Universes Apart

Chapter 2-Leap Frog

Charles jerked awake as a loud roar echoed through his ears. He realized several things simultaneously. The wounds he sustained appeared to be gone, he was in a metal room of some kind, and he could feel his legs. “What the hell?” Looking around he could see Scott, Rogue, and Jubilee laying on strange looking beds like the one he was on.

They began to stir as well, but when Charles was moving to the closest one, the roar was heard again followed by yelling and a loud crash. Realizing it was Logan making all the fuss, he quickly hurried to the door, barely acknowledging it opened automatically. Charles skidded into the next room, finding Logan being held down by a black man with a strange visor on and an unusual man with ridges adorning his face.

“Logan!!” He commanded, striding foreward to stand over his friend. “You have to calm down...” Logan jerked more frantically, one arm broke free and he swung it upwards into Charles’ face. There was a crack and he felt a burst of pain as his nose broke. Blood ran from his nose. He moved his hand to his nose to try and stop the bleeding. *Damn it Logan!!* Charles shouted, feeling his nose gently and wincing as that simple touch sent a shockwave of agony through his nose. *It’s really me!!*

Logan’s flailings stopped abruptly and he looked closer at the man next to him. “Sorry...Chuck...” He mumbled, relaxing back onto the bed. Charles grumbled something unintelligible as a red-haired woman hurried foreward. She shooed the two men to the door and turned to the other occupants.

“Well...now that that’s over with, let’s take care of your nose.” She said cheerfully to Charles.

“My friends were starting to wake up.” He said as the woman ushered him into a chair near Logan.

“Yes, I know.” She said as she took a strange device out of her coat pocket and moved it toward him. Charles frowned slightly but allowed her to place the metal against the base of his neck. He heard a hiss, then felt all the pain disappear. He smiled slightly at the relief. He felt nothing as she reset his nose, then waved a small device over the bridge a couple times.

“All done.” She smiled beautifully at him, reminding Charles of his good friend Moira MacTaggert. ‘I wonder if this woman has a temper like Moira always did.’ He smiled back at the pretty red-head as she moved over to get a cloth to clean his face.

“Thank you, by the way, my name is Charles Xavier.” He said as she threw the cloth into an unknown hole in a consol on the wall.

“Oh, sorry about that, I’m Doctor Beverly Crusher.” She smiled and held out her hand, he shook it and was about to say something else when a small spiky-haired girl ran into the room.

“Logan, Professor!!” Jubilee ran up to Logan. He sat up and ruffled her hair.

“Hey kid, how do you feel?”

“Great,” She turned to Charles and gasped. “Wow, where’d all that blood come from?”

“Uh...that would be my fault.” Logan said truthfully. “I uh...kinda broke his nose.” Jubilee moved over, leaning close to Charles’ face and frowning.

“Hmmm...it’s not broken now though...” She muttered, readjusting the goggles setting on her head. Beverly laughed lightly causing Jubilee to jump and turn in surprise.

“That’s because I healed the wound.” The red-head responded, smiling at the girl.

“Oh...are you the one who healed our other wounds?” She questioned as Nightcrawler began to stir on the bed next to Logan.

“Yes, I am.” Beverly answered as Rogue entered the room, closely followed by Scott. “I’m Doctor Beverly Crusher, and you are?” She questioned the rest of the group.

“I’m Jubilee.” The spiky-haired girl answered.

“Ah’m Rogue.” The southerner smiled lightly at the doctor.

“Scott Summers.”

“Kurt Wagner.”

“Logan.”

“It’s nice to finally meet you all, you are the most interesting patients I’ve had the pleasure of meeting.” Beverly replied, moving around to shake the rest of their hands. “By the way, who is that blue woman?” She questioned.

“What blue woman?” Scott asked, looking around the room. “There’s no blue woman here.”

