Nanny fell asleep in the tub and woke up when to find the water cold and her neck sorer than ever, from having fallen asleep in funny position. She carefully stood up, all of her muscles stretching and aching. She wrapped a huge beach towel around her body and wrapped a smaller towel in her hair. She shuffled over to her bed slowly and fell asleep again.

All through her sleep images from the bridge and the cavern flashed through her mind and she mentally replayed the recent events. She slept for a few days, barely getting up to go to the bathroom or eat the soup and crackers that she found set out on her bed stand table every time she opened her eyes. The X-Men waited patiently for her to recover, though they were all incredibly curious as to what had transpired. The children whispered and stared every time Jean would take a new try into her room. But for the most part, discussion on the subject was rather small- it was like everyone was holding their breathe, waiting for her to recover, and then they could breathe again.

Jean knocked at Nanny's door softly, like every other time before, and entered her room to leave her some food. She opened the door slowly, hoping it wouldn't creak too much and wake her up. When she opened the door, she found the bed empty, but the bathroom light was on and Jean could hear the bathtub water running.

"Nanny?"

"Jean?"

"How are you doing?" Jean stood close to the door so that Nanny could hear her.

"I feel a lot better, but it still hurts to get up and move around."

"Would you like something other than soup today?"

"Hmmmm." Nanny closed her eyes and laid her head back against the tub. "Solid food sounds good. But you don't have to bring it up. I plan on coming down as soon as I'm out of my bath."

"Ok. It's good to know you're feeling better."

Nanny smiled. 'Much better,' she thought to herself. Carefully she got up and turned on her radio to the oldies station that she had become accustomed to and now loved. She hummed softly and mouthed the words. From time to time she would find herself singing, and laughing. She had listened to oldies since she was in the third grade, and she had a few memories attached to some of the songs.

Jean went back down and informed the other X-Men that she would be down somewhat shortly. They kept close by, either outside on the basketball court, in the TV room, or in the kitchen. The Professor watched Cyclops, Wolverine, Iceman, Colossus, and some of the others play a rough game of basketball. They had agreed to no powers, but they all broke that rule from time to time- except Wolverine. His claws would only make it harder to play.

…..

Nanny opened her door carefully and peered out, making sure no one was around. She wanted to leave her room and get the down the stairs without a whole fan fair coming after her, making sure that she wouldn't fall. And she took the stairs for exercise which would help her muscles heal faster. With each step down the stairs the pain in her legs grew and she did her best not to blurt out of pain. As she reached the last few steps, she let out a muffled "Ow!" Rogue heard her and looked up.

"Nanny! You look so much better!" Rogue exclaimed and gave her a big, but soft, hug.

"Hahahaha, I'd hope so! How long have I been sleeping anyways?"

"You've been in your room for three days!"

Nanny held her head, which was still a bit congested. "Mmmm, feels like it's been a million years." She smiled and together they walked through the halls into the kitchen. The Professor turned his head only slightly and smiled.

'Good to see you up,' he told Nanny telepathically.

Nanny stopped for a second, trying to figure out where it had come from. She nodded her head slowly and whispered, "Could you not do that please. My head hurts enough without having to strain to think hard." She laughed and Rogue starred at her like she was insane. The Professor grinned.

The guys stopped their game for a moment, all bending over trying to catch their breathe. They looked up and saw the Professor's grin.

"Are we that interesting?"

"Some might think so," the Professor straightened out his grin for a moment, "but I find you quite dull."

Cyclops looked up with a mock-look of hurt on his face, clutching his heart.

"Come on. Someone is waiting for us in the TV room."

They put down the ball and grabbed the hose and washed off slightly before entering the house again. It was a warm day, fit for games of basketball, soccer, dodge ball, and races.

"Well look who decided to join us! I believe you've broken the world record for sleeping!"

Nanny smiled and looked at Wolverine, still a little wet from the hose, his towel resting over his shoulder. He moved away to get some water and Jean, Storm, and Nightcrawler joined them.

"Good to see you're doing better," Storm said.

"Trust me, it's good to be feeling better!"

"Some of us made wagers on when you'd wake up! Ole' wheels here won, but I think he cheated." Wolverine said, setting down his empty glass.

"I did not cheat. It was a simple, estimated guess."

Everyone laughed and Jean brought out cut up fruit.

