Title: Child Of The Snows Chapter 10.
Author: Andrea The Mad
E-Mail: andreaslaymaker@hotmail.co.uk - good, bad and ugly welcome. But if you hate it, at least try and be polite.
Disclaimer: Only Smoke belongs to me, a fact she is unlikely to let me forget. Everyone else belongs to Marvel - please don't sue me, I'm skint.
Archive Rights: DDFH - where else? But if you want it, just ask.
Rating: R for general unpleasantness. If you're squeamish, you probably haven't got this far anyway.
Summary: Someone runs away, makes a decision, then tries to use the X-Men to make it work….
Chap 10
Deathwatch
Pandemonium ruled. Storm soared up into the sky whilst the other team members took up positions on the perimeter. As he was leaving, Scott grabbed Logan by the arm.
"Don't do anything stupid - we've got our orders."
Logan shook him off, a growl beginning deep in his chest. Marie shoved him to one side and stepped forward, placing a hand gently on Scott's chest and looking into his eyes earnestly.
"Scott, please…try not to."
He fidgeted uncomfortably for a second, realising only too well that all that stood between him and a good kicking - or clawing, as the case may be - was this slight southern girl.
"OK. I'll try. But you heard the professor."
"Thanks" she whispered, and gave him a peck on the cheek. Cheered immensely, Scott ran for the door, calling orders to his team in a clipped, emotionless voice.
"You're kissing Scooter now?" Logan sounded injured. Marie rolled her eyes, grabbed his hand, and dragged him out the door after Scott.
"Yes, but - one eye?"
"Oh, come ON!"
*
From her perch high in an oak tree, Storm watched the ground carefully. She had her orders, but was feeling immensely unhappy at the prospect of having to carry them out. She knew of oppression; the continent that had been her home groaned under the weight of it, and even here - in the 'free world' - it slowly gained ground. Yes, she understood why the professor had ordered them to do what he felt was necessary, but she felt…uneasy with it. She had a good idea what had happened to the young mutant, and was not entirely proud of her part in the small riot that had occurred when she had arrived; but what, honestly, had Xavier, Scott, Logan and the others expected Smoke to do? Come straight in out of the woods and join them at dinner? After everything that had happened to her?
A noise, far below. Ororo stilled, praying that the great wolf had chosen another direction.
A movement.
A large form, hackles standing straight up and gleaming in the moonlight as though silvered by frost, stalked directly under her. Towards the road that led directly into town.
I'll just…warn her off. (If you can't do it, one of the others will. At least you can do it with pity in your heart.)
A crack of thunder, directly overhead. Roiling clouds covering the moon, and gusts of wind angrily swirling the debris of late autumn into a black and grey maelstrom.
"Go no further!"
Smoke stilled, then roared up at the sky.
"Turn back!"
She lowered her head, and walked on.
Bright lady, I don't want to do this!
A whipcrack fork of lightning opened a steaming crater just before the nose of the wolf. She checked, briefly; glanced up at Storm, and kept moving.
No, please stop. I do not want your death!
The next lash caught Smoke squarely, flinging her backwards and causing her to thrash and twitch, choking on the steaming foam dripping from her jaws. Her movements slowed from their spastic fitting, then stopped.
Horrified, Ororo swooped down to land gracefully before Smoke's still form.
"I'm sorry…." She sighed, the tears starting to come. "Bright lady, forgive me." She stretched out a gloved hand and touched the wolfish face, in a gesture filled with sorrow and pain - then snatched her hand back as though burned when the form before her drew a great, shuddering breath and rolled over on to it's chest.
They stared at each other for a moment.
Of course…her healing factor. Storm faced the great animal, and spread her hands in defeat.
"I will defend myself, but I will not aid in your death. We have brought you nothing but pain and I …I…am sorry. I will harm you no more."
Smoke pulled herself up into a sitting position and simply turned her great grey eyes on the white haired woman kneeling before her. She stared for several minutes, nodded her head, and turned away.
"Where…where are you going?" called Storm, confused. Smoke simply kept going without looking back.
