The Bruised, the Battered, and the Broken

"This is gonna be great!" Todd hopped up and down excitedly on the bed. "We're going to be bunking together! Just like old times!"

"Yeah, great," Fred sighed as he sat on the bed. It was pushed next to Todd's bed close together, because there was not much space in the small room. Somehow they had found a pair of pajamas that fit him, but barely. He had been sent back to Todd's home almost immediately after being checked out by the medic when they returned to the base. He was then placed in Roadblock's custody.

"You and me and Roadblock makes three!" Todd sang out bouncing even higher. "It's like a dream come true!" He was obviously thrilled with the idea. "And tomorrow we get to go to ninja school together and I can see Althea and everything!"

"Yeah right," Fred sighed.

"Come on Freddy," Todd stopped bouncing and gave him a serious look. "What's wrong? Ain't you happy we're all together again?"

"Kinda," Fred shrugged.

Todd frowned and sat down next to him. "They ain't like Trask you know," He told him. "I know you was thinkin' about that. I mean, you ain't in no cage Freddy. Think about it."

"I…know," Fred shuddered at the memory. "But man Toad, don't these guys creep you out?"

"Well at first they did, yeah," Todd said. "I was scared, and alone. I wanted to curl up and die. I even did a stupid thing. I hurt myself pretty bad."

Fred looked at him in shock. Todd continued. "But Roadblock stuck with me. He took care of me and let me know that he cared about me. He's strict yeah, but he loves me and lets me know it. He don't even hit me when I screw up. Course they got other ways to punish you around here, like KP duty and stuff but like I said, he and the other Joes really care about me. I mean I know where you're coming from, Freddy. I didn't believe it at first either. I mean these guys are the army for crying out loud! I couldn't understand why they would bother helping me if not to be a weapon for them or something. But they did. I think it's mostly because they all saw a lot of bad stuff happen to other people in labs and stuff. Some really bad stuff happened and they didn't like what they saw. But whatever the reason, all they ever wanted was to help me and for me to do my best. That's the truth. It can be that way for you guys too if you let them."

"I dunno…" Fred fidgeted.

"Fred I know where you're coming from! Remember?" Todd told him, patting him on the back. "Maybe not every human's good, but these guys are different. They're the real deal. I've lived with these people. I've seen it for myself! I ain't lying to you."

"I…I know you ain't," Fred gulped. "But I can't stop thinking about that lab and those guards and what they said and did and almost did and…and…"

Todd put his head on Fred's shoulder. "Don't cry Freddy," Todd said softly. "You're safe here. I promise. And so are the other guys. That's why I'm not worried. They just need to rest a bit, and then they'll be good as new. Freddy, I wanna tell you something. I…when I remembered that lab I was in…long ago. I couldn't handle it. I went nuts. I just went off the freaking wall. I could have really hurt somebody as well as myself. If it wasn't for Roadblock and my friends…I don't know what I'd have done."

"I…I didn't know," Fred blinked back a tear. He hugged Todd gently. "Toad I'm sorry! I'm sorry I…"

"Hey forget about it will ya?" Todd told him. "Magneto's to blame, not you. I forgave you guys a long time ago. So as far as I'm concerned, it's best forgotten. Okay?"

"'Kay," Fred sniffed.

Roadblock knocked at the door lightly before coming in. "Is everything okay in here?" He asked.

"Yeah," Todd nodded. "Freddy's just a little nervous that's all."

"Toad!" Fred groaned. "You didn't have to tell him that!"

"It's okay," Roadblock smiled. "You haven't been here even a day. You've all been hurt pretty deep, but now it's time for you to sleep."

"Does he always talk like that?" Fred asked.

"Talk like what?" Todd looked at him. "Better do what he says or he'll kick our butt."

"Oh brother," Fred rolled his eyes. "I still don't understand why Lance couldn't be here with us or the others."

