Genosha at one time turned mutants into mutates to serve as slave labor for their island. But thanks to the X-men they were stopped. But not everyone learns from others mistakes.
"It is done then?" one man asked.
"Yes, it is done," another admitted reluctantly.
"What about the X-men?" another asked.
"We plan to take them down first," the first man replied.
"To the future!" the second mad saluted.
"To the future!" the other two saluted.
***
"Jean I am headed into town, do you need anything?" Ororo asked entering the kitchen.
"Not that I can think of," Jean replied. "Who else is going?"
"I am going by myself. Would you care to join me?"
"No, Scott is taking me out later," Jean told her.
"Have fun!" Ororo told her.
"And you be safe, anti-mutant riots are becoming more frequent and more violent," Jean reminded her.
"Don't worry I will be careful enjoy yourself and be careful to," Ororo told her heading out.
Ororo headed to the garage and got into her car and headed into town. She headed toward the local gardening center to buy some new flowers when the wind shifted. She tilted her head back enjoying the feel when she shivered sensing something was wrong. She turned around to find several men dressed in combat gear blocking her exit. Conjuring up a wind she determined she was surrounded on all sides.
"Ororo Monroe codename Storm you are ordered to give yourself up by the order of the United States of America government. Any and all attempts to escape will be dealt with by force. Give up now or suffer the consequences," a bullhorn told her. Deciding that retreat was the better option she conjured up a wind and immediately flew skyward. "You were warned, FIRE!" she immediately sped up and blew a counter wind trying to prevent ant projectiles from following her. As she rose to the top of the building there was a single man was waiting for her. With her back turned he fired one shot from his silenced equipped gun. Ororo gave a shout as she was hit, she tried to stay aloof but found herself unable to conjure up a wind to hold her. She fell into a net that the combat dressed troops had. Despite the overwhelming odds and her injured shoulder Ororo tried a last ditch effort to escape. The men only laughed as they grabbed her arms and effectively cut of her last means to escape. "Nighty, night," one man said covering her nose and mouth with a piece of cloth. She resisted breathing in as long as she could but eventually she could hold her breath no longer and breathed in the chloroform on the cloth. "You are just the first," she heard as she slipped out of consciousness.
***
Ororo woke to a pounding headache. She took in a few deep breaths clearing her head. Once the headache was down to a throb she opened her eyes to find herself on her side looking at a pair of boots. Moving slightly she found her hands bound behind her back and her ankles were also bound.
She was lifted to her feet by two men and dragged onto a platform in front of a large audience.
"Next up is Ororo Monroe one of the leaders of the X-men. Her codename is Storm. She is called the wind rider and the weather witch. She has the power to control the weather. She has the skill of a pick pocket and thief," Ororo looked out at the audience and was surprised to see a familiar face in the crowd. T'challa, the Black Panther King of Wakanda and her first love; she was trying to figure out what he would be doing when he saw him raise a bid card. *NO! NO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!* she screamed in her head. She looked down trying to prevent anyone from seeing her tears. *How could he?!* she thought outloud.
*He is trying to save you.* she heard the Professor in her head.
*Professor?*
*I'm here Ororo. T'challa is trying to save you and take him to Wakanda with him and get you out of this mess.*
*What happens if the government doesn't let me leave?*
*Then you will become an Avenger.*
*Thank you but it seems he is being out bid,* she informed him. Regrettably he was being out bid by Dr. Doom. When it looked like Dr. Doom would win another bidder placed a bid at the last moment.
"Sold to number 542 for 3 billion dollars!" the announcer stated. Ororo struggled trying to break free anyway she could with no anvil. She was put in a temporary bug tent to wait till her bidder arrived. Soon she was joined by a happy Beast.
"Beast what is going on?" she asked.
"Tony Stark who I know is a good decent man is the one who placed the final bid on us. "I am most certain that we will be in good hands," Beast explained.
"Ah, Hank long time no see," a man said coming in. He was only a few inches taller then Storm he had a black hair with a small beard.
