Two Days Later...
If I'd ever thought that travel was fast I'd been dead wrong. These past two days had dragged on. And what had made it even worse was that no one would tell me where we were going. Stryker, or William as he'd asked me to call him, kept telling me that it was being kept a secret from me to protect me. I had tried to slip into William's mind to discover where we were going but he had merely laughed and told me not to bother trying. I'd never met someone that had known what I was doing. For whatever reason it only increased my faith in him.
It was obvious that we were heading north. It wasn't clear to me yet as to where we were going but it had to be a place outside of New York. We had gotten out of New York yesterday. We were slowly running through the different cities and each of the men that were traveling with us made sure that we stayed on back roads. I assumed that it was making our travels even slower.
Yesterday we had passed over the borders into Canada. The sign was standing tall as we passed into the borders. It had taken nearly an hour to actually make it through. The entire time William had been warning me to stay low and not reveal myself. It had made me nervous that if we were caught something terrible would happen to us. I wasn't sure if they would arrest us or kill us. It didn't matter. My fears had been quelled as we passed over into Canada and continued driving. We were now somewhere in Saskatchewan. Or at least that was where we had been when I last checked. William hadn't spoken about our destination at all since we had passed into Canada.
As I leaned onto the window I saw my breath fog up the glass slightly. It was still in the eighties back in Brooklyn. But in Canada the average temperatures in the afternoons were in the upper fifties or lower sixties. I supposed I was going to have to get used to the colder weather. Although I wasn't even sure how long I was going to be with William and his men. Hopefully not long. There were things that I had to do and people that I had to get back to see.
Some part of me thought that I had been too irrational when I had dropped everything to run away. But I had been afraid. As much as I liked to pretend that I was an adult who knew exactly what she was doing I knew that I was still a child. Barely even a teenager. I made choices without even thinking. But William wasn't all that bad. He had gotten me out of the alleyway and out of danger without a thought as to what could happen to him. He really wasn't that bad of a guy. I was just paranoid. Especially since I had left four boys in the back of a grimy alley, all of them looking half dead. I shook the images of them out of my mind and forced myself to remember that they had all deserved it.
The truck gave a little lurch and I jumped, banging my head on the glass. As I was cursing the driver mentally I glanced out the window. My heart gave a little twinge as we passed a small stand on the side of the road. They were selling red apples and I smiled. Apples had always been Bucky's favorite fruit. More than once I had chucked an apple at him in the morning after he had either woken me up in some stupid way or made fun of me. Steve would usually get an orange chucked at his head for laughing. Oranges were softer.
We stopped short at a small hut off of the side of the main road and I went flying forward. My chest hit the seat in front of me and the guard that was sitting in the seat turned back to me with a glare. He asked me if I was alright and I nodded, letting myself slip into his mind. Stupid, clumsy girl. My teeth ground together but I managed to keep my mouth shut. A few men jumped out of the truck, each going to either use the restroom or getting food for lunch. One of the men promised to get me a sandwich while he was inside and I thanked him. They had already told me that I wasn't allowed to walk anywhere in public.
Clearly they thought that I was not alright to go into anywhere even mildly public. I didn't understand why though. We were far enough away from Brooklyn that no one here would know who I was. Or at least I didn't think that anyone knew who I was. "Do you know what Roanoke is?" William asked me. It was the first time that I had heard him speak in hours.
I jumped slightly at the sudden sound of his voice and knitted my eyebrows at the strange question. Of course I knew what Roanoke was. We had learned about it for a short while in one of my history classes. "Yes," I finally answered, sensing that William was getting sick of waiting for me to speak. "Roanoke is the doomed first colony of America. It was established in the sixteenth century but the colony failed. No one really knows what happened but a massacre is in the theories. One day everyone just disappeared from the colony, no traces, never to be seen again. Roanoke is down in North Carolina," I said suspiciously.
I couldn't think for the life of me why William was asking me about Roanoke. Not when we were headed towards the western edge of Canada. Unless we were going to turn around and head south going to North Carolina, asking about Roanoke made no sense. "Well done," William said with a smile. If only all of my teachers had the same reactions when I saw something that no one else should know. "I don't suppose that I should be surprised that you know all of this. You're smart. Far smarter than anyone else your age. It's why you made the right choice to come with me," William told me proudly.
It was almost like a father talking to his daughter. It wasn't something that I could ever recall my father saying to me. He was never proud of me. He was never proud to be my father. It was why he was not my father. I had no father. No one more than Mr. Rogers and Mr. Barnes. "Where are we going?" I snapped at William. I had had enough of not knowing what was happening.
William was sitting in the front passenger seat with myself being allowed to spread out in the back. "I'll tell you when we get there," William said, not bothering to look back at me.
"Where are we going?" I repeated. I was never a fan of being ignored.
He stayed silent and I growled underneath my breath. I hated not knowing where we were going. The guards left the building that we had stopped at and I watched them hop into the trucks once more, starting them up quickly. One of the guards handed me a glass bottle of Coca-Cola and I thanked him softly. He went to hand me the bottle opener but I had already peeled off the bottle cap. The guard smirked at me before letting out a little breath of air through his nose. Not bad for a kid. I smiled at the man's thoughts before leaning back in the seat.
I took a few gulps of the soda before William finally turned back to me. I placed the bottle in between my legs and looked up at the older man. "Have you ever been to Alberta?" William asked me.
"Canada?" I asked, feeling slightly stupid. It was probably the first time that I'd felt stupid in years. William nodded at me and I took a deep breath. Alberta was pretty damned far from Brooklyn. Almost a forty hour drive. "No. I've never been outside of Brooklyn," I finally admitted.
When I was younger I had always wanted to travel. My parents had told me when I was young that their favorite place to go was Wakanda. Apparently it was a hidden gem in the world. One day I intended to go there as well. "Well you will now," William told me. My eyebrow cocked and I nodded. I had no clue why we were going all the way out to Canada. It made my stomach roil with nerves. "The reason that I asked you about Roanoke is because that's where our base used to be set up. Roanoke was a good place to be. Tiny population. Only over a hundred people. No one asks questions," William told me.
That did seem to make sense. I wasn't even aware that anyone lived in Roanoke anymore. I had always thought that it was left abandoned out of due respect to the families that lost their lives there. As my thoughts raced through my mind I thought back to what William had said about a base. "What base?" I asked.
Instead of looking offended that I clearly wasn't trusting him, William simply shrugged and turned back to face me. "A smaller version of the base that we're headed to now. The base in Roanoke was destroyed. You'll find no record of it in any book or in any military records," he told me.
It was clear that William thought that he could trust me. He wouldn't be telling me any of this if he didn't trust me. But I still didn't trust him. And I hated not being able to trust someone. "Is this a military operation?" I asked him, slightly curious.
I had never been fond of the military. They were the types of people that had run me out of my home. They were the people who had destroyed everything. Long before my parents had. And now I found myself in their grasp. And it was my fault for being here in the first place. "In a way, yes," William said flippantly.
