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Thanks so much for your reviews and support!
Okay, that's it on with the story!
Chapter 11 Reliving the past PT 2
Flashback Three years ago...
Some diner in Georgia
John was sitting across from Lorna as they ate and waited for their guest to arrive. The diner door jingled like it always does and in came the one person they were waiting for. John sees him first and moves shaking his hand then slides in next to Lorna.
"Marcos. Thanks for coming. " John says.
"You bring me out to the sticks just to try the coffee, or what? " Marcos asks.
"If that's why you came out, prepare to be disappointed. Coffee sucks here." Lorna says as she uses her Magnetokinesis to stir her coffee.
" This is Lorna. She's my partner on this thing. " John says.
" Encantado." Marcos says.
"Hi." Lorna says.
" I'll get right to it. We've heard a lot about you, what you can do. We want you to join the Mutant Underground. " John says.
Marcos looks from Lorna to John then chuckles. " Listen, I'm flattered, but, uh I don't think you guys get my situation. "
" Your situation's why we're here. We know your story. You're already helping mutants cross the border. We just want you to do it full-time. " Lorna says.
" That was just a side thing, okay? There was room in a couple of trucks, so I gave some people a ride, that's all. " Marcos says.
" You really want to run drugs for the Guerra Cartel the rest of your life? You could make a difference. " John says.
Marcos shakes his head. " It's more complicated than that. "
Lorna rolls her eyes. "What, because you're dating the boss's daughter? Get a new girlfriend."
"That simple, huh? Just break it off?" Marcos asks.
" Sure. Tinder's full of girls that are into mutants. " Lorna says.
" Yeah, you don't know Carmen. She's, uh she's tough. " Marcos says.
"There are other tough chicks." Lorna says with a smile.
"Think about it, Marcos. The X-Men are gone. The government's cracking down. If mutants are gonna survive, it's up to us. " John says Marcos takes one look at Lorna the sighs.
End of Flashback...
"All right, listen up. Been talking with the other stations. Sentinel Services is ramping up surveillance across the board. So, it looks like things are gonna get worse before they get better." John says as he finds Marcos, Lorna, Reed, Sonia and Sage all in the same place downstairs.
"Well, how much worse? With all these new refugees coming in, we're running out of food, blankets, everything." Lorna says.
"I heard Marietta might have some supplies I can head up there this afternoon." Marcos says.
"All right. How's it coming with the hard drives from Baton Rouge?" John asks looking at Reed and Sage.
"We're working on cracking them." Sage says.
"Well, the bad news is they're encrypted. But the good news is it probably means that there's something worth hiding." Reed says.
John nods. "Okay, if we don't figure out how they're turning mutants against us, none of this is gonna matter. And one more thing. I'm gonna go track down Clarice."
"Now? You really think that's a good idea?" Sonia asks. John can hear the bitterness in her tone.
"She knows where this place is. If Sentinel Services catches her right now, it's gonna be a disaster. All right? We got a lot of work to do. Let's get to it." John says and with that they all head out to do their tasks with Sonia leaving first. Lorna gives John a smile before she and Marcos leave. John grabs his bag from the couch that Zingo had chosen to sit in and gives her a light pat on the head. "I'm gonna go get her back." Zingo wags her tail. John heads out taking the car and sets out to find Clarice.
It takes most of the day, but he eventually catches up to her. Her trail leading him to an abandoned old school. He tracks her just to make sure that she's still there. He opens the first door with ease. He lets her voice lead him to her. She just dropped her soup can.
"Damn it. Stupid soup." She says. Then she gasps, and that's John's fault he opened that next door a bit too loud. By the time he sees her she's making a portal.
"Clarice, wait! Wait! Just hang on." John says his arms raised. She closes her portal and sits back down. "What are you doing here?" She asks. "Well, I'm not here for the soup. You're tough to track, you know that? You didn't leave much of a trail." John says. "Yeah? That was intentional. Acting like this is anything new is pointless." She says rolling her eyes. "Hey. Listen, I'm sorry, all right? What happened with you and Sonia, I should have told you." John says as he kneels down next to her. "You think? You know, I still see that memory she put in my head. It's like a bad soap opera I can't escape." She says after she shoves a folder in her bag.
