Title: Some Friends Aren't Friends
Part 2
By: X
X0832001@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: I own nothing, I am getting no money, I am no threat, please don't sue me.
Today was Day 7 of the Bobby break up. It had finally happened. A week ago Marie had told Bobby "I really don't think this is working out the way we thought it would." This had led to a depressed Bobby on Day 1, moping about with "If it's what she really wants" ever ready on his lips when the usual end-of-relationship condolences were dispensed. Day 2 had gone very badly when Jubilee told Bobby to go right in to the room she and Rogue shared. Rogue was just hanging out in there. Bobby had cracked the door and found Marie re-reading John's letter. Snatching it away Bobby fumed at what he read. "That backstabbing jerk!" eventually gave way to "John is so gay" but it was all around a day of anger. Day 3 had a competitive edge. Bobby had been heard at breakfast commenting that if Rogue wanted a guy to write her love letters then he would write her a love letter to get her back. All day he could be found pouring over a notebook; writing and then madly scribbling. It wasn't until Day 5 of the break up that things finally got perspective and accepted the facts. He couldn't write Marie a love letter like John. It wasn't just because John was a better writer. It was because when he sat down and examined his feelings, they weren't the same as John's. Bobby had thought he'd been in love, but it wasn't the glow that John felt. Bobby and Rogue were close friends, but that was all they would be.
So the last two days had been spent exploring the idea that they were just friends and teammates. It was difficult at first, a little awkward. But, they really fit better in these roles. Marie was sure with time their friendship would be great, Bobby would find happiness with another, and maybe, just maybe, she would too.
Right now they were on their way to just outside Vancouver, Canada. Rogue looked outside of the X-jet's window at the puffy clouds. The sunlight through them was too bright at first and she had to shield her eyes with her hand for a few moments. Once that had passed she could appreciate just how pretty and peaceful they seemed. It was odd to assign a state of mind to clouds, but they did seem peaceful.
The mission they had undertaken wouldn't be peaceful, that much was sure. A branch of the Friends of Humanity, an anti-mutant hate group was terrorizing mutants in a small Canadian town. The threats were one thing, but several mutants had gone missing. She looked around the jet. Cyclops was flying, and Bobby was spinning in his chair like a little kid. It was a small mission, if things got out of hand they were to retreat and call in the back up team. Storm and Wolverine were nearby; they could be at the FoH headquarters in fifteen minutes.
They landed in a wooded area right next to the house that served as a base of operations for this branch of the Friends of Humanity. Cyclops led the team to the building. Peeking through the window nothing looked suspicious. It looked like a VFW hall or something. Silently Cyclops pointed to Rogue, then the door. Understanding she crept up to the front door, rang the bell and ducked behind one of the bushes that flanked the door. This plan had been worked out in advance, they knew their rolls. From the side window Iceman and Cyclops watched a man come up from what must be the basement, wiping what looked like blood from his hands onto his dark pants.
He opened the door to find no one waiting there. Iceman suddenly slid across the lawn on a sheet of ice. He was an excellent distraction.
"I got one!" the human yelled, rushing outside. Rogue slipped inside and stayed out of sight as eight other men rushed past her, the last slamming the door behind him. Rogue was inside, it was up to Cyclops and Iceman to give her time to find out was going on with this club. They did this by running the FoH around the yard. It seemed to be going fine, a wall of ice and occasional optic blast keeping the eight men at bay. Then someone pulled a gun. The sound of fired shots filled the air. Things had gotten more complex. "Damn" cursed Scott, dodging a bullet.
Scott looked next to him and returned his attention to the battle. Then he did a double take. "Magneto?" Magneto and Sabertooth were standing next to him on the lawn.
"Yes?"
"What are you doing here?"
"Young Mr. Allerdyce likes French Toast." Scott looked at him as if he'd grown a third head. All of the bullets dropped to the ground. "Pyro went out for groceries so he could make French Toast 3 days ago." The older man elaborated. No more words were needed, Magneto wasn't here to fight the X-men, he wanted to get his team member back.
The FoH fought hard, attacking the mutants they so hated. Cyclops and iceman worked on non-lethally incapacitating them. Magneto tired of this quickly. These angry, nasty little animals were doing who knows what to one of his associates. This "battle" was a mere formality. The humans stood no chance against the number of mutants assembled on the lawn. He glared at the young man on the stairs. He seemed to be directing the others, leading this fight. Ear, eyebrow, lip, were all pieced on the left, the metal in the man's face glittered in the sun. Magneto swung his hand, breaking the "Friend's" neck cleanly with an audible snap.
The remaining FoH members whirled to see one of their own drop with a thud to the ground, clearly dead. There was a roar within the crowd, but most of the men could be seen slinking off, not quite prepared to give their lives to the cause. The remaining few were easily rounded up and tied up by the superheroes and super villains.
