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xp_logsTwo days after the X-Force mission, Amanda comes back to herself.
Her head was pounding.
Amanda groaned, slowly coming back to consciousness. Her head ached, her neck ached and she couldn't feel her arms. And she had the gnawing feeling that she had something she really needed to apologise for. Slowly, she cracked her eyes open.
"Oh fuck," she said with feeling. She was in a straightjacket. An honest-to-God bloody straightjacket.
"Water?" Darcy put her phone down as Amanda spoke, regarding the other woman with a neutral face as she held up a cup with a bendy straw. "I'll have to guide it for now, but once we make sure you're... well, you again, I can probably release you."
"Water, hell yes." For a moment Amanda's world narrowed down to the straw Darcy held close enough for her to drink from (while keeping clear of the witch's feet and legs, she noted) and she drank deeply. Her mouth tasted like blood from a cut inside her cheek. Apparently she'd been grinding her teeth at some point. Once she'd slaked her thirst, she leaned back against the wall. They were, of course, in the medlab. Wonderful. "Who'd I hurt?"
"You popped Jubes a good one after you came out of the city. She ended up using a Vulcan nerve pinch on you, if that reference works." And she'd been thrashing and kicking, both in her sleep and her limited bouts of wakefulness. Hence the straitjacket. "You've been mostly out of it for a day or so, and we've been rotating watch shifts." Darcy set the cup down and leaned forward, unintentionally channeling Kevin in her mannerisms. "You going to lose your shit and attack if I let you loose? Any urges to say nasty things and follow it with your fists?"
"If you let me loose, I'll be a complete lamb," Amanda promised. "Whatever I picked up from Jaca is out of my system. I'd cross my heart, only..." She made a kind of all-body shrug with the jacket. Her face was as honest and innocent as she could make it look.
Darcy gave her a slow, considering look. "Well, you haven't started screaming or kicking yet. If you do, you're getting the business end of several amps of electricity." Warning given, she started with the restraints holding the witch's legs in place. "Please don't kick me in the face, I'm doing burlesque for Stacy's Halloween bash and a black eye isn't part of the look," she joked as she worked the straps clear.
True to her promise, Amanda stayed still as the leg restraints were removed. "Where's Angie?" Not far away, she knew, unless Doug had forcibly drugged and dragged her off for sleep. "You said I'd been out for a day or two?"
"On and off, yeah. I'm not surprised you don't remember waking, you weren't very lucid." Darcy glanced at her phone. "Probably finishing something to eat, but if she's not back by the time I get you out of the restraints I'll text her." She raised the bed to something closer to sitting. "How are your legs feeling? Can you bend and stretch at the knee with minimal discomfort?"
Amanda rolled her eyes impatiently, but was obediently bending and raising each leg according to directions as the door opened.
"I have showered. My obligation to hygiene is complete." Marie-Ange came through the infirmary door with damp hair, in yoga leggings and a t-shirt and a scowl, with a sandwich in one hand. "I have had food forced upon me... nevermind.' She looked around the room, set the sandwich down on the little counter where the bandages and medical supplies were usually kept, immediately moving to Amanda's side. 'Apologies for the extreme restraints. You broke free of the standard wrist ones."
Unable to use her arms as yet, Amanda nuzzled Marie-Ange's shoulder with her head instead. "Sorry for the scare, love. I'm fine now, I promise."
Marie-Ange touched her forehead to Amanda's, and then settled herself, pulling all of the irritation and fear in her body language back, until she had her usual calm demeanor. She pulled out her phone, and tabbed through an app. "Apologies again, I have to be sure." and the phone began playing a recording of Jubilee, singing Barry Manilow's "Mandy".
At the lack of any rage-fueled or destructive response, she ended the song, and began undoing the closures on the restraining jacket. "Merci for the assist, Darcy. Apologies to you as well, this... brought up old fears."
"We care about the two of you, it's no hardship," Darcy replied, holding Amanda steady by the shoulders as Marie-Ange worked the closures. "Even when it means pissing you off." She grimaced slightly. "Not enjoyable, that. Are you going to need assistance heading up to... your suite, I assume?"
"I'll wait until one of the docs clears me to leave - I've escaped medlab too many times to risk them coming after me again," Amanda replied wryly. As the jacket came off, she sighed with relief and flexed her shoulders. "Ow, pins and needles. Still, if that and Jubilee's singing are the only punishments for fucking up I get, I got off easy." She looked mournfully at Marie-Ange. "You couldn't just give me the Barry Manilow instead?"
