OOC: Loggage
X-Men MUCK - Saturday, September 25, 2004, 8:35 PM
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<< XS >> Great Hall - Lv1
Marbled floors of cool gray and pale whites ice the floor in sectioned tiles, hidden partially by threaded golds and woven greens that quickly blend in to other colors of large Persian rug. Spacious, no doubt about this, my friends, with panels of metal guarded the elevator doors whilst brass button-plate gleams with the pale orange glow of the elevator buttons. Not unlike a school's lobby with lofty ceiling soaring up eggshell plastered ceiling with golden chandelier curling like harden cobwebs with crystalline bulbs used to illuminate the vast spacious room.
Despite the elevator, stairs are seen just beyond the first corridor, leading up and clandestine by the cherry-wood paneled walls that glide fluidly in to other halls and stairs and various offices. A few chairs and even some tables with odd glass lamps light this bright Great Hall, supporting many students, people, and assortment of other things not mentioned. Light is able to stream in through the many jewel-cut windows set in gothic-large double doors and flanking door either side and above with more glass motifs.
[Exits : [H]allway, [R]ecreation [R]oom, [Li]brary, [T]he [E]levator, and [M]ain [E]ntrance ]
[Players : Quark, Piotr, and Kitty ]
That's a wee bit of an understatement, Petey-boy. Kitty starts in surprise at the sight and sound of poor Chris doing his best impression of a Slinky. Only .. you know.. without the coils. And with a lot more pain and noise. "Oh my god..!" Here, Kitty breaks into a jog after Piotr when the Russian hurries over to Chris. Lockheed on the other hand, is far from concerned over Chris. There's a ham sandwich to rescue! So while Kitty hurries forward, Lockheed hops off of her shoulder and lunges for the fallen treat, snapping it up. Mine now! <3
Quark would be thankful for Peter's save, keeping this whole ordeal from adding insult to injury--but in his current condition, Quark isn't exactly capable of replying. While he's not exactly knocked out, he's still blind and, thanks to that last hard bump to his head, dazed and confused. His 'good leg'--now with new beatings and bruises of its own--twitches once as Quark groans in muffled pain, his head face down on the floor between his spread-out hands. The blinding glare in his eyes starts to fade away, but he still can't see: the sharp hit to his head has aroused pretty stars and the like. Joy. So, he just sort of lies there, wheezing as he tries to take in some bigger breaths despite the sharp pain in his side from the trip.
Piotr is no medical expert, not by any means. Do you move someone that's fallen down the stairs? Put a neck brace on them? No, that's something else entirely. He stays by the boy's side for a moment, glancing up at Kitty. Dazed is not good, right? "Chris, can you say anything? What happened." Darn teleporters. Never watch where they're going.
Whiiiiiirrrrr. Coming from a direction -other- than the top of the stairs is one of Professor Xavier's snazzier models of old wheelchair, and in it is Dr. Grey, still dressed in her patient-wear of sating pyjamas and a silk dressing gown, with one hand on the wheelchair controls, and the other wrapped around a travel mug of coffee in a death grip. Her features are white and her lips compressed together as she deals with having a mind full of uncontrolled others' pain, something she's not had to experience since she was about eleven. "What happened?" is asked with tight precision. "Piotr, ask if he can feel his toes. Kitty, can you go up to my room and grab my first aid kit?"
Darn teleporters indeed. THe nerve they have, not looking before they leap. Isn't that the basics of any teleporter? The whirring of a wheelchair causes Kitty to look away from Piotr and Chris, at first thinking it might be Xavier. "Jean?" Isn't she supposed to be resting? Kitty shakes her head, "I dunno. Piotr and I were just talking," About relaxing, of all things, "Then Chris 'ported in lookin' twenty shades of scared-" She breaks off as Lockheed reclaims his spot on her shoulder, swallowing down the last of the ham and belching quietly. Naughty dragon. Looking back to Jean, Kitty straightens, "And he fell down the stairs. Piotr caught the chair before it squished him. Chris I mean." And with orders given, Kitty nods briskly, "Will do." She agrees, sprinting up the stairs, and from there into the air through the ceiling. It's quicker that way!
Quark moves. Well, that's a good sign! At least he's alive. He moves again, his left leg shifting over a bit, as Quark tests his leg for pain; it hurts, but not too much. Very slowly, he lifts his head off of the ground, inhaling sharply as the movement causes some more pain in his upper back area, but not his neck. Good--it's not broken or fractured. Moving his mouth, he finally mutters loud enough in a dry tone for everyone present to hear, "...Why the hell does all this shit happen to me?" Turning his neck towards Jean, he responds slowly, "I...I can feel my legs. And move them. But it hurts, especially my right leg." He frowns as he tastes a fresh drop of warm liquid in his mouth; after moment, he realizes it's blood: the bump to his head has resulted in a flat yet relatively narrow gash, and some resulting drops are now rolling down the right side of his head. Darn. "...I don't know what happened. But...God, it hurts."
Well, that's taken care of at least. Peter offers an arm to Chris to help him into a better position, should he need the assistance. Jean's here now. She can make anything better. He glances between them. "Where did you come from then, if you do not know what happened?"
Jean doesn't really look in a condition to tie two ends of a broken string back together, drooping in her wheelchair and pressing a hand to her temples in an attempt to block things out. "Kitty." she requests again, tone a murmur now. "Can you go up to my room and get my first aid kit. I can feel everything that Chris is feeling, so I'm no good to anyone until he's doped a bit." The first rule of triage is to make sure that you-the-doctor are safe, after all. "Chris," she turns back to her erstwhile patient, goosing the wheelchair she's in forward just a little more. "How does your right leg hurt? Is it along the area where the first break is, or is it in a new area?"
Geronimo! Not wasting time by using the more conventional stairs, Kitty drops through the ceiling at the same spot she ventured up through it. The sooner they get Quark taken care of, the sooner they can get Jean to rest o_o Right? Does Kitty have to go find Logan and tattle on you, young lady? "Got the First Aid kit." Kitty announces, scurrying over. "What do you need us to do?" Isn't it wonderful how she oh so helpfully volunteers you, Piotr? Because she surely doesn't expect JEAN to do the work. "Shouldn't we call Mr McCoy too?" Though he's probably with someone.
Quark blinks and looks back and forth between Peter and Jean, before deciding that he should probably answer Jean first. After all, like she says, his pain is causing her pain. He tries to move his right leg but stops instantly, biting his lip to stifle a mild shout of pain. Shaking his head, he replies with an angry sigh, "Same spot as the break...Not sure, but that last step might've re-broken the bone. I don't think I can move it much, but even if it's not broken or fractured, it sure hurts like hell." Shaking his head again, this time to clear the last remnants of blurriness, he turns to Peter and replies, "I...just don't remember the whole thing. That blow to my head has kinda jostled me. But I think I can explain." Frowning in deep thought, he adds slowly in a strained voice as he fights to remember what happened, "Ummm...I was looking for some books to read in the library. Just as I was about to go, I heard this loud snapping, popping noice. Like...glass breaking, or something." That would be the security camera being broken. "And, I heard someone behind me move towards me--and all of a sudden, there was this blinding flare, and I lost my vision. I couldn't see." Shrugging, he continues with a long inhalation to focus his thoughts, "I figured I was about to be attacked," which he was, "so I had no choice but to risk a blind teleport. And after that..." He motions to the stuff around him, including a damanged wheelchair and scattered books on the floor. "...I fell down the stairs. Painfully."
Piotr glances up to Jean with a 'what should I do' look. "Another attack," he growls. Getting Jean out of bed too. "First Aid kit. What should we give him?" he asks. Volunteering Pete? Heck, if you hadn't, he would have. What else to do, what else to do...
"Huh." says Jean, taking the first aid kit from Kitty with a gentle pat to the teen's hand, and opening it to poke through and retrieve a vial of muscle relaxant, a syringe, and a bottle of painkillers. There's a long inhale as she focuses on keeping fine control long enough to prepare a proper dose of the relaxant, which she then offers cautiously to Piotr. "I need you or Kitty to inject him with this. It's a muscle relaxant, Chris. Your back and neck should be siezing up very shortly, and you'll be needing another x-ray to check on your break. I've got some painkillers here... and you've got a scalp wound, looks like." And a bit of gauze padding emerges from Jean's box of tricks as she navigates still closer. "Here, can you press this against your head?"
Kitty and Lockheed both watch Jean worriedly, though the little dragon shows his interest in the matter at hand by yawning widely. He has a full belly so naturally he's going to be sleepy. Kitty is silent throughout the fussing with the first aid kit, though a faint smile flickers across her face at the pat to her hand. Hee. She's still going to tattle on you though, Jean. For your own good, of course. Kitty sits back against her heels, nodding once, and casting a silent glance at Piotr. If you're squeamish about needles, she can do it! .. oh yes. Let's let Kitty have sharp implements. ^.^
At the sight of the needle, Quark's eyes momentarily widen with a look of 'You're not /really/ going to shoot me with that, are you?', but sighs and nods. He glances between Peter and Kitty, idly wondering who would have a better job of poking him with a needle. Yay. He nods and accepts the gauze, pressing it against his scalp to stop the bleeding. He sighs again as what Jean describes--his back and neck muscles slowly starting to tense and seize up from the fall--starts to occur. Darn it all! Pausing for a moment, he tries to take his mind off current events by asking quietly, "How's Noren doing?" He remembers talking to her in the Congo just days ago, and being so glad that she was safe...and now this. What on earth is going on at the mansion? Why do the ones he love keep getting hurt...?
