Sorry for the wait on this one. Shout out to IcedBlaze, my beta, I'm trying to make this better! Don't own X-men, just my plot line and character and not making any money from this. Also, as a little note, I'm not sure if I made myself clear on a few points. 1. Logan and Darcy aren't together. And 2. Deadpool did not let Stryker loose from the mansion. I said that someone inside the mansion did, as in, an insider did it. And last but not least, 3. There is no Scott/Rogue romance, no matter how much I think they're cute together.
Stryker stood over the small child's prone form. Tubes covered her mouth and nose and an IV hung from her limp hand. The rest of the team had been ordered out for an assassination, leaving him alone with the girl. A triumphant smirk slithered across his lips as he stepped back to allow the doctors to get closer. Heart and blood pressure monitors beeped with regularity. Finally, he could perform the experiment without having his platoon underfoot. His smirk disappeared as he thought about the unintentional interference Wade and James caused. A nurse cleared her throat behind him loudly. Stepping out of the way, he gave the child one more glance.
"I want her to be under my complete control when I say the code word. The others must not notice anything out of the ordinary," Stryker ordered. "You may commence." The high pitched whir of a drill followed his strides out of the room.
Chapter Four: Past meets Present (Part one)…
Darcy stepped gingerly over the slop that covered a log in the middle of her path. The path was barely there, but that didn't matter to much to her. It was the scenery that took her breath away. Long, straight tree trunks loomed above them, their billions of leaves creating a lush canopy. Sunlight barely trickled through, creating magical golden rays where it did. The earth they walked on was rich, a deep luscious brown. Just for the moment, Darcy could pretend that she wasn't going on a life altering mission and was on a hike with friends.
Her luminous blue eyes took in her team members. Their uncomfortable, sweaty faces made her smile. Tight black leather was not as forgiving as her blue cargo pants, hiking boots, and black sweater. Her clothes allowed her body to breath and move with freedom. Glancing at Logan, she let out a laugh. "This is what you get for being a conformist, Wolverine," she teased.
He flipped her the bird. "Shut it, you heathen, and keep walking," Logan growled lightly. Grinning at him, Darcy turned her attention back to the path, her footsteps light as she trotted ahead of the rest. The path wandered further, curving around rocks and boulders before arching up an incline.
Suddenly, her fast paced slowed. Darcy's previous confidence about going on this mission faded like sand in a sieve. She glanced down at her hands. Long, delicate fingers trembled in remembrance of her imprinting. God, she hated doing that. To be honest, she really didn't mind what she picked up by hanging around people with talents, but when she forced it…Well, she could understand why Rogue hated her powers. Without touching, Darcy's absorbed talents seeped into her slowly, coming up on her like a warm blanket, but forcing a power? She shuddered. It was like having an alien life form crawling up under her skin, slowly and painfully making its way to her mind where it attacked her viciously, trying to gain control. Shivers arched up her spine. A firm hand took hold of her elbow and pushed her forward.
"No time to chicken out now, bub," Logan said quietly. Looking at him, she was met by his warm, gentle gaze. "No need to fear the past."
**
Darcy looked around the bunker with distaste. The masculine roar of the waterfall echoed deafeningly in the bunker. Pulling out a pair of bright yellow earplugs from her pocket, she slipped them into her ears. Logan gave her a funny look. "What? Do you know how loud Kitty and Jubilee get while talking about boys in the Rec room when I'm trying to mark things? It's good to get into the habit of carrying them around." He gave her a smirk and then turned his attention away from her. Sighing, she looked around again, taking in the various live security cameras scattered around. Despite being above a waterfall, she noticed none of the steady drippings that were usually found around caves. Instead everything was spotless; well, apart from the dust and the papers scattered everywhere. If it weren't for the cameras, she could have sworn the place had been empty and sealed for a long time.
Scott and Rogue wandered around picking up random files and placing them in a pack to take back to the base. Darcy gave a little smile at the blushing, innocent looks Rogue offered the older man. She knew without a doubt that if Logan found out, his reaction would embarrass the younger girl to lengths no one had been to previously. It seemed the young adult was finally growing out of her school girl crush.
