Among the Strong
Aug. 8th, 2025 03:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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marysuevirusTitle: Among the Strong
Chapter Forty Six: The Meeting
Fandom: the Marvel universe
Rating: 18 and up
Warnings: graphic violence, language, sex, dark themes, anything else i can toss in.
Disclaimer: the recognizable characters and places contained herein are the property of Marvel. i'm merely borrowing for the sake of entertainment. no money is being made from this venture. Haley belongs todazzledfirestar Morgan belongs toginevra Roxxy belongs tonanaeanaven Jehnna belongs to silverfox_chan and Dare belongs to me. the concept and title of The Mary Sue Virus are used with permission from dazzledfirestar .
Author's Notes: this is almost entirely Daz's fault. okay. so it really isn't. its actually almost 100% my fault. Daz just did a whole lot of encouraging. this fic is going to be kind of dark, so please keep that in mind while reading.
Among the Strong - the index
The room was painfully silent, the five of them glancing around at each other as if trying to figure out why they were there and who was going to sneak out first. They were gathered in the uninhabited suite, the one that had been meant for Remy and Dare. There was very little furniture in it. And there was even less warmth. The room lacked personality and life, attesting to the fact that it hadn’t really been lived in. It had been occupied here and there. But not lived in. That emptiness made everyone seem distant and far away from each other.
Haley had one of the chairs, her spine pressed against the back from shoulder to hip. As if she was using the chair for support. A week or so of resting had done wonders for her complexion, but Roxxy could see that she was far from at peace. It was in the way her eyes went to the door repeatedly. Either she wanted to run or she was expecting trouble. Given what had happened to her, either one of those were understandable. Also, it was the first time Roxxy had seen Haley without Emilia in her arms or nearby since that day. For some reason, it struck the shifter as odd.
She let her gaze slide to the couch. Jehnna had taken one corner. Morgan had taken the other. That left a huge gap of empty space between them and she couldn’t help but think it was a visual comment on the state of their relationship. Hell, on everyone’s relationships. Of the couch’s two users, Morgan seemed to be the more nervous. She had her hands clasped together in her lap, fingers shifting every now and again in what looked to be uncontrolled movements. Jehnna was smiling absently, her gaze not really locked onto anything in particular. Roxxy wasn’t sure she liked the look on the woman’s face. It was and wasn’t as bad as that day the week before when she’d last spoken with Jehnna. Something about it felt off and wrong, though Roxxy wasn’t sure why it felt that way. But she’d learned a long time ago to trust her instincts and her instincts were screaming at her that something kind of bad was coming their way. The question was, where was the bad thing coming from?
Her stare turned at last to the final member of the group. The last member of the team. Dare. The pyrokinetic had declined a seat and stood with one shoulder pressed against the wall. While she gave the appearance of being at ease, Roxxy’s nose told her a different story. Dare was tense. And a little afraid. It was true that this was the first time Dare had seen her friends, except Haley, since before their last mission. And it was true that Dare had been through some version of Hell that Roxxy couldn’t even begin to imagine. But surely she didn’t expect her friends to be anything other than happy to see her. Did she?
Dare’s refusal to sit meant Roxxy had taken the last chair. They were together again, for the first time in weeks, but they were still distant. Separated by the horrible things that had happened to them. It was uncomfortable and it was cold. And she found herself searching for some way to break the silence gripping them.
It turned out she needn’t have bothered because it was then that a single voice shattered the blanket of silence that had settled around them.
“This isn’t right,” Morgan said softly, drawing all eyes her way. She was frowning, her fingers twisting around themselves. Taking a deep breath, Morgan let her gaze slide to each of them. Let it settle on each of them for a few seconds before moving on. Then she sighed and shook her head. “This isn’t what I envisioned when I came up with the idea to get everyone together. I envisioned more smiles. And some hugging. It feels like we’ve been apart forever.”
“A lot has happened,” Jehnna responded. Her tone sounded normal enough, but there was something lurking in the depths of her voice that would have put Roxxy’s fur up on end had she been wearing it. A discreet glance around the room told her that no one else seemed to have noticed.
“I know. And that’s why I felt getting together was a good idea. We —” Morgan broke off and sighed, a decidedly unhappy sound. When she looked up, there was a new kind of determination in her eyes. Her hands gestured between all of them. “We aren’t right. None of this is right. We’re supposed to be friends. Family. A team. But we’re none of those things right now. And it hurts.”
“I think everyone needed time to adjust, Morgan,” Roxxy said. She was as gentle and kind as she could be. Morgan stared a moment, then gave a slow nod.
“You’re right. There is a lot to get used to. But maybe we could do that more easily if we leaned on each other for support. So much has happened to all of us and, honestly, we should be leaning on one another. Helping one another sort through things and deal with them.” Roxxy didn’t miss the way Morgan’s gaze moved to where Dare stood. The guilt clogged the air around her, lingered in the back of her gaze, and clung to her words.
“That’s all fine and good, Morgan. But don’t you think some of us have suffered more than others?” Jehnna asked. That thing Roxxy had heard earlier in the woman’s voice seemed closer to the surface. It seemed to be getting closer to the surface every time she spoke. Roxxy couldn’t figure out exactly what it was. Sure, she’d spoken with Jehnna last week. But it hadn’t been like this. It was as if something dark and deadly was lurking in the depths of her soul. And she was certain she didn’t want to know what would happen when it finally broke through and spilled out over the rest of them.
Morgan’s attention shifted back to Jehnna. Her frown had grown and there was a hesitance in the way she watched the other woman. Roxxy found that curious. Did Morgan hear that thing that had taken up residence in Jehnna’s voice? Did she know what was happening? It had to be related to the worries Sam had expressed to her. She was sure of it. Roxxy watched as Morgan took her time staring at Jehnna. Then she drew a breath and seemed to pull her courage in around herself. “We’ve all suffered, Jehnna. We were kidnapped and held captive. We were used as a science experiment. It was a traumatic event for all of us.”
“But some more than others. Right?” Jehnna insisted. It was apparently enough for Haley to take notice. Their leader shifted in her seat and seemed to come back to herself. Some of the anxiousness left her posture, replaced by Haley’s natural tendency to take the lead.
“Some have suffered more than others, Jehnna. No one is arguing that,” Haley replied. It drew Jehnna’s gaze the redhead’s way. Roxxy didn’t like the way Jehnna stared at Haley. But whatever Haley saw in the younger woman’s gaze, she didn’t let herself back down from it. Roxxy had the feeling that things were about to go sideways in a huge way. “But this isn’t a contest about who happens to be the most traumatized. Morgan is saying that we need to have each other’s backs. Which we used to do when something terrible happened.”
“Not all of us,” Dare muttered. Roxxy caught it with her enhanced hearing, but a glance around the room suggested no one else had. And Roxxy couldn’t help but recall a few times when it had been suggested that Dare was too unstable, too unpredictable, to remain on the team. It was obvious Dare remembered them, too.
“Who had my back when I was fighting Pestilence? Who had my back when she knocked me down?” Jehnna asked. Her words were sweet poison, sending a ripple of unease down Roxxy’s spine. Haley frowned at that, obviously noticing that something wasn’t right.
“We were all busy with our own problems that day. In case you’ve forgotten,” Haley said, a touch of anger threading through her words. “I was dealing with War. And Dare was fighting Death. Should we have traded? Maybe your powers would have worked better against one of them.”
Roxxy was taken aback for just a moment at the contempt in Haley’s voice. She wasn’t sure if it was directed at Jehnna for being a little insensitive about this or if it was aimed back at Haley for what she felt was a colossal failure on her part. Roxxy saw the look Jehnna gave Haley, as if she was looking for the weakest link in Haley’s armor, and rushed to speak. She was going to do her level best to keep things as civil as possible. “That fight was full of chaos and confusion, Jehnna. We all had our hands full,” Roxxy said, her tone patient. “If any of us had been able to help you, we would have.”
“Why wasn’t Dare’s team in the middle of the fight?” Jehnna asked, her eyes shifting to where Dare stood by the wall. A flick of her gaze in that direction showed Roxxy that Dare was staring at Jehnna with no emotion on her face and nothing in her eyes.
“My team doesn’t have any experience with that kind of fight,” Dare replied.
“They went up against Doom,” Jehnna returned quickly.
“No, Jehnna. Dare’s team didn’t go up against Doom. Dare went up against Doom. Her team was there to get me out and to keep the Doombots off her back. That’s it,” Haley told the other woman quietly. Roxxy saw Jehnna’s eyes go wide before she shot a look toward Dare. Obviously she hadn’t known that fact. “And even if her team had faced Doom, they still didn’t have enough training and missions under their belts to take on the horsemen. We have both of those things under our belts, plus years of working together, and we barely managed to hold our heads above water.”
“The horsemen still took us,” Jehnna said. Her words were accompanied by accusation. And a pout. Roxxy frowned. Her emotions seemed to be all over the place. This was so unlike the woman.
“Because they’re the horsemen. And they work for Apocalypse,” Morgan supplied. “I have no doubt Sinister ensured they were as genetically superior to us as they could be. In every way possible. Its what Apocalypse would have wanted.”
“That’s why he paired you up with the partner he did,” Roxxy told her gently.
“You’re telling me that putting me in a room with Sam was nothing more than a science experiment?” Jehnna asked. She sounded shocked by the news.
“What did you think it was, Jehnna?” Morgan looked at the other woman with a faint touch of confusion on her face. “That wasn’t meant to be a vacation.”
“Why didn’t he just put me in a room with Warren if he wanted a mutant baby?” It was not an unexpected question, but Roxxy thought maybe it was a little naïve on her part. She also thought Jehnna should have known that had never been an option.
“He chose our partners for us, Jehnna,” Haley supplied. The statement saw her turning her gaze Morgan’s way. Roxxy didn’t miss the way the woman’s eyes narrowed on Morgan. It was a considering look. And it was full of a darkness that would have been more at home in Dare’s gaze than Jehnna’s. “He was trying to create the perfect mutants for Apocalypse to use as horsemen. Stronger. More powerful. More everything.”
“So I got stuck in that room for a year with Sam because he wanted us to make one of these perfect mutant babies? So they could become horsemen for Apocalypse?” Her tone was angry and petulant all at once, suggesting her emotions were running wild.
“You’ve met those babies, Jehnna,” Haley told her. Jehnna’s gaze shifted to where their leader sat. Her expression didn’t appear to be very friendly. Almost as if she knew what Haley was going to say and was attempting to convince her not to. “You fought them. The horsemen we fought were our daughters. Surely you knew that.” There was a touch of gentleness to Haley’s words, a gentleness to help make swallowing the news a little easier.
