Don't Close Your Eyes: Reverb/Pressure

[x-jeangrey.livejournal.com]

After leaving an enraged Kyle the Cooler, a wounded Kurt runs into Hank and Sarah in the corridor. They need his help disarming the bomb, which is very close to going off.



Kurt appeared in a cloud of sulphur in the corridor outside the containment room where he'd left Kyle. Waving the smoke away almost absently, he started towards the Danger Room in search of Meggan. He was almost certain she'd have found medical help by now, but he wanted to see for himself.

Hank could hear Sarah's footsteps as she struggled to keep up with his quick pace. The message from Doug had been to the point and as concise as it could have been with only two words, 'Bomb. Cerebro.' The doctor was so focused that he nearly bowled over Kurt as they both rounded the same corner at once. Sarah rounded the corner as Hank was slowly getting to his feet, having fallen to avoid the collision.

Kurt had only avoided falling in his own recoil from the collision because of his agility, and quickly regained his balance, blood dripping from his face as he leaned down to help his comrade up. "Beast. Something else is wrong?"

Eyes wide the doctor nodded, "Come with us, I'll explain as we run." The two blue men hurried down the corridor toward cerebro, where the doors were wide open and Doug was tinkering with a metal cylinder on the floor. "We have a bomb in cerebro, and the clock is running down on it."

Kurt glanced over his shoulder at the girl behind them, who was still catching up. "Ah. That would explain what our young technopath is doing down here."

Sarah finally caught up to them, panting and short of breath. She waved at Kurt as he mentioned her name, still too winded to speak. Her eyes moved over to the cylinder in the floor, eyebrows moving up in a silent question to Kurt and Hank in turn. Was that it?


***


Doug, Hank, Kurt, and Sarah go through their options before one of them makes a suggestion that saves the day.



Hank scooped the young woman up and put her on his back, running the remaining distance to the cerebro platform on all fours- something he tried not to make a habit of. Skidding to a halt, he growled slightly, letting Sarah down and assessing the bomb. "What do we have, Mister Ramsey?"

Doug grimaced. "Bomb. Nasty one." He flexed the fingers of his uninjured hand. "Appears to be a standalone device. Tough to tell, because if you get too close to it, it gives off an electric shock." He had felt the warning tingle and drawn back before he'd gotten hit. "And not only that, but the technopath that set it up is dead. Broken neck." He bit back any further impolite commentary on technopaths for Sarah's benefit.

Sarah hopped down off of Hank's back, too out of breath and too panicked to worry about her issues with physical mutations at the moment. She walked over towards the bomb, examining it along with Hank and Doug. While Doug was talking she leaned in for a closer look, but abruptly pulled back at the mention of shocks. "Shocks?" That was a nasty trick indeed. Sarah winced at the broken neck part as well, shuddering a little. "Wait, if this was set up by another technopath, maybe I can do something about it." Her skills were far from perfect but still, it could be worth a shot.

Hank hesitated, the images of what he'd done to Sarah in his dream overlaid onto his waking vision. Shutting his eyes tight, he grumbled slightly, "Go ahead, but we don't have much time- Kurt, be ready."

"At your word", he said quietly. "The quarry, I think, if it comes to that?"

Hank nodded and motioned for Sarah to continue he attempt.

Sarah saw Hank nod but wasn't staring at him any more than he had to right now. Not that the dream - no, nightmare was the right word - was his fault, but it would take a long, long time for her to get over that, if ever. She instead focused on the task at hand, namely, touching and defusing the bomb. Part of her wanted to ask just how strong the shocks were but she'd likely be better off not knowing.

Taking a deep breath, Sarah reached out for the bomb. The first shock hit her when her fingertips were about a foot away from the device, and while it was short in duration thanks to her reflexive nature to jerk her hand away, it hurt a lot. "OW DAMMIT!" She was never one to swear, especially in front of teachers or professors, but she doubted they'd hold it against her in those circumstances.

She tried again, with her other hand, this time moving faster as if speed would somehow trick the device into not shocking her, but only more pain and cursing followed. The pain brought tears to her eyes and she wasn't sure if she could do this. Then she told herself she had to do it, she was the only one who could, and with that she realized a way she could do it. Instead of trying to reach out for the device, she threw herself at it, reaching out with both arms and grabbing the device with both arms.

Sarah's downward momentum prevented her from flinching or pulling away, and as she gripped the bomb, electricity wracking her body with painful shocks, she yelled out "STOP!" at the top of her lungs, trying to shut the bomb down. After what felt like an eternity to her, the shocks stopped, though her muscles was still screaming and singing from the punishment they'd received. She slumped to one side of the bomb, passing out once again.

Kurt had been poised to grab the bomb at a moment's notice, but when the lights and numbers stopped flashing and all sign of activity from the bomb vanished, he leapt to Sarah's side instead. "Brave girl", he said softly, fingers on her wrist and finding a steady pulse, to his great relief.