"I'm picking something up," Hank said.
Erik looked up. It was strange to be back inside the Blackbird, although he admitted that some rather new renovations had been made. For one thing there had been a special place made for Charles to accommodate his wheelchair. Their strange yellow and blue uniforms hadn't changed, even if Erik had opted for his now 'normal' look.
"What is it?" asked Charles.
Hank furrowed his brow and adjusted the dial.
"I'm not as good at Morse code as housekeeper," he said, "Kinda wish she was here-"
"She's with David," Charles cut him off, "Can you read it?"
He scratched his head and then his eyes widened.
"It says 'Polaris, Havok, come'," he said.
Erik unbuckled himself and scrambled to the front of the plane.
"Where's it coming from?" he demanded.
"This one CIA facility," Hank said, grimacing from his proximity to Erik, "It's about fifteen minutes away if I hurry."
His eyebrows narrowed in concentration.
"And believe me, I'm hurrying."
A wave of soldiers fell before Alex's blast. Lorna could see that it was taking a heavy toll on him. She was practically dragging him now. His wounds had opened up and he'd started to bleed from them. If they ran into stiff opposition then there was going to be very little he could do. It would be on her and she hoped that her powers would be enough.
The exit was further than she'd thought it was. How deep underground were they? Each flight of stairs was a challenge and Alex was getting heavier all the time. When they got back she was going to put Alex on a diet and herself on a weight lifting regime. This was never going to happen again.
Rounding a corridor she nearly ran into someone. There hadn't seemed to be anyone on that floor, but the man was there munching on a cigar. She recoiled and raised her arm, searching for metal. Her heart leapt into her throat when she realized he didn't have a gun. Something was sliding out of his hands as he whirled around, but it wasn't wrist knives. He didn't have any sleeves and she could see that whatever it was wasn't metal. It might have been bone, but she was far too scared confirm it.
They both stood there. Lorna expected the man to attack her, but instead he just stared at her. He seemed to be taking in her disheveled appearance and the scrapes that she'd gotten from their flight. Her arms were banded by marks from the machine. For a moment his eyes scanned over Alex as well. Blood was trickling down his chest onto the floor and he was nearly unconscious.
"The exit's that way kid," the man said, pointing and stepping out of the way, "Go down the hall and take a left. Then it's open fields. Nearest town is ten minutes away, maybe twenty in your condition. You're on your own after that."
She felt like crying. Lorna couldn't believe that in this place someone was actually trying to help her.
"Thank you," she said.
He nodded and she dragged Alex past him. Going as fast as she could Lorna followed his instructions to the letter. She wanted to cry again when she saw the exit sign and found that the man had been telling the truth. With a wave of her hand she forced the door open. Then she pulled Alex into the night air.
"It's okay Alex," she said, "We're almost there."
In response he groaned. She continued to move. If they were lucky the X-men would be there soon. Then they wouldn't have to fight anymore, wouldn't have to move until their muscles felt like they were being ripped from their bones. For now she had to keep moving, but she had faith that they would come for them.
"Freeze!"
Lorna turned to see six armed guards pointing semi-automatic guns at her. She rolled her eyes, shifting Alex onto her other shoulder.
"I wouldn't try that," she cautioned.
"Freeze!" one of them repeated.
With a sigh she started to walk away. The guards fired at her but she waved her hands and one by one the bullets were deflected. Guards cried out as the bullets went into their legs and arms. Lorna continued on, wondering how communication between guards could be so poor. Surely someone should have noticed that she could deflect metal.
Something hit her in the back, knocking her to the ground. She was sent sprawling with Alex. His body cushioned her fall and he groaned again. Nonetheless she scraped her chin on the ground, leaving cool traces of mud on her cheek. Lorna got to her feet, slower than she ever had before.
"Useless homo sapiens, aren't they?" asked a woman, wiping her hands on her pants.
The voice sounded familiar. Lorna stepped in front of Alex's still form protectively.
"Martinique," she said.
"Got it in one," said Martinique, "You've got something of mine."
"Oh, believe me when I say he's mine," Lorna snapped.
"Yes, Regan told me something to that effect," said Martinique, "But I need him back. You've done admirably; no reason for you to suffer when I just need him. Face it Polaris, you've done all you can to get him out. You have to focus on yourself now."
Lorna laughed.
"You're really going to try that on me?" she asked, "Because that is so camp."
"Just thought I'd give it a try," shrugged Martinique, "But it looks like I'll have to kill you now. Too bad."
She snapped her fingers. Lorna had been expecting more soldiers, but instead a wave of fire shot at her. Lorna dropped and rolled.
"Oooo! You've had training," said Martinique, "This is going to be fun!"
Lorna's hand went out, picking up a gun from the ground. She used it to send a spray of bullets at Martinique. To her surprise Martinique sidestepped them gracefully and flipped over. She aimed a punch at Lorna who dropped to the ground. Moving her hand she summoned the gun closer, allowing it to hit Martinique in the back of the head.
