Chapter Five
After dinner one day, Storm walked onto the bridge, a steaming cup of tea in her hands. She was to relieve Forge of his shift and to work into the night.
“How does it look?” she asked him. He continued to mull over the computer.
Forge rubbed his eyes. “At this point, Storm, I think I need to get some rest. I’ve been analyzing and diagnosing for hours and I can’t pinpoint the problem. Maybe I need to approach it with a clear head”.
“That is a very sound approach,” Storm responded, settling down into one of the chairs.
She expected Forge to rise from his own chair, but instead he swiveled it towards her. “I’ve wanted to ask you a question, Storm,” he began, taking on a serious tone.
Storm took a sip of her tea. She had an idea about the nature of his question and nodded for him to continue.
“I would really like to get to know you better. As a person, not just as a teammate and as our co-leader. Would you be interested in perhaps having dinner with me…maybe alone, in one of our quarters together? I guess what I am trying to ask you for is a date “ though our options for dating locations are pretty limited here,” he said, with a laugh.
She laughed along with him, knowing it came out forced. “You’re right “ it certainly seems like the traditional options of movie and dinner or a night on the town aren’t available to us now”. She then continued, “Forge, I am very flattered and I cannot think of the right way to say this. But I like our friendship and I would like to keep our relationship the way it is. I sincerely thank you for the offer even though I must turn it down”.
Storm had been mentally toying with a few such replies as she suspected Forge’s question would be asked sooner or later. She hoped that her words did not sound too rehearsed and came across as sincere.
Forge nodded. “I understand”.
And then it was very awkward. Storm managed, “Thank you for your understanding. And again, I do enjoy our friendship”.
“Me too”. A pause, as he stood, “Well, I should turn in for the night then. Goodnight”.
“Goodnight”.
Storm sat at the computer, wanting to resume Forge’s work on the dilithium but instead looking out at the stars. She did not find him unattractive, she knew. In fact, she liked both his personality and his physical appearance. But she had her sights set somewhere else. At this point, she wanted Logan and no one else. This evening’s incident, however, reminded her that approaching a teammate for a matter such as this could turn embarrassing. Rejection was always painful. She wondered how long she should wait to see what “ if anything “ would ever pan out with the man she did want.
***
The days continued to pass. As for our dilithium situation, our leaders said that their best guess was that the sensors had been giving false readings and said that they had been re-calibrated now. They continued to say that we had enough resources to reach our destination. I didn’t press for any more details than that. Putting the uncertain future out of my mind felt like a good idea.
I hoped we would find the healing that Xavier’s odd messages had promised. He lay on that bed in sick bay like a statue, no matter how long all of us spent in there talking to him.
Meanwhile, I was still stuck for practical joke ideas. Like I said, I never felt that the mood was quite right. There was one kinda fun thing that happened one day. We sometimes used the meeting room to watch movies, so as to not get in the way of those in the rec room and get hit with stray ping pong balls.
I don’t know what a romantic comedy was doing in FOH’s movie library on Victory, but there it was. Perhaps because of the movie’s subject matter, that day it ended up being the four women and me in the meeting room with the movie. One or two guys had started out watching the film, but one left for his bridge duty shift and the other got bored.
The movie treated us to lots of scenes of the couple in bed, though none were gratuitous or anything like that. But after the third such scene, I noticed a pattern and I pretended to be exasperated as I asked, “Do they always do it with him on top??”
At the laughing from the women, I continued, “I thought I heard that girls preferred to be on top instead. Not that I would know, of course”.
More giggling from the ladies, so I had to ask, “Well? Do you?”
I guess the mood was sufficiently loosened up. Rogue, still laughing said, “Yeah, if I had to pick a favorite, I’d probably go with that”.
All eyes turned to Storm, who shook her head and responded, “Well, it’s been a while but I’m pretty happy with any position. Except for standing up “ that one never works in real life”.
“Though it sounds like someone’s givin’ it a try before!” Rogue teased. “What ‘bout you, Jean?”
Jean had the faintest hint of a blush and I thought for a moment she wouldn’t answer. But then she said, “Being on top is not actually my favorite. I do like it though”.