Like expected, I didn't like the way that he said it. I was not fond of the way that he seemed to be brushing off all of my questions. "What do you mean 'in a way'?" I asked.
For a moment I thought that he wasn't going to answer me. It seemed to be the way that these last two days had gone. Whenever I would ask a question it would get brushed off. "Victoria, you are a damned smart girl," William told me. I nodded at him slowly. Of course I was! "My program is not government sanctioned however it is run by the government. Funded, I mean," he told me when I had knitted my eyebrows together in confusion. "They aren't quite sure what we're doing here and that's for the best. Trust me," he said.
Trust him? I trusted him as far as he could throw me. And I didn't like that no one knew what we were doing out here. What if something went wrong? No one would be around to help if we had any problems. "Why is it for the best?" I asked William, hoping that he would answer me. I couldn't read his mind for whatever reason. Everyone else was easy. I didn't like that William's was the only one that I couldn't.
William sighed and urged the man to drive faster. We had just arrived in Alberta a few minutes ago. I was sure that we had to be getting close to the base seeing how antsy some of the guards were getting. "Because the common citizens are afraid of people like you. You aren't the only one but you are one of the most impressive that I've met." My mind raced at his words. People like you. That meant that there were others. There had to be others. But where were they? "For the most part you've all been kept in secret. I want that to be changed. I want people to know who you are. I want them to respect you," he told me.
His words seemed earnest but I couldn't think for the life of me why he would want to help me. As far as I could tell he was normal. He wasn't like me. So why was he willing to put his life on the line for me? "Why?" I asked him with narrowed eyes.
For the first time in a day I saw a smile fall across William's face. It looked almost wrong on him. "Because I see the untapped potential in you. You have the chance to change the world. I know that you do," he told me. I almost wanted to laugh. I didn't have the power to do anything other than nearly kill myself and everyone around me. I wasn't safe. I wasn't strong. "It's why I'm so glad that you've decided to trust me," he added.
I didn't trust him. But I wasn't about to tell him that. I didn't want to see what was going to happen if I did tell him that I didn't trust him. "What happened to the base in Roanoke?" I asked. William raised his eyebrows and I narrowed my eyes at him. "You said that it was destroyed. By who?" I asked.
"Me," William told me. At least he was honest. But as my eyes narrowed in distrust William continued to speak. "The rest of the people that were involved in the program. Trust me, it was for the best. We had to protect ourselves. People started to become curious on what we were doing. Once they discovered what we were doing there and who we had under our protection they attacked. Despite the fact that Roanoke is a small area in the country everyone knows each other. Rumors spread fast. We had to leave. There had to be no evidence of us," he told me. So it was somewhat of a forced evacuation.
My jaws were clenched together as I thought about what he had said. They had been attacked by the townspeople. It was exactly the reason that I had never told Bucky and Steve what I was. I couldn't deal with what might have happened if they didn't accept me. My own parents hadn't. Why should they? "Did everyone make it out alive?" I finally gathered the courage to ask.
"Yes," William answered almost immediately. My heart felt like a lead weight had been lifted off of it and I nodded at him. At least no one had died. "Some are at our new base and others have gone out into the world. The world isn't ready for people like you yet. But with my help, they will be," William told me proudly.
I wanted to tell him that no one in the world would ever be ready for people like me. They were all eggs. The were all cowardly people that couldn't stand someone who might be stronger than them. "What exactly do you do with people like me?" I asked him slowly and suspiciously.
William shook his head and smiled at me. I watched as we pulled off of the highway into a very clearly rural section of Alberta. "I already told you, Victoria. I take people like you and I save them. I teach them to use their extraordinary gifts and how to blend in with the real world. When the time comes I let them out to change the world," he told me. Then why haven't I seen any of them before? "Give it a few years and you'll be outside along all of your brothers and sisters," he continued, oblivious to my thoughts.
Brothers and sisters. I had grown up an only child. Bucky and Steve were the closest things I'd ever had to brothers. But siblings knew everything about each other. And Steve and Bucky were missing one very large part of my life story. "Is Alberta where your new facility is?" I finally asked, my heart giving a painful lurch at the thought of the two boys I had left without another word.
"Yes." I guess that meant that for now my new home was going to Alberta. Damn... I'd always hated Canada. It was too cold. It was even colder than New York. "We've been at this new facility for a few years now. It's out in the woods. No one to bother us and no one to question what it is that we're doing. We're nearly there now. Be there in a few minutes," William told me.
They lived on the edge of the woods, away from any of the larger towns of Alberta. That was a good idea. If this was as dangerous as it seemed it was definitely for the best that this operation was away from any developed cities. "How many people do you have in your program?" I asked out of curiosity. Were there hundreds of other people like me or just a few?
William turned to me with a smile. "Many." It wasn't an answer but it was better than nothing. At least that told me that there were quite a few people like me in the world. "Most no longer live in the building that we're heading to. Many I've already released into the world. There are currently three that I will have you working with and speaking to," he told me. I nodded and let out a breath. Three people. After fourteen years I was finally going to meet three people like me. "They will help you learn how to control yourself. They will help you harness your powers," he added on.
This was something that could take years. It could take the rest of my life. Was he really willing to work with me for that long? "I don't even know what most of my powers are," I said abashedly. Despite what William said I knew that I was going to be one of, if not the weakest person.
Instead of laughing at me William gave me a soft smile. "You aren't the first person to come into the program without a clue towards what it is that they can do," he told me. I supposed that was a good thing. At least I wasn't going to be the only person to mortify myself the first time that I showed my true self. "With time we will be able to help you. I will be able to help you," William told me.
I nodded, hoping that he was right. I didn't intend to spend the rest of my life training to keep my powers under control. "What is this program called?" I asked William. Maybe a stupid question, but I wanted to know.
Despite the fact that I couldn't see the guard that was currently driving us through a rocky part of the woods I knew that he was rolling his eyes at me. But it didn't matter. William nodded at me and smiled. "We call it the Chi Protocol." That didn't give anything away as towards what it was. But I supposed that could be a good thing for them. "It's hard to decipher exactly what it is. That's good. It keeps people from spying on us. Not that they could. It's a highly protected building. No one gets in without my approval," he told me.
"And what about out?" I asked him before I could stop myself.
If my words had offended William he didn't say anything to show it. Instead he smirked and radioed to the people in the other truck. It was a bunch of military terms that I didn't understand. William finally turned back to me and nodded. "Clever girl. You'll be free to leave if that's ever what you choose, Victoria. But I advise you that staying with me, with the people who understand you, is the best option," he told me.
Free to leave. At least that meant that this was voluntary. And as much as I hated to admit it he was right. It was best that I stayed here. These people knew me. They could fight with me. "I understand. And what do you call people like me? Do you have an actual name for us?" I asked him curiously.
