Chapter Five
Aura woke up with a splitting headache. She sat up slowly and looked around the largish room that she was in.
Remy was still unconscious on one of the beds across the room. There was dried blood on his temple, indicating that he'd put up the same sort of fight as Aura had.
Solitaire was on the other bed, also unconscious, but he wasn't bleeding. A bruise was dark against his cheek, but that was it. His sunglasses were missing and Aura realised she'd never seen him without them.
Aura stood up shakily and walked to the smaller door. It opened into a bathroom with a small sink with a paper cup dispenser and a shower. She stood in front of the mirror and gently probed her forehead and head, checking for injuries. A bruise was forming along her left cheekbone and she could feel the lump where she'd been hit with something, but there was nothing serious.
She splashed water over her face, took a paper cup from the dispenser and filled it with water. She went back into the larger room and knelt beside Remy. Wetting the hem of her shirt, she carefully cleaned the blood away from his head wound. It was fairly nasty, deep and bloody, but she didn't think it was anything life-threatening.
Still, it worried her that he hadn't woken up, even while she was cleaning his injury. Remy normally slept lightly, woken by almost anything except Dreamer, who knew how to move quieter than a cat. He hadn't even stirred.
She laid her hand on his forehead and pulled back almost immediately. He was burning up.
((Great. That means there's another injury somewhere, probably a bad one.))
She carefully went over him, checking for the injury that she knew was there somewhere. Sure enough, she found a piece of what looked like twisted, melted metal from the gate lodged in his right leg, just above his ankle. She bit her lip and carefully gripped the edge.
((Here goes. Now I hope you don't wake up, Remy.))
Blood spurted sporadically from the wound once the metal was gone. Aura quickly tore the hem of her shirt and bound the wound as best she could, hoping that she'd done the right thing by removing the metal.
Once she was done, she flopped back onto her bed and breathed a sigh of relief. She'd never treated any injuries before, not even when she, Dreamer and Remy had been living on the streets. They'd been too careful to be injured, since there was no way of knowing which injury might prove to be fatal.
She wished she knew where the others were. Before she'd been knocked out she'd seen Dreamer fighting Lukas. She just hoped that he hadn't been captured as well.
The electronic door swished open and a red-haired girl with red eyes walked in, carrying a tray of food and water. She placed it on the table and said, "good to see you awake. Damien will see you soon and explain all of this."
"Wait!"
The girl turned, a questioning expression on her face. "Yes?"
"My friend is injured," Aura explained. "He has a wound that's probably infected by now and he's got a high fever and probably a concussion. He needs proper treatment."
"I'm sorry, Damien wouldn't allow it. I can bring you bandages and things like that, but that's all I can do," the girl said. She crossed the room and looked down at Remy. "Hmm, I see what you mean. I'm sure Damien will discipline the one who caused this. I'll speak to him directly."
She left the room and the door swished closed behind her. Aura sighed and settled back on the bed. "Remy, what have we gotten ourselves into this time?"
Solitaire suddenly sat up, groaning softly. "Man, I feel like something exploded in my head," he muttered.
Aura jumped up and asked, "are you okay? Apart from the headache, I mean."
"Yeah, I think so," he muttered. "God, this is almost as bad as one of my migraines."
Aura sat down on her bed again and closed her eyes. Solitaire pressed his knuckles against his temples, wincing at the pain from the bright light. Aura sat up and looked over at him, frowning. "Are you okay?"
"Not really. My eyes are extremely light-sensitive. I can't handle this level of illumination for long. But during that fight my sunglasses got knocked off. I guess Damien's cronies didn't think to bring them."
Aura stood up and started pacing across the room. "I just hope they don't have any of the others. I was knocked out before I could see who else they went for."
"I saw Dreamer fighting Lukas," Solitaire said, lying back and covering his eyes with his hands. "Man, feels like the light's burning my eyes or something."
"Is there something I can do to help?"
"Not as far as I know. I really need my sunglasses. This light is too bright for my eyes to handle for long."
"Tell me if there's anything else you need," Aura said. "I'll find a way to be annoying enough to get it. I've had practice. When I was a kid I used to whine until I got my way. Or kick ass on whoever was closest. Dreamer always told me I was too aggressive…"
She trailed off, thinking of her lifelong friend and hoping he was all right. Hoping that all of the others were okay.
"Aura, if you want, I can use my cards to try and see Dreamer and the others," Solitaire offered. Aura was torn between agreeing and insisting that the dark-haired teenager save his energy. He pulled out the pack of Tarot cards, but she shook her head.
