A/N: To avoid confusion, Remy calls Bella 'Belle' because that's the French version of her name. Also, my Bella was around a long time before the other Bella (you know which one I'm talking about), and she was in no way based upon or inspired by that character. My Bella isn't meant to be Bella Donna either. Their shared name is an odd coincidence that may hail back to a subconscious memory of the cartoons from my childhood. The original Bella may make an appearance later on, but the two are entirely separate characters.
2.
Keep breathing. Just keep breathing.
Bending double and bracing himself on his knees, John closed his eyes and concentrated on not passing out. His heart was thumping in his ears and his blood was running hot, telling him that he was still alive. It was all he could hear. Behind him, the trail was silent.
He'd survived.
He opened his eyes and straightened up, blinking away the blur of adrenaline and taking in his surroundings. Trees towered over him, fingered branches filtering the pale grey dawn so that he stood in a half-light that made everything look ancient. His boots crunched on dead leaves as he turned to look at the others. Vixen and Gambit had chased one another's shadows away from the burnt-out body of the compound that had been Vixen's prison. John had stumbled after them for more than mile, running scared from imaginary hunters. He'd only stopped because his lungs had started to burn and if he hadn't he would have fallen over. He realised now that he'd been led miles from where they needed to be.
'So, what's tha plan?'
John swallowed down bile and mustered a scowl to throw in Gambit's direction. The older mutant wasn't even out of breath.
'How the fuck should I know?'
Black eyes glimmered red with amusement. 'You're tha leader, aren't ya?'
John's fingers curled around his flamethrower, but Vixen was there before he could even summon the sparks. 'Don't. Going for each other's throats isn't going to help.'
'We'll head back to camp.' Pyro turned on his heel and took a step forward, before faltering. He didn't know this part of the forest; he had to work on instinct alone, only his instinct seemed to have been singed at the edges. He glared at the trees, his throat burning from breathing too hard. He was thirsty.
'Lost?'
He couldn't stand to look at Gambit, because he thought he might kill him if he got a clear shot. 'Shut up.'
Gambit's snicker crackled through his teeth, but Vixen's hand was around John's wrist before could react; always a step ahead of him.
John ripped his arm out of her grasp. 'Don't touch me.' His voice was low, but it shook with anger. Vixen stared at him, her fingers still curled around the air where his wrist had been. Her eyes give him chills and he turned his glare to Gambit instead. 'And you can go to Hell for all I care.'
Something dark flashed in Gambit's eyes and he dipped his hand into the pocket of his trench coat.
'Remy.' Vixen's voice was soft. John's eyes narrowed as he noticed how Gambit stared over her head, scowl softening to a frown. 'He saved my life.'
'Ya didn't need him ta. I was almost there.'
'You're always "almost there". But he was there. That counts for something.'
There was a moment's silence that made John think he was back at school, listening to Iceman and Rogue have one of their arguments. John didn't understand how you could argue without shouting.
Gambit looked uncertain. 'I wouldn't have let them hurt ya, Belle.'
John remembered the bruised mess Vixen had been when he'd found her – a dark shadow still hung around the right side of her face – and thought that Gambit's words weren't worth much. Uncomfortable, he turned away from them and continued walking.
'I'm going back to camp.' He didn't expect them to follow; in fact, he hoped they wouldn't. Magneto's anger was worth being rid of them and the awkward knots they tied in his stomach. But he heard footsteps, soft and steady behind him, and behind those another pair of boots, heavier and less willing but following none the less. John wondered what it was that stopped Gambit from leaving this strange shadow of a girl, when it was clear that he wanted to turn around and walk away from the pale face and pale eyes that pulled at your insides and made your blood run cold.
Dirt and dead leaves shifted beneath three pairs of boots that had nowhere to go but back.
XXX
'You're late.' Magneto was standing in the dappled circle of sunlight that filtered through the leaf strewn skylight of the bunker. He had his arms folded across his chest, like a teacher scolding his pupil for bad punctuality. John had always hated teachers.
'Not my fault.' He knew he shouldn't snap at Magneto: his life wasn't worth enough. But after three hours of traipsing through a forest with two mutants who he'd decided had been sent by some divine power with the lone purpose of pissing him off as much as possible, he was not in the mood for Magneto's reprimands. His boots clanged against the metal steps and Magneto frowned, saying nothing.
John glared over his shoulder to avoid looking in Magneto's eyes. Gambit was following him down the steps with Vixen at his heel. The silent stare Magneto was giving him asked for an explanation.
'We circled around to avoid leading anyone to the camp – had to go further than I thought we would.' Pyro wasn't going to admit that he'd blundered through the forest for almost an hour before Vixen pointed out that they were heading towards the main highway into San Francisco, which didn't seem like the most intelligent place to set up a secret encampment. Gambit had already given him enough grief about it.
He got the feeling that Magneto didn't believe his cover story, but apparently he didn't care enough to challenge it. He turned his attention to the other two mutants now filling the gloomy space at the bottom of the steel stairs instead. 'And you are?'
