Chapter 9: Middle Ground

Content Warning: PTSD, Torture, and mature content. Viewer discretion is advised.

Review Replies

Raidentensho: Not too bad. though will the crew have a run-in with Dr. Strange? The ship is magic. Also, I wonder if the boys would meet Iron Man via their wealth and investments. until then, later!

ThermalsniperN7: Both of those points are plausible. Dr. Strange could help utilize the magic of the Dutchman more effectively, and Tony could make some technological additions to it, if he's feeling into it. We could have a Voltron be pulled if we want.

Dragon Emperor0: Maybe.

-Xavier's Institute-

A week had got by since the incident with Pietro, and things had mellowed out… Mostly. Anyone with PTSD was still getting flashbacks, so that needed to be addressed before the Flying Dutchman set sail on its first mission.

Speaking of which, Joshua was trying to find a window to get Pietro to join his crew, though he'd need to get creative since the guy would likely shoot his attempts down at first.

Right now though…

"Okay so, hear me out here, guys." Calvin said as he sat with the others in the living room. "But I think I may know a perfect candidate for a therapist for the school." He told them.

"Is this candidate a mutant that is a telepath?" Romano questioned warily.

"How did you-?" The calico eyed boy questioned. "Well, yeah. Her name is Emma Frost, she's the therapist and guidance counselor for Kenway Academy." He nodded. "She's since left to pursue her own practice, but Josh can attest, she's pretty good at her job." He added. "But how'd you guys know about her being a telepath?" He questioned.

"That was a lucky guess." Romano shrugged in reply. "But we all have bad experiences with telepathy thanks to HYDRA." He added.

"There was a little shit named Kuo who would torture us mentally, and enjoy it every time." Chelsea elaborated.

"Well, Emma is nothing like him." Calvin assured. "She's professional, discreet to a fault and tends to know exactly what to say to make someone feel better." He said.

"That's something we're better off experiencing, I think." Bast commented.

"I'll make a call or two." Josh nodded.

"… Can she help with out of control powers?" Marcus questioned as the others left the room.

"Not sure, I never asked." Cal shrugged.

"Certainly couldn't hurt to check." The taller teen shrugged.

"True." The drug addict shrugged.

(Later)

Joshua was at the Brotherhood Boarding House as he mentally went over what to say to Pietro.

He also hoped Mystique wasn't home, or things would be derailed.

'Well, here goes.' He thought before knocking on the door.

Seconds later, Lance answered the door.

"Can I help you?" He questioned.

"Is Pietro here? I'm gonna try and recruit him." Joshua asked in reply.

"Recruit me to what crew?" The topic of discussion asked as he zipped up to them.

"My crew of privateers." The invisible boy replied.

"Before you say it's a joke Pietro, it isn't." Lance chimed in. "Me and the rest of the Brotherhood are in on it." He added.

"And how do I know if it's even legit?" Pietro questioned skeptically.

"Trust me man, when I say it's legit—it is." The walking Richter scale replied.

"I have proof to back it up, too." Joshua nodded. "If you wanna join, you'll find out." He added, bringing out the ledger.

"Fine. Deal." The speedster nodded, signing the book.

"And with that, the crew is ready. At least for now." Josh nodded as he walked away.

(Timeskip)

"I appreciate your willingness to come in on such short notice, Miss Frost." Xavier said as he rolled next to the woman in the front entry of the Institute a few days later.

The woman in question was one who was tall, platinum blonde, blue eyed with porcelain skin, a voluptuous figure (a big gorgeous ass and world class breasts), and lips that were painted an icy blue.

Attire wise she wore a icy blue business suit and heels that emphasized her chest and ass.

"Dr. Frost or just Emma, please, professor. I do wish to be as professional as possible." The woman said as she followed the man. "But yes, I am aware of the short notice, but given that one of my beloved students requested my assistance, well, how could I refuse?" She questioned.

"Very well." The telepath nodded as the two made their way to an office. "Will this work for you?" He asked as the woman looked around.

"Yes. This will do." Emma nodded in reply as she sat at her new desk. "So." The blonde hummed as she got settled. "Who will I be seeing first?" She asked.

(Later)

Cut to literally five minutes later and now Emma was seated in an easy chair across from a couch where Anne and Josh currently were.

"So, miss Bonny, what kind of trauma have you experienced, exactly?" Emma asked as gently as she could.

"Has Professor Xavier told you my… Story?" She asked.

"He did, yes." The blonde nodded, looking over her files.

"Then there you are, my traumas are all there." The Shark girl said.

"Of that, I can tell." Emma nodded. "The best I can do is give you simple advice: find solace in the family you've gained." She told her. "I know it's not much, but given your circumstances, I believe that's the best course of action." The woman added.

"Well it's a start, I suppose." Anne nodded, laying her head on Joshua with a sigh.

(Later)

Later on that day, Emma had begun the long and arguous process of working with Chelsea and Co.—deciding that the best and most efficient course of action was to do their sessions one at a time with an accompanying friend or loved one to aid in the ordeal of the flashbacks.

First up was Bast, who was accompanied by Johan.

"Alright Bast, I'm going to go into your mind and find the most traumatic memories of your time at HYDRA, so that I can get a feel for what I'm working with here." The blonde told the cat woman. "Are you ready?" She asked.

"Yes, but I'll warn you now: you won't like what you'll find." Bast warned.

"Knowing that organization I don't doubt it." The woman nodded as she got started.

(Flashback)

In the flashback that was shown first, it was a scene that likely took place fairly late into her captivity and showed the catwoman as she was moaning like a whore while she was locked into some kind of machine—electric probes and sucking instruments on her breasts and womanhood while her mouth and eyes were held open by clamps, trying to break her mind through sheer pleasure.

It was taking a lot of willpower to keep herself from breaking.

Chelsea, meanwhile was in a similar boat and in the exact same kind of machine, moaning in bliss and euphoria as her body spasmed and spewed bodily fluids—the previous shocks and trigger training causing more and more of the brainwashing take root in her mind, slowly starting to break and fall to pieces.

Pieces that Rowner, who was watching the ordeal, intended to pick up and reassemble into what he wanted.

