The motorcycles rolled up the mansion's long driveway at a quarter after midnight. Normally Remy and Logan would have stayed out much later but the night had been uneventful and it had been a rough day. They figured it was wiser to call it quits while they could still navigate themselves back home.
Remy was ready to pass out wherever he fell. He was even considering just stretching out on the sofa rather than dragging himself up the stairs to his bed. Logan was more tired than he was willing to admit. Then again, what he was feeling went way beyond being tired. He was starting to wish he had a better handle on things.
They trudged into the house and Logan dropped his leather jacket on the nearest chair resolving to worry about it in the morning. Gambit stretched and locked the door behind him. Figuring that everyone was asleep they tried not to make any sounds that would disturb the peace enveloping the house.
A heavy thud from upstairs momentarily broke the silence. Both Gambit and Logan paused to figure out what the sound had been. The crash that immediately followed sent them sprinting for the stairs. Logan was taking two steps at a time with Gambit on his heels. In a matter of seconds they were at the room where the commotion sounded like it was emanating from. The door almost came off it's hinges when Logan jerked it open. He smelled blood in the air.
Andromeda had her back pressed against the wall and was being held there by Orion. Blood trickled down her cheek from an ugly gash that marred her forehead. Her head was limply hanging forward as Orion's fists clenched her collar just below her chin. It was more than obvious that she was not standing on her own power.
With a snarl Wolverine cleared the room in a single leap and wrenched Orion away from Andromeda. Orion was forced to the floor and was held there by Wolverine's knee planted heavily on his sternum. The rage glowed in Wolverine's eyes as he extended one set of claws and held them up to Orion's adam's apple.
"One false move, bub, and I'll gut ya' like a fish."
Without Orion holding her up, Andromeda slumped to the floor. Gambit had already entered the room and tried to help her sit up. Through the waves of pain she was barely able to focus on what was going on around her. In the bleakness of her vision she could just make out the forms of Wolverine and Orion on the floor infront of her. When she saw Wolverine's claws extend and was not able to hear what he had said to Orion she panicked.
"NO!" a heart wrenching shriek tore through the air as the shields of her mind came down for a split second. Her mental powers engulfed the minds of Wolverine and Orion causing the pair to pass out under psionic suggestion. Andromeda retracted her powers when the pair were safely unconscious and promptly lost consciousness as well. A very shocked Gambit frantically checked her pulse and breathing before checking the men on the floor. Much to his relief he found that all three were very much alive.
Henry came to the door at that moment. The scene that met him caused his eyes to grow wide. Wolverine and Orion were sprawled on the floor, motionless. Andromeda was unconsciously leaning up against a wall. A night stand was slightly splintered and overturned among the shattered pieces of a lamp littering the carpet. Gambit was standing with a bewildered expression upon his face above the entire mess.
"Henri, de lady is hurt and I t'ink dat dese two are out cold." Gambit offered while motioning to the appropriate forms on the floor.
Rogue, Joseph, Sam, Storm, Bishop, Bobby and Dana all arrived at the scene shortly after Beast. He was crouching by Andromeda and examining her face. Most of the wounds seemed superficial, but the gash on her head worried him. The possibility of a concussion was a major concern.
"Rogue, carry Logan to his room and stay with him until he regains consciousness. Gambit, you wait with Orion but I want Bishop outside the door. I don't know how he will react when he wakes. Dana, please come here and see to Andromeda's wounds. I want to be sure she is physically stable before attempting to move her. Ororo, prepare a bed for her in the medical lab. Joseph, you contact Jean and Scott at the boathouse and request that they report to the lab. I might need Jean's help." the orders poured forth from Henry and everyone scrambled to comply with the demands set to them.
Dana stepped forward to heal the wounds that Andromeda had suffered. Blood trickled over her glowing fingers when she placed them on Andromeda's temples. It took longer to heal her than Dana expected. There was a great deal of pain and Dana realized that she had sustained some internal damage as well as the obvious bruising and cuts on her face. When the process was finished Dana was completely drained. She stood shakily.
"Thank-you Dana for your assistance." Beast said as he picked Andromeda up from the floor to carry her down to the lab, "Sam, help Dana back to her room please."
