I own nothing! This is part two of one chapter. Not really, of course, but I sent it in with the previous chapter to get worked on by Chicaalterego (my beta), and it came out as two chapters in the end! This chapter and the last chapter were the most extensively edited by her (think massive revision work here). Hopefully the less-edited ones won't pale too much in comparison…
He doesn't even dare hope for forgiveness as he readies himself to deceive them one more time. A little voice in his head sends a bitter jibe –it isn't like he has ever told them any truth.
Chapter 24: Betrayal
Daniel turns to Ororo with a fake smile "My friend tells me I can come anytime, but he cannot come pick me up..." he trails, then look at Kurt "Do you think you can take me there? I would go myself but I don't think I can make it there in one piece."
"And who was this friend of yours again?" Ororo's tone is suspicious. She knows something about Daniel is off, not to mention the behavior he showed while he was making that call rubbed her the wrong way.
"An old friend, ma'am." Daniel reply, hoping she doesn't prod more.
"And he will be ok with Kurt taking you there?" Skepticism.
Another lie pours from between his lips. "Sure. He is not a regular human-" true " And he won't be startled by the two of us popping there in the slightest." Because he won't be there. "Can you take me there? Please? It won't take more than a minute," he assures.
The mutant in the room, Ororo, looked like she wanted to press the issue, but she didn't question him was running out of time, and his impatience showed in his twitchiness. The sentinels would activate any second.
"Kurt, come back here," she yells towards the jet, then turns back to Danny, seeming about to say something but taps her head instead. Daniel is willing to bet there is some telepathy involved in the gesture.
Within moments, a poof brings Kurt, while Hank pushes the wheel chair Xavier is sitting on. "Is there trouble?" Hank enquires.
"No. Mr. Williams wants Kurt to take him to see a friend," the professor answers as though he has been there for the whole conversation, confirming Daniel's theory about Ororo having a telepathic conversation with someone.
Hank purses his lips together, before saying, "It might be worth the effort if Kurt can take him back should he collapse before the friend comes. I suppose, considering his current mental state, it might be alright. I guess this is good bye then." His agreement is reluctant.
"Kurt, could you take me?" Daniel asks as Hank leans forward, undoing the bindings for now. He knows that the ties will be on quickly if he dares make the wrong move. He asks Kurt, "Can you teleport to an area you've never seen, or should I ask Charles to show you where I need to go?"
Kurt responds after a moment of thought. "I can take you. I vould prefer to see zie place. It makes teleportation simpler."
Daniel glances at Charles, and knows that he knows what Daniel is about to request. He simply nods. Daniel brings to the surface the best memory he has of the place, and is careful to keep his scheme out of the image. It is a peaceful image from the interior of the warehouse. Light streams though the windows.
It takes a moment, but Kurt grips his arm, signaling that he has received the image, and is about to teleport. Daniel takes a deep breath before he disappears from their vision, preparing himself for the sensation of teleporting with which he is only somewhat familiar.
During the moment it takes them to teleport, Daniel can feel the beginnings of a power surge from deep within his core. The feeling is exhilarating. His feet hit solid ground in the stale air of the warehouse a second later. He stumbles lightly, feeling disorientated by the abrupt (although expected) change of location. His vision expands, allowing the world to move back into the full color. His senses regain their awareness, and his enhanced ghost hearing seem to be back for a moment, letting him hear Kurt's heartbeat, and his own normalizing.
A whirring sound fills the warehouse, wreaking havoc on newly sharpened sense as sentinels begin to activate. Daniel cannot feel but be impressed by the robots, but he is the only of the two to feel awe.
Horror flows across Kurt's face as he steps back sharply, yellow eyes meeting blue in the dim light, gasping with shock at realizing Daniel is not in the very least surprised, that he knew the sentinels would be there.
A trap, Daniel can see the thought forming as the feeling of betrayal joins horror in his student's face. The mutant releases Daniel's arm as though it burns Kurt to touch him. "What?" Kurt's voice is croaking with astonishment.
"I'm sorry." Daniel gives Kurt a sad smile. Is he apologizing for lying? for failing? for having Kurt deliver him to his demise? He can't say for sure. All he knows for certain was that in this case I'm sorry means good-bye.
"I thought you were our friend." Kurt states accusatorially. He wants to get an explanation out of the teacher he thought as a friend, but a beam he barely manages to dodge reminds him of the danger. He pops away a few steps back, and then gives Daniel a look that makes him feel as though his core is bleeding. A moment later a pop resounds throughout the warehouse as he teleports away.
Daniel's heart aches as the image burns into his mind. He hopes nothing too bad happens to his student, that there is no one back in the institute who would wish to believe in him enough to try to reach him after his "betrayal".
The sentinels hum yet more, yellow "eyes" glowing at him judgmentally, but they don't seem to notice Daniel at first. They sense that Daniel is not a mutant. They register only his slow-beating heart, his soft, unnaturally long breaths. They don't see him as a mutant, but he is clearly inhuman, and their programming has no instructions for how to proceed.
Daniel takes a deep breath, summoning what's left of his core. There's not much of it, but he gathers it all. Power rushes through him, and he centers it inside his chest, in his lungs, and the energy eagerly jumps to his vocal chords as he screams.
The transition from silence to deafening sound is so fast it's almost inexistent, but if it was to be replayed in slow motion it would have started on a deep note, inaudible to the human slowly starting to climb the scale of frequency, as if searching for the right note. It becomes loud enough to hurt his sensitive ears at the same time the glass begins to shatter around him. The sentinels begin to crumble instants later, as do the walls of the warehouse.
The warehouse begins to collapse around him but the waves of sound send the debris away from his body. For a moment, Daniel feels powerful again, and his aura shines brighter than ever… just like a flame glows the brighter before dying.
Daniel's knees bend but he keeps screaming, pouring his all into a last ghostly wail. The haunting sound vibrates through him and around him as he struggles to keep it going until his deed is done. He watches the robots crumble like paper, falling, the light in their eyes going off as the breastplates dent and electricity frizzles out of the minced bodies. Little is left of the warehouse, but enough to warn Daniel that escape, should he recover fast enough, will be impossible.
His core gives out, almost in unison with his breath. As the last few sentinels shred away, his energy leaves him. He loses access to his abilities, and hits the ground hard. The blow and the precious energy he's expended on his Wail, together have enough impact on his physical state to cause his consciousness to ebb out like a lowering tide. It occurs to him that he must be on some kind of black-out streak, and almost manages to find humor upon the realization.
Daniel Williams, former hero and self-entitled failure and traitor is empty from the inside. He meets nothingness feeling number than ever as his weakened body falls to the floor, and the debris begin to settle.
Like it? Hate it? Remember to review it, please! Thanks so much for the encouragement your reviews have given me! I have an almost 3.5k chapter in my power, which my crazy beta declared I give to you ASAP if you give me at least 15 reviews in 24 hours. I cannot give it to you if you don't or she will eat my cookies and take a while with the next one in petty revenge (her words not mine). So review and get your chapter right away, or wait till the next scheduled update.
-MiaulinK