From the Doctor's Point of View

[BEAST]

Hank closed the door behind him after he entered the Med Lab, an extra spring in his step after the meeting. He was in truth incredibly excited to have the opportunity to be on the same team as Ember. It would be a chance to learn more of the young lady knew, what she had learned through her short life. Hank had been around long enough and seen enough to know that they only had a small clue about the things that the girl had seen and done, and quite frankly he was incredibly intrigued to learn more from her.


Ember was not the only student with a fascinating physiology and biological background, though because of all the tests he'd run on her recently, she was one that piqued his interest. Splice was another who's genealogy was as interesting her her abilities. Hank had wondered ever since she first arrived at the school if there would ever be a time when her body would retain the powers she gained when merging with another body. It was only a hypothesis of course, but the possibilities due to her Atlantean background were endless.

Many of the students were extremely powerful and in many ways the potential for their power to grow to the Omega level, a fact that Hank McCoy knew the minute he was informed of their abilities. Sometimes, like the case with Ember, he needed to observe and learn more about the student's power before he could make any conclusions or solid hypothesis on the power of the individual. As Hank looked through the medical files on his desk, his mind immersed in the possibilities that each of the students had. There were several cases other than Splice and Embers, that he had many notes on for future observations. TrueSpirit, Onyx, Haven, Allure and Hemlock were just a few of the students that he had extensive notes on in regards to the potential of their powers. It was all fascinating to Hank, for the more he learned of their powers, the more he understood about the X-Gene and how mutants develop.

With all that in mind, Hank picked up both Ember and Hemlock's file, bringing them over to his desk in the med lab and scanning the extensive notes he scribbled on the note paper in his files to record in the computer for the records. It was a long process, but rather helpful in the long run. It allowed him to add any notes or observations that he may have not remembered to write down at the time or the new thoughts that formed after hypothesizing on the cases in his spare time. So Dr. Hank McCoy got to work, immersing himself in the fascination of the students he was fortunate to learn from and help in any way he could.

[Hardlight]

"OUCH! Dr.Beast? Owwwwww -My hand is broke I think!" Kevin cryed when he came across into the Medlav. "I broke it on her face. Oh god, Haven look at you, oh Ian's gonna kill me. Keep the ice on it." Kevin's concernt for him hand was being overshaddowed by his worry for his friendship with Desiel. He did'nt want to be the guy who hit his girl, and he would'nt of if she did'nt stick her face out and make him hit it.

"I was'nt mad about the gay pride thing really, I know you just wanted to get to me and -OOWWW!! That hurts DOC!?!" He was being helped by so many hands that when they all tried to move togethere they sometimes pulled in difarent directions and that was what realy hurt. "Ok guys, yow! Le'go and I can walk myself, thanks." He smiled weekly at them all his pain showing on his face.

He walked ip to Beast and stuck his hand out. "Is it broke sir? I wanted to play vollyball today, I was working on my spike!" he grinned, everybody knew he could not ever get up high enoug to spike the vollyball over the net but even in his pain Kevin had some humor. "Tell me it's not broken please, I dont want to have a stinky hand, casts make your skin all gross and stinky. Mabey it's just a bad bone bruise?"

[BEAST]

Hank put his files down and stood up when he heard people coming toward his lab. "Ah sparring I take it Mr. Leonard?" he said with a chuckle looking down at the boy's hand. "Now let's see what we have here... yes I know you're here too Bobby, but you don't have a critical status this time." Hank chuckled again and looked over Hardlight's hand carefully, watching his reactions as he moved certain bones and muscles. He handled it very gently of course, but it needed to be checked and for that it would cause him a bit more discomfort.

"Well, I do not think that you will be playing any volleyball today or the next couple of days," Hank said after a couple of minutes of inspection. "I will give you the new medicine that I developed with the help of Dr. Reed Richards, which should speed up your healing to only a day or two." He went to his shelf and pulled out a wrap and a support brace. "I won't put a cast on it, being that it is only for a couple of days, but you will need to wear a wrap. And most of all, take it as easy as possible until it is fully healed. Come see me once a day and I will give you the dosage you need."

