Callous
Chapter 07 – Enamor
Pietro stood inside the club, watching the entire exchange between Rogue and Remy... what little had occurred so far. Even before the exchange took place, he'd been wondering why he'd let himself get talked into accompanying her... why he agreed to let her keep him hidden with her telepathy... hidden from that damn Cajun. He didn't have to wonder long. He knew exactly why. His answer was in a memory, a memory that was now fourteen weeks and two days old.
He remembered...
The compound had been quiet. It had no reason to be on high alert. Sure, there were security measures being followed, maximum-security measures. But, it had been a month since the excitement of the Sentinel battle and the induction of four more mutants along with a fifth from earlier that week, a fifth that Trask had to have discovered was part of the same group that the four belonged to. The base was still a well-kept secret. Even the media leaks had not compromised their security. Government projects had a way of staying secret when they needed to be. So, Trask had no reason to be on alert for a break in.
The day of the mission, and of course, HE was not where HE was supposed to be. Over a month of planning, and HE was not where HE was supposed to be.
Pietro zipped up to Mags and the other two awaiting team members, Colossus and Pyro. With a self-satisfied smirk, he said, "He isn't at his location."
Magneto nodded, solemn.
That's it. A nod! No tirade about insolence?! Out loud Pietro said, "I don't know why you trusted that he'd meet us here."
"Do not concern yourself, Pietro," Magneto said. "Gambit's whereabouts are not for you to worry about."
Pietro kept quiet for a while, sulking and grumbling, as his father explained the change in their plans caused by Gambit's "anticipated change of rendezvous point."
What?!
Those words spoken by Magneto got Pietro's attention.
He anticipated Gambit's absence and STILL Gambit's included among his elite, still he's not angry at Gambit!
This was about all Pietro could stand. He snapped, "This is ridiculous, father!"
Magneto spun to face Pietro. His ice blue eyes, eyes that mirrored Pietro's own, narrowed in quiet fury on his son. All the world stopped and watched him. At least, that's what it felt like to Pietro.
"You dare to question me? You know nothing, child!" Magneto magnetically floated closer to his son, making Pietro feel like an ant under a magnifying glass.
Tiny hairs rose all over his body. Thousands of tiny shocks bit at him as well. It took everything inside of Pietro to keep from cowering under his father's presence.
"If you had been paying attention," Magneto continued in his frightening quiet tone, "You would know what was truly going on. But no, not my son. My son's a sniveling brat who cannot follow a simple infiltration plan. And that is why Gambit is in there with Creed while you are out here asking stupid questions and holding us up!"
Infiltration?! Gambit's inside? He's working undercover with Sabretooth. Creed's inside? When did all of this happen? ...Although, that explains how father knew so much about the compound. How he knew the employee's routines. How he knew where the mutant prisoners would be...
Pietro was brought from his reverie by a jolt. He felt it slip through Rogue's telepathy and into him. Something sent a surge of joy and fear through her, strong enough for her still relatively uncontrollable telepathy to project it to him. One glance in the direction she was facing and he saw the cause of it, he saw the slick and suave Cajun rat... and he was... he was... Gambit was terrified?! Gambit wore the same look Rogue had worn when she'd requested Pietro accompany her on this outing.
He had been watching Rogue, as he had vowed he would, since the first time he'd discovered the playing card invitation to this club from Gambit. He'd been keeping a close eye on her since he discovered that Gambit had not only been sneaking onto the Institute grounds to see her from afar, but had also been sneaking into her room. Every night, Pietro camped out in the edge of the woods, just outside the grounds' walls nearest her room. At first, he'd spied the Cajun showing up almost every other day, except Fridays, the invitation days. Gambit climbed over the wall, hid in the shadows of a tall maple tree near her window and stared up at it for a couple of hours. But, slowly, week after week, the visits dwindled until he had only shown up once in the last seven days. And that one time, he'd changed his routine. He'd taken his perch under the maple, then disappeared for a while, then returned for a few minutes, and then left. It was his shortest visit to record, as far as Pietro had observed.
That night was no different, even if he was mostly watching to make sure Rogue didn't go to Spades more than seeing if Gambit would come here. He'd smelled the fried chicken Rogue had made. It had made his stomach grumble and grumble. It was as though a thunderstorm was raging in his abdomen. It was so loud at times, he thought it would give him away to Wolverine's heightened senses on one of his nightly prowls of the grounds. Oh, he was sure that Logan knew he was there. Every night, Logan passed by no more than twenty feet from him. But, for some reason, Logan never once called him out. Logan didn't even glance his way. Once, he even thought he saw Logan smirk with amusement. But, this night, Logan didn't come by. This night, it was Rogue that prowled the grounds. It was Rogue who glanced his way, and Rogue who called out to him.
"Ah know you're there, speedy," she called to him, practically looking right up at him through the leaves and branches of the tree he was in. She lifted the lid of the basket she carried and held it up to him. "Well, do ya want it or not?"
One more rumble of his stomach was all it took to decide. He was down an instant later, and a few minutes more had them sitting side by side, leaning back against the outside of the wall that his tree overhung. He munched on her homemade chicken and cornbread while she silently tore up leaves and broke up twigs into tiny, tiny bits. There was something both tortured and serene about her repetitive, purposeless tearing/breaking motions.
