Her mind made up, Alisa was quick in leaping from the bed and heading for the main staircase, trailing the stuffed toy. Logan followed her and called Bobby to his side when he looked out of his room to see what was going on. She paused at the top of the stairs, obviously distressed by the open expanse of the hallway and grand staircase.
"There's a servant's staircase at the back." Bobby told her secretively. "It's quieter back there." Logan looked up at him thankfully. Alisa took Bobby's hand and started walking back towards the other end of the hall.
Taking the long way round the three reached Hank's lab long after he had returned, one of the girl's hands clasped in each of the men's and Logan carrying the toy. Alisa found Remy on the bed in the corner and dragged the men to his side, debating for a moment which hand she would release so that she could reach out and make sure Remy was real. In the end she released them both so that she could wrap her arms around his sides.
"Broder? Will y' talk t' me?" Hank handed a chair to Logan and he urged the girl into it so that she could sit at his side. With her elbows on the bed Alisa lent over so that she could take a good look at Remy. She watched him seriously for a moment, her head cocked as though listening to something. She glanced back at Logan and beckoned him over. When he was close enough she took hold of the wrist of the hand that was holding the toy and made him drop it onto the bed beside Remy. "There. Now Mistah Kitty Head will watch over you." She said with finality. "And when y' ready t' talk t' me, Ah'll be here." And that, it seemed, was that, Alisa leading her two bodyguards back up to Remy's room.
"Did you not want to stay with Remy, Alisa?" Bobby asked curiously, as Alisa settled back onto the bed, looking a little less confident with her stuffed friend at her side.
"He's not there." She answered quietly. "But he'll come back, when he's ready."
o
"Remy, may I see your hands? I fear they may have been further damaged by your long lassitude." A gentle hand rested on his shoulder as a reminder of another's presence before trailing down his arm to his hand - allowing Remy to follow his movements with his body as he couldn't with his eyes. Taking the slender hand in his much larger palm, Hank looked it over. Gently pressing down on the fingers to curl them into a fist he watched Remy go white, though he showed no other reaction to a movement that obviously and unsurprisingly pained him. "Hmm." Hank intoned. "As I thought, the muscles have contracted once again. I will start a passive physiotherapy course with you until you are ready to rejoin us."
o
"Forgive me, my brother. Hank tells me it is not our fault that we turned against you, yet I fear that is not completely true. We should have fought harder against Rogue's return. Fought harder against her leaving with out answering for her crimes. Always I find myself here, begging your forgiveness, and always you refuse to let me take the blame. Today you cannot refuse me. Forgive me, my brother. Please."
o
"Your sister returned home this morning." Hank's voice was light and cheerful. "Your father demanded it of her. She was quite upset, though she is mostly recovered from Rogue's attack. Logan took her personally." Metal rattled across the linoleum floor as Hank brought a chair alongside his bed to work through the exercises on his hands. "I'm not sure how she will survive without her bodyguards. Quite a change has come over Bobby with such responsibility handed to him. I have thanked him on your behalf. You would have been impressed, had you seen him."
o
"She came right back with Logan - I have to admit I half expected as much. Jean has not yet cleared all the debris that Rogue left in her mind. I think you would be able to do it much quicker, I imagine you would know where to look. But no matter, this is not something to argue over now and Alisa will get over her new-found fears eventually. I must go and make sure she wasn't too upset by their journey. Excuse me."
o
"It seems your sister was not aware of the telekinesis she wielded so skillfully against Rogue when threatened." The voice was heavy, but held humour. "I wonder if you yourself were aware, if it has only just manifested. She explained the strange occurrence quite fearfully to Logan yesterday, and he immediately brought it to Jean's attention. The two have come to trust each other since Jean aided her in her fight against Rogue's alien emotions. I don't think she could have a better tutor in such a use of her powers. In many ways she is lucky to be here while she manifests this aspects of her mutation." Hank set Remy's left hand to rest at his side and moved around the bed to pick up the right. "I find myself wondering if Sinister was the one who taught you the use of your powers. You say he offered you control over your charging powers, but you have not told us how. I dare say it is unlikely you will bring yourself to talk to us about such things, you have already been forced to say far too much in your own mind on the matter. Regardless, I am curious how much different your life might have been had we found you just a little earlier. What things might not have come to pass. We can blame you for nothing, if we might have been able to change things ourselves."
