Among the Strong
Oct. 10th, 2025 10:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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marysuevirusTitle: Among the Strong
Chapter Fifty: In Motion
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
It was quiet. Far too quiet. And had been for some time now. In retrospect, she should have realized much sooner that all the quiet meant nothing good. But she’d been dealing with a slightly fussy Emilia and an extremely curious TJ for the past two days, so it was kind of understandable that she hadn’t noticed anything before now. Thinking back, she realized that it had been quiet like this yesterday. In fact, it had been quiet all day yesterday and now into today. She didn’t like what that might mean.
The door to the other bedroom was closed. It had remained closed yesterday. And she hadn’t really thought anything of it. After that disastrous team meeting they’d had the other day, she’d seen very little of Dare. She could understand why. It wasn’t often that someone who was supposed to be a friend, part of your family, called you a whore to your face and then went on to deny that you’d suffered any kind of trauma after being kidnapped and forced to gestate a child for a deranged geneticist with an unhealthy fascination for you and your friends. But it had kind of hurt to have Dare cut herself off like that. Haley had wanted to believe that Dare might confide in her about how Jehnna’s hurtful accusations had made her feel.
There had been no confiding happening at all, and Haley had tried not to let that fact worm its way into her brain and make her feel worse about everything than she already did. It was hard, because Dare had been a constant since their return when no one else had. Even when she’d been draining her life away trying to hide, she’d still been there for Haley when she’d needed her.
What was happening that she thought to be so terrible that she couldn’t even turn to her friend when she needed a shoulder?
Her fist hit the wooden panel almost gently, the knock echoing lightly around the room. There was, much to her dismay, no answering call to enter. Haley turned the knob and eased the door open, stepping into the room with the faint hope that Dare was sleeping in. That Petra was sleeping in.
Her hopes were dashed by the state of disarray the room was in. The sheets and comforter on Dare’s bed were rumpled and tossed aside. Drawers had been pulled open and emptied of their contents. The portable crib had been stripped not only of its inhabitant but of the unicorn blanket that was always near Petra. The baby bag that someone had brought to Dare was gone, as was the car seat that had always been kept in the corner. A quick check of the changing table told her that the diapers, wipes, powders, and ointments kept there had disappeared. The bathroom had suffered the same fate, with toiletries gone missing from their places in the shower and on the sink.
A pit of dread opened in Haley’s stomach, sending her hurrying back out into the main room. She tugged the door of the mini fridge open in something akin to desperation. All she found was the last of the chili Remy had brought down the day before and the bottles of expressed milk she kept on hand for Emilia in case breast feeding wasn’t possible. There were no bottles with red tops meant for Petra within. Haley stared in dismay. And confusion. And worry.
Dare was gone.
When had she left? Why? What kind of idiotic bullshit was going through the woman’s head now? Why had she gone without saying a word to Haley?
For a moment, Haley let fear rule her. It really hadn’t been that long since Dare had nearly killed herself. There were days when her energy wasn’t great even now. It had only been a few weeks, really. Why would she go? Why would she leave everything and everyone behind? Where had she gotten to? What if something happened to her or Petra? What if…
Time froze for a moment as her brain came to the one thought she didn’t want to have. What if Sinister found her and took her again? What if he took Petra? What if he had found them and taken them? She was pretty certain Dare wouldn’t survive that kind of thing again. Hell, she was pretty certain none of them would.
Fear slid away, into its own little compartment at the back of her head, and logic took its place. She had to believe that Dare had run of her own accord. And she was willing to pin the other woman’s flight on the events of the meeting. Dare had been too quiet after that day. Not that she’d let anyone see any emotion during the get together. But Haley knew her well enough to know that Jehnna’s words had probably started eating away at Dare’s confidence immediately. God knew her self-confidence was terrible at the best of times. Having someone she’d considered family throw such an accusation in her face had to have eroded what little confidence the woman had found in herself.
The first thing to do was to try and call her friend’s phone and pray to God that she answered. Haley hurried to her cell, once more hoping against hope that it would be as easy as pushing a button or two. There was a split second for Haley to send a prayer up to whomever might be listening, then the other line clicked straight over to voice mail. A quick, concise message in Dare’s voice told people to leave a message or go away. Haley hung up and considered trying the other woman’s phone again. But she put the thought aside as quickly as it came because she knew that it would go straight to voice mail again.
Haley set her cell down and heaved a sigh. It was time to think. Time to use her brains. She chided herself a moment about not using them sooner. About not checking with Dare to ensure she was okay. The truth of the matter was, though, that she’d had her own shit to deal with and had kind of pushed thoughts of Dare to the curb. There were so many things she should have done differently. But it was too late to linger on that now. She had to figure out where Dare had gone. And she had to find her.
She wished she had Dare’s cell to look at. Maybe there was a number in her call history that might shed light on things. Haley supposed it was possible that Dare had gone to see her parents. But she didn’t think it was likely, Anyone could find her there. And Haley was certain Dare didn’t want to be found. Not this time. It was a feeling deep in her gut that refused to go away. Whatever had driven her away had to have been serious enough to convince her she needed to cut ties with… well, everyone.
“Somet’ing wrong, Haley? You look lost in thought.”
The question pulled her from head. She glanced up at Remy with a faint smile she hoped would keep him from guessing what was presently on her mind. Holy shit, the man had the worst timing. She absolutely didn’t need him to figure out that Dare had gone missing. Haley had a feeling that Remy would move Heaven and Earth to find her. And she had no doubt he’d use every last ounce of his charm to make that happen. “No. Just considering what kinds of things I should do with TJ today. She wanted to spend time with me and Emilia, so I’m trying to make some plans so that she can learn how to be a Big Sister.”
Remy’s gaze, focused and searching, remained fixed on her face for a few moments before he blinked and the look was gone. A smile spread across his face and brought warmth to his eyes. It was a soft expression that she’d seen there often in the past few weeks. The man was head over heels with Petra. And Dare. How could Dare have so easily put that aside and just left? “Maybe you take de babies into town. Dere places where TJ can play.”
“That is a good suggestion, Remy. Thanks,” she responded. He inclined his head in response, then turned his attention to the door to the second bedroom. Fortunately, Haley had pulled it shut behind her when she’d come out of the room. So he couldn’t see anything. And she had to ensure he didn’t see anything. Because if he saw the state of her bedroom…
She had to keep him from going in there. And she had to do it in such a way that he didn’t suspect she was trying to keep him out of the bedroom. She thought maybe the best way to do that was a frontal assault. “If you’re looking for Dare, you just missed her,” she threw out as casually as she could. The statement brought Remy’s gaze back to hers. This time, there was a curious look in his eyes.
“Where she go?” The question seemed innocuous enough. But Haley was sure she heard something more in it.
“She said she was going to take Petra outside for a bit of fresh air. I guess she thought hanging out in here all the time wasn’t doing either of them any good,” Haley told him. She did her best to make it sound like Haley thought it was a good idea to get out and get some air.
Remy stared at her without saying anything and, for a few tense moments, she thought he was going to call her a liar to her face. Then he inclined his head at her. “Thank you,” he said, warmth and friendship in his voice. She shuddered to think what he’d do when he found out she’d lied to him. But she pushed that aside and offered him a smile.
“You’re welcome,” she told him. And then she held her breath until he was out the door and long up the hallway.
Remy hadn’t been gone more than a minute before Haley’s cell rang. She hurried to answer, hoping against hope that it was Dare calling her back. When she saw the caller’s name on the screen, she heaved a sigh of disappointment. Which was a horrible way to view the first call Johnny had made to her since this whole mess had started. She should have been overjoyed that he was calling. But her worry and concern made it hard. She was of half a mind to ignore the call. But she couldn’t just ignore it when Johnny was apparently making some kind of effort. So she pushed the disappointment aside and answered before the call could go to her voice mail.
“Johnny?” She couldn’t quite keep the confusion and surprise from her voice.
“Hey, babe,” he responded. There was a touch of hesitance to his words, as if he didn’t think she’d want to talk to him. But there was also the love he’d always shown her laced into those two words and she felt a trickle of warmth slide through her. She had to push it aside so she could focus on the here and now. “Look, babe. I know you’re mad and hurt. And you have every right to be. I’ve been a real ass about everything lately. But I’ve been thinking about things a lot and I think that we should talk.”
Of course they needed to talk. But his timing sure fucking sucked. “Look, Johnny. I don’t want to be abrupt but—”
“I understand if you don’t want to talk to me, Haley,” Johnny returned, cutting her off before she could say anything more. And there was a seriousness in his voice that she rarely heard him use. “And I don’t blame you for it. At all. Because I’ve been a real asshole and I hurt you in the worst way possible. But I really think we need to talk. If we let things go much longer, I don’t know that talking will be enough.”
Her heart softened. Just a little. “I would love nothing more than to talk, Johnny,” she told him honestly.
