Xavier's institute for higher learning
3 months later
"Can ah go with yah?" Rogue asked as I packed a bag.
"No Marie there is a chance I will not make it back. I can not drag you into this." I explained calmly.
"But ah got really good at shootin. I can take care of mahself." She argued and I shook my head.
"I cant take that risk, you mean too much to me. Besides I will have Wolverine to watch my back. This is something we have to do alone." I explained again.
"Stryker right?" she asked and I looked up into her eyes. "You really need to start talking about these things Bullet." She then said placing her gloved hand on my cheek, I pulled away angrily before resuming my packing.
"About what things? Do you mean the fact that he ruined any childhood I could have had, or the fact that he made me kill countless people in the pursuit of his own goals? You will have to forgive me if that is something I don't like to talk about." I said before getting up an walking to my bunker to grab a weapon I intend to get quite a bit of use out of.
"So yah are going to kill him?" She asked following me and standing in the doorway to my bunker as I loaded up tech and equipment that will help us.
"He deserves it." I stated coldly.
"What gives you the right to make that call?" She asked and I was beginning to grow tired of this.
"The fact that he took my life from me. The way I see it turnabout is fair play. You have some of my memories did you pick up on their codename for me?" I asked trying to reason with her but to be honest I don't see why I care. Any other girl and I would have left without an explanation what makes her any different?
"No that wasn't in any of them." She replied.
"Weapon 19, that was until one of the guards began calling me bullet and it stuck. There were 18 other weapon programs before me do you know what happened to 17 of the others?" I asked and she shook her head no.
"They died due to the sick twisted experiments Stryker performed on them. He took 17 other lives trying to create the perfect weapon. Apart from that there are all of the lives I ended at his command. He is a psychopath and needs to be dealt with as soon as possible. The more time that's wasted the more lives will be lost." I said and she stared on in shock.
"What happened to the other one?" She asked in disbelief.
"He is accompanying me to carry out the task of taking Stryker down." I answered and her jaw dropped.
"Yah mean Logan was one of the weapon programs?" She asked.
"Weapon X." I answered.
"Go, but make sure yah come back to meh in one piece." She said placing her hand in mine.
"I will do everything in my power to make sure that I do." I replied kissing her knuckles.
Now that everything is loaded it is time for me to find Logan so we can head out. I walked to the mansion with my supplies slung over my shoulder and Rogue following right behind me still holding my other hand. It is something I have never done before but I find that I don't mind her holding my hand something about it feels real, it feels right. We made it back to the mansion to find Logan standing next to the garage entrance with a duffel bag of his own laid at his feet.
"Ya ready to go?" Logan asked and I nodded my head.
We headed to my car and loaded our bags and gun cases into the back. Logan then walked around to the passenger seat.
"The terrain can get a little rough as you head north, are you sure this car will get us there?" He asked knocking on the solid bulletproof door to make his point about its added weight.
"We wont be taking it the whole way. I rented a sea plane from a man I used to do business with. It is sitting on Lake Ontario as we speak." I said and his face paled. "I am an excellent pilot Logan I will get us there safe." I reassured him. I got into the driver side and he entered the passenger side.
"Bullet wait." Rogue said as she entered the garage. I got back out of the car just in time for her to rush me. "Take this with yah." She said and planted the softest kiss I have ever felt on my lips. I got lost in the moment and began to kiss her back without a second thought to her mutation until she broke the kiss.
"Marie how did you?" I began before she kissed me again softly.
"Remember what is here waiting for you." She said before turning and walking back into the mansion leaving me speechless.
"Are we going to leave today?" Logan asked snapping me out of my trance.
"Huh? Oh uh yea lets go." I said before getting back in the car and starting the engine. I began backing out of the driveway.
"Stop!" Logan yelled. "What is with you, open the garage door." He then said and I hit the button to open the garage door. "Get your head on straight bub, You need your head clear for this."
"Your right. Lets go." I agreed and began trying to place the kiss from my mind but couldn't help but keep getting drawn back in.
We made it to Lake Ontario in one piece and began to load the plane. After all was said and done I did a quick check of the plane and we were off. I continued glancing at Logan hoping he didn't throw up but apart from some paleness he seemed fine.
"So you and Rogue huh? I thought you and her were just friends?" He asked trying to keep from focusing too much on the flight.
"We are, or we were. I don't know what we are." I answered confused as to what is going on between us.
"And she kissed you, how did that happen?" He then asked.
"We have been working on that, not kissing but getting a grip on her mutation using meditation to help her control her emotional state. I touched her once before when she was unaware of what was going on but I have never seen her be able to do it and still be aware that she was actually touching me until today." I explained.
