Trial by Firearms
Kylie and Clarice sat alone on the upper level of the Underground Headquarters. It's been a couple of days since Clarice's powers went haywire. "I'm glad you're back on your feet." Kylie said, nudging Clarice's shoulder. "You had me worried." The platinum-blonde girl wore a faded grey long-sleeved shirt with a pair of frayed jean shorts and black flip-flops.
"Yeah." Clarice sighed, taking a sip of her warm tea. "Sorry about that." She wore a black t-shirt with khaki colored jeans with holes in the knees and a pair of black boots.
After meeting with other members of the Underground, and everyone agreeing that they needed to get Lorna out of jail, John headed up to talk to the two newest mutants. He found them sitting in a lounge-like area, Clarice sitting in a lounge chair with Kylie on the armrest. The two halted their conversation when he approached them.
"You girls got a minute?" the former Marine asked.
Kylie and Clarice exchanged a glance before the silver-eyed one gave a sigh, "I suppose. What's up?"
John smirked and sat on the table opposite the girls, "Some of us were talking and were wondering, if you two would be open to helping us get Lorna back? I mean you guys practically broke yourselves out of prison."
Kylie held up a finger, "I short circuited the collars." she clarified. "Clarice is the one who got us out."
Clarice raised an eyebrow and lightly slapped Kylie's arm, "Yeah, right into the middle of a ten-league freeway." she reminded.
"Hey, we made it." replied the blonde. John rolled his eyes at the two.
"This Lorna chick went to jail saving our asses. We owe her." Clarice noted, motioning between herself and Kylie. "But it won't work. I can't do anything." she admitted, holding up her hands. She flexed her fingers, small purple sparks flying, but nothing happened. "And you want me to help you get into a jail? You'd be better off with a couple glow sticks and a hacksaw." Kylie covered her mouth with the back of her hand, muffling her chuckle.
"Look, something changed after I got sick." Clarice continued. "I woke up with this new beauty mark here." she brushed some hair from her face, revealing a line underneath her right eye, "And my powers..." she shrugged, "...I don't know they're-they're broken."
"Abilities don't break." John clarified. "Most mutants first access their abilities from strong emotions: fear, anger, pain."
"Seething rage." Kylie cut in.
John glanced at her, "But those are all unreliable." he continued. "The challenge is to tap into something positive."
"Positive." Kylie added with a quirked eyebrow. She then laughed dryly. "Like what? We do some hot yoga and find our spirit animals?" she chuckled, as did Clarice.
"Um no, thanks." John blinked, "I'm pretty sure your spirit animal would bite me."
"Hers might." Kylie motioned to Clarice. "Mine'll rip your head off." she batted her eyes and grinned.
"No, it's impossible." John matched her grin with his own, "My head can't be ripped off."
"You wanna test that theory?" Kylie challenged, raising her brow. She rested her arm across the back of the lounge chair, a grin on her face.
John just laughed it off and patted the blonde's knee as he got to his feet, "We're gonna work on it. See you two in the morning." he walked off, leaving the girls alone.
Kylie scoffed, "He really is one cocky son of a bitch." she shook her head as she watched John leave. "Are all men that stubborn, or is it just him?"
Clarice glanced between her friend and the station leader, "You like him." she deduced.
"I so do not." Kylie rebuked, getting off the chair's armrest.
"Then why were you checking him out?" Clarice raised her brow, standing up.
"I wasn't." rebuffed the blonde.
Clarice draped her arm around Kylie's shoulders, "Ky, when a girl watches a boy walk away from them for more than three seconds, she's checking him out."
Kylie rolled her eyes and shook off Clarice's arm, "You know what, bite me." she scoffed, walking towards the room that was set up for the two.
"Denile." Clarice muttered under her breath.
