Among the Strong
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marysuevirusTitle: Among the Strong
Chapter Forty Eight: Proof
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 Danger Room was empty save herself, a personal program running meant to help her to deal with pent up anger. She wasn't worried that anyone would walk in on it because it was late at night and everyone else was asleep. She had the whole thing to herself and she could vent her emotions however she saw fit. However she saw fit was centered on a single individual more than anything else. And if that individual bore a striking resemblance to the one person who'd completely fucked up her life right now, there was no one to know that. Was there?
She'd decided on a generic kind of nature setting for this program. It came with a clearing that ran in front of the base of a cliff where piles of rocks lay scattered all around. There was a small lake in the clearing, crystal clear blue water that looked cool and inviting. Trees stood to the right and left of the clearing, offering shelter from the sun blazing overhead as well as some hiding places. Her target was in amongst the trees, waiting to launch an attack.
Her gifts were making it hard for her target to do such a thing. Despite the fact that she was battling a robot wearing a holographic skin of the target, that robot had been programmed, based on previous Danger Room sessions, to think and react the same way her target would. And her gifts allowed her to sense those thoughts before they were put into action. It wasn’t a fair fight by any stretch of the imagination. But this whole mess hadn’t been fair and she wanted some payback for what she’d lost. For what had been stolen from her.
A flash of red in the distance let her know that said target was getting ready to make a move. A sly smile curled her lips up as she brought a fallen tree into play. It was nothing for her telekinetic abilities to heft the large tree into the air and hold it in position so she could swing it like a bat. Anticipation filled her, running like wildfire through her veins. The desire to inflict pain, to make her target feel even an iota of the pain that she’d been feeling since this whole fucking mess had started was akin to an aphrodisiac. It sent heat coursing through her, made the anticipation vibrate along her nerve endings until she couldn’t wait for her target to break the line of trees.
Even the tree she held suspended with her powers quivered in anticipation.
Her target broke the line of trees, stepping out of the relative safety they offered. She stared at the redhead across the distance and felt every ounce of hatred and rage she held for the other woman surge to the surface like a volcano erupting. The facsimile of Haley Stone the computer had created was perfect, right down to the glimmer of light across her stone armor. She was going to take great joy in fucking the bitch up.
She took a breath and focused on her nemesis, then brought the tree to bear. The makeshift bat began its forward swing, only to disappear just before it could make contact with its intended victim. In fact, the entire Danger Room went dark as her program simply deactivated. The towering cliff was gone. The clear blue pool of water. All the boulders and all of the trees. Even her target. All of it was gone. All that remained were the metallic walls of the Danger Room and the bright light that shone down on her from the high ceiling.
The sound of the door sliding open brought her around to face the section of wall where a compact control panel was located. The area was still cast in shadows, denying her the identity of the fool who had dared interrupt her. Well, it looked like she was going to be taking her anger out on a new target.
Slowly, so very slowly, a figure stepped forward into the light. The shadows near the door seemed to hold on to that figure, seemed to be trying to hold it back. She tried to use her powers to figure out who it was. But she was getting nothing from the figure. Nothing at all. Curious. She should have felt something. Should have found some stray thought to latch on to. Hell, her mysterious visitor shouldn’t have been able to sneak up on her like this. She should have sensed them coming before they’d even cleared the door.
Finally, her uninvited guest stepped forward, the last of the clinging shadows simply peeling away to show her who she was dealing with. Dare Scott. Of course it would be one of Haley’s little flunkies. Too bad for the pyrokinetic. She was going to bear the brunt of her anger.
Dare stopped moving, positioning herself between her and the door. The woman’s face blank and empty. Except for her eyes. She swore Dare’s eyes were filled with darkness. And flames. She blinked at that. It had to be a trick of the light. It just had to be. Even with that thought in her head, she couldn’t quite keep the shiver of fear from tracing a path down her spine.
“Dare,” she said, modulating her tone so she sounded pleasant. Maybe she could convince the woman to turn around and leave. She knew she could take the other woman in a fight, but it wouldn’t be easy. At the same time, she hoped like hell Dare hadn’t seen what her program had contained. If she had, all bets were off. “What brings you here?”
“We need to have a discussion, you and I,” Dare responded. Her tone was flat. Empty. Devoid of life. And still, Jean heard the threat housed within it. She blinked at that.
“A discussion? About what?” Jean questioned. She reached out with her telepathy in an effort to discover what Dare’s purpose was in coming here. But her attempt failed, her powers far too easily bouncing off some kind of mental barrier. As if she wasn’t one of the strongest telepaths on the planet.
Dare took a step forward. Jean noticed she was wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. And those stupid boots she’d always favored. She’d been wearing the same ridiculous clothing for more than a decade. Jean felt like maybe someone should have said something to her about growing up long before now. Especially since she was a mother. Dare took another step, unaware of the thoughts running through Jean’s head. “Oh, I think you know, Jean. After all, you can steal people’s thoughts right out of their heads. Can’t you?”
Jean blinked at the other woman’s statement. It unnerved her that Dare’s statement was almost exactly the same thing Jean had been thinking. It also sounded an awful lot like an accusation. And she didn’t like the implications that Dare thought she was so far above everyone that she could do this without proper witnesses. Jean lifted her chin and kept her voice level. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you want to discuss, Dare. I don’t make a habit of just dipping into someone’s head and looking at their thoughts.”
“Really?” The single word was filled with disbelief. And it was accompanied by another single step forward. It brought Dare fully into the light and Jean realized that the woman’s feet weren’t even touching the floor. That could not be a good sign. Jean made another attempt at trying to read Dare. But, again, she came up against that same wall as before. A wall Jean didn’t think the other woman wasn’t, and hadn’t ever been, capable of erecting. There was something very odd going on and she couldn’t put her finger on what it was. She didn’t like that. Not one bit.
“Funny,” Dare said. The word was accompanied by another step. This close, the darkness in Dare’s eyes was frightening. And then Dare smiled. A cold, cruel… almost evil thing. “Because I have it on good authority that you’ve been slipping into Summer’s head for a while now, hiding things from him. Tweaking things. Suppressing memories for him. Making him think you’re the only thing in his world.”
The accusation hit like a bag of bricks and it was only because she had years of training that she kept it from showing on her face. Instead, she offered a sigh and shifted into a position meant to suggest she was already bored with their conversation. “Where would you have heard such ludicrous ideas?”
“The source isn’t important,” Dare said, one hand motioning in a gesture meant to brush that aside. Again, Jean made an effort to slip into Dare’s mind and seek out any information on the other woman’s source that she could find. And again, her efforts were thwarted by some kind of wall. Dare offered her a smile that was not at all nice. And it suggested she knew Jean was trying to pry. “Problems? Marvel Girl?”
The old code name came out on a sneer, turned into an insult to let Jean know what Dare thought of her. Again, it suggested that Dare knew she’d been trying to read her thoughts. “I think you’ve finally lost your hold on reality, Dare. You should speak to the professor about this paranoia or whatever it is. I’m sure he can help you.”
Dare leveled a look that sent that same shiver of fear along Jean’s spine. The woman took yet another step forward. “The way you helped Summer forget that he was attracted to Haley? No, thanks,” she replied, giving a slow shake of her head. She moved forward once again, her feet moving as if she was truly walking despite the fact that she was floating a few inches off the floor. That was a sure sign that Dare was tapping her powers. What Jean couldn’t figure out was why her hair wasn’t floating. That had always been a reliable indicator of just when Dare planned on using her powers.
“Dare.” Jean got the woman’s name out before she was cut off once again.
“Your meddling and manipulating have done so much damage, Jean. Summers is miserable, torn between trying not to hurt you and trying not to hurt Haley. Even though he loves Haley. And he loves his daughter.”
“He loves me, Dare,” Jean insisted. She was starting to wonder if she could simply sneak past Dare and make it to the door before the woman could react.
“Oh, sure,” Dare replied. The look she shot Jean was not a nice one and it left Jean worried about what Dare might attempt before Jean was able to grab hold of the woman’s powers and bring them under her control. “Because you made him believe it. I mean, its possible that he had feelings for you all on his own. But if he did, you used your powers to play with them and highlight them. Strengthen them. His emotions for Haley are genuine, cultivated by spending time getting to know her.”
“I don’t think you understand what’s going on here, Dare,” Jean began. The other woman drifted closer. And Jean swore she could once again see flames flickering in the dark grey eyes that were pinned on her.
