Memories
Solider By Predicament
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If you want to use Tora, or any of my other characters, PM me.
She stood in the shadows. No one could see her, not unless she wanted them to. Then energy crackled and Cable arrived. She saw Hope pick up a photo but also saw the suits being unloaded.
She leapt down and flared out a burst of power, hoping the water would short-circuit the equipment. Then she ran towards Cable.
"Hurry Nathan! We've relocated! California! San Francisco! Utopia! Run, you idiot! Run!"
She grabbed Hope's hand and smiled.
"Right, run first, introductions later. Run!"
The three of them shot off into the woods, Tora shouting directions to Cable, telling him where a car was parked.
"You didn't fly!"
"No one was supposed to know I was here!"
"Well that worked!"
"Listen Nathan, we need to get you across country as fast as possible. The alpha-team will home in on me, because I have a closed-circuit link with them."
"You're in touch with Frost?"
"Not yet I'm not. We're here."
Cable made as if to get in the driver's seat.
"Uh, uh Big Guy. You drive like a maniac."
"You drive like an old woman."
"I have two preschool children. I drive sensibly."
"We need speed, not safety."
"Yes, well I have the keys, so I'm driving."
"This isn't the time for games! I drive!"
A shot over their heads caused them all to duck and Tora to toss the keys to Cable.
"Right, we need maniac driving. But when we're safe, I drive. Compris?"
"Just get in the car!"
Tora wrenched the door open and bundled Hope inside, leaping in behind her and closing the door.
"Buckle up. Dammit, Nate, can you knock me out?"
"Why?"
"I hate your driving."
Hope turned.
"Why?"
"Put it this way, Nathan would make a very good racing driver, if it weren't for the fact he can't control the damn car."
As if to punctuate the point, the car skidded around the corner and Tora went white.
"Hope, I sincerely hope you never flew with him…"
"No. Why?"
"I really would hate to think what his dad would do to him if he killed you in a plane crash. I'm Tora by the way."
"Hope."
"I know."
She held out a hand then stiffened.
"Yes. Emma. No. Sending you coordinates right now."
Hope frowned.
"What were you doing?"
"Giving the X-Men coordinates. Nate, we'll need food. You can't drive from here to Utopia non-stop. We're going to need food, and other supplies. But we can rotate driving duties, drive in three hour shifts, catch sleep when we need it."
He nodded, concentrating on the road. Hope stared at her.
"You're just like him, aren't you?"
"What?"
"You're a soldier."
"Not by choice."
She turned away from the water.
"I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault Phoenix. I…I thought this would make me stronger… It's just made me cry."
"I know. I'm sorry."
She froze, listening to the telepathic conversation that was going on. She closed her eyes.
"Oh Logan…"
"What?"
She turned her head away.
"He's been using Laura and Warren to hunt down and kill Bastion's servants."
Cable grunted from the front.
"Sounds like a good idea to me."
"Nathan, your father authorised it."
Silence as he processed the information.
"Pull in here Nate. We can get food. There's a hotel three miles further along and we can book a room for the night."
"You have inducers?"
"Yeah."
Half an hour later, 'Mr and Mrs Winters' signed into a hotel room and walked in. Tora rolled her eyes.
"Right, Hope gets the bed, Nathan, you can have the chair. I'll take the floor."
Hope blinked.
"Why?"
"Because I'm used to rough living and we want to get you used to the joys of our modern world."
She opened the fridge and threw the teenager a can of Coke.
"Get what you want, all on me."
Hope stared at her.
"You hotwired the car really easily."
"Yes, I did."
"You knew that Nathan killed the people in the shop."
"They were going to kill you."
"Why?"
"Because people don't want someone as important as you to be here."
"This place is so cool."
"Hope, this is a cheap motel. Utopia may be a little…stark, but it's a palace compared to here."
"Really?"
"Yep. You might want to shower."
She sighed at Cable while Hope was there.
