9760/Fred got roasted. The X-Men try to unroast her.

Fred got roasted. The X-Men try to unroast her.
Date of Scene:	25 October 2019
Location:	Bellevue Hospital - Lower Manhattan
Synopsis:	The Xmen pull Fred back from the jaws of death, and restore her.
Cast of Characters:	Winifred Burkle, Rage, Beast, Nightingale, Ivory, Triage, Shadowcat

---

Winifred Burkle has posed:
The burn ward patient is...in critically bad shape, and the doctors and nurses all seem to be wearing worried and desperate expressions as they use the very best technology they have to try to save a life. The patient has suffered third degree burns on most of her body, and 2nd degree burns on the rest. That's what happens when someone pours gasoline on you and lights it up. This seriously does not look good.

Worse, she's grossly disfigured by the burns, and it's pretty sure technology isn't going to even begin fix scarring that bad. Right now, though, they're worried about keeping her alive at all. Quality of life concerns are very much in 2nd place.

Rage has posed:
Making her way towards the desk is Andrea Jackson, who has a frown upon her face. She's dressed in a NYU sweater and a pair of loose jeans with several slashes in the knees and hip. Flanking her as always is her bodyguard, James, who is dressed in a black suit with a pair of shades over his eyes.

"I would like to speak with the Doctor who is overseeing the woman who was brought in with the burns." She says, drumming her fingers on the top of the table. "Miss Winifred." Tucking her hair back behind her ear, she gives a casual glance about the lobby for a few moments as if surveying those who may be waiting to be seen.

Winifred Burkle has posed:
A harried looking nurse comes out to see Andrea. "Please, ma'am, the patient is hanging on by a thread, can it wait?"

Rage has posed:
Giving a lick of her lips, Andrea settles her gaze into the nurse's. Confident and poised, she says, "I understand the situation. I can speak with you then for a moment or two. I have some friends on the way who will be able to help support her. Friends of hers as well." Taking out a card, she scribbles her information on the back of it, then passes it over. "I expect any and all medical expenses to be billed to Starlight Incorporated. I am the CEO." She says, tapping her name on the card. Perhaps she will be instantly recognizable.

Beast has posed:
Henry McCoy does follow the news, and thought what went on with Winifred was terrible. So, when students ask if they can help, he assents. Loading them up into a school van, he uses every trick he can (and the fact that they're going the opposite of evening rush traffic) to get them into Manhattan as fast as he can. Mindful of possible protests after last time, he's careful about where he parks, making sure the kids are shielded from the street when they enter the building.

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon is one of the students who's asked if they can help. It wouldn't be the first time and probably was not going to be the last. For once, when she hears who it is, she leaves off the image inducer and joins Mr. McCoy on the trip in to the hospital. No luxury of a rooftop entrance this time, but she still felt safe enough. The teachers hadn't steered her wrong yet, and she already trusted Mr. McCoy with her life.

"It makes me see red, to hear about this kind of thing," she murmurs softly. "I will never understand senseless hatred like this."

Ivory has posed:
    Usually, Ivory isn't to be found in hospitals if they can avoid it. But today? They actually planned to come in here. They don't bring flowers - you don't bring flowers to burn victims. Instead, they packed a jacket into transparent wrapper, the back patch showing through it. Just to be sure, in case the patiant wouldn't be allowed to unpack it, or couldn't. It's more the gesture. To them, nobody should be subjected to this. nobody. So they made a unique jacket. For the one that survived not once, but twice the Sentinels and the terroristic Friends of Humanity:

    A white persian cat, two notches in the ear, peering at whoever was looking at the patch, almost seeming to laugh. Bulletholes and scorchmarks form the background, the cat unharmed but for the notches. A scrollwork below reads a famous quote from 1984: "I'll be back."

    Ivory themselves - or rather herselves, as they chose to wear girl shoes today, literally - works her way out of the elevator, short stilettos clicking on the ground, the parcel with the jacket under the arm. Totally not their usual style, she wears a suit together with those, steering to the burn department and the counter. Not that she knows Ms. Burkle, but she read the news... and saw the cat videos some weeks ago. She has to wait a little line it seems.

