About an hour later, General Hawk was in a meeting with Duke and Beachhead. "So they found Catseye in that state? In Emma Frost's own town?"
"That's right General." Duke confirmed his mouth twisted downwards. "She'd been gone over pretty badly. The Doc and Lifeline are still checking her over now."
"Do you think Frost could've been behind this?" Hawk asked Beachhead.
"As loathe as I am to credit Frosty the Snow Bitch with anything even approaching human decency, I'm inclined to say no." He said finally. "Rahne is convinced that Emma really loves Catseye and would never do this to her. Besides, if Emma was going to do it I doubt she'd still be alive. To me, this sounds more like an attack on Emma."
"You think someone decided to send Frost a message by assaulting her daughter?" Hawk said in disgust. Beachhead nodded.
"Basically. That's the kind of crowd she runs in after all."
"Charming." Duke muttered. "Perhaps we better ask Catseye herself if there are any power struggles going on in the Hellfire Club."
Hawk's answer was cut off by Bree slamming his door open. "We've got a situation General," She said without preamble. "Catseye's tearing apart the infirmary she's not letting anyone get near her!"
"Damn." Hawk muttered as he got up. "I wish Dragonfly was still here. Get the Misfits down to the Infirmary. See if Rahne can talk her down."
"How do you expect her to talk down a girl who can turn into a tiger?" Beachhead demanded.
"Tiger?" Duke looked at Beachhead. "She turns into a panther!"
"I thought it was a lion." Bree said. "The mane makes it a little obvious."
"But she's a girl, only male lions have manes." Hawk pointed out. He shook his head. "Never mind! Just get someone down there before I lose my mind."
&&&
Within minutes, Rahne and the Misfits were watching Catseye as she tore apart her room. Inside tables and beds were overturned and a bedpan clattered against the window.
Doc and Lifeline stood panting outside the door, their white coats torn and scratched.
"Man she's really lost it." Todd observed as an IV bag splattered against the window.
"We couldn't even examine her!" Doc exclaimed. "As soon as she regained consciousness she transformed and started ripping everything to shreds—including us!"
"I think I can use my abilities to calm her down and get her to rest—" Lifeline said to Rahne, "But I need you to convince her to morph back to her human form in order to do it."
"Not going to be easy." Rahne noted. "Catseye looks pretty out of it. I think her feral side's in control here."
"Well if anyone can calm her down it's you. She trusts you." Althea reminded her. Rahne took a deep breath.
"Okay. Here I go."
"Good-luck." Althea said as she opened the door to let Rahne in. The other Misfits offered their support, except Pietro who commented that it was better her than him.
Rahne stepped inside and stopped short when Catseye looked at her and snarled. "Sharon, it's okay. It's me, Rahne remember? I'm your friend, your 'furfriend.' " Catseye just growled and began prowling around Rahne. Being able to turn into a predator herself, Rahne knew that wasn't a good sign.
"Sharon…" Rahne started again. "What happened to you? This isn't you: why are you letting your instincts take over. You're not a wild animal please…we just want to help you."
Catseye arched her back and growled and it was then that Rahne knew what she had to do. "Okay Sharon, I hate to do this but you've left me no choice." Rahne's body started to become covered with russet covered fur and fell forward as she turned into a wolf.
"This is going to be good." Pietro observed as Rahne arched her back and traded growls and snarls with Catseye.
"You're an idiot you tool." Wanda snapped at him. "Catseye's hurt and now two friends have to fight each other."
"Yeah…who's got the odds going on Rahney McBreastless beating Sharon daughter of the Bitch-Goddess?" Pietro asked.
"Speedy…" Tabby sighed as she casually dropped a few time bombs down his pants. "Why do you constantly say things that'll cause us to hurt you?"
"Oh mommy." Pietro whimpered just before the bombs went off.
Inside the infirmary room, Catseye swiped at Rahne. Rahne ducked at took a bite that clipped Catseye's ear. Howling her anger, Catseye smacked Rahne across the snout with her claws, raking her. Rahne yelped, but leapt on Catseye's back. The two twisted and bit and rolled around on the floor until Rahne shifted into her half-human, half-wolf form and grabbed Catseye's head and got her into a sleeper hold.
Rahne increased the pressure until Catseye started to calm down. With one last yowl of protest, she turned back to her human self. From out in the hallway, Althea felt herself stiffen in horror as she saw just how badly Catseye was hurt. Still naked, she was covered in bruises and lacerations.
Barely conscious, the tall girl—she was six feet tall—wrapped her arms around the much smaller Scottish girl and sobbed on her shoulder. Stunned, Rahne simply held her friend—carefully because of the bruises—and hugged her.
Doc and Lifeline hurried in. Lifeline draped a medical gown over Sharon and held her head, using his healing abilities to relax Sharon and also connect with her telepathically. His face fell and he looked horrified. As Doc and Rahne gently helped Sharon to her feet and half-carry, half-walk her to the nearest bed so she could rest.
Lifeline stumbled out into the hallway and held his head. Doc, Rahne, and the Misfits quickly followed.
"What's wrong?" Althea asked him. "Is Catseye going to be okay?" Lifeline's face looked blank.
"Catseye's not in any real danger, she'll be fine. Physically." He added under his breathe. He waved for Doc to follow him. Worried, Rahne did too. With her superior hearing she was able to hear every word they said.
"What is it son?" Doc asked Lifeline. Lifeline sighed.
"Her wounds are going to need a lot of attention. She was beaten pretty badly." Lifeline said then struggled to get the next words out. "After what I saw in Catseye's mind I think it'd be a good idea to make sure Bree is with her when she wakes up. And we may want to get Lina back to talk to her. And set up some sessions with Psych Out…" He took a deep breathe. "From what I saw…Catseye was raped."