Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I own the OC box set, Toucan earrings, and Zia. And Lyla, I suppose. And maybe this plot (sorry if I accidentally offend someone/Marvel people)

Big, whopping thanks to all of my darling 2 reviewers. You really made my day. Review with some suggestions, PLEASE! Lol. THANKS, I love you both!

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It was almost blissful. Being starved half to death, going through excruciatingly painful experiments, raped, and beaten daily. It was blissful because Zia began to get used to it. She had Lyla, and as long as she had her in that Place, she didn't have to worry. The other mutants had died, apparently. They were the only two left. She had been here about 2 weeks.

One morning, Zia came back late from an experiment. The soldier threw her roughly into her cell, not bothering to keep his hands to himself. Zia lay there for a few minutes, feeling the blood trickle down her body. She needed to gather up her strength. She crawled toward Lyla.

"Hey," she crooned softly. Zia knew Lyla was still recovering from an experiment where they had gone into her eyes to see what was controlling the light in her body. She had come back a mess. Zia was now getting worried. She could see the girl's thin chest heaving up and down, but other than that there was no sign of life. Zia sighed; it had been 2 weeks now, but now response from the X-men, although sometimes she did get feeble waves of the Prof trying very hard to reach her. But she knew it wasn't going to work- the base was too guarded from psychic attacks with special technology.

Zia lifted her head suddenly. A soldier, Matthews was his name, was coming down the steps. He was only 20-something. Zia gave an involuntary shudder- he was the one who had raped her first. He was fairly handsome, with wavy blonde hair and a nice build. But he was also vile and stupid.

He walked toward Lyla's cell. Zia watched him, dumbfounded. She was too weak to go through that now!

He laid Lyla on the table, grinning in anticipation. Zia was about to yell at him when Lyla stirred. He reached a hand under her hospital gown, fingering her roughly. In a split second, Lyla smacked him across the face smartly.

He looked livid with rage. Raising his hand, he beat any part of her body that he could reach. Zia gasped in horror- he was slowly and surely killing her. She looked around her cell wildly. The food tray. She slipped it under her gown discreetly.

Zia screamed, "Hey, bastard, pick on somebody your own size!"

He looked over at her, feasting one her half-naked body. He dropped Lyla like a ragdoll and opened up her cell. He picked her up by the neck and carried her out of the cell. Choking and sputtering for breath, Zia reached and brought the food tray down on his head as hard as possible. He dropped her, rubbing his head. She beat him, again and again, a white-hot fury consuming her. She could hear voices, whispers, again in her head, telling her to do it, egging her on. She hit him until he was bleeding from a small wound in his head, and out cold.

Zia dropped next to Lyla's body. "Please, please, baby, not yet, you're not dead, you're not dead," she whispered over and over, checking for a sign of life.

"Zia," Lyla breathed. "Peace."

Her head lolled on her shoulder, dead and still warm.

The tears threatened to overwhelm her, but Zia held them back. Instead, she shook and shook, rocking herself, until she was close to exhaustion. But she knew she had many more miles to go before she slept. She groped around in Matthew's pockets before she found a set of keys. With difficulty, Zia undid hers and Lyla's collar. She massaged her neck for a second, unused to the sudden rush of air on it, and then flipped out two long blades. She then took the soldier's boots and jacket. Swinging Lyla over her shoulder, Zia exited through the doorway.

She could see faint shadows, moving around doorways, beckoning her. Some were normal looking teenagers; others had obvious mutations like tails and wings. She followed them, pulsing with sudden energy. She followed a ghostly pale teenage boy into a room filled with soldiers playing cards or lounging around. They started to yell. She ducked, leapt under the table they were sitting at. She threw a sword upwards to a soldier, stabbing him in the stomach. In and out, dodge and duck, punch and kick. It was just like the Danger Room. More soldiers streamed in.

As if being controlled by some unseen force, Zia gently discarded Lyla's body under the table and got ready for a fight. Slash and stab, jab and thrust, cut and bloody. The ghostly illusions of the mutants were circled around the room, hissing insults and to the soldiers and whispering encouragement to Zia. The more she went on, the more she got pumped up.

Finally, the bloody massacre was done. She piled the bodies up in the room, and then strode out, Lyla's body over her shoulders. There was something she had to do first before she left. Walking briskly toward a room at the end of the hallway, she entered Security Room. A couple stabs through the machine later, there was no longer a psychic block on Ironer Falls Government Base.

She followed the stream of mutants up some stairs and out into the cold brisk air. Looking around, she saw that she was in a forest area, with trees all around, except for wide dirt clearing. She stumbled in the sudden natural light. Zia dragged herself over to a tree, and plopped herself down. She was drained completely; she probably couldn't even stand up as of now. So, she amused her hazy mind by combing out the tangles in Lyla's hair, making it shine golden again. Her stomach reminded her that she had not had adequate meals in weeks by groaning loudly, but she happily ignored it. She was in a perfect, hard little shell from the real world.