We didn’t get more of an answer from her than that. Jubilee didn’t look upset at all and said something to the effect of ‘I’ll have to wait and see’. Fortunately, none of them asked me for details or anything on what I liked.
***
The starship Victory continued on its path. After nearly six weeks in space, it came within sensor range of its destination. Wolverine had been on bridge duty, and called the X-men leaders and Jean to the bridge.
“Nothing,” Cyclops said, looking at the monitor. “We’re so close to it but our sensors still can’t read any information on it”. He tightened a fist in frustration.
Storm punched a few buttons on the computer but found information equally unforthcoming. “At this point, all we know is that it’s a land mass of some sort”.
“Looks like it’s got some sort of heavy mist surroundin’ it,” Wolverine observed.
“Yes,” Jean said. “It’s almost like the mist functions as its own cloaking device”.
Victory continued to draw nearer to the land mass. Various X-men entered the bridge, seeking more information on their destination. The X-men decided to launch a probe.
As the team waited for the probe’s readouts, Jean’s blue eyes widened.
Cyclops turned to her, “What is it?”
“I…I can sense something on the planet. A presence of some sort”. Jean stopped, suddenly feeling foolish as all eyes turned to her. “I’m sorry. I’m suddenly wishing that my powers were as strong as the Professor’s. I’m sure he would be able to shed more light on this”.
Cyclops touched her arm. “It’s alright. *None* of us is the Professor”.
Jean nodded, as Storm gently inquired, “Is there anything you can tell us about the presence you sense?”
“It’s benign. And powerful. Very powerful,” Jean said.
“What if it’s Apocalypse?” Angel asked. The nemesis had not been heard of since FOH’s rise to power.
“No,” Jean responded. “I’ve sensed him before and this is definitely not him. I’m certain that the presence is not at all harmful”.
The probe returned data, and the X-men learned that the air on the land mass would be breathable and atmospheric conditions hospitable to humans. The probe indicated no humanoid life forms. Although they questioned the probe’s results, given Jean’s assertion that a presence exited on the planet, after minimal discussion they decided to land Victory.
***
I guess landing a ship is a lot harder than taking off in one. Either that or I just don’t remember much about our take-off given that back then, I was kind of freaked from the battle and the escape from FOH. For Victory’s landing on the whatever-you-call-it --- we weren’t even sure if it was a moon or planet or what -- Hank took the helm since he had the most dexterity combined with the most scientific mind. The rest of us found seats and strapped ourselves in, either on the bridge or in the seats in engineering.
It started out smooth, slow, and boring. And then I felt an abrupt jolt almost as if the ship was going sideways. My stomach and my mouth traded places, though I managed to keep from losing my lunch. From then on, it was a very bumpy landing; the feeling wasn’t unlike turbulence you’d feel in an airplane on earth, though it had been a while since I’d ridden in one of those. If we hadn’t had seatbelts on, we’d have been sprawled over engineering’s floor. Finally there was one big lurch and I thought we were done. Then I heard this loud crash and a hissing noise.
Forge rushed over to deal with it. The long and the short of it was that we had a bad landing and we managed to bust a hole in engineering during the descent. I heard Forge say something about a hull breach and the “possibility that we’ve lost more dilithium”.
But everyone was so eager to get out and see where we were and see if this place or the “presence” there did have some way to heal the Professor, that I don’t think we gave hull breaches much thought at the time. I didn’t, anyway. Though during all the running around, I was tempted to find Hank and ask if he’d been drinking prior to the ship’s landing, but I suspected that even a patient guy like him wouldn’t want me to joke with him on this.
We opened the exit ramp to the ship so that we could set foot on the planet. Wolverine would go first “ in case our probe was wrong and the air on the planet was bad, he could heal quickly. The rest of us waited eagerly on the other side of the ramp.
“It’s okay,” Wolverine’s voice called over the communicator. “You can come out”.
The word “okay” turned out to be a gross understatement.
When the ramp was lowered, I blinked at what I saw. For a few seconds, I felt my eyes gray over as if I were getting light-headed because it was too hard to believe what was in front of me.
