Hours later Logan was appreciating the relative silence, a product of everyone else being asleep, broken by only the occasional sign or mumble from Jubes in the back who couldn't do anything quietly. Not a peep outta Marie since the last bomb she dropped on the car. He knew she'd been awake and staring ahead for some of the time they were driving, but figured she might need a while to sort shit out. The girl'd been through the wringer since escaping her parents' house.
He glanced over to the passenger seat and found his hand halfway to her face before he noticed it had even left the wheel. He jerked it back into his own hair, scratching his scalp and scrubbing his face in exasperation because evidently he had been about to brush her hair out of her face so he could see her hopefully looking peaceful. Her face was always so animated and distorted by all of her feelings trying to be expressed at once that he really hoped she could get some true rest while sleeping.
"What you staring at?" Logan did a double take to the passenger seat, surprised to hear the earthy growl in his ears instead of just in his head. That had definitely been a Wolverine growl coming from the lips of the sleeping Marie. His senses weren't lying, she was still breathing slowly and her heart rate hadn't sped up, but something eerily familiar was speaking with her vocal cords.
"I can stare if I like. And go back to the room she made you. Girl has enough problems with other people taking over. Doesn't need that from either of us."
A small sigh was his response. He forced his hands to remain on the steering wheel when he really wanted to grab her and shake the Wolverine into submission, especially since this was the first physical manifestation of his counterpart he had ever been presented with.
"Helping her." What? What was he talking about now? How did the Wolverine think he was helping Marie at all? She needed to be in charge. He looked back to the road, wracking his brain to figure out what to do. If he woke her up, she might freak out. Or someone else might take over. Or he might still be left with the Wolverine in the forefront. Though, compared to what had happened the last time someone held the reigns in Marie's head, the current situation was better.
"How are you helping her?" he demanded.
"Watching. Guarding", came the almost smug reply.
Logan thought about it for a minute. Maybe the Wolverine was helping. If he was watching the doors and helping keep Marie safe, maybe she wouldn't have to use as much energy doing it. Maybe she could allow herself to sleep deeper with that extra security. "Okay," he relented. "But you have to disappear when she wakes up."
Wolverine's only response was a snort that Logan translated into "Do I look like an idiot?" he decided that maybe it wouldn't be wise to answer that question. "How did you get out anyway?" More smugness that practically made his ears boil. "Was never in. Hid."
"Don't you hide from her! It's her head. She needs to be the only one not in a room. You're gonna fuck with her if she isn't alone."
"Not alone. Another here."
Now he was confused and pissed off. Had another one of them gotten out? Was it the Wolverine's fault? Was there anything he could do to help? Though it seemed like whichever other personality was out wasn't really evil. She seemed to be blissfully unaware. "What other one is there?"
"Blue. Fuzzy. Guards too." What?
"What?" he snapped, forgetting in his anger that there were others sleeping in the car. Marie snorted and jerked slightly, uncurling herself from her slouched position to sit up straight. He saw Jubilee and Kitty snap upright as well and picked up a garbled "the fuck?" from one of the two as they rubbed the sleep off of their faces.
He looked around at all three inquiring faces in the car and decided that now might not be the time to talk about what had just happened. He studied Marie's face and she stared back with an attitude all her own, convincing him that his counterpart had in fact hid again when she woke. Breathing a mental sigh of relief he tried to turn back to the front and continue the drive in silence.
"Wolvie?" But of course Jubes could never leave anything alone. "What're you yelling at?" He met her eyes in the review mirror, seeing her imitate (badly if you asked him) his eyebrow quirk when he remained silent.
He blew out a breath "Nothing. Thought I saw something." The two in the back exchanged disbelieving glances while Marie's mouth dropped slightly open in shock. "Logan, why would be believe that?" And there was Kitty, trying, as always, to be the calm rational one.
"Because it's the truth". He stated, making it a point to avoid all eye contact.
"Sure Logan. We totally believe that. Just like we totally believe that everyone in this car is perfectly normal. Just like we totally believe that aliens are real and are trying to take over the planet. Just like we totally believe that the professor and Scott were ballet partners when they were in high school and that Scott wore the tutu while the professor spun him around in his chair." With that last rush barely squeezing out past her laughter, Jubes fell onto the floor of the backseat, squeaking out little things here and there that made her crack up more. "pink tulle", "slippers", "princess crown".
Kitty lost it at that as well and the two were laughing and crying all over each other, completely useless until they got this hysteria out of their respective systems. Logan felt the edges of his mouth pull up and turned to Marie. She was still looking at him but she was also smiling slightly as well. Their eyes met and they both smiled a little more, sharing amusement at the two crazies in the back.
He turned back to the road to see a green sign up ahead. "Look. Pennsylvania." Rogue's face lit up and she turned back to the side, watching the landscape pass by. They crossed the boarder with a soundtrack of laughter and Elvis jamming on the radio.
And to Logan's amazement and relief, nothing more was said regarding his outburst.
Marie was getting more anxious as the minutes ticked by. They had passed a sign reading Westchester not too long ago and she knew the end of their journey was in sight. She met eyes with Norbert who was now in her lap instead of in his previous riding spot at her feet. His little button eyes pulled the truth from her. Okay fine, she thought to him I'm terrified. What if they think I'm nuts and send me off to some institute with the rest of the crazies? He just looked back at her, deciding not to dignify her question with a response.
She shored up her resolve and switched back to her CD player, pulling out some Styx to hopefully mellow her thoughts. Sometime after their stop at the park Logan and the girls had convinced her that the radio would be safe enough. Now that they knew not to turn off the music, all would be fine. Sure. Everything's just peachy.
