Disclaimer: As stated in the first chapter, the X-MEN don't belong to me, never have probably never will. The song lyrics don't belong to me either. Oh yeah, and I aint making money off of this.

Dragon's Milk:

Chapter 3

by Egypt

Storm stood in the doorway and watched as Jubilee explained to Regina where everything was. It was strange to see her like this, docile and almost cowering. She could now understand why Logan seemed to have a permanent frown. It was very hard to see someone you considered a friend cower whenever you looked at them.

Jubilee turned to look at Storm and gave her a nod. She said a few more things to Regina and then exited the room, closing the door behind her. Heaving a sigh of frustration she leaned against the door and closed her eyes.

"How's it going?" Storm asked as she leaned against the opposite wall.

"Not very well," Jubilee conceited with a sigh. "She hasn't said a word since they found her. The professor says it's trauma related and that it'll pass with time. However, between now and then it would be nice to have Jean here to translate for us."

"Does he know what happened to her yet?"

Jubilee shook her head, her brown eyes opening to meet Storm's blue ones.

"Not a clue but whatever it is she is seriously screwed up. The whole time Hank was running his tests she kept jumping every time he touched her. And Logan, she was so intent on getting away from him that she darn near fell off the table. This isn't the Regina I know. It's like someone replaced her with a little puppy who's scared of it's own shadow."

"If it's this hard on you," Storm said gently, "Imagine how Logan must feel."

"I'm more concerned with how Regina feels," Jubilee said with a sigh of exasperation, "I can't imagine going through life not recognizing anyone. Having friends and family smile at you and say hello and you don't even recognize them."

Storm watched as Jubilee's head fell back against the wall again, her eyes focusing on an unseen spot on the ceiling. The young woman's last comment rang in her head, bringing with it a thought that she knew she shouldn't have but that wouldn't go away.

"Perhaps there is a good side to this," she said softly, almost hoping that Jubilee wouldn't hear her.

"What," the young woman asked, her focus not moving from the ceiling above her, "You mean the whole Sabretooth thing?"

Storm didn't reply. She was a bit ashamed that she had even given voice to the ghastly idea. True, it would be best for Regina to forget Sabretooth but what had she been put through in order to facilitate such a memory loss. Surely the means were not worth the result.

"Your could be right about that one," Jubilee said finally, her brown eyes once again coming to focus on Storm, "But what happens when she finally does find out about him? It'll just start all over again."

Storm had not considered that. It would be foolish to think that if she did find out about Sabretooth that Regina, being as strong willed as she was, would let it alone. She would want to get to know him, to spend time with him…and that would put them right back where they had been.

"To be honest I don't think there'll ever be away to keep her away from him…or him from her."

As much as Storm hated to admit it, Jubilee was right. There was a strong bond between those two, despite Sabretooth's overwhelming urge to kill Regina. Nothing short of death could keep the two apart for long.

"Well," Jubilee sighed and pushed off from the wall, "I suppose I should go check on her. The Professor wanted to get started on those neural scans as soon as I got her dressed."

Storm gave a frown but she too pulled away from the wall.

"I will come as well," she said softly, "Perhaps with us in the room she will feel a bit better about all this."

Jubilee smiled and nodded her thanks. Neither one needed to voice their thoughts to the other. They had seen things like this too often to just discount them to some kind of mental trauma. Both women had a pretty good idea of what had happened to their friend and they felt almost sick about it. However, with Jean gone on vacation with Scott and both being unreachable for the foreseeable future there was no one else to do the neural scans.

"You think we can convince her to allow it?" Storm asked as they both stepped toward the door.

"We can only hope."

The room he stood in was cloaked in darkness with no lights and no windows. He could just make out the gray walls and the many holes that dotted them. He wasn't sure what was going on or where he was. He had never seen a mind this empty. He had looked everywhere and had only found the memories for the last month. After watching those memories he understood why she was acting as she was. He was surprised she had not boarded herself in a room upstairs and refused to come down. The way she had been treated was horrifying. He knew there was no way he could ever tell the others what he had seen. Yet, somehow, he knew that many of them would learn about it sooner or later.