The room that was set up for the two was medium sized, with two cots separated by a nightstand with a lamp and a digital clock. Clarice unzipped her boots and slid out of her jeans, replacing them with some navy blue sweatpants. She pulled her t-shirt over her head and put on a dark purple tank top. Kylie kicked off her flip-flops and removed her jeans, slipping on a pair of black shorts in their place. She took off her grey shirt, revealing a white tank underneath it. Both girls climbed into bed, Kylie turning off the nightstand lamp, and did their best to drift off into sleep.
The next morning, Kylie and Clarice met with John outside of the building. The two girls wore the same clothes from the day before, only this time Kylie wore a pair of faded white sneakers instead of flip-flops. Both girls also held mugs of warm coffee, needing the caffeine to wake them up for their training.
"Did you think about what I said last night?" John asked, looking over his shoulder at the two girls.
"We did." Kylie answered, taking a swig of her coffee.
Clarice did the same, "What I can do. Literally, I have the power to bail out of bad situations." she informed. "So being scared is just a big part of it."
Kylie nodded along, holding her coffee mug in one hand while the other rested on her hip, "And with my powers, I'm not sure." she shrugged, "I remember always being angry or scared when I used them."
John listened to the two of them and gave a nod in understanding, "Okay, I understand that." he sympathized, "In the Marines when you want to give up, they train you to focus on what you care about most." he explained, walking alongside the two girls. "To hold onto it like your life depended on it. Because at some point, it will."
Kylie bit her lip and looked down at her feet. "So what did you care about?" Clarice asked.
"Back then I had a lot to prove." John replied, "About being Apache, a mutant."
"What if I don't have anything?" Kylie said, making the other two mutants on either side look at her. John placed his hand on Kylie's shoulder, "Think about what you love now." he answered.
Kylie shrugged her shoulders, glancing up at him, "I don't really have anything." she sighed, finishing the rest of her coffee.
"Well then, try to remember a happy memory from your past." John advised. "Find one and focus on that. Remember the positive emotions."
Kylie nodded and handed her empty mug to Clarice. She looked straight ahead and took a deep breath, feeling John lightly squeeze her shoulder. She searched her memories, trying to find a happy one. An invisible ripple swirled up around her arm as she took deep, slow breaths. A soft breeze blew through her hair, turning it from platinum blonde to a soft jade green.
"Wow." Clarice breathed, seeing a pile of leaves off to their left turn into a slow rotating cyclone.
"Good job Kylie." John praised.
Kylie opened her eyes, which were now a bright emerald green. She gasped when she saw the leaves dancing not to far from where they stood. She moved her fingers, making the wind move the leaves in a spiral motion. The wind picked up, making her hair blow back, but a few strands brushed against her cheeks. Kylie blinked, her memory suddenly taking a hard right. Thunder and gunshots echoed in her ears and she squeezed her eyes shut, her hands clenching into fists and her breathing becoming labored.
"Kylie!" John called, wrapping his arm around her shoulders, his fingers getting tangled in her hair. "It's okay, you're safe." He pulled her to his side, soothing her.
Kylie's breathing evened out as her hair faded back to it's normal color. She opened her eyes and reflexively pulled away from John, shoving her hands into her back pockets. "Sorry." she apologized, brushing her hair back. She turned to Clarice, "Your turn."
Clarice rolled her eyes, "For the record, the green eyes look good on you." she complemented, "Green hair, not so much." She lightly jabbed her cellmate's shoulder.
"Okay Clarice, same drill." John stood back, his arms at his sides, "Picture that thing you care about."
A smile spread across the green-eyed mutant's face as she held her hands inches apart, "A warm jelly donut." Kylie stifled her laugh by covering her mouth with her sleeve.
John rolled his eyes, "Picture it, and go to it." Him and Kylie both watched as purple and blue energy began to crackle between Clarice's hands. But, before even a small portal could form, the energy vanished. "See, this is exactly why I shouldn't be doing this." Clarice groaned, "Last time I tried, I nearly took down your entire-"
"Don't focus on the fear." John cut her off, "Okay. You focus..." he stopped mid-sentence when he sensed something. He looked down and noticed three sets of footprints, his foresight ability showing him Caitlin and her children leaving the station the previous night.