“Good. That’s good. I can be over in a few minutes so that we—”
“But I don’t have time right now,” she interrupted. She was once again trying to figure out where Dare would go. But beyond her parents, Haley had no idea. She honestly didn’t think Dare was in the state anymore. So that left her a few avenues to explore.
“Haley,” Johnny began. She could hear in his voice his own pain at being pushed aside.
“Dare’s missing, Johnny. I have to go find her,” she explained patiently. She wanted nothing more than to hang up and start her search. But this was the first time Johnny had attempted to contact her and she wasn’t going to make him think he’d made the wrong choice.
“She’s missing?” he asked, sounding both puzzled and concerned. “When did this happen? Honestly, I’m not surprised. I didn’t think she looked good yesterday.”
Haley’s hold on the phone tightened. “Dare was at the Baxter Building yesterday?”
“Yeah. Early yesterday morning. The sun had barely come up when she showed up. She ripped into me for how I’ve been treating you. She looked like she hasn’t been sleeping. Not as bad as before she had Petra. But not good at all,” Johnny confirmed for her. There was a pause for a few beats of her heart, giving her an opportunity to start working through what he’d told her and what it might mean. “What’s going on, Haley? Is everything okay?”
“Morgan organized a team meeting a few days back and it didn’t go well. Jehnna called Dare a whore and said she didn’t experience any trauma from the shit with Sinister. And now she’s gone. Petra is gone,” Haley told him, her mind still working on a plan of action.
“You think she left yesterday?” he asked. She almost smiled. Johnny was so much smarter than most people gave him credit for. And he was almost too sharp at figuring out what Haley was thinking.
“I do. Did you see Petra? Did she have her with her?”
“She was alone, Haley. But there was something off about her behavior,” Johnny told her quietly. There was silence between them a moment, then he drew a breath and pressed on. “When she left, I swore she was telling me goodbye. I couldn’t figure out why I felt that way. But I did. And by the time I got clued in and tried to stop her, it was already too late.”
“Fuck,” Haley said quietly. Then she pushed her worry aside and started for the bedroom. “Thanks for calling, Johnny. But I have to go. Emilia is awake and needs to be fed. Thank you for letting me know you saw Dare. At least I know she’s okay. I’ll call you later. I promise.” Haley ended the call and powered her phone down. She didn’t need Johnny interrupting what she was planning to do.
The bedroom was silent when she stepped into it, Emilia and TJ both still sleeping. Haley hurried with her task, packing clothes and other items into bags. She didn’t have long to pull this off. Either Remy would return in his hunt for Dare or Johnny would come through the portal to ask Haley what was going on. She wanted to be gone before either one of them made an appearance.
She had a location now. She had a place to start looking. New York City was huge. It would be easy for Dare to disappear amongst all the tourists and residents alike. Even with Petra and a bag to wrangle. And it would be easy as pie to take a bus or train or even a plane out of the city. She just needed enough money and an ID card with a fake name on it. Haley had no problems believing Dare hadn’t already had the tools needed or that she couldn’t get a hold of them easily enough if she didn’t. She’d lived on the streets. She no doubt had plenty of ways to make such things happen. And the more she thought on it, the more Haley realized that Dare had run. That she’d packed up what little of her life she valued and simply fled. She was almost one hundred percent positive that’s what had happened.
After all, it was what Haley had already planned on doing.
~*~*~*~*~
He’d looked just about everywhere by the time he finally found her in the lab, settled before a table laden with books, papers, files, and even some slides and samples. It was quite the mess and that mess told him a story of encroaching mania. Which put any plans he’d crafted for the two of them on the back burner for… however long this bout of mania would last.
Henry heaved a soft sigh. Just when he’d started thinking all of the crises and troubles were over, it looked as if another crisis was attempting to rear its ugly head. And he’d so been looking forward to convincing Rosemary to spend the day with him. He’d decided that they were due some private time. All of the trouble had seemed to be over. Neither Rosemary nor Dare were dying any longer. The newest infants born to the members of Purple Team were healthy. Life had seemingly started to settle down for all of them. And Henry had thought that things settling meant that he and Rosemary could spend the day together. Their children were all in class, attending to their studies. No one was in dire need of medical help. That translated to an outing for the two of them. Some quality alone time where they could cuddle and canoodle to their hearts’ content.
The organized chaos on the table meant such was not to be.
“Rosemary,” Henry said aloud, stepping further into the lab. She was so absorbed in the papers before her that she apparently did not hear him. He cleared his throat and spoke again. “Rosemary.”
No response yet again. He frowned. It was already serious.
He closed the gap between himself and the table, coming to stand just behind Rosemary. She was bent over the papers before her, shoulders rounded as she studied what looked to be medical files. His frown deepened. What need could she have for old medical files? What was she studying? And why?
His sharp gaze picked out the names on the files. The same names repeated on the slides resting on the table near the microscope. They appeared on the samples sitting in their rack. Each file, slide, and sample belonged to the rest of her team. “Rosemary? What on earth is going on?”
It wasn’t until he settled a hand on her shoulder that she noticed him. She jumped at his touch, then almost slipped off her stool when she turned to stare at him. Her eyes were wide with surprise. As well as hints of growing mania. “Good grief, Henry! You scared the life out of me!” she said, voice breathless. One hand came up to settle on her chest, as if to keep her heart locked behind her rib cage.
“I called out to you several times and you failed to answer. I can only imagine what has your attention so deeply ensnared. What on earth is going on?” he responded.
He watched her stare up at him, saw in her eyes that she was calculating the odds. It was obvious she was looking for something in those files and samples. And she was trying to decide if telling him would see him helping her or if doing so would see him shutting her down. He wondered what it was that troubled her so that she would be torn between telling him what was going on or simply hiding it from him. Finally, after a long and drawn out silence, Rosemary heaved a sigh and rubbed at her eyes.
When she focused on him again, he thought that she looked as if she was trying not to cry.
“There’s something wrong with my team,” she finally blurted out.
“Well, that sounds slightly ominous,” he responded. A moment later, he had a second stool pulled up next to the one she sat in. One hand motioned expansively toward the clutter on the table. “Since you did not come to me, insisting I help them, I will hazard a guess and say that this problem with your friends isn’t life-threatening.”
“No. I don’t believe it is,” she responded. She sounded mostly sure of herself. She also sounded slightly less manic than only moments ago.
“Perhaps I can help you determine if this issue is something to worry over if I had all the facts,” he suggested lightly. Medical files and samples and slides told him next to nothing. It would be easier to help if Rosemary laid it out for him.
“There’s something not right with Jehnna,” Rosemary said. Which was not what Henry was expecting. But he nodded and waited. If Rosemary was starting there, she obviously felt it was the best and most important place to start. “Morgan had this idea a week or so ago. That the team should get together and talk. Because I don’t think we’d been together as a team since we went out to find everyone. And it was a good idea. Except it was tense. And awkward. And then Jehnna started saying things she’d never normally say. And then it got weird.”
Tense. Awkward. Weird. Interesting ways to describe what should have been an occasion filled with tears and smiles and joy. “Tell me everything,” he replied.
“Morgan seemed genuinely trying. Haley seemed to be hyper vigilant through the whole thing. Dare was distant. And Jehnna was… unhinged. She acted like all of the bad things happened to her and only her. She was argumentative during the whole thing. When Morgan suggested we talk about our trauma, Jehnna asked what good talking about it would do. Dare answered her. Dare, who has never said a single word to anyone about the trauma she’s experienced, told Jehnna that it would help keep her grounded and keep her from going off the deep end.”
“And Jehnna did not take her words to heart,” Henry replied. Rosemary nodded, despite not needing to.
“She called Dare a whore. She said Dare didn’t suffer any trauma at the hands of Sinister. She called Morgan and Haley whores, too. She was so… hateful. Her voice and her face suggested she believed what she’d said. She was so antagonistic, Henry. She went so far as to stand up and attempt to get into a fight with Dare. I felt her power up,” Rosemary told him.
“What did Dare do?” he asked, brain already starting to fit pieces of the puzzle into place. He was fairly certain Rosemary was looking for a reason behind Jehnna’s behavior. Which explained accessing files and slides and samples. But it didn’t explain why she’d accessed everyone’s files and slides and samples.
“This is where it got weird,” Rosemary replied. Her expression was a mixture of thoughtful, confusion, and fear. It left Henry wondering just what Dare had done to earn that kind of look. “Dare didn’t get mad. She didn’t snarl or sneer at Jehnna. But she faced off with Jehnna and literally sent her flying across the room. Jehnna landed on the couch where she’d been sitting. Hard. And I never felt Dare access her powers. There was no outward sign of it at all.”
“That is strange. Dare is not, nor has she ever been, an accomplished telekinetic,” Henry mused.
“She hasn’t. But she used it and she threw Jehnna at least ten feet with it,” Rosemary told him, her voice filled with her worry and fear. “And then she just… disappeared. There was a flood of heat and light. When it died out, Dare was gone.”
