Team Work
Jennifer wakes first. She looks down at the large restraints holding her hands in front of her. They are bulky and cover her hands completely. She sighs and looks over at Donovan, who is still asleep nearby. She doesn't want to face the young woman when she wakes. Though their powers are apparently negated by the shackles they wear, Donovan has proven to be a very formidable opponent.
Donovan jerks as her eyes open. She starts to stand but falls over, slipping on the restraints. She groans but tries again. Finally, she manages to stand and glares at Jennifer. "Where are we?"
"The Weapon X facility, I'm assuming," Jennifer responds. "I have no idea why we're still alive, though."
"What the hell were you thinking?" Donovan snaps. She sinks to the cot provided angrily. "We're all going to die. Those mutants, the ones that haven't been captured… everyone with the x-gene in their body is going to be destroyed because you wanted to make a buck!"
Jennifer frowns. "That's not true! You'll never understand!"
"Understand what, you money-grubbing race traitor!" Donovan shouts. "You made some lousy choices, Boost, and I think that it's time you paid for them!"
"What are you going to do?" Jennifer asks snidely. "We're totally human and totally helpless. You can't do anything.."
Jennifer is interrupted when Donovan hits her as hard as she can in the face with her restraints. Jennifer falls and Donovan kneels above her, snarling. She raises her manacles again to hit her. "Damn, you got violent when you found your voice. Whatever was keeping you quiet was keeping you human…"
Donovan freezes. She does realize that she's been very brutal since she worked Mandy out of her mind. She backs away, quiet. Jennifer stands and spits blood from her mouth. "Don't get me wrong, you're interesting with a mind of your own now, but you think you can calm down long enough for us to figure out how to get out of here?"
"Why should I trust you?" Donovan mutters.
"What other choice do you have?" Jennifer points out. "You're stuck in a cell as far away from the only girl you've even thought of pursuing anything with since Mandy's death. Let's get out of here and then we can rescue the girl of your dreams, how's that sound?"
Rogue… Donovan sighs. It is true that Donovan has been harboring feelings for the Southern beauty but there could be nothing of it. Donovan still mourns Mandy's death and there is no guarantee that Rogue would even be interested. Especially after all that's just transpired. Wraith has probably told them that she and Jennifer escaped together in all the confusion. "One thing at a time. How do we get out?"
Jennifer smiles. "There we go, isn't that better? Thinking with our heads instead of our blood lust is generally far more productive, don't you think?"
"Shut up," Donovan says. She is sick of Jennifer's banter. "Tell me what you have in mind or the deal's off."
"Fine, fine," Jennifer sits on the cot and indicates that Donovan should take a seat next to her. She takes a deep breath. "What do you think we should do?"
Donovan looks at Jennifer, shocked. "You don't even have a plan?"
Jennifer shakes her head. "You killed my plan when you tried to take over. What were you thinking?"
"I was thinking that I couldn't trust you!" Donovan exclaims. "That you were just trying to use me some more!"
"How can you be so pessimistic?" Jennifer asks. "You must be great at parties."
Donovan gets up. "I was crazy to think that you'd be of any use here."
"Now hold on a minute," Jennifer stands as well. "Look, we don't get along. Fine. But we work together and get the hell out of here, we can be unstoppable. What do you say?"
"I just want out," Donovan says grimly. "No more of this covert bull. No more running around collecting freaks for this funny farm. Just to get out and go my own way."
Jennifer smiles slyly. "With a sweet little southerner on your arm, I'm sure."
"Out. Period," Donovan grumbles irritably. "You think of a way out, I'll help you. But after that, I'm on my own."
"Deal," Jennifer smiles. "I'd shake on it but we're obviously a bit tied up at the moment. Well, then, let's get started! Just follow my lead. Lie down."
Donovan just stares at Jennifer. "The 'quick, my cellmate's ill' gag? Please, I'd rather just ask to be let go."
"Do it. These guys are stupid. They'll fall for anything," Jennifer replies. "Worse case scenario, we're separated and you wouldn't mind that very much."
Donovan lies down on the ground. She is mumbling to herself. "Worse case scenario, we're killed for our stupidity."
"Guards! Hey, guys! Donovan's fallen and she won't get up! I can't get her to open her eyes!" Jennifer begins to scream. "I don't think she's breathing! Oh my God, someone come quick!"
Donovan tries to hide the smirk that's forming on her face. She really is convincing. Maybe I wasn't blind to believe her for a while. She goes limp again when she hears the guards hurry toward the cell.
"Thank God! Look, she fell over when she was trying to jump at me. I don't think she's breathing. I don't wanna be in a cell with a dead girl!"
