A.N. Thank Wootness, ye're still with me! Well, I admit there was not much proof reading for the last chapter, mea culpa, hope it didn't inhibit yer enjoyment in anyway but I'm greatful for the reviews! Had loads of time to go back over this chapter this week and publish at the start of the weekend for a change: food poisoning = two days off work, two days off work + no internet mid-week + bad daytime TV = early ff chapter! See, isn't maths fun! Ah well, here's the next part - R&R - RR

Disclaimer: Not my characters, just entertainment!

Chapter 29

She felt warm and loved. All her world around her was just floating by like a pleasant dream. It was absolute bliss. She thought she could hear someone talking. Things were muffled in the dark. She didn't really care so she tried to tune them out as best she could, however the voices were started to sound familiar and then she didn't want to tune them out. They sounded concerned and upset, even angry.

"...volunteered! I didn't tell you to go after him, so don't blame me for what happened to her!"

She heard the voices directly above her and felt the bed move. The voices were very angry.

"She was on your team! She was your responsibility!"

"I was the one who saved her when we found her."

"She should have been on the plane! She shouldn't have been alone!"

"You were supposed to be with her! Colossus could have handled him."

She was confused. They were her friends, why were they fighting? Were they fighting over her? That was silly. Why would they sound so worried about her? She needed to tell them that everything was going to be okay. She felt a hand holding hers. She squeezed.

"-berto..." She whispered faintly.

Everything, all the voices, all the movement she had heard about her stopped and went still. Just when she thought they had all disappeared, suddenly she heard them jump in reaction to her voice. She felt a hand immediately brush back her short hair and come to a rest over her ear and temple.

"Rahne?" She heard him whisper back to her, she could sense his face close to hers even though her eyes were closed. She wanted to see him, so her eyes struggled to open to his. After an initial flutter of her eyes - his face became clear and he was smiling. She rolled her eyes at him.

"Would ye give it a rest 'n' stop fightin' over me?" She frowned at him. If it was possible, he smiled even more and even let out a little laugh before closing the distance between them and kissing her. Her frown of indignation turned to one of surprise but then it far too quickly relaxed and disappeared altogether, as she kissed him sleepily back.

An eternity passed before Rahne became acutely aware of the presence of others, upon hearing Ororo cough diplomatically. Roberto felt her tense and they broke apart. Before facing the others he whispered to her.

"Never seemed to get a chance to do that..." She smiled stupidly despite herself and looked around to the others around her. Magma was grinning foolishly like Rahne. Colossus was, of course, as stoic as ever. Iceman tried to mirror his cool in front of Magma. Scott exhaled a sigh of relief that she was okay and talking. They had no idea how long she had been down and not breathing. None of them said it out loud but they had all been worried of brain damage from lack of Oxygen, but he was distracted by something that had caught his eye through the window causing him to run quickly down the ramp of the X-jet. Ororo barely let a smile grace her lips before she too looked out the window of the cockpit to see Alex fast approaching.

oOo

He was flying high in the cold night air, moments before dawn. Far below him, he had found the building that he had been looking for. Despite the state of the economy, it was working around the clock, according to the files he had found. It was a warehouse that housed a former steel beams and girders manufacturing facility. It was owned by his father.

He perched just outside the open fire escape window and peered into the factory floor. Most of the operations looked like generic steel work. However, he would be the first to admit that steel work, or any manual labour for that matter, was not his forte. But further down the line where more and more parts were being brought together and assembled, even he started recognising the familiar shapes that had featured in many a nightmare. Warren was appalled that his father had gone this far.

He watched the workers work tirelessly on the bodywork by large robotic welding arms and others assemble by hand the finer components of the Sentinels. It must have been obvious to them what they were making but they still made them with vigour. Had the opportunity for employment overridden any morals? Again, Warren had never felt the hardship of poverty to be in a position to judge anyone for sacrificing ethics for a pay check, and who knows, there's a good chance that a lot of these people would have volunteered for these duties.

There were others standing on the suspended grid floor in front of him as they walked over and high above the factory floor, discussing production progress and plans for expansion of this monster making machine. Warren could not hear them properly for the sound of the equipment drowned them out. They were looking over equipment drawings and plans and following the line from start to finish, indicating to the large doors at the other end of the room for the finished product. Warren followed to where they were indicating.

He leapt from the fire escape to fly up a few metres and glide silently to the other side of the building to another conveniently placed fire escape. He nearly fell back from the mesh covered window when he saw twenty-eight Sentinels staring right back at him. It was a reflex and a moment later he had realised that none of them were alive or active and relaxed as much as he could around them, his logical and educated brain fighting his 'flight' reflex. The lights were on in the room, illuminating them all for his terror. The light served a purpose to the men below who were carefully unloading briefcase type boxes of, what appeared to be, medical supplies from an ambulance. Four cases or trays each of ten carefully packed darts were being taken out one by one and loaded into thin slots on the forearms of the first Sentinel in the row. Twenty slots to each arm. Written on the side of each case were the letters 'LDX'. Warren remembered seeing the letters in his father's files but could not decipher what it was or what it was in reference to. But he did know that it was a collaboration project between his father and another well-known business man - Guy Spears.

