Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters

[un_gloved]

After enough time on the island, it wasn't unusual to wake up and notice things were different. Weather changed and the atmosphere smelled different, the bed you were sleeping in wasn't quite right, the skin you were sleeping in wasn't yours.

Which was just creepy.

This time, though, as Rogue stretched into the sheets and turned her face against the pillow, instead of the nag of unfamiliarity and the typical roll of dread in the pit of her stomach, she felt a deep flood of comfort. She breathed in deep and opened her eyes, slowly, letting the creme colored paint and familiar furniture come into focus. The light from the window meant it was morning. Distantly she could hear sounds of movement, but it was far off, in some distant room of the mansion. The mansion.

She sat bolt upright, suddenly hyper aware of her surroundings. Her room looked exactly as she had left it. This was zero help. The island never pulled the same trick twice in a month. Hell, the island never pulled the same trick twice in a year. She started for the door, turned back and found some shorts so she wasn't running around in a thong and a t-shirt, and then headed out, bewildered and skeptical. She stomped barefooted down the hall for the stairs, her thoughts turning rapidly. If she was home, what did that mean? Shouldn't she have been on that barren plateau holding an unconscious Remy Lebeau in her arms? Or did the world reset itself after the M'kraan hit, and then unhit? It was possible, maybe, that the rift in the timeline Legion had created had done something similar to all the X-Men, sent them someplace else and brought them back. Siege Perilous had done similar. And if that were true, and she was about to be surrounded by a bunch of grumpy, agitated, confused mutants (she'd prefer Sentinels, good Lord) then after the dust settled and they'd been debriefed, maybe she could just give Gateway or Lila Cheney a li'l visit 'n see...

See if the island was even a real place? Home two minutes and you're lookin' for a way back? How is that right...?

The thought had stopped her and she looked up, seeing where she was for the first time since her room. Muscle memory, years of habit, knowing the place so intimately- she'd made straight for the kitchen. Beast stared at her from the beam he hung upside down on, coffee in one hand and newspaper in the other, and Iceman sat with a spoon poking out of his mouth and a bowl of rapidly disintegrating cereal in front of him.

"...What?" she said, startled.

"Good morning," Bobby said around the spoon before pulling it out.

"And I inquired as to how you were feeling on this particularly lovely day," Beast added. "But perhaps it's earlier for some of us than others. Coffee, Rogue?"

The young mutant known only as Rogue blinked, twice, and tried to get a grip on reality as she said, "Oh. No thanks, Hank."

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[howmanylives]

Jamie Madrox, Multiple Man, had never attended Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, nor had he ever been one of the X-Men. In fact, barring the treatments following his confrontation with the Fantastic Four ages back and a few scattered visits over the years, he hadn't spent much time there at all. But he'd always been observant -- the detective's license was only a piece of paper to confirm as much -- so when he rolled out of bed and onto the floor, greeted by the simultaneous groans of three dupes, he knew precisely where he was. He even knew to some degree why he was where he was. What he didn't know, however, was who else had been sent along with him.

"Talk about itty bitty living space," remarked one dupe, stretching his arms above his head. "Seriously, dude. We need to look into getting a bigger head."

Madrox bit back his annoyance and simply extended a hand as he wrenched open the door, absorbing all of the dupes in one go. They'd each only had less than a minute's worth of memories, but the experience was disconcerting enough after having gone almost two months without to give him a moment's pause. Fortunately, their voices quieted soon enough, and before he knew it, he was already storming through the hallway, on the lookout for anyone who'd been on the island, and coming up with lies to tell should he run into anyone who hadn't been.

[un-gloved.livejournal.com]

Rogue had replaced her costume and her boots, though she hadn't found any accessories to go with them and so felt inexplicably under-dressed. She was just thoughtfully tugging her gloves on as she turned a corner when she ran smack into Jamie Madrox.

Good thing she was covered neck to toe.

"Oh, geez- Jamie?"

[howmanylives]

"Oh, for crying out loud," muttered Madrox, stumbling back a few steps, and consequently bumping into the dupe created from the initial collision, which in turn created yet another dupe.

I spent the past two months debating whether or not losing my powers was a good thing or a bad one. I’m starting to suspect I have my answer.

"Yeah! Watch where you're going, lady!" shouted the first dupe, stepping forward from behind Madrox, so he could flip Rogue off. "You coulda broke our nose!"

The second dupe, who wore a somewhat snooty expression, tapped the first dupe rather politely on the shoulder. "Do let me take care of this, hmm?" he said with an exaggerated simper. The first dupe obliged, but it was with some obvious reservations -- he glared at the first dupe's back with surprising vehemence. "My apologies, Rogue. It would seem that my worse half is somewhat...lacking in manners. What he meant to say was--"

"Don't tell her what I meant to say, ya pansy!" He whipped around to face Madrox, his face screwed up in rage. "Who the hell does he think he is, talking for the rest of us like we aren't even here?!"

"Okay, that's enough out of you," said Madrox, and he grabbed the first dupe by the arm, absorbing him before he could get another word in edgewise.

The second dupe merely turned around, and held up his hands. "You'll want me, too, I suppose, yes?"