Rogue looked around the dim house. The first floor was all one room. She glanced around quickly assessing the situation. There was a podium near the front window and folding chairs filled the large room. "They must hold meetings in here" she mused, approaching the podium. There was a book on its surface, figuring it might have some information Rogue picked it up. Suddenly there was a crash as a man charged down the stairs. She didn't even have time to react. The FOH member had Rogue in a bear hug. "Hey, aren't you a cutie. Shame you're a mutie."
"Yeah, it breaks my heart" she hissed bringing her knee up as hard as she could. The man stumbled back and fell on the ground, desperately clutching between his legs. She walked past him and picked up the black book that had been dropped in the scuffle. She wanted to retch at what it contained. There were pictures and descriptions of mutants they'd captured and how they'd been "taken care of".
One of the last entries made her not only sick inside but also furious. It was John; they had captured John, her John. They didn't use his name, didn't care to find out who their victim actually was, just "Worthless Fire Bug" and pictures. But Marie didn't need the entry labeled; she could see clearly it was John. The pictures made tears well up in her eyes. They'd done terrible things to him. He was a wonderful person with a beautiful soul, and they'd cut him, starved him, and beaten him. She whirled back to the man who had now made it to his feet and was working on straightening up. She caught him with a shin to the face and when he hit the floor she ground her heel in that sensitive spot. The man screamed and tears rolled freely down his face. Rogue saw the wretch before her, knew she caused his miserable predicament, but surprisingly didn't feel bad about what she'd done.
They kept their prisoners in the basement so she headed for the stairs. At the top she paused and pulled out her communicator. "Rogue to Cyclops"
There was a pause then, "Yes Rogue?"
"All clear in here. But, they have been keeping mutants in the basement. Mistreating them and holding them in cells. I'm going to let them out."
"We'll be there soon to help."
"Alright"
Rogue made her way down the stairs and encountered the doors. There were 5 of them, all in a row. "Anyone down here?" she called. A soft whimpering could be heard but she couldn't quite locate where it was coming from. Taking a deep breath she opened the first door. It was empty. The second had an occupant. It was a girl, about 12 years old, sitting curled up and crying. Rogue recognized her from the book. "It's alright" Rogue cooed coming to kneel by the girl. "We're here to take you away."
"Really?" came the sniffled reply
"You're going to be fine." She took the girl's hand and led her out of the cell. Footsteps on the stairs drew her attention. Bobby and Cyclops appeared from above.
"Good work Rogue" Cyclops congratulated. Rogue passed the girl off to Bobby.
"There are still 3 more to check out." She opened the third door and found it empty. The fourth contained a quiet male body. She couldn't stop her initial observation that it wasn't John. Rogue rushed to it and pressed gloved fingers to the neck. She couldn't feel anything, and gave a pitiful glance towards Cyclops. She didn't know if there was no pulse or if she was just missing it through the thick fabric of her gloves. Scott bent down and sadly shook his head. The young man was dead.
The door opened slowly on the last cell. It was empty. "He was in here; they called him 'the worthless firebug'." Rogue whispered near tears. She had been so determined they would find him. Her optimistic spirit sure that when she opened the cell door he'd be sitting against the wall, a little worse for wear but defiantly OK. She spotted the menu, lying on the floor, ignored in whatever activity had gone on in this cell recently. She knelt down and picked it up. She felt her heart stop, it wan another letter from John. This had been his cell. There was blood staining the paper, and she knew it was his. She read his handiwork and tears slipped from her eyes. It was beautiful. You will always have my love, John, seeing the words filled her with thick emotions.
God, Was he really dead? Were they torturing him? They'd done it before, it was in the book. It was a hollow aching feeling in her stomach. But he could already be dead. His letter said he was expecting it, that he was so close he could feel death. Tears continued to roll down her cheeks. Maybe Magneto had rescued him. The thought struck her suddenly and she did her best to hold on to that idea. It gave enough comfort for her to at least stand up again. She needed to get away from this basement of horrors. In a fog she headed up the stairs. She didn't say anything and didn't look at the others. She couldn't, she couldn't explain that John meant so much more to her than they knew. She couldn't explain how the idea of him dying, alone, miserable made her want to die.
Bobby followed the shadow of Rogue making her way up the stairs carrying the little girl, who had a clear death grip on his neck. It was like not finding John had stolen some part of Marie. She was like a zombie. He could kind of understand. He'd read John's letter to her. If she felt about him the way he felt about her it was like she'd lost a part of herself. They belonged together, but circumstances took every opportunity to rip them apart. He looked at the girl in his arms. She had arms wrapped around his neck and legs around his waist. She was about 6 or 7 years younger than him, not that much shorter than him but rail thin so she wasn't hard to carry. But her grip was tight and she looked at him with the eyes of a young child.
"Are you Okay honey? Everything's going to be fine now."
"Yeah…yeah, just…I don't wanna be alone for a while. They…they…they…then they just leave you for…for...for so long."
"It's Ok now, I won't leave you alone. I'm Bobby."
