A/N; Hi everyone! Here's the last hospital shot you've all been waiting for! I hope you all like it.
READ THIS; I am making a poll because I need some help here! I want to know what people think about venturing into the second X-Men movie and 'when' I should add it. It needs to be during snow fall time otherwise it won't fit with the movie at all, so you got two choices; The next month or the Next year, in which I'll adapt what happens. The poll is on my profile...if I can get it figured out. T-T For those who don't want to log in or don't have an account, a review with your choice will be fine. But keep in mind that whatever you choose, it won't change that the next chapters will come out somewhat monthly...ish. Enough babble, on to the Story!
They all rushed to the intensive care unit room, arriving upon the sight of a trashed room. Every instrument had been thrown against the opposite wall, the metal poles bent in multiple places, the very hospital bed in pieces against the back wall. It was actually a miracle that the window hadn't been shattered or the door ripped off its hinges.
And in the middle of it all, rocking himself back and forth on his knees, with his arms crossed over his stomach and making small mewling noises that just ripped right at the heart, was one Harry Potter; awake and eyes wide but not seeing.
"Potter?" asked Scott, everyone just staring at him, the children up in their arms to keep them from crowding the man before they knew what the situation was.
Harry's head slowly raised to stare up at them, his eyes having been fixed on the floor and they were all surprised to see that his pupils were like those of a feline. A growl came out from him, but he made no move to attack them, his hands tightening and loosening on the blue hospital gown which covered him.
"Dad!" Teddy yelled, wiggling out of Evangeline's grasp.
The boy's hair was mostly covered by his hat, but Logan could see how Teddy's hair changed from one color to another non-stop as he moved to his legal guardian, hesitating for only a second before wrapping his arms around Harry's neck.
One of the father's arms shot up and encircled the child's waist, the apparent Feral burying his nose in Teddy's neck, inhaling deeply. When he looked back up, his vision was searching, almost panicked.
"Let the kids go to him," grunted the Wolverine, stepping inside the room and to the side.
Gambit was the first to put down Caiden, followed by Rogue who placed Lily to her feet and Jean kneeling down so Tyler could run to his father. Harry held them close and sniffed at all of their necks, clearly relaxing some more as he took in more of his children in his arms, but he tensed back up when Caleb didn't come to his grasp.
"Where?" he asked hoarsely, his throat dry from being unconscious for almost twenty-four hours.
"Social Services took them after your accident. Do you remember being in an accident?" Jean asked, moving closer but keeping at arms' length just in case Harry's more primal side hadn't completely receded.
The young father tilted his head to the side, giving a slight hum before he gave a nod, looking at everyone gathered, clearly still looking for his missing twin.
"The little ones were placed with foster homes overnight, but we've managed to get almost all of them back. We're in the process of getting Caleb back as we speak. Are you feeling alright? I mean, I know you're still healing, but how are you feeling otherwise?" she asked gently.
Harry swallowed, wincing at the dryness of his mouth and throat before he uncurled himself slightly from his position, allowing his children to move from him if they wished to, though they kept hugged to him. Evangeline jumped to the occasion to go get a glass of water from the nearest bathroom.
"Here you go dear, drink slowly," urged the lawyer, placing her hand onto Harry's back, but the man shifted down and away from her.
Teddy took the glass from her, helping his father drink, the man's hands still shaking.
"How long was I out?" he asked after a few gulps.
"It happened yesterday, just before school ended. You've been out for twenty hours now, give or take," replied Scott as he moved to stand behind his fiancée.
"And Caleb's still at a foster home?"
"He is."
Harry gave a nod, wrapping his arms around his children once more, giving each a kiss on top of their heads before he stood, slightly wobbly on his feet. He didn't allow Evangeline nor Jean to touch him as he stepped back and looked over at Gambit with a scowl.
"Did you bring me clothes?"
"Non cher. Remy bit busy, gat'rin' up les cubs," the red on black eyed man said with a shrug of the shoulder, a lopsided smile on his lips.
"Then give me your coat and bring me to the person responsible for my baby being gone."
Remy gave a suave smile as he removed his coat, moving behind the smaller mutant to place his trench coat over his shoulder. Before Harry could put his arms in the sleeves, the doctor and nurses finally showed up, only a few minutes having passed since Harry's apparent waking.
"You shouldn't be up yet Mr. Potter!" snapped the female doctor that had attended to Harry, glancing for a second at the room before giving him a reproachful glare. "And you especially shouldn't have tossed the room! You must have ripped some stitches open."
Harry raised a brow, placing his arm over his stomach.
"It doesn't matter, I won't die from it," he almost growled out, surprising the other mutants with the Feral behavior that they had never seen before, though Gambit was smirking quite widely. "Who's responsible for my children being taken from me? I'd like to have a word with them, please."
