Memories
Consequences
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She fell to the ground and Iron Man's repulsors fired up.
"I don't want to kill you but time and time again you've proved too dangerous to live. We can't keep you prisoner, every time we try you break out and kill whoever gets in your way."
She smirked at him.
"Go on. Shoot me."
The beam drove towards her face but she vanished in a green light. Loki leant back into the chair.
"You really are relying much too heavily on me. There's nothing in the contract about me leaving you to die."
She smiled.
"Yes, nothing in the contract. But I've read up on my Norse mythology. Gods can get a bit protective of their mortal lovers, can't they?"
He gave her his 'God of Lies' smirk.
"Yes, Iron Man is right now fighting off any number of magical constructs but I would be capable of leaving you at any moment I feel like it."
She laughed at that.
"Come on Loki. We both know there's something more than a physically attractive partner or satisfaction. I could delve into any of the other minds if I wanted and you're a god. There's got to be easier and less irritating mortals you could make your lover than a woman with almost all of Midgardian security services after her."
He shrugged.
"But that's part of the charm. You always run rings around them. Well done on your defeat of the X-Men by the way."
She collapsed into a chair.
"Was I too hard on them?"
"Of course not. Seriously, the X-Men are made of rubber. You hit them and they just bounce back into shape. Leaving them abandoned on the top of a mountain in the middle of nowhere isn't too bad. Comparatively. When you consider some of the stuff that's happened to them."
The corners of her lips twitched up.
"You know how to make me feel less guilty. Are you lying or just being nice?"
"Would you be able to tell either way?"
She shook her head.
"You know Loki, you're the only person I've met who I can't get into their head. Everyone else is an open book. I can see their wants and fears and petty worries but you… You're locked off."
And then he was in front of her, the green eyes glimmering in the low light.
"And you like that, don't you?"
"Loki, you do know I have a meeting with Elektra to talk about Hand funding in about ten minutes?"
"Reschedule it."
"Loki…"
"You're their leader. They listen to you. Reschedule it."
She shook her head.
"Loki…"
"Reschedule it or I'll make sure no one can enter or leave this room until I'm ready to lift the spell."
She raised an eyebrow.
"I really should remind you about the little piece of tech that makes you mortal."
"Will you really use it?"
"No."
She reached out and picked up a small phone.
"Tell Elektra I won't be able to meet with her today. The Avengers managed to surprise me."
Loki smirked when she put the phone down.
"You really are incredibly easy to manipulate."
She reached out for the phone again but he grabbed her hand, his fingers icy cold.
"Ah, ah, ah. You can't go about changing your orders. It makes you look indecisive."
"I hate you."
"I hate you too."
And they kissed.
xXx
He looked up at her.
"Tora?"
"Logan."
The ice in her voice was obvious. He stared at her wedding ring.
"We never got a divorce… So how are you married? Cos that ain't the ring I gave you."
"Our marriage was annulled. It never even existed. You married me under a false name."
"What about Jamie?"
"He's safe. Away from everyone who will ever try to hurt him because of who his genetic father is."
"Are you implying I'm not his father?"
"You aren't. He considers my husband his father."
"So who did you end up with?"
"I'm only here for the information. This isn't some nice little get back together meeting."
"I heard you died."
"I wanted out. Dying seemed to be the best way to go about it."
"Out of curiosity… How long were you spying for?"
"Since the beginning."
"That long huh? Looks like Warren was right from the very start. How did you manage to kill him?"
"I simply pretended I was fed up with you cheating and wanted to get back at you. It was too easy. The information."
"Fine. Here it is. All the data on Apocalypse's back-up, in case he was ever assassinated. I stole them. We were never going to bring him back. The idea of the empire was sound but he wasn't."
"You are saying a system that condoned genocide, slave labour and inhumane genetic experimentation was sound?!"
"Yes."
"You disgust me."
She snatched up the drive and stood, only to freeze as he caught her arm, the part of her that had been conditioned for spying and the three years spent under Apocalypse's rule preventing her from attempting to stab him. He was inhaling deeply, getting the scents on her.
"Elf!? You actually married Elf?!"
"And?"
"What's he got over me?"
"I don't know… A speck of humanity, maybe? Or maybe he doesn't just take all the time! Now, Get. Off. Me!"
She twisted her arm around and stalked out, handing the tiny flash drive to Etana.
"You never call on me again. Understand?"
"Social visits only."
Tora nodded then walked towards the transport that was going to take her home.
xXx
Tora looked up then looked away once more. Logan's face fell. When she spoke, there was an oddly cold ring to it.
"Let me guess. You messed up and now you want me to come and sort it all out for you."
"Tora… I'm sorry… But…"
"Tony shot the Phoenix Force and now instead of Hope, who had a chance of controlling it, you've got five people with barely any telepathic training, bar Emma, who are suddenly immensely powerful and being controlled by a primal force. Great work, Logan. Good going, keep it up."
"Tora…"
"And when I went off to try and stop this, you go and arrest me. You made this bed, you lie in it."
"But…"
"Go away, Logan. I could have fixed this. But no, you knew best. Just…push off…"
"They've declared war on the Avengers…"
"They deserve it. What happened to 'X-Men first'? You've betrayed your family, Logan. You've betrayed the people who took us both in, when everyone else said we were psycho or unstable or just animals. I hope you're proud, Logan."
And she turned her face away. Logan reached out.
"Please. Don't make me beg."
"I begged you, didn't I? I begged you to let me deal with it, but you didn't listen. Now, goodbye."
xXx
Tora looked up from her book as the shadow blocked the light, then bowed her head.
"You have come for me."
"You know us?"
