Tired as all get out and aching in her back and chest Daria stumbled into the infirmary.

"Took a pretty bad beating it seems." the doc said as omne of his nurses helped her from her suit.

"You have no clue. My boyfriend stabbed me in the back...literally."

"Oh. Relationship problems?" the doc asked as he examined her bruises.

"No. He was doing it to save my life." Daria said non-chalantly. "Ow." She tensed up as he touched her wrist.

"This is sprained and so is your left ankle, it is so swollen." He began to heal it and bandage it just in case.

Daria winced as medicine and bandages were applied to other places on her body. Riruki lay in a cot beside her.

"She alright?"

"Yes. Her powers took a strain on her mentally and she simply needs to rest. Somehow that doll got in here I have no clue how." The doc said curiously.

Daria shrugged and sighed. "How long before I can move again?"

"If by move you mean climb, run and jump, I'd say a few weeks at the most. But I know you probably won't listen to me so I say sleep here for the night and leave in the mid afternoon."

"Gotcha." Daria said rolling onto her stomach and drifting on to sleep.

Mike had a few strained muscles, and his face was scratched to hell, but the real reason he ended up coming to the infirmary was because Daria was up there.

He submitted himself to the prodding of the med staff, and the Doc's power to scar over the three long gashes on his face, and then they finally let him go see her.

"Hey, beautiful," he said, smiling slightly. "How're you feeling," he asked, taking a seat by her.

"I'm tired. I sprained my wrist and ankle from landing wrong. I should've know better. My back feels so weird without the stone in it and it kind of hurts. I have bruises in places I really shouldn't and my hair is messed up and I'm too tired to teleport my braids back into place. But other than that I'm just dandy." she said.

Actually she wasn't completely dandy, she'd done a lot of thinking since feeling Mike's sword in her back, she was rethinking herself. She looked at his face.


"What happened to you?"

Mike leaned over and kissed her. "Whitmore did it... just barely blocked it," he answered honestly. After all... Daria hadn't been the one attacking him, Whitmore had been using her body.

"And I don't care how messed up your hair is, you're still beautiful," he teased, smiling slightly.

"So talk to me... I can tell you're not 'fine and dandy'. What's up, baby?"

Daria smirked. "I know I scratched you." she said getting small glimpses of what had happnened from cracks in Mike's conciousness. He wasn't necesarily trying to hide anything he just knew it would upset her.

And it did.

She sighed. I've been thinking about myself and the..difference between being an xman and...doing what I used to do for the labs. I really changed as a person. Suddenly all the work Linda and the crew are doing seems so shady and unecessary, even if they weren't working against mutants they aren't really for all of us. I mean they just want to know more. They're simply a whole lot nicer about the experiments than...fusionist. she thought to him. She was too tired to talk.

And when I started thinking about the change in jobs it led the change in me. I just feel different is all.

Emerald limped her way into the Infirmary after Mike siting herself on the medical bed after nearly tripping over her on two feet. She looked up at the doc as he looked her over. "I just keep getting shot with something don't I?" Emerald asked, a light hearted laugh escaping her lips.

"It seems that way." the Doc laughed lightheartedly as he healed Emerald's wounds. "Well you had 2 broken rib bones and you will be pretty sore for a week or so due to your old bruises and cuts. You also got burned from you waist you your lower Rib cage so you will have to keep those bandages on for a while.

"You know maybe next time I fight something I should bring a chainsaw or something. What do you think Doc?" Emerald asked, tail slightly wagging.

"I think that It would be a crime against Humanity."

"Oh come on I'm not that bad."

"...."

"Fine, no weapon."

"Good girl now lay on your cot and Keep quite." He pointed over to Daria and Mike. "I think they are having a moment." He whispered in her ear before walking over to attend the others.

Emerald laid back on her cot , chilling out in deep though about the days events.

((see I didnt ruin yalls moment so keep going...its getting good *gets tub of Ice cream and popcorn))

Did you decide anything? Mike thought to her, taking her hand as he sat next to her bed.

Daria looked at his face again.

I need to drop that self pity crap. she admitted. I always sit and like cry over anything that goes wrong. The truth is I shouldn't fear what goes wrong with me, no one can truley control me. The stuff that Johnny said about you and your powers in relation to my feelings for you is total crap. she spat.

