Continuation from THIS thread.

~~~~~

You know in the movies when the guy or girl who's having a dream suddenly wakes up and bolts up covered in sweat? Usually they take a wide angled shot of their face to demonstrate just how horrid the dream they were just having was?

Yeah...it's kinda like that in real life too.

Well, for Ashley it was anyways, only her awakening was MUCH more painful. The last memory she had before waking up fully was a huge mutant, unstoppable and strong holding her by the neck. Her very life was hanging by a thread and all she could think about was that she'd never have her vengeance, she'd never get to face the person that killed her surrogate father...her entire life would be pointless. Well, the part she could remember anyway.

If there was a real life achievement for epic failure, she'd be it.

So when she bolted up from her nightmare was of that failure. The pain didn't even register for a moment before an unwilling yowl escaped her lips. She gritted her teeth to suppress the weak sound and clutched her stomach, feeling bile rise to her throat until she felt it spill over in the form of blood. She turned her head off to the side just in time, letting the blood she was vomiting splatter on the floor before she collapsed back to the rather soft bed she was laying on.

...wait, bed?

Ashley took in her surroundings for a moment before forcing herself back up to a sitting position. She wiped her mouth with her sleeve and took another moment to close her eyes to combat the sudden wave of nausea. From what she saw she guessed she was at some kinda hospital or something, and a few things occurred to her. One, she knew mutants weren't really welcome at a lot of hospitals. The cops HAD to have seen her fight the giant metal mutant and figured her for one as well. Two, she didn't have her headphones one.

That, right there, was the big one. She needed her music to be strong. And right now, she was as weak as a kitten.

Ashley slid off the side of the bed to the floor and nearly slipped on her own blood before she steadied herself. The pain was almost unbearable, and her vision dimmed a bit as she held onto her stomach. She looked down at her once flawless toned belly (she would never admit to being vain about her flat six pack, but she was) and groaned as she saw the scraps that being dragged across the broken concrete had created. The bandages were hastily put on but even without being trained she knew that somewhere, under it all, was a hole from being shot by a stray bullet.

She moaned for a moment before swallowing the sound (and a fair bit of blood) and took a step forward towards the door, only to lock gazes with the cute girl she had originally followed into the cafe in the first place.

Stormy gray eyes raked the girl before her up and down before she let out a growl of approval. She didn't really know why she made the noise, but looked away from that rather intense scrutiny the other girl was looking at her.

“Hn.” was Ashley's brilliant opening line, her usual rough whiskey on the rocks voice even gruffer then it usually was. “Ummm...I'm leaving. Thanks. For...this.”

Ashley could only assume that the girl had helped her out of the mess she was in, but she was still at a hospital and she still needed to get out. And most of all she needed to find her damn headphones so she could switch on some tunes that could help in her rapid escape.

“My headphones...you seen? Them, I mean. My headphones.” Ashley coughed and spit a wad of blood from her mouth to the floor. “Need them. Now...please.”

Lydia had been anxiously waiting for Andrew and the man he was fetching, someone he called “DocProf,” when the redhead suddenly woke up and gave a cry of pain, before spilling some bloody guts out onto the floor. The unexpected outburst made the skin-shifter leap out of her seat and take a step or two back, her heart pounding with a mix of adrenalin and fear. Apparently she was still a bit jumpy from the previous altercation at the café. It took a moment for her to calm down and realize what was actually going on.

“Hey you don’t want to be doing that,” She said when the injured girl climbed out of her bed and looked ready to topple over, “Seriously, you’re going to get help soon. Just lie back down.” But she was ignored in favor of pain, and the other girl let out a few groans before starting for the closed door. Then she paused again when she finally noticed Dia and made a weird noise, like a…snarl almost? Maybe it was just another pain-induced sound. She continued to stare at her intensely, but the skin-shifter held her gaze until she broke away.

>> “Hn. Ummm...I'm leaving. Thanks. For...this.”

The teenager edged toward the door as the redhead spoke, knowing that she couldn’t let her leave. Not in that state. She’d hardly make it out of the mansion, it being as huge as it was, and would probably collapse from the blood loss once she made it to the door. That would just be redundant.

>> “My headphones...you seen? Them, I mean. My headphones. Need them. Now...please.”

