Broken Bones and Bombs
Hank sighed heavily, for the first time in his life the lab (even the medi lab) was not the place he wanted to be. Upstairs for example, I could be upstairs, playing with Little Blue and making sure Logan and Bobby didn't teach him any dirty words – oh pull yourself together man! The holding cell was at the far end of the medi lab, heavily barred in case anyone the caught needed medical attention. Inside there was a bed and a chair and a sectioned off area that held a shower and a toilet. The Sphinx was sitting on the bed, one foot before her, the other flat on the floor. Hank couldn't see properly but he was sure the metal bar that supported the mattress had buckled a little beneath her fingers,
"Feeding time at the zoo?" She asked without looking up, her voice was slurred but he was amazed that she could speak at all if Logans hypothesis was correct. Hank flinched a little at the coldness of her tone, guilt already gnawing at his insides – she didn't do it, didn't deserve – "I'm sorry, that was callous of me" She said easily, shifting a little. Hank caught the way her shoulders tensed, reasoning that she was in a lot of pain,
"I…am given to understand that…you did not commit the…infringement" He said awkwardly. Her head tilted a little but she didn't lift her eyes to look at him,
"No, I did not" She sighed, a sound that was caught halfway through, hands tightening a little as she released the breath, "it was done without my knowledge. I came to rectify the mistake that was made. The debt is paid, you don't need to do anything else" She stood up, walking towards the bars painfully slowly, limping just a little – sprained ankle too, McCoy when you loose your temper you reallyloose it,
"If you are trying to get me to read the subtext of what you just said then I'm afraid I forgot to bring my reading glasses" He said dryly,
"Don't hurt the others" She said simply, looking up at him with glowing eyes,
"I'm going to kill Morphia, the others don't concern me" He said in reply, his voice as flat and calm as hers. She bowed her head, resting the top of the hood against the bars, not bothering to argue, "you're obviously in a lot of pain. If I let you out to treat you, will you co-operate?" The hood raised as she grasped hold of the bars, red eyes glowing up at him,
"Do I have a choice?" Wiry humour in that voice as Hank opened the door, all but having to catch her as she staggered forward, "how embarrassing" She murmured, almost under her breath. She pushed away from him and stood up, "where too, Dr McCoy?" She asked, voice tight. He gestured to one of the tables nearby and she limped over, three times she tried to haul herself onto the table,
"Need a hand?" Hank asked from where he was gathering instruments. The first time she'd tried he'd expected her to ask for help, judging from the sharp cry she'd given when she'd failed,both hands rushing to her sides but she'd tried again. She looked at him, red eyes wide with the pain,
"Thank you but I don't need help" She all but growled, snarling as she lifted herself completely onto the table,
"I'm afraid you'll have to take that off" He said, pointing to the thick leather jacket and the gauzyhood. She froze, not even breathing, and looked up at him, "Need I remind you that you said you would co-operate?" There was a long breathless moment before she slowly reached up, under the hood, to remove the veil beneath,
"I trust anything you see or anything thatI tell you will be kept in confidence?" She asked, voice trembling a little as she dropped the veil on the table nearby,
"I did take the Hippocratic oath" Hereplied, gently. She nodded reaching up to undo herjacket. She didn't ask for help but he aided her getting her arms out as she gasped at the pain lancing through her. Hank was trying not to stare at the deep blood red fur on her arms, standing out vividly against a black vest. It wasn't the fur itselfthat made him stare but the network of scars, healed, deep and vividly pink against the red. Some of the old scars went down to the bone on her arms, burn scars visible on the palms of both hands – he refused to refer to them as paws, "Where did you get these?" He asked, noticing that half of her middle finger on her left hand was missing as she removed the glove. She remained sullenly silent, reaching up to undo the clasp of the cloak, holding on to the hood for a long moment, "I'll have to see…if your jaw is hurt" She nodded and removed the hood. The Sphinx was a somehow fitting name, even though she was almost entirely feline in physique. A red furred, red eyed Lioness. Scars crisscrossed up the back of her neck, he could see as her head was bowed, and one half of her left ear was missing. She looked up, the glow of her red eyes seeming diminished outside the shadows of the hood, the distinctive marks of Logans claws still relatively fresh on her cheek, the only mark on her face, "thank you" He murmured, "lie back please" She did as she was told, "Out of curiosity are you and Morphia related"
