Heylo everyone, thanks for the reviews on my previous chapters.
I'm really sorry that I haven't been quick enough – stuff outside of this has been really hectic. I'm glad and shocked that people are interested in John and Liz meeting and taking time to see how their relationship unfolds.
Chapter Four – Cabin Fever
Finally, you're here. Where was she?
In some club, hiding likes a little mouse.
Get…off…me.
She keeps waking up. I knocked her out one but she keeps gettin' up.
What's wrong with her arm?
Dumb broad, thinks I broke it when I threw her across the room.
Let me have a look at it…Pyro, I think you have.
It hurts…it's burning me…
Sleep Elizabeth, and when you wake up your arm will be good as new.
I need to see…Red…
Who's Red? Has she talked about this person before?
I ain't got the foggiest.
Magneto, we need to get out of here. She's all over the news…
I think we should just leave her…she's not one of us.
We need to go to country, for our next attack we need to plan it thoroughly.
What? What…?
We need to plan if you want to destroy the cure, Callisto.
Well let's go, the pigs will be coming any moment.
Okay, you keep hold of her.
Me? Why…? I'm sick of it…why do I have to watch her?
Liz awoke with a thumping headache. Like the ones where you drink so much and all of the vomiting reacts badly in the morning when you wake up. She squinted her eyes, and glanced around where she slept…a grotty motel room? Her arm was cool and bandages were lashed around it.
The TV set jolted with life and her own face appeared on the screen.
Her eyes widened; "Oh God. Not good."
The reporter shuffled her papers, and began to talk. "Last night, the mysterious woman everybody knows about that caused the Kansas City block fire has gone missing. Witnesses say they last saw her in a nearby club not far from her assigned area in Bellamie Psychiatric."
Liz breathed and closed her eyes. Red will know about this. She could visualise his raging reaction at the sight of her missing.
A figure stood in the corner of the room, his flame hair glowing. Liz shifted her eyes to him, rage pulsed through her veins. "What the hell have you done?"
"Not me Sheila," he chuckled. "Magneto. He wanted you 'ere, you wan' answers, you'll have to go and talk to the big boss man."
Liz glared at him, darkly. He sat on the opposite bed, not taking his eyes off her. From his pockets he pulled out her cigarettes and her box of matches. "Give those back to me," Liz announced, her jaw tightly locked.
He grinned and lit one, and slid into his mouth. John (or Pyro) seemed to be playing with her, taunting her like some school bully. Liz turned her body to face him and sat cross legged. "You'll never get away with what you lot have done, you know…" she whispered.
He blew the cig circle from his mouth. "Oh and why is that?"
"The clerk, you moron."
He smirked, a dark expression Liz did not like on him. "The clerk? Nah, he's dead. He won't be tellin' anybody what has happened ere'." A mad glow echoed through his eyes, as if he enjoyed saying those words.
Pyro laughed at her vacant faint expression. "W-w…" Liz trailed off. "Why have you kidnapped me?"
"It's not kidnappin'."
Liz laughed, bemused. "You're holding me against my will, John." Inside he flinched; he hated her personalisation of his own name. Nobody ever called him that. Not even his own parents, who hated his guts. He didn't mind that, one bit.
"Your not chained up and tied to posts and stripped naked though are ya," he replied and winked, tossing out another perfect smoke circle. "If you're so needy to run, then go."
Liz got up off the bed.
"Though of course," his voice rang out. "I'll break your other arm as soon as you touch the door knob."
The shiver shuddered down her spine; she bit her lip and he laughed euphorically at her. Liz spun round, "You know. I don't know what the big deal is about you people. You're all pathetic and push over's."
John smiled, though inside his blood boiled. "Riddle me it then, Sheila." The smoke escaped his nostrils and then he stubbed it out on the ashtray on the bed side table.
Liz sat down on the side of the bed, perched. She leant forward, menacingly towards John. "Number one, you've got your stupid outfits. Two, your high and mighty leader, like dogs you peck and call to his sayings. Even he has a stupid outfit. And three, all of you don't seem to have lives. It's just bang bang explosion and it's for all one man's greed."
