CHAPTER 4. - Retreat
Rogue stood on the off ramp of the jet hands tucked deep in her pockets, stamping her feet slightly to keep the circulation moving and keep warm in the wet climate.
where are they ?
As if hearing her thoughts, just at that she saw Storm step out of the treeline, followed closely behind by the others; Wolverine at the back obviously carrying someone. Relief flooded her. She ducked her head out, calling out to him
"How's she doin' sugar?"
He simply grunted as he lastly hastily retreated up the ramp, Rogue already shutting the door as he did so. Storm fired up the jet, Piotr pullling down one of the fold-out 'cots and securing it, before clipping himself into his seat. Their urgency was infectious, and an uneasy feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. uh - oh.
"kid' I need ya over here - NOW"
Logan was laying the newcomer on the 'cot, ripping open an IV bag with his teeth, setting it up hanging even as Storm took off sharper than usual, throwing them all slightly off balance. Turning to Marie as she steadied herself against the wall next to him, he handed her the needle.
"Do what you can. Just stay with her."
He gave her shoulder a squeeze on the way past. Knowing it was his way of saying thanks, of being glad she was with them. Smiling slightly into herself, she turned to the task at hand. Thinking to herself that even though she may not have her powers anymore, she was still needed. They hadnt cut her out. She was still useful, they still wanted her there. It gave her a glow of pride. Rogue slipped into the accompanying fold-out chair, pulling on some disposable latex gloves - slowly unzipping the woman's leathers along the inside of her arm, coaxing the material free and inserting the IV, taping down the needle.
"Have we been spotted?"
Wolverine strapped himself into the co-pilot's chair, as Storm furiously worked the controls, her words bit out between gritted teeth.
"Not if I can help it"
Eyes turning milky white, the sudden descending fog engulfed the ascending jet and the armed men on the ground who were advancing ominously up the blackened, slick cliff-top road towards them in a precise and compact rolling roadblock. The last thing they saw of them was the soldiers hesitate but momentarily at the sudden drop in visibility before the dark rainclouds enveloped them once more, and they were off, skimming the night sky at speed, headed for home.
Only then, after a few minutes with no apparent retribution following them, did Storm allow herself to relax and contact the Professor.
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Rogue worked quietly on the woman, hands moving dexterously over her still form, checking for any apparent life-threatening injuries that needed urgent attention. Thinking back to the few pointers she had learned from observing Dr McCoy, she searched for any obvious broken bones or burst arteries, looking to stabilise her as best as she could.
Her face was still turned away, hair dark and thick with blood. Gently supporting her neck on either side with two blocks like she had once seen Jean do, she cautiously straightened her out. Pale pale skin ...
probably due to blood loss Ah reckon ... still Ah wish the 'doc coulda been here
"You probably do too, eh? still we'll getcha sorted out right soon e'nough" Marie spoke softly to the woman, running a soft wet cotton pad over her face, removing some of the dried blood there.
Logan's sensative ears picked it up, causing him to lose interest in what Storm and the Professor were saying, instead he softened slightly and cast her a glance. Feeling better in himself that she was no longer the emotion wreck he'd tucked into bed earlier, back to being the strong assertive caring marie he knew and loved so much.
'Bout time he added to himself, dryly.
Unaware of her appreciative audience, Rogue continued to talk softly to the woman, frowning slightly when she found the bullet graze on her temple, still leaking blood freely. Reaching for another pad, she leaned over her, mopping up the blood and cleaning the wound; pulling away when she thought the pressure had been applied long enough. And gasped. The slice in her skin was healing. Not as fast or as well as Logan could, but nonetheless she watched as the open skin oh so slowly knitted together and sealed, admittedly thinly, instead leaving a deep purple bruise behind it. Slowly, Rogue ran her fingers over the womans face, over the bruise, even taking a double-take at the pad in her hand, still drenched in her blood.
What the hell ? Logan 'dont bruise ...
She reached around, checking all the other laccerrations, grazes, bruises. The strange marks on her throat ... none of them had changed state, none had healed. Returning to the womans face, Rogue trailed her fingers again softly over her skin. It didnt make sense.
" ...Logan ?"
Rogue turned her head slightly, leaving her fingers where they were, resting on the side of the woman's face. Logan unclipping himself out of his seat ...
A vice-like grip grabbed around her wrist, head snapping around to find herself faced with a pair of very fierce, ultimately very frightened wild eyes - like a caged animal fighting to escape, the woman lifted her head and shoulders, struggling to rise. Gobsmacked, Rogue froze for a second. Gently, she uncurled her fingers on the hand the woman had held tight in her grasp, and placed them on the side of her face, moving as slowly as possible, seeing her flinch, pupils dilate from sheer agression to pure terror as she shrunk away.
Fight or flight.
Marie simply stared straight back at her, locking her eyes with her own, holding her hand in place gently and stroking soothingly with her thumb
"...Sssshh ... it's alright ... your safe now ... sssshh ..."
