This Chapter is dedicated to Agent-G. Happy Birthday.

In the infirmary Clarice was getting the lowdown on what had been happening the last few hours. She was stunned by what had occurred and even more concerned for her mother who was still caught in the nightmare sleep. At least she had escaped her dream relatively unscathed. Still it would take at least a few days for her injuries to vanish completely.

"So what happens now? When will my mother wake up? How long do I have to stay here?" Clarice questioned anxiously.

"No one is sure what exactly will happen next. The rescue team is now inside your Storm's dream attempting to help wake her up. It could take a while and there's no guarantee they'll succeed. As for how long you stay here, well you have to remain here for observations for a while. Just relax." Beast told her as he finished fixing her broken nose.

"Now as for you Gail. You've been running ragged for some time now and the emotional strain from everyone is causing you a lot of stress. I think it would be best if you relaxed for awhile." Beast told her who had been looking over Ororo vitals.

"But Beast I can't!" She protested, "You need me to help you with the patients. Besides what if someone gets critically injured then what? I can't take a break right now I'm sorry." Gail informed him.

"Gail, look at yourself. No ones questioning your loyalty or commitment to the patients, but a good doctor is one who knows when to step away from the situation for awhile." Professor Xavier told her kindly.

"Besides I think we can manage without you for a half hour. We're getting pretty good at this nursing stuff. You've shown us what to do and how to handle any situation that comes up. We'll be fine." Alex assured her. The rest of the helpers nodded.

"Fine, I'll take a break," She sighed knowing this was going nowhere. She was starting to feel the strain of it all too, "but I don't know how I can relax. My empathic abilities keep picking up on everyone's worry, concern, and fear. I can't get it out of my mind!"

Beast walked over to her with a syringe in his hand. "This is a mild sedative. It should ease your tension for a time and dampen your empathic abilities. Do you want me to give it to you?" She nodded her head and he gave her the shot. A few minutes later she was sitting in a chair relaxing.

The Professor gave the girl a small smile. It had been a long day and it wasn't over yet. He still hadn't been able to reach anyone sleeping. He still was in contact with Jean and Forge though ready in case something came up. He hoped that this matter would be resolved quickly so that his students could all rest easy.

In the Control Room Forge had run into some difficulties. So far they had only had to deal with teenager minds. But now they were going into the mind of an adult. Their dream patterns worked on a slightly different frequency level completely. Added to the fact he was trying to rescue the teams from the computer memory and he was in over his head. "Okay, I've managed to get the Danger Room to accept Storm's dream. I've even managed to get everyone out of the computers memory and into the dream. But there is a minor problem and I don't think your going to like it."

"Forge I haven't liked one thing that's happened today. Just tell me the news so we can deal with it. Whatever it is I'm sure I can handle it." Jean told him wearily. She was getting a serious headache from all this.

"I managed only to make one person appear inside the dream, Mirage. All the other's are inside her. So while the whole team is there they aren't there at the same time." Forge told her.

"My headache just got a whole lot bigger. How do you propose to resolve this little error? We can't keep waiting for the next dream cycle. Were running out of dreamers." Jean pointed

"Don't worry everything will be fine. By the time Ororo wakes up everyone will be in their own bodies and then will only have three more people to go. Hey were more then halfway done. We can do this." Forge told her.

Mirage had emerged inside a small, cramped, space with six voices screaming in her head in confusion. "Guys, please calm down. You're hurting me. Now let's all calm down and try to figure this out logically. There must be a reason for this and once we figure it out everything will be okay."

"It would seem that were all here, but you're the only one with a body. The rest of us are only here in mind." Shadow surmised.
"Perhaps the dream helmet and the rest of the equipment malfunctioned. Whatever the reason we are the way we are we have to deal with it. I can feel my powers can the rest of you?" Husk inquired.

"The important thing is to find Ororo. She's been sleeping for so long that I'm surprised that she's still alive. We know that she's claustrophobic. What if her nightmare is the day she developed that phobia." Daytripper pointed out to the rest of them.

She and the others were also trying to get used to this. It was a strange sensation, like being in a void or out of body experience yet having one. It really defied words and explanation.

"Then there's no time to loose. We have to get to her now before something happens. But let's do it carefully. No reason to get ourselves killed in the process." Sunspot added trying to ignore the fact he was in a girl's body. Also since he couldn't tell if they could hear his thoughts like this tried to keep his thoughts clean given what he was feeling. It was very distracting to feel certain body parts missing and have others he didn't have before.

"How do you suggest we find her? Right now were pinned to the ground and we have no idea where she is exactly in this collapsed building." Magma stated feeling the pressure through Dani's body.

"Mirage could use my powers to blow up some of the rubble pinning us. Then we just start searching till we find her." Boom Boom said.

"No blowing things up. This entire place is going to collapse onto itself if we cause further damage to certain areas. If were going to get out we have to do it carefully. Daytripper, do you have to know where you're going in order to teleport?"

