xp_logs | Awakenings

Welcome to the "I just woke up in the medlab, where the hell am I?" club, Julio. Oh, and Happy 16th birthday.

Julio drifted for seemed like ages, not wanting to wake up at all. His body was exhausted, and he hadn't the strength to really open his eyes. But slowly, awareness began to return to him. Soon, he was sure he was hearing a constant ping in the background, and a not unfamiliar smell, clean and medicinal. He blinked his eyes open. Looking around, he saw that he was in his hospital bed. I must've been asleep.

He was about to drift off again when he registered that he was in a very different bed, in a very different room. And then he remembered.

The hole in the wall of his room, the man in the helmet, bright bright light...

Julio jerked awake and tried to sit up. The machines in the room rattled ominously.

Even as they did, a feeling of calm descended very gently over him -not enough to drive away the fear entirely, but enough to take the edge off. As if someone was whispering in his mind that he was all right, that there was no reason to panic.

"Julio," said the man in the wheelchair beside the bed, aloud this time, but very softly. "You're safe," Charles Xavier went on. "You're in my school. Where your father's friend Nathan was coming to take you."

"Adonde?" Julio whispered. He felt calmer, but his adrenaline was still running. "~Where is he?~" The was no question about who the he was.

A sigh was his only response for a moment. "Nowhere near here," Charles said then, firmly but still softly. "He cannot harm you, not here. You're safe."

"~Safe?~" Julio repeated. His tired brain didn't register that this man was speaking to him in English while he was still stuck in Spanish. "~Where is here? What is this....school?~"

"This is my school for gifted youngsters," Charles said, keeping his voice low and reassuring. "Young mutants, such as yourself. My name is Charles Xavier, Julio."

Xavier? This man in a wheelchair was Charles Xavier? "~What happened? How did I get....Did they stop it? The Tsunami?~" So many more would be dead if they didn't.

"Yes, they did." The quiet pride in Charles's voice was unmistakable. "The tsunami itself, as well as the secondary waves. There is damage on the waterfront in San Diego, but minimal in comparison to what would have happened."

"~Good.~" Julio said. There was no mistaking the haunted look in his eyes.

"There is something else you need to know, Julio." Charles waited until the boy looked back at him. "Something about Felicia."

Felicia. It seemed like a million years since he got into the car with her. "~What is it?~" He asked, suddenly more alert.

"Your father told you, I believe, that Felicia's husband was having... tests done on her body." Charles met his eyes calmly. "The child she was carrying was not yours, Julio."

Julio closed his eyes. A chuckle that changed into a sob escaped his lips. That lying little... He gripped the sheets in white-knuckled hands. Somehow, he found that he didn't care very much anymore.

"I know that it cannot change what happened," Charles said gently. "The accident. Her death. But your father and I agreed that it was important for you to know the truth."

"~No, it's good. It's good to know.~" One less thing to weigh on his conscience. "~Thank you.~" Julio added politely. Some part of him realized just how utterly ludicrous the situation was, and he fought back another hysterical laugh.

"Julio," Charles said after another moment, "this will be the first time, although undoubtedly not the last, that I will tell you this. What happened was not your fault. Any of it." His voice was absolutely steady, and there was nothing but compassion in his eyes. "Manifestation is a delicate time for young mutants. You needed help and understanding, not cruelty and abuse."

He would not cry. Real men didn't cry. "~I felt it, I felt the city fall apart. I can't explain it, I just, I couldn't hold it in. I couldn't control myself.~" He said, his voice barely above a whisper, all the hurt and anger showing plainly on his face. "~I couldn't stop myself.~"

"I will do everything I can to make sure you never find yourself in that position again, Julio," Charles said gently. "This is not only a safe place. It is a place to learn to control your powers."

"~Control?~" Julio couldn't imagine being able to control his power. He did feel different here, however, the constant nagging pressure in his head was gone for the first time in months. He felt lighter and strangely empty. "~I would like that. I would like that very much.~"

"Right now, however," Charles said, "you need to rest and recover. There will be time to learn later." He hesitated for a moment, then gave the boy in the bed a slight, reassuring smile. "It is not a coming of age that anyone would have wished for you, but... happy birthday, Julio."

Julio covered his face with his hands and gave an almost-hysterical sounding chuckle. Oh, right. It must be the seventh already. Two weeks ago he couldn't wait until today, his father had been hinting about finally letting him drive. That was another lifetime ago. What a spoiled, selfish, stupid boy he'd been. "~Thank you.~" Julio said, when he got himself under control. "~Thank you.~" He said sincerely.

The man in the wheelchair nodded, and then quietly left the room. Julio laid an arm across his eyes, and after a few shuddery sobs he calmed himself, and eventually drifted back into sleep.