The truth of the matter was that he knew lots of words; in several different languages apparently. Except they were all horrible, painful, scared words that she recognized from new comers after their first day at the labs. All words she had uttered herself, a long time ago, before she came to the decision that it was better for her mind to dwell on ways out instead of the pain. But she was surprised to hear them coming from his cell. He seemed so strong, vicious and arrogant almost. It really was a truly pitiful noise. But it in itself didn’t bother her– the laughter coming from further down the hall did.
She wanted to yell at him for being such a sick, selfish bastard. But she didn’t. Instead she stayed curled up on her own cot and listened to Wolverine weave in and out of his nightmarish pleas and the other man laughing at him.
It ended up being an unlikely source that delivered her from the maddening sounds.
“Rogue,” Sgt. Alvin greeted as he approached her door.
Theo came up a little ways behind him. “Hey, shut the hell up down there!” He yelled further down the hall the shook his head and mumbled, “God damn lunatic.”
Somehow she knew Wolverine was awake now, and not only because it was silent in his darkness. But it was almost as if she could feel the burning of his glaze, not necessarily on her, but on everything. And it didn’t seem like an unlikely notion to her that he could watch everything with equal intensity.
“Rogue, did you hear me?” Alvin asked, narrowing his eyes at her.
She slowly turned her head from Wolverine’s cell and matched his facial expression, although she still remained silent.
“Col. Sie wants to talk to you,” Alvin elaborated as he pulled a key ring from his belt. Behind him Theo raised his gun, aiming it at her.
She rolled her eyes and pushed off of the cot. As soon as she was within arm’s reached Alvin quickly grabbed her and slapped a pair of handcuffs on her wrists.
Alvin winked at her then pushed her in the direction of the elevator. “Nothing personal,” he added with a shrug.
She snorted then turned to head to spit at his feet except Theo got in the way and the ball of salvia ended up landing on his knee.
“Ugh!” He groaned and wiped the butt of his gun against. “All of you muties are disgusting!”
A small smile actually cracked her face. Before the same gun butt was rammed into her lower back, pushing her even farther forward.
The Colonel’s office was exactly the same with the exceptions of she being awake when they shoved her down onto a chair. And the fact that this time the elderly man was already sitting behind his desk, waiting for her.
“Ah, my little firefly, I missed you,” he greeted with a wide, fake smile plastered all over his face. He waited a second, but she kept silence and stone faced. “Very well,” he sighed. “No luxuries than, eh? Fine, fine, right down to business. Seeing as how you walked in here so very well on your own I am to assume your knee is alright. Didn’t anyone advise you to stay away from the bars, my dear?”
Behind her Theo snorted, she however didn’t react.
“Not a very pleasant chap, that Wolverine,” Sie went on. “But then again for his line of work he doesn’t have to be. Which brings me to why you are here. I have work for you as well.” He motioned to someone behind her. She didn’t turn around to look. But her blank face broke when one of the soldiers threw a bundle on the top of Sie’s desk in front of her.
Sie grinned at her wide, mesmerized eyes and leaned back into his chair. “Yes, firefly, actually clothes. Just for you, I might add.”
Her palms rubbed together anxiously as she starred at the folded jeans, white bra, panties, and socks, and a blouse. She couldn’t be sure but it looked an awful lot like cashmere.
“How long have you been wearing that suit?” Sie asked her. “A while to be sure. And all those wires sticking out of it, don’t they poke?” Then he leaned back forward, putting his elbows up on his desk. “I hate to be the one to tell you this but it doesn’t smell particularly fetching either.”
Finally she looked up to face him. “Ya brought me here justa gimme clothes?”
The Colonel’s hand reached out and stroked the blouse. He was certainly touching it like it was cashmere. “You will need them for the little assignment you will do for me.”
Of course. She scooted the chair back and inch or two, trying to put more space between her and the tempting pile of fabric. “Ah ain’t doin’ shit for you.”
Sie balked at her and crossed his arms over his chest. “You don’t even know what it is yet,” he pointed out.