The four guards enter the cell quickly. One reaches down check Donovan's pulse. He is knocked unconscious by a sharp blow to the head with Jennifer's restraints. Donovan jumps to her feet and gives the guard nearest her the same treatment.
With two down, the two remaining guards try to salvage the battle. They draw their guns but Donovan is too fast. Even without her mutant ability, she'd been a gymnast and martial artist. She jump kicks the gun out of one's hand while stretching out with her arms to push the other's gun to the floor. She lands on the ground without making a sound.
"Well, well, Milady," Jennifer says as she kicks the guns out of the cell. "I must say I'm impressed!"
Donovan lowers herself to the ground and shrugs. "If it impresses you, I'm not interested in ever doing it again."
"Don't be such a stick in the mud. That was great and you know it," Jennifer replies. "Admit it."
This is the closest to nice Jennifer has been to Donovan since they met. Jennifer had been relying on her fast tongue and sharp wit to get her way with everyone. But she knows that Donovan isn't buying any of it anymore. And the truth is, she genuinely is impressed. She hadn't known that Donovan had any kind of fighting background. That would have made Donovan much more useful in Jennifer's eyes.
"Let's go," Donovan barks. She and Jennifer back out of the cell and then seal it after they've gotten out all the way. The two standing guards are shouting to be freed. "What do we do about these things on our hands?"
"Wing it," Jennifer said, shrugging. She chuckles and starts to run. "Hurry up! You don't wanna get left behind!"
Donovan chases after Jennifer. Her thoughts are on Rogue, who may be thinking that she's just been abandoned again. She doesn't want to just leave Rogue but what choice does she have? She has to get out while she has the chance. She has to find a way out so that she can get back in to save her.
After running for a good fifteen minutes, winding down dizzying corridors and numerous dead ends, Jennifer begins to slow down. Damn. I've never been down this far into the facility. But I can't tell Donny that. She'll kill me! What to do…
A snarl interrupts Jennifer's train of thought. She looks up and sees a very angry Sabretooth standing in the doorway in front of her. Donovan bumps into Jennifer. "What the—"
"Shut up!" Sabretooth roars before Donovan can finish. She steps back fearfully, her mind flashing back to the scene she had witnessed upon capturing Sabretooth. She remembers the brutally torn bodies and the blood caked walls. She remembers Sabretooth sitting in the middle of the living room, watching television and drinking a beer next to the dismembered father. She shudders and falls to her knees. Dear Lord, I know that maybe I haven't always done right by You. I even know that acting on my liking girls is a sin but, dear God, if You see it fit to spare me an ugly, terrible murder, I'll try my best to make everything okay. I can't stop what I feel but maybe I can try not to act on it…
Donovan's prayer is stopped by a scream of agony. She opens her eyes to see that Sabretooth is mauling Jennifer. He is tearing at her body, howling and swearing. Before he kills her, however, he just drops her, letting her live to feel the pain. "That's for gettin' me locked up here again! For bein' stupid enough ta think that you were above the system!"
Jennifer moans and looks up at Donovan through bleary eyes. She's covered in blood so thick that Donovan can't even see her wounds. She notices that Sabretooth is staring right at her, his lip curled viciously. She stands suddenly. If I'm going to die, I'm not doing it on my knees, she thinks bravely.
"Run," Jennifer manages to groan. She makes an effort to stand. She falls several times before making it to her knees. "Get out of… here."
"Y' think y' could out run me, girl?" Sabretooth demands, laughing. He reaches out with one of his claws and scratches a thin line from under Donovan's right ear to the corner of her mouth. She feels blood start to flow. She winces. "Y' got guts, kid. What makes ya think I'll have any problem spillin' em from here t' New York?"
"If you're going to kill me, do it," Donovan snaps. She is rewarded by another cut from her chin to her left shoulder. She doesn't even move. "Are you scared, Sabretooth? You can kill a family of humans without a second thought. Why won't you take me out?"
Sabretooth just growls and shakes his head. "You're just a kid. An' I know that y' think that don't matter t' me but it does. Y' ain't s'posed ta be involved in any o' thins. Granger manipulated ya into this whole thing."
"I was easily manipulated. I didn't want to do anything for myself. It was easy to let her talk me into things that I knew were wrong. That's my fault as it is," Donovan says softly. She sees the terrible pain Jennifer is and finally loses it. She drops to her knees and starts to throw up.
Sabretooth shakes his head again. He grabs Donovan and backhands her. She fades out of consciousness slowly, dimly aware that Sabretooth is carrying her somewhere.