Finally the school day ended, and Scott arrived in his convertible. Between him and Kitty, they loaded up the students from the Institute and drove back towards it, freeing them from yet another day of boring homework and hateful students.
To their surprise, as soon as the two cars reached the Institute garage and their passengers began to unload, there was a telepathic call.
Students, we have a problem of grave concern. All those currently ill, even a little, please report to the medical bay with Hank for testing, stated Xavier, speaking to their minds. Reluctantly, Ray and Jubes headed that way, followed by Scott, who was curious to know what was going on. And not just out of concern for his team, after all. He was their field leader but he was also their friend, after all.
So it was that they found themselves in the medical bay, where the Professor were busy at work. They could see through one of the doors to the side, in the sleeping ward, Hank and Ororo, though they were dressed as if for surgery, with gloves and masks designed to prevent the spread of contagion. To their surprise, Sam, Kurt and Jamie were all their, as well as Amara, Rogue and Jean, all coughing, all sick, all lying down. The Professor tapped the control on his wheelchair, moving it out from behind where he'd been and moving forward to address Scott, Ray and Jubes.
"I'm afraid we have something of an epidemic going through the Institute at the moment," he said, his voice quiet and tense. "Ray, Jubilee, please join Hank in the other room. Scott, please come with me." Professor Xavier led Scott over to the table where he'd been working, quickly double-checking his readings before sighing deeply.
"Professor, what is going on?" asked Scott.
"I'm afraid I don't yet known Scott. But I do know that some sort of... disease, is starting to pop up in the students. Hank and I have yet to isolate the cause, but until we do, we will need to make sure the other students are safe," he stated, picking up a small needle from the table. "Would you hold out your hand please?"
Scott reluctantly did so, holding out his hand as Xavier placed the tip of a sharp needle against Scott's arm, drawing just a single drop of blood and being quick to cover it up. The blood he placed on a piece of glass and put it under the microscope he'd been at. As he examined it, Scott noticed a great many more rested next to his, all labeled with names of the occupants of the Institute.
"Looks like you're clean Scott."
Scott breathed a sigh of relief.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Elsewhere in Bayville, it was the same for others.
Specifically, the young mutant Dorian Leech.
The young brown-haired boy was bedridden, coughing like there was no end, and he was burning up. His mother was absolutely frantic, trying everything she knew to try and help her son, but he'd been like this all day and she was growing desperate. She'd tried everything, even taken a trip to the grocery store to grab some off the shelf medicines, but none of them were of any aid. And she dare not take little Dorian to a hospital. They'd... they'd treat him like a mutant, she thought. As always, sorrow for her son's newfound life brought hot tears to her eyes but she angrily wiped them away.
There was a time for despair and there was a time for action.
Sighing, she realized there was only one possibly place she could turn to for answers. She went into the kitchen, grabbing her purse from where she'd left it on the counter. She rummaged around inside, searching for... ah, there it was. She smiled a little as she drew out the slightly crumpled piece of paper, very glad she still had it.
Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters.
Professor Xavier's card, including a number. Until now, she'd been quiet content to not have any contact with the Institute mutants. Or any, for that matter, not even those Brotherhood boys who also lived in Bayville.
But now she had little choice. She dialed the number into her cordless phone, holding it against her ear, as she waited... waited. Ring... ring.
"Hello Mrs. Leech," came a voice she instantly recognized as Professor Xavier's. Despite this she felt her heart flutter fearfully.
"Yes this is... how... how did you know...?"
"Ah, my apologies. I did not mean to startle you."
"Yes, uhm... listen Professor I know you said call whenever, and well... I don't want to disturb you if you're busy," she started.
"Not at all," he replied, though this was far from the truth. Xavier was, at the moment, going through the inspecting of other students for unusually high numbers of infected cells. Thus far, things were not looking good. And if the mother of another Bayville mutant was calling him at the same time, things were looking worse by the moment.
"It's Dorian, he's..."
"Ill, is he not?" he interrupted, again making her shiver.
"You're... you're reading my mind?" she asked. She wasn't one hundred percent what Xavier could do as a mutant, but, she had an idea. All those stories, all those news reports about mutant powers. It was enough to boggle the mind.
"No, that was an educated guess. I'm afraid a number of my students are also ill... a fever, I presume? Coughing and such?"
"Yes," she replied, her voice hardly louder than a whisper. "I've tried everything I know of, but nothing seems to work. I can't take him to a hospital, I mean..."
"I understand your situation," he replied, again interrupting her as she began to become hysterical. Instantly she calmed down. Xavier's voice had a way of doing that. And it had nothing to do with his mutation. When he talked, people listened, and only the most hot-headed (or thick-headed) individuals failed to be calmed by his soothing words. Had he not been a mutant, not started a school to teach and educated young mutants, he might have become a most effective diplomat or politician. "Please, bring Dorian to the Institute and we will care for him as best we can. We have only the latest resources to assist him."
