Sam shakily rose from the bed, and grabbed his clothes blushing furiously that he had been naked under the sheet. Once clothed, he bent over Dr. McCoy and saw that he was ok and already stirring even as others poured into the room. And halted. Suddenly. Staring at him. Dr. McCoy was up now an to the side staring at him as well.
Ellen was the first to speak.
"Oh. My. God. You're alive."
Sam looked at her oddly and smiled.
"Yeah, I reckon I am, Ellen."
Then, Ellen shok off her paralysis and ran and hugged him. Thats started a tidal wave as the others all crowded around. Their amazed, and in some cases. crying faces alarmed him as they moved him. And he noticed some absences from the faces around him. Those he really knew weren't there. Where was Bobby, and Roberto, Dani, and Rahne, and the others?
~A good Question, Sam. And the answer is, Gone.~
Sam gaped as the Professor's chair wheeled up and Sam leaned in to hugg the gruff man.
"What do you mean, Professor? Where are my other friends?"
"I am afraid the so-called New Mutants vanished sometime today. And so did Scott, jean, and Ku-"
The Professor's voice broke off, as in mid-word, Kurt teleported into the room, collapsing into Sam's arms with a "oh hi Sam" Kurt was wounded in his arm and bleeding, his face and body scruffed up and dirty.
Sam swung him up int his arms and turned to Doctor McCoy.
Doc motioned to one of the undamaged beds and Sam lay Kurt there gently then moved back , only to find Storm motioning him to another bed and switching on a scanner. he sighed and lay down.
Kurt was speaking, grasping Professor Xavier's hand. "Ambush. Scott and Jean captured. New mutants are going to try to rescue. I tried to stop them..." And with that he collpased out cold and Doc moved in checking him out an treating his arm wound, hooking up an I.V.
Ms. Monroe, Storm, was scanning Sam and gazing at the instrument with a look of shock. The professor looked at it too then turned to Sam.
"I hate to tell you this Sam, but you were dead. And now... well, now theres nothing at all wrony with you. In fact, all scars on your body have vanished. You have ...somehow regenerated from death itself."
Sam felt panicky as shock set in. He had been dead? He had been raised to believe in God and Heaven. if he had died why hadnt he gone there? had he been rejected for some reason?
The Professor's 'voice' sounded in his mind.
~ No Sam, this is no work of a deity. it appears you have a powerful mutation that has allowed you to return from the dead. It is impossible to know if it will repeat or if it was a one time thing, but it was not of God, but of DNA~
Sam relaxed slightly. still shocked byut less worried now. he gazed at Ms. Monroe and the Professor.
"You'll figure it out. I trust you."
The Professor smiled and patted his hand.
"You will have to stay here for a little while for observation but I think you will be ok."
"What about Kurt?"
Professor X turned his eyes toward his other student and smiled sadly.
"He is hurt, but from the looks of it, Dr McCoy has him well under hand. Meanwhile, We have a rescue to plan. X-men, to the War Room."
* * *
Scott groaned and swum up out of dreams into awareness, and darkness. He could feel a weight on his face and the darkness covering his eyes just proved that he was meant to be helpless, as did the manacles on every limb weighing him down. He tested all the limits and thus attracted attention.
"Scott!"Kitty's voice had an edge of panic to it.
"Kitty? Are you ok?"
"ok? i dont think being poked and prodded by some creepy guy in a lab and hanging in a dungeon is a definition of 'ok' that I woukld use."
"Sorry, kitty. Jean? Piotr?"
"Da. I am here."Piotr's voice, tired and almost ragged but still strong.
"We're all here, Scott, all hung in restraints."Jean's voice, sounding frightened and yet strong. God how he loved her. he could feel her love reaching for him across the mindlink, and smiled.
"Who is it who has us? has he shown him-"
"Enjoying yourself, Summers?"The brusque voice broke in.
The oily sound of the voice made Scott almost want to retch, and there was something almost familiar about it as well. He tried to remember but couldnt. Suddenly a slight whisper sang behind his head and Jean opened their mind link and sight welled up isnide his mind.
A starkly white stranger stood in the doorway, clothed in a bizarre outfit and staring at him. He was grinning a dark smile and the odd gem in his forehead was gleeming. Kitty and Piotr hung nearby, chained up and suspended on the walls. Jean glanced aside for a moment so he could see her arm and himself bound the same as the others.
"You will be my guest for some time, or until I tire of you. It was very foolish of you to come after you friends, and you will regret entering the house of Sinister."
With an almost dramatic swirl, he turned and left, and Jean let the connection thin some and the odd vision faded.
"Scott? how are you feeling? "
Jean's voice was like a balm to him and as he hung there their quiet words began to sing almost like a song
"I'm ok dear, just feeling the bruises. Any other hints of who this Sinister is?"
