Logan, Storm, Bobby, Rogue, John, and Mystique boarded the X-Jet, and flew to Boston, to where Mystique said Matthew was holding Lily. John was buckled into his seat, his hands rubbing his face. Rogue looked over.

"John, she'll be okay. Don't worry so much," she said, trying to comfort him.

"I didn't ask for your opinion, Rogue, so don't give it…" She gave him a hurt look, and turned back to look out the window. He sighed, and shook his head as they landed.

Matthew shoved Lily to the floor, into the wall, and locked the door behind him.

"Now…You are going to tell me everything you know of my father's work, or I'm gonna bring in my main man to get it out of your head…"

"I'll never tell you anything…I'd die first…"

"If you want to die, that's fine. You'll die after I get the information from you…Dirk!" Another door swung open, and a tall, burly man entered, locking the door behind him.

"Mmm?"

"Get the information out of her head…and then kill her as painfully as you want…" Lily scrambled into the corner, but Dirk grabbed her shoulders, pinning her to the floor as Matthew left the room. She cried out, feeling the tears flooding her eyes.

They climbed out of the jet, and Mystique looked around.

"The cabin is that way," she said, pointing ahead of her. She led them up the hill, thru the trees. John ran his hand thru his hair, looking around for any sign of life.

"Rogue?" he asked, looking over at her.

"What?"

"Didn't mean to snap…Sorry…" She nodded.

"It's okay…I know your worried…" He nodded, and clenched his hand into a fist for a second.

"You really think she's okay?"

"All we can do is hope, John. We don't know for sure…" He nodded again, and looked up as the cabin came into view.

Dirk roughly pushed Lily back into the floor, after pulling her into a standing position. The door opened behind him.

"Dirk, did you get it all?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Then kill her, quick! People are coming, and we have work to do!" Dirk moved to Matthew in the doorway, and ripped the gun from his belt. Turning to Lily, he held it out, and pulled the trigger. She screamed as the bullet broke into her stomach.

John and the others paused for a brief second, hearing her scream, and raced up to the cabin.

"Lily!" he screamed, shoving open the doors, and finally coming into the room she was in. John froze in the doorway, looking at her. She was on her side in the corner, hands clutching her stomach. She had her mouth open, and she was really working towards not crying anymore, and not screaming again. Blood slid down her shirt, soaking the area around the wound, and dripped down her arm, onto the floor. "Oh, shit, Lil…" he muttered, sliding down beside her. She lifted her eyes, quickly becoming pale.

"John…?"

"It's me Lily…It's me…everything will be okay…" He looked up. "Guys! We're in here!" Bobby, Rogue, Mystique and Storm ran in. Storm ran over to Lily, and looked up at the boys.

"Bobby, John, one of you give me your shirt to tie around this wound…" They looked at each other, but Bobby pulled his off, tossing it over. As Storm tied it around Lily's stomach, Lily squeezed John's hand with her bloody hand.

"John…please help me…Please make the pain go away…" He nodded.

"I'll try, Lily. I'll do what I can…" John looked around. "Where's Logan?"

"Went after Matthew…" Bobby said, jerking his thumb behind him. Lily closed her eyes, biting her lip. John put his arms around her, pulling her off the ground, and headed towards the jet.

Lily felt John put her in one of the seats, and opened her eyes as he buckled her in.

"It's gonna be okay, Lily…as soon as Logan gets on the jet, we're going back to the mansion, and getting you to Jean…" She smiled, and he bent his head, kissing her on the lips as tenderly and sweetly as possible. "I love you, Lily…"

"I love you, too John…" He kissed her again, and lifted his head as Logan raced up the steps.

"Let's go…" Storm closed the hatch, and started up the jet, and Lily groaned slightly, moving her hands back over her stomach.

"Where'd you go, Logan?" Bobby asked.

"Went after Matthew. Tied him up to a tree, and killed his friend…"

"Dirk…He's a mind-reader," Lily informed, looking over at him. Logan nodded.

"Yeah, that guy…Matthew's unconscious, and he now has a wound in his left shoulder that will get bad if he can't get untied." Lily smiled to herself, rolling her head to the side and looking at John, sitting across the aisle, and one seat up.

John laid Lily down on the table in Jean's office in the basement, pulling both shirts off her to show Jean the wound.

"Alright…John, I'm going to have to ask you to go upstairs so I can fix her up…I'll let you know when I'm done and she's okay…" He nodded, and headed up the steps with both shirts in his hand.

He dropped onto his bed, staring up at the ceiling, one arm under his head. After a minute, he turned his head, and dug around in his nightstand drawer for a moment before pulling out a few things. One was the ring she'd given back to him when he said he wanted to leave to Nevada. One was the lighter she gave back that same day. The last thing was a picture of her she didn't know he had. It was the day she'd turned sixteen. Xavier had a party for her, and, though she did spend some time with John that day, most of it was spent near the fountain they had in the back, between the basketball court and the trees, with Rogue, Loren, and Jubilee. There was one moment, when he thought she looked so beautiful, so peaceful, so happy, that he just wanted a picture of it so he'd never forget. He'd borrowed Bobby's camera, and taken a picture of her as she was laughing with her friends. The water was splashing behind her in the fountain, and the sun was shining down in such a way, it made her hair look like it was colored gold, and her eyes were sparkling in the light. He smiled at the picture, and set it up on his nightstand so that he could see it whenever he was in his room. Holding the ring and lighter in his hand, he rolled onto his side, and closed his eyes.

