ISSUE # 90

She lies asleep in her bed, her metalic body shivering and shaking despite the fact that no blood ran through her body and that it should be impossible. But her nightmares were just that wicked. Dreaming, remembering her torture at the hands of the facility. Cessily was far from being alright.

" HA!" Cessily gasped and jerked up from her bed, breathing heavily and trying hard to catch her breath. She grabbed her blanket and pulled it up, with her legs, to her chest and clutched it tightly. " Easy, Cess. Easy. Just another nightmare." Cessily said to herself. She looked around the room, almost as if looking for clarification that she was home, and all she saw was the darkness of the place she knew as her room. It was dark and lonely, a feeling she knew since her roommate, Andrea, had died in the school bus bombing. Cessily sighed and sulked in her bed, though she was happy to be safe, she was still upset. " Everything's fine. I just need to go back to sleep." Cessily told herself. Cessily prepared to go back to sleep, but then the young girl heard a knock on the door.

Curious to see, Cessily left her bed and went to answer the door.

" Who is it?" She asked through the wooden door to the person on the other side.

" Hey, Cess. It's me." Cessily recognized the voice instantly. It was Ian. But what was he doing up so late and at her door? " Are you okay? I heard you scream a moment ago and came to check on you." She heard him speak the answer to the questions she was asking herself and felt a sense of ease wash over her.

Cessily opened the door to the boy and hugged him before he could say another word.

This caught Ian off-guard at first, but upon remembering everything she's been through, he quickly realized what was going on and returned the hug as softly and as gently as he could.

" You were having another nightmare, weren't you?" Ian asked bluntly. He didn't want to offend Cessily, but instead he wanted her to talk about it more. To help her overcome the trauma of what she went through. " Do you mind if I come in?" Ian asked the girl.

Cessily stepped back from their hug and invited Ian into her room, flipping the switch and turning on the light so that they could both see clearly.

Ian took note of the bright colors that filled the room, laughing to himself. He noticed how pink everything was, it was hard to imagine for him that as tough as Cessily was that she was still a young girl and very much had a knack for the prettier things.

Cessily sat down on her bed and patted the spot next to her. Ian nodded and plopped down next to her, making her bed shift a little.

" Sorry bout that. I sometimes forget how heavy I can be." Ian chuckled. He rubbed the back of his head and laughed nervously as he looked over at Cessily pulling herself and her things back up right. " So, wanna tell me what you were dreaming about?" Ian asked

" Oh, you know... Just the usual. Getting zapped, blasted, and eaten by one of those monsters. The usual." Cessily replied. Although her attempt to make light of the situation was noted, and she did so with a smile, the pain in her voice and the hurt in her eyes spoke louder than any word she could speak. " You don't have to worry about me, Ian. I'm sure you have your own problems to worry about. We all do."

Ian reached over and placed his hand on Cessily's shoulder. He pulled her close to him and hugged her.

" You don't have to hide your feelings, Cess. I know how much it hurts. You don't have to be strong. Not for me." Ian told the girl.

For a moment Cessily was quiet. She began to shake, not hard, but enough that Ian took notice of it. Her eyes grew wet as if she were about to cry, but she quickly rubbed and wiped away the tears in her eyes.

Cessily, then sat back up, took a deep breath, and then sighed.

" Can we... Not talk about it?" Cessily asked.

Ian nodded happily and rubbed her shoulder. He knew it would take time for Cessily, to truly open up about it. And he al knew that he just might not be the best person for her to speak to at all.

" Sure. What do you want to talk about?" Ian asked the girl.

Cessily was quiet again, mewling over her thoughts. Now that she thought about it, she didn't know much about him besides the little things he had told pretty much everyone already. Sure, she knew what he's experienced, but that's it. She didn't know his dreams, his goals in life, his aspirations and to be fair he didn't know hers. Maybe this was a chance for her to get to know her friend better.

" When you were a kid, what was it you wanted to be when you grew up?" Cessily asked.

" Oh, are you interested in my life suddenly? Haha! Okay, well that's easy. I wanted to be a superhero, fight crime and stop the bad guys. Like every other kid in the world." Ian told the girl.

" Really?" Cessily asked

" HAHA! No, not really. If you really want to know, I always envisioned myself being a scientist, I wanted to work for guys like stark and Richards. Producing new technology, studying the laws of physics and other nerdy things. It was what I was good at when I was younger. I've always been a step ahead of everyone when it came to things like mathematics and science. I even learned how to fix a starship's jump engine. But... We didn't have much money, so it was down to me to get a scholarship for college. And I'd say I was pretty damn close to it. I mean I was at the top of my grade." Ian bragged to the girl.

