The Ties That Bind // By Illmantrim

Title: The Ties That Bind
'Verse: Tim Drake in X-Men Evolutionverse
Challenge: Timfinity and Beyond
Author: Illmantrim
Author e-mail or LJ: illmantrim
Rating: PG, maybe PG-13-ish
Spoilers: minor spoilers for later seasons of the X-Men Evolution series as well as events in Tim Drake's life
Summary: Tim Drake, cousin of Bobby Drake, mutant and newbie X-Man, has a wee accident, but in the aftermath, discovers that there is hope even in darkness Disclaimer: Tim and the X-men aren't mine. They are owned by people with a lot more money and bigger lawyers. There is no intent to make money or defame anyone, so please don't sue.
Pairing / genre: romance/angst
Warnings: angst, exposition, total lack of beta-ing.
Characters: Tim Drake, Scott Summers(Cyclops), Jean Grey(Marvel Woman), Rogue, Charles Xavier(Professor X), Bobby Drake(Ice Man), Ray Crisp(Berzerker), Professor Hank McCoy(Beast), other X-men and students
Story notes: Late and unbeta-ed I am still happy with this... it feels like more and mayhap one day I will revisit this universe.
Words: 2627

Tim woke up slowly. He opened his eyes, only to be greeted by the sterile walls of the Med-Lab underneath the mansion, under dim lighting. He groaned and lifted his head to glance around. That proved to be a mistake. Pain shot through his head, neck, and spine. He felt like his head was trying to give birth to a new species of dinosaur, or something equally large. Not to be left out, his body felt bruised all over and was cramping hard. He shifted his body, lifting up slightly and then felt the pain increase. He groaned and then slumped backward against the bed.

He closed his eyes and tried to remember what had happened.

He remembered the training exercise, he remembered the accident, touching Rogue's face, the seeming explosion... within him? And then there was darkness... He groaned in frustration and opened his eyes and growled.

"ZZZAAAKKKTTT"

He jerked backward as crimson beams shot out and were absorbed by the ceiling. He slammed his eyes shut for a moment until his anger fell and he wrestled his panic down. His breathing slowly lowered. In his thoughts he gave reins to his panicked questions for but a moment.

~what the hell was that?~

~Who?~

~Who's that?~

~Tim? Is that you?~

~Jean?~

~Yes, it's me~ There was relief in her mental voice. ~We were worried about you. I am glad you are awake. ~

~Jean?~

~Yes, Tim?~

~What happened to me?~

There was a pause and then she 'spoke' again, her mental voice edged with uncertainty and hesitation.

~I think that had better be something Professor X and Doctor McCoy discuss with you.~

Tim felt a small flare of panic and then clamped it down. He didn't show panic. He didn't show fear. He never had. Not since...

He clamped that thought down too and concentrated on thinking to Jean.

~Okay but tell them to hurry will you? I want out of this place.~

Humor tinged her reply.

~Will do, Mr Eager.~

He settled back against the bed, opening his eyes cautiously, and sighed. He tried to concentrate on waiting. He sat there and counted the ceiling tiles and the floor tiles and the pattern of blinking lights on the nearby panel. He was annoyed and he was tired and he was irritated with not knowing what was going on.

He was however, definitely not brooding.

He wasn't.

At all.

The concerned and unhappy expression on his face had absolutely nothing to do with brooding.

Nope.

He sighed.

The door to the lab sighed open and Doctor Hank McCoy, Professor Charles Xavier, Rogue, Scott Summers, Ray Crisp, and Jean Grey all came in. He braced himself for the usual cramps and changes that came with the exposure to other mutants, but they didn't come. He felt himself panic just a little deep inside but kept his face blank. Ever since his powers had come to the surface he had always had to be on guard. Whenever a new mutant entered a certain radius around him, he began to share and mimic their powers, and even change physically to do so. It had been a somewhat painful experience, but one he was slowly learning to control as time went on. Now... now he felt nothing. And panic slipped just that much further towards the surface. He noticed idly with a small part of his mind that Rogue was even more covered up than normal, and that all the teens looked like they were fighting the symptoms of a minor hangover.

He felt a low hum begin in his temples and then voices and emotions began pecking at his brain. he felt himself losing his grip as the swarm of thoughts swallowed him and he was lost for a long minute until suddenly it was over. He looked up and saw McCoy was holding a dampening field control. He nodded shakily in thanks as soon as he had control again, and he turned his attention to the others.