“Ah don’t care,” she affirmed, forcing more power into her voice. “Ah wouldn’t pick up ya dry cleanin’.”
He sighed and pursed his lips together, eyeing her for a minute. Evidently he was deliberating with himself internally because after and few moments he nodded. “I know the solitary ward must be very difficult for you, a rogue leader with no army. Sabretooth and Wolverine simply won’t play, they don’t grasp such notions; their survivalists, loners. You, my dear, dear firefly are anything but. You’re a motivator; you feed off the energy of others, not just literally. This is not the labs, Rogue; there is simply no need to fight us with your stubbornness. Work with me, join the team, and you will soon have followers again, you can walk amongst the world again. And I think doing what the Canadian government asks of you in exchange is not an unfair request.”
The Colonel was a smart man, knowing exactly what to wave in front of her face. And she really wanted to take him up on his offer. She wanted to take off the stupid, chafing suit and put on the cashmere top. She wanted to see daylight and talk to people again.
But he was lying. She knew he was lying. Because it was the labs, all over again. She heard Wolverine as he faced his nightmares, and even the beast-man, Sabretooth apparently, no one became that deranged without being tortured and forced there. They were mutants, she was a mutant. The man sitting across from her was not.
“Fuck you,” she grounded out between clenched teeth.
“Excuse me?” Sie balked, his face swelling a bright red.
“Ah said ‘fuck you’,” she repeated, slower, for him.
“Oh, don’t be ridiculous, you----”
She interrupted him with a stern, “No.”
He swallowed and leaned further in, both his hands clasped together on top of the desk. “I don’t believe you quite understand what is going on here. The only choice I am giving you is if we are going to have to do this the hard way or you are going to be a good little firefly and be rewarded for it. Not whether you do what we tell you to or not.”
“Seein’ as how ahm not a firefly at all, good or other wise. Ahm a mutant.”
“You’ll regret your foolishly pride, my dear,” the Colonel hissed.
She shrugged. “Ah think tha whole point of pride is that ah ain’t.”
With a wave of his hand two hands wrapped around her arms and yanked her up and out of the chair, pulling her to the door. There was no point in hiding the longing in her eyes at she tried to keep them focused on the cashmere top as long as she could.
When she was brought back to her cell Wolverine was up, pacing back and forth in his darkness. She could occasionally see his shoulder pop into the light as he moved, besides that he was merely a noise.
Probably to keep from going mad her mind began focusing on the noise, absorbing it. It was actually relatively loud, making the clamor of ‘Sabretooth’ more of a background noise. She listened carefully and realized it was the boots adding to the extra sound. ‘When did he get boots?’ She thought. Had he been wearing them the whole time? How could she have missed he was wearing boots?
She looked down to her own feet, completely bare as always (even before the labs). There was a tiny white scar on the toe by her pinky toe. She loved that scar. It was from a puppy she had when she was little stepping on her foot with freshly cut nails. Even when it happened it never really hurt; it was just a lingering reminder of happy times. The other scars weren’t like that.
His pacing went on and on, acting the part of the restless caged animal. Eternity stretched on as the three mutants wasted away their lives pacing, banging, and dreaming of cashmere. And then all three of them stopped simultaneously at the sound of the elevator door opening.
A soldier pushing a cart came into their corridor. It wasn’t Simon, she noted with a hint of pride. It was some random, faceless soldier with three guns strapped to his back, entirely too much for kitchen duty.
He went straight past her, though, than Wolverine, down the hall to the bea—Sabretooth. She huffed annoyed and put her hands over her ears to diffuse the increase of volume from the maniac’s roaring and thrashing. The soldier must have survived the deliver, however, because the squeak of the wheels on the cart moved closer.
“Wolverine,” he greeted in so cheerful a voice it irked her nerves. “Man, you did great out there!” The soldier laughed as he pulled a tray off the cart. “Those little fuckers had no clue what hit them! You are good, big guy. Here,” he slid the tray under the door. “Extra rations from the Colonel. Quick and efficient, just as he likes it.”
