The Ties That Bind

The Ties That Bind
8/9

Dana surveyed the group gathered in the living room. She cleared her throat. To her surprise, she immediately had their attention. “I suppose you’re all wondering why I called you here,” she said, grimacing slightly at the expression. “Paige all ready knows. In fact, we’ve had a long discussion about it. I think that I might know how I can save her.” She was immediately interrupted by clamouring.

It really was amazing how much noise four people could make, especially when it was taken into consideration that one didn’t even have a mouth.

“Look, I can’t explain if I have to shout over all of you.” When the noise had subsided, she took a deep breath. “Cancer is a parasite, and a glutton at that. It eats away at cells, mutating them, and it doesn’t particularly care what it is that it’s living on. I think that I might be able to turn the cancer in on itself. It wouldn’t cure Paige, but it would regress her condition to a stage where it could be successfully treated by a doctor. A simple operation would remove what remained of the cell mass.” Angelo let out a whoop, but feeling the weight of Dana’s gaze on him, he fell silent again. “Hold on until you hear all of this. If something were to go wrong, all I’d be doing is accelerating the growth of the cancer by pumping the energy into it.”

The clamouring broke out again. Dana fought the impulse to sink her head into her hands, wondering if it was too late to bring out the gags. Then Paige’s voice broke through, silencing the group.

“It’s my choice. Ah know the risks. Yeah, if something goes wrong, the cancer’ll get me. But if I don’t try, it’ll get me anyway. And ah don’t fancy waiting around for someone to come up with a better idea. Ah’ve waited for long enough. Ah’m not ashamed to say that ah don’t want to die, that ah’m afraid. My whole life is ahead of me, and ah don’t want to miss it. This looks like the best chance I’m gonna to get. So ah’m going to take the chance, and hope that you’ll support me.”

Angelo plunked down on the arm of her chair. “You sure, chiquita?” She nodded solemnly. With a sigh he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “Then I guess that I’m going to have to go along with it.”

“Ah can’t let Monet graduate at the top of the class, now can I?”

Jon kept his eyes steady on Dana. //There’s something more, isn’t there?//

“Yes.”

//Would you care to share with the group?//

“I don’t have enough energy, or power, or whatever you want to call it, to do this by myself.”

//I assume you have a plan.//

She could feel the press of eyes heavy upon her. “You’re literally full of what I need. Sam can make the air itself explode around him. Either of you feel like sharing?”

*

“Now, no matter what, you’re probably going to feel restless and slightly hyper after I’m done. It’s from having so much extra energy in your body all of a sudden. The important thing is that you don’t give into that feeling. You’re staying in this bed until I tell you otherwise. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Miss Scully.”

Jonothon pulled Dana off to the side before they started. He glanced over at Paige sitting comfortably in the bed, and Sam hovering over her. //I think that you should let Ange in on this. He’s feeling particularly useless, and all mutants have a bit more energy than humans. It would really mean a lot to him.//

Dana looked at Jonothon appraisingly. “Do you want to go and get him?”

//It might be better if you were to go.//

She smiled at him a bit, then clapped a hand on his arm. She saw Jon turn and sit silently at the foot of Paige’s bed as she walked out the door.

She found Angelo sitting at the top of the stairs, leaning against the bannister. She’d kicked him and Mrs. Guthrie out of the room about ten minutes ago. She’d felt crappy about it, but she needed to be able to concentrate. “Jon is starting to rub off on you. Moping is a way of life for that boy.”

“At least I’m learning from the best.”

“Look, I could use another hand in there. You interested?”

*

When they finished, hours later, Dana could already feel the difference in Paige. Dana stood to stretch the cramps developed from sitting in the same position for an extended period of time, surprised at how normal she still felt. It hadn’t taken as much out of her as she’d thought it would. Raising her arms above her head, white danced in front of her eyes, and she felt her legs start to collapse. Something caught her, cradled her, and the white edged into black.

//Good job, Dana,// an unfamiliar voice said as she faded, following her down into the void.

*

Dana dug her head under the pillow, trying to hold on to the last vestiges of sleep. She could feel someone else in the room. Finally giving up on the idea of being able to drop back off, she cracked open one eye. The sunlight filtering through the blinds seemed to stab into her brain, and she dropped the eye shut just as quickly. Seeing that she was awake, whom ever it was in the room with her reached over and opened the curtains. Stifling a groan, she pulled the covers back over her head, hiding in a cocoon of white and baby blue. The footsteps moved again, presumably taking their owner to a chair.

When the rumbling in her stomach forced her to surface, Sam was leafing through a magazine, which he quickly tucked into a bag when he noticed Dana watching him. “Morning,” he said brightly. “We were starting to think that you were never going to wake up.”