Winifred Burkle has posed:
Inside Fred's room, the doctors continue to work frantically, shouting the names of various esotetic drugs and painkillers and otherwise trying to stabilize the patient. The sheer number of full doctors and support staff of nurses makes it difficult to tell what's going on in there, but this is clearly one of the major situations in the hospital right now. They're doing their damndest.

Beast has posed:
Henry McCoy knows his way aorund hospitals, for better or for worse. He knows what he's doing, he listens and watches carefuly, and he's able to lead on to the right room. That he'll open carefully, and let his charges inside. For himself, he'll stand at the door, not letting anyone in. Including snooping nurses, who find it remarkably difficult to slip or prod by the man.

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon slips inside the room, keeping her wings tucked in tightly behind her. However, she too stays a respectful distance from Fred's bedside, letting the doctors and nurses do their job, and waiting for Chris' arrival. She offers a smile of gratitude to Mr. McCoy, and glances back over, towards where the bevy of medical personnel work frantically to keep Fred alive. She peers at the monitors, then at the doctors, waiting just a few moments longer.

Finally, she takes just a step closer, towards the bed, her brows furrowed. "Excuse me, Doctor...?" She tries to catch a glimpse of their badge, to learn their name. She has her hands empty, open, and palms up, wings ruffling slightly behind her. "Please, what can you say about miss Burke's condition?"

Triage has posed:
As if things weren't hectic enough, Chris ducks into the room behind Shannon. Being taller than she, he studies the bed and murmurs. "Not good," just loudly enough for her to hear. He watches the doctors expectantly.

Winifred Burkle has posed:
The doctors continue to frantically call out drug names and doseages, and it looks like they're trying to do something to even preserve her life another minute, and it's not easy.

"Patient is still hanging on by a thread, please don't interrupt!" It's honestly rare to see this much hustle in a hospital, but the doctors appear to be dashing back and forth trying to stabilize the patient...

But next is heard the single most dreaded sound in any hospital. ...The flatline. It's going to take something extraordinary to save her now.

Ivory has posed:
Ivory only had managed to get to the counter by now and started to talk to the nurse. "N..no, I don't know miss Burkle, but I wanted to leave her something for when she wakes up. Just a jacket, so she has something to wear. And... well, I hope it gets her into a better mood after that stroke of ill fortune..." She talks to the nurse, reaching for a pen to write a little note to add. "Just... make sure she recieves it." she says as she hands both to the nurse on being informed that she was still in the ICU, doctors fighting for her. "She should know that she doesn't stand alone."

Nightingale has posed:
     Shannon frowns deeply. They only had seconds. "Doctors, /please/. Let us help! We've done it before. We can do it again." The dreaded, flat, even tone keens through the room like a mourner wailing at a funeral. But there was no time to think of that. "Ohhh no you don't, grim reaper. Not today, buddy. Triage?!" She nods towards Winifred's bed, stepping closer. "This one's gonna take us both."

Triage has posed:
Chris nods and follows Shannon to the bed. One fo the doctors attempts to stop him. "I'm sorry, doctors," Chris apologizes in a forceful tone. Then he shoulders past them toward the bed. "Remember, control," he murmurs to Shannon and reaches to lay his hand on the patient's shoulder. He closes his eyes and begins to breath deeply, concentrating to the energy that he will send into her already dying body.

Winifred Burkle has posed:
The doctors move out of the way...the head doctor has lived in this world long enough to know a superhuman when he sees one, and evidently, these two are healers of some sort. He was proven right when the flatline mysteriously ends and a heartbeat starts back up again.

Somewhere, a white light tells Fred it's not her time...

Though the healers have preserved her life, there's a heck of a lot of damage to heal...it's like trying to clean up a junk yard one trashpile at a time. It can be done, but holy hell there's a lot of damage to nearly every layer of tissue.

The head doctor only adds, "Let us know when you run out of power, we'll take back over."

