Disclaimer: I do not own.
A/N: This story is set in my own AU, where Gambit and Rogue are already married and Ollie and Becca (their children from 'The End') exist. However, before Ollie and Becca, Gambit had a child with his ex-wife, Bella Donna. Honor has the mutant gift of foresight, and much like Destiny and Mystique before her, often falls into the trap of trying to undo things that haven't yet been done. This time, Honor finds herself far from home and playing a dangerous game for her own survival. The story starts off relatively harmless, but will intensify in terms of sexual situations, violence and language. Please R/R!
Savage Land
Chapter One: Bedtime Stories
Remy hoped he would soon wake from every parent's worst nightmare. What would he tell the little ones? How could he accept his next breath, knowing he'd failed his life's only purpose?
The sun was just peaking over the hills when he arrived in Westchester. The sky was devoid of its usual morning glory, and the air had an unnatural bite to it. Inside his silver BMW, the atmosphere hummed with unspoken thoughts. His ex-wife, Belle, rode beside him. For the last hour, she'd kept her arms crossed and her eyes on the passenger-side mirror. The silence that lingered between them wasn't dammed by resentment, but rather, a mutual desire to at once slow and hurry time. They wanted to live in the hope of ignorance, but if Honor was truly gone… They needed to be with her body.
They would name it, as they had sixteen years ago, and take her home.
Honor's godmother, Ororo, occupied the backseat. Storm had insisted that she accompany the parents, in whatever capacity she might serve.
The police station was a small, modern building in the center of town. Dozens, perhaps scores of uniform vehicles filled the parking lot, and people in matching outfits rushed about like ants. Everyone here had their own, unique purpose, and gave no thought to the others or their tasks or how all the purposes fit together. Inside, torturously uncomfortable seats held prostitutes and thieves and drunks. The miserable lot glanced at Remy as he passed. Perhaps they were hoping to spot a familiar face. Once they realized he had no help to give, their dark eyes became downcast once more. Sometimes he would catch their eye, and recognize a certain emptiness that he shared.
A heavy-set officer approached them with a quick-paced gait. He offered them a cup of coffee, which they declined. Then he swiftly removed his cap and firmly shook their hands, introducing himself as "Sgt. Kelley".
"We keep the bodies in the lab. Follow me, please."
The white hallway was lit with fluorescence bulbs and smelled like sterilized lemons. The farther they descended, the quieter things became. No one dared venture this far from the land of the living. No one willingly entered this fairy world. As the three of them entered the final, tiny room like rats at the end of a lethal maze, Remy heard Belle inhale and hold her breath. The body was a female form under a white sheet. As if in a dream, he seemed to know before he knew. Unlike his daughter, Remy didn't have the gift of Sight. There were only a few moments in his life where he possessed a vague feeling of things to come… The afternoon he met Honor, the night he and Rogue eloped, and the morning she nearly miscarried the twins. He had that sensation now.
Sgt. Kelley exposed only the face, which was frozen white. A sixteen-year-old girl lay dead on the table. Golden locks framed her face like a halo. She was well-endowed and tall, matching Honor's description. But this girl lacked many of the subtleties that caught a parent's eye.
This girl didn't have Honor's flat ears and full eye lashes. She didn't have Julien's chin or Belle's nose. She had a name, but it wasn't Honor LeBeau.
36 hours earlier
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Ollie ran naked down the hall, chestnut hair flapping in the breeze. Then he slammed the bedroom door behind him: a triumphed grin on his round, freckled face. At the same time, I could hear Hero and Becca splashing all of the water out the bath tub.
My back throbbed in anticipation of the lifting and wrestling to come.
The little ones learned early on to recognize the clues to the dreaded bedtime: baths, brushing teeth, stories and finally, prayers. As with any toddlers, they put up a strong resistance that was nearly invincible when united. We all had our ways of combating it: Momma fussed and spanked, Papa bribed with treats, and Rogue usually surrendered and let them sleep in her bed. My method was distraction by stories. During bath time, I'd tell them about the monsters that lived beneath the drains and sucked up naughty children. This kept the girls in line, but rotten little brother peered down the dark pipes and demanded proof. I made up another story about a boy named Christopher who spent two whole years under the bath tub, so Ollie had better obey, too.
After baths, I wrestled the little monsters into their pajamas and marched them down the hall. The twins, Ollie and Becca, crawled into their bunk beds and patiently waited for me to tuck the blankets around them like little caterpillars. Then I sat on a chair meant to support a toddler, and pulled Hero on my lap.
