Author's note: This is another long chapter split into two. Part 2 will be posted tomorrow. Reviewer responses at the end!
Chapter Eighteen:
"Holy shit, did you feel that?" Gambit asked, directing the question to everyone around him. The entire compound had seemed to be rolling beneath their feet just moments before, and now a strange, very cold silence fell heavily in the dim passages.
The first shudders had been little more than a hum, but had grown more intense after every wave, and those in the group who lacked the natural agility to stay on their feet grasped onto the walls for support.
Gambit glanced first a Nightcrawler, who was standing easily in the middle of the hall, and the blue mutant nodded gravely. As Gambit glanced away, Nightcrawler crossed himself and said a mumbled prayer for protection.
Rebecca was standing in front of the X-Men, keeping one hand on the wall, just in case another tremor began. Her eyes were wide and her face had drained of color, but the heat around her was what gave away her sudden fear. She was rubbing the inner part of her free arm against her hip absently, scratching the old scars there, which were hidden by the long sleeves of her shirt.
Gambit empathized with each of them and tried to shake off his own terror. When the walls had begun to tremor, the sensation had not simply been a physical feeling. It had stirred memories in him, for no particular reason…bad memories. Remy LeBeau felt like those tremors had shaken him to the soul.
From about twenty feet in front of them, Pyro also was also holding on to the wall for support. His lighter was gripped tightly in one hand and he was glancing around with quick, nervous jerks of his head.
Toad was crouching low and instinctively had drawn into a dark shadow. When he heard Gambit speak, he glanced back over his shoulder and sneered. The expression was calming, familiar to his face, and his verbal retort drew them all back to reality.
"No…" Toad said sarcastically, "We missed it…bloody X-Man…"
He stood and inhaled deeply before glancing around at the others. Each was standing quietly stunned, recouping from the sudden burst of better-left-forgotten memories which the tremors in the wall had stirred in their minds.
Whether fortunately or unfortunately, Toad had more practice than the rest at ignoring or fighting off the unwanted, painful thoughts…and voices…of his memory.
"Let's keep movin'," he urged them on again.
Rebecca was the first to take a hesitant step forward, and she met Toad's gaze firmly as she spoke. To his quiet relief, her voice was clear and did not sound afraid.
"I think…that's a really good idea…" she said calmly, the air around her cooling considerably.
After a few steps, she stood next to Pyro and gave him an encouraging grin. He returned it, and relaxed slightly, pointing ahead of them with his lighter.
"It's this way…" Pyro said and they began to walk again.
The younger member of the Brotherhood kept throwing nervous glances at the strange young woman with the fiery red hair. He had been shocked when his own fire was torn from his control, and through the orange light, Rebecca Malloy's anger had shone fiercely. Now, walking next to her, as she slightly shivered in her night clothes, she suddenly did not seem so frightening. She was just another person (no, another mutant, he corrected himself) and she had a gift just like his. Well, almost like his…
Rebecca folded her arms over her chest and sighed audibly. She was cold and very tired of walking around these dark tunnels. She was unconsciously rubbing her inner arms together as she took quick steps forward, pacing Toad and Pyro, who were in front of her. From behind, she could hear the footsteps of the two X-Men.
She was standing in between the two pairs of mutants, creating an unspoken barrier in their conflict. She hoped it would last until they found Sid and the Professor.
Sid, where are you? she thought, 'loudly,' hoping her brother would at least sense her approaching, the way twins sometimes can.
Rebecca tried to focus on the simple task of walking forward, but her thoughts lingered on the memories that had surged violently before her eyes.
…she is eleven and she is alone, walking down a sunny lane toward her home, past long stretches of swaying green corn…suddenly, two black cars pull past her, their tires squeal as they quickly stop in front of her…four men get out of each, she smiles at them because there is no reason not to…they smiled back, and they were still smiling as they put the ether-soaked cloth over her face…then, there was just the darkness and then later, there was the burning pain in her arms…then, there was the fire…
Rebecca shivered again and walked faster.
As she moved past Toad, he stared at her with dark curiosity. She was being very quiet, and was looking at the ground at her bare feet. The air around her had lost all of its warmth and she was not really paying attention to where she was going. She had been exchanging mindless banter with the Cajun since they had left the cell, even after she stopped the earlier battle, but now all of her good humor seemed to have disappeared. Toad decided he preferred her chatter (no matter how annoying it was) over this new temperament. At least she had seemed alert…charged, ready to spark if needed…
Toad took quick steps forward to catch up with her, ignoring Pyro's own curious frown.
