[Reviews - 12]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Microsoft Word Chapter or Story |
Printer Chapter or Story |
ePub eBook Chapter or Story |

Has been viewed 962 times

- Text Size +




Storm saw what had happened to the girls, and rushed over to Hawk, who was closer and hadn't gotten up like Crystal did. As she knelt down, Sabretooth tried to surprise her, but it backfired, and she shot him with a lightning bolt.

The poor girl looked like she was dead; but a quick check for a pulse told Storm different. After finding it, she looked for Logan. He was now getting a pretty good beating from Mystique. Storm just shocked her with a lightning bolt. "Logan!"

Logan came over and knelt down next to her. "We have to get her back to the mansion," Storm said, helping Logan pick Hawk up before letting him take her altogether. Storm tried to clear the mist, but it quickly became obvious that someone else had control of it. With the threat of enemies in every direction, there was only one option left. "We're going to have to go airborne," she said. She knew that Logan hated flying, but they didn't have a choice. She grabbed hold of Logan's arm- which was supporting Hawk's head- and manipulated the winds to lift them up. They quickly flew to the mansion, and, after landing, Logan quickly took Hawk to the infirmary; while Storm went to get the Professor.

XXXXX

"You said that no one would get hurt!" Crystal exclaimed to Stryker.

"And no one did." Stryker countered.

"My sister did."

"Just a minor setback."

"Setback?" Crystal asked incredulously. "You call that a setback? She could've been killed! You'll be lucky if she isn't dead!"

"She should've died in that car accident."

Crystal glowered. "You don't have to remind me," she growled before stalking off to her room.

XXXXX

Charles was probing Hawk's mind as Logan and Storm waited just outside the infirmary. Hank was in there also, monitoring her brain activity. Storm was leaning on Logan's shoulder, with his arm draped around her, when Hank came out. "Charles wants to see you," he said as they both looked up expectantly.

Charles was leaning over Hawk's head when they came in. "Is she going to be okay, Charles?" Storm asked.

"I can't say for sure, Storm," he replied, looking up at them. "She'll live, that much I can for certain. Whether she has brain damage or not from the fall is something else."

"I can't find any damage, as of right now," Hank said, then pointed to the monitors. "Although, her brain is showing alot of hyperactivity."

"Meaning what?" Logan asked.

"Her powers are evolving," Charles explained. "Some are also manifesting. I was unable to get anything from her mind though. She has some sort of static electricity coming from her brain, alot like yours, Storm."

"Do you know when she'll wake up?" Storm asked, stroking the unconscious girl's hand. Nothing happened.

"That's hard to determine, her CAT scan showed that she's had a previous head injury similar to this. Right now she's comatose. It could be days before she wakes up."

"Any idea on what could've caused this?" Logan asked.

"Well," Charles sighed, "from what you've told me and you're description of the incident, my guess would be the Crystal Hawk. The last time the girl's initiated it, they had been willing to work together and open to each other to do it. Hawk's resentment to her sister must've affected her somehow. I'm thinking that Crystal tried to talk to Hawk, but Hawk wasn't in the forgiving mood and they accidentally tried to create the Crystal Hawk again. When their minds tried to meld, Hawk was blocking it, and it caused the lightning bolt."

"So, you're saying," Logan asked, "that if they created the Crystal Hawk, and one of 'em was angry or disagreein' with the other, it would severely injure them?"

"More than that, Logan," Charles replied, his voice becoming grave. "Crystal and Hawk are both class five mutants. Crystal managed to remain unharmed by this because she had greater control of her abilities; Hawk is only just beginning to discover them. Crystal was stronger in this case while Hawk was the weaker one."

"You're saying," Storm said slowly, "that if they were to do this again, it..."

"Would be fatal? Yes. But only to the weaker one. Unless Hawk learns to forgive Crystal... if she ever did this again, it could ultimately kill her."

XXXXX

Storm walked into the infirmary the next morning. She walked over to Hawk's bed and placed her hand on top of Hawk's. "No change?" a voice asked, coming up behind her.

Storm gasped as she turned to see who it was. "Must you sneak up on me like that?"

"Sorry," Logan said.

"It's alright," Storm replied, then shook her head. "No there's no change." She sighed. "I just wish we could find out what's going on inside her head."

XXXXX

"Give me that back!" Hawk cried.

"No way," Crystal replied, keeping the laptop away from her sister. "You've had it far too long."

"Mom!" Hawk called lunging at her sister. Crystal pulled it out of her reach.

"Alright you two," their mother said from the front seat. "Stop it or neither of you will get it."

Hawk slumped back into her seat. She'd been in the middle of a conversation with a pen-pal when Crystal snatched it. "You could've at least let me log off," she grumbled.

After leaving the highway five minutes later, they turned onto the interstate. Crystal got a devious look in her eye. Don't even think about it, Hawk sent.

