This is the before last chapter. I hope this clears up a few things. Leave a review and Enjoy!
She woke to a beeping sound. It sounded like a heart monitor. She didn't open her eyes. Hospitals were far too white and opening would burn her eyes right out of her skull. She must've gotten hurt in that fight at the Manor. That was probably why she was in a hospital with a beeping heart monitor.
She frowned and slowly opened her eyes. And shut them immediately again. It was far too white for her to care. Her mind slowly started to clear up. The narcotics or whatever finally starts to burn out of her system.
She could remember waking up in a prison cell like room with an ugly shade of pale green on the ceiling. She remembered finding herself cuffed to the bed. She remembered seeing her guns and katana on a table across the room where they were useless to her. She remembered trying to pull herself free of the cuffs and when that didn't work using both hands on the chain. She remembered pushing her feet against the bedrail and pulling. She remembered the thick smell of blood and the white/yellowish pillow staining red with her blood, and then the drowsy feeling of blood loss. She remembered the thick darkness that swallowed her then.
She lifted her right hand and opened her eyes again.
"Oh good, you're awake!" A familiar female voice said. She lifted her head and groaned softly. It was the doctor who didn't know how to make a white coat fit with what she wore.
She dropped her head back onto the pillow and gazed at her still up arm. The bandage was white. Too white, it had been changed recently. She didn't have the energy to do anything else. Her head pounded and she still felt drowsy. "Stryker." She stated. Not asked, stated. Why else would she be here?
The woman clapped her hands excitedly. It was like she thought Kelly was a five-year old who had just discovered that leaves are green and had pointed this out. "You're as smart as always!" She declared. It was as if she expected Kelly to start going dumb for some reason.
Kelly narrowed her eyes at the roof and dropped her hand to her side. She regretted it the moment her sore wrist jumped lightly on the hard bed. "Go away." She told the annoying doctor.
There was silence from the woman for a moment. "You know," her voice, sounded far more grownup than it did a minute ago "if you die here, they wouldn't even know. I'd just tell them that you did something stupid and bled out before we got to you."
Kelly opened her eyes; her narrowing had ended up with her closing them, and lifted her head slowly. "Kill me. If I'm here on Stryker's orders, you'll be dead by the end of this day for failing to keep me alive." She snapped.
She huffed. "You really aren't that special to this facility." She snapped in return.
Kelly grinned to the ceiling as she lay down again. "Good. Who'd want to be important to any facility dressed like a clown?" She mumbled under her breath.
The woman hissed something at her before walking out, slamming the door loudly. Kelly sat up slowly and waited until the dizzying motion faded away. Then she threw her legs over the side of the bed, slowly, pulled the IVs and stuff from her arms, listened to the monitor make a flat beep as it suddenly couldn't pick up her heart and got up. A set of clothes, hers she supposed, was on a chair.
She didn't touch the leather jacket.
The door was silent as a mouse when she opened it. Crazy psycho lady with no dress sense would be the one she started with. She was going to force answers out of the woman.
It was a different base. Three-mile Island seemed to have lost its charm to Stryker these days. The place bustled with people. It seemed like Stryker was always capable of forcing even more shit-faced morons into working for him. She could admit. She was one of those. Unmentionable stupidity radiates of these people.
After all, it's an every day appearance for a kidnapped hostage (she refused to think of herself as anything else in this godforsaken place) was allowed to walk randomly around the base.
She kept the fingertips of her left hand against the wall. It was just to keep herself on her feet. There was the good possibility that something has finally snapped. But she was sure that she is still Kelly. She's still Kelly who will never be really good at fighting, no matter how well she is trained. She will always be Kelly who is scared shitless of being left behind, but still makes connections with people who will leave. Or can. Doesn't matter.
The smell of old blood made her stop in front of the slightly ajar door. She studied it for a moment, barely sending a glance at the man rushing by her, nearly sending her into the ground. She pushed it open. It was the room she remembered. The blood on the pillow was dark now. The sort of metallic smell thick in the room. She could hear the buzzing of flies around the pillow. Scrunching up her nose she noticed that they hadn't moved her guns of katana. She grabbed the guns and shoved them into the jeans.
It only came to her notice now. The clothes felt dirty. Not the sort of visible grease stains dirty, just that they haven't been washed. She picked up one of the katana. She didn't have place for two at the moment. But she was going to give them hell with just the one. It was odd to her, how she always grabbed her weapons, but felt so damn guilty when she used them.
