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crossoverfic2005-05-23 02:43 am
silentrequiem.livejournal.com) wrote in crossoverfic2005-05-23 02:43 am
Shades of Green (Part 2/?), A:tS/X-men
Title: Shades of Green
Author: Gaeriel Mallory
Fandoms: Angel the Series/X-men (movieverse)
Rating: PG for this part, PG-13 overall
Warnings: None
Character(s): Professor Xavier, Lorne. Others in smaller roles.
Summary: Lorne finds himself involved with a new group of Champions.
POV: Charles Xavier
I studied the newest addition to my school. Lorne, or Krevlornswath of the Deathwok Clan as he had introduced himself, had bright green skin, red eyes, horns, and a gaudy powder blue suit that clashed horribly with the rest of him. In my seventy years, I had never met anyone so uniquely... unique before. Even more disconcerting than Lorne’s physical appearance were his powerful mental shields that resisted any of my subtle probings. I had faith in Scott’s judgment and if Scott said he trusted Lorne, than so would I. Yet, I was glad that it was night and that all the students were asleep as well. If there was unpleasantness, the adults would handle it.
“Look,” Lorne told my X-men and me, “I’m afraid that I have to tell you the truth. I’m not who you think I am; I’m not a mutant.”
We had taken residence in my office, seated in plush chairs or standing as suited each individual’s personal preference. The green-skinned man was currently the center of attention and the others stared incredulously at his pronouncement.
“What do you mean?” Scott asked in disbelief. “Have you looked in the mirror?”
Lorne smiled slightly. “I know what I look like and I can tell you with one hundred percent certainty I’m not a mutant. Frankly, I’m not even human.”
I glanced over at Logan, who was sniffing the air from where he stood against a wall. What do you think? I asked mentally.
He don’t smell like any human I’ve ever met – though Nightcrawler and Mystique didn’t smell right either, Logan responded. But he believes what he’s saying. I can smell lies and he ain’t lying...or at least he believes he ain’t lying.
Thank you, Logan. I cleared my throat and spoke aloud. “Perhaps you could enlighten us, Mr. Lorne?” I asked calmly.
The man waved a green-colored hand to the side. “Just Lorne is fine. And, well, I don’t think you’re even going to believe me but I’m going to start at the beginning and end at the end. I wasn’t born in this world. My home is a place called Pylea, another dimension separate from this one. I was an outcast there, horrible place.” He shuddered delicately. “Why they didn’t even have music! And humans were treated like animals, worked to near death and sometimes eaten. But I fell through a portal and found myself in this world; Los Angeles to be precise. I started a nightclub, a karaoke bar, and was happy.
“Then I met a vampire with a soul named Angel. He was on this whole redemption kick, helping the hopeless. He even had his gang of do-gooders and I eventually became one of them. Long story short, some really bad stuff happened and we found ourselves in charge of an evil law firm that dealt with demons and black magic. We wanted to clean it up from the inside out but we failed. In the end, we ended up destroying it – the LA branch at least. I left before the final fight. I couldn’t stand it anymore; couldn’t stand to see what Angel had become and was willing to do to beat the Senior Partners. I suppose if I had stayed, I would have died with the rest of them. I heard a few weeks after it happened that there were no bodies found, though there wouldn’t have been, would there? The Senior Partners are nothing but thorough. I don’t even know if they died but that’s what I guess happened.
“I wandered for awhile until I found myself in a bar in the middle of nowhere, New York. You know the rest.” Lorne nodded at Scott and lapsed into silence.
I looked at Logan again, who tapped his nose with a finger and shook his head. He’s telling the truth, odd as it sounds.
Mentally acknowledging Logan’s comment, I turned towards Lorne. “So if you’re not human, just what are you?”
“Believe it or not, I’m a demon. Born and raised in good ol’ Pylea, a hell dimension.” Red eyes stared at me, daring me to challenge this claim. “Now’s the point where you laugh at me, throw me out onto the street or call the loony bin. Though I’m not quite sure what the cops would make of me and I’m positive that straightjackets would look horrible against my green skin.”
“We’re not going to throw you out,” I told him. “And while your story may be a little hard to believe, then again, so are some of ours. There’s a guest room on the second floor that is already prepared if you want to spend the night. You are free to leave if you wish but it’s late and we can discuss things in the morning.”