"Well in the first place, there wasn't enough room," Roadblock told him. "Besides they still need to de-tox themselves a bit."

"They won't hurt them will they?" Fred asked.

"No," Roadblock put his hand on his shoulder. "I promise."

"I still don't understand…"Fred said carefully. "A lot of stuff."

"Well, tomorrow hopefully the general will explain things to you," Roadblock said. "When the others are healed a bit."

"Yeah what's wrong with Lance?" Todd frowned. "Freddy said he was really hurting."

"Is it as bad as Pietro and Wanda?" Fred asked quietly.

"Maybe even worse," Roadblock sighed.

************************************************************************

Lance woke up in some kind of hospital. "He's coming to," A blonde nurse said.

"Where am I?" He looked around, dazed.

"You're in the GI Joe base hospital wing," The nurse told him. "How are you feeling?"

"Like someone hit me with a semi," Lance groaned.

"Well you seem okay," The nurse said. "The name's Bree. I'm the head nurse here. This is Lifeline."

"I remember you," Lance replied, dazed.

"He seems all right for now," Lifeline told her. "But I want to check on him just in case."

"I'll get him cleaned up," Bree nodded. "Can you walk?" She asked Lance. He nodded and got up. "Come on." She showed him to a separate examination room with a bathroom.

"You can take a shower in there," Bree told him, handing him some clothes and towels. "You can put these on when you're done. After that the doc will check you out. Okay?"

Lance shrugged. There seemed to be little point in arguing with her. He was just grateful that they were willing to allow him to clean himself in private. He went into the bathroom, closed the door and stripped. He turned on the water and was just about to go in when he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror.

He was thin. Thinner than he imagined himself to be. In fact, his ribs were just starting to show. Parts of his body were still sunburnt and sore from his ordeal in the desert. There were bags under his eyes. He had a gaunt look about him.

It made Lance shake just looking at him. He looked pitiful and pathetic. How could he have allowed himself to become this? He went into the shower and tried to scrub away his shame, but to no avail.

When he finished he dressed himself in the simple white T-shirt and boxers. He went into the room and simply sat down on the table, to await the inevitable. He knew what was going to happen to him, but he could not bring himself to fight back. There was no point. His entire life was gone. His beliefs and trust had been destroyed. Any hope of reuniting with the love of his life was gone. All that was left inside him was numbness.

Now he was a prisoner of the army, awaiting god only knew what kind of tortures they were going to do to him. He resolved not to protest or make any type of resistance. He would simply take it as if he was an unfeeling machine. He refused to give them the satisfaction of making them see him cry or grovel.

At least, that was the plan. The medic Lifeline walked in with a blond man wearing a strange green uniform. "Do you feel better?" Lifeline asked.

"Yeah," Lance shrugged, trying to remain noncommittal.

"Well considering what you've been through it's pretty amazing," The blonde man said. "You've been on your own quite a long time haven't you?"

"What's it to you?" Lance snapped.

The blonde man raised an eyebrow. "It's not working this time is it?"

"What are you talking about?" Lance snapped.

"The system," The man explained. "You know, you shout and scream and pretend you don't give a damn about anything. Act like a total jerk in order to hide the fact that you're scared stiff. I admit, the tough guy act does have it's advantages, but unfortunately the one big disadvantage is when that system goes to hell you have nothing to fall back on."

"You don't know…" Lance started to say.

"Nothin'," The blonde man finished. "You have no idea what I'm like, blah blah blah… Please. I know exactly what kind of person you are. Half the soldiers here are just like you. Or started out like you. So please do us both a favor and spare me the whole delinquent rebel without a cause crap because I've seen it a million times before and you know that it's not working this time. So why don't we just be honest with each other, shall we? You're smarter than that."

Lance sat there in shock. The blonde man continued. "You actually believe you deserve to be locked up don't you?"

"What are you?" Lance snapped. "Some kind of mind reader?"

"No," The man shook his head. "I'm just a very observant person. I can see the fear in your eyes."

