I told u I wouldnt make you wait too long... and I'm going to pay the price for it cuz I put it above my homework lol. Not that any of you care... but with all my Latin and English vacab combined... I have like 245+ vocab words... and they're cumulative... and I'm in those classes all year... and it's not even the end of the first quarter yet... and yes I am whining like a 5 year old... and no, I'm not ashamed at the moment lol. Oh yeah, it was my b-day yesterday too... I'm one of those annoying ppl who milk their b-days for all it's worth :)
Anyway... there is *some* angst for our boys here, but this is still a transition-y chapter so ya, it's a little lacking. Pietro makes some progress though... ish. Over all there are parts I like and parts I don't like about this chapter... but there ya go.
Reviewer notes- Wooooow... maybe I should cliff hanger more often lol. I got 20+ reviews for that chapter :) Anyway... I feel bad about this... but I'm not gonna put individual responses here this time because like I said... I have a load of homework and it's either make u wait an extra day so I can type responses, or post and swear I'll do responses next time... I figure you'd rather read the story lol. But seriously, thank u for the feedback. I love it.
Chapter 16- Aftermath
"Quickly! I want the one with the white hair on a cot and to the hospital wing immediately! Start him on an IV the second you can! Todd? Todd can you hear me? Get him some oxygen, his lungs are filled with...I don't know but get him some air!"
Hank was barking orders at half a dozen nurses who had come over from the clinic. The second Charles had been able to think clearly he sent out the alert to Hank that the mansion was in complete disarray and that the students were in need of serious medical attention. After that, he had passed out cold. He know sat beside Hank, looking extremely apprehensive.
"Careful! The boy can encase himself in ice; he's not going to get frostbite. Just get his hands out of that ice *safely* and send him to the infirmary. You can walk, right Bobby?" Hank turned and faced the professor, "Are you sure you're alright Charles?"
Xavier nodded. "I have no idea what happened Hank, but this is not good. Who else have you seen?"
Hank turned to search for more of the students and bit his lip nervously. "Scott and Kitty. Scott will be ok, it'll just be difficult to treat him. Kitty however..."
"What about the half-pint?" came Logan's rough voice. His clothes were torn from head to foot and there was blood stains along most of the rips.
"I think she must have fallen in the way of Scott's blast," Hank explained. "She's ok, but I'm guessing broken ribs which are no fun at all. She was still out when I saw her."
The three of them continued along the hallway until they came to the end and split up. Hank and Charles turned left and Logan right, with a few nurses tailing him.
By the time Hank and Charles returned to the medical bay most of the students were accounted for.
"Hank!" a panicked nurse's voice called as she beckoned the beast toward her. "It's the bone kid."
Evan was laying on his stomach, blood trickling from where the spike along his back had forced away his skin beneath his armor-like plates. He was moaning and twisting, trying to ease the pain that was running along all of his joints and along his spinal column.
"Easy Daniels, just relax."
"Relax?" Evan's voice was high and strained, "You're telling me to freaking relax?!"
"I know, I know. The calmer you are the easier this will be," Hank lowered his voice and turned to the nurse, "I have to figure out who needs my attention the most. I know the boy looks bad, but he'll be alright. Try and keep him calm and I'll send another nurse down here with some pain medication. I'll be back as soon as I know that no one is in immediate danger."
The nurse nodded, wide eyed, and glanced over at Evan who was now in a crawling position, his hands gripped along the guard rails of the hospital bed. Even working in a mutant hospital, she wasn't accustomed to things like this.
Hank put a hand reassuringly on her shoulder and headed toward the next bed. He caught sight of Logan and turned to face him. In his arms was the unconscious form of Kurt.
"He's over exhausted himself. I think there's a few open cots that way."
Logan nodded and carried Kurt to an empty cot. A scream echoed along the walls and Hank took off toward the sound.
He came to the room they had put Kitty in and saw three nurses trying to calm the terrified brunette. He plowed through them and the panic on Kitty's face lessened as she noticed his presence.
"Dr...M-M," she began to cough and Hank put a hand on her forehead.
"It's ok Kitty. These are friends from the clinic Lance is at. They're going to look after you for awhile ok? You got hurt pretty bad kiddo."
"It...It hurts to...to...brea...breath."
"I know. You have a few broken ribs. You'll be alright. I'll be back to check on you later."
He left Kitty's room and whispered to one of the nurses to go ahead and do whatever they needed and to give him a full report of all her injuries as soon as they could.
Logan caught Hank's arm as he was heading to Jubilee's cot. "What can we do Hank? I'm feeling a little useless here," he growled.
Hank sighed, "Just visit the kids I suppose. They don't recognize a lot of these doctors and nurses so they're waking up scared as can be. I brought half the staff with me from Elanore's clinic in case you were wondering who all these people were." [1]
Logan nodded and turned to find a conscious student when he heard a nurse run up breathlessly to Hank.
"Dr. McCoy, one of the patients... disappeared."
"I beg your pardon?"
"The young one sir, he just vanished."
"Jamie," Logan stated. "Where did you find the one who was in the cot?" he asked the nurse.
"Uh, I think he was in one of the bedrooms."
Logan nodded to Hank and set off to search for the actual Jamie. Hank's mind was beginning to spin. He was losing track of who needed what and who was where.
Another doctor came running up to him, "Sir, the boy with the bone problem, he's a real mess. Can we at least put him out so the pain isn't so bad for him? The nurse said you had dealt with it before."
Hank nodded as he pressed his hand to his temple. "We can't put him out. Do me a favor Anthony. Get all the doctors and nurses who can leave their patients and have them be prepared to meet with me in a few minutes. We have to get more organized. This is absolute chaos, I can't even remember who is accounted for and who isn't. I'll take care of Evan then I'll meet up with you."
The doctor nodded and headed off down the hall while Hank made his way to where Evan was once again.
Hank gasped when he saw him, "Didn't anyone give him some pain killers!" he bellowed, instantly going into intense doctor mode.
A nurse nearby shook her head and handed Hank a pair of large gloves.
"For goodness sakes why not?" his anger was rising.
Evan was still on his knees, trembling from head to foot. Hank could tell from having dealt with Evan many times before that the boy was fighting the urge to bow down to the pain and pass out. He surveyed Evan's back and winced mentally.
"Evan, I highly doubt you could retract that. There is no way your body could absorb one that size."
Evan let out a whimper and turned his head slightly to try to look at Dr. McCoy.
"It'll be alright Evan. You've done this before," he said soothingly.
"Yeah right!" Evan's voice was still higher than usual, and he was gasping between syllables, "I've never felt anything like this in my life! It's never been *this* bad!"
Hank shook his head sympathetically. Evan writhed again as pain shot up and down his spinal column. His head in jolts. Hank quickly ran to his side.
"Evan! You have to stay conscious! Come on. I'll help you as best I..."
He was interrupted by a loud clatter and a series of yelps. A red beam of light flew down the center of the hallway and Hank glared at it.
"I *told* them not to take off his glasses until he was conscious!"
He turned his attention back to Evan who's eyes were now stinging with subtle tears. Evan concentrated with all his might on forcing the spike out of his back. Searing pain shot down his vertebrae as the massive bone slowly inched outward, peeling his skin back as it went. He screamed and Hank promptly gave him a towel to bite down on.
"Just think, one day you'll be able to tell your wife that you *do* know what it's like to give birth," Hank told him.
Evan looked at Hank with complete exasperation. Why he was making jokes at a time like this was beyond him, especially when they weren't even that funny. The beast however, had only said it to distract the boy from the pain. He took a small syringe and found a place along Evan's arm where his bone plates overlapped and shoved the needle under it, injecting the pain killer into the boy's veins.
Evan bit down on the towel as another shockwave of pain traveled down his back, his bones grinding and shifting. When the avalanche of pain lessened slightly, he again forced the bone through his skin.
To add to the agony, Evan couldn't force the bone out in one shot. He'd pass out long before that happened. So he would have to pause every so often, giving his skin time to heal itself around the bone, which meant re-tearing his skin each time.
After twenty minutes of torment, the jolts of pain faded to a dull ache and Evan could no longer move the bone.
"Are you alright Evan?" Hank asked.
If he'd had the energy, he would have glared at the beast. "I'll live."
The bone had become six and a half feet long and Evan had to admit that the weight of it was impressive. He was certain he looked ridiculous, having a six foot high, half a foot thick wall sprouting out of his back.
"You know what this means right, Evan?" Hank asked tentatively.
