A/N: Yes, I'm back, and I haven't given up on this story! I am so sorry for the delay. I actually finished writing a chapter last month, but I hated it more than any other chapter I've written. The characters were getting a little OOC and just made me annoyed in general. So I deleted the whole chapter and tried again. I don't know when the next time I'll update would be, but I'm desperately trying to have a new chapter every month. Anyways, I hope you enjoy Chapter 17...
17.
Before she even opened her eyes, Ravyn knew it would be hard to get through the day. It wasn't like the last few days were a walk in the park, but she knew the next twenty-four hours were going to be bad. Her eyes were still closed, but the familiar pulsation of a hangover lay on her forehead. She took a deep breath and shivered at the cold she had sucked into her body. She stuck her nose into the makeshift blanket… her tablecloth? Her eyes drowsily opened. For a moment she didn't know where she was. She half expected herself to be in her room at the Xavior Institute, her capture and escape being nothing more than a bad dream. She stared a while at the overturned furniture and the trashcan in the middle of the room, as well as her discarded coat beside her, blocking her sight of the kitchen. She sighed and snuggled deeper into the tablecloth.
A moist breath hit the back of her neck and she stiffened, her blood freezing in her veins. It was then that she realized that the majority of the warmth she felt came from a body. She felt a pulse, the very life of a person, against her back. It didn't take many brain cells to figure out who lay beside her. Was she really that drunk last night? Did they- Ravyn looked down at her body underneath the blanket and was relieved to find that she was still wearing her clothes. She relaxed significantly before noticing Kurt's arm, which was wrapped tightly around her waist. His three-fingered hand lay limp, lightly touching her stomach.
Ravyn rolled her eyes. How did she keep getting into situations without remembering how she got into them? The previous night reconstructed itself in her mind. She talked about Connor, they got into an argument, and then he kissed her. She remembered every line she had said to him that led up to the action, but more importantly, she remembered what she felt when he kissed her.
Love. Her stomach began to perform belly flops and the room started to spin. She didn't want the kiss to end, but the emotions she felt were so foreign, they scared the shit out of her. So, in the end, she slapped him.
Ravyn shuddered, remembering the apologetic face Kurt had on his face after her hand made contact with his face. Her face probably had a ridiculous, shocked expression.
What happened afterwards? She couldn't remember. Did she faint? Oh God. Did she invite him to bed with her? Her face burned up at the thought of it. She made a solemn vow never to touch alcohol again. In one, swift move, she broke away from his embrace and into the frigid air.
Kurt shot up at the sudden loss of heat and rubbed his eyes, clearing away the disorientation from his sight and mind. Ravyn couldn't bring herself to look at him directly, and chose to distract herself by slipping her coat around her shoulders.
"'Morning," Kurt mumbled, casually stretching out his arms.
Ravyn glared in his general direction. How dare he pretend that nothing happened. It didn't take Kurt long to notice. He sighed, acknowledging the beginning of a new day. "What?"
His companion spoke through gritted teeth. "Nothing." She threw his coat at him. "C'mon, let's go." She stopped stiffly at the door, which was barricaded shut with pieces of wood of all sizes. The wind shrieked fiercely outside, reminding her of the snowstorm that still blazed beyond the door.
"You can't teleport in this weather." It was a statement; not a question.
"I can try." Kurt was suddenly beside her loosening his arms and cracking his knuckles. Outside, they heard a snap of a tree branch followed by a muffled clunk. "Or… we could stay here and wait out the storm."
Ravyn shook her head resolutely. "No. I can't stay here. Were leaving-" She pushed away furniture and wrenched open the door.
The freezing wind hit her face like a two-ton train and the air refused to go down her lungs. She backed into Kurt, who, like always, stood with her like an immovable wall. "C'mon, Ravyn! Let's wait it out!" He yelled over the howling of the wind.
The determined look on her face silenced him. The girl was stubborn enough to fight a blizzard to get her way. Her hand grasped his wrist tightly and pulled him forward into the storm with her.
