DISCLAIMER: in first part.
A Laying On Of Hands: Part Eight
by Cascade
Dana was dropped in a heap on the floor of the cell. She still hadn't regained consciousness. Sam knelt next to her, and gently pulled back the eyelids of each eye. The pupils reacted normally to the bright light in the hall. Sam breathed a sigh of relief and scooped her up into his arms, carrying her to the back wall, where he could sit with her more comfortably.
Gambit sat next to Sam. "Is de petite O.K.?"
"Well, it doesn't look like she's got a concussion, at least." He dropped his voice to a whisper. "Did they search ya too?"
Gambit nodded. "Dey got it all. Gambit got nothin' left to use 'cept his bare hands."
Dana moaned in Sam's arms.
"Dana?"
Dana blinked her eyes open. She was nestled comfortably against Sam's chest. Being in his arms relaxed her enough to keep her from absolute terror when she glanced about her surroundings.
"Where are we?" she whispered hoarsely.
"Some kinda holding cell," he answered quietly, brushing her hair out of her face as he spoke. "Ah don't think it's the 'Institution.' How do ya feel?" he added.
"Terrible," she moaned again as she shifted in his arms. "I don't think I'm too bad off though. A few bruises, a bump on the head, a killer headache..." She ran her hand over a sore spot inside her elbow. She could barely make out the small drop of dried blood that marked where a needle had been.
"Blood sample," Sam explained.
Dana nodded, acknowledging. "How are you?"
"Besides muh arm, not too bad. Ah think ya got the worst of it."
She looked concerned, and touched his arm gently. He'd ripped off his sleeve to use as a bandage, and had stopped the bleeding.
Her hands wouldn't glow. She furrowed her brow and concentrated harder.
"Dana... it won't work." Sam pointed to the inhibitor collar around his neck. She reached up and felt the one around her own neck. The collars had lengths of chain that attached them to the wall as extra insurance against a mutant jail break.
"I'm so sorry. This is all my fault." Dana looked forlorn and tried to pull away from Sam.
"Uh-uh, no." Sam held her tight, this was no time for her to go blaming herself. "Gambit came along under his own free will, and Ah told ya Ah was goin', and Wolverine followed us."
"Where is Wolverine?" She glanced around the cell. She saw a few other mutants, but none she recognized.
"Ah think he escaped. So don't worry, Ah'm sure he'll bring the cavalry." He smiled as broadly as he could under the circumstances and touched her cheek, avoiding the bruise that was forming there from the punch she'd received.
She glanced at Gambit. His fingers were at the collar. He was cursing quietly in French. He looked up at her and gave her what he hoped was a hopeful smile, and then returned to his cursing.
Dana put her arms around Sam and let him hold her. She tried to draw all the confidence she could from him. She had none of her own.
Logan growled to himself from his spot downwind of where Sam, Remy, and Dana had been taken. He could smell them just well enough to know that they weren't happy, Remy was frustrated, Sam was nervous, and Dana felt guilty and scared out of her mind.
It was time to bring some reinforcements.
It was very late at night. Dana and Sam were both asleep. Gambit was still trying to figure out some way out of the cell. He'd gotten too frustrated with the collars. His chain was just long enough to let him reach the door. *Let's see if de locks on dere doors are as good as de collars.* He stuck his hand through the bars and reached around to the lock. He heard footsteps coming down the hall just in time to pull his hand back and scuttle back to a place on the wall next to Sam. He nudged Sam and Dana awake. Dana scooted apart from Sam and glanced up at the group of men entering the cell.
Two guards flanked a middle aged, intelligent looking man holding a clipboard. They entered the cell and the man with the clipboard scanned the faces of the mutants before him. He walked to one end of the cell and walked towards the other end, checking his clipboard, mumbling to himself. He stopped in front of Sam.
Dana's heart froze as she watched him checking his clipboard. He nodded his head and mumbled something. She had never been religious, but she prayed fervently now to every divine being she'd ever heard mentioned that the man would leave Sam. She had a bad feeling. The man let the clipboard fall to his side as he talked quietly with one of the guards. She scooted forward a bit and skimmed the notes there. There were medical records on them all, and in the margins of each set of records there were 'possibilities': experiments that could be performed on each. Dana shivered. She felt a growing dread at the thought that this man was selecting candidates for the Institution. She closed her eyes in order to pray more forcefully for Sam, and when she blinked them open again, she found her prayers had been answered... Sort of.
She glanced up to find the man staring intently at her. He looked at her detachedly, he obviously did not see her as another human being. He made a motion to one of the guards. The guard moved from is spot next to the man reaching for her, hauling her to her feet by the back of her collar.
Sam made a move to get up but Gambit held him back. This was not the time to get into a fight.
Dana was lightheaded. Getting up so quickly was part of it, but the other part had to do with the fact that she was choking. The guard was holding the collar too high and it was doing a good job of cutting off the airflow. She really didn't want to black out again. The man with the clipboard examined her closely. He made some notes on the clipboard. He glanced at her again and turned back to the clipboard, this time writing in the margin. She closed her eyes trying to fight the waves of fear and nausea. *This is so poetic. I'm going to die just like my mother. I guess you can't escape fate.*
"So, Doc, you want this one or not? My arm's gettin' tired." She opened her eyes again glancing at the guard next to her that had just spoken. She turned to watch the face of the man. He was deep in thought, tapping his pencil against the clipboard absentmindedly. He took a breath and glanced up at the guard.