With careful precision, the Good Doctor wrapped the young man's hand securely to keep him from feeling more discomfort. When he finished wrapping it, Dr.McCoy secured it carefully with a brace. "There now, good as new! Now just let me give you some medicine," he said with a beaming smile, going over to get Hardlight a cup of water and unlocking his medicine cabinet to take the medicine. "Here you are, just take one and wash it down with water." Hank placed the glass and small pill in front of him. "Was it an effective sparring session at least?"

[Haven]

Niki nodded her head a little at Beast's question. "Yeah, I think he has a shot at the title." she said sarcastically. "But," she pulled the ice down from her face and said "you tell me. Do we have a hitter here or what?" She grinned as she winked at Kevin. It was the first time she really felt a connection to the kid and after he connected with her she realized he wasn't all that unreliable.

Her opinion of their other little dead weight as she had originally thought of him had grown by leaps and bounds since the return from Limbo. At that time she really wasn't even a member of the team anymore, since she was still under such suspicion, but she did take stock of who did what. He was actually, now that she placed the ice back to her cheek and took a moment to think back, one hell of a little guy. The only thing she really detested about him was his friendship with Frostbite.

Again that bitch? Why the hell am I thinking of her? In Haven's mind that was a time she would rather not revisit. Certainly the excitement of taking Ian for herself and all the might of the crushing blows of agonizing defeat that the ice bender suffered at the realization that she herself had driven her man away made Niki consider the time in the fondest of ways, it was the crap that came along with it that was the issue.

The Acolytes had been so much a team oriented group, they jelled so well- then with the 'changing of the guard' as far as Ian trading up for Niki and Lorelai bucking the system.. pulling away from the group. The team felt like planets pulled out of their own orbits by the icy world known to them as Frostbite. It wasn't until just recently that the malignant cancer was cut from their ranks that the team again began to feel like a close knit group. Niki not known to be one to include outsiders was doing her best as the team's 'Sergeant at Arms' to allow for the inclusion of some new faces.

She was however, not as of yet, liking the additions to her team and if anyone else showed up she had no idea what she might do. Katana was bad enough, but Splice was just over the top and anyone else she might just have to size them up for a body bag. Lighten up babe... lighten up babe... Ian's words rang in her ears Why does he always want to include people? I love him, but Damn! The more shit-heads we get the worse off we are and the less we can count on them in a fight. I'm all for strength in numbers but hell Katana is too weak, cries at the drop of a hat... and Splice? She's just a big blue clown from what I saw. Well at least Kevin is willing to dig deep and find what he needs in there. We can teach him to fight.

"In all seriousness, he has potential Doc, but we'll see. The thing I saw that really impressed me, and Kevin I'm being honest, all kidding aside, he really wants to learn. If for no other reason I think he's gonna do fine... might take a while, but he has the desire.. you do, Kev. And that'll get him there." Niki had seen some things in her life, learned the hard way. It was a shame the school of hard knocks never sent out diplomas, but those who had graduated would only wipe their ass with the damned things anyway, and Niki was no exception.

[BEAST]

Hank smiled at Hardlight and checked his hand one more time."Well potential hitter or not, there will be no hitting for the next couple of days. And Niki, do properly show him how to punch next time." He paused for a moment and eyed her face where she held the ice. "As much as you hate it, do come to me if you're face starts to swell. I can at the very least bring the swelling down," he pointed out knowing how stubborn Haven could be.

"Interesting..." Hank McCoy trailed off passing a look at Bobby. "You witnessed all this I assume. Was it unpreventable then in that it was impossible for you to interfere in time?" He raised his bushy blue eyebrows at him. He didn't want to upset Bobby again after that meeting but it did take a toll on Hank to constantly have to patch up children on practically an hourly basis. He shook his head and went over to his files to put in his notes about Kevin's injuries.

"Do excuse me Bobby, I suppose that the stack of files up there has me thinking about how many injuries there are with the students here on a daily basis. But kids, will be kids and accidents are bound to happen," he conceded after a moment while recording the procedure in his notes. It was true, and the look on Bobby's face did sting him and remind him to watch his tone.