“Lies. It can’t be true because I still have Talia. We all have our children.” Jehnna’s denial was vehement. And not rational at all. She was too distraught for this to be anything but a means of protecting herself from the truth. A truth that Roxxy felt certain she knew. But something had gotten twisted up inside of her mind. Something had her denying the truth of what had happened. And it was becoming obvious that trying to push the issue would only see her mental state getting worse.
It was time to change the topic of conversation.
“I’m happy to see you’re looking much healthier, Haley,” Roxxy said, turning her attention toward her best friend. Haley stared at her for a moment before her gaze shifted toward Jehnna. After a moment, Haley’s green gaze met Roxxy’s golden one again and she gave a slight incline of her head.
“A week in bed, resting up, seems to have done me some good,” Haley responded. Haley had once more slipped into vigilance, her gaze shifting toward the door more than it didn’t. It was the only sign of nerves or whichever emotion it was Haley was dealing with. Roxxy hated seeing her friend like that.
“There are no lingering headaches?” Roxxy questioned. There might have been a hint of concern in her voice. The headache Haley had woken with had lasted longer than Roxxy had thought it should have. Haley had brushed her worry aside as unnecessary. But she’d spent a week in bed, battling the lingering effects of whatever had happened in the hallway that day. Oh, she knew the professor had given everyone his ‘official’ version of what had taken place. But Roxxy had been incredibly disinclined to take his word as gospel. As yet, though, Haley hadn’t said anything to dispute or confirm the man’s words.
“No. I’m fine,” Haley replied. Her answer seemed a little short and a little terse. But Roxxy wasn’t going to call her on it here. That was a conversation best had in private. Instead, she turned her focus toward the others. A glance toward the wall showed her that Dare had shifted positions, so that her back was fully against the wall behind her. Roxxy had to wonder if it was still meant to be a negligent pose or if it meant she’d expended too much of her precious energy. It had been a few weeks since Petra’s complicated birth and the fraught situation that had come with it. Dare had spent more than a week in bed, resting up and regaining her strength. She’d had someone looking after her the whole time and Roxxy knew that most of her excursions were still done under the watchful eye of Remy or Logan. And she knew that Dare had reported to Henry during her last check up that she’d been eating regularly. She should have been back to what qualified as normal for her. But maybe there was something still lingering.
Not willing to open that can of worms, Roxxy let her gaze slide to the other two women in the room with them. Morgan had lost some of her anxiousness but she still seemed on edge. She cast periodic glances toward Jehnna, a frown on her lips and concern in her eyes each time. Jehnna seemed indifferent to the rest of them, that not quite right look back on her face that left Roxxy filled with more worry and more questions. Maybe they should put an end to this meeting. It didn’t seem like it was doing anything beyond alienating the five of them further. Roxxy opened her mouth to say as much, but Morgan shifted slightly in her seat, pulling the shifter’s gaze back to her.
“This is still wrong,” the woman said, mostly to herself. She looked pensive and thoughtful, as if she was searching for a good way to right the situation. Roxxy was afraid that there wasn’t one, but she didn’t bring it up. It seemed far too fatalistic and, ultimately, saying it aloud would do more harm than good. “We need to find a way back to normal.”
“We can’t ever go back to normal, Morgan,” Jehnna said, a touch of acid dripping from her words. The look on her face was positively hateful. “Things are too fucked up for that.”
Morgan glanced up at Jehnna a moment, then seemed to shrink in on herself. A second later, her spine had straightened and determination shone in her eyes. “Our new normal, Jehnna. We need to find our way back to our new normal. The old normal is gone. It went away the minute Sinister grabbed us and altered the course of our lives for us. So we have to find our new normal. We have to get that normal back. I refuse to believe that we can’t.”
“Why?” Jehnna questioned. It came out aggressive and angry. Roxxy let her gaze skim the room again. Morgan was staring at Jehnna determinedly. Haley’s hyper-vigilance had faded somewhat in the face of Jehnna’s almost obsessive desire to be cruel to Morgan. And Dare gave the appearance of not paying attention. But Roxxy was willing to bet she was only an inch away from jumping into the fray so she could defend Morgan.
“Because we’re friends, Jehnna. We’re family. And we’re a team. And this whole mess has us all fucked up.” Here, Morgan gestured to all of them with one hand. Jehnna was silent a moment, her face suggesting she was considering what the other woman had said.
A deep frown tugged the corners of Jehnna’s mouth down. Pulled her eyebrows together so that there were lines in her forehead. “And how do we do that, Morgan?” There might have been a touch of disbelief in their youngest member’s voice.
“We talk,” Morgan responded immediately, only to fall silent a moment as she fell into thought. “And we start by talking about everything that’s happened in the past few weeks. Maybe if we get it all out into the open, we can start the healing process.”
“What do you mean by everything, Morgan?” Roxxy asked, a touch of a frown settling on her face at that.
Morgan flashed a pained smile before her gaze slid around the room again so that it landed on each of the women there. “Everything. What Sinister made us do. What he said to us. The trauma this whole fucking thing introduced into our lives. Because I feel like that is what stands in our way the most. The trauma. How its affecting all of us. How its doing a damn fine job of tearing us apart.”
“What good does talking about it do?” Jehnna asked, sounding genuinely confused by the suggestion. “It doesn’t change what happened.”
“Talking keeps it from taking up residence in your head and in your heart. Talking about it keeps it from twisting you into some darker version of the person you’re supposed to be. Talking about it keeps you sane and helps you heal. Talking about it keeps you from destroying all the beautiful, wonderful things in your life.” The statement came from the last person Roxxy expected. It prompted every eye in the room to turn in Dare’s direction. She steadfastly refused to look any of them in the eye and the way her arms were crossed so tightly over her chest suggested she was trying to protect herself. But there was genuine sorrow on her face. Pain in her eyes. There wasn’t an ounce of anger to be seen, and it made Roxxy wonder what had happened to make Dare put aside her anger.
The silence that filled the room was heavy with confusion. And anger. And sadness. Roxxy couldn’t be sure if they were all feeling those emotions or if each of them was feeling something different. For her part, Roxxy felt a mix of deep sadness and just as much pride. It had to have taken Dare so much courage to put that much of herself out there, and Roxxy had no problems imagining that the statements the other woman had made were in reference to herself.
“Do you want to start, Dare?” Roxxy asked softly. The other woman said nothing, but the look she gave Roxxy told her plainly that it was the last thing she wanted to do. A faint, sad smile pulled up one corner of Roxxy’s mouth. It wasn’t an unexpected reaction. But she had hoped Dare might be willing to unburden herself just a little. It would be a sign of trust. It looked as if Dare wasn’t ready to trust them that much. Yet.
“Why don’t you start, Rox?” Haley suggested. The move surprised Roxxy, because she didn’t think that anything she experienced was anywhere near the same level of trauma as what the others had gone through.
“But Roxxy didn’t get taken,” Jehnna pointed out. Maybe Roxxy was mistaken, but she thought she heard a tiny bit of bitter anger in that sentence.
“No, I didn’t get taken,” Roxxy began. She saw the beginnings of a triumphant smile start pulling Jehnna’s mouth up. Roxxy spoke again, cutting across whatever odd thoughts Jehnna had going on in that head of hers. “But I had to live with the knowledge that I’d failed to protect all of you. Of course, that was secondary and only came after I nearly died.”
“What?” Morgan asked, her voice a little strident with emotion. And Jehnna’s grin fell, became a frown of displeasure that didn’t strike Roxxy as a sign of concern for her welfare. “What do you mean, you nearly died? What the hell happened?”
Roxxy sighed and reached for the memories she had of that day. Even after all this time, they were still mostly fuzzy. She supposed such a thing was to be expected, given how chaotic the fight had been. “I don’t know exactly what happened. I remember Null being in pain. Then the portal opened and the horsemen stepped out. I remember that War did all the talking and her focus seemed to be on Haley. I remember Dare swearing up a storm because she couldn’t roast Death. Beyond that, I don’t remember much. Little bits of images here and there. Bits that are hazy, making me wonder if I imagined them in some fever dream.”
The room was caught in pregnant silence while Roxxy struggled to pull the memories forward. She could swear she knew more than she was recalling. But nothing came forth. Nothing until later. “What I remember next is Piotr helping me to my feet. I must have passed out at some point, but I don’t remember when or why. Logan was there, the rest of the teams trailing behind him. I think I apologized, but what I said is hazy. I know I was panicked. I can remember that. And I remember Logan telling me that Sinister was involved. I think I was in some kind of fever dream state on the flight back. I barely recall it. The professor and Henry were waiting when we arrived. And I know I was inconsolable when I told them what happened. I also know I was not well. But I insisted on telling the professor what I knew. And then I insisted on telling Johnny what happened in person because he deserved that much. I finally collapsed at the Baxter Building. When I woke up the next time, I was in the medlab and Henry was at my side.”
“What happened, Rox? How did you almost end up dying?” It was Morgan again. And it was the same question. She could see in Morgan’s eyes that she wouldn’t rest until she knew the whole story. Sighing, she let her gaze slide around the room once again. Jehnna seemed, yet again, indifferent to what was going on around her. Haley watched her intently, her lips pressed together in a thin line. Even though she’d heard it before. And Dare… Flames literally flickered in her gaze, even though there were no strands of hair floating around her face and her hands were not balled into fists. It was a curious reaction, one Roxxy wouldn’t have believed possible if she’d never seen it. Dare had always had a tell. “Roxxy!”
Morgan’s voice jolted her out of her thoughts. Again, Roxxy sighed and shook her head. “I don’t see how this is important. What happened to me is nothing like what happened to the four of you.”
“Bullshit, Rox,” Haley ground out. “You nearly died. Shit like that fucks with your head.” A soft snort from the other side of the room told Roxy that Dare recalled when she’d said the same with Haley.
“Despite the fact that I don’t recall how it happened, I was injured in our fight against the horsemen,” Roxxy told them, her voice soft. “It became obvious when we’d returned here to the school. Henry tried to get me to rest after his exam, but I couldn’t do so until I’d spoken to Johnny. I sat long enough for Henry to take blood. And inspect a wound in my side. A wound from which he drew a glowing green feather.”
“A green…” Morgan started, then trailed off. Roxxy watched as her expression twisted into something filled with regret. “Pestilence hit you with a feather? I didn’t think it was possible. I thought they were some kind of psychic projection.”
“They were flying around real enough,” Haley replied. Morgan sent their leader a considering look before turning her attention back to Roxxy.
“So this feather almost killed you?” she asked.
Roxxy, nodded. “It did. Henry said it turned my blood to poison. It nearly killed me. I think, if he and Reed hadn’t found whatever it was they’d needed to find, I would have died. As it was, I was still recovering when you all returned to the mansion.”
