First Night
Chapter 2
by
Misty
Distribution: Stoic Simplicity, http://www.wolverineandrogue.com/mistiec, list archives. Everyone else, please ask.
Spoilers: X-Men: the movie, Angel: The Series, second season finale.
Notes: Remember the whole "not too distant" future thing? Let's disregard that for now. We'll just say that the not too distant future is now, at least a year from now, in Angel's time.
Other notes: This is a LONG sucker, registered at about ... oh... 190 pages from start to finish. So I'll only be posting two chapters a day, so as not to overwhelm your inboxes. This is a crossover, but I wrote it as well as I could have so that even if you are not familiar with X-Men, or Angel, you can read the story and not feel lost.
That at least, is my intention. I hope.
Disclaimer : Um... these characters are not mine. I just played with them. So ... yeah.
Dedication: Jenn, Christie, Shaz - thanks.
Wolverine clipped the phone closed, giving it a hard look before tossing it to Angel's side of the black car, not saying anything as they continued to drive down the darkened highway.
Angel felt the pulse under his jaw beat slightly, his throat once again tight and his chest quickly following as the never-ending pang in his heart and itchiness in his mouth drove him to distraction as he thought of the one person that always managed to nearly drive him insane.
Why was it always CORDELIA getting kidnapped? Cordelia being sucked into another dimension? Cordelia receiving the mindnumbing visions that were getting so bad nowadays she had to be hospitalized last time? God what did she ever do wrong in the last five years but love him?
He gulped down the curse that had arisen to his throat at the thought of the forbidden "L" word that they swore never to use.
Dammit.
He put away the anger, his fists clenching harder around the steering wheel, hearing Claw Guy shift in the seat for the twentieth time and finally looked over to him for some distraction against the blind panic.
"So you're a mutant, huh?" Wolverine didn't say anything, didn't even bother to look at him as he let Angel drive. "I just...never met a mutant before. Kinda cool."
Angel shrugged, letting the sentence die. There was silence, and Angel sighed. Was this what Cordy meant about being all silent and broody? He wasn't that bad, was he?
"So what are you, some sort of vampire?" The question was tossed indifferently, as if the man who phrased it wasn't the least interested in the answer.
"Pretty much."
Another beat.
"I thought vampires were evil."
"They are. I have a soul."
Another long beat.
"Huh."
"It's a long curse story."
Wolverine didn't answer, and when it was safe to look, Angel glanced curiously to his fellow fighter, who at the moment was rubbing his knuckles.
"So ... how long have you had... those?" he asked, motioning to the hands. Wolverine glanced at him, cast him a wary, uncaring look before looking away.
"Long as I can remember." Oh-kay. And Cordelia said HE had social issues. Angel felt his heart squeeze tightly within him at the thought of his best friend, seer, and ... well...
"So what exactly caused you and your girlfriend to attack me and Rogue?" Wolverine asked, his voice hard and angry.
"I uh...Well my girl-... Cordy gets these visions... of people in trouble. You guys were in it, but ... we ... well you looked like you were attacking her and she...we... misinterpreted... she's not my girlfriend."
Logan raised one eyebrow, slowly as he looked at him.
"Uh-huh."
"We're friends."
"Right."
Angel's knuckles turned white over the strain he was giving the poor steering wheel. "Hey, you weren't exactly being brotherly with that Rogue girl, either!"
Logan just snorted, arms crossed, body leaned back against the seat in a way that seemed way too casual to be anything but intentional.
Angel felt a short growl come from him in exasperation and finally just told himself to shut up and drive. The sooner he found Cordy, the sooner this would be over. And the sooner he could kill something, the better for his sanity.
His hands tightened around the wheel and his foot pushed the pedal forward, the car lurching faster towards the exit.
~*~
"Are you sure this is it?"
Charles Gunn cast Wesley an annoyed glare, reaching behind him and pushing him back into the cramped backseat of the truck.
"Angel did say the Bonaventure Hotel," Winifred responded, her glasses glinting as she peered forward, eyeing the street signs in the downtown district. "It's quiet out here."
"Happens at three in the morning, Fred," Gunn said, eyes narrowing as he pulled into the parking structure for the magnificent hotel. "Nothin' but homeless dudes, creatures of the night, and us. Now why Cordy always gotta get herself kidnapped at night?"