"That explains it." He said closing his eyes and laying his head back.
"Explains what?" I asked.
"For someone so smart you can be stupid, you are one of the few people to treat her like she is even a human much less the only person she has touched in years without hurting them. That's why she is attracted to you. But do you think you are really the best person for her?" He asked.
"No." I answered quickly.
"You have put some thought into this before." He said noting the quickness in which I answered him.
"Yea I am a trained killer I have never known anything else up until I came to the mansion. Even when I was no longer under Stryker's control I continued to kill people for money." I explained.
"Don't sell yourself short kid, You did it with good intentions and now you are working to right those wrongs." He replied turning to face me.
"Can I right that many wrongs? Is that even possible?" I asked as we ascended higher and higher.
"Taking out Stryker will be a good start." He smirked.
"You have a point there." I remarked.
The flight continued for hours and hours until I came to a large lake in the Alaskan wilderness. I began to descend and Logan opened his eyes for the first time in hours. Is this it?" He asked looking around and not seeing anything.
"This is as far as we go in the plane we have five more miles on foot." I answered as the plane touched down on the lake and began skimming the water as I let up on the throttle. The plane came to a stop at the shore and we got out of the plane before tying it to a tree and entering into the forest.
"There is an ex air force base out here?" Logan asked.
"Yea pretty good place for it, remote, not accessible to civilians and well hidden." I answered.
We began trekking through the forest slowly keeping an eye out for wolves and bears or anything else that I may have to shoot and end up giving away our position. We arrived at a clearing 4 miles into the forest and I set my bag down.
"There is not much longer kid we can rest once this is over." Logan said after turning back to face me.
"I am not resting." I said before unzipping my bag and pulling out a small airplane and a remote control with a video screen in the middle of it.
"Is that?" Logan began.
"A remote controlled drone. Yes it is." I answered before starting the plane and throwing it into the air and picking up the remote.
I took control of the plane and began flying it high over the trees getting a viewpoint so that I can map out a plan of attack. The plane came within view of the base and I switched on the infrared vision looking for guards or snipers or anyone keeping lookout for the facility there were multiple guard towers but I was extremely surprised to see no one there. I flew another loop and swooped down closer looking for anything I might have missed. Still no one. I began to fly the plane back when a message came over my communicator and I could tell Logan was receiving the same message.
"Bullet, Logan get back to the institute as soon as-" Charles began to say before static overtook his voice. Then another voice came on, a voice I was all to familiar with.
"Weapon x, 19, Did you think I would not figure out what you were up to after I heard about an expert marksman and a man with metal claws tearing apart area 51. You fell right into my trap say goodbye to the X-men." Stryker said and Logan roared before taking off into the woods back towards the plane.
I took off right behind him ducking branches and jumping over roots, I struggled to keep up but we need to get back as soon as possible. With all of the weapons Stryker has at his disposal the X-men will be playing pure defense to protect the students. They will be sitting ducks. We reached the plane in record time sweating and breathless. We quickly boarded the plane and I pulled a gun to shoot the rope the plane was tied up with. We took to the air and I pushed the plane to its limit flying back to the mansion as quickly as we could.
"Logan take the stick! Keep it steady." I said and he did, as we approached I saw a large caravan of military vehicles. I reached into the back and grabbed a 50 cal rifle from my bag. I quickly calculated distance from the vehicles and the speed at which we were traveling I fired two rounds out of my window as the vehicles were pulling away. Two vehicles now with holes through their hoods came to a stop and the rest of the caravan stopped along with them. Men quickly got out and began to help the men in the crippled Humvees. Three of them got into the remaining vehicles and I fired two more rounds hitting the ground in front of the the remaining man. His friendlies left him behind and got back into their Humvees and sped off.
"Xavier, there is a straggler outside of the gate round him up." I said into the communicator.
"We are a little preoccupied inside of the mansion." Charles replied.
"Shit I need to land. Logan there is a parachute in the back put it on and jump. Here hook this onto the ripcord and hook it onto the hinge of the plane door." I said to the terrified man sitting next to me.
"Your out of your mind." He replied looking sick.
"He could be our only lead to Stryker its this or we spend a lot more time searching for him!" I shouted and he got up from his seat and walked to the back grabbing the parachute. He put it on and strapped it on. He attached the carabiner I disconnected to my bag to his ripcord and then he opened the door and attached it to his rip cord.
"Is this high enough to jump?" He asked as he stood in the doorway.
"Barely that's why the carabiner will pull your cord as soon as you leave the plane." I replied and he gulped before jumping. His cord pulled and he began descending.