"I'm here to convince you to come back. You're not safe out here right now." John says. "You're concerned for my safety? That's why you came?" She asks looking into his eyes. "No, that's not all. The Underground needs you." John settles on. NO! That's not it! I need you! "The Underground? Got it. Sorry, but that's your battle, not mine. I have stuff to do." She says standing up with her jacket and bag. "'Stuff'? What stuff?" John asks as he follows her out of the room. "Remember when I got sick? I kept trying to portal to that road?" She asks. "Yeah, somewhere out in the countryside." John says with a nod. "I'm trying to find that spot. You guys taught me that none of this is random the reasons why we use our powers, what we do. That road must mean something to me. And I want to know why."
"Let me help you find it." John says. She scoffs. "What? No, I don't need your help." John rolls his eyes. "Yeah, you do. I've been tracking you, remember? You clearly have no idea where you're headed. Let me do this for you. I owe you, if nothing else." He says then looks at the sliver plain ring on her finger. "Fine." She finally says. John smiles and grabs his bag. "So, how about I go and get some food?" Clarice looks at him confused. "You were going to eat before I showed up." She nods and pulls out the sleeping bag. "Right you do that." She says then looks away. It wasn't long before he had returned with takeout.
They ate in silence then John asked. "Clarice, I have to ask, how did you get that tracker out of you?" She stops eating for a moment.
"It definitely wasn't easy that's for sure. I'm going back to the part where I had just portaled myself on that plane."
Flashback four years ago...
Clarice sees the cargo hatch close Storm summons lighting stopping Selene in her tracks to buy Clarice some time the plane is already high up. She opens a portal and tells them to go through. W ith one final attack that leaves Selene unconscious they jump through finding themselves in the cargo bin and they relax.
Storm looks over at her and smiles. "We did it." Clarice nods as she catches her breath. "Yeah, we did. Now we have to get far enough away so we can find someone to take these trackers out of us." Ororo nods as she holds Evan in her arms. "We should try and rest, we need to be ready in case we are followed." Clarice nods and leans back and closes her eyes.
Clarice is jolted awake by the planes landing. Once it comes to a complete stop, they rush and hide behind some boxes. The cargo hatch opens, two men come in and get a few boxes then head out again. The trio comes out from their spot and dash out of the plane into the night, not knowing where they were going, until they got to a warehouse.
"Where are we?" Evan asks. Ororo looks at the address on the building.
"We are in California." She says as they head around the back looking for some shelter.
"What are we going to do now?" Evan asks.
"We're going to get, some more rest and then find someone who can get these trackers and collars off of us." Clarice says with a smile.
"I know someone who can help, but he may be hard to track down." Ororo says as they continue to walk and soon find an abandoned old loft which was still fully furnished and not to bad looking.
"Well, until you can we need to eat and sleep, I think if we can't find something about this friend of yours then we should be out of here by tomorrow night. Selene will not stop until she catches us again." Clarice says and Ororo and Evan nod.
They manage to find some stale cereal and bread and they eat that saving what they could for the morning . After they ate they went to sleep. It was nearly 7 when they woke up. Clarice was awoken by Ororo.
"I'm going to head into town a see if I can find out anything about my friend."
Clarice nods. "Just who is this friend of yours?"
"His name is Remy Lebeau, but he goes by Gambit." Ororo says.
Clarice yawns. "But, how are you going to find him if we can't be seen?" She gestures to Ororo's eyes and hair.
"It's California, it's one of the few places that people don't care what we look like. So, I should be back within a few hours so, can you watch Evan?" Ororo asks.
"Sure thing, and hey be safe." Clarice says.
Ororo nods and then she leaves. Clarice eats some of the food and when 9 rolls around Evan comes and takes a seat next to her.
"Where's Auntie O?" He asks as he eats his breakfast.
"She's out looking for some leads on her friend so we can get these collars and trackers out of us." She says then she notices his sad expression. "Hey, she's going to be okay. "
Evan nods with a small smile then finishes off his breakfast. Then Clarice finds several blank canvases and places them in different parts of the room.
"Hey, Evan let's see how much we can hit before we get zapped. Just the canvases not anything else." She says. Evan nods a spike comes out of his hand.
Clarice opens up a small portal, "Are you ready?" He nods. "Okay, go!"
Evan shoots multiple spikes through the one portal and they hit most of the canvases that are on the other side of the portals. They keep at this until they both feel a sharp pain in their necks. Then the door opens and in comes Ororo with several bags in her hands.
"Where did you get those? And what did you find out?" Clarice says as she gets up and looks through the bags that have some food clothes and some water. Ororo also has three backpacks with her.