This went on for nearly half an hour, a serene and comfortable camaraderie, until Rogue broke it.
"Ya come out here every night, don't ya?"
How-am-I-supposed-to-answer-that?!-She-already-knows.-That's-why-she-asked-it-like-that,-right? The thoughts raced through his head as quickly as he raced to get there every night. Outwardly, though, he simply nodded.
"Because the exploding card guy, Remy, right?" Though he'd not been in her room, she'd sensed him outside. Even caught sight of him once or twice through a gape in the drapes before climbing into bed.
Again, he simply nodded.
"He's harmless, ya know." It was nostalgic.
He didn't nod that time. He put down the last piece of chicken, only half eaten. He had suddenly lost his appetite with her lofty tone in that last statement. He turned to her, incredulity marring his face that was flushed only a moment before, and peacefully contented, only a moment before that.
"He only watches me sleep... likens himself some kind of guardian angel."
"He's no Angel, Rogue," Pietro scoffed. "My father was very proud of him." That last part was spat out like he'd tasted something foul and poisonous.
"He did help me in there. Helped me like ya did."
Pietro looked away and she grabbed his gloved hand with her gloved hand to make him meet her eyes.
"Thank ya, Pietro. For everything."
He felt the flush rise and he wanted to look away, but there was something he recognized in her confident and sincere and nonchalant expression. There was something underneath it, like the confidence and sincerity and nonchalance was a mask that was flaking, revealing something raw, something terrified and self-conscious underneath. He recognized it because he knew it so well in himself. It was something he did whenever he was in his father's presence. Something that rarely withstood his father's penetrating gaze.
"What do you need of me, Rogue?"
It was her turn to look away, and he almost made her look at him like she had to him a moment before, but her gentle squeezing of his hand stopped that.
"Ah need ta tell him thanks... but... Ah... Ya... Ah mean—"
He squeezed her hand back, stopping her that time, and whispered, ever so hesitantly, "I'll go with you."
When, in the club, Rogue's hand snared his and squeezed as Gambit answered his cell phone then left, Pietro again was brought out of his memories. But that sense of easing the vulnerability she was trying to conceal with her calloused veneer still rode him. He welcomed that small gesture with a warm rush of excitement for his place in her life, chased by a burning hatred for Gambit having caused the need for the gesture. If he'd realized the truth of how and why Gambit caused that need, if he hadn't mistaken it as a rejection, a teasing, a gamble played too far, he would've hated the Cajun even more than he already did.
But, that would come soon enough.
He pressed in closer to her, savoring the opportunity for what it presented him. She didn't pull away, so he closed the space between them, the lengths of their bodies touching in a single line, and he huskily whispered, "I'm here."
He almost couldn't believe it when she let her weight rest back against him. She was literally leaning on him, and she didn't lean on anyone. Rogue was a pillar of independence, strength, and self-reliance... a stoic solitaire. Yet, there she was, her head held by his chest and the crook of his shoulder and neck, placed there by her own volition. So, he took the opportunity one step further. He wrapped his arms around her, embracing her as he'd wanted to since that shining moment they'd shared in Trask's compound.
She pleaded for me to go... to RUN!
They had burst into the compound from three different sides. Colossus took out the south wall with his strength in organic-metal form. Magneto ripped out a chunk of the north wall by way of yanking on the metal framework built into the wall. Quicksilver went in with Magneto. It was as though Magneto didn't trust him to go in alone. Pyro went in the east wall, which was essentially the front door. His use of controlling flames allowed him to scatter the guards and keep them busy while the others entered and wreaked havoc on the compound. Eventually, Pyro worked his way deeper inside as well, though. The fourth wall, the west wall, originally, was supposed to be covered by Gambit, but Gambit was inside, doing who knows what to who knows which person. Probably lost track of time flirting with some unknowing guard or scientist, stirring up some sort of mischief, according to Quicksilver's insolent musings.
Once in, they each headed off to their designated tasks. Pyro and Colossus were assigned their primary tasks of their four part agenda. The first part was the retrieval of all the data on the Sentinel program and Trask's ultimate plans. The second part was the retrieval of all data on all the mutants imprisoned. Magneto, with Quicksilver in tow, tackled the third task of the four-part agenda. They headed to the closer of two possible locations for Sentinel construction. Their goal was the destruction of the Sentinel or any production mechanics that existed there. If all three of the primary tasks were completed quickly enough and with enough success, then Pietro would play the most vital role in the fourth task of their four part agenda. He would use his speed to release as many captured mutants as time and casualties allowed. For some reason, Pietro was just a little bit proud of the responsibility he held in their plan. Just thinking about it brought an 'I'm De Bomb' smirk to his face. His father would not like his pride over heroic activities, and that, made Pietro want to do it even more.
Her eyes pleaded as she was swallowed down, swallowed under. She pleaded for me to go... to RUN!
WOM! WOM! WOM!
Klaxon's sounded immediately. The guards who rushed the doors of the gymnasium-like room never made it before Quicksilver zipped through and stole the guns from many of them.
Made it easy for me, holding them out in front of them like gifts, Pietro thought arrogantly as he deposited all the guns in the far corner. He turned, zipping back to the center of the room and stopped short.
