Bleeding: Aftermath

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The aftermath. Marie visits Kurt in Marius's hospital room. And finds him profoundly changed.





Her adrenalin finally seemed to be fading, but Marie had a few more things to do before she would allow herself to rest. Entering Marius's room, she stood quietly and listened to Kurt pray before she laid a gentle hand on his arm. He looked to be in almost the exact same position as when she had left, though someone had finished stitching him up and the only blood she saw were the stains on his clothes.

He looked up sharply, startled, prayer cutting off in mid-word. "...Marie", he said quietly after a moment, half-smiling despite the stitched cut on his cheek. "How are you?"

"Thanks to you, Ah'm ok. You seem to have a knack for saving me." She shuddered, thinking about the pull she'd felt from Marius and found herself realizing that must be what others felt when she touched them. "And you?"

"You are my team-mate", he said simply. "It is what I was there for. And I... will live. So will he, they say", with a nod to Marius.

Her eyes fell to the boy lying in the hospital bed. "Then Ah suppose this is one of those missions that goes in the win category, though it sure doesn't feel like it." Four unconscious kids kept the endeavor from feeling like a success because she thought it could've been much better, even if she rationally knew it could've been much worse

"I suppose so", he said with a slight shrug. "They have all survived our retrieval, in any case."

The look she gave him held a touch of concern. "And now we can take them home to get the help they need."

That got a half-laugh, as he focused on the boy in front of him and then the rosary in his hands. "Because we did so very well at giving Marius the help he needed before he left the school."

"We cannot force help upon people" no matter how much we might want to "until they have proven they need it." She shook her head. "We all missed it before he left, Kurt. We knew he wasn't doing well, but none of us imagined anything this bad lay ahead."

"I know", he said wearily. "And I know we could not have kept him from leaving, when he did. But how do we know he will want our help when he wakes any more than he did then? How do we know any of them will, if we failed them as it seems we did?"

Marie was silent until her eyes fell to the rosary in Kurt's hands. "Isn't that where faith comes in?"

A slow blink, and his hands started to move on the beads again. "Sometimes, Marie... even faith falls short. Especially when people are concerned. I have faith his wounds will heal... but there is more than simply his concussion to be considered."

Marie's eyes rose to Kurt's face, shock readily apparent in her expression. "But…" she trailed off, never having taken this side of the argument with him before. "There are emotional wounds too, but they will also heal?" she said uncertainly, her voice rising and making it more a question than a statement.

"Perhaps. I do not say there is no hope, I will never say that unless it is very clearly true, but... hope is not the same thing as faith. And in this case..."

Silence filled the room as Marie struggled internally with what Kurt was saying – she had had a certain amount of hero-worship for the blue furred man since the first time he had saved her life and seeing him appear to have doubts was shaking her more than she was letting on.

"I am sorry, Marie", he said after a long few moments, almost under his breath. "If I could sit here and tell you that I truly believed all would be well, I would... but I will not lie to you. I hope it will be so. But..." He trailed off, with another small shrug.

She nodded despite her uncertainty. "Then Ah suppose hope is what we cling to now." Though it does not seem like nearly enough.

"For most of the team", Kurt said softly, "I think you will find it always was."


Wanda and Rahne go to get updates on the other two. It's not good news.





Wanda was exhausted, mentally and physically, and it had been a near thing keeping on her feet after the adrenaline wore off. It was a good thing she'd never been shy of asking for help and once Rahne had helped to get her steady on her feet, they'd left for the hospital, following Manuel and Jennie. The white light and the smell of hospital only added to pounding migraine and she wiped a bit of blood from her nose.

"We just need to find the doctor," she murmured. She hated hospitals.

"Aye." Rahne scanned the area. They'd come in a visitor's entrance, and were getting looks suggesting that people thought this had been the wrong place, what with Wanda's pallor and the drip of a nosebleed, and Manuel's blood that Rahne hadn't been able to wash off yet, among other things. She headed for the reception desk. After a glance up at Wanda, and a distinct burst of gratitude for Elpis's keeping her up on languages, she began an explanation.

The woman behind the window nodded and indicated that the pair should take a seat. Within a few minutes, a Doctor arrived, calling their names.

The doctor was an older, tired-looking man with graying blonde hair and spectacles. "Mlle. Maximoff? Mlle. Sinclair? I am Doctor Girard. You are the guardians of the young people in question?"

"Yes," Wanda said softly. "We're from the school. How are they?"

The doctor took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "if you will follow me." He lead them down a series of hallways from the waiting room, each one identical to the last. While tile, off-white walls, fluorescent lighting and a blue stripe making a path on the tiles. "The first boy," he checked the chart, "Marius Laverne, is unconscious but stable. Several contusions but nothing serious. He may have a concussion as well. Our nurses are keeping watch over him." He stopped down a side hallway. There was a large white box hung on the wall. Doctor Girard pulled an x-ray out of the folder he was carrying.

