Hi guys! I might actually have this posted before Thanksgiving, but that was my goal. Isn't homework a bitch? I don't know if I need to up my rating yet or not...but I'll see if I decide to get too creepy like. Whatever. By the way, this is the first chapter that I've just sat down at my computer and typed out. Normally I will write out most of my chapter before I ever type it. I know it's a lot more work, but it is easier for me. So let me know if you find it an improvement or no difference or whatever.
Episodic: : )
Curliest Guru: Grammar sucks, don't it?? : )
LolitaRed: Keep up the good work. I look forward to your reviews! : )
God Damn! If I don't stop hitting the control key instead of shift....
Disclaimer: I don't own. Don't sue. I have connections, so it wouldn't even be worth it. I do own Jared and...um...wow, shows how near and dear my oc are to me. :P
Chapter 12: JaredThe water from the showerhead pounded onto her bent head. Her hair grew heavy with the weight of the water. The pressure forced her head down, and she let the scalding water snake across her skin. Rivulets streamed down her back and curled around her legs before they were swept away to join the flowing tide down the drain. She had her upper body braced against the wall. It almost looked like she was trying to hold the wall up. With her in a lunge position, and her head bowed, she looked the epitome of defeat. It had been a long time since she felt this drained. She didn't like it. Her legs were already shaking and she'd only been standing for about an hour. This was not good. The water continued to pound down on her head, as if it were trying to drive her skull into the bottom of the white porcelain tub. She started to sink down then grew very tense. She refused to let this happen. She refused to be weak.
Her whole body was wrought with tension. Her arms and legs were vibrating with it. She stared at her distorted reflection in the spigot of the tub and growled at it. She was a mess and she knew it, and she knew that everyone else knew it. Crap. Her mind was still running in circles. When she'd first stepped into the shower she'd stood for nearly ten minutes just watching the water spiral down into the deep, dark, nothingness of the drainpipe. She'd wanted to melt into water herself and just follow the water, spiraling down forever. She began to shake. This really wasn't good. She really didn't like water. Even if she was only taking a shower. Her head shot up and with a flip of her wrists the water spluttered to a stop. Within seconds the bathroom stood eerily silent, steamy, and empty. The door banging on the opposite wall was the only clue that someone had just recently been in there at all.
Shadows slipped from the darkness to converge into mass pools of shadow that slipped back into darkness. Quickly, but quietly, they made their way to the dimly lit house that sat atop the hill. There was little cover for them to hide behind. They didn't like that at all. With their own private arsenals strapped to every shadows back, it was amazing that any of them could move at all. Suddenly, they were running at what seemed faster than normal, but whatever advantage they had was too slight to be seen by the untrained eye. They quickly spread out to surround the house and to press their backs to the walls away from windows so as to gain cover and not be seen. At their leaders insistence they began a quiet sweep of the house.
One shadow broke loose from the groups and made its way down a hallway. It'd thought it had heard something. The hardwood floor made it difficult for it to walk quietly. It's large combat boots made a lot of noise. So did some of the straps that held its arsenal in place. The green plated facemask it wore was hot and itchy. It wanted to take it off, but if they had to throw anything that emitted fumes, it would come in handy, if it were wearing the mask. A sound from above sent him spinning desperately searching for the source of the noise.
"They really ought to teach you to look up." A cynical voice drawled from the crouch where the attacker had landed at their victim's feet.
X23 was cold. On top of that she was nervous. She wasn't nervous about the people who had slipped into the school unnoticed. No, she had expected that. What made her nervous was running around the mansion in her skivvies. It wasn't that she was ashamed of her body, though there were plenty of parts she didn't like, she just didn't like being that vulnerable. Plus, if anyone caught her she could imagine what the repercussions would be. The thought stopped her cold in her tracks. When did I start to care what these people think? When did I start striving to please them? Fuck. She did not break out of Viper's prison just to be roped into another one. The thought made her angry. Good. She could use some anger right about now. In fact, she could do with a nice bout of rage.
