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Bellwether	By : Nemain Category: X-Men - Animated Series (all) > General Views: 4549 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men Evolution, or any of the characters from it. I make no money from from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1-Bellwether
- 2-2
- 3-3
- 4-4
- 5-5
- 6-6
- 7-7
- 8-8
- 9-9
- 10-10
- 11-11
- 12-12
- 13-13
- 14-14
- 15-15
- 16-16
- 17-17
- 18-18
- 19-19
- 20-20
- 21-21
- 22-22
- 23-23
- 24-24
- 25-25
- 26-26
- 27-27
- 28-28
- 29-29
- 30-30
- 31-31
- 32-32
- 33-33
- 34-35
- 35-36
- 36-36
- 37-37
- 38-38
- 39-39
- 40-40
- 41-41
- 42-42
- 43-44
- 44-45
- 45-46
- 46-47
- 47-48
- 48-49
- 49-50
- 50-51
- 51-52
- 52-53
- 53-54
- 54-Epilogue
- 55-Epilogue
- 42
- 43
- 44
Bellweather Chapter Forty Four
Disclaimers Apply

A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies, BUSIEST
WOMAN ALIVE �, Prophetic Muse, Hamster Witch and Uberbeta� Ow.� Very warm. Very.� InterNutter, TC, Maxwell Pink, Dracena and
Greywolf are loverly and wondermous for archiving/hosting.� J ProPhile:� So, Saturday, huh?� Morgan: *tacklestalk *� Readers/Reviewers: Thank you so much for
reading and reviewing as you can! It�s much appreciated!

�� Ten,
thirty, sixteen�� Mark�s fingers skipped nimbly over the spines of the books
stacked as high as his shoulders.� �All
here��
�� Who are
you now, Sybil[1]?� �Jean murmured, pushing one of the stacks
gently to allow passage between it and it�s neighboring stack.�� She had purposefully shut off her mental
radar, not wanting to deal with the waves of feelings and thoughts that seemed
to come with greater intensity each day she was at the mansion.� She was feeling physically better but
mentally, she still felt the pangs of weakness and uncertainty, as if she were
losing her grasp on her abilities slowly but surely and they were fast on their
way to being impossible to shut off for even short periods of time.� When Mark did not answer her, she paused in
her mental meanderings and peered over the nearest stack.� �Mark?�
�� Hm? Oh,
sorry.� Just�organizing.�� He flipped through another thin work and
frowned.� Two pictures were missing, no
trace to be found, and this, he decided, was most disconcerting.� �Jean, have you seen a thick, black,
leatherbound text written in Dutch?�� He did not cease his perusal of the book,
common sense overridden by the human nature to persist in looking for an object
in the last place it was seen.
�� Jean
blinked and did a slow turn in place.� Without
even trying, she could find five books that seemed to match that basic
description.� �Yes, yes I have�� She choose one at random and held it up so he
could see it.� �This one?�
�� No, the
other one.�� He still had not looked up
and did not even seem to notice the face Jean pulled as she shoved the book
back into the stack.� �Never mind.� It won�t do any good.�� He stood suddenly, stretching his arms over
his head so that his shoulders popped and his back rippled with the need to
move.� �Rearranging my books, I can stand
that to a certain degree.� But this is beyond
the pale.� Someone,� he punctuated his
words with a sharp slap on the stack of books next to him, �has been going through
my personal belongings.� I am missing
some very valuable, very important things and I will not stand for this.� I refuse to believe that I am living in a den
of thieves!�
�� Mark��
Jean felt her brows creeping up infinitesimally.� �Mark, calm down.�� The librarian�s voice had risen to strident
levels, entirely unlike the man that Jean had come to know.� He sounded, she thought, on the� verge of a veritable temper tantrum.� _Then again, I suppose I would be too if
someone had stolen something personal of mine� _
�� He took a
deep breath and let it out slowly, his eyes closing as he seemed to be mentally
counting.� �I do apologize,� he
murmured.� �You�re quite right�I need to
calm down.� Likely, they were just
misplaced when I was moving things about.��
Even as he spoke, he knew that was impossible.� He would never misplace the pictures, he
knew.� It would be tantamount to handing
a gun to a murderer.� Taking another
measured breath, he forced a smile at Jean.�
�If you don�t mind, could you please get the two brown cardboard boxes
from the floor in my office? You might need some help�they�re quite heavy.�
�� Jean smiled
at him, the expression as polite and uncertain as his.� �I think I can manage.�� She edged carefully around the stacks of
books, giving the bare shelves a quick glance as she picked her way to Mark�s
office.
�� Mark saw
her worried glance at the disarray of the usually neat-as-a-pin library and he sighed
inwardly.� He hated to do this but it was
the only way to sate the burning curiosity that had seemed to explode in him
overnight.� The methodical need to
research his prey, as it were, to study and discover before presenting a
well-organized and thought out argument to Professor Xavier had taken a
backseat to an almost panicked urge to find out, found out now and fast and
here and desperately.� He took one more
deep breath, so deep that his lungs burned from it, and let it out in a violent
whoosh as the first cardboard box from his office floated by, inches from his
head.� �Um� hello?��
�� It�s
easier this way,� Jean called from the office doorway, guiding the box to a
safe landing on the tabletop some yards away from Mark.� �Next one incoming��
�� Mark
nodded, shaking off the feeling of mild surprise that came whenever he was
reminded just how exceptional the other residents of the house were.� The burning need deep in his chest was easing
somewhat and he knew it would pass soon.�
It seemed to be coming in cycles, he thought, but he just could not find
the pattern.� The library door�s slight
creak as it opened drew his attention to the far side of the room.� He could not see past the stacks of books but
he had a good idea who it was.� �Rahne?�
�� Aye, it�s
me,� she called, her voice thick and strained.�
�Mark, where�s Beast?�
�� Tending to
Penance, our new guest,� he replied.� �Or
doing something official and doctorish.�
Why do you ask? Are you alright?��
He stepped around the nearest stack and found himself staring at what
looked like a ghost of the girl.� She was
pale and drawn, dirty and shaking.� She looked
as if she were about to fall where she stood.�
�Rahne, sit down!�
�� I can�t� I
need help�� she motioned listlessly towards the hall.� �Paige and Jono have him in the carport.� He won�t come in.� None of them will.�� She swallowed convulsively and swayed.� �I�m going to be ill��
�� Rahne!�
Jean shot past Mark and caught Rahne before she fell.� �Rahne, what happened?�
�� Mark frowned
deeply, moving to the young woman�s side.�
�Rahne, who�s in the carport?�
�� Evan,� she
said thinly.� �Evan and a little boy.� The others are in the garden.�
��

[1] A movie
from 1976 starring Sally Field.� There�s
a LOT of debate about the veracity of the
story it�s allegedly based on.� Anyway,
one of the lines is �Who are you now, Sybil?� when the shrink is trying to sort
out the woman�s personalities.� http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075296/
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Bellwether