"It's a small world after all. It's a small world after all."
The words drifted from further up the cell block as Russ Collins made his way toward the holding docks. He slid the item in his hand into his back pocket before he reached the cell.
"Would you please stop singing, Angel?"he demanded, stopping beside the cell and looking in.
Angel hadn't moved in over ten minutes except her mouth. Her legs were stretched out before her and her arms crossed over her chest despite the makeshift bandage over her arm. Her eyes were closed; her hair lay spread around her head but she didn't move at all except to sing some more.
"Or maybe it's not such a small world after all. Hello, Russ."
"Do you have to sing everything? I'm working on getting you out, okay?"
She shook her head the barest amount then opened her eyes, never looking away from the ceiling. "What I'm still thinking about is this...I can't believe you actually cut me."
"I didn't cut you...the knife did. I thought we'd agreed it was a game or pretend?"he asked, crouching as if to place something down. He watched her for any further movement. There was none, not even her lips moved. "Angel!"
"Angel's not in right now. Please leave a message after the beep. BEEP." Her voice was devoid of emotion but when her voice echoed in his mind it was quiet and even spoken with just a touch of emotion. ~Do what you have to, Russ. Get me out of here...please.~
~I'm trying. Don't use this here, Angel, they have sensors.~
The connection broke instantly but Angel met his eyes and gave his a weak smile before returning to her previous position. She began to hum once more.
He slipped his hand into his pocket and removed the teleporter he'd been hiding since he'd joined the X-men. He touched the metal of the bars and forced it apart just enough to slide the thing under. He pushed it forward and it hit Angel's side.
"It's a small world after all.."
Russ looked up and noticed a guard coming toward him. "Angel, keep singing but slip it on your wrist. Count to ten then press a few buttons until a picture of the mansion comes up. When it does hit the gray button...when you get there be careful. It'll throw your powers off."
Angel gave no indication to having heard him except to slip the teleporter onto one wrist without opening her eyes.
"What are you doing down here?"the guard demanded, holding his gun tighter and leveling it on Russ' chest. His face had been painted a combination of dark green and black along with Camouflage and combat boots. "Civilians aren't allowed down here."
"I'm not a civilian, sir." He held out his identification badge, pressing to the button to return his I.D. "I'll let you know if I see any. I needed to place an identification bracelet on the newest mutant..."
The guard looked beyond him. "The singing one?"
"Yeah, she's a bit of a schitzophrenic..." Russ glanced over his shoulder and shook his head, sadly. "Pity, really."
"Not really. Mutants feel nothing, therefore they are nothing. Did Nicolae okay your access to the prisoner?"
He clenched his hand into a fist to keep from hitting the guard. His analogy was not true. Mutants felt just like people, maybe strongers.
"I'm here, aren't I?"he demanded, glaring at the other man. They were equal heigth so it wasn't easy to stare each other down.
The guard moved first to take hold of one of Russ' arms then pull him toward the stairs, never removing his gun from it's position. He gave no response except to speak quietly into a radio.
Russ looked back once just in time to see the familiar haze of gray smoke before he was led out of the room. At least now everyone's out except for me...I can take care of myself...
ICON'S INNER LAB
"Maybe we can find a way out. Come on, Dust..." Tara Toynbee hopped down from the table and walked around the room, checking for any way out. Her hands ran along the wall while her eyes frantically scanned the ceiling.
It caught her attention fast. The air dock above her head. "Dust, where's that thing lead?"she asked, making a point to raise her voice enough to be heard.
Kellie voice when she spoke hadn't taken on much emotion of any sort or even lose feeling. "Anywhere you want to go. The vents all eventually lead outside or down to the mutant holding docks....if you go right you'll find the holding docks. Left would lead outside then."
Color sparked back into her eyes and she climbed down from the table, walking over to stand beside Tara. She tipped her head back and stared up at the vent, thinking; it wouldn't be an easy task.
"So this thing can get us outside?"
Kellie hesitated. "Yes and No."
