Disclaimer: The X-Men don't belong to me nor do the songs or movies or things of the like.
~ Part One ~
Logan stood in the war room arguing with Xavier about a new recruit. He really didn't want to go take care of this problem. It wasn't his to take care of. "I don't think I'm the one to do this!"
"Who is there better than you to do this, Logan? Besides there isn't anyone else; Scott's too far into his own pain and Storm is with her sister."
Logan nodded with understanding. "All right, Charles, but you can't say that I didn't warn you."
"I'll keep that in mind, old friend."
~ ~ ~
Standing in an open field near the place she lived, Michelle stared into the face of the mutant that had been arrested for the attack on the Statue of Liberty. "What do you want from me?"
The man shook his head. "I want nothing from you; it's your gifts that I desire. Are you going to cooperate with me or do I have to sedate you?"
The ground shook and a plane hovered not far from them. Over the soft sound of the jet's engine, they could hear, "I wouldn't try it, Magneto!"
"How nice it is to see you again, Wolverine. Shall we dance this time?"
The man stood just inside of the plane. He watched the mutant as long knives came from between his fingers. "Don't flatter yourself. Get on the plane, Kid."
She stared at him. "Are you the one from the institute?"
"That's right. Get on. There's a limit to what I can do."
The beautiful blonde jumped the few feet to the steps of the plane and climbed them slowly. "What about him?"
"He won't mess with the plane as long as you're on it. Buckle up!"
After they were several miles away, Logan looked over at the woman he'd just picked up for the professor. He hadn't said she was a grown woman, only that she needed the help and teaching of the X-Men. He'd assumed that she was a teenager as all of them had been. "The name's Logan."
"Mickey . . . Michelle. Everyone just calls me Mickey."
"Gotcha. Did Magneto tell you why he was after you?"
"My gifts."
"Which are?"
She studied him. "Are you always so talkative?"
"Nope. But I have to wonder why Xavier sent me against Magneto knowing I could lose."
"I have the power to heal; to literally take someone's pain or illness and make it my own. My body usually heals from it in a matter of days. It hasn't left this time."
"Elaborate."
She scoffed. "I cough it up like flower petals that melt away leaving a beautiful scent. It leaves me, but it won't this time. I've taken death from people, and the simple disease of diabetes won't leave me. My pancreas is failing. Is that clear enough?"
Logan glanced at her. "Yes."
~ ~ ~
Upon their return to the mansion, Logan left Mickey with a former student of Xavier's who was running the infirmary now that Jean was gone. He needed to talk with Xavier and he needed to do it now. "All right, Chuck, let's hear it."
"So you're back. Is she all right?"
"Fine. Why me? You could have sent Cyclops or Storm against Magneto."
"Storm is with her sister and Cyclops is - she grew up with Scott. Eventually I will let him know she's here, but for the time it's to remain a secret."
Logan stared at the old man in the wheel chair. "You're keeping her locked away until you feel comfortable with her?"
"I'm afraid this is the only choice we have, Logan. She needs to remain a secret. People could do to her as they did Storm. Worshipping her would do too much damage to her mind, it's too fragile at this point in her life."
"Why are you so afraid of people worshipping her?"
Charles Xavier released a deep breath. "Logan, this world has been around for a long time. Recently I've felt a need to read the Bible. Don't give me that look either. I may still follow through with my threat, if you refuse to take those smelly cigars outside."
Logan arched a brow. He'd forgotten that he had a cigar in his mouth. He looked around the room and seeing no place to put it out used his palm. His look was only slightly altered as the hotbox burned through his skin. The smell was worse than the pain, but both quickly faded.
Xavier's look was less than thrilled as he watched the wild man. "The Bible talks about a second coming of Christ. I believe some might think she's Christ reincarnated."
Logan stared at him incredulously. "You're kidding right, Chuck? Christ reincarnated? A woman as Christ reincarnated?"
"I never said that I believed that she was. I do however fear that some people might think so. Never before has a mutant been able to heal another. I want to protect her from that possibility."
"There's something you ain't telling me, Chuck; what is it? What does she mean to you?"
Xavier looked at Logan studying the man unsure of what he could tell him. "Her father and I served in the military together many years ago. She doesn't know that I knew him, only that I'm here for her now."
"Ah. Now it makes sense, you promised her father you'd take care of his family if anything happened to him. I'll keep my eyes peeled, Chuck."
