Not Myself
By Princess Alexandria
Christy opened her eyes and noticed the sunlight sneaking past the curtains. The feel of Emma's warm body was wrapped around her back, spooning her. A soft smile came to Christy's lips at this further evidence that it hadn't been a dream. She'd actually made love to Emma for most of the night. She'd never been happier to feel exhausted when she got up.
Emma shifted against her, holding her more tightly. "Go back to sleep." Emma's voice was rough. "Too early." Christy just cuddled back into her and decided to trust Emma's estimation of the time. It didn't seem very light out yet.
"So Annie is awake?" Scott asked as he poured his orange juice. It was a relief, and he'd wished that he'd heard about this earlier.
"Yes, she came out of her coma last night." Jean took the seat across from him. "I would have told you but you had already fallen asleep." The laughing in the hall drew his attention and he stared with no expression on his face as that woman and Emma came in. Christy seemed to feel guilt free. He couldn't understand how the woman would be able to laugh and joke with Emma like that after having been such a monster on her own world. The guilt of her crimes should bother her, but she was able to tell them about the murders on the beach without so much as a cringe. A natural killer. This is what Emma wanted to bring here.
When Emma's hand moved to touch Christy's arm Scott noticed the soft smiles they shared. They looked like lovers. "Where did she sleep last night? I thought we ran out of rooms."
Jean gave him a mischievous smile. "I believe Emma let her stay in her room." Jean leaned a little closer. "It's about time Emma found someone." Scott's jaw clenched and he forced it to unclench.
"We still don't know if we can trust her." He pretended to be paying more attention to his plate, but he watched the soft caress Emma gave Christy's arm as the woman sat down. Oh yeah, that relationship changed.
He's staring at me. Christy's mental voice drew Emma's attention to Scott's tense form as he ate breakfast with Jean. Is it my past or my being with you?
Emma looked back at Christy and noticed the woman return a subtle glare of her own towards Scott's table. The possessive thoughts Christy radiated unknowingly let Emma know the woman was jealous and considered Scott a threat. Which answer would you prefer? Emma sent the question softly while pouring her tea.
Christy seemed to pause mid-pour on her own drink as she considered that. I don't know.
Well, with Scott most likely it's both, but not why you assume. He's suspicious of any lover one of us brings home. A girlfriend of Bobby's would get that same look. Emma worked on buttering her toast, fully aware of Scott's eyes on them. She may be exaggerating on the lack of interest from him, but Christy was insecure. It would take her a while to get over her insecurity, and the situation with Scott wouldn't help.
Why him? Christy's mental voice was hesitant, and followed up by thought on how little she liked Scott to begin with. How narrow minded he was. Christy's glance took in that other table. Jean deserved better. Was another line of thought that Christy wasn't aware Emma could hear. She didn't cheat on him, and she actually loves Logan. How am I supposed to pretend I don't know? I like her. I'm gonna feel like I betrayed her.
Emma took a deep breath and stared down at the plate she was filling instead of responding to any of those thoughts, aimed at her or not. She hadn't been proud of her involvement with Scott, but she'd never felt worse about it than she did at that moment. Perhaps they should have taken time to discuss this before rushing to breakfast. Emma made sure her own shields were strong before she reached out to touch Christy's hand across the table. It was a mistake. I was lonely, hurting, I needed a distraction. I needed a challenge, and he fit the bill. Scott had been just as lost at the time. They'd both been trying to pick up the pieces of their lives, Emma had recently survived Genosha, and Scott was dealing with his possession by Apocalypse. Instead of going into the details she sent We were dealing with some losses, and it just… clicked, but it wasn't love, and he never touched me in real life. He'd been willing to do almost anything via telepathy, but he wouldn't actually touch her.
Christy's concerns that her own losses were what attracted Emma took Emma by surprise when she overheard them. No, Christy… it isn't like with Scott. She squeezed Christy's hand and ignored Scott's mental voice trying to get her attention. He was asking about Annie, but it was hardly veiled what his real concern was. He was a distraction, you are so much more. I'm hoping that our relationship will develop.
