Hope Returns

Chapter Five

By: Lily Handle

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Author's Note: Well, I kept talking about that silly talk/symposium thing and now I finally wrote it. It's in this chapter, honestly, I won't just talk about it this time. We meet in infamous Wilson Trask, and more Mystique, because I couldn't work her into the last chapter like I thought I could. As usual, please enjoy, read and review.

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Hope was content, all around her were faces she recognized and standing next to her was Hank. They were standing in the ballroom of the Wyatt hotel, with other scientist and doctors waiting to talk about the latest theories on the X-gene and the socio-political aspects of mutants in a human dominated society. She had chosen a simple white dress and black pearls to wear for tonight's event. She stood out in sharp contrast to Hank, who looked dashing in his black suit. She held a thin flute of champagne delicately in one hand, while she listened with one ear to the conversation around her.

"Excuse me," A young boy, with a camera around his neck popped out of the crowd, "Peter Parker with the Daily Bugle, mind if I take your picture Doctor Chandler?"

"Sure thing," Hope said, smiling at him. She assumed a gracious pose, fixed a polite smile on her lips and let him take a few pictures.

"Thanks a bunch, Doctor," Parker said, and then vanished into the crowd.

"I think you've been the most photographed tonight," Hank said, "That's the third newspaper camera boy who's snapped your picture."

"I have such a handsome date," Hope joked, elbowing Hank in the shoulder. "I'd wish this mingling would end, I'd like to sit down and start arguing."

"Our host is trying to meet everyone, and he's on his way towards us right now," Hank said, watching a tall man in a blue suit and slick brown hair walking towards them with a smile. A smile that Hank and Hope knew was fake, but returned happily.

"Hello, Dr. Chandler," Wilson Trask said, holding out a finely manicured hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Mr. Trask, it's nice to be invited to such a great meeting of minds," Hope said, taking his hand politely, "This is my friend, Hank McCoy."

"Nice to meet you Mr. McCoy," Trask said, taking Hank's hand briefly.

"It's a nice thing you've done here." Hank said, noticing that Wilson slid his hands into his pockets, and seemed to wipe them clean.

"Well, I'm trying to educate the public, but first the best minds who are the most educated have to educate each other," Trask smiled, "Wouldn't you agree Doctor?"

"I'd have to say education is a good goal," Hope said, "But, I think these meetings can only raise more questions and inspire the scientist and doctors to try new directions in their research."

"Have you tried any new directions, Doctor?"

"Actually I haven't made any changes to my studies, I think that my way is a good way," Hope answered.

"Your studies make you more of a psychologist than a doctor, though," Trask interrupted, "You ask questions, but don't perform any test, analyze any DNA. Only later scientists have proven your theories."

"But later scientists wouldn't have even thought about doing those test without Hope's theories," Hank said in defense.

"Right you are, Jack," Trask said, a small smile.

"Hank," he corrected, "It's Hank, not Jack."

"Right, sorry," Wilson said, "Well, I think I see my wife, why don't you two find a seat and we'll get this party started. Excuse me."

"He's slime," Hank said once Wilson Trask was gone.

"Oh, not completely, I think it just comes from spending too much time with politicians and businessmen," Hope said, taking Hank's arm. "Let's go get a seat on the edge, the agents will like that I'm close to an exit." Hope nodded and smiled and responded to greetings as she found a table in the back. The corner table was half in shadow, and once Hope and Hank were seated, agents Akelm and Wayne joined them.

"Man, I haven't seen so many designer dresses and Gucci suits since I watched the last Oscars," Wayne said, her lips split in a big grin.

"Just wait until they start to serve the food," Hope said, enjoying Wayne's excitement. She liked the woman, she was out going a pleasant, "I heard Wolfgang Puck is catering."

"Oh man, just the salad alone is going to be worth this job," Then as if she realized what she had said, quickly added, "Not that there's anything wrong with this job, Dr. Chandler."

"It's alright, Agent Wayne," Hope said "I know this is a boring job."

"Williams and Roberts had the fun shift," She muttered. Hope ignored the comment and paid attention to Trask who was speaking at a podium.

"I think we'll open the most popular topic for mutants, the Mutant restriction and registry bills," Trask was saying, "If you want to speak, please just raise your hand, I'll call on you and stand up and speak your mind." Hands shop up all over the floor, "Mr. Casion, why don't you open the floor."

