Chapter 7: Goodbye Wisteria Days: Part 2
Disclaimer: I do not own the X-men.
The Father rushed through the aisle of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, his hurried steps echoing on the polished stone floors to the wooden pews to reach pass the high arches to the beautiful stained glass of the saints that watched over the ancient church.
People had been pouring into the church for the pass few minutes, crying and scared of something they couldn't put words to. Fear had penetrated their very being it seemed, he could see it in their eyes as he passed by them. The other priests and nuns had already spread out to tend to the ones who were more upset or hurt in some way the best they could.
Father Malcolm reached the end of the aisle just in time to grab a young woman from falling to the ground, taking all her weight from the shoulders of a very young girl with a startled grunt as he fell to his knees. The girl fell to her hands and knees, her long hair falling forward.
"She won't heal! Why won't she heal?" the girl cried between shuddering breaths. She was very close to hysterical. "Father please! I don't know what to do!"
Father Malcolm gasped in shock as he looked at the young woman in his arms, the horror written across his face as he closed her damaged eyelids and sent a soft prayer to God to lead her to the fields of Heaven. The poor woman, to suffer such wounds at such a young age! She had been shot at very close range in the head and the chest; her hands had cuts on the back of her knuckles and it was clear she had bled to death. He gently carried her to a spot where her body wouldn't be disturbed until the authorities arrive.
The young girl followed him and it was clear she had been close to the young woman to have carried her body this far. He turned his attention to her, his duty was to the living now. Let God and his angels guide the souls of the dead.
"I couldn't leave her. Not there! They kept coming, it was like there was no end to them, they kept coming." He put his hands on her shoulders to comfort her as she refused to look up at him. He could feel her shaking under his hands, from fear and the strength of her sorrow. She kept wiping her bloodied hands on her jeans, trying to clean them off but failing because they were covered too. "I tried to get away. I tried so hard but they wouldn't let me! They called me monster and demon, devil and evil and harlot and-!"
Father Malcolm gasped in shock as he pulled the girl into a hug, soothing her with nonsense words as he tried to grasp the girl's words, wondering why anyone would call her such names. Madness!
There were an increase of screams from outside the tall, heavy wooden doors of the entrance to the church. He shielded the girl with his body as something exploded, shaking the doors wildly on their hinges. He could feel the girl tense, gripping his robes tightly in her small hands, pulling at him to move away from the sudden silence that fell.
A whimper came from the girl, a sound that tugged at something deep inside of him, and put his hand on her head. "Don't worry child, God will protect us."
"NO!" She shook her head wildly and pushed away from him. "No! No, God hates me!"
"No, that's not true child."
"Yes it is. He hates me cuz those men always find me. They want me dead so it must mean God wants me dead too!" She reached inside her hoodie, having lost her jacket a long time ago, her hands finding her most prized possession. She pulled and the thin silver chain broke under the pressure, releasing the small coin necklace.
The broken necklace dangled between her fingers, the coin spinning from the violent action. The girl scooped the coin in one hand, looking down at her palm where it laid for a long time before she sniffed and pressed the coin into Father Malcolm's hand. "Take this. Give it to someone who God loves. I can't have it anymore..."
Father Malcolm shook his head, ready to deny it when she finally met his eyes. It was a wrong move, he realized with a heavy heart a moment after it was done, to step back quickly. It was a wrong move to cry out in shock when he saw her red glowing eyes. Even though he had seen many strange things through his years as a priest, some wondrous and others unspeakable, nothing could have prepared him to see her eyes.
Devil eyes on a girl such as her.
He saw her faith break before his eyes and there was nothing he could do to comfort her as he reached his hand out for her.
"I'm sorry."
Her words surprised him. She was asking for forgiveness when it was he who had done wrong. She backed away from him, heading towards the front entrance, shaking her head at the unasked plead to stay. He took a step towards her and she turned, running for the doors.
"I'm sorry."
"Goodbye."
Armor smashed her fist into a Purifiers nose, hearing it break before he fell back, cursing her violently before she kicked him away. He was sent flying into a car where he fell unconscious. She launched herself at another man as Nightcrawler used her psionic form as a momentary landing for his hands before continuing his flip over to scissor kick another Purifier with a gun. He grabbed the gun with his tail and pulled hard, wrenching the weapon from the man.
