Tadaima! Yeesh, two posts in one day...er, sorta....
Barb, Amara, Blue - this be for you - your comments on "Breaking" with the little hints dropped in for added measure on how you wanted this continued as well...well, ya kicked me muse into overdrive. ARE YOU HAPPY NOW???
*maniacal grins* Just kiddin'. And BJ - now that the next part's out, you're my friend again, right? *snickers* Damn spiteful muse I've got there...
Andrea, Kitsune, Diane - always a pleasure hearing from you - the three of you have been the most vocal supporters of HOD - hope you enjoy!
And thanks to all the people who have asked to archive this fic that has grown to mammoth proportions (did I expect it to get this big? Oh yes.), especially Lady M, Darkflame, Jackie, Candy and everyone else.
I think that's about it...next part will be out in a lot less time then this was produced - scout's honour!
Wait....never did join scouts...or guides for that matter....damn....^_^'
Title: Heart Of Darkness
Part: 7A
Author: Stormy
Warnings: Sap, angst - kinda light after the last part!
Pairings: Standard Stormy. If you don't know, you haven't been reading, so
you'll just have to take your chances. :P
Archive: Yes please! Just ask me first if you're new, 'kay? I usually say
yes.
Is that it? Hmm..guess so! Read on! And let me know as always, whatcha think!
Sinister was furious. No, to say he was furious would have been labelled the understatement of the year. The red-eyed man fairly glowed with anger, his whole armoured body bristling with agitation.
" They failed..." he growled softly, planting his hands onto a console and staring at the monitor above him. The screen reflected the scene inside the warehouse he himself had so painstakingly set up for his assault. The X-men were gathering up his men and placing them into their over-sized jet.
" They failed...."
" Master?" Threnody timidly ventured into the room, holding a stack of papers that had printed out during the course of the battle. " I brought you the--"
WHAM! Sinister backhanded her into the wall. With a near inaudible cry, she slid down the side, a faint streak of blood trailing her to the floor. She sat there, half-slumped over, papers drifting down around her still form.
" I have no time for such trivial matters," Sinister said coldly, turning back to the screen, ignoring the broken doll he'd left there. " The boy seems to have broken the control. Much like Morph did."
Sinister didn't like the idea of two of his prisoners fighting back against his implant. Two out of thousands of course, but it was the principle of the thing. And it was three if you counted Remy Lebeau, but Lebeau was in a class all of his own, being unable to fall prey to any kind of mind-altering substances. Another mystery he'd left unsolved. With the boy, Shinigami - that made two. How did he break free?
" More importantly, is how do I reclaim my prize before it is irretrieveable?" he murmered, once-blue eyes, now black stared at the screen, trying to devour the images it presented. He watched as Shinigami was gently picked up by the wild man, Wolverine, and moved the the protective covering of the Blackbird. Then a flash of green, and Sinister froze the screen.
" You..." he breathed, eyes narrowing hatefully at the brown-haired boy, clad only in a green tanktop and black shorts. Shinigami had been visibly startled at the appearance of the boy. Before his arrival, Shinigami had been performing at acceptable levels, doling out death as excitedly as a boy begging his parents for a coveted bauble. But then this...this BOY had shown up.....and Shinigami had fought the implant.
Sinister trailed one finger down the screen, tracing the outline of Heero's profile. His dark eyes had narrowed to mere slits, and his rage was almost palpable.
" You will pay, young one....I, Sinister, swear this....and then I shall have both my revenge on the X-Men, and the information I seek." Sinister threw his head back and howled with insane laughter that shook the very air with its evil intensity.
( 2 HOURS LATER)
" So what was it you knew?"
The question hung in the air innocently, casually asked, but subtley demanding an answer of the wolfishly-haired man smoking a cigarrette on one of the mansion balconies. Remy leaned against the wall and eyed Logan appraisingly. The man took one last puff and then threw the butt into a metal trashcan the professor had seen fit to place at all of his and Remy's known smoking retreats, before returning the Cajun's level gaze.
