Part Eight: Painful Planning
Xander rolled to the right to avoid the barrage of razor sharp feathers that attempted to make him a non-Xander shaped pincushion.
He knew his opponent as Warren Worthington, a nice if somewhat stuck up guy that had committed himself to being air support during the breakout. Of course it would have been nice if he had mentioned that his angel like wings had been replaced by metallic ones that shot razor blades.
Xander had been trying to end this with little injury to either party, but considering that Warren's last blast of fire was aimed at his head, he was becoming less and less concerned about not shedding any blood. Considering the fact that Surgeon was probably waiting to fix them up, a bit of bloodshed may be therapeutic.
Picking up one of Warrens fired feathers, and quickly threw it at the flyers central mass. Unfortunately Xander had never done well when throwing things, so instead of hitting the chest or stomach, the blade sunk in right between the blond flyers legs.
Xander winced even as he made a mental note to practice throwing blades when he got back to Sunnydale. No man should have that particular injury inflicted on him.
Xander fell back as he took a punch that wasn't a punch. Of course the fact that it happened in his mind didn't stop it from being a very painful punch.
"Okay, I probably disserved that," said Xander as he picked himself up from the imaginary floor. "Surgeon has healed it by now, so its no big, right?"
"Surgeon heals mostly by transferring the injury to herself, and then healing her own body. She is female, while Mr. Worthington here is male, so there is no place that she can put that particular wound onto her body. While she can fix the injury with her secondary healing ability, the process will take two to three days," said Info Woman.
"And that is why it's a big deal," said Warren.
"Okay, really sorry to hear that, but you aimed that last shot at my head. What was I supposed to do, let you perform a lobotomy on me?" asked Xander.
Warren seemed to cool down as he responded, "I was thinking that if I hit you in the head maybe Surgeon wouldn't be able to heal you, and I'd be able to put someone out of his misery. I don't remember anything that happens here, so I didn't know how important your noggin is."
"As touching as this is can we get back to planning the breakout?" asked the Red Witch.
"Good point, I'm already getting migraines, and the freak doc has been giving me strange looks sense my last brain scan. If he's as good as you guys say he is it may not be too long before he figures things out," said Xander.
"It's a good thing we're almost done then," said the Indian Illusion.
"Yeah, all we need to figure out when we are going to do this," said Xander.
"It's going to be another week before a supply truck is due. I suggest that we make our attempt in five days, when the base is at its lowest supply wise, and there is little chance of the supply truck arriving early to reinforce the troops," said Info Woman.
Xander awoke suddenly to see Dr. Essex standing over him with a smile that sent shivers down his spine.
"Hey Doc, didn't know you made house calls," said Xander.
"Ah, you wish to talk, good. Let us talk, but not just the simple insults you have for me and the others here. Let us talk about who's mind you have been in," said Dr. Essex.
"And what makes you think I've been in anyone's head," said Xander even as he felt his stomach fall to his feet.
"Your last brain scan was quite conclusive on this point. You have been using your mutant abilities, and not just to block Martha from gaining entry into your mind. Now you can either tell us willingly or we can start inflicting pain on your cellmate."
"What makes you think I care about him," said Xander in what he hoped was a casual tone.
"Because its hard not to care for the person that keeps you alive when the guards beat you every night. Now just so you know Surgeon won't be healing him. His mutant power can't be duplicated, and he can't be altered to the type of being that could be controlled like the guard you met during your escape attempt. I can keep him here and alive, but only if you cooperate."
"Okay," said Xander in a defeated tone, "I'll tell you everything, just don't kill him."
