Authors Note:
To Cheyy: You must have really liked the last chapter. Wow...lol
To Silverstarsofquebec: I'm more than happy to address the lack of Sam-lovin'. Considering that Sam is an incredibly powerful mutant, *coughs* External *coughs*, and the future leader of the New Mutants I don't know why he doesn't get more loving. Especially when Dani was tossed into the series towards the end. There's so much stuff you can make happen just between Dani and Sam that it's ridiculous. Hmm...perhaps I should address that too. It's not a story about Sam if he doesn't end up getting slugged by Dani at some point.
FYI:
I do not own the X-Men. I do own Allison and the rights to do some incredibly horrible things to her at at times. Buah haha!
Chapter 9: In Need Of A Hero
Allison spent the afternoon learning to surf and found that she was actually pretty decent at it considering that she'd never tried anything like it before. Granted, the waves at the bay were pretty calm and were barely enough to carry a surfer in to shore. Still, most of the guys could not be dissuaded from at least a few runs while the girls scoffed them and laid on the shore and tanned. Eventually, a game of beach volleyball was picked up and some of the guys drifted away to join the game since a few of the bikini clad girls were actively diving and chasing the ball.
Although the afternoon was starting to get late, she didn't feel ready to give up this new found sport as Allison took her surfboard back out into the water again. After a while of paddling, she heard laughter behind her and turned to see that Sam and Bobby were following her out. The caught up to her and they waited in the water that was becoming a little more choppy for a decent wave to come in.
Allison took her board back out on the water, and it wasn't until she was a couple dozen yards from shore that she heard laughter behind her. She glanced back to see Sam and Bobby following her out for one last wave themselves and she slowed down until they'd caught up. Together they finished paddling out and waited for the perfect wave. Allison laid on her back, gazing up at the clouds as she sighed contentedly. "This has been the most absolute perfect afternoon."
"This is nothing," Bobby said. "Living at the institute is like staying at summer camp year round. We're always doing something."
"Logan's even promised ta take us camping sometime this fall. Granted, Ah don' know if Ah should be scared or not of bein' left alone in the woods with him."
Bobby and Allison laughed at Sam's joke and then straightened up as they became aware of a wave coming in. The trio rode the wave in to shore but instead of coming back to the beach where everyone was playing volleyball, they were taken into a nearby rocky cove. They picked their way over the algae covered rocks and slowly made their way back to their group. Allison paused as she studied the cliff that rose up over them. The rock face was relatively sheer, much like the rest of the beach front in and around the Bayville area. But as her eyes traveled over the granite, she spotted a cave cut into the base of the cliff. "Hey check it out," she said pointing as she climbed down over the rocks onto sand and crossed towards the opening.
Bobby raced ahead, planting his board easily into the sand and disappeared into the dark opening as Allison and Sam propped their boards up against the cliff and followed him inside. "Ah didn' even know there were caves out here," Sam commented as he followed Bobby up onto a flat, solid rock ledge that was several feet in from the cave mouth.
Allison hung back at the opening and looked around at the half buried stalagmites that rose up out of the sand bottom. "You coming?" Bobby asked when he looked back and noticed her hesitation to follow.
"Either of you got a light?" she said answering his question with one of her own. Both boys shook their head in the negative and Allison tentatively made her way up onto the ledge. "Well, then I guess this should prove interesting."
The cave rose up a slight incline and bent so that it ran parallel to the beach outside. As they went their eyes began to adjust to the darkness, but Bobby also continuously iced one of the walls in order to bounce and reflect the light as much as they could into the depths of the cave. The back of the cave opened up into a large room and Bobby slowly made his way around the room, icing the wall as he went until he was standing once again in front of Sam and Allison. "Guess that's it," Bobby said disappointed.
"What were you hoping for? Pirate treasure?" Allison teased as she leaned back against a stalagmite and grinned, her expression looking spookier in the dim lighting. She let her eyes travel around the room, taking in its size and tilted her head thoughtfully. "I bet we're just on the other side of that wall from Kitty and Amara working on their tans," she said smirking.