I swung the plane outward and headed swung back in while descending behind the mansion. "I cant believe I am even going to attempt this." I said to my self as I began lowering my altitude and steering for the pond. I touched down and my floats scraped the ground before entering the pond. I decreased my throttle and the plane began skidding across the water hard. It was still going way too fast and It ripped through a fallen tree branch before embedding itself into the mud on the other side of the pond. I jumped up from my seat and deboarded the plane quickly leaving my bag behind. I ran toward the mansion and entered the back door. I ran inside and towards the commotion I heard coming from the Lobby. I skidded around the corner and was immediately met with a pair of claws.
"Weapon 19." The girl growled and launched herself at me.
I quickly dodged left and right swipes from her claws and her speed was incredible it was hard for my brain to register quick enough for me to react in time. I back flipped and pulled my knife from my belt. I stabbed forward after landing but she dodged and sliced the steel blade in half. She swung a left hand and I grabbed her wrist, she swung a right and I grabbed it as well. We met a stalemate or so I thought, another blade ejected from her foot and she dug the blade into my left thigh. I reacted quick enough so that I could avoid her hitting a nerve but it still hurt like hell.
"Scott do you have a clear shot?" Jean asked.
"No!" I yelled hoping to just subdue her.
"Storm Logan should be on his way with a prisoner, go find him and tell him I need help." I yelled still wrestling with the young girl and avoiding her kicks.
"Bullet you are losing a lot of blood." Jean screamed.
"I have 6 minutes until I will bleed out I am fine." I replied twisting the girl around so that she couldn't kick me. I used my superior strength to keep her in place but knew I couldn't hold her forever. Storm returned a moment later with Wolverine who quickly rushed to my aid grabbing he girls wrists and holding her steady.
"What are we going to do with her?" Logan asked helping to restrain the girl.
"I have a cell hidden in my home she wont be able to escape from." I replied releasing the girl into Logan's control.
I pulled some zip ties from my pocket and zip tied the girls hands together and restrained her legs.
I grabbed the blade from my knife off of the floor. "Logan do you have a lighter?" I asked calmly.
"sure thing bub." He said and reached in his pocket for the lighter he uses for his cigars. I lit it and held the blade over it until it got red hot.
"Bullet please tell me you are not going to do what I think you are going to do." Jean said looking at the glowing blade and then I ripped my pants revealing the cut. I removed my shirt to wipe away the blood. "Go see Hank he can stitch the wound." She then added.
"I have other things to do." I replied and pressed the blade over the flesh and cauterized the wound closed. I clenched my teeth and groaned at the pain but I have been through worse. I then got back to my feet and grabbed the girl by her wrists before dragging her out of the lobby and into the hallway.
"Bullet we do not take prisoners." Xavier said rolling himself in front of us.
"She is a war criminal." I argued.
"There is no war just a single battle that we are victorious in." He replied.
"You don't know Stryker if he is not stopped there will be a war. I will interrogate her and once I have the information we need I will release her. She will not be harmed." I assured him and he moved out of the way.
"Lets go kid." Logan said and we exited the mansion.
We entered my house and I scanned my eye to unlock my front door and deactivate my security. We walked inside and Logan began looking around.
"There is a room in the back." I said and placed her down. I pulled my cell phone and pressed a button. The wall at the back of the house slid away revealing another room. We walked her inside and I removed a floor panel revealing a blast door. I opened the heavy door, tossed her inside and shut the door.
"I thought we were going to question her." Logan said as I walked us back out of the room.
"Let her stay there for the night. That room is protected by 3 inch thick steel and 2 feet of concrete her claws aren't long enough to escape. The most she can do is leave some claw marks. We have another prisoner to interrogate." I said and he grunted.
Just then a message came across the intercom.
"Bullet we have a problem with the other man we have in custody, get to the med lab immediately." Charles said and me and Logan ran out of the house and back to the mansion. We entered the mansion and got to the elevator as soon as we could. We entered the sub basement and ran to the med Lab.
"Hank what's going on?" I asked before I saw the man laying on the bed foam from his mouth laying around his head. Hank began hooking him up to all kinds of equipment and I knew it was too late. "Hank stop there is nothing you can do. He bit into a cyanide pill, he's dead. They knew that if any of them got captured it would be a suicide mission." I explained and Hank looked back.
"How do you know this Bullet?" Hank asked confused as he checked the mans pulse.
"Because I used to work for them." I replied and left the med lab.
"Shit what about the girl?" Logan asked as the though appeared in his head.
"The Cyanide wouldn't kill her." She has your healing factor. I noticed a wound she suffered against the rest of the X-men already healing once I joined the fight.
"So whats next?" Logan asked.