Evan was too weak to whine and there wasn't really any point either. He was going to have to endure another 'bone sawing' whether he liked it or not.
"Can you live with that thing on your back for a little longer?"
Evan nodded as Hank motioned for the nurse to follow him out of the room.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Alright! I need doctors on this side and nurses on this side. We have to get things organized before we hurt someone." Hank instructed, "Now, what I'm going to do is go through all the kids and if anyone has information on them let me know."
The crowd of medical personnel murmured their agreement. As requested, everyone had been rounded up so that Hank could figure out what was going on.
"Ok, Kitty Pryde. She's the brunette with the broken ribs..."
"She's doing alright. Like you said, she has some broken ribs but nothing too serious. Her legs and left arm seem to have lost blood circulation at one point but we've managed to get her out of danger as far as losing her limbs goes," a random doctor continued rattling off a list of Kitty's injuries while Hank scribbled furiously on a notepad.
Handing the doctor the sheet of paper he said, "Right then. You and two nurses are assigned to her. She can make herself intangible and I expect that's why she lost circulation. Perhaps she solidified into something. I've written her blood type and other medical information on here. Ok, the next person is Evan Daniels; the bone kid. I'll need to attend to him myself and you two can help me. I'll explain things later."
The two nurses, both appearing to be quite strong, stepped aside and Hank continued on. "Scott Summers; the one I explicitly said not to remove his sunglasses? We all know why now, don't we?"
"His skin is torn up around his eyes. We're going to have to stitch them up I think, but I have no idea how we're going to do that," a tiny young doctor informed him, smoothing her hair nervously.
"Is he in any danger?"
"No, just needs to be sewn up and he should be fine. He's already asking about everyone else."
"We'll need a plastic surgeon, I'm not letting his face get all scarred up just for the sake of saving time. Do you know of one?"
A nurse raised a hand and Hank pointed to her. He felt like he was in a classroom but they simply had to ease the chaos. "You know of a plastic surgeon?"
She nodded and pointed to herself.
"Uh, you're on the nurses side."
She nodded again. "It's my mutant ability. I can close cuts and things, no scars. If you let me see him, I'll tell you if I can fix his eyes."
"Good, you and Dr. Uhh– I'm sorry I didn't get your name– you can take care of Scott. Here," he said, handing them a piece of paper.
"Dr. McCoy, sorry to interrupt, but someone should really be attending the boy with the white hair."
Hank nodded and began writing again. "Pietro Maximoff. Hyper speed. Let me guess, he's rail thin, incredibly weak, and his pulse is barely there? Treat him like he's been starved. His body will be behaving like he ran across the globe non stop. Umm, who next, who next? Kurt Wagner. He's the blue fur covered boy.
"I have him all set up on heart monitors and he seems to be fine. He's still out though, and covered in dirt."
Hank sighed with relief. He had been afraid that Kurt had hit a wall or two but it appeared as though he had made it through his experience unharmed. "I think Logan found him out in the woods, which would explain the dirt. Get him lots of food for when he wakes up."
The nurse who had been with Kurt gave Hank an odd look. "I'm sorry?"
"His mutation. When he uses it a lot he needs food. Don't be surprised if the first thing he says when he wakes up is that he's hungry. Just feed him until he's full. Now who has Todd Tolensky? Umm, brown hair, fluid in his lungs I believe."
"He's with me. I don't know what was in his lungs. We think we've got it all, but it was some odd stuff. He's fine now though."
Hank raised an eyebrow. "Hmm, interesting. I'm going to guess it was his slime." he paused then looked back up again, "Oh yeah, get him next to Pietro, the white haired boy. He'll probably be a lot calmer if he realizes Pietro's still around. Anyway, Jean Grey? Red head..."
"I've got her Hank," the professor broke in. He had been observing the last few minutes so that he could find out how extensive the damage had been. "I also have Rogue. They're fine physically."
Hank nodded for what seemed to be the hundredth time. He continued to call off names and hear damage reports as the number of medical staff thinned. It seemed that Kitty, Pietro, and Evan had come off the worst over all, and Sam [3] was so bruised he could hardly move. Amara, [4] Rahne, [5] and Jubilee [6] all had some pretty nasty burns. Rahne would have been unscathed, but with Amara for a roommate, getting scorched was inevitable. Bobby still couldn't feel his fingers, but that didn't worry anybody too much because he said the feeling was slowly coming back. Jamie, [7] Ray, [8] Alex, [9] and Roberto [10] were exhausted but healthy, other than the fact that Ray kept accidently shocking the nurses and screwing up the electronic equipment.
After everyone had been accounted for, Hank gestured to the two nurses he had chosen to assist him earlier and headed back to Evan's room.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The light entered Todd's eyes so abruptly that he instantly had to clench them shut again. On his third try, he managed to bring his surroundings into focus. His heart rate quickened as his eyes darted around the room.
"He's awake," a nearby nurse said.
Panic started to overtake him. He didn't recognize where he was and didn't know why he was there. With a sudden jolt all the memories came rushing back to him. The chocking. The ice coming from the room next to him. Pietro staring at him. Pietro. Pietro laying flat on his back, like before.
"Pietro!" He screamed and sprung off his bed, promptly losing his balance and nearly knocking over a chair, "Where is he!"
"Mr. Tolensky, calm down! It's alright."
"WHERE'S PIETRO?" Todd shouted, ignoring the nurse. His eyes frantically searched around his small, curtained enclosure.
"He's right next to you, on the other side of the curtain. Mr. Tolensky please lay back down, you'll hurt yourself," the nurse pleaded.
"Is he ok? Yo please tell me he's ok, what happened?" Todd's head was spinning as he slowly sat back down on the mattress. His knees were aching and his chest hurt, like he had swallowed too much water, but he didn't care at the moment. The last time Todd had seen Pietro in that state, the speed demon had come close to death.
"He's alright. He regained consciousness about an hour ago and started asking about you and the others. He's really weak, but I promise he's ok," the nurse said reassuringly.
Todd glanced around as he sank slowly back into the mattress. "What the hell happened yo?" Although his blind panic was subsiding, he was still completely confused. "And why the hell am I so sore? How weak is he yo? Why the hell didn't someone..."
"Todd, chill out."
Todd spun his head around to the thin curtain next to him. The voice had been weak, raspy, and barely audible, but it was still distinctly Pietro's.
"Pietro? Yo, what the hell..."
"Not so loud. Hey miss, open the stupid curtain would you?"
Todd winced at his friend's voice. From the sound of it, every syllable was a strain and Pietro was wheezing throughout every word. Toad's wince increased as a nurse pulled the dividing curtain away and revealed Pietro's cot. Todd's first reaction was to panic again. His silver haired friend looked almost exactly as he had after his first accident with his powers a few months back. Pietro had always been a thin guy, but ever since the accident, he looked half starved. He had gained *some* weight back, but he had definitely burned it off once again.
"No one knows what happened Todd- powers just went nuts. Don't look at me like that, it's not as bad as last time. Plus, trained medical people are here," he managed to get out. He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths before adding, "You ok?"
"Yeah, just sore. What about Lance yo?" Todd was slowly beginning to relax.
"Dunno."
"K, well don't worry bout it. Go to sleep, you look like you need it yo."
Pietro sighed and slowly reached over for the glass of water the nurse had set on a chair for him. He was too wound up to sleep really, but he knew he should at least try. He concentrated on getting to cup to his mouth without dropping it when he felt his bed move, ever so slightly, on it's rolling frame. 'You imagined it.' The tremor happened again, still very subtle, and the stands that the medical equipment was sitting on shook slightly as well. 'No, it's not... no it's an earthquake, please let it be a freakin' earthquake!' He winced as the IV needle in his arm moved to some degree. He gasped as it slid deeper into his vein, out again, then trembled. Pietro gaped at it, having received its message.
"SHIT! Todd, he's here!" Pietro's mangled version of a yell erupted from his dry and exhausted throat as the glass of water fell to the ground.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Charles headed down the abandoned hallway, jaw firmly set, and brow deeply furrowed. He was so exasperated by the lack of information that he was beginning to become infuriated. He had no intention of letting one of the students see him this concerned, or angry for that matter, and so he had decided to take a short trip somewhere quiet to clear his thoughts.
He was about to turn down another hall when the distinct feeling of another presence filled the air. He reached out mentally for a moment. Nothing.
"What did you do Magnus?" he said evenly.
"Don't be so concerned Charles."
Xavier tightened his grip on the arms of his chair and took a few moments to calm his anger as the silhouetted form of Magneto emerged and hovered in front of the professor. His yellow eyes gleamed beneath his helmet and he began to chuckle softly.
