"Scott! Be careful in there, would you?" Jean's voice whispered in the back of Scott's mind as he pushed his long, slender fingers through the rock wall in front of him. With a small shove and a low grunt, he managed to slide one of the loose stones away from the solid surface in order to allow himself to get inside the dilapidated walls of the compound, "I really wish you would've let me help you with this."
"You are," Scott noted taking in a breath and wedging himself in between the solid wall and the wreckage, "Let Charles and the others know where I'm at. Once they find their way inside, tell them to go upstairs and make sure the Blackbird is ready for takeoff."
"I don't like this," Jean's voice was laced with concern, "Something feels off about this mission."
"Charles knows what he's doing," Scott reminded her, "Finding this mutant is imperative. He's in trouble and…"
"Why you?" Jean questioned with obvious distain in her voice, "Why did he send you down there alone when the rest of us are more than capable of helping on this mission?"
"Trust me Jean. You don't want to be down here right now. I can handle this," Scott whispered feeling the heavy weight of her disapproval in the back of his mind. However, now was not a time for arguing, not when he'd found himself knee deep in water working his way through the underground mazes at the fallen compound. Granted Charles could've invited Jean to join him on this particular mission, but told Scott that he hadn't wanted her to be involved with what Scott may find inside of the ruins of madness he was walking into. Scott, on the other hand, was ready. He'd been briefed on the awful experiments that had taken place in this dreadful temple of madness. He'd known well about them as Charles had pulled him aside questioning Scott's ability to put the mission first above his own concerns for his past.
"It's going to be a very dark place for you Scott. It will open up the door to questions about your past you might not be ready to face, but in the process it might help you to look to what's ahead in your future," Charles had warned him preemptively before they'd set off on the jet.
"I'll just be happy to be comfortable in my present," Scott admitted with a small sigh knowing full well that his past was one of the last places he'd wanted to go again after he'd finally found a new home with Charles and the others.
"I realize that Scott, but this mission," Charles paused drawing emphasis to his words, "it's important in ways that I can't quite explain to you just yet. There are things that we haven't discussed in our sessions, but that doesn't make their importance any less for this mission at hand."
"I realize that Professor and I won't let you down," Scott promised with a nod, "I'm willing to do whatever it takes to show you that you picked the right man for the job."
"I know I have," Charles simply smiled at him, "and just so you know, if we seek this mutant out, then you may revisit that part of your past we've been working through."
"I'm well aware of that," Scott noted before further promising Charles that his faith hadn't been misplaced in the eighteen year old squad leader. Now, however, as Scott stepped into murky water that came up to his knee level he'd found that things were easier said than done in pressing forward. In an instant he was met by the scent of blood and death—things that Hank would undoubtedly grow frantic over when Scott weaved his lithe form through the haunted remains.
"The others will help guide you through this journey," Charles promised before Scott had dutifully accepted the mission to enter into a world he would have just as soon forgotten. Even now he could feel familiarity over his body, weighing in upon his shoulders as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. Of course he had an advantage over the others with his mutation. It gave him an edge, made him faster on his feet in knowing that he could weave through the tunnels without the benefit of light or even his visor. He'd made the trip once before while the others were simply first time visitors in a place where hell had engulfed so many others.
"How are you doing down there?" Jean's voice pressed into Scott's mind again when the water deepened rising up to hip level for him.
"I'm almost beneath the atrium," Scott explained drawing in a shallow breath. He heard a noise in the distance causing him to tense up and find himself momentarily caught up in his past remembering the torture, the experimentation and the face of a man who had haunted his nightmares for so very long. Closing his eyes he exhaled a shallow breath. He was close—he could feel it as he forced himself to step forward through the darkness, "Make sure Hank and the others are ready when I come back up there and Jean?"
"Yes?" she questioned with a small sense of concern in her voice.
"Everything is going to be alright," Scott promised shifting gears on his focus and moving down the darkened hallway to his left.
"Is it?" she inquired with hesitation in her words, "Last night something was wrong Scott. When you fell asleep…"
"We shouldn't be discussing this now," Scott whispered hearing his words echo when the water was now at his waist level, "Charles could be listening."
"I don't care," she argued with him, "When you fell asleep next to me you were upset. There wasn't any peace in your dreams."
"Not now Jean," Scott's jaw flexed with tension. He surveyed the area struggling to find the answers he was seeking out when he continued down the darkened path, "We need to focus on the mission."
"There was something in the sound of your voice that frightened me Scott. There was terror and confusion and…" Jean began again pushing the issue further.