Silence laid over them heavily while Jehnna and Morgan fully came to terms with what she’d told them. Dare and Haley were silent as they waited to see what would happen next. As the quiet continued to thicken around them, Roxxy found herself thinking about the fact that she and Haley had almost died. And that Dare had actually died. How did one deal with the trauma that came from nearly dying. Or from dying and coming back? What kind of emotional and mental scar did such a thing leave upon one’s mind and soul? She had to wonder why she’d never thought to ask either of her friends about their experiences and what such events had done to them.
“Why didn’t you tell us, Roxxy?’ It was Morgan again, her question laced with sadness and confusion. A glance from the corner of her eye showed that Jehnna was back to looking indifferent. As if this was more than she cared to deal with. And, again, Roxxy found herself wondering just what had happened to twist the woman’s thoughts up like this.
“It didn’t seem important in the face of what each of you had had to go through,” she told her friend. When Morgan gaped at her in disbelief, Roxxy shrugged her shoulders. Her gaze touched on each of her friends in turn. “All four of you were taken by Sinister. You had to fight your own daughters, which I’m sure was mind blowing enough. But add to that Sinister taking you to… some place and holding you there while he treated you like lab rats. That seemed to me to be more important and damaging than some feather.”
“This is bullshit!” Jehnna’s words burst forth in a shout, with anger and resentment fueling them. Roxxy could hear those emotions in her voice. She let her eyes slide around the room, starting with Roxxy before going to Dare and Haley and, finally, Morgan. “This whole thing is bullshit! My whole life – no, my whole world! – was upended and you think talking about it is going to fix anything? You think talking about how the things Sinister did personally traumatizing me will fix the problem? MY husband is sleeping in someone else’s bed and he thinks the best thing for us is to divorce! Will talking about that help fix the problem?”
By the time she finished speaking, Jehnna’s eyes were wild with emotion. Her entire body trembled and the lamps jittered and danced across the table tops because her powers were starting to leak out. She turned to look at Morgan, accusation in her eyes. “You want to fix things? Give Warren back! Stop filling his head with shit and let him come home! Its your fault that I’ve got to explain to my children why their father doesn’t want to live with them anymore!”
“I’m sorry, Jehnna. I never meant for any of this to happen,” Morgan responded, her voice small and strained. Laden with guilt.
“That’s enough, Jehnna. This isn’t going to do any of us any good,” Haley said, a touch of Icon living in her words. Jehnna’s gaze swung to Purple Team’s leader. If anything, the look on her face only got worse.
In fact, she sneered at Haley’s admonishment.
“As if you’ve got room to talk,” the younger woman countered. “After what you did. I feel so bad for Jean because I understand what she’s feeling. Its so hard to lose the person you’ve been in love with for such a long time. It hurts to have them just throw you overboard for someone else.”
Haley’s face paled, her mouth dropping open just a bit in her surprise. It looked to Roxxy like Haley was attempting to find words with which to defend herself, but none wanted to come. Not that it mattered because Dare, who had been silent and sullen the entire time, pushed away from the wall and stepped up until she stood beside Haley’s chair. Roxxy recognized the move as the protective stance that it was.
"Oh, yes,” Dare sneered. “Poor Jean. Our kidnapping has been hard on her. Its been so hard on her, she tried to sever the link Haley formed with Scott and damn near got Emilia hurt. Her attempts to mind-fuck Haley left Haley incapacitated for days. But sure. This is hard on her. This is terrible for her. We need to feel sorry for her. And you. Because all of the bad stuff happened to the two of you! No one else has suffered because of the things Sinister did."
Dare’s words saw every eye in the room shifting to look at Haley. Roxxy was sure the redhead was uncomfortable with the scrutiny. That discomfort didn’t show on her face. But Roxxy had no problems believing that Haley hadn’t wanted anyone to know about the link.
“You formed a link with Scott?” Morgan asked, only a slight hint of disbelief in her voice. Haley blushed, her cheeks turning pink with embarrassment. Roxxy wasn’t sure if she was embarrassed because she’d been found out or if it was because Morgan dared to ask about it.
“It wasn’t intentional,” Haley began, her voice soft enough that the silence almost swallowed up her words. That didn’t keep Roxxy from hearing the defensiveness in that brief sentence.
“But… why?” This time, the disbelief was thicker. Easier to hear. Along with it was confusion, as if Morgan was having a hard time grasping the concept.
“I’m not entirely sure how it happens beyond trauma. That’s how the links I have with Johnny and Piotr formed, I think. I believe it was the stress of the alien’s invasion and the comas it left the men lingering in that made the links form. I was already tied to the two of them. I guess the link was the next step or something.” Haley’s gaze faced straight ahead, but it was obvious she was looking back. “I never planned on creating a link with Scott. But we were alone in that room for a full year, with only one another to rely on. To be honest, we couldn’t really be sure anyone else was there. Or alive. And we couldn’t be sure we would make it back home. I feel like the isolation and our dependency on one another is what helped the link form. I didn’t even realize it was there until Emilia was born.”
Silence once more ruled as everyone seemingly digested what they’d heard. But it was broken soon enough by a harsh laugh filled with contempt. Every eye turned to where Jehnna sat on her corner of the couch. Her face was cast in lines of anger. They mingled with hurt and fainter traces of confusion. To Roxxy, it seemed like their friend was waging some kind of internal battle with her emotions. And with whatever demon rode her shoulder. She’d gotten the feeling through this whole thing that something wasn’t quite right with Jehnna, but the woman’s outbursts and temper made Roxxy feel certain that there was definitely something wrong. Something that required help.
“You’re such a sanctimonious bitch.” Jehnna’s words brought Roxxy from her thoughts to find that the other woman had turned a hateful glare Haley’s way. “It isn’t bad enough that you forced some kind of bond on Scott. You had to go and fall in love with him! You ruined his and Jean’s marriage! And you’re going to sit there and tell us you didn’t mean for it to happen? You’re a hypocrite.”
Roxxy expected her best friend to defend herself. To come back with some aggression and anger in her voice. Instead, Haley remained oddly silent. In fact, it looked to Roxxy like her friend had kind of deflated. As if Jehnna’s ridiculous tirade had taken the wind out of her. And she noticed, when Haley didn’t immediately defend herself, that Jehnna’s smile became knowing and smug. Some part of Roxxy itched to slap the look right off her face.
“If Haley’s a hypocrite, what does that make you? Aren’t you the one who fell in love with Sam even though you’re married to Warren? Does the decade you spent with Warren mean so little that you’d be willing to throw it all away on the first person who looks your way with puppy dog eyes?” Dare’s words were without inflection, but there was something odd about her voice. Something off. As if she wasn’t really the one speaking. Roxxy blinked and stared at the dark-headed woman. She didn’t look any different than she had through the whole thing, but some indescribable thing had changed about her. And it put Roxxy on red alert. “I understand that no one really gave you the adoration and attention you felt you deserved when you were younger, so its completely understandable that you’d jump on the first dick that stood at attention when you glanced its way. But maybe you need to look at your own behavior before you accuse someone else of ruining someone’s marriage. Because you sure fucked up your own.”
For a moment, it looked as if Dare’s vehemence had broken Jehnna’s mean streak. The younger girl stared across the distance at the pyrokinetic, mouth hanging open just a bit and eyes wide with disbelief. But them the look was gone and a sneer took its place. Jehnna stood up from the couch. Took a few steps across the room toward Dare. And Roxxy felt the fine hairs on her arms go up when a faint hint of Jehnna’s powers slid across her skin. Shit. This was going to get so much worse.
“Why are you even here, Dare? This discussion is supposed to be for us to help deal with our trauma.” The sweetness coating Jehnna’s words was so intense that it seemed to linger on Roxxy’ tongue and made her teeth actually ache.
“Other than Roxxy, I don’t see anyone really discussing their trauma much,” Dare remarked casually.
“Well, you were given the option. And you turned it down,” Jehnna shot back. Her smug look returned and it was entirely unhinged. “Maybe its because you don’t have any trauma to talk about. Maybe its because you got exactly what you wanted. Everyone knows you’ve been hot for Remy since you were a reckless, stupid teenager. It looks like Sinister gave you exactly what you wanted. But you’ve always been a whore, so Its no surprise you jumped on the opportunity to stab your best friend in the back the way you did.”
There was at least one gasp in the silence that followed Jehnna’s acidic rant. For her part, Dare looked unmoved. Her expression was blank and empty, her hands loose at her sides. For a moment, it seemed as if everything in the room had stopped. But then Haley’s hand moved, as if she planned on settling it on Dare’s arm. But Dare stepped away, unwilling to let anyone touch her. They watched as her gaze slid up and down Jehnna’s length slowly. And when it returned to the other woman’s face, there was a great wealth of nothing to see in it. As if Dare had found nothing of merit to look at.
“Dare,” Morgan whispered. Her voice sounded pained and worried, as if she could sense something on the other woman the rest of them couldn’t. It was likely she could, whatever Dare wasn’t showing leaking through their link. But her voice didn’t stir the other woman. Dare just continued to stare at Jehnna with that blank look. And, all the while, Jehnna’s grin grew and grew.
“You’re right, Jehnna,” Dare finally said. Her voice was lifeless, No. Not lifeless. It was like hearing the hissing whispers of the dead, something ancient and menacing coming for you. It was a nightmare made flesh. “I very obviously didn’t suffer any trauma. Being locked in a room against my will with someone I care deeply for is nothing like being locked in a room with someone who isn’t my partner. Having my will taken from me isn’t traumatic at all. All I could see was my opportunity to take Remy for myself. Because I’m nothing more than a whore who jumps from bed to bed. Because being raped as a teenager didn’t come back to haunt me the entire time we were locked in that room. Because being kidnapped by Victor Creed and turned into a puppet only there to sate his lusts upon didn’t come back to haunt me. Because being used as an incubator to produce a child so powerful she could fucking destroy the world wasn’t traumatic at all. Every thing I’ve ever gone through was nothing in comparison to you having to fuck someone not your husband. Its nothing in comparison to the fact that now you have to live with your own fucking choices. Its nothing because I’m nothing to you. And I never have been. Thank you so much for making that abundantly clear.”
There should have been a lot of rage in Dare’s words. Instead, there was a whole lot of nothing. She gave Jehnna another look. Roxxy had a moment to notice a shift in the air. And then Jehnna was landing hard on her ass in the corner of the couch she’d occupied only moments ago. A second later, there was a rush of heat and light and Dare was just… gone.
“What the fuck!?” Morgan shouted, already on her feet. Haley had turned to stone in the time it took Morgan to spit out those three words. Roxxy blinked when she thought she saw a slightly iridescent sheen clinging to that stone armor. And then Morgan was rounding on Jehnna. “You… Fucking hell, why? That was the stupidest thing you’ve ever done, Jehnna! Why did you have to say that?”
“How was I supposed to know she was going to react to it like that?” Jehnna asked, sounded absolutely and truthfully confused by what had just happened.
