Xavier institute for higher learning
"How did your first mission go Bullet?" Charles asked after I took a seat across from his rich mahogany desk.
"Well Alison Blaire is not with me but she is a maybe, she wants to come check out the facility in person before agreeing to anything. Apart from that I did pick up another mutant. Her Name is Jubilation Lee. I met her on my first trip to California the same trip where I met you." I explained. and he nodded his head and smirked.
"I know who she is Bullet, she is part of the reason I sent you to California. When I tried to read your mind Through the blur and the pain that I received I did get small glimpses and she was one of them." He said and I honestly felt a little angry.
"Why didn't you just tell me you wanted me to recruit her?" I asked in a slightly agitated voice. "I have spent enough of my life being used and manipulated Charles and I will not have it whether you did it with good intentions or not. In the future you will be 100% honest with me or we part ways do you understand that?" I asked sternly.
"Yes bullet I apologize, I am unaware of your past and your personality, your likes, dislikes, do's and, dont's you see with most people whether I read their mind or not they tend to project and I can usually get a good read on them. You are a complete mystery to me Bullet while it is refreshing to me to be around someone that is not so easy to figure out, you must know that I will make mistakes, I do not wish any ill feelings because of them just inform me when I do so, so that I can make sure it does not happen again." He said calmly and he is right, the people here do not know me and I cant go flying off the handle every time someone does something I am not happy with.
"Will do Charles, it has been a long trip and I could use some time to relax is there anything else you need of me?" I asked eager to get back to my house and clean my guns before taking a much needed shower and kicking my feet up.
Once back at my house I dropped my bags and pulled out my Kriss Vector rifle and began to field strip it. Once It was taken apart I proceeded to clean it. Once it was clean as the day I bought it I placed it in my safe in my bunker before moving onto my Sig Sauer. I was in the middle of a thorough cleaning when I heard a knock from my front door. I pulled up my security camera footage and saw Rogue standing outside.
"Good evening Rogue." I said after opening the door and seeing the familiar yet odd silver streak in her hair.
"Hey Sugah, were yah goin ta tell me yah were back?" She asked pushing past me and into my house.
"Yea sure, come on in Rogue." I said sarcastically before closing my door and walking back to my living room. "I was planning on finishing a few things here and relaxing." I explained as she sat down on my sofa and picked up my Sig.
"It's heavier than ah expected." Rogue said raising the sight of the gun up to her eye.
"Its heavier when loaded." I explained and inserted the clip into the gun while she held it.
"Ah have nevah fired a gun before." She admitted.
"Believe it or not a lot of people haven't. I personally think it is an experience everyone should have at least once." I then said.
"Can you teach me?" She asked.
"Not tonight, I don't think Xavier would be too fond of that. Maybe tomorrow, we can go to the danger room for some lessons." I said and she placed the gun back onto the table.
"Speaking of lessons yah did say that yah would help me try to control my powers when yah got back." She replied.
"I did say that, and I will. When would you like to start?" I asked her.
"Have you come up with something yah think might help?" She asked in return.
"I have but the doubt that you had when I first mentioned helping you will have to go out the window. I need you to completely dedicate yourself to the cause or it will never work." I said.
"Ah will try." She said and I just shook my head.
"There is no try. You have to commit yourself to this." I said and she bit her bottom lip.
"Its not that easy, mah powers have hurt people over the past 3 years. That is not something ah can just forget about." She said solemnly.
"I understand that but if you cant give this a real shot then I am wasting my time." I said and she looked up at me.
"Ah will give it a real shot." She then said and that's all I need to hear. "Can we get started right away?" She asked.
"Unfortunately no. I need you to take tonight and clear your mind. We can get started tomorrow morning." I informed her and she looked disappointed. "Go back to the mansion and enjoy your night. When you head to your bedroom, I want you to lay there and think of nothing at all, just completely relax your body and mind." I said and got to my feet taking her gloved hand in mine.
