Four Years Ago...
Lorna and I were having our monthly girl's night. We would watch cheesy movies and talk about everything.
"So you and Gus?" Lorna asked suggestively.
"Yeah... He's cool." I said blushing slightly.
"He's cool? He's perfect for you, Dylan." Lorna said.
"Yeah... I guess so. He's so sweet and brave and a really good kisser." I said hitting my head against the pillow.
"I'm just glad you're not a third wheel anymore." Lorna said jokingly.
"Ha. Ha. Very Funny." I said rolling my eyes.
"I'm glad we're doing this. I feel like everything's been so crazy lately." Lorna said.
"Yeah, but I'll always make time for my person." I said.
"I know. I'm too amazing to blow off." Lorna said flipping her hair.
"Hahaha, so what movie do you want to watch next? Twilight or I Love You, Man?" I asked holding up the two DVDs.
"Hmmmmm... Tough one. I think Twilight. I want to drool over Taylor Lautner's abs." Lorna said.
"Hey, Marcos could hear you." I teased.
"Oh, so what. Marcos knows I'd leave him instantly for Taylor Lautner." Lorna said eating some popcorn as I popped the DVD in the DVD player. I joined Lorna on my bed and we proceeded to drool over Jacob and Edward. I loved these nights.
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We were meeting the Frosts in the common area to discuss our plan to end the Hound Program.
"I just want to make something clear. We're working with you on this because the Hound program is a threat to all of us. But if any of you think that being here means..." Marcos said.
"We're friends now? - Oh, you made it clear we're not. We're just here to get a job done, same as you." The Frost sisters cut Marcos off finishing each other's thoughts.
"Marcos, they're right. Stay cool." John preached.
"Stay cool? How are we supposed to stay cool? We're at war and people are gonna die." I said giving John an annoyed look.
"I don't see a move here. The Hounds are already out there. They're kicking our asses." Lorna said concerned.
"It's a secret program. We can kill it, but it has to happen soon. Our sources tell us Dr. Campbell is working his political connections - to take it national." The Frosts said.
"What do you mean?" John asked.
"He's attending the Humanity Today Summit - in Charlotte, tomorrow." Esme said.
""Humanity Today"? Is that seriously what they call it?" Clarice scoffed.
"I guess they thought it sounded better than "Kill the Muties." Every major anti-mutant figure will be there. Politicians, business leaders Purifiers." Esme said looking at me.
"It's in Charlotte?" I asked concerned.
"Aren't you from Charlotte?" Marcos asked me. I nodded deep in thought.
"Security will be massive. All right? There's got to be a better..." John said.
"I know your parents are gonna be there, but you have to stay focused." Esme cut John off and aimed her words at me.
"Your parents will be there?" Clarice asked.
"Yeah. They help Senator Montez with his campaign every year." I said ashamed.
"What? Your parents are Purifiers?" Clarice asked angrily.
"We're out of time. This is our chance to grab Campbell and use him - to smash the program." Esme said before I could answer Clarice.
"So we're kidnappers now. I thought we're supposed to be the good guys." Clarice said and I saw Lorna roll her eyes. I looked at her concerned, but she gave me an annoyed look.
"Let's not get so high and mighty. I don't suppose you've shared your criminal past with everyone here? Do they not know about your old friends? Because we do. But the past is in the past. Right now, we have work to do." Esme said making Clarice uncomfortable. I didn't miss the look John gave Clarice.
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After the meeting with the Frosts I stayed back to talk to Lorna.
"Hey, can I talk to you?" I asked.
"Yeah, what's up?" She asked.
"Why do you look like you're agreeing with the Frosts all the time?" I asked.
"Because I do." She shrugged.
"Are you serious? They're murderers." I said angrily.
"They are actually doing something to help mutants." She said.
"And we're not?" I scoffed.
"We're helping a few people. They're helping millions. I just want to help every mutant and we can't do that the way we've been operating this place." Lorna said walking away.
"Are you willing to give up your morals for that?" I called after her. She continued walking away. I was speechless. What was Lorna thinking?
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After I talked to Lorna, I went to talk to John. I needed to tell him about my concerns with Lorna. I found him packing for the trip to the Frost's safe house.
"Hey, I need to talk to you." I said as he was packing his bags.
"Not now, Dylan." John said trying to ignore me.
"No, it's abou..." I began.
