"Logan, mon ami, why y'keep watching dat monitor?" Remy Lebeau or Gambit to his deceased teammates and those who didn't know him well. His red on black gaze focused on the monitor in front of him. It resembled a large television with diffrent colored, shaded shapes on it. One color was plant life. Another human life-none at the moment. One of metal. One for anything else, including machines.
Logan shrugged. "Waiting for someone to deliver the kids in body bags?"he replied with the barest hint of sarcasm. His voice was almost serious.
"Do y'really have so little faith in de chil'ren, mon ami?"
"Less, Cajun, a lot less." He changed the view without looking away from the screen. His attention held to the shifting shadows of trees and growth. "They scewed up a grade A mission, nearly killing themselves."
"Dey be young, Logan. What was y'first mission like?" Remy shuffled a deck of cards, stopping at random intervals to tap one against the desktop.
Logan glowered at him. "That's not your business, Cajun. And you have faith in them? I thought you were ashamed of them..."
"Oui. Dat was simple...dis be harder and dey doin' it of dere own will."
"There isn't much of a diffrence. I could care less if they get themselves killed...we found this group. We'll find another group, a better group." He returned to the monitor, ignoring anything further that could be said.
Remy tried.
Remy Lebeau hesitated only a moment then walked out of the control room. His attention went straight to the figure sitting against one wall outside, listening. His head was bowed foreward in a submissive position. His hands both rested on top his head and he mumbld to himself, quietly.
"Dat somet'ing else 'bout dis century? Eve'yone talks to demselves?"he questioned, standing over the boy and looking down.
Corey lifted his head, meeting Remy's gaze head-on. "Sorry things aren't perfect like your time. Was there free candy and happy kids then?"he asked, darkly, glowering up at Remy.
Dese kids be havin' serious attitude problems. If Remy'd spoken that way to his elders he'd been in a swamp'of pain faster then he could think of his brother's name.
"Watch how y'talk to y'elders, Corey. Why didn't y'go wit' de ot'ers?"he asked, leaning against the wall beside the boy. He continued the shuffling of his cards, listening to the low humming sound they made as loose energy passed through them.
Corey laughed. "Why should I save some guy I don't even know? Let them worry with him..."
"Dat's not part of de team. Y'help each ot'er, y'don't abandon one anot'er,"he said as if reading the boy's mind. It wasn't a hard thing judging by his words or the emotions he could feel. His empathy gave him a lot of self hatred and guilt. Anger, too.
"Yeah, right. Let me guess...the X-Men never had problems, right? You guys did everything for one another. No one ever abandoned anyone. That was thirty or forty years ago...things change, Gambit. You either learn to take care of yourself and screw everyone else or you die for someone else that doesn't even care about you." He stood, starting to walk away.
Remy reacted without thinking. He grabbed the boy's collar and slammed him against the wall, holding him there with one arm against his pale throat. "Don't ever say de X-men never abandoned no one. Dey left me in Anarctica because of a sin Remy committed even before he knew de X-men...it was my punishment. It's still my punishment to suffer for lovin' de Untouchable. Dey abandoned each ot'er because dey needed to...y'don't. Dese people care for y'realize what y'have den y'can try and measure up to de X-Men."
Remy Lebeau released him and walked away. His footsteps echoed for a long time. He barely did more then nod to Rogue when he passed her in the hallways. His one goal was the danger room. Old hatred had come up and he wouldn't hurt anyone here or force himself through it again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FLASHBACK
"Tell me when you feel anything, okay, Kellie?"
Fifteen-year-old Kellie Senthesis nodded her head, tightening her hands into fists. Both palms of her hands were bloody and scarred by her own nails. Several of them had broken off and now had embedded themselves into her hands. Her hair was still long and fell to her chin. The dark black color clung damply to her neck. Sweatpants and a tank top clung to her body from sweating.
"Anything at all. Ready?"
She nodded again.
Pain raced through her head then the rest of her. She gasped and fell to her knees, holding her head in both hands. Her hands knotted in the thick hair then lay lifeless and dull once the machine shut off.
