They Think They Can Define You: By Buffywatcher

 

            Banshee paces , his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides. The young members of GenerationX are sitting in a huddled mass of misery. Somewhere in the sterile bowels of the hospital their Headmistress , the WhiteQueen lies in critical condition. They were miles away , on-route back from a mission , to the Academy when an alarm sounded warning them of an attack at the Academy. A garbled warning from the WhiteQueen alerted them to the fact that she had evacuated most of the students but that Artie and Leech were unaccounted for. She gave them a rendevous point to meet her at but she never arrived although the panicked  pair of Artie and Leech did make it. Their garbled stories were impossible to untangle but to a one they knew that the WhiteQueen would not have let them come alone. Not if she was in any shape to accompany them. Banshee ordered everyone back inside the jet and took to the air , intent on finding out the fate of the WhiteQueen.

            The Academy was utterly destroyed when they arrived. No stone standing , no creature moving , and the silence. They called frantically for the WhiteQueen but received no answer to their cries. They split up to look for their lost member , scanning for any signs that could tell them who attacked. It was Husk's scream of anguish that drew them all with their hearts in their throats , Banshee recalls. Banshee feels his hands clench as he remembers the abhorrent scene he witness when he reached Husk. At first he could see nothing but bodies littering the ground , their eyes staring sightless and their faces utterly blank of any expression. Husk was huddled on the ground her legs pulled up against her chest and her face buried against her knees. She was slowly rocking back and forth and crying. Banshee remembered looking around and realizing that there had to be something more than the bodies to cause that reaction in Husk. GenerationX had seen over 4 years of action in the field. Death was something they had already seen too much of , for Husk to have fallen apart. Banshee thinks back to the moment his attention was caught by a slow and steady dripping sound. He remembers scanning the surroundings wondering where the sound was coming from. They were in the arboretum and there were no pipes or water mains that could have caused the sound. He remembers turning the corner and falling to his knees , a cry of anguish on his lips. He doesn't remember the feeling of her still warm blood , soaking into the knees and legs of his uniform to stain them a macabre scarlet. Emma Frost is hanging like some nightmarish version of  a christmas tree Angel from 2 of the trees. Her ankles and wrists aretied to the trees and she is suspended well over 8 feet in the air. What is left of her once white uniform are tattered rags , stained red with her blood. There doesn't look to be so much as a millimeter of her skin that has been flayed nearly to the bone. The bodies of more men and even a few women litter the ground beneath her body , and they are sprinkled with the scarlet mark of her blood. Banshee looks up at the grisly sight again , unable to believe his eyes. He watches as the blood from her wounds slowly drips down her body to gather in rivlets. The rivlets gather into streams before finally dripping off her body , and falling as soft as tears into the pool of blood forming beneath her. Banshee unconsciously covers his ears unable to get the soft sound of her blood dripping into the seemingly impossibly deep pool of scarlet that was her life , out of his mind. He doesn't remember the scream of anguish and rage that exploded from him but the other tells him it shatter all the windows and threw them all to their knees as they were running to the scene. He only remembers flying up and tearing Emma free of her bondage and gently lowering them both to the ground. He remembers the odd sight of Emma's untouched face as he removed his cape and draped it around her nude and bloodied form. He remembers thinking how horrified she would be if anyone so her in so undignified a condition. Then the others came and tried to take her body from his arms but he fought them until M's pleading voice broke through his shock. She could hear a heartbeat , even though she couldn't get Emma to respond to her telepathic call , and that Emma must be taken to the hospital right away. Banshee relinquished Emma and told the kids to take her to the hospital and that he would follow.  Banshee wonders what the young people of GenerationX would think of what he had done. He remembers hovering as the flames consumed the remains all that Emma had built as well as the bodies of her attackers. Banshee remembers theorizing as to what happened as he watched the flames spread and intensify until a 100 fire engine companies would be unable to extinguish it. He remembers feeling detatched from reality , as though he were outside himself looking in. When Emma was taken and unable to fight back as she was being tortured physically , she struck at her attackers with a weapon they could not defend themselves against. He shudders to imagine what it must have felt like to litterally have your brains liquified by an alpha class telepath.