We'd just been calling ourselves people like me. It made me feel more than a little silly. "Mutants," William answered me with a soft smile. Mutants. The name brought a small smile to my face. "That's what the world calls you. That's what they will call you when they realize that you're more than a fairy tale. Mutation; it's the key to our evolution. It has enabled us to evolve into the dominant species on the planet. This process normally takes thousands and thousands of years. But every few hundred millennia, evolution leaps forward. We're in a time of evolutionary development right now. It will only get stronger over the years. We aren't exactly sure what causes the mutations. Some are born. Others are gifted. Born are more common," he told me.
I was born. I could always remember having the yellow eyes. Everything else too. It had only developed in age. My face fell though as the word continued to run through my head. Mutant was not a good name. It sounded like an insult. "Mutant... It sounds almost, dirty," I told William softly.
William shrugged his shoulders. "For now. But the day will come that people will know that mutants are their saviors. You can help advance everything." My eyebrows cocked at his words. What could I possibly help with? As far as they were concerned I couldn't do anything. I was just a danger. "Medicine, technology, weaponry, and education! The world will be stunned when they see people like you," he told me with a laugh.
I shook my head. They would run in fear. Just the way that Johnathan and his cronies had. Maybe I could help. But they would always be too afraid to let me. "So are we all the same? We're all born with these powers. The ones that I have," I mentioned, not wanting to keep thinking about people in the outside world.
William shook his head at me and I let out a little breath. This thing got more complicated the longer that I listened. I wasn't sure that I would ever figure it out. "No. Not the ones that you have. Each mutant has different powers. Some are common. Increased speed and strength. Intelligence beyond human capability," he told me and I nodded. So I supposed that I was a more common mutant. "Others are rare. Elemental control. Mind manipulation." Maybe not. "We rank mutants on how powerful they are," William told me.
They ranked mutants? But what decided on how powerful a mutant was? Perhaps there was a system. "What are the rankings?" I asked William, hoping that he knew.
William let out a deep breath before nodding at me. "Very little is actually known about the classifications. They've actually existed for millennia, since nearly the beginning of time. I'll try to explain them the best that I can," he told me and I nodded. "The first of the classes is Zeta level. They're the least powerful. They carry the X Gene but themselves do not classify as mutants," he informed me.
So it was possible to have the mutant gene but not actually be a mutant? I had a theory on what he meant but I wasn't sure. "So they're the type that their children or grandchildren have the potential to be a mutant?' I asked, hoping that I wasn't wrong. I hated being wrong.
"Exactly," William told me with a nod. I smiled and motioned for him to continue speaking. "Epsilon level is next. They possess very little to no special abilities. Their mutations very heavily negatively affect their lives. It's usually physical. They're hunted down. Most have to be put into protection programs or go into hiding." My stomach churned at the thought of them. They were hunted down like animals. And unfairly. "Delta level comes after them. They aren't detrimental like the Epsilon levels but they also aren't powerful. They do have powers. For the most part they can blend into normal life." At least they weren't hunted. "Gamma level is next. They possess harmful mutations coupled with superhuman abilities. They can very rarely pass as human." They were probably hunted down as well. "Beta levels follow them. They're powerful but typically have a minor hamper. Anything from a physical deformity to the inability to turn their powers on and off." Perhaps I was Beta. I did have difficulty with my powers sometimes. "Alpha levels are after them. They're some of the most powerful mutants. Think like Beta level but without the drawbacks. That's not to say that they can't have impairments though," William told me.
Maybe there was even a chance that I was an Alpha. But I was sure that I wasn't that powerful. William's eyes flitted to the floor for a moment and my eyes narrowed. I didn't need to be able to slip into his mind to know that he wasn't telling me the whole truth. "There's another level, isn't there? One that you aren't telling me about," I snarled at him.
We had to be completely honest with each other if he wanted me to trust him. William stared at me for a moment before sighing and nodding. "Yes. There's one other class." I knew it. But what made them so dangerous that he felt like he couldn't even tell me about them? "We call them Omega level mutants. There are thousands of mutants all over the world. There are no officially labeled Omega's," he told me. Then how did they know that they existed? "They are extremely rare. They must be able to physically change their body into another state. Many are telepathic," he told me.
My stomach was churning nervously at his words. They hadn't even seen any of these mutants? If they hadn't even heard about them how did they know that they exist? "But you know that they exist?" I asked him.
William nodded at me and my breath hitched in my throat. "One existed not long ago." I didn't like the way that he said that. That meant that something had happened to them. Being someone like me was dangerous enough. I assumed that being an Omega was the most dangerous of all. "They were killed on an order. Omega level mutants are rare and they are dangerous. No matter what you are though, we will protect you," he told me.
Jeez. They were killed just because they were powerful. It made me pray that I wasn't an Omega. Maybe there was a chance that I was in the lower-tiers. That could keep me safe. At least I hoped that it would keep me safe. "What am I?" I asked William nervously.
He looked up at me and smiled. "I don't know yet," he said. Of course. They wouldn't know what I was. Probably not until they watched me do everything that I was capable of. "We'll have to take a good long look at you. Analyze your powers and your mind. Not to worry, we'll find out. Probably Delta level. That's what most of you are." Delta sounded good. Not overly powerful and definitely not hunted. They could blend into normal life. I could do that. "Victoria Davies, welcome to the Chi Protocol," William told me, interrupting my thoughts.
The building was enormous. It wasn't anything that I had ever seen before. It stood at at least ten stories tall. Probably a little closer to twelve. It must have been thousands of square feet. There were no windows and the only doors that I could see were the set of iron double doors in the front of the building. Two armed guards were standing in military garb with sunglasses hanging on their noses. They didn't have a hint of emotion on their faces. The building was all grey steel with a few fences surrounding it. The only cars that I could see were heading behind the building. There weren't any parking lots. No people were walking around either. As far as I could tell this place was well sealed and well guarded. Like William had said, no one was getting in here without permission.
The door to the truck opened and I weakly jumped out. My legs were shaking as I moved closer to get out of the truck. Everyone that was making their way back into the building had stopped to stare at me. "Come on now, Victoria. Let's go out and meet the rest of the crew. There's a few men that I'd like to introduce you to. They'll be helping you to adjust to life here," William said as he brought me towards the front of the building. "This is Agent Zero," William said as we walked towards the doors.
There was a man standing near the doors that was clearly waiting for us. And he also was clearly not a guard. He wasn't dressed like them in their dark suits. Instead he wore a green long-sleeved military shirt underneath a black bulletproof vest that was zipped all the way up. He wore green fatigue Army pants that were tucked into black combat boots. He was a middle-aged man from some type of oriental decent. Probably Japanese. He was rather tall too, probably reaching close to six feet. His eyes were dark and stern and he stood with his back completely straight. He was clearly well trained.
But why the hell did they call him Agent Zero? Maybe he was one of the first people in this place. As we approached him I saw that he came to attention for William. "Agent Zero?" I asked stupidly.
