Disclaimer - Nothing's changed since the last five chapters, y'all
A/N - Alright, alright! This one turned out nicely. Now I've just got to wait and see if it made any sense whatsoever ^_^ Enjoy!
The Memory Remains
Chapter 6
----
Do you bury when I'm gone
Do you teach me while I'm here
Just as soon as I belong
Then it's time I disappear.
---Metallica "I Disappear"
----
Alyson Blair sighed as she locked up the club and began her walk home. It had taken her nearly the entire night to clean up and deal with the police after the Brotherhood's bar fight and what she really wanted right now was a long, hot soak in the bathtub with a good book.
She was not going to get it.
As she rounded the corner she saw six figures gathered outside an alley. Assuming a street fight was in progress, she ducked out of sight again and hoped she hadn't been noticed.
"Guess I'm taking the long way home," she sighed again, but there was a nagging thought in the back of her mind and she took one last peek around the corner. Her suspicions were confirmed when she recognized one of the group: a well-built, younger man with cautious, brooding eyes.
"Alvers," she muttered and rolled her eyes at the man who had been in the club earlier that night. "Is it really so hard for you to stay out of trouble?"
Now that she had identified one, the two flanking Avalanche became recognizable: Mortimer Toynbee and Johnny Allerdyce - though they hadn't been to her bar nearly as often as Lance. As for the other three characters, Alyson wasn't sure who they were. The way the two men were dressed reminded her of the goons who'd caused trouble in the bar years ago - the Hellfire Club or something like that. The woman, on the other hand, looked like she'd stepped right out of a sixties swinger flick.
Since those three didn't really interest her, Alyson turned her attention back to the Brotherhood. She knew very little about Toynbee, but Allerdyce used to be a regular at the club along with Lance and Fred Dukes. She hadn't seen him in quite some time though; in fact, Cyclops had mentioned once before that he'd been quiet since the Times Square incident. Something about his girlfriend...?
Who's awake now, Blair made the connection with what Cyclops had said earlier in the bar. So now the Brotherhood's making their move, and they've got a little help. I've gotta warn Scott.
Just as she was about to leave she noticed one of the mysterious people pull a small device out of his pocket and then a large white hole opened itself in the middle of the street. Alyson was transfixed by this gaping cavity that had simply appeared out of thin air.
"What the hell-?" she scrunched up her nose as one of the male strangers motioned to what she had decided must be some sort of portal. Avalanche looked skeptical but eventually the Brotherhood trio jumped through and the portal closed behind them.
Alyson shook her head. Only in New York, she mused, then quickly bailed out and began her trek to the Xavier Institute to warn Cyclops of the event.
*
Cable and Domino walked cautiously through the tiny Scottish village as they followed Velocity out of town. They kept to the shadows and stayed a safe distance away so as not to arouse suspicion but were close enough to adjust should the speedstress make any sudden moves. Cable glanced at the woman beside him; she looked even paler than usual, and, considering her natural complexion, that was nearly impossible.
"You alright?" Cable grunted under his breath.
Domino reacted as though she'd been pulled out of a trance. "Peachy. Why?"
"Just making sure," he replied, and turned his attention back to the mission.
Domino regarded him for a moment and smirked. Cable wasn't as emotionless as most people wrote him off to be. Truthfully she found him easier to talk to than almost anybody else. But, of course, that was because he was one of the very limited few she trusted. Unfortunately, she couldn't tell him what was bothering her just now, since she couldn't put a finger on it herself. It was definitely something, though. Something important.
Both mercs stopped as the sound of an engine became apparent behind them. They crouched in the shadows and watched as a truck drove closer and closer down the rough road.
"Odd," Domino raised an eyebrow.
"What?" Cable asked.
"I don't remember seeing anybody else but her and the two men who got off the ferry," she said. "Where did the truck come from?"
Cable narrowed his eyes. Something wasn't right. With Domino's control over probability fields, it was highly unlikely that she would miscount the passengers of the ferry or overlook a person in the streets. As an added precaution, he had done a psionic sweep of the village when they had arrived: everybody had been in their houses. "We may not be the only ones after her," he concluded.
Domino watched as Velocity stuck out her thumb and the truck stopped to pick her up. She read her lips and got the destination: "She's going to Glasgow," she relayed to Cable.
"Let's move," he nodded and took her hand. "Computer, body-slide by two to Glasgow."
"Affirmative," the AI contained in his techno-organic arm replied. Instantly, a bright glow overtook their bodies and they disappeared, leaving only the shadows behind as Velocity climbed into the truck.