(Flashback end)

When Emma pulled back, she covered her mouth when the urge to puke hit her.

"Now I see why Miss Marks has such an aversion to having children unless it's with her express approval…" She muttered.

"Bad?" Johan asked simply, referring to the severity level.

"Extremely." The telepath nodded in reply, calming her nerves as best she could.

"What's your diagnosis?" Bast questioned.

"In my professional opinion, I believe that the exact memories would be best either suppressed or outright removed." Emma replied. "But unfortunately, some of the psychological programs they managed to put in you are too well ingrained so even with the memories gone, I'm afraid that you'll still have the programming." She explained.

"What kind of… Programming is it?" Johan asked, forcing the last part out.

"Breeding programming." The therapist gagged in reply, not liking it either. "Essentially it makes Bast naturally docile and obedient to those she imprints on as her partner, and once imprinted, the programming makes it where when her cat side enters heat, she becomes—essentially—a cat, mentally—for lack of a better term—nothing but base instincts and a desire to mate for days on end and produce litters." She explained.

"Oh hang me…" Bast groaned, burying her face in her hands.

"While I know this is far from positive news, may I at least attempt to offer a silver lining to this situation?" Emma asked.

"What would that be?" Johan asked with a groan.

"Well, as I recall from your file, you happen to have a fondness for cats, correct Agent Sever?" The telepath asked.

"... Oh. I see your point." Johan blinked, seeing the connection.

"So you're saying that we should use this to our advantage, as roleplay for the bedroom?" Bast questioned, starting to catch on.

"Correct." Emma nodded. "Plus, you two already seem to trust each other, so that certainly helps." She added.

"You're certainly not wrong." The agent chuckled.

"Now, just allow me to take a moment to remove these memories…" The telepath hummed as she got to work.

(Timeskip)

The next day it was Romano's turn, and like with Bast, Katerina was accompanying him.

"Alright Mr. Sanchez, hold still." The woman said as she took his head in her hands.

(Flashback)

WHAM*

Romano was sent flying across the dungeon like a pit by the hit in the stomach. He groaned, trying to push himself off the floor as blood flooded mouth.

"Fucking jio de punta…" He spat. The mutant girl across from him looked like some kind of orc-like cheerleader. To call her ugly was a compliment. "That's the best you can do, caborne?!" He snapped.

"Fucking stand up, asshole!" She yelled.

The Latino teen pushed himself to his feet. "Told ya to have finished the job, Ugly Betty." He sneered. "Look, I'm not fighting you—" He tried to say before she charged at him with a yell. "Okay, plan C…" The boy muttered as he barely managed to side step her like a charging bull. "Don't you get it?! If we don't fight they can't make us!" He shouted, trying to reason with her.

"Shut up! I'm not going back in solitary!" She cried as she finally grappled him and started trying to crush him. "I'll kill you!" She growled.

The air was pushed out of his lungs. He tried to struggle, feeling like his spine would break under her grasp. "Fuck-in- BITCH!" The lights in the room flickered as his eyes eerily began to glow. His skin began to lighten, and his skeleton began to glow from inside his body.

The girl's flesh began to smoke and she let out a scream before dropping him. As if on instinct, he immediately grabbed for her, clutching her face in his hands, covering her eye sockets.

Romano kept them there as they conducted more heat.

"You leave me no choice…" He snarled as more light gathered and heat surge while the girl let out a blood curdling scream as her eyes were fried from her skull. She screamed blood curdling pleas again as her eyes were burned from her skull.

Then her head started melting like she was in Raiders of the Lost Ark after the Ark was opened, and as a result, what was once her head sloshed to the floor.

The boy looked at his blood stained hands as he dragged them across his face.

"Curaqao Chingada Madre! [Motherfucking Cocksuckers]" He yelled as he threw his hands in the air. "There! I did it! Are you fucking happy now you sick fucks?! Why are you doing this to us?! What fucking purpose does this even serve?" He shouted.

He didn't get an answer. Though, he already knew that. The bastards never answered.

(Flashback End)

Upon pulling back, Emma held her head as she tried to shake off what she saw.

"Pointless, meaningless violence and cruelty—the similarities between HYDRA and the Hellfire Club is truly unsettling." She muttered.

"Que?" The man questioned.

"Emma Frost was previously the White Queen of the Hellfire Club, a notorious Mutant Crime syndicate—she left about five years ago." Katerina whispered.

"Oh, okay." The man nodded.

"All I think I can do here is offer to suppress any more memories like this and give you this piece of advice: None of this was your fault. You should not have had to go through that. So don't berate yourself for it." Emma told the light user.

"That's not something easily taken in… but I get it." Romano sighed.

(Timeskip)

The following day, it was now the Twin's turns, and true to form, Calvin actually stepped up to act as their moral support as a older brother figure while the others were busy.

Deciding that any preamble would just prolong the inevitable—Emma got to work.

(Flashback)

Kai and Pele were living a nightmare. The former was being electrocuted to death constantly, her screams of agony filling the air. Every time she died, her tormentors would resuscitate her, denying her the release of death.

"No… no Ho…. Please, please just let me die!" Kai wailed spasming as she was electrocuted again, causing her to scream and thrash against her bindings in response.

Pele, meanwhile, was being waterboarded to the point of drowning before being resuscitated for a horrific repeat.

"Why can't you just let me die?!" She wailed before she was subjected to another waterboard.

"You girls are so belligerent. But no matter, a few more sessions of this and your brains will be broken enough for Kuo to reprogram you from the ground up." Rowner sighed as they flatlined again. "Alright, once more, from the top." He said before snapping his fingers as the twins were brought back to life.

And this time, their eyes were slowly starting to become hollow…

(Flashback End)

This time, when Emma pulled back, she immediately rushed to her window, opened it and puked.

There was no way she was going to be able to keep it down after seeing that.

Luckily said window happened to be in the bathroom so she was able to clean herself up and resume her composure.

"Words fail me on how to adequately describe just how… Revolted I am about what I just saw." The woman said as calmly as she could. "You girls are so young, sweet, pure and innocent—the fact that you had to endure… that is… I'm unsure what to call it." She cursed.