The nurse attending Ivory says, "We'll see to it that she gets...it..." She heard the flatline, and panicked. But looked absolutely mystified when the heartbeat restarted. "...Maybe she will get it."

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon nods slowly to the head doctor. "I'll let my friend begin the healing process. When it is to the point where I can step in and help him shoulder the load, I must tell you... please do not touch or move me away from the patient. If the connection is broken, it could do me grave harm. It will look frightening, but please let us do our best to help." She smiles as reassuringly to the doctors as possible under the circumstances.

She also has the good sense to make quick use of a bit of hand sanitizer, before resting her hand on Fred's other shoulder, closing her eyes and focusing. For now, she restrains her gift, instead focusing on assessing the extent of the injuries. "These wounds go deep, Triage. You begin, I'll follow as soon as I can."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde arrives after hearing an attempt might be made at healing. She grabbed a lab coat from the office before making her way over to the hospital. Walking in, Kitty pulls on the coat, pulling the Stark Industries badge off of it. With her attire she looks like a doctor at least. She breezes past the desk like she works there, pulling out her phone.

Those who expect she would have quite the tracking app of her and Doug's devising would be correct. There is a moment or two where Kitty pauses, turning one way or another, before continuing on based on what she sees on her phone. Finally she ends up in the intensive care ward. She has to pick her moment, waiting for something to distract the staff. The emergency in the room that Kitty is ultimately going to ends up being that distraction. Before long Kitty is stopped outside the door, watching what transpires.

Triage has posed:
Hearing Shannon, Chris nods. "So much devastation," he murmurs. His eyes remain tightly clenched, his breathing still slow and rhythmic. Perspiration glistens in heavy beads on his face and on the hand that presses on Fred's shoulder. "So much ..."

Winifred Burkle has posed:
Clearly, the Friends of Humanity were not expecting Fred to survive such an attack. Even if she wasn't DOA, they expected her to die through the proceess. But they didn't count on healers showing up.

Triage's healing starts working, and there's plenty of reasons to perspire. Virtually all of her vital organs took critical damage, and he's basically going to have to rebuild her from the inside out. One organ at a time.

Ivory has posed:
Ivory sighs a little at the words of the nurse. "Just promise me that she will wear it on the way out, one way or another. It would be horrible to leave the hospital in... well... just scrubs." She tells the nurse, glancing down the way halway where Henry is standing, shielding the door to Winifred's room. She nods after a couple moments, then reaches to her pocket to pull out a tissiue. "E...excuse me. I will be right back, ok?" she tells the nurse before closing in on Henry.

    "Excuse me... I can't help but notice you and... I wonder... well... is that skin alteration of yours unique or rare, Sir?"

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon frowns and keeps her concentration focused on monitoring the healing in progress, rather than performing any herself at the moment. "You got this, Triage. You got this." For now, the damage is severe enough where she can only encourage her compatriot. It is not yet time for her to step in herself. Her own breathing is slow and even as she maintains focus, marveling anew at Triage's considerable skill.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde watches through the doorway, seeing Chris at work and Shannon standing close. She doesn't go inside, lucky enough she's managing to stay this close and keep an eye on things. Kitty spots a clipboard dangling at the end of an empty gurney, still with some paperwork on it. She goes over and picks it up, turning the papers over to not see what's on them, and then pulling out a pen and making some notes as she drifts back over. Just looking like a doctor who belongs there, she hopes.

Triage has posed:
Triage takes another breath and releases it at a slow, measured pace to match the intricate work that he is conducting within the ravaged body. Organs regenerate at a rate far faster than normal, and nearer the surface, skin beings to regrow, new-born pink steadily replacing vast swaths of charred gray. Even the sickening odor that accompanies severe burns begins to diminish. He reaches with his other hand to Winifred's forehead to probe for any damage to the brain and its system of supportive tissue without slowing his pace in healing the rest of her body. His frown deepens and his eyes remain tight in concentration.

