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- "Wait! It would be safer to let her wear this, at least until Charles has put the mental blocks in her mind"

Logan agreed. He pulled in his claws, and delicately took Jean in his arms, a weak light of pain and fright appeared slightly in her empty gaze.

- "It's over Jeannie, we're gonna get ya out of here" he breathed to her in a voice surprisingly marked by the emotions, before leading to the lab's exit ordering into his com-device "Nightcrawler ! Come get us!"

An instant later, Kurt appeared in front of them and teleported them back to the Jet. Wolverine sent him right away to retrieve Scott, as he was planning on taking off the Blackbird immediately, after settling Jean in the medical bay. Ororo having learned a lot near Hank, undertook to put a bandage on Jean's arm for stopping the bleeding of her slash, wound among a lot of other ones, and to add one to her left leg which was bleeding profusely. She felt the bone under her palms, but Jean didn't move. Storm also dressed the wound on her forehead after having it cleaned.

When Cyclops arrived in the aircraft, he ran straight for the bruised, young mutant; glad to have found her again although worried. He passed his hands over her face which was covered by bruises, but relatively 'spared' by her torturers compared to the remains of her body and it didn't take him long to notice that she wasn't even blinking.

- "What's…?" he asked.

- "We found her like that" answered Kitty.

Storm, a hand on Jean's hair, stuck by dried blood, declared:

- "She seems to be conscious but without really being here, she just stares with unseeing eyes, she must be in a particularly serious state of shock" she made a short pause and added almost for herself "….My god, what have they done to her that she's in this state…?"

It was Logan who answered from his piloting post:

- "What have they done to her! I'm gonna tell ya what they've done to her! Durin' these six weeks, those rotten bastards've spent their time beatin', torturin' and rapin' her!"

The information had been caustic.

- "Oh god, no…" begged Storm, clasping her hands to her mouth, the other young mutants had turned white, and even Rogue, who normally remained stoic appeared to be shocked at the news.

Scott kept on stroking Jean's face and kissing her tenderly on the forehead, while she remained unresponsive. Storm deduced from this that he might have already known, and in a quivering voice asked Logan:

- "Ho…how do you know that ?" she questioned, still hoping that this was only a guess.

- "Cyke and I've heard two of the members boastin' about it !" he grumbled, the anger making him tighten his grip on the Jet's controls "Believe me, they'll never ever boast about anythin' anymore !"

Scott finally declared in a firm voice:

- "Please, could you avoid speaking about that in front of her !" he said, referring to Jean "She's probably hearing us, the fact she doesn't react doesn't mean that this not hurting her"

Ororo nodded, wiping one of her tears, as the other students had turned their attention toward Kevin, the adolescent they had set free, in order to not dwell on what they had just learned, though each couldn't help but ask themselves if Logan meant that he and Scott had killed the guards.

- "Yes, you're right, sorry, that's…oh my god…" said Storm, unable to find her words.

She sighed, cast a glance full of sorrow toward Jean, and gathered her mind before going to search in a bag from which she pulled out a syringe:

- "I'll inject her with this sedative Hank gave me in case it was necessary, this'll make her sleep"

After having managed to find a vein not hidden by a bruise or one of her numerous wounds, she softly administered the drug as Scott had resumed tenderly speaking to the adolescent, keeping her hand in his without gripping it too hard, fully conscious of the ordeal she had been through. Like before, she didn't react, but slowly closed her eyes as the sedative was seizing her. Once she had fallen asleep Scott kissed her tenderly, two tears clearing their way out of his visor; seeing Jean in such a state, covered by blood, abused, seemed to be a vision right extracted right from his worst nightmares.

- "I…I don't even feel her through our bond…" said Scott in a quivering voice "It's as if her mind was…"

- "It's because of the necklace Scott, It's containing her powers. We're afraid that it would only worsen her state if they surface immediately." Storm answered gently, tears running on her cheeks as well, as she was sitting near the couch where her student lay "She'll come back, but she'll need time…"


As soon as they arrived, Hank took charge of Jean with the assistance of Ororo, leaving the others in the waiting. Having dropped Kevin at his parents on the 'road' –he wasn't wounded and Madison wasn't out of the way – The X-Men were home once again, and those who participated in the rescue related what happened to those who had not gone. Scott stayed silent, pacing in front of the infirmary entrance.

Three and half an hour later, Hank went to join them in the common-room situated near of the infirmary. The Professor had gathered everybody, and most of X-Men sat on the sofas; Scott was looking out the window, his shoulder leaning against the pane, Logan had focused his attention to the fire cracking in the hearth, his hand leaned on the beam, Storm went to sit and buried her face in her hands.

