Bamf, Nightcrawler appeared in the hall several feet ahead of Logan.
"Logan," he began, "What she said is frightening. She could be the one to bring us all down, just with words. I realize you care for her but what if the only thing we can do to keep the peace is eliminate her?"
"Touch her elf," Logan threatened, "and I'll kill ya." Six adamantium claws appeared.
"Logan, be reasonable." Kurt Wagner pleaded. "She could start a world war."
"She hasn't yet."
"But she may."
"It may not come to that. She sees the future. Maybe she's seen that everything will be alright."
"You don't believe that she's precognitive, do you?" Kurt asked, incredulous.
"I've seen too many things that are supposed to be impossible. Yeah, I believe her."
They entered the war room to find all of the healthy X Men scattered in chairs around the room. Charles Xavier was seated in his wheelchair in the center of the room. He waved Logan and Kurt to chairs and began the meeting. He told them what Kate had told the smaller group. Their reaction was similar to the earlier reaction in the medical unit. Disbelief and anger.
Regaining control of the room took some time. Xavier asked for suggestions from the group and he got an ear full starting with rechecking the data. Beast assured them that the data was good. He had been translating it for several hours and everything she claimed was supported by hard numbers. Another suggestion was to with hold the data until the political climate was more favorable. Xavier nixed that idea due to time constraints. It was Scott who voiced the idea of several of the X Men. Execute her for the safety of the general population.
Logan was across the room, claws out before anyone could stop him. He made it almost to Scott's throat when the telekinetic wall stopped him. Straining and snarling, he struggled to get through the bond.
"Logan," Jean cried. "Stop."
No one was brave enough to touch him in this state. He could easily kill everyone in the room.
"We will not kill anyone Scott," Professor Xavier said sternly. "I'm surprised that you would even think of such a thing."
Jean moaned, sweating.
"Logan," the Professor went on, "please sit down. I will not let anything happen to your friend."
Slowly, Logan relaxed. He glared at Scott with murder in his eyes. Scott slowly nodded and Logan turned and returned to his seat. Scott got the picture.
Jean, looking the worse for wear, smiled shakily at Logan.
"We'll find a way to deal with this Logan. I won't let anything happen to her either."
Logan knew he couldn't stay in the room while they discussed what to do about Kate. He bolted out of the door, quickly followed by Jean Gray.
"Logan," she called. "Wait."
Logan stopped without turning.
"I know you love her Logan but we do have to discuss all options. Scott was…"
"I know what he was doing, Jean," Logan said roughly. "He should be happy that I've found someone else."
"He is happy that you've found love Logan."
"He's not happy that she's human," Logan said softly. "That she's not a mutant."
Jean didn't reply.
"You know Jean," he said, "I've never been ashamed to be a mutant before. Now I am. I have never been more ashamed to be associated with a group that would harbor such bigotry."
He began to walk down the hall then stopped and turned to look a Jean for the first time. His face was bleak.
"Kate and I will be gone within the hour."
"Logan, it's not like that."
"Isn't it?" he demanded. "I've seen how you guys look at her. You act as if she were a snake that had every intention of biting you. You distrust and despise her because she's not a mutant. I can tell that Scott and every other man here feels his flesh crawl when they think about me sleeping with her and making love to her. She's a warm, caring human being and she has more kindness in her than the rest of you put together."
An alarm was sounding in the hall but Logan was too angry to hear it.
"I won't keep her here to be humiliated and belittled. We're leaving."
Jean could only stare at him astonished. He was right. They were treating her differently than they would treat a mutant.
The rush of bodies past them broke the spell and they became aware of the alarms. Beast ran past them yelling "Medical wing."
They found Kate enveloped in light. Logan ran toward the bed intending to lift Kate out of the light but was suddenly thrown across the room. He smashed into the wall with a thud and slid to the floor dazed.
"Force field," Beast said. "Anyone here doing that?"
No one spoke up.
"Hank," Storm called from the computer terminal, "The field is being generated by the chip but the signal is from outside the grounds."
"Professor," Beast called calmly. "Please turn on the psy dampeners in the building. Only the ones in the outside walls. Please do it quickly. She's not breathing."
The dampeners had a mental trigger Xavier could activate easily but they would have to be turned off manually. They blocked psychic attack from outside the school but the also blinded him from what was going on anywhere else. He lost his link with the world as soon as he activated them.
The force field died and Beast and Storm rushed to help Kate. They worked for an hour to stabilize her. As it was, she was not breathing on her own.
Logan watched from the door, afraid to touch her. She was intubated with machines taking over her body. His heart constricted in pain. She was dying and he couldn't stop it.
"You can come over, Logan," Storm told him. "She's stable right now."
She pulled up a chair by the bed and pushed him down into it.
"What happened. Ro?" he asked.
"Hank thinks the chip has active and inactive functions," She said. "One of the inactive functions is as a locator. One of the active functions appears to be some sort of crude mind control. The chip is in the wrong place to control behavior so it did the next best thing; it shut her brain off almost completely. She needs life support to survive right now. Hank and the Professor are trying to find a way to remove the chip without damaging her higher functions. It won't be easy. They placed it deep in her brain."
"Is she going to live?" he asked.
Storm hesitated. Logan was a good friend but she was fully aware of his temper.
"I need to know darlin," he said quietly.
"Were not sure," she replied. "Let us look at this thing a little closer and see what we can do."
As Storm walked away from the bed, Logan lowered his head to rest on Kate's belly. It rose and fell regularly as the ventilator sighed in the corner. Her skin was cool and clammy to the touch. He felt lost and alone.
The smell of sulpher and brimstone filled the room as Kurt arrived with a Bamf. Logan felt the warm hand of a friend on his shoulder.
"I'm so sorry, my friend," Kurt began. "God works in mysterious ways. It is not for us to question Him."
"God had little to do with this, elf," Logan told him. "I don't know who did but I'm gonna find him."
"You need a drink Logan," Kurt told him. "Come with me and we'll see if we can make you feel better."
"Not today." Logan said.
Kurt looked up to see Scott standing in the doorway. He felt a surge of fear. With Logan's mood right now, Scott was in serious danger right now. He felt Logan stiffen beside him as he became aware of Scott's presence.
"You'd better not come in here," Logan warned him.
"I wanted you to know what was discussed…"
"I don't give a damn what was said in that witch hunt of a meeting."
"Logan, we believe the only way to remove the chip is to remove the component parts one at a time. I hate to say this but there is only one man who has the slightest chance of success in this: Magneto."
Logan turned to him with scorn.
"First you want to kill her. Now you want to turn her over to my deadliest enemy. You surprise me Scott. I expected you to come in here and slit her throat."
"Logan, believe me, I know how you're feeling."
"Do ya now," Logan seethed
"When Jean was in her dark Phoenix phase, you urged me to kill her before she got too strong. I didn't want to even discuss it with you or anyone. But in the back of my mind, I knew you were right. She could have destroyed more than this world. She had to be stopped. In the back of your mind, you know that I'm right and it may come down to Kate's life or the life of everyone on this planet. You've done this before. I can't stand to see you that broken again. If it has to be, I will do it."
Scott turned and left.
He laid his head on Kate's belly and closed his eyes. He heard Kurt leave and Storm and Beast come in. He ignored them and for the first time in a long time, he prayed