"Magnus, whatever you did, it nearly killed the students. I wouldn't be so amused."
Again Magneto only laughed faintly. "Charles, I wouldn't actually kill them. I needed test subjects, and I couldn't very well use my acolytes. Imagine the risk if I weakened them all to that degree?"
"Test subjects? Magnus, your own son came out of this as one of the worst..."
"Pietro will be fine. I find it quite amusing that you took him in actually. You don't really think he won't come crawling back to me the minute I ask him to, do you? I understand my son more than you may realize."
Charles furrowed his brow and shook his head. "What you're doing to those children Erik..."
"Is none of your concern," Magneto interrupted, "I'm sure you would like to know what happened to you and your students."
"If you would be so kind as to enlighten me, *old friend*," Charles responded, not bothering to ebb some of the bitterness from his voice.
"I went to great lengths to have a certain chemical placed in your blood streams via food. When this chemical is active, high pitched sound waves can manipulate the X-gene to some extent. I needed to find out what extent exactly. I really have no intention of sharing the details with you Charles, even though there really isn't anything you can do even if I did inform you of all the whys and hows."
Charles sighed and placed a finger to his temple. "Erik, putting my students' lives in jeopardy is dangerous ground, even for you. Is the chemical still active? I would have thought you had learned by now that trying to strengthen powers at an accelerated rate is too risky and..."
"No, it is no longer active. Save the speeches Charles. You know by now that they do little good."
"Unless you have anything else of importance to say, leave. I doubt you want to inform me of your newest plans to gain mutant superiority anyway. Unless of course you'd like to see your son while he's actually conscious." Xavier added, an uncharacteristic edge of sarcasm in his tone.
"Pietro knows I'm here," he replied simply. "You'll hear from me again Charles. Those boys may have befriended you, but they are already mine. I happen to be an amazing manipulator; how else do you think someone like Avalanche would join me? There is this odd desire to do good in him, and I'm one of the few people who can break him of it. Toad will follow anyone he fears. And some advice, don't fool yourself into thinking you can win my son over. I alone know what it is he truly wants and am the only one who can give it to him, so I as good as own him."
"Magnus! They are *children,* not some droid army!"
"Their childhood has already been taken from them Charles, I have simply learned that the younger I can persuade them of my views, the more dedicated they become."
"And what if one day they realize what a pointless war you are provoking, what then?"
"*If* they come to that conclusion, they will already be in too deep. Just ask Pyro. Good day Charles."
Charles watched, disgusted, as Magneto hovered to the window and left the grounds.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Lance glanced at the clock for what must have been the fifth time in the last three minutes. 'They throw a complete hissy fit about me not letting them stay here, then don't even show up today?'
He hadn't been awake for too long, but none the less it was already nearly one in the afternoon. The brunette could not remember ever having felt so tired before. He was also a little unnerved by the fact that Hank hadn't been by to see him. Instead, nurse perky was back and Lance had decided that if she called him sweety one more time he would punch her, or at least yell a whole lot at her. It had always been a little weird to him to fight the female members of the X-Men, so he highly doubted he'd actually punch a girl. At the moment however, even simply talking took a lot of effort, so he knew he was going to have to put up with her for awhile. Sighing, Lance stared up at the ceiling. Not only was he already bored, but he was still incredibly sore. Not that he would ever admit it, but he kind of wished Pietro would hurry up and get here so he could have another free massage.
"Hey kid, how are ya?"
Lance jumped slightly. He hadn't heard the door open, gingerly turned his head to find Logan standing in the doorway.
"I'm alright I guess. Uh, where's Todd and Pietro?"
Logan sniffed the air and stepped all the way into Lance's room. "About that..."
Lance eyed Logan suspiciously as a nervous feeling crept over his already weak stomach, "They...uh, are they ok?"
"Yeah, but some stuff happened. Look kid, there was a slight emergency at the Institute last night. Your friends are all right," he added hastily, seeing the concern flash across the brunette's face, "but they ain't exactly healthy either. Everyone's powers went nuts in the night so they're pretty weak."
Lance stared at Logan for a few minutes, not fully comprehending what he was being told. 'Powers going nuts? What?'
"It's complicated," Logan stated, "Anyway, I know Chuck told you we would drive you back, and that you were expecting to be stuck here for awhile, but because of the circumstances, I'm flying you back today. The mansion is like a hospital at the moment anyway."
"Flying? Man, I'm already sick enough."
Logan ignored the comment as he headed over to Lance's bag that had been stashed in the corner of the tiny room. "You may want to get changed while I go check you out of here."
"Ok....? Mr. Logan, how bad is it over there?" Lance asked, still a little bewildered.
"It's calming down. The half-pint, Daniels, and speedy may be down longer than the others, but they'll be alright."
"Half-pint?"
"Kitty. She's got some broken ribs." Lance continued to stare blankly at Logan. The older man sighed. "I'll fill you in on the ride home."
Lance nodded grimly, not at all thrilled about flying when he already felt this horrible, and utterly confused by this new information.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Kurt wondered down the hall of the infirmary in search of a remotely awake person. He was incredibly tired, but boredom had taken over his whole being and he was sure he would go insane if he had to lay in bed another minute. At last, he came to a bed with someone sitting up. A lot of the cots had been lined down the hallway, divided by makeshift curtains that Kurt would have been willing to bet his life were made from bed sheets.
"Rogue! Up for company?" he asked hopefully.
Rogue shifted her position and nodded, "Finally. Ah swear, the color white intensifies boredom."
Kurt laughed as he began to scratch his forearm. "So, are you alright?"
She nodded, but it wasn't too convincing. Her expression seemed preoccupied as she kept glancing toward the end of the hallway.
"Rogue..."
Sighing in defeat, Rogue pulled her knees to her chest and rested her arms on them. "It's Pietro"
Kurt tried to hide his grin, which received a cold glare from Rogue. "Out of za denial stage finally?"
Rogue rolled her eyes and rested her chin on top of her hands. "Ah didn't mean like that. Ah meant like Ah'm worried about him. He's really beat up Kurt, and Ah know he'll heal up just fine if he lets himself, but Pietro just isn't that patient. Chances are he'll end up trying to do too much too soon and hurt himself all over again."
Kurt wasn't aware of Pietro's running problem, and Rogue had no intention of telling him, but it worried her. She wasn't sure how much sense could be talked into Pietro when he was like this. He didn't like being considered weak and would probably do everything he could to appear to bounce back quickly. The truth of the matter was that he *was* weak, probably weaker than anyone realized, and if he didn't let himself heal physically, he would probably end up doing some permanent and serious damage.
"Ok, so you aren't out of za denial stage, zat's ok. But really Rogue, I think he'll be ok. He, all three of them actually, have a lot of stuff they need to deal with and..."
"Yeah, yeah, Ah know that," she paused and tilted her head slightly, "And darn you Kurt, Ah am out of the denial stage ok? There, Ah admit it. But if you tell Kitty Ah said that, Ah'll pound you into the ground like a good sister should!"
Kurt grinned and scratched the back his neck. Rogue raised an eyebrow at him.
"What're ya fidgeting so much for?"
Kurt shrugged as he began to claw at his ankle with renewed vigor. "I dunno! I itch!"
"Huh?"
Kurt shrugged. "Anyway, did za prof tell you about Magneto being za one behind all this?"
Rogue nodded, "Thing Ah don't get is how the hell it got into our food. The security on this place is insane. It's almost like someone had to do it from within..."
"You don't sink..."
"No. There's no way."
Kurt looked up at Rogue and shrugged once again. He didn't want to say it out loud, because he truly didn't believe it, but the thought of how easy it would have been for one of the brotherhood to poison them entered his mind abruptly.
"There's just no vay."
Rogue nodded. "Don't even suggest the idea in front of them. They'd probably get really offended."
"Vell ja! I would too! Oh no, you don't think Scott, or Bobby even, would...you know, jump to conclusions and accuse zem do you?"
Rogue bit her lip. "Uhh, Bobby may not like Pietro, but Ah don't think he would suspect him of something like that ya know? Scott on the other hand tends to get a little jumpy when stuff like this happens. Always needs to be able to pinpoint how somethin' happened."
"I sink I'll talk to him then. Did you hear about zat lady who fixed his eyes! It vas veird, he had to go stand outside and open his eyes so he didn't damage anything, and she just sealed up the cut," Kurt got sidetracked mid-story as he began to scratch at his neck for the hundredth time. "Gah! Vaht za heck is going on."