The poor girl could hardly speak, much less stand, and she kept spitting out blood. She was trying to look tough and gruff, but Lydia honestly thought she looked more like a little injured kitten in her state. Like a kitten that really needed to listen to her. “They’re right here, I was holding them.” She pointed at her previously occupied seat, with the headphones perched on it, and walked closer to other girl. “Look seriously, they have someone here who can heal you. So let’s get you back to bed and sit tight, yeah?” Her voice took a soothing turn as she reached for the redhead’s arm and tugged her in the right direction.

It took a few minutes to convince the old healer to leave Andrew's wounds until after he'd tended to the girl. DocProf was a nice old guy who did his work well. Of course that meant that as soon as he'd seen the wound on Andrew's back he'd tried to heal him. Andrew shook the old man off and told him about the girl in the other room with a bullet hole in her stomach. The unknown red head needed his attentions more than Andrew did at the moment. Upon convincing him of this Andrew exited the office for the infirmary.

The sight of his companion whose name he still didn't remember, to his shame, attempting to get the girl back to bed greeted him.

"Looks like we've got a stubborn one Doc."

The red head could hate him for the action he was about to take later. Rather than wait for the girl to get her back in bed Andrew walked over and scooped her into his arms, suppressing a grunt of pain yet again. He walked back over to the bed and placed her on it gently.

"I've got the Doc right here. If you'll sit tight you'll be fixed up in a minute."

Andrew looked over to DocProf and watched the elder gentleman approach. It would be up to the girl to let him do his thing or not. All he'd done was get her back on the bed. He gave a glance at the other girl. At least she didn't need DocProf's attentions as well.

Ashley barley heard the girl she was speaking to and only followed the direction she was pointing in. Ah, her headphones. The grin she attempted came out more like a ghastly grimace as the blood in her mouth had not done her teeth any favors. She attempted to walk to her beloved headphones but was suddenly scooped up and deposited (gently, at least) onto the bed she was on previous. Ashley attempted to speak but found that getting anything out was very undo-able at that point. Perhaps getting out of bed and trying to leave wasn't the brightest thing to do.

“Ugh.” Ashley muttered as she looked to the man that had picked her up. She blinked a few times, recognizing him as the person who had hit the metal mutant with a pole (or whatever) and made him shrink. The guy must have been powerful to have such an effect. She gave him a nod before looking to the other person.

He was a gentle soul, even someone like Ashley could tell that. His smile was quite disarming, and the fact that he was an older person stopped Ashley in her tracks in yet another (stupid) attempt to get away from all the people in the room. Her surrogate father had always said to respect your elders and to listen to their advice...if they were worth listening to, anyways. Rhythm merely stared and blinked, her usual stoic expression filled with slight bouts of pain.

“Now young lady, I'm going to have to ask you to lie back if you will, yes?” The man (Ashley heard the younger man that had picked her up call him 'Doc') nodded, holding Ashley by her shoulders and pushing her back down gently. Ashley merely nodded, not wanting to say anything just yet. “Now let's have a look at you...hm, what is your name, child?”

Ashley didn't say anything for a moment, looking to the younger man in the room and then to the cute girl. She bit her bottom lip and looked off to the side, away from their gazes. “Rhythm.”

“Ah, yes.” Doc looked over to where he had seen the young redhead heading when they walked into the room and spied the headphones on the chair. “No need to be nervous dear, lets just see what we're dealing with so I can...do my thing, if you will.”

Ashley closed her eyes and looked away, scrunching her face in shame and embarrassment. She was hurt, yeah, but she also knew she was dirty and, having slept in the back alley of the cafe before this whole thing started, she knew she couldn't be smelling the best. Still, when the warm glow came (followed by a warmer feeling) Ashley snapped her gaze back to what Doc was doing. His hand pressed slightly on her stomach over the bullet wound was the source of the warmth and glow; his hands.

“Hn!” Ashley blinked, her hands gripping the sides of the bed. “You...you're mutant? You're doing...what?” The warmth grew as did the light for a moment, but the Doc didn't seem to respond, though his lips moved. Panic gripped Ashley and she began to push herself away, her mind trying to grasp the situation. “No...stop!! You can't!!”