"It was just a nightmare," Scott cut her off abruptly, "Nothing to be concerned about."
"How can I not worry? After the day we spent together things felt nice Scott. Everything was peaceful until we fell asleep for the first time together and then you started screaming Scott," Jean's worried voice carried over the back of his mind, "There is plenty to be concerned about. Something's troubling you—something to do with this place."
"Jean, you promised me that you wouldn't prod," Scott couldn't help, but frown, "My past is something that I don't want to talk about. You said that you understood that."
"I do Scott, but at the same time," she paused with obvious hesitation in her voice, "when I felt your pain I couldn't help, but peer inside. When we were kissing it was so strong. You radiated of it and…"
"Jean, get Hank now!" Scott cut her off abruptly when he noticed a lump of flesh doubled over in the darkness, "I've found him!"
"What?" she replied when his words began to register inside of her.
"I found him. He's here," Scott explained seeing the man before him curled up on a rock shelf just above the murky water, "Make sure the atrium is clear."
"Scott!" Jean's voice called out to him again, but he ignored her in favor of rushing forward to discover the fallen mutant before him bloodied and unconscious pressed up against the rock wall. His naked torso was riddled with cuts and bruises, but beyond that the rest of his body appeared raw and torn. Scott shuddered momentarily when he reached out for the man only to discover the burns upon his flesh.
"Tell them I found him," Scott repeated reaching out to touch the man's shoulder. He was still breathing, which was a good sign, "I'm going to be bringing him up shortly. Make sure Hank is ready for me."
"Fine," Jean replied tuning out of their conversation and leaving Scott to his discovery.
"What happened to you?" Scott questioned sliding his fingers over the man's shoulder again. He could feel the warmth of the man's charred skin providing a contrast to the cool dampness of the dark world that surrounded them. For a moment Scott thought he heard a noise from behind him, but soon he realized it was simply a rat scurrying away from the wall of debris towards the path Scott had made on the way in.
"You sure picked a strange place to give up," Scott noted bending down to take a closer look at the man beside him. Through the darkness he seemed large and threatening even in the position he was in. Even in his state of undress and unconsciousness Scott couldn't help, but take note of his thick, muscular contours. Regardless of what had happened to the man, it was clear that the man had been a fighter, his every sinewy line a force to be reckoned with when Scott touched the man's bicep. He was unresponsive as Scott's gloved finger pushed over the skin seeing the once charred skin begin to heal right before his very eyes.
"What the…?" Scott trailed off when the charred flesh began to heal, returning to hair dusted smoothness beneath Scott's touch. Withdrawing his fingers Scott watched as the man before him shifted on the wall of rock. The man's chest rose and fell with the sudden gasping breath he took. He seemed to be coming to consciousness when Scott staggered in the water beside him.
"Get a grip," Scott whispered to himself moving forward again when he finally got a glimpse of the man's face before him. He could see the hard lines of his hair covered jawline, the hollow of his cheekbones as his mouth puffed out a heaving breath. It was then that Scott felt his dark eyelashes snap open to gaze up at Scott like a deer in the headlights.
"Who the hell are you?" the man questioned gruffly when Scott heard Jean in his mind alerting him that the others were above them waiting for Scott's orders.
"I'm going to get you out of here," Scott promised moving far enough away from the man to place a safe distance between them, "Don't move. This will only take a second."
"What will?" the man questioned when Scott tipped his head up to the concrete above his head. He took in a long, slow breath before motioning to the man again.
"Take cover because this might be a little messy," Scott warned before addressing Jean once again, "We're coming up!"
"What the…?" the man questioned when Scott focused on the weak part of the structure. He aimed and sent his blast through the ceiling watching as it exploded around them. A moment later pieces of concrete crumbled down into the water, splashing around him as Scott thought of the others upstairs waiting for their return.
"Watch out!" he heard the stranger beside him shout when Scott turned towards him.
"Don't worry I've got this covered," Scott assured the man when an oversized piece of concrete swooped down over Scott in his moment of distraction. Seeing it headed towards him, he placed his hand to his visor preparing to blast the oversized mass to pieces when there was a distinct slam against his waist sending him into the concrete wall opposite of where he stood in the water. A gasp carried over his lips, confusion creasing his brow when he felt the man he'd spotted moments earlier over him, shielding him from the impending collision of concrete.