"He seems bent on securing my and Kitty's dna for some reason, but he did not reveal why. He took samples and examined me thoroughly."
"Me too, he kept using his scanners and took some blood, then knocked me out before taking... he took some sorta genetic sample, he said, but that was all."
"Jean, you started studying genetics. Any ideas?"
"He sounds like he wants to conduct genetic expiraments, but i dont know what kind."
"Damn. We have to get out of here. Any chance of reaching anyone elsewhere?"
"Oh Scott, I cant use my telekinesis, and my telepathy seems to stop at the walls."
Piotr's words rang out, "Together we will stop the scum yes, Scott? Together we will show him the might of the X-men."
Scott felt a feeling of kinship growing in him for Piotr, one that had been growing since the sincere man had come over to their side and been drastically strengthened since they had gone through so much in six months.
"Thats right Piotr, we will and we will escape too, just as soion as things get a little more clear."
Jean's voice sounded worried as she replied,"But we dont know anything yet..."
"Jean, I may be helpless but you are the strong one, and together we are gona get out of here."
he could hear the grin in ehr voice as she responded,"Oh i know Scott, these idiot villains we face always have a weakness and tyou and i ar used to facing them and lookign for that qweakness by now."
He flushed a little for every thinking she might need reassurance, and said,"yeah you're right. This guy has nothing on Apocalypse."
"So now we just wait....Scott, I love you."
Her bold openly frank words and tone caught him offguard and he hessitated but then his love for her flooded through him.he heard the other two start conversing quietly and switched to mindspeak to her concentrating.
~I love you too, Jean. And yeah, now's the fun part. Though the last time we had to escape an evil psychopath as I recall , the hard part was putting up with Kitty's complaining~
Her laughter made him smile as she replied,~Yeah, that was a bear wasnt it, especially with Friends of Humanity following us all day.~
~I swear Hank was about to fetch her one a couple of times during the run. If not for his extra patience....~
Laughter echoed for a minute then faded, and he felt her gentle touihc in the mind link they shared, he sent love and reassurance there and smiled softly.No matter what happenned they would be allright.
"All right you two, whats funny?" Exclaimed kitty.
That just made them laugh the more until Scott grunted out F.O.H. and heard Piotr and Kitty both break up in laughter as they too remembered that ascary but funny incident. They began talking of old times and of new. Quiet voices ijn the night in darkness. But in the datrkness, they were not alone. They had found each other and one by one they realized it, and began to look at one another differently. They all talked for hours and somewhere in the night a bond grew between them.
* * *
Ellen was the first to speak.
"Oh. My. God. You're alive."
Sam looked at her oddly and smiled.
"Yeah, I reckon I am, Ellen."
Then, Ellen shok off her paralysis and ran and hugged him. Thats started a tidal wave as the others all crowded around. Their amazed, and in some cases. crying faces alarmed him as they moved him. And he noticed some absences from the faces around him. Those he really knew weren't there. Where was Bobby, and Roberto, Dani, and Rahne, and the others?
~A good Question, Sam. And the answer is, Gone.~
Sam gaped as the Professor's chair wheeled up and Sam leaned in to hugg the gruff man.
"What do you mean, Professor? Where are my other friends?"
"I am afraid the so-called New Mutants vanished sometime today. And so did Scott, jean, and Ku-"
The Professor's voice broke off, as in mid-word, Kurt teleported into the room, collapsing into Sam's arms with a "oh hi Sam" Kurt was wounded in his arm and bleeding, his face and body scruffed up and dirty.
Sam swung him up int his arms and turned to Doctor McCoy.
Doc motioned to one of the undamaged beds and Sam lay Kurt there gently then moved back , only to find Storm motioning him to another bed and switching on a scanner. he sighed and lay down.
Kurt was speaking, grasping Professor Xavier's hand. "Ambush. Scott and Jean captured. New mutants are going to try to rescue. I tried to stop them..." And with that he collpased out cold and Doc moved in checking him out an treating his arm wound, hooking up an I.V.
Ms. Monroe, Storm, was scanning Sam and gazing at the instrument with a look of shock. The professor looked at it too then turned to Sam.
"I hate to tell you this Sam, but you were dead. And now... well, now theres nothing at all wrony with you. In fact, all scars on your body have vanished. You have ...somehow regenerated from death itself."
Sam felt panicky as shock set in. He had been dead? He had been raised to believe in God and Heaven. if he had died why hadnt he gone there? had he been rejected for some reason?
The Professor's 'voice' sounded in his mind.
~ No Sam, this is no work of a deity. it appears you have a powerful mutation that has allowed you to return from the dead. It is impossible to know if it will repeat or if it was a one time thing, but it was not of God, but of DNA~
Sam relaxed slightly. still shocked byut less worried now. he gazed at Ms. Monroe and the Professor.