“Don’t I? Why don’t you explain it to me, Jean? Why don’t you tell me how I’ve got it all wrong?” Dare suggested. She smiled, a thing that was truly twisted and frightening. “And while you’re at it, why don’t you tell me how I’ve got it all wrong that Haley spends her nights crying herself to sleep every night. Tell me how I got it wrong that she hasn’t been herself since we got back from where ever it was Sinister kept us. Tell me how I’ve got it wrong that the happiest I’ve seen Haley in the past six weeks is when Scott comes to visit Emilia. And even then, she’s fucking miserable. Because she doesn’t dare show it. Because she’s sure that he’s going to come crawling back to you.”
Each sentence saw Dare floating a little closer, until she was almost in Jean’s face. This close, Jean could see the anger that boiled in her gaze. And she felt the heat that rolled off the woman, a physical sign that she was powering up. Which was odd, because her powers were not this subtle. They never had been. It left Jean feeling slightly uneasy.
“I see you have nothing to say,” Dare said softly. Her voice was, in some perverse way, almost an intimate caress. The uneasiness Jean had been feeling only grew with that. Because this was a Dare she didn’t know or even recognize. “Pity. Maybe, had you simply confessed to your wrong doing, I’d have been willing to let you leave here with just a simple warning. I might have been willing to be merciful. Since it seems you want to continue to play the victim, I’m going to have to show you the error of your ways.”
“I don’t know where you got the idea that I manipulated Scott, but I promise you. You’re wrong. Whatever it is you want to accomplish here, it won’t happen,” Jean told her.
Dare sighed and shook her head. “Ah, Jean. I do so hate liars.”
The last word had barely passed Dare’s lips when the entire room was filled with flames. They crawled across the floor, stopping only a few inches from the tips of Jean’s boots. They climbed up the walls to the ceiling, then covered it so that flames roared on all sides of her. And there had been no sign that Dare was going to access her powers. None at all. A finger of fear traced Jean’s spine. The other woman wasn’t capable of such things. She never had been. And it unnerved Jean in ways she couldn’t even put into words.
“You need help, Dare. I don’t know what happened to you, but you’re twisted up inside and you -- “
“Shut up, Jean!” Dare snapped. Fire crackled in her words. Jean swore she heard it. Which wasn’t possible. Again, it was something Dare had never been capable of. Just what the hell was going on here? “There are probably a lot of things wrong with me. But this has nothing to do with what happened to me. This has everything to do with the fact that you have been a naughty little telekinetic and you’ve used your gifts to fuck around with someone else’s head. I’ve had it done to me, you know. I’m not a huge fan of it.”
“Dare,” Jean said, taking care to make her name sound harmless and friendly. At the same time, she was gathering her powers around her. She was going to use them in an effort to cut Dare off from her flames and she didn’t want to give that fact away. “I promise you. I have never messed with Scott’s thoughts or emotions. I don’t know where you got that idea, but you seem fixated on it. Frankly, that worries me.”
“Save me your sanctimonious bullshit, Jean. I know better,” Dare scoffed. “Do you really think I’m delusional enough to make this shit up? Then again, you always did have low opinions of the members of Purple Team. I shouldn’t be surprised.”
“You really do need help, Dare,” Jean said, letting pity leak into her voice. It was time to end this farce. While she didn’t really want to hurt the other woman, she was afraid doing so was unavoidable. She’d try not to enjoy it. Much.
Power grasped in her metaphysical hands, Jean cast it out as if it was a net. Her intent was to cover Dare with it and then smother the woman’s ability to call the flames. But the net never landed. It barely even got close to Dare before it dropped. Like it had hit an invisible wall. She tried again, pulling her power to her and once more casting it out like a net. She was met with the same result.
And Dare smiled.
“Naughty naughty,” Dare intoned, wagging a finger at Jean in a side to side motion. Then she thrust her hand out toward Jean. An invisible force slammed into Jean and threw her ten feet across the room. She found herself in the middle of the flames, flames that had made a clearing for her to land in. Flames that were now creeping closer and closer. The heat was unbearable. She could just imagine how much pain they’d bring when they crept across her. But the worst part of it all was the soft laughter that Dare let go. And the gleam in her eye that told Jean she was very much enjoying this game she was playing. “Time to dole out your punishment, Jean. Don’t worry. It won’t hurt. Much.”
Another gesture of Dare’s hand saw the flames roaring higher and higher around her. Saw them moving closer. Jean tried to move, tried to get away. Tried to do something to get herself out of this situation. But she was frozen in place. With fear. And with some unseen hand that held her where she lay. “If you do this, Dare, the professor will lock your powers away and then he’ll do the same to you. You’ll never be allowed to see your family again. Are you willing to do that to your children?”
“The professor can’t stop me,” Dare responded. Jean watched as she strolled almost leisurely through the forest of flames, her hands reaching out to stroke them like she was petting a beloved dog. “You’ve tried and you can’t stop me.”
“This isn’t you, Dare!” Jean said, groping for something that would save her. She could see the intent in Dare’s eyes. The other woman was going to release her hold on the flames and let them consume everything in their path.
“You don’t know me, Jean,” Dare replied.
“I know you’re not a killer. You forget. I’ve seen inside your mind. You don’t want to hurt people. The one time you did, you felt so bad that you called the flames down and used them to destroy yourself. You don’t like killing people.” It was desperation. Jean knew it. But she couldn’t see any other way to achieve her desired outcome.
Dare gave her a look that Jean couldn’t read. Then she sighed and shook her head. “As fun and enlightening as this conversation has been, I’m tired of it. And of you. Goodbye, Jean.”
The flames roared higher, crackled with menace as they moved ever closer to where Jean lay pinned to the floor. The heat coming off them was intense and Jean closed her eyes. This wasn’t how she’d envisioned dying. But it looked like Dare was going to let her flames consume everything in their path. Jean hoped that it would be a quick death.
“Dare! That’s enough! Shut it the fuck down! Now!”
The sound of another voice, shouting orders at the crazy woman with her, saw Jean’s eyes popping open. She couldn’t see anything through the flames. They had taken over most of the Danger Room. Jean tried to find the window to the observation room, but it was hidden behind a curtain of fire.
“Dare! Stand down! That’s an order!” A second voice echoed around the flames a moment before the overhead sprinklers turned on. For a moment, it looked as if they were going to extinguish the flames, the water steadily beating back the tongues of orange and red until Jean got a look at the booth high above the Danger Room floor. She could see the grim expression that had made itself home on Logan’s face. And she could see the flash of red from Scott’s visor.
“Turn it off, Dare!” Logan ordered. “Turn the flames off right now!”
Dare turned toward the booth, her actions so terribly slow. It was a move very unlike the woman. And Jean could see, even from where she was pinned, the way Dare’s eyes glowed with incandescent rage. With the power running through her veins. Dare’s voice came then, a low and throaty thing that was nothing like her normal speaking voice. Jean swore it was like hearing someone else speaking through Dare’s mouth. “You do not control me any longer, old man.”
“Don’t make me come down there and kick yer ass, girl!” Logan spat.
“Try it and see where it gets you,” Dare responded. Then she turned away from Logan and faced Jean. The flames roared higher, making it impossible for the men in the control booth to see what was happening on the floor. Something told Jean that the cameras wouldn’t record anything beyond flames. Dare moved close enough that she stood over Jean and the expression on her face was empty. If not for the look in her eyes, Jean might have thought the woman was little more than a statue. “I tire of this, Jean. I tire of you and your pitiful attempts to protect yourself. To proclaim your innocence. Let our interaction here today serve as a reminder to you. If you ever do something like this again… No one will stop me the next time.”
A moment later, Dare was just… gone. And so were the flames.
~*~*~*~*~
“What the hell was going on in there?” His words stopped her in her tracks, bringing her around to look at him. To be honest, he was surprised to find her there. That struck him as odd because she’d literally disappeared out of the Danger Room. He was pretty certain she could have disappeared to anywhere. And yet, she’d only gone as far as the hallway. It made him wonder if she’d been waiting for him to come after her. If she’d stalled with the intention of being caught. He couldn’t imagine any reason why she’d do that. But he couldn’t shake the idea. Because she’d proven time and again that she was capable of slipping away without anyone catching her.
Those thoughts were pushed aside when she finished her turn. Dare was silent as she met his gaze. He was surprised to find there was nothing in her eyes. In fact, she seemed… deflated. He wasn’t looking at the woman who had been only seconds away from roasting his ex only moments ago. He was looking at a woman who appeared to be hanging on by a thread.