"I said look out kid," the man snarled with a warm breath over the back of Scott's neck. He felt the weight of the man over him, surprising him with how heavy the man actually turned out to be. Suddenly Scott felt himself tense up, unable to ignore the muscle mass upon him now that he was pressed face first into the coarse stone wall, "Didn't you see that concrete coming at you?"
"Didn't you hear me when I said I've got it covered?" Scott scowled suddenly agitated at realizing the man had undermined his authority. With a twist of his hips and a shift of his head, Scott curled around beneath the man, placing his back on the wall when his lips pursed together in a tight scowl, "I was about to obliterate that when you assaulted me."
"Assaulted you?" the man mused with a hint of laughter in his voice, "With what? My saving your ass?"
"Look I told you that I had it covered," Scott hissed up at the stranger above him, "I was well on my way to rescue you when…"
"Rescue me?" the stranger replied with amusement behind his features, "Who the hell said I was in need of rescuing kid?"
"The professor did. He said that…" Scott's words came to an abrupt ending when there was a rumble overhead. A few seconds later he felt the stranger above him throw himself fully on top of Scott when the ceiling started to tumble down upon them.
"Hey what are you…?" Scott's muffled voice questioned when the man held him tightly, his weight bearing down on Scott hard and heavy until the last piece of concrete splashed into the water beside them. It was then that Scott felt the man above him pull back and search his features once again. His breath was coming out in uneven gasps, his face twisted with concentration when his eyes finally found their way to Scott's mouth. For a moment Scott wasn't sure if the stranger was going to bite him or kiss him when he leaned forward taking a deep inhale of Scott's features. A few seconds of silence passed when the man keeping Scott pinned down beneath him reached out and touched the side of Scott's face with a surprisingly gentle brush of his index finger.
"It's you," the man whispered catching Scott off guard when the man's otherwise grim face shifted to reveal the beginnings of a half smirk above him, "you're here."
"What?" Scott questioned when the man above him bridged the distance between them leading Scott to believe that biting him was no longer an option. With the man's breath upon him, his weight keeping Scott pinned beneath him Scott suddenly felt himself on edge, caught up in a moment of contemplation when he realized that the man above him was moving in for a kiss. Almost immediately Scott reached out to the man's shoulders attempting to push him away when a lump formed in the back of his throat, "Wait."
"I've been waiting forever to find you again," the man whispered sliding his lips against Scott's in a faint, barely there teasing brush of a kiss that caused Scott to tense up beneath him. In an instant the man's fingers pushed into Scott's hair, coaxing Scott's head up off of the wall and into the kiss he'd initiated. Almost immediately Scott's mouth opened in protest, his hands sliding around the man's shoulders to peel his dense body off of Scott's, yet it was a futile moment when Scott felt the man's lips forcing his to part, to accept him and the kiss in all of its confusing arrival. A slow murmur fell from Scott's lips guiding vibrations of sound off of his own tongue and into the invading tongue that stroked and teased his mouth in ways that Scott hadn't even begun to touch upon with Jean. For a man who appeared so dark and dangerous his kiss was slow and languorous leading Scott's fingers to wrap around his shoulders, gently kneading the thick, hard muscle of man over him. His mouth parted further enjoying the way that the man over him stroked him with dizzying sensations, sliding into his mouth readily until the moment when Scott swore he heard Hank calling to him from above. It was enough for Scott to snap out of the moment of insanity and retreat from the kiss. Looking to the man's arm above him, he could see the man had somehow healed—that everything he'd been through was suddenly erased by what Scott suspected was a mutation of sorts. Drawing in a breath Scott attempted to think up something, anything to erase his lapse in judgment. Knowing that he'd allowed the primitive man above him to kiss him, he found himself on edge, caught up in something he hadn't been prepare for. A rational man might've weighed out the situation, might've given it careful consideration, but with Hank and the others above the two of them, Scott gave into a panic and tipped his head downward towards the man's shoulder.
"I'm sorry," Scott apologized in a small whisper, drawing up enough power from his visor to let out a blast that not only threw the man off of him into the opposite wall of the building's broken bottom, but it also stunned the man in the process knocking him unconscious once again.
"What's going on down there?" Hank questioned when Scott shuffled to his feet in a panic. He focused on the man he'd discovered, finding himself struck with an eerie sense of familiarity, yet when he thought of the mission that came to mind, he simply raised his chin up and searched for his friend up above.
"Hank, he's heavy," Scott announced in a business as usual voice, "I'm going to need some help down here. He's unconscious."
"You've got it," Hank replied alerting Scott that he'd be down shortly to join Scott and the stranger while Scott wondered just what it was he was getting himself into.