The Professor's voice broke the silence of the room.

- " I already know that Kitty and Kurt have informed you about what they have learned on the topic of what has happened to Jean ; that's why I consider that it would be useless to hide from you anything about the results of the exams that Hank has just completed, because the more you know, the more you will be able to understand what she has undergone." he sighed and added "Nevertheless, if some of you prefer not hearing what will come next, I won't require you to stay"

Nobody moved.

- "Hank ?" he invited him.

Beast spoke, his face was stunned, marked by the tiredness, by what he had just seen. Actually, he felt guilty to have such ideas , but he had begun to think that Jean was deserving to fall asleep forever because for him it seemed to be impossible to survive at what she had been through; when he had cleaned her in order to examine her, the water turned blood red ….

- "I've carried out all the necessary exams on Jean. The reason which made it last so long was the number of wounds and some fractures, overall the opened one, which needed to be immediately operated, and I wanted to do it as best as I could in order to give her the less scars possible. Having said that, chirurgical repairing will still be needed" he began "The beating and tortures were violent, the X-rays have revealed numerous other fractures sometimes even multiple : her two legs, her right wrist and arm, three fingers, two ribs ; two others are cracked, one of them seemed to have been broken but has already began to knit, like it was the case for too other fingers but for them I had to make something in order to let them knit correctly." he commenced with difficulty, thinking about the suffering she must endure "The fractures having broken clean, apart from the opened one, I've been able to reduce them without surgical intervention; the ones of the legs seemed to date from the day before minimum, I don't know what they'd intended to do to her in the lab, maybe to reduce them to keep her alive given that she was beginning to have a strong fever due to some wounds infected.

Ororo interrupted him by remembering what Kevin had said about the two other mutants:

- "No, in fact I believe they were about to kill her" she declared "The lad we have saved told us that the two other mutants had been killed by…by assisting at their own dissection…"

- "Oh my god" said a voice.

Charles waited an instant before asking:

- "Carry on"

Hank coughed, gathering his mind :

- "So, well… that's not all, she has lost a lot of blood, she's suffering from severe malnutrition and dehydration, and a slight hypothermia. She lost quite a weight. Her body is covered by bruises, cigarette burns or other ones, some wounds were deep, some already healed, her left shoulder was dislocated. I've found in her blood some residual traces of drugs, but not of the ones which appeases the pains, on the contrary, they wanted her to stay conscious, but they seemed to have stopped to use this way some days ago…It's…it's like if they wanted to test all kind of tortures possible and imaginable, like if they were looking for them to act as guinea pigs…"

Scott sighed and bit his lower lip, despite the cover of his ruby-quartz sunglasses, there wasn't any doubt that he had closed his eyes, he knew it was the truth, Kevin had told them. Hank cast him a compassionate glance and carried on with a more distressed voice than before:

- "I've effectively established that she's been raped for numerous ways, at least three or four times in the 72 last hours" he said, letting them know the furthest back he could confirm this.

A sudden bang made them startle, Scott had just given an infuriated punch to the window frame. Logan closed his eyes and said by clenching his teeth:

- "It happened once today, if we rely on what we've heard, and apparently it was far from exceptional …"

Hank nodded gravely, understanding that the fact she had had unreduced fractures and one opened and bleeding profusely hadn't even stopped them. Remaining silent on this point, knowing that some X-Men had yet understood that, he added:

- "The repeated rapes had let her internal lesions and rips which will need time to heal. They haven't gotten her pregnant. Her body was too weak for a pregnancy in the beginning, but I've taken the proper precautions to ensure that the last ones don't do it; and they haven't transmitted any STD to her. But they've moreover pushed the obscenity as far as to branding her with the initials 'FOH' for 'Friends Of Humanity', the mark seemed to be weeks old, I'll do what I can to try to erase it." he said with difficulty, still having a hard time recovering from the atrocious sight of Jean's ravaged body ; if they hadn't found her, she wouldn't have held more than two days without medical-care, her body was on touching its end. "Well, I've done what was needed for the physical wounds, but for the others ones, it's something else ; I fear that she'll never be the same …"

A heavy silence settled in, each of them wearing an afflicted look, not even able to imagine what Jean had undergone during these six weeks.

- "I have placed mental shields in her mind to block her powers" said the Professor in a voice marked by his sorrow "But not completely, I have left the necessary for the bond between she and Scott. I think that she will have enough difficulties to recovering from what had happened without having to also cope with the brutal force of her powers coming back; Moreover psychic-powers need a great control, and she would risk not being able too keep them in check, and..."

Scott didn't listen longer, he left the room and went to the med-bay.

