Scott grabbed the wooden railing in a white-knuckled embrace and leaned over to search the scenery below. The kids, including a hobbling Marie, joined him a split second later.
"Logan!" Marie's scream echoed through the trees.
Scott gulped. Forty feet below, Logan lay still in the red, shallow water. A sound between a prayer and a curse escaped his lips when Scott realized that Logan was impaled on a large tree branch. 'That's why he's not moving,' Scott thought as he allowed his eyes to slide shut behind ruby quartz. He was gonna be in deep shit for this one.
"Professor, do something!"
Scott blinked and opened his mouth when Peter interrupted him. "Come on guys, let's get the rope!"
The teenagers scrambled to the scattered packs and within seconds, several coils of rope were produced. Marie was starting to sweat profusely now, and her leg was swelling. Scott went to her.
"Marie, we'll get him, you sit under this tree and don't move, okay?"
Marie glared at him.
Scott ignored her; he deserved to be glared after what he had done. He eased her to the ground before joining the boys closer to the cliff's edge. "Okay guys, what's the plan?"
The boys barely spared him a glance as they worked on tying knots in the rope. "We're makin' a harness. Peter's gonna go down after Logan."
"No. It's too dangerous. I'll-"
"You can stay and watch Rogue. You at least owe him that."
Scott glanced at the fallen girl. Jubilee was at her side, trying to calm her as the venom released it's poison. Scott turned back to the guys as they fitted a skeleton of a harness around Peter, checking their craftsmanship. He sighed. He didn't like this one bit, but right now two lives were at stake. "You guys know what you're doing?" he asked gently.
"It came up in class one day," Peter shrugged. "It's pretty easy to sidetrack Logan."
"But is it easy to haul him straight up a four-story drop?" Scott countered, concerned for the safety of his students.
"We'll find out," Peter replied with a smile as Bobby and John tied the end of the rope around a large tree twenty feet away. "I mean, he can't weigh that much."
Scott peered over the cliff and into the coloring water below. Healing factor or not, that was a lot of blood. "Alright, go," Scott sighed, turning away from the damage he had caused. "Be careful." He patted Peter on the shoulder as he rejoined Marie and the female students.
The small group of determined boys quickly helped lower over the cliff and soon the large teenager was out of sight. Scott turned back to Marie with parental concern hidden beneath the quartz. He lay a hand on her forehead, feeling the heat there. "Try to relax," he told her even as she lay against the tree, wincing. "We need to keep your heart rate down to slow the poison." Hey, it sounded logical.
Marie squinted at him. "Ah grew up with snakes, ah know how it works." She fumbled with the makeshift bandage, loosening it around her swelling thigh. "You make sure Logan's alright."
Scott felt out of place for the first time since he found the professor. "Don't worry about him, he'll be fine. It's you we gotta get to a hospital."
"Did you call for help?" Kitty asked, and only then was Scott aware of his young female audience.
"Jean's on the way. Don't worry, everything's gonna be okay. Everyone just has to stay calm."
The girls looked at each other and Scott realized that no one was actually stressing out. Scott began to wonder if maybe Logan's class had been accomplishing what the professor claimed it would after all. Confidence. Self control. Respect. Survival.
"Um, professor?" Kitty spoke up. "When Jean gets here... where is she gonna land the jet?"
Well, crap. Scott looked around the small clearing, too small for the Black Bird, and realized that there really was no place to land a jet. The forest was too healthy, too thick with towering trees. Scott's heart sank. He turned back to Marie, who was starting to go pale, and patted her unharmed leg. "Stay here, I'm gonna look around. I'll be right back," he finished, glancing to each of the girls.
Scott rose to his feet and crossed the small clearing to stand at the edge of the cliff. He looked down and breathed a sigh of relief when Peter landed gently in the water with a splash. The boys were working as a team and Scott couldn't be more proud. As Peter waded through the red water, Scott searched the area below. The shore line receded a good ways into the trees, suggesting that this shallow pond hadn't always been so shallow. There wasn't much room, but it was enough to land a jet in an emergency, and boy did they have an emergency.
"Okay guys, change of plan," Scott announced. "Jean will be here in twenty minutes, and she'll have to land the Bird down there," he said, pointing over the cliff. "I'm gonna take the girls and backtrack down the trail. You tell Peter to stay put. We'll meet on the shore down there."
"You can't carry Rogue all the way back down the mountain," John said as he fed the rope through his hands. "Look at her."
Jubilee was holding back Marie's hair as the poisoned girl leaned to the side and vomited. Scott's anticipation mounted. "I have to," he spoke quietly.
"Why don't we lower them all down in the harness?" Bobby asked. "It'd save a lot of time."
"Guys! I got him!" The shout echoed through the trees, prompting a few birds to take to flight above them.
Scott peered over the edge of the cliff as Peter struggled to drag Logan's unmoving body to the shore. Scott thought he heard a few muttered curses. "Is he okay?" Scott called down and immediately felt stupid.
Peter fell backwards on the pebbled shore, heaving Logan's bloodied torso onto dry land. "It's a branch!" he called, squinting upwards. "It's completely through his shoulder!"
Scott shuddered. He gave thanks once again that the Wolverine was out like a light. "Don't touch it!" Scott yelled. "We're coming down!" He turned to the guys. "Alright, pull the harness back up. We'll start sending the girls down, saving Marie for last."
The boys nodded and began carrying out the orders. Scott walked to the group of girls. His focus went to Marie. Her leg had swelled considerably, and now the punctures were oozing blood from the red, angry wound. Marie was ghostly pale and a fine sheen of sweat covered her visible skin. She was beginning to tremble in Jubilee's arms. Scott took a deep breath. "Okay girls, we gotta start moving. Jean will be here soon, but we gotta be ready down there," he finished, letting the words hang in the air.
"Down there?!" came the collective shriek.
"It's the only way," Scott replied, his hand already on a blonde's arm. "Don't worry, the rope is strong enough to hold Peter and you'll have Bobby and John lowering you down. All you have to do is enjoy the scenery."
"I've had enough scenery for a while," came the meek reply.
Scott gently shoved her off to Bobby. "I'll make you a deal. You let us lower you down and there'll be no more scenery for a long time."
The small girl gulped and looked into the bloodstained water four stories below. "I don't think I can..."
The harness was fitted on her as Scott spoke reassurances. "You have to sweetie, I promise it'll all be over soon. Go."
Scott turned, but not before a single tear rolled down her cheek. He swallowed the lump in his own throat, determined not to let his fear show. He had to be strong, for Marie, for Logan, for them all. It might be the only way they get out of this mess alive.