01/09 Instance: Something's up with Vic.

[littlebamf]

Timeline current/after the Ben/Josh Fight

Lizzie slouched slightly on the sofa, paying slight interest in the tv show. Jerry Springer...Beat Shark Week, anyway.

Sean sat in the RecRoom finally getting some time to relax with all this paperwork and all the hoopla. He sat and absently watched Jerry Springer while working on some songs for the band's first rehearsal.

Rogue walked in and made a face at what was on the TV, but shrugged and walked over to flop into a chair, head on one armrest, legs hanging off another, "Hey, y'all."

Ben entered, a bottle of water clutched tightly in his right hand. He heard Rogue's voice and tightened, afraid she would make a comment to him about his actions, most of which he couldn't remember.

"Heya, Rogue," Lizzie smiled a bit at her. "You okay for a training session this afternoon?"

"Aye here there Rogue how ye doin," Sean said with a small smile as he scribbled away on his sheet music.

Vic blinked as he walked into the room, pausing a sec. Right. He raised a hand to the people in the room, walking in and throwing himself into a seat. " 'Lo all."

"Hey." Ben waved, quickly glancing at the ground. shit! he thought to himself. why'd I have to do that?

"Hey, Vic," Lizzie yawned a bit, running her hand through her hair then repeated the training question to Vic. Room was filling up...

"Whats goin on big guy," Sean said to Vic, "Just wrote a sick guitar solo for ye."

"Trainin'? Yeah. Can do, boss." Vic looked over to Sean. "Really? Y' think I'm in th' mood t' care? 'Sides, th' bes' don' get...." He trailed off. "I'll look at it later."

"Cool. I'll bring chocolate and tea for after to reboost energy levels," grinning, she stretched out a little on the sofa, flexing a bare foot.

Sean shrugged and went back to what he was doing and gave Ben a wave, "Aye lad...haven't seen ye around much."

"Yeah." Ben agreed. "Been uh, y'know...drinkin' I guess."

"Nuttin wrong with that," Sean said as he toasted Ben with his Guinness.

Vic looked round at the newbie. "Hey. Name's Vic...." He blinked. He felt unfocused, like he'd been awake too long. When was the last time he actually, y' know, slept?

"I'm Ben." Ben replied. "Nice to meet you."

Nothing...wrong with drinking...Yeah, well, entirely depended on the situation. Shaking her head, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and checked it, slipping it back in with a small sigh.

"Sure thing." Vic kept his eyes on the new kid - Ben - for a little bit, chewing on a claw. lockeddoordarkroom.

"I'm actually sort of hoping I can quit now." Ben told Sean. "Or at least tone it down."

Sean ignored Lizzy and turned towards Ben, "Aye lad everythin in moderation...dun wanna spend ye nights singing te the porcelin buddah."

"Very over-rated activity, drinkin'." Vic looked around to Sean, then at Rogue. This was....weird. And something was....wrong? Or not right. Or something.

"Yeah, right there Vic...Are you alright?" she sat up a bit as she noticed he looked a bit...spacey?

Sean's pager sudden;y went off, "Shite...911 from mum, gotta go guys," Sean said as he grabbed his beer and sheet music and left in quite the hurry.

"Yeah....yeah, fine. Jus'....tired." Tired? Right. "I though' it was 999 like th' res' of Englan'."

Digging in her bag that was flopped on the floor near her, she pulled a bar of chocolate out and tossed it over.

Cessily looked after Sean as he almost ran past her out of the room. "Hey, Sean. Bye, Sean." She turned to look at he others. "Hey all." She put on a small smile and gave them a wave.

Ben really wanted to apologize to Rogue, but he didn't know how. Instead, he turned to Liz. "You know about alcohol problems?" Ben asked quietly, sitting beside her.

Rogue cocked her head to the side, wondering what was wrong with Vic. He seemed off. She gave Cess a weak smile, "Hey, sugah."

Vic reached out to catch the chocolate bar but missed. He frowned, picking it up. "Cheers, Liz." where'syourdaddyboy?

She jumped, startled, then looked at Ben. "...I do. A lot. But..."she looked around. "Nothing personal to anyone in here or you, but it's one of those things best talked about in quiet, y'know?" tucking her hair behind her ears she gave him a look. "Oh, don't meantion it Vic."