Scott has arrived.
Piotr holds up his hands, passing the duty (priviledge?) to Kitty. Doubtlessly, she will have the lighter touch. Right? Too many hands can spoil the recovery, not to mention the fact that they're large hands too. Not really suited for such delicate procedures. "Are you okay, Dr. Grey? Should I go get Dr. McCoy?"
The scene? Well, a Quark in a wheelchair has just gone tumbling down the stairs after teleporting blindly to the top of them. A Piotr and a Kitty happened to be on hand, and a Jean in a wheelchair arrived soon after, drawn by the projections of a Quark in pain. Right now, we've got a Jean near collapse but gamely playing lady doctor, leaned back in her chair but directing Kitty and Piotr on what to do for Quark. "Take him down to Dr. McCoy once you've given him this, and he's taken that pain medication..." she murmurs. Otherwise -Jean- is going to be in trouble. "Kitty, remember first aid classes? Use one of the veins in his arm. Chris..." She's brought up short by the question, and has to think for a moment. "Uh... she's... got something that Dr. McCoy and Professor Forge cooked up helping her."
Scott is doing his usual, fatherly, watching Nate duties. Except it's time to bring Nate back to mommy, because that is the unspoken agreement between Jean and Scott. So Scott arrives on the scene with Nate in his arms, looking for Jean. To find the scene in front of him. He pauses, he blinks. He blinks somemore, trying to digest it. No one told him Jean was sick and needed a wheelchair. No one told him the kids being sick was serious. Even the rumormill hasn't hit him in his various comings and goings in visiting Nate. And... he's shocked. "Uh, err...."
BWAHAHAAHAH! STAB! Oh wait. Lockheed peers over at the needle somewhat suspiciously, till Kitty pushes the dragon away with her free hand. "Quit it, Lockheed." She can't give the kid the relaxant with him breathing down her neck - almost literally. So, Lockheed mreeps and abandons Kitty's shoulder to land on Jean's lap, folding his wings back as he peers up at the woman, cooing worriedly. He's almost as bad as the mansion cats sometimes. At any rate, now that Lockheed isn't hovering over her (literally), Kitty accepts the needle from Piotr, nodding once at Jean's guidance,
"Right, I remember." She glances back at Quark cheerfully. WAY too cheerfully, in a way. "Don't worry Chris, this won't hurt me a bit." ^.^ .. Well it won't! And it won't hurt him either, so long as he doesn't you know.. wriggle and squirm like a fish on a hook, as she catches up one of Chris's arms, turning it over to inject the relaxant. She doesn't notice Scott's entrance, natch, since she's focused on this - but Lockheed does; and the little dragon cranes his neck about curiously.
Quark offers a weak glare in Kitty's direction at her ironic yet amusing reassurance. Great...just great. "Thanks for the optimism," he replies dryly. He takes a deep breath as she successfully administers the drugs, and waits quietly in place for them to take their effect. Hopefully, this will give him a good excuse to sleep; he figures once the painkillers wear off, it'll be pretty hard to do so. To Jean, he replies with a worried frown, "But...is she alright? The fiberglass...is she going to be ok?" Apparently, Noren's pain is still more agonizing to him than his own, at the moment. Pausing, he turns to see Scott, arching an eyebrow but saying nothing more. Just kinda watches to see what's going on. But at the sight of Nate, he smiles just a little.
Jean, fortunately, likes cats. And also little Limbo-dragons named Lockheed. While there's a softly startled exclamation, the wheelchair-bound redhead is soon indulging in a little pet therapy, absently rubbing Lockheed's withers and staring intently as Quark is tended to. "Tell Dr. McCoy that he's been dosed with this, and this," she directs Piotr over to see the labels, before changing her mind and just holding bottle and vial out for him to take down. "And... I don't know, Chris. I've seen enough of Forge's work to know that she'll be OK, but I'm..." And oh, how hard is it for Jean to say she's not able to be in control and in charge and making everything better? Impossible, it appears. Because here's "Scott..." And there's a suddenly silent Jean, who, after a moment, manages to come up with a "...Hi? How's Nate?"
This is what happens when you don't have a Fearless Leader leading anymore. Utter chaos. Nate gets shifted a bit in Scott's arms. Jean... in a wheelchair. Scott is still trying to digest this. If she can read his thoughts, she can see how torn his emotions are, and even if she can't, she can see the expression on his face. He still loves her, he still worries, but... it just isn't his place. "Hello, Jean." A slight pause before her name before his voice cracks. "What exactly is going on that Kitty is giving Chris drugs, and you're both in wheelchairs?" Not that she needs to tell him, or he has any right to know. But he still cares a lot despite the mean words he throws out now and then.
Piotr takes the items from Jean, slipping them into his pocket for the time being. There is, of course, still the matter of /getting/ Quark to the medbay--without him passing out from the pain, preferrably. And at Scott's entrance, he glances between him and Jean. "Ah, hello," he offers, glancing over towards Kitty for direction.
Fortunately, Kitty manages to keep from giggling, which would do Bad Things when one is injecting The Good Stuff. Wonder if this'll make him loopy. Lockheed makes a noise not altogether unlike purring as Jean gives him Attention(tm), and when Kitty draws the needle away, she glances over to Piotr, leaning to the side to peek at the labels curiously. Oh wait, that's right. She half turns from where she was crouched by Chris to wave cheerfully, "Hiya Scott. Um. Chris like.. fell down the stairs." Then she glances at Jean, still worried, and then back to the other, "An' Jean's not feelin' too hot." Which is like, one of The understatements of the YEAR. Sorry Jean, but sitting up and Doing Stuff when you're Sick is Bad. (As the player gets into the habit of Randomly Capitalizing Words again.) As for Getting Quark to the medbay.. well! If they have a stretcher downsta.. OOH! IDEA! Maybe Tina will be willing to be the stretcher for them? Yes, no? Didn't think so. 6.6;
Quark breathes more deeply and relaxed, as the drugs kick in quite quickly after just a few moments. Thankfully, the agony just kind of fades away, leaving his body limp and temporarily pain-free. Hooray for medicative drugs! Consequently, his mind wanders a bit, so any worried thoughts about Noren are also shoved aside for now. His eyes flicker back to Scott, and he adds to Kitty's vague explanation with a half-loopy smile, "The lights bothered me, so I teleported away." He frowns and shrugs, adding in a distant tone, "But then I got here...but at least it doesn't hurt now." Sighing, he closes his eyes for a moment and takes some more relaxing breaths...mmm. "How am I supposed to get out of here, though...?" That appears to be the question of the hour, it seems.
Jean seems content to hug Lockheed and let Kitty explain things in her own inimicable way, sinking back against the support of her (Or, rather, Professor Xavier's) wheelchair and letting her eyes ghost halfway shut. She gives Nate a tired little smile, but refrains from the usual telepathic greeting between mother and child, 'lest she accidentally greet too loudly. "And of course before that, he broke his leg because the field trip to Cameroon this year ended in a plane crash." she adds on. "I was thinking I'd overextended myself with Cerebro, and that's why I've had bad vertigo the past week, but now..." A shake of her head. "It doesn't matter, I'll live. If you two want to get him down to the medical bay, he should be all right for transport." And then Jean goes quite still all of a sudden, head drooping and her shoulders falling slack.
Nate gives a little whimper at Mommy, and Scott gets a little paler. "A plane crash? You used Cerebro, and have had vertigo for a week. Jesus Christ. I love how people just share things with me these days. I don't have the plague despite you people thinking I'm evil incarnate," he states, giving the various students -looks- with his red contacts. "Take Chris downstairs. Jean and I need to talk. Alone." He's assuming Jean is just weak right now, and trying to avoid more conversation. So he hefts Nate under one arm, and tries to get behind Jean's wheelchair to push. Scott behind Xavier's wheelchair. Meeeeemories....
Awww. If Jean weren't so ill, that would be so cute. Well it's still cute. Only cute with dire undertones n' stuff. Lockheed croons affectionately at the Jeaninator, just as Kitty is looking towards the woman with a, "Do you think it's safe to mooo..oh. Cool then." A glance to Piotr, "How badly bashed is the wheelchair? If the wheels aren't busted that badly it might suit enough to get him down to the med bay. Or I can go down and see if we've got a spare stretcher or something -" She trails off absently, glancing at Jean when she goes still. Oh that's a scary sight. Scary enough to have Lockheed crawling out of the woman's lap lest he be squished by any rushing, concerned individuals. And then she glances back at Scott, blinking in surprise. The heck's he giving /her/ that look for? SHE's not one of the students that was making the sign of the cross cuz he didn't stay at the institute anymore, for heavens sakes. "C'mon Lockheed." Kitty calls, urging her dragon up from the ill telepath's lap and back to her shoulder, where he coils and watches the pair start off, crooning worriedly.
Quark continues to peacefully stare ahead with that same funny smile on his face, but knows that they're talking about moving him. Although his neck and back muscles have now seized up from the trauma enough to make movement difficult, it is still possible. However, he glances at Jean and, drugs or not, frowns. He asks absently, "Jean...you alright?" Well, no, she probably isn't. But as he's currently under the effects of powerful painkillers and relaxants, it's hard to make himself be as worried as he otherwise would be. He listens to Scott talk, but doesn't reply; if Scott happens to give him an odd glance for the current events, it simply brushes over his distant-focused gaze. Instead, Quark smiles at Nate happily, going so far as to wave his right arm at the happy, innocent infant.