It wasn't long before the sinister needles were all loaded and the men were closing the doors on the Ambulance to head away again. Warren had a decision to make - head to the Xavier Institute and tell them what he saw or follow this ambulance to find where this 'LDX' was coming from. Even as he thought about it he knew that that decision had long since been made. He stretched his wings and took off hovering a safe distance away from the ambulance as he followed it to its point of origin against the light of dawn.

oOo

Jubilee stood - almost frozen in place staring at the red headed woman. Her thoughts had brought her back to the campus in Rochester to when she was frozen in mid-air next to Gambit and scared for her life. But Gambit was the one to snap her out of her reverie.

"Jubilee!" He yelled across the room to the girl. She jumped and kicked into action - walking past Jean's bed to where Kitty and Forge were trying their best to treat her injuries and proceeded bringing fresh gauze and wound packing to where Remy and Tabitha and were working on Rogue.

The room was normally divided by curtains and screens but most had been foregone with for the immediate future. There were four beds in a row, the first and most critical patient at the door, which of course was Jean. She was unconscious and bleeding profusely from three distinct deep puncture marks in her side. Kitty was rushing to assist Forge's attempts to arrest the bleeding but they really needed Hank or the Professor. The next bed held Rogue, her skin and clothes slashed by claw marks all over - most were minor but some were pretty deep. Either way, none explained why she was still unconscious. Remy and Tabitha were treating the wounds well, prioritising the deepest. Jubilee was running between both with supplies as her medical knowledge was limited. Kurt was attending to Duncan Matthews, strapping him into the next bed and setting up the monitors - however there was little else he could do for him. Whatever Jean had done to him, only the Professor stood a chance at rectifying the matter. Laura was in the last bed, unconscious but otherwise unharmed. Sam was just finishing tying the buckle on the last restraint, of which there were many, on Laura. Given her unpredictable nature, it was decided that they could do without the added drama if she were to wake up and object.

Xavier wheeled into the room. There was no time to be shocked. He went straight to Jean's table knowing form everyone in the room where he was needed most. He hadn't carried out any surgical procedures for years and certainly never solo, but he was her best hope, even if he was a little rusty. Nonetheless, the table was lowered for access to her side as he gowned up roughly and put on a surgical mask. The curtain was pulled around them as he snapped on a pair of sterile nitrile gloves. He picked up the tools he would need without hesitation and uncovered the deep punctures in Jean's right side. He briefly paused to identify the cause of the three distinct puncture marks as Rogue's handiwork. As he started to explore the wounds, he sent out a psychic message to Kurt.

oOo

As they pulled into the driveway, the image of the helicopter sitting on the front lawn was their first clue that something had gone awry.

"Oh my stars and garters!" The Beast exclaimed; earning him a few questioning looks from the others in the van with him. "What?" He asked them.

Logan sped up the van and used a handbrake turn to pull it to a complete stop right next the chopper. With the speed of lightning, he got out of the van, the Beast, Ray and Jamie quick to follow. One sniff and he had the gist of the story: Jubilee and Kitty half scared to death, Laura's scent on a gurney and some kid that used to be Jean's boyfriend. Sam, Tabitha, Kurt and Gambit were in the chopper too but what stood out the most to his olfactory was the scent of blood from Jean and Rogue. Jean was probably still wounded but he was hoping that Rogue had given the healing factor a workout since.

"Rogue and Jean are hurt bad." He told the others the cliff notes version before turning sharply to head for the medical bay.

Bamf!

Kurt teleported directly in front of Hank and grabbed his arm.

"No time to explain!" Kurt shouted before teleporting the two of them away again.

Bamf!

The only effect that that had had on the three left behind in the smoke was to make them run faster.

oOo

Hank and Kurt appeared in front of the curtain concealing Jean, where he was immediately set upon by Sam and Jubilee gowning him to cover as much exposed fur as possible.

"Jean's been stabbed in her right side. The Professor is working on her but needs your help." Kitty filled in Mr. McCoy as quickly as her gift of speech would allow.

He was given no time to react before he went to operate alongside Xavier. He disappeared behind the curtain.

It wasn't long before Wolverine had made his way down, eyes darting between Rogue and Laura from the doorway. Laura had no physical injuries that he could tell, and she was unconscious. Rogue was also out but she was wounded. Her he could help.

He went to Rogue's right side immediately. Tabitha jumped out of his way, biting back a tempting comment about his state of shredded clothing without a mark on all that nice skin that was showing. She wasn't suicidal. Gambit stood across from him, leaning over Rogue, dressing the worst of the wounds having managed enough amateur stitches to stop the heavy bleeding. Logan looked at the damage and her pale, still face before looking up at Gambit.

"What the hell happened, bub?" He growled out in a disturbingly low and threatening tone.