Darcy nodded in agreement at Amanda's comment but didn't say anything, choosing instead to disappear out the door to freshen up the other woman's water and give the two a few minutes to talk.
"I went for maximum impact. The key changes were all Jubilee's decision." Marie-Ange said, very artificially blandly, even as she reached in to use her thumbs to massage out the knots in Amanda's shoulders. "You should perhaps know that I may have had a panic attack. I..." She paused vocally, even though her fingers kept moving. "I had a bad feeling about this, saw some readings that I thought could not possibly be related, and then it seemed they were after all."
Amanda paused in shaking out and rubbing her tingling hands to look at her girlfriend. "Panic attack?" she asked, concerned. Rarely did Marie-Ange's composure crack that deeply. "What did you think was going to happen?"
"I saw red, but I thought it was pink, and you, compromised." Marie-Ange's voice cracked on the word compromised, and she barely finished it. "I thought it was weeks from now, months, and then Jubilee texts me that you were emotionally affected, in Spain, and I think I lost several hours once Kevin and I were back from DC."
Red. Spain. Emotions being impacted. Oh, bloody fucking hell> Amanda reached around with still-numbed arms to wrap Marie-Ange up in a hug. "It's okay now, love. And it wasn't him. Not at all. If he hasn't shown up yet, then it's probable he won't ever."
Darcy raised an eyebrow at the remark as she brought back the refilled cup of water. "Not sure who you're referencing, but this feels more personal than something I need to be part of. I'll let medical know you're lucid and yourself, and make sure there's something easy to heat in your rooms for once you're released." She set the water down, and pressed a kiss to the top of Amanda's head before repeating the process with Marie-Ange. "Get some rest, please," she murmured to the redhead. "Else I really will have Garrison and Doug tag-team you until you do."
"That is a horrible tag-team, that is guilt trips and very Canadian apologizing for fireman carries." Marie-Ange stuck out her tongue. "Everyone I hire forgets I can go three days without.." She yawned, big and sudden enough that she had no time to wiggle free to cover her mouth with her elbow. "Years of actual good sleep and I lose all my tolerance for fatigue. Unfair. I worked very hard on that." She rested her head just under Amanda's chin. "I am just glad it was not him, and that you came out of this. No one else has, the reports are terrible and anytime I do any readings they come up all swords and nines, or worse, nonsense."
"Yeah, I was lucky that it was just the city messing with me and not whatever hit the people." Amanda squeezed the woman in her arms tightly, reminding them both that it was over. For now. "But before anything else, you're going to bed, Angie. No, no arguing. Darce, can you make sure she gets there? I'll talk to the docs and get the all clear and be up as soon as I can."
"I can do that, or we can wait in the hall until you get the official clear. I'm flexible as long as you both eat and get more rest." Darcy gave them a small smile, arms crossed under her chest. "As long as someone is in screaming distance." Amanda was obviously better, but after Inez... no. Better to always have one of them down here, to prevent movement without knowledge.
"I'll be good and stay put," Amanda promised. "But Angie's ready to drop. Take her up for me?"
"I have food." Marie-Ange protested, nudging her head in the general direction of the abandoned cheese sandwich. "I even ate apple slices." She reluctantly untangled herself from Amanda, and kissed her girlfriend on the forehead once before another yawn took over her face. "My entire body betraying my attempts to stay here is unfair." Now that all the fear had left, she could afford to be this tired, even if it came under protest. "We can tell whichever of the medical staff is awake that you are stable, and then I will go sleep, in a real bed."
"You did? Good." Darcy held an arm out for Ange to lean against. "We'll get you in bed, get something easy for Amanda to eat, and then the two of you can have a nice nap together, yeah? If she's not free by the time you're tucked in, I'll come back down myself or send one of ours down to keep her company until she's able to make it upstairs."
"'m going to leave a minion.' Marie-Ange said. Something in Darcy's body language, tone - the other woman wanted someone in screaming distance - it was a matter of seconds and a little blue-faced dreadlocked gargoyle was sitting on the counter, next to the sharps bin - and only then did Marie-Ange lean on Darcy a little, and slowly made her way to the door. "Amanda? Love you. No more cities making you crazy, merci. Twice is too many."
"I'll try," Amanda promised with a fond smile. It was the best she could do, given her powers. "Go. Sleep. I'll be up soon."
