Disclaimer: If I owned then, I'd be rich--but I'm not rich. Therefore, logic suggests that I don't own them.
False dawn had lightened the sky by the time Bobby and Rogue arrived at the Brotherhood house. Bobby was once again carrying Jamie, for Rogue had nearly fainted from exhaustion a little over halfway there from carrying him. Bobby himself was stretched to his limit, and managed to up the steps of the front porch before he collapsed, barely avoiding dropping Jamie.
Rogue banged on the door as hard as her fatigued state would allow, and soon a sleepy-eyed Toad answered the door.
"What's goin' on here, yo?" he asked. "Roguey? What are ya doing here? What's with the X-Geek?"
"Shut up, Toad. We need help. Jamie here's dyin. Somebody attacked the Institute, Ah dunno anythin else, but Bobby here does," she responded. "Now get everybody else up." Seeing Todd hesitate, she yelled "NOW, TOAD!"
The intimidation tactic worked, and he hopped off to get everyone else. Rogue turned to help Bobby carry Jamie inside, and between the two of them they managed to get him onto the living room sofa. Jamie moaned and moved a little, but didn't regain consciousness.
"Shh. It's goona be okay, Jamie, Ah promise," whispered Rogue as she touched his hair gently.
A clattering on the stairs and a light breeze announced the arrival of the rest of the Brotherhood.
"What's going on, Rogue?" asked Lance.
"Ah dunno, but Jamie's bleedin' and he needs help," she responded.
Wanda shoved past a barely-conscious Freddy and knelt down next to Jamie's broken body. She tried to pull the blanket off, but a lot of the blood had dried, attaching it firmly to his skin. "Crap," she muttered. "Lance, go get some CLEAN sheets and a pair of scissors...if you can find some hydrogen peroxide or something, bring that too. Pietro, go boil some water." The boys hurried to do her bidding, and she looked at Bobby and Rogue. "Ok, what happened to him? And--crap, you're bleeding too!" Wanda pointed at Bobby. His shirt was shredded across the front, and two gashes were visible on his chest and abdomen.
"Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. I was just so freaked out about Jamie and everything, I guess I just..." he trailed off under Wanda's firm glare.
"Sit." He sat. "Good. Now, take off your shirt," she ordered. He looked read to protest, and she glared again and said, "I have to see how bad it is, ok?" He assented, and slowly pulled his shirt off, trying not to scream from the pain.
Wanda's eyes widened, and Rogue inhaled sharply. The cuts were huge, and deep--stitches were a given. Rogue was amazed that Bobby had managed to carry Jamie for as long as he had. Wanda glanced at Rogue, and scowled. Rogue looked down, wondering what Wanda was glaring at, and quickly realized what it was. Rogue was still wearing a t-shirt and baggy shorts, no gloves, nothing protecting her arms and legs.
"Go up to my room and change; use whatever of mine that works, but just go." Wanda said. Rogue nodded mutely and fled up the stairs.
Lance and Pietro returned (Lance had had a difficult time finding a clean sheet) and set the items next to Wanda. She looked them over and nodded. "Ok, I need you two to get more water now, room temperature, and then use it to wet the blanket on the kid--Jamie?--so you can get it off without ripping everything open." They exited in search of a large pot to fill with water, and Wanda turned to Bobby.
"What exactly happened?" she asked.
"Yeah, what did happen?" echoed Rogue as she came down the stairs, wearing a pair of pants and Wanda's trench coat over a t-shirt.
"Oh, man." Bobby sighed. "It all happened so fast, but here's what I remember."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The door to my room burst open, and I sat up at the sudden noise. Two figures in black entered; one headed for Sam's bed, the other approached mine. Slowly, the one near me pulled out a set of long knives and I knew he meant to kill me. The other figure exited, having finished his task quickly, and I panicked. I flung my blanket over the head of the man and charged him. My head caught him in the chest and he went down.
He got up quickly and lunged at me. I dodged, but not quickly enough, and one of the blades slashed my chest. I swept my leg under him, trying to dump him on the floor, but he jumped over it and slashed at me again. I caught his arm, though, and tried to twist it back far enough for him to drop the knife. Unfortunately, I was using both hands, and he was only using one. He used his free hand and stabbed me again, and shoved me to the floor. Then he ran out of the room.
