Disclaimer: I own no one but me.
Distribution: Ask nicely, offer sexual favours, and I'll see what I can do, hehe.
Yeah, I know, I'm so incredibly mean it isn't true. I know the drill; I'm evil. Got your hopes all up and then dashed them. Well, that's life . . .
* * *
Rogue felt her eyes fill with tears. This was the last place; they were not going to find her. Rogue had tried not to hope, really she had. But she now knew that she had clung to the very possibility that Jean might be alive. Rogue lifted one hand to cover her face as the tears started. Bobby pulled her to him, holding her as she buried her face in his chest.
Bobby saw the nurse look at them both sympathetically, "I take it that this is not the woman that you're looking for."
Bobby shook his head, smiling politely at the nurse, "No, I'm afraid it isn't," he sighed, "Thank you for your time though."
She nodded, "Of course."
Rogue moved away slightly and turned to face the nurse, "Yes, thank you." She took a deep breath, "Well, I hope that whoever this woman belongs to, they find her." She glanced down. It was so horrible that this woman was lying here, no one who knew her, to claim her, to even care that she was here. No one to even give her a name. Rogue looked at the clipboard at the end of the bed, she frowned, 'Erika Appleby'. "Umm, nurse?"
"Yes?"
Rogue pointed at the board, "I thought you said that no one had identified this woman?"
The nurse nodded, "No one has."
"Well, then how does she have a name?"
The nurse frowned in confusion, "I have no idea. Let me just go and speak to the nurse on duty."
The nurse walked down the aisle and Rogue looked at Bobby, "Do you think that they just named her . . . like, anything?"
He shrugged, "It's possible." He looked at her face, "Are you okay?"
Her lip trembled as she fought the tears, "Yeah . . . no."
He put his arms around her again, resting her head on his shoulder. He looked down the rows of beds; the sooner they got out of here the better.
Rogue hugged him, she just wanted to go, she'd had enough. Then she felt Bobby's back tense under her hands. She moved back and looked up at him, "What's wrong?"
His mouth hung open as he stared over her shoulder. He opened his mouth as though to speak, but words seemed to fail him. He pointed down the row. Rogue turned and looked at each bed after the other. About four beds down, in a white hospital gown, her skin almost white, lay Jean.
* * *
Rogue felt her knees give way beneath her, and Bobby's hand slipped under her elbow to prop her up. She gripped his arm for a second steadying herself, "Nurse!"
The woman moved quickly back down the aisle talking to them, "It seems that the woman was moved today, just further down the row, I can show . . ." the nurse's voice trailed off as she saw where they were looking, "Is this the woman you're looking for?"
Bobby turned and looked at her mutely, he cleared his throat and fought to speak, "Umm . . . yes."
The nurse nodded, "Okay. Can you tell us her name?"
Bobby opened his mouth but Rogue spoke first, "Marie Summers," she said, giving her own first name and Scott's last name.
Bobby didn't hesitate to nod and confirm. The nurse didn't seem to find anything suspicious, "Well, I think perhaps you should both sit down." Bobby took one of the chairs next to Jean's bed and Rogue took the other one, "Your aunt? I believe?"
Rogue nodded, "Yes."
"Well, I am sorry to tell you that, it is very unlikely . . . there is little chance that she will ever wake up. There is little wrong with her physically, but her brain has simply shut down, this can sometimes be a reaction to shock. She has been here for several months now, and with this type of coma . . . well the patient can wake up any time . . . but when it lasts this long . . . well, it becomes less and less likely that it will ever happen. We are feeding her intravenously at the moment, she is not needing any other treatment from us." The nurse took a breath as these words sank in, "When she first arrived, a fisherman reported a woman lying on the banks of the river, she was severely bruised and she had a broken wrist, all of which have since healed." She took in the devastated looks on their faces. "I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but you have to know and prepare yourselves for the possibility of her never waking up; for now she is . . ." the nurse seemed to search for a delicate way of putting it, "Not really there anymore. For all intents and purposes, she's brain-dead."
