Kudos to those who are still reading this. I hope you find this interesting, though it might be a little shocking later. I tried to gloss over a little. Also, at the end there's kind of a mini-song fic. Forgot to mention, rights to X-men Evolution and the song in this chapter are not mine. If they were, I would not be writing here and I would also be a genius.
The Paths We Tread
Chapter 3
Remy awoke feeling more rested than he had since being 'recruited' by HYDRA. He beamed at the thought of Rogue; she had wanted him as a friend. Only Rowan had ever been that to him, and that was formed rather out of desperation and survival. They thought of themselves as brothers, but Rogue was different. She had chosen to befriend him. It made him feel as he never had before.
In the locker room where all the boys prepared for the day as best they could, Remy moved to take a sink beside Rowan as he dunked his head beneath the icy cold water of the faucet.
"I talked to de girl las' night."
Rowan met his gaze, looking comical with his face dripping and his hair flopping everywhere. "Why?"
"I dunno. I liked her." He said simply. At this age neither cared how blunt either were about their thoughts. Rowan shrugged and went back to scubbing behind his ears.
They trudged out, expecting to separate as they usually did. Unlike the other days though, a voice came over the intercom, booming out in the echoing corridors so no one could possibly miss the message.
"Operatives will be participating in group training today. The first group will begin immediately while the second precedes with breakfast. When group one has completed their session the second will begin and positions will be switched. Training will be halted for the day due to the speciality of this particular exercise." The intercome crackled as the voice died away. The leader of the guards listed off the operative numbers who would be in the first group. Remy was relieved when he and Rowan were put in the second group. However, he became elated when he heard Rogue was in the second group with them.
The children were ushered into the mess hall to eat. Rowan sat but Remy looked around. Finally spotting her, he waved while trying not to attract any other unwanted attention. She didn't see so he made his way to her where she stood beside the white haired girl. He pulled on the end of an auburn curl. Rogue jerked around to glare when their eyes met.
"Ya wanna come sit wit' moi Rogue?"
Her eyes lit up. He still wanted to be friends; when she woke up this morning she was afraid he might have changed his mind. "Can Kayla come with me?"
"Sho' she can. Bonjour Kayla." He waved and Kayla giggled a little behind her hand. The two girls trailed Remy back to where his friend sat. Rowan waved to them as they sat. He seemed shy of speaking and stared at his tray as they ate. After several minutes he looked up, opened his mouth and muttered, pointing at the thin biscuits on Kayla's tray. "You gonna eat those?" After that he had no trouble with their presence.
They didn't talk much, mostly because there was nothing to talk of. All were very short on years and knew very little of the outside world anymore. Two had grown up in orphanages and the other two in extreme poverty. Kayla had lived with her ill mother in a trailer with difficulty in making two ends meet, let alone being able to afford any luxuries. Somedays they went without eating. She had been bringing food home for her momma when she was taken. In fact, this was the best fed and clothed she could ever remember being.
Despite the lack of conversation, the four children felt a growing bond among them, even now. It was just the comfort of another person, even if they were just as scared and alone as you were. Just knowing that there was someone to lean against and to share that loneliness with you made each of them feel a little safer, a little less lost.
As they finished their food the signal blared and the first group stumbled in. It was a short session, but the second group were terrified at the sight of their predecessors, who seemed many fewer than there were before. Their uniforms were torn and scorched, and blood marked most of them. Some limped heavily, some others were unconscious and were being carried by guards. Cries of pain and utter exhaustion and worst of all, an awful despair, rattled the roof with their intensity and volume. They watched as one little girl in the front sank to the ground and lay whimpering. There was a long slash in her uniform and they could see blood trickling down her skinny back. The doctors followed and began to collect those who needed extra attention.
Remy glanced at the other three. Their eyes were wide and fear was clear on their faces. Rogue, however, looked completely petrified. Her panicked green-gray eyes locked on his.
"Remy," her tiny voice shook. "Ah'm scared. Ah can't do that, Ah can't do it. Ah won't make it."
Remy felt a rush of protectiveness toward his new friend. "Don' worry. I'll protect ya Rogue."
Outwardly, Rogue did pout a little. She couldn't lose face by appearing weak, but inwardly she was minutely reassured. Remy would be watching out for her. Still, how much could he do? He wasn't that much older than her, and even if he was more experienced, none of the others his age in the first group seemed to have fared any better than the younger ones.
