"A man without decision can never be said to belong to himself."
[xxxxx]
Chapter 21: Belonging
Fire.
From where she stood, all Rogue could see was fire. She knew that she only had a few minutes to get out, or otherwise she was toast — literally.
"Jake!" She called out again, knowing that even if Jake was still in the building, her voice would only be eaten up by the roar of the fire by the time it reached his ears. "Logan! Jake!"
She cleared a path in the fire with a swipe of Wanda's powers, looking for any point of exit. Ah shouldn't've evoked Control like that, Rogue thought. It was stupid. Look what I did.
"Rogue!" Logan's voice broke through her thoughts, and she turned around just in time to see him breaking through the fire, the flames licking away his skin before it quickly patching itself up again.
"Logan," She called back, willing away the fire as he came up to her. "Where is everyone? Did Jake and Lenore get out safe?"
"Yeah, but you need to get out of here. This place is gonna collapse any minute now, and I've still gotta find Lenore."
"Ah'm fine. Ah wanna come with you." She said, pulling away as he latched his hand onto her wrist. She waved her hand over the nearby flames, and as a result, it disappeared. "See? Just fine."
"Wanda's powers aren't gonna last you much longer. Now, c'mon."
Rogue gave in and followed Logan through the fire, willing away the flames enough for them to make it through safely. They stopped at a window, broken from the heat of the fire.
"There's a fire escape through here that you can use to get down to the street. Storm and the others should be just around the corner. Tell them not to wait up for me." Logan explained, brushing away broken glass from the window sill. "Hurry."
Rogue squeezed through the window and stepped out into the cold night, a relief from the scalding heat of the fire, most of which she had been protecting herself from with her temporary powers.
She turned around to see Logan off, perhaps, she thought, for the last time, but he was already gone.
[xxxxx]
The fire scorched his skin, peeling away flesh to reveal underlying tissue and muscle and bone, and sending screaming pain to every inch of his being. It was difficult to focus on anything but the burning heat, but he managed to keep one thought in his mind: Lenore.
He had known her hardly two months, but already he was attached to her — had a sort of fatherly love for her. He was soft, he admitted, for redheads, and being specially chosen to be her private bodyguard didn't seemed to help the cause. Now she was taken, and if he couldn't get her back this night, she might be lost forever. If he couldn't take down Control, they'd both be lost forever.
Through the fire he caught a whiff of Control's distinctive bitter scent and with effort, he held onto it. Avoiding the inferno, he sound found his way to a staircase, the kind that belonged in a dusty old warehouse. As he climbed the stairs her scent became stronger, and he followed it through a heavy door at one of the top floors.
Inside was a large room that spanned across the entire floor. There was no carpet, just a dusty cement floor, freezing from the chilly November nights. Wolverine was sure that it wouldn't be cold in here much longer.
Across the room were three open windows, each covered with lacy white curtains that swayed gently in the wind, turned yellow from dust and water damage.
He started toward the window, but his eye caught a flash of light to the left and curiously he walked toward it. In the dim light casted by the set of windows he made out a computer. He clicked the mouse once, and five computer screens buzzed to life, each displaying live feed from security cameras set about the Warehouse.
There was feed from outside, the basement, bedrooms, the elevator and the bathrooms. There were cameras placed on the stairs he had just climbed, and cameras that showed the spreading fire on the main floors. But no one was shown moving on the cameras.
Wolverine began to grind his teeth, struggling not to burst out in anger. Control wasn't anywhere in the building, as told by the security cameras, and that meant she was gone, with her Lenore. But — her scent was so strong.
Control's scent was fresh — she couldn't have been here more than a few minutes ago. With renewed hope, Wolverine breathed in, retracing his steps back to the staircase, where the scents were more recent. He climbed even higher, until he reached the door to the roof, and burst through.
The wind was like a whip against his face, carrying along with it chilling snow that felt like sharp icicles picking at his skin. It blew so strong that it threw the door open, creating a loud crash as it slammed against brick. She had to be up here — he knew she was. Even if all scents were lost in the freezing wind, he could feel her presence near by. He wasn't letting her get away this time.
"Here!" her voice called from somewhere to his left, peppier that he had ever heard it.
