Sorry, I know it's taken far too long for me to get this uploaded. Thank you readers and reviewers!
Kurt sat in the corner of his cell closest to Rogue's, who sat in the same corner of her own cell. Her eyes were closed, her face twisted in a pained grimace. Kurt did not break the silence, watching his adopted sister tangle with the new psyches in her head.
Footsteps and the creaking sound of the door to the cell across from Rogue's opening made him look up. He saw the guard that usually stood by the door at the end of the hall holding the cells they sat in. The guard's wide form blocked his view for a few moments, but when he stepped away he saw Ariana on the floor in her own cell, scooting away from the door.
She remained on her back, too weak from the tranquilizers they had given her to sit up. The guard wandered back down the hall. When he was out of sight, Kurt crawled to the front of his cell and called out softly to his friend, voice still hoarse from yelling.
Ariana's head came up a few seconds after he spoke. She rolled onto her stomach and pushed onto her hands and knees to crawl to the front of her cell.
"Hey, Kurt," she said. Her voice was barely audible, hoarse and scratchy like his own. "Sorry…about all this," she began to apologize before Kurt could speak.
"Don't, Ari, ve all volunteered to come. None of us knew something like this vould happen," he told her.
"Do you think they have anyone else?" she asked.
"No, I think you're the last," it hurt for him to speak, but it would be worse not to.
"What's wrong with Rogue?" her voice filled with concern as she looked at their silent friend.
"They forced her to use her powers," he explained.
"Shit. Kurt, have you been able to use yours?" she asked. He shook his head.
"I tried. Got a major headache, but no teleporting," he replied. She swore again.
"Damn."
"Hey! Don't make me come over there," the guard brandished his gun, which appeared to shoot nothing more than tranquilizer darts. Ariana glowered at him and he glared back. Kurt moved away from the tile floor of the hall. Ariana did as well after a few seconds longer.
Kitty and Remy accompanied the Charming chapter when they met up with the guys from Belfast. Both sat in a van with Gemma, scanning the faces of the Belfast men. Kitty shook her head.
"He's not here," she sighed, sitting back in her seat. When Clay came back to the van to speak with Gemma, she relayed the message. They exchanged a few words and he went back to the group. Jax asked them about new members.
"Got one, 'bout a year out of his prospect period," Keith McGee, the president of SAMBEL, answered him.
"Where is he?" Clay asked.
"Out takin' care of some business of his own. I excused him from this meetin'," McGee said.
"I need to see him," Clay told McGee, not bothering to explain.
"I don't know when he'll be back, Clay,"
"Call him," Jax interrupted the two, becoming frustrated with the conversation. McGee pulled out a cell phone and dialed a few numbers. It took only a few seconds before the phone was picked up.
"Áedán, brother, I need y' back here now. Charming's here wantin' to talk to y'," the man on the other line answered McGee, who nodded as he spoke.
"Alright," he said and hung up. "We can meet three days from now, and Áedán will be with us," he told Clay.
"Good. Same place and time," Clay set down the place and time, then the men returned to their various bikes. Clay pulled up beside Gemma and filled her in, then looked at Kitty and Remy.
"We're coming back in a few days, and they'll have more of their members with them. Hopefully then we'll find out who was so interested in our girl," he told them.
The remaining members of the X-Men were loaded into the X Jet and already soaring across the Atlantic Ocean. Xavier had briefed his team on the current situation, though most of them already knew much of it.
What they had not known was that their three friends had been snatched by an unknown foe. Logan, however, thought he had an idea of who might be behind the assault. Laura was even surer. She was also among the teenagers making up the team, and for that she was glad. If they had not placed her on the team she would have had to find an alternative route to the same destination.
It would not have been hard, but she was still grateful that she did not have to deceive her new family. It was an odd sensation to the troubled girl, this family, but it was one that she enjoyed and found herself to be very protective of.
No matter the reason, she was angry that the three X-Men had been taken, and she was especially ready and eager to dispatch their captors.
Áedán pulled away from his so far fruitless search reluctantly, and only because McGee had ordered him to meet with SAMCRO. Over the few days since their last meeting the mother chapter had been busy, or so he had heard.
Áedán knew that the son of Jax Teller was somewhere in Belfast, and he guessed they were here for the baby. Áedán and the rest of SAMBEL parked their bikes down the road from the Charming group and met them in the middle. He noticed a van parked further away, possibly containing another person.
"You alright?" one of the Irish brothers asked him. He nodded.