"Speakin' of which, we should head back," Sam suggested as he reached up and offered Allison a hand. She accepted it and gingerly stepped down from her perch, being careful not to lose her balance as Bobby passed nearby.
As they walked back to the cave entrance, it did not seem to get any lighter, but rather started to get darker and darker. Their pace quickened assuming that they had been in there so long the sun was setting and finally each step splashed as water ran up over their toes. "What in the world?" Bobby exclaimed as he ran forward, his steps splashing loudly in the echoing cave.
"The tide came in," Allison said quietly as she froze and Sam instinctively reached out and took a hold of her arm as the cave continued to get darker. Already, they could barely make out Bobby's silhouette ahead of them.
"How much further was it ta the mouth of the cave?" Sam asked as the water washed up to his ankles.
"Too far," she answered stepping away from his grip slightly and further into the water. "Even if we could make the swim, once we were outside, the tide would toss us onto the rocks." She closed her eyes and focused on the expanse of water between them and cave opening. She swept her arms forward and the water washed back over their feet and left them standing temporarily on dry ground. But they heard it crash against the far wall of the cave and it came sweeping right back. "Unfortunately, I'm not strong enough to go up against the ocean," Allison said as she backpedaled away from the sweeping water.
Sam managed to catch her by the arm again and pulled her up against his chest to stop her retreat as he turned his attention to Bobby's slowly approaching silhouette. "Ev'rybody outta the water. Bobby, dam it up—thick."
Bobby turned and began to freeze over the surface of the water. Unfortunately, it left them in darkness and Sam silently cursed under his breath as he lost sight of Bobby. He rearranged Allison to stand behind him as he reached out blindly into the darkness and felt for Bobby. "Now what?" Bobby asked and his voice echoed making it sound like it was coming from everywhere.
Sam finally managed to place a hand on Bobby's shoulder, after first planting it squarely in the middle of Bobby's face. "We head ta that back room. If Al's right, Ah might be able to bust us out."
It was slow work picking their way through the cave as Sam kept himself as a physical barrier between the other two teens. At one point, when Allison stumbled, he instinctually scooped her up in his arms and carried her as he carefully kept placing one bare foot in front of the other.
She said nothing but looked up at his dark shadow of a face and could make out nothing of his features or what he might have been thinking. She wasn't used to such chivalry all the time. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gently shifted her weight into a more comfortable position. Her cheek ended up pressed against his warm shoulder and she had no desire to move further.
Eventually, he set her down to sit on a rock and gave her a smile that she could barely make out if it wouldn't have been for his teeth. He then stepped back and she was alone in the darkness unable to make out either Sam or Bobby in the black shadows. She hugged herself against the cold and damp, beginning to regret not having anything more to wear.
Finally a second figure entered her small perimeter of vision and hesitated keeping its distance. "You okay?" Bobby asked.
"A little chilled," she answered rubbing her arms.
"Don't worry. Sam'll have us out of here in a few moments. You'll see."
The cave seemed to shudder as there was the sound of ice cracking and breaking as well as rocks crumbling and falling from the ceiling of the cave. Allison and Bobby both held their arms up over their heads protectively against the falling debris. A second time they could hear Sam collide against the wall which resulted in larger debris starting to fall down. There was a groan that immediately followed this shudder of the cave and Allison leapt to her feet and scrambled over the rocks towards the direction of the sound. "Sam! Are you alright? Answer me!"
"Come on buddy. Say something. Let us know where you are," Bobby called out.
"O'er here," came the groaning reply and Allison quickly redirected herself towards the sound of Sam's voice. She slipped and slid over the rocks, turning her ankle but kept moving until she fell flat on her face after tripping over Sam's long legs. She blinked looking up to find herself lying on his chest and staring directly into his heavily shadowed face. His hands found her shoulders and gently pushed her up as he sat up as well.
"You alright, Hardhead?" Bobby asked.
