A/N: Sorry for the wait. Life wasn't too great but I managed to finish writing this.
Folie a Deux
Gilly found Toad disgusting. He is quite the personal space invader, and he doesn't care much for people who look relatively plain. He always had a comment or two and drilled especially hard if you blended in with normal people. She found it best to avoid him overall, making use of her spare time reading books collected from various outings in between forceful, if somewhat petty ignorings of Pyro.
Toad, however, had a knack for being where he was least wanted and managed to catch her in the dining hall early one morning as she tried to stick her face further into a copy of a Detective Sparrow novel.
It was a strange situation for her to be in. In school, she and Heather Poole were rarely considered "normal." Of course, wearing all black and having green skin are two ends of a spectrum she had no idea she was on.
"What can you even do?" She noticed he liked to prod. He did it to annoy, to shame, and sometimes (if he did it to the right people) he did it to incite violence.
"What?" She tried to sound blasé about it, but he could tell. He was a professional pest and she had a piss poor poker face.
"Well, lookit you," He stood over her shoulder now, like a shadow. He wasn't much taller than she was, but he was solid, "Short, sickly lookin' thing. Frankly, I don't think you're exactly built for war."
She tried to think of a decent comeback, but she could only think of the countless ways he would flip them on her. Biting her tongue might prove to be more appropriate tactic.
"You don't belong here," he continued, getting ever closer to her. She refused to look over her shoulder at him as if it was some twisted game of Bloody Mary. If she didn't look, there was no possible way he'd still be standing there, "You could probably go back to your job at the mall. Mags prolly doesn't even need you, just keeps you around for the rest of us to gawk at."
They were alone in the hall. Days like this she wished she wasn't passive aggressively shutting Pyro out. Then again, these were the types he wanted to rub elbows with so perhaps it was for the best…
"Why don't you run along home, and let the real mutants deal with this?"
She gave up. Slamming her book closed, she turned toward him at her full height. She was so angry that she hadn't realized that she was standing toe to toe with him. At least high school assholes were dissuaded by a well practiced resting bitch face. Toad was not, as she would recognize, a simple schoolyard bully. He was a terrorist with quite a few murders under his belt.
He grinned at her, a smug look. He got her riled up, which was all he wanted.
"Last I checked, I was invited because I have a unique skill that you don't," Gilly huffed, "You know, the one where I can go outside and blend in? Or how about the part where I don't look like a sewer creature?" She regretted it immediately.
He didn't exactly look like he was going to hit her, but she braced for it.
"Clever."
And that was that. She felt kind of bad for saying it but he was so annoying that she didn't have a choice. He stalked off to bother someone else.
Finally taking a breath and trying to shake off the adrenaline, she turned back to her book. Instead of finding a dining hall table, however, there was nothing. The whole room behind her had gone. In its place was the forest, the one she usually creates, but instead of being a big beautiful and idyllic place, it was burned to ash. It was as though a fire had taken over and left destruction and charred remains in its place.
Embarrassed, she fled the hall. Maybe she had more trouble blending in than she had originally thought.
About a week later, they had been assigned together, her and Toad. The universe was quite the comedian and Gilly was its cosmic punchline.
She would glance over at him every now and then. Not often enough for him to notice, at least that's what she hoped. He was so focused on driving the truck, goggles shielding his eyes from the sun and skin covered in a sheen of sweat.
Nevada was a very warm state, Gilly learned the hard way. The two of them didn't communicate much aside from simple orders or nodding, but she could tell the heat was slowly getting to him. Especially since, aside from his face, most of his skin was covered.
"Sorry," she blurted out weakly. Then, as a peace offering, she held out her water bottle.
He took his eyes off the road for the first time in what seemed like days, "Huh?"
"About what I said," She mumbled so quickly he barely caught it, "It was a bitchy thing to say and I know you're just giving me a hard time and I know you don't really mean it—"
"Are you talking about that business in the mess?" He smirked that god awful smug smirk, "Do you really think that I've never heard that one before? I've been called every name in the book. The fact that you think having to grovel before me and beg for my forgiveness proves that you're not one of us."
"How? I'm trying to show some compassion!"
"Because some people don't deserve compassion," He put it bluntly, "your boyfriend, Pyro, gets it. I saw him almost burn a man to a crisp over some snide comment. That's how mutants are supposed to be. Dominant. It's something you're obviously not capable of."
She frowned, "He's not my boyfriend. And no, I don't think we have to be dicks to each other if we're all on the same side. Pyro's mouth is gonna get him killed some day."
He smirked, "You care a lot for someone who isn't a boyfriend."
That stung, "Doesn't mean I want him dead. Or anyone for that matter. I'd be pretty pissed if it happened to any one of us."
