Jean is back in the lab, checking on Holo who's been in the psychically induced deep sleep state in a paneled off corner of the room. Despite her being completely unaware of her surroundings, the interior space has been made -likely by her sister- nice and friendly, in contrast to the sterility of the rest of the room.
Jean closes the panels and turns away from Holo's space.
Beast is entering as Jean is returning to her work area. "Less than 127 hours," she states to him.
"Pardon?" He gets situated at his area.
"That's our dea--" A quick closing of her eyes. "That's how long we have to make this cure."
"Somewhat arbitrary. Has this been imposed on us by someone involved in the recent Danger Room excitement?"
"Alex reported feeling pain we know was related to his resistance breakdown roughly 5 days before he passed...Scott's just reported pain in his eyes."
A startled look gives way to a sympathetic expression, though Jean's attention is on the work. Beast reverts his to the same.
Day 2 of 5.
After putting out another figurative fire with the mutants with elemental powers, Storm is speaking with Logan. "Mystique suffers alone in her corner." Indeed, we see Mystique curled up on her cot, positioned as far away from anyone else in the room as possible - actually in one corner nearest the door, most everyone else being deeper in the room; only Scott is near the door, but by the wall to the opposite side of it.
Despite likely keeping most to herself, Mystique still seems in obvious discomfort, possibly pain, as her body constantly cycles through different ones; sometimes gradually, sometimes faster.
Storm continues: "She won't accept a hand of sympathy or much of the rest I try to offer."
Wolverine barely has to consider this: "Sometimes attention just makes the pain worse."
"Even still. I worry she may be closest to Scott's timeline. Jean and Beast are working against the clock for them both."
Against the clock and tighter around it...with sustenance brought to them as it is for those affected, Beast leaves the lab for no other reason than "bio breaks". Although that's not too unusual for Beast when he's focused on something. The change is seen more in Jean. She tries to join Scott every time there's a point in the process that must be waited on, but as she and Beast are trying multiple solutions at any one time, such windows grow fewer; Jean stuffs the irritation which grows from this.
She still goes to Scott to sleep -only the least amount she feels she can function on; the clock on that keeps getting pushed later and later....
Day 3 of 5, rather, late night...Logan's in his room, unable to sleep. He gets up and walks through the dark mansion to the elevator. Once arriving on the sub-level, he glances towards the door to the Danger Room, but that's not where he heads. Instead he turns for the lab.
As he knows he will, he finds Jean there, working through while Beast grabs a cat nap.
Jean is concerned when she notices him: "What is it?"
"Nothing new..any progress?"
Jean gives him only a small amount of her attention. "Not enough. We keep trying different solutions...none of them take. There's a missing element."
"Well maybe it takes stepping away from it."
Jean just shakes her head.
"Are you gonna' get any sleep tonight?"
"...today will be day 4."
"I know," he comes closer, "but you look like you could collapse."
"I know how far I can take myself."
"Yeah. Just you're the one who said some of the work can be done away from it. Maybe you should sleep on it."
"I can't, Logan. Not when we're so close. ."
"Jean," he takes her shoulder in his hand, "I know his time's comin' up first...but he's only one of everyone in there." He softens his tone, "if you're not onto anything tonight a fresh start might be what's needed for the long ru--"
Jean's kept composed through everything up to this point: the mounting pressure, intermittent chaos, Alex's death...but now..it finally gives way -this is almost an emotional infidelity: "I'll have failed if I can't save him!" They've been speaking quietly and she does still, her voice loud only in emotion. "Even if we can succeed in time for everyone else, if I can't save Scott-"
It's not that she'd risk working herself into the ground to save one at the possible expense of everyone. Her prudence is as it ever would be. It's not one over all. It's how much it'll matter if it's all but one.
Logan brings his other hand to her other shoulder -- finding himself holding her when she rises into his arms. "Forget what I said. You'll figure this out in time for him." He realizes something, "you said you came back, stopped being Phoenix for a reason. This has got to be it."
She shudders more than cries; holding it together that much, still: "I don't feel that it is. And I keep seeing him," she shifts back, "I keep seeing Scott and he's--"
He holds her in a more bracing way: "You saw what Holo imagined and that's loopin' through your head. You've been thinkin' of this 24/7 and you're exhausted." He watches her a moment before holding her close again. "Take care of yourself, tonight. Or at least let somebody else."
The almost-infidelity building- she takes comfort from his arms, his words...
". .No matter what happens, Jean..you know you'll always have me."
...and suddenly wakes up to the moment.
She eases back from him, looking into his gaze.. "Thank you, Logan. I-I'm sorry..-" and moves out of this altogether.
She exits the lab.
Logan watches after her until the doors shut her from his view.
Back in the Danger Medical Room...
Jean enters, her tearful eyes surprised to find Scott is awake, propped up on his forearms and already looking in the direction of the door. She comes over- "Scott? What are you..."- laying a hand on his chest as though to encourage him to lay back, but coming to hold him instead.