"I don't even need to ask how bad it was if you puked." Calvin stated. Sure, he couldn't read minds, but he saw the writing on the wall, given Emma's reaction.

"I can't seem to find any traces of programming like with Bast, so—perhaps it'd be best if I erase these memories." She offered.

"Please do. We don't want these horrible memories anymore." Kai begged.

"Then allow me to get to work." The blonde nodded as she did so.

(Timeskip)

It was that Thursday and Emma was now onto the second to last member of the gang in need of therapy, that being Marcus.

And based on what she read in his file, she knew that she had her work cut out for her.

"Alright Mr. Mussolini, just hold still." She told him. "The sooner I sort through your most traumatic memories and experiences, the quicker I can figure out the best course of treatment." She added.

"Lead the way, doc." Marcus replied.

(Flashback)

The scene showed a young Marcus in the fighting pits of Hydra. Blood covered his face and hands, his right eye swollen shut.

"Please! I-I don't know what you want—!" He begged and pleaded.

WHAM!

The boy was sent flying across the dungeon-like room, the wind knocked from his body. The other kid charged at him, rock like patches of skin absorbed his hands making it look like organic gauntlets. His mighty fists came down with a ferocious *THUD, barely missing Marcus's skull and cracking the ground next to him.

"I'm not going to be one of the corpses they leave to rot here!" The other boy snarled as he lifted his fist to strike again. Marcus was pinned by the other boy's body, unable to move. This was it, his head would be crushed like a grape.

"No, no please!" He wailed, gripping the boy's arm. Upon contact the boy paused and began to twitch, then shake, then vibrate. Then vibrate violently, like he was being shaken from within his veins. He choked, gasping for air. Blood began pouring out of his mouth, eyes, and ears. His body softened in Marcus's grasp, and then suddenly gave out, his flesh liquifying and drenching the young gold eyed man in blood. "AGH!" He yelled.

Marcus shoved himself from the puddle of gore, his vision pulsating. He felt waves of energy shaking through him, the ground at his feet cracking, the air around him whipped and snapped like little explosions. The breath was taken out of him as his feet started sinking into the ground as it started to liquify into mud. Somewhere above him he heard the speaker system order for his detainment. He saw guards come storming at him with guns drawn.

"Help me! I don't- I don't know what's happening!" he reached out his hand, but as he did so felt a volt of energy travel down his bones to his finger tips.

The guards fell where they stood—their skin corroding like a scene out of Raiders of the Lost Ark, and the metal around them evaporated in a matter of seconds. Their skeletons turned to dust right in front of him.

"… What… What am I?" He gasped, looking at his hands in abject horror. "WHAT AM I?!" He yelled, falling to his knees and breaking down into a sobbing mess.

The next scene unfolded with Marcus strapped to a wheelchair, a straight jacket binding his limbs to his body. The voices around him sounded like they were coming to his ears like he was under water. The laboratory scene in front of him moved slowly, and dripping, like the world was made of syrup.

"You're so… interesting." A voice, sharp, shrill like nails on a chalkboard, drawled in his ear.

Was he hearing it? Was it just in his head?

"Molecular energy manipulation… Fascinating." A boy, not much older than him, materialized in his vision. "You're a favorite." He mused.

Appearance wise he was an Asian boy, probably Chinese, with purple eyes and a shaved head, which had a HYDRA logo tattoo going along the back of it. His clothes were like a monk's robes in the green and yellow of the organization.

"Please…" Marcus mumbled, his words felt like cotton in his mouth. "Please make it stop…"

"I must contain you. It is my duty." The boy seemingly said, though his mouth never moved. "You are a favorite. But you are a danger." He added.

"Please! I didn't mean to kill them, I don't know how it happened!" He choked.

"Kill them, like you killed your mother?" The apparent telepath leered.

The scene shifted to the day, that day his powers had manifested. The day his life came crashing down.

"No… Fuck…! Mom… MOM, I'M SORRY!" Marcus wailed in anguish. He was surrounded by rubble. The building collapsed around them in a matter of seconds. He didn't know what had happened. He had been yelling at her, screaming that something was wrong with him after he liquified some man on the subway. He had felt the wave of energy starting to pulse in his core- hitching in his throat. She had tried, she had tried to reach out to him- to hug him to hold him, but when she did, it was like the world around him exploded.

Now here he sat. The remains of their apartment building smoldered around him, and his mother's corpse in his arms... before it turned to dust.

Seconds later the ashes started to fuse themselves to his skin, as if his powers were marking the deed into his very flesh, as a constant reminder.

"Mama… MAMA!" He cried, tears streaming down his face as sirens wailed in the distance.

The scene distorted and rather than breaking down and becoming wistful as the telepath expected, Marcus instead burst from his restraints as his powers flared before he grabbed the bald teen by the face and hurled him through the wall behind them.

"… Shut up." The teen muttered simply as he just sat down on the floor of the room, letting his traumatized cries—turn to pure rage.

Next flashback was a bit jumbled…

"Marcus! Marcus wake up!" Ringing in his ears, and her voice. That's all he could make out. He couldn't see anything past a void of blaring white. "Marcus snap out of it!"

Maybe this was it. Maybe it was finally all over. This was the light at the end of the tunnel. His chest burned. His body felt weightless, like his molecules were fizzing out. Did he accidentally evaporate his own body this time?

"MARCUS!"

SLAM*

With a massive gasp he felt air rush into his lungs. His eyes shot open, adrenaline and panic coursing through his veins as he shot up, patting his body to make sure it was real.

"What, what happened?" He asked bewildered. Chelsea sat in front of him, she must have only been 18 at the time. They were in what looked like the rubble of a grocery store that had been half blown up. Shelves and fridges laid around them like mutilated modern art.

And Chelsea, poor girl looked like shit. Her shirt was ripped to shreds, her face and body covered in blood and bruises which were quickly healing. Fear shone in her bright green eyes. "What the fuck Marcus!" She exclaimed as she threw her arms around his neck. "What the fuck, you've never had an episode like that out of the blue! What happened?" She questioned.

"I, I don't know…" He groaned, gripping his head. "….I-I did this?" He uttered.