[Frostbite]

Just go...it'll be better after this, Lorelai. It'll be okay. Maybe no one will be there to see you ask for the pill, she thought to reassure herself as she made her way down to the sub-basement to see Beast. Yeah, maybe no one will be there right now. It won't be so bad if there's no one there. It felt like her heart was pounding in her head as she headed down, and she didn't realize it was possible to have it be this hard just to go asking after a morning after pill. She would've preferred not having to ask at all, but she let herself go to Rumble, she let herself let him have his way with her, and she didn't really have to go get it if she really didn't mind possibly getting pregnant. "Ugh," she muttered to herself as her resolve was fortified at the thought, and she walked a little faster so that she could just get it over with so that she could go back to her room and feel better knowing it wasn't going to happen.

She inhaled deeply again as she approached the door to the med lab, and quickly ducked her head from the window after seeing there were people already in there. Stupid, stupid, duh Lorelai, of course there are people in there, there's ALWAYS people in there, no one can stay uninjured in this school. freaking duh! she thought, leaning against the wall next to the door and hitting herself on the head. She sneaked another peek through the window and hid behind the wall again, grimacing as she had seen who was in there. Bobby. Kevin. Haven. Now this is my kinda luck. Bobby....and Kevin...and freaking Haven too. This just...it just figures. she heaved a sigh and shook her head, the resolve to go in starting to dissolve as she thought about each one.

Bobby. What wasn't there to say about him? She wasn't ready to find him yet, though she knew she had to talk to him and apologize for ignoring everything he offered to her. He was her favorite and closest teacher, but she was afraid to see him in case he was too disgusted with her to hear her out. She had just overheard Beast speaking to him and felt the biggest twinge of guilt in her stomach. Bobby tried to help her as best he could, and every time she was reminded of it, she felt horrid. Seeing him, and having him see her made her want to just stay there, or hide until they left.

Then there was Kevin. Kevin let her be, and yet there he was, with a hurt hand apparently. She was afraid to talk to him too, because of how they had left off. Was she better now that she seemed to have learned from this little lesson she brought on herself? If she spoke to him, would he see that and take her back? Lorelai didn't know, and she was sort of afraid to find that out. If he still shunned her even after seeing that she looked and felt different after her stupid actions, she wasn't sure what she would do afterwards. She still considered him a best friend, even though she'd been keeping away from him like he wanted because he didn't want to deal with her like the way she'd been acting. She understood if he wouldn't have her back, she wouldn't have herself back after the shit she pulled.

And then there was the ever lovely Haven. Lorelai hadn't even thought about her since Beast's class and how she wanted to piss her and Ian off. Honestly, she hadn't even been aiming to get under her skin then; she just really wanted to piss Ian off. Now that she was there and she saw her, Lorelai wondered how much did Haven really bug her. Sure, she threw skanky self at Ian when Lorelai was still with him, and she still thought she was acting like a slut then, but even Lorelai could see that over the time Haven had become more accepted. Sure, she still irked her, but after dealing with Rumble, Haven was nothing in comparison. It didn't mean she was going to start picking fights with her, because now it just wasn't worth it, nothing as troublesome as a fight, or a horrid one night stand was worth it. However, it didn't mean she would stand to be insulted. No, there was still a sense of self-preservation and damned pride, but she wouldn't it get further than words if it came to it.

Shaking her head, Lorelai felt as if she were going to run the gauntlet. She held her breath and opened the door as quietly as she could to let herself in.

[Iceman]

Bobby's face fell at Hank's words, stinging him far more than they should. He already felt guilty as hell about Lorelai, feeling that he failed her in the worst possible way. Even though Kevin hurting his hand was probably one of the more minor of injuries, it still stung. "Ahh he's fine Hank. You ain't giving this guy enough credit, he's tough enough that some bruised and fractured hand won't keep him from kicking some major butt," he said ruffling Kevin's hair again with a grin. He had a soft spot for the little guy too, mainly because he could relate to him.

For a number of years, Bobby was the runt of the X-Men. He was the youngest that they all picked on and made fun of when the time came, and he knew for a long time what it was like to struggle for his place within the team. That was why he never tried to make anyone feel like they were too young for anything, just let them strive to do as much as they could.

"You oughta listen to this girl more," Bobby said glancing at Haven with a grin. "She's got an eye for these things. That was impressive though. A blind man could tell what a hard punch it was and you just took it with barely a step back." A thoughtful look came on his face at that. "A girl that can take a hit. Now that's refreshing," he grinned at Haven and leaned against the chrome wall. "Alright slugger, let's get ya fixed up. We got a cookout for you guys to get ready for. And you better believe that I conned Sky into making that amazing potato salad of hers. Man bacon and cheese in potato salad. So weird but so amazing." There was a look of blissful happiness thinking of the last time she made it and how he managed to steal the last of it before the others got to it.