"Yes it has been a long time Tony, and I believe it would be better discussed in somewhere more, let's say private?" Hank suggested.
"Quite the idea," Tony agreed. "I'm afraid the guards think that you two are going to attack them if they take off your cuffs before you leave the grounds," Tony informed them.
"All but I have been but a kitten since my lets say unfortunate encounter with the law?" Hank told him.
"You might have been but not your friend. Between your attempt to escape and your history they are afraid you will overpower me and escape, Ororo," Tony explained. Ororo opened her mouth to say something but Tony cut her off. "Truthfully I don't blame you Ororo but, they aren't taking any chances." They saw a limo pull up to the tent. "Here is our ride, everybody in," Tony told them. Beast despite the burdens of cuffs made it with all his usually grace. Ororo's bounds on the other hand were too tight for her to walk and she barely could shuffle her way over to the limo even with Tony's support.
"I will be glad to get out of these chains!" Ororo exclaimed as she dropped into one of the seats in the back.
"Aye, I whole heartily agree with your statement," Beast told her. As soon as they were out of site of the auction area Tony unlocked their chains.
"Better?" he asked.
"Yes," Ororo told him rubbing her ankles. "Where are we headed now?"
"We are headed back to New York City, where a meeting is being held for all heroes," he explained.
"And where are we now?" Ororo asked.
"Isn't it obvious? Area 51!" Hank told her.
"No we are in West Virginia," Tony informed her. "It would be best to get some rest on the way back, the meeting promises to be intense and draining," Tony warned her. He took his own advice and soon was napping in his seat.
"Ororo are you alright?" Hank asked.
"Just a bit confused. You want to fill me in?" she asked.
"Um I think Tony has the right idea," he told her.
"Hank," she warned.
"I believe that it would be better if you heard it from someone else," he told her truthfully.
"That bad?" she asked.
"Yeah that bad," he told her. "Plus I don't know all the details myself."
It did not take Hank long to fall asleep but, Ororo found herself unable to sleep. Once they reached the city Tony and Hank woke up. When they entered the meeting room in Tony's tower they were immediately enveloped into hugs by Scott and Jean.
"I'm so glad you two are safe!" she told them as she hugged Ororo and Scott wrapped his arm around Hank.
"Tony where is T'Challa?" Scott asked.
"On his way I believe. It ends up Dr. Doom was able to out bid him. But I was able to out bid Dr. Doom," Tony explained.
"As long as you guys are safe I don't care who out bid who," Jean told them breaking her hug with Ororo. "Ororo are you alright?"
"I'm just tired and confused," Ororo told her.
"Did they hit you with any thing when they captured you?" Reed Richards asked her entering the room.
"Yes, some kind of dart," she told him.
"May I see where?" he asked.
"My shoulder here," she told him moving her shirt so he could see.
"Have you been experiencing any pain in that shoulder lately?" he asked examining it closely.
"No," Ororo answered confused.
"Hank I would appreciate your opinion on this mark," Reed told him moving so Hank could get a closer look.
"My stars and garters!" Hank exclaimed.
"What is it?" Ororo asked.
"Truthfully?" Hank said. "I have no clue. Does this hurt?" he asked as he gently touched the back of shoulder.
"Only a little," she told him.
"Hank where you injected or hit with anything?" Reed asked.
"No, I was left along for the most part," Hank told him.
"Tony, do you have any medical facilities on the premises?" Reed asked.
"I do not have any here," Tony informed him. "But, any of the rooms you can use," Tony informed him.
"The lounge has a couch does it not?" Reed asked.
"Yes, it does," Tony told him.
"Ororo, why don't you lay down on the couch while I gather some equipment to look at your shoulder," Reed suggested.
"All right," she told him slightly confused. Tony showed her to the couch while Reed went to gather his equipment.
"Reed, what is bothering you so?" Sue, his wife, asked him.
Reed sighed knowing his wife would see any evasion and wouldn't tolerate it.
"Where the dart entered her shoulder there is discoloring that is worrying Hank and me," Reed explained. "I want to check with equipment before we say anything; it could just be a small allergic reaction."
