The next morning, Beast and Storm helped her move to the scanner which would read the progress of her healing bones.

"Be still, now." Beast told her, then laughed. "As if you have to be told to be still. I swear, if the lights were connected to a motion detector, they wouldn't stay on for you." She smiled at him. He turned the scanner on and it hummed quietly for a few seconds. Beast looked at the screen and his smile faded.

"'Roro, come take a look at this." Storm looked at the screen and frowned.

"Is the reading correct?"

"Let me check the machine. Star, it'll be just another minute. I need to double check our readings." She sensed a growing concern in both X-Men as they re calibrated the machine and took another reading, with apparently the same results.

"What's wrong?" she finally asked them.

"Hmmm? Oh, sorry, Star," he turned the screen so she could see it. The frame of the cast was clearly visible, as was the bone within a ghostly outline of her arm. He pointed to the screen.

"There isn't any delineation between the bones in your arm and the metal screws we used to attach the support. You seem to have, um, absorbed the material directly. 'Roro, help me shift the scanner, I want to see how far this has spread." Star sat quietly, wide eyed, as they adjusted the scanner to include her shoulder and the left side of her chest. The scanner hummed once more.

"The only bones affected are the ones directly attached to the metal. At least so far." He scratched his chin, then said "I think, perhaps, we should removed the cast. I don't see any evidence of the original breaks anyway."

"How?" Ororo asked him.

"Good question. Call Charles, perhaps he will have an idea."

Xavier entered the lab a few minutes later.

"Interesting," he murmured. "This looks almost like Logan's X-rays, although the material isn't as dense. But then, surgical steel isn't as dense as adamantium."

"You see the problem, Charles. The metal is fused to the bone, creating a solid link with the cast. There seems to be no way of removing it without actually cutting it free."

"How has the integrity of the cast itself been affected?"

"The entire structure is honeycombed."

"Which should make it easier to remove."

"Yes. Except, of course, that metal conducts heat very well. If we use a torch, we risk damage to the surrounding tissue."

"Perhaps an acid solution would be the answer. If we coated the flesh with..."

"Gentlemen," Ororo interrupted them. "If I might remind you, this 'interesting case' is attached to a young woman who is present, and whom you are currently frightening half to death." Star was watching them, her face expressionless.

"My apologies, Star. I do tend to get wrapped up in things and forget that a patient is involved." Beast told her.

"I apologize as well, dear. Your shielding has improved to the point that you have no 'presence' at all."

"Perhaps you should spend more time with Jubilee. She never lets anyone forget she is in the room." Storm added with a smile. Star smiled back.

"Or maybe Jubilee should spend more time with Star."

"Star, we are going to try to dissolve the cast at the attachment points. We will take precautions to protect your skin. There will be nubs of metal remaining, but it looks as if your body will probably absorb that material as well. If not, well, we will deal with the problem later, all right?"

"All right." They coated her arm with an inhibiting agent, then dissolved the cast attachment spines with an acid solution, leaving a small nub of metal above her skin at each point.

"There, now." Beast said as he slid the remainder of the cast off her arm. "How does that feel?" Star flexed her arm experimentally.

"A little stiff. And it ... itches."

"The itch is just the tissue healing. Perfectly normal. As for the stiffness, I will give you some exercises which should help. How are you feeling otherwise?"

"Tired."

"Not surprising. I want you to stay off your feet as much as possible for a few more days. Your incisions have completely closed, but the tissue is still healing." He smiled, "If you promise not to take any more sudden falls, I'll let you go back to your own room tomorrow." She smiled at him again. "Now, go lie down. Is there anything I can bring you?"

"I was looking through your Advanced Physics Text. Could I borrow it again?"

"Of course. A little 'light reading'. I'll bring it to you."

"Thank you."


The next morning Beast allowed Star to move back into her room. The metal nodules protruding above the skin of her arm were noticeably smaller, and the skin had begun to close over them. Beast shook his head over a healing process which he had not even begun to understand. She was able to spend longer periods out of bed, but it was several weeks before she felt able to join Jubilee for her promised basketball lesson. Storm had provided her with a book on the rules for the game, so she understood the fundamentals. Once more Jubilee, Rogue, Gambit, and Wolverine gathered on the make shift basketball court. Storm had agreed to join them to make the teams even.

