Here's the next part - and you can thank Andrea, Blue Lemming, Kitsune, Diane, Cass and Meph for its arrival - thanks for all the words of encouragement guys - you don't know how much i appreciate it!
Andrea - HERE IT IS!!! NO MORE NAGGING! PLEASE! *hides under the bed* *snickers* Actually - thanks for the countless reminders girl - I owe ya one!
PS - Where's the next part of Oh Baby Baby? Almost at the finish line!
Title: Into the Heart of Darkness
Part: 7C
Author: Stormy
Warnings: Angst, some language
Pairings: slight 3x4 action for D-chan, still working up to 1x2, 5xJubilee
sort
of...
Archive: You know who you are who can just take take take! The rest o' you,
please ask ask ask!
Go for it!
Heero watched impassively as Hank went through what had become a morning ritual. Check the machines that monitered the boy throughout the night. Check the silent boys vital statistics. Adjust the intravenous feed into the slender wrist, test the reflexes. Throughout the entire procedure, Heero's eyes never left the sight of Duo's morning checkup. Soon enough, it would be his turn, and Hank would turn those concerned eyes and prodding thermometers and needles his way.
It had been three days since the huge battle/slaughterfest back at the warehouse. Three days in which Duo had remained unconscious, and completely unresponsive. When he voiced his concern, Heero was told by Hank and Jean that it wasn't unusual for a victim of mind-control to be so unresponsive. Duo was in a coma-like state, that would only help him at this point - he needed the down time to allow the rest of his body to heal the physical wounds.
Heero winced - at the time when he was trying to beat some sense back into Shinigami, he hadn't realized just how hard he was hitting.
During sparring matches or even hand-to-hand combat against OZ soldiers, Heero had a very tight reign of control on his body. Doctor J had trained him well, and his genetic enhancement meant controlling his power at all time, else he would accidentally knock someone's shoulder out of joint if he tried to casually slap someone on the back. During the fight, Heero had somehow sensed something different about Duo, had felt the raw power radiating from the blood-drenched figure, and let loose.
Three broken ribs, two cracked, three broken fingers, lacerations all over his arms and face. The baka hadn't felt a thing though, and had kept fighting like a wild animal.
Heero flexed his own muscles gingerly - Duo had given as good as he'd been dealt. Lucky for him, another perk from the Doc's happy house of horrors had been extraordinary recuperative abilities. He was almost fully healed from the encounter, a fact that Hank found fascinating.
Especially since Duo was exhibiting the same ability.
_What did they do to you?_, he wondered silently, staring at the still form.
:: We're going to find out, today ::
Heero looked up as Jean entered the room, Hank and the Professor right behind her.
Jean watched Heero's eyes snap up to meet hers, mentally chilled at the emotionless sight of those blue ice chips drilling into her. Then Heero relaxed somewhat, recognition seeping back into his expression. His fists unclenched, and she felt his protective level drop a notch. But only a notch. The sense of protectiveness she was registering warmed what the hard gaze had frozen. He was worried about his best friend - it was understandable.
Jean had been in the worrying business a long time. Well-used to the tension of wondering whether a loved one was going to pull through, she hoped that by the end of today's little session, they'd have an idea as to what had been done to the American pilot.
With the help of the Professor, she was going to enter Duo's mind, and bring him back.
" Why can't you do it now?" she remembered Heero demanding, nearly the minute Duo had been stabilized.
" Because he's still hurt. Badly."
A trip into one's mind was dangerous enough when the person was conscious and healthy. In the mind, one was capable of defending themselves and their thoughts with anything they could think of, and a blow felt on the psychic plane was just as painful as a physical one. There was also the added danger of Jean having to dig past Duo's defences and past the implant Sinister had implanted.
Jean recalled the horror and nausea she'd felt when the x-rays of Duo's skull had come back, and they had seen the little blip on Duo's frontal lobe that was so eerily similar to the one that had appeared on Morph's x-rays. The thought of someone so young having to go through so much pain weighed heavily on her mind and she sighed as she reminded herself that these young pilots were no strangers to pain. That was good because what she was about to do was going to hurt like hell.
Heero watched her sit down on the bed, stroking her hand gently across Duo's face, brushing the long bangs out of the way. The look on her face was almost maternal and it reassured Heero, seeing how much she cared. He knew she wouldn't hurt Duo. He relaxed a bit more.
Hank looked at the professor.
" He's healing very well - I'd wager he's got only a fraction of say, Wolverine's healing factor, to give it a comparison, but that little bit has been more then enough to stabilize him enough to attempt a mind jaunt."
His flippant tone did nothing to mask the underlying note of concern. The Professor nodded slightly, well aware of the dangers of the mind.
" Jean is more then capable. I will act as a link, should she run into any danger."
Hank and Jean both nodded - it was standard procedure to have a 'back-up psi' on hand to sever a link in case of trouble. Heero frowned.
" What do you mean danger?"
" Duo may or may not be the Duo you know," Jean said softly, meeting his eyes evenly, not holding back anything. " He could still be Shinigami - the boy you fought in the warehouse."