"Ok ah will do what you said, goodnight Bullet." She said and wrapped her arms around my waist before walking to the door.
"Goodnight Rogue." I said before opening the door for her.
"Marie." She corrected.
"I thought you preferred Rogue?" I asked.
"Ah do when it comes to most people, ah only let the people Ah like call me Marie." She said and I smiled.
"Goodnight Marie." I said before watching her walk back up the path to the mansion. I walked back inside and finished cleaning my guns before heading to bed myself. I tried relaxing my own mind but couldn't help but think of her sweet Mississippi accent her gorgeous auburn hair the way her hips swayed as she walked away from my house and how incredibly sexy she looked holding my gun.
The next morning
A night consisting of very little sleep came and went, I awoke to the sound of knocking at my door. I climbed out of bed groggily and flipped on the light before unlocking my safe and grabbing my gun. I holstered my weapon as I wasn't expecting any danger and made my way to the front door. I looked through the peephole and saw a white streak of hair falling in front of a beautiful face.
"Good morning Marie." I said after opening the door to allow the southern belle entrance.
"Morning sugah, you ready to get started?" She asked a little too energetically for 7:13 A.M.
"Of course come on in." I said as she was still standing in the doorway in early December and I haven't dressed for the day yet.
"So how do we do this?" She asked after walking in.
"First I get dressed and we will go from there." I explained.
"Oh right sorry." She said a little embarrassed.
I walked back up to my bedroom and grabbed a pair of sweat pants to take the place of my pajama pants and a thermal top to cover my bare chest before walking back down stairs. I approached Rogue as she sat on the couch and placed my hand on her shoulder. She nearly jumped out of her skin and turned to face me.
"Oh Bullet! Mah God you scared me." Rogue said suddenly breathing heavily.
"You are supposed to be completely at peace and worry free." I scolded.
"Ah was until you scared the life out of meh." She continued her southern drawl even thicker than usual.
"We will work on that more as we go. For now I will need you to get up from the sofa." I explained and she got to her feet. I moved the furniture towards the outsides of the room and walked to a storage closet and pulled out two foam mats.
"Are those yoga mats?" Rogue asked and I nodded.
"Yes but that's not what we are using them for." I explained and she looked at me curiously. "Have you ever tried meditation?" I then asked.
"Yah mean like sitting Indian style and chanting, how will that help meh control mah mutation?" She asked in return.
"There is a lot more to it than sitting Indian style and chanting. Meditation is used to help relax center your emotional state. We will be focusing on a rather difficult form of meditation to master known as single-pointed concentration. It is used to enable you to enjoy a sense of well being while engaging in any life activity. Mutations are often related to a distressed emotional state, the varying level of power and even the manifestation of mutations. They are very often triggered by anger or lust or frustration or fear as far as your mutation goes. We will work on inducing a mode of consciousness that will allow you to control your fear of hurting others." I explained and she seemed to be listening very closely.
"That makes a lot of sense but will it work?" She asked as she sat down on the yoga mat across from me.
"I cant promise that it will. Meditation takes many people years and years to master. My ability to comprehend these practices shortened the time it took me to master and I am a pretty good teacher but It will not happen overnight Marie. This will take some time and I need you to keep your faith and your trust in me. Now lets begin. Close your eyes and listen to the sound of my voice. Now take a deep breath and focus on a memory that makes you feel safe and comfortable. Continue to breathe deeply and keep that one memory in your mind." I explained as I slowly began to get to my feet and approach her. As she could hear my footsteps approaching I could sense her tension picking up. While she is focusing on not thinking about the bad memories they are clawing at the inside of the barriers she is using to keep them at bay. I have been in the very same situation on many occasions. I knealt down in front of Rogue and placed my hands on her gloved hands and her eyes snapped open and she fell backwards to get out my reach.
"Bullet oh my god what are yah doing!?" She screamed.