"Jean lost it. Rogue took her on, 'n' dis was de result. None of us saw what happened." Gambit told him quickly, not giving Logan a minute of his attention away from Rogue.

"You left her to fight on her own-" Logan started before Gambit's head snapped up at the accusation.

"Hey! No one left her! She was callin' de shots!" Kurt approached the bed cautiously.

"Wolverine, she decided that she had enough power to stop Jean." Kurt informed him quietly and slowly in his thick Bavarian accent. Logan looked between the elf and the swamp rat; did they know of the extent of her abilities? A brief nod from each, confirmed it. They looked at Rogue before Kurt finished his thoughts. "Evidently, she was right."

A few moments silence extended between them as they each went over the possible scenarios in their heads, each forming theories as to how she managed to bring Jean down. Gambit had seen the wounds on Jean and had decided immediately that Rogue had used her claws to stab Jean at some stage during their fight. He picked up her left hand with his gloved ones and examined between her knuckles.

"What are you doing?" Logan snarled quickly.

"She must'a stabbed Jean at some point, de wound was on Jean's right, Ah'm looking for de puncture marks." Logan looked down at her other hand as Gambit sighed in frustration. "Dey must 'a' healed by now." He gently placed her hand back on the bed.

"No, swamp rat, they didn't." Logan raised her right hand to reveal the three puncture marks that had been dressed by Tabitha previously. Rogue had stabbed Jean's right side with her right hand, she stabbed her from behind.

"Why isn't she healing?" Kurt asked with a frown, bringing Gambit and Logan back from forming their theories and conclusions. Kurt turned to Logan for answers before Gambit proposed his own similar questions.

"She has your healing factor, but none o' her injuries have healed yet?" Remy asked the feral mutant before him, thinking he should have all the answers. But the way he posed the question, sent a bitter wave of accountability on Logan - like this was his fault.

"It's not as easy as it looks, Gumbo." He addressed Gambit's question first, quietly. "It requires focus to use a power. The healing factor's only ever been a problem if she's trying to use another power at the same time."

"I don't get it." Kurt chimed in slowly at first. "If she was close enough to Jean to," Kurt hesitiated on the next word, "'injure' her from behind, she should have been close enough to drain her. Why would she be trying to use another power?" They looked down at Rogue, forming brand new theories but none seemed to pan out.

As much as they looked at her for inspiration, they all couldn't take their eyes off her wounds. Logan didn't like seeing her this way, not when he could help it. He made a decision and Kurt and Gambit stood back to watch it happen.

Xavier came out from behind the curtain pulling it aside and wiping the sweat from his brow. He and Hank had isolated the major bleeders in Jean's abdomen. He was just in time to see Logan leaning forward to Rogue's bed to kiss her forehead.

"Logan, no!" Xavier shouted but it was too late.

Rogue's skin had activated naturally to drain Logan of his life-force and powers as like any skin contact before. But Xavier was right to worry. Logan stumbled back from the girl and from the drain, and was caught by more than one well-placed Jamie. Rogue's skin healed rapidly but her back arched and her face pained as did the faces of the other three patients in the ward alongside her. Three claws shot out from each of her hands.

Snikt! Snikt!

Everyone jumped back from the four beds, with a bit more distance for Rogue's, and watched them react to something interconnected to Rogue.

"No!" Rogue screamed out between gritted teeth as her eyes fluttered open through the frown but tried to silence everyone once more. Her eyes rolled back in her head and her muscles relaxed. Her still body fell back to the bed, the claws retracting once more.

Un-snikt! Un-snikt!

As she stilled, so did the bodies of Duncan, Laura and Jean. Everyone was left in a stunned silence.

BANG!

Everyone jumped at the sound of the doors bursting open from Alex and Scott entering the room.

"What's going on?" Scott demanded as Ororo entered behind them. Logan shrugged off the four Jamie's that were keeping him on his feet, having noticed the six bleeding wounds on Rogue's knuckles, and looked pointedly at Charles as he answered Cyclops.

"That's a real good question, Slim." He growled out as he recovered from more than just the drain.

End of Chapter 29

A.N. Well now, what on Earth is going on there?

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Just hafta wait and see! Hee hee!

So the last chapter, chapter 28 - what was so different?

No dialogue...

I was trying to find a way of creating an almost silent movie feel (but using writing so don't really know how that works) for the aftermath so I kinda took a 'nuff said' approach to that chapter to make things a bit more ominous after the big fight. (Although I think I cheated when Marrow was recounting the conversation between Spyke and Callisto) Still, I tried but I don't think 'nuff said' can truly survive outside the comic book world. But don't my word for it - maybe it can become an FF challenge?

Anyway, nice reviews on the last chapter and in general so far for the whole story! I'm loving them, they make me smile - and then people ask why I'm smiling and I tell them all about fanfiction, so really, reviewing is a win-win humanitarian act that benefits the whole world!

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Now if you read all that waffle then you must really like this story! c",) Thanks for reading!!!! RR