I had thought that we were still too far away from him for him to hear me but he clearly had. "You got a problem with that, Kid?" Zero snapped at me. He was clearly from the United States. He didn't have a lick of a foreign accent. In fact he had a Western accent.
William turned to the man and let a sour look cross over his face. "Zero!" William shouted. Zero didn't seem the slightest bit fazed by William's sudden demeanor change. "His real name is David North. Call him Zero though. He doesn't like anything else," William told me, dropping the nasty bite from his voice. He turned back to Zero a moment later. "Victoria is new. She doesn't know anyone yet and she's frightened. I trust that you will be helpful when it comes time for her lessons to begin in a few days," William suggested.
It wasn't a suggestion of course. I'd been around enough adults in power in my life to know the difference between a suggestion and a friendly order. Zero nodded with the slightest bow of respect. "Of course, Major," Zero said with an aura of annoyance.
Of course. He was an agent. He didn't want to have to deal with some poor untrained kid. Not that I blamed him. I wouldn't either if I was in his position. "Good. You are dismissed, Agent," William told Zero.
Zero nodded before turning around and walking away. His steps were measured as were his breaths. "See you around, Kid," Zero told me before walking into the building. Oh good. Men seemed to always have the best nicknames for me. First Yellow Eyes and now Kid.
Once he was gone from sight William turned back to me. "Don't mind Zero. He's not particularly fond of the new recruits. Ever. He's one of the originals here. He feels like he should run this place with the other ones that have been here for years. They don't like fresh blood." I nodded and moved with William through the doors. "But trust me, Zero is a good person to learn from."
"What can he do?" I asked before I could stop myself.
"He can absorb the kinetic energy generated by an impact without harm to himself," William explained. He was essentially a human conductor. "He can channel the energy he collects into massive blasts. He has a slightly advanced healing factor as well as being immune to most diseases and toxins. He also has a delayed aging process. He can expel a corrosive enzyme from his fingers. Aside from that with training he's become an expert marksman as well as hand-to-hand combat man," William explained.
Damn. I was rather impressive but I was sure that I would be nothing compared to these people. "Oh," I said, not knowing what else there was to say. "That's quite something," I added.
William shook his head. "Not particularly." I was going to be one of the weakest people here if William thought that Zero wasn't impressive. "There are others that are plenty stronger than him. You'll meet them one day. I'm sure of it. Ah!" William called. I looked up to see that another figure was making its way over to us. "Your next teacher. Victoria, this is Chris Bradley. Bradley, this is Victoria Davies," William introduced.
We each took the time to look each other over. He was surprisingly young. He looked about a decade older than me. Or something like that. I was sure that he was the youngest person that I'd seen here. His head was shaved but it looked like he might have either dark blonde or light brown hair normally. He was wearing a yellow t-shirt with an orange Hawaiian shirt over the top of it. On his legs he wore typical black dress pants. He wasn't too tall either. Just over five and a half feet.
Finally Chris decided to speak first. "I know that name." How did he know my name? I wasn't famous. And he certainly didn't seem like the type that was able to slip into someone's mind. "You were on the Nation's Most Wanted list. Something about killing your parents in a house fire when you were like eight or something," he told me.
My back stiffened and the hair on the back of my neck bristled. "I didn't kill them," I said darkly.
Once more William shouted at the agent. "Bradley!" He shouted. The man didn't jump but he did turn around in shock. "That's enough. Pardon him, he's still a child," William told me as he turned back to me. I nodded before William turned back to Chris. "He'll learn to keep his mouth shut in time," he warned the man.
Chris didn't seem phased. Instead he turned back to me with a shrug. "Sorry about that. Sometimes my mouth runs faster than my brain does. Anyways, good to meet you," he told me. I nodded and reached out to shake his hand. His grip was pulsing. I could feel something fluttering under his skin. "You'll do well here. It gets tough but you seem tough. Not too often we get a girl around here. I mean I know there's female mutants but we mostly see the guys. The guys are normally stronger anyways. Makes them easier to discern. Not to say that girls aren't strong too but I mean-"
"You're rambling," I cut the man off.
On my side I could see William smirking at the two of us. Chris stopped speaking and nodded at me. "Yeah, I guess I am. Sorry about that. I gotta go, stuff to do, you know?" He asked. The man never waited for me to respond. "A mutant's work is never done!" He yelled back before taking off.
The hallway that we were in only had grey steel walls. I watched as he walked to the end of the hall and disappeared past the corner. William pinched the bridge of his nose before turning back to me. "Like I said, he's a kid. He'll learn to control himself in time. I suppose you're curious as to what he can do too?" He asked me. I nodded. "He can absorb ambient changes in the atmosphere. He can also absorb electricity from different sources to empower himself. It's a rare mutation, very impressive," William told me.
I didn't bother telling him that it was one of the mutations that I possessed. He would learn that in time. "How many more of your men are going to be teaching me?" I asked him after a beat.
William nodded at me. "Just one. And here he is now!" William called. I turned back to see a man emerge from the corner that Chris had just disappeared from. "John Wraith," he said as he motioned to the man that was walking up.
He was different from anything that I had ever seen before. He was a black man that appeared to be a little under middle-aged. He wore an off-white cowboy hat and I smiled. It was something that you never saw in New York. He had a pair of large glasses on his eyes but took them off when he saw me. He wore a beige jacket and an orange button-down underneath it. There were pants a tone darker than his jacket and a large buckle that was on the front. Cowboy boots were underneath. On each of his fingers was a large ring. He was quite something.
As he made his way up to me he held out a hand for me to shake. He seemed like the most normal person that I'd met here. "Victoria Davies. You've only been here a few minutes but the whole place is already talking. Never had a dame in here before. A young one too. Never had any kids running around this place," he told me.
Why did everyone insist on calling me a child? I was not. I was much different than any other child. "I'm fourteen," I responded indignantly.
John raised a hand to his chest with a smile. "Pardon me. Any teenagers." The way that he said it even brought a small smile to my face. "You're gonna like it here, Victoria. I promise you that. This place, it's good for people like us. At least until the world can acknowledge us for what we are," he said.
What exactly were we? "And what's that?" I asked.
"Normal," John told me with a smile. That time a real smile fell onto my features. "You and I, we're not any different than they are. Not really. The whole yellow eyes thing you got going on?" Oh good. Just what I wanted. Someone else to comment on my eyes. "It's cool, it ain't scary." Alright. Not what I was expecting. "We're weird. We always will be. But that doesn't make us dangerous," John said.
He was definitely my favorite of the people that we'd met so far. "Thank you for the pep talk, Wraith," William said. The smile fell from John's face as he turned to William with a nod. "Go ahead and continue about your job. Victoria will come by in a few days for her first lesson," he instructed the older man.