Lance turned his head to the side, so that he could hide the tears escaping through his eyes. "Look why don't you just get it over with?" His voice was hoarse.

"Get what over with?"

"You know what," Lance snapped. "How stupid do you think I am? I don't care. I can take it. It can't be any worse than what Magneto did to me. Just get it over with." He shut his eyes tightly, willing himself not to shake.

The blond man looked at the medic. He then nodded. "As you wish," He said softly.

I will not cry…Lance thought to himself, as the medic looked him over. I will not cry…He forced himself to remain in control, willing his tears away. After the brief examination both men walked out of the room, leaving him alone.

After a few minutes, Spirit entered the room, carrying more clothes and shoes. "Put these on," He gave them to him.

"For me?" Lance blinked.

"Unless you want to walk around in your underwear?" Spirit said wryly.

Lance put them on and followed Spirit without question out of the room. He masked his fear with an indifferent smirk. He went into another room where there was Lifeline and the blonde man. There was also another man that Lance could tell was a general due to the star on his helmet.

Lance decided to take the initiative. "Okay, what's going on? Where's Freddy and Pietro and Wanda? I want some answers!"

"In a hurry isn't he?" The general raised an eyebrow. "I'm General Hawk. This is Psyche-Out our resident shrink and you already know Lifeline."

"Oh great," Lance folded his arms. "So that's what all that stuff was about back there. Some kind of stupid test right?"

"No," Psyche-Out said. "Just some stuff you needed to hear. Not that it's registered in your mind yet."

"Some kind of denial right?" Lance sneered.

"No you're just too stubborn for your own good," Psyche-Out shrugged as if he didn't care.

"Look are you going to tell me what's going on around here or are we just gonna play word games all night?" Lance snapped. "What's the deal with Toad? Why are we here? And what have you done with Blob and Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch?"

"Well as far as the first two I'll explain in more detail later," Hawk told him.

"You tell me now old man!" Lance snapped, the ground started to shake.

Hawk said nothing. He sighed and folded his arms. "Are you finished with the tough talk or are you going to have another tantrum?" He asked. "Kid that little incident with Asteroid M was a cakewalk compared to some of the stuff I've lived through. So a little thing like you shaking the ground or dropping a building on me isn't going to intimidate me. Of course that's not going to help your friends any, but if you really want to bring the place down, be my guest."

Lance powered down. "That's better," Hawk said. "The reason you are all here I would think would be pretty obvious. What, did you think we were just going to let all of you die out there on the ice?"

Lance looked away, uncomfortable. "Oh brother," Hawk groaned. "Look, Blob's with Toad tonight at his place. You can see them tomorrow. As for the others, well, we gotta detox 'em. Get those drugs out of them."

"Quicksilver needs to sleep for the night," Lifeline told him. "I've given him a mild sedative so that it won't interact with the drugs in his system. You can see him tomorrow. He should wake up by then."

"So that's it?" Lance asked. "Just wait until tomorrow to find out what you're going to do with us? Fine. What's one more night?"

"There's something you need to know," Lifeline sighed. "It's about the drugs Magneto gave you."

"Yeah," Lance said. "What about 'em?"

"I've done an analysis of what Magneto put into your system," Lifeline said. "Apparently he used different combinations of drugs in all of you. But what I found in your body…"

"Go on," Lance's face turned hard.

"It's a rare genetic enhancer called Exon. It's named after the part of DNA that actually contains genetic information. It's also highly dangerous."

"How dangerous?" Lance frowned.

"It has an unusual quality, once it enters a person's bloodstream it becomes permanently attached to his or her DNA. Which means your powers may be constantly evolving. Hence the attack you had. You may also have hallucinations from time to time."

"How long does this stuff last?" Lance asked.

"Years, maybe decades," Lifeline told him. "No one really knows how long they last."

"How often is it gonna happen?" Lance blinked.