"As for the second young man, Manuel de la Rocha," he lit up the box, "He has suffered massive blunt force trauma. Broken ribs, pelvis, collarbone." He pointed with a pen to the obvious fractures on the x-ray. "Also a punctured lung and a ruptured spleen." He placed another x-ray on the box. This one of Manuel's skull. "As you can see, there is a fracture here at the top right of the skull, and there is intracranial hemorrhaging. He is in surgery right now to relieve the pressure."

Rahne swallowed. Oh, Manuel. Try to do the right thing for someone, and.... "We will give you contact information to receive updates," she said. "If I may ask... could Marius be moved? The school has good medical facilities and there are some factors in his mutation we are specifically prepared to deal with there, when he wakes up." It could be bad if he woke up and the nearest mutant to feed on was Jennie or Manuel again. Complicated if it were a doctor or nurse on duty. Heaven forbid if it were some other patient.

The doctor nodded. "Of course, there are some of the staff who are..." He trailed off helplessly. "You understand, I am afraid. The boy can be moved, his MRI scans have come back clear, we can discharge him into your care." The weight that lifted off the doctor's shoulders was visible. Few of the staff had wanted to touch the boy.

"As for the girl, follow me please." He snapped off the box and stowed the x-rays, and then continued at a brisk pace down more hallways. "Nothing major, no visible signs of any obvious injury. But...well." They arrived at a series of beds. He led the pair to one near the end and drew back the curtain. Jennie was there, unconscious but breathing steadily. In the harsh light of the ER, she was so thin. Emaciated. Her eyes had sunken into her head, and every tendon on her neck was visible. Her skin was so pale that Rahne and Wanda could make out the fine tracework of veins on her eyelids.

"I would look into other treatment for her. She is severely underweight."

Getting her first good look at Jennie, Wanda paled slightly. When she had been watching over her after Manuel had gotten hit, she hadn't been able to have a proper look. But the time she'd been gone had obviously been rough on her.

"She would also be taken back to the school," Wanda said, echoing Rahne's earlier statement. The girl was also suffering from a traumatic powers usage and she wondered how much that had to do with her being so underweight. Power ate away at the body, it was why so many mutants had a high metabolism. "Can we take her home as well?"

Doctor Girard nodded. "Like I said, there are no obvious signs of trauma, other than her low body weight. We can release both Mlle. Stavros and M. Laverne into your care. M. de la Rocha, on the other hand, I must insist stay here for the time being. Any attempt to move him may prove detrimental right now. He is in very critical condition."

"We understand," Rahne said. Her knees burned where she had dropped beside him, after the truck. "And even if he could be moved, this is an area where your facilities do outstrip ours. Please keep us informed." Manuel's powers could certainly have their own problems in a hospital, but at the moment they had keeping his brain functioning in his own head to worry about, never mind anyone else's. She looked up at Wanda for further cues.

Giving Rahne a smile, Wanda turned back to the doctor. "Is there anything else we'll have to do for them?" she asked. "Paper work, that sort of thing?"

"Yes, there are several forms you will have to sign for their discharge. Also if you are needing a vehicle I am sure we can find one." The doctor paused, uncertain how to ask this last question. He was no expert on mutants, after all. "One more thing, we have noticed some rather curious marks on both M. de la Rocha and Mlle. Stavros." He reached down and turned the girl's hand palm-up. There was a bright red mark on her palm, the size and shape of the mouths on Marius's hands. "M. de la Rocha also has a matching set, and we cannot determine the source of these....marks."

Bending down to get a better look, Wanda stiffened slightly. "Wait, both of them had these marks?" she asked, keeping her voice from sounding too tight. More and more things to worry about, she thought, wanting to reach out to take Jennie's hand but refraining for now. She glanced at Rahne, eyebrows raised.

Rahne frowned. "This is very strange." She spread her own hand, without touching Jennie's. If she'd pressed her palm against Marius's....

Surely Marius's power couldn't be contagious? But that was ridiculous. He'd fed off her repeatedly....

...But not isolated with her for weeks on end, and she had a healing factor, and if feeding was responsible -- even partly -- for Jennie's emaciation, could there be some sort of cross-contamination, maybe from the analgesic goop, that had led to her manifesting something of Marius's body's response to a loss of bone marrow?

Rahne shook her head. She could be blithering out of limited biological knowledge and her own weariness; probably they were all thinking a little fuzzily, more or less. "We will want to consult Dr. MacTaggart, I think."

