Leigh's Fanfiction Archive Stormkeeper's Fanfiction Freedom Chapter 24
Freedom
By Stormkeeper
Chapter 24
Storm's bridge duty shift was finished up in the early hours of the morning. Usually when she drew this unlucky shift, she was fatigued and eager to catch up on sleep. Even a Weather Witch gets tired at times,' she told herself. However, today she felt only numb.
As Storm pressed the buttons on the replicator, she couldn't quite believe what her fingers were doing. Bobby had the right idea a few days ago,' she thought. A Wind Goddess is allowed a little lapse, too.' Storm carried her alcohol back to her room and drank. Soon the idea of an even bigger lapse took hold.
Hector Rendoza glanced at the digital clock in his room. It was early in the morning but time for him to rise from bed and prepare for a Danger Room session. Hector preferred to get in some private training during obscure hours so that fewer of his teammates could witness his fumbling in the Danger Room. (Not that everyone didn't give him leeway for being new---they were indeed very patient. But still.) At this hour, probably Nightcrawler would be the only X-man in the Danger Room, and the elfin monk was so gentle and kind, Hector did not dread embarrassing himself in front of Kurt. So Wraith rose from the bed, showered, and shaved.
As he was rinsing his face of the remaining shaving cream, he heard a knock on his door. This was surprising. He couldn't ever remember anyone knocking on his door. No----it had happened once before. Jubilee had asked him to keep an eye on Aurora for a bit. This was awfully early in the morning for Jubilee to be again requesting babysitting favors though. Jubilee was not much of a morning person.
Hector threw on his hooded bathrobe and pressed the button to open the door as he pulled the hood to cover most of his face. Standing before him was Storm.
"May I come in?" she asked.
Hector blinked. Storm stood before him like the goddess that some An'zhinians whispered she was. Her wild hair framed her face and cascaded down to her shoulders. Her voice was husky, and her exquisitely beautiful features looked determined. The eyes blazed like some unstoppable force of nature. She was clad in a white, silky bathrobe. "O-of course," Hector stuttered, backing up.
Storm strode into the room as if she owned it and sat on the bed, reclining against the bedboard.
Well, I have to be dreaming,' Wraith thought. That's all there is to it.'
"C-can I help you with something, Storm?" he managed.
"Yes, Hector, you can. Why don't you come here and sit beside me?" Storm's robe was slightly open; tantalizing glimpses of her body peeked out from the material.
After hesitating for a split-second, the young man did as told. Storm was his superior and Wraith had a reputation for following orders. He sat next to Storm, not looking at her but feeling the heat of her body next to his. She reached an arm around and encircled Hector's waist. "Perhaps you can keep me company for a while," Storm whispered.
Hector was simultaneously excited and scared, though his overwhelming sensation was one of disbelief. "Uh….Storm? Is everything okay? I mean------"
With that, Storm reached for his chin and turned his face towards herself. She brought her mouth down on his. From that point onwards, Storm used her body language to communicate to Wraith what she wanted. She reached for one of his hands and brought it to an ample breast, cupping it. Her nipple was erect.
Wraith didn't ever seriously consider putting a stop to what he knew was happening. When his mutation had manifested itself two years ago at age sixteen, he had assumed then that he would remain a virgin his entire life. Even mutant women turned their heads away from him. And yet here was Storm….wanting and insisting. He noted the alcohol on her breath but that did not deter him. She actually wanted him, and he was not about to put a halt to it. Whether Storm was drunk or not didn't matter----Hector might never experience this again in his life. And the fact that he was eighteen meant he did not exactly measure and weigh the consequences of each action with too much gravity either.
So the two coupled together that morning. Hector was clumsy and inexperienced, climaxing far too early but his youth allowed him to rise again to the occasion soon. When sated, Storm kissed him again and left the room.
Hector sat back against the bedboards, again musing that he must have dreamed the whole thing.
"All X-men, please report to Meeting Room 1. This is not an emergency, but I request your presence right away for an important meeting."
Jean Grey's voice over the intercom woke Wolverine from his fitful slumber. He trudged from the bed to the shower, knowing what would be discussed at the meeting. The FOH vote would have occurred by now. From what Betsy had told him last night, she and Jean had succeeded in their mission. Besides, if they had failed, Jean would not have used words such as "not an emergency" or "request." As Wolverine soaped up, he knew that he felt no joy over the results of the mission. The encounter with Storm ate away at his adamantium bones, the regret poured down onto him with the shower water.
Storm's a proud woman. She's gonna be so mad.'
Wolverine donned his uniform and then headed down the hall to Meeting Room 1, the largest conference room on board Freedom. When the team was assembled, Jean began to speak. "I have good news," she said. "Psylocke and I have succeeded. FOH cast their votes and overwhelmingly voted against using the virus. But that's not all. Betsy and I also managed to 'convince' them to destroy the virus---safely, of course. And destroy all the files and research that led to its creation."
Assorted cheers and pats on the back for Jean were exchanged around the table. Wolverine sat quietly. We're cheerin' the fact that the bastards who run the planet decided not to wipe us all out. Lucky us. We get the privilege of gettin' to remain their slaves inside the concentration camps.' The mood in the room was an odd mixture of some relief, some jubilation, and some general sadness still.
