Six

Pain lanced through Asli's head; it was a sign of her continuing life, a double edged one but still mildly encouraging.  Pushing down the images of Bender's bleeding body flying through the air that swam in front of her eyes; Asli tested the ropes binding her arms to her side pausing only to wince when she over-rotated her already dislocated shoulder.  The dizziness and nausea that threatened to take over made it likely she had a concussion to match the knot on the back of her head. 

Beaten and bruised but still breathing; she chuckled feeling anything but merry.  Unlike the others the Shadow had taken her alive-it wanted something from her-and that meant Asli could stall for time until she hatched better plan. For now staying alive was the plan.

"They'll never find you alive," the Shadow hissed stepping into the weak light to taunt her, "You never told any of them about me…they won't think to look here."

Metal glinted in the dim light, covering his arms and part of his neck; Asli's powers could sense the complex circuitry holding the whole package together.  It wasn't the machinery moving the man that made Asli's breath catch-it was his face-one that had haunted her nightmares for the better part of ten years.  He was still alive.

Asli bit down on her fear, there was no way in hell she would face down Magneto in a rage and buckle now-that was what her captor wanted-what he had always wanted.  All thoughts of staying alive fled in a rush of loathing for her Father-if she was going to die she'd make sure it was quick and clean.  If I get to piss him off in the process so much the better; she smiled, "What makes you think you know me so well Dad?"

The thing that had been Randall Carter narrowed its eyes surprised at the venom in his offspring's voice, "If they knew what I was to you they…"

"Would wonder why I didn't make sure you were good and dead six years ago," Asli spat back using her anger to sublimate her fright, "After all one of the first lessons they taught us was to make sure your enemies were buried good and deep.  So tell me just how did you get out alive?"

Carter frowned; never had she used such a flippant tone in his presence-before it had been hushed, subjected-but that was gone, "The details of my rebirth would bore you."

"No go on," She tugged on her bindings lighting so as to not disturb her right shoulder again, "I bet you've been dying to have a captive audience.  So dazzle me with your genius Daddy."

Clenching his jaw tightly Carter restrained himself from tearing her heart out with his bare hands; how dare she laugh at him as if he was nothing.  Only once before had he seen that look of naked hatred tempered only by an unwillingness to submit to his will-the night she had left him to die amongst the flames that had been his life's work.  It was too easy for him to dart his hand out and slap the laughter from her face; satisfying too, "Silence.  Flattery will not keep you alive nor will this attempt to stall for time."

For a brief second he saw mutiny flash across the features that reminded him so pointedly of his Claire-but it was an expression Randall had never seen on his tortured wife's face.  It seemed profane to her memory that the girl should bear such a remarkable likeness and once more Randall wished that he had altered her face to match her body.  Perhaps once he had finished there would be time for him to indulge that whim, once he had finished disposing the others.  Randall smiled dreaming of the ways he would fix his daughter-this time he would get it right.

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"I say we wait," Kitty glared at Scott as he crossed his arms over his chest-he was the only person she knew brave or stupid enough to stand nearly nose to nose with a very angry Rogue, "This is obviously a trap to lure the others in so that it can kill them too."

Briefly, Kitty wondered if she'd miss her leader when the Goth tore him limb from limb.  Her temples throbbed from all the tension in the air and Kitty fervently wished that Scott and Rogue would stop their argument and just do something-anything really-as long as it ended with them finding Cypher and bringing her home safely.  "You wouldn't be so worried about a trap if we were talking about an X-Man!"  Kitty gave Rogue credit-her hands were tightly balled at her sides when they should have been swinging towards Scott's face.

"No we're talking about the girl who tricked us so she could spy for Magneto, who turned you against your family and put you in a situation where you ended up killing someone!" The vein over Scott's right lens was throbbing rhythmically, "You should be thankful she won't be around to…"

Rogue's face was cherry red making it painfully obvious that she didn't like to discuss how she had gotten her new powers.  However it was Lance who stepped to her side to confront Cyclops, "That's your philosophy is it? If they don't fight on our side we'll leave them to die? Good one Summers 'cause it worked so well with Mystique!"

The boys muscled closer to each other moving Rogue slightly out of the line of fire; it made Kitty wonder what had happened between Cypher and Lance to make him so passionate about her safety.

"Enough!" The sound of Pitor's angry raised voice echoed in the room springing the combatants apart, "If Cypher dies we are all diminished, the side she fights on does not matter.  If we allow her to die without trying to save her then we will be just as guilty as the killer."

Remy moved forward and put a calming hand on Rogue's shoulder, "Chère, you know where dis capon has Asli?  What de homme want from dem?"

Rogue nodded and turned her eyes to Shade, Cobra and Surge for the first time since she had stepped away from Bender's body, "Yeah, apparently Dr. Carter wasn't as dead as ya'll thought."