Wolverine appeared into the light and grunted at him as he picked up the tray. The soldier seemed to get a kick out of it and broke out into more laughter. He made no attempt to still it from his voice when he stopped in front of her cell and said, “Sorry, girly, Colonel said nothing for you till your hunger out weighs your pride. You must have really ticked him off.”
She watched him walk away with her mouth hanging wide open. They were going to starve her? “What tha hell?” She gasped out loud. She already told them she wasn’t going to help them, why not just take her out and be done with it? This was just--- “Ugh!”
When she looked up after her outburst she found Wolverine sitting close to the bars with his over stocked tray, his body just inside the realm of light. His piercing blue eyes were shot straight at her and now that he had her attention he grumbled something.
Her face instantly turned bright red. “What?! Damn it, ya got somethin’ ta say ta me, ya SAY it!”
He barred his teeth at her, a faint, half growl issuing from his lips.
“Oh, jus’ stop it,” she said, her annoyance heavy in her already deep voice. Then she jumped to her feet, making him do the same thing as he growled louder at her sudden movement.
“Stop all tha gruntin’ and growlin’ and pacin’ and alla that otha crap ya do!” She snapped, one finger pointed at him. “What’s ya mutation, huh? Ya ‘animal-like’? That it? Well la-de-f-ing-da, control it! Ya wanna know what mine is? Poisonous skin! If ah can control that than so can you! Hey---!”
He turned his back to her and disappeared into the darkness, taking his tray with him.
“Ya come back here when ahm talkin’ ta you!” She fumed. The danger of how close she was getting to the bars between their cells was officially no longer registering on her.
“Ya know why ya down here? Ina little cell—excuse me, ‘cage’--- all by yaself? Guess what? It ain’t because ya an animal! Ya not an animal jus’ because they say ya are! It’s because they’re scared of ya! Ya betta than ‘em and they know it! Ya jus’ gonna let ‘em use you? They’re primitive compared ta you! Fuckin’ act like it!”
Her knuckles were stark white, even against her ghostly pale skin, from the grip she now had on the bars.
“God damn it, ya so pathetic. Ya jus’ let ‘em push ya around an’ throw a steak at ya when ya a ‘good boy’. Don’t that piss you off?! Don’t ya want more--- Ah don’t know, a fuckin’ life maybe? God-- even that INSANE MANAIC,” she screamed down the hall, “has more fight than ya an’ ONLY a nick of ya intelligence. An’ ah know ya smart, ah’ve heard ya at night; when ya asleep ya human! Hell—the damn bastards who ya sit and roll ova for aren’t as smart as you, ah know that too. But damn if they ain’t bigger cowards than you!”
He appeared back into the light, his top lip curled all the way up. There was no blue in his eyes; they were entirely black as they bored down on her. Then three gleaming metal claws shot from each of his hands and she didn’t even bat an eyelash.
“Ya mad at me now?” She taunted. “Good! Ahm pretty damn pissed at ya too, but at least ya got boots on ya feet.”
His thick black brow shot nearly all the way up to the unruly mass on top of his head, and then he looked briefly down at his feet.
“It’s not ‘bout tha boots!” She practically shrieked, causing him to flatten his palms over his ears.
“Have ya even tried?” She asked as she took a step back and slapped her hand against the bars. “Do those cut through metal? Do ya even care?”
He opened his mouth but the ring of the elevator door opening made his narrow his eyes at something over her shoulder. She then immediately turned her head to look.
“What the hell is going on here?” A soldier snapped, eyeing the two of them. A large group was right behind him, six or seven guys at least, their guns resting ready at their sides.
They were all pushed out of the way as Theo emerged from the group. “Fucking shit, Rogue, get the hell away from the bars! Am I speaking Portuguese or something?”
“Go sit on ya gun,” she huffed and rolled her eyes. She walked turned her back on all of them and walked towards the sink to wet her fry throat.
“Real cutie, that,” a voice said.
“Forget her,” the first voice commanded. “Wolverine, sorry about the short dinner time, but we got a situation that needs taken care of. Everyone ready?” Wolverine roared and took a step back but their trigger fingers were faster and he was soon loaded with darts.
