A.N. Thanks to everyone who has been reading and the lovely reviews ye've been leaving! R&R, RÃoghnach's Reign.
Disclaimer: Not my characters, just entertainment!
Chapter 21
Something was wrong, well, something else was wrong. It seemed to him that everything was going wrong recently. The team hadn't had to be a team since Apocalypse and everyone seemed to be distracted by their own personal problems lately. To send more kids out into this increasingly dangerous environment was reckless and irresponsible, but they haven't considered themselves as kids for a long time. Did he have the right to act the parent around them? Would protecting them now do them more harm or good down the line? He smiled as he was reminded a poem that answered his question for him; 'If I defer the grief, I diminish the gift'. But given the circumstances, what choices did they have? Finding Mr. Spears would hopefully bring them much needed answers. Establishing the connection between this toxin and the seemingly random mutant attacks was their highest priority. However, now they had a rogue student/teacher, a rogue patient and an unstable Rogue.
They had not seen her come in contact with anyone recently, not since Apocalypse. Given her bone claws, also new, she must have absorbed Logan a lot over the summer. Was she reacting badly due to a power overload or personality overload? Either way she was freaking out on the platform and they were clueless as to how to help her. They knew she had been training with Logan, but none of them knew what that training was to get her to regain her focus. Fortunately, on her own and for reasons unknown to him, she managed to get past whatever it was she needed to work through. She had calmed down fast and gained control of the Professor's power quickly enough, given her reaction to the unexpected touch and the power level she had absorbed. She even sent a telepathic message to everyone in the mansion. But that wasn't the 'something else was wrong' he was referring to.
This 'something else' that was wrong was that, despite his best efforts, he couldn't reach Logan on his communicator. Xavier was still at the console of Cerebro looking a little defeated. Rogue and Gambit were near-by on the platform. Remy was helping Rogue up to a standing position, keeping her in his arms to support her weight in case she needed him to. Hank put the communicator down to his side, hoping not to draw any attention to the extra bad news he had. But, alas, one cannot hide much from two telepaths on edge. Xavier and Rogue both turned to look at him, their necks almost snapping with the speed as his thoughts betrayed him.
"You can't-" Xavier started.
"-find him?" Rogue finished, eyebrows raised in alarm for Logan's safety.
The two drew odd looks from everyone in the room, including each other, and Forge who had just joined the group having heard the ruckus from the Danger Room. Beast looked down at the communicator in his hand.
"I'm not even getting a signal on his frequency," Hank admitted, "which leads me to believe that something has happened to Logan also." Rogue looked to Xavier in defiance of his persona in her head.
"Probably the same somethin' that took out Cerebro," Rogue hypothesised out loud to everyone in the room, not stopping at Xavier's little shake of the head to keep the next part to herself, if anything, she scowled at him. "Jean." She said simply. Xavier didn't let it show but he was aggravated that Rogue told everyone. But how did he expect it to be kept a secret for much longer given the current events unfolding before them. Rogue was taking charge of the scene however.
"Cerebro's out. We wanna find any of 'em then we gotta do it the ol' fashioned way; look." She was about to elaborate further but she looked into Gambit's eyes at the last word, looking like she just remembered something. She furrowed her brow as she looked at him, then at Forge. She detached herself from his hold and walked out towards the hangar where she had told everyone to assemble. More than just Remy were left looking after her in confusion.
oOo
They were getting closer, she could smell it. In fact they were so close, Laura was sure she could see the burnt remains of the house in the distance. However, Jean drove past the street where it was to park a safe and inconspicuous distance away. Laura was impressed; the girl wasn't a total idiot. She had at least some tactical training.
"Thanks, but I kinda read that from you." Jean informed her, tapping her temple to illustrate her point. "And I'm not an idiot, either way." Jean responded mechanically, in a deadpan tone, as she drove.
"Stay outta my head." Laura growled. Jean said nothing in reply. Laura looked over at her from the passenger seat, trying to figure out what she was thinking. She had been sickeningly sweet since they sat back into the car, all traces of malice gone from her voice. It drove her nuts.
They stopped the car and got out. Jean looked over at Laura. She had changed into the gear that Jean had and redressed some of her wounds during their journey. Most of the burns had fully healed at this stage so only two or three required attention. The clothes she was wearing were a combination of whatever was in Jean's car. Some parts were from spare X-men uniforms Jean had in the back, the rest came from Jean's Bayville Sirens outfit that she kept in the SUV as a spare change of clothes. She wore knee high X-boots and dark pants and X-belt. Gloves covered where her claws erupted and were black, perfect for hiding any red staining from her slower than normal healing. She had a dark top under a sleeveless dark green jacket that complemented her deeply tanned skin. She looked tough and felt more like herself, or so Jean picked up from her. Jean was dressed in her civilian clothes for walking around in broad day light.