* * *
"Take care o' y'self, lass," the driver said as Velocity stepped out of his truck and on to the streets of Glasgow. When the truck had come up behind her back in the small town, she had opted to hitchhike over using her speed; the less of a trail she left for the X-Men the better. She cast a smug smile over her shoulder at the driver before shutting the door and watching him drive away. Then she reached into the pocket of her newly acquired coat and pulled out the wallet that had been inside.
"This is never going to work," she muttered as she glanced at the owner's ID photo. "She looks nothing like me."
We'll worry about that later, Ms. Marvel assured her. There isn't much time for hesitation. Like I told you before-
"We've got to keep moving," Sasha rolled her eyes as she completed the sentence for her. She took one last look at the ID and sneered. "Like hell we do. I have spent the last four months on IV drip. If you think I'm passing up Scotch Eggs for breakfast while in Scotland you've got another thing coming."
Velocity ignored the, And how do you expect to run when your arteries are clogged? comment that followed and entered the pub, aptly named 'The Dragon's Lair', across the street.
*
Rogue had a strange feeling wash over her as she neared Muir Island - as though something or someone was telling her not to go. This wouldn't be so strange had it the undertone of a warning. Hell, she knew nothing good ever came of a situation involving her sister. But it seemed to the Mississippi-born mutant to be more of a hint as to where she should be going - a point in the right direction. And there was one word that kept flashing through her mind:
Glasgow.
Rogue was admittedly beginning to get creeped out by the inexplicable knowledge of her sister's whereabouts, but she was smarter than to second-guess her intuition. If an unseen force was helping her get to Sasha before the other X-Men, then who was she to argue?
The Southern Belle changed direction slightly and flew as fast as she could toward Glasgow, Scotland.
*
The truck driver kept an eye on the Russian girl in his rear-view mirror until she entered the small local pub. Then he turned down a backstreet and put the truck into park. He paused before shutting off the ignition, then opted to leave it running. He then opened the door, stepped out, and looked around to ensure nobody was looking before morphing into the figure of the blue-skinned terrorist.
"Next time I'll think twice before taking the shape of a hunched, fat slob," Mystique grumbled to herself as she rolled her shoulders until her back cracked and realigned. Then she shifted back into Mickey's form and entered the street, leaving the truck to be stolen for the second time that morning.
*
The air space above the Xavier Institute was quickly filled as the Blackbird ascended into the darkness of the pre-dawn sky, and two mini-jets rose not too far away.
"Wolverine," Cyclops' voice buzzed from the Blackbird over the intercom. "Find out whatever you can from Sabretooth, then radio back to the Institute. Cerebro will relay any information to the Blackbird."
"Check, Cyke," Wolverine radioed back from the first mini-jet. "You'll be hearin' from us real soon." A grin came across his face. "Hey, Gumbo? Try not to screw anything up."
"You be worrying 'bout y'self, mon ami," Gambit returned. "Gambit can take care of himself."
"Alright, you two," Cyclops was back. "Let's remember we have a job to do, here. Be careful out there. I know I don't have to remind you, but these people don't fool around."
"Roger that!" Morph said from the other mini-jet.
"Good luck," Cyclops said. The Blackbird's engines roared and it took off eastward toward the Atlantic.
Wolverine turned around to face Jubilee who was sitting in the back of the mini-jet behind his seat. "How ya doin', kid?" he asked.
"A little nervous," she admitted. "I mean, this whole thing just sorta happened, like outta the blue, y'know? One minute, we're getting ready to watch a movie. Next thing you know, Jean's telling us that Velocity woke up from her coma. I dunno, Logan. I've got a bad feeling about this."
"That makes two of us, Jubes," he nodded, then turned back around and signaled to Morph to follow.
*
A large white portal opened in the streets of Glasgow and Pyro burst through and fell flat on his face on the hard cobblestone, winding himself.
"Watch that first step, Aussie," Avalanche smirked as he and Toad jumped out after him.
"Fuck you," Pyro managed to say between coughs and hacks as the other two hoisted him to his feet. Avalanche smacked him on the back and his eyes nearly popped out of his skull. "Thanks, mate."
"Don't mention it," Avalanche ignored the sarcasm and looked around. "Jeez, feels like we never left, huh?"
"Oh, yeah, the nostalgia's overwhelming," Pyro replied.