Wolverine noticed that Storm sat out of his direct line of sight, which was fortunate. He didn't want to meet her eyes just now. He dreaded the explaining that awaited him.
"So where do we go from here?" Rogue then asked, once Jean had been sufficiently congratulated by everyone.
Jean managed a smile, "Well, the first thing is that I really do need some rest." Wolverine noted that her voice was slow; each word seemed heavy and labored on her lips. But she still managed to put sentences together well. "My mind needs some dedicated time to drift and think about nothing. I plan on soaking in a hot bath with candles and trying to clear my mind," she said with a smile. "But as soon as I'm ready, we can go back to the mission we came here for. To really change their minds about mutants, get them to see us as human, release mutants from those camps, etc. It's a tall order and there's a lot to be done."
"Maybe we can ask Psylocke to help with that as well," Cyclops said.
"It couldn't hurt."
The doors to the conference room slide aside and Hector entered. The young X-man was late, and the others quickly caught him up to speed on what he'd missed. Hector took the only empty seat, one next to Wolverine, muttering apologies for his tardiness.
Hector carried an unmistakable whiff with him, one which Wolverine used to smell on himself all the time. With growing shock, Wolverine sniffed Hector a few times.
Storm! He slept with Storm!'
Disbelief clouded Wolverine's mind and he did not attempt to hide his shock and confusion. He never would have imagined Storm initiating something like this. Never. He pointedly sniffed the air again. Storm was not sitting anywhere near him but he was able to pick up her scent. Alcohol. Lots of alcohol. And, of course, Hector's scent.
As the meeting continued onwards, Wolverine's thoughts were flying at the speed of the mightiest winds Storm might conjure. Storm ain't a big drinker,' he thought. Oh, back at the mansion she'd occasionally drink wine with dinner or other alcohol if they went out and celebrated, but in general booze was not part of her diet. But he could now smell that she'd drank quite a bit of it last night. Of course. She's bothered 'bout what I did.' His thoughts continued to whirl. Why the heck would she care so much what I did last night? We ended whatever it was we had. She ended it….'
But he did remember Storm's offer---- should it not work out with Sara, Storm had said she was not too proud to ask that he return to her. He never had returned. She had swallowed her pride by making that offer, but his own pride had forbidden him from taking her up on it.
I was too damn proud. Didn't want another rejection---had enough of those in my life.'
And then his thoughts reached the unmistakable conclusion. Was Storm jealous?
How much does she care bout me?' The ideas continued to swirl around his head. Maybe more than I ever realized.'
So what the hell do I do next?'
As soon as the meeting was concluded, Nightcrawler headed straight for Jean Grey. "You look so tired, Jean," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Is there anything I can do to help you rest? I would be glad to look after the children at any time, if you need it, or bring meals to your room if that might help."
Jean abruptly shook Kurt's hand off her shoulder. Pathetic ugly creature---don't touch me!' Upon hearing her own thoughts cutting through her head, Jean gasped in shock.
Kurt stared back at her, feeling only concern and surprise at the gasp and how brusquely she'd removed his hand. "Jean?" he softly asked. "Are you alright?"
"I---I'm sorry, Kurt," she said, groping her for words. Her mind indeed was tired. She mustered control of it and reached to hug Kurt. "I truly am overtired and I thank you for your offer of help. I'm sure Scott would appreciate some help with babysitting. I think for now I just need to get some peace and quiet."
When Jean had retired to her room and was basking in that bubble bath she'd promised herself, she began to reflect. I've had some terrifying thoughts,' she realized as the hot water coddled her tired muscles. Like when she'd looked at Kurt and thought those terrible things. Or earlier, during the meeting, Storm had made a comment that struck her the wrong way and Jean had found herself wanting to say, Shut up bitch.' Truly appalling words, for a kind woman who was one of her best friends ever!
I've been in too many FOH officials' minds,' Jean realized. Too much time interacting with these people who hate everyone who's different or who doesn't conform, and who hate and fear women leaders.' The FOH members' attitudes had infected her like a virus. Jean had even snapped at Christopher over nothing the other day. She shook her head. And it wasn't going to get any easier; she had a lot of work to do with the FOH leaders once she'd rested and felt ready to resume.
Jean took a deep breath, enjoying the warm water and the glowing candlelight in the small bathroom. She prayed for strength and guidance.
Later on that day, Cyclops led Mark to the engineering room. "Thanks for offering to help us test the dilithium," Cyclops was saying. The X-men ran diagnostics on this vital material every ten weeks, and it was due for a test again now.
"No prob at all," Mark said, glad to have something to do. He was still immensely relieved from the meeting earlier in the day. He could hardly imagine it if his former FOH higher-ups had gone through with their genocidal plan. "Any way I can help."
"You know how to do this, right?"
"Yeah. Nightcrawler showed me a few days after we left An'zhina, and he showed me where on the system the written instructions are too. He said it should take three to five hours."
Cyclops left engineering and Mark began his work.