Chelsea whipped her head around as voices started approaching them and sirens drew closer. "Come on, we gotta get out of here." She dragged him to his feet, helping him limp away from the scene before anyone could stop them.

He saw too much. He saw dozens of people screaming in agony and shock. He saw an old man, his skull caved in, body buried under rubble. He saw a young clerk of the store, wailing as he tried to pull his mangled leg free from under a cinder block. He saw a child, no older than the twins, crying as she tried to pull her mother out from under a pile of concrete.

He did this to them.

"C'mere." Chelsea ordered as she dragged him into an alley, helping him sit down against the wall. "Marcus, Marcus look at me what happened? You've only ever had episodes like this when we're In danger."

"Chelsea… I'm so- I'm so sorry…." He choked. "That was all my fault…. Those people…." He whimpered.

"Do not think about them. Right now I need you here. I need you here with me." She grabbed him into a hug, pressing her lips to his forehead. "You didn't… you didn't know, you didn't know it was coming on, did you?" She questioned softly.

He shook his head, tearing up. "I-I don't know where it came from I swear to god… I… fuck!" He grasped his head in his hands. "This is why they sedated me! This is why they locked me away! I'm a fucking monster!"

"Marc, you're not a monster!"

"Look at what I did! Look at what I did to them!" He retorted. "Chelsea, I'm a fucking bomb waiting to go off! I was better off in Hydra-"He tried to continue before being cut off.

"Shut up!" She cut him off. "Don't ever say that! You're my person. I wouldn't be here without you! None of us would." She kissed him softly on the lips. "You're my person… I love you…. I thought I lost you… you weren't breathing." The woman sighed.

He pulled back, biting back his tears.

"Did I hurt you?"

She paused for a moment as if trying to find the words. "I mean a few bruises a few scratches-" She tried to reply but was cut off.

"No, I mean, did I hurt hurt you? You can walk away from what most people can't, and you were right next to me. How did you…?" He pressed.

She pursed her lips. "I was knocked out. Your shock wave threw me about 20 feet. If it wasn't for my healing…"

"Chels, I can't be like this. You've seen my powers at full scale- I don't know where that came from but I can't- I can't be walking around like a nuke waiting to detonate at any given time. If I hurt you, or any of the others… I wouldn't be able to live with myself. I can't be around you guys knowing I'm putting you In Danger like this." He sighed sadly, but Chelsea wasn't having it.

"You shut up. You're not going anywhere. We're family. You stay with us, you stay with me." She declared.

Next scene saw Marcus sat on the edge of an unfinished window. The gang had hidden out in an office building that was under construction. It wasn't the Ritz but it had 4 walls and a roof, it was at least shelter. He and Bast were watching over the twins as they slept. Chelsea and Romano gone on a run for food.

The cat-like woman paced anxiously behind him, her tail twitching. "There had to be something…" She muttered. "There had to be some type of trigger that set you off." She said to herself, trying to figure it all out.

"Bast I'm telling ya I don't know." He sighed. "One minute I was fine, looking at frozen pizzas with Chelsea and the next I caused a building to collapse. I didn't feel like I was in danger, I didn't feel like anything was wrong. I just blacked out and then all of a sudden I was awake surrounded by a mass casualty." He continued.

The Gaza girl paused briefly, looking at him as if deciding what to do with him. "Marcus, I love you like a brother, but if you're putting us in danger…" She trailed off.

"I know… believe me I know. I have half the mind to leave right now, I don't want to put you guys through the hell I could cause." He looked at the sleeping twins. "All I can think about is their screaming, those innocent people I butchered. I can't get it out of my head…" He breathed as the memories flashed before his eyes.

She sat down next to him, taking his hand. "You're a good guy Marcus please don't think I'm trying to ostracize you here but this is… god this is out of our control…" She sighed.

"I'm out of control… even when Im free of those fucking monsters, my own body is still out of my own damn control." He chuckled. "God, I'd even take some of their stupid tranquilizers if it kept me from melting someone or obliterating them into dust, or turning them to brick. Do you know how fucked up that is to think?"

Bast's ears pricked up.

"What?" The boy from the Bronx recognized that look. "What's going through your head now?"

She got up, and rummaged through her bag until she returned with a small prescription bottle. "I stole these from the last pharmacy we raided. I figured we might need them Incase of emergency ghetto-surgery or something."

"Heh, ghetto-surgery?" He chuckled, taking the bottle from her reading the label with a frown. "Oxy? Seriously Bast?"

"Hear me out, we don't know what causes your black outs. Even when we were in the labs we didn't know besides in the context of high adrenaline situations." She said thoughtfully. "You've been good since we escaped. This is the first time you've had a power surge when you were calm in a month. What if you just keep these on you as a precaution…? Maybe just take a little bit? To keep you mellow?" She offered.

"Bast, you think it would work?" He asked.

"I dunno. But… It's gotta be better than nothing, right?" She told him.

"Alright… Let's do it." Marcus nodded with a sigh.

(Flashbacks End)

"… Well, this certainly opens up the book on a lot of things." Emma mused.

"Yeah? Well, what's the verdict?" Marcus questioned.

"I believe that suppression is the key here. I can most certainly suppress and put mental locks on your powers to keep them in check at least until you can control them better and are of a more stable mind." Emma explained. "This, in turn, could serve to allow you a chance to kick your drug addiction—as you'll no longer need them." She added.

"I hope this works…" The man sighed, going this didn't blow up in his face.

"I also have one last piece of advice for you, in regards to miss Marks." She continued, getting his attention. "I believe it's time that you let her go. It's clear that your relationship is over, and at this point—if you keep trying to reignite something that isn't there—you'll risk driving her away all together." She added. "Put her behind you. For your sake and hers." She told him.

Marcus had a look on his face that said he really didn't want to, especially given how it helped him out back in HYDRA's coils. It was one of the best things that had happened to him, and he was scared of losing it.

But at the same time… He knew that she was right, and he hated having to accept it.

"Alright, Doc." Marcus nodded. "Do what you gotta do." He told her.

"Right." Emma nodded as she worked her magic..