He turned his attention to the room around him, wondering what it's purpose was. It appeared to be a living room but was bare of the wall hangings and furniture. There was nothing that gave it character or distinction. It was just another room. The holes seemed to draw his attention, as if they meant something. He stepped forward, looking at them, trying to see through them. He got close enough to look through one and was puzzled to see a blackness beyond. Everything here was dark and empty. That worried him. He had never been in a mind that felt like this.

Behind him he heard a sound, like a hammer hitting a wall. He turned around and stepped toward the sound squinting into the darkness to see if he could find the source of the noise. A few steps further he saw the outline of someone swinging something at the wall.

"Regina?" he questioned as he stepped closer.

The person didn't answer, just kept swinging at the wall with their weapon. It was like they were trying to take the walls down.

"Regina?" he called as he got closer.

Now he could see a shock of blonde hair as the hammer was swung into the wall again. He took another step, this one putting him right behind her. He reached out and rested his hand on her shoulder, bringing her around to stare at him.

"Regina, what are you doing?"

She stared at him for a moment, then turned around and swung the hammer again. Xavier reached out and took hold of the weapon, not allowing her to decimate the walls anymore. He didn't understand what she was doing or why she was doing it.

"What are you doing?" he asked again.

Crawling in my skin, these wounds they will not heal.

"I gotta find them," she said as she tried to yank the hammer back. Xavier held onto it, not allowing her to have it back. She tried only a few more times before giving up and falling to her knees before the wall to continue it's destruction with her bare hands. She leaned in and began to pull at the plaster and wood trying to pull it apart.

"They have to be here somewhere," she said, "They can't have just disappeared. I have to find them. I'm lost without them."

"What are you looking for Regina?" he sat the hammer down and knelt beside her, once again placing a hand on her shoulder. She shook it off and continued to claw at the wall, her desperation filling the room.

"I have to find them," she said, almost in tears, "They can't have just disappeared, You don't loose them like that. I gotta find them."

"Gotta find what?" he was getting desperate. If he was right about what this room represented then her tearing at the walls was not a good thing.

He reached out and grabbed her wrists, for the first time noticing the blood on her hands. No doubt it was from her digging at the walls.

"What are you looking for?" his voice was commanding, demanding an answer.

"My memories," she said as if he should know, "I have to find them. I know they have to be here somewhere. I want them back. I wanna know who I am, I wanna know you, I wanna know them all. I wanna remember. Why can't I remember? Where did they go?"

He just sat there and stared at her as the tears began to flow down her cheeks. On the outside it was what she had been through that was getting to her, but in here it was the loss of her identity. She had no idea who she was, no idea what she was. She had lost everything that made her who she was. It would be enough to make anyone go insane, but somehow she had managed to keep it together. The question was for how long? How long would it be before she lost all control of herself? If she lost control they were all in trouble. With the level of her powers and the amount of control they demanded, if she lost that chances were no one would be able to get anywhere near her, and if she lost control of her powers chances are that many people would loose a lot more than their memories. He couldn't let that happen. He had to find a way around it, a way to retain her control until they could find some answers.

As she began to sob he pulled her to him, allowing her to cry as much as she wished. As she cried he surrounded her with a sense of calm and peace. He permeated her with it, focusing on her mind and calming her fear and her urgency.

On the outside, Professor Xavier's brown furrowed as he used his mutation to put Regina into a deep, calming sleep.

Dr. Henry "Hank" McCoy stood in his lab staring at the closed file before him. It was all he could do to keep from ripping it to shreds right then and there. The results that were contained within that file made his gut wrench, as well as his stomach. He was torn between deep sadness and regret, shame, and just flat out anger. Never in all his days as a Doctor had he ever seen such a case as this and it was made worse by the fact that the 'victim' was someone that he considered to be a friend. Had he truly been inclined to violence he may have given in and allowed himself to release his anger in any way he possible could. But that was not Dr. McCoy. He was a gentle soul who cared for all living things and knew that if he allowed his anger to get the better of him he would regret it.

