House limped his way into the room, the clink of his cane against the tile startling the young woman curled in the chair the hospital room had been furnished with. She watched from her position, eyes locked on House as he moved across the room to stand beside of the patient's bed. Gregory House wasn't a man of compassion like Wilson and Chase, he'd be the first to tell you of that, but as he looked over the young man in the bed, something stirred inside of him. Something similar to longing, or maybe regret. He couldn't be sure.
"Ahh, the young man with the shocking personality. No improvement by the looks of things. But you just got here, give it time, we'll set you straight." House commented in his usual snarky tone. "Cuddy must like you; she's got a specialist on the way."
Marie untangled her limbs, groaning softly as various parts of her body popped. "Why do you need a specialist? It was simple a cat attack." She demanded.
"That's does seem a bit much, doesn't it? Well, then since the he'll be here anyways, we'll have the nice specialist have a look at Grease Lightning's very interesting body make up. See if he can't do something about that pesky condition."
"What condition," Marie narrowed her eyes at the doctor, who paid the girl's look no mind.
"Oh, nothing serious, he's just got an extra strand or two in his genes." House statement in a dismissive tone then portrayed a shocked look on his face, hand cover his mouth. "Golly gee, you didn't know, did you? Ooops." He wobbled his way out of the room as Marie seethed inwardly, fists clenched and jaw tight.
"He's not sick, you quack," she hissed after House's retreating form.
Raven Darkholm, formerly known as Mystique, watched the exchange nearby in her 'real form', what she now looked like since being 'cured.' She had been studying articles and reports about a 'specialist' for nearly six months. A man with no name, a doctor of sorts really, who only worked on 'Martin' cases. Raven knew he was behind the numerous disappearances of mutants across the states. And now after weeks of planning and laying the trap, he was coming here, to meet his end. She smiled devilishly as the image of Victor ripping the pathetic human limb from limb entered her mind. But first, she had to make sure the x-kids were safely kept somewhere else. She wasn't going to let Xavier and her children get caught up in the aftermath. This was going to be it for the ex-shape shifter. The finale after all her years of fighting for mutant liberation.
Raven straightened the shirt she had taken from uniform room, pulling the wrinkles out and wiggling a bit. She was still getting used to having to wear 'real' clothes. They just didn't seem to fit her just right like all of her 'morphed' outfits did. She wasn't a vain person, or picky, Raven just liked to be able to move about comfortably.
She jerked on the strings around her medical sweats with a slight huff, the-one-size-fits-most waist line barely catching on her hips. House cast an uninterested look towards her as he hobbled by and she fought back the urge to knock his teeth in.
Instead, she moved across the hall, entering Ray's room quietly.
"You come back with more imaginary diseases you think he's got?" Marie hissed out, not looking up from Ray's sleeping form.
Raven shook her head, "I'm here to help you."
Marie whirled around at the sound of her voice, eyes widening with shock one instant then narrowing with rage in the next. She turned away from the older woman, dismissing her but Raven would have nothing of it.
"Marie, there's a specialist on his way, he's going to-"
"Cure Ray, yeh I know."
"He'll do more than just that, I'm afraid." Raven crossed to the bed, flipping through Ray's medical notes, waiting for the realization to settle into the teen.
"If they've gotten a hold of your blood, they'll test it too. And when they find out your secret, young Berserker here won't be the one stripped of his mutation."
Marie was stone still. There's no way the woman was speaking the truth. The cure may still be out of the streets, but no respectable hospital would dare administer it, certainly without the patients' permission. Then again, the government did attack a school of mutants to obtain 'test subjects', force injects wouldn't be too far of a stretch.
"What do you get out of this?" She wasn't an idiot. Marie knew Raven worked and gave advice for a price.
"The specialist." The Institute graduate cast her glance onto the once blue-toned woman. She may not have the yellow slits for eyes, or the ocean colored skin, but she was still the same person the X-Men had fought against at Liberty Island, and although she could no longer alter her image with a thought, she wasn't any less dangerous. Raven bore the look of weariness, too many sleepless nights and long days. She carried the history of a hard life in her eyes, in her stance, but she was still kicking and fighting for survival like so many others.
"What are you doing in here?" Raven and Marie both turned to see the angered face of Cuddy standing in the doorway. "I asked you a question."
Marie noticed the glint in Raven's eyes heighten and decided to intercede before this new arrival ended up black and, well, blue. "She was looking for Dr. House." Cuddy barely glanced at Marie when she spoke, and instead pointed to the door, indicating for Raven to leave.
"Well, clearly he isn't here. You ought to try the clinic, where he's scheduled to be at. Of course you would know this if you looked at the board before wandering into patients' rooms when they're clearing in no condition for such rude intrusions."
Marie looked to Raven and with a slight nod of her head, all was told. Were they telepaths, the thought Good luck would be exchanged. Instead they settled for a look that said at that needed to be said. Raven nodded her compliance to Cuddy and left the room without a word, readying for the next stage of the plan. She had some calls to make and a few favors to cash in.