The Effects of Hope
Chapter Five
By: Lily Handle
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Author's Note: I'm sorry this took so long, but I was hanging out with some friends and haven't been able to write. Well, here's the last chapter for The Effects of Hope. Please, read, review and enjoy.
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Hope was sitting on the edge of her seat, watching the battle before her intently. She couldn't believe she was watching from an air ship over Bayville instead of being there to take care of any injuries that might occur. She went with on missions only as a doctor, often she wasn't needed, but there were a few times that her presence was a good thing. On the screen Kurt appeared on Juggernaut's back, flipped a latch on his helmet, then teleported to his shoulder, flipping another latch. Juggernaut tried to brush Kurt off, almost squashing Rogue, but Jean lifted him into the air. Scott blasted Juggernaut, who went flying and landed on a patch of ice. Bobby directed the path towards the edge and Juggernaut went off the edge.
"Lucky catch," Hope growled when Juggernaut managed to grab hold of the edge of the dam. The students scattered as Juggernaut pulled himself back up onto the dam.
"Where are you?" Juggernaut yelled, looking around for the students. From the top of a conductor Evan shot spikes down on Juggernaut, who whirled and leapt towards Evan. Juggernaut tried to grab Evan, but he jumped down from the conductor onto a platform below it, and then blasted the conductor. The conductor exploded in a brilliant blast, and with a groan started to tip sideways. Juggernaut slid from the top and landed on another ice slide. Kitty jumped onto his stomach as they slid down the side of the dam and she phased him halfway through.
"They're doing well," Fury said offhandedly.
"Juggernaut's not out of the running yet," Logan said, "They've got to get that helmet off before he smashes that dam in half."
"Jean's already handling the first leak," Hope commented, pointing towards the screen. Jean was keeping the water back with what looked like a giant telekinetic bubble, Bobby ran over and froze the water that was trying to escape.
"Juggernaut can still get free, if they don't stun his mind he's gonna smash the whole thing to pieces." Logan said as he shook his head.
"That blue kid's managed to get all the locks undone," Fury grunted, "But it doesn't look good for him." Juggernaut had Kurt in the death grip from where he was phased into the dam.
"That's enough!" He yelled, throwing Kurt into Jean. He used a fist to smash the dam, breaking free he leapt back to the top of the dam. He landed with enough force to knock down Evan, Rogue and Bobby, "What are you trying to do, embarrass me to death?" Evan, Rogue and Bobby took off, running faster when Juggernaut started off after them.
"Come on, give me your best shot!" Juggernaut challenged, laughing as he chased after them. Evan, Rogue, and Bobby ducked behind Scott, who reached a hand up to his visor.
"You know, that's just want I had in mind," He said, blasting Juggernaut with enough force to knock his helmet off. Everyone paused as the helmet rolled off the edge of the dam and went tumbling into the water. Scott took another blast, causing Juggernaut to run for him, and he rolled out of the way, taking another shot at Juggernaut.
"You think that fancy visor's gonna stop me? Nothing stops me!" Scott kept up one single beam, blasting Juggernaut with the biggest beam the visor would allow, "I am raw power!" And to Hope, Juggernaut did looked like raw power as he pushed his way through the beam.
"Yeah? You want it raw tough guy? Then take it raw!" Scott ripped his visor off and an uncontrolled, full power beam pushed Juggernaut back a few steps.
"What is he doing!" Hope yelled, getting to her feet, "He's going to permanently damage his corneas!" She turned towards Fury, "I have to stop him, please, I need to leave."
"Doctor, I can't let…" Fury started, looking surprised.
"He's likely to go blind!" Hope turned away from Fury, turning a pleading look on Logan, "I've got to stop him from hurting himself. You can't let this happen."
"Doc…I don't like it either, but…" Logan ended on a shrug. Hope looked back towards the screen where Juggernaut was now pushing against Scott's beam.
"I can't stand by and do nothing, Logan, and neither can you," Hope sighed, looked down at her feet and dropped her shoulders, "I could help him." Hope looked up when Logan's shoes entered her field of view. He placed his hand on her upper arm and squeezed slightly.
"How bad can he damage his eyes?" Logan asked, softly.
"In the test I've been able to run on him," Hope sighed, "He can tear nerves with the force and heat of those beams."
Fury cleared his throat and when Hope and Logan looked over he jerked his head towards the screen, "He won't have the chance to do anything serious." Hope looked towards the screen and gasped.
"What happened?" She asked. Juggernaut was holding Scott's head in his hand, Scott's feet were dangling in the air. The boys rushed in, trying to help Scott, but Juggernaut simply backhanded them away like a cloud of gnats.
"You can't stop the unstoppable!"
"Look there!" Hope pointed towards the screen where Kitty and Rogue were phasing through the dam beneath Juggernaut.
Rogue reached an ungloved hand up, "Party's over and lights out!" She pushed up and wrapped her hand around Juggernaut's neck.