Silence engulfed the room. John ticked inside; it would soon detonate in a few.
"So, you're saying…?"
Liz breathed and laughed, quietly. "Blind as you are, John. You're in a C…U…L…T."
His jaw clenched, his eyes changed into manic stone. Only negative emotions remained upon his complexion. John zoomed forward and pinned Liz to the bed. He stared down at her, she squirmed and he held her face with his free hand. Liz felt the heat of his warm breath, it puzzled her and she stared up at him. His teeth clenched and he held her down like a lion hectic for its prey. "And, what about you? Huh…Lizzie?" his voice low like a grumble. "You don't have much of a life, cooped in a mental asylum like some headless chicken, answer me tha'."
His strong hands, expressed deep pressure on her chin. Liz breathed, her eyes brewed that glow blue colour, and John grimaced. "I volunteered to go to Bellamie," she said through a breath. "So I wouldn't be able to h-hurt…anybody."
John stared at her, none shaken. The anger pulsed through his body, but he kept a fasten fist on her chin, if he squeezed anymore he would surely bruise of even break her jaw. "To me, that's weak," he hissed like a serpent.
Liz prepared to not fight anymore. "To me…it's called being human." Her eyes illuminated, and shimmered.
The sounds of the door creaked across from them:
"What the hell are you doing?"
John's head snapped up, the beautiful Mystique stood in the doorway. She smirked, a deep growl like laugh buzzed in her throat. "I never knew you'd jump our hostages John?"
He hauled himself off the bed; Liz held her jaw from the pressure. Her back slouched as she caught sight of Mystique.
"Wha' do you want?" John asked, covering his embarrassment by putting his hands on his hips.
"Erik wants to see her right now, bring her to him quickly," Mystique replied, she smirked as she shut the door, her last glance at Liz.
"What does he want?" Liz grumbled, her fingers pressed against her jaw line.
John hauled her up by the hood and pushed her outside of the door. Liz turned. "Get your hands off me…" she yanked them from his arms and stepped out into the open air. John closed the door.
The dark haired woman stood motionless in front of Magneto, her long mane scraped up into a pony tail and the omega tattoo visible on her skin.
"You have to believe me, Magneto."
His aged skin crinkled. "What about?"
"This woman we have, she's…unstable with her power. She's like a bomb that could go off any minute."
He smiled. "That's the plan."
"It does not make things any easier with Pyro with her," her voice turned instantly calm.
"Oh I see. So I should get someone else to look after Elizabeth? Is that what you are saying, Callisto?"
"Yes, that's exactly what I am saying. You don't understand how powerful they are together, I can sense their anger from here, just one slip Erik…" her voice trailed off.
He leaned forward and her face light up in alarm.
"And what, Callisto?"
She stared at the ground, her chest heaved and she stared up at him. "Just one more slip…" she whispered, her voice highlighted her hysteric emotion. "And were all dead."
Crunching of leaves echoed through the forest, Magneto turned his head to the side and saw Mystique, Pyro with the fire girl in front of him. Callisto flashed her eyes to John's expression; he seemed to be locked in thought, though he never took his eyes from Liz.
"Sit down, please…" Magneto proceeded kindly, he gestured for Liz to sit on the log opposite him. She did so, and shivered as they all stared at her.
Magneto glanced at Callisto, "Leave us."
Indignation washed over her expression, like she had just been insulted. Swiftly she turned and left.
Liz swallowed hard; Mystique and Pyro stood either side of Magneto, like his personal two body guards. John glared at her, his hands woven one another and he stood like a stone statue.
"Have you ever heard of mutants Elizabeth?" the wrinkled man asked.
She shook her head.
"Never?"
"Never. Though I've heard of this elite group, causing havoc everywhere you go."
He smiled. "Well, then you must have heard of mutants…"
"I chose not to read the articles, they would bore me," she replied, her sarcastic reply pulsed through John's face. Inside she smirked warmly, plucking another nerve...
Magneto eyed her bandaged arm. "How is it…?"
