Disclaimer: I do NOT own the X Men or Frankenstein. That is by Mary Shelley.
A/N: Okay, I realise that Alex, Annie, Jean Paul and the new X Men are the ones out of place here and I apologize to any readers who like to keep the timelines right. In case any of you were confused, though, Jean is still alive in this story and Emma has not stolen Scott away. Hope you all liked chapter one. Here cometh the second! Please review.
Westchester
Medical Laboratory
"I'm not sure,"
"You have an amazing power, Josh," Hank said gently, "You could bring Bobby out of his coma in seconds."
"What if I end up doing something worse?" Josh asked nervously, "Look, I've been keeping the healing part of my powers to a minimum. After all the destruction to life my powers caused, I'm not sure I really want to use them that much."
"Alright, Josh," Hank resigned sadly, "It's your choice. If you change your mind, please come down and visit."
Elixir nodded and exited the Med Lab just as Jean Paul walked in.
"Hello, Hank," He greeted the doctor and sat down in the seat next to Bobby's bed, "Hello, Robert,"
"Bobby," Hank suddenly said,
"Pardon me?"
"He would want you to call him Bobby," Hank said as he went into his personal lab.
Jean Paul looked down at Bobby and hesitantly reached out and took the ice mutants hand, "I would love to call you Bobby," he smiled,
XXXXX
"Guess what," Remy said as usual.
Silence.
As usual.
"Don' know if y' countin' in dere, but you've been comatose for a whole week now. T' me, it feels like so much longer. De mornin's jus' drag, Bobby. Den I come here t' visit y' and time flies after dat. Mebbe I should bring a book wit' me next time. What books do y' like?"
Silence.
"I'll bring a few different types f' y' t' choose from, den,"
Silence
"Jono said a whole sentence yesterday. Wondered why I didn' go t' sleep instead o' watchin' TV wit' him."
Silence.
"It's been a year an' a half since Antarctica, Bobby. Why don' anyone f'give me?"
XXXXX
Jean Paul couldn't sleep. He tossed and turned and kicked back his bed sheets.
Jean Paul checked his bedside alarm clock. 4 AM.
Damn.
He'd been awake for the whole night.
Jean Paul got up, took a shower and headed downstairs.
He passed the Recreation Room and heard sounds from the TV. Poking his head into the darkened room, he saw two men sitting in front of the widescreen, both beginning to doze off.
Jean Paul recognized them as Gambit and Chamber.
Gambit.
Yes, Jean Paul wondered about the Cajun. Jean Paul visited Bobby Drake almost every evening in the Med Lab, and the shunned thief was always there by seven-thirty to visit, too.
It was odd, because Jean Paul couldn't ever recall Bobby and Gambit getting along very well –seeing as Bobby was friends with Angel, who absolutely abhorred Gambit, and Rogue, who had left him in Antarctica to die.
Jean Paul walked into the kitchen and made a cup of coffee. He would thank himself for it later on.
He wandered through the mansion and ended up back in the Recreation Room.
It was nearly five o'clock and contrary to what Jean Paul had seen earlier, Jono and Remy were both awake again.
"Have you slept at all?" Jean Paul wondered aloud.
They both jumped at the sound of his voice cutting through the room.
"Gambit jus' woke up," the Cajun replied, smiling like he always did. Jean Paul couldn't remember the last time Gambit's smile had reached past his lips. It was always forced.
Jean Paul vaguely wondered why he was doing so as he sat he sat down and joined them.
Remy tensed slightly as Jean Paul settled down on the other couch. He carefully took in the emotions around him. Jono was full of angst, as usual of course, but it was Jean Paul's emotions that Remy was looking for.
Eventually he felt it and it felt just so Jean Paul. The speedster held no sign of hostility or weariness all the other X Men and students had when they were around him.
It surprised Remy and confused him greatly.
Doesn't he hate me? Remy wondered.