"Not that I don't love hearing memories I wasn't part of," Toad interjected, "I feel I must remind you of the mission at hand. Sasha's here somewhere, and so is Mystique."
"Don't worry," Lance's face went grim. "I didn't forget about her."
"I'll try to contain my enthusiasm," Toad rolled his eyes at Lance's melodrama. "We better start looking around."
Pyro had stopped listening when he'd caught sight of a slender young man with dark brown hair watching them from the entrance to a backstreet. It wasn't apparent whether he'd seen the portal or not, but he'd been looking at them strangely, as if surprised by their presence. When he realized Pyro was watching him, he pulled a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and ran his fingers through his stringy locks, pretending not to be interested in them. Pyro narrowed his eyes.
"Earth to Pyro!" Toad shouted.
"What?" Pyro snapped out of his thoughts.
"Are you coming?" Toad motioned to Avalanche who was already halfway across the street, heading for the local pub, 'The Dragon's Lair'. "We're checking it out to see if anyone's seen her."
"Right behind you," Pyro nodded, taking one last glance at the strange man across the street before catching up with his teammates.
*
Mystique took a long drag on the cigarette as she watched Pyro, Toad and Avalanche enter the Dragon's Lair out of the corner of her eye. Their sudden appearance had thrown her off her game and she'd already made herself suspicious by staring at Pyro.
That wasn't even her main concern, however. The Brotherhood's arrival in Glasgow ultimately pointed in one direction: Sinister. The deranged geneticist had commented that he wasn't pleased with her actions and had apparently taken matters into his own hands, forcing her out of the loop. This made her extremely angry. It wasn't as though Essex didn't have a well-founded suspicion against her; she had been planning to betray him and bring her daughter back into her fold - as she had tried to do with Rogue those years ago. It was the sheer gall Sinister had to undermine her that really ticked her off. Nobody shuts out Mystique, and now she was determined to let nothing stand in her way from reclaiming Velocity.
Mystique - still as Mickey - marched across the street and pushed open the door to the pub. A quick look around revealed only a handful of patrons - the pub had only just opened, afterall. The Brotherhood trio was at the bar and Lance was talking to one of the barmaids, but there was no sign of Sasha.
"'Allo, lads," 'Mickey' pushed his way between Lance and Johnny and snuffed his cigarette out in the ashtray on the bar. "Couldn't help b'notice ye war lookin' a wee bit lost out on th'street."
"Who the hell are you?" Avalanche glared at the young man beside him.
"Saints pr'serve us from blasphemers an' ill-mannered Irishmen; whar are me manners? M'name's Mickey," he extended a hand. Avalanche simply looked at it and Mickey quickly used it to brush his hair back along his head. "Anyroad, if y'are lookin' far summa, dan I'm yar man. I know thessere town better'n any, an' most o' th'ladies in it, t'boot. I'n th'right, Hayley?" he winked at the barmaid. She instantly turned bright red and looked away, giggling.
"Sorry, mate," Pyro roughly took hold of Mickey's shoulder, "but we won't be needin' any of your help. It isn't any local Sheila we're lookin' for. Thanks anyway," the Aussie sneered and shoved the Irishman out from between him and Avalanche.
"Aye, she's from out'a town, then?" Mickey grinned. "Jus' so 'appens I met summon like t'at earlier. Said she war from N'York. Lovely lass, she war. 'Ad these gorgeous green eyes." He paused and watched the three expectantly. As if on cue, they slowly turned their heads to look at him. "Went by th'name o' Sasha, if I remember right. An' I always do."
"When did you say you saw her?" Toad asked with more than a hint of disbelief.
"Faith, me lad, just parted ways w'her this marnin' after we brought 'er over from Muir on th'ferry," Mickey replied. "But I'm afraid y'won' find her 'ere."
"She's gone?" Pyro demanded.
"Aye, said she war goin' 'ome, she did," the young man nodded.
"Bloody heck," Pyro turned back to his teammates. "So we've come here for nothing, then?"
"We don't even know this guy, mate," Toad said in a hushed voice. "For all we know he's lying."
"Yeah, well we're not gonna find out hanging around here," Avalanche said. "So far, this punk's our only lead."
"But why would the Nasty Boys send us here if she wasn't here?" Toad said.
"They work for Sinister," Pyro shrugged. "That means we can't trust 'em so far as we can throw 'em." He bit the inside of his cheek. "Maybe she hasn't left yet," he suggested of Sasha. "Let's go before we're too late."