"He's going down!" The reporter yelled, and the camera swung towards her, "These children have, have done the impossible, the unstoppable mutant is going down!" Both Rogue and Juggernaut were screaming, until Rogue fell off Juggernaut's shoulders. She rolled away, but Juggernaut went after her. Juggernaut swung a punch at her, but Rogue used one hand and blocked it. Juggernaut tried again, but she blocked, then picked him up. She lifted him over her head and tossed him over the edge of dam. Bobby stepped forward, freezing Juggernaut as he fell.
"This team of mutants has managed to save the day, and wait, we're getting word from Washington," The reporter said and the camera switched back to the hearing.
"Uh," The chairman looked stunned, and Hope smiled at the look, "What did they just do."
"What they were trained to do, use their powers for good." Hope smiled at Ororo's words, just as proud of what the students had done as Ororo was. Hope sat back down on the couch, heavily as the members of Congress started to whisper together and Hank and Ororo were ushered out the cameras following them.
"It's over," She said, "Thank god."
"Not over yet," Logan said, going back to his chair, "Government still has to clear everyone."
"Aren't you a ray of sunshine, Logan," Fury said, then frown and reached into his jacket pocket, "I think this is yours Doctor."
"My phone!" Hope exclaimed, reaching out and taking it from him. "Hello?"
"Hope, it's Hank."
"Hank!" Hope jumped to her feet again, "You did brilliantly!"
"You saw the reports?" Hank sounded pleasantly surprised.
"I saw you and Ororo talking to Congress," Hope laughed, "That chairman's face when the fight was over."
Hank chuckled on the other end of the line, "Where are you?"
Hope looked towards Fury, "Someplace safe." Fury nodded, and gestured for her to continue the conversation.
"Still in the Chandler Mansion then. I think I can convince Ororo to stop in South Carolina if you would like us to stop by and give you a lift home," Hank said.
"I think I'll convince Dad to let me barrow the jet," Hope lied, thinking fast, "I'm sure he'll let me since I always return it on time."
Hank laughed, "By the way, have you heard anything from Logan?" Hope looked towards Logan, what could she say now? "He took off on his own, and Scott hasn't heard anything from him, neither have we, and his phone probably got destroyed when the Institute blew up. It's a shot in the dark, but we thought he might have contacted you." Hope frown, it sounded like Hank was annoyed, could the news crews be harassing him?
"Uh, no, I haven't heard anything from Logan."
"Alright, well don't worry about me, Hope, we'll be fine."
"Okay Hank, just come back in one piece." Hope looked at the phone, "I'm going to call the X-jet." Hope dialed quickly, waiting patiently as a few rings passed.
"Hello?" Kitty answered, and Hope sighed with relief.
"Kitty, it's Dr. Chandler."
"Doc! You're okay! We just saw you on the news, where are you?"
"Kitty, that's not important," Hope said, "Where are you?"
"We're headed to get the Professor."
"What? Isn't he with you?" Hope glared towards Logan, why hadn't he told her something had happened to the Professor?
"No, Mystique was only acting as the Professor. She's the one who blew up the Institute, and tricked everyone."
"Well, I want to know more, but explain it to me later, where are you heading?"
"To where Juggernaut was kept, Rogue says he's there."
"Great, Kitty, Logan and I will meet you there." Hope hung up quickly, and smiled brilliantly towards Logan, "They found the Professor."
"What?"
"I got Kitty when I called, she said they were on their way to where Juggernaut was kept." Logan turned a look on Fury.
"Where are they going?" He asked, leaning forward with his most intimidating stare.
Fury rose from his seat, "I think it would be safe for you to go," he said, "I'll get a helicopter ready."
"Can I get the rest of my things, Mr. Fury? The rest of the things that the soldiers took from me?" Hope asked quickly, clutching the phone to her chest.
"Your things will be in the helicopter. Along with yours Logan," Fury said, nodding towards both of them before he left.
"What does he have of yours?" Hope asked, believing she wouldn't get an answer.
"He's got my bike," Logan growled.
"I'm surprised you let them live," Hope said dryly, which caused Logan to flash a brief smile. Then silence descended, and it was tense. Hope knew when there was silence between herself and Logan, interesting things happened, like her stomach did flip-flops and she couldn't decide if she should run or stand her ground. It was a stupid, to be reduced to a teenager with their first crush, but that's how Hope felt when she was alone with Logan for long…well any period of time. So to ignore the awkward feeling Hope walked towards the window, she was going to find shapes in the clouds, and then she caught Logan's reflection in the glass. Not all that surprising, just plain ordinary Logan, except he didn't have a shirt on.
"What are you doing!" Hope gasped, her hand covering her eyes. Of course with nothing in her line of sight she kept seeing shirtless Logan in her mind's eye.
"Changing into uniform," He grunted in response, "Want me to leave?"
"Please!" Hope used the hand not covering her eyes to point towards the door. Logan gave a grunt in response and she didn't uncover her eyes until she heard the door hiss closed.
