Disclaimer: I own Gwen and her story, that is all.
A/N: Thank you guys for your wonderful reviews! As always, they are very encouraging. Sorry, again, for the incredible delay. This chapter was in need of some serious love, and I mean desperate need. So, once again, I have given you guys another long chapter - six pages. Now, onto the fic!
Darkness slowly sunk in around her. Her world grew colder with every passing minute. She was falling deeper and deeper into a place where there was no return. She couldn't move, and her breathing was so light that it seemed as though she had stopped altogether. She was still in the hallway, moving only to lean her sullen body against the wall. Her brain had stopped functioning as the emotional weight grew heavier on her shoulders. She felt as though everything was slipping between her fingers like sand, and was unable to stop it. Sighing for the umpteenth time, Gwen dropped her head between her knees, her long, black hair becoming a mask to cover her face.
She had a gut-wrenching feeling that something terrible had happened. It felt like a rock just sitting in the pit of her stomach that kept getting heavier by the secound. 'This is it.' a voice inside her head rang, 'You knew that no happiness would come to you here. Why do you stay?'
Gwen was doubting herself, though it wasn't the first time. She hated the fork she was at: which road to take? Either way she decided to take lead to a place she dared not to venture into. She was trapped with no clear way to maneuver herself free.
"You know why I stay."
'You stay for a false sense of security. For a home that doesn't exist.'
"No,"
'Oh? Everything you thought was here has disappeared . . . '
"No . . . " Gwen whispered. Even when she thought she had cried her last tear, they began to build up in her eyes once more, this time for a different cause.
'Everything here has left you behind . . . '
"You're wrong . . . " Gwen said, her voice quavering. The tears were beginning to flood over, and cascade down her fair cheeks.
'Everything here has . . . died . . . '
"NO!" Gwen cried. She was sobbing now, knowing perfectly well that all was lost. She did want to hear anymore. She didn't want to hear what she already knew to be the truth. She couldn't handle the truth; she didn't want to.
'Gwen, listen,'
"I - can't." Gwen whispered so only she could hear.
'Gwen . . . '
"No - "
'Gwen . . . "
"Go . . . a - way . . . " she said, suddenly feeling short of breath.
"Gwen!"
"No, please . . . " Gwen answered, finding her ability to breathe harder with every syllable.
"Gwen!"
"Go . . . " She was sinking deeper and deeper into her sorrow, her abandon. Her vision growing darker and darker. She felt as though this was it: this was the end. She had only one thought drifting though her mind: 'Thank you.'
"GWEN!"
Gwen's head jolted upwards,instantly beginningto throb heavily. Something, or someone, had brought her back from the depths, from the darkness. A hand had reached into the place where lost souls roam and pulled her back into life. She turned to see who belonged to that hand, only to have her eyes betray her. Old battles, old wounds resurfaced, her vision turning grey and hazy once again. She could distinguish a figure before her, but nothing more. Her surroundings were nothing more than masses of grey. She slowly reached out her hand, just to reassure herself that someone was there.
There was contact. A hand met hers in the middle, the fingers lacing between her own.
"Who - " she tried to say, but the rest of the words fell from her voice, slipping into oblivion.
The young man before her did not respond. He knelt down and lifted her sullen arm over his shoulders. He helped her onto her feet, his warm touch a welcome sensation against her frozen flesh. Slowly, he aided her down the hall, his strong arms gently keeping her balanced as she passed between the realms of perception and nothingness. Any bystander could have seen that she was not herself. She had been drowning in her sorrow, in her woe. And yet a strength came to her in the darkness. He had become her rock, her redeemer, her beacon. He would never know how much that simple act would mean to her.
He brought her to her dorm, setting her down upon her bed without a word to her dorm-mates. Three girls stared in alarm at the weak figure that had slumped over the yellow sheets. Though a thousand questions ran through their minds simultaneously, they were too stunned to speak. He turned to them, a dark fire blazing behind his narrowed eyes; "Get out." was all he said. Nothing more was needed. After a momentary pause, the girls stood and walked over to the door, looking back at the scene over their shoulders. He watched them as they exchanged troubled glances, then left with out a word.
The teen gingerly brought his lean form down next to Gwen's. Brushing her dark hair out of her face and removing her sunglasses, he looked at her ashen face shining from her fallen tears. He wanted to help her, yet he could not find the courage to do so. This was the first time in his life that he was actually scared of confronting someone, especially a girl. Where was he to begin? She was so distant, so sealed off, that the chances of her opening up to anyone were slim, least of all him. Why should she? These people were complete strangers to her. He was a complete stranger to her.