He took a deep breath and pulled his attention away from the folder choosing instead to focus on something else, anything else. He tried going over the notes from one of his fusion experiments, but it didn't help. The information that was on those test results kept creeping into his thoughts and shoving all else aside. He couldn't concentrate on anything. His mind kept focusing on what had happened to his friend. He fought to control his emotions, to conceal the tears that wanted to well up in his eyes. He was grateful when the sound of the Mansion's Intercom interrupted his thoughts. The respite was short lived though as the Professor's voice was heard over the speaker.

"Hank," his voice sounded strained and filled with fatigue, "What is the progress of the tests?"

McCoy took a deep breath and spoke into the speaker.

"The inference of the inquiries are ready for your revision. I shall convey them to you presently."

He was not sure if there was a reply or not, he didn't wait to see. With a determination that he did not really feel he took the folder from the table where it lay and left the lab on his way up to the Professor's Office.

Wolverine crouched near a tree and waited, his senses alert for the time when the other would attack. He concentrated on the air around him and the sound waves that traveled through that air. He sensed the disturbance before he even heard a sound, his nose and the change in air pressure alerting him to the approach of his opponent. Almost right on cue the large blonde man came rushing out of the woods straight at Wolverine, his claws ready to rend flesh from bone.

Wolverine lurched back, his adamantium claws jumping from his knuckles on demand as he fended off a swipe from his opponent countering with his own swipe that was also fended off. The blonde man swung again, this time catching Wolverine in the shoulder. A loud growl escaped the smaller man as he lashed out at his opponent. His wound was fully healed before his claws cleared his enemy's leg coming back bloody.

They traded slashes and punches, neither man gaining ground. The fight was in essence useless, it was just a way for Wolverine to keep his mind off of what was happening right now in the Med Lab. He had chosen the Danger room because he knew that it was sound proof and the last thing he wanted was to hear Regina scream. He knew that it probably wouldn't happen, but there was still that chance. No matter how careful or how well trained the telepath was every once in a while a mistake was made. Usually it was too deep of a probe, or the telepath delving into a part of the subject's mind that was blocked off and closed to everything else. When these things happened it resulted in pain for the subject and usually they cried out. He couldn't stand to be there if that happened.

He lashed out again with his claws, this time catching his opponent in the gut and eliciting a roar from him. The smell of blood filled the room, but Wolverine didn't notice. His mind was somewhere else, on someone else. Not for the first time the picture of her inside that healing tank flashed in his mind. He saw her floating in the yellow liquid, her hair suspended above her as the air bubbles made their way through it's thick golden strands on their way to the top.

No one had told him how they had found her or exactly what had prompted them to put her into the healing tank. Everyone in the mansion knew that, like Wolverine himself, Regina hated the healing tanks. They reminded her too much of the tanks that the Weapon X project had used in their experiments. He couldn't blame her. He still had nightmares about those damned experiments, and he didn't remember half of what she did.

Another loud roar brought his thoughts back to the battle that he was fighting. It took him a moment to realize that the roar had come from his own throat. He looked down to see his opponent lying on the ground before him in a pool of blood. The wounds were healing, but much slower than Wolverine's did. It was apparent that his opponent was beaten, at least this time.

"If dat what happen when yo' get distracted I hate ta see yo' concentrate."

Wolverine jumped and spun around to find the Cajun known as Gambit leaning against one of the trees playing with a deck of cards. A low growl escaped Wolverine's throat, but that was where it stopped. With a single flex of his arm muscles the claws were drawn back into their living sheaths and hidden away from the world.

"Whadda ya doin here Cajun?" Logan growled as he turned off the simulation, revealing simple bare metal walls where just moments before there had been a great forest.

"Gambit come ta tell ya de Professor done wit Gina."