"She tries Nathan."
"I know."
"Give her this…"
He looked down at the hairbrush set.
"Why?"
"She's a teenager. She wants some normal things in life."
"Have I… Am I a bad father?"
"Nathan, I look at you and I see a man who adores his daughter, who would do anything to keep her safe. Is that a bad thing?"
She walked over and knocked on the door.
"Hope, I'm going to come in."
"Okay."
Cable heard an odd noise then Hope's quiet voice.
"My mother used to brush my hair. Nathan named her after me. She died when I was a kid…"
"I know. I was there."
"Really?"
"I killed the men who killed her. Well, when I say me, I actually mean the version of me there killed them."
Nathan froze. "They've cut off everything!"
Both women instantly reacted. Hope pulled her ragged cloak on and Tora leapt for the lights. She turned to him.
"The three-nine-four movement?"
He nodded.
"Can you do a sixty-six?"
She smiled.
"When you're ready."
Hope looked at her.
"Are you going to kill the men?"
Tora said 'No' just as Cable said 'Yes'. She sighed.
"I will try not to kill them. I can't speak for Nathan."
"Ready?"
"As I'll ever be."
She cut a hole in the wall and as Hope watched, leapt out the window of the room next door. Instantly the blue suit was riddled with bullet holes but water burst around her.
"THEY HAVE THE DRAGON! CONTINGENCY 4-D! GET TO IT!"
A gun was levelled at Tora but she laughed and let the waters burst out of her. Cable nodded.
"NOW!"
And Hope was busy fighting, but also glancing at Dragon, watching her as she glowed. Then she was kneeling by the car, using the distraction the X-Men gave her to hotwire it, waving Hope over.
Nathan nodded and they hurried over, both shooting to kill. A blond woman reached out.
"Come with me."
But she was hit with something terrible and was dragged into a glowing circle. And then Nightcrawler shot towards them but by then Tora had pulled Hope into the car and was shielding her with her body. And then she stiffened and her mouth opened and Hope saw the shot that had hit her in the back. Dragon turned to Nathan.
"Heal…halter… Spine… Need…"
"What do you need?"
"Hope… Help…"
"How?"
And Nathan nodded.
"Pull the bullet out then cut away as much flesh as you can."
"WHAT!"
Dragon looked up, her eyes becoming unfocussed.
"Do it girl!" Or she will die!
Hope did as she was told, even as Nathan ranted about Bastion finding them. He turned to look at Tora, who was sitting up and the flesh began to heal.
"Do you think he could be tracking you?"
"Not anymore. I've been unseeable to any telepaths since I gave Emma our coordinates. No one could find me, not even Jean in full Phoenix mode."
"Good. Tracking chips?"
"Disabled and destroyed. After the fiasco when Hope was born, I had them shut down permanently."
"You almost killed her that day."
She snarled.
"And I've saved you countless times today and I don't want to know how many times I saved you in the future."
He nodded. Then sighed.
"Abandoned trailer park coming up. We're stopping to catch our second wind here."
Tora nodded. Hope shuddered, staring at the now smooth skin on the back, a shot that should have been fatal but wasn't. She had met many of this woman. Some had been like Nathan, soldiers to the death. Others had been vaguely normal. But none scared her like this one. A woman who seemed so against killing, yet could act so casually when Nathan killed people, who shared a bed with Wolverine. And then there were the eyes. None of the others had eyes like those, hard eyes, dark eyes, eyes that knew too much.
They sat together in the dank trailer and Nathan twitched away when Hope tried to fix his arm. Tora sighed.
"Give it here."
The waves lapped over the metal, which knitted back together. Nathan smiled grimly.
"We need to keep moving."
"Too late. They're here."
"I… I'm sorry. I'll leave the show on, but I… I don't want… I…"
"You don't want to see Kurt die again?"
The woman shook her head, got up and walked to the edge of the room, where she curled herself up into a small ball.