" 'Bout what?"
" Back in de warehouse when Cyclops was about to zap dat kid. You stopped him."
Logan grinned, flashing his teeth. " Ya know what curiousity did to the cat, dontcha?"
Remy smiled. " Indulge me."
Logan's smile disappeared and he scowled in place of it. " Remember Morph."
" Yah."
" Same thing. Morph fought against Sinister's implant when he was around any of the X-men - the closer he was, the more his memories fought to get free. Cyke shoulda remembered that."
Remy blinked, realizing the truth in those words. " You saw--"
" I saw Duo fighting himself just as much as he was fighting Heero," Wolverine finished. " He had to break free on his own, otherwise the implant would just keep its stranglehold on him. And it worked."
" Yah," Remy said softly, thoughtfully. " But did it work in time?"
If someone didn't make the dancing elephants in his head stop, someone was going to pay.
" Who taught elephants how to congo anyway?" Quatre mumbled fuzzily as he slowly regained consciousness. " 'Bet it was Trowa...."
" Huh?"
Quatre's eyes opened completely at the puzzled voice and looked straight into Trowa's green-eyed gaze.
" Trowa?"
" I'm here," the boy said softly. " How's your head?"
Quatre shook it slowly, nodding with a small smile as the noise in his head muted somewhat with the return of his faculties. Concentrating slightly, he stoutly ignored the brief flareup of pain that action caused him, and extended his awareness. The influx of background minds seemed even damper then usual, and he thought he could sense a hint of Jean's interference.
Just as he thought that, he got a vague mental chuckle from the red-head in question.
:: I left the block up in your mind until you get your strength back to do it yourself :: came Jean's low voice.
:: But why do I need a filter? :: Quatre sent back, confused. :: What happ- ::
" DUO!" He exclaimed, eyes snapping open. Trowa reacted quickly, blocking Quatre's rise from the bed. He shook his head at the blonde.
" Stay."
" But Trowa! What happened? Is Duo all right? " Quatre asked him in a rush. Something fluttered at the edge of his mind, a memory of something disturbing. Trowa's brow creased in concern at the apparent loss of memory.
" I wouldn't worry about it," commented a voice from the door. Jubilee snapped her gum as she entered the room. " Red sent me to tell you it's residual psi-shock. It'll come back." She grimaced lightly. " Though I don't know if that's a GOOD thing."
Trowa nodded, frowning lightly. When Quatre had continued to show signs of shock after witnessing a - what had Jubilee called it? - psychic death, Beast had administered a mild sedative that had knocked the Arabian out, and then transferred him to a room in the medical area. Speaking of which....
" How's Duo? And Heero? And where's Wufei?"
" Don't know, don't know, and fine," Jubilee said. " Since getting here, Beastie, Jean and Cyke have been locked up in the med room with Duo. Heero's still in there - refuses to come out." She began ticking numbers off her fingers. " Wufei's sleepin' off the Shi'ar medication stuff Hank gave him while on the Blackbird coming back - does wonders on concussions, lemme tell you - , Storm's in that garden thingie she's got happening in her room, Remy's poisening his lungs with Wolvie on the balcony, Rogue's with the Prof, talkin' with one of our scientist friends on Muir island, and the three of us are sittin' here wondering, what everyone is up to."
Quatre blinked. " Oh."
" I'm going to check on Wufei, and see if I can get any more information on how Duo's doing," Trowa said abruptly, rising to his feet. Nodding curtly at Jubilee, he exited the room. Quatre looked mildly hurt. Catching the look, Jubilee decided to reassure him.
" Relax Quatre - the guy hasn't left your side since we put you under," she told him sternly. " Even though he knew you would be fine, he still didn't take any chances. He was worried about ALL of you, but to him, you took priority. Now that you're awake and coherent, he doesn't feel bad about leaving you for a minute to check on everyone else."
Quatre felt vaguely ashamed. " I see."
" Dude, I didn't mean to bring you down," she sighed. " I just didn't want you to feel, ya know, abandoned."