"We check on the students and do a damage report." I said and he shook his head.
"It's been a hell of a night." He said as we stepped back on the elevator.
We stepped off of the elevator and I walked back to join the rest of the X-men. I approached the group and Xavier rolled up to me.
"What is the status of the man in the med lab?" Charles asked.
"Dead, cyanide pill he bit down on." I answered and he lowered his eyes.
"That's a shame, what is going on with the girl you took to your holding cell?" He then asked.
"She is fine, She will sleep tonight and I will question her tomorrow. Where are the students?" I asked.
"They are fine there are secret tunnels throughout the mansion. Rogue and Kitty took the younger students there." He replied.
"Ok we will get to work on getting the mansion together tomorrow I will take watch tonight and make sure Stryker's men do not come back." I said and he turned to face me.
"Bullet you got injured in the line of duty and things might have ended much worse without you getting here when you did. Get some rest tonight." He suggested.
"I don't sleep after nights like tonight everyone else will have their hands full with the students. I will be fine Charles." I then explained.
"If you insist, we appreciate your help Bullet." He then said.
"I appreciate you taking a risk with me. There is something I need to talk to you about I will see you tomorrow bright and early." I then said and he nodded before extending his hand. I shook his hand and walked out of the mansion.
2 A.M. rolled around and I sat outside of the front door with a lot on my mind. Everything from the wound in my leg to to how I am going to track Stryker down now and how he knew I would be coming today. I hate that no matter how close I come he is always one step ahead of me. I am probably the smartest person to walk the earth but he is able to stay out of my reach. My fists are clenched and my mind is racing so fast that I didn't even notice the door open.
"Bullet." A voice said and I pulled my gun and turned around to see who was there only to find myself holding my pistol an inch from Rogue's face.
"Shit Marie. My mind is so fucked up right now." I said before holstering my gun. "What are you doing awake?"
"Ah know you don't sleep well after missions, and ah was told yah were keeping watch. Ah just thought yah could use some company." She said and I sat down on the steps.
"I suppose some company doesn't sound bad, but you need some sleep." I said and she sat next to me.
"Ah am not tired." She argued and I turned toward her and smirked. "So yah didn't get Stryker?" she then asked.
"No, he is the one that did all of this." I said looking down at the steps.
"Ah am sorry sugah, I know yah wanted him but how did he know to come here?" She asked and I shook my head.
"I don't know." I admitted feeling pretty bad that everything that happened here is my fault. Just then I felt a pair of warm lips on my cheek and it brought me back to the kiss this morning. "How long have you been able to control your mutation while still in your normal state of consciousness?" I asked.
"Just today, have not tried it with anyone else. Didn't know it would work today but ah was more worried about yah not returning without being able to kiss yah at least once. And that way if it didn't work yah wouldn't be able to leave. Win win for meh." She said and I laughed.
"I'm not sure I like you gambling with my health." I replied jokingly.
"How was it? Ah have not kissed anyone in years and he was mah first." She said and I took her hand and pulled her glove off before holding her bare hand.
"It was great Marie but I don't think we should continue this. I am not exactly boyfriend material and my past is way too fucked up to bring you into it, You see what my past caused tonight. I wouldn't want to be the cause of you getting hurt for someone coming after me. I am sorry but me and you can not be." I said releasing her hand and walking down the steps.
"So that's it, yah can not deny there is something between us. I felt what yah feel when ah absorbed yah." She said walking up behind me and placed her hand on my shoulder.
"What I feel is irrelevant. I refuse to drag you into my life." I said and she turned me around to face her.
"Ah know what yah life was like, ah have seen yah memories, Ah want to be a part of it. As much as yah like to hate yahself yah are not a bad person and yah deserve to be happy more than anyone else if yah ask meh. Let meh be the one ta make yah happy bullet." Marie said and I sighed.
"Alright, you win. Under one condition." I then said.
"What's the condition?" She asked.
"Should anything like tonight happen, you will do exactly as I say to get to safety. I cant focus on keeping you safe and taking care of the situation at hand." I said knowing that things like tonight may happen again.
"Ah am not exactly incompetent with the training yah gave meh ah can handle mahself." She argued.
"Marie I mean it." I said sternly.
"Ok ok." She said before taking my hands. "Yah deserve a real life bullet."
"Get some sleep Marie, we will continue the real life tomorrow." I said walking her back to the door.
"Are yah gonna be ok?" She asked.
"Something tells me I will be just fine." I smiled before kissing her and opening the door so she could put the days events behind her. I have spent my whole life in fucked up situations but for others I can only imagine what these situations do to them emotionally or psychologically. I guess we will discover the full extent of the damage tomorrow.