Christy's jaw clenched for a moment and then a tentative but firm mental voice replied. I… I don't ever want to be Jean. I don't want to think you are being faithful and not know… I've been there. I've been the fool that was last to know. I don't want to be there again.
Emma hadn't realized Christy had been cheated on. She stared down at her eggs and gave a brief humorless smile. They hadn't been together a day and already she was getting the speech. Part of her reminded her that she deserved it. That the first thing Christy learned right before they got together was that she had experience playing the other woman. It wasn't that Christy had trust issues, it was that Emma proved she wasn't trustworthy. Her own mental voice was a bit cooler in spite of knowing Christy had cause. I understand. You don't need to worry.
Christy was a bit concerned with her tone, Emma could read that easily in her body language as well as her mental response. I know it may be too soon. I'm sorry, it's just… this is a sensitive topic for me. It hurts so much to be replaced before you even know there's a problem.
Emma took a breath as she considered that. Her tension started to melt as she was confronted by Christy's fear that this wouldn't last. That it would hurt more than she could handle if it happened to her again. You were cheated on? Emma asked softly, her sympathy easy to read. She found herself disliking the woman that hurt Christy like that, and it also made her feel a bit more guilt about how torn Christy now felt keeping Emma's indiscretions a secret now.
I thought we were happy, but then she suddenly told me she was leaving me. Partial images of the living room of Christy's house and an image of a blonde woman talking played in the background of Christy's thoughts. Apparently she'd been dating while I was at work. I was working nights at the time, working my way through school. She found someone she liked and… God, I never even found out if she'd had that woman over to MY house. The fact that Christy felt shame over that, as if she'd admitted to a wrong doing of her own stunned Emma. Christy was the wronged one in this. Michelle said she hadn't, but I couldn't believe her after that.
I'm sorry. Emma caressed Christy's mind, gently touched her pleasure center to show her affection and to try and prevent Christy from getting depressed over the past.
Thanks. Christy gave Emma a soft smile, laced with sadness.
I've rarely attempted a long term relationship. Emma warned Christy. And there may be a few mistakes, but I won't do that to you. I'll try not to hurt you. The way Christy's tension melted as if Emma's word was more than enough in spite of knowing about the mistake with Scott was a surprise. What did Emma need to do in order to lose Christy's trust? Emma didn't want to find out. It was so rare to have someone trust her like this.
I'm a bit rusty myself. Christy answered sounding a bit shy as she smiled at Emma.
"You really are beautiful my dear." Emma spoke softly out loud, knowing that a few xmen around the room had to notice the silence at their table throughout breakfast. "I wish I could spend the day with you, but work calls."
Christy's expression became a bit more serious. "I need to catch up with my kids anyhow. And Mys… Robbie," Christy stumbled over that. "I should call her and make sure everything's okay. I kinda ran out on her and I'm hoping she doesn't try to get even." Christy gave a cute little half smile. "She's a born troublemaker. I could return engaged or something if I piss her off. And that would definitely be a problem."
Emma would have liked to ask more, but Christy's involvement with Mystique was a secret even she wasn't supposed to know about. The fact that Christy was saying something out loud at all spoke volumes about her reluctance to keep that secret. Emma would have brought their conversation back to telepathy, but Logan sat down at their table. Emma didn't miss the look on his face when Christy wasn't looking. Christy and Emma's relationship achieved the Wolverine stamp of approval.
Was her love life everyone's business now? Emma pretended to not notice Jean's grin when she glanced over at their table, or the raised eyebrow.
Logan didn't normally sit with strangers for breakfast, and he knew he was intruding on the new couple, but before Scott could say something dickheaded he wanted to give the woman his support. "Heard the report about your world." He watched Christy's body tense a bit as he took a drink of his coffee. Her scent faded quickly as well. "Sorry ya went through that."
He didn't make it obvious, but he was watching her. She just gave him a small smile. "Thank you."
"Heard Emma was planning to try and get you hired here." He reached over to load his plate up with eggs. "You get the job maybe we can go fishing or hunting."
"I don't like to kill if I don't have to." Christy hesitated a bit. "But fishing sounds fine."