"!!!!"
There was Gambit. He was clutching for dear life to a cylinder that was magnetically suspended in the air. It was rising and Gambit wasn't letting go. He was yelling, his face contorted in desperation and anger, but there were so many other people yelling and fighting, that Pietro couldn't tell what Gambit was saying. Magneto was fairly oblivious to Gambit's frantic behavior. Magneto was too busy fending off the dozens of guards and doctors that were trying to stop him. He was too busy raising the hefty adamantium cylinder to use it as a battering ram to take out a horde of the guards at once. It was now lifted high enough that Gambit was dangling from it. It started moving sideways, and then halted abruptly.
Then it began to shake fiercely.
Then it began to glow.
Rogue fell... Her eyes pleaded as she was swallowed down, swallowed under. She pleaded for me to go... to RUN!
Pietro, confused, looked to his father. Magneto's face was contorted in frustration and intense concentration as he tried to make the cylinder move to his whims.
The glow spread.
The shaking increased.
The metal whined.
It was all too much.
Gambit's hold slipped.
Pietro zipped up to Gambit, glad for the chance to rub Gambit's failed attempt to thwart Magneto in his face. Pietro had no idea why Gambit had been so desperate to stop Magneto's use of the cylinder. All Pietro cared about was Gambit's failure... and Gambit's impending demise when Magneto punished him for his rebellion.
"Traitor!" Pietro hollered as he barreled into Gambit. They rolled to a stop and Pietro rushed to continue the fight, but Gambit had not. Gambit wasn't even looking to Pietro. Being so thoroughly ignored infuriated Pietro even more. He was tired of being ignored, of being used. And Gambit would pay for it.
He hefted Gambit up by his collar, pulled back his fist, preparing to land a hundred mile an hour punch to his face.
"Rogue's in dere," Gambit said, still not looking to Pietro.
It took a moment to register, but Pietro finally understood. Well, he sort of understood. He understood Rogue's peril—and why should I care! She's an enemy! She deserted the brotherhood right after I joined! Why-should-I-care-about-her? AndhowcanshedoTHAT?!
Rogue was again using the absorbed powers of Carol Danvers', the woman who had been on the gurney. She was using the unfamiliar powers of flight and superhuman strength to keep Magneto from launching the cylinder with her in it. The impact would be tremendous. It'd be far worse than crashing to the floor would've been. Whoever was caught in its path would surely die, wouldn't they? She wouldn't survive it, would she? She was merely flesh. She wasn't invulnerable. She couldn't even think straight cause there was something alien in her mind! Something more and less than whole. She couldn't even consciously register everything that was changing in her. Using the strength and flight was a fluke, she didn't even consciously know she had them yet, her mind was so swollen and swirling from the intensity of the overlong absorption; they just worked when she'd panicked. But this, what could she do to stop this? She wouldn't survive it!
Glowing, shaking, whining—too much stress—TOO MUCH!
My failure... A bullet fired... Emma's failure... A second bullet fired... Rogue fell... Her eyes pleaded as she was swallowed down, swallowed under. She pleaded for me to go... to RUN!
Magneto won. Rogue just couldn't fight it anymore. The cylinder flew. It was fast... so fast. Even Pietro thought it was fast. With Rogue's unexpected release of fighting Magneto's pull on the cylinder, it snapped like a rubber band pulled too taught, out of Magneto's control. It caught the guards that didn't duck in time, slammed into the wall, and through it.
Dust filled the room and it was some time before anything could be seen. Pietro was surprised to find himself so near the wreckage. He was even more surprised to see one doctor at the edge of it, about to dig through it. But, for some reason, he wasn't surprised to see Gambit on top of the wreckage, already digging into it. Gambit held a torn bit of cloth to his mouth to block the dust so he could breathe.
"Get them!" Trask ordered the guards between coughing spurts.
Some guards attacked with fists and knives right away. Others scrambled to their guns. No matter what they did, though, they only attacked Magneto and Pietro. Pietro was busy with them for a while, so he didn't see the progress that Gambit, the first doctor, and the other doctors that the first doctor had ordered to help, were making in finding Rogue.
"Let me go!" Gambit yelled. Pietro couldn't pause long enough to see why.
More fighting, and then Pietro heard, "I found her!" Then, "She's alive!" And, "That's impossible!" A lot of French followed. Pietro thought it was a mixture of curses and relieved exclamations, but he was still too busy fighting guards to even bother trying to focus on what Gambit was involved in.
Finally, he was able to look over. To his amazement, he saw Rogue, walking on her own, and Gambit, being led out of the room by guards. He also saw a glint of metal around their necks. He was a little uneasy about the wave of elation that passed through him at the sight of Rogue, but it was soon overtaken by a familiar wave of nausea and disorientation that he recognized as a sign of his father having just sent a magnetic pulse through the room. The smell of electronics burning immediately followed it.
Pietro gave the room a once over. Nearly all the guards were dazed or unconscious. The few that were standing with fight left in them wouldn't be any match for the two of them. He'd noted that Trask and the doctors were gone, and that Logan, appearing quite rabid right then, was still restrained (stretched taut and suspended by his hands) just as he had been when they had first entered the room.