Victory had landed in the middle of an open field. The color green was everywhere. I walked down the ramp and took a deep breath “ and inhaled the sweetest, freshest air ever. I heard a strange sound and looked up to realize that it was the chirping of birds. It felt like years instead of weeks since I’d seen or heard one. The sky was bright blue, and rays of sunlight streamed down through a few clouds. We were surrounded by trees and I felt a light breeze pass by. It was both gentle and invigorating.
It was like we walked into a resort or a prime vacation spot or at least a gorgeous campground. I could sure see why the Professor’s messages had associated the word “healing” with this place.
Forge looked down at a device called a tricorder and said, “From what I can tell, this place isn’t very big. Perhaps a few miles from end to end”.
“Let’s split up and search this place,” Storm said.
“What about the presence you sensed, Jean?” Cyclops asked.
“It’s still here,” she said. “But I don’t know where. I do still sense that it’s benign”.
“Still, we need to be careful not to lose our guard,” Storm said.
“Should someone stay on board the ship, just to be with the Professor and to ensure there are no problems?” Hank suggested.
“Yes,” Cyclops said. “It’s better to be too cautious than not cautious enough. I doubt that we’re in any danger here but we do need to be prepared for anything”.
I looked around at the group. The view outside was tantalizing. We’d be hard pressed to find any volunteers to stay on board the ship. I wondered if I should volunteer, but felt that in the unlikely event that something happened, I wouldn’t be much use. I was very grateful when Nightcrawler volunteered to stay on the ship, though I sure felt bad for the guy too.
Storm then assigned us to teams. As I joined mine to search the place, I had to remind myself to stay focused and not get like all dizzy. The place was so beautiful that it did make my head spin a bit.
This was probably the most relaxed “reconnaissance” mission we’d ever gone on. On my team, Rogue and Gambit held hands as we walked. Colossus looked visibly moved as he took in the beauty of the place, and I bet he wanted to start painting it right then and there. The temperature was warm and the day sunny but it wasn’t at all humid. The ship Victory was nice and had pretty much every amenity that we needed, but after being confined to it for six weeks, this place was just so freeing and stunningly beautiful.
We came upon a lake, I exchanged one excited look with Jubilee, and we jogged towards it. No one tried to stop us. The sight of the sun sparkling on the water was breathtaking. The water looked crystal clear. Forge told us that his tricorder indicated that the water should be as safe as the air. Part of me wanted to dive right in, but I knew that I’d need to hold back.
“There are two small buildings over there,” Forge observed, though I had been too enraptured by the lake to notice them.
We walked towards the structures. One of them looked not unlike a tool shed (my Dad had one when I was growing up). It was small, appeared wooden, and was locked. The tricorder started beeping when Forge pointed it at the shed.
“There’s a power source in here,” he said. His brow wrinkled. “I can’t get more specifics than that, but it looks like some sort of strong power source”.
“Dilithium?” Jubilee asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe”.
“Too bad it’s locked,” Rogue said. “’Course I could always break the door down”. I silently thought that we could also later get Wolverine to open the door with his claws, when our group joined back up with the other.
Rogue then apparently thought again. “But I hate the idea of destroyin’ anything on this planet”.
“Me too, chere,” Gambit added. “Such a peaceful place, I don’t wanna break anyt’in. Stuff here ain’t for our takin’”.
The rest of our team nodded in agreement.
The other structure was a bit larger than the shed, but not by much. It also appeared wooden, and the door easily opened when Rogue reached its handle. She shrugged and opened the door.
The room, which was just big enough to allow all six of us inside, was warm and a bit humid. It was very sparse. In one corner was something that I wanted to call a bed but it was maybe more like a large, well-padded mat. There was one window in the room, and a few empty pots and urns. A small cabinet hung on one wall, but when Gambit opened it, it was empty.
“You know, I feel weird saying this but…part of me thinks we should be creeped out because this place is so gorgeous,” I began. “But I don’t feel anything at all strange here”.
Although I saw Jubilee nodding along with me, Forge said, “Still, we shouldn’t let our guard down. If Jean’s right, there is some sort of presence here”.
“She said it was good presence though,” Colossus responded. “I will stay alert but I do feel place is nice and comfortable”.