And Peter's not even HERE any more, let alone crossing Scott. Oy. But they were going to take Chris downstairs anyways. "I think he will not be in very much pain now no matter how we take him down. Perhaps I should just carry him to get him there faster?" And with less drama too. The last thing the little ones need to see is another stretcher in these halls.
Jean remains sitting very still, the combination of happy drugged thoughts from Quark, raging upset from Forge somewhere else in the mansion, confusion, worry and irritation from Scott, and awhole range of other thoughts and feelings from a school full of trouble sending her into her own head a bit, withdrawing from what she can't, at the moment, block out. Fortunately, Jean is no longer a ten year old girl, so catatonia isn't on the menu. But she's uncommunicative as Scott wheels her away, bar a vague projection that she wants Logan to come and make everyone go away or be quiet.
But Logan isn't here, and Scott is. And so he carefully wheels Jean towards her room, leaving Peter and Kitty to help Chris. They're both capable enough kids. And the dysfuntional family enters Jean's room out of sight.
Yeah! With the shotgun right!? KABANG! 'GIT OFFA MAH PROPERTAY!'!..Okay, maybe not. Kitty straightens, watching the pair head off, just as worriedly as Lockheed. She reaches up to gently pet the dragon, "It's okay Lockheed - Jeannie'll be all right." She hopes. Glancing back at Piotr, Kitty nods, "All right. Shall we take the short-cut?"
<< XS >> Jean's Room - Lv3
Large and airy this end of the hall room; the door from the hallway bisects one wall. To the right, an office area complete with overstuffed bookshelves and a desk with computer, docking stations for peripherals, and piles of papers both research and student. To the left, privacy screens in black lacquered wood and white rice paper enclose a sleeping area containing a bedside table and lamp, and a double futon with many pillows and an addictively comfortable duvet. The outer wall features two bay windows with cushioned window seats on either side of a small fieldstone fireplace. An oriental rug stands in front of the hearth, with a small cream coloured sofa perfectly placed for a quiet evening in. There are two additional rugs in the sleeping and office areas, otherwise the parquet floor is bare. Walls hung with gray-blue wallpaper and with acccents in black and white, the simple empty space allows for both visual and mental tranquility, aided and abetted by candles scattered about on black worked-metal stands. A door on the left wall leads to a fairly nice bathroom, and a matching one on the right opens into a large walk-in closet.
[Exits : [O]ut ]
[Sleepers: Logan]
Scott wheels Jean in, leaving her inside the door, then moving to set Nate on the bed, walking to Jean's dresser and grabbing a certain Phoenix toy for the boy to play with. Jean's door is closed, and Scott watches Jean. "Do you need help getting into bed?" he asks quietly, trying to get a response from Jean now that they're alone. He's calm for the moment. But beyond that cannot be promised.
Logan has connected.
Jean was actually the one to request Logan to go off and use his CIA training to get to the bottom of things. But it's a woman's prerogative to be inconsistant, and even moreso when they're ill and with their psionic abilities all over the map. "I'll be fine..." is the response that Scott gets, a wispy, drifting tone, but a response at least, coming out of the internal exile as a few floors of distance are put between her and the others. "Just let me sit on my couch. Logan will be here, and I don't want to sit in another testosterone match."
Scott raises a brow at Jean. "You are not fine. You're in a wheelchair for heaven's sake. Logan." He says the name a bit bitterly. "Fine. I'll leave you to wait for your rugged prince. But I'm not leaving my son in a place where half the people seem to be in wheelchairs for some odd reason. You can come pick him up when you're able to walk around on your own."
Logan reacts to another telepathic summons, as Logan was managing as best he could, to start skimming over surveillance records, and sensor reports of those around the school. A knock on Jean's door is given, before he pokes his head in, in case there are others in the room. Giving a look to Scott, Logan nods atleast, and then towards Jubilee, before he steps quietly across the room and kneels next to Jean, offering her help to get her situated on the couch. He looks back up at Scott, and snorts a bit. "Your son is a trooper. Probably safer than anyone else at this school."
Jean winces at the bitterness, visibly flinching at the dose of Scott Summers internalized emotion after months of being at a remove from it. Her hands nervously pleat the edge of her dressing gown, and she seems at a loss for words. "Scott... that's not what I meant. I'm sorry. Please sit down?" she settles for old habits, and pleads with him to stay. "I'll explain, it's just... it's -hard-. You're broadcasting, and I don't have my mental barriers... Logan!" Cue the relief. "Can you..." Tell Scott why half the school is down. Because Jean is fading out again.
Scott gives Jean another -look-. "I am -not- broadcasting. And it is what you meant. You were always the most brutally honest when you're not composed. You don't need to explain anything. Logan is here. He's who you wanted anyways. I'm taking Nate back with me until you're better." Logan gets a glance. "Take care of her." And he moves towards the bed to get his son. He doesn't want old habits.
Logan stands back up and Scott, and is about to say something but shrugs and just lets it go. Logan doesn't need to add to any hostility already present. He simply nods to Scott, as he gets Nate. "S'what I'm trying to do, cept she doesn't stay put." Helping Jean onto her couch, Logan debriefs Scott in about 10 seconds. "Somethings happening to the students. Attacks or something. If one more student gets hurt, schools going into lockdown."
Scott gives a slight snort. "She never liked being worried about. You've gotten further with that then I have. That's why I'm lea..." and then he pauses. "What?!?" He pauses with Nate in his arms, looking from Logan to Jean. "Someone is attacking the students in the school..." and then he looks back at Logan. "It would have been nice to have known before I brought Nate back, I would have brought him someplace secure. She's been having problems for a week she said earlier, before she got all... quiet and stuff. How long have the attacks on students been going on?" he asks, narrowing his eyes. He isn't the leader of the X-Men, but someone is messing with 'his' school. And despite the bad blood, he can't tolerate that. And he can still put things together rather quickly that don't involve personal realationships.
Jean would normally not cling to Logan so openly in Scott's presence, but a) she's really got no other choice in her condition, and b) Scott's not exactly being the most shining example of supportive tolerance. So, cling she does as she's transferred over to the couch, settling in on the cushions, and reaching over for Nate. "Can I hold him, please?" is asked quietly. "I don't want to fight. I -can't-."
Logan hasn't started anything, and even with Scott continuing with his own complaining, Logan just shakes his head and shrugs at the comments. "Well, if we did that, then we wouldn't have had your cheery company. I think for 3 or 4 days now." He carries Jean easily onto the couch, before he stands up again, and moves back towards the door, closing it as his ears pickup something, and he snorts audibly again, a small smirk cracking one side of his face. "Teachers getting attacked mysteriously, students outside. A few more students were found too. Somethings gotta be done about the schools safety. Or has already..."
"Like you'd mind me not being around for a few days. You'd probably throw a party," Scott replies dryly to Logan. And Logan closes the door, and Scott moves towards the couch to give Nate to Jean to hold. And then his arms fold across his chest. "You should lockdown the school if it is really that bad Logan. You and I both know that. I'm surprised you haven't already if half of what you just said is true." A careful look is given to Jean and Nate, before he regards Logan once more. "And I hope you realize that if you ain't sick, I'm not responsible." Just to clear his name before fingers start being pointed.
Jean doesn't have Logan's senses, but she's got her own hypersensitive abilities in other areas. As she cuddles Nate to her, drawing comfort from the innocent little boy who seems content to lie quite unusually still for a healthy toddler, no doubt sensing his mother's condition, she replies that "We just have." in an absent tone. "Hank's ordered a full lockdown. Scott... we haven't touched your old room."
Logan says, "How do you know no hasn't tried yet anyways. I'd probably think I had a cold or something." He shrugs at this point, and then walks across to close the bathroom door, as a loud series of metallic clanks can be heard from within, before he opens them again, the light from outside cut off now. "So now you're suprised." Logan is still relatively calm and even chuckles a bit. "So it looks like you'll be staying with us for a few more days now, till we find out what's behind all this. If it stops, we know it's something from outside the school. If it continues, well then, we know we got an inside man on the job, and who ever that is, ain't gonna be glad they're doing what they're doin, once I get a hold of them." He holds one fist up to the palm of his other hand, and lets loose a claw on purpose, spearing clean through his hand, before he slowly draws the blade out, wincing a bit, the muscles in his jaw vibrating, before he lets loose the blade completely, his palm looking no worse for wear as the wound seals shut in a matter of seconds.
Scott looks at the floor. He knew this was coming somehow. "If possible, can someone get a message to Emma that I'm not coming home until this gets settled?" And then a tilt of his head to Logan. "So am I ordered to my room, or am I allowed to help?" His jaw clenches a bit at Logan's act of manliness. "Please no stabbing in front of my son. But I'd like to be there when you find out who did it." Gasp. Did Scott just admit Logan might be helpful in kicking ass? Oh yes, he did.