Jean washed her hands, glancing over her shoulder at Lily. She was still unconscious on the table, but she no longer had the bullet in her, and the wound was sewed up. Smiling slightly, Jean dried her hands and, after washing Lily up a bit more, headed upstairs to let John know she was alright. Jean knocked on the door, and peeked inside, finding him asleep. Shaking her head, Jean left John a note on his nightstand, and left.

John yawned, and opened his eyes, finding the note on the stand beside him. Rubbing his eyes, he lifted the paper up.

"John…I've finished fixing up Lily. Luckily for her, the bullet missed all internal organs, and she'll be just fine, though she will be a little tender for a while. I got the bullet out and sewed her back up, and she'll be back to normal in no time. Just be careful with her. But she's fine. She'll be fine. You may go on downstairs and see her whenever you read this. Jean." Smiling to himself, he shoved the note into his pocket and jogged out of the room, heading down the hall to her room to grab her a new shirt. After picking out a light blue one with light purple stripes, he headed downstairs, to find her laying on the table, staring blankly up at the ceiling. "Lil?" he asked. She turned her head, and smiled, sitting up.

"Hey, John…" He crossed over to her, and unbuttoned the shirt, sliding it over her arms and onto her shoulders.

"How're you feelin?" he asked, pushing her hair off her neck. She lightly shrugged.

"Fine…Sore, and it just slightly hurts where I got shot, but other than that, fine…" He nodded, and leaned over, kissing her.

"That's good…" Lily lifted her hand, dropping it against his cheek.

"John…I love you…"

"I love you too, Lily…" He began to button her shirt, starting at the bottom, but she took his hands, stopping him. "What?" She moved her head, kissing him, and lifted his hands, dropping them against her chest. He pulled back, and looked into her eyes.

"That…"

"Not down in Jean's office, where people can find us. Besides, I have to be gentle with you. Jean said you're going to be tender for a while…" Lily sighed, and watched him finish buttoning up her shirt.

"Thank you, John…" He kissed her again.

"But as soon as you're completely better, you are all mine…" She giggled, and carefully turned, dropping her feet to the floor. John ran his arm around her waist, holding her against him, and headed to the elevator, going upstairs.

"So…John? What happened to Matthew?" she asked, trying to remember what she'd heard in the jet.

"Uh…Logan chased him and that friend of his down, and killed his friend, and tied Matthew up to a tree with a wound in his shoulder that, if not treated, will get bad enough to kill him." Lily giggled, smiling brightly.

"Thank you Logan," she whispered to herself, low enough that John didn't hear her.

He helped her down the hall, and was about to turn into her room, but she stopped him.

"What?" She watched Logan walk into his room, a little ways down the hall.

"I…Can you excuse me for a minute?" she asked, looking up at him. "I…I gotta do something…"

"Uh, yeah, sure…I'm gonna go grab something to eat, okay?" She lifted her head, kissing him quickly, and nodded.

"Okay…" He moved her to the wall, and headed away, to the kitchen. Taking a deep breath, Lily kept one hand on the wall, and supported herself as she moved down the hall to Logan's room. She knocked, and cracked the door open a little. "Logan?" she asked.

"C'mon in…" She completely opened the door, and stepped in, flinching as she swung her hips to miss the doorknob. Lily rested her back on the thin part of the door, and smiled as he leaned his head out of his closet. "What's up?" he asked, stepping out of the closet, tugging his shirt over his head. She sighed.

"Uh…Well…Logan…I wanted to thank you," she answered.

"For what?" he asked, sitting on the footboard of his bed.

"For talking to John when he tried to leave again…and convincing him to stay with me here…" He smiled, looking down for a second. "And for stopping Matthew from hurting someone else…" He looked up, and she crossed the room, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "Thank you so much, Logan…" He smiled, hugging her back.

"Your welcome, Lily…Anytime. I just didn't want to see you miserable anymore…and I knew if something had happened to you, then John would be miserable, and he pisses me off enough as it is, so…" She laughed, and stepped back.

"Well…still…thank you, Logan." She planted a really quick kiss on his cheek, and headed out of the room, her hands pushed lightly against her stomach, eyebrows knitted together as pain shot thru her stomach.

Lily slid her hands around John's waist as he stood at the fridge, causing him to jump.

"Hey, baby…did what you had to do?"

"Yup…"

"What did you have to do?" She kissed his cheek.

"Why do you ask, you think I'm cheatin' on you or somethin'?" she asked, smirking as she leaned against the counter.

"No, just curious," he said, squeezing her hand.

"I wanted to thank Logan for everything he's done…to Matthew, and Dirk…and bringing you back to me," she said, slightly softly. He looked up as he closed the door to the fridge, and sighed.

"Ah…that…" She lifted her hand, touching his cheek.

"Yes, that. If it wasn't for Logan, you'd probably be in Nevada right now, chilling by a pool or something," she said, her face straight. He leaned over, pushing his lips against her, and gently running his hands over her stomach and sides.

"Maybe…Who knows," he said, looking up at her. She smiled, and hugged him.

"Thankfully, no one…Thankfully, your still here with me…" He smiled back at her, and took her hand.

"C'mon, you should lay down," he said, leading her from the kitchen.