Perception Is Belief (Part Three)

I had to have spent more time in the medical wing of Xavier's than any other student on the roster.

The order for the time being in regards to preventing students from exploding was to make sure there were no anomalies with anyone that would cause such a reaction. That meant extensive checkups for all the good little boys and girls... myself included.

I stood nearly naked, being analyzed by some machine down in Dr. McCoy's lab, under the supervision of the good doctor himself and Mister Rasputin, "Why am I here? I'm the one who smartened you up about what's going to happen. Also, I get Fantastic Four checkups every other week. If I was going to explode, you'd know it."

Dr. McCoy kept his attention on the readouts the machine gave on my current condition, "No special treatment, Mister Marcher. It's all in consideration of your good health."

Being that it was supposedly for my own good made it hard to go against. But I was feeling something of a petty streak at the moment, "I know. But Mister Rasputin is right here, and I know he's super jacked... just standing there... judging me for my tiny muscles," I looked down at my wirier frame. I had good muscle, but I wasn't a brick shit-house like Mister Rasputin, "Look at me, dude. I feel inadequate."

"You're just fine as you are, Bellamy," Dr. McCoy said, trying to encourage me, "You're a very imposing figure for your age."

Mister Rasputin chuckled and made a show of crossing his arms over his massive pecs, "Do not lie to the boy, Henry. He is still just baby."

"I don't like you right now," I shot back, getting more snickers out of Mister Rasputin before I turned my attention back to Dr. McCoy, "So, can I put my clothes back on now? I'm telling you, I'm not gonna blow up. Not because of this, at least."

Dr. McCoy nodded his consent to clear me from the medical tests, "It serves as a good sign to everyone else that you took to your checkup so willingly, my boy. Leading by example, and all that."

It sounded good, but these measures would only do so much in the grand scheme of things. If only it would be that easy to find if there was something wrong with anyone else, "I wish I could just point you in the direction of the person who went up. In the vision Ruthie gave me, I wasn't looking in the right direction."

Mister Rasputin waited until I was dressed in our team uniform and went to guide me out of the lab, "Come. We are late for squad practice."

Fine with me. I'd been making a habit of coping with whatever was going on at the time by keeping myself moving and thinking about something else. Any excuse to pay attention to something other than things I didn't know how to deal with was welcome to me.

For being in Dr. McCoy's lab, I was gifted with a distinct lack of a certain someone's annoying telepathic voice in my head. That was fine with me. Quire could screw off for the time being. I had more pressing personal issues to deal with than some dickhead in a jar. And I hoped he heard me when I thought that.

XxX

Team training had gone the same as most times – nothing out of the ordinary. Eddie and I split off from the girls to get changed out of our uniforms in the boys' locker room and find something to occupy our time afterwards. We settled on helping Saberwolf patrol the grounds. It gave us enough privacy to talk about sensitive matters without causing a panic with others, because it was obvious Eddie had plenty to say.

While I rode on Saberwolf's back, Eddie hovered just off of the ground, too irritated to walk, "Again, we're stuck in this bullshit position where we can't do anything to help anybody until whatever happens is already happening," He complained, and not without good reason, honestly.

The Field Day meeting where death and destruction was supposed to occur was two days away, and as far as we knew, nothing had been resolved yet, "We don't have any more details, and everybody already knows what we know, man. Don't flip out. We know when everything's gonna go sideways. It's all a matter of keeping our t's crossed and our i's dotted until it's over."

"So, head on a swivel?" Eddie asked, getting a nod from me, "Man, why do we have to be neighborhood watch for the school? I guess it comes with the gig of being baby X-Men."

"Who would you be referring to when you say 'we'?" Saberwolf said.

I laughed. Wolf also had a point. It was his job to be security, and events just seemed to transpire in my vicinity, "It seems like stuff always drops on me first, then trickles down to the rest of you."

"Yeah, and you wouldn't have it any other way," Eddie said, "So... provided we survive Wednesday, Homecoming is next week. You going?"

I suddenly wanted to clam up and say nothing, but my mouth decided otherwise, "Do you know if Megan is going?" I asked flatly. Eddie didn't answer, "That means yes, so I say no."

"Dude, come on," Eddie tried to reason, "Don't let that be a reason why you don't go. You normally put your head down and just bulldoze through unpleasant crap. You're, like, the master of ignoring awkwardness."

"I don't want to go to begin with," I insisted, "The fact that going might end up in some kind of ugly, social situation is only more of a reason not to," Why would I do something that would almost undoubtedly end in a confrontation. Especially one that I didn't want to have. I wasn't that much of an asshole, "I was going to hate being there anyway. She can at least enjoy it."

"You're really going to be letting some people down," Eddie said, trying to play on my loyalty to my friends. He had to work harder than that to sway me.

"Who? Who would I be letting down?" I asked, slightly amused, "You don't need me to wingman for you anymore, do you?" It would be different without a girl of my own to give me an excuse for hanging around. I really didn't feel like being a third wheel.

Eddie rubbed the back of his head, a pensive look on his face, "No. Things with Cess are going pretty well," It was good to hear that he hadn't bottled it yet.

"Right," I continued, after his confirmation, "Plus, I know Hisako's got a date. And if you think I'm opening the Pandora's box that going with Laura would cause, you're out of your mind," Just because I tried not to care what people thought didn't mean I liked inviting confrontation. Would Laura even go if I asked her? I didn't want to humor that train of thought any further.

"There's Blindfold," Eddie pointed out, thinking that he had me.

"There is Ruthie," I agreed, taking a moment to think about it, "...And I guess doing the sibling thing at the dance wouldn't be too weird if I just went ahead and owned it."

Eddie rolled his eyes, "I don't know why you always say that, Sol. You two aren't even close to being related."

How could he say such a thing? I gasped in shocked offense, "You shut your mouth, Wing. We're related in spirit. That's my little sister right there. You're telling me you can't see the resemblance?"

My attempt to sidetrack Eddie only worked for a second before he got back to the subject I'd been trying to avoid, "Whatever you do, just don't sit against the back wall and mean mug. Try and have a good time."

"If you wanted me to have a good time, you wouldn't tell me to go," I muttered.