Heero scowled and crossed his arms but said nothing, knowing of the truth in her words. She may be right. That didn't mean he had to like it.
Trowa, Quatre, Wufei and Jubilee sat in the large, spacious kitchen, making idle conversation. The past three days had been so tense, what with their concern over their teammate. Quatre, having been fine since waking up, felt it clearly, and was thankful for Trowa's solid belief that everything would turn out. Wufei had been up on his feet two days ago, declaring he felt fine, and when told he should go back to bed, his single response had been, " Give your concern to the one who needs it most right now. I assure you, that it isn't me."
Quatre reflected that Jubilee had probably been the saviour of their sanity during those three days. Well-used to battles and their after-maths, she had spent most of her time reassuring the pilots that their friend was in the best hands he could be in. The rest of her time was spent flirting with Wufei who had, she noticed delightedly, the interesting ability to turn various shades of red whenever she teased him.
Quatre watched Jubilee try to feed Wufei an orange slice and smiled at the Chinese pilot's attempts to fend her off. Then the smile turned a tad meloncholy and he stifled a sigh, noting once again, the non-presence of two of their members. Trowa sensed his mood change and cast a curious glance his way.
" Okay?"
" Hai." Quatre smiled tiredly. " Just worried."
" We all are," Trowa said. " But it will be fine in the end."
" Yeah," said Jubilee, pausing in her attempts to cram fruit down Wufei's throat. " Hank is like, a super-genius doctor, and Jean is the second most powerful telepath in the world, next to the Prof."
" I wish I had your confidence," Quatre told the girl. " But I'm afraid we've seen too much disappointment to get our hopes up just yet."
" It's gonna be fine!" the girl insisted. " Geez, you guys are SO untrusting."
" It's part of training," Quatre admitted wryly.
" Beside's," Wufei challenged her, suddenly tired of her countless reassurances. What could she possibly know of their fear? Their pain? She said she'd been in fights before, but how could she know what it felt to look death straight in the face, every single day? " You know nothing of what we've seen." He hissed this out, and watched Jubilee's eyes widen in shock, the forgotten orange slice hitting the ground with a faint smack.
Quatre closed his eyes. He could feel Wufei's tension that had been building for some time - the presence of Jubilee had seemed to grate on his nerves ever since they'd arrived for some unknown reason. Her casual remarks of hope must have fanned the flames that had been simmering. Still, there was no reason to be rude, and Quatre opened his eyes and his mouth, intending to say something.
His words caught in his throat at the look of pure unadulterated fury on the girl's face.
" You selfish asshole!" Jubilee shouted at the shocked Wufei. " What is your problem? I'm trying to be friendly here, and you've done nothing but snipe at me since you've arrived! Excuse me for living, Chang Wufei, but you're not the only one dealing with issues here!"
She stood up, slamming her fists into the table, making the rest of them jump slightly.
" I don't know what you've seen, huh? Well, Chang - have you ever seen one of your friend's assimilated in front of you by some inhuman creature? [1] It's worse then watching them die - at least if dead, they're at peace! I've seen people turned against each other by mind-control! I've seen my best friend in the world have his skeleton ripped from the inside-out while still alive! [2]" She leaned right up to Wufei, sticking her nose right into his. " At our school there are two little boys that can't leave the building without using hologram technology to disguise the fact that they have green and pink skin 'cause even though they're children, they'd be hunted down! [3] Hunted down! I have been kidnapped, attacked and abused by numreous bad guys who seem to enjoy causing pain even though their actions once resulted in the construction of Sentinals - who's sole purpose is to wipe us out! And why?" she snarled. " Because we're not considered human! We're mutants - we don't have the right to live, the right to breathe the same air as humans! But even though we're spit on, we have to defend these bigots from our kind because its the right thing to do! You say I know nothing of your pain, but if you'd open your damn eyes you'd see we have more in common then you think!"
Having exhausted her temper for the moment, Jubilee thumped back into her seat, still glaring at the shell-shocked boys. Wufei was still frozen in place. Jubilee blew out an explosive sigh, and ran her fingers through her hair, pushing her sunglasses back further and steepled her fingers under her chin.
" Aw damn...what am I doing?" She shook her head. " Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to dump on you - I know you're worried about yer friend and all..."
Her voice trailed off, and she looked away shame-facedly. Since they had arrived she'd been flirting, teasing and generally making light of what was a bad situation. Obviously they weren't used to this kind of hassle - they didn't know of mutants and powers and the sickening displays of bigotry they were forced to take each and every day. She pushed herself up.
" I'm sorry," she gasped and turned, bolting out of the kitchen as though the hounds of hell were nipping at her heels.
Quatre raised a hand as she went. " Jubilee!" He turned to glare at Wufei who continued to blink, jaw gaping. " Wufei - that was uncalled for!" He snapped angrily. Trowa sat silently, eyes boring into the Chinese pilot who suddenly shook his head. " Wufei?"
Wufei's head bowed for a moment, and when he looked up, Quatre was surprised to see a small smile on the pilot's face. " What are you smiling at?"
" Just like Meiran," mused the Shenlong pilot. He stood up, nodding at the couple remaining. " Please excuse me - I believe I have an apology to make."