When he finally reached her, he did not say anything, he simply walked along beside her. She did not make any indication that she noticed him, just continued to walk with her head down. About five minutes passed, everyone just walking in silence.
Then, Rebecca lifted her head and brushed the loose pieces of hair from her braid behind her ears. The distance in her eyes was gone, and the spark of the flame around her had returned. She turned her head to the right, and did not look surprised to see Toad walking next to her. She gave him a small smile of reassurance and he nodded in return.
Rebecca slowed her steps and fell back again to her original spot in between the Brotherhood and the X-Men. Gambit glanced over at her with concern after watching the exchange with the Brotherhood member carefully.
"Are you alright, chere?" he asked, the question sincere, without his usual flirtatious grin.
She glanced up at him as nodded, "Yeah, just…freaking out a little, I guess…"
Nightcrawler was keeping pace with Gambit, and she noticed he carried a rosary, grasped as firmly in his two-fingered hand as Pyro with his lighter.
"You don't have a spare one of those by any chance, do ya?" Rebecca asked with a shaky chuckle. Nightcrawler smiled but shook his head.
"Nein," he replied, "Sorry…but be sure, I asked Him to watch over all of us this night…"
Rebecca nodded, "Thanks…I think we'll need it."
After another ten minutes, they came to a place where the hallway divided into two. Pyro stopped and turned backward, trying to visualize the way he and Sabertooth had come from.
"This way…" he said, pointing to the right and began to walk when Toad grasped his upper arm.
"Hang on…" he said, glaring at the light coming from the right-hand hall.
Gambit and the others caught up with them, and the Cajun stared in same direction as Toad, with the same suspicion.
"That light seems very familiar to me, ami," he said, primarily to Toad, who nodded.
"So does the cold," Rebecca added, and then glanced at Pyro, "You sure that was the way?"
Pyro nodded with a frown, not understanding their hesitation, "Yeah…yeah, definitely."
Rebecca exchanged wary glances with Gambit and Toad. It was just like before, and the 'right' way again seemed to feel like the 'wrong' way.
Pyro was standing at the entrance to the cold, lighted hall looking annoyed. He knew this was the way to the front hanger, and he thought their doubts were about his directions and not the odd white light at the other end. Pyro turned and glanced down toward the light. He squinted, and then frowned.
From the other end, he could almost swear he saw someone walking toward them.
Before he could mention the approaching figure to the others, a loud shriek echoed from behind them. It was not like the shriek from earlier, which had rattled them in their minds. This voice emanated from something physical. From one of the two mutants who had snuck up behind them…
***
From the darkness behind them, two of Stryker's mutant weapons stood in silence. One was easily a foot shorter than the other, and he opened his mouth wide when he spotted the five wandering intruders.
The cry that burst from his powerful lungs sent shockwaves down the hall, and if his voice had not been already in use, he would have laughed as the intruders fell to their knees. He was one of the Lot Program mutants, like the telekinetic twins. He had forgotten his last name decades ago, but the others called him Eddie.
Standing next to him, the taller mutant watched with much less amusement. He was the only member of Stryker's team who was still wearing one of the strange caps that blocked telepathic interference. Not because he had not felt the pain when the compound shook, but because he was (always had been) paranoid of outsiders. His name, if anyone still cared, was Paul, and he specialized in 'pushing' people to do what he wanted.
After only a few seconds, Eddie fell silent again, though he was panting heavily from the effort. He glanced up at Paul and grinned proudly.
Paul looked less than enthusiastic to approach the other mutants, but he had his orders, and he would follow them until he died.
***
Reviewer Responses:
To WolfKyr: Hail, grammar inspector! :-) Thanks again for pointing that out.
To ManniElf18: Thanks for the OoOoOs! Legion links back to the crossover to the movie "Storm of the Century" where the big bad battling Xavier is from. Legion is a biblical term for a demon who claimed to be many demons, which the big bad said he is just one of.
To Fire Dancer: This update will be quickly followed by another. It's almost done! But not quite. The cliffs are starting to get a little high… yikes…
To samson: Gotta love the Cajun. The only thing I would add is a little green English guy, but that's just the crazy Toad fan in me.
To angelic katty: Thanks for following the books. The 'X' in X-book is starting to stand more for 'crossover' than ever! And they're far from over. The first three books are turning out to be like one long first episode. There's a lot of characters to get in there, and more seem to show up everyday. :-) the outer hanger.all, defea
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