"Cool," John said with a smile. He turned to me and tipped the edge of his hat at me. "See you around, Vic," he said before leaving. My heart gave a soft twinge at the memory of Steve calling me that. At least he didn't call me Vika. Only Bucky called me that.
Once I was sure that he was gone I turned back to William. He was watching me with a curious stare. "He seems nice," I said.
William gave me a nod. "He is. One of the friendliest people I've seen. Especially being a mutant. Wraith's got an odd mutation," William said. I cocked my eye for him to explain. "He can phase-jump." What the hell was phase jump? "Essentially that's teleporting." Oh. "He can disappear from one spot and appear in another in the blink of an eye. Like Zero, he's got a life-extending ability. How old does Wraith look?" William asked.
I knew that he was asking me to prove a point. Whatever I answered was going to be the wrong answer. "Thirty-five," I said, playing into William's game.
He smiled at me and shook his head. "Wraith is nearly sixty." My head cocked to the side. I was impressed. I would have thought about fifty at the oldest. "We can help you out there too. That's a mutation that can be given," he told me. They were going to give me something to extend my life. I wasn't sure how much I liked that. William seemed oblivious to my hesitation. "Come on, Victoria. I think that we should sit down and have a chat. About you. I can show you where you'll sleep first. You can get changed," he told me.
"Alright."
William walked the two of us around the corner that John, Zero, and Chris had all disappeared behind earlier. I wasn't sure what I had been expecting. Hundreds of people milling around with important missions? Maybe. It turned out that we were on the second floor. Below us seemed to be the main floor. There was a large research center down there with at least fifty people entering things on monitors. It was far more advanced than anything I'd ever seen before. Some people were walking around. They were all dressed in military uniforms. Off on each side were hallways. Some seemed to have offices, others had living quarters, and most were research centers. Blue lamps hung from the ceiling. I could feel the electricity humming through the walls of the building.
The two of us walked past the main area and I was grateful that no one gave me strange looks. I wasn't even sure what I looked like. I hadn't looked in a mirror in almost two days. We walked through the research center into the hall that seemed to be designated for living quarters. The hall was huge. It looked like it extended for a mile. We walked about halfway down the grey hall before William stopped at a steel door. He pushed it open and showed me. It was about the size of my room in Steve's apartment. It was small. The walls were a dull grey and there was a small cot in the corner. It had white sheets on it. The dresser was the same white. The bathroom was what I assumed was the other door. It was closed.
William allowed me to step in to take a closer look. "It isn't much but it is yours. You have the cot and a dresser. Anything else that you require will be added with time. We could put a radio in here if you'd like?" He offered. A radio might not be a bad idea. "Or perhaps get you something for painting and drawing? Anything that you'd like. We want you to be comfortable. I want you to be at home here," he told me.
Paint might not be a bad idea. I wasn't fond of the all-white theme. But I really couldn't paint. I wasn't artistic. "I'm not much of a painter. I can't draw worth anything. I rarely listened to the radio back home either." There was one thing that I could think of though. "Could you put a telephone in here?" I asked. It would be the one way that I could speak to Bucky and Steve. Just to let them know that I was safe and that I hadn't left without thinking about them.
My answer clearly surprised William. His eyebrows shot to his forehead. "Telephone?" He asked, making sure that he had heard me correctly. I nodded. "Who would you need to be calling?" He asked me.
"My friends," I answered quickly. "I left them without another word. I want them to know that I'm safe. That I didn't just abandon them. They saved my life. I love them both dearly. I want to be able to keep in contact with them. If not with the phone what about with letters? You could give me paper and a pen. I can write back and forth to them," I offered.
If he didn't want me to have a phone or didn't have the capability to get a phone for me I could use letters. They were slower but they would work. I just wanted them to know that I was alive. "Victoria..." William muttered. I didn't need to be a mind reader to know that he was going to say no. "I'm very sorry. But I can't allow that," he told me.
The childish part of me scowled and ground my teeth together. "Why not? I came here without argument. I came here trusting you like a blind man trusts a dog. Let me call them. Or write to them at least. They deserve to know that I'm safe," I told him.
William let out a deep sigh. "Victoria I know that this is going to be a hard pill to swallow but swallow it you must." I did not like the way that he said that. "It is not safe for you to speak to your friends ever again." Ever? "They can't know what you are. They hid you away when you were a child. You took Mr. Rogers's last name. They will be arrested for aiding and abetting a criminal." I couldn't let that happen to them. "Which is exactly what they're going to consider you if they ever find you. If you care for these boys it is in their best interest that you never speak to them again."
I understood his point. I could put them in danger if people ever found out that they had been hiding me. But it didn't change the fact that it hurt to leave them without another word. "So they're just going to think that I left them alone in the world after everything that they did for me?" I asked William, knowing that he didn't have an answer for me.
William stood for a moment. I could hear the thoughts rolling in his mind about what we could do. "I could fake your death. It would be easy considering that attack that you performed on the boys from your school," he offered.
Part of me thought that it might not be a bad idea. If they thought that I was dead they would never come looking for me. Victoria Davies would no longer be a part of Steve and Bucky's life. But I couldn't do that to them. I couldn't let them grieve and hurt like that. And some part of me, an extremely selfish part, didn't want them to move past me. I didn't want Steve to grieve for a sister that wasn't dead. And for whatever reason I didn't want Bucky to move on. I wanted the boys to remember me. I wanted them to always love me.
Perhaps it was selfish but I shook my head. "No. No I don't want them to think that I'm dead. I want them to at least hold out faith that I'm alive," I answered after a moment.
William nodded and went to lean against the steel wall. "Than it will be easy. There is no birth certificate or adoption record for a Victoria Rogers. Your school records are being taken care of as we speak. Victoria Davies disappeared years ago. As far as everyone is concerned, you do not exist. Your friends and schoolmates may remember you for a while but with time they will forget you too. It's for the best. You'll only exist here," he told me.
It was like I would never have even been born. Maybe with time Steve and Bucky would think that I was just a figment of their imagination. I hated erasing every part of me but I knew that I had to. For the good of them and for everyone else. I had to. "But you said that I would eventually be able to go back into the world," I told William after a moment.
The older man seemed glad to be off of the topic of my friends. "And you will. That may not be for a decade but you will be allowed back into the world soon enough. When that day comes you will be able to see your friends once more." A small smile came back to my face at the thought that one day, albeit being far away, I would be able to see them once more. "If they love you as much as they seem too they will forgive you. Get changed, Victoria. I will wait outside," William said.
I nodded at him and watched as he left the room. He closed the door behind him with a loud thunk. I walked over to the dresser and opened it. The clothes in here were much less formal than the clothes that I wore for school. I pulled out a piece from the top drawer and a piece from the lower drawer. In the top drawer was a shirt for me to wear. It was black. The shirt was slightly oversized and button-down. Out of habit I buttoned it almost to the top. I only left the topmost button undone. The pants were beige and high-waisted. I grabbed them and pulled them on, making sure that they didn't fit too tightly around my backside. My black Mary-Jane's went back on my feet and my old clothes went to the floor.