Bobby put his arm around Rogue's shoulder; she suddenly looked very small. Then he saw her jaw tighten, she looked up at the nurse, "We . . . we'll be back. I need to make a phone call."
The nurse nodded sympathetically, "Of course."
Rogue smiled politely, gripped Bobby's hand, and led the way down the hall.
* * *
When they reached the edge of the parking lot Bobby stopped pulling Rogue to a halt, "Are you all right?"
To his surprise she smiled up at him, quite sincerely, "Yes." She set off again almost dragging him behind her.
He was confused, "The nurse said that she was . . . well, that she was brain-dead."
Rogue shook her head, "That's not true."
"Rogue . . ."
She shook her head firmly and stopped turning to face him, "Before you decide that I'm going nuts remember that Jean called out to the Professor. She called out to him and she managed to reach him. Some form of her is still in there, and while it's not enough, it's still a chance."
Bobby thought about this for a second, "Yeah, I guess your right."
She slipped her arms round his neck and kissed him firmly, "God, it turns me on when you say that."
* * *
The Professor lowered the jet's ramp and the two climbed in, he looked at them, "Well?"
Rogue smiled, "You were right Professor. She's alive. More than that, she's not even dependant on machines, except for food. The nurse said that she was in some kind of coma."
The Professor looked as though he was going to faint, "Oh, thank God."
Rogue smiled again though this time she was questioning, "So . . . what now?"
The Professor set his jaw, "We take her home."
Bobby squirmed uncomfortably, "Umm, Professor we can't just waltz in there and remove her. It's a hospital."
"I can control all their minds. Stop them for a while, just enough time for us to get her."
Kurt spoke for the first time, "Can we really do that? I mean, like he says, it's a hospital. Things are going on in there that cannot just be forced to take a break, "Emergency operations for example? What if a patient had a heart attack and the doctors were too deeply under . . . whatever to notice."
Rogue could tell that in the Professor's haste to get Jean back he had not considered this, she thought for a moment, "I think that I may have an idea."
All eyes turned to look at her.
* * *
The Professor was wringing his hands; Kurt could tell how nervous he was. She had never done anything like this before, it was dangerous and she might not be able to pull it off, still . . . it was the only plan that they had.
They had to get Jean out of there; it wasn't safe for her to stay in there. If Magneto were to learn that she was not dead, well, it was dangerous. There was no guarantee that he would prove a danger, but it was very possible that he might. And anyway, they could do more for Jean at the mansion.
The Professor looked over at him, they were both worried.
* * *
Rogue took several deep breaths, her entire body was shaking; Bobby was gripping her arms from behind, holding her tightly to him, trying to calm her down. "You can do this you know."
She nodded as though trying to convince herself of the truth in his words, "I know, I think . . . I can do this." She looked at him, "Stay close?"
"I will."
Rogue closed her eyes and breathed deeply. She concentrated; she concentrated with all her might on wanting to be up there, wanting to be up there, wanting to be up there, wanting to be up . . .her feet left the ground, her eyes flicked open and she counted the windows as she soared upwards. Two, three, four, five, six, seven. She moved slowly from window to window sideways, looking in at each until she saw Jean. Her breath caught in her throat. It was time.
She had never tried to use this power through glass before but she could see no reason why it shouldn't work. She focused on the needle that was feeding Jean intravenously. She held up her hand and moved it towards her. As she did so, the needle moved, it came free of the woman's skin and Rogue laid it on the bed.
Rogue let out a breath that she had barely known she was holding. Well, that was the easy part. Carefully, and oh, so slowly, she lifted both her hands, sliding the window frame upwards silently. She flicked the latch sideways and it held the window in place.
It was a still night and there was no breeze. She thanked God; otherwise there would have been a chance that the nurse on duty would have felt the wind. Rogue realised that once she'd positioned herself here she'd barely had to think about it to remain here, suspended in mid air.
Rogue looked in at Jean, she looked just as though she were sleeping. She just hoped that she wouldn't disturb her too much. She used both hands and all her concentration to lift the mattress on which Jean lay and guided it towards the window; fortunately it was directly behind it so it wasn't too much trouble. The mattress was not even as wide as a single. It was a typical hospital mattress, just wide enough to hold a body.