She had opened the bathroom door more forcefully than necessary so as to draw attention to it. Sure enough, a willing trooper had taken the bait. He looked like a storm trooper, only in black instead of white, and not so plasticine. He was a rookie. She could tell. He didn't carry enough weapons to warrant a higher rank, and he came to investigate all by his lonesome. She nearly laughed. The one thing that never failed her: people never, ever looked up. All she had to do was flop, rather ungracefully, on top of him and he was down for the count. After taunting an unconscious body, she stripped the soldier of his clothes and made her way off. She opted to go barefoot; it was quieter that way.
She came to the room of a young girl. The girl's mousy brown hair was made even more unruly by bed head, and the simple nightgown she wore seemed to make her shapeless in the bed. Her pale freckled face offset her wide frightened eyes. She'd taken note of this girl because X23 had noticed that she had a very interesting power. She covered the girl's mouth and quickly instructed the girl, "Don't scream. At least not yet." After several seconds of calming the girl she had to convince her to cooperate in this plan. After assuring herself that the girl would be useful and not make things more difficult she headed down the hall. She only had about five minutes before the young girl complied with her wishes.
X23 didn't even bother to hide her tracks, or muffle any noise she might make because she wanted them to follow her, and follow her they did. Like a bizarre pied piper, she led them to the center of the house. She just hoped she knew what she was doing. Too bad, she hardly ever knew what she was really getting herself mixed up in. At the landing she drawled sarcastically to all that could hear.
"Don't you boys ever learn?" Like in comedies, where all the masses look as one to the sky to see the boulder about to smash them, the soldiers drew their attention to the landing she was crouched upon. With that she launched herself upon them. Letting the mass killing spree begin.
Jared paced in the clearing just near the woods. She would be here. He knew it. He knew her. She was so predictable and yet, she still always managed to surprise him. Like her being here for instance, living next to a man she despised. Had she gone daft? It was the only explanation that he could come up with. She had completely lost her marbles this time. Jared flopped back onto the soft, cool grass and stared and the blackness that made up the sky. He figured he'd have some time to kill. X23 was to him what Logan was to her. He hated her...and yet...he didn't. Not really. That had been bugging him. He hadn't realized it until he saw her again, so different than the last time. She'd been just a kid them, helpless and pathetic like himself. Now, she was an angry lioness, with a roar every bit as bad as her bite, or her claws as the case may be.
He had hunted her before. Mostly because he'd been just as shocked as she to find another like himself still alive, and not at HYDRA. He dreamed about her sometimes. That really bothered him because in all the dreams he had of her she was crying. Only he could never see her face. Sometimes he'd get a flash of her angry green eyes hidden behind the curtain of her long black hair, but never the whole thing at once. He hated that face. He had to merely look in the mirror to see it for it was his own. He jumped up from the forest floor and began pacing again. He didn't want to psychoanalyze himself. He stabbed his claws into a nearby tree watching the wood nearest the claws warp and wither as the acid that covered his claws worked its way down to the heart of the tree. It would be dead by morning.
"And they say we need anger management." Just like that, she was there propped up against a tree. She was wearing one of the soldiers' uniforms, and she was barefoot. It was too big for her, and she'd only zipped it part way so that it was clear she was naked underneath. That bothered him too. Why was she bothering him this much? He'd wanted her to come, and now that she was here, he wanted her to leave him alone. He glared at her and was met with the same look mirrored back at him in her own eyes. What made her so special?
She'd felt him out in the woods while she'd been waiting for the soldiers to attack. As clear as day she could almost feel him calling her name. It way freaked her out so that she forgot about her plan. Suddenly the night was broken by a high pitched scream, like a banshee bringing death. X23 stood still and opted to let her eardrums burst rather than cover her ears and lose her advantage. It hurt like a son of a bitch, but she needed the time to get passed the soldiers while they were curled up on the floor in fetal positions. Plus, hopefully by this point everyone else was awake in the house and could take care of the poor soldiers lying on the mansion's foyer floor. She was out the door and running.
Rogue jerked awake in her bed. She hated being jerked awake, but she didn't really have time to process what was going on. She immediately clapped her hands on her ears and ran for the door. Since she had her eyes squeezed shut as well, she ran straight into a wall. She moved a hand to rub her head and immediately wished she hadn't.
"Oh god, it's happenin again!" She moaned to herself. The soldiers from the White House had to be back. They were trying to take them in for experimentation again. She hated to admit it but she was desperately terrified.
