How do you heal what you can't see?

[Taffy]

Ricki'd been quiet as the two of them; Wraith and herself, made their way away from the library and towards the Med Lab. It was quite a distance away from where they were, and Ricki thought it'd be nice for him to just get some thinking time to wrap his head around all that'd just happened because that was sure a hell of a welcome into a new school, and it was bound to shock absolutely anybody. "So, Maine, did you like it back there?" Ricki asked, breaking the silence as the two of them walked, her grip still tight around Wraith. Hmmm, that sounds more like a codename than a real name.

"What's your real name?" Ricki added, her curiosity beginning to brew, and the silence finally getting to her. She wasn't the silent types- she was like a CD player where the 'stop' button didn't work 99% of the time. "'Cause I mean... we all get codenames, and Wraith sounds more like a codename... y'know? And I can see where Miss Frost got that from- she's so good at this stuff, I mean, I'd probably end up naming you 'Invisible Guy'" Ricki rolled her eyes at her own words, feeling more at ease as they moved further away from the tense library environment.

"Okay... it's not that far anymore..." Ricki smiled at Wraith, or well, the invisible figure that she could feel but couldn't see. "I hope you're okay with the guys- they're not always that paranoid or... well violent and stuff, they're actually pretty cool- especially Ian and Gavin, Chase... well I don't know him that well to be honest, I've only recently started talking to him, but he's a nice guy- in his defense you could have been mistique or someone- but well, you're not... obviously... uh, sorry, I tend to ramble." Ricki rolled her eyes- I should win a medal for rambling, I swear, I'm so good at it. "I guess all I'm trying to say is- please don't hold what just happened against them, they're really nice once you get to know them. And Ian's an amazing team captain- you'll see, he's our team captain- for the Acolytes." she explained, coming to a halt outside the Med Lab.

"Here we are," she announced in a bit of a hushed whisper, before she knocked on the door for formality, but pushing the door open anyway- it was the med lab. Formality in the med lab didn't really make all that much sense- not when you had a patient who could potentially be seriously injured with you. "Doctor McCoy?" she called out, popping he head around the door, he eyes set on her invisible team mate. "I have a... uh... invisible patient for you, and no sir, I assure you, he's not my imaginary friend." Ricki giggled a little as she spoke, her lame joke probably only coming across as amusing to her. She had her blonde moments.

[Wraith]

"My name was Matt Shapiro." His voice was quiet when he said it. His name had never felt further away, but no one seemed satisfied when he offered his alias. He'd have to remember that. "But I haven't been that person for a while, now. I'm just the faded out, fuzzy headed version. Wraith suits me. Ms. Frost is damn good at picking names out... Ricki." He smiled, letting the unseen gesture color his tone.

"I don't blame Ian and them," Wraith muttered, trying not to sulk. It was true. He'd done it to himself. "I don't always think ahead when I sneak up on people. I kinda figured that someone would nail me before the day was out but I just didn't think it would be so soon. I usually last a little longer than that." He chuckled darkly. "At least I know our team is prepared. And... thank you. For not letting them mulch me, I mean. I promise, if you ever need saving I'll try to return the favor."

He shrugged again, the maneuver made difficult by Ricki's hold on him. "Out of curiosity, what exactly do you think this guy can do for me? Isn't Dr. McCoy also stuck in his mutation?" He fell silent as Ricki walked him up to a door and called out for the man...beast... in question.

[BEAST]

In his office, Dr. Hank McCoy sat listening to the New York Philharmonic live on his computer playing Mozart's Symphony No. 4 in D major. He had been going through some files before his weekly ritual that consisted of meeting Emma Frost in her study for a glass of fine brandy and discussing various topics that gave both intellectuals a great deal of joy to banter on.