"Come here and let me look at ya," Rogue said, pulling him to her.
She began to examine the back of Kurt's neck, brushing his fur up the wrong way so that she could get a good look at his skin.
"Logan found you in the woods right? Maybe you landed in some poison ivy or... oh my ..." she trailed off.
"Vaht? Vaht is it?"
Rogue's mouth dropped open and she pulled her hand from Kurt's fur. "Uhh, Kurt, Ah think you have fleas."
Kurt spun around, gaping, and tried to speak.
"Calm down fuzzy, it's not the end of the world."
"Not the...? Rogue, do you realize how...how creepy zat is! Please tell me you're playing some cruel joke."
Rogue pressed her lips together in a thin line and shook her head. Kurt's eyes widened as his fur went from deep blue to nearly pastel.
"Holy crap. Rogue, please, please, please, please, don't tell anyvon! Just get some flea junk and help me get rid of zem!"
Rogue giggled and swung her legs over the side of the bed, "Alright, Ah won't. Ah'll have to tell one of the adults though so they can get you some flea killer. Ah don't exactly have any of that laying around. [2]
~*~*~*~*~
"Hank! Hank where is he?" Ororo came running down the corridor in search of the beast, her sister and brother in law following at her heals.
"Calm down Ororo, he's alright. We already sawed the crazy thing off and he's sleeping. I'll be honest though, it was the worst I've ever seen him."
Evan's family visibly relaxed as Hank led them to Evan's small enclosure. He was completely out, sprawled on his stomach with a somewhat pained look on his face. His mom immediately walked over to him and looked down at him, trying to determine if she should risk touching him; he obviously needed the sleep.
"How are the others," Ororo asked, "Kurt, Pietro..."
Hank started to say something, but was abruptly cut off by Mrs. Daniels.
"Who? Did you just say Pietro? Not Pietro Maximoff, surely."
Ororo raised an eyebrow at her sister, "Well, yes. Did Evan not tell you?"
Both Mr. and Mrs. Daniels' looked stunned with this information. "Ororo you knew that boy was our neighbor, right? He and Evan were inseparable since elementary school. Actually they had some big fight their freshman year, but that's besides the point," Mr. Daniels said.
Ororo looked back at them, slightly surprised at how excited they were to hear this.
"Oh I'm going to let him have it when he wakes up," Mrs. Daniels said, indicating Evan, "How could he not tell us? He was like our adopted son 'Ro, his own parents were a bit odd and he spent a lot of time at our place."
"I never knew any of this," Ororo stated innocently, "I would have told you if I had known Viv. You see, Pietro was on the team that fights against us. He didn't show up here until recently, and it was only out of desperation. He's a mess Vivian. When you say his parents are a bit odd, you don't know the half of it. His real father is a mutant."
"The mutant that caused all this to happen," Hank added.
"Magneto was the one who did this?"
Hank nodded as he filled a syringe and injected the fluid under Evan's plates. "Calcium," he explained to Mr. Daniels, who looked quite surprised by the injection, "And yes, it was Magneto. He spoke to Charles apparently."
"That's all very fascinating, but do you think we could go see Pietro?" Mrs. Daniels requested.
"Fourth cot on your left."
"Thank you. You'll come get us if he wakes up, right Ororo?" Mr. Daniels asked.
~*~
Pietro stared up at the ceiling, concentrating on breathing *slowly.* Every time he got distracted, his heart rate would begin to take off again and he was so exhausted that he actually had to focus on keeping his mutation in check.
Unfortunately, staying focused was incredibly difficult at the moment. The professor had told most of the students about what Magneto had done to them. Some sort of strange chemical, or something weird like that; Pietro hadn't been to concerned with that part. The thought that he couldn't get out of his head however, was making him feel both childish and angry at the same time.
'He didn't come and see me. He didn't care that I could have died. He didn't even come to say *anything,* positive or negative.'
Awhile ago, Kitty's parents had come tearing down the hall in search of their daughter, both looking slightly frazzled. It was then that Pietro realized several things all at once. He had literally sat in his bed, gaping at the opposite wall, for almost an hour. Since then, he'd had nothing else to do but stew in his new thoughts.
'Man, Hank's gonna be in for a real treat next session. His punk of a patient finally figured out what his main inner conflict is. Yeesh, now I'm diagnosing myself.'
"Pietro Maximoff! Give us one good reason why we shouldn't just refuse to speak to you."
Pietro was jerked from his thoughts and he struggled to sit up while waiting for the voice to register. He blinked several times at the couple standing in the doorway. They were both grinning at him, almost laughing.
"You are in *so* much trouble mister," Mr. Daniels teased. "How dare you not tell us you were in on this whole mutant thing, and on the other side no less!"
Pietro sat stock still, dumbfounded.
"Don't worry, Evan is going to get the same speech. Seriously though Pietro, why on earth didn't you tell us? The last we heard, you were in jail," Mrs. Daniels said, coming to sit next to Pietro.
Pietro blushed slightly at the comment about being jail, but still couldn't find his voice at the moment.
"Are you alright sweety?"
Pietro nodded stiffly and forced his mouth to open. "I uh, I'm sorry Mrs. Daniels."
Mrs. Daniels sat back slightly and raised an eyebrow at Pietro. "Mrs. Daniels? Pietro I don't think you've called me that since you were in the third grade!"
Pietro smirked, "Sorry aunt Viv."
"Much better. Mrs. Daniels makes me sound old," she said, winking. Her expression softened as she studied Pietro for a moment. Maternal instincts taking over, she reached over and brushed his tousled hair out of his face, making a mental note to ask about the bad haircut later. "Pietro," she said gently, "From what I've heard, a lot of stuff has happened to you huh?"
He nodded, not sure what he was supposed to say.
"Well that's alright," she continued, "because as far as I'm concerned, you're only a kid. You aren't some super-hero in training when you're with us ok? So right now, all I see is a kid; a kid who's hurting, more specifically. Now don't get all defensive like you always do. I'm a mom, I know these things when I see them, especially with you and Evan. I think what Xavier does here is wonderful, but he, and even my sister at times, forget how young you kids are."
Pietro took an avid interest in his sheets and began to fidget with a loose thread. "Uh, thanks. Um, I...yeah."
"Oh, you boys and your silly fronts. Come here."
Pietro tensed as Mrs. Daniels wrapped him up in a warm hug. She laughed softly and he finally relaxed. She slowly rocked him slightly as he buried his head into her shoulder. Without a sound, he began to tear up, and for the first time since he could remember, he actually knew why.
Seeing the Daniels again was probably the last thing he wanted at the moment– when he was already stressed out about family issues. He didn't want to be reminded that Evan had what he wanted more than anything.
Despite his current thoughts on the subject, Pietro couldn't fight off the way Mrs. Daniels made him feel at the moment: like a kid. He had forgotten that feeling a long time ago, and was more than willing to remember it now.
AN: Oooook. Now don't kill me for the lack of Magneto lol. I swear there is much more of him to come... our fav messed up boys just aren't ready for it yet... but im gonna try and stop dragging it out so much. I think the next chapter is going to fast forward somewhat aight? Cuz I need to get a move on with that whole thing. I haven't forgotten about Lance either... his lack of angstyness has kinda put him on the sidelines for now...but ill get back to him. I'm gonna clarify all the stuff with Pietro... and Todd is gonna get to the mega horrifying memory that messed him all up pretty soon. So anyway, like I said, there are parts about this chapter I like, and parts I don't like, so please let me know what you think. I promise I'll have responses for you guys next time.
[1] The clinic... yeah, I could have explained the clinic and how it worked in the story somewhere... but it would have been dull and it just wasn't necessary to explain it while these events are taking place. So, if you're really that curious...uhh... let's say it's common knowledge that 'the clinic' is actually part of a huge chain of underground (as in unknown or secret or whatever) Mutant hospitals. The people that work in them can be mutant or human, doesn't matter as long as they are friends to mutants. K?
[2] Ok, So I know this scene was a bit out of sync... but I needed to break things up a bit... maybe it works and maybe it doesn't, but whatever...it's staying where it is lol. The issue of Pietro, Lance, and Todd being suspects needed to be addressed somewhere. The flea thing... I dunno lol, just one of those weird moments.
[3] Sam is Cannonball
[4] Amara is Magma
[5] Rahne is Wolfsbane
[6] Jubilee is... I always get confused. Is her codename Jubilee too? Anywho, she's the firework chick
[7] Jamie is Multiple
[8] Ray is Berserker
[9] Alex is Havoc... Scott's brother
[10] Roberto is Sunspot or something like that... Do you guys still want me to add these every chapter or no? I always screw up the numbering and it gets on my nerves lol (cuz im just weird). But ill keep doing it if u want me to.
