All 'cuz someone dared me...

[InterNutter]

Aw, nobody won the cookie

For those of you who are interested in knowing:

"--amazing breakthrough from--" - cleaning product infomercial.
"devil is in the details, Scully--" - X-Files
"*EX-TER-MIN-ATE*--" - Dr. Who
"not only a member--" - Hair Club For Men advert
"plop-plop, fizz-fizz--" - Alka Seltser advert
"Arrroooooooo--" - Any Werewolf movie/series
"only wish I knew--" - Jean interview on _Unsolved Mysteries_
"Lightyear to the rescue--" - Buzz Lightyear!

====================================
Great. Now the kids were starting to *care* about him. Damnit... "I thought," he said, "I saw *Jean*."

###

Avery sighed and tried to pay attention. If he blinked and zoned out, the channel would change for him.

Sometimes, not needing to sleep could be a real *bitch*. He yearned to be able to close his eyes and drift off into dreamland... but that wasn't something he could do, any more.

He'd just woken up in the middle of the night, unable to sleep. He could think of electronic devices and make them do things. Not weird things, no. Just things they could normally do.

Maybe it was a side-effect of his power, but he now thought at the speed of electricity. Everything was too *slow*. Nothing held his interest for very long.

It had taken four days before he was desperate enough to try a sleeping pill. He'd stolen it from his parents' medicine cabinet and taken it on the spot. Usually, Mom or Dad had enough time to tuck themselves into bed before it hit them.

It hit *him* like a freight truck. His body wouldn't work, and he was trapped inside it and *still* awake. It had been the most agonising twenty-four hours of his entire life. And he'd scared the living heck out of his parents at the same time.

The whole family spent a month trying to find out what was wrong with him. Until they met Dr Grey, and through her, Professor Xavier.

So it was for her that he did his level best to focus... or at the very least, not blink.

###

"So what, precisely, can you *do*, miss Pryor?"

"Well... that's part of the problem," Madeline smiled appologetically. "I don't really *remember* very much before my recovery. Some things just - come to me... and I don't really know where, when or why they happen. I *think* I was a teacher, and I find myself knowing medical jargon, but--"

The employment consultant suddenly grinned. "*Wait*! I know you! I saw you on TV!"

Madeline leaned forward. "Yes?"

"You were on _Unsolved Mysteries_!"

She sighed and slumped. "Yes. I was. I was kind of hoping that you might have known me from *before*--"

Again, she interrupted. "I never thought I'd be interviewing anyone *famous*. Can I have your autograph?"

This was the eighth time this week. "You do know that anything I sign isn't my real--"

But the consultant had popped up over the top of her cubical to tell her coworkers. "Hey! Guess what? We got a real live TV star!"

Madeline winced. All the excitement was giving her a headache.

A headache from Hell itself.

The pain had *voices*, now.

_...star? No shit! Hey I wonder what she got for..._

_...famous? I wonder if I can give her a copy of my script..._

_...doing in *here*? Doesn't she have a movie deal or..._

_...sun is a mass of incandescant gas/A gigantic nuclear..._

_...whoah, that doesn't look good..._

_...is she okay?_

_Hey! It's that chick from TV!_

She clung to her head, trying to shut the voices out with physical action... but it didn't work.

_Geez, what's *her* problem?_

_...like a really bad trip..._

_...hydrogen is built/Into he-li-um at a temperature of..._

_...ohshitohshitohshit. I'd better call 911 before we get sued..._

_...needs medication. Does she have any in..._

_Jean?_ This one was different. She knew that voice. He was very far away. Someone she was trying to reach...

_Help me,_ she thought, and passed out.

###

Grazing on leftover foodstuffs, telepath trainee Betsy Braddock dropped her glass of OJ and clutched her temples...

Professor Xavier halted in mid-reprimand and almost fell out of his chair in pain...

...and Scott Summers heard her telepathic 'scream', and automatically responded.

_Jean?_

_Help me,_ came a fading plea.

And as suddenly as it started, it was gone.

###

To the non-telepaths in the audience, it was if a switch had been flipped briefly and then turned back off. A switch that did something to a unique subset of people present at the Institute.