o
"I have to admit I am most distressed." Hank's voice was low and bitter. "Sometimes I wonder how these people pass their medical degrees. If they plan to go out into the world and make things worse than they already are… they shouldn't be allowed to practice medicine!" A deep sigh as Hank reigned back in his emotions. The creak of a chair as he took a seat at Remy's side. "Forgive me. I haven't explained. A helicopter flying over the North Sea spotted what they thought to be a small rowing boat far out to sea. Worried, they called in the rescue services and were told to get closer and see if the passenger needed any help. There was a doctor on board the helicopter, just by chance, who realised the truth of the matter. They had found Warren, unconscious in the North Sea." The sudden double beep of Hank's pager, only slightly muffled by his lab coat pocket. He didn't apologise as he dashed from the room, and Remy didn't complain.
o
"Anyway." Hank sounded tired as he returned, later. "Where was I? You are becoming quite the reliable sounding post, my dear Cajun, I hope you understand this. I am coming to trust your advice quite implicitly." He laughed, voice hoarse with tiredness. "Somehow Warren managed to hold enough air in his feathers to keep afloat, but his rescuers seemed determined to make things worse for him. They pulled him out upright - head first. He is lucky he has been well trained and has a very healthy heart else he would not be here with us today. When retrieving a person from the water with a helicopter - and this is the lowest level of medical instruction - they must always be pulled out horizontal, or they suffer huge heart strain at the pressure change." A sigh. "He is pulling through. Goodness knows where Rogue is now."
o
"Gambit." A clearing of the throat. Almost apologetic. "Remy." An annoyed expulsion of air. "It's… Scott. I've been sent by your cluster of female admirers on the team - my wife included - to offer my…" A brief laugh, almost startled. "My apologies for my behaviour. Jean suggests it's because I'm constantly linked to her that I was susceptible to empathic attack by Rogue. She also says I have a subconscious weight of guilt, but then I don't see how talking to you while you're unconscious will help with that…" This under his breath, not really directed to anyone. "Still, this confrontation with Rogue has shown us all what we were missing, and explained one or two things. Now I would very much like you to get up and please get your sister out of my house. She's making a nuisance of herself."
o
"Bobby took Alisa out for ice-cream today." Hank's warm voice. "It was a big step on her behalf, going out into a public space." There was a sloshing noise of liquid in a bag as Hank changed the IV providing Remy with the food to keep him alive as he lay there. "I think Bobby enjoyed the ice-cream a little too much, though. Sometimes I wonder whether that boy will ever grow up. I think Alisa was quite embarrassed to be seen with him, and I do not blame her for that. And only yesterday I was telling you how much he had grown, I should have know better!" Bandages loosening over his collarbone and a sharp pain as Hank felt over a wound. "This is definitely the most severe injury, you could have done worse. The laceration touched the bone, but is healing up quite well." The bandages re-tightened. A soft sigh. "I really had hoped to see you out of this before now."
o
Ororo humming some distant tune, the sounds of movement around the lab. "Morning, brother. The sun is shining today, and everyone is too busy to enjoy it." A quiet sigh. "There is a short mission today, I am just packing up supplies. We will be back before you know it."
o
A distant long whining beep… no stop to it. Running feet, shouting voices. The noise goes quiet as the door is shut. Hank doesn't visit that day.
o
"I sent your sister home. She has left her toy with you, to watch over you I think, but we have no room or time for her at the moment. Logan and Bobby are both needed while we fight a rising brotherhood threat, and Warren is still fighting for his life. I hope you do not mind too much. She is mostly recovered now, and she will be best off in the arms of her family."
o
A week passed in much the same way, Hank always finding some quiet monologue as he went about his business in the lab.
o
One morning Hank came down into the peaceful silence of the lab to find it empty. With a cheerful grin he went about his business. If Remy needed him, he would call.