I lay Wanda down on her bed gently and she made a slight noise before turning on her side away from me. The X-men had headed home to the mansion to inform their professor what had happened after Scott was brought back around and told them to do so. We had to leave Remy there, since none of us could get through Wanda's hex around him without getting thrown several feet after touching the shield. The Scott assured me that Remy would be watched though, so that he wouldn't have a chance to escape without answering some questions first. Nightcrawler had gone to see if Magneto had made it, and apparently he did. The crater was still there, but Magneto and all of his flunkies save for Gambit had disappeared.
Wanda had overexerted herself and never even opened her eyes on the way home, or even when I climbed the steps to place her where she now laid. The house was quiet, which was strange but welcome since I wanted her to sleep. Quietly I pulled a chair over from her armoire so that I could sit beside her and think as well as watch over her.
She had been spectacular. I never knew just how powerful she had grown. She had yet again been faced against Magneto and lived to tell the tale. She had even been the one that sent him flying! No wonder Magneto feared her; he had reason to. But now I worried that the next time they met, she wouldn't be so lucky. We had the x-men to back us up this time. And what the hell had that collar looking thing done to Gambit, that he was able to use hexes just like Wanda's? Magneto was brewing something, and now more than ever it was clear that he had a giant bull's-eye painted all over my Wanda.
"Oh Wanda," I whispered and touched her cheek gently. "How do you get yourself into these messes?"
"As I recall, he came to me." I had thought she was out cold, and wasn't expecting her to hear me let alone reply. I jumped at the sound of her voice and my eyes were pulled up to hers. They fluttered open and found my gaze staring at her intently, and she stopped. I couldn't tell what thoughts were going through her head, but she didn't seem angry at me so I offered her up a smile.
"How're you feelin'?" I asked cautiously, and she blinked rapidly for a minute before moving. One of her hands went up to her head as she eased herself up and looked down into her lap. She was quiet for a minute before she answered me.
"I've been worse, but I've also been better I guess." Then her sapphire eyes found me again, and I found myself unable to breathe. "What happened, how did we get back here?" she asked. My mouth had gone dry and it felt like every word I wanted to say to her was a blade stuck in my throat. "Toad?" she asked when I failed to answer her. I cleared my throat and pulled my gaze to the floor so that I could focus a little better.
"Uh, well you uh, passed out 'n well I wasn't sure how long you were gonna be out for, so I brought you back here so that you could sleep." I risked a peek up at her, wondering if she would be angry, or how she would react. She seemed to be thinking about what I said, but was still looking at me. Suddenly a flare lit her eyes as if she remembered something.
"Gambit! Where is he? Did he get away?" she asked in a rush, and I could sense a kind of panic in her voice.
"No, he's still at the park, still stuck in your hex thingie. No one could get to him ta move him, so the X-men put a watch on him 'n Tabby'll tell us if anything changes." That seemed to satisfy her for the moment because she nodded and let out a slight exhale. "You know," I started slowly, not sure if I was pushing my luck. "You really should try to get some rest. You did a lot today, yo. I know you're tired, 'n there's no harm in getting some of your strength back." I saw her eyebrows knit together and winced in anticipation, but nothing else happened.
"I don't need to sleep," she told me in a harsh tone and I looked up at her.
"Wanda," I started in a scorning tone but was interrupted.
"What? You don't know me, and who are you to tell me what to do?" she snapped. I let out a sigh and watched her for a second or two before she dropped her gaze from mine and looked down at her hands.
"I'm not tellin' you what ta do, yo. I'm jus' suggestin' that maybe now would be a good time to catch some z's." When she didn't reply I thought it was because she was angry with me, but when she wouldn't meet my eyes I knew that wasn't it. "Wanda, what's really wrong?" I asked which did bring her eyes up to glare at me.
"Nothing is wrong. Get out of my face and out of my room!" I could tell that I had pushed her too far, and there was no going back. Slowly I stood and put the chair back before facing her. I was thinking of what to say, but she beat me to it. "Out, Toad. Now."