Martinique stumbled and Lorna punched her in the face. There was a satisfying snap as the woman jumped away. She spit out a tooth and the ground became unsteady. Lorna looked down to find that her feet were sinking into the ground like it was quick sand. Struggling to get out of it she looked up to see Martinique coming at her. With a swift moment she kicked Lorna in the gut, sending her sprawling onto the wet field. Martinique gave a mocking bow.
"The poor girl's so weak. Want some sleep?"
A pillow came out of nowhere and shoved her head into the ground. It was blocking her sight and suffocating her, pushing her further into the mud. The mud forced its way into her ears. Lorna clawed at the pillow, but she couldn't feel it. Air was disappearing from her lungs and her movements became more frantic.
All at once the pillow disappeared. She gasped for breath and sat up. Above her the Blackbird soared. Beast had jumped down from the plane, landing on Martinique. She was sprawled out, dodging his swipes. Lorna clawed her way to her feet as Sean jumped down from the plane, screaming to keep his altitude. Soldiers clutched thier ears as he landed. Sean rushed over to Lorna.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Yeah," she gasped, "Yeah…I'm fine. Alex, he passed out."
Sean looked over and found his friend in the mud. He started to help him up and his eyes widened when he saw the blood.
"The hell did they do to him?"
The soldiers were getting back up. Their guns started to go haywire, as did the metal fence. It twisted around them and pinned them down. To her surprise she felt a choked he relief at the sight; her father was nearby.
"It's a long story," Lorna said weakly, "And not them. Her."
With hate in his eyes Sean glared at Martinique. She was changing the ground and using fire at the same time. He tapped his earpiece and said;
"Professor, we've got a psycho mutant down here and a facility that tortures mutants! They're evacuating, all except the psycho one!"
True enough she saw helicopters taking off. She figured it contained those sniveling scientists. She hoped they contained the man who had helped her too. Immediately the metal that made the building began to crunch in on itself. Lorna wanted to watch, but a giant hammer appeared out of nowhere and knocked Hank back.
"And I think she does illusions, because no way was that real," he added.
Martinique drew her hand back and then she halted. Lorna recognized the Professor at work. Then, in a split second Azazel teleported so that he was right next to her. His knife ripped through Martinique and she suddenly went limp. Having never seen someone killed before Lorna stared for minute, and then shook it off. She made a gun hit the guard in the jaw and then got up.
The Blackbird landed and set down its ramp. Sean picked up Alex and dragged him towards the plane. Hank caught up with them and offered Lorna a hand. Together they went up the ramp and into the safety of the Blackbird. The familiar sleek metal interior with its seatbelts and harnesses felt like a hug.
In the middle of it all stood her father. He was wearing a helmet now, as well as a red cape with a matching outfit. Erik looked every inch the evil villain that he was supposed to be. Lorna wanted to shrink back until she saw the concern on his face. His hand was outstretched to her, like he wanted to move forward but was unsure if he should do so.
Every wall she'd built up while captured came crashing down. She'd been tortured; Alex had been tortured. Lorna had heard it. She'd fought her way to the surface, half-drugged out of her mind. Now she was ready to collapse.
"Dad," she said, tears in her eyes.
Letting go of Hank's arm she stumbled forward. Lorna hugged him and he wrapped his arms around her. She realized she was crying and that he was stroking her hair, murmuring things in German. In that moment she couldn't care less if he was a terrorist. He was her father, and after everything that had happened he was there holding and reassuring her. That was all that mattered for the moment.
"Dad, we need to leave the country. Possibly the continent," Regan Wryngarde said, walking away from the wreckage that had been the CIA facility.
She waited for her father's response on the walkie-talkie.
"And why is that? We've almost defeated them. We just need to get some more cosmic energy. Martinique has the new canisters, doesn't she?" asked Jason.
"Martinique's test subject escaped Dad," Regan said, her voice a little choked, "And he called his friends. They killed Martinique and crushed the building. The machine was in there. Dad, we don't have time. Soon the Black King and Queen are going to realize we can't fight them. Then they're going to come for us."
On the other side of the walkie-talkie she heard heavy breathing.
"His friends. The ones we did research on," he said, "They were led by Charles Xavier, right?"
"It doesn't matter."
"Just answer the question," he snapped.
"Yes, yes they were," sighed Regan, "In upstate New York."
"About twenty miles from the Hellfire club," Jason said.
"That's the one."
"Hmmm...all that knowledge of him we have…"
"Dad, I know that tone. What are you thinking?"
"I was fond of telling you that we were a family of traditional values. An eye for an eye, that sort of thing."
Regan felt a sliver of panic pierce her heart.
"It won't bring back Martinique," she said, "It'll just leave you dawdling for long enough for them to find and kill you."
"I know what I'm doing."
"No, no you don't," Regan said shrilly, "Listen; I'm going to the Caribbean to our isle. You can go and try and get revenge for Martinique. I'm going to live!"
All she heard on the other end was static. He'd hung up.
"Screw this," she said, taking off.
A/N: This story ended up being longer than I intended; three more chapters to go. I was going to do another sequel, making it a trilogy to round things out and to 'explain' why you don't see any of the First Class mutants in the other movies.