"Or it could be life threatening," his wife said picking up what he dares not say. Reed nodded in mute agreement.
***
In the lounge:
"Ororo, do you mind taking off your shirt so I can examine your back a little better?" Hank asked.
"No problem," she told. She took off her shirt leaving her bra on as Hank examined her back.
"What happen when you were hit?"
"I seemed to lose my powers," was her response.
"Have they come back?"
"Not that I have noticed," she told him. Before he could ask anything else she fell asleep leaving Hank to scratch his head in puzzlement.
"Ororo?" he asked gently shaking her. "Ororo you need to wake up."
"What's going on Hank?" Reed asked stepping off the elevator with his wife. Reed quickly set up his equipment and scanned Ororo's shoulder trying to figure out what she been injected with and how it was affecting her.
"She seemed to fall asleep," Hank told him.
"She isn't sleeping," Jean informed them as she joined them. "It's too deep for normal sleep."
"I think I know why," Reed told them without looking up from his instruments. "The drug is a power suppressing drug but, because of Ororo's powers and the nature of them it is suppressing more then just her powers. It is also suppressing her ability to use them."
"But she can use them when she is unconscious," Jean pointed out.
"Yes, and the drug is attacking that part of her brain to," Reed told them.
"So basically it's shutting her whole body down?" Hank asked/realized.
"I'm afraid it is," Reed told him.
"Can we stop it?" Sue asked.
"We don't have to!" he exclaimed looking at his instruments. "Her body is attacking the drug and cleansing itself! Fascinating!" he told them.
"How?" Hank asked.
"It seems that electricity denatures the drug and her body is building up a charge neutralizing the drug," Reed explained.
"She does conduct lighting through her body," Jean pointed out.
"How about a force field so she doesn't hit us with lighting?" Sue suggested. Jean nodded and the two of them enclosed Ororo in a big force bubble as her body released a giant lighting bolt destroying the couch she had been laying on. It did not take long for everyone else to join them after hearing the thunder that accompanied the huge lighting bolt.
"What happened?" Tony demanded after seeing his couch destroyed.
"Ororo healing herself," Reed answered simply.
"We have other matters to attend to," Professor Xavier cut in.
"What is it?" Scott asked. Logan sniffed the air.
"Sabertooth, Mystique, Omega Red, Red Skull, the Leader, Dr. Doom and many others," Logan told them.
"How did they find us?" Ororo asked waking up.
"Any number of ways, Logan told her. "The thing is they seem to have us surrounded."
"But what do they want?" Reed asked.
"Its simple," Red Skull told them, "the means to take over the world."
"Yeah, all we need is one mutant," Mystique told them.
"With powers amplified," Sabertooth said.
"And controlled by us," the Leader butted in.
"We can make the government give in and take over the world," Dr. Doom finished.
"Like you can do that," Logan said unleashing his claws. All the heroes got into fighting stances ready to take them down.
"You are not even going to ask who?" Mystique asked sounding a little insulted.
"Nope, cause you ain't going to get your guy," Logan told her.
"Besides, you can't all rule," Captain America cut in.
"Details, details," Red Skull told him. "Attack," he ordered. The lounge soon was filled with the sounds of combat as the heroes defended themselves and pushed back the enemy. But in the confusion the Red Skull slipped away with the one he wanted without anyone the wiser. Despite the fact that the heroes were more confined and on the receiving end of the surprise they were able to defeat their enemies due to teamwork for the common goal. When the dust settled both sides found that the Red Skull was gone.
"He has Storm," Wolverine informed them when he release she was missing.
"He must have slipped out during the chaos," Captain America rationalized.
"But to where?" Reed asked.
"Germany would be my guess," Beast told them.
"Makes since," Reed agreed,
"Let's not guess," Jean told them. "There are a few ways to locate her. Let's use those ways before we start guessing."
"Actually Beast seems to be right, Red Skull is heading to the airport," Spider-man announced. "I have a spider tracer on him," Spider-man explained when everyone looked at him in confusion.