A couple hours after the meeting, Wolverine finished up a particularly intense session in the Danger Room. After such a session, dueling Apocalypse for hours, a normal man would have been left with aching muscles and pounded bones, but for Wolverine it was simply another day at the office. Drenched with sweat, he made his way to the locker room for a shower. The drab walls, gray lockers, and faintly lingering scents never failed to trigger something in his memory, but he could never call up more than a hazy image or two. As he usually did, he shook the long-buried memory-fragment out of his mind. Those fragments never led anywhere, never presented themselves as anything more than a tantalizing morsel he could never sink his teeth into.
As he pulled on his clothing, he knew it was time to talk with Storm. Their relationship (whether it ultimately took the form of friendship or something more) was going to suffer, and perhaps never recover, if they didn't speak. He had to do it. He feared this more than he feared any battle with Apocalypse, but it was worth it if things with Storm could be repaired.
Wolverine walked down the halls towards the personnel quarters. He figured she would be in her room, as the rec room was usually bursting with activity and he knew she was not feeling sociable today.
Suddenly, a great force grabbed Wolverine by the shoulders and slammed him against a wall.
"I wanna talk to you, Mister!" Rogue said, her eyes blazing with fury.
Wolverine silently cursed himself. How could he not have sensed her approach? You're slippin' old man,' he heard Sabertooth taunt him. Sabertooth, killed years ago by FOH, still managed to rear his stinking presence into Wolverine's mind at odd times. Usually angry times.
"What the hell you think you're doing??" Wolverine barked back.
"I wanna have a word with you and the sweet approach don't seem to be workin'!" As they were standing near Rogue and Gambit's room, Rogue stepped towards the door so it slid aside. "Mind comin' in, sugar?" she asked, her voice conveying none of sweetness it often did.
Angry as he was at her approach, Wolverine didn't object. In a way, he wanted to delay the confrontation with Storm. And partly he wanted to know what had brought on this maelstrom from Rogue. He knew Storm was friends with her, but he doubted that she would've divulged the events of last night to Rogue. He knew that she didn't like to confide in anyone, even her closest friends. But I smelt booze on her,' he recalled. She probably ain't usin' her best judgement. Maybe she did talk.'
"You got some explainin' to do, darlin', for grabbin' me like that," Wolverine said, once the two were out of the hall.
"Sugar, you've had some explain' to do for quite a long time now," Rogue replied, matter-of-factly.
So Storm did tell Rogue what had happened! Great. Another thought crept in----maybe Dani Moonstar had spilled the beans instead. Wolverine had been confident that he could trust her, but he'd been wrong about people before. He crossed his arms. "What did she tell you?"
Rogue's eyebrows scrunched together. "Nobody told me nothin'," she said, sounding a bit confused at Wolverine's question. "I been meaning to talk to you 'bout this for months and I keep puttin' it off for the sake of Storm's pride. But I gotta say something now! I never seen her lookin' so depressed as she did in the meetin' this mornin'! You ever gonna get a conscience or get a clue and realize what you got, right there under your nose??"
Wolverine believed Rogue when she said that no one told her anything. He often could sniff out a lie, just from a small hint of fear the liar usually exuded. And he knew Rogue well enough after all these years to sense that she had no idea about what had transpired last night; her confusion over his comment had been genuine. His relief slightly mollified his ire. "You got no business tellin' me what to do 'bout my personal life, lady!"
"Sure I do!" Rogue's voice then cracked, taking on a more compassionate tone. "I'm sick of seein' two of my friends miserable all the time. Logan, for God's sake, you know she loves you. And I think you love her but you're too much of a blasted fool to realize it! You ain't gonna live happily ever after with Sara Grey or her sister, and you know it damn well." Her voice then changed to reflect her fury again. "What the hell is keepin' you from her, then? You like bein' miserable??"
Wolverine had had enough of this. He'd given her a chance to speak her peace but now was tired of being yelled at. He turned and walked out of the room.
Rogue yelled something back at him, but he didn't listen. Nothing was about to derail him from his destination now.
Wolverine reached Storm's door. Even before he knocked, he could smell that she was inside the room. "Who is it?"
"It's Wolverine," he answered. And then he found himself behaving strangely. He gulped. His mouth was uncharacteristically dry.
"Come in."
The door slid aside and he stepped through. "Hi, Storm," he said.
"Hi Logan," she said evenly, no smile on her face. Storm was sitting on the lone chair in her room, reading a book from An'zhina. A small notebook and an uncapped pen sat beside her on the nightstand. Her flute parked inside its open case was displayed on the bed. Her hair was in a ponytail; not a style she wore frequently. Logan moved to stand a respectful distance from her, but she did not rise from the chair in greeting.
"I, uh, I wanted to apologize," he said. "I know that you know what I did last night and I wanted to say I'm sorry."
"You do not owe me an explanation, Logan. Your personal life is of no account to me."
The ice in her voice slapped him. Not that he was surprised at her anger, not at all. But he knew that what she had done with Hector hinted at her feelings for him and that her coolness was only an act. He hated acts. Wolverine knew he had to find a way for them to discuss their true feelings; he had to find a palatable way to talk about their relationship, if there ever was to be one beyond friendship or if their friendship could ever indeed be mended. "I know what you and Hector did," he said bluntly.