We heard footsteps, and Gambit stuck his head out the door to investigate.
“The other team,” he told us.
As Forge had said, the place wasn’t very big so it’s no surprise that it didn’t take long for us to meet up with the others. We compared notes, with Nightcrawler listening in on the communicator.
The major natural features of the place were the lake and a heavily forested area, which the other team had investigated a bit. In between the two was a large, open field (onto which we landed Victory). We didn’t detect any animals other than birds overhead.
We told the other group what we had seen, but they had bigger news. On the other side of the field had been a large building.
“It might be better if you see it for yourself,” Storm said. So we eagerly followed the other group.
It was kind of funny, being here and walking through a lush, grassy field with the others. I made a joke about an “X-men field trip”. During the walking, I noticed everyone just trying to drink it all in “ tilting their heads up towards the blue sky, looking at the clouds and birds, eyeing the trees. In a matter of minutes, we reached the other side of the place and spotted the building.
“It was unlocked,” Cyclops said. “We took a quick look inside earlier”.
We spent the half hour or so doing a more thorough exploration of the building. I will try to describe it best as I can. Probably the most striking overall comment I can make about the building is that it didn’t look alien or foreign to me. Just as this planet (or moon or whatever it was) looked like a prime vacation spot to me, this building looked not unlike something you’d see on earth, like a classy lodge or retreat center. Nothing about it looked *weird* -- no oddly-shaped doors or strange symbols on the walls or unusual colors. Nothing jarring. For a moment, my head started to spin again at the thought that I was so far from earth and standing inside a structure that looked like some wealthy person’s get-away home.
Like the smaller structure we had seen earlier, this building was sparsely furnished. But it wasn’t barren either. And I described it as a “lodge” because most of the walls appeared to be made of either large stones cemented together or logs. Like an upscale log cabin, if that makes any sense, in some parts.
The main entrance opened into a large foyer. From the foyer, you could head out in two directions.
One direction led to a staircase. Both the upstairs and downstairs had hallways that contained about two dozen rooms. The rooms were furnished, all of them. Their general layout was not unlike the rooms on board Victory “ beds, most had desks, all had chairs, closets, small bathrooms. The rooms weren’t totally identical though; a few had alcoves, one had a sofa instead of desk. Of course unlike on Victory, each room contained a window with another delightful view of the planet. In fact, there were plenty of windows throughout the structure which gave the whole place a breezy feel.
If you went the other direction from the main entrance, you again arrived at an upstairs and a downstairs. The upstairs contained a large room, which was furnished with plush sofas and several chairs, and was highlighted by a large fireplace. Its dark walls “ again, made of that stone and log combination “ gave the room a rich and warm feeling despite the large size of the room. There was also a ladder on the side of one wall, which led up to a corridor and a few empty rooms.
If you took the staircase down, you came to a space containing three main rooms, again all of them large. One of them was totally empty. It was just like a wide open space. You had to walk through it to get to the other two rooms. One of those other two rooms looked like a dining hall since it was full of wooden tables and benches. I sat down on one of the benches and found it more comfortable than I’d expect from wood though. When I entered the other room that was connected to it by a doorway, my first thought was “kitchen”, though this room didn’t have much equipment. It did have tall counter tops, cabinets, and one large sink. All the rooms had spacious windows, and both of the main rooms on the upstairs and downstairs of this wing opened onto porches. There were also a few bathrooms on this wing of the building so that one didn’t have to walk all the way back to the bedrooms for that.
Hank and Forge had been taking tricorder scans. “I can’t tell what materials this building is comprised of,” Forge said.
“They certainly appear to be standard materials used on earth,” Hank added. “Wood, stone. This countertop looks like marble,” he said, placing his furry hand on it.
“Walls smell like wood and stone too,” Wolverine muttered. I glanced at him. My guess was that he was frustrated by not knowing what was the deal with this place while also being a bit in love with the surroundings. I bet he couldn’t wait to get back outside.
“Anyone else tink dis is very weird?” Gambit asked. “This beautiful place in the middle of space, no one on it, looks like it’s all ready for us?”
“I wish I could explain it,” Storm said. She did look mildly bewildered, but she wasn’t the only one.