He straightened up as much as he could as Xavier watched him. He owed this man so much. As they slowly made their way across the Med-Lab, he closed his eyes, remembering their first meeting.

He had discovered the secrets behind the Xavier Institute by cracking and sneaking across the internet and reports in different places, and had showed up presenting his facts. Tim had been led to it at first by an interest in his elusive cousin, Bobby. Bobby had vanished from his parents house one weekend and never returned. This has drawn Tim's curiosity and driven him to expend all his carefully built up computer expertise. His father had even admonished him about the long hours he was spending on the internet. Tim felt a brief moment of sick sadness, missing even that contact with his father. He sighed.

Xavier hadn't been mad.

Xavier had instead seemed impressed, and after an interview, had agreed to help the young man convince his father to let him attend the school. The Professor especially seemed interested once he found out that Tim wasn't the only one who was investigating him. Tim had shown him the records and intrusions he had found and then shyly had shown him what he had done about it. Tim had wiped everything out, but carefully, making reports cross each other and change, and made others seem contradictory. He had made the interested parties' evidence vanish into the limbo of the internet.

Xavier had expressed both admiration of his initiative and also an admonition not to casually do such things. The Xavier institute and the X-men, he had said, were about doing the right thing. Later that same day, Scott Summers, the leader of the X-Men known as Cyclops, had come to him and thanked him privately, and introduced him to Douglas Ramsey, another computer whiz, but one who was a mutant and far beyond his abilities. Doug had taught Tim even more about computers and the two had become fast friends.

Later in that first week, Xavier had asked him point blank how he felt about mutants and he had answered that he was kinda weirded out but that he didn't think there was anything wrong with it, especially after he had figured out that Xavier and his group had been acting quietly as heroes when they could. The man had nodded and said nothing.

Tim hadn't even suspected what he now knew that Xavier had known all the time, that Tim was himself a mutant. He hadn't found that out until his father was in a coma and he had found himself temporarily as Xavier's ward.

And the stress, despite everything Tim had invested in control, had been too much. Tim had broken down with his cousin and new friends. Bobby, Scott, Jean, Rogue, and Ray had been there that night. And as his stress and pain reached the breaking point, surrounded by friends who were just being supportive, his felt something like a fever rush over him, and then pain like nothing he had ever known.

He had cried out, and then, suddenly, everything was different.

He had, without warning, been able to hear everyone's thoughts and feelings. It was too overwhelming for him to stand and it built up in him like an explosion. The stress of his father's accident and the feeling of everyone's emotions was too much. Crimson beams had exploded from his eyes and a sheet of ice had formed around the room. Crackling energy had rolled off him shocking his friends and then he had felt Scott's and Bobby's minds and selves pulling into him from where they had grabbed him when he jerked.

He had yanked his hands back, but in the touching them, suddenly realized what had happened. Scott's analytical mind had infected his own and given him the tools to figure it out. He had somehow gained mutant abilities of his won... to mimic those of everyone around him. It took the intervention of Storm and Logan to help calm him down and the Professor to help him control the abilities.

That night had changed his life. Everything had taken on a new level, had been given new meaning. He had begun to train to learn how to control the powers, mimicking everything around him, but most often returning to those five close friends from that night. They had formed a kind of clique he supposed, a special group who hung together.

He felt like that was years ago, and it had only been months. Now, suddenly the world was different. With the demolishing of the mansion and the outing of all of them as mutants, and the rebuilding that had followed, Tim had felt like his whole life had changed. But despite all the changes, he always knew he belonged with the X-men.

During the madness that followed their outing on international TV, he had joined them for the first time in action against the Brotherhood and Juggernaut. Before that he had only been in simulations and training.

He had been fencing when it happened, and it invigorated him even as it terrified him. Not that he had admitted either emotion. But it had felt like this was what he had been meant to do. The martial arts and other disciplines he had studied with the X-men and outside the mansion had enabled him to utilize his powers even more effectively.

He still laughed as he thought about those days which seemed so far away and yet were just a few months ago. He had tried so many nicknames. He had however summarily rejected the name Bobby tried to stick to him. That silly over-padded and gaudy fencing costume he had been in when it began had made him look like a bird. That had led Bobby to try to slap him with the nickname Robin, which he had shut down fast! Instead, he finally became the very obvious Mimic... for now at least.