Henry frowned at that. He’d heard from both Logan and Remy that Dare had managed to slip past them time and again. But he hadn’t really believed it when they’d said she’d disappeared. And now here was Rosemary, telling him the same thing. He wanted to suggest she had seen things, but she wasn’t very likely to imagine something like that. “I see. So you’ve come here and pulled their medical files in the hopes of discovering what?”
“I think Sinister tinkered with their DNA or something. Its the only thing I can think of to explain how Dare is suddenly capable of hiding herself and disappearing. It would explain the odd moments of iridescence I’ve seen on Haley when it looks like she’s getting ready to armor up. It might even explain Jehnna’s mental instability.” Rosemary turned a genuinely pleading look his way. She believed what she was saying and she was going to dig until she found the answers she sought and so obviously desperately needed.
Henry nodded, giving her theory deep consideration. It was possible. Sinister was a genius when it came to genetics. And he knew, having heard it from both the men and women who had been taken, that there were occasions where the women went to the man’s lab without their chosen partner. That they’d then come back unconscious and with no memory of what might have happened to them. “Mr. Sinister is capable of amazing genetic feats,” he agreed.
Rosemary stared at him a moment or two, then she frowned. “I sense a ‘but’ coming.”
“You are correct, my dear. Because there is one. Mr. Sinister is capable of amazing genetic feats. But such things might not be enough to explain the symptoms and changes you’ve described seeing.” He paused and gathered his thoughts. Already, Rosemary’s face had shifted from hopeful to fearful. He hated to seeing her wear such a look0.. And he knew he would do anything to wipe it away. “However. That does not mean he hasn’t done something to the rest of your team that might explain some of their behavior. So let us dig into their files and see if we cannot find an anomaly.”
“You’d really help me with this, Henry?” she asked, the hope back in her eyes.
“Of course, my dear. We are talking about friends. Family. And I love how deeply you love them. I cannot imagine leaving you to deal with this on your own,” he told her, already shifting piles of paper and files around into neat stacks. There were four for each one of her friends. Then he shifted the slides and samples around so that they were easier for both of them to access. He turned a faintly wry smile her way as he did so. “Though, if I’m being honest, this is not how I had planned for us to spend our free time. I was envisioning something a touch more enjoyable. And private.”
Rosemary’s cheeks flushed with a soft pink. “I’m sorry, Henry. I’ll make it up to you. I promise.”
“Let us worry about that after we find some answers surrounding your friends’ mental health,” he responded, mind already mapping out a plan of attack.
~*~
They were so engrossed in their research that neither one of them heard the door open and close. Nor did they hear the sound of footsteps on the linoleum. Neither of them sensed or heard anything. Until a voice cleared itself, the owner standing directly behind them, and dragged them from their designated tasks. Henry turned to find Remy regarding him with a bland, neutral expression. It was one he knew meant the other man was deep in thought. A faint sense of apprehension skittered up Henry’s spine.
“Gambit. To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?” Henry asked, taking note that Rosemary was still very much involved with reviewing the file she held.
“I’m lookin’ for Dare. Don’ suppose you seen her?” It sounded as if there was a touch of tension in the man’s voice and Henry found it almost ominous. Perhaps, if Rosemary hadn’t told him about her worries earlier, the other man’s words wouldn’t have sounded quite so alarming. But there was no driving her concerns from his head. Just as there was no driving the faint sense of unease their visitor’s seemingly innocuous question brought to life within.
“I must apologize because I fear I have not seen her recently,” Henry told him. He reached out a hand to gently shake Rosemary from her concentration. When she looked at him, there was a touch of annoyance in her eyes. Then she went back to the file in front of her. “Rosemary. Gambit is looking for Dare. Have you seen her?” he asked, doing his best to get the other man the answers he sought.
“No. Not since the meeting the other day,” Rosemary admitted.
“What meeting?” Remy questioned.
“The team meeting. Morgan thought we needed to get together and spend time with one another,” she told him absently, her focus still very much on the file before her. “But I honestly didn’t expect to see her after that. It was a disaster.”
“How it a disaster?” If Rosemary heard the edge of worry in the man’s words, she didn’t acknowledge them.
“Jehnna got weird and accused Dare of not having any trauma, then went on to call her a whore.” Her words saw the expression on Remy’s face growing darker. Henry wanted to stop Rosemary before she spilled it all, but he knew it would be useless to do so. The other man would ensure she finished telling him what he wanted to know.
“What dat mean, Roxxy? How she get weird?”
“Dare was oddly quiet, but she sent Jehnna flying without lifting a finger. Then she disappeared and no one knew where she’d gone.” At the end of her statement, Rosemary lifted her head and focused on the other man. Then her eyes went wide when she realized what she’d told him.
Remy’s lips pressed flat and he was silent a moment. Then he heaved a sigh and muttered some words in French that Henry suspected were bad words. “Haley lie to me,” he said, a touch of anger in his voice. “Dare gone.”
Before either of them could ask what he meant, the lanky Cajun turned on his heel and left.
~*~*~*~*~
The play place at McDonald's wasn't exactly the first place a person would think of as being good a good place to hold a secret meeting, but here they were. There were a handful of moms and a couple of dads scattered around the enclosed play area, each involved in their own conversations or their phone, paying as little attention to their children as they could get away with while said children ran wild, screamed loudly, and generally acted like a group of little hellions. All in all, it could have been a worse place for a covert meeting.
The woman who sat across from him was busy nibbling on a fry. At the same time, she held a baby in her arms and kept an eye on her other child. And there was a look on her face that was an odd mixture of mania, paranoia, and determination. He might have thought it a weird look to wear had he not known about what had recently happened to the X-Men. Taking a sip of his pop, he studied her intently.
Something was obviously up. She’d contacted him and asked him to meet her here. He’d thought it odd at first, but he’d spied the two tiny humans with her when he’d arrived and realized she’d picked a fast food joint because it would allow her to sit and talk while giving her child something to occupy herself. A glance at the play equipment meant for the smaller children showed him that TJ was busy in the ball pit. Deciding that he was tired of the silence, he gave his full attention back to Haley and pointed the straw of his drink her way. “I know people think I’m a child, but I didn’t think you were one of them.”
She blinked, startled, and focused her attention on him. It was almost as if she’d forgotten he was there. That was the kind of thing that spoke to some heavy thoughts. He filed it away for the moment, giving her the opportunity to find her voice. “I’m sorry, Clint. I’m tired.”
“I can see that,” he replied, nodding his head in Emilia’s way. “Word on the grapevine is that some heavy shit went down. I can see that the grapevine had at least that much right.”
Haley’s eyes got wide for a moment, as if she hadn’t realized or considered that word of the X-Men’s misadventures might make it past the school’s front gate. She shook her head and glanced toward TJ a moment. When her gaze swung back, there was sorrow mingling with everything else he’d seen in her eyes. She shook her head and scooped up another fry. “I should have known. Some people just can’t resist a juicy bit of gossip. Just what is the word on the grapevine?”
“Several members of the X-Men were kidnapped. Sinister was involved. There was apparently some experimentation going on during the week you were gone,” he told her, holding her stare while he spoke. When he paused, he let his gaze drop to the baby she held in her arms. Her hold had been kind of relaxed before. Now, with the topic of conversation having turned, she held the baby a little tighter.”And now there are four new babies “
Haley was silent a moment as she stared at him. Likely trying to decide how much she could say and what she wanted to keep to herself. “Those are the basics. The very basics. But that is the gist of things.”
He nodded. “I could make a wise crack here and try to cheer you up. But something tells me my joke would fall flat.” Clint paused a moment before giving her a faint smile. “Which is a shame. I like it when you smile, Haley. So tell me what’s got you so worked up that you’re calling me.”
Haley opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He didn’t know if she was so torn up about whatever was going on that she was having a hard time finding words or if she just wasn’t sure how to go about telling him. Not that it mattered. Because it was at that moment that a pint-sized human crashed into him like a mini-projectile. He glanced down to find TJ wrapped around him, hugging him tightly. And she’d hit him hard enough that he shifted on his stool. Maybe he needed to spend time with her and teach her how to play football. She’d be a force to be reckoned with on the field. Let her tackle a guy once and she’d be unstoppable. “Clin!” the girl exclaimed, pure joy in her voice.
“Hey, there, TJ. How are you, kiddo?” he asked, hefting her up in order to give her a proper hug. She wrapped her little arms tight around his neck and squeezed with all the strength a two year old had.
“Playing,” she replied. That probably summed it up for her. He smiled at her, dropping a kiss on her forehead.
“I see. Enjoying it, by the look of things.”
“Yes. Need french fries,” she told him seriously, then reached for the fries before him. Clint saw Haley open her mouth, probably to chastise the girl for taking Clint’s fries, but he picked up several of his fries and handed to the girl. She took them happily, then started munching.
Haley scowled at him. “She has her own fries, Clint.”
“You know I’m always a sucker for a pretty girl,” he told her. He saw it the moment she realized what he was implying because a touch of color came to her cheeks. He didn’t think she could blush so easily, but it was kind of nice to know that it was possible.