Sighing, he stood to leave, but stopped mid-step. For some reason he had a strong desire for her to know that he had been there, that he had helped her, even saved her. He turned around, his eyes falling on her face once more. He walked over and leaned down above her. He slowly brought hiswarm lips to her forehead and kissed her.
Straightening up, he slipped his hand into his pocket and brought out a small object. He held it in his hand, the light from the setting sun reflecting off of it. In one swift motion, John set the item down on Gwen's nightstand and left the room.
> > > > > > > >
The school had long been blanketed in darkness by the time that Gwen woke. She sat up, and looked around. Light from the hallway illuminated the room. She yawned, wondering how she had worked up enough strength to make the way to her dorm.
Her dorm!
When did she get there? She tried to remember back, but much of her memory was grey and fuzzy. She remembered Bobby, and the man from the next room, but little else. Wait - she remembered a hand. A hand coming through the darkness to take her away; but whose hand was it? It could have been anyone's. But why would have anyone wanted to help her? Who would do that?
Gwen slid her legs over the edge of her bed, her eyes falling on the digital clock that hung on the opposite wall. It's bright red numbers read 8:19. The time was passing before her, never to return. Heaving a sigh, Gwen stood and headed out into the hallway. The corridor was brightly lit, giving Gwen an instant headache. She gave her eyes time to grow accustomed to the light, allowed the headache to pass, then moved on down the hall.
She moved through the halls with any sound. She did not know where she was going, but followed her feet. Her thoughts fell on earlier, and her worries grew. Where was Rogue? Was she okay? Had she returned? That man who had broken up her and Bobby before had clearly been as worried as Gwen, but why? Had he known something that she did not? Gwen sighed; of course he knew more she, why else would he have run off like that? The only thing she could do now was hope that Rogue would be okay.
Suddenly numerous voices reached her ear. Normally, raised voices would have barely even registered in her mind, she had come from an orphanage, but for some reason she stopped. Listening closely, she followed the voices until she pin-pointed their location. It wasn't until she took a look around that she realized where her feet had lead her - right outside her first room at the school: Professor Xavier's office.
" . . . mutation is unnatural. Kelly's body is rejecting it. His cells began to break down almost immediately." a female voice said, a worried tone carrying her words. Gwen recognized the voice as Dr. Grey's.
"What effect does it have on mutants?" a male voice asked.
"There appears to be none." a voice Gwen instantly knew to be the professor's answered, "But I fear it will do serious harm to any normal human exposed to it."
"So, what does he want with Rogue?"
Now Gwen's attention was solely on the conversation taking place inside that office. Those people inside knew what had happened to Rogue - where she was, why she was gone, everything. Quickly checking to make sure no one was lurking around in the hallway, Gwen turned invisible and continued listening.
"I don't know." the professor replied. Unconsciously, Gwen's shoulder's slumped. The weight that had been dragging her down all afternoon suddenly felt even heavier.
'They don't know anything.' she thought, 'They are just as much in the dark as I am. Dammit!'
she thought,"Wait," a voice stated. Gwen realized that it was Mr. Summers; "You said that the machine draws its power from Magneto, and that it weakened him."
"Yes, in fact . . . it nearly killed him . . . " the professor said. Gwen could hear the comprehension in his words. To the professor, everything was coming together, but Gwen was still stuck in the dark. Who was Magneto? What was his machine? What did it do to nearly kill him?
Gwen's thoughts were interrupted by the voice of the man from that afternoon and the night before, "He's going to transfer his power to Rogue . . . and use her to power the machine."
"WHAT!" Gwen cried, then quickly covered her mouth. She was lucky that no one could hear her, 'What the hell do they mean 'use her to power the machine'?'
But before she had any more time to react, the very distinct sound of hurried footfalls rang in her ears. Looking up, Gwen spotted Storm running down the corridor at breakneck speed as the conversation continued on inside. There was no doubt in Gwen's mind as to where her history teacher was sprinting to.
The voices inside the office were suddenly getting louder and the people angrier. Gwen could definitely make out Mr. Summers' voice the best: "Professor, I'm sorry, but he'll endanger the mission. He'll . . . "
"Hey, I wasn't the one to give the train station a new sun roof, pal."
"No, you were the one who stabbed Rogue through the chest."
"Look, why don't you take your little mission and shove it up your - "
Looking up, Gwen found that Storm was practically on top of her. Gwen backed away as Storm rushed towards the professor's office and threw open the door; "Senator Kelly is dead."