"You and the pretentious accent," confirmed Madrox, and he grabbed the dupe by the shoulder to absorb him as well. More memories and perspectives flooded his brain for a few short seconds, but the moment they'd dissipated, he turned his attention to Rogue.

"Hi."

[un-gloved.livejournal.com]

Rogue stared at him for a moment after he'd collected himself, and then impulsively gave him a hug.

"You might be the weirdest person I know." She stepped back, putting more distance between them than was necessary.

"Okay, you know what's goin' on, right?"

[howmanylives]

I'm the weirdest person I know. Even among mutants I'm considered something of an anomaly. Then again, I give 'talking to yourself' a whole new meaning, so maybe that status is warranted.

"We're dreaming," he said, pinching the bridge of his nose for a second before he gently let his hand fall back down to his side, careful not to create another dupe. "Are we in your head or someone else's?"

[un-gloved.livejournal.com]

"Dunno. Mansion looks pretty much like how I remember it, so chances are mine. Jamie. Wolvie's here. The Wolverine from your time. From th'island," she told him, watching him very closely as she said it.

[howmanylives]

Madrox looked at her quizzically, sensing there was some sort of deeper significance he was missing, but entirely unsure as to what it was. "Okay," he said, nodding slowly. "He's not my favorite guy, but I'm not going to ask him to help me perform harakiri."

[un-gloved.livejournal.com]

She stifled a sigh. If she had to have this conversation, discretely, with everyone, she was going to lose it.

"Jamie- He cannot know this ain't real. You can't say anything, not one damn thing about it, or else he will lose it. 'n I don't mean he'll get pissed, I mean he will lose control, and go beserk, 'n when that happens, people die 'n there's just about no stoppin' him. So puttin' your death wish aside, I need you t'promise you won't say anythin'."

[howmanylives]

"What?!" he asked, taken aback, and it's only through some miracle that he doesn't end up bumping into the wall. He'd had enough comments from the peanut gallery already and he'd only been up a few minutes.

Sure, Wolverine's never been amongst the most stablest of mutants, but he's still -- by some weird definition that I've never been entirely comfortable with -- one of the good guys. He's not going to go on an island rampage the second he wakes up with a killer case of morning breath. He's never been the biggest proponent for personal hygiene. Or hair removal. Some detective I am. I can't figure out for the life of me why she's so freaked out about thi-- oh. Oh.

The dawning of realization flitted across his face somewhere at the tail end of his inner monologue. "He's dying back there, isn't he?" he said, and though it was phrased as a question, it was anything but. "Adamantium poisoning."

[un-gloved.livejournal.com]

Rogue recoiled slightly, blinking a few times, blindsided.

"What- What?" she said. "No, Jamie, you're not-"

He's dying back there, isn't he?

That was ridiculous.

"You're not listening t'me," she bit out, irritated. "Wolverine relies-" Adamantium poisoning.

"Has always relied more than anythin' on his senses, 'n there's no way of tellin' this from what's real. If he figures out that somone- something, the island is messing with his senses he will go berserk, and he will kill someone, and he will not even know it. He can't...""

Dying?

"He can't... can't find out..." She was frowning, at the well polished hardwood floor. She was utterly and perfectly still as the knowledge settled in and her eyes turned a brighter, liquid green.

"Why didn't I know that," she said, forgetting to blink until the tears became too heavy to stick to her lashes and started to slide down her cheeks.

"I should have realized that on my own. How..." Her expression broke and she clamped one gloved hand over her mouth.

[howmanylives]

Oh, great. Like I needed anything else to feel guilty about. I'm starting to think I should really draw up a list...pencil in some time each day to fully appreciate all of the crappy things I've done in my life. Not that I don't do that already, but then I'd at least have a built-in excuse to avoid Terry. 'Sorry, can't talk. Gotta brood at 2 o'clock, and I'm already running late now that you're here.'

Madrox stared at Rogue in mute horror. The island messing around with Wolverine's heightened senses hadn't even crossed his mind. He was a doctor and a detective -- his thoughts went directly to pathology without passing go or collecting his $200.00.

"Or he's not dying," he backtracked quickly, trying to find a way to spin this in a direction that did not involve Rogue crying. "The island probably got rid of his claws, right? Of course it did. Anything that makes us even remotely special is zapped right out of us." He waited a beat before muttering, "Oh, boy, this is awkward."

[un-gloved.livejournal.com]

She almost punched him. Only in the shoulder. But she didn't want to deal with more of him.

She also didn't want the situation to be any more bizarre than it already, ostensibly, was. Anyone in the mansion who wasn't fresh off the island, coming across Jamie Madrox and her, weeping, in the hallway was going to have a lot of questions. She turned, looking for the nearest, exit, and ducked into one of the mansion's many refurbished libraries that doubled as classrooms.

[howmanylives]

For a very brief second, he considered letting her just go and deal with the information herself. Then he felt like a bigger dick than he already was and nixed that plan almost immediately.