He turned toward the direction of her voice, and through the blur of the snow he could make out the shadows of two women — the taller one Control, the other Lenore. Without hesitation, he unsheathed his claws and came trudging toward them.
"Stop right there, Wolvie." Control said, and although he could hardly see her through the snow, he could tell she was communicating with him telepathically. He stopped, but on his own accord. He would have his chance later. "Let's make this a little homier, shall we?"
Control waved a hand through the storm, and what next was a little like a dream. The snow disappeared, as did the rooftop and everything that surrounded them. Just as soon, it was replaced with a large throne room made of black marble, a large golden sculpture of a phoenix carved on the wall.
"Don't worry," She said with a bit of a chuckle. "It's just an illusion. So we could have a clearer conversation. Rooftops are rather ideal for dramatic confrontations, but certainly not in this sort of weather. Don't you agree?" Control stood with one arm around Lenore's shoulder, and Lenore stared at Logan with wide-eyes.
Wolverine ignored Control's question. "I'm not here to beat around the bush. Give me the girl." He said with an underlying growl.
The amused smile on Control's face twitched. "Even if I let her go, she won't want to go with you." She petted Lenore's hair affectionately. "Does this beauty look like she belongs with the X-Men — a bunch of mutant hunters?"
"What the hell are you—?" Wolverine growled. "Don't believe a word she says, Lenore! She brainwashed you!"
Control held her sister tighter and whispered to her, "Don't listen, Lenore. I told you he would try to trick you." Lenore turned into Control and hugged her. A light flickered in Control's eyes as she smiled at Wolverine.
He clenched his jaw and felt his hands involuntarily tighten into his fists. He moved a foot forward, but stopped himself. A physical confrontation wasn't the way he was going to win this fight — if winning was even a possibility.
[xxxxx]
"Mom," Adrian asked her mother one day in the summer while they made lunch. Daddy was at work and Lenore was at a friend's house for a play date. "Why did you name me a boy's name?"
Her mother laughed pleasantly and smiled down at her eldest child. "Adrian, you don't have a boy's name! Who told you that nonsense?"
"Lenore." Adrian said with a pout and her skinny arms stuck across her chest.
"Well, we'll just have to get her for that, won't we?" Her mother laughed again, but his only made Adrian angrier than she was. Susan saw this and squatted down to meet her eldest at eye level. "Adrian, do you know that there are names that are meant for both boys and girls?"
Adrian rolled her eyes. "Duh! Like Sam and Alex and Robin and Carey. Everybody knows that."
Susan smiled. "But there are lots of other names, too. Adrian's one of them."
"But I don't know any other girls named Adrian!"
"That's because you haven't met any yet, silly!" Susan said. "Daddy's name is Phil, right? And your Aunt Phyllis, what do we call her for short?"
Adrian's eyes lit up. "Phil!"
Her mother nodded. "That's right. And how about your preschool teacher Miss Jessie? She's got the same name as Uncle Jesse from Full House."
Adrian smiled and gave her mother a big hug. "Thanks, Mom! Now I can go tell Lenore how wrong she is!" She ran away happily, and Susan just shook her head and smiled.
[xxxxx]
"Adrian, I'm scared!" Lenore whined, fighting against her sister's tight hold. "Let me go! I want to go home now!"
Control held her younger sister from behind with her arms tight against Lenore's chest, under the armpits so she could not push against her. Wolverine saw a fire flicker in Control's eyes, the same fire he had seen when Jean had lost control of the Phoenix.
"I can hear you're thoughts, Log— Wolv... Wolverine!" Control shouted, still fighting to keep Lenore close to her. "I'm not like you precious Jean! I have control of the Phoenix! I am control!"
He took a few steps forward, and noticed how Control did not try to stop him. "Are you sure of that?"
"No!... Yes! No, yes... Yes!"
Lenore slipped from her arms as Control fell to the hard marble floor of the throne room, and ran away with tears slipping from her eyes. Wolverine tried to lean and catch her, but she just pushed him away and ran on. He would have gone after her, but he had a job to finish with Control.
"Very impressive, Wolverine — trying to use mind tricks on me." She said, climbing to her feet. She swayed a little, but stood nevertheless. "You never fail to entertain... but you're smart enough to know you've already lost."