"All right, you guys," Jubilee said, bouncing the ball energetically. "No powers, now. We got a newbie." No one noticed the sudden look of apprehension that crossed Star's face. It was quickly replaced by an expression of stubborn determination. "Okay, Wolvie, you Rogue, an' Star are one team, Me, Storm, an' Gambit are the other. Everybody ready? Then let's go!" Jubilee passed the ball to Gambit, who whirled and fired it toward the goal. Storm intercepted the ball before it could drop through the basket. She passed it to Wolverine, who turned to Star. She was standing motionless on the center of the concrete playing area. He hesitated, and Jubilee snatched the ball away from him. He didn't follow and she successfully sank it into the basket. Gambit snatched the ball and passed it to Rogue. She bounced the ball several times, keeping her back to Storm. She suddenly passed the ball to Jubilee, who started to dash past Star when, with a burst of speed, Star took the ball from her, whirled and threw it at the basket. She missed, but Wolverine recovered the rebound and sank the ball. Rogue caught the ball as it dropped through. She started to pass it to Gambit, but Wolverine grabbed the ball and said,

"Wait a sec, Rogue." Star was again motionless.

"What gives, Wolvie?" Jubilee demanded. Wolverine looked at Star,

"Ya said 'no powers', right."

"Well, yeah. I mean, if we used powers, the game could get messy."

"Take a look at the kid." The others noticed her posture, her expression of concentration.

"Omigosh! Without her powers..."

"She can't see or hear." Wolverine bounced the ball and Star turned her head toward him. "I wanna try something." He bounced the ball again, then bounced it toward Star. She caught the ball, whirled and launched it toward the goal. This time, the ball went through. She froze again, waiting, tracking the position of the ball with tiny motions of her head as it bounced, ignored by the others. Wolverine took her arm and she snapped her head toward him. He shook her gently and she focused on him abruptly.

"Did I do something wrong?" she asked as she realized they were all looking at her.

"Not a thing, darlin'." Wolverine told her. "When Jubilee said 'no powers', she didn't mean for ya to exclude yer sight and hearin'."

"Yeah, it just means stuff like no flying. Otherwise, it'd be a short game for us ground bound types."

"Ya wanna start again?"

"All right." They played for about an hour, with the score staying fairly even throughout. Finally, they agreed to a draw and put the ball away.


Late that evening, Wolverine found Star in the Library. He pulled a chair up next to her and sat down.

"Hey, kid."

"Hello, Wolverine."

"Wanted ta talk to ya 'bout that bit with the basketball." She looked up at him, waiting.

"Ya did real good, 'specially fer havin' yer powers shut off. D'ya have any idea how ya did it?"

"I could feel the vibrations the ball made when it bounced and when you and the others moved."

"Any problems with it?"

"I couldn't always tell who was moving where. And when I moved, it got more confusing."

"How'd ya know it was Jubilee when ya grabbed the ball."

"I could smell her perfume."

"That's about what I thought. Tell ya what, we'll set up a program in the danger room ta let ya practice. Might come in handy someday."

"All right."

"G'night, kid."

"Good night."


True to his word, Wolverine set up the danger room for Star. She practiced both with and without the use of her powers. Sometimes the other X-Men were her opponents, sometimes the robots. The live people, she quickly discovered, were harder to fight, but easier to sense, than the machines. She enjoyed every minute of it. She still could not control her power to drain others when she was asleep or unconscious, so the psi-dampener remained in operation. She hated it. When she was within the field the constant murmur of the others' minds was absent and she was alone. She started having nightmares and, although she could never remember them once she awakened, she began to dread going to sleep. One night she woke clutching her blanket and drenched with sweat, her heart beating wildly. She knew she would be unable to get back to sleep, so she slipped quietly out of her room and down to the library. She choose a book and tried to read, but she couldn't concentrate. Finally, she gave up and put the book away. Then it occurred to her that many of the others used the danger room to work off tension or anxiety, so she went downstairs and opened the door. She set up a fight sequence and triggered the computer. She'd been fighting furiously for about fifteen minutes when suddenly everything froze.

"What you doin', Chere?" Gambit asked angrily.

"What?" she replied, confused and frightened by his anger.

"You tryin' ta get you self killed?"

"No,... I just...I couldn't sleep. I thought..."

"You not supposed to be in here, petite. Fact, this stuff shouldn't even work for you."

"Why not?"

"Because, mon enfante, it too easy ta get hurt in here. De Professor, he respons'ble fo' you. You get hurt again, he get in trouble. Mebbe dey take you away from here, an' dat'd break de Professor's heart. He be real unhappy when I tell him you been in here."

"Please don't tell him."

"You promise ta stay outta here wit'out one o' us?"

"Yes." Gambit looked at her speculatively for a moment.

"Okay, petite. Gambit keep quiet dis time." He suddenly grinned at her. "Fo' a price."

"I will pay your price." Her reply startled him. He was used to sparring with Jubilee, who didn't trust anyone, except maybe Wolverine, as far as she could throw them.

"You should ask de price befo' agreein' ta pay, Chere," he told her seriously.

"I don't have any money, but I understand that sometimes a woman can offer her body instead."

