Don't Leave Me

"So what do you think of the place?" Wanda asked as she and Angelica left the rec. room to get a soda.

"Not what I expected that's for sure," Angelica said as she opened the door. The first thing she noticed was something red on the floor. "What the…OH MY GOD!"

Inside the rec. room Angelica's screams could be heard. Roadblock ran up there. Most of the teens stopped what they were doing, except for Pietro and Todd. They were still rolling around, wrestling.

"Pretty Boy!" Todd shouted.

"Wart Boy!" Pietro shouted back. Then he noticed something else was wrong. "Hey what's going on?"

"Cover Girl we need you to call Lifeline on the double! There's trouble!" Roadblock shouted. "The rest of you kids stay down here!"

"What's going on? What's happening? Where's the new girls?" The Misfits asked.

"Stay here!" Low Light ordered. However Pietro had rushed off before he could finish the sentence. "So glad to see he's learning how to listen. The rest of you stay put!" He rushed after him.

The Misfits waited for a long time in the rec. room. "What the heck is going on up there anyway?" Lance paced back and forth. Then he saw Pietro walk into the room. "It's about time."

"What happened?" Althea asked, noticing that Pietro looked quite numb and shaken.

"Lina tried to kill herself," Pietro frowned. "Wanda and Angelica caught her. She really cut her wrists badly. Even tried to chop off her wings."

"She what?" Althea gasped. "Oh god…"

"Yeah," Pietro sighed. "Fortunately it seems those things only look delicate. They may appear to be like crystal when actually they are tougher than adamantium. They're fine. Broke the knife in half."

"Geeze…" Althea put her hand to her head. "Where is she now?"

"She's in the infirmary. I got Lifeline and he patched her up, but she's really out of it," Pietro sat down.

"And I thought I was really depressed when I got here," Arcade said.

"Angelica's really upset," Pietro continued. "Wanda' s with her."

"But why would she want to hurt herself?" Spyder asked. "I don't understand."

Lance twisted his lip as he tried to think of an explanation. Gently he put his hand on her shoulder. "Sometimes…Sometimes people who have been through a lot of pain are really confused. They just want the pain to stop and they don't know how to stop it."

"So she hurt herself because she was already hurting?" Spyder asked.

"That's pretty much it," Lance sighed.

"I remember when I first got here," Todd said. "It was before I met Al and the others. I felt so alone and well useless. I was so angry and disgusted with myself I didn't even think. Next thing I knew I was sitting on the floor with a broken mirror and my hands were bleeding."

"I didn't know that," Spyder said.

"We all had problems when we first got here," Xi remarked. "I thought I was going to be experimented on like Cobra did to me. I…overreacted."

"Yeah even Pietro did a dumb thing like trying to run away in a rainstorm," Fred indicated with his thumb.

"Remember when we found you?" Althea said. "You wanted to take us all on."

"Yeah but I didn't wanna die," Spyder said.

"You were exhausted and starving," Lance said. "You still could have gotten hurt or worse. You just weren't thinking straight. Neither is Lina."

"Yeah well it's no surprise the way her folks just dumped her," Pietro snorted. "I got the whole story upstairs. They made a real scene at the courthouse. They hit her and told her they'd get her own brother to lock her up."

"Jerks," Fred growled.

"They signed the papers right in front of her," Pietro continued. "Just like that! Cover Girl snapped and signed them first before the X-Men could blink. She was ticked off at how they treated her."

"Good move though," Lance nodded. "I think I can guess what Lina thought. When she figured out she was going in the army she must have freaked. Especially after what she went through. No wonder she was so quiet. Probably thought we were a bunch of killers or something."

"But you're not," Spyder said. "But I thought that too at first. She's really scared isn't she?"

"Yeah," Lance nodded. "She is."

"So we gotta make her not scared of us anymore," Brittany said.

"How do we do that?" Daria asked.

"We're just gonna have to try to get through to her that's all," Althea said.

************************************************************************

Lifeline walked out of the infirmary. Cover Girl, Wanda and Angelica were standing there in the waiting room. "Is she…?" Angelica started.

"She's going to be fine," Lifeline said. "We were lucky."

"It's my fault," Cover Girl sighed. "I should have watched her more closely. I just thought she needed some space."

"Cover Girl there was no way you could have known what she intended to do," Psyche Out walked up to her with Roadblock. "What she needs right now is help. A lot of help."

"Can I see her?" Angelica asked. "Please! She's my friend!"

Lifeline nodded. "All right. But I had to restrain her…just in case. She's very unresponsive though."

"I understand," Angelica sniffed. "Wanda…could you come with me?"

"Sure," Wanda nodded. They went into the room. Lina lay there, arms strapped to the bed. She looked pale and listless. Her wrists were bandaged.

"Angelica…" Lina blinked when she saw her.

"Lina why did you do it?" Angelica sobbed. "Why would you try to do such an awful thing?"

"Because a thing like me deserves to die…" She said in a whispered voice.

"That's not true! Damn it Lina I can't do this alone!" Angelica told her angrily. "You're not the only one going through this! I need you! The only thing keeping me somewhat sane right now is you being here!"

"I'm useless…" Lina looked at her.

"USELESS? USELESS?" Angelica shouted. "Who got me away from that mob? Who drove after me when that jerk Gombell kidnapped me? Who helped tell the others where to find me? If it weren't for you I'd be dead! Or worse! Don't you ever say to me that you're useless again! You hear me?" She grabbed her by the shoulders. "You're my friend Angelina Chakram! I don't want to lose you!"

"You mean that?" Lina looked at her as if seeing her for the first time.

"Of course she does," Wanda told her. "Lina…I know what it's like to fall into darkness and depression. You're frightened and angry and you can't stop obsessing on it. It nearly destroyed me a long time ago. Don't let that happen to you. Lina, I know you don't know us very well and things seem…well crazy. But we're all really nice once you get to know us. Even my brother, when he's not being a self-centered idiot."

"Lina please promise me that you're not gonna do something like that again!" Angelica pleaded. "I mean it! And don't just say yes because you think that's what I want to hear! I mean it! Don't kill yourself!"

"I…I promise," Lina lowered her green eyes. "I won't try it again."

"Good," Angelica sighed. "I'm gonna hold you to that. Don't you dare back out on me! Because if I find you like I did before I'm gonna kill you myself!"

"Okay," Lina sniffed.

"Can I have a word with Lina alone?" Cover Girl asked. The girls agreed and left. Lina, did I do something to scare you? Are you really afraid of me?"

Lina shook her head and sobbed. "I wanna go home…"

"I know sweetie," Cover Girl held her as best she could. "I know…"

"But I can't go home. I can never go home. And now all I am is a monster. A weapon…"

"You aren't a monster!" Cover Girl told her. "Or a weapon. I don't see that when I look at you!"

"Then why did you take me so fast?" Lina asked.

"Because I couldn't stand to see you treated like that!" Cover Girl said. "Let's just say…My mother was a bit too obsessed with my looks too."

"But…" Lina looked at her. "You're human. You're pretty."

"Well not always pretty enough," Cover Girl grumbled. "The point is she was wrong. And so are your parents."

"I don't wanna be a weapon," Lina sniffed.

"You're not gonna be a weapon," Cover Girl told her. "I promise. I'm not going to let anybody hurt you ever again. I promise."

Next: As Lina heals, Angelica starts her training off with a bang. And you know that's a pretty accurate statement.