Thank you Logan. Emma's voice filled his head. He just gave Emma a mental nod and took a bite of his eggs while staring at Scott over Christy's shoulder. Scott heard the woman refuse hunting. It confirmed a feeling Logan had that Christy wouldn't go for it. She'd seen enough blood.
"You fish much?"
"Not really. Not since I was little."
"Camp?" Logan was more interested in the outdoors, and he knew not many of his teammates were interested in long camping trips.
"Not like you mean." Christy was relaxing. "We used to camp out in abandoned shops when we were out hunting, but I didn't camp before." The way she said before made it sound important.
"Before what?" She'd been through plenty so he wasn't gonna assume.
"Oh." Christy looked a bit surprised. "Before is before we knew we were gonna die. We always just called it before." She gave him a small smile. "Sorry, I speak English and I still manage a language barrier."
"Well, your culture did change significantly over a short period of time." Emma spoke to Christy. "It affected your world's vocabulary."
"That where the kids get their sayings?" Logan rarely made such an effort to be part of a conversation, but Christy was something special. "I heard something about not telling someone if the sky was falling."
Christy's smile faded a little. "I wouldn't tell you if the sky was falling and let you get hit in the back of the head. Yeah, that's from me."
"You believe that?" Logan sat up a little straighter, and he was aware of the attention this table was getting even if Christy didn't seem to be.
"When it comes to death, ignorance is bliss." It sounded like another saying the way she delivered it. "Better to catch a bullet in the back of the head than between the eyes." Christy paused. "We had a million of them, along with a million names to call the bitch that let the story leak so we knew what was happening. The government tried to cover it up. They knew better, but reporters… they think the people want the truth. They don't. People just want to think everything is gonna be okay, and they'd like to believe that until the day they die. They want someone else to make the hard decisions for them." Her voice was getting a little harder, but not louder. "So they can worry about the kids little league, or school, or whatever else, and not think about death, asteroids, serial mutant killers… whatever."
He wasn't sure what to say about that without making this a more serious talk than he'd been after so he picked up his glass and gave her a small grin. "So, to ignorance." He waited with his glass up for a toast. She smiled and clinked her glass to his. "Darlin' you realize toasting to ignorance at a school is probably a bad idea." She chuckled before taking a drink of her juice. Emma was right, this woman was strong.
It wasn't long after that Emma and Christy left. Logan sat back in his chair and stared at Scott. "She talk about how we should punish those kids yet? The ones that hurt her kid?" Scott glanced at Jean, who shook her head no. "Seems to me that with Annie almost dying, Christy woulda been thinking about vengeance. If it were Jubilee, those kids woulda already seen me." Christy was showing a hell of a lot more restraint than Logan would have, and she should get the credit for that.
Erik sat on one of the five beds in the room feeling tired. His shields were a bit weak when he was tired, but the sisters would help him shore them up once in a while. "You can't just tell her you want to stay?" He asked rather than answer their question. Esme wanted him to use his powers on their mother, since their own didn't work on the woman. Apparently some mutant's powers didn't work on their family. Erik didn't have that, his mom and dad were always easily read.
"No, she won't listen." The sisters told him. Erik glanced at Jessi because she understood why he couldn't do this. Now he just had to tell the others.
"If you explain it she might listen. Let her know how it isn't really safe anywhere?"
Jessi finally spoke up. Her voice was rough with her lack of sleep. "It isn't safe. We used to do research and every day we read about someone killing or attacking a mutant. My dad…" Erik felt the storm of pain this topic caused her. "My dad kills mutants. The F.O.H. are everywhere. We came here to be safe. Christy thinks its safer here."
"Are you sure she didn't come to take you away as well?" The sisters spoke as one, but Esme looked most convinced that Christy was going to let them down.
"No. Christy isn't taking us home." Erik sighed. She couldn't even if she wanted to. They didn't talk about it, but they all followed the deaths in Tacoma. Jessi's dad hadn't stopped.
"We need your help."
"I can't." Erik felt helpless. He wished he could. "I can't get suspended, and Christy won't approve."