Her head was pounding.
Amanda groaned, slowly coming back to consciousness. Her head ached, her neck ached and she couldn't feel her arms. And she had the gnawing feeling that she had something she really needed to apologise for. Slowly, she cracked her eyes open.
"Oh fuck," she said with feeling. She was in a straightjacket. An honest-to-God bloody straightjacket.
"Water?" Darcy put her phone down as Amanda spoke, regarding the other woman with a neutral face as she held up a cup with a bendy straw. "I'll have to guide it for now, but once we make sure you're... well, you again, I can probably release you."
"Water, hell yes." For a moment Amanda's world narrowed down to the straw Darcy held close enough for her to drink from (while keeping clear of the witch's feet and legs, she noted) and she drank deeply. Her mouth tasted like blood from a cut inside her cheek. Apparently she'd been grinding her teeth at some point. Once she'd slaked her thirst, she leaned back against the wall. They were, of course, in the medlab. Wonderful. "Who'd I hurt?"
"You popped Jubes a good one after you came out of the city. She ended up using a Vulcan nerve pinch on you, if that reference works." And she'd been thrashing and kicking, both in her sleep and her limited bouts of wakefulness. Hence the straitjacket. "You've been mostly out of it for a day or so, and we've been rotating watch shifts." Darcy set the cup down and leaned forward, unintentionally channeling Kevin in her mannerisms. "You going to lose your shit and attack if I let you loose? Any urges to say nasty things and follow it with your fists?"
"If you let me loose, I'll be a complete lamb," Amanda promised. "Whatever I picked up from Jaca is out of my system. I'd cross my heart, only..." She made a kind of all-body shrug with the jacket. Her face was as honest and innocent as she could make it look.
Darcy gave her a slow, considering look. "Well, you haven't started screaming or kicking yet. If you do, you're getting the business end of several amps of electricity." Warning given, she started with the restraints holding the witch's legs in place. "Please don't kick me in the face, I'm doing burlesque for Stacy's Halloween bash and a black eye isn't part of the look," she joked as she worked the straps clear.
True to her promise, Amanda stayed still as the leg restraints were removed. "Where's Angie?" Not far away, she knew, unless Doug had forcibly drugged and dragged her off for sleep. "You said I'd been out for a day or two?"
"On and off, yeah. I'm not surprised you don't remember waking, you weren't very lucid." Darcy glanced at her phone. "Probably finishing something to eat, but if she's not back by the time I get you out of the restraints I'll text her." She raised the bed to something closer to sitting. "How are your legs feeling? Can you bend and stretch at the knee with minimal discomfort?"
Amanda rolled her eyes impatiently, but was obediently bending and raising each leg according to directions as the door opened.
"I have showered. My obligation to hygiene is complete." Marie-Ange came through the infirmary door with damp hair, in yoga leggings and a t-shirt and a scowl, with a sandwich in one hand. "I have had food forced upon me... nevermind.' She looked around the room, set the sandwich down on the little counter where the bandages and medical supplies were usually kept, immediately moving to Amanda's side. 'Apologies for the extreme restraints. You broke free of the standard wrist ones."
Unable to use her arms as yet, Amanda nuzzled Marie-Ange's shoulder with her head instead. "Sorry for the scare, love. I'm fine now, I promise."
Marie-Ange touched her forehead to Amanda's, and then settled herself, pulling all of the irritation and fear in her body language back, until she had her usual calm demeanor. She pulled out her phone, and tabbed through an app. "Apologies again, I have to be sure." and the phone began playing a recording of Jubilee, singing Barry Manilow's "Mandy".
At the lack of any rage-fueled or destructive response, she ended the song, and began undoing the closures on the restraining jacket. "Merci for the assist, Darcy. Apologies to you as well, this... brought up old fears."
"We care about the two of you, it's no hardship," Darcy replied, holding Amanda steady by the shoulders as Marie-Ange worked the closures. "Even when it means pissing you off." She grimaced slightly. "Not enjoyable, that. Are you going to need assistance heading up to... your suite, I assume?"
"I'll wait until one of the docs clears me to leave - I've escaped medlab too many times to risk them coming after me again," Amanda replied wryly. As the jacket came off, she sighed with relief and flexed her shoulders. "Ow, pins and needles. Still, if that and Jubilee's singing are the only punishments for fucking up I get, I got off easy." She looked mournfully at Marie-Ange. "You couldn't just give me the Barry Manilow instead?"