Above them, the Blackbird hovered with Cyclops standing in the ramp opening, firing his optic blasts to get rid of the more huddled mass of men, making sure to use just enough power to keep them out of the main fight that was taking place right below him in the ruined townhouse. Storm was flying above, using winds and rain to put out the fire before it spread as Kitty was inside the townhouse, using her phasing ability to gather the wounded X-men.
She had already taken Mindee to safety and was now grabbing Gambit, taking note to how he was keeping his body relaxed with slow breaths to keep from agitating his chest wound. With her arm around his waist and his arm thrown over her shoulder, she phased and they both started floating towards the jet.
"Mon dieu!" he whispered as he took in the scene that was happening just outside in the street. It was a full blown battle, mutants against humans, a war that had never faded but had been fought quietly in the background. Now that war was out in the open for everyone to see. It didn't take a genius to know that soon the whole world's attention would fall on them and questions would be asked for; answers he didn't want to reveal. "Dis is bad."
"Yeah it is." Kitty agreed with a nod as they entered the jet, becoming solid so that Beast could start on first aid. "Gambit, I don't know what you're doing but you better have a good explanation. Cuz this will all fall on you and I know you don't like to have the spotlight unless you create it yourself. Beast, I'm heading back for Rogue." Kitty phased through the bottom of the jet.
Beast nodded absently as he cut through Gambit's makeshift wrap, tsking at how bloodied it was. With the bandage gone, he checked the wound, muttering sorry when Gambit hissed in pain when he pressed on the wound. He could feel the wood embedded in his chest, deciding that it would have to be removed later on Utopia. He told Gambit so.
"Den wrap it up good an' tight. Dawn needs me." Gambit said. Beast nodded, reaching for the bandages.
"So that's her name? Very nice." Beast commented as he started wrapping Gambit's chest anew. Gambit held his arms up with his ruined shirt to keep it out of the way as Beast worked.
"T'ought you woulda known dat. Seems everyone knows 'bout Dawnie-" Gambit bit out as Beast pulled the wrap just a bit tighter to keep the gauze he had placed over the wound in place. "Even people who shouldn't do."
"Then how do they?"
"Don' know. Ain't nobody who know her except as a human girl and dey don' care." Gambit lowered his arms as Beast finished wrapping his chest. "Don' trust em so I left an' stay quiet all dese years."
"You should have come to us." Gambit turned to see Cyclops walking towards him. Nightcrawler was at the cockpit. "You should have trusted us."
"I don' put my trust in people who let kids die." Gambit said, facing Cyclops. "An' dat's what woulda happened if I brought Dawn t' Utopia."
There was a tick in Cyclop's jaw while the rest of his face remained blank.
"Where is she?"
"You're the man wit' de plan, you tell me." Gambit glared at Cyclops.
"Stop playing games Gambit. This is a girl's life on the line." Cyclops snapped, grabbing Gambit by the ruins of his shirt. "Your daughter's life-!" He jerked back as Gambit broke Cyclops' hold on him and pushed him away.
"I know who she is! Better than any o' you!" Gambit yelled, his eyes blazing red in anger. He held his hands in fists, glowing hot pink. "Dawn is not only de most important person in my life. She's everyt'ing! If somet'ing were t' happen t' her-" Gambit swallowed hard, the fight gone out of him like the air from a balloon. "She would never forgive me." That last part was said as an afterthought, few had heard him but the ones who did were overcome with sadness.
"Scott, I have a location." Emma's voice broke through the tension in the jet.
"Where?" Cyclops asked, his head turned slightly though Gambit never left his sight.
"South by Southwest." Emma said, putting her hand on Cyclops' arm. "We have contact with Hellion and Pixie. They have found another group of Purifiers near a church. They are engaged in a fight of their own and can't get close. Too many are gathered with more coming."
Cyclops gave a swift nod and headed towards the cockpit and the rest of the team settled into seats. Beast led Rogue to the makeshift first aid station so he could check on her shoulder wound as the Blackbird turned towards the location. Gambit remained standing, holding his hands out in front of him, shaking them lightly to get rid of the charge that had built up. After a while, the charge faded away and he was free to use them to slip off his ruined shirt. Armor handed him a black shirt they kept inside the jet for when they needed to blend in with the crowd.
"Merci." Gambit said to the girl.
Armor nodded before asking him quietly. "Is it true? Is Dawn really a mutant?"