"Just keep that in mind when the normies come banging down our door."
break
"I don't think we're gonna be able to do this on our own," Gilly squinted into the binoculars. Gates, big ones, with armed guards. The facility, though tucked far and away from prying eyes, was definitely not going to be a place where they could just stroll right in.
"That's why we're meeting up with someone who can help us out," Toad said, "He's a big guy. Can handle a few bullets. Actually, a lot if I remember correctly."
"Well, we've only got a few more hours of sunlight, hopefully he gets here soon."
"You'll know him when you see him. He's huge, you can't miss him."
"That doesn't sound particularly sneaky."
"Who said it was a stealth mission?"
Gilly opened her mouth to reply, then closed it, Whatever gets the job done, I guess.
"Don't worry, doll, we'll show you how the real Brotherhood operates. Then maybe you'll be one of us." He patted her on the cheek in a rather condescending way with a gloved hand.
He'd better get here soon, she thought, I'm starting to get a killer sunburn and I'm not sure how much more of Toad I can handle.
Not long before sundown, Gilly was on top of the truck, scoping out the desert around them. Flat on her stomach and low so she might not be spotted.
She was focusing so hard on watching the patrolling guards that she was a tad jumpy. There was a slight noise behind her, it sounded like bending metal. It was so out of place she ignored it at first.
Then it happened again. Looking over her shoulder and expecting to find Toad, she was more surprised to see a huge monster of a man there instead.
She didn't have time to react before he grabbed her by the boot and picked her up as though she were weightless.
"Victor!" Toad shouted from the ground, "Put her down!"
"I didn't know there would be a little tag along with us," The beastly man growled, glaring down at Gilly.
She was becoming lightheaded, but managed a weak, "I'm with you, I swear!"
He dropped her, ungracefully, and she landed on her head for the most part. He bounded off the truck with the finesse of a predatory animal.
"Why is she here?"
"Boss wanted her here," Toad shrugged, "he wants her to try and use her powers. Make it stealthy if we can manage it."
"Then why am I here?"
"In case she fucks it up."
"Which I might," Gilly climbed down off the truck, "if I have a concussion thanks to you."
"He's not a fan of strangers," Toad grinned, either from her pain or from his little joke, she guessed it was a bit of both.
"What's the plan?" She asked.
"Can you distract them?"
"I've never done it to more than one person at a time," she shrugged, "if you can get me in, I can probably do it."
Toad rolled his eyes, "you're prolly gonna die in there. Maybe you should wait in the truck."
"Why else would he ask me to go with you?" She yelled, "I have no clue about what I'm doing and you have failed to give me any details, or any sort of plan."
"We have a plan," Toad smirked, "You just weren't included in it. You wait out here, we've got this."
She hadn't even noticed that Victor already ran off toward the guarded base.
"Fine, what do you need me to do?"
"Distract the guards," he said simply, "we'll handle the rest."
The night shift was the easiest job that no one wanted, Phil realized. It was in that moment he also noticed it started to snow, in the summer, and to top it off, he was in the desert. Perhaps he needed more sleep than he thought.
He didn't want to say anything at first, just in case he was hallucinating.
"Phil," Jim said in a shaky voice from next to him, "are you seeing this shit?"
"The snow?"
"Weird right?"
"And just like that," Gilly smirked at Toad, "we can walk in the front door."
"They can't even hear us," Toad remarked, waving his hand in front of a guard's face, "how did you do that?"
The snow was just to draw their mind to something else. It made them malleable and open to hypnosis. After that she just made the guards not see them. It was a neat little trick she had been working on for a couple months now.
"Practice," Gilly shrugged, "Let's go, before this headache gets worse."
The inside of the building looked alien by comparison to the outside. It was too clean and sanitary.
"Can anyone hear us?" Toad asked her, again.
"No, we're fine for now," she explained, trying to sound nonchalant but the throbbing in her head was getting worse, "I might need a mental break soon."
"Don't worry, doll, we just have to make it to the elevator and we'll be golden. You can take a break when we get there."
"Good, I'm not feeling to great here," she felt very dizzy all of a sudden.
He saw it before she even noticed. There was a red trickle coming from her nose, "You see anywhere we can hide for a minute?"
"Why?"
"You're doing worse than you thought," He said it calmly, so she wouldn't panic.
Crying out in pain suddenly and digging against her forehead, he realized that they had run out of time. Grabbing her and pulling her along, he heard someone behind them calling for them to stop.
She was in a blur for a moment, yelling and shooting going on around her.
"You wait here," he ordered, leaving her propped up against a wall. Her vision was spotty. More yelling but she couldn't focus on words, it just sounded like gibberish.