"Both...wanna explain?"Tara questioned, wrapping her tongue around the edge and pulling until there finally came a loud groan. The vent crashed to the floor; it clanged loudly against pure concrete.
Kellie tossed her several items which she stacked in a row. The last item she recieved was a plant, the strangest one of all. She began to explain her answer. "The vents go both to the mutant holding docks and outside. I probably couldn't even tell you the directions anymore..."
"Who cares? It's the best shot we got unless you want to be another science experiment...do you?"
"Not really...go ahead and climb, Tadpole. I'll be up in just a moment." She hesitated at the bottom, watching the younger girl climb until she'd vanished into the vent. She walked over to the table and slid one arm across, knocking all the samples of mutant DNA onto the floor. They spilt, creating a colorful, DNA sunburst.
"Dust!"
Kellie smiled then leaped onto the top of the stack and caught Tara's hand, pulling herself through. She stopped for a moment to toss her gloves down then run her hands along the green plant until it began to flake and turn into ashes.
For all the hell I've suffered I'll leave a little calling card, she thought. Her hands shook slightly as she shoved downward, toppling the stack just as several locks slid further up the stairs. One major problem to having such a large, locked establishment meant there were a lot of security to pass through in order to enter any zone.
"Nice touch. Would you like to come on so we can get out of here? Angel and Russ are probably back at the mansion by now." Tara's voice was further ahead.
Kellie crawled along after her, stopping to check then following several different paths until another vent rose up in front of them. She kicked at it for a moment then groaned when it wouldn't move.
"Allow me.." Tara moved past her and kicked the screen, yelping at the pain that it shot through her leg. She pulled back. "Didn't work.."
Hesitance a moment then something ripped the vent from it's place. It tumbled to the ground, making a quiet thump upon ground contact. Several shadows shifted then slid further into the surrounding woods, vanishing from sight.
"Wow...that was a little, uh, strange."
"Who cares, Tadpole? I know you're going to love this part...Jump!"
Tara smiled then leaped to the ground below, landing on her feet just beside a large sticker bush. She waited.
I'm going to regret this. I really, really am, Kellie thought but scooted along to the edge and stood. Her vision blurred at how far from the ground the vent really was.
"Uh...."
"Jump!"
She said a quick prayer before jumping. In the next moment she had landed on her back and was staring up at Tara's face; she coughed and choked, trying to draw in breath. Her breath returned slowly, forcing her to wince every time she drew one in.
"You gonna live?"Tara questioned, holding out one hand.
She forced herself to take it and get up then grimaced at the feel of pain in her legs. "Ah, maybe..I'm not sure. Let's go before these fools come again. You know, Tadpole, you ain't half bad."
"Thanks. You're not that bad either, Dust. A little orthidox but hey, who isn't?"
Two figures ran toward the woods then vanished. into the woods surrounding the property. They paused for a single moment once they were hidden in the woods then ran, carshing through the woods. Several times branches and thorns tore at their clothes and skin but they pushed on. Moonlight shone down over the lake, illumiating two faces.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OUTSIDE THE MANSION
Angel looked up at the large iron gates then at the item on her wrist. It had stopped glowing and the image of the mansion had vanished. Silence echoed around her except for the scrape of a stick against iron.
A stick against iron?
She turned, staring out across the expansion of the fence but even before she saw the person she felt it. They were happy, almost jubilant. Strange and foreign to her since she'd been trained well enough to block most emotions. Happiness was one emotion she rarely had ever felt except for when she was around her family then occassionally she felt it from the original X-Men.
It was never this strong.
A smile broke out across Angel's face. She looked around a moment then forced the lock on the gate to break apart; she slid through the opening then fastened it back.
No lights shone in the mansion. Black clung to it like a cloak, illuminating the structures of the house. Nothing moved in the shadows or within the house.
Everything's great. We're all home and nothing else could happen to us right now.
She ran toward the other section of the gate but halfway through the run she stopped and turned several flips, finally landing on her feet. It was strange since she'd never had any training with it except for a little of practice with Gambit once. The practice had yielded nothing except a lot of bruises and a frustrated cajun.