            Banshee is sucked back to the present by the sound of a throat being cleared softly. He looks up and sees a blood spattered doctor looking at them with a sad expression on her face. Banshee feels his heart try to stop in his chest. Then and there he makes a silent and solemn vow that if Emma Frost is dead , he'll find out who was responsible for the attack and they will not live to see another sunrise. "Are you the family of Ms. Frost?" The Doctor asks tentatively , as she takes in the strangely garbed group of people. They way they have all gotten up and clustered around a tall red-haired man , with frightened looks on their faces , is all the answer she needs. She looks at the tall and handsome man , noticing his blood-stained clothing as she sweeps her eyes upward to meet his eyes. She unconsciously shivers at the look in his eyes and drops her own and haltingly recites her patient's condition and prognosis report. "Ms. Frost is suffering from massive internal injuries , the least of which include a ruptured appendix , 6 broken ribs and 2 dislocated shoulders. Her blood loss was severe and we lost her 4 times on the table. We were able to replenish her blood loss during the operation with her own blood , stored at our blood bank here. She remains however seriously anemic and will remain in a grave condition without further transfusions to strengthen her blood reserves. The problem is that Ms. Frost has  unique blood factors that we've never seen in another person. I've checked the files we have on her known relatives but none of them match her bloodwork and she'd reject transfusions from them. The closest match I was able to find is her deceased Father but we known of his blood in storage. Without a transfusion her chances of recovery are cut is half. Ms. Frost is currently in critical but stable condition in our prime care ICU. Of prime concern is her CATscan results. Her results show almost no higher brain activity and she has lapsed into a coma. There is no indication of irreversible brain damage but we have been unable to pull her out of the coma. I'm afraid her overall prognosis is that unless luck is with her , Ms. Frost's condition will prove terminal." The Doctor says sadly. "She won't live until sunrise." Banshee feels another scream of rage rising in his throat but a soft female voice has it dying before it can be fully born. "Then I guess it's "lucky" that I was at the Mansion when Jubilee called to tell us what happened." Banshee looks up and his eyes widen at the sight of Domino , flanked by X-Force and behind them the X-Men, all arrayed in silent support of 1 of their own. "If it's a little "luck" she needs , than I'm just the woman for the job. I can save her life if you'll take me to see her." Domino says , crossing her arms over her chest and looking positively inscrutable. "I'm the only 1 who CAN save her." Banshee looks at the enigmatic Domino. " Why can ye help 'er when they canna?" He asks , emotion causing his voice to be gruff. "Because only I have the same blood type as my sister." Domino says turning on her heel and walking away , ignoring the stares and gasps and commotion her words cause. The Doctor hurries to catch up to her , eagerly inquiring as to Domino's medical history.

            Cable turns on his heel and silently trails Domino and the excitedly chattering Doctor. From the expression on his face , he is as surprised as everyone else by Domino's calmly voiced secret. It's also clear that the knowledge will not keep him from his accustomed place at her side. Banshee hurries to catch up to the trio , eagerly leaping at the chance that Domino can indeed save Emma's life. Domino moves with the clear purpose and straight path of an arrow loosed into flight. She knows her target and she flies to its heart , navigating the labyrinthine coridoors of the hospital with an ease that is shcking to the Doctor and the 2 men following her. Domino completely ignores the signs and colored lines on the floor that direct visitors and staff alike through the maze of halls. She uneeringly takes the shortest path to the Critical Care ICU's Prime Care Unit and the bandage swathed form of Emma Frost. Domino forces herself to keep moving , her hands clenched into fists at her side at the condition of her little sister. If she had been on a mission or further away , Emma would have died before she could reach her side. Domino spares a thought to wonder why the Critical Care Nurses are completely ignoring her presence. As soon as the thought occurs to her , Nate's love and support whisper across their link to curl around her heart. Domino realizes that Cable has telepathically masked their presence from the nurses , making sure they will be undisturbed.

            As furious and enraged as she is by her little sister's broken condition , Domino's hands are gentle on her sister's cheeks. Dom cradles Emma's face and leans forward to touch her forehead to Emma's and lets her eyes slipped closed. Through her years of being psychically bonded to Cable , Domino has learned to focus her thoughts to make them clearer and easy for a telepath like him to "read". The fact that she IS so adept has been a topic of discussion between Pheonix , Professor Xavier, and Cable , her skill level unusually high for a non-telepath. Domino uses that skill to center herself and reaches out to Emma's sleeping mind. She calls patiently for nearly 10 minutes before Dom starts to feel something stiring within Emma Frost's comatose mind. Some unconscious part of Emma's psyche starts to uncoil from its tangle of sleeping threads and weave their way into a slender thread that coils around Domino's mind. Domino opens her mind and feels Nate stiffen as he is suddenly cut-off from their link by a rising shield , that in all possibilities she should not be able to raise to shut him out. Cable forces himself to be calm and still , when his every instinct is to go over and wrench Domino away from Emma and restore their link. Perhaps she needs to be apart from him to have the strength to do whatever it is she's going to try to save Emma Frost's life. Cable forces himself to subside and concentrates on keeping them masked from the staff of the hospital.