"I am testing the strength of your will. You did good considering you have been living with no human contact for years. That is all for today." I said and she got back to her sitting position.
"That's it. We were only at it for a few minutes." She said.
"We will progress a little further each day. As I said before this is not something that will happen overnight. For now we will focus on easing the tension you are now harboring, while we are traveling this road it would be best for you to remain as stress free as possible." I explained and she got to her feet.
"And how are we gonna ease this tension?" She asked.
"Remember yesterday when I said I would teach you to shoot?" I asked and her eyes got big.
"Yah are gonna teach me today?" She asked and nearly began to jog for the door.
"Yes head back to the mansion and to the danger room, I will meet you there shortly." I responded and she opened the front door.
"Thanks Bullet." She said and closed the door behind her.
I walked back to my room and changed into a pair of jeans and loaded a bag full of supplies for firearms training. A few different guns and boxes of ammo for each of them. I slung the bag over my shoulder and headed for the mansion. I arrived at the danger room 10 minutes later and laughed as I saw Rogue standing outside of the large metal doors already.
"Sorry I kept you waiting miss Marie." I said as I approached her and pulled the strap of my gun bag from my shoulder. I entered the code to open the door and walked inside.
"No problem sugah Ah am just excited to try this." She said walking in slowly behind me.
"Don't get too excited I have never taught anyone to shoot before. All I have to go off of is my training." I said as we walked toward the middle of the room. "Basic firearm training course one." I then said and the room began to change into an indoor shooting range it was well lit with multiple holographic targets at varying distances down range.
"What do I do first?" Rogue asked as I began unloading a Smith and Wesson M&P 9mm from my bag along with two boxes of ammunition.
"First you load your gun." I said sliding the gun and the boxes towards her.
"How do I do that?" She asked and I laughed.
"Expel your clip, there is a small button on the grip of the gun." I said and she turned it to face me while she looked for the button. "Whoa whoa whoa, rule number one, loaded or not, never point your gun at anything you don't intend to shoot." I explained and grabbed the barrel of the gun and moved it away from me.
"Oh sorry!" She said quickly after I let go of the barrel.
"Keep it pointed either at the ground or down range at all times. Now press the button and the magazine will eject. Good now slide the rounds into the clip pushing the spring down." I explained and she took a second to look at the bullet before begging to push the first round in. "Wrong way, look at the way the clip slides in and how the rounds will chamber into the barrel." I said and she slowly loaded the clip and I watched until she had the magazine fully loaded.
"Now what?" She asked showing me the full mag.
"Now insert it back into the handle." I explained and she slid the mag in. "All the way until you hear a click indicating its locked in. Good now that the clip iss in make sure you keep the gun pointed down range. There is a switch underneath the left side of the trigger guard that is your safety, switch it off." I explained and she did.
"Is it ready to fire now?" She asked and I had to shake my head.
"Not yet, you need to cock the slide back." I explained and watched her try and I smiled at her attempt.
"Its hard." She said and I smiled even more.
"You are not going to hurt the gun Marie, grip it tight and pull all the way back hard before releasing. Good now you are ready to fire. but before you do I need you to put these on." I said handing her a pair of noise cancelling ear muffs and protective goggles.
"Now what?" She asked after putting on her eyes and ears.
"Now pick a target and let a round fly." She picked the gun back up and pointed it down range I watched her finger pulling back on the trigger and the angle of the gun and knew she would be off target. The gun fired and her hand jerked out of surprise and she nearly dropped the gun.
"Whoa I wasn't expecting that." She said nervously getting a firm grip on the gun again.
"Here, maybe these will help." I handed her a pair of leather gloves that were too small for me now that I used when I was younger." They will help to absorb the recoil better than those thin fabric gloves you have on.
"Thanks." Rogue said and pulled her gloves off.
"Marie your nails are painted." I said noticing the dark purple nail polish. "Why paint your nails if you always wear gloves?" I asked confused.