“Shit!!” Charles exclaimed, Logan jumped up cursing under his breath. “I forgot to keep an eye on her...” He muttered, meeting Logan’s eyes. *Do you think you can track her?* Logan nodded firmly.

“Why would you keep an eye on her?” The concerned doctor asked in confusion. “Is she dangerous?”

“She can be dangerous, she could be anywhere...or anyone.” Scott swore softly, finally realizing who they were talking about.

“Mystique.” Rogue mumbled softly. “Excuse me, ah...Geordi...” She asked at the doorway. “Did anyone just go out of the room?”

“Yes,” Answered the black man. “Doctor Crusher just left saying she was going to the bridge to talk to the Captain.” He answered.

“Damn!!” Charles muttered. “She must have been awake longer than the rest of us...” Charles quickly scanned the minds of their new friends. He found out they were on a space ship called the U.S.S. Enterprise and realized Mystique could have gotten enough information from the computer in sickbay if she used the right access code. ‘She probably payed attention to Doctor Crusher for quite a while before trying the computer. We must have been out for a long time.’

“We have to go after her, Rogue, Logan, Kurt come with me, the rest of you stay here incase Mystique comes back.”

“Professor!!” Scott retorted angrily. “Why can’t I go?”

“Scott, you shouldn’t use your optic beams here, you could put the ship in danger.” It looked like he would protest again but he backed down, sitting on one of the beds, turning away from the group. ‘Ship, Professor?’ He questioned silently. *You should ask our friends about it, I only found a little information from their minds.*

“I’m always left out...” Jubilee complained. Charles smiled slightly as he turned to leave with his group.

“I’d like to come with you.” Beverly stated, placing her hand on Charles’ shoulder. He raised his eyebrows in a silent question. She smiled wryly before answering. “I’ll be fine, I’ve had my share of battles. Besides, I have something that will knock her out...if we can get close enough with it.” Charles nodded and the group followed Logan out the door and down the hallway.

* * * * * * * *

Mystique hurried down the hall and into the turbolift, wearing a small smirk on her borrowed face. ‘These humans are quite stupid!! Too trusting!! I’ve been awake for five hours and no one seemed to notice! Apparently the sensors on my bed were broken...oh well!! It works for me.’ She called out her destination to the bridge as a woman with curly black hair entered with her.

“Beverly, how are you?” She asked, smiling at her. “You seem a little different today.”

“Oh, I’m just tired,” Mystique answered in Beverly’s voice. “I finally finished healing all the stranger’s, they had serious wounds caused by the collision, but they’ll all recover well.” She sighed slightly, leaning against the wall and putting her hands into her coat pockets like she’d seen the Doctor doing earlier.

She had been able to find out all the information she needed from the computer in sickbay, she’d read the profiles of the senior staff on the ship and a bunch of information, including that they were on some spaceship called the Enterprise. She felt giddy with the knowledge of such an advanced piece of technology. If she could only find a way back to her own time, she could wipe out the entire crew and most of the X-Men and take the ship to her own Universe. Mystique could take control of countless planets. ‘There has to be more life out there. Just look at this place, even if it is an alternate universe to my own, there are so many different people, why wouldn’t there be elsewhere?’ The turbolift stopped and the two of them exited the lift. Mystique looked around watching as Troi took her place in the chair next to Picard’s. The man in question was nowhere on the bridge.

“Ah, Will,” She asked, waiting as the brown-haired man looked up. “Is the Captain in the ready room?”

“Yes, Beverly, go on ahead.” Riker answered, smiling at his friend. Inside, Mystique was laughing at their trusting. ‘Stupid humans.’ She offered a sweet smile in return, moving over to the door and pushing the bell. Hearing a ‘Come’ she entered the room and smiled at the man behind the desk.

“Ah, Beverly! It’s good to see you. How are things going with your patients?” He asked as Mystique sauntered over, moving around to sit on the edge of his desk, smirking at his surprised look.

“Oh, fine. I finished healing them, they should be waking soon. But that’s not why I came here.”