Concern rolled through him and he was instantly on alert. “Dare?”
“She deserved worse than she got.” It wasn’t an answer he’d expected or even wanted to hear.
“That isn’t your call, Dare. You don’t get to be judge, jury, and executioner. Jean is still an X-Man and she deserves the respect that comes with it,” he replied.
“Does she, Summers? Does she really deserve respect?” The question was soft. He heard In it what her opinion on the matter was. He watched as she gave him a once over, her gaze sliding from head to toe before climbing back up again. When she was once more looking him in the eye, she crossed her arms over her chest and cocked a hip.”She deserves a taste of her own medicine. She deserves more than I gave her. She’s corrupt and morally bankrupt. She hurts people with no thought for anyone but herself. She uses people. And she pretends she’s sweet and innocent so that no one sees how twisted and warped she is. How dark the stains on her soul are.”
“I’ve known Jean for a lot of years, Dare. And I’ve never seen anything like what you’re talking about from her. I think you’re --” Scott’s voice died out before he could finish his sentence. Because he found himself pinned against the wall. And Dare had never moved.
“Go on, Summers. Finish that sentence. Please. Give me a reason to forget that I’m not supposed to do terrible things to people who are supposed to be on my side. Give me a reason to put what little humanity I have left aside and just give in to the flames,” she whispered. It sounded like she was doing her best to egg him on. And it sounded like she was begging for help.
Scott fell silent and started searching for a way to help her.
“That’s what I thought,” she said. She almost sounded disappointed. Before he could figure it out, Dare took a step closer, her arms dropping so that she could slip one hand into the back pocket of her jeans. “Stop denying what you already know to be true. Jean is a selfish, self-centered person. She thinks she’s better than everyone. She thinks she’s owed whatever she wants, that she deserves whatever she wants. She hurts people. Look at what she did to Haley. What she almost did to Emilia. And she uses people.”
With that statement, her hand came forward. Dare extended it toward him, her fingers clasped around the thing she’d pulled from her pocket. He found himself staring at a tape. “You need to take this and listen to it. It will prove what I’m saying. Jean is selfish and manipulative. She hurts people. She uses people.”
Part of him didn’t want to take that tape. Because he was pretty sure he knew what it would reveal to him. Another part of him demanded he take it. He had to know. He had to know if any of it had been real. The Jean he’d lived with for all those years seemed to be a different person than the one he’d been living with for the past six weeks. And he’d gotten the feeling more than once that she’d been attempting to play with his memories and his thoughts. He didn’t want to know. But he did. Slowly, reluctantly, he raised his arm as far as he could and held his hand out toward her.
Dare set the tape in his hand almost gently. The look she turned on him then was sad. Filled with regret. “Including you, Scott.”
“What are you saying?” he asked, his voice hoarse and pained. It was a stupid question, though. Because, somewhere deep in his heart, he already knew.
“Just listen,” she instructed. “You’ll understand.”
She turned away when she was sure his fingers were curled around the tape. And she started up the hallway. He swore an air of defeat followed after her. He struggled against the invisible force holding him against the wall. Some instinct told him that he needed to stop her. Right now. The force held, refusing to let him go. “Dare, wait!”
His words echoed up the hall long after the sound of her retreating steps faded into silence.
~*~*~*~*~
"Mister Storm, you have a visitor." Roberta's voice filled the room. It brought Johnny's head up in surprise and no small amount of confusion. Because Roberta hadn't given name to his visitor. He glanced at the clock and frowned. It was kind of early, the sun barely up over the horizon. Odd time for a visitor. Unless...
Johnny tried to stamp down the hope that fluttered to life in his chest at the thought that maybe, just maybe, his visitor was Haley. She might have asked Roberta to report her as a visitor so as not to alert their children. None of them had the capacity to sleep past sun up other than Spencer. But he had a problem staying in bed when his mother wasn't home. Johnny was almost certain every one of his kids was up. Haley would know it, too. And she wouldn't want them to be part of whatever conversation she'd come to have with Johnny.
He took a moment to smooth his ruffled hair, to make sure his clothes weren't dirty or wrinkled, and ensure that he didn't stink. Then he headed for the lobby, almost certain that's where his visitor awaited him.
The walk from his bedroom to the lobby was the longest one he'd ever taken. Longer even than the day he and Haley got married, when it seemed to take her forever to walk up the aisle to where he stood waiting for her. When it seemed to take them both forever to walk back down the aisle as Mr. and Mrs. Storm. And the disappointment he felt when he stepped into the lobby to see his visitor was like nothing he'd ever felt before.
Dare stood in the middle of the reception area, looking slightly lost. A quick glance suggested she hadn't been sleeping. Johnny could see half-moons of discoloration under her eyes and her paleness went beyond normal and almost seemed sickly. Her clothes, the eternal black she seemed to prefer, were neat and clean despite the hole in the knee of her jeans and the age of her t-shirt. Her hair was down, showing off the purple and blue streaks and the shininess of the black that suggested she was freshly showered. But there was something about her that he couldn't quite put his finger on. She seemed... wrong. Some how.
"Dare. I wasn't expecting you," he said. He thought he got it out evenly enough. But the flat line of her lips twisted down into a frown of displeasure.
"I know who you were expecting. Obviously I'm not Haley." There was some note of emotion in that statement he didn't quite understand. But he didn't get a chance to linger over it because she went on. And the displeasure in her expression leeched into her voice. "But you have fingers and a phone. You could call her if you wanted to. Better yet, you can take your ass up to Westchester and fucking talk to her. Face to face. Like a fucking grown ass adult who makes grown ass decisions."
There was a lot of vehemence in her statement and he wasn't sure where it was coming from. Okay. So, yes. He knew where it was coming from. Most of it. He and Haley had had so many discussions about Dare and about how Haley had noticed a disturbing pattern that infuriated her. Hell, Johnny had seen it himself. He'd seen, and heard, how Dare had always denigrated herself, had always put herself down as unimportant. As unnecessary. As unneeded and unwanted. Haley hadn't been able to help but see it, being on a team with the other woman. Worse, she'd seen how the people around Dare hadn't really tried to do anything to counteract that line of thinking. So Haley had made it one of her many missions in life to remind Dare that she was important and she mattered.
As a result, the bond between the two of them had grown into something strong and damn near unbreakable. Haley had shown Dare that she had worth as a teammate and, more importantly, as a friend. And the friendship between them had solidified into a thing to be reckoned with. He'd seen Dare grow as a person, had seen her become strong and resilient and capable. Hell, she'd put together and run her own team just to find Haley and rescue her from Doom. According to Ben, she'd done a pretty damn good job of it, too.
The woman standing before him shared little resemblance to the confident, brash woman he'd talked to in that run-down diner not so long ago. The Dare before him looked more like the one who challenged him to a goddamn fire fight on Xavier's front lawn because she'd been trying to protect Haley from what she'd felt was a mistake.
Once again, she was facing him down in order to protect her friend. But there was more going on than just helping a friend. Johnny wasn't good with deciphering Dare's emotions on the best of days. Now, it was nigh unto impossible. But he knew, without a doubt, that something was very much wrong.
The only problem with this whole mess is he wasn't sure how to bridge the gap between Haley and himself.
"Dare, it isn't that simple. There's a lot going on and I don't think--"
"You're right," she snapped and stepped toward him. Her hair was not floating and her hands rested limp and loose at her sides. But he could feel a rush of something that might have been her powers, which was worrying. Because what he felt was nothing like the way her powers had felt to him all those times she’d tapped into them with the intent to use them. "You sure as fuck don't think."
Johnny glanced from Dare to the desk. Roberta still sat there, but she seemed to be engrossed in some paperwork. He gave his attention back to Dare. "Maybe we should go somewhere private to have this discussion."
She snorted at him, and he swore he heard a faint touch of hysteria to the sound. "I'm not going to be here long enough for that. And I honestly don't care who the fuck overhears us. As far as I'm concerned, Roberta can transmit it to the whole goddamn building."
"Roberta isn't going to transmit this to the whole building, Dare," Johnny told her. "What goes on between you and I is no one else's business. But you don't look good and I think you need to sit down," Johnny said. He reached for her with one hand, intent on steering her toward one of the unused rooms so he could get her to take a seat. She seemed to be on the very edge of crumbling and he didn't understand it. Not with the rage she was throwing at him.