"Then lets go," Captain America suggested.
"Spider-man grab on we will lead and the others can follow us," Iron Man said Tony had just finished putting is Iron Man armor on.
"Not with out me Sugah," Rogue told them.
Iron Man blasted out a window and with Spider-man riding on his back took off in to the sky with Rogue on his tail.
***
With his hence men he boarded her on a private plane and took off to Germany only to be halted in the sky.
"What is going on?" he demanded.
"A rescue Sugah," Rogue told him tearing the cockpit door off.
"I would suggest you rethink your rescue before you end up rescuing a corpse fraulein," Red Skull told her pressing a hand gun to Ororo's head.
"I wouldn't do that if I was you," Iron Man warned him as he and Spider-man appeared on the other side of the helicopter. Before they could do anything Red Skull teleported himself and Ororo out of the helicopter, and unfortunately out of Spider-man's tracers range and farther away from Ororo's would be rescuers.
"Prep the machine!" Red Skull ordered his minions as soon as he materialized. "All will soon be ready for my global take over!" he boosted. Ororo was woken up by one of Red Skull's servants when he passed smelling salts under her nose.
"What happened?" she muttered to herself.
"Ah now that you are awake I can tell you that after today you will awake up in a world ruled by me," Red Skull told her. "With you hooked up to my device I can create whatever weather I chose wherever I choose."
"There are limits to my powers," Ororo pointed out. "There is no way that I can create weather in two places at once."
"That is the beauty of my machine," Red Skull grinned leaning right into her face so she felt his hot breath on her face and could smell his putrid breath. "It amplifies your power so much that surpasses your limits. But with you conscious then you limit what your power can do and you can fight me. But you do not have be conscious for your abilities to work. So my machine keeps you unconscious bypassing your conscious mind and controls your powers directly while the machine keeps your body alive in but, without any higher functions of the brain active. So you will have no awareness as I use you to take over the world, fraulein," Red Skull explained to her.
"You will never get away with this!" Ororo warned him.
"Ah but I already have," he told her as she was hooked up to the machine. She struggled as hard as she could but as soon as she was hooked up a concoction of drugs was injected into her making her lose strength to fight and the ability to think. Soon she was out cold. "Now, time to give the world government's my ultimatum," he told his minions. With that he straightened his clothes and looked at the camera that one of his minions had brought in. "Start the broadcast," he ordered.
The White House:
"Greetings citizens of earth I am the Red Skull. I want the governments to turn all countries over to me by midnight tonight to spare themselves my wrath. Any and all governments who refuse to will be met with weather disasters controlled by me," Red Skull threatened. The camera turned from him to a young black woman with white hair was trapped by some kind of machine it was clear that she was out cold. As the camera zoomed in they could see that the woman was covered with wires and tubes that were all connected to the machine. "Many of you know her as the mutant Storm. The machine she is connected to amplifies her powers and gives me complete control of them. I can create hurricanes and tornadoes, floods and draughts in heartbeats. Any of the governments that don't surrender to me will be subjected to weather disasters till they surrender. You have till midnight," the transmission was cut.
"He is bluffing Mr. President," one of the aides said.
"There is no way he can control the weather," another added.
"Trace the transmission, and no we won't surrender to this mad man," the President informed his aides. "No one can do what he claims."
Avenger's Mansion:
There is a gathering of superheroes to discuss the recent turn of events.
"It is time to get started," Captain America said when he noticed all the heroes were assembled. "As most of you know Red Skull has kidnapped one of our own, Storm. He has made his attentions clear with the broadcast he sent out to the world. Despite our best attempts we have yet to locate his base. We have been trying to trace the broadcast with no luck; he has buried his location under many layers of false codes. So far Iron Man, Beast, Shadowcat, and Mr. Fantastic have been trying to find Red Skull's location with little luck."
"How about Xavier's fancy Cerebro?" the Human Torch asked.
"I tried but, without Storm actively using her powers it is hard to locate her," Professor Xavier explained.