"Thank you," she breathed, as she hung up the phone and grabbed her coat. The Institute was only about twenty minutes away, and thankfully Dorian was still small enough for her to carry to the car.
But as she picked him up in her arms, she couldn't help but notice how pitifully tiny and wasted he seemed. She ran through almost three red lights on her way to the Institute.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Things were growing worse at the Xavier Institute.
Everyone had been accounted for. Almost half of the Institute's population was sick with the mysterious illness. Among the infected were Rogue, Jean, Kurt and most of the new recruits. Only Tabby, Roberto and Bobby weren't yet affected. So far none of the adults had been afflicted, and Xavier had now ordered a quarantine be imposed on the medical ward to ensure the contagion did not spread. It was not an easy choice, but it was one that had to be made.
Xavier sighed, turning away from the glass wall separating his sick students from those outside. Ororo was there beside him, and also Kitty and Tabby. Hank was inside the quarantined area in a containment suit. Xavier had it specially ordered from his usual contacts to fit the much larger, ape-like frame of his confidant Hank. He had hoped they wouldn't need to use it, but it was always better to be prepared. Bobby was in a similar suit, helping out by providing ice-packs to the infected. Their body temperature was rising very rapidly as the illness progressed, and his aid was a welcome relief.
Though his humor they could have done without. Rogue had put it best by saying that Bobby was no Patch Adams.
Xavier turned his chair away from the glass, returning to his lab station and again going over the puzzle of what they were dealing with. And how to deal with it. Ororo came over, gently laying a hand on his shoulder.
"I'll meet Mrs. Leech at the doorway," she said, starting to leave.
"No wait please, Ororo..." he said, turning. "Scott, please see to that. Ororo, we have another matter to consider," he said as the brown-haired boy left. Ororo frowned, confused. "If young Dorian has indeed contracted the same illness as the other students, I suspect it is more widespread than just the Institute."
"Should we alert Mayor Kelly?" asked Ororo. She did not care for him, but he was their mayor, after all. He should be informed of dangers to the community.
"That is likely the last thing we should do right now," replied Xavier. "Considering what myself and Hank have just discovered. Observe."
Xavier made his way to another part of the lab he was working on, indicating to beakers filled with a semi-clear, reddish-pink liquid. They were in a sealed off small room, accessible only through the black gloves built into the glass wall sealing them off. Both seemed identical, covered in a thin plastic film. Gently Xavier picked up a syringe and injected both through the plastic. One slowly turned a thick, gooey greenish-black, while the other did not seem to have changed at all.
"As you can no doubt guess," he said, as Kitty and Tabby moved up to watch alongside Ororo. "The first beaker contains mutant cells... the other contains ordinary human cells. This... this virus... attacks only the X-gene," he stated with grave finality.
"Goddess," breathed Ororo.
"Wow," whispered Kitty.
"Holy..." muttered Tabby.
"Tabitha," interrupted Xavier before she could finish her statement. "I need you to go to Forge's residence. Bring him here, convince him it is for his own good," stated Xavier. "Kitty, the Brotherhood house. Ororo..."
"The Morlocks," she replied, nodding. Xavier did as well, confirming her hunch, and within moments the three mutant females had left the lab on their mission, grateful to have something they could do instead of just watch their friends and family suffer.
Xavier returned to his research, hoping to find out more about this terrible virus that plagued the mutant community.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hello?"
Silence greeted her.
"Hello?" she called out again, taking a step into the Institute. Amanda closed the door behind her, slipping off her gloves and looking around. No one was near, all was deathly silent.
Amanda had arrive moments ago, determined to arrive after school to see Kurt and hopefully improve his condition. She wasn't sure how sick he was, but he always felt better when she was around. Or so he said. So she'd taken the bus home, dropped off her things, and walked here. Indeed, had she known it, she'd only narrowly missed as Kitty had driven out and Ororo and Tabby had embarked on their own missions.
All was deathly quiet in the Institute.
Ah, Amanda... this is fortunate. Could you please join me on the second basement floor?
The words rippled in her mind, and despite the many times it had happened before, Amanda shivered a little. It always unnerved her whenever Professor X did that. Truth be told, most mutations still surprised her every time they were used... except Kurt's. She'd grown used to his.
Following his instructions, Amanda followed the hallway to the elevator and rode it down to the second basement. She hadn't been this low underground in the Institute before, and was amazed at the vast change from warm, friendly and slightly out-dated mansion to cutting edge, cold steel walls. It was like being transported onto one of those futuristic ships on a Sci-fi show that Kurt and she loved so much.
This way, directed the voice inside of her head, giving Amanda the equivalent to a mental arrow pointing her in the direction she was to go. She followed it, winding up in the medical lab. Professor Xavier and some other woman was with her that Amanda didn't recognize, and also Scott was there.
"Oh, hello Professor. I'm sorry if I'm interrupting something, I just came over to see Kurt," she said.
"As I suspected you would. Unfortunately a problem has developed..."
"Kurt isn't getting worse is he?" she asked, suddenly worried for her furry blue boyfriend.
