Haley stood frozen as the light from the hallway leaked into the danger room. She couldn't see much with her eyes, but her mind alerted her that Mystique was getting closer to John. Oh fuck no, Haley thought, pushing Mystique rather roughly with her mind, making the blue creature stumble backwards before rolling gracefully so that she was on her feet once again. She turned to Magneto who smiled.
"A telepath Pyro? Why didn't we predict this?"
Haley tried to push him back as well but a familiar loud ringing began to sing within her mind and she winced. Of course. He was wearing that stupid little helmet, preventing her from using mental attacks on him. If he knew she figured this out he made no outward sign. Instead he raised his hands, making the metal boards they were standing under rise.
She heard Jubilee and Kitty scream, Rogue cry out for Bobby, and she herself clung to John, who in return wrapped his arms around her. The metal boards began to wobble dangerously, like they were going to fall. Ten feet into the air everyone began to get frightened.
"My," Magneto mocked. "What a mess it would be if all 9 X-Men in training were to all fall right this moment."
Frantically Haley was trying to think what she could do. She looked over to Angel who was debating whether or not to use his wings. But the force of his takeoff would alert Magneto who would allow them all to fall. Could Haley really hold them all up? She hadn't done something so powerful before and she feared she couldn't handle it. What if she slipped and someone fell and got hurt?
Hurt was better than dead.
She grabbed John's hand, holding it tightly, and even bringing it to her lips to kiss his knuckles. Just as she was about to execute her plan she heard a question in her mind, from none other than Kitty Pryde.
Haley? Haley can you hear me?
Yes Kitty I hear you. What?
What if I could phase through the floor, while Angel took Jubilee and Rogue. Would you be able to hold Bobby, Remy, and John, Colossus and Siryn, and yourself?
I'm not sure I can. But I'll try...
Then it's a plan.
Haley nodded to herself before mentally alerting everyone else of his or her role in the plan.
"You aren't afraid are you? Of an old man who likes to play with shiny things?"
"We're certainly not afraid of you old man," Haley fired back. She could feel the boards start to wobble, dangerous and realistically. And then it all happened.
At the same exact moment Angel flew off the board taking Jubilee and Rogue with him, while Kitty phased through the metal and the floor, off to a destination unknown. And at that same moment Haley held her arms out, holding up Remy, Bobby, John, Colossus, Siryn, and she while the metal boards clanged loudly on the floor.
"Well well well they've gotten smart. But tell me dear. How long do you plan on holding them? Because I know that the Angel can't stay airborne in this small space for very long. Nor can you hold them. And for the record, I'm in no rush to get my man back."
Haley winced as she struggled to hold everyone up. She turned to John, her eyes glimmering with what seemed to be guilt. "He's right John. I can't hold you all much longer."
"Then let me down. It's time to fight. There's 9 of us, how can we lose?" John answered. Signing Haley nodded, lowering everyone slowly to the ground, though at a good distance from Magneto.
"You really have come unprepared," Bobby said, coating his arms over in ice. "You're outnumbered."
Magneto chuckled, his sticky laugh echoing through the danger room. Another loud crash and the wall behind him was broken through, a large man in a metal helmet walking over to him.
"Meet the Jaggernaught, children. Jaggernaught, meet the children," Magneto said, with a rather satisfied grin on his lips.
"Ello," the Jaggernaught greeted in a thick British accent.
John placed his hands on Haley's shoulders, giving them a slight squeeze before stepping away, lighting his wrist- lighters and stepping away again. "Come on Magneto you should know that one shape shifter and one strong man aren't enough to fight the 9 of us. We out number you."
Magneto laughed, lifting another metal board and sending it flying at John. This was the initiation of the fight.
Mystique shifted into Logan, using fake metal claws to slash at Bobby and Rogue. Bobby tried blasting ice at her but missed every time. Even in Logan's shape she kept up her cat-like reflexes.
In the meantime Jaggernaught turned to Haley with a sinister smile on his lips. He started towards her, but didn't get far because Angel who flew in front of him started him. A bolt of energy, or one of Jube's paphs, blasted past his head towards Magneto, who blocked it with yet another metal board.
"Do you know who I am?" Jaggernaught asked Haley as he took more booming steps towards her. "I'm the Jaggernaught, bitch, no number of little kiddies will stop me!"
He began running towards her, picking up speed with each step he took. She held out her hands trying to stop him and for a moment she thought it worked. But instead he just kept pushing, pushing past her mental block and instead sending it back at her. She cried out and dropped her hands, looking at him frightened as he gained yet more speed coming at her.
All of a sudden this piercing scream erupted, ringing in everyone's ears so loudly they clapped their hands to their ears, dropping to their knees because their hands still weren't enough to block out the sound.
While it rendered the X-Men helpless, it also stopped Jaggernaught, Magneto, and Mystique from advancing.