Cyclops then turned to look at his wife. “What’s wrong?” he asked, putting a hand on her back.
“I…” she touched her fingers to her temple. “I feel a message of some sort”. Jean closed her eyes and appeared to tune out the twelve faces waiting for her next word. At one point her eyebrows scrunched together. She appeared to be listening or silently communicating for another minute or two. Then she gasped.
“What is it?” Cyclops asked.
Jean opened her eyes. “It’s okay. It’s alright”. She smiled, “In fact, I’m more confident than ever that we are welcome here”.
“What did you hear?” Storm asked.
Jean took a breath. “I did receive a message of some sort. I can’t explain it exactly. I can only…convey feelings and impressions. The feeling I received was that we are welcome here. I…I can say that I feel this place was created for someone else “ not us “ but still that we are welcome to stay. I also sensed that the small hut by the lake…we should take the Professor there and the place will help him heal”.
“A bunch of mumbo-jumbo,” Wolverine grumbled. I was surprised to hear him react negatively to anything Jean said.
“May be so,” Jean replied. “But what would be the harm in it?”
We didn’t debate much. Half the group returned to the ship and, along with Nightcrawler, brought the Professor to the hut.
Jean hovered over the Professor inside the hut. Cyclops asked the rest of us to back away since we couldn’t all fit inside. Several of the X-men started to again leisurely look around the place. Jubilee eagerly led Nightcrawler around, showing him the sights that he had missed.
“Can I do anything to help?” I heard Hank ask, as he stood in the doorway of the hut.
“Jean’s monitoring his signs,” Scott said. “I think as long as you stay in the vicinity, that should be fine”.
Hank nodded and seated himself on a log near the hut.
I sat on the ground right next to him. It was soft. “You were the only person not looking totally thrilled with this place,” I observed. “Other than Wolverine who never looks thrilled at all,” I added.
“It is not that, my friend,” he began. “Indeed I find our new surroundings so lovely that I nearly want to begin to recite poetry. However, something else is on my mind”.
“What?” I asked, though I had an inkling.
“The ship’s landing. I had simulated it three times and yet I still made errors. We were all so eager to explore this location that we did not even thoroughly check to see how much dilithium was lost due to my negligence. I should have performed that task better”.
“Hey, hey, that’s not fair,” I protested. “You landed Victory better than any of us could have! You got us down safe and in one piece! None of us has ever landed a starship before”. I paused, since I was nearly ranting. “Besides, everyone loves you so it’s not like anyone will hold it against you”.
“I am disappointed in myself,” he insisted. He then tilted his head. “However, I hope this demonstrates to you, Bobby, that we *all* make mistakes. To err is human”.
I shrugged as I played with a blade of grass. It felt just like the grass on earth. “If it had been me at the helm, we would’ve landed in 97 different pieces. There wouldn’t have been any need to carry the Professor into a hut and hope that a miracle occurs,” I smirked.
Hank put a hand on my shoulder. “I am serious, Bobby. If any good can come out of my blunder, I hope that it will illuminate that none of us is above error”.
“But some of us make more than others,” I said, hoping to end that conversation.
***
Scooping Gambit up in her arms, Rogue took flight. They surveyed the tree tops which looked like broccoli florets from their vantage point, coasted alongside birds - some of which flew from Rogue as others sang near her - and saw the metallic gleam of Victory which took up a substantial area. Rogue then set them down inside the thick forest.
“Dey was right, dis place ain’t dat big,” Gambit observed. It hadn’t taken long to fly from one end to the other. Gambit was a bit breathless. Each time Rogue had picked him up and given him a ride, it was a thrill. Flying was such an exhilarating experience.
“It is pretty small,” Rogue agreed. She looked around. A tiny stream flowed behind her. Purple wildflowers grew alongside dense bushes and wide trees. Sunlight was muted in the forest though enough light filtered through.
Gambit stepped closer to her. “Is nice and private here,” he observed. “Did you bring your bracelet?”
“My bracelet?”
“Jus’ wanna kiss you, dat’s all”.