Jean merely covers Nate's eyes and watches Logan with a slight shake of her head and a wry smile. "In the meantime, Hank is working on about a dozen fixes for the dozen problems. I've been helping him as much as I've been able." she states, tone more clear now that she's resting, Nate cuddled up with her. "Or... as much as I can without someone coming in and taking my notes away from me... but Logan's been working on the security aspect, Jareth is checking our online status, and we've got Drake helping Logan. You could probably lend Hank and Forge a hand...?" she offers. "Or maybe run some tactical sims on the data Logan will be getting."
Piotr has arrived.
There's a timid knock on the door. Yeah, that'd be Piotr's gentle touch. Either that or a touch of real nerves. The piece of paper with Hank's orders on it has gone beyond his claw markings. While it's not exactly crumpled, there are some definite stress marks from someone clutching at it very tightly. Now if I was a Wolverine, yes, this is where I would hide. Perhaps. And if not, he has to go back and face Hank orders still in hand. Neither's a very exciting prospect.
Logan says, "Well, a little too late for that now, but I remember that for future reference. Well, since you're still on 'her' side, you'll most likely be kept away from sources of sensitive information still." He still doesn't agree with having to let Drake help him, Drake is Scott's toadie, not his. As Jean explains the state of things, he pauses, looking up at the door, before Piotr knocks, and then as he knocks, Logan says, "Come in," before the timid rapping on Jean's chamber door ceases.
Scott gives Jean a slight nod. "You'll need to give me access codes again for me to do that, but, I'll get to it. I'm going to check out my room first, then I'll head down and see what I can get accomplished," Scott states, trying not to snarl at the comment 'her side'. But he doesn't say anything, and instead turns for the door. Guess that means Jeanie is keeping Nate in her arms. At least she isn't curled in herself anymore. And there is a knock, and someone is told to come in. Scott's player going to bed is delated by another round of poses. Damn you people.
"I'll do that before I go to sleep tonight," Jean promises, peeking up as best she can from her couch, which faces the fireplace rather than the door. Nate is getting tired of lying still, and instead, with a messy peck to his mum's cheek, slides off the couch to go toddle around on the hearth rug and search after his toy phoenix. "Storm's busy making sure the students are all right. And yeah, Logan. I'll leave you in charge of the investigation still," Deputy Headmistress Grey promises from her sickbed. (Sickcouch?) "Scott... it's up to you where you'd like to help, really. Consider yourself a free-agent." There. A nicer word than 'her side'.
Piotr pulls the door open slowly, a good thing to, else he might have run into Scott as he turns toward the door. "Ah, hello," he says slowly. "I am sorry to interrupt. Dr. McCoy... has asked me to give these... orders to Professor Logan." Orders indeed. No one is to leave the mansion, even so much as set foot on the grounds, on pain of death, by order of Hank. Not much secret there; it's printed boldly on the paper, right there for the world to see.
Logan isn't about to give Scott any access just yet, but does stroll back across the room, to take the 'orders' from Hank, and chuckles. Reading it, Logan smirks, handing the note to Jean. "And he says that he's a pacifist. He just gets me to do his dirty work."
Nate toddles over to Logan and attaches himself to the man's leg, completely unconcerned about the larger matters in the world now that he's home, he's seen mum, and now it's time to solicit attention from other sources. Jean, meanwhile, merely laughs, if very wryly. "Ah, good old Hank. He's never had to deal with doing my job before,"
( Scott nods at Jean's words, acknowledging her... tactful word choice before turning to Logan, his face hardening involuntarily. "Inside or outside job, I'm still the best tactician you've got. I'd like to see whatever data you've got assembled. On the attacks." No need to go accessing other stuff. Just put him to work with what he needs. "In the morning." With a stoic nod to Logan and Peter, he crosses the room for the door, pausing at it to turn and look at the redhead on the couch. "And Jean... Take care of yourself. Whatever you need. You know that." And he's gone. ) [Spoofed By: Jubilee]
The next morning, Jean is visited by Scott, and things are much more civil.
Then something very strange and unexpected happens.
She had no idea how long she'd been floating like this. Time had precious little meaning in this plane, wherever it was.
Old memories mixed with present realities, swirling about her like the fireflies ((She could remember warm summer nights with her father, racing about barefoot on the lawn, catch them, Jean, here's a jar, that's a fine set of grass stains there, green-eyed girl, we won't let your mother see.)) she'd always compared herself to. ((Burning bright and beautifully, and only for a season.)) ((To everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven.)) ((Nate, so young so bright so little time. Beautiful doomed boy.))
She could remember what it felt like when Annie died ((Annie, the car, the car, I'm so sorry, come back, what's happening, wake up, please?)) when the fear and panic became a sudden shared pain, sharp and burning, swelling, like drowning in lava. ((Massive internal bleeding, collapsed lungs, pericardial effusion, nothing you could have done, Jean, she truly realized as she paged though her medical school texts.)) And then a sense of awakening, followed by being surrounded in Annie, lost and confused and awed as her little girl mind found itself inside another's for the first time. ((The pictures, all caught up in jewels like on her Twinkle Eye My Little Ponies and playing like little TV shows, but all the jewels were going black and dark and floating away. Come back, Annie, where are you going?))
But what she remembered most was the light. (( I've got to go now, Jean, I'm sorry, said Annie, and the pain was gone and she was there and who knew what it was, but it was so white and warm, and everything was all right, and OK, and people were going to miss her, but that's how it's supposed to be. )) There was so much peace, and she'd wanted to follow that light, but then she was out and away, and her mother was half crushing her in her arms, ((Scared and worried and frightened, and guilty that she should be so relieved that it wasn't Jean, wasn't Jean, oh god, what kind of a monster am I? That little girl's dead.)) and she wanted to go back to it, away from the noisy world and her mother's thoughts, although she hadn't known yet that her mother wasn't just talking as usual.
There were months of horror after that, where she couldn't be sure who was thinking in her head, and what thoughts were her own, until she'd learned the trick of how to make her mind turn in on itself, ((Like the Popple toy that lived on the end of her bed. Inside-out and nobody can see that she's here, nobody can talk to her. Safe now.)) but she never again was afraid of dying. She knew now, you see.
She must be dying. She could see the light again now, and this time she knew it was for her. ((Carbon dioxide accumulation in the bloodstream and the body tissues, producing a sensation of peace and euphoria, along with visual hallucinations, said Dr. Arthurs, atheist and skeptic.)) She couldn't remember why she was floating here, not quite Astral, not quite on any other plane, but she could remember the world spinning, the burning taste of bile in the back of her throat and there was something very important...
But was anything that important any more? She was here, now, and this time it was for her. Hadn't she earned her rest? Hadn't she done enough? She could remember, too, that she had been so very tired, but she hadn't wanted to let it show. Musn't let herself be seen not all together. (("You were always the most brutally honest when you're not composed.")) Who'd said that? Scott. But couldn't he see that she still loved him, but that they just weren't right? (("Scott always was what the students affectionately termed a 'fixer-upper'. But I trust you to make the choice that's right for you, Jean." Professor Xavier's voice, warm and soothing, his mind bracing hers, easing her fears and the sad inevitability.)) But of course she and Scott had stopped really seeing each other so long ago, and now saw mostly what they wanted to see. Not like Logan... (("I don't want you to be anything for me, Red. Just Jean, whoever she is.")) There was something she knew, it would upset him. What was it?
The light increased, streaming towards her, spinning out and around to cocoon her in it, and she could feel her body starting to shut down, feel the lighting flashes of its over-stimulated brain starting to thin, the near-epileptic storm passing, for good if she'd let it. Was it her dying that would upset him? He'd rage and rant and perhaps run... but he'd be all right in the end. No, that wasn't it. Something... only she knew?
She had so many secrets.
No, this wasn't a secret, this was something she was meant to tell, what was it? The light swirled about her, enticing with its silent offer of forgetfulness, of passing duty on to other shoulders, of rest, of safety. ((Mutant registration, paraded in front of them all as a monster and a murderer, if only in potentia.)) ((Burn the witch, burn the witch, burn the witch.)) ((A crushing fear for the world her son would live in.)) ((Even other mutants fear a telepath.)) ((Sinister, anywhere any time, there is no safety, not even in the school.)) Safety... but only for her. ((Not Sinister. Sssss... STRYKER!!))
At the remembered name, a flood of images, mingled memories of her own mind and someone else's. Alkali Lake and a young girl roller blading, perfectly circular scars at the nape of the neck and black hair moved aside as cold metal touches skin. Darkness, light, and the hanging image of a man's face. ((This man is a general? He looks more like a chronic alchoholic.)) ((Oh my God, Jubilee? Jubilee!!)) (("Bleh. Jubilee, did you use water from my teakettle or something? This tastes... off.")) A flickering dance of chemical structures, flipping their acid chains at her like a can-can dancers's skirts.
All at once, the soothing cocoon of light and warmth felt like a mummy's binding linens to her, and she became more aware of the body she was clinging to only tentatively, hearing the death-rattle in its' breathing, feeling the faltering of its' overstressed heart. No, no!!! Not like this! Not when she was the only one who knew! She struggled free of the light and, wrapped in fire in her mind's eye, she fell back to earth, a shred of imagery from long-ago readings of Milton catching in her mind. ((Lucifer, the favourite, cast out and falling from heaven, wreathed in flames... am I arrogant, to do this? Will I be cast out too?)) But this couldn't be arrogance, she had a mission, she had to help, she had to tell them. She had to...
Fight. Live. Remember.
<< HELP ME!! >>
Then Jean called for help and Scott and Logan answered.