The doctor stared at him a few seconds before she shook herself and moved aside, waving for Harry to pass her and go into the hall.
"I will give you a check up none the less. As for your children, you have to understand that we were unaware of your… condition and so we did the only logical thing we could when we couldn't reach anyone to care for them. You have to understand we are not a nursery; once we made sure they were alright, we gave them to someone who would best keep an eye on them. I'll send for the hospital's representative for Social Services."
Jean watched as Harry took a few steps forward, but it was clear that he wasn't at the point where his regeneration was at its optimum as sweat gathered on his brown and he was frowning hard to keep away the pained expression he could clearly not keep at bay.
Logan clearly spotted it too and moved forth to grab the smaller mutant, easily picking him up bridal style and looking over at the doctor with a wicked grin.
"Where ya want him, Doc?"
"Let me go! I can walk just fine!" yelled Harry as he struggled in the Wolverine's grip, but the Canadian simply sniggered at the Englishman's efforts.
"Over here, before you make him aggrieve his wounds," huffed the doctor, leading the way.
"I'll go find Mr. Lane," Jean replied as she moved in the opposite direction. "Keep an eye on the children, alright Rogue?"
"Yes ma'am!"
Giving Scott a look, the telepathic telekinesis used her powers slightly to locate the man, wanting not only to bring him to Harry, but also find out the situation as to what was going on with Caleb.
As for Scott, he turned back around to find Rogue entering the waiting room with the little ones, picking up a magazine and then making up a story to keep them entertained, showing them pictures along with outrageous comments which had them giggling madly. Left alone in the hall by himself, Cyclops looked around and wasn't too surprised to see that Gambit had followed Harry into a room a few doors down, Logan moving to stand in the door frame after depositing the younger man on the bed so the doctor and nurses could run a few tests on him.
He didn't have to wait long before Jean came back with Mr. Lane, the social worker looking less than pleased at being pulled away from whatever he had been doing.
"Scott, please show Mr. Lane to Harry's new room," said his fiancée coldly, clearly not happy with the man and wanting to distance herself from him before the urge to fry his brain became too urgent.
"If you'll follow me," he replied, only waiting a second to see Jean join Rogue and the children in the waiting area before turning in the right direction.
Harry was looking over at Gambit, the Cajun by the head of the bed, saying something that was apparently funny because the young injured father was smiling, stealing glances over to Logan who looked less than impressed by whatever the red haired man was recounting. The doctor had Harry laying on his back, almost completely naked except for a sheet over his groin, gently feeling around the man's lower abdomen and around the stitches.
"Potter," Scott caught their attention, moving past Logan without a thought and expecting Lane to follow.
"Who's this?" Harry asked, raising a brow, but it was clear from the look in his eyes that he already knew.
"My name is Carter Lane, a social worker that works with this hospital and answer to their needs," the social worker answered without any shame, glaring over his shoulder when the Wolverine gave a snort of disapproval.
"And so you came to the decision that my children needed to be taken and placed into multiple homes? How ignorant of you," Harry huffed, pushing the doctor aside so he could sit up and glare properly at the taller man.
"Surely you understand the need to find a warm bed and home for your children while you were unconscious overnight. As we were unable to gain contact with anyone, we went with the protocol of placing them in foster homes, but no home is able to accept four children all at once! The best we could do was keep the girl and the youngest boy together at the time and possibly move them all together when an opportunity presented itself, but it is very rare that five siblings can be placed in the same home as foster families do have rules to respect."
Harry raised a brow, looking less than impressed at those words.
"So you're telling me you were able to place my son and daughter together, but you couldn't place 'identical' twins together in a home because…?"
"At the late hour they were released to us, we placed them in the first homes we could find that could accommodate them. I understand your reluctance at separating them, but it had to be done," Mr. Lane replied with a strong tone that could have possibly ended the discussion.
"Bullocks!" Harry snapped, clearly getting angrier by the second. "A couple more calls wouldn't have hurt anyone! Do you know the amount of trauma you can have possibly caused to my boys? They've barely started to venture away from their brother and sister, let alone each other; their mentality is still in the state where they barely understand that when I talk to one of them, I'm not talking to both of them!"
Mr. Lane had opened his mouth to object while Harry had been talking, but he snapped it shut with a very audible click of his teeth.
"Under the circumstances-"
"Hang the circumstances! When dealing with children, you shouldn't put your laziness over their comfort! Now where is my missing son?"
Everyone could feel the tension in the room, and Scott found himself surprised that it was similar to when Jean was having emotional difficulties which resulted in a slight lapse in control over her telekinesis powers. It felt more static in nature, but he could almost foresee the furniture in the room starting to rise on their own.
