly hypno-fog doesn’t work on me anymore. You can’t use your powers to change my mind.
You saved my life, and for that I will always remain loyal to Michael and Isabel. For them, and because you saved me that day, I will take your secrets with me to the grave. I am not your puppet anymore. I will no longer do your bidding. I am my own person, and I will make my own decisions. I will live my own life. A life you are no longer a part of, and have no place in.
Liz
As I reread the letter I realized it was a bit harsh. Okay very harsh, and Max was going to be pissed off when he read it. Luckily I was planning on being on the road before he got a hold of it. Besides, I didn’t want to leave any doubt in his mind that, as far as I was concerned, it was over. I didn’t want to leave any wiggle room whatsoever for Max to think he had any chance to get back together with me. I was hoping the letter was clear enough that he would accept it and move on, but somehow I feared he would still end up following me like a puppy.
With a sigh I folded the letter up and put it in an envelope. I wrote ‘Max’ on the front and set it on my desk. I was beyond tired at this point, and I changed and got into bed. My mind was buzzing with a million thoughts, but I was so tired that I was asleep within minutes.
++++
The next morning I got up and got in the shower. When I was reaching for my regular vanilla shampoo I stopped. I was starting over, reinventing myself, and becoming a new person. Old ‘Vanilla’ Liz was boring. I decided to use the new shampoo, conditioner, and body wash that Maria had gotten for me. Coordinating scents of coarse.
Stepping out of the shower I was surrounded by Pomegranate and Sandalwood scented steam. It was certainly different, but it was a richer more mature scent, deep and earthy, and I loved it. I used the lotion that came with it before I got dressed. I double checked to make sure I had everything, packed my toiletries, and took my suitcase to the front room.
Mom was in the kitchen toasting some bagels for her and dad. Dad was sitting at the kitchen table reading the newspaper. “Liz honey, you want one?” Mom asked.
“Yes, please,” I replied. “But could me and dad get ours to go? I don’t want to be late for my bus.”
“Sure, honey. Get some juice to take with you, while I finish these.” She said.
When my dad and me were armed with our breakfast and ready to go, mom gave me a lingering hug. “Be good, baby. Call us if you need anything, and be sure call us to check in once you get there. Remember to call us every couple of days so we know you’re all right. If you don’t like it there we can transfer you to Winnaman Academy no problem, okay? I love you” she said.
“Yes, mom. I love you too,” I said hugging her back gently. We released each other and she touched my cheek with her hand.
“I’ll miss you Lizzie,” she said with teary eyes.
“I’ll miss you too mama,” I replied.
My mom kissed my forehead, and I gathered up me and my dad’s breakfasts while he carried my bags. With one last look and smile to my mom, me and dad left, and she closed the door behind us.
++++
I was sitting on the bus looking out the window at the world rushing by outside. I had this feeling of freedom in me that I couldn’t describe. I was excited about meeting Professor Xavier, and the other students at the school. I just knew, somehow, that the Professor would be able to help me figure out what was happening to me.
I have read several of the articles he has published over the years since I found out I was a mutant. One of the other teachers at the school is a medical doctor, and a Geneticist. Dr. Jean Gray, I believe her name is. I have read a few of her articles as well. I’m sure that with her and the Professor working together we will figure out what is happening in no time.
From what Nasedo said at Eagle Rock when we went to rescue Max, all of their powers are human. Everything they can do humans will be able to do in a couple thousand years. My theory is that when Max healed me that day in the Crashdown, he jump started my physiology, and it’s advancing very fast to meet the level that the Pod Squad is on. This, I think, is just an accelerated version of mutation. Mutants have the x-gene. A specific change in our DNA, a jump forward in the evolutionary process. I’m hoping that these processes are similar enough that the Professor and Dr. Grey won’t be able to distinguish anything alien in me. I’m hoping they will think that I am just a unique mutant who’s going through a-typical changes in my physiology.
My Grandma Claudia trusted Charles Xavier with her life. I hope I am doing the right thing in trusting him with mine.
Last edited by Lizzie on Fri Aug 06, 2010 7:42 am, edited 1 time in total.
Anything done out of love, is beyond good and evil.- Nietzsche
We have art so that we may not die of reality. – Nietzsche
It is better to die on your feet, than live on your knees.-Emiliano Zapata
Death is not extinguishing the light; it is putting out the lamp because dawn has come. --Rabindranath Tagore
Title: Escape From the Abyss
Author: Lizzie
Pairing: Liz/Logan
Rating: Mature: Language, violence, and mild smoochies.
Timeline: Both timelines are moved up to the present-ish. So cell phones etc. are the same as we have now-ish. Roswell- Starts during Season 3 Episode 12 Ch-Ch-Changes, then goes very AU. I have made some changes to Season 3, but you should be able to pick them up as you read. X-Men- Starts after the first movie then goes AU. Shadowcat is a teen here, not the kid from the second movie, more like her character in the third. Pyro however is the same dude from the second movie.
Summery: When Liz leaves in Ch-Ch-Changes for boarding school she doesn’t end up at Winnaman Academy. Liz Parker, welcome to Charles Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Roswell belongs to Jason Katims et al. X-Men belongs to Marvel et al. I don't even own the idea for this fic as it is a challenge: Crossover Challenge # 16 by Jezebel Jinx. I don't own Lucky Charm’s either. Also I was able to find a Westchester County, but not city or town, online. So, I’m guessing the city of Westchester is made up, and I’m putting the city in the county, a couple hours away from New York City.
Chapter Two: The Mansion and The Journey Part 1
Ororo (Storm) pov
It was a typical morning at ‘Mutant High,’ as the children called it. Ororo was seated at the teachers table in the dining room, watching the children as they ate in a state of (barely) controlled chaos. At least it was peaceful at the teachers table. Ororo knew that was solely due to the fact that Logan was still off searching for his past. If he were here, he and Scott would be squabbling like a pair of chickens.
Hearing a small scuffle, I looked up to see that Kitty Pride was being chased through the room by John Alderice, Kitty having absconded with the last bowl of Lucky Charm’s. Kitty phased as she ran straight through a table filled with her fellow students. There were quite shudders and gasps, and a few ‘Hey!’s as she passed through students and their breakfasts alike. In an attempt to reach Kitty by leaping over a chair, John knocked the chair, Kitty, the chairs’ occupant, which happened to be Artie a small boy with a blue forked tongue, and the prized bowl of cereal to the floor with a mighty crash.
Laughter and a few giggles spread swiftly throughout the room. Kitty scowled at John.
“Nice one Pyro! Now neither of us gets any marshmallow-y goodness!” Kitty said angrily.
“Kitty! John! Settle down!” Scott Summers shouted sternly.
Kitty helped Artie back into his chair, and went to get a broom, huffing and rolling her eyes as John grabbed a muffin and sat down to eat like nothing had happened.
I turned my head when I heard the whirring sound of the Professors wheelchair. Charles pulled up to the table and greeted everyone before he began eating.
“Charles,” I said when there was a lull in the conversation.
“Yes, Ororo?” he responded.
“I got a call late last night from an Elizabeth Parker, of Roswell New Mexico. She said that you had known her Grandmother Claudia Parker?” Charles immediately stopped eating to focus on me completely.
“Yes, Claudia was a good friend of mine, and we spoke of her granddaughter often. What did Ms. Parker need?” he said concerned.
“She said that she is having trouble with her mutation, and that her parents finally agreed that she could come here. She said that she is catching a bus this morning, and should be here in about two days.” I answered.
“Did she say why her parents changed their minds? Last I heard they were very against her coming here.” Charles asked.
“Ms. Parker said that they agreed because she was having problems with her ‘gift’” I explained.
“Very well. Could you please find a room for her, and work on her academic transfer, Ororo?” He asked.
“Of course, Charles.” I said. As I was finished with my breakfast, I excused myself to get to work.
As I was walking out of the dining room, I was nearly run over by Kitty chasing John with the broom she had used to clean up their earlier mess. I smelled something burning, and looked closer at the broom. Sure enough the bristles were on fire. Just another morning at Mutant High.
++++
(Liz pov)
When we stopped for dinner that first night, I hurried to a mall nearby to buy a cell phone. After I bought the pay-as-you-go phone, I didn’t want a plan that would require a home address, I barley had time to grab a couple snacks from a gas station before I hopped back on the bus.
Later that night, I decided to call Isabel, and see what she was up to. She would want to know the latest development in the Max and Liz saga.
She answered the phone on the fourth ring breathless with laughter in her voice. “Hello?” I could hear music and commotion in the background.
“Hey, Isabel. It’s Liz.” I said.
“Hey, Liz! How are you? His Majesty isn’t giving you to much trouble I hope?” she replied.
“Actually, we broke up.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that Liz. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Turns out he was cheating on me!”
Silence enveloped the phone line.
“Isabel?” I asked tiredly, “Please tell me you didn’t know Max was cheating.”
“I’m sorry, Liz” she said. She sounded genuinely regretful. “Max is my brother, and I felt stuck between you two. But he’s family, I just couldn’t say anything.”
I took a deep breath, and blew it out. “How long have you known?” I asked.
“I only found out for sure about a month before I left. It’s actually one of the many reasons I had to get out of Roswell. I couldn’t deal with him treating you like that, not after everything you’ve done for us. And I didn’t want to be the one to break your heart.” She paused to take a deep breath. “Please don’t let this come between us. I love having you as a friend. After all you did to help me to get here, to college, and all of your support for me to be able to live a life of my own. I need you to forgive me Liz. Please?”
I took a moment to think. Could I forgive her? It all came down to one thing: Max. Again he stomps through someone’s life like a bull in a china shop, and we’re left to pick up the pieces.
“I’ll make you a deal Izzie, you promise not to ever keep something like this from me again, and I’ll forgive you. Since I’m not seeing Max anymore, and you aren’t in Roswell, I’m hoping he won’t be able to come between us again. We’ll just pretend he doesn’t exist as far as our friendship goes, okay?” I asked.
“Sure Liz, that sounds good.” Isabel said relieved. I could still hear loud music, and people laughing in the background.
“What is all the noise about? You’re at a party aren’t you?” I asked her mischievously.
“Busted,” she laughed. “But don’t worry mom, I’m the designated driver.”
“You’re not drinking from glasses, or open containers, or leaving your drink unsupervised?” I inquired.
“And I’m not taking any pills or candy offered to me either. I’m following ‘Isabel’s Rules For A Safe College Experience’ to the letter.” She answered dutifully.
This was actually a list written by both of us of everything that could possibly happen, or go wrong, and how to deal with it. Considering how much Isabel likes to make lists and organize things down to the letter, and my own penchant for the scientific method, this list was a thing of beauty. Not all of it deals with alien stuff, but a good portion is devoted to keeping the secret. Of course anything alien related, that we couldn’t use code words for, was firmly entrenched in our memory instead of writing it down so no one could inadvertently find it.
“Are you having fun?” I asked eagerly. At least one of us was happy.
“I’m having a blast!” Isabel answered. “It’s great to just let go, and be immature for awhile, ya know? To just worry about getting to class on time, and whether my roommate is going to bring a girl to our dorm tonight, and writing a paper for English Lit. I’m normal and it’s awesome!”