"She's my sister" Sphinx sighed, growling and wincing at the pain it caused as he passed a hand held X-ray machine over her, "she was my sister, God knows what she is now" She added, frowning thoughtfully,
"Bobby said she rebelled against you" He said absently,
"He's the blond one? He's a nice boy" She winced violently as he tugged off the boot the covered the foot she had limped on, "yes. Though 'rebel' implies that I was the leader. We are – we were just a group of friends wanting to make the world a better place"
"By committing genocide?" He asked incredulously, pulling up a chair and unrolling a wad of bandages,
"There isn't one of us who hasn't been persecuted by humans – humans specifically – ow - not humanity as a whole with mutants there but humans" The vehemence in her voice was a little frightening, "put it down to a common psychological defect but we all believe that the world would be better off without humanity…the fact that homo sapiens are being bred out by homo superior is of no consequence, we were merely helping evolution" Shemade a sharp noiseas he tightened the bandages around her ankle before pinning it in place,
"Is that how you got these? From humans?" He asked, knowing she would understand that he meant the scars. She was silent for so long that Hank thought she wasn't going to answer him,
"Our father was not a mutant" She said simply,
"I didn't notice any scars on Morphia and she doesn't dress quite as, um, warmly as you do" Hank was surprised when she smiled up at him, despite the fact her eyes were watering with the pain,
"That's a very polite way of saying she dresses like a slut, well done Dr McCoy" She smiled again, careful to hide her elongated canines before it fadedintoa frown,"she…she is much younger than me, I tried to shield her as much as I could. I brought her make up to cover her skin colour. Father only ever hit her once" She turned her face aside as he gently pressed her ribs, testing for the breaks and bruises,
"Why only once?" It was almost automatic, a talent for listening to the conversation whilst he busy paying attention to what he was doing,
"I killed him" He looked up in shock and saw the shameless truth in her eyes, he looked away when he realised he'd been staring,
"The good news is you don't have a broken rib. The bad news is your collar bone is. Now I can either take you in to surgery - "
"No needles" She said,
"Or I can snap it back into place but that will hurt"
"Just…snap it" She closed her eyes,
"Brace yourself" Hank murmured. He yanked hard, the crackle-snap of bone against bone reverberating around the room along with the noise of nine claws screeching against the metal surface of the bed as her hands fisted,
"Holy mother of God" She gasped, tears leaking out from behind closed lids. Hank shushed and said soothing things absent mindedly, dressing the wound, "Oh do shut up, Doctor" She snapped, "gratified as I am I'm not some five year old in need of comfort" She panted harshly,
"Hank" The door opened and Sphinx's entire frame tensed, "we've got another DV – whoa" He came to a halt beside the bed, "That" Logan said, indicating her scars, "wasn't all Hank…was it?" She smiled up tightly at him. Hank was absently noting how expressive she was with her face, probably from years of being hidden,
"Tactful as ever, Wolverine" She hissed.Hank surreptitiously pushed a handkerchief into her hands as he helped her sit up,
"I believe you were saying something Logan?" He asked, smiling up at his friend,
"We got another DVD off her friend" Wolverine nodded to Sphinx, blowing a cloud of cigar smoke at her as she wiped her face withthe handkerchief, "we're gettin everyone together an you're invited to the party"
"Right. Give me a moment" Hank turned away, tidying up habitually,
"Where do you think your goin, darlin?" Logan snarled at Sphinx as she stood up, gingerly testing her weight on her ankle. She looked up, eyes narrowed, and opened her mouth to reply,
"She's coming with us" The Doctor interrupted,
"Can't we just bung her in a cell for now?" Logan asked. Hank rolled his eyes,
"I've just re-set her collarbone without any anaesthetic Logan, I need to keep her under obs. She's coming with us"
"I feel so honoured" Sphinx murmured dryly. Taking a step back as the two men chorused at her,
"Shut up"