Rogue eagerly reached into her jacket pocket and procured the bracelet. She stepped up to Gambit and kissed him. He returned the kiss, wrapping his arms around her waist. They kissed for many long minutes, slowly and sensually. The gorgeous surroundings of the place certainly freed something inside both members of the couple.
However, when his hands began to drift, Rogue gently pulled away. “Remy. You said yourself this place wasn’t so big! What if someone wanders by?”
“Not gonna happen,” he said, before he began to explore one of her ears with his lips.
Rogue gave him a playful slap. “Shame on you for gettin’ me all excited here!” she declared, though again not angrily. “You wanna walk back yourself!?” She paused. “’Course I guess we could go back to our room on the ship,” she suggested, her voice sweet again.
“Now you’re talkin’!”
At that point, both of their communicators beeped. “All X-men, please report to Professor Xavier’s hut,” Cyclops ordered.
Gambit quietly muttered, “Sometimes I hate Cyke”.
Rogue swatted his behind before scooping Gambit up once again. As they flew, both felt a hint of remorse for their joking tone, when potential news of the Professor’s condition was likely behind Cyclops’ summons.
***
X-men congregated inside and around the doorway of the hut. Many craned their necks to get a better look.
“He’s conscious!” Hank exclaimed, staring at his tricorder. “His vital signs are returning to normal”.
Xavier lay on the mat, his eyes still closed. His body stirred. Jean lay a hand on his forehead, unable to resist a wide smile. “He’ll be back with us soon,” she said.
“Do you have any idea how it happened?” Storm asked.
“Storm, I’m sorry to say that I have no more idea about that then I do about to whom this place belongs or why we were made so welcome here,” Jean replied.
Hank continued to press buttons on his tricorder. “It indicates that he is sleeping now”.
As if on cue, a muted but distinct snore was heard from the Professor. Most X-men started cheering.
Shortly afterwards, Hank ushered the X-men out of the hut. “I believe we should allow him to rest. I imagine he will be tired and we need to give him space”.
“Should we return him to the ship? It has more medical equipment,” Cyclops said.
Hank thought for a moment. “I would rather not move him, and additionally I believe that the equipment I brought with me will suffice for now”.
“If he does start to need more, I can always teleport him back to sickbay,” Nightcrawler offered.
***
So we left the Professor with Jean and Hank. Cyclops and Storm meanwhile had no trouble thinking up work for the rest of us. They sent Forge, Angel, and Rogue back to the ship to assess the damage that happened during the landing. They had the rest of us take some readings of the planet and the building, to get a sense of when night would fall, and to double check things like making sure the air would still be breathable long term (I’d think we’d be keeling over by now if it wasn’t, but I suppose you never know). Storm and Cyke also said that they themselves would go back to the ship too, to find a way to get a remote feed from the ship’s computers so that we could monitor space from the planet, rather than from Victory. Although it appeared that this place was hidden by mists surrounding it and although FOH ships would be cloaked anyway, we still wanted a way to get a sense of what was out there without having to return to Victory.
***
Storm pressed a few buttons on the hand-held device and was satisfied with the resulting images on its screen. It was larger than a tricorder but still portable. “It looks good,” she said. “I’d like Forge or Hank to take another look at it just to make sure it’s calibrated correctly, but it should give us a good reading of the surrounding area of space”.
“But this isn’t too bad considering two non-techies came up with it,” Cyclops responded, proud of himself. His stomach suddenly made a loud grumbling noise.
Storm smiled and remarked, “I guess we didn’t exactly think about stopping for lunch today given what this day has been like”.
“I think I will make a trip to the mess hall. I’ll bring something to Jean and Hank too. Do you want anything?”
“No, thank you “ I will go later”.
Cyclops piled soup and sandwiches onto a tray and then walked down Victory’s ramp to make his way to the hut. He looked forward to eating his Rueben sandwich. As he walked, he fleetingly wondered if he should ask Hank and Forge someday to make him an inhibitor collar. His glasses allowed him to get a sense of the beauty of the place but he knew he didn’t perceive it as well as everyone else did. Still, he appreciated the feeling of the warm sun on his skin and the scent of clean air. Cyclops had always felt an aversion to anything that prohibited mutant powers or simply could be seen as being anti-mutant. He remembered, years ago, talking with mutants who had flocked to Muir Island for a supposed cure and fervently trying to convince them that they were whole as is.