"I see what your friendship is worth." Esme glared at him. Phoebe and the others seemed a bit more understanding in the way they looked at him.
"There has to be another way."
"Too bad we can't make her see how dangerous it would be to take you home. If she thought you all would be safer here she wouldn't take you." Jon spoke softly before turning to stare out the window again, as if the trees held the answer. The room fell quiet and Erik tried to think of something they could do. They had to try something.
Christy stepped into the room and noticed Annie's forlorn expression as the girl stared at the other bed instead of the television. "Hey Annie." She spoke softly and watched as the girl's head moved quickly to look at her.
"Christy?" the voice was too near tears. Christy's heart clenched as she moved closer. This was the first time they'd been alone since Annie woke up. "I'm so glad you came."
"You needed me." Christy spoke softly and took the seat she'd spent so much time in, next to Annie's bed. "I had to come."
When Annie went quiet Christy didn't fill it. She'd seen people witness things that haunted them, and from Annie's eyes she knew her girl was haunted. She needed time, time to figure out what to feel. Christy hated that Annie had to go through this. Christy suspected Annie would have nightmares for years. Burning was a cruel pain, and to see a friend burn, to struggle to save her from that had to leave scars Henry couldn't heal. Annie was so young, so innocent… not like the girls from Christy's own world who had gotten used to horrors.
Christy sat in silence and listened to Annie's breathing. "Sophie bought the hair color because of me. I told her she'd look good in blue." Annie whispered while staring at the other bed. Christy looked over at it and saw the hint of blue Annie was talking about. The other sisters had colors in their hair too. Christy had thought it was a bit Power Ranger of them, but didn't say anything. Annie's voice cracked, "She's so nice. She doesn't deserve this. It's not fair."
Christy moved a bit closer to the bed and rested a hand on Annie's shoulder. Taking her hand was what she wanted to do, but Annie's hands were wrapped up and hurt. This would be the time for some wise words, but all Christy could think was that life wasn't fair, and good people paid the price all the time. She didn't want to lie to Annie and tell her it would be okay. It wouldn't be. "As long as there's life there's hope." She spoke softly. Christy was hardly the optimist, but today she needed to at least pretend she didn't think that the scars would stay forever and ruin Sophie's life.
"He won't let me help her." Annie's voice broke and tears started down her cheeks. "I told him if I waited I might not be able to heal her, but he won't let me."
"Henry said he was worried you'd fall into a coma. A longer one." Christy didn't like that idea at all. Annie looked too close to dead in a coma. "We just don't want you getting hurt."
The glare Annie gave her at that was nearly violent in its intensity. Christy's eyes widened in surprise. "I don't care. I have to help her. I tried, but I couldn't heal it all. All I was able to do was keep her alive. She's burned. She's burned so bad. What if there's a time limit to my powers? Sophie's so nice… she doesn't deserve this."
"You passed out."
"I panicked; I was throwing my power at everything, trying to fight the fire as I did it." Annie swallowed hard. "I had to use my powers to keep her internal organs going. I couldn't focus harder, I couldn't worry about her skin. I think I can help her. It won't be as hard this time. Please, Christy… you have to make them let me try."
Christy felt a bit hot as she stared at Annie. She'd almost lost her and now Annie wanted Christy to help her risk her health. "But you just woke up. You can't be at full strength yet." She protested softly as she stared at Sophie. If Emma was right and they were getting close… God, what would Christy do if it had been Emma in that bed and she was the healer? Or Jessi, or any of her kids… If it were someone she cared about and she had the power to help, Christy would crawl across the floor if she had to, so she could get close enough. She wouldn't care about a coma, not when someone she loved would suffer for life. Christy's eyes were a bit glassy when she looked back into Annie's pleading ones. "Do you think you can do it? Do enough to make it worth what you'd end up paying?"
"I could at least save her face." Annie spoke with conviction. "At least."
Christy took a deep breath as she stared blankly at the sheet on the bed. Saving Sophie's face would be worth it to Annie. Sophie would be able to hide all the other scars. "I'll see what I can do." She felt sick as she said that, knowing that she was agreeing to help Annie risk herself.