"Shit!" Kitty could see a green tinge creeping into Cobra's normally olive skin-who ever this Doctor was she assumed house calls from him weren't a good thing.

Surge pulled her dark head away from Shade's shoulder-her face was streaked with tears, "What does he want then? Other than to kill us all?"

All eyes swivelled to Rogue and Kitty did not envy her all the attention-the Gothic mutant lowered her eyes and mumbled, "I dunno what he wants but I know that he's her father."

"That was a joke, right?" Pyro looked up from his lighter voicing everyone's shock.

Rogue shook her head and turned sympathetic eyes to the other Program survivors, "No. I saw it all when I touched her…Asli's mom was a touch telepath who killed herself when Asli was eight.  It kinda drove her dad insane…"

"You're not kidding," Cobra's voice was bitter and Kitty noticed anger narrowing his snake eyes, "I can't believe she's a Carter..."   

Scott snorted, "She probably helped him plan this whole thing."

Everyone in the room held their breath for a fraction of a second not knowing what to say.  Gently Shade pushed Surge into Cobra's arms and lifted his shirt over his head and off of his body.  Even with the brightly coloured tattoos winding over his shoulders and back it was still possible to see deep scars.  When he turned back to Scott the X-Man's face was a little paler, "Remember what you see Summers…they did this to all of us.  If anything Asli has more than the rest of us.  She would never help him do anything."

Tears pushed at the corners of Kitty's eyes; how could some one do that to their own child?  It went a long way to explain why Cypher was as messed up as she was.  The valley girl ignored the confused glances of her team-mates and rose to her feet-the time for discussion was over and Kitty was very conscious of the debts the X-Men owed the missing hacker, "You know where this Carter is hiding with Cypher, Rogue?"

"Yeah."

Determination washed over Kitty's face, if she let Scott have his way it would eat him alive when Cypher's real goals were revealed; Rogue would be trapped with Magneto.  There was really only one choice to make.  "Then what are we waiting for?"

***************************

The house stood on a quiet suburban street much as it had in all of Asli's memories, all the windows were dark and the once carefully tended flower gardens were overgrown with weeds.  Rogue hoped it wasn't just her imagination that lent the place an air of menace.  "How do we know if they're in there?"  Kitty's voice came close to her ear-Rogue's former roommate had been close on her heels since bullying Scott and Kurt to help in the rescue.

"Why doesn't Rogue use her new telepathic powers?" Scott sneered only to be rewarded with an elbow in the ribs courtesy of Kitty Pryde.

Even in the dark you could feel Cobra rolling his eyes, "Both of them are telepathic nulls you moron. Using a telepath to track them won't work."

"That's where I come in," Shade offered a small smile-a flash of white teeth in the darkness.

The mismatched team watched as the tattooed mutant moved into a deep patch of shadows and disappeared.  A few seconds later he stepped out of the same pool of darkness, "In the basement-he's got it tricked out as a home lab. She's still alive, but passed out.  The door is re-enforced steel hooked up to one hell of a security system.  I've only ever seen Cypher beat things like that."

"Den Gambit thinks it a good thing we got super strength, intangibility and teleportation on our side," Rogue watched as Remy pulled out a few of his cards and fingered them absently, "And de best t'eif in de whole world."

Giving the Cajun an indulgent nod Rogue returned to the mission that lay ahead, "Alright here's the deal, Gambit will get us in while Pyro, Shade and I provide a distraction…Cobra, Avalanche, Nightcrawler, Shadowcat and Cyclops stay here for support…"

"I'll get Asli." Lance spoke up for the first time since his near brawl with Scott.

"Niet," Pitor lifted a large hand to stop the smaller man-their eyes locked sparking mutual dislike.

Rogue looked from one to the other trying to understand where this testosterone poisoning came from; Gambit's voice breathed right in her ear, "Chère, you forgot to warn Remy dat Asli had started a tryst with de Earthmover.  Pitor wasn't a happy man when he found out…"

"Shit.  Gambit…" Rogue raised her panicked eyes to his, "We can't afford to let their spat slow us down."

Gambit shrugged in that Gallic way that was entirely his, "If you wish ma Chère." Standing he placed himself between the two young men, "Mes Amis…there is no time for dis! De Tin Man's better protected he'll get Cypher hein."

This munificent pronouncement did not cease the hostilities both men continued to glare at each other heatedly. Sick of it Rogue stamped her foot and hissed, "Quit being a pair of fools-it doesn't matter which one of you saves her as long as some one does!"

With a wave of her arm Rogue moved her team into position, once they had stepped into the shadows they held on to Shade allowing them all to melt into the darkness.  It was like walking into a dark room and then turning on the light to find yourself in another room.  Shadow jumping with Shade wasn't nearly as disorienting as Kurt's teleportation but the concept was similar.