"Go after Gambit," Magneto ordered.
"Gambit?!" Pietro couldn't believe it. He was being sent to fetch the Cajun.
"He'll be free by the time you reach him, I'm sure," Magneto briefly explained, his voice thick with annoyance, "He'll explain what his tasks are."
"Where will you be?" Pietro couldn't help but fear that his father had finally grown tired of him and was sending him off to become a prisoner like Rogue and Gambit were.
Magneto huffed. Pietro could've sworn he actually saw steam come out of his ears. "I'll be assisting Pyro and Colossus."
"What about him?" Pietro pointed to Logan.
"He's not going anywhere. Leave him."
The side effect of my speed let me see it all in slow motion... made me see it all... My failure... A bullet fired... Emma's failure... A second bullet fired... Rogue fell... Her eyes pleaded as she was swallowed down, swallowed under. She pleaded for me to go... to RUN!
ZIP! ZIP! ZIP!
Nope,-not-here,-not-there,-and-no,-that's-not-them-either.
Pietro was sure he'd been over that entire compound at least once, but still he hadn't found Gambit and/or Rogue. Sure he saw signs that could've pointed to their having gone a certain direction, but then, again, they could've been signs pointing to where Colossus or Pyro had gone too. Scorch marks were scorch marks. Pietro had no clue how to discern which were made by one of Gambit's exploding objects and which were made by Pyro's fire control. He saw dents and torn chunks of wall and firearms, which really hinted at Colossus's superhuman strength and durability, but after seeing Rogue stalemate Magneto while in that cylinder for so long—not to mention surviving the collision afterwards—who knew what powers Rogue possessed now.
ZIP! ZIP! ZIP!
More corridors, more downed guards, more remnants of fights... more dead ends...
Wait,-what's-that?!
It was a pick... a lock pick. Lying on the ground next to four downed guards. Gambit was the only person he knew of that carried picks on him all the time. Pietro searched the guards and the path their particular incursion left. Bingo! There was a collar. But only one. So, he continued following that path. Further ahead there was a set of handcuffs, and beyond that, a second pair.
Looks-like-they're-discarding-things-while-running.
Only... they seemed to be heading towards the areas that Pietro remembered his father had described being where the cellblocks were. That didn't make sense. Gambit hadn't been assigned the task of releasing the prisoners. He wouldn't knowingly lead them in that direction. There would likely be more guards there since the klaxons went off.
Pietro shrugged. Maybe-they-were-chased-this-way.
Blood. That got Pietro's attention. A spot on the wall, like a smeared handprint as someone grabbed the wall while swinging around the corner at top speed. He continued, following the way that the leads were taking him. More blood. Drops on the floor this time. He gulped. If it was the Cajun's blood a part of him would rally—quietly and not in front of his father, since his father seemed to favor Gambit so much—but he would rally. But, if it were Rogue's, well, he wasn't sure how he felt about that. Technically, she was his enemy. But that seemed like light-years in the past at the moment.
More blood drops, closer together, and bigger, led Pietro further and further into the bowels of the compound. He followed, like an obedient lackey of his father's should, and kicked himself for following his father with every new sight of blood.
Wham! Crunch! Rrrrip!
Sounds of a struggle came from down the corridor and around a corner. Pietro zipped up to it and peaked around.
Gambit took a punch in the gut by Sabretooth. He doubled over, slamming back into the wall. His bo-staff slipped from his grasp and clanged to the floor. Sabretooth went in for another punch. Gambit dodged. Sabretooth's fist cracked against the wall. He roared and dove at Gambit, who spun, kicked off the wall, and swiped a kick to Sabretooth's head.
WHAP!
Pietro cringed. That really looked like it hurt. Good thing Sabretooth's got a hard head—chuckle—and a healing factor.
They were locked arm to arm, rolling into the wall and crashing to the floor. This opened up Pietro's view beyond them, where he saw Rogue, huddled on the ground, frantically switching her attention from watching Sabretooth and Gambit's fight to trying to blindly pick the lock on her own collar. He watched her shift her sight from the fight to an awkward attempt at seeing her ministrations on opening the collar just as Gambit and Sabretooth rolled toward her. Something in Gambit's hand was glowing, though Pietro couldn't tell what, only that it was held between Gambit and Sabretooth. Sabretooth growled. Rogue's eyes flicked nervously to them, but flicked back to her work on her collar, keeping her focus, no matter what.
Punch. Kick. Glow. Roll. Growl. Glow. Slice. Punch. GLOW. ROLL.
Pietro slipped by, grabbed Rogue and kept going.
KABOOM!
He didn't hear the faint clang-clang of a collar hitting the wall and then the floor as he sped off.
It was like being frozen in place while on a sugar high overload! I'd never hated my mutation more than in that instant. The side effect of my speed let me see it all in slow motion... made me see it all... My failure... A bullet fired... Emma's failure... A second bullet fired... Rogue fell... Her eyes pleaded as she was swallowed down, swallowed under. She pleaded for me to go... to RUN!
"Stop..."
I didn't.
"Pietro, stop!"