"Keep your fucking hands to yourself!" she snarled and actually slapped his hand away. Then she took a step back and crossed her arms over her chest. He didn't know if it was to protect herself from whatever she thought was happening here or if it was for some other reason entirely. "Just shut the fuck up and let me speak. Then I'll get out of your hair and let you go back to being a stupid asshole in peace."
Johnny blinked at that. He hadn't experienced this level of hostility from her in... Hell, since that same fire fight on the lawn. They'd buried whatever hatchet there was between them a long time ago. Not long after he and Haley had gotten married, actually. This animosity was foreign and familiar all at the same time.
"Look. I realize that you're just trying to help a friend. I know you love Haley and I know you want her to be happy. But the things that are going on... I don't think you fully understand what its like for me. We're married and she..." He trailed off at the look she sent him.
"If you finish that sentence, Storm, there won't be any ash left for anyone to bury. I swear it," she said. It was frightening to hear, because there was none of the expected anger in her voice. In fact, there was nothing in her voice. No emotion at all. All he heard was a promise and, for a moment, he was really damn sure she could deliver. In fact, the promise in her eyes made him take a step back.
He made a motion with one hand that suggested she could say what it was she felt she had to say.
"I get that you're hurt by what happened. I get that you're confused. I get that you're experiencing a lot of shit all at once," she began. She fell silent and she swallowed. He swore he saw the glimmer of tears in her eyes. Then she blinked and the cold look, the empty look, was back. "But what the fuck makes you think this is any easier for her?"
Johnny blinked because the vehemence was back, blended with a faint touch of self-loathing. He wondered at that for a moment, but the thoughts were pushed aside when she continued.
"Do you think that she, or any of us, had any fucking choice in the matter? Sinister just threw us together like he was playing with his toys. It was sick and twisted. Playing house with real people. Without any concern or care for us as people. For our feelings. I was a plaything once before. I swore it would never happen again. And that piece of shit made it happen. Again!"
"Dare..." he started, then fell silent. There was a haunted look in her eyes, something he was sure she didn't want him to see.
"He used us for his own sick purposes. And, the whole time we were forced to do his bidding, he taunted us with things he knew about us. Things that he shouldn't know. He drugged us. All of us. And, in case you missed it the first time, we were there for a fucking year. We didn't get to see anyone beyond our assigned fuck buddy and that sick shit!" There was still nothing in her voice despite the amount of hatred that colored her words. It was almost as if she'd shut herself away from her emotions. Johnny frowned at that. It only added to the idea that something was not right with Dare.
"So tell me, asshole. Tell me what Haley was supposed to do. What was she supposed to fucking do? Ignore the fucking drugs that kept everyone in perpetual arousal? Was she supposed to spend her time lonely and alone? She should have killed herself just to stay true to you?"
Hearing those words from her made something inside him twist. He'd gotten broad strokes from the professor. Information the man had gotten from Summers when all four of them had been returned home. And there’d been his conversation with his sister. So he'd known some of the basics. But this... This was so much more than he'd understood to have happened. And it was obvious the weight of that time was weighing on Dare as much as it probably weighed on everyone else. He wondered if Haley was drowning in guilt the way Dare seemed to be.
"As if shouldering all of that wasn't bad enough, we had to worry about what everyone would say when we got back," Dare pressed on. A glance at her face told him she wasn't actually seeing him anymore. She was no doubt lost in memory. Then she blinked and pinned him with a stare. "Hell, we didn't even know if we'd come back. What if he'd kept us there in order to keep breeding his idea of the perfect mutants soldiers? What if he'd killed us after he'd gotten what he wanted?"
"I'm sorry, Dare. I can't imagine..."
"Shut! UP!" Her words were accompanied with another swell of power that should have seen her hair floating. It wasn’t. But she was floating. She stared at him with empty eyes and an empty expression, her feet a few inches off the floor. "No. You can't imagine. You don't want to imagine! Because when we did finally make it back, ready to give birth and fucking lost, the people we needed to understand and support us acted like we were nothing but a bunch of cock-hungry whores! No one gave the men a second glance. But us women? The four of us? We're home wreckers. Whores. Seductresses. Every terrible thing people can think of to call us. They look at us like we spread our legs for someone new the first chance we got. So boo hoo! You're little feelings are all hurt! Haley got pregnant by someone who isn't you because that twisted fuck made it happen. Grow the fuck up and be a man! Your wife needs you!"
Her voice had risen and her cheeks glistened with the two tears that had fallen. The angry flush on her cheeks made her look all the paler, made her eyes look large and lost in her face. "If you're here on Haley's behalf..." Johnny started, only to stop when a few more inches separated her from the floor. She was flooded with anger and power and, if he didn't find a way to diffuse it... The results would be disastrous.
"Shut the fuck up and sit down, Storm," she snarled. The next thing he knew, he was sliding across the floor on his ass. She'd.. He could only blink and stare. " Haley doesn't know I'm here. She wouldn't have let me come if she knew I was coming to see you."
Johnny picked himself up. "Dare, I don't think -- "
"That's obvious. I said shut up," she spat. Once again, he was on his ass on the floor and she'd never moved. "And if you want to do this here in the lobby, I'm game. That way, everyone can hear what kind of fucking coward you are."
Again, Johnny got to his feet. This time, he leveled his own glare on her. She was out of control and he was tired of her accusations. Clearly, she didn't understand what this kind of thing did to a marriage. His temper was coming to a boil and if she wanted to hurl insults, he was willing to oblige. "I don't hear Logan complaining about where you're sleeping."
Dare snorted at him, as if she felt that was a weak insult. "And you won't. But don't for a minute think that he isn't hurt by what happened. He's just mature enough to realize that his isn't the only shit that has to be dealt with,"
Dare gave him a once over, her gaze colder by the time she returned her stare to his face. As if she found him seriously lacking. He'd been on the receiving end of that look before. And then her attention shifted to the other side of the lobby, where Ben and Sue and even Reed were standing. Watching the events in confusion and dismay. Dare turned back to him, her feet gently touching the ground so that she once more stood on the tiled floor. "Also. Not that its any of your business, but I've been sharing the suite assigned to Haley. With her. Because, you know, shit's fuck up for us, too. But I guess its too hard to see that past your bruised ego."
He watched as she folded in on herself, her gaze once more empty. But there were still tears on her cheeks. "I knew you were going to hurt her. And I should end you here. Now. But that would hurt her more than anything in the world. Because, despite of all this shit, she still loves you. You don't deserve Haley."
She turned her back to him, clearly dismissing him, held her head high, and made her way to the elevator. When the doors opened, she stepped into the car and turned to face him. That same cold, empty expression was still on her face. But he saw, in the depths of her stare, that she was lost and confused. And the thought struck him, though he couldn't say where it came from, that this had been meant to be a final goodbye. He couldn't figure out why he'd think that, but he didn't ignore it. He started for the elevator, worry and concern warring for top position.
"Dare, wait!"
The door slid shut and, just like that, she was gone.
Chapter Forty Eight: Proof
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 Danger Room was empty save herself, a personal program running meant to help her to deal with pent up anger. She wasn't worried that anyone would walk in on it because it was late at night and everyone else was asleep. She had the whole thing to herself and she could vent her emotions however she saw fit. However she saw fit was centered on a single individual more than anything else. And if that individual bore a striking resemblance to the one person who'd completely fucked up her life right now, there was no one to know that. Was there?
She'd decided on a generic kind of nature setting for this program. It came with a clearing that ran in front of the base of a cliff where piles of rocks lay scattered all around. There was a small lake in the clearing, crystal clear blue water that looked cool and inviting. Trees stood to the right and left of the clearing, offering shelter from the sun blazing overhead as well as some hiding places. Her target was in amongst the trees, waiting to launch an attack.
Her gifts were making it hard for her target to do such a thing. Despite the fact that she was battling a robot wearing a holographic skin of the target, that robot had been programmed, based on previous Danger Room sessions, to think and react the same way her target would. And her gifts allowed her to sense those thoughts before they were put into action. It wasn’t a fair fight by any stretch of the imagination. But this whole mess hadn’t been fair and she wanted some payback for what she’d lost. For what had been stolen from her.
A flash of red in the distance let her know that said target was getting ready to make a move. A sly smile curled her lips up as she brought a fallen tree into play. It was nothing for her telekinetic abilities to heft the large tree into the air and hold it in position so she could swing it like a bat. Anticipation filled her, running like wildfire through her veins. The desire to inflict pain, to make her target feel even an iota of the pain that she’d been feeling since this whole fucking mess had started was akin to an aphrodisiac. It sent heat coursing through her, made the anticipation vibrate along her nerve endings until she couldn’t wait for her target to break the line of trees.