Sara picked up Betsy and helped the stricken girl to a seat. "Are we absolutely certain that the 'world migrane' thing won't happen again?"

"Very," said Ororo. "We made sure of it."

"The machine that did it is smashed to pieces," said Kurt.

Scott was staring into corners. "...not real," he muttered. "It can't be real."

"Was?"

"I thought I heard her," he said, moisture leaking out from behind his shades. "I thought I heard Jean."

[Maelstrom]

Originally posted by InterNutter
Aw, nobody won the cookie

Eh... That's OK. I came close, and I like bananas

Hey, Internutter! Looks like you read my stuff as much as I devour yours! I'm honored! Any idea when your site might be up again? It's a wonderful treat to see your stuff here, but I'm going through PWP withdrawls....

[Beboots]

Yay! The plot thickens...

...And you sorta found a way 'round that plot-hole I found! Congrats!

[Nightmare]

Hehehe. I read your stuff Maelstrom, I read everything on T&B... Like the "Mentors" story, and I think Regis's mom is a bitch.

Internutter, I love this story. I want your site back up... I found "Forever" and "Shiva" on AFF and ... guess what? I like well written Kurrty stories. /gasp And you have more of them!!!

This one is great too...

[Yma]

Oooh, the plot thickens. And I agree with Maelstrom, I'm going into 'nutter' withdrawl.
Thanks for giving us this little story to sate our cravings!
That's a coded way of saying MORE by the way )

[kiki]

Hey!! Finally caught up with this one!! NUtter, you have to keep writing this, and the one with Nandi, and.... *babbles off*

You get the idea.

Oh, and was someone in Jean/Madeline's room singing that song by 'They might be giants'. forget the name of it.... I think it was on animaniacs. *scratches head*

[InterNutter]

They were *thinking* it. Important distinction, there

I was trying to write that someone had it stuck in their head, or was completely oblivious to the goings on. You know. Whatever.

[kiki]

Oh yeah, that's what I mean. *slaps forehead* Anyway, I was just amused you chose that song. I love those guys so much. *wanders off humming Particle Man*

[InterNutter]

I finally wrote more! Yay me

==================================

"Was?"

"I thought I heard her," he said, moisture leaking out from behind his shades. "I thought I heard Jean."

###

It was beyond strange. After the - event - in the employment office, it was as if all doors had closed for her. They had no openings. They could not make enquiries without legal identification... something that, as an amnesiac, Madeline couldn't acquire.

In brief, they did not want a *mutie* in their offices for any longer than they possibly could.

So she wound up in a dingy, hunchbacked Macdonald's slowly sipping their coffee-cum-drainex and reading half an aged newspaper in the hopes of finding something - anything - that could help her.

Something within the range of - Madeline counted her change - four dollars and seventy-three cents.

_Would that even buy a bus fare?_ she wondered. _It certainly wouldn't purchase a taxi. Heck, she doubted that it would even pay for a 'phone call.

She turned a page.

_Your child could be more gifted than you think,_ blared the large type. There was a hallmark-esque picture of a beautiful baby in the full-page ad. Something was very familliar about that child...

Madeline read on. _Every child born is unique. There's no other like them. But one in every hundred thousand children is born with the X-gene, a gene that can make that child special beyond belief._

She *knew* these words. She *knew* it.

_And one in every ten thousand X-genes manifests as a unique gift. A mutant power.

_Your child could be one of these special few.

_If they are, do the right thing, contact the Charles Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters. We can educate your talented child on methods of control, and how to use their gifts to benefit all of mankind._

There was a list of manifestation symptoms.

Headaches. Nosebleeds. Special awareness beyond normal senses. Strange events linked to stress.

That was *her*. Except for the nosebleeds.

There was a toll-free number and a general appeal for open-minded teachers to help educate these kids.

Madeline smiled. She *had* been a teacher, she was certain.

She could get a job *and* help with the voices in her head.

The payphone she found refused to make a toll-free call without money in its belly, then *ate* forty cents and refused to give it back. Madeline began to pray someone would answer the phone.

###

"...so there she was, *dripping* wet," continued Ororo. "And Scott, who still had to wear bandages at the time--"

{Ring ring...}

"--literally walks *right* into her..."