"Thank you, Logan." Xavier watched then as Logan left the room. There was so much he wanted to tell his team, but he had to be very careful. He missed the girl he'd grown to love as a daughter, and maybe his thoughts were too quickly answered, when he wanted to start over. He could never replace Jean, but at least for now having Mickey around it would be as though he did have a family again.
~ ~ ~
Mickey lay in her hospital bed while a Dr. Henry McCoy ran some tests on her. "What is it, Doctor?"
"I only see an amazingly healthy body with no explanations of why your pancreas has almost stopped working. This is incredible. I've only seen organs this healthy on Logan."
She sat up slightly. "You're not telling me much that I don't already know. What I do need to know is what you can do to make it start working again."
Hank turned to look at her. He studied the blond. "I can replace your pancreas with a false one. It's still a new procedure, and has never been tried on a mutant. I don't know if it will work. If it doesn't, you have nothing there and it'll only speed up your death."
"What else?"
"I'd like to try dialysis."
"No."
Hank stared at her. "No?"
"I refuse to spend the rest of my life throwing up every day. I also refuse chemo. What else have you got up your sleeve, Doc?"
"Nothing."
"Then I can get out of here?"
"Yes. Do you know how to give yourself insulin shots? Do you understand all of that?"
Mickey sat straight up. "Yes. I understand all of that fun stuff. Thank you though. I appreciate what you've tried to do for me."
"It's what I'm here for. It's why I went to medical school."
"How are you feeling, Mickey?"
She looked up to see Xavier in the door way. "Just peachy keen, Charles."
Charles studied her carefully as though she carried a well kept secret only he could uncover. "You won't even consider some form of chemotherapy to help your health?"
"I'm sorry but I won't. What's the point? Ask Dr. McCoy, my pancreas has all but stopped and for no reason. Every other organ in my body is very healthy."
"At least let us see what we can find. There may be a treatment we haven't heard of."
Her look softened. "All right."
"You must stay well rested. We'll set things up for you here. You should be comfortable."
"I'm sure I will be."
~ ~ ~
Logan lay in his bed listening to the sounds of the mansion. There were people crying in different rooms. He recognized one to be Scott's, and one to be Rogue's he couldn't place the others. He'd cried himself when he knew that Jean was gone. It seemed so strange, but even more as he now lay there unable to get this woman off his mind. His feelings for Jean seemed forgotten as though they had never meant anything. He had struggled for so long on letting go, on fighting to keep her. It was so hard to choose. When she made the choice he thought he'd heard his heart shatter.
What had this place done to him? And why did he have to listen to Scott cry every night? He'd loved Jean. He wanted her. Why did she have to die? He could live knowing that she was with another man as long as she was alive and happy. There had to have been another way to get out of there.
~ ~ ~
Scott lay in the bed he shared with Jean curled into a fetal position, hugging the teddy bear he'd won her on their first date. Tears rolled down his face. He couldn't spend the rest of his life without her. Not without the one woman he had loved. Jean had been so much more than his fiancée`. He'd loved her as long as he'd been alive. She had been the only woman he loved, the only woman he'd gotten close enough to.
"Why did you do it, Jean? Why did you have to die?"
The tears came harder as he lay there. Her scent still lingered on her pillow, and her memory haunted the room. There were memories and trinkets of her everywhere his eyes fell, as he looked around the room through blurred vision. Dragging himself out of bed in the morning was now a task he fought to do. There wasn't a reason to get up, nothing to look forward to. The mansion and the students had always been a reason, but none of it mattered now. Jean was gone and he had no future.
There was one comforting thought in everything that had happened. Jean had chosen him over Logan. She had made the choice that Logan wasn't going to get anywhere. Comforting it was in the smallest sense. She'd chosen him, but she was gone, she had died for them. "I would have died for you, Jean," he sobbed. "Even if it meant you spending the rest of your life in Logan's arms; I would die for you; for you to be here again."
There came a knock on the door. "Cyclops."
"Go away, Logan."
The door opened. The palest light from the nightlight in the hall filtered in. "I'm going. I just thought you might want this." He set a glass on the dresser near the door and walked out shutting the door behind him.
Scott groaned and stood as his tears refused to stop. The glass he picked up smelled of alcohol. He lifted it to his lips and took a swallow. The strong liquid burned as it went down, not even numbing the pain in the slightest. He finished it off and returned to his bed. He had to sleep tonight. He simply had to; maybe tomorrow he'd feel better. Maybe then he'd be able to get up and go. He had to go see her parents; he couldn't bring himself to go to them yet.