"Yes. It's the same for all teleporters. If we don't have a clear idea of our destination we risk reappearing in a wall or floor. That would be a very painful way to die."

"Then will try something else. I'm going to try and tunnel my way out. Once I'm free I can focus on finding Ororo. I hope this doesn't hurt." Mirage said ripping her skin off and revealing diamond coated skin underneath. She started digging slowly and carefully.

Pausing from time to time she made her way through the rubble. She had no idea where she was going. Some inner voice was directing her on where to go. Everyone once in awhile the others would give her advice on what to do. Finally her tunnel opened up into a very small cramped space. She could see a shaft of light and feel a small breeze. When her eyes adjusted to the darkness she could make a small figure hugging her knees. It was a six year old girl with white hair.

"Ororo! Are you okay? Stay there I'll come to you." Mirage said pushing herself out of the tunnel. The space was so small there was barely enough room for the two of them. Mirage scooted over to Ororo's side and placed her hands on her shoulders. "Shu it will be okay. You can stop crying. I'm here to help you."

"Oh Vivian I'm so glad to see you. When the house collapsed I thought that you had died. Have you seen mommy or daddy? Do you know why the house fell down?" little Ororo asked sobbing uncontrollably.

"Vivian? What is she talking about? Why does she think you're her younger sister?" inquired Boom Boom inside her head to the others there.

"It's her dream she can see us an anyone she wants. Maybe you remind her of her sister." Sunspot suggested trying to shrug but nothing happened.

"I hardly look like a little African American girl. More likely my powers have merged with her dream to make her more accepting of us. So now that we find her how do we wake her up? I'm not good with comforting little kids." Mirage said to them frantically.

"I don't believe this. None of you know how to deal with little kids? This is unbelievable. I don't get it. You can face the Hellions, fought Magneto, took out Apocalypse, and a sad, crying, little girl frightens you. You people are hopeless." Husk said dejectedly.

"Hey not all of us have brothers and sister and grew up on a farm! I grew up in a palace with servants far away from the real world. So cut us some slack." Magma snapped at her.

"Alright you two will you stop it. In case you haven't notice Ms. Munroe is still crying and is scared. We need to comfort her and try to calm her down before we can attempt to wake her up. So everyone take a deep breath and let's try to help Storm out okay?" Shadow pleaded. Everyone agreed and they focused their attention back on storm.

"I don't know sis what happened. I was playing when I heard something falling from the sky. I have no idea where are parents are. I fear they may be dead. We have to be brave right now. You have to be strong for both us."

Ororo sniffled a bit then wiped away her tears. "I'm glad to have a big sister here. You are always the one being the calm one trying to keep us together. Aren't you scared at all?"

"I'm terrified, but I know that if we panic we won't get out of here. We have to work together if we're both going to get out of this mess alive. So what do you say big sis? Ready to get out of here?" Mirage asked smiling.

"Yes I am. But I how do you suggest we get out of this cramped space. You barely squeezed through your tunnel there's no way I would. Besides it just leads back into another cave in. We have to find someway back to the surface. Hmm. Maybe if we try removing some of those rocks over there we can squeeze our way out." Ororo said pointing to the small shaft of sunlight.

"She may be right. That's real sunlight or as real as it can be in a dream. I can feel my powers getting stronger. Try accessing my powers while you're removing the rocks. It might make the work go faster, but be careful. If you use too much to fast you won't have any left to help you out in a pinch." Sunspot whispered in her mind.

"Don't worry I don't intend to make this my coffin." Mirage muttered as she crawled over to the hole of light where Ororo was. She was a nervous wreck. Her breathing was rapid, sweat poured down her body, and she couldn't stop trembling. "Hey Ororo what's the matter? Are you okay?"

"No I'm not okay Viv. I'm really really scared right now. I'm near panic. It's like the walls are coming closer. It's getting harder to breath. What if we run out of oxygen or we lose the light? What if we starve to death?"

"Ro stop it please! You have to pull yourself together. If you lose it then we're both going to die. You have to stay strong if not for yourself then me. Can you keep your fears under control for now?" Mirage asked looking in her eyes. She placed her hand on hers smiling.

"Alright I'll try to keep my fears under control. Now let's get down to business. The first thing we have to do is figure out which rocks to remove safely. We will start with this one here." She said pointing to a small rock near the hole. She began to pull with all her might, but it wouldn't budge.

"Let me help. Sunspot your powers better work or so help me God I'll kill you." Mirage thought. Her body started to glow all over as she transformed. Ororo took no notice at all. She probably couldn't see it. Using her new strength the two girls tugged with all their might harder and harder till finally the rock came loose.