Quatre smiled at the Chinese girl. " I understand Jubilee. And thank you."
Jubilee mock-groaned. " PLEASE don't thank me - I've got a rep to protect that'll be ruined beyond repair if word gets out I was bein' compasssionate, or somethin'."
Quatre laughed - genuinely this time. " I won't tell a soul."
" Good!"
Trowa eased the door to Wufei's room open. He hadn't seen anyone in the hallway, but Jubilee had kept tabs on everyone, and had let him know where Wufei had been put so he could check his partner's out later. The room was dimly lit and he could make out Wufei's still form on the bed. Gliding across the room, Trowa pulled up beside the bed, studying his teammate critically. He noted the bandage on the temple, various band aids covering smaller flesh wounds. It looked like Wufei would live after all.
" Enjoying the view?" came a raspy voice from the bed.
Trowa's eyes stopped their assessment and flew to the Shenlong pilot's face. Wufei's own eyes opened and met his with a faint touch of amusement. Trowa grinned slightly.
" How do you feel?"
" Like I've just spent several hours listening to Maxwell's rock and roll music at the highest possible volume," Wufei groaned, shutting his eyes. One hand crept up to his head, touching the bandage. " Ow." Opening his eyes again, he glanced at the brown-haired boy. " What is wrong?" A horrible thought struck him. " How is Duo?"
" Don't know," Trowa shrugged. To any casual observer, the apparent lack of emotion would have seemed cold and cruel, but to Wufei's trained eyes, he saw faint tensing of muscles, and the bleak tone in which the words were delivered, and knew that pilot 03 was feeling very worried indeed. " They're still in surgery with him."
" And Heero?"
" With Duo."
" Aaa," Wufei nodded. He would have expected no less. Then he blinked as something else ocurred to him, and he glanced around the room once in puzzlement before turning back to Trowa. " Where's Quatre?"
Trowa winced visibly. " In one of the other rooms down here."
" He is injured?" Surprise colored Wufei's tone. " What happened?"
Trowa filled the Chinese boy in on what happened. Wufei closed his eyes in shared sympathy at the description of Duo slashing the innocent boy's throat, with Quatre and the other two psi's still connected.
" Quatre felt the boy die?"
" Aaa. They were connected through Quatre's link to Duo. The boy possessed Duo and when his body died, his mind died."
" On the psychic plane," Wufei nodded in understanding. " So he didn't just feel the boy dying, he felt his fear, his pain-"
" -His innocence," Trowa finished. " It hit Quatre....hard."
" I'll bet," Wufei muttered. Then his eyebrows shot up. " And you left him alone?""
" Jubilee is with him."
Trowa smothered a chuckle as Wufei's face paled comically. Something about the Chinese girl seemed to rattle the Shenlong pilot. He made a mental note to ask him why, when everyone was feeling better. " I'm going to go and see if I can get any information on Duo's condition," he said, smoothly changing the subject. Wufei nodded - having been seperated from their erstwhile teammate for so long, it seemed inconcievable that he was back among them. Wufei had the feeling that until they had tangible proof that Maxwell was safe, they would continue to doubt his presence.
Wufei watched as Trowa gave a small wave, nodding his head in return. Then Trowa left, softly clicking the latch in place. Wufei yawned, feeling the tiredness still in his limbs but unable to sleep. His mind replayed over and over the final few minutes of combat between Heero and Duo - the sheer viciousnes of their fight made even more so by the fact that they were actually friends. Wufei shuddered. He was just glad it was not him that had to be the one to battle Duo. Then again...he thought of the way one of Duo's blows had shattered the concrete yet left no evidence of damage on his fist.
_He would have killed me without breaking a sweat_, he realized to himself. That thought disturbed him greatly, and he shivered, pulling the thick blanket on the bed up to his neck. Curling up to the pillow, he stared at the wall, seeing Shinigami in his mind.
End Part 7A
Well?? *taps foot impatiently* Whatcha think??
Stormy
Please send comments to: dingostorm@hotmail.com