"Thank you." Christy could see Annie trying not to let herself cry. "Thank you."
Christy stood up and leaned over the bed. She kissed Annie gently on her forehead as if she were a child, but Christy didn't know how else to express her affection right then. A hug would hurt Annie arms, and a kiss on the lips was a bad idea. "You rest up and I'll go talk to Henry."
"Charles we can hardly give them what amounts to a slap on the wrist." Emma hissed at him. When Charles suggested counseling for the children that terrorized the school she was stunned. "What kind of example does that set for the other children? That they can attempt murder on campus and get away with it? And how would Sophie or Annie's family react knowing you won't protect them?"
"Quentin and his friends are young mutants that lost their way. We can salvage them."
"At the cost of good people like Annie and Sophie?" Emma's voice rose. "They ATTACKED our students."
"They are OUR students." Charles used his command voice and Emma just glanced around the office. She could sense a few others were surprised by this proposal.
"Chuck, I don't wanna be the one to tell Sophie's mom or Christy their girl's attackers will still be here." Logan added. Yes, to have to tell a parent that the perpetrator of this crime would get away with it would be a nightmare, and Emma wanted no part in it.
"They won't have contact with the other students."
"It won't matter. We will lose them. We will lose them all. Even Christy would rather take her students back than leave them with us if we did that." Jean was the one to say it. Emma gave the redhead a glance, wondering when Jean felt she knew Christy well enough to guess at her reaction. "Other parents would take their children away as well."
"Emma do you think that's true?" Charles asked her directly. Emma was the one most familiar with Christy, and whenever they wanted to know how Christy would react they asked her.
"We might never see her again if we betray her in this fashion." Emma spoke coldly. This would be a betrayal. "She'll take all of her kids, destroy the F.O.H. threat in her city with any means she has and cut ties with the school." Emma was fairly certain that would be Christy's response, and with Charles plans for Christy it gave them leverage. He didn't need to know Christy had absolutely no interest in becoming his spy. "But don't worry, I'm sure she'll keep in contact with her tutor." She stared into his eyes and watched as he realized she knew who that tutor was.
After a moment Charles' shoulders sagged and he let out a breath. "I don't want to write them off. We have a responsibility to them."
Jean moved around his desk and Emma just leaned against the wall to watch. "Charles, I feel just as concerned about turning them over to the police but if we don't…"
"we teach the students that they are above the law." Charles finished the comment with a heavy sigh. "I know, I know." Emma started to relax as she realized that he was offering his most optimistic solution, but he knew it wouldn't work. "But is there a solution that doesn't require us to turn them over to the authorities? I don't relish the possibility of having the police realize that all of our students are mutants." This decision seemed to be much more of a committee effort than Charles normally bothered with. It made Emma a bit more comfortable, because then she'd get input on how the students should be punished.
The knock on the door startled all the telepaths, who hadn't sensed anyone coming their way. Emma felt Christy and smiled as Jean and the Professor seemed to figure out who it must be by the absence of a presence, which was all they could feel.
"Someone tell her that we were having THIS meeting?" Scott glanced at Emma while Logan moved to get the door.
"Hi." Christy stepped into the room with no hesitation, even though all of the senior teachers were there, namely her team minus Henry. Emma watched her take a glance in Emma's direction, before moving more purposefully towards Charles. Something was up, or she'd have backed out once she saw they were in a meeting. "I want you to tell Henry that Annie is MY responsibility and I have the right to refuse treatment on her behalf if I want."
"What's going on?" Scott moved a few steps closer.
Christy barely spared him a glance before turning to answer Charles. "Annie is seventeen. She knows how to make up her own mind, and she wants to heal Sophie. He's refusing to even entertain the idea. Annie says that she CAN at least save Sophie's face, but not if we wait."
Charles was clearly contacting Henry as he went quiet to get the other side of the story. Christy. Emma sent to her lover.
She has the right to make these decisions. Christy sent back, but Emma could feel the pain Christy felt in having to defend something she didn't want to do. She didn't want to risk Annie like this. It's her body, her life. Emma nodded that she understood, but Emma was pleasantly surprised at Annie and Christy's dedication to pushing this issue for Sophie. If they could save the girl's face it would be such an improvement. Even if Sophie had to live with the scars on her arms and torso, it would improve her life greatly.