Taking a moment to smooth my hair down and pull it back up into a tight bun I walked out of the room. William was leaning on the wall with a file in his hands. He was flipping through it but smiled and looked up when he saw me. Are you ready to go?" William asked me.
"Yes," I responded.
We didn't exchange any more words. William nodded for me to follow him and I did. We walked through the hall and came out the other end from where we had come in. Once we turned the hall the room opened up into an area large enough for over two hundred people to sit. It was a place to eat. There were little stations of food set up all around the benches and tables. "This is the cafeteria. Normally you will be allowed to eat in here but for tonight you can come eat with me in my office. Just so that we may speak a bit more," he told me. I nodded and continued to walk side by side with him.
We walked together through a second hallway. Once more, like the dining room, it opened up into a large room. It was surrounded my glass walls on the floor below us. The room was empty but it was set up with punching bags, weights, and odd looking contraptions that I was sure was for some type of demonstration. "Down here is the training room. This entire hallway is training rooms actually," William showed me. I had assumed that the doors down the hallway were for offices. "They're for people with different powers. Some are made of solid steel. We have to be careful with fire manipulators. Sonic booms. We have rooms made for it all," William told me. I would be utilizing all of these at least once.
He allowed me to look in on the glass rooms for a moment before pushing us down the hall once more. As we turned the corner we walked through two more halls before we came to a stop. People were walking all around us. "These are the classrooms. You will learn more about who you are and the origins of mutants. Of course you will still also learn what normal kids learn. Can't cease your education. You will spend most of your time here and in the training rooms," he told me.
I nodded and allowed him to lead me through the next hall. We completely bypassed a wing that seemed to be nearly empty. The only people walking down that hall were in lab coats. "What's in that wing?" I asked William.
He glanced up and I watched as his eyebrows knitted. "Cryogenic chambers and electromagnetic tubes. All experimental. Not to worry about anything down there. It's all still in testing phase. Not approved for human use. I won't be expecting to use any of that for years. You'll probably be gone by then," he told me. I turned a suspicious gaze on William, who smiled at me. "Out in the real world I mean! Do you feel better in new clothes?" William asked me as we made our way to his office.
"Yes. Thank you," I added, remembering the manners that Mrs. Rogers had told me were so important. "It was getting a little tiring being in the same clothes for three days," I told him.
William let out a small chuckle and gave me an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, Victoria. I would have stopped to let you shower and change at a hotel, or even at a store, but we couldn't risk you being seen. Not after what happened to those boys in the alleyway," he explained.
I understood that. I was a wanted criminal. They thought that I had died years ago but after my attack on Johnathan and his cronies they might be out looking for me again. "Major-"
"William, dear," he interrupted me. "I thought that I insisted."
It seemed odd calling an adult by their first name. At least out loud. "William..." I muttered. The name seemed strange on my tongue. "Can I ask you something?" I asked him. He nodded at me. "Why did you decide to get involved in mutation? I mean, no one knows about it. You said so yourself. So why did you?" I asked.
William gave me a fond smile. "You are extraordinarily observant for someone only fourteen," he told me. I shrugged. He wasn't wrong. "I was assigned as the personal bodyguard to Bolivar Trask. He isn't important." I got the strangest feeling that he was. But I decided not to push. "One day our helicopter was brought down by someone. But they were so strange. They were flying. I couldn't believe my eyes. So I continued to protect Trask while hunting down what it was that I had seen. I found the mutant years later, after I had left the service of Trask. I was afraid at first. I nearly killed the mutant, and they, me. But we stopped and spoke. I learned to become friends. He told me about the mutants and what they were. After a time we decided to start the Chi Protocol. To train and protect mutants, just like yourself."
That was impressive that he spent so long trying to find someone like that. Most people would think that they had just seen something and forget about it. "And where is this mutant?" I asked.
A forlorn look fell over William's face. "Gone. He... is a good man. He wanted to move on to bigger and better things. He wanted to open a school or something like that. Another place to train mutants and teach them. But he wanted a place in the public eye," he told me.
I nodded. He wanted people like me to be out in the open. It seemed that William wasn't ready for something like that just yet. "And yourself?"
William grinned at me. "One day the world will be ready for mutants to be out in the open. That day has not yet come." I nodded as we stopped in front of a wooden door. It was the only door that I had seen that wasn't steel. "In here, Victoria. This is my office. You're more than welcome to come in here anytime. I spend most of my time in here. Other offices are down the hall. Do not go into them without permission," he warned.
It was just like the way that our teachers wouldn't let us near their desks without permission. "Alright," I said as we walked in. It looked so much warmer in here. The walls were a deep green and the furnishings were all leather. I took a seat in one of the oversized chairs as William took a seat in the chair behind his desk. He pulled out a silver platter and handed me a small cup. There was some hot tea in it. "Tea? I thought that tea was mostly a European thing," I said softly.
"It is. But I've always found it rather soothing. Especially for this conversation. I have it with all of my new recruits," he told me. I cocked my head at him as I took a sip. William looked like he was about to stop me but he settled in once I took the drink. I assumed that the drink was probably scalding hot for him. He laughed and settled back into his chair. "I need you to tell me exactly what it is that you can do. It's how I'll be able to put together a routine for you. It's how I can find teachers for you too," he explained.
The problem was I didn't know everything that I could do. Some things I wasn't so good with. Others I could do without even thinking about. "I don't know the full extent," I told William.
William gave me a small smile. "That's alright. Most don't know the full extent when they come here. In time you'll learn exactly what you can do. You'll develop new mutations, hopefully, and we will teach you to control the existing ones," he told me.
I nodded and took a deep breath. I would try to explain everything to the best of my ability. Might as well start with the easy ones. "Hydrokinesis. The ability to control and manipulate water," I told him.
William raised his eyebrow. "Are you any good with it?" He asked.
I shook my head. I wasn't awful but I certainly wasn't that good. "Not really. I can make water bubble by looking at it and I can make ripples in the sink and bathtub. That's about the extent of it." William nodded for me to continue. "Aerokinesis. Geokinesis. Pyrokinesis. Air. Earth. Fire," I explained.
His eyebrows raised. That seemed to have caught his attention. "Rare to have all four," he told me. Was it really? "Atmoskinesis." I nodded at him. "Are you any good with any of them?" He asked.
I shrugged my shoulders as I took another drink of the tea. "Not with air or earth. I can toss a pebble a few feet when I'm calm. Tilt a small boulder when I'm angry. I can whip winds slightly and spin a tiny tornado." I supposed that it was impressive for someone that couldn't do anything more than the average person. "But fire... fire I'm good with," I said with a smirk.
It was one of the things that I was incredibly proud of. "How good?" William asked me.