Haley made no comment to his statement. Instead, she offered a sippy cup to TJ so that the little girl could wash down her fries. When TJ was done, she gave the cup back to her mother, then squirmed out of Clint’s hold so she could go back to playing. Haley watched her go, a hint of something sad in her gaze.
“Talk to me, Haley,” Clint said softly. His statement brought her gaze his way. The emotions in it were thick and he was left wondering just what the hell was going on.
“One of my team has gone missing and I need help finding her,” she said. Her tone was steady and even, laden with determination. He got the sense that she wouldn’t take no from him on this one. At all.
“Which teammate?” His voice was all business and it saw her shoulders relaxing ever so slightly.
“Dare.” It was one word, one name, but there was no way Haley could keep her worry and fear out of it.
“You’re sure she ran?” He had to ask the question. Despite his dealings with the pyrokinetic, Clint didn’t really know her very well. He’d gotten the impression, upon their first meeting, that she hadn’t been all that impressed with him. That didn’t mean he wasn’t up to date on her superhero exploits. He’d paid attention. Purple Team was a legend among the superhero junkies. They were all very capable and sure to make headlines because of their talent. He knew that Dare shunned the spotlight, that she did what she did without seeking attention or fanfare. And he knew she’d risked her own life to rescue Haley from Doom.
The woman might be a pain in everyone’s asses, but she was a real goddamn hero.
Haley took a breath, held it a moment. Then released it on a sigh. “This whole mess has done a number on her, Clint,” Haley told him. Her voice was steady. Almost clinical. But he could sense the emotions building under the surface. Haley was on a collision course with some kind of emotional overload. “She’s had a lot of bad things happen to her in her life.”
“Creed,” he commented.
“He’s only a small part of it,” Haley replied. Her gaze slid around the play area, as if she expected someone to be lurking. Watching and listening. When she returned her stare to his face, he could see the seriousness in it. And he could see she’d made some sort of decision. “This doesn’t leave this table. And you sure as hell didn’t hear it from me.”
Her voice held a warning. A threat that he had no doubt she was capable of carrying out. He nodded without saying a word, then motioned for her to go on.
“Dare was raped as a teenager. By a kid she went to school with,” she told him. He nodded at that. He wasn’t surprised. Shit like that was all too common. And given that he suspected Dare was a lot gentler than she let people see, he had no doubt believing some stupid, arrogant punk had taken advantage of her. The idea disgusted him. “And she just kind of shoved it down. Its been shadowing her her whole life. Then there came Creed. Not only did he kidnap her, he kept her in a cage like she was an animal. He used her however he liked. And he left her pregnant. It took a long time before she was anything like her old self. And then the son of a bitch killed her.”
Clint heard the rage in her words. But they didn’t hide the guilt. No doubt Haley blamed herself for that happening. He wanted to tell her that she couldn’t always save people. But she kept going and gave him no time.
“She came back from being dead even more messed up. And, once again, it took her a long time to come back to herself from that. So, of course, that’s when Sinister happened. He paired us off with his choice of partners so he could create a super mutant baby to be a horseman. When we got home, Dare just fucking hid. From everyone. I barely even saw her. She somehow managed to keep Logan from finding her. She kept Remy from finding her. She found ways to… I can’t even explain it. Its like she was simply disappearing. She damn near killed herself. I thought, once she gave birth to Petra and she and Remy had a heart to heart, that things would get better.”
There were gaps in the story. Things Haley wasn’t telling him. Not that he couldn’t piece together some of it. The way she’d mentioned Remy a couple of times said that he was who Dare had been paired off with. Clint suspected that there were deep emotions involved between the two of them, but he didn’t know enough of the story to be sure. And he felt it was a safe bet that the rest of the story wasn’t important. The path behind them wasn’t what he needed to know. He was pretty sure he knew where things were going, though. “But something happened.”
She nodded, reaching out to pick up her cup and take a drink of the liquid inside of it. “Jehnna happened.”
Clint blinked at that. “Jehnna? What did she do?” He had a hard time believing she’d done anything. The girl was as sweet as could be.
“She called Dare a whore. Told her that she hadn’t suffered any trauma. She treated us all like we were the worst people in the world,” Haley said softly. Her gaze slid down to the baby in her arms. Emilia was now asleep, tiny little face perfect and cherubic.
“You think that her words are what drove Dare away,” he replied.
“What else could it be?” she asked, eyes wide with anger. And with that same fear he’d seen before. She was worried about Dare. Afraid the other woman was going to get hurt. Or worse.
“What do you need from me?”
“I need to find her. I need to know if you can get me information on where she might have gone. And if you can get me transport to where ever that might be.” The emotions were gone. In their place was the calm and collected, famed leader of Purple Team. Haley had a plan. And he was part of it. She was determined to find her missing friend. She would use any ally she could, follow any lead necessary, to do so.
“You realize that it won’t be as simple as you make it sound,” he said, making sure she understood what she was asking of him.
“I realize that you will need to go behind people’s backs to get this kind of information. I’m sure you’ll have to call in a few favors. And I know that I will owe you for this.” Her tone said she knew and understood and was willing to go forward.
“Its going to take some time,” he told her gently. She nodded at that. “All right. I know some people that work for SHIELD who owe me favors. I’ll start there. Nothing will probably happen until later tonight. So you’re going to have to sit tight and wait. Are you okay with that?”
“I’m going to have to be. Aren’t I?” She sounded like she hated the idea of sitting and waiting. But he couldn’t work miracles and the people who could answered to someone far scarier than Haley.
“Yes. You are,” he nodded, then took a moment to study her one more time. The exhaustion seemed to be coming to the front now that she had a means to enact her plan. He offered her a soft smile. “You look totally exhausted. Do you have some place to stay?”
“No. I hadn’t gotten that far,” she replied. It was obvious by the tone of her voice that she didn’t relish the idea of renting s hotel or a motel room. Well, he could help her with that, too.
“Well, then, Today is your lucky day, Haley. Because I just so happen to have a place where you can crash until everything is ready. And it’s got plenty of room for the three of you.”
For a moment, it looked like Haley would cry. But the moment passed and she managed to find a soft, genuine smile for him. That smile still did things to him after all these years. Maybe, if the Fates had been kinder, things might have gone different for them. Maybe…
He scooped up his burger and took a big bite, disgusted with himself. He was such a goddamn sucker for a pretty girl.
Chapter Fifty: In Motion
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
It was quiet. Far too quiet. And had been for some time now. In retrospect, she should have realized much sooner that all the quiet meant nothing good. But she’d been dealing with a slightly fussy Emilia and an extremely curious TJ for the past two days, so it was kind of understandable that she hadn’t noticed anything before now. Thinking back, she realized that it had been quiet like this yesterday. In fact, it had been quiet all day yesterday and now into today. She didn’t like what that might mean.
The door to the other bedroom was closed. It had remained closed yesterday. And she hadn’t really thought anything of it. After that disastrous team meeting they’d had the other day, she’d seen very little of Dare. She could understand why. It wasn’t often that someone who was supposed to be a friend, part of your family, called you a whore to your face and then went on to deny that you’d suffered any kind of trauma after being kidnapped and forced to gestate a child for a deranged geneticist with an unhealthy fascination for you and your friends. But it had kind of hurt to have Dare cut herself off like that. Haley had wanted to believe that Dare might confide in her about how Jehnna’s hurtful accusations had made her feel.
There had been no confiding happening at all, and Haley had tried not to let that fact worm its way into her brain and make her feel worse about everything than she already did. It was hard, because Dare had been a constant since their return when no one else had. Even when she’d been draining her life away trying to hide, she’d still been there for Haley when she’d needed her.
What was happening that she thought to be so terrible that she couldn’t even turn to her friend when she needed a shoulder?
Her fist hit the wooden panel almost gently, the knock echoing lightly around the room. There was, much to her dismay, no answering call to enter. Haley turned the knob and eased the door open, stepping into the room with the faint hope that Dare was sleeping in. That Petra was sleeping in.
Her hopes were dashed by the state of disarray the room was in. The sheets and comforter on Dare’s bed were rumpled and tossed aside. Drawers had been pulled open and emptied of their contents. The portable crib had been stripped not only of its inhabitant but of the unicorn blanket that was always near Petra. The baby bag that someone had brought to Dare was gone, as was the car seat that had always been kept in the corner. A quick check of the changing table told her that the diapers, wipes, powders, and ointments kept there had disappeared. The bathroom had suffered the same fate, with toiletries gone missing from their places in the shower and on the sink.
A pit of dread opened in Haley’s stomach, sending her hurrying back out into the main room. She tugged the door of the mini fridge open in something akin to desperation. All she found was the last of the chili Remy had brought down the day before and the bottles of expressed milk she kept on hand for Emilia in case breast feeding wasn’t possible. There were no bottles with red tops meant for Petra within. Haley stared in dismay. And confusion. And worry.
Dare was gone.
When had she left? Why? What kind of idiotic bullshit was going through the woman’s head now? Why had she gone without saying a word to Haley?