Her behavior continued for a moment. Running. Flips. Cartwheels. Shouting. More flips. She barely noticed when Kellie and Tara approached. Neither appeared quite as jubilant as she felt.
"Hey, glad to see you're back!"Angel called, swinging upside down from the tree she'd just climbed. Blood had begun rushing downward to her head. "Everything go alright?"
Tara stared at her through the gate. "Angel, is something wrong? You don't seem like yourself..."
She dropped to the ground suddenly, curling up against the tree trunk. She drew her knees against her chest and rested her chin on them, looking like a scared child rather than her usual self.
"Angel?"
Worry passed over her in waves, forcing her to draw further into herself. Another emotion, lighter passed for a moment then the strangest thing happened a small sense of anger washed over her.
"Do you kids have any idea how much trouble you're in?" Julius' voice echoed out of the darkness. After a moment his face appeared from the front porch of the institute. "Logan's pissed..."
"Let him be...Angel!" Kellie crouched beside Angel, looking her over.
"Don't touch me,"she commanded, drawing further away. Her hands went to the object still around her wrist, clawing slightly at it but it wouldn't come off.
"Oh for hell's sake,"Julius muttered, making his way out to them and jerking the thing from her wrist. It slid forward, earning a slight hiss of pain from Angel but the instant it was off her expression cleared. "Was that really difficult?" He tossed the bracelet. It froze in midair, hovering.
Angel jumped up and caught it, holding it tightly in one hand before slipping it into her back pockets. "I'll give it back later. Come on, let's go deal with Logan,"she said, walking beside Julius back inside.
Tara and Kellie followed.
Logan met them on the porch, wearing a frown and chewing on the end of a cigar. "Do you have any idea how much trouble y'all are in. Especially you, darling." He looked straight at Angel. "Where's the other kid?"
"Not sure...he'll be along later, though. I wouldn't worry about Russ if I were you..." She smirked, ignoring the others confused expressions and Julius' raised eyebrow. "What are we in trouble for...?"
The words drifted from further up the cell block as Russ Collins made his way toward the holding docks. He slid the item in his hand into his back pocket before he reached the cell.
"Would you please stop singing, Angel?"he demanded, stopping beside the cell and looking in.
Angel hadn't moved in over ten minutes except her mouth. Her legs were stretched out before her and her arms crossed over her chest despite the makeshift bandage over her arm. Her eyes were closed; her hair lay spread around her head but she didn't move at all except to sing some more.
"Or maybe it's not such a small world after all. Hello, Russ."
"Do you have to sing everything? I'm working on getting you out, okay?"
She shook her head the barest amount then opened her eyes, never looking away from the ceiling. "What I'm still thinking about is this...I can't believe you actually cut me."
"I didn't cut you...the knife did. I thought we'd agreed it was a game or pretend?"he asked, crouching as if to place something down. He watched her for any further movement. There was none, not even her lips moved. "Angel!"
"Angel's not in right now. Please leave a message after the beep. BEEP." Her voice was devoid of emotion but when her voice echoed in his mind it was quiet and even spoken with just a touch of emotion. ~Do what you have to, Russ. Get me out of here...please.~
~I'm trying. Don't use this here, Angel, they have sensors.~
The connection broke instantly but Angel met his eyes and gave his a weak smile before returning to her previous position. She began to hum once more.
He slipped his hand into his pocket and removed the teleporter he'd been hiding since he'd joined the X-men. He touched the metal of the bars and forced it apart just enough to slide the thing under. He pushed it forward and it hit Angel's side.
"It's a small world after all.."
Russ looked up and noticed a guard coming toward him. "Angel, keep singing but slip it on your wrist. Count to ten then press a few buttons until a picture of the mansion comes up. When it does hit the gray button...when you get there be careful. It'll throw your powers off."
Angel gave no indication to having heard him except to slip the teleporter onto one wrist without opening her eyes.