Fred looked away. Gunn received a thump on the back of the head from Wesley.
"This is hardly the time for that type of humor, Gunn."
Gunn shrugged, swallowing down. "Ever heard of sarcasm as a defense mechanism, Wes?"
"Yes but now is hardly the time for it." Gunn shook his head, pulling the tricked out truck in front of the one lone valet guy in the red waistcoat.
"Uh..."
Gunn rolled his eyes, tossing the keys in the guy's hands and patting the truck with his free hand. "This thing's my baby. Treat it right."
The valet managed to stop staring at the spikes protruding from the top long enough to nod hesitantly. Fred let Wesley out, and then reached into the car quickly, pulling out the white ticket.
"Validated," she remarked, waving it to Gunn. "The cost for parking here is... ridiculous." Gunn had to smile. She grew on you, crazy Fred. The smile quickly faltered as he remembered the reason they were there, when they walked into the lobby of the expensive hotel, to find Angel waiting, his face drawn, pensive and disturbed.
Gunn felt the hitch in his chest as he slowed, watching as another guy who looked just as mean and dangerous as Angel stood, eyes bloodshot and angry. He found himself letting Wesley take the lead, come forward and clasp hands with Angel.
"Wesley. Thanks for getting here so fast."
"My," Gunn heard Fred whisper, clasping the books she had brought with her to her chest. "This is... extravagant." His eyes roved around the hotel. Yeah it was. One of the richest hotels in Los Angeles.
"Guys, this is Logan. The girl Cordy saw in the vision was also taken. Logan thinks he knows by who. Logan, these are my associates. Wesley, Gunn, and Fred."
"Ah." The guy named Logan gave everyone a short, brusque nod, not taking the hand Wesley accepted in greeting. Gunn cocked an eyebrow as Wesley flushed pulling back, meeting Angel's eyes as he shrugged, not wanting to comment.
"We're waitin' for Jean and Storm," Logan said, raising the cigar to his mouth and taking a puff.
Fred straightened next to him, "You know... that will kill you eventually. Studies have shown it and while tobacco companies have vehemently denied it-"
"It won't kill me," Logan practically snapped. Oh yeah. Not a nice guy. He could practically see Fred shrink before she retreated behind his back.
"As much fun as this tense moment is, ya'll, can we figure out where the hell Cordy is?"
Angel closed his eyes once, slowly, opened them, and was about to answer when the glass elevator doors opened and Gunn's jaw immediately dropped as two of the most beautiful women he had ever seen stepped out of them.
Oh... shit.
Fred's fingers clenched into the back of his shirt, but he could hear Wesley gasp audibly. The red head was tall, slender, classy but sexy as hell. And the other one... Man. Halle Berry with long white hair and leather pants. Could it get any better?
The red head came forward, meeting Logan with a hand on her arm, squeezing slightly, eyes full of questions while the darker skinned one waited tensely with crossed arms. He watched curiously as the red head stared at Logan, eyes closing and suddenly she jerked back, her face convulsing slightly before turning and regarding the other woman.
Wesley coughed and suddenly she blinked. "Oh, I'm sorry, forgive me. My name is Jean Grey, this is Ororo Munroe, Logan's associates."
Hmmm. More associates.
"I'm Angel," Angel said, shaking her hand. "And the two drooling guys over there are Wesley and Gunn, and Fred is hiding behind Gunn's back."
Gunn snapped his mouth shut, seeing Wesley blush, and out of the corner of his eye, saw Fred wave her arm in an almost timid greeting. Logan turned toward Jean, his voice hoarse, whispering slightly. She nodded, squeezing his arm again before turning to them.
"I understand you lost some one as well."
"Yeah, we lost Cordy, our girl."
"She was the office manager for our detective agency."
"Yes well... " Jean paused, rubbing at her eyes slightly before looking around. "Would you mind if we continued this conversation upstairs?"
~*~
Storm had told Logan to sit.
He wouldn't. He already felt like a caged animal and sitting down just would not help things. Hell might freeze over before he admitted it, but he liked the group he had spent the last two years with. He had settled into a rather unsettling level of domesticity, flings and occasional road trips alleviated the caged animal instinct, and over the years, he had left less and less and come back more and more. Of course things were never easy, because being a damn mutant was never easy, and it was never harder for anyone than it was for Rogue.
