"Silver! Jet in three minutes!"
The familiar voice shattered her sleep, sending her tumbling from her desk chair and crashing to the ground.
"Silver? You good?" Scott shouted again.
"Yeah, I'm fine! I'll meet you at the jet!" Silver called as she stood up, feeling the desk's corners to get her bearings. Her hands followed the familiar path to the suit in her closet and she pulled it on. She grabbed the backpack from her door and ran out into the hallway after Scott. It was the same backpack she took on every mission; two daggers, a water bottle, three power suppressant cuffs, and her white cane
Storm, Kurt, Mystique, Jean, Quicksilver, Hank, and Scott were already there when Silver came skidding into the jet room.
"What's the mission?" she panted as she ran onto the jet.
"A group of 7 scuba divers went out three hours ago," Hank replied as he started up the jet. "They ran into something, causing their communication and navigation systems to quit. Our job is to find them, get them out safely, and find out what they ran into."
Peter popped his gum. "Sounds simple enough."
"The difficulty will be getting down there," Hank pointed out. "They were last charted at about 130 feet. However, Charles located them at 600. Whatever shorted out their communication and navigation must have pulled them down, too. Our problem is that we don't have scuba gear. The farthest anyone has ever gone without equipment is 702 feet. Kurt, your job is to take Jean and Silver down to try and get the divers to safety. When we find out what brought them down, then we'll know who else to send in."
Silver nodded as she felt her throat close. The idea of the crushing silence of the ocean was filling her mind. Suddenly, she felt a hand close around hers, and Storm's electric presence surrounded Silver.
"You're going to be fine," she said, and Silver felt Storm's hand squeeze her own.
Silver nodded and gave a forced smile. "What a fun first experience in the ocean!" she said, her voice breaking.
~o~o~
It only took them 10 minutes to fly from Westchester to where Charles had located the divers in the Atlantic ocean. By the time Hank was announcing that they were close, Silver couldn't stop shaking. When Hank said that it was time, a voice filled Silver's mind.
"Silver, just breathe. Everything will be just fine." Charles's voice was so familiar that Silver couldn't help but relax, and when Nightcrawler took her hand, she didn't pull back. She took a deep breath and they disappeared. The crushing feeling was instantaneous. Silver's hands flew out, her telekinesis kicked in, and the sensation disappeared as she created a bubble of air.
"Good idea," Jean said appreciatively. "Wow, I can't see anything down here."
Silver laughed weakly. "I guess that makes two of us."
"Three," Kurt chipped in from Silver's other side.
"Come on," Jean said, pulling Silver forward and turning on a flashlight. "I can feel the divers."
They floated through the air for a few minutes, but for Silver, it felt like hours. Finally, Jean said, "We're getting closer."
Silver waited with bated breath as Jean pulled her farther along. However, as they kept walking, Silver felt a strange tugging. It was as if the ocean was pushing even harder against her telekinetic field. As they kept walking, it only got stronger.
"Do you feel that?" Silver asked, pulling them to a stop.
"Feel what?" Jean and Kurt asked.
"There's something pushing at us."
"Like a current?" Kurt suggested.
Silver shook her head. "It's way too strong. It's hard for me to keep us steady."
"I have an idea," Jean said. Silver heard her unzipping her backpack and pulling something out. "I'm going to drop a protein bar into the water. We can see if there is a current. Maybe that's what pulled the divers down."
Silver waited for several seconds before hearing both Jean and Kurt gasp.
"What?" Silver demanded impatiently. "What is it?"
"There's a current, all right," Jean said. Suddenly, an image flashed into Silver's head, sending her stumbling back. She watched, through Jean's eyes, as the protein bar whipped through the air, disappearing into the blackness beyond Jean's flashlight within a second. Then the image vanished, and the ever-present nothingness returned.
"We should follow the current," Jean said. "That must be where the divers are. Silver, I'll help you maintain the bubble, but we can stop fighting the current."
This was a mistake. The second Silver dropped her hold against the current, she, Jean, and Kurt were sent hurtling through the water. They were slammed against the back of the bubble before sent tumbling forward as both Jean and Silver returned to fighting against the current.
"Mistake," Kurt gasped as Silver tried to regain her balance. "Bad mistake."
Jean's arm slipped under Silver's shoulder and she pulled Silver back to her feet. "Yes, let's not try that again."
After a moment, they were back to floating along with the current, both Jean and Silver putting up only slight force against the current. It wasn't long until Jean stopped them again.
"I see the divers," she told Kurt and Silver. They had been right. The divers had been trapped in the same current that they had been floating along. However, this seemed to be the center of the current. The divers were trapped in a rapidly spinning whirlpool, tossed ferociously by the current that seemed to be sucking in on them. From all sides, the current was flowing right into this point, where the poor divers were being spun and thrown like rag dolls.
"They're just barely alive," Jean murmured. "They've been here too long. Silver, help me pull them over here."
Silver reached out and her force found the divers. She pulled against the current, but it was too strong. Her breath quickened as she added all of her strength, tugging with all she could against the whirlpool. She felt the diver inch closer, but it wasn't enough.
"I can't do it," Silver gasped.
"Me neither," Jean said, panting. "Kurt, can you go out and grab them?"
No. Charles' voice filled Silver's head. You guys are too far under, you won't survive.
"Then what do we do?" Kurt asked no one in particular.
Everyone thought for a moment until Silver burst out, "We stop the current!"
"Are you insane?" Jean said incredulously. "We couldn't even pull one person against the current. You think we'll be able to entirely stop it?"
"We can bring Storm," Silver continued. "She can help us push against it. We don't need to entirely stop it. As long as we can slow it down, we can get them out."
Jean thought for a moment before turning to Kurt. "Bring Storm down."
Silver felt Kurt disappear for hardly a second before he reappeared, Storm at his side.
"Push against the current from the center," Jean instructed. "If we push from the middle and follow the path of the whirlpool, we have the best chance of slowing it. On the count of three. One… two… three!"
Together, Jean, Silver, and Storm pushed with all of their power against the force of nature. At first, there was no effect. They strained and heaved but there was no slowing down the whirlpool.
It wasn't until Silver had started to feel beads of sweat appearing on her forehead that Storm cried, "It's working! It's slowing down!"
For two more minutes, they pushed at the current. Finally, after Silver felt like she was about to collapse, Jean screamed, "Silver, now!"
In a heartbeat, Silver redirected all of her power onto the group of still spinning divers. The second she stopped pushing against the whirlpool, she felt the current quicken. Silver reached out into the air and tugged in as hard as she could. With a great heave and a splash, the seven unconscious divers fell into the bubble, and Silver collapsed.