“How is he?” Scott asked softly when he reached the doorway of the hut.
“Still sleeping,” Jean whispered.
“But we are certain that he will recover,” Hank added. “At this point I would like to return to the ship and replicate a wheelchair for him. It will require a lot of dilithium but of course it is a necessity, since we are sure that he will be back to normal”.
“This is great news! Thank you, Hank -- please do make him one,” Cyclops said. “Here’s some lunch,” he offered.
Hank grabbed a sandwich and left. Scott then sat on the floor next to Jean, and they availed themselves of the food.
“I’m so happy,” Jean murmured. “The Professor is going to recover, we’re here on this beautiful place. With a baby on the way”. She stopped herself. “Although maybe it’s wrong to be this happy, when FOH is controlling everything back home”.
“Hey. I don’t think it’s ever wrong to be happy. I think we need to enjoy these times when we have them; we’ve had enough strife in our lives. And I am as happy as you about these things. I can’t believe I am finally going to become a father”.
“And what a wonderful father you will make. I’m happy for our child. He or she will be raised by two people who love each other very much”.
“Yes. And will have the Professor as a grandfather”.
“Did you ever doubt that he would recover?” Jean asked.
“A few times, sure. I just kept hoping that we would be right about the coordinates he kept hearing. I wonder why we’re not contacted more directly by…the beings who sent the messages”.
Jean lifted her soup spoon to her mouth. “I couldn’t tell if it was because they *couldn’t* be more direct, or if they were perhaps waiting for the Professor to get better”. She set the rest of her food aside and nuzzled against Scott.
Scott put his sandwich aside and pulled Jean into his arms. Another memory came back to him. He remembered the day that the X-men had had to rebuild the mansion after Juggernaut destroyed it. After a long day of hard work, he and Jean had cuddled in one of the half-finished structures. She had sat much as she was now, surrounded by his arms. Scott reached and again kissed her.
Jean sighed contentedly and turned so that she could more fully return the kiss. The kiss grew more passionate, and Scott’s mind raced with sensual images. He forced himself to pull away.
“Sorry, Jean,” he whispered. “I, um…you get me so excited…but with the Professor right here, we can’t…”
“You have the same effect on me. But you’re right. It would be wrong, on so many levels, with him here,” she said, though her body heartily protested. “Although I so desperately want to go back to the ship with you right now!”
“I know. Me too. But we can’t leave him”.
***
We reassembled outside the hut in a few hours, after we’d gotten word that the Professor was now awake. A wheelchair was parked outside of the hut, and we all pretty much took turns going up to the Professor. He was sitting up on the mat and he looked well. Jubilee, who was right ahead me, eagerly reached down and hugged him.
“Do be careful,” Hank cautioned. “He’s still weak”.
“Actually, I feel better every minute,” the Professor said. “Seeing all of my X-men is certainly lifting my spirits. And I appreciate the hug, Jubilee”. His voice sounded the same as before, just a tad weaker and scratchy.
“I’m so glad you’re better!” she enthused. “And you gotta see this place!”
“In due time. How are you, Jubilee? Have you been keeping up with your training?”
“Oh, of course!”
When it was my turn, I knelt before the Professor’s mat so he could be on the same level as me. Then I was really surprised. He extended his arms and hugged me briefly. It’s not like the Professor had ever been stern or distant but I didn’t associate affection with him either.
“You did very well, Bobby,” he said. “You rescued all of us”.
“You remember that?” I asked. Then I felt stupid. Of course he did “ he didn’t get shot till after we were out of the FOH cell.
“Of course I remember. Thank you for what you did”.
I got all flustered and said something stupid like, “It was my pleasure”. I was really floored that he remembered and mentioned the rescue.
“We had a cake and celebration in honor of Bobby afterwards,” Hank added.
“I wish I could have been there,” the Professor said and he totally sounded like he meant it.
“We’ll have to have a celebration for your recovery,” I said.
