Three hours later, Tante Mattie looked up to find Emil sitting there, holding Jackie's hand in one of his, and propping his head up with the other. He looked tired and worried. He hadn't spoken one word for the entire time they'd been in there, and while the hope that had been in his eyes before was still there, it was being overshadowed by his silent fear and uneasiness over the situation.

Even though Mattie was a very gifted healer, better than any doctor trained in medical school, she had actually spent the past three hours attempting to get the bullet out of Jackie's side. For the past three hours, Jackie had been unconscious, and Mattie was secretly worried about the girl. There was really no reason for her to still be out cold, but she was. Not that Mattie would have told Emil that.

With an almost non-existent sigh, Mattie decided to stop what she was doing for a few minutes. She moved over to the other side of the bed and put a hand on Emil's hunched shoulder. He was shaking slightly. He looked up at her at the touch and she smiled slightly at him.

"Come over here for a minute, chil'." She told him. It might have seemed weird to an outsider that the woman was calling a grown man "child", but to the members of the Guild, it wasn't weird at all. After all, Tante Mattie was well over one hundred years old and many people were still children in her eyes even though they really were not.

Emil nodded and followed her over to the window, tears forming in his eyes. "I'm scared, Tante," he whispered.

Mattie looked at him and saw how fragile he looked, almost like he would shatter if someone touched him. She knew, however, that was not the case, and wrapped her arms around him. "I know, Emil, I know." She said in return as the tears flowed down his cheeks. She sighed again and said, "Dis is gon' take awhile, chil'. I can' give any instant results, unfortunately, much as I'd like to be able to. Maybe you should take a break an' go sit wit' de others for awhile?"

Emil pulled away from her slightly and wiped the tears off his face with the sleeve of his shirt. "Non." He sniffed. "I'm not leavin' her side, I don' care how long it takes."

Mattie nodded as they moved back over to the bedside. Emil resumed his place in the chair by Jackie, and took her hand in his again. Mattie went to the other side of the bed and continued her healing work.

"I wonder how it's goin'." Mercy wondered aloud. She and the rest of the Guild had been sitting in the living room for hours and aside from changing Jean-Luc's bandages from time to time, they really had nothing to do except sit there and wait. None of them felt a bit like doing anything else. They were all worried about Jackie's condition.

"Mattie will save her, or die tryin', Merce. We all know dat." Claude commented in response. "Personally, I'm wonderin' how Emil's doin'."

"God, if we're worried, he must be b'side himself…" Genard said. "Maybe we should go ask him if he wants to come join us for a bit?"

Theoren shook his head. "He wouldn' come. I have a feelin' he's gon' stay up dere until she's okay. We'd be wastin' our time."

"She'll be okay, right?" Zoe asked. "I mean I don't know Tante as well as you guys do, but she can make Jackie better, can't she?"

"It's like Claude said, Zoe. She'll do it or die tryin'. An' chances are, she'll succeed." Jean-Luc replied. He was very worried about Jackie, but he trusted his old friend and her powers. He believed what he said with all his heart.

As the hours drifted slowly by, Tante Mattie's apprehension grew, but she refused to show it. She was working as much magic as she could to heal Jackie and as far as she could tell, it wasn't working. The wound itself had been healed with no problems. But Jackie still wouldn't wake up. It was this that had Mattie concerned.

'Tell me what to do, Lord, to save dis chil'.' She thought, looking as always to the Good Man Above for assistance.

Emil noticed her pause and tilted his head, looking at her questioningly. "What is it, Tante?"

Mattie frowned. "De wound has healed, Emil. She should have woken up by now. I can' t'ink of why she hasn'."

Emil returned the frown. It deepened on his face as an idea came to his mind. "Tante, you don' s'pose de bullet was poisoned, do you? Or cursed? Would dat explain it?"

"It would." Mattie replied with a grim smile. "De one Jean-Luc was shot wit' wasn', obviously, b'cause not'ing has happened to him. Mais, Questa could have put a curse on de one dat got Jackie b'fore he shot it…it was meant for Jean-Luc after all."

"An' can you counteract de curse?" Emil asked anxiously, the hope returning to his pale face.

"I can try. I don' know what kind of curse he used."

"Please do." Emil requested softly, his voice barely above a whisper. He was so scared of losing Jackie that he would have tried anything to save her.

For the next several hours, Tante Mattie tried every spell and counter-spell she could find or think of. Nothing worked. As the hours dragged by, taking them late into the night, both she and Emil were beginning to lose hope again. As they at in silence, there was a knock at the door.

