I sit up clutching the sheet to my chest, gasping for breath and covered in sweat.
I feel the darkness glaring at me, and am reminded of the ordeal with the government. Hastily, I fumble for the light. After finally turning it on, I look at the clock. 3:00. I flop back into the pillows with a shuddering sigh.
I miss Raph. Hope he and the others are ok.
I wonder what the dream meant. I remember seeing the man in Harry’s Hideaway from my dreams and bite my lip.
After a moment, I get up, wrap myself in a blanket and go to the window.
Gods, I hope it’s not prophetic.
Disturbed, I’m still standing there, pondering that thought hours later when the sun rises.
When I go downstairs for breakfast, I see that Logan is already up and eating.
He looks up as I get my orange juice and sit by him.
“That all you havin’, darlin’?”
I nod. “I don’t eat much, you know that.”
He raises a brow at the slight shortness in my voice. “What’s wrong? Didn’t ya sleep?”
I shake my head. “Not well, at least. Had a bad dream.”
He grins a little ins sympathy. He knows that I know he’s all to familiar with nightmares.
Logan doesn’t ask what it was about, figuring I’d tell him if I wanted to. I’m not in a real chatty mood.
About ten minutes later, Beast, Banshee and Nightcrawler join us, obviously in a jovial mood, and shortly after them, Cyclops and Storm.
I ask when Jean and the Professor will be coming in.
“At around noon. Logan, Storm and I will be leaving around 11:30 to pick them up at the airport.”
I blink. “The airport? Don’t you guys have a private jet and hanger hidden around here somewhere?”
Beast grins. “Ah…but one sometimes misses the joys of commercial flight!”
I smirk, “What joys of commercial flight? Crowded airports aren’t exactly my idea of fun.”
Banshee chuckles, leaning back in his chair and sipping his coffee. “Aye, ‘tis true, what you say, lass. I believe they wanted to fly incognito for this particular outing.”
“Ah,” I nod, crossing my arms over my chest.
“You are welcome to join us, HLM,” Storm comments.
“Much as I’d like to meet the professor and Jean at the gate, I’m afraid I have to turn your offer down. Large groups of people put me in mind of herds of cattle; skittish cattle ready to stampede at any provocation.”
Wolvie grins a little and nods.
“Well, then! We can get a few more of those tests out of the way,” Beast speaks up enthusiastically.”
I grin. “Oh great, one torture chamber for another.”
Beast gives his best “oh-I’m-a-hurt-lil’-boy” look and says with mock pain, “My lady! You sting me to the core!”
Bantering continues along those lines until Cyclops and the other two leave to meet Charles and Jean. Beast takes me off to his lab, and Nightcrawler and Banshee join Bishop in going over the circuitry of the Danger Room.
“Hmm…very interesting,” Hank comments softly as he looks at my extended claws through what looks like an oversized pair of glasses with a whole bunch of back-up lenses ready to swing down in front of his eyes. I’m reminded of Belle’s father from the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast.
“What is?”
“Your claws. While at first glance they appear to be simply bone, upon closer inspection, they are seeded with little grains of metal. Perhaps the metal is even adamantium, given your uncanny toughness.”
I raise my brows. “Like Wolvie’s?”
“A little. Adamantium was bonded to his skeleton, covering the entire thing, where, if your claws are any indication, the metal is growing in your skeleton. I’d say an x-ray is in order.”
I shrug. “You’re the boss. Were ya able to get any info from that blood you drew?”
At that, he looks at me with puzzlement in his eyes. “Well, ah, I’ve been able to isolate the DNA in your blood, I think.”
“You think?”
He nods. “It seems that your DNA is vastly different from that of all other known organisms.”
“Oh? How so?”
“Well, instead of being double helix, it’s triple helix. My dear, by all rights, you shouldn’t even be alive right now.”