A/N: I'M SO SORRY. I got home at 12:30 on my regular update day; I was not anticipating that. Please, please forgive me 3 :(
Disclaimer: I. Do. Not. Own. X-men.
K.J. Bollinger: Thank you very much!
anonymouscsifan: I'm sorry for leaving you hanging so much D: But there's two announcements you'll want to check out at the end of this chapter. (One is good, the other depends on how much you like this story…) You're right on all points btw: yes her trust in Peter will take a while -and hopefully my writing will do justice on that. But her torture has really just taken a hiatus… I hope you enjoy your time with your family! Thank you for all the inspiring words over these past months :)
Adrillian1497: I'M SORRY HERE IS THE NEXT CHAPTER.
MissDarkBlu259: I know… the last chapter was quite short in comparison. But I didn't see any other way to end it -I hope you enjoy this one: it is a little longer.
emily88034: I know, I know, the cliffhangers are the bane of everyone's existence with this story. But the way I see it: each chapter ends in that frustrating way, either because of necessity, or fitting-in-ness with the rest of the story. And I hope it's not too unhealthy for you to be so invested in this -also thank you for that :)
C.B. Weasley: Thank you! I thought that there should've been a chapter that kind of caught up with some other characters (and tied it in with the canon -finally!) Gaaahh! Your words give me so much joy! And though I say the same things over and over in expressing my thanks, please know that it does not mean any less than the other times :)
Guest: I'm so glad you're in love with this story! And let me tell you: Nora and Peter's reunion-reactions will not disappoint. (At least on Nora's part, I hope XD) Thank you, whoever you are, for the support.
MusicLovingPunkAnimeGirl: Wanda is trying to find Nora's location -in the effort of breaking out. But some other people -with better sources- beat her to it.
Queen (Guest): I'm glad that me writing Nora being on her own so young is believable to you :) And yes: Nora and Peter were asshats to Wanda -so really: I'm the asshat here for writing them like that. But with Peter doing similar things with Wanda's past friends -although Nora was different this time- it became -sadly- old hat for him. Apologies for the feels, though I have a bit of self-pride knowing that I am capable of causing such things ;) Thank you for your reviews!
Lily (Guest): I'm glad that you are enjoying it so much; it has been fun for me as well. And yeah: it hurt Wanda, but if you're reading this, know that things will eventually get better for the three of them.
Amelia-bella1: eeee! *fist-pumps* Frick yes! The best X-Men Peter OC?! Thank you so much! The story fits so well? I'm so happy to hear that -it's something I really try to get right. And smut… Hmmmmm, idk about that just yet… Though I do have plans to continue this into the Apocalypse storyline, so hopefully that sates your curiosity for now… Thank you so freaking much. This review warmed my heart in so many ways…
Phew! *wipes singular drop of sweat off brow* TWELVE reviews in ONE week. I never thought that would happen! There were so many lovely people to reply to, and even if you didn't review, I know you were there, reading my story -we passed 40,000 views this week!
And finally: a rather important author's not at the end: please read it :)
January 25, 1973. Pentagon, Washington DC.
The three men blinked, and all seven of the security guards were sprawled about on the floor. What some people might have called food was splattered all over the ground. The fire alarms -and sprinklers- had been set off, and now they were all drenched.
Logan smirked appreciatively.He hasn't changed a bit.
Charles' old inquisitive habits began to arise; how fast does time pass for him? Does he metabolize nutrients like a normal human? How quick is he able to truly go- he shoved those old thoughts away. He wasn't that man anymore.
Jaw steeled, Erik kept his true emotions hidden away -as usual. But inside there was a hellstorm brewing. Is this the boy Nora talked about all those months ago? It had to be. But he didn't want to admit it.
They slowly filed out of the kitchen, Logan patting Peter on the back as he passed by. The teen grimaced when they passed as he saw what he'd caused. Nora wouldn't be proud.
Nora. His Nora. Only she wasn't 'his' anymore. ...As if she'd ever been his. She'd lied from the start- even when he thought she'd come clean, she had still been lying.
It had been so long since they'd last spoke- never mind on good terms. He hoped she was alright; that she wasn't hurt.
They converged with another man in the main security hallway. Peter was about to take him out, but stopped when Logan shook his head. He was with them, Peter realized. He hadn't recognized the taller man at first -probably because of the ridiculous bucket hat he was wearing.
He and Charles nodded to one other. Hank looked at Erik for moment, like he was seeing a past relic. Something he'd wanted to be kept buried.
"Her cell's this way," Hank spoke, motioning for them to follow him through a door on the left.
"He's talking about Nora?" Peter asked Logan.
Logan nodded. "And kid," he started to say, but Peter interrupted.