Charles moved to fold his fingers on his desk. "Henry believes that if she expends that type of energy now, she will go back into a coma."
"And she knows that." Christy stood tall as she faced him. None of her own doubts showed on her face. If Emma couldn't sense her lover's emotions she'd believe that Christy fully believed in this action. "She thinks a coma is a small price to pay, but she thinks he's wrong. Annie had to use a lot of energy to keep Sophie alive, but this is cosmetic. It shouldn't take as much."
"We have no way of knowing how Annie's powers will react to overextending them." Charles' tone didn't bode well. Emma turned to stare at him.
Charles, Sophie could have her life back. She sent to the man.
"Henry tells me that Annie can't even walk and sitting up takes a great deal of effort." He continued, while glancing at Emma. "I can't in good conscience approve this."
"Like you have a conscience." Christy grumbled. The silence was brief but tense. Emma noticed Scott's fists clenched at that insult, but he didn't know the motivation behind it. Christy stood up a bit taller. "Funny how Scott was what… a teenager when he became an xmen and you sent your child team out to fight for their lives, but you won't approve this?" Emma let the edge of her lips turn up in a smirk at that accurate blow. For a moment she thought Christy was going to pull Mystique into this, and that wouldn't be a good idea if they still planned to try and protect the spy from Charles in the future. "At least Annie knows what she's getting into."
"This isn't a discussion." Charles cut the argument down, ignoring how right Christy had been. "I've made my decision."
"She's MY kid."
"Legally, she's still her father's child." Charles' words seemed to stagger Christy. Emma watched the pain on Christy's face, before the woman disguised it. "I can't legally endanger her or take her out of medical care without his approval."
"That bastard would have rather she died and you're gonna tell me he has more rights than me?" Christy's voice cracked and it was painful for Emma to watch this. "They are mine." Christy's clothes became fuzzy for a moment but solidified again. At least she retained enough control to keep from loosing them altogether, but Charles didn't look impressed with her loss of control.
Scott stared at Christy's clothes, sure he'd seen them change. Jean?
I saw it too. Jean answered him.
"I don't doubt that you care for them a great deal Christy." The Professor's voice was gentle as he addressed Christy. Scott watched her fist clench. "But we are really doing what is in Annie's best interest."
"No, if you'd done that she would never have been hurt." Christy's glare made Scott tense and he felt prepared to jump in and protect the Professor if she became violent. "You learned nothing. You're still sitting on your fucking hands." She turned and took a few long strides towards the door.
Scott's voice rose in a challenge before she got to the door. "We were just deciding what to do with Quentin and the others." Christy stopped walking and turned to stare at him. He spoke more quietly. "Any suggestions?"
Her eyes narrowed at him. He could almost see a million suggestions, all bloody, in her eyes. Her glance to Emma let him know the White Queen was talking to her. A brief nod and she turned back to him. "I'm sure you can handle this without my advice." Her glare turned to Charles. "After all… I have no rights to say anything."
Emma, what did you tell her? Scott turned his glare to her when Christy left.
That you were merely baiting her, so she didn't need to waste her time or effort answering you. "She would have been fair about it. Christy was talking about jail, not murder last night when we discussed this."
"You discuss school business with her?" Scott wasn't pleased. Still, the idea that Christy would recommend jail surprised him. Christy struck him as the capital punishment type.
"No, I discussed HER children with her, and how I was sorry that we let her down." Emma's voice was cold. "Really Charles, why didn't you just stab her, it would have hurt her less. That is her family you just told her she had not rights to. The family she entrusted in OUR care."
Scott had to admit that was a low blow. The Professor had hurt Christy with that. Even he had seen it.
"So she doesn't want them dead?" Scott felt the need to clarify, and since the Professor was looking a bit upset, it pulled Emma's anger off of the older man and back on him.