Storm raised an eyebrow. "I don't comment on your personal life, and you will receive no explanation regarding mine either." She then paused. "However, I do have some concern that I might have misused my position as one of this group's leaders compared to Hector's youth and newness to the team. Initiating what he and I did was wrong of me. I know that I owe him an apology and I will give him one."
"Let's cut the bullshit, Ororo. You were hurt by what I did---otherwise you wouldn't have gone after Hector."
Storm's eyes flashed but the rest of her body language remained calm as ever. "What do you want from me, Logan?" she asked evenly. "I admit that I was hurt, then. Do you want me to burst into tears and beg you to come back?"
"No!" Wolverine moved closer and dropped to one knee in front of Storm. "I did what I did with Psylocke 'cause I missed you and wanted to be with you."
This time, Storm let some of her anger out from under wraps. "All you had to do was knock on my door and ask! You've had so many weeks now since Sara said she wasn't interested. Why did you not just come and talk to me?" As she asked the question, she saw the anguish on his face. But she was determined to hold her ground. At this point, she wasn't certain if anything he said or did would make her want to resume whatever it was they had before.
"I'm an idiot. That's why."
Storm nodded. "That I can believe."
"Look, Storm, I---I said I'm sorry. I don't apologize much and I meant it. " Suddenly, Wolverine got a flash of an insight. He wanted to be with Storm! He wanted to be with her, wanted to be her man. They might never have the syrupy, soulmate type of love that other couples had, but he realized in that instant all he had been missing since they split. The constant craving he'd had since their break-up, and it had been much more than physical. It was her that he'd missed. Only his stubbornness and fear of getting hurt again held him back. Then an emotion took hold inside his mind, one which he didn't express lightly. He didn't even like to admit that he felt it but he suddenly knew it was true. His voice took on a momentous quality that Storm picked up on. "An' I also wanted to say that I want you back because….because I lo-----"
Wolverine's declaration of love was cut short by the red alert siren. Hank's voice boomed over the intercom. "Everyone to the bridge immediately!"
Storm and Wolverine looked at each other, eyes wide. The red alert alarm did not sound every day, and it was blaring loudly as all the lights flashed. Storm sprang to her feet. "Come on!"
I'd been sitting in the rec room, playing a game with little Aurora and Charlotte. Jeanne-Marie, Jubilee, and Moonstar had been with me as we read to, sang to, and cavorted about on our knees with the two girls. When the alarm went off, we scooped up the girls and ran to the bridge.
"What do you mean we lost all the dilithium?!" Cyclops was yelling when I reached the bridge. He held his son in his arms, and Christopher was soon crying at all the pandemonium or at seeing his father so upset. Virtually everyone except Mark had reported to the overcrowded bridge and seeing us all crammed in the room together probably didn't help the baby's mood either.
"Mark was alone in engineering!" Rogue said.
I then heard Mark over the intercom. He sounded scared shitless. "It was my fault. I was performing the diagnostic on the dilithium and I pressed a few wrong buttons and…."
"What's going on?" Jeanne-Marie asked, having entered the bridge at the same time as I, amidst all this chaos. "Do you mean to say we've lost all our dilithium??"
"There's been an explosion in engineering. Seems our former FOH soldier accidentally' caused it when he was cleanin' the engines!" Rogue exclaimed. "All our dilithium went up in the explosion."
Storm and Wolverine had arrived at about the same time we did. "An explosion of the dilithium?" Storm repeated. "I assume the explosion is now contained and not at risk of spreading?"
"That's correct," Cyclops said.
"I'm gonna git to engineering and kick some FOH ass----" Rogue began, turning towards the door. But Jean Grey put a had on Rogue's arm.
"Rogue, it was an accident," Jean said, firmly. "I can sense Mark's mind. Cleaning the engines is a delicate process and it was an honest mistake. Any of us could've done it."
Rogue said something in reply, and simultaneously Hank asked whether Mark was hurt, but also at the same time Cyclops said, "Enough talk about assigning blame. We need to figure out what to do now."
As Storm went to a console and started pressing some buttons, she spoke, "We must have our emergency supply of dilithium left. Otherwise we wouldn't even be able to stand here and talk. Our life support is still working."
"Yeah," Cyclops said. "I checked it. Our emergency supply of dilithium is all that's left. We have enough left for about six days if we were to turn the warp drive back on. If we keep drifting like this, we have enough in the emergency supplies left for quite some time, though we can't go anywhere without the warp drive."
We then began shutting down absolutely everything that wasn't necessary. We'd already been very good about conserving, though, so there wasn't much left to shut down. We did close off the gym and the Danger Room, and we dropped the ship temperature several degrees (which didn't bother me at all but caused everyone else to wrap their arms around themselves or locate jackets. I stepped a bit closer to Jean-Paul and put an arm around him, in an attempt to help warm him up. He gave me a smile of gratitude.)
Cyclops and Storm were then sitting at the computer stations, scanning the area for any dilithium supplies within a six day radius. Like Cyke said, we only had enough dilithium left for about six days at warp. So this was a pretty serious emergency. And Cyclops and Storm weren't having much luck finding any dilithium that we could reach.