Lydia gave a sigh of relief when Andrew came back into the room with an elderly-looking man in tow, presumably the DocProf. The younger man once again hoisted the redhead in his arms, despite his own injuries, and set her back down on the bed. Thankfully she stayed in it that time. The skin-shifter watched DocProf as he approached the other girl and briefly spoke to her.

>> “Now let's have a look at you...hm, what is your name, child?” “Rhythm.”

Rhythm? That was an interesting name. The teenager could only assume it was an alias or a nickname, mutants tended to have those. Rhythm seemed nervous or uneasy, and at the very least uncomfortable. Lyd took a few steps closer to the bed, intent on comforting the girl. It was understandable how she felt. She was in a strange, new place, surrounded by strange, new people, and a random old man telling her to calm down and let him do his thing.

DocProf placed his hands on Rhythm’s stomach, and a glow began to emanate from them. The teenager watched, a bit fascinated by the display of mutation. She had little injuries, just some scrapes and a few deeper cuts from where the glass had cut through her thin, paper-shifted skin, so she doubted she’d get attention from the man, but she wanted to know what his powers felt like. It looked pleasant.

>> “You...you're mutant? You're doing...what?”

The redhead seemed panicked, freaked out. She didn’t seem to really understand what was going on. Lydia placed her hand on Rhythm’s arm, in an attempt to calm her down. The elder man responded kindly, “Yes I am. I’m a healer, dear. Right now I’m seeing what exactly happened to you. And—“

>> “No...stop!! You can't!!”

…or maybe it wasn’t such a pleasant feeling. Pretty glows could be deceiving. “Hey, hey it’s okay. He’s just trying to help you,” She said, although she knew little of what she was talking about. She had no idea what DocProf was doing at all, actually, but she trusted Andrew, and he had said that the older man would be able to help with their injuries. Her eyes shifted to the promise-keeper, as if asking for help in soothing Rhythm. She still had to ask him about what he did to the mutant back at the coffee shop too. The question was burning in the back of her brain, but she would wait until a more appropriate time to ask him.

DocProf went about the business of healing the girl with the same kindness as he always went about his tasks. He asked the girl's name before he went to his work and received the word Rhythm in return. It didn't surprise him. Most mutants seemed to have sobriquets that they preferred to their real names. Andrew didn't but then again it was hard to condense his ability down to one or two words that didn't sound ridiculous.

Rhythm's response to DocProf''s ability was different than most though. He hadn't really seen anyone respond negatively to it before. He'd think that most were either indifferent or enjoyed the healer's gift. Andrew certainly didn't find it as frightening as Rhythm seemed to. She seemed terrified though. She struggled, as much as he suspected her worn and injured body would allow, against him. His companion tried to calm her down and shot him a glance that clearly said that she wanted him to make an effort as well.

"Relax Rhythm. He won't hurt you."

With a frown he moved to pin her shoulders to the bed so that she couldn't squirm away from DocProf and screw up his healing. Andrew doubted that he wanted to see a healing gone wrong. As he attempted to pin the girl he leaned closer to her to make sure she heard him.

"DocProf isn't hurting you. He's healing your bullet wound. Please, just relax."

Ashley stopped her struggling as the cute girl and the man that had stopped the metal mutant both assured her that the Doc wasn't going to hurt her. Sure, she really didn't know for sure if what was going on was really going to help but...well, she didn't have much choice in the matter, really. She was far too injured and too tired at the moment to really struggle anymore. Plus, it was three against one; without her headphones or some kinda music she really didn’t like those odds.

Ashley's gaze locked with the young man's for a moment before nodding and laying back, letting the warmth the Doc's hands seemed to be spewing roll over her. She didn't know how long it would take so she just closed her eyes, grimacing at the touch (not because it felt bad, but because she really didn't like to be touched) and tried her best to relax...or appear relaxed. It was hard for her to do, really, since most of her facial expressions were either neutral or a scowl of some sort, and this was actually somewhat pleasant.

“Hn.” Ashley grunted as she felt the pressure of Doc's hands leave the vicinity of the gunshot. He wrapped both hands around her ribs, his eyes still closed as he seemed to be nodding, seeing something that no one else could, muttering something along the lines of 'I see.' before increasing the pressure slightly, making Ashley wince. The pain was momentary, however, and before she knew it Ashley was actually feeling loads better then before, when she felt like she was going to be vomiting blood forever.

