Of Thieves and Martyrs: Chapter 27
X~X~X~X
"Being with you was the only peace I knew"
She kept hearing John's words and the closer Rogue got to Tante Mattie the more she let herself believe how true it was, that in a lifetime of war they can finally find some peace. She was so close she can feel how real it was, everything she wanted for John. The simple house, the terrible minimum wage jobs, a completely selfish life without worldly responsibilities and duty.
The air felt really dry, a little more dry than usual. She smelled a faint scent of burnt grass and leaves and the closer she got to the small cottage the stronger the scent. She didn't think too much of it because the only thoughts in her mind were of John and how after everything, they were able to find each other.
Arriving at the front door she noticed that it was wide open, the locks being smashed in, she felt her heart beat quicken and knew something was wrong.
"JOHN!" She screamed and went running into the house. "JOHN!" She collapsed onto his empty bed and grabbed at the sheets. She was so close, they were so close that she made her heart believe that they could have had it all and now he was gone again. She held the sheets close to her face and inhaled his lingering scent.
"I just don't get it," she heard a callous yet all too familiar voice speak up from the door behind her. Turning around, she saw Belladonna circling the bed, looking at her. "You're so average and yet men like John and Remy fall to their knees for you."
Belladonna had on a dark dress with a long black jacket over it. Her body was adorned with all kinds of jewelry from the large diamond necklace she wore to the gold drop earrings. She was a statuesque beauty and here was Rogue in her ripped jeans and plan shirt, eyes puffy from crying.
If the two of them walked into a bar together anyone can see that Belladonna was the prize to be had and Rogue was well, she was just Rogue, a simple girl with simple needs.
"Where's John?" Rogue tearfully asked desperately hoping for answers.
"Don't worry, you'll see him soon enough. Once Stryker is finished with him that is."
"Stryker has him?" She got up aggressively and walked over to Belladonna, finding strength from some unknown source. "Where did Stryker take him?"
"Not far, in fact I'd dare say that John is right under our noses."
"Take me to him!" Rogue screamed.
"Back off," Belladonna said and pushed Marie away. "I don't have to take you anywhere. You have no power over me."
"Please," Rogue begged her, "just let me see him, I'll do anything." She understood the power Belladonna has, she was Guild member and beautiful. From early on Rogue knew just what beauty and power can do to a person. She had seen it in Emma Frost and now she was seeing it in Belladonna.
"There's nothing I want from you," Belladonna said coldly, "there's nothing you can give me that I don't already have. But luckily for you, someone else finds you useful."
Slowly Belladonna started walking away and all Rogue can do was just watch her. "If you want to see John, you'd better follow me. I'm not going to stop for you."
Slowly she followed Belladonna down the hall leading to a door that lead down the steps to the basement. The basement was dark with the stench of mold and dead leaves. She also smelled traces of cigars and cholorfoam. It was an odd combination and it made her skin crawl.
But there in the faintest of light, she saw John on an operating table and looming over him was Stryker.
"What are you doing to him!" She shouted and ran as quickly as she can over there before two of Stryker's bodyguards grabbed her and stopped her in her tracks. "STAY AWAY FROM HIM!"
"We're just trying to fix him for you, my dear," Stryker said with a slight grin that made Rogue nervous. "We have to undo what the witch did to him."
"What are you talking about?" At this point there was nothing but fear in Rogue's eyes and without realizing it, her hands frosted over slightly, not enough for her captors to notice but enough for her to remember the evolution of her powers.
"That stupid Hellion Emma Frost had his memories warped. We need to fix that, luckily you're just the girl to do that." Stryker said and approached her, digging into her jacket pocket and taking out the elixir of life.
"Why would Emma do that? She wanted him dead, she was the reason why he-why he-" She couldn't get herself to say it. She didn't want to remember his broken and battered body as she watch the life slip away from him.
"Emma Frost is a fool. She can't stop progress. We live in a world of modern science and it was only inevitable that I would find the key to evolution." Stryker said it with such pride and glory that it made Rogue nervous and even more so terrified of what his vision was. "I always thought Wolverine was my magnum opus but it wasn't until Sebastian Shaw told me about you and John. A mutant that can steal another mutant's powers and a mutant that can create energy. Oh the many dormant powers you have stored in that DNA of yours and what I can do with it."