It wasn't long before she fell; the only thing anchoring her to the path was Kurt, who looked around wildly. He had no idea where he was and couldn't see more than a couple of feet in front of them. "This is insane… Lillian!" He shouted, hoping her name would knock reason into her.
Ravyn clutched his arm like her life depended on it and strained her eyes on where she knew their salvation would be. She had seen it many times, but never thought it would be an important object. The wind let up slightly, allowing her to catch a glimpse of red paint.
"Bingo," she smirked cockily, thanking herself that her pothead neighbors never changed. With a renewed burst of strength, she pushed through the dunes of snow. Once Kurt caught sight of what she was heading for, he pulled her towards him and teleported.
Ravyn was thrust from the force of the teleportation into the backseat of a car. It creaked slightly under their sudden combined weight.
Kurt repositioned himself into the driver's seat as Ravyn jumped into the seat beside him. "I don't suppose you'd have the keys to this thing?"
Before he stopped talking, Ravyn began playing with the side of the steering wheel. "I'll have to hotwire it," she stated quietly, more to herself than to Kurt.
In five minutes, the car engine roared to life. Ravyn smiled triumphantly at Kurt.
The car lurched forward, only to get stuck in a pile of snow. The snow-ploughed main road was visible: so close, yet impossible to get to.
Kurt pressed harder on the gas, but felt the car only sink deeper into the piles of snow. "Come on," he grunted, his hands tightening on the steering wheel. Every breath he took in fueled his anger and frustration. He felt his pulse quicken.
"Kurt, stop!" Ravyn grabbed his shoulder and shook it. The wheels of the car were irreversibly stuck in the snow.
Kurt shrugged off her hand and stared at the road. Maybe it was his lack of sleep, warmth, and food. But he swore that the road audibly mocked his existence.
"Look, we'll find another way." Ravyn said, disappointed, but levelly. She could tell that Kurt was frustrated, and she knew what men could do when they got into that frame of mind.
"No. We're getting on that road."
Kurt placed one of his hands on the roof of the car. The other one gripped Ravyn's shoulder. Closing his eyes tightly, he pressed the gas pedal and teleported.
Mystique wandered purposefully through the tunnels of the secret government headquarters. Safely disguised as a guard, she strode confidently in front of the bright lights of the prison cells before stopping at a heavy iron door. Hinges creaked in protest as it opened. She walked purposefully to a large filing cabinet in the corner. Beside the cabinets and drawers were several television screens that alternated views of the various hallways and cells. A lone metal chair was in front of the television screens, obviously for the guard who was supposed to watch them. Before opening the drawer, Mystique felt the metal chair. It was still warm from the body of the guard who had left.
Mystique hurriedly opened the drawers and thumbed through its contents. In no time, she pulled out the file that had the name 'Wagner, Kurt' neatly written on top. Opening the file, she set aside the gruesome pictures and quickly scanned the papers for information. She muttered some of the words she found in the file, before she came to the word 'escaped'. Her hand flew to her mouth and she breathed a sigh of relief. She read the sentence out loud.
"He escaped on December 10, helped by telepath, Jimmy Bondus (captive), with healer, Kitty Pryde."
Mystique was so engrossed in what she was reading that she had no time to react when the door was flung over to reveal the face of a guard. A steaming cup of coffee was in his outstretched hand. Mystique turned to face him calmly, relying on her disguise to keep her safe.
"Whaddaya doin' here?" the guard asked suspiciously.
"A scientist told me to check on the files," Mystique said. Her voice was that of a gruff, middle-aged man. She picked up Kurt's file and placed it back in the drawer.
The guard pushed to door wide open to reveal a man dressed in a white lab coat beside him. Both men in the door drew guns and aimed it at the disguised mutant.
The man in the white lab coat spoke. "I am the only scientist here, and I gave no such order. Turn around and keep your hands where I can see them."
Mystique obeyed. She felt the guard roughly pat her down. "He's clean," he announced.