Remy could see the doubt in her eyes. "Trust me chere." Her eyes softened only slightly.
"We'll watch each other." Kayla said. They all nodded their agreements as they were led to a giant training room, one none of the group had been inside before. The massive doors hissed open ominously.
Inside there were gasps erupting from everyone. There were even a few sobs of terror. The room wasn't even a room, it was a hugh shaft, plummeting down hundreds of feet. Platforms projected from the walls or were suspended by thick wires from the ceiling. The four companions instantly drew closer together.
In the observation room, a hologram of the Supreme Hydra was in conversation with Special Agent Vyce, the man in charge of the project. He stood straight as Viper commanded harshly.
"My orders are clear and I expect them to be followed. From what I saw in your facility, your charges are progressing too slowly and some of them are hardly improving at all. I looked through the profiles of the future operatives and some of their assets that will become available in the future, some aren't even worth keeping. I am on my way to investigate the proceedings of another project that seems to be extracting favorable results. If my orders aren't followed and I don't begin to see improvement, consider the project and your position here at HYDRA terminated."
Vyce nodded but he did speak. "Madame Hydra, your orders will be carried out, but is this the best way? Large sums have been spent on this project and the training of the operatives. Surely we could reroute them to other facilities for more mundane tasks within the organization."
"I know what this will result in. I do not make these decisions lightly. HYDRA can spare the expenses. As I have said the order was simple: weed out the weak from the strong." With that the hologram flickered out. Vyce grumbled but turned to the control panel.
"Begin." He hit the button that would activate the room below.
The platform the children were on rocked. Remy experienced a rush of fear, but not the adrenaline induced fear he normally felt. This was fear for his life. Something terrible was about to happen.
"C'mon Rogue!" He yelled as he leapt for the nearest platform, Rogue on his tail. The moment they had cleared, the platform dropped. Five kids were still on it. The lucky ones watched in horror as they vanished with their last shrieks into the darkness far below. Remy was horror-stricken. This was no regular training session; they were being slain.
Guns appeared from the walls and began to fire. Red hot lasers seared dangerously close to them, and bullets were flying, clanging off the metal walls. Another scream as a boy sank to the ground and didn't move again. Remy could smell the fresh blood. But right now, that boy was not his concern. He had to watch out for his own. He seized Rogue's hand and pulled her onto the next platform. His eyes frantically searched for Kayla and Rowan. Both were safe, on the opposite side of the shaft and dodging danger.
Remy and Rogue's platform shook and the both somersaulted onto the next one.
"Keep moving Rogue! Whatever ya do, don' stop movin'!" He cried to her. Out of the wall a long metal pole emerged, trying to sweep them into the void. They both dropped to their bellies and it swung over them, rippling their hair.
Now Remy was in his zone. He whipped out his bo staff, Rogue pulling out one identical to it. Remy was glad that HYDRA gave them some tools at least before sending them into this deathtrap. The two vaulted over a long gap onto one of the swinging suspended platforms. It rocked as they landed.
Rogue looked up and tugged on his sleeve. "Look out!" She yelled. A gun on the ceiling was getting ready to fire miniature missles down on them.
"Climb," he commanded. They latched onto the thick wires and began to scramble up like monkeys as the missiles blasted away the platform below them. Remy thanked whatever deity watched this that Rogue was athletic already. Probably from fending for herself in orphanges her whole life. "Swing the wires."
They both began to swing. Like jungle vines, they swayed as if caught by the wind and began to move toward a level above them. "Le' go when I say." Rogue nodded as they swung nearly above it. "Jump." They hurled themselves bodily up onto the next platform, landing in rolls.
They weren't alone. On of the oldest of the kids was already there, fighting for his life against three robots. He dodged flamethrowers and missiles. His arm hung at an awkward angle, but he was still fighting like a demon. Remy and Rogue rushed to help, bo staffs whirling. Remy handspringed to the side as the machine aimed for him, sending star discs with sharpened edges flying.
Rogue tried to defend as best she could, but she had hardly arrived here and had little training. The robot swiped at her and she fell to the ground on her back. She rolled as it tried to crush her under its feet. The machine gun was trained on her forehead.
Remy saw that Rogue was about to lose. With a roar of rage he bolted forward. There was a shot and Remy dropped gasping. He had flung himself in front of its sights at the last moment and the bullet had grazed his side. He could feel the warm wetness beginning to stain his shirt.