"Let's just get this over with," he cast his gaze over each of the Americans briefly before settling on the man he knew to be called Clay. Clay was also watching him, but he turned and whispered something to a dark–haired man beside him.
The man walked quickly to the truck and spoke with the people inside. After only a few seconds he returned to Clay and nodded. Clay's eyes returned to Áedán then, and he gestured the young man forward.
"Áedán, right?" Clay asked. He nodded. "You wouldn't happen to have seen an American girl around, black and purple hair, green and purple eyes?" Clay eyed him, and Áedán knew that the Charming president knew he had seen the girl.
"Yes, I have," he replied.
"We need you to help us find her," this surprised him. He was wary as to why the Charming chapter wanted to find the girl, but he agreed. No matter the reason, it was a chance.
"She is part of SAMCRO's family," Clay answered Áedán's question with the serious face he had worn throughout their time together.
"And you? What does she mean to you?" he asked Remy and Kitty.
"Ariana chose to live with us; dat makes her family, non?" Remy replied. His voice was monotonous, but his crimson eyes betrayed the fury he felt not only at his beloved's capture, but also at the kidnapping of two other members of the Xavier family. Áedán nodded silently. He pulled out the note he had given her, and then later found, and placed it on the table between them.
Clay, Tig, and Juice were the only members of SAMCRO present. The others were working on finding Abel. Clay grabbed the note and read it, noting the spot of blood. He did not say that he doubted she would have met him. At the time, Áedán had not known that she was a Charming woman, only that she was an American tourist who appeared to also be a mutant, and that his subconscious was urging him to get to know her.
Suddenly his hand shot to his head, his fingers pressing against his temples. He closed his eyes briefly against the sudden flare of pain, only to open them moments later to curious faces. He shook his head in dismissal of the momentary headache and returned to the matter at hand.
Scott and Tabitha waited with Storm in the lobby of the hotel in which their teammates had been staying. They did not have to wait long before someone they recognized entered. Kitty and Remy were accompanied by a man wearing a SAMBEL vest and two other men, both from SAMCRO. They stood and met the group at the far end. Only the SAMBEL man tensed, but he calmed at the lack of reaction from his fellows.
"Tabby!" Kitty hugged the older girl tightly, gaining a hug in return. Scott did not smile, and neither did Remy.
"I hope you know that you are in a lot of trouble," Scott told them both. Remy did not respond.
"I think it's more important to find Ariana," Kitty said. The two men from California were Tig and Juice. Introductions and explanations were given. Eventually the rest of the team, consisting of Beast, Logan, Laura, Evan, and Jean.
There wasn't much information shared between the two groups. Instead they set a date and time for the next day. Kitty and Remy returned to the X-Men, though obviously they were under 'probation'.
"We need them there," Tig nodded toward Kitty and Remy. Logan, who had taken control of the situation, accepted this. The groups parted ways on tense but friendly terms, some more friendly than others.
Ariana shut her eyes tightly against the harsh light of the sterile room they all had come to hate. The vile man called only 'Doctor' waited for her. Her struggles were sluggish and delayed due to the injection they had previously given her. Any sound she might have made was lost, silenced by too many hours devoted only to pain and exhaustion.
By that time Ariana and her fellow captives had given up on communicating. Each of them was too drained by their experiences, though Rogue appeared worse than either Kurt or Ariana. She hardly ever moved, constantly battling new psyches or pushing down old ones.
Ariana knew it would only be a matter of time before they overwhelmed her. Her gaze snapped into focus as she was strapped down onto the familiar, icy table and the same, hated doctor stood over her.
"Hush now, darling, it will all be over soon," his voice sickened her, as did his choice of words. She had never before heard the Doctor speak, and she never wanted to again.
As the needle entered her skin, a burning sensation she had never felt the like of before took her over. She was blinded by it, deafened. Suddenly she found her voice and an intensely agonized scream was almost forcibly ripped from her. Each second lengthened toward an eternity, though in reality the pain lasted no more than ten seconds.
She felt a distant warmth returning to her body, comforting and pushing away the pain. Only then did she realize how cold she had been, shivering on the hard table. The warmth spread to the tips of her fingers before concentrating in her palms. The sensation was wondrously familiar, and Ariana clenched her hands then opened them, letting the black flames flicker to life.
They danced agitatedly in her hands, growing with each passing second. A sharp sting in her neck quickly grew to a point of bitter ice before abruptly vanishing. She cried out as the fire died away, melting in her skin and retreating with the warmth, leaving her empty and frozen in its absence.
Hopefully the next chapter won't take so long.