Alas, it seemed that things always came up that made the good Doctor have to delay his activities. Student's came with injuries, sometimes Rumble, and sometimes someone else. However he wasn't expecting Rumble as Aideen was away for the weekend and as far as he knew only Frostbite was scheduled to come by for her pain medicine. Hank had long learned that the school was full of surprises and he should always expect the unexpected. At the sound of the voice, Hank shot up in a start, awakening from the thoughts inspired by Mozart's composition.

"Yes one moment," he called from his office into the med lab. He sighed while turning off the live concert and stood up. "Alas, duty calls," Hank said to himself as he walked out of the med lab. "An invisible- Oh Ms. Day! A pleasure to see you!" he said with a large smile to the young Acolyte. He looked curious as her arms seemed to be tangled around some kind of a form. "Invisible person? Oh! Oh yes one moment." He dashed back to the office and came out a moment later with a file in hand. "Mr. Shapiro yes? Welcome to Xavier's! Now would either of you enlighten me why you have him in that famous rubber hold and what the situation is? I know this must be more than a tour?" Dr. McCoy looked up at both of them through his glasses and raised a furry blue brow.

[Wraith]

"Uhhhh..." Wraith was already started on the wrong foot and he didn't much care for the idea of getting his teammates in trouble on top of it. "I was haunting the library?" It came out as a question and he looked down at Ricki trying to make sense of what he was supposed to say. "And I fell?"

Even as the words left his mouth he realized how stupid it sounded. "I, uh, surprised some guys..." his thought dissolved into a sigh as he looked up into Dr. McCoy's furry face. I have no luck, he decided, blushing furiously and rather thankful that he was invisible.

Invisible, bruised, and being restrained by a girl. No, f*cking luck at all.

[Taffy]

"... Wraith here shocked us while we were doing some homework in the library, and well the group freaked out." Ricki didn't want to mention names, because that would make the boys seem cowardly and make things seem a lot worse. Ricki knew that Ian would own up to being paranoid, and it seemed that Chase was ready to take the heat for beating Wraith up, so she'd let them do it themselves. "Well, some of us got a bit extra paranoid and well - it wasn't our fault Doc - after what some of the students have been through in the past- they took actions without thinking and well, to put it simply, Wraith was beaten up."

Despite knowing his real name, Ricki couldn't use it- not in this state. Calling thin air by a name just didn't feel right to her- it was really hard for her to connect to something she couldn't see. Not that she wouldn't try- but it was very difficult. "In their defense, it could have been someone from the Brotherhood, in Wraith's defense, he couldn't possibly have known how dangerous it can be living at a mutant school seeing he's new to it." Ricki didn't want to get either party into trouble, hence off she was rambling away, defending both sides even though she knew it probably wasn't nessecery from her.

"I don't know how hard he's been hit... because well, I obviously can't see him... and we stopped before some major damage could be done- I think -" I hope, "but d'you think you can do anything to help him doc? I mean, if he can bruise, he can heal right?" and you're a complete genius.

[Frostbite]

Lorelai was heading down to the med lab after getting a reminder from having looked at herself in the water and saw the bruises still on her face. After Matt had left she had been thinking over some things in her head. How she was going to go about things, how she was going to act around people, things like that. What more of a solution could she make than to take it one step at a time and just try not to piss any more people off. She'd had more than enough backlash for the things she'd done to last her a good, long long while, whether it was personal or handed to her on a silver plate by the jerks of the school.

She'd let her mind wander after that once she saw on the other side of the lake Liv, the rabbit, and a guy she hadn't seen before start doing some sort of fighting and had smirked. She had watched the start of it, but when she had moved closer to the water and looked at herself in it, she was reminded of what Iceman had told her the night before- to make sure she gets some more meds today. So there she was, heading to the med lab again by herself, only this time she wouldn't stand at the door and do nothing like the day before. She did, however, peek in first to see who was there, and was just about relieved to see it was just Ricki. But, she looked like she was holding onto someone...that wasn't there. Lorelai smirked. She had a good guess. She wondered what happened there, and straightened her face before she went in.