Even the tree she held suspended with her powers quivered in anticipation.
Her target broke the line of trees, stepping out of the relative safety they offered. She stared at the redhead across the distance and felt every ounce of hatred and rage she held for the other woman surge to the surface like a volcano erupting. The facsimile of Haley Stone the computer had created was perfect, right down to the glimmer of light across her stone armor. She was going to take great joy in fucking the bitch up.
She took a breath and focused on her nemesis, then brought the tree to bear. The makeshift bat began its forward swing, only to disappear just before it could make contact with its intended victim. In fact, the entire Danger Room went dark as her program simply deactivated. The towering cliff was gone. The clear blue pool of water. All the boulders and all of the trees. Even her target. All of it was gone. All that remained were the metallic walls of the Danger Room and the bright light that shone down on her from the high ceiling.
The sound of the door sliding open brought her around to face the section of wall where a compact control panel was located. The area was still cast in shadows, denying her the identity of the fool who had dared interrupt her. Well, it looked like she was going to be taking her anger out on a new target.
Slowly, so very slowly, a figure stepped forward into the light. The shadows near the door seemed to hold on to that figure, seemed to be trying to hold it back. She tried to use her powers to figure out who it was. But she was getting nothing from the figure. Nothing at all. Curious. She should have felt something. Should have found some stray thought to latch on to. Hell, her mysterious visitor shouldn’t have been able to sneak up on her like this. She should have sensed them coming before they’d even cleared the door.
Finally, her uninvited guest stepped forward, the last of the clinging shadows simply peeling away to show her who she was dealing with. Dare Scott. Of course it would be one of Haley’s little flunkies. Too bad for the pyrokinetic. She was going to bear the brunt of her anger.
Dare stopped moving, positioning herself between her and the door. The woman’s face blank and empty. Except for her eyes. She swore Dare’s eyes were filled with darkness. And flames. She blinked at that. It had to be a trick of the light. It just had to be. Even with that thought in her head, she couldn’t quite keep the shiver of fear from tracing a path down her spine.
“Dare,” she said, modulating her tone so she sounded pleasant. Maybe she could convince the woman to turn around and leave. She knew she could take the other woman in a fight, but it wouldn’t be easy. At the same time, she hoped like hell Dare hadn’t seen what her program had contained. If she had, all bets were off. “What brings you here?”
“We need to have a discussion, you and I,” Dare responded. Her tone was flat. Empty. Devoid of life. And still, Jean heard the threat housed within it. She blinked at that.
“A discussion? About what?” Jean questioned. She reached out with her telepathy in an effort to discover what Dare’s purpose was in coming here. But her attempt failed, her powers far too easily bouncing off some kind of mental barrier. As if she wasn’t one of the strongest telepaths on the planet.
Dare took a step forward. Jean noticed she was wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. And those stupid boots she’d always favored. She’d been wearing the same ridiculous clothing for more than a decade. Jean felt like maybe someone should have said something to her about growing up long before now. Especially since she was a mother. Dare took another step, unaware of the thoughts running through Jean’s head. “Oh, I think you know, Jean. After all, you can steal people’s thoughts right out of their heads. Can’t you?”
Jean blinked at the other woman’s statement. It unnerved her that Dare’s statement was almost exactly the same thing Jean had been thinking. It also sounded an awful lot like an accusation. And she didn’t like the implications that Dare thought she was so far above everyone that she could do this without proper witnesses. Jean lifted her chin and kept her voice level. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you want to discuss, Dare. I don’t make a habit of just dipping into someone’s head and looking at their thoughts.”
“Really?” The single word was filled with disbelief. And it was accompanied by another single step forward. It brought Dare fully into the light and Jean realized that the woman’s feet weren’t even touching the floor. That could not be a good sign. Jean made another attempt at trying to read Dare. But, again, she came up against that same wall as before. A wall Jean didn’t think the other woman wasn’t, and hadn’t ever been, capable of erecting. There was something very odd going on and she couldn’t put her finger on what it was. She didn’t like that. Not one bit.
“Funny,” Dare said. The word was accompanied by another step. This close, the darkness in Dare’s eyes was frightening. And then Dare smiled. A cold, cruel… almost evil thing. “Because I have it on good authority that you’ve been slipping into Summer’s head for a while now, hiding things from him. Tweaking things. Suppressing memories for him. Making him think you’re the only thing in his world.”
The accusation hit like a bag of bricks and it was only because she had years of training that she kept it from showing on her face. Instead, she offered a sigh and shifted into a position meant to suggest she was already bored with their conversation. “Where would you have heard such ludicrous ideas?”
“The source isn’t important,” Dare said, one hand motioning in a gesture meant to brush that aside. Again, Jean made an effort to slip into Dare’s mind and seek out any information on the other woman’s source that she could find. And again, her efforts were thwarted by some kind of wall. Dare offered her a smile that was not at all nice. And it suggested she knew Jean was trying to pry. “Problems? Marvel Girl?”
The old code name came out on a sneer, turned into an insult to let Jean know what Dare thought of her. Again, it suggested that Dare knew she’d been trying to read her thoughts. “I think you’ve finally lost your hold on reality, Dare. You should speak to the professor about this paranoia or whatever it is. I’m sure he can help you.”
Dare leveled a look that sent that same shiver of fear along Jean’s spine. The woman took yet another step forward. “The way you helped Summer forget that he was attracted to Haley? No, thanks,” she replied, giving a slow shake of her head. She moved forward once again, her feet moving as if she was truly walking despite the fact that she was floating a few inches off the floor. That was a sure sign that Dare was tapping her powers. What Jean couldn’t figure out was why her hair wasn’t floating. That had always been a reliable indicator of just when Dare planned on using her powers.
“Dare.” Jean got the woman’s name out before she was cut off once again.
“Your meddling and manipulating have done so much damage, Jean. Summers is miserable, torn between trying not to hurt you and trying not to hurt Haley. Even though he loves Haley. And he loves his daughter.”
“He loves me, Dare,” Jean insisted. She was starting to wonder if she could simply sneak past Dare and make it to the door before the woman could react.
“Oh, sure,” Dare replied. The look she shot Jean was not a nice one and it left Jean worried about what Dare might attempt before Jean was able to grab hold of the woman’s powers and bring them under her control. “Because you made him believe it. I mean, its possible that he had feelings for you all on his own. But if he did, you used your powers to play with them and highlight them. Strengthen them. His emotions for Haley are genuine, cultivated by spending time getting to know her.”
“I don’t think you understand what’s going on here, Dare,” Jean began. The other woman drifted closer. And Jean swore she could once again see flames flickering in the dark grey eyes that were pinned on her.
“Don’t I? Why don’t you explain it to me, Jean? Why don’t you tell me how I’ve got it all wrong?” Dare suggested. She smiled, a thing that was truly twisted and frightening. “And while you’re at it, why don’t you tell me how I’ve got it all wrong that Haley spends her nights crying herself to sleep every night. Tell me how I got it wrong that she hasn’t been herself since we got back from where ever it was Sinister kept us. Tell me how I’ve got it wrong that the happiest I’ve seen Haley in the past six weeks is when Scott comes to visit Emilia. And even then, she’s fucking miserable. Because she doesn’t dare show it. Because she’s sure that he’s going to come crawling back to you.”
Each sentence saw Dare floating a little closer, until she was almost in Jean’s face. This close, Jean could see the anger that boiled in her gaze. And she felt the heat that rolled off the woman, a physical sign that she was powering up. Which was odd, because her powers were not this subtle. They never had been. It left Jean feeling slightly uneasy.
“I see you have nothing to say,” Dare said softly. Her voice was, in some perverse way, almost an intimate caress. The uneasiness Jean had been feeling only grew with that. Because this was a Dare she didn’t know or even recognize. “Pity. Maybe, had you simply confessed to your wrong doing, I’d have been willing to let you leave here with just a simple warning. I might have been willing to be merciful. Since it seems you want to continue to play the victim, I’m going to have to show you the error of your ways.”
“I don’t know where you got the idea that I manipulated Scott, but I promise you. You’re wrong. Whatever it is you want to accomplish here, it won’t happen,” Jean told her.
Dare sighed and shook her head. “Ah, Jean. I do so hate liars.”
