Memories

Dying in Stages

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They appeared right in the centre of the blast zone and Logan was horrified to see how few people were there. She released his arm and gasped. He could see what hurt her so. It didn't look like a town. The ruins they were standing in had been a school. They did the best they could to help the rescue teams until the others started turning up. For hours no one spoke, the looks on their faces speaking for them. Then the Sentinels arrived. He could see it was all getting to Tora. Especially when she picked up the body of a boy of about three and he could only watch as she gently rocked him back and forth, whispering softly in French as she walked to the area at the edge and placed him down with the same care that Jamie gained when she tucked him in. Jamie… And now every tiny body Logan saw was his son or daughter, their body blackened by the explosion. Later he walked up to Tora and found her kneeling by a girl whose injuries were so bad Logan was amazed she was still alive. He could tell there wasn't any way in hell the girl would survive and Tora was just crouched there, holding the blackened hand.

"Am I going to die?"

Tora's mask was soaked with tears.

"I'm sorry."

"It hurts…"

"Hush child, shh. Yes I know… I know… Such pain… It will go… Don't be afraid. What comes next is so beautiful. Don't fear Death. She will care for you. Won't you."

Tora was staring at something in the air, something Logan couldn't see. She tilted her head. Death bowed her head to her.

Dragon.

Death.

You care so much… Why?

Because I am human.

You are a naïve fool Dragon. And I envy you.

Look after her for me.

I will Dragon.

Thank you.

But none of this was apparent to Logan. All he saw was Tora kneeling next to a child then carefully picking her up and limping to the edge of the disaster line, walking along the boundary line then finding a woman and bowing her head before handing her sad little bundle over and pressing a hand to the woman's shoulder. Then she walked over to Scott, exchanged a few quiet words. The pair walked over to Steve and Stark, A few more words spoken, her tone low and pleading. She nodded, confirming something. And then, over the armour's speakers, Stark's words rang out over the site.

"Clear the area! I repeat, clear the area!"

Logan sprinted over to her.

"What the %&$ are you doing?"

She turned towards him, her mask soaked with tears.

"I heal Logan. That's what Dragon does. And if I don't heal this, what does that make me?"

"This is too big…"

"I heal entire worlds Logan. Worlds. Think about that."

"That's not you talking. That's Dragon."

"I can't choose to ignore this Carcajou."

Her private name for him on a field of desolation hurt.

"Now go!"

He didn't want to. Every instinct screamed to stay, to protect her. But Rachel ordered him with her mind and Tora's eyes pleaded. So he walked to the edge of the disaster zone and looked on with everyone else. Her head was inclined and next to him, Kurt began to whisper the words he knew she was saying.

"Oh Father in my time of need, strengthen me."

Then the waters began to gather around her as she threw her head up to the sky and screamed. There was nothing human about the scream. It was primal and dark and full of pain and anguish and it filled the entire silence that covered the dead city. The dragon increased in size, until she was a tiny speck at the heart of it all, the flesh and blood centre of a tsunami. The scream hadn't stopped, the volume had intensified and Logan was so, so close to running out to catch to, to hold her close, to whisper that she didn't have to do this.

But the dragon was roaring as well and then Tora's claws slammed into the ground. Wave after wave of water span from her, only to stop at the edge of the desolation. And the scream that no one could have thought could get worse, did. It wasn't primal anymore. It was ancient. She was struggling, trying to pour more and more power into the area. Suddenly she slumped forward and the waves stopped. Logan ran, desperate to reach her. He skidded up beside her just as she pulled herself up and pressed her hands back into the dirt.

"NO! You can't do this!"

She looked up at him, mask torn, the four scars on her face reopened, blood mingling with tears.

"I…I can't heal this… I can't… It's fighting me… This is something I can't change…"

"I… I thought…"

"Some things are so important they have to be. Thing's we're not allowed to change. This is one of them. I…I heard the others screaming at me… Ordering me to stop… All of them Logan…"

She looked devastated. Then she whispered, so quietly he could barely hear…

"Even Jean…"

"Jean… but she's…"

"Jean can no more die than I can. She's alive. We converse a lot. But she's busy."

"Jeannie wouldn't condone this…"

"Phoenix would. And that's the most important thing to remember."

