Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men. Ilehana Xavier belongs to Corrinth. All other characters belong to me.
A/N: Thank you to all my reviewers out there; you really are all stars.
Scene 08Knowing what she had to do, Blaze headed straight for the garage and her pet Aston Martin. She left the mansion seconds after Ilehana and Gambit flew the X-Jet off into the distance, the passage of the jet making the glass in the windows shake. Blaze gave the noisy plane a run for its money though, her stereo turned on so loud the glass in the Aston's windows shook. She didn't tell anybody that she was going, just up and left without a goodbye.
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The X-Jet was in its final approach as Ilehana, multitasking in the way only she could, sent out her telepathic plea for help. They had barely got the ramp open before her plea was answered, much to Gambit's surprise.
"Um, why there a bear waitin' for us?"
"Because I asked her to help; she knows what we're looking for and where we'll find it." Vixen answered as if stating the perfectly ordinary, walking past Gambit to greet her bear-friend, whose name was Tarra.
"An' I thought workin' with Wolverine was bad enough." Gambit commented, shaking his head slightly before following Ilehana, trusting the Vixen that this huge grizzly wasn't about to maul them both to death. Tarra, being an inquisitive, friendly, brownish kind of soul gave Gambit a good once over paw before decided that his scent wasn't too bad. Vixen then directed the she-bear's mind back to what they were here for.
#This way.# Tarra told the human-wolf who'd befriended her not so long ago, setting off into the forest at a comfortable lope for a bear. Vixen had already decided to stay in her human form on this mission; a form that struck fear into most animals and so might be a weapon she could use. Also, Tarra would at least wait for her, where as if she was a bear too, poor Gambit would most definitely get left way behind.
As it was, Gambit soldiered on bravely despite not been one hundred percent comfortable trekking through the densest quarters of woodland Tarra could find. Ilehana on the other hand felt at home, enjoying her work and the shifting spectres of sunlight on lush green foliage. Her sensitive nose, though not as well adapted as the Wolverine's, picked up traces of each of the forest's creatures, from the great bear in front of her to the smallest grubs working their way through the decaying detritus underfoot.
Tarra kept them away from human trails and habitation, attaching importance to this avoidance that Ilehana had been trying to instil in many of the national park's bears, after plans were raised to cull their numbers to protect tourists. So far her strategy had worked, and the plans had been shelved for which she was grateful. It seemed their quarry had had the same idea. Marks of his passage were well visible to the woman who hunted with wolves; obviously he'd had enough of a run in with the humans at the campsite.
Abruptly they burst through the trees onto a grassy floodplain dotted with patches of bulrushes and hazardous patches of swamp. The river was at its lowest level, this being the height of summer, but Vixen could see how at the spring thaw it would almost stretch to the edge of the trees. It was a beautiful spot.
Gambit did not appreciate the beauty. He was too busy ogling at the large hairy blue beast wading up to his calves in the shallows, apparently fishing. The Beast sniffed twice, before turning to address the unwanted intruders. Water spouted like a tidal wave as he suddenly charged towards them, black eyes angry and unfeeling, teeth sharp and bared.
Tarra met his charge head on, causing Gambit to hold back on the charged card in his hand. Ilehana would not thank him if he blew her friend away. The great bear grappled with Beast, her roar of anger when he forcefully threw her away making the forest quiver. Gambit launched his attack, wondering as he readied another card what on earth Vixen was up to?
Ilehana frowned as she reached out with her telepathic ability, trying to reach whatever kind of creature this was. Obviously a mutant; but was he one she could reason with, or one so warped by his mutation that there was nothing left to negotiate with? She blanketed him with her aura of power in the same instant as Gambit's first attack hit, knocking him backwards into the water. The shock of this new form of attack unnerved the dominant animalistic force in the mutant's mind, revealing in an instant to Ilehana a scared and cowering soul she knew by name.
"Hank?"
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"C'mon Colossus, you can't be that hung over!" Jubilee banged on the closed bedroom door again, louder this time, and shouted through the wood. "Get your lazy backside out here and stop scaring us!"
There was no answer. In Hawaii, two of the President's daughter's friends were rushed into hospital, covered in large red and angry blisters and constantly either coughing or throwing up. Bobby, growing increasingly impatient and concerned for his friend took hold of the door handle and froze the lock, the ice making the mechanism crack. Knowing Colossus' door stuck at the bottom, that was where Bobby kicked it, throwing the door wide open. Peter was laid face down on the bed on top of the covers, still dressed in the clothes he'd been wearing the night before.