            Domino feels a tendril of Emma's unconscious curl around her mind and she gasps as something in her own mind rises to meet it and entwines to pull her onto the psyhic plane! Domino gasps to find herself standing before a fairytale castle of huge proportion. The drawbridge is up but Domino can see spritely fairies , fierce dragons , and regal elves watching her from the windows and battlements. "Emma?" Domino calls out. She hears a child-like laugh coming from somewhere inside the amazing looking castle. "Emma Frost , I am trying to help you but I need your cooperation to do it. Let me help you!" Again the childish giggle sounds out but this time Domino catches a glimpse of flowing golden hair flashing from 1 of the windows. "Emma , PLEASE!!" Domino calls out again. "Why have you come here?" A male voice asks. Domino scans the castle looking for the man who spoke to her, finding something very familiar about the man's voice. Suddenly he is there, standing upon the battlement stretching above the drawbridge. Domino's eyes widen at the sight that meets her eyes. The tall , regal elf is the splitting image of one Sean Cassidy , except for the fact that his ears are pointed and he's wearing a remarkable suit of fine , chainmail and silver armor. He is ardently handsome but his voice is unmarked by the irish accent that lends his voice it's character in "the real world". Domino finds herself hard pressed not to smile at the way Emma's subconscious has patterned a protector from Banshee's appearance but with a unique twist all her own. Domino gapes as the man leans down and lifts a beautiful golden haired nymph of a child up so that she can see. Domino has no problem identifying the young girl as Emma herself but an Emma only 4 years old. She is attired in a gown of green gossamer satin and her hair curls into ringlets down to her knees as it once did as she was that young. "Why have you come , Lady?" This time it's little Emma who asks the question. "I have come here to help you Emma. Please Emma let me TRY! There are people who care for you and want you back. I am your SISTER , Emma and either we leave here together or remain here together and you KNOW what THAT will mean. Cable will come after me and I do not think Pheonix will let him come alone. I swear to you that we are blood and I will guard your secrets as closely as I do my own. I can help you , I can give you the strength to cut the bonds that hold your conscious mind here! For me to do it , you have to be willing to help me. I can activate your powers but you must merge your consciousness with mine , so that together we can be free of this place. Banshee is waiting for you as well. Do not hurt him Emma by refusing to fight for your life. I know you are tired and in agony but the comfort of sleep is false." Domino calls out. The Sean-elf and Little Emma watch impassively. "I know you." Little Emma says. "I heard you calling to me before. I came then too. I remember a name. Morgana?" Domino smiles , almost dropping to her knees but she stiffens her legs and forces herself to stand. "I've always preferred Morgan."She whispers. She calls out louder. "I helped you once before Emma , please trust me enough to let me try it again." Suddenly the castle begins to shrink and compact in on itself , until the floating form of an adult Emma , shimmers like a ghost in front of her. The Sean and Little Emma constructs are kneeling nearby as Emma's conscious-thought form floats silent and still above the ever shifting colors of the psyhic plane. Domino comes forward and without hesitation gathers the ghostly , floating image of Emma into herself. Her eyes blaze with white light and the psyhic plane begins to melt away as Domino forges a path back to reality , carrying with her Emma's  conscious mind.

            Domino slumps over Emma's prone form and gasps silently. She feels strong arms pulling her away from Emma and against a powerful male body. Cable cradles Domino as she silently cries , hiding her face against his neck. Banshee's hand flies over his heart as a monitor next to Emma starts to beep. He has to wonder if Domino came to late and was unable to save her sister afterall. The Doctor rushes over to the monitor and excitedly examines the read-out being spewed out at a mile a minute. "I  - -  sshe's coming out of the coma!! Whatever she did , it worked!!" The Doctor says amazed. "It worked but not without a price." Banshee and the Doctor look over at Cable. He is cradling Domino's unconscious form.

            Safe in Cable's arms , Domino has silently given into her own fatigue and has quietly passed out. His bond re-established with Domino , Cable seems to be handling the fact that he's holding his lover's unconscious body rather well all things considered. In fact Cable is unintentionally listening to a conversation between the sisters , the bond allowing him to eavesdrop. **You are my sister?**

**Yes , Emma. We share a Father in common. Do you remember me now?**

**You helped me when I - - after I got away.** Emma says telepathically.

**That's right. I've tried to help you but I -- I was afraid to tell you who I was. I couldn't stay away when you needed me. I - - I care about you. Emma - - ? An elf?!** Domino starts to laugh and Emma joins in and with that sharing the bond of sisterhood begins to grow.