--------------------------------------------------
<< XS >> Great Hall - Lv1
Marbled floors of cool gray and pale whites ice the floor in sectioned tiles, hidden partially by threaded golds and woven greens that quickly blend in to other colors of large Persian rug. Spacious, no doubt about this, my friends, with panels of metal guarded the elevator doors whilst brass button-plate gleams with the pale orange glow of the elevator buttons. Not unlike a school's lobby with lofty ceiling soaring up eggshell plastered ceiling with golden chandelier curling like harden cobwebs with crystalline bulbs used to illuminate the vast spacious room.
Despite the elevator, stairs are seen just beyond the first corridor, leading up and clandestine by the cherry-wood paneled walls that glide fluidly in to other halls and stairs and various offices. A few chairs and even some tables with odd glass lamps light this bright Great Hall, supporting many students, people, and assortment of other things not mentioned. Light is able to stream in through the many jewel-cut windows set in gothic-large double doors and flanking door either side and above with more glass motifs.
[Exits : [H]allway, [R]ecreation [R]oom, [Li]brary, [T]he [E]levator, and [M]ain [E]ntrance ]
[Players : Quark, Piotr, and Kitty ]
That's a wee bit of an understatement, Petey-boy. Kitty starts in surprise at the sight and sound of poor Chris doing his best impression of a Slinky. Only .. you know.. without the coils. And with a lot more pain and noise. "Oh my god..!" Here, Kitty breaks into a jog after Piotr when the Russian hurries over to Chris. Lockheed on the other hand, is far from concerned over Chris. There's a ham sandwich to rescue! So while Kitty hurries forward, Lockheed hops off of her shoulder and lunges for the fallen treat, snapping it up. Mine now! <3
Quark would be thankful for Peter's save, keeping this whole ordeal from adding insult to injury--but in his current condition, Quark isn't exactly capable of replying. While he's not exactly knocked out, he's still blind and, thanks to that last hard bump to his head, dazed and confused. His 'good leg'--now with new beatings and bruises of its own--twitches once as Quark groans in muffled pain, his head face down on the floor between his spread-out hands. The blinding glare in his eyes starts to fade away, but he still can't see: the sharp hit to his head has aroused pretty stars and the like. Joy. So, he just sort of lies there, wheezing as he tries to take in some bigger breaths despite the sharp pain in his side from the trip.
Piotr is no medical expert, not by any means. Do you move someone that's fallen down the stairs? Put a neck brace on them? No, that's something else entirely. He stays by the boy's side for a moment, glancing up at Kitty. Dazed is not good, right? "Chris, can you say anything? What happened." Darn teleporters. Never watch where they're going.
Whiiiiiirrrrr. Coming from a direction -other- than the top of the stairs is one of Professor Xavier's snazzier models of old wheelchair, and in it is Dr. Grey, still dressed in her patient-wear of sating pyjamas and a silk dressing gown, with one hand on the wheelchair controls, and the other wrapped around a travel mug of coffee in a death grip. Her features are white and her lips compressed together as she deals with having a mind full of uncontrolled others' pain, something she's not had to experience since she was about eleven. "What happened?" is asked with tight precision. "Piotr, ask if he can feel his toes. Kitty, can you go up to my room and grab my first aid kit?"
Darn teleporters indeed. THe nerve they have, not looking before they leap. Isn't that the basics of any teleporter? The whirring of a wheelchair causes Kitty to look away from Piotr and Chris, at first thinking it might be Xavier. "Jean?" Isn't she supposed to be resting? Kitty shakes her head, "I dunno. Piotr and I were just talking," About relaxing, of all things, "Then Chris 'ported in lookin' twenty shades of scared-" She breaks off as Lockheed reclaims his spot on her shoulder, swallowing down the last of the ham and belching quietly. Naughty dragon. Looking back to Jean, Kitty straightens, "And he fell down the stairs. Piotr caught the chair before it squished him. Chris I mean." And with orders given, Kitty nods briskly, "Will do." She agrees, sprinting up the stairs, and from there into the air through the ceiling. It's quicker that way!
Quark moves. Well, that's a good sign! At least he's alive. He moves again, his left leg shifting over a bit, as Quark tests his leg for pain; it hurts, but not too much. Very slowly, he lifts his head off of the ground, inhaling sharply as the movement causes some more pain in his upper back area, but not his neck. Good--it's not broken or fractured. Moving his mouth, he finally mutters loud enough in a dry tone for everyone present to hear, "...Why the hell does all this shit happen to me?" Turning his neck towards Jean, he responds slowly, "I...I can feel my legs. And move them. But it hurts, especially my right leg." He frowns as he tastes a fresh drop of warm liquid in his mouth; after moment, he realizes it's blood: the bump to his head has resulted in a flat yet relatively narrow gash, and some resulting drops are now rolling down the right side of his head. Darn. "...I don't know what happened. But...God, it hurts."
Well, that's taken care of at least. Peter offers an arm to Chris to help him into a better position, should he need the assistance. Jean's here now. She can make anything better. He glances between them. "Where did you come from then, if you do not know what happened?"
Jean doesn't really look in a condition to tie two ends of a broken string back together, drooping in her wheelchair and pressing a hand to her temples in an attempt to block things out. "Kitty." she requests again, tone a murmur now. "Can you go up to my room and get my first aid kit. I can feel everything that Chris is feeling, so I'm no good to anyone until he's doped a bit." The first rule of triage is to make sure that you-the-doctor are safe, after all. "Chris," she turns back to her erstwhile patient, goosing the wheelchair she's in forward just a little more. "How does your right leg hurt? Is it along the area where the first break is, or is it in a new area?"
Geronimo! Not wasting time by using the more conventional stairs, Kitty drops through the ceiling at the same spot she ventured up through it. The sooner they get Quark taken care of, the sooner they can get Jean to rest o_o Right? Does Kitty have to go find Logan and tattle on you, young lady? "Got the First Aid kit." Kitty announces, scurrying over. "What do you need us to do?" Isn't it wonderful how she oh so helpfully volunteers you, Piotr? Because she surely doesn't expect JEAN to do the work. "Shouldn't we call Mr McCoy too?" Though he's probably with someone.
Quark blinks and looks back and forth between Peter and Jean, before deciding that he should probably answer Jean first. After all, like she says, his pain is causing her pain. He tries to move his right leg but stops instantly, biting his lip to stifle a mild shout of pain. Shaking his head, he replies with an angry sigh, "Same spot as the break...Not sure, but that last step might've re-broken the bone. I don't think I can move it much, but even if it's not broken or fractured, it sure hurts like hell." Shaking his head again, this time to clear the last remnants of blurriness, he turns to Peter and replies, "I...just don't remember the whole thing. That blow to my head has kinda jostled me. But I think I can explain." Frowning in deep thought, he adds slowly in a strained voice as he fights to remember what happened, "Ummm...I was looking for some books to read in the library. Just as I was about to go, I heard this loud snapping, popping noice. Like...glass breaking, or something." That would be the security camera being broken. "And, I heard someone behind me move towards me--and all of a sudden, there was this blinding flare, and I lost my vision. I couldn't see." Shrugging, he continues with a long inhalation to focus his thoughts, "I figured I was about to be attacked," which he was, "so I had no choice but to risk a blind teleport. And after that..." He motions to the stuff around him, including a damanged wheelchair and scattered books on the floor. "...I fell down the stairs. Painfully."
Piotr glances up to Jean with a 'what should I do' look. "Another attack," he growls. Getting Jean out of bed too. "First Aid kit. What should we give him?" he asks. Volunteering Pete? Heck, if you hadn't, he would have. What else to do, what else to do...
"Huh." says Jean, taking the first aid kit from Kitty with a gentle pat to the teen's hand, and opening it to poke through and retrieve a vial of muscle relaxant, a syringe, and a bottle of painkillers. There's a long inhale as she focuses on keeping fine control long enough to prepare a proper dose of the relaxant, which she then offers cautiously to Piotr. "I need you or Kitty to inject him with this. It's a muscle relaxant, Chris. Your back and neck should be siezing up very shortly, and you'll be needing another x-ray to check on your break. I've got some painkillers here... and you've got a scalp wound, looks like." And a bit of gauze padding emerges from Jean's box of tricks as she navigates still closer. "Here, can you press this against your head?"
Kitty and Lockheed both watch Jean worriedly, though the little dragon shows his interest in the matter at hand by yawning widely. He has a full belly so naturally he's going to be sleepy. Kitty is silent throughout the fussing with the first aid kit, though a faint smile flickers across her face at the pat to her hand. Hee. She's still going to tattle on you though, Jean. For your own good, of course. Kitty sits back against her heels, nodding once, and casting a silent glance at Piotr. If you're squeamish about needles, she can do it! .. oh yes. Let's let Kitty have sharp implements. ^.^
At the sight of the needle, Quark's eyes momentarily widen with a look of 'You're not /really/ going to shoot me with that, are you?', but sighs and nods. He glances between Peter and Kitty, idly wondering who would have a better job of poking him with a needle. Yay. He nods and accepts the gauze, pressing it against his scalp to stop the bleeding. He sighs again as what Jean describes--his back and neck muscles slowly starting to tense and seize up from the fall--starts to occur. Darn it all! Pausing for a moment, he tries to take his mind off current events by asking quietly, "How's Noren doing?" He remembers talking to her in the Congo just days ago, and being so glad that she was safe...and now this. What on earth is going on at the mansion? Why do the ones he love keep getting hurt...?