Why would she turn away, when she had risked death to get to the road past herself? It made no sense. Unless…unless…
She was heading towards Scott. Who would not falter. Who would, as every good soldier should, follow orders through, no matter how unpleasant. Who, when he saw Smoke apparently determined to get past him, would not use reason, and would not try to communicate with her. He would stop her, or die trying.
It suddenly dawned on Storm why the young mutant was heading that way.
Because, when you get right down to it, there are times when living is just too, too hard.
*
"Dammit! I'll never find her in these woods after Scooter and his happy crowd have stomped all over the trail!"
"You will. Just slow down - concentrate!"
At the sharpness in Marie's tone, Logan whirled to face her, eyes dark with anger. Marie braced herself; she'd seen him this furious before, but had never been the focus of it - then again, she'd never seen him lose a trail before, either.
"Y'don't think she might have hidden her trail a bit, sugah?"
Logan swung back to regarding the trees without answering.
Of course she has. Even out of her mind with panic, she must have known that he would come after her; they seemed to have a bond, the three of them. The three of them…hmmm. There was a possibility that, since she was a - what was it? - projecting empath (projecting, remember? As in, puttin' it on you) and since she knew his mind pretty well, she was somehow managing to confuse his senses.
Unlikely, but possible.
What she had - hopefully - forgotten was that there was a third person involved in this odd bonding. Marie. He turned back to her, and his heart gave a little twist when he saw how hard she was trying to be brave in the face of his anger. Gods, but she was wonderful. He couldn't think of anyone else he would rather have as his…mate. The animal within gave an exasperated huff. (Well, finally!) Time to do something about it, then.
He closed the gap between them, and gently took her face between his large, rough hands.
"I'm sorry I came on to you too hard - before, you know, when I came back-"
"I kno-"
He silenced her with a gentle kiss on the lips.
"I'm sorry that you felt you had to push me away like that. Smoke, well, she made me see things differently."
Marie closed her eyes, and let her body soften against his. Finally.
Logan drew a deep breath. The feel of Marie's body against his own - soft, pliant, warm - was seriously distracting. Desperate situation or not, he just wanted to claim her as his own, and make her scream his name wildly to the racing clouds overhead; he couldn't help but rumble a low growl at the thought.
"Sugah…"
"Ssshhh - " He leaned his forehead into hers, and took a good lungful of the scent of her hair, her body…she smelled so good. He was faintly amused that he could feel the animal side of him thrashing about indecisively within his soul; take his mate, or find the lost one?
"Marie?" She looked into his eyes, trusting, loving…he just had to hope he was right about how she felt. It was not only Smoke's last chance; it was his as well.
"Do you trust me?"
"Bu-"
"Sshh. Do you?"
"Yes" whispered against his lips.
"Do you love me?"
A hiss of indrawn breath. Please, love, please, trust me…
"Yes"
"Do you know that I love you? With all my heart, with all my soul?"
For answer, she kissed him deeply, tangling her hands in his hair to pull him closer, pressing her body against his, telling him with her heat, her fervour, just how she felt. He could do nothing but hold her tight, and give her all the passion he could in this brief moment.
Now we'll see how much she trusts me. Here goes.
He broke the kiss, and straightened above her; she regarded him with uncertainty, flicking her tongue over her lips in a nervous - and incredibly sexy - gesture.
"Where's Smoke?"
Without hesitation, without thinking, she shot out a hand and indicated a direction to the northwest.
"That way"
He continued to look at her as a nasty suspicion arose in her mind. He knew what she was going to think; he wasn't sure she would have figured out the link, and how his senses could be dulled, but hers sharpened - he was just praying that he would get a chance to explain.
"You - you - just to track - why, you - RAT BASTARD - "
He held her while she raged at him; holding her close and just soaking up the blows and abuse until she stilled, out of breath.
He lifted her chin with a finger so that he was looking directly into her eyes, hazel to deep brown.
"Do you trust me?"
She whistled in a breath, and let it out between bared teeth. How could she not?
"Damn you. Yes."
"Good. Now let's go get our runaway before she gets her stupid self killed."
Marie just shook her head in confusion as she began to follow him, almost running into the back of him as he swung back to her.