~ Part One ~
Logan stood in the war room arguing with Xavier about a new recruit. He really didn't want to go take care of this problem. It wasn't his to take care of. "I don't think I'm the one to do this!"
"Who is there better than you to do this, Logan? Besides there isn't anyone else; Scott's too far into his own pain and Storm is with her sister."
Logan nodded with understanding. "All right, Charles, but you can't say that I didn't warn you."
"I'll keep that in mind, old friend."
~ ~ ~
Standing in an open field near the place she lived, Michelle stared into the face of the mutant that had been arrested for the attack on the Statue of Liberty. "What do you want from me?"
The man shook his head. "I want nothing from you; it's your gifts that I desire. Are you going to cooperate with me or do I have to sedate you?"
The ground shook and a plane hovered not far from them. Over the soft sound of the jet's engine, they could hear, "I wouldn't try it, Magneto!"
"How nice it is to see you again, Wolverine. Shall we dance this time?"
The man stood just inside of the plane. He watched the mutant as long knives came from between his fingers. "Don't flatter yourself. Get on the plane, Kid."
She stared at him. "Are you the one from the institute?"
"That's right. Get on. There's a limit to what I can do."
The beautiful blonde jumped the few feet to the steps of the plane and climbed them slowly. "What about him?"
"He won't mess with the plane as long as you're on it. Buckle up!"
After they were several miles away, Logan looked over at the woman he'd just picked up for the professor. He hadn't said she was a grown woman, only that she needed the help and teaching of the X-Men. He'd assumed that she was a teenager as all of them had been. "The name's Logan."
"Mickey . . . Michelle. Everyone just calls me Mickey."
"Gotcha. Did Magneto tell you why he was after you?"
"My gifts."
"Which are?"
She studied him. "Are you always so talkative?"
"Nope. But I have to wonder why Xavier sent me against Magneto knowing I could lose."
"I have the power to heal; to literally take someone's pain or illness and make it my own. My body usually heals from it in a matter of days. It hasn't left this time."
"Elaborate."
She scoffed. "I cough it up like flower petals that melt away leaving a beautiful scent. It leaves me, but it won't this time. I've taken death from people, and the simple disease of diabetes won't leave me. My pancreas is failing. Is that clear enough?"
Logan glanced at her. "Yes."
~ ~ ~
Upon their return to the mansion, Logan left Mickey with a former student of Xavier's who was running the infirmary now that Jean was gone. He needed to talk with Xavier and he needed to do it now. "All right, Chuck, let's hear it."
"So you're back. Is she all right?"
"Fine. Why me? You could have sent Cyclops or Storm against Magneto."
"Storm is with her sister and Cyclops is - she grew up with Scott. Eventually I will let him know she's here, but for the time it's to remain a secret."
Logan stared at the old man in the wheel chair. "You're keeping her locked away until you feel comfortable with her?"
"I'm afraid this is the only choice we have, Logan. She needs to remain a secret. People could do to her as they did Storm. Worshipping her would do too much damage to her mind, it's too fragile at this point in her life."
"Why are you so afraid of people worshipping her?"
Charles Xavier released a deep breath. "Logan, this world has been around for a long time. Recently I've felt a need to read the Bible. Don't give me that look either. I may still follow through with my threat, if you refuse to take those smelly cigars outside."
Logan arched a brow. He'd forgotten that he had a cigar in his mouth. He looked around the room and seeing no place to put it out used his palm. His look was only slightly altered as the hotbox burned through his skin. The smell was worse than the pain, but both quickly faded.
Xavier's look was less than thrilled as he watched the wild man. "The Bible talks about a second coming of Christ. I believe some might think she's Christ reincarnated."
Logan stared at him incredulously. "You're kidding right, Chuck? Christ reincarnated? A woman as Christ reincarnated?"
"I never said that I believed that she was. I do however fear that some people might think so. Never before has a mutant been able to heal another. I want to protect her from that possibility."
"There's something you ain't telling me, Chuck; what is it? What does she mean to you?"
Xavier looked at Logan studying the man unsure of what he could tell him. "Her father and I served in the military together many years ago. She doesn't know that I knew him, only that I'm here for her now."
"Ah. Now it makes sense, you promised her father you'd take care of his family if anything happened to him. I'll keep my eyes peeled, Chuck."