I don't know how long I lay there, but I guess they thought I was dead, because they didn't come back. Eventually, I got up and staggered over to Sam's bed, and checked for a pulse. There wasn't one, and the finality of it hit me hard. He was a heavy sleeper; he hadn't stood a chance.
I made my way out of the room somehow and stumbled into the one across the hall--Jamie's room. I went in thinking he was dead, but he whimpered and I knew there was still a chance. I wrapped him in a blanket and picked him up. I hurried as quickly as I could to the utility stairs at the end of the hall, thinking that if the people came back, they wouldn't use this staircase. I pushed open the door, and the hinges groaned loudly. I swore at the noise, fearful they would hear, and sure enough, they did.
Several figures ran towards me and the door, which I closed as quickly as I could. As soon as it was fully closed, I iced it over, thick enough to hold them for awhile. I ran down the stairs, trying my best not to drop Jamie, and soon came out in the corridor leading to Hank's offices and the medlab.
'Rogue!' I thought. 'They probably haven't gotten here yet! She can help me get out!' I hurried into the medlab and into her room when I heard someone scream--one of the girls. I nearly gave up--the strangers were everywhere, and we were bound to be killed. But Jamie whimpered again, and my resolve came back.
Somehow, Rogue agreed to get me and Jamie out, and did, without getting caught. We followed a secret tunnel and when we came out, hurried to the Brotherhood house as fast as we could.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"That's all I remember," Bobby said. "I just wish that..."
"Yeah. I know," Wanda replied softly.
By this time, the boys had managed to remove the blanket without reopening many wounds. Wanda asked Lance to clean Bobby up, since he was the less injured. She ripped off a section of one of the sheets, and poured cleaning alcohol on it. Swiftly yet gently, she washed the dried blood off Jamie's body, and soon the full extent of his injuries were visible.
Wanda nearly fainted at their severity. She swallowed, and looked at Pietro. "You're the fastest, find Agatha Harkness and get her over here NOW!" He nodded and ran off. At Rogue and Bobby's questioning looks, she said, "She's a sorceress, and the only one I know who could fix that..." she nodded towards Jamie and her voice trailed off.
Rogue and Bobby looked anxiously at each other. If Pietro didn't bring that woman soon, Jamie was bound to die.
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A/N: *evil laugh* so just how badly is Jamie hurt? Who WERE those strange figures? Why were they there? Stay tuned to find out!
False dawn had lightened the sky by the time Bobby and Rogue arrived at the Brotherhood house. Bobby was once again carrying Jamie, for Rogue had nearly fainted from exhaustion a little over halfway there from carrying him. Bobby himself was stretched to his limit, and managed to up the steps of the front porch before he collapsed, barely avoiding dropping Jamie.
Rogue banged on the door as hard as her fatigued state would allow, and soon a sleepy-eyed Toad answered the door.
"What's goin' on here, yo?" he asked. "Roguey? What are ya doing here? What's with the X-Geek?"
"Shut up, Toad. We need help. Jamie here's dyin. Somebody attacked the Institute, Ah dunno anythin else, but Bobby here does," she responded. "Now get everybody else up." Seeing Todd hesitate, she yelled "NOW, TOAD!"
The intimidation tactic worked, and he hopped off to get everyone else. Rogue turned to help Bobby carry Jamie inside, and between the two of them they managed to get him onto the living room sofa. Jamie moaned and moved a little, but didn't regain consciousness.
"Shh. It's goona be okay, Jamie, Ah promise," whispered Rogue as she touched his hair gently.
A clattering on the stairs and a light breeze announced the arrival of the rest of the Brotherhood.
"What's going on, Rogue?" asked Lance.
"Ah dunno, but Jamie's bleedin' and he needs help," she responded.
Wanda shoved past a barely-conscious Freddy and knelt down next to Jamie's broken body. She tried to pull the blanket off, but a lot of the blood had dried, attaching it firmly to his skin. "Crap," she muttered. "Lance, go get some CLEAN sheets and a pair of scissors...if you can find some hydrogen peroxide or something, bring that too. Pietro, go boil some water." The boys hurried to do her bidding, and she looked at Bobby and Rogue. "Ok, what happened to him? And--crap, you're bleeding too!" Wanda pointed at Bobby. His shirt was shredded across the front, and two gashes were visible on his chest and abdomen.
"Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. I was just so freaked out about Jamie and everything, I guess I just..." he trailed off under Wanda's firm glare.
