Beauty and the Bozo

Part 6

Hank entered the room just as Alec began cutting the bandages from around Alex's eyes. Alec looked up as he closed the door. The other doctor walked over to Hank, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Hank! You can't be here," Alec whispered, managing to sound both tired and compassionate.

"Hank?!" Alex asked, excited.

The mutant walked forward, kneeling in front of Alex. He took both of his hands in his paws. "Yes, Alex?" Hank asked. "I'm here."

"How did he know?" Alec asked, curious.

"He knows my aftershave," Hank responded, never taking his eyes away from Alex.

"You want me to get rid of him, doctor?" one of the security guards asked Alec.

"No," Alec responded, "the man who designed this treatment deserves to be here." Alec walked back over to the pair and resumed cutting the linen wrapped around Alex's head. Once completed, he removed the gauze pads that covered Alex's eyes.

When Alex opened his eyes, it took him a moment to realize that what was now blinding him was sunlight. He blinked a few times before the creature in front of him came into focus. He had blue fur covering every inch of his body, his fangs jutting out slightly from his lower lip. His yellow eyes stared at Alex for a moment, worried. That's when Alex realized Hank was waiting for him to say something. He smiled. "You're still a bozo," Alex told him. "but I'm glad I can finally see you."

Hank blinked at him before breaking out into a big smile, fangs and all. He wanted to laugh at it all. Alex still didn't care, even after finally seeing him! Hank never thought someone was meant to be so happy, but he was glad he could. "Hey, what about me?" Alec asked teasingly.

"Why don't you have soft fur like Hank?" Alex responded.

"I have a better razor."

Hank continued to smile and hold Alex's hand, finally able to stare into clear blue eyes without having to worry about whether or not it was appropriate to stare at someone when they couldn't see you doing so.

But, naturally, that's when all hell broke lose.

"Get your filthy mutant paws off my fiancé!" Hank turned around just as Alex looked up. Standing inside the doorway was a woman in a skin-tight green dress, her green hair dye making her scowling features look more grotesque than they actually were.

"Who the hell are you?" Alex asked.

"What, you don't recognize me, Lex? Oh yeah, that's right, why would you?" Lorna responded acidly.

Hank stood, Alex standing at the same time. "Get out," Alex spat, "you have no place in my life anymore."

"Perhaps I should leave," Hank said, not wanting to be the cause of an argument.

"But you just got here!" Alex exclaimed.

"I'll come back later," Hank promised.

"You will not!" Lorna exclaimed. "I will not have Lex associate with some monster just because he decided to pity it!"

"If it weren't for Dr. McCoy," Alec snapped back at the woman, "Alex's operation would not have been possible!"

"He's a mutant!" she shouted. "How could you possibly side with him?!"

"Stop!" Alex shouted, and Hank could see a red light begin to emit from Alex's chest. He put a hand on Alex's shoulder, which instantly calmed the mutant and his powers.

"It's okay, Alex," Hank said calmly before walking towards the exit. He pauses at the entrance before turning back to Lorna. "Today is a day of joy. Alex can see again after all these years. Let's leave it at that." Hank walked out of the room, firmly shutting the doorway behind him. He hadn't made it a few steps down the hall before Alec called out. "Thank you Alec," he told the other doctor when he caught up with him, "but I don't know if it will ever be possible to get through to people like that." He paused before pulling a wrapped gift out of his jacket pocket. "I forgot to give this to Alex. Would you give it to him for me? Please?"

"Of course," Alec responded immediately, pocketing the gift in his lab coat. He turned back to Alex's room as Hank walked away once more. Again, Hank only got a few steps when he heard Alec shout for him to come back. At hearing the urgent tone in his voice, Hank ran back to the room. When he got there, what he saw made him angrier than he had ever felt before. Lorna, the security guard and Alec's assistant were lying on the floor, appearing unconscious. In red ink (fortunately not blood, though it did appear that way), written on the wall, it said FOR HUMANITY. The window was wide open, and Alex was nowhere to be found. Hank ran over to Lorna, picking her up and depositing her on Alex's bed. Alex, Hank thought. No. Not Alex. Hank ran over to the bathroom, grabbing a glass and pouring some water in it. He already had a good idea on who stole Alex, but he needed to make sure before he did anything rash. The beast in him roared in anger at the Friends of Humanity stealing his Alex, but Hank calmed that part of him.

Besides, Alex wasn't even his, Hank thought logically.

He returned to the room and poured water on Lorna's unconscious face. She spluttered and looked indignant as she sat up, but Hank silenced her with a look, fear replacing anger on her face. "Where is Alex?!" he asked her urgently. "Where did they take him?!"

Lorna just sneered at him, her fear fading instantly. "Mutant. This is your fault."

Hank grabbed her by her shoulders, pulling her towards him until they were only a few inches apart. She tried to break free but his grip was iron. "It was intolerant, ignorant mutant-hating fools like you who took Alex. If anything happens to him—" Hank stopped himself, feeling his anger get out of control again. He set Lorna back on the bed, and she scrambled up the bed until she was resting on the headboard, mirroring the position Alex was in earlier that day. "I am going to find him. I suggest that if you want to see Alex again, you would do wise to stay out of my way." With that, he walked out of the room once more. He heard Lorna shout for him, but he ignored her. She wasn't what he needed to focus on. But first, he needed to call Scott and let him know what was going on.