"I don't know," Lifeline sighed. "It may be months or weeks until you get another attack. It varies from person to person."

Lance sat there, stone faced. "Okay," He said. "Let me guess, you're going to do more tests on me. Not that it's totally unexpected. When can I see Pietro and the others?"

"I want them to rest some more," Lifeline said. "They should be better in the morning. You can talk to them then."

"Maybe then we can find some answers around here," Lance grumbled.

Hawk said nothing. "Spirit why don't you take Avalanche here back to your quarters? We'll talk in the morning."

Lance blinked for a second, not believing what he had heard. Dazed he followed Spirit out of the room. "Well that was fun," Hawk sighed. "Rude, arrogant and totally without any regard for authority. He'll fit right in on this base."

"Actually for his personality that was subdued," Psyche-Out said. "Abnormally so."

"I think he's in shock that he's not going to spend the night in a jail cell," Hawk said.

"This is not going to be easy," Lifeline sighed as they left. "I don't think he really believes us about the drugs in his system."

"Would you if you were him?" Psyche-Out asked. "He's in shock and denial. The worst is yet to come. It won't hit him until he has another attack."

Suddenly the window on the door from across the room shattered. "What the…?" Hawk cried out. They ran into the room. Flint and Bree were dodging flying furniture and other various objects. Wanda was backed into a corner, screaming like a banshee.

"What's going on?" Hawk yelped.

"She woke up and started going nuts!" Flint told him.

"I don't think she likes being in the hospital wing," Bree said.

"NO!" Wanda screamed. "NOT AGAIN! NOT AGAIN!" The light bulbs exploded around the room.

Wanda shrieked then flung a hexbolt straight at them. Furniture flew about the room. They ducked for cover. "Wanda please!" Lifeline shouted. "We're not going to hurt you! We just want to help!"

"LIAR!" She screamed making the ceiling split apart.

"If we don't do something she's gonna tear this base apart!" Flint shouted. He rushed at her, but ended up flying backward thanks to a well-aimed hexbolt.

"Careful!" Lifeline shouted. "Don't hurt her!"

"Don't hurt her?" Flint shouted. "What about us?" He dodged a flying chair.

"Get Avalanche back here!" Hawk shouted. "Maybe he can help calm her down!" A Joe ran off to get him. "Kid's obviously terrified!"

"She's terrified?" Flint groaned, dodging more debris.

"I have an idea!" Lifeline said. "If I can get close enough to her, I can use my healing abilities to calm her down."

"It's worth a try," Psyche-Out said. "What we need is a distraction!"

"Wanda?" Lance ran in. "Geeze! She's going nuts!"

"I think we just got one!" Hawk said. "Tell her to knock it off, will ya?"

"What makes you think she'll listen to me?" Lance ducked a flying piece of glass. "She was locked up in a nuthouse for years by her old man. She hates hospitals! They freak her out!"

"Just talk to her," Lifeline said. "Keep her focused on you for a bit. Do it!"

"Okay," Lance gulped. He waved to her. "Wanda! Wanda knock it off will ya? It's me! Will you quit it?!"

Wanda screamed and swore as she threw hexbolts in his direction. "GEEZE WANDA WILL YOU CUT IT OUT BEFORE YOU KILL SOMEONE?" Lance shouted. "NAMELY ME!"

She screamed, throwing a hexbolt at him. Lance dodged it and used his powers to create a tremor, but Wanda simply threw the tremor right back at him. While this was happening, Lifeline was inching closer to her. Before she knew it, Lifeline grabbed her and put his glowing hands to her head.

"NOOOOO!" She screamed. A wild gust of wind and light surrounded them both. When it died down, they were both standing there in a trance. They were glowing, and their eyes were wide open, facing each other, but not seeing anything. Lifeline's hands were on each side of Wanda's head.

"What's going on?" Lance asked.