"I have no doubt Red Skull also has a way to block any device designed to locate mutants like Cerebro," Captain America added. "As it is we are going to have our hands full trying to help with the weather disasters that Red Skull will release when the governments won't surrender. So I believe we should split our forces, one part to handle the disasters while the others try locating Storm's location by any means necessary."
"How do we know he hasn't got her totally brainwashed?" Hawkeye asked.
"Even if he does he can't go through with his plan without her," Captain America pointed out. "If he does have her brainwashed we should try our best to subdue her before taking more drastic measures."
"All other options should be tried first," Cyclops stressed. All the heroes nodded in agreement. "I would suggest we put some one in charge who can give the call if necessary," he suggested. Many heads turned toward Wolverine.
"Does that mean I'm elected?" he asked in his usually gruff manner.
"Hey it's not like you not already a killer," Hawkeye told him. Wolverine growled and his claws came out.
"That was uncalled for!" Captain America told him at his sternest he then turned to Wolverine. "You must admit you are one of the most capable to make the decision. But I suggest we put Vision in charge of making the decision," Captain America suggested. "Vision is that are right with you?"
"That is fine," Vision responded without any hint of emotion.
"Why Vision Cap?" Quicksilver asked.
"He is the most capable of making the decision if necessary," Cap explained.
"I still want to be on the rescue team," Wolverine told them leaving no room for arguments.
"I was counting on that," Cap told him.
"I to want to be part of the rescue team," Black Panther spoke up; Captain America gave him a nod of acknowledgement.
"We need someone with muscle and someone with physic powers at least to round out the team," Captain America told them.
"I will take the muscle part," Thing volunteered before Colossus could. "No offense tin-head but you might be needed as a lightning conductor somewhere else."
"I will go to," Jean volunteered. "I know her mind pretty well and with Professor Xavier backing me up there is a higher chance of us breaking any control Red Skull has on Storm."
"I would like to go to," Shadow cat spoke up. "I can short circuit the machine Red Skull is using to amplifies her powers and make it easier to rescue her."
"Alright then the rest of us will split up and concentrate on reducing damaged done," Captain America told them.
At midnight Red Skull was true to his word. Hurricanes came out of nowhere, thunderstorms with golf sized hail covered whole cities tidal waves hit the coast of many countries. The Avengers, X-men, Fantastic Four, and any other superhero that were active did their best to reduce causalities and keep the disasters to a minimum. Thor was able to reduce the severity of several storms or divert them from their target. But, he could only do so much and could not be in different places at the same time. Heroes came out of retirement to help. Multiple Man and his clones helped evacuate hospitals as Banshee helped make temporarily dams by tossing up dirt and debris with his sonic scream. But with the storms appearing at random and the heroes battling constantly it soon became apparent that shifts would be the needed. With some heroes resting while others fought on. Even with rested heroes taking place of the exhausted counterparts' reflexes grew slower and mistakes became more frequent.
"We can't last much longer," Iron Man pointed out on the start of the second week.
"I know," Captain America told him as he hurled his shield at yet another falling rock deflecting it from Beast who was rescuing a civilian too injured to walk on their own.
"CAPTAIN!" Black Panther called over the communication devices. "We are debarking on the rescue mission, we have triangulated Storm's location," he informed them.
"GO!" Captain America ordered. "Be careful and be on full alert!" Captain warned them.
"Right," Black Panther told him. "We will maintain communication silence until the mission is complete or is in complete jeopardy," Black Panther told him.
"Understood," Captain America told him.
At the Avenger's Mansion:
"Everyone ready?" Vision asked starting the jet.
"All here and accounted for," Wolverine told him. "Ready for take-off," Wolverine told him.
With out acknowledging Wolverine Vision lifted the Quinjet off the ground. It took them only an hour to reach Red Skull's hide out. They landed a ways away to avoid detection. "No unusual activity yet," Vision told them.