She brushed a few strands of hair out of her face and flopped down on the couch. "What are you guys doing? Watching TV?"

"Pretty much."

"I understand" Ben said. He turned to Vic. he did look out of it.

"I hope something else than sharks." She gave Lizzie an almost pleading look. "Please, anything else than sharks."

"Jerry Springer," she pointed to the screen as the adverts finished.

"Isn't that just another term for shark?" Ben cracked.

Vic closed his eyes as the chocolate started to melt in his hands. The....unreal feeling was just getting worse. "BegoodorI'lldoth'samet'her" he twitched slightly as the room's sounds faded like they were far away.

"Ugh!" Cessily leaned back on the couch and dropped her head. Maybe sharks weren't so bad after all. "That almost makes me feel like heading back into the Danger Room to tackle another few dozen locks."

"Well think of it this way...Despite all the crap we're going through, we're not shagging our cousins, we're not missing our teeth and we're not ripping our tops off to show saggy boobs to the world..."

"All in all we still have dignity. I suppose..."

Ben pointed to the gap in his mouth from the fight with Josh. "Speak for yourself."

Rogue looked over to Vic and saw the chocolate bar starting to smoosh. She reached over and gently tried to take it from him, "Vic, sugah, ya ok?"

"..Ah. Well, become Howletts next star. He'll have Xavier paying for cosmetic treatment sooner than you can say Xanadou..."

Ben noticed Vic again as Rogue spoke. Was he a drug user? Man he looked weird.

((Bad kitty, no sugar!))

Lizzie frowned and bit her lip. Vic didn't look good...Damn, not surprising really...

Nonononononono- Smell, smell blood and fear and nononononono feel him oh godnonononono- Vic shuddered and seemed to curl in on himself as he started to keen.

"Vic? Are you not feeling good?" Cessily gave him a concerned look and sat up on the couch.

She thought if she should get anyone, or if Vic was going to get it under control...She stayed where she was though, letting Rogue get near to him as crowding Vic wasn't going to help.

Rogue shot Lizzie and Cess worried looks, then looked back at Vic. She gently touched his back, rubbing a bit, "Vic, darlin'... Can ya hear me?"

"Should I get someone?" Ben asked with concern.

"Rogue...Just back a little..." Lizzie warned. "Don't crowd him."

Rogue glanced back at Ben then looked to Lizzie, taking her hand off of Vic, "Ah dunno, Ben..."

"I can make a web hammock in like four seconds if it looks like he's gonna pass out..." Ben had done this before.

Vic felt a hand- GODnonotthehands- "GET OFF ME!!" GottagethimoffGETHIMOFFnotagainno- The full swipe that came out snake-fast narrowly missed where Rogue had been.

"Yes, maybe give him some space to breathe." Cessily gave Vic a concerned look. "Vic, can you hear us? Did you..." She jumped back a little at his yell.

"Just keep calm, people, it's...He just needs to work through this..." Damn that Vic was immune to telepathy. That'd have helped her pull him out...

"Or I can make restraints..." Ben said quietly. He was scared, he didn't know what to expect.

Vic clamped his hands over his ears so that he wouldn't have to hear his voice "Daddy won' hurt ya" anymore, oh god nonono he was there make it STOP pleasestoppitstop "Don' hur' me, please, pleasedon'hur'me!"

"Vic's strong. Really strong, just don't do anything too fast or get too close..."

Rogue jerked a bit suprised, damnit, Bobby had told her about this. Why didn't she remember?

"I'm faster." Ben said confidently. "Plus I can tell when he's gonna attack me." Ben looked to Rogue for directions.

Rogue stayed where she was, "No. Don't touch him."

Cessily looked around, feeling somewhat helpless. "Is there anything we can do?"

"Vic, sugah, if ya can hear me," she made sure to stay still and not get any closer, "Ya at school. With ya friends."

"I'll do anythin', anythin' jus' leave her alone- don' touch Rahne please!" He was sobbing, begging - god he hated him but oh god he was so much more afraid - "Don' hur' me please-please noooo...."

"Rahnes okay. She's okay Vic. We're all okay and we're not there anymore...It's all gone."