"Remy!" The robot's arm grew a long blade, raising it to strike. It clanked for a moment and they saw the older boy clambering up its back. He looked down on the two younger kids.
"Run! Get out of here." Rogue hauled her friend to his feet. They barely made the jump to the next level, feeling the fall below pulling at them. Rogue called back to the boy. "Hurry!"
He stumbled back as the machine swung at him with the blade. His foot suddenly stumbled and he fell backwards. There was a flash from the weapon and a howl of agony. The boy clapped his hand to his face, blood leaking from where his left eye had been. He tried to get up as the reddened blade lifted again. Remy turned Rogue away. He flinched and Rogue gasped as a cry and a gurgle reached them, before they had to move again. They both stood, keeping their eyes averted from the newest inert body. Rogue trembled like a frail leaf in a gale.
"Watch your backs!" Came the cry as Rowan and Kayla leapt onto the platform to join them. Flying robotic drones hovered toward them, aiming their blasters.
"Ah got it," Rogue choked dazedly as she threw herself forward, hurling the small explosive discs automatically. They connected and blew the drones to pieces. They were distracted by more screams as a girl fell one platform below them, blood leaking from her shoulder. Rogue whirled. "We gotta help 'er." She began to jump and swing down to the fallen operative. She wouldn't see this girl die like the boy. Her three companions leapt to join her.
This level was far wider than any of the others. They backed away, sheltering the injured girl as even more huge robots approached. Remy hit a button on his staff. Sharp, adamantium blades appeared on the ends of the staff, which he tossed javelin style straight through the lead monolith's head. It collapsed but the others continued their advance. They raised their guns to fire.
"No!" Rogue yelled with fury and charged. It looked so strange, a six year old taking on the mechanical soldiers but her face held enough rage to melt them with a gaze. She plowed her staff into the nearest. The weapon lodged in its chest and it tumbled back into the other two, sending them tumbling away.
They were holding their own, but the screams and wails that were echoing horribly in the shaft were slicing through them like razor blades. Even now they could see an entire group of kids fall to the beams of a giant laser gun. Unwittingly, tears were streaming from Rogue's eyes, her body frozen in shock as she took in the full monstrosity of what was happening. A boy only a few years older than herself was flung to perish in the darkness below. Another two children lay dead, their blood staining the steel that the lay upon, destroyed with one fell stroke of a swinging blade from the wall. Even more bodies lay about, horrible objects with blank and staring eyes. Others were still fighting but were growing weary, and most were injured.
"Why are they doin' this? What's happenin'?" Her shriek of despair rang like a horn blast up and down the walls.
The platform shook. Remy's eyes widened and he reached out, terror clenching his chest. "Rogue, get back!" he screamed.
He jabbed his retrieved staff deep into the metal, his hands seizing onto Kayla and Rowan, while they grabbed the injured blonde girl. The platform dropped. Rogue slid downward towards the blackness. She twisted at the last moment and gripped the edge with her fingers, clinging on for dear life.
"Remy!" He took in the desperation in her eyes and voice. He looked to Rowan and Kayla. "Grab ma shirt." They did and he flipped himself upside down. "Lower me." He inched downward, his fingers stretching for Rogue as he fought to disregard the pain from his wound. "Grab onto me Rogue."
"Ya won't be able to hold me!"
"Trust me, Remy won' let ya go. Now reach Rogue, please." He stretched as far as he possibly could. It was up to Rogue now to grab him, or else fall to her death.
Her eyes widened and her sweaty fingers slipped. With a last lunge of faith, she leapt forward, completely releasing her hold and grabbing for his gloved hand. She clasped her hand with his and he tightened his grip, refusing to fail in his promise. He wouldn't let Rogue die.
"Pull us up." He called to his two friends. They yanked with all the strength in their tiny arms. Steadily, they pulled Rogue up from the very teeth of death. She clung to him, sobs wracking her small frame.
"Don' lemme go Remy. Please."
"I won' Rogue. I promise."
The awful buzzing sounded and the platform lifted again. Rogue still clung to her friend as a bridge projected out toward the stranded survivors. Vyce walked out. He took in the stricken faces; the remaining victims of careless slaughter. Tears stained faces along with blood and sweat, and limbs shook with no more strength to hold them.
"You all belong to HYDRA, that is what you must know. What you have witnessed here today was necessity. What the Supreme Hydra commands is done. Stay strong and don't fall behind because this is the fate that will await those who do not perform as is expected of them. Now, return to your rooms. Training will cease for today, but we continue tomorrow. Dismissed."