Anyway... there is *some* angst for our boys here, but this is still a transition-y chapter so ya, it's a little lacking. Pietro makes some progress though... ish. Over all there are parts I like and parts I don't like about this chapter... but there ya go.
Reviewer notes- Wooooow... maybe I should cliff hanger more often lol. I got 20+ reviews for that chapter :) Anyway... I feel bad about this... but I'm not gonna put individual responses here this time because like I said... I have a load of homework and it's either make u wait an extra day so I can type responses, or post and swear I'll do responses next time... I figure you'd rather read the story lol. But seriously, thank u for the feedback. I love it.
Chapter 16- Aftermath
"Quickly! I want the one with the white hair on a cot and to the hospital wing immediately! Start him on an IV the second you can! Todd? Todd can you hear me? Get him some oxygen, his lungs are filled with...I don't know but get him some air!"
Hank was barking orders at half a dozen nurses who had come over from the clinic. The second Charles had been able to think clearly he sent out the alert to Hank that the mansion was in complete disarray and that the students were in need of serious medical attention. After that, he had passed out cold. He know sat beside Hank, looking extremely apprehensive.
"Careful! The boy can encase himself in ice; he's not going to get frostbite. Just get his hands out of that ice *safely* and send him to the infirmary. You can walk, right Bobby?" Hank turned and faced the professor, "Are you sure you're alright Charles?"
Xavier nodded. "I have no idea what happened Hank, but this is not good. Who else have you seen?"
Hank turned to search for more of the students and bit his lip nervously. "Scott and Kitty. Scott will be ok, it'll just be difficult to treat him. Kitty however..."
"What about the half-pint?" came Logan's rough voice. His clothes were torn from head to foot and there was blood stains along most of the rips.
"I think she must have fallen in the way of Scott's blast," Hank explained. "She's ok, but I'm guessing broken ribs which are no fun at all. She was still out when I saw her."
The three of them continued along the hallway until they came to the end and split up. Hank and Charles turned left and Logan right, with a few nurses tailing him.
By the time Hank and Charles returned to the medical bay most of the students were accounted for.
"Hank!" a panicked nurse's voice called as she beckoned the beast toward her. "It's the bone kid."
Evan was laying on his stomach, blood trickling from where the spike along his back had forced away his skin beneath his armor-like plates. He was moaning and twisting, trying to ease the pain that was running along all of his joints and along his spinal column.
"Easy Daniels, just relax."
"Relax?" Evan's voice was high and strained, "You're telling me to freaking relax?!"
"I know, I know. The calmer you are the easier this will be," Hank lowered his voice and turned to the nurse, "I have to figure out who needs my attention the most. I know the boy looks bad, but he'll be alright. Try and keep him calm and I'll send another nurse down here with some pain medication. I'll be back as soon as I know that no one is in immediate danger."
The nurse nodded, wide eyed, and glanced over at Evan who was now in a crawling position, his hands gripped along the guard rails of the hospital bed. Even working in a mutant hospital, she wasn't accustomed to things like this.
Hank put a hand reassuringly on her shoulder and headed toward the next bed. He caught sight of Logan and turned to face him. In his arms was the unconscious form of Kurt.
"He's over exhausted himself. I think there's a few open cots that way."
Logan nodded and carried Kurt to an empty cot. A scream echoed along the walls and Hank took off toward the sound.
He came to the room they had put Kitty in and saw three nurses trying to calm the terrified brunette. He plowed through them and the panic on Kitty's face lessened as she noticed his presence.
"Dr...M-M," she began to cough and Hank put a hand on her forehead.
"It's ok Kitty. These are friends from the clinic Lance is at. They're going to look after you for awhile ok? You got hurt pretty bad kiddo."
"It...It hurts to...to...brea...breath."
"I know. You have a few broken ribs. You'll be alright. I'll be back to check on you later."
He left Kitty's room and whispered to one of the nurses to go ahead and do whatever they needed and to give him a full report of all her injuries as soon as they could.
Logan caught Hank's arm as he was heading to Jubilee's cot. "What can we do Hank? I'm feeling a little useless here," he growled.
Hank sighed, "Just visit the kids I suppose. They don't recognize a lot of these doctors and nurses so they're waking up scared as can be. I brought half the staff with me from Elanore's clinic in case you were wondering who all these people were." [1]
Logan nodded and turned to find a conscious student when he heard a nurse run up breathlessly to Hank.
"Dr. McCoy, one of the patients... disappeared."
"I beg your pardon?"
"The young one sir, he just vanished."
"Jamie," Logan stated. "Where did you find the one who was in the cot?" he asked the nurse.
"Uh, I think he was in one of the bedrooms."
Logan nodded to Hank and set off to search for the actual Jamie. Hank's mind was beginning to spin. He was losing track of who needed what and who was where.
Another doctor came running up to him, "Sir, the boy with the bone problem, he's a real mess. Can we at least put him out so the pain isn't so bad for him? The nurse said you had dealt with it before."
Hank nodded as he pressed his hand to his temple. "We can't put him out. Do me a favor Anthony. Get all the doctors and nurses who can leave their patients and have them be prepared to meet with me in a few minutes. We have to get more organized. This is absolute chaos, I can't even remember who is accounted for and who isn't. I'll take care of Evan then I'll meet up with you."
The doctor nodded and headed off down the hall while Hank made his way to where Evan was once again.
Hank gasped when he saw him, "Didn't anyone give him some pain killers!" he bellowed, instantly going into intense doctor mode.
A nurse nearby shook her head and handed Hank a pair of large gloves.
"For goodness sakes why not?" his anger was rising.
Evan was still on his knees, trembling from head to foot. Hank could tell from having dealt with Evan many times before that the boy was fighting the urge to bow down to the pain and pass out. He surveyed Evan's back and winced mentally.
"Evan, I highly doubt you could retract that. There is no way your body could absorb one that size."
Evan let out a whimper and turned his head slightly to try to look at Dr. McCoy.
"It'll be alright Evan. You've done this before," he said soothingly.
"Yeah right!" Evan's voice was still higher than usual, and he was gasping between syllables, "I've never felt anything like this in my life! It's never been *this* bad!"
Hank shook his head sympathetically. Evan writhed again as pain shot up and down his spinal column. His head in jolts. Hank quickly ran to his side.
"Evan! You have to stay conscious! Come on. I'll help you as best I..."
He was interrupted by a loud clatter and a series of yelps. A red beam of light flew down the center of the hallway and Hank glared at it.
"I *told* them not to take off his glasses until he was conscious!"
He turned his attention back to Evan who's eyes were now stinging with subtle tears. Evan concentrated with all his might on forcing the spike out of his back. Searing pain shot down his vertebrae as the massive bone slowly inched outward, peeling his skin back as it went. He screamed and Hank promptly gave him a towel to bite down on.
"Just think, one day you'll be able to tell your wife that you *do* know what it's like to give birth," Hank told him.
Evan looked at Hank with complete exasperation. Why he was making jokes at a time like this was beyond him, especially when they weren't even that funny. The beast however, had only said it to distract the boy from the pain. He took a small syringe and found a place along Evan's arm where his bone plates overlapped and shoved the needle under it, injecting the pain killer into the boy's veins.
Evan bit down on the towel as another shockwave of pain traveled down his back, his bones grinding and shifting. When the avalanche of pain lessened slightly, he again forced the bone through his skin.
To add to the agony, Evan couldn't force the bone out in one shot. He'd pass out long before that happened. So he would have to pause every so often, giving his skin time to heal itself around the bone, which meant re-tearing his skin each time.
After twenty minutes of torment, the jolts of pain faded to a dull ache and Evan could no longer move the bone.
"Are you alright Evan?" Hank asked.
If he'd had the energy, he would have glared at the beast. "I'll live."
The bone had become six and a half feet long and Evan had to admit that the weight of it was impressive. He was certain he looked ridiculous, having a six foot high, half a foot thick wall sprouting out of his back.
"You know what this means right, Evan?" Hank asked tentatively.
Evan was too weak to whine and there wasn't really any point either. He was going to have to endure another 'bone sawing' whether he liked it or not.
"Can you live with that thing on your back for a little longer?"