"There's one source of dilithium our scanners won't detect," Jean Grey said. "Psylocke and Marrow's cloaked shuttle. Wherever it is, they're still within telepathic range----I can sense them. Maybe they have some dilithium to spare."
And although the group consensus was that we wanted to beg from them only as a last resort, our scans found no other source of dilithium within that radius. (Which didn't really surprise me. I remember when we X-men first got control of this ship we spent a long time searching for dilithium. The likelihood of there being a supply anywhere we could reach within six days was as slim as Scott's nickname.)
Of course, we were close to earth and some dilithium existed on our home planet too, but it was all so heavily guarded by FOH, the risk of attempting to seize some could not be justified despite our pride protesting the idea of making a request from Psylocke and Marrow. We had all agreed that this would be a low-risk mission----we had the children on board----and were not about to drop our shields and attempt to steal any from earth. We all remembered what happened during our last mission to earth.
So our options had narrowed down to one and that was that. We had to swallow our pride and ask Psylocke and Marrow to give us dilithium. Case closed. All eyes on the bridge turned to Jean.
Jean closed her eyes and kept them closed for what seemed like quite a long time. Her discussion with Psylocke took several minutes.
"They want a few of us to beam to their vessel and discuss it," Jean finally said. "They say that they want to 'negotiate.' I sensed that they would be open to giving us some dilithium. But they are certainly not going to give us an easy time of it."
"Well, let's get ready," Cyclops began directing. "Storm, you and I will beam over-----"
"Scott," Jean interrupted, "Psylocke was very specific in who she wanted to negotiate with. She specifically requested only two people: Storm…and Dani Moonstar."
We all turned our heads to Dani. It made sense for them to request Storm; she was one of the leaders. But why Moonstar? "Me?" Dani asked. "Why would they want me to come along?"
"Maybe dey want the two of you to entertain dem wit' a song," Gambit joked.
"I'll go get my flute," Storm quipped, giving it right back to Gambit.
Jean finished writing down the coordinates on a piece of paper. "This is where they want you to beam to."
"Let's get ready," Storm said. "Come, Dani, to transporter room three."
"What about Mark?" Cannonball asked. "What do we do with him in the meantime?
"I say at the very least we confine him to quarters," Rogue said. "He's a threat."
"I agree for now," Cyclops said. "I believe that what he did was unintentional, but unintentional or not, his incompetence is a threat to us. For the time being, let's ask him to remain in his quarters."
There was no debate over that; there simply was no time. We'd deal with Mark later.
Storm and Marrow walked down the corridor towards the nearest transporter room. They decided to transport from there; doing so would require less dilithium than beaming them from the bridge to the other vessel.
"I still don't understand why they might want me to beam over," Moonstar was saying as she and Storm walked at a swift pace.
"I do not know," Storm said. "I am certain that they have no harmful intent; otherwise Jean would have alerted us." She paused as the two women reached the transporter room. "But Marrow is a lesbian. Perhaps she's interested in getting to meet you because of that."
Moonstar's interest was piqued. "But how would she know that I'm one too….oh. Probably Psylocke knows everything."
"Being a telepath gives one access to quite a bit of information. And Psylocke does not always use her powers ethically. She used to, years ago, when she was an X-man. But no longer."
"Well, Storm, whatever they want with me, you know I don't have much experience negotiating."
Storm smiled a reassuring smile at the young Moonstar. She usually displayed such uncanny confidence for her age, it was almost reassuring to witness some nervousness. "Do not worry. I will be glad to take the lead in these discussions."
Moonstar returned the smile, looking a bit relieved.
The two women then stepped onto the transporter pad. Storm's mind was a whirlwind of thoughts too. Had they summoned her because they preferred to deal with a female leader….or did Betsy merely want to gloat at her triumph last night? But more importantly, what was it that Wolverine had been about to say when the red alert sounded? Storm's mind thought it had heard one thing but her rational mind could not believe it, and part of her told her inner voice to quit dreaming. She debated with herself what it was that she missed and had such a longing to be able to get back with him in private.
'But even if he'd been about to say what I once hoped and dreamed he'd say….do I want him back now?' she asked herself.
These thoughts will have to wait,' she thought. Duty first.'
The two X-men materialized on the bridge of the ship Vengeance. Seated before them in the captain's and first officer's chair were Psylocke and Marrow. Two other women stood on the bridge.
"Greetings, Storm and Moonstar. I'm Psylocke and this is Marrow," Betsy said, directing herself to Moonstar as Dani had never met either of the two. Betsy then tilted her head towards the two other women. "This is Roula and Thyme." Roula was quite beautiful and appeared to be of Middle Eastern decent. She had striking features and lush, thick black hair spilling down over her shoulders. Thyme was white and equally beautiful, with wide eyes, a prim little nose, tiny mouth, and small, dainty hands. Both, however, looked to be holding back the ferocity that Marrow and Psylocke could display. Storm assumed both women were mutants but neither had an obvious mutation. She wondered where they came from and how they ended up on Psylocke and Marrow's ship.