"Hey we did it! On to the next one!" Ororo said bravely. Mirage was panting. She had used all of Sunspot's power up. She had nothing left to use. That's when the others started offering her their powers to use. First she used Magma's powers to melt away some of the rocks, then she used a few well placed time bombs to blow a larger hole. When the smoke cleared pure sunlight poured in.
"I don't believe it we made it! We're free at last from that awful prison. Come on Vivian lets get out of here and find Mom and Dad!" she shouted joyfully started crawling out of the pit.

A shadow swept over the two girls. Mirage looked up and her face contorted into a face of pure terror. A big chunk of the building was started to crumble. It came crashing down ready to flatten them like a pancake. "Ororo look out!" she screamed. Ororo was parlayed in fear unable to move. She just stood there waiting for her untimely demise.

Mirage fired a forcebolt blasting the debris into several smaller chunks. As the chunks rained down she grabbed the back of Ororo's dress and pulled her back down into the hole just as the chunks blocked up the entrance.

Ororo blinked her eyes and stared at horror seeing them once again trapped and this time in an even tinier space. "No NO NO! Let me out! I have to get out of here! HELP ME! SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!" she screamed pounding her tiny fists against the wall of rock. She crumpled to the floor crying.

In the infirmary Beast was monitoring Ororo's vitals. She was in a great deal of distress. Her muscles were severally strained and her blood pressure was going up. If this continued he didn't know what he could do to help.

"Mr. McCoy will my mother be alright?" Clairice asked hesitantly.

"I don't know my dear. I really don't know. All I can tell you is your mother will be a lot safer when she is awake. Don't worry I'm not going to let anything happen to her. You can count on that." Beast promised her.
Back in the dream world Mirage was beating herself up. She had failed once again to achieve her objective when everyone was counting on her. Now instead of getting yelled at by Logan they were all going to die. Why couldn't she do anything right?

"Enough of this dissing yourself. All you're doing is punishing yourself. You saved Ororo from dieing and kept us all alive. You're a good leader and you'll think of something. Just clear your mind and think." Shadow advised.

Mirage breathed in and out slowly. Shadow was right. She had to stop doubting herself so much. She could do this if she just started believing in herself. She had already accomplished so much and now was not the time to sabotage herself.

Crawling over to Ororo she wrapped her arms around her and began to rock her gently. She hummed gently under breath and let her cry in her shoulder letting it all out. She then used Shadow's control over the shadows to get an idea of their new surroundings. She could feel a lot of shadows in here as well as out there.

Mentally she went over Shadow's powers. Enhanced strength, speed, and agility, ability to turn into a shadow and travel through them, and lastly created shadow weapons. Perhaps she could use that to her advantage.

"Shadow is it possible for someone to travel with you through the shadows? I mean there is a tiny sliver of light over their casting a shadow. If I held onto Ororo and turned into your shadow form could I theoretically travel from that shadow to one outside this prison?" Mirage asked

"It's possible, I don't know for sure. I've never attempted anything like that before but were short on other options so unless anyone else has a bright idea I say go for it." Shadow told her uncertainly.

"So say you all?" Mirage asked. She got a big yes in her mind. "Okay then New Mutant's and X-Factor lets go for it!"

"Ororo I think I found a way out, but you have to trust me. Do you trust me?"

"Of course I trust you Vivian. You're my baby sister. If you say you found a way out then I believe you. Where is it?"
"Just close your eyes and hold on tight. This might hurt a bit." Mirage told her as she kneeled down next to the small shadow. "God if you can here me please let this work." She prayed. Taking a huge gulp of air she concentrated on becoming a shadow.

At first nothing happened. Then she felt her body changing slowly losing substance. From the fraction of light she saw her hand melt away. This form was difficult to hold so she didn't waste any time. Without hesitating she touched the shadow on the ground and disappeared.

Moments past and nothing happened. The air was still and the remains of a once proud house filled the streets. Suddenly from one of the shadows emerged a strange being. The creature solidified into the form of Mirage and Ororo. The former collapsing to the ground in complete exhaustion from what she had just done.

"You did it! I can't believe you did it! Girl you just made us so proud." Boom Boom said happily.

"You had us worried there for a sec, but once again you proved victorious. Congratulations Mirage." Magma told her proudly.

"Thanks guys. I couldn't have done it if you didn't believe in me." She answered weakly.

"Hey what about Ororo? Is she okay?" Husk demanded. Quickly they examined her and she seemed just fine. She was ecstatic to be free from her prison. She kept going on and on how brave her little sister was.

"Now it's your turn to save me. I need you do to a huge favor for me. I need you to wake up from this nightmare okay? Can you do that?" She nodded her head and closed her eyes tightly. A few seconds later the dream faded away to nothing and the team was swept away.

Ororo gasped and sat up groaning. She looked around in confusion. "By the Goddess what is going on? Why do I feel so terrible and what am I doing down here."

Someone yawned and they all turned to face Gail who was waking up from her nap. "All in good time Ms. Munroe. Just know that everything is okay. Now that you're awake that only leaves Sarah, Logan, and Ray. The journey is almost complete. Sarah is up."