“I’m so happy for you Iz! But, I thought your roommate was a girl?” I asked confused.
“Oh, she is. She just,” here she imitated a breathy hippie voice, “‘doesn’t discriminate based on gender, or age, it’s all about the soul.’ Though I haven’t ever actually seen her with a guy so whatever.”
“Well that’s what college is all about you know. Experimentation. Speaking of, how long did it take to get her to stop hitting on you? You’re stacked. If I were to ever switch teams you’re the first girl I’d go after.” I teased.
“Three weeks, and a threat of bodily harm.” Izzie replied.
I laughed. It felt good to laugh again. “What does she put on the doorknob if she doesn’t want to be disturbed? A bra?”
“Nothing so dramatic. Just a garish yellow scrunchy. But we’ve worked through most of the normal roommate drama by now, and we have a system to keep each other happy.” She said.
“Oh, I’m sure you do. *cough* roommate Nazi *cough*” I said sarcastically.
She growled down the phone line. Someone yelled her name in the background. “Just a sec.” She yelled back to them. “I should get going soon, I’m missing the drunken antics.” She said to me.
“Okay. Um, I should probably tell you I’m calling from a bus, on my way to boarding school in New York.” I said sedately.
“No shit! You got out of Roswell? What kind of boarding school? All girl? Oh, is it in New York City? Are you going to be a Gossip Girl?” she rambled on excitedly.
“No, not all girl, it’s in Westchester New York, and I don’t have the excessive amount of money, or the low moral standards necessary to be a ‘Gossip Girl.’” I replied.
“Oh, well hopefully there will still be hot guys there.” She said sympathetically.
“I don’t think I’m going to be in the dating market for awhile at least. But thanks for the thought.” I said. “Well, I better let you get back to the drunken masses. I’m calling from my new cell, so you can reach me at this number now.”
“Okay, good. Call me after you get there to dish, yeah?”
“Of course. Talk to you later.”
“Later.”
We hung up. I think the college vocabulary is rubbing off on Isabel more than she realizes. I decided to try and get some sleep, so I pulled out a travel pillow my mom had given me, and a jacket and cuddled down against the window. It was hard to get to sleep with the roar of the bus engine, and the constant motion, but eventually my exhaustion won out and I fell asleep.
++++
By lunch the next day the battery on my phone was nearly dead from all the people I had talked to. Kyle had called Isabel to tell her about me leaving, of course she already knew, so she gave him my number. I had called my parents ealry this morning, and they received a call from Maria a couple hours after we hung up, and they gave her my new number.
Maria is apparently in New York City. Funny how planes go faster than buses. She gushed at me about her amazing adventure, and how she’s going to a studio to record etc. etc. I didn’t get a word in edgewise for thirty minutes. Then I finally told her about Max, and going to boarding school. She seemed excited that we would be so close together. With her in New York City we were only an hour or two apart by car. I told her how happy I was for her, and she reciprocated. She was very pleased that I was now free of the Abyss. Though, of course, she painted a very descriptive picture of what she was going to do to Max the next time she saw him. I hope the blood spatter won’t reach me across the country at school.
After lunch I called the school, and got to talk to Dr. Grey. I gave her my new number, and told her I should be there by 7pm the next day, allowing for at least an hour of taxi time from the nearest bus stop. I spent a great deal of time reading on the bus. I caught up on some scientific journals, and re-read some of Dr. Xavier’s and Doctor Grey’s work. The rest of the time I read some Jane Austen, her work always put me in a good mood.
Isabel called me that evening to give me a heads up on Max. Apparently he was trying to find out where I was going, and get a phone number for me. Everyone who knew anything were blocking his attempts, Isabel and Kyle were saying they had no clue where I was, but he was getting frustrated. I hope he didn’t try to call Maria. She would lose it, and cuss him out. Not that I would mind her cussing him out, it just seemed she was going to be working pretty much 24/7 and I didn’t want her to lose her chance because she freaked out on the phone like a Diva on her first day. My dad, of course, enjoyed the fact that I was out of Max’s reach. He was probably rubbing it in every chance he got.
The green lighting had been slowly receding ever since I left Roswell, and now it only came in small sporadic bursts. The pain was almost non-existent now. I kept my hoody on just in case, so no one would see anything. My body was still sort of buzzing inside, like it was settling slowly from the upset with Max trying to heal me in the desert. I felt kinda like a tuning fork, and just weird in general.
I went to sleep at around eleven that night, and I hoped the rest of this trip would go by swiftly.
A/N: I was planning on making every chapter at least 5,000 words, but I got a little stuck here, and figured I would post this so you guys would have something. Ta!
Anything done out of love, is beyond good and evil.- Nietzsche
We have art so that we may not die of reality. – Nietzsche
It is better to die on your feet, than live on your knees.-Emiliano Zapata
Death is not extinguishing the light; it is putting out the lamp because dawn has come. --Rabindranath Tagore
Title: Escape From the Abyss
Author: Lizzie
Pairing: Liz/Logan
Rating: Mature: Language, violence, and mild smoochies.
Timeline: Both timelines are moved up to the present-ish. So cell phones etc. are the same as we have now-ish. Roswell- Starts during Season 3 Episode 12 Ch-Ch-Changes, then goes very AU. I have made some changes to Season 3, but you should be able to pick them up as you read. X-Men- Starts after the first movie then goes AU. Shadowcat is a teen here, not the kid from the second movie, more like her character in the third. Pyro however is the same dude from the second movie.
Summery: When Liz leaves in Ch-Ch-Changes for boarding school she doesn’t end up at Winnaman Academy. Liz Parker, welcome to Charles Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Roswell belongs to Jason Katims et al. X-Men belongs to Marvel et al. I don't even own the idea for this fic as it is a challenge: Crossover Challenge # 16 by Jezebel Jinx. I don't own Lucky Charm’s either. Also I was able to find a Westchester County, but not city or town, online. So, I’m guessing the city of Westchester is made up, and I’m putting the city in the county, a couple hours away from New York City.
Chapter Two: The Mansion and The Journey Part Two
When I finally knocked on the front door of the mansion, I was about ready to keel over. I was tired, dirty, and hungry. I just wanted to sleep. It was 9pm on the day I planned on arriving, and I was 2 hours late. It had taken forever to get a Taxi, and then the driver kept getting ‘lost.’ I got so aggravated I’m pretty sure I blew up one of the back tires of the cab. That’s something I had seen Michael do when he was angry. He would blow up random things on accident. A light bulb, a glass, even a throw pillow on a couch once. After the tire exploded I felt like I had released some of my frustration.
Of course, I then had to wait for another cab to show up, and bring me the rest of the way here. My phone battery was quite thoroughly dead by that point, so I couldn’t call the school for a ride. I hope I never have to get in a cab again. I was so tired by the end of the ride that I got several visions. I was firmly putting them in the box in my head labeled ‘Things I never actually saw/ purge.’ I learned to put the visions in here that I didn’t want or need, and through meditation, I can get rid of them permanently.
A perky teenage girl dressed in yellow, with huge hoop earrings, and spiky black hair, answered the door.
“Can I help you?” she chirped. She took in my soaking wet, and ragged appearance, and frowned a little.
“Yes, I’m Liz Parker, a new student here. Are Ms. Monroe, or Professor Xavier available?” I asked.
“Sure,” she said. She turned around with her hand still on the door and yelled into the house. “MS. MONROE! THERE’S A LIZ PARKER AT THE DOOR FOR YOU!!” I shook my head and rubbed at my ear. That girl sure had a set of lungs on her.
A beautiful woman with white hair, and creamy chocolate skin stepped up beside the girl with a look of fond annoyance on her face. “Jubilee, how many times do I have to ask you to speak in a normal inside voice?” she asked.
The girl, Jubilee, blushed slightly. “Sorry, Ms. Monroe.” She said, and went back into the house.
“You must be Liz.” Ms. Monroe said, and she looked me up and down in confusion. She held the door open and stepped back for me to enter. I walked in and looked around the foyer. I had thought the outside was impressive, but holy crackers! The banister on the staircase alone, looked like it could buy my families restaurant.
“Yes, hi. Sorry about my appearance, I’ve had a trying evening.” I said softly.
“Well you look like you could use some rest. Let’s get you set up in a room, hmm?” Ms. Monroe said kindly.
Several teens around my age or younger had sidled up to get a look at the new girl.
Ms. Monroe gestured two girls foreword. “This is Kitty, and Rogue. Girls this is Liz.” She turned back to look at me. “Liz you can either take the bottom bunk in a room with Kitty, Jubilee, who you met earlier, and Rahne here.” She gestured to another teenager who was short with red hair and green eyes. Rahne nodded her head in acknowledgement. “Or, you could room with Rogue, and have your own bed.”
“Why would I want a bunk bed when I could room with Rogue?” Everyone looked at each other awkwardly.
“Because of my mutation. When I touch people it hurts them.” Said Rogue in a soft southern accent, with resignation in her voice.
“Well I wasn’t planning on getting overly touchy feely with my roommate anyway. But if Groping becomes necessary, I’m sure we can figure something out!” I responded. Man I was hanging out with Kyle too much! Where had that come from? Everyone looked at me with horror on their faces, except for Rogue. She looked at me with a little smirk, and I knew she got that it was a joke.
“Geez! I’m kidding! Rogue could you show me where our room is? I need to shower and eat something before I pass out for a couple of days.” Rogue let out a full blown smile at that, and beckoned me towards the stairs.
“We’re on the third floor.” She said.
+
“Whoa.” I said quietly as I stepped into my new room behind Rogue. It was all I could say really. My feet were cushioned by plush carpeting. To the immediate right of the door was a sitting area with a couch and a couple of easy chairs. There was even a coffee table, and a TV was hung on the wall. Directly across from the sitting area, on the far wall was a big picture window that looked out onto the front lawn, with a comfy looking window seat. On either side of the window was a queen sized bed. It looked like Rogue had the bed furthest from the door.
To my immediate left there were two chests of drawers. Just beyond them I could see the entrance to a walk-in closet. To the right of that was a door to what looked like a bathroom. Then, right across from the dressers, were two desks with a book shelf in between.
Rogue chuckled softly. “Yeah that was my reaction too.”
“This has to be at least three times the size of my bedroom at home! Who did you have to kill to get this room?!” I asked incredulously.
Rogue’s face suddenly fell, and I felt the need to backtrack. “I’m sorry, I was just joking.” I said to her. “I didn’t mean to hit a nerve.”
She smiled shakily at me. “It’s alright. You would have heard it around the school anyway, I might as well just tell you.” She walked to the door and shut it, and helped me get my bags over by my bed. “I had an accident just after I got here, and nearly killed someone. After that no one would room with me. I think Ms. Monroe just gave me this room because she felt bad for me.” Here she smirked. “Not that I have a problem with that. Wait till you see the shower, and separate bathtub.”
“Speaking of I think I just need a quick shower before I go to bed.” I said wearily.
“Are you hungry?” Rogue asked. “I could grab you a sandwich or something while you shower.”
“Oh, that would be great thanks!” I said.
That night after taking a gloriously hot shower, scrubbing myself pink, and eating the food Rogue had brought me, I hit the sheets and was out like a light.
+ I dreamt.