XXXXX
"I brought some books," Remy said as he sat down next to Bobby, "Hope y' don' mind, but I took most o' dem from y'r room," He set a pile of books on the table next to Bobby's bed.
"Y' got a clean room, Drake. Don' know if I expectin' it t' be real messy, but I didn' t'ink it'd be dat neat." Remy shook his head. He took a book off the top of the stack and opened it, "Y' never touched dis book, Bobby. It was bein' very lonely on y'r bookshelf," He grinned and opened it, "Preface… 'De events on which dis fiction is fouded has been supposed, by Dr. Darwin, an' some o' de sphyiological writers o' Germany, as not o' impossible occurrence. I shall not be supposed as…' Eh, why don' we skip past de preface, homme?" Remy flipped to the third page and started once more, "'T' Mrs. Saville, England. St. Petersburgh, December eleventh, 17-. Y' will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement o' an enterprise which y' have regarded wit' such evil forebodin's. I arrived here yesterday' an' my first task is t' assure my dear sister o' my welfare, an' increasin' confidence in de success o' my undertakin'.'"
As Remy read, he did not notice Hank exit his personal lab and walk into the main room. He read for several minutes as the doctor looked on. When Hank went back into his lab, smiling to himself, Remy was still reading in the same calm and smooth voice.
"'…Last Monday –July t'irty-firs' –we were nearly surrounded by ice, which closed in de ship on all sides, scarcely leavin' her the sea-room in which she floated.'" Remy flipped through to the next page, gulping quickly, "Sorry if y' wanted t' hear de rest o' dat, Bobby. But Gambit don' like ice-lands all dat much." He let out a shaky breath, and then closed the book, "We'll save 'Frankenstein' f' later, den, oui, homme?" He forced a smile, setting it down on the table next to the other books.
He leaned over and put his face in his hands, "Gambit hate what Rogue did t' him. She was supposed t' love Gambit. She left him t' die in Antarctica instead," he moaned. He looked up and stared sadly at Bobby's expressionless face, "It was so cold dere. Gambit almost died. An' f' what? De Morlock Massacre. But Sinister tricked Gambit int' leadin' de Marauders int' de Morlock tunnels." He said quietly, "Why does everyone still hate Gambit? Dey know dat Gambit was jus' followin' Sinster's orders!" He choked, "I don' understand!" He yelled, jumping to his feet without realizing it.
Hank poked his head in, hearing the noise, "Is everything alright in there, my friend?"
"Y' ain't Gambit's friend! Don' act like y' care when y' don'!" He yelled, storming out of the Med Lab.
Hank started to follow Gambit when Bobby's monitors started working up.
Bobby had stopped breathing.
XXXXX
Day 9 –Patient stopped breathing for eleven seconds today. State is beginning to worsen. Must keep a watchful eye.
XXXXX
Day 10 morning –Patient is stable once more.
XXXXX
Jean Paul sat down next to Bobby and noticed a stack of books on his table.
"Hank, what are these for?" He called across the Med Lab.
Hank paused as he walked to his personal lab, "Oh, those are Bobby's, I believe. Gambit brought them down yesterday to read to him."
Jean Paul looked down at the book on the top of the pile.
"'Frankenstein?'" He picked it up and opened it. One of the beginning pages was dog-leafed.
Jean Paul smiled, assuming that was were Gambit had left off reading, and started reading the story for Bobby himself, "'In the morning, however, as soon as it was light, I went upon deck and found all the sailors busy on one side of the vessel, apparently talking to someone in the sea.'"
As he read, Jean Paul took Bobby's hand in his.
Meanwhile, something disturbed Hank. He kept wondering about why Gambit had started yelling the evening before. Perhaps he should check on the Cajun and make sure he was okay…
XXXXX
Remy stepped into the boat house.
It was quite familiar to him –he had stayed there for a few weeks following his return from Antarctica. Why he had ever decided that he could move back into the mansion was a mystery.