For a long time no one moved. Nicolae and his doctor waited for the expriment to finish itself while Kellie continued to face violent shudders. Tears that were a mixture of blood and water fell from her face onto the ground.
"Does that mean you felt something, Kellie?"Nicolae asked, keeping his voice at a conversational tone. His gaze hadn't wavered from her bowed form.
Kellie took a breathe and managed to move back onto her knees but couldn't find the ability to stand. Shudders passed through her body every few moments. Goosebumps clung to her skin and sweat had formed along her forehead.
"Are you up to trying a second experiment?"
Chris spoke instead of the fifteen-year-old. "It's too risky, Nicolae. She's in pain...we'll pick up tomorrow."
He nodded. "Tomorrow."
TOMORROW
"Experiment 781 has proven your theory wrong, Nicolae. She feels things...in conclusion, all mutants have to feel something rather then being emotionless as you defined them. It's just not,"Chris said while reviewing the strands he'd taken from the experiment's drug-enduced sleep.
He clicked several keys then enlarged a strand of DNA.
"What's that?"Nicolae asked.
"A sample of Experiment 781's blood. It was scraped from one of the walls; however, it shows up diffrentely then normal blood."
Nicolae moved to look. "How so?"
"There's a gray tint as if there's something else in it. I've noticed it in a few of the other mutants we have's blood...we haven't figured out what it is except that it holds to them,"Chris explained, turning away from that machine to look in on the room below them. Large plastic glass windows, the cheap kind that wouldn't break, embedded to the room on all sides looked down on a white hospital room.
Experiment 781, previously known as Kellie Senthesis, laid on one of the beds, motionless. A large, white, blood-stained bandage was pressed to one side of her head. A natural contrast with her dark skin. Blood streamed down her arms in long streams, soaking into the white sheet over her almost naked body. The once long hair was now cut short and stringy with sweat and blood that remained.
"Have you tried inserting it into a human?"
"Too dangerous. If the dog couldn't survive with this...mutant DNA there's no way a human can. Dogs have almost perfect immune systems; this thing would kill a human."
"You'll never know until you try, will you?"he demanded then continued before an answer could be formulated. "I want it tested. Now. If you need to take a larger amount of blood...do it."
END FLASHBACK
Kellie Senthesis closed her eyes against the pain that threatened to resurface. Her body felt the pain of four years ago and responded. Tremors ran down her back as she was brought to her knees by pain. Dots of red and black swam before her eyes.
"What's wrong? Kellie...Kellie!" Tara's voice barely reached her ears. "Kellie, listen to me. It's not real...nothing you're feeling is real."
As if the words held some form of power the pain vanished then the dots. Her eyes registered the fact that she was kneeling directly over the blood-drawn bird. Her knees were pressed against the dried blood and concrete floor; her hands were clasped in front of her in a prayerful position.
"Are you with me now?" Tara helped her to stand and supported her wait until she could stand on her own.
Kellie nodded, wiping sweat from her forehead.
I can do this. This isn't about me or what happened...we came to save Jax. That's what we'll do. We're going to save Jax and then I'll never have to see this place again.
She repeated the words over and over in a monotone in her head.
"How do we get into the room where Jax is? How do we even know where he is?"
"Gimme a minute. I need to think,"she repeated, running her hand along the wall and around a torch that lit one wall. Her fingers came into contact with cold stone and sticky glue. She felt a moment longer then closed her hand around an object, jerking. Her hand came away holding a black casing.
Tara studied it with her head tilted.
Kellie reached her hand back around and felt over the keys, pressing several then placing her thumb against a small area that was clear except several dots. Her expression turned thoughtful for a moment but a beep echoed then part of a wall slid inward and to the side.
"What's that?"Tara demanded, staring at where the wall had once been. Empty space glittered within along with a glint of metal.
She shook her head to show it didn't matter. Nothing mattered except for getting Jax out and finding Russ and Angel then leaving.
I'll never see this place again. I'll never see this place again. I'll never see this place again. The chant continued to repeat over and over but she ignored it and enetered the room.