"What are you doing down here?"the guard demanded, holding his gun tighter and leveling it on Russ' chest. His face had been painted a combination of dark green and black along with Camouflage and combat boots. "Civilians aren't allowed down here."
"I'm not a civilian, sir." He held out his identification badge, pressing to the button to return his I.D. "I'll let you know if I see any. I needed to place an identification bracelet on the newest mutant..."
The guard looked beyond him. "The singing one?"
"Yeah, she's a bit of a schitzophrenic..." Russ glanced over his shoulder and shook his head, sadly. "Pity, really."
"Not really. Mutants feel nothing, therefore they are nothing. Did Nicolae okay your access to the prisoner?"
He clenched his hand into a fist to keep from hitting the guard. His analogy was not true. Mutants felt just like people, maybe strongers.
"I'm here, aren't I?"he demanded, glaring at the other man. They were equal heigth so it wasn't easy to stare each other down.
The guard moved first to take hold of one of Russ' arms then pull him toward the stairs, never removing his gun from it's position. He gave no response except to speak quietly into a radio.
Russ looked back once just in time to see the familiar haze of gray smoke before he was led out of the room. At least now everyone's out except for me...I can take care of myself...
ICON'S INNER LAB
"Maybe we can find a way out. Come on, Dust..." Tara Toynbee hopped down from the table and walked around the room, checking for any way out. Her hands ran along the wall while her eyes frantically scanned the ceiling.
It caught her attention fast. The air dock above her head. "Dust, where's that thing lead?"she asked, making a point to raise her voice enough to be heard.
Kellie voice when she spoke hadn't taken on much emotion of any sort or even lose feeling. "Anywhere you want to go. The vents all eventually lead outside or down to the mutant holding docks....if you go right you'll find the holding docks. Left would lead outside then."
Color sparked back into her eyes and she climbed down from the table, walking over to stand beside Tara. She tipped her head back and stared up at the vent, thinking; it wouldn't be an easy task.
"So this thing can get us outside?"
Kellie hesitated. "Yes and No."
"Both...wanna explain?"Tara questioned, wrapping her tongue around the edge and pulling until there finally came a loud groan. The vent crashed to the floor; it clanged loudly against pure concrete.
Kellie tossed her several items which she stacked in a row. The last item she recieved was a plant, the strangest one of all. She began to explain her answer. "The vents go both to the mutant holding docks and outside. I probably couldn't even tell you the directions anymore..."
"Who cares? It's the best shot we got unless you want to be another science experiment...do you?"
"Not really...go ahead and climb, Tadpole. I'll be up in just a moment." She hesitated at the bottom, watching the younger girl climb until she'd vanished into the vent. She walked over to the table and slid one arm across, knocking all the samples of mutant DNA onto the floor. They spilt, creating a colorful, DNA sunburst.
"Dust!"
Kellie smiled then leaped onto the top of the stack and caught Tara's hand, pulling herself through. She stopped for a moment to toss her gloves down then run her hands along the green plant until it began to flake and turn into ashes.
For all the hell I've suffered I'll leave a little calling card, she thought. Her hands shook slightly as she shoved downward, toppling the stack just as several locks slid further up the stairs. One major problem to having such a large, locked establishment meant there were a lot of security to pass through in order to enter any zone.
"Nice touch. Would you like to come on so we can get out of here? Angel and Russ are probably back at the mansion by now." Tara's voice was further ahead.
Kellie crawled along after her, stopping to check then following several different paths until another vent rose up in front of them. She kicked at it for a moment then groaned when it wouldn't move.
"Allow me.." Tara moved past her and kicked the screen, yelping at the pain that it shot through her leg. She pulled back. "Didn't work.."
Hesitance a moment then something ripped the vent from it's place. It tumbled to the ground, making a quiet thump upon ground contact. Several shadows shifted then slid further into the surrounding woods, vanishing from sight.
"Wow...that was a little, uh, strange."
"Who cares, Tadpole? I know you're going to love this part...Jump!"
Tara smiled then leaped to the ground below, landing on her feet just beside a large sticker bush. She waited.