Oh, come on Hawk.

Give me back the laptop.

Fine, Crystal scowled, then handed it over.

Thank you.

Pretending to look back for the view, Crystal grabbed the wheel in the seat on front of her with her telekinesis. It was about ten minutes before their dad realized who was in control of the car. Hawk was on the floor of the car, for the better view of it. He gasped and the twins giggled in the back. "Alright, Crystal," their dad said, trying to turn the wheel straight. "Jokes over, let go of the wheel. Hawk, get back into your seat with your seat belt on now." Nothing happened. "Crystal? Crystal, c'mon now. This isn't funny. Let go of the wheel."

Hawk leaned toward her sister worriedly, taking off her seat belt again. "Crystal, what's wrong?"

XXXXX

Storm and Logan were talking about Hawk's progress when the heart monitor suddenly spiked. "What's going on?" Logan asked.

"I don't know," Storm replied. "Her heart rate just spiked."

"I'll go get the Professor," Logan said, dashing out the door.

XXXXX

"Lily!" Their father said furiously.

"I-I can't," Crystal said, her voice trembling.

"What'd'ya mean you can't?" their father demanded angrily. "Let go of the wheel."

Hawk tuned them out and went inside Crystal's mind. She was resisting something and trying to control her powers at the same time. A lot of good that's doing, Hawk thought. When she opened her eyes, she was in a burning forest. The trees were charred and smoke was still rising, but the major fire was gone. Then she saw a shadowy figure up ahead. She couldn't see him clearly, but she knew that he was the source. He looked up to see her, but not before she saw her sister on the ground. Before she could do anything to strengthen Crystal's barriers, she was suddenly kicked out, the blow back causing her to physically hit her head against the door. She rubbed it gently.

"Look out!" Their mother shrieked. Hawk couldn't tell what was going on, but it was obvious that something was in the middle of the road. The wheel finally turned, but the car didn't have enough traction to match the sudden jerk and spun out of control. It hit the side ramp and started tumbling down a hill. There was the sound of something exploding and leaves crackling. Something hit Hawk on the head, and she blacked out.

XXXXX

Hawk bolted upright in the infirmary bed, breathing heavily. Storm rushed over to her. Hawk gave a startled yelp as Storm touched her arm, but didn't move away. She had cold sweat all over her body and was looking around fervently; as if afraid of the people on front of her. Charles was at Hawk's side in a matter of seconds after Storm. "It's okay, Hawk, it's okay," Storm said soothingly. "No one's going to hurt you."

Hawk seemed to calm down a little. "Do... Do I know you?"

Storm looked at Charles worriedly, then back at Hawk. "You don't remember? I'm Storm and this is Professor Xavier."

Hawk shook her head, then looked around; as if she just realized something. "Where's Crystal? Where's my sister?"

Storm looked at Charles. He looked as helpless as she felt. "She did survive the crash didn't she?" Hawk pressed.

"She, did survive the crash," Storm began cautiously. Hawk didn't notice.

"Perhaps a little bit later," Charles said, saving Storm.

"We'll let you see her as soon as we can," Storm added. "Right now just get some rest."

Hawk nodded and laid back down. Storm and the Professor went out into the corridor. "What's going on Professor?"

"It appears that Hawk has amnesia," Charles said thoughtfully. "Didn't Rogue mention that they were in a car accident?"

Storm nodded. "Crystal said that it happened over a few months ago."

"I wonder if Hawk can give us more insight of that. It would probably explain a great deal of things."

XXXXX

When Storm came to give Hawk her lunch, Hawk was awake, and trying to get into a comfortable position. "I've brought you something to eat."

"Thanks," Hawk said, giving up as she sat up. "Do these beds have to be so flat?"

Storm chuckled. "I'll talk to the Professor about getting you a bed near the wall or something."

"Thanks, they're really uncomfortable." They laughed. Then the smile left her as she looked Storm in the eye. "Crystal's abandoned me, hasn't she?"

Storm knew she had to tread softly. "What makes you think that?"

"You guys never mention her progress," she said, counting off with her fingers. "So I'm assuming that means she's not injured- not surprisingly. You never bring her up around me, and everyone avoids her subject."

Storm sighed. "It's... complicated, Hawk. You've been here at the mansion itself for over a week, and you've been in a coma for three days."

"Three days? Wait, where am I exactly?"

"West Chester, New York."

"New York! How did I get here? The crash was in Florida," Hawk stressed. "Oh, no, she must think it's her fault we crashed!" Hawk's heart rate started to race, and the screens started to flicker.

"Hawk," Storm said, trying to grab her attention. "Hawk, snap out of it." Hawk seemed to relax a little, and the screens stopped flickering.

"I have to find her," Hawk said quietly. "She has to know it wasn't her fault that we crashed."