Jax wasn't hard to find. His hands were chained at opposite sides of the room to poles; the remains of the chain laid on the floor around him. A mixture of blood and water ran down his arms and fell to the floor every few moments from the spikes driven almost into his wrists. Sweat streamed down his face. His expression showed no sign of any pain just a blank expression.
Kellie shuddered, remembering something she'd overheard Rogue and Logan saying about Angel.
FLASHBACK
"Her file and she herself says that she was trained against her empathy by her Uncle's mercenary band."
Logan nodded. "So she doesn't feel anything?"
"That's our guess, Logan. She doesn't react to pain, at least not physical pain...mental could be a diffrent story." Rogue slid a file to him.
END FLASHBACK
"Jax?" Tara had moved from beside her over to him. Her hand was hesitant but she slowly touched his face.
His eyes slitted open. They were yellow and in the perfect slits of a snake.
"Hello,"he answered with a raspy hiss so much like a snake it was terrifying. "Where's Angel? She told me you were coming."
"Told you?"Kellie questioned, following Tara's lead and beginning to work on the chains.
Jax touched the side of one eye, indicating something.
Note to self-Remind Angel about the dangers of using telekenesis here.
"Where is she?" Jax's voice was demanding now.
Tara shrugged, working at the cuffs encircling his wrists. Her gaze never moved from them but rather stayed in one spot. "She had to help a friend, Jax."
His laugh was hoarse and skeptical. "Angel doesn't have friends, child. She wouldn't take the risk..."
"This isn't small talk, Jax, and just so you know-she does have friends. More than I can say for you at this moment,"she answered, finally getting one of the cuffs undone. It fell from his wrists and almost instantly he struck forward, throwing her away from him. A few moments of frenzied work broke through the second cuff he was free.
Jax pulled the hood that had been hanging around his neck up and over his head so only yellow slitted snake eyes showed. His persona froze.
He hissed, quietly. "Someone's coming."
Neither questioned how he knew yet both tensed, waiting.
Several men entered. Each held what appeared to be a large gun except that small darts lined the inside in an oval shape; they paused just inside the doorway. Their attention barely wavered from the empty space between the two pillars where there prey had lain.
"Dammnit, Nicolae will have our heads,"one growled, shifting his weapon. His gaze swept the room.
Jax appeared behind one. "Or I will." His voice was mocking. He hesitated only a moment before grabbing the guy and sinking his teeth into the man's throat. He held him for several moments then shoved him away into one of the walls.
The man broke out sweating and began to pant as if he couldn't breathe. Goosebumps broke out across the surface of his arms, face, and neck. His body convulsed for a moment then fell limp. He didn't move except a slight tremor every few seconds.
Tara stared in muted fascination. His skin had taken on a waxy white look from Jax's bite. She swallowed, staring at him in wonder and fear.
"Get out, both of you." Jax spoke the command seconds before burying his fangs into the neck of the next guard who had just pierced the wall with one of his darts. It had hit then fallen to the ground, limply.
Kellie nodded then removed one glove, beginning to make her way out of the room.
Tara hesitated, still drawn to the sight of the dead body.
"NOW!" Jax hissed at her.
She bolted from the room, jumping to get away. Her hands shook while they made their escape; they didn't run into much trouble except a few guards. Between the two of them they managed to return to the lab.
"The window." Kellie scrambled on top the table, struggling to force the latch free of the window. It refused to move. "Tadpole, help me."
She wrapped her tongue around the latch and yanked, pulling to no avail. It remained steadfastly closed. Her foot hit against several glass samples of DNA that fell to the ground and shattered.
"Why won't it open, Dust?"
Kellie felt real fear for a moment. Her stomache clenched tightly inside her body; her legs gave out and she sat on the edge of the table.
"They know I'm back and don't plan to let me leave. I'll never leave here...they won't let me. In every way that matters, I belong to them." Her sentence trailed off into silence except footsteps on the hard metal stairs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That's it for now. I'd like to have reviewer input on this story...anyone that reads this could you please leave a review, telling how you like it and any possible ideas for me? Something you don't like? Let me know and thanks for reading. Be patient for the next chapter.