(Timeskip)

It was now Friday and Emma was with the last of her patients, that being Chelsea Marks, who was accompanied by Logan for her session.

(Flashback)

The woman looked around and saw that she was in some sort of vat of liquid and her body was only covered by a silver lycra skirt that was very short and barely contained her lower assets and a small wrap around her breasts, which barely contained her chest. Tubes were all over her body and a respirator was in her mouth.

She tried to struggle and get free but her arms, legs and neck were chained into place. The woman looked down and saw a man in a lab coat with glasses and greasy hair looking at her.

"Hello, subject Tiamat. Ready for today's treatment?" He asked as he waved a finger over a control panel.

Chelsea tried to scream as she kept struggling, knowing what was coming, she screamed and squirmed, she wanted, no, she needed to get out of there fast, anything to get away from what was about to happen.

The man's finger hit a button on the control panel, causing electricity to course through the green liquid and shock her, making her stiffen, then a red liquid flowed through the tubes and into her body. This caused her to scream in pain as she felt her body start to change and alter before everything went black.

Chelsea laid on a table, the cold metal sending freezing sparks up her bare back. She was barely covered, only a slim tube of cloth around her ample breasts and spandex shorts on her curvaceous lower half.

Blinding white lights hovered over her, pulsing a headache with their bleach tone.

Cold. That's what she felt all over. The thermostat never went past sixty degrees in this god damn dungeon.

And then there was him.

"That was quite a stunt you pulled in the exercise today, my dear." Rowner's wretched surrounding voice had nothing in comparison said as the monster that hovered above her.

His grey eyes like oily coins, glistened with a lecherous enjoyment as he tapped a syringe.

"But we have talked about this: no attacking the staff." He hissed.

The blonde let out a growl, baring her teeth as he grabbed her hair by the roots, forcing her head back.

"Then again, you never do as you're told." His frigid hands traced down the dragoness' cheek to her neck, grasping it in a choking grip as he pulled close to her face. The hot breath hit her with the scent of awful bodily smells mixed with wine.

"When will we ever break you?" He mused as a needle was plunged into the blonde's neck by his hand.

A bleak sensation started to run through her body as the substance was transported through her blood.

"At least with these tests we have you controlled." He fiddled with a brace that hung above the table. Rows and rows of tiny needles lined it, like a torturous acupuncture contraption. "So let's try less restraint this time. After all the more you struggle… the more pain you'll endure." The brace was forced over Chelsea's body, the slivers of metal plunged into what felt like every centimeter of her bare skin. The two injections started to mix together in my veins, the pain unbearable. She couldn't contain the screams of agony as what felt like acid raged under her skin.

The dragoness was in what looked like a metal bunker, there was nothing in it except a single body laying in front of her.

The kid was probably 16, a year older than me at the time. His Blood covered him from multiple wounds, also drenching myself.

She was shaking, on the verge of tears as she felt one of her numerous cuts on her face start to heal.

"...what have you made me do…?" The woman whispered as she heard the metallic sweep of the exit door open behind her. "What did you make me do?!" She shouted.

The woman held back the sobs as HE placed a hand on her shoulder.

"We didn't make you do anything." Rowner proudly said. "You did it all on your own. Your first kill… It was quite interesting to watch. You completely relied on only your primal instincts… Well as long as you keep this up I know who I'm putting my bets on during fights." He chuckled.

The blonde mutant looked up at him hot tears cleaning lines though the blood on my face. "Rowner, I- I can't do this." She breathed, traumatized.

"But you were a natural sweetness. You have a great concept of anatomy for someone who didn't make it past their sophomore year of high school. You knew exactly where to remove the trachea, if not with a bit of a mess." He said as he looked at some of the blood that had gotten onto his hands when he touched me. "But then again we don't need your fighting abilities for our project."

"YOU MADE ME INTO A MURDERER!" She roared as she lunged at him, only to have an electric shock make her fall to the ground.

Through squinted eyes she could see him shake his head with a sigh. "When will you learn? You can't attack staff members." Two sets of arms pushed me up, no doubt guards. "Take her back to her cell, I'll need her ready in two hours for another trial." He ordered.

This time to one of the numerous rooms where the doctors performed surgeries. She was strapped to a table, and judging by her… grown assets she was probably around seventeen or maybe a year older.

She heaved a sigh as she tried to pick her head up from the steel table. "You're gonna need a lot more drugs to knock me out Rowner!" She said, the world spun slightly as the current anesthetics started to wear off.

"Would somebody please gag her!" The woman heard the older man from somewhere above her head.

"What? Don't enjoy me chatting with you?" She cackled, high from the gas they had given her. "You didn't act that way last night when you were feeling me up in my ceeeeell-" She started to snark before she was cut off.

Specifically the deed was done by his hand slamming over her mouth. "Shut up you vehement bitch!" He snarled, a scar she had caused a month earlier stretching across his nose. She bit down on his hand making him pull back with a string of curses.

"Commo,' I thought you were smart enough to wear something to protect those dainty fingers of yours." Chelsea jeered before he forced a leather strap around her jaw, preventing her from talking.

"Your attitude has become increasingly rebellious lately my dear." He said as he picked up some type of tool. "I believe you should remember exactly the type of pain we can cause you."

'Good luck, you've made me numb already.' She thought, rolling her eyes.

"Now, let's see if you can grow back a kidney and survive the procedure without painkillers." He growled, sticking a scalpel into her skin.

She then screamed as HYDRA doctors led by Rowner began to disect her abdomen and messed with her insides while she was still conscious.

Liver, a kidney, a piece of her lung, even her vocal chords and an eye were all removed and forced to heal over the course hours upon hours—all of it absolutely agony.

Chelsea saw herself covered in blood, shaking as she stared at a lifeless body— showing that she'd killed someone again as the scent of burning sage flooded her nose—her trigger scent.

Once again it changed, she was fighting other mutants while trying to plead with them, pain ringing in her voice.

Again, she was trapped in her cell, alone and shivering in the cold, hearing howls groans around her.

Next, she was strapped to a table, vertically strung up as Rowner looked at her sadistically, pulling her hair back with one hand and cupping her face with the other.