"You've got the rules reversed, darlin'."
Control threw back her head and laughed. "Wolverine, I'm going to ask you something, and you have to be truthful — do you love my sister?"
"What do you care?" He said, narrowing his eyes.
"Oh, who am I kidding? I don't even have to read your mind, it's so obvious that you love her." She laughed again. "Have you ever noticed that every woman you've ever loved has wound up dead? First Kayla, then precious little Jeanie, and now I'm going to destroy the delightful Lenore who you've grown so mad about."
Wolverine bit his tongue, struggling not to lunge for her. She was purposefully angering him, taunting him to try and attack. "It's my turn to ask the questions," He said calmly. "Did your mother not pay enough attention to you? Is that why you're so batshit crazy?"
She masked her frown, but not quickly enough for Logan not to catch it. "I told you, Wolverine, your psychological approach isn't going to work. You're dealing with a telepath here."
He ignored her. "Or did Daddy not love you as much as he loved Lenore? Did he love you at all? Were you jealous of your perfect little sister?"
"Shut up!" Control screamed, and she twisted her fingers in her hair. "You don't know anything about me!"
[xxxxx]
"Storm! Storm!" Rogue called as she rounded the corner, running at full speed. She knew if Logan faced Control alone, he wouldn't have a chance at defeating her, and having Rogue as his only assistance wouldn't be much help either.
"You are solely to blame!" In the middle of the street there stood a group of mutants split in half — on one side, the Superiors and the Brotherhood, and on the other side, the X-Men. She stopped running once she spotted them, and approached the group slowly.
"There she is!" A woman shouted angrily and emerged from the group. She advanced toward Rogue, but didn't come too close. "This is all your fault!" The woman shouted. She was one of the Superiors — they had called her Camouflage.
Before Rogue could retaliate, Storm stepped in between the two of them. "None of this is any of our fault." Storm said firmly. "Rogue merely unveiled this problem, she didn't create it."
Camouflage pushed Storm aside and pointed a finger at Rogue. "You knew what you were doing. You knew Control would react like this and you still provoked her!"
"This isn't Rogue's fault!" Jake called out from the group of X-Men, but Beast stopped him from saying anything more.
"Someone has to take the blame!" Camouflage said, facing the X-Men. "Our home is destroyed and two of our team members are unconscious. Whose fault is that?"
Panther laid a gentle hand on her friend's shoulder. "I know you're angry, Jade, but Control fooled us all. There's no reason to lash out."
Camouflage shoved Panther away from her roughly. "You still haven't figured it out, have you? Control didn't try to fool anyone. You and your sister and your husband were just too blind to see what's right in front of your face."
"You... you knew?" Panther stuttered, astonished. "But... she's possessed! How could you let her go on like that?"
"The Phoenix gives Control power beyond your wildest imagination. Camouflage shot back, her jaw clenched in anger. "She is more than capable of controlling it."
"Obviously, that is no longer the case." Magneto spoke up.
Camouflage turned toward him, her face full of confusion and shock. "What?" She asked stupidly.
"Control convinced us that she had total restraint of the Phoenix, but tonight she has proved otherwise. We are breaking off our ties with the Superiors."
"No, you can't — please — tonight is just a temporary setback!" She said frantically, but the Brotherhood had already turned their backs. "You're nothing without us! You'll come crawling back... and then you'll see!" She called after them.
Panther look up at Camouflage soothingly. "Jade, have you gone mad? Don't you see what Control's doing to you — to us?"
Camouflage glared down at her friend. "Shouldn't you be trying to stop your little sister from running off with her paramour?"
Panther looked frantically about her for a moment, and seeing that Albino was no where to be found, she hurried off in the direction that the Brotherhood had disappeared to.
"This is insane," Beast stepped forward. "Look what you are doing to your team. You're splitting yourself apart!"
Her eyes were angry as she looked back at him, but here was a tiredness, a sort of weariness in her stare that made Beast feel a great pity for her. "Go home," She said. "I have bigger things to deal with than you." She pushed past the X-Men and disappeared down the street.
"Storm," Rogue said, remembering her urgent message. "Wolverine, he went after Control all by himself! He can't do it alone, you know he can't."