I gave a small shrug. I thought that I was good but I was sure that someone else who could do it would laugh at me. "I'll probably get better with time. Like you said. Right now I can light my hands on fire without thinking about it. They can spark slightly towards an attacker but that's about the extent," I told him.
He nodded and leaned back in his chair. "Show me," he told me. I nodded and dropped the tea cup before turning to the side. The wave of heat traveled from my chest to my shoulder and down my arms before settling in my hands. I bunched my fists together for a moment before releasing them. An explosion of fire covered my hands up to my wrist, the flames licking over the air. I sent out a few sparks before bunching my hands together once more, putting the fire out. William was watching me with a pleased smile. "That is very impressive for someone with no formal training. We'll help you make it stronger. All of them. Anything else?" He asked me.
"I'm just getting started," I told him. He looked pleased with that answer. "Electrokinesis," I told him.
William nodded at me. "You can control electricity. Bend and manipulate it at will, also stealing it from outer sources." I nodded back at him. "I saw you do it the other day in the truck. When it stalled the engine was stronger than I'd ever seen it before when you helped me jump it. You must be good with it," he assumed.
He was assuming correctly. "I am. It's one of my best and strongest mutations." William looked pleased to hear that too. "I suppose I have the normal mutations. The ones that you said were common. Enhanced speed, strength, and flexibility. I have better sight and hearing than the average person. My brain functions like a computer. It's what makes me so intelligent and observant," I told him.
William nodded at me with a pleased smile. "Yes I had a feeling that there was something about your brain. You don't speak or act the way that any rational girl in your place would. They would have panicked and fallen the moment that those boys attacked you." I nodded my agreement. "Go on, Victoria. I do enjoy this conversation the most," he told me.
"Telepathy," I answered simply.
He gave me a small nod. "I'd heard that you could do that," he said. "You need to practice. A controlled mind will notice the moment that you try to read or control theirs," he told me.
I nodded automatically before I realized just what it was that William had just said. Reading minds was something that I was always good with. But controlling them? I had no idea that I could do something like that. "Control?" I asked dumbly.
"Yes," William answered me. "Telepathy is not just about being able to read someone's mind. With practice you'll be able to control their minds too. You could order them to do anything that they wanted," he told me.
We were silent for a moment as I thought about what he had said. He said that telepathy was common in the highest level of mutants. Was there a chance that I could be that strong? Was there a chance that the people who had feared me really had a reason to fear me? "You said earlier that telepathy is a common feature of Omega level mutants," I said softly.
William nodded at me once more. "It is. But that doesn't mean that all are telepaths. And there are many telepaths that do not fall under that category." I nodded at him. There was no way that I was that strong. I wasn't that strong. Women couldn't be that strong. "Plus, Omega level mutants must be able to change their physical form. Can you?" He asked me.
I shook my head at him. Perhaps I could but I was pretty sure that I didn't think that I could. "I don't think so. I can create force fields. They usually flicker and can't hold for more than a hard punch but I can make them. They're weak and they usually only come when I'm afraid," I told him.
He nodded. "Is that everything?" He asked me. No. I nodded anyways. William seemed to know that I was lying to him. "Victoria, I want us to be friends. I think that we can be friends. But the one way that we become friends is if you are completely honest and open with me. There's another mutation that you have, isn't there? It's been a rumor since everything that happened with your parents," he said softly.
I knew that he was trying to get me to tell him the truth without making me angry. After a moment I nodded at him. "I didn't know anyone knew the truth to that night. But it is the truth. I know that so many people don't even believe that it's real. But it is. I have it inside of me. Chronicle." A little breath left William's chest at my words. "Not a single drop of blood runs through my veins. It's all Chronicle. Nothing will ever hurt me. I'll heal from any injury," I told him honestly.
He could help me. He had to help me. I needed someone to be on my side. "Chronicle," William said at barely over a whisper. "Such a rare substance. What do you know about it?" He asked me.
Not much. "Only what I've learned from myself. Just that it assists in healing factors and no one in the world seems to have heard of it. Only a very select few scientists I wrote to through the years," I told him.
"The world shouldn't know about it. You would be hunted down and dismembered if they found out that Chronicle ran through your veins." Well dismemberment was not in my plans. "It's rare. I don't know an immense amount about it but I'll tell you all that I do know. Chronicle is rare. Extremely rare considering it only exists on this planet in laboratories. Even the scientists that work at those laboratories have no clue how it got there. There were rumors once that it was only found on other planets. Of course we can't confirm that given we can't travel to other planets," William told me.
An alien substance that no one knew how had ended up on Earth. "There's less than a milliliter of Chronicle on this planet. Except for the Chronicle that runs in my veins. It's pure, not diluted by blood. Because I don't have blood. My parents had scientists run the tests. They were friends. They swore to never tell anyone what I was. There isn't a drop of blood in me. It's all Chronicle," I told William softly.
He let out a deep breath. "It's why the men were after you all of those years ago," he told me and I nodded. "One of the less loyal scientists found out that you had a nearly abundant amount of the world's rarest substance," he told me.
It was the only thing that had ever made sense to me over these years. The only way that people outside of the ones that my family trusted had found out about me. "Yes. I believe so. I'd been in hiding up until... I was safe until my parents died. It brought attention to me and I ran. That was when Bucky and Steve took me in," I told William.
He nodded at me and began to play with a small letter opener that was on his desk. "You were lucky that they were there for you," William told me. I nodded at him. I knew that I was. "Chronicle is a medicinal element. It has a healing factor greater than any medicine, today or at any point in the future. It could fix any cosmetic issue. From something as minor as a cut or bruise to something as severe as decapitation. As long as there is a drop of Chronicle and a tiny piece of you remaining, Chronicle can regenerate you," he told me.
My lord. Someone could cut my head off and I would still come back. "That's why I've never been injured. I've fallen from third and fourth story windows and I once dove off of a ten story cliff. I walked away from all of them uninjured," I told him.
"Exactly," William told me. "No injury will ever be able to slow you down. Now there is one problem with Chronicle. A problem that you've seemingly found a way past," he said. I nodded at him to continue and explain to me what he meant. "Chronicle is also a toxin."
There was no way that that made any sense. It didn't make any sense. "Toxin?" I asked. William nodded at me. He seemed to be waiting for me to process the information. "But that means that it would kill me," I said softly.
William nodded and put the tip of the letter opener to his thumb. "It's killed everyone else that's ever come into direct contact with it. It is a toxin to all plants and animals. It causes nearly immediate death. Six seconds is all that it takes for Chronicle to seep into the bloodstream and kill someone. Everyone is affected by it. Except for you," he said curiously.
"Why me?" I asked.
William merely shrugged. "Not a clue. There's no real reason. Sometimes that's the fascinating thing about mutants and their mutations is that you can't tell why they appear or where they came from. Victoria, this might seem like a strange request, and you do not if you don't want to, but take this knife. Make a tiny slice on the tip of your thumb. Just to see it. You don't-"
I cut him off before he could continue. I knew that he was going to say I didn't have to if I didn't want to. But the truth of the matter was that I had to. If I was going to make this transition it had to be all the way. I had to prove to him that I was really dedicated to this. "No. I do," I said softly. William nodded and handed me the letter opener.