"If they are no longer a threat, she doesn't concern herself with wanting anyone dead. For what you consider to be a remorseless killer, Christy is remarkably able to forgo vengeance." Scott's eyebrows raised a little as he thought about that. Christy wasn't interested in vengeance? He hated to admit it, but Logan was right. Maybe she was more than Scott gave her credit for.
"Annie really isn't well enough to try to heal anyone right now." The Professor spoke up, ignoring the topic at hand. "I'm just looking out for her welfare."
"Looks like your teacher is mad." Esme's voice drew Jessi's eyes up in time to catch Christy marching down the hall for the elevator. She did look mad, and Jessi rarely saw Christy mad. It made her worry about what upset the woman. "Well, looks like angry woman number two is about to show." Esme muttered as her eyes seemed to glow just a bit. "Phoebe tells us that Mother is pulling up."
And that meant that Jessi couldn't follow Christy to ask what was wrong, because she had a mission to accomplish. They had barely come up with this plan in time.
"If this doesn't work, Erik better use his powers." Esme muttered and Jessi just sighed. She wasn't liking Esme very much, and if it weren't for her sisters she might just let the girl get taken away.
A tense blonde woman in a navy dress suit stepped into the building being trailed by three of the sisters a few minutes later. Esme gave Jessi an exasperated look, before moving to join the crowd. Jessi moved down a different hall and barely glanced at Erik as he fell into step beside her. "Myeisha will help, but I couldn't find anyone else." He went quiet for a moment. "The sisters say that their mother went into the office, but they aren't sure she'll feel like a campus tour afterwards." They needed the woman to come here at least.
Jessi started to walk a bit faster towards the computer lab at that. They needed the woman to take a tour, or at least come by here or this wouldn't work. Erik had promised he'd use his powers if nothing else worked and Jessi didn't want him to have to do that.
Jon was already in the computer lab when they got there, turning on all the computers. On Sunday few students woke up this early, and never even entertained the idea that they could come inn here to write their papers. They had thirty computers, and it had been a little over a month since any of them had done this. "Well, let's do it." Jessi said as she moved to the bank of computers not turned on yet and started to get them running. Myeisha came by her so Jessi could explain the plan. "We need to show their mother that it isn't safe anywhere, especially New England." Christy had taught them all how to do Internet searches for these things. They'd done it for months, just never with a time limit. "We need every computer set up. Erik is in contact with the sisters and they'll warn us when they're coming."
"I'm not too good with searches." Myeisha told her and Jessi felt the chances shrinking.
Emma would have loved to pull out her flask and take a drink, even if it was morning. Her headache was growing as she listened to Sophie's mother threatening to pull all her children. Emma's children. It would take such little effort to slip into the woman's mind and calm her down, but Charles didn't think it was right.
The girls in question sat out in the hall. Emma's mind wandered to them as Charles faced the angry woman. It was a morning of yelling parents.
Ms. Frost. The girls touched her mind. We need to stall for time. They were obviously eavesdropping, but Emma didn't fault them for that. When she looked back at the girls' mother she could see the woman was winding down.
"Perhaps we should have Henry come up and update you on Sophie's health." Emma sent for him as she was speaking. "She's unable to have visitors yet, due to her condition." She didn't care for the glare she received at that.
Christy glared at Henry as she moved past his desk towards the room. He didn't have the decency to be angry back and his gentle concern pissed her off more. Didn't they realize that it was the emotional wounds that bleed longer? That this was something Annie needed to do?
"Christy." Annie looked so hopeful as Christy stepped into the room. Christy didn't want to have to tell her she'd failed. Annie thought she could do anything apparently, and she hated to have to disillusion the girl.
"Hey, how you feeling?" Christy gave Annie a small smile and moved to her seat by the bed.
"Christy, Annie… I've been summoned to discuss Sophie's condition with her mother. Do either of you require anything?" Christy just turned to stare at Annie, her mind racing as she wondered about that luck power no one ever really seemed to understand. This seemed too perfect.
"No, I'm fine." Annie told him. Christy waited a moment and then got up to move to the door.
"I'll be right back." She told the confused girl as she checked the main room. Completely empty. Christy slipped back in and stared at the IV in Annie's arm. She noticed the lack of a heart monitor, something that must have been removed recently.