Her eyes switched to John's for a second, and then she stared back at Erik. "It could be better, but I'll live."
"Elizabeth, I find you fascinating."
"I'd rather you didn't."
"No, it's true. I hardly understand how a person can have fire powers and not be a mutant. On the other hand, when you were unconscious (Liz shot a cold glance at Pyro) you said the name 'Red'." (Her heart skipped a beat). Who is this person?"
"No one you need to know," Liz muttered. Her eyes fell to the leafy ground.
He breathed, intolerably. "Now Elizabeth, I have had enough of your defensive behaviour. I want to know who this person is or…" his eyes scattered to Mystique. The beautiful woman moved to the back of Liz and pulled the back of her hair. "With just one word, Mystique could break your neck."
Mystique's yellow eyes glimmered down at her. "I'm incredibly bendy," she whispered darkly to her.
"Now we've gone through your files, and you're a very dangerous…criminal," Magneto said, he stood up s Liz could see his face anchoring over her yanked neck.
"Criminal?" Liz whispered. "It wasn't my fault."
"You killed children; it's all in the file. The fire was so bad, the police couldn't even find the bodies of them, and you completely obliterated them."
Liz wanted to scream and run, usually when anyone uttered something about her past it would end in drastic and murderous consequences.
'Hey! Come here freak! Go on get her!' the distilled voices in her mind shouted.
"And here, it said you attacked a reporter from the newspapers," Magneto read on, reeling her past out, a move he shouldn't be making.
'She's getting away!'
"Okay, okay," Liz whispered, the pressure was released. "I don't know why I have this problem."
"I would say it's more like a gift," Magneto said.
A stone is picked from the ground. 'Ready,' the leader shouted. 'Okay aim one two…'
Liz scoffed. "Yeah, not for me pal. I'd rather not have it."
John's jaw tightened. Liz's eyes flashed to his angry face – or was it jealousy?
'You're not welcome here freak!' they screamed. 'Please,' a girl cried. 'Help me!'
Magneto placed his hands under his chin; Liz felt the crack of the stone hit her mind. The warm blood smearing down her face and then…
"Elizabeth?" Magneto asked.
The numbing feeling of the flames across her little limbs froze. Her panicked breath dazed her silly, 'Oh no, not again…' the young girl squealed. The bullies backed away, what they were seeing was something 'cool' they would imagine in their dreams. But the character wasn't happy or powerful. She was unstable, frightened, in pain and on edge of frailty. 'Oh no! Somebody help me…please somebody… help me!'
The BPRD. Head Quarters.
A trolley wheeled briskly down the shiny corridor, the carrier whistled happily as he was near his location. Carl was looking forward to getting home, seeing his wife and pinning open a cold beer. His eyes were shaken when he heard a loud rumbling thud from behind the metal door – almost shaped like a vault at a bank.
"Aaahh shit, Red," he cursed. "Don't do this to me." From his pocket, he dished out the key and hauled open the door. The kittens mewed, dashing around his ankles, scattering down the corridor.
"Red!" he called into the room, the lights dangling from a near by wall spat dangerous volts. Half of the room had been nearly blown to the ground – or ripped apart. Carl ran to the wall where there was a hole leading to the outside. "Damn it!" he cursed. From his hip, he punched his walky talky. "He's out…he's done it," sighing with great exhaustion. "Again."
Carl turned on his heel, noticing the blaring flickering image from the TV screen. That long dark hair, those eyes…that scar on her forehead. It was somebody that used to live in that place – it was her true home.
He raised the walky talky. "And this time…it's personal."
Motel. Unknown location.
Liz had awoken, back in the room – but no sign of John. She was remising before – next thing she knew she was lying on her back in this place. Quickly, with out ease she lit her cig. Breathing out the smoke she poked around the room – finding a bag. It was John's. Smug inside was something – she'd never expect John to have in his belongings. A picture – of his family.
Her eyes widened as she took it out, she sat cross legged on the soft carpet. Her fingers stroked over the photograph. One thing was peculiar – the faces of his family… had been cut out.