"Yo, Sherlock!" Kylie called, her hands on her hips, "What's going on?"
John sighed, looking between Clarice and Kylie, "We have a problem." he answered bluntly. "The Struckers are gone." He pushed between them and ran back into the station.
Kylie laid on her cot and stared up at the wall, her arms pulled into her chest. Her eyes were mildly bloodshot and a little puffy, and tear trails stained her cheeks. The painful memory from earlier replayed in her head, making her squeeze her eyes shut as more tears fell.
There was a knock on the door, startling the blonde. She wiped her eyes with her sleeve and rolled over, seeing John standing in the doorway. "What do you want?" she asked, a bit of snark in her tone.
"I talked with Marcos and we're going after Caitlin, Lauren, and Andy." John answered, taking a step into the room. "I want you to come along. Get out of the station for a day."
"I'm a wanted fugitive." Kylie reminded. "I think it's best I stay put." She pulled her knees up to her chest.
John sighed, "Look Kylie, I know what's going on, and being cooped up here alone won't help." he walked up to her, standing beside her cot.
"You don't know anything." the blonde shot back, not meeting his eyes. "You can't possibly know."
"You're right." the station leader agreed. "But I think helping us help the Struckers might be good for you." He held out his hand. "Please."
Kylie glanced up and saw sincerity in John's eyes. Hesitantly, she reached up and laid her hand in his, which he grasped, pulling her off the cot. The two stood face-to-face, and deep down Kylie could feel that she can trust him. "Okay." she breathed, removing her hand from his. "How do we find them?"
"The same way I found you and Clarice." John answered, leading Kylie out of the Underground Station to a lot where some old cars were parked. Marcos was already in the driver's seat of an old golden colored SUV.
The next morning, John's tracking ability led them to a nice two-story brick home in an upscale neighborhood. "So that's how the other half lives." Kylie muttered as she stepped out of the van. She followed the two station leaders around to the back of the house, where they broke in via a side door and slipped inside.
Caitlin laid on the couch in the den with covered by a thin quilt. John woke her up, and was met with a kitchen knife. "What are you doing here?" Caitlin whispered sharply, "You can't just break in." She practically jumped off the couch.
"You don't understand-" John began, keeping his voice low.
"Yes, I do." Caitlin cut off. "I understand that I am trying to help my husband."
"What, with favors and phone calls?" Marcos questioned, "We discussed this."
"No." Caitlin rebuked, pointing the knife in the direction of Marcos and Kylie, "I distinctly remember that there was, in fact, no discussion."
Kylie held her hands up in surrender, "Easy sister, put the knife down." she said slowly.
"We need to go." John suggested, "If we can find you, others can, too."
"Cait?" a male voice called from the nearby hallway. It belonged to a male a few years older than Caitlin, who looked similar to her. "What's going on?"
"Danny." Caitlin breathed, looking at her brother. "Everything's okay." She set the knife down on the coffee table.
"It doesn't look okay to me." Danny noted, taking the knife off the table.
"These are the people who are trying to help us." Caitlin informed, standing between her brother and the members of the Underground.
Kylie lowered her hands and slipped them in her pockets, "Look dude, if we were gonna hurt you, we would've done it already." she pointed out, earning a side-eyed look from John.
"What the hell, Caitlin? You bring mutants into my home?" Danny accused.
"Mutants?" Caitlin repeated, her voice normal. "Seriously, Danny? The only mutants I brought into your home are your niece and nephew."
Marcos had moved to the window by the front door and peeked out, seeing a few trucks and cars pull up. A group of men got out and were approaching the house, armed with shotguns. "Save your family spat for later." he cut in, "Right now we got bigger problems."
"What kind of problems?" Kylie asked, moving to stand beside Marcos. Her eyes immediately found the loaded firearms and she backed away, her heartbeat already picking up.