Sam had already taken Dana's arm and was gently guiding her out of the room. Various thoughts crossed Dana's mind as they slowly walked down the hall to her room. The main one was that even though Andromeda was in an unconscious state, her shields had been up and strong. It was as if the shielding had become involuntary. Dana decided she would have to bring it up with Jean as soon as she was physically able.
"My head..." Logan groaned as he slowly came to.
"Take it easy shugah." Rogue warned, placing a hand on his arm, "You've been out for almost thirty minutes."
Logan sat up carefully in his bed, trying to piece together what had happened before he had passed out.
*I was in Orion's room and was holding him down on the floor. Andromeda was against the wall behind me. I heard her shriek and then...Andromeda?!*
"Where is she?" he grunted as he started to get up off the bed. In spite of his headache he got to his feet quickly and remained steady.
Rogue barred his path, "Hold on there. You won't be able to see her right now."
"And why the hell not?!" Logan demanded, crossing his arms.
"For starters," Rogue began while crossing her arms as well, "I'm not letting you leave this room until you tell me what happened. Second of all, I'm not sure you're in any shape to be going anywhere like a cat with it's tail on fire."
Logan snorted, "You gonna' tell me where she is or not?"
Rogue considered it a moment before answering, "She's in the medical lab. She was out like a light when we got to the room. Hank said something about a concussion. Haven't heard a thing since."
Without a word Logan stalked out of the room and down the hall towards the stairs. Rogue didn't bother stopping him. You couldn't tie that man down for very long short of physical force. Even that wasn't very effective.
Logan was met outside the lab by Storm. The doors were shut and he couldn't see inside the room clearly through the windows.
"Rogue called and told me you were on your way down. I'm sorry but you cannot enter. Jean's inside with Henry and Andromeda."
"How is she Ro?"
"Still unconscious I'm afraid."
Logan growled in aggravation just as Jean walked out through the door. She looked tired and worried. "Storm, Henry asked to see you. He could use a hand with some of the instruments since Cecilia isn't here."
"What did ya' find out?" Logan asked Jean as Storm disappeared through the doors into the medical lab.
"Not much." she admitted, "I'm on my way up to talk with Dana to see if she sensed anything when she healed Andromeda. Would you walk with me? I would like to talk with you about the whole incident."
Logan didn't like the idea of leaving before seeing if Andromeda was okay, but he couldn't say no. Jean looked anxious to find out what had happened. In the end he started to walk with Jean down the hall and made their way to the dormitory.
"What happened?"
"Not sure. Gambit and I heard a crash and ran to check it out. Got to the door, smelled blood, went in and saw Orion holding Andromeda against a wall. I grabbed him and held him on the floor. Last thing I remember was hearing Andromeda scream before I blacked out. Next thing I knew, I was in my room with Rogue next to me."
Jean paused a moment, turning to look at Logan, "Did you feel anything the second you passed out?"
"No. Just happened."
Jean looked thoughtful and asked, "I have a suspicion. Would you allow me to scan your mind a moment?"
Logan looked uncertain but shrugged. He only felt Jean's presence for a moment before he heard her say, "Mmhmm. I thought so." With that she retracted her hold.
"Logan, apparently Andromeda caused your blackout with psionic suggestion." Jean explained to Logan who started to look angry.
"She was messin' with my head." he said in a very low tone.
Jean nodded, "She was very careful though. I wouldn't have picked up on it except there was a small amount of residue left behind. Obviously she knew what she was doing which is amazing for a telepath who had no training."
"Damn it!" Logan growled. "Why?!"
Jean didn't know how to answer him. There was a great deal that baffled her about Andromeda. First of all, Andromeda was unconscious and yet all her psi-shielding was up. Jean was unable to do a proper scan to tell Henry if she had suffered any mental damage or if she was in danger of going into a coma. It would have taken most telepaths years to produce a shield that strong but, as far as they knew, Andromeda had never been trained to use her gift.
Seeing that he was not getting answers from Jean, Logan stalked away. He didn't care what he had to do as long as someone told him something that made sense. The only person he could think of at that point was Orion.
End of Chapter 6