Scott has arrived.
Piotr holds up his hands, passing the duty (priviledge?) to Kitty. Doubtlessly, she will have the lighter touch. Right? Too many hands can spoil the recovery, not to mention the fact that they're large hands too. Not really suited for such delicate procedures. "Are you okay, Dr. Grey? Should I go get Dr. McCoy?"
The scene? Well, a Quark in a wheelchair has just gone tumbling down the stairs after teleporting blindly to the top of them. A Piotr and a Kitty happened to be on hand, and a Jean in a wheelchair arrived soon after, drawn by the projections of a Quark in pain. Right now, we've got a Jean near collapse but gamely playing lady doctor, leaned back in her chair but directing Kitty and Piotr on what to do for Quark. "Take him down to Dr. McCoy once you've given him this, and he's taken that pain medication..." she murmurs. Otherwise -Jean- is going to be in trouble. "Kitty, remember first aid classes? Use one of the veins in his arm. Chris..." She's brought up short by the question, and has to think for a moment. "Uh... she's... got something that Dr. McCoy and Professor Forge cooked up helping her."
Scott is doing his usual, fatherly, watching Nate duties. Except it's time to bring Nate back to mommy, because that is the unspoken agreement between Jean and Scott. So Scott arrives on the scene with Nate in his arms, looking for Jean. To find the scene in front of him. He pauses, he blinks. He blinks somemore, trying to digest it. No one told him Jean was sick and needed a wheelchair. No one told him the kids being sick was serious. Even the rumormill hasn't hit him in his various comings and goings in visiting Nate. And... he's shocked. "Uh, err...."
BWAHAHAAHAH! STAB! Oh wait. Lockheed peers over at the needle somewhat suspiciously, till Kitty pushes the dragon away with her free hand. "Quit it, Lockheed." She can't give the kid the relaxant with him breathing down her neck - almost literally. So, Lockheed mreeps and abandons Kitty's shoulder to land on Jean's lap, folding his wings back as he peers up at the woman, cooing worriedly. He's almost as bad as the mansion cats sometimes. At any rate, now that Lockheed isn't hovering over her (literally), Kitty accepts the needle from Piotr, nodding once at Jean's guidance,
"Right, I remember." She glances back at Quark cheerfully. WAY too cheerfully, in a way. "Don't worry Chris, this won't hurt me a bit." ^.^ .. Well it won't! And it won't hurt him either, so long as he doesn't you know.. wriggle and squirm like a fish on a hook, as she catches up one of Chris's arms, turning it over to inject the relaxant. She doesn't notice Scott's entrance, natch, since she's focused on this - but Lockheed does; and the little dragon cranes his neck about curiously.
Quark offers a weak glare in Kitty's direction at her ironic yet amusing reassurance. Great...just great. "Thanks for the optimism," he replies dryly. He takes a deep breath as she successfully administers the drugs, and waits quietly in place for them to take their effect. Hopefully, this will give him a good excuse to sleep; he figures once the painkillers wear off, it'll be pretty hard to do so. To Jean, he replies with a worried frown, "But...is she alright? The fiberglass...is she going to be ok?" Apparently, Noren's pain is still more agonizing to him than his own, at the moment. Pausing, he turns to see Scott, arching an eyebrow but saying nothing more. Just kinda watches to see what's going on. But at the sight of Nate, he smiles just a little.
Jean, fortunately, likes cats. And also little Limbo-dragons named Lockheed. While there's a softly startled exclamation, the wheelchair-bound redhead is soon indulging in a little pet therapy, absently rubbing Lockheed's withers and staring intently as Quark is tended to. "Tell Dr. McCoy that he's been dosed with this, and this," she directs Piotr over to see the labels, before changing her mind and just holding bottle and vial out for him to take down. "And... I don't know, Chris. I've seen enough of Forge's work to know that she'll be OK, but I'm..." And oh, how hard is it for Jean to say she's not able to be in control and in charge and making everything better? Impossible, it appears. Because here's "Scott..." And there's a suddenly silent Jean, who, after a moment, manages to come up with a "...Hi? How's Nate?"
This is what happens when you don't have a Fearless Leader leading anymore. Utter chaos. Nate gets shifted a bit in Scott's arms. Jean... in a wheelchair. Scott is still trying to digest this. If she can read his thoughts, she can see how torn his emotions are, and even if she can't, she can see the expression on his face. He still loves her, he still worries, but... it just isn't his place. "Hello, Jean." A slight pause before her name before his voice cracks. "What exactly is going on that Kitty is giving Chris drugs, and you're both in wheelchairs?" Not that she needs to tell him, or he has any right to know. But he still cares a lot despite the mean words he throws out now and then.
Piotr takes the items from Jean, slipping them into his pocket for the time being. There is, of course, still the matter of /getting/ Quark to the medbay--without him passing out from the pain, preferrably. And at Scott's entrance, he glances between him and Jean. "Ah, hello," he offers, glancing over towards Kitty for direction.
Fortunately, Kitty manages to keep from giggling, which would do Bad Things when one is injecting The Good Stuff. Wonder if this'll make him loopy. Lockheed makes a noise not altogether unlike purring as Jean gives him Attention(tm), and when Kitty draws the needle away, she glances over to Piotr, leaning to the side to peek at the labels curiously. Oh wait, that's right. She half turns from where she was crouched by Chris to wave cheerfully, "Hiya Scott. Um. Chris like.. fell down the stairs." Then she glances at Jean, still worried, and then back to the other, "An' Jean's not feelin' too hot." Which is like, one of The understatements of the YEAR. Sorry Jean, but sitting up and Doing Stuff when you're Sick is Bad. (As the player gets into the habit of Randomly Capitalizing Words again.) As for Getting Quark to the medbay.. well! If they have a stretcher downsta.. OOH! IDEA! Maybe Tina will be willing to be the stretcher for them? Yes, no? Didn't think so. 6.6;
Quark breathes more deeply and relaxed, as the drugs kick in quite quickly after just a few moments. Thankfully, the agony just kind of fades away, leaving his body limp and temporarily pain-free. Hooray for medicative drugs! Consequently, his mind wanders a bit, so any worried thoughts about Noren are also shoved aside for now. His eyes flicker back to Scott, and he adds to Kitty's vague explanation with a half-loopy smile, "The lights bothered me, so I teleported away." He frowns and shrugs, adding in a distant tone, "But then I got here...but at least it doesn't hurt now." Sighing, he closes his eyes for a moment and takes some more relaxing breaths...mmm. "How am I supposed to get out of here, though...?" That appears to be the question of the hour, it seems.
Jean seems content to hug Lockheed and let Kitty explain things in her own inimicable way, sinking back against the support of her (Or, rather, Professor Xavier's) wheelchair and letting her eyes ghost halfway shut. She gives Nate a tired little smile, but refrains from the usual telepathic greeting between mother and child, 'lest she accidentally greet too loudly. "And of course before that, he broke his leg because the field trip to Cameroon this year ended in a plane crash." she adds on. "I was thinking I'd overextended myself with Cerebro, and that's why I've had bad vertigo the past week, but now..." A shake of her head. "It doesn't matter, I'll live. If you two want to get him down to the medical bay, he should be all right for transport." And then Jean goes quite still all of a sudden, head drooping and her shoulders falling slack.
Nate gives a little whimper at Mommy, and Scott gets a little paler. "A plane crash? You used Cerebro, and have had vertigo for a week. Jesus Christ. I love how people just share things with me these days. I don't have the plague despite you people thinking I'm evil incarnate," he states, giving the various students -looks- with his red contacts. "Take Chris downstairs. Jean and I need to talk. Alone." He's assuming Jean is just weak right now, and trying to avoid more conversation. So he hefts Nate under one arm, and tries to get behind Jean's wheelchair to push. Scott behind Xavier's wheelchair. Meeeeemories....
Awww. If Jean weren't so ill, that would be so cute. Well it's still cute. Only cute with dire undertones n' stuff. Lockheed croons affectionately at the Jeaninator, just as Kitty is looking towards the woman with a, "Do you think it's safe to mooo..oh. Cool then." A glance to Piotr, "How badly bashed is the wheelchair? If the wheels aren't busted that badly it might suit enough to get him down to the med bay. Or I can go down and see if we've got a spare stretcher or something -" She trails off absently, glancing at Jean when she goes still. Oh that's a scary sight. Scary enough to have Lockheed crawling out of the woman's lap lest he be squished by any rushing, concerned individuals. And then she glances back at Scott, blinking in surprise. The heck's he giving /her/ that look for? SHE's not one of the students that was making the sign of the cross cuz he didn't stay at the institute anymore, for heavens sakes. "C'mon Lockheed." Kitty calls, urging her dragon up from the ill telepath's lap and back to her shoulder, where he coils and watches the pair start off, crooning worriedly.
Quark continues to peacefully stare ahead with that same funny smile on his face, but knows that they're talking about moving him. Although his neck and back muscles have now seized up from the trauma enough to make movement difficult, it is still possible. However, he glances at Jean and, drugs or not, frowns. He asks absently, "Jean...you alright?" Well, no, she probably isn't. But as he's currently under the effects of powerful painkillers and relaxants, it's hard to make himself be as worried as he otherwise would be. He listens to Scott talk, but doesn't reply; if Scott happens to give him an odd glance for the current events, it simply brushes over his distant-focused gaze. Instead, Quark smiles at Nate happily, going so far as to wave his right arm at the happy, innocent infant.