Remy dropped his things in one of the two bedrooms in the boathouse and went into the kitchen to put the food he had brought down from the mansion in the cupboards and refrigerator.
He glanced at the old clock on the wall.
Seven-twenty.
When Remy finished packing away the food, he started the coffee-maker and made some very caffeinated coffee.
He then sat down at the table with his drink and checked the clock again.
Seven-thirty-five.
Usually Remy would be visiting Bobby in the Med Lab by this time.
He sighed.
Company was company, even if his only company these days were a comatose man he never really ever talked to before he became comatose, and a man would kept the things that he said to less than five syllables.
He missed company.
Remy took a gulp of coffee and burned his throat as he swallowed.
Pain.
It took his thoughts off everything else.
Remy took another swig of his drink and burned his already raw throat once more. He winced and shuddered and then drank again.
XXXXX
Jean Paul sat next to Bobby and read until it was well past ten o'clock and he was well past chapter eight.
He looked down at Bobby and set the book aside, "Je suis désolé, Bobby, but I cannot read another word."
He leaned back in his chair and stretched out his legs and stood up, "A mountain of papers are waiting to be graded in my room," He said, "It's tempting to stay here with you, but Emma will start nagging me if I leave off my duties any longer. Bonne nuit, Robert," Jean Paul patted Bobby's arm and left.
Hank bustled in a few minutes later to check on his friend.
"You gave me quite a scare yesterday," He told Bobby as he checked the monitors and made sure all tubes were in place, "and your condition still puzzles me. Is this really even a coma you're in, my friend?" He stared intently at Bobby and then shrugged, "Of course. What else would it be?"
XXXXX
Ditched.
Again.
Jono glared at the television screen.
What was he thinking? That Gambit would be there every night to sit next to him and keep him company?
Even Gambit, the pariah of the X Men –hated by all –didn't want anything to do with Jono. Gambit was a very handsome man and Jono was … well, he wasn't even whole. You had to be whole to be handsome.
Jono turned off the TV and went to his room, closing the door as quietly as he could when what he really wanted to do was slam it shut.
XXXXX
Day 10 evening –Patient's vital signs are worsening once more. Heart beat is turning sporadic and the patient is showing signs of rapid eye movement. Must be examined and diagnosed again.
XXXXX
Bobby raced along the empty hallway of the mansion and turned the corner. Another hall –the ceiling tall, the end seeming miles away.
A metallic clang echoed in the distance and Bobby began running again.
Several minutes passed. Was the hallway getting longer? Was the ceiling getting higher?
Bobby felt suffocated somehow, seeing all this room.
Oh!
Bobby felt enormous relief as he spotted a door off to the left. He ran over and opened it.
A blinding light erupted from inside and Bobby was knocked off his feet.
A cold, numb feeling spread throughout his body. Suddenly a wave of white-hot pain coursed through him. Bobby screamed.
"Oh my god! Hank what's happening?"
"Hold him down, Annie!"
It was too much. Where did it all come from? Bobby only opened the door to escape whatever was following him. Another jolt of pain followed the first. It was like his blood was on fire…
"His brain wave patterns are jumping all over the place! Something's going on in his head! Get Jean or Emma or the professor-"
He could hear blood pumping in his ears. The metallic clang was getting closer…
Bobby forced his eyes open.
Who was that?
What was that?
"Go! Now!"
"Hello, Robert Drake," The man (was it a man or a demon?) with the fiery-red skin and long white hair said, "You need to stop running."
Bobby stared up at him in terror, "Who-?"
"Never mind, Robert Drake. I'm here to help you." He pulled a sword out of somewhere beneath his black cloak and raised it over his head, "Good bye, Robert Drake," He said, bringing it down.
"Oh my god,"
XXXXX
Day 11 –Patient suffered a severe seizure. Activity in the mind was questioned, but telepathic shields were discovered to be impenetrable by Omega-level telepaths.