"What's so important about now?"

"It's…complicated…"

And then she slumped forward, face smacking into the ground as the exhaustion took over her.

"I mean really. You should know better than to pour that much energy into something that should only take a tiny spark to fix."

"It gave a lot of extra life-force to Phoenix."

"So that's why the universal population rose so sharply."

"She's fine. It's just fatigue. Seriously, Tora will wake up soon and be perfectly alright."

She half moaned and instantly felt hands clasp to each side of her face, pressing the oxygen mask uncomfortably close to her. She was lifted up and someone was holding her tight.

"Thought I'd lost you…"

She smiled slightly, trying to ignore the images of burnt bodies dancing in her mind, burnt bodies with her children's faces.

"You aren't getting rid of me that easily. Eloise"

A cool hand was placed on her forehead. Reed.

"Dragon, you gave us all quite a scare. Next time you decide to use enough power to call the K'Meer, Skrulls, Kree and Shi'ar, please tell us. They all thought something terrible had happened."

"It did Reed. It did."

Dark brown eyes met hers.

"Stay with us Tora. We need you for what's going to happen next."

"Where's Logan?"

Silence.

"Reed. Where. Is. Logan?"

"He…he went after Nitro."

She sat up straighter and tore the oxygen mask off, leaping up and ripping out the various wires. Then she looked down at her loose hospital robe in confusion.

"How long was I out?"

"Fifty-two hours. You've given us all quite the scare."

"Oh…"

Somehow it seemed the most appropriate thing to say. At the moment she was torn between worrying over Logan and panicking over the time she had spent away from her children.

"Curt, Jamie and Eva are fine."

She relaxed slightly.

"Thank you…"

"Sue's been looking after them. You can see them. Not out there of course," he warned as she moved towards the door.

"Reed…"

"I will not let you out of this room Tora. We still don't know the full extent of the damage."

"So I'm damaged am I?"

Reed knew he's used the wrong words but couldn't take it back.

"I…er… I'm just saying we don't know the affects of channelling such huge amounts of energy."

"Reed, I know my own limits. I know what will kill me and what won't. So far, only a black hole has managed to do it properly."

"You've never channelled that much energy. Tora, the only place I've ever had readings like that was Asgard!"

She smiled oddly.

"Reed, has it ever occurred to you that I might be spending an awful lot of my time doing Dragon stuff?"

"What do you mean?"

"Time's irrelative Reed. I spend enough time each week in the Library to keep up with the filing, but no one notices I've gone."

"What library? The school's one?"

"No. The Library. The Library of All. I am the Archivist of Reality after all. Didn't you know that?"

Reed glanced over at Eloise who shrugged.

"This is the most I've ever heard her talk about Dragon. Normally she just rolls her eyes and goes on to another topic after saying it's similar to asking about that unfortunate mental disorder. You just don't do it."

"Reed, don't you think it's a little telling that spaghettification is the only way to kill me?"

There was a moment's silence. Then Eloise went "What?"

"Spaghettification. It's the death type when you fall into a black hole and your legs are travelling faster than your head so… Ouch is a pretty good descriptive."

Reed blinked.

"I'm impressed."

"I had to find out how I died. Apparently I'm the first human to try it. Sadly, I stopped before I reached the wormhole."

Eloise edged out as Reed began bombarding her with questions. She was soon followed by Tora, who was flexing her hand.

"That felt good. Reed's trying to peel himself off the wall right now. Do you know where the kids are?"

"You punched him?"

"No. I slammed him to the wall. I think he's still unpeeling himself."

"You really are violent Tora."

"He wouldn't let me see my kids."

"Okay, he deserved it."

A boy of eight skidded past them, turned round and grinned.

"Hi Tora! Jamie's playing with Val and Eva's dismantling Dad's latest invention. Curt's helping."

"Thanks Franklin. What exactly is Curt doing?"

"I think he's taking it to pieces to see where the little elves are that make it work."

"Who told him that?"

"I think it was Uncle Johnny…"

"Tell your uncle to go and peel your dad off the wall. I have to go and explain electricity to Curt. Again…"

"Oh, Franklin Richards, such a sweet little boy."

"Don't you mean, sweet little boy with almost unlimited power?"

"Yes, well…"