*
Rogue looked up at the twirly writing on the sign above the pub: 'The Dragon's Lair'. This was where her hunch had led her, deviating from her original route to Muir Island. She sighed and pulled her leather jacket closer around her shoulders before pushing the door open and leaving the chilly morning air behind for the rustic atmosphere of the old-fashioned pub. The cold immediately left her body when she recognized the three men at the bar.
"Wuht in tarnashun are you three doin' here?" she demanded of Avalanche, Pyro and Toad.
At the sound of her voice, they turned quickly to look at her, eyes wide in surprise. "Rogue!" Pyro gulped, suddenly feeling the broken nose that she'd given him upon their last encounter. "We were just leaving, as it were."
"Ah don' think so, Sugah," Rogue shook her head. "If'n y'all are here, then it mus' be true."
"What must be true?" Avalanche sneered.
"Don' play stupid with me, Lance," she replied. "Ah had uh dream that Sasha was awake. 'Cept it weren't jus' uh dream, were it?"
"You're nuts," Lance rolled his eyes.
Rogue scowled and glared at her dark-haired former teammate. Avalanche glared right back at her, never breaking eye contact. Pyro and Toad exchanged unsure glances, then set their jaws in determination. The buxom young barmaid took a few steps back from the confrontation and the few scattered patrons shrunk down in their seats but kept close watch in hopes of a possible brawl. The scruffy young man who had been standing near the Brotherhood backed off, his eyes locked on Rogue. He slowly made his way to the door and backed outside.
"Ah mebbe nuts," Rogue said, "but y'all are in big trouble if'n ya don' tell me where Sasha is."
"Do you think we'd be in 'ere if we knew?" Pyro snapped.
"So ya do know she's awake then?" Rogue said.
"Oy! Shut up, you!" Toad punched Pyro.
"No, mate. I'm not afraid of her," Pyro stood up and moved in front of Lance. "Yeah, Roguey, she's awake. And to answer your original question, we are 'ere to bring our teammate - and my lovely Sheila, need I remind you - home where she belongs." Pyro moved up so he was nose-to-nose with Rogue. "Now, I'd ask you the same question, but I expect you're 'ere with your mates, all set to bring her in."
"Wuht thuh heck are ya blabberin' about?" Rogue furrowed her eyebrows.
"Oh, 'ave they not told you, then?" Pyro looked amused. "Funny, because they know she's awake. In fact, Lance 'ere heard it from ol' Cyke 'imself." The Aussie's smirk turned malicious. "You'd think they would have mentioned it to you."
"Mebbe Ah'm meetin' them here, hotshot," Rogue quickly returned, silently wondering why, if the other X-Men had known, they hadn't contacted her.
"Somehow I doubt that, love," Pyro said smugly.
Rogue grabbed Pyro by the collar and Avalanche and Toad were immediately at his side. Pyro's smug grin was still on his face. Rogue returned with her own sneer. "Looks lahk we need t'have uh li'l talk, boys," she said and dragged Pyro to the back door. Avalanche and Toad looked at each other. "Y'all comin'?" she asked them overly sweetly.
They shrugged and followed her outside into the back lane. "What do you want, Rogue?" Avalanche demanded.
Rogue turned and threw Pyro back to his teammates. "Uh li'l co-operation, fer starters," she replied, crossing her arms.
"'Scuse me, but I think I heard that wrong," Toad wiggled his finger in his ear. "You want co-operation from us? The three you didn't think twice about kicking around not long ago - without reasonable doubt-"
"After deserting two of us," Lance added.
"And then breaking my nose," Pyro nodded.
"And landing our teammate in a coma?" Toad finished. He narrowed his eyes and scoffed. "You'd be lucky."
Rogue sighed heavily and remembered how Nightcrawler had told her many times to control her anger and approach a problem with peace in mind. "Look, boys, Ah'm gonna level with ya," she said. "Ah ain't here with thuh X-Men. Ah wanted ta find mah sistah b'fore they did."
"If they didn't contact you, how do you know she's 'ere?" Pyro raised an eyebrow.
"Ah tol' ya, Ah had uh dream," Rogue scratched the back of her head. The Brotherhood looked at her like she'd cracked. "Look, Ah can't explain it, but Ah knew she was awake and Ah know she's here."
"Better consult that dream book, again, sweetcheeks," Avalanche said. "Sasha's not here."
"Can it, rock tumbler," Toad elbowed Lance in the ribs.
"Wuht do ya mean?" Rogue asked.
