#de aged

It had been a blitzkrieg. The Marauders had come upon them when they were out shopping and Scott, Jean and Bobby had been hopelessly out numbered. In the confusion caused by Vertigo one of the Marauders had injected Scott with something. Jean only barely registered it and sent the syringe flying but it had been too late, whatever had been inside the syringe had been emptied into Scott's veins. There was a moment where it looked as though Scott was seizing up and then he collapsed. Jean let out a gasp and ran for him, only to be stopped by Scalphunter.

Furiously she launched a psychic attack and sent him flying. Bobby cleared several others out of the way and they hurried to Scott's side. He was convulsing painfully on the ground. Jean reached out and touched his forehead. "Scott honey, can you hear me?" She called. He remained silent. Behind her Bobby fought off Harpoon and Arclight.

"Little help!" He called.

Still worried about Scott she wheeled around and sent Vertigo crashing to the ground, successfully knocked out by a psychic blast. Arclight let out an angry cry and sent Bobby toppling off of his ice wall. He saved himself just in time before he hit the ground and froze Scalphunter's feet mid step.

In the moment she had, Jean sent a telepathic message to the school for help, then aligned herself back to back with Bobby, standing over Scott who's convulsions were growing worse. "What did you do to him?!" She cried furiously, worry and anger muddling her voice.

Arclight thrust her shoulders back and jutted out her chin. "Get away from him." She spat. "He's ours now. Only Sinister knows how to fix him."

"Fix him?!" Jean looked down at Scott and was frightened by what she saw. Scott was shrinking, he was growing smaller and changing fast as lighting and there was nothing she could do. She dropped to her knees and held his face, feeling his cheeks lose their chiseled edges and definition. "Oh God, what did you do to him?"

Next to her, Bobby was sweating. He was being closed in on by Riptide and Scalphunter. "Give him to us and we'll let you go." Scalphunter said darkly.

"Maybe. . ." Riptide said with a nasty grin.

A shadow loomed overhead and with relief Jean looked up to see the Blackbird. Scalphunter's eyes narrowed and he glanced from the jet to Scott. "Retreat." He said loudly.

Diving down Storm came to rest next to Jean. She looked with worry at Scott who's convulsions had reached a peak. "Scott, honey please hear me. It's going to be okay!" Jean tried to sooth his mind but found it blocked. Pulling his head onto her lap she held him. "Get Hank, I can't get him to-" She broke off as the shaking began to stop. Storm looked stunned. With relief Jean looked down but stopped short. In her arms lay not the mans he loved but a boy. A boy no more than seven or eight years old. He lay with his eyes closed and his face held between her hands, still as death. "Scott-?" She whispered.

Near by she registered Wolverine and Rogue joining Bobby in his chase after the fleeing Marauders. That didn't matter. The boy in her lap was still and cold. She reached out and felt his chest, it was rising and falling slowly. She felt his pulse. It was strong. "Scott?" She said again. He remained still and silent. Next to his head Scott's visor lay on the ground, it had slipped off the boy's face when he was convulsing. It was an odd mess, Scott's clothes were too if for the child but he was still inside of the suit. Jean picked him up and carried him in her arms to the Blackbird. "Lets get back to the mansion." She said hoarsely, holding the boy tightly. "See if Hank can figure out what they did to him."

The ride back was silent. Psylocke flew the plane and Storm sat next to Jean, keeping watch. They touched down and raced the boy down to the lab. "Hank!" Jean panted, depositing her load on a table. "Hank, something happened to Scott. The Marauders, they injected him with something. I don't know what happened. He won't wake up and he's. . . they changed him!"

Hank came bounding into the lab from his office and stopped. "Oh my stars and garters!" He cried. "He's just a child!"

She nodded. "And he won't wake up." Her voice was near sobbing.

Hank looked at the child for a solid moment before launching into action. "Jean, I know this is upsetting but I need your help. I'm going to have to draw blood. Could you go and get some phials? Hurry, I don't want whatever they put in his system to dissolve."

The request grounded her and she did as she was asked, returning with several test tubes. "Excellent. Now I'm going to have to cut away his uniform, could you help me with that?" Once the boy was out he lay still on the table with the adult Scott's shorts still covering him. Beast began taking his temperature and blood pressure. "Perhaps we could get someone up stairs to go and buy him some clothes." He mused, timing Scott's pulse. Jean telepathically contacted Storm who said she would hurry out.

"What do you need me to do?" She asked. "Write down hid vitals, if you would. Pulse is eighty-five beats per minute. Temperature: ninety-eight point six, blood pressure normal. Pupils reacting normally to light. He appears to be merely unconscious. All reflexes normal." Hank settled heavily onto a stool. "Why don't you tell me what happened now."

Jean nodded and placed a blanket over Scott who had not moved an inch. The only sign he was alive was the steady rise and fall of his chest. "We were out shopping, Scott, Bobby and I; when we headed for lunch. We were going to the pizza place down the street. Anyway, half way there the Marauders showed up and Vertigo hit us with her powers. In the confusion Arclight injected Scott with something. I wasn't able to get the syringe, one of them grabbed it as they retreated." She reached over and touched Scott's hand. It was so little in her own, just the opposite of what it should be. "She said something about Sinister being the only one who could fix him. I don't know what that meant but I guess he's behind this."

"That's troubling but it explains where the Marauders got a chemical that could alter Scott's age." Hank looked down at the boy. "I'll start trying to isolate the chemical immediately. In the mean time we should think about what we're going to tell him when he wakes up. I'm sure he'll be frightened and confused."

Jean brushed Scott's hair back. "He's so young, he's probably still living in the orphanage. We can tell him that he's been enrolled in boarding school here."

"If you think that would be best. I only hope he's not too shocked."

She nodded, feeling deeply troubled but Scott slept on, face immobile and body still. "He looks so thin." She sighed.

"Well, we can get a good meal in him when he wakes up. He's going to want to eat something anyway, I drew a lot of blood."

She nodded and checked the office fridge for orange juice, finding a little left after shaking a paper jug and setting it aside. "I'll keep and eye on him the rest of the night, Hank." She said.

He looked down for a moment and then at her. "Make sure you get some sleep yourself, Jean. It's been a long day and I imagine this will take an emotional toll on you in the morning also."

"I will." She said, smiling gently and looking back down. There was nowhere else she'd rather have been than here. "You too."

He left then and it was just her and Scott in the dark room. He looked fragile to her in bed and she felt her heart hammer in her chest at the sight.

She slowly sank into a chair by his bead and watched him, gently brushing his hair back from his forehead. It was cut short and uneven, as though someone had used dull kitchen scissors to get the job done. How unlike the man she loved who was a perfectionist and kept himself neat as a pin. The boy remained unnaturally still despite her gentle touch. His face was relaxed and expressionless, his body still as death. She wished he would roll onto his side or throw an arm over his head, anything not to look so deathlike.

She settled back then and slowly, despite everything sleep found her as well and eventually she had her head on the bed next to him, both of them breathing silently in the dark.

If you enjoyed reading, the rest is in the link below and all 14 chapters are posted! Thanks for reading!