"Fine, I'll leave. But if you need anything, I'll be close." I watched her for a moment longer, then moved towards the door with her eyes trained on me like I was a target. When I left, I heard her utter a sigh, and my shoulders slumped. She was defending something, I knew that much. I just had no idea what it really was. I decided to wait for her by lounging across the top of the stairs instead of going somewhere else where I might miss her exit. I knew she wouldn't seek me out when she was ready to go, so I would just have to follow her.
I didn't have to wait long.
About an hour later she emerged, and when her eyes fell on me she scowled, but said nothing as I scrambled to stand and get out of her way. She didn't say one word to me as I followed her down the stairs and out the door. I disappeared into the kitchen to grab one of the few pieces of fruit there and a granola bar, but then was behind her once more as she stalked off in the direction of the park she had left Gambit in. The whole way there she ignored me completely, and I was content to let her do this. I knew that if I attempted to speak to her, she'd only get angry and I wasn't sure she had that much energy to spare.
The park looked like a war zone, and I guess in a way it had been. Trees, or remnants of what had once been trees, were strewn across the grounds, metal scraps littered the grass and burn marks were scattered about. The bench that had once been by the pathway had been thrown into the lamppost next to the still-glowing blue shield that was Gambit's location. Wanda's eyes fell on this, and determination seemed to emanate from her. Angrily she stomped towards her prey, but my eyes were looking everywhere else. The X-men said they would post a guard to look after him, so I was looking and listening for what I hoped I wouldn't find. Sure enough, my hearing picked up a rustling not far from Wanda's left which caused me to jump between the two. Wanda looked up at my actions, and then narrowed her eyes at Rogue as she emerged from the shadows of a fallen, twisted tree.
"You are to stay out of my dealings with Gambit," Wanda told Rogue, who crossed her arms and set her jaw stubbornly.
"'N if ah don't?" Rogue spat back.
"This isn't a negotiation. That was your one and only warning," Wanda told her, but took a firmer stance as if she expected Rogue to come at her.
"Wanda, ah can't let you hurt him," Rogue told her. "I know he's done wrong by you, 'n I get that you're pissed, but I can't stand by 'n let you kill him for it. It wasn't his fault either, 'n you know it. He's not the one you're really mad at."
"I know what you're trying to do, and it's not going to work this time. Besides, I'll only hurt him if he doesn't give me what I need right away," Wanda told her coolly, still tensed and ready for an attack. I knew Wanda was running low on energy and needed to save any she had left, so I decided to intervene here before it got any worse.
"Look, yo. Wanda jus' needs some answers, right?" Wanda nodded, but still didn't take her eyes of Rogue. "'N Rouge jus' wants to keep Gambit as safe as possible, without him getting' any more beat up, right?" Rogue nodded in agreement as well, but also chose not to divert her attention. "So can't we agree to ask Gambit to tell us what he knows, 'n agree to not do anythin' unnecessary?" Both women stared at one another, but finally Rogue backed down first. She relaxed her stance and leaned against the tree she had been hiding behind.
"I can live with that if you can," she told Wanda, who in turn also backed down.
"Fine. Just don't interfere, and nobody gets hurt." Wanda turned her back to Rogue, leaving me to watch the X-man as she went to release Gambit from his hex-sphere of a prison. I didn't know much about the Cajun, but I knew enough to be ready for what came next. The second Wanda retracted her magic and let it seep back into her hands, a cluster of glowing clods of dirt were thrown at her, which were clustered close enough together that I was able to slime them all down and away from Wanda. With a yank of her right hand, Wanda grabbed Gambit's mutant powers from him, and with a wave of her left hand root from the ground beneath him snapped up and around his torso, binding his arms to his side and holding his back flat against the ground. "That wasn't very nice," Wanda scorned at him. She was playing it cool, but I could see that she was still exhausted from earlier. Those two small actions had cause sweat to start beading her forehead and back of her neck. I chose then to slip the apple I had grabbed from the kitchen earlier into her hand. She seemed surprised at first, but we both knew she was running on empty and couldn't deny it. Still, she didn't want Rogue or Gambit to see her weakness, so she played it off by falling into a careless crouch next to the hole Gambit still laid in, putting her elbows on her knees and allowing her free hand to dangle between them while the hand with the apple came up by her face as she took a bite. "Gambit," she said, addressing him in a curt tone.