Hero was my youngest sister, and not related to the twins. Although we all shared the same house, she had her own room on my mother's side. I had suggested putting them all in the same room like an old-fashioned nursery, but my mother wanted some distance. One day the little ones would realize that they weren't related. My mother wanted that blow to be as soft as possible.
"In the beginning, there was only light and darkness," I started. My voice was low and calm, meant to lure them into sleep. They squirmed like little, impatient worms against their cocoons. "The darkness ruled half the universe, and the light had the other. But one day, the light decided it wanted to rule more, so it created the earth. It made the plants and the fish and the stars. The dark got very jealous, so it made bugs to eat the plants, and sharks to eat the fish, and black holes to eat the stars.
"The two of them carried on for years and years. The dark made nightmares and insanity. The light made miracles and love. They always wanted to out-do the other. Then the light created life. It was beautiful. There were angels and babies and puppy dogs. The darkness tried to replicate life, but all of its creations were horribly deformed."
Ollie, still grinning with excitement, interrupted me.
"Did the dark make mutants?"
"What sort of question is that?" I retorted. "You callin' me hellspawn?"
"Yes!" he dared, giddy with rebellion.
The girls giggled with him.
"The light and the dark made many creatures," I continued. "They made elves and trolls and fairies and all the animals. But with life comes free will. Just because someone came from the light doesn't mean they're always good. And just because someone's bad, that doesn't mean they can't be no good. Many creatures turned away from their natural inclinations."
"What does dat mean?" Becca asked.
"'Incline' is when you ought to do something, but you don't. Like when Papa leaves the toilet seat up."
"I fall in!" She shrieked and we all laughed again.
"Back to the story," I said, "The darkness made many things. They made temptation to weaken our resolve and nightmares to frighten us. They made demons to drag us to hell. The dark army here on earth was manned by a tribe called the Amazons.
"The Amazons were tall and beautiful to the eye, but they were fierce and savage warriors. When they decided they would no longer serve the darkness, they moved to the mountains. They were no longer evil, but they weren't really good, either. It wasn't really their fault. They just didn't know how to be good. No one had ever taught them.
"The Amazons had a terrible habit of losing their babies. And sometimes they would even forget which babies belonged to them! But it wasn't just the kids who were treated badly. The Amazon women did all the hunting and cooking and cleaning. They raised all the children, too. All the men did was sit around all day, comparing club sizes. Whoever had the biggest stick was in charge.
"One day, the Amazon women said: 'Enough!'. They took their children and left the men! It didn't take long for the men to start missing the women, so they came up with a plan. The men said that the darkness had told them a secret: a secret so powerful that it could grant immortality. And they promised to share this secret with the women, if they came back.
"The women went back to their old, hard ways. In time, they forgot all about the secret. They couldn't really remember why they stayed with those no-good men, but they figured they must've had a good reason."
The room went quiet, but not for long.
'The end?' Hero signed, sticking out her bottom lip.
"It's not really the end," I offered. "The Amazons evolved into humans, so the spirit of the Amazon women still lives. Every woman is an Amazon: it's just that some have forgotten how strong and brave they really are."
The kiddies smiled to themselves, content to know this secret. Then we all folded our hands and said our prayers. I left Ollie and Becca alone with their nightlight, and saw Hero to bed.
It was only 9:30, and I was a spritely sixteen-years-old. I could've watched television or read a book until Papa and Rogue returned from their date, but I was exhausted. Combating toddlers is no easy feat!
I collapsed in bed and dreamed about the proud Amazonians. They looked and dressed exactly as I expected: with animal skins that barely covered them and weapons craved of stone and marrow. In my dreams, they danced by an open fire. The lifting and spinning of limbs flowed into nighttime passions. I saw a sea of bodies writhing together. A woman's face screamed in agony as the flames consumed her. At first, I was frightened. But as her soul ascended to the sky, other souls were freed. Unborn spirits danced around her and dispersed to the other women. The others didn't seem to realize I was present, but the unborn ones noticed. They floated around me like little fairies, laughing like Christmas bells.
"Come with us, Eldest," they chanted. "Come with us!"
I followed them away from the fire and love-crazed barbarians. We journeyed into the forest: through underbrush and around a pond.
"Come play with us, Eldest. Come play!"