Lorne blinked at me, mouth open in amazement. “You’re letting me stay? Just like that? No questions?”
I smiled. “No questions – at least, not tonight. Are you staying somewhere? I can send someone to fetch your things.”
Lorne nodded. “Uh, yeah. The Holiday Inn in town, room 203. I don’t have much, just a suitcase and a duffle bag. I left LA in a bit of a hurry.”
“Understandable.” I looked at Ororo, who nodded. “Ororo can show you your room. We’ll talk more in the morning.”
After Lorne and Ororo had left, I nodded to Scott and Logan. “I’m eager to get your thoughts.” And I hoped that hearing what they had to say might quiet some of my own discomforts. For all my calm exterior, I was at a loss of how to handle our new guest and the implications of his story.
Logan, unsurprisingly, spoke first. “I believe him,” he said succinctly. “The idea of demons and vampires isn’t shocking to me. I might have even run into them in my past. If I could just remember I might be able to tell you more.” His voice was bitter with anger and regret.
Turning to the man who I had taken in as my son, I asked, “Scott?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know what to think, Professor,” he told me. “The idea of magic and demons is too fantastic and out-of-this-world. If Jean were here—” He stopped and dropped his head.
I maneuvered my chair next to him and touched him gently on the shoulder. His flight into town was expected. I was as familiar with the calendar as he was and knew that this would be a hard day for all of us, but most especially for him. If Scott was my legal heir and the son of my heart, Jean was the child of my mind. The age difference between the two had been a large obstacle for them to initially overcome but once they had, the bond between them had only grown stronger. Without Jean, Scott was bereft and lost. Time healed all wounds, but it was a slow process. “I miss her too,” I whispered.
Behind me, I heard Logan shift uncomfortably. The Wolverine, in his way, had loved Jean as well, though he never understood he could never have truly come between her and Scott. He was jealous that Scott could grieve more deeply than he, and felt that he too was entitled to Jean. It wasn’t time yet to set him straight – we were all too emotional.
“Why don’t you both go to bed,” I said gently, carefully phrasing the order as a suggestion. “We’re all tired and we will think better in the morning.” It was a measure of their exhaustion and grief that they didn’t argue. After they had left, I picked up the receiver to my phone to call the Holiday Inn and request that someone send Lorne’s bags over.
* * *
POV: Lorne
I woke in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room. I was used to it by now, having gone from cheap motel to cheap motel across America. What was different was that the sheets were freshly laundered in a way that you would never find at a Day’s Inn or Econo Lodge. The mattress was soft and comfortable and the hedonistic part of me wanted to go back to sleep and ignore the strangeness of my surroundings for just another few hours of rest. I felt safe enough that I was able to give in and closed my eyes again.
The second time I woke up, the clock on the bedside table told me it was a little past noon. My stomach rumbled, letting me know that it was uncomfortably empty. I sighed and crawled out from between the sheets. Spying my bags beside the door, I rummaged around in them for my toiletries and retreated to the adjoining bathroom to shower and brush my teeth. I started feeling somewhat alive again and even hummed to myself as I was getting dressed. It had been months since I’ve sung – the last time had been before things had started going downhill at Wolfram and Hart. There hadn’t been much to sing about then.
I dressed in a yellow polo shirt and slacks. I didn’t feel up to a full suit today though I carefully hung them up in the closet. As I was shutting the closet door, I paused, still holding onto the handle. “What am I doing?” I asked myself. Was I so comfortable that I was willing to accept, even as tacitly as putting my clothes away properly, that I was staying here in Westchester, New York? I sighed and walked into the hallway, closing the door to my room behind me. I was here for a reason. I just had to trust in the Powers – something I hadn’t done in a long while.
I followed the faint voices I heard until my nose twitched. After that, I simply followed the smell of food until I stumbled upon a large room that served this place as a cafeteria. A buffet lined one wall and tables and chairs filled the rest of the floor space. I spotted what appeared to be the teachers’ table with the man I had met last night, Professor Charles Xavier, sitting at the head. He noticed me standing in the doorway and motioned me towards the food, smiling.
Oh thank God. I was going to eat. I grabbed a plate and filled it, though I honestly didn’t know what I piled onto it; only that it was edible and smelled heavenly. It was only after I seated myself at an empty chair at Xavier’s table that I looked down and processed that I had rice, baked chicken, and peas on my plate. I was thwarted from digging in immediately by my lack of silverware, which I had forgotten to grab from the buffet.