"Listen: I don't know who you are, or where you're from. But I know her. I know she's gonna be pissed. And-"
"Alright, okay, kid. Just… keep your distance."
Peter nodded.
As they snuck past an empty security room, Peter couldn't help thinking of the picture on her file. It was like a regular mug-shot, but she had tubes stuffed up her nose, and her eyes were barely open. It looked like they had been drugging her, to keep her from escaping -so Logan had said.
Peter felt a hand on his arm, and realized that they had stopped.
"What's going on?" He asked, but shut up when he saw they were at a dead end.
"I- I don't understand…" Hank muttered. "The map… The cell should be right here.."
Well maybe your map's a little dated, Peter thought.
The wall in front of them looked out of place, having a series of oddly-placed ridges and bumps all over it.
"I think if we backtrack…" Hank said. "I might've missed a turn back there.."
"No."
Peter turned to the man they'd broken out, fists clenched. No?! How dare he say no! We just broke him out of prison, for God's sake! And now he wants to abandon Nora?!
"There's something else there," Erik said. He held out his hand, palm facing the wall.
After a few moments of intense concentration, he yanked his arm back, pulling with it a strip of the metal wall.
The others stared on in awe as he did this, exposing what was now seen as a hidden cell.
It was completely concealed from the outside world. The only orifices to it was seemingly the toilet as well as the shower's drain, and a tiny chute. They assumed the chute was for the kind of box-like meal Peter had delivered when releasing Erik.
Erik threw out his hand one more time, and the one side of the metal box was finally shredded.
They all waited apprehensively, as if something were supposed to happen.
For almost half a minute, nothing moved from the jagged-edged doorway.
Then: it was there. They all strained their ears to hear it; a voice.
It made no recognizable words. Only mumbles that were barely heard over the electrical hum of the Pentagon.
Erik took a few steps forward, motioning for the others to stay back. He carefully placed one hand on the upper edge of the doorway, and ducked his head as he entered.
The room was smaller than the one they had shared. Boxlike; with only a dim, blue light that barely allowed him to see. A pile of blankets lay clumped in one corner; with what looked like curls of hair spilling out of it.
He crept forward, and knelt down next to the sleeping person.
It was Nora. In all her insane glory. He rolled her over until she was on her back.
"Hey," he spoke in French. "Wake up."
She stirred after a moment, eyes barely registering his features. The only sign that she recognized him was the small quirk in the corner of her mouth and the fact that he was not yet dead.
He helped her up by one arm, leaving the blankets on the steel floor.
She followed him out of the box, Peter slowly backing up out of sight as she did.
As she attempted to hold his hand, only then did Erik notice the strange contraptions straining her fingers apart.
She stared up at him, dilated eyes showing a moment of clarity: asking him to remove the violating restraints.
He nodded and brushed his hands over hers; the braces fell to the floor with a final clatter.
Charles and Hank stared in horror from the aging sores across her knuckles to the now-mangled ball of leather and metal.
In this sick moment of realization, they only noticed the oncoming rumble of officers' combat boots until it was too late.
People stormed the hallway, all shouting unintelligible commands that probably had to do something with surrendering.
The group of men who Nora -still hadn't noticed Peter was a part of- was thinking of dubbing the 'Fabulous Four', reared their various weapons. She, frustratingly, was shoved to the back.
Safety's were quickly flicked off as security guards raised their guns. Still yelling.
Nora didn't like it when people yelled. It was annoying. And gave her headaches.
Headaches. A continuous pain in the head. Synonym for migraine. Migraine. She was about to get one. Migraines. She'd had a lot of those over the past while. Migrainemigraine. But it hadn't been her fault. Trask. Migraine. Not her fault. Cray. Hurt her. MigraineheadpainheadachehurttRASKFAULT.
Over the next five seconds, the 'Fabulous Four's' attention would only be focused on the reoccurring sight of the girl they'd once thought a feeble prisoner, now appearing across the room. She did so at random intervals, disabling each of the twelve guards in the process.
Moments. Like snapshots in time: that's all they remembered. One shot she was on the ceiling, hands raised over her head as she flew towards two guards on the ground. In another she was running up the wall in mid-spin, leg kicking out at her would-be assailants.
Five seconds. It felt like five years. She could've made it feel like less for them. Like less time than it had taken Peter. But her mind was wavering, which made her glitch across space.
Then it was over.
She was certainly a sight to behold. Curly mess of hair falling to her waist; grey jumpsuit hanging off one shoulder with a formerly-white tank-top underneath. Hands clenched at her sides as she looked at her "rescuers" with an intense stare.
But it was her eyes that may have scared them the most. Their brown colouring still remained, but the light that had once sparkled in them was no longer there. Her shrunken, blood-shot pupils and trembling stance gave off that of a maniac.