Quatre watched, astonished as Wufei did an about-face and walked off in the direction Jubilee had gone. He turned to Trowa, jaw hanging open. " Did you see that?"
" Uh-huh." Never one to waste an opportunity, Trowa took advantage of Quatre's open mouth and kissed him. Qautre eye's widened. Trowa shrugged. " It was tempting me."
Quatre mock-glared at him. " What about those two? Shouldn't we go after them? They might kill each other or something!"
" Wufie can handle it himself." Trowa got a very predatory look on his face as he began commencing on the small blonde. " You worried me, you know."
" Um....sorry?" Quatre offered, before wrapping his arms around the Heavyarms pilot. But as he re-acquainted himself with his mate, his thoughts turned back to their original worry. _I wonder how Duo's doing?_
Remy smothered a chuckle at the adorable sight in the kitchen and decided to get something to eat later. By-passing the kitchen, he instead went straight to the elevator and selected the sub-basement level. When the metal doors opened, he went down the corridor, and turned right at the intersection. Left would take him to Cerebro. Right would take him to...
" Hey Rogue!" He grinned. She looked up from the computer screen and smiled back.
" Remy! " Her brow creased as she eyed his empty hands. " I thought you were getting something to eat?"
" Didn't wan' to interrupt - Trowa and Quatre were a having a moment together."
Rogue grinned rakishly. " I love moments." She sighed, glancing back at the data flying across the screen. " But I don't have time for one."
" D'at be unfortunate Cherie," Gambit drawled lazily before pulling up a chair. " So what's up?"
" Nearly finished downloading everything Moira had on Beast's matter converter and all the notes and whatnot he sent her on his experiments. She's really interested in what's been happening - she's thinking about flying down to give Hank and the Professor a hand."
" Not like we couldn't use de help, eh girl?" Gambit tilted the screen slightly so he could see what progress had been made. He whistled at the numbers and science jargon assaulting his eyes. " An' here I t'ought I knew somet'in' 'bout science - dis be way over Gambit's head."
" Yeah right," Rogue shot a look at him. Remy could probably follow along almost any technical conversation Hank could choose to have - it was Remy's choice to downplay his own intelligence. _You can take the rat off the street but you can't take the street out of the rat_, she thought fondly. " M'almost done swamprat."
" Always wit' de names," Gambit grumbled. He stood up, stretching slowly. Rogue stole an appreciative glance out of the corner of her eye. Gambit noticed and winked exaggeratedly. She laughed.
" Git Cajun! Go check on what the other's are up too! You're distractin' me!"
Remy laughed and nodded, disappearing out the door. But isntead of going to the infirmary, he made a detour into one of Beast's labs, seating himself at the computer and pulling up his email account. He groaned at the amount of mail that had come in, in the few days he hadn't checked it. The icon blinked at him, signalling a new message and he clicked on it.
Remy:
Where you been boy? I've been sending message after message - what's going on? We know ya had to leave town quick - X-men work, right? - but the Guild is still waiting for an answer. Get back to me, 'kay?
Pierre
Remy swore tiredly, and rubbed his arm across his face. It was hard to believe that only only a week or so had passed since he'd left New Orleans and had been thrown into this nightmare involving Sinister. He found himself becoming somewhat protective of the pilot's - warriors in their own right, especially the still unconscious Duo. He knew, better then anyone, what it felt like to be under the control of that madman. He vowed to be there when Duo woke up and came to his senses - he'd be damned if he let another child fall prey to that psycho's mind trap.
He scowled at the message on the screen. He didn't need this crap right now.
_But you ain't got no choice, boyo_, he told himself sternly. Clicking on reply, he typed his response.
Pierre:
Relax, mon frere - I know. We got some problems here I got to take care of. Let me handle this first. I'll be in touch.
Remy
Short, and to the point. He clicked send, and then erased the original message. Exiting the program, he decided he'd go check on how Jeannie's mind jaunt was going.
End Part 7C
Notes!
1. This is in referrence to the Phalanx - an enemy that's kinda like the Borg on Star Trek. They assimilate any organism into their collective consciousness, but the soul is still there. They just can't do anything about it. Jubilee was referring to her friend Blink who was assimilated and killed by the Borg.
2. The famouse Wolverine storyline where his adamantium skeleton was ripped out. In my story, like in the comics, he has it back. I mentioned this before - in this fic, he has his adamantium, placing this story in a TWT - at one point he lost it, but has it back, even though this story takes place in a time when the comic-Wolverine still doesn't. *pause* Did that make sense to you?
3. Referring to Artie and Leech. Artie has pink skin and is mute. He communicates through mental pictures. Leech is green-skinned, and has the power to drain the power of any other mutant in his immediate vicinity. Leech and Artie are survivors of the Morlock clan that was killed in Marvel time ish's Uncanny X-men 210 to 214. At the time though, they were living with a team called X-Factor, which is how they escaped being killed. Both are gues-stemated at being approx. 7-9 yrs old.
*holds up a sign saying, " Please Feed the Author "*
C&C please!
Stormy
Please send comments to: dingostorm@hotmail.com