Preparation for the oncoming mission was long and tense, with the X-Men filling their time with last minute physio and danger room training while Xavier spent most of his days in Cerebro tracking Kurt's activity. He had pinpointed his location along with some of the brotherhood in an abandoned facility just outside of New York. Aurora was doing everything that she possibly could, including helping Hank with the preparation of costumes and tech. Despite the seriousness of the situation, she had to admit that the suits were pretty cool... She even got to see Kurt's. The memory of it made her blush, she would like to see him in it when her returned...
Most surprising of all, she'd found that Piotr also had a place within the X-men, as Scott had put it (much to Logan's distaste) he was 'the muscle' in the team, and apparently was very useful when it came to a mutant called 'Juggernaut' in the brotherhood.
'We will be leaving in an hour.' Xavier's voice echoed in her mind. She stood up with her crutch and stuffed the last large roll of bandage into the rucksack and made her way down to the hangar. It wasn't her first time seeing the blackbird, yet it still stole her breath away whenever she stepped into the large room. The mansion held the most advanced technology that she'd ever seen, and the jet was the most amazing of it all. The sleek frame, impossible speeds, and amazing maneuverability.
"Are you sure she should be coming with us Charles?" Scott looked down at her, she knew that he didn't think much to her and quite frankly, she didn't care.
"Why shouldn't I?"
Logan smirked at her defiance "I wouldn't question her bub, she obviously wants to come along for the ride."
"Indeed. She will be a useful medical assistant should we need it." The atmosphere shifted in the room as Xavier rolled towards the boarding ramp of the blackbird, bringing an air of respect along with him. Aurora gave Logan and Scott a quick, sweet smile before she followed Xavier aboard.
"However, Aurora, you need to follow the rules closely. The consequences could be fatal."
She bit her lip and nodded, the threat of the mission dawning on her fully as she strapped herself into one of the seats, watching as the door clamped shut behind her. Sealing her fate along with it.
"Y'allright kiddo?" Rogue grinned at her, she nodded in response, the nerves getting the better of her.
Remy laughed, nudging her side to get her attention before muttering "Don' worry cherie, even the big Wolverine gets nervous of de flying." He winked at her with one of his red and black eyes and turned back to make a face at Logan, who was too preoccupied to care. She chuckled internally, by the looks of it, what Gambit was saying was true. But it wasn't that she was nervous of flying, she'd just never been on a 'mission' before; it still seemed like the stuff of movies.
***
The blackbird was deadly silent as it landed in a small clearing out of sight of the facility, she was to remain in the jet with the equipment and a radio, the rest of the X-Men would walk from there as to not be detected by the brotherhood. She wished them all good luck as they left, taking a deep breath as she turned to Xavier.
"Aren't you going with them?" The question seemed rather stupid, he wasn't in a position to fight, and he would quite literally be a sitting target. However, she had no idea how these sorts of missions worked.
Xavier's response was interrupted by the telecom exploding with noise, the blasts of lasers and mutant powers, mangled with yells and screams from within the facility. Jean's voice occasionally sounded through the chaos, informing them of everything that was going on. Apparently there were people who they'd never seen before, with unexpected powers, however they seemed emotionless, almost disconnected from the real world. The Professor bridged his fingertips in front of his face and pondered for a moment before leaning forwards to press the button to give his message;
"Do the mutants have red eyes?"
Storm's voice confirmed Charles' guess to be correct. He mumbled a name under his breath and seemed to think for another moment before replying.
"Magneto must be using Wanda to hex them. You need to find Scarlet Witch!"
Confusion filled her mind as she tried to follow what was going on. So far she knew that there was a mutant controlling other mutants. But why? And why did they need Kurt?
***
The battling continued for a fair while longer, and the X-Men were holding up well; Jean had suffered a deep cut to the leg that was bleeding, but wasn't too serious. Some on-field medical attention carried out by Beast had ensured that she would be okay. They seemed to be getting closer, however the actual threat was still unclear. Xavier had warned them of an oncoming group consisting of mutants named 'Mystique', 'Quicksilver' and 'Sabretooth', Logan's growl on the other end of the line suggested that he really didn't like these ones; the roar and slashing that followed proved the theory to be correct. Jean and Beast were to try to reach whatever the three mutants were protecting before they realized and shut whatever it was down before Magneto could carry out whatever he was planning. Aurora guessed that they must be finding it more difficult than expected due to the strained sounds escaping the speakers of the radio.
*Bamf*
The sound on the line fluttered her heart and she involuntarily smiled. Again and again the multiple teleports along with the sound of metal on metal filled the frequency. So he was okay!