I was walking swiftly through the temple, trying to get a child to the safety of a secret passage. The child had run screaming into the temple moments before, and the head priestess ordered me to take the small girl to safety. I would rather be at her side fighting the interlopers, but allowing a child to die in this sacred place would have dire consequences for our eternal souls. We might die here, but we would protect the sanctity of our temple, and of our goddess to our last breath. Bastet being known as the avenging goddess is no mistake, and to anger her is to bring untold destruction upon yourself, and your eternal soul.
I finally made it to an antechamber and adjusted the small child in my arms so I could reach for a symbol carved along the base of a statue of a huge lioness, that was a representation of our goddess Bastet. I pressed against the hidden switch while simultaneously sending a spark of power from the earth into the symbol. There was a rumbling click as the door slowly began to open.
“Go, Suri!” I whispered urgently to the girl. “Follow the passage to the palace, and warn the Pharaoh of the attack!”
Suri looked up at me with despairing swollen red eyes. “Do not make me go alone Priestess! Come with me!” She wailed.
“No child,” I said. “I will stay with my sisters as I was meant to, and you will warn our people of the danger that is upon us.”
“But you will surely die Priestess!” she said in anguish.
“I will die fighting for my goddess and my people, standing side by side with my sisters. There is no greater death for me than this. If you wish to honor us, make sure we are remembered, and live a long full life. Get married and have many daughters, and tell them of the Priestesses of Bastet so they can tell their daughters and our sacrifice and our faith will be remembered.” I kissed her forehead softly, and gently pushed her into the tunnel. I grabbed an oil lamp from it’s niche in the wall, and handed it to the girl before pushing the door closed. I turned toward the sound of fighting, and took a deep breath before going to face my fate.
+
I didn’t wake up until nearly noon the next day, when I heard a knock on the door. I gasped as I came awake, and pulled my self from my dream. That was one seriously weird dream. I could tell it wasn’t a vision of any kind, I never got one when I was sleeping anyway, but it was so much more real than any other dream I had ever had.
The knock sounded again, and I got up quickly to answer it. I threw on my robe and slippers, and hurried to the door. I pulled it open to see Ms. Monroe standing there with a kind smile on her face.
“Good morning, Liz,” she said. “I wanted to wake you up and let you know lunch is starting in the next few minutes, and after you eat the Professor would like to meet with you in his office.”
“Thanks, Ms. Monroe,” I said. “I’ll be down in a moment.” Ms. Monroe nodded, and disappeared down the hall. I shut the door, and dug through my bags for something to wear. After I changed, and brushed my teeth and hair, I went down to the dining room. It wasn’t hard to find with the level of noise emanating from it.
As I stepped through the door I looked around till I found Rogue. She was in line about to get her food, and she gestured me over. “Hey, roomie! I see you’re finally awake,” she said as I got too her. She reached out a gloved hand, and pulled me by the arm into line beside her. “Roommates privilege.” She said when she got a dirty look from a boy behind her.
I had a feeling I was going to be getting a lot of preferential treatment from Rogue, on account of my not being terrified of her, and being the only one willing to room with her. I really liked her, so I decided to give her preferential treatment right back. I put my right hand over her gloved one on my left arm, and we waited in line like the best of friends. The blinding smile on her face was so worth it.
After we sat down at a table Rogue introduced me to her fellow students. I quickly found out that introductions always included a description of the individuals mutant powers, and most people had two names. One ‘code name’ and one regular name. I met ‘Ice Man’ or Bobby, who was Rogues boyfriend. And ‘Pyro’ Bobby’s best friend, also known as St. John Allerdyce. ‘Jubilee,’ who I had met last night, aka Jubilation Lee. ‘Shadowcat’ or Kitty Pride. And ‘Wolfsbane’ aka Rahne Sinclair who was a shapeshifter who could turn into a wolf. That one threw me for a bit of a loop, and also reminded me unpleasantly of Nesado.
Then it was time for me to introduce myself. “I’m Liz Parker,” I said putting down my sandwich for a moment. “I don’t have a code name yet. Um, I’m a touch psychic I guess? My powers are kind of wonky right now, that’s why I’m here.”
“So, you can, like, see the future, and stuff?” asked Kitty enthusiastically.
“Not usually no. Very rarely I’ll get a glimpse, but it’s never of anything important.” I said. “Like I’ll touch something, a door, a piece of furniture somewhere public, and I’ll see someone writing a grocery list a few days in the future, or someone sitting at a red light. It’s really subjective, and rarely helpful. Usually when I get a vision, it’s of the past or the present. It can be interesting, but it’s mostly useless. I usually just see the seedy underbelly of humanity, and try to block it out.”
Kitty looked crestfallen. “Like, that sucks.” She said.
“Can you turn it off?” asked Rogue.
“I can control it to a certain extent, with meditation. I can go hours at a time without a vision, but it takes energy and concentration. If I’m tired, or distracted I can’t control it. And I can never choose what kind of vision I get. Not who, or where, or when.” I said.
Rogue looked sympathetic. “I can’t control mine at all, but the Professor and Dr. Grey are trying to teach me meditation to help with it.”
I nodded. “It’ll take awhile, but it could really help you. It took years for me to get to this point, and a lot of hard work. I could give you some tips later if you want?” I asked. “Both of our powers center on touch, so maybe we can help each other?”
“I’d like that,” Rogue said.
We all looked up as Ms. Monroe walked up to the table. “Liz, are you ready to see the Professor now?” she asked.
“Sure,” I said. I got up and cleared my spot at the table. “Later guys.” I said to my new acquaintances. I then followed Ms. Monroe down the hall to a set of huge wooden double doors.
“Come in, Storm.” I heard an upper crust British voice come from within before Ms. Monroe even knocked on the door. She opened the door and showed me in.
AN: Sorry about the wait! I hope you enjoyed. Also does anyone know how to get tabs to transfer onto a post? Some of my paragraphs have them, some don't, and I don't know why.
Anything done out of love, is beyond good and evil.- Nietzsche
We have art so that we may not die of reality. – Nietzsche
It is better to die on your feet, than live on your knees.-Emiliano Zapata
Death is not extinguishing the light; it is putting out the lamp because dawn has come. --Rabindranath Tagore
Title: Escape From the Abyss
Author: Lizzie
Pairing: Liz/Logan
Rating: Mature: Language, violence, and mild smoochies.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Roswell belongs to Jason Katims et al. X-Men belongs to Marvel et al. I don't even own the idea for this fic as it is a challenge: Crossover Challenge # 16 by Jezebel Jinx.
Additional Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. <-- I like this one because it thoroughly covers my ass.
Chapter Three: The Professor and The Lab
As we moved through the giant wooden doors, I noticed that the Professor, at least I assumed it was the professor as he was sitting behind the giant dark wooden desk, wasn’t alone in his office. There were two other people there. A man with red sunglasses, and a gorgeous tall redhead.
I heard a muted whirring as the Professor came around the desk, and noticed he was in an electric wheelchair. Some might think being in a wheelchair made a person look weak, but it only gave Professor Xavier a more dignified air.
He smiled at me as he came towards me. “Ms. Parker!” he exclaimed in a jovial tone layered with a posh English accent, “It is a pleasure to finally meet you! You look so much like your Grandmother when we were young.”
I accepted his hand and shook it firmly, “Please call me Liz, Dr. Xavier. Thank you for allowing me to come here on such short notice.” I said.
“Not at all, my dear,” he said. “That’s what this school is here for after all. I’d like you to meet two of my teachers here at the school. This is Scott Summers.” Xavier gestured to the man with the sunglasses, and Mr. Summers stepped foreword to shake my hand.
“Nice to meet you Liz,” he said in a deep clear voice. I shook his hand, and looked back to the Professor.
“And, I believe you have already spoken to Dr. Jean Grey.” He said gesturing to the impeccably dressed woman beside Mr. Summers.
“Yes,” I said eagerly, “We spoke on the phone. It is an honor to meet you Dr. Grey, I’m a great admirer of your work.” As we shook hands I got one of those instant feelings, a reading on her character, and I didn’t like it. I struggled to keep my face straight. I had been so eager to meet her; to learn from her! Her work on genetics was ground breaking, and unique! Damn it! I was just going to have to over look my feelings and intuition, for the most part, and be as polite as possible. I would be careful though.
“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Liz.” Dr. Grey said in a smooth upper class alto.
We all stepped back to sit, and the Professor wheeled back around behind his desk. “So, Liz,” Xavier said, “tell us what brought you here.”
I hesitated. I didn’t like telling people certain things, and I was wary of telling my story, even as edited as it would be, to everyone in the room. “Professor,” I said cautiously. “No offense meant, but my Grandmother only knew you. She trusted you. I would prefer to keep as many details as possible, just between the two of us.”
The Professor clasped his hands in front of him on the desk. He looked to Dr. Grey, and they looked like they were having a conversation without words. He looked back to me and nodded, “If that would make you feel more comfortable, than that is what we will do. Just know that I trust my people above all others.” He looked into my eyes intensely as he spoke, and I felt a poke against my mental shield. It was subtle, and non-intrusive, and I figured he was just testing the strength of my shields.
The others in the room stood and left quietly, but I kept my eyes locked on the Professor. “Your shields are quite strong for a mutant of your age,” he said. “You must have worked very hard on them.”
“Yes, sir,” I replied. “Claudia explained just how important it was that I have strong shields. Honestly though, if I hadn’t had such a good sleep, and just had lunch they wouldn’t be nearly as strong. I can only keep them up like this for a few hours at a time. Just enough to keep me from going crazy with random visions. Well, normally that is. The past few days have been very difficult and confusing.”
Xavier brought his clasped hands to his chin, and looked deep in thought. “Why don’t you tell me about when you first noticed your powers fluctuating.” He said, all business now the formalities were out of the way.
“Well, sir,” I said, “It started a few days ago when I had a huge fight with my boyfriend.” I stopped with a gasp. Just thinking about Max brought out the Green Lighting all over my body.
“My word,” said the Professor as he quickly wheeled around his desk toward me. “What on earth is that?”
I snorted indelicately. It certainly wasn’t like anything on ‘Earth.’ “Pardon me, sir,” I said apologetically for my disrespectful outburst. “Would it be alright if I finished the story before we worried about the Green Lightning?”
“It looks like it hurts, dear,” he said with sympathy. “Are you sure you don’t want to see Dr. Grey about this first?”
“Yes, sir,” I said. “I would rather tell you what you need to know before we try to do anything.”
“Very well,” he said. “Proceed.”
“Well, like I said, I had a fight with my boyfriend. We were so in love, and I thought he was my everything, my forever. I thought he felt the same way about me.” I explained. I wanted him to know that serious and strong emotions were involved here. My Grandmother said that emotions often affect mutations, and the control thereof, so I figured it was important to explain, at least to a point, what I had been feeling.