"Samantha" She rested her head against him. Bobby reminded her of her big brother. "Will I get to go home?"
"You sure will. Do you remember where they are?" She nodded.
"Then I'll take you there." He turned to Scott. "Is that alright? Can I take her home? He parents are probably worried about her."
Scott flipped through the pages of the horrible book Marie had found. Locating Samantha by picture on the page labeled "Glowing Freak". Apparently she emitted light from her hands. The bastards had picked her up walking home from school just two days ago.
"Yeah, you do that Bobby; I'll meet you back at the jet."
Scott watched Bobby head up the stairs. He was taking all this misery much better than Marie. Rogue was more sensitive than her boyfriend. Well, ex-boyfriend, news traveled fast in the mansion. She seemed like she was in shock. That surprised the X-men leader. Rogue had seen plenty, even before she became a member of the team. So it surprised him that she was so upset by these Friends of Humanity. She'd really broken down in that last cell, with the paper. It didn't make sense but since she'd taken the paper with her he didn't know what it had said.
Looking around at the emptiness he finally remembered that they hadn't found Pyro. After realizing that he realized he'd lost track of Magneto and Sabertooth quite some time ago. They hadn't helped move the FoH inside, they hadn't come down here with them, they'd just disappeared towards the end of the fight. So there were three dangerous members of the Brotherhood of Mutants unaccounted for. The Brotherhood hated humans. They were unaccounted for in a place with incapacitated members of the Friends of Humanity. The FoH were a mutant hate group. Scott tore up the stairs to where they had left the tied up humans, waiting for the proper authorities to pick them up. Sure the group was awful and Cyclops had no love for the mutant haters. But, they deserved to be locked away in prison, punished by the justice system. Being torn apart by Sabertooth or burnt alive by Pyro wasn't what they needed.
They'd put the remaining FoH in the folding chairs, tied up. Even those who were unconscious had been tied up. It had taken a little while, they were just finishing when Rogue had called. When Cyclops arrived he found them right where they should be, not any worse for wear than they were when he saw them after the battle. There were nine of them, cursing and spitting at him like beasts, but the Brotherhood hadn't killed anymore of them. It made him wonder what they were up to. Could Magneto have been honest? Did he just come; claim whatever was left of Pyro, and leave? Peacefully? Scott remembered the pierced fellow; well mostly peacefully. Still ignoring the curses and yelling by the mutant haters he headed back to the jet. It was a small town, taking Samantha home wouldn't take too long. Iceman was probably waiting by the jet.
Cyclops was correct; Bobby was leaning against the side of the jet while Rogue sat in the grass. It was defiantly time to get the jet back to New York. They were hidden well in this overgrown area but Cyclops didn't want to upset the neighboring community any more than they already had with their fight. The landing sight was very close to the house, Cyclops jogged towards his companions. But as he neared them, Rogue took off.
Marie was sitting quietly with her thoughts, knees up under her chin and leaning against the X-jet. The she saw something that made her heart stop. She couldn't draw in a breath. Sabertooth and Magneto were getting into a dark car. Something was slung over Sabertooth's shoulder. Marie squinted. It was John! He looked dead. He was motionless, and even from a distance she could tell, frighteningly pale. She took off in a run towards them. She had to know for sure.
"Rogue" scolded Scott as he made a grab for her. "Stop, where are you going?" She easily pulled away and continued across the lawn. Scott looked at the next closest person for insight. That person happened to be Bobby. The young man shook his head.
"She's got some stuff to work out with John." He explained.
"Pyro?"
"Yeah, we should just give her a few minutes."
She wanted to say so much, ask so many questions. But when she reached Magneto and Sabertooth she couldn't speak. They were loading John into the backseat. He was badly bruised, dried blood flaked from his face and the glimpse she caught of his arm was horrendous. "Is he…" was all she could manage, tears already slipping from her eyes. Magneto smiled warmly at the crying girl.
"He's alive child. The humans were cruel, but Pyro will survive." Relief filled Marie in a rush.
Looking around the car she spotted a little notebook and pen. She scribbled furiously.
John,
I know what I am writing you won't be as eloquent and moving as the letters you have written me. Your words are beautiful; they make me feel so special. There is so much I want you to know, but I must be fast here. I don't think Magneto and Sabertooth are willing to wait for me to find the right words for how you make me feel. But, you should know that I feel the same way for you as you do for me.
I love you John Allerdyce.
Yours,
Marie
She tore the little page from the book. "Can you give this to him?" Her eyes pleaded with the older man. It wasn't the fear he sometimes saw in her, fear from what happened on Liberty Island. This was a fear her request would be denied, that her friend would never know what she'd written for him. Magneto wouldn't deny a fellow mutant something this simple. He smiled.
"Yes my dear. When he recovers enough I'll give him your message."
She leaned into the car and kissed John's forehead softly. Another loose tear rolled down her cheek. "Thank you Magneto." Then she turned and jogged back to the X-jet.
The End