"You aren't going to fight me this time, are you my dear?" He purred to her. Her breath shook with fear as she tried to turn away but couldn't.

Another scene with Rowner came up. The doctor looked at her, adjusting a contraption above her holding multiple needles. "If you refuse to fight the others, Chelsea..." He sneered, glaring down at her.

"Rowner-Rowner please no." She managed to say between sobs.

"You'll have to be repurposed. And lucky for you, your healing factor makes you a perfect candidate for this project. Welcome to the breeding program, my dear." Fear erupted like fire in her mind as the needles came down on her skin, pain shooting through her body.

A new scene appeared in which he saw her strapped to a chair, incapable of moving. Across from her, an Asian boy her age stared at her intently, his face void of emotion.

"You don't have to do this." Chelsea muttered her tone exhausted.

'What am I doing? What are you doing? Is this even real?" A voice, not her own, said in her head. 'You're pathetic soul can't even comprehend what is real any more.' And with that, the ground fell out from under her, as she fell into complete darkness. 'You are not in control. I am. And you will serve us.'

She was laying on an exam table, her body devoid of any cover other than a towel on her lower and upper halves, the cold air and metal of the table causing her skin to bump and tense up.

A bright light shined in her eyes, but she was unable to cover them because of the restraints that were on her arms, legs and neck. The scientist, Victor Rowner stood over her as he moved the light, then latched some sort of head device on her skull. After he was done attaching it, he went to the rest of his colleagues.

"We are ready to begin." Victor told them.

Chelsea gritted her teeth. "Rowner, what the fuck are you going to do to me?!" She growled, small puffs of fire puffing out of her mouth as she spoke.

"The first of many mental reprogramming procedures, Subject Tiamat, where your mind will be reprogrammed to be nothing but subordinate, demure..." He said while leaning down to her ear. "You refuse to fight, so my superiors have ordered to 'repurpose' you. We don't need your brute strength, we simply need your durable body and your healing factor. You'll be nothing more than an incubator for our future specimens." He told her in a tone that made Chelsea's skin crawl in disgust.

The dragoness' eyes widened in alarm and fear before she began thrashing around, trying to escape her restraints.

The man simply put a mouth guard in her mouth as he gestured for his assistants to begin the process, which they did by pressing a few buttons. The machine came to life as the helmet-like device started sending electricity into her brain. The woman screamed through the mouth guard as she kept shaking from the shocks that kept attempting to rewrite her mind, her screams echoing through the lab and the halls

The mid to last flashback was of the same scene Bast had—and in it Chelsea was in a similar boat to her feline friend.

She was in the exact same kind of machine, her eyes and mouth forced open as flashing lights, electric shocks and constant pain and pleasure caused by said shocks and the vibrations of the probes in her oraphaces—left her a moaning orgasming mess as she came in an endless loop.

Additionally she even peed herself a few times due to the shocks—screaming and groaning in bliss and euphoria as her body spasmed and spewed bodily fluids—the previous shocks and trigger training causing more and more of the brainwashing take root in her mind, slowly starting to break and fall to pieces as her eyes rolled into the back of her head.

Pieces that Rowner intended to pick up and reassemble into what he wanted.

The scene shifted. Chelsea was in a steel room with nothing but a bench to lay on. But she was spread on her stomach against the cold floor.

"What'd they make you do this time?" The boy in the cell next to me asked through a small hole in the wall.

"The same as usual Marcus. Fight until one of us loses." She had never met him face to face. All she could tell about his physical structure was that he had gold eyes. Literal fourteen karat irises that she used to see as the only beauty in the hell hole she called her life.

"You seemed more shaken up than usual. Something else happened." The kid pointed out.

The blonde rested her head on her arms as she watched the light that shone under her door, which allowed her to somewhat relax.

"Would it be considered murder if I killed somebody while in my other form?" She mused bitterly as she examined her claws as the feeling in her arms finally came back.

"They made you what?!" He blurted.

The dragoness chuckled at his concern, the kid was one of the only beings in this place to show actual human reactions.

"Yeah. Guess they finally pushed me over the edge this time, but I couldn't help it. I just... snapped. I've had so much control until now I don't know what made me go so animalistic." Chelsea explained, her hands trembling at the memory.

"Instinct? They probably used some type of factor to cause you to think about only preserving yourself." Marcus noted.

"You're probably right." The girl said, defeated. "How're you doing? Are they still pumping you with that suppressant?" She asked.

"The one that diminished my strength and tolerance back to a normal person's? Yeah." Marcus replied with a sigh.

The girl cracked a smile at knowing he probably did something to piss the labs off.

"What'd you do this time? Break more irreplaceable equipment?" She jeered.

"More like accidentally breaking someone's personal 'irreplaceable equipment', if you get my drift." The teen snarked

"You're unbelievable." Chelsea snickered.

"I tripped!" He defended. She let out a half hearted laugh.

"Yeah, and one day they'll let us out of solitary confinement." The blonde snarled.

His eyes crinkled, no doubt from a smile. "I'm glad you're okay."

Chelsea returned the smirk.

"Same for you." She told him, her affection genuine.

(Flashback end)

Pulling back, Emma took a shuddering breath as she tried to keep herself from puking again. Not an easy task, given what she just saw.

"Okay… I have only one piece of viable advice for you, Chelsea." The platinum blonde told her.

"And that is…?" Chelsea questioned with a raised eyebrow, patiently waiting for Emma to process what she saw.

She knew the woman needed a moment; her time with HYDRA was a nightmare festival.

"Kill Victor Rowner. If what I've seen in your memories is any indication, then the only way he'll stop pursuing you is if he's dead." Emma told her seriously.

"… Yeah, I can definitely do that." The blonde nodded.

"I can help you with it." Logan nodded.

"Though now that I have the full context, I think I now know why you have such an aversion to marriage and having children just for the sake of it." Emma hummed.

"Yeah, if I'm doing either of those things, I'm going to do them on my terms with who I want to be with. No one else other than myself and them has a say." She nodded.

"Seems I have less work to do on that front." Emma nodded. "Keep this one close, Logan. She's probably the closest you'll get to a perfect match." The telepath told Logan via telepathy.