"I'm afraid what we're dealing with is much worse than a simple illness, Ms. Sefton," he stated quietly. Then, he gestured to the woman behind him. "This is Mrs. Leech. You may recall her son was involved in an anti-mutant attack a few months ago."
"Oh yes I recall, it was on the news... with the sewers mutants and... and Evan," she said. Amanda had never fully wrapped her mind around that one. She'd known Evan when he'd been a student at Bayville, since he'd been good friends with Kurt. But this new Evan seemed so different from the old one. So much more violent and angry with the world in general.
"Mrs. Leech's son has also fallen ill. The same illness Kurt has. And it is spreading throughout the Institute," Xavier stated gently. Amanda shivered.
"Anyone with a X-gene is susceptible, we've found..." he said, trailing off delibertly.
"Even a latent X-gene?" asked Amanda.
"We're not sure yet. I've already checked Mrs. Leech. She has no X-gene, nor is she ill, because this virus only targets that gene specifically. From what I can tell, Dorian developed his spontaneously. But you may be a different case, Amanda, and I want to make sure there is no risk to you."
Amanda nodded dimly, allowing Xavier to draw a tiny drop of her blood and examine it under a microscope. All the while she felt her gut twist fearfully. Not just for herself, but for Kurt and all the other poor mutants who might be infected.
"It seems your cells are unaffected, Amanda," stated Xavier, and Amanda breathed a welcome sigh of relief. "Though this means that you are not susceptible, or that you have had no contact with the disease. The X-gene may have to be active for someone to be ill, but until we know more we cannot take any risks. I recommend we assume that you are susceptible and keep you isolated from the ill for right now."
"Oh..." she sighed, dejectedly now, realizing she wouldn't be able to see Kurt. She had to try though. "Is... is it possible for me to see Kurt, at least?"
Xavier frowned, considering her request. He tented his fingers, as he often did when he thought deeply, glancing at Scott as well for his opinion as the two shared a brief mental meeting of the minds. Finally, he nodded. Once. He could let her see Kurt, at least.
Author's Notes:
And yet more mutants become ill. And a little extra screen time for one of the most underused types of characters: a mutants parents. Specifically, Mrs. Leech. I know Dorian Leech is "Leech" the Morlock mutant, but seriously, how on earth did that become a family last name? Maybe Dorian's father was a lawyer or something, eh? Hehehe. Yet more references to Amanda's latent X-gene (basically, a mutant with no powers) which is of course mentioned in 'Nullification' and again briefly in 'I Dream of a Blue Christmas.' Like 'Nullification', we now deal with the slow gathering of the other teams and loner individuals, arranging them oh-so-carefully like a game of chess. Still, with all the break-ups and new individuals introduced in season four, I'm really gonna have to cut corners to fit everyone in neatly. Now I know how the Evo writers must've felt, fitting so many into half an hour segments.
Snitter in Rivendell: Wow, that's a mouthful. I am most unworthy of such high praise. But I am ever so glad my work has not gone underappreciated. I am glad you liked particularly my writing of X23, for she is my favorite character, and when you cannot write your favorite well, all hope is lost for ye. And yes I know I shamelessly keep mentioning Tabby/Amara goodness. Blame Comet-hime, her artwork is addictive.
Todd fan: Hehehe, oh they'll need more than tissues before this is all over. Maybe a few dozen body bags or so. Believe you me. Muwahahahah!! *evil cackling*
Mannielf18: All will be revealed in due time, but believe me, what I've done to X23 and Logan (and Sabertooth!) is integral to the plot. Vital, even. It may give some small hint as to what is going on. Besides, with this chapter I've all but spelled it out for the viewers. I really should stop hinting so much, but I can't help it.
Comet-hime: 'course I do! Everybody loves lovable ol' Rurouni Tyriel. As for why the Weapon Xee's got captured, well, it'll all make sense soon. 'til then, I leave you all to keep guessing.
CrypticIdentity: No, dunno who that is, and no, just like I told Snitter in Rivendell. The third no has a replacement of sorts. And I don't even know who this Selene is. Glad you're enjoying the storyline though, I know I am. And I've got even more in store, so don't you fret.
Sandoz: Actually no. D, None of the above, Someone Else. Those organizations will be involved later, but they are not responsible for the Weapon Xee's (as I seem to be calling them) being imprisoned. But you are thinking along the right lines. I should've known. You have always been too clever for your own good. ^_^
The Rogue Witch: No meaning behind it, just my stupid computer at work again, adding the 'ly' at the end to annoy the hell out of me. I think it's fixed now. Yes it's Sabertooth, and he'll wake up soon enough and be ready to be his lovable (or not so lovable self) in no time.
Nessie6: I like X23, she's my fav character, even if she's a Mary Sue and so horribly underdeveloped, character wise. I have taken it upon myself to nurture her into the woman she is destined to be. Like I started in 'Weapon X24'. Pietro will be along, Pyro after him, but Gambit... mmmmm... maybe. I don't care for Romy's. I'm more of a Scogue fan.
