Hank McCoy looked up, smiling, as his newly made female companion walked through the Infirmary door, with a tray topped with a bowl of soup, and a cup of coffee in her hands. He was still recovering from the massive injuries he had suffered from Vargas; unfortunately, he had suffered blows that had been more harsh on him, than on Rogue. She had healed quickly, surprisingly.
Hanna Mishka, a mutant nurse from the hospital that Hank occasionally worked for, had been summoned by Professor Xavier to help tend to Hank. She had the power to mildly heal, by the touch of her hands. Smiling, she sat in the chair next to the bed that Hank lied in. "Here you go, Hank." She smiled warmly.
"Thank you, Hanna. Whatever would I do without your help?" He smiled, as he sat up, with Hanna pushing the mobile tray towards him.
"You doing okay? You've been awfully quiet these past few days, Hank." She asked with concern, as she sat back in her chair.
Hank shrugged, "As well as to be expected. I was just reminiscing about Elizabeth." He looked down, frowning. Tears began to well in his large blue eyes, and he fought to push them back, "Being alone most of the time causes me to think." He gulped.
Hanna warmly placed her hand onto his large blue furred forearm. "I understand, Hank." Hanna nervously looked up at him, "Tell me something about Elizabeth. No one really speaks of her around here anymore."
Hank smiled, putting the spoon back into his bowl. He took off his glasses, and looked up, taking in a heavy sigh, "She held a soft spot in my heart. I called her Lady Elizabeth. She was born of noble blood; both of British and another universe." He pressed his thumbs to his eyes, pushing the tears away, and looked at his companion, "Since the hatred of mutants began to surface violently, we had to constantly battle our way through. I always had her back, as Bobby liked to put it."
Hanna listened carefully, as Hank told her of a few memories that he held fondly in his heart of Elizabeth….
*~*~*~*
Elizabeth flew back, landing on her back, onto the ground. They had been busy battling against Magneto's mutant vigilantes, to avoid Magneto from heading into the nuclear division of the Pentagon.
Elizabeth grasped onto her head, as the mutant known only as Diego, grinned down at her, "Now, you get a taste of my power!" He snapped.
Grunting, Elizabeth stood to her feet, and incoherently ran through the alleyways, hearing thoughts soaring through her mind uncontrollably, "All these thoughts! Smashing through my head!" She gasped.
Die mutie! There's one! Help me! The thoughts rushed into her mind, burning and pounding her temples.
Not far from where she was heading, a group of anti mutant thugs had been watching, waiting for one of them to break free of the battle. Elizabeth ran, and finally tripped over a lift in the ground, "I can't push them out!" She screamed.
"Get her!" The thugs yelled in unison, as they rushed towards her.
"Beast! Help!" Elizabeth screamed out.
Only one hit was thrown onto Elizabeth, as a club came in contact with her abdomen. Suddenly, Hank jumped through, growling, and kicking the thugs away from Elizabeth, "That will be quite enough of that, gentlemen!" Hank backhanded a thug attempting to smash a club onto Elizabeth's head. He grabbed onto Elizabeth, holding her protectively, and snarled at the thugs, "As much as I hate to let my inner rage come out, for you, I'll make an exception!" Hank growled.
Elizabeth cried, as she held onto Hank, "Help me, Hank!" She gasped.
"It's a beast! Run!" One thug screamed out, as they broke away.
"That's The Beast! And lay another hand on her, you'll find out why!" Hank roared out.
As soon as the thugs had run clear out of their sight, Hank lifted Elizabeth's chin up to look at him, "Are you alright, Betsy?" He asked.
Elizabeth let out a sob; a sob of fear and anger, as she wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging onto him tightly.
*~*~*~*
Hanna sat back, almost in awe of what Hank had just told her. "I was added onto the list of few people that have seen that woman cry." He smiled. "She trusted me enough."
"How many people have seen her let her emotions run?" Hanna asked, as she took the tray off of the mobile tray as Hank finished his meal.
Hank sighed, sitting back in thought, "Well, besides her family in Britain, there's Rogue, Remy, Logan, and now me. And another of her friends, Wanda had seen her cry a couple of times." He let out a laugh, "Elizabeth was not the type to show emotions. She saw it as a sign of weakness, however, she was always there to be a shoulder to cry on." He shook his head disdainfully, "I only wish she knew how much of an impact she's had on this team. She'd helped and saved our butts on a lot of missions we've been on." Hank looked at Hanna, who had listened closely, interested in what he had to say, "She was remarkable. All you needed to do, was point out the enemy, and she charged straight for it." He gulped the sob attempting to rise in his throat, "Unfortunately, that was the cause of her untimely death."
Hanna placed her hand onto his, "Hank, I know that this is not what everyone wants to hear, but when our time comes, it comes. She saved your lives. Vargas wanted to kill only one X-Man. She sacrificed herself, knowing what the costs could be."
"Which is why she was always an X-Man." Hank smiled.
Hanna lifted the tray, "I'll go put this in the dishwasher, and I'll come back with a game of Scrabble, alright?" She offered.
Hank smiled up at her, "Alright." He agreed.
She lightly tapped her finger to his nose, and smiled, before turning to walk out of the infirmary. Hank sat back, thinking of the moments he shared with Elizabeth, almost moments before she passed….
*~*~*~*
Rushing along with the flush of water through the pipelines, Hank held onto Elizabeth from behind, "Hang on!" She telepathically told him.