“Because you fucking suggested she was nothing more than a whore and she had no trauma!” Morgan nearly shouted. The shorter woman was practically vibrating with her rage. “You’re a fucking idiot! You know Dare’s history, the same as the rest of us! You… Fuck! I am not so hurt by what happened between her and Remy while Sinister had us that I’d take it out on Dare. If I know her, she tried to hold him off as long as she could. And you had to call her a whore to her face! Don’t you know that she’s struggled with that since…. God, since at least Creed? Why would you call her a whore?”
“Because she is one,” Jehnna responded. And her tone let them all know she believed it. “And so are you, Morgan. You stole Warren. And so is Haley, for making Scott fall in love with her. The three of you are all whores!”
“Pot, meet kettle.” The words echoed through the room as Faye joined them. She looked disgusted. And, for a second, Roxxy swore she saw an entirely different face staring at them. But that face was gone in the blink of an eye. Jehnna’s glare turned Faye’s way. Morgan’s double was very much not intimidated by it. “You have no right to call names when you are in the same exact situation as everyone else.”
“I didn’t come between Sam and a partner. Did I?” Jehnna asked, her focus on Faye.
“No. But you helped destroy your own marriage all the same,” Faye replied.
Jehnna’s face crumbled and, for just a moment, they were given a view of the woman who lived within all the misplaced rage and paranoia. And then she was gone, the antagonistic version of Jehnna back in control. Roxxy frowned at how quickly it happened. She made a note to talk to Warren or Scott about it. Because this was very much unlike Jehnna. “You aren’t a part of this conversation, Faye. Nothing happened to you.”
“Of course. Because no one but you suffered,” Faye shot back.
“You need to apologize, Jehnna,” Haley said, standing from her chair. Her armor glimmered in the light of the room and it somehow felt ominous. “To Dare. To Faye. To all of us.”
“I’m not apologizing for the truth, Haley. And if you can’t accept that, that isn’t my problem,” Jehnna retorted, her face twisted up in rage. And vindictive glee. “You’re all whores and this is the least of what you deserve for the trouble your actions have wrought.”
“Morgan. Where’s Dare? Find her and send Faye to bring her back. We’re going to have this out. Right here. Right now. Whatever it is. We’re going to find a way to fix this. Even if I have to punch some fucking sense into people.”
“That’s right, Haley. Make threats when you can’t have your way. You’re so spoiled that you won’t even let someone else have a differing opinion from you,” Jehnna shot back. Haley’s eyes narrowed, glowing the way they had the night Johnny had tried to take a swing at Scott. The room was flooded with the scent of rage and hatred. And some primal instinct within Roxxy responded. Her teeth ached in her gums and her fingers curled, the tips of them painful. She remembered the feelings and closed her eyes, doing her best to stomp down on the rage that wanted to see her unsheathe her claws and do damage.
The urge was dampened by the soft sound of Morgan sucking in a breath before letting go a very soft sob. Roxxy’s heart sank because she knew without having to ask what had made Morgan react that way. “I can’t feel her, Haley,” Morgan whispered, the words almost lost to the sound of rage simmering around them. But Haley heard her and turned her attention toward Morgan. Faye continued to glare at Jehnna. And Jehnna seemed indifferent to the way the room boiled around them.
“What do you mean, Morgan?” Haley asked. Roxxy felt certain Haley knew what Morgan meant. But she was asking the other woman to spell it out so that Jehnna was forced to hear what her careless words had done.
“She’s locked up tight again, Haley. Like she was before. I can’t feel her. I don’t know where she is,” Morgan’s voice was thick with tears. She turned to face Faye, hope in her eyes. “Can you find her, Faye? Do you know where she is?”
Faye didn’t take her eyes off Jehnna. She didn’t close them the way Morgan did when she tried to find Dare. She didn’t move or blink or even seem to breathe. She kept her gaze locked on Jehnna, let it bore into her until Jehnna shifted uncomfortably. It was only then, when Jehnna showed a hint of fear, that Faye spoke. “I can’t sense her, either, Morgan. She’s closed herself off to me, as well.”
“She…” Morgan began, then trailed off. Not that she needed to finish her thought. They all knew what had happened the last time Dare had cut them out. Morgan rounded on Jehnna, hands fisted and eyes dark with anger and fear. “Are you happy, Jehnna? You drove her away! And maybe, this time, she doesn’t come back! If anything happens to her, I’ll never forgive you.”
“If anything happens to Dare, that will be on your head,” Haley said, voice low and heavy with meaning. Jehnna turned to look at her. The younger woman’s expression was a mix of emotions. Anger. Relief. Confusion. Satisfaction. And so much more. So many emotions were there.
“If she can’t stand the heat…” Jehnna quipped.
Haley stepped closer, until she was mere inches from Jehnna. She loomed over the other woman, her entire stance an intimidation tactic. “You are more than aware that Dare nearly died the last time she cut herself off from us. She’s only just recovered from that. If this sets her back, you will spend all your available time sitting with her to ensure she recovers. And if this time actually does kill her, you and I will see which one of us is the bigger bitch. You will be lucky if all I do is throw you off the team.”
The room froze with the threat that lingered on the air. And the one that Haley hadn’t said. The one about how, if Jehnna was unlucky, Haley would beat the living hell out of her. Even Jehnna, as messed up as her brain seemed to be, parsed the unspoken threat because she stood still and stared at Haley with hints of fear touching her gaze.
“You’ve spent this entire session lashing out and attacking us. People who are supposed to be your friends. Your family. You’ve made it clear that you feel we are all beneath you.” Haley’s gaze was steady and intense, pinning Jehnna where she stood. Her voice was low and steady, threaded heavily with disappointment and anger. The silences between her words were punctuated with Morgan’s faint sobs as she cried out her worries and her fears. “And you went after Dare. In case you missed it, she got where you were coming from. She understood. And she was trying to let you know that being scared and angry and lost is normal. Its okay. Because she’s been through those things so goddamn many times now. And you shit on her compassion. You made her feel like she’s worthless. I hope you are very proud of that fact.”
Jehnna said nothing in response. The look on her face suggested she was incapable of speech. Because she was afraid of Haley. For a moment, the strained silence hung heavy and awkward between them. And then, Haley made a noise in the back of her throat and shook her head. “You know, Jehnna. You’ve spent this entire meeting proclaiming loudly that Morgan is the person responsible for ruining your marriage. But the truth is, no one ruined your marriage. You’re the one responsible for the problems between you and Warren. Obviously Warren needed more than you were willing to give him. Or even capable of giving him. Its no wonder he decided he wanted to be with Morgan. And I find it sad that Sam’s expectations are so much lower that being with you is all he needs to make him happy.”
Haley powered down, her armor melting away in a heartbeat. She continued to stare down at Jehnna, her face a mask of disappointment and disgust. “Find Dare. Apologize for being so crass and cruel. Do what you can to fix your shit. Maybe, if you do all that, we can go back to being a team. Maybe we can go back to being friends. Maybe we can be the family we once were. Because from where I’m standing, we’re none of those things right now. We’re not a team. We’re not friends. We’re not a family. We’re nothing.”
“Haley?” Roxxy asked, bringing the other woman’s attention her way. Roxxy saw sorrow and regret in her eyes. Saw resignation and more there.
“As of right now, Purple Team is benched indefinitely. If we can’t fix our shit…” Haley trailed off and shook her head. She was just turning toward the door when it opened and Scott let himself into the room. He took a moment to read the room before settling his attention on Haley. She watched him, waiting for him to speak.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, Haley. But Emilia is getting fussy. I think she wants you,” he told her apologetically.
“There’s no need to apologize, Scott. We’re done here.” Haley strode forward and left the room without looking back. The silence that settled over them was uncomfortable. Even Scott seemed to understand because he watched them without saying a word, his jaw tensed. Because he, despite not being privy to the events of the day and the course of their conversation, understood just what Haley’s last statement meant.
Chapter Forty Six: The Meeting
Fandom: the Marvel universe
Rating: 18 and up
Warnings: graphic violence, language, sex, dark themes, anything else i can toss in.
Disclaimer: the recognizable characters and places contained herein are the property of Marvel. i'm merely borrowing for the sake of entertainment. no money is being made from this venture. Haley belongs to
dazzledfirestar Morgan belongs toginevra Roxxy belongs tonanaeanaven Jehnna belongs to silverfox_chan and Dare belongs to me. the concept and title of The Mary Sue Virus are used with permission from dazzledfirestar . Author's Notes: this is almost entirely Daz's fault. okay. so it really isn't. its actually almost 100% my fault. Daz just did a whole lot of encouraging. this fic is going to be kind of dark, so please keep that in mind while reading.
Among the Strong - the index
The room was painfully silent, the five of them glancing around at each other as if trying to figure out why they were there and who was going to sneak out first. They were gathered in the uninhabited suite, the one that had been meant for Remy and Dare. There was very little furniture in it. And there was even less warmth. The room lacked personality and life, attesting to the fact that it hadn’t really been lived in. It had been occupied here and there. But not lived in. That emptiness made everyone seem distant and far away from each other.
Haley had one of the chairs, her spine pressed against the back from shoulder to hip. As if she was using the chair for support. A week or so of resting had done wonders for her complexion, but Roxxy could see that she was far from at peace. It was in the way her eyes went to the door repeatedly. Either she wanted to run or she was expecting trouble. Given what had happened to her, either one of those were understandable. Also, it was the first time Roxxy had seen Haley without Emilia in her arms or nearby since that day. For some reason, it struck the shifter as odd.
She let her gaze slide to the couch. Jehnna had taken one corner. Morgan had taken the other. That left a huge gap of empty space between them and she couldn’t help but think it was a visual comment on the state of their relationship. Hell, on everyone’s relationships. Of the couch’s two users, Morgan seemed to be the more nervous. She had her hands clasped together in her lap, fingers shifting every now and again in what looked to be uncontrolled movements. Jehnna was smiling absently, her gaze not really locked onto anything in particular. Roxxy wasn’t sure she liked the look on the woman’s face. It was and wasn’t as bad as that day the week before when she’d last spoken with Jehnna. Something about it felt off and wrong, though Roxxy wasn’t sure why it felt that way. But she’d learned a long time ago to trust her instincts and her instincts were screaming at her that something kind of bad was coming their way. The question was, where was the bad thing coming from?
Her stare turned at last to the final member of the group. The last member of the team. Dare. The pyrokinetic had declined a seat and stood with one shoulder pressed against the wall. While she gave the appearance of being at ease, Roxxy’s nose told her a different story. Dare was tense. And a little afraid. It was true that this was the first time Dare had seen her friends, except Haley, since before their last mission. And it was true that Dare had been through some version of Hell that Roxxy couldn’t even begin to imagine. But surely she didn’t expect her friends to be anything other than happy to see her. Did she?
