Disclaimer: The X-Men are not mine, they are Marvel's. The news piece quoted here is taken from the CNN news-site, and is current. I apologise for any offence this story may cause, as it is not my intention. This story may, I think, qualify for Kaylee's most recent challenge. I thank my sister Diamonde for her assistance with the story, and informative discourse on the subject.
Those Who Look But Do Not See
by Dyce
The X-Men were gathered in the rec-room, squabbling over what to watch. The argument was, currently, between a rerun of Friends and a new episode of Party of Five. Marrow scowled, plotting her escape. The minute her compulsory half-hour of 'bonding' time was up, she was going to go kill something. A rat maybe. And dissect it all over the Windrider's pillow. Yeah. Fun.
Eventually they settled on the Friends episode, and switched over, preparing to sit through the last ten minutes of a news broadcast until it came on. None of them were really paying attention to the television, being busy with the preparatory hunt-for-the-popcorn where's-the-Coke give-me-back-that-cushion dance always crucial to a large group watching anything on television. Marrow, on the other hand, had staked out a position on the couch early, and, since no-one was game to tell her to move, she had nothing to do. Idly, she turned her attention to the pretty upworlder newsreader whose pink blouse perfectly matched her pink lipstick.
##"NATO bombing attacks early Tuesday struck again at the Yugoslav infrastructure, targeting oil distribution and supply facilities, army assembly areas and communications facilities. The targets included a radio-television transmission array atop the former headquarters of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's ruling Socialist Party in Belgrade. It was the second time in less than a week that the building was hit."##
Rogue scowled, bopping Remy over the head. "You get out of that chair! Ah was sittin' there and you know it!"
"Don' see your name on it, chere," Remy grinned, not moving. "Too bad for you, huh?"
"Play nicely, children." Storm's voice held an unmistakeable note of warning. "Or *I* will take the chair."
##"NATO's bombing campaign is working, and working well, said Supreme Allied Commander General Wesley Clark in Brussels. 'NATO's solidarity is growing stronger every day,' Clark said. 'Every day more resources are becoming available. The noose around Yugoslavia as it continues its inhumane policies in Kosovo is tightening.'"##
"PUT DOWN THAT CAN! I SAW YOU SHAKING IT!"
"Don't make me come over there, junior..."
##"But Yugoslavia charged that the NATO campaign is itself inhumane."##
"I can't believe Bastion took the big screen TV! That is SO not fair." Kitty sounded a bit sulky.
"Don't worry, punkin. We got another one bein' delivered soon."
##"NATO has 'concentrated primarily on civilian targets,' Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic said in a letter to the president of the U.N. Security Council. 'NATO bombs dropped on the towns and villages to date have killed about a thousand civilians, including a great many children. A few thousand civilians have sustained injuries and will be crippled for life.'"##
"Who ate all the popcorn already? And where's the cheeze-whiz?"
"I think Logan's sitting on it."
"Here ya go."
"Uh... thanks, but I don't think I want it now..."
##"And, Jovanovic said, NATO's relentless bombing of oil and chemical facilities has "created an environmental disaster threatening almost the whole of Europe."##
"If you are finished with that can, Kitten, there is a box for recycling in the kitchen."
"What are we going to do, cash in the cans to get money to re-furnish the place with?"
##"The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that more than 600,000 people, the vast majority of them ethnic Albanians, have left Kosovo since NATO began its air assault March 24."##
A three-fingered hand settled on Marrow's shoulder. She was sitting bolt upright, staring at the television, her usually hard eyes for once glittering with something other than anger. "It is tragic, nein?" Nightcrawler's voice was sympathetic.
Marrow gulped, fighting back the tears that were threatening to spill over. "They... they're upworlders."
"Ja, they are upworlders. I would be surprised if there were a single mutant among them." Nightcrawler nodded, perching on the back of the couch.
"But the...Nato?... are dropping bombs on them. Why are they bombing their own kind?"
"It is war, liebchen." Kurt's voice was a little sad. "And I do not know why."
"It is always the way, little one." The huge bulky form of Colossus appeared on her other side. "They fight wars, claiming that it is for the benefit of the civilians... But it is the ordinary citizens who suffer the most, because they once were allied with my people." He shook his head. "Perhaps I am a cynical old Russian, but I see no point to this war. Far fewer suffered before, I think."
"What does Yugo... what she said... have to do with Russia?" Sarah frowned. Upworlder geographic politics was not one of her strong points.
Behind them Storm and Logan got into an argument about whether it was demeaning to use one's Goddess-given Arctic winds to cool beer.
"It was a Socialist country and an ally, that is enough. Ah, Russia may be down, but we are not out. Things are not as bad as the Americans report. We have land, we have the Russian people, and we have hope."
"And you have a very large number of nuclear missiles." Kurt was a little cynical himself.
"Da, but we would not use those. Ours are for defense only." He smiled wryly and shrugged. "But I do not think that is much comfort to the Albanian refugees."
Sarah's eyes shifted away from the screen, looking around the room. "Why don't they say something? Aren't they watching?"
"They are looking without seeing, little one. It is... a defense. There is a battle far away, that they cannot help, and so they tune it out."
"But... their country is dropping bombs on people just like mine!" The tears threatened to overflow. "Don't they care?"
"Of course they do," Kurt soothed.
On the screen, the newsreader advised viewers that people around the country were in mourning for the students slaughtered in the Columbine High School massacre.
"That is so sad," Kitty said, pointing to the screen. "I can't believe that these things can just happen."
"Indeed, it is tragic," Storm agreed. There were nods of agreement around the room.
Marrow's jaw dropped, and she stood up, glaring at Storm. "That happened a WEEK ago! It's all OVER for them! What about-"
"Marrow!" Storm's voice was glacial. "Even if you yourself have no respect for the dead, then at least allow others to observe it without interruption."
"But-"
"Marrow, if you cannot conduct yourself with basic propriety then you may leave. I shall speak to you tomorrow." Storm pointed towards the door.
"Fine!" Marrow stormed towards the door and yanked it open. Pausing in the doorway, she looked back at Kurt and scowled. "Told you they only care about the pretty ones."
End
Author's Note: It is not my intention to in any way disparage or lessen the importance of the tragedy at Columbine High School. However, it has struck me as strange that while there have been several stories posted to the list in response to the student slayings in Colorado, no attention at all has been paid to the continuing tragedy in Kosovo, where over one thousand civilians are believed to have died in 'accidental' NATO air-strikes. I do not mean this as a censure, merely as an explanation for why I have attempted to redress the balance.