DocProf took a step back, brushing his hands together before clasping them behind his back. “Now there, see? That wasn't so bad. The rest of your wounds are minor, scraps really.” He took a moment to look Ashley over, pressing a finger against certain points of her legs and arms before giving a final nod. “Yes, all appears to be well. Oh, and please take this.” He held up a tiny metal piece before handing it to Ashley, who gave him a bank stare before transferring said stare to the bullet...then back to the Doc.

“What do I do? With it, I mean?” Ashley held up the metal slug the Doc had pulled from her stomach somehow and looked at it curiously, holding it up so she could see it better. She figured that this object was what caused her stomach so much pain. “Hm.”

“Whatever you please. Consider it a memento from your first instance of being a hero.” The Doc chuckled. “I saw what you did, you see.” He took a moment to tap his temple as he caught Ashley's gaze. “Brave, if not terribly unorthodox. Now if you don't mind I have to attend to Andrew here. Brave, like yourself, but I see him FAR too often for my liking.”

The DocProf gave Ashley a pat on the shoulder as he turned to Andrew, giving him a knowing smile.

Rhythm stopped struggling once Andrew came to her side and guaranteed that the healer was only trying to help her. She seemed to realize that the futility of the action, anyhow. She looked uncomfortable throughout the whole healing process, although not in pain. In fact she looked quite a bit better as DocProf did his work, just ill at ease. She was probably still freaked out about what had happened back at the café, in addition to her current situation.

Lydia herself was still freaked out. All the trepidation and terror she had somehow suppressed back at the coffee shop were slowly starting to spill out of the box she had shoved them in. She was very ready to let the floodgates open, but she didn’t want to show that kind of weakness in front of others, much less complete strangers. And it wasn’t as if Lyd had even been hurt physically, not like her other two companions, so she didn’t understand why she felt the way she did. It was all very confusing. She just wanted to find a little alcove to be by herself in.

>> “Now if you don't mind I have to attend to Andrew here. Brave, like yourself, but I see him FAR too often for my liking.”

DocProf finished up on the redhead and moved onto Andrew, who he was apparently very familiar with. It made the skin-shifter wonder exactly how often the promise-keeper had been down in the infirmary to warrant that sort of comment. It wouldn’t surprise her if the majority of the injuries for those visits were from other “heroic” rescue attempts. Lydia stepped back and watched on as the healer got started on Andrew. She wondered if it would be rude to bail at that moment. Rhythm was in capable hands, and the teenager really had no other reason to stick around.

Andrew obligingly turned his back to DocProf when the man mentioned that it was his turn. A grin split his face when the man mentioned that he saw Andrew more often than he'd like. Truth told Andrew felt the same way. That didn't mean he couldn't find it amusing from time to time.

"You know me Doc. I gotta help out if someone is in trouble."

DocProf just fixed the young man with a look and set to work on Andrew's shoulder. One seeing of Andrew's recent past and a flash of light later his shoulder was all patched up.

"Thanks Doc. I'll see you again next time I end up with a few too many holes."

The healer smiled in a good natured way.

"Do try and make it a couple of weeks at least Andrew?"

Andrew just laughed.

"I'll try, no promises though."

Andrew blinked and smirked at his unintentional joke. He turned back to the two girls as DocProf cleaned up a bit and headed back toward his office. Off hand he wondered what sort of conversation they'd have or if they'd talk at all. Andrew sat on a bed beside Rhythm and waited to see.

Ashley sat on the bed, lost in thought as she lifted up her short and began to poke her belly where the bullet had tore into her stomach. So the Doc was a healer...well, she knew that. She could deduce it anyways. She watched absentmindedly as the Doc healed the man called Andrew and went back to poking her tummy, wondering how such a power could work anyways. Still, her ribs felt tons better and even the various bruising was down, at least around the stomach area.

