Ice Lynx; Yay! You is liking the story. You now it's funny, but I noticed alot of the reviews had the same basic message; "OO Steph got shot post soon!"

I find that lovely. Please, do leave more! (Jus' hope you like my chappie as much, :P)

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Steph groaned as Hank put her down in the seat and made the furry doctor even more nervous as he made sure her pulse was normal.

"Stephanie?" he said worriedly, "Stephanie!" But she had passed out. Quickly Hank found some bandages and within moments had slowed the blood flow almost completely, though she had clearly lost a lot more blood than was safe. Within a few more minutes Logan and the rest of the X Men appeared, looking anxiously at Steph. Logan looked pale when Steph didn't respond to him also calling her name, and Hank gently pulled the man away.

"We must get her back to the mansion," he said. Logan licked his dry lips and looked at the teenagers, they were all looking scared.

"Yeah," he said. "Everyone sit, get buckled up." Then he turned to Rogue, who had bit her lip and hugged him. Logan held her for a moment, then separated and looked her straight in the eye.

"Watch yer sister," he said. "If anythin' looks halfway wrong, tell Hank n' me."

"Yeah," Rogue said, nodding as she sat next to Steph and held onto her hand as her sister slumped against her, murmuring in her sub-consciousness. Bobby sat next to the two girls as the plane took off and put a comforting hand on Rogue's shoulder.

"What if-?" Rogue whispered in a choked voice. Bobby shook his head.

"She'll make it, no problem," he said, looking at Steph. "She's crazy enough that she'd fly off and giggle after she got hit by a truck. Don't worry about her." Rogue nodded and looked at Steph.

"Stupid," she whispered affectionately. "Gettin' shot foh the President, ya always disagreed with him befoh an' Ah had t' listen t' ya complain 'bout him when evah he was on the television." Logan listened to the words with a lump in his throat, and his glance often strayed back to the trio. The rest of the X Men teens sat together, shaken up at the turn of events on what should have been a day at the parade.

"Gently," Hank said as Logan helped him put Steph on the third med table. Logan managed to force himself to step away as Hank busily checked Steph's vital signs and then got out more bandages, slowly removing the ones wrapped around Steph's waist after pulling her shirt up. Logan choked when he saw the bloody hole in her side. But as it was Steph seemed blissfully unable to feel the pain of the wound in her stomach.

"Will she be alright?" Logan asked. Hank looked up at him as he worked, trying to think of the right thing to say.

"She'll... she'll be up and jumping soon," he said, trying to convince himself of the same thing. From the look on Logan's face it was clear Hank had convinced neither of them any such thing.

"Yeah," Logan said softly. "No one ken keep my Steph down fer long...."

"Dad?" Steph opened her eyes and called out again, but got no answer. She was in the medbay, they must have brought her back after she passed out. Strangely enough no one was there, even the other med tables were empty... were Kurt and Ororo awake? Steph jumped up, not noticing that she felt no pain at all in her side. Had her friend and adopted mother woken while she was out?

"Steph, you've woken up! I was so worried...." Steph spun around and to her amazement Steph found herself looking at Ororo and Kurt, who were sitting at Hank's bare desk. Steph froze as Kurt and Ororo smiled at her, a sparkle in their eyes that hid what she must have imagined to be a look of great pain and worry.

"Ve vere vorried about you," Kurt said, and Ororo got up and rushed over, grabbing Steph and hugging her tightly. Tears fell down Steph's cheek as she hugged her back.

"Mum!" she said, burying her head in Ororo's chest, her tears staining Ororo's gray silk blouse. Steph vaguely noticed that both her mother and friend were dressed in gray, but the thought was forgotten in an instant. After a moment Steph separated herself and then tackle-hugged Kurt, who laughed as he was knocked backwards slightly.

"Alright, Alright!" he cried. "You are smothering me!"

"I missed you so much," Steph sobbed as she held him tighter. Ororo put a hand on her back.

"We missed you too," she said. As her joy slowly passed she looked away.

