nextgenerationmarvel | Life Under A Magnifying Glass

Entry tags:

Life Under A Magnifying Glass

While some of the furor over the revelation that Xavier's was a school for mutants had died down, there were still reporters broadcasting from outside the school gates. There were daily reports on what they thought was going on in the school and more reports on what public officials were doing to calm fears. As reporters dug for soundbites to fill the air, little bits of "news" were put out for the public to see.

As the world looked in, the X-Men tried to keep doing their daily routines. Though as more news was reported it became more difficult to live there formerly anonymous lives.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Rose had been in the infirmary only ten minutes ago, but had left Kayla with Brianna in order to take a smoke break. Not exactly the world's best habit, but the smoke helped make the world more navigable. Because with senses like hers, sometimes she really needed to dull them just to function. Especially if she was going to be in any kind of medical environment.

She returned in time to see Brianna awakening. "Finally get tired of bein' lazy, Cajun?"

Brianna looked around the room and her eyes fixed on Kayla.

Kayla...

There was something about Kayla she was supposed to remember...

"Where am I? What happened?" Brianna asked, looking around the room as though she expected another attack. She started pulling the sheets off her, ignoring the IV's as they poked into her skin.

Her legs felt like lead but the she ignored the sensation to shoot Rose a withering look.

"Mords-moi, Logan." Brianna said in French as she pushed herself out of the bed...and started to fall toward the floor.

Uh no. No, she was not falling on her head and going into another goddamn coma. That was not a thing that was happening. Kayla acted quickly and caught Brianna, like she weighed all of nothing, because, well, she didn't.

"You've been out for three weeks. There was ... there was an accident. You hit your head really hard. I kinda, our training exercise went bad and my powers." Kayla's face screwed up a little bit as she eased Brianna back to her bed.

"But yeah ... three weeks. Which means you don't get out of bed at least until Doc checks you out."

Rose understood enough French to get that, but she was so happy to be trading barbs with the Cajun again she couldn't help but smile. A smile which quickly turned into a more worried expression when she started to fall.

Fortunately, Kayla was there before she could even cross the room.

"Had people worried sick," Rose said. "...Not me, course. I knew ya was gonna get better."

Brianna couldn't struggle with Kayla, though she did try. She didn't have time to be injured; she'd done enough of that already.

"Wait. I've been out for...for three weeks?!" Brianna snapped. There was a long blue streak of angry Mandarian Chinese which both women would pick up on as cursing.

"There were Sentinels weren't there? Did they come after us?" Brianna asked, looking between her friends.

Kayla could feel the struggling, but she wasn't going to let Brianna go and hurt herself. That'd be more irresponsibility and well, Brianna had suffered enough from her irresponsibility already.

Kayla didn't understand the words but she could guess that they were curse words.

"... yeah. Three weeks." For a moment, she just looked tiny and defeated. It was her fault.

She took a deep breath. "It was just a training exercise. Fake Sentinels. And I tried something stupid with my powers, and ... I'm sorry. This is all my fault. My responsibility."

"Cajun, ya settle down 'till the sawbones check you out," Rose said.

She looked over at Kayla. "An' I know I told ya it weren't yer fault."

Brianna was angry at the situation and some of that anger spilled onto Kayla as well. She didn't remember what had happened but the idea of her friend being responsible made her really angry.

"I got hurt in a training exercise? Wow, talk about never making the majors. Did anyone bother to call my parents? Better question: did my parents bother to pick up?" she asked.

Betsy appeared in the doorway just then, drawn in by the surprise of Kayla and Rose, whom she knew to be Brianna's closest friends. She'd known Rose forever but Kayla was new to her and the young woman's sorrow over the accident convinced Betsy that she truly cared about Brianna.

Her daughter's comments, however, stung Betsy deeply. Her face was etched with concern as she looked at her little (not-so-much-anymore) girl.

"I was on the first flight here, love. Your father will be here as soon as he can." Betsy said. "How are you feeling?"

"Of course they d-" And just to prove the point, Brianna's mom walked in. Kayla suddenly felt a million kinds of awkward, because well, it just made it really clear how new she was to all this. It was obvious that Betsy (that was her name, or Ms. Braddock, or was she a LeBeau?) knew Rose well, and that she was sticking into a pretty tight unit.

"I guess we should ... maybe we should go?" She looked at the mother and daughter for guidance. She shouldn't be here, not right now.

The memory loss concerned Rose, as did the sudden snap. But with Betsy here, Cajun probably wasn't in too much trouble.

"We can give ya some space, if ya like..."

"No."

Betsy and Brianna spoke at the same time, staring at each other across the room.

"No, girls, please stay. Brianna is going to need her friends to help her while she recovers. I...am going to have to leave for a bit because I need to go to Madripoor and collect Remy." she said quietly. "It may take some time."

There was a snort from the bed.

"Right. Let me guess. Daddy stole something and got caught so now you have to go bail him out? I don't suppose there's an adult in the relationship willing to tell him that his thieving days should have ended when I got old enough to figure out what 'business trip' was code for?" Brianna snarked.

Betsy took a deep breath.

"You just woke up, Brianna. I think you need to let Dr. Hank look you over before you do anything else. You've been through a lot. Spend some time with your friends and I'll come back later." Betsy said.

The ninja turned and left as quickly as she came.

"Yes, Mother." Brianna said, rolling her eyes again.

Kayla didn't show any reaction one way or another, but it was clear that mother and daughter had some ... issues between them. As Betsy turned around, she faced her friend again. Their relationship issues could probably wait. What mattered was that Brianna was back up.

"Hopefully Dr. McCoy will come quickly. It's good to see you again. You know, up and talking and stuff. How do you feel?"

Whatever her feelings of guilt, the important thing was that she was all right. She had to be, right?

Even allowing for her injuries, there was something... off, about Briana's autonomic reactions. But Rose didn't know how that translated into anything else.

Yet.

"We'll have ya up and raisin' heck with us in no time."

"My head hurts. I'm tired but I know I shouldn't be because I've done nothing but sleep for three weeks. I'm hungry and I'm pissed off that both of my parents can't be arsed to be in the same place at the same time anymore." she said sardonically.

"Otherwise, I'm bloody fabulous. What else happened while I was sleeping? Did anyone get married or shag each other?" she asked.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Life Under A Magnifying Glass

Re: In the Infirmary...

Re: In the Infirmary...

Re: In the Infirmary...

Re: In the Infirmary...

Re: In the Infirmary...

Re: In the Infirmary...

Re: In the Infirmary...

Re: In the Infirmary...

Re: In the Infirmary...

Re: In the Infirmary...

Re: In the Infirmary...

Re: In the Infirmary...

Re: In the Infirmary...

Re: In the Infirmary...

Re: In the Infirmary...