I know I love you, I can't mistake that. And I trust you, we're in eachother's minds all day, literally, if you have any ill intentions I'd pick up on them. But I still worry about what I would do with out you. Not that I think you're leaving but..You bail me out a lot...she shrugged.

"you know what I mean?"

He nodded. "I think so..."

And I know you probably don't need me to 'bail you out' all the time... but I love you, and when I see the chance... I think I've just been lucky enough to see the chances.

It just seems a little surreal right now, I think. We've had this garbage hanging over our heads for the past few weeks, and now it's over. Whitmore's dead, the stone is gone... I don't know, it feels like we've won our lives back tonight. Like now we're allowed to actually have our own future.

Daria smiled at the word future, the image of them with the baby flashed in her mind so he could see.

Yeah, exactly. I feel like I've been...trapped all this time. And the mansion was a chance for me to break free, but all the stuff that happened was the last obstacle. Not that more stuff won't happen but now I can react differently. I can do it right. she thought.

That trip to DC was like vacuuming up the last shards of a broken glass. Its behind me now and I can breath and walk without fear of getting cut. I have to admit, your love scared me a bit..I still think its...fantastical, told you you're my knight in shining armor. But now I can fully embrace it because I think I'm wonderful just like you do. So I changed my code name to Bastet. She was an Egyptian Goddess. BlackCat seemed like I was a bad luck omen.

She looked at him again to make sure he was following her.

Well, you've always been a goddess to me, so I think it's fitting.

If anything... I've always felt like I couldn't give you enough. I knew what you deserved... and I had ideas about what I deserved, which wasn't much. You... you've changed my mind on that... I know I deserve you as much as you deserve me.

I feel... I don't know, free. Like we've run the gauntlet, and now it's time for the prize.

Amen! Daria laughed. It was a very unburdened laugh and she surprised herself since she didn't know she had been laughing differently until now.

She smiled at Mike. "So the doc says I can't leave till tomorrow afternoon." she said.

He dragged over another cot. "Looks like I'm staying until tomorrow afternoon, then," he grinned.

Raphael carried Victoria carefully up to the Infirmary for the second time. He felt bad. Not because of the lives he had taken earlier that night, or even because of the violent side he had shown Victoria. He felt bad because she was unconcious and likely hurt pretty back... and he couldn't have prevented it. So, here he was doing the only thing he could think of in which to do... Take her to DocProf.

He carried her carefully into the now crowded infirmary, it would seem a good deal of people were hurt in the recent attack, and assault. He shook his head a little bit, and gave a soft sigh as he moved to the nearest empty bed, right beside Emerald, just as DocProf was finishing with her.

"Oh my Raphael. What happened? Sit sit, let me see to you young man." DocProf said, immediately noting just how bloody Raphael was.

"I'm not hurt... most of it ain't even my blood Doc." Raphael said, shying away from the Doctor's grasp. "Look... my arm is a lil sore, got sh..." he started, then cut himself off. "I know you mean the best... but... Look, Victoria took a nasty bump... or something dealing with a Sentinel... She needs your aid alot more than me... I... I've gotta go clean up a hallway... Don't wanna traumatize any of the young'uns... Help her please?" He murmured, pointing at Victoria on the cot by Emerald.

DocProf stopped, and looked at Victoria and nodded. Then said with a soft sigh "As you wish Raphael. I however expect you to come back for a complete check up afterwards though."

"Yeah... I'll do that Doc..." He murmured, nodding and backing away from the DocProf and Victoria, and directed his gaze at Emerald. "Excuse me... if you're still here... and I'm not back... before Victoria wakes... could you tell her Raphael will be back shortly?" He asked, almost pleadingly. He certainly felt drawn in two directions, one to clean up the mess he had made, and the other, to stay beside Victoria till she came to. In the end he chose to go ahead and leave to go clean.

Raphael bid a thank you to Emerald, and beat a quick retreat to the second floor hallway where he and Victoria had been posted before.

Daria grinned and kissed him, wrapping her tail around one of his legs and wiggling her ears.

"YAY!"