The last word had barely passed Dare’s lips when the entire room was filled with flames. They crawled across the floor, stopping only a few inches from the tips of Jean’s boots. They climbed up the walls to the ceiling, then covered it so that flames roared on all sides of her. And there had been no sign that Dare was going to access her powers. None at all. A finger of fear traced Jean’s spine. The other woman wasn’t capable of such things. She never had been. And it unnerved Jean in ways she couldn’t even put into words.
“You need help, Dare. I don’t know what happened to you, but you’re twisted up inside and you -- “
“Shut up, Jean!” Dare snapped. Fire crackled in her words. Jean swore she heard it. Which wasn’t possible. Again, it was something Dare had never been capable of. Just what the hell was going on here? “There are probably a lot of things wrong with me. But this has nothing to do with what happened to me. This has everything to do with the fact that you have been a naughty little telekinetic and you’ve used your gifts to fuck around with someone else’s head. I’ve had it done to me, you know. I’m not a huge fan of it.”
“Dare,” Jean said, taking care to make her name sound harmless and friendly. At the same time, she was gathering her powers around her. She was going to use them in an effort to cut Dare off from her flames and she didn’t want to give that fact away. “I promise you. I have never messed with Scott’s thoughts or emotions. I don’t know where you got that idea, but you seem fixated on it. Frankly, that worries me.”
“Save me your sanctimonious bullshit, Jean. I know better,” Dare scoffed. “Do you really think I’m delusional enough to make this shit up? Then again, you always did have low opinions of the members of Purple Team. I shouldn’t be surprised.”
“You really do need help, Dare,” Jean said, letting pity leak into her voice. It was time to end this farce. While she didn’t really want to hurt the other woman, she was afraid doing so was unavoidable. She’d try not to enjoy it. Much.
Power grasped in her metaphysical hands, Jean cast it out as if it was a net. Her intent was to cover Dare with it and then smother the woman’s ability to call the flames. But the net never landed. It barely even got close to Dare before it dropped. Like it had hit an invisible wall. She tried again, pulling her power to her and once more casting it out like a net. She was met with the same result.
And Dare smiled.
“Naughty naughty,” Dare intoned, wagging a finger at Jean in a side to side motion. Then she thrust her hand out toward Jean. An invisible force slammed into Jean and threw her ten feet across the room. She found herself in the middle of the flames, flames that had made a clearing for her to land in. Flames that were now creeping closer and closer. The heat was unbearable. She could just imagine how much pain they’d bring when they crept across her. But the worst part of it all was the soft laughter that Dare let go. And the gleam in her eye that told Jean she was very much enjoying this game she was playing. “Time to dole out your punishment, Jean. Don’t worry. It won’t hurt. Much.”
Another gesture of Dare’s hand saw the flames roaring higher and higher around her. Saw them moving closer. Jean tried to move, tried to get away. Tried to do something to get herself out of this situation. But she was frozen in place. With fear. And with some unseen hand that held her where she lay. “If you do this, Dare, the professor will lock your powers away and then he’ll do the same to you. You’ll never be allowed to see your family again. Are you willing to do that to your children?”
“The professor can’t stop me,” Dare responded. Jean watched as she strolled almost leisurely through the forest of flames, her hands reaching out to stroke them like she was petting a beloved dog. “You’ve tried and you can’t stop me.”
“This isn’t you, Dare!” Jean said, groping for something that would save her. She could see the intent in Dare’s eyes. The other woman was going to release her hold on the flames and let them consume everything in their path.
“You don’t know me, Jean,” Dare replied.
“I know you’re not a killer. You forget. I’ve seen inside your mind. You don’t want to hurt people. The one time you did, you felt so bad that you called the flames down and used them to destroy yourself. You don’t like killing people.” It was desperation. Jean knew it. But she couldn’t see any other way to achieve her desired outcome.
Dare gave her a look that Jean couldn’t read. Then she sighed and shook her head. “As fun and enlightening as this conversation has been, I’m tired of it. And of you. Goodbye, Jean.”
The flames roared higher, crackled with menace as they moved ever closer to where Jean lay pinned to the floor. The heat coming off them was intense and Jean closed her eyes. This wasn’t how she’d envisioned dying. But it looked like Dare was going to let her flames consume everything in their path. Jean hoped that it would be a quick death.
“Dare! That’s enough! Shut it the fuck down! Now!”
The sound of another voice, shouting orders at the crazy woman with her, saw Jean’s eyes popping open. She couldn’t see anything through the flames. They had taken over most of the Danger Room. Jean tried to find the window to the observation room, but it was hidden behind a curtain of fire.
“Dare! Stand down! That’s an order!” A second voice echoed around the flames a moment before the overhead sprinklers turned on. For a moment, it looked as if they were going to extinguish the flames, the water steadily beating back the tongues of orange and red until Jean got a look at the booth high above the Danger Room floor. She could see the grim expression that had made itself home on Logan’s face. And she could see the flash of red from Scott’s visor.
“Turn it off, Dare!” Logan ordered. “Turn the flames off right now!”
Dare turned toward the booth, her actions so terribly slow. It was a move very unlike the woman. And Jean could see, even from where she was pinned, the way Dare’s eyes glowed with incandescent rage. With the power running through her veins. Dare’s voice came then, a low and throaty thing that was nothing like her normal speaking voice. Jean swore it was like hearing someone else speaking through Dare’s mouth. “You do not control me any longer, old man.”
“Don’t make me come down there and kick yer ass, girl!” Logan spat.
“Try it and see where it gets you,” Dare responded. Then she turned away from Logan and faced Jean. The flames roared higher, making it impossible for the men in the control booth to see what was happening on the floor. Something told Jean that the cameras wouldn’t record anything beyond flames. Dare moved close enough that she stood over Jean and the expression on her face was empty. If not for the look in her eyes, Jean might have thought the woman was little more than a statue. “I tire of this, Jean. I tire of you and your pitiful attempts to protect yourself. To proclaim your innocence. Let our interaction here today serve as a reminder to you. If you ever do something like this again… No one will stop me the next time.”
A moment later, Dare was just… gone. And so were the flames.
~*~*~*~*~
“What the hell was going on in there?” His words stopped her in her tracks, bringing her around to look at him. To be honest, he was surprised to find her there. That struck him as odd because she’d literally disappeared out of the Danger Room. He was pretty certain she could have disappeared to anywhere. And yet, she’d only gone as far as the hallway. It made him wonder if she’d been waiting for him to come after her. If she’d stalled with the intention of being caught. He couldn’t imagine any reason why she’d do that. But he couldn’t shake the idea. Because she’d proven time and again that she was capable of slipping away without anyone catching her.
Those thoughts were pushed aside when she finished her turn. Dare was silent as she met his gaze. He was surprised to find there was nothing in her eyes. In fact, she seemed… deflated. He wasn’t looking at the woman who had been only seconds away from roasting his ex only moments ago. He was looking at a woman who appeared to be hanging on by a thread.
Concern rolled through him and he was instantly on alert. “Dare?”
“She deserved worse than she got.” It wasn’t an answer he’d expected or even wanted to hear.
“That isn’t your call, Dare. You don’t get to be judge, jury, and executioner. Jean is still an X-Man and she deserves the respect that comes with it,” he replied.
“Does she, Summers? Does she really deserve respect?” The question was soft. He heard In it what her opinion on the matter was. He watched as she gave him a once over, her gaze sliding from head to toe before climbing back up again. When she was once more looking him in the eye, she crossed her arms over her chest and cocked a hip.”She deserves a taste of her own medicine. She deserves more than I gave her. She’s corrupt and morally bankrupt. She hurts people with no thought for anyone but herself. She uses people. And she pretends she’s sweet and innocent so that no one sees how twisted and warped she is. How dark the stains on her soul are.”
“I’ve known Jean for a lot of years, Dare. And I’ve never seen anything like what you’re talking about from her. I think you’re --” Scott’s voice died out before he could finish his sentence. Because he found himself pinned against the wall. And Dare had never moved.
“Go on, Summers. Finish that sentence. Please. Give me a reason to forget that I’m not supposed to do terrible things to people who are supposed to be on my side. Give me a reason to put what little humanity I have left aside and just give in to the flames,” she whispered. It sounded like she was doing her best to egg him on. And it sounded like she was begging for help.
Scott fell silent and started searching for a way to help her.
“That’s what I thought,” she said. She almost sounded disappointed. Before he could figure it out, Dare took a step closer, her arms dropping so that she could slip one hand into the back pocket of her jeans. “Stop denying what you already know to be true. Jean is a selfish, self-centered person. She thinks she’s better than everyone. She thinks she’s owed whatever she wants, that she deserves whatever she wants. She hurts people. Look at what she did to Haley. What she almost did to Emilia. And she uses people.”