For a moment, Haley let fear rule her. It really hadn’t been that long since Dare had nearly killed herself. There were days when her energy wasn’t great even now. It had only been a few weeks, really. Why would she go? Why would she leave everything and everyone behind? Where had she gotten to? What if something happened to her or Petra? What if…
Time froze for a moment as her brain came to the one thought she didn’t want to have. What if Sinister found her and took her again? What if he took Petra? What if he had found them and taken them? She was pretty certain Dare wouldn’t survive that kind of thing again. Hell, she was pretty certain none of them would.
Fear slid away, into its own little compartment at the back of her head, and logic took its place. She had to believe that Dare had run of her own accord. And she was willing to pin the other woman’s flight on the events of the meeting. Dare had been too quiet after that day. Not that she’d let anyone see any emotion during the get together. But Haley knew her well enough to know that Jehnna’s words had probably started eating away at Dare’s confidence immediately. God knew her self-confidence was terrible at the best of times. Having someone she’d considered family throw such an accusation in her face had to have eroded what little confidence the woman had found in herself.
The first thing to do was to try and call her friend’s phone and pray to God that she answered. Haley hurried to her cell, once more hoping against hope that it would be as easy as pushing a button or two. There was a split second for Haley to send a prayer up to whomever might be listening, then the other line clicked straight over to voice mail. A quick, concise message in Dare’s voice told people to leave a message or go away. Haley hung up and considered trying the other woman’s phone again. But she put the thought aside as quickly as it came because she knew that it would go straight to voice mail again.
Haley set her cell down and heaved a sigh. It was time to think. Time to use her brains. She chided herself a moment about not using them sooner. About not checking with Dare to ensure she was okay. The truth of the matter was, though, that she’d had her own shit to deal with and had kind of pushed thoughts of Dare to the curb. There were so many things she should have done differently. But it was too late to linger on that now. She had to figure out where Dare had gone. And she had to find her.
She wished she had Dare’s cell to look at. Maybe there was a number in her call history that might shed light on things. Haley supposed it was possible that Dare had gone to see her parents. But she didn’t think it was likely, Anyone could find her there. And Haley was certain Dare didn’t want to be found. Not this time. It was a feeling deep in her gut that refused to go away. Whatever had driven her away had to have been serious enough to convince her she needed to cut ties with… well, everyone.
“Somet’ing wrong, Haley? You look lost in thought.”
The question pulled her from head. She glanced up at Remy with a faint smile she hoped would keep him from guessing what was presently on her mind. Holy shit, the man had the worst timing. She absolutely didn’t need him to figure out that Dare had gone missing. Haley had a feeling that Remy would move Heaven and Earth to find her. And she had no doubt he’d use every last ounce of his charm to make that happen. “No. Just considering what kinds of things I should do with TJ today. She wanted to spend time with me and Emilia, so I’m trying to make some plans so that she can learn how to be a Big Sister.”
Remy’s gaze, focused and searching, remained fixed on her face for a few moments before he blinked and the look was gone. A smile spread across his face and brought warmth to his eyes. It was a soft expression that she’d seen there often in the past few weeks. The man was head over heels with Petra. And Dare. How could Dare have so easily put that aside and just left? “Maybe you take de babies into town. Dere places where TJ can play.”
“That is a good suggestion, Remy. Thanks,” she responded. He inclined his head in response, then turned his attention to the door to the second bedroom. Fortunately, Haley had pulled it shut behind her when she’d come out of the room. So he couldn’t see anything. And she had to ensure he didn’t see anything. Because if he saw the state of her bedroom…
She had to keep him from going in there. And she had to do it in such a way that he didn’t suspect she was trying to keep him out of the bedroom. She thought maybe the best way to do that was a frontal assault. “If you’re looking for Dare, you just missed her,” she threw out as casually as she could. The statement brought Remy’s gaze back to hers. This time, there was a curious look in his eyes.
“Where she go?” The question seemed innocuous enough. But Haley was sure she heard something more in it.
“She said she was going to take Petra outside for a bit of fresh air. I guess she thought hanging out in here all the time wasn’t doing either of them any good,” Haley told him. She did her best to make it sound like Haley thought it was a good idea to get out and get some air.
Remy stared at her without saying anything and, for a few tense moments, she thought he was going to call her a liar to her face. Then he inclined his head at her. “Thank you,” he said, warmth and friendship in his voice. She shuddered to think what he’d do when he found out she’d lied to him. But she pushed that aside and offered him a smile.
“You’re welcome,” she told him. And then she held her breath until he was out the door and long up the hallway.
Remy hadn’t been gone more than a minute before Haley’s cell rang. She hurried to answer, hoping against hope that it was Dare calling her back. When she saw the caller’s name on the screen, she heaved a sigh of disappointment. Which was a horrible way to view the first call Johnny had made to her since this whole mess had started. She should have been overjoyed that he was calling. But her worry and concern made it hard. She was of half a mind to ignore the call. But she couldn’t just ignore it when Johnny was apparently making some kind of effort. So she pushed the disappointment aside and answered before the call could go to her voice mail.
“Johnny?” She couldn’t quite keep the confusion and surprise from her voice.
“Hey, babe,” he responded. There was a touch of hesitance to his words, as if he didn’t think she’d want to talk to him. But there was also the love he’d always shown her laced into those two words and she felt a trickle of warmth slide through her. She had to push it aside so she could focus on the here and now. “Look, babe. I know you’re mad and hurt. And you have every right to be. I’ve been a real ass about everything lately. But I’ve been thinking about things a lot and I think that we should talk.”
Of course they needed to talk. But his timing sure fucking sucked. “Look, Johnny. I don’t want to be abrupt but—”
“I understand if you don’t want to talk to me, Haley,” Johnny returned, cutting her off before she could say anything more. And there was a seriousness in his voice that she rarely heard him use. “And I don’t blame you for it. At all. Because I’ve been a real asshole and I hurt you in the worst way possible. But I really think we need to talk. If we let things go much longer, I don’t know that talking will be enough.”
Her heart softened. Just a little. “I would love nothing more than to talk, Johnny,” she told him honestly.
“Good. That’s good. I can be over in a few minutes so that we—”
“But I don’t have time right now,” she interrupted. She was once again trying to figure out where Dare would go. But beyond her parents, Haley had no idea. She honestly didn’t think Dare was in the state anymore. So that left her a few avenues to explore.
“Haley,” Johnny began. She could hear in his voice his own pain at being pushed aside.
“Dare’s missing, Johnny. I have to go find her,” she explained patiently. She wanted nothing more than to hang up and start her search. But this was the first time Johnny had attempted to contact her and she wasn’t going to make him think he’d made the wrong choice.
“She’s missing?” he asked, sounding both puzzled and concerned. “When did this happen? Honestly, I’m not surprised. I didn’t think she looked good yesterday.”
Haley’s hold on the phone tightened. “Dare was at the Baxter Building yesterday?”
“Yeah. Early yesterday morning. The sun had barely come up when she showed up. She ripped into me for how I’ve been treating you. She looked like she hasn’t been sleeping. Not as bad as before she had Petra. But not good at all,” Johnny confirmed for her. There was a pause for a few beats of her heart, giving her an opportunity to start working through what he’d told her and what it might mean. “What’s going on, Haley? Is everything okay?”
“Morgan organized a team meeting a few days back and it didn’t go well. Jehnna called Dare a whore and said she didn’t experience any trauma from the shit with Sinister. And now she’s gone. Petra is gone,” Haley told him, her mind still working on a plan of action.
“You think she left yesterday?” he asked. She almost smiled. Johnny was so much smarter than most people gave him credit for. And he was almost too sharp at figuring out what Haley was thinking.
“I do. Did you see Petra? Did she have her with her?”
“She was alone, Haley. But there was something off about her behavior,” Johnny told her quietly. There was silence between them a moment, then he drew a breath and pressed on. “When she left, I swore she was telling me goodbye. I couldn’t figure out why I felt that way. But I did. And by the time I got clued in and tried to stop her, it was already too late.”
“Fuck,” Haley said quietly. Then she pushed her worry aside and started for the bedroom. “Thanks for calling, Johnny. But I have to go. Emilia is awake and needs to be fed. Thank you for letting me know you saw Dare. At least I know she’s okay. I’ll call you later. I promise.” Haley ended the call and powered her phone down. She didn’t need Johnny interrupting what she was planning to do.
The bedroom was silent when she stepped into it, Emilia and TJ both still sleeping. Haley hurried with her task, packing clothes and other items into bags. She didn’t have long to pull this off. Either Remy would return in his hunt for Dare or Johnny would come through the portal to ask Haley what was going on. She wanted to be gone before either one of them made an appearance.