"Promise that yah wont laugh if ah tell you?" She asked in return.
"I promise Marie." I assured her.
"To meh its another layer. It makes meh feel more secure. Ah know its stupid." She said and looked at her feet a embarrassed.
"No its not, you should always do what makes you feel comfortable. But you have beautiful hands Marie. I would like to see them more often." I said admiring the pale skin that never gets any sun accented by the dark purple nail polish.
"So would ah." She said before sliding on the leather gloves I handed her.
"Ok now pick the gun back up and try again." I said hoping to steer the conversation away from anything that would make her feel more comfortable. She let another round go and missed the target again.
"Ah am no good at this." She said placing the gun down.
"The first shot you were nervous, and the second you were anticipating the recoil. If you expect a strong recoil you will try to adjust for that and that is a mistake. Don't think about the recoil, just line up your sights at what you want to hit and try again." I said and she picked the gun back up before raising it to eye level. She fired another round and hit the target low.
"Ah got it!" She said excitedly and fired two more rounds, one hit high and one missed.
"Good now we will work on making you more accurate now that you are getting on target. Spread your feet to shoulder width apart but put your left foot a little forward. Extend your right arm completely straight and cock your left elbow slightly. Now try it again." I said and she fired two more rounds hitting much closer to center mast but still a terrible grouping. "Good now focus on your breathing, take long slow deep breaths and fire while you are exhaling slowly." I said and she fired three more rounds emptying the clip. Her grouping was much closer but still far from an experienced shooter.
"Yah are a great teacher Bullet, Ah am gettin good at this." Marie said excitedly before expelling her clip and reaching for the ammo box again. She loaded another clip and reinserted it into the gun.
"Your stance is still sloppy, but yes you are getting good." I said and she looked back at me confused. "Your knees are too stiff but your shoulders are too slouched, common mistake. Try squaring your shoulders and don't necessarily kneel but bend your legs slightly." I said and she did before firing a few more rounds which were now even further apart than her last few. "Perhaps that was bad advice to give without showing you how to properly take a firing stance." I said as I walked up behind her and pressed my chest into her back. She tightened up intensely but I didn't back off.
"Relax Marie your skin is covered and so is mine." I informed her and her tenseness eased slightly. "Bend your knees slightly and relax your shoulders into my chest." I explained taking a stance and allowing her to mold her body into mine.
She fired the rest of the clip with increased accuracy and began to relax with each shot. The more relaxed she became the tighter her grouping became. She loaded another magazine and I retook my place behind her. Her grouping got down to a 4 inch grouping at 15 yards. I soon found that my mind became distracted and I had to take a step back.
"What are yah doin bullet?" She asked after I backed away. After feeling her round ass pressed against me when she sank into me certain parts of my anatomy began to get uncomfortable against my jeans.
"I think you are fine without me behind you." I said a little embarrassed myself.
"What if ah start doing bad again?" She asked.
"You will be fine just remember to relax." I said and she frowned.
"Alright." She said before loading up another clip. "Time for the teacher to show his skills." She then said handing me the loaded gun.
I smirked as I took the gun and walked toward the range. "Reset targets." I said and all of the holes Marie put in the first target disappeared. "Keep a close eye on this its not very often that I show off." I said and pulled my sig from its holster as well. I immediately opened fire with both guns and didn't let up until I expended every bullet in them.
"Wow that was fast." Rogue said looking down range amazed after I set the guns down and turned to face her.
"One shot for every target except for the furthest four." I said and she squinted to see the holes in them.
"Did you miss?" She asked and I couldn't help but laugh.
"I don't miss." I said handing her the spotting scope I had in the bag she looked at the targets and lowered the scope.
"That's incredible, How long until ah am that good?" She said noticing that every target had a single shot in the center of its forehead except for the farthest four that now had holes where eyes should be.