"Why are you doing this? I have never done you any harm."
"You shall."
She stared up at him.
"Steve… Let me… Let me say goodbye."
"No."
"Then…" She raised her pen, "Let me write one last thing for my children."
"Fine. But if it implements us in any way, innocents will be destroyed."
"I know."
She leant forward and wrote a few short sentences.
"Read it."
"To my children, in the hope they one day read this, let them know I was always proud of you and my love for you cannot be destroyed, even by death. Maman."
"Good. Now…"
"I will not kneel for an execution. I shall die standing."
She rose, staring up into his face.
"Just get it over with."
She staggered when a button was pressed, grasping her head with her hands. Staggered but remained upright, staring direct into his eyes. And then she collapsed, like someone had cut the strings out from under her. Captain America brought the radio to his mouth.
"Iron Man, Dragon is terminated. I repeat, Dragon is terminated. Initiate reality jump."
And he faded out. Downstairs, voices rang out.
"Captain! Tora? Ah yes, she's upstairs. I'll take you to her? No, not by the stairs, that way's boring. Hold on now. Allez-Oop!"
Brimstone stench filled the room and then two voices cried out in denial. Voices shouting.
"I'll get Hank! Captain, try and revive her!"
"Go!"
Hands checking pulse, breath, desperate. Steve Rogers trying to undo what –in a way –he had done.
xXx
She had decided to stick around. Just to make sure things went okay. The conversation with the Malach Hamavet had been very…interesting, to say the least. Tora stopped at the closed door and tried to touch the pad. Her hand brushed it but she couldn't apply pressure. She sighed. She'd hoped not to do this. Her consciousness dissipated and she slid through the door, reforming on the other side.
Kurt was coiled up in a corner, deliberately not looking at the mangled mess of blood and metal than Tora had spent the last twenty-six years inhabiting. Logan was standing over her, eyes unreadable. Curt's head was tilted downwards, Poison covering his whole body. Jamie and Eva were pulling on Logan's legs, trying to get him to respond. Scott seemed unable to look anywhere but at the blooded face. Tora watched and then the door opened and Laura ran in.
"Is it true?! It isn't true! It…"
And then she collapsed down to her knees.
"No… No…"
Tora tried to reach out to touch her but there was something preventing her from getting too close. Scott looked up.
"We need to arrange the funeral."
"What?!"
Kurt's empty eyes looked up from the corner.
"Yes. Because Bastion will attack again. We have to be prepared. But if… We should have given Tora the proper service first… She'd do the same for us."
They all looked back.
"How though? How did he manage that?"
"Who? What?"
"How did Bastion kill her? Come on, we all remember the first time we fought him! Tora was laughing her head off! She tore him to shreds! So what was different? What made her lose focus? For pity's sake, why did he go after her?! He's never gone for Tora before! Not like that!"
Curt's mask slid back.
"Isn't it obvious?! She's his biggest threat now! Before she was just a good fighter. Insignificant compared to Storm or Phoenix! And now she's Dragon and she could tear him to atoms, if they'd been fighting where she didn't have to worry about civilians!"
"What?"
"Haven't you seen the videos? There are about twenty already on the net. She was doing fine then she panicked when she heard a kid scream."
"Videos?"
Curt's head dropped.
"Yeah. People record these fights. And when Maman was…was killed… They couldn't wait to upload them."
Everyone stopped moving. Then Logan started swearing.
"Those sick £$%*& ! SHE'S DEAD AND ALL THEY DO IS SHOW HER DYING! FOR AMUSEMENT!?"
Scott was typing in a computer then looked up.
"That's not the worst of it."
"What?"
"The comments are all on the lines of good riddance and genetic scum. We're alone."
"No."
Curt had looked up.
"Not quite."
"What do you mean?"
"Maman… Do you think he could just kill Maman? Maman is too powerful! We've all thought people like Thor and Cap were dead! So why can't Maman be alive!"
Logan rested his hand on Curt's shoulder.
"Look at her kid. Look at her. She's dead. I hate it just as much as you do, but she'd dead!"
And Kurt suddenly vanished. Scott turned and swore.
"Who cleared Kurt when he came in? What's his mental state?"
Logan laughed coldly.
"I can tell you his mental state right now. He's just had one of his oldest friends die in his arms. He's going to be &*$£% up!"
And Tora winced as suddenly she felt herself being pulled away from her family and body and was at Kurt's side. The man was rocking back and forth, crying softly, pulling his arms around his knees. The other X-Men came running shortly but he waved them away. Tora knelt –or something and reached out. Oddly, the force that had repelled her from Laura didn't prevent her nearing Kurt. A soft hand gently touched his forehead but he didn't react, not even when she pressed her lips to his forehead. She held him in arms that didn't exist, not anymore. And when the X-Men came running, she remained close to him. Remained close and felt the stab of guilt when Xixy –still wearing the traditional deep mourning garb of K'Meeri serf classes- pronounced Kurt Makrrrst. She had never meant… never dreamt… She would never have done so if she hadn't known…
And then she made her choice. She would stay here, in this ghostly half-life on the astral plane, to protect her family and wait for Kurt to join her. There would be no joy in the Afterlife without him.
Phoenix sighed.
"She really was losing it, wasn't she?"
A.N. Sorry about the huge delay. But I had loads of homework, a rotten cold (which has now developed into a chest infection that I'm taking industrial-strength antibiotics for) and revision to do. From now on, updates will be incredibly sporadic as I have important end-of-unit tests all through January, prelim exams in February and all my exams in a two week period in June. Then I have all sorts of applications to sort out. So I'm sincerely hoping I'll finish this before too long else I'll have to put it on hold for an indefinite period.