“I was stressed because of an interview with the Harvard recruiter at school, and I just wasn’t feeling well. We were talking, and my shield slipped. Long story short he was being unfaithful, and saw me as no more than arm candy to show off. I started feeling sicker. I was dizzy, I had a fever, I was hallucinating, my senses were out of whack, and then the Green Lighting started. At first it was just like a small electric shock, but over the space of a few hours it got to the point where it was seriously painful. Whenever I would talk to my boyfriend, or ex I should say, or even think about him, it got worse. We ended up in the dessert, in the middle of nowhere, shouting at each other. I’m not exactly sure what triggered it,” I said. This was true. I mean I knew it had something to do with Max, but not what exactly. I didn’t want to lie to Dr. Xavier, after all he was supposed to be helping me, but I would not give up the secret. I would tell him what I thought he needed to know, and try not to lie, while vague-ing up the details as much as my conscience would allow me to.
I cleared my throat. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to leave out some names and details to protect certain people. I’m not trying to be dishonest, I just can’t betray the trust others have placed in me, even at the expense of my own health.” I paused. “I would appreciate it if you would try to stay out of my head, even when my shields fail. I mean, surface thoughts, I get you can’t really block all of those, but please try not to dig for more info than what I feel I can tell you. It’s important, for the safety of everyone, that certain things remain a secret.” I looked at the Professor in the eye as I awaited his response.
“I see you feel very strongly about this. So,” he said, “I will do my best to respect your privacy. And if you feel some things should be left out, I trust that you’ll relay the information needed to determine what is happening with you mutation.”
“Thank you, sir,” I said. I swallowed, and continued, “There was a surge of energy. Some kind of radiation I think. You know they did nuclear tests out there in the dessert in the 50’s? Some people say that there are still nuclear pilings, and residual radiation in some places in New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and Utah.” I looked at him pointedly. The look he gave me in return made me think he got that I wasn’t saying nuclear tests were the source of the radiation, just that this would be a good excuse to tell others so they wouldn’t dig too deeply for the real source.
“Do you think this surge of radiation would be able to happen again, and hurt others?” Xavier asked.
I got that he was only willing to avoid the truth as long as it wasn’t harmful to anyone else. “No, sir,” I answered. “The circumstances surrounding this phenomena were very specific, and are very unlikely to ever be duplicated.” I assured him. He nodded for me to continue. “The energy surge enveloped my entire body. I can’t even accurately describe the pain to you. The Lightning was like razor wire cutting into me, my whole body burned, I felt like I was stretching and swelling and changing, and after the energy hit it’s peak I felt something in me snap and give way. Like a lug nut that was so stuck you think you’ll never get it to turn, and then Boom! It budges and you fall to the ground. I felt tingly, and different. Like my genetic structure had somehow been altered, though I don’t know how I know that’s what it felt like. I just did.” I looked up at him, and he seemed to be in deep thought.
“Since this incident, how has your mutation acted? Any differences? And what about your other symptoms? Were they the same or worse than you described them before?” he asked, in full scientist mode. It made me feel a measure of relief that he seemed so in control, and not worried. He saw a problem, and he knew the steps to take to figure it out, and try to help me.
“Since I left Roswell,” I replied, starting with his first question, “My mutation has been sporadic. My shielding wasn’t up to par, because of how exhausted I was, but nothing that was to be unexpected given the circumstances. I don’t feel like anything is too different about my gift. Maybe it’s a bit more powerful than I would expect it to be? I’ve been getting stronger at a steady pace as I’ve gotten older, but I feel like maybe I’ve taken a jump forward power wise. Does that make sense?” I asked with my eyebrows scrunched in concentration. The Professor nodded, so I continued. “My body feels different. There is a humming in my head, like a tuning fork that has been struck. A low buzzing. My whole body feels like it’s vibrating on a molecular level. Shifting around.” I shook my head trying to focus. “The Green Lightning, or we could call it GL, has lessoned significantly. It seems the only times it has gotten bad have been when I think of him.” I shivered as the energy arced across my body. “My senses have mostly returned to normal. At least they have stopped being so disorienting. I haven’t checked to see if I have a fever. I’m not so dizzy anymore.” I sighed and looked up at the Professor.
He was looking at a spot on the far wall deep in thought. After several minutes, he nodded subtly, and turn back to me. “I would like to get you to the infirmary, and run some tests. We’ll start with blood work, and measuring the electric nerve impulses in your body. This will hopefully help us determine the mechanics of this ‘GL’ and figure out what to do about it. We’ll start a genetic profile as soon as we get the blood sample.”
I started to feel frightened. I had decided that my cells wouldn’t be any different than a mutants. At least not in a way that couldn’t be explained by the ‘energy surge’ and it’s effects on my body. Part of me was still worried that me cells would give me, and more importantly my friends, away. Like there would be little green alien heads smiling up into the microscope from the slide. I took a deep breath. Even if there was an anomaly, I wouldn’t tell them anything. And without my help, chances are they would never figure it out.
I lifted my head, sat up straight, and looked Dr. Xavier in the eye. “I’m trusting you,” I said softly. “I’m trusting you to keep any results to yourself, and if needed Dr. Grey. I’m trusting that you, and she, won’t ship me off to some secret government facility to be dissected like an insect. That you won’t share any details with anyone without my express permission. I would prefer it if you would keep any results in hard copy only, and not on any computers. I know I sound paranoid, but I have heard the rumors of nightmarish places where mutants are treated like lab rats. If I were just dealing with a normal mutation, I wouldn’t be so worried. But given the circumstances that have brought me here, I am an anomaly, and if certain people learned about me, I would never be safe anywhere for the rest of my life.”
I was thinking about Max’s time in the ‘White Room.’ Pierce and the ‘Special Unit’ scared the hell out of me. During the rescue I just kept picturing myself on a table with them cutting into me. There were rumors that governments captured Mutants and experimented on them. I believed that the Special Unit was closely connected to these other facilities. Maybe sister programs. What happened to Max was just too similar to what was rumored to happen to Mutants that were captured.
Dr. Xavier looked at me with a serious expression. “I give you my word that I will protect any information gained through these tests, and you, just a fiercely as I protect all my other students.” He said. And I believed him.
+
I made it to my room that night at about 1am. I had spent nearly 14 hours in the lab with Dr. Xavier, and Dr. Grey. They drew blood, venous and arterial, swabbed my mouth for DNA, took samples of hair, skin, and muscle. Then stared the nerve test to measure the electric currents in my body. That hurt like hell. They put long needles into my muscles by the nerves, and sent an electric current through them. Ouch. Not as bad as the Green Lightning but still far from pleasant.
They did some sort of scan next. They had debated for awhile on if my GL would harm the machine, but given the data gathered from the nerve test, they decided that since the GL was mostly electric energy that if I was to lay on a rubber mat (collected from the ‘Danger Room’ wtf?!) it would absorb any energy that might be harmful to the machine. They had me meditate and relax for the first scan, and then had me think of Max for the second. I shorted out the machine. The scan was mostly finished when it happened, and they said they had all the data that they wanted from the scan so I wouldn’t have to do it again. Turns out I just blew a few fuses, so at least I didn’t destroy the very expensive looking machine. And I melted the rubber mat. Oops.
There was much muttering and conferring between the Doctors throughout the day. I heard some of it, but mostly I just concentrated on keeping myself calm. I got a couple of visions towards the end of the day when my shields were wavering with my fatigue. I saw Professor Xavier on a bed, with EEG probes stuck on his forehead. I saw a man, pale and sweating, holding Ororo’s hand. He was so scared. I got a couple other random flashes, but nothing as interesting as those two.
The Doctors decided to get a bone marrow sample. I argued the point as I had heard stories of the pain associated with extracting the marrow. They said they needed it to see the cell production in the marrow had been altered in any way. I laid on my stomach as Dr. Grey draped a surgical sheet over me, and prepared the site on my left hip. She injected a local anesthetic, and then inserted a big ass needle with a weird tip. The only things I could compare to that pain, was firstly being shot in the gut, and secondly the excruciating pain in the desert when Max tried to fix me only days ago.
Then they decided that they needed spinal fluid. Yippee! I got to get a Spinal Tap! Note the extreme sarcasm. Having a four inch needle inserted into your spine is not any fun at all. I had to lay on my back for two hours afterwards while they did other tests. An EKG to check my heart function. Some test where Dr. Grey used a sonogram type machine to probe the left side of my chest to get a good look at my heart. She called it an ‘Echo’ I think. My left breast will never be the same after all the pain and punishment it took during that test.
They did a brain function test, an ‘EEG.’ Again they had me relax when they ran the test the first time, and then think of Max while they ran it again. Again, they got the info needed before the machine blew, but it blew. Dr. Grey had to rush and get a fire extinguisher to put it out.
They finished the last of the tests shortly after this, and I shuffled up to my room, leaning heavily on Dr. Grey, to try to sleep. I had decided that the off feeling I got from her didn’t have anything to do with her professional life; i.e. Teaching, and being a Doctor. It was her personal life that told my gut not to trust her completely. Since I didn’t plan on associating with her on a personal level, I decided not to worry about it too much. She gave me a heating pad, and some pain pills for the pain in my hip from the bone marrow extraction, and left me to sleep.
It took me until 3am to finally fall asleep, and again I dreamt the oddest dreams.
+
I was running through the woods, the precious package strapped to my back, and my dress gathered in my hands so I wouldn’t trip. My breathing was hard and fast, and my breath puffed out in a white cloud before me.
I could hear them behind me in the distance, the sound of their voices raised in the joy of the hunt. They eventually would catch up to me, I knew this, and I was determined to be no longer living when this happened. I would not allow my body to be defiled by these retched men.
I just had to run a little further to the hiding place, and put the tablets there. Once they were secure I would swallow the poison all of the members of the sisterhood carried. We were virgin priestesses, and we would rather die than have our purity stolen from us. The rest of my sisters were already dead, having fought till they were slain, or taken the poison to be released from the torture that would await them should they be caught.
My feet pounded against the forest floor, and I pushed myself even harder as I heard their footsteps gaining on my position. I had to make it to the cave. I had to! My failure would mean the end of all.
Anything done out of love, is beyond good and evil.- Nietzsche
We have art so that we may not die of reality. – Nietzsche
It is better to die on your feet, than live on your knees.-Emiliano Zapata
Death is not extinguishing the light; it is putting out the lamp because dawn has come. --Rabindranath Tagore
Title: Escape From the Abyss
Author: Lizzie
Pairing: Liz/Logan
Rating: Mature: Language, violence, and mild smoochies.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Roswell belongs to Jason Katims et al. X-Men belongs to Marvel et al. I don't even own the idea for this fic as it is a challenge: Crossover Challenge # 16 by Jezebel Jinx on roswellfanatics . net. Any and all medical tests, words, and techniques are not guaranteed to be in any way accurate. I’m not a doctor: Do not try this at home! I do not own iPad, Apple or have any affiliation with them. Although if I ever spontaneously go back in time to the nineties, I would sell everything I owned, and buy as much Apple stock as possible! Lol But not in this lifetime.
Additional Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. <-I like this one because it thoroughly covers my ass.
AN: Timeline: As far as X-Men goes we are between the first and the second movie. When Logan shows up we will be approximately at the beginning of the second movie, but he is going to hang around for awhile before anything from the movie happens. Also, I’m having serious detail problems. I have a writing handicap, that I try really hard to avoid, but it keeps coming back. I get bogged down in the details, and the story suffers for it. I’m working on it, so please try to bear with me. I have another 3,000 words or so written that I will be posting within the next week or two, and hopefully it will be less detail and more story oriented. Cheers!