"Get the kids." John ordered, looking to Caitlin, who nodded and ran upstairs to grab her son and daughter.
"We know you're in there." one of the men outside yelled. "Danny, come on out. We need to talk."
"Who did you tell that you were coming?" Danny asked his sister once she returned downstairs.
"No one." Caitlin answered.
"Well, obviously one of your friends here did." Danny went on.
Andy and Lauren's cousin, Scott, spoke up "I texted a pic of a trophy Andy tore apart to one friend."
Everyone looked in the kid's direction, knowing that was the cause of the mob outside.
"They're seven deep out front." Marcos informed, joining the group in the center of the den. "Anything around back?"
"Yeah, there's four of 'em, and then more outside the kitchen door." John added. "We're surrounded. Look, I can get us through a wall, but if they start shooting while we run, there's gonna be a fight."
As soon as she heard the word 'shooting' Kylie's breath hitched in her throat as she backed up into the wall, twisting the ends of her sleeves in her hands before clutching them into fists. Hearing the rapid beating of her heart, John stepped closer to Kylie, assuring her they would be okay.
"We can take those guys." Andy pointed out.
"Yeah, of course we can take them." John agreed. "But we do that, people are gonna die."
Andy's eyes narrowed as he looked in the direction of the front door. "Well, maybe it's time these people learned."
"Andy." Caitlin scolded. "You don't mean that."
"Yes, I do." Andy rebuked. "Listen to them, Mom. They hate us."
"Just send 'em out and we'll go away." one of the men out on the front lawn called.
"I'll go." Danny volunteered. "It's Chuck Sanders."
"Chuck?" Caitlin repeated, "I was on swim team with him." She took a few steps forward but was stopped by her brother. "I know. I don't think you're quite understanding how people how they feel about all this."
Daniel stepped outside to talk to his neighbors while the others stepped out of the line of sight. Kylie tried to control her breathing, her rapid heartbeat was another story. "Why do so many people in the south have to own guns." she muttered in between her shallow breaths.
"Is she okay?" Scott asked, staring at the blonde mutant.
"She'll be fine." John answered, his hand on Kylie's shoulder.
Danny tried to convince the mob outside that no one was in the house except for his son Scott. Not believing him, Chuck hit Danny in the face with the shotgun he held. The armed mob then walked towards the house.
His anger boiled over and Andy used his powers to destroy the door, sending Chuck and the rest of the mob flying back into the grass. "Leave us alone!" the teenager yelled.
Chuck reached for his shotgun and held it up, preparing to fire. John pulled Andy out of the line of fire as Marcos projected two heat rays from his palms, which burned the barrel of the gun, causing Chuck to drop it once it got too hot. Thunderbird and Eclipse covered Kylie and the Struckers as they made a break for their SUV.
Out of the corner of her eye, Kylie saw one of the men brandish a gun, preparing to fire it. Her eyes widened for a brief moment before she shut them, flexing her fingers. She felt energy crackle and her hair turned electric yellow. Her eyes shot open and she flung out her hands, bolts of lightning crashing down between them and the mob. Kylie then dove into the van and braced herself against the door on the driver's side.
Once they were clear of the neighborhood, a few members of the mob stood in the truck beds and began firing. Hearing the gunshots, Kylie pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs, burying her face in her knees. Her shoulders heaved as her breaths became rapid and shallow.
"Lauren, can't you shield them?" Andy asked, panic lacing his voice.
"I can't shield what I can't see." Lauren answered, her and her brother watching as the trucks gained up on them.
"Just stay down." Caitlin ordered her children, who ducked lower in the far backseat. The woman then turned her attention to the shaking mutant on the floorboard. "Kylie, stay calm." she said in a soft voice, lowering her hand to brace it on the girl's shoulder. "You're gonna be okay. We're gonna be okay."
All Kylie could hear were the gunshots, everything else was a dull echo. Her heart was beating rapidly in her chest, and her palms were starting to sweat. She tightened her arms around her legs, a small whimper escaping her lips. She faintly felt a hand on her upper back, but didn't move to see who it was.