She froze, stiffened to the point of becoming a statue, the moment he door slammed open. "Oh God, who died?" She slowly turned around. Stryker, a couple of unknown soldiers, David and Wade stood in the door. All of them were gazing very intently at the bed.
Wade.
Wade died.
Wade was dead.
Wade wasn't alive.
Wade died because of her.
Victor was the only one who was looking at her. She crossed her arms and legs and leaned into the table. Whatever fear she had formerly felt for Victor seemed to have taken a long running vacation. She felt a cold bubbling anger build up in her.
She didn't know the three soldiers with them. She didn't want to know the three soldiers with them. If they worked willingly for Stryker it was good enough a reason to dislike them. And she was going to dislike them. For all she cared they could've been the president's three long lost sons and she still wouldn't like them.
David never would've left. That was something she figured a long time ago. Why, she wasn't sure. Maybe he just enjoyed Stryker's bossy attitude or whatever. Hell he's probably sleeping with the superiors. Whatever it is that makes him stay. That is his problem.
Wade?
Wade was self-explanatory. She saw him die. She watched him fade away. Wade wasn't supposed to look like he was looking. Wade wasn't supposed to be as good looking as he was. He wasn't supposed to look like her Greek god from the beach.
Wade should be dead. Six feet under the ground. A nameless grave in a nameless graveyard. He shouldn't be standing there looking at the bloodstained pillow with a look of realizing horror. He shouldn't look like he thinks she is dead.
"You smell like you need a shower, kid." Victor growls out.
Victor barely finished his sentence when she found herself wrapped in two strong arms, crushed to a chest and a face buried in her hair. "God, you're ok." He whispered. Wade whispered.
Wade shouldn't be talking. She didn't say anything. She just stayed there. She wanted so badly to melt into his warm comforting embrace. She wanted so badly to make him understand how much she missed him. How much she's needed him. She wanted to surgically attach him to her so he won't ever leave her again.
She wants him to get his hands off her. She wants him to feel pain and anger and hurt all at the same time. She wants him to understand what she went through for the last two years. She wants him to feel how much she's missed him, how much his absence has caused her pain.
But she didn't move. She didn't press her hands to his arm and didn't twist any of his feelings into what she felt. She didn't tell him to leave her alone. She didn't melt into him like she wanted to. She just didn't move.
He pushed her back and studied her. "Kelly?" He asked softly. There was something in his voice that was never there before. Fear. He was afraid. What the hell did he need to be afraid of? He hadn't been afraid when he had been sick. He sure as hell hadn't been afraid to just not tell her, or come look for her, in the last two years. And he sure as hell hadn't been afraid when he attacked the damn school.
So just what the fuck did Wade Wilson have to be afraid of? He was dead! The dead can't be afraid! They just don't do fucking afraid!
She lifted her hands. Started at the hem of his pants and moved them up across his chest until she came to collar. She curled her hands into a fist, bunching up the fabric and pulled him down. "Why aren't you dead?" She asked in a low angry tone. A dangerous soft snap.
He stared at her and grinned. "What? You like vampires?" He asked.
She stood very still for a moment. It wasn't her fault the bastard was so tall. Let him stand all bent over, not her problem. She reached her bandaged hand behind her back and pulled one of the guns from her jeans. She pressed the barrel into his temple and clicked the safety back. "I don't believe in vampires, Wilson." She snapped.
Hurt flashed behind his eyes. She kept her expression stony. What did he expect? She'd jump him the moment she saw him? Like hell. The dead doesn't just come back. If that was it, Carter would be walking around, telling her she's a spoilt brat. And he sure as hell can't expect it after attacking the mansion. Or cuffing her to a bed and causing her to think of the most stupid escape plan ever.
It was probably right up there with that cyanide pill thing some people bit into when they are captured.
Wade stood up, curled his hands around her one and tugged himself free. He pushed her gun down and gazed at her steadily for a moment. "Whatever you did, worked." He said as explanation.
She studied him. James's blood worked? But that's not possible. He stopped breathing. No breathing + no beating heart = dead. So how did it work?
"Yes, yes, it worked very well. Congratulations Miss Armstrong." Stryker snapped. Anger flashed behind his aged eyes. She wasn't sure why he was so angry or what gave him the right to be angry. "No offence to Wilson here, but you deprived me of the ability to create my perfect and ultimate weapon."
She glared at him. "Oh boo-hoo. I feel so swowwy for the big baby. He couldn't get his toy." She snapped in disgust.