Marie was still reeling from telling them about her crutch. Music was her weakness. She'd put herself at great risk by trusting that much and a part of her brain that sounded like an odd mix of her father and the carpenter was still ridiculing her over it. Even while she heard the words pouring out of her mouth, part of her was screaming to shut up and hide her weaknesses in a corner so no one could exploit them. Continuing on was like gouging her leg and climbing into a shark tank because, without her music, she was essentially dead. No more Marie. Her body might still be moving around, at least until... no. Not going down that road. Her body might still be moving around but she wouldn't have control. Her passengers would lock her in a truck and bury her in silence at sea. She shivered and her brain shrank away from the thought. That's why she had pushed through the voices and the concerns and the sheer panic that stemmed from telling these secrets to anyone, let alone people she had just met. Now that it wasn't just her and Norbert, she needed at least a few people around who she could trust to make sure that silence never happened. Other people, out of maliciousness or ignorance, might let it take over.
Nodding again to herself, Marie reaffirmed for the fifth time that she had made the right move. She had decided to trust these three and she never let herself do things halfway. Not that her budding trust helped her growing nervousness over going to a new place. It wasn't like these three were the only ones that she was going to have to deal with.
Deep breaths, Norbert reminded. She inhaled and tried to think of all the friends she could make. So many new people to read and to see, to watch interact. It would be like a great play, only one she participated in and got to write her own lines instead of reciting. The air shot out of her suddenly compressed lungs. What if she didn't know how to talk to people? Sure, Jubes, Kitty and Logan acted like they didn't think there was anything overtly wrong with her, but maybe they were just being polite. Or maybe they were afraid of her and let that fear sway the way the treated her? NO! She would trust them, would not fault on that trust until she found proof.
But other people were a different story. She would have to be aware all the time and watch everywhere around her. These three would be safe but that didn't mean everyone in this place would be. What if one of them touched her skin? What if she killed someone and had to carry him or her around forever? She wished for the simplicity and solitude of her attic and her old routine briefly before squashing those feelings. Freedom was better. Even freedom that was totally unknown was better than prison.
Her mind kept running in circles with worries, doubts and fears over her situation. She was hyperaware of the differences between her current location and where she had been for the past four years. All the colors whipped by making her light headed, dizzying in their speed. She breathed deeply as she saw huge iron gates looming in front of the car, blue-black shadows reaching into the front seat to envelop her in their cold. The car stopped within their grasp.
Logan leaned out the window to depress a button and her eyesight sharpened to the nth degree. She could count the hairs on the back of his neck if she wanted, she mentally laughed, able to detect the hysteria in her own voice. That couldn't be good. He spoke his name and waited for the camera to scan his face between turning back to her. She felt like she was sinking under weights that had just dropped on her head, everything dragging her down, but she still forced a brittle smile. She didn't want Logan to think anything was off. She would balance out when she settled in.
They started forward again and Jubes leaned up from the back seat, propping her head on the back of Marie's chair and pointing out the front window. Marie threw herself to the side, putting a good foot between the two of them before she was able to follow Jubes' finger with her eyes. The girl was so wrapped up in what she was saying that she didn't even notice.
"There's St. John and that's Alison and that's Mr. Summers and that's Dr. Grey. Oh, they're running an exercise!" Rogue looked closer at what was happening and felt her stomach drop. People were shooting at each other and it looked like everyone was fighting for their lives. Jubes voice faded out as she looked around to see carnage. There were pieces of bodies and shrapnel thrown around, bombs resting out on the grass waiting to detonate with one wrong move. Where did these people bring her? One of those labs? She forced her ears open again, grasping for meaning out of Jubilee's words and listening to the little bits thrown in by Kitty.
"All young dangerous kids with the really awful mutations are captured. They're knocked out and tied up so they can't escape while everyone fights outside of their cage to see who will win. We have to know just how powerful everyone is and what everyone can do so that the teams that are put together have the best chance of survival."
She was falling, faster and faster, grasping desperately at the only rope, trust of the others, that she had forced into existence mere hours ago. Every word shooting from the two girls was like a brick being thrown at her, testing her grip and making her sway the over the abyss. Logan's worried inquiry and sharp gesture silencing the back seat registered as if from a great distance. She just kept repeating in her head that she was strong and could handle anything thrown at her now that she was no longer in that attic. They rounded a curve and stopped in front of some marble steps. At the top was a cage, twenty by twenty that looked electrified. Sparks flew in all directions. Inside were children. The oldest couldn't be more than six and they were all beaten up and bruised. Two had arms that looked broken and all of their feet were tied tightly together, cutting off circulation. All were slumped over onto their sides, obviously not long for this world.
Marie, terrified, looked around at the three others in the car, checking each expression. Kitty looked calculating and Jubilee excited. She gasped and looked at Logan, saw his slight smile of approval and nod, and felt the rope snap, dropping her down into dark silence.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Hello everyone! I won't list excuses for why this took so long because no one really wants to hear that. Thank you to anyone who was still holding onto this story. You helped me regain the desire to continue it. I hope everyone enjoys this and this story is not and will never be dead.
Thanks to all the reviews. And, FINALLY, onto the fic.
Thanks to all the reviews. And, FINALLY, onto the fic.
Chapter End Notes:
No quotes to this one!
Hope it was somewhat worth the wait. The next chapter won't be nearly as long off. Feed the review beast. Kiss Kiss.
Hope it was somewhat worth the wait. The next chapter won't be nearly as long off. Feed the review beast. Kiss Kiss.