The Professor called on me later in the day, telling me that they were beginning to get results from the blood that they drew from me earlier that day. I almost did not want to even think about what they found or what they were thinking about it, but then again if there was something there that they found that could help me handle my abilities to change my skin, my appearance, then I had to know about it sooner rather than later. I did not want to suffer from pain anymore than I already was.
"We've discovered that there is actually a blockage, of sorts, that is keeping your abilities from reaching it's actually potential." Hank told me as I sat down on the lab table in the center of the room, Peter was standing next to me.
"A blockage?" I asked him.
"Of sorts." he answered.
"What Hank means is that there is some force keeping you from expanding your abilities. This block is also keeping your body from healing from the use of your skin properly." the Professor told me. "Now, there are ways that we can actually deal with this. One; we can put you through a series of medications that will specifically attack the blockage. It is not painful, but the process takes many days to complete."
"What is the second option that I have?" I asked him.
"Professor, we can't use that method on Vele. She's not strong enough." Jean said.
"What? What is it that I am not strong enough for?" I asked her.
"The other option is to allow Jean and myself to enter your mind. We can clear the metal part of the blockage, attacking whatever it is that is holding you back. This would allow the physical part of the blockage to break away naturally. It is quicker..." the Professor broke off from speaking.
"But...?" Peter crossed his arms over his chest.
"It's painful." Logan said, standing up from the wall.
"Logan!" Jean hissed.
"What? I'm just telling the poor kid the truth. If she allows the two of you into her head the pain she'll feel will be like going through a blender." he said, walking over. "But if it was just one of you then it'd feel like you were being torn from the inside out."
"How do you know?" Peter asked him.
"Because I've been there, bub." Logan told him. "I've had both of these two in my head before and I don't highly recommend it."
"It's up to Vele on what she wants." Hank said. Everyone looked at me. "But we do not have much time if we want to deal with this before Thanos arrives here on Earth or gets close to the solar system. We need to be careful of our choices now. Think with open minds."
I thought about it all for a moment, over the objectives, over what I could choose and how it would end up affecting me.
"I would rather live with my full abilities than live with the pain after using them each time. Peter has probably seen the worst of it, he understands the toll it takes." I said to all of them. "And I would rather deal with the pain up front than deal with it later on when I might regret my choices. So, Professor, Jean, I will allow you both to enter and do as you must to help."
There was silence from everyone, Logan even looked at me in shock. I looked at Peter and he was staring at the floor, he nodded.
"If that's what you want." he said. "I'm here to support."
"Alright, then we must prep her before we begin." Jean said.
When everyone left the lab, Jean showed me an outfit that I was supposed to wear to allow the connection, or bond, to work properly. It was a suit, feeling close to a silcone, that I had to wear. It was white, blue lines ran up along the sides from my ankles up to my arm pits, then from there to my wrists. It was not as uncomfortable as I thought when I did eventually put it on.
"Okay, follow me. We have to go into another lab room, it'll be safer and we'll have less interference from machines and unwanted guests." she told me.
I followed her out of the lab and down the hallway to the end. At the end Peter was waiting there for me with the Professor at his side.
"Say what you have to before we begin." The Professor said, as I came to them. He and Jean went inside the room, and I got a glimpse of a long white table in the center of the room before the door shut.
"Don't worry, you'll be fine." Peter told me.
"I was not worried." I said, looking up to him.
"Yeah you were." he said, with a smile. "Well hey, if you change your mind or if something happens, I'll be right here waiting for you."
"Thank you, Peter." I told him, I looked to the room, finding that there was a window that seemed to look in on the room. Peter would be watching the entire thing, I knew that he would be.
"You're welcome." Peter leaned down to me and kissed my forehead, right where he had on the ship. "Remember, I'm right here."
I nodded, feeling my cheeks turn red. The door opened and I walked in.
I layed myself out onto the table, Jean stood at my feet and the Professor was at my head.