"I can't talk to you right now, Dylan. We had sex one night and you need to get over it. I told you it was a mistake, but you can't seem to get it through your head." John screamed turning directly towards me.
"Right... Because everything's about you. You think I'm so obsessed with you, but I was here to talk about the Underground. Maybe you should get over yourself before you don't have any friends left." I said storming out of the room to go pack my bags for the mission.
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We were heading to the safe house to prepare for our mission to take down the Hound Program. We pulled up to a huge mansion and got out of the two black SUVs.
"I thought we were coming to a safe house." Marcos asked looking at the huge house we pulled up to.
"It is safe.- And it's a house.- Hence the term." The Frosts said.
"It's just so bougie." Clarice said.
"Well, if it'll make you feel more at home, we could bring in some mold, smash some holes in the floor." The Frosts joked.
"Don't worry about it. It's fine." John said.
"I'll see them inside." One of the Frosts said leading us inside.
"There's a full security system, and we're set up for a variety of interrogation methods. Although, I should be able to extract any information we need." Esme said leading us through the house.
"And you have a fully stocked bar because?" Clarice asked curiously.
"Breaking Campbell could take a while. Why live in squalor? The X-Men started your little crew before they vanished. Our founders, they left us with more than a pat on the back and encouraging words." Esme said.
"You're talking about the Brotherhood." John said skeptically.
"So he's pretty and clever." Esme said walking toward John.
"The Brotherhood also left you with homicidal tendencies, so that's something." I said looking through the house.
"In half an hour, our ticket into the summit will be driving down a road near here. We best get ready." Esme said leaving the room.
The Frosts began leading us to our rooms. My room was right across from John's and I think they did that on purpose. Although, I'm right next to Clarice, so I could talk to her.
"Hey, Clarice?" I asked from her doorway.
"Yeah?" She asked annoyed.
"Can I talk to you? About my parents?" I asked.
"You mean the Purifiers?" Clarice asked angrily.
"Yeah, but I can't control where or who I come from, but I can control how I feel. I hate my parents. My mother follows my father around like a puppy. My father terrifies me. He's cruel and evil. I don't ever want to be like them. That's why I ran away when I found out I was a mutant. They preached hate my whole life and when I would question it, they would make my life miserable." I said trying to get her to understand my side of the story.
"Listen, I'm sorry if I was a little annoyed with you, but I had some bad run-ins with Purifiers and I was just confused and angry. I know you don't believe in that crap, I was just upset and emotional. You don't have to explain anything to me. I'm sorry for giving you death glares and avoiding you. I'm just scared." Clarice said now knowing the whole story.
"It's ok, Clarice. I'm scared too. I'm terrified because I keep thinking, what if I run into my parents? What are they gonna do or say?" I said zoning out thinking of all the possibilities.
"Hey, if you see them, I will get you out of there. Just say the word and I'll blink you out of there." Clarice said breaking my train of thought.
"Thanks, Clarice." I said leaving the room.
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John, Marcos, Lorna and I were preparing to take down Franklin Bennett.
"The Frost sisters are supposed to be so well-connected. This was the best way into the summit?" Marcos asked skeptically.
"Look, guy's a big fund-raiser for anti-mutant causes. He attends the Humanity Today Summit every year. If we're with him, we get past the gate." Lorna reassured.
"Yeah, I looked him up. Guy made a ton of money in pharmaceuticals. When he retired, he decided he wanted to contribute to society." John said.
"Oh, yes. His way of giving back was going after mutants. This should be fun." Lorna said pulling a dagger out of her boot with her powers.
"Lorna." John said warningly.
"I will play nice if he does." Lorna said.
"We should've gone after my parents. They influence everything in Montez's campaign. Practically funded every campaign. They have pool in this Summit." I said anxiously tapping my foot.
"You're parents are too well connected. They have the same security people at all times." John said trying to get me to look at him.
"Of course they do. They're the puppeteers and Montez is the puppet. They need to be protected." I scoffed.
"Let's do this." John said as we heard a car approaching. Clarice and Esme pulled their car out in front of Bennett's and he screeched to a stop. He saw us on the side of the road and panicked. He tried to put his car in reverse to run, but I created a stone barrier behind his car. Lorna used her powers to fling her daggers into his front tire. We approached the vehicle and he locked the door. Like that would do anything. John gave him a look and pulled his car door off and chucked it across the road. Marcos threatened Bennett with his hands ready to fire. Bennett gave up and put his hands up in surrender.