Gambit's eyebrows furrowed deeply before he nodded, the frown disappearing. "Yes. But she's much more den dat. She's—special in a way I can't understand yet."
"Like hope?"
Gambit looked at the girl, really looked at her and saw something he didn't like, something that he knew would be very hard for Dawn to understand once she was found. This look of adoration and of loyalty and hope-
"Non, dis is very different than hope. She's-"
A bright flash hit the sky and a shock wave hit the jet, causing it to jerk and twist in the air like a two year old would with a toy. Gambit grabbed the nearest seat and held on as did the rest of the team. Beast covered Rogue's body with his own, growling at the unknown threat as up front Nightcrawler and Cyclops fought for control of the jet, the panel beeping and flashing warnings.
They took a stomach plunging dive towards some houses before Cyclops managed to wrestle the jet back into the air, clipping a chimney on the way up. All their mouths fell open as they took in the sight before them, fear slamming into their already pounding chests.
A wide fiery spiral was shooting up into the sky, so bright it made the rest of the sky look dark as it disappeared into the clouds above, cutting a huge circle through them before the spiral died off. Dread was filling the jet as they neared the location of the spiral, imagining black ruins or a large crater where there once used to be houses, parks, buses and people.
But what they found was nothing.
Everything was fine.
No fires, no wreckage, no glass littering the ground or deep holes that resulted from explosive abilities. There were people, so many people standing or walking, some running and others sitting on the ground in a daze. They were looking in one direction, all of them no matter where they were, or what they were doing, they all turned towards the church.
At the person laying in the street in front of the church with still smoking black scorch marks spread all around her and up the nearby buildings and church.
Surrounded by soft glowing spheres, blinking slowly and flying around like orange fireflies.
And Purifiers.
Cyclops put the jet on auto pilot over the street and headed for the ramp, following after Gambit who had rushed to the ramp and pressed the button to lower it. He jumped out, crashing to his knees painfully as the shard in his chest pushed deeper. He climbed to his feet and ran towards the person as the other X-men landed on the ground.
"Dawn! Get away from her!" He threw charged cards at the men closest to Dawn, hitting them in the chests and backs and knocking them off their feet. The X-men rallied behind him, making short work of the Purifiers that had chosen to fight. Gambit reached Dawn's side, his hands outstretched for her when he hit a golden dome that quickly formed around her. He hissed and pulled back, his palms and fingers smoking and burning, the skin red and blistering.
"Dawn?"
He reached for her again, slowly this time, his fingers landing on the solid shield that surrounded her. It didn't hurt this time. She didn't respond when he called for her, her eyes squeezed tight. She looked very pale under the dome and her mouth was moving without any sound coming out. Every part of her body jumped as if it were shocked and Gambit felt weak and useless watching her, unable to help.
"Dawn!"
"She's a monster. A demon who calls on hellfire." The Purifiers yelled. The battle was winding down as now the remaining conscious men held a line ten feet away from the X-men. "Step aside! She needs to die!"
"She's a child." Gambit muttered quietly as Cyclops replied, "Back off! She's coming with us."
"She'll destroy us all! Look what she did!"
"I see nothing wrong here. There is nothing wrong here." Cyclops said.
A man laughed, his eyes wide and crazy as he walked towards the X-men. He pointed his gun to his head. "She killed us all! You can't see it, she killed us-!"
"NO!" A golden shield formed around the man as he pulled the trigger. A flash of gold appeared when the bullet hit and Gambit cursed out loud when flames flared out around Dawn for a moment as she shot up to a sitting position.
"No!" she screamed as she clutched her head with one hand as the other reached out towards the man with the gun. "Don't do that!" The man in the shield yelled, hitting the shield with his gun, shattering it into pieces like glass before Cyclops hit him with an optic blast, knocking him out.
Dawn let out a pained squeal and bent forward causing Beast and Gambit to react. Beast ran his scanner over her now that the dome that separated her from them had disappeared as well as the glowing spheres. Gambit held her by the shoulders, pushing her hair out of her face, doing his own scan of her. He sighed when she looked up at him with wide eyes, brushing a thumb over her cheeks.
"Your eyes changed again Dawnie." he commented to her. No longer were they glowing red but black and gold, the gold of her irises flaring up brightly in the black sclera. He gave her a grin that he didn't feel. "Now you look more like your Papa."