"We are having difficulties contacting the family he was placed with, but I am personally going to the house to retrieve him. I was actually on my way to do so before I was pulled here to speak with you," the social worker replied with a slight unease, holding himself back from rearranging his tie.
Harry glared darkly at the man and the mutants present could practically see the young father's irises starting to turn Feral.
"Then I'm sure you won't object to Monsieur LeBeau and Mr. Logan accompanying you? Caleb is sure to be in distress and I think you can understand that in this particular situation, you may not be ready for what you find in that house. After all, who knows what happens when the children of two freaks end up in a trying situation in a scary environment? Because believe me, there's very low chances any of my children will turn out to be anything but mutants."
(Mr. Lane's coloring suddenly turned very pale, for the first time considering that the man whom everyone from the medical field had thought would be dead within the next forty-eight hours from his injuries could not only be conscious at the moment, but looked about ready to walk out as if he didn't have stitches from one side of his ribs to the other, while passing under his belly button, wasn't completely human.)
"Gentlemen, if you would please follow me?" he asked in a breathless voice, leaving the room without looking at anyone directly in the eyes.
Gambit gave Harry an approving smirk before following, his coat left on the bed behind Harry to give the younger man some semblance of privacy once he was done being prodded at by the health professionals.
"Be ready to blow this joint when we come back, bub. Ya'll prob'ly come back with us to Chuck's, at least for the next few nights, jus' to be sure yer at a hundred," Logan warned before he followed after the other two men, almost laughing when he saw that the elevator was already there and waiting for them, Gambit leaning against the elevator door frame to keep it open and smiling back over at the Wolverine.
This pick up was going to be interesting at least.
XD|DX
Mr. Lane drove very carefully, keeping his eyes at the front at all times, to the point where he avoided changing lanes so he didn't have to look in his mirrors and accidently catch sight of the two mutants in his sedan.
Logan was sitting in the passenger seat, his eyes on the side mirror, able to see Gambit who was sprawled out in the back seat, humming some wordless song, his back against the door and his feet behind Lane's seat, giving it a little tap every once in a while, as if to remind the man they were present, no matter how he ignored them.
Mr. Lane slowed down his car, parking in front of a house with toys scattered all over the front yard, and he cleared his throat before speaking.
"We're here. Now, let me do the talking, I don't want you to scare this family nor the other children put under their care. It would actually be best if you stayed in the car and-"
"Dans tes rêves," Gambit sneered. {{In your dreams.}}
Logan didn't add anything, simply got out of the car along with Remy, raising a brow at the social worker when he hesitated himself. Clearing his throat once more, Mr. Lane arranged his tie and made his way confidently to the front door and knocked.
Gambit and Wolverine stayed a few feet away, waiting to see what was going on, but the Cajun's attention was elsewhere, which also made Logan look over at the driveway, where a few kids' bikes were left, but no car.
"Think that's why?" grumbled the Canadian.
"Pro'bly. Harry's out mos' days," replied Remy, groaning as he stretched his arms over his head. "Les cubs adorent bein' in le parc."
Mr. Lane came back to them, looking extremely unhappy.
"They don't seem to be home. If you'll allow me, I'll make a few calls and try to see if they have an emergency cell phone number or something," he said, moving away before either mutant could reply, not that they were inclined to.
Leaving the man by his car to clearly argue with whomever was on the other end of the line, Gambit and Logan started to walk away from the house, observing the rest of the neighborhood, as if it would tell them how this family functioned.
It couldn't have been more than a couple of minutes before a minivan pulled up into the parking space, stopping before the bicycles and a woman stepped out of the driver's side. She glanced over at Mr. Lane with a frown, not seeming to associate the two men further off with the official looking social worker.
"Mike, take the kids in the house, alright? And don't let Suzan eat all the cookies," ordered the woman as she opened the side door of the vehicle and handed the keys to a teenager with a punk look.
Mike nodded to foster mom and grabbed a couple of bags, a ten-year-old following him out and pulling out a bag herself while the woman helped two lower aged children out from the car seats. One of them was a baby, and if Logan had to guess, it was one who hadn't even reached the half a year mark while the other was definitely Caleb, eyes red rimmed and looking positively miserable.
"Shh, I know buddy. It'll get better soon enough, trust me," she whispered against the child's pale black hair, looking towards the house for the teen to come back so she could hand over the remaining children to him and approach the man in the suit who was watching her while finishing whatever he was saying on the phone.
Remy started back towards the house immediately, taking his time in admiring the woman who was in her late thirties but held herself with strength and clear protection of the little ones. Logan was just behind him, not only taking in the woman's features and body language, but also that of the teenager who was now back outside and going over to the woman, taking the infant first.