"That takes a lot of practice. But with me helping you I think it will be possible." I explained and she wrapped her arms around my neck.
"Thanks bullet I had a lot of fun." She said and then slowly let go and began to walk for the exit.
"I had a lot of fun as well Marie you are an exceptional person." I said and followed her from the room.
Not much else was said as we entered the elevator and made our way up to the rest of the mansion.
"Hey kid, you got a minute?" Logan asked as we stepped off of the elevator.
"Sure thing Logan. Ill see you later Marie." I said and walked down the hall with Logan until he pulled me into the gym.
"What have you discovered about Stryker?" He asked once he let go of my arm and shut the gym door.
"He is running his current op out of an ex air force base in Alaska. It is extremely remote and very well fortified. I know its location from the file and the condition of the base from the outside, the file had very little to go on outside of that." I explained.
"Alright when do we head out?" He asked.
"Relax Logan, Stryker only relocates once he feels there is a threat or one of his experiments that he cant seem to kill escapes. He will still be there when we do go." I said and he growled.
"What are you not telling me? Why are we not on our way to kill that bastard?" He nearly yelled.
"Nothing but I don't know what we will be facing either. Stryker has unlimited funds and some of the brightest minds at his disposal. He has been trying to come up with a way to kill you for years he nearly succeeded with me and now he wants me dead as well. For all we know he has come up with a way and he is waiting for one of us to find him so he can unleash his new weapon. If we go in half cocked we may very well lose. Nevada was different they had no way of knowing what to expect. Stryker knows everything about us this will not be a walk in the park and it requires some planning so cage your beast and stop growling. When I come up with something I will let you know right away." I explained and left the room calmly.
Xaviers institute for higher learning
Two months later
I sat with rogue in the danger room next to the top of a waterfall next to Rogue as she practices her meditation. She has been much calmer as of late she has been enjoying our firearm training and she has improved immensely. I have learned a lot about her in that time and I am looking forward to learning much more. I snapped out of my own meditation as I am able to smell the apple scented shampoo she uses and I am unable to concentrate anyway. She has been much less scared around me lately regarding her powers, she doesn't pull away as quickly when I touch her and I feel it is time for a test. I approached her quietly as to not disturb her and I slid my hand just under her chin softly touching her skin as I am unsure of what to expect if her mutation does drain me. My finger caresses the soft skin under her chin and finds its way to her cheek.
"Bullet, please try to remain calm." Dr. Henry McCoy said sternly as I jerked awake violently.
"Hank what the hell happened?" I asked confused. It is not very often I wake up unaware of my surroundings and unaware of what happened to me in the first place. It hasn't happened to me since I was a kid as a result of a concussion due to one of my beatings.
"You got a little too close to Rogue's skin. She called Charles from the danger room frantic that she hurt you." He stated and it suddenly began to come back to me.
"Where is she Hank is she ok?" I asked worried as I know her powers allow her to absorb my mutation and for someone who is not used to my mutation it could cause some serious trauma.
"She is fine, sleeping off one hell of a headache. She was freaking out about you and every detail of the surroundings and when she saw us things got worse. Scott walked her out of the danger room and to her room, upon seeing the other students and everything else around her she passed out. She was brought here but after looking her over she seemed fine and we allowed her to go back to her room." Hank explained and I began to get up from the bed I was laying on.
"Bullet everything is fine, you will hurt yourself, please lay still." Hank said placing a hand on my shoulder. I grabbed his wrist and bent his arm behind his back as I got to my feet.
"I do not like to be touched Hank, do it again and I will break your arm off do you understand me?" I asked angrily before releasing my grip on the much stronger blue mutant and prepared for one hell of a fight. With his athleticism and enhanced strength he could give me a run for my money.
"I am merely trying to gauge your health I did not intend to cause you any arm, I just do not wish for you to cause yourself any harm." He explained calmly while rubbing his wrist.