'Senator Kelly?' Gwen thought to herself, 'That bastard trying to get the Mutant Registration Act passed? What is he doing here, of all places? How did he die?'
Curiosity getting the better of her, Gwen peaked into the office. Everyone inside was silent for a moment, shocked at the news. The professor looked livid. Gwen had never seen him so mad before, but then again, she'd never seen him angry.
"I'm going to find her." the professor said coldly, then looked to Mr. Summers, then to that man from before and back to Mr. Summers; "I want this settled, but you willhave to deal with our company outside first."
Horror-struck, Gwen froze up. How could she have been so stupid? The professor was a telepath! Why did think that she was able to cloak herself from everyone in that room? God-fucking-dammit! He had probably known she'd been there the entire time.
The man from that afternoon came towards the door with a look of utter fury on his harsh face; "Who's out there?" he roared. Gwen remained silent, quietly fearing for her life. Not getting an answer, the man threw his fists out to his sides. Much to Gwen's already terror-ridden self, long, sharp metal claws ejected from his knuckles. Raising one of his fists, he trust is straight towards Gwen's face -
"Oh shit!" Gwen said, becoming visible again and raising her hands in surrender all within a matter a secounds, if that; "Please, for Christ's sake, don't kill me!"
The claws stopped just inches before her nose. Several sighs and other unhappy sounds came from the people inside.
"Gwen?" Storm asked. Gwen could not make out the emotions behind her teacher's voice, but she was more focused on the steel claws in her face; "Gwen, what are you doing?"
"I was worried about Rogue - " Gwen began.
"What do you want?" the man said.
Without even thinking Gwen answered, but immediately realized what kind of a request she was making: "To help."
"What?" Storm asked.
Gwen cautiously brought her finger onto one of the man's very sharp, and very shiny, claws and pushed his hand down very slowly, she did not want to make him any madder than he already was; "Let me go with you. Let me help you get Rogue back."
"Gwen," Storm said very calmly, "you don't understand what is happening here - "
"I understand that Rogue is in trouble. That's all I need to know. Let me help you save her."
Several blank stares came her way.
"Look, I know that I'm not very powerful, but if Rogue is in serious trouble she will need a friend there for her. Let me help her."
Silence. The adults all exchanged glances. None of them wanted to risk bringing Gwen along, but they also realized what kind of an asset her invisibility could be.
"Please! Just let me go! I could be your secret weapon or something!"
Apparently, the adults weren't the only ones thinking ahead.
Another A/N: That's it folks. Next chapter is when things start to get really exciting! In other news, I have finally reached the pinnacle of my life - I received my first flame for this fic. Normally, I would be kind of annoyed to get a flame, but after getting passed the lack of grammar and the horrible spelling, I realized how dumb this person really is. If you don't believe me, read the review by hmm for chapter six. It has to be the stupidest thing I have ever read in my life.
ME (a.k.a. Black's Daughter) - I promise, Scott and Jean are coming up. The next few chapters are going to be rather intense, so there won't a lot of interaction, but there will be some! I swear to you!
A Lost Soul - Did you call me a LIAR? That was uncalled for! Anyhoo, you actually wanted her to beat him up? That could probably be arranged for sometime in the future. Possibly. John is also an open option for a beating, we'll have to see. Sorry about the late update, but hey, you can forgive me, right? Right? . . . Please? BTW, did you JUST realize that I am a freak? I thought one might have noticed by now.
GreyGryph - Doll face, you are ALWAYS on cold meds. That is what makes you so much fun to be around. And trust me, death has tried, and tried . . . and tried some more . . . to get rid of that bastard, but he won't budge . . .
Diaz F - YAY! You like me again! I'm so pleased! Thank you for your wonderful comments!
Remus is Mine - Again, thank you so much. In response to your questions, you should follow the movie timeline to discern what happened and where Rogue is . . .
… - Thank you! Sorry, I suck at updating quickly.
Witchlight2037 - Thank you! No, nothing special happens when she cries and no, it does not tie into her power. She is just crying. Sorry to disappoint you. But, yay! I'm so excited by your enthusiasm for the fic! Never fear, there will be some interaction between Gwen and Scott and Jean, but you will have to wait for a little while longer.
Cynic11 - It was a very intense chapter, and the next chapters are just going to get worse. Thank you for your lovely comments! That makes me feel very confident! I hope you like how I tied the fic in with the movie.
Cobra Rigoletti - She will find out about her parents, keine angst (no worries). But you will have to wait. Like I told A Lost Soul, patience is a virtue. For whatever reason, she did not believe me. Oh well. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.