Severing Ties
Summary: Things are looking up for Peter. It had been a few months since Doctor Octavius passed away, and Peter was getting his life on track except for a few things that wouldn't let him be. That's all about to change as someone, somewhere, needs Peter, and he's going to be in for a wild ride.
Chapter 11: Filled with Needless Pain
Peter was wondering the halls again. He let his emotions out in private for Harry, and was feeling a bit better for it. He yawned when he looked at his watch to see the time was ten thirty at night. He was getting used to the large building. Scott had told him that it was actually a relatively new location for the school, as a while ago, the wrong person found the school, and had it raided. Peter liked looking at the technology. Ororo had him working with the kids in science along with her, to keep him busy. It had been four days, but it felt like four years.
Every moment Peter was away from home was like another shallow scratch on his already battered heart; not deep enough to maim, but still stung dreadfully. MJ had wrote him back the second day he was gone explaining the phone call from Jackie. Peter noticed that MJ tried very hard not to make it sound as if Jackie had said anything wrong, but every once and a while, there were insults that were marked over that weren't meant to be read. When they exchanged letters again, Mary Jane told Peter that she doubted he'd come back. His pain increased to an almost unbearable measure. She broke off the engagement and mailed the ring back to Peter. That day, he didn't help with anything. He stayed in his room, deep in sorrow.
"What are we going to do?" Jackie asked.
"If you ask that one more time, Jack, so help me, God," Inigo spat. The two had become friends before they were captured, but the saying went 'familiarity breeds contempt,' and they had gotten more familiar in the small room than either ever wanted.
"Is there anything you can do to this room, Jack?" Felicia questioned, stopping the dispute before it started.
Jackie scanned the room. "I could possibly walk through the walls, but there would be too many ifs. Where does this wall lead? Could I take you both with me?" she wondered aloud.
"Take me through the wall, I'll find a way out," Inigo offered.
"You'll be caught," Jackie retorted.
Inigo sent her a deadly glare. And then he was gone.
Jackie's and Felicia's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"Inigo?" Felicia asked hesitantly.
"I'm still here," a disembodied voice said.
"Where are you?" she inquired.
"Same place."
"So that's your power," mused Jackie. "You can turn invisible."
"Yeah. Not nearly as creative as Felicia's power, but hey, it could help," Inigo said lightly.
"It'll be dangerous," Jackie explained. "You could be killed."
At this, a laugh resounded throughout the room. It took a minute for Jackie to realize that it had come from Inigo. "They wouldn't kill me! They need me. If they kill me, then they'd have to start over. I didn't tell them my power, so they have no idea how I'm a mutant."
"But you're registered," Felicia argued. "The government knows your power. It would be so easy to get the information from them."
"They'd have to see me to catch me." There was a confidence and playfulness in his voice now. Jackie only hoped that it wouldn't make him less alert.
"Be prepared, Short. You die, and you sign our death warrants," she warned.
"Me? You'll be in worse trouble if they see you," Inigo retorted.
"You forget who you're talking to," said Jackie. She concentrated, and she, too, was invisible. "Let's go," she said, and Felicia felt a breeze as if someone were passing her.
Jackie grabbed Inigo's hand roughly before sticking her hand through the wall. As all of her became consumed, she dragged Inigo. They walked out of the other side and immediately tripped on hat racks. They looked around. Lining the outside wall of their room was a whole lot of hat racks. When the ones they tripped over fell and hit the ground, a buzzer sounded off and the two invisible youths found themselves staring down the barrels of dozens of floating guns.
They had left her alone in the room. Not exactly her favorite pastime, but Felicia Hardy knew the difference between wants and needs. She needed to stay there for her own safety, but she'd be damned if she'd do this every time. She almost started counting the cracks in the wall before she heard guns cocking, almost as one. Instantly alert, she went to the wall Jackie and Inigo left out of. She pressed her ear against it, hoping her feline hearing would pick up something. All was silent. Then a sound so loud it knocked Felicia back from the wall exploded, and she screamed as she saw outward dents in the wall where bullets hit the wall. Her breathing became labored as she noticed the faint outline of two bodies among the dents.
"Peter?" a voice called softly. "Peter…" He was dreaming. MJ had been killed and was now an angel, telling him to move on. In the background was a blurred vision of a girl. "She is just beyond your reach," angel-MJ said. "Save her, and it will all work out for the best."
"What if she doesn't need saving?" he asked.
"We all need saving. Each and every one of us. Even you." With that, the angel-MJ floated away, leaving Peter in front of the girl who's features weren't clear.
As he started out of the dream, he heard a furious yell that was unintelligible. After a few more minutes, there was a knock at Peter's bedroom door. He grabbed and put on one of his shirts and opened his door. "What's going on?" he asked when he saw Scott standing there.