"My vitals are fine my vision is fine my hearing my smell is all perfect. I have a slight headache but nothing to be concerned with Hank, if you would like I can return after I check on Rogue and you can do a full evaluation but she needs my help if she still has my mutation in her head."
"Not necessary Bullet, I assume with your mutation and knowledge that you are pretty well versed in the medical field, but please if you begin to feel dizzy or nauseated please come see me." He then said.
"I will Hank, see you later." I said before walking out of the med Lab and toward the elevator. I didn't even stop to put a shirt on.
I approached Rogues room pretty quickly for as sluggish as I feel. I knocked but heard no answer, I turned the door knob and walked in to see Rogue lying on her bed tossing and turning. She is obviously dreaming about something terrible.
"Marie, wake up." I said quietly, hoping to snap her out of her dream as gently as possible. "Marie, wake up!" I shouted after quiet didn't work. She awoke with a start and I had to jump to the side to avoid her fist as she swung out at me.
"Oh mah god Bullet. Ah am so glad your ok." She said in her thicker than usual southern drawl.
"I'm fine Marie, I just wanted to make sure you are ok." I said and she puller her blanket over her head. "I see my mutation is still with you." I said as I could tell she was avoiding taking in too much.
"How do yah deal with this on a day tah day basis?" She asked scared and confused about everything she has taken in and the stuff that is remaining with her.
"Relax Marie take a deep breath and calm your mind. Use your meditation, it helps." I explained and she shook her head under the blanket.
"Last time ah did that I hurt you. Ah am not doin that again." She said refusing to uncover her head.
"Marie, it worked." I said and she stopped shaking her head.
"Yah wound up in the hospital. How exactly does that constitute worked?" She asked slowly uncovering her head. She began eyeing me up and down taking in all my features.
"I touched you for 2.6 seconds before you realized I was touching you and that fear came rushing back to you." I explained and her eyes got big.
"Please tell me this aint a sick joke." She said excitedly.
"Not at all you can beat your mutation you just have to beat your fear. The strength of the mind is a very powerful thing, emotions are a very powerful thing, even more so in your case but you got the better of it and you can do it again. Once my mutation wears off Iwant to resume your training." I said and her excitement turned to sadness.
"How does your mind stay intact?" She asked.
"I have lived with my mutation my whole life and adjusted." I answered and she shook her head no.
"Ah mean after everything yah have done, ah have some of yah memories in mah head. Were yah eva goin tah tell meh?" She then asked and my gaze dropped.
"The nightmares?" I asked and she shook her head yes. "What would you have thought of me if I did?" I asked.
"Yah were brainwashed, yah couldn't stop yourself. At least in the beginning. I understand why Yah didn't want to say anything but that's not something yah should keep to yahself. Those memories will destroy yah." She said and lifted my chin with her gloved hand to look into my eyes.
"I didn't want you to think less of me. I have done unspeakable things." I said and she sat up in her bed and hugged my waist.
"That's not the man yah are anymore Bullet. That's not the man who has been helping meh and teaching meh selflessly everyday. That's not the man that is fallin for meh." She said and I looked down at her.
"Excuse me?" I questioned.
"Yah are in mah head bullet. But yah should push those feelings away. What kinda life could we have if ah cant learn to control mah mutation as well as yah think ah can?" She asked hypothetically.
"Its not that I think you can control them Marie, you have already done it. You just need more practice." I told her before kissing the top of her head. She looked up at me confused.
"Why do yah have so much faith in meh?" She asked.
"Because you are an incredible woman. You are an intelligent strong willed individual and have picked up on everything I have taught you much faster than I ever expected. and there is no one more deserving of human contact, the one thing you have been deprived of for years. But that's enough for now, You need to sleep off my mutation so we can resume your training." I explained and Rogue got to her feet. As I expected a hug she placed her gloved hand over my lips and pressed her own lips to the back of her hand.
"Yah aint the only one fallin Bullet."