It slid towards the window slowly. Rogue let out a sigh of relief when she saw the end of the mattress slip through the opening. She pulled it towards her as she moved backwards through the air. When the mattress was all the way through the window, she began to bring herself and Jean down towards the floor.
* * *
Bobby watched her in amazement. She was moving downwards through the air, supporting Jean at the same time. She was amazing. And yet, she seemed to have no idea how powerful she was. She almost seemed afraid of it. But she could do incredible things with her gifts. She was doing amazing things even as he thought about it.
Bobby watched as she touched down next to him, still supporting Jean about two feet off the ground, she turned to him and smiled slightly, "You'd think that doing this would tire me out, but so far it doesn't do anything of the kind. It just . . . feels like breathing. It feels that natural."
He reached out and touched her face, "It is natural, and it's part of you now."
She seemed to consider this; "We should get Jean to the Blackbird."
He nodded, "Yeah."
Keeping off the road out of sight, the two of them moved through the town towards the Blackbird. Rogue was now using one hand to pull Jean behind them. As they approached, the ramp was lowered, and using both hands, she eased Jean through the door. The Professor came down to meet them, his eyes fell on Jean and he reached down and tenderly touched her face, "Oh, thank God. Oh, thank you God."
Rogue smiled and lowered the mattress, she turned to Bobby who took her hand, and smiled back at her.
* * *
The Blackbird descended, down through the basketball court, which closed up over their heads. The Professor had unnerved them all by constantly looking back to Jean as though trying to convince himself that she really was there, that she was real, and not dead.
Rogue stepped in front of the mattress once more as the ramp descended. She lifted Jean and began slowly making her way towards the infirmary. She stared down at the woman. She didn't know what repercussions this was going to cause, she had no idea, but she did know that no matter what pain this caused, it was going to cause a lot more happiness. She opened the doors of the infirmary with a wave of one hand, while holding Jean steady with another.
Soon the woman was gently deposited on one of the beds and covered up warmly. Rogue took a deep breath. This was the hard part, telling everyone else.
* * *
Distribution: Ask nicely, offer sexual favours, and I'll see what I can do, hehe.
Yeah, I know, I'm so incredibly mean it isn't true. I know the drill; I'm evil. Got your hopes all up and then dashed them. Well, that's life . . .
* * *
Rogue felt her eyes fill with tears. This was the last place; they were not going to find her. Rogue had tried not to hope, really she had. But she now knew that she had clung to the very possibility that Jean might be alive. Rogue lifted one hand to cover her face as the tears started. Bobby pulled her to him, holding her as she buried her face in his chest.
Bobby saw the nurse look at them both sympathetically, "I take it that this is not the woman that you're looking for."
Bobby shook his head, smiling politely at the nurse, "No, I'm afraid it isn't," he sighed, "Thank you for your time though."
She nodded, "Of course."
Rogue moved away slightly and turned to face the nurse, "Yes, thank you." She took a deep breath, "Well, I hope that whoever this woman belongs to, they find her." She glanced down. It was so horrible that this woman was lying here, no one who knew her, to claim her, to even care that she was here. No one to even give her a name. Rogue looked at the clipboard at the end of the bed, she frowned, 'Erika Appleby'. "Umm, nurse?"
"Yes?"
Rogue pointed at the board, "I thought you said that no one had identified this woman?"
The nurse nodded, "No one has."
"Well, then how does she have a name?"
The nurse frowned in confusion, "I have no idea. Let me just go and speak to the nurse on duty."
The nurse walked down the aisle and Rogue looked at Bobby, "Do you think that they just named her . . . like, anything?"
He shrugged, "It's possible." He looked at her face, "Are you okay?"
Her lip trembled as she fought the tears, "Yeah . . . no."
He put his arms around her again, resting her head on his shoulder. He looked down the rows of beds; the sooner they got out of here the better.
Rogue hugged him, she just wanted to go, she'd had enough. Then she felt Bobby's back tense under her hands. She moved back and looked up at him, "What's wrong?"