“Here you go,” a female voice said to my right.
I turned, jumping a little, and saw a teenaged girl with brown hair tied back in a ponytail holding out a knife and a fork for me. A little shocked, I automatically accepted the utensils. “Thank you.”
She smiled at me. “No problem.” She looked beyond me at Xavier. “Is that all, Professor?”
His eyes twinkled. “Yes. Thank you, Kitty. You may return to your meal now.”
Kitty flashed a quick grin at the entire table before walking back to her own. I stared after her in amazement, then down at the silverware in my hands, and then over to the Professor. “How?”
Xavier tapped the side of his head, his lips slightly upturned. “I’m a telepath, Lorne. I would have communicated with you directly but I’m afraid your mental shields are preventing me to. Instead, I merely asked Kitty, who was standing near the buffet, to get an extra set of utensils for you.”
The pretty woman with the white hair, Ororo, grinned at me. “The Professor likes surprising people. I would guess that because he could not surprise you directly, he used one of the students instead.” She gestured at my plate. “You should eat before your food gets cold.”
I complied, enjoying the first real meal I’ve had in weeks. I had traveled fast and didn’t want to draw too much attention so avoided most restaurants in favor of convenience stores and fast food restaurants. And even then, I could not avoid the stares that followed me around. A newcomer, I didn’t know the establishments that catered to non-humans and thus had to eat quickly and silently in order to prevent trouble.
A man with blue skin and a tail joined us and I stared at him surreptitiously as I ate. The others greeted him as “Kurt” and I understood now their lack of amazement at my physical appearance. Aside from his being able to fit into any demon bar in the country, Kurt’s face was covered in what looked like tattoos, and I could only guess that there were more on the rest of his body. He spoke with a thick German accent and smiled genially at me. Oddly enough, the thing that struck me the most was that he bowed his head to pray before eating his lunch. That, more than anything, made me realize just how odd the place I had found myself to be truly was.
Perhaps, in a place that accepted telepaths in wheelchairs, guys that shot red beams from their eyes, white-haired young women, and pious blue men with tails, a green-skinned empathic demon with a penchant for show tunes could fit in just fine.
--End Part 2--
Thanks for reading. Part 3 is finished and I'm editing it now.
Author: Gaeriel Mallory
Fandoms: Angel the Series/X-men (movieverse)
Rating: PG for this part, PG-13 overall
Warnings: None
Character(s): Professor Xavier, Lorne. Others in smaller roles.
Summary: Lorne finds himself involved with a new group of Champions.
POV: Charles Xavier
I studied the newest addition to my school. Lorne, or Krevlornswath of the Deathwok Clan as he had introduced himself, had bright green skin, red eyes, horns, and a gaudy powder blue suit that clashed horribly with the rest of him. In my seventy years, I had never met anyone so uniquely... unique before. Even more disconcerting than Lorne’s physical appearance were his powerful mental shields that resisted any of my subtle probings. I had faith in Scott’s judgment and if Scott said he trusted Lorne, than so would I. Yet, I was glad that it was night and that all the students were asleep as well. If there was unpleasantness, the adults would handle it.
“Look,” Lorne told my X-men and me, “I’m afraid that I have to tell you the truth. I’m not who you think I am; I’m not a mutant.”
We had taken residence in my office, seated in plush chairs or standing as suited each individual’s personal preference. The green-skinned man was currently the center of attention and the others stared incredulously at his pronouncement.
“What do you mean?” Scott asked in disbelief. “Have you looked in the mirror?”
Lorne smiled slightly. “I know what I look like and I can tell you with one hundred percent certainty I’m not a mutant. Frankly, I’m not even human.”
I glanced over at Logan, who was sniffing the air from where he stood against a wall. What do you think? I asked mentally.
He don’t smell like any human I’ve ever met – though Nightcrawler and Mystique didn’t smell right either, Logan responded. But he believes what he’s saying. I can smell lies and he ain’t lying...or at least he believes he ain’t lying.
Thank you, Logan. I cleared my throat and spoke aloud. “Perhaps you could enlighten us, Mr. Lorne?” I asked calmly.