"Ah'll be fine as soon as Ah get through that wall," Sam replied.
"You're not fine," Allison scolded as she ran her hand over his forehead and it came back sticky. "You're bleeding."
"Head wounds bleed a lot," he muttered trying to get back to his feet.
"Who are you trying to impress?" Bobby snorted. "You're not Wolverine so sit back down."
"He's right," Allison said standing up and heading back towards the wall he'd been pounding away at. "If we end up trapped, the last thing we need is for one of us to be seriously injured." She was running her hand over the rock surface and paused when she was able to barely make out air flow. "Bobby, come here," she said turning to look for Bobby's approaching silhouette.
He came directly at her but stopped just a foot shy. "What?" he asked narrowing his eyes and trying to see better in the darkness.
"Sam managed to crack the wall. I'm gonna melt into the crack and then I want you to freeze it over."
"No way. What was that speech you just gave about someone being injured while we're stuck? Remember, you don't handle cold very well, or have you already forgotten?"
"Water expands when it's frozen. It should be enough force to break open the wall," she argued.
"Ya ain't doin' it, Al. What if it don' break an' then yo' trapped?"
"If it doesn't break, then we're all trapped until the tide goes out tomorrow. By then, you'll have bled out."
"Damn it, Al," Sam growled pushing himself up to stand again but Bobby caught him by the shoulder and pushed him to sit. Bobby worked quickly to build a dome over the two of them to protect them from any further falling rocks and then he made an exaggerated nod of the head to Allison. They watched in the poor lighting as Allison climbed part way up the wall and touched a hand to the crack and then she disappeared. Bobby gave her until the count of ten before he started to ice the wall heavily.
Sam sat and pressed a hand to his forehead, feeling the blood running down his forearm and he watched as the wall sparkled with what little light there was in the cave and then there was a thunderous crack as the wall split open. Bobby's dome was immediately under bombardment and it sounded like they were sitting directly underneath at least a dozen mortars. Sam looked up finally to see that, well, that he could actually see again and he squinted against the sunlight pouring into the cave at them. His vision was heavily discolored red as blood was seeping into his one eye and he scrambled to his feet before Bobby could stop him.
Sam began to dig through the pile of rocks that had once been the only thing standing between them and sunlight and freedom. He was completely oblivious of the fact that Bobby was almost immediately at his side digging as well nearly as frantic to find Allison amongst the rubble. Sam was so afraid that all they'd find would be shards of ice.
"What happened?" "You're bleeding!" "Where's Allison?"
Sam pushed aside a rock and saw a blue tinged hand and shouted incoherently at first before Bobby turned to see as well. "She's here!" Bobby shouted as he joined Sam's effort to quickly remove the rocks in order to reveal more of Allison until they were looking down at her pale blue face. Sam reached down to feel for a pulse on her neck and jerked back. It was worse than touching a flag pole in winter.
"She's totally frozen," Kitty murmured from over Sam's shoulder. Kitty then grabbed Piotr and phased the two of them through the rocks so that he could lift Allison's frozen body up and free. The Russian shivered as he set Allison back down again and stepped back quickly to rub his hands together.
Sam's head swiveled around and spotted Amara who was hovering near the back of the group chewing on her fingernails nervously. "Amara, ya gotta help her. Please," Sam begged as he scrambled back to his feet but was caught by Scott who yanked the younger boy to a stop before he could reach the pack of girls.
"Jean, take her back to the institute," Scott directed and Jean immediately went into action lifting Allison's body effortlessly down the beach and towards the waiting vehicles. Most of the students scrambled to follow as Scott wrestled to keep Sam still for a moment. "She'll be okay," Scott promised. "She's tough."
"It's mah fault," Sam said furrowing his brow as he watched everyone else leave.
"Looks to me like you gave it one hell of a try yourself," Scott noted as his brow wrinkled with concern at the amount of blood that seemed to be coming from Sam's forehead.