"Who's that?" Wayne asked, when a short fat man stood.

"He's a bio-chemist, he proved my theory that a mutant's bio-chemistry is altered to the point where most modern medical test won't find things like high blood pressure or diabetes."

"I'd like to start with the registry bill. I think that it has its advantages," Casion said, "With mutants registered in a national database, we can easily make sure they don't create problems." Instantly a furry or responses started to fly, ranging from arguments to agreements. Trask tried to keep order, but it took a few minutes for everyone to calm down.

"Now, Mr. Casion, isn't that a little harsh? Uh, Dr. Lee, do you care to comment?" A tall willowy Asian woman stood.

"She's a sociologist," Hope explained when Wayne looked like she was going to ask, "I know her pretty well. She's talked with Charles and myself a lot about the students at the Institute."

"I believe that these restrictions will only serve to further alienate the mutant population," Dr. Lee said, "Social alienation can only further the angry undercurrent in the mutant population," She was forced to raise her voice as the crowd started talking, "This can only lead to rebellion among the mutant population."

"Oh, come on!" A square faced man stood from his seat, "Some form of social alienation is to be expected, like all people with differences, mutants have to expect some whispers or strange looks. If African Americans or Mexicans can deal with it, so can mutants."

"So we label them?" A woman with short blond hair and a pair of sun glasses perched on her nose said, jumping to her feet, "Do we make them wear little yellow stars like Hitler made the Jews? Dose it start with an identification card, and then move on to concentration camps?"

"The man is Walter Hollins, a high end lawyer who boast he's a specialist in social relations," Hope whispered, "And the woman is Cecelia Richards, I interviewed her at the beginning of my studies."

"She's a mutant?" Hank asked while Richards and Hollins went at it.

"I used the code name Sightless for her, she was born blind, but through a form of echolocation she sees. When people talked she can see, says everything appears like a blue outline, no details," Hope answered.

"Ah yes, you coined it an adaptation X-gene," Hank said.

"A mutation that allows a normally disabled person, such as a blind or deaf person to hear or see," Hope explained to Wayne.

"Dr. Chandler," Richards called out, "You have to agree with me." Hope watched as all eyes swung to her and slowly got to her feet.

"Well, I'd say you both make good arguments," Hope said, "In Cecelia's case, yes the segregation could prove to go too far, but it also can have benefits. Doctors will be able to know they have to treat the patient with different medications."

"And police will suspect mutants, employers will discriminate against them," Cecelia challenged.

"It's to be expected!" Hollins yelled and Hope sat back down.

"We're not going to make any ground here," She said, "People are to opinionated about these bills, and there isn't really a good middle ground."

"If things get too rough, we're gonna move you out of here, Dr. Chandler," Akelm said, which Wayne nodded in agreement too.

"Alright, that's fine."

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Mystique was having a good time; she'd been able to lift several necklaces and watches off passing scientist. While she didn't often lift things, Magneto wasn't funding her little side trip, and she needed money. Pawing the stuff she lifted would give her enough money to survive until Wayne got a paycheck. She was standing by the driver side door of the limo, inside the doctor and that blue bigfoot were chatting away idly, her partner was no where to be seen. Mystique was getting impatient with the silent lug, in fact if he didn't show up soon she was going to drag his stupid ass out here. Yeah, she shouldn't leave the doctor alone, someone might make a move on her, but she had big blue with her for protection. The doctor had mutant powers too, so what harm could come out of it if she went inside and dragged her partner out. She tapped on the passenger window, which opened and she smiled in at the two passengers.

"Something's taking Akelm a little longer than normal," She explained, "I'm gonna go inside and see what's up, he might be in trouble. You'll keep an eye on her won't you?"

"Of course," Blue said, and Mystique slipped away. There wasn't much of the crowd left outside the ballroom, and with most of the people either old or short, her partner was missing. Growling, Mystique went hunting, tracking wasn't her strongest skill, espionage was, but she wanted to get the hell out of here. Thinking men's room, she ducked behind a potted plant and changed. She picked a mix of male features, and dressed herself in a plain gray suit and stepped back out from behind the plant. The men's room was empty, but through an open window she could hear voices. Curious she checked to make sure she was alone and changed into a spider. Skittering across the floor, she climbed up the wall and sat at the opening of the window. Below her she could recognize Akelm, he was talking softly with tonight's host, Wilson Trask.