"Papa? Papa!" she timidly touched his face, not believing what she was seeing before she wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tight as he did the same. She tucked her chin around his shoulder and whimpered, "I'm so scared. Don't leave me. I don't want to be alone again."
"Never." He promised, kissing her hair, pulling back so he he could look her in the eyes. "Never, I swear."
Dawn nodded, believing him as he had never lied to her before. "Bad men came. They hurt Laurie-Papa!" she pulled back. "Laurie is hurt!" Dawn pointed towards the church. "She won't heal right!"
Gambit looked to Beast and he nodded, heading towards the church with Armor by his side as extra protection. Gambit held Dawn's face in his hands. "You did good baby girl. You ran just like I told you t' do. You made it very far."
"But they found me. They always found me and people were hurt because I ran. People were scared and they cried." Dawn bit her lower lip as tears fell down her cheeks. She winced, bringing both hands to her head, closing her eyes in pain. "My head hurts and I hear whispers that keep getting louder, they're so loud I can't hear what they say."
Gambit pressed his forehead against hers. "Keep your eyes close petite. Listen t' me. Hear my voice, hear my breathin', hear my heartbeat. Just like I taught you remember? Put all your attention t' me."
"It's so hard." Dawn said quietly with a shake of her head.
"Non, it's easy." Gambit said before he held his arms up in between them, laying them across one another to form a wall. "Remember, dis is your safe place. Nothin' can hurt you here. It's yours." Dawn nodded and put her arms up just like him, forming a wall. But she didn't like it and included him in her safe place by wrapping her arms around his neck, hiding her face in the crook of his neck and joined her breathing with his. "Breathe wit' me now. In. And out. In and out. Keep goin' you're doin' great Dawn."
"Get her on the jet." Cyclops ordered Gambit and seeing how dangerous it was on the street, he didn't push any argument as he picked her up in his arms. The team followed around Gambit and Dawn while Cyclops kept watch for more attackers. A man with a black hoodie and white cross, a reversal of what the others wore walked up before stopping ten feet away.
"We know where you are taking her. That beast will die, no matter what you do, mutant. We are legion, we are many and we will put an end to you and your kind once and for all." the man said with all seriousness and belief. He didn't look like a madman which made his words all the more dangerous, sending a tingle down Cyclops' spine.
"You'll fail."Cyclops replied matter-of-factually, his chin up and his body tense like a spring, ready to go off when needed.
The man didn't answer as he backed away. Others like him joined him.
As Cyclops stood his group while the Purifiers retreated before doing the same. A few members of the team gathered around the jet, forming a line of defense against any attackers before heading up the ramp.
Cyclops found that Hellion and Pixie had arrived at some point, looking worst for wear considering that they had been on their own for some time. Pixie and Hellion were nearby Beast as he worked on Laura, the monitor that senses her life-signs beeping too slowly to be normal. He could see that she was heavily wrapped in gauze in preparation for travel. Pixie sat on the table her hand holding on to a large white gauze patch that was tainted with blood from when she was injured.
Gambit sat in the back of the jet with Dawn, taking up the back row still speaking quietly with Dawn who still held her arms around his neck in her safe place. Gambit was so intent on Dawn that he never noticed when the ramp closed and the jet lifted off the street. He never noticed when the jet flew into the air or when Emma made contact with the rest of the Cuckoo's (We're ready) or when a large portal thanks to Illyana, opened up and swallowed the jet.
In the next second, they were back in San Francisco, home of the X-men and the remaining mutants and flew towards the island off the coast. Utopia stood out like a beacon, a much welcomed one in their minds and a save haven for them all.
Yes, the X-men had succeed in saving the new hope of mutantkind.
Now the real challenge began.
AN: I decided to put my Author Notes below this time so we could all enjoy the story first.
Firstly, Jenna and phoenix0826 thanks for your review! (^0^)
Secondly, I had so much trouble with writing this chapter. I don't know why I had everything planned out but then I wrote it and it didn't look right. I went through three different endings before I decided on this one. Tell me what you think! (Hint: Review!)
Also, I had quite a debate with myself including Kitty Pryde. I was going to keep her in space but decided on bringing her back cuz keeping her away for that long was just too horrible.
For those who were hoping for a longer and more detailed fight with the Purifiers, sorry no dice...yet. I felt that the beginning was kinda dragging on but don't fret! This isn't the last you will see of them.
And more details about Dawn and who she is in the next chapter!