"Thank you, Logan." Xavier watched then as Logan left the room. There was so much he wanted to tell his team, but he had to be very careful. He missed the girl he'd grown to love as a daughter, and maybe his thoughts were too quickly answered, when he wanted to start over. He could never replace Jean, but at least for now having Mickey around it would be as though he did have a family again.
~ ~ ~
Mickey lay in her hospital bed while a Dr. Henry McCoy ran some tests on her. "What is it, Doctor?"
"I only see an amazingly healthy body with no explanations of why your pancreas has almost stopped working. This is incredible. I've only seen organs this healthy on Logan."
She sat up slightly. "You're not telling me much that I don't already know. What I do need to know is what you can do to make it start working again."
Hank turned to look at her. He studied the blond. "I can replace your pancreas with a false one. It's still a new procedure, and has never been tried on a mutant. I don't know if it will work. If it doesn't, you have nothing there and it'll only speed up your death."
"What else?"
"I'd like to try dialysis."
"No."
Hank stared at her. "No?"
"I refuse to spend the rest of my life throwing up every day. I also refuse chemo. What else have you got up your sleeve, Doc?"
"Nothing."
"Then I can get out of here?"
"Yes. Do you know how to give yourself insulin shots? Do you understand all of that?"
Mickey sat straight up. "Yes. I understand all of that fun stuff. Thank you though. I appreciate what you've tried to do for me."
"It's what I'm here for. It's why I went to medical school."
"How are you feeling, Mickey?"
She looked up to see Xavier in the door way. "Just peachy keen, Charles."
Charles studied her carefully as though she carried a well kept secret only he could uncover. "You won't even consider some form of chemotherapy to help your health?"
"I'm sorry but I won't. What's the point? Ask Dr. McCoy, my pancreas has all but stopped and for no reason. Every other organ in my body is very healthy."
"At least let us see what we can find. There may be a treatment we haven't heard of."
Her look softened. "All right."
"You must stay well rested. We'll set things up for you here. You should be comfortable."
"I'm sure I will be."
~ ~ ~
Logan lay in his bed listening to the sounds of the mansion. There were people crying in different rooms. He recognized one to be Scott's, and one to be Rogue's he couldn't place the others. He'd cried himself when he knew that Jean was gone. It seemed so strange, but even more as he now lay there unable to get this woman off his mind. His feelings for Jean seemed forgotten as though they had never meant anything. He had struggled for so long on letting go, on fighting to keep her. It was so hard to choose. When she made the choice he thought he'd heard his heart shatter.
What had this place done to him? And why did he have to listen to Scott cry every night? He'd loved Jean. He wanted her. Why did she have to die? He could live knowing that she was with another man as long as she was alive and happy. There had to have been another way to get out of there.
~ ~ ~
Scott lay in the bed he shared with Jean curled into a fetal position, hugging the teddy bear he'd won her on their first date. Tears rolled down his face. He couldn't spend the rest of his life without her. Not without the one woman he had loved. Jean had been so much more than his fiancée`. He'd loved her as long as he'd been alive. She had been the only woman he loved, the only woman he'd gotten close enough to.
"Why did you do it, Jean? Why did you have to die?"
The tears came harder as he lay there. Her scent still lingered on her pillow, and her memory haunted the room. There were memories and trinkets of her everywhere his eyes fell, as he looked around the room through blurred vision. Dragging himself out of bed in the morning was now a task he fought to do. There wasn't a reason to get up, nothing to look forward to. The mansion and the students had always been a reason, but none of it mattered now. Jean was gone and he had no future.
There was one comforting thought in everything that had happened. Jean had chosen him over Logan. She had made the choice that Logan wasn't going to get anywhere. Comforting it was in the smallest sense. She'd chosen him, but she was gone, she had died for them. "I would have died for you, Jean," he sobbed. "Even if it meant you spending the rest of your life in Logan's arms; I would die for you; for you to be here again."
There came a knock on the door. "Cyclops."
"Go away, Logan."
The door opened. The palest light from the nightlight in the hall filtered in. "I'm going. I just thought you might want this." He set a glass on the dresser near the door and walked out shutting the door behind him.
Scott groaned and stood as his tears refused to stop. The glass he picked up smelled of alcohol. He lifted it to his lips and took a swallow. The strong liquid burned as it went down, not even numbing the pain in the slightest. He finished it off and returned to his bed. He had to sleep tonight. He simply had to; maybe tomorrow he'd feel better. Maybe then he'd be able to get up and go. He had to go see her parents; he couldn't bring himself to go to them yet.