"Please take a seat," Marrow said, sounding uncharacteristically accommodating and professional. She gestured to some empty seats.
Storm surveyed the spacious bridge. It was quite a bit larger than the one on Freedom. "Lovely starship you have here," she said, as she settled into a chair next to Moonstar.
"We liberated it from FOH," Marrow said. "We've renamed it Vengeance. The shuttle was getting too cramped."
"We also liberated Roula and Thyme from FOH too," Betsy said. "They and nine other women were brought with the crew of this ship for their 'entertainment' during their mission. The other nine women decided to board a shuttle bound for An'zhina and that's where they're heading right now. Thyme and Roula decided to come with us."
It made sense then, that Roula and Thyme looked so "normal." Of course FOH would select two very normal looking women, rather those with obvious mutations like Morlocks, to "accompany" them on their trip.
"Thank you for helping with the mission," Storm said. "Because of you and Jean combining your efforts, FOH's last disastrous plan was thwarted. We make a good team."
Marrow was unimpressed by Storm's attempt at opening on a positive note with aspirations of teamwork. "So I understand you've had some problems in engineering," Marrow said, cutting to the chase.
Storm looked at Marrow's face. Marrow had a slight smile, resembling a contented cat. Her posture suggested confidence, both feet firmly on the floor. Storm remembered back to when Marrow had first joined the crew of Freedom and later began training as an X-man. Such a strong, bold warrior, but so angry too. Storm knew that she herself was one of the few Marrow had respected. Perhaps that was why Storm had been requested. "Yes," Storm said. "We've come seeking your help. We have only our emergency supply of dilithium left now. It is enough to last us approximately six days at warp speed." Storm paused. "Unfortunately, the only dilithium supply within six days is located on earth and heavily guarded by FOH."
"Except for ours," Psylocke finished.
Storm's facial features belied none of her irritation. Why was Psylocke re-stating the obvious, what everyone already knew? How that woman loved to gloat! "Yes," Storm said. "Except for yours. So we X-men contacted you asking for your help. We're asking you to lend us enough dilithium to get us back to the moon we discovered a few years ago, the moon that contains unlimited dilithium." Storm referenced the uninhabited moon that the X-men encountered soon after they had left the Paradise Planet, before they'd encountered the Endarians. They had taken their fill of dilithium, gaining enough of the substance to power the ship for years.
"We ran a quick analysis and it shouldn't take a lot of your dilithium to get us there," Dani said, eager to contribute something. "We're about four weeks away from that moon, if we could go at warp five."
"Well, I gotta say you X-men have nerve," Marrow said, looking none too pleased. "If we gave it to you, it would be the second time we're saving your asses. We already pulled you out of that FOH camp on earth---and you repaid us by kidnapping us! Forcing us aboard your ship to hear a lecture from Xavier. You already owe us big time and I'd say by now you owe us even more. So what are you going to give us in exchange?" Marrow asked, her eyes staring down Storm, completely unintimidated by the Wind Rider.
"Marrow, I am sorry, but we do not have much to give you in return," Storm said, keeping her aggravation out of her voice. "We can give you our assurance that once we replenish our dilithium supplies, we will resume our work of attempting to improve life on earth for mutants---and for everyone."
"Not good enough," Psylocke said flatly. She and Marrow had a massive supply of dilithium and both women quite enjoyed being in this position.
Upon seeing that neither Psylocke nor Marrow would be forthcoming, Storm was then forced to ask, dreading the answer, "What is it that you would like of us?"
"I got an idea," Marrow said. It was obvious, though, that she had not simply dreamt this idea up on the spur of the moment. "How about we sign an agreement? You X-men vow never to interfere with us again. Never to kidnap us again and stay the hell out of our way."
"The X-men are fairly honorable," Psylocke said. "They should stick to any accord they sign." She paused, "But then again, they beamed us aboard their ship against our will, making themselves nearly as bad as FOH."
"Psylocke, please," Storm said softly, "I do not think that comparison is justified. We merely wanted to talk with you. When we could not reach an agreement, we let you go. Unharmed."
"Whatever."
"Any agreement that we sign, we shall be faithful to," Storm insisted. "We X-men do not break our word."
"What do you think?" Marrow asked. "Is it a deal?"
"I cannot make the decision myself, but I shall discuss it with the others," Storm replied. "I think they are likely to assent to it."
"They don't got much choice," Marrow added smugly.
Psylocke and Marrow both now appeared appeased. Storm was actually relieved. For a moment, she'd had a flash of fear that Psylocke was going to request something ridiculous----such as requesting that Wolverine join them permanently.
"Just one more thing," Marrow began. For a second, Storm's heart sank until she realized that Marrow was solely addressing Dani. "I want to talk to you for a minute. Alone."
Moonstar nodded. "Fine with me." Her voice did not belie her unease. She doubted that Marrow would harm her, but who really knew what this woman was capable of? She'd supposedly tortured and killed dozens of FOH soldiers with glee. And the most frequent adjective other X-men had used with Dani to describe Marrow was "fierce." Marrow's appearance---the cropped hair, sharp bones jutting from various places on her body, cold eyes that stared---didn't exactly radiate tenderness.