"I'm sorry," she said softly.

"For vat?" Kurt asked, getting off the table and putting a hand on her shoulder.

"If I hadn't been so angry-"

"Nonsense," Kurt said, waving a hand. "It vos not your fault, you vere angry and sad."

"But I should have known enough to stay mute," Steph said, looking up. "I should have stopped myself from using my... wait, you guys didn't act surprised when I talked to you! That kid knocked you out before I could control my voice!" Kurt and Ororo looked at eachother.

"You mean, you can control your voice now?" Ororo said. Steph's eyes narrowed.

"I've been talking to you for the last fifteen minutes!" she said. "And what's up with your clothes?" Kurt and Ororo looked at their garments and then Kurt squeezed Steph's shoulder.

"Ve- you-" he stopped and shook his head. "You didn't know?" Steph pulled away, her natural suspicion peaked and defenses rising up so rapidly it was hard for her to control her voice.

"Know what?" she demanded.

"Steph, look down," Ororo said gently. Steph looked at her own clothes and found to her surprise that she was also wearing gray clothes.

"Who put me in this?!" she yelped, jumping away from the mutants. "What's up with you too? Where are Hank and the professor? Where's dad?"

"They're..." Kurt hesitated. "Ve think, still living."

"What are you talking about?" Steph demanded.

"I think ve, you and I and Ororo, are vaiting for Death to come, ve are all unconscious, ve cannot vake up but since ve are all like this ve can meet, and stay together until ve are brought to Heaven," Kurt said in a strained voice, looking off into the distance. Steph looked at Ororo.

"What?" she said.

"It's only what we can come up with," Ororo said, tears forming in her eyes. "We haven't been able to leave this place, it only resembles the medbay anyway, and our powers don't work... what happened to you?"

"I-" Steph stopped and put a hand on her stomach, searching for any trace of the bullet wound. There was none. Spinning around she looked for the medbay door, but there was none. Turning back to Ororo and Kurt she backed away from them.

"No," she said, "You two were unconscious, in the medbay, in the clothes you were in the day Dad nearly killed himself in after the Danger Room practice, and you and Dad adopted me- and I went on a mission with the others for a parade and got shot-"

"Shot?" Kurt repeated, looking stunned and then turning his head away.

"The adoption went through?" Ororo said, her eyes sparkling suddenly. "We made it?"

"Yeah, you and dad adopted me n' Rogue n' Ruk..." Steph fell back against the med-table for support. "I died?!" she cried, trying to use her powers, but with no success.

"I do not think dead yet," Kurt said softly. Steph burst into tears at the words, and in a flash both Kurt and Ororo were bent down next to her.

"It's alright," Ororo said, pulling her to her chest again. "It was hard for Kurt and me too, but we've... almost gotten used to it."

"I can't be dead!" Steph cried, "I can't! What about Ruhko? And Rogue? And dad? And Hank? What about the others? I can't leave them! You can't either! We have to get out of here- we have to get-" Steph stopped abruptly as her voice started echoing in the deadly tones that she had not used in a while. All three of them froze and Steph cried out in pain as her stomach started to hurt terribly at once.

"Steph!" Ororo said.

"She's not going to die," Kurt whispered. "She is vaking up..." Steph looked at them, terrified.

"No!" she yelled, her powers not effecting either adult at all. "No! You have to wake up too! You can't die!" but her words were drowned out as the entire room and Kurt and Ororo started to fade away.

"If it is vat He vants, ve vill vake," Kurt said distantly. Both he and Ororo were crying as well before they were completely blackened out.

"No!" Steph screamed again.

"No!" Logan jerked as Steph woke, screaming and crying, her powers working perfectly and nearly knocking him out as he collapsed backwards out of the chair he had returned to the medbay. Ruhko, who had been sleeping in his lap, rolled over and started crying from the sudden wake.