With that statement, her hand came forward. Dare extended it toward him, her fingers clasped around the thing she’d pulled from her pocket. He found himself staring at a tape. “You need to take this and listen to it. It will prove what I’m saying. Jean is selfish and manipulative. She hurts people. She uses people.”
Part of him didn’t want to take that tape. Because he was pretty sure he knew what it would reveal to him. Another part of him demanded he take it. He had to know. He had to know if any of it had been real. The Jean he’d lived with for all those years seemed to be a different person than the one he’d been living with for the past six weeks. And he’d gotten the feeling more than once that she’d been attempting to play with his memories and his thoughts. He didn’t want to know. But he did. Slowly, reluctantly, he raised his arm as far as he could and held his hand out toward her.
Dare set the tape in his hand almost gently. The look she turned on him then was sad. Filled with regret. “Including you, Scott.”
“What are you saying?” he asked, his voice hoarse and pained. It was a stupid question, though. Because, somewhere deep in his heart, he already knew.
“Just listen,” she instructed. “You’ll understand.”
She turned away when she was sure his fingers were curled around the tape. And she started up the hallway. He swore an air of defeat followed after her. He struggled against the invisible force holding him against the wall. Some instinct told him that he needed to stop her. Right now. The force held, refusing to let him go. “Dare, wait!”
His words echoed up the hall long after the sound of her retreating steps faded into silence.
~*~*~*~*~
"Mister Storm, you have a visitor." Roberta's voice filled the room. It brought Johnny's head up in surprise and no small amount of confusion. Because Roberta hadn't given name to his visitor. He glanced at the clock and frowned. It was kind of early, the sun barely up over the horizon. Odd time for a visitor. Unless...
Johnny tried to stamp down the hope that fluttered to life in his chest at the thought that maybe, just maybe, his visitor was Haley. She might have asked Roberta to report her as a visitor so as not to alert their children. None of them had the capacity to sleep past sun up other than Spencer. But he had a problem staying in bed when his mother wasn't home. Johnny was almost certain every one of his kids was up. Haley would know it, too. And she wouldn't want them to be part of whatever conversation she'd come to have with Johnny.
He took a moment to smooth his ruffled hair, to make sure his clothes weren't dirty or wrinkled, and ensure that he didn't stink. Then he headed for the lobby, almost certain that's where his visitor awaited him.
The walk from his bedroom to the lobby was the longest one he'd ever taken. Longer even than the day he and Haley got married, when it seemed to take her forever to walk up the aisle to where he stood waiting for her. When it seemed to take them both forever to walk back down the aisle as Mr. and Mrs. Storm. And the disappointment he felt when he stepped into the lobby to see his visitor was like nothing he'd ever felt before.
Dare stood in the middle of the reception area, looking slightly lost. A quick glance suggested she hadn't been sleeping. Johnny could see half-moons of discoloration under her eyes and her paleness went beyond normal and almost seemed sickly. Her clothes, the eternal black she seemed to prefer, were neat and clean despite the hole in the knee of her jeans and the age of her t-shirt. Her hair was down, showing off the purple and blue streaks and the shininess of the black that suggested she was freshly showered. But there was something about her that he couldn't quite put his finger on. She seemed... wrong. Some how.
"Dare. I wasn't expecting you," he said. He thought he got it out evenly enough. But the flat line of her lips twisted down into a frown of displeasure.
"I know who you were expecting. Obviously I'm not Haley." There was some note of emotion in that statement he didn't quite understand. But he didn't get a chance to linger over it because she went on. And the displeasure in her expression leeched into her voice. "But you have fingers and a phone. You could call her if you wanted to. Better yet, you can take your ass up to Westchester and fucking talk to her. Face to face. Like a fucking grown ass adult who makes grown ass decisions."
There was a lot of vehemence in her statement and he wasn't sure where it was coming from. Okay. So, yes. He knew where it was coming from. Most of it. He and Haley had had so many discussions about Dare and about how Haley had noticed a disturbing pattern that infuriated her. Hell, Johnny had seen it himself. He'd seen, and heard, how Dare had always denigrated herself, had always put herself down as unimportant. As unnecessary. As unneeded and unwanted. Haley hadn't been able to help but see it, being on a team with the other woman. Worse, she'd seen how the people around Dare hadn't really tried to do anything to counteract that line of thinking. So Haley had made it one of her many missions in life to remind Dare that she was important and she mattered.
As a result, the bond between the two of them had grown into something strong and damn near unbreakable. Haley had shown Dare that she had worth as a teammate and, more importantly, as a friend. And the friendship between them had solidified into a thing to be reckoned with. He'd seen Dare grow as a person, had seen her become strong and resilient and capable. Hell, she'd put together and run her own team just to find Haley and rescue her from Doom. According to Ben, she'd done a pretty damn good job of it, too.
The woman standing before him shared little resemblance to the confident, brash woman he'd talked to in that run-down diner not so long ago. The Dare before him looked more like the one who challenged him to a goddamn fire fight on Xavier's front lawn because she'd been trying to protect Haley from what she'd felt was a mistake.
Once again, she was facing him down in order to protect her friend. But there was more going on than just helping a friend. Johnny wasn't good with deciphering Dare's emotions on the best of days. Now, it was nigh unto impossible. But he knew, without a doubt, that something was very much wrong.
The only problem with this whole mess is he wasn't sure how to bridge the gap between Haley and himself.
"Dare, it isn't that simple. There's a lot going on and I don't think--"
"You're right," she snapped and stepped toward him. Her hair was not floating and her hands rested limp and loose at her sides. But he could feel a rush of something that might have been her powers, which was worrying. Because what he felt was nothing like the way her powers had felt to him all those times she’d tapped into them with the intent to use them. "You sure as fuck don't think."
Johnny glanced from Dare to the desk. Roberta still sat there, but she seemed to be engrossed in some paperwork. He gave his attention back to Dare. "Maybe we should go somewhere private to have this discussion."
She snorted at him, and he swore he heard a faint touch of hysteria to the sound. "I'm not going to be here long enough for that. And I honestly don't care who the fuck overhears us. As far as I'm concerned, Roberta can transmit it to the whole goddamn building."
"Roberta isn't going to transmit this to the whole building, Dare," Johnny told her. "What goes on between you and I is no one else's business. But you don't look good and I think you need to sit down," Johnny said. He reached for her with one hand, intent on steering her toward one of the unused rooms so he could get her to take a seat. She seemed to be on the very edge of crumbling and he didn't understand it. Not with the rage she was throwing at him.
"Keep your fucking hands to yourself!" she snarled and actually slapped his hand away. Then she took a step back and crossed her arms over her chest. He didn't know if it was to protect herself from whatever she thought was happening here or if it was for some other reason entirely. "Just shut the fuck up and let me speak. Then I'll get out of your hair and let you go back to being a stupid asshole in peace."
Johnny blinked at that. He hadn't experienced this level of hostility from her in... Hell, since that same fire fight on the lawn. They'd buried whatever hatchet there was between them a long time ago. Not long after he and Haley had gotten married, actually. This animosity was foreign and familiar all at the same time.
"Look. I realize that you're just trying to help a friend. I know you love Haley and I know you want her to be happy. But the things that are going on... I don't think you fully understand what its like for me. We're married and she..." He trailed off at the look she sent him.
"If you finish that sentence, Storm, there won't be any ash left for anyone to bury. I swear it," she said. It was frightening to hear, because there was none of the expected anger in her voice. In fact, there was nothing in her voice. No emotion at all. All he heard was a promise and, for a moment, he was really damn sure she could deliver. In fact, the promise in her eyes made him take a step back.
He made a motion with one hand that suggested she could say what it was she felt she had to say.
"I get that you're hurt by what happened. I get that you're confused. I get that you're experiencing a lot of shit all at once," she began. She fell silent and she swallowed. He swore he saw the glimmer of tears in her eyes. Then she blinked and the cold look, the empty look, was back. "But what the fuck makes you think this is any easier for her?"
Johnny blinked because the vehemence was back, blended with a faint touch of self-loathing. He wondered at that for a moment, but the thoughts were pushed aside when she continued.
"Do you think that she, or any of us, had any fucking choice in the matter? Sinister just threw us together like he was playing with his toys. It was sick and twisted. Playing house with real people. Without any concern or care for us as people. For our feelings. I was a plaything once before. I swore it would never happen again. And that piece of shit made it happen. Again!"