Dare’s refusal to sit meant Roxxy had taken the last chair. They were together again, for the first time in weeks, but they were still distant. Separated by the horrible things that had happened to them. It was uncomfortable and it was cold. And she found herself searching for some way to break the silence gripping them.
It turned out she needn’t have bothered because it was then that a single voice shattered the blanket of silence that had settled around them.
“This isn’t right,” Morgan said softly, drawing all eyes her way. She was frowning, her fingers twisting around themselves. Taking a deep breath, Morgan let her gaze slide to each of them. Let it settle on each of them for a few seconds before moving on. Then she sighed and shook her head. “This isn’t what I envisioned when I came up with the idea to get everyone together. I envisioned more smiles. And some hugging. It feels like we’ve been apart forever.”
“A lot has happened,” Jehnna responded. Her tone sounded normal enough, but there was something lurking in the depths of her voice that would have put Roxxy’s fur up on end had she been wearing it. A discreet glance around the room told her that no one else seemed to have noticed.
“I know. And that’s why I felt getting together was a good idea. We —” Morgan broke off and sighed, a decidedly unhappy sound. When she looked up, there was a new kind of determination in her eyes. Her hands gestured between all of them. “We aren’t right. None of this is right. We’re supposed to be friends. Family. A team. But we’re none of those things right now. And it hurts.”
“I think everyone needed time to adjust, Morgan,” Roxxy said. She was as gentle and kind as she could be. Morgan stared a moment, then gave a slow nod.
“You’re right. There is a lot to get used to. But maybe we could do that more easily if we leaned on each other for support. So much has happened to all of us and, honestly, we should be leaning on one another. Helping one another sort through things and deal with them.” Roxxy didn’t miss the way Morgan’s gaze moved to where Dare stood. The guilt clogged the air around her, lingered in the back of her gaze, and clung to her words.
“That’s all fine and good, Morgan. But don’t you think some of us have suffered more than others?” Jehnna asked. That thing Roxxy had heard earlier in the woman’s voice seemed closer to the surface. It seemed to be getting closer to the surface every time she spoke. Roxxy couldn’t figure out exactly what it was. Sure, she’d spoken with Jehnna last week. But it hadn’t been like this. It was as if something dark and deadly was lurking in the depths of her soul. And she was certain she didn’t want to know what would happen when it finally broke through and spilled out over the rest of them.
Morgan’s attention shifted back to Jehnna. Her frown had grown and there was a hesitance in the way she watched the other woman. Roxxy found that curious. Did Morgan hear that thing that had taken up residence in Jehnna’s voice? Did she know what was happening? It had to be related to the worries Sam had expressed to her. She was sure of it. Roxxy watched as Morgan took her time staring at Jehnna. Then she drew a breath and seemed to pull her courage in around herself. “We’ve all suffered, Jehnna. We were kidnapped and held captive. We were used as a science experiment. It was a traumatic event for all of us.”
“But some more than others. Right?” Jehnna insisted. It was apparently enough for Haley to take notice. Their leader shifted in her seat and seemed to come back to herself. Some of the anxiousness left her posture, replaced by Haley’s natural tendency to take the lead.
“Some have suffered more than others, Jehnna. No one is arguing that,” Haley replied. It drew Jehnna’s gaze the redhead’s way. Roxxy didn’t like the way Jehnna stared at Haley. But whatever Haley saw in the younger woman’s gaze, she didn’t let herself back down from it. Roxxy had the feeling that things were about to go sideways in a huge way. “But this isn’t a contest about who happens to be the most traumatized. Morgan is saying that we need to have each other’s backs. Which we used to do when something terrible happened.”
“Not all of us,” Dare muttered. Roxxy caught it with her enhanced hearing, but a glance around the room suggested no one else had. And Roxxy couldn’t help but recall a few times when it had been suggested that Dare was too unstable, too unpredictable, to remain on the team. It was obvious Dare remembered them, too.
“Who had my back when I was fighting Pestilence? Who had my back when she knocked me down?” Jehnna asked. Her words were sweet poison, sending a ripple of unease down Roxxy’s spine. Haley frowned at that, obviously noticing that something wasn’t right.
“We were all busy with our own problems that day. In case you’ve forgotten,” Haley said, a touch of anger threading through her words. “I was dealing with War. And Dare was fighting Death. Should we have traded? Maybe your powers would have worked better against one of them.”
Roxxy was taken aback for just a moment at the contempt in Haley’s voice. She wasn’t sure if it was directed at Jehnna for being a little insensitive about this or if it was aimed back at Haley for what she felt was a colossal failure on her part. Roxxy saw the look Jehnna gave Haley, as if she was looking for the weakest link in Haley’s armor, and rushed to speak. She was going to do her level best to keep things as civil as possible. “That fight was full of chaos and confusion, Jehnna. We all had our hands full,” Roxxy said, her tone patient. “If any of us had been able to help you, we would have.”
“Why wasn’t Dare’s team in the middle of the fight?” Jehnna asked, her eyes shifting to where Dare stood by the wall. A flick of her gaze in that direction showed Roxxy that Dare was staring at Jehnna with no emotion on her face and nothing in her eyes.
“My team doesn’t have any experience with that kind of fight,” Dare replied.
“They went up against Doom,” Jehnna returned quickly.
“No, Jehnna. Dare’s team didn’t go up against Doom. Dare went up against Doom. Her team was there to get me out and to keep the Doombots off her back. That’s it,” Haley told the other woman quietly. Roxxy saw Jehnna’s eyes go wide before she shot a look toward Dare. Obviously she hadn’t known that fact. “And even if her team had faced Doom, they still didn’t have enough training and missions under their belts to take on the horsemen. We have both of those things under our belts, plus years of working together, and we barely managed to hold our heads above water.”
“The horsemen still took us,” Jehnna said. Her words were accompanied by accusation. And a pout. Roxxy frowned. Her emotions seemed to be all over the place. This was so unlike the woman.
“Because they’re the horsemen. And they work for Apocalypse,” Morgan supplied. “I have no doubt Sinister ensured they were as genetically superior to us as they could be. In every way possible. Its what Apocalypse would have wanted.”
“That’s why he paired you up with the partner he did,” Roxxy told her gently.
“You’re telling me that putting me in a room with Sam was nothing more than a science experiment?” Jehnna asked. She sounded shocked by the news.
“What did you think it was, Jehnna?” Morgan looked at the other woman with a faint touch of confusion on her face. “That wasn’t meant to be a vacation.”
“Why didn’t he just put me in a room with Warren if he wanted a mutant baby?” It was not an unexpected question, but Roxxy thought maybe it was a little naïve on her part. She also thought Jehnna should have known that had never been an option.
“He chose our partners for us, Jehnna,” Haley supplied. The statement saw her turning her gaze Morgan’s way. Roxxy didn’t miss the way the woman’s eyes narrowed on Morgan. It was a considering look. And it was full of a darkness that would have been more at home in Dare’s gaze than Jehnna’s. “He was trying to create the perfect mutants for Apocalypse to use as horsemen. Stronger. More powerful. More everything.”
“So I got stuck in that room for a year with Sam because he wanted us to make one of these perfect mutant babies? So they could become horsemen for Apocalypse?” Her tone was angry and petulant all at once, suggesting her emotions were running wild.
“You’ve met those babies, Jehnna,” Haley told her. Jehnna’s gaze shifted to where their leader sat. Her expression didn’t appear to be very friendly. Almost as if she knew what Haley was going to say and was attempting to convince her not to. “You fought them. The horsemen we fought were our daughters. Surely you knew that.” There was a touch of gentleness to Haley’s words, a gentleness to help make swallowing the news a little easier.
“Lies. It can’t be true because I still have Talia. We all have our children.” Jehnna’s denial was vehement. And not rational at all. She was too distraught for this to be anything but a means of protecting herself from the truth. A truth that Roxxy felt certain she knew. But something had gotten twisted up inside of her mind. Something had her denying the truth of what had happened. And it was becoming obvious that trying to push the issue would only see her mental state getting worse.
It was time to change the topic of conversation.
“I’m happy to see you’re looking much healthier, Haley,” Roxxy said, turning her attention toward her best friend. Haley stared at her for a moment before her gaze shifted toward Jehnna. After a moment, Haley’s green gaze met Roxxy’s golden one again and she gave a slight incline of her head.
“A week in bed, resting up, seems to have done me some good,” Haley responded. Haley had once more slipped into vigilance, her gaze shifting toward the door more than it didn’t. It was the only sign of nerves or whichever emotion it was Haley was dealing with. Roxxy hated seeing her friend like that.
“There are no lingering headaches?” Roxxy questioned. There might have been a hint of concern in her voice. The headache Haley had woken with had lasted longer than Roxxy had thought it should have. Haley had brushed her worry aside as unnecessary. But she’d spent a week in bed, battling the lingering effects of whatever had happened in the hallway that day. Oh, she knew the professor had given everyone his ‘official’ version of what had taken place. But Roxxy had been incredibly disinclined to take his word as gospel. As yet, though, Haley hadn’t said anything to dispute or confirm the man’s words.
“No. I’m fine,” Haley replied. Her answer seemed a little short and a little terse. But Roxxy wasn’t going to call her on it here. That was a conversation best had in private. Instead, she turned her focus toward the others. A glance toward the wall showed her that Dare had shifted positions, so that her back was fully against the wall behind her. Roxxy had to wonder if it was still meant to be a negligent pose or if it meant she’d expended too much of her precious energy. It had been a few weeks since Petra’s complicated birth and the fraught situation that had come with it. Dare had spent more than a week in bed, resting up and regaining her strength. She’d had someone looking after her the whole time and Roxxy knew that most of her excursions were still done under the watchful eye of Remy or Logan. And she knew that Dare had reported to Henry during her last check up that she’d been eating regularly. She should have been back to what qualified as normal for her. But maybe there was something still lingering.
Not willing to open that can of worms, Roxxy let her gaze slide to the other two women in the room with them. Morgan had lost some of her anxiousness but she still seemed on edge. She cast periodic glances toward Jehnna, a frown on her lips and concern in her eyes each time. Jehnna seemed indifferent to the rest of them, that not quite right look back on her face that left Roxxy filled with more worry and more questions. Maybe they should put an end to this meeting. It didn’t seem like it was doing anything beyond alienating the five of them further. Roxxy opened her mouth to say as much, but Morgan shifted slightly in her seat, pulling the shifter’s gaze back to her.
“This is still wrong,” the woman said, mostly to herself. She looked pensive and thoughtful, as if she was searching for a good way to right the situation. Roxxy was afraid that there wasn’t one, but she didn’t bring it up. It seemed far too fatalistic and, ultimately, saying it aloud would do more harm than good. “We need to find a way back to normal.”