"I use to be a very skilled thief, turns out I'm still quite good at it. As for Gambit, yes, I found him, but he's not here. He's in Las Vegas. " Ororo says.
"Vegas what's he doing there?" Clarice asks.
"He's quite the gambler. It wouldn't be the first time that he had gotten bored of the casino's in New Orleans." Ororo simply says. Clarice nods and they eat and change then pack their bags, after a short nap they head out.
" Ororo where did this car come from?" Clarice asks.
" Honestly ? It was given to me by a car salesman. And I was nowhere near any dealership. " Ororo says as she places her bag in the backseat close to Evan.
Clarice sits in the passenger seat and straps in as Ororo starts the engine. The drive only takes them 3.5 hours with one stop at a gas station to fill up and use the restroom. They park in the public parking lot of the Aria Resort & Casino.
"How do we know that he's here?" Clarice asked.
"Remy always likes to show off his power and his signature in all around this place." Storm says then she takes Evan's hand. "Stay close by my side or Clarice's we do not want to lose you in that crowd."
"Okay, Auntie O." He says and they all head inside the Casino part of the hotel. It does not take long for Storm to find her old friend. Remy was the kind of guy that Clarice would want to stay away from, but his unusual red eyes draw you in.
The crowd cheers as the red-eyed mutant had just won another hand then he spotted his friend.
"Do, my eyes deceive me? Or is dat Stormy!" He gets up and looks to the dealer. "Dis is my last game Mes amis are here and I must go." With that his dealer gives him his ticket and he goes to cash it out.
"Gambit, you know how much I hate that nickname." Ororo says but she smiles.
" Shh , not here Stormy." Remy says they take the elevator up to his room. "So, Stormy qui is dis?" Remy asks looking at Clarice and Evan.
"This is Evan and Clarice. Gambit we need your help." Ororo then points to the collar around her neck.
Remy nods, "Ah, qui I can take care of dis." He then moves to Storm placing his hand on the collar and his power to destroy it without hurting Storm.
"I see that you have a better handle on your powers now." Ororo says as she rubs her neck.
Remy shrugs as he kneels down and does the same thing to remove Evan and then Clarice's collars. "It would seem so, now want to tell Gambit how ya ended up with dat?" Gambit gestures to the ashes on the carpet and Evan.
"We were abducted and this crazy lady with absorption powers forced us to save other mutants like us from an actual war that is going in Africa. But, Auntie O, and Auntie C were able to come up with a plan to escape and now were here." Evan says. Clarice and Ororo look at him with wide eyes that was the longest Evan had ever talked since they had escaped.
" Tante Stormy? So, let Remy get dis straight, ya have been in Africa for 6 months and now ya have escaped and dis lady qui did dis to ya kidnapped ya ?"
"And we also have trackers in our bodies somewhere that we can't get out." Clarice chimes in.
The Cajun's red eyes widen. "Quoi?! "
"Remy please we must get them out before Selene gets a hold of us again. I fear she is not yet done with us." Ororo says as she places a hand on his shoulder.
Gambit sighs. "I can't get those out, Stormy. But I know someone who can and ya ain't gonna like it."
Storm's cerulean eyes narrow. "Remy."
"Stormy, it's Forge." Gambit says. Clarice looks at Ororo then back at Gambit.
" Okay, so just who is this Forge? " She asks.
"Forge, is my Ex. He can help us get these trackers out. We should get going it's only a matter of time before Selene finds us." Ororo says.
"And I know where he is. Allons!" Gambit says as he takes several decks of cards and his staff which he straps to his belt.
Gambit packs all his stuff and gets checked out of the hotel. Storm opens the trunk and Remy places his bags in. Clarice decides to sit in the backseat with Evan. While Gambit drives and Ororo in the passenger side.
"So, where is Forge exactly?" Clarice asks.
"He's in Colorado at da moment, dats where we headin '. " Ororo looks back giving her a small smile then for the next 6 hours they drive with two bathroom breaks as well as getting some lunch and dinner. They find a mini motel and get two rooms for the night.
"So, I'll room with Stormy and ya and the petite can be in da other one Evan." Gambit says.
Clarice shakes her head. "Not, a chance. Evan rooms with Ororo because she knows how to calm his down in case he has a nightmare. You can room with me unless you have a problem with that?"
Gambit holds his hands up in surrender. "Non, petite. I knew ya couldn't resist me." He says with a wink.
Clarice rolls her eyes grabbing the room key and storming off to the room. Once the door is open she tosses her bag on the nearest bed and wait for her temporary roommate to arrive. And when he does he goes over and places his bag on the other bed.
