We worked well together. It would have been easier if we didn't. Maybe if he didn't block the hits coming at my six before I was aware of them. Maybe if he didn't refuse to even contemplate one more plan involving my dying I'd be able to ignore every single instinct in me telling me to leap into his arms as soon as we're somewhere safe.
I watch him stalk away from the security room I'm holed up in through the cameras. He wore the same asymmetrical cape from DC but otherwise kept it simple with a black long sleeved shirt and dark jeans. It would help me not be attracted to him if he wasn't so knee-bendingly handsome.
The attraction was mutual though and that brought some semblance of comfort. I liked the solidarity of us being idiots and attracted to the wrong person. That attraction came with reluctance though. Both of us knew that acknowledging the tension wouldn't bring any good to the world. In the immediate future, that's what we both cared about. Our distant futures were very different. He would wake me up from nightmares of an alien planet and some Titan launching a moon at me. I'd wake him up from nightmares of Nazis killing his friends. I need to get back, and I have a feeling he can't follow me.
After last night, things were messy. We both know what's going to happen. I always wondered if people would leave Pompeii if they knew the volcano was going to erupt. After last night, I have a feeling they wouldn't. Falling for him and then leaving him behind is a volcanic eruption that's bound to happen. Yet here I am...and here he is too.
Better to concentrate on work. I'm about to turn around and take advantage of their audio network but a guard slips down the hallway avoiding Erik and heading right to me. I go to meet him at the door but as soon as I stand he falls to the ground, a bullet in his back. Maybe if he wasn't so good at his job. I turn my focus to the audio equipment.
"Hello employees of the Peter K Memorial Military Base. Welcome to the main event," I croan into the base's sound system. Erik is on his way to the containment zone so I am getting everyone away and subdued. It's not like he couldn't handle them if I didn't.
"What we are going to do is set our guns down gently on the ground," I coach, pouring the concentration into my voice. "Not like they'd do you much good anyways," I add absently seeing about half of the people at the base doing as I said. I need the charm to be stronger.
I start to hum a lullaby I heard long ago, turning the hum into soft notes. Something haunting, and coupled with the raspy clear tone of my salt stained voice, the charm sunk in the rest of the way and the base stood there, hypnotised everyone stood, staring at the space in front of them. Even Erik got caught up in the charm for a second, his pace faltering. Low chuckles broke through my humming and I watched as he shook it off and continued. Who's got a horrible singing voice now?
"Look down at your shirt," I command, and everyone does, even the Enhanced in surveilled areas. This was a big base though, most of them are kept away, out of sight of the cameras just in case someone got their hands on the tape. "If you are not wearing gray, stand against the wall," I direct, giving them a few seconds to do so.
"Now turn and face it. If you move, you're going to be shot in the head," I tell them even though it isn't true. "When someone comes and handcuffs you, you can speak, until then, not a word. Stare at the wall and think about what you did. You tortured and killed hundreds of innocent people. 75% of which were children under 15. Whatever happens after today, you are going to rot."
My words weigh heavily as all the employees follow directions. They're stiff as they stare at the walls in front of them. Someone will come and clear the place out soon after we leave. We've been coordinating with Raven and a few other mutants. They'll get everyone to safety and then ensure everyone here that deserves punishment will receive it. Getting the kids to safety is the most important thing.
"Mutants," I call out after hesitating on the word. They need a better one. I may be biased but I like enhanced. "Stay calm, my associate will be along shortly. Follow his directions and we'll get you to safety. I know you have questions but please hold onto them, if you need medical attention we will make sure you get it. No one gets left behind, help each other," I urge, my voice losing the anger and instead offering comfort.
A truck approaches the exterior gate of the base and I frown. Somewhere I should be able to open the gate for them. Of course, I don't know if I should. It could just be more trouble. However, if that's a truckload of more unfortunate enhanced individuals, they're a part of this mission.
"I don't have you on the delivery sheet, what's your cargo, driver?" I ask with a little bit of power once I find the gate intercom. I need an answer. The indecision to answer the question will be enough for me to completely invade.
"It's fine, it's me," the driver says, shaking their head like a bug flew into their face. I narrow my eyes not understanding who 'me' is supposed to be. This dude looks like a standard soldier, well, maybe more like a tool than usual but not familiar. A few seconds pass and the guy turns into a blue skinned girl with red slicked back hair. "Erik said you were a hypnotist, I didn't believe him."
"He didn't say you were coming," I accuse. If Erik is keeping secrets from me I am going to rip his tongue out.