Snagging a security badge off of a fallen guard, he grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her toward the elevator. Once they were safely inside, he let her go.
"I think I'm okay now," she said, her eyesight was coming back. He looked frustrated, "how badly did I fuck up?"
"Well, the whole base knows we're here."
"What exactly is this place?"
"Ok, since you're actively taking part in the mission, I guess I can tell you."
"Lucky me," she lifted up the hem of her shirt to get the blood off her nose, "still wish you had told me sooner."
"This place is some kind of corral for mutants," he said, "intel says there are quite a few of our people in here and they're being used as Guinea pigs."
"And we're going to liberate them, I assume?"
"If we get out of here alive."
"I guess I'm lucky you're here, aren't I?"
"You don't know the half of it, doll."
The elevator dinged and she braced herself when the door opened. Instead of gunmen, however, Victor stood there, with bodies strewn around him.
"They're on this floor," He said, without even greeting them, "they heard you were headed this way."
"It's not really a stealth mission anymore, unfortunately," Toad glared at Gilly.
"Sorry," she said sheepishly, "maybe next time don't drop me on my head."
He growled in response and stalked off. Toad and Gilly glanced at each other once more before following behind him.
They stopped when they came across a huge observation area. What Gilly saw made her sick to her stomach.
"Holy shit," she gasped. Below, at least a dozen mutants were in cells. Most were dirty and were wearing rags.
"Do you get it now," Toad said, leaning in to her, "this is why I fight for Magneto."
"Why are they doing this?"
"I don't know, and I don't care because whatever it is, it's killing people," he shrugged, "we don't have time to find out just yet. Get them out and then we'll figure out what this place is for."
"Do you wanna try just walking in again?"
"Too dangerous," he shook his head, "I think me and Vic can handle this part ourselves."
"Ok," Gilly nodded, "I'll stay behind for now. If you need me I'll be keeping a lookout up here—"
Before Toad could smugly give her words of false encouragement, Sabertooth crashed through the observation window.
"Can't let him have all the fun," Toad smirked and jumped down after him.
Gilly watched. Something deep inside her changed. Seeing Victor claw his way through security made her happy. Watching scientists in lab coats scream as they tried to comprehend what was happening gave her butterflies and almost made her laugh. When it was finally over, she walked over to the security door, which had a guard leaning against it, blood dripping from him.
Toad found the big red button on a panel. There was an electronic buzz and all the mutants were freed. He noticed Gilly walk by in a daze. She either didn't notice or didn't care about the gore around her.
"Gilly, we have to get back out," he grabbed her shoulder but she kept walking.
Gilly didn't care about Toad at this moment. She wanted to understand why she felt the way she did about these murders. Killing people was wrong and if it weren't for Pyro she would be getting ready for college like a normal teenager. This was different. This was justice.
She knelt down next to a guard, a younger man with slicked back hair. He had a huge gash across his chest but he was still alive.
"Please—" he begged.
"Why?" Gilly asked, going to place a hand on him.
The man recoiled, "don't touch me you fucking freak."
Gilly reached out and grabbed his badge, "Then choke on it."
Victor had corralled the freed mutants. He signaled to Toad and Gilly.
"What's the plan now?" She asked.
"If you can walk us out of here, that would be great," Toad tried sounding mean but his heart wasn't in it.
"I'll try," Gilly nodded.
This time there was no forest, she decided.
On their way out Toad passed by a glassy eyed man who was mumbling about seeing blood. One woman in a lab coat was crying and begging for the voices in the darkness to stop. Gilly's nose bled the whole way out but she never asked to stop for a rest. Toad was suddenly uncomfortable with how hard he pushed Gilly, but it was too late.
"D'ya have a minute?" Toad asked. Gilly was reading a book in her usual spot.
"For what?" She wouldn't even look up at him. She wasn't even jumpy around him anymore.
"Look about what happened back at the lab—"
"It's over," Gilly shrugged, "And now I know what my powers are for. I can make people see the horrible things they deserve. All I need is a little more practice."
Toad shrugged. She was just a kid, so why should he care if she learned an awful truth. Some people learned a lot earlier in life than she did.
"Hey, Gilly!" Someone called. It was Pyro, suddenly interested in Gilly once more. She rolled her eyes and shut her book.
"If you don't have any assignments for me, I'm gonna head off if you don't mind."
Toad shook his head and watched her trod away with Pyro.
"Heard you learned some new tricks," Pyro smirked, "thought you might wanna show me."
"Oh?" Gilly countered with her lopsided smile, "trust me they're not the fun kind of tricks, I'm pretty sure some of those people are gonna need therapy for life…"