Part Twenty
written by Soar and most expertly edited by Jeanne Kalvar
email ksg3@le.ac.uk
Jean was rudely awakened by a sharp poke in the ribs. She mumbled and came quickly awake. Years of training, with the X-Men had left her alert for any possibility. Well almost any possibility. Memory came rushing back and she groaned in despair. How was she going to get herself out of this mess?
Ororo was disturbed by Jean's movement beside her. She had tried sleeping in the bed left for her, but she was scared. So during the night she had curled up with Jean. Now she awoke to see the woman who had left them here yesterday standing over them.
"You will come with me now," Vertigo said, her voice a monotone that brooked no opposition.
Jean reluctantly got up and, taking Ororo's hand, pulled her along.
They were led to a lab. Jean stifled her own impending panic for fear it would transmit to Ororo.
"You will remain here. There is no way to escape."
With that Vertigo turned and left. Jean walked over to the door to see if she could, in fact, get out, but that escape route was impossible. It seemed to be keyed to a device worn on the arm.
She sighed. Things were definitely not looking good.
Jean turned away from the door. The lab was huge. A wall of computers ran down one side of the room. In the center was a mass of beds and medical equipment. What shocked Jean the most was the row of cubicles down the other side of the room--and most of the cubicles appeared to be full, the occupants cowering in their corners in terror. All except one. There was one face pressed up against the cubicle, staring at Jean and Ororo.
"Nanny," Jean whispered, shocked.
The Nanny's wide, electronic eyes watched Jean shrewdly and she beckoned the woman and child over to her. Jean hesitantly walked over, Ororo hiding behind her leg.
"You have to get me out of here," she demanded urgently.
Jean looked at the Nanny in distaste, "And why should we? It's your fault that we're here with Sinister now."
The Nanny smirked. "Because if you don't then there is no way for the children to be changed back to their original state."
Jean had to admit that the Nanny had a valid point. She looked around for a lever that might pry the cubicle open. There was nothing obvious.
"How do we get you out?" she asked the Nanny finally.
"Sinister controls the cubicles from that terminal over there. I think it might be his central mainframe."
Jean pushed away her disgust at working alongside the Nanny. "Just let us out of here, so we can get Ororo and Remy back..." she murmured as her fingers started tapping the keys.
Things seemed to be going well. It was a fairly simple program. "Must be so the Marauders can use it too," Jean thought maliciously.
She keyed in a final sequence and a hiss from a cubicle behind her told her that she had been successful. She turned back to the computer and reversed the sequence so that the cubicle door hissed shut again.
"Don't need them to know we're gone until it's too late," she thought.
Again she repressed her feelings of revulsion as the Nanny sidled up to her. Ororo whimpered and pressed herself, tight, up against Jean's leg. Jean laid her hand briefly onto Ororo's head to offer comfort before she turned back to the computer.
"There must be some way to open the door from here," she said to the Nanny.
They didn't have chance to find out. The door hissing open was the only preparation they had, but it was enough. Vertigo walked in. She didn't realise until too late what she had walked into. Jean executed a sharp kick to her stomach, forcing her to double over. Jean then hit Vertigo with a sharp blow to the back of the head and Vertigo slumped to the floor unconscious.
Jean moved quickly, taking the device off Vertigo's arm in order for them to open the door. She then set about searching Vertigo for a key that would unlock the collars they all wore. Luckily it seemed that Sinister kept his Marauders ready for anything because a key was rapidly produced. Jean unlocked her own collar first. She then unlocked Ororo's collar, ignoring the Nanny's attempts to snatch the key. She finally gave the key to the Nanny while she concentrated on focusing her powers to let her know the situation surrounding them.
Thankfully, the cubicles seemed to block out telepathic intrusion and she didn't have to suffer the pain the occupants of the cubicles were feeling.
She searched for one mind in particular. She felt his mind for the briefest moment. It was guarding itself heavily, and she didn't need to get into a mind-to-mind struggle with the child right now. So she led her small band of escapees out of the lab and into the maze of corridors beyond.
She used the vague mental presence Remy had on the astral plain to move towards him. However she also kept one 'eye' open for other minds moving towards them. Thankfully they all seemed to be concentrated in one area.
Remy's mind-presence seemed to get faintly stronger the closer the small party got to him. They had almost reached him when Jean cautioned them into silence. She didn't want to attract any attention to them now that they were so close to their goal.
*Nanny. as soon as we reach Remy, you must turn both him and Ororo back to their adult forms. It is the only way we have of getting out of here.*
The Nanny was reluctant to turn her favourite, Ororo, back into an adult but Jean tightened her hold on the Nanny's mind and forced her to agree.
They moved carefully around the corner. There was an open door. Jean could see Remy through the door. He was alone, and playing with some old battered toys. She moved quickly towards him and was gratified when he noticed her and a smile lit up his small face.
He got up from the floor and ran towards her.
"Jean. You not forget me. Oncle Nat'an'el say you forget me and wan' go home. I tell him it not true."
Jean smiled and hugged the child close. She felt Ororo approach and enfolded her into a hug too.
"Of course it's not true. I would never leave you, Remy."
"Very touching," Nanny hissed, "but we have to get out of here, before Sinister comes back."
"I think you are too late in that respect, Nanny my dear."
end of part 19
Part Twenty