Heaven can wait
And a band of angles wrapped up in my heart
Will take me through the lonely night
Through the cold of the day
And I know
I know
Jim Steinman--Heaven Can Wait
Kyle fidgeted in his chair, looking over at the clock. "Aunt Jean, we've been doing this for three hours and I'm getting awful tired. Can we please stop?"
Jean smiled. I have been tough on him, she thought. And he's a good kid. He doesn't complain. I remember when the Professor was showing me how to use my powers, there were days I fought him tooth and nail. "I'll make you a deal, Kyle, okay?"
"Let me know the deal first and I'll let you know if it's okay," Kyle said, grinning.
Smart kid! "The deal is this--we'll go through the rest of the cards. If you really prove to me you're trying, once we're done with those, you'll be finished for the day." Jean extended her hand. "Do we have a deal, big guy?"
Kyle took her hand and shook it solemnly. "We have a deal."
"Good!" Jean picked up the first card and looked at it. "Now, what's on this card?"
Kyle closed his eyes. "Two diamonds. Blue. A set of parallel lines running vertically between them."
"Very good!" Jean reached over and tousled Kyle's hair before picking up the next one. "And this?"
"Four squares. Red. One has a circle in the middle of it."
"You're doing wonderful!" Jean complimented him. "At this rate you'll be finished with these in no time!"
She continued looking at the cards and taking his guesses. Fifty seven cards were left. Kyle went through fifty-six of them, only missing two. This boy is incredible Jean thought, holding up the last card. "Okay, Kyle, last one." She looked at the card. It was an easy one. Two squiggly lines. Peice of cake for this kid.
Kyle closed his eyes, reaching out with his mind to pull the image from Jean's head and put it into his own. This is so easy! Why can't she give me something....
His thoughts abruptly ended as the image from the card flooded his mind. He gasped. "It's it's..."
"Kyle, are you all right?" Jean asked.
"The road..." Kyle whispered. "The road."
"Kyle!" Jean shouted, staring at him. His eyes were shut tightly and all the color had drained from his face. "Kyle! Snap out of it!"
"The road!" Kyle cried out. "It's wet...we're driving too fast.... Why aren't the brakes working...." Blood rushed to his face, causing it to turn bright red. "I don't want to die!" He screamed, opening his eyes. "Jean I'm not ready to die...there is still so much I have to do...JEAN!!!!"
Jean rushed over and grabbed his shoulders. "Kyle, Kyle, snap out of it!"
Kyle's head snapped back and blood rushed out of his nose in a red foaming fountain. "Don't forget the dream, Jean...it's up to you...."
Now it was Jean's turn to grow pale. "Henry!" she shouted. "Henry, come QUICKLY!"
Jean paced the floor nervously, waiting for Hank to come downstairs. It seems like they've been up there for hours! she thought. Biting her nails, she sat down on the couch next to her husband. "Henry is worried."
"I'm not surprised," Scott said, putting his arm around her. "Jean, I'm sure Kyle will be fine. He probably just overworked himself."
"Scott, it was more than that!" Jean snapped, louder than she intended to. "He...he said the same things to me Charles said...before he...." She stopped, unable to continue.
"What do you mean?" Scott asked. Up until now, all he had known was that Kyle had been practicing using his abilities and had suddenly developed a bloody nose.
"Just before he passed out, he started screaming about the roads and the brakes on the car. Jean twisted her hands, nervously. "He told me....he said...'Don't forget the dream!' Scott, that was the exact thought Charles sent to me before he died! Word for Word."
Scott swallowed. "Are you saying that Kyle could be...Charles?"
"I don't know!" Jean said. "But I'm not going to rule the possibility out. Kyle knows nothing of his past. He doesn't even know if Kyle really is his name. What we do know about him is that he's got one of the most powerful mutant minds we've ever seen. From what I can tell, the power is practically limitless."
"But you've told me he's made mistakes," Scott pointed out. "He didn't get all the cards and you could have."
"He's thirteen," Jean said. "These abilities may be new to him, he's just learning about them. But I'll tell you, Scott, every day he gets more and more powerful. I don't know what if ANY limitations his mind will have. I DO know that with what he knows already, he could kill all of us with a psychic mind blast. And it would be no more difficult for him than it would be for you to burn through a newspaper with your optic blasts."
"Are you saying that somehow, Charles died and came back as a thirteen year old boy?" Scott asked, "And if so, then wouldn't a bio scan tell us if he was or not? Wouldn't Kyle and Charles share the same patterns?"
"I don't know," Jean admitted. "That's Hank's department."
"What is my department?"
Jean and Scott turned as Hank entered the room. "How is he?" Scott asked.
Hank sighed. "He's resting comfortably. He woke up yelling about fire and brakes and all sorts of things. I had to sedate him. It was the only way I could get his mind to calm down."
"But how IS he?" Jean asked, repeating Scott's question. "And is he going to be all right?"
"As far as I can tell, physically he should be fine." Hank said. "Emotionally, I don't know. All we can do is wait and see when he wakes up."
"Jean was wondering if somehow...Kyle could be Charles," Scott said.
Hank looked at Jean. "I don't understand what you mean. How could Kyle be Charles?"
"I don't understand myself," Jean explained. "But just before Kyle got his bloody nose, the last thing he said to me were the exact same things the Professor said to me before he...died."