They reached the house by foot in no time. They looked around for anyone that maybe watching. Laura sniffed the air, whereas Jean did a quick mental scan; no one. They approached quickly and crossed under the police tape surrounding the property swiftly. Laura immediately retraced her steps into the house to see it any scents remained of those she had fought and those she had protected. Unfortunately, fire destroyed everything and harmonised the scents. Jean followed in behind her and relived the memories she took from her in the actual place that they happened. She knelt at the place where Laura fell, whereas Laura went to the spot where Esther had died but only stood there for a moment before returning to the outside.
"Where are you going?" Jean asked, trying not to read her mind out of courtesy, and respect for what happened here.
"There's nothing left here, we're wasting our time!" She snapped back as she walked around the yard and sniffed around and then growled ferociously. "There's nothing left! Whatever wasn't destroyed by the fire was washed away by the fire hoses or rain!"
Snikt!
Laura released one pair of claws and slashed at the charcoaled wood panelling on the side of the house. Jean stepped out to her and tried to calm her down lest she draw unwanted attention.
"Hey, look-" She reached out a hand to touch her on the shoulder but Laura spun around and slashed out in anger at her offered arm. Jean reacted in time to avoid serious injury from the Adamantium claws but not in time to avoid injury completely. Two long slashes were left down the outside of her upper left arm, cutting through her long sleeved shirt and her X-men uniform that she wore underneath.
Her skin was barely scratched but instinctively, Jean pushed her away strongly with a force field as darkness flashed in her eyes. Laura caught herself before she fell over and realised what she had done to the other girl but made no effort to apologise for the injury she caused. Jean grabbed her own arm where Laura had cut it. Laura thought she was recoiling from the pain but it seemed to be more like inner turmoil that Jean was dealing with, but she soon shrugged it off. They eyed each other for a moment.
"Let's go." Jean told her simply and calmly as she turned to leave the property. Laura stood her ground.
"Where?" She demanded to know before she would follow.
"To where we might find answers." Jean stopped walking to turn to Laura. "We can't figure out where they were taken based on what's left of here, but we could try to find out who knew to take them." Jean told the other girl. Laura thought about what she had seen and over-heard from 'Jan' and Esther's interaction that night.
"That girl, 'Jan', was coming back from a college party." Laura told Jean as she remembered the details of that night. Laura could feel herself becoming angrier and more aggressive as she thought, remembering that 'Jan' had said that she had ratted the other girl out as a mutant to someone, 'by accident'.
"Exactly." Jean confirmed, knowing from the memories she had seen from Laura's mind about the night of the attack. "So, we find out where and when that party was and simply ask around." Yeah, really felt the retribution part now. Laura, once more, rolled her eyes at the girl's preppy and optimistic attitude on life. She had way too much faith in people doing the right thing. Going around asking questions without using claws would be no help.
"Unless you're a telepath." Jean told her, reading her thoughts, her bolder side emerging once more.
"Stop doing that!" Laura shouted at her, getting annoyed by the mind reader. But the mind reader was enjoying her view on the situation and on life.
"If either of us can't find the answers we're looking for, then maybe we'll draw the attention of the 'right' people." Jean offered darkly.
Laura smiled; she liked the idea of that gambit.
oOo
The real Gambit was flicking his cards from hand to hand, leaning against the side of the X-chopper. Rogue paced the ground near him, arms crossed, waiting for the others to file in slowly. He watched her pacing as the others congregated. She rubbed her temple.
"Hope Ah'm not thinkin' too loud for ya, chere." Remy said out loud, gaining her attention. She looked over to him and he grinned back. "Wouldn't wanna be givin' you a headache now." He winked to her, trying to make light of her troubles. She smirked back to him.
"Wouldn't accuse you of thinkin' much, Gambit." She responded cheekily in jest, grateful for the temporary distraction. She looked at him again, and her brow furrowed before looking away. Gambit wondered if she was reading something from him that troubled her. Knowing his past, it was likely. He didn't exactly like the idea of anyone snooping around in his head but that said, she might not be able to help it. He would just have to keep his mind on more pleasant things. He watched her resume her pacing as his gaze drifted down a bit.
"Hey!" She snapped at him. His eyes met hers again; he smirked unapologetically, she blushed innocently. Nearly everyone else had finished assembling all suited up and ready for action in the hangar. Kurt approached her as soon as he saw her.
"Rogue, are you alright?" He asked, full of concern and worry. Rogue was quick to put him at ease.