"He's trying to kill me," She said, waving a hand to waft air towards her heated face, "Oh god, I'm not going to be able to sleep now!" She dropped her head into her hands, what had he been thinking doing that? Hope tried to stop thinking about, especially when Fury came back and lead her to a helicopter, which Logan was already sitting in. She blushed immediately when she saw he had changed, but didn't say a word. The flight to where Juggernaut use to be kept was short, amazingly the private facility was on Bayside, about ten minutes from the airport. Parked outside the single story building was the X-jet and Hope sighed in relief. She practically ran out of the helicopter, but a technician stopped her.
"Sorry, miss, but you'll have to wait here," The technician said easily.
Hope started to protest, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her, "She's with me."
"Oh, sorry, Mr. Logan, right this way." Hope started to follow the technician, letting Logan's hand fall away with a little guilty shiver. Shut up you stupid hormones, she told herself, blushing again.
"They're in here," The technician said, opening a large metal door with a code.
"We've learned never to under estimate her," Jean was saying as Hope stepped in. Logan stepped around her and stopped by Scott.
"Good job," He said simple, and Scott nodded. Everyone was silent was the tank was drained; Jean and Scott walked over and helped the Professor into his chair.
"Easy Professor. Everything is gonna be okay," Scott said, holding the Professor up.
"What, what happened?" He asked, holding his head.
"We're not sure Professor," Jean said, "We'll explain it on the way to the Institute."
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Hope nudged the door open with her hip, bringing the last plate of sandwiches outside. Everyone was pitching in on fixing the Institute, those students that had stayed that is. It always made her sad to think about how some of the parents hadn't believed Xavier when he said the students were safe. The parents had taken them out, leaving a sense of failure around the Institute. Jean had dissipated that feeling of failure, she had convinced the school board to let the students of the Institute return to Bayville High. Of course a little battle with the Brotherhood in which the X-men didn't use their powers and still saved the day helped just a bit. Hope was very proud of the students, and had decided that, since her powers couldn't help with the reconstruction and she knew nothing about construction, she would make lunch for everyone. She set the final tray down, turned towards where everyone was either building or toting or constructing Hope put her fingers in her mouth and whistle loudly.
"Lunch is ready!" She yelled, cupping her hands around her mouth. Everyone's head turned towards her, then like an army moving in for the attack they swarmed her and the table. "Hey, easy there!" She exclaimed, jumping out of the way before she was trampled. She kept backing away while she laughed, almost toppling over when she bumped into the Professor.
"Oh, sorry, Professor, I didn't see you there," She said, turning around to face him.
"Not to worry, Doctor, no damage done," The Professor said, backing up just a bit, "Children, a straight line please."
A chorus of "Sorry Professor!" Came from the table and something like a line was formed. Hope smiled as she watched the food get devoured. Almost three hours of work was going to be gone in roughly twenty minutes.
"Here, Professor," Logan said as he walked over, and Hope mentally groaned. He was shirtless, and she was starting to blush. "Saved you a couple of sandwiches. You want one Doc?"
"No thank you," Hope managed to squeak out, halfway looking at her feet.
"Thanks for making lunch," He said, saluting her with a sandwich then walking off, giving Hope a chance to breath.
The Professor chuckled and Hope blushed some more, "Uh, mail came for you Doctor." He held out a letter and Hope snatched the letter away.
"It's can't be," She said, reading the return address, "I don't believe it!" Hope tore into the letter, then frantically began to read. "IT IS!" She laughed hysterically and launched herself into a hug with the Professor. She almost knocked him over with her enthusiasm, "Sorry Professor."
"It's quiet alright, Doctor, can I ask who the letter is from?"
"Time magazine," She re-read the letter, "They want me as their cover article for next month's issue!"
"That's wonderful, Doctor."
"Oh lord," She dropped down to the ground and laughed, "Time magazine wants my theories on the X-gene for the cover article."
"Are you alright, Doctor?"
Hope gave another stunned chuckle, "I'm just going to be a cover article in Time." Then she jumped to her feet, "I have to tell Hank!" She went running for Hank, who was talking with Ororo and Jean.
"Hank, Hank!" She yelled, waving the letter over head, "Hank!"
"What's wrong Hope?" Hank asked, looking confused, but Hope just launched herself in his arms.
"Read this!" She shoved the letter into his hands. He started reading, but when he wasn't reading fast enough, Hope snatched the letter back and started reading it out loud, "Dr. Chandler, as editor and chief of Time Magazine, I have to tell you I don't normally write personally to are article choices, but your work and ideas are extraordinary and deserve extraordinary attention." Hope laughed, "Did you hear that, they think my work is extraordinary!"
"That's great Hope, but what does it mean?" Hank asked gently.
"Time magazine wants to do an article on me!" Hank blinked in surprise, then scooped her up and spun her around laughing. "I did it, I did it!"
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Author's Note: Okay, so the little parts of Hope/Logan were tossed in because I have it running through my head. I love senseless fluff. Just wait, the next story I'm going to post is a short little fluffy piece with Hope and Logan. Thanks for the reviews.