"Look, the gunner wasn't my idea," Akelm was saying, "Some idiot found out the doctor was here early and thought he could take her out himself."

"I trusted you to control the men," Trask growled, "I do not have the time to go back and make sure they keep their heads."

"I know that."

"Then make sure they're under control, we don't have much time to finalize the plans, in a day, she'll be speaking before Congress, or have you forgotten?"

"No sir, I haven't."

"Good, then tell the men to shut up and wait. If they don't, they don't get in on the mission," Trask ran a hand through his hair, "My father wouldn't have stood for any of this disobedience." Mystique crawled back down from the window, changed back into Agent Wayne and started for the limo. Well, well, well, Agent Akelm was working for Wilson Trask, son of Jason Trask and apparently they were planning something. Not that Mystique cared about them, she had bigger fish to fry, as the saying went. As long as the doctor was able to take her where she needed to go, then whatever those men were planning was fine by her.

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Hope was humming to herself as she scrubbed her hair, trying to block out the nerves. In one more day she was going to stand before the full Congress, hopefully not stutter over her speech and maybe change the world. She didn't like the idea that two little bills were going to have a major impact on an already tense situation. Hope titled her head back and let the hot water cascade over her. She needed a break from the world for…hmm…the next two years would be enough time. Instead she sighed and started to soap up her arms then she heard it. Her laptop or cell phone or some infernal piece of technology was beeping in her room. Hope quickly cleaned her arms off, grabbed a towel and stepped out of the shower. She pushed her wet hair out of her eyes, stepped into her room and picked up her cell phone from the nightstand. It wasn't ringing, that meant her laptop was the cause of the beeping. It looked like the video phone hook up Hank had installed in it was getting a call. Hope had protested against the phone, she didn't need it, but Hank had installed it nonetheless to check up on her. She hated the little device; it ate up space on her hard drive, which she could use for something more important, like her notes. She flipped the screen up, and clicked on the little blinking light.

"What?" She asked impatiently, pushing her hair back again and then she noticed who was on the line. Logan's face wasn't impassive, he actually looked positively shocked and he had good reason to be. Hope was wrapped rather loosely in a towel. "Um, hi, uh, is there something wrong?" She asked, tucking the towel tighter around her, wishing she could tuck it up to her neck.

"Uh, no, I was just…just looking for Charles," Logan said, sounding as uncomfortable as Hope felt.

"He's out with a few senators," Hope explained, "He won't be back for a while yet. He's not answering his cell phone?"

"It's off," Logan muttered, "Look, is McCoy there?"

"Out with Ororo, they're talking to some reporters."

"Why aren't you with them?"

"FBI has locked me in my room until I go to Congress," Hope sighed, "You want to leave a message or something?"

"No, just tell Charles to call me back."

"Wait, before you go, can I talk to Jean?" Hope asked, "I'd like to see how she's handling the Infirmary."

"She's in a training session," Logan muttered, his eyes looking over Hope's shoulder.

"Right," Hope frown, Jean was supposed to stay out of training sessions to watch the Infirmary, "What about Kitty then?"

"Training session."

"They're suppose to be excluded from them," Hope glared at the screen, "You and Charles agreed to that."

"Yeah, well, they're going to get rusty, Doc."

"Naturellement il est trop à demander vous pour faire ce que vous avez promis," Hope muttered in French, drumming impatient fingers on her knee. "Oui, et lui est trop pour que vous répondiez au décent habillé par telephone," Logan replied in equally fluent French, which surprised Hope.

"Can I talk with Jean or Kitty, please?" Hope asked through gritted teeth.

"Right, hang on a second," Logan said and vanished from the screen. Great, speaks French, should have went with Italian. Well I'll remember that for next time. "Here you go." Logan said, and then pushed Jean into the camera view.

"Hi Doctor," Jean said, "Why are you in a towel?"

"Mr. Logan interrupted my shower," Hope answered, "How are you handling everything, Jean?"

"Oh, good. Logan hasn't killed anyone yet, and besides the low level of ice packs, nothing really bad has happened."

"Great, he hasn't over worked Berserker? Because if you need a refresher on the deliberator, I can go over it with you."

