Combusting Hearts
Chapter 23
"So…Mr. Lehnsherr, why exactly did you bring me here?" I asked softly, standing before the man that had saved me from the accident.
"Why, my dear girl, I brought you here to help you," he said, walking toward me.
I stood where I was as he drew closer, Sabertooth watching from the sidelines against the wall as we talked.
"To help me?" I asked curiously.
"Yes, my dear," he placed his hand on my shoulder, a warm smile on his face. "I know that you were having troubles at that school. After all, you did run away, did you not?"
I froze as he said this, lowering my head and looking away.
"People never have treated you right, have they my dear?" he asked, gently pulling my chin up to look at him.
I could feel my eyes water as I stood there, trying not to cry from being asked that question. I mean, it was true after all, I had run away, but…it was for a good reason.
"Y-yes…" I whispered, closing my eyes as I felt a tear trickle from my eye.
I felt him gently whip it away with his thumb.
"This wasn't the first time that you've run away from your troubles, is it my dear?" he asked.
All that I could do was shake my head as I tried not to cry even more. Before I could start crying, he made me sit down on my bed, smoothing the hair on my head.
"It doesn't have to be this way you know, you don't always have to run away," he said, hiding a smile.
I just shook my head, my face in my hands as I tried to whip away the tears.
"N-no…y-your wrong!" I said, making him move back slightly for a moment. "I do have to run…I…I do. Otherwise, someone always ends up hurt, whether it's me or someone else," I told him, holding my head in frustration.
I could feel my breath becoming slightly raged, my head spinning, my hands glowing. It was absolutely terrible and all that I could do was run.
I ran outside and into the snow, burying myself in it as much as I could. All that I could do was sit there and whimper like a pathetic child. As I sat there, I could feel my powers leaking into the ground around me, building up energy that would undoubtedly go off.
Soon, it did just that. The ground blew up around me, sending bits and pieces at my face and hands, cutting and scrapping it. It was painful.
At this point, I was starting to miss Gambit and how he would take that explosive power away.
"Sabertooth, restrain her," I heard Mr. Lehnsherr say, but I didn't care.
I let the man restrain me, grabbing my arms in one hand, and holding me against him with his other arm. I couldn't go anywhere even if I wanted to. I then watched Mr. Lehnsherr come closer, a needle in his hand. All I could do was pray that it would knock me out and end this feeling that I had.
For the third time that day, the Professor sat at Cerybro, searching for Elaine. Ever since she had gone missing, he had been searching for her none stop, but it was as if something had been blocking his view of her. No doubt, Erik had something to do with it. Magneto had always been good at hiding things when he truly wanted to. Although, this time was different.
As the Professor sat there, Elaine suddenly appeared. The poor girl was in pain, her powers losing control, and tears staining her face. She was in the forest, where Magneto had once held his base of operation. Apparently, he had gone back to using it, expanding it a bit this time.
He did not know why, but when he picked up on her emotions, she held a fear for Gambit. Although, there was still a faint longing for him, though it was now covered with pain. She was so scared.
Charles also picked up on Magneto, slight annoyance and frustration, though there was a bit of excitement and awe mixed into it. Even a sliver of fear at the sight of Elaine's powers.
Sabertooth's were mostly indifferent, though intrigued with Elaine. He saw her as a possible challenge or toy. Something to amuse himself with and play with.
Pryo, his emotions were slightly different. He noticed an unseen connection with John and Elaine. A sort of familiarity between the two of them. It was what allowed them to form that simple and unique bond upon seeing each other the first time. What Charles found most interesting, was that John was in the dark upon what was happening. Magneto hadn't let him in on everything and kept John in the shadows with Elaine.
"What's goin' on?" Gambit asked after racing into the Professor's office.
He had been called down for what was called a bit of an emergency.
"I've found Elaine," Charles said, looking at everyone in the room.
It had been occupied by the Professor himself, Logan, Scott, Gambit, and Kurt. Storm wasn't in the room because she had been out with Hank shopping for groceries.
At the sound of Elaine's name though, everyone sighed with relief, until the Professor spoke further.
"Although, I'm afraid that Magneto has her," he announced, turning to look everyone in the eyes.
No one was happy upon hearing this. The fact of hearing any of this struck a nerve in Gambit, his fingers curling into his palms tightly til they were nearly white. Half crescent moons were visible on the bottom of his palms when they opened again, revealing the true fury inside.
No doubt something was terribly wrong. This whole thing bothered Gambit terribly because he now knew that Magneto had a hold of Elaine. He just hoped that he hadn't swayed her thoughts on outside matters, leaving her unwilling to return to her true home among the X-Men.
There was nothing but darkness around me, nothing but darkness…
"Elaine…" I heard Gambit call.
Light shown slightly, making him visible to the eye. He had a smile on his face as he stepped toward me, taking me in his arms.
It all felt so real. It felt as though the terrors had never happened to me. It made me want to cry as I stood there, slowly wrapping my arms around his neck and hugging him.
"Gambit…" I whispered, holding onto him.
"Oui, cheri?"
I just shook my head, unable to say anything. That is, until I saw his eyes. They were not their normal red and black, but instead, a bright yellow that sent me pulling back.