It was then decided that Storm would return to Freedom to discuss the proposal while Dani remained on Vengeance to fulfill Marrow's request and meet with her.
As Storm prepared to signal Freedom to beam her back over, Psylocke spoke. "So tell me, Storm," she began. "Do you enjoy being an X-man? Do you enjoy the missions your group has been on for the last few years?"
Storm was perplexed at what Psylocke might be diving for. "Yes, of course I do. Being an X-man is my life." She paused. "What about you, Betsy? Are you happy with the change you have made?"
"Getting vengeance is my life," she replied, using the same tone Storm had used to discuss being an X-man.
Moments after Storm and Moonstar had beamed over to Vengeance, Cyclops arrived in engineering to seize Mark. Hank was already there with the former FOH soldier.
"I swear it was a mistake," a petrified Mark said as soon as he saw Cyclops.
"I believe you, Mark," Cyclops said, kindness in his voice. "I really do. But for the good of the ship, it is best if you're confined to your quarters at least for the time being. We need to gain control of the situation. And you could be more of a threat to the ship if you cause another accident like this one." He gestured towards the doorway. "Come on."
Cyclops led a compliant Mark to his room, Hank in tow. "Do not worry, Mark," Hank said. "You will be unharmed. I'm sure most of the crew understands that it was an honest mistake."
"I feel like such an idiot," Mark said. "I can't believe I made this mistake. I'm really, really sorry." Despite reassuring words from Hank, Mark feared for himself now. He truly had made a mistake, but such a disastrous one. What if there were those who didn't believe him? What if Rogue or Wolverine got their hands on him?
Cyclops had mixed feelings as the procession made its way to Mark's room. He disliked the idea of confining Mark to quarters as if he were some criminal. But the safety of the ship's inhabitants must come first,' he thought. My Jeannie and our kids are with us. We can't have Mark causing another accident. The current situation is bad enough.'
"We will bring meals to you at the regular times," Hank said, once they'd entered Mark's room. "Are you hungry now?"
"No." Mark's mouth and throat were dry as dust. Fortunately he spotted his water bottle sitting on the dresser and the tap water from his washroom sink was as good as any of the water here.
"And you'll still have your communicator," Cyclops said. "Call any one of us if you need anything. As soon as we get the situation under control, we'll discuss what to do about your….accident."
As the two X-men turned to leave, Mark oddly found himself thanking them. The whole incident could have been much worse. But he still felt like a complete fool.
"Come with me, Dani," Marrow said, gesturing for her to follow. Storm had beamed off of Vengeance seconds ago.
Moonstar followed Marrow's strides down a corridor. Although a larger ship, Vengeance felt similar to Freedom---metallic walls with the persistent hum of the engines in the background. Being cooped up inside a starship was not easy for her; Dani loved and sorely missed the outdoors. She anticipated the day when she could sit outside, feeling sun on her back or wind rustling through her hair as she played her flute.
Marrow stopped outside of a door and opened it. Dani looked over the shoulder of the shorter women. They were entering a small conference room.
"Have a seat, Dani," Marrow gestured. She was trying to suppress a grin. Psylocke---weary of the subtle advances Marrow had been making on her for the past few weeks---had told Marrow that the X-men had a new member who was a lesbian. Marrow rarely got excited over anything these days except killing FOH soldiers. But she was now feeling a glint of excitement, like a child being presented with birthday gifts. However, once the two women were sitting opposite each other, Marrow's glee evaporated as she realized she had no idea what to say. She'd never been blessed with ease of verbal communication, despite the posturing she and Psylocke had just completed with Storm moments ago. It might've come naturally for Psylocke but it had all been an act for Marrow, and now that she wanted to really talk with someone, the words she wanted were stuck in her throat like a glob of peanut butter.
A few awkward moments of silence passed. Moonstar, who liked to speak and felt generally comfortable doing so, decided to talk first, "Is Marrow your real name?" she asked. Dani felt anything was preferable to sitting around uncomfortably staring at each other.
Marrow shook her head. "It's Sarah." Marrow then stumbled over several different openings until she blurted out what she wanted to know. "Tell me about yourself. I want to know your background, where you're from."
Moonstar began to speak. She'd told most of the X-men her story when they'd asked, so the well-worn narrative flowed naturally. "I was born and raised on a Navajo reservation in Arizona. My ancestors are mostly Navajo but I have some white ancestors too. We were very poor, but we got by. When I was fourteen I joined this youth group that one woman on the reservation started. It really changed my life. We tutored kids to stay in school, we did things like building roads and cleaning up streams, and we held ceremonies that honored our traditions---what we knew of them, anyway. Later on, we did things like petitioning lenders to make loans to Native American small businesses. We also made presentations to adults about things like alcoholism and AIDS----they were both big problems on our reservation. My parents and one of my brothers died of alcohol-related problems. When my parents died, we went to live with my Grandmother.
