Woo! Two reviews and more favs/follows! I hope everyone's enjoying it and looks forward to the next update. Big shout out to Felidaes' Tale and ElfenZauber, my first two reviewers! Thank you so much! So, I have loads of ideas for this story so please keep reading!
Where did I go wrong?
I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life
- How to Save a Life, The Fray
Chapter Four
"Daddy, Daddy!" A five-year old Lyndsey cried, running into her father's study. Dressed in a pretty blue dress, her brown hair hung in a plait down her back, she clutched her rag doll, and peered round the door.
Jack Pryde sat behind the mahogany desk, looking very formal in his old Air force uniform he only wore on important occasions. The room was dark, from its lack of lighting and drawn curtains.
"Daddy, why's it so dark?" Lyndsey asked, head tilted to one side.
"Lyndsey, what are you doing here?" Jack asked in surprise. His eyes flickered from Lyndsey, back to the figure in the chair who he'd been previously watching.
"Robbie and John won't let me play football with them again," Lyndsey pouted.
Jack sighed and got up from his chair, walking over to where Lyndsey stood. He lowered himself down to his daughter's height, looking her in the eye.
"Daddy's busy right now. He needs you to go find Mummy, help her look after Jemima, Aiden and Tora. Can you do that?" He asked.
Lyndsey nodded slowly but was confused. Daddy would always play games with her and her siblings, no matter what. She looked round her father's figure to the armchair next to the desk, where a figure was sat, his palms pressed together, his face pulled into an amused smirk.
"Daddy, who's that?" Lyndsey asked curiously. The man looked scary, from the way the shadows framed his face and the way he sat.
"It's no one, Lyndsey. Run along," Jack replied quickly.
"Aren't you going to introduce me to your daughter, Jack?" The man smirked. "And we were getting to know each other so well."
Jack sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
"Lyndsey, this is a colleague of mine," He said in a tense tone, using the word 'colleague' loosely. "His name is Klaus Schmidt. He was just about to leave."
Lyndsey looked at him, wary look in her eye. Mr Schmidt, however, did not seem put off.
"Hello, Lyndsey," He said, face stretching in to a wicked smirk. "I'm sure we'll be seeing each other again soon."
"Hello again, Lyndsey. I told you I'd see you again," Shaw's words nearly mirrored the ones he had said to her nearly twelve years earlier. Every night, the words haunted her in her dreams, scaring her in the dark abyss. He was one of the monsters under her bed, a figment of the past come back to haunt her.
Next to her, Lyndsey sensed the other mutants tense, obviously not expecting what had just happened. Alex's arm hovered near her protectively. Why though, she did not know. She'd only known Alex for a few hours so why was he protecting her.
"Freeze!" A lone CIA agent shouted from the courtyard, gun aimed for Shaw, who simply sighed.
"Azazel?" He said, raising an eyebrow. Azazel simply smirked and teleported over to the man, who he sliced down without even a flicker of remorse.
"My friends, there is a revolution coming," Shaw said, unaffected by the killing that happened only a few feet away from him. "When mankind discovers who we are, what we can do, each of us will face a choice. Be enslaved or rise up to rule. Choose freely, but know that if you are not with us, then, by definition, you are against us. So, you can stay and fight for the people who hate and fear you, or you can join me and live like kings. And queens," For the last part, he stared at Angel, who after a moment of thought, took his outstretched hand.
"Angel?" Raven murmured.
"Are you kidding me?" Sean said in disbelief.
"Come on. We don't belong here. And that's nothing to be ashamed of," Angel said, gaining confidence as she stood up proudly.
"Angel, please…" Lyndsey pleaded, looking at the girl who she called a friend.
"We shouldn't have to change. Society isn't going to except us. We shouldn't have to hide," Angel stated.
Lyndsey's face dropped, wondering what had happened to the girl she had first met. Shaw seemed to catch Lyndsey's depression.
"Come with us, Lyndsey. You out of all of us should know how humans will react to us," He said. This statement earned Lyndsey looks off of her fellow mutants but she kept her head held high.
"No. Not all humans are like that. You cannot blame a whole for thee faults of a group of individuals," Lyndsey said. Shaw shook his head and smirked.
"What would your father say if he could see you now? On the side of the people who killed him?"
"These people didn't kill him. They were sick, twisted individuals, not the government."
"Ah, but you're still scared," Shaw said, causing Lyndsey to break eye contact with him. He smirked. "Yes, you are. I can see it in your eyes. What would your family say, if they could see you know? Helping the people who despised them. Or have you forgotten them? Your mother? Your Father? John? Robert? Jemima? Tora?"
Lyndsey closed her eyes, but she could still feel everyone's eyes on her. Someone touched her shoulder in reassurance. Someone squeezed her hand. She knew what she had to do.
"You were no better…" She said slowly to Shaw, opening her eyes. "You wanted to experiment on us. That's why you were there. Not to help my family, but to hurt them."
Shaw's eyes narrowed but Lyndsey continued, gaining more confidence. She pushed through her friend's protective barrier, so she was stood right at the front.
"You don't care about anyone but yourself. Right now, you friend –Emma is it? – is in the custody of the US Government and you won't even lift a finger to help her. You don't care about mutant supremacy, you just want the power. Like you always have."
"I'm giving you one last chance, Lyndsey," Shaw said dangerously low.
"And I'm telling you for the last time. I will not join you. Not now, not ever, even if my life depended on it."
Shaw smirked.
"I will remember your decision then."
He turned, leading the group of mutants out into the courtyard. Raven, sensing Lyndsey's sadness, pulled her into a hug which Lyndsey was happy to receive.
"We have to do something," Raven said quietly, stroking Lyndsey's back.
