Mind's Eye (X-Men Fanfiction)

Chapter Two

17:04, June 1, 1983

She sat at the small table in the kitchen with her grandparents. After Vale had explained what had happened, she felt like she was going to be shoved off to the next relative again.

Anything that she had done out of the ordinary was shunned. And she had done something way beyond ordinary.

She shoveled her noodles in her mouth and winced. The microwaved ramen taste exploded with salty beef flavoring. She quickly swallowed.

"We can't avoid this forever." Vale admitted.

"We will as long as we have to." Gran snapped.

"Gran--"

"She's right, Vale." Her grandfather agreed, his hollow voice echoing through the tiny house. "We are not going to make a scene out of this."

Her brows pulled together in rage and shot out of her chair. Even after everything that she told them, they still didn't get it.

"Make a scene? Paps I don't know about you, but I'm terrified. My eyes have gotten worse and worse each year and...and now this? I know where things are without seeing. I-I can hear your heart beating." She argued. "This is worth freaking out about."

"Vale." Paps growled. "Go to your room."

She let the wave search her surroundings. Her grandparents still sat in their chairs, Gran was eating the rest of her dinner and Paps was massaging his temples.

"You think I'm a mutant. Don't you?" She whispered, fury seeping into her words.

"Go to your room! Now!" Paps shouted.

Backing down from the fight, Vale stopped off to her room and slammed the door behind her.

It was going to be a long night.

She tossed and turned in her twin bed, sleep never coming. She couldn't turn the thing off. She felt everything in Baltimore, the people, the buildings, and the new unknown energy.

The mysterious spark was much brighter than the others. It also seemed to flicker much faster than normal people too. However they all had the same sliver color, but that one shined bright and big.

Vale groaned. Maybe if I don't think about it, it'll go away.

It didn't.

11:27, June 4, 1983

Vale couldn't sleep for two days. Her vision had gotten worse and the rest of her senses were heighten to the point she could taste air. It had become extremely annoying.

To her relief, today was Saturday. School was a big headache with her vision and hearing going crazy all day. She also couldn't fully pay attention to any of her classes with all the movement. Not to even mention everything she smelt.

"Could I get you anything ma'am?" A woman asked. Vale presumed she was a waitress.

Vale brought the diner menu closer to her face. The words came closer into focus and she read off the lunch items.

"I'd like a water and..." She squinted at the menu. "A grilled cheese."

There was a slight pause as the woman scratched the order down. "And would you like fries with that?"

"Uhh...yes please. Thank you." Vale said as she passed the menu to where she thought the waitress's hand was.

ploof.

"Sorry!" Vale exclaimed. She leaned over to go get it, but the waitress got it first.

"No problem." She said and left abruptly.

Vale sat in the booth alone in silence. She figured that she should get away for awhile, have some time to herself. Also to let her grandparents cool down.

She let the wave extend through the whole city. Paps was at work and Gran was at home, making her pottery no doubt.

Then there it was again, the brighter spark. It was running this time and running fast. The energy was headed south. Where is it going? She thought.

"Here you go." Said the waitress. Vale flinched in surprise at the woman's voice. She was so focused on the spark that she didn't feel where the waitress was.

"Thank you." Vale muttered and picked up the sandwich.

Once her grilled cheese was nothing but crumbs and her water empty, she payed and left to find the energy.

It had slowed down a bit, but it was still moving at lot faster than her. She began to run. Run as fast as her legs could carry her through the city.

Fortunately after two blocks, the energy slowed into a jog. Unfortunately Vale was growing more tiered by the second and her grip on what her surroundings were got fuzzier. She wouldn't be able to catch up with it. Not in this life time.

Vale stopped and leaned on a restaurant wall to catch her breath back. She closed her eyes pushed her head back to the brick. She stood there for a few seconds and convinced herself that she'd have to let it go. That she should get back home too.

She fished through her pockets to find the rest of her savings and came up with two dollars. She figured that it wouldn't get her cab so she did the only thing she could do. Walk home.

When she got back to old house her jaw dropped. Right in their driveway was a fancy car. The long Toyota barely even fit in the cement. She prayed that Paps hadn't called some rich relative to come and take her away.

Vale hesitantly opened the creaky door and stepped inside the house quietly.

"Vale!" Gran rushed to her granddaughter and grabbed Vale's hand quickly. "We have to talk."

The old woman guided her past the living room to the kitchen. At first Vale thought it was just going to be a lecture, Paps was going to sit her down and he'd talk for hours on end. This was nothing what she expected.

A stranger was in their kitchen. Her brows shot up at the bright energy surrounding the stranger. It was the same as the thing that she was chasing back in the city. But this one was different, the pattern of the pulsing was faster and the sliver didn't shine as bright.

"What's going on?" She asked. She hated the quaver in her voice.

"Vale." Paps began to say.

"It's alright." The stranger said, the voice was deep and calm. Vale guessed the stranger was a man. "My name is Hank McCoy."