"I was always interested in music so I sang and played all over the reservation," she continued. "I'm mostly self-taught though there was this cool guy who helped me learn the flute. When I was seventeen, I came out as a lesbian. Everyone was very accepting of it----even Grandma. My mutant powers started showing up around that time too. Most people were pretty accepting of that too, though I didn't know what to do with them or how to control them and that freaked a few people out. But still no one really treated us any differently. Anyway, when I was 21, FOH swept through the reservation and they found me and brought me to a camp. I was only there for a few weeks when the X-men rescued us.
"I liked the idea of joining the X-men since I couldn't really go back home, though someday I want to. Back on the reservation, I have one brother still alive, he's probably got kids of his own by now, and hopefully my Grandma is still alive too. And several cousins. So I hope I can go back someday. But in the meantime I want to stay working with the X-men, since they've been so great to me."
Moonstar then paused. "Well, that's my story, pretty much. Why do you ask?"
Dani had been told she could be very charming and she knew it was having an effect on the other woman. Marrow was flustered. She wished she could again display the bravado she and Betsy had during the negotiations moments ago. "I just wanted to get to know you," Marrow finally said. "I don't often get to meet another mutant who's also a dyke."
"Yeah, same here. I don't really know of any others. Well, Rogue told me about her foster Moms, you know--- Mystique and Destiny. Though Mystique was probably bi. They're both dead now anyway." Dani was aware that she might sound as if rambling, but she was uncertain what else to say. She also observed the chinks in Marrow's armor. The sharp-featured woman was not as invincible as she had looked when Dani was first beamed to the bridge.
Awkward silence descended again. Moonstar was letting Marrow decide next where the conversation might go. She was the one who'd called this meeting anyway.
"Maybe you should join us," Marrow said.
"You mean you and Psylocke and those other two women? Hey, do you have a name that you call your group, anyway?" Moonstar kept her voice sounding lighthearted.
"No," Marrow said. She hadn't thought of that before. "But, what do you think of my offer?"
"Well, what does your group do? From what I've heard, you track down FOH soldiers and you torture and kill them. And steal dilithium and whatever else you can from them."
>"Yeah, that's pretty much it. And we rape them too, before we kill them, so we really get revenge. We use whatever sticks and stuff we have around. Sometimes I have bones that are big enough to do the job too."
Moonstar nodded. She could not believe how casually Marrow said those words. The woman looking at her might as well have been made out of stone. Moonstar found herself feeling some revulsion. "No, I'm not about that at all," Dani said. "I believe in what the X-men do. I want peace and harmony between mutants and normal humans. And if we can't get that, then I at least want mutants to be left alone and not harmed. But I can't get into killing and torturing, no matter how evil the actions of those soldiers were. Are," she corrected herself to using present tense. "Besides, I think violence always comes back to the one who commits it."
"You want to stay with us a while? Just see if you like it?"
"No thanks," Dani said flatly. There was another awkward pause. Dani had been hoping, for years now, to meet another mutant who was a lesbian. She had no idea that the momentous first meeting would fizzle out as badly as this one was. "Do you ever think of returning to the X-men?" she then asked. "Storm and Wolverine both told me you were a great fighter."
"No way," Marrow said. "I think the X-men are a bunch of fucking hypocrites. They say we're evil and bad for getting revenge on FOH, but ask them what they did to the FOH soldiers who raped the women in the X-men. They killed em. And you can bet that they tortured em beforehand. So, the X-men say that's okay, but it's not alright for anyone else to do the exact same thing."
Moonstar now truly had no idea what to say, except that she wanted to get out of this room, away from this spiky, violent woman and back to her own people. She then groped for something diplomatic to say, something that might fall from her idol Storm's lips. "I see that we have very different philosophies," she said. "Maybe we won't ever agree on this. But anyway, I bet the X-men are eager for me to get back to Freedom soon. You mind if I beam back now?" she tried to keep it sounding casual and not like a plea. Dani suddenly feared that Marrow would attempt to restrain her, to force her to stay with them. What if that was Marrow's plan---to pin her down and warp their ship away, leaving Dani a prisoner? The other X-men will come for me,' Dani thought, her mind running wild. They'll try to find me. But it's hard to track a cloaked ship that has a powerful telepath on board, and….'
Marrow's eyes were darting around the room before they settled on Moonstar again. "What about just staying with me for a few hours? We, uh, could go to my room and—um, you know…."
Moonstar's fears suddenly evaporated; Marrow was so ridiculous. Moonstar bit her tongue to keep from giggling. Marrow was trying to come on to her! What made it even more clumsy was the fact that Marrow was the antithesis of suave; she apparently didn't have much experience with romance at all. But Marrow's grating personality aside, Moonstar simply felt no attraction to this woman at all. She had no desire to even touch this woman, let alone go to bed with her.
The woman she really wanted was back on Freedom.
"Um, no thanks, Marrow," Dani said. "I'd really like to return to Freedom now, if you don't mind."
Marrow then simply rose from her seat and led Dani back to the bridge. The expression on her face had reverted to its normal one of detachment and disdain. Dani thought she also detected a hint of embarrassment on Marrow's face too but she knew she might be projecting.
Marrow did say something before she beamed Dani back to Freedom. "I like the name The Pirates. Maybe that's what we'll call ourselves. Thanks for the idea."
Chapter 23
Chapter 25