"Duly Noted." Logan thought back in reply, hugging Chelsea close.

"Best keep your partner close then. Seems he's keen on doing the same." Emma nodded. "Now, I'm well aware that you've already reunited with your brothers but… Would you be alright with me trying to sort out the two worst memories you have of your father Samson Sr. and your mother Clarice so that I may at least offer counsel there as well?" She asked.

"... I'd like that, actually. I haven't been able to figure out how to deal with them yet." Chelsea nodded in reply after a moment. "Well, my mom at least. My dad… I honestly don't know." She amended reluctantly.

"I'd feel that way too, if my father attempted to marry me off." Emma nodded as she got back to work.

(Flashback)

A thirteen year old Chelsea had a sour look on her face as her mother tried to fit her with a dress she didn't even like.

"God, I feel like I should be in a barbie movie…" The girl muttered in immense displeasure at the situation. "Hey! Watch where you're sticking those needles!" She barked at the tailor.

"Chelsea, behave!" Clarice told her daughter in a scolding tone. "Do you have any idea how many girls your age would be grateful for an expensive dress like this?" She hissed.

"Easy for you to say, mom! You're not the one being squeezed into a wrapper like a goddamn candy bar!" The blonde snapped back.

"Just be quiet and let the tailor do his job!" The Marks matriarch snapped.

"Urg, fine, let's just get this over—Hey! I felt that! Keep those wondering hands on the dress, not the ass!" The girl groaned before barking as she felt what she thought was a squeeze on her ass.

"That was a tape ruler!" The tailor defended, holding up a tape roller to prove his point.

"They feel similar enough…" She muttered.

(Later)

Skip to after it was done, and Chelsea was finally allowed to get back into her regular clothes, which were a simple pair of jeans, red high tops, a red tank top, and blue jean jacket—much to Clarice's dismay.

"Why can't you ever wear something more… Presentable?" The woman groaned as she paid for her daughter's dress.

"This is presentable, just not in the context you're talking about." Chelsea retorted. "Plus Sam gave me this jacket and Jase got me these sneakers, I'm gonna wear them." She added.

"I don't think so. You need to wear things that are more lady-like, and not something that makes you look like a tomboy." Clarice shot down.

"Mom, I am a tomboy. I grew up in a majority male house. Acting lady-like ain't in my portfolio." The girl stated as they stepped out of the tailor shop and made it to the car.

"That shouldn't be an excuse." Clarice huffed as she started the car.

"Oh bite me. You just want me to be more ladylike so that you can live out your own fantasies and have a "good daughter" to show off. You couldn't give a rat's ass about me." The teen scoffed as she was about to get into the car.

"Don't talk to your mother like that, young lady!" Clarice told her daughter sternly as she started putting the clothes in the car.

"Oh yeah? And what're you gonna do about—?" Chelsea questioned, before her mother slapped her across the face.

The girl looked up at the woman and soon saw what looked like an expression of anger, quickly change to that of guilt and remorse.

"Chelsea, I—." The woman said, clearly about to apologize for going to far.

"That's it!" The blonde yelled as she suddenly tackled the woman to the ground, causing a fight to break out.

(Timeskip)

Six months later, Chelsea was on her way sneaking out one night with Jase and Sam, when she overheard her dad talking to someone, prompting her to eavesdrop.

"I should warn you about her, Victor, she can be a rather… Cantankerous girl most times. Even if we do end up getting you two together when she turns eighteen, I don't think you'll have an easy time with her as a wife." Samson Sr. said, facing a man who Chelsea didn't recognize at the time—but would soon curse as the scourge of her existence—Victor Rowner.

"Don't worry. I have a few ideas for how to deal with that." Rowner told the man in reply, his voice sending a chill down the girl's spine.

"Well hopefully it works out." Samson said, holding out a hand.

"Agreed." Rowner nodded shaking the man's hand, causing Chelsea to run away, trying to get out of there before she could be seen.

(Flashback end)

Emma pulled back as the memories sunk in, causing Chelsea to groan as she took two ibuprofen offered to her by the blonde therapist.

"Urg, telepathic therapy sure leaves you with a serious headache." She groaned.

"Yes, but it helps me put together advice on what to do." Emma nodded. "From what I can see, and from what I've gathered from other memories, I can see reconnecting with your parents as a good step forward—but one thing I advise is at first keeping them at arms length, until you're sure that they're truly remorseful for what happened." She stated. "There's no point in giving second chances to those who will refuse to take them and thus be unworthy of them." She added.

"... Well, I do wanna see how they handled what happened to me for myself." Chelsea sighed. "I'll try my best." She nodded.

"Then I think that brings me to my last thing: HYDRA did seem to imprint some fairly deep rooting programming into you when they were pleasure breaking you, along with you body modifications. Ones that would amplify your maternal instinct and also, like Bast, give you an animalistic sex drive." Emma told her. "I can try and offer some hormone suppressants and offer to suppress your most traumatic memories, but I'm afraid there's no way I can remove them without possibly jeopardizing your mental state." She added.

"Great…" Chelsea groaned. "Well, I guess if I gotta keep it, I'll figure out how to use it." She sighed.

"That's the spirit." Emma nodded.

(Timeskip)

A week later, it was time for the one thing everyone had been getting ready for.

The first mission aboard the Flying Dutchman.

And the best part? There was an Atlantic Hurricane rolling in to set the mood.

"Lay aboard lads!" Joshua called as everyone, including a shocked Pietro, piled into the ship and got to the ship and got to work.

"Save your singin' for Davy Jones and Jaggabats! It's a hard wind comin'!" Calvin called as Storm took the helm and everyone rushed to stations.

"The man speaks true! You lot, weigh anchor! As for the rest—half at the foremast and half at the main. Let's outrun this hurricane!" The captain called to his crew as they sailed into the storm.

"This is insane!" Pietro yelled in disbelief even as he helped Gideon out with the sails.

The group started sailing as the storm raged on, following a radio tracker given to Josh by Johan to track known HYDRA ships via a signature their specific communications and equipment made.

"Anything?" Ororo asked her captain over the rain.

"Nothing so– Wait, I have a ping! Two miles ahead!" Joshua started to respond before he got a read.