[Fleet]

Fleet had gone out into the hallway when the sparring was goin to start and he hurt. He had hurt before but never as much or as often as when he was here in this god awful school. He was not even in the door and he had his face smashed in by a guy who couldn't count to twenty even if he had his shoes and socks off. Texas ranger belt buckle and all, what a spaz. The guy who fell head over heels for the girl who tried to kill us all and now he is everybody's hero for what? Well, they're both on my hit list now him AND his sleezebag whore and I'm done playin fair.

His body hurt it was true, but more than that was his pride. He hadn't really done his share in the Danger Room and he was sorry for that. He had a bunch of new people on his team now and he wanted to impress them, especially the ladies but he just couldn't get it together. His legs were shot, his face was a swollen mass of raw hamburger and his power, oh god his power, that was another mess in and all itself. "Kyle old man you need a vacation from this screwed up life." he said to himself as he walked to the Danger Room.

It was open for some strange reason. He went in and found that it was only the ante chamber not the Room itself that was open, but the silence was wonderful. His thoughts were unashamed and unfiltered in the darkness of the little foyer to the huge room beyond. Only the light of the slightly open door was casting in and he thought about his life. He never expected any of this and yet when it all started it was great, he should have never come here. Coming to this school was the worst thing I ever did. Man, I was a god before I lost it all, right in there. He pounded his fist on the door of the Danger Room imaging chamber itself.

He thought about going back to Beast, but his appointment wasn't until later on and he was feeling alright all things considered. Turning to walk out of the dark ante chamber he saw a flash of movement as someone walked past heading down to the gym or the med lab. Looking he saw you there wanting to go in but waiting, holding onto the doorknob of the lab and holding onto your breath. Oh shit- it's Frostbite, I should go talk. But he thought about it and what would he say, 'Hey, how's your ribs?'? Yeah he could say that but deciding against that he just stayed there and watched.

He thought whatever she was up to it was probably hard enough and him saying hi was the last thing she needed. He watched her breathe and thought how pretty she looked, even in the unforgiving light of the chrome hallway. He almost wished he could say hi but he knew better. He had learned how people felt about him and he ran a hand through his hair realizing halfway through what he was doing and getting pissed he grabbed a big handful of his hair and pulled it hard to try and make himself remember ot quit doing that.

[Hardlight]

Back inside the LAB-

"Oh my, I was woried that I broke it and man I can tell you guys this is not gonna be fun for me." He glanced down at his mummyfied hand and the huge brace stiking out of the end of it. "Thathing is HUGE. How am I supostah do anything with this?" He waved his hand around for a second until a sharp pain grabbed him and he winst up his face in agony.

"YEEEOwww!" He suckt in air through his teeth and cradled his hand. "Ok, bad move." He made a mental note to not wave his hand around too much if he could help it. "How long will this take again?" He asked as he grabbed first the pill and poped it into his mouth and then raised up the water cup and swalwowed the pill. Using his left hand was harder then he remembered and it was'nt like he never used it but he just could'nt remember the last time he did.

"Just a couple of days? Oh, man I, well, I can do that I guess. It's not like it'll be a long time realy. So should I keep it wraped all the time or like unwrap it when I sleep and shower or, uh, why're you all lookin at me like that? I never hurt myself too much, I'm new at this okaaay?" He giggled at himself too as they all found something funny in it and laughed along with him. He knew he would be fine and that Niki and Ian would be there for him too, and then even Coffee made a gigling sort of a sound. It was cute.

"But thanks you guys. Thank you for training with me Niki and Iceman thanks for the compliments, and I'll work on it Beast- I promise." Kevin loved all of the atenshion and if it was'nt for the pain he might have spent more time getting injured and kicking butts just so he could hang out with everybody like this. He realy loved the friends he had in the school and was so happy his life had turned around . He was apart of a team, that was tight and awesome and he loved them all, mabey not Katana, at least not yet but he would try and give her a chance, it was how Ian did things and it seemed to work for him pretty good.