"Plans changed last minute. He didn't know. Stryker is sending in reinforcements, they'll be here in an hour so we need to expedite their escape," she explains and I open the gate, allowing her truck to pass through.
Erik is emerging from the containment area with a gaggle of followers in drab grey standard issue jump suits. Some of them look worse for wear and only a few look semi-healthy but no one looks to be in too bad shape. I hum one last riff into the announcement system and then start making my way to Erik. There's still two more much more populated containment zones to get through and Raven is right, we've got to expedite.
With that thought pushing me forward, I start to run. The employees might as well be statues, none of them moving from their spots as I bound past behind them. I round the last corner and come face to face with a sheet of metal. Forcing a chuckle instead of some creative threats, I knock it to the side and it falls to the ground. If he hadn't realized who it was, it would have hit me but he figured out in the nick of time.
"What's wrong?" Erik asks as soon as I meet his eyes.
"We're going to have company within an hour, Raven's here to help with extraction. I'll take this group and be back to help with the other two. You remember the way?" I explain quickly. He nods and I turn to the weary enhanced people behind him. There are about 20 in this group. Two of them being held up by others but all relatively alright. If the other two areas follow suit, Erik can get them out faster than I could.
"Alright guys, you're going to follow me now," I explain. "We've got to move quickly. If you need help, be vocal, alright?" I ask, searching their faces for confusion or fear. I make note of who might need help as I do so but don't bring it up. They nod in response and I lead the way back towards where I came from, giving Erik a confident nod before he goes in the other direction.
This group was made up of younger teens and four older teens. The older kids helped out the best they could but they were in bad shape too. When Raven rounded the corner at the other end of a long hallway I felt relieved. Hopefully there were friends in the back of that truck she rode in on and hopefully they were highjacking other vehicles right now. The Enhanced would need a fast exit.
"Erik's got two more areas to go through, I'm not sure how many Enhanced they've got locked up but I hope you brought more drivers with you," I tell her.
"Yeah we've got five more trucks that we're working on right now. We'll be okay," she confirms.
"You take these guys, I'm going to go help Erik. I've got a bad feeling."
"Hey," she calls out, stopping me after I reassure the group before bounding off. "It's nice to meet you."
"You too," I tell her with a smirk before running off.
That bad feeling turned out to be some really buff dude leaning against one of the cages in the third containment area. Erik hadn't gotten here yet, I can only hope he isn't too far behind.
"You're a pretty one," the man says, baring thin fangs.
"What are you? A vampire?" I ask sarcastically. Meanwhile, I'm measuring him up. He's big, and despite the thick coat, mostly muscle. I don't think this will be a quick fight.
"You've got quite a mouth on you, frail."
"Frail? Jeez you're truly an old man, aren't ya?" I murmur, my voice turning sweet. He closes his eyes and breathes in. Perhaps I can convince him to play nice. I don't think he has the constitution though.
"Sweet like honey, maybe I'll keep you for a while," he states, his nails growing out. Whoever he is, he's a nail technician's nightmare. I bet he and Logan would absolutely adore each other. But the nails/claws mean he doesn't so much rely on punching to do the dirty work like Logan. He probably lunges a lot, takes swipes at his opponent, throwing his weight around instead of keeping to one place.
"That sounds creepy, great job," I tell him, taking a few steps to the side to get a better look at the Enhanced contained behind them. Four rows of five, glass walls separating them and barely enough room to stretch their arms out, definitely not enough room to lie down in. Maybe 16 of them, but in the worst shape. The few conscious of the world around them looked panicked. The intercom system might not have connected here. I start humming as I concoct a plan.
"What are you doing, working at a place like this?" I ask him, I know the answer though. Money.
"A man's got to make a living."
"Money...so dirty isn't it?"
"Sounds like you don't have any."
"I prefer to take what I want, so am I going to have to kill you, or are you going to stand aside? I think it would be best if you sat this one out," I suggest putting power into my words. I hide my shock when they don't seem to phase him. He's not open to suggestion in the slightest. Guess this is going down the hard way.
"Frail, I don't sit out of fights," he says with a fanged grin.
"That's too bad. You seem to have a lot more to lose," I tell him, matching his grin.
He snarls and charges. He might be as fast as Steve. Might be. I duck to the side and stick my leg out. Fast enough to catch him off guard. I guess he wasn't expecting this to be an actual fight.
