A/N - The muze is sensitive and needs encouragement to continue.
He was moving, that he was sure of. It was verified when he opened his eyes and saw ceiling lights flash by. The voices he heard were distant and faint, familiar but foreign at the same time. He couldn't feel his body, but more like disjointed from it. Floating above it. As the feeling intensified, the motion, the voices and the lights grew fainter. Scott wondered if this was the sensation that Rogue and Storm felt as they defied gravity and flew above the clouds. He felt so light, so free. He was leaving his worries behind, the pain behind, the turmoil behind.
Then as if someone turned the stereo on full blast, a voice filled his head. "Scott! Scott, come back. Don't leave me. I love you, Cyclops."
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In the sick room, Jean sat next to her husband, clenching his hand so intensely that if to let go would mean that his life would slip through her fingers. For one brief moment while being transported through the corridor, she thought he was with her. But then she could feel him slip away. Several times she needed to use her powers to pull him back from beyond the void. Her hand continued its death grip as she heard Hank and Xavier whispering behind her.
"Professor, it is a catch 22. The bullet is causing the raging infection. However the infection is preventing us from removing it. He has septicemia. Although we are pumping the meds into him at the maximum dose, he still does not seem to be responding. I fear it could be one of those antibiotic resistant strains."
Charles looked over at the man he regarded like a son. "But he is young and strong. He can beat this."
"Even the strongest of men succumb to infections of the blood, Charles."
Xavier looked at Beast. No words came to mind. No ideas to offer. He looked away, "The others are waiting in the War Room for word on his condition. I need to go talk to them."
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A pall fell over the room like a ceiling collapsing when Xavier entered. He updated everyone on their leader's status.
After a long period of silence, a growl was heard, "Well, I want t'know who did this t'them."
"We all do, Wolverine." The Professor looked at the faces of all present, "Any ideas?"
There was a pause for thought, then Storm spoke first, "Would Magneto stoop so low as to plan an ambush?"
Rogue added, "Ah was thinking Sinister mahself. He hates all of us. Ah think he'd do anything to get rid of the X-Men. Ah just don't see Magneto settin' up an ambush. He'd kill Scott in a fair fight but he's no back shooter."
"Yeah, Sinister, he a bad one. But Remy t'ink he would use mutant powers to bring down Clop's plane. Besides, won't he like to take out more dan just two? If Gambit recall right, the Morlocks have a personal fight wit' Scott. Ya know dat Calipso gal got the hots for him. Remy bet da house it was dem."
"Gumbo, you're first thoughts on Sinister were dead on, but it goes for the Morlocks too. If they were goin' t'attack anyone they'd use mu'ant powers to bring the plane down. Me? I think it's the Friends Of Humanity. They don't give a damn whose life's at stake as long as they get rid of mu'ants. And they're human. They'd need to resort to guns."
Charles reviewed each suggestion carefully, "Everyone's idea has merit. I would like to search the records for any of our enemies that have a particular vendetta against Cyclops.'
"Maybe it doesn't have to do with Cyclops so much as it does with Scott."
All those at the table looked to Storm for a clarification.
"Maybe Scott has enemies not associated with the X-Men. Maybe from his past. How many times has he come back from a vacation that had been anything but relaxing? Jean might be able to help us with that."
"Maybe, it has nothing to do with Scott. Do you think Jubilee could have been the target?" All eyes went to the blue furball that just entered the room. "…and I would never put it past our own government from pulling something like this. However if they were going after anyone I personally would suspect it would be Cyclops and not Jubilee."
Charles responded, "You may be right Hank. We all assumed whoever did this was after Cyclops, since he is the team leader. Although I can't see why anyone would want to harm Jubilee, we cannot ignore that possibility. Any change in him?"
"I'm afraid not. His fever is still raging out of control. Jean is sitting with him. If we can just get him stabilized, we can go in and remove the bullet."
There was a subdued silence before Logan snarled, "Ok, so far we have that whoever did this was either after Cyclops, Scott or Jubilee. We suspect it could be Magneto, Sinister, the Morlocks, Friends of Humanity or the gov'nment. I would say we got real far in this discussion! So when are we gonna do some real work and find out who did this?"