Sam just wiped away the fresh blood that was attempting to run into his eye and Kurt appeared at his elbow holding a towel. "Here," Kurt said holding it up and Sam accepted the towel dumbly before getting Kurt's help to wad it up and apply pressure to his own wound. With a blink, Kurt had teleported them into the back of Allison's truck bed and Sam was gazing down at her frozen form as Kurt disappeared with another 'Bamf!' to reappear in the front passenger seat of the truck as Jean began to drive back to the institute. Sam just held onto the side of the bed for dear life but couldn't take his eyes off Allison's pale blue form.
"You're like still down here?" Kitty asked as she leaned in through the doorway of the med bay. Sam lifted his head and gave her a weary eyed look. "It's been two days and you seriously look like you need some sleep."
"Ah'm fine," he sighed leaning back in his chair before running his hands through his hair, shaking out the long strands that were clumping and oily from not taking a shower.
"At least eat something," Kitty suggested and then as an after thought, "and clean up. You can't blame yourself for what happened."
"Sure Ah can. If Ah would have kept tryin' or somethin', she wouldn' be like this." He turned to look back down at Allison's still form that was hooked up to various pieces of equipment that were monitoring her brain function, heart rate, breathing, and temperature. Everything had been slowed due to her frozen state. It seemed more like she was trying to come back from a coma rather than a deep sleep.
"That's silly. She volunteered."
Sam just shook his head at Kitty's ignorance of what had happened in the cave. "Have ya seen Bobby?"
"I passed him on my way down here. I thought he just visited." Sam shook his head in the negative and Kitty shrugged her shoulders. "Well, try to get some sleep. Because no offense, you look horrible."
"Gee thanks." Kitty smiled as she waved and exited and Sam sat back in his chair again and listened to the slow beeping of the equipment. He ran his hand through his hair again as he tried to fight off the sleep that was quickly starting to win the war. He allowed himself to lean forward until his head was resting on his arm on the edge of the bed and smiled softly as he reached over and gripped her hand. He gave it a gentle squeeze before allowing his eyes to close and sleep to come.
"She truly is an amazing girl," Emma noted as she looked through the window into the medbay.
Charles frowned up at her sensing that she was not being entirely honest about her opinion. "I agree," he said slowly, "She's a very caring person and has an extraordinary capability of putting others before herself."
"Do you think it's possible..." Emma started to say before hesitating, acting as if she was looking for the right words while all along Charles knew where she was starting to go with this. "Her ability to heal, for self preservation, it's uncanny, even amongst mutants."
"Do I think she's an External? No," he stated flatly as he started to wheel himself away from the room and she followed him. "I simply believe that her mutant abilities give her certain defensive capabilities."
"You heard what Bobby said. She was in her water form filling a crack when he froze her. Yet when the students found her in the rubble, she was whole. There is something more to it than just her mutant abilities, Charles."
"Emma, every External that we have encountered has been at least a hundred years old."
"They all had to be young once, Charles, you know that. Who's to say she isn't the External of this generation?"
"And what if she is? What difference does it make? She is still a child trying to gain understanding of her abilities. Filling her head with nonsense about immortality will only do her more harm than good. I highly recommend that you let this drop, Emma, and never speak of it again." Xavier turned and wheeled himself away down the hall leaving Emma by herself at the window. She allowed herself to muse as she watched Sam sleeping at Allison's side. An External at the institute could either be a very good thing or a very bad thing. It all depended on who knew about it.
Allison fought waking up. She kept her eyes squeezed shut against the bright white light that threatened to burn through her eyelids and tried to ignore the insistent beeping that reminded her far too much of her alarm clock. She shifted trying to roll over onto her side and found the movement to be somewhat restricted. Finally she opened her eyes so that she could reach down to untangle the blankets and was surprised to find Sam asleep. he was sitting in a chair next to the bed and fallen asleep with his head resting near her hip as he held her hand so loosely that she hadn't even felt it.