"Christy, what did they say?"
"Do you really think you'll be okay?" Christy moved to the side of the bed. "You won't be in danger?"
"I'll be fine." Annie was giving her a strange look that told Christy she was acting strangely herself.
"Well," Christy took a deep breath. Just a few more minutes and Henry would be on the main floor. She could mentally ask Emma, but then Emma would have to tell on her. She couldn't use their relationship like that. "If we can do it before Sophie's mother comes down with Henry it would be best."
"They said that?" Annie was smiling. Here was the hard part. Christy could take all the blame if she could pull this off.
"Yes, so we need to get going fast, because Mrs. Stepford won't wait long." Christy barely managed to return the smile.
Christy carefully removed the IV, and without waiting reached under Annie and picked her up. The girl gasped in shock as Christy ignored the idea of a wheelchair and carried her to the other bed. "You be careful. Don't push too hard. If you go into a coma, I'll never hear the end of it." She gave a weak smile of support to Annie as she moved to gently lay her next to Sophie. It wasn't easy with all the monitors on the other girl.
"My hands." Annie stared at the covering. "I need these bandages off."
The unwrapping would take so much time. "Can't you do it another way?" Christy was feeling nervous. She was risking a lot and if they didn't have time to heal Sophie after all of this it would be for nothing.
Erik typed as fast as he could, using the extra time the sisters bought them. Between the four of them they only had a third of the computers set, and Esme kept telling him to hurry because it was getting hard to stall.
Once he found another article he got up and moved to the next machine. "No duplicates. Jon, you are making sure there aren't duplicates?" He called across the room when he saw another article with that looked a bit like the one he'd just put up on Jon's screen."
"New England, March attack…" Jon called out and Erik glanced at his. It was a New Jersey May attack.
"Okay." Erik called back and took the next seat. The concern about duplicates was slowing things down.
"This is horrible." Myeisha's miserable voice reached him as she found another article.
"I know." He spoke softly while he typed. "Keep moving, we don't have time to read them."
Annie could tell Christy was worried they'd run out of time. Mrs. Stepford would probably be so upset to see Sophie like this. Annie stared down at her friend, who looked more like a mummy than herself at the moment.
"I don't know." She spoke softly as she thought about how she'd always used her hands before. Christy and her looked around the room, but didn't see scissors. That's when Christy did something that stunned Annie. Her fingers became long and sharp looking.
"I don't want to hurt you. Help me with this." Christy brought a finger to the bandage. When Annie just stared Christy gave her a slight smile. "I'm a metamorph now."
"Ah, okay." Annie held out her right hand. If she had one she should be able to do this. Annie gritted her teeth and tried to not let Christy know the pressure hurt as Christy worked a finger under the bandage near her hand and cut. The unwrapping was so fast and the cool arm on sweaty skin felt good. It didn't take long for Christy to free Annie's hand. "That should be enough." Annie stared at the way Christy's hand reformed for a moment before moving to place her own burnt hand over the exposed skin on the right side of Sophie's face.
Annie's powers quickly identified the damage, and she could see Christy almost pacing beside the bed as she did that. It made her nervous. Obviously they were running out of time. Maybe the Professor wanted this done and her back in her bed before Sophie's mom came. They could pretend Sophie hadn't been as hurt if they did that.
Emma hoped that whatever time the girls needed had been bought. Henry didn't stay long because he didn't want to leave his patients alone too long. Emma followed at a short distance as she watched the girl's slowly walk their mother in the wrong direction to the Medlab.
"Oh man, they're on the way." Erik muttered as he finished setting up another machine. A quick glance showed him that they still had ten computers left. They would never make it in time. They were also the ones easiest to see from the door. They should have started there. "Jon, Myeisha." He called out to them as he made his way to those computers. "Find the ten worst ones and give us the addresses." Jessi moved with him to sit on the opposite side of the long table.
"www…" Jon started to rattle off one and Erik shared a glance with Jessi as Jessi started typing.
"Http:…" Myeisha called out and Erik took that one. They had to work faster.