To a hunter, her demeanor would be akin to one of a wounded deer.
One that would not go down without a fight.
The five men stood warily at the ripped-open entrance to her cell while she cautiously looked them over.
Her brain function was so off-kilter, she only had the power to concentrate on one at a time.
The first man was rather hairy, dressed in bellbottoms and a brown leather jacket. He was staring at her, impressed, as if they had met before. But she did not know him.
The second was shorter than all the rest, he looked tired, but mildly interested. He seemed slightly familiar, even with his shaggy hair covering up much of his face.
"Hallo, Erik." Nora finally was able to make some words, sighing internally at the sight of him. She knew Erik. He was good.
At least she knew one of the people-
All they heard was a primal screech. Then Peter was sprawled on the ground; red handprint marring his face while he grabbed his kicked crotch, muttering something about 'deserving that'.
Erik wasted no time hoisting Nora up by her (metal) prisoner's belt. She was suspended in the air, and would not be able to change things -even in a time-stop.
She screamed a never-ending volley of French obscenities at her silver-haired ex. All the while, Erik tried to calm her down using the supposed 'language of love'.
She clawed at the air, desperate to get at him.
She'd had months to plan her revenge. Months of painful mental and physical torture: and nothing would stop her now.
"What's going on?" Charles muttered to Logan out of the corner of his mouth.
"Nothing you want to get in between of," just quite yet, he answered. "These three are undoubtedly a few of the most powerful mutants I've ever had the disappointment of knowing. Back in my timeline, their feuds were legendary."
"Timeline?" Charles asked.
Logan took a few steps towards Nora's writhing, still-suspended body. "If I can get her to calm down, then she might be able to explain that theory to you."
He none-too-gently nudged Erik out of the way, and quietly whispered something in Nora's ear.
Whatever he said, it made her rosy-red cheeks turn a ghostly pale. Then her body went limp in a dead faint.
"Or, you could just do that," Erik said.
He was curious as to what had been said.
Peter wouldn't let any of the other men touch Nora, and, despite their misgivings, they let him carry her to the getaway car.
One by one, they all squeezed into the back. With Logan in the passenger's seat, and Hank in the driver's, Peter was the moderator between Erik and Charles, while Erik was the same for Nora and Peter.
The drive to the airfield was -to say the least- awkward.
Hank drove the car. He had previously made arrangements for a private jet using Charles' fortune. And it didn't take a genius (or a telepath, for that matter) to tell that they both had a million questions on their mind.
After stopping momentarily for gas, they all got back into the car after stretching there legs. All except Nora that is; she was still unconscious.
The two current residents of the Xavier institute now sat in the front, while the elder time-traveller, two ex-inmates, and he speedster occupied the back.
Logan sat by the left window, Erik was squished in the middle, while Peter held Nora on the right side.
Her legs were awkwardly spread across Logan and Erik's knees while Peter cradled the rest of her close to his chest.
He moved to brush her hair aside but was stopped by a pair of deadly looking claws.
Peter stared indignantly at the supposed-time-traveler, "What's your problem?"
Logan raised one eyebrow, "My problem? My problem, bub, is that I'm pretty sure we both know she doesn't like being touched. Especially by people who've betrayed her."
"Hey! I had no choice in the matter."
"No choice? Sure you did!" Logan growled. "You didn't have to rat her out to the feds. And it sure would've made my job a lot easier," he muttered the last part.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Peter said.
"Nothing kid; I just wouldn't touch her anymore than necessary. Especially if you want any chance of making up with her."
"And just what would you know about-"
"Stop the car!" Nora was awake.
.
.
.
Five minutes earlier… (Nora-time)
The lucky part of their current situation was that Nora's tirade of revenge had been put at a standstill. (For now.)
The unlucky part of the trip was that they would have to pass through the treacherous city centre of Washington DC. It was hell on earth for any driver of average skill.
Or perhaps the unlucky part was that the six-police-car-one-semi-truck car chase had just reached its climax as their rental-chevy passed through the New York Avenue and fourteenth street intersection.
No one knows how or why this chase began. Or how it was in Washington DC. Only that it happened.
"And just what would you know about anything concerning us?!" Peter said, too agitated at this guy's nerve to pay attention to anything else.
Logan popped a cigar in his mouth, completely oblivious to the "no smoking because it's apparently dangerous" sign on the car window. "I know enough to be sure that there isn't an us anymore, kid."
Head in his hands, Charles asked, "Could we please leave the quarreling until after we are out of the car?"
Erik was about to make a comment, but then it hit them.
SCREEE—! The squeal of the oncoming semi's tires.
CRASH. The sound that was made as the two vehicles collided, one obviously dominating another. Wheels spinning out of control; glass shattering; metal crumpling.