Darwin turned round, quickly checking on Lyndsey, before turning to Alex. They spoke in quiet, hushed tones. He grabbed the blonde's arm and began to pull him towards the courtyard. Alex quickly shoved him off, annoyed look on his face.
"Stop," Darwin called and stepped out into the courtyard. "I'm coming with you."
"Good choice," Shaw said, his eyes briefly flickering to Lyndsey. He walked forward and met Darwin halfway. "Now, tell me about your mutation."
"Well, I adapt to survive," Darwin said. "So, I guess I'm coming with you."
Shaw nodded.
"I like that," He commented. Darwin moved to where Angel was stood. Lyndsey caught Alex's eye and from the nod of his head, she knew what to expect, just a second before it happened.
"Alex!" Darwin shouted, grabbing Angel and covering her as he turned to stone. The mutants inside, with the exception of Alex, ran out of the room. Lyndsey, however, dropped to the floor, taking cover behind the couch. Alex spun his body, sending three fiery rings towards Azazel, Shaw and Riptide. Two of them nearly hit Azazel and Riptide, but the one that nearly hit Shaw was stopped, who absorbed the energy through his skin while smirking.
"Protecting your fellow mutants," He said to Darwin, who had let go of Angel. "That's a noble gesture."
Darwin lunged forward to punch Shaw in the face, but Shaw easily blocked it. He grabbed hold of Darwin's jaw. Lyndsey got to her feet at this point, watching in horror at what she knew would happen next.
"Adapt to this," He said wickedly, producing a condensed version of Alex's rings down his throat. He walked away, taking Angel's and Azazel's hands. He sent Lyndsey one last sinister smile before teleporting away.
Lyndsey's attention was directed back to Darwin, who was desperately trying to shift his form to adapt to the surplus energy. His form shifted from skin, to metal and finally to rock. He turned to face Alex, who was stood there, horrified at what was happening. Then, as the energy destroyed him from the inside, Darwin disintegrated into dust.
He was dead.
The five teenagers sat in silence on the cold stone bench outside as agents ran round, trying to save what they could from the destroyed building. Lyndsey was sat in between Sean and Alex, curled up in a ball, knees draw up to her chest. She shivered slightly, as the morning air prickled her skin. None of the teenagers had said anything in hours, all deep in thought, Or perhaps, they thought silence would just be better. Lyndsey didn't know.
Either way, she was happy for the silence.
No one had asked her any questions yet. Darwin's death was still taking time to sink in, for Alex especially, which meant that no one asked her anything about Shaw. They would though, soon. Until then, Lyndsey tried to tune out any distractions, focusing on Shaw's words.
Was he right? Would all humans treat mutants the way those ones did? She was fighting on the human side, but once the war was over, would they turn on her? It was times like this when she missed her family. Would they approve of her decision, or would they want vengeance? What would Aiden think? Would he be with Lyndsey or against her decision?
In her thoughts, she didn't see car pull up and Charles, Erik and Moria climb out, the horror on their faces was clear. Moria went over to talk with some agents but Charles and Erik came straight over to the mutants, the former to his sister.
"Raven," He said, pulling her into a hug. "We've made arrangements for you to be taken home," He said solemnly after her released Raven.
"We're not going home," Sean stated.
"What?"
"He's not going back to prison," Sean said, pointing at Alex. "And she's not going to from wherever the hell she came from."
Lyndsey frowned.
"What?"
Sean just looked at her, matter-of-factly.
"You're really bad at pinball, you carry around a backpack everywhere and you're only concern is your brother's safety. And that's not even mentioning what Shaw said! There's something you're not telling us."
"No there's not…" She muttered, fiddling with her sleeves.
"Yes, there is," Alex said, speaking for the first time since the night before. His voice was heavy and low. "You somehow knew Shaw, and your backstory doesn't add up."
"Just drop it, will you?" Lyndsey said forcefully, standing up as she did. "You don't know anything about me. Secrets are secret for a reason, you know."
All the mutants present seemed shocked at Lyndsey's sudden outburst. To them, she seemed so quiet, unable to hurt a fly. Her harsh words brought the matter to a stop, and Alex scowled at her. Lyndsey looked equally annoyed and kicked a piece of debris with her shoe.
"Anyway," Sean said slowly, looking from Lyndsey to Alex. "We're not going."
"He killed Darwin," Alex said darkly, looking down into his hands. Lyndsey did feel sorry for Alex, but his statements still angered her. It was her life, why did he care?
"All the more reason for you to leave," Charles said. "This is over."
"Darwin's dead, Charles," Raven pointed out, sad look in her eye. "And we can't even bury him."
"We can avenge him," Erik said, speaking for the first time. His words were steady and thought out, not a rush of the moment decision.
Charles looked at him, partly exasperated, partly surprised. The look in his eye told Lyndsey that he didn't want to get the young mutants involved, because of the inevitable fight that was coming. "Erik, can I speak to you alone for a minute?"
Lyndsey saw the two speak in hushed tones, but knew what they were discussing. Erik wanted vengeance against Shaw, whereas as much as Charles wanted to stop Shaw, he didn't want to endanger anyone.
"So, Lyndsey, are you going to talk to us about what happened in there?" Sean asked, looking over at the brunette. She could feel everyone's eyes on her, even Erik and Charles'. She kept her head held high though.
"When I am ready to talk about, then I will," She said, avoiding eye contact. "You all have secrets, I have mine."
She got up and walked over towards a bench further away from the group.
"Just because you have a dark past, doesn't mean you can't have a bright future," Hank said, causing Lyndsey to turn back around and face them.
"You have no idea how dark my past is," She said slowly. "And trust me, my future doesn't look any brighter."
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