Winifred Burkle has posed:
The healing being done now is literally impossible for mortals to ever recover from. But Fred is, because a healer is giving it all he's got. Turns out there was brain damage to be healed...fire, smoke inhalation, and maybe some blows to the head from a baseball bat or something give him a whole lot to do in that area.

It's definitely working, she's breathing a little more easily now. The work is by no means done, but it's starting to maybe be a little safer for the 2nd unit to jump in and take some of the burden off. There's still all of the muscle and ligament damage to attend to, as well as less important internal organs, as survival goes.

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon reaches out behind her with one foot and nudges a stool over her way, which she quickly sits down on. Keeping her hands on Winifred, she finally releases the reins holding her gift back. Pressing her lips together to hold back sound as long as she can, her own skin begins to discolor, then darken, show signs of burns in sites matching each of Fred's where visible. Flesh once whole begins to separate, while Fred's continues to knit together. The sickening smell of burnt flesh lessens in Fred's vicinity, only to be coming from Shannon now, as she actually begins to /absorb/ the damage, easing some of the burden on Triage. As the pain grows, first one single crystalline droplet, then more, begin to trickle down her face.

Focus. Keep on focusing.

Shadowcat has posed:
Soon Kitty isn't the only person watching from the doorway. Other hospital staff - 'other' as if Kitty were as well - gather around as the whispers start to go around of something happening in the room. Kitty drifts back just a little bit, making room for them rather than have one pay too much notice to her and realize she doesn't look familiar. Not to mention, a bit young to be a doctor. She makes a mental note to keep some glasses on hand for such moments.

Triage has posed:
Even while he concentrates, Chris can sense Shannon's healing presence at work. His brow wrinkles, and he murmurs, "Control, Shannnon. Pace yourself. Steady." Relentlessly, he continues to diagnose and heal. Again, his brows furrow. "Tricky ..." he whispers.

Winifred Burkle has posed:
Fred is starting to feel much better off...it feels like it'll only take a little bit more before she returns to consciousness. Her eyes aren't going to open anytime soon though, there's some permanent blindness they'll have to get rid of first.

But all in all, she looks infinitely better than when they started. The doctors are straight up watching a miracle. And they looked awestruck.

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon gasps as she begins to absorb some of the deeper injuries, one of which she is... uniquely suited to handle. Her eyes widen and she begins to double over, her concentration beginning to waver. What she was absorbing, one could only begin to guess. But, was the worst over now? It was hard to tell. She tries to pace herself, to hold back as much as she can, but... it's difficult. One of the hardest things she's done, ever.

Shadowcat has posed:
Watching from the door as best as she can, Kitty Pryde winces at what she's seeing. She's just debating if she can make her way into the room, push through the people, when someone from the hospital security comes over to the door. "Come on everyone, let's clear out," he says. He begins shooing people.

He glances at Kitty, and she turns away before he can tell she's missing any ID or anything the others might have. She'll have to catch up with the rest later. The guard looks ready to go into the room, but one of the doctors there says, "Bill, it's ok. Let them keep going," he says. "Though God help us if anything goes wrong, it might be the only thing saving her."

Kitty glances back, letting out a held breath as she makes her way back to the elevators.

Triage has posed:
When Shannon gasps and doubles on the stool where she has perched, Chris rouses for a moment from the trancelike state. His eyes open. He studies his comrade in this mysterious work. Then, clenching his eyes more tightly, he submerges again. Sweat glistens, hiding tears that have surfaced in the corners of his eyes. Nearing the end of the healing and his own strength, he presses once more, channeling his energy to ensure success. He staggers for a moment and rests his other hand on the bed to steady himself until he has finished the job.

Ivory has posed:
    Some time later, Ivory leaves the hospital. She hasn't heard about what happened inside the ICU, she hasn't seen. And the blue guy? Well, he seemed to have been distrated by something and left the chance for talking before it begun. At least she had vrought the jacket to the woman's station. God, she deserved to survive....

Winifred Burkle has posed:
Fred's eyes heal...and then, they open. Her vocal cords have also healed enough for her to talk. She recognizes Shannon for sure, and Triage lookes like he's one of her friends or something. "...Ya'all helped me again...Thank you."