I ignored Rogue and kept running. It was all going wrong. None of this was supposed to happen. They weren't supposed to be captured. Rogue wasn't supposed to be captured. I admit it. The fight was a trap for the X-Men and the Brotherhood. But they weren't supposed to be captured. They were supposed to win. They were supposed to fight the Sentinel alongside us. They were supposed to see the dangers that the world presented against mutants. They were supposed to see that not even the US of A, home of the brave, land of the free, was immune to subjugating mutants... The whole purpose was to make Xavier realize the futility of his dream of peace. And Magneto wanted proof of it broadcasted all over the country, all over the world.
"AH!"
Ironic, Xavier hadn't even been there.
"SAID!"
Mystique had fooled us all with her impersonating Xavier.
"STOP!"
And I did stop. I didn't stop because my legs had stopped pumping, stopped their propelling motion. It was because Rogue had stopped us. I was shocked, to say the least. Sure, I'd seen her display with my father while she was in the cylinder, but this was different. This I felt.
It was sudden. It was instantaneous. And I could not overcome it.
I ceased my futile efforts and looked at her, hovering still, holding ME up with a fist gripping my uniform instead of me carrying her. Her collar was gone. That was new to me, but it at least explained her being able to stop me... a little bit. I still didn't know how she got these powers, what they were exactly—well, she was obviously stronger and could fly, or hover at the very least—and why they hadn't worn off yet.
She took having my attention on her as her cue to drop me. Her impatience was showing.
"Ah'm not leaving the others here. Ah'm going back for them. You can come or you can leave. It's up to you."
And she left. She flew back the way we came. I watched her go; watched her take back all the progress we'd made in our escape of it all.
And then I got off my butt and followed. I caught up with her pretty quickly. I didn't think she was flying her top speed. I didn't think I could catch up if she flew her top speed. But, I also didn't think she knew exactly where she was going. Made sense, actually. It was unlikely they gave her a tour of the place when she arrived.
She glanced to me. I didn't know why, but it made me feel special. She didn't even smile or anything; just let her determination show. Still, I felt like she was glad for my assistance. It was like I was with the brotherhood again, like we were teammates again. I'd lost that sense of camaraderie when I sided with my father. And in one moment, racing side by side with Rogue, I'd regained it. In one shiny moment I knew what friendship was, I knew what family was... I knew what love was.
Spades...
Pietro took the opportunity one step further. He wrapped his arms around her, embracing her as he'd wanted to for so long.
Rogue tilted her head up, smiling, and he felt special. Rogue rarely smiled in any way, so it meant a lot when she did.
"He came," She said.
All Pietro could do was nod. Fine, she was smiling because of Gambit... but I helped that. I was here for her when she needed me. Part of that smile is mine. He nodded, and he held her, because she let him.
We reached the intersection from where the three cell blocks stemmed. There was a single guard there, sitting at a desk, with groups of keys on a board of hooks behind him. Rogue looked at me with a question and I realized that she didn't want to take him out her way... In any of her ways, including the new ones, the ones she'd just gained. At the time, I figured, the powers were on their way out. I learned that wasn't so, later. But right then, it didn't matter and I didn't question it too hard. I simply zipped by and stole the keys.
It had felt so good to be needed.
It was her suggestion that we each take a different cell block, her the far right, me the far left, and that we would meet in the center block, letting the first one there take the responsibility for releasing the prisoners in that one. I let my pride—the thrill at being trusted and given a responsibility that meant so much to her—deceive me. Sure, it sounded like a perfectly rational, efficient, and reasonable plan, but as soon as we'd separated, dread nagged me. I felt like I'd been tricked. I felt like Rogue had been humoring me with the responsibility. But, I squashed down that dread, blaming it on my father's repeated Pietro-bashing. Yet, even through the glee I felt when I reached the far left cellblock and found that it was full of mutants that would be grateful that I was there to set them free, that dread twitched inside of me. With every increase in my excitement an equal increase echoed in the dread. When I'd reached the middle cell block and saw I was there first, my pride soared, but the dread roared. And still, I squashed it down. I liked feeling good for once. It was addictive. It was dangerous. It was deadly.
There was a tragic flaw in the plan and I just couldn't see it. I was too close and I couldn't see it. I was too arrogant, so I didn't see it.
I was near giddy as the halls filled with the newly released mutants. There were so many of them. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't conceive how Trask could possibly have gathered so many of them [1]. I didn't even think there were this many mutants in the entire world, let alone the United States. I actually bounced around, zipping as quickly as I could amongst the hundred freed mutants—well as much as their crowded rush for the exit allowed—yelling, "I am the best! I am the best!"
High with the knowledge of another challenge beaten as much as I was with the heroism of it, I rounded the corridor and glimpsed into the third cellblock, the one that had been to the far right, the one that Rogue had taken.
As I passed by it, I saw all the activity inside and I yelled, "We are the best!"
For such a quick view of the cellblock, I saw a lot, but the truth of what I'd seen didn't sink in for a few vital moments. The main floor area was packed tight with people, but there were only a few that were slipping into the stream of fleeing mutants in the corridor. And those that were exiting were doing so in panic, not joy. The few moments it took for that to sink in allowed me to be swept out of reach of the door by the stream of the fleeing mutants. It was damn near impossible to back track and reach the doorway. I couldn't speed through. There were too many of them, too closely packed together, and too focused on fleeing. I was wading through the strongest of currents, one that was fueled by thoughts of freedom. Finally, I'd swung myself around the frame and inside, only to be yanked back by a blond bombshell who spoke directly into my head.