Flying out of the release hole, they tumbled onto the ground, the water spreading out onto the ground. "Whew! What a ride! That was bloody magnificent!" Elizabeth gushed.
Hank had landed on top of her, holding tightly. "Uh, Psylocke to Beast." She nervously said, "It's over."
Hank lifted up, wiping the long dark blue hair out of his face, looking down at her, "Oh, right." He cleared his throat nervously, "Do you know that when you use your power, you glow?" He smiled.
They stood to their feet, "And afterwards too, I'm told." She then smiled up at him, "But I bet you say that to all the X-Ladies!" She grinned coyly.
Hank smiled down at her, "Whatever brings a smile!"
With that, they hugged onto each other tightly.
*~*~*~*
Hank pressed his thumbs to his eyes, pushing back the tears. He wondered to himself; had he ever loved Elizabeth? He had held a soft spot in his heart for her since she came to the institute. She was rather remarkable; graceful, elegant, yet fierce. But, another man had stolen her heart; and held onto it until the moment she died. He had regretted the fact that he had never said a word of the slightest attraction he had towards her; but he could never bring himself to do it; even when she had blossomed into an adult, he wanted to say something. But nothing was ever able to come out. He had only hoped; that now that she was in spirit, that she knew the true feelings he had for her.
*~*~*~*
The door flew open of the crypt. Brian and Remy marched into the large stone room. "Where is it?" Remy asked.
Brian looked carefully through the caskets that were lined. He walked to the last one of the three; "This obviously is it, if I can recall." He pulled it out carefully, and gently placed it onto the ground.
"You sure it's right that we do this, mon ami?" Remy uneasily asked.
Brian looked up, "Do we have any other choice?"
Remy hesitantly nodded in agreement. They had to see if Elizabeth's body still lied in the casket. They needed proof. They needed answers. Brian pried open the top half of the casket, and stood back, glaring into the inside. Remy stood at his side, shaking his head, slowly. The only things in the casket were the three roses that were left with her. Her body had been missing. "Damn!" Brian growled.
He stomped out of the room, and Remy knelt down, examining for any signs that there had been forced entry. He ran his fingers along the rim of the casket, and stopped, as he felt a puncture near the center. "Brian! Come here!" He called.
Brian walked into the crypt, his breathing heaving with anger. He knelt next to Remy, and Remy scooted over, for him to take a look at what he found. "Look at this. Someone was in here." Remy told him.
Brian bent down, and saw clearly, that the casket had been pried and broken open. He shot up to his feet, pacing the stone ground, "If only I had gotten my hands on that bloody swine!" He hissed.
"Calm yourself, m'seiu. Why don't we head out to Valencia and find that statue. I have a feeling that with the energy I felt from that thing, that her body is somewhere around there." Remy told him.
Just then, they heard the propellers of a helicopter, landing into the large patch of grass near the large estate of Braddock Manor. Remy and Brian rushed out, and saw that it was the Velocity from the Institute. As soon as it landed, the hatch came down, and Wanda rushed out, "Brian!" She called.
"Wanda?" Brian gasped. He rushed towards her, "What are you doing here?"
She hugged him in greeting. The blades eased, and Tabitha rushed out of the manor. She rushed to Wanda, nearly pouncing on her, as she hugged her friend. "What are you guys doing here?" She smiled.
Rogue and Logan stepped off of the Velocity. "Just what we need." Remy smiled.
"Whatya mean?" Logan asked.
Brian marched towards the Velocity, "Brian, wait, we have to talk to you!" Rogue said, attempting to stop him.
"We have to go to Valencia! Betsy's body is missing!" Brian snapped, as he stepped up onto the latch.
"What?!" Rogue, Logan, Wanda, and Tabitha squealed in unison.
"I'll explain on our way there. If you don't load up, I'm taking the Velocity and going there myself!" Brian threatened.
With hesitation, Logan followed the young man onto the helicopter. "Remy, we've been looking all over for you!" Rogue snapped, slapping his arm.
Tabitha, Wanda, Rogue, and Remy walked onto the Velocity. "Been hangin' around here, cherie. Couldn't really stay away." He sighed.
Settling into their seats, the blades started up again, lifting the helicopter into the sky, and flying towards Valencia Spain.
*~*~*~*
Charles made his way into the infirmary, and saw Hank and Hanna laughing together, while playing a game of Scrabble. "I've gotten some word from Rogue and Logan." He interrupted them.
Hank and Hanna both looked up at him. Charles solemnly sighed, "Elizabeth's body had been stolen from her casket—"
Hank nearly dropped his scrabble game pieces in shock, as he gasped harshly, "What? Who would do such a thing?"
"They've flown off to Valencia for some answers. Apparently, the day that Vargas had been killed by Rogue, Remy had seen a statue of Elizabeth that Vargas had unveiled to him. They believe that the statue would hold some answers." Charles explained.
AN- Okay, this chappie is dedicated to MISH! Of course, as you can tell, I've created a lil O/C for our dear Hank, who deserves some lovin'. Hanna Mishka! A nurse that holds the power to mildly heal with her hands, and had worked at the hospital that Hank occasionally worked at…now, keep in mind, that the FOH had already surfaced, so mutants do face very violent persecution….(growls) damn humans…hehehe Thanks for your reviews! And, I mean no harm to Romy shippers…it's just that I received some not so nice reviews for making a couple of fics non romy…(sniffles) mean people….(cries)