Evan nodded as Hank motioned for the nurse to follow him out of the room.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Alright! I need doctors on this side and nurses on this side. We have to get things organized before we hurt someone." Hank instructed, "Now, what I'm going to do is go through all the kids and if anyone has information on them let me know."
The crowd of medical personnel murmured their agreement. As requested, everyone had been rounded up so that Hank could figure out what was going on.
"Ok, Kitty Pryde. She's the brunette with the broken ribs..."
"She's doing alright. Like you said, she has some broken ribs but nothing too serious. Her legs and left arm seem to have lost blood circulation at one point but we've managed to get her out of danger as far as losing her limbs goes," a random doctor continued rattling off a list of Kitty's injuries while Hank scribbled furiously on a notepad.
Handing the doctor the sheet of paper he said, "Right then. You and two nurses are assigned to her. She can make herself intangible and I expect that's why she lost circulation. Perhaps she solidified into something. I've written her blood type and other medical information on here. Ok, the next person is Evan Daniels; the bone kid. I'll need to attend to him myself and you two can help me. I'll explain things later."
The two nurses, both appearing to be quite strong, stepped aside and Hank continued on. "Scott Summers; the one I explicitly said not to remove his sunglasses? We all know why now, don't we?"
"His skin is torn up around his eyes. We're going to have to stitch them up I think, but I have no idea how we're going to do that," a tiny young doctor informed him, smoothing her hair nervously.
"Is he in any danger?"
"No, just needs to be sewn up and he should be fine. He's already asking about everyone else."
"We'll need a plastic surgeon, I'm not letting his face get all scarred up just for the sake of saving time. Do you know of one?"
A nurse raised a hand and Hank pointed to her. He felt like he was in a classroom but they simply had to ease the chaos. "You know of a plastic surgeon?"
She nodded and pointed to herself.
"Uh, you're on the nurses side."
She nodded again. "It's my mutant ability. I can close cuts and things, no scars. If you let me see him, I'll tell you if I can fix his eyes."
"Good, you and Dr. Uhh– I'm sorry I didn't get your name– you can take care of Scott. Here," he said, handing them a piece of paper.
"Dr. McCoy, sorry to interrupt, but someone should really be attending the boy with the white hair."
Hank nodded and began writing again. "Pietro Maximoff. Hyper speed. Let me guess, he's rail thin, incredibly weak, and his pulse is barely there? Treat him like he's been starved. His body will be behaving like he ran across the globe non stop. Umm, who next, who next? Kurt Wagner. He's the blue fur covered boy.
"I have him all set up on heart monitors and he seems to be fine. He's still out though, and covered in dirt."
Hank sighed with relief. He had been afraid that Kurt had hit a wall or two but it appeared as though he had made it through his experience unharmed. "I think Logan found him out in the woods, which would explain the dirt. Get him lots of food for when he wakes up."
The nurse who had been with Kurt gave Hank an odd look. "I'm sorry?"
"His mutation. When he uses it a lot he needs food. Don't be surprised if the first thing he says when he wakes up is that he's hungry. Just feed him until he's full. Now who has Todd Tolensky? Umm, brown hair, fluid in his lungs I believe."
"He's with me. I don't know what was in his lungs. We think we've got it all, but it was some odd stuff. He's fine now though."
Hank raised an eyebrow. "Hmm, interesting. I'm going to guess it was his slime." he paused then looked back up again, "Oh yeah, get him next to Pietro, the white haired boy. He'll probably be a lot calmer if he realizes Pietro's still around. Anyway, Jean Grey? Red head..."
"I've got her Hank," the professor broke in. He had been observing the last few minutes so that he could find out how extensive the damage had been. "I also have Rogue. They're fine physically."
Hank nodded for what seemed to be the hundredth time. He continued to call off names and hear damage reports as the number of medical staff thinned. It seemed that Kitty, Pietro, and Evan had come off the worst over all, and Sam [3] was so bruised he could hardly move. Amara, [4] Rahne, [5] and Jubilee [6] all had some pretty nasty burns. Rahne would have been unscathed, but with Amara for a roommate, getting scorched was inevitable. Bobby still couldn't feel his fingers, but that didn't worry anybody too much because he said the feeling was slowly coming back. Jamie, [7] Ray, [8] Alex, [9] and Roberto [10] were exhausted but healthy, other than the fact that Ray kept accidently shocking the nurses and screwing up the electronic equipment.
After everyone had been accounted for, Hank gestured to the two nurses he had chosen to assist him earlier and headed back to Evan's room.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The light entered Todd's eyes so abruptly that he instantly had to clench them shut again. On his third try, he managed to bring his surroundings into focus. His heart rate quickened as his eyes darted around the room.
"He's awake," a nearby nurse said.
Panic started to overtake him. He didn't recognize where he was and didn't know why he was there. With a sudden jolt all the memories came rushing back to him. The chocking. The ice coming from the room next to him. Pietro staring at him. Pietro. Pietro laying flat on his back, like before.
"Pietro!" He screamed and sprung off his bed, promptly losing his balance and nearly knocking over a chair, "Where is he!"
"Mr. Tolensky, calm down! It's alright."
"WHERE'S PIETRO?" Todd shouted, ignoring the nurse. His eyes frantically searched around his small, curtained enclosure.
"He's right next to you, on the other side of the curtain. Mr. Tolensky please lay back down, you'll hurt yourself," the nurse pleaded.
"Is he ok? Yo please tell me he's ok, what happened?" Todd's head was spinning as he slowly sat back down on the mattress. His knees were aching and his chest hurt, like he had swallowed too much water, but he didn't care at the moment. The last time Todd had seen Pietro in that state, the speed demon had come close to death.
"He's alright. He regained consciousness about an hour ago and started asking about you and the others. He's really weak, but I promise he's ok," the nurse said reassuringly.
Todd glanced around as he sank slowly back into the mattress. "What the hell happened yo?" Although his blind panic was subsiding, he was still completely confused. "And why the hell am I so sore? How weak is he yo? Why the hell didn't someone..."
"Todd, chill out."
Todd spun his head around to the thin curtain next to him. The voice had been weak, raspy, and barely audible, but it was still distinctly Pietro's.
"Pietro? Yo, what the hell..."
"Not so loud. Hey miss, open the stupid curtain would you?"
Todd winced at his friend's voice. From the sound of it, every syllable was a strain and Pietro was wheezing throughout every word. Toad's wince increased as a nurse pulled the dividing curtain away and revealed Pietro's cot. Todd's first reaction was to panic again. His silver haired friend looked almost exactly as he had after his first accident with his powers a few months back. Pietro had always been a thin guy, but ever since the accident, he looked half starved. He had gained *some* weight back, but he had definitely burned it off once again.
"No one knows what happened Todd- powers just went nuts. Don't look at me like that, it's not as bad as last time. Plus, trained medical people are here," he managed to get out. He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths before adding, "You ok?"
"Yeah, just sore. What about Lance yo?" Todd was slowly beginning to relax.
"Dunno."
"K, well don't worry bout it. Go to sleep, you look like you need it yo."
Pietro sighed and slowly reached over for the glass of water the nurse had set on a chair for him. He was too wound up to sleep really, but he knew he should at least try. He concentrated on getting to cup to his mouth without dropping it when he felt his bed move, ever so slightly, on it's rolling frame. 'You imagined it.' The tremor happened again, still very subtle, and the stands that the medical equipment was sitting on shook slightly as well. 'No, it's not... no it's an earthquake, please let it be a freakin' earthquake!' He winced as the IV needle in his arm moved to some degree. He gasped as it slid deeper into his vein, out again, then trembled. Pietro gaped at it, having received its message.
"SHIT! Todd, he's here!" Pietro's mangled version of a yell erupted from his dry and exhausted throat as the glass of water fell to the ground.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Charles headed down the abandoned hallway, jaw firmly set, and brow deeply furrowed. He was so exasperated by the lack of information that he was beginning to become infuriated. He had no intention of letting one of the students see him this concerned, or angry for that matter, and so he had decided to take a short trip somewhere quiet to clear his thoughts.
He was about to turn down another hall when the distinct feeling of another presence filled the air. He reached out mentally for a moment. Nothing.
"What did you do Magnus?" he said evenly.
"Don't be so concerned Charles."
Xavier tightened his grip on the arms of his chair and took a few moments to calm his anger as the silhouetted form of Magneto emerged and hovered in front of the professor. His yellow eyes gleamed beneath his helmet and he began to chuckle softly.
"Magnus, whatever you did, it nearly killed the students. I wouldn't be so amused."