~"Follow the others, they're going the right way."~
I got the idea that she was trying to be reassuring, but was failing at it. I studied her a moment, shocked by her audacity at telling me, the great Pietro Maximoff, her rescuer, where to go, and surprised that she had her powers. I looked to her neck. Sure enough, she didn't have a collar on. I grew suspicious of her immediately. I hadn't been able to remove any of the collars from any of the prisoners I'd released. She must've had a similar thought because her face scrunched up and she asked, coldly, "Where's your collar?"
"Where's yours?" I asked back, but she didn't answer. Her head snapped to they side, and following her line of sight, I saw Beast, shoving ferociously through the crowd inside that third cellblock. She must've said something to him telepathically cause he screeched to a halt, and rounded to look at her. He then saw me and snarled, barreling straight at me. I thought he was going to tackle me when he came to a sudden and purposeful stop right in front of me.
"What are YOU doing here?" Hank asked, though it was more of a growl. I realized, then and there, that he was called Beast for more than just his ape like features and his blue fur. In that instant, he was less tame than Wolverine. I nearly peed my pants.
"I'm with Rogue," I managed to sputter. Three simple words, that's all they were. But just saying them was like pulling on a suit tailored just for me. It was a perfect fit.
Hank looked at me strangely for a moment, maybe because of some expression I'd made, then nodded to Emma. That was her name—Emma. We must have exchanged brief introductions at some point, but I never recalled them specifically. Anyway, after Hank nodded to Emma, he made to shove and bound back through the crowd and into the cellblock's inner depths again, but Emma's hand on his shoulder, stopped him. She spoke aloud when she said, "Rogue was right, Hank. You're a doctor. They will need you more out there than she needs you now..."
She said more to him, but I didn't listen. Rogue needing help was all that had registered. Everything after that bled together for a while. I didn't see Beast leave, though I ran into him after it was all over and found out that was when he had left. I didn't see Emma push her way deep inside the cellblock. I didn't even notice that I'd shoved my way inside the cellblock until I was a good twenty feet in.
Chaos. Utter chaos. That was the only description for it. The people I was pushing through weren't freed mutants. They were guards. Most of the cells in there were still filled with mutants. I glimpsed Fred on the bottom near the end. Rogue hadn't even gotten that far into the block. Only the first six or seven cells on the bottom row nearest the block's entrance were torn open and there were only three more cells before Fred's. Three more and Fred would've been free. Three more and his girth and strength and invulnerability would've been able to help Rogue fight off the guards...
There were so many guards. The room was packed so tightly with them, there was hardly breathing space. As it was, though, Fred was slicing and dicing any and all guards that had the unfortunate luck of nearing his cell. Fred had some kind of a makeshift knife. The knife looked like a chunk of concave glass... literally, it looked like a broken chunk of a pair of glasses.
~"Speedy!"~
I broke from my awe of all that was going on around me, snapping to attention with Emma's screech.
~"Stop him!"~
She pointed past me, high up. I looked and saw that one of the guards had climbed piping that ran up the wall to give him a clear view of the room. He was perched atop another pipe that crossed overhead. His back was pressed against the wall, one foot wrapped the pipe he was on and the other braced against the one he'd climbed. He was aiming a rifle as I looked. I followed his line of sight and—holy shit—there was Rogue, tossing guards this way and that. She was hard to see. She bobbed up and down, giving me brief glimpses of her. Immediately surrounding her was a thrashing circle, a whirlpool, a mosh pit, centered on slamming Rogue. A glimmer flickered above her and beyond her, and, looking to it, I saw a second guard trying the same stunt as the one that Emma had pointed out to me, but on the opposite side of the block.
~"I've got him! Get the other one!"~
It was an order, and I, for once, felt no need to rebel against it. I pushed and shoved and kicked and yelled, but I barely moved more than a few feet. How did I ever make it this far in the first place? It seemed so impossible now. I wasn't making fast enough progress and I was beginning to panic. All the guard needed was one good lock on her, one extended moment of her bobbing up, and he'd have her, dead on. The itch to speed, to reach her, to stop the man with the gun, was maddening. It was like being frozen in place while on a sugar high overload!
I'd never hated my mutation more than in that instant. The side effect of my speed let me see it all in slow motion... made me see it all... My failure... A bullet fired... Emma's failure... A second bullet fired... Rogue fell... Her eyes pleaded as she was swallowed down, swallowed under. She pleaded for me to go... to RUN!
On that day, I learned what it was to love and I learned what it was to hate. And again, AGAIN, I'd learned regret.
I heeded Rogue's plea and ran. I, Pietro Maximoff, AKA Quicksilver, the speed demon, ran.
I ran.
I ran away.
This time, though, in the club called Spades, Pietro refused to run.
Pietro tightened his grip around her, tightened the embrace. He reveled in that contact she'd allowed him. And then, slowly, ever so slowly, in contradiction to his nature and to the pounding beat of the club's tripped up gothic music, he began to sway, pulling her ever so gently to match the rhythm he was building for just the two of them.