Chapter Four: Metamorphosis
The next three days I hobbled around the mansion like a lame Donkey. I felt like a lame Donkey. My aches were getting worse instead of better, and I felt like my energy was being sucked out of me.
The weird dreams kept up, and it seemed I grew more exhausted with every one that I had. It was like when I had these dreams, it was the same as being awake. I only felt rested when I didn’t dream, or when I dreamed of normal things. The dreams only lasted half an hour tops when I had them, but it was hard to get back to sleep after them, and it was all adding up to make me exhausted.
The Green Lightning was still an issue, but it was happening less often and it was less painful. As long as I didn’t think about him, the GL was fairly tolerable.
Ms. Monroe, or ‘Storm’ as everyone else called her, set me up with classes. School was interesting to say the least. ‘Goofing off’ took on a whole new dimension when you factored in mutant powers. The classes were good, and the teachers very knowledgeable. I took a special liking to Mr. Summers and Storm and I had a feeling we could be good friends.
Mr. Summers was always willing to talk, and to help out with school work. Storm checked in with me a couple times a day and helped me with anything I needed.
Rogue and I were getting along famously. She enjoyed having a roommate to talk with, and hang out with, and so did I. We were able to talk about things we never told anyone else, and I had an instinctual feeling that I could trust her. I didn’t tell her anything abyss related, but we talked a lot about our powers. We even tried out mediating together one night.
I was determined to help her learn to control her powers. Just having someone with you to talk to, and help out makes a huge difference. I knew this because I had Grandma Claudia to help me. It wasn’t the same, for one thing Rogue had complete access to me, and for another we didn’t have to hide. I was hoping my experience would help Rogue move along faster in her progress.
We decided to try some physical forms of mediation as well. Rogue was sure either Storm or Mr. Summers could help us learn Ti Chi, and combining this with the mental mediation would help Rogue learn more about her body, and how it worked. I was hoping Ti Chi would be a start in conditioning my body for some Martial Arts training. I was sick of huddling defenseless while the bad guys wreaked havoc. I was going to train my body to be able to defend myself, or run if need be. Of course I would have to shake off the effects of the medical tests first.
The other students were curious about me, and I talked to many of them, and so far we all got along well enough. Well except with Pyro. He had some crazy notion in his head that since our roommates were dating, that we should date too. I tried to dissuade him from this ridiculous idea, but he was always hitting on me. And I was always shutting him down. I was nowhere near the place I needed to be to start dating again, and even if I was I wouldn’t date Pyro. He was cute enough, but there was something off about him that I hadn’t put my finger on yet.
I was sitting in the cafeteria at lunch on the third day, pretending to eat my food, and ignoring Pyro’s blatant flirting, when I started to get really bad GL again. The cutting twisting sensation was back. Then suddenly I blacked out. I came to in the infirmary with Dr. Grey bustling about me like an angry bee. She was whispering to herself as she thought out loud. As soon as she saw that I was awake, she started shining an unholy light in my eyes and asking me questions.
“How are you feeling? How long have you been feeling ill? Why didn’t you come to me sooner?” she said quickly.
“I feel like crap, it’s been getting worse since the tests, and I thought you said I would hurt for a few days, and then it would go away?” I slurred.
“Yes, but not this bad!” Dr. Grey exclaimed, slightly hysterical. “It should have been getting better, not worse! How long have you had a fever?”
“I have a fever?” I asked intelligently.
“Your temperature is 106° Fahrenheit!! You should be dead by now!” she cried. I had a feeling Dr. Grey wasn’t usually so caught off guard. She seemed to be the put together, cool, calm, collected sort. Funny, I didn’t feel lucky, or privileged to see her so out of control.
And my temp was 106? Geez, even I knew that was really bad. I was surprised that I hadn’t had any febrile seizures yet, even if I was way out of the normal age range when they occur. My last though was ‘IDIOT!’ before I started seizing violently.
*Dr. Grey pov*
I was beyond confused at this situation. I used sterile procedure for all of the invasive tests. Nothing had happened that would indicate a risk of infection. Yet all the tests I had run since Liz was brought down from lunch indicated a severe infection, maybe even sepsis.
How had I not seen this?! I saw her several times a day, I should have noticed something! She had been hobbling around, but I just figured it was normal pain after having both a Spinal Tap, and Bone Marrow Extraction. I had told her to come to me if she was having too much pain, and I thought she would.
What a fool I was! Since when have any of the children in this school voluntarily admitted to being sick, or hurt? They all saw having to come to me, or the Professor, for pain or illness as weakness. I couldn’t blame them. Not after everything they have seen, and experienced. They thought this world didn’t want them, and they had to remain strong to survive. Almost all of the students had severe trust issues, and I couldn’t blame them. The world was a cruel place for people like us.
I had been working on analyzing Liz’s tests during every free moment I could find, and thinking about them when I couldn’t find time to work with the data directly. Whatever was happening to Liz was strange, and unprecedented as far as I knew. It wasn’t like there was a medical journal for mutants that I could look at, and compare notes with. I had been so caught up with my research, and analyzing, that I hadn’t noticed how sick Liz was.
Then she fainted during lunch, and it became all too apparent that she was severely ill. Her white blood cell count was sky high, meaning she had a severe infection. Her red cell count, and hematocrit, were high as well, and this baffled me. She had sweat rolling off her, and her temperature was rising rapidly. When she came in 20 minutes ago it was 104, distressing enough, but it just kept getting higher. On top of everything that damned Green Lighting was flashing all over her, and making muted zapping noises.
I took her blood pressure again, and it was dangerously low. I increased the flow of her IV fluids to help bring it up. I saw her eyelids begin to flutter, and the they opened. I shined a pen light in her eyes to check her pupil reaction.
“How are you feeling? How long have you been feeling ill? Why didn’t you come to me sooner?” I asked breathlessly. Her heart rate was so fast it was almost tachycardic at this point.
I tried to get more information out of Liz, but she seemed clueless. Drunk and clueless, and if I didn’t know for a fact that she had zero alcohol or drugs in her veins I would be worried about that too.
Liz’s temperature was now 106° Fahrenheit, and I was close to panicking. I heard the door to the Infirmary whoosh open, and in rolled the Professor followed by Storm. I quickly gave the Professor all of my notes, and the test results, and as he looked them over Liz began seizing violently.
I grabbed her shoulders to hold her down. “Storm 10cc’s of Ativan stat!” I cried.
Storm rushed to the crash cart, rolled it over, and grabbed the requested drug out of the top drawer. It was in pre-filled syringes, so Storm just had to open the package and inject it into Liz’s IV. It took nearly 15 seconds for her to stop seizing. Her heart rate was still too high, and she was burning up.
Scott came rushing in next asking what he could do. While Storm and I continued to work on Liz I told him to get as many ice packs as he could and place them on Liz’s pulse points. If her temperature didn’t come down it would cause permanent brain damage, and if her heart didn’t slow down she was going to have a heart attack.
I told Storm to get another bolus of saline, and I put another large bore IV into Liz. I put it in the arm opposite the one that already had an IV, and started the saline flow as fast as it could safely go. Scott had gotten the ice, and Liz had bags of it nestled around her neck, her armpits, her inner thighs, and behind her knees. I then had Scott just tuck some more in around her, and told him to replace the bags as they melted.
“Let’s start her on IV Antibiotics Jean,” said Professor Xavier. “The strongest we’ve got. And lets give her banana bags for her next boluses when the saline runs out, I think she could use the electrolytes.”
“Yes, Professor,” I said. I was feeling a lot better now that he was here with us. With his strength in the room with me, I was able to pull myself together, and start working the problem out.
“I wonder,” Professor Xavier whispered. “Ororo, let’s set her up for an EEG. I have a feeling some of this is originating in her brain.”
I was pretty much out of ideas, so we set up the scan quickly. The readings were phenomenal. I had never seen anything like this. Her brain was functioning at nearly 30%, three times the norm. Neurons were firing frantically, and randomly. It’s like her brain was in overload.
Her seizures continued on and off for the next several hours, and her heart rate and temperature slowly began to fall. The GL became less bright, and the sounds stopped. We administered a strong sedative to try and block some of the over activity in her brain, and gave her massive doses of potassium and electrolytes, as she was burning through them faster than her body or the rest of us could replenish them with saline or banana bags.
Her whole system was on overdrive. We just had to do our best to counter the harmful effects on her body, and wait until it stopped.
*
It took 9 hours for Liz to stabilize. I took turns with the Professor overseeing her care, and getting a bit of rest. Finally, about an hour after I had gotten back to the infirmary from getting a nap, food, and a shower, Liz stabilized. Her temp was 99°, her heart rate 102, and her blood pressure was back in normal parameters.
Liz woke up 90 minuets later.
*
(Liz pov)
It was dark where I was. It was hot, and I was dizzy. My whole being throbbed with pain. I tried to pull away from it. The pain, and the nausea. I concentrated on that place I went to when I meditated.
I found myself floating in the black expanse of my mind. I was sitting in the lotus position, with my legs crossed, and my hands on my knees. I had pulled my whole consciousness away from my body, and into this little black void. I would wait here, until I felt it was safe enough to return.
I don’t remember what happened that had caused me to come here. I didn’t know what was happening to me. I would wait here, and rest. Think for a while. It was nice and quite here.
What seemed like hours later, though it could have been seconds or days: I had lost all perception of time, I heard a quite voice start chanting in the distance. It was musical, and beautiful. Not English. What was it? The voice was female. Young. Around my age most likely. Soft, and lyrical. Familiar. It slowly started to get louder.
I began to recognize some of the words.
… ‘Earth’…
… ‘Goddess’…
… ‘warrior’…
… ‘three’…
...’destruction’ or maybe ‘the ending’…
… ‘Mate’… ?!
… ‘Destiny’…
Oh, hell no! Lets just stop right there! I don’t do ‘Destiny’ or ‘Fate.’ I left that shit behind in Roswell! And ‘Mate’?! Whatever! Not gonna happen!
“You hear that brain!” I shouted into the darkness. “Next channel please! No more of this cryptic ‘Destiny’ crap!” I continued. I put a special emphasis on ‘Destiny’ just to get my point across.
I blinked. Well that wasn’t good. You know what they say: “You don’t have to worry about talking to yourself, it’s when you start answering back that you have a problem.” Or something similar. What does arguing with yourself mean?
I felt myself being pulled toward something. An image in my mind. It was blurry, and too bright.
I began to smell something. It smelled like pine. Tree sap. Spices. Sandalwood. I began to hear voices, laughing. I blinked, and it was like my eyes came into focus, and I was slammed back into my body again. But this wasn’t my body. A body. But it was familiar. I felt like I was in one of those weird dreams again. But more. Closer.
I was running through thick woods. I was so happy. My breath puffed out in white clouds around me, as I dodged through the trees. I knew I wouldn’t get away. I never did.
All of the sudden I was tackled to the ground. We wrestled in the bracken for a minute until I was finally pinned beneath a masculine body.
I noticed that I had a rip in my jeans. “James,” I called joyfully, unable to control my giggles. “We’ve ruined another pair of my jeans!”