"I know," Storm said, not really understanding what she was talking about. "Right now, though, all you need to concentrate on is recovering."

XXXXX

Hawk had a fitful sleep that night. The nightmare of the accident had come back.

XXXXX

Hawk awoke to the smell of smoke. She was under the overturned car and a pile of things she and her sister had brought with them on vacation. She couldn't see her sister or her parents. She figured they must've been thrown out somehow. Her parents were more than likely dead, considering the severity of the accident. It was a wonder she had survived. The smoke started to grow thicker and started coughing. The window from her side was smashed, leaving a small opening for her. She crawled through it. She was about halfway through when she heard Crystal calling her name. "Hawk!"

Hawk looked up to see her sister and waved her over, coughing. Crystal rushed over. There was a loud creaking sound as a tree, which was badly burned, due to the fires, started to lose it's grip on the roots. The creaking got louder. "Crystal go," she said.

"No," Crystal said, trying to help Hawk out. Hawk just pushed her away.

"Crystal, go!" Hawk repeated. Her foot was caught.

"No, I'm not leaving you."

"Crystal-" Hawk was cut off as the tree in front of her started to fall. "Crystal, look out!"

Crystal dived into the car and Hawk just barely managed to huddle herself back in. There was the sound of wood crushing metal, and metal splitting apart. Then nothing.

XXXXX

Storm looked at her clock. It was 3:30 in the morning. She headed downstairs and went to see how Hawk was doing. When she got to the door, Charles was already there. She looked inside to see Hawk tossing and turning. The screens were flickering again, and the tray next to her was shaking. Suddenly, she bolted upright. "Crystal!"

After the two rushed in, Storm went directly to Hawk's side. She was in tears and her heart rate was still high. Storm embraced the her, trying to calm her down. The Professor handed her a syringe, and Storm slowly injected it into Hawk's arm. It took a few minutes for the sedative to work, but soon, Hawk's sobs slowly died and she fell asleep again. Storm laid her back down. "What happened?" she asked turning to the Professor.

"I don't know," Charles replied. "I felt Hawk's distress and came down here. She must've had a nightmare."

Storm remembered something. "Her heart rate spiked when she was in the coma. Is it possible for someone to have a nightmare in a coma?"

Charles nodded. "It's possible, yes. We should probably keep on eye on her; make sure this doesn't happen again."

Storm nodded. "I'll take first shift. I'm already up anyway." She went to her room to get changed while the Professor monitored Hawk.

XXXXX

Hawk woke up again about an hour later. She was tossing and turn again, so it was evident that the sedative had worn off. Storm woke her up gently, shaking her shoulder, before things got any worse. "Hawk... Hawk, wake up." Again, Hawk bolted upright, very tense. It's like Wolverine all over again, Storm thought. "It's okay, Hawk. It was just a nightmare." Storm said aloud, soothingly. Hawk relaxed almost instantly at the sound of her voice.

"Sorry," she said. "Did I wake you?"

Storm shook her head. "No, I was already up."

Hawk sighed. "Do you want to talk about it?" Storm asked. Hawk shook her head. Storm went and sat on the bed next to her. "You know," she said gently. "It helps to talk about these things."

Hawk hesitated, but then nodded.

XXXXX

Storm walked to her green house, after talking to Hawk, later that day. She now knew the truth about the car accident and why Crystal preferred not to talk about it. She bumped into Logan in the hallway. "How's Hawk?" he asked.

"Upset about Crystal," Storm replied. "She doesn't know that Crystal lied to her; she doesn't even know about Midnight, Sky or Isis. Although, I did find out more information about the car accident. Apparently, Crystal wanted to pull a joke on her father, and it went south. Hawk found out someone was trying to control her sister, but got kicked out of Crystal's mind before she could do anything. Hawk was later knocked out as the car started to tumble down a hill, and woke up under the overturned car. Crystal returned to help her sister out of the car, only to dive into it when a tree started to fall on them. And that's all she can remember right now."

"Does she know about her powers?"

Storm nodded. "Unfortunately. We had to tell her about them as soon as she woke up."

"We?"

"Charles came down in the middle of our conversation." She sighed. "I'm worried, though, to tell you the truth. She needs alot of guidance with her powers; but with all that's been going on, it could have a traumatic affect on her. That's the last thing she needs right now."

Logan shrugged. "If she has the right teacher, then I think she'll turn out just fine; without any more trauma."

XXXXX

Crystal...Crystal! Hawk called telepathically. No answer. It was like she was being blocked. She couldn't help a rueful smile. Now I know how she felt when I blocked her, she thought. Storm had told her about what had happened just before she first arrived. Her memory was returning slowly, but she still had a huge gap between then and now. Especially what had happened between her and Crystal. The last thing she remembered was waking up in the hospital with Crystal next to her; telling her that she'd been in a coma for three days and that they were orphans. She looked up as the doors opened and Storm stepped in.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

Hawk shrugged. "Alright, I guess."

