𝐁𝐄𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐈𝐅𝐔𝐋 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐄𝐃𝐘━︎━︎ J. Proudstar

𝐒𝐢𝐱

CHAPTER SIX:
I COULDN'T PROTECT MY FAMILY

SHE HAD CONVINCED THE DUO to get her a laptop so that she could do what she needed to do. So she sat in one of the chairs on the second floor, her eyes scanning the computer screen that had multiple tabs up. She was going through news articles, security cameras that she had gotten Lorna to hack into for her. She was biting her nail, something she only did when her nerves were shot. She reached out to drink her coffee, frowning when she noticed the cup was empty.

She let out a sigh, getting up from her spot and walking to the kitchen area where she had made herself a pot of coffee. She poured herself another cup, turning her head when she heard footsteps. When she saw John approaching her, she offered him a small smile, to which he returned.

     "Lorna just left to see if Marcos is at the diner." John informed her. Aphrodite nodded her head.

     "Good." She took a sip of coffee, turning to walk away before stopping in her tracks. "Hey John?" She turned her head to look at him, her blue eyes meeting his dark ones. "I'm sorry for being so distant the past week. I'm technically still supposed to be healing from when I got shot, and I've been exhausted from trying to find Artemis―︎"

     "That's her name?" John quizzed. Aphrodite looked at him before smiling and nodding her head.

     "Yeah. I call her Art, or Arty for short." Aphrodite answered. "I can. . . I can show you a picture of her if you'd like. You know, just in case you happen to stumble upon something. . ." John nodded his head and Aphrodite gave him a small smile before walking out of the room with John following her. They made it to her room, Aphrodite sitting her coffee down on the bedside table before walking over to the dresser and picking up a photo that had all three of them in it. A sad smile fell upon her lips. She turned her head to look at John who was still standing in the doorway.

     "You can come in." She told him, nodding her head. He did so, making his way towards and stopping at her side. She handed him the picture.

     "That little girl is my daughter, Artemis Grace Rosenburgh." Aphrodite softly smiled.

     "She looks exactly like you. Red hair and everything." John gently told her. Artemis smiled at this, nodding her head.

     "She has my sarcasm too. She has some of Damien's features, but besides that, she's a mini-me." Aphrodite informed him. Her heart ached at the mention of her husband. She nodded towards the male in the picture. "That's Damien. He was my husband. One of the nicest and caring people you'd ever meet. He didn't deserve what he got. He protected humans, even if he was a part of the group that was supposed to hunt them down."

     "He was with Sentinel Services?" John asked, clear surprise written over his face. Aphrodite nodded her head.

     "He was more like an insider of their work. He was an FBI undercover agent. He was one of the very few people that cared for mutants. When it involved mutants, he made sure to arrive at the scene ten minutes early to double check for any mutants. If there were some, he'd get them away before the others would show up." Aphrodite smiled at this, a sad smile. John looked at the woman, watching as the memories of her loved ones went flying through her mind. "I didn't deserve someone like him." Her voice was a whisper as she spoke, a single tear falling down her cheek before she wiped it away. She walked away from John, moving to sit on her bed whilst he still looked at the picture.

     "You know, I'm not scared of anything." Aphrodite spoke, pressing her hands against the blanket of her bed whilst John put the photo back and turned to face her. "The one thing I was scared of though, was my family getting hurt because of what I was: a powerful mutant that shouldn't exist. I could destroy an army with the flick of my wrist if I truly wanted." She looked up at John, shaking her head. "You don't have to listen to this."

     "You don't have to tell me, if you don't want to." John told her. "But I am here for you, and I'm here to listen."

     She looked at him for a moment before nodding her head. He walked over, taking a seat beside her, but giving her some space. "We had done nothing wrong. Nothing. We were sitting down and eating dinner together like we did every night. Art and Damien were having a food fight with one another, something they did often." She shook her head, a small laugh falling from her lips. "I had told her to stop, telling her to eat, but laughing as I did so. It was last Friday when this happened. Artemis had asked if we could do something that Saturday and I told her that once she figured out what it was that she wanted to do, that we would do it."

     Aphrodite clenched her jaw as she remembered the last part. "Artemis had just activated her x-gene, so she wasn't really used to it yet. She didn't even know the full extent of her powers, minus the fact that she could read the minds of others, no matter the distance. She had tensed up, and immediately I knew something was wrong. Damien asked her if she was alright, and all she said was that the bad men were coming. And they kicked open the front door and. . . well, you know the rest."

     Aphrodite hadn't even realized she had been crying until John reached over, wiping the tears from her face. "I couldn't protect my family, John. I am one of the more powerful mutants, and yet I got taken down with two shots and a desensitizer around my neck. How do I live with the fact that I was the reason my husband is dead, and my child is in some mutant facility being tortured. How do I live with that?"

     "Aph-Winter." He corrected himself. "It is not your fault for what happened to your family, do you understand? You did nothing wrong. What happened to your husband was something I wish you would have never had to witness, and it's harsh, but you can't bring him back, and that sucks. Artemis, we can bring back. We will find her. I don't care what it takes. I'm not going to let you lose your child to those monsters out there."

     Aphrodite looked at him, nodding her head before giving him a hug, something neither of them expected from her. "Thank you." She whispered before removing herself from the embrace and standing up, walking out of the room and grabbing her coffee cup on the way out.