BOOM. The fireball caused by the combination of Logan's cigar and the two gas tanks exploding into the sky.
The doors had all been locked, (a nervous habit of Hank's) so only Logan was able to make it out. Punching a window, despite his skin-less fist. He pushed aside the fact that some longtime friends of his had just died ten seconds ago, and focused on pulling Nora out with him.
It anyone was to be saved, it had to be her.
They both lay on the scorched tarmac, surrounded by the wreckage of the explosion. Cars squealed to a stop in front of the crash. People got out and were running away from the sight. Logan gasped as his lungs began to reconstruct themselves. Nora, on the other hand, writhed on the ground in what should've been the last moments of her life.
She was charred beyond belief, her skin now having the consistency and stench of burning plastic.
There was only moments left. Logan clutched Nora's hand in his, trying to squeeze a little life back into her.
"Do it now," he said, his voice barely more than a whisper. "You have to save them."
"Others…" She choked out, before curling into a bought of coughs. Others will have to die.
He knew what she was trying to say. But there was too great a price to pay for them to be lost now.
"People will die," Logan said. "But it will be for the future generations, for the greater good."
Nora squeezed her eyes shut, putting the pain of having been burned alive to memory. She briefly compared it to the heartbreak of Peter's betrayal.
Nope. Still wasn't as bad.
Did the 'bigger scheme' really matter?
Was there really a 'greater good'?
If she still had fully-functioning lungs, Nora would've sighed.
Instead, she snapped (what remained of) her fingers.
.
.
.
"I can't stop the car!" Hank cried. He motioned for Charles to hold Nora back, as she seemed to be trying to get at the parking brake. "We're in the middle of a street!"
"Fine! If you won't stop the car: then I will!"
Then, they were in a deserted back alley.
They all fell out of their frozen seated positions onto the cobblestone street.
All except Nora, who was lying in the back car seat. All of them stared in astonished confusion at the pair of sneaker-clad feet dangling out the open window.
She was breathing heavily, like she'd just done an hour's worth of heavy lifting.
"What time is it?" She asked blearily, referring to no one in particular.
"12:34," Charles answered. He was still confused as to how he'd gotten here. He also felt a little like throwing up.
Nora giggled softly, "Hehe… One, two, three, four…"
Confused, the group shook their heads at the strange comment.
The least surprised was Peter, and that came without question. Logan seemed more agitated than confused, as they were on a tight schedule. Erik still wanted to know how this girl ticked, and just exactly why he had been broken out.
Hank was probably the worst off of all of them. But he had to divert his attention to Charles, who had chosen that moment to upchuck the burger they'd had for lunch next to a dumpster.
Sighing, Nora got up and out of the car. Her image seemed to move for a second, then there was a bottle of water in her hand. "You could've at least made it to the dumpster."
She tossed the bottle to Hank, who asked, "Uh, mind telling us how we got here?"
"Not at all!" Nora opened the front and back doors, and motioned for everyone to get inside. After they moved to do so, she flopped down into the passenger seat. "I paused time; drove the car down here; then dragged all you out to safety."
"Safety? We weren't in any danger!"
"Trust the time-traveller, little man," Nora said, directing the quip at Charles.
Miffed, he was about to say something, but was stopped when Nora kept talking.
"-I saved you all from a very painful death. That! Would have happened… right.. about.. now."
The moment she said 'now' a large semi-truck sped by, followed by a series of cop cars.
"But, nothing happened," Hank questioned.
"That's because I stopped it," Nora said before a gasping and putting her head in her hands. The brunette took a deep breath; she hadn't talked this much in months.
She hasn't changed a bit, Logan chuckled to himself. Still the same old, crazy, sassy bat.
"I'd hate to break up this lovely moment," Erik drawled, noticing how Nora seemed to grow more and more tired as this interaction went on. "But aren't we on a rather tight schedule?"
After a moment, the others agreed and all clamored back into the too-small car.
.
.
.
A/N: So, if anyone is confused: I would describe Nora's time-stopping/fighting (as viewed by other people) as looking like a video game glitch. Like when you see the character appearing randomly across the screen.
And so. There's good news, and there's kind of sad/bad news.
The good news is that there will be another double-chapter update next week. (I'll stay on the regular schedule this time, I promise!)
And the sad/bad news… well… There's only about five or six more chapters left in this story :( I know how bad that sounds. But trust me, some of them are quite long, and they all cover quite a lot of ground in wrapping up this story.
Jeez… It feels so weird to say that. Anyways, thank ya'll for reading. This probably counts as a cliff-hanger for you, but if you think about it: all they really do now is drive to the plane -and the stuff that happens after that is a completely different story… ;)