The door closed behind her and she dig her hands into the pocket of her hoodie. She still felt a little awkward going in there, since she hadn't normally been one who had to make multiple trips to the med lab often. "Hey," she said quietly as she looked behind her to make sure the door was closed and turned to Ricki. "What happened? You're holding...Matt, no doubt?" she asked, a smirk starting to creep on her mouth before she reached a hand up and hit where she thought the back of his head would be. She seemed spot on, although she thought she felt hair on only part of her hand. She thought she might have accidentally hit some of his face, but she couldn't be sure. "Nice trick," she told him before walking around them to talk to Beast.

"Hi Beast...I'm here for some pain meds. Bobby told me I needed to get some more if I wanted this," she said waving a hand quickly near her face, "And everything else to go away." She looked down and off to the side slightly, wondering if she'd have to keep doing this. Lorelai surely hoped not; she didn't enjoy getting beaten up, and she wouldn't enjoy being sent back down here again because of something some fool in this school could do that would set her off.

[Wraith]

"Sure. Let's all just abuse the ghost boy. We can't see him, so it doesn't matter if he's all mangled and mauled." He was laughing, the amused shake of his shoulders making Ricki look like she was doing an awkward little dance. "How 'bout you, Doc? Wanna take a crack at me? I'm guessing it must be in some way cathartic."

He glanced at Frostbite and then around at the rest of the lab. It was immaculate. Wraith doubted very much that there was so much as a cotton swab out of place. Weird, considering the mutant who ran the joint probably shed like crazy. He grinned to himself, but the smile didn't stick. He had no idea how Dr. McCoy was going to examine him. And he had no idea what the hell he was supposed to do to keep from getting nailed with another chair later. He really didn't like the idea of a bell. He wasn't a cat prowling among mice. He wasn't dangerous to anyone else... not really. Beside that incessant ting-a-linging would make him psychotic within a day.

Wraith wiggled a bit, indicating that Ricki could probably let him go now. Frostbite had IDed him, Dr. McCoy had his file open and in hand... what else did she need? A notarized note from his mommy? "Not that I'm complaining about a pretty blonde all wrapped around me but... leggo." He smirked, giving another little wiggle.

[Taffy]

"Oh.. oh.. I'm sorry! It's just that.. well, sorry, 'cause I can't see you, I couldn't exactly see what you meant by the... shrugging." Ricki bit her lip and un stretched her arms from around Wraith, blushing slightly and looking down at her feet, her fringe falling in her eyes and her hair covering her cheeks. "Hey Lira," Ricki flickered her gaze over to her blue-haired friend. Yes, Ricki still did consider Lorelai a friend- she'd messed up, big time, but she'd paid for it and it was stupid to hold it against the girl in Ricki's opinion. Ricki was back to using her nickname for Lorelai- one that Lorelai found rather annoying Ricki knew, but Ricki loved it anyway.

"Uh, we were in the library, and Wraith scared us all- and well, some of us got a bit extra paranoid and tried to beat up our New Acolyte." Ricki repeated, summarizing it more for Lorelai and sighing, as she shook her head, not knowing where to look anymore, because Wraith was just... well completely invisible again. She bit her lip and looked Lorelai head to toe- cringing a little. The pain her ex-team mate must be feeling... it was just shudder. "Are you any better?" Ricki asked Lorelai, her tone cautious, as she looked directly at the blue haired girl.

[BEAST]

Dr. McCoy looked both between Ricki and the spot Wraith should have been with a raised furry eyebrow. "I see. I suppose it's a lesson learned for you then?" He said looking at the spot Wraith should have been and smiled slightly. "Though I imagine being invisible must be great fun, I should warn you against taking too much advantage of it. Though the school harbors children, there are some occupants here that have... special training. It will take more than being invisible to hide yourself from them. For instance, I can smell you very clearly from where you are, and I am not the only one at the school with such an ability," Hank said as he went over to the cabinet and got the cup with Lorelai's name on it, taking the time to go and get her a glass of water to wash it down with.

