Gambling: IX: Red Eyes
Rogue woke up to a pounding headache. She lay on a cold floor with her arms bare. She tried to open her eyes, but saw only darkness. After a few minutes passed her vision adjusted to the environment and she could make out faint shadows.
She was within a prison-like cell and she wasn't alone. Leaning against the far wall was an unconscious woman with long hair. Rogue started to edge closer to her, but was stopped by a chain that secured her ankle only allowing minimal movement.
"Hey! You awake?" she called out hoarsely. She cleared her throat hoping it would smooth out her voice. "Hello?"
The figure stirred. Her head lifted and Rogue could make out the piercing blue eyes and soft features of the blond woman. "I'm so thirsty," she whispered weakly.
"What's your name?"
The woman licked her chapped lips. "Carol." She lifted a hand to brush back her hair and the sound of her chains clanged loudly on the stone floor of the cell. "I'm not sure how long I've been here."
"I don't see no waste bucket so you can't have been here too long," Rogue said looking around. If her cellmate had been there for as long as she looked the cell would be smelling pretty rank. And since she wasn't vomiting from the stench it stood to reason not much time had passed.
Carol cringed. "His servant brings a bucket." Her hand fell back heavily to her side. "I stopped counting his visits after fifty."
Rogue swallowed down the lump that had formed in her throat. Fifty sounded like an awful large number. "Do you know who 'he' is?"
The woman curled up in the fetal position and hid her head with her arms. "Red eyes, red eyes, red eyes," she chanted over and over.
"Right, so I shouldn't be expecting much help from you then," Rogue said under her breath. She leaned over to exam her chains where they were linked into the ground. It didn't look too strong. Maybe if she yanked enough times she could get it loose? What would it hurt? She started to jerk the chain repetitively until Carol started screaming shrilly. Rogue dropped the chain to cover her ears from the sound.
It was then that she realized Carol wasn't the one screaming.
Then everything went black—again.
OOOOOoooooOOOOOoooooOOOOO
Gambit rolled over groaning and clutching his stomach. It felt as if he'd been slammed by a Mac-truck right in the gut.
"Finally, you're awake."
He looked up to see the man who starred in his nightmares towering over him.
"Sinister," Gambit growled rolling to his feet and automatically charging a card.
Nathaniel Essex merely shook his head and laughed—the red diamond of his forehead prominent against his pale face. "Your powers won't work here." He plucked the card out of Gambit's fingers. "Did you think I would be so foolish?"
Gambit curled his fingers into a fist and aimed for Sinister's solar plexus. He was rewarded by the giant falling back a step before swinging back himself and knocking Gambit to the far wall with brutal strength.
"That hurt," Gambit muttered rising to his feet shakily.
"I did not bring you here to fight," Sinister said calmly turning his back to Gambit and walking toward a glass partition that separated the room from the floor below.
"Why am I here then?"
"You ask many questions for a subordinate."
"I don't work for you!"
Sinister turned and looked directly into Remy's eyes. "You belong to me."
"I would have rather died if I knew the consequences of working for you. All those defenseless lives lost!"
"You'd have blown up the entire planet and killed every living thing if I hadn't operated on you," Sinister calmly argued. "The Morlocks were hardly innocent and they were certainly not defenseless." He shrugged. "I don't see why you're so bothered. It's not as if you actually killed any of them. My Marauders did all the hard work."
"No, I just trained your army of mercenaries." It became apparent that Sinister wasn't listening to him any more. Gambit cautiously moved to the madman's side and looked below. What he saw was a cage and—Rogue!
He slammed his palms on the barrier trying to destroy it with his powers, but it seemed like he had no charge. "Rogue!" He backed up and hit the window with a turn kick but it didn't shatter.
Sinister chuckled at his antics. "Your actions are futile. There will be no interference."
He rounded on Sinister. "Let her go! I'll do whatever you want, just let her go!"
"So quick to barter, Remy?" Sinister asked clasping his hand over Gambit's shoulder. "You will do whatever I want. You belong to me. You don't understand this, but one day you will." He turned away and started toward the door.
"Wait! What are you going to do to her?"
"What I always do. Make improvements."
OOOOOoooooOOOOOoooooOOOOO
"Did you have any trouble?"
"No, sir."
"Are the subjects secured?"
