Sorry for the shorty, but a chapter ends when it ends.

Italics -Stream of thought

:Italics: - Telepathy

Consequences

Chapter 1

Jean Grey stool alone in the Medbay, a single light overhead the sole source of illumination in the huge room. She laid her palm on the burnished steel cylinder and let the cold seep into her skin. It was the closest she could now get to her husband who was held in cryo storage within. There was an echo in her mind where he had been, a silence that was so vast she couldn't imagine an end. Tears burned her eyes as the ache gripped her chest. I didn't think I had tears left, there's always more. But the space where Scott had been was so quiet; it was the emptiness that cut at her.

The explosion was still fresh in her mind, the blast had ripped apart the warehouse, a rolling wave of fire that caught them all off guard. She threw up a barrier to shield the team from the brunt of the assault, but as usual, Scott was in the lead. Charging ahead, he was well away from the group when the explosives were triggered. And too far away to receive any benefit from the protection that Jean had offered. Even with the shield, she'd been thrown to the ground, twisted steel and super heated debris rained down from the sky. Disoriented from the blast, her head rung from the concussion and she fought to regain her footing. "Scott!" She had called out through the smoke and flame. "Answer me!"

Even then, his presence had faded. "Jean, help."

Back in the Medbay, Jean wiped her tears away with her fingertips. As the image flickered in her mind, she could smell the acrid smoke and feel the chunks of debris beneath her feet as she moved towards Scott. His back was towards her as he lay on his side and at first she hadn't processed what she saw. The triangular piece of metal sticking from his back and the wide swath of blood trickling steadily unto the dusty floor. As she had come around him, to her horror she saw the huge hunk of twisted steel had pierced him through. It was all she could do to concentrate, to cut off his mind from the pain his body was sending.

:Honey, it's going be okay. We're going to get you home.:

His presence was weakening, even if he no longer felt the pain from his injuries. I'm so tired, babe. I just want to sleep.

:Don't go, Scott. Stay with me. Listen, stay with me.:

But he hadn't. Lifting her hand from the steel chilled by the freon that was now keeping her husband in a freezing stasis, Jean regarded the chamber. It was rounded, modern and nearly beautiful with clean lines and a simple purity in form. Nothing like a coffin, but it might as well have been.

She felt Hank's presence, a mind that moved faster than any other in the Mansion, making the large blue furred doctor easy to detect. "Hank, I want options."

Dr. Henry McCoy regarded her for a long moment before responding. "May I say something first?"

Jean turned towards him, already irritated. "A lecture?"

"No, a word of caution. Give me some time, Jean. I can't work miracles overnight."

"How much time do you think you'll need?"

The doctor took off his glasses, folding them up thoughtfully on the lab station next to him. "I can't say, but Moira and I are considering a cybernetic enhancement for his spine, that's our first major hurdle. Without it, his respiration would be greatly compromised."

"That would still leave him a paraplegic, correct?"

"But he'd be alive, he'd survive. That's if we can resuscitate him from stasis, also another issue Moira and I are taking on. We think that we can repair the damage to his artery before the procedure, but then there are his lungs as well. There are so many variables here."

Her anger tightened her throat. "Think, consider, if. You don't sound as confident as you did when you froze him."

Hank's temper was rising to match hers. "Well pick one, Jean. Do you want me to be a friend or a doctor? Your friend put Scott in stasis and your doctor-" He couldn't finish, turning his back angrily on Jean.

"My doctor thinks he's a lost cause." Jean's voice caught in her throat. "I'm no idiot, Hank. I know how serious this is, so don't try to soften the blow for me. What are my options?"

The large blue furred doctor did not turn around. "Sinister."

"No." Jean breathed out, horrified. "Scott would never forgive me."

"You asked and I answered. Mojo, he has the tech to keep Scott alive."

Jean closed her eyes against the nightmare that his suggestion created. "I think we're going in the wrong direction."

"Nathan."

She shook her head, not understanding. "What?"

"Nathan. He and I had an interesting conversation about a rumor both he and I heard. Totally uncorroborated and I was unable to validate any of the claims. But yet, it comes back to Sinister."

"Go on."

"Nathan told me that Sinister was the head of a gene manipulation project in the seventies, trying to create very powerful mutants. But not elementalists, mentalists or even energy projectors. He was trying for someone who could manipulate biology on a cellular or even atomic level. I've known about this for years, but after the first few dead ends never had time to substantiate it. "

"Manipulate biology?" Jean shrugged. "I don't see how that's relevant."

"A healer, Jean. Someone who could make cells whole again, thus effecting the tissue, then the organ then the organism."

"Oh my god." Jean felt hope rise through her. "If we could find that mutant-"

"If they even exist. It's a goose chase, like looking for the Holy Grail or even the damn Easter bunny. Who knows if Sinister even was successful?" Hank skepticism was leaden. "It's just another option, Jean."

"It's the best one I've heard yet." Jean strode out of the Medlab with a purpose.

She walked right past Logan, who had been waiting patiently outside. "Red." He said in a voice that was more snarl than anything else.

"What?" Jean said, distractedly, pausing in the hall.

"There's a plan, I can see it all over you." He rubbed his knuckles suggestively. "If there's some violence involved, I might be of help."

She softened a moment, looking at her friend. There had always been tension between them, an untapped chemistry. But even now, he was a trusted ally, guarding her back as always. "Not revenge, not yet. We'll save that party for another day. This is so crazy, I don't think I even believe it. But there's nothing else I can do except sit here and wait until Hank tells me there's nothing left to hope for."

Logan didn't move, just watched her with dark eyes. "What's the plan?"

"Sinister. He's might have created a mutant we might be able to use if we can find them."

"Gotta love a hopeless cause." Logan's lips pulled up into a lopsided grin. "What's our move?"

"Gather a team, then intel, then an attack strategy. But that's just a guess." Jean smiled back.

Nodding, he joined her, walking to the elevator at the end of the hall. "Sounds like you might have seen this done before."

"Just a couple of times." Jean said, a vision of Scott leaning over the War Room table as he directed the team flickered in her mind as the elevator door closed.