She had a location now. She had a place to start looking. New York City was huge. It would be easy for Dare to disappear amongst all the tourists and residents alike. Even with Petra and a bag to wrangle. And it would be easy as pie to take a bus or train or even a plane out of the city. She just needed enough money and an ID card with a fake name on it. Haley had no problems believing Dare hadn’t already had the tools needed or that she couldn’t get a hold of them easily enough if she didn’t. She’d lived on the streets. She no doubt had plenty of ways to make such things happen. And the more she thought on it, the more Haley realized that Dare had run. That she’d packed up what little of her life she valued and simply fled. She was almost one hundred percent positive that’s what had happened.
After all, it was what Haley had already planned on doing.
~*~*~*~*~
He’d looked just about everywhere by the time he finally found her in the lab, settled before a table laden with books, papers, files, and even some slides and samples. It was quite the mess and that mess told him a story of encroaching mania. Which put any plans he’d crafted for the two of them on the back burner for… however long this bout of mania would last.
Henry heaved a soft sigh. Just when he’d started thinking all of the crises and troubles were over, it looked as if another crisis was attempting to rear its ugly head. And he’d so been looking forward to convincing Rosemary to spend the day with him. He’d decided that they were due some private time. All of the trouble had seemed to be over. Neither Rosemary nor Dare were dying any longer. The newest infants born to the members of Purple Team were healthy. Life had seemingly started to settle down for all of them. And Henry had thought that things settling meant that he and Rosemary could spend the day together. Their children were all in class, attending to their studies. No one was in dire need of medical help. That translated to an outing for the two of them. Some quality alone time where they could cuddle and canoodle to their hearts’ content.
The organized chaos on the table meant such was not to be.
“Rosemary,” Henry said aloud, stepping further into the lab. She was so absorbed in the papers before her that she apparently did not hear him. He cleared his throat and spoke again. “Rosemary.”
No response yet again. He frowned. It was already serious.
He closed the gap between himself and the table, coming to stand just behind Rosemary. She was bent over the papers before her, shoulders rounded as she studied what looked to be medical files. His frown deepened. What need could she have for old medical files? What was she studying? And why?
His sharp gaze picked out the names on the files. The same names repeated on the slides resting on the table near the microscope. They appeared on the samples sitting in their rack. Each file, slide, and sample belonged to the rest of her team. “Rosemary? What on earth is going on?”
It wasn’t until he settled a hand on her shoulder that she noticed him. She jumped at his touch, then almost slipped off her stool when she turned to stare at him. Her eyes were wide with surprise. As well as hints of growing mania. “Good grief, Henry! You scared the life out of me!” she said, voice breathless. One hand came up to settle on her chest, as if to keep her heart locked behind her rib cage.
“I called out to you several times and you failed to answer. I can only imagine what has your attention so deeply ensnared. What on earth is going on?” he responded.
He watched her stare up at him, saw in her eyes that she was calculating the odds. It was obvious she was looking for something in those files and samples. And she was trying to decide if telling him would see him helping her or if doing so would see him shutting her down. He wondered what it was that troubled her so that she would be torn between telling him what was going on or simply hiding it from him. Finally, after a long and drawn out silence, Rosemary heaved a sigh and rubbed at her eyes.
When she focused on him again, he thought that she looked as if she was trying not to cry.
“There’s something wrong with my team,” she finally blurted out.
“Well, that sounds slightly ominous,” he responded. A moment later, he had a second stool pulled up next to the one she sat in. One hand motioned expansively toward the clutter on the table. “Since you did not come to me, insisting I help them, I will hazard a guess and say that this problem with your friends isn’t life-threatening.”
“No. I don’t believe it is,” she responded. She sounded mostly sure of herself. She also sounded slightly less manic than only moments ago.
“Perhaps I can help you determine if this issue is something to worry over if I had all the facts,” he suggested lightly. Medical files and samples and slides told him next to nothing. It would be easier to help if Rosemary laid it out for him.
“There’s something not right with Jehnna,” Rosemary said. Which was not what Henry was expecting. But he nodded and waited. If Rosemary was starting there, she obviously felt it was the best and most important place to start. “Morgan had this idea a week or so ago. That the team should get together and talk. Because I don’t think we’d been together as a team since we went out to find everyone. And it was a good idea. Except it was tense. And awkward. And then Jehnna started saying things she’d never normally say. And then it got weird.”
Tense. Awkward. Weird. Interesting ways to describe what should have been an occasion filled with tears and smiles and joy. “Tell me everything,” he replied.
“Morgan seemed genuinely trying. Haley seemed to be hyper vigilant through the whole thing. Dare was distant. And Jehnna was… unhinged. She acted like all of the bad things happened to her and only her. She was argumentative during the whole thing. When Morgan suggested we talk about our trauma, Jehnna asked what good talking about it would do. Dare answered her. Dare, who has never said a single word to anyone about the trauma she’s experienced, told Jehnna that it would help keep her grounded and keep her from going off the deep end.”
“And Jehnna did not take her words to heart,” Henry replied. Rosemary nodded, despite not needing to.
“She called Dare a whore. She said Dare didn’t suffer any trauma at the hands of Sinister. She called Morgan and Haley whores, too. She was so… hateful. Her voice and her face suggested she believed what she’d said. She was so antagonistic, Henry. She went so far as to stand up and attempt to get into a fight with Dare. I felt her power up,” Rosemary told him.
“What did Dare do?” he asked, brain already starting to fit pieces of the puzzle into place. He was fairly certain Rosemary was looking for a reason behind Jehnna’s behavior. Which explained accessing files and slides and samples. But it didn’t explain why she’d accessed everyone’s files and slides and samples.
“This is where it got weird,” Rosemary replied. Her expression was a mixture of thoughtful, confusion, and fear. It left Henry wondering just what Dare had done to earn that kind of look. “Dare didn’t get mad. She didn’t snarl or sneer at Jehnna. But she faced off with Jehnna and literally sent her flying across the room. Jehnna landed on the couch where she’d been sitting. Hard. And I never felt Dare access her powers. There was no outward sign of it at all.”
“That is strange. Dare is not, nor has she ever been, an accomplished telekinetic,” Henry mused.
“She hasn’t. But she used it and she threw Jehnna at least ten feet with it,” Rosemary told him, her voice filled with her worry and fear. “And then she just… disappeared. There was a flood of heat and light. When it died out, Dare was gone.”
Henry frowned at that. He’d heard from both Logan and Remy that Dare had managed to slip past them time and again. But he hadn’t really believed it when they’d said she’d disappeared. And now here was Rosemary, telling him the same thing. He wanted to suggest she had seen things, but she wasn’t very likely to imagine something like that. “I see. So you’ve come here and pulled their medical files in the hopes of discovering what?”
“I think Sinister tinkered with their DNA or something. Its the only thing I can think of to explain how Dare is suddenly capable of hiding herself and disappearing. It would explain the odd moments of iridescence I’ve seen on Haley when it looks like she’s getting ready to armor up. It might even explain Jehnna’s mental instability.” Rosemary turned a genuinely pleading look his way. She believed what she was saying and she was going to dig until she found the answers she sought and so obviously desperately needed.
Henry nodded, giving her theory deep consideration. It was possible. Sinister was a genius when it came to genetics. And he knew, having heard it from both the men and women who had been taken, that there were occasions where the women went to the man’s lab without their chosen partner. That they’d then come back unconscious and with no memory of what might have happened to them. “Mr. Sinister is capable of amazing genetic feats,” he agreed.
Rosemary stared at him a moment or two, then she frowned. “I sense a ‘but’ coming.”
“You are correct, my dear. Because there is one. Mr. Sinister is capable of amazing genetic feats. But such things might not be enough to explain the symptoms and changes you’ve described seeing.” He paused and gathered his thoughts. Already, Rosemary’s face had shifted from hopeful to fearful. He hated to seeing her wear such a look0.. And he knew he would do anything to wipe it away. “However. That does not mean he hasn’t done something to the rest of your team that might explain some of their behavior. So let us dig into their files and see if we cannot find an anomaly.”
“You’d really help me with this, Henry?” she asked, the hope back in her eyes.
“Of course, my dear. We are talking about friends. Family. And I love how deeply you love them. I cannot imagine leaving you to deal with this on your own,” he told her, already shifting piles of paper and files around into neat stacks. There were four for each one of her friends. Then he shifted the slides and samples around so that they were easier for both of them to access. He turned a faintly wry smile her way as he did so. “Though, if I’m being honest, this is not how I had planned for us to spend our free time. I was envisioning something a touch more enjoyable. And private.”
Rosemary’s cheeks flushed with a soft pink. “I’m sorry, Henry. I’ll make it up to you. I promise.”
“Let us worry about that after we find some answers surrounding your friends’ mental health,” he responded, mind already mapping out a plan of attack.
~*~
They were so engrossed in their research that neither one of them heard the door open and close. Nor did they hear the sound of footsteps on the linoleum. Neither of them sensed or heard anything. Until a voice cleared itself, the owner standing directly behind them, and dragged them from their designated tasks. Henry turned to find Remy regarding him with a bland, neutral expression. It was one he knew meant the other man was deep in thought. A faint sense of apprehension skittered up Henry’s spine.
“Gambit. To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?” Henry asked, taking note that Rosemary was still very much involved with reviewing the file she held.