Her heart thudding loudly in her ears, Rogue gently co-erced the woman to lie back, dark brown eyes never leaving the strangers pale luminous blue/grey orbs - so pale they were almost almost white. Seeing the light in her eyes starting to fade, Marie gently released her wrist from her grip and instead curled her fingers around the strangers cool palm, holding her hand in a gentle clasp. Seeing her eyelids flicker, Marie quietly added, stroking her hair away from her brow
" ... its alright. Go ta sleep. Ah'm right here an' Ah wont leave ya'...Ssshhh ..."
The strangers eyes slid shut. In shock, Rogue almost jumped when a strong hand dropped on her shoulder. Looking up, she found Logan smiling gently down upon her - something she saw him rarely do when they werent on ther own.
" Way to go, 'kid. " he patted her, proudly and gave her a wink. " 'Way to go"
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"So what exactly do you think we're dealing with, Professor ?"
They'd all descended on the viewing bay in the corridor outside the medlab, Xavier included. Quietly he watched Hank negotiate his way around the newcomer and Rogue, who'd insisted on not letting go of her, even though it made Hank's job more labourious.
" Ah made a promise Ah wouldny leave her. So Ah'm not" she'd stated hotly, when asked to leave. Didnt help McCoy's argument any when Logan had jumped in an added that she had a point. So, they'd found themselves all retreating to the corridor. Answering Storm's question, Xavier pondered
"At the moment, we can't afford to make any assumptions. From what we've seen so far, someone has went to a great deal of trouble to not only find this mutant before anyone else does, but the sheer level of security you mentioned makes me wonder why they desired to keep her contained in the first place. For what purpose?" the professor raised an eyebrow "that is question that is greatly disturbing me. But I must say, it does raise some questions as to the nature of her mutation, and what their purpose was in keeping her against her wishes. It may be, that someone considered her to be a valuable asset they may not like having removed from them." Xavier sighed then, sounding troubled "But at this stage, those are questions that cannot be answered without further investigation. And I fear, she will be of little help"
"Whaddya mean?"
Xavier shook his head at the Wolverine's angry tone, seeing the thought process behind it even without the use of his gift - The man was born suspicious. "Logan, I'll think you'll find she'd be the first to want to know what's happened to her. However, her current mental state prohibits this from being a viable option we can take"
" Ya wanna just spit that out in plain english, bub ?"
Not for the first time, Xavier was finding the man trying to his patience. Turning away from the viewport to look at them directly, he brought his chair to a stop just inches infront of the brash canadian, who simply looked at him with his typical look of disgruntled annoyance.
"Then I will say this plainly Logan, so there is no more room for any misunderstandings. I dont know how, and I dont know why; But what I do know Logan is that young woman's mind has been wiped clean as a slate. There's nothing there. Its as if she's never previously exsisted. "
The look of shock and then something unreadable filtered over Logan's face, Xavier simply nodded as comprehension slowly dawned on the man, all eyes switching from the girl, to Logan and back again.
"Yes, there are certain similaritites ; it would be ridiculously foolish for us to simply ignore them. But ever since the revelations of Stryker's underground experimentations at the expense of the military, we've been - as both an organisation and as people - on relatively stable terms with the government, thanks to Hank, even if many still in office still fear and dispise us. What worries me, is the amount of apparent militarised involvement in this situation. It worries me what wheels are now turning against us."
Logan crossed his arms and scowled, eyes narrowed. Looking through the window, away from Xavier, he spat. " I think yer barkin' up the wrong tree there Chuck. Militarised involvement ? yeah but not Military involvement. That wasnt the Army out there tonight. "
Storm stepped forward, hands moving in emphasis as she spoke " Look. I saw them with my own eyes ... those were armed soldiers out there"
Swinging round to face them, Logan knotted his shoulders and clenched his fists, snarling " Soldiers? Soldiers? oh yeah, 'Ro they were Soldiers. Just cause they were human an' dressed in this country's BDU's, had big guns and drove around in plain ol' green trucks ... dunno bout you, hun', but I sure as fuck didnt see anyone wearing a fucking insignia I recognised, did you? and it wasnt like their was a shortage"
Pulling himself upto his full height, he seemed to dominate the hallway, seeming to be bearing down on her without moving a muscle "I mean, lets take a good fucking look at this, shall we ? 'cause I know sure as hell, those guys werent pissing around like your run-of-the-mill-I-jus-fell-off-the-farm inept soldier - or werent you paying attention? That was a fair display of hardware out there tonight, hunny, An' I dont just mean the guns you're so afraid of that they all looked so fond of totin'. "
Logan swung his head round, making eye contact with the professor, an snorted.
"No, Chuck, that wasn't the military out there tonight. That was private contractors. Shoulda' looked at they way they moved - they were fuckin good, too, which is a problem in itself because it means their services ain't cheap. Somebody's out there has built themselves their own private fuckin' army an' they sure ain't spared no expense. If she's in trouble" he thumbed over his shoulder, in the direction of the window "them she's in trouble big."
The Wolverine eyed him levelly "You sure you're ready to take that on ?"
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see,told ya it'd be a quick update :)