Doctor Girard nodded again. "Like I said, we could not determine the source of these marks, and since both of them had identical marks in the exact places, we were wondering if was something to do with the fact they are mutants or something else." The doctor shrugged. "Mlle. Stavros isn't sedated at the moment, merely unconscious. It would be no trouble to discharge her and M. Laverne to your Doctor's care. If you would follow me to my office?"

Reaching over, Wanda smoothed down a section of Jennie's hair and then straightened with a sigh. "Yes, of course. Thank you for what you've done for them, Doctor. By the time we are done with the paperwork, the school will be prepared for their arrival."

The Doctor pulled the curtain back, separating Jennie from the rest of the E.R. "Of course. Follow me please."


Finally, Ororo and Marie make their way to the Police Station, where someone else is waiting for them to take her home.





Marie hadn't wanted to leave the hospital, but after Ororo had explained the condition in which she'd found the girl, Marie understood their need to get the child to Xavier's for help. Kurt wouldn't leave Marius's side, so the next logical person to accompany 'Ro to represent the school was Marie, though she could barely stifle a physical sign of her anxiety as the two women walked into the police station - her previous experiences with law enforcement had not been the most pleasant.

Ororo showed no outward signs of discomfort, though the entire evening had led her to be far too much on edge. She tried to focus on the positives - the students had been found (nevermind how disastrously that had ended up), they would be able to return to the school now (even if it might be against their wills) and this new mutant would be able to receive help and guidance (if she ever awoke from her comatose state).

Maybe she should stop trying to think positive and focus on the business at hand.

Striding towards the front desk, she nodded to the man sitting there, who she didn't recognize from before. "Hello, sir. My name is Ororo Munroe, and this is my colleague Marie D'Ancanto. We have come to speak with someone about a young girl that was brought in earlier this evening, a mutant."

"Ah, Inspector Jacques, he said you would be returning here." The man's English was a bit more heavily accented than the inspector's, and his uniform revealed a fairly low rank. "The sharp girl, yes? He and the doctor are with her now - please, I will have someone take you there." Rising from his desk, he beckoned a colleague, this one a girl barely older than Marie, who stared unabashed at Ororo's hair and the less-than-pristine condition both women were in.

"This way," she murmured, ducking her head and blushing a little as she caught herself being rude.

The girl's gaze wasn't lost on Marie and she blushed a little, realizing how unprofessional she must look. Running a hand through her tangled hair, she was again grateful that someone had at least found her a change of clothes so she wasn't running around in an outfit ripped to shreds. Following the police woman into a room in the back of the station, Marie's heart twinged at her first sight of Penance. "How's she doing?" she asked softly.


The doctor - it had to be, given the woman was wearing a white lab coat and a perplexed expression - looked up from her examination of the girl. They'd brought a cot into the interview room, given the comatose girl couldn't really sit upright in a chair, and she was lying in it, curled up more tightly than when Ororo had seen her in the hotel room. The spikes of her hair had scratched the wall where the cot butted against it. She seemed very small in the stark room, her skin an almost violent splash of colour.

The doctor spoke to Inspector Jacques in French, and he nodded soberly before turning to Marie and Ororo. "As far as we can tell, she is not physically harmed, apart from the marks. Her skin... it is very tough and makes it difficult for the doctor to examine her." He looked a little helpless. "She will not speak, or even react to her environment. I am concerned - we have few resources for such a child as this. There are institutions for mental states such as hers, but I fear with her powers and the trauma she has experienced..."

"Perhaps that is where we can be of some help, Inspector. I do not know if you have ever heard of Charles Xavier, but he is quite experienced in the areas of both psychological and mutation-related counseling. Our school is equipped with quite a few doctors and counselors who would be happy to help this young woman in whatever way is necessary." Ororo gave the man a reassuring smile. "It is probably the best place for her at a time like this."

"There was a television special some years ago... a school for mutants, correct?" The inspector considered the option, tapping his chin with his finger. "There would be need for some papers to be signed, and we would wish to be told of any information you might have of who she is and where she came from, not to mention how she got here. There are, unfortunately, many dreadful things that happen to children, especially mutant children and it is our job to stop them." A spark of anger ignited in his dark eyes. "A child should be able to feel safe."

Marie looked at the inspector with new respect, his anger over the plight of mutant children mirrored in her eyes. "She will be as safe as she can be with us," she said and glanced over at Ororo. "Keeping you updated on her progress shouldn't be a problem, and Ah know we'd appreciate hearing if you get any news on your end. Someone must be worried about this little one." She looked down at the tiny girl, curled up into a ball on the cot and shook her head, disgusted that she'd been so obviously mistreated.