And Peter's not even HERE any more, let alone crossing Scott. Oy. But they were going to take Chris downstairs anyways. "I think he will not be in very much pain now no matter how we take him down. Perhaps I should just carry him to get him there faster?" And with less drama too. The last thing the little ones need to see is another stretcher in these halls.
Jean remains sitting very still, the combination of happy drugged thoughts from Quark, raging upset from Forge somewhere else in the mansion, confusion, worry and irritation from Scott, and awhole range of other thoughts and feelings from a school full of trouble sending her into her own head a bit, withdrawing from what she can't, at the moment, block out. Fortunately, Jean is no longer a ten year old girl, so catatonia isn't on the menu. But she's uncommunicative as Scott wheels her away, bar a vague projection that she wants Logan to come and make everyone go away or be quiet.
But Logan isn't here, and Scott is. And so he carefully wheels Jean towards her room, leaving Peter and Kitty to help Chris. They're both capable enough kids. And the dysfuntional family enters Jean's room out of sight.
Yeah! With the shotgun right!? KABANG! 'GIT OFFA MAH PROPERTAY!'!..Okay, maybe not. Kitty straightens, watching the pair head off, just as worriedly as Lockheed. She reaches up to gently pet the dragon, "It's okay Lockheed - Jeannie'll be all right." She hopes. Glancing back at Piotr, Kitty nods, "All right. Shall we take the short-cut?"
<< XS >> Jean's Room - Lv3
Large and airy this end of the hall room; the door from the hallway bisects one wall. To the right, an office area complete with overstuffed bookshelves and a desk with computer, docking stations for peripherals, and piles of papers both research and student. To the left, privacy screens in black lacquered wood and white rice paper enclose a sleeping area containing a bedside table and lamp, and a double futon with many pillows and an addictively comfortable duvet. The outer wall features two bay windows with cushioned window seats on either side of a small fieldstone fireplace. An oriental rug stands in front of the hearth, with a small cream coloured sofa perfectly placed for a quiet evening in. There are two additional rugs in the sleeping and office areas, otherwise the parquet floor is bare. Walls hung with gray-blue wallpaper and with acccents in black and white, the simple empty space allows for both visual and mental tranquility, aided and abetted by candles scattered about on black worked-metal stands. A door on the left wall leads to a fairly nice bathroom, and a matching one on the right opens into a large walk-in closet.
[Exits : [O]ut ]
[Sleepers: Logan]
Scott wheels Jean in, leaving her inside the door, then moving to set Nate on the bed, walking to Jean's dresser and grabbing a certain Phoenix toy for the boy to play with. Jean's door is closed, and Scott watches Jean. "Do you need help getting into bed?" he asks quietly, trying to get a response from Jean now that they're alone. He's calm for the moment. But beyond that cannot be promised.
Logan has connected.
Jean was actually the one to request Logan to go off and use his CIA training to get to the bottom of things. But it's a woman's prerogative to be inconsistant, and even moreso when they're ill and with their psionic abilities all over the map. "I'll be fine..." is the response that Scott gets, a wispy, drifting tone, but a response at least, coming out of the internal exile as a few floors of distance are put between her and the others. "Just let me sit on my couch. Logan will be here, and I don't want to sit in another testosterone match."
Scott raises a brow at Jean. "You are not fine. You're in a wheelchair for heaven's sake. Logan." He says the name a bit bitterly. "Fine. I'll leave you to wait for your rugged prince. But I'm not leaving my son in a place where half the people seem to be in wheelchairs for some odd reason. You can come pick him up when you're able to walk around on your own."
Logan reacts to another telepathic summons, as Logan was managing as best he could, to start skimming over surveillance records, and sensor reports of those around the school. A knock on Jean's door is given, before he pokes his head in, in case there are others in the room. Giving a look to Scott, Logan nods atleast, and then towards Jubilee, before he steps quietly across the room and kneels next to Jean, offering her help to get her situated on the couch. He looks back up at Scott, and snorts a bit. "Your son is a trooper. Probably safer than anyone else at this school."
Jean winces at the bitterness, visibly flinching at the dose of Scott Summers internalized emotion after months of being at a remove from it. Her hands nervously pleat the edge of her dressing gown, and she seems at a loss for words. "Scott... that's not what I meant. I'm sorry. Please sit down?" she settles for old habits, and pleads with him to stay. "I'll explain, it's just... it's -hard-. You're broadcasting, and I don't have my mental barriers... Logan!" Cue the relief. "Can you..." Tell Scott why half the school is down. Because Jean is fading out again.
Scott gives Jean another -look-. "I am -not- broadcasting. And it is what you meant. You were always the most brutally honest when you're not composed. You don't need to explain anything. Logan is here. He's who you wanted anyways. I'm taking Nate back with me until you're better." Logan gets a glance. "Take care of her." And he moves towards the bed to get his son. He doesn't want old habits.
Logan stands back up and Scott, and is about to say something but shrugs and just lets it go. Logan doesn't need to add to any hostility already present. He simply nods to Scott, as he gets Nate. "S'what I'm trying to do, cept she doesn't stay put." Helping Jean onto her couch, Logan debriefs Scott in about 10 seconds. "Somethings happening to the students. Attacks or something. If one more student gets hurt, schools going into lockdown."
Scott gives a slight snort. "She never liked being worried about. You've gotten further with that then I have. That's why I'm lea..." and then he pauses. "What?!?" He pauses with Nate in his arms, looking from Logan to Jean. "Someone is attacking the students in the school..." and then he looks back at Logan. "It would have been nice to have known before I brought Nate back, I would have brought him someplace secure. She's been having problems for a week she said earlier, before she got all... quiet and stuff. How long have the attacks on students been going on?" he asks, narrowing his eyes. He isn't the leader of the X-Men, but someone is messing with 'his' school. And despite the bad blood, he can't tolerate that. And he can still put things together rather quickly that don't involve personal realationships.
Jean would normally not cling to Logan so openly in Scott's presence, but a) she's really got no other choice in her condition, and b) Scott's not exactly being the most shining example of supportive tolerance. So, cling she does as she's transferred over to the couch, settling in on the cushions, and reaching over for Nate. "Can I hold him, please?" is asked quietly. "I don't want to fight. I -can't-."
Logan hasn't started anything, and even with Scott continuing with his own complaining, Logan just shakes his head and shrugs at the comments. "Well, if we did that, then we wouldn't have had your cheery company. I think for 3 or 4 days now." He carries Jean easily onto the couch, before he stands up again, and moves back towards the door, closing it as his ears pickup something, and he snorts audibly again, a small smirk cracking one side of his face. "Teachers getting attacked mysteriously, students outside. A few more students were found too. Somethings gotta be done about the schools safety. Or has already..."
"Like you'd mind me not being around for a few days. You'd probably throw a party," Scott replies dryly to Logan. And Logan closes the door, and Scott moves towards the couch to give Nate to Jean to hold. And then his arms fold across his chest. "You should lockdown the school if it is really that bad Logan. You and I both know that. I'm surprised you haven't already if half of what you just said is true." A careful look is given to Jean and Nate, before he regards Logan once more. "And I hope you realize that if you ain't sick, I'm not responsible." Just to clear his name before fingers start being pointed.
Jean doesn't have Logan's senses, but she's got her own hypersensitive abilities in other areas. As she cuddles Nate to her, drawing comfort from the innocent little boy who seems content to lie quite unusually still for a healthy toddler, no doubt sensing his mother's condition, she replies that "We just have." in an absent tone. "Hank's ordered a full lockdown. Scott... we haven't touched your old room."
Logan says, "How do you know no hasn't tried yet anyways. I'd probably think I had a cold or something." He shrugs at this point, and then walks across to close the bathroom door, as a loud series of metallic clanks can be heard from within, before he opens them again, the light from outside cut off now. "So now you're suprised." Logan is still relatively calm and even chuckles a bit. "So it looks like you'll be staying with us for a few more days now, till we find out what's behind all this. If it stops, we know it's something from outside the school. If it continues, well then, we know we got an inside man on the job, and who ever that is, ain't gonna be glad they're doing what they're doin, once I get a hold of them." He holds one fist up to the palm of his other hand, and lets loose a claw on purpose, spearing clean through his hand, before he slowly draws the blade out, wincing a bit, the muscles in his jaw vibrating, before he lets loose the blade completely, his palm looking no worse for wear as the wound seals shut in a matter of seconds.
Scott looks at the floor. He knew this was coming somehow. "If possible, can someone get a message to Emma that I'm not coming home until this gets settled?" And then a tilt of his head to Logan. "So am I ordered to my room, or am I allowed to help?" His jaw clenches a bit at Logan's act of manliness. "Please no stabbing in front of my son. But I'd like to be there when you find out who did it." Gasp. Did Scott just admit Logan might be helpful in kicking ass? Oh yes, he did.