"Nightcrawler has been compromised!" The words mixed with grunts forced their way through Logan's gritted teeth as he tried to fight off his fellow X-Man. It was like a blow to her gut, spewing the emotions out of her body, leaving a vacuum . What had they done to him?! Rage slowly filled the void, coloring her vision red as light danced around her in a vicious, erratic path. She felt Charles attempt to enter her mind, but her mind was no more. How dare they.
She was on a warpath. Using her light to stun and blind any who stood in her way as she followed the X-Men's destruction into a large chamber. They'd gotten through. She hid behind a supporting beam that was fixed against the damp concrete wall, observing what was happening.
The man, Magneto, that she'd heard so much about was addressing Xavier as though he were in the room, with all of the detained X-Men. She bit her lip, listening to how he intended to launch a warhead on every major city of the world, filled with a virus that contracts the mutant gene, a virus that would change humanity forever. And all that he needed to do was to remove the X-Men; the only team capable of intercepting the entire plot. So he'd needed Kurt to lure the team here into his trap... She peeked around the beam, seeing the warheads in a large padded metal case. They looked almost alien. Convex in shape, with an electric blue glow emitting from their plasma center. The plasma would ensure a large explosion, with the microscopic virus raining down on whole cities, infecting everything. 'Being a mutant isn't a disease...'
*Bamf*
The smell of brimstone appeared with the presence. Her head snapped around, and she caught a glimpse of his eyes. Instead of the familiar gold, she was faced with a blood red. The words caught in her throat as she forced herself to whisper his name. He paused, before shaking his head and shoving her into the open. The distraction was enough for the X-Men to make their escape, the battle beginning again. Kurt teleported away, back to fight against the more seasoned X-Men. Aurora blasted light in every direction of her opponents, trying to confuse and stun them while she made her way down towards the warheads. Ducking and trying to keep her distance from her attackers, she found herself backed against the wall. Her power wasn't enough. She shot a flash of white light into their eyes before throwing a solid punch into the first one's nose, hearing a crunch and the warmth of blood on her fist as she slid down to the side before propelling her muscles back up to land a blow to their gut, knocking the wind from him as well as feeling the slight give of his cracking ribs. A sharp pain in her back followed as the second swung a blind punch at her, she positioned her feet, almost dancing as she spun to deliver a back-fist to her face, knocking her down as she followed through. Both opponents were unconscious, and she moved quickly towards the warheads, grabbing the case and closing it as she moved.
***
Kurt had no control, he could see everything that his body was doing, but he couldn't stop it. He was hurting the ones that he loved. 'So this is what hell is like' Fighting with all of his strength, he tried to force the hex from his mind. Of course, his efforts made no difference. All that he could do was watch as he slashed and attacked his fellow X-Men.
The fight had died down and the team had been captured, the feeling of dread filled him as he realized that this could be the end of the X-Men. A glimpse of movement from the corner of his eye drew his attention, no, he needed to stop his body. He needed control. The second that he saw who it was, his heart dropped. 'No, not Aurora... Bitte, mein Gott, nicht Aurora...' He bamfed to be stood next to her, and the terror written on her face hurt him.
"Kurt..." The whisper of his name in her delicate, fragile voice brought him back to the forefront of his rage.
'NEIN' he would not be controlled. Ripping against the forces of the hex inside of him, he pushed it's grip aside, only to capture a glimpse of his old self, a shadow of what it felt like to be himself. But the hex was stronger. He continued to fight it as he pushed her into the open, starting the battle again, all the while doing his own battle within his mind. He needed control, trying to rip his mind free, feeling the pain of removing the hex grip his skull like fire. Much to his despair the battle seemed to be tipping in favor of the brotherhood once again, with some of the X-Men being detained or unconscious. Where was Aurora? He scanned the room with panic, all the while trying to rid himself of the hex's grasps.
There.
She was cowering against the wall, in plain view of the remaining X-Men as one of the remaining hexed mutants lifted a shard of debris above him. Her death was imminent.
He couldn't let her die. She had so much to live for. He had to save her.
Tearing at the hex one last time, he ripped free of its grasps, with a searing pain shooting through his body. Even though in agony, Kurt's objective was clear. Save her.
*Bamf*
***
The teleport was instantaneous. Aurora watched in horror as Kurt appeared before her, just as the other mutant struck down.
Like he said, if he wasn't careful, he could wind up inside of something... Or vice versa.
She screamed, drawing the attention of the brotherhood one last time, with the X-Men finding the strength to attack and make them flee.
Kurt dropped to his knees before her, his yellow eyes weeping. She didn't know what to do, he had an arm through his heart. Tears flooded her vision as she hugged him, saying his name again and again, hoping that somehow he would return to her. He saved her, but at what cost?
His arm moved to feebly hug her back, before his eyes closed for one final time.
Author's Note
PLOT TWIST *Laughs evilly while writing*
Bet you didn't see THAT coming? ;) Don't worry things do have to get worse before they get better. Much, much better :p
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