"Mrs. Reynolds? I'm Carter Lane with social services. I'm here to take Caleb Potter back," said the man as he approached her before she had a chance to hand over the two-year-old.
"You've found him a family?" she asked with a reserved tone, taking note of Gambit first and then the Wolverine, now almost at Lane's car.
"Yes, along with his father waking up from his trauma. They are actually transferring him to facilities closer to his family and since the children will have supervision, they are being collected from the families they were placed at."
The woman frowned as she looked at Mr. Lane, shifting Caleb higher in her hold, which gave the two color-eyed boy the chance to notice Remy and Logan. Caleb gave a little squeal of urgency and started to wiggle in the woman's hold, but she just shifted him once more in her arms, making sure he wasn't going to fall and injure himself.
"Easy hun, let them get to us and then you can see them, I promise," Mrs. Reynolds told the boy, who quieted down immediately, before she turned her attention back to the social worker. "Children? You mean to tell me he has siblings?"
"It was a need to know basis and seeing as Caleb was the last to be placed, we didn't feel the need to disrupt anyone by telling you he was being separated."
She could have slapped him, Logan could tell, had she not held Caleb. Her rage was clear in her face.
"Need to know? He has spent the whole 'night' crying, not getting any rest until he passed out of sheer exhaustion and now you're telling me it could have been avoided had I taken a child or two more in? He's not eaten for sure in the past twelve hour! Much less uttered a word!" she snapped, shaking in her anger. "I didn't become a foster mother to separate siblings and cousins; I became one so that they could stay together as much as possible!"
"Oh, Remy likes," grinned Gambit once he was standing behind Lane, making the man jump in surprise, so much he was concentrating on the fury in front of him.
"Settle down, Gumbo. We ain't here for your wiles, just to get the cub back to the rest," grunted Logan, as amused as the taller mutant, reaching over for Caleb, Mrs. Reynolds handing him over without so much as a glance.
Caleb gave a whimper of relief, burying his face into Logan's neck, the Feral nuzzling the child's hair gently, taking in his scent and while he did smell distress and fatigue, there was no pain or fear in him.
"It would have caused too much hassle for everyone had we had to retrieve the children at such a late hour and had them brought to you. None of them would have been comfortable with so much moving about. Our primary need was to get them settled for the night and try to find relatives. A couple of days wouldn't have hurt them," replied Mr. Lane with a clip tone.
"Oh, that makes it all okay then…not! Sometimes you people drive me crazy with your stupid logic! A child not eating is a cause for concern. Keeping them in as close an environment as home as possible is what will get them through a hard time, not just their need for a roof over their heads! And suddenly not being with his siblings is a very big shock to kids, if you must know."
Her rant was making Gambit grin wider and wider, absolutely amused at the lashing she was giving the man whose job was to make sure the children were placed in proper homes. It was also clear that Mr. Lane was trying to find something to rebuke with, but he wasn't fast enough.
"Do you even have a baby seat or booster seat in your car?"
That had Gambit and Logan looking at each other, because there was none while they were seated in there and unless he had one hidden in the trunk, they were gonna have a slight problem of getting back to the hospital with this protective momma bear at hand.
"I usually am not in the position to bring the children so, I mean, my duties do not extent to always having car seats and-" babbled Lane, taking an actual step back from the woman as her glare turned positively deadly.
"Michael!" bellowed Mrs. Reynolds as she turned to the front door.
"Yeah ma?" asked the teenager, arms infant free and with a box of cookies he was clearly trying to hide.
"You watch the house; I'll only be gone a few minutes, thirty tops. Your dad will be home soon enough. Just tell him I'm bringing little Caleb back to his family, alright?"
"Sure ma. Can we have pizza for supper?" he said with a clear teenager-not-pout pout.
Mrs. Reynolds rolled her eyes.
"Yes, we can have pizza when I get back since I won't have the time to cook. I'll pick it up on the way even so you'll have eaten before your basketball practice. Now gimme my keys and be nice to Suzan and make sure Ally gets her bottle."
The teen was gone for but one second and then she turned to the three men in her front yard, raising a brow at Logan and Remy.
"Ready to go? I'm sure Caleb can't wait to see his siblings," she said as she turned to the car, stopping once she opened the door before asking; "How many does he have?"
"Oh, not much," said with a wide grin the Cajun. "Jus' a sister, big demi-brother, twin brother and petit brother."
"Twin…? I really have to start demanding answers when they call at night out of the blue and ask me to take in kids," she sighed.
Gambit laughed as he took place in the passenger seat, Logan strapping Caleb in the booster seat and sitting besides the now sleeping two-year-old.
A/N; And that's the conclusion of chapter 9. On to 10!...when I have it typed...