[xxxxx]
"Lizzie?" Albino said as she caught sight of her sister out of the corner of her eye. She held Pietro's hand tightly in her own and faced her sister. "Shouldn't you be with Camouflage?"
Panther looked down at Albino's hand, linked with Pietro's, then up at her sister. "What are you doing, Isabelle? Running away with this..." She looked at him, searching for a word. "...boy."
"I'm not running away. I just don't think that I belong with the Superiors anymore."
Desperate to keep her sister by her side, Panther searched her brain for the right words. "Izzie... I... you belong with me — with your sister."
Albino sighed, and turned to Pietro. "Would you leave us alone for a moment?" He nodded and disappeared into the darkness of the night.
"Isabelle," Panther started.
"No, Lizzie, listen to me." Albino interrupted before taking a deep breath of the frigid night air. "Since we were little, you've been trying to protect me from anything and everything. Liz, I love you, but I'm twenty-six now. I can take care of myself."
With tears almost in her eyes, Panther grabbed her sister's hands. "Izzie! You don't have to leave! Look at everything you have here — you're beautiful and smart and you have us. You have the Superiors. What more could you possibly want?"
Softly, Albino slipped her hands away from her sister's. "Lizzie, I will always love you. But I think I really have something with Pietro, and I think we can make it work. I've made up my mind." She hugged her sister tightly. "Goodbye."
Panther looked up at the cloudy night sky as she let her little sister go, not daring to look after her. The wind began to whip faster around the street and blew her hair all about, but she didn't care. She just needed one thing right now, and that was her husband.
[xxxxx]
Time passed in front of Adrian's eyes like cars passing on the street. For a moment it was 1997 and she was watching the news of Princess Diana's death, then a moment later she was 8-years-old again and standing in the outfield as she waited for a ball to come her way.
She didn't remember where she was or what she was doing — wasn't George W. Bush just elected? Or was it Bill Clinton? Why was her hair suddenly blond, and who was that strange man who stood fifteen feet in front of her? Shouldn't she be at Uncle Kenny's burial service right now? Or was that last month?
"What's the matter?" The strange man said, and his question seemed to be directed at her. "I thought you were in control!"
Suddenly, Adrian didn't have any feeling in her body, no will of her own, and her mouth spoke even though she did not command it to. "You don't know who you're dealing with, Wolverine!" She said, voice much deeper than her own. All free will was gone from her body, and she no longer saw from her own perspective — instead she saw from the man's eyes, watching her limp body, a huddled lump on the snowy rooftop.
Fire emanated from her body and burned hotter than anything she had ever felt before. Everything around her seemed to catch fire — the snow, the night air, the stars in the sky. She felt a force deep in her chest trying to escape, bursting from the inside out. Her eyes burned in their sockets and every in of her skin felt as if it was in flames.
Adrian wrapped her arms around herself in an effort to contain the force, but soon the pain became too much and her vision began to blur. The last thing she saw before everything turned to black was the strange man's face, gloomily illuminated by the light of the fire.
Wolverine watched as Control toppled over and the fire that surrounded her dwindled into small, bright embers. The wind had come to a standstill and the clouds above had been swept away, revealing a clear black sky, freckled with millions of little stars.
Did you know that all of these stars could be dead right now? He remember Control had said to him that night when she took Lenore. It's just that it takes the light so long to travel here that we wouldn't know about it. He stood beneath those same stars, the same sky, but somehow everything seemed different. He knew Control wouldn't be bothering him anymore, and that was at least one thing off his plate.
First off, I want to apologize for how long it took me to update! Everything got a little crazy for a while, but now everything's settled and we're good! I must have rewrote this chapter, like, ten times... I didn't know exactly where I wanted it to go, but I think this was the best I got out of myself. It's a little messy, I admit, but things were flying through my head so quickly that it just came out like that. There was another section I wanted to add, but I lost that somewhere in the deep dark pits of my laptop.
So... Control's defeated! I'm sorry if it wasn't as big as a climax, but I'm not that good at high-tension scenes and everything. I only have about two more chapters to go, and I have most of it written, so stay tuned! Also, I apologize if there's a lot of grammar and spelling mistakes in this chapter, because it was not beta'd!