Moving in his silent thief's feet Gambit gained the door and pulled out the queen of hearts from his deck; careful to let Rogue see it. With a grin he charged the card until it glowed a faint red-pink then slid it into the gap between the door and the jam.  He scurried back to hide behind Rogue and suited up Colossus-their invulnerability made them handy shields.

One, two, three…BANG!  The explosion was deafening and sent debris flying in all directions.  So much for a quiet attack, Rogue brushed a piece of drywall out of her hair.  She and Pitor led the way down the stairs barely able to see through the dust kicked up by Gambit's 'entrance'.   All of Rogue's senses hummed-this was too easy-they should have met with some resistance already.

"That's far enough," Rogue fought her urge to cringe when Carter's voice hissed in the darkness, "You come any closer and I will kill her."

At the bottom of the stairs the air was clear enough to see the mad scientist's gleaming metal body; one of his hands held a heavy knife to a pale Asli's throat, a thin red line snaked it's way down the neck line of her tatted black dress shirt.  Rogue actually had to put some of her strength into holding Pitor back-for the first time he looked truly ready to kill someone. 

For her part Cypher's face was calm, her eyes held hazy pain as Carter pulled her closer; "The second I hit the ground you are a dead man."

"Would your friends kill your dear father?"

Rogue took a step back-Asli's eyes were bleeding to black-Cypher was calling up her powers, the look on her friend's face told her to give her enough time to make a big strike.  "In a heartbeat." Rogue's voice was loud in the silence, "You cut your own kid up like some science project…then went and did it to others. All so that you could make good with your government funding."

Carter pulled the knife tighter and more blood flowed; Asli's eyes began to glow with a dark fire, "Silence! You don't know anything! I helped them all!"

"How the fuck do you think you 'helped' us?" Shade snorted.

Carter's eyes darted behind Rogue and locked on the tattooed mutant, "Ahh, Mr. Allen so nice to see you again.  If it hadn't been for me none of you would have been able to control your powers…they would have destroyed you as surely as…" his voice caught, "My wife's destroyed her…"

"Excuse me if we're not entirely grateful." Shade bit back years of anger and hatred colouring his words, "No one asked you to play God!"

"I wasn't playing God!" Carter's eyes danced madly, "I was God! And this time I'll do everything differently…I'll start over…and my Claire will come back to me."

Asli's skin began to glow as it had after taking a boost from Surge; Rogue could see the hacker was hovering a fraction of an inch above the table, "I hate to break it to you but Mom isn't coming back."

It all happened so fast Rogue's eyes couldn't take it all in, Carter began to pull the knife deeper into Asli's skin, Shade shadow jumped behind him-and lastly Cypher let go of the massive amount of power she had been building up. 

As the shockwave of power hit the electrical equipment in the room it all flames shot out of them before they died a quick death.  Without being told Pyro doused the flames before they could spread to the rest of the basement.  Sparks issued from Carter's robotic arm stopping it just short of slitting the hacker's throat.  Slowly, the cyborg ground to a halt; "No!" his voice was full of pain.

Shoving away Asli floated just above the table he had held her on, "You really shouldn't rely on electronic life support systems around me Daddy."

Carter's metal body fell to the ground with a thud, the circuits still sparking form the surge Cypher had sent through them.  The glow that surrounded Cypher during her build up faded quickly, Pitor rushed past Rogue and Gambit to reach her side as she fell back on to the table.

"Chère," Gambit's voice sounded worried-the sound of police sirens was faint in the distance but growing closer, "Gambit thinks it be time to run."

***************************

Jerking upright it took a few moments for the mutant known as Destiny to shake off the nightmare vision that had descended on her in her sleep.  Wiping away the cold sweat that ran into her unseeing eyes, Irene Adler took several deep breaths to calm herself before reaching for the phone kept next to her bed.  She dialled the number by heart and waited through two rings before the other end was picked up, "What is it Destiny?"

"Raven," Irene chided herself for the note of panic still clinging to her voice, "I had a vision about Rogue."

There was a thoughtful silence, "Does it have anything to do with the fact that my wayward daughter is working for Eric?"

Fear for the child she had raised clamped Irene's heart like a vice, "Oh no…Raven you have to stop her…"

"What did you see?"

"If you don't stop Rogue from following through with her plan she will die."

Irene's words were greeted by a dial tone.

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Okay…so I know this wasn't even close to fast…it wasn't a Bunny, gerbil or even tortoise on krac but at long last I have finished Darkness and Loss.  I found a wonderful way to block out even the most persistent muse…Lots of cold medication.  You'd think being home sick for the better part of a week would been more writing…but no…it meant sleeping and sneezing and loosing my voice for two days.

Thank you Ish for the review…Happy solstice to all my readers…I'll start the next story in the saga "Destiny and Chaos" after the holidays if all goes well.