Toad huffed. "He means she's gone. Home. Back to New York."
"So we'll say g'day to you, darlin'," Pyro winked. "And then be on our way."
"No, yer wrong," Rogue shook her head. "Who tol' ya she's gone?"
"The lad we were talking to in the pub," Toad shrugged. "He runs the ferry and brought her over from Muir Island."
Rogue frowned. "Listen, boys. Ah don' care wuht that scrawny raht said. Ah know she's here. An' Ah need yer help ta find her."
Three pairs of eyes nearly bugged out of their heads. "Did I hear that right?" Avalanche said. "Are you actually asking us for help?"
Rogue leaned back against the wall. "Ya, Lance, Ah am. Ah'm bein' straight with y'all. Ah jus' can't let th'others find Sash b'fore Ah do. They don' unnahstand. Ah gotta talk t'her. So y'all gonna help me er wuht?"
Lance looked at Pyro; Pyro looked at Toad; Toad looked back at Lance. Avalanche took a step forward, turning his gaze to Rogue. "Alright, we'll help you out, but on one condition." Rogue waited for his demand. "We aren't the only ones tailing Sash, and if we're gonna get to her first then we gotta play it smart. That means we do this our way. Deal?" he extended his hand.
Rogue looked at it for a moment, then grinned and shook it, but not without using her strength to grind his knuckles together. "Deal."
*
A bright light began to glow and Cable and Domino appeared on the street in front of the Dragon's Lair in time to see Rogue enter the pub.
"Rogue," Cable recognized the X-Man.
"Three guesses as to what she's doing here," Domino folded her arms.
"After her sister, no doubt," he growled.
"Got it in one," she smirked.
Cable charged his weapon. "I didn't expect the X-Men to respond so quickly," he admitted. "But they're on my turf this time. Let's go."
"Hold it, slugger," Domino pulled him to the side just as the door opened again and Mickey backed out. "That's the kid from the ferry," Domino said under her breath. "How the hell did he get here so fast?"
"We're about to find out," Cable replied and quickly moved to grab the kid's arm. "Start talkin', kid. Where is she?"
"I dunno know wha' yar talkin' 'bout!" Mickey protested and struggled against Cable's grip. "Lemme go!"
"I'm gonna give you to the count of two," Cable pointed his gun at the kid's head. "One..."
"I said lemme go!" the Irishman yelled before his appearance suddenly changed. His slender frame grew until he became the massive hulking form of the Unstoppable Juggernaut. "Now!"
Juggernaut swung his arm and tossed Cable against the wall of the pub. Domino had her weapon up and aimed but Juggernaut swatted her away before she could fire the bullet that would have navigated its way through the eyehole of his helmet. The giant then picked up both X-Force members and threw them into the trash-littered alley beside the pub. Cable smashed his head against a dumpster and Domino's thin body scraped along the brick wall. Juggernaut then morphed back into the scruffy kid and took off down the alley.
"What the hell was that?" Domino pushed herself to her knees and inspected the tender, raw flesh scraped all to hell along her arms, shoulders and back. "He could have finished us right there, but he runs away? And since when is Juggernaut a shapeshifter?"
"That wasn't Juggernaut," Cable groaned, shaking the cobwebs from his spinning head.
"Coulda fooled me," Domino said.
"I did a quick psi-scan before getting introduced to Mr. BFI, here," he replied. "That was Mystique."
Domino looked in the direction their attacker had run off. "Shit."
*
Sasha studied herself in the pub's bathroom mirror, then took another look at the stolen ID photo.
"I guess it is possible," she shrugged.
It's also our only option at the moment, Ms. Marvel replied. Unless you've got a better idea, and don't say go back to New York.
Sasha smirked. She became vaguely aware of raised voices outside but turned back to the mirror when they quieted down again. "Well," she said as she picked up two elastic bands and tied her hair back in short pigtails to match the photo, "it is worth a shot. Let's do this."
I thought you wanted breakfast.
"Forget it; I'll pick something up later," Sasha replied and exited the washroom. The barmaid had gone pale and was looking at the back door. The patrons looked a bit disappointed. "Besides, I am not so sure it is safe to eat here," she whispered. Ms. Marvel chuckled.
Sasha quickly exited the pub and saw a taxi cab down the street. She raised a hand to call for it and turned her head slightly at the sound of a loud commotion in the alley. She shrugged it off, however, as the taxi pulled up.
"Train station, please," she said as she got in and the cab drove off.
To Be Continued...