Upon his arrival, he stopped a while at the door before going slowly toward Jean. She was inert, laid on the examination table. She was wearing a minerve, bandages and splints were letting themselves guess under the cover which was covering her, the ones of her arm, her wrist and her fingers were appearing in the open. Now that she wasn't covered by blood anymore, she seemed paler than never and the wound and bruises were appearing distinctly, her face was swollen…

On the lightening boards were the radios whom Hank had spoken, some bloodstained bandages and the old gown she was wearing had been thrown in the garbage, the stitch kit was still on a tray. Her hair was cleaned, dried and brushed, giving the contrast even more noticeable.

Once he was near her, Scott softly brushed her face marked by several bruises, tempting to avoid the worst ones, by fear of hurting her despite her unconsciousness. Hank had sutured the cut of her forehead and covered it with a bandage; Jean had stitches on the edge of her mouth and at one at the arch of her eyebrows. She was still as much feverish. Beast had put her oxygen spectacles (this rubber tubing which passes in front of the nose and behind the ears) for helping her to breath, she was on a drip and blood transfusion, her cardiac rhythm was under the surveillance of a heart monitor like were her cerebral waves.

Scott caught a chair and sat near Jean, feeling horribly bad to see her in this state; he had found her, but was afraid to lose her again, he had the feeling to hear the howls she must have had under the torture. His eyes filled themselves with tears.

- "Jean, I…"

He heard footsteps behind him and immediately recognized them as Hank's.

- "When will she wake up ?" he asked without even turning himself.

- "Honestly Scott, I don't know" answered Beast "The sedative and anaesthetics have cessed their effects, but when you found her, you've to know that she was dying. I've countered the infections and haemorrhages, but her organism is really weak and has still a lot to do to repair the physical damages she has endured"

Scott sighed, this wasn't answering his question and Hand understood it immediately:

- "In one day, maybe two. Her oedemas are quite impressive, I know it, and I can assure you that she won't have any scars on her face, except for one or two thin one. Other than that, she'll become as beautiful as before."


The young leader of the X-Men didn't leave Jean'side until the following evening where he had to join the others for a new reunion with the Professor. All seemed to haven't sleep a lot, overall the ones who, like him, had participated to the rescue-mission.

- "As you know, Jean hasn't yet regain conscious, but she's henceforth off the danger list"

- "So why, like, she doesn't wake up ?" asked Kitty.

- "It's possible that her body wants to take advantage of this state where she's not suffering, but this won't be enough to keep her unconscious" made notice Hank "Her fever has fallen, she's on drip for one and a half day which allowed her to regain some strength, so I think that it's a matter of hours"

Ororo stood up and said to the students:

- "I just wanted to tell you that we'll reinforce your security outside of the Institute" she said "You were yet moving only by group, but henceforth, if Scott is not free to bring you back home, Logan or I will do it"

Nobody made an objection. The Professor seemed lost for some seconds and declared:

- "She has just woken up"

At this new, the little group leaded to the med-lab to see that Jean had effectively woken up and didn't seem to be still as lethargic as when they had found her. Having said that, they were far to doubt of her reaction…

The young mutant seemed to be groggy, but as soon as she saw them she opened wide her eyes (she had one black eye) and gasped in fear, began to move back –tearing away her drip and the different captors, linking her between others at the heart-monitor, in the same time– and, even before they could have warned her, briskly fell of the examination table. Despite the shock and the pain it must have provoked judging by her moan, she didn't stop and kept on crawling herself the fastest possible at the other side of the room where she curled up as she could, quivering, the jerky respiration, the gaze full of horror She was lost, they were about to kill her, so where was she? Who were these people? Why has she been cured? It could only be for making her suffering even more.

- "Move back !" said Scott "She's frightened by us, we're scaring her"

This voice wasn't an unknown one…she doesn't remember anymore.

They only could admit it and all of them complied with it and got out of the room.

- "We can't let her in this state of panic" said Hank "She risks to enter in Tachycardie, to hurt herself or to cut herself from the world again ; the sedative I've administrated to her again, still clouding the pains and given that I've slightly doped her organism, she may not pass out"

- "What d'ya suggest ? You well see that we're scarin' her" said notice Logan.

- "Maybe were we just too numerous" observed Beast "Storm, you should try, she can put up more with a woman presence"

- "There were women too where she was detained" replied Ororo "Even if they haven't raped her, they've maybe tortured her"

- "We've to try in any case" insisted Hank before turning himself toward Nightcrawler "Kurt, I need you to go and fetch the product placed on the platform, on the right of the X-rays, do you see it ?"