Again Magneto only laughed faintly. "Charles, I wouldn't actually kill them. I needed test subjects, and I couldn't very well use my acolytes. Imagine the risk if I weakened them all to that degree?"
"Test subjects? Magnus, your own son came out of this as one of the worst..."
"Pietro will be fine. I find it quite amusing that you took him in actually. You don't really think he won't come crawling back to me the minute I ask him to, do you? I understand my son more than you may realize."
Charles furrowed his brow and shook his head. "What you're doing to those children Erik..."
"Is none of your concern," Magneto interrupted, "I'm sure you would like to know what happened to you and your students."
"If you would be so kind as to enlighten me, *old friend*," Charles responded, not bothering to ebb some of the bitterness from his voice.
"I went to great lengths to have a certain chemical placed in your blood streams via food. When this chemical is active, high pitched sound waves can manipulate the X-gene to some extent. I needed to find out what extent exactly. I really have no intention of sharing the details with you Charles, even though there really isn't anything you can do even if I did inform you of all the whys and hows."
Charles sighed and placed a finger to his temple. "Erik, putting my students' lives in jeopardy is dangerous ground, even for you. Is the chemical still active? I would have thought you had learned by now that trying to strengthen powers at an accelerated rate is too risky and..."
"No, it is no longer active. Save the speeches Charles. You know by now that they do little good."
"Unless you have anything else of importance to say, leave. I doubt you want to inform me of your newest plans to gain mutant superiority anyway. Unless of course you'd like to see your son while he's actually conscious." Xavier added, an uncharacteristic edge of sarcasm in his tone.
"Pietro knows I'm here," he replied simply. "You'll hear from me again Charles. Those boys may have befriended you, but they are already mine. I happen to be an amazing manipulator; how else do you think someone like Avalanche would join me? There is this odd desire to do good in him, and I'm one of the few people who can break him of it. Toad will follow anyone he fears. And some advice, don't fool yourself into thinking you can win my son over. I alone know what it is he truly wants and am the only one who can give it to him, so I as good as own him."
"Magnus! They are *children,* not some droid army!"
"Their childhood has already been taken from them Charles, I have simply learned that the younger I can persuade them of my views, the more dedicated they become."
"And what if one day they realize what a pointless war you are provoking, what then?"
"*If* they come to that conclusion, they will already be in too deep. Just ask Pyro. Good day Charles."
Charles watched, disgusted, as Magneto hovered to the window and left the grounds.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Lance glanced at the clock for what must have been the fifth time in the last three minutes. 'They throw a complete hissy fit about me not letting them stay here, then don't even show up today?'
He hadn't been awake for too long, but none the less it was already nearly one in the afternoon. The brunette could not remember ever having felt so tired before. He was also a little unnerved by the fact that Hank hadn't been by to see him. Instead, nurse perky was back and Lance had decided that if she called him sweety one more time he would punch her, or at least yell a whole lot at her. It had always been a little weird to him to fight the female members of the X-Men, so he highly doubted he'd actually punch a girl. At the moment however, even simply talking took a lot of effort, so he knew he was going to have to put up with her for awhile. Sighing, Lance stared up at the ceiling. Not only was he already bored, but he was still incredibly sore. Not that he would ever admit it, but he kind of wished Pietro would hurry up and get here so he could have another free massage.
"Hey kid, how are ya?"
Lance jumped slightly. He hadn't heard the door open, gingerly turned his head to find Logan standing in the doorway.
"I'm alright I guess. Uh, where's Todd and Pietro?"
Logan sniffed the air and stepped all the way into Lance's room. "About that..."
Lance eyed Logan suspiciously as a nervous feeling crept over his already weak stomach, "They...uh, are they ok?"
"Yeah, but some stuff happened. Look kid, there was a slight emergency at the Institute last night. Your friends are all right," he added hastily, seeing the concern flash across the brunette's face, "but they ain't exactly healthy either. Everyone's powers went nuts in the night so they're pretty weak."
Lance stared at Logan for a few minutes, not fully comprehending what he was being told. 'Powers going nuts? What?'
"It's complicated," Logan stated, "Anyway, I know Chuck told you we would drive you back, and that you were expecting to be stuck here for awhile, but because of the circumstances, I'm flying you back today. The mansion is like a hospital at the moment anyway."
"Flying? Man, I'm already sick enough."
Logan ignored the comment as he headed over to Lance's bag that had been stashed in the corner of the tiny room. "You may want to get changed while I go check you out of here."
"Ok....? Mr. Logan, how bad is it over there?" Lance asked, still a little bewildered.
"It's calming down. The half-pint, Daniels, and speedy may be down longer than the others, but they'll be alright."
"Half-pint?"
"Kitty. She's got some broken ribs." Lance continued to stare blankly at Logan. The older man sighed. "I'll fill you in on the ride home."
Lance nodded grimly, not at all thrilled about flying when he already felt this horrible, and utterly confused by this new information.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Kurt wondered down the hall of the infirmary in search of a remotely awake person. He was incredibly tired, but boredom had taken over his whole being and he was sure he would go insane if he had to lay in bed another minute. At last, he came to a bed with someone sitting up. A lot of the cots had been lined down the hallway, divided by makeshift curtains that Kurt would have been willing to bet his life were made from bed sheets.
"Rogue! Up for company?" he asked hopefully.
Rogue shifted her position and nodded, "Finally. Ah swear, the color white intensifies boredom."
Kurt laughed as he began to scratch his forearm. "So, are you alright?"
She nodded, but it wasn't too convincing. Her expression seemed preoccupied as she kept glancing toward the end of the hallway.
"Rogue..."
Sighing in defeat, Rogue pulled her knees to her chest and rested her arms on them. "It's Pietro"
Kurt tried to hide his grin, which received a cold glare from Rogue. "Out of za denial stage finally?"
Rogue rolled her eyes and rested her chin on top of her hands. "Ah didn't mean like that. Ah meant like Ah'm worried about him. He's really beat up Kurt, and Ah know he'll heal up just fine if he lets himself, but Pietro just isn't that patient. Chances are he'll end up trying to do too much too soon and hurt himself all over again."
Kurt wasn't aware of Pietro's running problem, and Rogue had no intention of telling him, but it worried her. She wasn't sure how much sense could be talked into Pietro when he was like this. He didn't like being considered weak and would probably do everything he could to appear to bounce back quickly. The truth of the matter was that he *was* weak, probably weaker than anyone realized, and if he didn't let himself heal physically, he would probably end up doing some permanent and serious damage.
"Ok, so you aren't out of za denial stage, zat's ok. But really Rogue, I think he'll be ok. He, all three of them actually, have a lot of stuff they need to deal with and..."
"Yeah, yeah, Ah know that," she paused and tilted her head slightly, "And darn you Kurt, Ah am out of the denial stage ok? There, Ah admit it. But if you tell Kitty Ah said that, Ah'll pound you into the ground like a good sister should!"
Kurt grinned and scratched the back his neck. Rogue raised an eyebrow at him.
"What're ya fidgeting so much for?"
Kurt shrugged as he began to claw at his ankle with renewed vigor. "I dunno! I itch!"
"Huh?"
Kurt shrugged. "Anyway, did za prof tell you about Magneto being za one behind all this?"
Rogue nodded, "Thing Ah don't get is how the hell it got into our food. The security on this place is insane. It's almost like someone had to do it from within..."
"You don't sink..."
"No. There's no way."
Kurt looked up at Rogue and shrugged once again. He didn't want to say it out loud, because he truly didn't believe it, but the thought of how easy it would have been for one of the brotherhood to poison them entered his mind abruptly.
"There's just no vay."
Rogue nodded. "Don't even suggest the idea in front of them. They'd probably get really offended."
"Vell ja! I would too! Oh no, you don't think Scott, or Bobby even, would...you know, jump to conclusions and accuse zem do you?"
Rogue bit her lip. "Uhh, Bobby may not like Pietro, but Ah don't think he would suspect him of something like that ya know? Scott on the other hand tends to get a little jumpy when stuff like this happens. Always needs to be able to pinpoint how somethin' happened."
"I sink I'll talk to him then. Did you hear about zat lady who fixed his eyes! It vas veird, he had to go stand outside and open his eyes so he didn't damage anything, and she just sealed up the cut," Kurt got sidetracked mid-story as he began to scratch at his neck for the hundredth time. "Gah! Vaht za heck is going on."
"Come here and let me look at ya," Rogue said, pulling him to her.
She began to examine the back of Kurt's neck, brushing his fur up the wrong way so that she could get a good look at his skin.