Gambit was dumbfounded. He stared at her, his mouth open. For the first time in a long time, he couldn't think of anything to say. She stepped up to him, reached up and put her arms around his neck. Instinctively his arms closed around her, his hands on her back. Almost against his will he bent his head until their lips met. She was unskilled but willing, even eager. As the kiss progressed his arms tightened, pulling her against him. She caressed the back of his neck with one hand, pressing her body firmly against his. After an eternity their lips parted. She looked up at him expectantly. He knew he could have her, here and now.

"Chere," he whispered raggedly, "if you only a little older." Reluctantly, he loosened his hold on her. He looked down at her, "An' maybe a little bigger." He released her. "A man don' like havin' to worry 'bout breakin' his woman when he touch her."

"I don't understand. Don't you want me?"

"Gambit done a lot of t'ings in his life dat he ain't proud of, Chere, but I ain't never had a woman 'gainst her will, and I ain't never, never touch a chil'."

"But..."

"But nut'n, petite. I take you kiss fo' pay. Now, get outta here," he took her by the arm and herded her to the door. He opened it and pushed her through. The door closed between them. "Fo' I change my mind," he muttered to himself, leaning on the door.


Star returned to her room, confused. Gambit had wanted her. She'd felt his surprise when she moved into his arms, felt his desire flare as he'd held her, kissed her. Then he'd pushed her away and she didn't understand why. Mostly because neither did he. After a long time she dozed off and slept the rest of the night without dreaming.


For the next several days Gambit had a tendency to avoid her, which further confused her. She'd made an offer which he had refused. Did that mean they could no longer be friends? She wanted to ask someone, but she realized that no one seemed willing to discuss the subject of sex, so she kept quiet. The nightmares grew worse. She was hardly sleeping at all and it was beginning to be reflected in her performance both in her technical schooling and in the danger room.


"Look out, kid!" Wolverine shouted, as the danger room Sentinel smashed its hand downward toward Star. She turned and tried to deflect the robot's attack. She was only partially successful and the huge hand slapped her, knocking her into a nearby wall. In the control room, Rogue slapped the cancel switch.

"You all right, gal?" she asked as Wolverine helped Star to her feet. Star looked up at the control room and nodded.

"What happened, kid? You've never let anything get that close."

"I don't know, Wolverine. I just didn't see it."

"How can you not see somethin' the size of building?"

"I don't know."

"Darlin', you gotta be aware of ever'thin' around ya, not just the stuff out 'n front."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Sorry don't make ya any less dead, kid." He turned and looked up at Rogue and Gambit in the control room. "Let's try it again, folks."

"You got it, Wolverine. Ready, Star?" Star nodded and Rogue restarted the program. The Sentinel stirred to life. Star stood motionless, making no move either to attack or defend herself. Wolverine slashed at the leg closest to his position, ripping through the armor. The Sentinel moved as if to crush him but suddenly froze. Star still hadn't moved. Wolverine broke off his attack and looked up at the control booth. Rogue shrugged.

"Dis t'ing workin', Chere?" Gambit asked from beside her.

"Yeah. Take a look at the power demand. Its almost off the scale."

"An' goin' up," he flipped the microphone switch. "Take cover, mes amies! De Sentinel gonna blow!" The warning barely spoken, the Sentinel exploded. The concussion smashed the supposedly shatterproof glass of the control room, throwing Gambit and Rogue away from the control panel. Wolverine was hurled away from the Sentinel. All three landed gently, the shower of falling debris deflected away from them. They picked themselves up, to find Star, still motionless, in the center of the devastated danger room, bits of Sentinel still raining down around her. Rogue shut the program down shakily. Wolverine cautiously approached Star. She didn't respond until he touched her arm, then she jerked her head toward him as if startled. Her shoulders slumped.

"I screwed up again, didn't I?"

"Not exactly," Wolverine told her. "What happened?"

"I was trying to pay attention to everything and I got overloaded. I think I started a feed back loop in the Sentinel. It blew up, didn't it?"

"You could say dat, Chere," Gambit said from the control booth, not needing the microphone now that the glass was missing.

"Oh! Are you all right? Did I hurt anyone?"

"We all fine, petite."

"You cushioned us, darlin'. Kept most o' the blast off us." She nodded then closed her eyes for a moment. She swayed and Wolverine put an arm around her to steady her. She leaned into his embrace, both hands on his chest, her forehead resting against the hollow of his throat. He held her, gently, then released her when she moved away from him. She made her way carefully through the remains of the Sentinel to the door. She opened it and went out, without a word or backwards glance. Wolverine watched her thoughtfully.

"Wolverine?"

"Yeah, Rogue?"

"If you'll clear outta there, I'll put the reconstruction on auto."

"Right." He followed Star out the door. She was nowhere in sight.

"Ya know, Remy, if I didn't know better, I'd say Wolverine just noticed that Star's a gal."

"I t'ink you right, Chere."

"I wonder if she's noticed?"

"Oh, she notice, all right. She notice."

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