“How long was I out?”

“Just a bit over four days.”

Well, that explained the state her stomach was in. “I should go check on Paige.”

“She’s doing fine. We called Doc Garrett out to look at her when it became obvious that you weren’t going to waking up any time soon. He says that she’s doing remarkably well. She says that she can feel it working. And don’t worry, we haven’t let her out to run off the zing she finds herself with suddenly. Angelo’s been keeping her occupied by teaching her Spanish.”

“How are the others?”

“You got it the hardest. Jon’s been hell to live with, easily irritable. He doesn’t sleep, so it’s taking him longer to recharge. According to Angelo, it’s a baby step down from his usual attitude. Angelo’s developed a fondness for naps, but he’s still up for the majority of the day, usually at Paige’s bedside. He’s almost back to normal sleep patterns though.”

“And you?”

“It was easiest on me, since you weren’t taking something that was part of mah body normal, just what I generated for you. I got you up to your room, then slept like a baby for half a day.” Dana’s stomach chose then to loudly protest being deprived of food for more than half a week. Sam just smiled as she felt her face redden. “Why don’t we go get you some grub? We can stop and see mah sister on the way.”

“Sounds good.” He stood, waiting for her. “Ummm, Sam?”

“Yes?”

“Would you mind waiting outside while I get dressed?” His face was the one to redden this time, and he slipped out the door. She pulled on a pair of broken-in jeans and a bunny hug. Stepping into the hall, she motioned for Sam to stay were he was while she washed up in the bathroom.

By the time they stepped into Paige’s room, she felt halfway human again.

Or halfway mutant, anyway.

*

Dana watched Angelo throw the last of Paige’s bags into the trunk of the Guthrie’s car. Hers were all ready there, underneath Jon’s, Mrs. Guthrie’s, and Angelo’s. They were heading to Massachusetts that afternoon. Frost had arranged for Paige’s operation to go the next day.

In the week since Paige’s remission had begun, the Indian summer had released its hold on Kentucky. Autumn had set in with a vengeance. Angelo strolled over to her when everything was secure in the car. “Kind of creepy. Seems like you were right, before. Almost like the world really was holding its breath. Soon as Paige started to get better, it started to move on again.” Dana nodded silently, briefly clapped a hand to his shoulder. All of a sudden, Angelo gulped. “Great, I forgot my sandals.” He dashed back into the house, leaving Dana to her thoughts.

She took one last look around the farm yard. She was going to miss it here. As well, a mild disappointment that she hadn’t finished working on the bike touched her. Sam’s voice came from over her shoulder. “It’s not like you’re never coming back. We’d love to have you again, you know.”

“I know, but...”

“Yeah.” Sam drew her into a hug. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow, ok? There’s just a few things that I have to look after for the farm, like making sure someone’s going to feed the horses. Then I’ll be right up.”

Angelo was back at the car already, and as he slammed the trunk, Mrs. Guthrie honked the car horn. “We’ve got to hurry if we want to get to Sears in time for the flight!” She called through the open window. Sam bid goodbye to the group as they climbed into the car, Jonothon all ready glowering in the front passenger seat.

Sam waved goodbye until they could no longer see him out of the rearview mirror. Then he pulled the magazine out of his jacket pocket, and went to work.

*

They sat in the hospital waiting room, all nine of them. Dana, Sam, Mrs. Guthrie, Paige’s teachers and classmates. Emma Frost, a powerful telepath, was monitoring the operation through the surgeon’s eyes.

“Is it over yet?” Monet, the only one of Paige’s friends that Dana hadn’t met yet, asked. Jubilee kicked her. “What was that for?” Jubilee glowered at her in response. Monet rubbed her shin.

Dana just sighed as Sean Cassidy threatened to separate them. Tempers had become increasingly short. “The doctor’s coming,” Emma informed them. “Do stop bickering before he gets here.”

When Doctor Jenkins found his way to them, he was faced with a row of expectant faces. “It’s too early to tell for sure, but I think that Paige is going to be fine,” he said, running a hand through thinning hair. “In all honesty, I’ve never seen anything like this. Her recovery has been amazing. She seems to be well on her way to a complete rehabilitation.”

All of a sudden, Dana found herself being hugged by an exuberant Jubilee, while the rest of the mutants, the doctor, and various other people in the waiting room looked on in amusement. “You did it.”

“Is Paige awake?” Sean asked Jenkins.

“She was under an anaesthesia, but it should be wearing off any time now. However, I’m afraid that you can’t see her until tomorrow, unless you’re immediate family. We wouldn’t want to wear her out.”

Mrs. Guthrie looked at the group. “Everyone here is my daughter’s family. Maybe not by birth, but by blood.”