He glared at her and stepped forward threateningly. She raised the gun without flinching. She felt she could make an exception to the rule for Stryker. She'd kill him if push came to shove. She really would and she wouldn't regret it. The world would owe her a medallion for doing that. "You won't shoot me." He said confidently. She lowered the gun enough that the bullet would only lodge into the ground and pulled the trigger. A bullet hole appeared right next to his foot.
"You sure about that?" She asked darkly. He didn't answer her. "What's in the closet?" She asked after a moment. She was going to walk out of here, whether they allowed her or not.
Crazy psycho doctor decided to make and appearance then. She held the leather jacket Kelly always wore by the collar. "You forgot this." She snapped and threw it to Kelly. Wade caught it and studied it for a moment.
He looked up at her and grinned. "This is mine." He said simply.
She ignored him. "The closet?" She asked again.
"Bags. Put down the gun, so we can talk." Victor growled.
She almost laughed and walked over to the closet, gun still trained in their general direction. Why didn't just unarm her was beyond her comprehension, but while they were that stupid, she was going to use it to her advantage. She pulled the door open and grabbed one of the bags and walked back to the table and Wade. She grabbed jacket from him and pulled it over her t-shirt.
As angry as she was, she had surgically attached herself to this jacket ever since he got sick. And there was no way she was giving up the jacket. She dropped the katana swords into it, and walked out. Glaring darkly at the psycho doctor as she passed her.
She got half way down the hall before she was lifted into the air. She really cursed her light weighted body structure. It was unfair that he could pick her up so easily. She knew him well enough to know that he wouldn't let go until she agreed to whatever it was that he wanted. "We need to talk. Just you and I. Can we do that? I'd really like it if we could talk." He said softly into her ear. "Just us. No one else." He continued. "I'll take you to dinner."
She felt herself give in. She couldn't believe she was going to give in so easily. And that just because it felt good to be wrapped up in his arms again. "Fine. We'll go to dinner."
He didn't let her go, he turned his face into her hair and kissed her just under her ear. "I missed you." He said softly.
She squirmed in his arms. "I said dinner, Wade. I did not say I forgive you." She said, squirming until he put her down.
He sighed and set her on her own two feet. "You cannot resist me. Not forever." He said cockily. She studied him.
She wondered for a moment if he was challenging her. She'd show him. "I've had two years of practice. I think I'm quite capable of doing so." She said.
He grinned at her. "Really? We'll see." He said and locked his hands behind his head and strolled off.
She stared at his back. What was it with her watching him leave her wanting more? She glowered at him. He starts something, but does he finish it, no of course not.
She was glad when he came to get her and was dressed as casually as she was. She had spent most of the days in her bra and panties in a new room waiting for her jeans and t-shirt to dry up. She was sure if she wanted to she'd have been able to convince Wade to lend her some of his clothes. But she didn't want him to get any sorts of ideas before they talked everything out.
She couldn't help but stare at him as he led the way out of the base. She walked a little behind him. The jeans hugged his hips. The black shirt sat comfortably tight (to her great displeasure, how the hell was she supposed to concentrate on a orderly conversation?). And a black jacket concealed the weapons she was sure he was carrying.
He was still as tall as ever. His hair was still a dark brown. His eyes were still glittering brown orbs of mischief and he looked exactly like he did before he got sick. He was big again. Not fading away.
She felt herself warm up on the inside. This was her Wade. She hoped it was her Wade. She believed it was her Wade. Because her Wade was a cocky bastard who liked to do stupid things but always came out on top. That was who her Wade was.
Outside he led her to a massive garage and inside the garage to a motorcycle. She studied it for a moment, then looked at Wade, who was already sitting on it. "You want me to get on that?" She asked. He nodded. "You can drive?"
He looked insulted. "Of course I can drive. Don't you trust me?" He asked.
She grinned at him. "Given the circumstance, no."
He sighed. He sounded almost like he was dealing with a difficult child. She got onto the motorcycle behind him. She refused to be seen as a difficult child, especially by him. "Thank you." He said with a sarcastic politeness.
She didn't respond and just clutched tightly to the front of his shirt as he pulled out. She didn't like motorcycles. She decided. Not at all. They went too fast and she could almost imagine a crash happening on them. She closed her eyes and buried her face in Wade's back.
The thudding of his heart filled her ears. She decided that she could listen to that sound forever and ever if he allowed her.
She mentally sighed. She was contradicting herself so bad she was confusing her own mind. One minute she was angry with him. The next she wanted nothing more than feel him. Have him. In every way possible.