“We can’t ever go back to normal, Morgan,” Jehnna said, a touch of acid dripping from her words. The look on her face was positively hateful. “Things are too fucked up for that.”
Morgan glanced up at Jehnna a moment, then seemed to shrink in on herself. A second later, her spine had straightened and determination shone in her eyes. “Our new normal, Jehnna. We need to find our way back to our new normal. The old normal is gone. It went away the minute Sinister grabbed us and altered the course of our lives for us. So we have to find our new normal. We have to get that normal back. I refuse to believe that we can’t.”
“Why?” Jehnna questioned. It came out aggressive and angry. Roxxy let her gaze skim the room again. Morgan was staring at Jehnna determinedly. Haley’s hyper-vigilance had faded somewhat in the face of Jehnna’s almost obsessive desire to be cruel to Morgan. And Dare gave the appearance of not paying attention. But Roxxy was willing to bet she was only an inch away from jumping into the fray so she could defend Morgan.
“Because we’re friends, Jehnna. We’re family. And we’re a team. And this whole mess has us all fucked up.” Here, Morgan gestured to all of them with one hand. Jehnna was silent a moment, her face suggesting she was considering what the other woman had said.
A deep frown tugged the corners of Jehnna’s mouth down. Pulled her eyebrows together so that there were lines in her forehead. “And how do we do that, Morgan?” There might have been a touch of disbelief in their youngest member’s voice.
“We talk,” Morgan responded immediately, only to fall silent a moment as she fell into thought. “And we start by talking about everything that’s happened in the past few weeks. Maybe if we get it all out into the open, we can start the healing process.”
“What do you mean by everything, Morgan?” Roxxy asked, a touch of a frown settling on her face at that.
Morgan flashed a pained smile before her gaze slid around the room again so that it landed on each of the women there. “Everything. What Sinister made us do. What he said to us. The trauma this whole fucking thing introduced into our lives. Because I feel like that is what stands in our way the most. The trauma. How its affecting all of us. How its doing a damn fine job of tearing us apart.”
“What good does talking about it do?” Jehnna asked, sounding genuinely confused by the suggestion. “It doesn’t change what happened.”
“Talking keeps it from taking up residence in your head and in your heart. Talking about it keeps it from twisting you into some darker version of the person you’re supposed to be. Talking about it keeps you sane and helps you heal. Talking about it keeps you from destroying all the beautiful, wonderful things in your life.” The statement came from the last person Roxxy expected. It prompted every eye in the room to turn in Dare’s direction. She steadfastly refused to look any of them in the eye and the way her arms were crossed so tightly over her chest suggested she was trying to protect herself. But there was genuine sorrow on her face. Pain in her eyes. There wasn’t an ounce of anger to be seen, and it made Roxxy wonder what had happened to make Dare put aside her anger.
The silence that filled the room was heavy with confusion. And anger. And sadness. Roxxy couldn’t be sure if they were all feeling those emotions or if each of them was feeling something different. For her part, Roxxy felt a mix of deep sadness and just as much pride. It had to have taken Dare so much courage to put that much of herself out there, and Roxxy had no problems imagining that the statements the other woman had made were in reference to herself.
“Do you want to start, Dare?” Roxxy asked softly. The other woman said nothing, but the look she gave Roxxy told her plainly that it was the last thing she wanted to do. A faint, sad smile pulled up one corner of Roxxy’s mouth. It wasn’t an unexpected reaction. But she had hoped Dare might be willing to unburden herself just a little. It would be a sign of trust. It looked as if Dare wasn’t ready to trust them that much. Yet.
“Why don’t you start, Rox?” Haley suggested. The move surprised Roxxy, because she didn’t think that anything she experienced was anywhere near the same level of trauma as what the others had gone through.
“But Roxxy didn’t get taken,” Jehnna pointed out. Maybe Roxxy was mistaken, but she thought she heard a tiny bit of bitter anger in that sentence.
“No, I didn’t get taken,” Roxxy began. She saw the beginnings of a triumphant smile start pulling Jehnna’s mouth up. Roxxy spoke again, cutting across whatever odd thoughts Jehnna had going on in that head of hers. “But I had to live with the knowledge that I’d failed to protect all of you. Of course, that was secondary and only came after I nearly died.”
“What?” Morgan asked, her voice a little strident with emotion. And Jehnna’s grin fell, became a frown of displeasure that didn’t strike Roxxy as a sign of concern for her welfare. “What do you mean, you nearly died? What the hell happened?”
Roxxy sighed and reached for the memories she had of that day. Even after all this time, they were still mostly fuzzy. She supposed such a thing was to be expected, given how chaotic the fight had been. “I don’t know exactly what happened. I remember Null being in pain. Then the portal opened and the horsemen stepped out. I remember that War did all the talking and her focus seemed to be on Haley. I remember Dare swearing up a storm because she couldn’t roast Death. Beyond that, I don’t remember much. Little bits of images here and there. Bits that are hazy, making me wonder if I imagined them in some fever dream.”
The room was caught in pregnant silence while Roxxy struggled to pull the memories forward. She could swear she knew more than she was recalling. But nothing came forth. Nothing until later. “What I remember next is Piotr helping me to my feet. I must have passed out at some point, but I don’t remember when or why. Logan was there, the rest of the teams trailing behind him. I think I apologized, but what I said is hazy. I know I was panicked. I can remember that. And I remember Logan telling me that Sinister was involved. I think I was in some kind of fever dream state on the flight back. I barely recall it. The professor and Henry were waiting when we arrived. And I know I was inconsolable when I told them what happened. I also know I was not well. But I insisted on telling the professor what I knew. And then I insisted on telling Johnny what happened in person because he deserved that much. I finally collapsed at the Baxter Building. When I woke up the next time, I was in the medlab and Henry was at my side.”
“What happened, Rox? How did you almost end up dying?” It was Morgan again. And it was the same question. She could see in Morgan’s eyes that she wouldn’t rest until she knew the whole story. Sighing, she let her gaze slide around the room once again. Jehnna seemed, yet again, indifferent to what was going on around her. Haley watched her intently, her lips pressed together in a thin line. Even though she’d heard it before. And Dare… Flames literally flickered in her gaze, even though there were no strands of hair floating around her face and her hands were not balled into fists. It was a curious reaction, one Roxxy wouldn’t have believed possible if she’d never seen it. Dare had always had a tell. “Roxxy!”
Morgan’s voice jolted her out of her thoughts. Again, Roxxy sighed and shook her head. “I don’t see how this is important. What happened to me is nothing like what happened to the four of you.”
“Bullshit, Rox,” Haley ground out. “You nearly died. Shit like that fucks with your head.” A soft snort from the other side of the room told Roxy that Dare recalled when she’d said the same with Haley.
“Despite the fact that I don’t recall how it happened, I was injured in our fight against the horsemen,” Roxxy told them, her voice soft. “It became obvious when we’d returned here to the school. Henry tried to get me to rest after his exam, but I couldn’t do so until I’d spoken to Johnny. I sat long enough for Henry to take blood. And inspect a wound in my side. A wound from which he drew a glowing green feather.”
“A green…” Morgan started, then trailed off. Roxxy watched as her expression twisted into something filled with regret. “Pestilence hit you with a feather? I didn’t think it was possible. I thought they were some kind of psychic projection.”
“They were flying around real enough,” Haley replied. Morgan sent their leader a considering look before turning her attention back to Roxxy.
“So this feather almost killed you?” she asked.
Roxxy, nodded. “It did. Henry said it turned my blood to poison. It nearly killed me. I think, if he and Reed hadn’t found whatever it was they’d needed to find, I would have died. As it was, I was still recovering when you all returned to the mansion.”
Silence laid over them heavily while Jehnna and Morgan fully came to terms with what she’d told them. Dare and Haley were silent as they waited to see what would happen next. As the quiet continued to thicken around them, Roxxy found herself thinking about the fact that she and Haley had almost died. And that Dare had actually died. How did one deal with the trauma that came from nearly dying. Or from dying and coming back? What kind of emotional and mental scar did such a thing leave upon one’s mind and soul? She had to wonder why she’d never thought to ask either of her friends about their experiences and what such events had done to them.
“Why didn’t you tell us, Roxxy?’ It was Morgan again, her question laced with sadness and confusion. A glance from the corner of her eye showed that Jehnna was back to looking indifferent. As if this was more than she cared to deal with. And, again, Roxxy found herself wondering just what had happened to twist the woman’s thoughts up like this.
“It didn’t seem important in the face of what each of you had had to go through,” she told her friend. When Morgan gaped at her in disbelief, Roxxy shrugged her shoulders. Her gaze touched on each of her friends in turn. “All four of you were taken by Sinister. You had to fight your own daughters, which I’m sure was mind blowing enough. But add to that Sinister taking you to… some place and holding you there while he treated you like lab rats. That seemed to me to be more important and damaging than some feather.”
“This is bullshit!” Jehnna’s words burst forth in a shout, with anger and resentment fueling them. Roxxy could hear those emotions in her voice. She let her eyes slide around the room, starting with Roxxy before going to Dare and Haley and, finally, Morgan. “This whole thing is bullshit! My whole life – no, my whole world! – was upended and you think talking about it is going to fix anything? You think talking about how the things Sinister did personally traumatizing me will fix the problem? MY husband is sleeping in someone else’s bed and he thinks the best thing for us is to divorce! Will talking about that help fix the problem?”
By the time she finished speaking, Jehnna’s eyes were wild with emotion. Her entire body trembled and the lamps jittered and danced across the table tops because her powers were starting to leak out. She turned to look at Morgan, accusation in her eyes. “You want to fix things? Give Warren back! Stop filling his head with shit and let him come home! Its your fault that I’ve got to explain to my children why their father doesn’t want to live with them anymore!”
“I’m sorry, Jehnna. I never meant for any of this to happen,” Morgan responded, her voice small and strained. Laden with guilt.
“That’s enough, Jehnna. This isn’t going to do any of us any good,” Haley said, a touch of Icon living in her words. Jehnna’s gaze swung to Purple Team’s leader. If anything, the look on her face only got worse.
In fact, she sneered at Haley’s admonishment.
“As if you’ve got room to talk,” the younger woman countered. “After what you did. I feel so bad for Jean because I understand what she’s feeling. Its so hard to lose the person you’ve been in love with for such a long time. It hurts to have them just throw you overboard for someone else.”
Haley’s face paled, her mouth dropping open just a bit in her surprise. It looked to Roxxy like Haley was attempting to find words with which to defend herself, but none wanted to come. Not that it mattered because Dare, who had been silent and sullen the entire time, pushed away from the wall and stepped up until she stood beside Haley’s chair. Roxxy recognized the move as the protective stance that it was.