"No, you might need your energy later. We all know how using your power gives you those awful headaches. It's not necessary right now. Besides, I don't really think Damien would hurt us. We're too valuable to him alive."
@ @ @
Dreamer heard two soft voices, talking not far away when he woke up. He kept his eyes closed, wanting to know exactly what was going on before they knew he was awake.
"Good job, Adam. You're turning into as good an asset as Sabrina."
Damien's voice. ((Great. Figures he'd be involved in all this somehow.))
"It wasn' that hard. Ya think th' Professor's gonna do what y'all want?" a strangely familiar voice asked.
Damien replied, "we have the leverage we need."
Sabrina's voice was the next to speak. "Is he ever going to wake up?"
"He is awake. Come, we'll leave Adam and Daniel to talk," Damien said. There was the sound of a door opening and closing, oddly with no locking noise. Dreamer tried to move his arms and felt thick leather straps encircling his wrists. Which would explain why the door wasn't locked.
That familiar Southern voice spoke. "Y'all may as well talk ta me, Daniel. Ah know y'all awake."
Dreamer slowly opened his eyes and gasped. Leaning over him, a concerned expression on his face, was a guy with dark blue hair and dark purple eyes. A guy he'd never thought he'd see again, and certainly not in these circumstances.
"Adam?"
The anxious face broke into a smile. "Ah thought ya'd remember, but Ah wasn' sure. Good ta see ya 'gain, brothah."
"What… what's goin' on here, Adam? Why are y'all with Damien? Don' ya know who he is?" Dreamer asked.
Adam nodded solemnly. "Ah know, Daniel. He's th' one who helped me fahnd ya. D'ya have any ahdea how long Ah've been waitin' f' this day? Evah since Ah found out y'all was still alive, Ah've been lookin'. An' now Ah found ya."
Dreamer tested the leather straps around his wrists and ankles. They were strong. There was no chance he'd be able to break them. If he was Logan, maybe, but as it was he was still weakened from the earlier fight and the shock of seeing his brother again.
Adam smiled ruefully. "Sorry 'bout those, brothah. Ah've gotta be sure Ah c'n trust y'all b'fore Ah let ya have free rein 'round here. Damien tol' me what sorta lies they spout ovah at that school y'all go ta."
"Lies? Adam, th' people there are tryin' ta help us! It's people lahke Damien who make th' humans hate mutants. If they're gonna attack every chance they get, how are humans goin' ta react, d'ya think? At least Xavier an' th' others are tryin' ta make things better."
"That's what they want y'all ta think, Daniel. Damien explained everythin' ta me. They're tryin' ta turn y'all 'gainst us, Ah know that. An' Ah'll do whatevah it takes ta make ya see that he's raht 'bout all this. Ya belong here, with us, Daniel."
"Ah belong with th' people Ah trust," Dreamer spat, almost enjoying the pained look in Adam's purple eyes. But his brother shook his head.
"This's gonna be hardah than Ah thought, but Ah'll fahnd a way ta make ya see that what we do here is th' raht thing."
"Where are mah friends?"
"Remy, Aura an' Solitaire are all togethah. Damien woulda left ya with them but Ah wanted ta talk t'ya," Adam said. "Don' worry 'bout them. They're all okay, far as Ah know. Damien won' hurt them. They're too valuable."
"Valuable?"
"Yah. Damien's made an alliance with Sinistah. Mr. Essex. Whatevah ya want ta call him," Adam said nonchalantly.
Dreamer exclaimed, "are y'all crazy?! Sinister'll do anythin' ta get his hands on me an' th'others 'gain."
"Damien made a deal with him. He gets Remy, Aura an' Solitaire, an' Ah get ta keep ya, recruit ya ta our sahde. He agreed."
"Ya cain't do that, Adam. They're livin' people, not possessions or somethin'," Dreamer said angrily.
Adam replied, "they're ya friends, Ah undahstand that. But ya won' need them here, Daniel. Ya won' need them, or th' othahs at that school who call themselves ya friends."
"They're not just mah friends. They're mah family, Adam. More than y'all ever have a chance ta be," Dreamer snarled.
Adam merely shrugged. "Ya won' need them here. Th'othahs here, they're all th' family ya need. Ah don' care how long it takes, Ah will make ya see that ya belong here. With us."
@ @ @
Cat glanced at Chantelle. The empath's hair had turned yellow and red streaked, which she'd said indicated fear and anger. That was perfectly understandable, considering Chantelle's boyfriend was one of the students to be kidnapped.