"Oh Jean, that looks so good!" Nanny said. She helped herself to the plate, and no one else dared eat any, afraid that they would be taking food from a starving child if they did.

"Well at least your appetite has returned!"

Nanny only nodded; her mouth was full. Everyone grew silent, not sure what else to say, though they were all thinking the same thing, but were afraid to ask it: 'What happened?'

After a few moments Nanny picked up on this. She stopped shoving her face full of fruit and took a small sip of water, running over what she wanted to tell them, if anything. She felt like she was obligated to tell them something, but she really didn't want to tell them anything.

"I know you all want to know what happened."

"Man, you're getting to be just as good as Jean and the Professor," Wolverine teased. Nanny only faintly smiled.

"Where to start?"

"The beginning would be nice …" Iceman retorted.

"Well, I got in the taxi. We were headed for Great Leap National Park. I needed a vacation, at least a short one. Nature helps calm the thoughts so I decided to go there. Turns out that we had a flat tire. Didn't surprise me seeming as most of the car seemed to be held together with duct tape. He called the company towing services and apologized. He said that the trip would be free. It was so early in the morning that there was hardly anyone on the road. But someone pulled over to help. They pulled up behind us. The cab driver told them that the tow services were on their way. The tow services called again and the cab driver wondered off in front of us on his phone, leaving me with this old guy who had supposedly pulled over to help. He smiled and the next thing I knew my head hurt and I was falling. I don't remember anything, only small bits and pieces that don't make sense. But then I only slightly remember being in the ally way, but I don't know how I got there."

"What'd the old guy look like?"

"Ahh, old. I dunno. Greyish-white, kinda short hair. Some what tall. I didn't get a very good look at him before I blacked out."

"Sounds like a mug shot of Magneto."

The Professor nodded his head.

"First Rogue, then John, and now even our Nanny. Hahaha, does he need a good cook or something?" They all laughed.

"So that's why he let me go." She chuckled. "I never thought my horrible cooking skills would come in handy!"

"It's good to have ya back kid."

"Mmmm. It's good to finally be feeling better. But my head still feels like someone's pounding on it."

"It's that country music of yours." Cyclops said. "It's enough to give anyone a head ache."

Nanny smiled and stuck her tongue out at him. Again, he mocked being hurt and Jean starred up at him with that sick, love-bird expression.

"The kids are eager to get back to their art projects."

"Hahahaha, -cough- ow! Hurts to laugh."

"They want to get them done so that they can enter them in this art show you mentioned?"

"Ohhh. Well, it's too late for that art show. First of all, it was last week, I think. What's today's date anyway?"

"September 13."

"Mmmm, ya, it was the 8th. But besides that, you have to clear all of the art works you want to enter like a month before hand. But they're having another show in January. They can enter then."

They small talked for a bit, and they even seemed to buy her story. She knew that the Professor and Jean would know that she was lying, but she felt like she owed them some explanation, even a false one. She was embarrassed about all of what had happened.

"So, you up for another game?" Cyclops challenged Wolverine.

"I think I can manage to beat you some more."

"Beat me? I believe we won."

"Three eyes here can't count," he said, raising his eye brows.

"I want to watch this!" Nanny said. She moved out to the porch and curled up in a lawn chair, watching. Some of the last bits of summer sun shown down on them and Nanny soaked up as much as she could. She watched the game with great care, smiling and laughing, until she couldn't keep her eyes open anymore and she fell asleep.

It was quickly becoming dusk when their second game ended. They hosed themselves off and headed for the house.

"Hahaha, she's almost cute when she's asleep; all curled up in the chair, her mouth all open," Cyclops said trying to stop from laughing. He only referred to her being cute in the sense that a kitten or a small puppy is.

"Suppose this means one of us has to carry her up to her room then, eh?" Wolverine raised his eye brows and looked at the other guys for volunteers. No one else volunteered, so he carefully lifted Nanny out of her chair and carried her to her room.

"Geez, how much does she weigh? She's lighter than a sack of potatoes!" Wolverine laughed.

"She is the founder of the American Stick Organization," Iceman laughed.

"No kidding!"

Wolverine stopped outside her door. He felt, awkward, going into her room, but he had to. He gently set her down and pulled some of the covers over her. Nanny's eyes flickered and she sighed deeply and grabbed the covers. Wolverine shut the door quietly and headed to back down stairs for some dinner.