His mouth hung open as he stared over her shoulder. He opened his mouth as though to speak, but words seemed to fail him. He pointed down the row. Rogue turned and looked at each bed after the other. About four beds down, in a white hospital gown, her skin almost white, lay Jean.
* * *
Rogue felt her knees give way beneath her, and Bobby's hand slipped under her elbow to prop her up. She gripped his arm for a second steadying herself, "Nurse!"
The woman moved quickly back down the aisle talking to them, "It seems that the woman was moved today, just further down the row, I can show . . ." the nurse's voice trailed off as she saw where they were looking, "Is this the woman you're looking for?"
Bobby turned and looked at her mutely, he cleared his throat and fought to speak, "Umm . . . yes."
The nurse nodded, "Okay. Can you tell us her name?"
Bobby opened his mouth but Rogue spoke first, "Marie Summers," she said, giving her own first name and Scott's last name.
Bobby didn't hesitate to nod and confirm. The nurse didn't seem to find anything suspicious, "Well, I think perhaps you should both sit down." Bobby took one of the chairs next to Jean's bed and Rogue took the other one, "Your aunt? I believe?"
Rogue nodded, "Yes."
"Well, I am sorry to tell you that, it is very unlikely . . . there is little chance that she will ever wake up. There is little wrong with her physically, but her brain has simply shut down, this can sometimes be a reaction to shock. She has been here for several months now, and with this type of coma . . . well the patient can wake up any time . . . but when it lasts this long . . . well, it becomes less and less likely that it will ever happen. We are feeding her intravenously at the moment, she is not needing any other treatment from us." The nurse took a breath as these words sank in, "When she first arrived, a fisherman reported a woman lying on the banks of the river, she was severely bruised and she had a broken wrist, all of which have since healed." She took in the devastated looks on their faces. "I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but you have to know and prepare yourselves for the possibility of her never waking up; for now she is . . ." the nurse seemed to search for a delicate way of putting it, "Not really there anymore. For all intents and purposes, she's brain-dead."
Bobby put his arm around Rogue's shoulder; she suddenly looked very small. Then he saw her jaw tighten, she looked up at the nurse, "We . . . we'll be back. I need to make a phone call."
The nurse nodded sympathetically, "Of course."
Rogue smiled politely, gripped Bobby's hand, and led the way down the hall.
* * *
When they reached the edge of the parking lot Bobby stopped pulling Rogue to a halt, "Are you all right?"
To his surprise she smiled up at him, quite sincerely, "Yes." She set off again almost dragging him behind her.
He was confused, "The nurse said that she was . . . well, that she was brain-dead."
Rogue shook her head, "That's not true."
"Rogue . . ."
She shook her head firmly and stopped turning to face him, "Before you decide that I'm going nuts remember that Jean called out to the Professor. She called out to him and she managed to reach him. Some form of her is still in there, and while it's not enough, it's still a chance."
Bobby thought about this for a second, "Yeah, I guess your right."
She slipped her arms round his neck and kissed him firmly, "God, it turns me on when you say that."
* * *
The Professor lowered the jet's ramp and the two climbed in, he looked at them, "Well?"
Rogue smiled, "You were right Professor. She's alive. More than that, she's not even dependant on machines, except for food. The nurse said that she was in some kind of coma."
The Professor looked as though he was going to faint, "Oh, thank God."
Rogue smiled again though this time she was questioning, "So . . . what now?"
The Professor set his jaw, "We take her home."
Bobby squirmed uncomfortably, "Umm, Professor we can't just waltz in there and remove her. It's a hospital."
"I can control all their minds. Stop them for a while, just enough time for us to get her."
Kurt spoke for the first time, "Can we really do that? I mean, like he says, it's a hospital. Things are going on in there that cannot just be forced to take a break, "Emergency operations for example? What if a patient had a heart attack and the doctors were too deeply under . . . whatever to notice."
Rogue could tell that in the Professor's haste to get Jean back he had not considered this, she thought for a moment, "I think that I may have an idea."
All eyes turned to look at her.
* * *
The Professor was wringing his hands; Kurt could tell how nervous he was. She had never done anything like this before, it was dangerous and she might not be able to pull it off, still . . . it was the only plan that they had.