His arrogance fought with all its might against the idea that Rogue was imagining that his arms were the Cajun's arms, that his rhythm was the Cajun's... that he was Remy LeBeau—charmer, thief, fighter, gambler, and winner—and not Pietro Maximoff—deserter, betrayer, fleer, liar, and loser.
But he was Pietro Maximoff. And he was the one who had her in his arms right then.
At the back of Pietro's mind, he admitted the possibility that she was imagining he was really Gambit, though. And that possibility was enough to keep him from deluding himself. It was enough for him to have a reason to fight for her.
This time, Pietro refused to run.
Footnotes:
[1] How did Trask get so many mutants? Well, from a well-known (in the comics at least) community of mostly grotesquely disfigured mutants called the Morlocks, that's where. Unlike in the comics, I decided not to have Gambit lead Sabretooth to kill them, but to succeed in just capturing them. I didn't make this change to make Gambit seem more likable. In fact, it seems he helped them to a fate worse than death: an undetermined amount of time in Dr. Milbury's tender care.
TIMELINE
- 14 days (2 weeks before DoR). Magneto briefs Remy, Piotr & St. John on the Brotherhood and X-Men members (Ch. 3, Pietro's memory). Pyro asks if Rogue's power is to imitate the dead (I love that!).
0 days: DAY OF RECKONING. 1st news broadcast of mutants. Rogue, Logan, Fred, and Hank are captured by the Sentinel and held as prisoners in Trask's Institution (research labs).
3 days: RAID ON THE INSTITUTE. Described briefly in prologue.
5 days: Fury sends Carol undercover at Trask's installation.
8 days (1 week and 1 day): Rogue convinces the prisoners to pass their blankets to Fred resulting in punishment from the guards: forcing an unconscious Logan's claws to pierce a collared Fred's skin and the winking guard (Renfield, Ch. 5) to break Rogue's legs (Ch. 4). Fred kept a shard of glass from the Dr.'s glasses, broken in Rogue's struggles (Ch. 4).
9 days (1 week and 2 days): Remy meets Carol and they both try to play each other for information (Ch. 5).
10 days (1 week and 3 days): Rogue refuses the doctor's many attempts to treat her festering broken legs (Ch. 5). Rogue first glances Dr. Milbury (though they do not speak to each other) while the more familiar doctor whispers to Fred (Ch. 5).
11 days (1 week and 4 days): Guards stop feeding Rogue; Fred shares his with her, exactly what they wanted to happen (Ch. 5). After giving the winking guard the nickname Renfield, Dr. Milbury formerly introduces himself to Rogue and informs her that Fred told them her name and powers, well, that she absorbs psyches (Ch. 5).
16 days (2 weeks and 2 days): Dr. Milbury catches Carol and Remy sharing information (Ch. 5).
23 days (3 weeks and 2 days): With Trask in attendance, Dr. Milbury tests the ratio of touch-time to retention-time when Rogue, suspended in an open cylinder, absorbs Logan, strung up by his hands, in order to weigh the possibility that Rogue could survive the adamantium bonding process (Ch. 5). Dr. Milbury reveals his agreement with Trask: Sentinels provide mutant research subjects in trade for progress on the bonding process (Ch. 5). Gambit reports to Dr. Milbury that the assault on the Morlocks is complete and Rogue discovers that they work together (Ch. 5). Rogue absorbs Carol Danvers (Ch. 5), who survives, though is technically brain-dead (Ch. 6). Dr. Milbury plans to use Rogue to create an army of multi-powered soldiers (Ch. 6). Remy is nearly crushed by Rogue's cylinder while trying to save her (Ch. 6). Magneto's new team attacks Trask's installation (Ch. 7). Magneto unknowingly uses Rogue's cylinder to pummel a squadron of guards (Ch. 7). Gambit and Rogue, collared, are taken away, and followed by Pietro, who snatches Rogue and tries to flee, but Rogue convinces him to help her try to free the imprisoned mutants (Ch. 7). Splitting up, Pietro sets loose one of the cellblocks, but Rogue runs into trouble (Ch. 7). Pietro and Emma try to stop guards taking aim on Rogue, but fail, and Rogue is taken down (Ch. 7). Pietro doesn't see what follows as he does what Rogue's closing eyes plead for him to do: he flees (Ch. 7).
42 days (6 weeks): RESCUE. Mentioned in prologue. X-Men discover that Rogue has new permanent powers that allowed her to survive the warehouse collapsing on her and prevents Jean and Xavier from reading her mind (Ch. 1).
56 days (8 weeks): PROLOGUE. It is revealed that Xavier changed the memories of Bayville inhabitants to make them forget that the X-Men and Brotherhood were the mutants involved in the news broadcast of the giant Sentinel attack.
70 days (10 weeks): CHAPTER ONE. Rogue's 1st week back to school. Pietro tries to rescue Rogue from the dastardly Remy, who has so evilly trailed the Queen of Hearts card on her cheek. How horrible of him!
72 days (10 weeks and 2 days): CHAPTER TWO. Logan flashes back on his memories of the rescue, prompting him to confront Rogue about helping more with the reconstruction of the institute. Surprise, she's been avoiding using many of her new powers because she'd killed those whom she'd stolen them from.