Logan, Jean and Storm had come back from Colorado with bad news; not only had they not found Solitaire, Dreamer, Aura, Remy and Xavier, but there hadn't been a trace of the old bases, let alone any indication of where a new one would be.
They were all in the den. Kurt and Kitty were sitting together, talking softly and intently. Logan was pacing, looking more pissed than Cat had ever seen anyone, even the guys in the park when she'd beat several of them arm-wrestling.
Raptor was passing her hand over her gloves, changing them from silver to black over and over again. Finally, Bobby reached over and took one hand. "Relax. We'll all be fine," he said softly. Raptor smiled at him, but her eyes were still worried.
Jubilee was all but bouncing out of her seat with worry. Rogue was sitting by the window, staring out with an unreadable expression on her face. The whole atmosphere inside the room was one of mingled anger, fear and hate.
Chantelle shuddered. "This ain't good, guys. You're all letting your anger and fear control you. I know that it seems hard to feel anything else, but we've gotta get ourselves under control."
"What would ya know?" Rogue hissed.
Chantelle faced her calmly, though her hair threaded with more red. "Merde, Rogue, my boyfriend's with them too, not just yours. You're not the only one hurting here, so don't try to pretend you can snap our heads off and it'll be okay. We're all worried."
Rogue blinked and shook her head as if she was coming out of a deep sleep. "Th-thanks. Ah think Ah needed someone ta snap me outta that."
Chantelle smiled slightly. "Mea culpa also, I've been indulging in fear and anger that really doesn't help. Now, I know we're all scared and angry. I am too. I mean, even the thought of anyone hurting the others… it's enough to make my blood boil. But we can't attack in a berserker rage. We have to keep a cool mind about all this." [I'm at fault]
"Chantelle's right," Jean said. "Attacking with no plan isn't going to help the others, and could very easily get us all killed. We need to work out what we're going to do before we charge in like chickens with our heads cut off."
"Their security has always been kind of slack," Bobby commented. "That first time, when we got attacked by the others, it was only because Sabrina wanted to see what they could do. There wasn't even much resistance when you guys went in last week from what you've told me."
"Probably because they wanted to set a trap for one of us," Logan said suddenly. "Jean, you were telling us that Scott hadn't been the same since that mission. What if Discordia had been him since then? We did find him and Aura unconscious. They could easily have replaced him with Discordia before we got there."
Chantelle shuddered. "Creepy. How do we tell if that happens again?" she asked.
Storm replied, "you can read most of our emotions from what you've told us. If there comes a time when you can't, tell someone and we'll look into it. And Cat, if you get those "feelings of wrongness" make sure one of us knows about it."
Cat and Chantelle nodded. Raptor said, "how are we going to find them, even if they are in the same place as before? It's not like we can just waltz in and ask to see them."
"I'll become invisible and go in," Chantelle volunteered. "It makes sense. They can't sense me when I'm invisible, and they certainly won't be able to see me. It's the way that risks the fewest possible."
"You can't go in alone," Jean and Storm protested together.
Chantelle sighed. "I'm going to have to. Come on, you know they'd do the same for us in a shot if they could. This is a way I can help and I'm going to do it."
She glanced around at them all. "Scott's the leader and he's not here to tell me not to do this. You all know I only listen to the leader when we're on a mission, and I never listen to anyone else. I can do this. In fact, I'm probably the only one who can. So let me do what I can to help the others."
"You're sure there's no other way?" Jubilee asked.
Raptor suddenly said, "they don't remember me, I'll bet. And we've seen how many nurses and stuff Damien has. If I can make myself look a little different, and if we can locate the base, which I'm sure we will sooner or later, I can sneak in as a nurse or something and Chantelle can go invisible-girl for us. We'll find out where the others are being kept, contact you guys and you can come get us all."
"I can go as well," Kurt said. "My holographic inducer can create a totally different image. They'll have no way of knowing who I am."
"I don't know," Jean said. "It's still risky."
"Jean, no offence but we live risky every day," Kurt said. "We're mutants, humans want to kill us. Hell, Cat's here because humans tried to kill her. In addition to the relatively normal racial hatred, there's the fact that we're X-Men. That just adds another dimension to the risk. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't give it up if you paid me. All I'm saying is maybe this risk is worth it all."
TBC. In Chapter Six, Sinister and Aura 'talk'. Raptor makes her disguise. Adam and Scott 'talk'. Kinda.