"If you want me that's fine, just please let John go, you don't need him," she pleaded.
"Oh but I do," he said as he walked around to John's operating table. He walked to the front and towered above John's face, taking a small flashlight out and examining John's pupils. "Lots of eye movement there, no doubt plagued by his suppressed memories. See, John is a special mutant, not unlike yourself. Historically, he has been able to just manipulate fire but believe it or not, it's in his DNA to create fire, energy, we just need to unleash it."
Rogue kept looking around, trying to find something, anything that she can use to make her escape with John. He'd be much to heavy for her to carry by herself, she was hoping that maybe just maybe Stryker will revive him and they can run away together.
"A mutant that can create energy, do you know what that means?" He said so proudly.
"Of course she doesn't," Belladonna chimed in. "Do you think someone like her can understand what kind of power that is?"
"No but you can, can't you?" Rogue stared at Belladonna, almost wanting to blame her for everything that is happening to John. "That's why you went after Remy, that's why you wanted John, all you want is power and you'll use anything to get it. But John belongs to me, not you. There's nothing in this world or the next that will keep him from me."
She was expecting anger, resentment, anything but what Belladonna did next. She just laughed in an unpleasantly and almost hateful manner. "Do you think someone like John would turn away from power for you? Do you believe for one second that if I can offer him the world, he would turn it all away for you? Don't be naive Rogue, he's not a fool like Remy. He knows where he belongs and where he wants to be."
"No, you're wrong," Rogue said confidently, remember the train tickets and bag full of cash that John had ready for them, a symbol of his unwavering love for her and willingness to give it all up for her. "When he wakes up he's going to find me, no matter what he will always find me."
"WILL YOU TWO SHUT UP!" Stryker loudly yelled. "It's time to get started," he said and took out the elixir of life and started to mix it with an unknown substance.
"What are you doing?" Rogue demanded.
"Restoring what was taken from him. His memories and ergo the driver of his evolving powers." Ever so slowly, Stryker used a thin needle to inject the solution into John's IV. Everyone could see the serum taking effect because within minutes John's body started to painfully convulse and his eyes and face scrunched and twitched in pain.
X~X~X~X
"I can manipulate fire"
"When people touch my skin something happens to them, they get hurt. I don't want to hurt you."
"Just trust me"
"Henri, mind your brother, John, he's only 10"
"Dad, I'm not 10, I'm 11 now."
"I want to know what I have"
"You had me"
Nothing was making sense to John. His entire life was in pieces and it was hard for him to put it together. He kept seeing three different lives that he had lived, each one so different yet familiar.
"Do you ever think about the future? What do you see?"
"I see you."
"It doesn't matter if you're a mutant, John. You're my son and that's never going to change. You're a Lebeau, remember that."
"I will, always, dad."
"Pretty ugly, isn't it?"
"I think you're beautiful."
"Don't ever leave me, John."
He kept seeing a life with Marie, a sweetly simple one with blue collar jobs and a small apartment. The life that could eventually lead to children that looked like them and all the ordinary days in the world. He also felt the presence of war and death and destruction. An uncertain life where even the magic of two young people in love could not withstand the harshness of reality. Then just through the cracks between those two lives he could see and feel the bond between a father and son, Jean-Luc and himself and the pride he had for belonging to the Thieve's Guild. Gradually, the life of war and death began to get clearer and clearer and the feeling of hopelessness became more present.
"I think you'd had enough fun, Stryker," He heard a very unfamiliar voice and tried to open his eyes but the weight of the world kept them closed. "Let John go or I blow up this place," the voice continued with a thick cajun accent.
"You wouldn't dare, Remy," he heard Belladonna question.
"You don't think so? Belle? Remember, how much of a scoundrel I am," the voice said again and he could feel warmth from a sense of energy.
"Fine!" A strong older male voice said. "You can have John, just step away from my work," he said and can hear footsteps. Ever so slowly he felt someone grab him and lift him across their shoulders.
"Rogue, let's go!" He heard more shouting and glass shattering.
"NOOOOOO!" Rogue screamed and her voice pierced through him. He felt a pinch on his arm as the IV line got ripped from his veins. His body felt nothing but the bitterness of the cold and he felt his heart stopping momentarily before his mind slipped from him.