The man waved a green-colored hand to the side. “Just Lorne is fine. And, well, I don’t think you’re even going to believe me but I’m going to start at the beginning and end at the end. I wasn’t born in this world. My home is a place called Pylea, another dimension separate from this one. I was an outcast there, horrible place.” He shuddered delicately. “Why they didn’t even have music! And humans were treated like animals, worked to near death and sometimes eaten. But I fell through a portal and found myself in this world; Los Angeles to be precise. I started a nightclub, a karaoke bar, and was happy.
“Then I met a vampire with a soul named Angel. He was on this whole redemption kick, helping the hopeless. He even had his gang of do-gooders and I eventually became one of them. Long story short, some really bad stuff happened and we found ourselves in charge of an evil law firm that dealt with demons and black magic. We wanted to clean it up from the inside out but we failed. In the end, we ended up destroying it – the LA branch at least. I left before the final fight. I couldn’t stand it anymore; couldn’t stand to see what Angel had become and was willing to do to beat the Senior Partners. I suppose if I had stayed, I would have died with the rest of them. I heard a few weeks after it happened that there were no bodies found, though there wouldn’t have been, would there? The Senior Partners are nothing but thorough. I don’t even know if they died but that’s what I guess happened.
“I wandered for awhile until I found myself in a bar in the middle of nowhere, New York. You know the rest.” Lorne nodded at Scott and lapsed into silence.
I looked at Logan again, who tapped his nose with a finger and shook his head. He’s telling the truth, odd as it sounds.
Mentally acknowledging Logan’s comment, I turned towards Lorne. “So if you’re not human, just what are you?”
“Believe it or not, I’m a demon. Born and raised in good ol’ Pylea, a hell dimension.” Red eyes stared at me, daring me to challenge this claim. “Now’s the point where you laugh at me, throw me out onto the street or call the loony bin. Though I’m not quite sure what the cops would make of me and I’m positive that straightjackets would look horrible against my green skin.”
“We’re not going to throw you out,” I told him. “And while your story may be a little hard to believe, then again, so are some of ours. There’s a guest room on the second floor that is already prepared if you want to spend the night. You are free to leave if you wish but it’s late and we can discuss things in the morning.”
Lorne blinked at me, mouth open in amazement. “You’re letting me stay? Just like that? No questions?”
I smiled. “No questions – at least, not tonight. Are you staying somewhere? I can send someone to fetch your things.”
Lorne nodded. “Uh, yeah. The Holiday Inn in town, room 203. I don’t have much, just a suitcase and a duffle bag. I left LA in a bit of a hurry.”
“Understandable.” I looked at Ororo, who nodded. “Ororo can show you your room. We’ll talk more in the morning.”
After Lorne and Ororo had left, I nodded to Scott and Logan. “I’m eager to get your thoughts.” And I hoped that hearing what they had to say might quiet some of my own discomforts. For all my calm exterior, I was at a loss of how to handle our new guest and the implications of his story.
Logan, unsurprisingly, spoke first. “I believe him,” he said succinctly. “The idea of demons and vampires isn’t shocking to me. I might have even run into them in my past. If I could just remember I might be able to tell you more.” His voice was bitter with anger and regret.
Turning to the man who I had taken in as my son, I asked, “Scott?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know what to think, Professor,” he told me. “The idea of magic and demons is too fantastic and out-of-this-world. If Jean were here—” He stopped and dropped his head.
I maneuvered my chair next to him and touched him gently on the shoulder. His flight into town was expected. I was as familiar with the calendar as he was and knew that this would be a hard day for all of us, but most especially for him. If Scott was my legal heir and the son of my heart, Jean was the child of my mind. The age difference between the two had been a large obstacle for them to initially overcome but once they had, the bond between them had only grown stronger. Without Jean, Scott was bereft and lost. Time healed all wounds, but it was a slow process. “I miss her too,” I whispered.
Behind me, I heard Logan shift uncomfortably. The Wolverine, in his way, had loved Jean as well, though he never understood he could never have truly come between her and Scott. He was jealous that Scott could grieve more deeply than he, and felt that he too was entitled to Jean. It wasn’t time yet to set him straight – we were all too emotional.
“Why don’t you both go to bed,” I said gently, carefully phrasing the order as a suggestion. “We’re all tired and we will think better in the morning.” It was a measure of their exhaustion and grief that they didn’t argue. After they had left, I picked up the receiver to my phone to call the Holiday Inn and request that someone send Lorne’s bags over.