Keep screaming Siryn Haley encouraged her, getting to her feet as she placed a bubble of mental energy around herself, which blocked out Siryn's power. She could still hear the scream, but instead it sounded like a normal girl screaming out of fear.
She ran over to John, who was bleeding from the nose. It looked like he wasn't able to dodge all the debris of the metal boards when Jubilee's paphs exploded them.
Haley tried to place a bubble around John as well but she just couldn't focus. It took all of her energy just to keep her own up and running. Instead she kneeled down next to him, enveloping him in her bubble.
"I don't know how long Siryn can hold on," Haley whispered, unzipping her hoodie and taking the hem of her shirt in her hands. "But if she gives out before we're ready just fight as best as you can."
John nodded and reached up to Haley's face with a bloodied hand. "You're bleeding too," he said, trying to sit up now that the loud wails were no longer trying to blow up his eardrums. "Looks like you couldn't dodge all the debris either."
Haley lifted her clean hand to her cheek, just then feeling the cut there that was bleeding down her chin. "I'll be okay," she said, ripping the hem of her shirt and balling it up, placing it on his nose. "Here, try and stem the flow. It looks like Bobby and Rogue are hurt too."
Knowing that as soon as Haley stood Siryn's wails would affect him once more, he curled up in a small ball and covered his ears as best he could while keeping the balled up cloth on his nose.
Haley stood and she saw John wince. It sent a twinge to her heart but she had to take care of other people. She took two steps and her mental bubble faltered, letting in some of Siryn's power. She cried out and faltered, falling to her knees before she mustered up the ability to return her shields and got to her feet once again, heading towards Bobby and Rogue.
Rogue and Bobby both had some long gashes on their arms, from Mystiques imitation of Logan's claws. Bobby too had a long gash down his cheek, from his temple to his chin. Haley dropped to her knees and once again her bubble fizzled out, letting in the piercing wail that was keeping back their enemies. Haley clasped her hands over her ears and doubled over, trying frantically to replace her bubble. It took three tries before she could get it up and running. Haley couldn't believe it; she was running out of power.
She leaned in towards Rogue, letting the girl into her bubble. The other female looked amazed at what Haley could do but didn't question it. Haley again ripped the hem of her shirt, glad to know that she could always zip up her hoodie if she ran out of shirt to rip.
She tied the strip of material around Rogue's arms, trying to stem the flow of blood. It took a moment, and some pressure from Haley's hands before the blood flow was stemmed. Haley then turned to Bobby but her bubble faltered and she couldn't get it back up.
Instead she curled up into a ball, hands clasped to her ears in a failed attempt to block out the noise. Just when the sound was getting unbearable, Siryn ran out of breath and fell to her knees. After a moment Magneto and Mystique got to their feet. Jaggernaught joined them and lifted John to his feet by the scruff of his neck. He tried to kick away from them but instead Jaggernaught pulled the boy up and over his shoulder, fighting the whole way.
"You all have been worthy adversaries," Magneto said, bowing to them before turning to follow Jaggernaught out of the Danger Room. Mystique looked at Haley with a sickly sweet smile before turning to do the same.
Haley felt a fire rise to her cheeks and she got to her knees. Suddenly the room felt like it turned sideways and Haley swayed where she knelt. She felt Bobby's hands on her shoulders to steady her so she didn't fall over. She gathered as much of her mental energy as she could but her head was pounding so painfully she could barely focus. She pushed what mental energy she had at Mystique, making the blue creature stumble forward but nothing more.
Finally Haley couldn't stay awake anymore. The pounding in her head was simply unbearable and she closed her eyes to try and shake it away. But as soon as she did she had the sensation that she was falling, falling into a black hole.
Then the darkness surrounded her.
&&&&&&&&&&&&
When she awoke she was blinded with the white light of the med lab. This she expected. What she didn't expect was trying to sit up, and the throbbing in her head continue, making the room spin dangerously. She groaned and laid back down, her breathing short and erratic. She didn't like not knowing what was going on, what happened to John, and if there was a possibility she could save him.
"Easy kid," said a gruff voice behind her. That was another thing she didn't expect; someone to be at her bedside.
She turned her head to look, only to see Logan sitting in a chair beside her med lab bed, cigar placed firmly between his lips and a small curlicue of smoke extend towards the ceiling.
"How long have I been out?" she asked, her voice surprisingly raspy. She tried to swallow but it felt like someone had replaced her throat with sandpaper.
"Three days," said another male voice behind Logan, whom Haley had assumed was Dr. McCoy. "You used up a lot of mental energy back there, more than you were used to using. In the end your brain short circuited and you passed out. You weren't letting yourself rest so you passed out."
Haley sighed, tears springing to her eyes as she slowly sat up. "And John?" she whispered, almost afraid to hear the outcome.