“Oh?” He questioned, leaning back in his seat, raising his eyebrows in a silent question. “And what would be the reason?” He asked, voice tightening slightly as he remembered their previous conversation. She smiled softly, watching as his eyes locked onto hers.

“I...made a mistake, Jean-Luc...” Mystique whispered, enjoying the look of hope flitting across his expression. ‘It’s a good thing the good Doctor mutters so much to herself!!’ She had gotten the gist of Beverly and Picard’s conversation before the crash and was thankful of it. ‘This will be easier than I thought!!’ She moved off the desk to straddle his lap, kissing him forcefully. Picard gasped and kissed back, tangling his hands into her hair, holding her gently.

As Mystique kissed him she slid her hand into her coat pocked and removed a hypospray. Making sure he was thoroughly distracted, she pressed it against the base of his neck and emptied the contents into his bloodstream. He fell limply back onto the chair and Mystique laughed softly. “Now...time to get to work!!” she muttered to herself.

* * * * * * * *

It was much harder to find Mystique than they thought. Logan followed her scent to the turbolift and Beverly cursed softly.

“It will be almost impossible to find her!! She could be anywhere now!!” Along the way Charles had explained to her vaguely about mutants, and told her about his friend’s and his powers. “The turbolifts can go anywhere in the ship. We should try to talk to the Captain about this...he might have an idea of how to find her.” The group entered the turbolift and headed up to the bridge. Upon their entrance Will and Deanna frowned.

“Beverly?” Deanna questioned. “You just went to see the Captain.

“Deanna, there’s no time to explain.” She muttered, ushering the group towards the Captain’s ready room. She immediately realized the room was locked and overrode it with her code. The doors swished open. Logan charged in only to find it completely empty. “She must have used a site to site transfer.” Beverly muttered. “But how would she know what to do?”

“Mystique is quite good at collecting information.” Charles said to the woman.

“How do we find her now?” Logan growled angrily.

“Computer!!” Riker called out. “Where is the location of Captain Picard??”

“Captain Picard is in his quarters.” The computer responded.

“Is he alone?”

“Yes.” Came the monotone voice.

“Let’s go.” Will commanded, the group quickly following after him. They hurried to the Captain’s quarters, getting filled in on the gist of the situation, they entered the Captain’s rooms cautiously. Logan moved around the room, quickly finding an unconscious Picard on the floor next to the couch. After running a tricorder over the fallen man, Beverly placed a hypospray against the base of his neck. After the hiss, Picard stirred and sat up slowly, groaning softly.

“What...happened...” He muttered, rubbing his stiff neck.

“You tell us, Captain.” Beverly stated as she stood, reaching down to help Picard to his feet.

“I was in my ready room...you came in...” He said, pointing at Beverly. “Then there were flashes...a strange woman who changed form...everything is jumbled...”

“If I may, I can read your mind to find out what happened. Maybe I will be able to tell what Mystique’s plan is...” Picard shook his head vehemently, crossing his arms stubbornly across his chest.

“There is no way I’m going to allow some telepath rooting around in my head!!” He grumbled.

“Captain...” Deanna tried, pulling him aside to speak privately with him. “These people need our help getting home, and they need help finding this woman. She is dangerous and could do some serious havoc to the ship, you have to help them find her anyway you can.” He scowled deeply at his Counselor, finally nodding his consent.

“That doesn’t mean I have to like it!!” He muttered, Deanna nodded at her Captain before turning to Charles with a triumphant smile. *He’s all yours.* Deanna said. Charles nodded, a grateful look on his face. He spoke quietly to his group of friends, commanding them to leave the room for now. They complied without complaining, Will following closely behind, knowing his commanding officer would want some privacy.

“Do you want us to leave?” Beverly asked, gesturing to herself and Deanna.