“We haven’t even started to ruin your jeans yet, darlin’” drawled a husky voice. There was a loud ‘RIIIIP’ and now it seemed my jeans really were ruined. He started to kiss me hungrily, and everything slowly started to fade out again.
*
I came back to myself slowly. My mouth felt cracked and dry. I had a killer headache. I felt a hard surface beneath me. I smelled alcohol and other sterile cleaners.
I heard a voice. “Liz,” it said softly. “Wake up, sweetie. It’s Dr. Grey.”
I hhmmmd in annoyance. The lights were too bright, they hurt my head, and I was thirsty. Through my eyelids I saw the lights dim, and I felt the head of my bed go up.
“Liz,” that sounded like Storm. “Open your eyes, and take a drink of this ice water.”
Ice water? Yes please! With extreme effort I blinked open my eyes. Storm was there on my left holding a cup with a straw sticking out of the top. I tried to sit up, or move my arms to hold the cup, but I was just too exhausted to move much at all. All I could muster was a small pursing of my lips, a lip pucker aimed at the straw as if to close the distance.
Storm let out a light laugh, and brought the straw to my lips. I sucked, and sweet merciful heavens! That was the stuff. The ice cold water flowed down my throat, and soothed the burning and scratchy feeling.
“What happened?” I whispered softly. My throat felt like I had swallowed glass, and it hurt to talk.
“We’re not sure yet,” came the voice of Dr. Grey to my right. I tried to move my head so I could see her. It took way more effort that it should have. “Professor Xavier and I are working on trying to piece together what happened. Until we have more information on your condition, I’m going to have you stay here in the infirmary. I want you to rest and get your strength back okay Liz?”
I swallowed, “I don’t want to be here.” I whispered. There was too much pleading and weakness in my voice for my tastes.
“I know sweetie,” came Storms voice from the other side of the bed. “We’ll get you out of here as soon as possible.”
Dr. Grey picked up an iPad, and started making notations with a stylus. “Is there anything you can think to tell me Liz? Anything different in the last couple of weeks that you failed to mention?”
I thought on that. The only thing I could come up with was the dreams. “I’ve been having really weird dreams,” I murmured. “They’re really realistic, and very tiring. I have a hard time sleeping as it is, but these dreams interfere with my rest more than they logically should.”
“Hmm,” said Dr. Grey. “I don’t know if that helps, but I’ll put a note in your file all the same.” Dr. Grey scribbled some more on her iPad. I narrowed my eyes at the computer. Dr. Grey saw this and explained hurriedly. “This iPad is set aside for your records only. It’s not internet capable, we don’t hook it up to anything, it’s not networked, and it has extensive security and fire walls as well as a self destruct program built in. No one will get the information on here, other than me and the Professor.” Dr. Grey said confidently.
I nodded. My eyes began to droop. “Here, Liz,” said Storm. “Have another drink, and then I’ll lower the bed and you can rest.”
She brought the straw back to my lips, and I took several small sips. She then lowered the bed. Dr. Grey had left the room murmuring to the iPad as she worked. I looked at Storm with scared eyes. “Will you stay with me?” I pleaded.
Storm smiled softly at me. “Of coarse, dear.”
I closed my eyes, and drifted off again.
Anything done out of love, is beyond good and evil.- Nietzsche
We have art so that we may not die of reality. – Nietzsche
It is better to die on your feet, than live on your knees.-Emiliano Zapata
Death is not extinguishing the light; it is putting out the lamp because dawn has come. --Rabindranath Tagore
Title: Escape From the Abyss
Author: Lizzie
Pairing: Liz/Logan
Rating: Mature: Language, violence, and mild smoochies. Here is where the language warning comes in. There is a very bad word in this chapter, one that I have never even spoken out loud, but I couldn't find a satisfactory replacement. You are warned.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Roswell belongs to Jason Katims et al. X-Men belongs to Marvel et al. I don't even own the idea for this fic as it is a challenge: Crossover Challenge # 16 by Jezebel Jinx on roswellfanatics . net.
Additional Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. I like this one because it thoroughly covers my ass.
AN: Timeline: As far as X-Men goes we are between the first and the second movie. When Logan shows up we will be approximately at the beginning of the second movie, but he is going to hang around for awhile before anything from the movie happens. Cheers!
Chapter 5: The Big Splash
(Liz pov)
I was stuck in the infirmary for five days. I was allowed some visitors, and Rogue came down to visit several times a day. She was very worried about me, and missed my company. Storm brought me my school work, and I finished it fairly quickly. It was extremely boring in the infirmary, and I was glad for the busy work.
On the fifth day Dr. Grey and Professor Xavier agreed that I could move back up to my room, as long as I took it easy. I hadn’t had any more symptoms, and I was recovering nicely. I was still very tired, but that was to be expected. I hadn’t had any of the dreams while I was in the infirmary, so it came as a great surprise to be pulled into one the night I returned to my room.
This dream I didn’t remember. All I could tell you about it is that I woke up screaming and crying, feeling like my heart had been ripped in two. After I finally caught my breath I looked around to find Rogue stuck to the wall above the couch next to the door. She looked like she had gotten caught in fly paper. “Rogue?” I asked. “What the hell?”
She looked at me with wide eyes. “I just tried to wake you up from your nightmare,” she said in her soft southern accent. “I shook your shoulder, and the next thing I know, I’m slamming into the wall.”
In a flash I realized that I must be pinning her to the wall with some power or other. As soon as I realized this, I blinked, and Rogue fell to the couch below her with an audible “Oomph!”
I got out of my bed as quickly as I could and hobbled over to Rogue. “I’m so sorry! Are you okay?” She righted herself on the couch, then stood up.
“I’m fine,” she said. “I should know better than to try to wake someone up from a nightmare by touching them by now.” I raised an eyebrow. “Long story. I’ll tell you later.” Rogue said. I nodded.
Rogue sighed and sat on her bed. “From now on I’ll just chuck couch pillows, or random objects at you from across the room. Then hopefully I’ll be out of the line of fire.”
I giggled at this. “Just try not to throw anything too heavy.” I said. I took a deep breath. “Thank you for waking me up Rogue. I don’t remember what the dream was about, but I know it was something awful.”
“Sure thing, Sug. What are friends for?” said Rogue. We smiled at each other dopily, and cuddled back down in our beds to sleep.
+
A few days later I walked into Professor Xavier’s office for a meeting with him and Dr. Grey. We were going to discuss my test results, and the working theory they had come up with to explain what was happening to me.
After this latest incident, seeing as how Dr. Grey was the main one treating me, Professor X had gotten my permission to work with her on my case. After being under her care, I was starting to like her a bit more. There was still that niggling doubt in the back of my mind that said she couldn’t be trusted, but she hadn’t given me a reason to doubt her so far.
The three of us settled in for the meeting. “Liz,” Professor Xavier began. “While we have reached some conclusions regarding your condition, I must say that we have never seen anything like it. Neither have we found anything similar in our research. For now, we are going to go by what we know, the laws of medicine and physics, to figure out a way for you to cope with these changes.”
“Liz,” Dr. Grey took over. “While your genetic markers initially showed the X-gene with the variations in the DNA that would lead to a Psy class mutation, the latest results were significantly altered. The magnitude of your mutation has increased, and there are now genetic markers indicative of a low level feral mutation. You can expect to see additional powers begin to manifest. Better senses: hearing, sight, smell. Increased strength, agility, and speed. Also a healing factor component may manifest. The genetic testing shows these additions to be weak, so they shouldn’t effect you too much.”
I sat there biting my bottom lip to keep from laughing hysterically. Feral? Seriously? Unbelievable. I looked at the ceiling. “Well, Fuck you too universe!” I thought at it strongly. I saw the Professors’ eyebrows raise in censure. “Sorry Professor.” I said. “Please continue. I feel we should get it all out in the open before I start to asks questions or react. Otherwise I’m libel to lose it early and ruin the meeting.”
The corner of Professor Xavier’s mouth quirked up softly. “Very well.” He said. “The other major find, out of the multitude of test we ran, is that your brain is working above normal parameters. You are using nearly 20% of your brain, which is one of those things that is unheard of.”
I sat there shocked. Naesedo had said something about their powers being human. How their powers were just a leap foreword in evolution, and that someday humans would evolve to that point also. Since humans only normally use 10% of their brain, it would make sense that the Pod Squad’s brain’s were more active. Too bad she had never seen an EEG taken from one of them. The results could be very enlightening.
Dr. Grey spoke next, “It is theorized that humans will eventually evolve to the point of using more than 10% of their brain. Some people believe this will unlock the potential for powers in humans. Which is ironic seeing as how we are the next step in evolution, and we have powers, and it is the X-gene and not more active brain’s that cause this. Of course we have to take into account that every mutation is different, and some mutations may well tap into the unused potential of the brain.” She took a breath and looked to the professor. He nodded for her to continue.
“We believe that whatever you encountered jump started the evolutionary process in your DNA. Since you are a mutant, your mutant gene is pushing forward, and you are gaining new types of mutations. Your brain is the other thing that is evolving. In the natural world the size of the brain has made the difference in who is at the top of the food chain, as it were. The size and functionality of the brain is a distinct evolutionary marker in the progress of a species.
“We don’t know how far you are going to evolve, or even how far you can evolve before problems arise. It seems that these changes and mutations happen when you have one of these episodes. You had one before you got here, and our initial tests showed anomalies that we wouldn’t expect to find in a mutant. This latest episode altered you even more, but outside of these episodes you are perfectly healthy and stable. We can’t predict what another episode would do to you, and we’re hoping to come up with a way to stop them from happening again.”
I sat in silence for a minute, absorbing this information. I thought I was a freak before? Now I was like the Queen of Freaks and Freakiness. How was I supposed to deal with new mutations popping out of the woodwork all the time? I wouldn’t even have time to get used to one before another popped up. That is if I kept having these ‘episodes.’ Looking down at my hand, I saw a few streaks of Green Lightning. It would be best to assume it would happen again, and plan accordingly.
And I didn’t even know where to start on this brain thing. If I classified it as a ‘Czechoslovakian’ problem, then that meant I was turning into to one of them on top of the problems with my mutation. If I developed the powers they had, they would be coming from a different place. And how many would I get? When you added together all of the different powers the Pod Squad had, and then all the different kind of mutations out there, I was looking at serious issues here. Getting a couple new powers might be useful, and even cool. But how many could I get before I went insane?
I turned to look at the professor. “We have to find a way to stop this.” I pleaded. “There will be nothing left of me if this goes too far.” Even though Dr. Grey and Professor Xavier thought all this was to do with her mutation, and had no clue about the other factor, the results were the same. Developing too many powers, maybe even some opposing powers, would end up destroying me.
Professor X, as I learned some of the students called him, rolled out from behind his desk, and steered his chair over next to mine. He put a gentle hand on my shoulder, and looked at me earnestly. “We will do everything we can to help you, Elizabeth. You have my word.” He said.
“Thank you, Professor.” I said.
“Now then,” said Professor X. “I believe it’s time for supper, and Rogue is very eager to see you.” He backed up his char and motioned to the door. I stood, and nodded to them both, before heading out to dinner.
