Author's Note: Okay, folks, I'm back. After a very long hiatus, I'm writing again. And once again I've picked up another genre like a stray puppy needing a home. Oh, but, let's be honest—Michael Fassbender's and Ian McKellan's Eric Lensherr can stay in my house any day of the week. Though in that case I'd need to stuff my husband in a steamer trunk for a while. In any case, as many of you know from previous writings, I write ship fic. Just so we are clear, I am not a firewoman. I don't do flames. If you don't like, don't read. I do write sex scenes. No, they are not Penthouse-worthy. They will however possibly require you to turn on the air conditioning or put ice in your drink. And for goodness sakes, don't be priggish and complain of my morals or how evil I am. I can do evil. I can do morals. I can do both very well with chocolate sauce. But I don't do slash. If that is what you are looking for, move along. Sorry to disappoint.
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"How is a healer supposed to help us kill Shaw?"
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Chapter One: Choice
"You are either with us or against us."
A simple declarative statement, right? An implied choice, one that could be ignored, right? Except when that statement is being made by the scariest mutant badass in recent history, you don't ignore it. Or at least, it makes you think twice. Apparently it made Angel turn into a fallen angel in my book. I'd seen…something…flicker in her brown eyes when Shaw shoved the energy ball into Darwin's throat.
I stumbled forward, hands catching at Darwin, desperate to touch the metamorph. Somewhere in my addled brain I had decided that if I could just touch him, I could heal him. If I couldn't heal a decently good man, then what the fuck was my purpose again? I knew it was likely a lost cause, but damnit, Darwin was a good guy. My fingers touched his crackling skin, a hiss escaping my lips.
Shit, that hurt. The energy of Alec's energy blast was fighting to come out as an explosion and Darwin was trying like hell to keep it contained. Changing to stone, steel, anything to keep it in. I kept my fingers latched onto him, ignoring the screams and crying around us.
Shit, it wasn't working. And the energy was bleeding into me.
"Alec," gasped Darwin, dark eyes pleading with his friend.
Suddenly hands were pulling me back and I caught Darwin shooting a sad smile at Alec, the one who had pulled me off the dark-skinned metamorph. My teeth sank into my fist as I watched Darwin crumble into a pile of ash. Darwin had been the only other person there, other than our absentee mentors, who I could relate to. See, I'm older than the others in this group. A ripe old twenty-six, as my mother would pout, and not a marriage proposal in sight. That I have as much chance of getting married with my..condition…as growing a tail is beside the point, as far as my mother is concerned. Some things just can't be reasoned.
Alex was staring at the ashes that had been Darwin, a look of complete horror filling his eyes. It didn't matter that he hadn't intended for Darwin to die or that he'd been trying to stop Shaw, the fact was that Shaw had used the power of Alex's energy to kill Darwin. I stepped to Alex, touching his shoulder and feeling him cringe. Great. I'd analyze that little response later.
"We can't stay here," I muttered, dropping to my knees and pushing the ashes that had been Darwin into a neat pile. Someone handed me a box and I scooped what was left of our friend into it.
"What are you doing?" asked Raven.
I looked up at the shapeshifter, noting the puzzlement in those blue eyes. "He's not going to be forgotten." The words ground out of me, shards of ice or glass that embedded in each of us. "He kept Shaw's hit from nuking all of us. He comes with us."
Alex shuddered, hugging himself. The hardened convict looked a lot like a lost little boy at that moment. "It's my fault."
Still on the ground, I glared up at the blonde. So what, I was short even when standing so I should be used to looking up at everyone by now. "No, you idiot, it's Shaw's fault."
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