"Nobody's gonna hurt Rahne, sugah. Nobody's gonna hurt you either, hun."

"What's happening with him?" She shot the others a glance, then looked back at Vic. "Lizzie is right. Everything is okay with Rahne."

Daaamn it. She knew she still got the occasional, horrdendous dream about Black Air, but she was lucky..."Vic, we're all at school now. We won, we got out, okay...."

"Rogue, please, don't do anything rash." Ben pleaded.

Cessily decided that she would no longer care about the no-touching rule. He apparently wasn't listening and they somehow had to show him that he wasn't alone, and where he was, in particular. "Vic, it's okay. You're here with us." She got up from the couch, stepped over and put a hand on his shoulder. "Vic, it's me."

"Cess..."

Ben crouched down, poised and ready...just in case.

Rogue looked at Ben, "It's fine." She turned back to Vic and saw Cess' hand on him, "Crap, Cess... watch it..."

"Don't worry, Liz." She gave her a quick glance. "He won't hurt me."

He wasn't so loud now. There was a slight buzzing. "Not Rahney....please....leave 'em alone....leave me alone I-I don'...." pleasepleasedon'hurtme Vic shuddered and started crying. "Please don' touch me-" He immediately froze when he felt the handGODNO and he swiped blindly into the white mist, snarling as his claws lodged in something- "GET OFF!! LEAVE ME ALONE!!"

"It's not about getting hurt, you just shouldn't touch -" she broke off in slight shock.

Rogue took a breath, "Vic. Darlin', it's Rogue. Listen ta me. Ya ok, Rahne's ok. Ya at school. At Xavier University.." She looked to Liz, "He said it'd been almost a year, ya think this is why?"

Suddenly he was- where was he- no white, not sterile, and he was gone and- he looked where his hand was and then looked up into a silver face whoareyouwhatdoyouwant and screamed.

((that's not this is***))

Looking at Rogue, she nodded. "Plus the paralels of us being taken...It won't help..."

Cessily startled for a second as Vic's claws swiped across her chest and lodged into her arm. "Or... maybe he will." She didn't take a step back, however, but simply liquefied her arm and pulled it away. "Vic...? Vic!"

Rogue closed her eyes, "Ouch. Vic, sugah. Can ya hear me?"

"Cess just step back, please...He needs breathing space..."

After a moment of hesitation, she did was Lizzie said and returned to the couch. "But, there has to be something we can do. We can't just leave him here like this. He'll hurt himself, or someone."

Vic panted hard, looking around the room wildly- who were they he knew that voice "Liz? Lizzie?" He wrapped his arms around him and started to sob. "Lizzie?" Rec room. Rec room. Xavier's. Ocelot's not here. Safe. "W-where's R-Rahney?"

"Again." Ben said. "Do I need to get someone?"

Looking down at herself, she let out a loud sigh. "Oh no, my shirt." It had almost been completely torn to shreds by Vic's claws.

"Scotland..." Lizzie took a few steps closer. "Remember? She went to stay with that DrMacTaggart whats hername.."

She took another step towards Vic, holding her hand out gingerly.

"Yes, you have to remember that, Vic. You even said goodbye to her not long ago."

"No, Ben, Ah think he's gonna be ok now.." She looked at Vic, a concerned look on his face, "Ya just came back from seein' her too. Remember?"

Ben settled back down. Poor guy must have been through some kind of Hell.

"Wh-where is she? Why ain' s-she here? Liz? D-did we get her ou'?" Vic swallowed, looking at the hand gingerly. He was shaking, why was he shaking?

Kneeling down, she smiled at him. "We got her out. It's been a year since, remember? We got them out and the base was all shut, the unit all disbanded."

"All gone now. None of them left who can hurt us again..."

Cessily put a hand over her mouth and sat down on the couch again. Lizzie seemed to be able to get through to him. "That was some time ago, Vic."

"Sh-she killed him. I-I know....can' hur' me or a-anyone again." Vic started to calm down, sobs starting to lessen as the various voices started coming through, like badly tuned radios becoming clearer. "Oh god....he was here coul' smell him...."

Cessily gave Lizzie, then Vic a questioning look. "Who was here?"

"We're here Vic, it's just us...Don't think about it right now, you're okay, Rahne is okay, we'll call her in a bit, yeah?"