+
(Xavier pov)
I watched as Liz left my office, and waited until I was sure she was out of hearing range. “Jean,” I said worriedly. “I don’t know why exactly, maybe it’s the fact that some form of radiation caused both Liz and Senator Kelly’s uncontrolled mutations, but I keep seeing the last moments of his life. You know Storm shared the memory with me? It was as if his body came undone. Like it was reduced to it’s base components, and lost molecular cohesion. I fear the same thing could happen to Miss Parker if we don’t find some way to stop this. The human body, or mutant body as the case may be, is not meant to be able to adapt to such drastic physical and genetic changes. And especially not all in such a short period of time.”
“I know Charles,” said Jean. “We’ll figure it out. We’ll do everything in our power to help her.”
But will it be enough? I thought. Only time would tell.
+
(Liz pov)
One week later.
I lay on a lounge chair next to the gargantuan pool in the back of the mansion. Rogue had finally convinced me to have a ‘pool day.’ I was glad that she did. It was beautiful out. The sun was shining down on us warming our skin as we lounged side by side. There was a little metal table in between our chairs with two glasses of iced down lemonade. We had fashionable sunglasses on, and were slathered in sun block. I had stolen some gloves from the infirmary, so I could get lotion on Rogue’s back for her, and so she could do mine. We weren’t laying out to tan, especially since we would both burn horribly. People as pale as us didn’t tan. We were just enjoying the relaxing warmth of the sunshine.
Everyone else out today had either found something else to do, or were on the far side of the pool, and giving us a wide berth. We were both in bikini’s you see. Normally this wouldn’t repel people, but apparently the sight of so much of Rogue’s skin on display was as good as a twelve foot neon flashing ‘Danger Biohazard’ sign hung over our heads. Even Ice Man and Pyro had made themselves scarce on what was a prime ogling opportunity. I had a feeling they were out there somewhere, in the trees, maybe at a window in the mansion, with binoculars and leers out in full force.
I didn’t know what Rogue saw in Bobby. He seemed bland to me. Flavorless like a piece of gum you chewed too long. He was just there, nothing about him drew me in. He was nice, and a good friend, but I wouldn’t want him for a boyfriend. Maybe I was prejudiced since Max had been such a boy scout goody goody himself. Sure he seems sweet and caring, but he was a teenage boy. Like Max, if he wasn’t getting it from his girlfriend I had a feeling he was getting it somewhere else. Or maybe it was just how boring Bobby seemed to me that made me disregard him as boyfriend material. Rogue said she liked him in part because he was brave enough to be her boyfriend. Everyone else shied away from her like she was a leper. She had told me the story behind why she should have known not to wake me up from a nightmare like that, so I couldn’t blame them. Too much at least. You would think that after awhile they would get used to her, and be more polite. After all they weren’t at this school because they were all John and Jane Normal.
Of course I had discussed my feelings on Bobby with Rogue. That was the kind of friends we were. We didn’t sugar coat things, and we gave each other our honest opinions. Alex was the only one I had this sort of relationship with before. I missed him terribly. I always had to be careful around Maria, because certain things just set her off, and not in a good way. To preserve my ability to hear I had to edit some things out of our conversations.
While it was a relief to speak so frankly with Rogue, it was also difficult to lie to her about some things. We had finally come to an agreement that anything we didn’t want to tell the other, or couldn’t tell the other, we would just say ‘That’s one of those things,’ and move on. The other person didn’t learn those things they shouldn’t, or things that were dangerous, and we didn’t lie to each other.
I was just about dying to tell Rogue about the abyss though. Just to have someone to talk to about it.
I reached out for my glass of lemonade, and took a sip through the pink twisty straw. Hmm. That’s the stuff.
“Enjoying your drink there Liz?” Rogue’s amused voice floated over the space between us.
I turned to her and raised an eyebrow in question.
“You have a blissed out expression on your face, and you were moanin,’ Sug.” She said.
I blushed. “It’s just nice to relax that’s all,” I replied.
“Amen, sister!” she said. We giggled, and I put my drink back down.
I breathed in deeply, and the smell of coconut oil, and suntan lotion was heavy in the air. I could also vaguely smell fresh cut grass, and pine sap. I could hear the mower going all the way out in the front yard, and the woods were about 500 yards from where we were laying. Well damn! Here come those feral senses Professor Xavier and Dr. Grey were talking about.
I blinked and turned my head towards the mansion. There was a reflection off of something in the third floor window closest to the pool. I squinted. My eyes focused rapidly, like a good telephoto lens on a camera. It made me dizzy, and I had to close my eyes for a moment before opening them and trying again. Sure enough there was a large telescope pointing out the window, and the end of it was moving around like there was a fight going on. I closed my eyes and focused my ears in the same direction.
“Dammit, Pyro! It’s my turn! Give over!” I heard from whom I thought must be Bobby.
“Chill out Ice Man! You’ll get your turn in a minute!” came Pyro’s witty reply.
There were some banging sounds, and the noise of moving fabric, followed by various grunts and curses. Then there was the sound of whooshing air, and a loud CRASH! I turned to look. The telescope had fallen to it’s death. As I looked closer at it I noticed it was the one from Professor Xavier’s office. That thing had to of cost thousands of dollars. Those boys were in deep shit.
“Robert Drake, St. John Allerdyce?! What are you boys doin’ hanging out the window with the Professor’s telescope?!” raged Rogue, jumping up from her lounge chair, and spinning in the direction of the mansion. “You better not be Peepin’ Tom! If you wanna’ look at us girls then put on some swimsuits, get yer asses down here an’ look! Don’t skulk around like a couple of lowlife cowardly perves! Getting’ what you want a look at from the shadows, without payin’ us our due in return!” she screamed at them. I was standing next to her now with my arms folded, and a glare on my face. We saw them step back from the window and take off into the mansion.
“Yeah, you better run,” I called after them. “If we catch you before the staff there will be hell to pay!” We continued standing there for a minute. We looked at each other, shook our heads and went back to our lounge chairs. “That should keep them busy for awhile. No need to waste energy chasing them, when we could be out here relaxing.”
“That’s right Liz,” said Rogue. “Let those fool boys chase their tails for awhile, burn off some of that stupid from their brains.” Her southern accent came out more when she was relaxed. Also when she was mad. Huh, maybe just when she was emotional?
“Rogue?” I asked. She hmmmd at me. “What did you mean by ‘our due in return?’”
She chuckled. “If they’re gonna ogle us in our bikini’s, we should get to ogle them in their swim trunks. It’s the rules of the beach, and only fair.”
“True that.” I said back with a chuckle of my own. “Swim?” I asked.
“Sure!” said Rogue.
We set down our sunglasses on our little table, and jumped into the pool. We swam around, and goofed off for awhile. We were careful not to get too close, and avoid skin contact. But we could still splash at each other and have a good time.
After half an hour we decided to get out, dry off, and put on another layer of sun screen. Hard learned fact: Even if your sun block is water proof, in order to avoid a sunburn, you must re-apply after toweling off. I got the sunburn from Hell when my family went to a lake when I was six, and I eventually figured out that this was the reason behind it. All I can say is: Never Again. Rogue laughed good naturedly with me as I told her this when we were drying off.
A girl I didn’t know walked up to me and Rogue. She had white blond hair, cropped close to her head, and watery grey eyes. I looked at Rogue questioningly. She shrugged. She didn’t know her either.
“You know,” the strange girl began. “You shouldn’t run around in a bikini Rogue. Not only are you putting the rest of us in danger, but your pudge is hanging out.” She finished meanly.
Rogue looked taken aback. She looked down to her perfectly toned stomach. True she wasn’t stick thin like an anorexic supermodel, but there was no ‘pudge’ anywhere on her body.
“I’d watch myself if I were you Rosemary,” I said. I had finally remembered what the cut of her hair reminded me of. It was just like Mia Farrow’s in ‘Rosemary’s Baby.’ “I tend to do strange things when you piss me off.” I finished.
‘Rosemary’ scoffed. “Whatever! I don’t know why you hang out with her anyway! She’s just a dumb attempted murderer! I bet you didn’t know that before you agreed to room with her did you?! She’s almost killed someone. Twice! The same person! And now you follow this loser around like a lost puppy! It makes me wonder if there is more to it. You’re girlfriends aren’t you? Just a couple of dykes contaminating this school by your mere presence.”
Green Lightning had started to spark along my skin. Even though I was as straight as the day is long, I could not abide by someone using such derogatory words about anyone. It brought all of us down closer to the muck whenever anyone used such filthy words. Who was this bitch to judge people who were different anyways? She was so obviously a mutant, after all. I tried to take deep breaths to calm myself down before I had another episode.
Rogue noticed me struggling, and stepped forward. “So what if we are bitch?” she said derisively. Nice tack Rogue. Turn the insult around, acknowledge it and apply it to yourself, and you take away it’s power. “Liz is my soul mate, and I don’t care who knows. I’ll scream it from the rooftops if you want me to!” Rogue dramatically threw her arms wide and tipped her head back to yell at the sky. “I love Elizabeth Parker! We’re lovers! She does things to me that are so pleasurable that I cannot even explain! She makes my heart sing, and my soul dance in fields of poppies!” here I had to snort. Could souls really do that? Rogue was slowly twirling as she professed her undying love, and praised my sexual prowess. But it did the trick, I burst out laughing as the anger melted away to nothing. The GL slowly faded away, and I was in control of myself once more.
“Rogue is my bitch, and I’m sticking by her. So, I would get my homophobic ineffectual ass out of here if I were you.” I said stepping between Rogue and the interloper.
‘Rosemary’s’ face was a bright mottled red by this point. “If you love Rogue so much why don’t you touch her!” she snarled. Then before Rogue or I could do anything, Rosemary charged at me like a linebacker, and tackled me toward the pool. It seemed like slow motion. The crazy bitch’s shoulder rammed into my stomach making the air whoosh out of me. She kept pushing me and running until I ran into Rogue, and then she pushed us both into the pool. I felt a strong burning sensation, and then the cold of the water as it closed over us. Then everything went dark.
Anything done out of love, is beyond good and evil.- Nietzsche
We have art so that we may not die of reality. – Nietzsche
It is better to die on your feet, than live on your knees.-Emiliano Zapata
Death is not extinguishing the light; it is putting out the lamp because dawn has come. --Rabindranath Tagore
Title: Escape From the Abyss
Author: Lizzie on roswellfanatics . net
Pairing: Liz/Logan
Rating: Mature: Language, violence, and mild smoochies.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Roswell belongs to Jason Katims et al. X-Men belongs to Marvel et al. I don't even own the idea for this fic as it is a challenge: Crossover Challenge # 16 by Jezebel Jinx on roswellfanatics . net.
Additional Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. I like this one because it thoroughly covers my ass.
AN: Timeline: As far as X-Men goes we are between the first and the second movie. When Logan shows up we will be approximately at the beginning of the second movie, but he is going to hang around for awhile before anything from the movie happens. Cheers!
Chapter 6: The Ghost Roads
+
(Rogue pov)
The second Liz’s skin touched me I felt my power start working. In the fraction of a second that it took us to hit the water, I could already feel parts of Liz inside my mind. I was getting knowledge, these flashes of her life. I couldn’t make any of them out, but I knew from experience that later my mind would process all the information it had gathered, and I would see it all in nauseating detail.