"Only a warning for you my boy, just hold on one moment while I take care of Ms. Kavanagh quickly." He motioned for Lorelai to come over and handed her the cup that contained a single pill. "There you are, I have to see you take it, as you know... very good! Now remember to come and take the dosage tonight, if you need it as Tracy comes home tonight. Bobby mentioned something about that," Hank said as he took the empty cups away from her. "Now I don't know if Bobby warned you, but you should not smoke while taking this medicine, nor consume alcohol. Other than that you should be fine. On your way now." He dismissed Lorelai and turned back to Ricki and Wraith.

"Alright then Mr. Shapiro, now we will have to do this in a slightly unorthodox way I see. Please change into one of the hospital gowns over there." Hank pointed to the pile of gowns still wrapped in plastic sterile paper. "And we'll do a rudimentary body scan to check for broken bones. Ms. Day, you are welcome to stay as well, or you may leave, the choice is yours. This might take some time." He turned over to where his nose told him the boy was and smiled slightly. "I say, you've been here a mere few hours I assume and already you find yourself in my office. I dare say it may be a new record!" He said with a chuckle as he began to set up the machine.

[Frostbite]

Lorelai nodded her thanks to Beast, and kept in mind she would need another dosage tonight if Tracy didn't get to chance to heal her. She was about to turn and leave while Beast started on Matt, but she decided to go near Ricki. She'd spoken to her, hell she even used the nickname that annoyed her. Lorelai wasn't about to turn up an opportunity to talk to Ricki, even if it was about nothing. She gave her a small smile after Matt went to go see Beast.

"I'm alright, I guess. Healing this crap, so alright," she said with a slight laugh as she looked down at herself briefly as if all the bruises showed on the outside of her clothes. The previous day's beating made her feel lame, but at least the upside was she was on pain meds and healing up quick enough. She crossed her arms over her chest, it seemed out of habit now, and gave Ricki another small smile. "Seems like I gotta try and keep outta trouble now," she said, letting out another laugh as she moved off to the side and out of the way, just in case Beast had to walk around where they were standing. "Are you going to stay?...." she asked, feeling sort of awkward asking the question. "I could...I don't have anything better to do, and plus everything I could possibly need is right here," she said with a sheepish laugh and looking off to the side before she looked at Ricki again.

It occurred to her that Matt was a new Acolyte, and she felt a little odd. Where exactly did she belong after all this stuff? She doubted the majority of the Acolytes would take her back, and she knew the Paragons didn't like her. It was a very messed up position she put herself in, and she regretted it. She lost the safe feeling that used to be there, and she started wishing she knew where did she fit in. "So, some people got extra paranoid? Who was it?" she asked, curious to know who would beat up the new kid on his first day. If Ricki didn't want to tell her, Lorelai understood, but her interest was piqued.

[Taffy]

"I'll... stay," Ricki decided, looking from Lorelai to Beast, smiling at both. "I have nothing better to do - not that I think anyway," Ricki's face screwed up into a thoughtful expression before it went back to it's normal state. "Yea... I don't think I do." she shrugged, before she turned her full attention to Lorelai, her smile turning more concerned and sensitive now. She wanted things to be normal between her and Lira, but she felt she ought to be considerate of everything Lorelai had been through and be slightly more sensitive towards the ex-Acolyte.

"Erm... it's not really my place to say names," Ricki said guiltily, not really wanting to disappoint her friend but not wanting to bait out others either. Especially not with Doctor McCoy in the room- Ricki knew he wasn't around them, but she didn't want to risk saying the names and having them being over-heard without giving the others a chance to own up. "I'm sorry." she smiled tentatively, hoping Lira would understand. "Uh.. so, how's it going with the Paragons?" Ricki knew that the Paragons didn't really approve of Lorelai, and everything that'd recently gone down with her wasn't going to give her any plus points with the team either. "Found common ground with anyone yet?" Ricki asked, her voice lightening up a little and a ray of hope detectable in her voice.