"G-Gambit…" I stuttered, before stumbling back into nothingness.
When I woke up, I woke up gasping for air. My heart itself was pounding madly in my chest, painfully so, and my eyes were practically in tears. When I went to whip them though, I found myself unable to do so.
Looking around, I found myself in a different room than usual, with my hands bound with metal cuffs. Although, they were more like shackles in my opinion.
I sat there on the bed pulling at them for what seemed like hours before Mr. Lehnsherr came in.
"Ah, so good to see you awake my dear," he said warmly, which made me scowl at him.
"What is the meaning of this?" I asked sharply, tugging at the restraints on my throbbing wrists.
"Terribly sorry about that my dear, but it's for your own good and safety," he explained, looking over his shoulder at Sabertooth.
At this, I got a bit squeamish, pulling a bit more at the restraints.
"But why?" I groaned, continuing to pull.
While I was doing this, he came and sat on the edge of the, placing a hand on my cheek.
"Because…you're emotions are clearly not in order, and if you continue how you've been going, someone is likely to get hurt," he said before standing up and pulling away.
All that I could do was stare at him in disbelief as he left me in that room, leaving Sabertooth outside to guard the door.
I wanted out of here with a passion now, a dreaded passion.
I woke back up a few hours later to sounds of fighting outside on the grounds. Constant yelling and fighting. I could only hope that it was Logan and the others that had come to retrieve me. With that thought in mind, I conjured all the strength and concentration that I could muster as I tried to locate him.
I was still new to this power of mine, so it quickly started to take its toll on me, draining my energy.
Logan, down here! I tried once I found him, pulling at my restraints in pure irritation.
"Elaine…" he whispered upon hearing her voice in his head, a faint smile on his face as he raced forward past the others.
"Hey, Wolverine, where ya goin'?" Gambit called over the fighting.
"To get Elaine!" he answered before quickly ascending down the pathway that had been cleared for him.
There were times such as this that he was glad to be a mutant with heightened senses, making it easier for him to find Elaine.
It didn't take long before he found the underground stairwell, leading him down below the ground.
"Elaine!" he shouted, his nose in the air as he sniffed around.
In the distance, he could hear a muffled call or at least it would have been if not for his excellent hearing.
"Logan!" I yelled, pulling at my restraints again.
I could feel the metal scrapping painfully at the skin of my wrists, tearing it each and every time that I pulled on them.
"Logan!" I called out once more, still pulling at the restraints despite the pain.
I nearly yelped when the iron door fell into the room and off its hinges, but instead smiled when I saw Logan.
"L-Logan," I choked out, a few tears falling from happiness as he rushed over to me, pulling me into a hug.
I winced though as the cuffs cut further into my wrist, the warm, nearly burning felling of blood trickling down becoming evident.
It took a few moments of looking at them before he just took his claws to the restraints cutting them and allowing them to hang from my wrists. After I was free, I threw my arms around his neck, hugging him close.
"I'm sorry about before Logan…" I whispered, burying my face in the crook of his neck.
He just sat there with his arms around me, before pulling me back a bit and kissing my forehead.
"Don't worry about it kid, I'm tougher than I look," he said with a chuckle.
"No duh," I laughed lightly, closing my eyes for a solitary moment.
It was then that I heard even more yelling outside, causing my head to shoot up.
"I think we need to get out of here before someone gets killed," I said, getting up off the bed and going to the door.
I nearly fell over as I stood there, but I didn't let Logan know that. I just wanted out of here and I couldn't afford to slow him down on getting out of here.
"Let's get out of here," he said, leading me toward the way out.
I was in such a hurry that I was nearly tripping over my own feet as we raced up the stairs.
I gasped though when I saw Gambit and Pryo fighting.
Cards and fireballs were being thrown back and forth at one another. If they kept up, someone was going to get seriously hurt.
So without thinking, I ran in between them, taking hits on both sides.
"Cheri!"
"Nova!"
That's what I heard as I stood there, coming close to toppling over, but I didn't. I stood there with blood slowly dripping from my fingers.
"Cheri!" Gambit shouted once more, before running toward me and embracing me.
My body went rigid when his arms touched me, and when he tried to kiss me, I pushed him away.
"Cheri?" he asked, hurt evident in his voice as his brows knitted together.
"Now's not the time Gambit," I whispered, my knees nearly giving out as I stood there.
He moved to grab me when he saw this, but I placed a hand up, stopping him.
"Don't, I'm fine," I whispered, trying to keep myself standing.
"But…cheri," he said, gently grabbing my upper arm.
I just sighed as I tried to pull away again, but found that his fingers merely tightened around my arm, keeping me in place.
"Gambit, let go," I said, my gaze slowly landing on Pryo as he stood there, mouth agape.
"Well, well, what do we have here?"
Well everyone, that was the LONG awaited chapter 23. Sorry that it took SO long. *glances are for hamster* I've just been really busy lately with college and the last couple weekends or so, I haven't had proper access to my laptop. I hope everyone will forgive me for this? Please, also remember to REVIEW and / or message me. I always enjoy reading everyones responses to my story. Thanks again everyone. :) *starts work on chapter 24*