Revealed.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Bianca's Point of View

Visiting Scarlet is hell. But when I'm not doing that, I'm in therapy. Excellent. I first started going when Scarlet was gone, as a counselor, in
fact. And then Scarlet got home, and so did Andrew. Andrew had been held by Magneto and his minions for six years, three months, and eighteen days, to be exact. Andrew regaled many grueling stories about his capture, what he endured there and what escape finally meant to him. Right away, I knew he'd be a part of it all, but honestly, it terrified me.

I had just been sitting there, around the circle with the others when he entered the room. I have to admit, when I first saw him, I thought he was cute. Adorable, actually. In fact, his cuteness made my jaw drop, along with the salt and vinegar chip that I had been consuming. He had medium length, dirty blonde hair that looked like he had just rolled out of bed. I couldn't tell if he'd styled it that way, or if he truly had just up and rolled out of bed that morning. He had a lot of nervous energy. Swift eyes, tapping fingers. He was wearing a red sweat shirt over his broad shoulders and light jeans, nothing special but it looked just right. He pulled of the whole "I just through this on" kind of look and I don't think he was trying to. At that point, I'd transitioned into becoming more of a patient than a therapist. Even so, I'd eat more than I'd talk in the meetings. If I was asked questions, I'd give a short, funny retort and they would move on. I didn't want anyone's focus. In the first weeks that Andrew had arrived at the school, he said nothing. I said nothing. I never saw him anywhere other than in the meetings, and I didn't really think much of it.

One night, around lights out, I'd heard whimpering coming from the hall bathrooms. Concerned that it was a younger student, I'd gone straight into the bathroom without knocking. What I found startled me. Sitting on the floor, rocking back and forth was Andrew Hall. He was shaking. Shaking really, really bad. His breath was shallow. I thought he might've been having some sort of break down. I approached him carefully. I was reluctant, I'll admit. I'd had enough scary drama happening with Scarlet at the time that I didn't know if I could handle much more. But, against my better judgement, I leaned down and tapped his shoulder twice. He jerked away from me and looked up. I could tell I'd startled him. He was crying, that much was obvious. One of his hands scratched the other constantly, drawing blood. He didn't seem to notice or care.

"Go away," he said, his voice breaking over the word "away". He trembled, scooting back to the wall. But hell, now I was curious.

"Andrew? Are you okay?" I asked. Immediately, I wanted to slap myself. Obviously he wasn't. He laughed hoarsely, clawing at his hand harder.

"Yeah. Fucking okay. It hurts, but it's okay. I'm used to it," he said, his voice lowering to a deeper octave. "I'm so broken that I can't feel it anymore. Like... physically. This is so much more than just being upset now. It's affecting the shit life that I have left." Tears streamed freely down his face bow, but he wasn't trying to hide it.

"Let me help you," I say, settling on the floor. I knew that night was going to be a long one. He looked me dead in the eyes and said something that twisted my heart.

"You cannot possible imagine how much I hate myself." And he said this without his voice wavering once.

I like helping people. It makes me feel good about myself. It makes me feel like I'm making a difference in the world, no matter how small it may seem. So, I pushed him. All I said was tell me, and he did. He told me about his childhood, which mostly consisted of Pokemon trading cards. He told me about how when he was twelve, Magneto slaughtered everyone in his family except his younger sister, who had been taken along with him. How powerless he'd felt to stop them.

"I was eleven when my mutation really started developing. I'd get back aches daily. Then my wings started sprouting from my back. It had been painful at first. Really, that was nothing compared to what he did to me."

He told me about how Magneto would inject him with some sort of metal that covered his wings now. So Magneto could control him. He told me how painful it was for him to extend his wings now. How Magneto's experiments killed his little sister. About how Scarlet's capture had given him some hope of ever leaving.

By the time he was done talking, he'd started and stopped crying several times. He'd curled up on the ground at my side, his head rested against my thigh.

"My anxiety has gotten worse..." He said, trailing off.

"That was an anxiety attack?" I asked, looking down at him. He just nodded. We didn't say anything else. We just sat there for a moment. That night was the night I knew we understood each other. He'd always have my back as long as I had his. And that night was what I was thinking about as I sat with Casper and and Andrew outside of Scarlet's hospital room, Andrew's thumb absentmindedly rubbing circles against my thigh as we waited for news about my best friend's fate. And I wasn't even hungry.

Casper's Point of View

I waited. All I seem to do now is wait. Usually, I'd be allowed to see her. I always am. I want to see her. My irritation grows as I sit and wait, watching Bianca and Andrew grouchily. Why did their new found love get to work out? It's not fair.

The door to Scar's room opens and out walks, excuse me, rolls Professor Xavier himself. I clamber to my feet, stepping on Andrew's toes. Smart kid, doesn't say anything. Professor X beckons us to follow him into another room so we do. I stomp ahead of my friends, not looking back at them. I don't want to see them holding hands. NOPE.

Professor X rolls up to a table and parks,waving three seats across from him available. We take our seats.

"I've gathered you here to inform you that Scarlet may not get better, as I'm sure you all have concluded. The computer systems in her are rooting themselves in. We don't know how to remove them without killing her to do so." As he talks, my throat tightens and my mouth fills with saliva. This is the opposite of what I wanted, no, NEEDED to hear. "We here think that you all may need to move on. We understand that this will be difficult for you to do," he says, staring straight at me, "but you have to try. You are missing all of our training classes. You won't know how to control your mutations, much less defend yourselves in case of an attack." I really can't believe what he's saying right now. He's not suggesting we give up on her, RIGHT?? Bianca speaks up before I can.

"You're going to keep trying to help her, though, right? There has to be something..." She says, spreading her hands out in front of her like an answer will appear there. Andrew rubs her back. Un-fucking-believeable.

"Of course we're trying our best and we'll continue to do so," Professor X says. Rage courses through my veins. I jump up, pick up my chair and throw it against the wall.

"Fuck this," I say, and walk out.

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