Thank God we never did have the time to rig her wheels. Even without extra power she nearly managed to beat me. I had to force her to slow down and stop. With the speed she was going she would have been a wet patch on the pavement if she fell.
“What the fuck do you want now!” She nearly screamed and scrambled off from her bike, shoving it to side like it weighed nothing. I cut my engine.
“I want to be your friend. But it’s kind of hard to do when you keep pulling stunts like this.”
“Have you even considered that I may not want to be your friend?” Fuck.
“I. Don’t. Want. To. Be. Your. Fucking. Friend.” Every word accentuated with a sharp jab to my chest. Might as well have been a knife instead of just a finger.
“I do not need a father or a big brother! I don’t need someone to protect me! I’m so fucking full of this shit!”
“Kid…” I couldn’t fucking breathe. She couldn’t do this. I gave her a promise. She’s the only reason I hadn’t taken off already.
“Kid? That’s what I will ever be to you? A fucking kid?” Well, no. She wasn’t a kid. She was Kid. Marie. My rock. And she was crumbling away from me.
“If you have anything to say, speak up now. After we get back home, I’m going to ask Ororo to move me to another team.” And she would disappear from my life completely. I could tell it from the look in her face. She would make sure there was absolutely no reason to stay in touch with me.
“I’m sorry.”
“What?”
“I’m sorry about everything. I’m sorry that I’m so fucking selfish bastard. I really needed those Wednesdays. I needed you. I still need you. Please, don’t do it. Don’t shut me out.”
I might have been crying. Maybe even so hard that I couldn’t follow her when she took off.
Okay. I cried. She didn’t say a word. Not to accept or to deny my apology. She just went to her bike, dragged it up and drove away. I sat there, next to my bike and bawled my eyes out. My chest hurt. My head hurt. I wanted a hug. I wanted… I needed Marie. And she wasn’t there. She was on her way to Ororo. On her way to start a new life which didn’t include me.
“Fuck this.” I finally managed to calm down. I dug up my cell phone and called to Ororo. She wasn’t too pleased to hear that I was going to take a couple days off, but what could she do? Swoop in with the Blackbird and drag my ass back to mansion?
She had asked if I could take away her mutation. Most likely this was going to be a futile attempt, but there was a chance. Small chance. Army never cleared up the Alcatraz. They did blow up the bridge Magneto did there, and barricaded the whole fucking island. Closed it down. But there was a chance that I could find cure darts from there. Enough for her to last a lifetime. I could give those to her and leave. She could have the normal life she wanted. White picket fence, 2.5 kids with some accountant, no need to worry over quirks of an overprotective old geezer.
First things first. Something to eat, and few cups of hot coffee. Then I had to find somebody willing to break the law. No sailing and fishing was allowed closer than two miles from the island. It didn’t take too long. Not with the amount I was ready to pay for a ride there and back.
“What are you even looking for?” Matt, old fisherman asked while counting his money.
“That’s not your business. Just take me there, and pick me up after three hours.” Three hours should be more than enough to find what I’m looking for. Those bazookas army used back then spread enough cure to keep whole mansion under control for years. All I had to do was to find intact and clear vials.
Place was a mess. Blown up cars. Torn buildings. Everything covered in thick layer of black dust. Took me a moment to realize it was ash. Remains of those poor bastards that Dark Phoenix tore apart.
I had to look carefully where I stepped. I couldn’t have afforded to get the cure for myself. For what I know, that stuff would probably be my death sentence. I have no slightest idea how poisonous adamantium is. I found several empty clips and broken down vials. Then I hit the jackpot. One loaded bazooka. Never fired. Bingo! Got the vials out from it. If she lived over two hundred years, these would be enough.
Had a better part of an hour left before I was supposed to meet my ride. Not a pleasant hour. It all started to come back to me. When I climbed to Matt’s small boat I was ready to use all cure darts myself. Just push them all in and hope for the best. Hope that they would do the trick and put me out of my misery. Couldn’t do that. Marie needed those more than I.
“Found what you were looking for?” Matt asked. I couldn’t answer. I just sat there, hunched over and kept wishing this was it. That this was what she really wanted. Because if it wasn’t, there was nothing much left for me to do, except to leave and keep praying that she would be okay.
I had originally planned to spend a night in the city, but suddenly it didn’t sound so alluring. I drove back to mansion and sneaked to my room before anybody got a whiff that I had already returned. I needed to sleep and clear my head.
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