Disclaimer: Marvel Entertainment owns everything, with the exception of Cat who is my own creation. This is a work of fanfic, no copyright infringement intended.
Weapon X- House of M
Author's note- this story (as stated in the title) takes place in the altered reality ruled by Magneto and the HOUSE OF M, created by the reality-warping powers of the Scarlet Witch. As such, the histories and affiliations of some characters may have changed significantly.
Wolverine is part of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s elite Red Guard, and having an affair with Mystique. Cat is also Part of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s elite Red Guard, and is Wolverine's second in Command. Other members include Mystique, Nightcrawler, Rogue, Spider-Woman, Toad, Maverick and Sage. Wildchild, Deadpool and Kane are members of S.H.I.E.L.D., as is Weapon XXXC (she and Kane are the only ones that are really mentioned in the House of M series (the name Weapon XXXC is mention, sex is not mentioned)). Aurora, Northstar, Moonstar and Wolfbane are trainers for S.H.I.E.L.D. Maggot is resonsible for the safety of Storm, who is queen of Kenya. Black Panther rules Wakanda and was recently attempted to be killed by Sabretooth working for Magneto. The Stepford Cuckoos are now a quintuplet again. Please contact me if you want/need to know anything more.
Part 1 Bad Dreams
The voices came to her though the pain.
"Increase dosage 10"
"Ten to one she croaks this time."
"Cardiac rate rising"
"Incredible!"
Bastards. She struggled against the restraints.
"Increase the sedatives"
She moaned softly as the waves hit her.
"Testing finished for today."
The guards moved forward, thinking the mutant was out cold, as they loosened the restraints. They were wrong!
Cat sat bolt upright, her mind filled with green liquids, red blood and searing white pain. It took her a few minutes to come back.
She fell forward, placing her head in her hand, glad that her room mate, Sage, was on duty.
"It was just a dream!" she said, "just a stupid dream! It's OVER!"
A small voice in her head asked "Is it?"
Mystique groaned as Logan shifted again. The sweat was running down his face and his breathing was rapid and shallow, yet his eyes were closed and he was still asleep.
She pushed herself up on to her elbows, regarding the man who had been her captain for nearly 20 years and her lover for a similar amount of time.
It felt like every fibre in her being ached. She knew what was wrong, or more accurately where he was. She also knew that nothing, no painkillers, no pills and no alcohol, strong enough to ease this pain.
She fought the desire to touch him, knowing only too well that any skin to skin contact would wake him, ready to attack. Instead she moved herself as possible, without touching him, and waited for the dreams to pass for that night.
Wade Wilson leaned back and massaged his eyes against the glare of the computer screen. He had been working on this report for 3 hours straight, and he still wasn't happy with it. Every time he looked at it he kept seeing the same names. The same guys who wouldn't be coming back. Good guys, good agents. Good sapiens if it came to that.
He sighed and reached for his coffee. It was stone cold and rather disgusting if he was honest. Not surprising really, he'd made it when he started the report.
Automatically his eyes strayed to the half open drawer on his desk where he kept the file. It was tempting to get it out, to read it and to remember why he did this, as if the reflection in the coffer cup wasn't reason enough.
NO! He pushed himself away from the desk. That would just lead to another argument with the shrinks. Living in the past, that was what they called it. Accept that it happened and move on. That was their advice.
Angrily he slammed the drawer shut, thumped down his coffee mug and turned his attention back to the screen.
"Accept it happen and move on." Yeah that was great advice. Only how were you supposed to move on from your past, if you didn't know what it was?
Despite the lateness of the hour, SHIELD's canteen was packed. From where he sat, Kyle Gibney could see then all: the two Red Guard agents, just off shift, grabbing a bite to eat; The SHIELD Telepaths, grabbing a last cup of coffee before their shift; the four SHIELD trainers discussing the training plan for tomorrow…
His eyes flicked automatically toward the door as his heighten senses picked up the sound of footsteps in the corridor beyond. The door opened admitting two female agents, evidently just off shift. They walked over to the hatch talking all the way.
He smiled at them, watching their eyes open wide with terror, before they hurried over to a seat as far away from him as possible.
Really dumb move that, he'd known what their reaction would be. He didn't know why he'd bothered any way. The only woman for him was sitting by her brother, with the other SHIELD trainers.