Doctors stand around looking amazed. "I wouldn't have given her any hope of waking up, especially after that flatline, but...wow. It's a pity we can't keep heroes on staff."

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon is reaching the end of her rope, tears streaming down her face, her body covered in burns that once were Fred's, and undetermined internal damage. When her body has absorbed all it can, she breaks the connection of her own free will. The rest was on Triage, but there was not much left to heal now. Neither one had gone past the point of no return. "N-not a hero... just someone trying t-to help..." Her voice is a shaky whisper, and she can just about sit up on her own. For now.

Triage has posed:
When Fred's eyes open and she is able to speak, Triage begins the process of gradual retreat, confirming that all is well before he sighs and steps backward to lean on the nearest object. He looks at the doctor and shakes his head. He rasps, "We came to help and we'll help again if necessary, but ... You and your people do more good than you know at less of a cost." he glances to the patient in bed, who now looks much better, almost normal. "Please, take good care of her," he asks. He digs in a pocket and offers a small card to the one who seems to be in charge of the room. Then he exhales a long breath and moves slowly, finally offering his arm to Shannon. "We should go," he says both to her and to the doctors. "We need rest and time to recover."

Winifred Burkle has posed:
A thought comes to Fred's head, and, "Ummm...it might be a silly question, and maybe ya'all can't do it, but...maybe I should come with you guys? Those guys sort of kidnapped me right out of my home, and the people who are supposed to be there protecting me...kind of aren't right now. They went on a long mission somewhere else."

If Angel and the rest were there, it's unlikely the mob would've gotten to her, but they aren't, so...

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon has to catch her breath, and almost falls when she tries to stand. At least she lands back on the stool, instead of the floor. "We d-don't know. It's not something we're in a place to promise. But we can ask around, and s-see if there's help for you." Yeah. This girl was at the end of her rope, no question there. She tried to get up again, but this time does not quite have the same measure of grace and it looks as if she might hit the floor....

Triage has posed:
Chris is near his own collapse but seeing Shannon's need spurs his adrenaline. He reaches instinctively to catch and hold her until she is steadier. He looks again to the man apparently in charge. "We have ... associates nearby. We should see what they might be able to do to secure her," he says.

Winifred Burkle has posed:
The Doctor nods, "No worries. We'll have her under guard. But at this point, the safest place for her probably IS with a team of heroes. At least until the fuss dies down." In the meantime, the medical staff is checking Fred over, and they look like kids opening Christmas Presents, cause they're amazed at all the injuries, most of them fatal, they don't find. And even her skin! She looks, well, good as new!

"I...don't think she needs reconstructive surgery anymore. She definitely would've though."

Nightingale has posed:
"We're just people trying to help. N-not heroes. Let us ask questions where we can for her. That much, we can still do." Thankfully, Chris wasn't kidding when he said there were associates nearby, who were quick to offer Chris and Shannon help on their way out to safety. The young winged mutant, however, turns her head somewhat painfully, and offers a faint smile to Winifred. "You know, we've g-got to stop meeting like this. Next time, a happier day. Please try to stay safe?"

Triage has posed:
Chris inclines his head to Winifred. "I have a feeling that once our associates know about your need, they'll respond quickly," he assures. Then, to the doctor, he nods. "Please guard her well." Then he looks to Shannon. "Ready?" He asks. "We'l go slowly. Soon, we'll rest."

Winifred Burkle has posed:
The doctor smiles at Shannon. "Isn't that all a hero actually is? People, gifted or not, who put themselves in danger to help other people? Don't sell yourself short."

Fred, meanwhile, salutes. "Definitely not a fan of almost dying every other week. I'll try extra hard to stay safe. Stay safe yourselves, ya'all."

"Not sure almost is the right word for it, young lady. You flatlined before those two came along." The Doctor has a wry look.

"Yeah. Saying thank you seems a little inadequate ain't it, but it's all I got." So..."Thank you. Again."