They don't talk and Clarice goes to take a shower relieved to have some privacy. When she's done she turns off the water and dresses in some sweats and a t-shirt. She comes out and sees Gambit shuffling a deck of cards. She climbs on her bed and goes to sleep.
The next morning after checking out of their rooms and grabbing some breakfast at McDonalds they get back in the rode with Ororo driving this time, after making a few stops the finally arrive in Colorado by nightfall. Storm pulls over into a parking lot and turns to Gambit.
"So, where is Forge?" She asks.
" Lemme take ova Stormy, I promise we will be dare within 20 minutes." Ororo sighs and gets out of the car to and switches places with Remy. True to his word they arrive at in the suburbs and they all pile out. And follow Gambit to the right house with a mechanical arch on the door. Remy knocks and a minute later it opens. Revealing a tall Native American man with a metal leg.
He looks at everyone then looks back at Ororo . She rolls her eyes. "Hello, Forge."
"Hey, Rory. Uh, what are you doing here?" Forge asks.
"We need your help to get these trackers out of us." Storm says as she gestures to herself, Evan and Clarice.
"Well, are ya gonna let us in or not?" Gambit asks. Forge moves out of the way so they can come in.
"So, how exactly is he going to get these things out of us?" Clarice asks as she looks around the room they are in which is filled with different kinds of tech.
"Well, first I need to know where these trackers are and how did this happen? " Forge asks. Gambit spends the next 10 minutes telling Forge how they ended up like that and their names. Forge was shocked when he had found out the Ororo had been captured he thought that no one could catch the weather witch. "Well I guess that explains why you never answered my calls Rory." Forge says.
"Please do not call me that, now are you going to help us or not?" Storm asks her arms crossed over her chest.
" Of course, just give me a few minutes to build something that can." Forge says.
Clarice rolls, "Yeah, it's not like we don't have a crazy mutant who can absorb our powers coming after us."
Gambit chuckles, " Ya , have a lotta fire to ya , I like dat in a woman." He says.
"Leave her alone Gambit." Ororo says and soon Forge comes back with his little device.
"What's that?" Evan asks.
Forge smiles. "Hey, don't worry all this is going to do is make getting those trackers out a smoother."
Clarice's jade eyes widen, "Please tell me your joking."
"Afraid not and it was the best I could do on short notice." Forge says. Then he has them sit down first starting with Clarice. And a few minutes later she goes running to his bathroom. When she comes back he grabs his scanner. "The trackers out. Ow!" He says rubbing his now sore arm.
"I would have rather you just cut me open then have to go through that. " Clarice says.
Forge chuckles and goes to do the same to Storm and Evan. They too go running to different bathrooms. After they get scanned Forge then asks about Evan.
"He's not mine his mother was murdered right in front of him. I just couldn't leave him." Ororo says.
"That's so like you Rory, to care for something else and care about them more than someone." Forge sneers.
"Hey back off! I don't know what went down between you two, and I don't care. Without Ororo we would not even be here!" Clarice says.
"I dink dat we should be on our way. Merci Forge, and don't ever talk about my Stormy like dat again. Allons!" The trio follow Gambit out of the house only to have Forge grab Clarice by the arm.
"It's not like you would understand, you never lost something that you loved." His grips tightens .
"Yes, I do. I was taken away from my fiancé and I lost a precious part of me four months ago. So, yeah in a sense I do know what it's like."
Thunderclaps and the winds pick up. "Let her go, Forge!" They both look in front of them and see that Storm's eyes have turned white and Gambit has a few cards charged ready to let loose. Forge releases her arm and goes back inside his house slamming the door behind him.
"So, where to now?" Gambit asks.
End of Flashback...
"Wait, what did you mean when you said you lost something precious?" John asks. Clarice looks at John then turns to look away. "That night you proposed, the same night you made love to me. And a few days later I get taken and then that doctor checked me out." She looks at him with tears in her eyes. "Clarice, what are you saying?" John asks still confused. "John I was pregnant."
Hello everyone I know it has been a long while, but here you go another long chapter! So let me know what you thought about it and tell me is there any X-Men or Brotherhood characters that you would like to see? Until next time...
Allons= Let's go!
Da= The
Dare= There
Dat= That
Dis= This
Merci= Thank You
Mes Amis= My Friends
Non= No
Petit(e)= Small
Qui= Who
Quoi= What
Tante= Aunt