"Sit." He sat. "Good. Now, take off your shirt," she ordered. He looked read to protest, and she glared again and said, "I have to see how bad it is, ok?" He assented, and slowly pulled his shirt off, trying not to scream from the pain.
Wanda's eyes widened, and Rogue inhaled sharply. The cuts were huge, and deep--stitches were a given. Rogue was amazed that Bobby had managed to carry Jamie for as long as he had. Wanda glanced at Rogue, and scowled. Rogue looked down, wondering what Wanda was glaring at, and quickly realized what it was. Rogue was still wearing a t-shirt and baggy shorts, no gloves, nothing protecting her arms and legs.
"Go up to my room and change; use whatever of mine that works, but just go." Wanda said. Rogue nodded mutely and fled up the stairs.
Lance and Pietro returned (Lance had had a difficult time finding a clean sheet) and set the items next to Wanda. She looked them over and nodded. "Ok, I need you two to get more water now, room temperature, and then use it to wet the blanket on the kid--Jamie?--so you can get it off without ripping everything open." They exited in search of a large pot to fill with water, and Wanda turned to Bobby.
"What exactly happened?" she asked.
"Yeah, what did happen?" echoed Rogue as she came down the stairs, wearing a pair of pants and Wanda's trench coat over a t-shirt.
"Oh, man." Bobby sighed. "It all happened so fast, but here's what I remember."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The door to my room burst open, and I sat up at the sudden noise. Two figures in black entered; one headed for Sam's bed, the other approached mine. Slowly, the one near me pulled out a set of long knives and I knew he meant to kill me. The other figure exited, having finished his task quickly, and I panicked. I flung my blanket over the head of the man and charged him. My head caught him in the chest and he went down.
He got up quickly and lunged at me. I dodged, but not quickly enough, and one of the blades slashed my chest. I swept my leg under him, trying to dump him on the floor, but he jumped over it and slashed at me again. I caught his arm, though, and tried to twist it back far enough for him to drop the knife. Unfortunately, I was using both hands, and he was only using one. He used his free hand and stabbed me again, and shoved me to the floor. Then he ran out of the room.
I don't know how long I lay there, but I guess they thought I was dead, because they didn't come back. Eventually, I got up and staggered over to Sam's bed, and checked for a pulse. There wasn't one, and the finality of it hit me hard. He was a heavy sleeper; he hadn't stood a chance.
I made my way out of the room somehow and stumbled into the one across the hall--Jamie's room. I went in thinking he was dead, but he whimpered and I knew there was still a chance. I wrapped him in a blanket and picked him up. I hurried as quickly as I could to the utility stairs at the end of the hall, thinking that if the people came back, they wouldn't use this staircase. I pushed open the door, and the hinges groaned loudly. I swore at the noise, fearful they would hear, and sure enough, they did.
Several figures ran towards me and the door, which I closed as quickly as I could. As soon as it was fully closed, I iced it over, thick enough to hold them for awhile. I ran down the stairs, trying my best not to drop Jamie, and soon came out in the corridor leading to Hank's offices and the medlab.
'Rogue!' I thought. 'They probably haven't gotten here yet! She can help me get out!' I hurried into the medlab and into her room when I heard someone scream--one of the girls. I nearly gave up--the strangers were everywhere, and we were bound to be killed. But Jamie whimpered again, and my resolve came back.
Somehow, Rogue agreed to get me and Jamie out, and did, without getting caught. We followed a secret tunnel and when we came out, hurried to the Brotherhood house as fast as we could.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"That's all I remember," Bobby said. "I just wish that..."
"Yeah. I know," Wanda replied softly.
By this time, the boys had managed to remove the blanket without reopening many wounds. Wanda asked Lance to clean Bobby up, since he was the less injured. She ripped off a section of one of the sheets, and poured cleaning alcohol on it. Swiftly yet gently, she washed the dried blood off Jamie's body, and soon the full extent of his injuries were visible.
Wanda nearly fainted at their severity. She swallowed, and looked at Pietro. "You're the fastest, find Agatha Harkness and get her over here NOW!" He nodded and ran off. At Rogue and Bobby's questioning looks, she said, "She's a sorceress, and the only one I know who could fix that..." she nodded towards Jamie and her voice trailed off.
Rogue and Bobby looked anxiously at each other. If Pietro didn't bring that woman soon, Jamie was bound to die.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: *evil laugh* so just how badly is Jamie hurt? Who WERE those strange figures? Why were they there? Stay tuned to find out!
