Nothing is mine. Not even our lovely Dwarf, .

-

Johann paced the floor, his metal boots clanking with every step he took. Red rolled his eyes pointedly and continued his inquiry about her life."You know, Red," Said Liz a bit jealously. "If you wanted to know so much about her, then you could have just asked Abe to tell you."

Marie cocked her head at Liz. "I'm not after him." She informed the obviously miffed older woman. Liz's eyes opened wide and her jaw dropped nearly to the floor. Marie smirked and leaned against Gimli, making her eyes travel back between Liz and Dwarf. Liz's lips made an 'O' of understanding and grinned.

"Sorry." She said a bit sheepishly. "I love him." She stroked Hellboy's cheek with the back of her hand.

Marie gave her a soft smile and nodded. "I thought as much." She stared longingly beside her at the semi-concious Gimli. He and the others were still under, despite having woken up multiple times. "Will they be okay?" She asked worridly. "They've never slept this long before."

The professor placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "There is nothing to be afraid of, my dear. They are simply exhasted from being away from their own Canons for so long without proper rest."

She glanced over at Snape. It seemed that even he was tired enough not to require the use of a Sleeping Draught, as it was called in his Canon. "Still," She ran her hand lovingly over Gimli's beard, the soft hair tickling her palms. "I won't breathe a sigh of relief until one of them wakes up."

Then they heard it. "WHERE IS MY HAAAAAAAAAAAT!?" Hatter jumped up off the bed, livid. "Tha' slimy, mistcloud took mah 'at!" He bellowed hotly. Sounds came from the other beds in the room as one by one, her friends awakened.

"Son of a mother-fucking, bloody-arsed bitch!" Snarled the Potions Master. "Marie." He then said, his calm, spy persona taking over to mask the depth of the pain. "Is this the kind of headaches you get sometimes when crossing over into another Canon?" She nodded and he gritted his teeth. "I can't hear you bobbing your head. Talk, damnit!"

"Watch your tongue, Severus." Ordered Marie, she smacked him lightly on his chest. "There is now a concious minor in the room. Say all you want around him while he's sleeping, but don't you fudging dare do it when he's awake." She turned away suddenly, just missing Snape's infamous 'Death Glare'. "Speaking of which, I must go attend to said minor. Good day."

"How am I supposed to have good day when I am completely surrounded by dunderheads the whole time?" He griped into the pillow he'd placed over his face.

Marie stopped by Gimli's bed after she had visited Charlie to make sure he was okay. "How are you feeling?" She asked, putting a cool hand to his forehead.

He chuckled, but there was no humor behind it. "Like I decided to ram the side of the Lonely Mountain with my head sans helmet." He grimaced as another wave of sickening pain washed over him. "Is this what it's like?"

"Yeah." She took hold of his hand and held it against her cheek."I wonder why this is the only time you guys have experienced it and why it hits me every single time."

"Perhaps it is a matter of drained energy?" Suggested the Goblin King from a bed nearby. "You are much more vulnerable in the Canons than you are in Reality, so you tire quicker. Therefore, we do not get affected as quickly. However, it is possible that it will take us more time to get over it than you simply because we are so far from our own homes."

"That makes a surprising amount of sense." Said Snape, muffled by his pillow. He held up a hand. "Actually, it makes perfect sense regarding how we are all affected. The only drawback that may prove disasterous is if the Sues have tracked us down and pounce on us in our moment of weakness."

"Stupid Sues." Jack Sparrow said from beneath his tri-corn. It went without saying that they all felt the exact same way. "This is worse than ah 'angover af'er ah long nigh' in Tortuga." He groaned. "And tha's saying somethin', mates."

Marie looked down at Gimli and sighed. "Does anyone here have some wet cloths? We'll be needing them to put over their foreheads." The professor hurried out to get some and came back with a tray full of wringing wet hand-towels. Half were steaming hot, the other half was ice cold. "Cold first." Marie told Red, Johann ,Liz, Abe, and the professor. "Then warm. Five minutes and then we switch." They split up, attending to however many they could, as fast as they could.

Gimli hissed as the cold water drenched his head and came the hot and he nearly jumped out of his skin, but reminded himself he was a stout-hearted Dwarf. He could ride out a simple stress migrain.

And then she started kissing him. First it was just a forehead thing, like she'd done before out of friendly affection, then his cheek, which could also be accepted as a friendly gesture...but the moment she brushed her lips gently as she could over his own, he couldn't pass it off any longer. "Marie?" He croaked, the pain making his voice less than it usually was. He searched her eyes, even though the light hurt him and made him squint.

She smiled and shushed him with a finger."Wait." She pecked him on his nose and then stood up. "When you are feeling more like yourself." She promised before she moved on to Hatter, who was so busy protesting the abscence of his hat to notice that he was in a large amount of physical pain.

"How are we going to treat them all?" Abe's voice was strained, he'd cared for three already for the last thirty minutes and they didn't seem to be getting much better. "Why can't we just use something from-"

"NO!" Roared Snape."If you use medicine from this Canon on a foreign character, then the reaction to the medication could be deadly. We will work with what we have and hope to Circe that those *damned* cretins do not find us." Marie tried to glare, but she was too tired herself to really bring herself to care about his cursing anymore.

"What we need is a safe place." She told them grimly as she contorted her face in thought. "Neutral ground, a place where Sues will not go."

"Where the hell would that be, I might wonder?" Snarked Snape. "Those things thrive on perfection and beauty. They are superficial and we have the most good-looking chaps in all of the fucking Canons with us. It doesn't help with the odds."

Gandalf groaned wearily. Even a Maia could be worn out from the constant arguing and the consistant pain. "BE QUIET!" He screamed.

Marie went silent, as did the whole room. She mulled over what Snape had said earlier. It had tickled something in the back of her mind...something that she needed to remember, but couldn't...then, all of a sudden, the lights came on and she had a grasp on what she was searching for. "I have an idea." She told them all boldly.