Damn, now there was a complicated kid. He had managed to come back through her "transformation" period, the time when all the baby fat shed away and Rogue became a woman, right about when everyone started seeing her as something more than a kid.
It wasn't until she sucked some mutant psycho bitch into her head that had tried to gain control of her mind and body that Logan really had issues with the age thing. He had been inside of the room as Rogue battled for her mind, his head had been aching with worry, and he came close to killing her when the chick inside of Rogue tried to seduce him by telling him some very erotic things that should have never come out of Rogue's mouth.
It had done things to him, changed things, and for the longest time he had avoided her, for fear that that bitch still inside her would come out, remind him of the way his body had reacted, a way it shouldn't have reacted with a nineteen year old girl.
But it changed when Rogue had come to him, pleaded with him to be her friend, because that was what she needed more than anything. He had never been afraid of her before, and she couldn't stand it if he was afraid of her now.
It had been the breaking point.
He had held her and let her sob in his arms and promised her he would never be afraid of her, he would always be her friend, he would always take care of her.
It had been more than a year ago, and Logan, who had never put much stock in anything, put everything into his friendship with Marie - only to have it thrown for a damn loop again when he had lost control and practically ravaged his best friend in the dark alley - before the damn vampire and his little girlfriend came in trying to kill him.
He ground on his cigar, biting off the tip and smashing it into the ashtray before glaring at the broody dark fang boy.
Shit.
And now they were here, and Rogue was gone and they were playing 'pleased to meet you?'. Well, fuck that.
"So I know, he's a mutant," Angel began, a hand massaging as his temples tiredly. "Does that mean that the two of you..."
"Mutants?" Wesley breathed, startled, leaning forward. Jean flushed a bright red at the immediate interest, but Ororo merely gave a small smirk.
"Mutant Mutants?" Gunn queried, eyes flicking between the two women. "Like... mutants with special powers mutants?"
Storm and Jean exchanged looks before Jean hesitantly answered, "Yes."
"So what can you do?"
"I... I can read minds and control things with my mind."
"Telekinesis," Wesley remarked. "We've met one before."
Jean gave him a surprised look, and smiled in spite of herself. "And Storm here... can manipulate weather."
Gunn blinked, and shifted feet. "Coool."
"The genetics must be astounding," Fred offered from her side of the couch.
That did it. Logan actually snorted. Loud, causing Fred to jump yet again as he launched from the wall. "Yes. We're mutants, okay? Jean there is telepathic, Storm can make the wind fly, I got claws. Rogue's skin sucks the life outta you." He turned to Jean. "HE's a vampire, a good one. These guys work with him to kill demons and crap. Are we done? Can we move on the part where we talk about saving Rogue?"
There was silence that followed that statement, broken when Wesley stood, clearing his throat carefully.
"Mr. Logan is quite correct. Perhaps we could discuss the nature of our work a bit later, and concentrate on the problem at hand?"
"What he said," Angel said sharply.
Jean nodded, but her voice still was slightly astounded as she couldn't help but ask, "A vampire with a soul?" Angel narrowed his eyes, but nodded.
"We do need some information," Storm said, her voice mellow, soft, almost tranquil. "Such as... was there any reason that Cordelia could have been kidnapped alongside our Rogue?"
"Pick a reason. Most of the times it's cause of her being a seer-" Fred pressed a hand to his shoulder, and Gunn found himself shutting up immediately when Wesley whirled.
"A seer?"
Angel gave an audible sigh. "She gets visions. We don't like to tell too many people because... "
"A prophetess?" Ororo asked, clearly intrigued. "Has she always had this gift?"
"No. It's a long story, but she does tend to... get sucked into a lot of things because of it."
"You'll have to explain the particulars later," Jean said, arms crossed. "It might provide some insight. For now, we just have to hope that Charles has used Cerebro and has located Rogue, which will also lead us to your friend."
"What about the others?" Logan asked, hand twitching. "Scott is on his way now, he's bringing Remy and Charles as soon as they find out where she is."
"What's Cerebro?" Wesley asked.
~*~
She was definitely seeing stars.
Rogue silently groaned, leaning her head back against the stone wall as she watched her new cellmate moan slightly, gathering her knees to her chest and hugging them to her.