The more awake she became, the more aware she became that this wasn't her bedroom and that wasn't her alarm clock going off to tell her it was time for training. She closed her eyes again trying to remember how she'd gotten to the medical bay but drew a blank after going to the beach. Her eyes snapped back open as she gazed down at the top of Sam's head. They'd been trapped inside the cave.
She shifted, rolling onto her side and reached over to brush her fingers through his hair and pushed the long blonde strands back from his forehead to reveal a butterfly bandage and the faint scars of several stitches that had been removed. She let out a soft sigh grateful that he was okay.
The grip on her hand tightened as he lifted his head and blinked at her wearily before a huge smile took over his face. "Yo' okay."
"Yeah. I'm fine. I'm feeling a little out of it though since apparently getting frozen results in blackouts. But otherwise, I'm fine." She reached up and gently touched the bandage over his brow and he winced a little. "I thought you were invulnerable when you were doing your thing," she teased.
"Ah am. However, fallin' on a bunch of sharp rocks after a quick stop, not so much." He gave a little shrug but was still smiling to see that she was slowly pushing herself up to sit in the bed.
She laughed lightly at his joke and allowed her hand to drop back into her lap. "So, do you make it a habit to watch girls sleep? Or is this a new thing for you?"
He hesitated and glanced down while scratching the back of his head for a moment. "Ah guess 's a new thing. Jus' seemed like someone should be here when ya woke up."
"Exactly how long have I been asleep?" she asked.
He looked back up and licked his lips before answering and Allison knew right away she wouldn't like the answer. "Two days."
She sat up sharply and could feel some of the wires connected to her body strain against the movement. "What?"
Sam cringed a tiny bit at her reaction and gave her a sheepish look. "Ah'm sorry. Beast's been tryin' electric blankets an jus' 'bout ev'rythin' else ta get yo' temperature back up. Unfortunately, it was a lot worse than the last time when it happened durin' the trainin' session."
Allison leaned back against her pillows and sighed. She turned her head away from Sam in order to look at the monitoring equipment for herself and noted that her core body temperature was still only in the very low nineties. Far enough below normal to be of concern. She let a puff of air out over her lips and propped herself back up on her elbows. "So that means it's Monday, right?" He nodded and she sighed again. "So we've got practice today. Well, I'm not staying in this bed a moment longer."
"Ah really don' think ya should leave yet," Sam protested. "McCoy's gonna wanna see ya now that yo' awake."
"Well, what time is it?"
Sam consulted his watch. "Jus' before nine."
Then he can see me at breakfast," she said tossing aside the blankets and immediately a shiver shot up through her body. She was wearing nothing more than a flimsy hospital gown and her eyes darted all over for something to throw on over top. Sam stood up and watched her curiously for a moment before picking up his jacket that had been thrown over the back of his chair and wrapped it around her shoulders. She looked up at him gratefully and smiled. "You gonna help me with this jail break?"
He nodded in the affirmative and stepped back and watched as she threw her legs out over the edge of the bed and stood up shakily. He quickly wrapped an arm around her shoulders and helped to support her weight as she got used to walking again. By the time they'd reached the elevator, she was much more sturdy but he still didn't relinquish his hold on her.
They exited the elevator on the dorms floor and cut down the hall to her bedroom. She flashed him a quick smile before shutting the door behind her and leaving him to stand alone in the hallway. He tapped his foot and contemplated changing clothes for himself. he took off at a run and Bobby looked up startled when Sam came crashing into the room. Sam didn't even take time for a hello as he dug through his dresser for a change of clothes and then ducked into the bathroom. Looking into the mirror, he cringed and then put his head in the sink as he let the water run through his hair. He stood up straight again and contemplated the various hair gels and products that Bobby kept and frowned. "What the hell, man? You look like you've got thirty seconds or less for a date. What gives?"
Sam was startled out of his thoughts as he looked back at Bobby and shook his head. "Not a date," he corrected his friend. "Al jus' woke up an' Ah didn' want ta keep her waitin'."
"She's okay then?" Bobby asked looking more than a little relieved.