Day 12 –Patient is subdued. Brain wave patterns suggest he is falling deeper into his 'coma'.
Day 14 –Patient's condition worsens. Prognosis is not looking very good.
XXXXX
Remy opened his eyes and looked around groggily. He felt sore all over.
His throat was raw and so dry that he nearly choked as the skin inside stuck together momentarily as he swallowed.
Remy wondered what time it was. The memories of his last time conscious came back to him.
He had drunk the whole pot of coffee, gotten extremely caffeinated before crashing completely. He hadn't slept for more than three hours at a time for a while.
Remy dragged himself off the living room couch and headed to the shower.
When he came out of the bathroom an hour later, fully refreshed, he went into the kitchen and fixed something to eat.
His throat was highly sensitive, though, and it even hurt to swallow water. His tongue felt swollen, too, maybe because his taste buds were all scorched.
So Remy left his food untouched on the counter and went outside. He felt guilty for leaving Bobby, even though the ice mutant wouldn't have noticed. Remy would just sneak in to the mansion and stop by the Med Lab to check in on him.
When Remy arrived at the mansion, classes were just being dismissed, and students milled about the hallway.
They caught sight of Remy, and their voices would lower and they'd shoot him secretive looks.
'Traitor' their eyes accused.
Remy didn't pay any of them attention; what did they know about Antarctica?
He proceeded through the mansion and down to the Med Lab.
Scott, Jean, Emma, the professor, and Hank were all crowded around Bobby's bed and seemed to be deep discussion.
Xavier turned around, "Gambit," he said, "We told everyone not to come down here to visit Bobby. You are not exempt from 'everyone'. I'm sorry, you'll be able to visit when we've figured out what's going on."
Remy nodded, throat too sore to speak.
As he left, he wondered when the no visitor rule had gone into action.
Maybe that morning, while he was still asleep? And what was wrong with Bobby that all those telepaths needed to 'figure out'?
Remy decided to sneak into the Med Lab in the night to visit Bobby, despite the no visitor rule. After all, who was he to follow rules?
"Where ya been, Gumbo?"
Remy whirled around, cursing himself silently for drifting into deep thought.
"Moved back int' de boathouse," he told Logan. He cleared his throat to make his voice less scratchy and winced at the pain the simple task caused.
Logan stood with his arms crossed tightly over his chest. This was good -he never crossed his arms if there was a chance he would attack you.
"For four days?"
"Huh?" Remy said, scrunching his nose. Four days? He had been asleep for four days? Merde!
Logan looked satisfied as he saw comprehension dawn over Remy's face.
"So ya been sleepin', I'm guessin'? 'Bout time. How ya managed tah stay awake for the past weeks amazes me," Logan snorted and then scrutinized Remy's face as he spoke again, "Chamber's been sulking more than usual the past days. Every time someone mentions ya, he gets all pissy. Ya know why?"
Remy forced a smile, "Non. Gambit don' talk t' Chamber dat much anyway." He said, his sore throat screaming in protest. Inside, his mind was reeling from this new development. What did it mean? Remy also wondered how often he was mentioned among the X Men.
"Hm. Well, maybe he was ticked 'bout something else." Logan shrugged, "Later, Gumbo."
Remy watched Logan walk down the hall.
He went to the wing of the mansion with all of the class rooms and tracked down the Accountancy classroom.
The door was open, so he proceeded into walking right in.
"Chamber?" He said, "Jono?"
/Wot?/ he snapped irritably without looking up from the teacher's desk, which he seemed to be carving into angrily with a penknife.
Remy strode across the room and stopped short of the desk three feet.
He could really feel Jono's emotions radiating off of him –anger (as usual), self-hatred (as usual), self-pity (as usual), loneliness (also as usual), and … betrayal?
Remy craved to know what was wrong. Did it have something to do with him?
Ah, but that was just wishful thinking –nobody cared about him truly.