Storm looked at her sympathetically. "Feel up to a little training?"

Hawk shrugged again. "Sure. What are we going to work on?"

"Telekinesis. I want you to concentrate on levitating small objects."

"Why not telepathy?"

"It's..." Storm began hesitantly, "hard for telepaths to communicate with me sometimes."

You mean like this?

XXXXX

Storm blinked in surprise. Hawk's face was perfectly serene. It looked as if she wasn't even concentrating. How did you do that? Storm asked.

Hawk shrugged. It's not hard. I don't know why telepaths would have a problem reaching you, though.

Charles suddenly walked in, with Hank at his side. "What are you two working on?" Charles asked.

"Telepathy," Hawk answered before Storm had the chance.

Charles looked at Storm, who shrugged and indicated the corridor with the slightest nod of her head. Charles nodded and headed that direction. Then Storm turned back to Hawk. "I'll be right back," she said as she got up. Hawk just shrugged in that same non-caring mood she'd been in all day.

"How are you working on her telepathy?" Charles asked as she came out.

"I honestly don't know, Charles," Storm replied. "Somehow she managed to get past my barrier with ease. She doesn't have to concentrate very hard either to get past it."

"That is something," Charles said. "Even I have problems sometimes when it comes to communicating with you."

Storm realized something. "Didn't you say that she had some sort of static electricity going through your brain, sort of like my barrier?"

Charles nodded. "It prevented me from getting any information from her mind when she was in the coma. If she has a particular charge to the static, it's possible that's how she got past your barrier."

"Because opposites," Storm finished.

XXXXX

Storm was heading to her room when she suddenly remembered Hawk's nightmare incident. Storm and Charles had talked about it and they had agreed that it was best if she stayed in Storm's room. Storm had a small futon that might suit Hawk, but that would be up to her. Otherwise, it was the old-fashioned slumber party. When she got to the infirmary, Hawk was starting to toss and turn again. Storm gently shook her shoulder. "Hawk... Hawk, wake up." This time, Hawk just flinched as her eyes fluttered open. She turned to see Storm standing over her bed. "I want you to sleep in my room tonight, okay? I could get you a sleeping bag if you want?"

Hawk was still processing the former question. "Would the Professor mind?"

Storm shook her head. "I talked to him about it earlier this morning."

"Do you have a futon?"

Storm nodded. "We'll stop by your room first and get a few blankets."

XXXXX

"Thanks for saving me from another night in the infirmary," Hawk said as they placed the blankets on the futon.

Storm smiled. "Your welcome, maybe being in a different environment will stop your nightmares."

Hawk giggled. "Yeah, maybe."

"I better get into bed before it reaches morning," Storm said after placing the final blanket on her futon. Hawk just went into the futon. Storm had just turned out the light on her side table when Hawk spoke up again. "Do you think that the Professor will send me back?"

Storm didn't notice the context of her question, she was too tired. So she answered the only way she knew how. "No, Hawk," she said tiredly. "I don't think he'll send you back."

"Okay. goodnight."

XXXXX

Storm woke up to tiny whimpers and muffled screams and cries. She checked her alarm clock. 2:30. Then she grabbed her robe and dashed over to the futon. Outside, it was windy, and a blizzard was starting to form. Storm was glad that Hawk didn't have her degree of power over the weather yet; it would have been much worse. Again, when she reached the futon, she shook Hawk's shoulder. Hawk bolted up once again, although, this time, she was in tears. The weather calmed down almost instantly, and Storm intended to keep it that way. She then embraced the sobbing teenager, who buried her face into Storm's chest. "I don't want to go back," Hawk sobbed quietly. "Please don't send me back."

Storm was about to ask what she was talking about when Logan knocked on her door. "Is everythin' alright in here?" he asked.

Storm nodded. "Yes, Logan, she just had a flashback. I'll stay up with her until she falls back asleep."

Logan nodded, then left. Storm turned back to Hawk. "What are you talking about, Hawk?" Storm asked gently. "What do you not want to go back to?"

"The orphanage," Hawk sobbed, "I don't want to go back to the orphanage. Not again."

Storm realized what was going on. Hawk was receiving her memories through her nightmares. The orphanage was probably the worst it was going to get for her, considering the description Storm received from them. The orphanage was horrible to the twins- and, more than likely just about every child in there. Hawk was obviously afraid of them, and, apparently, being sent back. "What makes you think that?"

"I'm a ward of the government."

"But you and Crystal ran away," Storm said. "The government usually drops cases like that with children fifteen and over." Hawk pressed closer. "Don't worry Hawk. We wouldn't send you back."

"You promise?"

Storm nodded. "I promise."





You must login () to review.