He turned and strode away. No one moved, even as the guards came to move them along. All they could see were the terrified faces of the fallen children and the broken, bleeding bodies that lay on the platforms. All they could smell was blood, all they could hear were the echoes of the dying screams.
They stumbled out, reduced to a minimal of what their numbers had been before. Over forty had gone in, less than twenty emerged.
Rogue still clung to Remy. Remy could see Rowan holding little Kayla who seemed in shock. Rowan wasn't much better: his face was ashen gray and his blue eyes were wide and blank. Unconsciously he moved closer to his friend until they brushed shoulders. Remy didn't move away. In less than half an hour, children of six through eleven had been forced to grow up through the harshest lessons of all: cruelty and death. They were no longer kids, but adults, adults who would be facing the hatred and cruelty of the world while cut off from it.
They took their cells. Now the four friends were in one line. Many of the cells were now devoid of owners. Remy and Rogue were in the middle cells, with Kayla on Rogue's right and Rowan on Remy's left. They all lay on their beds. They knew they would not sleep, not today, tonight, or for many nights to come. All they could feel was the darkness of death hanging over them like storm clouds.
A light tap on Remy's wall caused him to roll over towards the wall. He heard Rogue's subdued voice calling hoarsely to him.
"Remy, Ah don' think we'll evah read Peter Pan, or see N'Awlins. Ah think we're gonna die in here." Her voice was utterly hopeless and it tore at her friend's heart. He spoke with as much conviction as he could muster in his own dusty voice.
"No Rogue. One day, we be free. No' just toi and moi, but Kayla and Rowan as well."
"Thanks Remy," came the faint response of Rowan, who had heard everything.
The even fainter voice of Kayla came to their ears, choked with still fresh tears but determined. "We'll watch over each other, like we did today. Promise. We'll always be there for each other."
"Promise." The word was instantaneous and unanimous, but still hushed. There was a moment of silence, then Rowan's voice came to their ears once more.
"You wanna hear a song my mom used to sing to me before she died? I can't sing it, but I can remember the tune and the words. It's been in my head the whole time I've been here. Even though lots of bad stuff's happened, I still feel like momma is watchin' me, no matter where she is, through this song.
Rogue's voice replied. "Thank ya Rowan."
He remembered his mother's smiling face before she had been lost and the song came to mind immediately. He hummed for a moment before beginning to chant the words along with the tune.
"Your baby blues,
so full of wonder.
Your curly cues,
your contagious smile."
Rogue shivered. She knew this song, she had heard it on the radio once at one of the orphanages. The words had sounded like an angel was calling to her, telling her everything would be alright.
"And as I watch,
you start to grow up.
All I can do
is hold you tight
knowing…"
"Clouds will rage and
storms will race in,
but you will be safe
in my arms."
"Rains will pour down.
Waves will crash all around,
but you will be safe
in my arms."
Remy closed his eyes. He felt the love and conviction in this song. No wonder Rowan still remembered it. For the first time, he felt an ache in himself: a yearning for the tenderness and care this song proclaimed, something he had never known.
"Story books
full of fairy tales
of kings and queens
and the bluest skys."
"My heart is torn
just in knowing
you'll someday see
the truth from lies."
"When the clouds will rage and
storms will race in,
but you will be safe
in my arms."
"Rains will pour down.
Waves will crash all around,
but you will be safe
in my arms."
Tears still clouded Kayla's eyes. She knew her mother would tell her the very same thing. She had given everything for her daughter despite her illness. Kayla missed her and wished and prayed that she would be alright without her.
"Castles they might crumble.
Dreams may not come true,
but you were never all alone,
cause I will always, always love you."
"When the clouds will rage and
storms will race in,
but you will be safe
in my arms."
"Rains will pour down.
Waves will crash all around,
but you will be safe
in my arms."
"In my arms…"
As the song ended they all lay in silence. They had no mothers or fathers to shelter them now, but they would be safe in each others' arms. Always.
XXX
Yeah, ending was a little fluffy, but I had to establish that they're sticking together no matter what. Besides, we could use some fluff after mass child slaughter. Hope I didn't scare anyone.
That song does NOT belong to me. The song is 'In My Arms' by Plumb, and I think it's one of the sweetest songs I've ever heard. Check it out, but be prepared to shed tears or smile like an idiot if you do.
French words
Moi – me
Toi – you