"Yes, sir," Banshee answered securing the final latch on Carol Danvers. "We're primed for the transfer."
"Excellent."
Sinister brushed his gloved hand over Rogue's hair. "So much potential. Perhaps that's what interests him," he muttered quietly to himself. He looked up at his blond-haired subordinate. "Begin the process now."
Rogue opened her eyes and stared up at the looming figure above her. She felt her blood chill at the sight of the sinister red eyes and started to struggle against the bonds around her arms, legs, and waist.
"Your attempts are in vain," he said. He smiled and his teeth were sharp and predatorial. "Calm yourself, soon you will be able to break out of these bonds with no effort." He looked past her. "Make the connection."
It was then that she felt a cold, limp hand touch her bare arm. She craned her neck to look and saw the hand belonged to the poor bedraggled woman from her cell and an onslaught of memories and strange sensations began to pulse through the point where they touched one another.
"No! You'll kill her!" Rogue shouted struggling more vehemently.
"Shhhhh," the man said soothing his hand over her hair. "Settle down, pet." His words had a hypnotic effect on her and she felt consciousness slipping away from her grasp.
"Carol, I'm so sorry," she whimpered before everything went black.
OOOOOoooooOOOOOoooooOOOOO
"I really don't see why you're here," Jean said walking toward Cerebro. She'd attained Professor Xavier's permission to utilize the computer in its newly functioning capacity. It was decided that it was the best method to track down Rogue and Gambit.
"I'm here to help," Emma answered. "You're not the only telepath."
Jean stood in front of Cerebro's door as it did a retinal scan identification of her. "No, you're the one that sat by for weeks and did nothing while I was controlled under an illusion."
Emma tossed back her pale hair and followed Jean into the main chamber. "You seemed to be enjoying yourself. And given that you couldn't break out of the illusion yourself I have my doubts on your telepathic abilities. And that's why I'm here now."
Jean gritted her teeth, but did well to control her temper. She knew it was related to the Phoenix dwelling within that emotions were so difficult to keep reigned in. If Emma thought she wasn't aware of the blonde's ulterior motives she was sadly mistaken. The ice queen was interested in Scott Summers—plain and simple.
The newly constructed Cerebro was smaller and less flashy than the original. She, Charles, Beast, and Shadowcat had spent most of the last day working out the final kinks in the program. Ignoring her nervousness Jean sat in the seat and put the helmet over her head.
"Very fashionable," Emma said with a laugh.
"I'd prefer not to fry the brains of all the mutants I shift though. So if you could refrain from your cynical comments, I'd appreciate it."
"Right," Emma said quietly, chastised.
"They're not in North America." Jean continued to sort through the various mutant minds searching for the unique patterns to Rogue and Gambit. Primarily she sought Rogue's pattern since she was more familiar with her. "Not South America."
She almost skipped over Antarctica. And if she had listened to her logic and ignored the Phoenix she'd have skipped it and gone next to Europe. But Phoenix was persistent and she scanned the frozen wasteland.
Except it wasn't all a frozen wasteland. She didn't sense Rogue, but she did sense Gambit. And for a brief moment she touched his mind and could feel his panic and a fear—not for himself, but for Rogue.
"You found them?" Emma asked.
"Antarctica. They're in Antarctica."
"What? Are you sure? Let me try. That can't be right."
Jean took off the helmet and glared at Emma. "I know what I'm doing. They're in the savage lands."
'So when do we go?' Emma asked telepathically.
"After we discuss the logistics with the others."
"The longer we discuss the greater the likelihood that your friends will die."
Jean walked past Emma on the way out of the chamber. "They aren't my friends."
"Fine. Your teammates."
"They're X-men. They're my family."
OOOOOoooooOOOOOoooooOOOOO
Wolverine sliced through the tall bamboo stalks. "Come on, Iceman. I know you're out here. I can smell the fear rolling off you in waves."
Bobby appeared in his ice-form and created a slide of ice to circle around Wolverine. "That's not fear. That's the smell of your defeat." Wolverine began to carve out the base of the ice-slide and Bobby had to work hard to keep production up in relation to the destruction. "All right, so maybe it's the smell of your claws dulling."
Wolverine dug his claws into the ice and somersaulted himself up beside Iceman with his fist raised back. "You were saying."