Ricki bit her lip, her eyes falling on the medication in Lorelai's hand, as a sigh escaped her almost simultaneously. "It must be quite hard for you." she added, with a bit of an uncertain glance, stopping herself rolling her eyes at her pessimistic and rather obvious comment- duh, it was hard for Lorelai- talk about stating the obvious - silly you Ricki Day. "But hey, if it doesn't kill you, it just makes your stronger, right?" she added hastily, making up with her optimism.

[FreezeFrame]

"Oh yeah she's doin just GREAT with the Paragons," sarcasm sliding so easily from his lips "she's got that common ground thing goin with old Fleet actually. How about it JaneFrost, you gonna get stronger? I sure hope so, cause you really been screwin the pooch lately, or rather the Rumble- HAhahaa! Oh? I'm sorry, was that a bit much? I can never tell." Chase said as he strolled into the room.

"So uh, where's our Mr. Invisible? Speak up Wraithy-poo." he reached his hands out to feel for him as he got closer. "Hey Beast. I gotta take the blame for this, I hit him with a chair. Thought it might help if I showed you how, since you can't cure what you can't see, at least if I showed you what angle I hit him from" he moved his arms to mimic the angle of his blow "it might help. I mean for what it's worth I feel all busted up inside about it." he joked "Huh? Get it? Busted- inside? Oh man that's rich."

[BEAST]

"Hmm now let's see here shall we?" Dr, Hank McCoy stood back and looked at the scanner he had helped Reed Richards develop, those many years ago, for use on the Invisible Girl who would one day become his wife. It was old and had been unused for many years, residing under a once clear plastic tarp that had yellowed through the years, but Hank couldn't bring himself to get rid of it. After wheeling it out and setting it up he took the pictures at the angle Chase had indicated. Adjusting the resolution for developing the pictures he studied them closely. He noted that the boy looked like he was relatively healthy according to his bone structure. "Well the good news Mr. Shapiro, is that you don't have any broken bones. Your ribs are fully intact, not even a hairline fracture from the incident. However if they do hurt and it troubles you slightly to breathe, as I heard it does from the *ahem* barely audible you made when I asked you to turn, it is most likely that they're only bruised." He tapped his ears with a smile, indicating that he had enhanced hearing and it was no effort at all to hear him.

"Fortunately, we do have special medicine that will heal that right up. You should be fine by tomorrow with these, let me just take a peek at your medical files to clarify..." Hank opened up the boy's file and scanned if for any allergies and what shots he's had administered. "Hmm... yes everything seems to be in order. In that case, I will go and prepare the medicine as you get dressed Mr. Shapiro. Then you may join your friends," he said with a smile glancing over at Ricki and Lorelai.

He was actually quite surprised at how well adjusted and pleasant Lorelai was acting. He had thought in his professional opinion that after everything that happened to her she would be the least pleasant person in the school to deal with. The ribbing she's bound to take from the rest of the Paragons will no doubt be far worse than what Chase had just given her, especially away from the presence of any adults. Hank thought about that as he recorded the medicine he would give to Wraith. He hypothesized that it could just be the girl's mind retreating back into a safe place and forgetting all that happened to her for her sanity, though he had to remind himself that not all psychological patterns of children were the same. Still, he found it almost a pity that Frostbite's mind would regress into such a state, as she would surely be hit with further reminders of her actions and all that has happened to her. It was his professional opinion that it would undoubtedly only weaken her mind's resolve until she would reach a breaking point, much like she had the day before. Hank sighed, realizing that there were some people that were simply beyond help.