"No, if anything Logan's going easy on everyone," Jean looked over her shoulder, then leaned in close to the camera and whispered, "I think he's a little afraid of what you might do to him if you find out anyone gets seriously injured while you're away."

Hope grinned, "He's smart to think that. Are you running low on any medical supplies?"

"Um, I'd have to check."

"If you are, you know where the order forms are, fax them here. I'll sign off on them and then you can send them out," Hope sighed, her head was starting to hurt again, "Alright, thank you Jean, you can go back to training now."

"Doctor, I thought we weren't suppose to train," There was a pleading look in Jean's eye and in her voice, "Will you talk with Logan?"

"I'll see what I can do," Hope said, resisting the urge to rub her temples, "No promises though."

"Thanks, Doctor." With that Jean disappeared off camera, and Logan stepped back in.

"They're going to train like everyone else," He started but Hope waved a hand at the screen, the headache was getting worse and dealing with an argument with Logan was not a good cure for it.

"Right, do what you think is best, Logan, I'll tell Charles you called."

"Doc, is something wro…" Hope clicked the button to hang up and switched off the computer. She had Advil in the bathroom; she'd take some and then nap for a bit. Stress and nerves were never good for you, Hope thought; guess it just finally got to me. She dumped two pills into her hands and tossed them back without water. She let the towel drop and stepped back under the water. She tilted her head back again; taking deep breaths she tried to keep a handle on everything. It was very easy for her to lose focus during headaches she shouldn't let that happen. She leaned forward, bracing her arms on the tiles she closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. The pain wasn't so bad with the Advil taking effect, but it was a steady pounding that couldn't be ignored and fighting it made her so tired. Hope turned the shower off, and stepped out again. She wrapped her hair in the towel, along with her body, then lean against the counter. At least she was having a headache now instead of in front of Congress, she thought holding her hands out before her. Keeping control she watched her power leap between her fingers, as more and more bolts appeared she felt her headache lessen. After a minute to two it was completely gone and Hope was exhausted. She walked out of the bathroom and dressed without really thinking about it. She flipped the "do not disturb" sign on her door, climbed on top of the bed and cradled her head in her arms. She started to recite her speech in her head until she drifted off to sleep.

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Logan sat in front of the communications center in the control room for the danger room, waiting for Charles to call. The students were tucked in bed with threats of five-mile runs dancing through their heads if they even thought about getting out for a late night party. He leaned the chair back, propped his feet on the counter and stared at the ceiling. It was nice to have a little piece and quiet. He liked the students, sure who wouldn't? but there was only so much a guy could take. He hustled them out the door every morning, pushed them through training sessions in the afternoon and then hustled them into bed every night. He smiled thinking about the students though, every time he thought about them he couldn't help but smile. He wished one of the other adults had stayed behind though, a little help now and then dealing with the little brats would have been appreciated. Logan sighed and ran his hands over his face. Screw it, he couldn't get the image of the Doc in a towel out of his head. He'd been trying all night to forget about that, mostly thinking about the kids had done it, but sometimes it wasn't enough. If he closed his eyes she'd been there, wet, flushed and…he growled. Not the time to think about these things, later when it was closer to midnight and he couldn't sleep, then he'd think about it. Right now, he thought as he picked up the file Fury had delivered in the middle of the day, he'd think about Wilson Trask. This guy's records seemed too perfect, everything was in its place, and that tipped off Fury and himself that something was wrong. Sure, the Doc had walked away from the dinner thing, but Wilson Trask looked too perfect, even under S.H.I.E.L.D.'s microscope, which meant Fury was drawing out the big guns. There was an upside though, tomorrow the Doc was gonna talk to Congress, and then be shipped back here, where he could keep an eye on her. You're not supposed to think about her, he thought, think about why Charles hasn't called back yet. Dinner with senators shouldn't take that long, and the Doc was pretty good about delivering messages. Logan folded his arms over his chest, if there was something he could do well, it was wait patiently.

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Author's Note: For those of you who actually know French, forgive my bad translations, I'm a German student. I'll admit that I used an on line translator to get the French, even though I know they're useless. What Hope is suppose to be saying is "Naturally it is too much for you to do what your promised" and Logan's response is "Yes, and it is too much for you to answer the phone dressed decently." And I only added Peter Parker because I just saw Spiderman 2, loved it and had him on the brain. Please read and review.

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