Disturbed Slumber

Lifeline walked into the room where Pietro and Wanda were in. Pietro was unconscious and by now so was Wanda. "She's finally asleep?" He asked.

"Yeah," She nodded. "Poor thing. She looks so peaceful. You'd have never guessed she was capable of destroying a room."

"Considering her past history that's not so hard to understand why she reacted like that," Lifeline pointed out.

Bree sighed as she tucked Wanda in. "Well she loved her bubble bath. That really calmed her down."

"Bubble bath?" Lifeline raised an eyebrow.

"I used one of my favorite ones," Bree shrugged. "You know the one that smells like vanilla? Hey it always calms me down. I still feel a little guilty putting a sedative in her food."

"She needs to rest," Lifeline told her. "And it's nothing compared to what Magneto gave her."

Suddenly a low guttural moan came from Pietro. He started to thrash in his bed. "No…No…Father! Father!"

"Pietro!" Lifeline shook him gently. "Wake up son! Wake up!"

Pietro's eyes opened with a start. "Wh…Where?" He looked at Lifeline and instinctively flinched. He tried to back away, but then noticed his foot was held in place by some kind of traction. "What happened? Where am I?"

"Easy son," Lifeline told him. "Your leg was broken. You're in the Joe medical wing. It's all right. You're safe now."

"Yeah," Pietro frowned. "Stuck in an army lab, that's a strange definition of the word safe."

"It's not a lab," Bree told him. "It's the hospital wing."

"Whatever," Pietro groaned.

"It's the truth!" Bree frowned.

"Easy Bree," Lifeline said gently. "Bad dream?"

"Gee doc how did you ever guess?" Pietro snapped.

"Why you…" Bree snapped.

"Bree calm down," Lifeline told her. "He doesn't know any better. Besides it's just the fear talking."

"I'm not afraid of you!" Pietro snapped. "I…AAAGGGH!" He tried to sit up and move at his super speed, but it caused him agonizing pain.

"Easy now," Lifeline put his hands on his forehead and started to use his healing energy to calm him down. "You've been hurt pretty badly. Just calm down now."

"What are you doing to me?" Pietro blinked.

"I'm not a mutant, but I do have healing abilities," Lifeline patiently explained. "You need to rest. It's going to be a slow recovery, even with my abilities."

Pietro sat there in stunned silence, letting Lifeline focus his energy into his body. He felt calmer. He looked around and saw Wanda lying in her bed. "Wanda?"

"Is going to be fine," Bree explained. "We have to get the drugs out of your systems. That's why you're both here. She's just resting now."

"If you've hurt her…" Pietro's voice wavered.

"Kid we don't do those type of things!" Bree said, exasperated.

"Yeah right," Pietro said. "You expect me to believe that?"

"We saved your butts you ungrateful little…" Bree fumed.

"Bree! Stop that!" Lifeline told her. "He doesn't understand. It's going to take time before he trusts us."

At this Pietro scoffed. Lifeline looked at him. "Listen to me," Lifeline said gently. "I know you don't believe me yet, but I am going to tell you this anyway. I won't let anyone hurt you. I promise."

"I've heard that before," Pietro sulked.

Lifeline allowed more healing energy into Pietro's body. He didn't want Pietro's leg to completely heal yet because he knew the boy would bolt before all the drugs were out of his system. This would probably make him even more susceptible to a more serious injury. Still, he allowed his leg to slowly mend, just a little.

"My…my leg," Pietro winced, feeling it.

"Yes," Lifeline explained. "It's going to take time, but I can help heal your leg back to normal. You need to rest now."

"Don't wanna," Pietro muttered sleepily.

"You have to," Lifeline told him. "You want to get better don't you? That's a good boy."

Pietro closed his eyes, slumping into Lifeline's arms. "No. Don't wanna have another bad dream."

"Just go to sleep," Lifeline told him. "Forget the nightmares and rest now. There will be no pain. Just a safe, dreamless rest."

"Safe…" Pietro yawned and fell back to sleep.

"That's right," Lifeline yawned as he tucked the boy in. He released the flow of energy. "Sleep…." He wavered. He looked like he was going to pass out.

"Lifeline!" Bree caught him from falling to the floor.

"I'm all right," He said weakly. "I overexerted myself, what with Wanda and everyone else. Just need to rest."

"Come on," Bree helped him up. "You get some sleep. I'll watch over them. Okay?" She glanced at the sleeping twins. "It's gonna be a long night."

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

Lance shot up out of the bed, screaming. He sat there in the dark shaking, covered with sweat. Spirit burst into the room. "Are you all right?" He asked.

"Oh yeah fine," Lance snapped. "I always wake up in the middle of the night screaming my lungs out." He looked over again at Spirit. "Sorry…it's just…"

"Well it was a stupid question," Spirit said.

"I didn't mean it," Lance apologized. Idiot! Why are you apologizing to him for? What do you care what he thinks of you?

"Was it about Magneto?" Spirit asked.

Lance wasn't going to tell him but found himself nodding before he could stop himself. What's the matter with you Lance? Boy Magneto must have done a real job on you if you keep spilling your guts like this!

Spirit noticed the boy was confused, as if he was struggling with an inner turmoil. He remembered that Magneto had given Lance a drug that was designed to make a person obedient to the first person he saw. Of course, what Magneto did not count on was the effects of the other drugs he had put in Lance's body delaying the effect of the obedience drug. Therefore, the drug did not take full effect until much later, when Spirit had found him in the desert.

