Coming on sunset, Xavier has driven with Nightcrawler to the neighborhood of Elias' campmate, Greyson.
Nightcrawler: "The house, it is that one?"
"Yes. And their son has gone out. I sense only two, matured minds inside. There's an uneasiness to them; turmoil. I want to take no chances and waste not a moment more of time. Could you take us into that front room?"
"Ja."
The curtains of the front room haven't yet been drawn, allowing Nightcrawler a clear view.
Both occupants of the home don't seem to be there at the moment, either.
He BAMFS himself and Xavier in.
Almost belying the intensity of the situation and, likewise, his greater feelings, Xavier has something of a calm, expectant disposition. "We will be meeting our hosts in just a few seconds' time."
Sure enough, Greyson's father happens into the living room - he's shocked to find guests. His eyes move from Xavier, undetectable as a mutant from appearance alone, to Kurt, who obviously is one.
The man swallows. "I'll get my wife."
Everyone's now sitting comfortably.
Well, sitting. Comfort is not compatible with the circumstances.
Greyson's Mother: "We're independent scientists, not with Trask Industries."
Greyson's Father: "One of our friends works in their security department, which is how we got word of the underground lab stations. Using them was easy."
Xavier: "You call them lab stations. We discovered no such evidence."
Greyson's Mother: "We were told the idea was to use them in a temporary capacity. We'd bring all our own equipment with us-"
Greyson's Father, his gaze set down towards the floor, supplies unnecessarily: "-it was like a pop-up lab."
His wife nods to him before continuing; better able to meet the eyes of their guests: "-yes. Each night, when we were finished, we would pack up, leaving nothing to find."
"What prompted you to do these experiments? With results reckless at best and evil at worst."
Now Greyson's Father has looked up, stricken: "What? Wait-" he holds his hand up momentarily, "we thought we were helping our friends. That's what prompted us."
Greyson's Mother is similarly affected: "What are you saying about 'evil'?"
Greyson's Father cuts back in: "What happened to their son- to even suggest that's what we were going for!"
Xavier is confused. "Your friends' son? I don't understand. Explain."
The parents exchange a confused look themselves, but Greyson's Mother answers: "Last year, there was a fire at the school our friends' son attended. He wasn't able to get out. By the time the firefighters got in, he should've been dead from smoke inhalation. Instead they found him not only unharmed, but the hallway he was in was unnaturally devoid of any smoke, even though the connecting hallways were full."
Xavier: "His x-gene had just activated."
Greyson's Father (grudgingly): "Yes. He had the ability to absorb such things from the air with a tolerance to any toxins. There was no denying he was a mutant. Almost overnight a promising young life turned into a nightmare!"
Greyson's Mother: "We only wanted to help and started looking into their son's genes immediately. Just last month we thought we'd found our breakthrough. We believed we could manufacture a serum that would turn his x-gene off."
Greyson's Father (beside himself): "We were sure of our results! But then when we gave it to him--"
Now Greyson's Mother is the one whose gaze is set away, in her case as though transfixed on a far away sight: "-our work had the exact opposite effect...Another side to his mutation was his body could produce whatever compounds he'd breathed in...He started expelling enough smoke that neighbors thought the house was on fire. We'd overactivated his gene -such that the mutation became incompatible with its host. The smoke had pervaded his lungs...he choked himself to death. His parents might've gone with him."
Xavier closes his eyes with the affect of the tragedy, but he can give the lost boy no more regard at this time: "Why did you begin releasing your substance after this?"
Greyson's Father's emotions are interrupted by renewed confusion: "What do you mean? After that we stopped."
"Your release before, then, was for what purpose?"
Greyson's Mother: "Excuse me, but what are you even talking about?"
Nightcrawler provides: "The 'Rose Mist'."
Greyson's Father: "That? It was a property of the process. During one of the manufacturing stages some of the substance aerosolized. We'd found it to be harmless - the substance was made to be injected not inhaled, after all. And the only reason we kept moving lab stations was so we wouldn't be interrupted."
Xavier: "It most certainly is not as you found. Any mutants exposed are experiencing the same overactivation of their x-genes. Albeit, thankfully, at a more gradual rate."
Greyson's parents are horrified.
The Professor gravely spells it out: "The same end to which your friends' son came will come to many more. Unless we can manufacture a counter-serum. I trust you documented your process and have papers on the properties of your concoction. You must give all such documentation to me."
Greyson's parents comply.
The information is brought back to the Mansion's lab where Beast and Jean pour over it into the late hours of the night.
But lack of sleep will hamper not help.
A few hours are caught...
It's now early morning. Just before the sun's rise....
The simulated "natural" light of the Danger Medical Room is programmed to reflect the time of day so the occupants don't lose the sense of it.
Jean has checked on the recorded vitals of the occupants and is just exiting; headed back to the lab.
Scott is still asleep.
His position more to one side of the bed indicating perhaps Jean still gets her sleep -reduced as it now is- alongside him.
The first instances of daylight are just creeping in when Scott stirs, and wakes.
His attention goes to Alex.
A small few of the others are also awake, but the quiet of night-turned-morning hasn't yet been broken.
Scott gets out of bed, but keeps a hand on it. He stands a moment, gauging his dizziness, then proceeds the few yards across to his brother.
Once he's there, however, uncertainty creeps into Scott's expression. He looks around for something.
The Mother of Flower Shop Boy must've been watching him and has anticipated his need -Scott sees her bringing a chair over for him. Once she's set it down, he takes/grips the back of it.
"Should you be out of bed?" she asks, not busybody-like, but kindly.
"I'm fine. Thanks."
She nods and returns to her son.
Adjusting the chair's placement, Scott is about to sit down when he takes notice of something on the other side of the bed, by Alex's hand. Scott sits before reaching across - it's one of Colber's rocks.