We hit the water and I felt it close over me, and then after Liz was fully submerged, we sank to the bottom of the pool. We were pushed in at what I knew was around the 4 foot deep area of the pool. Liz was pressed to me, her back to my front, and her weight was pushing me down as my power sucked the life out of her. I tried to push her off of me as quickly as I could. It was harder than it should have been with the water’s weight and influence adding to my power’s natural tendency to stick once contact was made.
I finally got her off of me, and then realized she was unconscious. Shit! She was drowning! I had to get her out of the pool. All of this was happening so quickly that I still had breath, and hadn’t had to surface yet. I reached toward her then jerked to a stop. If I touched her again I could kill her. I needed something to put between our skin! I looked down. All I had was my bikini. Both of our bikini’s were fairly modest, and as such had more material for me to work with.
I needed a breath. I pushed off the bottom and gasped in a breath of air. I was able to stand there for a moment, with my head above water, and unhook my top. Thank goodness it hooked in the front. It was faster to get off, and there would be enough slack between the cups for me to move my hands almost two feet apart. I put my hands inside the cups, gripping the material between my fingers, took another breath and dove back down to Liz.
Again this had only taken seconds. Liz couldn’t have been under more than 15 seconds total, but I had to get her out now. I swam to her head and got behind her to lift up her shoulders. When I had enough room I slipped my hands under her arm pits, and pulled hard while pushing off the bottom. I gasped for air when I broke the surface, and tried to lift Liz’s head above the water. The angle was all wrong, but instead of loosening, or changing my grip I started to move us as fast as I could toward to shallow end. With me pulling her backwards by her armpits I was able to get her face out of the water.
I was trying to use the water to help our progress towards the stairs. The stairs were the only way to get Liz out without touching her. If I could jump out at the side, and pull her up after me it would be faster, but there was no way I could do that with out my body touching hers. I would back up the stairs pulling her after me, and keep moving till she was out of the water. I needed help. I might be able to do chest compressions, but not mouth to mouth. Puffing air into her lungs with the force needed would be impossible through the material of my swimsuit. Didn’t mean I wouldn’t try it if I had to though.
I heard people from the deck on the other side of the pool screaming for help. Good. I didn’t have the breath to do that and get Liz out of the water as quickly as possible. I looked quickly back to where we had left ‘Rosemary’ at the side of the pool. She wasn’t there. I didn’t see her anywhere. I noticed it was only the girls in the other group by the pool that were calling for help. The boys had their eyes locked like laser beams on my chest. Yes, I knew I was topless. No, I didn’t really care. I’m sure I would later, but it just didn’t matter right now.
I had gotten up the stairs, and was pulling Liz out of the pool now. The girls continued to scream for help, but didn’t move in our direction. If Liz died because they were too chicken shit to come help us because of my mutation, I would kill them. I finally got Liz so that most of her was out of the pool on solid ground. I left her legs in the water from the knee down. I didn’t have the time or the energy to haul her out of the water any further.
I pulled my swimsuit covered hands from her armpits, and lifted her onto her side. I kept one hand holding her up, and used the other to hit her in the back between her shoulder blades as hard as I could several times. I saw water running sluggishly out of her mouth and nose. I turned her so she was flat on her back again, and tried to find where to do compressions. When I felt I had found the approximate area, I put my covered hands one on top of the other, put my body weight over my arms, and pushed as hard as I could. I heard running footsteps, but I kept pushing on Liz’s chest hard and fast.
It was Storm. She ran past me and skidded to a stop on the other side of Liz then dropped to her knees. She tilted Liz’s head back, and plugged her nose. I stopped pumping and said “Breathe!” Storm put her lips to Liz’s and breathed hard and fast three times then pulled back. I started compressions again.
I heard someone drop to their knees behind me. As soon as it was time for another breath from Storm, Dr. Grey shouted “Switch!”
I jumped to my feet, and to the side, and Dr. Grey set down her emergency bag and took over the compressions. I was breathing heavily, and noticed I was still topless as I saw Cyclops running towards us. I hastily crossed my arms over my chest.
“What happened?” cried Dr. Grey breathlessly.
“We were gettin’ out of the pool, and this chick came up, neither of us had ever seen her before. She started talkin’ trash, and Liz was defendin' me, and she got upset and there was that Green Lightenin’ stuff startin’ up. So I goofed off to get her laughin’ and it worked, and then the chick got really pissed and tackled Liz into the pool! But I was standin’ behind her, and Liz hit me an’ we both went in! I don’ know how the chick didn’t fall in after us, but I was touchin’ Liz! And we were under water! An’ she was on top of me and I had to get her off, an’ there wasn’t no one else there to help Liz! So I took off my top and used it to grab ‘er under her armpits and pull ‘er over to the stairs and outta the pool! Those assholes over there were callin’ for help but they weren’t givin us none! Then I turned Liz on ‘er side and hit her back, and some water came out, but not enough. So I started CPR hopin’ that someone would get here to help with the breathin’ cause I didn’t know how I was gonna do it with out touchin' her skin! Then Storm came, an’ then y’all got here, an’ thas it!” I cried in one long babble, without taking a single breath. I noticed I had removed one of my arms from my chest and flung it out to point across the pool to emphasize who ‘those assholes’ were, and I quickly snatched it back. I gasped for air as I watched them work on Liz.
They were still doing CPR, and Dr. Grey hadn’t gotten anything out of her bag yet. Suddenly, Liz jackknifed into a sitting position and continued forward until she was folded in half. She was coughing and spluttering, and I had never heard a more beautiful sound in my whole life.
+
(Liz pov) Liz walked slowly forward through a grey mist. There wasn’t anything around her, in any direction. She spun as she walked, and confirmed that she was alone in the middle of nowhere. She couldn’t even see the ground beneath her feet.
“Hello?” she called into the void. Liz looked down at herself, and saw she was wearing a floaty gauzy white gown. The stereotypical uniform of a person having a near death experience.
Liz started. What was happening to her? Where was she? She had a sudden flash of memory. A girl running at her, and tackling her hard. But, she hadn’t hit the ground. She had hit something hot. It had stung. And then she had been enveloped in cool water.
Was she dead? After everything she had lived through, was this the end? Was this how she would die? Drowning? How tedious, and ignoble! She thought she would at least go out fighting!
A light chuckle was heard drifting on the wind toward her. Liz turned towards it.
“No, my dear,” said a soft voice, as a beautiful woman stepped out of the fog and into Liz’s line of sight. “You are not dead. You are meant for greater things than drowning in a swimming pool.”
The woman seemed familiar, but Liz couldn’t quite put her finger on where she knew her from. “Do I know you?” she asked.
“Of course, my child,” said she. The woman flickered out for half a second, and Liz saw her Grandmother Claudia flicker into existence, and then another flicker and the woman was back. Liz knew her now. She remembered seeing a black and white photograph of this woman at her Grandmother’s house. It was her Grandmother’s wedding photo.
“Grams?” Liz gasped, her heart in her throat.
The beautiful woman opened her arms to Liz. “Yes, my Lizzie,” she said. “It is me.”
Without any further hesitation, Liz ran full out into the woman’s arms. They embraced tightly, squeezing each other as hard as possible, the pain of their prior separation fading. They both had tears running in crystal rivers down their faces.
“How are you here?” asked Liz, still clinging to the woman.
“It was not easy, but I need to speak with you urgently,” said Claudia. “I don’t have much time here, Lizzie, so you must listen.”
Liz pulled back, and looked into her Grandmother’s young face. Claudia had always been beautiful, but seeing her like this, with her youth restored to her, Liz was struck by her incredible beauty. It wasn’t even just what she saw with her eyes. She could feel her, in her heart, and the joy radiating from her was astounding.
“I’m listening Grams,” Liz told her, trying to focus.
“You have a hard road ahead of you,” started Claudia. “It will not be easy, but you must persevere. Everything depends on you. You must find the weapon, and use it! If you do not, your world will fall to ruin and darkness, and the Earth shall never recover!”
“Weapon?” asked Liz bewildered. “I don’t understand?”
“I know you don’t, child,” said Claudia. “Not yet, but you will! Trust your dreams! Remember them, write them in your journal! You must remember every life that has come before this one, and then you must find the prophecy! The stone tablet was hidden long ago, but it was you who hid it! The time has come to find it again, before those who wish destruction on you and your world get there first!”
Liz blinked up at Claudia in utter consternation. Claudia grabbed Liz’s shoulders firmly, and shook her for emphasis. “Listen to me child!” Claudia hissed urgently. “Your dreams are the key! Study them! Find what is hidden within! You must find the prophesy, and fulfill it! If you do not darkness will fall, on this and all other worlds. Everything that is just, everyone who is good, the entire universe will fall if you do not do what you were always meant to!”
“Are you telling me I have a destiny?!” shouted Liz. “Fate has never done anything for me! Why should I yield to destiny, after everything destiny has done to me?!”
“Listen to me!” Claudia exclaimed urgently. “I know about the Royal Four, and what happened to you! But that was not destiny or fate! That was political maneuvering, and intrigue! Those four children are not Royal, they never were! Until they claim their responsibilities, and re-claim who they were before, they are just as common as the other 6 plus billion people on this planet!
“You are special! You have a destiny so far above and beyond anything that fool boy, Max, can claim! That your soul was born into my family is the greatest honor there is for me. You have been before this life, and you will be forever! After the Antarian Empire is dust, you will still exist, and you will still be better than any King or Queen that ever was!
“Your soul has lived before, and it will live again, and again until the end of time. You are strong, and you must fight! You must find the prophesy before it is too late!”
“Why?” demanded Liz. “Why should I do anything for the Universe, after everything the Universe has done to me?”
“Stop being so petulant, Elizabeth!” said Claudia. “It is time to grow up, and take control of your life! And this isn’t just about you, it is about everyone, and everything! Besides, you have had it much worse before! Write down your dreams, and learn from them! See what you have overcome in your past, and stop whining about your lot in this life!”
Liz was unsure what to make of all of this. It was very confusing. But she had always trusted her Grandmother in life, why should she stop now? She knew that while everything she had been through was bad, that others have had it so much worse. Just in this school there were people who had been to hell and back. She needed to pull herself together, and stop the self pity party.
Suddenly, the ground they were standing on jolted. They reached out to each other to regain their balance.
“I must go now, Lizzie,” said Claudia. “I love you! Be strong! I will be watching over you, and dong what I can from this side of the veil. Remember! Study your dreams!”
Claudia pulled Liz into another strong embrace. “No,” Liz cried. “Don’t leave me!”
“I must my dear one,” Claudia whispered.
“I miss you, and I love you so much Grandma!” Liz gasped. Claudia just hummed her understanding. Slowly, Liz began to feel her grandmother fading. Before long she was alone again. Standing in a field of grey mist.
+
(Liz pov)
I came awake as I jacknifed in half. I was coughing in great hacks, and water was spewing from my mouth.
+
Last edited by Lizzie on Thu Dec 01, 2011 4:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Anything done out of love, is beyond good and evil.- Nietzsche
We have art so that we may not die of reality. – Nietzsche
It is better to die on your feet, than live on your knees.-Emiliano Zapata
Death is not extinguishing the light; it is putting out the lamp because dawn has come. --Rabindranath Tagore