"Now, just relax. This will not take long at all. The more relaxed that you stay the easier it will be for us to complete the task." he told me. I nodded as he slowly set his hands on either side of my head, closing his eyes. Jean closed her eyes and lifted her hands into the air.
I distracted myself by looking around the room, looking at how completely white it was and how much there was nothing in the room. There were no windows, even though there seemed to have been one that looked in on the room, no tables or chairs. The only thing was this table and the door. I knew Peter was on the other side.
Peter...
What would happen to him if something bad happened to me? What would he do? What would he think? I was thinking too much. I needed to clear my head.
I shut my eyes and let out a deep breath. But then, all of a sudden, there was a sharp sting that ran throughout my entire body and my eyes flew open. Metal restraints clamped over my wrists and ankles. My back arched off the table and I cried out, the pain increasing. It surged through me, pulsing for short instances.
"Keep breathing, Vele." Jean said.
The Professors hands clenched for a moment before they went straight, right next to my temples. I shut my eyes and bit down on my lip, the pain then subsided and I caught my breath. Whatever it was that was happened, I was hoping it would soon end.
My hands began to tingle, my head began to ache and my chest felt like it was tightening by the minute. It felt like it was getting harder and harder to breath, my hands went numb and then felt stiff like a cramp.
The air in the room seemed to thicken and I could not swallow, I felt like I could not breath at all. I was frantically gasping, trying to inhale something, but it seemed useless as the pain came back again and again, this time feeling stronger.
I don't know how long it took and I don't remember passing out. All I remember is walking into the room, Jean and the Professor beginning and that was it.
"Vele?" someone said, I knew it to be Peter. "Come on, Vele. Open your eyes."
"Peter, just give her a minute." I heard Logan say.
"I've given her plenty of minutes." Peter said, "She should have woken up by now."
I felt a hand on my shoulder, someone lifted my hand and then it dropped against my stomach. I wanted to open my eyes and I tried to, I tried to speak or make a sound but nothing worked.
"We have a pulse, it's normal." Jean told them both. "There's brain activity."
"What could be wrong?" Peter asked. "Why isn't she waking up?"
I wanted to scream at him that I was awake.
"Her body is healing from the inside out." The Professor said, his voice seemed to be far off. "We managed to bring down the metal blockage, the tests we've run have confirmed that it is bringing down the other blocks as well. This could be a result from not having enough strength. Though she should be alright. We will continue to keep an eye on her, but she shall remain here until she wakes up."
"Then I'll stay until she gets better." Peter said. I felt someone take my hand.
No one argued with him and there was silence from then on.
It was quiet, but I could hear Peter breathing softly, feel him squeezing my hand every so often. I knew that he had to have been sitting beside me because there was no way that Peter would stay standing for as long as he here.
"I'm here Vele, you're not alone here." he said in a whisper. "I'm not going to leave. Not even for food or sleep. You come first."
I wanted to show him someway to know that I could hear him, that I knew he was right there. Wiggle fingers! Come on!
Nothing.
I tried to move my eyes, my eyebrows, my cheeks, my mouth. Anything, but still nothing happened. Finally I just gave in to being frozen there.
"I called on Rocket, he told me that they were heading back to Earth. I told them that you weren't doing too well, that you were going through this. When they said that they were coming back here I told him to forget it and to keep going wherever they were headed. But he wouldn't listen. Typical Rocket for you. He never listens." Peter chuckled a bit. "But they're on their way. When they get here, when you're out of this thing your in, I'm taking you away from Earth and out of this system. Somewhere across the galaxy. Maybe somewhere with some beaches, hot summer sand, water. Lots of food to go around, no fuel stops to deal with when Drax forgets. Something close to that. Or maybe somewhere cold, like a place with snow and mountains, I've never been in the mountains before. I've heard of stories of skiing accidents, though I've never been skiing myself and I'm actually terrified. I'd probably brake something. And I'm not talking about my bones."
I wanted to laugh at him. Peter was rambling. I found that he would do this when he did not know what to talk about or why. But it was comforting in a way and I was enjoying it even though I couldn't really show that I was.