Both Logan and Dr. McCoy looked to the ground, saddened. "Unfortunately he was taken with the Brotherhood when they retreated. We don't know anything of his status or of where he is."
Tears spilled from Haley's eyes as she swallowed all of this. After all of that they still weren't able to save him. How could they loose? It was 9 X-Men, 9 mutants, against the three of them. How could they have lost? It didn't make sense to her.
"Your cheek has been patched up and your brainwaves are just shy of normal. I want you to stay one more night here to rest up as much as you can. There will be no classes for the rest of the week."
He and Logan walked out of the med lab, leaving Haley alone with the bright lights and her thoughts. How could she sleep when she knew that John was out there, somewhere he was afraid of returning to? She couldn't protect him-she wasn't strong enough. But she tried, she tried like hell to save him and she hurt herself in the process.
Finally sleep tugged at her mind and she closed her eyes, letting herself rest up as much as she could. When she was given a clean bill of health she was going to find John and save him. Nothing was going to stop her this time.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
It was two days later that Dr. McCoy finally let Haley leave the med lab. Her headache was dulled, but not gone, but she couldn't possible sleep any more. Taking her hoodie and torn shirt she walked up to her dorm to change. She put on a large t-shirt, which happened to be John's, and she changed her blue jeans into black skinny jeans. She laced up her purple converse all stars and pulled her brown hair into a low ponytail.
Wiping her eyes where a few tears had fallen Haley set out to her favorite chair in the library, not for leisure this time however. This time she was researching mutations, past experiences with X-Men and the Brotherhood, and all logs of attacks at the mansion.
While she was looking through the record books she felt a hand on her shoulder, which made her back stiffen. She turned behind her to see Bobby standing behind her, the gash on his face taped together. Apparently his gash was too shallow for stitches.
"What are you doing?" he asked her in a gentle voice. He was so kind, no wonder he and John didn't get along. But, she knew that he was cheating on Rogue with Kitty, a girl that had mutant powers and could excite him with the extraordinary things she could do.
"Looking up anything that will help me rescue John," she answered, turning back to the records.
"You really like him don't you?" he asked in surprise, standing next to her and looking down at the book too.
She slammed the book shut on him and set it aside, taking out the next book and opening it to the desired page. "What was your first clue?"
Bobby sighed, obviously sensing the hostility from her towards him. "Why don't you like me?"
Haley couldn't help but smirk, turning to look at him. "I'm sorry Bobby. I don't like cheaters."
Bobby's eyes widened and he leaned in closer to Haley. "How do you know about that?" he asked in a hushed voice, his hand grabbing her wrist where she had some new and festering cuts. She winced and tried to pull her wrist away, causing him to hold her wrist up so that only they two could see. He pulled back her jelly bracelets to reveal an array of angry red cuts and welts, few still bleeding.
"Well it looks like we both have a secret on each other. You tell anyone I'm cheating on Rogue, I'll tell everyone you cut yourself."
Haley let out a bitter laugh and roughly pulled her wrist back. "Go ahead and tell Bobby Drake. I don't care what the pathetic little wimps around here think of me. I've only been here for a month; you've been here for how many years? They don't know me; don't know what to think is real. You on the other hand… they know you, and they'll believe anything I tell them."
She leaned in closer so that she could whisper in his ear: "I'm a telepath Bobby Drake. I can make anyone believe anything I want to."
She got up from the table, taking the record book with her. She sat in her favorite chair, legs propped up on the arm of her chair as she looked through the med lab records and the X-Men story accounts. Since the exposure of the X-Men and what they do, the school had made it public what goes on in the basements; experiments, danger room simulations, missions and the like. Well… public for the school. The rest of the world still has no clue.
From what she read, Magneto has a weakness for ambitious and angry people. Teens and early twenties, it looked like to her. He valued passion, the fire within that John held so dear. Magneto held a passion similar to that, which was probably why he valued it. Could Haley possibly sneak into the camp like she wanted to join, and then sneak John out? It seemed too easy to her.
A shadow came over her, blocking her light for her book, making her look up. She looked up to see Logan looking at her, half smile seemingly plastered onto his lips.
"Have to admit kid, you have passion. You really care about this kid, no matter what anyone says and no matter what he did."
Haley shook her head. "No, what he did does matter. He hurt people, helped kill people. But, he's paid for his crimes, no need to punish him further don't you think?" She wasn't surprised when Logan looked confused. "You don't know what happened in that camp Logan," she continued, setting the book down and sitting right way's in the chair. "I didn't do anything in my life except for defend myself. And yet I feel like I paid penance for what I did, even if I truly didn't do anything wrong."
Logan nodded, this time in understanding. "Well kid, what do you plan to do?"
It was Haley's turn to look confused. She looked up at Logan. "I don't understand."
"You don't think I'm going to let you do this thing alone do you?"