84 days (12 weeks): CHAPTER THREE. Sleepless Pietro confronts Gambit outside the mansion. Gambit gives him advice wishes him luck with Rogue.
85 days (12 weeks and 1 day): CHAPTER THREE. Rogue skips out of the overcrowded breakfast and ends up being confronted by Scott. She explains how she hides her constant floating/flying, to keep from getting caught. Rogue/Pietro locker and lake scenes. Wanda tells Pietro he's without honor.
87 days (12 weeks and 2 days): CHAPTER THREE. Gambit slices the tarp to sneak into Rogue and Kitty's room to watch Rogue sleep. He uses his spatial (kinesthetic) sense and empathic (charm) abilities as a way to 'touch' her. Rogue pretends he didn't wake her. Logan bursts in, missing Gambit. Smell's fresh blood on Rogue, but doesn't know it's because she popped a bone claw out ala Wolverine. Gambit left a card with a note on it (see Ch. 4) for her.
90 days (12 weeks and 6 days). News report/interview with non-mutant Dr. Moira McTaggert of the Muir Island Research Center catches Xavier's attention.
91 days (13 weeks): CHAPTER FOUR. Xavier, Logan & Hank meet with Moira McTaggert, who, to inspire faith in her so they could work out a trade of services, gives them guaranteed contact to Jean-Luc for the hiring of a thief to track down some of Trask's files. Rogue and Pietro skip school and spend the afternoon on the mansion's reconstruction by themselves. Pietro throws a fit when he finds the card from Gambit. Fred gives Rogue the Hope Chest. Gambit again waits futilely in Spades for Rogue, who doesn't show (Gambit's note on the card he gave her in Ch. 3). Pietro begins camping outside the Institute to watch for Gambit sneaking into Rogue's room (Ch. 7).
98 days (14 weeks): Gambit waits for Rogue at Spades, but she doesn't show (Ch. 6/7). Pietro is on his seventh night of camping outside the institute to obverse Gambit's stalker-like visits (Ch. 7).
105 days (15 weeks): Gambit waits for Rogue at Spades, but again she doesn't show (Ch. 6/7). Pietro is on his fourteenth night of camping outside the institute to obverse Gambit's stalker-like visits (Ch. 7).
112 days (16 weeks): CHAPTER FIVE. Gambit decides to only wait one more week for Rogue to show up at Spades (stage and spotlight references to standing in the cones of light on the street waiting for his leading lady to show). In remembrance, Rogue runs into Evan on her way to reveal the problem with her legs and chicken's out (Ch. 5). Pietro is on his twenty-first night of camping outside the institute to obverse Gambit's stalker-like visits (Ch. 7).
115 days (16 weeks and 3 days): Rogue attempts to, but chicken's out about telling the team about her legs again, this time after running into Fred (Ch. 5). Pietro is on his twenty-fourth night of camping outside the institute to obverse Gambit's stalker-like visits (Ch. 7).
118 days (16 weeks and 6 days): CHAPTER FIVE. Rogue freaks out while trying to tell the team about her legs and Hank sedates her to calm her. She remembers several events that took place while she was imprisoned: meeting Dr. Milbury, meeting Trask, absorbing Logan and Carol, learning that Gambit worked for Dr. Milbury, being suspended in the open cylinder. She wakes from sedation during Wrestling Night (unofficial Thursday Family Night) and is plagued by the red-on-black numbers of her clock into going to meet Gambit at Spades the following night. So much so, that she stumbles downstairs to avoid them, and facing everyone, on impulse, shows them her dilemma with her legs. Psyche-Emma meets Psyche-Carol in Rogue's mindscape. Xavier calls the Guild and leaves the message as directed by the card Moira gave him (Ch. 6). Pietro is on his twenty-seventh night of camping outside the institute to obverse Gambit's stalker-like visits (Ch. 7).
119 days (17 weeks): CHAPTER FIVE, SIX and SEVEN. Rogue makes the team a southern dinner as thanks (Ch. 5). She brings a packed serving of the dinner to Pietro, who is on his twenty-eight night of camping outside the institute to 'observe Gambit's stalker-like visits' (Ch. 7). Rogue goes to Spades; Pietro (rendered telepathically invisible by Rogue) goes along to support her and prove he's not a complete, unrepentant jerk (Ch. 6). Though Gambit is there, they do not speak or directly interact (Ch. 6). Gambit leaves when the Guild calls him to inform him that Xavier has made initial contact via Moira's boon (Ch. 6). After flashbacking to the failed prison escape (see day 23), Pietro embraces Rogue, who permits him to, and sways to the music, vowing not to run again (Ch. 7).
120 days (17 weeks and 1 day): Xavier finds a card left by a Guild member (Gambit, though they don't know that yet) on his desk to coordinate a direct meeting (Ch. 6).
123 days (17 weeks and 4 days): CHAPTER SIX. News broadcast of the video of the Sentinel attack undoes Xavier's sacrifice (erasing the memories of Bayville). As a result, Xavier makes the final call to the Guild from the card left three days prior. Gambit is who meets him, and does so by sneaking in to prove his skills.
124 days (17 weeks and 5 days): CHAPTER SIX. Hank McCoy plans to speak at a Bayville public meeting regarding the American mutant situation.
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