"How did you get in here?" The man in the lab coat asked, his gun still trained on her unprotected chest.
Mystique smiled. "You're men aren't too secretive about this place when they are trying to please me." The guard disguise peeled off her and was replaced with that of a woman. Thick, gently-curled, blonde hair fell down past her shoulders and her eyes changed to a bright blue hue. The figure of a man morphed into the tall slim curves. Her chest visibly grew and her legs stretched longer. A tight, scarlet dress formed against her body, showing off all her bodily assets
The guard stared at her with a confused, but slightly impressed expression. The hand holding his gun quivered slightly.
The scientist's eyes narrowed and he gulped visibly. He blinked to clear his mind, but couldn't get the vision of the beautiful lady out of his head. "What are you doing here, mutant?"
Mystique dropped her arms to her side in resignation. She spoke slowly, deadly. "I'm looking for my son. Do you remember him? No? Here's a refresher." She transformed again. The beautiful lady was gone, and in her place was a dark blue mutant with fire-red hair. The scientist's breath was taken away by her gold eyes, which glowed with intensity.
Without warning, the guard pulled the trigger of his gun. Mystique fell into a split, the bullet grazing the top of her head. She pushed herself off the ground and cartwheeled towards the guard, who was in the process of reloading his gun. Grabbing him, she swung his body around hers in time to shield herself from a bullet shot from the scientist's gun. The guard paled as he looked down at the dart protruding from his chest. Mystique cracked his neck and stepped over his crumpled body.
The scientist backed up towards the door, his hands shaking too much to reload the gun. Using quick and precise moves, Mystique unarmed him.
"P-Please," the scientist stammered, "I have a family…. And t-two kids."
"So do I," Mystique said before shooting him in the head with the dart gun. Light blue liquid stained his face. Taking aim again, Mystique shot again. She took her time reloading before burying another dart into the scientist's brain.
Casually, Mystique tossed the gun aside and leafed through the file cabinets one more time before tearing out a page from Jimmy Bondus' file. Smiling sweetly at the two dead men at her feet, she left the room.
Cold. It was all he felt around him and inside him. He didn't know whether or not to be thankful since because of his freezing insides, he failed to feel the pain that he knew was inflicted on his small body. Jimmy tried to sit up, but fell to a lying position with a dull thud.
The dark figure of a woman leaned over him, blocking out the light. The ghost held a dart gun. She could have been pretty. She had a nice figure and flawless skin, somewhat moist from sweat, but her face took away every ounce of beauty she would have. Her eyes screamed murder as they stared pitilessly into his, eating away at his soul. Her hair was long, brown, and tangled, and her face was smeared with mud and blood.
He held out his little hand to her. "Why did you leave me? We promised," he whispered, tears clouding his fevered eyes.
Her fingers were inches away from his when they stopped. She looked up, as if to ponder whether or not to help the suffering child beneath her. She pulled her hand away from his grasp.
"Help me," Jimmy sobbed out.
The girl stopped in her retreat away from him. "No." Her voice echoed through the walls of the cell. As her voice faded into silence, so did the vision, and before long, Jimmy was left alone in the cell.
There were many things that couldn't be forgiven, and Jimmy was bound to let the girl pay for leaving him.
It wasn't long before another figure entered his cell. Instead of the humanly ghost of his dreams, this woman was blue. She had scarlet red hair that reached her shoulders and gold eyes that glowed intensely.
"Jimmy?" Her voice was low and manly.
"What do you want with me? Get away!" Jimmy began to cry kicking his feet in a feeble attempt to keep the strange woman away.
"Sh…" the woman cooed. She pulled him towards her and began to stroke his hair in a comforting manner. As soon as jimmy relaxed against her, she picked him up and headed towards the door. "I'm here to help you, Jimmy. I'll help you find your parents if you help me in return."
Jimmy nodded feebly against the kind woman's shoulder. Mystique smiled and walked out of the prison cell.