Darcy nodded in agreement at Amanda's comment but didn't say anything, choosing instead to disappear out the door to freshen up the other woman's water and give the two a few minutes to talk.
"I went for maximum impact. The key changes were all Jubilee's decision." Marie-Ange said, very artificially blandly, even as she reached in to use her thumbs to massage out the knots in Amanda's shoulders. "You should perhaps know that I may have had a panic attack. I..." She paused vocally, even though her fingers kept moving. "I had a bad feeling about this, saw some readings that I thought could not possibly be related, and then it seemed they were after all."
Amanda paused in shaking out and rubbing her tingling hands to look at her girlfriend. "Panic attack?" she asked, concerned. Rarely did Marie-Ange's composure crack that deeply. "What did you think was going to happen?"
"I saw red, but I thought it was pink, and you, compromised." Marie-Ange's voice cracked on the word compromised, and she barely finished it. "I thought it was weeks from now, months, and then Jubilee texts me that you were emotionally affected, in Spain, and I think I lost several hours once Kevin and I were back from DC."
Red. Spain. Emotions being impacted. Oh, bloody fucking hell> Amanda reached around with still-numbed arms to wrap Marie-Ange up in a hug. "It's okay now, love. And it wasn't him. Not at all. If he hasn't shown up yet, then it's probable he won't ever."
Darcy raised an eyebrow at the remark as she brought back the refilled cup of water. "Not sure who you're referencing, but this feels more personal than something I need to be part of. I'll let medical know you're lucid and yourself, and make sure there's something easy to heat in your rooms for once you're released." She set the water down, and pressed a kiss to the top of Amanda's head before repeating the process with Marie-Ange. "Get some rest, please," she murmured to the redhead. "Else I really will have Garrison and Doug tag-team you until you do."
"That is a horrible tag-team, that is guilt trips and very Canadian apologizing for fireman carries." Marie-Ange stuck out her tongue. "Everyone I hire forgets I can go three days without.." She yawned, big and sudden enough that she had no time to wiggle free to cover her mouth with her elbow. "Years of actual good sleep and I lose all my tolerance for fatigue. Unfair. I worked very hard on that." She rested her head just under Amanda's chin. "I am just glad it was not him, and that you came out of this. No one else has, the reports are terrible and anytime I do any readings they come up all swords and nines, or worse, nonsense."
"Yeah, I was lucky that it was just the city messing with me and not whatever hit the people." Amanda squeezed the woman in her arms tightly, reminding them both that it was over. For now. "But before anything else, you're going to bed, Angie. No, no arguing. Darce, can you make sure she gets there? I'll talk to the docs and get the all clear and be up as soon as I can."
"I can do that, or we can wait in the hall until you get the official clear. I'm flexible as long as you both eat and get more rest." Darcy gave them a small smile, arms crossed under her chest. "As long as someone is in screaming distance." Amanda was obviously better, but after Inez... no. Better to always have one of them down here, to prevent movement without knowledge.
"I'll be good and stay put," Amanda promised. "But Angie's ready to drop. Take her up for me?"
"I have food." Marie-Ange protested, nudging her head in the general direction of the abandoned cheese sandwich. "I even ate apple slices." She reluctantly untangled herself from Amanda, and kissed her girlfriend on the forehead once before another yawn took over her face. "My entire body betraying my attempts to stay here is unfair." Now that all the fear had left, she could afford to be this tired, even if it came under protest. "We can tell whichever of the medical staff is awake that you are stable, and then I will go sleep, in a real bed."
"You did? Good." Darcy held an arm out for Ange to lean against. "We'll get you in bed, get something easy for Amanda to eat, and then the two of you can have a nice nap together, yeah? If she's not free by the time you're tucked in, I'll come back down myself or send one of ours down to keep her company until she's able to make it upstairs."
"'m going to leave a minion.' Marie-Ange said. Something in Darcy's body language, tone - the other woman wanted someone in screaming distance - it was a matter of seconds and a little blue-faced dreadlocked gargoyle was sitting on the counter, next to the sharps bin - and only then did Marie-Ange lean on Darcy a little, and slowly made her way to the door. "Amanda? Love you. No more cities making you crazy, merci. Twice is too many."
"I'll try," Amanda promised with a fond smile. It was the best she could do, given her powers. "Go. Sleep. I'll be up soon."