"Y'know," he said wryly, dropping a swift kiss on to her lips even as he caught her, "Even if you're wrong, I'll still love ya!"
She swatted him hard. He shrugged, smiled; with that, the pair of them raced into the woods.
*
He was there, as she knew he would be. Fearless leader, HE had called him, with more than an edge of sarcasm in his voice; but his mind had glittered with a dusting of admiration for the man. She couldn't think why; she'd been anything but quiet on the approach, and still he stood with hand on visor - facing the wrong way.
She had to be careful. She had to make him feel that in giving her what she wanted, he was justified; she would have no more misery on her conscience.
Scott had almost no warning of the attack; a low growl, the dull thump of paws on the hard packed earth, and then a terrific blow to the point of his shoulder, spinning him round and knocking him to the ground. He regained his feet and focused on his enemy just in time to see her beginning another attack run towards him.
No choice!
He put his hand to his visor, focused the beam with the speed of thought, and fired.
Even though she had been knocked down with terrible burns, he saw the wolf roll to her feet, healing before his very eyes; she attacked again, blade like fangs reaching for his body to tear him open, claws reaching out to rip the very flesh from his bones.
He fired again. And again. And still, she attacked.
*
Logan and Marie were loping along a barely distinguishable trail when they heard the thunder, and lightning lit the sky. They halted, staring upwards in horror. Marie clutched his arm hard.
"Ororo! Logan, we've got to hurry!"
He nodded grimly, and they redoubled their pace.
*
Slower now. Her attacks had lost none of their force, but it was taking her longer to recover from each pass. Scott was not unmarked himself; his uniform was shredded in several places, and she had once got a good grip on his thigh, shaking him like a rat.
They faced each other across the clearing, panting and bleeding.
"Marie asked me…not to…kill you" gasped Scott, trying to get through to the mutant staring at him. At that piece of news, she stilled, and her eyes lost some of their fierceness; for just a moment - a heartbeat - he realised just how beautiful, how wild, those eyes could be.
Then it was gone. She flung herself toward him once more, forcing him to flay her with ruby fire.
*
A dark shape swept down at them through the trees; Logan started back with a snarl, flashing his readiness to defend his mate with a glitter of deadly adamantium claws.
"Logan!"
"'Ro?"
"Quickly. The wolf - "
"Smoke" put in Marie fiercely, from her place at his side.
"- is attacking Scott. And oh, Logan - " she stepped towards them, and they were shocked to see tears shining in her glorious blue eyes, "- she is losing!"
Logan took off towards the commotion they could hear in the distance, Marie no more than a heartbeat behind him.
"'Ro!" yelled Marie as she tore along the trail her lover was hacking through the thick greenery, "try and stop them! Distract them!"
And then she was gone.
Passing her sleeve roughly over her eyes, Ororo nodded, and sprang into the sky once more.
*
"Stop…please…just stop. Your healing factor can't keep up!"
Scott had taken to pleading with his adversary between attacks. After all, this was madness! Why was she driving herself so hard to kill him? Especially now, when it was so abundantly clear she was losing?
She flung herself at him again, far less steadily than before. She was still faster than he in momentary bursts; this time, it was only his sleeve that exploded into tatters, and not the flesh of his upper arm.
But it was close.
"Scott! No!"
Distracted, he glanced skyward in surprise at the sound of Storm's scream.
Knowing that she had pushed him almost as far as she could, Smoke decided to finish this.
Her way.
Before he could refocus on his attacker, she hit him. Right in the midsection. Burying his hands in the thick, blood matted fur of her neck he tried vainly to pull her off; he knew that another blast would kill her…and he wasn't a killer.
But he couldn't stop a scream from starting when he felt her broken, bloodied jaws start to close around his ribcage, under the arm; much as he had tried to refrain from doing so, the long hours of training in the Danger Room kicked in and caused him to blast her square on the spine, flinging her aside in an explosion of blood and bone. He collapsed, realising only dimly that her weight was off him, and that the smell of burning flesh and singed hair was making him sick to his stomach.