"Why y' so angry all de time?" Remy wondered, sitting on the long table that acted as the first row of desks.
Jono's head snapped up as he registered Remy's voice. He glared at the Cajun, /Wot're you doin' 'ere?/ He said.
Remy cocked his head and looked at Jono, "Well now dat y' mention it, Gambit does recall livin' 'ere." He said.
/Yer livin' in the boathouse./ Jono retorted.
Gambit raised his eyebrows, "Gambit didn' know anyone was payin' attention t' where he went,"
/I saw yer leave./ Jono said.
Remy would never have known Jono was lying if he didn't have his empathy powers. He couldn't fathom why Jono was lying, though.
"Did y'?" he said doubtfully,
/Well I don't bloody go asking about yer. Not that anyone would know where yer were. Not as if they care./ Jono said viciously with a mental snort.
Remy blinked and hopped off the table, expression turning cold, "Well dey might not give a shit 'bout Gambit, but y' got no reason t' be mopin' around all de time. Are y' tryin' t' get some pity? 'Cause it ain't workin'." He retorted. Where were these words coming from? Remy didn't want to be cruel but he just couldn't help it. Jono had hit where it hurt most.
Remy grabbed a playing card from his pocket, charged it, and sent it flying at the papers on Jono's (Bobby's) desk. The card exploded and ash and shredded paper flew into the air.
Without any hesitation, Remy stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
He passed Logan in the hall and noticed the short man seemed to have been waiting. Remy ignored his questioning look and stormed out of the mansion, Jono's words still ringing in his head…
Not as if they care.
Remy decided he would go home to the boat house and make a large pot of steaming coffee.
XXXXX
Day 15 –Patient's symptoms have begun to subside. Vital signs are slowly returning to normal.
XXXXX
Jean furrowed her brow, "You're leaving? Why didn't you mention it?"
Emma nodded, "I know that the problem with Bobby remains unsolved, but Sean really needs me in Generation X. He only contacted me yesterday. I'll pop in from time to time, of course, and I'll always be in touch if I'm needed –though I doubt that; you and Charles are perfectly capable of any things needed telepathically." She shrugged and opened the front doors.
Jean helped her lift her suitcases into a car waiting outside and then watched it drive away.
"Was that Emma?" Scott approached her in the driveway.
Jean turned and kissed her husband quickly on the lips before taking his arm and following him back inside, "She has to go back to the other school. Sean is in need of her there."
"Why didn't she tell us?" Scott wondered,
"She said Sean just called yesterday."
"But what about Bobby?" Scott wondered, looking upset.
Jean sighed, "I know you're worried about Bobby, Scott. We all are. He's our friend and we want him to get better. Between Hank, Charles, me and you, I'm sure we'll figure something out."
"What am I supposed to do for him?" Scott burst out, "Cancel his training sessions in the Danger Room for the next few months? Jean, I feel so useless!"
Jean had suspected something like this was nagging Scott, "Don't worry, love," she said soothingly as they walked into the mansion, "Bobby will wake up. I'm confident that he will pull through."
No sooner had she said this than a telepathic voice called out to her, /Jean! Charles! Come down to the med lab –immediately! Bobby's brain waves are way too active!/ Hank said, /He's suffering a seizure right now –it's really bad!/
Scott saw his wife's eyes widen in fear.
"What? What's going on?"
Jean blinked and stared at him, "It's Bobby! I have to get down there-" suddenly, her voice cut off and she collapsed.
Scott caught her before she hit the ground, "Jean? Jean!"
XXXXX
A/N: Right. So get ready for this story to get really wierd. Oh, and sorry for the lack of Jean Paul. Until Bobby, wakes up, though, the focus will be on Remy, kind of. Sorry to disappoint. Anyway, reviews are appreciated! And yes, I basically just shoved Emma out of the story. 'Cuz I don't like her and she's a waste of space.
NEXT: Bobby's condition takes a turn for the totally and utterly bizarre!