"Rogue--" he called after her, ducking into the very same library-turned-classroom, and he carefully pulled the door close behind him. Any loud noises were sure to draw the attention of some unwanted visitor, and the last thing either of them needed was some curious student interrupting them. "If he didn't tell you...chances are there's nothing wrong, right? You're practically family. He would have told you."

[tearsthrulife.livejournal.com]

Somehow, of all the people to see hurrying through the hall of Xavier's, Jamie is about the last person Rahne would have expected to see. Eyes widening a little at the sight of him, she steps forward out of instinct, reaching out for his shoulder so she can stop him. Somehow, she gets the impression that he isn't supposed to be here, either.

"Jamie," she says, unable to help the urgency in her voice, already glancing around to see if anyone else is nearby. "D'ye know what's going on?"

[howmanylives]

Rahne has been on enough teams that it's perfectly plausible for her not to have been island-bound like myself, but 'what's going on?' isn't a question she'd be asking otherwise.

Madrox stopped somewhat abruptly, turning to face Rahne. "We're dreaming," he told her. "I haven't figured out whose head we're in this time, but I only just got up. It should be clear soon enough, though. There are only so many people who call Xavier's home." Then, with a vague gesture, he added almost as an afterthought, "And your powers are back."

[tearsthrulife.livejournal.com]

Rahne is all ready to interrupt until that last part, which makes her pause, that very fact alone too complicated for her to want to dwell on with the rest of what's going on. "'This time'?" she echoes, eyebrows shooting up. Showing up when she did, she's heard a little bit about the few days people spent comatose or whatever, but she'd just been too glad to have avoided it to want to find out much more.

Not waiting for a response, she opens the door behind her again, stepping back and beckoning him in after her. The hall isn't exactly the greatest place to stand around figuring all of this out. Sure, the X-Men would all be used to crazy things like pocket universes, but that doesn't mean she wants to go publicizing it. "Slow down. Start over. What do you mean, in someone's head?"

[howmanylives]

"Well, I didn't mean it literally," he said, following her into the room, and he carefully closed the door behind him. It said a lot about their lives that that sort of clarification was actually needed. "Earlier this month I woke up in Seattle with Banshee and a woman by the name of Meredith Grey. It was her version of Seattle -- no mutants, lots of coffee...and no sign of Tom Hanks. So when I say we're in someone's head, I mean that we're in their version of home."

He frowned and ran a hand back through his hair, taking a glance at their surroundings. "Thing is, I'm not familiar enough with this place to suss out what year we're in based on five minutes of looking around. For all I know, we're in your head."

[tearsthrulife.livejournal.com]

"I don't think we would be here if we were," Rahne says a bit skeptically, head tilting to one side as she tries to make sense of all of that. It just doesn't feel right, that of all places, she would dream up Xavier's, leaving her to wonder who else from the island is here with them. She can't exactly go around asking people outright, after all, without sounding completely mad. "So, we're just... sleeping? And this is all made up, but we're each of us ourselves, and not just imagined?"

[howmanylives]

"Yes," he said with a curt nod. "The powers part is new, though. When I was in Seattle, the island's status quo carried over. But naybe because we are in our universe -- or at least some version of it..."

Affording himself a moment of concentration, Madrox snapped his fingers, and the dupe created from the impact carried on where he left off: "The rules change."

[tearsthrulife.livejournal.com]

Rahne sits down on the edge of the bed, looking up at Jamie -- both of them -- with her arms folded across her chest. It doesn't make sense, any of it, but after the past couple weeks, that isn't really anything new, either. Of course, it just figures the island would start screwing with her so soon. To say that it's frustrating would be an understatement.

"So, we're here, we have our powers, and we don't know whose... head this is all in, or however it works," she says, like doing so will somehow make it make more sense. It doesn't. "Any ideas on what we do now?"

[howmanylives]

Madrox wrapped an arm around the dupe's head, pulling him in so he could absorb him sooner rather than later. The sensation was both novel and familiar -- he just hadn't decided if it was a good thing or not.

"Oh, I have plenty of ideas," he assured her. "But only a handful of them are practical." He crossed his arms, and for a moment it was easy to imagine that they were back on a case and that, any second, now, Guido was going to walk through the door. Unsurprisingly, he didn't. "Our first order of business should be finding out who else has been on a tropical vacation."

[tearsthrulife.livejournal.com]

"Who else is here at all," Rahne adds, thinking back, again, to how things had been when she'd left here. She really hopes that, whoever's the one dreaming all of this up, it's before that. A good long time before. "Then what? We just wait around here until we wake up on the island again? 'Cause maybe I'm the only one, but that doesn't exactly sound too appealing."

[howmanylives]

He smiled suddenly in a flash of white teeth. It wasn't a particularly reassuring sight. "Who said anything about waiting?"

[tearsthrulife.livejournal.com]

At that, Rahne's eyebrows shoot up. "Ye have something in mind, then?" she asks, figuring there's no other explanation for a response like that one. "Or are ye just saying that?"

[howmanylives]

"I'm the Multiple Man, Rahne," replied Madrox. "I always have something in mind." He headed back to the door, opening it before he nodded towards the hallway. "Come on. There are few people I'd like to have words with, regardless of when they're from."