August 19, 1992
Charles could see Moira through the glass as she struggled for every breath. True to Sinister's word, she was dying much more slowly than she had the first time. He could see that it was prolonging her suffering, her lips turning black and eyes clouding over.
He reached out to her mind desperately, trying to at least numb the pain. He couldn't though. His powers were locked away. Charles hadn't been able to save her the first time this had happened. Now he wasn't even able to offer her the small comfort he had given her then.
She was pressed up against the glass of the cell. He could almost feel her warmth through the glass, but he couldn't touch her. He couldn't help her, couldn't save her, couldn't comfort her. Charles had never felt more useless.
It was his worst nightmare reliving itself nearly twenty years later. He couldn't believe that this was happening again. If Sinister was telling the truth, then his sons were also in danger. He couldn't help them either.
"Moira," he whispered.
He knew she couldn't hear him. He'd tried to get some sort of message to her at the beginning, but Apocalypse had made true to his word. He'd cut out all sound from either cell. He was watching his wife die in silence, losing her by inches.
Moira reached her hand up, pressing it to the glass. Her eyes met his, and he saw the black webbing there, saw it inching into the white of her eyes. She was scared, but her eyes were still going out to him, still calling to him. His eyes filled with tears and his own vision began to blur.
The door at the other end of the cell was knocked open. Charles looked and saw David charge in, followed closely by Kurt, Rahne, and Mystique. David ran up to him and knelt next to him.
"You okay dad?" he asked.
"David, what are you doing here?" Charles asked.
"Leading a rescue mission apparently," David said, a weak grin crossing his face, "Rahne, see if you can open the door to my mom-"
Moira pounded on the glass, shaking her head furiously. David turned and, for the first time, got a good look at her.
"What did they do?" he growled.
"They pulled the Legacy virus from her blood," Charles said, his voice cracking, "They want to infect the world with it, turn everyone into mutants and kill the rest."
He swallowed.
"Starting with your mother," he said.
"But we need to get her out of there," David said.
Moira was still shaking her head, black dribbling from her lips.
"What...why can't I hear her?" David asked.
"They turned off the comm system," Charles said.
Mystique peeled away from the group and began to punch in numbers on the control panel.
"David, we can't let her out," Charles said, each word like a dagger, "She's intensely contagious, especially among mutants. If you open that door it will spread like wildfire."
He felt his own breath choking him.
"It's what she's trying to tell you," he said.
Moira continued looking at them, still worried. Kurt knelt by her, his eyes wide and in pain. She managed a weak smile before coughing up more black material into her hands.
"We can't just leave her," David said.
Moira shook her head again. Charles began tugging on his headband.
"Get this thing off me," he said.
David waved his hand and the locks came unone. Charles tossed it to the side.
Moira, I'm here, he thought.
Charles, you need to get our sons out of here, she thought, You need to stop Apocalypse. I know what you're all fighting about, and you know you can't stay here with me Charles. It's too dangerous, and I won't have our sons risking themselves like this.
She coughed.
I won't have you risking yourself like this.
"The comms are on," Mystique said.
Moira coughed again, but he could hear it this time. It was a deep, hacking noise. Charles breathed in and Moira pressed her forehead against the glass.
"Warren healed her last time," David said.
"He's dead," Charles said.
"No. He's alive, but Apocalypse did something to his mind," David said, "We just need his blood, right? We can get that. He's outside right now, fighting some of our team. No problem."
David sounded almost hysterical when he spoke. Kurt swallowed.
"We'd need to leave her," he said.
"I'll stay behind," Rahne said.
"You can't. We need as many ferals as we can get," David said.
"Then I'll stay."
Charles looked at his sister. She stood, her hands clenched into fists. She jerked her thumb towards the comm system.
"That links to most of the prison systems," she said, "I may be able to hack it and get some information about what's going on with the people Apocalypse has under his control. I'll relay the information, and I can watch Moira while I do that."
David narrowed his eyes.
"I don't trust you," he said.
"For the love of..." Mystique muttered.
She directed her gaze to Charles.
"I won't hurt her," she said.
"That's not what I'm worried about," David said, "I don't trust you in general."
"David, stop," Charles said, "Now is not the time."
He looked at Mystique again, hoping beyond hope that he could trust his sister. She looked him in the eye, her voice soft when she spoke again.
"As much as I hate to say this, I owe her," Mystique said.
Charles nodded and glanced briefly at Kurt.
"We owe you," he said.
She shook her head, her expression bitter.
"Of course you'd say that," Mystique said.
She walked up to the control panel and began punching in different numbers.
"Now hurry up," she said, "I don't know about you, but I don't want to live in the age of Apocalypse."
Charles looked back at Moira.
I'm going to numb your pain receptors, he thought, It might give you a fighting chance.
Thank you, Moira thought.
He pressed his hand against the glass again.
Call out to me if you need me, he thought, Moira I...I love you.
She smiled.
I love you too Charles, she thought, Now go save the world.
Amanda held onto the control board as the plane rocked from side to side. Sharon swore as she wrestled with controls.
"We're losing altitude," Sharon said.
Out of the corner of her eye Amanda saw Archangel dive past the window.
"I think he's going around back," Amanda said.
"Really?" Sharon said, "Perfect."
She pressed a button and started up the engines.
"He can have a face full of fire," she said, "I don't know if his healing factor can compensate, but we're running out of-"
Sharon? Amanda?
Amanda winced. It sounded like someone was clanging bells inside of her head.
David? Sharon thought, Everyone alright?
Not really, David thought, I need you to make sure that Archangel gets to the ground and gets bound. His blood heals, and one way or another we need to get it from him.
Sharon's hand faltered over the engine accelerator.
My mother's life depends on it, David thought.