The restaurant he stopped at was definitely not a do up place. Half the people inside were dressed casually. She smiled. She wasn't sure if he was doing this to make her comfortable or if this was where he usually went. A skinny waitress led them to a table, grinning at Wade. She didn't want to know why she was grinning at Wade like that.
Kelly beat the green monster in her chest down with a stick. She could almost imagine a mini cartoon her beating something greenish and cartoonish with a stick.
She ordered a glass of coke while Wade got some beer or the other. They sat in an almost suffocating silence. She could remember days they sat in silence and didn't have to worry one bit about feel uncomfortable. "I hate this." She muttered, breaking the suffocating silence on her own.
"We can go some…"
"I meant not being able to just sit here with you. It feels like I'm suffocating. Like…I don't know." She muttered interrupting him.
He smiled at her. "You want me to explain, right. You want me to tell you what happened?" He asked.
She sighed softly and wondered for a moment if she wanted to know. Would knowing make everything better? Would it make the weird uncomfortable feeling go away? "Will it make everything ok again?" She asked softly.
He was silent for a moment. "You've always been odd." He muttered. That wasn't exactly what she wanted to hear. "I mean you're angry as hell one minute. The next you look like you're about to cry. Then, on the bike, you held onto me like it was the end of the world. Are you pregnant?" He asked. "I heard pregnant woman are overly emotional."
She stared at him. He wants to talk things out, and he asks her if she's pregnant? What idiot does that? And just when was she supposed to get pregnant? She looked down at the coke and watched the bubbles rise. Was that what he thought about her? "Forget it." She muttered and got up.
She didn't wait for him to figure out what just happened. She just left. Maybe that was her problem. Maybe when things got too bad for her to handle she runs away. But that was ok. She did just that. The moment she knew no one could see her through the windows of the restaurant she took off running. The small town had a park near the edges of the town. She could tell the town was ending because beyond the park there was nothing but road.
She sat down on one of the swings. Her training with Hiroshi had made her better at handling long distances of running. Where the old Japanese man never really got angry, it was like an explosion when he did get angry. He had made her run the length of the village. From the pass entrance to the inn. And when he was particularly angry, she had to do this at least four times in four hours. While it wasn't a particularly big village, it was still big enough to cause you hell for trying to run it. Eventually she got it right though.
She sighed as she realized she was evading what had just happened. She missed him. She had missed him so much. She had thought he was dead. For a girl who had thought the one guy she loved more than anything in the world was dead, she had accepted his return rather easily. Maybe it was because for all those years she didn't honestly believe he was dead. She believed he was gone. But not dead. There was a difference.
She wondered for a moment if what he really wanted to talk about was a point of view on their relationship. They've been apart for two years straight. When you're together it's easier to see the relationship change. But she thought he was gone and she doesn't even know what he thought during that time. What point is there in continuing a relationship that just doesn't have its foundation anymore?
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…Kelly, I missed you. You have no idea what it was like waking up in that place and not being able to remember what had just happened. The only thing I saw in front of me for two years was you. I didn't know what happened to you. Where you were. If you were alright.
'Every time I thought that maybe it was better that way. Every time I thought that you might've been able to move on. Might've found yourself someone who could actually take care of you. Who didn't have a history like mine, I felt like I could kill someone.
'Stryker made me an offer I couldn't deny. He told me that if I went back into service with him. If I became his lab rat, he'd help me find you. I just wanted to get you back. I didn't care about the tests. I didn't care about what Stryker did, I just wanted you back." He stopped talking for a minute.
She had nearly had a heart attack when he suddenly talked. She didn't even know he had been there. She didn't even hear him show up. She heard him walking and a moment later he stood crouched in front of her. His hands were on her knees. "You wanted to know what happened. Wanted to know why I'm not dead. Why, I can't really say. I just know that whatever you did, with the blood or whatever that were, it worked better than anyone expected. No matter what Stryker did, he couldn't make me into what he wanted. I woke up and walked around in dead silence. There was nothing, Kelly. It looked like war had broken out in the place. But Stryker found me. And he promised me that I would get you back.
'At the school, I was there for you. I don't care about those obnoxious little shit heads. I don't care whether they have pneumonia or some shit like that. I just care that I found you. That's it. I swear." He lifted his hand to her face and wiped at the tears there.
She sat quietly for a moment and then dove him into the ground, her arms around his neck and her face buried in his chest. "Come back with me. Please." She whispered softly.
She felt his arms wrap around her back and only tightened her own grip. She felt like she could lay on top of him like that forever and never move.
"So does this mean I'm forgiven?"