"Dare..." he started, then fell silent. There was a haunted look in her eyes, something he was sure she didn't want him to see.
"He used us for his own sick purposes. And, the whole time we were forced to do his bidding, he taunted us with things he knew about us. Things that he shouldn't know. He drugged us. All of us. And, in case you missed it the first time, we were there for a fucking year. We didn't get to see anyone beyond our assigned fuck buddy and that sick shit!" There was still nothing in her voice despite the amount of hatred that colored her words. It was almost as if she'd shut herself away from her emotions. Johnny frowned at that. It only added to the idea that something was not right with Dare.
"So tell me, asshole. Tell me what Haley was supposed to do. What was she supposed to fucking do? Ignore the fucking drugs that kept everyone in perpetual arousal? Was she supposed to spend her time lonely and alone? She should have killed herself just to stay true to you?"
Hearing those words from her made something inside him twist. He'd gotten broad strokes from the professor. Information the man had gotten from Summers when all four of them had been returned home. And there’d been his conversation with his sister. So he'd known some of the basics. But this... This was so much more than he'd understood to have happened. And it was obvious the weight of that time was weighing on Dare as much as it probably weighed on everyone else. He wondered if Haley was drowning in guilt the way Dare seemed to be.
"As if shouldering all of that wasn't bad enough, we had to worry about what everyone would say when we got back," Dare pressed on. A glance at her face told him she wasn't actually seeing him anymore. She was no doubt lost in memory. Then she blinked and pinned him with a stare. "Hell, we didn't even know if we'd come back. What if he'd kept us there in order to keep breeding his idea of the perfect mutants soldiers? What if he'd killed us after he'd gotten what he wanted?"
"I'm sorry, Dare. I can't imagine..."
"Shut! UP!" Her words were accompanied with another swell of power that should have seen her hair floating. It wasn’t. But she was floating. She stared at him with empty eyes and an empty expression, her feet a few inches off the floor. "No. You can't imagine. You don't want to imagine! Because when we did finally make it back, ready to give birth and fucking lost, the people we needed to understand and support us acted like we were nothing but a bunch of cock-hungry whores! No one gave the men a second glance. But us women? The four of us? We're home wreckers. Whores. Seductresses. Every terrible thing people can think of to call us. They look at us like we spread our legs for someone new the first chance we got. So boo hoo! You're little feelings are all hurt! Haley got pregnant by someone who isn't you because that twisted fuck made it happen. Grow the fuck up and be a man! Your wife needs you!"
Her voice had risen and her cheeks glistened with the two tears that had fallen. The angry flush on her cheeks made her look all the paler, made her eyes look large and lost in her face. "If you're here on Haley's behalf..." Johnny started, only to stop when a few more inches separated her from the floor. She was flooded with anger and power and, if he didn't find a way to diffuse it... The results would be disastrous.
"Shut the fuck up and sit down, Storm," she snarled. The next thing he knew, he was sliding across the floor on his ass. She'd.. He could only blink and stare. " Haley doesn't know I'm here. She wouldn't have let me come if she knew I was coming to see you."
Johnny picked himself up. "Dare, I don't think -- "
"That's obvious. I said shut up," she spat. Once again, he was on his ass on the floor and she'd never moved. "And if you want to do this here in the lobby, I'm game. That way, everyone can hear what kind of fucking coward you are."
Again, Johnny got to his feet. This time, he leveled his own glare on her. She was out of control and he was tired of her accusations. Clearly, she didn't understand what this kind of thing did to a marriage. His temper was coming to a boil and if she wanted to hurl insults, he was willing to oblige. "I don't hear Logan complaining about where you're sleeping."
Dare snorted at him, as if she felt that was a weak insult. "And you won't. But don't for a minute think that he isn't hurt by what happened. He's just mature enough to realize that his isn't the only shit that has to be dealt with,"
Dare gave him a once over, her gaze colder by the time she returned her stare to his face. As if she found him seriously lacking. He'd been on the receiving end of that look before. And then her attention shifted to the other side of the lobby, where Ben and Sue and even Reed were standing. Watching the events in confusion and dismay. Dare turned back to him, her feet gently touching the ground so that she once more stood on the tiled floor. "Also. Not that its any of your business, but I've been sharing the suite assigned to Haley. With her. Because, you know, shit's fuck up for us, too. But I guess its too hard to see that past your bruised ego."
He watched as she folded in on herself, her gaze once more empty. But there were still tears on her cheeks. "I knew you were going to hurt her. And I should end you here. Now. But that would hurt her more than anything in the world. Because, despite of all this shit, she still loves you. You don't deserve Haley."
She turned her back to him, clearly dismissing him, held her head high, and made her way to the elevator. When the doors opened, she stepped into the car and turned to face him. That same cold, empty expression was still on her face. But he saw, in the depths of her stare, that she was lost and confused. And the thought struck him, though he couldn't say where it came from, that this had been meant to be a final goodbye. He couldn't figure out why he'd think that, but he didn't ignore it. He started for the elevator, worry and concern warring for top position.
"Dare, wait!"
The door slid shut and, just like that, she was gone.
(no subject)
Date: 2025-09-01 02:53 am (UTC)I kind of love the idea that most of the X-Men at one time or another have worked out their team frustrations and personal frustrations by beating the shit out of their rivals in the Danger Room. We all know Jean isn't winning that fight in reality so let her have her moment.
Or not.
Damn, okay. Those power upgrades that have been happening are clearly hitting high gear. I love the idea that Jean kept thinking she could gaslight and shut Dare down whenever she wanted. That relization was a fun one to watch but... yikes. I feel like Haley is going to have words about this, not because Dare was defending her but because she wouldn't get her own shots in for the... well, everything.
Is that Dee's tape? WHAT DID JEAN DO? Omg I can't wait to hear/for Scott to react to that.
Confronting Johnny and calling him a coward is harsh but somebody clearly had to smack him upside the head. The power up again is scary and I'm glad she didn't do worse than just knocking him on his ass. Hopefully he takes something away from this beside a few bruises.
WHAT IS SHE DOING??? Omg I feel a desperate need to know what is happening with Dare. This is intense!
great work hun!
(no subject)
Date: 2025-09-02 12:13 am (UTC)i feel like the Danger Room sees more use than training sessions and evaluations. i'm pretty sure everyone has been in there a time or two, blowing off steam and dealing with personal crap. nah. she wouldn't.
nah. she doesn't even get that moment in a private Danger Room session.
mmm. i feel like Dare might be just... leaking power at the moment. then again, her abilities have always been at their strongest when her temper has been on a slow boil. and she is obviously extremely not very happy at the moment. so, yeah. it is a little funny that Jean felt she could shut Dare down easy as she pleases and then she finds out that it isn't so easy and, in fact, it isn't possible. i'm sure Haley will be unhappy that Dare didn't take her along. but she's just going to have to forgive Dare for that.
we will find out the contents of Dee's tape soon. there are plans in place. just... gotta get there
i think Dare wanted to do more than just knock him on his ass and call him a coward. but it was probably best that such a thing didn't happen because she'd have taken the top of the Baxter Building off without even trying. she is just flush with power and it would be so easy for her to turn it toward destroying things.its a good thing she kept her control, even if only just.
all will be revealed. eventually.
glad you liked it, bb. thanks for reading!
(no subject)
Date: 2025-09-02 11:44 pm (UTC)Okay, yeah. Dare's hanging by a thread. And of course she let Scott find her. She had to give him the tape.
Johnny. Should've known he was next on Dare's list. First of all, yeah, he deserved all that. Please, oh please let it sink in this time! Second, I'm with Johnny, Dare is running on empty and it's worrisome. I'm also glad she didn't lose it and blow the Baxter building sky high.
Impatiently waiting to find out what the hell is going on with Dare and these scary new(?) powers....
Great job, bb! I enjoyed it muchly. *smooches*
(no subject)
Date: 2025-09-03 08:25 pm (UTC)yeah. my girl's head is not on straight just yet. we're working on it. i promise. but for now... and, yes. she absolutely let Scott catch up to her.
Johnny has been on her list since day one, i think. i mean, she understands that he's been hurt and this is upsetting and all. but she's pissed that he seems to think it isn't just as bad, or worse, for Haley. Johnny is right. she is getting so close to bottoming out. so close.
i promise you'll find out! i really do promise! just... not now
glad you enjoyed, hon. thanks for reading!