Chapter 3

"Jean, I think this may just be the most important meeting we have ever had with the world leaders," Charles stated as he tried to relax with a cup of coffee during the session break.

Jean nodded as she sipped her tea.

She froze with the china cup halfway to her mouth, her eyes glazed over.

"Jean, what is it?"

"Something's wrong. But I can't place it." She looked around the crowded room full of dignitaries, worried that something was going to happen to them.

After closing his eyes and concentrating, the Professor looked to his gifted student, "I don't feel anything. Are you still reading something?"

She just shook her head feeling troubled deep inside.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jubilee sat stunned at what Scott just told her. Speechless at the blood she saw. She had never felt so hopeless before in all her short life. She ran back to the plane and crawled inside. The smoke had pretty much dissipated and the ship was now dead and lifeless. She just stood in the center looking around. For what? She didn't know. She didn't even know why she ran back there.

Hyperventilating she could feel her heart pounding though her chest.

"Jubie, you're not doing Cyc any good by panicking. Take a deep breath. He needs you. He'll never make it out of here alive without your help. You can both make it out of here alive if you don't panic!" She continued with her peptalk, trying to calm herself down.

"Go on the offensive, not defensive." It was working. She began to feel in control. She began to feel like she could do something. "Ok, Jube, what to do first. Think. There're a lot of things that need to be done."

Speaking aloud to no one, she said, "Alright, first, make a list of what needs to be done. Then put it in order of priority." She felt better now that she had the makings of a plan. She found her laptop and was elated that it still worked. Sitting in the pilot's seat she started a list:

Find help

Fix Scott up

Find food and water

Find shelter

Find a way out

Looks for Scott's glasses

She studied her list thinking that she needed to add more but she couldn't think of anything else at the moment. She could always add new items as she thought of them. As she looked over her file she decided that fixing Scott was the highest priority. She would then devote just a little time trying to find help. If that didn't work, she would need the remaining daylight to find shelter and sustenance. Closing her computer, she headed out of the broken ship and back to Scott.

"Cyclops?" She tried to wake him but was unsuccessful. 'Hmmmm, maybe it's better this way. I can wrap up his wound and he won't feel anything.'

Jubilee sat on her rock, catching her breath in the furnace-like heat of the desert. She had wrapped the injured man's wounds and he was resting quietly, still not having regained consciousness. She could already see his flesh starting to sunburn so she moved 'shelter' to the top of her to-do list. She already knew that the ship was too hot to take refuge in. On her last visit there to retrieve water, she couldn't stand being inside for more than a few minutes before it became too oppressive.

She looked south at a fairly large outcropping of rock. It was the closest to them and she could jog there in about 10 minutes in this heat. Before she left however, she jerry-rigged her yellow coat as a make-shift tent to keep the direct sun off of Scott. Satisfied that he was protected, she took off hoping that she could find a cave or other shelter.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Scott awoke in a haze. Confused, he tried to sit up, only to fall back in agony. The pain helped to clear the fog he was in and he remembered that his eyes were bandaged because of the lack of protective eyewear and nothing more. He didn't know what hurt more, his side from the bullet or his broken leg, but he lay still until the pain subsided a bit.

"Jube? Jubilee?" Fear filled his gut, not because he thought she'd abandoned him, which he knew she won't. But he was worried that she herself was hurt and unconscious somewhere.

He realized the sun was not directly on him and started to feel around as much as he could without moving much of his body. He reached straight up for the sky and hit cloth. Not expecting to have touched anything, he recoiled from it, then reached back out and felt it. He was sure it was Jubilee's coat, held by strategically placed rocks. He couldn't reach the far end without sitting up which he declined to try at the moment. Continuing the search of his surrounding, he found a canteen. 'She left me water. I hope that means she's ok.'

Lying there in the intense heat, feeling totally helpless he called out, "Jubilee!"

He waited for a reply. Succumbing to the hopelessness that enclosed him, he cried out, "Jubilee, please don't leave me. I need you."

Scott rolled onto his side and struggled to get up on his knees. When he straightened up, his head hit the makeshift shelter. He flailed at it in a burst of panic and brought the coat down around him. Grabbing it, he threw it aside. As he knelt on his one good leg, he clutched his side, gritting his teeth to the pain. Realizing that was the extent of his energy, he melted down onto the ground and rolled over on his back.

A few minutes later seconds before he slipped back into the black abyss, he thought of his wife, 'Jean,I need you, my love.'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The entourage of diplomats filed back into the conference room. Charles glanced a worried looked at Jean walking beside him. She had been silent since her statement that something felt out of place. Stepping softly, eyes trained on the ground, she suddenly grabbed at her head, a low moan escaping her lips. The Professor reached out to her as she fell to her knees.

Taking a deep breath, she looked up at her mentor, "It's Scott. For only a flash, he called out to me, then I felt darkness. Deep, enveloping blackness. Now there's nothing."

"But how could he be in trouble. He only went out to California to pick up Jubilee." He concentrated for a moment, eyes clenched and brow furrowed. "I can't reach him. I'll need the help of Cerebro to contact either of them at that distance." Charles looked anxiously around. As much of a son as Cyclops was to him, the lives of many more mutants and humans depended on this conference.

Xavier held both of Jean's hands, "We cannot leave now. Deep in your heart, you know that. The lives of two mutants when thousands, maybe even millions of lives are at stake must be gambled."

Tears streamed down her cheeks, "Charles, I must go. I must find Scott."

"My Dear, we don't know how bad he is. We don't even know what the problem is. He may be able to last several days while we wrap up here." He paused, "Or he may already be gone. You know what I speak is the truth. We have to stay and finish with this consortium."

"Charles."

He squeezed her hands.