She watched glimpses of mutants, playing tag or running around with each other. She even saw for a moment a group of teenage girls braiding each other's pearly grey hair in a circle, chattering to each other. However, Zia heard not a noise except for the wind creaking the treetops and birds twitting to each other in the afternoon sunshine. She had to admit, it was rather beautiful in an eerie way.

She must have drifted asleep, because when she woke up it was dark out. Cursing herself for her stupidity, she jumped up, drawing her swords. The ghost mutants were gone. Standing about 15 feet in front of her was a grey/white greyhound, staring at her with big black orbs. Zia stared back with a mixture of curiosity and surprise.

Suddenly, there was a rush of air from up above. Looking up, she saw the X-jet trying to land in the clearing. She staggered backwards, towards the tree and Lyla.

Once it landed, there was complete silence in the forest. The ramp suddenly opened, and Logan, Remy, and Storm walked out.

"Zia!" cried Storm, running toward her. Zia allowed herself to be embraced.

"You okay, petit?" asked Remy gently. Zia half-shrugged.

"C'mon, let's get you out of here," said Logan, steering her to the ramp. Zia picked up Lyla in her arms with some difficulty, and then followed her. As she walked up the ramp, Zia took one look back. The dog was still there, staring at her. Zia beckoned the dog to follow her by patting her thigh. The greyhound immediately trotted up the ramp after her.

Before strapping herself in, she went to the back of the jet, and tightly locked Lyla onto a hospital cot. She drew the white cotton sheets over her head, hating Matthews. She went back to her seat, not saying a word to anybody. The dog was curled up by her feet, fast asleep.

The trip seemed to take no time at all, although Zia knew it was almost 4 hours away from the Institute. As she walked down the Z-jet's ramp, Zia felt her legs weakening under her. Catching her as she fell was Logan. He carried her through the long hallways and curtained windows to the medi-lab, Zia half-conscious. The dog was trotting along at their sides the entire time. Zia vaguely remembered her first time here at the medi-lab. How was that over a month ago? It felt like 1,000 years to her.

Beast gasped when he saw her appearance. Logan laid Zia down on a hospital bed gently. She could hear a murmured conversation between the two, but heard no words. The dog sat calmly by the bed. Zia didn't even know why she had brought him along; she was far from caring though.

Storm walked up to her. "Child, this may be a sore subject for you right now, but do you want your young friend cremated or buried?"

"Cre…Crem…" began Zia croakily. She was dimly surprised that she couldn't seem to talk properly. Storm nodded her understanding, and suddenly sighed and stroked her forehead.

Zia knew she was probably ugly now. Before, she had a kind of fierce, determined beauty but now, now she knew was just plain ugly. Her hair was lank and dull, dirty and matted. Her body was emaciated, every single bone stood out clearly. Her limbs, body, and face were all filthy and smelling.

"Zia," Beast's voice interrupted her thoughts, "I'm going to run a few tests and hook you up to an IV. I need you to sit still. Can you do that?"

She nodded once, and absentmindedly stroked the dog while Beast attached the IV to her hand, gave her a few shots, and did a thorough exam on her. She amused herself by watching various members of the X-men come in and cry, rant, and fuss over her. After about an hour and a half, Beast came over to her.

"Alright, I'm going to have to keep you in here for a couple of days, if not at least a week. You are in very critical condition." Zia nodded mutely.

"Zia," Beast started awkwardly. "Lots of things happened in there, didn't they?" Zia half-shrugged, then reluctantly nodded.

"Alright," said Beast. He sounded as if he was going to regret his next words. "I… I mean you…are pregnant."

"Pregnant?" Zia said softly.

Beast nodded, and Logan came over to the bed."

"Pregnant?" Zia repeated.

Beast nodded, "Yes."

"Pregnant?" Zia said.

Logan cursed under his breath.

"Pregnant?" Zia said, falling back into the pillows.

Beast sighed, "I'm so, so sorry, Zia."

Zia seemed to have snapped out of a doze. She glared haughtily at Beast and Logan. "Well, go on and tell the rest of the X-men, why don't you."

Logan held up his hands. "Kid, you can tell 'em when you want. My lips are sealed."

"Tell them. Let them know. I'm past caring." Zia turned on her side, hating herself. She was pregnant by rape. She was disgusted with herself. Her dirty, unclean self.

"Zia?" asked Beast softly.

"Leave me alone." She said, almost growling. She felt Beast checking her IV, making sure she was settled for the night, then left.

When she was fairly sure nobody was in with her anymore, she curled up in a tiny ball and wadded the sheets in her mouth. The tears came slow at first, silent and steady. But towards the middle, the entire bed was shaking with her stifled sobs. It started out as innocent fate, and ended up with this slow wheezing death.

A/N:Hrmm...what oh what shall I do nextto this poor character? R/R or I'll cry ;(