"Hey man, what's going on? Didn't think you'd drunk that much?" Bobby went to put a hand to Colossus' shoulder as Jubilee peered around Iceman. Bobby's hand froze millimetres away from his fellow mutant's neck, noticing that not only was Peter barely breathing, there were large, ugly welts on his neck that looked downright painful. "Peter?" Resolving himself, Bobby grabbed the chemistry teacher and rolled him onto his side. More sores on his face, Colossus' eyes were closed tightly against the pain. No sooner had Bobby rolled him over than he started coughing heavily.
"We've got to get him to the infirmary." Jubilee demanded. "I'm getting Logan…"
All Bobby could do was wait until Wolverine and Cyclops arrived to lift the hefty Colossus. Then he and Jubilee followed not two steps behind the older men, staying by their former classmate's side as Storm jumped in with her nurse's training to administer what first aid she could. Cyclops went straight to the Professor, rather needlessly as Xavier was already on his way to Cerebro to call his daughter the doctor back to the mansion. They could only hope she would know what to do…
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#All right, Dad. We're on our way.#
Vixen signed off the brief conversation abruptly, before turning back to her companions. Hank McCoy was sat on his furry blue haunches, thoroughly miserable, confused and ashamed. Ilehana wished she had answers for her friend, but she doubted he would listen to her even if she did.
Tarra was sat diligently grooming her thick pelt, and Ilehana suspected it was as much an effort to restore a bit of confidence as to make sure her coat remained healthy. Bears usually only had to fear physical confrontation with other bears, but Hank was now swollen to a muscular size large enough to take on a much bigger grizzly than the young female. Ilehana nodded to her friend, thanking her for her help, and Tarra departed to be reunited with her cubs at their den.
#No more adventures?# The bear pleaded. #I'll burn off all my fat before the winter at this rate.#
#I hope not.# Vixen replied. #And don't forget that bend in the river I showed you where the fish have to jump; it might just come in useful to you and your cubs.#
Tarra nodded, a strange reaction for a bear, making Vixen worried about the effects her contact with wild animals had on their behaviour. But as quick as she had thought it, Tarra was gone, melting into the trees.
"You'se really Hank McCoy?" Gambit was having problems seeing the likeness between this Beast and the smartly dressed doctor friend of the Xaviers. But then again, when he had first met Dr McCoy he'd suspected that he might be a mutant suppressing his powers. And if there was something Gambit knew a thing about, it was mutants suppressing their powers like Blaze had done for years. With Blaze, her powers had frequently built up to levels inside of her where she just couldn't suppress the fire anymore, and the slightest thing could trigger her off. Usually, the effects were not healthy, explosions that had killed on numerous occasions. Looked to Remy like Hank's powers had just about exploded outta him.
"At your service, Gambit." Hank replied sullenly, leaving no doubt in Gambit's mind. For all the physical changes, Hank's well-educated voice was as impeccable as always.
"I'm sorry to rush you Hank," Ilehana waited until Hank met her eyes, letting him feel a touch of her worry for Colossus. "But I'm needed back at the school, and it sounds like I could use your help…"
"I can't Ilehana…" Hank was on the verge of tears, on the threshold of a total breakdown. He could not handle what had happened to him! "To let people see me like this…"
"Hey, there plenty of uglier mugs than you at that school, Mon Amie." Gambit quipped with a charming smile. Hank scowled at him. "An' you know well as I do Vixen don't ask for favours easy, non?"
"You can't hide from what's happened to you Hank." Vixen pointed out with endless wolf logic. "But you can be with people who care about you and will help you figure it all out."
Slowly, Hank stood. He turned and looked mournfully at the inviting mossy green of the forest, smelt the joyous growing things and heard the endless praising birds. Out there, for a small while, the Beast within him had found a place to be. But he was not the Beast; the Beast was only a part of him. Hank McCoy could not live that life, constantly avoiding all contact with his own species. And so he turned back to the X-Jet, to his friends who promised to accept him no matter how inhuman he now appeared. Somehow, he knew the exact words to describe how he felt.
"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both…" Putting all of the Beast's angry thoughts to one side, he strode purposefully towards the jet, not looking back nor meeting his friend's eyes. "Robert Frost I believe, a poem entitled 'The Road Not Taken'.
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-, I took the one less travelled by, and that has made all the difference."