“I’m lookin’ for Dare. Don’ suppose you seen her?” It sounded as if there was a touch of tension in the man’s voice and Henry found it almost ominous. Perhaps, if Rosemary hadn’t told him about her worries earlier, the other man’s words wouldn’t have sounded quite so alarming. But there was no driving her concerns from his head. Just as there was no driving the faint sense of unease their visitor’s seemingly innocuous question brought to life within.
“I must apologize because I fear I have not seen her recently,” Henry told him. He reached out a hand to gently shake Rosemary from her concentration. When she looked at him, there was a touch of annoyance in her eyes. Then she went back to the file in front of her. “Rosemary. Gambit is looking for Dare. Have you seen her?” he asked, doing his best to get the other man the answers he sought.
“No. Not since the meeting the other day,” Rosemary admitted.
“What meeting?” Remy questioned.
“The team meeting. Morgan thought we needed to get together and spend time with one another,” she told him absently, her focus still very much on the file before her. “But I honestly didn’t expect to see her after that. It was a disaster.”
“How it a disaster?” If Rosemary heard the edge of worry in the man’s words, she didn’t acknowledge them.
“Jehnna got weird and accused Dare of not having any trauma, then went on to call her a whore.” Her words saw the expression on Remy’s face growing darker. Henry wanted to stop Rosemary before she spilled it all, but he knew it would be useless to do so. The other man would ensure she finished telling him what he wanted to know.
“What dat mean, Roxxy? How she get weird?”
“Dare was oddly quiet, but she sent Jehnna flying without lifting a finger. Then she disappeared and no one knew where she’d gone.” At the end of her statement, Rosemary lifted her head and focused on the other man. Then her eyes went wide when she realized what she’d told him.
Remy’s lips pressed flat and he was silent a moment. Then he heaved a sigh and muttered some words in French that Henry suspected were bad words. “Haley lie to me,” he said, a touch of anger in his voice. “Dare gone.”
Before either of them could ask what he meant, the lanky Cajun turned on his heel and left.
~*~*~*~*~
The play place at McDonald's wasn't exactly the first place a person would think of as being good a good place to hold a secret meeting, but here they were. There were a handful of moms and a couple of dads scattered around the enclosed play area, each involved in their own conversations or their phone, paying as little attention to their children as they could get away with while said children ran wild, screamed loudly, and generally acted like a group of little hellions. All in all, it could have been a worse place for a covert meeting.
The woman who sat across from him was busy nibbling on a fry. At the same time, she held a baby in her arms and kept an eye on her other child. And there was a look on her face that was an odd mixture of mania, paranoia, and determination. He might have thought it a weird look to wear had he not known about what had recently happened to the X-Men. Taking a sip of his pop, he studied her intently.
Something was obviously up. She’d contacted him and asked him to meet her here. He’d thought it odd at first, but he’d spied the two tiny humans with her when he’d arrived and realized she’d picked a fast food joint because it would allow her to sit and talk while giving her child something to occupy herself. A glance at the play equipment meant for the smaller children showed him that TJ was busy in the ball pit. Deciding that he was tired of the silence, he gave his full attention back to Haley and pointed the straw of his drink her way. “I know people think I’m a child, but I didn’t think you were one of them.”
She blinked, startled, and focused her attention on him. It was almost as if she’d forgotten he was there. That was the kind of thing that spoke to some heavy thoughts. He filed it away for the moment, giving her the opportunity to find her voice. “I’m sorry, Clint. I’m tired.”
“I can see that,” he replied, nodding his head in Emilia’s way. “Word on the grapevine is that some heavy shit went down. I can see that the grapevine had at least that much right.”
Haley’s eyes got wide for a moment, as if she hadn’t realized or considered that word of the X-Men’s misadventures might make it past the school’s front gate. She shook her head and glanced toward TJ a moment. When her gaze swung back, there was sorrow mingling with everything else he’d seen in her eyes. She shook her head and scooped up another fry. “I should have known. Some people just can’t resist a juicy bit of gossip. Just what is the word on the grapevine?”
“Several members of the X-Men were kidnapped. Sinister was involved. There was apparently some experimentation going on during the week you were gone,” he told her, holding her stare while he spoke. When he paused, he let his gaze drop to the baby she held in her arms. Her hold had been kind of relaxed before. Now, with the topic of conversation having turned, she held the baby a little tighter.”And now there are four new babies “
Haley was silent a moment as she stared at him. Likely trying to decide how much she could say and what she wanted to keep to herself. “Those are the basics. The very basics. But that is the gist of things.”
He nodded. “I could make a wise crack here and try to cheer you up. But something tells me my joke would fall flat.” Clint paused a moment before giving her a faint smile. “Which is a shame. I like it when you smile, Haley. So tell me what’s got you so worked up that you’re calling me.”
Haley opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He didn’t know if she was so torn up about whatever was going on that she was having a hard time finding words or if she just wasn’t sure how to go about telling him. Not that it mattered. Because it was at that moment that a pint-sized human crashed into him like a mini-projectile. He glanced down to find TJ wrapped around him, hugging him tightly. And she’d hit him hard enough that he shifted on his stool. Maybe he needed to spend time with her and teach her how to play football. She’d be a force to be reckoned with on the field. Let her tackle a guy once and she’d be unstoppable. “Clin!” the girl exclaimed, pure joy in her voice.
“Hey, there, TJ. How are you, kiddo?” he asked, hefting her up in order to give her a proper hug. She wrapped her little arms tight around his neck and squeezed with all the strength a two year old had.
“Playing,” she replied. That probably summed it up for her. He smiled at her, dropping a kiss on her forehead.
“I see. Enjoying it, by the look of things.”
“Yes. Need french fries,” she told him seriously, then reached for the fries before him. Clint saw Haley open her mouth, probably to chastise the girl for taking Clint’s fries, but he picked up several of his fries and handed to the girl. She took them happily, then started munching.
Haley scowled at him. “She has her own fries, Clint.”
“You know I’m always a sucker for a pretty girl,” he told her. He saw it the moment she realized what he was implying because a touch of color came to her cheeks. He didn’t think she could blush so easily, but it was kind of nice to know that it was possible.
Haley made no comment to his statement. Instead, she offered a sippy cup to TJ so that the little girl could wash down her fries. When TJ was done, she gave the cup back to her mother, then squirmed out of Clint’s hold so she could go back to playing. Haley watched her go, a hint of something sad in her gaze.
“Talk to me, Haley,” Clint said softly. His statement brought her gaze his way. The emotions in it were thick and he was left wondering just what the hell was going on.
“One of my team has gone missing and I need help finding her,” she said. Her tone was steady and even, laden with determination. He got the sense that she wouldn’t take no from him on this one. At all.
“Which teammate?” His voice was all business and it saw her shoulders relaxing ever so slightly.
“Dare.” It was one word, one name, but there was no way Haley could keep her worry and fear out of it.
“You’re sure she ran?” He had to ask the question. Despite his dealings with the pyrokinetic, Clint didn’t really know her very well. He’d gotten the impression, upon their first meeting, that she hadn’t been all that impressed with him. That didn’t mean he wasn’t up to date on her superhero exploits. He’d paid attention. Purple Team was a legend among the superhero junkies. They were all very capable and sure to make headlines because of their talent. He knew that Dare shunned the spotlight, that she did what she did without seeking attention or fanfare. And he knew she’d risked her own life to rescue Haley from Doom.
The woman might be a pain in everyone’s asses, but she was a real goddamn hero.
Haley took a breath, held it a moment. Then released it on a sigh. “This whole mess has done a number on her, Clint,” Haley told him. Her voice was steady. Almost clinical. But he could sense the emotions building under the surface. Haley was on a collision course with some kind of emotional overload. “She’s had a lot of bad things happen to her in her life.”
“Creed,” he commented.
“He’s only a small part of it,” Haley replied. Her gaze slid around the play area, as if she expected someone to be lurking. Watching and listening. When she returned her stare to his face, he could see the seriousness in it. And he could see she’d made some sort of decision. “This doesn’t leave this table. And you sure as hell didn’t hear it from me.”
Her voice held a warning. A threat that he had no doubt she was capable of carrying out. He nodded without saying a word, then motioned for her to go on.
“Dare was raped as a teenager. By a kid she went to school with,” she told him. He nodded at that. He wasn’t surprised. Shit like that was all too common. And given that he suspected Dare was a lot gentler than she let people see, he had no doubt believing some stupid, arrogant punk had taken advantage of her. The idea disgusted him. “And she just kind of shoved it down. Its been shadowing her her whole life. Then there came Creed. Not only did he kidnap her, he kept her in a cage like she was an animal. He used her however he liked. And he left her pregnant. It took a long time before she was anything like her old self. And then the son of a bitch killed her.”
Clint heard the rage in her words. But they didn’t hide the guilt. No doubt Haley blamed herself for that happening. He wanted to tell her that she couldn’t always save people. But she kept going and gave him no time.