"Time to go." Marcos said.
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I got ready pretty quickly and began walking down the stairs. I saw John and Marcos getting ready."These guard uniforms? They have our shirt sizes. These people aren't screwing around here." John said throwing his shirt on. "John. All this time I've spent trying to convince you of things, I could've just bought you a nice shirt." Marcos said.
"Yeah, maybe he would've listened to me too." I said letting my presence be known.
"I know that you guys aren't about to go out and start the Frost Sisters fan club, but if someone is gonna offer me this kind of help to take down the people who killed Sonya and killed Pulse, I'm in." John said acknowledging our concerns.
"You know I want to get the people who killed Pulse and Sonya, but at what cost?" I asked hypothetically.
"I'm going along with this for you, Dylan and for Lorna. But I got to tell you this, I don't like it." Marcos said.
"When I was in Afghanistan, in the Marines, I had to work with a lot of folks I did not like. But you fight the fight that's in front of you. Eyes on the prize. We got to grab Campbell today." John said.
"If we run into trouble. I need you guys to promise me something." I said.
"What?" Marcos asked curiously.
"I can't let anyone take me again. My parents sent mutants to the Hound Program, but I've heard from a lot of people that they want me for something else completely. I don't plan on finding out what, so if they end up getting the upper hand, I need you to promise me they won't get their hands on me. Even if you have to kill me. I don't want them to use me against you guys." I said.
"We're not gonna kill you, Dylan." John said.
"This is the only thing I've ever asked of you guys. Please, just promise me. I was going to ask Lorna, but we haven't exactly seen eye to eye on things lately, so I need you guys to do it. If it comes down to it. Only as a last resort." I said.
"You can't possibly think we'd agree to this?" Marcos asked.
"I didn't think you would, so I already ran it by the Frosts. They agreed instantly. I just wanted it to be you guys. I didn't want them to have the satisfaction of killing me." I said walking away. John followed after me.
"Listen, I know you're pissed at me, but why are you constantly trying to get yourself killed?" John asked.
"You don't know my parents. My father would make my life a living hell. He would turn me against you and the Underground. He would turn me into his own personal weapon and then when I wasn't of use anymore. You know what he'd do. I won't give him that satisfaction. I can't give him that." I said with so much passion that John backed off.
"I know you're scared, but..." John started.
"But what? You'll protect me? How? My parents are on the opposite side of a war I'm fighting. And yeah, I hate them, but they're still my parents. I haven't seen them since I was still human, so I don't know if I'll freeze or if I can even handle it, so you don't know how I feel and you can't protect me. All you can do is keep me out of their hands. And promise me that if it comes to it, you'll kill me. If not for me, then for Pulse." I said trying to make him agree.
"I promise, but only as a last resort." John said reluctantly.
"Thank you." I said.
"Dylan, I'm sorry for being a dick and pushing you away. I feel guilty all the time. Because of Sonya and Gus." John said voicing his thoughts.
"There's nothing to feel guilty for." I said.
"Yes, there is. I... I love you, Dylan and I feel guilty for it every single day." John said dropping the L bomb.
"I love you too." I said getting it off my chest. I crossed the room enveloped John in a kiss that felt like it would last forever. I reluctantly ended the kiss after a while and said, "We should probably go. The mission and all that."
"Yeah. We can continue this later." John said gesturing between the two of us.
"This doesn't void your promise." I said.
"Yeah. I know." He said solemnly.
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We were all ready for the mission, so we were going to see what was taking the Frosts so long. We found them torturing Bennett.
"Hey.- That's enough." Clarice said trying to stop them.
"What?" One of them said.
"You think torturing some sad old bigot's gonna make our job any easier? Cut it out. Now." Clarice said standing her ground.
"You're no fun." The Frost sister said. Stoping the torture.
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We were in two black SUVs trying to get into the Summit. Esme showed the pass and the other sister was controlling Bennett's actions. We were ushered through and the plans then started.
"All right, we got to make this quick. I can get us past the guards, onto that balcony. From there, you can take us to the elevators, right?" Clarice said approaching John and I.
"Yeah, yeah, but I want to say something first. What you did earlier, when you stopped the Frosts from torturing that guy, that was the right thing to do. Okay, I think maybe I was too hard on you earlier." John said trying to apologize.
"No, you weren't. I should have been more honest about my past." Clarice said.