"No!" Steph yelled again, in a normal voice now. Logan jumped up and picked up Ruhko as Hank burst into the room, the alarm he had put in to alert him if any of the three patients in the room woke had brought him down immediately. Steph was thrashing around in her sleep and still crying, a hand going down to her injury. Logan stopped it and looked at Hank desperately.

"Help!" he croaked.

"She's waking up," Hank said as Steph stopped screaming and suddenly bolted upright, wincing and looking around, staring at Hank, Logan, and Ruhko in amazement, then looking down at her tussled clothes and over at Ororo and Kurt's peaceful faces.

"Steph," Logan said, putting Ruhko down for a moment and embracing his daughter. Steph seemed completely off guard and remained stiff as he hugged her and then backed up. Ruhko quieted and climbed onto Steph's legs as Logan held her arms and looked at her pale face. "What's wrong?" he said. "What happened?" Steph stared at him for another moment.

"Mum..." she finally said in a voice almost too faint to be heard. "n'... Kurt... I saw them. I woke up and talked to them but my powers wouldn't work and they said we were waiting for death and there was no door-" Logan and Hank looked at her, shocked.

"You spoke with Kurt and Ororo?" Hank said.

"Death?" Logan repeated. Steph had started to cry again.

"They were afraid, and they said they were waiting to go to Heaven... and we were all wearing gray stuff! I was so scared and they tried to help but they were scared too and-"

"They haven't died," Hank said, seeing the look of terror that had suddenly spread across Steph's face as she spun to look at Kurt and Ororo again.

"Yeh almost-" Logan stopped and wiped a tear away. "Yeh were out fer three days, n' I was scared, crap scared Steph..."

"Three days?" Steph said. Logan looked away and Hank nodded, looking pale as well.

"We were all worried about you," he said. "But you're safe now, and the professor is close to finding a way to cure Ororo and Kurt, don't worry, fair Stephanie, no one shall die today, it would be working directly against all probability and fortune, too extremely powerful forces to have on your side, I'll assure you."

"Yeah," Steph said in a tight voice, still looking at the sleeping forms nearby. "Sure..."

"Stephanie? Surely you're not still here?" Hank said, walking into the medbay. Steph, who had kept Logan's chair, sat between Kurt and Ororo and leaned her head on Ororo's arm, holding Kurt's hand in her own, looking at the large fingers and the cross she had put in them for him, she knew it would help. She looked up as Hank kneeled down in front of her, smiling kindly.

"You need sleep, to heal that red badge of honor young lady," he said.

"Can't sleep," Steph murmured, sitting up and putting Kurt's hand back carefully and then sitting down in from of Hank and leaning against him. Since she had woken all will to be tough and independent seemed to have left her, which worried the adults but made Logan feel somewhat batter as she was always returning to him for hugs and small talks that helped him as well, after she had recounted her experience with Kurt and Ororo to him, Hank, and the professor. And to Ruhko, who had felt she was owed an explanation and refused to be kept out of the meeting.

Hank put his arms around Steph, knowing it would comfort her as she snuggled into his fur.

"You dream of them?" he guessed. Steph stared off into space as her fingers dug through his fur by her face and she slowly nodded. Hank smiled. "Well, would they like it if they woke to find you sick from lack of sleep and food?" he asked. This made Steph look up at him.

"You know, you're the best comforter any gal can ask for, but you're a really annoying man," she said, as he looked down. Then she closed her eyes and lowered her head again. "I guess not though." Hank slowly stood up and pulled Steph with him.

"Then come to the cafeteria, they are having a delicacy today and I do not wish to miss it," he said, leading Steph out of the room. "I fear the lure of the fine food is too much, even for you, brave Steph, and you shall have to eat some of it as soon as you smell the grease and cheese of Bobby and Peter's Grilled Cheese Special." Steph laughed as Hank herded her out of the medbay slowly, both moving her but also preventing any stress being brought on her healing wound.

"I think I like you better with fur," she said after a minute. "It suits you more."

"And why do you say that?" Hank asked, interested. Steph laughed.

"Because you always acted like a teddy bear, but now you look like one too!" she giggled.