Bobby created an ice sculpture of himself to stand in the position he'd just vacated. When Wolverine's fist connected it connected with a solid block of ice. "Nice trick."
"Can you really smell me?"
Logan sniffed the air. "No. I can just smell the cold coming off your body. Your normal scent is masked."
"So why'd you call me out here, Logan?"
"Don't want to disappoint Stormy. We're on the Gold team and I ain't going to be shown up by Cyc."
"In case you've forgotten, a third of the Blue team is missing."
Wolverine landed next to the real Bobby and put him in a headlock. "I haven't forgotten the obvious." He gave the teen a noogie before releasing him. "Now just who do you think is going to rescue them?"
Bobby sent a burst of ice at Wolverine's feet and caused him to slip. Adamantium claws sliced into the sheet of ice breaking it up. "You looking to get hurt, bub?"
Iceman merely smiled before creating another ice-slide and heading back toward the mansion. He looked over his shoulder to see his handiwork. The yard needed watering and by the time all his ice melted it will seem like a mini-monsoon swept through the area.
He found Scott sitting on the front porch swing rocking back and forth in a lazy manner. Bobby de-iced himself and sat on the unoccupied half of the swing. Scott barely glanced at him in acknowledgment.
"Penny for your thought?" Bobby asked.
Scott turned back toward him with a scowl. "What?"
"Well, I don't actually have any money on me, so I'll have to owe you the penny."
Scott stopped pushing the swing and rubbed his fingers on his forehead. "I know what the phrase means. What makes you think I want to talk about anything?"
"I don't know. Maybe because your girl showed back up and has hardly said three words to you. Or maybe because that creepy Emma Frost keeps giving you that look. You know the one. The look that says she wants to eat you alive."
Scott snorted. "She does seem to give that impression."
"Right," Bobby agreed folding his arms over his chest. He started to rock the swing at the former pace that Scott had abandoned. "What do you think happened to Marie?"
"Given her penchant for attracting psychopaths bent on world domination—i.e. Magneto and Mystique—I'd say the options are pretty vast." He finally looked at Bobby. "Rogue's tough. Gambit's with her. I've seen them in the Danger Room together and they make a formidable alliance."
"I thought you didn't trust Gambit."
Scott let out a heavy breath. "And that's why I'm sitting on this porch swing worrying. She trusts him and if he betrayed that trust, I'm not sure we'll be able to get there in time."
The front door opened and Jean walked out locking eyes with Scott for a long moment before averting her gaze past him. Emma followed after and stood in the door frame in a casual pose.
"Any luck, Jeannie?" Wolverine asked walking up the steps to the porch. Scott bit back the bile that rose in his throat. So Jean wasn't avoiding his gaze, she was looking past him at Logan.
"Gambit's in Antartica. I can't pinpoint Rogue."
"When do we leave?" Scott asked.
"Professor Xavier and Storm are working on the logistics right now," Jean answered glancing at him briefly. "We're waiting for Angel and Nightcrawler to return from a mission in Boston first."
"Boston?" Bobby asked.
"Your family is fine. It's something completely unrelated," Emma answered reading his thoughts.
Iceman scowled at her. "I didn't ask about my family."
"No, but your concern was so obvious it didn't take a telepath to figure it out," she snapped.
"We're a team. We don't have time to bicker," Scott said.
Emma rolled her eyes and started back inside the mansion. "He's not my teammate," she muttered.
"Thank God," Bobby called back. He looked over at Jean. "What about Piotr and Kitty?"
"They're staying here. And so are you," Jean answered
"What? You can't be serious!"
"Shut up, kid," Wolverine growled.
"I'm not a kid! It's Rogue for goodness sake! I can't sit back and do nothing while she's in danger!"
Scott gripped Bobby's arm to restrain him from attacking Logan, though he knew it wouldn't hurt him. Iceman might suffer some damage though given Wolverine's annoyance level. "Calm down, Bobby. We can't all go. This mission will require stealth. You've never been to the savage lands so you don't understand."
Bobby glared at Jean. "She's been living in an illusion for months. And she's going?"
"I'm not going either," Jean answered.
"Then who is going?" Scott asked carefully.
"That's up to the professor," Jean answered turning away and walking inside.
Wolverine put a hand on Cyclop's shoulder. "Let's focus on Marie right now. We can deal with everything else later."
Scott shrugged his hand off. "I don't need advice from you."