I'm going to regret this. I really, really am, Kellie thought but scooted along to the edge and stood. Her vision blurred at how far from the ground the vent really was.
"Uh...."
"Jump!"
She said a quick prayer before jumping. In the next moment she had landed on her back and was staring up at Tara's face; she coughed and choked, trying to draw in breath. Her breath returned slowly, forcing her to wince every time she drew one in.
"You gonna live?"Tara questioned, holding out one hand.
She forced herself to take it and get up then grimaced at the feel of pain in her legs. "Ah, maybe..I'm not sure. Let's go before these fools come again. You know, Tadpole, you ain't half bad."
"Thanks. You're not that bad either, Dust. A little orthidox but hey, who isn't?"
Two figures ran toward the woods then vanished. into the woods surrounding the property. They paused for a single moment once they were hidden in the woods then ran, carshing through the woods. Several times branches and thorns tore at their clothes and skin but they pushed on. Moonlight shone down over the lake, illumiating two faces.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OUTSIDE THE MANSION
Angel looked up at the large iron gates then at the item on her wrist. It had stopped glowing and the image of the mansion had vanished. Silence echoed around her except for the scrape of a stick against iron.
A stick against iron?
She turned, staring out across the expansion of the fence but even before she saw the person she felt it. They were happy, almost jubilant. Strange and foreign to her since she'd been trained well enough to block most emotions. Happiness was one emotion she rarely had ever felt except for when she was around her family then occassionally she felt it from the original X-Men.
It was never this strong.
A smile broke out across Angel's face. She looked around a moment then forced the lock on the gate to break apart; she slid through the opening then fastened it back.
No lights shone in the mansion. Black clung to it like a cloak, illuminating the structures of the house. Nothing moved in the shadows or within the house.
Everything's great. We're all home and nothing else could happen to us right now.
She ran toward the other section of the gate but halfway through the run she stopped and turned several flips, finally landing on her feet. It was strange since she'd never had any training with it except for a little of practice with Gambit once. The practice had yielded nothing except a lot of bruises and a frustrated cajun.
Her behavior continued for a moment. Running. Flips. Cartwheels. Shouting. More flips. She barely noticed when Kellie and Tara approached. Neither appeared quite as jubilant as she felt.
"Hey, glad to see you're back!"Angel called, swinging upside down from the tree she'd just climbed. Blood had begun rushing downward to her head. "Everything go alright?"
Tara stared at her through the gate. "Angel, is something wrong? You don't seem like yourself..."
She dropped to the ground suddenly, curling up against the tree trunk. She drew her knees against her chest and rested her chin on them, looking like a scared child rather than her usual self.
"Angel?"
Worry passed over her in waves, forcing her to draw further into herself. Another emotion, lighter passed for a moment then the strangest thing happened a small sense of anger washed over her.
"Do you kids have any idea how much trouble you're in?" Julius' voice echoed out of the darkness. After a moment his face appeared from the front porch of the institute. "Logan's pissed..."
"Let him be...Angel!" Kellie crouched beside Angel, looking her over.
"Don't touch me,"she commanded, drawing further away. Her hands went to the object still around her wrist, clawing slightly at it but it wouldn't come off.
"Oh for hell's sake,"Julius muttered, making his way out to them and jerking the thing from her wrist. It slid forward, earning a slight hiss of pain from Angel but the instant it was off her expression cleared. "Was that really difficult?" He tossed the bracelet. It froze in midair, hovering.
Angel jumped up and caught it, holding it tightly in one hand before slipping it into her back pockets. "I'll give it back later. Come on, let's go deal with Logan,"she said, walking beside Julius back inside.
Tara and Kellie followed.
Logan met them on the porch, wearing a frown and chewing on the end of a cigar. "Do you have any idea how much trouble y'all are in. Especially you, darling." He looked straight at Angel. "Where's the other kid?"
"Not sure...he'll be along later, though. I wouldn't worry about Russ if I were you..." She smirked, ignoring the others confused expressions and Julius' raised eyebrow. "What are we in trouble for...?"