'Depends who's asking.' Gambit was still in front and Vixen seemed content to hide in his shadow. Her pale eyes gleamed in the gloom like a wolf watching and waiting. John felt his fingers prickling in the quiet that followed the challenge.
For once he tried to diffuse the situation, because there was a small part of St John left in him that felt afraid of the unknown. 'Gambit and Vixen. We picked them up at the containment facility.'
Magneto glanced John's way for just a moment. 'The facility?'
'No longer a problem.'
Magneto nodded, pleased and John bristled with the pride that came with approval. His gaze lingered on Magneto as the older mutant turned his gaze back to the others, wondering why Professor X had never been able to show the same respect for John's power.
'So, what talents do you two have to offer?'
Vixen was restless. She was shifting in the shadows behind Gambit and the movement caught Magneto's attention. His gaze slipped towards her pale eyes, flashing cold and hard in the half-light.
Her jaw clenched around wary words. 'What's it ta you?'
Magneto looked torn between amusement and annoyance. 'What's your name again?' He studied her with eyes shaded black by shadows, his mouth tilted upwards into an expression that wasn't quite a smile.
Her face gave nothing away, but she pressed her lips together when the question was asked, trying to hide nerves behind a boldness she didn't feel. John recognised the expression well.
'Like he said,' she tilted her head towards John, 'I'm Vixen.'
Magneto stood still and silent, and studied her so closely that even John began to feel uncomfortable. Vixen didn't waver. Magneto's not-quite smile grew larger and colder.
'I'm sure you are…'
XXX
'Why are we still here, Belle?'
She had her eyes shut tight against the midday sky, lying flat on her back between the trees. Her ears were full of sounds she shouldn't be able to hear: leaves shaking in a barely-there breeze, dirt shifting beneath feet that fell a mile away. She breathed deep and opened her eyes, squinting in the dappled sunlight that fell through the spider web of leaves above her.
'Because we don't have anywhere else to go.' She couldn't look at Remy because he was making her feel like a fool. She could hear him though, shifting where he stood, making the folds of his trench coat whisper. Then there was the jumbled hush of a box of matches and the snap of fire brought to life at his fingertips. Bella inhaled the sulphuric smell of smoke as it drifted towards her from the end of Remy's cigarette.
'I don't trust 'em.'
'You don't trust anyone,' Bella was still staring skyward.
'I have good reason not ta.'
Her insides twisted with an animal anger that she couldn't control. She clenched her jaw and breathed deep. 'It can't be worse than it was before.'
'We were doin' alright by ourselves.' Remy sounded distracted; only half there.
Bella glared at the sky and tried to quash the urge to claw out his eyes. 'If you say so.'
Remy was itching with energy. Bella was still lying on her back but she stiffened, muscles coiled and ready to spring into the action at any moment. It was in her nature to be prepared, and sometimes she forgot whose side Remy was on.
'Belle, this is stupid. Ya ain't ever been afraid before.'
She gritted her teeth, her guts twisting, because he clearly didn't know her that well. 'I've always been afraid.' She pushed herself upright and turned to look at Remy, twisting her ribs and pulling them back into pain. She didn't flinch. Remy's expression hadn't changed, which only served to make her angrier. 'And after being locked up and knocked about for three days because of a man I barely know, I've started seeing things differently.'
Remy had grace enough to look guilty. 'Belle, I'm sorry I screwed up. But stayin' here ain't goin' ta keep ya safe. It's goin' ta get ya inta trouble.'
'I'm sick of running, Remy.'
His jaw tightened and he flicked his cigarette into the dry bracken at his feet, snuffing it out with his boot before it caught fire. Bella knew she'd won.
'I'm not gonna leave ya, Belle, but I don't like bein' here.'
'I'm not asking you to like it.' She stood up and brushed loose bracken off her clothes, before walking past Remy towards the bunker's entrance. She saw Callisto coming long before she cut across their path in a flash that no one could have predicted. Bella stopped so suddenly that Remy bumped into her.
Callisto smirked. 'That's a nice trick – knowing what I'm going to do before I do it.'
Bella kept her gaze hard and cold.
Callisto's smirk fell flat. 'You better be careful – I might catch you out one of these days.'
'I doubt it.' Bella stepped around the other woman and carried on towards the bunker where Pyro was waiting, twisting fire around his fingertips and watching them from the corner of his eye.
'So, you in or what?' He extinguished the flames at his fingertips and glanced at Callisto over Bella's shoulder. It wasn't a friendly look. His gaze slid back to Bella.
'For now.'
'That's not good enough. If you're in, you're in. There's no backing out.'
'We're in.' Bella sounded more certain than she felt and behind her Remy stayed stubbornly silent. Pyro smirked, less malevolent than before, but only slightly.
'Good.'
This wasn't about right or wrong anymore, it was about survival.