Scott turns it in his hand before replacing it.
The motion, the leaning, seems to have increased Scott's dizziness.
He props his elbows on the side of the bed, wraps one hand over the loose fist of his other, and brings his head to rest on them.
"..I don't know how it's been for you," he speaks softly to his brother, "but I hope you can hear me. .What you've told me about the family you were adopted into, never given any choice in how to live your own life or ever accepted without condition. .Then we reunited and it must've felt like--" He catches himself, corrects, "--I did the same thing."
How it hurts for Scott to admit this he knows is nothing compared to how Alex must've felt receiving it.
A sad smile's crossed Scott's face. He looks at his brother, "I was still thinking of you as the little brother who looked to me for the way and accepted I knew the best." The smile fades. "I'm sorry, 'Lex."
From across the room, Colber -sitting up on his cot- is watching him.
Rogue and Bobby are still asleep.
Colber's eyes shift slowly around the room. . .all these faces, many he knows...a few, the younger ones, accompanied by an unaffected someone who cares. Others...the ones he doesn't know, maybe they don't have anyone they're somebody to, or circumstances don't permit their presence.
His gaze comes to set back on Alex and Scott.
He's just getting out from under the blanket when something happens that brings the early risers to attention and stirs -soon wakes- the others: blasts are being released from Alex's body.
Beast's protective gear is useless as the blasts are emanating from areas of Alex's body they don't usually.
Initial shock on Scott's part gives way to action. He covers his brother's shoulder -where one blast just shot- with his own hand, harmlessly taking the next one. But then it's his other shoulder -his leg -his forearm.
The other occupants are on high alert as the blasts are coming out wayward -- not just in the direction Alex is facing. If they weren't in the Danger Room the walls and ceiling would be taking serious damage.
Anywhere the blasts have discharged, Alex's skin -exposed now if it wasn't already- is growing red.
Scott's gotten up on the bed kneeling over -straddling- his brother, his hands wrapped over both his shoulders, trying to block as much of the blasts as he can -- one shoots out Alex's back destroying the bed -- they both go down. "HNNNGHH!!!" Colber's rock goes sliding across the floor.
Scott scrambles to get back over Alex -- suddenly it all seems to subside, even the previously constant glow beneath Alex's chest plate and gloves. Scott seems like he's not making sense of this when a voice -Xavier's- is heard: "We have it from here, Scott."
Looking towards the door he sees Xavier, Beast, and Jean -- whose hands are aimed towards Alex; she's at least holding his blasts back telekinetically.
Xavier: "Hank, get Alex."
Beast moves forward to pick up the unconscious Summers brother. Xavier, too, wheels forward, intent on checking on Scott. "Wait! What are you doing with him?!" He's managed to scramble to his feet, using Alex's busted bed as a support. Frantically looking between them -his "eyes" set on Jean; her expression creasing with pity.
His current state isn't enough to block the realization: "No-!" He tries to move towards them but Xavier has come around and brings his hands up to Scott, holding him back -Scott nearly loses balance. "Let me go with him!"
Xavier (gravely): "We don't know how this will be. -Jean, Hank, go on."
"No!" He looks to Jean, appealing to her, "you're holding his powers back, h-he, y-you-"
Jean shakes her head, eyes tearing: "I can't turn them off...I'm so sorry."
She turns with Beast.
Scott fights against Xavier: "Let me be with my brother!"
"He requires full concentration. -Scott! You're in no state!"
"No- 'LEX..!" Proving the point, he falls to his knees beside Xavier's wheelchair, "Alex..." the older man doing what he can to console the younger. . ."I'll be by his side in your stead."
Beast and Jean have taken Alex back to the regular Medical Bay.
A monitor displaying an infrared scan of Alex's body shows the unnatural amount of heat within -kept within by Jean's telekinesis. She concentrates harder to reduce it down as the complete crumbling away of Alex's immunity means his powers will burn him from the inside.
Xavier enters, exuding determination: "Let us do what we can to preserve the young man before us."
While one of Jean's hands stays on Alex's forehead, the spread fingers of her other now come together, as if she's collecting something.
Beast is watching the monitor, which now reflects the heat across Alex's body coming together into a ball, a sun in the centre of his chest...
Xavier has positioned himself at the head of the exam table they have Alex on; setting his hands on the young man's temples.
Over the next collection of seconds, silently, Alex's heartrate flatlines.
Minutes more - Xavier lets go.
Jean keeps up her concentration until all cellular metabolism ceases.
Closing tearful eyes, she seems about to say something. Xavier already knows: "Your supposition is correct. His neural receptors remained psychically disconnected. He felt nothing."
A small consolation at least.
Jean leaves the room.
Beast has shut off the monitor.
Wheeling into a different position so as to look on Alex properly, Xavier lays a tender hand on the shoulder of the lost Summers brother.
Back in the Danger Room, Scott is sitting, slumped, against the broken remains of Alex's bed; if anyone came in this time to help him back to his, he hasn't let them.
We hear the door.
Then we see Jean bending down in front of him.
"Did he...was he conscious of anything?"
"No...we made sure of that at least."
Scott begins to sob - Jean holds him.
From the middle of the room, Rogue, Iceman and Colber are observing the scene.
Bobby speaks aloud what they all can't believe: "I think Cyclops just lost his brother."
Reality hits home.
Colber, especially, is taking this in with a stricken look.
Bobby places his hand on his shoulder, causing Colber to flinch.
While the gloves keep Bobby's ice powers in, they seem less functional at keeping in the cold of them. Bobby retracts his hand.
Rogue's gloved hand takes over the act of a comforting touch, while she and Bobby exchange a look: Was it just the nature of Havok's powers- -or will all affected end up as he has?