"Yes, Inspector, we certainly understand your desire for information, and rest assured we will be happy to communicate to you whatever we may find out. The world is not as safe a place as it should be, and anybody working towards the goal of making it safer has our respect and cooperation." Ororo spread her hands, still exuding calm despite her slightly haggard appearance. "If you could show me the papers to review I would be most appreciative, and perhaps you would allow Marie to stay with the girl in the meantime."

Jacques spoke to the doctor in French, who nodded and began packing up her equipment. "Please be careful about touching her," Jacques said to Marie. "There are gloves, there," and he pointed to several sets of heavy industrial-grade workgloves. "Her skin is very sharp - there have been several small accidents when people forget." To Ororo, he nodded. "Very well, Mlle. Munroe. If you would follow me to my office...?"

"Thank you, Inspector." Before leaving, Ororo put a hand on Marie's shoulder, giving it a squeeze. "I will not be long," she murmured, low enough so that only Marie could hear her. "Then we will be able to go home. Will you be all right until then?"

"Ah'll be fine," Marie answered, smiling reassuringly at the white haired woman. "Go take care of the details, Ah'm just glad she won't have to be alone." Picking up a pair of the work gloves, she slipped them on over her cotton ones and walked over to the girl. She wasn't worried about herself, but she didn't know if the girl's skin could withstand her extracting touch. Pulling a chair up next to the cot, she brushed the back of her hand across the girl's cheek. We'll find a way to help you, Ah promise.

Assured that Marie would last until they could make their way out of the police station with the girl, Ororo turned towards the Inspector and nodded, waiting for him to lead the way out of the back room. To the paperwork. No matter what the job is, it always comes back to paperwork. I am beginning to think it is unavoidable.

"Coffee?" the inspector asked, moving to the coffee maker that sat on a filing cabinet in his office after indicating Ororo should sit down. The aroma as he poured his own filled the room with Essence of Good Coffee. "You have had quite the evening, and you still have the journey home ahead of you."

"That would be very much appreciated at the moment, Inspector Jacques," Ororo said gratefully, sinking into a chair. "Once again, I must thank you for all the help you and your people have provided. I am sure you will have some very grateful parents relaying that same gratitude to you shortly."

Pouring another cup, the police officer nodded as he passed it over and then sat down behind his desk. "It has been a highly irregular evening," he said, with a touch of wry humour. "But sometimes the regulations needed to be bent, for the sake of true justice. These students of yours... no benefit would come of charging them, especially given the injuries they have suffered." He broke into a brief smile. "And there is no conclusive evidence of defrauding the casino. Or so I shall be telling my superiors."

At least one thing was going right that evening, Ororo thought, wrapping her hands around the mug and taking a sip of the coffee. "I would be remiss if I did not offer to pay for the damages caused tonight, still... Would you please send along the information for the club and anyone else who is in need of compensation? Despite the fact that they have certainly suffered enough, the students were the cause of tonight's mishaps." And despite the fact that the school was not directly responsible for them, even now... but that could all come later. What was important now was rectifying the nightmarish situation as efficiently as possible.

"But of course." Jacques looked pleased at the offer - there had been quite the amount of damage done. "Now then, the papers... you are authorised to sign as an agent of the school, yes? Because this will require you acting as temporary guardian for the girl. Normally something like this would require a court, but again, sometimes the rules can be bent a little. She would be best cared for by those used to mutants and since the name of Charles Xavier is known in such circles..."

"Yes, I am glad to take responsibility for her. As headmistress I am able to sign on behalf of the school, and you have my word that she will be brought there as soon as possible so that she can be evaluated and cared for by those with experience in such matters. It is a wise decision you have made, one I think that will benefit her immediately." Already Ororo was going over the list of people to contact in her head - Charles, Scott, Moira, Amelia... there would be quite a welcoming party when they returned to the mansion.

Jacques smiled then and handed over the form. "Then if you would be so kind as to... how do they say it? Sign on the dotted line? Then we can make arrangements for you to be able to take her back to the school."

Quickly Ororo scanned the form, checking to see that everything was in order. Luckily it seemed to be, and she affixed a neat signature at the bottom of the page before sliding it back across the desk to Jacques. "There you are, Inspector. If there is anything else you need from me, please say so." Otherwise, please let us get back home. I think we all need that, as soon as possible.

"There is nothing else at the moment, and I have your contact details. I'm sure you wish to return yourself and your students home as soon as possible." Jacques stood up and offered Ororo his hand. "Thank you for your assistance. You know where to reach me should you need anything further."

"Thank you, Inspector." Ororo took his hand and gave it a strong shake, her own hand marred with blood and dirt. "It has been a pleasure working with you, I only wish it was under different circumstances that we met."

"Agreed. Another time, perhaps?" Jacques gestured towards the door. "Let's get your new student on her way home, shall we?"

"I would like nothing more, Inspector. Thank you."