I took it and placed the edge of the blade at the tip of my thumb. Without thinking about it I let the blade dig into the skin. I made a small slice a few inches wide before taking the knife away. It took a moment for the green substance to start leaking out of the tip of my thumb. Only a few beads came out before the wound began to stitch itself closed. A second later it was closed completely without a scar to prove that anything had ever happened. "I'll be damned. You really do have it. May I?" He asked.
He had his arm out towards me. I knew that he was asking if he could take my arm. I nodded and handed it to him. He took my wrist in his hand before grabbing the knife in his other hand. He placed the tip against the skin on my forearm and dug it in gently. Okay, if he wanted me to do that I could do it myself. And it hurt. "William you're hurting my arm. William, please let go," I asked when he didn't stop. He just dug in the knife harder. "William!" I shouted in a desperate attempt to get him to stop.
It was like he had left his own body and was in someone else's. Like he was watching this through a screen. "I have to see," William muttered under his breath.
He began to drag the knife down my arm, leaving a horrifically large gash in my arm. "Stryker!" I shouted. The pain was unbearable as he cut from my wrist all the way to my elbow. "Stop! Please stop! Stop! Let go of me! Get off! Ah! What- what are you doing? What have I done to you?" I asked him. "I thought that you wanted to help the mutants," I sobbed.
William cut a T-shaped section at the elbow and pulled the skin back. I shrieked in pain and watched in horror as the wound stitched itself back together. He grabbed me by the hair and lifted me from the chair. "Don't be a fool. The world will never want people like you in it. You're monsters. All of you. The story that I told you? A pleasant lie. Mutants killed my wife! And my son!" Oh my God. He didn't want to help me. He wanted to kill me. "That's why I started this program. This is not called the Chi Protocol. Welcome, Victoria Davies, to Weapon X," he snarled at me.
William's grip was tight on me as he led me out of the office and down a hallway that we hadn't been in before. "No. No. Let me go. I want to go home! Let me go!" I shouted. I needed to get out of here. I was trying to conjure any of my powers but I couldn't. I was too scared. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't get anything more than a spark to come out of my hands. "Let me go! Get the hell off of me!" I shouted as armored guards met us in the hallway. They each grabbed onto me and started shoving me down the hallway. My knees gave out but it didn't matter. They had no problem throwing me against a wall as they opened a door. My heart was thundering in my chest.
The fire finally erupted from my hands and I turned to burn the men. William walked past the guards. "If you want Steven Rogers and James Buchanan Barnes and their families to live I think you'll be cautious with what you do and say here," he told me. The fire went out at the sudden threat to the boys. The men shoved me into the dark room and I hit the stone floor with a grunt. It had nothing more than a tiny, and dirty, cot on the floor. In the corner was something akin to a bedpan. William stood over me and smirked. "Welcome to hell," he snarled before slamming the door shut and plunging me into the darkness.
What have I done?
Bucky's P.O.V.
Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers were currently pacing Bucky's bedroom. They were both frantic about what had happened to Victoria. "Steve you have to see that something is weird about all of this. These jerks wind up in a hospital after they swear that Victoria attacked them. Victoria wouldn't hurt a fly. She was just on her way home. And now those boys are nearly dead and Victoria is missing," Bucky said.
He was more panicked than his friends. Steve just thought that something had happened to her and she was laying low for a few days. Bucky knew that something far more sinister had to have happened. Victoria always checked on them. She never went more than a day without talking to either one of them. "You think that they did something to her?" Steve asked.
Bucky knew that if something had happened to her it wasn't by them. Those boys were rotten and nasty but they weren't so bad that they would actually risk injuring Victoria. "Not them. I think that something else happened to them. Victoria would never do something like this. Just run away without another word. All of her things are back at our houses. No one has heard or seen anything from her in two days," Bucky told his best friend. "Something's wrong, Steve," he said.
They both knew that something was wrong but the question was what could they do to change that? They couldn't just check every house in Brooklyn. "So what do we do?" Steve asked. Bucky didn't have an answer. "Victoria disappeared without a trace. The cops are saying that there's no record of a Victoria Rogers. Of course not! She took my last name without making it legal. They won't find her. Wherever Vicky went, she wanted to disappear," Steve tried to reason with Bucky.
That was what hurt Bucky the most. She just got up and left without saying anything to him. He loved her. He thought that she loved him too. So why did she leave him? "But why wouldn't she tell us?" Bucky asked.
Despite the fact that Steve liked to pretend like he knew why Victoria had done what she had, he simply didn't. Nothing made sense to him. But he didn't want to tell Bucky that. He wanted to give his best friend some hope that she would be back. He wanted to imagine that she would be back. She was like his sister. "I don't know, Buck. But she left for a reason that she clearly didn't think that anyone else could know about. She loves us. Both of us. Just like we love her. She'll be back. She has to come back," Steve argued.
He hoped to God that he was right. And so did Bucky. "I hope you're right," Bucky muttered. She had to come back. That was his Vika out there somewhere. He couldn't stand not having her here with him. Come back to me, Vika.
A/N: Hey guys! Here's hoping that you liked this one. Sorry it took me a little while, I've had to update my other stories before coming back to this one. Anyways, as always...
30's/40's Slang Translations:
Dame: Another word for girl
Egg: A crude person
Okay so as of current day there are only thirteen Omega level mutants. The reason that there is only one is because it's 1934. Most (like Jean Grey) haven't been born yet! Anyways, I really hope that you guys liked this one. I had a ton of fun writing it! I really liked showing the full extent of Victoria's powers. As for Steve and Bucky, she'll reunite with them in a few chapters but for now Victoria is on her own! So please, let me know what you thought of this one! Thanks for all of the follows and favorites! It means the world to me! Until next time -A
Sam0728: Yes Stryker! I just couldn't resist having him in the story.
xWintra: Glad to hear it! I really like having more than just the Avengers in the story because there's so much more to Marvel than them. I'm glad that you could believe that Victoria belongs here. Thanks! I really just can't write short chapters. Probably because I get into a writing kick and then I just can't stop! Here's hoping that you do! :)
CyberNamida: Glad that you were happy to see an update! Strong and stubborn is the best way to describe Victoria lol. More of a physical description is coming in the next chapter. Bucky will eventually get around to wooing her but it won't be easy. Steve knows that she isn't normal but he doesn't know how. No, she will have a hard time when the events at the end of this movie will come but Victoria is tough!
Anonymous: Thanks so much! I'm slowly working on more updates!
WillieTheWolf: Thanks for your two reviews! More Bucky P.O.V. will come in as the story progresses. We were all safe from Matthew, thanks! Here's hoping that you liked this one!