“She came back from being dead even more messed up. And, once again, it took her a long time to come back to herself from that. So, of course, that’s when Sinister happened. He paired us off with his choice of partners so he could create a super mutant baby to be a horseman. When we got home, Dare just fucking hid. From everyone. I barely even saw her. She somehow managed to keep Logan from finding her. She kept Remy from finding her. She found ways to… I can’t even explain it. Its like she was simply disappearing. She damn near killed herself. I thought, once she gave birth to Petra and she and Remy had a heart to heart, that things would get better.”
There were gaps in the story. Things Haley wasn’t telling him. Not that he couldn’t piece together some of it. The way she’d mentioned Remy a couple of times said that he was who Dare had been paired off with. Clint suspected that there were deep emotions involved between the two of them, but he didn’t know enough of the story to be sure. And he felt it was a safe bet that the rest of the story wasn’t important. The path behind them wasn’t what he needed to know. He was pretty sure he knew where things were going, though. “But something happened.”
She nodded, reaching out to pick up her cup and take a drink of the liquid inside of it. “Jehnna happened.”
Clint blinked at that. “Jehnna? What did she do?” He had a hard time believing she’d done anything. The girl was as sweet as could be.
“She called Dare a whore. Told her that she hadn’t suffered any trauma. She treated us all like we were the worst people in the world,” Haley said softly. Her gaze slid down to the baby in her arms. Emilia was now asleep, tiny little face perfect and cherubic.
“You think that her words are what drove Dare away,” he replied.
“What else could it be?” she asked, eyes wide with anger. And with that same fear he’d seen before. She was worried about Dare. Afraid the other woman was going to get hurt. Or worse.
“What do you need from me?”
“I need to find her. I need to know if you can get me information on where she might have gone. And if you can get me transport to where ever that might be.” The emotions were gone. In their place was the calm and collected, famed leader of Purple Team. Haley had a plan. And he was part of it. She was determined to find her missing friend. She would use any ally she could, follow any lead necessary, to do so.
“You realize that it won’t be as simple as you make it sound,” he said, making sure she understood what she was asking of him.
“I realize that you will need to go behind people’s backs to get this kind of information. I’m sure you’ll have to call in a few favors. And I know that I will owe you for this.” Her tone said she knew and understood and was willing to go forward.
“Its going to take some time,” he told her gently. She nodded at that. “All right. I know some people that work for SHIELD who owe me favors. I’ll start there. Nothing will probably happen until later tonight. So you’re going to have to sit tight and wait. Are you okay with that?”
“I’m going to have to be. Aren’t I?” She sounded like she hated the idea of sitting and waiting. But he couldn’t work miracles and the people who could answered to someone far scarier than Haley.
“Yes. You are,” he nodded, then took a moment to study her one more time. The exhaustion seemed to be coming to the front now that she had a means to enact her plan. He offered her a soft smile. “You look totally exhausted. Do you have some place to stay?”
“No. I hadn’t gotten that far,” she replied. It was obvious by the tone of her voice that she didn’t relish the idea of renting s hotel or a motel room. Well, he could help her with that, too.
“Well, then, Today is your lucky day, Haley. Because I just so happen to have a place where you can crash until everything is ready. And it’s got plenty of room for the three of you.”
For a moment, it looked like Haley would cry. But the moment passed and she managed to find a soft, genuine smile for him. That smile still did things to him after all these years. Maybe, if the Fates had been kinder, things might have gone different for them. Maybe…
He scooped up his burger and took a big bite, disgusted with himself. He was such a goddamn sucker for a pretty girl.
(no subject)
Date: 2025-10-10 05:45 pm (UTC)Haley needs to realize that team or not, everyone is not her responsibility... lord woman! lol I love that you weaved in some of the fact that Dare was really the only thing stopping Haley from being totally isolated, and even then she was likely to run anyway. Dare just beat her to it. Hopefully she can figure things out in a hurry and make sure Dare's okay.
I truly hope Hank gets his nice day in with Roxxy soon and everybody lets them be for a while. My god. It makes sense that Roxxy would look for an answer in whatever Sinister did instead of just assuming it's trauma and possible post-partum issues. The tinkering would be an easier answer with something she can affect and "fix". I love Hank for helping her look too. I love them together.
I love the meeting with Haley and Clint. She knows how to hide in plain site even with two kids under two! I love that she has a network of her own to call on when shit goes south for her, seperate from the obvious X-related folks. And of course Clint is going ot help her! This makes me feel good, that she is actually super competent and able to pull shit like this off even when her world is falling apart. This is what Haley is in my head and we rarely actually get ot see her in action. Hope she likes Bed-Stuy. ;)
Great work hun! Can't wait to see what's next!
(no subject)
Date: 2025-10-13 10:17 pm (UTC)i'm sure Haley will figure it all out. she's really good like that
Henry absolutely deserves about a whole month of nice days with Roxxy at this point. he's literally gone from one crisis to another where the girls are concerned. someone needs to take pity on the poor man and just let him breathe for a while. i'm sure Roxxy has considered all possible reasons for everyone's behavior and she's going from the easiest to research to the hardest until she finds the answer that fits. i have no doubt that Henry wouldn't let her toil away on such a task by herself. and i absolutely love the two of them together. they just mesh so well!
when it came time to write that part, i'd considered doing it from Haley's POV. but i decided to go with Clint's because it gave us a peek into how Haley's doing. like, really doing. but it also allows us to see Haley's competence shining through. because of course Clint it taking note of it all. he's good at details like that. i have no doubt that Haley has a vast and intricate network she can call upon if the need arises. she's not just the team's leader. she's damn near a frigging diplomat. she knows how to work people. she knows how to make note of those who will do her in good stead. and she knows how to put off the people who are not a good fit for that network of hers. it is true, and terrible, that we haven't gotten to see her come into her own in terms of her capabilities and her competency. we will do what we can to rectify that, naturally.
glad you enjoyed, sweetie. i can't wait to see what comes next, either!
(no subject)
Date: 2025-10-20 11:58 pm (UTC)Honestly, Haley's really in no condition to be worrying about anyone but herself. I know she thinks her Team is her entire responsibility, but it's okay to ask for help when you need it. And lying to Remy? Damn. I hope that doesn't come back to bite her in the ass. Johnny has horrible (or great, depending how you look at it) timing. At least he seems like he's finally pulled his head out of his ass. Hope it lasts.
Poor, poor Henry. Cuddling and canoodling sounds lovely, I hope that they can get to that at some point. Roxxy is definitely the type to get so wrapped up in research that she'd forget about everything else. I'm glad that Henry was able to pull her away from the brink. Maybe with both of them looking they can find something. At least a hint or a clue as to what is going one with her teammates.
I think Roxxy might owe Haley an apology in Regards to Remy. Oops.
(OMG, my laptop crashed and I thought I'd lost my reply. Thank the gods, it's still here.)
I see you found a way to work Clint in. lol Hopefully he can help Haley find Dare. Before anything bad (worse?) happens.
Good job, bb. I enjoyed it muchly. I wish I could come up with more than that, but my brain is soup. Hopefully I can get to the next chapter soon-ish. *fingers crossed*
(no subject)
Date: 2025-10-21 09:27 pm (UTC)no. Haley should be focusing on her own problems. but she deals by not dealing. by turning her focus to someone else because its easier. maybe some day she'll realize she can ask for help. only time will tell on that front. yeah. it probably wasn't her smartest idea ever to lie to Remy. i don't know if that will come back to bite her in her ass or not. but it really wasn't a good idea. Johnny's timing is horribly great. and it does look like he's finally removed his head from his ass.
i feel so bad for Henry! i honestly do! he's gone from one crisis to another since the whole thing began and just when he thinks things have settled and its smooth sailing, more shit pops up. i fully intend for Henry and Roxxy to get to cuddle and canoodle. just... gotta wait for everyone to get over themselves. tall order, i know. but it will happen. probably.i feel like he and Roxxy are very much in sync, so it only makes sense that he would help reel her in and also help her find anything that might tell her what's wrong with her family. i am sure, with their brains both on the problem, they will find something.
look, if it hadn't been Roxxy, Remy would have found something out from someone else. we'll blame Roxxy's slip on her being focused on other stuff.
(i'm glad your reply was not lost!)
there has been discussion about the fact that Haley is kind of the public face of not only Purple Team, but the X-Men in general by this point. so it would make sense that she's made her own network of contacts she can go to when she needs something. and Clint is actually kind of perfect because he has this 'dumb blonde' routine that he runs with that most people think is legit. there are those who know better. Haley happens to be one of those people and she will use whatever contact she can.
i'm glad you enjoyed, bb. no worries about the comment. i completely understand brain mush (says the woman who left work today - fourth day of the work week - with 47 hours under her belt. one more to go and if i'm lucky it will only be an 8 hour shift [who are we kidding? it won't]) so its all good. the next chapter isn't going anywhere so no worries. it'll be there when you find time. promise.
thanks for taking the time to read and comment, bb. comments are <3