I've got you David, Sharon thought.
She took her hand off the engine accelerator.
"We can't risk it," she said.
She bit her lip and put the plane into a barrel roll. Amanda felt her head jolt up against the side of the plane.
"We're going to have to find another way," Sharon said.
"How many options do we have?" Amanda said.
Sharon looked at the radar. The red dot was closing in on them.
"Well, Amanda, I think I'm going to have to crash the plane," she said.
"What?" Amanda said.
Sharon looked scared, so Amanda knew that she had heard her right.
"Are you really going to crash this thing?" she asked.
"There are safety protocols," Sharon said, her voice shaky, "If I do it right, then it'll shake him off our trail. He'll pull up. He's tired, we've been running him ragged, and we'll get a chance to surprise him."
"Not if we're dead," Amanda said.
The Blackbird was jolted to the side and a slicing noise filled the air. Wind began whistling through the Blackbird. Amanda saw that there was a deep tear in the side of the plane. There was another explosion from the back.
"One of our engines are down," Sharon said, "We can keep flying without it, it was a back-up one, but not for much longer. Not with him pulling these types of moves."
Sharon shook her head.
"With the way things are going we might die right now," she said, "But I don't see many other options. We can always rebuild the Blackbird, but we can't rebuild ourselves. I need to know if you're with me on this."
Amanda shut her eyes for a moment, her heart pounding in her throat.
"How do we survive?" she asked.
"We'll have to eject. Hit the 'X' on your buckle to deploy your parachute when you start to fall," Sharon said, "We still have enough power for that. You don't get motion sick, do you?"
Amanda gave her a blank look.
"You know I'm an acrobat, right?" she asked.
"Good," Sharon said brightly, "When we get there, I'll try to bring him to the ground. You take it from there."
She twisted the controls. The plane jerked to the side and began plummeting to the ground. Amanda felt her stomach flip flop. It had never done this when she was on the trapeze. Then again, she'd been in control when that happened.
The ground kept getting closer, but Sharon kept her hands on the controls.
"When do we eject?" Amanda asked.
"One more moment," Sharon said.
Amanda could almost make out the daisies growing on the ground below them.
"Now?" she asked.
"Now," Sharon said.
She hit a button. Amanda felt her seat rocket from under her as the front two seats shot up in the air. Amanda could see the sky around her and, for a minute, she was at home in the bright sun, surrounded by the sky.
Then she began to fall, the seat falling away but leaving a backpack. She punched the 'X' on her chest buckle and felt her descent stop abruptly. It was like someone had jerked her back and forth, and she suddenly realized why Sharon had asked if she got motion sick.
Amanda landed on the ground and rolled. She could feel herself start to get tangled in her parachute, but she continued to roll to avoid it. She unbuckled herself and got to her knees, feeling a little shaken, but fine.
A few feet away from her Sharon wasn't so lucky. Amanda realized, with a jolt, that this was Sharon's first time doing this. There was a slashing noise from within the silk and Sharon emerged. Her hands were covered in white fur and had long claws on them. For the first time Amanda wondered if there was more to Sharon's mutation then she'd seen.
Sharon motioned towards the woods and Amanda followed her. They had just gotten into the woods when Archangel came. He hovered over the scene, looking around. Sharon narrowed her eyes and breathed in.
She looked nervous. Amanda wondered if this was what Clarice had meant by saying that David's team was green. Sharon had never done what she was proposing, but she was going to do it anyway. It was hard not to admire that kind of courage.
Archangel hovered a little closer to the ground. Sharon cracked her neck and white fur spread all over her body. She bent down and undid her boots as her features became more catlike. Her hands turned back into talons, and Amanda could see talons and claws on her feet too. Sharon breathed in again, displaying pointed teeth, and tossing the boots over her shoulders.
Sharon leapt out of the bushes and tackled Archangel, bringing him to the ground. He smashed into the grass, mostly out of surprise. Sharon began slashing at his face, and arms. Amanda knew that this was her cue.
She cut around the wreck and saw that Archangel had his back turned to her. He was too occupied with Sharon, and it looked like he was winning. Amanda saw an iron bar at the other side of the wreck and went for it.
Sharon cried out, but it sounded more like a hiss. Amanda could see that she hadn't given up on trying to tear Archangel apart. Amanda grabbed the iron bar. She hurried up behind Archangel, aiming for his head.
One of his wings came up and blocked her blow. The vibrations travelled painfully up her arm. She dropped the bar and rolled as he whirled around. Amanda saw a few metal feathers come off of his wings, flying towards her.
Amanda sumersaulted backwards out of their way. She saw the flaming wreck behind her and made a run for it. Amanda knew that she was fast, but she didn't know if she was fast enough to outrun someone called Archangel.
A moment later she saw him swoop over her head. His wing lashed out at her. She used it as a springboard to jump to his other side, kicking him on the way. He moved backwards and Amanda panted.
She had to keep thinking of it as an act. Amanda had to see him as a series of obstacles to get through. It was the only way that she was going to get past him. Her muscles were strong, conditioned from years of trapeze work.
His eyes narrowed at her as she jumped over him again. His fist came out and caught her in her face. She fell to the ground and he approached, the blue diamond in his head glowing brightly.
From behind him, Sharon hit him in the head with the bar that Amanda had dropped. He fell to his knees and Sharon whacked him in the head with it again. Amanda found a nearby piece of wreckage and joined in. Archangel floundered, confused, as blow after blow rained down on his head.
He fell to the floor, his eyes closed. Sharon looked at Amanda.
"Think he's out?" she asked.
Amanda hit him on the head again. Sharon raised her eyebrows.
"Best to make sure," she said.
Sharon grinned, an oddly feline expression.
"True," she said.