When he glanced across at the wolf and saw what a fearsome mess his powers had made of her carcase, he felt even worse.
But then she twitched, and moaned, signalling the fact that even torn apart - she lived. Barely.
Then he did retch.
"Oh, Scott…" sighed a soft voice, as Storm gently pulled her friend into her arms and cradled him, mindful both of his injuries and his need for solace.
"I tried…Marie made me promise, and I did try…so hard…"
"I know. It's not your fault."
Smoke moaned again, seeking release from the agony he had wrought; so he buried his face in his comrade's shoulder, and wept like a child while she rocked him gently.
*
Marie was several feet behind Logan when he burst out onto the scene, and didn't immediately see what made him stop dead and swear softly. Before she could get round him, he swung around and imprisoned her in his arms, eyes closing in sorrow.
"No, darlin'…you shouldn't see this."
"See what? Logan, let me go!"
He dropped his head to her shoulder, needing comfort, and shuddered.
"We're too late. I'm sorry."
"No! Damn you, let me go!" Furious now, she managed to struggle out of his arms and race past him, only to stop abruptly when she saw what he had tried to protect her from. She felt a touch on her shoulder, and leapt sideways. Logan stood by her, eyes haunted. Marie suddenly felt a flare of anger well up in her, and directed it at this man who was so ready to give up on a friend.
"Don't you dare!" she screamed.
Before he could demand what the hell she meant, she had run to Smoke's side and dropped to her knees beside the battered head.
*He has told you…how he feels*
The contact was faint, weak…but there. Tears starting now, Marie gently lifted Smoke's head into her lap and smoothed her ears, trying to avoid looking at the horrendous wounds that were slowly sapping away her life.
*Look…they won't hurt you. It's only a body…*
Apart from the various smaller burns and tears on her body - there was very little of that magnificent coat remaining - the final wound gaped obscenely open, steaming in the cold air. A mass of torn flesh and shattered bone over her spine, behind the shoulders; the skin and muscle torn away from her flank, exposing broken ribs to the night. Even worse, to human eyes, was the fact that the tear was long enough and deep enough to allow intestines to spill out in a glistening heap on the ground, pulsing dully in the weak light.
"God…Smoke…I thought you could heal?" choked Marie.
"Even a healin' factor can be overwhelmed, darlin'" sighed Logan softly, kneeling next to his love and touching Smoke's face gently, "especially when you've starved yourself for what - over a week now?"
He felt amusement brush against the edges of his mind.
*What is it you…colonials say? Oh yes, that's…it…'busted'*
"Why?" Marie was really losing the battle against the tears now, as she watched her friend's healing factor shudder through her body, and finally grind to a halt. Her body was just being shaken now by the struggles of her heart to pump life around a shattered body; soon, that would fail too. And…the only feeling emanating from the dying mutant was…peace.
*Too hard…for too long…* Her eyes flicked to Logan's then, and something passed between them that Marie could not read.
Snikt!
"What are you doing?!" hissed Marie. Logan didn't look at her.
"It's what she wants…it's cleaner like this."
"Dammit, no! I won't let you!"
*It really is…what I want. Would you rather I just…bled to death in your arms?*
"No! We've got doctors, surely they could help! Hank could - "
*No doctors…not now…I am… afraid… of them…just let me go, please..*
Logan suddenly cocked his head, a glint in his eye. He gently shifted Smoke's head so that she was looking straight into his eyes.
"Take a wager?" he grinned suddenly. Rogue got the strongest urge to hit him - hard - in the side of the head, until she remembered something he had said to her under the trees, earlier -
Trust me.
This had better be good.
"If we can find a doctor you're not afraid of, who's not afraid of you - will you fight back? Will you try to live?"
*You…know I can refuse you…nothing*
Logan turned his head to Storm, still holding onto Scott who was, at least, on his feet now, still bleeding.
"Call the prof. Get Hank out here - fast" She nodded. He turned back to his love, still stroking Smoke's ears and whispering quietly to her, talking of family, and love, and how she would enjoy the woods in the summer. Trying to stop her from leaving. He settled down beside her, wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and tried to give what strength he could to them both.