She wiped the sweat off her face with the sleeve of her sweatshirt. The simple movement was taxing. She must not be recovered from yesterday. Her stomach began getting queasy right after lunch and hadn't settled down yet. On top of that, the turns in this routine were making her dizzy.

"Come on Ky! Pull it together. Get up. We ain't stopping until you get this sequence right." He walked over to where she was sitting on the floor. She had landed on her fanny after mucking up the last kick series. Logan put a hand on her shoulder and yanked her to her feet. The sudden motion was too much. She groaned loudly and sagged against him.

"What in the hell is wrong with you?" He was getting concerned now. This was the first time he had seen her under the weather. The small body leaning against him was trembling.

This was not good. Her stomach was beginning to do flip-flops. She was going to lose it. She needed to sit down. She wasn't sure if she was going to faint or throw up first. Bile began to creep up her throat. It looked like it was going to be the cookie toss.

She wrenched herself out of Logan's grasp. Stumbling a few steps, she dropped to her knees and proceeded to vomit for the second time in twenty-four hours.

Logan immediately crossed the distance between them and scooped her up in his arms. "If you value your boots put me down." The words were half whispered, half gasped.

"They've been through worse." His quick strides had them out of the Danger Room heading for med-lab in seconds.

"Yeah, I guess you have. Don't worry. There is nothing left for them anyway." She dropped her head to his shoulder and closed her eyes.

It was becoming obvious she was going to need some medical attention to get over this. How long does food poisoning last anyway? God, she felt awful.

Kyler opened her eyes when she heard the door to the med-lab whoosh open. The war room had nothing on the med-lab. A laboratory enclosed in glass that would have made any Frankenstein happy dominated the room. She hadn't been to an emergency room in a while but she was willing to bet that no ordinary hospital had this kind of equipment at its disposal. Obviously this where some of that Shi'ar technology came into use.

Logan set her down on the closest gurney. Walking directly over to a com unit, he paged Hank. "Hang in their, darlin'. Hank will be here soon."

Logan was talking to her in a real soft growl. She must look worse than she thought. Maybe she had the deathbed look about her. No, she had an upset tummy. Nothing more, there was no reason for his dearly departed tone.

The doors whooshed again this time to admit Hank. He really had a way of filling up a room. Still, for all his size, she didn't know anyone more gentle.

"I assume someone is need of care?" Hank strolled toward her. Trust Hank to exude intelligent and elegance in his speech and movements no matter the situation. "Are you ill, Kyler?"

"Nope, I just thought I would drop in for visit." Now that she was here she really didn't want to see how all those machines worked. Besides, she was feeling better. She didn't want him to think she was flaky but better that than get up close and personal with one of those laser thingies.

"I was in the library. It would have been more appropriate to visit me there." His tone was a little disapproving but his expression was indulgent.

"My mistake. Let's adjourn there, okay?" She jumped to her feet and kept heading down. Hank caught her before she fell to her knees.

"I seem to have a fondness for falling on my face today." She felt sheepish over her newest display of idiocy.

Hank set her back on the bed. "Logan would you please us I believe I will need to examine Miss Renden."

"See ya kid. By the way, I'm gonna want Hank's okay before you can start training again." Logan turned and exited the room leaving Kyler feeling like she had just been stuck with mission impossible.

"Tell me what your symptoms are." Hank walked over to a file cabinet sitting in the corner and pulled out what appeared to be a blank file.

Well, yesterday morning I vomited and then I did again this afternoon." I got dizzy while working out with Logan. I think dinner last night didn't agree with me."

"Hmmm..." He was furiously scribbling away in the folder.

Who would have thought? With all this technology he is making an old fashioned type of medical chart. She had expected a computer screen to pop out of the ceiling displaying her medical history.

"It is still an excellent way to keep track of a patient's progress." He looked a little bemused over her shocked expression.

"Are you reading my mind?" She demanded.

"No. You were staring at the file. It was easy to hypothesize what you were thinking."

"Sorry. I am a little on edge." He gave her a slight nod of his to indicate acceptance of her apology.

"Have you experienced any diarrhea? Fever?"

"No, just the dizziness and vomiting."

"I would like to take a blood sample after I take your vital signs, if you don't mind."

Kyler warily looked around at the various instruments in the lab. "If you really think it's necessary."