"Full sail due left, my lads! We're sailing right into the crack of Cthulhu's ass with this one!" Calvin called.

"There's an image I don't need in my head…" Wanda muttered, but was looking forward to kicking HYDRA ass.

It didn't take them long to find what looked like a massive cargo ship that had a two destroyer escort with them, and the logo on the side of the bulkhead made it pretty clear just who it belonged to.

"There's our first haul!" Joshua exclaimed as he looked through a spyglass. "Get the cannons ready!" He called.

Pele immediately got to work, using her power over lava to create explosive ammunition for the cannons. When they were cooled enough, Gideon came and put them into the cannons in record time.

This allowed the group to fire first on account of them being hidden by the storm and likely not showing up on their sonar yet, leading to a solid hit to the bulkhead of a destroyer that ended up packing the same wallop as a torpedo.

This caused it to be sent to the bottom of the sea in a matter of minutes, and also served to startle the rest of the escorts into firing blindly in the direction the shots came from, which Ororo avoided.

"Fire again! But this time aim for the destroyers! Then spin broadside and fire on the cargo ship. Remember, we want to disable it, not sink it!" Joshua called.

"Right!" The cannon operators acknowledged as they fired again, sinking another destroyer.

"That carrier's defenseless! Let's keep it from moving!" Calvin called. "Ororo, Kai, Wanda, Anne, Chelsea! Unload everything you got right as we fire!" He added.

This prompted the water girl to start making her powers force the ship out of the water with a bulging wave, before Chelsea used her fire breath to melt the propellers, leaving it dead in the water—followed by Ororo and Anne striking it with lightning, taking out its power and communications—and then finally a super powered cannon shot that left it in critical condition.

"The fuckers are dead in the water! Reel it in!" Joshua ordered.

That's exactly what they did as the storm passed by them—using harpoons fashioned by Evan—they impaled the ship, allowing the crew to all leap across to take down any crew on board that were crazy enough to fight.

Considering who they were dealing with, a lot of HYDRA grunts were crazy enough to fight, indeed.

"The force of many! Cut off one head, two more shall take its place! HAIL HYDRA!" The soldiers yelled as they charged.

Joshua led the charge, taking out two grunts with his hidden blades striking their throats. Then he used his sword to block another that tried to swing a knife at him before stabbing that fool in the chest.

Meanwhile Calvin just smirked as he found himself surrounded—before he whipped out his four pistols one at a time and gunned them all down.

"Cute." He scoffed, shooting another that tried to sneak up on him.

Wanda, meanwhile, used her powers on the guns of some thugs that surrounded her, causing them to explode and injure their hands.

The others also got in on the fighting and soon, it was an utter free for all—until Joshua became invisible and lurked to where he knew the captain would be.

And before the man could even react—the boy assassinated him.

(Later)

A few minutes later, the crew had killed off enough of the crew to get the rest to surrender.

"Guten Tag, mein Hers, I am Joshua Landbrecht and this is my crew." The captain said as he strutted around the wannabe nazis now at his mercy. "We're sailors like yourselves but quite unaligned in our purposes. We intend to take all that you own, yet no harm shall befall any man, so long as he remains at ease." He told them, waving his saber.

"You just put a massive target on your backs." One of the remaining HYDRA soldiers spat.

"Oh, I don't doubt that. But here's the thing…" The boy said as he snapped his fingers, causing Calvin to step up and take one of the tied up soldiers, his hand becoming a long fire hot claw.

"Fiiiire!" The boy said, thrusting his claw into the man's chest, causing him to scream as he exploded into molten matter.

"We're not afraid." The taller boy said. "Lock 'em in the hold! Take everything that isn't nailed down." He added.

As the crew got to work, Calvin did just that and as he left said hold, humming Fever by Peggy Lee as he dragged his still super heated claw along the wall, causing the metal to melt, burst into fire and bubble as it turned into a literal oven as he reached the now empty deck.

"Think I'll turn up the heat in here!" The boy grinned, putting on some shades as boiling and bubbling liquid metal and fire erupted all around him amidst the screams of the men.

(Later)

After taking a huge heap of money along with other assorted goodies they could sell to SHIELD or other potential buyers, the Flying Dutchman left the domed ship to sink to the ocean floor as it sailed into the storm.

"I'm still queasy about killing in general, but they had it coming." Pietro remarked.

"Damn straight they had it coming. And since they couldn't get the word out, HYDRA has no idea how or why one of their ships is missing." Calvin nodded.

"Which is gonna piss them off when they put two and two together." Anne chuckled.

"We got a decent haul for now. So why don't we head back home, sift through what we keep and what we send to Fury?" Logan chimed in. "It's past your bedtimes anyway." He added.

"Sure. It was definitely a good first outing, all things considered." Joshua nodded as they sailed back to the Institute.

"Sails up, lads! We're sailin' home!" Calvin called before everyone broke into a shanty.

"Now we are ready to sail for the horn, way hey roll and go! Our boots boys are all in the port, singing rollicking randy dandy oh!" They sang as the ship disappeared into the fog.

This would be the first of many voyages to come.

ThermalsniperN7: So, we had Pietro joining, a few therapy sessions and the first mission of the Flying Dutchman… Very eventful, I must say.

Dragon Emperor0: And it's probably a good thing that we got these dealt with now, because two chapters with a content warning are already pushing it and anymore might raise eyebrows. That aside, from here on we'll be doing the episodes of the show in between these voyages so that the timeline can progress, which means that by the time we reach the season 1 finale… watch out, cuz that's gonna be nuts.

ThermalsniperN7: We have so many ideas for these voyages, and it'll be fun to execute them. Especially since it involves executing some of the worst of the worst in HYDRA.

Dragon Emperor0: And don't worry, we haven't forgotten about the three mutants that were mentioned in the last chapter. Most likely they'll be introduced in the next three chapters or so, depending on how things go. But that said—keep an eye out for the chapter that replaces Turn of the Rogue—that one is going to have some serious consequences occur that'll permanently change the power dynamics of this entire story.

ThermalsniperN7: Yeah. That one is something else. Anyway, see you guys next time.