Jeanne Beaubier. Aurora. They'd met in the shrink's waiting room and begun at nervous relationship, neither of them sure if they were ready to be hurt. However when Aurora was ok, they'd spilt up. He could give her love and companionship and that stuff, but the simple things like taking her out for a meal, or kissing her… he'd seen the looks every man on the base had given him. Wondering what she was doing with him. Beauty and the Beast. Sometimes the phantom has to let Christina go.
He sighed. His mutation naturally made him more animalistic, but it wasn't that which called the whispers and the stares. No it was the scars on his neck, with the wires stretched between them. The small bumps around the lips, which hid the electron pads didn't help matters either. The nerves in his lips had died at the same time as the maggots ate away his vocal cords.
Even Stark Enterprises's finest, in these circumstances, could do little more than approximate lip movements.
Still they would remove the restrictions on his diet…
NO! Tony Stark was Sapiens Scum! He and his father, if they had not been involved, had certainly benefited from the Project.
"Poor Guy" Maverick thought watching Kyle get shot down.
It wasn't even as if he was too bad looking either. Certainly when compared to his team.
He inwardly winced at the thought of Wilson's scarred mass of flesh and Garrison Kane, who always looked like he'd been blown apart and put back together by someone who only had the vaguest idea of what a human body looked like.
He supposed he should count his blessings. His loss of hearing was the only physical remnant of the project and in this brave new world of mutants it wasn't really a problem.
Speaking of which he felt Sage mentally calling him. Jess Drew must have finished her debriefing, so they were on.
"Yeah, I coming" he said, getting to his feet and depositing the coffee cup on one of the racks as he passed.
The sun was setting over Mount Kilimanjaro.
Maggot, head of security for Queen Ororo of Kenya, paused for a moment. Even though he had been back in Africa nearly 20 years it still took his breath away. He stood quiet still waiting, while the sun slipped away.
He shook himself to rid himself of the ghosts of his past, before continuing on his rounds. The guards he passed stood to attention or called out greetings, acknowledging him as he past. He responded as appropriate, all the time his eyes searching the darkness. Security had to be tight, more so than usual in the wake of the assassination attempt upon King T'Challa of Wakanda by the insane fanatic Sabretooth. Maggot had never believed the official version of events and he had become more convinced of it's falseness after the "misunderstanding" that had led Apocalypse of Egypt to invade Wakanda . However he did believe that something threatened his queen.
He knew that there was no way she'd follow his advise to stay away from T'Challa, encourage Quicksilver and say nothing.
With that in mind he had doubled the guards, using only those who he was sure he could trust. But on the off chance he was wrong…well he'd make sure they knew what the risks were. His hand snaked across the tattoo on his wrist. A tattoo in the shape of the Letter X.
Weapon XXXC crouched low. She could hear him, even if she couldn't see him as yet. Her nose told her that he was getting closer. She concentrated on blending herself into the wall, but the texture made that nearly impossible. Wouldn't have it any other way.
Keep the scent varied, don't make this easy for him.
Keep the pheromones moving. It'll throw him off, confuse him!
Stay calm. If you panic you'll lose it.
O.k. Now! She leapt out sending two stinger charges at him. Her opponent spun around, but she was ready for him. Quick as a flash two razor sharp claws ripped though him. The blood was pouring over her and she was drowning in it as she cried out,
"computer End Program!"
The wall merged back to their familiar plain silver settings, as she stood in the centre of the room panting.
Get back in control. OK.
"computer Resume Program."
Scot Eaton knew he was dieing. The bullet had entered between the 3rd and 4th ribs. That had been nearly an hour ago.
At first, as he lay here in the alley, he'd tried to call out. But all that had happen was the blood bubbled over his lips. He'd given up pretty quickly.
It was raining and the rain had soaked him. Strange how little pain there was. He'd always thought dieing would hurt, but there was no pain. He knew he was still alive though as he could see the blood seeping though his shirt. His hand fumbled among the paper scattered around him.
He hoped they'd get it. Else he'd get away with it.
The thought made him laugh. There was no way he could get away with this. They'd hunt him to the ends of the earth.
It was with that thought that Scot Eaton, writer, slipped into unconsciousness. 5 minutes later, by the coroner's estimate, he was dead.
Celeste, Esme, Mindee, Phoebe and Sophie lay asleep. Uniquely among those affected by the project they slept peacefully, untroubled by dreams or memories.
For that they must be thankfully for their youth at the time of the project.
But innocence can never last.