"It is." He gathered a syringe and sterile needle from a medi-cart near the bed. He heard her sigh and saw the look of relief she gave the needle. "What did you think I would use?"

"Something a little less obvious. You know one of those blinky devices that looks like it would suck a pint of blood out in two seconds."

"He shook his head at her in sympathy. "You might want to consider watching a little less science fiction. Left arm please." He attached the needle and put several empty vials on the medi-cart.

Who needed TV in this place? She felt like she had been trapped in a sci-fi movie since coming here. She rolled the sleeve up of her sweet shirt and placed her arm on a table he had rolled near her. She watched him as if hypnotized. The whole thing had a dream like quality to it, first the cold stethoscope, then the squeeze of the sphygmomanometer. It didn't get better when the needle piercing the skin, tube after tube filling with her deep red blood.

"Not quite a pint but I believe these three will be sufficient." After removing the needle, He placed a folded sterile pad against the small wound and secured it with a Band-Aid. "Please rest here. It will take half an hour to get the results."

"How many tests are you running?" She inclined her head to the vials he had taken. What the heck took so much blood? Were they feeding a vampire she didn't know about?

"It is more efficient to get ample amounts than having to redraw." He looked up from where he was labeling her vials. "Would you like me to list the tests I am going to run on your samples?"

"No, I probably wouldn't know what they were for anyway. Don't worry about it." She leaned back against the wall. "Got something for me to read?"

"I have a few medical journals you are welcome to." He was now busy disposing the needle and cleaning up.

She gave him a wry grin. "I'll pass. I think I'll just day dream for awhile." She had a lot to think about. Half an hour sounded like good starting time on sorting through recent events.

"Very well. I'll be back as soon as I have the results."

She closed her eyes and nodded. She should be having her stomach pumped right now. She knew exactly why she hadn't told him she had been poisoned. Rogue was family. She imagined they just saw her as Remy's bed partner and temporary nuisance.

A spear of guilt flared through her. The X-men were good people. None of them could claim perfection but they strove for improvement in themselves and their surrounding environment. She wasn't being fair to them or honest with herself.

Rogue wouldn't have poisoned her. Things were awkward between them, sure, but it wasn't Rogue's style to use subterfuge. The belle appeared fonder of frontal attacks and with her strength no could deny her the pleasure.

It was stress. Stress over her crumbling lifestyle and falling in love with a man who may never offer her his love. Was it a lack of trust? She thought that was what was holding him back. He had some scars that ran deep. He hadn't said anything about it yet but she had a sketch from the information she had ascertained.

It was all in his file, his involvement with Sinister and the Mutant Massacre. Cerebro didn't record biased information. He messed up and did some time in hell. Apparently he had been forgiven or he wouldn't be here now. Did he feel betrayed by his family? He cared strongly for these people. Did they try to help him? She couldn't find any evidence to contradict them leaving him to his fate.

How much did that incident shape him into the man he is now? Did he believe that no one could love him because of the things he had done? How did Rogue fit into this? If their relationship occurred during this time why hadn't she stuck by him? And if it happened after why weren't they together now?

She was going to drive herself nuts with all the questions in her head. Maybe it was time to stop pussyfooting around the issues. When Hank was done with her she going to have a chat with her Cajun lover.

"Kyler?" Hank watched in amusement as she jumped off the bed in fright. "I am sorry. I called you twice."

"I was talking to myself." A dull red was spreading over her cheeks.

"I hope you were having an interesting conversation. Would you care to share?" He was absently taping her chart against his furry blue thigh.

"Nope, boring stuff really. Is it finished? Am I am dying from some rare and horrible disease?" The smile on her face faded as she caught the lack of humor in his expression.

"I am afraid I will need to run a few other tests."

This did not sound good. "Okay, I know I am going to regret asking but what other tests?"

"I believe we will start with an ultrasound." He handed her a glass of water. "Start drinking as much water as you can while I get the equipment ready."

"Wait! An ultrasound? Isn't that for pregnant women?"

"Ultrasounds offer value information about internal organs." Her shoulders slumped with relief. "However this time it will indeed be used to check the embryo."

"Embryo?" She was beginning to feel dizzy again.

"You're pregnant Kyler."

"Oh." Darkness surrounded her.

To be continued