"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. What matters is who you are now. That you're one of us." John said tapping her on the shoulder.
"Thanks, John." She said getting ready for the mission.
"Awe, John. You're going soft." I said teasing him.
"Only for you." He replied flirtatiously. I smiled and gave him a small peck on the lips.
"Flattery will get you everywhere." I said.
"Let's do this." Marcos said bringing Clarice with him. Clarice opened the portal and we ended up on the balcony. The plan was in motion to get Dr. Campbell.
"Lorna did her thing. It's time." Clarice said checking her phone seeing there was no signal. "He's coming up, with a few guards in the elevator. Wait. Sounds like there's three more in a suite down the hall." John said using his abilities.
"Then let's stay the hell away from that suite." Marcos said stating the obvious.
"Come on." John said leading Marcos towards the elevator doors.
"Hey, Dr. Campbell." Marcos called, but all I could see was the face of my father walking towards me.
"Yes?" He asked as Marcos blinded them temporarily.
"Ah, there's my girl." He said in a menacing tone as chaos broke out around us.
"Nathan." I said trying not to show my fear.
"Oh, Dylan, is that any way to greet your father?" He asked.
"You're not my father. A gene donor maybe, but definitely not a father." I spat viciously.
"That's a little harsh." He said.
"Come on." I heard John shout before gun fire began. I tried to run to help them, but my father blocked my path.
"Get out of my way before I make you." I threatened raising my hands.
"I think you'll have a little trouble with that seeing as I have a little device here, that disrupts mutant abilities. Go ahead try." He said. I tried to use my abilities, but couldn't, so I resorted to running. My father was easily able to stop me.
"John!!!" I yelled. I saw him coming down the hallway.
"Let her go." He yelled.
"Oh, isn't that sweet. Don't you know how her last boyfriend ended up? A Hound in my fully funded program. The one before that? He'll never walk again. Be careful with this one." My father said as he brought me into a choke hold and placed a gun next to my temple.
"Hey, let's talk about this." John said trying to reason with him.
"John, we talked about this. You know what you have to do." I said with tears in my eyes.
"No, Dylan. I can't." He said.
"Oh, did you ask him to kill you if I got to you? That's so sweet, but I'm afraid you overestimated him. He loves you too much to hurt you. I can see it in his eyes. That's the way I look at your mother. It's the way I used to look at you." My father interrupted.
"Please, John." I begged.
"Just go, son. She's not worth it." Nathan said. Just then more agents appeared and started shooting at John.
"Go, John!! Don't worry about me. I'll figure something out." I said gesturing for him to leave me. John reluctantly left and my father lead me to a car. It turned out that Dr. Campbell was in that car.
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My father took me to a plane with Trask Industries on the side.
"Where are you taking me?" I asked.
"Don't worry about it. We have a special place for you. You'll have a purpose in time, but you have to be good." My father said patronizingly.
"Ah, Nathan, I see you located your daughter. She is very special having not one, but four abilities, very impressive. She can also use her abilities with a collar on far more than any mutant I've ever encountered. She interests me." Dr. Campbell said studying me.
"Yes, I have been looking for her for a long time, but she came to me. Who would've thought?" Nathan replied.
"They're going to love you in D.C." Dr. Campbell said as they restrained me to a seat.
"They're gonna love you in hell." I replied instantly.
"She's feisty. That never survives the Hound Program." Dr. Campbell said. We began taking off and then I felt the plane begin to vibrate.
"Lorna..." I said as tears began to fall down my face.
"What's happening?" My Father yelled.
"We're going to die." I said simply.
The Plane began to catch fire and then it completely dismantled. I closed my eyes and realized that pain never came. I was suspended in mid air. I looked around and began to lower myself to the ground. I survived? Then I spotted John, Marcos and Clarice.
"JOHN!!!!" I yelled and ran into his arms.
"Dylan?!? How did you? Are you? What happened?" John fired questions.
"I don't know. It was like I was flying and the plane exploded around me." I said still crying. "Did Lorna do this?" I asked.
"Yes." John said simply.
"Did she know I was on that plane?" I asked. Nobody answered. "Did she know?" I asked again with pleading eyes.
"Yeah, she knew." Marcos said ashamed.
"Why would she do that if she knew I was on the plane?" I asked and began to cry again.
"She's not herself, Dylan." Marcos said.
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Outside of Nashville John, Marcos, Clarice, and I were regrouping with the Underground.