" Really? Then, why didn't you go?" Cessily asked.

Ian shook his head. He didn't blame the girl, but the answer was obvious.

" My X-gene kicked in, Cess. That pretty much ruined just about any chance I had at getting accepted into any school that wasn't this one." Ian joked.

Cessily felt horrified when she thought about what she said. It was so embarrassing. She covered her face with her two hands and sighed.

" Oh, don't worry about it, Cess. It's all in the past now." Ian told the girl. " What about you? What was your dream?" He asked

" Well, I don't know. I had never given it much thought. My mom and dad always got on me about it. Saying I should be thinking about my future and what I was going to do with my life, but I just never could choose. I enjoyed dancing, so maybe I thought I'd try to be a dancer of some kind. I also enjoyed music, so I thought maybe I'd be singer and try to be a pop star. Of course, I also have a fantastic sense of fashion so maybe a model. I really settled on that one for a while. I started watching my weight more and made sure that I always looked my best. But then well... You know." Cessily explained. She raised her hand up to Ian and he knew what she meant. " This pretty much ruined any chance I had at a normal life, a normal career, everything." She spoke.

" Maybe so. Maybe that's because you were meant for something extraordinary." Ian told the girl. " Cessily, you are a remarkable woman. Brave, kind, gentle, caring, strong, bold, smart." Ian spoke.

" And stubborn Don't forget that." Cessily stated.

" Oh aye. You are as stubborn as they come, and bull-headed, a little rough around the edges, can be a bit slow at times, though thankfully not as slow as Julian." Ian joked. " You make mistakes often, you are quick to jump into action, and sometimes you can be careless. You have your good qualities, and you have your bad ones. But do you know what that makes you, Cess?" Ian asked.

Cessily shook her head and looked up at the young man.

" That makes you human." Ian told the girl. " Just like everyone else. You and I are no different from the average people that fill this world. We're just one of the few lucky ones to have been an extraordinary gift. What we do with that gift is what decides who we are. There is no godly force out there driving our actions and ideals. Everything we are and everything we do, begins and ends with ourselves. I can't make you do anything you don't want Cessily, nor will I ever attempt to force you. But I will be there for you when you decide what it is you want. I will fight at your side if you wish to fight or protect you if you don't want to. You understand that?" Ian asked the girl.

Cessily laughed and nodded her head.

Ian returned the smile and hugged her again.

" Now, what else do you want to talk about?" Ian asked. " I know, why don't you tell me what you were like when you were younger?" Ian asked.

" Oh god, I was such a nerd. I used to have braces that made my teeth look huge and I was a little chubby." Cessily replied.

" Really?! Well, there's nothing to be ashamed of about that. If you didn't know, a lot of guys like thicker girls." Ian told the girl

" IAN?!"

" What? I'm just saying. We don't all like toothpicks." Ian spoke plainly.

Cessily laughed at the young man's bluntness.

" You have got so much to learn about women. For instance, you never make jokes about a woman's weight." Cessily chided the man. She slapped him on the shoulder and yawned.

" Getting tired again? Maybe it's time I go." Ian spoke.

" No!" Cessily shouted as Ian got up from the bed. She grabbed his hand and he stopped to look down at her. " I mean, will you stay. I'm still afraid." Cessily told the boy honestly. Her laughter and smile disappeared and the frightened girl form before returned.

Ian sat down as Cessily pulled her blanket up to her chest and held her hand.

" I'll stay as long as you want me too." Ian told the girl. He knew he would probably hear some not so friendly words from Scott and Emma tomorrow, but he didn't care. He wanted Cessily to feel safe, and if that meant sacrificing one night of sleep or maybe more, then oh well. So be it.

And that's what he did. Ian sat next to Cessily and held her hand until she fell asleep and even then, he continued to keep watch over her throughout the night.

" Things have been quiet rowdy lately haven't they. So much danger all at once is beginning to wear on even me. I know how you are feeling right now, and I'm sorry Cess." Ian whispered as to not wake the girl. He then looked outside as the moon shined through the window. The wind whistled and howled against the empty and hallowed halls of the institute, something that had now become the norm. " There's a storm approaching. I have a bad feeling things are only going to get worse for us. But I promise to do my best to keep you safe from all of it, Cess. You and everyone else."