Jenkins started to disagree with her, but found himself telling them that she was in Room 724, on the paediatrics floor, but to make sure to leave when she started to get tired.

As the group pushed past him to the elevators, he shook his head.

And forgot all about it.

The elevator was large enough to accompany stretchers, so they all fit in easily. Sean leaned in close to his fellow headmaster. “Em, did you...”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Sean.”

Paige was awake when they finally located her room. She smiled weakly at them, and then the stampede to get through the door started. //Children, contain yourself.// Emma’s voice came in their heads. It rang in Dana’s mind with an odd familiarity. She hung back, finding herself face to face with Emma, who looked at the ex-FBI agent with some little curiosity.

The two people who would do Paige the most good had shown up right after Scully had started to formalise a plan. A walking nuclear furnace and someone who cared very deeply for the girl. A plan she had come up with after reflections triggered by casual comments that Paige would never normally allow to pass her lips.

Dana gave herself a mental shake. She was being paranoid. Xavier, who was supposed to be the world’s most powerful telepath, had barely been able to tell what she was feeling when she was standing in the same room as him, before her powers had had a chance to develop.

She was being paranoid.

But something in the way Emma smiled at her as she ushered her into Paige’s room made Dana wonder.

*

Dana sighed as she dragged her bags down the stairs of the Massachusetts Academy, plopping them next to Sam’s in the entrance way. It was at least one sign that the mansion was occupied by someone other than herself today. Pausing, she thought that she heard voices coming from the living room. Following her ears, she stopped dead.

“You’re not just going to stand there, Miss Scully, are you?” Paige asked. The girl had been back for a week and a half, and was doing well and beyond anyone’s expectations.

“Don’t worry, we didn’t let Frosty make the cake,” Jubilee said, dragging Dana into the room. “She just called up the baker’s.” Sitting on the table was a chocolate cake that was just being cut into. “With Sam and you leaving and all, we figured it’d be a good excuse to get some junk food.”

She smiled at the eclectic group gathered before her. “Give me a piece of that.” So they sat and ate cake, and she thought that she could get used to this.

And she realized that sometime, when she hadn’t been paying attention, she all ready had.

“I really didn’t believe that you could finish that all off, even together.”

“What’s wrong Monet? Regretting now that you didn’t take a piece first?”

“Not at all. Unlike some people, I prefer to stay slender.”

Jubilee just stuck her tongue out.

Dana laughed. These were even more people that she was going to miss. Except, she wasn’t going to have to miss them in the long run. They were going to be right here.

“Hey, Frosty, do you think that Dana could teach a course on fire arms safety some time?”

Emma looked at Jubilee forbiddingly. “Do you really think that I would allow you to learn to use a side arm?”

Sean, obviously used to such confrontations, placed a placating arm around Emma’s shoulder. “Now now, not until our guests are gone. Then I’ll help ye tape the lass’s thumbs to her palms.”

“You forgot one thing there, Bansh. How am I supposed to do my homework if I don’t have my opposable thumbs?”

“You can still type without thumbs, Jubilation,” Emma said coolly.

Sam stood, ignoring Jubilee’s squawk of protest. “Come on Toni, I have something to show you.”

She followed him to the front door, grabbing her jacket before they stepped out to the walk. Then she stood staring at what was in front of her, vaguely aware that the rest of the group stood behind her on the landing.

The Harley was sitting at the curb, in much better condition than she’d left it. For one thing, various parts essential to its functioning weren’t scattered on the ground around it. “What....”

“Surprise.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Well senorita,” Angelo started. “We knew that you wouldn’t have time to finish fixing it up, with your being unconscious and all. So me, Sam, and Jon kind of did it for you. That’s the business that kept Sam behind.”

She turned around. “I don’t know what to say.”

//How ‘bout thank you? But you know, you did most of the work by yourself. We just turned a few screws.//

“Thank you.”

*

Sam stretched back in the seat of the jet. “This is the way ta travel. Private plane beats coach any day.”

Dana had to agree. “So your sister and her friends almost always fly like this?”

“Frost has a thing about luxury. And she’s got the money, so who’s to tell her not to?”

Dana folded her jacket behind her head started to drift off. She was almost asleep when a short, harsh note filled the cabin. She bolted upright and followed Sam, who was already heading up to the cockpit. “What is it?” she asked, trying to peer over his shoulder. “Is something wrong with the plane?” But the pilot didn’t look like someone in control of a malfunctioning plane.

Sam turned to face her slowly, his face unreadable. She felt her stomach drop. He was holding a piece of paper in a suddenly white fist.

“It’s ah distress call from the Mansion. They’re under attack.”

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