He gets to his feet quickly and I start humming to "Shoot to Thrill" the words forming as we start to trade blows. The hypnotic tones of my voice make him sluggish enough that I can keep up. If it weren't for my soothing voice I'm fairly certain I'd be dead and growing back body parts. The door I just came through opens and I don't need to look to know who it is. It's got to be Erik. When the man looks I take the opening and using his distraction I flip him over me in a move Natasha taught me herself. Erik immediately incapacitates the man, pulling metal off the cells to hold him down.
"Are you alright?" He asks immediately, looking me over. His hands trace the new slashes in my turtleneck and pants, wet with my blood. He got me a total of three times, and missed much more. It didn't matter now though, he was taken care of and they were already partially healed. By the time we left the base I would be good as new.
"Right as rain, thanks for the assist," I chirp with a smile. In his eyes I can see a promise that he's going to bring this up later. He turns to the cages and unlocks them all, the doors swinging open with ease.
"Alright everyone, we're getting you out of here," I soothe the few that stepped out. The closest was a young girl maybe around ten, her head shaved revealing scarring across her skull. She must've been here ages for them to have done that and heal from it.
"Are you an angel?" She asks.
"Hardly, what's your name sweetie?"
"Hannah."
"Well Hannah, you seem like a brave girl, do you think you can help me?" I ask her, eyeing the boy with spikes coming out of his back peering out of his cell a few down. She nods and I offer her my hand. She takes it and we walk past some of the oblivious Enhanced and stop a little bit away from the little boy's cell.
"Hi, I'm Elysium and this is my friend Hannah, we're going to get out of here would you like to come with?" I ask him softly. He nods and I gesture for him to come forward. "Now you two stick together alright? Go follow my friend Erik over there and he will keep you safe," I direct them pointing to the man in question.
There were two more kids that were conscious and able to walk so I sent them to Hannah and the little boy. A few of the older kids helped out but there were still nine Enhanced left that wouldn't be able to make it out on their own. None of the other Enhanced we just freed would be able to help them out either.
"You take these guys ahead, I'll stay here and make sure Victor stays put. Send Raven back with as many as she can spare," he orders.
"Victor?" I ask and Erik nods to the snarling vampire I was fighting when he came in. "Oh right. Careful, he doesn't like being called a vampire," I add with a wink.
I carry out a kid on my hip that had been unconscious in her cell and direct another woman I suspect to be in her early thirties with my free hand. She could walk but she wasn't all there in the head. Everyone falls into step behind me but I've got to keep my pace rather slow. Stryker is going to be here soon. Halfway there, I run into Raven again.
"There are 8 Enhanced back with Erik, all unconscious or unable to walk. If any of the people you brought back can help, we need it," I explain to her without stopping. When we reach her she falls into step.
"Two trucks have already left and the third probably has by now too. I've got two more guys but I don't want to leave them completely vulnerable if something happens," Raven says, giving a pointed look to the soldiers lined up facing the walls. Fair enough.
"Maybe Erik can figure something out," I tell her. "We're short on time. Oh also Erik has some guy named Victor detained right now."
"Victor Creed?"
"Sure?"
"Alright," she mutters grimly before running ahead. We're in sight of the remaining two trucks when she and another one of her guys runs past. I meet the remaining Enhanced by one of the trucks. They help me load up everyone and once they're relatively set, I give Raven's guy a nod and then run back to the containment area.
I reach the containment area and see Erik fashioning metal stretchers. As gently as possible I help them pull the enhanced out of their cells and onto the stretchers. Keeping the same calm tones I hum and ease some of the anguish on their faces. When one of my colleagues falters in their task I snap a few times in front of their faces and they snap out of it. We get to the last two mutants and there are no more stretchers.
I look up at Erik and see him staring off into space. Hiding a smile I shake my head and nimbly maneuver over to him. Snapping doesn't wake him up. I tap his cheek lightly a couple times and he blinks, coming out of it. Just in case, I don't speak. He nods though and I return as a new stretcher makes its way next to the next Enhanced. I glance at Victor and he's stopped struggling, gazing off into space in a similar manner as Erik had been. I'm not going to wake him up though.
We watch the trucks leave the base and ten minutes later, Stryker's reinforcements arrive, a helicopter in the sky leading them. Erik gives me a confident smile that I return then turns his attention to the various vehicles. That assured look takes over his face and I watch him as he sends the helicopter to the ground and sends the trucks into the ditch. Happy with the property damage, he wraps an arm around my waist and he lifts us into the air.