Xavier gave it some careful thought. "All had valid ideas for the culprit. I want each of you to go out and play detective. Find out if your suspect is indeed guilty. I will go with Jubilee out to the area where it happened to see what we can find. Storm, I want Beast to stay here with his patient. I believe that Magneto would not attack in this fashion. So, if you can, how about looking into the government possibility?"
"No problem Professor."
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The sick room was crowded with worried faces. McCoy, although miffed that his work to try to save Scott was one continuous interruption, understood their need to be near their fallen leader. He just concentrated harder on his duties. Jean, eyes bloodshot from crying and lack of sleep continued to monitor the ill man. She had drawn his blood each hour to monitor his vital signs since they were pushing the medication higher than the maximum safe dose. She felt that by now his blood was completely replaced by pure antibiotics.
She looked to Hank, "What about Magneto? Do you think he could get the bullet out safely, without surgery?"
"I don't know Jean. All we can do is ask."
"Well, it's worth a try, isn't it? If he does agree to help, it would also eliminate him as a suspect."
"Hon, Ah don't know 'bout y'all, but Ah don't trust that guy." Rogue put in. "But, Ah have an idea."
The others looked at her. "Ah could try t'absorb the infection outa him. Ah've never done somethin' quite like that before, but maybe if Ah just take a little off the top, so to speak. He might be able t'fight what's left on his own."
"Absolutely not, Rogue!" Xavier bellowed. "That will leave us with worrying about you fighting an infection instead of Scott. And that's if it works. If it doesn't work, we could have two very sick, possibly dead people here."
"Ok, Professor. Y'all don't have t'yell. It was just a thought."
Although Rogue gave in to her boss, she still held onto the idea, toying with it, refining it, and possibly planning to implement it.
Charles addressed the others as he started to leave, "I think it best if we all get a good night's sleep and get an early start on our assignments tomorrow."
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The guard looked at the tall, elegant, mocha skinned lady walking down the hall. No, make that floating down the hall. His eyes locked on this ethereal beauty with the white mane flowing down her back. She gave him a warm, mesmerizing smile as she flashed her badge and strolled though the door. He felt like his bones were made of Jell-o and leaned against the wall, "I think I'm in love."
Storm took full advantage of her looks and powers. She worked late into the night at the mansion finding and recreating the perfect government badge. Although the forgery was exceptionally good, any well trained guard should be able to tell if it was a fake. That's where her feminine wiles came in. Although the sentry looked at her badge, his eyes were more focused on her body.
She headed straight for a desktop in a darkened corner. It was early enough in the morning that most workers had not come in yet. She hoped that she could finish before anyone else came into the main computer room. She had about 45 minutes worth of work ahead of her, so she dove right into it.
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"I'm sorry Charles, but my power of magnetism doesn't allow me to break a bullet into such small molecules that it can be removed from the body without harm. By removing it I would do just as much damage as it caused going in."
Charles believed his friend and enemy. He had no reason to lie. And the answer was what he had expected anyway.
Magneto asked, "Do you know who did it?"
"No. But you were not above suspicion."
"Xavier, I would be the first to kill any X-Men that got in my way. But there is no reason why I need to wantonly murder any mutant in cold blood. I'm surprised, Charles. I thought you knew me better than that."
"Magnus, you would suspect me and my men if this happened to you. You know we need to eliminate all possibilities."
"I understand. If there is anything that I can do to help Cyclops please let me know. I will make myself available to you."
The Professor ended the transmission. He knew Magneto was telling the truth. But was also dismayed that he would not be able to help.
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In the early hours of the morning when nothing stirred, Jubilee snuck into the sick room. Hank was hiding in his lab off to the side deep into his work and Jean was ordered to get some sleep. She needed to keep her strength up.
She went up to Scott and looked at his paste-colored face, "If I didn't ask to fly the plane, we won't have been low enough to have gotten shot. So, no matter how you or anyone else looks at this, Scott, it's still my fault." Tears glistened in her eyes. She would never be able to live with his death. Not only did she respect him as a leader and teacher, she was falling for him. Falling in love as if a spell had been sprinkled over her. She sat on the edge of his bed, with his hand in hers; she brought it up to her lips and kissed his knuckles.
Alarms blared in her ears and she catapulted off his bed staring wide-eyed at the screaming monitor. A flatline traveled across the screen.