"We have a letter from Magneto. Xavier is going to read it to us all right now. It contains news about Jack, Inigo Short, and Felicia Hardy. Come on," he led. Peter, feeling a sickening sensation in his stomach, swallowed and followed Scott to the X-Men room. A sense of foreboding, coupled with a complete sense of dread, overtook him more each step he walked.
Peter sat down in the seat that was allotted to him the minute he sat in it for the first time. He looked around the table. Some looked worried; some bored; more than a few were tired.
"I want to thank you for joining us on such short notice. I understand it is three in the morning, but this letter is of most importance," Professor Xavier started. He took out the piece of paper and paused while Wolverine let out a growl. "Dear Charles, it seems that we have been thwarted. Not because of your meddling, but because of the foolishness of a certain girl who believed she could just walk through walls and get away. I've sent you this letter to tell you that that girl, along with our ace in the hole, is decaying in one of our hallways as we speak. There is one other reason for this correspondence. If you send us a mutant from the registered area, we will return Miss Hardy, who has had a terrible shock. You wouldn't want anyone else to die, would you, Charles? I didn't think so. You can find me through Sabertooth or through John. If I do not get the registered mutant within the next forty-eight hours, not only will Miss Hardy meet with her friends, Virginia Salvani and Inigo Short, in the afterlife, but so will your ace in the hole. There is a link between Miss Hardy and your secret weapon, and that link will terminate when one dies, and the other will die, as well. I'm sorry to disrupt your slumber, but you would do well to read this as soon as humanly possible. Sincerely Eric Lensherr."
Peter's mind was slow in processing that information. When it did, he received a nasty shock. Jackie's dead? A terrible grief set in, as it had in his dream when he realized that Mary Jane was dead. She wasn't, he knew, but now Jackie really was…He couldn't take it. He felt like screaming; like breaking everything in sight. These people were causing him a lot of needless pain. Then he thought about it. His entire life was filled with needless pain.
"What does he mean by our ace in the hole, Professor?" Bobby asked.
"I should start from the very beginning," Xavier said. "There is a file with all the cases of mutant crime, and it is held in New York. A man by the name of Joseph Robertson is holding them because he knows mutants aren't all bad. He gained them a long time ago, before mutants were noticed. If these cases get out, it could mean the exposure of the school, and it could turn into another Holocaust." Xavier paused to take a breath. "Our ace in the hole, as Magneto mentioned, is the only person who can easily access this files, and even permanently obtain them from this man. And here we are, at a loss because Magneto can always get more registered mutants to cooperate in his plans, yet we only have one man who can help us reach our goal." He looked at Peter. "You know him personally, and he looks up to you as Spider-Man. You can get those files."
The angry look on Peter's face let the entire world what he thought of the letter. "Professor," he spoke up. "I was told I had to get out of New York because of those machines Quest Aerospace built. How can I just go back in when they're patrolling for mutant DNA?" he asked with the attitude of an angsty teen.
"An insider at Quest Aerospace lowered the standards of what they call 'mutant DNA.' You obviously don't have as odd a signature as, say, Kurt, or Scott. The machines won't notice you, now," Xavier explained calmly.
Refusing to do it would be in vain, Peter knew. All of them would be able to make him get those papers, whether it was Rogue with her odd gift of stealing others' powers, or Wolverine, whose steel claws could tear him to shreds. "When do I go?" he forced himself to say.
"As soon as we can get a volunteer from Mutantville to come back with you."
(A/N: -sigh- I need a tissue…-goes to grab one and then blows nose- I'm sorry. I truly am. Trust me when I say that everything's going to be all right, and keep reading. I wanna thank all my reviewers for their…well…reviews! Lol!
Taco eating person: I actually wasn't going to see any movie for awhile…I really leave my rock to go outside. I'm glad you liked the last chapter. Thank you for reviewing…not matter how…strange…the review was.
Mary Jane Watson-Parker: Here's the next chapter. Thanks for reviewing!
Laurajslr: Thank you very much for reviewing! Please don't kill me. Trust me, and keep reading. When the next chapter comes, read it, and if you still want to kill me…-sigh-
DiableDude1: I think you need to run your review through spell checker before you send it! Lol! I don't really wanna hear more…I'm gonna wait until it comes out on video, and then I'll rent it or something…
Oddball91: Glad you like Kiyoshi. If you look her name up, you'll find out that I didn't just pick it out of thin air…;-)
Michael Ross: I'm thrilled that you like it. I understand most of what you're saying. Care to elaborate on when I stick to the same sentence opener? Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you got this far!