Hank grinned as the car sped along the country lanes, unable and unwilling to keep the look away and it was all Isabelle's fault. Her hand was resting on his thigh, squeezing a little every now and then as they turned a particularly sharp corner…as a consequence he was practically throwing the car around,

"Hank if you want me to hold on tighter you've only got to say" She murmured, voice rich with laughter though her expression was carefully neutral. She had taken in the information about Xaviers quietly, asking only a few questions and murmuring that it sounded like a good idea, the thoughtful expression on her face had been ever so slightly disturbing. Hank blushed at being caught but she shifted her hand to his over the gear stick, squeezing a little – letting go abruptly at the sound of a ring tone, "what the-" Hank laughed softly, clicking a panel with his claw,

"Hank" An man's voice crackled out of the walls. Isabelle glared at the dashboard until she spotted two speakers cunningly sunk into the plastic,

"Good evening Professor, how may -" The Doctors politely enquiry was interupted,

"There's an emergency Henry," The mans voice was urgent and angry but oddly calm at the same time, "there's something controlling Wolverine, we're not entirely sure what but he is extremely dangerous. If you come across him don't try-" A loud explosion went off nearby and the car they were in flew off the road. Henry growled, feeling Isabelle grab hold of his arm as they rolled, thankful that this car had been modified as they came to a stop, fortunately the right way up,

"Alright?" He asked. She nodded jerkily, frozen stiff and eyes wide, knuckles white on the door handle and his arm, "can I have the circulation back to my hand please?" She released her grip a little, "thank you-" The magnified sound of metal tearing apart ripped through the car as the bonnet was lifted clean off. They both looked up as the Wolverine glared down at them, a slight green tinge in his usually dark brown eyes, "Run" Hank said quite calmly, shoving her forcibly through the door as Logan slashed down with his claws. Groaning as she picked herself up off the floor, Isabelle rolled onto her back at the same time as a roar ripped through the air. She got up in time to see Hank – gentle, funny, calm, clever Henry McCoy – stand up out of the husk of the car, huge fists wrapped around those claws, blood oozing between his fingers as he growled, slowly, so painstakingly slowly, pushing the other man away,

"Hank!" She couldn't stop the distress in her tone, clapping a hand over her mouth. He glanced over, just a split second and Logan withdrew his claws, causing another roar to break free of him, "no!" Isabelle started forward, no idea of what she was going to do and – ducked as Logan flew overhead, sliding through the grass. She turned with a scream as strong hands clamped on her upper arms,

"Isabelle, I told you to run!" She was shoved away as Logan barrelled into them, "run!" Hank roared as Logan sunk his claws deep into his chest,

"No!" Isabelle jumped as high as she could, wrapping her arms around Logan's neck, placing her hands on his chest and concentrated. The light roared up from her very soul and down her arms, she watched her skin glow for a fraction of a second before it passed into him. The Wolverine started to convulse at the sudden influx of pure energy, claws retracting as he slowly sank to the ground,

"What did you do?" Hank asked dazedly as blood poured through the holes in his shirt, staggering a little as he straightened out,

"I don't know, I've never known, it's just something I did to get rid of the bullies - oh god Hank are you alright?" She moved forward, deftly undoing the shirt to reveal the blooded holes, rivers of indigo had flattened his fur,

"I assure you it is worse than it looks" He smiled down at her before frowning a little, "you didn't run when I told you too" His hands were shaking as he stroked her hair lightly leaving streaks of thick blood in his wake,

"I wasn't going to leave you, Hank" She said, just as fiercely. His frown deepened and he opened his mouth, only to be interrupted by a soft droning noise and a huge gust of wind. Isabelle tried not to gag on the smell of fresh blood as he shielded her with his body from the blast of a huge silver jet coming in to land,

"Henry! Are you alright?" A woman with bright white hair asked as she practically ran from the jet stairway,

"I'm fine" He called back, frowning heavily, "you might want to restrain Logan before he can do any more damage" The white haired woman nodded, turning to shout orders up into the hold, "Are you alright?" Hank asked, softly stroking a hand down her arm, frowning at the sight of his own blood leaving stains,

"Nothing major" She shook her head, watching him carefully…he really did seem to be fine but...he'd been stabbed through the chest, "are you sure you-"

"Hankster!" A sandy haired boy trotted over, "hey, are you alright?" He asked, looking pointedly at the wounds in Hanks chest. The Doctor sighed, wincing a little,

"I'm fine. Are you going to elucidate as to what's happened?" He asked as the Wolverine was bodily loaded into the jet, bound and held with adamantine bonds, growling as he started to come round,

"He just went berserk" Bobby shrugged, "I'm not exactly sure, Storm might be able to explain it better" He said as the white haired woman walked over. Isabelle tuned out as they started talking about things she knew nothing about. Two others joined the group, a girl with auburn hair and white streaks who smiled shyly and waved saying "Hi" - before going back to the conversation and a shorter man who was bright blue and covered in what looked like either scars or tattoo's. He's smiled at her shyly with rows of sharp teeth, offering her a polite "gutten tag". It was Isabelle who first spotted it when Hanks eyes started to roll back in his skull, she darted forward, trying to at least slow his descent,

"Hank! Hank!" She chanted, able to hear his heartbeat slowing down as he pressed against her before collapsing to the floor, "oh God! Help!" She looked up at the others who seemed frozen in shock, "help him!"