“No,” Picard answered softly. “I...may not be too comfortable with this, but I’d feel better if you two were here...” Charles motioned for Picard to sit next to him on the couch. Hesitantly Jean-Luc complied, frown etched on his face.

“It won’t hurt!!” Charles smiled, trying to lighten the mood. Picard’s frown deepened and Charles’ expression turned serious. ‘Alright, you want to play it that way, fine.’ He reached foreward, placing his fingers along the Captain’s temples. “Just relax, I won’t go farther into your mind than necessary. Just concentrate on what happened earlier...it will make things easier if you do.” Charles vaguely heard the two women sit across from the sofa, before he was drawn into Picard’s mind.

*Picard’s Memory*

“Ah, Beverly! It’s good to see you. How are things going with your patients?” I asked as Beverly sauntered over, moving around to sit on the edge of my desk, smiling at my look of surprise.

“Oh, fine. I finished healing them, they should be waking soon. But that’s not why I came here.”

“Oh?” I questioned, leaning back in my seat, raising my eyebrows in a silent question. “And what would be the reason?” I asked, voice tightening slightly as I remembered our previous conversation. She smiled softly, and I found my eyes locking with hers.

“I...made a mistake, Jean-Luc...” Beverly whispered, I felt a rush of hope race through me at the implications of her words. She moved off the desk to straddle my lap, kissing me forcefully. I gasped and kissed back, tangling my hands into her hair, holding her gently. I felt something cold press into my neck before a familiar hiss filled my ears everything went black after that...

*Flash*

I woke in my rooms. Everything was fuzzy. Looking around I saw a strange blue blur. Blinking rapidly to clear my vision, I realized it was a woman. She moved to kneel in front of me, pressing a hypospray against my neck, injecting it quickly. “Now, lets see what I can get out of you!!” She then proceeded to ask questions about everything, ranging from my life to the workings of the ship. And for some reason I couldn’t lie...’She must have given me something...’ I thought to myself. Once she was done questioning, she pressed another hypospray against my neck and I felt the blackness take me over again...

*End Picard’s Memory*

Charles slowly began to withdraw from Picards’ mind, only to find himself unable to. ‘What the hell?!’ He frowned deeply, eyebrows scrunching together.

‘What’s going on?!’ Picard growled, trying to block off the memories threatening to be revealed to the stranger.

‘I don’t know, something is...keeping me from exiting your mind. I don’t understand it...’ Charles answered. A laugh echoed through their minds.

‘You two have much to learn from each other, so I won’t release you until you see what you need to see!!’ Picard recognized the voice immediately and yelled angrily.

‘Q!! What the hell are you doing?! Show yourself immediately!!’

‘The time isn’t right for that, Picard. You’ll just have to wait!! In the mean time, just enjoy the company of these strangers, you’ll find it will change everything for the better...’ The bodiless voice answered.

‘Q!!’ The angry man yelled, causing Charles to wince at the loud tone of voice.

‘Please stop yelling, it isn’t helping anything.’

‘What do you want me to do?!’ Charles sighed and thought of what the strange man had said...

‘It appears that the man wants us to learn something from the other, so we’ll just have to let him take us where he wants us to go.’

‘Are you mad?!!’ Picard exclaimed. ‘That madman has no boundaries!! He can do anything he wants to!!’

‘If that’s true, then we should do as he wants. He could destroy anything he wants to, right?’ Picard hesitated, then gave a mental nod.

‘Fine!! But I won’t like it!!’ He grumbled in irritation. ‘So what do we do?’

‘Just relax, Q will do what he wants to our minds, it will be easier if you just let it happen...’ Charles felt a slight prodding against the barriers he had in his mind, and cautiously lowered them all, letting the unknown entity search through his memories. It took a minute before Picard was able to allow the probing into his deepest darkest memories, but once he did, the two men found themselves drawn into memories from both of them...

