"Why bring her back here?"

My eyelids twitched as I struggled to awaken. The argument continued, as it had been for the past five minutes.

"Hank, I couldn't just leave her there." Logan's voice this time.

Hank snorted. "Logan, for all we know, she's still linked to Jean; she's unstable until that link is completely demolished," he replied.

There was a pause, and then Logan's voice can again, soft and quiet. "I couldn't just leave her there," he repeated.

I groaned, hoping that would bring the argument to a stop. I struggled to sit up and quickly found that I couldn't, my limbs feeling like jelly. I looked towards Hank and Logan instead, eyes narrowed. The first thing I noticed was that I was in a cage. The second was that I had a muzzle on. I snarled as best I could; bad memories came with being in a cage and being restrained. Logan gave me a tired smile, coming over to see how I was.

"Hey, Sprite," he said, crouching down to peer in at me. I snarled again in warning, blood still staining my fur from where I'd fought with Logan in the forest. Logan's smile faded. "We had to, Sprite. We couldn't risk you hurting anyone."

I didn't want to listen to Logan, reaching within myself for that cold comforting rage. Only . . . something wasn't right. I smacked my head on the bottom of the cage, confused. Where was it? Where was it?! Logan's eyes were sad as he watched me, probably following along my train of thought.

"Hank gave you a little something to help you," Logan said. "Don't ask me how all that mumbo jumbo stuff works. Hopefully this will help screw your head on right."

I began to panic now, making a distressed noise in the back of my throat. I looked down at myself, seeing the IV that had been placed in my front leg, wrapped tight so that I wouldn't be able to dislodge it. My darkened eyes traced the line to a bag of fluids, one that the blue mutant was going over to now with a syringe. I thrashed as best as my drugged body could, the distressed noise turning into a kind of wail.

"I told you Logan," Hank said as he placed the syringe into the IV line, injecting its contents into the line. I could only watch as the liquid traveled down the line and into my system. It didn't take long for me to begin to feel sleepy, my head dropping down to my paws. "The influence is still strong. I'm doing all that I can, but . . . you may have to prepare yourself that she may not get better. The Phoenix has been within her thoughts for far too long."

Logan had stood up as Hank talked, rubbing at the stubble on his face and pacing in front of my cage. I blinked, watching him hazily. He started to shake his head, coming to kneel in front of me again before reaching a hand through the bars. I tried to growl, but it sounded more like a whimper than anything. He rubbed my blood-soaked ears, watching me sadly. "She'll get better," he said, though he sounded like he was trying to convince himself of this. "I know she will."

"Logan, she hasn't even tried to shift," Hank said, going back over to his workstation and disposing of the empty syringe. "She's more animal than human. Her head has been messed with on so many levels. Add that to the stress of the Professor dying and being away for so long, I'm surprised she's even as coherent as she is right now." He gave a heavy sigh, resting a hand on Logan's shoulder. "Like I said, I'm doing what I can to make her comfortable, but the head is something I have no experience in. If the Professor was still with us, she may have had a chance. As of now . . . I don't have a clue."

I'd given up trying to keep track of the conversation, my eyes closing as the drugs did their work. I gave a sigh, relaxing against the bottom of the cage. Logan continued to rub my ears, his hand moving to run down my neck as I finally dozed off.

()()()()()()

"How long?" Logan finally asked, withdrawing his hand from Spirit's cage. Looking down at her only made him think of the girl he'd picked up from the side of the road after he'd hit her with his truck. A small smile appeared on his lips at the memory.

Hank was quiet for a few moments before he responded. "The Phoenix has almost complete control over her," he replied. "You may have given her a few days by bringing her back here, but based on the reaction we saw earlier, I'd say she's further gone than I suspected." He sighed heavily, running his hand over his face. "I'd give her about 24 hours before her mind turns completely feral."

Silence loomed in the infirmary before Logan broke it. "And there's nothing you can do for her?" he asked, doing his best to keep his emotions under control as he kept his eyes on the unconscious wolf in the cage.

"All I can do is make her comfortable," Hank answered honestly. He hesitated, seemingly holding something back before he spoke again. "If you want, I can try to help her pass. Spirit's body is already weak from contact with the Phoenix as well as the drugs I've been giving her, and if we use the cure, we could prevent her from healing. She wouldn't feel a thing. You have to understand, Logan, that Spirit allowed the Phoenix in. Based on what you've told me, she welcomed it. It's kind of like overdosing on drugs. She can either come out of it on her own, which is highly unlikely and she'll spend her days like a rabid animal, or we can eliminate the drug completely."

"You mean we could save her by killing the Phoenix?" Logan questioned before giving a harsh laugh. "Great. So, either we damn Spirit or we damn Jean." He rose, pacing in agitation. "You haven't given me a lot of choices, Hank."

"I'm sorry, Logan, but those are the only choices that I can see," Hank said gently. "Would you want Spirit to live out her life locked in a cage, pumped full of drugs? She'd be too unstable, too unpredictable, to let loose; she could do serious damage to people or herself. And even if we kept her here, what if she hurt a student? What if she killed someone? You don't want that on your conscious, Logan."

"And I don't want to put her down like a dog!" Logan finally shouted, losing his temper. He slammed his fist on the counter, causing Hank to jump. Logan took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself down.

Once again, silence fell over the infirmary. And, once again, it was Logan who broke it.

"Gather those still left in the mansion," he said, his voice barely audible. "Tell them to suit up."

()()()()()()

Hey guys! So so so sorry for not posting in so long. I had graduation, getting ready for college, and all that lovely stuff to deal with. I will hopefully get another chapter up soon. As always, thanks for reading and reviewing! It means a lot! And I hope that you enjoyed this latest chapter of Spirit's Life. ;)

ML out