"Know this is probably one of the weirdest things I've done in a while. I'm not saying that talking to you is weird, I'm just saying that talking to you while you're out is a little weird. I have no idea of knowing whether or not you're really listening to me or dreaming or whatever. I could look crazy right now. But this wouldn't be the first time." he said. "I actually like talking to you. You're one of the few people on this planet who actually listens to me. I'm glad you do. But I kind of think you're annoid with me."
But I'm not Peter. I like listening to you to. I wanted to tell him what I thought, what I felt.
Okay, let's try this again. I let myself relax, and then, focused my energy to my hand that Peter was holding and then...
"Did you just-"
It worked! My fingers twitched!
"Can you hear me?" I heard the excitement in his voice.
They twitched again.
"Ha!" Peter laughed. "Sweet so I'm not just talking to myself."
I know that it had to have been hours later when I was finally able to open my eyes and move a little. I felt stiff, most of my muscles felt like jelly, like I could just barley move them at all. The Professor was one of the first people I saw when I "woke up", and he was smiling at me pleasantly.
Peter sat me up and the restraints on my feet disappeared into the table, I leaned into Peter, feeling the weakness in my body even greater than before.
"How do you feel?" The Professor asked me.
I blinked a few times. "I feel alright. Just weak."
I turned and looked up at Peter and he jumped back, "Oh my-"
I caught myself before I fell back. "What, Peter? Did I do something?"
"No. No, you didn't do anything so to speak." He answered.
"Vele, please look here." The Professor said gently, I turned and found that the wall was turning into a mirror. I saw myself and flinched.
My eyes were glowing, in a color I could only describe as a faint purple but red. My skin was the purple I remembered leaving it and my hair was the same but I don't know why I felt that I looked so different.
"This is going to aound philosophical but your eyes look like the light from the galaxies of the universe." Peter said. I was him step towards me again.
"Is this due to what you and Jean did to me? To remove the blocks." I asked, looking to the Professor.
"Yes, it is, Vele. Jean and I were unable to tell what the blocks where trying to surpress and I must assume that this is one of your new traits." He answered. "Why not try to change your appearance?"
I looked back at myself in the mirror, at Peter for a moment. Then, with a calmness in mind, I shifted my skin, changing it to the pale pink of Terrans. I held the color for a moment and then released myself completely back to the purple, scars and all.
I felt no pain, no rush of nausea or weakness in my limbs. My head did not feel heavy and I could breathe normally. This was the very first time that I did not suffer from my own skin, the first time I wouldn't have to worry about saving my powers and saving my strength for the only reason of my skin.
I smiled.
No one was more excited than Peter was when I said that I felt fine. Although he restrained himself from doing anything I could see his giddy smile in the mirror, the brightness in his eyes becoming bigger.
Peter helped me to stand and walk out of the room when I was ready to leave. And that was where I found Gamora, Drax, Groot and Rocket. They were all smiling at me.
"I'm happy that you're not having to deal with that pain anymore." Gamora said.
"Me too. And Groot." Rocket said. I reached down and scratched my fingers behind his ear and he almost seemed to pur.
"I am Groot." Groot patted my shoulder as lightly as you would expect a tree to be able to.
Drax just nodded to me without a word.
"We should let you rest." Gamora said. "I am sure that you are plenty tired."
"I feel fine, honestly." I told them. "My motor skills are just a bit off."
"At least she's not writhing on the floor like I was when Rocket shot me with a tazer that one time." Peter said, "I can't remember, was is Groot who was drinking out of the fountain or was that Rocket?"
"Hey don't pin that on me! The big guy did it!" Rocket said defensively, climbing up Groots arm and perching on his shoulder.
"I am Groot." Groot looked around, as if he had no idea what they were talkig about.
"Don't lie. Why you lie?" Rocket jabbed his finger at Groot. Groot shrugged. It made me laugh and that made Groot smile.