"I can't get a mental fix on Storm," Jean told them. "But I did a get a fix on the guards. There are eight guards around the perimeter, two on each side. I can alter their perceptions so that won't even realize we pass by. The lack of snow is in our favor it allows us to walk up without leaving tracks."
"Ok, that leaves any cameras that Red Skull may have," Vision told them. "Shadowcat, can sneak up and disable them?"
"No problem," she told him. She phased through the bushes and into the ground with Jean's guidance she came up behind the guards and short-circuited any cameras that would have spotted the rescue team. With Jean alliterating the guards' perception the rest of the team sneak up to the wall where Vision or Shadowcat phased them in.
"I have a bio-lock on Storm," Vision told them. "She is 4 stories down."
"There are many human and robot guards, I cannot locate most of the robot guards but, most of the guards aren't psi-shielded," Jean told them.
"I can smell them," Wolverine told her. They slowly made there way further into the compound when the unexpected happened. One step away from the stairs and they found themselves without their mutant powers.
"We got guards coming from both sides," Black Panther warned them.
"Interesting, the power dampener only affects mutant powers well the rest of us are unaffected," Vision stated.
"Just because we are powerless, doesn't mean we are helpless," Wolverine whispered as to prove his point he jumped one of the guards as the guard came around the corner. Shadowcat took out the guard coming from the other direction. They snuck down to third story when an alarm started blaring.
"No time for subtly," Vision concluded and lessened his destiny and floated down through the stairs. The others weren't far behind trading stealth for speed and raced down to the fourth floor. While Vision simply floated through the doors Thing charged and simply crashed through the doors with the others right behind him.
"Fire!" a voice shouted. Soon the whole corridor was filled with bullets. Luckily they were unable to penetrate the Thing's rock exterior and most of the other heroes took cover behind him. Vision on the other hand materialized in the guards mist knocking them unconscious. It took Vision several minutes till he had the corridor clear enough for his teammates to join the fray. By then all the doors had bee sealed and electronic scramblers activated so not even Vision's bio-scans could locate Storm.
"What now?" Thing asked.
"I can still pick up some scents. If we get close enough I should be able to locate Storm's scent," Black Panther informed them.
"Alright we keep moving, everyone stay alert," Vision told them.
Slowly cautiously they made their way down the corridor. They almost reached the end when the silence was shattered by a scream. With no spoken communication the heroes sped up Vision took point and floated through the door at the end of the corridor where the scream had come from with Thing only seconds behind him. Thing ran full tilt through the door the heroes stopped dead in their tracks at the sight that greeted them.
Red Skull was standing over one of his minions with Storm behind him even at the distance they could see that she was out cold. They saw many tubes and wires connected to her making it hard to identify that they was a human there and even harder to recognized who. It did not take long for the heroes to figure out it was the lady at Red Skull's feet and not Storm who screamed.
"Attack!" Red Skull ordered. While his minions charged Red Skull backed away from the fight. It was soon apparent that the heroes were out numbered 10 to 1. Without their mutant powers the odds were defiantly in Red Skull's favor.
"It's Clobbering Time!" Thing shouted as he knocked enemies out of his way. Shadowcat used her ninja skills to knock enemies out of her way. Wolverine cut anyway in his way into shreds while the Black Panther gloved claws ripped uniforms to shred leaving them vulnerable to each others weapons. Jean being the least skilled in hand to hand combat slipped away intent on freeing Storm. But was caught by one of the soldiers and knocked out cold. Vision seeing the Red Skull intent on escaping turned intangible and blocked Red Skull's escape.
"You have no escape," Vision told him turning solid.
"I still have one trick up my sleeve," Red Skull told him. He pulled a single remote control from his belt, "either let me leave, or I release a deadly poison into Storm's system causing her to send deadly weather all over the globe as her organs slowly and painfully shut down."
Unnoticed Shadowcat had snuck up to the computer and was able to figure out the controls when the Wolverine let out an almightily roar that stopped everyone except Vision in their tracks. Vision took the remote from the Red Skull. As the Red Skull's minions fled from the berserker Wolverine, Red Skull found himself cornered by the Vision with no leverage. The Black Panther joined Shadowcat at the computer as the Thing helped Jean to her feet as she came to.