* * *
POV: Lorne
I woke in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room. I was used to it by now, having gone from cheap motel to cheap motel across America. What was different was that the sheets were freshly laundered in a way that you would never find at a Day’s Inn or Econo Lodge. The mattress was soft and comfortable and the hedonistic part of me wanted to go back to sleep and ignore the strangeness of my surroundings for just another few hours of rest. I felt safe enough that I was able to give in and closed my eyes again.
The second time I woke up, the clock on the bedside table told me it was a little past noon. My stomach rumbled, letting me know that it was uncomfortably empty. I sighed and crawled out from between the sheets. Spying my bags beside the door, I rummaged around in them for my toiletries and retreated to the adjoining bathroom to shower and brush my teeth. I started feeling somewhat alive again and even hummed to myself as I was getting dressed. It had been months since I’ve sung – the last time had been before things had started going downhill at Wolfram and Hart. There hadn’t been much to sing about then.
I dressed in a yellow polo shirt and slacks. I didn’t feel up to a full suit today though I carefully hung them up in the closet. As I was shutting the closet door, I paused, still holding onto the handle. “What am I doing?” I asked myself. Was I so comfortable that I was willing to accept, even as tacitly as putting my clothes away properly, that I was staying here in Westchester, New York? I sighed and walked into the hallway, closing the door to my room behind me. I was here for a reason. I just had to trust in the Powers – something I hadn’t done in a long while.
I followed the faint voices I heard until my nose twitched. After that, I simply followed the smell of food until I stumbled upon a large room that served this place as a cafeteria. A buffet lined one wall and tables and chairs filled the rest of the floor space. I spotted what appeared to be the teachers’ table with the man I had met last night, Professor Charles Xavier, sitting at the head. He noticed me standing in the doorway and motioned me towards the food, smiling.
Oh thank God. I was going to eat. I grabbed a plate and filled it, though I honestly didn’t know what I piled onto it; only that it was edible and smelled heavenly. It was only after I seated myself at an empty chair at Xavier’s table that I looked down and processed that I had rice, baked chicken, and peas on my plate. I was thwarted from digging in immediately by my lack of silverware, which I had forgotten to grab from the buffet.
“Here you go,” a female voice said to my right.
I turned, jumping a little, and saw a teenaged girl with brown hair tied back in a ponytail holding out a knife and a fork for me. A little shocked, I automatically accepted the utensils. “Thank you.”
She smiled at me. “No problem.” She looked beyond me at Xavier. “Is that all, Professor?”
His eyes twinkled. “Yes. Thank you, Kitty. You may return to your meal now.”
Kitty flashed a quick grin at the entire table before walking back to her own. I stared after her in amazement, then down at the silverware in my hands, and then over to the Professor. “How?”
Xavier tapped the side of his head, his lips slightly upturned. “I’m a telepath, Lorne. I would have communicated with you directly but I’m afraid your mental shields are preventing me to. Instead, I merely asked Kitty, who was standing near the buffet, to get an extra set of utensils for you.”
The pretty woman with the white hair, Ororo, grinned at me. “The Professor likes surprising people. I would guess that because he could not surprise you directly, he used one of the students instead.” She gestured at my plate. “You should eat before your food gets cold.”
I complied, enjoying the first real meal I’ve had in weeks. I had traveled fast and didn’t want to draw too much attention so avoided most restaurants in favor of convenience stores and fast food restaurants. And even then, I could not avoid the stares that followed me around. A newcomer, I didn’t know the establishments that catered to non-humans and thus had to eat quickly and silently in order to prevent trouble.
A man with blue skin and a tail joined us and I stared at him surreptitiously as I ate. The others greeted him as “Kurt” and I understood now their lack of amazement at my physical appearance. Aside from his being able to fit into any demon bar in the country, Kurt’s face was covered in what looked like tattoos, and I could only guess that there were more on the rest of his body. He spoke with a thick German accent and smiled genially at me. Oddly enough, the thing that struck me the most was that he bowed his head to pray before eating his lunch. That, more than anything, made me realize just how odd the place I had found myself to be truly was.
Perhaps, in a place that accepted telepaths in wheelchairs, guys that shot red beams from their eyes, white-haired young women, and pious blue men with tails, a green-skinned empathic demon with a penchant for show tunes could fit in just fine.
--End Part 2--
Thanks for reading. Part 3 is finished and I'm editing it now.
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