She was in SERIOUS pain, and it wasn't the first time Rogue cursed herself for not paying better attention in first aid. Cordelia Chase had mumbled something about vision hangovers, but Rogue hadn't understood what she meant because the chick had moaned and then whimpered and never said another word. It scared the hell outta her. Rogue had almost bruised her trying to wake her up, and from the barely worded whisper, she gathered that Cordelia here was some sort of vision girl. And the pains were a part of the process.
In a way she was glad for the distraction. Being a living sponge Rogue had managed to get a one-way ticket into Eric Lensshur's head and it was NOT a nice place to be. Death camps and conflictions and true fear, dreams that woke her up nights and had her babbling in German - Logan's hellish labfests were almost a welcome change. Almost.
Rogue gave a small shudder, wrapping her arms closer to her body, hugging herself, closing her eyes and trying to keep the fear from overwhelming her. Being held captive by a guy like Magneto, who had had no qualms about killing an innocent child, no qualms about anything but his deluded and blinding schemes, was never a good thing, and being the child in question who had not only gotten a good dose of death camp in her head but had really, actually, literally DIED, only to come back and find she had not only almost killed the only man who ever really gave up anything of value to her, but had inherited most of his bad traits- It was enough to scar someone for life.
But she was older, stronger, had fought and had more experience and she could handle Magneto.
Oh, God, she hoped she could. At least until Charles could get into the big Circle and send Logan and Jean and Scott with the team to bring her and Vision Girl back.
"You look incredibly freaked." Rogue opened her eyes to find Cordelia Chase sitting up, rubbing at her head, grimacing slightly.
"Feeling better?"
"Not really, no. It won't get better until we save you," Cordelia said matter-of-factly, "From whatever the hell is going to happen to you that's going to end up with you on the floor in a bloody mess."
How comforting.
Cordelia paused, wincing slightly. "God. I'm sorry. I didn't mean... it's just when these pains-"
"It's alright," she responded, looking away, managing to look almost indifferent. "I've been through worse."
Cordelia looked lost in thought, gave a slight grimace and shook her head. "I'm not sure. It was... pretty bad."
Rogue looked away, and felt almost no comfort when Cordelia added, "We'll help you. That's what we do."
"Who's we?" "Angel... the gang and I. We help people. Save the world and stuff."
Rogue managed a smile. "Same here."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah."
Cordelia gave a weak grin, muttering a falsely cheery, "Cool", before wincing and putting her hand to her head, lying back down on the cement. Rogue groaned, crawling over to her, hand on her forehead.
"Kay, this is more than a normal concussion."
"No, no it's... " Cordelia closed her eyes, whimpering slightly. "It's ... the visions... I'm fully human... I'm not supposed to-" she winced, closing her eyes, hugging her own body, "Nevermind. It's complicated."
Rogue swallowed, gloved hand on her shoulder.
God, she felt so helpless.
Her eyes flickered to the bars that held them and with a mental curse she wondered what the hell was taking the guys so long. She gave the suffering girl a comforting squeeze on the shoulder.
"Anythin' I can do?"
"Yeah," came the whisper. "Get yourself out of the damn visions so it can stop."
Ouch. THAT wasn't comforting. Damn. And she thought SHE had it bad with all the psychos running around in her head. She licked her lips, trying to find any type of comforting words that would help when the sound of metal bending caused her head to jerk toward the door.
Rogue scrambled to her feet, immediately placing herself between Cordelia and her older facet of the past. Her heart hammered, every vivid emotion brought back in Technicolor as she stared into his face.
"Rogue. Life certainly has treated you well." She didn't say anything, afraid even to breathe.
Magneto's face was tired, aged, and he looked older, much older. The years in jail must have been tiring.
Rogue felt her heart tremor slightly, and once again, she battled the fear inside of her that this man invoked so easily.
"Move aside, Rogue," he demanded, the command said in his soft, firm tone that scared her so much more than if he had just shouted it.
"What the hell do you want with us?"
And he smiled. The damn man actually smiled at her, like he was looking at his grand kid or something. "My intentions are clearly honorable, Rogue."
"Oh, lahk they were so damn honorable before?" she spit, hands clenched into fists.
"I believe they were. My methods, were not. You confuse yourself, child."