She moved a bit closer, holding her arms out a little, invting a hug.

"Ocelot. Daddy." Vic shuddered. Cess. Cessily. Oh hell he'd clawed her. He looked down at Liz then gratefully accepted the hug, fingers twining in her shirt as he clung to her.

Ouch. Heaaavy. She almost fell backwards on to the rug from his weight, but she gave him a reassuring hug as tight as she could manage. She really needed a hug herself...

Rogue rubbed Vic's back, "It's ok, sugah."

Cessily got up from the couch and knelt down next to Lizzie and Vic, putting a hand on his arm. "Yes, you only imagined this. It wasn't real. There's no one here. And Rahne is safely in Scotland right now."

Ben smiled. Everyone cared about everyone here, this was a real family.

Vic stopped crying slowly, looking up at Cess. "Din' imagine anythin'. All happen', everythin'." He shuddered slightly. Oh god. Oh shit he did not just freak out in front of everyone. He flushed.

Rogue gently put her head on his shoulder, careful not to touch his neck, "Well, no matter if ya imagined it or not, ya ok now. An' Rahne's safe. Everyone's safe."

"Well...It didn't happen now," she reasoned. "You just had one of your flashbacks. Do you need anything?"

"Water?" Ben asked, extending his bottle towards Vic.

Cessily gently ran her hand through Vic's hair. She didn't want to imagine what they had to go through back at Black Air.

Vic hurridly pushed himself up from Liz, rubbing his eyes. "I-I...I need a fuckin' drink....an' a shower...." He shivered, not looking anyone in the eye. "An'....an' a phone...." Oh hell. What did they think of him? He didn't even know what he'd said or done or....fuck.

Landing unceremoniously on her arse on top of the rug, Lizzie smirked a bit. "Back to rights then, Vic?"

"I uh...." Vic swallowed thickly. "I-I dunno. Give m-me a flogger an' I migh' be...."

Ben regretted pouring everything he had down the drain.

"Well I'm sure you can find one up in your room. I can supply tea or chocolate on hand though. I don't have a flogger in my bag."

Rogue grinned, "That's more like ya, sugah."

Vic managed a smile. "S'meone go get me s'me fuckin' whiskey." He kept his eyes on the floor. He just felt sick. Oh god.

Cessily gave a small smile. "Well, I'm quite sure Terry would gladly help us out with that."

"I have no idea where any is..." Ben confessed. "I poured all of mine out this morning."

Rogue stood up, "Be right back." She ran up to his room and pulled the suitcase out from under his bed, grabbing a bottle of the special whiskey, then jogging back downstairs. "Here ya go, sugah." She handed him the bottle, "Good?"

"Or there's the hidden cupboard..." Lizzie remembered first year. "If that's still there..."

Vic gave Rogue a smile, not meeting her eyes as he pulled off the seal and pulled out the cork. "Lifesaver." He took a quarter of the bottle in the first go and closed his eyes. "Sorry....guys....y' shouldn'ta seen tha'....an' I'm sorry Cess...."

"You, poured it all out?" Cessily frowned at Ben. Then she gave Vic a wink. "Ah no, it's okay." She ran a hand over her ruined shirt. "I guess it was somewhat my own fault."

Rogue grinned, "'Swat Ah'm here f', sugah. Now.. ya said phone... Would that be one that needs ta call internationally? 'Cause if not, ya can borrow mah cell..."

"Don't apologise," shaking her head, she stood up, dusting herself down. "Though I think I'll shove training back til after 5 if that's alright? Give you time to finish that off and get sorted."

"International. Gotta phone Scotlan'." He needed to hear Rahne's voice. Had to. "Yeah, thanks Liz." He downed another quarter-full and started to feel calmer.

Ben felt awkward watching the alcohol. He rembered its taste down his throat. He quickly undid his water bottle and downed it, squeezing it until it crackled empty.

He put his head down, realizing it wasn't enough. He needed to sleep or something. "Hey Vic," Ben said. "You need anything, I'll run and grab it okay?" He saluted him and started towards the door.

He nodded to Rogue and then left, without saying another word.

[Ult_Sm86]

I feel bad that it ended on Ben's sour note.

8*^ {

[steyn]

big kitty is sad?