Rogue flinched and closed her eyes, turning on the tap to drown out the sound of him going down. They must of had more potent stuff because it was only a few seconds before she heard the door groan open, then a “hurry up and get the chains, he won’t stay out long.” And then a lot of scuffing and swearing.
A good while later and still they didn’t bring him back. They did, however, come and get Sabretooth too and she nearly asked them what they had done with Wolverine. Instead she sat on the floor, up against the bars waiting.
In all the time she had to herself (in silence, no less) her anger deflated to the point that she was beginning to feel like complete shit for yelling at him. She tried to tell herself that at least she meant all of it, at least it wasn’t yelling for the sake of yelling, but it did little to ease the guilt. To make it worse his tray of food was sitting there, untouched, because she kept him from being able to eat it.
Another eternity after her butt went numb the elevator doors slid open again and she lifted her head from its resting place on her knees. He was surrounded by soldiers but she could still tell it was Wolverine and not Sabretooth; she could just make out the points in his hair. And it wasn’t the mass rumble she had seen that time they dragged Sabretooth past her cell, Wolverine was walking, slowly, in the middle of the circle of armed soldiers.
No one even looked at her when they got to his cell and opened it. They didn’t so much as push him in as steer him in and once inside he immediately sat on the floor, bowing his head between his knees. Then with no word to him, or her, they locked the door and left the way they came.
She turned to her body to face him, her hip pressed right against the bars. “Wolverine, ah jus’ wanted ta say----” The rest of her words stuck in her throat when she saw the holes in his back, and the slow deep stains setting into his gray shirt. “Oh mah God, are ya alright?!”
He didn’t move or acknowledge her in any way and she jumped to her feet.
“Hey!” She screamed, once she got to the door, down the empty corridor towards the elevator. “We need help! He’s bleedin’! Can anyone hear me? Hello! Help!”
He mumbled something during her screaming and she wiped her head back around to him.
“What?” She asked breathlessly. He shook his head and stared back forwards again. “No,” she quickly said and ran back over, throwing herself down on the floor by the bars. “No, no, ah wasn’t yelllin’, ah jus’ didn’t hear ya.”
“Fine—mutation,” he said, his voice rasp and coarse.
She blinked at him as she tried to process his limited words. “Uh, yeah, ahm fine with ya mutation too, ah didn’t mean to yell at ya earlier, ah was jus’ on overload. But we gotta get ya help, ya can’t keep bleadin’ like that.”
“No,” the word ended in a growl. “I heal. My mutation, I heal. So be quiet.”
“Ya heal?” She echoed. “That’s—that’s amazin’. But listen, you still----”
“Be,” he interrupted, finally turning his head to look at her. “Quiet.”
Her eyes went wide but she nodded, keeping her lips firmly together. The silence lasted for a few minutes, as long as she was fascinated by the movement of his skin as the holes closed. But when they were done and he was rolling his neck, making it pop loudly, she cracked.
“Ahm so sorry, ah had no right---” She stopped when he cocked and eyebrow at her. “What…?” she asked at his silence.
He shook his head against getting to his feet.
“No, hey, don’t go silent on me again,” she quipped, standing as well so she was eye level with him. “We were on a roll.”
“I’m hungry,” he said and moved towards his food.
“Okay,” she nodded, nearly dizzy with excitement at his sentences. “Ya eat, an’ then maybe we could talk some more. When ya done.”
He narrowed those clear blue eyes of his at her. “Why?”
“Ah--” She was at a loss of words. What was she suppose to tell him? So they could share what pain and torture they’ve been through? So they could formulate an escape plan? So they could quip about how much a ‘prick’ Sgt. Alvin was? So they could get to know each other better? So they could discuss how much they miss cashmere?
“Why not?” Was all she could counter.
His eyes remained fixed on her for a few seconds more before he disappeared back into his darkness with his tray again.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
At least its a little bit longer, to make up for my piss poor updating abilities. :)