Logan shrugged. "Waiting for someone to deliver the kids in body bags?"he replied with the barest hint of sarcasm. His voice was almost serious.
"Do y'really have so little faith in de chil'ren, mon ami?"
"Less, Cajun, a lot less." He changed the view without looking away from the screen. His attention held to the shifting shadows of trees and growth. "They scewed up a grade A mission, nearly killing themselves."
"Dey be young, Logan. What was y'first mission like?" Remy shuffled a deck of cards, stopping at random intervals to tap one against the desktop.
Logan glowered at him. "That's not your business, Cajun. And you have faith in them? I thought you were ashamed of them..."
"Oui. Dat was simple...dis be harder and dey doin' it of dere own will."
"There isn't much of a diffrence. I could care less if they get themselves killed...we found this group. We'll find another group, a better group." He returned to the monitor, ignoring anything further that could be said.
Remy tried.
Remy Lebeau hesitated only a moment then walked out of the control room. His attention went straight to the figure sitting against one wall outside, listening. His head was bowed foreward in a submissive position. His hands both rested on top his head and he mumbld to himself, quietly.
"Dat somet'ing else 'bout dis century? Eve'yone talks to demselves?"he questioned, standing over the boy and looking down.
Corey lifted his head, meeting Remy's gaze head-on. "Sorry things aren't perfect like your time. Was there free candy and happy kids then?"he asked, darkly, glowering up at Remy.
Dese kids be havin' serious attitude problems. If Remy'd spoken that way to his elders he'd been in a swamp'of pain faster then he could think of his brother's name.
"Watch how y'talk to y'elders, Corey. Why didn't y'go wit' de ot'ers?"he asked, leaning against the wall beside the boy. He continued the shuffling of his cards, listening to the low humming sound they made as loose energy passed through them.
Corey laughed. "Why should I save some guy I don't even know? Let them worry with him..."
"Dat's not part of de team. Y'help each ot'er, y'don't abandon one anot'er,"he said as if reading the boy's mind. It wasn't a hard thing judging by his words or the emotions he could feel. His empathy gave him a lot of self hatred and guilt. Anger, too.
"Yeah, right. Let me guess...the X-Men never had problems, right? You guys did everything for one another. No one ever abandoned anyone. That was thirty or forty years ago...things change, Gambit. You either learn to take care of yourself and screw everyone else or you die for someone else that doesn't even care about you." He stood, starting to walk away.
Remy reacted without thinking. He grabbed the boy's collar and slammed him against the wall, holding him there with one arm against his pale throat. "Don't ever say de X-men never abandoned no one. Dey left me in Anarctica because of a sin Remy committed even before he knew de X-men...it was my punishment. It's still my punishment to suffer for lovin' de Untouchable. Dey abandoned each ot'er because dey needed to...y'don't. Dese people care for y'realize what y'have den y'can try and measure up to de X-Men."
Remy Lebeau released him and walked away. His footsteps echoed for a long time. He barely did more then nod to Rogue when he passed her in the hallways. His one goal was the danger room. Old hatred had come up and he wouldn't hurt anyone here or force himself through it again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FLASHBACK
"Tell me when you feel anything, okay, Kellie?"
Fifteen-year-old Kellie Senthesis nodded her head, tightening her hands into fists. Both palms of her hands were bloody and scarred by her own nails. Several of them had broken off and now had embedded themselves into her hands. Her hair was still long and fell to her chin. The dark black color clung damply to her neck. Sweatpants and a tank top clung to her body from sweating.
"Anything at all. Ready?"
She nodded again.
Pain raced through her head then the rest of her. She gasped and fell to her knees, holding her head in both hands. Her hands knotted in the thick hair then lay lifeless and dull once the machine shut off.
For a long time no one moved. Nicolae and his doctor waited for the expriment to finish itself while Kellie continued to face violent shudders. Tears that were a mixture of blood and water fell from her face onto the ground.