*Here it is. The moment of truth.* Dana squared her shoulders, ready to meet her fate.
"I don't think I need her right now."
The guard let go of the collar abruptly and Dana fell to the ground. She stared at the doctor as he moved down the line of cowering mutants. She gasped for the air she'd been deprived of by the guard. Sam moved to her, and helped her stiff body into a sitting position.
Down the line the doctor had had another mutant hauled to her feet. Dana shivered as she watched. She couldn't look away.
It was a woman with red hair. It hadn't been combed in a while, although Dana was sure it was beautiful in better times. The doctor nodded his head and the guard unchained the woman from the wall. She screamed and tried to break free. The guard suffered her thrashing for a while, but tired of it soon enough and the woman was given an injection. The woman slumped against the guard and could only whimper as she was dragged from the cell.
"Mom..."
Sam looked at Dana, who'd just whispered the word. The red hair of the unlucky woman had triggered something in Dana. Perhaps she thought she'd just witnessed the beginning of her mother's ordeal.
Gambit moved closer to Dana.
"Petite... ev' t'ing gonna be O.K. Dat weren't y' mama."
"Logan's gonna come soon."
Sam and Remy worked together trying to calm Dana down. She was crying now, feeling frightened and alone. Not unlike a 12 year-old who was watching her mother die.
"Hey, Al, you want anything?"
Albert Brunck looked up from watching the security screens. "What was that?" he mumbled as he broke out of his reverie.
"I'm gonna go get some food, you want an Egg Mc Muffin or something?"
Al looked at Kelly Doane and nodded. "Bring me a coffee too."
Al had worked in this job for a while and knew that technically there were supposed to be two guards at all entrances at all times. He also knew that no one ever came to his particular entrance, especially at this time of night. He and Kelly had worked together for years, and had taken advantage of the fact that they weren't really needed for just about as long. They alternated making quick runs for food in town every night, and usually slept through their watch.
Al put his feet up on his desk. The hours were terrible, but the job paid well, and he did have a family to support. He yawned.
He started up out of his chair as a well dressed young man came through the doors.
He reached for the binder that discussed protocol. "Who... who are you?" he stammered, completely unprepared for this invasion.
"I'm a friend, and I was wondering if you could do me a little favor," the intruder smiled warmly.
"What kind of favor?" Al narrowed his eyes and stopped looking for the binder.
"Al," the man glanced at Al's name tag, "My name's Marcus and I was wondering if I could get a few people out of here. In exchange I'd leave a few things here with you." He laid a small pile of hundred dollar bills on the desk in front of Al.
Al gasped. He'd never seen that much cash before. That would make a huge difference in his family. It would buy a great Christmas for his kids. His family hadn't had a good one of those in a long time.
"How many people?"
"Three."
Al shook his head. "Too many. The boss'd know they were gone. We don't have many here right now, three being gone would be suspicious. I can let you have one."
"If it's money..."
"It's not the money," Al hissed. "I'm thinking long term. I can't afford to get caught."
Marcus nodded. "Fine, I'll just take one."
Marcus cringed as he walked past the cells filled with scared looking people. *How can they convince themselves that mutants deserve this?* he thought as he watched Al walk past the cells without a flicker of emotion.
He searched the cells for some sign of his sister.
"Here we go, cell 3-12. She should be in here." Al stopped and produced a set of keys.
Marcus glanced through the bars and nearly cried. Dana looked as if she'd been beaten. Her hair was a mess and a dark bruise stood out on her jaw. It looked like she'd split her lip as well. She was sleeping in the arms of Sam. He was thankful that Sam was there to watch out for her. He'd hate for her to face a world that would do something like this to her alone.
The door creaked as Al opened it. Sam Guthrie and Remy LeBeau were instantly wide awake and sizing up the situation. All they could see were darkened silhouettes. Sam tensed as one of the figures came towards them. He now appeared to be a guard. He grabbed the chain that led to Dana's collar. Remy was about to attack when the other shadow spoke in a familiar voice.
"It's O.K., Mr. LeBeau. I'm getting Dana out of here."
Dana stirred. "Marc?" she mumbled drowsily.
"I'm here, D." Marc moved inside the cell and knelt next to Dana as the guard freed her from the collar. Her powers flared to life and she touched Sam on the cheek. His cut mended itself and the bruises he'd received in the fight disappeared.
Marc helped her to her feet and she walked to where Remy was sitting, and touched him as well. She turned and looked at the guard expectantly.
"What about them?"
"I'm sorry, D..." Marc took her into his arms. "I could only get one out."
She was about to chastise him for choosing her when she felt him press something into her hand. She recognized it.
"At least let me say goodbye." She ran to Remy, much to Sam's dismay, and embraced him with one arm while the other passed on the small package to Remy's hand. She waited until his deft hands had stopped moving between them, the sign that he was done hiding what she'd given him. She broke away from him and stopped in front of Sam. She knelt in front of him and threw her arms around him.
"Yer brother made the right choice," he whispered to her.
"I... I..." She was sobbing again and couldn't talk.
He kissed her goodbye passionately.
"You gotta go. Now!" Al said.
Dana quickly found her voice as she was pulled away from Sam. "I love you," she whispered to him before she was dragged from the circle of his embrace. He watched her longingly as she was quickly lead down the hall, away from him.