Jean merely covers Nate's eyes and watches Logan with a slight shake of her head and a wry smile. "In the meantime, Hank is working on about a dozen fixes for the dozen problems. I've been helping him as much as I've been able." she states, tone more clear now that she's resting, Nate cuddled up with her. "Or... as much as I can without someone coming in and taking my notes away from me... but Logan's been working on the security aspect, Jareth is checking our online status, and we've got Drake helping Logan. You could probably lend Hank and Forge a hand...?" she offers. "Or maybe run some tactical sims on the data Logan will be getting."
Piotr has arrived.
There's a timid knock on the door. Yeah, that'd be Piotr's gentle touch. Either that or a touch of real nerves. The piece of paper with Hank's orders on it has gone beyond his claw markings. While it's not exactly crumpled, there are some definite stress marks from someone clutching at it very tightly. Now if I was a Wolverine, yes, this is where I would hide. Perhaps. And if not, he has to go back and face Hank orders still in hand. Neither's a very exciting prospect.
Logan says, "Well, a little too late for that now, but I remember that for future reference. Well, since you're still on 'her' side, you'll most likely be kept away from sources of sensitive information still." He still doesn't agree with having to let Drake help him, Drake is Scott's toadie, not his. As Jean explains the state of things, he pauses, looking up at the door, before Piotr knocks, and then as he knocks, Logan says, "Come in," before the timid rapping on Jean's chamber door ceases.
Scott gives Jean a slight nod. "You'll need to give me access codes again for me to do that, but, I'll get to it. I'm going to check out my room first, then I'll head down and see what I can get accomplished," Scott states, trying not to snarl at the comment 'her side'. But he doesn't say anything, and instead turns for the door. Guess that means Jeanie is keeping Nate in her arms. At least she isn't curled in herself anymore. And there is a knock, and someone is told to come in. Scott's player going to bed is delated by another round of poses. Damn you people.
"I'll do that before I go to sleep tonight," Jean promises, peeking up as best she can from her couch, which faces the fireplace rather than the door. Nate is getting tired of lying still, and instead, with a messy peck to his mum's cheek, slides off the couch to go toddle around on the hearth rug and search after his toy phoenix. "Storm's busy making sure the students are all right. And yeah, Logan. I'll leave you in charge of the investigation still," Deputy Headmistress Grey promises from her sickbed. (Sickcouch?) "Scott... it's up to you where you'd like to help, really. Consider yourself a free-agent." There. A nicer word than 'her side'.
Piotr pulls the door open slowly, a good thing to, else he might have run into Scott as he turns toward the door. "Ah, hello," he says slowly. "I am sorry to interrupt. Dr. McCoy... has asked me to give these... orders to Professor Logan." Orders indeed. No one is to leave the mansion, even so much as set foot on the grounds, on pain of death, by order of Hank. Not much secret there; it's printed boldly on the paper, right there for the world to see.
Logan isn't about to give Scott any access just yet, but does stroll back across the room, to take the 'orders' from Hank, and chuckles. Reading it, Logan smirks, handing the note to Jean. "And he says that he's a pacifist. He just gets me to do his dirty work."
Nate toddles over to Logan and attaches himself to the man's leg, completely unconcerned about the larger matters in the world now that he's home, he's seen mum, and now it's time to solicit attention from other sources. Jean, meanwhile, merely laughs, if very wryly. "Ah, good old Hank. He's never had to deal with doing my job before,"
( Scott nods at Jean's words, acknowledging her... tactful word choice before turning to Logan, his face hardening involuntarily. "Inside or outside job, I'm still the best tactician you've got. I'd like to see whatever data you've got assembled. On the attacks." No need to go accessing other stuff. Just put him to work with what he needs. "In the morning." With a stoic nod to Logan and Peter, he crosses the room for the door, pausing at it to turn and look at the redhead on the couch. "And Jean... Take care of yourself. Whatever you need. You know that." And he's gone. ) [Spoofed By: Jubilee]
The next morning, Jean is visited by Scott, and things are much more civil.
Then something very strange and unexpected happens.
She had no idea how long she'd been floating like this. Time had precious little meaning in this plane, wherever it was.
Old memories mixed with present realities, swirling about her like the fireflies ((She could remember warm summer nights with her father, racing about barefoot on the lawn, catch them, Jean, here's a jar, that's a fine set of grass stains there, green-eyed girl, we won't let your mother see.)) she'd always compared herself to. ((Burning bright and beautifully, and only for a season.)) ((To everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven.)) ((Nate, so young so bright so little time. Beautiful doomed boy.))
She could remember what it felt like when Annie died ((Annie, the car, the car, I'm so sorry, come back, what's happening, wake up, please?)) when the fear and panic became a sudden shared pain, sharp and burning, swelling, like drowning in lava. ((Massive internal bleeding, collapsed lungs, pericardial effusion, nothing you could have done, Jean, she truly realized as she paged though her medical school texts.)) And then a sense of awakening, followed by being surrounded in Annie, lost and confused and awed as her little girl mind found itself inside another's for the first time. ((The pictures, all caught up in jewels like on her Twinkle Eye My Little Ponies and playing like little TV shows, but all the jewels were going black and dark and floating away. Come back, Annie, where are you going?))
But what she remembered most was the light. (( I've got to go now, Jean, I'm sorry, said Annie, and the pain was gone and she was there and who knew what it was, but it was so white and warm, and everything was all right, and OK, and people were going to miss her, but that's how it's supposed to be. )) There was so much peace, and she'd wanted to follow that light, but then she was out and away, and her mother was half crushing her in her arms, ((Scared and worried and frightened, and guilty that she should be so relieved that it wasn't Jean, wasn't Jean, oh god, what kind of a monster am I? That little girl's dead.)) and she wanted to go back to it, away from the noisy world and her mother's thoughts, although she hadn't known yet that her mother wasn't just talking as usual.
There were months of horror after that, where she couldn't be sure who was thinking in her head, and what thoughts were her own, until she'd learned the trick of how to make her mind turn in on itself, ((Like the Popple toy that lived on the end of her bed. Inside-out and nobody can see that she's here, nobody can talk to her. Safe now.)) but she never again was afraid of dying. She knew now, you see.
She must be dying. She could see the light again now, and this time she knew it was for her. ((Carbon dioxide accumulation in the bloodstream and the body tissues, producing a sensation of peace and euphoria, along with visual hallucinations, said Dr. Arthurs, atheist and skeptic.)) She couldn't remember why she was floating here, not quite Astral, not quite on any other plane, but she could remember the world spinning, the burning taste of bile in the back of her throat and there was something very important...
But was anything that important any more? She was here, now, and this time it was for her. Hadn't she earned her rest? Hadn't she done enough? She could remember, too, that she had been so very tired, but she hadn't wanted to let it show. Musn't let herself be seen not all together. (("You were always the most brutally honest when you're not composed.")) Who'd said that? Scott. But couldn't he see that she still loved him, but that they just weren't right? (("Scott always was what the students affectionately termed a 'fixer-upper'. But I trust you to make the choice that's right for you, Jean." Professor Xavier's voice, warm and soothing, his mind bracing hers, easing her fears and the sad inevitability.)) But of course she and Scott had stopped really seeing each other so long ago, and now saw mostly what they wanted to see. Not like Logan... (("I don't want you to be anything for me, Red. Just Jean, whoever she is.")) There was something she knew, it would upset him. What was it?
The light increased, streaming towards her, spinning out and around to cocoon her in it, and she could feel her body starting to shut down, feel the lighting flashes of its over-stimulated brain starting to thin, the near-epileptic storm passing, for good if she'd let it. Was it her dying that would upset him? He'd rage and rant and perhaps run... but he'd be all right in the end. No, that wasn't it. Something... only she knew?
She had so many secrets.
No, this wasn't a secret, this was something she was meant to tell, what was it? The light swirled about her, enticing with its silent offer of forgetfulness, of passing duty on to other shoulders, of rest, of safety. ((Mutant registration, paraded in front of them all as a monster and a murderer, if only in potentia.)) ((Burn the witch, burn the witch, burn the witch.)) ((A crushing fear for the world her son would live in.)) ((Even other mutants fear a telepath.)) ((Sinister, anywhere any time, there is no safety, not even in the school.)) Safety... but only for her. ((Not Sinister. Sssss... STRYKER!!))
At the remembered name, a flood of images, mingled memories of her own mind and someone else's. Alkali Lake and a young girl roller blading, perfectly circular scars at the nape of the neck and black hair moved aside as cold metal touches skin. Darkness, light, and the hanging image of a man's face. ((This man is a general? He looks more like a chronic alchoholic.)) ((Oh my God, Jubilee? Jubilee!!)) (("Bleh. Jubilee, did you use water from my teakettle or something? This tastes... off.")) A flickering dance of chemical structures, flipping their acid chains at her like a can-can dancers's skirts.
All at once, the soothing cocoon of light and warmth felt like a mummy's binding linens to her, and she became more aware of the body she was clinging to only tentatively, hearing the death-rattle in its' breathing, feeling the faltering of its' overstressed heart. No, no!!! Not like this! Not when she was the only one who knew! She struggled free of the light and, wrapped in fire in her mind's eye, she fell back to earth, a shred of imagery from long-ago readings of Milton catching in her mind. ((Lucifer, the favourite, cast out and falling from heaven, wreathed in flames... am I arrogant, to do this? Will I be cast out too?)) But this couldn't be arrogance, she had a mission, she had to help, she had to tell them. She had to...
Fight. Live. Remember.
<< HELP ME!! >>
Then Jean called for help and Scott and Logan answered.