Chapter 8: Cooperation
I drew in a shaky breath and sat back up.
"I have some business to attend to. I'll be back to check on you later. In the meantime," he took off my shades and I shut my eyes, "you get to learn how to cooperate and obey my orders. Until then, you'll get to stay like this."
I heard him moving and the door open. Abruptly, it shut. I sighed aloud. This wasn't the best situation to be in when my team was out there being manipulated by Magneto. Of course, I reasoned, it could be worse. At least, I was alive and actually close to the fight. Plus we had Logan as back up.
Scott, are you hanging on all right?
Of course, Jean. I'm peachy.
Scott. I flinched slightly at her warning tone. What's Magneto- Wait! Why is he in here? I'll talk to you later, baby. Stay out of trouble. Then she was gone. I sighed, aggravated more by the silence. I tugged on the rope. It was secure and not about to budge.
I sat in silence for what seemed like at least an hour. Suddenly I heard the door open and shut as if someone was now in the room. I didn't move, but listened intently. There was no sound of anyone.
THUD!
"Oops."
I raised my head. That definitely was not Magneto. "Who's there?" No reply. "Who is that?" Still no answer. "I'll blast."
That got a reaction from the other person. The person moved up beside me and touched my shoulder. I jumped and turned to face the person. My anger rose at the silence. "If I open my eyes, you'll either be hurting or in trouble for putting a hole in the wall."
The person beside me gave a nervous chuckle and took a step back. Then I heard a familiar voice, "Chill out, Summers."
"Maximoff," I growled.
"Summers," he mused, obviously holding back laughter. "I wouldn't open those peepers if I were you. Magneto will probably blow his top and take it out on your girlfriend or your little brother."
I was angry but didn't do anything. I wasn't going to risk anyone's safety just to blow-up Pietro.
"You know," Pietro said from in front of me, "Magneto's pretty mad that you weren't cooperating last night."
I snapped my head in his direction, "I did cooperate," I growled angrily. "I answered every question he asked me."
"Yeah," Pietro was behind me now, "but not before making some demands."
"You had my brother completely defenseless and just barely conscious. How am I supposed to answer question when you've done that?" I was angry, no doubt about it. "After you so carefully set him down, I cooperated."
I took a sharp blow to the face. My head snapped back, but I didn't say anything. My head had all ready been killing me. That punch really hurt. I drew in a shaky breath and tried to listen for Pietro. I strained, but came up fruitless. He was moving too fast for me to hear him.
"What do you want?" I asked.
"Magneto told me to teach you to cooperate."
"And you always listen to him." My voice dripped in sarcasm.
He hit me in the face again. I muffled a moan as Pietro spoke, "Actually Lance was supposed to do this but you screwed that up, didn't you, Summers? You had to interfere. Magneto won't take a whole lot of rebellion from you."
"You would've killed Evan," I muttered.
"What was that?" he asked, grabbing my chin roughly. "What did you say?"
"Nothing," I spat, receiving another sharp blow.
"You ought to shut up," he advised. "Things might go a bit easier and painless if you do." I heard his footsteps moving away from me.
Jean, what's the news? I asked. Has Magneto done anything else to the team?
Bobby, Evan, and Rahne are back. They were sent up to their rooms. We still don't know what they had to do, but they looked pretty upset. There was a hint of fear in her voice. I'm worried, Scott.
It's all right, honey. Everything will work out in the end, OK? Just keep your head up and everything will work and everyone will be safe. I was improvising like mad, but it wasn't obvious and it seemed to be what Jean wanted to hear.
I wish I was as confident as you are.
THUNK! I was jerked back to the room as Pietro knocked something else over. I jerked against the ropes around my wrists. They hadn't loosened. Pietro wasted no time slamming me back into the hard chair back. I winced; that hurt!
"You fucking son of a bitch," I growled, enunciating each word.
Pietro backhanded me. My head snapped sideways and I struggled to keep my eyes shut. My cheek began to radiate heat. I taste the bitterness of blood in my mouth. I spat it onto the floor, figuring the professor wouldn't mind it, if I explained what had happened.
Pietro grabbed my chin again. "Don't you ever talk about my mother, you got that?"
I pulled out of his grip rather easily, "How do you know I wasn't talking about your father?" Pietro didn't reply but backed off a bit.
Is Alex with you? Magneto had left me alone for too long, so my suspicions rose. He had to be doing something to someone else. Jean hesitated. I sighed silently. How long has he been gone? Jean?
Just a couple of minutes. Magneto told Blob to take him away.
Where's Magneto? Is he still with you guys?
No, he left right after that. There was a pause. He went in the opposite direction, Scott. Everything's fine here, baby. I smiled inwardly. She always knew what to say to make me feel better.
Where are you guys?
Locked in the rec room.
Anything else I should know about? I was concerned about Rogue's mentality. She still thought Logan was going after Magneto, but Magneto was here. How's Rogue holding up?
She's staying off by herself. I'm a bit worried about her, but she'll pull through it. I know she will.
Yeah, just keep her safe. Tell me if anything new arises, OK?
Sure, baby. I love you.
I love you too. Silence took over again. I grumbled to myself. I was beginning to hate silence. I was so aggravating to know nothing about what was going on around you. I stretched my fingers to make sure I kept blood flowing into them. I flexed my feet as my legs began to cramp.
Pietro laughed, "What are you doing, Summers?
"Been sitting too long," I stated, bending my knees and straightening them back out. "Aside from all ready being injured from your hospitality. My legs have cramped." I wasn't sure why I was telling him this, but I was. I wasn't expecting pity.
"You can be released if you'll cooperate with us," Pietro stated, coming close to me again.
"Sit by and watch you take advantage of my team?" I asked. "Rather not."
"You'd rather sit here and suffer, while we take advantage of your team and you don't know about it," Pietro mused in a smug voice. "You'd rather leave your girlfriend to pick up all the pieces for you. Although, I'm sure she can handle this whole thing by herself, don't you?"
I was about to fire a comment back at him when the door opened behind me. I didn't move. There was no way of knowing who was behind me unless they said something. As if my mind had been read, the person spoke.
"Scott." The voice was weak, but I still recognized my brother's voice.
TBC
AN: Thanks to my reviewers.