"I'm not a child," she whispered, voice edged in hardness, tremoring with emotion. "I'm not the scared little kid that's gonna let you push me around, Eric."
Eric paused, and a flash of sorrow flickered over his face as he cocked his head studying her. "You most certainly are not, young Rogue. You've seen more through my eyes, through the eyes of others than any youngster should have to face. For that I apologize, you were to die then, only experience it a short while."
The memories. Her body shuddered and her eyes closed, the tears coming to her eyes so easily as she saw through the eyes of the young boy, felt the panic and the horror- She swallowed, stranding straight and tall.
"I won't let you hurt her." Eric finally just sighed, and before could quite react she was pinned to the wall with a chair, held only by Magneto's awesome strength. She struggled, calling on her above average strength, but it wasn't enough, because Sabretooth growled, held up a claw at her throat, and then she had no choice but to stay still, eyes focusing on his animal eyes as the claw traced down her neck, reaching into her cleavage and pulling out the metal tag she still wore, mostly out of habit, she told herself, all these years.
"Wolverine," she heard him breathe, and she sucked in her breath, wincing slightly as he broke the chain off from her neck.
"Leave that the HELL alone!" she nearly screamed, earning her a glance from Magneto, who was now crouching over Cordelia.
"Sabretooth don't upset her, she has become quite dangerous, you know."
But the beast only smiled. "I like danger."
Rogue only rolled her eyes, struggling against the chair and glaring into his eyes, before turning and keeping her eyes on Magneto and Cordelia.
~*~
Her body was weak, and her mind was tired from fighting the pain.
Cordelia had issues with even opening her eyes, but when the soft, aged hands cradled her face, curiosity, mixed with fear at the gentle touch, forced her to do so.
She was staring into the eyes of an old man. Not too old, but old enough to be considered his age, with white hair and wrinkles. The hands were strong, and the eyes were filled with a depth and maturity she had long come to associate with hardened pasts.
His mouth was pursed into a slight frown as he studied her, looking almost disappointed.
"It's taking its toll," he remarked, to no one in particular. "Not exactly what I was hoping for but it's a start."
Cordelia could only breathe, try to will away the pain one more time as she pulled herself away, rubbing at her head and looking at him.
"What the hell are you doing? Haven't you ever heard of personal space?!"
He sighed, clucking his tongue. "Another one with spirit. Why can't they ever be docile?" His hand stroked his chin. "Cordelia Chase, one of the few human seers. You have not always had this gift, have you?"
Cordelia looked at him uncertainly, then turned to Rogue, and found her held in her place by a chair and a REAL furry guy who was playing with some metal chain.
Her eyes met her new cellmate's, and when Rogue shook her head slightly, Cordelia took a deep breath, summoning her strength, and turning back to the old guy.
"Magneto, right?" He smiled, nodded, waited patiently. "My friends are SO gonna kick your ass for taking me."
That earned her a smirk, and he leaned forward, chucked her chin lightly. "Those visions will eventually drive you crazy, Miss Chase. Perhaps we can find a way to figure out how to make you live-"
"For how long?" Rogue bit out from her position from across the cell.
"As long as I need, of course," Magneto tossed flippantly over his shoulder. "Don't feel left out, young Rogue. You, as always, are needed." He turned back to Cordelia and gave her a small smile. "Welcome to the fold, sister."
Rogue sucked in her breath, but Cordelia only raised an eyebrow, watching as he stood, walked toward the door. Her eyes widened and she jumped with a start when she saw him flippantly bend the bars away, walking through them. Sabretooth waited on a second longer, dangling the metal tags in front of Rogue, who all but spit at him, before following.
The bars realigned and the chair fell, but Rogue just stood there, staring after him with a haunted look in her eyes. Cordelia gave her a curious look, pushing back the fear at the uncertainty and concentrating fully on her.
"What the hell was that?" Rogue's palms hit the wall of the cell. "Cordelia, these visions of yours, have you always had them?"
Cordelia blinked, but answered the question, "No. I inherited them from a friend."
"And before that?"
"I was normal. Lucky me. Normal me. Why?"
"SHIT." Rogue closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then pushed it out. "I know why he wants you now."
"Why?"
"Because you were a human who became a mutant." Her eyes opened. "And you're not dead yet."
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