- "Ya"

- "Well, so you teleport yourself and you bring it to me with the new-syringe placed next to it"

Kurt done what had been asked to him –provoking only a brief reaction from Jean, his appearance having being only momentary– and gave the objects to Beast, who filled the syringe with the necessary measuring out.

- "Here is, I haven't put the same quantity than the one you've given to her before" he said at Storm "This won't put her to sleep immediately, but only calm her, she'll stay conscious; it'd be useless to keep her indefinitely in an artificial slumber.

Ororo nodded, took the syringe and softly entered in the room. Seeing that Jean was reacting in the same way than previously, closing her eyes by moments, searching to protect herself with her arms, Storm tried to calm her by the voice :

- "Jean, Jean, it's me, Ororo, I mean you no harm" she said gently by carrying on moving forward, but nothing changed if Jean had been able to go through the walls, she would have done it and the weather witch had to resolve herself to turn back.

Each mutant tried an entrance, but the reaction was always the same and this even more if it was a man.

- "Nobody can approach her, she's literally terrorized…" commented sadly Storm "It's as if she doesn't recognize us"

- "She's too much panicked to be able to see the difference between her friends and her torturers" explained Hank "And effectively the traumatism could have twisted her memory"

The Professor seemed to support his thesis and declared:

- "You are right, she doesn't know where she is nor who we are and what we want from her. Scott, you will be the one to try again, you two have always been really close, moreover before her kidnapping, you are the one she trusted the most, and maybe this has stayed fixed in herself despite the traumatism" he said to him "But before all, I will calm her by telepathy"

Charles placed a hand against his temple and concentrated:

Jean began the Professor.

In the room, the young mutant who hadn't stopped quivering startled brutally, the blood beading on the back of her hand, where has been placed the drip, followed the movement and run out on her skin.

Jean, you have to settle down, we…

She caught her head between her hands, moaning, and the Professor ended by giving up and by going out of her mind, shaking the head with a distressed look.

- "She is rejecting me, she is afraid" he said "There are so much horrible images, abominable recalls of suffering and terror, which are haunting her, I…" a tear cleared a way on his cheek and he dried it with the back of his hand it was so much hurting him to see Jean in this state, she who he considered like his own daughter. "Excuse me"

Storm laid a comforting hand on his shoulder.

- "Scott, I will do it again, but without speaking to her, this will calm her enough to allow you to approach her" he said to him before concentrating again.

Effectively, in the recess of the room where she had taken refuge, Jean's breathing ended by slowing down.

- "Good" said Hank by giving the syringe to Cyclops "It's relatively easy to find a vein on the interior side of her left wrist."

Scott nodded and went into the room; here again, Jean tensed but didn't enter in the state of panic which had shaken her until now, the Professor's intervention had worked.

Arrived near her, he kneeled at her sides.

- "I won't hurt you Jean" he said softly to her before approaching a paper handkerchief of her hand "You're bleeding"

She tensed at the approach and at the contact of the tissue on her skin, but she hadn't the strength to resist. With still as much softness in his voice, Scott explained to her what he was about to do:

- "I'll inject to you a slight sedative, you'll feel better after" he murmured to her before repeating "I won't hurt you"

Why was this man seemed to be so kind? Why wasn't he throwing himself on her like the others? Why wasn't he beating her for not being as much responsive? So many questions were turning in her head. It must be a trick, if she fell in the trap she would suffer even more.

Jean was staring at him by intermittence, all her muscles tensed. He delicately caught her left wrist –she startled and tried to move back– and he administered the product to her.

- "You'll see Jean, it'll be alright, I'll take care of you" he carried on while the sedative was doing its effects.

When she seemed enough quietened down, he prepared himself to carry her:

- "Well, come here, I…"

Jean tensed up again, closing her eyes, a flash coming back to her mind. Through their opened again bond –although in only one-way, but allowing him to feel her emotions– Scott felt the brusque burst of terror and understood his mistake.

- "I'm sorry Jean" he said "I promise you to pay attention to the words I'll pronounce in future, by hoping not to commit another error anymore."

She cast him another glance, her beautiful green eyes were only expressing pain and fear, and looked down again.

- "I'll never hurt you Jean, I love you too much for that" he said before taking her in his arms.

The young mutant moaned in pain and tried to disengage herself despite her weakness, but Scott hadn't the choice, he couldn't let her here. He stood up again and carried her toward the examination table, but, before he leaned her on it, Hank declared:

- "Wait, we'll take advantage of it to settle her in a convalescence-room, she'll be better over there"

Scott nodded and came toward them. As he was going through the little group of students for following Hank, he felt Jean tense and started to quiver.


To be continued

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