The memories started out from Charles’ mind. They showed many scenes from the man’s life, showing all the hardships he had to go through to get to where he was now. All the heartache and turmoil, the pain and suffering of being a mutant, of being confined to a wheelchair for so many years. Charles felt an immense sadness creep over him as they were bombarded with his dark memories. It quickly turned to embarrassment as his various love affairs were laid bare to his unwanted observer...

* * * * * * * *

“What?” Deanna frowned at the sudden wave of mixed emotions coming from the two men.

“What’s wrong, Deanna?” Beverly asked, leaning closer to her friend.

“I’m...not sure...” She moved around the table and leaned close. “Are you two alright?” The black-haired woman asked, but getting no answer she stood straight, turning to frown at her friend.

“Maybe we should ask his friends, they might know what’s going on.” Deanna nodded and the two women moved to the door to speak to the group gathered there. “Excuse me, but there seems to be a problem...” The concerned women ushered the group of people in allowing them to examine the two men locked together.

“Should we try to wake them?” Beverly asked, a frown marring her beautiful face.

“No,” Logan answered immediately. “It’s not a good idea to do anything with them locked together like that. It could damage their mind’s irreparably.”

“Ve’ll just have to hope zey come out of it...” Kurt said, perching on the arm of the couch.

* * * * * * * *

“Jubilee, if you don’t quit sighing, I’m going to blast you!!” Scott scolded after the girl had sighed for the tenth time in 20 minutes. They were still in sickbay, Jubilee was laying on one of the beds, arms thrown wide, hands hanging over the edge.

“But I’m sooo bored!!” The spiky-haired girl complained.

“It’s only been 20 minutes, you couldn’t possibly be that bored.” Scott commented, getting tired of her whining. “Why don’t you listen to what Mr. LaForge has to say?” Cyclops had been speaking to the man about the workings of the ship, learning a lot of useful information.

“But you guys are just talking about boring stuff.” Scott sighed in exasperation, not used to having to deal with the energetic youth for so long. Just as he was about to say something else, Geordi spoke up.

“Maybe we could go on a tour...how does that sound?” Jubilee shot up quickly and was at the door in seconds.

“Well? Are you coming?” She threw back over her shoulder. The two men exchanged amused looks before following her out of the room, Geordi taking the lead. Worf, who had been guarding the door, followed after them.

* * * * * * * *

Picard’s memories surged through the two men next, they went through the same type of things that Charles’ had. Showing how alike the two men were. They both had pushed their loves away for what they thought was for the best. Even through the hardships of their lives, surrounded by people, they were always alone on a deep level.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, the two men were allowed to disconnect the link. Picard sat back, covering his eyes as he tried to process all that he’d seen. Charles sat foreward, resting his elbows on his knees and dropping his face into his hands, moaning softly as he heard the thoughts of everyone in the room, forgetting his barriers were still down.

“Jean-Luc?” Beverly whispered softly, moving foreward to touch the man’s shoulder, his hand moved automatically to cover hers.

“I’m alright, Beverly...” He responded to her unasked question. Kurt placed his hand on Charles’ back, offering silent comfort to his mentor.

“Professor?” The blue mutant asked softly. Charles sat back, rubbing his temples as he did so, trying to concentrate on remaking the barriers in his mind that he’d lowered.

“Give me a minute...I have to restore my barriers...” He muttered softly. Kurt nodded and watched Picard talking to Beverly on the other end of the couch.

“So, what happened?” Beverly asked quietly, moving to sit on the arm of the couch, hand still in Picard’s grasp.

“We were...forced...to share our memories...” He said, opening his eyes to look at the beautiful red-head next to him. “It was Q...” He said, frowning angrily. Her eyes widened in surprise at that revelation.

“What the hell could Q possibly want?” Riker asked, a confused look on his face.

“I don’t know.” Picard answered softly. “But apparently he had some hand in bringing these people to us...but we won’t know why until he decides to reveal his plan...we’ll just have to wait and find out.”

tbc

So? What do you think? Please review!!