The click of rosary beads was louder than gunfire to her as she fiddled with the bracelet on her wrist. They'd moved swiftly once the situation had got through, lifting the gentle doctor onto a metal slab that levitated up of it's own accord. There had been some vague explanation of what it was, something to do with alien technology and Hank tinkering with it until they got what they wanted but she hadn't exactly been listening. She'd begged to be allowed into the cabin with them but she'd been gently, if not firmly, shoved out, whilst three people she didn't know shouted at each other as they cut Hank's chest open and inserted a tube, the door had been closed in her face as someone said –

"The lining of the plura's been punctured and there's a chance that the internal thoracic was clipped-"

"I think one of the arteries in his shoulder was caught and -"

"We need to get some of the strain off his heart before-" And then the door had shut. Now she sat alone strapped into one of the chairs, the blue man who spoke german, the one with the scars he…clickclick -

"Are you a holy man?" She asked eventually, wanting to take her mind off the fact that the man she loved more than life itself was currently hooked up to all sorts of machines that beeped and whirred bleakly whilst the people around him looked scared to death. She wanted to break the self destructive cycle that her mind was on, it was all her fault, if only she'd done as she was told,

"In a manner of speakink" He smiled, voice soft as if he didn't want to frighten her, "are you a believer?" He asked, the zealous light in his eyes going un-noticed by her,

"Sort of, I've read the bible once or twice. I like Revelations best" She turned away from the unfeeling door, "what about you?" Five minutes later she knew that it had been a stupid question to ask. This Kurt Wagner guy knew more about religion and bibles than any one else she had ever met. The white haired woman that had introduced herself as Storm came out of the room, wiping her hands on a cloth and looking very tired,

"Is he alright?" Isabelle asked in a lull of Kurts conversation,

"He's stable, that's about the best I can say" She murmured, sitting down opposite, very close to the German man. He smiled pleasantly at them both,

"May I continue?" He asked, eyes shining,

"If you like" Isabelle said distractedly, unable to take her eyes off the door. It was quite interesting, what he was saying, an overdose of information but still. Storm managed to sit there for three minutes before it became too much,

"Kurt…Kurt baby, hush" She smiled tightly, patting his leg. The German stopped mid ramble, blushing slightly as he smiled,

"I'm sorry, sometimes my mouth runs avay vis me" He shrugged apologetically,

"You can't scare me, Mr Wagner, my grandparents were Jehovah's Witnesses" She murmured, trying to smile whilst feeling sick to her stomach, barely noticing when he returned it,

"Ah, zer heavy squad of religion, ja?" He murmured, just the hint of teasing about his voice,

"You could say that" Her eyes flickered back to the door as the noise beyond escalated. Storm stood up, re-entering the room beyond before coming back a few minutes later, "alright?" She got a silent nod in reply, though the white haired woman's dark skin paled a little. Isabelle watched from the corner of her eye, as she wound her hand into Kurts, squeezing it tightly, "how long till we get to…where are we going?"

"The Mansion. There's a medical lab there, we've got good doctors and nurses and our medical equipment is about twenty tears ahead of the stuff the government issues" Storm smiled, a tight little thing but it was an attempt at comfort that Isabelle clung too. She turned away from the door as someone's hand squeezed her own, Kurt smiled at her,

"He is stronk, he vill be fine" He said softly, squeezing her fingers gently before going back to his rosary. Straining her ears Isabelle could just about pick out what he was saying under his breath, "Sancte Michael Archangele, defende nos in proelio; contra nequitiam et insidias diaboli esto praesidium. Imperat illi Deus; supplices deprecamur: tuque, Princeps militiae coelestis, Satanam aliosque spiritus malignos, qui ad perditionem animarum pervagantur in mundo, divina virtute in infernum detrude. Amen" She couldn't help but think how perversely appropriate it seemed.


Notes: -

The plura is part of the lining of the lung, the internal thoracic is an artery (or vein :s im a little rusty). It'll probably turn out to be the subscalpular in his shoulder if the two arteries were cut by Wolverine, it'd put a HUGE strain on the heart...just thought you should ken.

Latin translation (hopefully): - Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in the battle, be our safeguard and protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil; may God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all evil spirits who wander through the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen. … (if this isn't right I'd really appreciate it if someone would correct me thanx)