The door opened to reveal Jean-Luc and Theoren, who entered at Mattie's beckoning. Theo went over and stood behind Emil, giving the younger man's shoulder a supportive squeeze. Emil looked up at his friend and gave him a sad but grateful smile. Jackie was getting worse, he knew it. That knowledge showed plainly on his face, and, seeing the expression, Theo sighed sadly. He had a feeling that if Jackie died, Emil would never get over it.

"Are you feelin' alright, mon ami?" Mattie asked Jean-Luc, who joined her on the other side of the bed.

Jean-Luc nodded. "Oui, I'm fine. Arm's sore, but dat's de least of my worries. She's not getting better, is she?"

Mattie frowned sadly. "Non. De wound has been healed, but she won' wake up. We t'ink maybe de bullet was cursed, but I've tried everyt'ing to counteract it, an' not'ing is workin'. I don' know what to do now. De only t'ing I can see dat we can do is sit an' wait for her to either pull out of dis on her own or die."

Upon hearing this, Emil buried his face in his hands and leaned against Theo, sobbing quietly. He wasn't oblivious to the idea that Jackie might die, he had known all along that it could happen. It had happened so many times to so many other Thieves, his own family included. But knowing it didn't make the pain stop.

"Please, God…" he whispered softly.

"I have an idea, mais, I don' know if it will work." Jean-Luc said, after spending a few minutes, silent, lost in thought.

"What's dat?" Mattie asked, curiously tilting her head at Jean-Luc, wondering what he had thought of that she hadn't already tried.

"De Elixir. It saved Bella Donna dat time, an' it might save Jackie. It's never been used to counteract a spell or a curse b'fore, but dat don' mean it won' work. De least we can do is try it. What do you say?" Jean-Luc replied.

Mattie considered the idea for a moment as she looked at Jackie's still, silent form. Then she looked at Emil, still leaning on Theoren for support, a look of renewed hope masked by heartbreak on his face. Then she nodded slowly, turning back to Jean-Luc.

"I say we try it. It can' hurt. Go get de vile. We don' have any other options at dis point." She said.

Jean-Luc nodded and left the room. He returned a few minutes later carrying a small vile that looked almost like a flask. In it was the Elixir of Life, bestowed on the Thieves Guild by their benefactress. It was this syrup that had kept Jean-Luc and Tante Mattie looking and feeling as youthful as they did, in spite of their advanced ages. The Elixir had worked in saving a life once before, when it brought Bella Donna Boudreaux, daughter of Assassin Guild leader Marius Boudreaux, out of a long coma.

"Well," Jean-Luc said. "Mattie, would you do de honors? She's your patient after all."

Tante Mattie took the vile out of Jean-Luc's hands and moved closer to Jackie's bed, opening the vile when she stopped moving. Jean-Luc helped her by raising Jackie up so Mattie could safely get the Elixir into the mutant girl's mouth. When this was done, they put the Elixir away, and waited.

Five minutes later, Jackie's eyes fluttered open, and she groaned slightly, trying to focus on the world around her. She squeezed Emil's hand and when he looked at her she smiled.

"Hi," she said, her voice cracking.

"Oh t'ank God!" Emil exclaimed, leaning over and running a hand through her hair.

"How do you feel, chil'?" Mattie asked, her face mirroring the relieved looks on the faces of Jean-Luc, Theoren and, of course, Emil.

"Like someone ran me over wit' a transfer truck." Jackie replied. It was meant as a joke, but on one level, she was telling the truth. She wasn't kidding.

"You gave us quite a scare for a few hours dere, petite," Jean-Luc said, moving over to take her other hand.

"Papa! Your arm! Are you okay?" Jackie asked suddenly, remembering the events of the afternoon.

Jean-Luc smiled. "It hurts, but I'll be alright. We were much more concerned 'bout your well-bein' den mine."

Jackie sighed and winced. Her injury may have been healed, but it still hurt. "I know I jus' woke up after bein' unconscious for I don' know how long, mais, I'm tired an' my side hurts. Would any of you mind if I go back to sleep for awhile?"

"You go right ahead, kiddo." Theoren replied. "Jus' don' be surprised if Emil's still here when you wake up."

Jackie laughed and grabbed her side in pain. "Ow!" she exclaimed before replying to Theoren. "Theo, I'd be more surprised if he wasn' here when I woke up."

Jackie sighed as she snuggled down under the blankets, sneaking a glance at Emil, who was quickly falling asleep in a very uncomfortable position in the chair. She knew it would be a couple of days at least before Tante Mattie let her out of bed, but she was happy all the same, because she and her father were alive.

And because she had someone like Emil in her life, someone who loved her enough to stay by her side through all things, good and bad. Even better, the entire Guild was like that.

'I'm one lucky mutant t'ief, to have such great people 'round me,' she thought as she drifted off to sleep.