They had to get Jean out of there; it wasn't safe for her to stay in there. If Magneto were to learn that she was not dead, well, it was dangerous. There was no guarantee that he would prove a danger, but it was very possible that he might. And anyway, they could do more for Jean at the mansion.
The Professor looked over at him, they were both worried.
* * *
Rogue took several deep breaths, her entire body was shaking; Bobby was gripping her arms from behind, holding her tightly to him, trying to calm her down. "You can do this you know."
She nodded as though trying to convince herself of the truth in his words, "I know, I think . . . I can do this." She looked at him, "Stay close?"
"I will."
Rogue closed her eyes and breathed deeply. She concentrated; she concentrated with all her might on wanting to be up there, wanting to be up there, wanting to be up there, wanting to be up . . .her feet left the ground, her eyes flicked open and she counted the windows as she soared upwards. Two, three, four, five, six, seven. She moved slowly from window to window sideways, looking in at each until she saw Jean. Her breath caught in her throat. It was time.
She had never tried to use this power through glass before but she could see no reason why it shouldn't work. She focused on the needle that was feeding Jean intravenously. She held up her hand and moved it towards her. As she did so, the needle moved, it came free of the woman's skin and Rogue laid it on the bed.
Rogue let out a breath that she had barely known she was holding. Well, that was the easy part. Carefully, and oh, so slowly, she lifted both her hands, sliding the window frame upwards silently. She flicked the latch sideways and it held the window in place.
It was a still night and there was no breeze. She thanked God; otherwise there would have been a chance that the nurse on duty would have felt the wind. Rogue realised that once she'd positioned herself here she'd barely had to think about it to remain here, suspended in mid air.
Rogue looked in at Jean, she looked just as though she were sleeping. She just hoped that she wouldn't disturb her too much. She used both hands and all her concentration to lift the mattress on which Jean lay and guided it towards the window; fortunately it was directly behind it so it wasn't too much trouble. The mattress was not even as wide as a single. It was a typical hospital mattress, just wide enough to hold a body.
It slid towards the window slowly. Rogue let out a sigh of relief when she saw the end of the mattress slip through the opening. She pulled it towards her as she moved backwards through the air. When the mattress was all the way through the window, she began to bring herself and Jean down towards the floor.
* * *
Bobby watched her in amazement. She was moving downwards through the air, supporting Jean at the same time. She was amazing. And yet, she seemed to have no idea how powerful she was. She almost seemed afraid of it. But she could do incredible things with her gifts. She was doing amazing things even as he thought about it.
Bobby watched as she touched down next to him, still supporting Jean about two feet off the ground, she turned to him and smiled slightly, "You'd think that doing this would tire me out, but so far it doesn't do anything of the kind. It just . . . feels like breathing. It feels that natural."
He reached out and touched her face, "It is natural, and it's part of you now."
She seemed to consider this; "We should get Jean to the Blackbird."
He nodded, "Yeah."
Keeping off the road out of sight, the two of them moved through the town towards the Blackbird. Rogue was now using one hand to pull Jean behind them. As they approached, the ramp was lowered, and using both hands, she eased Jean through the door. The Professor came down to meet them, his eyes fell on Jean and he reached down and tenderly touched her face, "Oh, thank God. Oh, thank you God."
Rogue smiled and lowered the mattress, she turned to Bobby who took her hand, and smiled back at her.
* * *
The Blackbird descended, down through the basketball court, which closed up over their heads. The Professor had unnerved them all by constantly looking back to Jean as though trying to convince himself that she really was there, that she was real, and not dead.
Rogue stepped in front of the mattress once more as the ramp descended. She lifted Jean and began slowly making her way towards the infirmary. She stared down at the woman. She didn't know what repercussions this was going to cause, she had no idea, but she did know that no matter what pain this caused, it was going to cause a lot more happiness. She opened the doors of the infirmary with a wave of one hand, while holding Jean steady with another.
Soon the woman was gently deposited on one of the beds and covered up warmly. Rogue took a deep breath. This was the hard part, telling everyone else.
* * *