Warning: Some strong language.

Chapter 14

Eli was sitting in the mansion's library researching the anatomical structure of humans and mutants when she felt it. It was strange, feeling Storm's emotions in the static in the air. Something must have been bothering her.

"Miss Eli, Hank McCoy has arrived at the mansion. He is in one of the meeting rooms on the first floor." said Jarvette. Eli was on her feet and running through the mansion the next second. She whizzed past Logan.

"Hank!" Eli said as Hank shook the professor's hand. Hank easily took the girl's weight as she hugged him. "It's been too long!"

"Eli, you seemed to have gotten shorter," Hank mused. It was true, now that Eli couldn't use Mystique's abilities she was at her natural five foot even height.

"A lot has been happening with the inhibitor and all. What brings you all the way out here? Last I checked you were in D.C." said Eli with a smile. Hank turned a little somber.

"I have news," he said.

"Is it Eric?" asked the professor. Eli realized that, for the first time in her life, she could sympathize with the professor.

"No. Though we have been making some progress on that front." Hank glanced at Eli for a moment before he looked at Storm. "Mystique was recently apprehended." Eli looked down and shook away any thoughts of a rescue. The last thing that Eli needed was to add breaking and freeing prisoners from federal prison. Even if that would be an awesome story to tell later.

"Who's the furball?" asked Logan's voice from the door.

"Hank McCoy, Secretary of Mutant Affairs." said the blue man calmly.

"Right, right. The secretary. Nice suit." Logan said sarcastically. Eli couldn't help but snort. The professor cut Eli off before she could say anything rude. The brunette pouted.

"Henry, this is Logan. He's, uh-"

"Wolverine." Eli put a hand over her mouth to hide her smile; Hank had obviously heard of Logan before. "I hear you're quite an animal."

"Look who's talking," was Logan's reply. Eli smiled like a little kid in the background. Storm shot a glare at her. It was a clear warning for Eli to not make this a big deal. Eli's brow twitched in agitation. No one seemed to trust her these days; not that she could blame them, but it was still annoying.

"You know Magneto's gonna come get Mystique, right?" said Storm when she saw Hank's annoyed look.

"Magneto's not the problem. At least not our most pressing one." said Hank with a glance at the only copy-cat mutant in the room. Eli shifted on her heels as she processed that. "A major pharmaceutical company has developed a mutant antibody- a way to suppress the mutant 'X' gene."

"Excuse me?" said Eli angrily.

"Suppress?" asked Logan.

"Permanently. They're calling it a cure." Hank's tone was solemn.

"Are you fucking kidding me!" Eli was seeing red, as everyone exchanged looks..

"Well, that's ridiculous. You can't cure being a mutant." said Storm fiercely. Eli couldn't help but agree.

"Well, scientifically speaking-"

"Don't give me that bullshit!" Eli interrupted him. "I have spent the past four years researching ways to inhibit the 'X' gene, and I still haven't found a way to do it. Who ever told you this is a fucking liar!"

"Eli-" the professor tried to stop the girl from talking, but Storm interrupted him.

"Since when did we become a disease? How can anybody in their right-"

"Storm," the professor said quietly. "They're announcing it now."

Eli watched the televised announcement of the cure with anger and frustration. A disruption of healthy cellular activity her ass! In the past year alone, the world has learned about aliens and found out that some ancient legends were true! Why was it so hard to except the fact that a new species was emerging into the world. Worthington Labs could go suck a dick!

"This is complete and utter bullshit," said Eli with spite.

"Eli, if you swear again, I will make you throw all of your dresses into the fountain." the professor threatened. Eli wasn't sure if he was bluffing or not, but she did her best to keep her mouth shut.

"Who would want this cure? I mean, what kind of coward would take it just to fit in?" Storm was ranting.

"Is it cowardice to save oneself from persecution? Not all of us can fit in so easily. You don't shed on the furniture." Hank said with enthusiasm. His life, nor Mystique's, had been easy.

"Well, for all we know, the government helped cook this up." Logan was quick to point fingers at the high power in the country. Based on past experiences, it wouldn't have been too far from the truth but…

"I don't think so. I occasionally hack all government data bases looking for things like this, and unless they've managed to track my movements they don't have the technology to do this. In fact, I'm the only person in the world who has even made any noteworthy head-way in this kind of research…" Eli trailed off into her own thoughts.

"I assure you the government had nothing to do with this," Hank griped at Logan. Storm shared a look with the professor.

"Well, I've heard that before," said Logan, and Eli laughed a little.

"My boy, I have been fighting for mutant rights since before you had claws," Hank was really starting to get irritated.

"Did he just call me 'boy'?" Eli couldn't tell if Logan was shocked or amused by Hank's statement. Rogue bound into the room.

"Is it true? They can cure us?" she said with hope. Eli rolled her eyes and turned away. Now that her work meant nothing. Four years down the drain.

"Yes, Rogue. It appears to be true." said the professor with a calm voice, but Eli knew that his heart was heavy.

"No, Professor. They can't cure us." Storm said with confidence and determination. Eli looked at the woman with admiration. Storm stood in front of Rogue. "You want to know why? Because there's nothin' to cure. Nothing's wrong with you. Or any of us, for that matter."

Eli looked at Storm and then to Rogue. The last thing that asshole should have called his knock off was a cure. Rogue nodded and left the room; no doubt to think over what she wanted to do. Eli wouldn't blame her if she wanted to take the Worthington Labs inhibitor. Eli had started to experiment with inhibitors just for mutants like Rogue in the first place; a temporary fix though, and certainly not a cure.

"Hank, what was Mystique arrested for?" Eli asked, seemingly out of the blue.

"She stole Worthington Labs documents from the F.D.A." Hank explained.

"Magneto will want to free her and find out what she knows…" Eli gasped and turned to Hank. "It's a mutant, isn't it. The cure is synthesized from a mutant, isn't it."

"Yes, I'm meeting him later today. How did you know?" Hank asked with amazement.

"For the past four years, I have been studying agents that inhibit genes, and the things that cause mutations. I'm probably the world's leading expert in the study. My inhibitor is the first of it's kind, and it's killing me. If Worthington Labs made something similar then it would kill any mutant that would be injected with it, but your office, let alone the F.D.A., would never allow a product like this to be released without thorough prior testing with clear results. The only solution that is possible is that the inhibitor is made from mutant DNA." Eli explained. "This is complete bull shit."

Eli was furiously going through her research notes in the library. Trying to find what she did wrong. Trying to find a way to stop her inhibitor from working. When pain racked her body once again. This time it was more fierce than before. Her limbs felt as though they were on fire and being stabbed by thousands of needles. Her skull felt like it was splitting into two halves. Even her bones ached and throbbed.

Eli heard the echoing of the professor's mind in hers, but was unable to do anything. She heard Jarvette's concerned voice, but was unable to respond. Eli tried to stand, but the girl immediately fell to the ground. Eli felt blood pour out of her nose. Eli's vision tunneled, and the brunette fell unconscious.