The imposing blast doors stood in front of them like a Roman Legionnaire. Her heavy hiking boots crunched over papers as she walked over to the lock. Logan moved to stand protectively over her. The other X-men shifted to do the same. With a humorless smile, Darcy mused that Logan's movements were signal to the others. Chancing another glance at the doors, a sense of foreboding slinked down her spine and settled into a weighty pool in her stomach. Swallowing thickly, she squashed the feeling down forcefully. She had a mission to do, her first with the X-men, and she wasn't going to screw it up.
Calling up the power that she obtained from the student, Darcy prepared for the alien feeling to flow through her veins. With a delicate hand, she touched the pad lightly. Immediately, she was sucked in. Images, information, everything bombarded her at once. Knees buckling, she felt herself falling to the ground. Unknown hands grabbed at her waist, keeping her in contact with the key pad. The knowledge pulsed into her mind and pumped with her heartbeat as she struggled for control. A ragged cry ripped from her throat as she fought for control. Plowing through all the data, she pushed her mind forward, commanding the door to open. There was silence.
Ba-beep.
Opening her eyes, Darcy tiredly leaned back into someone's arms. Rolling her head up, she caught the gaze of Scott who looked at her with concern. The blast doors creaked as the lock unraveled. With a reluctant groan, it opened slowly. Adamantium claws tore through Logan's skin as he slipped in first, taking point. Ororo followed him quickly with Piotr. With a tired sigh, she broke away from Scott and followed with the rest.
The interior of the corridor was vastly different to the one before. Here, water dripped steadily down as steam hissed at intervals. They walked forward in single file, quite happy to let Logan lead for the moment. It was slow going as the narrow path they followed sloped downwards. Darcy felt twitchy and a foreign sense of Déjà vu washed over her.
The tingling in her mind that followed after clued her in to what was going on. Her telepathic powers that she had picked up from the professor had activated. Opening the door had also subconsciously opened her mind to her abilities. Stifling another sigh, she attempted to close her mind, unwilling to let an untamed power loose on her teammates.
Logan staggered to the wall, a hand on his head. A flash of pain tore through Darcy. Before she could close her mind, Logan's memory pierced into her. Like a flash of lightening, she could only watch as a naked Logan speed back up the corridor and out into the open, flinging himself off the cliff. Her sight came back to her as she stumbled into Rogue.
The poor girl in front of her tensed at the unwelcome intrusion. Darcy immediately straightened. "Sorry, Rogue, honey," she panted, trying to catch her breath. The other smiled in forgiveness and continued on.
Darcy could have cursed the professor, Logan, and herself for even going on the mission in the first place. So far, despite everything that was going well for the others, she was having a tough time keeping herself in control. With a mental cuss, she reminded herself of her adolescent grasp on her powers.
"Get ready," Logan hissed from the front. Gone was the vulnerable man from before. In his place stood the Wolverine, the fierce warrior she was less familiar with. "Soldiers coming up ahead." Squaring her shoulders, Darcy pulled out a pair of gloves from one of her pockets and put them on quickly. She knew there would be fighting and, as usual, wanted to be prepared. After spending so many years with Logan and his temper in bars, Darcy was well used to being prepared for a brawl. She had control here. A good starting point to get everything else packed away.
Later, when she was asked to describe what happened, all she could say was a controlled frenzy. She didn't have to fight, it was too narrow. Instead, the fighting was left to Logan as the others hid around the corner. It was to their advantage, having a mutant who could not only fight well, but not even be affected by the enemy's attacks. Only a matter of minutes passed before Logan was alone, his claws dripping with his opponents' blood. All around him, the bodies splayed out, dead.
Darcy didn't recognize the man who stood in front of her now. The excited glint in his eyes was frightening. However, like a switch, he turned it off, stood, and sheathed his claws. He was back to the man she knew, back to the man she admired. A sigh of relief sounded from her left. Turning, she saw Rogue staring at him with the same expression she had on her own face.
"Come on," Scott said gravely, "we still have a long way to go."