It wasn’t until she noticed the distinct lack of sound that she looked up from her stomach poking, looking at Andrew like a deer caught in the headlights. She slowly turned to the cute girl and then the retreating back of the Doc, who turned just in time to catch Ashley's eye and give her a small nod before exiting the room. Ashley pulled her shirt down and took another look at herself with a expression of slight shame. Andrew looked cool, despite being in a fight. The cute girl looked...well, cute. She felt dirty in the presence of these two people and decided that now was probably the time to make a hasty getaway.

“Thanks.” Ashley blurted out, her deep, hoarse voice cracking a bit. She cleared her throat and swallowed hard. “You're powerful, huh? Stopping the mutant. It was...good.” She turned to the cute girl and attempted a smile but...well, she didn't succeed. “You too. Might've died. Me, I mean, if you didn't help. Thanks.”

The thoughts of that hasty getaway slipped for a moment as she looked around and shivered a bit, remembering she was in a hospital of some sort. She turned, her eyes spying her headphones with a look of longing before looking to Andrew and narrowing her eyes. “Where is this? Here, I mean. Where am I?”

Andrew listened and watched as Rhythm looked around and then started dishing out compliments. She seemed to think that he had made the mutant change out of his dangerous form. Once the compliments were dished out she asked where she was. Andrew took a breath before clearing up her misconception and answering the question.

"Actually I'm not all that powerful. Whatever made that guy change back to a normal human wasn't me. I just keep promises."

It was quite the puzzle. Whoever it was might have been someone like Gemma but that didn't explain why the guy had stayed that way or the immense amount of pain he seemed to be in. Andrew frown as he thought about it. It was something he'd have to share with someone when he got a chance.

"As to this place, this is a sister school to Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters. Since I know you're both mutants I figured it would be a safer option for the police to drop us here where DocProf could treat you."

Andrew shrugged.

"The hospital probably could have done just as good a job but it would have taken a lot longer and this way I'm sure that the person that treats me or others isn't biased against mutants. It's just quicker and safer really."

He stood up and wandered toward the end of the bed that Rhythm laid on.

"At any rate, you're safe here if you want to stay. If not, well you're always welcome back."

Lydia did her best to fade into the background as Andrew and DocProf tossed around a few witty comments after the former was healed. As she had suspected, Andrew was often there for “helping” others. She shook her head with a small smile. He was a hopeless hero, it seemed. Her smile grew a little wider when she noticed Rhythm poking at her stomach, it was adorable. She mustn’t have been used to being healed by mutants, and surprised at the sudden change from pain to no pain. Again, Dia was reminded of a little kitten. Suddenly, Rhythm stopped her poking and turned to Andrew to thank him in a hoarse voice.

>> “You're powerful, huh? Stopping the mutant. It was...good. You too. Might've died. Me, I mean, if you didn't help. Thanks.”

>> “Actually I'm not all that powerful. Whatever made that guy change back to a normal human wasn't me. I just keep promises.”

I didn’t actually do anything… She thought, but didn’t say anything out loud for she didn’t want to interrupt Andrew. Hm, so he didn’t know what happened to the monstrous mutant either. Maybe her shifter theory was right, and the guy had just run out of time, and the side effects happened to include a lot of pain. Or maybe it was something else entirely, the skin-shifter wasn’t sure. These days it seemed anything was possible, especially with all of the rumors about some special mutation-inducing drug floating around the streets and the Sanctuary.

>> “Where is this? Here, I mean. Where am I?”

She listened to Andrew explain to the redhead what he had already explained to her earlier while they were getting a ride from a police officer. She had hated the ride, and had hated being so close to a cop even more. Lyd also wasn’t very fond of the idea of being in a school, but the promise-keeper was right when he said that being dropped off there was better than being dropped off in a regular hospital. She figured the moment was right to make a run for it. “Right so…since you guys are all right now…I think I’m going to head out now—.” But she was interrupted by the untimely arrival of another police officer.

“Excuse me, but there are officers from Mutant Related Crimes who’d like to speak with you three,” He paused to see if the trio were in any shape to talk, and continued when he was sure the blood on their clothes wasn’t fresh and they were all healed, “If you’d please come downstairs, we have a detective waiting for you. I’m sorry if I’m disturbing you, but I thought it would be best if you got this interview over with as soon as possible.” Great. More cops. Just when I was about to dip. The teenager remained silent, although the expression on her face clearly revealed her annoyance, and looked at the other two to see what they would do. She looked particularly at Andrew, since he was probably used to these kinds of things.