Scott does lay back, freeing up his arms to respond to hers in kind.
"..I felt you," he explains, "just a minute ago. I didn't know if it was a dream, or telepathy*..."
*To be sure, Scott does not have telepathy. But a side-result of the "reset procedure" (Issue #0) was a unique psychic bond between him and Jean. In times of strong feeling, such as desperation, you can think of it like files being downloaded -to Jean- or uploaded -to Scott- automatically. ~Tra
"...You know don't need to keep your pain from me because of what I'm going through."
"Oh, Scott...it's not because of you." Reluctantly, she eases out of the embrace, and gazes out across the darkened room; all the sleeping souls she and Beast still don't have a solution for. . .
"These are different ways lives are depending on me...Not the way I'm used to."
Something seems to be clicking in Scott's mind. "Jean, I still remember some from when we did the reset procedure...things you did as Phoenix. Maybe this is why you've come back...to use that power here.."
Jean shakes her head. "It's not, it doesn't work that way." Off his look she explains, "I can't become it on a whim. It has to involve...certain conditions. Ones which aren't met here."
While he processes that Jean removes her lab coat, draping it over the end of the bed. Removes her glasses and sets them on a moveable table that's currently behind the head of the bed.
He's shifted over so she can join him, but before she does: "Jean, We need to talk."
She pauses, and seems to read something in his tone.
Or maybe his mind. "No, Scott, I don't think we do."
"-Listen," he insists gently, turning his hand over to invite hers -a cold compress between his eyes and his ruby quartz mask meaning he can't see to take it himself. "If it happens...I don't want you to be there-"
Affected, Jean clearly is of a different mind; she sets her hand in his.
"-I don't want you to see."
She circumvents: "I'll be there to make sure there isn't anything to see."
"You know what I mean. You can keep it so it doesn't show on the outside...but you can't keep me from taking my last breath."
She takes a shuddering one.
The hold of her hand loosens just slightly, as if she's going to take it away, away from this conversation - but letting go is exactly what she doesn't want to do. She squeezes instead.
He does too.
"You told me what happened when your telepathy first manifested...how you almost died with your friend...I don't know what'll happen if you're there with me..." His own breathing is shuddery now, less afraid of his own mortality than what it might do to Jean.
Jean: ".. .if I'm not there, it'll be worse than what Holo imagined.." Shakily she lays her hand aside his head.
Painfully, Scott realizes her truth.
She gets in beside him now; they hold each other again.
"..You could never let me down."
It's a response to Jean's earlier statement of the lives depending on her.
And it's not a statement of encouragement that Jean will succeed in time for him.
It's a statement of understanding in case she can't.
Day 4 of 5; morning.
Jean checks in with those who are awake.
Colbur -hands seemingly permanently rocky, now- and Bobby -ice up his forearms- reported feeling a literal heaviness and an interior chill respectively. They know what this means: Their final count has started.
Rogue didn't report feeling any different.
She excuses herself from Bobby and Colbur shortly thereafter.
Scott replaces his ruby quartz mask over a freshly cooled compress.
Before Jean leaves, she returns to him to give a tender kiss. "I'll be back. In the meantime," she touches her forehead to his, "you know where to find me." She doesn't delay any further than that.
There are gym-style shower facilities in a room near the Danger Room.
Rogue is lathering up, washing away some of her mounting concerns -- which are about to get much more personal and real.
Jean suddenly pauses in the sub-level hallway, getting a sense of something...Her eyes shift, her head cocking slightly as she dials into it. . .Then with alarm she changes course from the lab.
A short time later...
Rogue -dressed of course- is back on her cot in the Danger Medical Room. "Wha...what happened?"
Bobby: "Ah..apparently when you were showering, you started draining your own energy. Jean was able to pick up on your thoughts for help."
Rogue looks scared. Her mind grasps at easier details. "So..so she found me?"
"Yeah."
Rogue bites her lip.
She tiredly looks around: "Where's Colbur?"
"He was going to talk to Beast, I don't know what he thought he could do. Wolverine stopped him. I think he's calming him down again, just out in the hall...All of this really has him freaking out.." It's easier to talk about what it's doing to Colbur than to himself.
Even still, he shares a scared look with Rogue.
Day is giving over to evening when next we check-in with Jean and Beast in the lab.
The latter tallies: "Test number-too-many-plus-2, also not the one."
Even as she sighs as though her every hope is in each test, Jean is in the middle of another.
"What could be miss--" at once she comes to attention and freezes.
After a moment, Beast looks over. "A 'eureka' moment dawning?"
"No." Jean answers at length. "I can't hear any of them-" she exits-
-heading for the Danger Room, as she tries to process -- they weren't all on their last days. This wasn't even Scott's last day.
Assuming they followed the same timeline as Alex. . . .
Her eyes mist over -- she'll be there in a few steps more but sends out a desperate telepathic call, anyway: 'Scott?...Scott, please -no!'
She enters, meeting the eyes of Xavier.
Which have a smile to them.
"Jean. I'd like you to meet Leech."