There was a cough and he jerked his thoughts back to the now and looked up at the Professor and the others who were standing around him, looking both happy and somewhat uncertain. He braced himself. This didn't look pretty. Xavier gave him a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry Timothy, everything will be okay. Despite your worries, nothing terrible has happened. However something did happen and with the tests we have done, we now know what that was."

"Tests? How long was I out?"

"Two days, Mr. Drake."

Doctor McCoy's voice was cheerful as he checked the monitors around Tim then looked him in the eyes.

"You had us all worried but you came through just fine. There were however alterations in your genetic code. I am afraid you no longer have the power to mimic mutants."

"But... I have Scott's eye blasts and Jean's telepathy! How-"

Scott smiled at his worry and looked calm and Tim felt himself relax just a little as his friend and leader wheeled Professor Xavier a little closer.

"That is in the nature of your new abilities. You see, Tim, you somehow, in touching Rogue altered both your abilities. Rogue's ability was augmented drastically, as was yours... but in different ways."

Tim looked at Rogue, who flashed him a smile and removed a glove, showing him her arm, then with a glance at Jean, who nodded, touched Jean's face. Tim started but then realized nothing was happening. His eyes widened.

"Rogue's powers are stronger now, but they are also completely under her control. For the first time in her life, she can touch anyone she wants."

"Rogue that's great!"

From the look on her face though it wasn't so great and he felt his stomach lurch as he looked back at the Professor.

"There is however, a different reaction in your system. You somehow now have the powers of the five who were with you last night as natural mutations in your body. And it looks to be permanent."

Tim gasped and looked at Professor Xavier in shock.

Permanently? He blinked. He had only just recently gotten used to have these powers and now they were changed again? Then he forced himself to be calm and think. If he had to be trapped with powers, at least it was these five. He was used to them and knew how to use them.

"There is a darker side to this however Tim. The change has also somehow given you somewhat of their weaknesses as well. The skin of your hands has assumed the qualities of Rogue's skin, and you will have to wear gloves in order to not steal other's abilities when you touch them. However it seems that the rest of your body wasn't so affected."

To prove his point, Xavier touched Tim's arm and Tim flinched then relaxed as nothing happened.

"That however is not all. With Scott's powers also came part of his inability to control them. You may have to consider wearing glasses at least part time as it looks as if the powers are tied with your emotions and when you panic or grow angry they will fire, whether you want them too or not."

Tim looked at the Professor in shock then looked at Scott and realized he now would have something in common with the boy more than a love of control.

"With Ray's ability, you now also have a heightened electrical field which will have some unpredictable effects on electronic equipment. Doctor McCoy will help you experiment with a dampener to help control the surges.

With Jean's ability, it will be a little bit harder as your telepathy seems to be always on, and locked in that position. You will have to learn how to function with that or forever wear a telepathy-blocking device. the choice will be yours.

Finally, you have Bobby's abilities as well, but are now very susceptible to warmth. You will nee to be very careful about the temperature at all times."

The vast array of facts was overwhelming and Tim felt himself fight to keep control and absorb it all. His eyes tingled and he bit down an oath silently. He didn't show any of it, and wrestled it under his control, thanking all the training he had with Scott and the others. Looking up, he met Professor Xavier's eyes.

"Thank you for letting em know everything straight up sir. It means a lot."

"Yes, well, my students think a lot of you, and convinced me it was the best method of explaining things, so your thanks are reserved for your friends."

Tim looked up at the five he had known for so short a time and yet who had become a true family to him. he nodded to Scott, who flashed him a grin and nodded back.

"Thank you, all of you."

The group smiled and mutterred deferrals and he felt a flash of quickly buried warmth. He was glad he was here now.

"Well, for now, we will let you rest. I will be back later to talk with you more and start you on reinforcing your shields."

"Thanks, Professor."

The others all bid him goodbyes and left, save Rogue who hung back. When the others were gone she came close and looked at him for a moment.

"This is for giving me a chance to do more than I ever had before. Thank you, Tim."

She darted in and kissed his lips briefly and then was gone, the swirl of air making his head whirl as he lay there in shock, one hand lifting to his lips. A line from a book he had read ran through his head as he thought about a suddenly brighter looking future.

'Well, that doesn't suck.'