Ashley listened to Andrew and nodded when he finished. So...this was a safe place for mutants? At least it wasn't the hospital. She'd heard horror stories on the streets on how they treated mutants at hospitals. She swung her legs off the bed and slid to the floor after giving Andrew a thoughtful grunt and took off her dirty and pretty much useless wife beater. All she had on now was her sports bra and baggy pants to cover up with, and with her trenchcoat nowhere in sight it didn't look like she was going to get much in terms of clothing at the moment. Well...she DID fight off a huge beats of a mutant to save them. Maybe a shower and a shirt wasn't too much to ask, was it?

She turned to Andrew and was about to ask her question when the cute girl (Ashley STILL didn't know her name. Asking at this point would be weird...right?) started to stumble over her own words, but the general idea (if Ashley was reading her very blatant body language correctly) was that she wanted to get the heck out of there. Ashley agreed, but taking a nice how shower and getting a new short would be just as good. Also, getting her trenchcoat back would be nice. She turned back to Andrew and was about to ask when once again she was interrupted but an officer, who waltzed into the room with ease, like he knew the place by heart.

>>“Excuse me, but there are officers from Mutant Related Crimes who’d like to speak with you three. If you’d please come downstairs, we have a detective waiting for you. I’m sorry if I’m disturbing you, but I thought it would be best if you got this interview over with as soon as possible.”

Cops. Like the ones that carelessly shot at the mutant while she was still in the way. Ashley didn't know if this was one of the guys who was at the scene but she didn't care. She felt her anger rise and with it her adrenaline began pumping. She didn't need her music to take out this assclown. She barley heard what he said as she took a step forward to give the idiot the pummeling of a lifetime.

His explanation seemed to go down well enough. Andrew's companion seemed to be in a hurry to leave and Rhythm didn't look like she'd be far behind her. Andrew would admit to a bit of disappointment but he held it in check. If they preferred to be elsewhere then it wasn't his job to stop them. Andrew headed for the door only to be stopped by a cop. It was time to give their statements and they already had someone waiting downstairs. Andrew glanced at the two females in the room. Lydia was annoyed and Rhythm looked ready to start a fight. The disappointment from a moment ago quickly changed to annoyance.

To clarify though Andrew wasn't annoyed at the cop. He had a fairly decent relationship with them, since they ended up involved in his life regularly. No, he was annoyed at the girls. A fight with a cop? Really? Even if they were mutants he wouldn't hesitate to report them to Jorge if they did fight the policeman and win. Andrew stepped forward right as Rhythm did and grabbed her arm.

"Thank you officer. We'll be down shortly. Right now, I need to have a quick word with my friends here."

Andrew flashed what he hoped was a charming smile at the man.

"We've had a rough day and tempers are a bit strained you see. I don't want any incidents on the way down."

His tone was casual but the look Andrew gave both girls was not. It was stern and should have made it very plain that he expected them to cooperate since they were in the Mansion at the moment.

As much as Lydia disliked cops and other figures of authority, she didn’t want Rhythm to hit the officer. That would just be stupid and pointless, and make their meeting even longer. The skin-shifter would rather get the interview…interrogation…whatever it was, over as fast as possible, like the cop had said. She needed to get out of there. She raised her eyebrow when Andrew intervened, and was a bit taken aback when he included her in his glare. What? I’m not the one trying to pick a fight. Lyd rolled her eyes as the promise-keeper dismissed the cop and told him they’d meet him downstairs.

“Don’t look at me like that, this whole police thing is aggravating. You can’t blame me for being a little irritated. Now can we get this over with?” She asked after the policeman had exited the infirmary. She spoke more snarkily than she had intended, but the fatigue was slowly getting to her. Exhaustion + the popo + getting in trouble for something she hadn’t even intended to do = a very annoyed Lydia. “Hey, let’s not try to start anything stupid, all right?” She directed to Rhythm, with a much softer tone. She needed to be alone before she broke down, and she’d only be alone once the whole thing was over. For that, she’d need the redhead to cooperate.

The teenager leaned against the wall next to the door, waiting for a response from either of the two.