I hadn't realized that Peter was still helping me to stand, that his arm was around my waist and my arm was still over his shoulders. My feet were almost barley touching the floor, thanks to Peter's height.
"Alright, well, I need to escort Miss Vele here back so she can get out of the E.T. suit." Peter said to them. Gamora and the others said that they'd see us later and let us pass.
Peter walked me, I have to say that because my feet hardly touched the floor as we walked down the hall, towards a flight of stairs. I had forgotten about these.
"You want to try or..." Peter asked.
"I can do it." I said, with half as much confidence as I really felt. "I think I can."
"Wait, your mom has the power of flight, right? You think that now you've got full ability to control your powers you could fly?"
"Do you think I could?" I asked.
"Well you could try. Worst thing that could happen would be for you to fall on the stairs."
"Then down the stairs and into the wall." I added.
"Exactly." Peter smiled and then snappdd his head to looked at me. "Wait, no-"
"I know what you meant Peter." I said, laughing a bit.
"Are you guilt tripping me?" He asked stepping away to face me, but still keeping one of his hands on me to keep me standing. "My, my, Vele. Clearing out those blocks certainly has changed you."
I rolled my eyes.
"You can thank the Professor and Jean for that." I told him, nudging his arm.
Peter smiled at me. "So you want to give the stairs a try?"
I looked back at the stairs. Suddenly Peter pulled me to his side, took my right arm and tossed me over his shoulder. I yelped in surprise.
"Peter!"
"Well you didn't answer me, so im improvising." He said through a chuckle. Peter carried me up the stairs like that, both of us laughing at ourselves.
"You're a light weight, you know that?" Peter asked me when we reached the top of the stairs.
"I am more or less the same as I was when you first said that, Peter." I told him.
"Kind of assumed that you were. How long ago was that actually?"
"Days and days ago." I answered, "But then again, it could have been yesterday. Or the day before that."
"You are in a good mood." Peter said as he carried me into the hall, he set me down.
"I feel great. I don't feel like I have a limitation against my abilities anymore." I said, looking at my hands. "Besides, I heard everything you said and it cheered me up."
"You heard everything?" Peter asked, scratching behind his ear, his cheeks turning a bit red.
"Yeah." I said. "Everything you said. And I wanted to thank you for sticking around to help me, you did not have to but I am grateful that you stayed."
"Shucks." Peter smiled. "You're just saying stuff. You just like seeing me turn red."
I rolled my eyes at Peter. Then, with a shot of courage, I stood on the tips of my toes and kissed his cheek. Peter went red all over. Completely speechless. I saw him smile.
I turned and walked down the hall towards the room.
"So does that mean we're on the Kiss Level now? Cause that was awesome." He asked, hurrying to catch up.
"That was a one time thing, Peter." I told him, turning to see Peter right behind me.
"Oh." He said sounding disappointed, "Well if you ever want to again, feel free to just go for it."
I shook my head, chuckling lightly. "Is it that you really want to kiss me or you really want me to kiss you?"
"Either way lips touch skin." He answered.
I turned and stopped.
Peter stood a little ways away from me, his cheeks were still red and he looked flustered.
"Look Vele, I'm going to come right out and say it." He started and I felt my heart race in nervous panic. "Vele, I've got these..."
Peter swallowed hard and stepped closer.
"I've got these...um..." he gestured to himself.
"Something wrong, Peter?" I asked.
"No, it's just that I can't get the words out." He told me.
"Maybe I should give you a minute." I said, turning around and walking down the hall.
"Wait!" He suddenly grabbed my wrist, spinning me around and his lips suddenly met mine. He was hesitant and so was I, but then I just let it happen. Peter pulled away, "I like you, I really like you. And I have been meaning to say it to you for a while. And I mean it. I know that it sounds crazy but I am serious."
I was speechless, standing there in his arms, both of which were wrapped around my waist.
"Now I feel awkward." He turned red once again. "I'm an idiot." But Peter didn't turn away nor did he let me go. We just stared at each other.