"Does that mean you felt something, Kellie?"Nicolae asked, keeping his voice at a conversational tone. His gaze hadn't wavered from her bowed form.
Kellie took a breathe and managed to move back onto her knees but couldn't find the ability to stand. Shudders passed through her body every few moments. Goosebumps clung to her skin and sweat had formed along her forehead.
"Are you up to trying a second experiment?"
Chris spoke instead of the fifteen-year-old. "It's too risky, Nicolae. She's in pain...we'll pick up tomorrow."
He nodded. "Tomorrow."
TOMORROW
"Experiment 781 has proven your theory wrong, Nicolae. She feels things...in conclusion, all mutants have to feel something rather then being emotionless as you defined them. It's just not,"Chris said while reviewing the strands he'd taken from the experiment's drug-enduced sleep.
He clicked several keys then enlarged a strand of DNA.
"What's that?"Nicolae asked.
"A sample of Experiment 781's blood. It was scraped from one of the walls; however, it shows up diffrentely then normal blood."
Nicolae moved to look. "How so?"
"There's a gray tint as if there's something else in it. I've noticed it in a few of the other mutants we have's blood...we haven't figured out what it is except that it holds to them,"Chris explained, turning away from that machine to look in on the room below them. Large plastic glass windows, the cheap kind that wouldn't break, embedded to the room on all sides looked down on a white hospital room.
Experiment 781, previously known as Kellie Senthesis, laid on one of the beds, motionless. A large, white, blood-stained bandage was pressed to one side of her head. A natural contrast with her dark skin. Blood streamed down her arms in long streams, soaking into the white sheet over her almost naked body. The once long hair was now cut short and stringy with sweat and blood that remained.
"Have you tried inserting it into a human?"
"Too dangerous. If the dog couldn't survive with this...mutant DNA there's no way a human can. Dogs have almost perfect immune systems; this thing would kill a human."
"You'll never know until you try, will you?"he demanded then continued before an answer could be formulated. "I want it tested. Now. If you need to take a larger amount of blood...do it."
END FLASHBACK
Kellie Senthesis closed her eyes against the pain that threatened to resurface. Her body felt the pain of four years ago and responded. Tremors ran down her back as she was brought to her knees by pain. Dots of red and black swam before her eyes.
"What's wrong? Kellie...Kellie!" Tara's voice barely reached her ears. "Kellie, listen to me. It's not real...nothing you're feeling is real."
As if the words held some form of power the pain vanished then the dots. Her eyes registered the fact that she was kneeling directly over the blood-drawn bird. Her knees were pressed against the dried blood and concrete floor; her hands were clasped in front of her in a prayerful position.
"Are you with me now?" Tara helped her to stand and supported her wait until she could stand on her own.
Kellie nodded, wiping sweat from her forehead.
I can do this. This isn't about me or what happened...we came to save Jax. That's what we'll do. We're going to save Jax and then I'll never have to see this place again.
She repeated the words over and over in a monotone in her head.
"How do we get into the room where Jax is? How do we even know where he is?"
"Gimme a minute. I need to think,"she repeated, running her hand along the wall and around a torch that lit one wall. Her fingers came into contact with cold stone and sticky glue. She felt a moment longer then closed her hand around an object, jerking. Her hand came away holding a black casing.
Tara studied it with her head tilted.
Kellie reached her hand back around and felt over the keys, pressing several then placing her thumb against a small area that was clear except several dots. Her expression turned thoughtful for a moment but a beep echoed then part of a wall slid inward and to the side.
"What's that?"Tara demanded, staring at where the wall had once been. Empty space glittered within along with a glint of metal.
She shook her head to show it didn't matter. Nothing mattered except for getting Jax out and finding Russ and Angel then leaving.
I'll never see this place again. I'll never see this place again. I'll never see this place again. The chant continued to repeat over and over but she ignored it and enetered the room.