"It was close, but we got everyone out. If it weren't for Lauren and Andy, we would all be dead." Sage explained to us.
"And headquarters?" John asked.
"It's gone." Sage explained.
"Gone? What do you mean, gone? It can't just be gone." Marcos said in disbelief.
"I'm telling you, gone. It just I-I've never seen anything like it. No one got out but the Strucker kids." Sage said.
"You okay?" Clarice asked John.
"Uh, just we sacrificed so much." John said with tears in his eyes.
"Everything we built is just gone. It's all dust. How do we come back from this?" I asked losing all the hope I had.
"We will come back from this. It'll just take some time." John reassured me.
"Uh any, uh, any word from Lorna?" Marcos asked.
"Nothing. I'm sorry." Sage said solemnly.
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Everyone left from the Underground was gathered in a meeting discussing our course of action.
"We need to start thinking about next steps. With the headquarters gone, a lot of people have nowhere to go." John said taking the lead.
"John, we know what we need to do. We need to rebuild." Marcos said confidently.
"Rebuild what? You heard Sage. The place disintegrated." Clarice said stating the obvious.
"It's not about a building. It's about the network and the people in it." Marcos explained.
"Everything we have is gone. Restart from nothing? It's not possible." Sage said analytically.
"Besides, anything that we build, they're just gonna smash it again." Shatter added.
"It took years to get to where we were, but we can have a fresh start somewhere new. We can't rebuild if everyone is scared. We need to be strong for all the mutants out there." I said trying to keep our people together.
"No. That's not a reason to give up. That's a reason to fight harder." Caitlin said passionately.
"Listen, I get you trying to help, but you're not even a mutant." Fade pointed out.
"I am. And my children are. And the Underground saved our lives. If the Sentinel Services comes after another family, we owe it to them to be there." Reed said heroically.
"I'm sorry, but the fact is since your family came, half our stations have been destroyed." Sage said.
"You can't blame us for that. The Hound program was coming one way or another." Caitlin said.
"Okay. Hey! The X-Men didn't do this 'cause they thought it would be easy. They knew it would be a struggle. They knew it would take sacrifice." Marcos said.
"There's nothing noble about struggle, Marcos. And sacrifice is just a pretty name for losing." I heard Lorna say.
"Lorna, what are you doing?" Marcos asked confused.
"I'm telling them the truth. The Mutant Underground is dying. That world where we don't have to hide that we've always talked about? I want to build that. For all of us. For my baby." Lorna said.
"That baby is ours. And this is where your family is. Lorna, you know I will do anything for you, but I can't help you do this." Marcos said drawing the line.
"No one's asking for your help. The people we're here for They know who they are." Esme said from beside Lorna.
"What the hell does that mean?" Marcos asked.
"What? Fade? Fade." Marcos said as Fade stepped forward.
"You can't just come here after killing people and trying to kill me to recruit people." I said angrily.
"I didn't want to hurt you, but those people needed to die." Lorna said.
"Who are you to say who lives and dies? That makes us no better than them." I said.
"Maybe we need to get on their level to send a message." Lorna shrugged.
"Sage." John called out when Sage began moving towards them.
"I'm sorry, John. They ended the Hound program. This is just about survival." Sage said.
"Guys. You've got to be kidding me." Marcos scoffed. Just then Andy got up.
"No. No way." Reed said.
"Andy, stay where you are. You are not taking our son!" Caitlin yelled.
"They're not taking me. It's my decision. This thing they're trying to rebuild, the Hellfire Club, it's something that our family was a part of. And you're the one who's always talking about helping people." Andy said.
"A war between humans and mutants isn't helping anyone." Caitlin pointed out.
"I can't let you do this." Reed said.
"I'm not asking." Andy said.
"What?" Reed asked.
"Andy. When we were kids playing X-Men, we did that because they were heroes. Because they saved everyone. Please. Don't leave me." Lauren pleaded.
"The X-Men are gone. We're not little kids anymore." Andy said taking a spot beside Lorna.
"Andy. Andy, no." Reed pleaded, but Andy shook the building.
"I'm-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that. I love you guys, but you're my family, I don't want to hurt you. Don't try to stop me." Andy said as they walked away.
"No. No, no, no, don't. Don't." Caitlin said trying to go towards them, but Marcos stopped her. I watched them leave with anger and a new sense of purpose. We needed to rebuild fast.