"I dunno," Hawk scratched his head. "Sometimes Lifeline can go into a person's head when he's using his abilities. Maybe he's talking to her."

"I hope he's talking to her," Psyche-Out sighed. "If she screwed up his powers…this could take a while."

Thirty minutes later they were still sitting around the room. Lance and Spirit were there as well. "It's been nearly half an hour," Lance said. "Maybe we should…" Lifeline and Wanda suddenly snapped out of their trance. Immediately, Wanda started bawling. She slumped against Lifeline's chest, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Shhhh," Lifeline held her. "Shhhh. It's alright Wanda. It's okay. You're safe now. That's a good girl. That's a good girl."

Wanda kept sobbing. "He locked me away," She cried. "I didn't mean to be bad. He just locked me away."

"I know," Lifeline held her, gently stroking her hair in order to comfort her.

"They wouldn't let me out," She cried. "I pleaded and I begged them to let me out, but they wouldn't let me out."

"Wanda I promise no one is going to hurt you," Lifeline told her.

"Are you going to lock me away too?" She whimpered.

"No," He said softly. "But you have to be a good girl now. Promise me that you'll control your temper. Okay?"

"I promise," She sniffed. "I'll be good."

"That's all I ask," Lifeline said. "Bree?"

Wanda flinched when Bree gently touched her shoulder. "It's all right," Lifeline said. "This is my wife Bree. She's a nurse here. She won't hurt you."

"Hello Wanda," Bree smiled. "You look like you need a nice warm bath and a hot meal. Would you like that?"

Wanda nodded feebly. "Are you…nice?" She asked nervously.

"I'd like to think so," Bree smiled. "I know you're scared honey, but I promise I only want to help you. Okay?"

Wanda fidgeted nervously. "Wanda remember those drugs Magneto gave you?" Lifeline asked. "We have to try to get them out of your body. That's why you're here. Do you understand?"

"A little," She said.

"We aren't going to do any experiments on you," Bree said. "We just want to help you. That's all. I promise, we'll take good care of you and your brother."

"Now I want you to be a good girl and let Bree take care of you," Lifeline said gently. "Understand?"

"Okay," Wanda blinked.

Wanda meekly allowed Bree to lead her away. Lifeline weakly slumped into a nearby chair. "What happened?" Hawk asked him.

"Let's just say I got locked into her mind and leave it at that," Lifeline sighed.

"I take it that it wasn't exactly a vacation spot," Flint said.

"No," Lifeline breathed.

"Avalanche you might as well go back now," Hawk sighed. "I think things are under control here."

"Yeah," Lance walked away with Spirit, puzzled.

"Look at this place," Flint looked at the trashed room. "That girl's power is amazing! And I thought Althea had a temper!"

"I've never seen such rage," Psyche-Out said. "And that's saying something after spending years in GI Joe!"

"Do you know why she got so angry in the first place?" Lifeline's face darkened. "The drugs Magneto gave her were hurting her. They made her confused and couldn't control anything. And then the monster abandoned her in that hospital where they ran tests on her all the time!"

"Was she…?" Psyche-Out asked gently.

"Molested? No," Lifeline sighed. "Thank God for small favors. She frightened the guards and the doctors too much for them to get near her without some kind of weapons. Still…" He shuddered. "Her mind is so tortured. It's filled with anger and pain."

"Quicksilver's isn't going to be that much better," Psyche-Out sighed. "Rejected by his father and nearly killed by him. Not exactly my idea of father-son interaction."

"They're all going to be like that," Hawk sighed. "Did you see the looks on their faces? In the army new recruits are broken down to their basic selves so they can be put back together tougher and stronger. But what happens when those recruits are already broken?"

"Hawk this is going to take time," Psyche-Out told him. "There's no quick fix for this. Some of these kids are worse off than Toad was. They need help, General. People who will take care of them and guide them. There's no one else to do it."

"Yeah," Hawk sighed. "It's up to us to clean up Magneto's mess."