"Wanda," Gambit replied with a nod of his head. "Come back ta finish me off?" he asked her. Wanda risked a look over her shoulder at Rogue, who had come closer to stand beside the twisted lamppost, then shook her head.
"Not just yet. All I need from you is answers. If you're willing to give me everything I want, then this will be over quickly and painlessly, and you'll be free to go on your way." She took another few bites of her apple, slowly regaining energy as Gambit mulled her offer over.
"Well, I c'n tell you dat the weather is lookin' mighty nice 'bout now," he said with a wicked half-smile.
"That's not what I'm talking about and you know it. This," her hand snaked out and grabbed the collar off of his neck and dangled it in front of his face. "What is it? How does it work? And why does Magneto have it? Tell me everything you know about this, and about his plans." As it hung there in the air above his face, I saw why Gambit wasn't able to use his own newly gifted hex-powers to escape Wanda's shield before now; in Wanda's previous attack on him it had busted in several places and thus had been rendered useless.
"You know better 'n ta ask a man ta rat out dem dat employ 'im. I can't give ya de answers you're lookin' for Wanda." Wanda's face darkened, and I knew what was coming next. Luckily she had already polished off the fruit I had given her, because she had to toss the core to the side in order to use her hands. Rogue saw what was coming as well, and started forward.
"Wanda, don't!" she cried. Wanda used her other open hand to make a swirling, snake-like movement. This brought the lamppost to life and made it slither around Rogue's torso several times before lifting her to hover above the ground. Wanda's hand that focused on Gambit turned palm up and she brought her fingers together in a crushing motion. The tree roots that held him captive squeezed tighter around him until he let out a cry of pain. "Remy!" Rogue called, to which Wanda flicked her fingers. I guessed that this last hex was supposed to steal Rogues voice, but Wanda was so weakened at this point that she was drawing from her own life-force to work her power. Instead it only quieted Rogue to the point where we could barely hear her.
"Wanda," I warned softly from behind her as I watched the toll all of this was taking on her. She was more pale now than ever before and tremors shook through her, but she only shook her head at me and focused her glare on Gambit.
"Now, Gambit. I need those answers now." I could see him squirming and grunting in discomfort, but I know that's not what made him give in. His red eyes cast up as saw Rogue struggling from her own bonds and screaming things we could barely discern.
"Let her go, Wanda. Let Rogue go 'n I'll tell you whatever you like."
"I'll put her down after you tell me everything, and I'm sure you haven't lied to me at any time. Understood?" There was a defeated look in Gambit's eyes as he nodded.
"Magneto lured you ta dat spot a few weeks ago so he could get a sample. A sample of your magic. He's been workin' on somethin' with other mutants, other powerful mutants. It's a way to steal somebody's power from them 'n put it inta someone else." He paused for a moment, as if he didn't want to say any more but Wanda scowled as him and brought the fingers of the hand that controlled the lamppost closer together, which tightened her hold on Rogue even farther. "Stop it!" he cried out.
"Keep going," Wanda told him harshly, but released Rogue slightly. "How does it work?"
"I-, I dunno. Look, dat's the truth. I wasn't involved in de plannin' of any of dis. I was jus' de lab rat. All he told me was dat he didn't want ta lose such a powerful mutant ability, 'n dat it was a waste on you. Honestly Wanda, I don't know how it works. I jus' know dat whenever I or whoever has dat collar uses it, it steals it from you."
"And what happens when it's all gone?" Wanda demanded. She wasn't wasting time on getting angry, I could tell that she was barely holding on to the two of them. She had mere seconds, maybe a minute, before she gave out.
"It," Gambit sighed and looked away. "It takes from you 'n puts everythin' it can inta dis collar. Then…well, when there's nothin' left ta take from….it kills you."