"Thanks Ben," she told Thing calling him by his real name.
They made their way over to Storm, Jean picked up her pace as she neared Storm "OH MY GOD! Ororo!" she shouted when she got a good look at her best friend. Jean was now close enough that see could see past the tubes and wires to see that Ororo was nothing but skin and bones. Where only a couple weeks ago there she was in top physical condition.
"Jean get ready I'm get ready to release Storm from the machine," Shadowcat warned her. Jean nodded and starts unhooking some of the wires and tubes. When Shadowcat released her from the machine Jean carefully lowers Storm to the ground.
"T'challa," Jean called to the Black Panther using his real name. "I need to borrow your cloak to cover Storm."
Black Panther immediately takes off his cloak handing it to Jean, she then wraps around Storm's still form.
"Her vitals are extremely low," Vision stats she needs medical attention."
"Tell us something we don't know," Wolverine growled.
"Red Skull has count down for a bomb started and will go off in 29 minutes and 58 seconds," Vision told them.
"That is our cue to scram," Wolverine told them. "Here I will take Ororo," Wolverine told Jean. Jean nodded handing Ororo carefully over to Wolverine knowing he could protect her better if needed.
They slowly made their way up through the compound and made it out with time to spare before the bomb blew the Red Skull's hideout sky high. As Vision raced the Quinjet raced back to the Xavier mansion Jean kept in constant touch with the Professor and Beast. Everyone in the jet was on hairline trigger except for the Vision. Jean kept Ororo stabilized as best she could. It seemed to take forever for them to reach the mansion as soon as the Quinjet landed Beast was in the jet followed by Colossus with a stretcher. They quickly transferred Ororo to the stretcher and rushed her to the med-lab. As soon as they were in the med-lab Beast ordered everyone besides the Professor and Wolverine out. As the others waited with baited breath Beast tried figuring out what was wrong with Ororo and how he could help her.
Several hours later:
An exhausted Beast and Professor exit the mad-lab. "She is stable for the moment," Beast tells them.
"Will she be ok?" Gambit asks.
"It will be touch and go for awhile," Beast responds rubbing his nose under his glasses. "From what we can figure out Red Skull barely kept her alive and had her unconscious the whole time. Her body is suffering from dehydration and starvation. She has bruises from where she was hooked up the machine and we gave her a blood transfusion as a precaution. Right now she needs to sleep off the drugs that kept her out cold," Beast tells them.
"Thank you for letting us know Hank," Jean tells him. He nods then enters his lab and goes into a deep sleep.
"I suggest the rest of us follow his example," Captain America tells them getting nods in agreement. It did not take them long to disperse the X-men went to their rooms as the other heroes went to the respective homes. Over the following weeks there was little progress in Ororo's condition. It was three weeks before Ororo woke up.
Wolverine who was constantly at her side was the first to notice. She let out a soft groan as she came to. *Jean! Professor! She is waking up!* He called out telepathically. "Take it easy your safe," he told her.
Not aware enough to tell who was talking to her she assumed it was the Red Skull she tried escaping doing herself more harm. "'Ro calm down!" Logan told her restraining her trying to prevent her from harming herself. He pinned her arms down preventing her from tearing out the IV in her arms and the monitors off. Hank prepared a needle to relax her. Ororo got one arm free of Logan it swung widly, Beast barely managed to catch before it hit hom full force in the face. Heaving from the effort Ororo finally stopped struggling and fell limp drained of all her energy. Hank gently set the arm he had at her side.
"Easy Darlin'" Logan told her moving her hair out of her face. "You're safe at the mansion."
"Sleep Ororo, you need your rest," Hank told her while fixing her IV's and trying to make her comfortable. Ororo moaned trying to say something. Before drifting off again.
"She knows she is safe now," Jean told them wearily coming in. "She was in too much pain and was too confused to understand what Logan was saying not mention who was talking to her," Jean explained.