After everyone had had a chance to talk to the Professor, he spoke to the group. He was still inside the hut “ Hank strongly felt that he needed to rest “ but he wanted to talk to us. So everyone assembled either inside or near the hut. It was kind of an awkward set-up but it worked. I stood outside and listened.
“I have been communicating with those to whom this place belongs. They did indeed contact me back on earth, more than once. We are safe and welcome on this planet,” he said. “We were invited here by mystical beings. They are beings from whom Alpha Flight’s Snowbird hails. They have told me that we can stay as long as we wish”.
“So if they are…friends of Snowbird’s, do they have any word on what happened to Alpha Flight?” Storm asked.
“I do not think that they know,” the Professor answered. “They want to see Snowbird again, that I can sense for certain. If Alpha Flight were to somehow appear, they would be more than welcome by the mystical creatures”.
“Seen many weird t’ings during my time in the X-men,” Gambit began.
“But this one wins the prize at the county fair,” Rogue finished.
Wolverine shrugged. “It don’t seem strange to me. We knew during her time in Alpha Flight that Snowbird came from mystical creatures”.
I think that everyone was obviously confused by the whole situation but not looking a gift horse in the mouth either. I loved this place, the atmosphere and feel of it, and loved that the Professor was back. From the looks on their faces, I guessed the others felt the same. So hey, if some demigods or whatever who knew one of Alpha Flight’s members said we could stay in their paradise, what’s the harm?
“I have news to share about the status of our dilithium,” Forge spoke up, bringing my thoughts from mystical creatures down to scientific reality. He had a grim look on his face. “We did have a hull breach during the landing and we lost some dilithium. We ran several test scenarios. Based on our best estimates, if we were to turn around and leave this place tomorrow…we don’t have enough to make it back to earth. Close but we couldn’t make it all the way there. We could *possibly* make it back to earth if we didn’t use the cloaking device, but that would be risky”.
“Far too risky,” Storm added. “If FOH detected us, they could send their entire fleet after us and overwhelm Victory”.
Hank spoke up. “I wish to apologize to everyone. It was my bad landing that caused this. I know I erred and I sincerely regret what I have done”.
My heart fell. I wondered if there was anything I could do for the guy. Anyone could tell he felt terrible.
Forge responded, “I don’t think that this situation is due just to the landing. We knew we were running low beforehand. The landing didn’t help the situation but it definitely didn’t cause it”.
“I agree,” Cyclops said. “Beast, there is no need for you to apologize. Who’s to say if any of us could have landed Victory any better?”
“We’re safe and not in any immediate danger,” Storm added. “We always find a way out when we’re trapped”.
“So what do we do now?” Wolverine asked.
“Perhaps we could revisit the locked shed that contains a power source,” Storm suggested.
“I have a proposal to make,” Cyclops spoke up. “It has been a long day and we’ve had a lot to take in. Our sensors show that the sun will begin to set in just over an hour. Let’s pick this discussion up tomorrow”.
I was a bit surprised. Just that I’ve known Scott a long time and this didn’t seem like him, but no one objected.
“I agree,” the Professor added.
“So like…can we sleep in the rooms in this building here?” Jubilee asked. “I mean, it seems like Snowbird’s friends said we’re supposed to make ourselves at home”.
We talked it over briefly, and most of us wanted to stay here. Even when I had entered the ship again to get lunch, I hadn’t liked its artificial environment and longed to get back out here. So we ended up heading for the building and picking out rooms “ they all looked pretty much alike so which one you selected just didn’t matter that much.
Once we’d settled on that, I noticed that Scott and Jean, and Rogue and Gambit were the first people to break away from the meeting and head back for Victory. I didn’t see either couple again for a while. Over the next few hours, most of us packed our few personal possessions in our duffle bags and moved into our new rooms in the building. We powered up the building’s generator and transferred a food replicator from Victory to our new temporary home. Since everyone was kind of scrambling around and getting settled, we didn’t all eat dinner at the same time.
Of course someone stayed with the Professor at all times in the hut; he wasn’t up for moving out of there just yet.
***
TO BE CONTINUED
Author’s Notes “
Just a friendly reminder that, as I promised way back in Chapter 1, Alpha Flight’s backgrounds and canon have been altered in this story.
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