Still, even with the drug in full effect, Lance was fighting it, even if he had no idea that the obedience drug had worked at all. Spirit realized that he would have to choose his words carefully. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Y…N-no," Lance sputtered. "I don't. I don't."

"Lance listen to me," Spirit put his hand on his shoulder. "I know you are hurt and confused. Part of it is due to the fact that the drugs are still in your system. So if you feel a little…not quite like yourself that is why."

"No kidding!" Lance snapped. Don't talk to him like that!

Why shouldn't I speak to him like that? The thoughts conflicted inside his head. "What the hell do you care anyway? Afraid I'll bring the ceiling down? I've done that before!"

"No," Spirit sat down and shook his head. "I'm afraid that you will give into the drugs and be submissive."

"What?" Lance snapped. "Excuse me, but isn't the whole point of you army guys keeping me here is to keep me under control?"

"Not this way," Spirit told him. "I would prefer that you would obey because you'd want to. Not because you were forced to."

"Oh well that is rich!" Lance snapped. "Either you're lying through your teeth or you are completely nuts! Nobody's nice to somebody like me unless they want something!"

"Is that what you believe?" Spirit asked. "What kind of life have you lived? What makes you believe that?"

Suddenly a desire to tell Spirit his life story began to overwhelm him. Lance fought it back. "Forget it!" Lance snapped. "Forget I said anything!"

"Is that all you've ever known?" Spirit kept on asking. "Cruelty and pain? Have you never known kindness?"

"Shut up!" Lance shouted, shaking visibly.

Spirit kept going. "Is your life filled with such emptiness and longing that you would do anything, anything to stave away the pain? Even deny yourself?"

"Just… just stop it!" Lance fought back his pain. "Leave me alone!"

"That's all you know isn't it?" Spirit's voice said softly. "Being alone. That's why you love Kitty so much. Was she the only person in your life who ever accepted you? Even just a little."

"Stop it…stop it…" Tears were starting to leak from Lance's eyes. He fought them back.

Spirit sat down on the bed next to him. "Let me help you. I can give you the guidance you need. The acceptance you've been craving for. The strength to stand tall. I am willing to do this for you. I want to help you son."

That was it. The final blow. All his reserves were gone. He could have taken anything but that. That one kind word in his ear destroyed him completely. He screamed. "I'm nobody's son! I'm nothing…nothing…" He collapsed into Spirit's arms, sobbing.

He could hold it back no longer. Somehow it all came out. All the pain of his past rushed out of his lips like a torrent of rain. He couldn't stop himself. It was like a confession of the damned. He didn't know if he wanted forgiveness or damnation. He just wanted the pain to be over.

Spirit said nothing. Not a word. He simply held the boy as he sobbed, like a parent comforting a hurt child. It was hard, he knew. But it was necessary. The barriers needed to be broken down so he could be rebuilt again. It was the only way to make the boy whole. As the boy confessed his life story, Spirit became determined that he would do this. He would not allow the boy to be harmed again.

Lance didn't know how long he rambled on or when he lost consciousness. He just drifted off into exhaustion, still babbling. When he awoke it was late in the morning. He was alone in the bed, covered with a blanket. He instinctively pulled the covers closer to himself, not quite sure what had happened to him. He was still dressed so nothing too bad could have happened right?

A knock at the door stunned him. It was Spirit. There was a gentle look in his eyes. A look that reminded him of what had happened the night before. "Oh god…" Lance moaned as everything he had said came rushing back to him.

"Listen," Spirit told him. "What you told me last night stays right here. I won't tell anyone. I promise."

"Feel so stupid," Lance put his head into his hands.

"You shouldn't," Spirit sat down on the bed next to him. "You've been hurting for a long time. You needed to get it out of your system."

"And what? I'm supposed to feel better now?" Lance snapped. Instantly he regretted his tone of voice. "Sorry."

"No need," Spirit told him. "And no, I don't expect you to feel better. Not yet anyway."

Lance asked. "What are you gonna do with us? I mean, what's going to happen to us here?"

"You will not be harmed."

"What? No experiments? No drugs?" Lance didn't quite believe him.

"Not the kind you're thinking of," Spirit said.

"So what are you going to do to us?" Lance asked.

"Train you," Spirit told him. "Take care of you. Teach you the way of the warrior and make sure your powers are not misused or taken advantage of again."

"Like with Toad?"

"Yes. It will not be easy."

"Is anything easy?" Lance groaned. "Not that we have much of a choice. I mean where else are we gonna go?" He put his head into his hands again. He felt like he was going to cry again.

"You are lost," Spirit said softly. "I will guide you."

"Do you think I'm a complete and total screw up?" Lance asked softly.

"Well, I'd say you were confused, misguided and a bit too headstrong for your own good, but not a screw up," Spirit said honestly. "I want to help you Lance. You have more potential than you realize. And I'm not talking about the growth of your powers."

"What do you mean?" Lance blinked.

"Your abilities are merely a small part of you. They are not you."

"What does that mean exactly," Lance was starting to really feel lost again.

"You have the potential and the spirit to be a great warrior," He told him. "And that power is far greater than any mutant ability. What you need is someone who can bring that out of you."

"You'd help me?" Lance asked. "Just like that?"

"Yes."

"Why? I don't understand."

"I know you don't," Spirit sighed. "And that's the problem." He looked at Lance's confused eyes. "You have a lot to learn young one. A lot to learn."

Next chapter, Wanda wakes up! And we finally get to see the reunion of Todd and Althea! Yay!