"Interesting...."
"And I was just wondering if a bio-scan would tell us if that was true or not," Scott added.
"I did several scans on Kyle when he first came here." Hank rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "None of them are even close to the professors, with the exception of his mind scans and even those have their differences." He turned to Jean. "How could a thirteen year old boy be the Professor? If it's a case of reincarnation, Charles has only been...gone for a year."
"I don't know," Jean said. "But I don't think it's any coincidence that the last things Kyle said to me were the same words the Professor said."
"It is unusual," Hank agreed.
"So what do we do?" Scott asked.
"At this point there is nothing we can do," Hank pointed out. "Except to let the boy wake up and hope that he is all right."
Kyle slept for two days straight. When he finally awoke, he felt as if his body was made of rubber bands that had been stretched beyond the limit. Groaning he opened his eyes.
"Ello, Kyle,"
He rubbed his eyes, trying to get the sleep sand out of them. "Hi Gambit," he mumbled, his voice thick with sleep. "What are you doing in my room?"
"Child sitting," Gambit said, grinning. "You slept a long time, mon ami. I'll bet you're thirsty."
"Well, now that you mention it," Kyle struggled to sit up.
Gambit lifted a pitcher by the bedside. "Some orange juice, perhaps?" There was a pile of paper cups by the bed, upside down. He pulled one off the pile and flipped it in the air so it landed right side up in his hand. "Ah, perfect," He poured the juice into the cup and handled it to the boy. "Enjoy!"
"Can't you do anything without making a big production out of it?" Kyle asked, accepting the juice and taking a long gulp.
"No," Remy said. "And why should I?"
"Cause sometimes it's a little too much." Kyle finished the juice.
"Mon ami, I am hurt!" Gambit put his hands over his heart as though he had been shot. "And I thought we were friends!"
Kyle smiled. "We are friends," he said, "It's just that you're silly!" He held out the glass. "Can I have some more?"
"For you, anything." Gambit filled the cup again.
"Where is Uncle Henry?" Kyle asked, taking another sip.
"He's downstairs making something for you to eat, little one," Gambit said. "He was in here a little while ago and said you would be waking up soon. I offered to watch you so he could make you a proper breakfast. Someone who sleeps for two days needs a little nourishment."
"That's real nice of him to go to all that trouble," Kyle commented.
"And what about me?" Remy asked, pretending to look hurt. "Didn't I stay with you to be here during your waking moments? Didn't I make sure you would have something to drink when you awoke?"
"That's true..." Kyle looked at him out of the corner of his eye. "And how much are you being paid to be nice to me, hmmm?"
Gambit put his head to his forehead. "OW! When you cut, little one, you cut deep! I don't know if I can survive from this blow!"
"Trust me, Remy, you will survive," Hank commented dryly as he walked into the room holding a tray.
Kyle's eyes lit up. "Uncle Henry!" He cried. He would have leaped out of the bed, if Gambit hadn't stopped him.
"You don' want to knock him down," Remy said. "Not when he's carrying your breakfast."
"Good point."
Hank put the tray down on the bed. "I do hope you like scrambled eggs and toast."
Kyle nodded. "If you made it for me, I know I'll love it."
Hank smiled. "You've been here three months and you're still under the illusion that I can cook. Kyle, I may be a wonder when it comes to test tubes and beakers, but when it comes to a stove, I am at best, an amateur."
"I would have made him breakfast," Remy said. "I am a good cook."
Henry frowned. "If you like Cayenne pepper in everything, you're an excellent cook. Kyle, however, doesn't need a lot of Cajun spices today."
Remy shrugged and winked at Kyle. "First you, now Hank. I'm getting it from both sides today, eh?"
"Sometimes, Remy, you need to be taken down a peg or two," Hank commented.
Gambit frowned. "If I didn't know you any better, Hank, I'd say you were poking fun at me."
"Would I do that?" Hank's expression was one of obvious mock-surprise.
"Would you even understand if he did," Kyle chimmed in.
"Well!" Gambit stood up, pretending to look indignant. "I know where I'M not wanted!"
"And I know where you are wanted," Hank said. "On my way up here I passed Rogue. It seems that she and the other women have returned from their shopping trip. She mentioned to me something about having purchased a new bikini and that she was planning on testing it out by the pool..."
Gambit's eyes lit up like two glowing coals. "Forgive me, Kyle, but I have things I must do. Perhaps I'll stop in later and see how you're doing."
"Okay," Kyle agreed, shrugging. "Have a good time."
"I certainly plan on it," Remy murmured, walking out of the room.
"He's...different..." Kyle commented, once Remy had left the room.
"Unfortuantely, he's not all that different," Hank said, sitting down on the edge of the bed, next to Kyle. "Like so many men his age, he has a tendency to use his pituitary gland to think with instead of his brain."
"His what?" Kyle asked, looking puzzled.
"Never mind, I forgot how young you are." He looked down at the plate. "You're not eating, Kyle, is something wrong?"
"No, everything is fine." Kyle ate a few bites of egg.
"Good, for a moment I was afraid you'd finally realized what a terrible cook I really am," Hank joked.
"You're not terrible at anything," Kyle stated, in a tone that implyed that Hank would be stupid to argue with him. He gave Hank a shy smile before returning back to his breakfast.