"Oh, yes,” Dare sneered. “Poor Jean. Our kidnapping has been hard on her. Its been so hard on her, she tried to sever the link Haley formed with Scott and damn near got Emilia hurt. Her attempts to mind-fuck Haley left Haley incapacitated for days. But sure. This is hard on her. This is terrible for her. We need to feel sorry for her. And you. Because all of the bad stuff happened to the two of you! No one else has suffered because of the things Sinister did."
Dare’s words saw every eye in the room shifting to look at Haley. Roxxy was sure the redhead was uncomfortable with the scrutiny. That discomfort didn’t show on her face. But Roxxy had no problems believing that Haley hadn’t wanted anyone to know about the link.
“You formed a link with Scott?” Morgan asked, only a slight hint of disbelief in her voice. Haley blushed, her cheeks turning pink with embarrassment. Roxxy wasn’t sure if she was embarrassed because she’d been found out or if it was because Morgan dared to ask about it.
“It wasn’t intentional,” Haley began, her voice soft enough that the silence almost swallowed up her words. That didn’t keep Roxxy from hearing the defensiveness in that brief sentence.
“But… why?” This time, the disbelief was thicker. Easier to hear. Along with it was confusion, as if Morgan was having a hard time grasping the concept.
“I’m not entirely sure how it happens beyond trauma. That’s how the links I have with Johnny and Piotr formed, I think. I believe it was the stress of the alien’s invasion and the comas it left the men lingering in that made the links form. I was already tied to the two of them. I guess the link was the next step or something.” Haley’s gaze faced straight ahead, but it was obvious she was looking back. “I never planned on creating a link with Scott. But we were alone in that room for a full year, with only one another to rely on. To be honest, we couldn’t really be sure anyone else was there. Or alive. And we couldn’t be sure we would make it back home. I feel like the isolation and our dependency on one another is what helped the link form. I didn’t even realize it was there until Emilia was born.”
Silence once more ruled as everyone seemingly digested what they’d heard. But it was broken soon enough by a harsh laugh filled with contempt. Every eye turned to where Jehnna sat on her corner of the couch. Her face was cast in lines of anger. They mingled with hurt and fainter traces of confusion. To Roxxy, it seemed like their friend was waging some kind of internal battle with her emotions. And with whatever demon rode her shoulder. She’d gotten the feeling through this whole thing that something wasn’t quite right with Jehnna, but the woman’s outbursts and temper made Roxxy feel certain that there was definitely something wrong. Something that required help.
“You’re such a sanctimonious bitch.” Jehnna’s words brought Roxxy from her thoughts to find that the other woman had turned a hateful glare Haley’s way. “It isn’t bad enough that you forced some kind of bond on Scott. You had to go and fall in love with him! You ruined his and Jean’s marriage! And you’re going to sit there and tell us you didn’t mean for it to happen? You’re a hypocrite.”
Roxxy expected her best friend to defend herself. To come back with some aggression and anger in her voice. Instead, Haley remained oddly silent. In fact, it looked to Roxxy like her friend had kind of deflated. As if Jehnna’s ridiculous tirade had taken the wind out of her. And she noticed, when Haley didn’t immediately defend herself, that Jehnna’s smile became knowing and smug. Some part of Roxxy itched to slap the look right off her face.
“If Haley’s a hypocrite, what does that make you? Aren’t you the one who fell in love with Sam even though you’re married to Warren? Does the decade you spent with Warren mean so little that you’d be willing to throw it all away on the first person who looks your way with puppy dog eyes?” Dare’s words were without inflection, but there was something odd about her voice. Something off. As if she wasn’t really the one speaking. Roxxy blinked and stared at the dark-headed woman. She didn’t look any different than she had through the whole thing, but some indescribable thing had changed about her. And it put Roxxy on red alert. “I understand that no one really gave you the adoration and attention you felt you deserved when you were younger, so its completely understandable that you’d jump on the first dick that stood at attention when you glanced its way. But maybe you need to look at your own behavior before you accuse someone else of ruining someone’s marriage. Because you sure fucked up your own.”
For a moment, it looked as if Dare’s vehemence had broken Jehnna’s mean streak. The younger girl stared across the distance at the pyrokinetic, mouth hanging open just a bit and eyes wide with disbelief. But them the look was gone and a sneer took its place. Jehnna stood up from the couch. Took a few steps across the room toward Dare. And Roxxy felt the fine hairs on her arms go up when a faint hint of Jehnna’s powers slid across her skin. Shit. This was going to get so much worse.
“Why are you even here, Dare? This discussion is supposed to be for us to help deal with our trauma.” The sweetness coating Jehnna’s words was so intense that it seemed to linger on Roxxy’ tongue and made her teeth actually ache.
“Other than Roxxy, I don’t see anyone really discussing their trauma much,” Dare remarked casually.
“Well, you were given the option. And you turned it down,” Jehnna shot back. Her smug look returned and it was entirely unhinged. “Maybe its because you don’t have any trauma to talk about. Maybe its because you got exactly what you wanted. Everyone knows you’ve been hot for Remy since you were a reckless, stupid teenager. It looks like Sinister gave you exactly what you wanted. But you’ve always been a whore, so Its no surprise you jumped on the opportunity to stab your best friend in the back the way you did.”
There was at least one gasp in the silence that followed Jehnna’s acidic rant. For her part, Dare looked unmoved. Her expression was blank and empty, her hands loose at her sides. For a moment, it seemed as if everything in the room had stopped. But then Haley’s hand moved, as if she planned on settling it on Dare’s arm. But Dare stepped away, unwilling to let anyone touch her. They watched as her gaze slid up and down Jehnna’s length slowly. And when it returned to the other woman’s face, there was a great wealth of nothing to see in it. As if Dare had found nothing of merit to look at.
“Dare,” Morgan whispered. Her voice sounded pained and worried, as if she could sense something on the other woman the rest of them couldn’t. It was likely she could, whatever Dare wasn’t showing leaking through their link. But her voice didn’t stir the other woman. Dare just continued to stare at Jehnna with that blank look. And, all the while, Jehnna’s grin grew and grew.
“You’re right, Jehnna,” Dare finally said. Her voice was lifeless, No. Not lifeless. It was like hearing the hissing whispers of the dead, something ancient and menacing coming for you. It was a nightmare made flesh. “I very obviously didn’t suffer any trauma. Being locked in a room against my will with someone I care deeply for is nothing like being locked in a room with someone who isn’t my partner. Having my will taken from me isn’t traumatic at all. All I could see was my opportunity to take Remy for myself. Because I’m nothing more than a whore who jumps from bed to bed. Because being raped as a teenager didn’t come back to haunt me the entire time we were locked in that room. Because being kidnapped by Victor Creed and turned into a puppet only there to sate his lusts upon didn’t come back to haunt me. Because being used as an incubator to produce a child so powerful she could fucking destroy the world wasn’t traumatic at all. Every thing I’ve ever gone through was nothing in comparison to you having to fuck someone not your husband. Its nothing in comparison to the fact that now you have to live with your own fucking choices. Its nothing because I’m nothing to you. And I never have been. Thank you so much for making that abundantly clear.”
There should have been a lot of rage in Dare’s words. Instead, there was a whole lot of nothing. She gave Jehnna another look. Roxxy had a moment to notice a shift in the air. And then Jehnna was landing hard on her ass in the corner of the couch she’d occupied only moments ago. A second later, there was a rush of heat and light and Dare was just… gone.
“What the fuck!?” Morgan shouted, already on her feet. Haley had turned to stone in the time it took Morgan to spit out those three words. Roxxy blinked when she thought she saw a slightly iridescent sheen clinging to that stone armor. And then Morgan was rounding on Jehnna. “You… Fucking hell, why? That was the stupidest thing you’ve ever done, Jehnna! Why did you have to say that?”
“How was I supposed to know she was going to react to it like that?” Jehnna asked, sounded absolutely and truthfully confused by what had just happened.
“Because you fucking suggested she was nothing more than a whore and she had no trauma!” Morgan nearly shouted. The shorter woman was practically vibrating with her rage. “You’re a fucking idiot! You know Dare’s history, the same as the rest of us! You… Fuck! I am not so hurt by what happened between her and Remy while Sinister had us that I’d take it out on Dare. If I know her, she tried to hold him off as long as she could. And you had to call her a whore to her face! Don’t you know that she’s struggled with that since…. God, since at least Creed? Why would you call her a whore?”
“Because she is one,” Jehnna responded. And her tone let them all know she believed it. “And so are you, Morgan. You stole Warren. And so is Haley, for making Scott fall in love with her. The three of you are all whores!”
“Pot, meet kettle.” The words echoed through the room as Faye joined them. She looked disgusted. And, for a second, Roxxy swore she saw an entirely different face staring at them. But that face was gone in the blink of an eye. Jehnna’s glare turned Faye’s way. Morgan’s double was very much not intimidated by it. “You have no right to call names when you are in the same exact situation as everyone else.”
“I didn’t come between Sam and a partner. Did I?” Jehnna asked, her focus on Faye.
“No. But you helped destroy your own marriage all the same,” Faye replied.
Jehnna’s face crumbled and, for just a moment, they were given a view of the woman who lived within all the misplaced rage and paranoia. And then she was gone, the antagonistic version of Jehnna back in control. Roxxy frowned at how quickly it happened. She made a note to talk to Warren or Scott about it. Because this was very much unlike Jehnna. “You aren’t a part of this conversation, Faye. Nothing happened to you.”
“Of course. Because no one but you suffered,” Faye shot back.
“You need to apologize, Jehnna,” Haley said, standing from her chair. Her armor glimmered in the light of the room and it somehow felt ominous. “To Dare. To Faye. To all of us.”
“I’m not apologizing for the truth, Haley. And if you can’t accept that, that isn’t my problem,” Jehnna retorted, her face twisted up in rage. And vindictive glee. “You’re all whores and this is the least of what you deserve for the trouble your actions have wrought.”
“Morgan. Where’s Dare? Find her and send Faye to bring her back. We’re going to have this out. Right here. Right now. Whatever it is. We’re going to find a way to fix this. Even if I have to punch some fucking sense into people.”
“That’s right, Haley. Make threats when you can’t have your way. You’re so spoiled that you won’t even let someone else have a differing opinion from you,” Jehnna shot back. Haley’s eyes narrowed, glowing the way they had the night Johnny had tried to take a swing at Scott. The room was flooded with the scent of rage and hatred. And some primal instinct within Roxxy responded. Her teeth ached in her gums and her fingers curled, the tips of them painful. She remembered the feelings and closed her eyes, doing her best to stomp down on the rage that wanted to see her unsheathe her claws and do damage.
The urge was dampened by the soft sound of Morgan sucking in a breath before letting go a very soft sob. Roxxy’s heart sank because she knew without having to ask what had made Morgan react that way. “I can’t feel her, Haley,” Morgan whispered, the words almost lost to the sound of rage simmering around them. But Haley heard her and turned her attention toward Morgan. Faye continued to glare at Jehnna. And Jehnna seemed indifferent to the way the room boiled around them.