"Only because someone stole my *cane*," sniped Scott.

{Ring ring...}

"I'll get that," volunteered Sara. "Herr Wagner is bound to listen for me, ja?"

"As if I could tear myself away from mein Engel..."

"Flatterer."

{Ring ring...}

"All right, all right, I'm coming. Darn machines."

"Where was I?"

"Scott had just walked into a very wet Jean."

"Hands out zombie-style," explained Scott. "So naturally I found something I shouldn't have been touching."

Kurt began to giggle.

"Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters," Sara carolled in the next room. She sounded amazingly professional. "How can I help you?"

"Scott yelped like he'd been *burned*," laughed Ororo. "But it was too late, Jean's control slipped."

"Pow," said Scott. "The next thing I knew, I was upside-down in the opposite wall going, 'what happened? What happened?' and *she*," he pointed a finger at Ororo. "Was laughing herself *sick*."

Kurt was fast following the memory's lead.

"No, I'm afraid Professor Xavier is in a conferance at the moment," said Sara. "Can I be of assistance?"

"That was when they *both* realized I'd set them up and enacted revenge - or tried to."

"I'm glad you've mellowed a little since then," said Kurt.

"Oh yes," Scott said. "She's *WAY* more subtle now."

Sara, in the next room, continued on with the mystery caller. "Yes, I'm sure at least one of the staff will be free to interview you once you arrive. Do you have adequate travel arrangements?" A pause. "Oh, that's no problem. I can pick you up. Think of it as a field test in broad-mindedness. I'm *green*."

Scott's eyebrows shot up. "So where'd she get all the confidence?"

"Apparently," said Kurt, "I had a lot to do with it."

"*You*?" teased Ororo. "Mr Shy and Retiring?"

He sighed. "Somehow, she got the idea that if I can be like me, she can be herself... and now I have to live up to all that she expects of me."

Ororo patted him on the shoulder. "There, there," she soothed. "It's not *all* that difficult. After all, we had the entire student population breezing through here at breakfast and none of them even *blinked*."

Sara took more notes. "Oh yeah. I know the area. I used to do some of my more exotic shopping there. I'll rev up Eileen and be down there in about... ten, twenty minutes."

"Ja, liebe. And most of them still had their eyes shut."

Ororo rolled hers at him. "*Must* I use force?"

Logan's motorcycle - or Scott's, depending on one's point of view - roared into life. Once again, the mutant of mystery was taking off on a self-imposed mission.

"Don't make her use force," said Scott. "You wouldn't like her when she's angry."

Sara breezed through the room. "Your staff woes may be over. Just got a call from a Madeline Pryor, who needs a job and isn't too fussy. I'll get all the caveats on the way back. Ah, *that's* where I put Eileen's keys."

"Eileen?" Kurt made a face.

"Yeah. My bike. Back when I rescued her from a dump, she was a little temperamental." Then she sang a snatch of song. "Come on, Eileen..." A grin. "You know? I'll be back ASAP. Have cellular, will travel. Later."

Kurt turned to Ororo. "Did you understand that."

"About half," the weather-witch replied.

==================================

More soonish, I hope...

[Beboots]

So... Is this going on the Nutboard? Or can't it because of it's Movie-verse-ishness? It's very good so far... I wasn't sure if you were going to update it again, considering all the fics you've started but, well... haven't finnished?

[Shkspr1048]

'Nutter, whether this is going to the NutBoard or not, please please please write some more!!!

[otakthecanadian]

Thank you for the wonderfulness of this story and of your other stories I am working through on your website. I am a huge Kurtty:love fan(comicverse or anyverse for that matter!) BUt Kuroro :*)is a close second and this is one of the best I've read so keep up the good work and thank you.:D

[Morlock]

Nutter, update please? *makes puppy dog eyes* I'll do anything.....

[Nandireya]

I seriously doubt you'll see an update anytime soon...Nutter's no doubt busy with offspring #2...

[Morlock]

I know...but I can hope, can't I? *holds vigil for this fic and 'Flotsam'* Movieverse Sara......movieverse Sara.......*chants*