"Yeah, Kurt, Ah'm fine." Rogue assured him as Kitty made her way over to them.
"Who did you, like, 'pick up' the telepathy from? Jean?" She asked, curiosity killing the Kitty.
"No, Ah got it from the Professor." She replied, earning her raised eyebrows as their response. "It was an accident." She added quickly. The Professor wheeled in behind everyone with Alex, Forge and the Beast. Kitty looked around once everyone had assembled, a thought striking her.
"Hey, aren't we totally missing, like, half the mansion?" Kitty looked between Rogue and the Beast and Xavier, who were each looking at each other wondering where to start.
oOo
Nausea and vomiting - check.
Temporary deafness - check.
Cardiac palpitations - check.
Unilateral headache - check.
Shakiness and shivering - check.
Sudden high fever - check.
Respiratory problems - check.
Photophobic and double vision - check.
Local inflammatory reaction and itchy rash - check.
They had to get the doctor back in here. This patient was not doing too well; something would have to be done before she goes the same way as all the others with this list of symptoms. The woman wore a biohazard suit as she examined the patient's vitals. The young girl had passed out hours ago from whatever disease or infection she had caught. She had been working in this facility for a while now, but was never down in this department in the lower levels. She was one of a bunch of people drafted in from upstairs because they were short staffed. She was running between two patients while the other draftee nurses had one to three patients each, numbers delegated according to the severity of each case. She was taken aback by it all as she never had to deal with anything like this before. But she quickly stepped up to the plate and put on her game face. And, as tragic as it was that these people were ill, it was giving her excellent experience and had broken up her usual routine.
She had been watching her and a few other patients she had in that night and she was one of the worst they had. Her heart rate had fluctuated a few times, now it seemed to have steadied off a little. She checked her temperature. It was up again. She checked the settings on the artificial lung that was breathing for her; she had been intubated a few hours ago. She signalled for assistance to whoever was behind the mirrored walls. She knew someone was there. There was always someone watching each of these patients. Not unusual for the most extreme case of the CDC in the country. The fact that this outbreak of, whatever it was, had occurred in a psychiatric facility only made the situation more worrying. Most of the patients she had seen here were already delirious and paranoid; it was difficult to tell what was a symptom of the disease and what was normal, for them.
Suddenly the young woman's body jerked against the restraints and as her heart rate increased dramatically on the monitor. The trainee nurse pushed the emergency call button next to her patient's bed. Two large men in bio-hazard suits entered after the senior doctor down there, dressed in the same get up. In fact, she was the only doctor down there that she had seen. The men held her from thrashing about as the doctor checked her vitals. She suddenly went limp as the heart monitored went into tachycardia; she was ready with the defibrillator for the doctor.
"Charge to two hundred!" The doctor shouted, her slight Hispanic accent coming through stronger than she had heard before. She set the machine to charge as prescribed. The doctor placed the paddles on the patient's chest professionally.
"Clear!" The doctor shouted, she backed away swiftly, the other two not as efficiently causing the nurse to wonder just how much training or experience they had had.
Fzzump!
The patient and heart monitor flinched in response to the electrical stimulus but not enough to correct the rhythm.
"Charge to three hundred!" She did as asked. "Clear!" She prepared again for another electrical discharge.
Fzzump!
Beeeeeeeep!
She was flat lining. The doctor sighed and looked at the digital clock near some of the equipment.
"Time of death; sixteen fifty-three." And just like that, she put the paddles back on the stand. The young nurse stood there in disbelief that the doctor barely made an effort to save her. She nearly said something until she looked at the still patient. She suffered greatly, but it was over now. She reached over to switch off the monitors. The other two would move the remains. She turned and left the room. She walked down a shared corridor to the room of her other patient.
She changed her gloves, entered her room and took one quick look at the monitors before picking up the chart to fill in the data that she read from them. The patient was doing better. She was sleeping soundly now, having displayed less severe symptoms than her other patient; just an angry localised rash that was diminishing and some nausea. She was muttering things in her sleep, however. She leaned closer to see if it was anything coherent but all she heard were broken distressed syllables in a frantic tone.
"Eh... Whas... Ree... Ess..."
End of Chapter 21
A.N. Right, can any one name the poem Beast was thinking of at the start? It's not important to the story - ish, but's it's a good poem. Shout out to Silverwolf77 who's been kind enough to answer some questions on what High School is like over there as I do not have first hand knowledge myself. Thank you!!!
Now, back to the story! Are people liking the Jean and Laura banter? Anyone miss Logan in this chapter? Dark and scary hospital, eh? Hit the review button! RR