"You'll figure it out. I trust you."
The Professor smiled and patted his hand.
"You will have to stay here for a little while for observation but I think you will be ok."
"What about Kurt?"
Professor X turned his eyes toward his other student and smiled sadly.
"He is hurt, but from the looks of it, Dr McCoy has him well under hand. Meanwhile, We have a rescue to plan. X-men, to the War Room."
* * *
Scott groaned and swum up out of dreams into awareness, and darkness. He could feel a weight on his face and the darkness covering his eyes just proved that he was meant to be helpless, as did the manacles on every limb weighing him down. He tested all the limits and thus attracted attention.
"Scott!"Kitty's voice had an edge of panic to it.
"Kitty? Are you ok?"
"ok? i dont think being poked and prodded by some creepy guy in a lab and hanging in a dungeon is a definition of 'ok' that I woukld use."
"Sorry, kitty. Jean? Piotr?"
"Da. I am here."Piotr's voice, tired and almost ragged but still strong.
"We're all here, Scott, all hung in restraints."Jean's voice, sounding frightened and yet strong. God how he loved her. he could feel her love reaching for him across the mindlink, and smiled.
"Who is it who has us? has he shown him-"
"Enjoying yourself, Summers?"The brusque voice broke in.
The oily sound of the voice made Scott almost want to retch, and there was something almost familiar about it as well. He tried to remember but couldnt. Suddenly a slight whisper sang behind his head and Jean opened their mind link and sight welled up isnide his mind.
A starkly white stranger stood in the doorway, clothed in a bizarre outfit and staring at him. He was grinning a dark smile and the odd gem in his forehead was gleeming. Kitty and Piotr hung nearby, chained up and suspended on the walls. Jean glanced aside for a moment so he could see her arm and himself bound the same as the others.
"You will be my guest for some time, or until I tire of you. It was very foolish of you to come after you friends, and you will regret entering the house of Sinister."
With an almost dramatic swirl, he turned and left, and Jean let the connection thin some and the odd vision faded.
"Scott? how are you feeling? "
Jean's voice was like a balm to him and as he hung there their quiet words began to sing almost like a song
"I'm ok dear, just feeling the bruises. Any other hints of who this Sinister is?"
"He seems bent on securing my and Kitty's dna for some reason, but he did not reveal why. He took samples and examined me thoroughly."
"Me too, he kept using his scanners and took some blood, then knocked me out before taking... he took some sorta genetic sample, he said, but that was all."
"Jean, you started studying genetics. Any ideas?"
"He sounds like he wants to conduct genetic expiraments, but i dont know what kind."
"Damn. We have to get out of here. Any chance of reaching anyone elsewhere?"
"Oh Scott, I cant use my telekinesis, and my telepathy seems to stop at the walls."
Piotr's words rang out, "Together we will stop the scum yes, Scott? Together we will show him the might of the X-men."
Scott felt a feeling of kinship growing in him for Piotr, one that had been growing since the sincere man had come over to their side and been drastically strengthened since they had gone through so much in six months.
"Thats right Piotr, we will and we will escape too, just as soion as things get a little more clear."
Jean's voice sounded worried as she replied,"But we dont know anything yet..."
"Jean, I may be helpless but you are the strong one, and together we are gona get out of here."
he could hear the grin in ehr voice as she responded,"Oh i know Scott, these idiot villains we face always have a weakness and tyou and i ar used to facing them and lookign for that qweakness by now."
He flushed a little for every thinking she might need reassurance, and said,"yeah you're right. This guy has nothing on Apocalypse."
"So now we just wait....Scott, I love you."
Her bold openly frank words and tone caught him offguard and he hessitated but then his love for her flooded through him.he heard the other two start conversing quietly and switched to mindspeak to her concentrating.
~I love you too, Jean. And yeah, now's the fun part. Though the last time we had to escape an evil psychopath as I recall , the hard part was putting up with Kitty's complaining~
Her laughter made him smile as she replied,~Yeah, that was a bear wasnt it, especially with Friends of Humanity following us all day.~
~I swear Hank was about to fetch her one a couple of times during the run. If not for his extra patience....~
Laughter echoed for a minute then faded, and he felt her gentle touihc in the mind link they shared, he sent love and reassurance there and smiled softly.No matter what happenned they would be allright.
"All right you two, whats funny?" Exclaimed kitty.
That just made them laugh the more until Scott grunted out F.O.H. and heard Piotr and Kitty both break up in laughter as they too remembered that ascary but funny incident. They began talking of old times and of new. Quiet voices ijn the night in darkness. But in the datrkness, they were not alone. They had found each other and one by one they realized it, and began to look at one another differently. They all talked for hours and somewhere in the night a bond grew between them.
* * *