"Here you are Mr. Shapiro. Now I realize that I cannot exactly see you take the medicine, but I will know if you did." Hank smiled again as he handed him the cup with the single pill and water to wash it down with. "Now you will need to come back this evening to take your second dosage. Please do try to make it before eight, as that is when I have a prior engagement," he smiled to himself slightly, thinking of the video chat he had planned with the lovely Alison Blaire. "I will take that when you are finished... thank you." He took the cup when Wraith was finished and moved to throw them out. "Now be on your way, all of you. And please, try to keep out of trouble!" Hank called after them as they left the office. He intended to spend some time cleaning up and organizing his files until he was satisfied but he allowed himself a bit of a pass for now and returned to his office to finishing listening to what was left of the concert.

[Taffy]

Ricki sighed at Chase's entrance. It tore her to be in a position like this- she felt really, really bad for Lorelai, and wanted to do or say something that'd perhaps make things easier for her- but at the same time she knew it wasn't her place to interfere. Lately, since Ricki'd got a chance to hang out with Chase, she'd learnt that he wasn't the kinda guy who appreciated others interfereing into his matters- especially when it came to his team; but then again, weren't all team captains like that? None of them really appreciated others interfering in their team matters. Ricki sighed, "Wow," being the only thing coming out of her as they left the Med Lab.

"Are the others still in the library?" Ricki asked, her attention diverted towards Chase, who was recieving mixed emotions from her at the moment- Ricki thought it was really nice and big of him to own up to what he did, and to be fair he wasn't as bad a guy as he sometimes came across to be, but at the same time Ricki couldn't ignore that the darker side to Chase did exist, and well, it was causing her friend to be uncomfortable- and Ricki just wished there was something she could do about it, but frankly, she didn't think there was. For now, she'd just think of Chase as the good guy- it'd make life so much easier inside her head.

"Orr has everyone packed up and left?" Ricki added on. She had nothing else to be doing at the moment, so she may as well head back up to the library before lunch and sit with the others, if they were still there.

[Frostbite]

Lorelai walked along the other side of Ricki, away from Chase. Ever since he had entered the med lab she had stiffened up and the politeness she’d been trying to keep had quickly hardened. His jibe at her made her unhappy and it came through clearly, but she refrained from saying something. There was no point, that much she knew, and she knew anything that she might say back to that would only backfire, so she settled for a sarcastic look with a nod. So soon was her attempt for a decent day gone; she should have known better. And of course it would figure that it had been Chase that had been the one to hit Wraith. He beat on his best friends, what made a new person any different?

She bit her lip to keep from saying anything, period. The conversation Ricki was carrying on with Chase had nothing to do with her, so she was not going to interfere with it. It was clear that when it came to the people who thought her as nothing more as someone whose life they could ruin, saying something was meaningless. So was getting them back, for that matter, because she’d be fighting by herself and fail miserably. Thoughts like that started driving her mood downward again as she thought how she was really starting to hate the school. I wonder which is worse, these piles of shit versus the ones back home? Hell, who knows? Right now, I think it’s fair game.

Lorelai glanced for a second over at the other two, deciding to slide in an earbud of her iPod. She tuned out the ear they couldn’t see and started playing her music softly while her other hand muffled the free earbud. Her expression was hard in the declining mood she was in, and she strayed about a foot away from Ricki in the wide hall slowly, so she didn’t have to be so close to her and Chase. It only lessened the unease and annoyance minutely, but at least it was something. She looked ahead of her and thought of what she wanted to do next. Clearly she would not be sticking around Ricki if Chase was going to be there. No good could come from that, so she thought about where she could go next.

She still wanted to try to make amends if she could. Bobby had told her she had to take that step, that if she talked to people that they’d forgive her. It was worth a try, and she didn’t want to back out on that. She didn’t think she could. She didn’t like the way she felt now, and she never preferred to be both the pariah and butt of every joke. Not only did she want to try to apologize to people, she wanted to try and keep behaved around the general public. Even still, there was a nagging in the back of her head that wanted her to go back to her room. But it wasn’t even lunch time yet. She couldn’t give up that easily, even if pretty much everyone in the school blew ass.