I heard a strange beeping and I flicked my ears upward. "What's wrong," I asked as I saw Storm and Logan rush over the controls and try and turn them on and off.
"The vertical engines won't fire," Scott gasped as he pressed numerous buttons on the panel but nothing was working.
"We could push it," suggested Thruster as he spread out his wings and his shoulders rippled to show his power and I felt affection surge through me. He was so strong and I knew he could protect me in case of danger.
"It's to heavy," I argued as I leaned forward and licked his cheek. "Besides the engine could kill us quickly."
Thruster sighed and nodded as he looked toward Poultice as he strode forward. He looked up at me with round eyes. "Starlight," he whimpered as he pointed toward Keen. The small pup was laying limp on the Professor's lap. The Professor stroked him as he tried to comfort him but he couldn't take the pain away, at least not for long.
I strode toward the Professor and whimpered as I touched my nose to Keen's burning head. "Will he live," I asked Thruster as he strode toward me and it seemed like we were both oblivious to whatever was going on around us.
Thruster sighed and looked up to the Professor who was trying to snap out of the haze he was in. "If I can get him back to the school I may be able to save him," he murmured as he stroked Keen's head with his massive paw. "He's ingested contaminated water that can be fatal but I think that I can counterbalance the negative effects."
I just nodded and turned back to Poultice. I lowered my head so that he could look into my eyes. "I think Keen will be alright with a little help," I murmured as I touched my nose to his ear affectionately.
He suddenly took a step back. "A-And Mirage," he stammered as his voice cracked when he tried to speak.
I licked the roof of my mouth as I struggled to think about what to say and I couldn't think of it. Luckily to my surprise the Professor cut in. "Now is not the time," he told Poultice in his usual kind and deep voice.
Poultice nodded in understanding and I ushered him toward a seat beside the Professor. I then turned back to the group that was trying to get the jet back in the air. I flicked my ears. "The water's coming," I hissed as my eyes narrowed to slits. "We have to get out of here!"
Jean suddenly began panting and I sensed her heart rate picking up. She suddenly turned and I was about to stand in her way but I thought better of it. I looked up to her and she telepathically communicated with me.
'It's okay Starlight. I know what I am doing and I am doing this for everyone on this jet. Logan is very lucky to have you. He needs you not me,' she told me telepathically and I felt fear claw at my heart.
She suddenly stepped out of the jet and took down the incline. "Jean," called Scott as he darted forward. The jet door closed and he pounded it from the inside but it wouldn't open. "Lower it!"
I surged forward and Thruster strode forward as well. We pushed him away before the jet began to shake. It rose off the ground and I felt my breath gasp in my throat. My eyes darted around madly and I whimpered as I felt the jet soaring higher and higher into the air.
"What's she doing," wailed Scott as he struggled to see what Jean was doing.
"She's getting us out of here," murmured Thruster as he closed his eyes in grief. He knew what was happening.
"You have to get her back," Logan snarled at Kurt and Kurt looked up to Logan in horror.
His eyes turned troubled before he looked up to Logan. "She's not letting me," he confessed as his eyes clouded in his own grief.
Logan shuffled around madly like a caged animal. I tried to calm him down but I couldn't. Suddenly the Professor started talking and it sounded like Jean was speaking through him. Once he was finished the Professor shook his head to clear it and looked down to Keen.
Water suddenly sprayed under us and flowed to make a strange ocean. I rushed to a window and looked down. Water was spraying around us but not on us. I knew this was Jean. The jet suddenly lifted to full height and water surged over where the jet had just been. Storm took to the controls and steered the jet forward.
Once the realization came to be that Jean was really dead and that she had saved our lives Scott turned and leaned on Logan, sobbing. Logan whimpered in agony and grief and I realized that I've never seen him like that.
I felt a hand on my back and when I turned I saw the Professor who was looking as somber as ever. I bit my lip before Thruster leaned forward and licked my cheek.
"To the school," Storm asked as she sat down and let out a sigh. She had known Jean for a long time and her friend was now gone.
"No," the Professor suddenly gasped before he looked toward Storm and all eyes turned to him. "To Washington."
"DC," asked Poultice as he leaned forward a bit and fell off his seat. He shook his head to clear it before he darted to my side before he motioned for me to lean down. I did and his ears twitched. "Do you think that whatever Keen has is contagious and maybe the Professor has it?"
My eyes lit in amusement and I nudged him aside. "No Poultice Washington the state," I teased as I licked his nose.
He drew back and wiggled his head and brushed his paw over his nose. "Sorry. Sorry. I just thought that flying from Canada to Washington is a bit of a ways. The state would be much closer."
"Yes but that's not where the president is," pointed out the Professor as his eyes lit in amusement as he looked down at Poultice.
"The president," gasped Poultice as he sat down and looked up at the Professor, soaking up every word he said.
"Yes little one," I chided as I looked up to Keen who looked weak and fatigued with the effort just to raise his head. "We just can't be long if that's alright with you Professor."
The Professor nodded in understanding before Poultice leaped onto his leg and looked up at the Professor. "Have you ever met the president?"
The Professor lowered a hand and scratched his ear. "No but soon I think we will get acquainted with him."
Poultice brightened and wagged his tail. "When did you first realize you were a mutant?"
The Professor leaned back a bit in the chair and relaxed. He knew it was going to be at least a two hour flight and so did I. I decided that I would listen to their conversation since there would be nothing else I could do.
"Well I found out when I was very young," the Professor told Poultice and Poultice grew more and more interested. I knew that they had a special connection since they both had the same mutant power.
Poultice then lowered down and pressed against the Professor's shoe. He yawned and hi eyes began to droop. He had been up and fighting for a few days now with minimal rest. It was no wonder that he was finally tiring. "Can you tell me about Erik," he asked hopefully as his tone turned slurred. "I know you used to be friends as close as Mirage and I are. Starlight told me."
Just as I heard Poultice speak his mother's name I cringed. He said that they were close. I actually thought before that they were too close. Yes they were brothers but they acted like best friends. They did everything together and I thought that maybe they should spend more time with other wolves. Now though I took all of it back. I was afraid that now with Mirage gone Poultice may shut down like I feared Logan was going to do now that he lost Jean.
"Yes I was-"
I heard the Professor talking but it was in the back of my mind. I saw Logan in the back of the jet, maybe not crying but he was certainly mourning for his lost lover.
"He'll be alright," assured Thruster as he pressed his nose into my shoulder before he licked my cheek affectionately. "He's grieving. It's a very normal process when the body releases-"
"Thruster," I breathed as I turned and stopped him before he could launch himself into a full scale explanation of the grieving process. "It's alright I know."
His eyes lit a bit in amusement before he licked me between the ears. "I'm sorry. I've really missed you and I was worried that something happened to you."
"You know you don't have to worry about me," I pointed out as I shoved my muzzle into his neck fur. "I can't die."
Thruster snorted in amusement before he lowered down and I copied him. "We should probably rest," he suggested as he listened to his companion tell a short backstory of himself and Erik. The story was about to put him to sleep. He'd had a rough few days too that I knew I was going to hear about. "At least in the two hours we have before we arrive in Washington."
I nodded in agreement and felt my eyes begin to get heavy. I guess that the tiredness was weighing heavily on me although I didn't want to admit that. I yawned and rested my head on my mate's shoulders. He rested his head on my paws and we fell into a restless sleep.