The SUV suddenly lurched to a halt, making Kylie peek over the tops of her knees. "Is it over?" Kylie whispered, licking her lips.
"Yeah sweetie, we're back at the station." Caitlin assured, rubbing the teen's back.
Kylie swallowed the lump in her throat, her body still visibly shaking. Her hand then immediately went to her mouth and she turned and yanked the side door open, running to a nearby tree. She braced one hand on the trunk as she vomited into the grass, pushing her hair back away from her mouth. She coughed and dry heaved a few more times before finally catching her breath.
"You alright?" John asked, standing behind her.
Kylie wiped her mouth with her sleeve, "Not really." she scoffed, turning to face him. "What the hell was that back there? You know what, next time the Struckers run off, you can go get them yourself." She spat in the grass, before brushing hair from her face, "How did we get back here so fast?"
John sighed, looking over Kylie's shoulder, seeing Sonya and Clarice running towards them, "You can ask Clarice."
"Clarice?" Kylie repeated, glancing in the same direction as John.
Clarice was the first to reach them and she threw her arms around John's neck, earning a quirked eyebrow from Kylie, "Are you all right?" the green-eyed girl asked, pulling away.
"Yeah. We all are." John answered, a bit off guard.
"I can't believe it worked. I mean, a freaking SUV." Clarice chuckled, "I'm so glad it did."
"Yeah, thanks." Kylie looked between Clarice and John, all sorts of confused. Sonya stood back, her eyes meeting John's.
"Clarice, why don't you take Kylie inside and get her some water." John suggested, motioning to said platinum-blonde mutant.
Clarice nodded, "Yeah sure." she agreed, turning to her friend. "C'mon Ky, let's go."
"Right. Okay." Kylie went along, heading back towards the Underground HQ.
A few hours went by before John decided to talk to Kylie about what happened earlier in the day. He found her laying in her cot with headphones in her ears that were attached to a silver iPod, a black knapsack was open on the floor beside her bed. He knocked on the door to get her attention. Kylie looked up and paused the Carrie Underwood song she was listening to, removing her headphones and setting her iPod on the nightstand.
"Can we talk?" John asked.
"I guess." Kylie shrugged, sliding off the bed and following him out. They leaned against the railing overlooking the bottom level of the headquarters.
"Look, about this morning, I didn't know that was gonna happen." John sighed. "I'm sorry that it did." he glanced over at the blonde, "It was the guns, wasn't it?"
"What about them?" Kylie bit her lip and didn't meet his eyes. She tapped her fingers on the wooden railing.
John kept his eyes on her, "I served two tours overseas, I know what PTSD looks like." Kylie closed her eyes, biting her lower lip. He placed his hand on her forearm, "Was it those men? The guns?" he felt her tense up at the mention of guns, "You had a panic attack the night Marcos, Lorna, and I found you and Clarice. There was gunfire then too. What happened-"
"I saw my father get shot!" Kylie snapped. She took a deep breath and exhaled, glancing over at John but not meeting his eyes directly. "The night I was arrested, one of the officers..." she swallowed the lump that formed in her throat, "...purifiers, pulled his gun and aimed it at me. My father wrestled it away and it went off." She squeezed her eyes shut for a few moments, suppressing the tears that stung her eyes. "They left him there to bleed to death." her voice cracked and she turned away, taking a shuddering breath then exhaled. "That was the last thing I remember before..." She turned back to face John, "Everytime I close my eyes that's all I see, the only person who ever gave a damn about me dying right in front of me. No matter how many times I try to remember the good things, it always went back to that night."
She turned on her heels and walked back into her room, closing the door behind her and climbed into her bed, laying on her side, facing the wall. She curled up into the fetal position and let the tears fall down her cheeks.
A/N: Hello everyone, hope you enjoy this new chapter. Reviews are appreciated!