Jax wasn't hard to find. His hands were chained at opposite sides of the room to poles; the remains of the chain laid on the floor around him. A mixture of blood and water ran down his arms and fell to the floor every few moments from the spikes driven almost into his wrists. Sweat streamed down his face. His expression showed no sign of any pain just a blank expression.
Kellie shuddered, remembering something she'd overheard Rogue and Logan saying about Angel.
FLASHBACK
"Her file and she herself says that she was trained against her empathy by her Uncle's mercenary band."
Logan nodded. "So she doesn't feel anything?"
"That's our guess, Logan. She doesn't react to pain, at least not physical pain...mental could be a diffrent story." Rogue slid a file to him.
END FLASHBACK
"Jax?" Tara had moved from beside her over to him. Her hand was hesitant but she slowly touched his face.
His eyes slitted open. They were yellow and in the perfect slits of a snake.
"Hello,"he answered with a raspy hiss so much like a snake it was terrifying. "Where's Angel? She told me you were coming."
"Told you?"Kellie questioned, following Tara's lead and beginning to work on the chains.
Jax touched the side of one eye, indicating something.
Note to self-Remind Angel about the dangers of using telekenesis here.
"Where is she?" Jax's voice was demanding now.
Tara shrugged, working at the cuffs encircling his wrists. Her gaze never moved from them but rather stayed in one spot. "She had to help a friend, Jax."
His laugh was hoarse and skeptical. "Angel doesn't have friends, child. She wouldn't take the risk..."
"This isn't small talk, Jax, and just so you know-she does have friends. More than I can say for you at this moment,"she answered, finally getting one of the cuffs undone. It fell from his wrists and almost instantly he struck forward, throwing her away from him. A few moments of frenzied work broke through the second cuff he was free.
Jax pulled the hood that had been hanging around his neck up and over his head so only yellow slitted snake eyes showed. His persona froze.
He hissed, quietly. "Someone's coming."
Neither questioned how he knew yet both tensed, waiting.
Several men entered. Each held what appeared to be a large gun except that small darts lined the inside in an oval shape; they paused just inside the doorway. Their attention barely wavered from the empty space between the two pillars where there prey had lain.
"Dammnit, Nicolae will have our heads,"one growled, shifting his weapon. His gaze swept the room.
Jax appeared behind one. "Or I will." His voice was mocking. He hesitated only a moment before grabbing the guy and sinking his teeth into the man's throat. He held him for several moments then shoved him away into one of the walls.
The man broke out sweating and began to pant as if he couldn't breathe. Goosebumps broke out across the surface of his arms, face, and neck. His body convulsed for a moment then fell limp. He didn't move except a slight tremor every few seconds.
Tara stared in muted fascination. His skin had taken on a waxy white look from Jax's bite. She swallowed, staring at him in wonder and fear.
"Get out, both of you." Jax spoke the command seconds before burying his fangs into the neck of the next guard who had just pierced the wall with one of his darts. It had hit then fallen to the ground, limply.
Kellie nodded then removed one glove, beginning to make her way out of the room.
Tara hesitated, still drawn to the sight of the dead body.
"NOW!" Jax hissed at her.
She bolted from the room, jumping to get away. Her hands shook while they made their escape; they didn't run into much trouble except a few guards. Between the two of them they managed to return to the lab.
"The window." Kellie scrambled on top the table, struggling to force the latch free of the window. It refused to move. "Tadpole, help me."
She wrapped her tongue around the latch and yanked, pulling to no avail. It remained steadfastly closed. Her foot hit against several glass samples of DNA that fell to the ground and shattered.
"Why won't it open, Dust?"
Kellie felt real fear for a moment. Her stomache clenched tightly inside her body; her legs gave out and she sat on the edge of the table.
"They know I'm back and don't plan to let me leave. I'll never leave here...they won't let me. In every way that matters, I belong to them." Her sentence trailed off into silence except footsteps on the hard metal stairs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That's it for now. I'd like to have reviewer input on this story...anyone that reads this could you please leave a review, telling how you like it and any possible ideas for me? Something you don't like? Let me know and thanks for reading. Be patient for the next chapter.