"Rogue, c'mon, let's go! We've got to get out of her." Bobby was by her side, trying to pry her hands of her ears. She realized who it was and tentatively moved a finger. The screaming had stopped. The professor needs us to round up the students. Just like last time, only we need to stay in the tunnels instead of completely leaving the property. Rogue nodded and sprung into action. She and Bobby split up making sure they herded all of the younger children on this level towards the secret passage. Some of the youngest had to be carried because they were either too scared or too tired to walk fast enough. Downstairs they could hear Scott and Storm doing the same.
Logan had been jerked awake by that damned girl again, and he was glad. There were people in the house. How had he missed that? He must be getting lazy, or old. Neither thought was one he relished. He'd never felt his age before, but that was before he knew he had offspring. That fact alone can give you grey hairs. Speaking of offspring, where was she? He made his way out and found a group of soldiers trying to get up. They appeared drunk. Some had blood gushing from where their ears would be underneath their masks. Logan extended his claws and got to work.
"Nice wake up call." Jared commented as he slowly extracted his claws from the tree.
"What do you want Jared. You didn't drag me all the way out here just to fuck with my head. You already had your fun so get to the point already." He tried to keep his face still. It still shocked him, her bluntness, her unabashed way of stating the truth and not showing any consideration towards whomever she was speaking to. Yet, something still showed in her eyes. It was bothering him. He really wanted it to stop bothering him. Without warning he charged at her. She had been surprised by his speed and hadn't had time to brace for the impact. He slammed her against the tree. He thrust her arms into a pin that he knew she couldn't get out of and immediately put all of his weight in his legs so that she couldn't move the feet he was standing on. His face was inches from hers and he was breathing shallowly. He hated her so much he thought he would choke.
X23 stared at his cheek, inches from her eyeball in shock. She'd never been this careless around anyone, especially Jared. Jared was crazy. He had it stuck in his head, that somehow she had stolen glory that rightfully belonged to him. Like she had wanted to be HYDRA's pet. That quick of anger let her realize that she hadn't fought when he'd slammed her head into the tree. Her recently healed ears began to throb again and the pain helped the anger grow. She tried to fight him, but he'd already covered his bases and she was in a vise like steal and she couldn't move. She was pissed. She wanted to rip his face off. The thought gave her idea and she smiled. If Jared had been paying attention, he would have feared what he saw on her face.
Jared let out a scream that should come from no man's throat as her teeth sank into the meatiest part of his nose so conveniently placed inches from her mouth. Like anyone would react he let her go and grabbed his face. As soon as his hands touched his face he was immediately groaning. He'd just made a rookie mistake. He could kick himself for it later. Now he had about 180 pounds of angry female launching herself at him and dragging him to the ground. It wasn't as sexy as it sounds. She was attempting to twist his spine in two. It wasn't going to work. He bucked her off of him and threw her into another tree.
"You bitch! Why couldn't you have left everything alone? You ruined everything!" His face was beginning to darken with rage. X23 tried to raise herself drunkenly to her feet.
"How did I ruin everything?" She screamed right back at him. It only made the pounding in her head beat all the louder.
"All I ever had to hear about was how they had managed to save you. How much progress you were making and what a failure I was. Then when you broke out, it still was about you. About how they couldn't wait to have you back, about how they lived for the day they could control you and destroy me." He spit every word at her like bullets. Every one hit their mark.
"You think I like being the star student of HYDRA you stupid bastard? You want their approval don't you. You sorry son of a bitch. You're nothing but a big baby." At this point she began to laugh her cold, cruel laugh that was devoid of humor. "So what are you going to do now that your precious HYDRA has failed you?"
"I want to destroy them, and you're going to help me do it." She stopped laughing. That wasn't funny. That wasn't funny at all.
The professor had given the all clear and most of the students had filed back into bed. Logan surveyed the damage.
"Pretty mild compared to our last couple of rumbles." He turned at the sound of her voice.
"And where were you for this one?" He raised an eyebrow at her appearance. The suit that was too big for her and the leaves stuck in her hair. She grimaced tiredly to herself and said the only clever response she could come up with, "In the shower." With that she made her way to the room they were letting her use and collapsed into bed. She had a lot of planning to do come morning.
I know it's kind of short, but it really actually sets up the next chapter quite nicely if I do say so myself.
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