“What do you mean, Morgan?” Haley asked. Roxxy felt certain Haley knew what Morgan meant. But she was asking the other woman to spell it out so that Jehnna was forced to hear what her careless words had done.
“She’s locked up tight again, Haley. Like she was before. I can’t feel her. I don’t know where she is,” Morgan’s voice was thick with tears. She turned to face Faye, hope in her eyes. “Can you find her, Faye? Do you know where she is?”
Faye didn’t take her eyes off Jehnna. She didn’t close them the way Morgan did when she tried to find Dare. She didn’t move or blink or even seem to breathe. She kept her gaze locked on Jehnna, let it bore into her until Jehnna shifted uncomfortably. It was only then, when Jehnna showed a hint of fear, that Faye spoke. “I can’t sense her, either, Morgan. She’s closed herself off to me, as well.”
“She…” Morgan began, then trailed off. Not that she needed to finish her thought. They all knew what had happened the last time Dare had cut them out. Morgan rounded on Jehnna, hands fisted and eyes dark with anger and fear. “Are you happy, Jehnna? You drove her away! And maybe, this time, she doesn’t come back! If anything happens to her, I’ll never forgive you.”
“If anything happens to Dare, that will be on your head,” Haley said, voice low and heavy with meaning. Jehnna turned to look at her. The younger woman’s expression was a mix of emotions. Anger. Relief. Confusion. Satisfaction. And so much more. So many emotions were there.
“If she can’t stand the heat…” Jehnna quipped.
Haley stepped closer, until she was mere inches from Jehnna. She loomed over the other woman, her entire stance an intimidation tactic. “You are more than aware that Dare nearly died the last time she cut herself off from us. She’s only just recovered from that. If this sets her back, you will spend all your available time sitting with her to ensure she recovers. And if this time actually does kill her, you and I will see which one of us is the bigger bitch. You will be lucky if all I do is throw you off the team.”
The room froze with the threat that lingered on the air. And the one that Haley hadn’t said. The one about how, if Jehnna was unlucky, Haley would beat the living hell out of her. Even Jehnna, as messed up as her brain seemed to be, parsed the unspoken threat because she stood still and stared at Haley with hints of fear touching her gaze.
“You’ve spent this entire session lashing out and attacking us. People who are supposed to be your friends. Your family. You’ve made it clear that you feel we are all beneath you.” Haley’s gaze was steady and intense, pinning Jehnna where she stood. Her voice was low and steady, threaded heavily with disappointment and anger. The silences between her words were punctuated with Morgan’s faint sobs as she cried out her worries and her fears. “And you went after Dare. In case you missed it, she got where you were coming from. She understood. And she was trying to let you know that being scared and angry and lost is normal. Its okay. Because she’s been through those things so goddamn many times now. And you shit on her compassion. You made her feel like she’s worthless. I hope you are very proud of that fact.”
Jehnna said nothing in response. The look on her face suggested she was incapable of speech. Because she was afraid of Haley. For a moment, the strained silence hung heavy and awkward between them. And then, Haley made a noise in the back of her throat and shook her head. “You know, Jehnna. You’ve spent this entire meeting proclaiming loudly that Morgan is the person responsible for ruining your marriage. But the truth is, no one ruined your marriage. You’re the one responsible for the problems between you and Warren. Obviously Warren needed more than you were willing to give him. Or even capable of giving him. Its no wonder he decided he wanted to be with Morgan. And I find it sad that Sam’s expectations are so much lower that being with you is all he needs to make him happy.”
Haley powered down, her armor melting away in a heartbeat. She continued to stare down at Jehnna, her face a mask of disappointment and disgust. “Find Dare. Apologize for being so crass and cruel. Do what you can to fix your shit. Maybe, if you do all that, we can go back to being a team. Maybe we can go back to being friends. Maybe we can be the family we once were. Because from where I’m standing, we’re none of those things right now. We’re not a team. We’re not friends. We’re not a family. We’re nothing.”
“Haley?” Roxxy asked, bringing the other woman’s attention her way. Roxxy saw sorrow and regret in her eyes. Saw resignation and more there.
“As of right now, Purple Team is benched indefinitely. If we can’t fix our shit…” Haley trailed off and shook her head. She was just turning toward the door when it opened and Scott let himself into the room. He took a moment to read the room before settling his attention on Haley. She watched him, waiting for him to speak.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, Haley. But Emilia is getting fussy. I think she wants you,” he told her apologetically.
“There’s no need to apologize, Scott. We’re done here.” Haley strode forward and left the room without looking back. The silence that settled over them was uncomfortable. Even Scott seemed to understand because he watched them without saying a word, his jaw tensed. Because he, despite not being privy to the events of the day and the course of their conversation, understood just what Haley’s last statement meant.
(no subject)
Date: 2025-08-13 01:38 am (UTC)You can feel Morgan's frustration that things aren't just falling into place the way she thought they would. It was probably a naive idea to think everyone would just fall back into the way they'd been but I definitely feel for her.
I was a little surprised it was the first time most of them were hearing the story about what happened to Roxxy! I get why she didn't tell everyone right off the bat but I can get why Morgan and the others were shocked. Might be another case of being too wrapped up in their own stuff to notice, right?
Lord almighty, between Hank and Dare the whole damn world knows Haley's business now. I'm surprised she didn't lash out at either Jehnna or Morgan for their reactions tbh. And Jehnna has truly gone off the deep end. My goodness.
Dare stepping up--even if she's airing things Haley would probably rather not get aired--felt right and her disappearing is obviously a concern. Hopefully she isn't slipping back into dangerous territory.
Things have to be bad if Haley's thinking of closing up shop on the team. I get why, because clearly some people don't want to be there and there's a lot of broken trust, especially with what Jehnna said to everyone. Hopefully they can get their shit together and find help for everyone. They clearly all need it.
I feel like Scott didn't actually need help but he felt how bad things were going and thought he should give them some breathing room... but that might be wishful thinking.
Great work, hun! Can't wait to see where it goes next.
(no subject)
Date: 2025-08-14 02:55 pm (UTC)Morgan is really trying so hard to find a way to fix things. and she isn't wrong that the girls need to talk. they've done precious little of it since their return. and it is very naive to think that things could go back to the way they were before they were grabbed. they're all, every last one of them, different people now.
it is kind of surprising that no one but Haley (pretty sure its just Haley) knew that Roxxy had almost died. i doubt Roxxy was telling everyone and their mother what happened. i'm sure she felt it wasn't as important in the face of what the rest of her team dealt with. and she's busy trying to help said team over their shit. so i'm sure she just "forgot" to mention it to them. and, yeah. i think its definitely a case of everyone being too wrapped up in their own thing to take note.
Jehnna is way off the deep end at this point. and i don't think Henry told Roxxy more than the bare essentials. Dare just figured shit out because that's how she is. and maybe she shouldn't have been airing Haley's business, but she kind of lost it at Jehnna's 'Poor Jean' routine. we all know her best (and worst) trait is being a fucking guard dog. right now, Haley needs it. whether she likes it and wants it or not.
yeah. it should be concerning to everyone that Dare literally disappeared. this is... not a good sign.
things are certainly very bad if Haley is willing to shut down the one thing she worked super hard to have. shit is so fucked up for all of them now. only time will tell if they can all find a way to fix their shit and start making amends.
you know, i feel like its possible that its both? i feel like Emilia did want her mother and it just so happened to coincide with Haley's temper skyrocketing at all the outrageousness taking place.
thanks for reading, hon. glad you enjoyed!
All Caught Up :)
Date: 2025-08-18 11:17 pm (UTC)WTF is up with Jehnna? I'm afraid Roxxy is right and she's going to be the trigger for whatever bad is about to come crashing down on them. She's definitely deep in denial about what happened to everyone and why.
Morgan's trying. She really is. And Dare. Wow. Yeah. She'd know about how trauma can fuck you up, wouldn't she? I was just thinking that Roxxy should go first when Haley said it. Great Minds. lol
Okay, well, that went to hell fast didn't it? I can't figure out if Jehnna is just traumatized or if something is messing with her mind/emotions. Either way, shit just hit the fan. Dare delivering hard truths about things that Haley probably wishes she hadn't mentioned. And then Haley's explanation and Jehnna just losing her shit. TBH, I kinda wish Roxxy had slapped her. Not that I think it would have helped. I'm honestly surprised that Dare and Jehnna didn't throw down. This new Dare is...unsettling. And what the hell? How did she just disappear? And what's that sheen that Roxxy noticed on Icon? Curiouser and more curiouser....
Damn, it looks like everyone is losing it. Even Roxxy is struggling. I really want to know what's happening to them all. *sigh*
Haley calling Jehnna out like that, though? Damn. That was cold. I get it, but still. Damn.
You know that saying, that there is no "I" in team? I see far too much of that going on right now. Everyone is all wrapped up in themselves. It's not a wonder Haley said what she did there at the end. I just hope that it's not permanent. That they can get through this and heal their relationships. ((group hug))
ETA: Oh, yeah. Good work, bb! I enjoyed it muchly. *smooches*
Re: All Caught Up :)
Date: 2025-08-21 05:39 pm (UTC)Jehnna is teetering on the edge of some great chasm and everyone sees it but her. her animosity is getting worse by the day and its going to come to a boiling point in all sorts of not great ways.
Morgan absolutely hates the distance between all of them and she really does want to fix it. but that's hard to do when you can't see or find what it takes to make things better. yes. Dare absolutely knows all about how trauma fucks people up. she's recognized how her own trauma has fucked her up. Roxxy deserved to tell her story so that the others understood that nobody stepped away from this event without something messing with their head.
yeah. it went to hell fast. i think the trauma is a big factor, because Jehnna hasn't been able to reconcile one love taking precedence over another. hell, she hasn't even really been able to reconcile that you can love more than one person like that at a time. but it is possible there are other factors helping amp all of that trauma and confusion up. i guess we'll have to wait and see what that might be. Dare absolutely was delivering hard truths that Haley didn't want anyone to know. no doubt Haley will tear into her about it later. and isn't she fun? so calm and level and not angry? i'm sure its just scaring people left and right.
Dare's sudden disappearance and Icon's sheen will be explained later. i promise. just... not in this fic. we will all find out what's going on with them later. i really do promise.
Haley's hit her breaking point. so she's going to lay it out plain and simple for Jehnna, and everyone else, to understand.
also. the team needs therapy. not just individually. but as a group. a lot of people do after Sinister's shit. but i don't know if i have it in me to write it all out. oi! that is a lot. so it might just have to happen off screen.
thanks for reading, bb. i'm glad you enjoyed!