"Logan found you in the woods right? Maybe you landed in some poison ivy or... oh my ..." she trailed off.
"Vaht? Vaht is it?"
Rogue's mouth dropped open and she pulled her hand from Kurt's fur. "Uhh, Kurt, Ah think you have fleas."
Kurt spun around, gaping, and tried to speak.
"Calm down fuzzy, it's not the end of the world."
"Not the...? Rogue, do you realize how...how creepy zat is! Please tell me you're playing some cruel joke."
Rogue pressed her lips together in a thin line and shook her head. Kurt's eyes widened as his fur went from deep blue to nearly pastel.
"Holy crap. Rogue, please, please, please, please, don't tell anyvon! Just get some flea junk and help me get rid of zem!"
Rogue giggled and swung her legs over the side of the bed, "Alright, Ah won't. Ah'll have to tell one of the adults though so they can get you some flea killer. Ah don't exactly have any of that laying around. [2]
~*~*~*~*~
"Hank! Hank where is he?" Ororo came running down the corridor in search of the beast, her sister and brother in law following at her heals.
"Calm down Ororo, he's alright. We already sawed the crazy thing off and he's sleeping. I'll be honest though, it was the worst I've ever seen him."
Evan's family visibly relaxed as Hank led them to Evan's small enclosure. He was completely out, sprawled on his stomach with a somewhat pained look on his face. His mom immediately walked over to him and looked down at him, trying to determine if she should risk touching him; he obviously needed the sleep.
"How are the others," Ororo asked, "Kurt, Pietro..."
Hank started to say something, but was abruptly cut off by Mrs. Daniels.
"Who? Did you just say Pietro? Not Pietro Maximoff, surely."
Ororo raised an eyebrow at her sister, "Well, yes. Did Evan not tell you?"
Both Mr. and Mrs. Daniels' looked stunned with this information. "Ororo you knew that boy was our neighbor, right? He and Evan were inseparable since elementary school. Actually they had some big fight their freshman year, but that's besides the point," Mr. Daniels said.
Ororo looked back at them, slightly surprised at how excited they were to hear this.
"Oh I'm going to let him have it when he wakes up," Mrs. Daniels said, indicating Evan, "How could he not tell us? He was like our adopted son 'Ro, his own parents were a bit odd and he spent a lot of time at our place."
"I never knew any of this," Ororo stated innocently, "I would have told you if I had known Viv. You see, Pietro was on the team that fights against us. He didn't show up here until recently, and it was only out of desperation. He's a mess Vivian. When you say his parents are a bit odd, you don't know the half of it. His real father is a mutant."
"The mutant that caused all this to happen," Hank added.
"Magneto was the one who did this?"
Hank nodded as he filled a syringe and injected the fluid under Evan's plates. "Calcium," he explained to Mr. Daniels, who looked quite surprised by the injection, "And yes, it was Magneto. He spoke to Charles apparently."
"That's all very fascinating, but do you think we could go see Pietro?" Mrs. Daniels requested.
"Fourth cot on your left."
"Thank you. You'll come get us if he wakes up, right Ororo?" Mr. Daniels asked.
~*~
Pietro stared up at the ceiling, concentrating on breathing *slowly.* Every time he got distracted, his heart rate would begin to take off again and he was so exhausted that he actually had to focus on keeping his mutation in check.
Unfortunately, staying focused was incredibly difficult at the moment. The professor had told most of the students about what Magneto had done to them. Some sort of strange chemical, or something weird like that; Pietro hadn't been to concerned with that part. The thought that he couldn't get out of his head however, was making him feel both childish and angry at the same time.
'He didn't come and see me. He didn't care that I could have died. He didn't even come to say *anything,* positive or negative.'
Awhile ago, Kitty's parents had come tearing down the hall in search of their daughter, both looking slightly frazzled. It was then that Pietro realized several things all at once. He had literally sat in his bed, gaping at the opposite wall, for almost an hour. Since then, he'd had nothing else to do but stew in his new thoughts.
'Man, Hank's gonna be in for a real treat next session. His punk of a patient finally figured out what his main inner conflict is. Yeesh, now I'm diagnosing myself.'
"Pietro Maximoff! Give us one good reason why we shouldn't just refuse to speak to you."
Pietro was jerked from his thoughts and he struggled to sit up while waiting for the voice to register. He blinked several times at the couple standing in the doorway. They were both grinning at him, almost laughing.
"You are in *so* much trouble mister," Mr. Daniels teased. "How dare you not tell us you were in on this whole mutant thing, and on the other side no less!"
Pietro sat stock still, dumbfounded.
"Don't worry, Evan is going to get the same speech. Seriously though Pietro, why on earth didn't you tell us? The last we heard, you were in jail," Mrs. Daniels said, coming to sit next to Pietro.
Pietro blushed slightly at the comment about being jail, but still couldn't find his voice at the moment.
"Are you alright sweety?"
Pietro nodded stiffly and forced his mouth to open. "I uh, I'm sorry Mrs. Daniels."
Mrs. Daniels sat back slightly and raised an eyebrow at Pietro. "Mrs. Daniels? Pietro I don't think you've called me that since you were in the third grade!"
Pietro smirked, "Sorry aunt Viv."
"Much better. Mrs. Daniels makes me sound old," she said, winking. Her expression softened as she studied Pietro for a moment. Maternal instincts taking over, she reached over and brushed his tousled hair out of his face, making a mental note to ask about the bad haircut later. "Pietro," she said gently, "From what I've heard, a lot of stuff has happened to you huh?"
He nodded, not sure what he was supposed to say.
"Well that's alright," she continued, "because as far as I'm concerned, you're only a kid. You aren't some super-hero in training when you're with us ok? So right now, all I see is a kid; a kid who's hurting, more specifically. Now don't get all defensive like you always do. I'm a mom, I know these things when I see them, especially with you and Evan. I think what Xavier does here is wonderful, but he, and even my sister at times, forget how young you kids are."
Pietro took an avid interest in his sheets and began to fidget with a loose thread. "Uh, thanks. Um, I...yeah."
"Oh, you boys and your silly fronts. Come here."
Pietro tensed as Mrs. Daniels wrapped him up in a warm hug. She laughed softly and he finally relaxed. She slowly rocked him slightly as he buried his head into her shoulder. Without a sound, he began to tear up, and for the first time since he could remember, he actually knew why.
Seeing the Daniels again was probably the last thing he wanted at the moment– when he was already stressed out about family issues. He didn't want to be reminded that Evan had what he wanted more than anything.
Despite his current thoughts on the subject, Pietro couldn't fight off the way Mrs. Daniels made him feel at the moment: like a kid. He had forgotten that feeling a long time ago, and was more than willing to remember it now.
AN: Oooook. Now don't kill me for the lack of Magneto lol. I swear there is much more of him to come... our fav messed up boys just aren't ready for it yet... but im gonna try and stop dragging it out so much. I think the next chapter is going to fast forward somewhat aight? Cuz I need to get a move on with that whole thing. I haven't forgotten about Lance either... his lack of angstyness has kinda put him on the sidelines for now...but ill get back to him. I'm gonna clarify all the stuff with Pietro... and Todd is gonna get to the mega horrifying memory that messed him all up pretty soon. So anyway, like I said, there are parts about this chapter I like, and parts I don't like, so please let me know what you think. I promise I'll have responses for you guys next time.
[1] The clinic... yeah, I could have explained the clinic and how it worked in the story somewhere... but it would have been dull and it just wasn't necessary to explain it while these events are taking place. So, if you're really that curious...uhh... let's say it's common knowledge that 'the clinic' is actually part of a huge chain of underground (as in unknown or secret or whatever) Mutant hospitals. The people that work in them can be mutant or human, doesn't matter as long as they are friends to mutants. K?
[2] Ok, So I know this scene was a bit out of sync... but I needed to break things up a bit... maybe it works and maybe it doesn't, but whatever...it's staying where it is lol. The issue of Pietro, Lance, and Todd being suspects needed to be addressed somewhere. The flea thing... I dunno lol, just one of those weird moments.
[3] Sam is Cannonball
[4] Amara is Magma
[5] Rahne is Wolfsbane
[6] Jubilee is... I always get confused. Is her codename Jubilee too? Anywho, she's the firework chick
[7] Jamie is Multiple
[8] Ray is Berserker
[9] Alex is Havoc... Scott's brother
[10] Roberto is Sunspot or something like that... Do you guys still want me to add these every chapter or no? I always screw up the numbering and it gets on my nerves lol (cuz im just weird). But ill keep doing it if u want me to.