"Yeah. Ah think she's still a li'l chilled, but she's gonna be okay. She's gettin' dressed an' goin' ta breakfast."
"She's a little crazy," Bobby joked as he crossed his arms over his chest and then noticed Sam's dripping hair. "Try that one," he said indicating a black jar with purple lettering.
Sam smiled gratefully as he opened the container and then contemplated the amount to actually use. Finally he stuck his hand in and began running his fingers through the long hair. When he was done all he could think was that it just looked different from his normal, but it was certainly better than it had looked five minutes ago. He was almost back out the door again when Bobby sprayed him with something and he sneezed. "What was that?"
"For the smell. I bet you're really regretting not taking a shower right about now," Bobby said with a smirk.
Sam just wrinkled up his nose at the smell of the cologne he'd been hit with and ran back down the hall to see that Allison was just leaving her own bedroom dressed in a pair of jeans and a hoodie.
She handed Sam his denim jacket back with a smile and buried her hands into the deep front pocket as she did her best to hide a shiver. "I like what you did with your hair," she commented, cocking her head at an angle to better view the changed style.
"Really?" he asked raising an eyebrow in suspicion as he slipped his jacket back on.
"Well, it'd probably look better if your hair was a tiny bit shorter. But not too short," she warned as she reached up to finger his hair a little by his ear. "I like longer hair on guys."
They walked in comfortable silence down to the kitchen and the usual dull roar of noise fell quiet as they entered. It just as quickly restarted as their was a scraping of chairs as everyone got up to greet Allison and give her hugs and immediately plates piled with food were placed in front of two seats as she and Sam were ushered to sit.
"Eat," Kitty commanded before giving Sam a hard look. "You must be starved. Especially you, Sam."
Allison glanced at Sam for an explanation and he had already lowered his gaze onto his eggs which he was quietly making a dent into. "Thanks, Kitty," Allison said as she took a bite of her bacon. "But did I miss something? Why the concern for Sam too?" She glanced sideways at him again wondering if there'd been more to the cut on his forehead than she'd originally thought.
"Well, Sam has been on a hunger strike while he sat at your side this entire time. None of us could convince him to leave, not even to eat or anything."
Allison hid her smirk by taking a bite of toast and cast another glance at Sam. That would certainly explain his disappearance and return smelling faintly of cologne and wearing hair gel for the first time since she'd met him. It would also explain why he'd already managed to clean his plate and looked to be contemplating seconds already. "Well, then I guess it's a good thing I wasn't asleep much longer or poor Sam here would have entirely withered away," Allison teased.
"I know!" Kitty agreed. "He's already so tall and lanky."
Sam blushed at the comment about his build but said or did nothing in his own defense. Allison just smiled at the tint in his cheeks.
"Glad you're okay, Luv," Betsy said as she took the seat across from Allison and smiled at her roommate.
"That makes for at least ten of us, I believe," Allison said laughing.
"Make that eleven," Bobby said as he sat down next to Betsy. "I'd give you a hug, but I don't want to send you right back when you just got out." He looked over at Sam and caught his eye long enough to wink. Sam just shook his head but didn't leave Bobby hanging when he held up his hand for a fist bump.
"I appreciate that," Allison said grinning as she continued to eat her breakfast. It felt good to be out of the med bay and getting back to normal. A heavy hand fell on her shoulder and Allison looked up to see that it was blue and fuzzy. "Hey, Doc."
"Hello, Allison. How are you feeling?"
"Pretty good, actually."
"Do you recall what your temperature was before you left?" he asked raising an eyebrow as he scrutinized her face.
"Ninety-five," she instinctively lied. McCoy glanced to Sam for confirmation and he nodded in agreement. "I know it's still a little low, but I really do feel fine," Allison said giving him a pleading look. "Please, please, please don't make me go back down."
McCoy just smiled and gave her a trying look. He was starting to get used to the students balking at medical treatment. They all felt they were invincible. "Alright. Just promise me that you'll take it easy today." She smiled brilliantly and nodded eagerly in response.